Before And After ||BNHA Kiribaku||

Chapter 38- Habitant

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Bakugo was drowsy.

He was drowsy and tired, every fiber in his body screamed at him to fall back asleep, but was also kept awake by a pain in his side and a full-body ache.

His mind was fuzzy. He ended up in the hospital... somehow. He knew that stinging smell of alcohol from a mile away. His eyes opened just a crack, blurry vision moving from side to side. 

He got a glimpse of bright-red hair. Was that Kirishima? Kirishima was always there... after training exercises in U.A... Yeah... that was probably him... 

Bakugo fell asleep.

The second time he woke up, he was able to see more clearly, think more clearly. The red hair he saw... yeah, that was Kirishima. But... Kirishima shouldn't have been there... because he should be in the other hospital. And how did Bakugo end up in the hospital anyways?

...Was it... the raid? Yeah, it was the raid. Bakugo tried looking down at his side, but his body refused to move. His body was stuck like a stone to the bed. He could vaguely see a doctors or nurses checking up on him, and he let them do their thing. He was too tired to retaliate.

By the time they left, Bakugo was a bit more awake, though still drugged. The raid was playing on his mind heavily, and from the looks of it, Kirishima was somehow let out of the other hospital and into this one.

He was somewhat surprised... Why and how was Kirishima there? It was embarrassing... for Kirishima to see him like that, but... he couldn't bring himself to say anything. 

All he was thinking about was the raid, about that laser he found in the cabinet. Where... was the laser? Did the investigators take it from him? He would need to see it later...

"B-Bakugo."

He heard a voice next to him. That was Kirishima, no doubt about it. The redhead was wearing a watery smile next to him. "Y-You're okay."

"'Course, I'm okay," Bakugo said, rubbing his eyes. "You think I'd go out from a small injury like this?"

"No."

"You're damn right," Bakugo said, smiling. "What're you doing here? How'd you sneak out of the hospital?"

"Someone took me," Kirishima answered, then the smile on his face disappeared, into a sort of stoic expression in almost an instant. "What happened at the raid?"

The smile on Bakugo's face was the next one to go out. "What do you want to know that for?"

"Y-ou were there," Kirishima said. "And I want to know what h-appened."

'But you shouldn't.' Bakugo thought, placing a hand on his head. It was starting to ache. Damnit, he hated being doped. "But you don't need to know that, okay? Let the rest of us handle it, I don't want you to think about the anything like that."

"Why?" Kirishima asked, and Bakugo stared at him.

Why? He was really asking why? Why wouldn't he want to move on? Why wouldn't he want to get out of the drama, when just thinking about it would remind him of everything he's beenthrough? Bakugo didn't want Kirishima to continue suffering under the hands of those monsters when he could be resting, free from all the troubles.

"Because there's no reason you should!" Bakugo said. "You shouldn't have to be thinking of those maniacs because it doesn't concern you anymore! You're already out!" After saying that he suddenly flinched, realizing he raised his voice too much.

He expected Kirishima to cower back. He didn't. He just stared, hurt. "I have e-verything to do with this," he mumbled, pointing to his collar. "This is why. I gave you the l-ogo and companies. I made plans with the others. Don't ignore everything I've done because it a-m part of this!"

The ferocity in his voice stunned Bakugo. Where did that come from? His expression, anger... "You're serious, Eiji," Bakugo said in disbelief, but right after he said that, he gave an empty laugh. "Goddamnit, let's have this conversation when I'm not dru-"

"Stop," Kirishima demanded, shaking his head. "You... ar-en't... that bad."

Bakugo leaned into his pillow. "I'm not feeling that great, Eiji." Kirishima was silent, but his gaze pressured the blond. "Fine. Let's get this crap over with."

Kirishima clenched the edge of his seat, expression unreadable once again. Bakugo couldn't understand how he'd managed to switch so much. "You're ang-ry... at me. Why?"

"Don't ask why again!" Bakugo snapped. "What I don't understand is why you're continuing to chase after them! Why can't you... just focus on getting over them?"

"Y-ou're s-aying that to me..." Kirshima mumbled. "Whe-n you couldn't get over me either."

Bakugo froze up.

"I heard... you talking before... on the phone ab-out me," Kirishima confessed. "And I don't... know if you like me or not, bec-ause, I can't be... the other Eiji."

Bakugo was speechless. It never crossed his mind that Kirishima could think like that, how he thought about how Bakugo point of view in all of this.

Bakugo wanted to scream. He was an even bigger jerk than he realized. Why couldn't he see Kirishima's side in all of this, with all the potential suffering he could put on him?

Was it... too late to apologize? Could he even apologize? Bakugo hated the word 'sorry.' It made him feel weak... but then again, how could he feel any weaker than he was now?

"I can't not like you now," Bakugo said. "But I did like you before. It's just really damn hard to separate you and the other Eiji from my mind."

"When are you going to?"

"I don't know!" Bakugo snapped. "I can't!"

Kirishima frowned. "Do you... really like me?"

"Of course I do! I already answered, didn't I?"

"Then... can you tell me why you were gone... for two weeks?" Kirishima asked.

Bakugo was confused for a moment. He didn't remember being gone lately,  but then remembered about the ban at the hospital. That... he never told Kirishima that, huh? It.. surprised him that nobody else did.

Bakugo was hesitant to speak at first. The bad memories associated with that place, he didn't want Kirishima to hear them. But the hardened look Kirishima was giving him wasn't showing fear.

But still, he simplified his answer anyways. "We were interrogating a company, one we suspected might be from the organization," he said, "It turned out to be right, and we got attacked. But due to that, we were ordered to avoid you in case we got attacked with you near us. That's why."

Kirishima continued staring at him, with that unreadable glare, before suddenly, it broke out into a grin. "That's it?"

Bakugo blinked. "What?"

"I thou-ght I did something wrong," Kirishima said. "But you were all tr-ying to protect me."

Bakugo looked down. It was more complicated than that. Definitely more. And it was the authorities in the first place that said not to visit him.

"I don't kn-ow everything that's happening," Kirishima said. "But tell me as much as possible."

In a new light, Bakugo heard the sincerity. He heard the determination and the protectiveness and he could feel it. So he started talking.

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1200 words