Before And After ||BNHA Kiribaku||

Chapter 39- Extreme

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Kirishima listened. He listened and listened and listened until he heard everything he wanted to hear from Bakugo, even if he'd already known most of the facts from his friends.

But he did feel horrified about the CEO company raid. It was the one piece of news he hadn't heard about before, and Bakugo talked about the murder he'd witnessed before his eyes.

Kirishima was horrified... but somehow, not as surprised. The news came to him not as a punch to the gut, but like a blanket of darkness wrapping around him. He knew death was inevitable in hero work. He'd gathered it from all the stories he listened to from his other friends.

Still, Bakugo seemed so... hung up on it. His retelling seemed to shift into rambling that was full of regret, anger, and confusion.

Kirishima came to wonder about some of those things. Would the organization attack even if Bakugo never went in? Would they wait until the CEO did get arrested to strike? Would they attack the moment the CEO was unattended? And if the ban were never in place, would Kirishima get attacked if he had visitors?

The next thing he'd heard about was his death. Or rather, the reason he wasn't dead. Kirishima's hands had moved to his collar several times during the discussion. That metal on his neck, that had scorched him beyond belief, had skin with... enhanced regeneration underneath it. Whenever it started burning, his body fought to live, even when he should've been dead.

Bakugo said he was impossible. 'What is impossible in this world?' Kirishima wondered, touching the cool metal of his collar. He was cursed to escape death. He should've been dead. That thought alone made him sick. 

To be changed and experimented to that extent was... disgusting. It may have been a miracle he didn't die in the labs, but he never wanted to be in the labs in the first place, even if supernatural regeneration was the 'prize.'

That didn't mean he wasn't ungrateful to be alive. Being alive was always better than being dead. But if he could appreciate being alive without being on the edge of death, he would be infinitely happier.

At the end of Bakugo's retelling, was the raid. Kirishima hadn't been too invested in that part of story, not after the previous news. Still, he listened and made it to the end of the speech. He never remembered a laser, and he said that plain and simple.

Bakugo fell back in tiredness the moment he received that answer. After barely having enough energy finish his story, he deserved a rest. Kirishima sat at his side, taking a moment to process everything he'd just heard.

His mind wandered, unsure of what to think about the CEO and the laser and his neck. He slumped in his chair, Bakugo watching him.

"That's it," Bakugo said. "You happy now?"

Kirishima didn't have an exact answer to that. Everything he heard dampened the relief of Bakugo's honesty, although he would be lying if that relief had completely vanished. He replied as truthfully as possible. "I like that you told me everything," Kirishima said, "but I don't like everything else... Especially this." He touched his collar.

"I still can't believe they did that to you!" Bakugo yelled angrily. "I know they did messed up stuff, but it's so much worse knowing the effects! If these were different circumstances, I would've said your power was awesome!"

The inability to die from injury did sound nice... but with Kirishima's quirk, he didn't even know if he needed it. So why, out of everyone, did it have to be him? Why did anybody have to die? What was the point of these scientists to go and torture other people?

But on the bright side... he also got some closure, finally. Bakugo had shown him some honesty, some he wished he'd gotten earlier, but he could see Bakugo was trying. And maybe the truth hurt a little bit, but Bakugo... but wouldn't they get through it, like they always did?

At that point, Kirishima could see Bakugo's fatigue getting worse. He really needed some rest. But he asked just one more question before falling asleep. "Hey Eiji, why didn't the others tell you this stuff? I thought they spilled all this crap the moment they happened."

Kirishima immediately tried thinking of an answer, but blanked. "...That... I don't know," he mumbled, "I think... I need to talk to them next." He stood up and went for the door.

"Hey! Are you going already?!" Bakugo yelled, surprised. "Not even going to say goodbye?!"

Kirishima tripped over his own feet, blushing as he turned around. "O-Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly. "Um.. Kats- Katsuki. Katsuki, thank you. For telling me, ev-erything, I mean. I'm glad you did." He walked over to Bakugo's bed. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Kirishima smiled. "Sleep."

"Just what I wanted," Bakugo mumbled. "Cya later, Eijiro. I'll be up and running again soon, so don't be worrying about me. And also, don't do anything stupid, okay? I'll kill you if you do. And-"

"O-Okay," Kirishima grinned, taking his hand off. "I'll do a-nything. But ri-ght now, I'll see you later. Goodbye."

With Bakugo's eyes slamming shut, he left the room.

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883 words

A/N- happiness to everyone :D