Before And After ||BNHA Kiribaku||

Chapter 44- Gain

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Kirishima felt really good. Awesome, even.

He spent his time leisurely by studying up on how to read and write better with his friends, enjoying the gardens, playing with Hinansho. He could've been following up on the investigation, but he had time for that later.

He sought everything he sought to do, and for now, he was resting. He needed a little bit of peace, a little bit of time to think.

His window was open, and he was leaning out of it unafraid, feeling the soft breeze flowing into it. He watched the same winds shake the branches and leaves of the enormous tree that laid itself in front of him.

Shaded grass and tiny flowers sat all around the base of the trunk, made even smaller from the height of Kirishima window. The colorful grass and dark trunk was a stark difference from the pale walls in his room. Even the parking lot and streets had more color than the walls.

Kirishima took the sight in longer than usual. He would miss the view, once he left. And the staff. And the window, probably.

He was still watching the view when he heard the door click open. He turned, expecting a nurse, but was pleasantly surprised when Bakugo was the one who appeared. It had been a while since he'd last seen the blond.

Did he still remember what they talked about before? Kirishima could repeat what he said to Bakugo if he really needed to, but would he be open to hearing it?

Bakugo seemed to have a mellower face on, but Kirishima couldn't exactly tell what that meant. If anything, it only made him more nervous.

Oh! But more importantly-

"You're h-ealed!" Kirishima exclaimed, stepping away from the window.

"What's got you so fired up?" Bakugo patted his side. "This is nothing!"

Kirishima nodded, remembering that there were some people out there that had the power to heal wounds faster. Bakugo was probably taken care of by someone like that.

"'M happy... y-ou're okay," Kirishima said, walking up to Bakugo. "Really, rea-lly happy."

"Of course you are!" Bakugo said. "It's all over your face."

He was coming off the right way then. Kirishima smiled at that. 

"Thanks for the raid," he said. "H-Helping in the raid, I mean."

"Don't thank me. Of course I'd help out with that," Bakugo said. "I wouldn't miss an opportunity to throw those villains in jail!"

Still going strong even after getting hurt. Admirable. Kirishima wondered how heroes could handle that.

"But Eiji, let's talk about something else," Bakugo said.

Ah, there it was. 

"What I said to you at the hospital... Look, just don't think of me any differently because of that!" Bakugo said, obviously having trouble getting the words out. "I meant everything. If you're getting better, then I'll keep updating you. I just wanted you to move on."

"Not yet," Kirishima mumbled. "bec-ause I can do something. They can be stopped. Afterwards... I'll move on with you. P-Promise."

"Huh?!" Bakugo seemed taken aback for some reason, cheeks turning pink. "Damn you... what's with that word choice?"

Kirishima blinked. "S... Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Bakugo said. He looked around the unchanged room. "What're you doing? I thought that the rat would be running around in circles by now."

A loud squeak came from underneath Kirishima's bed, and Hinansho came scurrying out of the darkness. It squeaked again, and started running around Bakugo's legs in circles.

"What th- hey, stop doing that!" Bakugo scowled, stepping back.

Kirishima laughed a little, dropping down to pick Hinansho up. The rat crawled on the redhead's palm. "He di-d good at the raid, right?"

Bakugo watched as Kirishima rose with Hinansho. "Well, yeah. He did his job and didn't get caught. And somehow, he got out alive."

Hinansho jumped up and down, tail swinging in happiness. It ran up Kirishima's arm and leaped onto his head, nestling in the male's hair.

"How the hell did it even leave? Everything was blown up!"

Kirishima shrugged, just content with Bakugo's appreciation for Hinansho. As long as Hinansho was alive, did it really matter how it escaped?

"Whatever," Bakugo huffed. "So what are we doing today? I'm not wasting today's visit just to watch that rat sleep on your head."

Hinansho squeaked, offended, and Kirishima chuckled. He gestured Bakugo to go to the window, and he pointed at the tree. "I like the tree. I was looking a-t it earlier."

"Seriously? That's it?" Bakugo leaned against the window, looking at the dark branches. "But you probably have the best room out of everyone in this loony bin."

"Yeah... Gla-d for that," Kirishima said, counting some more tiny flowers hiding in the grass. There were so many memories hidden in these walls. "I remember... when we left to t-ake pictures. I climbed up and down this tree."

There was a pause, and Bakugo turned to stare at him. "Yeah, I remember that. How the hell did you learn to climb a tree anyways? I thought you forgot everything after so long."

"I... never learned to climb a tree," Kirishima said, thinking back to how he scaled up all the branches. "I us-ed to climb up furniture and large vents... to try escaping the lab. Never worked. Climbing trees didn't se-em too different."

"That's messed up," Bakugo said, leaning further out of the window. "But it's still cool as hell you're able to climb a tree that fast."

Kirishima's skills were born from living nightmares. He stared at the tree, wondering if it really was such a feat that he could climb it in such a short amount of time.

But if Bakugo thought it was cool, then maybe he could show the blond again, just for fun.

"Hey, Eiji," Bakugo said, now looking at him. "I don't want to talk about that stupid organization right now, but there's something that's been bugging me for a while."

Kirishima tilted his head.

"Did you ever see a small laser? A green one." Bakugo said.

Kirishima frowned. A small green laser didn't immediately pop up any memories in him... He'd seen lasers before, but all of them usually weren't green... or small, for that matter.

"Can you show me it?" Kirishima asked. "I don't... know? About any lasers."

"Damnit," Bakugo groaned. "I'll just get it for you soon. Seriously, if the only thing I get is useless then I'm gonna kill something!"

Kirishima bit his bottom lip. Should he say something?

"Ugh, never mind," Bakugo shook his head. "I'm not here to talk about them. So are we just gotta stand here or what?"

"...Yes," Kirishima said, unsure of what to say. "But do you wa-nt to do something else?"

Bakugo snorted. "No, I've gotten too much action lately. Maybe later we'll go back to throwing criminals in jail."

Kirishima was alright with that. He looked at Bakugo, and was happy both of them were okay.

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1104 words

A/N- thanks for being patient, guys :) it got pretty busy on my end and getting back into writing was hard :')