No Questions Asked (A KiriBaku Fic)

Chapter Seven: The Nightmare

(Brief TW: This chapter is mostly fluff, but there is some potentially frightening imagery via nightmares at the beginning)

He was choking, that was all he knew. He felt the hands on his neck, and arms, and back far too fiercely. They strangled the air out of him. He needed to breathe, but he couldn't fight them off.

Bakugou caught a flash of that shitty magician's mask in his peripheral and tried to move, tried to dodge, but he was frozen. Before he knew it, he was trapped inside that marble again; the blue walls closing in and suffocating him.

He saw Deku, shitty Deku, running after him like he always did; arms broken, looking pathetic, but still he dared to follow. His face morphed into that of Kirishima, of Shouji, of Uraraka. He tried to reach out to them, to bash on the walls of the marble, to break his way out, but his arms felt as though they were encased in lead.

He slipped through the ground of the marble, falling into deep purple and black miasma. He could feel himself screaming, but no sound came out as his throat was ripped raw.

Chains began hovering around him in that black void. They circled him and wrapped around his limbs, squeezing him like a python would an unfortunate antelope. His hands disappeared within the wraps of chain, extinguishing his quirk completely.

Fear traced its icy fingers down his spine, sending his heart into a jackhammer within his chest. He saw flashes of whiskey and bourbon bottles, fluorescent lights flashing through the rich brown. He saw flashes of silver staples and purple scars in his peripheral vision, and felt a fierce, painful heat pressing into the nape of his neck.

He thrashed against the chains, trying to see his assailant. He knew it was Dabi, he knew it, he knew it, he knew it.

Another scream, no sound.

More familiar faces running at him, hands just out of reach.

Swirling purple fog surrounded him.

He felt All For One's teleportation goo rising up his throat.

The goo surged out of his mouth and encased him entirely. He thrashed again against the chains, and broke free of both the goo and chains.

His vision cleared and he was flying above the city scape. He was back in Kamino.

"COME ON!" It was Kirishima.

Bakugou set off his quirk, lunging for his waiting hand.

He let off a fierce blast, propelling himself forwards, hand reaching out.

He reached for Kirishima...

And he missed.

Bakugou fell, his quirk failing him. He plunged into the darkness, stomach rising up his throat.

He had failed...

Bakugou shot awake in bed, heart racing like a jackrabbit. He looked around as his breathing became rapid, trying to process his surroundings.

"I'm fine," he whispered, "I'm at UA, I'm okay, they don't have me."

His whole body shook, the tremors causing his bed to creak with their intensity. He clasped his hands and clenched his muscles as hard as he could, trying to mitigate the reaction. The darkness was suffocating, too similar to the horrible void he found himself in in his nightmare. His solitude was just as bad, spurring him into paranoid glances to his peripheral whenever so much as a creak was heard. The smell of alcohol burned his nostrils still, the foul smell of hard liquor sending him back to that shitty bar with every breath.

He snatched his phone off his night table and pulled up his texts with shaky hands.

EXPLOSION BOY: Comr hee now. No questions aksed.

HARD BOI: Be over in 2.

When Kirishima was woken up by a poorly written text from Bakugou at two in the morning, his first thought was that someone had gotten him drunk. So, naturally, when he walked into Bakugou's room to find him shaking and sobbing while wrapped up in his blankets, he was more than a little bit surprised.

He rushed over to the bed, not bothering to turn on a light as he could see well enough with the harsh popping of Bakugou's palms. He gave an internal thanks that his sheets were fireproof.

"Hey man, you okay?"

"Do I fucking look okay, Shitty Hair?" He snapped, his usual bite being canceled out by the cracks in his voice. "Just... Help me."

"Of course... Are you okay with touch?"

Bakugou nodded. "Just not my shitty neck."

Kirishima sat down next to him and placed a gentle hand on his mid back, rubbing softly in an attempt to quell his shakes. Oftentimes, repetition did wonders for Bakugou's anxiety.

"Aren't you gonna be all nosy about what happened?" Bakugou asked, after what felt like a small eternity.

"You said no questions asked." Kirishima replied, calmly. "So you can tell me what happened, or nothing if you prefer. I'm here to help without judgement, not to pry into whatever caused this."

Bakugou was quiet for a few seconds. "I wanna lay down."

Kirishima nodded and moved his hand from the blonde's back, allowing him to shuffle around on his bed and lay back against the pillows. When Kirishima didn't join him, Bakugou shot the redhead a glare and scooted over on the bed.

Kirishima got the hint and laid down next to him on the mattress, blankets long having since been kicked aside. The two boys laid side by side, breathing long having synched. They looked up at the ceiling, both of their minds racing with their own thoughts and wonders.

In a move Kirishima had done hundreds of times before, he moved his arm and placed his hand on Bakugou's belly. Without a word or thought, he grabbed Kirishima's hand and began fidgeting with his fingers. Bakugou was always careful, and Kirishima's hand always gave him a sense of grounding and security. Maybe it was leftover from the Kamino rescue, but something about feeling Kirishima's hand in his always made him feel safe.

At some point in the night, they'd both fallen back to sleep. Kirishima awoke the next morning to the sun pouring through Bakugou's curtains, and the explosive blonde fast asleep on his chest, hands still intertwined.

A warmth bloomed in his chest as he saw how soundly he was sleeping. Typically Bakugou's slumber was light and fitful, but Kirishima was willing to bet money that not even a nomu could have woken him up then.

He couldn't, in good conscience, wake him. It wasn't the first time they'd woken up like this together, and it probably wouldn't be the last. When Bakugou woke up, he'd probably get a blast to the face, but for now he'd let him sleep. He didn't often get as good a sleep as this.

Kirishima simply closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Bakugou's excellent circadian rhythm would wake them both up when the time was right.

The next time Kirishima woke up, he was alone.

He brought a hand to his face and found a sticky note haphazardly stuck to his forehead. He tugged it free and flipped it around to read it.

Gone to cook breakfast. Will bring you some.

He barely had enough time to read the note before Bakugou kicked in the door, two bowls in hand.

He shoved one into Kirishima's hands then sat down next to him and began eating.

"What? No wake up explosion?" Kirishima joked, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Not gonna blow you up after a 'no questions asked'." Bakugou grunted. "Besides, that was the best sleep I've had in a while."

Kirishima gave a toothy grin, that same warmth blooming in his chest once again.

"I'm glad."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Shitty Hair." Bakugou barely hid his own soft smile.