No Questions Asked (A KiriBaku Fic)

Chapter Thirteen: The Tree

It had been twenty-four hours since Bakugou's initial text. The 'No Questions Asked' was over, but neither boy was terribly eager to seek the other out. For Bakugou, it meant having to test the waters after such a strange few days. For Kirishima, his worry about scaring Bakugou overtook his intense desire to see him.

Fortunately for both of them, on-campus foliage came to their rescue.

It was his costume that was his undoing. All of the notches, spikes and grooves on Bakugou's costume made him incredibly susceptible to tree-stuckage; a phrase that Bakugou did not know existed, much less used, until that very moment.

He didn't mean to do it. It was very much a case of 'wrong place, wrong time'. He was practicing a new move that involved an explosion powered aerial spiral, and the tree got in his way.

Regardless of how it happened, Bakugou was now extremely stuck in one of the campus trees; one that he could not blow up for fear of getting in trouble and/or starting a fire.

He fumbled for his phone, pushing aside any worries about pre-existing awkwardness in favour of freeing himself. "Hey, shitty hair."

Kirishima was relieved to have gotten the phone call, all things considered. It put him somewhat at ease, knowing that Bakugou was okay with talking to him again.

"Come out to the courtyard, no questions asked."

"On my way Baku-bro!"

When Kirishima got there, he was a little unsettled with Bakugou's apparent absence. He looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the other, praying that it wasn't a life-or-death situation.

"DUMBASS! LOOK UP!"

Kirishima followed the order, looking up to find the blonde wedged into a bundle of tree branches; limbs interwoven with those of the tree.

"Bakugou?"

"Fucking get me down."

Kirishima soon joined Bakugou, using his hardened hands to create holds for himself in the trunk of the tree. He found a sturdy branch underneath the blonde and sat down, working to detangle Bakugou's costume from the branches as best he could and slicing through the branches that wouldn't come unstuck.

It wasn't long before Bakugou was free and he was using his explosions to fly both himself and Kirishima back onto the grass, a nasty scowl etched into his features.

It wasn't as complicated a 'no questions asked' as he'd had before, but oftentimes it was the simplest things that required judgement-free assistance; like when Kaminari called in a NQA to ask how to pronounce 'quiche'.

Once back on the ground, both boys fell back into their feelings of awkwardness with the events of the previous NQA. It had been one of the simplest 'no questions asked' situation Kirishima had ever been involved in, but no amount of wardrobe malfunctions, poison control calls, explosive diffusions, or varying levels of intoxication could ever cause the same sort of stiffness as that one text message.

"So, uh, you get that No Questions Asked sorted out?" Kirishima asked, bravely breaking the ice.

"Yeah." Bakugou replied. "It's done with."

"Cool."

They stood silently for a count of thirty, Bakugou tugging off his mask in the quiet. Neither of them had a clue what to say or do, the silence between them had never been so tense or uncomfortable.

"Thanks for the help." Bakugou glanced at Kirishima with heavily lined eyes. "I'm done training for the evening. You uh, you wanna watch something? I heard there's a really shitty movie on TV tonight."

"Uh, sure." Kirishima said, nodding slightly.

There was another awkward pause before Bakugou groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He threw his mask at the ground and tangled his hands in his hair.

"Listen, Kirishima," He said, looking the redhead dead in the eyes. "I fucking hate how weird things are with us right now. Don't deny it either."

Kirishima was surprised at Bakugou's perceptiveness, but more surprised at his willingness to address it. For as long as he'd known him, Bakugou had always been a very 'bottle-it-up' type of person.

"When I asked you not to talk to me, it wasn't because you fucked up or did something that pissed me off. I got hit with a shitty quirk while I was on patrol, it really messed me up and I didn't want to say or do anything I regretted around you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I was sorta worried about that," Kirishima chuckled sheepishly. "It just seemed unlike you."

"I wasn't feeling like myself..." Bakugou shook his head as if shaking off a bug. "You know what, fuck it."

"Is everything okay bro?"

"Kirishima, when you called in that last NQA and when I got hit with that quirk, it got me thinking about a lot of shit that I've never thought about before." Bakugou said, looking at the other with an expression that made Kirishima wonder if he was going to blow them both to bits or jump his bones. "I have spent the last twenty four hours coming to terms with a load of bullshit that I've never bothered myself with, and you were a big part of all of it."

Kirishima felt his heart slithering up his throat. What is he talking about?

"I don't plan on wasting any more time on it. I know what the deal is, and I know what I want to do about it." He continued, that expression remaining. "Kirishima, I-!"

"KIRISHIMA!!"

Both boys whipped around at the sound of Kaminari and Mina's voices. They turned to see the two sprinting at full speed out of the dorms, a volley of flames and ice shards following them.

"We need some help from the human shield." Mina panted, skidding to a halt in front of the redhead. "No Questions Asked."

Kirishima nodded, then turned to Bakugou. "We'll finish this up later? When we watch that crappy movie?"

Bakugou nodded, not looking him in the eye.

Kaminari and Mina led Kirishima away, the three running at heroic speeds to some destination of unknown location. Bakugou remained, all but nailed to the spot, staring at the place where Kirishima once stood.

"Kirishima, I love you."