The Return [Kiribaku]

I'm Here

Kiri

My eyes hurt. I grunt softly, struggling to pull myself from the depths of sleep. Was I sleeping? I don't remember falling asleep, can't place the pain that is spreading itself invisibly over my features. I reach up to rub the stinging from my pupils, stars dancing across my vision until the black slips away, and I register a pair of dark eyes regarding me tiredly.

I jolt upright, narrowly missing the man's jaw with my forehead as I almost fall from the stark white sheets under me. "Wha-"

"Shh, you're okay," I hear from beside me, where a bedraggled man sits wrapped in a thin white scarf. His long black hair shows clear tangles as he runs a hand through it. "You're safe."

Safe? Why wouldn't I be safe? I look hard down at my hands, trying to place my memories from the day before. "How did I get here," I ask slowly, looking back up at the man.

He watches as I hesitantly settle myself into the pillows behind me before answering. "I found you...in a facility. It was thought to be inhabited by a famous villain group, so we went to check it out, and well..."

I continue watching him expectantly.

"We found you."

"We?"

"Me and a couple other heroes."

"You're a hero?" I blink confusedly. The bright white room around me begins to sway as my breathing shallows. I can hear a muffled shout from somewhere near me, before my eyelids crash across my vision and everything is gone.

Baku

I'm trying not to punch someone. I can feel an explosion simmering in my palm as I fight to keep it down, the students around me clamoring and yelling toward a tired Mr. Aizawa. "SHUT THE FUCK UP," I finally shout, bringing my fists down loudly upon my desk.

The room quiets.

Mr. Aizawa continues, "As I was saying, Kirishima has been found-"

"WHAT."

All eyes in the small classroom are on me as I push loudly out of my seat and stalk toward the front.

"What did you just say," I push through my teeth when I get to Aizawa's desk.

The surprise in his eyes turns quickly to warmth and he repeats softly, "Kirishima has been found, Bakugou."

I blink, not used to the feeling of the tears pushing themselves from the corners of my eyes. "What- Where is he," I stutter, shoving the sounds of my classmates to the back of my mind. As Aizawa answers, I feel salty warmth pour down my cheeks, until I'm hunched into his desk, shaking and afraid. After a moment, I feel soft hands across my shoulders, allowing them to wrap around my chest.

I hear Mina whisper into my ear, "I'm here, I'm here." Over and over until my breathing calms and I can stand up straight. She leads me into the empty hallway outside of the classroom, motioning for me to sit with her against the cracking paint that makes up the walls. Once I do, she pulls my face close to hers, wiping my tears with the sides of her pale pink fingers.

The insecurity in my chest blossoms as she does so, whispering vulnerabilities into my skull, reminding me that I am showing weakness. I shove her off abruptly, surprising her enough that she almost falls into the freshly waxed floor. "I'm fine," I grunt, climbing to my feet and walking into the nearest empty classroom, guilt clouding my vision as I peek out and watch Mina dejectedly walk back into class. I sigh and move to sit on a desk, pulling out my phone to search the address that Aizawa gave me back in class. My hands begin to shake as I type, when the realization washes over me that my best friend is actually alive. He went missing a year ago, disappeared without a trace, leaving me to navigate the world without his shark-toothed grin. As I watch my tears begin to fall again, I know what I have to do. As much as I don't want to admit it, I can't do this alone.

As soon as I hear the ruckus of students leaving class, I trudge over to class 2-A's door and stop Kaminari and Sero, who are holding hands and muttering about something. "Oi, Dunce Face," I call, and they both turn to me with smiles.

"Hey, Bakugou." Kaminari runs his recently freed hand through his bright blond hair. Both he and Tape Face seem apprehensive as they get closer.

"I need you two to come with me," I say quietly, showing them my phone screen with the address written into Maps.

Kiri​

The moment my eyes open again, I register a faint beeping, and a tugging on my right arm. I blink, looking around the familiar white walls, and watch as a nurse hesitantly cracks open the door to my right.

"Kirishima?"

"Um, yes," I mumble, my mind foggy and far away.

The nurse steps fully inside and picks nervously at her bright blue scrubs, before moving to fidget with her many braids. "How are you feeling? You've been out for a few hours."

I move to sit up, again feeling a pull from my right elbow. I slowly register the IV snaking from my arm to the beeping monitor to my side and lay back down again, defeated. "I'm fine. I mean, a bit groggy I guess."

I look back over at the nurse, who nods.

"Well, you have visitors. If you're up for it, of course."

"Who...who are they," I ask, rubbing my aching eyes with the backs of my hands.

"Classmates from your school. They came when they heard you'd been found."

"Classmates? Found? Hold on, I was missing?" I throw the blankets from my body, harshly yanking my arm from the IV and sitting up. "No one's told me anything! I can't remember shit!"

"Kirish-" She cuts herself off, appalled at the detached IV dangling from the monitor. "You can't-" She sighs. "You went missing a year ago. Before that you went to school at UA. A few classmates from your school are here to see you," she drones, monotone. "Satisfied?" Her shy demeanor has disappeared, and I can see the irritation forming behind her eyes. Jeez, anger issues much?

"Not really..."

But she's already gone, closing the door with a soft click.

I slide from the mattress, pacing frantically across the small hospital room. I went missing? What happened to me? They didn't find me for a whole year? Why can't I remember? Before I can steady myself, a tentative knock sounds on the other side of the door. "Um...yes," I answer, preparing myself for the same irritated nurse. But a pair of yellow eyes meets mine, as a boy with bright blonde hair steps halfway into the room.

"Kirishima-"

"Move extra," a hand shoves the boy aside before its owner rushes past him, his eyes darting about until they land on mine.

The world falls silent. All I see is the redness of his gaze, the way his pupils lock onto mine, drilling into me. A name falls from the depths of my memory. Beautiful and warm, it bubbles up my throat and across my tongue. "Bakugou," I whisper.