Red Ink

Part 26 - Puzzle Pieces

new art of red and kirishima on my Instagram @pollypenname.

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It could be some kind of trap.

That's what Bakugou was thinking while he mixed spices into the marinade, at least. He huffed and puffed to himself in the kitchen while his fiancée got dressed in their room, their black cat Juno circling his legs like usual. Juno, for reasons Bakugou never understood, always preferred his company– she followed him around the house, climbed him like a cat tower, and mewled at him to pick her up almost constantly.

But even Juno's pawing wasn't enough to pull him from his thoughts today. It's not that he didn't believe Kirishima or Tink; it was more complicated than that. He'd gone over that day way too many times and, despite the constant disagreement from his team, couldn't bring himself to trust Red.

Why did he care so much? That question racked his brain, too. All he knew was that the terrible feeling in his gut was still annoying the shit out of him; a wildly confusing sensation that he hadn't felt since the Yaoroshi family tried to–

No, he didn't like thinking about that.

"I thought you were still mad at Ei." His fiancée strutted out of their bedroom, putting a T-shirt on and raising her eyebrows at him.

"I am," he grumbled.

The engineer slipped behind him and poked his side. "Yeah, you say that, but you're cooking his all time favorite. Nice try."

"Fuck off."

When the knock at the door echoed through the kitchen, Tink turned to get it, but Katsuki snatched her wrist and yanked her back. "You're not planning something stupid, are you?" He muttered.

"We're not planning anything. All he said is that he thinks Red is in trouble– which is what I said weeks ago, so eat shit." She formed an L with her fingers and stuck her tongue out at him before pulling free to get Kirishima.

When she whipped it open, Eijirou marched inside without waiting for an invitation and took a seat at their counter. "Okay, so I have a plan."

Bakugou gave his fiancée a look. "Tinkerbell–"

She sighed. "Ei, slow down. We need a lot more information before we can even consider planning something."

Sunny found Kirishima almost immediately and leapt into his lap, pressing her paws against his chest and frowning at him.

"She's pissed at you," Bakugou explained. "She whined all night for you when we brought her here."

Kirishima chuckled and peppered kisses on Sunny's forehead. "Yeah, she's a stinker sometimes. Thanks for taking care of her." He froze for a moment when the smell of Bakugou's cooking reached his nose, then his eyes snapped to his best friend. "Are you making that marinated chicken?"

"Whatever."

"Aww, bro!" He set Sunny down and circled around the counter with outstretched arms and a beaming smile. "I thought you were pissed at me!"

Bakugou tried backing away, but he was trapped in a corner. "I am pissed at you."

"No you're not. You love me." Unlike their teenage years, Kirishima was bigger than Bakugou now, which meant Kirishima's hugs were difficult to avoid. He wrapped his best friend in a bear hug for a few seconds, a big smile still plastered on his face. "I love you too, man."

"Get offa me."

"Hey! Stop getting distracted. I want details about how I was right," Tink said loudly from her seat at the table. Her fiancé glared at her.