Radio Silence [KiriBaku, Complete]

Thanks Again

Kirishima wakes up to light pouring through the window, opens his eyes, and sees the sun for the first time in a week. The realization that it's all over is finally beginning to hit him, although it hasn't totally sunken in yet. He feels a tentative, cautious happiness, as if the villain's quirk might kick in again and take away everything just as quickly as before.

They have a few more tests to run on him in the morning, just to make sure everything's actually alright now, physically and mentally. His steps are shaky, and he's lost a lot of weight – probably all muscle, he thinks sadly – but he can walk unassisted and he's keeping food down. His voice is just about back to what it was before, though still a little weak, but as they ask him questions it somehow sounds strange to hear his words said aloud, like the voice is someone else's altogether.

The doctor tells him that everything looks fine, but to take it easy in school, particularly in physical things, and to come back in a week for a checkup. He's free to go.

Suddenly a realization hits him. "It's Sunday, right? Are my friends here? Did you turn them away?"

"Visiting hours don't start until 10 on Sundays," the doctor says.

Kirishima looks at the clock: 9:27. "Oh, that's fine then," he says, sighing and gathering his things.

He changes from the hospital gown into the clothing he'd been wearing over a week ago. It's been washed, he realizes. One more thing to thank his classmates for.

His wallet's there, along with everything that was in it. The only other thing is his cell phone. He tries to boot it up to try and let the others know not to come, but it's dead.

Oh well. They'll find out soon enough.

He takes one last look at the hospital room, and leaves.

-

The hospital is a short walk from the school; in fact, he's jogged by it before and never really given it a second thought. As odd as it seemed for a pro hero in training, he just figured he wouldn't really need to go to the hospital. Like everyone else, he'd assumed Recovery Girl would always be enough.

He hurries to his dorm, gets there a little before 10, plugs in his phone and sees over a hundred unread texts. It almost makes him want to turn the phone right back off.

Kirishima can more or less guess what the texts say, and just leaves them for now. Instead he starts a new message, addressing it to everyone in his class whose number he has. This is probably the most obnoxious method possible, and he feels bad in advance for everyone who will be caught in the crossfire. But hey, it works.

Hey everyone! I'm up now and out of the hospital. Right now I'm planning to catch up on sleep, so I might not respond for a little bit. I'll talk to you all soon!

He mutes his phone immediately after sending the message, tosses it down like it's a bomb waiting to go off, and goes to take a shower.

-

His body is different. It's thinner, of course, but more sensitive, too. He runs his hands over himself, savoring the foreign feeling of touch. The heat of the shower on his skin feels amazing, and Kirishima only turns it off when the hot water runs out.

He's toweling off when he hears a knock at the door. Kirishima wonders which of his friends decided to ignore his request for solitude. He's half inclined to pretend he doesn't hear the knocks, but knows he can only put seeing everyone off for so long – and then he wonders why he wants to put it off at all.

He takes his time getting dressed, but the knocking's still going on, so he opens the door at last; it's Ashido. "Kirishima!" she cries, launching herself at him and nearly knocking them both off their feet.