Right Here (Kiribaku Fantasy AU)

Chapter 12

Kirishima's POV

Kirishima couldn't get Bakugou out of his mind. Something was so, so wrong. And it wasn't just Bakugou's entirely reconstructed persona, but that was just part of it. Bakugou seemed... screwed up in the worst of ways, there was no other way to say it. And sure, part of Kirishima said, Clearly, that's your fault, dumbass. Bakugou was just trying to get away from you and all of a sudden you turn up. 

But the selfish part of him said that no, it was something else. Something darker. Bakugou had flinched in the alleyway like he thought Kirishima was going to hit him. Or maybe he just finally realized that you're repulsive. Kirishima's mind halted for a brief moment. 

Probably. 

So Kirishima decided to put the thought to rest and just try to sleep.

---

Kirishima continued to see Bakugou around town, but never interacted with him, in fact trying to get as far away from him as possible. Kirishima, as much as he tried, couldn't stop thinking about Bakugou. And it was a small town, and upon asking, Kirishima really couldn't find evidence that Bakugou had been through anything traumatic during his time in the town. People knew Bakugou and Toga as one of the happiest couples in town, and they spoke of the former Bakugou as a crude jerk. Apparently, most of them thought Toga had "set Bakugou straight". And Toga appeared to have a spotless reputation, known as friendly and sweet. She apparently had a huge fortune left behind by her parents and ran the massive medical center, Cappadocia Medicine. The hospital was one of the main reasons for the town's success as a rest stop for adventurers and travelers to pick up medical supplies and get medical care. She was essentially a genius, educated and elegant. Which made Kirishima look harder for something, anything to prove that Toga wasn't who she seemed. 

But once Kirishima started to commit himself to the case, he found the occasional person who'd heard of Himiko Toga's suspicious side. All of her former lovers had changed drastically through the course of their relationship. They'd defend Toga, often nearly blabbering their mouths off defending the woman if anyone questioned the way she treated them. All of them had skipped town after they'd broken up with her. 

Kirishima wasn't sure what was up, but he could feel himself becoming obsessed. His heart and mind were draining themselves into this stupid project, but he couldn't stop it. Once this was over, Kirishima knew he'd be empty. He'd be too tired to carry on, but he knew Bakugou would be his only salvation. He couldn't leave his friend. Maybe it was the dragon part of him that clung, permanently bonded to people. He'd heard of dragons who, upon their mates or best friends dying or leaving them, had either gone insane or killed themselves. It was quite common and yes, Kirishima could feel himself slipping into insanity, but he couldn't stop himself because his instincts told him he shouldn't. Something was wrong. 

So he started following Bakugou. And yes, he was stalking, but he told himself he was keeping Bakugou safe. 

So as his rational mind slipped down the drain, desperately clawing for a foothold, Kirishima began to tail Bakugou everywhere. Uraraka, Deku, and Iida were confused, but they didn't really know much. All they knew was that Kirishima was going out more and maybe that was a good sign. Maybe that meant he was finally moving on with his life. But the truth was far from that. 

And none of Kirishima's efforts showed any evidence of coming closer to the truth. All he saw was that Bakugou and Toga were a happy couple. They went out on dates, got each other flowers. And every night, Kirishima watched, hate boiling in his stomach, as Bakugou and Toga laughed their way into their house after a night out. 

But he knew something was wrong two weeks later. He'd been walking away from the house and heard the faint sound of glass breaking. They were fighting. Kirishima smiled. Problems in heaven. And Kirishima began sneaking his way over to the window. He normally didn't look inside the house, because the few times he did had been either boring or disgusting. 

But this time, he peeked into the window, through the blinds and saw Bakugou, kneeling on the floor, head down, the glass remains of a vase at his feet. There was blood on his hands, cut by the glass shards. Toga stood over him, her hand fisting his hair as she kicked him in the stomach. Over and over again. 

Bakugou didn't fight back. He was limp as a rag doll. 

Kirishima stared for an indefinite amount of time as Toga continued to pummel him in every way possible. And he watched as after what seemed like years, she stopped and strode away. Bakugou sat up, coughed up blood, and proceeded to clean up some of the glass. Like this was something routine, something regular. 

Kirishima backed away from the window, shaking his head. I never meant to find this. I was just jealous. I never meant to find this... Kirishima sprinted from the window, all the way back to his flat. And then nausea came, and Kirishima felt like himself for the first time in more than a year, only, he wished he couldn't feel. 

---

Kirishima woke up on the cold tile floor the next morning. His wings were unfolded, so he closed them, his tail also shrinking back. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, glancing at himself in the bathroom mirror. Red eyes and tear tracks. His wrists had scratch marks because goddamnit, how could I have let this happen?