Multifandom oneshots

05 ✁ [kiribaku] surprise visit

Prompt 5: "My best is never good enough."

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia

Pairing(s): KiriBaku (Bakugo Katsuki/Kirishima Eijiro)

Tags & warnings: hurt/comfort, angst to fluff, mild language

Sorry I'm so bad at titles T_T

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Kirishima jolted awake. Outside, it was still dark, and the clock on his wall read 1:39. And yet he could swear he'd just heard a series of loud knocks on his door. Who could it possibly be at this hour?

Propping himself up on his elbows, Kirishima waited for a few seconds, but the hallway was quiet. So, brushing it off as an overly-vivid dream, he laid down again, prepared to fall back asleep. It was a school day tomorrow after all....

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!

Okay, someone was definitely outside. Rubbing his eyes blearily, the redhead got up and walked to the door, dragging his slippers all the way. Is someone pranking me? Or did I miss a dorm activity or something? Theories and questions ran through his mind, but all of them disappeared when he saw who was standing outside his door.

"Hey." Bakugo Katsuki said, scowl half-hidden underneath his tousled blonde hair.

"B-Bakugo?" Kirishima stuttered, earning himself an exasperated look from his boyfriend. Yes, it's me. You got eyes or nah? It seemed to be saying. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

Bakugo didn't reply. Now that he'd rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes though, Kirishima began to notice the state the other male was in. The blonde's clothes were dusty and disheveled; there were bandages on his face and arms; and when he glanced up again, Kirishima noticed that his eyes were bloodshot.

"What happened?" Almost instinctively, he reached for Bakugo, but the blonde recoiled. "Hey. You okay?"

"Can I talk to you?" Kirishima raised an eyebrow at the unexpected reply, but nodded without hesitation:

"Of course. You want to come inside?"

Bakugo entered his room with a small "thanks," sitting down gingerly on the edge of the bed. Shutting the door behind him, Kirishima joined his boyfriend, and soon a comfortable silence settled over them. The redhead had thought about saying something first, but then decided against it. If Bakugo had wanted to talk, he would in due time.

"Kirishima."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"What?" Kirishima snapped, but immediately faltered when he turned to look at his boyfriend. Bakugo's shoulders were hunched up; his eyes downcast, troubled; and the redhead could tell from the way his lips were pressed together how close he was to crying. "No. Why would you ask that?"

"Well, I don't know." The blonde replied, letting out a shaky and unnatural laugh. "Sure feels that way sometimes though."

"What? What are you talking about?" Kirishima asked, but the other male had turned away, refusing to look at him. "B— Katsuki."

Silence. Becoming increasingly worried, Kirishima grabbed onto the blonde's shoulders and forced him to turn around. In the dim lights flowing in through the half-opened curtains, he could see how Bakugo's frown twisted, before fresh tears began to well up in his eyes. He hastily brought a hand up to wipe them away, but the more he did, the faster they seemed to come. Sighing, Kirishima reached out and pulled his boyfriend into an embrace, feeling the blonde's grip on his shirt as he sobbed into his shoulder, choking out in between gasps:

"I just... it's just... every time I try to do something, Ei... it just... it never works out and... why can't I ever do anything right?"

"You know that's a lie." Kirishima murmured sternly, rubbing soothing circles into Bakugo's back. "You're one of the best students in our class. Everyone knows that. Even the teachers know it. So why...?"

"It's not about them!" Bakugo snapped, pushing his boyfriend back. "It's... Ei, it's not... f-fuck...."

He sounded like he wanted to say more, but the words kept getting stuck in his throat. Raising his hand to wipe a stray tear off Bakugo's cheek, the redhead coaxed:

"Well then I'm not sure what this is about, but... you know, you don't have to be at the top all the time. All that pressure to do well and be "the star student"... it's tough, and it can get to you. As long as you try your best, I'm sure...."

"But my best is never good enough." The blonde cut him off, his voice hoarse and empty. Tears began to roll down his face again, but Bakugo no longer seemed to care. He only smirked when Kirishima's growl caught his attention:

"What?"

"You heard me, didn't you? My best is—"

"Bakugo Katsuki." The grip on his shoulders tightened, and the threat in Kirishima's voice was so prominent it made all the words about to come out of the blonde's mouth disappear. "If I ever hear you say that again, I will personally assault you until that sentence is completely gone from your brain. Got it?"

"Uh...."

"My god, how can you be so smart yet so... stupid at the same time!" His boyfriend's sudden cry almost made Bakugo jump. "You are seriously one of the most hardworking, intelligent and courageous students... no, people I've ever met! And I mean, sure, you're kind of aggressive sometimes, but no one can deny just how brilliant you are! You know what you want and you work to get it, Katsuki. Doesn't mean you succeed a hundred percent of the time, but damn I'd be lying if I said you didn't try. You're so diligent, and smart, and manly, and strong... and my point is, there's no way in hell your best isn't good enough! You hear me? As long as you try, that's something. Don't you ever dare deny that."

The blonde sat, stunned, as Kirishima finally finished and sat back, literally gasping for breath. His hands on Bakugo's shoulders were real and warm though, and that had helped ground him more than any motivational speech could. So, after a sigh, he punched his boyfriend's chest playfully and laughed:

"Alright, shitty hair. Damn, I never knew you had all that in you. You're basically set to become the next Present Mic!"

"Stop that." Kirishima laughed as well, before moving to grab the blonde's hand in his own, his grin settling into a smile. "But seriously, please don't put yourself down like that again, okay? It doesn't do any good for anyone, especially you. You're amazing, Katsuki, and you know it."

"Okay, enough with the sappy crap." Bakugo half-snapped, but he couldn't deny the heat creeping onto his face. Kirishima wondered if it was an extremely poor effort to cover up the blush or what, but he didn't resist as his boyfriend pulled him down onto his bed, shuffling up close to his side. Shadows fell over Bakugo's face when he looked up at him, but the redhead didn't miss the gratitude apparent in his boyfriend's eyes when he whispered:

"Thank you, Eijiro."

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If it wasn't clear enough, this is after *SPOILER* Bakugo's fight with Midoriya about the whole quirk and All Might thingy.