He Changed

When the bell rings

*Kiri's POV*

He had been quiet for over an hour, actually the only time he spoke today was to answer Mic's question in english class.
He looked distant, sad. With his head down, it almost felt like he wasn't there anymore.

A few months ago he would have been screaming to Kaminari about some stupid thing, or calling Iida a sonic wannabe. Things that just made me laugh. But not now, not the past couple of weeks.

Ever since the kidnapping, Almight's fall, that brutal fight he had with Midoriya. Things have changed. I clould sense it whenever he would talk. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, often looking like they were painful, like he was drowning on them. And I had no idea on how to help him. I tried to talk to him about it, more serious than the other stupidly light conversations that we had lately. But of course he closed off.

Now looking at him. I only wanted to hug him. Hold him tight until our heartbeats became one. Gently brushing his hair with my fingers.

I didn't want him to feel alone, he was not alone. And yet he looked so lonely.

- Kiri, Kiri wake up!

I snapped back to reality to see Mina staring me up. Her eyes were slanted and she looked doubtful, almost confused.

- Were you even listening? - She said bringing her chair closer to my desk. I didn't even realize the class had finished. So we had what I calculated to be 12 minutes untill Midnight came for the next class.

- No sorry, I was thinking of something and I spaced out.

- What could possibly be more important than our study date plans - Her tone was now goofy, she was clearly teasing. With that dumb smile she always made.

I tried to catch a glimpse of Bakugou from the corner of my eye, but to my suprise he was no longer at his desk. I quickly turn my head to look around the room. Nothing. "Where is he?" The thought resonated around my head as I got slightly worried. I looked at Mina who was now speaking with Kaminari that was sitting besides her.

- Hey! Have you seen Bakugou?

- Bakugou? He's not in his desk? - Kaminari looked genuinely suprised for a second. Then him and Mina both turned to look at the empty desk. As if to check that I was not lying.

I didn't blame them, it was definitely strange. He hardly ever went outside the classroom during class hours. Moreover, lately he wouldn't even leave his desk.

- He probably just went to the bathroom - Mina shrugged off. She was right, that was probably it.

- With his backpack? - Said Sero getting closer to my desk.

"Wait, he took his backpack?" It was definitely not there. I scanned the floor, his desk, the back of the room. He took it, he just left. He was going to skip class.

I could hear Mina start rambling about a new phone game that she found. They were not worried. Why would they be? It was probably nothing right? Bakugou had quite a reputation for doing impulsive things out of anger fits. He probably just got annoyed and left.

As logical as it was, I couldn't help the feeling of it not being right. What if he's hurt? Or sad? I knew I was beeing irrational but It didn't feel right.

- .... , Right Kiri? - I had no idea what she had been talking about. Whether she had changed topics or was still on about that game, but it didn't really matter. I had grown accustomed to her turning to me for validation whenever she rambled, even if I wasn't part of the conversation. And I always happily complied.

- Yeah haha - I forced a smile, which seemed enough for her. Once she had resumed her monologue I quietly stood up.

I was going to look for him. Bakugou might be angsty and aggressive, but he wouldn't skip class unless it was absolutely necessary. My worry was rapidly scaling with every step. Something was wrong, it had been for weeks, but I was not manly enough to face it.

As I was about to walk out the door absort in my own mind, I clashed against someone. Someone's bust better said, I ... accidental hit Midnight's breasts face first. "Crap" I lost balance and almost fell on my ass.

- Where are you going boy? - I could tell it wasn't a question. She stood her ground in front of the door, she was definitely not going to let me through without a perfectly good reason. And I didn't have one.

"My 12 minutes are up, crap"

*****

The class was uneventful. I could hear Mineta angrily screaming at first, then asking unmanly questions that I was definitely not going to answer. It didn't seem like he was going to shut up. But it didn't matter, I wasn't listening. Aster a few minutes it just became the muffled background noise to my thinking.

I spent the whole time lost in all of the theories I had.

I had thought about this so much, thrown in my bed, looking at the empty ceiling. Some of the theories made sense, others were outlandish. But by far the scariest, was the thought that maybe, I hurt his pride. Maybe, Bakugou now though of me the way he thought of Iida, the way he thought of Todoroki. No, at least he considered Todoroki to be a worthy opponent.

Midoriya was right that time, he wouldn't have accepted their help, only mine. I thought it was because we were friends. But the more I think of it... was it maybe, because he didn't consider me a threat? Not a worthy opponent, so accepting my help wouldn't mean much.

I still felt like we were friends at some point. A few months ago, when we laughed, and we trained together, when he helped me study.

He wouldn't even look at me anymore. Did I fuck up? What did I do to lose him?

The idea of him trusting me, holding my hand, It made me happy. Was I too greedy? Did I push too far?

My thoughts were abruptly cut by the bell. A bell that sounded more like a wake up call.

I had to talk to him, he needed to know how much I respected him. How strong I thought he was. How much he meant to me. I had to apologize for my mistake, whatever that could be. Even if I wasn't sure of what happened, I couldn't lose him. I needed him back.

I picked up my things as fast as I could and ran out the door. I could hear Mina calling my name but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered, only him.

*****
He was not in his room. I knocked, for like 5 straight minutes. He wasn't there, he would have screamed at me, for sure.

So I decided to head back to the cafeteria, Mina was gonna drown me with questions. "Why did you leave so fast?" "Where did you go?".  I really didn't want to answer those. I had done a wonderful job hiding my true feelings from her until now. She would never let it go if she found out. I had to make something up.

My mind went back to Bakugo. Maybe he was already there, in the cafeteria, it was lunch time after all. Or maybe he went to the nurse? Did he go see the old lady? Maybe he's sick?

Suddenly I catched something out of the corner of my eye. He was there. Sitting in the small forest that surrounded the way. With his back against a big tree. His face was buried in his hands.

He looked so sad, destroyed.

My heart fell as a sudden realization took over me. It all just, clicked.