Kiri(Baku?)Kami I probably won't finish

Chapter Fifty-One

Kirishima POV:

"It's getting late," I glanced out the window. It was pretty dark. "When do you think you guys are getting discharged?"

"I should be getting out of here pretty soon," 'Suki said, then glanced at Deku. "He's still not sure about himself, though. He told me that even though his body is healing fairly quickly, he's not doing so well mentally. It might be awhile before he comes back to school."

"Dang, that sucks! Everyone really misses you, man. They wanna know how you're doing and stuff," I sighed.

"He'll be alright. It's Deku. When has he not pulled through?" 'Suki reassured me, and I nodded.

"Right. Well, we should go before everyone else freaks out about us being gone so long," Denki poked me.

"Yeah. It was nice talking to you guys, though," I said, placing my hand on 'Suki's arm, brushing my thumb over his elbow for a moment before getting up to leave the room.

"We should shoot Sero a text to let him know we're not dead," Denki suggested.

"Good idea. We really have been gone awhile. We did tell them we'd be here, right?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Course we did." He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text before grabbing my hand. "Thanks for not being mad at me."

I turned my head to face him as we walked back to the school. "I couldn't have been mad about it. I mean, if anything, it just sorta... well, it kind of hurts that you didn't ask for help earlier. You know I would've at least tried, right?"

"They woulda found out somehow," Denki muttered, kicking a rock in the path ahead of him. "Then I'd probably get myself killed."

"Never mind, then. Thank you very much for never telling me anything," I answered quickly, and he cracked a smile. We continued to walk in silence for a little bit before I broke the ice again. "So, uh... 'Suki. He seems fine, right?"

"Yeah. That's good."

"And Deku's doing well, considering everything that happened to him," I added on, realizing I'd forgotten about him. Oops.

"Yeah," Denki snorted. "You still like 'im, don't you?"

"So do you," I nudged him, blushing, and he smiled to himself.

"You got me there," he admitted. "Y'know, for someone as explosive as Kat, he's actually got a bit of a... calming presence, somehow. Or more refreshing, I guess. He doesn't really change much, so it's nice to always come back to him knowing he'll be acting like himself, and when he cares about you, well, he's not gonna hide it. He'll never admit it for his life, but it's obvious, and he doesn't bother covering it up."

"Mhm," I nodded. I wondered if this was what I sounded like when I ranted about 'Suki to the rest of the Bakusquad. It was really cute, actually, especially since I agreed with him.

"And I bet he gives great hugs, too. I wonder if he's a good kisser. I wonder if he'd be comfortable with kissing either of us after this whole thing. Damn, I wanna help him get over all this bullshit. But I don't wanna push it. But I do. Ugh, I sound like you," he rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed.

I smacked his arm. "I'm not that bad! Besides, you're really cute when you talk a lot."

"I'm not cute! I'm a ferocious and dangerous... dangerous boi! A dangerous boi," he pouted, and I snorted in laughter, poking his cheek.

"Absolutely terrifying," I teased, and he nodded.

"Hell yeah! That's me." We both giggled, walking along with our hands in the others', swinging back and forth.

I suddenly felt a chill up my spine, the hairs standing on the back of my neck.

"You two seem awfully happy," said a raspy voice. I didn't recognize it personally, but I knew exactly who it belonged to.

We both froze. The streets were far from empty; after all, it was the city, and although it was late, no one seemed to be too tired to bustle around energetically, creating enough commotion to hide our interaction.

"W-what do you want?" Denki spoke up first.

"I'm just checking in on you. Haven't seen you in awhile," Shigaraki leered, moving to be next to us.

"Aren't you scared you'll be seen?" I asked angrily. I would punch this asshole if I didn't know I'd die in seconds.

"No. Kaminari wouldn't give me away now, would he?" He was grinning like a weird cat.

"Bet," I growled.

"And you don't seem fazed that I know your best friend in the least. Could it be that the little traitor did the noble thing after all and gave himself away?"

"Hell yeah, he did, and you're not getting near him again. He's done with you. C'mon, Denks, we should go," I tugged on his hand, and he nodded numbly, staring intently at the ground.

"You made one good friend," Shigaraki laughed as we walked away. "But no one can be as good as him, can they? How do you know that even he's not lying to you?"

"Ignore him," I growled, pulling Denki behind me faster. This bitch was getting to him, it was obvious. I needed to get him as far away as possible.

"Face it, you don't deserve their forgiveness! You just aren't worth it!"

"Shut him out, Denks. He's wrong. You wouldn't let me tell myself that, and I'll be damned if you listen to a word he says," I kept mumbling to him, trying to be reassuring.

"You always come crawling back to me, anyway." Was he following us? Absolutely. He sounded much closer that he had a moment ago. "Begging on your knees like some pathetic mongrel." How the fuck did he get ahead of us? We stopped again. I was getting mad.

"Shut the fuck up, won't you?" I said angrily, then steadied my voice. "We are going back to school, right now." His hand around mine tightened. "We're going to tell them everything on our own accord. We're going to get you captured if it's the last thing we do, and you're not going to get away."

"You will, won't you?" He laughed deeply. I feel like I've said something wrong. "I mean, that's fair. You do something I wouldn't want, I get to do something that you wouldn't want. Then we're even! So let's make this deal; you go ahead and tell your sensei about meeting me, and... I get to pay your friends in the hospital a little visit. How's that, hmm? Seems fair to me."

"Wait—"

"Oh, but wouldn't it make the most sense?" He flung his arms out dramatically. "After all, if it's for the greater good, what should it matter, anyway? I get my petty vengeance and you get to save almost everyone you care about. What difference does it make if you fail with only two dumb kids?"

I clenched my fists tightly, really hoping that I wasn't cutting off the circulation in Denki's arm. "Is this all you ever do? Threaten and blackmail people into doing your fucking bidding? How pathetic is that?" I sighed. "If you're gonna stop me, at least be a man about it and do it yourself."