𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙙 (𝗄𝗂𝗋𝗂𝖻𝖺𝗄𝗎)

Six | Secret Conversations Behind the Bushes

"How many days has it been?" Nurse Tamaki asked in a hushed tone, holding his elbows with his hands as he stood by the white wall in Kirishima's room.

"Three days," Sakura answered, almost just as quietly. She leaned against the wall, her arms by her sides as she looked over at Kirishima, sleeping in his bed. "I can't imagine what he must be going through."

Tamaki nodded in agreement, glancing at his feet shyly.

In his own bed, Bakugou glanced from his phone to the two nurses standing by the wall. The only thing keeping him from shouting at them to leave was his own curiousity—he still wanted to know what was wrong with Kirishima. His wonder had increased tenfold after his flare-up three nights ago.

According to Nurse Sakura, who had taken care of Kirishima during those few days, the pain hadn't gone away until earlier that morning, and ever since she said that, Bakugou noticed that Kirishima had been fast asleep the whole day. (It had already been twelve hours since the pain had stopped, and he was passed out like a rock.)

Now, he was still sleeping soundly, lying flat on his back with his left arm by his side and his right arm frozen in the same position as it had been when the flare-up started, unmoving.

Nurse Sakura glanced over at Bakugou and walked over to his bed after accidentally making eye contact with him. She flipped her brown hair behind her shoulder and stood next to him, smiling softly. He gave her nothing but a scowl.

"Mr Bakugou," she said in a tone he had heard his mother use many times before—not at all unkind, just strict enough to earn his attention. "Can I ask something of you?"

"No."

"Okay, good." She completely ignored his actual answer. "So, your friend, Kirishima—"

"He's not my friend."

"Oh," she said slowly. "Then, your boyfriend, Kiri—"

"He's not my boyfriend, either."

"Oh, okay. Well! Your roommate, Kirishima, is going to, ah, have some trouble moving his arms when he wakes up—"

"Why?"

". . . It's not my place to tell you. Anyway, because of this, he probably won't be able to, well, feed himself."

"And this is my problem, why?"

"Because you're going to be the one to feed him!" Nurse Sakura said excitedly, clapping her hands together.

Bakugou gave a quick, humorless chuckle. "Yeah, no."

"Oh, come on. Don't you want to spend time with your dear roommate, Kirishima?"

"No."

Sakura glanced at Tamaki for help. When he merely shrugged, she turned back to Bakugou, thinking to herself for a moment. "If you help him, he'll probably tell you what's causing the flare-ups."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Okay, great!" she exclaimed, once again electing to ignore his protests. "I'm so glad you've agreed to help him, he'll be so grateful. Tamaki and I will bring you two your meals that way you don't have to go to the cafeteria. Thanks, Mr Bakugou!"

"Hey, I didn't—"

Before he could get the rest of his sentence out, the two nurses had left the room, closing the door behind them swiftly. Bakugou groaned, falling back onto his bed exasperatedly.

~~~

Two hours later, Bakugou found himself sitting in a chair by Kirishima's bed, holding a spoon of soup up to his mouth. The last time he'd had to spoon-feed a person was when he babysat for his neighbour's baby, and she ended up crying so hard Bakugou literally left and went back to his own house. (He did not get paid for that job.)