The Truth (kiribaku)

Chapter 9

Bakugou POV.

"I'm home!" I shout as we step through the wooden front door of my home. We take our shoes off and put our backpacks down.

"Katsuki!" my mother peeks out from the kitchen.
She is wearing the same old apron. Mom must have been doing the dishes.

"Ah, you must be Kirishima," Mom focuses her attention to the red-haired young man.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Katsuki has told a lot about you!" mother laughs and reaches her hand.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am! It's a pleasure," Kirishima shakes her hand and shows his big smile.

"We thought with your father to go meet our old friends," Mom says and takes off her apron from her waist.
"You can make dinner together if you're hungry."

Mom and Dad are going to leave?

I feel a small blush on the back of my neck.

Are they leaving us alone?
I swallow slowly and cover my neck with my hand.

"Mmh, we went to the store," I reply quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"That's good! We didn't have any good food at home," Mom sighs in relief.
"You can take it to the kitchen," Mom tells Kirishima, pointing to the plastic bag he has.

"Yes," Kirishima nods and finds his way to the kitchen.

When Kirishima is further away, my mother lowers closer to me.
"Remember Katsuki, you're still young, so don't get too excited," Mom pulls away and winks her eye.

What-
No!

Misunderstanding!
A big misunderstanding!

I take a step back in shock.

"I said I don't like him that way!" I exclaim, flushed with blush and showing my white teeth, as if ready to attack the threatening enemy.

"Hmm, yes, yes..." Mom smiles and looks like she doesn't believe what I'm saying at all.

I see Kirishima coming this way and, like a reflex, I straighten my back.

Kirishima goes to his backpack and lifts it into his arms."Where are we taking these?" Kirishima asks and shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

"To my room..." I say quietly and lift my own from the floor.

My room is far away from the other rooms. The room door is white and has a paper sign on it:

'Go away!'

I need privacy, so I hit that sign on the door. It still doesn't seem to work, as my parents come to my room whenever they want.

The door has scratches and the paint is worn out. I can be violent sometimes...

Although the door has suffered a bit, the room on the other side is neat and tidy.

As I enter the room, I notice my bed and my eyes widen.

An extra pillow and a blanket are placed on top of it. Mom must have set them up before we came.

But where is the second mattress?

Hey, you are not saying we have to sleep in the same bed, right?

I sigh and cover my face with my hand.

Why mom can't just listen to me. Well okay, we might be dating... I'm not even sure. But still! We don't have to sleep side by side!

"Bakugou, is everything OK? That was a pretty heavy sigh," Kirishima lowers his backpack and raises his other brow questioningly.

"Yeah yeah," I reply irritably and drop my backpack next to Kirishima's.

"Katsuki!" mother walks past my room setting her earrings.

"We're leaving soon, so go say hello to Dad," Mom smiles and hurries to the bathroom to add more makeup.

"Mmh," I mumble and lead Kirishima to our living room, where my dad is watching TV. He is sitting on our old couch wearing a collared shirt and neat shoes.

"Dad, this is Kirishima," I introduce him to my father.

Dad turns his head and his face brightens.

"Hey, nice to meet you," my father gets up from the couch and reaches out to Kirishima.

"Likewise," Kirishima smiles and shakes my father's hand.

Dad smiles back and raises his glasses.

"It can be hard to get along with Katsuki, but I hope you take good care of him," my father says with a gentle voice to Kirishima.

"I'm not a kid anymore!" I remind him and roll my eyes.

"Haha, you can count on me," Kirishima laughs and raises his hand on the back of his neck.

"Thank you," my father says gratefully.

"Hey, I'm ready!" my mother shouts from the hallway and puts her favorite heels on.

"Well, we have to go now," my father says and waves his hand. He takes the car keys from his pocket and walks over to my mother.

"Be nice!" my mother yells at the doorway and closes it behind her.

We stand there quietly and listen as our car drives from our yard to the hot driveway. They must be gone now.

I sigh. Fortunately, they left.

"Your parents are nice. Very cheerful," Kirishima says admiringly and follows me into the kitchen.

"They're just normal," I say and lift the shopping bag on the dining table.

"Can you help with the cooking?" I ask and lift the meat from the bag.

"Sure! I'm not the best cook, but I'll try my best," Kirishima laughs.

"Well, then I'll give you easy tasks. Hmm... make the salad and I'll cook the food," I instruct and take salad supplies from our fridge. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber...

"All right!" Kirishima responds motivated and sits down at the table. I take a clean cutting board from the dishwasher and dry it on a kitchen towel. I also take the knife and place them in front of Kirishima.

"Thank you," Kirishima smiles and begins to chop the washed vegetables.

I can feel a small smile on my lips. He can be quite useful sometimes. I find a boiler from the closet and fill it with water. I also take a frying pan from the same cabinet and start preparing the meat, while the water is boiling.

A little bit of oil in the pan and also the meat. The water is already starting to steam and small bubbles are rising to the surface, popping briskly. Time for the pasta. It shouldn't take long. The meat is already starting to cook, now it needs spices and sauce ingredients.

I look over my shoulder to make sure Kirishima is all right. He has already accomplished quite a lot, the salad is almost ready.

"If you have time, set the table," I command.

"All right!" Kirishima smiles and throws the last cucumber pieces among the rest of the salad.

Kirishima wipes his hands into his pants and clears the salad items off the table.

"You'll find plates in that cupboard" I point my finger toward the cupboard as I mix the sauce.

Kirishima opens the top cabinet and rises to his toes to reach the top shelf. He takes two white plates.

He places them neatly on both sides of the table and puts bright red napkins on them. I place the boiler and frying pan on the table on wooden trays. A pile of pasta and sauce on both plates.

"Ok... let's eat," I say, wiping my forehead.

"Thank you for the food!" Kirishima smiles excitedly and sits down at the table. "I'm so hungry!" he says and starts eating.

I nod and start chewing the food myself.

"Mmh! So good!" Kirishima exclaims.

"Mmh," I say quietly and wipe the rising smile from my face.