The Horizon and the Sea

Gone...

"You can't be gone, please just, come back to me," he sobbed, not holding back any of his tears. "Katsuki please, I love you too, just let me say it, please, I just want you to hear it," he continued to sob into Bakugo's chest. He gripped Bakugo's skirt as he sobbed. His mind was overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Bakugo's words swam through his mind over and over, repeating themselves as he cried softly. He heard Bakugo say the words he had been thinking of saying for more than a year. He wasn't sure he would ever hear Bakugo say those words to him, and he never thought he would be crying afterward. Now he heard him say it but wasn't sure he'd hear him saying anything ever again. His heart ached as he thought about Bakugo never coming back. Kirishima wasn't sure he'd be able to live without Bakugo here with him.

Bakugo began to cough up the water from his lungs. His chest heaved as he expelled everything in his lungs. He coughed until his throat became raw, the saltwater burning his throat. He stared at Kirishima, fear in his eyes as he caught his breath again. Tears threatened the edge of his eye as he saw Kirishima's tears fall.

"You..." Kirishima covered his mouth, his voice shaking. He swallowed hard. "You were..."

"Yeah," he let the tears fall from his eyes as he stared into Kirishima's piecing red ones. He felt relief wash over him seeing that the person he loved had made it out safely. The relief was followed by a wave of dread remembering the things he had said. He was ready to sacrifice himself to save Eijiro, he didn't care what saving him cost. His face flushed red as he thought about how Eijiro had kissed him there in the dark, determined to get them both out alive. He felt guilty, he should have known that Eijiro would feel the same things that he did. The wish to save him no matter the cost to himself. Just trying to save Eijiro felt selfish, like he was taking something away from the person he cared about most.

"You scared me Katsuki," his voice faltered. His lip quivered and he couldn't stop the tears that hadn't stopped since they were on land again.

"I know Eiji, and I am so, so sorry," he smiled weakly. The two looked at each other for a moment before Kirishima lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Bakugo's shivering body. Bakugo wrapped his arms around Kirishima in turn and just help him as he cried.

"I thought..." his breathing hitched, "I thought you were gone,"

"I would have been if it weren't for you,"

"And you... you were just going to let yourself die!" he shouted, his body trembling under Bakugo's touch. "Please don't ever talk like that," he sobbed, "I can't... Katsuki I can't lose you. I... I don't know what I'd do with myself if you had died."

"I... I know... just... I couldn't think of any other way to get you out," he spoke weakly.

"My life isn't any more important than yours!" he cried out, his voice carrying the weight of his words.

"It is to me," he held onto Kirishima even tighter. "I... Eijiro I meant what I said," his voice lowered until he was almost whispering. "Eijiro I love you," silence hung in the air between them for a moment. Kirishima felt a weight disappear from his chest as he heard those three words again.

"I love you too dumbass!" Bakugo could feel Kirishima smile. The two held each other tightly like anything else might risk them slipping away from each other. The two laughed gently, tears still streaming down their faces. After what they had been through today they couldn't be sure enough of the other staying right where they were. They held each other like there was no one else in the world, and to them right now, there was no one else. They couldn't be close enough to each other at this point, their bodies physically aching to be held. Kirishima swore to himself that we would never let anything like this happen again. The island had almost taken Bakugo away from him, and that thought scared him more than anything else.

"Can we go home now?" Bakugo said weakly, still crying into Kirishima.

"Yeah, let's go home," Kirishima leaned back and looked at Bakugo crying face. Kiri stood, offering his hand to Bakugo. He took it and stood, lacing his fingers between Kiri's. The two had been drenched and both shivered from the cold air around them. They could feel the warmth of each other's hands and felt comforted. Bakugo squeezed Kiri's hand causing Kiri to smile warmly. The two walked in comfortable silence for a few moments before Kiri chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" Bakugo asked.

"You know, for one of the smartest people in the school, you sure can be pretty fucking stupid sometimes Katsuki,"

"Yeah yeah, I know," Bakugo chuckled weakly. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?" Bakugo turned to him.

"Hmm," he hummed happily before looking at Bakugo. "No, I don't think I will," he smiled his bright smile, causing Bakugo to smile softly at him. Even with all the danger and fear, the thought of never getting home, neither really minded being here. The two were prepared to spend the rest of their lives together, whether that was here or at home, it didn't matter to them now. All that mattered was they were together, if they were together they knew they could get through this, no matter how hard it got.

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Aizawa placed a now empty coffee cup on his desk. His eyes strained to read the screen in front of him. Since everything had happened he had been spending more and more nights staying up, throwing himself into his work. He would spend all of his time after his classes working, trying to figure out some way to get his students back. He hated that he had no way of bringing them back. Bakugo was a spitfire sure, but he was a great student and was going to be an even better hero. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to forgive himself if he couldn't find some way to make that happen. Kirishima showed promise too, his can-do attitude and his strive to be better than he was before. The pros had questioned the villain that sent them away many times but had never gotten any substantial information. They grilled him day and night for weeks, but all they know is that he doesn't know where the stuff he teleports goes, but that it disappeared in a flash of blue light and is never seen again.

Aizawa typed mindlessly at his work when his office door opened softly. He turned to see Mic standing in the doorway, holding two steaming coffee cups. Mic walked in and placed one of the cups on his desk.

"Hey Sho," he stood next to the desk, looking down at the tired Aizawa sat at the desk.

"Hey Mic," he grabbed the coffee and took a sip. Aizawa knew that trying to hide his worry and tiredness from Mic was futile. The two had been friends since high school and Mic could almost always tell when something was wrong. But Mic also knew that trying to ease his mind in a situation like this was pointless.

"We'll get the kids back Sho, I promise,"

"Yeah," Aizawa agreed but he wasn't sure if they really could. It had already been almost 8 months since the two had disappeared. They made no headway with the villain, and blindly searching wouldn't help anything. The was no promise that the two were even still alive at this point. There was a chance that the villain's quirk had killed them instantly.

"You know, it's getting late, you need sleep," Mic placed his hand on Aizawa's shoulder. Aizawa leaned back in his chair, looking up towards Mic. Mic smiled sadly at him. He could see what this was doing to Aizawa, his tired eyes looking more tired than usual. Seeing him like this saddened Mic.

"Yeah, let me just finish this up," Aizawa sat back up, looking at the work on his screen.

"Yeah, if I let you do that you won't go to bed until it's time for class," Mic chuckled slightly. Aizawa looked at the small clock at the bottom of his screen. 2:46. Aizawa sighed heavily.

"Yeah, let's both get some sleep." He pushed his chair away from his desk. Just as he was about to stand up from his seat he heard loud stomping from the hall. He turned towards the closed door as the footsteps got steadily louder. The footsteps stopped outside his office and his door slammed open, revealing an out-of-breath Midoriya.

"Mr. Aizawa!" he panted. Both Mic and Aizawa looked at him concerned. "I think I know how to find them!"