An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter: 6
Bakugou heard the knock on the door. He didn’t give a shit. School was starting in a little over a week and these assholes were worried about watching movies and hosting room contests. He looked down at his hands, his mind whirling. Nights had been difficult. When he dreamed he’d been finding himself stuck back in that damned cage.
Stuck on that first place pedestal.
Stuck inside of the sludge monster.
Stuck in his own ego and everyone's high expectation.
His life was a never ending series of starts and stops and now…
He looked at his hands. Now he was the cause of the downfall of the greatest hero in the history of the world.
The greatest hero in his world.
And everyone was carrying on like it didn’t matter. Like it wasn’t his slip up that did it. Like he hadn’t singlehandedly caused the end of All Might. Like…
He hiccuped, angry and startled to find the tears falling freely down his face without his permission. He rubbed viciously, brushing his nose too hard and bursting a vessel that had risen to the surface.
“Fuck it all.” He groaned, falling back on the small veranda, his legs still tucked under him, his head resting uncomfortably on the metal track for the glass doors. He let the blood flow freely. What did he care?
“Bakugou?”
“Shitty Hair.”
“That’s not nice.”
Bakugou didn’t bother to respond, but he wanted to say it. He knew Kirishima felt it and that was enough. Neither were you.
“I-I’m coming over.”
“The fuck you are.” Bakugou growled, though he didn’t move to stop him as he climbed the cement barrier to the other side.
He wanted company. He wanted someone to care. Back home his mom would have busted his door off the hinges.
“The fuck you don’t care! You don’t wanna answer your door when your worried mom comes to check on you then you don’t get a door, now eat some food and take a shower. You reek like sweat and failure.”
And the thought made him grin and his eyes water because fuck he missed her. She didn’t let him rest on his laurels. She didn’t let him wallow. She didn’t leave him alone and that… that had been really important. He didn’t know it then. Her chaotic energy had kept him going, kept him riled. Kept him from dwelling and his father had kept him centered, kept him from exploding… and now… now he just had the darkness of his thoughts-
He bolted straight upright when he felt warmth on his legs, his eyes wide, angry and diving straight to the source. Kirishima had sat directly beside him. Because of fucking course he had. His leg had settled right against his.
“Why are you so close?”
“Why are you so far away?”
Bakugou didn’t have an answer.
“I love Autumn.” Bakugou didn’t reply, just sat in silence. “It reminds me of a lot of things but mostly it feels good in here.” Kirishima pounded on his chest. “What makes you feel good?”
And fuck for a minute Bakugou couldn’t answer because did Kirishima really realize what he had just asked an emotionally unstable sixteen year old?
“I like being alone.” Was the answer Bakugou finally settled on.
“Liar.”
