Kirishima x Reader // "Sometimes I'm Alone in a Crowd"

Chapter 10

The next morning Kirishima woke up to his alarm in his own bed. Time to get back into a – hopefully – normal routine. No more trauma, no more hurt, no more painful memories. It was a new day to start the rest of the week, and he was determined to make it a good one.

The work day passed by slowly, Kirishima's mind wandering to events of the past few days. He had opened up about things that made him self-conscious, feelings of self-doubt that sometimes kept him from pushing ahead, making him feel left behind. Ryuko thought he was smart and strong and brave and...helpful. He felt needed.

"Oi, shitty-hair pay attention." Bakugou's sharp voice snapped him out of a daze, realizing that he had customers waiting in line. As he took care of their orders, he was distracted by his blonde coworker. Bakugou had been uncharacteristically quiet today despite it being nearly two days since he'd seen him. Kirishima still needed to figure out how to broach the touchy subject that was brought up at the park, but he had an idea that might give him better insight into addressing the situation.

Once he was home from work he decided to call someone he hadn't talked to in a while; hopefully this wouldn't be too awkward of a conversation. The ringing on the other end stopped as someone picked up.

"Um, hello?"

"Midoriya? Hey, it's Kirishima! Sorry for calling out of the blue."

An airy chuckle erupted from the receiver. "Kirishima-kun! How are you? It's been a while, hasn't it?" Midoriya sounded almost exactly the same as he did in highschool.

"I'm fine, thanks. This is going to sound weird so I apologize in advice for calling out of the blue like this. But I need some advice and didn't know who else to turn to."

"Sure, I'll do whatever I can to help out."

"Well, it's about Bakugou..."

With that, Kirishima started summarizing the heavy weights on his mind concerning his roommate and his new partner. Midoriya had known Bakugou back in middle school, but there was always an animosity between them that the red-head never really knew the origin of. Midoriya might be able to give insight into Bakugou's thoughts or actions that could help with this specific situation, just something to give Kirishima an edge on how to approach things.

Midoriya sighed on the other end. "Wow...Kirishima-kun, that's a lot for one person to carry on their mind. Hmm...this is a difficult one. Kacchan has always been a strong and resolute person, but he's also very complicated. When he sees someone whose better than him at something, he tends to use his anger to push himself through it to try and come out on top...but he can't win every battle like that."

"Yeah, I know. I just...Bakugou is one of my best friends, we've known each other a long time. I figured what happened in the past between us was just that – in the past, and we could move forward. I don't want to say or do anything to jeopardize that." Kirishima truly hated even considering the fact that something like this could potentially end their friendship if it proved to be true. Whenever Bakugou needed help with something, he was there. And if Kirishima needed a hand, Bakugou - though sometimes reluctantly - would step up to the plate.

"Kacchan...he tends to hold grudges. He will let them fester into something very mean if it's not resolved at some point. I don't know your girlfriend, or judge her character at all. But I feel like you wouldn't be calling me about this if you didn't care about both of them."

And he did – he DID care about both of them. He didn't want to lose his roommate's friendship, but he also didn't want to lose this new budding relationship he was forming...and most of all, he didn't want one to come between the other.