Stuck With You | Katsuki Bakugou x OC [Book One]

Chapter 93 - Kirishima's Truth

~~~

"We might not agree about a lot of things, but I know there's one thing we can all agree on."

Akira confronts her classmates at the entrance to the dorms, standing in front of the door and blocking their way.

"We know our classmates are waiting for us inside like they always do, so let's just keep what happened today to ourselves, yeah?" Kira says, her voice low so her friends inside don't hear.

"Yeah," Bakugou and Todoroki answer simultaneously, nodding slightly.

"Good."

Kira spins on her heel, gripping her case and heads back inside the place she's grown to call home. Like clockwork, her friends were all there to welcome the three of them back, blurting a series of persistent questions, jumping all over them in their eagerness.

Bakugou brushed off the questions, claiming he's tired and would much rather call it a day, while Todoroki just keeps quiet. Lying doesn't suit him.

"Look! Look!" Someone calls out and the crowd clears to show Kaminari leaping about in his bemusement. "Look who's back!"

"What?" Kira chortles at Kaminari's bizarre behaviour as he leaps around the sofas.

Kaminari pushes a few of her classmates out of the way to reveal Kirishima. He's been released from the hospital.

"He turned up a few hours ago," Kaminari explains, as if reading her mind. "You still should have called me or something, man." Kaminari whacks him lightly on the arm. "I would've come and met you or something."

"It's fine," Kirishima says, though his voice sounds dull. "I got a ride anyway."

He looks nearly unrecognisable. His roots have come through a bit, detailing his scalp and loose hairs with his normal, dark hair. He's skinnier too, having been in the hospital for so long, he's lost some of the muscle he's been focusing on building up. But, it's a bit more than that, like the whole time he's been in the hospital, he's only come out worse than he looked before. Dark bags under his eyes, hollow cheeks, his skin is pale with no sign of Kirishima's usual charismatic self. Something was very wrong.

"Eijiro..." She breathes, tears welling in her eyes at seeing him upright again.

She couldn't even stop herself - she flew into his arms even though he appears so meek and frail. She thought he might topple over with the force of her embrace.

Kirishima released a chuckle at her reaction, his hand gently caressing the top of her head, stroking her hair ever so slightly.

"Shitty hair," Bakugou speaks up.

Akira pulls away from her partner, but doesn't stray from his side. Bakugou's eyes move from Kirishima to Kira, then back to his friend again.

"You should be more careful next time," he says, but it seems he's choosing his words cautiously. "You could get killed, you idiot."

"Bakugou..." Kirishima says slowly, his voice barely a whisper.

"I'm going to bed," he ignores Kirishima's sombre tone, mumbling his excuse. "Been a crap day."

"It is quite late actually," Midoriya announces after seeing Bakugou stalk his way to the lift. "You guys came back later today. Did everything go okay?"

"This exam was just a bit more challenging than the others," Todoroki explains. "The examiners pushed us today, that's all."

"Are you tired too?" Kirishima wonders.

Kira nods slowly, almost guiltily. "Yeah, but I don't wanna leave you."

"Not ever?" A small smile touches his lips.