they all gave up on me (kiribaku)

23

Bakugou's head softly, quietly rose, and crimson eyes opened, turning towards the red-haired man that laid still against the glass separating them. His back to Bakugou, he didn't notice when the explosive, unpredictable blond slowly, oh so carefully, crept closer to the glass on shaking hands and knees. The only indication that the lion Kirishima remained awake was the slight, almost unnoticeable shaking of his massive shoulders, and the quiet hitch in his breathing, as if this king of beasts were trying to contain his emotions.

Foolish, Bakugou thought, but was that not the exact thing he himself had spent years doing? No, he was the fool here, he knew.

And so he silently slid his own back against the cold glass, the mirror image of the red-maned man on the other side, if not for the fact that tears ran silent tracks openly down his cheeks rather than trying to contain them as the lion Kirishima did.

He wasn't sure why he did not wipe them furiously away. Maybe the fact that the lion Kirishima, usually so open with emotions, had been degraded to trying to cage himself down was the thing that set him off.

Maybe it was because for--for a decade, maybe?--he hadn't let himself feel anything but anger, hadn't truly let himself process what he'd done due to the snake that used to slither on corpse-colored scales through his mind.

But now? Now only a silently crying golden wolf remained, separated by a panel of glass from the only one he cared for anymore in this mess of a world.

X X X

Kirishima shoved down his tears. Yeah, it was probably the most unmanly thing he'd done since who even knew, but--his tears were not important right now. Bakugou was important.

Finally getting his emotions under control, he shifted a bit against the glass. Should I leave now? He didn't know.

"Wait-" He heard someone call desperately from right behind him, voice husky and broken from lack of use. Quickly turning, he saw Bakugou's back laid against the glass behind him.

He moved? He moved! He fucking moved for--for me?

The explosive blond shifted his head a bit, just enough so that Kiri could see the side of his face, but couldn't meet his eyes. Slowly, as if not to startle a frightened animal, Kiri reached out--placing his hand against the glass, he slid back down to crouch against it.

"Stay." Bakugou spoke again, a quiet order.

"W-what?" Kiri breathed, still not quite sure if what he heard was real.

"Stay." Bakugou repeated, still not quite looking at the red haired hero. "Tell me--tell me more."

Kirishima laughed, a hesitant, disbelieving and broken thing. "Is--is this you, Bakugou? Is this really you?"

And finally, the once-villain contained behind the wall of glass turned to face him head on, placing his palm on the opposite side of the glass, mirroring Kiri's own. Crimson eyes, crimson eyes that still had whites and pupils, human eyes, met scarlet.

And Bakugou spoke again, and Kirishima knew this was not the Fire-Raiser. Not anymore. Not ever again.

"Yes. Yes it is, Ki--" Bakugou paused, eyes flaring wide. "Lion."

"Wolf," Kirishima acknowledged, head dipping down and awkwardly grinning.

Bakugou shuddered, shoulders slumping forward. "Lion. Lion. I--I am sorry, I did--I did terrible things, I--" He fell silent again, slowly sliding down the glass until he was lying with his back on the floor. "Tell me more."