they all gave up on me (kiribaku)

28

The lion Kirishima didn't visit him again in Tartarus after that.

X X X

The day that Bakugou arrived on the lion Kirishima's doorstep felt gray. The skies were dark, as the authorities had figured that if they did this under the cover of darkness there'd be less to notice. But either way, the clouds covered everything relevant in the night sky, and Bakugou even missed the damned silver.

But the door opened, and he saw red, and he forgot that silver had ever existed. He couldn't remember what happened after that, just that the lion had... Spoken with the woman who'd brought him there. For how long, he didn't know. He simply curled up in the corner of that god-awful red leather couch, and watched the clouds roll on through a gap in the curtains. He could hear Kirishima moving around, the lion's footsteps padding softly on the floor. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

What he felt about anything, really.

So when the red-maned man walked into the room and set a glass of water next to him, he did what he tended to do best with problems.

He ignored it. And him.

The lion Kirishima sighed, seemingly expecting this, and Bakugou felt the couch dip as the massive man sat down on the other end. Unthinkingly, Bakugou's eyes flicked over to watch him.

He seems tired.

Bakugou blinked. Where the fuck did that come from? He hadn't wanted to think anything. Just wanted to stay calm for once, or someshit-

But the more he watched the red-maned lion of a man, the more he realized he'd been right. Kirishima looked tired as fuck--not physically, per se, but emotionally. As if he'd been dealing with someone's bullshit for too long.

The fact that it was probably his bullshit just made the fact worse. He bit his tongue, shifting his body until his face was pressed into the sofa arm. Fuck. His eyes drifted back upwards, but this time they landed on the cloudy night sky.

"I'm going to bed," The lion Kirishima announced, and Bakugou shifted to watch him leave. There was tension in his shoulders, Bakugou could see it. Probably also from my bullshit, he thought a bit bitterly. The lion Kirishima paused at the door, turning back to meet Bakugou's gaze.

"You still have your room here, you know," he said, the purr of his voice rumbling through the room. And so Bakugou uncoiled from his position on the sofa, and followed the red-maned man to the back of the house.

X X X

The morning seemed quieter than ever, the clouds from the night before still covering the sky. It reminded him of those other mornings with the red-maned lion of a man, always a late riser and preferring to take the night shifts. Out of habit more than anything, he opened the fridge and set to work on making breakfast. It was only when the lion Kirishima padded softly into the kitchen and sat down at the table to sleepily watch him work that he realized he'd made enough for the both of them.

He sighed and pushed Kirishima a plate. Fuck it. The lion looked up blearily, grinning up at him with those fucking shark teeth of his.

And for the first time, it hit Bakugou like a goddamn sucker punch that the snake had been right.

He loved the lion.

Bakugou's plate slipped out of his hand, landing on the floor and shattering with a crash. Kirishima's head snapped up, all sleep gone from his eyes. "Bakugou?"

Bakugou blinked, and the world refocused around him. The lion Kirishima had stood up, his hands on Bakugou's shoulders. He glanced confusedly at them, then dragged his eyes to Kirishima's scarlet ones. "Are you okay?" Kirishima asked.

Bakugou didn't quite know how to respond to that, so he just nodded, and let the red-maned man shoo him to the table and place a cup of coffee in front of him.

He'd known, of course he'd known, he'd thought it, the snake had screamed it, and yet--here he was, watching the lion Kirishima's powerful form doing something so simple as clean up a plate. And--it was so domestic, so fucking simple, but nothing should be like that anymore for him-!

And he ran.

X X X

Kirishima's head whipped up at the harsh sound of a chair scraping fast against the floor, but Bakugou was gone. He heard a door slam, heard the lock click, and before he knew what he was doing, he'd jumped the table and run after the blond. "Bakugou?" He called, coming to a pause at the door. "Bakugou, will you talk to me?"

Silence.

And he knew logically that he couldn't get out, that he was safe, but still he worried that the explosive man had escaped somehow and would make himself worse.

So he sat down with his back leaning against the door, trying to calm his breathing.

X X X

He didn't calm until he heard Bakugou run his hand down the door, didn't move until he heard the lock click back out of place. So he cautiously opened the door, as if not to startle a wild animal, and sat down on the bed next to an unmoving Bakugou.

"Talk to me?" He asked. And it was only because he knew the blond, could read him like a book, that he knew the continued immovability simply meant, No. But I don't care if you stay.

So Kirishima stayed, silently watching Bakugou until the blond drifted off into sleep

X X X

And when midnight came, when Kirishima walked out to watch the night sky, he finally, finally heard Bakugou's door creak open. Good, he thought, because that meant he was trying.

He'd known before, of course, but somehow the fact that Bakugou had come out to silently stand behind him, thinking he didn't know, just meant something more.

So he waited until he heard the door creak again until he moved, simply knocking once softly on the wall when he passed the blond's room. Goodnight, Bakugou.

And just before he fell asleep, he could've sworn he heard an answering knock from the other side of the wall--

Goodnight.