"Hi..." I say softly when my eyes lock on the waiting red head's, my tiredness being pushed to the back of my mind in an instant. "Sorry, did you wait long?"
"Not long, but are you ok? You look super beat up." Kirishima asks in worry as he takes in my appearance.
"I'm fine, I was just training with a sadist." I answer with a casual wave of my hand, feeling nervous about our impending conversation.
"Um, you wanna go to the roof?" He asks, pointing towards the elevator. I nod and we take the lift up to my floor then walk through the staircase to the roof. We stand in awkward silence for a moment before I break it.
"I'm sorry." I apologize sincerely. "I'm so sorry I didn't reply to you, I'm sorry I left you in the dark, I'm sorry I didn't confide in you what was going on at home. I'm so-"
"Risa, please stop." Kirishima cuts me off quickly. "I'm not upset about any of that, so please don't apologize. I'm the one who's sorry. I let you get taken from right in front of me. You had to suffer because I was too slow and weak." He says sadly, stepping forward and placing his hand on my left cheek, his thumb lightly touching the edges of my new scar. "You got hurt because of me."
"That wasn't your fault." I tell him sincerely, placing my hand on top of his on my cheek. "Please tell me you understand that wasn't our fault?"
"I should have protected you better, Risa." He says sadly. "It hurt so much seeing you scared as you were taken."
"I like you." I blurt out as he takes a breath to continue speaking. He freezes in what he was going to say, his eyes wide as he stares at me in shock at my sudden and out of context confession, but I couldn't wait another second. "I like you, Eiji. You're the sweetest and most noble boy I know. You keep me grounded when I need you to, but you also match my energy and excitement. I feel safe and warm with you, I also feel driven and inspired by you. I think you're cute when you blush, I think you're attractive when you're being chivalrous. I like you, and it was you I was trying to get back home to. When I was taken, my biggest regret was not getting to tell you that I liked you. I'm sorry I waited to tell you, I was a coward, but I won't wait any longer to be honest with you." I take a breath in from my rather quick, completely unplanned, but entirely sincere confession. "You don't have to say anything back, I don't know if you feel the same or even want to be with someone who's so scarred-"
Whatever my next deflection was going to be, it was lost as I was cut off. Only instead of being hit in the head like usual for my rambling, I was cut off in a whole new way. Warm, firm lips crashed into my own, sealing me in a kiss that made me freeze. It was my turn to have my eyes widen in shock tonight, but then I quickly closed them and melted into the lips against mine.
Slowly, we moved our lips against each other's as Kirishima tilted his head to angle our faces closer together. My hands pressed between our bodies, resting on his chest as my fingers gripped his shirt lightly. His other hand raised to cup my other cheek, joining the other one that had never left my face. When finally our lungs burned from lack of air, we parted, both of us grinning as we reopen our eyes.
"I like you too, Risa." Kirishima whispers to me, his face still only inches from my own. He then slowly inches his thumb under my eyepatch, causing me to freeze and almost protest his movements as he slowly lifts it off my face. "I like all of you, Risa. Please, let me see your face entirely." A thousand fears cross over my mind, but at the soft look in Kirishima's eyes, I nod my head in acceptance and let him take my eyepatch off. "Look at me." He requests softly since my eyes were cast downwards. Slowly, I lifted both my eyes up to face him, my scars now on full display for him. "Beautiful." He kisses the top part of my older scar, just above my eye. "Strong." He kisses where the two scars cross on the spot where the damage is the worst. "Brave." He kisses the newest scar, and by now my right eye is watering.
"You're not... scared of them? Or grossed out by them?" I ask quietly, letting my insecurity show entirely. "I know they're ugly and frightening to look at, and my eye is gross, and I'm disfigured..." I feel a tear fall from my right eye, and my left eye starts to sting mildly from the gentle breeze on the rooftop.
"No, I'm not scared by your scars. I'm not grossed out by them, and you're not disfigured. You're beautiful." He reassures me, but then must see me wince from a slightly stronger breeze because he grows concerned. "Does your eye still feel pain? Did I hurt it just now?"
"It's just the wind that hurt it." I reassure him, but glance at my patch in his hands. "Could you put that back on please? It helps keep it safe."
"I'm sorry, I forgot about that, you mentioned that before." He apologizes quietly as he puts the patch back into place. "I just wanted to reassure you that your scars are part of you, and I like all of you and think you're beautiful on the inside and the out."
"Eiji?" I call his name softly as I melt back into his arms, throwing my own around his neck as I burrow my face into the crook of his neck. "That was a super manly confession." He chuckles and holds me a little tighter. "I'm glad you like me too, I was super nervous."
"How could I not like you, you're amazing." He says in awe, pulling away slightly to look at me again. "I'm just so surprised you like me. I'm just so... and well I thought maybe there was someone else you liked, and it was hard to tell if you liked me as a friend or as something more... Wait that didn't sound very manly or confident..."
"I think I get what you're saying." I give him a reassuring smile. "You're so wonderful and amazing and strong and handsome. I know most of my friends are guys, but I want to tell you now, no one makes me smile like how you do. No one makes my heart feel warm like you do. You're the one who when I think about them, it brings a blush to my face... And you're the one I want to be my boyfriend." I confess, and then immediately feel my confidence diminish on reflex and start to apologize. "Oh god I didn't mean to be presumptuous and I'm sorry if you feel that put pressure on you and I know that may be something we decide later or maybe never, maybe you had a different plan when you kissed me, like maybe it was just to shut me-"
Once again, lips sealed over mine to shut me up when I went full ramble mode. The accompanying chuckle and smile against my lips helped to calm me down a little bit before Eijiro pulled away.
"I would be honored to be your boyfriend." He reassures me with an extra kiss on my lips. "Though I did have a whole speech prepared on asking you to be my girlfriend. I had note cards and everything on how I was going to ask you. I even practiced on Bakugo earlier today, which wasn't helpful." He says and then we both laugh at the mental image.
"Give me the highlight reel of it and we can pretend you asked, save face for you and all that." I grin at him as I lean in and initiate a kiss for the first time, the action now feeling as natural as a reflex.
"Nah, I like your way much better." He grins widely at me, his teeth on full display. "It was a super manly confession." He adds teasingly, repeating my words back to him as we both laugh. "So, girlfriend, will you go on a date with me this weekend?"
"Yes, boyfriend, I would love to." I answer happily, and then grimace lightly. "I don't know if I'm allowed off campus though."
"We can ask, and if not then we can have a date here." He answers softly. "But we should turn in for the night. You look pretty tired from whatever training you did today. Was it detention or something?"
"Oh, no." I respond lightly, and then realized he doesn't know about my training partner. "Uh, keep a secret for me? I've been training my friend Hitoshi Shinso to help him get into the hero course for the last few months, you might remember him from the sports festival. Well, I started out training him myself, and then Aizawa hijacked the training so we both trained him. Then Aizawa turned full sadist today after my dad made him promise to train me twice as hard. Basically it's just torture sessions at this point." I grimace at the still fresh memory of tonight's training. "They wanted the training to be kept a secret for Shinso's sake, but I wanted to be super honest with you about where I was going."
"Um, ok I won't tell anyone." He says, his head tilted in confusion. "Was that the guy that brainwashed Ojiro?"
"Yup, Mashi was super upset about that. He knows too, by the way. Well, Mashi knows almost as much about me as Ina-nii does, so don't be surprised if he knows about us before breakfast" I tell him with a distracted grin. "I actually really suck at keeping secrets, I'm too honest. How my dad never found out about my secret training for eight years is beyond me."
"That's ok with me, I hate lying and I'm terrible at it, it's so unmanly." He chuckles as we walk back inside. "Goodnight, Bubbles." He says as we get to my door, then leans in for one final soft sweet kiss on my lips.
"Bubbles?" I ask with a confused giggle at the name.
"It's because you're so bubbly." He grins sheepishly.
"I like it, it's cute. Good night, Sunstone." I smile at him as I close my door.
I don't care that it's almost midnight, I can't contain my excitement about Eijiro. And of course, the first person I want to tell is my twin, and I can't wait until morning. I call Inasa right away after squealing with happiness into my Fat Gum plushie for a minute.
"Iri-ne? What's wrong, it's the middle of the night? Is dad being rude again?" Inasa asks blearily once he answers my call, and it's at this moment I realized I forgot to tell him I was back at UA.
"Wow... uh... just realized I had more than one thing to tell you." I sheepishly say as I feel like an idiot. It's been an eventful 36 hours, and I only looked at my phone once in all that time. "So, I'm back at UA because dad accepted me being a hero and now I'm in the dorms as of yesterday and then today was our first day back in class and we created ultimate moves and I'm getting my staff redone to have a retractable blade and then when I came back to the dorms tonight Eijiro took me to the roof and we confessed to each other and we kissed and now he's my boyfriend." I tell him all in one excited breath before inhaling and waiting for his response.
"No." Inasa says stubbornly on his end.
"No to which? I mentioned a lot of things." I ask for clarification.
"No boyfriend." He grumbles out. "I haven't even met the guy, so therefore he's not good enough to date you yet. Or ever."
"You could have met him at the hospital if you didn't run when all my friends arrived." I say stubbornly with a pout. "Ina-nii... he makes me happy." I add on softly, knowing he'll understand that the best.
"I'll withhold judgement until I meet him. And I will meet him soon, Iri-ne." He adds on with challenging edge. "So tell me all about how you're back at UA? And how you managed to not tell me for what sounds like almost two whole days?"
It took about an hour of conversation, but eventually he was completely caught up on everything. I didn't even feel bad about keeping him up late, he was super happy to hear the news and kept continuing the conversation, so I know he wasn't upset about losing out on sleep. We also talked about the hero license exams coming up. Apparently they don't typically allow the first years to get them at Shiketsu, but Inasa scored so highly on the end of term exams and his battle trials they do regularly there, that he's the only first year competing in the upcoming provisional license exam. We got excited at the thought of getting our licenses at the same time, and potentially even at the same place.
So when I fell asleep that night, memories of my rooftop kisses with my boyfriend and hopes of being a hero freshly renewed, there was nothing that could wipe the grin off my face. Not even my nightmares stood a chance this night, I was happy from the inside out.
Kirishima and I decided to wait until at least our first date happened before we told the rest of our friends about our status update, but we had an exception each for our best friends. Bakugo and Mashirao both were told by the next morning, because like I promised I couldn't wait to tell my best friend the good news. Mashirao was happy for me, but he pointed out Inasa was going to be a total jerk about it and that Makoto and my dad would be an absolute nightmare. He had a point, and I cringe at the thought of telling them, but those older two can be told later. Much later.
Bakugo's reaction was harder to identify. He's been sullen and focused the few days we've been back on campus, and I can see the effort he's putting into being more considerate. Of course, his being considerate is by 'Bakugo' standards so I doubt anyone but me and Eijiro see it, but it's there. When I saw him in the kitchen the next morning, after I came down from telling Mashirao everything and of course, putting another drawing on Tokoyami's door to replace the one he tore down daily, Bakugo was harder for me to read that morning.
"So, Shitty hair didn't fuck it up?" Bakugo asks me as I walk into the kitchen to grab some fruit before my run.
"No, Shitty Hair did a good job. Though I'll be honest, I would have paid to be a fly on the wall to witness him practicing with you." I tease my friend, expecting him to growl and yell at me, but instead he remains quiet, his back to me as he focuses on the frying pan in his hand that doesn't really need his attention. "Kats?" I call to him curiously, stepping closer to see why he's quiet.
"Do you really like him?" He asks me so quietly I almost don't hear it. His face is turned down and his hair, which is still wet from his shower, is hiding his eyes from view.
"I really do." I answer truthfully, but keeping my voice almost as quiet as his, trying to see his face.
"You like him more than me?" He asks bluntly, and I silently intake my breath as he turns to face me, letting me see his eyes. He looks sad, he looks caring, but he also looks resigned. "If I had confessed first, would you have said yes to me?"
"Katsuki..." I say slowly in response. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way... But no, I wouldn't have said yes. Not when my heart was pulling me to Eijiro." I tell him truthfully.
"I didn't know I did either, not until Eijiro told me his feelings." He says quietly, turning back to his food. "But it was also listening to him prattle off the way he sees you, I realized my... feelings... didn't compare to his." He grimaces noticeably on the feelings part, but otherwise sounds sincere. "Ahh, this is too much shitty girly ass talking."
"No it isn't, this is super important manly talking." I counter lightly, wanting to resolve this before he closes himself off like I can see him getting ready to do. "Kats, you're someone I care very deeply about. I don't want to see you hurt, or let you try and brush off your feelings like you usually do. I don't really know the solution to this though, so all I can do is be honest. I like Eijiro, and I'm with him now. You're one of my best friends, but I only see him in a romantic way. I'm really sorry, Katsuki." I place a comforting hand on his arm, but my heart hurts at the brief flash of hurt that crosses his eyes.
"Hey, don't go thinking I'm too fucking weak to handle a rejection." He turns around with a sharp glare, looking a little bit more like himself. He takes a steadying breath before he continues in a sincere tone. "I'm not... I'm not upset you're both together. I... fuck you're going to make me say it, aren't you... fine, we're fucking friends and I'm fucking happy for you both, now go the hell away!" He turns back to his food, his face bright red at having to admit we were friends. "You better tell your shitty boyfriend so I don't have to say that shit twice!" He adds on loudly, flipping his omelet.
He's never out right said we were friends before, mostly because I think he would rather die than admit he likes people. I don't know if he needs time to work through his feelings or if he needs support or just maybe normalcy, this is very much a situation out of my wheelhouse. So, I opt for normalcy, that's what I think I would want in this situation right now.
"But confessions are good for you, TNT!" I say teasingly, a casual grin on my face as I walk away from him. "You'd probably make Eijiro's whole year if you called him your friend! His whole decade if you called him your best friend!" He finally snaps and throws his now empty frying pan at me with a small explosion, but I just laugh and catch it with my wind, sending it to the sink as I run out of the room as he yells at me.
I told Eijiro all about my talk with Bakugo later that night, the good and the awkward. He told me he already knew about Bakugo's feelings, or at least had a strong idea he knew what they were. Eijiro also confessed he was almost going to step down and let Bakugo have me, but then he fixed his own thinking and realized I wasn't a 'prize' to be won. He ultimately knew it was kind to let his friend have me, but it was manly to own his feelings and go for what he wanted.