" Real friendships never die, they may shift and change with time but remain true at the core." ~ Laughing Wolf
Kirishima can hardly believe his eyes as he stares at the best friend he hasn't seen in two years. He feels emotion sweep him as he takes a step forward wiping his eyes, while the other two heros try and process what's in front of them.
" Dude, I.. oh man, I.. I can't believe it's really you. Shit, how.. how you been bro?"
The blonde nods with a smirkish smile feeling a hit of emotion at the sight and sound of his old high school crew.
" I'm alright, better than I was. Pretty much back to my old arrogant, cocky ass self if that means anything."
Kirishima chuckles through teary rose red eyes..
" That.. that means a lot bro. That's awesome to hear brother."
The word brother hits Katsuki hard. The redhead had in fact been like the brother he never had, they all were at one time.
Another voice speaks, the two other heros finally let the sight in front of them sink in fully.
" Bakubro.. man it's amazing to see you back in town. You look fucking great dude.", Sero says with a sheen of tears that want to fall because it's been so damn long.
The blonde gives a slight smile reaching out go fist bump one of his oldest friends.
" Thanks Soy Sauce, and you.. well you're just as ugly as ever.", he teases making them laugh through the tears they still hold cause this was their explosive friend, this was the real Katsuki Bakugo.
Denki is sniffling as he steps up right in front of the blonde. Katsuki immediately raises a brow.
" Bro, dude.. at the risk of getting my face exploded like I have in the past, I'm gonna hug your mean ass cause.. cause I missed you.", Denki says with tears down his face as he closes in and hugs the large blonde before Katsuki has a chance to decline.
The blonde tenses at first, not all that comfortable with this kind of affection from his friends, but he finds himself letting it happen as he rolls his eyes with a smile tugging while he pats the emotional male on the back.
" Yeah, yeah, whatever Dunce. Good to see you're fucking annoying as always.", he smirks.
Denki chuckles as he holds male tighter.
" I missed you too man. I don't think I'm gonna let go"
Katsuki begins to heat up his quirk that the electric throwing male can smell immediately making Denki jump back.
" Letting go!"
The blonde smirks.
" Thought so."
They all chuckle, the feeling of old times flowing with ease around them.
Kirishima clears his throat.
" Well, I don't care man, I'm going in for a hug too."
" Yeah me too", Sero says as they close the distance and hug the blonde they haven't seen in two years.
Katsuki gives them a light hug with a grin and a head shake.
" You extras get all soft on me or what? Enough with the chick flick moments."
They chuckle pulling away.
" Sorry man, it's just so awesome to see you.", Sero laughs.
" Totally bro, how long you in town for?!", Kirishima ask with a grin
The blonde puts his hands in the pockets of his black jeans and gives just a hint of a smile with a shrug.
" For good. I'm moving back."
Hero eyes light up brightly as they almost lunge for the blonde again who takes a step back and puts his hands up heating up his quirk quickly.
" Oh no you don't bastards, we've already done the shitty hugging thing."
They laugh again putting hands up in surrender before they get blasted with an overpowered quirk they've seen in action more than once.
" Ok man you win, but let us buy you a drink since we're here and maybe go outside and catch up for awhile?", Denki ask
Katsuki shrugs with a smirk.
" Yeah, why not, I got nothing better to do."
They chuckle but cheer as they immediately start to chatter away at the blonde hero while they pick drinks like no time has past at all.
It's nice Katsuki thinks, the familiar feeling of a time past that he spent with this group, a time that'll admit he actually missed.
Once drinks and snacks are paid for and a short walk down the road to a park picnic table the heros all sit.
Katsuki takes a drink of the canned Carmel iced coffee that was always his favorite before he clears his throat, crimson eyes on the gold colored can in his large hand to distract himself.
" Alright, so before this conversation goes any further I got some shit I need to say so I can get it the fuck out of the way.", he tells them.
The three heros exchange looks but then shift all attention to the blonde hero.
" So, you know I'm not good at this stuff, but I'm gonna try and get through it best I can without sounding like some soft, sappy loser."
He takes a breath before he continues feeling unease with this kind of thing but knowing it needs to be done.
"I'm sorry that when I took off to try and fix my shit that I cut you guys off. I know that was a shitty thing for me to do. I'm sure me not returning any text or calls for two years was a let down after all the years we spent being friends. I just didn't feel like I had mental or emotional stability to deal with it at the time cause I know everyone wanted me to come back home and I.. I just didn't feel like I could handle it because leaving wasn't easy for me either. I know I probably hurt feelings and all that and I didn't mean to, I just wasn't in a good place at the time and I needed the space, but now that I've gotten all that shit under control and I'm back to being me for the most part I just wanted to let you guys know that I apologize and I appreciate the encouragement you gave me even if I never responded to it.", he explains the best way he knows how.
There's silence, so much so that it makes Katsuki nervous till he lifts his eyes to see three males with tears in their eyes and light chuckles.
" Did you hear that?", Kirishima ask.
Sero nods with a sniffle.
" I did bro, I did."
" Did anyone record it?", Denki sniffles.
" No but we definitely should have", the redhead adds.
" You know what he's saying right?",Sero questions.
" Yeah bros, he totally missed us.", Denki lights up with a grin.
" Exactly.", Kirishima agrees with a sharkish smile
Katsuki is looking back and forth between his three friends with a furrowed brow. He rolls his eyes and stands up.
" That's it , I'm going home.", he says at the teasing males who break into laughs yelling.
" Nooo! Bro come back! It's just that way so beautiful man!", Kirishima calls after him.
The blonde turns around clicking his tongue with fake annoyance.
" Fine you shitty extras, anymore chick flick shit and I'm out."
They all chuckle hard seeing the same actions they always have from the blonde bomb.
Kirishima laughs softly.
" Ok ok, sorry but we just didn't want you feeling bad over that. I mean yeah, it sucked and we missed you and I'm not gonna lie we were worried, but that doesn't mean we didn't understand.", the redhead smiles.
" Yeah man, exactly. We're just really happy to see you doing so much better and to have you back home.", Sero tells him.
" Yup, so none of that other stuff even matters now. It's all good bro, everything forgiven, even tho I don't think there was anything to really forgive you for.", Denki grins.
Katsuki can't help the smile curving onto his features. He had been worried about how they would react to him being home after leaving everything behind but now he sees he had no need to be concerned because these were his friends, real ones.
He smirks as he looks away.
" Thanks, extras."
The redhead chuckles.
" No problem man. So you're moving back to town, you have a place lined up yet?"
Katsuki shakes his head taking a drink from his coffee.
" Not yet, gonna stay with my parents till I find something, shouldn't be too long."
They all nod in agreement.
" You think you'll return to hero work any time soon?", Sero ask.
Katsuki grins.
" How 'bout Monday?"
The three heros go wide eyed stopping all movement making Katsuki chuckle at the sight.
" No way man! You messin with us?! You better not be messin with us man!", Sero yells with a huge grin.
Kirishima is on his feet.
" No way?! For real?! Like seriously?!", the redhead yells with excitement.
Denki is wide eyed with a big smile.
" This Monday?! Like THIS Monday!??"
Katsuki can't help but break into a laugh at their sheer excitement.
" Fuck yes I'm serious! Yes Dunce, this Monday, no joke. Katsuki Fucking Bakugo back to blasting ass and taking names.", he smirks
The three heros cheer loudly.
" This is so fricking amazing dude! This is gonna be fucking epic!", Kirishima says with a smile.
" Hell yeah it is, King Explosion Murderer back in action!",Sero adds.
Katsuki chuckles.
" That's right, the King is making his fucking return extras, better be ready.", the blonde grins.
" Villains won't stand a chance bro!" , Denki cheers.
" Fuck no!", Katsuki yells with a grin that makes his face ache.
They laugh all together, just like the old days in UA and the times after graduation before the war broke things down. It's easy, and light and just like it had always been.
Hours pass before they realize just how late it's gotten. It's after midnight by the time Sero and Denki wish their friends good night making the blonde promise to hang out with them again over the weekend before the two part for the night heading back to their apartments.
Kirishima stays behind and walks with the blonde since Katsuki's walk is on his way home.
They talk as they walk down the city side walk, Kirishima filling the blonde in on different things that happened since he was away and Katsuki doing the same. But there's a lingering lurking ache in his chest because as great as all this reuniting has been there's one, one freckles and haunting green eyes that he hasn't had the privilege of seeing yet.
As if Kirishima could read his mind there's a question out of the redheads mouth.
" So you seen Mido yet?"
The blonde turns to look at his friend swiftly with a raised brow since Izuku had just been so heavy in his thoughts.
" No, not yet."
Kirishima meets his eye with a gentle smile.
" Do you want to?"
There's a slight scoff as crimson eyes shift down to his white Nikes hitting the sidewalk.
" Well yeah. Course I do. I'm not all that positive he'll want to see me though."
Rose red eyes soften.
" That's not true bro. Mido has become one of my closest friends. I know he'll want to see you."
Katsuki shrugs eyes still not meeting his friends.
" I dunno. I wouldn't be so fucking sure. I hurt him, fuck I hurt him bad when I walked away.", he says suddenly feeling like he wants to vomit with the thought.
Kirishima glances down the sidewalk with a sigh.
" I'm not denying that man, he was definitely hurting, but he knew you were too and honestly I think that's where a lot of his pain came from, knowing how lost you were and not being able to be there for you."
Katsuki kicks at a pebble on the sidewalk, eyes still down cast.
" Yeah I know. I fucked up with him."
" Maybe so in some ways, but I still know he'll want to see you. He was worried, Mido will always care about your well being man."
Katsuki nods then a question forms in his mind.
" Eijiro, is something going on with him? Everyone is being so God damn vague when I bring him up."
There's a knot in the redheads gut now. He's not sure what to say at this point, knows that if he tells Katsuki the truth, that Izuku is dating someone this whole sidewalk with everyone on it might get blown into the next two towns over. But he also knows Izuku still holds the same strong feelings for Katsuki that he always has.
He takes a deep breath.
" Mido is fine, but I do think you guys should talk."
Katsuki stops in his tracks, that pit back in his gut.
" What the fuck does that mean exactly huh?"
The redhead gives his friend the best smile he can.
" It means you've been away for two years without a word to him. There's stuff to sort through man. Just talk to him alright?"
Katsuki takes a shaky breath, his core suddenly hot and unsteady cause he knows for everything All Might, his mother and now his best friend have said, there's something they aren't saying at all.
A/N
Sometimes I get hooked on a story I'm writing deeply. This is one of them.
Our tale continues, stay tuned ♡