(no subject)

[madfuckingcalm]

Who: Kirishima and Bakugou
What: a rescue lesson at UA goes wrong
Universe/CR: canon

[Bakugou exists in two places at once; he's on the bus, wedged against Kirishima's side. He can hear him talking quietly with someone else, the low thrum of his voice buzzing like the hum of a house settling down for night, familiar and constant.

But he's also in a dark, stale room, hands bound up to his elbows in the kind of restraints the cops put on criminals with hand-activated quirks. The room smells like liquor and piss and he knows, just past that line of gold light that has to be the bottom of the door, there are people that can and will kill him if he doesn't cooperate. He doesn't remember what they want.

He's on the bus. He's in the room. He's with Kirishima. He's alone. The two blend together and for a terrifying second he thinks Kirishima's in the room alone and then he jolts, nudged against Kirishima's side, heart hammering. Pothole. Bus hit a pothole.

He clears his throat and pulls a hand over his eyes. Embarrassing. Hopefully nobody saw that. The bus jostles again and comes to a stop and Bakugou sits up and away from Kirishima, stretching to crack his back.

They have a drill today, a big one. More rescue training, but this time to an undisclosed location. Villain attacks have petered off since All Might apprehended All For One, but that doesn't mean the UA students are out of danger, not with Shigaraki still at large and worringly silent on his demands and movements. Most of their off-campus training takes place within the realms of large, world-class heroes who can protect them. It's gone past annoying and into plain goddamn frustrating, especially since they make it pretty obvious that they expect him or Tokoyami to get kidnapped again.
Fucking stupid.]

Let's go, [he says, standing and nudging Kirishima with his knee. Most of the other students have already left the bus, Kirishima was probably waiting for him to wake up all the way. Dumb...stupid asshole.]

Comments

[hardgay]

[ Kirishima's stupid boyfriend isn't as slick as he thinks he is. It's obvious (to Kirishima, at least, because he pays attention, because he's invested) that Bakugou hasn't been totally okay since the kidnapping. Who would be, of course, but it's not like the guy wants to talk about it, and honestly, Kirishima isn't that eager to push him to relive the whole thing. Not that it was a picnic for any of them, either. But he doesn't like the way Bakugou's been... tenser, since.

The guy was always tense, sure, but this was different. Something in his eyes, maybe, or... he doesn't know just what, but he knows he doesn't like it.

He tries not to frown or fuss or any of the stuff he knows Bakugou hates, but the way he'd jerked awake just then . . . well, maybe it was just the pothole. Maybe, maybe. ]

All caught up on your beauty sleep? [ He hops to his feet to tail Bakugou out of the bus... and shoots him a grin. Hard to dwell on that stuff when there's more immediate things to focus on, right? ]

[madfuckingcalm]

Fuck you, I don't need it. [But he waits for Kirishima at the doors to the bus anyway, even if it means they're the last ones off. He might be quicker to jump than he was before, but he's also definitely chilled out a little. At least, if Kirishima is around anyway. There's something comforting about having someone you trust implicitly, someone who gets it always at your back.

Aizawa drones on and on about the exercise despite it being goddamn standard as shit. Bakugou doesn't bother hiding his yawn and gets an annoyed look for it, but whatever. Standard seek-and-rescue op. They pair up, spread out and find the 'victims,' bring them back to the checkpoint. The sooner you finish the exercise, the sooner you get to go back on the bus and goof off. Simple.

Bakugou's already glued to Kirishima's side when Aizawa tells them to pair off, and though they get an exasperated sigh for it (which Bakugou ignores) Aizawa lets it go. They approach the entry gate; a forest and cave system. He can light their way through the caves with small, controlled explosions. This'll be easy.]

Bet I'll find the objective before you, [he taunts lowly. bakugou. punk. you are supposed to be cooperating with your boyfriend, not competing.]

[hardgay]

[ Kirishima laughs good naturedly, but rolls his eyes, brows lifting in a "really, bro?" expression. That is so like him. And it's kind of endearing, even if he doesn't actually wanna admit it. But. But. He cups his hand to his mouth, replying in a low stage whisper: ]

Dude, I hear there's this cool new thing called teamwork? We could try it. See what happens.

[madfuckingcalm]

Nah. [bakugou u shit] Whoever finds it last buys dinner. [mostly bc it's his turn to pick their date spot and he's fresh out of ideas so. MAKE KIRISHIMA DO IT VIA BET, awesome solution

then again, kirishima's like. THE SINGLE PERSON IN UA that bakugou doesn't mind losing to.]

[hardgay]

Oh-hooo, is that the way it's gonna be?

[ He grins, wider and sharper, cracking his knuckles as they walk. Nothing gets him fired up like a challenge that ends in probable makeouts. ]

Then I'm ready to work up an appetite!

[madfuckingcalm]

Stop flirting and go already, [someone complains from behind them, to which bakugou snarls:] Shut the fuck up Kaminari! You probably haven't seen any action since you slid out of your mom's vag!

[hardgay]

Aaand that's our cue to get moving! [ time to drag his boyfriend off by the wrist, TRUE PARTNERSHIP!!! don't blow his hand up snookums ] C'mon, babe [ okay maybe he wants his hand blown up a little ] we can flirt in the caves.

[madfuckingcalm]

Don't fuckin'- call me that in front of those assholes! [bakugou hisses as he pointedly does not let go of kirishima's hand. despite the fact that his palms are smoking. he is too busy pointedly ignoring the kissy-face sounds behind them and trying not To Die as they pass through the gates]

Ugh, I hate you, you fuckmunch. Let's get this over with so you can buy me dinner already. [shakes kirishima loose. like he wasn't holding his hand just as hard or anything.]

[hardgay]

[ Normally he'd be bothered by handholding time being over, but honestly, it was getting uncomfortably toasty. ]

Ha! Yeah, yeah, I love you too. [ He can read between the lines!

Kirishima stretches and relaxes his fingers, cracks his knuckles as they fall into a jog beside each other, leaves crunching underfoot. Tries not to think about how wrong things went last time they did exercises out in the woods . . . this is gonna go better. This is gonna be just fine. It's search and rescue, just a basic drill, so nothing can go that bad, and yet... well, that doesn't feel very heroic, when he thinks about it.

Rock and a hard place. ]

This really is almost too easy, huh?

[madfuckingcalm]

Yeah... [Which is what's setting him on edge. It's definitely not the fact that they're in the woods, with trees overhead thick enough to start blocking the light. It's definitely not the quiet around them, or what sounds like the crackle of fire in the distance (it's just leaves, just leaves in the wind).] This is Aizawa's idea, so there's probably a catch. Come on.

[They have a small area to search, but if they're looking for a human victim then it's obvious they'll be hidden.] There, the caves. Let's go. [Bakugou curls his fingers and pops small, local explosions to light their way. It plays hell on their eyes unless he keeps it continuous, but too much of and his hand'll go numb. They shouldn't rule out the need for combat.

But god, it's fucking dark. It's setting his teeth on edge, and after struggling against his pride for a moment Bakugou reaches for Kirishima's hand with his free one, grabbing on. Dark and woods and muck. He's not good with any of it, and Kirishima hovering so close to him, tight enough to bump shoulders and get in his way, is much more a comfort than a nuisance. Kirishima can probably already tell anyway. Kirishima always knows how he's feeling before even he does.]

[hardgay]

[ He's surprised, for a moment, but then Kirishima gives Bakugou's hand a tight squeeze, acting more on instinct than thought. Bakugou's tense, and it's making him tense, but having that solid point of contact in the dark is comforting. I'm with you. We're in this together.

The kidnapping's behind them. He knows that. No one's going to take Bakugou this time. But even if it's all in their heads, it's better to put a band-aid on it, calm them both down so they can get this done. ]

Too bad no one ever gets abducted somewhere nice.

[ The joke falls flat, sounding too dumb and too childish in the still of the cave. Ugh. ]

[madfuckingcalm]

[It's a shitty joke, but Bakugou's not stupid. He knows he's not the only one who walked away from the kidnapping with nightmares.]

Dumbass, [he says affectionately (or as affectionately as he dares anyway), and squeezes Kirishima's hand. ] Resident abduction expert here. Looks like I'll have to tutor your ass in that, too.

[hardgay]

Oh, good, can we work makeouts into that, too?

[ let's just banter til this isn't freaky anymore, right? right. ]

[madfuckingcalm]

Fucking horndog. [bakugou p l ea se, like you don't initiate half the time.

well and. okay. it's a real nice ego boost to be wanted like that.] Yeah whatever, I guess. If that's what it takes to get you to pay attention. [holy shit he wanna go home and make out right now instead of crawling through this shitty cave]

[hardgay]

[ A lot of things sound better than this cave right now, but especially that. ]

Yeah, dude, I just have so much trouble paying attention, you know how I am...

[madfuckingcalm]

If you spent half the brainpower you use trying to get me to make out with you on your actual fucking studies, you wouldn't be failing classic lit. [one of the few things bakugou can't drill into kirishima's thick skull. he's doing his best, honest.

.............ugh shut up. it's not his fault kirishima's irresistible.] Come here, moron. [yanks on kirishima's hand to tug him closer and tilts his head into a kiss.] Motivation. Pay attention and let's finish this shit so we can go suck face on the bus.

[hardgay]

[ yesssssss

They're in a cave and it's wet and dark and honestly kinda creepy and his heart still skips a beat when Bakugou tugs him into a kiss. ] Hah, [ he laughs, eyes fluttering open again, ] you're the best tutor.

[ Annnnd he flexes, bouncing from foot to foot. TIME TO GET HYPED. ]

All right! Let's do this! Kick ass and make out!

[madfuckingcalm]

[ask him a year ago if he thought having an SO would be of any benefit at all and he'd have laughed in your face. it's pathetic, how dumb he's gotten for just this one redheaded loser. he'll never hear the end of it if anybody else knew how bad it really was.

bakugou rolls his eyes and does his best to shove down his smirk.] That's what I've been saying, [he scoffs] let's fucking get this-

[and then the cave rattles over them with a boom hard enough to throw Bakugou off of his feet. His shoulder hits the cave wall and he checks, just on reflex, to make sure his palms aren't smoking, that he didn't do that himself. But no, it was muffled, it was in the distance- Is it part of the exercise?

Another BOOM, louder and harder and the ceiling cracks overhead, dropping rocks the size of golf balls onto their heads.]

Kirishima-! [Bakugou snarls, reaching for him seconds before the ground beneath them cracks, heaves, and then caves in and dumps them into darkness in a cluttered, cascading drop. Bakugou bangs something so hard he sees stars; wind whistles past his face, and he pops off an explosion to try and see what he's working with-

His hip hits a boulder, slows him down but hurts like a bitch but sends him tumbling to a stop on the ground instead of slamming face-first into it and probably cracking open his skull. He can hear the cracks of boulders striking the ground around him and he flips over, crab walks back out of the pathway of the debris. He can't use his explosions yet, not when he doesn't know where Kirishima is.]

Kirishima! [he shouts. The sound dies down, the rumbling of the cave-in distant. He thinks he can hear trickling water somewhere but it's dark, so dark that it almost feels tangible. Bakugou's mind plays tricks on him and he thinks he's imagining the faint spicy whiff of liquor.] Answer me, god damn- Where are you?

[hardgay]

[ The explosion rocks the cave and Kirishima starts to lose his footing, and as everything goes dark his first instinct is to reach for Bakugou. If his quirk had activated, he'd think later, things wouldn't have gone this way. But it's the furthest thing from his mind when he's just trying to keep them together.

He doesn't remember much of the fall, or much of anything else as he wakes very slowly, his head throbbing. The rest of him throbbing, too, he notices, inch by painful inch. That's new. He's usually way less... owww.

There's a pained groan that sounds too distant to be him for real as he raises a hand to rub his face. It's dark, where the hell is—



Bakugou.

That brings him back to reality with the force of a slap, and he tries to sit up, only to realize his left arm is pinned, painfully, under what feels like a big freaking rock. That's alarming, kinda scary, but not half as much as being alone. If Bakugou was here, he'd be able to hear him, and if he can't hear him then... then... then he has to get to him! ]

Hey! Can you hear me?

[ Kirishima tries hardening his arm, like maybe that'll dislodge the boulder or something, but it doesn't do a damn bit of good because it still hurts and he's still stuck and the worst part is he doesn't know where Bakugou is. What if he's alone, what if he's not alone... ]

Oi, Bakugou! [ How hard can he pull before he hurts himself worse? Gotta stay calm, but how's he supposed to do that?! ]

[madfuckingcalm]

[Something nearby shifts and Bakugou hears it, hears the faintest muffled call of his name and his heart immediately sinks back down out of his throat. Sounds like he's under rubble somewhere but it's Kirishima, he's got his quirk. He should be okay.

Something shifts again and Bakugou both hears and feels a clatter of shifting rock and he lurches forward, fumbling at his belt for the emergency kit they all got at the start of the lesson.] Stop, [he shouts, searching for the source of the sound by feeling alone until he manages to pull out one of the glowsticks and snaps it. The green light isn't much but it just barely outlines the edges of the collapsed boulders in front of him. ...he doesn't see any walls. They must be in an underground cavern.] Don't fucking move, let me- lemme check around you and make sure you're not gonna bring the whole fucking mountain down on your head.

[Come to think of it, why hasn't Kirishima tried to cut himself out yet? He's burrowed his way through a fucking robot. Something must be wrong.]

[hardgay]

[ His heart pounds so hard he can feel it in his throat, but it's straight relief this time. If Bakugou's here, and he's conscious, and he's okay, then they can definitely get out together. ]

No kidding! Oh, man, I was worried I'd drop a boulder on you if I started struggling! [ Deep breath. ] Okay, okay, so, don't freak out, dude [ god he really hopes Bakugou doesn't freak out, for a dozen different reasons and only one of them is because it makes his heart hurt ] but I'm, ah, kinda pinned over here.

[ And it's seriously more painful every minute he's conscious again, but his boyfriend absolutely doesn't need to know that. Again, for so many reasons. ]

But only about half of me! The other half's fine! We can still do this!

[madfuckingcalm]

[He's pinned.

Bakugou gets that metallic tang on the back of his tongue and immediately clears his head of anything but figuring out how to move the rubble. He can do this. Concentrating in a crisis is one of his strong points, provided he's not getting riled up. Being able to provide an objective analysis and strategy in the heat of battle is a core skill for hero work.

But it's fucking Kirishima is under there-]

You- stupid jackass, [Bakugou grits out. He can tell Kirishima's trying to go easy on him. Probably worried that he's going to freak out.] -fine. Fine. Okay. Don't move, but keep your quirk up. I'm gonna shift this shit off the top. Tell me to stop if it gets heavier.

[Using his quirk would be faster, but too dangerous. Not because he might catch Kirishima in the blast, but because if he hits it wrong or doesn't clear all of the rubble then he might drop more weight onto Kirishima. Right now the danger isn't in breaking Kirishima's bones, but in slowly suffocating him under the pressure of the rubble overhead.

Bakugou starts painstakingly pulling boulders off the top of the pile. They're heavy and more than once he has to use small, tiny explosions to help give things a shove; the light flashes across the cavern and Bakugou gets an idea of how huge it is, with an arched ceiling and far distant walls. He might be hearing things with all the noise, but he thinks he can even hear trickling water somewhere. That's good, water is good, and they have those purifying tablets in their kits.

After what feels like an eternity of shifting rock, Bakugou pauses to catch his breath.] Hey, can you move at all yet?

[hardgay]

[ It's weird what you focus on in a crisis. Like, for example, now, yeah, Kirishima's trying to get a sense of where they are and what they need to do to get out of here and how long it'll take anyone to find them if (IF) they can't get out of here together, but also...

... also, damn, Bakugou looks really good lifting rocks by the light of an explosion. ]

Lil bit, yeah. [ He wiggles his arm, and it hurts like nothing else, but yeah, he thinks he can almost get it free. ] Can you... just a little more on the one to your left? I only need an inch or so and I can get outta here.

[madfuckingcalm]

[kirishima are you seriously eyeballing ur bf while being half-crushed by an entire cave-in

bro]

Fuck. Yeah. Move your legs. [It works out better if Bakugou braces himself over Kirishima and wedges his shoulder against the goddamn thing, pushing with all his might. Bakugou is far from a weak guy, but his strengths have always been primarily in using his quirk quickly and effectively; he doesn't have the muscle mass as some of their brawnier classmates, and trying to move a boulder that weighs three times as much as him is not easy task. His explosions would do more harm than good here so he just struggles and sweats and grunts until he gets it up just enough for Kirishima to slip out.]

Fuck fuck fuck- fuck, [he yells as Kirishima finally manages to scramble out and drops it with a gasp. He falls back onto his ass beside Kirishima, panting before vaulting up onto his knees, one hand popping tiny explosions for more light than just the glowstick.] C'mere- c'mere, let me see. [He grabs Kirishima's good shoulder to pull him closer, grip much more gentle then usual.]

[hardgay]

[ Kirishima ends up leaning or slumping or going some kind of boneless against Bakugou, just for a second, just for that sense of safety and closeness and maybe a little bit to calm Bakugou down. The gentleness of his grip is really... he is freaked out, wow. Maybe he should be, but Kirishima doesn't want to think about that. ]

Hey, hey, I'm okay. [ He shifts wrong and a sharp stab of pain shoots up his arm, and he sucks in a breath; he wiggles his fingers. Okay. He's gonna be fine. Just not used to getting hurt like this, that's all, that's all. ] Nothing I can't get fixed once we're out of here.

Just a dumb mistake, rookie stuff... [ He makes himself laugh, because if he's laughing it can't be that bad, and if it's not that bad then Bakugou's not allowed to worry about him. ] I got knocked out before I could activate my quirk, that's all. I should've been prepared, but I wasn't focused.

[ He looks Bakugou over in the flickering light, worry and guilt gnawing at his gut. ] What about you, are you hurt? We fell so far! Sorry I couldn't be more useful...

[madfuckingcalm]

Shut the hell up, [Bakugou says without any heat. His hand sinks into Kirishima's hair as he checks for wounds when he mentions being knocked out, expression smoothing into something less desperate when he only finds a small bump and no blood.

Just his arm then.]

You can make it up to me later, [Bakugou orders as he sits back on his heels and starts working off the belts around his waist and legs. Gotta bind that arm just in case.] And take that dumb cape thing off, we're making a sling.

[Just gonna. Ignore the way his hands shake a little. It's just adrenaline crash.]

[hardgay]

You didn't answer me, [ Kirishima points out with a small pout. ] C'mon, what'd you land on? You didn't get off that easy, did you? [ Then again, he hopes he's wrong and he's the only one who messed up here.

He shifts to get it off, grimacing when he automatically moves his busted arm. ] Ah, hey, I'm gonna need you to be my other hand, okay? I don't wanna make it worse trying to make it better.

[madfuckingcalm]

Relax already. [Wow hypocrite] I'm fine. Just bruised. [hella bruised, but nobody ever died from bruising. unless they were PATHETIC WEAKLINGS.

Bakugou drops his belts next to the glowstick and reaches around to help Kirishima detach his cape.] There's no fucking way Aizawa missed that blast, so he's either fighting or already on the way. [Fighting if this is another villain attack that is.

Bakugou starts assembling a decent sling and harness from the belts and cape material.] We get to the surface and assess from there. Not a big deal. [yeah buddy kirishima is okay, so who're you trying to reassure]

[hardgay]

Shouldn't be too hard.

[ He has no idea, actually, but it's better to stay positive at a time like this. They can't have fallen that far, and it isn't like they aren't in a known location, so... even if they can't get out themselves...

Kirishima reaches out to rest his good hand on Bakugou's knee. ]

I'm glad we're together, dude.

[madfuckingcalm]

[Kirishima's hand on his knee is like someone hitting the pause button. Bakugou freezes, hands stilling around the belts, then lower to rest in his lap for a moment before he leans forward again to work the sling over Kirishima's head and shoulder.]

That's why we fucking teamed up, isn't it? [To be together, no matter what happens.]

[hardgay]

Well, yeah, man, in a general sense. I mean... that and the sweet makeout perks.

[ It's a good sling, enough to get the job done and keep him from worrying about his stupid busted arm when there are more important things to do, and he smiles back up at Bakugou. ]

Top notch first aid skills.

[madfuckingcalm]

[Bakugou scowls and slips his hand into Kirishima's hair.] Quit- [ducks in to lay a kiss on Kirishima's mouth] -trying to make me feel better. I'm fine. You're fine. We're both fine.

[There's a strong possibility that they both WON'T be fine, and Bakugou can feel the chill of shock settling into his fingers and toes but, right now, he's got it together. So long as he doesn't puke or get pinned down or anything, he can stand the dark.

...but he kisses Kirishima again anyway for the warmth of his mouth. He's concerned by that arm. It doesn't look awful and Kirishima seems more or less okay but joint injuries are dangerous. He needs to get looked at ASAP.]

This fucking sucks. Now we can't make out on the bus, [Bakugou grumbles, helping Kirishima to his feet and going for the nearest topic to keep himself distracted from the way the shadows move when he plucks up the glowstick. Kirishima can't haul his hyperventilating ass out of here so if he loses it, they're in trouble. Need to stay present.]