Kirishima's POV

"K..Kirishima?" Bakugou looked at me, his eyes just slightly wider than his normal narrowed expression and his mouth agape.

"I thought you died when we ran into that huge fucking horde of infected!! You, Pinky and Soy-Sauce face!" He ran up to me and stopped abruptly, his arms were slightly raised as if he was about to go in for a hug, but instead he awkwardly placed both of his hands on my shoulders.

"We almost did!! We got cornered by a couple runners and I got slightly scratched, but luckily it never broke skin! Sero and Mina got out before I did, though. They're alive- still at our camp!" I almost forcefully pulled him into a huge hug. He didn't bother to hug back, but stayed still with a slight flinch, never motioning to pull away.

"You're telling me... all this fucking time... you three were only 30 minutes away from our camp?!" He yelled, I shrugged and said a simple 'I guess so!'

"Wow.... Bakugou, how long have you known this guy for? You won't even let any of us come near you back at camp!"

"A long ass time, Scalie."

"...I already told you, just because I like reptiles doesn't make me a scalie."

"Shut up, Scalie." Bakugou snaps at his...friend(?). He seemed angry, but I could feel his small smile as his face was still now buried in my shoulder.

"Oh.. uh.. wh-what's your name?" Awase speaks up finally, stuttering just barely as he looks at the other, much kinder, stranger. It's weird, though... he isn't one to stutter. He hardly ever shows nervousness or embarassment to strangers, but he seemed.. almost flustered.

"I'm Rin Hiryuu. As you probably heard from me and..."

"Kirishima."

"-Kirishima, that's Bakugou. Bakugou Katsuki." Rin says with a soft and smooth tone. His voice is like silk, honestly. And Awase must've taken note of this... as his face was glowing a light pink that was barely visible in the dim light.

"I'm- Uh..."

"...your name's Awas-"

"Yes!! Awase! Uh.. Awase Yousetsu!" He speaks up and holds out his hand, but still watches his tone as to not alert anyone outside. Rin looked almost endeared as he took Awase's hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you Awase."

"Uhm,, you too!!"

"Sorry about him, he's nervous around new people." I lie to cover him up. I see that he looks at me with eyes that scream "THANK YOU!"

"Completely understandable. Especially in a world where you can't trust anyone." Rin laughs and WOOO it's as smooth as his voice. Awase is dying.

"...shouldn't we exchange the goddamn shipments already?" Balugou says and reluctantly pulls away, standing up straight and tall while crossing his arms. His face was also slightly red.

"Oh yeah!" Rin says and hands us a rather small bag. I open it up and look inside; everything was there. Various medicines and lots of ammo. Awase hands him their bag and he also checks through it.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Bakugou says and slings the bag over his shoulder. Before any of us had the chance to turn and leave for the door, I spoke up quickly.

"Hold on! I.. don't know if you guys would agree to this, but I think everyone in each of our factions should greet eachother. As in... one camp goes to another! It might sound a little dangerous, leaving a camp unattended, but I think we should because... communication, diplomacy and... manliness!" I tried to say as confidently as I can. Rin and Bakugou stare at me, then at eachother, then back at me. But, Awase speaks up before either of them.

"If you guys want, we can be the ones to leave our camp. We have protocols and a method to leave the camp looking like it's barren and dangerous." He says with a small smile. Bakugou looks indifferent, but Rin looks somewhat hopeful.

"I actually think it's not a bad idea. What do you say, Bakugou?" Bakugou's eyes shift from Rin back to me and Awase. His face twisted into a bit of a grimace.

"I don't fuckin' care, but it would take at least a day to even have the deal arranged and communicated since someone needs to travel across the path between both camps." He says in an irritated deadpan and the once high spirits in the room were now left hanging low. A frown dawns both mine and Awase's face, and Rin looks at us apologetically. But, suddenly, I hear Balugou snickering across from me.

"At least... it would take a day if I didn't find these." He says and pulls out two walkie-talkies that were strapped behind him on his belt. I immediately light up and snag one.

"Awesome!! Now we don't need to keep risking Iida's life!" I joke just slightly and strap it to my waistband.

"I just put new batteries in and made sure they worked. So, if your leader does or doesn't agree, we can find out as soon as possible." He had a smug and triumphant grin on his face. I almost pulled him in for another hugged, but refrained.

"This is great! Well.. thanks for he supplies! We need to get back to camp as soon as possible!" I turn to walk out of the door, Awase following behind me with his crossbow readied. We both waved shyly back as we left the cabin. But, just as we left, I heard a distant and quiet comversation.

"Don't think I didn't see you checking out that extra with the headband, Scalie."

"Shut up, you were totally checking out Kirishima."

"Why you little-"

Wait... Bakugou was.. checking me out? Nope. Nope I can't get attached again. Too dangerous.

"(I can't wait to get back to Todoroki with the news!)

"(Same.)"

---

I wave my hand in the air and catch Shouji's attention. I see him look back and give a hand signal to whoever is still outside at this hour. He then climbs down his ladder and opens the door for us.

"Welcome back guys, we were getting worried for a second. Took you a while." He says simply and closes the gate with one hand while patting my back with the other.

"Yeah, sorry about that Shouji." I give him a quick kiss on the cheek, like I do with all my homies, and he says a simple 'it's fine.'

"Can you tell me where Todoroki is, though? We have great news to share!" Hope oozes from my expression. Shouji was still stoic.

"He's up in his study, he said he's planning on finding another hunting route to take tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks. You're the best Shouji!" I give him a thumbs up and I see a small indent of a smile form under his mask as he climbs back up the ladder. Man, he needs to learn when to take a break...

..speaking of taking a break-

"Yo, Awase, you can go to bed if ya want. You look kinda beat." I say and his head snaps up to look at me. He's pretty out of it, too..

"Sorry.. just.. thinking about things..."

"Is it a thing, or a person?~" I wink at him and he swats me on the head.

"Shut up!! Yeah, sure, he was cute, so what??"

"I never said anything about a boy..."

"..shit."

"Hah. But, seriously, you wanna head up to bed?"

"...yeah. I guess so. In that case, can you take the shipment up to Todoroki for me?"

"Of course, dude!" I say and he passed me the bag, I sling it over my shoulder and kiss him goodnight on the forehead. He smiles just slightly as he walks off and up to his dorm room.

Once I reach the door to Todoroki's study, I knock on the door, and I'm almost immediately invited in.

"Todoroki! You won't believe what happened!" I look as Todoroki scans his eyes over a map of our area, but quickly looks up towards me. The bags under his eyes are so heavy..

"What happened, Kirishima?"

"Well.. me and Awase went over and delivered the stuff, yeah? Well, turns out one of the people in the other camp brought a lamp, so I saw his face and someone else's!"

"Who's?"

"Well, remember that guy I told you about that I liked but thought he diiied..."

"Oh. Him."

"Yeah! Anyways, we had a nice little bonding moment where I cradled him in my arms, and afterwards, he gave me and Awase 2 walkie-talkies!" I say and Todoroki's heavy eyes widen.

"Really?"

"Yeah! And they're in lerfect shape! But the reason he gave it to me is so I can tell him what you say about the plan we came up with."

"What plan?"

"We decided to have one of our camps go over to the other one so we can meet everyone there for... diplomatic matters! It can only help with communication, especially now that we have walkie-talkies! Awase suggested that we go visit them since we have an entire method for when we leave the camp. But we need to know if you'd be alright with this.. plan?" I tap my fingers together anxiously and hopefully. Todoroki has a look of pondering on his face for a good while, before snapping his focus back onto me. His trademarked simple-yet-soft smile flashing towards me.

"In the morning." He says and I literlaly jump for joy. I get to see Bakugou!! And Kaminari!!

"BUT- this is purely for peaceful relation. Don't get too comfortable with them, besides, we don't know how quickly they could just.. up and betray us." He says sternly and I sink just a bit lower. He has a point, and I know he's tryibg to protect us, but I still didn't like the fact.

"It's better than no!" I smile as I trot behind me and lay down the shipment bag onto his mini-desk.

"Also, Todoroki... you don't need to worry about hunting routes right now, get some rest." I say as softly as I can, refraining myself from smiling to show I was serious. His eyes travel down to look at the map, he seemed a little disheartened.

"Kirishima... we may not need it now, but we'll need it for the future. It doesn't hurt to plan ahead." His voice was lowly and tired. I'm not stopping until this beautiful bastard gets some sleep!

"Todoroki, it's not like our normal hunting route will go up in flames tomorrow. It's good to plan ahead, but there's not bad about planning on time either." My eyes narrow at him once he looks back up at me. I stride up to his desk and grab the map, folding it. He doesn't make an effort to stop me.

"You're a great leader, but being a leader doesn't always mean you should sacrifice your own health for us. You have to take care of yourself so none of us worry, and to perform your absolute best. Besides, everyonep knows a lack of self-care is super unmanly!" I scold him as I set the map to the side. He chuckles wistfully, rubbing his eyes.

"I guess you're right.. a leader needs to be at their best to effectively lead any sort of group.." He sluggishly steps out from behind his desk and puts his hand in my hair, running it though and petting me.

"Thank you, Kirishima." My looks softens at his sleep-deprived figure.

"Anytime, Todoroki." I say and he leans in and gives me a quick goodnight peck on the lips. Then walking past me and into his room. I felt really happy, he's never initiated one of my kisses before! We must be getting closer!!

I walk happily out of his study and down to my dorm, completely ecstatic for tomorrow.

-----------------------------------------------------

"May I have everyone's attention?" Todoroki shouts across the breakfast table. Everyone's dreary and haze-filled minds perk up at him, intent on listening despite it being so early in the morning.

"It has been brought to my attention by both Kirishima and Awase that we now have better communication with the opposing camp with walkie-talkies, and they've requested all of us visiting them today. So, as soon as breakfast is finished, I expect all of you to gear up and carry out the protocol for making this place look like as much of a dumpster fire as my dad. Thank you, that is all." He waves his hand as he walks inside the main building to wash his dish and ready himself for our departure. A laugh is shared throughout the table at Todoroki's last statement.

"I'm so excited to meet the people in the other camp! Iida, what's their leader's name again?" I look over to Iida.

"Their camp is actually run as an Oligarchy, but the main person in charge is Midoriya Izuku!"

"Nice!"

"I'm sorta excited, but I honestly still don't trust them quite yet..." Kodai says quietly next to me.

"I agree." Yanagi, who somehow heard her, speaks up.

"Ditto." Shinsou raises his hand.

"Well, who knows? Maybe you guys will start to trust them after you actually get to know them." Awase speaks up for me. And opinions started spreading throughout the conversation.

"I'm actually super excited too!"

"Same! I've always wanted to meet the people over there!" Sero and Mina excitedly speak to eachother. Oh, they're in for a treat...

"I'm willing to give them a chance. If they were generous enough to give Sir Iida here a place to stay as a horde walked by, maybe they aren't so bad." Shishida interjects.

"I think I'm gonna wait until we actually meet them first." Satou says with a nervous smile and stands up shortly afterwards.

"I'm fucking pumped!!" Is all Tokage says.

"Well, if you're really that pumped then maybe you should get to eating so we can leave as soon as possible."

"Shit, u right."

I let out a laugh as I eat my last portion of cinnamon peaches and apples. I stand after finishing and basically speed-walk to the kitchen to clean my dish. I wonder how everyone in Faction Midoriya is handling the news? I mean, I told Bakugou right after I got confirmation from Todoroki, so maybe he already told Midoriya? Unless Midoriya has an actually healthy sleep schedule, unlike some people...

Anyways, I finish washing my dish and run up to my dorm to collect my things for my leave. I barge inside and immediately grab my backpack that had pretty much all my weapons and other supplies, save for a few shotguns, hunting rifles, sniper rifles, crossbows, and a bow that all don't fit inside. I also grab my gas mask and hang it around my neck in front of me. Finally, I grab my bucket of dark red paint and walk down to the courtyard.

Once I arrive, I see everyone's left the table, and a few people are already out here and prepping for the leave. Shouji and Tokage were up taking down their tower stations, Kuroiro covered the smoke coming from the fire used to cook breakfast with a sodden towel, Shinsou, Awase, Yanagi and Poni dragged the table over to a hiding spot. I saw Sero and Mina come back with dirt covering their hands after dirtying up the greenhouse windows. They highfived, and Monoma, Sen, Fukidashi, Tsu, Yui, Shishida, Iida and Yaoyorozu all put up fake borders over the windows of the main building. As I'm admiring the scene, I feel someone tap my shoulder. I look over and see Todoroki.

"Oh! Todoroki!"

"Hi. You ready to go?"

"Hell yeah, dude!"

"Great." Todoroki says and whistles, waving his hand high in the air to tell everyone to gather around. They did as instructed and swarmed into a huge horde around us.

"We're ready to go! Everyone have extra food and water?"

"Yes!"

"Guns and ammo? Knives, bats, metal pipes and shivs?"

"Yes and Yes!"

"Finally, everyone have their gas masks?"

"Yes!"

"Perfect. Let's go." He says and motions Iida to come to the front since he'll be the one to lead the way. Both Todoroki and Shouji hold open the doors to let us out, and I see that everyone has some sort of weapon in their hand. As soon as everyone is filed out of the campus, I keep the metal door open with my foot and drop the bucket of red paint on the ground, popping it open and dipping my finger into it to write on the door.

"DON'T OPEN, DEAD INSIDE"

I made the letters as big and messy as possible, the final E in 'inside' dragged out into a 'bloody' hand print that fell to the ground. And, for final measure, I poured a small amount of red paint on the ground where the hand print led and smeared it around to make it look like a dead body had been there. Once I was finished with the scene, I tossed the paint inside the gates and closed it.

"(All good, Todo!)" I whispered and gave a thumbs up, getting a rag and wiping the paint off of my hand afterwards. He nods and motions everyone to follow Iida, which we do with extreme caution.

It was barely 10 minutes before we ran into about 3 Runners and a Clicker. One of the Runners had already spotted us and ran toward us, screaming.

"AAAAAGH!! RRRAAGGH!!" They screeched as they came vaulting towards us, their friends joining them and the Clicker swining it's arms insanely in front of it to feel around for us.

"RAAAAAAGH!" It screamed. Iida gripped his baseball bat and swung hard at the first Runner, the sound of their jaw breaking heard all-too-clearly. Before they had time to react, he swung his bat down and mashed it into the ground. The skull shattered in pieces as chunks of brain matter flowed out along with the infected's blood.

The second and third runner were taken care of  quickly by Todoroki and Kodai, who were standing at Iida's sides. Todoroki shot one directly between the eyes with deadly accuracy with his bow, and Kodai shot the last Runner in the middle of their forehead with a crossbow. The Clicker was still screaming insanely as it made it's way towards us. It was more difficult to kill it with just arrows because of the mushroom-plate armor coveribg it's head. So, instead, Fukidashi charged at it with his machete, keeping his head down low. He was the shortest one of us all, so it would be hard for the Clicker to grab him in the first place. Once he got close enough to it, he swung his sword upwards, slicing through the draw and the entire front of the Clicker's face. It died in an instant, it's head being cut clean in half and the rotting brain inside falling in one piece onto the floor.

"(Is it weird that I just turned on myself?)" Fukidashi whispered as he cleaned the blade of his machete with a rag.

"(...Yes. Yes it is.)" Kuroiro looked at him incredulously, earning a quiet laugh from Fukidashi.

Before we moved on much farther, we stopped to listen if any infected where coming close to us. After hearing nothing but silence, we each put on our gas masks to protect ourselves from the spores the Clicker's corpse was giving off.

Without speaking and within and instant, Todoroki brought out his flamethrower and burned the body until nothing was left but a rotten smell. He put out the fire with the water in his canteen, and we moved on.

---

"(Their camp is right here!)" Iida whisper shouted back to us and, lo and behold, there was a huge camp. Along the walls lined about 4 people, each holding a different long-ranged weapon. As soon as we came into view, each one was pointed at us, until they recognized Iida's face and a rather plain but strong looking  blonde boy jumped down and opened the barred fence for us.

Todoroki was now ahead of us and waved at the blonde boy. The boy's expression went from stern and stoic to friendly and welcoming in an instant as he waved back at Todoroki. Next to me, I heard Shinsou's foot steps falter. When I looked back, I saw that he was staring at the blonde boy with such an enamored look in his eyes. His face was already flushing.

"(Hey, loverboy! We still need to go inside!)" I teased him and he was finally snapped out of his trance.

"(Uh-Uh- yeah... inside.. go...)" He whispers and walks quickly ahead of me. As he walks theough the gate, I saw the unnamed boy's gaze linger on him. His cheeks also dusted a light pink.

Once we were all inside, all eyes were on us. Until a rather short boy with green curly hair, wide eyes and freckles with a friendly disposition spoke and walked up to us.

"Hi! I'm Midoriya, it's so great to finally meet you all!!" He says and stops in front of our group. Todoroki looks down at him and he returns the gaze, although he does seem a bit more bashful now.

"Midoriya, yes?" He holds out his hand.

"Todoroki Shouto. Just call me Todoroki."

"Uh-Uhm.... sure!" He says and shakes his hand rigidly. Letting go a short while after and basically gluing his arm to his side. Todoroki mutters something to him and he just nods.

"Everyone, Todoroki and I are going up in the Conference Room to discuss some things regarding our factions! I'll leave you all to each other." The previously soft-spoken boy shouts and leads Todoroki inside.

There's an awkward silence that fills the courtyard, that is, until...

"WAITWAITWAITWAIT- bAKUGOU?!?!"

"Oh jesus fuck."

"OH MY GOD!!! KAMINARI!!!"

"SERO?! MINA!!!" Mina, Sero and Kaminari all shout and run towards each other tackling each other in a HUGE hug and falling to the ground.

"KIRISHIMA, GET IN HERE!!"

"OKAY!!" I shout after Kaminari and run towards the hug pile, jumping in and basically on top of him.

"aOH- f U HcK-"

"SHITSORRY-"

"BRO IT'S ALL GOOD- I'M JUST SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ALL BACK! YOU GUYS DIDN'T DIE AFTER ALL!!"

"NOPE!!"

"YO!! BAKUGOUU!" Mina yells and Bakugou just scoffs.

"What?"

"JOIN US!" Sero yells and we all start chanting.

"ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!"

"Alright, alright! Jesus fucking Christ you're going to attract everying fucking horde in a 10 mile radius..." he grumbles and walks over to us, squatting down and gently rubbing my hair.

"C'mon, you can do better than that!"

"The fuck do do you- uWAGH!" Bakugou shouts once he's pounced on by Mina. He falls flat on his back and me, Sero and Kaminari crawl to hug him on the ground.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!!"

"Hey! Language Bakugou!"

"WH-"

"No need to be so loud, man!"

"You MOTHERFUCKERS!"

:)) yey.