Bakugou tried to ignore the mere mention of Kirishima's name, but they were in the same class and his friends happened to be loud.
Because of this, Bakugou overheard a decent amount of news about how Kirishima had been doing, about how happy his life was without Bakugou in it. He learned that Kirishima stayed with Kaminari for the holidays, and that they had played video games the whole time, and he learned that he was getting an apartment once second year was finished.
But, one week before they took their final exams for the year, Bakugou overheard something about Kirishima that made him absolutely sick.
"I'm dropping out after this year."
"What? Kiri, education is important!" Mina cried.
"I mean...it wasn't like I was going anywhere special to begin with. And anyway, I have a great job opportunity out of town and school is expensive." Kirishima laughed after he said this, that same awkward chuckle he always used to brush away his worries. Bakugou could almost feel steam pouring from his ears. He was livid. How could Kirishima throw his life away like that?! He wanted to scream at the redhead, to tell him that he was an idiot for even thinking about dropping out, but he held back by standing from his desk and walking out of the classroom.
He got that feeling again, the shattering one where his chest felt like it was full of smoke, and he knew it was time to get out of sight.
These attacks had been coming regularly since he cut Kirishima off, and they hadn't been getting better like he had expected. Every time he felt one coming on, he escaped to his room and hid out until they passed. Nobody needed to know that he was falling apart inside. They would only pity him, and that was the last thing he wanted.
This time, it was worse. For one thing, he threw up. He never did that, but as the bile rose from his throat, barely making it to the toilet, he realized that these panic attacks were getting worse. The acidic taste in his mouth and the burn in his larynx told him that he hadn't eaten in a while. It was hard to when everything tasted like cardboard.
Maybe he had a problem. Maybe he needed help.
Maybe he just needed to beat somebody up.
Where the hell was Deku? As soon as he stopped puking, he was going to pick a real nasty fight with that wimp.
It had worked last time, after all.
His legs wobbled when he stood up, weak from the loss of fluid his body had experienced. He needed to punch something. He needed to-
A knock at his door interrupted him. Who the hell was visiting him? He hoped it was Deku so he could throw hands.
But, of course it wasn't. He just wasn't that lucky.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked.
"You stormed out of class. I was worried about you." Kirishima answered.
Bakugou clenched his teeth. Why was this idiot still trying to help him after everything that had happened?!
He grabbed the front of the moron's shirt, pulling him into the room and closing the door before slamming him against it.
"What the fuck makes you think you can just drop out of school?"
"It's my own business. Why are you so concerned all of a sudden, huh?"
"Are you just trying to run away from me? I thought we were friends?"
"Were, Bakugou. We WERE friends. You burned that bridge, remember?"
Bakugou's hands dropped to his side. "I'm better off without you."
"Are you? Cuz you have bags under your eyes every day now, and your weight is dropping before everybody's eyes, and all that fight that made you who you are is nowhere to be found. Who the fuck are you anymore, Bakugou?" It was Kirishima's turn to get aggressive and it wasn't a good look on him. Bakugou backed up but the redhead reclaimed the lack of space between them just as quickly.
"You're better off without me." Bakugou corrected. "You don't need me anymore."
"You're a dumbass!" Kirishima shouted, pushing Bakugou backward. He fell into his bed, not struggling as Kirishima pinned him down. "You're the only one I've EVER needed."
As warm lips met Bakugou's puke flavoured ones, he found himself realizing that this was what he wanted. He wanted to be needed more than anything, he wanted KIRISHIMA to need him. Bakugou lifted his hands to Kirishima's hips, rolling them over so he was the one straddling Kirishima.
"I'm not gay." He insisted, kissing Kirishima roughly.
"Yeah." Kirishima said breathlessly when they parted. "I'm not either."