SOMEWHERE, BELOW THE CITY OF MUSUTAFU.

The boss sat at his desk, his second in command standing in front of him, back straight and eyes on a nick in the wall above his superior's head.

The room was silent, but the second's felt his ears were going to burst. A drop of sweat rolled down the back of his neck.

The room was cold.

"Well?" The boss asked in his daunting voice, drumming his fingers aggressively against his hand, "what?"

"What if we sent a threat sir?!" His second barked, voice cracking at the end out of sheer nerves.

"What?"

The second cleared his throat.

"The detective, sir. (L/N). What if we sent her a threat?" His boss stayed silent. "You know, telling her to keep—"

"I know what you mean!" The boss yelled, making his second in command flinch. "I was thinking."

The second swallowed and stayed silent as his superior slowly stood from his chair, tapping his lip in thought.

"A threat huh?"

He stayed silent after that, pacing behind his desk chair.

With every foot fall, his second felt his heart drop farther and farther, and his head began to pound at the same pace. His boss was terrifying.

"Where is she now?"

"Her home sir! She's with Red Riot!"

"That bitch. I bet they're conspiring right now. You know what? I'll send the threat myself. Personally."

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"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow."

I laughed as Eijiro ripped another piece of mask from his face, wincing in pain.

"You can wet it and wipe it off you know," I said, stifling a laugh as I wiped my own mask off.

"I know, but mine's a peel off mask, the best part is peeling it off," he explained, ripping another piece from his face. He bit back a wince and rubbed his forehead.

"Eijiro you're in pain."

"I'm being manly!"

I laughed again, before rinsing my face, finally ridding it of whatever Eijiro had put on it.

"How do you feel about a movie?" I asking, reaching behind the red head to grab a dry towel as he started rinsing his own face, finally having ripped all of the mask off.

"Sounds great!"

"Suggestions?" I asked, holding out my hand and wiggling my fingers as if to ask him to pass me something.

"Anything you want, I don't mind! You go ahead, I'll be a minute."

"Alright, don't hurt yourself," I said, leaving the room as we both laughed to ourselves.

As I sat, scrolling through movies on a streaming service, I thought about what Eijiro and I had talked about earlier.

He really felt that way? Like he bothers people?

He's easily one of the happiest people I know, is it all a facade? An act he puts on so that people don't worry?

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Eijiro patted his face dry with a hand towel, sighing into it as he wiped his mouth.

He stared at himself in the mirror, tilting his face left and right, making sure no residue was left behind.

After a moment, he stopped, hanging the towel back up and leaning forward against the counter.

He looked himself dead in the eye, face devoid of any emotion.

"You will not cry," he muttered, "please don't cry. Don't cry in front of her Eijiro, please."

He watched as his eyes started to glisten with tears, teetering on the edge of spilling over.

His head fell and closed his eyes, biting back a sob. The tears now fell from his eyes as his body shook and silently sobbed.

After just a few moments he looked back up, breathing heavily yet silently as he stared at himself. Tear tracks led their way down his face, eyes looking red and irritated. He sighed deeply, gathering the pieces of himself that were left scattered on the bathroom floor, and built himself back up.

He wiped his eyes, making sure he didn't look like he had just cried, for he knew the detective would know.

She wasn't stupid.

He let out another heavy sigh, making eye contact with his reflection.

"My name is Kirishima Eijiro, and I am the hero Red Riot. I am manly and I will not cry in front of (L/N) (Y/N)." He took a deep breath, wiping his face once more and stood straight.

He flashed a smile at himself, straightening his shirt.

"You alright?" Yelled the detective from the living room.

Eijiro opened the door, pulling the hair tie out of his hair as we walked down the hall towards her.

"I'm great!"

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Tomura groaned as he slid off the cot and onto his knees. He fell further and flipped over, laying on his back, limbs spread apart.

He'd acted good. He'd been quiet. He was on his best behavior. And yet here he was, still. In. Solitary.

The guards wouldn't tell him when he was leaving, just as they never told him how long he would be here when they first picked him up.

He had seen what solitary did to prisoners, it drove them insane. And Tomura refused to be like that. He refused to be driven crazy like they were, to stoop to their level.

So he kept track of the days to keep sane, that and think of her, his beloved. It was... Friday now. Right?

Yes, it's Friday now.

Then tomorrow would be Saturday, the next day is Sunday and then the next after that— after Sunday, is Monday, and Monday is the day (Y/N) visits, Monday is the day (Y/N), the love of of his life visits.

Two days. Forty-eight hours. Two thousand, eight hundred and eighty minutes. One hundred seventy-two thousand and eight hundred seconds.

That's it.

As long as he got out of here before then— he would see her again.

And he wasn't crazy, no! He wasn't that weak as to fall to the level of low-life thugs.

He's been crazy, he's been erratic, but he wasn't going to be sitting and rocking in a corner like a moron.

He refused.

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"Sorry for taking a while," Eijiro said, taking a seat beside me on the couch.

"Don't worry about it, you're fine. How does a cheesy rom-com sound?" I asked, passing him a bowl with warm pizza rolls inside.

"Sounds perfect," he agreed, taking the bowl.

I pressed play and grabbed a bowl of my own, beginning to eat my "dinner."

I tried my best to keep my eyes on the screen, but I still managed to watch Eijiro from my peripheral.

Something happened in my bathroom. I know it did.

But what?

He looked like he had before, eyes devoid of life. The lights from the screen flashed on his face, giving it a multi-color glow. Yet through it all, his eyes looked darker; irritated.

He was crying, that's what happened, he was crying.

"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked. He turned to look at me, a small smile playing in his face. I kept my gaze forward.

"Yeah, I'm great! Why?"

"I mean you were crying in my bathroom so..."

His face fell.

"You heard?"

"I didn't have to." I ate another pizza roll. "Your eyes looked irritated. Besides, if I wasn't sure before, I am now after the way you answered." We were both silent.

I watched the screen and he watched me, both of us holding our breath in anticipation.

"So," I said, finally turning to face him, "why were you crying?"

KIRISHIMA ANGST

Fun Fact: No one in Kirishima's class ever noticed (Y/N) at U.A. except for Koda. He never said anything about it, but he thought she was pretty.

i was gonna publish this earlier but i fell asleep😃

reminder: treat yourself every once in a while, you deserve it! i love you all💞💞

over and out.