cw : domestic violence , tskr , endgame/pining krbk

Kirishima ends up with Tetsutetsu after high school. He can’t lie, he always wished for something to happen between him and Bakugou, but every attempt on his part was shot down, so he stopped trying.

He never gave up on their friendship, of course, and they very predictably moved in together after graduation. He loves it. Even if he never got exactly what he wanted, he truly loves being Katsuki’s best friend.

He stopped trying for anything romantic with Bakugou, and Tetsutetsu was always so forward in his intentions with Eijirou, so he gave him a shot. He thought “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Standing im front of the bathroom mirror, cleaning his bloody nose and trying to cover the bruising on his neck, he realizes it’s this. This is the worst that could happen.

It wasn’t always like this, but this isn’t the first time. He’s hesitant to say he’s being abused, though. He usually hits back. If he hits back, it’s not abuse, it’s just an unhealthy relationship.

Sure, Tetsu hardens fully when he’s rough with Eijirou, where Ei’s never dared to go unbreakable, but it’s not abuse, just unhealthy.

Yes, Eijirou hasn’t been without a boyfriend inflicted bruise or injury in months, but it’s not abuse, just unhealthy.

And, yeah, he’s sobbing in the bathroom at three in the morning while Tetsu sleeps soundly, but it’s not abuse, just unhealthy.

“Eijirou? Why the fuck are you banging around in there? Do you know what time it is?”

Oh, that makes sense. For a second, he thought the footsteps he heard were his boyfriend coming to comfort him and apologize, but no, it’s just Bakugou telling him to shut up.

“Sorry, dude! I’ll be quieter.”

“That’s not what I meant. Open up.”

Bakugou jiggles the door handle and Eijirou has no doubt he would’ve just walked in if it was unlocked. The man has no shame.

“Yeah, uh, gimme a second.”

Kirishima slaps more concealer on the hand shaped bruise wrapping around his neck, and wipes his eyes with a wet hand towel.

“The fuck happened to you? I thought you didn’t have patrol for another two days.”

“Dude! A locked door is not an invitation for you to use your key!”

“Then what the fuck is the purpose of a key?”

“For, like, if we accidentally lock the bathroom with no one in it, or something.”

“Why would we do that? No, you know what, you’re deflecting. What is all this shit?”

He gestures to the makeup and first aid supplies scattered around the bathroom vanity.

“I uh, I had an accident?”

Bakugou’s eyebrows shoot up his head and Kirishima scrabbles to fix that statement.

“Not that kind of accident!”

“Then what kind of accident?”

“I, um, fell off the bed.”

Bakugou looks at him with absolutely no belief in what he’s said.

“You pissed yourself and fell off the bed. How old are you, again?”

“Dude! I told you it wasn’t that kind of accident.”

Kirishima finds himself smiling a tiny bit and remembers exactly why he went running to Bakugou the first few times he got hurt.

He’s never actually told his friend the truth about his injuries, but just being around him always makes Eijirou feel a bit better. It also hurts, thinking about how things could be so different for him if Bakugou was able to return his feelings.

Their relationship could’ve been really healthy and fun and supportive. Eijirou feels incredibly guilty for still thinking like that when he’s with someone else.

He doesn’t think he deserves to be hit, but he can kind of understand it. Tetsu’s in a committed relationship with a guy who hasn’t been able to get over his high school crush, of course he’s goin to get angry sometimes.

Kirishima’s never actually said he’s still in love with his best friend, but he’s sure Tetsu’s been able to tell.

Eijirou’s just a fucking idiot who didn’t think before he acted at the beginning of his relationship. The first time he got hit was after a party where he’d accidentally ignored his boyfriend in favor of hanging out with Bakugou.

[ okay just to let y’all know this is probably gonna be very fickle with updates and i’m not sure if i’ll be able to finish it anytime soon but i got motivation so
also i promise i love tetsu to death i just needed a bad guy im sorry ]

It wasn’t /too/ bad. Tetsu had been drunk and it was just a backhand. It wasn’t like he beat him up or anything, it was just an understandable moment of anger.

He apologized afterwards. Covered Eijirou’s face with kisses and brought him breakfast in bed the next morning. It wasn’t a big deal, really.

[ tw: uh later referenced violent sex /dubcon sort of? like consensual but rougher than expected ]

The second time was a little worse, but it barely left a bruise, so Eijirou didn’t have much trouble excusing it.

The third time was when it got concerning. It was the first time Tetsu used his quirk. Eijirou thought he was going to break his arm when he tried to walk away and his boyfriend grabbed his wrist harder than anyone had before.

It fucking hurt, but he didn’t show it, he’s not weak. For a moment he really did think it was going to break, though. His mind went several places at once.

The ways he could possibly explain a broken arm, the possible repercussions of using his quirk, the fact he couldn’t believe someone who claimed to love him could do this.

He ultimately decided to use his quirk when Tetsu made it clear he wasn’t letting go until Eijirou “explain why he’d fucking slept in Bakugou’s room”, but he happened to activate it immediately before Tetsu dropped his.

Eijirou covered the dark bruising on his wrist, but Tetsu made no moves to hide the cuts on his palm, and Eijirou felt the way everyone looked at him. Like /he/ was the bad guy. Like he was the one who intentionally hurt his boyfriend. It stung, but he wasn’t gonna cry about it.

He wanted to tell someone after Tetsu punched him for the first time, but what would that accomplish? They would just pity him and disapprove of his relationship. There was no point.

He may have always loved Bakugou a little (a lot) too much, but he really did care for Tetsu, too. Though, he knew pretty early on in the fighting that there was a piece of himself that resented him.

After every time, with Eijirou on the ground trying to keep the blood pouring out of his nose from staining anything, Tetsu would promise to get counseling.

They would both cry and kiss and apologize to each other, even if Eijirou’s injuries were always far more extensive, and Tetsu would promise.

He would sit there and tell Eijirou that he hated seeing him hurt, hated hurting him, and wished he could control himself better. Eijirou stopped believing that garbage after the fourth time he said it without changing anything.

He just wanted the fighting to stop. It was nothing like sparring with Bakugou, which he loved doing, it was all about inflicting pain and gaining control.

He felt weak and too soft every time he lost because he refused to go all out. He couldn’t handle the self hatred that came with seeing the injuries he put on the person he was with.

And Tetsu never hid them. Not once did Eijirou cause a bruise or bite wound that wasn’t shoved in his face every day until it healed.

He noticed that their friends rarely ever seemed to think Tetsu was in danger because of him, no matter how frequent the marks were, and he realized it was because they knew he was tougher. They knew Eijirou wasn’t capable of really fighting back.

He tried to break up, more than once. His resolve was just never strong enough. He could stand by his decision during the punches and the shoving and the choking, but after that he would falter, because Tetsu would cry for him. Every time.

He would beg Eijirou to stay, he would tell him how much he loved him, how much he needed him, and it hurt particularly because he saw himself. He saw the way he would act if Bakugou ever left him.

He would never admit it because he would never want to put that burden on anyone, but Bakugou was the root of almost all of their problems.

Eijirou could never hide anything from Tetsu, he just wasn’t good at lying. He tried once, tried to promise he didn’t love Katsuki like that anymore, but that lie only ended in more hurt.

He wanted to stop, so badly. He wished he could just wake up one day and suddenly no longer be in love with his best friend, but it never happened.

The close proximity didn’t help either, but he didn’t even try to make himself move out, he just really didn’t want to. He wanted to continue being able to say he lived with Katsuki, he wanted to be able to eat dinner with him every night he wasn’t with his boyfriend,

he didn’t want to give up their movie marathons or the way they would just lounge around together on their days off.. He just really didn’t want to leave, and he wasn’t going to relent on that issue, no matter how many times Tetsu asked him to move in.