kirishima sits beside him when a lady claiming to be a nurse materialises, and spends a moment inspecting bakugou's injury. he tenses and buries his head in kirishima's shoulder as she does.

"it's a nasty sprain, but it doesn't seem to be broken," she confirms.

"rest up, keep the ice on it. you should be able to walk on it again in a few days."

bakugou nods, and kirishima thanks the woman as she walks back into the stands. a whistle blows and kirishima realises his team is heading back onto the field.

"will you be okay without me?" kirishima asks, still concerned for the boy next to him.

"go," bakugou orders with a huff. "i'll be fine."

kirishima stands with a sigh, but a hand catches his arm and stops him as he turns to leave.

"eijirou."

bakugou looks up at kirishima with a fierce determination in his eyes.

"win this fucking thing. for me."

he says it through gritted teeth, and kirishima can feel the bitterness radiating from him in waves now. bakugou will be back to cheerleading when his ankle heals, but this is the last game of kirishima's high school career. the last time bakugou would be able to cheer for /him/.

and he has to sit it out.

kirishima smiles gently. bakugou believes in him. they can win.

"of course."

the weight of the ball feels heavier than it usually does in kirishima's hands. he can feel the impact of every step he takes rolling its way up through the muscles of his legs. his heartbeat pounds loudly in his ears, the tang of blood from a busted lip obtrusive on his tongue.

when he finally makes it into the endzone unhindered, kirishima has never felt more alive.

the crowd bursts into an uproar, and his team members collide into him one by one, all yelling gibberish.

or maybe he just can't process what they're saying because--

they won. they actually won.

kirishima feels his feet leave the ground as his team members thrust him into the air. elated laughter spills from his lips. everyone is cheering and clapping and whistling, and kirishima can't help the tears that form in his eyes.

they had been so close to defeat, but his buzzer beating touchdown brought the team to victory.

he's let back down onto his feet after a moment, but he's still mauled by hugs and noogies and gleeful shoves from his teammates.

"kirishima! kirishima fucking eijirou!"

kirishima turns and sure enough bakugou is waiting for him on the sidelines, now standing with a pair of crutches one of his cheerleaders got for him. kirishima is running to bakugou again before he tells his body to, but this time as he approaches he says, "put those down."

"what?"

"put those down."

"why?"

"because i want to pick you up and they're in the way!"

bakugou obliges with a startled chuckle, tossing the crutches down as kirishima reaches him only to be picked up in a massive bear hug and spun around in circles, both of them unsure whether they are laughing or crying.

kirishima places him back down gently, but doesn't remove his arms from his cheerleader's waist. bakugou keeps most of his weight on kirishima, but he doesn't seem to mind.

the two of them are smiling wide as they stare into each others eyes.

bakugou reaches up and swipes his thumbs under kirishima's eyes, cradling his face in both hands.

"you did it," he whispers.