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Kaido
present
I've never been a fan of silence. It's overbearing. It demands to be filled. After the chaos this afternoon threw at us, you'd think I'd welcome its nature. But I don't.
Instead, I grip the steering wheel in one hand, veins bulging out. My other hand remains over the gear shift, fingers tapping if only to create a little sound past the engine's white noise.
When I look into the passenger seat, the vague outline of Ame's body is huddled up against the window.
The sight makes me swallow.
"What did you say to that villain?" I ask, my eyes flicking from the road to him and back.
Ame doesn't answer me for a while. Eventually, his red eyes, empty of their brightness, find the road, reflecting the street lights.
"I asked why he did it." He says, voice sullen, heavy, bearing the weight of what he saw today.
"What'd he say?"
Ame lets out a dry laughing breath like it's ridiculous.
"Because I wasn't as brave as you." He reiterates, his lips twisting up as if he's ready to tear up. "Then he looked at his wedding ring and cried."
Ame's face goes blank again, but the sadness there was unmistakable.
I find it funny how he acts as if he hates everything in the world. Yet even for a man who hurt his friend and nearly ended his life, his heart bleeds with empathy.
I can't bear to say anything else to him till I park the car.
"Hey, I'm being serious right now," I say, shutting the door behind me. Ame walks ahead, towards the door. Frantically, I lock the car, following as his gate slows, shoulders hunched. "You handled everything really well. Most people without training would've freaked out, but you-"
I don't get to finish my sentence. Before I can, Ame turns towards the bushes on the edge of the front lawn and throws up. Fuck. Everything in my stills. His back is to me, lungs heaving for breath, coughing as he struggles staying upright.
"Shit, Ame," I breathe, concern welling in my gut.
Coming up behind him, I try to reach up and hold his hair back. Maybe coursing my touch up and down his spine will help. The moment he feels the weight of my palm, though? Ame flinches so hard he almost falls over.
"N-no," He stutters. His voice is roughened, throat burned. One of his arms waves behind him in broken motions. "I'm fine."
Something about his tone makes me mad. Who the fuck does he think he is trying to lie to me, now of all times?
He should've felt how fast my heart was beating when I caught him downtown. My fire erupted without my head's permission, flowing through my skin and costume straight towards the villain. The fact that I didn't burn Ame in the process is the only reason I'm not on my knees apologizing for being so reckless.
He's not small per se, but when I held him for those few minutes, his hands clutching my forearm, his eyes pinned on the sight of Bakugo fighting against that villain- He felt so feeble, so shaky, so... vulnerable. After almost losing him to metal scraps, I can't explain this sudden desire I have to hold him again and not let go.
Inside the house, Ame and I make our way to the kitchen, the yellow light making him squint when I turn it on. There's no thought in my head except getting to work. I roll up the sleeves of the dress shirt from the back of the car I put on back at the scene.
