Kiss of Life | K. Bakugo

Chapter Two

Saturday evening arrived. Warm orange hues danced over the winding walkway leading up to Aizawa's house. Elegant landscaping framed the seemingly cold, modern structure, not reflecting the warmth radiated by the family inside. My hand made its way up to the doorbell, but before the chime even had a chance to ring, the door swung open.

"Surprise!" Eri and Hizashi yelled, while Hitoshi and Aizawa stood off to the side, their aloof countenances near mirror images of one another.

"Wow! I had no idea! You guys really got me!" I yelled sarcastically, unintentionally alerting Hizashi and Aizawa to the situation. Both Hizashi and Aizawa's heads immediately snapped to Hitoshi, as Eri pretended to be very interested in something on the ceiling.

"You told her, didn't you?" Aizawa questioned, though it sounded much more like a statement.

Hitoshi raised his hands defensively, "I didn't mean to, I swear. She always manages to get in my head somehow."

"That's ironic coming from you," I laughed. "Sorry to blow your cover Tosh."

Hitoshi shrugged, the corner of his mouth coming up into a smirk. "It's okay, congrats on graduating though," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into the living room.

I don't remember how Hitoshi and I got so close, especially since he doesn't really seem to be close with anyone besides his family. When I first started mentoring Eri, he was always around. Aizawa and Hizashi were too, but to a lesser extent.

At first they didn't trust me, as if I had an ulterior motive other than being a resource for the younger student to whom I was assigned. It was my duty as an upperclassman to make sure she was keeping up in the difficult program we were both in, especially with our matching dual majors.

Eri explained their overprotective behavior as a side effect of her past. Apparently someone had tried to take advantage of her quirk, and Hitoshi and their fathers were just afraid of history repeating itself. Understandable. In fact, I appreciate their approach compared to the way I was raised. At least they support her dreams, and when she rebels they have actual conversations about it.

Eventually, I spent more and more time at their house, especially since mine became more uncomfortable as graduation grew nearer. Hitoshi loved his sister, and would hang out with us even after I had earned his trust. His dry sense of humor paired well with my own. All three of us bonded over the challenge of not having physical quirks in a society that seemed to so severely uplift the strong and trample the weak.

Hitoshi took a different approach than Eri and I, becoming strong and entering the underground. Maybe Eri's quirk could be weaponized, allowing her a similar path, but she didn't have an aggressive bone in her body. On the other hand, I was always meant to be a supporting character. Healers don't get to shine. My ability to boost others catches interest from time to time, but I could never be on the front line.

Growing up, that was tough for me to accept. They would have us run training drills in grade school to get a feel for all of our quirks and what we were capable of. I won't lie, it was incredibly awkward to kiss all of my classmates as a 10-year-old. Blushes and whispers always quickly followed. A lot of people were already familiar with either my quirk, or my Grandma, and knew the deal. However, that didn't always stop the gaggle of girls who felt some odd sense of jealousy over my forced intimacy with so many of the guys in our program.

Regardless, I got used to it. Maybe it's a big shock to others, but this quirk has been passed down in my family for generations. So, not only am I used to it, I'm proud of it.

The group of us spent the rest of the night talking and simply enjoying the company of one another. Hizashi opened a bottle of wine, of course. And when that one was finished, he opened another, of course. Aizawa and Hitoshi both open up a lot more when they're buzzed. The two are so similar, it's hard to believe they're not actually related sometimes.