Harder to Love

Falling for Him

So I finally caved and got Ao3. I'm putting this fic on there, but it's updating here FIRST. If there are any more of my fics you liked and should be sent over there, please let me know so I can do that!

The second before Kirishima hit the ground was the longest of his life. He hardened his body as much as he could before he hit the ground. 

When he hit the floor below him, he didn't feel a thing. He made sure to roll away from the falling rubble. He didn't move from where he stopped until the commotion had died down. As soon as he heard the last bit of the stairs collapse, he opened his eyes. 

He needed to get out of this place before it burnt to the ground. 

His feet carried him down the hall to the other set of stairs, which he cleared with heavy strides. The smoke was choking out his lungs, and running only made him breathe heavier. He needed to get some fresh air as quickly as  possible.

An idea came to him on the second floor as he was passing a massive window. He was sure he could make it without a problem. 

Hardening his entire body and closing his eyes, he ran toward the glass, barely feeling it as he shot through. He made sure to keep his body hard, pulling it into a ball as he fell through the air toward the ground.

Kirishima would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified. He had no idea where he would land or even how close the ground was. He wanted to open his eyes for only a second, but he knew that he would be risking injury if he left them unprotected. 

He heard a slam as he hit a parked car in the street below, but he wasn't done moving yet. He rolled like an armadillo a few times before coming to a stop on the other side of the road. 

"Holy fuck!" He heard somebody shout as he unfolded himself from his hard ball. 

He opened his eyes finally, seeing tons of eyes on him. This didn't look like it was going anywhere good. 

"Why did you do that?" The explosive blond from before ran over to him. The kid was gone and he could only assume that he was safely with his mother. 

Kirishima was about to answer when a loud crash interrupted him. The flaming building's support system gave out and the entire building crumbled to the ground. 

"That." Kiri panted as a response. He coughed into his arm to get the smoke out of his lungs. 

"You hit a cop car. We've gotta get out of here." The other took his arm and started to run. Kirishima had no choice but to follow. It was better than being caught by the police for destruction of police property. 

The pair ran through a few alleyways, getting as far from the scene as they could get. They had done as much as they could anyway. 

They didn't stop until they were far away, sitting down on a curb in an empty part of town. 

"That was a rush." Kirishima admitted. "I should lay low for the next little while." 

"You looked like a fucking meteor." 

"What's your name?" Kiri asked. He was tired of referring to him as "exploding guy" and various other things. 

"Ground Zero." The blond replied. 

"I'm Red Riot." There was an unspoken rule that you didn't even tell other heroes your real name. The whole point of secret identities was that you kept them secret. 

"Shit, what time is it?" Ground Zero asked suddenly. 

Kirishima looked around for any indication of time. He didn't like keeping his phone on him when he was Red Riot in case he got caught and they traced it back to him. 

"No idea." 

"I should head home. You too. There's a curfew and you don't want to get in more trouble today." 

"Good point." Kirishima said, but made no moves to leave. He wanted to stay a little longer, to get to know this other guy better. 

But  when the blond stood, walking away without a goodbye, he knew he wouldn't get the chance. 

Maybe next time...