Bukugo stared at Kirishima. He looked down at his own bandaged torso, then at the three sparkling scratches down Kirishima's chest. There were also shimmering lines around his side to his back, and hands coming over his shoulders where Bakugo had hugged him.

He opens his mouth to yell at Mina for not saying anything, but the words leave his mouth before he can even say them.

And he just stares again.

He looks down at his own hands, and they're shiny, not really sparkly, like gemstones, like Kirishima's, but more shimmery, like metal, and a rusty red. All the way up the insides of his arms up to the line where his sleeve had been.

The silence in the clearing gets more and more awkward, so Bakugo decides to do everyone a favour.

"I'm going to bed," he growls. He hasn't eaten anything yet, but the girls managed to gather enough food for everyone, so he'll just have some tomorrow. He tries to put his scowl back on, but he knows he just looks shocked.

When he enters the cabin, Kirishima pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on them, shifting his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry Kiri," Mina says.

"You deserve better," Todoroki adds.

"It's really a shame."

"You shouldn't be stuck with him."

Kirishima shoots his eyes up.

"What?! That's not what I'm upset about!" He exclaims.

"I'm not upset that Bakugo's my soulmate... it kinda makes sense actually it's just..." he sighs.

"He doesn't want me to be his soulmate. I wouldn't be surprised if he's one of those 'soulmates don't determine your lives' kind of people, you know?"

Mina crouches down next to Kiri and rubs his back.

"He'll come around Kiri, just watch." She smiles at him, but he doesn't smile back.

"I hope so," he says, looking back down to the ground.

"You know what?" She declares, standing up again. "I bet Bakugo is actually a terrible romantic at heart. You know, 'strong silent type that doesn't know how to express his feelings properly'." She emphasises what she's saying with dramatic actions, like pretending to swoon and be shot in the heart.

It lightens the mood, and everyone laughs.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Kirishima laughs.

"Of course I am. Now let's get this food going I'm starving!" She scoops up a basket of plants, and takes them over to the make-shift 'kitchen'.

They all get started with the cooking, and Kirishima just stirs the pot, because he only has one hand. It annoys him to not be of much help, but it'll do.

When they're done, they all sit around the fire that the boys had set up earlier before and eat their food.

"I swear this is the best random plants I've ever eaten," Mina groans, shovelling the food into her mouth.

"I think those roots might have been closely related to ginger," Sato says, eating his own food.

Kirishima eats more slowly, mostly because he's a bit busy trying to balance his bowel on his sling.

"Hey Kiri," Mina says, "take this in to Bakugo." She hands him a bowl of food. He has to put his own stuff down in order to take it.

"Why mee," he whines.

"Because he won't take it from any of us. Always has been that way, always will be that way, soulmates or not."

"What about-" Kirishima stopped halfway through his sentence. He was about to suggest Kaminari, before a pang in his chest reminded him of the situation.

He sighed and stood up, holding the bowel of food and walking over to the cabin.

He opens the door and sticks his head in.

"Uhhh, Bakugo? Do you want something to eat?"

There's silence in the dark cabin until Kirishima heard a bed creaking, then the soft thud of footfall.

"Thanks shitty hair." As Bakugo reaches out his hand to grab it, Kirishima sees the shimmering red of his palm, and a wave of guilt comes over him.

"I'm sorry," he says impulsively. Bakugo stops, now holding the bowl.

"What're you sorry about," he growls.

"Well I- you know, I know you don't really want me as your soulmate and I just, I don't know-"

"I never said I didn't want you as my soulmate Shitty Hair," Bakugo says, and without further explaination he walks back into the shadows of the cabin.

Kirishima steps away slowly and closes the door. He's not really sure what Bakugo meant by that, but it's very like Bakugo to not say much and assume you knew the rest.

He just needs some space, Kirishima decides.

He goes back to the campfire, where everyone is chattering away.

"So he took it?" Mina asked, eyebrows raised knowingly.

"Yeah," Kirishima replies, trying not to look her in the eyes.

He sits down and goes back to struggling to eat.

"Kiri you good there?" Mina asks.

"The bowl's all the way on the ground!" Kiri whines. Every time he goes to eat something, he has to lean all the way down to reach his food.

"Hey! Momo! Can you make a small table for Kiri?"

Momo looks over, and as soon as she sees Kiri's situation, she comes over like an overprotective mother.

"Oh my gosh Kiri, you should have asked for my help before! Here, I'll make this so that it's easier." And with that, she pulls a small table out of her shirt.

"Thanks Momo," Kiri says. He didn't really want to ask for help, but he really was grateful. All of a sudden, eating became much easier and much more coordinated.

They washed up and packed away all the equipment and then headed into their seperate cabin. When the boys turned on the lights of their cabin, they saw Bakugo, who was laying on his bed staring at the bunk above it, and Kaminari, who was still unconscious, and probably would be until the healer got there the next day.

Aizawa had said that he would be fine until then, but Kirishima would be lying if he said he wasn't worried. He was hurt because he wanted to save him after all.

He pulled his pack from beneath Bakugo, hoping that he wouldn't start up conversation. He pulled out the old clothes he had brought along for sleeping in and quickly got changed, before going over to the empty bunk bed and getting in.

"Oi, shitty hair," Bakugo says, making Kirishima flinch.

"I know you were upset about not being on the bottom bunk, but that doesn't mean you have to change to another one."

Bakugo rolls over so that he's facing the wall.

Kirishima hesitates. Is this how it was going to be? Maybe he was right before, Bakugo is one of the people who hated the concept of soulmates.

So they were just going to ignore it then.

He sighed and padded back over to Bakugo's bunk. Being sure to be careful of his arm, he climbed up the ladder, which freaked every time he stepped up a rung, then lay down, which made the bed creak even more.

"I'm turning off the light," shoji announced, and then the cabin went dark, and people started to talk quietly.

Kirishima lay, staring up at the ceiling, when he finally heard Bakugo say something.

"Night Shitty Hair."

Kirishima stayed silent for a second, not really knowing what to say.

"Goodnight Bakubro."