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Kirishima can’t sleep
His eyes burn. Which isn’t that surprising as he turns over in bed, glaring at the glowing blue numbers resting on his bedside table “4:56” it read, taunting him with yet another sleepless night.
This had been happening for a while now, Kirishima would get all nice and ready for bed. Brush his teeth, wash his hair, dress down to his boxers and crawl into bed, soft music playing from his phone.
Bakugou would grumble something about how this is the millionth time he played this playlist to sleep- yet he himself would fall asleep to it in a matter of minutes. Kirishima would crawl up behind the blonde and tuck into his back, sliding an arm under the pillow and wrapping the other one around Bakugou’s waist, cupping his tummy gently.
The world would slow, eyeballs drooping, darkness enveloping him slow and steady. The music and world would fade around him as his breathing fell in sync with Bakugou’s…
And then he’d be awake. A light tingling in his arm and a ball of emotion in his chest.
Untangling from Bakugou, Kirishima rolled to look at the clock. Frustration would bubble in his chest as he saw barely two hours had passed. And he was *wide awake*.
He was *grumpy* all he wanted was to sleep at a normal time. The messed up sleep schedule was messing with his patrols and worse- pissing Bakugou off. Kirishima would spend hours upon hours trying to get comfy, constantly rolling around and trying to get comfy or make himself tired by reading something on his phone but nothing worked.
Kirishima would lie there, tightness in his chest and throat, spiraling. What he did good that day, what he did bad, how he could’ve been better, what he should’ve done instead. Good and bad memories with loved ones, past arguments with Bakugou, hurtful things he’d said and things that were said to him. The endless barrage of thoughts and emotions crushed him every night, keeping him captive in consciousness.
Tonight was a similar battle. The room was just a tad too warm, the ice pack under his pillow doing little to regulate his body temp. His pj pants, while comfy a few hours ago, now felt clingy, the material scratching over his scars, making the sensitive skin tingle. He couldn’t stop feeling hungry and thirsty, and to top it all off, Bakugou was spread out across the small queen sized mattress they shared, blankets tangled around his legs and spilling to the floor. It would be absolutely adorable if Kirishima wasn’t exhausted. Tears well up in his eyes from frustration. He just wants to sleep. He wants to wake up at a normal time in the morning and eat some eggs, kissing Bakugou before he goes off to work before eventually following him a bit later. He wanted mornings and afternoons to bask in the sun and do things like clean and cook or watch movies. He didn’t want to slink around in the darkness snacking on tasteless chips since it was too late to cook. The cycle was miserable and the toll it was taking on Kirishima was intense…
___________
Kirishima was tired.
Bakugou could see that much. The melatonin gummies he bought the redhead did little to keep him asleep. But the frustration of it all was getting to him. Kirishima clearly wanted to be awake, shown through his shock and frustration when Bakugou would come home from work and Kirishima was *still asleep*. The dishes wouldn’t be done, the house clean enough for anyone else but FILTHY to Bakugou- it was so aggravating. He wanted to yell at Kirishima to just get his shit together but always stopped, watching Kirishima look so defeated sinking to his knees and begging for forgiveness for sleeping in so late. Bakugou had enough of this. Both of the lack of things getting done and this stupid habit harming his boyfriend. Tonight he had a plan.
Coming home, Kirishima was awake for once, sleepily scrubbing away at the dishes.
“I’m home.” Bakugou said, looking at Kirishima- trying to gauge how the other was feeling.
He looks over with a tired smile “welcome home, gorgeous. Sorry not much is done I only managed to wake up an hour or so ago”
“How much sleep did you get?”
“Hmm..” Kirishima paused, doing the math for a couple of moments. “Counting the nap, about 6 hours”
“And not counting the nap?”
“An hour and a half”
Bakugou sighs and tosses his bag onto the front table, unhooking his keys from his belt loop and tossing them in a pile. He crosses across their shared apartment and comes up behind Kirishima, gently rubbing circles in his hips. “You bathe today yet?”
“Uhh no”
“Mmm. You’re going to bathe with me come on.”
Kirishima stuttered for a moment, looking a tad flustered “but the dishes-“
“Can wait for another day- or hell I’ll even do them later. Just come with me”
Guilt flossed Kirishima’s expression. He wanted to fight back but a sharp glare from Bakugou stopped the argument in his throat
“Okay…”
Bakugou leads them into the bathroom, undressing and starting up the water while Kirishima got undressed himself.
They climb into the shower, the scorching hot water making their skins pink. The warmth was welcome though, it settled into their bones as they lazily scrubbed each other, rinsing the soap off their bodies and climbing out.
Bakugou watched as Kirishima brushed his teeth, guiding him back to the bedroom. He went over to Kirishima dresser and picked out something for him to wear. It had been hot the last couple of nights- the redhead complaining about the heat as always- so he made sure to pull out some shorts and a fat gum branded tshirt.
“Katsuki what are you doing?”
“Going to sleep, dumbass.” He tosses the clothing to Kirishima
“But I just woke up..” Kirishima dresses despite the protest.
“Doesn’t matter to me” Bakugou climbs into bed, adjusting the fan and checking Kirishima’s water on the side table before getting comfy, sitting up against their pillows
“Turn the light off, Ei.” The room engulfs in darkness as Kirishima does as told “now come here and get comfy”
Kiri climbs into bed, adjusting and rolling around for a minute before settling on his stomach, one arm wrapped around bakugou’s middle. He huffs and readjusts again, fluffingHis pillow for a moment and tucking it between his shoulder and head before getting back into position
“You comfy?”
“Yeah”
“Good.”
Without another word, Bakugou’s hand begins to rake through Kiri’s hair, fingernails lightly scratching at his scalp and neck, careful to not scratch too rough.
"Kats? What are you-"
"Shh." Bk silences him, continuing to scratch his scalp, watching red eyes roll back slightly behind tired eyelids. Taking that as a cue, Bakugou pulled out his phone, and began to read. It was clumsy, flustered and a bit tongue tied reading aloud.
But within minutes Kirishima was snoring away. Bakugou knew this wasn't a permanent fix. But it gave Kirishima one good night of rest, and he knew that's all his boyfriend would need to get back into rhythm.
And sure enough, Kirishima woke up the next morning just as Bakugou did, smiling contentedly