The days following the meeting were filled with trepidation and grimness for those involved. Bakugo and Shinso had made visits to Eri since she seemed to be quite taken with them for "saving" her.

Mirio accompanied them to the trips, and the three of them tried their hardest to make Eri smile.

Well Shinso and Mirio did while Bakugo chose to stand grumbly by, awkward, not knowing what to do with the girl.

Which, obviously did not have a positive effect on the girl.

"Does.....does Bakugo hate me?" Eri hesitantly asked Shinso one day, "He never comes to speak to me and scowls all the time......was it something I did?"

Shinso blinked slowly at the girl.

"No....he is just.....being Bakugo.... don't worry, he doesn't hate you."

"Oh......so he is just always angry.....?"

"......I believe he just has problems with....uh, expressing his emotions."

"Oh."

The next time they did go to visit, Shinso dragged Bakugo into Eri's room.

"What the fuck do you want, Mind fuck????"

"Look, the poor girl thinks that you hate her so—"

"Why tf would she even think that????"

"Well, considering that you always scowl and give the entire world a death glare when you are uncomfortable gives off......"

"The wrong impression?????????? Why tf—, but no one else has an issue????"

"She is five, Bakugo, she won't get your tsundere attitude."

"First off, I am NOT a tsundere, and second off—, then what tf are you asking me to do????"

"Idk, show the girl yout beautiful face, I suppose—, wait, why are you blushing?"

Deku.

"I AM NOT BLUSHING MF, YOU NEED AN EYE CHECKUP—," He said as he stormed into the hospital, scaring a few attendents on the way.

"...whatever you say," Shinso said, sounding like he was stifling a laugh which made the urge to strangle him increase even more.

"Stop making that fucking face, Mind Fuck," Bakugo growled.

"What face?" Shinso said with a smirk as they entered the hospital room of Eri.

The girl was sitting there, innocently, and looking a tad bit scared at Bakugo's furious face.

Shinso elbowed him to school his expression.

After looking like he wanted to explode the entire world, Bakugo proceeded to school his expression into the sanest one ever, which made Shinso question why he didn't do that often.

Eri was still looking slightly intimidated however.

"....hello," Bakugo said not knowing what else to say, remembering Aizawa's "Don't cuss in front of kids lecture". 50% of his vocabulary was curse words, he had no clue what else to say.

"....hi," Eri said, in the same awkward dilemma.

"Uh, so, Bakugo is here to tell you that he loves you a lot, isn't that right, Bakugo?" Shinso said, cutting in and cautiously sitting in the chair.

Bakugo coughed.

"Yes, I don't f— hate you, mo—, Eri-chan."

Shinso had to look away to stifle a laugh. He received a glare for that, but watching Bakugo painstakingly censor his words was too funny.

"Oh," Eri said, looking slightly relieved. Evidently she quite did not believe him.

Bakugo wanted to kick someone. Preferably Shinso. Or Chisaki who caused this whole mess. Or maybe Deku, who definitely had something to do with this. Or maybe himself in the past for starting this. Or maybe—

"Eh, Bakugo, sit down, you will fall over at the rate you are overthinking."

He blinked back to reality, looking at the chair Shinso was offering.

"I am fu—, alright, I don't need a chair," he said, leaning against the wall, stubbornly.

"....whatever you say," Shinso said, looking back at Eri whose attention had been captured by Bakugo's face.

Or rather, the different expressions on it.

Shinso turned his head back to look at it as well and realised that the repeated expression change from "Angry to furious to self-loathing to just plain irritated to whatever" must be quite entertaining to a little girl.

"So......what is your favorite food?" Bakugo asked finally, not knowing what else to dispel the tension in the room. He liked to cook and eat, so that was the first thing that came to his mind.

".......I......I like apples," Eri said, slowly, pointing to the apples in the fruits' basket kept by her bed.

"Oh.....quite a healthy choice."

"........uh......thanks?"

"......guys, you are just talking to each other, not trying to sign a peace treaty."

"....stfu Mr. Expert with Kids."

"Oi—"

"....are you guys siblings?"

Both the boys looked at Eri simultaneously who shrunk back at so much attention.

"Uh.....the nice lady here was reading a story to me..........there were two brothers who constantly argued.........but loved each other a lot........I got reminded of that, sorry—."

Both of them continued to blankly stare at her, in absolute stupefaction, as if she had said that the sun was a mango tree.

"We........," Shinso began.

".....are not siblings," Bakugo finished.

".....oh, sorry," Eri said, curling up, as if anticipating a blow.

".....I will kill this Chisaki bastard," Bakugo mumbled under his breath, getting some really unwelcome flashbacks as well.

"Kacchan, please don't hurt him....."

"Hey, Eri-chan, no need to be scared, we won't hurt you...," Shinso said softly.

".....sorry," she said, automatically.

".... it's alright, you don't have to apologise," Shinso said quietly.

"........oh, so—, I am being a bad girl, ain't I?"

"......no, it's fine, Eri-chan, you are fine."

"........oh."

Thankfully Mirio appeared to dispel this tense atmosphere right then.

"I AM HEREEEEEE," he announced, jumping inside the room.

All three of them jumped.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, " he said, making a guess of the situation, "Look what I brought."

He took out a candied apple from his back and held it out to Eri.

Eri looked at it and reached out for it slowly.

"Eh, we will be leaving, then—," Shinso said, getting up and running out while dragging Bakugo as well.

"Oi, I can walk by myself—."

"I know that, Mr. Statue of Liberty."

That night, when everyone had gone to sleep, they were still in the middle of an epic chess match.

Smoothie jumped up on the board just as the match reached its climax, effectively messing up the entire board in the process.

Both of them simultaneously groaned.

"Why Smoothie....," Shinso began dramatically as opposed to Bakugo's,  "WTF SMOOTHIE????"

The cat, obviously did not care much for chess and jumped into Bakugo's lap, which only increased Shinso's groaning.

"First time I was about to win, Smoothie ruins it and then she goes and sits in your lap.....," Shinso said, "I am jealous."

"Cat wanted some good fucking attention, apparently," Bakugo said, unable to keep scowling at the face of the cat.

"....I am getting cake."

"Give me some."

"....get it yourself lazyhead."

"TF DID YOU JUST CALL ME—"

"You heard me," Shinso said with a smirk, purposefully making exaggerated smiles while eating his slice of cake.

".....son of a bitch," Bakugo growled and stormed over to the kitchen to open the fridge.

Only to find it devoid of cake.

"'Twas the last slice," Shinso said, licking the frosting off his fingers.

"...be grateful for your continued existence, Mind Fuck," Bakugo growled, getting flour out.

"I choose to not be, thank you very much—, wait are you gonna bake a cake at this hour????" Shinso said, moving to stare at the ingredients Bakugo had taken out.

"Glad to see you put those eyes of yours to some good fucking use, Mind Fuck," Bakugo snapped as he began mixing the batter, "If I want some fucking cake, I am making said fucking cake."

"........that sounded so wrong."

"...STFU Bastard."

Shinso laughed and stared at his watch.

It was eleven pm.

He stared back at Bakugo who looked like he was going to bake a cake for the President with the numerous decorations laid out.

He sighed.

It was gonna be a long night.