Kirishima's knees hit the cement floor as he was roughly shoved inside the cell by his handler. There weren't too many quirked ones in the circus since they were still all being gathered so, for now, it was only two to a cell. Kiri was bruised to hell and back from being chained to the wall all day with Tetsutetsu. His abdomen looked even worse from being punched all night after his quirk had run out. He wanted to be numb to it; wanted to take it in stride but his spirit was broken. He slunk down the wall and pulled his knees to his chest, sobbing into them. This was just day one. Sure, they'd been subjected to this for months in preparation for the big opening but this was worse than anything his mind had conjured up.

He tried to keep his cries quiet so he didn't bother his cell mate who he knew needed to heal. In fact, he felt guilty for not tending to his wounds like he did every night while he was too sedated to do it himself. He heard chains rattle to his right and an almost delirious groan right after.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he cried, yet didn't move. He was trying to find the energy when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't help but jump and he looked up.

"Bakugo, go lay down," he whimpered, trying to compose himself, "I said I was coming." Bakugo dropped to his knees in front of Kirishima, cupping his face gently as he swiped his thumbs against his falling tears. It was actually a relief to Kiri to see he'd gotten some of his strength back. Bakugo was a favorite for the handlers to punish because he was always fighting back so hard. It was that fighting spirit that drew him to Kirishima.

"Where is that smile?" Bakugo asked weakly, swinging his body around so he was sitting upright next to Kirishima on the ground.

"I can't," Kirishima told him, turning his face away, "Why smile at a time like this? I'm too weak for this..." Bakugo turned his face back toward him, pulling his head down so it was on his shoulder. He began to stroke his hair.

"What, are you fucking stupid? You persevered today. While I was sitting on my ass, you made it through a whole shift of torture. You're allowed to cry about it. You're not weak. You're stupidly strong. Day after day they tear at you and you still come in here with that goofy ass smile on your face and take care of me like it's your fucking job when it's not. The next time you feel like insulting yourself, remember that." Kirishima beamed at the words despite everything that had happened that day.

"There it is," Bakugo cooed. He was only like this when they were alone. He was a firecracker any other time but Kiri didn't mind.

"Don't you ever lose that smile. Now come to bed. You need to heal." Kirishima met Bakugo's eyes and began chewing his lip.

"Hey, Bakugo? I know you said last time was the last time but..."

"Fine," he agreed, "But make it quick and don't ask again." Kiri leaned in and pressed their lips together briefly. He was trembling with nerves so it was sloppier than he'd intended but all of his troubles melted away in that instant. His eyes fell closed, even though he was sure Bakugo kept his open. It didn't bother him too much. He was sure Bakugo was aware of his feelings for him by this point and Kirishima knew he only put up with them because he had to.

The first time had been three months ago. They'd been cell mates from the beginning and often passed the time by telling stories of their past lives... their lives before this. Kirishima had been talking about his family and had gotten choked up and Bakugo kissed him to 'shut him up'. The next time had been a few weeks later when Bakugo had a particularly bad day. Kiri had already been in the cell when Bakugo had been brought back. Bakugo dropped onto the ground next to him, roughly grabbed his face and kissed him hard. It hadn't stopped there either. The clothes started coming off pretty quickly. Bakugo wasn't gentle that night, or any night after that but Kirishima didn't mind. He knew it was all out of frustration; a way to cope instead of out of love which he wouldn't lie, bothered him but he would take whatever affection he could get from Bakugo. He loved him. He knew that. Bakugo knew that and that was enough for him.

"Now, come to bed," the blond demanded and this time, Kiri listened.

Across town, when everyone else was settling in for the night, Izuku was wide awake. He'd been typing away on his laptop for hours, jotting down notes in a small notebook. The first thing he looked up was the Circus Act itself. He'd discovered it had been proposed by a man who called himself One For All. One For All was a mysterious man who hid his face with a mask but despite nobody knowing his true identity, he had quite the following. Deku had watched some of his speeches online and they were filled with misinformation and anti-quirk hate speech. The speeches were meant to strike fear into the hearts of the quirkless. Apparently, it had worked too because just seven months before, The Circus Act had taken effect. The Act stated that anyone with an unnatural ability would be relocated to Circus Camps across Japan where they would be required to work or entertain without monetary gains until a better solution could be devised.

Research on the Circus Act lead to a bunch of articles written by journalist Shouta Aizawa opposing the Act. They pointed out obvious flaws and lack of humanity it displayed and gave useful information about quirks themselves. They were pretty well written. Izuku had printed a few of them out, including one where Aizawa had interviewed politician Toshinori Yagi whose followers called him All Might. All Might was very outspoken on his opposition of the Circus Act. His speeches were so eloquent and called for peace, change and equality. In him, Izuku saw a cause he wanted to fight for. As it turned out, All Might was holding a rally in a few days and Izuku knew he had to be there. He would present All Might with all the inside intel he had gathered to use against All For One and his circus... Intel he was going to gather tonight. He was going back out there... Even if he had to sneak in.

"For Todorki," he whispered as he shoved essentials into his backpack, then out the window he went.