Chapter Text
“… Katsuki?”
The fuck-
A light voice interrupted his slumber. Who dare disrupt his sleep? Didn’t they know what time… Well, Bakugou didn’t know what time it was. In fact, he didn’t even remember when he’d gone to sleep, his memory was kinda blurry and- what’s with that fucking beeping?!
Wait, what happened?
Bakugou opened his eyes and a blinding light greeted him. He let out a groan and closed them again. Once again, he heard that voice, a gasp.
“Katsuki? Are you awake?”, the voice said. And what kind of question is that?
Katsuki opened one eye to try to ease the burning light. He saw a blurred figure above him. He blinked a few times to clear his sight as he opened his other eye.
It was his mother.
Ah, a fucking hospital.
“… No”
His voice was raspy, his tongue felt heavy, and his throat felt like sand paper. It hurt. He tried to clear it, and felt a sharp pain through his chest.
His mother saw this, and poured him a glass of water from a bottle on a near table. Right next to it, a bouquet with flowers sat in another container. Sunflowers.
She handed him the glass without a word.
But he couldn’t hold it up. His hands, up to his wrists, were trembling. He could barely support the weight of his own arms, the whole limb felt too weak.
Mitsuki held the glass when he almost spilled the water.
“…Flow’rs?” He said as he finished drinking. He didn’t know what else to say.
Bakugou was looking at anything but the woman next to him. Mitsuki had an unreadable gaze on her face, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Silently, she set the glass down on the table.
Finally, she answered.
“… Inko sent them. She sends you greetings.”
“Ah…”
Silence.
“Katsuki…?”
“… Yeh?”
He kept his eyes on the IV in his left arm. His hand wouldn't stop shaking. Mitsuki saw this.
“How do you feel?”
“… Fine.”
“Really?”
“… Chest ‘urts.”
His chest felt like it was on fire. His limbs felt weak. His hands were shaking. His tongue felt numb.
“...Where’s dad?”
“He’s in the cafeteria, should be back soon”
Bakugou didn't understand what was going on. Why was he in the hospital? The last thing he remembered was… Studying for a test? No, wait. There was something else...
Oh.
The sparring match.
He remembered. He’d had a match against Ponytail, but that was it. How did it end this way? Had Yaoyorozu beat him? Bakugou had been sure he was going to win, but I guess you’re just a weak piece of-
“Why are you doing this to yourself, Katsuki?”
… Wha-, ‘fuck you mean?
“What could have possibly taught you that this was the way? Working to death, Katsuki, really?”
The bitch- … Death?
“… Was it me?”
What.
“What.”
Mitsuki continued, voice strained. “Ever since you got your Quirk… You were praised for every single thing you did, told that you were so skilled, but at the same time… Everyone expected you to become something great. They expected you to do great deeds. That you’d be a hero. Just because you had gotten a powerful and destructive Quirk a 4 year-old could barely control…
They all, unknowingly, pushed you too far… I, unknowingly, pushed you too far”
… She was right.
Yeah, an attitude like his doesn’t come out of nowhere. He’ll admit it. Being praised, talked about, or even just acknowledged, it had all felt so good, when people just knew you were destined to success. Still does.
He wanted more.
So, he got better, trained his Quirk to full control, even if it meant burning his skin, fucking up his hearing, forcing his muscles to work. Because no control meant no acknowledgement, at least not the good kind.
He learnt that when he first burned Deku.
When you’re taught you’re the best, that’s all you can think of, your reason of being, your strength. Strength fed by praise and empty words. It all had fed up his egocentric self.
(UA had been a huge blow on his ego.)
Bakugou knew he couldn’t put all the blame on his mother. It hadn’t been just her, or his acquaintances, or his lackeys. They all had played their part, but…
“I-I let it get t’ me…”
“We let it get to you. We all saw what you’d become. And by the time I realized what we'd done, you were already in a hospital bed,” Mitsuki argued.
“I’m so sorry, Katsuki,” she wiped tears off her eyes.
Oh, hell no.
“Wait, n-no! It’s my fault! I’m th’ one who w-wanted the at-ttention!” He gestured at himself, his hands were shaking like leaves, “I’m jus-st ‘n attention-seeking f-fuck!”
Talking was getting harder, his tongue felt like a stone in his mouth, too heavy. “‘s not yer fault. I just want’d people t-to see that I e-exist. I knew I was goin’ too ‘ard-d, but, I…”
“… Katsuki, are you really okay?”, Mitsuki interrupted.
She took his shaking hands in hers, holding them. She looked into his eyes, looking for something. Her son looked overall fine, if not tired and shake-y.
“Baby, look at me,” he looked at her. “Does your jaw hurt? Do you need more water?”
The boy didn’t know what to say, “N-No. Dunno. Kinda dizzy, ‘s all.” He rubbed his temple with one hand. “Head kinda ‘urts…”
Mitsuki stood up, “I’ll go get a nurse.”
At that moment, the door opened, showing Masaru, who was carrying one plastic cup in each hand.
Seeing his son awake, he startled, almost spilling the contents in the cup.
“K-Katsuki!” he approached his son, quickly setting the cups on the table, before wrapping his son in his arms, mindful of his injuries.
“Dad-d!” he then groaned in pain, his ribs deciding to be bitches and sending a jolt of pain through his chest.
“Sorry, Katsuki!” Masaru let go of Katsuki, “How are you, kid?”
Mitsuki butted in, “Stay with him, Masaru. I'm fetching a nurse.”
The woman left the room quickly, the sound of her steps fading as she hurried through the halls, leaving father and son alone.
Masaru glanced at the just closed door, slightly concerned, before addressing his son, “Your mother looked quite in a hurry. Are you okay, son?”
“Yeh, jus’ dizzy,” Katsuki seemed unconcerned as to why his mom left. “Prob’bly gon' tell ’em I’m awake…”
“Oh, okay. We’ll wait for her,” Masaru sighed.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, kid.” His eyebrows furrowed as if in pain. “We were so worried.”
“Sorry…”
Masaru continued, “When we heard you were in the hospital… We came as soon as we could. Your teacher told us what happened.”
Katsuki then realized, he didn’t know where Aizawa-sensei was.
He voiced his thoughts, “Where ‘s he?”
“I think he’s still here? Classes with him were cancelled so he was allowed to come see you. We talked to him an hour ago. Maybe he hasn’t left yet,” Masaru replied, grabbing one of the cups he’d brought.
“Want some- no, wait. You can’t drink coffee right now, can you?” The man took a sip of his coffee, deeming its temperature acceptable.
“You’re not gonna c-chew me out…?”
Masaru eyed his son as he drank. He put the glass down on the table and adjusted his glasses.
“Your mother must’ve said enough.”
Not much, she left mid-rant. But he doesn’t know that.
“Anyways, I’m sure your teacher has a word or two to say. Recovery Girl, too.”
Uh oh, forgot about that one.
“We’ll talk when we get back home.”
Oh, heck naaw.
A knock on the door interrupted Katsuki’s death sentence. Seconds later, a very short woman entered the room, followed by a homeless-looking, black-haired man, and Katsuki’s mother.
Recovery Girl and Aizawa-sensei.
“Hello, Bakugou. Glad to see you awake,” Aizawa greeted the boy.
The old woman placed a seat next to the hospital bed, and climbed up so that she was next to her patient.
“What ya doing ‘ere?” Bakugou asked instead of greeting, the uneducated prick, as Recovery Girl was to be working somewhere else.
“Hello to you, too. Well, I was allowed here, boy. Don’t worry, I have a replacement at UA. I’m not the only nurse there, you know.”
“Guess so…”
“So, your mother here told me you’re having some trouble. Mind if do a checkup, dear?”
Masaru raised his eyebrows. Katsuki groaned in annoyance, but complied.
Recovery Girl addressed the three other adults, “Mr. And Mrs. Bakugou, please give me and my patient some privacy, would you? I’ll call you back soon.”
Masaru sent Katsuki a knowing look and a smirk, the boy sent him a poor attempt of a ‘fuck you’ gesture in response.
Soon Recovery Girl, Aizawa and Bakugou were left alone.
“How are you feeling, Bakugou?” the old nurse questioned.
“Like shit.”
“Yes, I supposed you would.”
" ‘the fuck happen’d?”, Bakugou asked, annoyed. His parents hadn’t told him shit.
“Your parents didn’t tell you?” The nurse asked, as if his parents had told him shit.
“... I rem’mber fighting against Pony T-Tail.”
Aizawa replied for her, “Yes. You collapsed right after your match. At first, we assumed you had just passed out. But I found that you had stopped breathing.”
Recovery Girl continued, "I was called to assist while Young Yaoyorozu stayed with another nurse. We immediately called an ambulance and they were capable of resuscitation.”
“You were too weak at the time, but eventually I was able to use my Quirk to heal some of your injuries,” she said.
"Too weak?”
"Yes dear. You were clinically dead for eight minutes before responding. Only eight minutes were enough to present rib fractures and weakness in the heart and lungs. Plus training injuries. I couldn't cure it all, but it's something,” she explained.
"Which brings us to another matter," Aizawa added.
The old woman nodded, “You were deprived of oxygen for eight minutes, young man. I’m sure you know how grave it is for the brain to go without oxygen for prolonged periods of time...”
“Yeah...”, Bakugou didn’t like this one bit.
“So... You know there is the possibility of... some complications, given the circumstances,” she looked at him seriously as she spoke “We already discussed this with your parents, so they were aware of... you showing certain symptoms.”
“What your mother told us, it was quite concerning. That’s why we’re here, dear.” Recovery Girl got down from her seat. “Let's do some tests, okay? To confirm. Can you stand up? Aizawa, could you help him?”
“On it,” Aizawa muttered, right on Bakugou’s side and prepared to hold him if necessary.
“Don’t need yer damn help...” Bakugou sat up straighter in his bed, to then sit on the edge, his feet touching the floor.
Slowly, he pushed himself off the bed to put all his weight on his legs. They felt like jelly. He looked up just to see Recovery Girl across the room.
“Okay, sweetie. Walk up to me in a straight line.”
Bakugou took the first step.
Well, shit.
His legs weren’t responding. His entire body felt on the verge of falling apart, wobbling. His vision was blurry. He was so dizzy, he didn’t think he could move, or even crawl.
But mamma raised no bitch.
Step by step, he marched. Putting one foot in front of the other was hard work. As much as he wanted to walk directly towards the old woman, it seemed that his limbs had other ideas. Who decided to replace his feet with steel? He had a hard time lifting his legs. But his gaze was locked on his target.
He tripped.
Before he could fall on his face, Aizawa held his arm with his own, as if he were helping an old person cross the street.
Recovery Girl’s lips were pressed in a tight line. Aizawa remained expressionless.
The nurse spoke, “Put him on the bed, Aizawa. I'll tell his parents to bring a wheelchair.”
How did this happen?
Screw that, he knew how it happened.
“When you exert effort, your heart activity increases, there is more blood flow so your blood pressure also increases. See, Young Bakugou, at the end of your match against Yaoyorozu, your heart stopped needing to pump as much blood, and your blood pressure dropped to an even lower level than before. This happened because of excessive exercise and dehydration.”
“But I-”
“I know you need to sweat to boost your Quirk, dear, but it is very dehydrating.”
“...”
“All this overwork and dehydration, coupled with stress, lack of sleep and your condition led to a sudden drop in your blood pressure and ended up in heart failure. You do know people with hypotension are more prone to cardiac arrests, don’t you, Young Bakugou?”
“...”
“This shouldn’t have happened, actually. Your case is nothing like others. Your Quirk could have caused it but it is, or was, in no way lethal. You forced it to be. We let you force it to be.”
“...”
“... I’m very sorry, Young Bakugou. We found…”
“... What ‘s it?” he knew.
Brain damage.
It was bound to happen. He didn’t believe he was just unlucky, he knew for a fact that the brain starts dying after 3-4 minutes with no oxygen. He was dead for way too longer than that.
It wasn’t like TV, where you could stay dead for 20 minutes and just walk away.
It was real.
He just wished he’d had time to process it.
Just yesterday, he was perfectly (not really) fine, and now he was in a hospital with a fucked-up brain, for life.
Why did this happen?
Yes, he knew what happened, he was told, he experienced it, even though he wasn’t conscious (alive) to witness it. But…
... Fuck, how did this happen?
Is this even real...?
Did all of this just happen? Just like that?
...Yes, it was real.
It happened.
Just like that.
Just like that, his brain decided not to let him walk without wobbling, nor use his hand without it shaking like jelly. His gauntlets surely wouldn’t appreciate that, they’re heavy.
Oh...
Can I even become a hero anymore?
“Physical therapy will help you regain your coordination and control the tremor, as well as exercises to improve your speech. We're not going to lie, Bakugou, it’s not a miracle cure, the damage might not be fully reversible. It won't magically disappear either. But, with enough time, you will be able to live comfortably. It might improve to be almost unnoticeable, or it might not. But that's up to you.”
Treatment was long and difficult and not 100% effective.
Huh.
“Katsuki?”, it was his mom.
She sure liked interrupting his inner monologue.
She watched him. Her eyes were full of sadness and pity. Her hand softly stroking his hair.
Don’t look at me like that...
“Are you okay, kid?”
… No, he was not.
His brain is now fucked up, because he was fucked up. He was damned to be like this, for one mistake.
“ ‘s not fair-r...”
“Oh, my boy,” his dad.
Tears gathered in Katsuki’s eyes. He let them go. A pair of arms was wrapped around him, then another.
“It’ll be okay, Katsuki”, his mother was crying, too.
A sob tore out of his throat, he hid his face on his father’s chest as to muffle the sound.
“You’ll be okay.”
________________________________________
“Bakugou,” Aizawa greeted as he entered the room.
The three Bakugou’s looked at the man.
“Aizawa-s'nsei,” Bakugou was resting on his mother who was sitting next to him on the bed. Her father got up from his chair at the sight of the teacher.
Aizawa addressed the parents, “Can I speak to your son, alone?”
“Is something wrong?”
What’s not wrong about all of this?
"None at all, I just want to discuss some things with him, if that's okay with you, Bakugou." The professor looked at Bakugo for confirmation.
Said boy shrugged.
Seeing their son's compliance, both parents headed for the door.
"We'll be in the cafeteria, okay?" His mother said.
And they left.
“Well, Bakugou, first things first, how are you?”
The boy’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “Tha’ ‘s the fourth f’ckin’ time I’m a-asked that.”
“Well, has the answer changed?”
“Nah.”
Aizawa hummed in understanding. He then took a seat next to his student’s bed.
“Now, about you futur- “
“… Am I g-gettin’ ‘xpelled?” Bakugou interrupted him.
“Wha-? No…?”
An awkward silence followed.
Aizawa was taken aback. “Recovery Girl did give you the possibility of treatment, right?”
“… It m-might not go away-y”
“You’re right. But you’ve never let something hold you back, have you, Bakugou?”
“T-This jus’ did.”
“…Honestly, you kids and your self-… everything. I'm growing gray hair.”
“W-Well, wha’ d’ya fuckin’ exp-pect me to t-think?” Bakugou snarled. “I c-can’t f’cking walk-k, can’t lif-ft a glass a’ water, c-can- can’t fuc-ck- “
He tried to clear his already empty throat, as if that would do something. Frustration coursed through his veins.
He tried again, “… Can’t fucking t-talk, either.”
Aizawa wanted to be mad, he kinda was. He wanted to yell at the kid, tell him to stop being an idiot, berate him for being such an overworking, self-hating punk and let himself get to this state.
But now, Bakugou didn’t need tough words.
So, he didn’t provide him ones. “Listen, kid. I know what it is, to feel like you just got stuck somewhere you can't get out from. But let me tell you, you are not alone.”
“Right now, it might seem impossible, but we'll all be there to help you. You're not uncapable of doing things, and- and even if you are, you just need to relearn them, with the treatment Chiyo suggested, with our help. You can get out of this. You're not alone, Bakugou,” he took the kid’s hands and squeezed them lightly.
"B-But what if it nev'r goes away?" He sounded unsure.
"We've been looking for someone with a quirk able to reverse this kind of damage. Eri's not an option right now, her quirk is too unstable. But we're hoping to find someone else. Even if that doesn’t happen, like Chiyo said, with enough physical therapy, you’ll be able to live a comfortable life and career. For now, you’ll stick to theory and written assignments until you’re better.”
“C-Career?”
A gentle smile was formed in the teacher’s face, barely there but soft eyes giving it away.
He reassured his student, “You can still be a hero, Bakugou.”
A small intake of breath was heard through the room. Bakugou’s eyes held immense relief, and some dampness was noticeable. He flashed a surprised smile as he breathed out.
I guess he just needed to hear it.
Bakugou stuttered, “T-Thank you, for sav-ving me.”
Aizawa smiled again, “It wasn’t just me, but you’re welcome, Bakugou.”
Feeling a bit guilty for interrupting the moment, Aizawa approached the main reason he’d come for.
"… But there is a reason why this happened, something that prevents you from recognizing your own limits,” he folded his arms. “You don't need to tell me, or your parents or even your friends, but we want you to talk to someone.”
“That's why I'm assigning you mandatory therapy sessions with Hound Dog. There's no need of payment, Nezu will cover the bills in form of compensation for letting this happen at his schoolー legal stuff,” he added at the end.
“Please, keep in mind that opening up someone you know may help. I'm sure your friends will be better at this than me."
“… Yeah. Yer right. Those idiots l-love stick-king their n-nose where ‘t doesn’t bel-long,” he tried to sound annoyed, but there was a glimpse of fondness in his entire face.
Aizawa got off his seat. “Speaking of friends… The class has been on edge lately. Mic told me he gave them a free period since everyone seemed too shook up to do anything."
“Do they k-know ab-bout…?” he quietly asked, not daring to actually say it.
“This is not mine to tell. They’d have found out eventually but we wanted you to be the one to tell them.” With that settled, he walked towards the exit. “I’ll come later to discuss details about how we’re accommodating you so that you can continue your lessons like the rest. Anyway, do you want to see them?”
“W-What? Like, right n-now?!”
“Yup, they’re here.”
The moment they heard Bakugou was awake, they left everything they’d been doing- not that they were doing anything, anyway- and immediately took off straight to the hospital. With the school’s permission, of course.
Sero Hanta was currently staring at the cup of water he’d just been given.
“Sero.”
It was, indeed, a cup of water.
“... Sero.”
He wasn’t really a fan of water. Yeah, it’s healthy and all that. But he had more of a sweet tooth, so he preferred sweet drinks. Not really fizzy ones though, they burn his tongue-
“Sero, dude!”
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder, letting out a pathetic ‘Huh?’ as he looked up, just to see Mina looking at him worryingly. Kirishima and Kaminari were behind them, both looking like they were about to explode, in a good way, though.
She asked, “You okay, Sero?”
“Uh, y-yeah. Just thinking,” he stuttered as he held up the cup.
She looked at him apologetically, “Yeah, sorry. They were out of juice.”
His friend then held a big smile on her face, talking excitedly, “So, we were at the cafeteria, and we saw Recovery Girl, and guess what?! She told us Aizawa-sensei was talking to Bakugou, and that he’d let us in after that!”
“Really?” he gasped.
“Hell yeah! We gotta be quiet, though. She said Bakubro was too tired to, and I quote ‘handle our unholy level of energy’,” Kirishima added. Kaminari scoffed, muttering something under his breath.
“What about the others?” Sero wondered. They hadn’t been allowed to visit yet.
“Aizawa let us come now because we’re his closest friends. But Recovery Girl said she’d allow others to visit tomorrow,” Mina informed.
Kaminari snorted, taking a seat next to Sero, “Bro privilege?”
“Basically,” Kirishima confirmed, then took a seat on the other side, sandwiching Sero between him and Kaminari. “Aw, my feet hurt. We’ve been waiting too long,” he whined.
Sero leaned into Kaminari, resting his head on the other’s shoulder. He let out a groan, “It’s been a while, I think. Aizawa should be here soon.”
As if summoned, Aizawa appeared from across the hall. The three boys stood up, while Mina approached their teacher.
“Aizawa-sensei!” the four kids greeted.
Sero asked him, “How’s Bakugou? Can we see him now?”
“Ask him yourselves. And yes, I’ll take you there,” he started walking through the halls towards their destination, and the others followed.
They were standing outside of the room in no time.
“Before you go,” Aizawa spoke. “… Please, support him. He’s having a hard time, with everything that’s going on.”
The Squad, minus Bakugou, glanced at each other. Of course they’d support his friend, there was no need of clarification.
He voiced, “I’ll be around. Visitation time ends in 30 minutes. I’ll pick you up then.”
He knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer.
Bakugou was sitting on the hospital bed, hunched like a rabbit as he scrolled through his phone, and straightened at the sight of the group at the door.
He feigned annoyance, “W-What ‘r ya idiots d-doing ‘ere?”
The Squad entered the room, and felt the door close behind them.
“We came all the way here just to see you, and that’s how you treat us? That’s cold, Blasty,” Kaminari fake cried, wiping invisible tears off his eye. He grabbed a chair and sat near his bed. “How you feeling, bro?”
“Damn p-peachy,” Bakugou hoped his voice didn’t sound too weird.
Kirishima stood next to him, “Are you, really?”
Bakugou let out a ‘Tch’, but didn’t respond.
“I really feel like I need to hug you right now,” Mina suddenly announced. “Can I give you a hug?”
Well, that was fast.
Bakugou groaned, but opened his arms to let her dive in, they immediately began shaking upon having to support their own weight.
The girl wasted no time, and wrapped her arms around her friend, hiding her face on his shoulder. Bakugou paid no mind to his sore ribs as he returned the hug, placing his chin on top of her head. He could feel her trembling.
Heh, we match, he thought bitterly.
He heard her small, muffled voice. “W-We were so worried, no one was telling us anything... We t-thought-”
“T-Thought I’d d-die like’a weak ass ex-xtra?” He barked. “Ha! A-As if!”
Sero, who’d been standing behind Kaminari, spoke brusquely. “Don’t say that, Bakugou. It was pretty serious, you could’ve actually died.”
Mina got off Bakugou to stand next to Kirishima, her eyes were teary. Sero looked angry.
“Relax, T-Tape Face, I’m f-fine.” No, you’re not.
The dark-haired boy approached until he was in front of him. “Relax? You weren't the one who saw his friend dead in front of his eyes! You weren't the one who played ventilator until the ambulance came!” He barked at him, fuming. “Do you think it was a nice experience?! Well let me tell you, no! It was not! It was traumatizing, we didn't know if you were even gnna wake up!"
Kaminari got up from his chair, and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. “It’s okay, dude. He gets it. But we gotta be quiet, remember?”
Bakugou spoke up after a moment, “Aizawa told m' he wasn't th' only one t-to assist me. So 't was y-you.”
“… Yeah, till the ambulance came. Two paramedics helped. Ryuuji and Yakumo, I think.”
“They d-don't m'tter now. Hadn't it been f'r you, and Aizawa-sensei, right now I'd b-be in a box 3 met'rs und'rground. Y' saved me,” he grabbed Sero’s wrist with a trembling hand and gave it a light squeeze.
“Thank y-you, Sero.”
Sero burst into tears.
The way he suddenly covered his mouth with his free hand to muffle the sob that ripped out of his throat was so surprising, everyone jumped in their places.
Bakugou didn’t know what to do. Leave it to the emotionally constipated guy to comfort a crying friend.
He didn’t have to do anything, though, because Sero reached him first, crushing him in a massive bear hug, and sobbing a little too loudly. Kirishima, ever the sympathetic crier, his eyes watered as his lips trembled, even though he tried to hold it. What’s with these fuckers and hugging? They’re gonna break even more of my ribs.
“It was awful! The way you just-just dropped! Finding out your friend just... died, so suddenly!” What he was saying was barely recognizable, for sobs escaped him every time he opened his mouth. "At that moment, I just could think of how you looked before, you... You weren't fine, yet you still kept going, you idiot!"
"Sero!" Mina spoke, indignant.
"We all knew you weren't okay, but we still didn't do anything."
"There's no point in thinking of what could've been. Bakubro's fine now, that's all that matters."
“Yeah! You’re good, right, Bakugou? You just sound funny, is it your jaw?”
Welp, it’s now or never.
"Well, there's something..."
They went quiet. Sero stopped hugging him but didn't let go, in favor of looking at him, frowning.
“I was... d-dead f’r too fuckin’ l-long. Enough f-for it t’ leave sequels-s. I s’ppose you ‘lready n-noticed s’m’thin’ off.”
“You mean…”
“Yeh, they f-found brain d-damage.”
It was so quiet you could hear a needle drop. It was like time had stopped. The utter horror riddled in the eyes of his friends was something Bakugou wouldn't forget, beyond that, no one said anything. The tension in the room increased as the others processed what they had just heard.
Bakugou didn't stop talking, the lack of reaction from his friends stunned him. "It's- It's fine, ‘kay? There's therapy to r-rev’rse it, and Aizawa-sensei ‘s lookin’ for s’meone w-who can do it with their Q-Quirk but... ‘t might not go a-away complet’ly."
Kaminari voiced what everyone was thinking at the time, he was pale, "H-How bad...?"
"Tremors, w-weakness, sl’rred speech, tha' ‘s what they've f-found for now. Got l’cky, Old Lady says I'd be able t-to live comf’rtably with enough t-th’rapy,” Bakugou tried to stay positive, focusing on what his teacher had told him.
A dam broke inside everyone’s eyes.
Even if they wanted to, they couldn't stop the tears from filling their eyes, blurring their vision.
It felt weird. How could something like this happen to Bakugou Katsuki, a beast in combat, a formidable future hero. It didn’t make sense. This couldn't have happened, not to him. The rare acknowledgment of the fact that someone so strong was and always has been simply human, was…
Sero again began sobbing with all his might. He rested his head on the hospital bed, hiding his face with one arm, with the other he gripped Bakugou's leg. He was shaking his head from side to side in denial, disbelief.
Mina put a hand over her mouth, shocked. She started crying.
Kaminari had fat tears running down his eyes. He hung onto Sero, who was hunched over in his place.
“I-I’m so sorry, Bakugou,” Kirishima stuttered, frozen in his place, everyone looked at him. “I’m sorry, I- We, we should’ve done something, oh God-“ his voice cracked in too many places, a sob interrupted his lament.
“D-Don’t blame y’rself, idi’t. Should’ve st’pped out when I h-had the op-pp’rtunity.”
“B-But still! We should’ve known you wouldn’t… If only-“
Bakugou snapped, “L-Listen ‘ere, Shitty H-Hair. ‘s not y’r respons’bility t’ take c-care ‘f me. Yeah, y’ could’ve s-stopped me, b’t ultim’tely, ‘t was my d-decision, k-know when t’ stop. Cl’rly I d-didn’t f’cking know, ‘nd this happ’ned. Had ‘t comin’, S-Shitty-“
Again, a pair of arms decided to bother his fucking ribs, and a tangle of red hair, a bit sharp and pointed, almost pricks his face. A wail next to his ear rumbles his eardrums, as if it wanted to take away the only hearing he has left, it was accompanied by unintelligible blabbering, a mix of 'Bakubro', 'Not your fault' and 'I'm sorry '.
Bakugou hugged him back awkwardly, patting his back with a tempo. The sight of all his friends crying made him feel uneasy. It’s not like it was uncommon, but crying because of him? For him? He didn’t like it, he didn’t need their pity, alright? Aizawa told him he wasn’t useless, didn’t he? He’d (maybe) get better, so why even cry over it? Everything was fine.
Except, it’s not. But they didn’t have to know that right now, that definitely wasn’t dampness in his eyes.
“‘Can still be a h-hero, idi’ts. Nothin’ ‘s going t’ stop me, n-not ev’n dead b-brain cells,” he tried to keep his voice even, this time for a new reason. "It's jus’ a littl’ d-delay, 'll catch up with you ‘n no f’cking t-time, jus’ wait f’r me."
“We won't wait for you to catch up. Because we’re gonna be right by your side, helping you move forward. We're together in this, Blasty. We ’ll be there when you need us,” Kirishima took his hand from him as he left his place in Bakugou’s arms.
He definitely wasn’t crying. The tear currently falling down his face was their imagination. He blamed his tremors for his slightly quivering lips…
“T-Thank you, idi’ts,” and most of all, his voice didn’t just crack.
Sero spoke, “I know we already asked this, but… Are you okay, Bakugou?”
“… I-I ‘ll be,” he looked down.
“You know you can talk to us, right?” Mina reminded him.
Bakugou tried to hide the smile forming on his face, “Yeh… M-Maybe I w-will, event’lly.”
The visits during the following days were uneventful but just as emotional. Deku, unfortunately, also visited him, and burst into tears the moment he saw him. The nurses came hearing the loud shrieks coming from the green-haired boy's throat. After an apology, a conversation and a promise to help him through his recovery from him, he finally left. His mother, Inko, sent him some spicy Katsudon, which he's thankful for even though he couldn't eat it.
(He'd eat it while no one was watching.)
Yaoyorozu, oddly enough, had a similar reaction to Deku's, only not as loud. She felt very guilty for what had happened, as she thought she had provoked it all, but she was able to feel a little better when Bakugou assured her that’s not yer fault, Ponytail. She also offered monetary support in case he needed it, but Bakugou strongly refused. He didn't need it.
Other classmates also visited him. Iida, Jirou, Tokoyami and Uraraka came as a group. They didn't stay long. Iida assured him that he would accommodate everything for him for when he comes back, and Bakugou told him to go to hell because he didn't want to be babied.
At the end of the day, when everyone left, Bakugou thought. Of his life, his future, his career. It would be hard, yes. He had just experienced a stumble, a big one, one from which he might not come out completely unscathed. It may slow him down, but it won't stop him.
Although the circumstances were not the best, something good would have come out of this experience. In time, Bakugou would understand, thanks to his therapist, that it's okay to stop, to let the body recover. To seek help.
Even if he felt down, hopeless, or felt like he'd never recover- even if he never actually does- there was people who’ll pull him out of that abyss and help him go ahead.
Maybe I can do it.