Chapter Text
Bakugou didn’t attend school the next day, Momo didn’t even see him leave his room for his morning run. It felt off since she witnessed some of Bakugou and Aizawa’s fight. No one else mentioned it but she could tell they knew an argument went down again. Even with his refusal to admit anything was wrong, Momo felt worried. After school there was no sign he had left his dorm, she even heard Kirishima mentioning he was silent and the door was locked. She stood in front of the wooden brown door herself. She’s messed with the knob, it’s locked for sure.
She’s been standing there for almost ten minutes and there's zero signs of life. Momo can’t help but think he might've slit his wrists or something in there. She knocks, then rattling the doorknob again. “Bakugou, please answer.” Momo’s practically begging to him, she just wants an answer.
Momo slowly pulls down her shirt, a little bobby pin coming out from her skin. If anything, she could just ask Aizawa to open the door with the master key. Momo knew it was a huge invasion of his privacy and if anyone else witnessed this she’d get stopped.
Momo can’t help herself when she hears that lock click, she needs to know. “Bakugou, I’m coming in.” Momo says as she slowly opens the door. Her eyes are squinted and all she can think about is how she might see him bleeding out on the floor.
She signs in relief when she just sees Bakugou lying on his bed, fast asleep but not dead. Momo closes the door behind her as she enters. Her footsteps are slow while she approaches his bedside. Her hand is shaking when she puts it against his neck, trying to assure herself that he’s alive.
“Bakugou?” Momo asks loudly, trying to wake him up. “Bakugou, wake up.” She shakes him gently, his skin is warm and soft.
Momo watches as he turns onto his other side to no longer face her. She can’t help but feel like a creep coming into his room this way. Momo grips onto his shoulder tightly, roughly shaking him this time. “Wake up!” She exclaims. She needs to see his eyes open up for herself. She needs to see him take a deep breath in and out.
After her aggressive shaking, Bakugou started to sit up. He rubs one of his eyes as his other hand grips his blanket. “Why are you in my room?” Bakugou asks once he’s conscious enough to realize what's going on.
“I picked your lock,” Momo answers quite honestly for the situation, “I was worried you killed yourself. Or that maybe you passed out from hunger and slammed your head into something.”
Bakugou stares at her for a second, then he gets a weird look on his face. It’s not nervous or disgusted, it’s not even angry. Momo can’t figure it out but she does know it’s weird. “I’m not going to kill myself. Did Aizawa-bitch put you up to this?” He replies, fully sitting up in his red bed sheets.
“No one else knows I came to check on you.” Momo states. “Everyone else is worried though.”
Bakugou rolls his eyes, mumbling something to himself Momo can’t pick up on. “Leave so I can continue sleeping.” Bakugou announces, he doesn’t want to argue right now. He doesn’t even want to be awake right now. Bakugou would much rather be asleep by himself.
Momo stares at him, hard and worried. Her brows furrow and she fixes her grey shirt. She wants to shake him, yell into his ear about how he’s destroying himself. Momo just wants to see him eat a regular meal for once. Without the scale or throwing up. “Bakugou,” She starts just as Bakugou speaks up again.
“Leave, now. I don’t want to hear it.” Bakugou answers as he lays down again. Momo stands there watching for a couple of seconds.
Momo is as quiet as a mouse, her expressionless face doesn’t give her guilt justice. Her body wants her to stay in the freezing room, to beg him to eat something and get help. Momo can feel the hardwood floor against her feet, it’s cold and pressing on her. Grounding her.
Bakugou stays on the warm bed, underneath the thick, red blanket and on top of the thin black sheets. She watches him intensely, inspecting his true nature. Momo knows he’s hungry. The water cup on the side of his desk is empty, accompanied by his usual water bottle. Bakugou feels just as empty, he needs something.
Her steps are hard, hitting the icy cold floors on her way out. Neither of them say anything as the door clicks shut. Momo grips the door handle even after she’s left him alone, holding onto it in case he does say something. She needs something to fulfill her crave.
Momo craves knowing, she needs to know it. She needs to know if he’s hungry, if he’s ravenous and just refusing. She’s desperate and scared and worried all at once. Her gut is an emptiness pit and she’s a huge pig. She’ll take anything she can get out of Bakugou and still demand more.
By the time she’s left Bakugou’s room, the hallways are empty. The sound of the heater is wiring as she slowly walks to her dorm. Momo can’t help but want to go back to Bakugou.
Valentines day, a pinkish day full of love. It had barely been a week since Momo entered Bakugou’s room. He’d eaten about two apples and a handful or two of strawberries since then. Her worry definitely provoked others too. Tsuyu had even commented on it the day before. Aizawa banned him from training till someone could prove he had eaten at least three full meals for two days straight.
Bakugou didn’t think Aizawa was serious at first, some kind of sick joke. That caused their third fight, less heated than the second but left Bakugou with more restrictions. Aizawa kept pushing back on them. Removing his training times and forcing him to eat to be allowed back. No one mentioned it but they had definitely seen how Bakugou ran and went to the gym more often that week.
No one could deny the fact that they were worried. Their classmate, their friend, was withering away right in front of them.
Mina snickered softly with Jirou and Hagakure. They were sitting on the couch, two notebooks and pens spread in front of them. Momo, Iida, Kirishima, and Tokoyami all sat on the other couch or beanbags on the floor. Each had their own notebooks and papers. Momo held her thin sheet of homework in her hands, calling out her simple answers to Tokoyami as he compared them to his. Each different math answer makes them go back and double check all of their work. Iida explained a multiple step equation to Tokoyami.
Hagakure, unseen but obvious, smiles. “What are we doing for Valentine's day? Last year didn’t we have that party and all the food and decorations?” She announces to the group.
Mina perks up, setting down her pink glitter pen on her white notebook. She’s the most excited out of everyone, really just wanting a reason to lay back and hang out. “That sounds amazing! And Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday guys!” She exclaims.
Jirou glances up from her notebook, her soft gaze landing on Mina. Iida had already started to speak up, “Of course, we’d have to run this by Aizawa and actually plan it.”
The day of their Valentine’s party came faster than they anticipated. Sato had made treats, cookies, strawberry bars, cupcakes, anything pink and red. Momo had set up the table, laying a white table cloth designed with pink and red hearts. Midoriya and Todoroki had gone to the store for juices and other drinks, likely going to grab candies and whatnot there too.
Momo had even collected cute pillows and two blankets for the couch with Ochako. They’re cute and Valentine’s Day themed. Most of them were sitting on the couches or the dining tables, a few were in the kitchen.
Kirishima didn’t say anything but Bakugou hadn’t come down. He’d noticed the eating habits before some of his classmates but did little compared to others like Iida to confront him. Kirishima, quite aware of this like everyone else, knew that if he mentioned it or argued with Bakugou, he wouldn’t eat. Maybe it was his fear of his friend getting worse, or how he didn’t want to be demanding, but Kirishima stayed silent.
The floors felt wobbly and crooked under his socked feet, the walls felt closer. Entrapping him into his own thoughts of fear. Kirishima stood up from the table, steadying himself with the chair. “I’m gonna go check on Bakugou and use the bathroom.” He announces to his table full of his close friends. Kirishima speeds out of there before anyone interjects.
His steps become loudly once he leaves the loud party, they fill up the dim hallways. Kirishima slowly stops in front of Bakugou’s wooden door, he can’t hear anything but knows his friend is in there. His hand makes its way up the door. Kirishima’s knocks are soft, gentle. He doesn’t want to pressure Bakugou but does want to convince him to come downstairs with everyone else.
“Who’s there?” Kirishima can hear the harsh voice outside of the door.
“Hey dude, it’s me. We want you to come join us downstairs.” Kirishima answers, his hand dropping down and hitting the side of his black sweatpants.
He can hear slight shuffling in Bakugou’s dorm, then the door swings up. Bakugou looks tired, exhausted even. Surprising for someone who hasn’t been allowed to eat and goes to bed around eight. His hair is almost messy and needs a comb through it once or twice. Bakugou’s outfit is almost the same as Kirishima’s, soft black sweatpants and a hoodie. Except Bakugou’s is red and Kirishima’s is pink.
Kirishima gives him a big smile, showing his sharp white teeth. They almost glow like a pearl in the sun. Bakugou doesn’t smile back but starts to walk down the hallway. His slippers lightly hit the cold flooring, filling their quiet walk to the party. “I’m happy you came out. I bet everyone else will too.” Kirishima comments as they get down to the common area. You can hear it from the hallway, loud and bustling.
Sato had finished baking and was now with everyone else, leaving a pretty display of treats on the food table. The velvet cupcakes with white frosting and the pink cookies with pale glaze help fill the space. The themed table cloth now has something matching it.
Kirishima slings an arm around Bakugou’s shoulder, leading him to the table full of their friends. Denki smirks at them, “Look who finally came.”
Mina elbows his side, not enough to hurt exactly but enough to get him to be quiet. “You actually came!” Mina says, “You really need to try one of Sato’s cupcakes. I’d go back to war for them!”
Kirishima gives her a look for that, a warning to be quiet. They finally got Bakugou to come hang out with them, let alone the whole class, for the first time in over a month. Jokes like that might upset Bakugou, but Kirishima isn’t sure himself.
He never fully is sure now, how can anything be sure? Kirishima knows he’ll never be sure in the future and that right now just shows it.
Bakugou stays sitting down with them, forced to sit down at the end of the table with Kirishima on his left. Mina had a chocolate cupcake, pink frosting dots around her mouth. Bakugou couldn’t deny that Sato’s baking was incredible. He’d tried it multiple times before but swore to himself he wouldn’t eat anything for the next two days.
The lively party hadn’t ended when Bakugou got ready to leave. Most of the treats and foods were cleared out, some dishes already being cleaned. Bakugou, already ready to leave and go to bed by eight, slowly walked out. Kirishima and some of his other friends had been sitting at the table, a huge game of uno going on. Bakugou had originally refused and claimed he needed the restroom. Kirishima thought it was pretty obvious when Bakugou quickly left that he wasn’t coming back.
Bakugou’s room was freezing from his fan continuously running while he was gone, it’d only been a handful of hours. He steps out of his slippers, leaving them by the door that he locks. It didn’t take long for him to get into pajamas and head into bed.
It didn’t take long for someone to come knocking either. It wasn’t uncommon for people to come knocking by his dorm, especially after Momo had. Usually it was just Iida or Kirishima to make sure he didn’t pass out and hit his head from not eating.
He internally groans, using the last bit of energy in his fatigued body to get up. The door squeaks open slowly, revealing a dressed up Iida. He has on a stupid light pink button up and blue jeans, even though the party was just classmates.
“What?” He asks harshly. All Bakugou really wanted was to fall back asleep, his eating habits took a toll on his energy.
Iida clears his throat, “I wanted to check on you. Just to see if everything was going fine and if you liked the party.”
Bakugou’s basically rolling his eyes to the back of his head. “Of course I’m fine.” He says, trying not to show how Iida’s words make him feel weak. Bakugou taps on the wooden door with his fingers, “Is there anything else or can you leave me alone again?”
Iida is silent for a second but Bakugou knows something is coming. Bakugou is slightly tense when Iida starts to talk, “You need to eat, being just straightforward right now. Everyone is worried about you, I heard Mina crying to Kirishima when I was walking down the hallway yesterday. I’ll shove an apple down your throat if I have too.”
Bakugou is frozen, he hadn’t heard about Mina crying. “That’s not it, Denki saw you throwing up three weeks ago and panicked. Hagakure told Momo that she saw you almost pass out for a couple of seconds when you stood up too fast.” Iida’s tone isn’t what Bakugou expected. It’s not harsh or surprising infantilizing. IIda is almost gentle and soothing, sincere.
He feels a pang in his heart. Sure, Bakugou felt better when he obsessed over every little thing that entered him. He felt better when he was underweight and sick, but so did so many others. Then again hearing Iida go on about their classmates and friends, describing their worries and spottings, made him feel bad. He felt awful and worse by the second. Bakugou knew his eating was destroying him and others, he’s known for months by now. He just didn’t think it mattered.
“Jirou was talking to Midoriya to see if you’ve always been eating like this. Midoriya cares too, he showed her his journal and writings about seeing your plate and body thinning out and disappearing,” Iida continues, “You’re sick.”
That night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Bakugou and Iida sat at the now cleared off white tables. It’s cold but the little heat radiates off of the little soup and bread Iida made him. Iida had already eaten himself but didn’t want Bakugou to be alone, so he sat there with a small portion himself.
Iida could tell him to eat more, even though the portion is small it’s not enough for someone like them. Iida could say that Bakugou needed help and therapy and treatments and all of these other things, but he doesn’t. They sit in a warming silence as they both eat. He can’t help but feel ecstatic. Seeing Bakugou actually sit down and eat without weighing or measuring anything was already a milestone in itself.
The pretty bowl is empty when Bakugou helps Iida with the dishes. It’s empty the next ten times they eat together during the next nights. It’s empty the next few years after that.