Chapter Text
Katsuki did not want to get out of bed. He hadn’t managed to fall asleep until 4:00 am, so he only got two hours of sleep instead of his usual nine to ten. Today was gonna be fun. He managed to drag himself out of bed and change his clothes. Groggily, he slapped the door handle and walked to breakfast.
Sato had been assigned to breakfast today, so there was french toast, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit salad, apple slices, orange juice, and milk. Katsuki plopped down next to Jiro - the only other sane one in his group of idiots - and dropped his head onto the table. Jiro flinched in surprise, but she didn’t ask questions.
“Woah, Bakugo. You good?” Sero asked while reaching over the table to steal bacon from Kaminari.
“Aren’t you gonna eat anything?” Kaminari asked Bakugo.
Katsuki flipped them off without lifting his head. The bacon, eggs, and sausage smelled heavenly, but the thought of eating made him want to throw up. But he really wanted that bacon…
“Sooorry,” Kaminari said. “Who pissed in your cereal?”
“Hey, guys, sorry I’m late. I was helping Sato clean up the kitchen.” Kirishima set his plate down between Kaminari and Mina. It was piled high with french toast, eggs, and sausage links.
“No worries, man,” Sero said. “Bakugo’s being weird.”
Katsuki sat straight at the mention of his name. “I’m not weird! You’re weird, tape face!”
“Is that his ‘I just saw Deku and now I’m mad’ face?” Kaminari asked. “Or his ‘Everyone’s stupid’ face?”
“No,” Mina said thoughtfully. “He’s not indifferent enough to be pissed off cause of Midoriya, and he’s not disappointed enough for the second one. It looks like his “I saw someone doing something nice and it pisses me off’ face.”
“Nope,” Kirishima said. “It’s his ‘I didn’t get my required ten hours of sleep last night and now I’m gonna make it everyone else’s problem’ face.”
The other two nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Katsuki stared at them.
“Y’all are weird,” Jiro said.
“WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE MY FACES MEMORIZED? HOW THE HELL? YOU GUYS SUCK! STOP BEING CREEPS AND MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!”
“Bakugo, stop yelling,” Kirishima said. “How much sleep did you get last night?
“Not enough,” Katsuki grumbled. “Stupid Deku.”
“What did Midoriya do?” Kaminari asked.
“IT doesn’t matter!” Katsuki crossed his arms.
“Aw, don’t pout, baby,” Mina cooed.
Katsuki’s eye twitched as he glared at her. Sparks crackled at his palms.
Kirishima put an arm protectively in front of Mina. “Calm down, Kats.” Katsuki instantly went still. Goddamit that nickname. “Why didn’t you sleep last night?” When Katsuki didn’t answer, Kirishima narrowed his eyes and it turned into a staredown between the two.
“Um… anyway,” Kaminari said. “Jiro, did you finish writing that song? I wanna hear it!”
Katsuki looked away. He knew that Kirishima would be even more worried now, since they both knew Katsuki didn’t look away first unless something was really wrong. For the rest of breakfast, he could feel Kirishima’s eyes on him. Katsuki gave in and grabbed a piece of bacon from Kaminari’s plate. Making eye contact with Kirishima, he took a bite. See, I’m fine.
“Hey, why is everybody stealing from my plate?” Kaminari complained.
During class, Katsuki could not pay attention. He kept nodding off for a second. This was not a good look for him. Annoyed, he grabbed his pencil and pressed the sharpened tip to his palm, the slight sting keeping his eyes open.
Somehow, he made it through the boring classes without falling asleep. Aizawa’s bored, monotone voice did not help him, but it was easier to stay awake for Midnight and Present Mic’s classes, especially the latter. Now it was time for hero training. Perfect. Maybe that would wake him up. Better yet, villains might attack and just kill him to end his misery.
“I don’t have anything planned, so find a partner and fight. No killing each other. I’m looking at you, Bakugo.” Aizawa was already zipping up his ugly yellow sleeping bag. “Have fun.”
“Bakugo!” Kirishima called. “Wanna team up with me? I wanna work on my unbreakable you’re not afraid to hold back your attacks.”
Nope, nope, nope. He couldn’t fight Kirishima right now, not with this funny feeling. “Actually, I’m gonna team up with Deku.” He snatched the back of Deku’s shirt as he innocently walked past. “Deku, we’re fighting.”
“What?” Deku whined. “I was gonna fight with Todoroki. Besides, last night-”
Katsuki stomped on Deku’s foot before he could finish the sentence. “We’re fighting. Call it a rematch.”
Kirishima’s smile faded. Katsuki hated himself. “All good, man. I’ll team up with Mina.”
Oh, that was worse. Katsuki hated seeing Kirishima with Mina, especially since he found out they “talked” in middle school. He knew he was jealous, but he never thought about it long enough to convince himself he was or wasn’t.
Deku glanced between them while Kirishima walked away. “Dude… him?”
Katsuki reeled back. “What the fuck does that mean?!?”
“Keep it down,” Deku said, checking around to see if anyone was listening. “Why’d you freak out when Kirishima wanted to team up with you?”
“I didn’t freak out.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Do you like Kirishima?” Deku asked. It was so abrupt and sudden and blunt that Katsuki took a step back. “Before you yell, I can tell because I know you. Every other crush you’ve told me about when we were young, which were only two, you pushed them away and ignored them but you still watched them and lost sleep over them.
Katsuki stared at him. “I-”
“Bakugo, Midoriya. You two are the only ones not training,” Aizawa said.
Deku smiled at Katsuki and punched him in the face.
Katsuki was terrible. His reaction time was considerably slower than usual and his hits were weaker. His lack of power only frustrated him more, so his moves became more careless and reckless. It didn’t help that he kept looking at Kirishima, giving Deku plenty of openings.
Halfway through the class, Deku stopped fighting. They both landed, breathing heavily. Katsuki had just gotten his ass handed to him and he was pissed but too tired to do anything about it but curse at Deku.
Deku tilted his head. “You’re really not okay.”
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN? I’M FINE!”
Deku didn’t look convinced. “Do you need to see Recovery Girl?”
“NO! DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?” A sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over Katsuki he cursed under his breath. He took a step and collapsed into Deku’s arms, his own arms wrapping loosely around his neck while Deku grabbed his torso.
“Aizawa,” Deku called. “I’m gonna take Kacchan to Recovery Girl.”
“Kacchan! You’re making a scene.” Deku was right - at least half a dozen of their classmates were staring. Katsuki thought about blasting Deku into next week, but he figured Recovery Girl could maybe figure out what was wrong with him.
The little woman sighed when she saw Deku. What is it this time?”
Deku chuckled nervously. “Sorry. It’s not about me, though. It’s Kacchan this time.” He gently pushed Katsuki forward. “Tell her what’s wrong.”
Katsuki shook his head stubbornly. “Nuh uh. No way.”
“Kacchan,” Deku said, sounding oddly like his mom. Except Inko Midoriya was much better than Izuku Midoriya. “Just tell her what you told me. And the stuff I know you left out.”
Katsuki stuck his tongue out at him. Deku knew him too well, it was creepy. “Fine.” He turned to face Recovery Girl, but his eyes were on the ceiling. “I can’t sleep. Or eat. It’s like… ugh.” It’s like there was constantly a weight on his chest that didn’t go away no matter how many distractions he tried. “This is stupid, I’m not doing this. Am I dying?”
“Hm, let me check,” Recovery Girl said. She placed a wet, disgusting kiss on Katsuki’s cheek. “Well, you’re fine physically, nowhere near dying,” she said. “Take some of these tonight before bed, they’ll help you sleep.” She handed him a bottle of pills. “Only one or two, no more.”
“See, Deku,” Katsuki said. He stormed out the door. “I’m fine.”