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Bakugou Katsuki was a...loud person, to say the least.
If he wasn't yelling at someone, he was emitting an aura that screamed...something, at the least, and he always had a hand tapping away at a desk or a leg thumping against it as he shook it.
So, class 2-A was shocked and a little concerned when Midoriya walked into the classroom after spring break with a quiet Bakugou trailing behind him, their hands interlocked.
Yes, it was odd to see him...not yelling, but...there was something else under it all. He was slouched, as usual, but it seemed more defensive than offensive. He still didn't have a smile on his face, but he looked more lost than angry. And, to top it all off, he was basically hiding behind Midoriya. The green haired of the two even asked if they could switch seats, so Bakugou was sitting in the back left corner and Midoriya was in front of him.
When the Bakusquad had come over to ask if he was alright, he had hunched into himself, and Midoriya had grabbed his hand before turning to them with a smile. "I'm sorry, but Kacchan really doesn't want to talk today; probably won't want to for a while."
At their worried questions about what had happened, the two simply looked at each other before Midoriya smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you much. All I can say is that something happened at home. He'll tell you all on his own time."
The group was obviously still worried-of course they were; Bakugou was their best friend!-but at their faces, he simply raised a hand up and let a few sparks roll off, letting a weak, champion's smirk come onto his face. It was their Bakugou, still, just hidden under some sadness; some hurt. It was as if he was saying 'calm down, dumbasses, I'm still here; just a bit beaten down'.
They all layered their hands on top of his, starting with Kirishima's, and smiled weakly. "If you say so."
But in the end, what really shocked the class the most was that Bakugou and Midoriya's relationship hadn't changed much since the previous year.
Of course, Midoriya started fighting back more at some point, and the Bakusquad translated that it was more banter now-and that Bakugou was the happiest he had been in a while, as far as they could tell-but it still seemed to be mostly tough love and brotherly tussles.
And yet, here they are, coming in like a caretaker and his scared puppy.
Not to say they were mocking Bakugou for his behavior; they really weren't. No, they were worried out of their minds. Everyone had already accepted Bakugou didn't want to talk, but the way he was leaning on Midoriya, every chance he got, was starting to scare them. Why was he so skittish? Why did he seem to only trust Midoriya?
What happened in his home for him to come back to them, broken and beaten?
Who in the world managed to break their fiery friend's spirit?
They kept it mostly to themselves, but that didn't mean Midoriya didn't notice; he'd always been perceptive.
As the lunch bell rang, the cheery boy had let out a quiet whistle. The sound was new, from him at least, and it had their heads turning.
He still had a firm grip on Bakugou's hand, but his smile was still as sweet as ever. "I know you all are worried; honestly, I am too, and I know what happened!" He laughed quietly. "But all you need to know is that Kacchan will be fine. If he wants to tell you, he will, but he's very private, and you all know this. And in the end, I just need you all to trust me that Kacchan will get better, as long as you leave him alone."
After a moment, Kirishima quietly said, "Can you give us another sign?"
Bakugou, after a moment, let out the same loud bursts from his palms that he usually did, so much bigger and more him than the ones he had let off that morning, before shakily signing 'I'll be fine'.
After a moment of confusion, and Midoriya congratulating him, he turned towards them with a large smile on his face. "He signed 'I'll be fine'! He hasn't signed since the incident!" He laughed, pulling Bakugou tighter into a hug. "Good job Kacchan!!"
He nodded, shaky smile on his lips as he nodded again towards the group.
The Bakusquad nodded first. In sync, they said, "We trust you." And then they left.
At his best friends' assurance that he was telling the truth, the rest of the group began to trickle out, some of them leaving Bakugou with their own quirk-fuled goodbyes or assurances.
After a moment of hesitation, Bakugou pulled on Midoriya's hand, pulling him in to whisper something into his ear. Midoriya nodded, before calling out. "Hey, Todoroki, could you stay? Bakugou said he wanted to tell you."
After a moment of wide-eyed silence, Todoroki nodded, and sat down next to the two.
After a squeeze of Bakugou's hand, Midoriya took a breath. "...Kacchan's mother has never been a good person. Ever since he was young, she's abused him, and abused Kacchan's father before that. And...Kacchan's father is...a very kind person. Too kind. And Kacchan cares about him...a lot. ...over the break, Kacchan's mom hurt him...bad enough to almost kill him. Kacchan...didn't fight back. But he called the cops, and his father made it out alive! He's even filing for divorce and a restraining order!" After Midoriya's small bout of happiness, he sombered again. "But the most important part...is that Kacchan had been fighting to keep his dad safe for a very, very long time. Basically since he knew how to. And seeing him so hurt scared him...so, so much. He's scared of you guys being hurt, of me being hurt. And...he's always felt like he's too much like her. ...he doesn't want to hurt you, or get himself hurt anymore. But, he wanted to tell you-" Midoriya turned suddenly at a tug on his hand. "Kacchan?" Then his eyes widened as he saw shaky hands raise.
'Keep your mother safe. Do whatever you can to keep her from being hurt by your father ever again. I've met her; she's kind, and sweet, and so much like dad.' His teary eyes gained a bit of a determined glint in them. 'Don't let yourself be convinced by whatever tells you you're anything like him. Don't let it.' It was so shakily signed, but Todoroki could still read it just fine.
He smiled back, and signed, 'I promise, I'll keep her safe, like I always have. And thank you. I won't.' He paused. '...And you shouldn't either.' He smiled wider. "You...are not your mother. I promise. Bakugou-"
'Katsuki.'
His smile softened as Katsuki moved in for a firm hug, Midoriya smiling proudly in the background. "Katsuki. ...and you can call me Shouto."
He heard a quiet 'Shouto' from over his shoulder, and he saw Midoriya tear up next to him.
Todoroki's flame of determination only grew.
The next day, Bakugou had managed to start signing more confidently, usually doing that to get used to it and letting Midoriya translate. He was still quiet, in every single way, but he had a bit more spring in his step.
And, strangely enough, those who knew sign saw him use 'Shouto' instead of Todoroki, and they had sworn they could see the other boy doing it from across the room.
Finally, after that, he had gained some of his volume back, it seemed. He had laughed, gruff, but loud, after Todoroki had seemed to sign him something. Aizawa couldn't even be mad. (He'd never admit it, but he dropped his pencil in relief.) He had also said one simple sentence, while signing it: "'m fine. Least I will be." It was quiet, and it was grumbled, but even he seemed to be surprised at it, and the whole class celebrated through excited whispers that Aizawa couldn't dare try to yell at them for.
Finally, the next day, he came in before Midoriya, shoulders slumped and scowl on his face. "Oi, Izuku, hurry the fuck up!"
That was new, but oh well. They supposed it was in return.
"I'm coming, Kacchan!" Midoriya yelled back, finally catching up. "You walk too fast!" He huffed.
"Well you walk too slow!" Bakugou bit back, before walking towards Todoroki's desk, banging a fist on it. "Hey, Shouto! Spar with me later!"
"Of course, Katsuki," the other easily answered.
Again, new, but worth it for his loudness back.
As he walked by the Bakusquad's desk, he smirked, let off a few tiny blasts, and said, "Told you I'd be fine."
They all smiled brightly back, and Kaminari shouted, "Of course you are! That's only expected from King Explosion Murder!"
He got a squawk, laughter, and a chase in return, but none of them had it in them to be annoyed in the way they usually were.
Because Bakugou had this smirk on his face; a smirk that said 'I'm back'.
The whole of the class would never get an explanation for those days, but they accepted that it was private easily enough.
The Bakusquad, however, got their explanation only a few days later.
He had called them over after dinner, quietly saying "I've got a story to tell."
They knew exactly what he meant, after multiple incidents where Bakugou had decided to tell them something private. They had decided on a code for it pretty early on, and they all used it whenever they wanted to talk about something serious.
And so, they walked back to the dorms, mostly in silence, and settled into Bakugou's room.
He sat down on his bed, the others crowding around Bakugou best they could.
He sighed quietly, before beginning his tale. "...So, I guess I'm technically just explaining why I was all quiet after break, but...that's gonna contain a lotta backstory. So...from the beginning…" Already knowing this would be difficult, just by his tone, they all grabbed what they could. Kirishima and Sero both grabbed his hands from their places at his sides, Mina buried a hand in his hair, and Kaminari rested his back against his. Bakugou let out a shaky laugh, before continuing on.
"...so, my mom has always been...a bit of an abusive bitch. Even before she had me, she always a dick to dad. She would do anything to harm either of us, but dad...he was always as good of a parent as he could be. He was always nice, and gentle, and raised me as well as he could in the hell of a household I grew up in." He shook his head, sighing. "Marrying her wasn't even his choice. She basically forced him into it because she wanted someone to take care of her when she was older, and he was good at dealing with kids. But...like I said, he's always been...too nice. A bit...defenseless. He's really important to me. And so, I tried to protect him with my life from the age I knew how. I was scared when I was younger that she was gonna kill him, and when I realized she probably wouldn't do that, I still just cared too much about him to let her hurt him. Cause he taught me everything. He was basically both parent roles, and he played both perfectly."
His hands heated up, but not enough to burn, and Mina ran her hand through his hair, Sero and Kirishima started tracing shapes on the backs of his hands, and Kaminari leaned in a bit more. He breathed out a thanks, and continued. "...anyways. I went home for break, and a few days in, I went out to get groceries. I...I came back, and...dad was pretty much dead on the floor. I was fucking furious, but at least thought better of fighting back. I called the cops, and...he's getting a divorce. We'll finally be out of that hellhole, and I can let my guard down."
He paused, slight smile dropping. "...but even after a couple days, I was just...so scared. I've...always thought I was a bit too much like her, and I didn't want to hurt any of you, or hurt him in the future. And I was still scared someone else would try to hurt me again, after finally being promised I'd have a way out. ...and right as I walked in, he signed to me: 'run'. It was why I refused to for a while. Not to mention she hated it whenever she noticed us doing it, anyways. Said it made us wimps for not just saying shit in a way she could understand. ...and when I saw him lying there, it...shook me to the core. Because I'd been fighting to keep him safe for the better part of my life-and I-I fucking failed. He was almost killed. I-It's part of the reason I wanted to be a hero in the first place; if...if I could learn how to save others...maybe I could save him. And if I saved others, m-maybe that actually made me some kind of protector. An actually fucking good one who didn't fail, who never got out with bruises on him and the person he was trying to save…"
By now the squad had turned to hug him full force, and he tightened his grip as he moved on. "A-and...Izuku. I never wanted to hate him, but...but he reminded me of dad so fucking much, and he was so determined to save people, and-and I wanted to protect him, too, but he was always getting hurt, and I didn't want to hurt him the way I hurt dad by existing, always making her angry. I didn't want him hurt, b-but then he said he wanted to go to fucking UA. People die in that fucking entrance exam. S-so...I told him to take a swan dive off the roof. I fucking panicked, but I was more scared of him actually doing either. And in the end, I failed him too. So many times. He's always getting himself hurt, and I thought keeping him away from me would keep him from getting himself hurt more, but...but then he just had to come fucking save me. And...if I can't even keep myself safe-if the person I was always trying to protect ended up saving me-then what kind of protector am I?" He finished with a whisper, and just buried his face in whatever neck he found; Mina's, if the smell of bubblegum was anything to go by.
She shushed him quietly, hands still running gently through his hair. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's over, kay? And y'know, if you ask me, I think you're a fine protector." He looked up at her, confused, and she laughed. "How many times have you absolutely destroyed someone for even thinking about hurting us, Blasty?"
Kaminari nodded, putting a finger to Bakugou's cheek and letting a little spark roll through, making him laugh. "Yeah! Like all those times you've beaten the shit out of random dudes who come up to Mina, or threatened to murder Monoma for daring to speak our names?"
Bakugou huffed, but a small smile was on his face. "...they did deserve it."
Kirishima nodded, humming quietly as he grabbed Bakugou's hand. "In all seriousness, though, I'm really glad you trusted us enough to let us know, Bakugou. I know it probably took a lot out of you."
Looking away, Bakugou mumbled, "...you guys are worthy of knowing. You idiots would've worried your little heads off if I hadn't told you."
Sero nodded. "Yeah, probably. ...cuddle pile in my room? I've got the beanbags."
Mina detached herself from Bakugou first, excitedly bouncing towards the door. "I call the pink one!"
Kirishima laughed. "Yeah, sounds good. We could watch a movie or something, too." He looked towards Bakugou, who had inched off the bed to change after the others left. "What do you want to do, Bakugou?"
He hummed. "...I wouldn't mind watching a movie, yeah. And we could do you and Tape and Dunce faces hair."
Kirishima beamed back. "Course! I'll grab the brushes and hair ties and head on over. I probably won't be there when you get there; I've gotta wash the gel out."
A quiet 'kay' followed him out of Bakugou's room, and Sero patted his shoulder as he left. "I'll save you the soft blanket, Blasty."
"Thanks."
"Mhm."
Kaminari rested his pointer finger on Bakugou's cheek again, laughing at the little snort it had pulled out of the other before smiling softly. "Never forget we're here, kay? We'll always be the electricity keeping your nerves up and running; the current under your skin."
Bakugou smirked back. "Did you get that out of a book or just pull it out of your ass?"
He shrugged, waving behind him. "I improvised. See ya in a minute, Blasty!"
Bakugou snorted, shaking his head after him, before sighing happily.
He really did have good friends.
They all looked up as he walked in, noticing he was in his favorite hoodie-the one he wore when he wanted to be happy, when he had been through some shit.
Knowing what was up, they went for an assistance approach rather than a worried one.
Mina pushed together all the bean bags, Sero set up some mindless background-noise comedy movie, and Kirishima sat on the far left as Kaminari moved to sit in front of them. Mina and Sero settled down, and Bakugou slid right in between Kaminari and the three, hands already playing with Kami's staticky hair.
They moved in closer, and Bakugou started up on a simple, easy braid as they started up some random conversations.
Bakugou was just as loud and irritable as he always was, with a soft smile on his face the rest of the time.
They were just happy to have their loud dork back.