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“C’mon Bakubro, you never go out with us,” Pikachu whines directly in Katsuki’s ear, hanging from his neck like a limpet. Katsuki shoves him to the floor none too gently and turns back to preparing his meals for the week.
“Stuffing my face with fast food while surrounded by you idiots doesn't sound like my idea of a great time, Dunce Face,” Katsuki says, attention focused on the rice he's carefully portioning into 14 plastic meal containers.
He stands back up with a huff, but thankfully doesn't re-attach himself to Katsuki’s neck. “I know you're all about treating your body like a temple or whatever, but you haven't gone out to eat with us in months, dude. Your body's like, completely perfect actually. It kinda pisses me off,” he adds under his breath. “Come out with us! It'll be fun,” he finishes with a bright smile.
Katsuki doesn't even spare him a glance. His eating habits aren't up for discussion. “I eat what I want. Fuck off.”
Kaminari sounds skeptical when he replies, “So you're telling me you want to eat the same boring things every day? Your food’s not even spicy anymore.”
His face is concerned and questioning in Katsuki's periphery. He pretends he doesn't notice, and Kaminari finally leaves.
**
Bakugou Mistuki is a model well known for both her incredible looks and temper, both of which she passed on to her son. Katsuki has been on the receiving end of compliments about how much he resembles her one too many times.
When he was really little, his mother would pinch his chubby cheeks and coo over how cute they were. Distant relatives and family friends would comment about how he looked, saying that a chubby child was a healthy one. These words didn't mean much to him at the time, and still don't. He's never cared much about what those extras think of him.
Mitsuki goes back to work when Katsuki is around five years old. Katsuki likes to sit on her bed while she does her makeup in front of the vanity. She pinches her cheeks and jaw in the mirror while he plays with his pro-hero action figures on the bed behind her. He doesn't understand, and he doesn't realize there is something to understand in the first place.
Later, he's sitting at the table eating his dinner while his parents talk at the island a few feet away.
“What's wrong, honey? You've been quiet since you got home,” his dad asks quietly. Mitsuki purses her lips and shakes her head. Masaru knows his wife well enough not to push.
Katsuki remembers that day well. It's like an ink stain on his memory, the day his mom started changing.
Not even two months pass before she blows up and reveals the reason for her lingering bad mood. His parents are in their room, and Katsuki is supposed to be sleeping, but he hears his mom shouting and wants to know what's going on.
“I can't get rid of the fucking baby weight, Masaru! I'm doing everything I can think of, but nothing is working. I feel like I’m going crazy! How the fuck am I supposed to do my job when I look like this?! I am a model, Masaru, and I can't lose 30 goddamn pounds. It's fucking embarrassing!” Mitsuki is shouting, but it sounds weird. When she doesn’t continue, Katsuki creeps closer to the door and hears something he wasn't expecting. His mom was crying.
Katsuki has only seen his mom cry once in his five years of life. His grandma had passed away, and his mom couldn't get out of bed for over a week. It’s frightening to hear her like this. He doesn’t like it.
**
Kaminari isn't wrong, is the thing. He doesn't go out with the Idiot Squad anymore. Truthfully, it's not just the garbage food they insist on getting every time they leave school grounds that he's avoiding.
Lately, he hasn't wanted to leave his dorm room at all. Classes aren't an issue, but he has no energy to expend on being social. The thought of getting dressed fills him with an inexplicable anxiety he'd never admit to.
He's worn large, baggy clothes for years. His mom gives him shit for it all the time, and his dad just looks exasperated at his lack of taste. Katsuki just hates the feeling of his clothes touching his body, it makes him feel sick in a way he can't describe. His too-large clothing has kept that feeling under control, but not anymore.
Now, the only way he can control that feeling is to not feel it at all. So he stays in, only wears his largest hoodie and boxers, and feels a little better.
He can't help but feel that he's slowly destroying his… his friendships, though.
None of them seem angry with him when he blows them off, just disappointed. Katsuki tries to tell himself that it isn't worse.
**
Three months ago, all of UA was sent home for a 10 day vacation.
It doesn't feel like much of a vacation to Katsuki.
When he gets home on Friday afternoon, there's a note on the table in his fathers handwriting. His parents are in Italy and won't be home until Sunday evening. This is par for the course, and he heads upstairs to start on the homework assigned for over break.
Saturday is uneventful, and Sunday brings a message from Kirishima inviting him out with their friends. Katsuki (reluctantly) agrees. After a day of boba, karaoke, and extremely spicy ramen, he returns home. Mitsuki and Masaru appear to have arrived recently as well, their bags at the foot of the stairs.
“Hey kiddo, that you?” Mitsuki’s voice calls from the kitchen. Katsuki walks in and sees his parents standing at the island, his mom holding a cup of green tea and his dad rifling through the mail. She sets her cup down when Katsuki approaches.
“Couldn't even be at home to greet your parents after their long flight, brat?” She teases after pulling him into a hug, and Katsuki scoffs. “Really though, where were you? You didn't leave a note.”
“Out with Kirishima and his bunch of losers. Thought I'd beat you home,” he grumbles, but there's no heat to it. Neither of them is in a particularly foul mood, even though his mom has been traveling and is probably tired. Katsuki isn't in the mood for a screaming match, it's been a good day so far.
Of course it doesn't stay that way.
Katsuki is still standing close to Mitsuki after their hug, and he's telling her about his day out. Her gaze shifts just a little, roaming over his face with a critical eye as if she's at work. He closes his mouth without finishing his story, but she doesn't seem to notice.
She pinches his cheek between her thumb and index finger.
“Have you been gaining weight, Katsuki?”
His good mood is ruined. He swats at her hand and backs away. His dad is silent, watching the exchange without interjecting.
“What the fuck? No, you hag!”
The conversation devolves from there, with Mitsuki scolding him for getting both boba and ramen in one day. Katsuki tells her to fuck off multiple times, but inside he feels both empty and hurt.
When the break is over, Katsuki is glad to be back at UA as away from his mothers overbearing presence. His friends invite him out the Monday classes resume, and he refuses.
**
Katsuki is six when his mom smacks him hard across the face for the first -and last- time. She's getting dressed for work, and he notices something that has never stood out to him before.
He abandons his action figures on the bed and approaches his mom from behind. He reaches up and pokes a dark purple stripe on Mitsuki’s left side.
“Mama, what's wrong with your tummy?” He asks, still looking at her stripes.
Katsuki doesn’t realize he's said something wrong until he's on the floor, cradling his red cheek. Tears well up before he has a chance to process what's happened.
Mitsuki is breathing heavily, face red. She’s saying something, but Katsuki is too shocked to hear the words clearly. Katsuki stares up at her moving mouth for a moment before bolting from the room.
He hides in his closet until his dad comes home from work. His mom never comes looking for him.
While he's sitting on the closet floor, tears still silently falling down his little cheeks, the words his mom was shouting after she hit him start to make sense.
“This is your fault, Katsuki! You did this to me! Do you think I wanted to look like this? You destroyed my body, you little parasite!”
Masaru finds him asleep in his closet. He sits on the bed and holds Katsuki in his lap, turning his face gently to inspect the light bruise. Katsuki stays silent, but his lip wobbles.
“I’m sorry, Katsuki. Mama is sick right now, she didn't mean it. Mama loves you,” Masaru rocks Katsuki back and forth.
Katsuki tries to believe him. He mostly succeeds.
**
After that day, Mitsuki starts seeing a doctor twice a week. Katsuki is only vaguely aware of what's going on. He knows she sees the doctor for two years, and stops going shortly after his eighth birthday.
Mitsuki is a lot better after that. She no longer makes comments about how many calories are in her food, or her weight, or her stretch marks. Katsuki doesn't see her pinch her face or inspect her body in the mirror. The scale they used to keep in the bathroom begins to gather dust in the garage.
As time goes on, things begin to change. Katsuki is ten years old, and he knows he is going to be the Number One Hero!
He's chatting excitedly about it to Mitsuki on the way to his grandparents house, his dad behind the wheel and Mitsuki turning in the passenger seat to face him.
Her gaze is sharp, and stings as it grazes everywhere her eyes fall on his body. Katsuki knows that whatever she's about to say won't be nice.
“Number One Hero, huh? Gotta get in shape if that's the goal, kiddo. Can't be eating dinosaur nuggets and playing video games all day if you're a pro,” she says, and Katsuki mulls this over. He isn't hurt by this, but he doesn't understand.
“How do I ‘get in shape’ then? What should I do?” He's eager to do whatever it takes to be the best!
He misses the warning look Masaru shoots Mitsuki, focusing solely on her. She pretends she doesn't see it.
“Maybe take a few classes, get you moving more. Pay attention to the grub you're putting in your body, no more kiddie junk food. I can teach you a few recipes when we get back home if you want,” she offers, and Katsuki accepts. He and Mitsuki don't get to spend much time together, and the thought of cooking with her makes him happy.
The years pass, and he is in excellent shape by the time he signs up for UA. All of Mitsuki’s efforts to shape him up have finally paid off, and he comes first in the entrance exam.
**
Mitsuki no longer needs to micromanage Katsuki’s diet and exercise regimen, he does it himself.
At 5am his alarm goes off. Katsuki gets up, drinks a protein shake, and goes running for 90 minutes. Once back at the dorm, he showers, gets dressed, and eats a single apple before heading to class.
Following morning classes is lunch, where Katsuki eats his prepped lunches. After Mitsuki’s comments over the break, he is no longer willing to eat what Lunch Rush has to offer.
Every Sunday for the past three months Katsuki has done meal prep for 14 meals at a time, lunch and dinner for every day of the week. Each container gets one cup of brown rice, a piece of grilled fish or chicken, and two cups of any given vegetable- as long as it's not a starch.
His classmates tried to rag on his “boring, bland meals”, but stopped when Katsuki gave no reaction other than a glare.
After lunch is hero training, and then back to the dorms. Katsuki does his homework, eats a protein bar, and then goes to the on-campus gym. He follows his own routine, and usually ends with a spar against whichever classmate is left. This is typically Kirishima, Todoroki, or that metal loser from 1B. His time at the gym typically ends around six, at which point he heads back to the dorms and heats up his prepped dinner.
Studying is how Katsuki ends the night, going to bed around 8:30. He still tutors his group occasionally, but even that is taking too much out of him these days.
The only change in his routine occurs on the first of every month. Katsuki cuts his morning run short to pull out his tape measure. He carefully measures his shoulders, chest, biceps, waist, hips, thighs, and shamefully, even his ass. Each measurement is recorded carefully in his notebook, along with his monthly weight, daily diet, and water intake.
Katsuki stares at himself in the mirror after his measuring, and pinches his cheeks. He scowls at his stubborn baby fat.