Chapter Text
Katsuki was scrubbing his pan harshly in the sink, trying to get the last of the dried food off. His class mates were a bunch of savages! Leaving their dirty dishes in the sink to grow funky new science experiments or become so rock hard they can never be used again. Normally he wouldn’t give a shit how the extras lived, wasn’t his fucking problem, but no! The imbeciles had to use his favorite pan and he needed it to make himself supper that night.
After reminding himself several times a murder charge would most definitely stop him from being a hero, he finally got to work chopping up the vegetables.
A loud bang brought his attention up from his task to the front entrance way. Invis-bitch, Pinky and Frogger all came in with arms linked, practically crawling into each others skin they were so close. How’d the bastards even walk like that?
It is a well known fact that Katsuki didn’t know two fucking things about emotions, but even to him it was obvious the girls were upset. Flushed faces, puffy eyes, and a few stray tears were evidence enough.
Living in a confined space with nineteen other teenagers, most of which were walking fucking drama cases, Katsuki was used to seeing such public displays so he scoffed, and went back to chopping.
A moment later his tranquility, and his patience were tested again when Pink cheeks and Ponytail entered. Their sudden squeals making him jump.
“Oh, are you guys ok? What’s wrong?”
Groaning loud at the sudden out pour of sympathies had his eyebrow twitching. Looking down at his food, he wondered if missing one meal would be worth skipping this soap opera bullshit?
He had just decided that he would never let any of these extra’s interfere with his carefully laid meal planning when something caught his attention. Pink cheeks and Ponytail pulled the other girls into hugs. There was no hesitation, no complaints, no asking. They just did it, and everyone joined in.
Gross.
But also … what the fuck? Was that shit supposed to be that easy? Could he literally just walk up to one of his friends and expect them to give him a hug? Or was he expected to do that shit for them? Not if they valued their lives honestly, but damn, he didn’t know that was a thing.
His brows furrowed a bit as he watching them for a moment.
“Everything ok Kacchan?”
Katsuki’s face automatically turned to a scowl.
“Eat shit and die nerd.” He snapped as he went back to cooking without another word.
Deku just chuckled and shook his head, long past the point of cowering from his childhood bully.
*
After noticing the ease in which his classmates doled out physical affection, he really couldn’t stop noticing.
At first he thought it was just the girls. Maybe females had an easier time with that shit … not the fucking Hag obviously … but normal women. But then his own friend group was a shining example of touchy, reassurances.
Dunce-face and Shittyhair were the extreme. Friends with pretty much the whole class, Katsuki was pretty sure they held the record with hugs given out. Twenty-two in one day between the two of them. Some of whiuch weren’t even in their class.
He found his brows pulling down again as he observed them. No one tried to give him a hug, the whole death by explosion being a decent enough reason, though Shittyhair still pushed the boundaries a bit. Did the sappy bullshit even help?!
He missed the way Deku glanced between him and the scene in front of them.
*
It was the first nice weekend in awhile, and most of his classmates were outside enjoying the warm sun. Not him though, no he had the pleasure of sitting in his room the last forty-five minutes while his mother screamed at him over the phone, reminding him just how weak, worthless and pathetic he really was.
It was nothing he hadn’t heard before, but with his recent kidnapping, and licensing exam failure, he couldn’t help but agree with the Hag, just a little.
He felt like shit. Bad enough that the thought of exercising until he passed out sounded appealing. It wasn’t healthy, but it was probably the only coping mechanism he had that didn’t involve beating on someone else.
Fuck it. Maybe if he treated it as an experiment it would be ok.
He stomped out of his room, on a mission. He was looking for Shittyhair but after banging on the other boys dorm door, and checking the kitchen he had to concede he was probably out enjoying the day like the others.
Gym it was than.
“Heyo Baku-babe! What’s up?”
He turned his glare on Pinky and Ponytail that were sitting on one of the common room sofas.
Self harm or ask for a hug? It should have been an easy choice, but he hated that for him it wasn’t. Well … if it didn’t work he could always go explode ground beta till the veins in his forearms popped into black and blue bruises.
Damn. He needed fucking help.
With a sudden look of violent determination, he took a step towards Pinky who was standing in front of Ponytail. Most would have stepped back, or flinched at the very least. But his little circle seemed to read him better than anyone. Her fluffy pink head tilted to the side in question.
They made it look so easy. What the hell was he supposed to do exactly?
Turning his head to the side, and down so he at least wasn’t glaring at her, he stepped again, into her personal bubble. A long pause followed.
It had just gotten to be too much when it must have clicked what he was looking for.
A twinge of pain shot through his gut when he saw her lift her arms but then hesitate for just a fraction of a second. Maybe he was unlovable? Even for his overly-affectionate friends.
A small gasp escape his throat when surprisingly strong arms pulled him into a tight hug. The warmth was not un-expectant but how it made him feel was. A beat passed before he abruptly turn his face into her shoulder and wrapped his own arms around her, using her to hide his embarrassment but also finding her very grounding.
If she felt the couple stray tears that MAY have found some way to leak out, she was nice enough not to mention it.
He was the one to break the contact, by what he had seen it was a short hug for Pinky, but it was all he could handle. His body literally felt like it was on fire where there had been any skin on skin touch.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked kindly. He shook his head and slunk away.
Weak. He was weak.
Slipping back to his room he quickly changed into his gym clothes. He still needed to go punch something. If only because of habit.
*
He had expected the two girls to rat him out, tell everyone about his odd behavior and the hug. He walked into class prepared to tell a bunch of people off for making fun of him but instead it was the same as it always was. People chatted happily, Pikachu sprawled himself over Shittyhair’s desk, Foureye’s yelling at everyone to find their seats.
After he took his seat, purposefully taking his time to piss off the class prez he glanced over at Pinky and then Ponytail, both gave him a small smile but said nothing.
Huh. Maybe they weren’t as gossip driven as some of the other ones.
Maybe he had found a better way to deal with his bullshit. True, he had gone to the gym afterwards, but he didn’t come back nearly as destroyed as he would of without the physical reassurance that he maybe wasn’t the piece of shit his inner dialog kept insisting he was.
*
A week passed before he found himself in a similar situation as the first time.
Ignoring his mother’s calls might have saved him the mental abuse for a bit but soon the text messages started coming and he was not prepared for that onslaught after a particularly difficult heroics class.
The rest of the students had filed out to get changed and head back to the dorms, which was a fucking blessing really since he was standing there scowling at the hurtful line of profanities.
She wanted him home the coming weekend, he doubted it was for anything productive so he had declined … maybe not respectfully, but at least he hadn’t called HER an unlovable degenerate!
Tossing his phone onto his bag with force he lifted the back of his hands to rub his eyes. Most people would have used the heels of their palms but he really didn’t feel like blowing half his face off just yet!
“Bakugou? Are you alright?” Came the soft question.
Katsuki turned to glare at Ponytail, but he couldn’t hold onto the anger.
“Peachy.” He muttered before turning back and reaching for his gloves. A few more hours of training wouldn’t kill him.
He froze as he straightened up. Long, soft arms wrapped around his shoulders.
After a second he exhaled and melted into the touch. He couldn’t even see her face from behind, but he was sure she felt his muscles relax. Mindful of the nitroglycerine on his hands he gave her fore arm a light squeeze to signal he was good, he did not trust his voice. She was a smart one at least and immediately let go.
“If you ever need anything Bakugou, you can always come to me.” She offered. The best he could do was give an affirmative grunt.
Listening to her retreating footsteps he had to take a moment and do a quick mental inventory.
He still felt like shit, but, maybe he could get through it.
Glancing at his stuff he realized he didn’t feel like working out any more.
Maybe the idiot-brigade felt like a movie night after he forced them to finish their homework. Feeling a bit better didn’t equal fucking off completely! He still needed to put the effort in if he was going to be number one.
*
Thursday night was one of those rare nights Katsuki was feeling generous.
His dumbasses were all sitting at the island, chatting away happily as he chopped up the vegetables for a curry. No one dared annoy him too much or else their portion would be tossed out of spite.
As his knife sliced through the carrots he noticed his phone light up again. He had set it on the counter so he didn’t have to feel the stupid thing vibrating in his pocket the whole time. The Hag hadn’t given up just yet on getting him home the next night but if he ignored her long enough she would have to concede.
From the corner of his eye, he saw fucking Dunce-face get that shit eating grin of his, the one he always got before he did something stupid. Even knowing what was coming Katsuki was a hair too late at grabbing his phone.
“Don’t ignore your mom Kacchan!” He giggled as he hit the accept button and the speakerphone feature. What ever the idiots were expecting it was not what they got.
The entire common room dropped to deathly silence when a very angry voice echoed through the rooms.
“KATSUKI BAKUGOU, YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE SHIT! YOU WILL NOT IGNORE ME! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO COME DOWN THERE AND DRAG YOU OUT OF THAT FUCKING SCHOOL BY YOUR HAIR!”
Closing his eyes against the mortified expressions on his friends faces he set the knife down and snatched the phone back. Taking it off speaker he held it to his ear with a snarl.
“What the fuck do you want hag? I told you I have exam reviews this weekend, I am not coming home!” Turning his back to the room he stomped away to his dorm, leaving the food half prepared, but not willing to have the rest of this particular phone call in front of witnesses.
Twenty minutes later she finally hung up on him. Katsuki collapsed back on his bed and fought back the tears that were threatening to spill. Her words rung true enough that his body actually hurt as if she had beat him.
It kept repeating in his mind, dragging him down a dark hole he just couldn’t pull himself out of. In desperation he slapped a heated hand onto his hip, under his shirt. He had just started to heat it up to the point it burned when a desperate knock brought him back to the present.
With a huff he stood and pulled open the door.
There was no warning, no moment for him to question what was happening. Pikachu slammed into his core with enough force to knock him back a couple steps, his arms clenched around him.
“I am so sorry my dude! I thought it would be funny, I didn’t know she was going to be that … that … mean!” The blonde idiot wailed as he pulled Katsuki even tighter.
The look on Katsuki’s face was pure shock he was sure, because when he looked up at Shittyhair and Tape-face who were standing in the door still they shrugged apologetically.
Looking up to the ceiling he took a deep breath and rested one, none heated hand, on the idiots shoulder.
“It’s fucking fine Pikachu,” He muttered, allowing the hug to continue. Whatever he did must have really shook the others because suddenly he was ambushed by the other two idiots as well. Shittyhair and Pikachu were even crying. “Fuck off!? What the hell you bastards!?” He sputtered but still made no move to detach the three morons from him.
It was overwhelming but he couldn’t bring himself to explode the fuckers. With a exasperated sigh he slumped into their hold.
After a moment he gently pushed them off, it really was too much.
“Alright. Fuck off.” He muttered as the three finally stepped back. His skin tingled from the embrace which made his shudder. The reaction made the three morons smile at him.
“Sorry Baku-bro, that was probably a bit much huh?” Shittyhair laughed.
“You fucking think!?”
“We … well we messed up supper. Wanna come down and have pizza with us instead?” Discount-spider man asked.
Katsuki just rolled his eyes and followed them out of his room. He had enough self-awareness to know he shouldn’t be left alone. Hows that for fucking growth? The commission assholes could suck it!