Chapter Text
It was rare that Katsuki would ever feel insecure about his looks, in fact, he didnt think he physically could be insecure about his appearance. He was confident in everything he did. He knew he was capable of many things that others weren't. He had a strong and flashy quirk, made it into one of the best hero schools possible, he was proud of his improvements, he had friends who cared for him and overall a comfortable life in general.
At least that's what he thought, before he lost a battle. He bit off more than he could chew and a large portion of the skin on his face was damaged because of it, torn off as a result to not being fast enough. He had to face two villians, their quirks and fighting styles matched beautifully. They looked like they were dancing while working together, even for Katsuki it was difficult for his eyes to follow. It was two on one, but Katsuki didn't think much of it, he's taken on more than one person at once, but these two were so much different than anything the blonds ever seen. They were two girls. One could shoot thorns from any part of her body and once they made contact with your skin, they would numb the area around where the thorn shot into. The other girl could produce a smokey mist that was hard to see through, it was like a long lasting smoke bomb. Not only did it take away most of your vision, but it also made your nostrils burn when you breathed it in. Those combined, the girls managed to shoot numbing thorns into his skin seamlessly. At one point, there were so many thorns embedded into Katsukis face, that he couldn't move his face at all.
Blood dripped from the left side of his face, where the girl with the thorn quirk had abused the most. The numbing made most of the pain almost invisible, but Katsuki knew it would hurt ungodly amounts later on.
Him not being able to move meant somebody else had to step up for him while he layed on the ground completely immobilized, watching pathetically. His face wasn't the only thing hurt, but as well as his pride. He needed somebody else to take over a fight that he couldn't handle, right when he thought he improved. His improvements didn't show as enough in the end, for he had lost. Laying on the ground not being able to do anything reminded him a lot of the sludge villian he encountered years ago, and he had recalled the feeling of helplessness, frustration, and weakness. It was excruciating.
Sitting in a hospital bed for days on end not being able to get up besides going to the bathroom every now and then really gave him time to reflect on his situation. Once he was better, he would have to work harder than he did before. Which meant more studying, more training, more sparring. Anything that would make him feel like he was putting in enough effort. He didn't want to ever be in a position where he felt that helpless ever again. He vowed himself to not being a burden watching from the side lines again, under any circumstances. He hated other people doing anything for him, but of course that vow very shortly ended when he realized nurse's at the hospital would need to help him change the bandages on his face. He still needed to be cared for like a small child that couldn't do anything for itself, which was nearly as frustrating as having someone defend him in battle.
The nurses that came in daily to exchange his dirty bandages for clean ones would always update him on his wounds. It was hard to think they were being truthful when they would give him a look of sympathy everytime they needed to lift off the old bandage off his face. He'd be lying if he said their facial expressions didn't concern him.
"It's getting better!"
"It's looking better!"
"It's healing quickly!" The same thing everytime. Katsuki didn't know whether to believe it or not anymore, he would only believe it once he saw it himself. He wasn't sure when that time would come, but he was sure that the sight of whatever was there, wasn't pretty. He was more certian of his hunch when Izuku came to the hospital to visit him around the same time that he needed a change of bandages, mistakenly not kicking Izuku out of the hospital room during the process.
Katsuki looked over at the green haired boy, and Izukus eye brows knitted at the sight of him without the bandages over the one side of his face. Once Izuku had seen the worry he caused in Katsuki, he shot a small smile of reassurance at him, but that only made Bakugou more pissed off. Was Deku sympathetic towards him? It was the same face the nurses made while helping him, which gave further evidence that what waited under the white cloth wasn't going to be something Katsuki took pride in, at all.
He went through a painstaking week and a half of sitting in a hospital room. Once he was out of the forsaken building, a wave of relief washed over him. He could finally get away from the sympathetic nurses, sleepless nights of anxiety, and loneliness. He even woke up a few times to a patient screaming from down the hall. He would never admit it, but he missed everyone. Of course he had his classmates visit him, but it just wasn't the same as being included in group activities, or having privacy. There was constantly someone who wasn't a classmate of his hovering over one shoulder, so he could never have a conversation that wasn't filled with an uncomfortable undertone.
When he got back to the dorms, it was already past when he would usually go to bed, reguardless of his much needed sleep, he tolerated everyones greetings. Awkward half hugs that he struggled to get away from, laughs and smiles made him feel slightly less anxious than he was earlier, but everything good comes with a downside.
"Bakugouu! Welcome back!!" Kaminari's voice echoed in Bakugou's ears. Sometimes Katsuki wondered if his quirk was actually being able to imitate an airhorn, because his voice was so booming. The rest of the class wasn't much better, but Kaminari's voice didn't help with headaches, let's leave it at that.
"God, could you get any louder??" Katsuki remarked.
A few of his classmates giggled as Kaminari's large smile shifted into a frown.
"You haven't been in the dorms for almost two weeks and this is your greeting? C'mon!!" Even after being insulted, he still didn't bother to change tones.
"You're the only one yelling so loud, idiot!" Katsuki barked back equally as loud, not helping his point.
"He is right, you are being loud." Jirou added.
"Hey! You're not helping, back me up here!" Kaminari whined.
A few more awkward Hello's and welcomes was enough for Katsuki. He wanted to be able to sleep in his own bed for once, he was tired. The only person who hadn't said anything, surprisingly was Kirishima. His red headed friend visited Katsuki in the hospital a number of times, telling him about how hard the classes were without him there to help, or about random hero news articals just to spark conversation. Katsuki was surprised that Eijirou didn't rush to greet him like all the others did, but it was probably for the best. Kaminari's voice is loud, but Kirishima is even worse somehow. He's just super cheery, too much for his own good.
For the first time in a good while, Katsuki got to lay down in his own bed. Going back to class tomorrow might be stressful with the work he potentially missed out on, but at least everything would go back to normal. He also wouldn't be completely out of it any more, so he could listen to Kirishima saying his Hello's without getting a migraine from his tone. Kirishima was someone Bakugou thought about a lot during his stay in the hospital, the redhead would usually wait for Bakugou outside his dorm each morning, so they could walk to class together. The blond wondered if Kirishima didn't stop checking to see if he was there out of habit. Maybe Kirishima even missed Bakugou while he was gone?..or was that a stretch...?
Katsuki continued his thoughts and guesses on what his friend did without him while he was gone, and slowly but surely drifted off to sleep thinking about the redhead. He hadn't gotten a sleep that good in awhile.
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Eijirou felt bad for going to sleep before Bakugou got back, but he had a long week at school. He didn't realize how hard it was without his personal tutor just one dorm down. Though he wasn't in any place to complain about school being frustrating when Katsuki was stuck in a hospital being treated for injuries the whole week, he was sure Katsuki had it worse than he did.
The red head practically sprung out of bed to get ready that morning. He took a quick shower, dried and spiked up his hair and then got into his uniform. He didn't even bother properly putting on his tie, it hung loosely around his neck as he pocketed his phone, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and rushed into the hallway to eagerly wait for Bakugou.
It turns out that Eijirou didn't need to rush. He ended up waiting around for Bakugou outside his dorm until the first bell rung. It's very unusual for Bakugou to be late, especially to class. He may be obnoxious from time to time, but he's very organized when it comes to school. He can be half awake in class without fully focusing, but still somehow manage to memorize everything perfectly, which is why he makes such a good tutor. This is what made Eijirou worry, because he hadn't shown up yet, even after the bell. Maybe he left already?
Eijirou ended up leaving to class without Katsuki by his side, but he never stopped worrying. The concerns about his hot-headed classmate only deepened when Katsuki was the only one who wasn't in class that day. His seat remained empty for the rest of the morning. He ended up asking around to see if anybody knew what happened to Bakugou, but nobody knew anything more than he did. By the time lunch break rolled around, Eijirou couldn't stop thinking about what happened to Bakugou. Was he in pain from his injuries? Maybe he couldn't get up because he felt bad. If only he had tried checking on Bakugou before just leaving. That was a thoughtless move.
"Kiri, are you okay? You've barely touched your food." Mina pointed at my food for emphasis.
"If you're not gunna eat it, I'll have it!" Kaminari smirked.
"Kaminari!" Mina squeaked.
"What?? I'm just offering..." He shot Mina an upset stare before turning away.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried is all." Eijirou weakly smiled.
"Worried?" Mina asked.
"About blasty." Kaminari added.
"Oh, right. I hadn't seen him in class this morning, but I figured he just slept in." Mina hummed before speaking again, "now I'm worried too.." she awkwardly smiled.
They all stopped talking, one of the loudest friendgroups were somehow the quietest people in the cafeteria in that moment. Kirishima wasn't the only person who was worried about Bakugou now.
Eijirou began to feel anxious when he overheard Aizawa and principal Nezu chatting about Bakugou in the hallway. Lunch was about to end, so he figured he would leave early to head back to class. He ended up giving his lunch over to Kaminari after all, he wasn't hungry anyways. He couldn't bring himself to eat when there was a possibility that something bad happened to his friend.
"He said he felt ill." Aizawa's voice was almost a Whisper.
"Did you check his wound? If it's infected that may cause an issue." Nezu questioned.
"No, he hadn't let me get close to him. We'll need to send in someone he would trust more with his injury. He might let recovery girl inspect for infections? She's a trusted authority here." Aizawa suggested.
"Yes. For now he's excused from class, but we'll need to find a better solution eventually. I'll have her check in with him immediately. " They both fell silent, the only sound now heard were distant voices from the cafeteria and small footsteps going down the hall, presumably Nezu leaving Aizawa alone.
The classroom doors slid open, and shortly after slid close. Going into the classroom right after Aizawa would be awkward, it would be alluding to the fact that he just heard their entire conversation. Instead, he walked the halls waiting for the lunch bell to go off.
The afternoon wasn't much different than the morning, Eijirou sat in his chair bouncing his leg up and down impatiently. The time seemed to pass slower today. The longer he waited, the more he worried. Bakugou felt sick, right? If it was an infection this could be problematic to his health. Was that why he didn't come to class today? It must have been really horrible if it pushed THE Katsuki Bakugou out of all people, to miss school entirely. Every word Aizawa said during his lesson went in one ear and right out the other, Eijirou was to deep in his own thoughts to be able to pay attention. Usually he would at least have a half-assed attention span during class, but today he wasn't in the right mind.
The final bell buzzing loudly snapped him out of his thoughts. Aizawa sighed before mumbling a quick "class dismissed." Which gave Eijirou the okay to rush out of class, even faster than he had rushed out of his dorm that morning. He didn't want to get caught up in the river of students that flooded the hallway after-school, it would only further stall him from seeing Bakugou. He completely ignored the "No running!" warning he got from Iida while leaving the classroom, and continued to rush to the 1-A dorms.
Despite the rush he was in, he was slow to approach Bakugou's dorm room. He lifted his hand and tapped his knuckles against the wood. Eijirou didn't want to be abrupt when trying to get the blonds attention, just incase he might startle the other man.
"Bakugou?" Eijirou called out.
Tap
Tap
Tap
No response. There was a chance that he was sleeping, but the concerns that Eijirou's had lingering with him all day said otherwise.
"Bakugou, man. Please respond. I'm worried about you, and it would be nice to know if you're okay." Still no response from Bakugou. Even if he didn't speak out, shuffling could be heard from inside the room, he was moving around.
Eijirou was beyond concerned about the blond, but Bakugou was known to be stubborn. He may just not want to express what he's feeling, which is understandable to an extent. After awhile of standing there without any verbal responses, the redhead slugged over to his own dorm. He didn't want to be annoying, if Bakugou wanted to be alone, Eijirou would give him just that.
Eijirou further concluded that he would leave it to the teachers to handle Bakugou, they would have better luck with him then he would.