Archive of Our Own

Katsuki had shit luck with the press. For some reason—call it karma for all of his wrongdoings in kindergarten and middle school, or just his natural tendency to attract trouble—he found himself on the front page more than once, always for one incident or another.

Some of the more popular ones include his attendance and participation in defending the school during the USJ incident, which technically wasn’t “bad” press, but still put him firmly on the media’s radar. Then there was his embarrassing “speech” at the sports festival and his memorable resistance at the award ceremony (which, really, what was he thinking? Blame it on the trauma—damn river scene). His kidnapping and eventual role in the battle at Kamino is definitely the one that stands out the most, landing him in a very bad place both mentally and in the eyes of the public.

All of these incidents took place at UA. So, of course, his classmates assumed those were the only times their fiery classmate ended up on the news. After all, what could possibly happen in the safety of middle school? There were no villains looking to drag hero students into an inevitable war to disrupt the social order. No danger, no real problems (other than algebra, because what the fuck is algebra), and absolutely, without a doubt, no opportunity for Katsuki to make headlines.

Well… almost no opportunity. Katsuki knows that isn’t true. Izuku knows that isn’t true. All Might and even Kirishima know that isn’t true (and three people knowing is more than enough to piss Katsuki off).

There was one incident that led to the Symbol of Peace recognizing and choosing the future Symbol of Hope. An incident that pushed a tough-skinned hero to find his courage. And an incident that left a spiky-haired explosion boy humiliated and traumatized, with no comfort to follow.

But hey. His classmates didn’t know that. So how could they have guessed that a harmless prank could be so, incredibly, harmful.

—-

“Ew! Mina, do you have to do that during lunch?” Denki exclaimed while pinching his nose, looking down at the acid resistant bowl being filled with very ill colored acid coming from his friend's finger.

Mina, in response, just rolled her eyes playfully, “Oh come on Denks, you know this is for our project for Aizawa’s class… Wait, you are in my group? We talked about this literally last night! You knew this was coming!”

Katsuki sat across from them, shovelling his spicy ramen into his mouth pretending not to listen to his idiotic friends banter like they usually did during their lunch period. This was nothing new, so Katsuki rarely participated, subjecting himself to just listening and judging them silently. Kirishima on the other hand sat beside him laughing up a storm.

“Heyyy you know I was wayyy too high last night to remember that!” Denki defended himself rather badly, “You can blame Sero!”

“Hey man, don’t dis your supplier” Sero remarked. At that, Katsuki had to suppress a scoff. Such idiots.

Denki ignored him, turning his attention back to Mina. “Sooo what areee you doing?”

Mina smirked, “I am trying to adjust the PH and concentration of my acid to turn it different colors! Hopefully that will make it do different things or cause more damage.” she said matter a fact, flicking her short hair side to say to go along with her words

“Wow, that’s actually a pretty cool experiment Mina.” Jirou complimented from beside her, peering over her shoulder to take a look at the substance, “You’ll get a good grade for sure.”

At this, Katsuki had to chime in, “Don’t get wrapped up in her bullshit lies, she just wanted an excuse to make her acid pink-”

“Hey! Not true!” Mina whined, then added with a small pout, “I would also be perfectly happy with purple…” The group laughed at that.

“Well, sorry to break it to you but I think it’s looking more green than purple.” Denki snickered behind a round fist. Looking down abruptly, Mina’s cheery expression fell to a disappointed grimace.

“Aw man! I’m going to get a big fat F if I can’t get this to work! ” 

“Hey hey I think Aizawa will still give you credit for such a thought out experiment? As long as you back it up with some science to spice it up?”

At Jirou’s attempt to salvage the situation, Mina shook her head in denial, “No way, Aizawa will definitely not be impressed by this.. this gross green sludge!”

At her words, a chill ran down Katsuki’s back and his ramen filled mouth suddenly began to reject the food being chewed within it. His stomach lurching and his skin feeling cold and sweaty as he slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent all of his meal from coming back up. His other hand slammed on the table with a couple of pops igniting accidentally from his palm, catching the attention of his friends as well as people from surrounding tables.

Sludge. Gross green sludge. 

Thick, slimy mucus, gliding down my throat and filling my stomach.

 Choking. 

Choking. 

Can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!

Quickly, food still held in his mouth because damn it if he was going to throw up in front of the whole school, Katsuki stood up abruptly. 

“Whoa dude! Are you good?” Kirishima asked from beside him, still sitting but seat noticeably scooted back in case he needed to help his friend if he was choking. 

“Bakugou?”

“What the hell-”

He made a mistake. Shit. He made a mistake, he looked down. Right into the bowl in front of Mina. The bowl with thick green sl-

He took off. Right out the cafeteria doors despite his friends protests and his teachers attempts at stopping him. Of course Aizawa had lunch monitoring duty today. And at the sight of his most resilient student taking off in a hurry, he didn’t attempt to stop his friend from following. Kirishima tailed close behind him, telling the rest of his friends he would go and check on him. Everyone watched them go, confused and speculating as to what could have happened to make the best in their grade flee the room.

Katsuki was mortified to find that the second he made it to the nearest restroom he couldn’t hold back emptying his stomach any longer, spewing both digested and undigested substances alike into the bowl. As he heaved his eyes stung with what he couldn’t deny were tears. But he opted on blaming it on the yellow and red puke that burned his throat and not the sight of the slu-

He threw up again. 

Okay. New approach. Just don’t think about it.

Kirishima walked in as he threw up that final time. Wincing at the smell followed by the sound of the toilet flushing and labored breathing coming from his friend. 

“Bakugou? You okay?” He approached the stall, the door still open because of the urgency in which Katsuki needed to just release his stomach. At his words, Katsuki stilled, his breathing stopping for a moment before resuming in an attempted effort at coming out normally and not like he had just ran a marathon. 

With a final spit into the bowl and one last flush, Katsuki stood up and exited the stall. Keeping his eyes down to the ground while he walked over to the sink and began to wash out his mouth.

“Um, dude. What happened back there? You just froze up! Was it the food? Was it too spicy?” Kirishima pushed, though it was a failed attempt because of course it wasn’t the fucking food. Even Kirishima mentally smacked himself at the assumption. This was Bakugou afterall, he could down a bottle of hot sauce mistaking it for a drink and he probably wouldn’t notice for a significant amount of time!

Deciding it would be more suspicious if he didn’t respond, Katsuki settled on a pretty normal response for him. “Fuck off Shitty hair.” and then promptly exited the bathroom.

Kirishima, of course calling his bullshit but knowing better than to push his friend, just followed behind him. “Alright dude, but maybe ask Aizawa if you could skip on conditioning after lunch? Or at least take it easy. Being sick is no joke.” he poked and prodded. 

As they approached the cafeteria doors again, the two spikey haired students spotted their homeroom teacher leaning against the doors waiting for them. Expecting a firm lecture about leaving without permission and not letting a teacher know where they are going, Kirishima prepared an excuse while Katsuki prepared a comeback.

Fuck off! wherever I go isn’t your business and greasy haired-

“Bakugou, are you okay?” 

The calm and unbothered matter in which Aizawa began the conversation caught the two of them off guard and whatever comeback or excuse they had prepared was promptly forgotten.

Katsuki blinked hard and looked away with a scowl, “tch.” 

Aizawa continued anyways, “Do you need to visit Recovery Girl?” 

When Katsuki didn’t respond, Aizawa looked towards Kirishima to grasp his opinion. He trusted Kirishima to tell the truth whether or not he had to force Katsuki to see the school nurse. Even if Bakugou resented that, he knew he wouldn’t stay mad too long at one of the only other students who would put up with his brash behavior. 

Being put on the spot, Kirishima had to quickly decide whether or not to speak up and break his friend's trust, or lie and put his health at risk.. With a sideway glance to the blonde, he didn’t expect that same blonde to be looking right back at him with such a pleading look in his eyes. And he especially didn’t expect him to quietly speak up, soft enough for their teacher not to be able to pick up what was said and dismiss it as a sigh.

“Ei.”

Please. His eyes said.

And, gosh, how could he throw his friend, his best friend, under the bus when he so rarely used that nickname. Kirishima’s throat closed up in both awe and resentment for what it meant.

“No, sir, he is alright. Just spilled some soup on his jacket and wanted to wash it out before it got stained.” He pointed shakily to the water stain Katsuki’s uniform that even he hadn’t noticed. The two of them looked up to grasp if their teacher bought the lie. 

And without proof to deny their claims, Aizawa just let out a long sigh “Problem child 2, please don’t try and initiate Kirishima into you and Problem child 1’s little club. That club is at max capacity." he reprimanded, “And your uniform is not an excuse to leave so abruptly, so, you will be in charge of putting away any and all equipment used after conditioning as a punishment. Kirishima, since you seem so keen on following your friend and his antics, you will join him.”

They took that as a dismissal, Kirishima offering an apologetic bow, Katsuki just not, and then they moved past their teacher and re-entered the lunch hall.

Katsuki, thankful he didn’t subject himself to any more embarrassment than was necessary, still felt uneasy as he approached his lunch table. From the short distance he could see those extra’s, as well as others from different tables, looking at him curiously. It was clear they had been gossiping before they had walked in, damn chattermouths. But worse of all he could see the bowl of sl- acid. The bowl of acid, still there. 

And so, without giving himself much time to really think about what he was doing and acting irrationally and out of character, he quickly scooped up his belongings, and, ignoring his friends stares, promptly marched over to Izuku’s table where he, round face, glasses, and half n’ half sat quietly observing. Sitting down without a word. 

The 4 of them could only watch in wonder at what had just happened. 

Of course, Izuku was the only one to actually voice his concerns, “Um, Kacchan? Why are you sitting here instead of with your fr-”

“If you don’t shut the hell up I am going to blow your stupid face up.” Katsuki seethed. Izuku, used to his threats since they were kids (and also since this one seemed to be lackluster compared to other insults he has gotten before from the boy), only frowned and looked at his friends who shared similar expressions that communicated to just let it be. After all, he and Izuku weren’t really enemies anymore, not since getting Izuku to come back to UA and especially not since the events of the war, which left all of class 1-A closer than before. So Katsuki opting to sit with him rather than his own friends wasn’t entirely unreasonable, if not just a little strange.

So they left him alone. Not forcing him into conversation since it was clear he wasn’t going to speak even if they tried.

Katsuki pulled out his phone and began to just press buttons, needing to pass the time during the last 10 minutes of the lunch period, and needing a distraction to ignore the way his friends watched him from afar.

Wondering solemnly what they had done to upset their friend.

—-

The incident was quickly forgotten. It’s not like Katsuki would let anyone talk about it, and it’s not like any of them tried. By the end of the day the Explosion boy was back to his antics and cooking up a storm for the rest of them, yelling at Denki and Sero for not doing their dishes from breakfast and telling Kirishima he would help him redye his hair after dinner if he pissed off long enough to make it. 

Yep, he was definitely back to himself. And not mad at his friends? 

Which means whatever had gone down in the cafeteria that day was not their fault.

Which only begged the question: What the hell happened?

—-

The next few weeks went by without anything even similar happening. So everyone moved on and focused their attention back onto their work studies, which had just been started up again a few days prior to the next incident. 

Katsuki was working under Mirko for this work study. After the events that went down in the Flying Coffin, Mirko and Katsuki continued to stay connected professionally since there was nothing more bonding than near-death, and actual death, experiences. Also, she was a total hothead and matched his drive. So it didn’t take much thought to accept the offer. 

Today was supposed to just be a normal day of patrol. Mirko walked the streets while Katsuki roamed the rooftops above her. Keeping an aerial view of their route and ready to provide backup in case anything went down. 

“Explody, all good up there?” Mirko’s voice cut through specialized hearing aids that had built in ear comms.

“It’s Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight! And yes everything is good. What, you think I wouldn’t be able to handle it if it wasn’t?” He bit back. 

“Geez kid, this is why I put you on the roof, can’t have you making me look bad!” She cackled, and he could only grind his teeth. Then after a few minutes, she chimed back in, “Heads up Dynamight, im getting reports of a villain rampaging through the square up ahead.” Her breathing became quick and calculated, a tell-tale sign she began to run.

Not liking the idea of being last to the scene, he set off Cluster and shot into the sky after her, keeping his gaze down where he could see her quick frame zip across cars and people, reaching her destination in just a few quick seconds. Thankfully, he only needed one. 

He touched the ground just as she came to a stop, grinning at him impressed before putting all her attention on the situation unfolding ahead of them.

A large villain was tearing up a local farmers market, his large form, thick and pudgy, swallowing up everything in his path. It seemed like any food that touched his body got absorbed and made him grow, and since he was at a farmers market and was surrounded by food, it was clear that they had to put a stop to this before it got out of hand. 

“Your time to shine kid! I’ll use my speed and prioritize getting the civilians to safety, you handle that big guy until I can join in.” She crouched down in a ready to pounce mode, ear twitching and prosthetic limps shining in the sunlight. She took off in one quick leap, “Save some of the fun for me Explody!” 

“Not my name, Bunny Wabbit!” he roared back, following her lead and jumping into action. She was quick to get the people in immediate danger of being crushed by the villain's large frame to safety, leaving him room to use his explosions without fear of them getting hurt. Not that they would if they had been there, he wasn’t a shit hero and knew how to avoid injury with his quirk! But, he supposes it does help to have more room to show off his amazing skills.

He released two explosions to get the attention of the villain, catapulting him right into what Katsuki could only assume is his stomach. He let off 3 large blasts, hoping to inflict some damage, but all it did was cause him to catapult back as the attack bounced back. Huh, thick rubbery skin. His quirk was similar to Fatgum’s, except instead of fat this guy seemed to be filled with jelly, kept in with thick and stretchy skin that could both hold and protect it. Which made no sense, since it’s clearly making it hard for him to move. So what could possibly be the benefit  of getting this large?

“Hey! Ugly! You know you have to pay for all this shit hah!?” He taunted, the Villains' eyes directed on him instead of the food. Now that he was turned towards him, Katsuki could see what he was after here. Wrapped in his large but short arms were multiple purses, small bags, and cash registers.

“Oh I see! You think you’re better than all these extras and can take their hard earned money! Those are some good veggies you are swallowing up just so you can make away with a few bucks!”

It still didn’t make much sense, how on earth was this guy going to get away if he was this big! There had to be a way for him to release this much mass if he was going to get away from two skilled heroes (Well, hero and hero-in-training, but don’t tell Katsuki that).

The gelatinous villain began to laugh–or, well, gurgle–which Katsuki could only assume was a laugh. “I can do a lot with this money than just buy some stink’n vegetables!” he bellowed, “Besides, they make my tummy hurt, hero” 

“Cry about it you big baby!” Katsuki glanced to check on how Mirko was doing, and it seemed she was on her last lap at getting the civilians to safety.

Pathetic! It’s been forever and I’ve still yet to take this fucker out! I need to hurry up before this shit starts to make me look bad!

Without giving him any warning, Katsuki launched himself, thinking that if he can’t attack his body, then maybe he can knock the villain out and they can latch some quirk suppressing cuffs on him and maybe reduce his swelling. But of course that’s not how it played out. Because as soon as he got close enough, Katsuki discovered just how this villain got rid of all the shit in his stomach.

He threw it up.

For a few seconds mid air, hot, thick, sludge spewed from the villain's mouth and encompassed all of Katsuki’s senses, hindering his breathing.

I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!

He went down, his explosion put out by the substance, and landed hard on the ground. Only then was he able to grasp his surroundings and feel where he was. He was on his hands and knees, throwing up the sludge and whatever else his body deemed as unnecessary from his stomach.

Shit. Not again, please. Please not again!

The warm sludge dripped down his body, coated his hair, and sunk into his clothes. He began to scramble, using his hands to make an attempt at wiping this shit off of him, but it didn’t do much. It was just too sticky, too thick, and gross, and green.

“Dynamight!” Mirko appeared at his side as the villain deflated significantly from his original massive size. Now he was a bit more manageable, but still clearly carrying enough mass to cause another projectile vomit attack. The thought sent a chill down Katsuki’s already panicked body. 

“Is this shit toxic? Can you hear me?” Mirko cut in, the villain laughing from behind her at the young hero’s distress, “Hey kid! C’mon answer me!” She tried once more before realizing her efforts were pointless, Dynamight was down and it was because of this sludge. She turned her focus back on the villain, deeming the sludge non-lethal since the kid seemed to be panicking and not perishing. 

Katsuki didn’t know much of what happened next. All he knew was it was all over him. The sludge. The villain. That villain. Him. Maybe he escaped custody and came back for revenge? Katsuki was weak and got him caught and so he has come to inflict more damage as revenge! Yes that had to be it, it had to be! Because there was no other reason for this to be happening again.

He stumbled to his feet, looking around in a daze trying to grasp his surroundings and trying to catch his breath. It seemed a fight was still happening. Mirko was dodging attacks of sludge with quick dynamic leaps, seeming to be trying to get the villain to spend all of his energy so he is more manageable. When the surrounding food began to become an issue again and was adding to his mass, things went into a stalemate for a while until backup was called and arrived.

Of course that back up came in the form of green hair and freckles.

“Kacchan!”

“Ah, Izuku! S-stay back!” Katsuki groaned back, mouth pressed into the crook of his elbow while he dry heaved. He’s still in me. Get him out. Get him out! His body screamed.

“Why! What’s happening, is this stuff poisonous!?” He called out from a short distance, careful not to touch the substance in case it was. But of course upon observation Izuku could tell that it wasn’t that the substance was poisonous, it’s that it was on Katsuki. And clearly, it was causing him to have a full blown panic attack. 

Pushing any possibility of danger to the side, he took a step into the sludge and then when his foot didn’t disintegrate, used One for All to rush to his friend's side and help hold him up. Izuku didn’t come here alone, he’s been spending his work study working under Mirio who took over Nighteye’s agency, so both Mirio and Bubble girl were there to back up Mirko. Right now, all he needed to do was attend his fellow classmate.

“No! No ‘Zuku get away he’ll” Katsuki heaved, “Nnngh, get you too! Run!”

Katsuki was livid. No way Izuku was here, again. This only solidified his theory that the sludge villain was here and attacking. Because it all lined up so perfectly. But instead of resenting the boy for coming to his rescue, Katsuki was scared for him. He didn’t want what was happening to him to happen to izuku too! At least one of them had to be okay!

“Who? Kacchan who!?” Izuku struggled to keep his hold on Katsuki, the substance proving to be slippery. Thankfully it didn’t have much of a smell, just a thick and gummy texture and a gross green color that might be because of the vegetables it is made up of. 

Oh.

It all clicked for Izuku. Sludge. Green sludge. Katsuki was waving a ptsd attack from the sludge villain attack he went through in middle school. 

He think’s the sludge villain is here right now.

“Hey, hey hey hey Kacchan, I need you to listen to me very carefully-”

“No no no-”

“The sludge villain isn’t here!” 

Gag, “No! He is, h-he he’s inside me” Katsiku raked at his skin, mumbling rapidly “Get him off get him off get him off get him-”

“Okay! Okay I’ll get him off- umm..” Izuku looked around, searching for- Ah! Bingo! A few meters away there was a large fountain, clean and glistening water just what he needed to get Katsuki to calm down.

With a quick glance behind him to see how the villain was being handled (it seemed like Mirko just threw down the final blow, the villain falling over unconscious, his body back to normal size and green sludge everywhere including on the hero’s), Izuku got his best grip on Katsuki and began to fight against him to get him to the water. Thankfully with the help of One for All and Katsuki’s inability to properly fight against him, it didn’t take long before both of them were submerged in the chilly water.

The cold seemed to shock Katsuki out of his panic, instead causing him to shiver and rapidly take in his surroundings. 

I’m in water… why am I in water? Oh, Izuku. Izuku put me in the water. Why?

“There, Kacchan, that’s it, you’re okay.” He soothed, taking the water and using it to scrub Katsuki clean. Slowly the sludge began to disintegrate, water seeming to be the only thing able to break it apart. It only took a few minutes for him to get about 70% off, enough time for Katsuki to calm down and fully come to his senses. 

“Get off me shitty nerd!” he shoved, “I can do the rest myself.”

Fuck, Izuku knows. He saw. He saw how weak I was. There was no sludge villain, I’m just fucked in the head. Shit. Shit. Shit. Get this shit off of me!

He scrubbed at his skin, using much more of his nails than he should have. It left red marks on his skin, but Katsuki didn’t care. For each red mark meant less and less of that shit was on him.

Izuku knawed at his lip as he watched Katsiky sporadically clean himself. How could he have missed this? How could he have missed how much Katsuki was hurting? How much of this pain he was hiding beneath a scowl and some harsh words. Maybe if he had looked harder he would have seen the signs. Noticed how while Katsuki had always been a clean freak, he always gave extra attention to the thick and slimier messes, making sure they were gone and spotless. Or how mud had become one of those things Katsuki couldn’t stand, especially if it got anywhere on his skin and couldn’t dry quick enough for it to be ignorable. Or even how a harmless experiment done by his friend for a school project could cause the blonde to need to flee the room, most likely going to empty his disturbed stomach. 

Izuku missed all the signs and this was the result. His friend suffering alone. 

“Stop staring at me,” Katsuki accused, “Go help twirly hair over there get that villain under control, you shouldn’t be seen with someone like me.” 

At this, Izuku balked, “Someone like you?” What could that even mean?

“I couldn’t take down this villain and now this whole park is-” Katsuki finally diverted his eyes upwards past Izuku’s head, only to stop and let his anger infused face falter before just as quickly looking away and back at the water. Back to where he didn’t have to look at the filth that once covered his body, encase every surface within a few meters radius of where the villain once stood. “Shit..” he cursed, “Just go, and tell Mirko I'm going back to her agency and then UA.” 

He stood up abruptly from his previous kneeled position and made to move out of the fountain. Izuku stopped him before he could, grabbing his arm.

“Wait, what? Why would you do that!”

“I failed, I left her practically stranded during a villain attack, there’s no way she’d want me here after all that!”

Almost on cue, the heavy thumps of rabbit feet grew in volume as Mirko approached, but instead of stopping outside the fountain, she catapulted into the air, doing a flip for special effects, and landed right in the water next to them. It caused a huge splash and had both Izuku and Katsuki splashed with water once again.

“Nice going kid! This water makes the stuff dissolve just like that!” She cackled, wiping the sludge off her skin and clothing and dunking her short hair back, almost fully submerging herself. 

Katsuki made a frustrated ‘tch’ noise as water was flicked on him from a wick of her ear.

“I’m heading back to the agency.” He seethed and tried to move again, but this time it was Mirko who stopped him. 

“I heard you the first time.” she flicked her ear, (right, incredible hearing) “Don’t get all mopey on me because you froze up, this sludge is enough to make a grown man throw up. Nasty villains are a part of the job and this is just one of those learning experiences. Good news is nobody got seriously injured!”

At the mention of sludge Katsuki had to release a shudder and gulp down the rising stomach that still threatened to escape. Izuku noticed and he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to not notice it again. 

“Yeah right, it was pathetic and you know it. My shift is almost over anyways, I’m just going back early.” He snapped, pulling his leg away from her grip and finally being able to exit the fountain.

“Aww come onnnn Blasty!” She kept pushing, “Stay and-”

“I can’t!” The sudden, abrupt way in which he said it made Izuku’s throat close up. He figures it did the same to Mirko. 

There isn’t a lot that the blonde can’t do. And one of those things is to admit when he can’t do something.  So him, standing there soaked, vulnerable, clearly fighting back tears, and pleading one last time to let him go was enough to make it clear to both the pro and the symbol of hope that he truly needed to leave.

“Fine kid, whatever you say.” Mirko said, standing up and letting the water cascade down her perfectly maintained muscle, she still held a strong gaze full of admiration for the kid even though Katsuki couldn’t understand why, “Go home, take a nice hot shower, and then come back tomorrow! I’ll let Eraserhead know I let you leave early for personal injury so you won’t be docked credit.” 

Katsuki didn’t say anything as he turned his wrists to prepare for a blast off to leave. Except the water fucked with his quirk and the Nitroglycerin was washed away so ended up just looking stupid for a second. His eyes stung more but all he could do was scoff and walk off, hands in his soaked pockets and head down. 

Izuku watched him go, a bad feeling settling into the pit of his stomach. 

—- 

Katsuki ended up taking 3 showers that night. The first one was to rid himself of any remaining, erm, goop, that may have still resided on his skin. The second was just cautionary because after sitting in bed with his thoughts for two long he started to feel filthy again and decided one more shower couldn’t hurt. And then the last one was after sundown when he decided to go down to try and eat dinner, and before he could even make his way into the kitchen, he made the mistake of glancing at the TV that the Extras had on.. Which was playing the news.

Of course it was the top story.

Sludge spitting Villain causes havoc at local Farmers Market!

And of course the screen was playing footage of the attack. Green sludge and all. 

Thankfully no one seemed to capture Katsuki’s embarrassing breakdown on camera, staying where the action was, but the sight of it alone sent a chill of shame and disgust riding throughout his body.

“Hey man! Gnarly villain attack today huh?” Denki’s enthusiastic voice cut through Katsuki’s ticking mind, drawing his eyes away to look at the idiot’s interested gaze, “You’re working under Mirko this go around, right? Oooo tell me where you there? Did any of that gross sludge get on you? Did it smell? What did it feel li-” 

He didn’t get to finish his words before a hand emitting green sparks slapped over it, cutting off his words. Izuku covering Denki’s mouth caught the attention of numerous other people who were hanging out in the common area. After all, Izuku wasn’t in the room all but 3 seconds ago, only rushing over when Denki started to blab his mouth.

Katsuki stilled, suddenly feeling everyone's eyes on him. 

His stomach was empty, there was nothing else to throw up, so thankfully all he gave in a response was a suppressed gag he hid with a jerk as he turned and stormed off back to his room. 

When he got there he took his 3rd shower and promptly went to bed. 

—

Izuku didn’t know how to deal with the situation. In the past month Katsuki has had 2 incidents where sludge substances have caused him to panic. And now that he knows the reason why, he can’t help but feel like he needs to do something. The whole class has gone through a couple of sessions of therapy since the war, some more than others. Izuku being one of those who continues to seek help to this day. But Katsuki only went 3 times. Enough for him to claim he ‘saught help’ so ‘get off my fucking back’.

But it’s clear that the sludge villain attack from their youth did not come up during these sessions.

After all, it was so long ago. And it’s never gotten in the way of his hero work so why would he treat it as it really was, trauma, if it wasn’t causing any trouble?

Well, today it did cause trouble. And Izuku would hate to see an incident like this happen again when he knows how much it is hurting Katsuki.

So he finds himself here, standing outside the dorm room of the only person who Izuku thinks might understand what is going on and can help.

He knocks.

“Coming!” An energetic voice calls back from inside, and Izuku rocks back and forth on heels as he waits for the door to open. When it does he is met with the toothy but confused grin of Kirishima. 

“Midoriya? What brings you to my humble home?” He asked ever so kindly.

Izuku smiled weakly, “Em, it’s Kacchan?”

At the mention of his best friend, Kirishima’s smile slipped and his eyes dawned with understanding.

Izuku looked around the hallway to make sure no one was listening before continuing, “I don’t think he’s okay.. And I need your help figuring out how to help him.”

Kirishima stared at him for a second before moving out of the way and inviting him inside. From there Izuku went on to explain what had gone down that day. From the moment he arrived on the scene to when Katsuki had stormed off from the fountain and even quickly explained what had just occurred in the common room. Kirishima listened thoughtfully, his own hypothesis from a few weeks ago slowly making more sense until all the facts clicked into place and painted the whole picture. 

“Mina was cooking up some colored acid that day in the cafeteria.. It must have reminded him of the sludge villain from when y’all were in middle school and caused him to react like that.” Kirishima thought aloud. 

At this Izuku’s ears perked up, “You know about the sludge villain attack? H-how it barely made local news?” and no one else seemed to know about it.

Kirishima chuckled, “Oh, maybe you don’t remember but I did tell you I knew about it when you had left UA and we went to get you.” Izuku’s ears burned bright red at the reminder, “Anyways, I was pretty depressed when I was in middle school and at the time watched all kinds of news, even the smaller less known channels. I remember the whole incident but hadn’t felt the need to bring it up since, well…Bakugou never seemed that bothered by it.”

He dipped his head in shame at how wrong he had been. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Izuku agreed, “It seems like it’s only recently that it’s become a bigger issue for him. But still, the signs were there, if only I had realized them sooner..” he tucked his knees close to his chest on the flor beside Kirishima bed. Kirishima sat across from him, frowning.

“Hey, c’mon now, we both know Bakubro wouldn’t have told anyone about it. Hell, he technically didn’t even tell us about it, we just figured it out.” He huffed pathetically.

Izuku sighed, “You’re right. But now that we know there’s no way we can continue to let him suffer alone.. Right?” at this, izuku was pleading for an answer. For someone to share the same sentiment as him and push to help their friend.

Kirishima was just the right person to ask, “No, we can’t. I don’t know how much he’ll let us help, if he’ll accept any help at all but.. Hell we’ll try”

At this Izuku huffed and let a small grin overtake his lips, “Oh boy he’s going to hate us.”

“Bakugou?” Kirishima smiled fondly, “Oh we are absolute gonners.”

—-

They left him alone for the rest of the night, and most of the weekend. It seemed no one wanted to ask what had happened in the common room yesterday, at least not Katsuki. Denki had questioned Izuku on what he had said and why he had interfered with his questions.

Izuku made up an excuse saying that Katsuki didn’t have his hearing aids on so asking him would have been pointless, but Denki could have sworn he had seen them on him. Since Midoriya was a pretty reliable source he didn’t let it bother him too much, settling on talking to Katsuki the next day to clear the air between them.

But then Katsuku really didn’t wear his hearing aids the next day, at least not at the dorms. He put them on when he got to Mirko’s agency and took them off right as he got back. Really, Katsuki avoided nearly everyone for the next week. Keeping to himself and only coming out for work and to eat food.

Finally, a weeks break from their work studies meant everyone would be back in the classroom and Kirishima and Izuku both agreed they would talk to the blonde when the time felt right. Which was really a place holder for, “Whenever we can get him alone without him blowing us up.”

That time finally arrived on Tuesday when they were given 30 minutes to warm up individually or in groups before combat training. Katsuki found himself stretching when the green haired nerd and shark toothed red head approached with a look like they were on a mission

Shit.

“Hey Kacchan.” Izuku greeted with a small wave.

“Nerd.” Katsuki just said, then looking at Kirishima, “Shitty Hair.”

“Still not that shitty.” Kirishima chuckled. Then they both just sort of stood there.

Already pissed off, and expecting this awkward silence to mean something he isn’t going to like, Katsuki stood up from his previous stretch on the mat, “What do you two want. We’re going to be starting soon, don’t want to keep Aizawa waiting.” He made to move past them but they didn’t let him.

“We have, like, 25 more minutes left of warmup..” Izuku muttered, then spoke up, “We actually wanted to ask you about something.”

Fuck, not now.

Katsuki hadn’t been getting good sleep. Since the villain attack, he had spent most of his nights tossing and turning trying to not see unwanted thoughts and feel unwanted textures in his dreams. Which meant each morning he woke with dry eyes from the maybe 2-3 hours of actual rest he got. So this was no time to be dealing with probing questions from his two most notorious attackers.

“Was it how to use a hairbrush?” He deflected.

“Nope, we just wanted to ask how you were feeling after the villain attack a week ago?” Kirishima answered quickly, not leaving room to let Kastuki continue changing the subject.

Katsuki gulped at the mention of it but kept his gaze firm and unchanged, the small reaction didn’t go unnoticed. 

“I’m fine, shit was nothing.” 

“It didn’t seem like nothing. A-And that’s okay! We just wanted to touch base and make sure you were okay since I could tell it put you in a bad place. Maybe a.. A familiar place?”

At Izuku’s accusation, Katsuki was firmly reminded that he had been there. Not just the recent villain attack, but that first one too. The one with the-

Don’t think about it.

Katsuki grimaced, “And what about it. You think it makes me weak? Is that it?” He huffed, choosing to say it out loud first than wait to hear it from one of them.

Both the boy's eyes widened, and Kirishima answered first, “What? No no not at all! Believe us dude we all have our fair share of unpleasant memories. Situations that stick with us more than others,” he rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of a certain rocky giant from his youth, “It’s okay to still let that kind of stuff affect you, but what you went through the other day isn’t something you have to go through alone”

Katsuki's heart was beating very fast. That can’t be good at all, so I have to leave! Yes, that sounds like the best move.

“Yeah,” Izuku cut in, “You can always talk to us if something every triggers your memory of the sludge villa-”

Oh god

Katsuki heaved, the word scratching through his nervous system like nails to a chalkboard.. Shit. Both Izuku and Kirishima froze and watched the blonde turn away, hand on his mouth and eyes squeezed shut. 

Oh, Izuku thought, mentally slapping himself for not assuming, it’s not just physical sludge that bothers him. It’s the word too. He can’t even handle the word.

“Everything alright over here?” a certain monotone voice asked, and the 2 boys turned to see Aizawa approaching.

“Aizawa,” Kirishima began, “um, actually Kat-”

“We’re fine.” Katsuki straightened his posture and turned towards the three of them like nothing at all had just occurred, “These two just came to ask me about my warmup. But they ended up just pissing. me. Off.” he stormed past them and tried to join the rest of the class, choosing them over whatever intervention just tried and failed to occur. 

Aizawa watched the blonde walk off, dismissing his slightly rude but not totally out of character dismissal of his teacher instead opting to just point blank ask the two students who would actually tell the truth.

“Alright, either of you want to fill me in on what’s been going on with him.” he sighed, already expecting something befitting of his second problem child. 

Izuku and Kirishima both sheepishly looked at each other before Izuku answered, “Kacchan’s been dealing with a.. personal issue.” he stated simply, Kirishima nodding.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, “A.. personal issue?” 

They nodded, and Kirishima continued, “Yes sir. It’s not really our place to say but we’re trying to get him to open up about it.”

Aizawa hummed, ”And I'm assuming this has something to do with the cafeteria incident from a few weeks ago,” They nodded, “And maybe the villain attack Mirko messaged me about?” They nodded again, “Alright then. Do you two need anything from me?” He offered, knowing that sometimes having an adult insert themselves can cause more harm than good and he wanted to give his students the opportunity to connect and grow together before interfering.

They both hesitated, unsure at first and communicating silently with each other before Izuku settled on a response and shook his head, “No sir, we’ll handle it.”

Satisfied with the answer, and slightly proud of the resilience and determination his students had for the wellbeing of their peer, Aizawa nodded, “Very well. Come to me with any concerns that you feel may be out of your hands. It’s good to be there for your friends, but remember that there are some things that even children such as yourselves can’t handle alone.”

His two students smiled, grateful for their teacher to have so much faith in them while still offering them his support should it come down to it. Then Aizawa told them to join the blonde with the rest of the class so class could continue. And as his students began their exercise on sparring, he noticed his slightly out of balance Bakugou was with his blasts and how he seemed to be lost in his head a bit. Knowing this was probably a result of whatever was going on with him he didn’t badger him too much, just let the situation take its course. 

Because if there's one thing he could trust in his students, it’s that they don’t give up on each other. 

—

A month. A month with no incidents. A month with no more prying from Izuku or Ei because there were no incidents. And a month of Katsuki slowly relaxing as he slowly began to feel like the worst was over. Because now he was extra vigilant around messes and villains, careful not to put himself in situations where it may become a problem. 

During designated cleaning days in the dorms (every other Saturday when the whole class decides to deep clean their rooms and common areas to pristine condition) Katsuki kept to himself and his own messes, which never reached a level of filth that could be triggering. 

During rescue training he specifically avoided flood rescue training because of the risk of mud starting to seem a little too much like another substance. It may have taken some sleuthing around Aizawa, but the blonde was sneaky and nothing if not dedicated so he managed just fine without getting docked points.

And he stayed away from Mina during her recent obsession of messing with her acid. (He made it up to her by making her food that could possibly aid in her experiments, so she was never too bummed when he would mysteriously disappear when it was time for the actual experimentation to occur.)

Of course all of these scenarios took a lot of effort. And forced him to go out of his way to avoid situations, people, and moments alone with his thoughts (Because goddammit if sweat starts to feel too slippery during workouts and I’m unable to use my explosions and I throw up again I am going to rip my hair out..) In the end, they were necessary, and if he kept it up it would keep Izuku and Ei out of his hair. Which meant it was worth it. All of it was totally, undeniably, (and definitely not exhaustingly) worth it.

It was worth it until he let his guard down, that is.

Because he became so focused on his actions and his ways of avoiding his issues that he forgot that there were some forces he had no control over. 

More specifically: Pranks…

It was a Friday afternoon, and class had just been let out. Well, sort of. There was the option to stay after class to receive some extra help from Aizawa if you so desired it. And Katsuki did desire it, because with his lack of sleep he would find himself dozing off in class and needed to touch up on some concepts he definitely didn’t miss but Aizawa please just say them again to be sure I definitely have them memorized.

And since Katsuki stayed after class, that means most of his squad and a couple of Izuku and his friends stayed too. Katsukis squad because they were leeches, and Izukus because they were over achievers.

“Is that all you needed clarification on, Bakugou?” Aizawa asked, right after explaining just about 3 different topics to him.

Not enjoying this need for extra attention from his teacher, Katsuki slammed his note filled book closed and scoffed, “Yeah, thanks” 

Aizawa studied him for a moment, taking in the faint shadows under his eyes and the slight sag in his usually tense shoulders, then gave a single nod and returned to his desk. Katsuki quickly packed up his things and stood, not waiting for his friends since they were usually right behind him anyway. As he walked out the door–ignoring the way Izuku’s eyes followed him–Kirishima quickened his pace to keep up.

Katsuki walked down the hallways of UA absentmindedly. He was ready to be in the safety of his dorm, and because of this light at the end of the dark tunnel he called a schoolday, he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings with the same vigilance he usually did. 

So as he approached the corridor that led out the doors, he missed the huffs of laughter from above and the deep sloshing sound of something swirling around in 3 different buckets.

He didn’t, however, miss the feeling of that substance cascading down from above like a rain from hell and coating his entire body in one quick, surging, wave. The sticky, slimy, sludge, seeping into every crevice there was to Katsuki's person. From his hair, which now lay matted down to his forehead, resembling a wop left in sewer water for who knows how long, to his bookbag, which now felt heavy with the added weight of whatever the fuck this was.

Laughter rained from above. Whoops and cheers echoing through the halls at the same time gasps of shock were followed by appalled exclamations.

“Hell yeah! We did it!”

“We got him good! Oh jeez his face!”

“He looks like he shit his pants! Eww, look! It got in his mouth!”

“What the fuck?”

“Hey! Who the hell-”

“Oh shit, oh fuck, of shit oh shit oh shit, Kat’s are you-”

Katsuki wasn’t listening though. 

How could he when the ground felt like it was breathing beneath him? Because what was happening right now? What had he done wrong? What had he missed, what did he forget to do that led to this? Whatever this is? What is this? What is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is-

He dropped his stuff, his heart swelling in his chest and his throat simultaneously closing shut while blocking his gut from coming up. It left him choking, grappling for his throat that wouldn’t open. Trying to keep the sludge out. Trying to keep his lunch in. 

His hands kept slipping around his throat, so to compromise he used his nails. Scratching and scratching until something would happen. Shit, fuck, why wasn’t anything happening?! Why couldn’t he breathe, or hear anything other than his heart? And why could he feel his heart everywhere? And why were his legs numb as they tried to walk, no, run somewhere? Where was he going and why was there a sickening squelch to every step he took. His eyes pried open and stinging from both the sludge and tears combined. 

This was his worst nightmare. The sludge had found him again. In the supposed safety of his school! Did this mean nowhere was safe? Did this mean he was going to have to spend the rest of his life running? Not being able to breathe? Not being able to relax? Not being able to see where he was going because where the fuck am I going? 

Katsuki panicked. He cried, and he fled. 

And Kirishima and Izuku followed. 

They had been there as it happened. Watched the green sludge fall from over the second floor balcony in the entrance corridor and land right on Katsuki. Like a magnet to metal, or a monster to its prey. It was horrifying to watch the once calm and relaxed blonde turn near unrecognizable in the blink of an eye. Just as quickly as the sludge had hit him, he began to lose all sense of who he was and where he was as he searched for a way out of his situation. Which, after a lot of struggling and no better outcome, resulted in him up and bolting out of the door and towards the nearest gym to the right of the main building.

Seeing him up and leave, Kirishima and Izuku spurred into action. Izuku was not alone in this familiar feeling of his feet moving before he had time to think, because now Katsuki had another person that had his back. And he took the form of hardened skin and pointy teeth. 

“Denki! Sero! Grab those assholes and keep them there! And Mina, get Aizawa!” Kirishima yelled, and from above, the voices of those at fault for the situation let out breathy oh shits, as they realized their prank was going to have major consequences.

Izuku and Kirishima would’ve handled them themselves, if not for the split-second realization that their friend needed them more right now than revenge did. Aizawa had said he would deal with anything they couldn’t handle. And at the moment, they couldn’t risk aspiring heroes catching murder charges.

So they ran out the doors after Katsuki,  while leaving the rest up to their friends and teachers, and followed him right to the gym, who after following a trail of green sludge that felt neverending, they found in the gym showers, curled up under a shower head that wasn’t releasing nearly enough water to get any real cleaning done.

They could both only watch for a moment as their friend unraveled before them. His hard exterior finally cracking after weeks of chipping and slowly becoming harder to keep together. He cried, he whimpered, and he pleaded.

“Get off.. get off.. please get off” he cried.

Looking around, it’s clear it took awhile for him to find his way to where he was now. Sludge was smeared on surfaces and a couple of spots looked a lot like vomit not far from them. Clearly he was still in a panic when he entered the shower and has now reduced himself into a full blown shutdown, unable to even fully get the water running before just crouching down and freezing up when it all became too much

And it did become too much. It was too much to handle alone. To deal with alone. 

Except he wasn’t alone now. Voices coaxed him to come back to them. Soft, calming, serenades of kind words and reassurances were interrupting his thoughts. Like a kind parent slowly prying a newborn's fists from its hair.

“Hey kat’s, it’s okay, hey, it’s okay. We’re here to help.” A voice soothed.

Then, “Don’t worry, Kacchan, we are going to go slow alright? You don’t have to do a thing, just keep breathing for us, alright?”  in a silky voice.

Katsuki was confused. The sludge villain was still here? Right? He could feel him. The weight, the glide, the thick texture that kept sliding down but never disappearing. The caking of muck in his hair and clothes and… everything.

So why was the once thrumming of his heart being drowned out by the sound of running water? And why was his once aching legs feeling relief as he was slowly sat down on a small footstool? What other forces were at work to pull him from his demise that he had so quickly found himself reduced to?

Quiet whimpers were still coming from the boy even when water began to fill a cup and sponge and words prepared him for the next step of his slow rescue. 

“We’re going to start getting this stuff off of you now, okay Kacchan?” One of the voices spoke up again. 

“Don’t worry man, it’s just warm water, alright? It’s coming from a cup first and then a sponge.”

“We’ll start with your hair and head and then you can let us know if you want to get your clothes off too, alright?”

Izuku… That was Izuku? Right? And Kirishima too? Both of them.

Just as promised, warm water began to fall gently over his head. They two boys had decided pretty quickly that the best way was to help their paralyzed friend get clean. That meant ridding him of the filth while also reassuring him along the way of every step it would take to get them there. Then hopefully he would slowly realize where he was, who he was with, and that he was safe.

It took a couple rounds of rinse, wipe, and repeat, for the grime to get out of his hair enough to begin to move on to his face and skin. This was only made possible by the slow rise of Katsuki’s head as he began to recognize those gentle hands and soothing voices as those of his friends. Once he came to this conclusion, his fearful whimpers became soft cries of embarrassment and relief.

 Because he didn’t have to do anything, did he? No avoiding situations, or carrying the burden of the result of his fears. Because they were doing that for him, weren’t they? No questions asked, no prying or demanding of answers, just offering him their help without expecting him to ask for it. And this is why he cried, because he was realizing how easy it was to just let them.

“Hey kats, nice to see those eyes again.” Kirishima smiled fondly, bringing the sponge to his cheek and gently wiping beneath his tear and sludge streaked eyes. He was wet too, just his clothes though, which had been reduced to his pants and undershirt, same for Izuku.

He returned from refilling the large cup with more water, smiling in awe when he realized Katsuki wasn’t kidding his face anymore and was instead watching them. 

“We aren’t done cleaning you yet, but if you’re feeling up to it, would you mind helping me remove your jacket?” He offered kindly, setting the cup down and gently placing his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder.

At the mention of clothing, Katsuki looked down only to catch a glimpse of green swirling around in a mix of water down the drain. The sight caused his stomach to lurch and release more vomit in front of him. That green swirl now inviting yellow mucus to join its grotesque dance.

Oh shit, oh gross. They must be disgusted, I can’t believe I just did that in front of them. I didn’t mean to-

“I-i’m sorry” Katsuki cried, trying to bury his head again, “I’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m-”

Kirishima stopped him, urging him to relax again buy placing a comforting hand on his cheek, “Hey hey hey, no, don’t worry about it. There are worse things than vomit, it’s not your fault”

“Don’t be embarrassed Kacchan, remember that fair that our parents brought us to when we were kids?” Izuku mused reassuringly, bringing a distinct memory of too much cotton candy and a bathroom bound kid Izuku and Katsuki who refused to leave each other's side through their sickness. Begrudgingly, Katsuki smiled wobbly through his tears, “That was, like, way worse than this.”

He slowly urged Katsuki out of his jacket, tossing it to the side before messing with the tie of his shirt. 

“That’s different.” Katsuki murmured with a quivering lip, “I didn’t feel sick everywhere like I do now. I-I feel it- him- everywhere.” his voice cracked.

In my hair, all over my skin, beneath my fingernails, in my ears, beneath my feet, between my toes, down my throat. Down, down, down- 

“Hey, hey no. You’re going to start hyperventilating again if you let yourself spiral anymore.” Kirishima placed a hand on his cheek, his thumb rubbing soothing circles and keeping him grounded. “That villain isn’t here. He is in jail. Right now you are just in the gym showers, far away from any danger.”

Katsuki couldn’t help but lean into his hand, and then by default, lean his body against Izuku who stayed right by his side.

“Yeah, and look,” Izuku took his hand and raised it in front of him. Katsuki looked at his hand, now squeaky clean and shining in the showers light. Distinctly different from the once filthy grime that could hardly be recognized as a hand. “You’re almost clean, just a few more minutes and we’ll have you looking good as new everywhere.”

Katsuki smiled weakly, lips quivering.

“Yeah man, just let us work. You don’t have to do any of this alone anymore” Kirishima smiled, and Katsuki had no reason not to believe him. So with a final look of awe and admiration at the two people he had by his side, Katsuki eased his shoulders and allowed their help with soft tears and quiet sniffles.

—-

It took awhile to get the stuff fully off of him. And he cooperated throughout the entire ordeal up until the point they offered to clean him with soap. Then he snapped at them about privacy and the two could only feel their heavy hearts release some of their weight at how he was slowly bouncing back to his usual self. 

He stood from his stool and found himself in one of the private showers, leaving his friends to clean the bathroom of any remaining sludge or vomit that he had left in his wake, including the hallways leading to the bathroom. By the end of his proper shower, Katsuki walked out to pristine cleanliness and a pair of extra clean gym clothes sitting by his locker.

He took his time getting ready, thinking about what came next. Izuku and Ei were outside the bathroom now, in fresh clothes themselves most likely, and waiting on their friend. And while a part of Katsuki felt alright enough to want to blow those assholes up who started this mess (And trust me, one day I will), the other part of him that still felt relaxed from his friends' gentle touches and comforting words recognized that whatever had happened was being dealt with by people he trusted to bring him justice. 

Still though, he was expecting some sort of conversation in the near future, and he can’t say he was thrilled about it.

But it still didn’t stop him from leaving the bathroom with significantly less weight than what he had entered it with. 

He met the eyes of Kirishima and Izuku, sitting on the bleachers near the entrance of the hallway, talking quietly amongst themselves, probably about him. But once they caught sight of the blonde, all clean and smelling of caramel and burnt sugar, they stopped to beam at him like he had just climbed Mount Fuji single handedly.

“Kacchan!” Izuku greeted with his usual smile made of fucking sunshine.

“Looking sharp,” Kirishima teased, poking the top of Katsuki’s hair, which had fully returned to  its usual spikiness.

Katsuki swatted him away, rubbing at his sore eyes momentarily before shrugging slightly, “Yeah well no thanks to either of you. Your water and rinse method practically left me looking like Best Jeanist” (again)

They both smiled lopsidedly, just amused they were seeing their usual Katsuki shine through after such a horrible last hour.

Katsuki grimaced, “So what now?” he murmured, “I assume we have to go see Aizawa? Or Nedzu?”

His two friends shrugged softly, but it was Kirishima who answered him first, “We haven’t exactly left here so we don’t know. I’m assuming those jerks are being dealt with-”

“And I bet the teachers are going to want to talk to you eventually to get a full report-” Izuku added in.

“But” Kirishima resumed, “You don’t have to do anything right now if you don’t want to. We could just go back to the dorms and leave this for tomorrow. I bet our friends are worried about you, they’d probably want to see that you’re okay too.” he smiled gently, hoping his suggestion didn’t make the blonde blow hit top. 

Katsuki was too docile right now, though, to argue against the friend's statement or the horrifying claim that they were worried for him. So instead he just nodded in consideration.

“I just want to get this over with. We’ll start with teach’, then the dorms.” He decided. Ripping the bandaid off was probably the best move.

They both agreed and then the 3 of them made their way out of the gym and back towards the main building. Miraculously, the whole mess was cleaned up, not even a drop left. As they walked they found Thirteen exiting one of the supplies closets with Mina smiling beside her. They both spotted the boys approaching and Mina gasped and practically launched herself at Katsuki, but Kirishima intercepted her and swung her around playfully before setting her down flat on the ground. 

“Alrighttt, maybe let's remember who it is you’re trying to hug.” He laughed lightheartedly, still clearly being protective of his friend.

Mina pouted but nodded rapidly, “Yeah, alright.” 

Katsuki could tell she was trying to hold back a hug, practically bouncing on her heels, so he decided to throw her a bone. “I’m good, Pinky.” He said, hand on his hip and his other one reaching up to pat her head. At this, she smiled wide.

“She came and got me to help clean up a mighty big mess that some 2nd year students caused. Apparently a prank gone wrong.” Thirteen mused with an eyeroll, totally oblivious.

The 3 boys looked at Mina, who shrugged bashfully, murmuring to them, “What? I didn’t think you’d want everyone to know.” 

At that, Katsuki actually smiled and tilted his head, “Wow, so you can use that brain of yours.” 

Mina scoffed, elbowed him in the ribs unapologetically, and then accompanied Thirteen back to the teachers lounge.

The three boys, rather than follow them, went to the Principals office. Izuku and Kirishima waited outside while Katsuki knocked and then went inside and sat across the desk from their stoat like principal. 

“Good evening Bakugou! I am sorry we had to meet under such unfortunate circumstances but I am glad to see you have cleaned up and are looking better! You have some pretty amazing friends who have made this whole process a lot easier on us teachers so I won’t have to keep you here long. But before we start, are you alright if your teacher sits in on this meeting?”

“Aizawa?” Katsuki asked.

Nedzu nodded, “Yes, he was quite concerned after the events were relayed to him and requested he be here to understand what fully happened. Don’t worry, those 2nd years were dealt with accordingly by him already and he is waiting just outside the door now.” Nedzu beamed, and honestly Katsuki may ask him later for the security footage of what exactly dealt with by Aizawa entails.

For now though he just nods, “Sure, whatever.” 

And after quick split second taps of the principals keyboard, Aizawa entered the room with his usual stoic expression, though her brows were slightly more furrowed than they usually were.

“Bakugou,” He greeted, sitting down, “Thanks for letting me be here.”

Katsuki shrugged snarkily, “Might as well get this done in one go.” 

Nedzu laughed, “Very efficient! Yes!”

Then Aizawa continued, “Alright kid, your friends told us their side of the story, All except Midoriya and Kirishima of course, since they were with you. But we wanted to ask you directly what happened.”

As the two teachers looked at him, Katsuki suddenly wished Izuku and Ei were still in the room with him because with all this attention on him for such an embarrassing situation, he found himself feeling choked up again. But he tried to remember they were just outside, and that if they didn’t judge him, then his teachers' opinions didn’t matter as much as theirs. Even if they saw him for what he felt like, a weak failure. 

He started while keeping his gaze fixated on a spot on the floor, “Some idiots thought it would be funny to play a prank on me. Dumped some… stuff on me when I was leaving. I freaked out and ran to the nearest gym to shower, Izuku and Ei followed me and helped me clean up.” He shrugged, holding back a slight blush of embarrassment at the knowledge of what clean up entails. 

“Understandable, I saw the mess and it was quite grotesque. The substance seemed to be some food mixture ground up to resemble a sort of slud-”

“Don’t.” Katsuki hissed, slapping a hand over his mouth as his stomach heaved. Goddamit why is it so hard? Why is hearing that word so fucking hard..

Startled by his sudden outburst and clear disgust, Aizawa reached for the small trashcan and held it to Katsuki. He took it and, unable and too tired to hold back anymore, threw up again, surprised he still had anything else at all to throw up.

“Sorry.” He murmured, taking in his teacher's worried expressions as he spit into the trashcan and wiped his mouth with a tissue Nedzu offered him.

“Kid, this isn’t the first time I have seen this reaction from you, can you share what is causing it?” Aizawa asked, eyes wide with worry.

Katsuki shrugged,  “It’s a.. Word.”

Don’t say it. Don’t think it.

“Can’t say it.” he grounds out through clenched teeth, his mouth still watery, “Can’t hear it.”

“From what I observed, I have a small hypothesis on the nature of the word you are referring to. Would it help if we write it down and you can confirm if it's that word, and a few others, that trigger you?” Nedzu offered, and after thinking it over Katsuki nodded timidly. Unsure if reading it would be as bad as the other things. His mind went to the news report from a few weeks ago, but then reminded himself it was the visuals that bothered him more.

Eventually Nedzu offered him a spare piece of paper with words neatly scribbled on. 

Sludge

Slime

Slush

Goo-

Katsiku glanced at this paper full of nightmares and looked away just as quickly before he could even finish reading the rest, holding the trashcan tightly, before nodding once to confirm. 

“Alright then,” Aizawa said, “We’ll refrain from using these words furthermore in this discussion. But is there any way for you to try and explain why these words affect you so much?”

Katsuki scoffed, suddenly getting rather annoyed, “Something stupid from middle school. Some villain attacked me, he could turn into.. That stuff.. And, well..” He couldn’t find words to explain it that wouldn’t end in him needing to use the trashcan again, so instead he just said, “Look it up if you really want to see,” 

They did just that. Nudzu typing away at his computer and then inviting Aizawa to join him behind the desk, “Ah yes, took some searching but it does suppose there is video footage of this attack you speak of.” They played the video, keeping the volume low but Katsuki remembered that day vividly so he stayed rooted in his seat and just listened to the news report.

Aizawa couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His student encased in a monstrous goop, the sludge clearly invading down his throat and attempting to take over his body. He didn’t know how this sort of incident slipped under the rug of the school records, but the more he watched his student in his younger middle school days struggle helplessly while hero’s just stood around doing nothing, the more he could understand why Katsuki has such an issue with sludgey substances and any near mention of it at all. The video made him slightly nauseous as well.

The video ended and Nedzu smiled sympathetically while Aizawa returned to his seat, “Yes, well, it seems that those 2nd year students didn’t have prior knowledge of this event and chose to enact this prank after seeing your recent fight with the villain while you were at your work study. There was no malicious intent, but nonetheless their action caused a great deal of emotional trauma and response and therefore will be dealt with accordingly.” 

Katsuki didn’t like those words. Emotional trauma. So he tch’d and looked down at the ground.

“Do you not recognize these episodes as traumatic emotional responses?” Aizawa observed with a frown.

Katsuki shrugged, “It’s just stupid. I should be over that already, I’ve been through worse.” he chastised himself.

Aizawa hummed, “Our bodies don’t always listen to reason, you know. Did you know that I, too, have an issue with cleanliness?” At this, Katsuki looked back up at him in surprise, “Yeah, there was a time before I began to work at UA where I was essentially homeless, so whenever my current home now gets even a bit too messy I get very anxious and it reminds me of that darker time of my life.”

Katsuki shrugged, “That makes sense though..”

“And your situation is no different. I am not homeless anymore yet still treat my home with such a care as though I still am. And you react to situations that remind you of that villain even though you know he is in jail and cannot hurt you anymore.”

Hearing it put so plainly caused his eyes to water. It’s one thing to say it to yourself in a nasty way and something entirely different to hear it from someone you trust in an entirely new light.

“We apologize, Bakugou, for never recognizing how much you were struggling. As your teachers it is our job to be fully up to date on your history and to know about incidents just like this, and instead we missed it and weren’t able to offer you help sooner. This is an oversight on our part and we are entirely at fault for this incident.” Nedzu bowed his apology, and the sight made Katsuki panic just slightly.

“Hey, I’m the one who never brought it up, none of my classmates knew, I take partial blame, actually.” He said stubbornly.

“You hold the least blame, actually.” Aizawa mocked, “Now let’s talk about the future. We would like to offer you the opportunity to seek counseling with Hound dog on Mondays and Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. If you don’t agree with those times or wish to seek out help from someone off campus, we can arrange for that as well.”

Nedzu nodded, “Yes! The choice is entirely yours, of course. But we highly recommend you allow us to help you since we have failed to do so so far.”

Katsuki thought about it. Tapping the trash can with his fingers and thinking about how tired he was. Tired of going about this alone, and then thinking about how despite today being a major setback mentally, it was also a major step forward with his friends by his side. If having two people in his corner felt that good, then maybe having a few more would mean he could get over this.

“Okay.. But I don’t want to see HoundDog. It's nothing against him, him and I just didn’t really.. mix well those first 3 sessions I had with him last year.” He added embarrassingly. Hound dog was a good hero, but Katsuki couldn’t separate him from that and his role as the school counselor so he found it difficult to open up.

“Alright, then we will search for some other options for you and will get back to you once we have them.” Nedzu said without asking for further reasoning, which Katsuki was thankful for.

“I’m glad you’ve agreed to see a therapist, Kid. Now I would like to make a recommendation, something that may help you in the future not have to walk around on egg shells around your friends,” Katsuki nodded, permitting him to continue, “I don’t expect you to share your past with them, that is your own privacy and therefore your right to withhold. However, sharing your aversion to these terms and asking them to avoid saying them may prevent you from being sick while on school grounds.”

It made sense, but Katsuki didn’t know if he could trust his friends not to ask more questions. He could just threaten them but this wasn’t one of those things he wanted to deal with.

“Or, perhaps Midoriya and Kirishima could help you explain it.” Aizawa offered. And, well, that didn’t sound that bad actually. They would definitely do it and shut down any and all questions they try to throw his way.

Katsuki just nodded, “I’ll think about it. Thank you sir.” 

And with that they dismissed him and let him return to Kirishima and Izuku, who were still sitting outside waiting for him. He walked by them and let them follow.

“So? How did it go?” Izuku asked right up front.

“Fine.” Then stopped walking, turning to look at them with a hard look, “Now listen up.” It was the way he said it that had Izuku and Kirishima expecting some kind of threat to swear them to secrecy. To never speak of what happened today and to never talk to him again. 

They braced for impact.

“Thank you.” Katsuki spat out, hands in fists by his side, “And I’m sorry. I declined your help a few weeks ago and then today was shit and you two got dragged into it. I won’t be a burden anymore for any reason so I've decided to see a therapist and…” He paused, finding the words, “and I would really- erm- appreciate your help in explaining to the extras that I don’t like hearing or seeing these words.” He thrust the slip of paper at them, slamming it into Izuku's chest for him and Kirishima to look over. They did and then looked at him with wide eyes, shocked at how blatantly he was asking for their help and not blowing them up. “They make me sick and anxious and I’ll be damned if I have to embarrass myself further because of it.”

Kirishima smiled softly, “Of course man, no problem.”

“Yeah! I’ll Texas smash anyone who even comes close to saying any of these words!” Izuku smirked with a pump of his fist, a deranged look in his eyes that he only ever gets when it comes to his childhood friend. 

Katsuki barked a laugh, “Reel it in psycho, we don’t need another vigilante era, got it?”

Izuku wilted, “Will y’all ever let me forget that?” he pouted.

“Nope” “Fuck no”

They laughed and even Katsuki joined, feeling lighter than he has in weeks.