Roses Are Red [Kiribaku]

Rose Thorns Remain a Pain

Katsuki couldn't think of anything else he could do, so he stayed locked up in his room that night. His parents left him alone. Which was probably the smartest fucking thing they had done all day, Katsuki wasn't sure he'd have been able to stop himself from flying off the handle. At some point, one of them had left something by his door, probably dinner from that evening. Katsuki wasn't hungry.

The sky outside had since gone dark, and at some point he had heard his parents head off to bed. That had probably been a few hours ago, but Katsuki didn't really know for sure. He had just been lying on his bed, staring at his wall – and, once the sun had set, staring into darkness.

It wasn't like he was actually sleeping or anything, he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep even if he wanted to. Which, he wanted to. If he was asleep, he wouldn't be stuck thinking about bullshit. But, as he was begrudgingly coming to realize, not thinking about something was infinitely easier said than done. The best he could do for now was keep his thoughts foggy, his mind in a haze. Not focus on anything, just to keep the petals at bay.

But suddenly, his phone let out a buzz, the screen lighting up his dark room. As if by instinct, Katsuki grabbed it and squinted at the notification.

[Shitty Hair] 23:46

             Hey Bakugou! Just checking in :) I heard ur mom picked u up this morning, everything ok?

And, shit, he was gasping for air before he had even finished reading the text.

It was the same shit all over again. In a frantic scramble, Katsuki swung his legs over the side of the bed, feet making landfall, and then he was bolting to his door, a bit of a stagger in his steps as the sudden shift in position made his head swim and as the beginnings of the coughs set him off balance. The way his chest was already heaving, over and over again, as petals forced their way up his wind pipe, made it difficult to focus on finer movements. After struggling with the lock, he swung open the door and stomped to the bathroom, barely managing to get his head over the toilet basin before the petals fell.

There he coughed and hacked, so much that he felt like he could throw up, drool dripping from his mouth like some sort of an animal, fingers practically clawing at his chest and throat, until it finally relented and air shakily entered his lungs again.

Honestly, fuck Kirishima. Fuck him, for being so... so...

The hallway light turned on behind him, the room brightening as the door creaked open, and there was the soft padding of footsteps approaching, a hand resting on his shoulder.

Katsuki turned sharply, glaring.

It was his dad, robed and bleary-eyed, holding a water bottle down to him. Without a word, Katsuki grabbed the bottle and uncapped it, shrugging the hand off of his shoulder before draining half the water in just a few gulps.

His dad's let out a yawn, scratching the nape of his neck. "You alright?"

Katsuki stared him down.

"That's... a big no. Point taken." Dad rubbed at his eyes, his voice a grumbled mess. "You want food? There's leftovers downstairs. Curry. I made it extra spicy."

"No. Leave me alone." Katsuki flushed the toilet and lowered the lid so he could sit on it while he caught his breath.

"Well, in that case..." His dad blew air from puffed-up cheeks, looking around him like he wasn't sure why he was even there. But then, he slowly looked up to Katsuki, his brow quipped curiously. "What set it off?"

"Eh?"

"The flowers. One of the blogs said there's usually a trigger or something."

Katsuki looked away, jaw set. "It's not like that. Fucking, mind your own business."