Chasing Reality (Katsuki Bakugo X Reader X Shoto Todoroki) UNFINISHED

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Sweet Respite

Katsuki glanced at the clock above the kitchen sink in frustration. 10 minutes. He'd been in there for 10 minutes, and Katsuki soon realized that Shoto wouldn't be coming out.

The blond huffed as he pushed off of the kitchen counter and went to scour the fridge for some food. I knew that they were going to have to talk eventually. I just wish I'd had more time beforehand.

If you and Shoto reconciled before he had a chance to fix things with you, it wasn't going to bode well for him. The likelihood that you were going to chose Shoto was quickly growing, and Katsuki hated it.

No! Katsuki slammed the fridge door, his hunger forgotten. It doesn't matter. He hurt her, and I was the one that came to rescue her. I was the one that she called for help. There's no way that she would chose him over me... I won't let her!

Katsuki stalked around your apartment, taking in his surroundings now that he could do so without Shoto watching him like a hawk. He was going to take every chance he could to get to know you better. He'd be damned if that half-and-half bastard was going to get the better of him just because he'd known you longer. He wanted an equal playing field.

Katsuki spotted the heavy duty first aid kit still lying on the kitchen table. He cringed, remembering how extreme the contents had been. Shots of morphine and epinephrine, sealed surgical tools and items for stitches, gauze, hospital grade disinfectants... Katsuki shoved the first aid kit back under the sink where it belonged.

If you were that prepared for severe injuries, there was no doubt in his mind that this had happened before... on multiple occasions. His chest hurt. How many times had you been lying on the ground half dead, exactly as they'd found you hours before? Shoto clearly had no idea what was going on, which meant that you'd always faced this situations alone. How many times had you forced yourself to stay awake and fight through the pain in order to stitch yourself up? How many times had it happened for you to seem so unfazed that you're aunt had attacked you?

No, Katsuki remedied, remembering the way you'd screamed and flailed as you remembered the incident. Not unfazed. She was clearly showing signs of sever trauma and ptsd.

Katsuki had done his research. The second he found out that you were still being abused he'd scoured the internet for answers, learning all that he could about the affects of abuse and how to deal with them. He wanted to be able to help you if anything triggered you, wanted to be the person that you could trust with anything, even the worst of it. He saw the way you trembled slightly if people started yelling. He knew that his own anger and outbursts affected you negatively, and he was trying his best to curb them.

There's no way that she'd be able to deal with a big confrontation if she became a hero. He didn't want to upset you, but he'd been worried about your future. Katsuki had almost sighed in relief when you'd told him that you wanted to be a teacher instead. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to handle the stress of you being out in the field while he was still in school. At least if he was out there with you, he'd be able to keep an eye on you and be there in an instant if you had a breakdown.

He'd seen you struggling all day, and it made his heart hurt. All he wanted to do was hide you away from the world and protect you, but he knew that that wasn't an option. He wanted to stand by your side and help you to grow and conquer the world without a worry in sight. He knew that you were just as strong as you were damaged, and it only made him love you even more.

Huh. Love eh? Katsuki shook his head. When the hell did that happen? He tried to think back on everything that had happened over the past few weeks. Maybe it's always been that way?

An image of you with sparkles and swirling pink and purple paint covering your face as a child flashed through his mind. He smiled at the old memory. My brave little Fairy Princess.

The image shifted to you smiling at him from across the coffee shop table, your eyes filled with absolute delight as you twisted the shimmering charm bracelet around on your wrist. Then, his heart screamed as emotions filled him. That's when it started.

Katsuki shook the thoughts and images from his head as he moved from the kitchen to the living room. He made a noise of appreciation as he took in the huge flatscreen and elaborate sound system, coupled with a wide array of gaming stations and video games. Does she actually play these? They don't look like they belong to IcyHot...

Crimson eyes fell on a stack of... Oh god. Katsuki couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. Otome games? Really? He crouched down to examine the games. Clearly these are hers. Does she really own all of these different gaming systems just to play these types of games?

Katsuki noticed a shimmering game case out of the corner of his eye. He peered past the pile of girly games, reaching his hand into the shelf to pull out the game that had caught his attention. He nodded his head in approval. At least she has some taste in games. He reached back in, pulling out the small stack of games she had hidden behind the others.

"Holy crap, I think that she might own all of them," Katsuki muttered as he sifted through the pile of Zelda games. "Yep, pretty sure she does. But why would she hide them?" He frowned. Maybe because of her aunt? He tucked away the information for a later date as he hid the pile of games once more.

He stood, stretching as he did so. Glancing around, he noted that while the rest of the living room was fairly well furnished, it didn't really have any personal belonging in it. A few photo's hung up on the wall, but Katsuki noticed with great dismay that they were all professionally done glamour shots. While you looked quite pretty, all dolled up in the various stages of your life, it was clear that you were unhappy in every photo. You may have been smiling, but he'd seen your real one and knew that the one in the photos was just for show.

He stopped in front of a photo that was different from the others, if only for the fact that a young Shoto was in it with you. You're smile was a little more genuine in this one as you looked at Shoto, but it was still a far stretch from the brilliant one that stretched across your face and made your eyes crinkle in joy. The one that Katsuki would do anything to see on a daily basis.

Katsuki moved away from the living room to examine the last place he figured he could get away with scouring without alerting Shoto to his actions. The rest of the apartment would have to wait for another day. Katsuki looked around the small entrance foyer, not really expecting to find anything of great interest. A brightly coloured ceramic bowl on the small table by the door held a few keys, while a small mirror hung above that. He glanced to where Shoto had neatly arranged all of their shoes, and he blinked a couple of times in confusion.

The black pair of flats that you'd been wearing earlier that day were caked in dried mud. What the...? Katsuki crouched down, picking up a shoe to examine it. The dirt provided him with more questions than answers. Where the hell did she go after the Sports Festival? Katsuki had assumed that you'd come straight home, but he realized that he'd been mistaken.

That would explain why she wasn't attacked until later this evening. He'd been worried that you'd been lying on the kitchen floor, injured since not long after the festival, but your wounds had been too fresh for that too be the case. At least some of the blanks we're starting to fill in. She was definitely attacked as soon as she got home, since the entrance was a complete mess, but the time line makes a little more sense now. But where was she until then?