Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 59

Bakugo's POV

Stepping off the train, I began the final leg of my journey as I started walking towards the hospital. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that I had no idea how I was going to actually get in to see her. It was past visiting hours, surely, and at this point they would probably only let immediate family in to see her. Deku had said that he was in the same hospital, so maybe if I...

What in the actual fuck? Did I seriously just consider asking that damn nerd for help?! How desperate am I? I thought as I began to near the entrance of the hospital. My mind was reeling now that I was so close and the thought of making it this far and not being able to see her caused an ache to form in the pit of my stomach.

"How the fuck am I going to do this?" I said out of frustration.

"Hey,"

I heard a voice that sounded oddly familiar and turned to see a hand waving from the shadows along the edge of the building. The person stepped forward and I immediately recognized that face. It was just like hers if only she were 20 years older. Her hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun and it reminded me of when I had come across the emo chick the first time I had impulsively rushed here. As she approached me and came further into the light I realized how disheveled she was. She wore a dress, although it seemed lopsided somehow, as though it had gotten snagged on something at some point and she never took the time to fix it. Her hair was chaotic and the bun attempted to contain it, but there were loose strands hovering around her face. Looking at her raw face, I could see how tired she was and the puffiness of her eyes told me she had probably spent the majority of the evening crying.

"You're y/n's friend, right? I thought I recognized you as you were walking up but I knew for sure when I heard your voice."

"Uhhh, yeah," I responded, noticing that a trail of smoke had followed Nakano's mom and was still spiraling up from where her hand rested by her side.

"Oh God," She said, catching me staring at the cigarette, before she quickly dropped it and crushed it under one of her high heels. "Bad habit."

She laughed then and it reminded me of her. It was a light, airy giggle created for the sole purpose of relieving a nervous sense of shame. "I usually don't unless things have gotten pretty bad," She said quietly.

Her words made the pit in my stomach grow. "Wait, is she okay?!" I was surprised at how frantic I sounded and the fact that I didn't care if this woman knew how desperately I needed her daughter to be okay.

The woman seemed to snap out of a reverie and quickly responded, "Yes, yes, she's stabilized now. I'm assuming you know what happened if you're here?"

I let out a breath and looked towards the hospital doors. "I got the abridged version I guess you could say," I mumbled.

I could feel her eyes evaluating me for a few moments before she said, "Let's go." 

She began walking towards the front doors of the hospital and I wasted no time in falling in step beside her. As we followed signs that lead to the ICU, Nakano's mom was silent and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. When she finally spoke, her voice was hushed. 

"I still don't fully understand what happened. From what I've gathered, she ran off with Todoroki's boy, but I'm not sure who the other UA students were that fought against Stain or how they came together like that."

What the hell? That half and half bastard was there too?! What the fuck happened tonight? I felt my fist clench and then something seemed to click.

On the train ride to the hospital, I had checked my texts and opened the one Deku sent earlier that I had ignored at the time. It had been a location with no accompanying text. I had been thankful at the time that I had ignored such a useless message and immediately deleted it but now I was beginning to wonder.

Could it have been a call for back up? If the emo chick and icy hot had gotten that message, of course they would have come running like the morons they are. But the way she had worded, 'she ran off with Torodoki's boy,' as though they were already together, what the hell is that about? Were they both at this party she's referring to? What party is she talking about anyways? 

I could feel the anger rising up inside of me, ready to burst out, when I realized that Nakano's mom was still talking.

"Stain is in custody right now and the other students are getting treated here as well. Honestly, I just assumed you were one of them. When she finally came to, the first words that came out of her mouth were, 'My friends. Are my friends okay?'" At this, she smiled softly. "She's never had the best of luck with friends. Before you came to the house that day, the only friend of hers I ever knew of was Shinso. But now, hearing the way she spoke of the others..."

She trailed off and I pretended not to notice her wiping the tears off of her cheeks. "She was so remorseful. She had wanted to do more to protect them, to do her part in fighting against the villain. She cares so much about those other students, whoever they may be. And she's always been on the outside looking in, if that makes sense? She's never really been accepted in the way I've seen her be accepted by this new class she's apart of."

She had stopped and was standing outside a patient's room. She peered through the glass door before turning back to me.

"It looks like she's awake." Suddenly she looked sheepish. "I just realized I don't even know your name."

"Oh, it's Bakugo." 

"First name?"

"Katsuki."

"Katsuki," It was as though she was testing out the name and was satisfied with the sound of it. "I think that you can help y/n in a way that I can't. She is struggling and I can see how weighed down she is by her guilt in not doing more to help her classmates. She only talked to me briefly but for the most part when she is awake she has been staring at the wall like she is now. To be honest, it kind of reminds me of when her father..." Her eyes were looking far away into a distant memory before she snapped back to the present. "I'll let the hospital staff know that you're in there and I'm going to give you some space. Y/n's father went home already. You've done it once before and I trust you'll do it again. Take care of her."

It was as though her eyes could see all of me in that moment and it terrified me how vulnerable I felt. I wanted nothing more than to take care of this woman's daughter and she knew it just by looking at me.