Safe and Sound (Katsuki Bakugou AgeRe)

In The Beginning (w/ Auntie Inko)

Katsuki nods, his tears spilling over.

"I 'pwomise,'" he mumbles, wiping his face.

Mitsuki stares at him, a look of disbelief on her face. Her eye twitches, and she scoffs again.

"Are you seriously mocking us right now?"

"H-Huh?" He asks, his head snapping up.

"You're mocking us!"

"No'm not!" He protests, brow drawn. "How am I mockin' you?!"

"Don't use that tone with me!!"

"What TONE?!"

Mitsuki strikes him across the face. Masaru gives a loud gasp, and then everything goes quiet. Katsuki's lips wobbles, and he stares up at her, eyes filled with a look of betrayal.

"Wh... What are you..." she stumbles over her words, brow drawn in confusion.

Katsuki always fights back, always escalates the situation. He eggs her on until she HAS to hit him, because how else could she deal with his attitude? But that hasn't worked for a while now. A slap was the beginning of a fight, not the screeching halt to a lecture.

Her heart sinks.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asks, reaching for his hand. He tears it away fearfully, eyes wide, wrenching away from the table.

"D-Don't!" He yelps, trembling.

"Katsuki," Masaru breathes, staring at him. "It's okay, you're okay. Sit back down."

"... I-..." he chokes out a quiet, broken sob, before turning on his heel and running.

They don't follow him.

- - -

"14 year old boy acting like a baby"

Parents bitching about their kids online.

"feeling younger than my mind"

Lyrics to some stupid English song.

"why do i feel younger than my age"

Old people bitching about their bodies online.

"older child acting like baby"

Some article about toddlers having trouble weaning off of bottles and pissing in the toilet.

Katsuki's about to clear the search bar again, but the name of the article catches his eye.

"Toddler Regression: What To Expect"

He chews his lip thoughtfully, then clicks the search bar, typing in a new keyword.

"teen regression"

Now that brings up some results.

He goes down a rabbit hole, taking in as much information as he can.

He reads about age regression. How it's a trauma response, how people use it as a coping mechanism, how it's a symptom of mental illness when experienced involuntarily.

When he registers his thumb dragging along his lips, he panics momentarily.

He takes a deep breath. Lets his finger slip past his lips. Relaxes immediately.

Looks back to the screen.

"Age regression may be the result of a medical or psychiatric issue."

He shuts his computer off and goes to bed, shoving both hands under his pillow.

- - -

"Katsuki!" A familiar voice rings out.