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Bakugo had been suffering for a week. A whole week! And he still hadn't come to tell his mother. He didn't want to appear weak to the one person he was trying to impress. All the big talk of entering U.A. College and becoming the number one hero would be put to shame. Bakugo couldn't slip up. His pride was starting to make him feel small.
Bakugo had been avoiding everybody and everything, or at least trying to. He wasn't sure what the trigger was yet. The petals seemed to come and go at random times. Well, maybe not too random. Bakugo came to realize they mostly appeared when he was feeling a strong emotion. Which totally sucked considering Bakugo was always frustrated.
It had only been a week of disassociating and Katsuki already felt alone. He had stopped going to lunch and started staying in the library. Nobody would think Bakugo would hang out there so it was a perfect hideaway.
He missed his friends.
Friend.
Bakugo felt like he was back at square one. It was like he lost Ren all over again. But the blonde knew, this time, it was all his fault. Maybe he was just being petty.
The library door opened revealing a yellow-haired boy with a stupid black streak.
Kaminari had dragged Bakugo to a hair salon two weeks ago to get it done. Denki had been super excited; he loved being flashy. The streak was supposed to resemble a bolt to match his quirk. Bakugo thought this upgrade brought Kaminari only this much closer to becoming a full fledged Pikachu.
After Denki's hair had been dyed, he couldn't stop smiling. And Bakugo didn't want him to. It was the happiest he'd seen Denki, if that was possible. The whole way home Kaminari excitedly talked about enrolling to U.A. and how the black bolt made him one step closer to his perfect costume design.
"I know it's your lunch break but I had to return this book." Kaminari held the book up and rested it on his shoulder. (you know, like in the animes lol). As he walked closer to the librarian's desk Bakugo hid behind a shelf. Coward!
"Oh no, it's fine. I just finished anyways." The librarian moved something around on her desk and reached for Kaminari's book. "How's school? How are you parents?"
Great. Bakugo had chosen the one faculty member that was closest to Kaminari. She was sure to rat Katsuki out at any mention of his name.
"School's great. My parents are great. You know? It's all good." Bakugo watched as Kaminari tilted his head and let out a toothy grin. The hot head's stomach dropped. Denki's life was fine without him.
He could feel his lungs get heavy. The tickling sensation had turned to a scraping feeling over the past week. Bakugo's heart was pounding so loud he couldn't hear what the other two were discussing. His breathing was coming out in low grunts. At this rate Kaminari would definitely hear him and Bakugo doubted the librarian would stop the dunce from looking around.
Bakugo squeezed his hand around his neck and looked upwards trying to suppress the coughing. It hurt. He could feel the petals getting stuck in his throat, the thin leaflets sticking to his esophagus. The sickly sweet scent made the blonde's eyes water. Bakugo couldn't hold it in anymore.
The library door shut signalling someone's absence. Bakugo grabbed a book off the shelf and let out a gut wrenching series of coughs and sputtering. His breathing hitched as the built up petals clogged his air hole. Finally getting enough air to push the petals out they landed in the book.
"Kacchan? Were you hiding from me?" Denki had rounded the shelf to find who was dying in the library. His voice had hitched in the middle of the question but his signature smile was plastered on.
Bakugo slammed the book shut and wiped his eyes. "I thought you left." It came out in a raspy whisper. Katsuki's voice was sore and burning.
Kaminari's eyes narrowed as he let Bakugo evade his question. "No, Mrs. Hortui left. She had to grab some extra printing paper." The yellow haired teen sat down cross legged right against Bakugo. "I didn't know you liked trains."
Katsuki's face contorted into a mix of confusion and frustration. "What the hell do—."
His eyes followed Denki's down to the book Bakugo had hastily slammed shut. "—do you not? Who doesn't?" He put it back on the shelf.
Denki laughed at that showing his smile. "So Kacchan, I missed you. Have you been in here the whole week?"
"Yeah...."
Kaminari paused. Bakugo could tell something was on his mind and it was pissing the blonde off. "If you have something to say just do it." The words came out sharper than Bakugo intended. But isn't that what always happened?
"Are you mad about Beniha?" Denki's question came out quietly.
Bakugo just looked at his friend. Who the fuck was that?
Denki misread Bakugo's face and continued. "You don't have to worry, I broke up with her. We didn't really click. I'm not even sure why I did it in the first place, probably just to prove something."
Blueberry Bitch's name was Beniha? Katsuki couldn't contain his laughter. Didn't that have to do with the color red? Denki was confused by this turn of events. Bakugo had no idea why he was laughing. He felt so light.
"Bakugo~." Kaminari put his hand on the other's shoulder. Katsuki jumped at the contact and his laughter was cut short. Their eyes met. Yellow to red. Bakugo's breath caught in his throat. But this time there were no petals or pain. Denki leaned in and turned on his smile.
"We should go ice-skating this weekend."
Bakugo grumbled an incoherent response that Denki took as an acceptance.
"Great! You should come pick me up at 1." The cheerful boy got up and literally skipped out of the library. "You should get that cough checked out." If Denki had said anything after it was lost because the library door had closed.
~~
Katsuki was sitting in his his truck, still in the school parking lot. He was trying to work up the courage to call his mom and explain everything.
He couldn't face her in person so he took the coward's path and used his phone. The phone was set on speaker and waiting for someone on the other end to pick it up.
Bakugo leaned his head on the steering wheel and let out a sigh. A loud, shrill sound vibrated through the car and echoed across the parking lot. He flew back in his seat, heart leaping out of his chest. Bakugo had accidentally blared his horn.
"Fuck." He exhaled the curse under his breath.
"Hey, if you called me just to say profanities I'm hanging up." Bakugo's mother's voice filled the truck. He scrambled to pick up the phone.
"Wait, wait, wait old hag. Don't you dare hang up." Katsuki smiled to himself despite the fight or flight reaction occurring in his brain.
When he was 10 he had thought up the nickname 'old hag' from a movie he'd seen. It was a lighthearted joke between mother and son.
He could hear his mom's pout through the phone static. She always said not to call her 'old hag' because it made her feel five times older but she would always laugh along anyways. It just kinda stuck.
"Okay, what?"
Bakugo licked his lips. Hesitant on what to say, "I think I'm sick."
"Katsuki, couldn't this talk have waited until you came home? The flu isn't that serious. You can still drive." He could hear the frustration in his mother's voice. Bakugo had called her during work hours. He knew that. Maybe he should've waited.
"No, I'm serious, I--"
A light breeze carried a couple voices through the truck window. Bakugo looked up and saw a group of three boys. His throat started to close up. He could recognize that mop of hair from miles away.
Sparky was talking with two other boys Bakugo had never seen before. Actually he probably had some classes with them, he just didn't care much. It looked like the boys were showing off their quirks to one another. Kaminari's lightning made him glow yellow even more. It was such a happy color. A perfect match for someone who brought so much joy to Bakugo's world.
Before he knew it, he was coughing up rose petals again. These were also yellow, but they couldn't mean the same thing. Could they? The petals felt thicker and it was slightly harder to breathe than the past times. His cheeks burned. Blood specks littered the console. Damn it. He needed help.
"Fuck. I think I'm really sick." Bakugo had picked the phone back up from where he had dropped it. He could sense his mom's unease. Her son had not once asked for help. Had not once cried in front of her. Had never shown fear or weakness around her. And here he was, doing just that.
"Do you need me to take you to a doctor?" Mitsuki's voice came out soft. Bakugo hated it. He wasn't asking for pity, he was asking for a cure.
"Yeah." The last thing Bakugo wanted to do was visit a doctor. But he was going through some screwed up bullshit and needed to know what was going on.
Bakugo and the Old Hag had decided to meet at the house and then take off for the doctor's office. He had wiped the yellow petals off his lap to the floor. Bakugo didn't have time to clean up his mess.
~~
While riding in the passenger side of his mom's car Bakugo had watched an incoming storm draw closer and closer. They were barreling down the highway but the storm seemed to be catching up. A light rain had started tapping on the windshield but quickly changed to a pounding rhythm. The wipers moved faster and faster. Thunder rolled across the sky and lightning was seen on the horizon.
Bakugo hunched over in the seat coughing. His mother glanced over, not sure if she should keep her eyes on the road or her son. He had made his condition sound dire. Mitsuki still wasn't convinced that coughing was considered extreme circumstances. Little did she know her son couldn't bring himself to tell her the real reason of needing a doctor.
Her eyes grew wide as she caught a glimpse of blood and a yellow petal. More kept coming. A faint perfume filled the car. She knew what this was. Of course she knew. The disease had been all over the news recently and had become known as one of the top deadliest diseases.
Katsuki's diaphragm was raw and his chest ached. His lips had become chapped after all the sharp intakes of air and if he were to smile, they'd definitely crack. Not that he wasn't used to the taste of blood by now. It kept getting worse. Everyday became more of a struggle. Why? What was wrong with him?
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I hope ya'll understand how hard it was for Bakugo to ask his mom for help. He really looks up to her.