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Katsuki Bakugo, was tired.
So very, tired.
His nightmares were growing worse, the days were getting harder and more annoying to deal with, and everything was merging into one huge blur.
*
Shota Aizawa, was concerned.
One of his top three best students, Katsuki Bakugo, had been much less.. dedicated lately. He was falling asleep during classes, and always walking around with that blank, mindless look.
That wasn’t even the worst of it, the blonde had started to grow skinnier, his body pale and thin. He was shaky, and looked as if he would fall over at any given second.
He had considered notifying the boy’s parents, but he knew what Mitsuki Bakugo was like, and she would probably just end up making the boy feel much worse.
So instead, he decided to take things into his own hands. Over the next few days he paid close attention to Bakugo, watching the way he (barely) worked in class, and the way he barely interacted with any of his friends or other classmates.
It was highly unlike him.
Just yesterday, a very anxious Kirishima had come into his office, saying how Bakugo had been acting so different lately, and that Kirishima was beginning to get really worried about him.
This only added to Aizawa’s own worries and concerns.
He had checked in with the other staff members as well to see how he was getting on in their own classes, learning that Bakugo hadn’t been acting like his usual self there lately either.
When Aizawa visited the common-rooms, he saw that Bakugo wasn’t there, and instead was cooped up in his dorm.
He had asked a few of his other students about the boy, hearing that: “He’s been kinda sick lately.” And, “We haven’t seen him out here in days.”
Enough was enough. Shota decided. Bakugo’s grades had started to slightly drop, and he couldn’t let that happen. He knew that Bakugo would horribly regret it later when it came, and he couldn’t let that happen.
He walked upstairs to the fourth floor, he knew all of their dorms off by heart, and knocked on Bakugo’s.
He didn’t get an answer.
Sighing, he knocked again.
Still no response.
”Bakugo, are you awake?” He called out.
”.....”
Aizawa then just decided, “fuck it” and opened the door to his room.
The light was off. Bakugo was laying in bed with the covers hazardously thrown over him, and once again, he appeared to be shaking.
”Can you take the blankets down?”
Bakugo did it with a little hesitation, but no frustration.
”I need you to come back to my office with me.”
Bakugo eyed him with a look of contempt and suspicion.
”You’re not in trouble. I just need to speak to you about something.”
”......” Bakugo muttered something that sounded like “Fine” and got up out of bed.
He was wearing his signature skull shirt and black trousers, which looked way baggier and bigger on him now than they would have about a week ago.
Another thing the underground hero noticed was that his eyes were baggy, and also dead whenever he wasn’t making an expression. His cheeks were wet, and his face was a little blotchy, as if he had been crying moments prior to this.
Once they were in Aizawa’s office, the man shut the door behind them, making it so no one could hear their conversation.
”Like I said, you’re not in trouble. I just need to discuss something personal with you.”
Bakugo nodded, but didn’t say a word.
Aizawa sat across from him at his desk. “... Throughout the last couple of days in school you’ve been.. different. You’ve barely interacted with anyone, and your performance in class has dropped.”
Bakugo just stared at him.
Aizawa’s frown grew. “And that’s not all I’ve noticed. You’ve lost a lot of weight, and you’ve been looking really sickly lately. Look, Bakugo...”
He breathed out before finishing. “Is everything okay..?”
Bakugo seemed taken aback. His eyes widened. It was obvious that that hadn’t been what he expected Aizawa to say.
”....I...”
”Just to be clear, unless this is like, police-worthy stuff or something like that, I’m not telling anyone else about this. It’s just going to be between me and you.”
”.... I don’t know what’s wrong!”
They both seemed surprised by the boy’s sudden outburst. Most people would have yelled back at the boy, however, Aizawa just placed a firm, yet gentle hand on his shoulder. “You have a lot of problems with nightmares, right? Has there been any issues with those?”
“... Yeah.. I’ve been having a lot more.. and they’ve gotten kinda worse..”
Shota nodded. “Are they about.. the usual stuff?” He asked, not wanting to bring up the sludge villain and the kidnapping right now.
”... Yeah..”
”Has anything else been happening? Feel free to just name some.”
”... Am I really fit to be a hero?”
The question caused Aizawa to to jump a little with how sudden it was.
”... That asshole from Class 1-B told me I could never be one, than again, so do a lot of people these days..”
”Bakugo-!”
”I mean if I got kidnapped by villains cuz they wanted to make me one of them, I’m obviously not very good at being heroic, and you heard what the people watching the sports festival were saying-!”
”Bakugo.”
The boy stopped rambling, his breathing was now intense and rapid, and his eyes were starting to water. Aizawa started rubbing his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “Hey, chill out a sec, kid.”
Bakugo sat in his chair, shaking like a leaf.
“You don’t need to act like an absolute saint in public to be a hero. That would just be stressful as hell. And as for the kidnapping, those villains are wrong about you. You’re not a villain, Katsuki. None of the things those people watching the sports festival said matters, they were being stupid. All because you didn’t go easy on Uraraka. Do you really wanna listen to a bunch of idiots like that, Katsuki?”
The boy looked at him, and Aizawa almost melted at the newfound hope in his crimson coloured eyes.
”As long as your hearts in the right place and you really give it your all, you can be hero, yes, there will be improvements you’ll need to make, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be one all together. Everyone in the class has their own flaws, but you’ll all overcome them eventually, that I can assure you.”
Aizawa then beckoned for him to stand up, and when he did, he hugged him tightly. The teen stood quietly for a few seconds, before relaxing, and returning the hug.
A few minutes passed before he let go.
”Now, when was the last time you ate?” Aizawa inquired.
”... Couple of days ago.”
The man’s face fell. “Sit back down.”
Bakugo didn’t have the heart to disobey him after what he had just went through with him.
Aizawa left the room for a few moments, eventually returning with what looked like a cheese sandwich, a candy bar, and a carton of milk. “Me and Mic keep some food in case of stuff like this.” He explained, placing the items in front of the boy.
Bakugo examined them closely, before biting into the sandwich, once he started, he immediately started to wolf down the entire thing, as well as the milk and chocolate bar.
”If you don’t mind, I want you to start having meals in here with me for a week or so.”
The blonde seemed to put two and two together. “You wanna make sure I actually eat, huh?”
Aizawa ruffled his hair, causing him to grunt. “Correct.” He smirked.
He looked at his teacher with an almost vulnerable expression as he stood up to leave. “... Thank you..” He said quickly.
Aizawa pat his head again and said: “You’re welcome, kiddo.”
He had never seen Bakugo look happier before than he did there.
That gleeful look on us face was something he could get used to.
Shota couldn’t help but smile, knowing the fact that he had helped the boy feel a lot better.