He gets a text from Mr. Aizawa on his way to the dorms, but he doesn't check it until hours later after the fifth round of knocking on his door.

Dinner was made just before class ended and left on the stove for the class to just help themselves.

Anxiety courses through him because it's his group of friends that has been knocking and saying that they want to talk to him, but they don't say about what and it makes Bakugo think that they know.

His phone is getting blown up, too.

Message after message pops up, but he doesn't read them because he's scared.

It's bad enough that his mom is dead, he just can't handle having to deal with all of these people who look at him with sadness or pity. Or will offer their condolences and time if he wants to talk.

He got enough of that bullshit at the funeral. He doesn't need his classmates to put him through that again.

Taking care of himself is already hard. If his friends find out, it'll just make things harder. Right now he can just go on and pretend everything is fine.

As soon as people know, it's downhill.

So after pacing his room for a couple of hours and some very annoying knocking later, he decided to finally check his phone and is beyond fucking relieved when he sees that there are no messages about his mom.

His lip wobbles at he thought of her and he can't stop the wave of tears that blur his vision. He just checks the message that Mr. Aizawa sent him, instead.

_______________
Walking Dead

You're not receiving a punishment. I know you know what you did was wrong and that's enough. I would like to speak sometime soon, though. Let me know a day that works for you. We're talking whether you like it or not. Take care of yourself, kid.

_______________

The blond just stares at the message for a long time. No punishment?

He knew people would take pity on him. It feels even worse coming from Aizawa. It kind of stings. A lot.

The tears fall as he tries to come up with some kind of asshole response.

Mr. Aizawa didn't even say anything about cursing them out when he left. This man is outright pitying him. It's so obvious and he's not even trying to hide it.

Fuck and he knows that Sero definitely got a punishment. How fair is that?

All the other teen did was say some mean things and that's it. Bakugo physically hurt him. Left a huge ass bruise on his face.

This might just make the situation between them worse.

Bakugo is not stupid, he knows that his own separation from his group of friends is why Mina and Sero have decided to be extreme assholes to him. Although Bakugo doesn't like himself or see why they'd be hurt by this, he knows that they actually cared for him and that's why they're mad.

He just can't help that feeling in his chest that tells him that as soon as he gets close to them, they'll be taken away from him.

Like with his mom.

A sob escapes his lips and he throws his phone on his bed to angrily wipe his tears away.

God he misses his mom so much. He just wants to call her and hear her angry, berating voice yelling at him and asking why he punched his friend.

He looks at his window, curtains closed, but light still peaks through the sides. It's been a couple of hours since school ended, but it's still early.

Fuck it, he's going to bed.

So he grabs his phone from where it lays on the bed and gets under the covers, bringing the blankets up to his chin before pulling out his phone and coming up with an answer.

As he lays on his back, his phone above him, tears slide down his face, uncomfortable and getting into his ears, but he continues, not really caring too much.

_______________
Walking Dead

You're just feeling bad for me

fuck you

_______________

That was the big grand comeback that he'd come up with. It took forever to type, too since he's using his left hand. His right one hurts too much to type. That's also why he couldn't try to ease the pain in his arms yet.

How great.

Just as he's about to turn off his phone and go to bed, tears still steaming down his face, he sees that Mr. Aizawa viewed the message.

Just as fast as he saw the message, he starts typing.

_______________
Walking Dead

That's not it. Your response to Sero bringing up your mom is usually something that warrants punishment, but you simply 'blanked'. I wanted to talk in person, so just give me a day we can talk.

_______________

That's so fucking annoying.

He wants answers now, but he can't be seen like this. His eyes are probably red and he can feel how swollen they are, he doesn't see the tears stopping anytime soon and- yup there goes another sob escaping his lips.

So he just tells the teacher that he wants answers in the morning before class.

He goes to throw his phone on his nightstand, but then the thought hits him. What if his mom has a voicemail thing set up on her phone?

Sobbing harder, tears blurring the shit out of his vision, he pulls up his mom's number, using both hands despite the pain and dials it. Immediately it's sent to voicemail and-

"If you want to reach me, I'm probably at work so call that number instead. If you don't have it, look it up."

Bakugo sits up, sobs locked in his chest, sadness overwhelming.

He calls again, still unable to breathe.

"If you want to reach me, I'm probably at work so call that number instead. If you don't have it, look it up."

He scrambled for a pillow and as soon as he's got one in his grasp, he's sobbing louder than he has since he first found out about her death.

He buries his face in the pillow as he practically screams his sadness away, lifting his face from it when he needs air, taking choppy breaths in before going back and sobbing into the pillow.

The pillow gets squeezed between his arms, so he's practically hugging the shit out of it.

"Bakugo?"

A soft knock on his door makes his freeze, trying to completely keep his sobbing at bay.

He has to breathe though, so he takes his face away from his pillow and takes in air.

"Bakugo, you haven't come down to eat and it's dark now. Don't make me get Mr. Aizawa."

It's Sero. How does he know he hasn't eaten? Bakugo made the damn food. Alright, to be fair, he hadn't eaten, but fuck him. And why is he using this man against him?

"Open the door at least? I just wanted to say sorry, but I can't do that properly in public," he says, meaning that he's going to apologize for bringing his mom up and probably also for the Kamino thing.

If he yells, he'll probably start sobbing again. He feels that way about talking, too, so he catches his breath, trying to pull himself together from this shitty fucking breakdown.

Quickly, he goes over to the door.

"Bakugo I'm serious. I will get Mr. Aizawa."

"Fuck off, I already ate," he lies, cringing at the way his voice cracks in a way that lets everyone in a ten foot radius that he's been crying.

Fuck.

"Are you okay?" Sero asks, concern obvious.

Bakugo clears his throat.

"I don't want your pity ass apology. Leave me the fuck alone or I'll bring Mr. Aizawa into this." His voice is wobbly and nasally even though he tries to even it out, but he can't really expect anything else when the tears are still falling.

Now that Sero know he's at the door, he starts whispering. "Have you been crying? Bakugo I'm so so-"

"Is that why you came? You came to baby poor motherless Bakugo? Fuck off Sero. You're fucking fake."

He's beyond angry, but the sadness overwhelms everything. A hug from his mom right now would mean the world. After hearing her voice again, he longs even more.

"I know I've been a bad friend and I'm not pitying you. Can I send in Kirishima?"

He walks away from the door in order to grab his pillow and sob into it before lifting his head and walking back over to the door. He just needed to collect himself a little.

He knows Sero stayed because he can see his shadow under the door and it had only been a minute.

"Don't. Sero just go away. Call Mr. Aizawa if you want," he says, pretending not to care but desperately hoping he doesn't bring the man into this. It's the last thing he wants.

He walks away from the door, seeing Sero's lingering shadow. His heart hurts. The pain of his mom's death is heavy in his chest.

He doesn't need anyone here but his mom.

Fucking hell why did she have to die? Why did she have to go and leave him alone? He has his dad, but he's gone. He's just not present. Never able to look Bakugo in the eye.

His mom was always looking at him. Always present and full of life.

Even after he'd snuggled into his blankets, Sero was still there, almost like if he was waiting for something.

Just then he hears another set of footsteps join Sero. They were heavier.

There's talking, but it's too quiet. Bakugo thinks about getting closer before he hears a deep voice and a knock. Wow. This asshole actually brought in Mr. Aizawa.

"Bakugo can you let me in?"

The teen almost laughs.

Fuck no.

"I said we'd talk tomorrow."

Fuck his voice sounds pathetic and wobbly. There's no way they don't know.

"I've asked Sero to leave. Bakugo, if you don't let me in, I'm kicking the door down and I don't think you'd want that," the man threatens.

Bakugo is panicked now. He can't be seen like this. At all. Fucking Sero. He is never forgiving him for anything ever again that bitch.

"Just- give me a minute," Bakugo rushes out, rushing out of bed and going over to his mirror to check his face.

He forces the tears to stop, taking deep breaths and wiping the tears away. After a few seconds of fanning his face, he can still tell that he was crying. It's so obvious.

So he decides that he'll turn off the light and have his lamp on.

A whole minute after he told Mr. Aizawa to wait, he opens the door, light off, but the hallway light betrays him. He curses and turns around, letting the man walk right in.

The door closes behind them as Bakugo gets into bed lying on his side, back facing Aizawa, pulling his blankets over his face carefully so he doesn't hurt his hand.

"I'm trying to sleep so if you could go that'd be great. I said we'd talk tomorrow. I'm fine."

His voice is raspy, not as wobbly, but he can just pretend that it's because he's tired. He knows Mr. Aizawa isn't stupid, but he needs this to go unsaid.

"I was worried about your mental health," the man says uncomfortably.

"I'm not gonna fucking kill myself. My mom wanted me to succeed." The words are so much harder to say than they should be.

"What about-"

"I'm not fucking cutting myself or some shit. She'd be sad about it. Can't you just leave me alone? For the tenth fucking time, I said tomorrow. You told me to give you a damn day and you just didn't care. Asshole."

If he's going to be able to get away with shit, he's going to take full advantage.

"It's like you want me to give you a punishment," the man says.

"You just feel bad for me. I'm not weaker because of this."

The man sighs.

"The reason you're not getting a punishment is because I'm mandating therapy for you. You got so mad at Sero that you 'blanked out' and the next thing you knew he was on the floor. In case you didn't know, that's not healthy. Sero also admitted to baiting you for a reaction, so the fault lands on him."

This guy is trying so hard to make it seem like it's not because he feels bad for him. Bakugo stays silent, wanting the man to just go away.

"We'll discuss days that are best for you to go to therapy tomorrow morning. Also," the man pauses, placing something on his nightstand, "eat those. Sero told me you hadn't eaten. Take care of yourself. You have to be in tiptop shape in order to have a chance against your classmates."

Bakugo still doesn't say anything, letting the man leave.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Bakugo. Take time to relax."

He would be asleep if he and Sero hadn't just come by and interrupted his me-time. Sleep is relaxing because he hardly ever gets any these days. His nights are usually plagued with all of the different ways that his mom could have died.

The door shuts and Bakugo waits to hear the retreating footsteps before getting up to lock the door.

Today sucked, he thinks as he eats a few of the food pouches Aizawa had left him.

He hums in surprise.

They're not bad.

As he sits comfortably on his bed, his phone buzzes for the millionth fucking time.

Pinky has removed you from a group chat.

Bakugo rolls his eyes and waits for Kirishima to add him back.

Just as the phone turns off, another notification comes in.

Rock Man has added you to a group chat.

Then the phone buzzes like crazy before he puts his phone on do not disturb and flips it over.

Bakugo is filled with annoyance at the thought of how many times Mina has kicked him out of the squad group chat only for Kirishima to add him back.

Both actions are pointless because Bakugo never even reads the damn messages, anyway.

The blond just shakes his head, not even feeling like thinking about it anymore.

~~~~~

Obviously, because the day before was ass, the whole night had to be just as bad.

He woke up numerous times from nightmares and even had a panic attack because of one of them. Specifically the one where Bakugo was right there. About to save his mom before the villain got to her just before him and killed her.

Sure the daily nightmares are shitty, but multiple fucking nightmares in one god damn night? You've got to be fucking joking.

He shows up to class extra early because of course Mr. Aizawa still wanted to talk.

So now here he was, seated in front of the man as he waits for him to spew whatever bullshit about therapy he wants.

He said he mandated it for Bakugo last night so there's no way he can get out of it.

"Alright Bakugo, I know this isn't something you're looking forward to, but it's necessary. I didn't say anything about the kidnapping or Kamino, and I had to hold back when I heard about the Sludge Villain attack. It's too many things piled up, so no matter how much distain you have for this, I still need your cooperation. Okay?"

Bakugo just stays silent, but he nods, realizing just then how bad everything sounds from an outsiders perspective.

Being the one to go through this shit, it doesn't feel like a lot. Everything happened pretty far apart and it didn't really effect him. Well, Kamino did, but the other shit was more tame.

"So based on the schedule for the class, which includes you, the day with the least amount of responsibilities is Friday. Is that a good day?"

Fuck no.

"I'm busy on Fridays after school," he tries to say as casual as possible.

"If it's training, I'm sure you can move it, but if Friday is off limits, another day that's open for Hound Dog is Tuesday and that's the next best day besides Friday for you," Mr. Aizawa says, looking on a computer for this information.

"I go shopping for the class on Fridays. You know that cause I have the card. Tuesday is fine," he says, trying to be respectful as possible while being mad.

As he looks into the man's eyes, pretending to be as bored as possible, he grips his bag, thumbing the strap. The pain in his right hand is grounding.

The man just stares back, looking dead.

"I forgot about that. Alright, I'll tell him you'll be going on Tuesdays from now on. I know this is annoying for you, but this will benefit you in the long run, kid. Trust this from a person who's been there," Mr. Aizawa says, standing up and stretching.

About twenty bones crack, but then he relaxes and gives a nod of encouragement to the blond.

"If you think you need more, we can schedule you in for two days a week, but that's up to you. It's not required, but I'd appreciate it if you let me know how therapy is going."

Bakugo rolls his eyes, clenching his hand again, and flinching just slightly when the pain is too sharp.

He's fucking stupid for that because that makes Aizawa notice.

"You never got your hand healed."

Bakugo glares at him, trying to hide his hand. "So fucking what? It's not like I could. You guys were outright ignoring everything I was saying. Stop acting like you give a shit."

Aizawa sighs. "Go get it healed and then come back to class whenever Recovery Girl lets you."

With that, the man leaves, probably going off to get some coffee before class starts.

Bakugo curses under his breath and gets up to go over to Recovery Girl. If he's going to be number one- most importantly, if he's going to make his mom proud, he needs to do all this in order to keep up.

Mr. Aizawa is right.

If he wants to be number one, he has to be at his best because this class is not easy game. It's a struggle to even stay number two right now. He just barely managed to surpass Iida only because Glasses fumbled one subject and just barely.

The only person that's above him now is Yaoyorozu, so he's been throwing himself into school work and forgetting everything else.

It's a little unhealthy, but he's trying.

Maybe therapy will help with that? The most he can do is hope that it does and put in the work for it to happen.

Which also fucking sucks because why is he doing more just to be like everyone else?

Why is his mom dead and why is he left here alone trying to become what she always knew he could be? Why is life so cruel and unnecessarily violent?

He shakes those very important questions away.

This is for his mom.

"Mr. Aizawa told me you'd be here. I apologize for not healing your hand," Recovery Girl says, when he walks into the room.

Bakugo's just waves her off as he sits down. She doesn't say anything more until after she's inspected his hand, turning it to see the damage.

"It's not too bad, so you should be able to go as soon as I fix it. Okay?"

The blond just nods, sighing.

Once she kisses him, the ache in his whole upper body dissipates and he almost falls over from the relief. Holy shit he had no idea that pain was that bad. That also means he's way more tired than he would've been if it had just been his hand.

Recovery Girl gives him a worried look and he frowns at her.

"What?"

"You look way more tired than you should be. Did you have more injuries?"

Bakugo lies and shakes his head, not wanting to be stuck here in the infirmary. "No I'm just hungry."

She hums, giving him an orange juice and three granola bars. "Okay, just make sure you finish these before class starts."

He grunts in agreement and leaves, getting to class and seeing that still no one has arrived. He did come to class as hour earlier, so that's no surprise. The earliest people don't start walking in until twenty minutes before class and he still has a lot of time before then.

So he just sits down at his desk, eating what Recovery Girl gave him and when he's done with that, he stays studying for at least fifteen minutes before the class starts trickling in.

It starts with Yaoyorozu, greeting him when she enters to which he just grunts. He likes Momo. She's a badass and yeah she had that weird phase where she doubted herself, but that's normal and she bounced back like nothing.

That was badass.

Bakugo noticed that period of time. She had just closed herself off and didn't really have confidence in herself. To help her out at least a little bit, Bakugo would throw her small compliments disguised as insults about her intelligence and quick thinking. Calling it annoying and all that.

The next few people that trickled in were quiet, never speaking to Bakugo unless they were paired in an assignment or in training.

Then the annoying people started showing up.

Todoroki, Deku, Iida, and the idiots.

Sero had the nerve to approach his desk. When Bakugo had looked up in order to curse him out, all Sero did was place a small box of strawberry milk on his desk and walk away.

The blond just grabbed it and put it in his bag. Fuck Sero and his shitty ass apologies. He only actually apologized because he feels bad for him for his mom's passing.

If Sero wanted Bakugo's forgiveness, he shouldn't have made his pity so apparent.

Around lunchtime, Bakugo took out the box of milk and threw it in the trash in front of Sero before going the opposite way of the cafeteria.

***
Word Count: 3719
Hope y'all liked this chapter. Next one will go up next Sunday at 8pm central time. I love you all and tysm for reading<3