He stares at the ceiling, alarm blaring right next to his ear, but he just wants to go back to sleep. Maybe give up on school. On being a hero.

It was hard now.

The weekend passed by way too slowly and his dad calling him nonstop about going home just worsened everything.

He loves his dad, don't get him wrong. Masaru tries his best given the circumstances. Losing the love of his life is probably killing him. Bakugo feels like his dad might've taken his life it wasn't for him, so he still answers the guy.

No matter how mad he'll get, he'll always try to respect his dad and talk to him.

Bakugo doesn't want to suddenly lose him like he did his mom.

The blond and his mom weren't fighting or anything when she died, but he doesn't want to have that happen with his dad because death takes anyone and at any time.

It's better to be safe than sorry no matter how mad he is. Sometimes.

Finally, he turns off his alarm, sitting up, trying to massage his aching hands, and taking a minute to breathe. He's been needing to do that a little too often recently.

Just a deep breath in to find some sort of hold on his life only to release that breath just as heavily and barely live. It feels like that now. Like he's barely living.

And to think that he was out having fun when his mom died.

Fuck, that hurts most of all.

But he shakes it off and goes about getting ready, not feeling like being depressed today, so he'll fake it till he makes it.

It never works out like that for him, but he can keep trying.

He just goes on like everything is good and normal and fine. Because it has to be fine or else he'll lose himself and everything he wanted to be. Everything his mom was proud of.

A thud from above him shocks him back into reality a while later when he's changing. Fuck, if that didn't snap him out, he would've gone the whole day like that.

Then he gets a notification on his phone, so he grabs the device after he's put on his pants.

_______________
IcyHot

I apologize. I fell.

_______________

He laughs, loudly.

Holy shit this guy is an idiot.

When he's done getting ready, he responds to the idiot quickly, just telling him to stop being so fucking clumsy and stupid.

And so the day passes way too slowly and way too quickly and by the time he knows it, he's walking to the dorms after school with his idiotic friends who love to talk.

"Ugh I know I just don't like how single minded some people can be."

Assholes.

"Yeah, like, we get it, you have a goal. We all do. No need to tell everyone all the time."

Bakugo tunes them out, not appreciating that at all.

They know what they're doing. Both Sero and Mina. It's only them, but the others aren't any better because they don't say anything to them at all. Frankly, Bakugo doesn't care enough to tell them to stop beating around the bush and tell him straight up.

They're just loser wannabes and nothing will change that.

The other four idiots just look over at Bakugo every now and then in concern, but they don't ever say anything to Sero or Mina.

"Bakugo, do you ever laugh?"

The elbow one is always telling shitty jokes and they suck, so it's not his fault for not laughing. It's his fault for not being funny.

"Just not at things that aren't funny."

Kaminari 'ooh's like an idiot, and Shinso joins him just a split second later to ease the tension somewhat.

Kirishima just pushes Bakugo's shoulder lightly, also trying to ease the tension. "Totally not true. You laughed at some kid falling a while back and that definitely wasn't funny."

"Except it was funny," he says, not really caring for this conversation.

Of course he laughs. He laughs all the time. It's not his fault Sero isn't funny. Or that Mina's jokes never land.

Bakugo feels a headache coming on and he wants to go to sleep. He has to cook dinner for everyone, though, so maybe he'll make one of the easier foods this time.

He also has to eat, so he'll make something he likes so that he actually wants to eat because he's really not feeling up for it right now.

The idiots go on as they were, Mina saying something that was clearly directed at Bakugo, but he doesn't say anything and just barely suppresses an eye roll as he looks away, trying to roll his shoulder because his arms and back are killing him.

When they get to the dorms, he doesn't even say bye before he separates, deciding to take the stairs while his friends got on the elevator.

They were clearly offended, but fuck them. They were just saying shit to annoy him anyway.

Instead, he runs straight to his room, trying to beat the elevator because the group of idiots decided to make Kirishima's room the hangout spot, so they'll be on his floor.

He makes it just in time because as soon as he locks his door, he hears the group talking, not trying to be quiet at all.

"Do you guys really have to be jerks like that?" Shinso asks.

Bakugo can't see through his door, obviously, but he knows it's directed at Mina and Sero.

"It's not our fault he's mean. He deserves it. It's not like we're being overly mean or anything. We're just being honest, and if he's around when we are and he's offended, then that's not our problem."

Kirishima for some reason takes forever to open his door, so he's able to hear a lot.

Even when they all enter Kirishima's room, though, the blond can hear them if he presses his ear up to the wall they share.

"He's not even that mean, guys. I don't see why you have a problem with him. He's a good guy," Jiro says.

Bakugo is barely able to pick that up because she speaks so low.

Realizing that Jiro is in the room, shocks him out of trying to eavesdrop. She probably knows he's listening.

So he goes about doing his usual after school routine.

He skips a few things and saves them for later because he just wants to make dinner for everyone and get to sleep already.

The one thing he does is call his dad, though, pocketing his phone and putting on his earbuds to speak to his dad through them.

He leaves his room and it only takes a few rings before his dad picks up, talking to Bakugo normally as the blond walks down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Hey, Katsuki. How was school?"

Bakugo suppresses a sigh. School was long and draining like always.

"Fine. It's getting old already and I can't wait to graduate next year."

As he gets ingredients out to make Koda's request for dinner, a wave of sadness overcomes him when he realizes his mom won't be at his graduation.

He doesn't know if he made a noise or anything to tell his dad what he was thinking, but the man somehow knows anyway.

"I know it's hard without her. She would've been so proud of you. You know she would've been the loudest one on the bleachers, cheering you on."

A tear falls down Bakugo's face as he tries to will them away.

He would be mortified if someone walked into the kitchen to find him crying as he makes dinner.

"I know," Bakugo says, choked up.

He clears his throat, sniffling just to pull himself together.

"I'm proud of you, too, you know? I'm busy these next few weekends with a line of clothes your mother couldn't wait to release for the winter, but I promise as soon as I'm done, I'll go with you to see her."

Bakugo wants to yell.

Masaru is always saying he'll join him.

Annoyance and rage bubbles up inside him, but he doesn't let it overflow. He distracts himself with making dinner.

It's a simple dinner, really, and Bakugo really likes it, so he's already halfway done.

Deciding to change the topic, Bakugo asks his dad what he did at work.

"Oh, I hired a few new models. Ones that other agencies wouldn't even look at. You should come by and see what I do sometime. I would love it."

Bakugo thinks it over in his mind quickly, deciding that spending time with his dad would really be good.

"Okay. Should I just ditch school some random day?"

His dad laughs on the other end and it makes Bakugo smile.

All he's doing now is cooking everything together and then he can call people down to serve themselves.

"Yeah, you can just 'ditch school' if you want. How about next Tuesday?"

There's nothing much coming up for school, so he thinks he can miss. Actually, even if they do have something coming up, one day wouldn't hurt.

"Alright. I'll skip next Tuesday. Also, could you send me some money?"

He realizes that he's running low and he buys his mom flowers all the time, so he needs money for that. He doesn't use his own money for the groceries in the dorm, though, Aizawa gave him a card for that.

"Okay, I'll transfer some money after the call. I think I'll have to go soon, anyway, I told one of the interns I'd show him the ropes on the new website."

"Okay, dad," Bakugo starts, noticing someone walking in, so he turns away from them, walking to the stove to stir around the food, "I'm finishing up dinner and it's almost done, so I'll have to go, too."

He hears his dad laugh lightly on the other end.

"It's such a shock to me how much you like cooking."

Bakugo smiles, shrugging even though his dad can't see him.

"Yeah, well, I guess there's a few things I picked up from you."

The blond bites his lip, worrying that saying something that brings up the thought of his mom might make his dad sad again.

"When you come with me to work next Tuesday, you'll definitely pick up a few more."

Bakugo has to hold back a sigh of relief when he realizes the mood didn't change.

Knowing that the call has come to its end, Bakugo says his goodbyes.

"I'll call you again sometime this week. Bye, dad."

"Bye, Katsuki. Enjoy your dinner."

With that, the call ends, and he sighs heavily, stirring the food just a few times more before he gets himself a plate.

When he turns around, he sees Momo there, and he suddenly remembers that someone had walked in when he was talking to his dad.

He had forgotten so quickly.

"Foods done. I made Koda'a favorite. I'll make your shitty ass request by the end of the week," he says, turning back around to serve himself.

"Thank you very much, Bakugo. I look forward to it. Your cooking is great after all."

Bakugo rolls his eyes at her words. It sounds like she's sucking up to him, but that's her personality. She's just nice. Something that Sero and Mina find him impossible to be.

"You text the class that the foods done," he instructs, leaving without another word.

No one bothers him for the rest of the night so he just throws himself into studying.

They've been getting more and more into harder topics in math, so he does practice questions online, and when he doesn't know something, he writes it down to study after.

He needs to wash his dishes and the dishes he used for dinner, and knowing his lazy classmates, they'll be there tomorrow morning.

Well, unless Momo, Iida, or Deku come across them and decide to wash them.

They're the only ones who actually help clean up around the dorms. Koda, Jiro, and Shinso help here and there, but that's rare.

It's a little annoying being the one who does most of the cleaning. Sure he's loud and mean, but he knows how to clean shit properly and won't complain about doing it.

He decides that he'll let someone else take care of the dishes for tonight. If he finds them in the morning, he'll do them, but for now, he just doesn't think about it.

It's later on at night, after he's gotten ready for bed and everything that he gets a text.

_______________
Koda

Thanks for dinner

_______________

He doesn't respond, just turns his phone off and gets into bed.

Before he can even get comfortable, he gets a notification from his phone again. Groaning, he looks at it.

Pinky has removed you from a group chat.

Then a few seconds later,

Rock Man has added you to a group chat.

The group chat gives him too many notifications, so like always, he mutes it and lies back down, sighing heavily.

He just hopes he can actually get some rest.

Sleep doesn't come easy, though. It's rough and he tosses and turns for over two hours before he finally relaxes. Even then, he has to stop himself from thinking too much before he finally falls asleep.

~~~~~

It was only a matter of time before Mr. Aizawa found out.

The blond is actually surprised it took him this long to figure out that his mom had died.

He's a little annoyed that the man decided to pull him out of class for this, but he has to deal with it, so why fight it?

"Bakugo, I just discovered your mother's passing. It happened over two months ago and you haven't missed a day of school. Are you alright?"

Bakugo doesn't want to be here.

At all.

"I'd be more alright if you didn't take me out of class for this bullshit. I'm fine. I go see her all the time and I haven't fallen behind on schoolwork. I'm leaving," he says, standing up and walking to the door.

The man is probably a little bit stunned because he doesn't say anything until Bakugo's halfway out the door.

"Wait, sit down or I'll bar you from physical training."

Fucking shit.

Asshole.

When he turns, he glares at the man and practically stomps over after he slams the door shut.

Once he's sitting in the chair, the man speaks again.

"Does anyone know?"

He rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

No one needs to know, so why the fuck would they? It's his mom.

"No."

Mr. Aizawa looks a little taken aback.

"Not even Kirishima?"

Why the fuck would Kirishima know if everyone else didn't?

"No," he says, voice displaying his exasperation.

"Why is that? Why are you hiding her passing from them?" The man asks.

Why does he fucking care?

The faster he answers, the faster he can get back to class, so no matter how much he wants to curse him out, he just sits back and looks out the window.

"I don't need the extras finding that as some sort of weakness they can use against me or some shit. Sure we're a class who are trying to be heroes, but everyone is trying to be the best. Some people will use anything to get that spot."

Rage bubbles up and he leans forward, hands falling from where they were, crossed over his chest, to the armrests at his sides.

"And I'm not fucking hiding it. They just don't need to know. I'm missing class because of this shit and I'm not falling behind no matter what. Bar me from training but my academics won't suffer because you're interested in my business," he finally says, standing and leaving without another word.

He's annoyed beyond belief and if he walks in like that, the class will think something is wrong, so even though he's furious, right before he enters the class, he hides his anger and walks in like nothing happened.

"Bakugo, you're late to my-"

"Talk to Aizawa," he interrupts, not caring for Midnight at all, but it's better than being interrogated about his mom.

And although he hates this teacher, he can't pass without listening to her, so he pushes down his emotions, and starts writing whatever he's supposed to.

He just really hopes Mr. Aizawa doesn't actually bar him from training.

***
Word Count: 2745
YALL i finished my second year of college on Thursday YIPPEE. Anyway i hope yall liked this chapter. It is a slow burn and a Bakugo centric so it'll be a bit before we get into the ship. I missed writing AHHHH. I love you all and thank you so much for reading<3