Katsuki's POV:

So it's been about three weeks since Shoto and I's last date. Things have been going great. Okay so I've had breakdowns once or twice, but I'm feeling much better. The fact that I don't see Mother as much anymore really helps. Also, I can be less mean and aggressive around Kirishima. Sometimes I need a break from acting like I'm okay. Also Mr. Aizawa has been keeping an eye on me. He asked me if I was alright a few times after class, but I just told him that I would tell him about everything soon. He just nodded and let me be.

I also told Kirishima about Shoto officially asking me out and he was so excited for me. Kaminari has also been hanging out with Shinso more and we're always teasing him about it. He gets all flustered and that makes us tease him even more. We've decided to tell Mr. Aizawa first before the Christmas and New Year's break. Then after we tell him, we're going to see what he does and if we should tell the other pros too. It makes me really nervous, but Shoto keeps telling me that I'm being super brave by allowing people to know. It's so embarrassing though. I don't want people to know all of that about me. It's way too personal.

Well it's currently Friday, which is two weeks away from the Christmas break. That means I have to tell more people in less than two weeks. I also have to go home today. Mother said she wanted me home today and not tomorrow. She probably wants to beat me a lot this weekend. I told Shoto and he got so mad, but I told him that it would be alright and that soon enough, this wouldn't be happening to me anymore. He wants to tell the pros now, but he promised he would give me time. I'm still processing how the pros will take it. Mr. Aizawa seems very protective and I'm sure he'd have my back, but sometimes the pros can be a bit much.

We're training again. We're doing an obstacle course and right now, I have the 2nd fastest time. I pretended to act mad at the place I got, but in reality, I was freaking happy. I didn't think I would do that great. Izuku has the highest score right now and I'm super proud of him because he's improved so much. I had to keep my act up though and pretend like I despised him for beating me. There are only 3 more people that have to go. It's Shoto, Yaoyorozu, and Sato. Kirishima took 22 seconds more than I did. Right now, Shoto is doing great. He started off great and he's kept up a very fast pace throughout the whole course.

The other two are pretty far behind him and he only needs the last part of the obstacle course to complete it. He's almost there and he needs 6 seconds to beat Izuku's record and 14 to beat mine. He quickens up his pace and then passes the line, quickly pressing the button. His time was 6:27! Izuku's was 6:31 and mine was 6:39! He only took 2 seconds for the end. Wow, he's amazing. They both are, but I was really rooting for Shoto. Hehe.

I pretend to get pissed off at the fact that he beat my time too, but in reality I'm super proud of him. He walks up to where the rest of us are and he stands right next to me in the front to see the last two. They're doing pretty good and they'll definitely beat some people's records. "Tch, what are you doing IcyHot!? Can't you see I'm standing here!?" He just chuckles dryly and shakes his head. "Whatever, you're just mad that I beat your record, but whatever I'll go over there," he retorts. We had also been practicing how to still seem like we hated each other. Kirishima helped and then he also asked us what happened with the bubbles that time we were late.

I told him what actually happened and he laughed. He even told me that he'd kill Shoto himself if he did anything to hurt me. I really appreciate what he said and I think about it a lot. Not because I think Shoto will hurt me, but because I know that Kirishima will have my back if anything does happen. I don't know, I'm just at a really good place right now. It's not the best, but it's better than where I was at before. Shoto and Kirishima have really committed into helping me. They check my wrists and ask me if I've cut constantly. I really haven't because if I cut and then they see the fresh cuts, it would be so embarrassing for me. I don't know, just the fact that they already know is embarrassing. If they see fresh cuts, it would be even more embarrassing.

They've also been checking up on how I'm feeling. They ask me about my day and if I've had any negative thoughts. Then they'll tell me why those negative thoughts are wrong or will never happen. Kirishima also asked me if I'd wanted to talk more about the thing with the League Of Villains. I told him no, but that I would talk to him when I felt like I was ready to talk more about it. Whenever we come back to school from the weekend, they check how bad my bruises are and help me let them heal or help me do things that I can't do easily since I'm sore. It really helps and I can't thank them enough for what they've been doing.

We all head inside after Mr. Aizawa announces the rankings of each person in the obstacle course. There's only about 10 minutes left of class before the bell rings, so we can go to our dorms now. As we head to the lockers, a lot of people talk about how excited they are to go home with their parents already. I can't relate. I dread going home. It's a real nightmare just thinking about going home.

Everyone gets changed quickly, but I just wait there, pretending to use my phone so that I can change privately. Kirishima picks up on it, so he says, "The last person to leave the lockers has to wash the dishes for a week!" Everyone hurries and I smile at him quickly and thankfully before anyone sees me. In no time, everyone is out of the lockers. I change quickly and as soon as I'm done, the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. I run to the classroom to put away my hero costume and then dash to the dorms to get my charger and bag before heading back to my house. Mother gets home at 4:20 today, so I have to be home before she is. If I'm not, then my beating is going to be worse than normal.

On my way out of my room, I see Shoto exiting the elevator. No one is outside of their rooms, that I know of, and no one is on the elevator with Shoto, so as I run past him, we smile at each other. I see him turn around when I get into the elevator and before the doors close, he squeezes in without stopping the doors. I look at him with a confused look on my face. "I just wanted to tell you that you can text me any time this weekend and I'll answer you okay? Also that if you need anything, I'll be here," he says looking at me. I see that we're already getting to the first floor, so I quickly hug him and say 'thank you' before hearing the 'ding' of the elevator.

When the doors open, I see a few people from class including Kaminari. When he sees me, he smiles and says hi, but I quickly run past them and say, "Not now, losers." I run to my house as quickly as possible. As I'm running I see that it's already 4:17. Please make it on time. Mother please don't be home earlier than 4:20.

As I see my house, I see that Mother's car isn't in the driveway, but that doesn't stop me from running as fast as I can. I quickly get in the gate and run up to the door. I frantically look for my keys in my backpack and sigh in relief when I find them. I unlock the door and as soon as I make it up the stairs, I hear Mother's car pulling up in the driveway. I close my room door quickly and change before I hear Mother coming up the stairs. I grab a book and run to my bed and sit there pretending to read it.

Mother opens the door and sees me. "You worthless brat, get up!" I quickly do what she says. "You better be doing good in school! I haven't gotten any calls about complaints or anything, so you better keep it that way!" I nod quickly. "Don't just nod! Answer me with words you freak!" She slaps me as she says that. "I-um okay Mother," I say. Crap. I stuttered so I'll definitely get a punch or two.

"Did you stutter!? Only weaklings stutter," she yells as she punches me in the stomach. I don't make any noise at all. If I make a noise, everything gets much worse. "What do you have to say for yourself!?" I look down and quietly respond with, "I'm sorry for stuttering Mother. I won't do it again." She laughs sarcastically and slaps me again. She then grabs my hair and drags me to the restroom. She pulls hard as she throws me to the floor as she still holds my hair. I'm on my knees now and we're in the restroom, in front of the toilet. "You know what you are? You're shit!" She then dunks my head into the toilet and I don't have any time to take in air.

I close my mouth and eyes, struggling to get my head out of the toilet. She holds me down harder and pushes my face down roughly, making my face hit the bottom of the toilet. It hurts so much and I can't breathe. I'm trying to lift my head out of the water, and I'm freaking out so much that my arms are thrashing around. I try prying her hands off me, but that just makes her tighten her grip which hurts. She pushes my face down more and the pain in my nose intesifies. My lungs start to burn, and I start to get really scared. Right when I feel like I'm about to pass out, she pulls my head out of the toilet. I gasp for air and put my hands up to my chest.

She starts pulling me out of the restroom by my hair as I'm gasping for air. She drags me towards the stairs and I try resisting. It doesn't work out so well, so I get pushed down the stairs. The falling feels like forever and I can feel every step dig into my body. I hit my face twice and it makes my nose hurt even more. The pain is excruciating and I wince out loud. I finally reach the bottom of the stairs on my back. She comes down slowly as I'm rolling around in pain, holding my nose. She kicks me and I stop moving.

She kicks again and again. "Get up!" I do what was asked and get up quickly even though it hurts. I stand there with my hands on my face, covering my nose. "Move your hands," she yells. I do so and she slaps me again. Her slaps really hurt. I'm definitely going to have a mark. She throws a kick at my shin with all of her force. I cough out in pain and my mouth is open but no sound is coming out. My eyes are open wide too and my shin feels like it's on fire. I fall to my knees and hold my right leg. The pain shot up my leg and I felt it throughout my whole body.

I finally wheeze out and breathe in shakily. As I'm trying to breathe again, Mother kicks me in the stomach. Then when she gets tired of doing that, she grabs my arm and twists it behind my back. It hurts so much and I keep hitting my head on the floor to try and knock myself out. It's not working and I start tearing up from how much I want to not be conscious right now. It's so messed up.

I slam my head harder and harder. Pretty soon I will pass out though. My lungs feel super tight as if I'm breathing underwater. My whole body is most likely covered in bruises. My face hurts from being smashed into the toilet and stairs. My head hurts from all the banging, and when mother pulled my hair.

I'm on my side and mother is kicking my back right now. She moves so that she's in front of me now and starts kicking harder which amazes me because I thought she was already kicking as hard as she could. She kicks me right in the chest, making me let out a sharp gasp. My breath is caught in my throat and I feel everything go numb. Soon enough all I see is darkness as I pass out.

~~~~~

I wake up still by the stairs. It's dark out and I don't feel like getting up. I stay there, still on my side. My whole body hurts and I cry as I think about how much my own mother hates me. She hates me so much that she beats me to a pulp. I don't sob or anything, it's just tears running down my face. I didn't bleed or anything, so that's good right?

I stay on the floor for about two hours before I try getting up. It's a slow process, but I try using the stairs to get myself up. Wait, maybe I should just crawl up the stairs. I get up the first 3 steps and look up. I sigh. There's still so many to go and I want to cry even more. I slowly make my way up the steps and about 15 minutes later, I make it to the top. I force myself to make it to my room. I just want to sleep. I don't even care if I make it to my bed or if I have a blanket. I just want to sleep.

I make it to the corner of my bed and relax into the floor. I close my eyes and try to go to sleep, but the pain in my head and body is just too much. I need painkillers. I force myself to stand up. As I step with my right leg, a sharp pain shoots up my leg and I groan. I slowly limp my way to my closet to get the bottle of ibuprofen. When I make it, I grab the bottle and take out two pills. I slowly make my way back to my bed and take out a water bottle from my drawer. I drink the pills and lay on the bed slowly. I feel my phone under the pillow and take it out to check the time. It's 4 in the morning. I see that Shoto and Kirishima texted me.

I get a little happy about that, but I'm too tired to smile. I decide to open Shoto's first. I unlock my phone and click on his messages. There's 8 messages and 3 missed calls. I quickly open up the messages.

Snowflake- Hey Katsuki how's it going?

7:12 p.m.

Snowflake- Are you doing alright over there?

7:32 p.m.

Snowflake- I hope you're okay, text me back when you see these

8:17 p.m.

Snowflake- I'm getting kind of worried are you alright?

10:04 p.m.

Snowflake- Okay I'm going to call you

10:05 p.m.

Two missed calls from 'Snowflake'

Snowflake- Okay I'm definitely freaking out now.

10:11 p.m.

Snowflake- Answer please Katsuki, I just need to know if you're okay

10:14 p.m.

One missed call from 'Snowflake'

Snowflake- Katsuki please be okay. Text me when you see these please

10:21 p.m.

I quickly respond to his messages. How do I even respond? Do I tell him, 'oh hey, sorry I haven't answered, I passed out after my mom beat me until I lost consciousness'? Ugh, no I'll slowly get to that.

Me- Hey Shoto, I'm so sorry I worried you, I'm okay now. I just woke up

4:09

Me- I'll tell you what happened when you wake up and see these. I'm very sorry for not answering, I'll text you later, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight

4:11

I put my phone down and connect it to the charger that's right on my bed. The whole time I was texting and reading the messages, I had my head up using the pillow. I never even lifted it up. I'm too tired to do that. I slowly, and painfully, turn myself around so that I'm on my back. It hurts so much and I cough in pain a few times, but I finally get myself on my back. I sigh, but that hurts my chest, so I take small breaths. I stay still and close my eyes and finally go back to sleep.

~~~~~

I wake up to the sun in my face. I check the time and see that it's around 10. I have to pee and take a shower, so I grab some clothes and limp my way to the restroom. Mother is at work already, so I should be good for a while. My shin hurts more than anything else. I'll take painkillers when I come back to my room. I get to the restroom and lock the door behind me. I think about cutting. No, Shoto and Kirishima would be disappointed. They're probably disappointed anyways, but this would make it worse. I force myself to turn on the water in the sink, to brush my teeth.

When I'm done with that, I head to the shower and turn on the water. When it's warm enough, I get in and start shampooing. It hurts, especially where Mother pulled my hair and from where I was banging my head on the floor. Cleaning the rest of my body isn't any better either.

As I finish, I turn off the water and step out. I dry myself slowly and put on a hoodie and some sweats. The bags under my eyes are still there, obviously. I'm just glad I didn't have a nightmare last night. I sigh and then feel the pain in my chest and quickly stop it. I grab my clothes, slowly, from the floor and make my way to my room. I grab two more pills from my closet and go back to my drawers to grab the water bottle that I used earlier. I take them and close the water bottle. These are the last two for the day. I'll take two more before I sleep so that I can sleep comfortably. I'll only take them tonight and in the morning.

I nod at my own plan and sit down on my bed. I grab my phone and see a few texts from Shoto.

Snowflake- I just woke up. I'm so glad you're okay, please answer these messages earlier than last time. You really worried me

9:43

Snowflake- Can I come by like at 12? I know your mother works and I just want to make sure you're okay

9:50

I finally reply and I see the time. It's already 11, so I could tell him that he can come over. He's going to know I'm bruised and beat up anyways. He and Kirishima are always checking for bruises and cuts. It's really nice, but also kind of annoying because sometimes I really want to cut and when they're always checking, I have no way to release my anger except for having a 3 hour break down every once in a while.

Me- Sorry, I woke up at 10 and just brushed my teeth and got out of the shower. You can come over, but you have to leave by 3:30

11:03

Not even five minutes later, he texted me back.

Snowflake- Okay, I'll be there in an hour. What happened?

11:05

Me- It's a long story, so I'll just tell you when you get here, okay?

11:06

Snowflake- Okay, I just hope you're not hurt

11:06

Me- That's the bad news

11:06

Snowflake- Are you serious? I'm so sorry Katsuki. I'll help you feel better okay?

11:07

Me- It's alright I guess. I don't think there are any broken bones

11:07

Snowflake- Can I come over right now?

11:10

Me- Um yeah sure, I hope the front door is unlocked because I don't really feel like moving

11:11

Snowflake- Okay I'll be there in 10

11:11

I close the messages and go to my music app. I put a playlist and lay down slowly. After about 3 songs, I get a message. I look at it from my notifications and see that it was Shoto telling me that he's coming in since it's unlocked. I don't open it, I just look at it from there. After a minute I get another message.

Snowflake- Which one is your room?

11: 20

Me- Upstairs, last one to the left

11:20

Snowflake- Okay

11:20

I hear a knock on my door and say, "Come in." The door opens slowly and I see Shoto pop his head in. He looks at me on the bed and his eyes widen. "Oh, Katsuki! Are you okay!?" I slowly nod. "Yeah, but does it look that bad?" He nods and says, "You look way more tired than usual and your nose is a bit purple and red. Are there bruises anywhere else?" I look away from him and say, "Um yeah. I'm kind of in pain everywhere. My whole body is covered in bruises, but my right shin is the one that hurts the most. I have to limp when I walk. I can't stand this anymore," I say, starting to break down.

I grab my pillow and put it over my face as I start sobbing. "I don't know how to get rid of the pain and sadness in my heart. I used to cut to do that, but now I know that I'm disappointing you, so I stopped. I don't know what else to do now," I cry into the pillow. I feel the bed dip next to me. "Katsuki, look at me please," Shoto says warmly. I take a deep breath and take the pillow away from my face. I look at him and he gives me a small smile. "There are other ways to get rid of the pain and sadness you know? You could talk to someone. It doesn't have to be me. It could be Kirishima. It could also be a professional. Like a therapist. You could also do boxing. You could write out your feelings. You could draw. There are many ways besides hurting yourself okay?"

I take in what he says and nod. He's right. Why didn't I think of those things before. "You're right Shoto, thank you," I say. I open my arms slowly so that he can hug me and he leans in and does so. He did hurt some of my bruises because they're very tender still, but the warmth of his hug is so welcoming. Of course there's also the fact that he smells like apples. "Okay now show me the bruises," Shoto says. I look down again, ashamed. I don't know why, but I feel so embarrassed by my bruises. I slowly get up and he gets off the bed. He helps me get up and I take off my hoodie first.

While I'm taking it off, Shoto quickly looks away. He's such a gentleman and it makes me happy because there are still people in the world like Shoto. Then I take of my joggers. It's not that hard since they're loose, but it still hurts a lot in my right shin. I wince and I see that Shoto was about to turn around to help me, but he remembered that I was taking off my clothes. "Um okay, you can turn around now," I say quietly. He turns around and his face completely shows sadness. He looks down at my legs and gets sadder. Then he looks at the floor and starts tearing up.

I gasp. "Shoto, are you alright? I'm okay, I promise. It hurts, but I'll be fine, I swear. Please don't cry," I say and slowly walk up to him. I hug him and he hugs me back as he cries into my shoulder. I hug him harder and I feel his tears on my neck. "Please don't cry, I didn't mean for you to cry," I say. He shakes his head. "I know, I just can't stand the fact that we haven't done anything yet. I've known, and I should've told someone already. I just wanted you to have some time to prepare," he says in between sobs. It breaks my heart because I know he really cares for me and he shouldn't have to feel like this.

"How about this, on Monday, we'll tell Mr. Aizawa," I say. He looks up at me, shocked. "I've been preparing myself and now, I think, is the best time. I'm never going to be completely ready, but it's easier right now for me," I say, looking at him in the eyes. He looks at me happily and pulls me in for a hug again. "This is so great, Katsuki. You'll finally get away from your abusive mother and you'll actually get real help," Shoto says. I pull away and smile. A genuine smile. I'll finally get real help. I might be able to live a normal life.

He smiles back and I pull him into another hug. It may be painful, but I don't care. I'm going to tell someone. A real adult. I'm going to get help and it's all because of Shoto. After a few minutes, Shoto pulls away. "So have you eaten?" I shake my head. "I woke up at 10, showered, and I'm in too much pain to even try to go down stairs," I say. He nods. "Okay well then I'll order some food. What would you like? We're celebrating!" I think about it before saying, "How about some Chinese?" He nods and takes out his phone.

After a while, he puts his phone down and says, "Okay, the food will be here at around 1." I nod. "Okay we can cuddle until then," I say, smiling. He nods and gets in first. I follow after I put my clothes back on and he covers us with my blanket. He sets an alarm for 12:50 so that we wake up for the food and then pulls me closer to him. We're face to face and I can feel his breath on my face. His breath smells minty and we stare at each other for a while. The he breaks the silence. "Can I kiss you," he asks breathlessly. I look at him in the eyes and nod. He's such a gentleman. We both lean forward and our lips connect. His lips are so soft and fit mine perfectly.

It's an innocent kiss, and I smile into it. He starts smiling too, and we pull away. I sigh happily and he moves the front of my hair out of the way gently. He's smiling and pecks my lips again. I then put my head in his chest and sigh again. He puts his arms around me and I do the same. After a while, we both fall asleep in each other's arms.

***
Word Count: 4698
Hehehehe 69. Okay so that was that. Um, they finally had their first kiss. Tell me what you think about this and also thank you to one of the people who commented on the chapter before, telling me that I had made a mistake. I really appreciate it because I was able to fix it. TYSM and if any of you notice any mistakes that I make, please point them out, I will not get mad. I'd actually be happy that you told me, so yeah. Anyways, wtf this fanfic has over 20k reads!?! There are so many notifications that I get and I love them!!! Do good today, bitch (if you get where that's from, I'll love you forever) <3