Kirishima and Midoriya filled up the room with happy chatter as the red head played a game of checker against Bakugou. There was a peaceful atmosphere as the two of them ate their lunch while entertaining Katsuki. That was until an angry Recovery Girl was heard in the hallway, cussing and lecturing All Might on leaving her patient alone. She hit him on the head multiple times before getting Bakugou's lunch and bringing it to him on a tray.

Kirishima moved the checkerboard aside so Katsuki could eat and they continued to talk like they weren't just interrupted.

"Oh, and I took extra notes for you in class today so you don't have to miss anything" Deku smiled, grabbing his bag and handing them over to Bakugou.

"Tch. Thanks, I guess" he muttered, placing them on the table next to his bed.

It was now that Eijirou noticed the dark brown notebook laying there as well, making his eyes widen. Katsuki followed his gaze, fear readable from his face.

"Y-you've read it, haven't you?" he asked quietly. His voice sounded so fragile, broken, scared...

"I only read the first poem, I promise" Kirishima quickly stated.

"I-I didn't mean to pry, you have to believe me! B-but I was worried a-and I thought maybe-"

"I'm not mad" Bakugou sighed, surprising the two others. They'd expected him to be livid! Someone touched his stuff without permission! But then again, Bakugou had been acting very differently ever since they came here.

"I-I... I should actually thank you..." he continued, staring down at his hands as he fiddled with the blanket. This made the two other boys even more confused.

"You gave it to Aizawa, didn't you?" Katsuki mumbled, glancing up to the red head.

"Y-yes"

Bakugou nodded, looking back down.

"Thank you... You have no idea what you've done" he choked out, feeling tears come to his eyes at the thought of having to face his mother in this state. He mentally cursed himself for being such an emotional mess right now. It's not like he wanted to act be a giant crybaby, but everything he had build up came crashing down on him and it was just too much...

"You s-saved me..." Katsuki breathed, quickly wiping away his tears with a palms of his hands. He let out a shaky breath, reaching out for the brown notebook. Kirishima quickly handed it to him, seeing him struggling to grab it. Bakugou started flipping through it, searching for that one specific poem he'd witten about his abusive childhood. It was easier for him to let Kirishima read it instead of him having to explain it...

He paused as he found it, doubt falling over him. Was he really going to share this with the red head..? He did say they were going to get through this together...

"Take your time Kacchan, there is no rush" Izuku whispered, a small reassuring smile on his face. But Katsuki wasn't listening, his eyes fixed on the words on the place.

Behind closed doors

Where nobody hears the screams

Where nobody sees the wounds

Where nobody is there to care

Deep inside the cage

A cage I call my home

A house without warmth

A room filled with darkness

Scared to return

Afraid to make mistakes

Frightened of her

Fear for what is to come

With every failure

The hand rises

The chains tighten

Resistance falters

She yells and shouts

Calls out the flaws

You're fragile

You're weak

Locking me away inside the cage

Over and over

Making me feel small

Breaking me down

Behind closed doors

Where nobody sees and nobody knows

Where I scream

Someone please save me

He wiped away a stray tear, quickly pushing the open book towards the two before he could change his mind.

"Read it" he breathed. The two shared a look before Midoriya stood up, walking around the bed so he could read over Kirishima's shoulder.

"You saved me..." Katsuki repeated quietly.

"B-because if Aizawa h-hadn't seen, he would've c-called her..."

He started crying again, shoving the small table away as he pulled his knees up to his chest. Izuku finished reading first, instantly flinging himself to Kacchan's side, he himself crying his eyes out too. Eijirou's hands trembled as he held onto the notebook, reading those words over and over again. Rage consumed him. Bakugou was hit at home... His own mother was hurting him... How could a mother do that to her own child?!

He gritted his teeth, slamming the book back down on the table as he stood up. The loud sound made Katsuki whimper and crawl in on himself, a loud sob falling from his lips. His eyes widened as he saw the blonde flinch, realising that the loud sound in combination with his current mental state wasn't bringing up the most pleasant memories.

"Oh my God! I-I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't thinking-" he sputtered out, walking around the bed and hugging him from his other side as he clung onto Midoriya like a koala.

"Hey, ssh, it's okay, everything is fine. Mitsuki can't hurt you here, you're safe" Deku whispered, trying his best to comfort his childhood friend. He felt even more guilt now, knowing how Mitsuki was treating him. He had seen her hit him multiple times in the past, but he had just shoved it away as though love. Her character was like her son's and nobody thought much of it... The perfect cover huh..?

Katsuki sobbed, Izuku on his right side, Eijirou on his left. They cared for him... They were here, comforting him, choosing his side. They didn't leave him because he's weak... They were still here... He couldn't stop his tears, which had changed from sadness to relief as a weight fell off his shoulders. That's also the way Aizawa found the three, making him sigh.

"Alright, what happened here?" he groaned, dragging a hand down over his face.

"And you better start talking before I go from doubling your homework to tripling your homework for making him upset when I specifically told you not to"

"N-no... I-it's not their f-fault" Bakugou choked out, wiping away his tears as he willed himself to stop, taking deep breaths to calm down.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kiri asked as he felt the blonde push them off. Katsuki nodded, glaring at the green head.

"Stop your damn crying nerd, you're fucking pathetic..." he muttered, making the freckled broccoli chuckle as he sniffled, drying his tears.

"Yeah, I guess so" he laughed, taking his bag and giving him one last smile.

"Lunch is almost over so I better go... See you later Kacchan, take care okay?"

Bakugou didn't react much, but that didn't seem to bother Izuku.

"I should go too..." Kirishima sighed, taking his things.

"Text me if you need anything, okay? I'm serious"

"I know" Katsuki whispered, forcing a weak smile. The red head had never seen him smile like that before... Such a real and soft smile... It was like an arrow through his heart. He couldn't help but blush as he quickly made his way out of the room.

"So? What happened?" Aizawa asked again.

"I-I showed them o-one of my poems..." he breathed, seeing the black haired man walk over to the table, his eyes scanning the notebook.

"I thought you weren't ready to tell the class about all of this?" the teacher asked, slowly closing the book.

"Those two are different..." Bakugou mumbled, still hugging his knees.

"They...care"

Shouta couldn't supress a smile at hearing those words, knowing how much difficulty his student had with admitting people cared about him. That people didn't hate him, that he could be liked. It was hidden by his scarf, but it was there none the less.

"You can return to your dormitory this afternoon if you want to. The reparations are ready and all sharp objects are removed for your own safety"

Katsuki groaned at that last part, glaring at his homeroom teacher.

"Don't give me that. You know very well why we have to take such measures"

"Please tell me you kept your hands off my professional kitchen knives, those were expensive!" he complained.

"We didn't take them, but I can't let you use them without someone to supervise you" Aizawa stated, earning another whine.

"You're not allowed to complain when I've already gone through such length to keep your parents out of the picture"

That shut the blonde up for a moment before he sighed.

"So I'll have a babysitter now, is that it?"

"You can choose who you want, but someone has to be there with you, yes" the black ray of sunshine spoke.

"Fine... I guess things could be worse..." Katsuki mumbled, looking down at his arms.

"I'll have Recovery Girl check up on you before you leave" the pro-hero spoke, seeing his student nod before he left the room to go talk to the old lady.

- Time Skip -

The class arrived back at the dormitory after school, all of them tired and beat from hero training. Some of them crashed on the couches right away while others went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. There were also those who fled upstairs right away, to make homework or do something else. Kirishima sighed, flopping down on the couch next to Kaminari. He was useless at training today, his thoughts permanently on Bakugou.

He was still so angry with the whole situation, wondering why someone would ever be so cruel. It got worse as he realised that that woman was still roaming around freely, doing whatever she wanted while her son was here, suffering from the trauma she gave him.

"So, how were things with Bakugou?" Denki asked.

"You haven't really spoken about it since you came back and your face looked all red"

"Yeah, it uh got emotional" Eijirou muttered, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Do you know when he's coming back to the dorms? I mean, his room was still under construction when we left this morning but I think the door should be changed by now" Kaminari said, making the red head hum.

"Don't know... When he's ready, I guess?"

That moment the doors to the dormitory opened up, revealing said ash blonde boy with grocery bags at hand. His eyes widened as he saw everyone was back already and he quickly made his way to the kitchen before anyone could notice him or make a fuss about it. He wasn't allowed to leave campus alone, so they had All Might go with him to stock up on food. Of course the ex-hero had drawn unwanted attention and the whole trip had taken way longer than Katsuki had wanted it to.

He planned on being back before school finished so he was able to put his things away and be in his room when everyone arrived. That way he'd have some extra time... Guess that's not happening now.

"Bakugou! Y-you're back!" Momo gasped, seeing him entering the kitchen while she was making some tea.

"Shut up ponytail, no need to act so fucking surprised" he grunted, putting his bags on the counter and unpacking his stuff before placing it in the fridge.

Her comment had made others look though... Kirishima poked his head up from the couch, now turning towards the kitchen, seeing Yaoyorozu was right and the blonde was indeed present.

"Hey Bakugou, why didn't you tell me you were coming back already?" he asked as he jumped over the couch, making Denki fall down since he was leaning onto his friend. Katsuki didn't answer the shark boy, just focussing on the task at hand.

This made Kirishima frown as he came closer, starting to hand things to Katsuki to help him put it away. Bakugou wanted to protest at first, but then just silently agreed to let him help. It would be done faster that way and the quicker he could get out of here, the better.

"You sure bought a lot... Are you planning on cooking for us tonight?" Ei asked, trying to strike a normal conversation.

"Yeah" Katsuki breathed, not looking at the red head as he spoke.

"Katsudon, if that's okay..."

"Sounds great man! I can't wait to eat it" Kirishima smiled, seeing everything had been stored away as Bakugou closed the fridge.

"But, uh, serious for a second. Are you okay?"

Katsuki took a moment to answer, before a small nod was visible.

"Recovery Girl healed me so...so even some of my older injuries are gone now... I also don't have a fucking cold anymore, so that's nice" he muttered.

"I meant mentally" Kirishima specified.

"It's just... After what happened, I-"

"I'm fine" Bakugou interrupted him in a reflex.

"I-I... I will be fine, I promise"

"Okay"