Katsuki was okay, not great but not horrible. He had left school to go meet Auntie Midoriya, and Aizawa had allowed him to stay for a few hours.

Knocking, he heard a couple shuffling feet and a click before an eyebag clad Inko opened the apartment door. She gave Katsuki a thin smile before motioning him in the house. She began fumbling for a hair tie to make a bun. She did it so half-heartedly that Bakugou could only watch as the strong motherly figure he and his best friend grew up with fell apart.

It was heartbreaking to say the least.

In relative silence, they cooked together and ate dinner. He had been eating at her apartment for a bit now so she wouldn't be alone with her thoughts. It was the least he could do.

But then her phone, which was faced down on the table, began vibrating. She flipped it over and glanced at Katsuki.

The doctors?

UA?

Was Izuku up??

Bakugo felt ashamed for thinking something so hopeful. But he nodded to the silent question Inko was asking.

Can I answer this?

She picked up the phone and pursed her lips. From across the kitchen table, Bakugou could hear a deep voice talking to Inko. Suddenly she slapped a hand over her mouth, tears falling down her face, and she left the table to pace the living room. Bakugo, ever the polite guest, got up and followed her into the kitchen to eavesdrop.

He heard everything. All the doctors notes and conspiracies. All the tests being run. All the vitals changing. How over the past seven months, Izuku has flat-lined over thirteen times. How his quirk gene was impacted and how it later mutated.

How her son was once again quirkless.

How her son was immune to everything quirk related.

How they still don't know why he wasn't awake.

But one thing kept ringing in Bakugo's head.

Quirkless.

Izuku is quirkless.

Again. For the second time.

All Izuku's efforts, all his attempts to rival Bakugo. All his attempts to save people. It's all gone.

Bakugo knew how detrimental this would be for Izuku when he found out. He knew that the years of bullying would come back in a snap. The UA experience that they had had for almost a year was like a rehabilitation for Izuku. He had made friends, found worth in himself. But Bakugo knew Izuku better than anyone.

He knew Izuku tied his worth into his quirk. He knew that Izuku only thought he was good enough with One for All. He was only able to change the taunt "Deku" into a hero name because he had a quirk. With One for All he was no longer useless Deku.

He was a hero.

But...it was like a dream. A really good dream that would now feel like the dreamer had a bucket of ice water dumped on them.

Bakugo was panicking.

How could he fix this? How could he help? He had already apologized and begun making it up to Izuku. Slowly but surely.

But he knew dang well that it would take a huge amount of time for Izuku to understand that everything is different now. Everyone liked him because of his personality, not his quirk.

But he was practically comatose now.

Unresponsive.

And quirkless.

And Bakugo couldn't handle the swarm of emotions inside him. He couldn't hear or see or think, so he screamed.

Bakugo Katsuki had entered a panic attack.

And that was because he knew everything was not going to be okay.