As Bakugou walks to the train station, his stomach and brain work together to make a horrible blend of anxiety. The fear gripping at his stomach and his head filled with painful 'what if's' isn't what he wants.

He swipes his card and enters the station.

When Bakugou makes it to his house, it's four pm and he hesitates before unlocking the door. "I'm home!" he shouts out.

"What!?" his mum immediately responds from the kitchen. Bakugou kicks his shoes up, hoping to get the scolding over quickly.

Mitsuki emerges from the kitchen, apron splattered with baking supplies. Her eyebrows are furrowed together and eyes cold and dark. "I told you not to come home."

Bakugou can't recall such an order.

"No, you didn't," he replies.

"Over the phone the other day you fucking idiot!" she shouts and smacks Katsuki across the face, leaving a red mark.

He grits his teeth, holding back any retorts that come instantly to mind. He stuffs his hands in his pockets.

Maybe you should speak up, Old Hag.

"Why are you still here?"

You haven't dismissed me yet.

Bakugou looks up at her, face expressionless.

"You can't obey any order I give you. You're just a sucker for pain, aren't you?" she laughs sadistically.

Probably am seeing as you voluntarily return to this horrible house.

"No," he whispers.

"What was that?"

He stays silent.

"Answer me when I ask you a question!" Mitsuki clips the top of Katsuki's ear, pulling it upwards.

He holds in any pained noises as he stretches up.

She lets go, but not till she pushes his head against the wall, leaving a pounding pain in his head.

"I don't want to see your face until next weekend. You'll get what you deserve then," she says calmly and walks back to the kitchen.

Katsuki bites his inner lip to hold back tears and rubs his head as to soothe the forming lump. He doesn't hesitate to pull on his shoes and leave the house. He walks through the suburban streets, head down and avoiding the stares he receives. As the wind picks up and the sun sets, creating a magnificent glow over the city, Bakugou pulls out a navy hoodie and throws it on to stay warm. He's still in his school uniform but had taken his belt off and replaced his shoes with trainers.

Katsuki doesn't bother to push the hoodie off, the comfort of it making him feel safe. He passes a tobacco store in an alleyway of the city. He stops and stares at the fading sign, trying to make a decision.

He wants all his feelings to fade away but doesn't know if smoking is the best option.

No one will know.

Bakugou gives in, not caring about the consequences of his actions. He walks inside the small shop. Spiders have found their home in the corners of the building and mosquitoes have sizzled against the lights. The cashier looks up, seeming to perk up at the sight of a customer.

Katsuki pulls out his ten thousand ¥ and hands it over the counter. "Cigarettes," he says quietly, his head not looking up.

"I can't sell drugs to anyone under the age of twenty," he says.

Bakugou tilts his head up enough to glare at the man through his ash blonde bangs.

"Do you want the money or not?" he says harshly.

The cashier sighs and unlocks the cabinet, pulling out a packet and handing them over to Bakugou. He leaves without getting his change. It's not even his own money.

How will Rock Lock feel that your spending his money on illegal acts?

Bakugou smirks.

He ignores the horrid picture on the front of the box and opens it. He takes out a cigarette and puts it in his mouth. He hides in the alleyway as he lights it. He warms up his hands and carefully sets off a very small explosion, enough to light the cigarette. He puts the packet into his hoodie pocket and takes a puff. He coughs at the taste but as he continues, it becomes less horrid and more comforting.

He enters back to the streets, continuing with the cigarette and ignoring the people pacing him looks. He taps the ash on the ground and continues drawing long drags of smoke. His lungs fill with the warm air and his brain feels empty, just like he likes it. No annoying voice in the back of his mind, no memories, no assignments chewing him up. Just the cigarette and the outside world.

As the moon rises higher, less people are out on the streets. His phone shows eight pm and with the growing weight of his eyes, Bakugou decides to find a spot to stay. He looks in every alleyway, before finding one with a suitable patch of ground, not to disgusting. There are cardboard books within the mess of overflowing garbage bins.

He would return to the U.A. dorms but he'd have to get permission from his homeroom teacher and form signed in order to be allowed in. They want to give everyone the opportunity to see their parents, even if they don't want to. Unless under severe circumstances, for example, Todoroki. He never goes him. He practically lives in the dorms. But Katsuki also smells like smoke, and that would be very hard to explain.

He shakes the cigarette out until it's safe to throw in the trash. As he grabs some cardboard boxes to rest on the ground, a hand wraps around his mouth but before he can set off an explosion, his body falls limp and the last thing he sees is blue.