Bakugo woke up just a few hours after falling asleep. Groaning, he sits up in bed and opens his phone, staring at Midoriya’s contact. Why is he doing this to himself? “Izuku,” he mutters, “why am I doing this to myself?” He doesn't have to protect him from his mother anymore, so why can't he finally let himself be happy? He put his phone down beside him and stared up at the ceiling, attempting to go back to sleep.

Kirishima, Mina, and Sero were all talking to the doctor who was getting ready to release them early. They had to make sure they dressed their wounds daily to make sure they didn't get infected but other than that, the three of them were good to go. After signing some paperwork, they made their way to the exit, excited to finally get to leave.

Denki, Candy, and Jiro were waiting at the front for the other three to come out. When Denki got a text from Kirishima letting him know they were being released early, he’d contacted Jiro and Candy and they all agreed to meet up and take them out to celebrate them getting released early.

“Kiri, over here!” Denki calls as he sees them walking towards the front.

“Hey man, what are y'all doing here?”

“We wanted to surprise y'all since y'all got released early!” Denki exclaims.

Candy looks over at Sero and smiles, “glad to see you're out of there.”

Jiro glances at Mina but doesn't say anything. While she is friends with Mina, she isn't happy with how Mina acts half the time.

The six of them walk away from the hospital, “So, what do we want to do?” Sero asks, looking around at everyone.

“I don't know man,” Kirishima sighs, running a hand through his hair, “what about we just go and get some food? I haven't been sleeping well.”

“Is everything ok?” Denki asks, glancing at Kirishima with a frown on his face. “I thought you've been sleeping a lot.”

“I have but I'm not getting food sleep,” Kiri explains.

“Is there anything that's causing it?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. The only thing that could be done for him is to take away his nightmares which isn't possible, he's stuck with them. He thinks back to the nightmare he had last night which he’d thankfully been able to keep quiet so the other two wouldn't know.

He was back in the cage with the league of villains but this time he was by himself. He was chained to the wall and all his wounds were back but worse. He called out for help, fought back, but Dabi and Toga weren't letting up. They were enjoying doing this to him and Shigarki was watching, trying to convince Kirishima to join. By the end of the nightmare, Shigarki got fed up with Kirishima refusing so much and touched Kirishima with all five of his fingers, disintegrating Kirishima into dust.

He'd been waking up in a cold sweat night after night but he'd kept quiet about it so the others wouldn't worry about him.

“Where do we want to eat?” Candy asks, glancing around the group.

“How about a burger place?” Sero suggests.

“I'm fine with that,” Mina nods.

“Sure,” Jiro replies.

Denki and Kirishima both grin as they reply and the six of them change direction towards the burger place. The six of them sit at a table and look over the menu. Once they all place their order, they start small talk while they wait.

Jiro looked over at Mina, feeling conflicted. There's a feeling in her stomach every time she looks over at her but at the same time, how can she let herself be friends with someone who gossips about everyone? “Is everything ok?” Mina asks, noticing that Jiro was staring.

“Oh, sorry,” Jiro says, looking away quickly. “I was just staring out into space.”

Mina smiles softly at Jiro, “no worries girl.”

Once they finally get their food, they all go to town, all six of them get some type of burger and fries. “When are y'all going back to school?” Candy asks, looking at the others.

“Tomorrow, there's no point in us missing more school.” Mina replies, looking at the other two for confirmation.

Kirishima, who knew he needed to go back to school even though he's probably not ready, nods as well.

Sero glanced at both Kirishima and Mina. Mina seemed to be ok after everything but she seems like the type to bounce back quickly, however, it's Kiri that he's worried about. He was up late one night in the hospital when Kiri had woken up quickly. Sero was still laying down, trying to fall asleep so Kirishima wasn't aware that Sero watched as he sat up, running a hand through his hair as he tried to calm his breathing. Sero didn't say anything as he watched Kirishima lay there, his breathing finally calming down as laid awake.

“Awesome!” Denki exclaims, grinning.

Midoryia was taking a walk through town when he spotted Todoroki sitting down on a bench in the park. “Todoroki!” Midoryia exclaims, jogging over to him.

“Oh hello Midoriya,” Todoroki says, glancing over at him.

“Is everything ok?” Midoriya asks, sitting down beside him on the bench.

“Yeah,” Todoroki nods, “just thinking.” He wouldn't admit it but his whole body was shaking from the latest training session with his father. These training sessions were getting worse and worse. The stronger Todoroki got, the harder his father went.

Midoriya frowns as studies Todoroki who looked like he was about to cry. He was worried about Todoroki, they haven't known each other long but that didn't matter, Todoroki was in need of help and that's what Midoriya does, helps those in need. He saw Todoroki shaking slightly and grabbed his hand, “hey, what's going on?”

Todoroki takes a minute to soak this moment in before yanking his hand back, “nothing, don't worry about me, I'll see you at school tomorrow,” he says, standing up quickly before walking away.

Midoriya watched as Todoroki walked away feeling conflicted. Whenever he talks to Todoroki, he gets the exact same feeling as he does when he sees or thinks about Kacchan. That thought instantly depresses Midoriya as he tries to blink back tears. Does no one want to be around him? Kacchan decided that this ‘game’ they're playing isn't a game anymore. After everything that happened at the hospital, what had changed between them?

Now Todoroki doesn't want to sit with him for more than a few minutes? Midoriya brings his knees to his chest, is there something wrong with him? Tears fill his eyes as he wonders why this keeps happening to him.

Todoroki didn't want to go home but he also didn't know where else to go. He didn't want Midoriya to keep questioning him about what was wrong, he can't let anyone know about his father. He sighs as he looks up from the ground, realizing that he walked to his house anyways. Immediately regretting his decision, he makes his way inside, preparing himself for another training session.

Later that night, Todoroki laid in his bed not moving, the pain unbearable. His father had gone harder on him since he'd left. He needed to get stronger so he could defeat his father and get away from this awful life. He grabs his phone and scrolls through his contacts, stopping on one particular contact. He shakily types out a message to the contact, never thinking it would come to this, did his father really break him this badly?

Shoto- ‘I need help, I can't go through this anymore.’

Unknown- ‘Meet me at the abandoned warehouse we used to play at.’

Shoto- ‘Tomorrow? I can't move right now.’

Unknown- ‘That bad, huh? Yeah, tomorrow after school.’

Shoto puts his phone down and closes his eyes, trying to at least fall asleep.

Kirishima, Mina, Sero, Denki, Candy, and Jiro had finished eating and were getting ready to part ways until tomorrow.

“Be careful everyone, I'll see y'all at school tomorrow,” Sero says, parting off from the group to head to his own place. Candy, Mina, and Jiro also head to their places, just leaving Denki and Kirishima.

“Well, I'll see you tomorrow man,” Kirishima says, smiling at Denki.

“Yeah, see ya,” he says, watching as Kirishima started off towards his house. Denki stood there for a minute, his eyes still trained on the direction Kirishima walked off in, will he ever be able to figure out what this feeling is?

Kiri sighed as he arrived at his house, he probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight, better to just accept it now instead of trying, failing, and getting annoyed. Should he tell someone about it? Karminari, maybe? He seems like a good friend who would understand but would that also make him seem unmanly? It probably would and is safer not to say anything. He smiled at his parents and hugged them before heading up to his room. He gets cozy in his bed with his phone, scrolling through social media apps, constantly hovering over Karminari’s contact every few minutes before deciding against it.

Midoriya finally decided to get off of the bench and make his way home, the home where he’d have to pass Kacchan’s house…Kacchan, does he still want to call him that? That nickname is reserved for his best friend, the friend that gives him butterflies whenever he's around him…is Katsuki Bakugo still that friend? He obviously doesn't want to even talk to Midoriya…he gave Bakugo one more chance after that comment in middle school, he told him not to go too far and look what he did, he went too far once again.

When he passes Bakugo’s house, he looks up and smiles softly at it. Even if Bakugo doesn't want to be his friend anymore, he's still happy that Bakugo’s home life is getting better. “Enjoy your life Bakugo,” he whispers as he gets to his house just a few doors down and walks inside, “mom, I'm home.”

“Izuku, how was your walk?” Inko asks, poking her head around the corner.

“It was fine,” he smiles the darkest smile he could muster, “I stopped off at the park for a bit.”

“I'm glad you had fun,” Inko smiles. “Dinner will be ready shortly.”

“Thanks mom, need any help?”

“No thanks dear.”

“Alright,” he says, heading to his bedroom. He sits down on his bed and flops down on his back, there's only one way for him to get through the next few years with a fake smile on his face, something that hasn't happened in six months. He doesn't want it to start again but he can't let his mom see he's struggling, she wouldn't be able to handle it. He glanced over at his dresser and brought his knees to his chest, he'll try to get through dinner first, see how that goes.

Bakugo had laid in bed most of the day trying to sleep. He should have given up hours ago but he was so tired. He also thought about texting Midoriya multiple times but how could he do that after what he said? Why would he even say that to him? He groans as he sits up in bed, staring out the window. He managed to get a glance of Midoriya as he was walking by, he watched as he stopped and looked at his house for a moment before continuing to his own house. “Will I ever be able to let myself be your friend?” He asks himself.

He made his way downstairs where his dad was cooking dinner. “Hey dad.”

“Hey Katsuki, are you feeling ok? You've been in bed all day.”

“Yeah, I've just been having trouble sleeping and have been trying to sleep all day.”

“Oh,” Marsuru frowns, “maybe you'll be able to sleep after you eat.”

“Hopefully,” he says, getting himself something to drink. He sits down at the kitchen table, groaning to himself, school is going to be hell tomorrow.

Marsuru sits a plate down in front of him with a smile, “don't worry, I'm sure everything will balance out soon and if it doesn't, we can always talk about getting you into a therapist.”

“A therapist?” Bakugo asks, raising a brow. “I don't need a therapist.”

“If you continue to not sleep and worry about things that are out of your control it might be helpful.”

“I disagree,” Bakugo grumbles as he stares at his plate.

Marsuru sighs as he sits down in front of Bakugo, he’s worried about his son. Maybe he should look into that therapist just in case. He smiles as his son starts to eat, he can finally get his health back up.