Safe and Sound (Katsuki Bakugou AgeRe)

In The Beginning (w/ Auntie Inko)

!!! MAJOR CWS: explicit child abuse (yelling, hitting, neglect), mental health issues, su/c/dal thoughts, creepy nightmares, suffocation, unsanitary (bed-wetting, a very light gagging scene at the beginning), and dissociation

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ACTUAL SCENES OF MITSUKI + MASARU BEING BAD PARENTS. If you are easily triggered by that, PLEASE skip this one. Be safe :( !!!

Sludge.

Down his throat, in his ears, squeezing his belly. Clogging his hands. Everywhere.

He tries to scream, but it's all inside of him. If someone doesn't help soon, he's going to die.

And the sad thing is, part of him doesn't care. Part of him almost encourages it.

His eyes fly open, and he gasps loudly. He pats down his arms, his legs. His chest. Coughs twice to make sure his throat is clear, then makes himself gag just in case.

His head still hurts from the beating and screaming session with his mother earlier. His neck is killing him and his mouth is dry. His heart is racing in his chest, shaking his ribs.

He's alive.

He's here.

He starts to cry.

"God," he whimpers, desperately wiping away his tears and sniffling loudly.

What kind of dream was that?

He feels so weird. Scared, and sad, but also... empty. Like how used to feel when he got sent to bed without dinner and inevitably cried himself to sleep, but... amplified.

He wants his mother.

His hands shake as he reaches for a pillow to clutch to his chest, and then his legs when he tosses them over the side of his bed. He flicks on every light switch he passes as he speed walks to his parent's bedroom, irrationally afraid of creatures that lurk in the dark.

"Mom," he whispers, standing over her sleeping form. She doesn't move. "Mom!"

"What, Katsuki?" She mumbles in an annoyed tone, not opening her eyes. He tightens his grip on his pillow, cheeks darkening.

"I h-had a nightmare," he sniffles. "M'scared. Can I sleep with you? Please?"

"You're fourteen years old, sleep in your own bed," she grumbles, turning over.

"Wha's goin' on?" Masaru slurs, sitting up.

"The brat's pestering me," Mitsuki says.

"Katsuki, we've got work in the morning," Masaru sighs, laying back down.

"Mama," he whines. "Please, I-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Katsuki," she hisses, sitting up and glaring at him. "GO. TO. BED."

He runs back to his room, throwing himself onto his bed and sobbing into his pillow. Why would Mama do that to him? Why doesn't she protect him anymore? Why does Daddy not care about it? What did he do wrong?

He hasn't felt like this in a long time. Maybe ever. He feels weepy and dehydrated and panicky and a little sick and... small.

He feels small.

He doesn't sleep much that night. He watches a lighthearted show on his phone and squeezes his pillow like a lifeline and chews a hole into the collar of his pajama shirt. His parents don't say goodbye to him when they leave in the morning, they never do anymore, and he spends his Saturday morning passed out on the living room couch.

When he wakes up, he feels more like himself.

He hates it.

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