𝐂𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑, b.katsuki | ✓

TWELVE

THE VISIT

_________

BAKUGOU IMPATIENTLY TAPPED HIS FOOT AGAINST THE POLISHED FLOOR OF THE HOSPITAL. He hadn't slept in... he didn't know who long but he hadn't slept in a long time, worry not letting him sleep. His eyes were bloodshot, the white of his eyes more red than white out of fatigue. His mind felt clouded like some fog had set in his head that was refusing to clear no matter how hard he flailed his arms around. His left eye twitched non-stop and it was getting annoying now.

"Kacchan, you should get some—" He glared at Midoriya who immediately shut up and set down the sandwich wrapped in foil next to Bakugou's seat and left muttering, "I'll go and get some coffee for you." 

He gritted his teeth. He hated this. He hated the way he cared so much about her that he waited for so long outside her hospital room. And he hated that she would want to kill herself by trying to drown with Yakuza Mei. What were they even doing? Fucking double suicide? It had happened only yesterday evening at the beach. And what he hated the most was that fucking Deku was just conveniently there for a jog and saw them fall off. Or else they would've been dead. That just deepened his hatred for the boy who had ultimately done nothing wrong. 

The door of a room opened. He didn't look up. In the span of time when he was sitting on that stupid, uncomfortable chair, he always looked up when a door to a room opened in the hallway, in hopes of the nurse coming out and telling him she was awake. Even having that sliver of hope killed him and he hated it. At that moment, he hated anything and everything. 

Effy saw the bright light from behind her eyelids before she could open her eyes. She was only blinded more when she opened one eye, the action accompanied by a soft groan upon feeling numbness. Eventually adjusting to the lighting of the room, she opened both her eyes. And it felt like all sensations and feelings were lumped together. She felt the uncomfortable mattress of the hospital bed bit into her already sore back. Her left hand ached when she tried to move it and fatigue hit her in harsh waves. Still in pain, she planted her right hand on the mattress and pushed herself to sit up. 

Her surroundings were obvious to her. Maybe it was the clothing she was wearing that gave her location away, or the medicines sitting on the metal bedpost. It was clear she was in a hospital room. She looked around to see nothing but white, occasionally silver furniture and then looked down at herself. Her petite body was clad in a hospital gown with small dots. Her eyes landed on her left hand, where it ached. 

Her hand was enveloped in thick layers of gauze and a bloody splotch was visible despite the heavy bandaging. It hurt to move her hand or better yet, it hurt to move at all. And it wasn't only the physical pain she was feeling. She gingerly reached out to touch the scars that developed on her forearms over the years and glided her fingers over as many as she could. They were faint, but very visible and that's why she always wore her blazer or rolled her sleeves down to hide them. Nobody questioned and—

—nobody cared, she finished.

After what had taken place recently, she felt no need to even fake a smile. She felt empty; hollow. It felt like the hole she had spent years trying to fill had suddenly been drained when it was almost full. She felt like just another bundle of bones walking on this planet and right now, she wished that her bones were stretched and wrapped around the globe fourteen million times than feel this pain that was weaved into the fabric of her being. 

She felt the door of her open but was too slow to see who it was because whoever it was closed it as fast as it was opened. She went back to admiring

(loathing)
her scars with a sense of melancholy but was interrupted when the door banged open and a nurse shrieked. Her head slowly turned to look at Bakugou. And boy, he was furious. The boy slammed the door back into its frame and she didn't even flinch at the loud noise. She was expecting him to attack her and probably kill her on the spot. She didn't mind if he was the one who led her to her demise.

But instead of doing what she predicted, he huffed and sat down on the edge of her bed. His arms were crossed loosely across the edge of his ribcage and he gazed at her with eyes redder than blood itself. His hand twitched, longing to hold hers but he couldn't do that so he skipped over the feeling and decided to ask, "What were you thinking?" Her eyes that were fixated on her hands snapped up to meet his gaze; she had never felt more naked and small.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked, a bitter chuckle being delivered at the end of his question. "You just decided to kill yourself by jumping off a fucking cliff and you're asking me what I mean. Seriously, Aki what were you—"

"Bakugou!" He immediately stopped when she raised her voice at him. Her eyebrows were furrowed in both confusion and anger. "Don't you dare yell at me when you don't know what you were thinking! Look at you! You look like you haven't slept in days and here you are worrying about people you shouldn't worry about instead of yourself! And I swear I wasn't trying to kill myself. Mei—she jumped and I panicked and then I held her hand but then she let go and—and..." she inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. "My point is, you don't have to worry about me."

Bakugou stayed quiet and followed her line of vision down to her hands which she fiddled with. He didn't question the existence of the scars for her knew they were the product of abuse. She looked down, "I... I'm sorry. I-I never meant to..." she trailed off, the words dying at her lips when he got a hold of her uninjured hand. He brushed his thumb against her knuckles (a cliché move, really, even for him).

His other hand travelled to the back of her head to hold her in place and he leaned in close. Her eyes fluttered close when she felt his warm breath on her face and then his lips on hers after. The kiss was slow and smooth and she expected it to get rougher, knowing Bakugou. But for the second time since she woke up, she was proved wrong. The kiss was slow all along and it felt like she had had a drug that made her feel like she was entrapped in a temporary bliss. He pulled away sooner than she wished and looked straight in her eyes. 

When he realized that he was still holding onto her hand, he let go with cheeks full of color, similar to Effy's. But she held onto his hand and forced him to look at her. "Can you... can you do that again?" she asked, relieving a shaky breath from her lungs. He didn't need to think twice to crash his lips against hers once more. With one hand wrapped around her waist and the other on the side of her neck, stroking her jaw, he pulled her small body closer to his. They pulled away for air every now and then only to connect their lips again after a second's wait. 

With swollen lips, they pulled away, both panting. Bakugou wrapped his arms around her small frame and embedded his hands in her hair while she wrapped her own arms around his torso. And it wasn't just baseless lust anymore. It was more and they both knew it...

They were just too afraid to admit it.

( 1401 WORDS )

( EDITED )