The next couple weeks went smoothly, Nico was knew that is was only a matter of time before everything went sideways on her. At the beginning of the week it started with a prickling in her skin and a dull ache that came from every muscle, as the week progressed it got to the point where she became familiar with the scents of each of her friends.
By friday it had hit the point where she couldn't be in the same room as the guys without getting a little dizzy. All it took was a tap on Ochaco's shoulder and she vanished back to her room to get herself together. She was grateful that the fever had waited until the weekend to finally spike.
Waking up and feeling like she was on fire she knew it was time to tag her friends in for guard duty. Crawling over to her phone, Nico sent Ochaco a message that contained three letters and within minutes her friend had helped her back into bed and was covering the overheating cat girl with cold packs from the fridge.
"Thanks so much. I don't know what I would have done without you." Nico panted as Ochaco placed a pack on her forehead.
"What are friends for. Anything you need before I go fill the others in on what's going on?" she offered as Nico pointed to her phone.
"I need you to let Izu and Katsuki know they really need to keep their distance. Just say I'm sick and I don't want them to get it." Nico didn't want them to worry but didn't want them to come to see her. "I thought it was bad when it was just my uncle in the house, it was a sensory overload just sitting around having dinner last night, in class what just as bad."
"Don't worry, we'll do our best to keep the guys away." Ochaco patted Nico's hand gently before going out into the hall to brief the other girls.
"How is she?" Momo asked once Ochaco closed the door. "I know you two said it was going to get bad, but shouldn't we take her to Recovery Girl?"
"That would only make it worse. Nico said she just needs to ride it out." Ochaco said as the sound of footsteps caught the group's attention.
They turned to see a couple of the guys following Bakugo down the hall. "What the hell, if she's sick then we should take her to a doctor." he snapped as Momo and Ochaco stepped in to his path.
"It's just a cold, nothing rest won't fix." Ochaco stood with her arms out. "Nico said that she didn't want to get you sick that's why she asked me to look after her."
"Why don't you and everyone else go back downstairs and let poor Nico rest. She'll come down once she's feeling better." Momo added noticing Bakugo wasn't backing down.
It became a battle of wills until Ochaco tapped Bakugo on the shoulder, making him float. "Deku, get him out of here." the smaller boy grabbed Bakugo's pant leg and pulled him back downstairs. "I won't be able to keep him at bay like that all day, but we did buy a little time." she put her fingers together, releasing her quirk and Bakugo in the process.
"So it's going to be keeping Bakugo busy more than anyone else." Mina leaned against the window sill, "Maybe we can get a couple of the guys to pitch in, he'd know something was off if it was only us playing defence."
"He listens to Kirishima to some extent, and Denki too. Maybe we can get those two to get him out of here for most of the day." Kyoka suggested, "Maybe we could even convince Bakugo to pick up something for her to eat, if anyone would know her it would be him."
"Alright ladies, this is what's going to happen," Momo took charge, "Kyoka you go let Denki know our plan and get him to pass it along Kirishima. Toru I'd like you to watch the stairs and trip up Bakugo if he tries to come this way." the pair went down and spread their plan through the ones they knew would help. "Leaves the four of us guard the door and look after her, if we work in pairs it will spread our time efficiently."
"If it's all the same, I think Nico only wants one of us coming and going." Ochaco chimed in. "Since the guys think I'm the only one that's been in contact with her I can do most of the work."
"Alright, if it will put Nico at ease." Momo nodded, "Just tag one of us in if you need a hand."
"You got it, now go see if the others need a hand I got Nico covered." Ochaco turned back to Nico's room and went in.
While the girls plotted, Bakugo was nursing the lump on his head from Ochaco releasing her quirk. What is the fuck problem, I just wanted to make sure my girlfriend was alright. He pressed ice pack against the side of his head, watching as Kyoka whisper something to Denki and the pair of them head in Kirishima's direction. What are they up to?
"How's you head?" Izuku asked as he joined Bakugo on the couch.
"Like I hit it off the stairs." he snapped, "Think you make a distraction for me?" As much as it killed him, Bakugo needed Izuku's help getting past the girls. "I gotta know it's just a cold."
The smaller boy could see how much it meant to his friend, "Alright, but just this once." Izuku went over and disappeared up the stairs. A few minutes later Bakugo got a message on his phone saying he had a ten minute opening.
Not wasting a moment, he flew up the stairs. "We've gotten her fever down for now," Ochaco stood in front of Nico's door. "I'm going to give you five minutes. I don't know how much she'll be able to take."
"Fine whatever, just let me in." Bakugo growled as Ochaco took a sidestep out of his way. When Bakugo went into the room her could feel the temperature change, it was colder than the rest of the dorm.
"Katsuki, I thought I told you to stay away." Nico said as stiffly pushed herself up. "Did you bully Ochaco?" most of the cold pack dropped to the bed around her.
"Don't you worry about her house cat, you look like hell." he went of sat on the edge of the bed. "If you're sick it shouldn't be so cold in here, you'll just make it worse."
She gave him a weak smile, "I need it like this, don't worry about me so much. I'll be fine in a day or two." Nico wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to get any closer. "I know you tried bullying you way in here earlier, it wasn't very nice."
He gave her a confused look, "We were at the end of the hall, there is no way you should have heard us." Nico tapped her nose.
"I could smell you." when that answer didn't clear anything up, she continued to explain. "Everyone has a unique scent to them, it's kind of like a fingerprint. For example, Ochaco smells like lilies while Iida's reminds me of the wind up at the cabin."
"And just what do I smell like?" Bakugo asked sliding closer, "Should I be jealous that you use the speed freak instead of me?"
Nico rolled her eyes at him, "Normally people don't want to know what they smell like, but I guess since you're not normal I should have expected it. Gunpowder, it reminds me for going to watch fireworks with my parents. As crazy as it sounds it's the most soothing scent in the house."
"Just how does that work?" he asked but she just shrugged, "Well if it's going to help, here." he pulled his shirt off and tossed it at her. "You can give it back when you're feeling better."
"Like that's going to happen." Nico managed to laugh a little before the pain got to her. "I should try to get a little sleep. You don't have to worry about me, I'll be back to normal in no time." she could see Bakugo was still very worried about her. "How about you bring me up dinner later if it makes you less worried."
"Like there was anything stopping me before." he got up and kiss the top of her head, making Nico purr loudly. "I'll be back later then, take it easy."
"I will as long as you come back and see me later." she smiled as Bakugo left. Once Nico knew she was alone she spread his shirt out on the bed and shifted to her cat form and curled up into a ball, purring loudly the entire time. I'm going to have to ask auntie why I start feeling better when he's around. She thought drifting off into a deep sleep.
Spending most of the day in Bakugo's shirt, Nico loved that it was like he was there with her, making her cycle more tolerable. She had just made herself comfortable again when a knock came at the door. "You awake house cat?" Bakugo asked as came in with something for her to eat.
She stuck her head out of the sleeve enough to watch him but not have him notice her just yet. "You even in here?" he looked around and noticed the red tail poking out the bottom of the shirt. "Clearly someone is taking living my shirt a little far. Come on out and eat, I got you something special for after."
That caught her attention, slipping out of the shirt Nico jumped down and into Bakugo's lap before shifting, "Yeah I like this better." she nuzzled into his neck, "I'm still keeping the shirt, but nothing can compare to the real thing."
"Why don't you think about eating instead of sniffing me." he tried to turn her, but she let out a sound that was a mix of a growl and a whine. "Don't you give me attitude, you need to eat."
"I just missed you all day, let me enjoy this a little more first." she grumbled, it had felt like a lifetime since she was this close to him.
"You've lost your mind, I was here this morning." he wasn't about to admit it, but he had missed having her close. "Will you eat already, it's going to go cold." he said as Nico made herself comfortable with her dinner.
"So what did you guys get up to, Ochaco told me that Denki and Kiri dragged you out." she slowly picked at her food, "From what I understand they all but tied you up to get you out of the house."
"Yeah well I didn't want to go far if you needed me." he started scratching behind one of her ears. "But I guess you had the girls to keep you company, so at least you weren't lonely."
Nico leaned back a little into his hand, lightly purring. "I slept most of the day, while I did like having the other girls keep me company, it wasn't you."
Bakugo looked down at her, "You're not really sick, are you?" he knew he was right when her tail stopped moving, "I might have overheard heard a couple of the others. Why didn't you just say what was going on to begin with."
"I don't like anyone seeing we when I'm at my weakest. Though I for some reason don't feel like I normally do when this time comes around." She admitted, "I have a theory that it has something to do with you. I plan on calling my aunt later to see if she can fill me in on why that might be." Nico looked at the plate he had brought her, "did you put enough on here? I might not have eaten much today but there's enough here for two."
"I may have grabbed enough for both of us, but I didn't count on you sitting on me." Bakugo said as she looked up at him and just smiled. "Being cute with me now, nice try. Just eat what you can and I'll take care of the rest." he went back to scratching her ear while she ate, both falling into a content silence other than the low rumble of Nico's purring.