A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I worked on a very unimportant one-shot fanfic called Shoot: a fanfic where Bakugo gets kicked in the balls. That's it. That's the fanfic. Dear God what have I wasted my precious time on...
Other than that, check out my Instagram baachu_mha for comics, doodles, characters and more! If your curious as to what this new OC looks like, it's on the Insta!
Special shoutout to Lightgiver, who gave me the idea of the new OC in this chapter, even if they don't know it yet. ;)
#Bakugo household
"You have everything?" Bakugo yawned as Eiji patted his backpack down.
"Yeah- that was nice getting a relaxing, four-day weekend, huh?" The teen smiled, ready to go back to his friends.
"Relaxing?! Maybe for you! I had to be your personal slave while you blabbered out nonsense all day..." Katsuki groaned and rubbed his face. But Eiji didn't seem put off by his dad's annoyance.
"You'll survive... probably." He smirked. "Now where's The Duke? I wanna say goodbye to- oh there you are!" The boy picked up his little boy and coddled the ball of course fluff. "You dumb ol' cat! I love you so much-"
"You're gonna miss your train." Bakugo growled as he snatched The Duke gently from Eiji's hands. "He'll be here when you come back. Now shoo. It's finals week."
"Yeah, yeah, okay! I'm heading out now! Loveyadadbye!" Eiji stammered before slamming the door closed and running off to his train.
Bakugo stood in the quiet home and yawned loudly while plopping the beast down gently. He had to be more gentle with the old thing lately, it's joints were stiff. It stood wobbly and stared at the front door woefully.
"Murro... Murow!" it called out.
"Oh be quiet. He'll be back in a week." Bakugo groaned at the loud creature. It always cried and moaned whenever Eiji left. "You dumb cat. I'm the one who feeds you and cleans your box! And you don't give a crap when I leave..." He crossed his arms and shook his head. He wasn't jealous, no! He understood where The Duke was coming from. Eiji found him and took him in, so he'll always be The Duke's favorite.
"Murow!" The cat pawed at the front door sadly.
"I said he'll be back in a week! Now shuttup! I gotta go to work!" Bakugo spat and stomped off. As he ascended the stairs he pondered aloud, "I wonder what Eiji's finals are gonna be..."
## Class 1A
"Happy Monday, class..." Shinso sarcastically groaned. "As you all know, finals are this week." Everyone gulped nervously and listened intently. "We will be splitting the class into teams of two today. This will allow you to collaborate with your teammate before the final." Shinso yawned a bit and looked at his clipboard.
"I'll list off the groups now. Meiwaku Basuji and Iida Tasen..."
"What?!" Meiwaku choked and glared at the chill teen. "But he doesn't give a cuss if we win or loose!"
"What are you talking about? I care." Tasen mumbled as he secretly scrolled on his phone under his desk.
"Grr... then act like it..." Meiwaku was not going to have fun being paired up with that guy.
"Bakugo Eijiro and..." Oh, Eiji hoped he'll be teamed up with Maru! Or maybe Candy! Or maybe Taki or-
"Koteki Hisha."
"Huh? Who's that?" Eiji asked out loud.
"Ack!" The nervous wreak of anxious jitters deflated over his desk. "Of course nobody remembers me..." He quietly mumbled and covered his four little horns with his arms. Awkwardly, Eiji turned around and smiled,
"Ooh... *that* Kotisha Heki..."
"Koteki Hisha- oh it's pointless..." he moaned quietly. Eiji honestly didn't remember one thing about this guy. Was he even in the Sports Festival? He shyly hid under his bangs and avoided eye-contact.
Shinso finished up pairing up the teams and stacked his papers together, his glare glazing over the class.
"You all will be taking the written test on Thursday. If you pass that and the final, then you are permitted to go to the summer training camp."
"Summer camp!" Everyone screamed excitedly with their arms waving wildly in the air.
"All the first years say that..." Hitoshi rubbed his eyes. "Now as for the final, you will be pitted up against the teachers."
"..." The excitement was immediately ripped out from under them. The students? Against the teachers?! No one liked the sound of that...
"We will not tell you who you are pitted against until the day of the exam, so study each of us in preparation." Looking at the time, Shinso sighed, "Class dismissed, you can go to lunch now."
As everyone stuffed their books in their bags, Shinso-Sensei called out,
"Bakugo. Koteki. Come here." Nervously, they approached their sensei. "You two will have a difficult challenge, since Bakugo still has two days of cleaning duty to fulfill."
"What?! B-but I was in surgery!"
"And thus, you couldn't do any cleaning." Shinso repeated.
"This doesn't seem very fair..." Koteki mumbled as he twirled his thumbs.
"Life isn't fair. Would you rather do the final alone?"
"N-N-No sir!" Koteki squeaked. "I didn't mean fair f-f-for me, just... it's isn't fair for my teammate to rely so heavily on me..." he mumbled and hid under his dark bangs, "N-N-Not because I don't want to work hard, j-just I... will probably mess up somehow..."
"No way!" Eiji laughed and patted his classmate on the shoulder, "You seem like the kinda guy who's willing to step out into uncomfortable situations and do your best! There's no one else I'd rather be paired up with!" He lied. He'd rather be paired up with Maru or Meiwaku or Tasen. But this guy had the confidence of a wet noodle, and Eiji was going to help him!
"R-R-Really?"
"Yeah! I'll try and finish up my cleaning duty as fast as possible, that way I can give it my all as well!" He proclaimed with a fist in the air. It made Koteki actually smile a bit.
"Y-Yeah! A-Alright!" He nodded, his puppy ears flopping around.
Shinso shook his head and got back to his paperwork. This was all working out exactly as the staff planned, and a little too perfectly. Maybe Eiji will help give the confidence boost that Koteki desperately needed.
## Bakugo household
Bakugo dragged his bruised feet into his home, still panting from the pain. In the old days, he'd get in a scuffle, get fixed up, and head back to the office ready for round two! But these days he wasn't going to forsake his physical health for his pride. Even if his pride was nothing but a slump right now.
"I can't believe I threw my fuckin' back out..." he growled to himself, "I'm getting old..."
Bakugo tried to bend over and take his boots off, but his back shot pain through his system. He opted to jab his heel against his toes until he could finally kick them off.
"Pathetic. I hate this 'getting old' shit..." he grumbled before very slowly lowering himself into his chair. Closing his eyes in preparation for a nap, something felt off to him. He sat there for a few minutes, but it was silent.
Silent.
"Where's that dumb cat? He's usually still crying for Eiji until he comes home." He moaned exasperatedly. Bakugo tried to ignore the odd feeling he was getting, but... his instincts were never wrong. "Ugh... did The Duke break outside or something?" Grumbled the old man as he painfully hoisted himself to his feet. He wandered over to the laundry room, but The Duke wasn't in his litter box or eating his food, and all of his water was gone.
"I swear I filled this thing up this morning..." Katsuki growled as he very slowly took the dish and refilled it. "..." Something really didn't feel right to Bakugo. It was an odd warmth to the air that somehow ran a shiver down his neck. Not something he could ignore. "Hey cat! Cat! Where are you, ya beast?" He called out to the quiet home. But the cat didn't come running to him. "Duke! Hey Duke!" Still nothing.
Slowly, Bakugo wandered around his home. The cat wasn't downstairs in the gym, or in the kitchen, or the living room, or in Eiji's room.
"Cat?" The old man called out once more into his room.
And then he heard it. A faint wheezing sound, fast paced and very tired. He walked over to his closet and crouched down as best he could.
"Duke?" He quietly cooed.
In the corner of his closet, upon a pile of coddling laundry, lay a mangy fuzz ball. He was breathing very quickly, and did not even lift his head for the hero.
At that moment Bakugo knew exactly what was happening. He'd seen it before too many times.
"Oh no..." Katsuki's expression melted. He creakily, painfully sat in his closet and put a gentle hand on the cat's ear. "Hey cat..."
It didn't respond. It could only focus on breathing.
"Don't... Don't do this to Eiji..." Katsuki pleaded. But... you can't plead with the inevitable...
The Duke kept hyperventilating as it lay tucked away in the warmth of the closet. Bakugo didn't want to move him. He just sat and nicely, carefully stroked the course fur.
"I... I never did thank you for bringing my... my friends to help me. When I needed my pills. ...That *you* knocked into the toilet." He chuckled softly and continued to pet the little fighter. "You dumb cat..."
It it didn't fight his touch.
It wheezed a little, it's breaths getting shorter and shorter.
"You look tired..." Bakugo sighed. Slowly moving to reach his phone, the hero pleaded, "I'm gonna call Eiji. Can you hold out a little longer?"
"..." The cat was breathing pained, tiny breaths. Its little nose was dry and its eyes were crusty. Katsuki soothingly rubbed his thumb on its forehead, furrowing the fuzz back and forth as he dialed Eiji's number.
His phone rang. And rang. But the teenager didn't pick up. He was either in class or getting lunch at this point. Dreading what he had to say, Katsuki waited for the tone.
"Hey bub. I, uh, came home early today. When I got here... well... umm..." As Bakugo pet it, it looked up at him with desperately tired eyes.
It wanted to go.
"The Duke..." Katsuki put a thumb to the bridge of its tiny nose and stroked the fur up and down.
"...He..." Straightening his posture, Katsuki knew how difficult this was going to be for Eiji.
.
"He's... dying..."
.
He sat there, petting the struggling beast.
Bakugo shakily exhaled and blinked rapidly. He... really liked this mangy beast. He didn't want it to go. But it was really old. It couldn't run anymore, only in its sleep.
Eiji... was going to be devastated... and Katsuki wasn't going to be able to be there for him.
Realizing he was still recording a message, Bakugo coughed away his sadness and mumbled,
"You know you can always call me. I..."
Clearing the crust away from the eyes of the beast, Bakugo pursed his lips and looked away from the lovable creature.
"I'm... sorry, bub. But he probably won't be here when you come home..." Bakugo ended the message and exhaled exhaustedly, pulling the bangs off his forehead. This... was going to be really tough on his son.
Gingerly and softly wrapping The Duke up in a T-shirt, Bakugo painfully stood, cradling the tiny, weightless bundle. As he left his room, Bakugo pet its tired frame with the kindest of strokes.
"...You dumb cat. You stupid, old cat..."
## Yueei
"So where do you normally sit for lunch, Koteki?" Eiji asked with the tray in his hands. The quiet teen almost dropped his tray in panic when he came up behind him.
"Oh! Umm... in the corner... over there..."
"That's boring- you should sit with me and the others!"
"..." Koteki honestly didn't know too many people, and being forced into conversations was a terrifying thought to him. "I'm not sure..."
"You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. Most of the time we just look at memes together. That might sound lame, but honestly I love doing nothing together!" Eiji laughed like the sun, nearly blinding the shy teen.
"Oh... umm... that actually sounds... kinda nice..." Koteki moved his bangs out of his eyes and nervously tugged on his puppy ear.
"Yeah it does! Come on, time to get on the friendship train! Choo choo!" Eiji playfully slung an arm around Koteki's neck and practically dragged him to the table where everyone sat. "Hey y'all! Koteki is gonna eat with us from now on!" He declared. Everyone shrugged while they chewed.
"Dope." Maru mumbled with her mouth full of food before taking another big chomp of her pork bowl. Tasen nodded to him once and smirked,
"Sitting with the cool kids, eh?"
"Erm... cool kids?" He quaked. "I'm not sure I'm that cool-"
"Ha!" Candy laughed with his mouth full of vegetables. "Mr. Skrt Skrt's a kidder! Do I look cool to you?"
"Ya want me to answer that?" Huffed Meiwaku. Tentatively, Koteki sat next to Maru.
"'Sup. You like chill memes?" She showed him one that made him snicker once. It was... nice.
"See, Koteki? You fit in just fine!" Eiji laughed. They sat around eating a hot second, talking about finals and distracting each other with memes. Nothing too important, but they were *together*, eating and doing nothing *together*. It was honestly the best.
"Hehe- Ooh! Oh man, that guy was so stupid!" Eiji winced and laughed at the video Maru showed them all. "Reminds me of one Kōkyō sent me yesterday-" As he pulled out his phone the saw the notifications from his dad. "Oh just one sec, I got a message." He pressed play and listened closely while everyone else continued chatting together and laughing at dumb Yik Yoks.
Slowly, his smile disappeared. He set down his chopsticks and stared through the table.
"Ahah! Hoo! Oh my goodness- l-look at this... gif..." Maru's sentence faded, and she and the group stopped laughing. The look on Eiji's face was more dark and distraught than they had ever seen before. "Baachu?"
"..." He gradually pulled his cell phone from his ear and clicked it off. Realizing they were all looking at him, he coughed and wiped his nose, "Oh, umm. I'm good." He gave a seriously fake smile. "I... need to go on a jog." He stood rather abruptly and left all of his hot food at the table. All the others looked at each other with a look of worry in their eyes. If anything was evident, Eiji was not alright...
He hurried down the hall and tried to dial is dad's number, but his hands were rather shakey. He even walked right passed Dalisay without saying hello!
"Umm, Ei?" She gawked at his flustered state, but he didn't even hear her. She clung to his arm and cooed, "Hey Ei, you didn't say hello."
"Oh! D-Dalisay! Sorry, I..." he looked down at his phone with a sadness in his eyes.
"You seem, like, disturbed by something."
"Oh, just, umm..." He shrugged, and a worried look grew on her face. "...it's nothing important. My cat's just sick."
She sighed in relief and put a hand to her chest.
"Oh, well I'm glad it's not, like, anything that important. You let me know when you're feeling better." She patted his face with a smile.
"Yeah, I will..." he gave her a fake smile and watched as she left. As soon as he could, he called his dad.
After a few long, anxious rings, Bakugo picked up.
"Hey bub... you got my message?" Katsuki asked quietly into the phone.
"Y-Yeah..." Eiji squeaked as he walked outside into the empty courtyard.
"How you holding up?"
"..." Eiji felt his throat squeak just once before he swallowed, "Okay."
"..."
"...The Duke isn't really dying, right? He can get better!" Eiji croaked, his eyes wide and pleading, not like his dad could see them. But Bakugo knew what Eiji's eyes looked like right now, and it crushed his heart.
"...Bub-"
"Come on, he's fine! He-He was meowing and purring this morning! He-"
"Bub."
"..."
Katsuki sighed softly and whispered,
"I'm taking him to the vet right now. They're gonna... put him down tonight..."
"Hn- bu..." Eiji couldn't make any noises except through his nose. He didn't want to believe it. The Duke was fine early today! "Could you please see if they can make him better?" The teenager begged.
"...Ei-"
"Please? You're already taking him to the vet."
"..." Bakugo already knew what their answer was going to be, but... he'd entertain the thought for Eiji. "Okay. But... I don't think there's anything we can do for him."
"Don't-" Eiji's throat seized up, "Don't talk like that..."
"...Alright. But if I were you, Eiji, I'd... try and see him tonight..."
"..." Eiji's lip was really quivering now. Tonight? His dad thought The Duke wasn't going to make it the night? Was... Was it really that bad? With emotion wreaking up his voice, the teenager whimpered and squeaked out, "But I... can't leave school tonight... sniff I have cleaning duty and a final... and sniff Sensei probably won't let me get out of that and-"
"It's alright. I can FaceTime with you-"
"SNIFF But that's n-not the same~" Eiji's nose was running like crazy, and he was really falling apart now. But he couldn't let his emotions take complete control over him! Class was starting soon! He sniffed deeply to regain his composure, but it was rather difficult.
"...I... don't know what to tell ya bub." Katsuki sighed heavily, "But I'll let you know what the vet has to say when I get there."
"I... mhm..." Eiji coughed twice and looked at the time. "I have to get to class now."
"Alright."
"G-" Eiji was having trouble keeping his feelings bottled up, but he managed. "Okay. I'm going... just text me..."
"Yeah bub. I will."
With a sharp inhale, Eiji coughed,
"Bye." And hung up.
The bell was a minute away from ringing, so he might as well just go straight up to class. But Eiji was *this* close to crying. No! He couldn't have that- he needed to study for the final! He had important things to do!
So might as well not feel anything at all. At least for right now.
As he was about to dash up the stairs, Eiji nearly tumbled over somebody's frail frame.
"Oh! B-Bakugo, I was just l-looking for you..." Koteki fumbled with his hands nervously. He went looking for Eiji as soon as he ran off. Not only was he worried for him, but also Koteki didn't feel like he fit in with the others just yet.
Eiji's face was static and dreary. He didn't even have the heart to tell Koteki to call him Eiji.
"Hey."
"U-Umm..." That was a very strange vibe coming out of the usually happy and bubbly teen. "I w-was wondering if you... were alright..." It was obvious that Eiji was not alright.
"I'm alright."
"Erm..." Koteki knew that wasn't true. He... didn't like meddling, but he remembered what Eiji had said to him earlier that day. He was the kinda guy who stepped out in uncomfortable situations and gave it his best!
Well, even if that wasn't quite true, Koteki Hisha wanted to turn into that kind of person!
"You really don't look... like you are alright..."
"...Sigh..." Eiji stopped and turned around blankly. "My cat... is... really sick."
"...Oh. I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. Just, ya know. Great timing, heh..." Eiji was really trying hard not to stir up any emotions, so he covered up his sadness with a joke. Since Koteki was on a confidence roll, he mumbled out,
"You know... n-not to compare my minuscule problems to, erm, your real problems, b-but when my hamster disappeared... I never got to say goodbye..."
Eiji sighed softly to himself. He probably wasn't going to be able to say goodbye to his pet either...
"I think I... would've felt a whole lot better... if I could have said goodbye. So if you need, o-or rather, if you'd want to, um, go home, at least for t-tonight..."
"Thanks, but I can't." Eiji stopped his new friend, giving a seriously fake smile. "It's finals. If I go home tonight I'll be doing cleaning duty until Wednesday, and then we wouldn't be able to study together at all. It just... it doesn't work."
"Oh..." Koteki wasn't sure if he just gave bad advice or not, or if Eiji was just being realistic, but it felt like he was just a bother. The bell rang and they both needed to go back to class, so they walked in complete silence...
In class they all worked on a practice quiz, each one stressing out over it in their own respective ways. But Eiji was so distracted. He read and reread the first question nine times, but his mind was flustered. Might as well pick one of the options, just to not leave anything blank.
As his mind wandered, Eiji accidentally thought a thought that wreaked his emotional state.
The Duke wasn't going to be there when he got home.
"Hmhmhmhm~" A strange noise escaped his throat as his bottom lip trembled uncontrollably. He jabbed his leg with his mechanical pencil and slapped his face lightly. This was not the time to cry! He was in the middle of class! He coughed and leaned in closely to his paper, trying to read the warbled letters that got distorted by his undropped tears. But he managed to suck the moisture back into his eyeballs and shove the emotions down.
Maru had been noticing something was up ever since lunch. To be fair, everyone knew something was up, but she especially saw it.
Baachu was sad. On-the-verge-of-tears kinda sad.
The bell finished their day of studies and everyone packed up to leave, but Maru decided to stop her best friend before he dashed out.
"Baachu? You doing okay, fam?" She asked with a worried squeak in her tone.
"I'm fine!" He said rather quickly. "The stress of finals is finally catching up but other than that-"
"Cut the crap, Baachu."
"H-Huh?" Eiji's eyes widened as he stopped trying to escape.
"We've been friends since forever. I know you, and I know what you look like when you aren't yourself. So don't lie to me, what was that message you got at lunch?"
She saw right through him. What was he expecting? Of course she'd know when something was wrong.
"..." He looked at his desk and gave a tiny shrug. "The Duke... is really sick..."
Maru gasped a little and pulled up a chair.
"Oh no... how sick?" She asked with wide eyes.
Eiji didn't want to admit the truth. He didn't want it to be real, but...
"He's... dying..."
His vision went warbled once more with tears. Saying it out loud made it too real. Maru wanted to hug him so badly and protect him at all costs! But she resolved to simply rubbing his back a little.
"You should go home tonight." She suggested softly.
"...It's finals week... sniff I have cleaning duty... I can't just leave Koteki to do all the work-"
"You know, Koteki's smart. He's fourth in the class!"
"...He is?" Eiji didn't know he was teamed up with someone so smart.
"Yeah! Maybe it'd be good for his confidence if you relied on him!"
"...But Shinso-Sensei-"
"Let's ask him if you can go home." She smiled and dragged Baachu to the front.
"Maru, I don't know..."
Shinso looked up from the practice quizzes with a tired glare.
"...I'm not giving any redos."
"Hey Sensei, you know Baachu's cat, right?" She sighed.
"Yes?" Shinso immediately remembered the fluffy cat Eiji bragged about once or twice.
"Well... he's... passing away..."
"The Duke?" Shinso's eyes widened and his posture sank. How did he remember a random student's cat's name? Did he like cats that much?
"Baachu would like to go home tonight so he could say goodbye..." Maru sighed sadly and patted her best friend's shoulder. Eiji shook his head at his oldest friend.
"Maru, it's fine. I know I can't go home-"
"You can go home."
"Huh?" Eiji looked up at his Sensei. Wait, was Shinso... getting emotional?! Wiping a threatening tear, Shinso gulped,
"I'm sorry for your loss... take the rest of today off..."
"Oh!" Eiji stood straight. That was not what he was expecting to hear, but he was very glad to hear it! "Th-Thank you Sensei!" Eiji suddenly got this sense of urgency, and his darted around the classroom picking up his things. "Thank you Maru!" He gave her a hug and lifted her off the ground, swinging her back and forth. "I gotta hurry! But thank you thank you thank you!"
Maru stood in shock with her face brighter than a tomato. She watched him run out of the classroom and down the hall.
"No problem~" She wobbled and smiled. It was the least she could do. What are friends for anyways?
She just prayed Baachu would get there in time...