Chapter 13: Consequences

I can't breathe. It's cold, I can't see and I can't hear.

Is this what death feels like?

If so, it kinda blows.

Uraraka opened her eyes. The white room and dim lights prolonged her cleared vision for a second, a light humming sound alerting her that she wasn't where she last remembered herself to be. She wanted to look around, but an intense sensation of thirst made her dart her eyes at the cup of water sitting beside her. She thought she was reaching to grab it, but a shooting pain ran down her arm from her entire body and she sucked the pain in through her teeth. Combined with the pain, the second glance at the water took her back to her most recent memories.

The villains, the fight, the obvious loss she took. Nothing compared to the feeling of losing a major battle so early in her career, not even nearly dying. She didn't even realize the severity of her injuries until she looked at the muted television flashing in the corner of the room. The battle was playing, filmed from a higher point, capturing all of her mistakes.

She saw herself being drowned and swung around by the waist, and she saw herself being thrown to the ground at such an alarming force she was grateful she wasn't dead. She watched her own body smack the ground, her limp limbs flying upwards in reaction to the force. She winced in pain, and was almost happy she couldn't remember feeling that happen to her. Not deterred from the violence, she kept watching. Blood pooled from her body, and had she had the sound up, she would've heard one of the most heartbreaking screams of her life.

The camera panned to Bakugo, who had gone insane being forced to watch Uraraka get hurt. She couldn't tell what he was yelling, or if he was even yelling words, but her eyes pricked with tears.

Over and over he screamed her name. Midoriya didn't even have the voice to continue, but Bakugo never quit. Between obscenities and horrible threats, he shouted her name over and over, hoping at least one of those times she would roll her broken body over and smile at him, tell him it was alright, something. But she just laid there, bruised and battered and surely soon to be dead.

He couldn't stand it. He hated it, it was killing him to be put in a position like this. He was so mad, he couldn't even blame the mess of green hair tangled up beside him. He could only blame himself, ashamed and hurt one of the only people he cared about was severely hurt because he couldn't get to her fast enough. He wanted to blame everyone but himself, but his mind forced him to take the fall, and he told himself if he weren't so weak and shitty, he could have done something. He told himself terrible things, that he wasn't worthy to be number one, that Deku should have handled it, that Uraraka would've been better off if she never got herself involved with him. Thoughts of her smiling face rushed in, the same face that looked back at his own when they were alone, the face that smiled so bright he couldn't stand it. Somewhere between blaming himself yet again and thinking of the times he spent looking at a smile he could never really hate, Bakugo snapped.

It wasn't in the way that made him psychotic, he wasn't on a killing spree, he just stopped. He stopped calling her name, he stopped thrashing in the vines that surrounded his body. He stilled for a few seconds, a few seconds too long, and even Midoriya had to snap out of his own thoughts to realize something bad was going to happen to him if he didn't move immediately.

Even Kirishima, who was several feet away, could tell something was horribly wrong when everything went quiet for a minute. Then, everything went white.

Uraraka watched the screen go white, then resume to a news reporter silently recapping the battle. What happened? She asked herself. Before she could start looking for a remote to turn the volume up, a woman she assumed to be her doctor walked in, a thin green snake wrapped around her arm.

"Ochako, good to see you're awake," The woman said calmly. She was tall and thin, with darker skin and freckles all over her face. She had piercing green eyes that matched the snake around her arm, and Uraraka questioned the ethics of said involved snake. "My name is Dr. Kusakabe, I've been monitoring your progress for the past 2 weeks."

Uraraka gasped, she hadn't realized she had been out that long.

"I see you've just woken up. That's good, we expected someone of your size to be out for at least three weeks, you received significant injuries to 80% of your body." The doctor either didn't care or didn't wait for Uraraka to speak or ask any questions before continuing. "You've suffered from multiple fractures and breaks to multiple bones, and you've exerted your quirk so much that you temporarily destroyed your center of gravity. If you were to stand right now, you would find yourself unable to stable yourself or even keep yourself on the ground. We've placed weights on your wrists and ankles to keep you in this bed."

Uraraka noticed the thin black bands around her wrists for the first time.

"Your body may feel a bit loose, that is expected, but you'll be fine in another week or so. You may be able to walk in the next few days." The doctor walked closer to Uraraka, touching and turning parts of her body much to her discomfort. "Still in pain? Allow me," The doctor asked, gesturing to the snake. Uraraka shook her head yes, still trying to process the doctor's words. The small green snake that was wrapped around the doctor's wrist slithered down to Uraraka's arm, wrapping itself around tightly before opening it mouth and biting her quickly, its small red eyes glowing. Uraraka flinched, expecting to feel a harsh bite, but felt a cooling sensation run through her veins. She looked up lazily at the doctor, her red eyes glowing brightly until the snake returned itself to her.

Those red eyes jog Uraraka's mind for a second.

"Doctor.." She started weakly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hm? Oh, the snake is a part of my quirk, think of it as an "anti-venom" venom of sorts. You'll feel a bit tired, but nothing to worry about." The doctor began looking over her charts.

"No..my friends, Dr. Kusakabe..are they okay?" Uraraka whispered. She was struggling to keep her eyes open as the snake's venom flowed through her veins. "Kat-Bakugo, Midoriya, Kirishima...Tsu...Todo..."

The doctor sighed, brushing stray hairs away from the brunette's face. Unknown to Uraraka, the doctor's heart was in extreme anguish seeing such a young girl continue to put people before herself, even at her literal worst. "Your friends are fine dear, some of them actually came by to see you."

"...really?"

"Yes, I believe the most frequent visitor of yours was a blonde with the worst temper I'd ever seen. You're lucky to have such caring friends love, now please get some rest, it's time you take care of yourself for once."

Uraraka closed her eyes softly, dreaming of white clouds floating in the sky above her.

White. That was all anyone had seen for moment.

It was like a sick, twisted dream, everything went silent, no one dared to move. No one could move, they were too stunned by the massive explosion that rocked the area. Any newscasters and crews filming were knocked out of service, mics disabled, cameras malfunctioning. The scene before them was too great to capture on any media, anyway.

Katsuki Bakugo stood alone in a crater so big it was a miracle the ground didn't totally collapse below him. Up in the air, Midoriya floated above him, praying of his many quirks, his floating one would keep him out of range long enough for Bakugo to do what he needed to do. The slew of attacks that came next was unlike the curly-headed teen had ever seen, and he had studied Bakugo's fighting style for years. Explosion after explosion racked the battlefield, and he was moving from target to target so fast they could barely see him. He put his entire body into his moves, shifting his entire weight into his leg for a kick, twisting his body in midair to change direction as rocketed to his next victim. This was the moment knew the hero society was beyond lucky this boy hadn't succumbed to evil at any point in his life.

It seemed as if Bakugo saved the water woman who had taken Uraraka down for last, because the explosions died down for a second, every other villain involved unconscious or incapacitated beyond movement. Some could say it was a savage display of heroics, but Bakugo would simply say he didn't need anyone to get in his way of exacting his rightfully earned revenge. His mind was blank save for the image of Uraraka nearly drowning in his head, and he was sure that if he spoke even one word, he would lose his composure and break down crying.

Every step he took towards the woman of his eye resulted in an explosion, each one bigger than the last. His forearms twinged with exhaustion, and the air smelled of burnt sugar, but he persisted. The woman couldn't keep up with the rapid-fire explosions coming from left and right, her ability to manipulate any source of water around her greatly reduced by the dry, smoky air Bakugo had created.

He was a foot or two away from her now, eyes stinging with tears, lip trembling with anger. To her, he looked like an angry little kid, nothing more than a dramatic little brat, but Midoriya knew that look. He knew it to be the one Bakugo had only shown a few times in his life, the look of utter defeat and self-hatred. Midoriya felt extremely guilty at this point, he felt as if his selfish and petty desires had interrupted more than just surface-level feelings between Bakugo and Uraraka. He had seen his former best friend in many lights, but he never really noticed that when Uraraka came into play, it altered Bakugo's life in a way that resulted in either the best or worst-case scenario.

Later on at the hospital, Midoriya realized that if the worst-case scenario were to happen and Uraraka would have died, Bakugo was going to be a truly unstoppable force capable of God knows what.

But at the scene before him, Midoriya chalked it up to pure rage that hadn't been expelled properly until now. He watched Bakugo stare at the woman, his chest heaving up and down, arms swinging loosely beside him. The gauntlet on his left side had cracked significantly, and his body was covered in soot and ash. The battlefield, or what was left of it was a mess, scattered bodies of the 12 criminals and their classmates and mentors off to the side recovering. Midoriya moved before his mind told him to as Bakugo raised his right arm slowly, aiming at the woman and creating a small ring with his fingers. His circled palm glowed red, then orange, then yellow, and finally white as he focused all his energy, anger, and hurt into what he would've deemed his final AP Shot had Midoriya not shot down to Earth and kicked him aside, the deadly shot being misfired into the sky. It looked like a bright beacon to Bakugo, his body slowly falling to the ground. Midoriya knew that either 1 of 2 things were going to happen from this moment. 1) Bakugo, still in a silent rage, was going to try again until he hit or killed the woman, or 2) He was going to fight and try to kill Midoriya for being part of the reason the girl they cared about was gravely injured.

What he didn't expect was the lightning-fast speed Bakugo used to get back up, turn the opposite direction, and book it in Uraraka's direction. Midoriya apprehended the woman Bakugo left behind and turned around to watch Bakugo scoop up Uraraka and hold her close to him. For a moment he sat there on his knees cradling the unconscious girl, then he sniffled and hugged her even tighter, burying his head into her body as he gently shook with tears. Bakugo honestly thought she was dead, or very close to it, and as many times UA had subjected him and the people he went to school with in horrible situations, none of them had ever ended with a student so badly injured it was hard to tell whether they were alive or not. None of these situations put him in a spot where a person he actually cared about had been affected, and he chose to be detached from his friends and classmates as much as possible for this reason. These people were a distraction to him, he should've been celebrating this victory, not backing away from the final villain and praying the girl he had grown accustomed to wasn't dead.

He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't see her stupid little smile, or hear her dumb little laugh in between classes. What was he supposed to do if he couldn't remember the feel of her finger pads on the sides of his face when they kissed, and what was he going to look at if it weren't her wide eyes that even shined in the darkness. The weeks they spent together, the feeling of pride he had let into his life after they first fought each other, the happiness she brought him, it would've all been a waste of time.

Bakugo sat there, silently crying, knowing nothing was worse than a punishment like this. Everything with her, sacrificed at the cost of her life spent by what he thought to be his selfish mistakes. They were cruel consequences, and he hated the way she made him feel, he hated the way he cared so much for someone who wasn't officially his. Uraraka was punishing him for his ways, and he suffered alone, the built up complexities of his own personality clashing with the addition of her into his life.

He cursed her for making him love her like this.

Uraraka opened her eyes for the second time that day, the soft golden sunlight peeking in through her blinds as the afternoon settled in. She turned to her right, her parents sitting quietly in the chairs beside her. She opened her mouth to speak, and was quickly enveloped in hugs and kisses. She sat there through their tears, their worries and concerns striking through her like a cold knife. She hated this part of the hero gig, putting her family in a constant state of worry when all she wanted to do was support them. She hugged them back, finding her body moved without as much pain as it had before.

"Your doctor says you'll be able to come home tomorrow morning," Her mother said softly.

"Come...home?" Uraraka asked slowly, her voice sounding a bit off. She was still having trouble speaking clearly, and the two weeks of sleep didn't help.

"Yes dear, it's December 23rd. Your school is on break right now, I believe most of your classmates opted to go home for the holidays." Her father said from beside her mother, holding her hand.

"Oh..I was hoping I could see..my friends.." Uraraka sat back in her bed, the feeling of disappointment rising.

"Well," Her mother started. "There's been one person here every day waiting for you to wake up."

"Hm?" Uraraka's brow raised mid-sip of the water she had finally been able to drink.

"Oh, the blonde, right dear? There were a few others, one with green hair, a pink girl, and Tsu of course, but this young man has come by at least once every day." Her father said. Uraraka sighed. Of course it was Bakugo, who else would lurk around like that? As bad as she wanted to see him, she wasn't sure she would know what to say, and yet...

"Yes, yes, that's him. I'll go fetch him now, if he's still in the waiting area." Her mother scurried out of the room, Uraraka choking on her water.

"He's a nice man, that kid. Sat next to your mother every day. He told how strong you were, y'know? That she had nothing to worry about, because it was you, and he was certain you were going to pull through no matter what." Her father said, looking out the window gingerly. He turned back to his daughter, smiling softly. Uraraka blushed a little, fiddling with the blankets of her hospital bed. Her mother returned shortly with a quiet and stiff Bakugo in tow. He walked in the room slowly, as if he were scared to disturb the peace gathered. Her parents said their loving goodbyes, stating they would return in the morning to take her home, and left, leaving the two teens in silence.

Moments passed, Bakugo looking at the ground and Uraraka out the window. Neither knew what to say, or if they should even say anything. A few more agonizing minutes passed, and Uraraka felt a slight shove and dip in her bed. She turned to look at Bakugo, who had awkwardly taken a seat on the edge of her bed, back facing her. She opened her mouth to invite him to sit in the bed with her, but he spoke first.

"Never scare me like that again."

She looked at him surprised.

"I mean never fucking scare me like that again. What were you thinking, if you were even thinking at all?" He still sat with his back facing her, shaking slightly. "For fuck's sake Ochako, please never do some stupid shit like that again."

She gasped, unfamiliar to hearing him use her first name. "Katsuki, I-"

"Shut up for a second. I don't wanna hear any bullshit. I don't care if you're sorry, you were stupid as fuck, and pushed yourself too hard. Did you want me to lose my mind? Does it make you feel better knowing you put me through this hell for 2 weeks? Are you fucking happy Ochako?" He squeezed his fists together, straining to keep his voice from cracking as he berated her. "I don't know what you were thinking, but that was the most stupid, selfish, idiotic, and weak display of heroism I have ever seen from you. It was fucking pathetic."

Uraraka didn't know what to say, but she was mad. Somehow, she thought this was going to be a lighthearted meeting, that they would just forget the fight and she would make up with him for the earlier incident. He didn't get to be mad, whether she almost died or not. It wasn't fair. She didn't want to be mad, obviously he cared for her, but she didn't like being put at fault.

"I wouldn't have had to risk myself if you guys didn't make it so hard for me to be around you." Uraraka stated coldly. She wouldn't have gotten into that situation if Midoriya and Bakugo had put their pride aside for 2 seconds. "Did you think I wanted to take on a fight by myself when you two are supposed to be people I can count on? You think I wanted push myself so hard, even when I know I'm not that strong?"

Bakugo stiffened.

"I get it, okay? I'm just a dumb little rescue hero, I'm a dumbass to you, a burden to Deku, insignificant to everyone else. But I have dreams too, Katsuki, and even if I overdid it, I feel better knowing that it was by myself, because I surely couldn't rely on you or Midoriya." The air felt hot to her, and her cheeks were red with frustration. Why did they have to argue, why couldn't it just go back to normal?

"That fucking Deku is the reason things went to shit. I had it under control, I was going to save your dumb ass-"

"I didn't need it."

"You needed someone, and I'll be damned if it was that shitty nerd before me."

"Why can't I just save myself? Why do I need one of you two to do it for me?"

"Why does Deku even have to be an option?! I'm fucking more than enough!" Bakugo turned around, eyes bright.

Uraraka crossed her arms, eyes brimming with tears. "So this is about your stupid savior complex now?" She asked, voice full of hurt.

"So what if it is?" He responded quietly. "Why couldn't it just have been me?"

"I told you, I didn't need-"

"Cut the bullshit, Cheeks." Bakugo got up from the bed abruptly. "You were going to die, shit, you almost did die."

"But I didn't. I managed that much on my own." Uraraka looked down, willing her already falling tears to go away. Bakugo sighed, and turned to face her once again.

"Is it him?" He asked lowly.

"What?"

"Is it De- Midoriya?" Bakugo asked once more. Uraraka was speechless.

"Katsuki, what-"

"Why do you fucking keep him around? Why the fuck do you look at him like that? Why the fuck is he so much more than me?" He let his voice slip, the very audible high-pitched crack shattered Uraraka's heart immediately upon hearing it.

"He's my best friend-"

"So what am I?"