01/04/2022
MANGA SPOILERS
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year :)
WARNING FOR POTENTIAL GRAPHIC DETAILS AND/OR VERY INTENSE SCENES - VARIES BY CHAPTER
Colored Red
1 of ?
D Ward
Red and hot explosions swirled with magnificent radiance and power.
Deep crimson, orange, and charcoal black accumulations of smoke and fire smoldered on the desolation where the hospital once stood, and seared the sitting blue sky in haze.
There was an eerie, dead silence that was unbroken, but ran parallel with the muffled ringing in Katsuki's ears, like he was under water; the sound transitioned into the crackling of fire.
Katsuki slowly inhaled, but the oxygen was mixed with blood and ash. It burned Katsuki's lungs, and resulted in a cough that sat deep in his chest and itched without relief. He laid on the side of his uninjured shoulder, unmoving, and seeing no one, except the mutilated corpse of a High End Nomu; its silhouette rested several yards from him, amidst the wafting fumes.
Immediately, Katsuki recognized that he did not feel well, and the pain of being torn open could no longer be numbed by adrenaline. The sharp pain was permanent; he could feel it through the bone and muscle of his shoulder, through his stomach, and inside his chest. It screamed at him every time he breathed, and every breath was an excruciating chore. He could taste the fresh blood in his mouth, could feel it clotting up his throat, and could feel its sticky warmth on his skin and in his clothes.
Katsuki found himself staring through exhausted, maskless, half-opened eyes, where he could see the blood glistening on the back of his hand, through rugged tears in the fabric of his broken gear.
The late winter breeze was chilling the blood, making Katsuki uncomfortably wince as a shiver went down his spine.
Yet, the rays of the sun were breaking through the overcast of smoke.
Katsuki meekly blinked and focused an eye on one of the rays; not exactly sure what he was waiting for…because he was very certain that this was what it felt like to die.
Something was pulling him, but he told himself to stay awake and continued watching the sun.
A lot of memories sat with him, and he realized that he didn't want this to be it…this was never how it was supposed to end…but, Shigaraki's charred and nightmarish figure continuously came back; again, and again. Katsuki couldn't help himself. When he saw Shigaraki going for Izuku, Katsuki was there in a heartbeat. Katsuki didn't even think; he just saw his life flash before his eyes, and somehow, he found the means to keep pushing through.
The events played again in Katsuki's head as he wondered how he got there; laying on the scorched dirt, thinking that every breath was his last.
There would be no further words.
No goodbyes.
How would his parents feel?
Cold bitterness welled up as Katsuki thought about every stinging argument and fight with his mother. In all honesty, he did not feel bad for her; but, he knew his death would upset his father.
Katsuki was reminded of all the times he and his father would go for walks in the evenings (when Katsuki was far younger) to go for ice cream.
For some reason, that stopped when Katsuki was nine years old.
Katsuki, unsure if he was even lucid, was suddenly trying to figure out why that had stopped. The only other time they went for a walk again was after Kamino.
It might've been wise to have gone for one last walk before Katsuki left for this battle today, but he didn't, and now he regretted it. He had decided not to tell his parents about what was going on, but the school had that responsibility of reaching out to the parents of the students.
Then, what about his classmates? Would they return to the classroom with number seventeen as an empty seat?
It was a thought that Katsuki had only ever considered during his first moments of captivity with the League.
Katsuki's eyes narrowed into a serious scowl, as he thought about that night at Camp. Everybody was put through so much trouble, just because the League thought Katsuki was a great candidate for their cause.
His classmates' expressions flashed in his mind when Dabi had grabbed Katsuki; the hands of a murderer, and now the eldest brother of Shouto, clasping the back of Katsuki's neck, and receding through the dark portal.
The shock, and the horror, and Izuku's hopeless cries of failure and separation resonated unexpectedly within Katsuki, like an echo.
Fifty-two hours.
Katsuki was held by the League for fifty-two hours; chained up and forced to listen to Shigaraki parading for Katsuki to join the League.
Livid.
Katsuki felt extremely livid as he kept on guard, surrounded by his enemies. Yet, the image of his classmates' endless attempt to reach him constantly overlaid in his mind.
It didn't make sense to him.
Of course, he never wanted anybody to be seriously injured, but he was never very pleasant to anybody, either. Katsuki just thought that whoever wasn't him was just in the way of his personal agenda; he couldn't waste time and didn't have the energy to handle anybody else, especially transitioning from middle school to an entirely new student body.
Katsuki had experienced people coming and going all the time, but nobody ever really stayed, except for Izuku. Katsuki couldn't remember how or why it happened, or what was said (since he was four years old at the time), but one day Izuku kept going on and on and on until Katsuki unpredictably snapped with a venomous rage.
That first punch was like a bullet shattering glass.
Izuku was absolutely shocked, and so was Katsuki…
A tragic pause sat between them before Katsuki struck him again. And again. And fourth time.
It hurt.
For both of them.
Katsuki knew it was wrong, and it felt wrong, but it was also relieving because somehow there was a scarring resentment weighing on him. It was complicated, and confusing, and painful for him to accept Izuku's friendship, but then suddenly hate him after all the days they had spent laughing and playing together.
The two of them were frozen in their places: Izuku was winded on the ground with a scrapped cheek and split lip; while Katsuki was hunched over, resting a hand on his knee and panting, with his bloodied knuckles loosely hanging.
Both of them just stared at each other in disbelief at what had just occurred.
Izuku looked heartbroken and shockingly guilt-ridden; bewildered tears built up in his eyes, and one by one they left gleaming trails down his face.
Katsuki had a look of betrayal, and pain, and anger burning in his eyes, but then it softened into a glassy filter of horror and grief. Shaky breaths were caught in his throat, and in sudden shame, he walked away without a word to Izuku.
He wandered aimlessly, with panicked hyperventilating breaths that randomly came and went as they pleased. Eventually, Katsuki found himself sitting at the base of a tree, in the dark of the night; arms wrapped around his folded knees and face buried into them. At some point, he just felt numb and empty, and he was scared to go home – unwilling to face the wrath of his mother for staying out for too long.
Nearly a week later, after not seeing or speaking to each other, Katsuki was taken aback when Izuku was at his front door: asking if he had done something to make Katsuki upset at him. Katsuki didn't know what to say – couldn't even fathom what brought him to assaulting Izuku, but he saw the healing cuts and bruises that he had caused on his friend and watched Izuku with empty eyes. Katsuki shut himself off, telling Izuku that he didn't want to talk about it.
Katsuki never wanted to talk about it.
They tried to move past what had happened by pretending that it never occurred, but it only got worse after Katsuki got a quirk and Izuku didn't; the complaining of whatever Izuku didn't have was infuriating and resentful to Katsuki, and it just seemed to never stop.
It was strange…because no matter how bad or good it got between them, they had still grown up together. Some deeply rooted bond had always remained between them, but they were like estranged siblings when Katsuki started becoming distant…but, Izuku still never left: he always came back and Katsuki could never figure out why he always came back.
Ground Gamma inked itself into Katsuki's mind, as well as the answer to that question: Izuku wanted to see what Katsuki would become, because Katsuki was amazing, and despite All Might being Izuku's hero, Katsuki was the one who was in Izuku's life.
Was it that simple? Those were Izuku's words.
Katsuki had to contemplate that…because what did that even mean?
…it didn't really matter, though.
All Katsuki knew was that Izuku always came after him, and then when Izuku showed up with a quirk, it just seemed like that was Izuku's priority. To Izuku, it was always about the quirk, and suddenly he was trying to beat Katsuki for a title; a title that Katsuki needed for a specific reason. Katsuki didn't know if that was true, but that's what it felt like for Katsuki. Perhaps he was interpreting Izuku wrong, but it still made Katsuki feel icky on the inside, and caused him to hate Izuku evermore.
It was funny, though, because no matter how irritating Izuku got, Katsuki still cared about him, even if it was rarely demonstrated on a surface level.
Of course, it was never easy for Katsuki to talk about his feelings, but he wished he had had one last chance to sort out his old feelings with Izuku…there were things he needed say to make amends…but once Katsuki had been impaled – that was it.
All Katsuki could muster was to remind Izuku not to face the enemy alone.
That was always the problem…Izuku wanted to hold the entire world in his hands, like the image that All Might had presented to the world…but, that was impossible. Not even with One For All could he carry that weight, despite if Izuku thought otherwise.
Izuku was still human.
Just like Katsuki.
And one day – maybe today, Katsuki wouldn't be there to take another bullet for Izuku…
…So, when Izuku had shown up at Kamino to get Katsuki, it was not surprising – but, the rest of his classmates being there was appalling.
Eijiro. Shouto. Momo. Tenya.
Why would they even consider doing that?
Originally, he had gathered that they weren't really fond of him (not that he cared), but perhaps Katsuki's opinion was wrong… All of that had happened nearly nine months ago, but it bothered Katsuki more than he ever realized; none of them would've come if they didn't care…
Katsuki's mind haphazardly leapt to the moment he was on stage with Kyoka, Fumikage, Momo, Denki, and himself – at the heart of the stage during their concert. Katsuki sat on that platform, drums at hand, with a view of his classmates and the audience ahead of him; the vibrant sound of the music and the audience, and those blinding lights…
Without any reason, Katsuki was suddenly in a creek, wearing a white sweatshirt on a warm spring day, where the sunlight danced along the soft, ashy blond strands of his hair… Katsuki didn't know how it got buried under all of his hate and rage, but he remembered shutting his eyes from his own innocent happiness, and the corners of his mouth rising into a faint, but warm and honest smile that could brighten the entire world, and in that moment, it was contagious to Izuku. He didn't even remember what he said to Izuku, but Izuku suddenly held a wondrous look in response towards Katsuki…
Katsuki knew that was his earliest memory with Izuku, but he couldn't remember happiness like that since; after that, life was colored red with the most painful and braising anger Katsuki had ever felt. It made that innocent memory seem like a pipedream, but he knew it was real and he couldn't figure out what happened to that part of him...
There was suddenly a straining in Katsuki's throat, and he was quickly overthrown with panic when he realized that he had wasted so much time…time that he could've spent –
Katsuki lost focus.
The bright sun blended with the ash that fell like snow, becoming one massive blur… Katsuki's mind grew blank, and his eye gradually rolled shut.
…
…
"…Bakugo."
The voice sounded far off, like it was from outside of a dream.
There was a dry, demanding, and terrified articulated sigh, "Katsuki!"
Katsuki.
That first name was only ever called by Katsuki's family; most often, it was called by the unbearable, aggressive tone of his mother.
Never had he heard his name called like that, in such fear and desperation.
Standing a few feet from Katsuki, Tenya was wary; chillingly eyeing Katsuki's limp and bloodied form. Tenya's feet felt glued to the ground and his muscles stiff at the cruel reality that his classmate…and friend (whether Bakugo thought so or not) might already be dead…but Katsuki fought, and cracked open his eyes to see Tenya's anguish, and pale face, and sharp eyes looking down at him.
It didn't give Tenya any hope.
When Tenya arrived on the scene and found Katsuki like this the first time, it was his full intention to get him out of danger. Tenya had literally been holding Katsuki in his arms; blood was smeared on the right side of his chest and right arm, on the white of his gear.
A part of Tenya was furious: Katsuki hadn't listened to him about remaining out of the fight…but none of this was Katsuki's fault either; he was just doing what needed to be done…or else, many of their comrades could've been killed, including Tenya himself.
Even if Katsuki hadn't taken out the Nomus, it still would've ended like this…
Nothing could take back his injuries…
Feeling scared of the circumstances, Tenya gently knelt on one knee in front of Katsuki as Katsuki's amber-red eyes gained some momentary strength to address Tenya. Katsuki drew in a shallow breath and parted his lips to say something…but dishearteningly gave up and went still: Katsuki's eyelids closed to mere slits, where Tenya watched his dull but glossy eyes stare at nothing in particular, except for the dust around his own hand. Then, Katsuki inclined his chin on the ground by an inch with a wet, throaty wince from the blood in his mouth, which resulted in two, intense, labored breaths from the efforts of readjustment.
Tenya could hear the torture in Katsuki's voice from every little movement and every half-breath that he forced himself to take.
At a loss of what to do to help, and with all the risk of just quickening Katsuki's death if Tenya moved him, he shifted his weight to sit crossed-legged. With emotional pain, Tenya muttered, "I – I'm staying here…okay? …just don't let go." The words were catching in his throat.
Tenya was pretty sure that Katsuki could still hear him. Maybe. He wasn't sure.
He sat there, chin resting in his palms as he watched Katsuki; thinking to himself when Katsuki was at least responsive earlier. Now, there were periods of stillness that were so severe, Tenya was nearly fooled; a few times, he had to place two fingers right under the base of Katsuki's jawline. Sometimes Tenya could find a pulse, and sometimes he couldn't. The only indication that Katsuki was still alive was his occasional airy breaths when he'd drift in and out from a half-conscious state. At least, when that occurred, Tenya could see the rise and fall of Katsuki's chest, even if it was due to coherency of Katsuki's own pain, which interrupted the unsettling, lengthy pauses in his respirations.
Around them, the crater of the hospital grounds made Tenya feel like they were on Mars, and he wondered how first responders were supposed to reach them to begin with. Looking from Katsuki and then to the incline of the hospital trench, Tenya was starting to feel a gnawing dread, which turned into mild hyperventilation. Tenya rested his fists on the ground and hung his head in order to take a deep breath and calm himself – forcefully and reluctantly bracing himself for the possibility that Katsuki might not even survive the trip.
"Bakugo…" Tenya grimaced, hoping to get Katsuki to stay awake, but he appeared to be completely unconscious. In the sparing light of the sun, Tenya felt haunted by Katsuki's pale skin, and clammy look. Blood had managed to soak a few strands of his blond hair (at random during the altercation of the battle); a patch of his temple hairline was smudged red with blood, making it matted down against his scalp, and a lonely droplet was streaked dry down the side of his face.
Unable to tell if Katsuki was even breathing, Tenya inched his knee right in front of Katsuki's abdomen, and he had to consider the massive, rugged hole that met between the ribcage line and upper abdomen. Tenya sympathetically surveyed all the blood that coated Katsuki's front (from whatever maneuvers that had made the blood spread further). Tenya's eyes shifted to the piercing through Katsuki's shoulder; it wasn't as large as the abdominal wound, but blood still streamed down across Katsuki's chest from the gravitational pull. Carefully, Tenya placed his left hand on the left-hand side of Katsuki's chest, and reached his right hand around between his mid-back and flank. " – Hey!" he exhaled with a deep, but breaking voice.
Faintly, Tenya could feel Katsuki still breathing, but rigidly, and silently prayed for him not to stop. In the distance, he could hear the sirens of the police and ambulances. Constantly, his eyes transitioned between the horizon that flickered red and blue, and his teammate. " – Bakugo!" In dismay, he added, "…come on!…" Tenya suddenly felt overwhelmed and grief-stricken with the harsh memory of his brother…but this was way worse.
He had never expected that almost a year after entering high school, after all of the trials Class 1-A had faced together; every day they had spent together, and lived in the dorms together. After the USJ and Kamino Ward, Tenya never imagined that he'd have Katsuki in his hands, suffering to death.
It was too much.
Tenya tried remaining composed, knowing it wasn't fair for him to fret when Katsuki was the one struggling to stay alive; but the scene, and the fear of not knowing what would happen pushed Tenya over the edge. There was a lump rising in his throat, and his jaw clenched as he tried fighting the emotions.
Katsuki was always a very reserved person when it came to allowing others to get to know him. Class 1-A typically viewed Katsuki as being extremely hard-headed, which wasn't entirely wrong, but Tenya could never forget the little things that had brought out other colors from Katsuki: he was a great cook, talented in music, creative, an amazing fighter…and he never gave up… Tenya felt overcome, realizing that Katsuki had just saved their lives, despite whatever people assumed of him or how many times he'd been called a villain.
Apprehensively, Tenya hung his head while his hands were still monitoring Katsuki's breathing. With a hush tone, Tenya graciously asserted, "…You're…incredibly brave…" Tenya eyed Katsuki, seeing no signs of movement. "I need you to know that… You are one of the bravest people I've ever known, and I'm proud to have you as my teammate." Tenya took a steady breath. "…all of us are supposed to return to the dorms, together…alright? That includes you, too..Bakugo…" Crestfallen, Tenya timidly and breathlessly pleaded, "…we need you to come back to the dorms with us…"
Katsuki remained silent.
Behind Tenya, Mirio approached the two underclassmen, and stopped ten feet from them. "…Iida. The others have sustained pretty bad injuries, especially the burn victims, but they're all stable for the moment," he informed, sorrowfully eyeing Tenya as he loyally sat with Katsuki.
Tenya glanced over his shoulder, replying, "Thank you…for letting me know." Afterwards, Tenya returned his gaze back to Katsuki.
Uncomfortably, Mirio quietly asked, "Is Bakugo alive?"
"…yes."
Mirio walked closer, standing off to Tenya's right-hand shoulder. Matter-of-factly (while observing Katsuki's horrific condition), Mirio said, "…It's going to be rough moving him out of here. Are you ready?"
Tenya was overheated, and nervous, and he could feel the dust from the air settling with the sweat on his brow, but he dipped his head in agreement and acknowledged Mirio with a voiceless yes.
A helicopter suddenly flew overhead.
Tenya and Mirio snapped their eyes up at the helicopter as the wind from the blades stirred up the dirt and the fumes; there were already plenty of news helicopters, but this one had the hospital emblem on its side.
Watching the helicopter as if it were their only chance, and as it passed over them to find a place to land, Tenya desperately called back to Mirio, "Call them over! Togata – please! – Call them over!"
Mirio was already gone, on the exact same page as Tenya.
Quickly, Tenya pulled away the hand on Katsuki's chest, and retrieved his own phone from a pocket to call Momo, despite being connected through intercoms.
" – Iida!?"
" – Yaoyorozu!" he answered, relieved to hear her voice. He glanced towards Mirio, who was meeting with the helicopter paramedics.
"What's happened?" she asked, scared. "Did Gigantomachia come through?"
" – it – the hospital…it's completely destroyed… – and the villains escaped…" Tenya summarized in a defeated manner; he dropped his gaze onto Katsuki, and heavily sighed, "The battle ended in a standstill." Before Momo could comment, Tenya questioned, "How is it on your end? Is the rest of our group safe?"
"There's a few minor injuries, but everybody is alright…except – " Momo's voice caved in, and there was a long pause before she brought herself to quietly say, "…Midnight was killed."
Tenya's eyes widened at this revelation, but he had no time to process that news as he frighteningly stared down at Katsuki, who was nearly in the same circumstance. "Yaoyorozu…I – "
"Iida, the rest of us are doing okay, though – we're just shaken," she said.
"Of course," Tenya replied, understandingly.
"I just – what are we supposed to do now?" she asked hypothetically, sounding lost.
"…I can't say…but we'll have to regroup at the hospital," he uttered, austere. "Our group got separated. Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and I got involved with the battle at the hospital grounds – everybody else was left behind to evacuate the civilians…"
Momo worriedly gasped, " – are you? – "
Tenya squeezed his eyes shut and dipped his head. " – No! – " He reopened his eyes and fought so hard to keep a steady voice. " – I – Todoroki and Midoriya are injured, but Togata said they're stable – he's going to be staying with them. The medics are here, so that's good…but – …um – " Tenya's mouth felt dry. "…Bakugo is hurt…really bad…"
"…Iida."
" – it's…not good. We're trying to get him airlifted to the hospital." Gravely, Tenya said, "Yaoyorozu, I have to stay with Bakugo…I really don't know what'll happen. He's lost a lot of blood." Tenya had been eyeing his surroundings, but he blinked and looked down to see Katsuki's eye cracking open. Tenya fleetly inched the phone away from his ear. " – hey!..." he called to Katsuki, seeing Katsuki's throat constricting as he tried to swallow. Katsuki started wheezing brokenly between the swallowing as if the air was catching in his throat, so it sounded like he was choking. " – I have to call you back!" he crucially said to Momo. He couldn't wait for her to respond and hung up, suddenly going white and becoming alarmed by the fear in Katsuki's fading eye and the panic from his breathing. Tenya set his phone down and placed his left hand on Katsuki's upper bicep. Irrationally calm, Tenya steadily said to him, "Stay calm!" Tenya knew those two words were Katsuki's least favorites, but neither of them cared.
Katsuki was dying.
They both knew it.
Harsh pain and frustration found its way to Katsuki's demeanor. "Just focus on my voice! Take steady breaths," Tenya gently said, still seeing Katsuki's line of sight staring at the ground, nearly lifeless. "It's going to be alright."
"Kid!"
Tenya glanced up at the paramedics as they arrived. There were four of them that surrounded Tenya and Katsuki.
"Kid!"
Frozen in a state of surrealism, Tenya sluggishly realized the paramedics were talking to him. A female paramedic placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be alright," she muttered sympathetically, seeing the trauma on Tenya's face. He stared up at her. "We'll take it from here. Those bracers on your friends' wrists." She pointed, and Tenya followed her direction to Katsuki's wrists. "Can you take them off? That's all I need you to do. And the gloves."
The paramedic walked around to Tenya's other side, near Katsuki's head as Tenya did as told. His hands were shaking, and he forced himself to hold his breath so he could focus. The memory of the Hero Killer (Stain) came to mind: when Tenya was paralyzed on the street of an alleyway, expecting Shouto, Izuku, and himself to be murdered then and there. It was terrifying, and that same terror existed in the current moment.
Tenya did not want Katsuki to die. He did not want to watch Katsuki die, but they were at the end of the line.
Respectfully, Tenya removed the gear from Katsuki's limp hands and wrists, and he traded places with the female paramedic so she had access to Katsuki's right-hand forearm; the rest of the paramedics were assessing Katsuki's vitals. "Bakugo, I'm still here," Tenya said, seeing Katsuki suddenly become increasingly startled when Tenya left his eyesight and was replaced by strangers. Tenya knelt right behind Katsuki's head, a few inches from his hair.
"Katsuki, it's going to be alright. Just stay with us. We're going to take you to the hospital," the female paramedic tranquilly explained, beckoning one of her colleagues over. "Try to relax. We're going to start an I.V."
The colleague held down Katsuki's forearm of the shoulder he laid on, above the elbow and at the wrist while the female paramedic searched for a vein.
Tenya continued eyeing Katsuki, roughly watching his exhaustion winning over him and listening to the frail winces of his faint but raspy breaths. It was taking whatever strength Katsuki had left to constantly keep his eye from rolling back. Tenya flicked his eyes to each paramedic that had come to help Katsuki. Of course, they were there to save his life, but Tenya felt unsettled by the sight even though Katsuki loathed being pitied.
He hated being touched.
There were a lot of people around him. Tenya saw Katsuki laying on the ground, vulnerable, with several hands on him, and thought he saw Katsuki's hand slightly flinch as the paramedic inserted an I.V. value into it. Katsuki was unaware of what they were about to do, but Tenya saw all the supplies the paramedics had brought, and horrifyingly realized that they were going to intubate Katsuki, because he was losing too much oxygen.
Tenya doubted that Katsuki was even paying close attention to what was being said, because for a terrifying moment, they all heard him stop breathing; but after a pause, like he'd gone under water and resurfaced, he steadily breathed like he was on the verge of passing out, and Tenya could tell that Katsuki was agitated. Tenya placed his hand back on Katsuki's upper bicep. "I'm still here," he stated, ignoring everything else. "Listen to me." He still sat behind Katsuki's head, out of his viewpoint, but again, Tenya said, "Just listen to me. Drown everything else out." If Tenya could distract Katsuki, even if just for a little bit, to make it easier, he was going to try. "I'm staying here… I'm not leaving. So just listen to me."
"Katsuki…" the female paramedic spoke up. "Just relax. I'm giving you some medicine; it's going to make you drowsy." Tenya skeptically eyed the paramedic as she pushed the liquid of a syringe through the I.V. value. "It's alright…Don't fight it. Just relax…"
Rather quickly, Katsuki's breathing was reduced, and the last of his strength was wisped away…
His eye shut for the final time.
In the back of Tenya's mind, he was scarred by the enlightenment that they were on the grounds of a hospital where Nomus were created and experiments with Shigaraki were being performed. It made him consider the fact that when Katsuki was kidnapped, during that night that Tenya and the others snuck into the alleyway, Shigaraki had no intention of letting Katsuki go… The League were going to take Katsuki elsewhere if Tenya and the others hadn't intercepted the fight over Katsuki between All for One, the League, and All Might.
There was a sickly denial that Katsuki might've ended up at this hospital as a victim of this evil. During their training for this confrontation with the Paranormal Liberation Front, Aizawa had informed Class 1-A that Nomus were being created from the corpses of individuals, and that it tragically occurred with one of Aizawa's own friends, who had passed away during their final year of high school.
Nobody from the class brought up the subject publicly, but Tenya knew it was a lingering thought because one time when he came downstairs late at night, Mina was in the lounge with a few of the other girls. That's when Mina asked the difficult question of what would've happened to Katsuki if he hadn't been retrieved back from the League. Would he have been killed, and his quirk used to create a Nomu?
Tenya didn't like to think about it, but he almost couldn't trust these paramedics when he didn't know if the next hospital was safe or not; but, letting the paranoia go to his mind wasn't a smart idea, either, because there was no other option for Katsuki.
The thoughts were still carved in Tenya's mind, but as the paramedics hastily and delicately shifted Katsuki from the side he laid on and onto his back, Tenya momentarily walked away, unwilling to be a witness any further until they boarded the helicopter.
He rejoined Mirio, who was on standby. Mirio and Tenya exchanged a serious yet distraught look with each other. "You did well," Mirio encouraged as they faced the rest of their forces, which were easier to see now that the dust was thinning. Medics from the ground transportation had swarmed the area and were beginning to carry the injured off the grounds on stretchers.
"Is anybody else being airlifted?" Tenya soullessly asked.
"They had to pick and choose by trauma level. Obviously, there isn't enough space on the helicopter, but they've decided to board Todoroki due to the degree of burns. Hopefully, Recovery Girl can get to him quickly… Endeavor had some puncture wounds as well, but the bleeding is under control, and he wasn't showing signs of trouble breathing like Bakugo. He'll be taken by ambulance like the others, but Aizawa – " Mirio gestured to Tenya's teacher just as the medics were taking him to the helicopter. " – he's going too. He's got head trauma, and his leg is seriously messed up."
Tenya, too exhausted to process anything else, just simply glanced at Mirio, and said, "Thank you for your help. Really, I'm grateful."
"Today was a terrible day. First years should've never been involved in this…" Mirio consoled. "It doesn't matter how much field experience your class has gained. As a graduating third year, it's my responsibility to be sure that my underclassmen are processing field work healthfully, both mentally and physically."
"Kid!"
Tenya snapped his attention to Katsuki's paramedics.
The four of them were finally carrying him to the helicopter on a stretcher. Katsuki was sedated, intubated, and resting under thick blankets.
"Kid! Are you coming? We can't wait any longer!" the female paramedic urgently called with a concerned look on her face.
"Iida, go!" Mirio urged direly, "I'll meet you at the hospital!"
Tenya rushed after the paramedics, gripping the handles of the helicopter, and pulling himself inside. Somebody closed the door behind him, and he crossed to the other side of the cabin, where Shouto lay unconscious; a separate paramedic was sitting next to Shouto's left-hand side. Tenya remained standing, holding onto a railing as the helicopter immediately took off from the ground. Tenya glanced down at Shouto, seeing the cracked skin of the deep red and white burns that crawled up the side of his neck and face. Then, he glanced towards the rear of the cabin where Aizawa was being monitored by a paramedic as well. Both Shouto and Aizawa were strapped down, hooked to an I.V., and under blankets like Katsuki, but neither of them was intubated. They simply had oxygen masks on, which made Tenya sadly gaze over his shoulder at Katsuki, where he swiftly felt his heart drop to his stomach.
The female paramedic was giving compressions on Katsuki's chest, attempting to resuscitate him from cardiac arrest.
…
That was it.
…
Tenya was paralyzed in a horrific state of shock.
…
Katsuki…he was gone…
…
One of the paramedics was adding adrenaline to Katsuki's I.V., but the other two, Tenya was bewildered as they were arguing. They were arguing about giving electrical currents to Katsuki's heart.
Tenya lost his temper, blindsided by emotion.
"WHAT THE HELL! ARE YOU DOING?!"
The two arguing paramedics looked Tenya's way, a mixture of frustration and angst on their faces. The female paramedic and her other colleague were ignoring them and continued assessing Katsuki.
Though they only stood half-way across the small helicopter cabin, the paramedic furthest from Tenya gestured to Katsuki with an open palm and irritatingly clarified, "He's a highest ranked D Ward!"
Tenya blinked.
Completely flabbergasted, Tenya retorted, " – what the hell does that even mean?"
"D Ward patients are rare individuals who possess unique, but deadly quirks, which could pose a threat to hospital staff," the paramedic edgily shared. "In this extremely peculiar case, this kid's quirk threatens both our lives and the lives of other patients at the hospital."
Tenya's eyes widened with grief, finally understanding what the paramedic was getting at.
"We read the quirk description on his Hero's License. Outside factors could still cause an explosive reaction to his sweat. By now, there could be sweat mixed with the blood, or the fabric, or who knows what, but even if we sterilize spots on his chest, we still cannot risk using defibrillator pads because the electrical current could ignite the sweat. It would kill us!" The paramedic changed the direction of his palm to the colleague he was arguing with. "My friend here, God bless him, wants to attempt using the pads, but we can't. It's too dangerous." Sympathetically, the paramedic added, "I don't like it, either. He's sixteen years old and has a whole life ahead of him, but if we make one wrong move, this entire helicopter is going down, and we'll all be dead."
Unfortunately, the dire circumstances were understood. No matter how hard Tenya could attempt arguing, it would never move the paramedic's protocol.
"But…" Tenya trailed off, beginning to feel like he was losing his sanity.
Katsuki Bakugo was dead.
He could not accept that. He could not bring himself to call Momo and tell her, and Eijiro, and Denki, and everybody else that Katsuki had died on the way to the hospital. They were not returning to the dorms with one student less. "You're…not going to stop, right?" Tenya asked the female paramedic with a straining voice. She had not ceased the compressions, but Tenya did not know how long the paramedics would try resuscitating Katsuki. "Please…!" Tenya begged like this was some type of terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake himself from. Just this morning, his entire class were healthy and eating breakfast together, and now… "It can't end like this!" he angrily shouted.
How did this happen?
Tenya wanted to know.
The paramedic that had explained what D Ward was, held up his hand to calm Tenya. "We'll maintain his oxygen and blood flow manually until we arrive to the hospital. Hopefully, they'll be able to do whatever they need once he's in D Ward. I know this is extremely difficult, but I need you to stay calm and trust us as medical professionals."
Exasperated, Tenya finally understood why Katsuki hated the term stay calm or calm down so much. It was one of the most frequent terms Class 1-A used on Katsuki whenever he lost his temper, but Tenya realized in that moment, as he was told by the paramedic to 'stay calm' that, while Tenya understood where the paramedic was coming from, being told to 'stay calm' felt condescending.
Tenya had every right to be upset.
It made him realize that every time Katsuki got angry, instead of asking him why he was angry, one of the students or Tenya himself would just tell Katsuki to 'calm down', which did the opposite and would cause Katsuki to get atrociously petty.
Tenya should've known better.
He felt ashamed of it.
This anger that he felt now, it reminded him of the bitter vengeance that started consuming him when he wanted justice for his brother…and Stain taunted him over it. At the Sports' Festival, Tenya had to leave before the final match, having heard that a villain (Stain) had gotten his older brother…
A villain had gotten Katsuki twice now.
Where was Katsuki's justice?
In a daze and feeling faint, Tenya fragilely watched Katsuki's closed eyes and expressionless face… There was no anger. There was no pride. There was no sharp-tongue or a powerful and persuasive voice. There was no vibrant determination or drive.
Tenya thought about every interaction that he had had with Katsuki, especially the first time they were in class together, where Tenya was both scolding Fumikage for sitting on a desk and scolding Katsuki for resting his feet on a desk. Katsuki just amused himself, mischievously grinning and mocking Tenya's mothering persona…
Out of all the time that had passed, what Tenya saw now, as he hung back near Katsuki's covered feet, was a completely human boy, whose life had just been stolen from him.
Unable to do anything, and with the situation out of Tenya's control, he gradually backed away and took a seat near the head of Shouto's stretcher.
Intensely, Tenya watched as several minutes passed by…
This wasn't happening.
The sound of the heart monitor had been muted during the entire trip, and the wave would only spike because of the paramedics' compressions. There was still no independent heart rhythm, and the paramedics kept checking the gauze they had patched on Katsuki's open wounds, with one paramedic suggesting that Katsuki had lost too much blood.
Tenya was unsure if he should call Momo or not…because at this point, Katsuki had been without a pulse for the duration of the flight…
"..Ii…Iida…"
Tenya had been resting his chin on his fist, propped up on his knee, but shifted his eye down to his left-hand side. Shouto's eyes were cracked open and glassy…but he was watching Tenya.
Without any words to spare, Tenya exchanged a deeply saddened look with Shouto. Tenya felt himself on the verge of crying, but he was able to control himself. He didn't realize Shouto had been tentative and eyeing the paramedics surrounding Katsuki until he feebly asked, "…were they…is…Bakugo still…"
Adjusting his forearms, so they hung down from the elbows that rested on his knees, Tenya murmured, "They're still trying to bring him back…"
Half-consciously, Shouto languidly asked, "…where are we going?"
Tenya looked at Shouto who was now staring at the ceiling of the helicopter. "We're on our way to the hospital," he said while Shouto painfully grimaced and shifted his eyesight in the opposite direction of Tenya. Worried, Tenya asked, "…how are you feeling? Are you able to…stay awake?"
Having Shouto to talk to was preferred over Tenya's solemn solidarity.
Shouto's eyes drooped shut, and he breathed with malaise. After a few moments, Shouto finally answered, "…are you..alright?..." Tenya was shakily quiet as he kept his hopeless eyes on Katsuki. "…don't say that you are…I know…you're not…you can't be…" Slowly, Shouto opened his eyes and turned his head so it faced the ceiling again.
"…I'm really scared," Tenya admitted.
"…so…am I…" Shouto said as he began fading out of consciousness again. Heavily, and in disbelief, he added, "…Bakugo…is gone…"
Tenya hated hearing it, but he repeated it himself, uttering under his breath, "…he's gone." Even if they managed to get him back, he was still gone, as it was in that moment; and Tenya knew Katsuki's survival was not guaranteed, no matter the paramedics' chivalry to not give up on him.
Suddenly, Shouto mumbled, "…this…is all my fault…" Tenya jarringly jerked his attention to Shouto. "…it was him the whole time…"
"Stop it!" Tenya snapped.
"…he was there, Iida!" Shouto said hurtfully. "At camp, Iida! …Touya was there, taunting me as he took Bakugo." He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "I just thought…maybe…it was because of the Sports' Festival…but…" Shouto blinked and confirmed with a guilty tone, "My brother became a murderer and kidnapped Bakugo."
There was nothing Tenya could say to make it better, but he tried reassuring with, "I know none of this is easy, but the two of you are completely different people. You're not associated with Dabi, except through blood relations."
"…that doesn – "
Exclamations came from the paramedics. They had been rotating the compressions so they wouldn't tire out, but the female paramedic was there again. She had released the pressure on Katsuki's chest, but kept a hand on his heart while the other paramedics were paused around them.
"…it's really faint," she said, looking sweaty, and tired, and cynical.
"…you think it'll stay…? – shit! – "
There were a multitude of addled sighs from the paramedics, and the female paramedic began compressions again.
The paramedic that was with Aizawa rushed over to the other four, holding onto railings to balance himself. "You got a heartbeat?" he casually asked as he chewed on a toothpick.
Shouto's paramedic gradually wandered over to them, as one of them dishearteningly answered, "For a moment, but it dropped again..."
"They know we got this kid, right?" the medic with the toothpick asked. He didn't wait for anybody to respond, instead he shouted, "Yo! – Pilot!" The pilot glanced over his shoulder as the paramedic leaned closer to the cockpit. "You tell them we gotten take this kid straight to the O.R.!"
"They know!" the pilot remarked.
"And in D Ward, right?" the paramedic glanced to Katsuki's paramedics, and back to the pilot. "They know he's D Ward, right?"
"Yes!"
The paramedic with the toothpick inched around the head of Katsuki's stretcher to the female paramedic. "Need a break? Let me try. We're not far from the hospital – it's in sight," the paramedic said. The female paramedic stepped to the side, accepting the help.
She stood next to the paramedic with the toothpick and wiped her forehead.
Shouto's paramedic folded his arms across his chest, and speculated, "…isn't this the same kid that…"
The paramedic that vouched to use the electrical currents, standing next to Shouto's paramedic, looked at him and snapped his fingers simultaneously, " – Yeah! I thought so too! The one that got kidnapped in the summertime!"
"Uh…" Shouto's paramedic blinked. "Yeah…I guess that too…but, I'm talking about before that…"
"What?"
"That villain consisting of liquid…it was all over the news last March or April…it attacked this kid and almost suffocated him to death..."
The six paramedics went quiet…then they exchanged glances with each other, eyed Katsuki, and considered this information.
Tragically, Shouto's paramedic said, "…this kid's been attacked three times in the same year…"
"No," said the paramedic that had been giving Katsuki adrenaline. "He was with the same group of high school students that got attacked on the UA campus. Remember…? It was the first attack before Kamino Ward happened…so…it was four times…now he's lying on this table in front of us."
The paramedic that had been in conversation with Shouto's paramedic whipped his attention over his shoulder at Tenya. " – Hey! Were they after this kid again?!" the paramedic seemed agitated, but out of concern for Katsuki.
Tenya felt small, but he was shocked that they had suggested that – "No! He wasn't – " Tenya paused, remembering on the battle field when Izuku told him that Shigaraki was after him – Izuku, but at that time Katsuki had already been critically injured. Tenya had no idea what 'he's after me' actually meant, but Izuku and Katsuki both ran off towards the hospital together when One for All was mentioned over the intercoms. "I – I don't know…" For all Tenya knew, it could've been true…but…he didn't know… "I don't know…" he answered the paramedic, honestly.
The paramedic narrowed his eyes. "…hm," he voiced, sounding perplexed. "Whatever the case…this is really unfair…nobody deserves this."
Tenya remained speechless, turning his eye back to Katsuki.
"It's probably his fucking quirk," Aizawa's paramedic said as he continued giving compressions on Katsuki's chest.
"Hey! There's kids here!" one of the paramedics chided.
"You really think they care that I'm cussing after what they've just been through?" Aizawa's paramedic snorted.
Shouto's paramedic suggested, pulling the focus away from Tenya, "We should tell the hospital and contact UA. They might already know something about this, but there should be high security."
"Hey! – get ready to land!" the pilot shouted back at them.
At the queue, the paramedics dispersed back to their seats. The female paramedic, Aizawa's paramedic, and the paramedic that gave the adrenaline finally ceased their efforts and sat with Katsuki. One of Katsuki's paramedics went to sit with Aizawa.
Eerily, Tenya and Shouto watched Katsuki from the corners of their eyes.
The paramedics had stopped.
Tenya knew they were just waiting to land – the three paramedics that sat with Katsuki were each resting a hand on him in a comforting manner. They were willing to try everything in order to save him, but Tenya and Shouto saw Katsuki laying there, looking cold, smeared and caked with blood, intubated and under a now red-stained white blanket to keep him warm…his red-tinted hand rested at his side, lifeless.
It was awful…and it was a sight they would never, ever, forget.
Time stood still, and it remained still. Tenya could not find the strength to get to his feet, even as they landed and the paramedics rapidly situated Katsuki in preparation to move him.
"…bakugo…" Shouto weakly said.
The pressure of reality finally crushed them like the dark deep of the sea.
Tenya was in too much shock; he stared at the opened door of the helicopter, trapped with tunnel vision.
"…Bakugo!" Shouto fearfully called after his friend from his own stretcher, unable to move as the paramedics carried Katsuki away from them for what could've been the very last time…
He wasn't sure of the moments between, but Tenya's head was hung with his elbows shakily resting on his knees, and his hands folded. In front of him, he felt a presence… "I'm so sorry that you had to go through this…" the voice was quiet and soothing. Tenya reluctantly glanced up, seeing the female paramedic kneeling before him. Tenya was too upset to say anything, but he wiped one of his eyes and sniffed as he briefly glanced elsewhere. "My colleagues are taking Katsuki to the O.R. right now… If there's still signs of life, there's a chance that he can be saved." She rested her hand on the back of Tenya's wrist, and her other hand rested near Shouto's on the stretcher.
Shouto's paramedic stood on the opposite side of the stretcher. "Why don't you come along with your friend here…we'll take the both of you to the burn center," he said.
It took a dark moment, but Tenya finally breathed and looked at the female paramedic, "…thank you…for doing everything you could for him…"
Both paramedics studied Tenya, and the female paramedic stood up and coaxed, "…come on…let's go inside…you should get yourself cleaned up…"
Tenya, as if on autopilot, listened.
He stood up, watching the medical staff take Aizawa and Shouto off of the helicopter, but they were distributed to different wards. Aizawa went to surgery while Tenya walked beside Shouto, who was taken by a gurney to the burn unit. Once Shouto was being treated, Tenya wandered into any empty corridor by himself, where he rested his back against the wall and stared down at the screen of his smartphone.
There were two messages from Momo.
The first one read: Please call me.
The second one read: Hawks is being airlifted to the hospital. Tokoyami is with him.
Tenya didn't know what to do, but first he found himself calling All Might.
"Iida! My God – are you alright?!" All Might frantically asked. "The fight is all over the news!"
"Sir…" Tenya gradually said, "Will you come to the hospital? …please?"
"Of course," All Might replied, knowing that nothing was alright. "I'm on my way."
Eventually, as Tenya felt extremely numb, he went ahead and called Momo.
"Iida…good," Momo gently inquired, and warily she proceeded with, "…how's Bakugo?"
"…are you alone?" he asked, not wanting to start a panic if the team in the forest were suffering from their own turmoil.
"No…give me a moment." Tenya waited until Momo finally ushered, "Alright, I stepped away." Tenya was suddenly considering the moments of his life that he labeled as the worst moments, but he realized that this was one of the worst moments of his life. "…Iida?" she asked with an emotional voice, catching on to the inkling of his silence.
"So…" he sighed. "They took Bakugo to the operating room, but…" Tenya froze, struggling to break the news to her. There was no going back once he said it… "…Yaoyorozu…he was in cardiac arrest…" Tenya felt his own voice trembling. "…there was no pulse from the hospital grounds to where we are now…the paramedics were able to get a heartbeat back for a moment, but it…it went out again. So, they were still trying to resuscitate him when we got here…and they took him down to the operating room…I have no idea if Bakugo is alive or not."
They were both silent for an excruciatingly long moment.
"Iida, were you with him?" she tenderly asked.
"Yes…I saw everything."
Momo attempted to be strong for Tenya, but she was soon consumed by the reality of the situation when she considered that Katsuki was clinically dead on arrival to the hospital. "…this isn't good…" Momo muttered, suddenly fearful.
"No," Tenya said, allowing her the time to process what he just told her.
"…what – what happened?" she slightly stuttered.
"I – I'm not sure. I wasn't there when it happened, but it looked like Bakugo had been run through, through his upper abdomen and shoulder…I think there had to have been damage to his chest. He was bleeding from the mouth and couldn't breathe."
"…oh..." Momo's voice was straining. "...I don't…I don't know what to say…"
Tenya empathetically shook his head. "…there's nothing to say…it was absolutely horrible. I can't believe that it happened – he was right there in front of me, and he was…" Tenya took a deep breath, unable to relive the fresh memory. Grimacing, Tenya rested his fist against his forehead. He could barely speak. "…I need you to come to the hospital as soon as possible…please!…"
"Yes, I'm coming! Are you there alone?" she questioned urgently.
"Well, Aizawa and Todoroki were in the helicopter, too. Aizawa was sent to surgery, as well, and Todoroki is in the burn center…at least, Todoroki was speaking with me for a bit…everybody else is on their way by ambulance…and All Might is also on his way…"
"Okay…did you see my text about Tokoyami?"
"Yes…is he alright?"
"Hawks was critically injured. Tokoyami has a burn on his foot, but otherwise, he is alright, but he decided that he needed to stay with Hawks. So, he should be arriving at the hospital shortly…" she paused for a moment. "Does anybody else know about Bakugo?"
"No…just you, Todoroki, and I."
"…I think I will have to wait to tell the others. Currently, we've been asked to assist the Pros in helping the civilians that were in the pathway of Gigantomachia…so far, I only told them that you went with the three of them to the hospital. Of course…I had to tell them that Bakugo had been severely injured, but I didn't have any more information to provide. They are expecting news, but I'll just tell them that Bakugo was taken into surgery, and we don't know anything more…"
"…please stay safe out there…" Tenya said, unresponsive to anything else.
"…you as well, Iida…I'll be there soon."
When Tenya returned to the burn center, Fumikage was already there sitting on a gurney with a male nurse dressing his foot. Tenya was not fazed by the sudden, horrorstruck look Fumikage gave him. " – Iida! – Iida! – what happened?!" Fumikage asked incomprehensively, partially leaping to his feet, but was quickly reminded that the nurse was still holding onto his ankle.
He regained his balance by grabbing the railing at the foot of the bed.
A separate nurse noticed Tenya after Fumikage's alarm. "Sir! Are you alright?!" Tenya was asked, regarding the blood that was smeared and clotted on his chest and arm.
"Yes…I'm unharmed," Tenya unconcernedly responded, and then seriously addressed Fumikage, "Bakugo was rushed into surgery. Will you come with me, if you're able to?"
Fumikage's reaction suggested that he was unaware of Katsuki's condition, and simultaneously realized who the owner of the blood on Tenya was. "…yes – of course!" he answered, unnerved by Tenya's composure.
Tenya waited out in the hallway until Fumikage joined him with an intermediate limp from his injured foot. They walked through the now-frenzied hospital that was becoming too overcrowded after the catastrophic battle. With mild hysteria, and still overcoming shock from his own experiences, Fumikage kept eyeing Tenya, and finally called to him with severe worry, "Iida…" Tenya didn't stop. "Iida!" Again, he ignored Fumikage. "Iida! Stop!" he strongly requested, halting himself in the hallway. Tenya finally glanced over his shoulder at Fumikage as Fumikage rounded to stand before Tenya. "You have to change before the others get here! There's blood all over you!"
Worn out, and apprehensively, Tenya softly said, "…Tokoyami, they were trying to resuscitate Bakugo when we arrived…" Fumikage stared at Tenya, wide-eyed with sudden shock. "I need to know if they've pronounced him dead or not… Please come with me, and then I will change."
Suddenly somber, Fumikage stepped out to the side of Tenya. "Where did they take Bakugo if he's not here?" he asked as they continued walking passed the surgical center of the ward they were in.
"Because of his quirk, they had to take Bakugo to a special ward," Tenya answered.
After a few stops for directions and Fumikage inquiring for further details about what happened to Katsuki, they found their way from the noise of the main hospital to the void entryway of D Ward. There were stairs, but they took the elevator that descended far below the hospital…
The color scheme of D Ward tried to be welcoming, but Tenya and Fumikage were met with the starkness of what seemed like…a renovated bunker. It appeared sterile and cold, with barely any staff members or patients in the vicinity, so the only sound was their echoing footsteps as they found themselves at the first receptionist hub of the ward. The few staff members that were there were pre-occupied by the news channel, which was discussing the major battle and showing footage of the aftermath.
A receptionist glanced up from her computer screen as Tenya and Fumikage stopped at the counter. Before the nurse could comment on the battered physical look of Tenya and Fumikage, Tenya simply stated, "A friend of ours was taken here. Katsuki Bakugo."
The receptionist started typing on her keyboard, and then stopped. She glanced at Tenya and Fumikage, back at her computer monitor, and back at the teenage boys with misfortune. "Do you have an I.D. on you?" she asked.
"Here," Tenya said, handing her his license.
"You're not on the list of people who have access to his medical information." She handed the license back after viewing it. "Sorry, but I can't give you any information due to confidentiality of the patient."
Fumikage glanced at Tenya, but Tenya glared at the receptionist with frustration. "I just need to know if he's alive!" he steadily fumed. Nervously, Fumikage surveyed Tenya's rare surfacing of anger. "We just came from that battle!" Tenya pointed over at the television screen on the wall of a pillar. "He just saved a whole lot of lives! Including mine!" Tenya put his hand down, but he was still furious. "They took him back without a pulse! I need to know what I'm supposed to tell the rest of our team!" he concluded, bringing a fist down on the countertop, almost at his breaking point.
Fumikage placed a hand on the back of Tenya's shoulder, gently pulling him so he'd look at Fumikage, but he didn't. "Iida…she's just doing her job," he said with condolences, seeing Tenya's anguish that spread to Fumikage like a wildfire.
The staff watched the two of them sympathetically. "Why don't you follow me," a nurse offered, and lead a reluctant Tenya and Fumikage to a dark, empty hospital room with a bed and a bathroom. "Just take a seat." They did as told, and found the quiet, lightless room rather peaceful. The nurse addressed them, "Your friend in an operating room at the moment in a separate wing of this ward. I'll find out everything that I can, but, in the meantime, why don't you get yourselves cleaned up…Just take a deep breath, okay? Is there anything I can get the both of you? Water? Snacks?"
Tenya dipped his head, uninterested, but Fumikage kindly said, "Yes, thank you."
The nurse left them alone.
They sat without speaking, contemplating, until Tenya finally went into the bathroom and loudly shut the door behind him. Fumikage waited in the room, retrieving the bottled water and snacks from the nurse. She left again, without any word about Katsuki.
"…Iida…" Fumikage queried, having heard the faucet of the bathroom constantly running for a very long time. "…Iida…Do you need help?"
Slowly, the water turned off. "…what?" Tenya called, having misheard from the closed door.
"Do you need help?" Fumikage asked, again. "…are you okay?"
"…why are we always too late?"
Fumikage was taken aback at the rhetorical question. "What are you talking about?!" he exclaimed.
"…it's just…this is the second time that we couldn't save Bakugo…" Fumikage stared at the bathroom door. "…you know what I'm saying? Training practices are a different story, but…when it came down to it for real, it seems like we've always been too late. Like now. Bakugo wasn't late for any of us, but…"
Fumikage quickly remarked, "The nurse said that Bakugo was in surgery! There's still a chanc – "
" – it's not fair… None of this should've happened!" Tenya argued. "What the hell are we supposed to tell the class if they decide to call it! He might be in surgery, but why are they dancing around a simple question of if Bakugo is alive or not? Didn't you see the look on their faces, Tokoyami?" Fumikage was silent, starting to empathetically reminisce. Weakly, Tenya mumbled, "…I just watched Bakugo die in front of me…and if he doesn't live…I have to live with that for the rest of my life!"
Neither of them said anything, not even as Tenya finally left the bathroom with damp hair from rinsing it. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve simultaneously. Next to a chair, he set his gear down. It seemed mostly bloodless from Fumikage's perspective, expect for whatever fabric accompanied the gear, as well as the cubital region of Tenya's arm, where some blood had soaked into the dark brown sleeve of his sweater. Finally, Tenya sat down, far more comfortable than before; the exhaustion was more prominent than it ever was, and Tenya found himself drifting off while Fumikage took a turn to clean himself up in the bathroom.
When Fumikage exited the bathroom, with his cloak folded between his chest and crossed arms, he sat back down and understandingly said, "I…carried Hawks all the way out to the medics." Tenya's eyes shifted over to Fumikage as they sat in different parts of the room. "His back was completely burned, and his wings were gone…I thought that…at any point he would slip away, and I'd have to live with that…that he died in my arms." It was painful for Fumikage to talk about. He dipped his head. "That was probably the worst experience of my life, so…I get it. It was awful."
"He made it to the hospital, right?" Tenya asked.
"Yes, he did," Fumikage said, but without relief.
Within another second, the nurse returned, standing in the doorway. "I can take you to your friend, if you are ready," she said.
"Is Bakugo alive?" Tenya questioned as he stood up.
"…it's a complicated situation." The nurse gestured towards the hall. "Please, follow me."
Tenya was frustrated, but then quickly thought, "May I leave my gear here?" He was too fatigued to be dragging it around. "That is…if you don't need this room."
"You can leave it here. This ward is only for D Ward patients," the nurse answered.
Once securing his gear in the room, Tenya and Fumikage concernedly followed the nurse down the main corridor until the ward met a dead end by splitting into six separate hallways. They turned down the furthest one to the right, making Tenya notice that each hallway seemed to be color coated. The hallway they entered was marked with a red, number six. During their observations, Fumikage calmly commented to the nurse, "There's not many people down here."
She glanced over her shoulder, but continued to walk. "D Ward is special. It's only for a specific category of quirks, which have the tendency to be rare, so most of the staff members in this ward are On Call. This ward is separated into six wings depending on the severity of the quirk, so the wing we're in has even less staff members – actually, at this hospital, we haven't had a patient with a quirk this deadly in about seventeen years in this region. So, staff members were called from the other wings to help with this patient."
Tenya and Fumikage stared at the nurse.
"I think I'm catching on to this concept, but I don't recall hearing about D Ward. Although, I know every hospital has wards designed for specific patients based off of the type of quirk they have," Fumikage said. He glanced at Tenya. "Do you ever remember Aizawa bringing up the subject?"
"No, I don't think he did. Maybe it was a subject we were eventually going to hear about…" Tenya replied carelessly, too focused on Katsuki's status.
"It's not commonly known about. It's more of something that associates with the medical field," she notified. "Most children, when their quirk comes about, at examinations parents are asked if they want the child listed on the D Ward network in the hospital's database or not. This let's hospitals nationwide know whether the patient is a D Ward patient, because some hospitals can't accept D Ward patients. Like I said, it's not commonly known about unless you are a D Ward patient, and that's because it's highly confidential."
"Highly confidential?" Fumikage repeated.
"Are the two of you in a Hero Course?" she asked.
"Yes, at UA."
"We are first years," Tenya added.
"Oh, that explains it," she said.
"We have plenty of classmates with powerful quirks. Evaluating Bakugo's quirk versus the others, I'm assuming D Ward is only for individuals that cannot control a factor of their quirk. Is that right?" Fumikage questioned curiously, trying to understand what separated Katsuki from the rest of them, especially when Dark Shadow was once uncontrollable, but he was only uncontrollable in total darkness, which was no longer the case; Fumikage had total control over Dark Shadow now. "Bakugo can control the ignition of his sweat and the potency of the explosions, but he cannot control a biological function like sweating." Fumikage shifted his eyes over at Tenya, acting like there was a conversation between them, but Tenya was barely paying attention. "And because his sweat can have outside factors effect it, he's able to..." Fumikage trailed off, still eyeing Tenya who was spaced out.
It was a lot of information, even for Fumikage; information that meant that Katsuki was in serious trouble if the hospital couldn't treat him due to his quirk. Fumikage's gaze dropped as he was suddenly feeling the weight of this news, on top of Katsuki's state of cardiac arrest...and he realized that it was unlikely that Katsuki would survive. "…I never even gave any of this a thought before," Fumikage murmured. He had plenty of other questions about the subject, naturally, but it was enough for the moment. Instead, to support Tenya, he asked, "You said the situation was complicated. Could you elaborate? We just need an answer, so we can tell our classmates…"
"Let's take a seat in the waiting room first," the nurse instructed, and they remained silent the rest of the way. When Tenya and Fumikage took a seat in the small but empty, public waiting room, the nurse pulled a chair in front of them and sat down. "Alright…so, there's a difference between clinically dead and brain dead. Clinically dead is simply cardiac arrest, when the heart can no longer circulate blood and supply oxygen to the rest of the body by itself. It's not technically 'dead' as long as the brain still has activity. Brain dead is when the brain ceases function, and at that point, it's impossible to revive a patient. Your friend still had signs of life, so they started a massive blood transfusion and a surgical procedure called a cardiopulmonary bypass. Do you know what that is?" Fumikage and Tenya gave no notion of knowledge. "It's a procedure they use for patients that are getting heart or lung surgery or a transplant of those organs. The patient is hooked up to a machine that circulates blood and oxygen throughout the body without the heart or lungs needing to do so. That's what they're doing currently; that's all I can tell you at the moment…I know how it sounds, and I'm sure you're scared, but your friend is still alive."
Quietly, Fumikage asked, "…isn't…that like…life support?" He glanced over at Tenya, who was looking cold in the face. Everything the nurse had said, while imperative to Tenya and Fumikage's reassurance and understanding, didn't satisfy an escape to their fear. Fumikage slowly questioned to double check what he was hearing, "Bakugo's heart is not working?"
The answer was well known by the nurse's hesitancy. "…That is correct, but there was still some brain activity. When I went back there, the surgeons already had him on the bypass, so they could spare some time and resolve certain complications…they would've needed to do it either way, because there's damage through the diaphragm and at the base of the lung." Fumikage once again glanced at Tenya's blank stare. "I'm sorry, but I can't give out anymore information about the patient's condition," she said more sternly. "There's other significant damage, so I can't make any promises. The surgeons are doing everything they can to save him." The nurse stood up and put her chair away. "We've already reached out to his parents. They're on their way." Facing them once more, the nurse finished with, "Let us know if you need anything. "
No words found their way to Fumikage's tongue, nor Tenya's. They sat there, without any company in D Ward… Tenya had his elbow resting on the chair's armrest with his forehead against his hand. Fumikage leaned back with a mournful expression and kept expecting the nurse to return with much better news then what she had just delivered, but that never happened.
Ten or fifteen minutes had passed by when Fumikage finally said, "…I'll talk to the others."
"You don't have to," Tenya countered insistently.
"No, Iida. You've been through enough tonight," he said as the two of them watched one another with bloodshot eyes. Tenya tiredly glanced elsewhere as Fumikage asserted, "I'm not even getting a signal down here. I'll have to go upstairs for a moment…unless you want me to stay?"
Tenya replied hoarsely, "No…I need to be here if Bakugo passes away…" Those words made Fumikage feel strange, and he felt a chill…he didn't wake up this morning thinking that he'd be in a surgical ward eight hours later, being told that Katsuki was essentially on life support… Tenya and Fumikage sat there as if they were in a dream…until Tenya finally added, "I also need you to check on Midoriya."
"…I can do that," Fumikage kindly acknowledged. "I'll make sure everyone is doing okay, but I'll come back down here when I can…I'd rather you not be sitting here by yourself."
Benignly, Tenya thought and said, "Yaoyorozu already knows about what happened to Bakugo, except for the bypass…I don't think we should inform the class, for his sake."
"You know they'll be wanting details…especially Kirishima and Kaminari."
"Yaoyorozu and I decided not to tell the class that he was in cardiac arrest. All they know is that he was severely wounded and taken to surgery."
Sympathetically, Fumikage returned, "…That's completely understandable."
Tenya looked at his watch. "We left the hospital grounds at 15:47." He glanced at Fumikage again, and grimly stated, "It's been thirty-seven minutes since his heart's stopped. I can't explain this to the class. They would freak out. It's freaking me out. And then, i – if Bakugo…if he comes out of this and wakes up, he'll hear about all of this himself. He's already been through a lot with Kamino. I don't think many of our classmates realize it because Bakugo can be stoic, but Kamino bothers him."
"Yes, I'm sure. I was there," Fumikage quietly mumbled, having been snatched by Compress as well (since the League became fond of Dark Shadow at the last minute). Mezo was able to catch him and bring him back to safety that night at Camp, but not Katsuki. However, to the context that Tenya was speaking about (when the class had persuaded Katsuki to play the drums for their band), Fumikage replied, "…I remember what he said."
"Bakugo doesn't need to be hounded over something like this, too," Tenya stated demandingly, but Fumikage barely heard him. Rigidly, Fumikage glanced at a pattern on the hospital's tiled floor. " – are you okay?" Tenya frankly asked.
Fumikage was washed with a prickly hot feeling and suddenly felt sick to his stomach. "I need some air," he faintly said.
Without out another word, Fumikage carefully got to his feet and wandered back down the hallway they had come from, leaving Tenya alone in D Ward.
Alright, I need to switch POVs to the other kids, so the chapter is ending here. I really wanted this posted by Christmas, but the holidays got so busy, I wasn't able to get it done. I also just got my first head cold in like 2.5 years too, so I haven't been feeling well, but I powered through it and finally got it edited. I read through it probably about six times and now I'm sick of it, so it's time to write some new scenes.
Hopefully, it reads well.
Anyway, it might be a few weeks before the next chapter is out. Be mindful, I'm also working on a novel, and that project always comes first, so I have to spend some time on that now, but I'll transition frequently to try working on both projects at once.