Bakugou twisted around in his bed. Even though his boyfriend left his dorm merely minutes ago, he already desiderated the feeling of his loved one sleeping beside him. He was painfully cognizant that Todoroki didn't love him, but his heart clung to the notion that one day, Todoroki would finally feel the same way.

Why'd you leave, Shouto? Bakugou pondered while his eyes traced around the vacant space on the bed. You didn't tell me. I don't regret that moment we shared, but just like that, you and it are gone. Goddammit. You better not be getting high. You get kinda violent when you're high, and that's way too fucking often. Tch. His eyes drifted to his desk, and gleaming atop the surface was a key. Dumbass.

Forcing himself out of bed, Bakugou dressed himself and began to inspect the key on his desk. It looked identical to his, but the number on the tag was different. He picked it up and plodded towards the hallway to return the key to Todoroki for another excuse to see him again, but as he reached the door, he hesitated.

"Mighta left just to get away from me," he began to drawl. "He worries me. Those fucking assholes that think they can walk up to his face and tell him to drop out of U.A… To fucking kill himself… Yelling at him, getting up in his face, telling him he's more like a villain than a Hero… Fuck them. Fuck them." He ground his fist into the wall as his lips peeled back like an animal.

"You should fix your posture."

"Shut up! Don't tell me what to do."

"You're creating your own future back issues, Katsu—"

A male stranger approached the two. "Are you Shouto Todoroki?"

"I am," Todoroki replied. "Do you nee—"

The stranger interrupted Todoroki with a laugh. "You're an absolute disgrace to the Hero society. Why—"

Bakugou's body acted before he could think, and he found himself lunging for the crass stranger. Todoroki, however, held his arm out to Bakugou and shook his head.

"It's fine," Todoroki whispered.

"No!" snarled the ash-blonde. "Hey, you asshole! Yeah, you! Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He slammed his nails into his fists.

The stranger raised his brows. "The person that should replace him." He pointed to Todoroki. "He's not a Hero. He only cares about himself. He just wants the fame that being a big-shot Hero brings. That's all! He doesn't give a damn about anyone. He's more like a villain than a Hero. You should ditch him while you still can. He's disgusting to even look at. He's a powerful villain masquerading as a Hero, but he hasn't shown his true colors yet. People like those…don't belong in this world."

YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT HE'S BEEN THROUGH! Bakugou wanted to roar at the man standing before him.

At that point, Todoroki was restraining Bakugou by the hand. "Katsuki, you don't need to pick a fight. We're going to be late for class."

"Then you go to class, and I'll tear this motherfucker apart!"

Before Todoroki could speak, his jaw was struck by the stranger, who muttered, "Drop out of U.A. and let a real Hero take that rightful place."

Bakugou could feel his fuse itself erupting while Todoroki held fast his hand. "Asshole," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"For implying you'd make a better Hero than I am, you're very spiteful," Todoroki replied while brushing off his cheek. "If that's all you have to say to me, you're not worth my time." He descried his boyfriend and nodded.

He hit you, and you don't think he's worth your time?! If I see this piece of shit again, I'm beating the shit out of him!

Exhaling slowly, Bakugou exited his dorm and soon approached Todoroki's dorm. Upon knocking, he received no response, so he elucidated that it was Katsuki Bakugou at the door, but there was only silence. So, with a shrug, Bakugou figured he would unlock the door, leave the key in Todoroki's dorm, and head back to his own.

The door's…unlocked? Shit.

Click!

As the door unleashed the light from Todoroki's dorm, Bakugou heard muffled, strained sounds coming from within. With haste, he shoved the door open, and much to his arrant horror, his vermillion eyes were met with a traumatizing sight: Todoroki was dangling from the ceiling by his neck. Yet, Todoroki was unmistakably alive as his body instinctively writhed in the noose; his flesh was tinged in red, and saliva drooled down his chin, but his expression was still relatively the same.

Blinding panic blurred Bakugou's vision into a swirling blizzard of white, but he sprinted for his lover and yanked the fallen chair upright. Tears of terror cascaded from his eyes as he lifted Todoroki's body and stood him up on the chair. His irate heart slammed against his chest like a beast in a cage, but his mind was frantically spinning every possible method of safely rescuing Todoroki.

A feverish symphony of gasping and coughing rang in Bakugou's ears as he scrambled to remove the noose from Todoroki's neck. He could feel Todoroki's panicking body twitch and spasm, but he refused to allow anything to distract him from freeing Todoroki.

Once the noose slid over Todoroki's rapidly-bobbing head from his shallow, ragged gasps, Bakugou pulled Todoroki into his arms and stepped onto the floor. Finally, harsh sobs began to pour from Bakugou's mouth as he sat on the floor with Todoroki in his lap.

"YOU DUMBASS!" cried Bakugou. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! I… I-I'm sorry for yelling a-at you." His voice was splintered by his intermittent sobbing.

He tried to fucking hang himself, Bakugou thought as the image of Todoroki's body writhing in the noose flooded through his mind. My heart is pounding. It hurts, goddammit. I thought I'd fucking pass out just from seeing him like that. Him…swaying and twitching… Dangling and fidgeting with…noose around his neck… Dying… Fuck. I can't even think. He scrunched his eyes closed, and a deluge of crystalline daggers slid across his cheeks. I don't know what to feel. Relieved that he's alive? Mad at what he did? Sad at the fact that he did it? Afraid of what's gonna happen? I don't…fucking know.

Todoroki held his tongue while his breathing gradually calmed. "Katsuki…" he finally uttered in a hoarse whisper. "I don't…understand…" His arms slinked around Bakugou, who shook his head as though it would shake the misery festering in his mind. "I want to die… That's…what I deserve…right? For being something that...the majority disagrees with. Unacceptable. Two-faced. Villainous. I...don't belong here. I'm just...a burden. Won't they be happy? Can't I be...the Hero I wanted to be?"

A torrent of wriggling, serrated emotions coiled around Bakugou's neck as a surge of pain pulsed into his chest from hearing what Todoroki had to say. Nonplussed, he held his boyfriend tighter to his chest to relish the feel of Todoroki's heartbeat.

People don't understand you, Bakugou inwardly pontificated. They're scared of you, and they make irrational assumptions that are mutually agreed upon as true, even though they aren't. It's fucking cruel. Who are the real humans in this world? They don't know your story like I do. Love makes you do crazy shit. But...the fact that someone as emotionless as him would still be influenced by other people to kill himself… That's so fucked up…

Finally, Bakugou parted his lips to speak. "Don't be stupid… No one's gonna be happy if you kill yerself. People say dumb shit out of spite or to get what they want. They don't always mean it. Tch. I'd know." Gently and slowly, he massaged Todoroki's shoulders. "Shouto, you're not just a burden. Do you even know how much you fucking mean to me? Your family? Our class? Please, Shouto… Keep living, dammit. You belong here with the rest of us." He nodded with immense vehemence.

A fragile, splintered laugh streamed from between Todoroki's lips. "If that's the case…then why is it that the majority can't see that? I'm not wanted in this world. I'm a murderer. I'm a liar pretending to be everything I'm not. I'm a monster because I can't feel anything anymore. Why did it end up like this?" He gently nuzzled the side of his head against Bakugou's neck.

I think…someone is abusing him. That'd explain a lot. I can tell his injuries are severe. Dammit! But who is abusing him? I need to know. I have to put an end to this shit. He looks so paranoid and anxious. There it is. He can't stand without wincing. He can't walk without limping. Fuck. Does everyone else not notice the obvious?! Somehow, I need to pry an answer out of him. Todoroki…

Bakugou's silent tears dripped onto Todoroki's shoulder. "You're still just a fucking human, Shouto. People don't like it when something is different from their beliefs and shit. You're not…an emotionless monster. You're still Shouto Todoroki. What you feel—or don't feel—doesn't define you, dumbass…"

"I know, Katsuki."

"What?"

"I know. But this is what I am to them. I'm a monster of vanity. This is all they see. It doesn't matter what the truth is. They'll choose to believe what they want, regardless of the facts. Thinking about how many people would support this compared to the ones that wouldn't… Well, I know what the past version of me that no one had issues with would want." Todoroki sharply exhaled. "Maybe it's a good thing that no misery fazes me. Sorry, Katsuki, but…" His body jerked as an excruciating hiss creaked through his teeth.

Bakugou gently pushed Todoroki forwards with piqued curiosity, but nothing could have prepared him for the bullet of reality tearing through his chest.