Silence permeated their walk back to campus. If the reason was because they were both feeling emotionally and physically raw, then Katsuki could understand it. It wouldn't explain why Uraraka was refusing to look at him, but he tried not to think about it. No longer radiating pain, he couldn't even focus on his shoulder. It was sore, but even thinking about complaining about it felt ridiculous in comparison. So silence was the only option. They stayed together, occasionally jostled into each other by passersby, but remained separated. An unfortunately common path that was easy for them to follow after having walked it so many times in their years at U.A. Katsuki looked over at Uraraka again. She was clenching and unclenching her hand, but was actively looking across the street. He followed her gaze and found an old ramen shop operating out of a hole in the wall. Those places always had the best food. His stomach clenched painfully and he stopped dead in his tracks. When was the last time they ate? It was after noon now. Almost a whole day? His hand shot out for Uraraka's and he was pulling her across the street, barely wary for traffic. A mess of confused sputters and questions started to pour out of her, but she didn't hesitate to follow. He had them seated at the main bar and was ordering for them before he answered any of her half asked questions. "If I'm going to ruin my diet, I'm not doing it alone." He smirked as he put in an order for two of the largest bowls of Ramen. Uraraka quieted and just nodded. He'd like to act as if it was some deep part of him that was so happy that she would just -listen- to him. It wasn't. It sat on the surface of who he was, clear to see. He smiled as he started to wait for their food. "I, uh, I don't have any money." She blushed next to him. Bakugou lifted a brow at her. He snorted before he replied. "So?"
"I'm basically here in my pajamas. All I have is my phone." He cocked his head at her. He looked her over. Sweats, tank top, tennis shoes. His eyes lingered at her chest and he knew that she didn't have a bra on. Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, damn it, fuck. He very pointedly looked behind the counter and not at her. He clenched his thighs together for good measure as he tried to sound much calmer than he actually was. "So, I am too. It's fine. No one cares."
"Sure, but you always look good." She said, grumpy. She must have noticed his stare earlier because her arms were crossed now, a picture of petulance. Her words hit him like Deku had just thrown a stuffed bear at him at 20%. It took his breath away, might have left an emotional bruise to be proud of later, and exploded against chest and defensive capabilities for a moment. "Y-you do too, you know." He mumbled. The urge to do literally anything with his hands was strong. He desperately wanted to fix his hair or straighten his shirt. He got this feeling a lot around either of them. Preening. It was so basic, but so tempting. Their ramen came soon and they ate in silence. It was peaceful. When they were done he opened an app on his phone and paid for the meal since he too, did not have his wallet. Uraraka gushed and proceeded to download the app herself. It was a quiet walk back to the dorms with only a brief call from his mom when she realized he was no longer home to interrupt their shared solitude. As campus loomed in front of them, they both seemed to slow down. Katsuki thought it was just him at first. The peace was a nice break. That must have been it. He empathized with it. Looking at her now, she wasn't looking at him again. Worriedly, he thought about the kiss. Was this his scolding in the making? Was this a retraction of her friendship? He was ready to take whatever punishing words left her mouth. Standing his ground just inside the gate, but not yet in the dorms, he waited for his emotional execution. Pinned in place, shackled to the spot as two brown orbs locked onto his own gaze, he started to have second thoughts. Cowards ran away, he told his nearly trembling body, and he'd be damned if he was a coward starting now. Jittery energy still shot through him: an adrenaline rush. If he wasn't so used to it from battle he wouldn't know it know. Fight or flight bull shit, he cursed against the echoing walls of his mind. He refused to run and she refused to stop staring up at him. "Thank you." Wavering, but honest, the words she spoke confused Katsuki. Two warm hands cupped his cheeks, pulling him down just a little. Shock was an obvious factor in his lack of resistance. Soft, but clear in the way it set every nerve ending he had on fire, her lips pressed against his forehead in a kiss. "Good night!" The squeak was almost too high pitched for him to hear it. He opened his mouth to say something back, but words tangled around each other in this throat, creating a blockage. He blinked and realized she'd ran inside while he was trying to recover. He looked inside, through the glass, and then around him. Everything in the world had just shifted a few centimeters and he felt off as he stumbled his way through the doors.
*)O(*
Todoroki reminded himself last minute that jumping down the stairs was punishable with a week of cleaning duty. He was nearly falling down the stairs, unable to make his feet go any faster. He'd seen the exchange from the third floor, and was on his way to intercept Uraraka now. He had a thousand questions. He needed to know. He was entirely too invested in all of this.
Uraraka was already heading up the stairs. Her head down and babbling to herself in a way that would make Midoriya proud, she scared Todoroki. "Uraraka?"
"Todoroki?"
"I saw, are you-"
"You, you saw? Oh, my, god, no. No, if you saw, then someone else. I, I just did it, I wasn't thinking. W-What am I going to- how, no. I..." Oh, Todoroki realized. She was about to have an anxiety attack. No, she was probably having one now. He pulled her up the stairs and to her room, knowing she wouldn't want anyone to happen across her like this. "We're going to talk once we get you settled down, okay? Let's get you under a blanket and something to drink."
"I, yeah?"
*)O(*
Kirishima turned his TV down. He looked around. Nothing looked like it had fallen. He was sure he'd just heard something. He waited, listening as hard as he could, like it would improve his hearing for real. There it was. The softest tap against his door, like, ever. Was it Koda? No one else would ever think Kirishima could have heard that. He went to his door, pulling it open expecting, well not Bakugou. Not a dazed Bakugou. Not a dazed Bakugou with a giant smile. Not a dazed Bakugou, with a giant smile, who looked like he was about to break at the same time. "Dude," Kirishima began, moving out of the way so his friend could shuffle inside. "Are you... okay?" Hesitant to inquire about weakness, he started to harden, waiting for the explosion he'd usually receive. Instead, the blonde flung himself on the red sheets of Kirishima's bed. "I don't know." The soft reply tore through Kirishima's heart. Now. Now was when Kirishima started to panic. He spent the rest of the night slowly prying the story out of his friend. Bakugou wasn't dumb enough to put names to the people he was talking about, but that didn't stop Kirishima from knowing exactly who he was talking about. He heard first hand that Bakugou cared about two people. That he thought he was just a hinderance. How is blonde friend couldn't tear himself away from the other two, regardless. How he didn't know what to do now that he'd given and received mixed signals. As much as Bakugou was a private person and never came to Kirishima with problems, Kirishima tried to just listen. It seemed like what Bakugou needed at the moment, and it was the only thing stopping Kirishima from just yelling his opinion on the matter. It was so clear that the others liked him. It was so freaking clear that the three of them could be happy if they would just talk like this to each other.
By the time his bed had been stolen by his friend for the night, he had a plan. He would need a bit of help. He thought of the people who had outright stated something about the situation. They needed to be people he could trust, people who would be more invested in moving these three forward than spending time gossiping about it. Even if that was temporary, he cringed as he thought of one of the people he would need.
*)O(*
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Izuku hissed after bending down to pick up his dropped shirt. He was glad he knew better than to bend at the waist, but that didn't mean everything didn't hurt. His head was spinning, still. He wished he would get used to it, but it never happened. After puking his guts out after mistakenly shaking his head to clear his vision once, he instead took a few deep breaths and focused his eyes on the poster across the room. Blinking slowly, he put on his shirt and started to make his way to the kitchen. It felt like he was relearning his body. Right in front of left, breathe, blink slowly, stay next to the wall in case he got too dizzy. He felt like a toddler. It didn't help that his mom was treating him like one, too. This wasn't his first concussion. It might have been his worst, but it wasn't the first. He didn't even have any broken bones right now. Fighting with his mom to be allowed to move around on his own wasn't any fun. He loved her to pieces, but he was feeling a little smothered. Propensity for overreacting clearly came from his mother, he thought with a smile. On the kitchen counter his phone was flashing with a message.
*Kirishima:* Hi, Izuku! I was wondering if you were allowed to have visitors. Some of us want to come see you.
Izuku bit his lip and mulled the idea around for a moment. He wanted to see his friends. He really, really did. Thinking of how loud and, frankly, jarring his friends could be made his head pound even harder and his stomach start to roll. Guilt stabbed at him with as much intensity. He knew what it was like to be in Kirishima's place. A few of his friends had been hurt during their time at U.A. Rarely those times were restricted to time away from school to recover, and in those times, he'd gone to visit almost all of them.
He looked up and noticed his mom watching TV. "Hey, Mom?" He noticed her jump a bit then whip around, concerned. He smiled softly, amused but also glad. He didn't visit home as much as he should, and she was home alone most of the time. It meant he could spook her. No kid in history thought that wasn't a little funny. "Could I have some friends over? They want to make sure I'm okay." Reactions was something else they seemed to share. Brows furrowed then relaxed before furrowing again. "Not too many, and they need to be aware of your condition."
"Thanks, Mom," smiling, he nodded to her. He texted Kirishima and set his phone down. He should probably clean his room if he was going to have visitors.
*)O(*
Kirishima, Todoroki, Ashido, and Denki all looked at the message.
*Midoriya:* My mom says it's fine, but not too many people. Please remember not to jostle me. I don't want to puke on anyone lol
"Perfect."
"Now we just have to get them there."
"Not a problem. Bakugou practically lives next door."
"We just have to ditch them on the way, right?"
"Yup."
"Lets go set this up."
"Right behind ya." "I'm so ready to see them together."
"That's why we're doing this."
"I know."
"I understand that, though. It's getting ridiculous."
"Agreed!" They all said at once. They each smiled before breaking off to go start their parts of the plan.