Christmas Challenge | Day 5 - Snowed In Together
Rating: Teen, for cursing, body image issues, mental health

"Holy. Shit."

"Oh no!"

Koge pressed her hands against the frozen window, having to stand up on her tiptoes to see past the wall of snow that had piled up around their cabin. On the other side of it, a snow storm was raging, battering against the small building. "Katsuki, where did this storm come from?! We're supposed to catch our train today to go home!" Bakugou scoffed, walking away from the window and towards the suitcase that sat on the bed. "I don't know, Utsuro, I'm not a fucking weatherman! It doesn't matter, we have to wait for it to pass. Is the electricity working?" Shivering, Koge approached a light switch, flipping it up and down with no success. "No… So we're snowed in, and the power is out! And we have no cell phone service here!"

Bakugou pulled out some warm clothing, glowering at his lover as she pouted by the bedroom door. "Utsuro, come change out of your PJs and get into warm clothes. We're stuck here in the cold, standing there pouting isn't going to do shit." With a sigh, Koge came over to him, digging through the suitcase she had packet to perfection the night before. "Damn it… I hope your parents are okay having the kids for one more day." Bakugou gave a small shrug. "They'll live. It's not like the kids will hate it, they love their grandma that spoils the shit out of them. After a week of them being there, I'm sure they're going to come home to a house full of new toys and clothes."

Unbuttoning her oversized sleepwear, Koge shifted back and forth on her feet a bit, feeling the cold seeping through her bare toes. "I just hate we can't even contact them! What if they worry about us." Her teeth were near chattering as she pulled the shirt off, leaving her in just her underwear. Bakugou pulled on a warm thermal long sleeve shirt, looking down at his lover as she struggled to clasp on a bra. He gave a click of his tongue, walking behind her to help fix it into place. "If they need to, they can call the resort to find out what's going on, they have a landline. Utsuro, honestly, you don't even need this while we're stuck in here." Koge gave a small shrug, allowing him to help her as she trembled. "Ah, well… What if something happens and we have to rescued?"

"No one is going to give a shit if you're not wearing a bra, Utsuro."

"I just don't want people looking at them all saggy!"

Bakugou sighed, leaning his forehead against the top of her head. "Not this again… You do not have saggy tits. They're still just as perfect as they've always been." Koge grumbled a bit, reaching up to squish and lift her breasts a bit. "They are saggy… Of course you don't notice it, you haven't looked at them every day of your life! Breastfeeding has done them in, I think… And I'm only about to be twenty-nine! I'm so old." Bakugou leaned down to place a rough kiss on her cheek before going back to his suitcase. "No you're not. You're perfect."

Koge felt heat rise up into her cheeks, glowering at him as he pulled on some sweatpants. "You can't talk, Katsuki. You're the one that's perfect. Look at you! What are you, like zero percent body fat by now?" Bakugou scrunched up his face in disgust, shaking his head. "Uh, no. Well… I don't know, I haven't measured that recently." After pulling on a hoodie, Bakugou sat on the edge of the bed, zipping up his luggage. "I'm not going to fight with you about this, Utsuro." Koge finally finished dressing as well, putting on two pairs of thick socks to try and protect her feet from the cold. "I'm not fighting with you about anything. I'm just saying, you're pure muscular perfection."

"And you don't think you are?"

Koge shook her head, giving a sigh. "No… Not anymore. Two kids in two years is kind of… ruined that right now. But since Natsuki is getting a bit older I think I want to go back to teaching." She looked down at him as he took her hand, pulling her over gently to stand between his legs. Kissing what little of her neck was exposed, he put his arms around her waist, holding her close. "If that's what you want to do." Koge let her arms rest around his shoulders, burying her face into his hair. "I'm feeling really restless just staying home… I think it would be good for me to get back into it and start getting back in shape. I've become a lard…"

Bakugou gave a short scoff, which had just a hint of humor in it. "Shut up, Utsuro. You're beautiful. I'm sick of hearing you talk down on yourself like that." Koge fell silent, fiddling with his hood a bit before letting another sigh leave her lips. "I'm glad that you think I am, Katsuki, it's just… It's hard when I see such a big difference from before Matsuki. I've gained almost forty pounds…"

"You can complain about it all you want, but that won't change anything. All you can do is try to fix it."

Koge frowned, gently pulling herself from her lover and heading out of the bedroom. "Yeah, Katsuki… I know that." As she left the room, Bakugou gave an annoyed sigh, reaching up to rub his face before laying backwards onto the bed. Lately, Koge had been in this weird state of depression and anxiety, which is exactly why Bakugou had taken them out on this trip. Alone together, he had done his best to keep her mind off of the negative things that had been bringing her down, but he was unsuccessful. If it wasn't about her looks, it was about her diminishing skill. If it wasn't worrying about the kids, she was worrying about her career. All in all, it was driving him crazy. Koge had never been an anxious person, nor did she ever dwell on things this badly. Usually, he could tell her something similar to what he had just said, and that would prompt her to suck it up and get to work to fix what was wrong.

But now, all it did was make it worse. She was a pouting mess that would barely even let him see her without clothes on for more than three seconds, as if she were totally and completely ashamed of her body. Yes, he had notice the weight gain, but did that bother him? No. Not a single bit. That didn't seem to matter. No matter what he said to her, she didn't believe him, refusing to believe that he still thought she was attractive. Now, they were trapped in this place for who knows how long, with no power and no way for her to avoid him like she had been.

He had to get this shit under control, no matter what it required from him.

After giving her a decently long moment to herself, he stood, heading into the cabin main room. Sitting on the couch, Koge had wrapped herself up in a blanket, staring off into space as she hugged her knees to her chest. Rubbing his hands together, Bakugou headed towards the dead fireplace, stroking Koge's hair gently as he passed. His touch pulled her attention, watching him as he started to work on building a fire. Her emotions began to swell up a bit, feeling a range of them ravaging within her. Regret, sadness, humiliation, inadequacy. They all clashed to bring tears to her eyes, making her hide her face into the blanket.

"I'm sorry, Katsuki…"

Bakugou glanced back at her, before tossing a match into the fireplace to light the kindling and bring the fire to life. "For what?"

"For being such a shrew… We came out here to have a good time, and I've been nothing a downer the entire time." She sobbed softly, tightening her grip on her legs. "I've just felt… not good enough. As a wife, as a mother… I have no hobbies, I have no aspirations… I'm just going through each day like I'm a ghost. I hate the way I look, I hate the way I'm acting even though I can't seem to get myself normal again. I'm just an awful mess…"

Bakugou's gaze moved to look out of the window, listening her sobs over the roaring wind. The blinds of that window were open, bringing some light into the room. Standing, he walked over and shut it, leaving only the fire as a light source. Giving a sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck, not really sure what to say. This was the first time she had ever been like this in their entire relationship. Usually she was the one to bump him up when he got into a slump, when the memories of his past came back to haunt him with nightmares.

How was he supposed to make her better if she wouldn't listen?

With a tender touch, Bakugou scooped her up off the couch, blanket and all, before heading closer to the fire. He sat on the floor with her on his lap, holding her small frame to him tightly. "Utsuro… I don't really know what you want me to say. I'm not… good with words. We have happy and healthy kids, and if you weren't a good wife, I wouldn't be here right now, would I?" Koge sniffed, hiccuping as she tried to speak. "B-but, I ignore you all the time. I'd rather sleep than stay up with you… I don't want you to look at my body, so I shun you away. How does that make me good?"

"Well… it doesn't. But it's not because you're not a good wife-"

"Those two things contradict each other-"

"Sh! I'm trying to get this out right, Koge, it's not easy for me! Seeing you like this… Freaks me out. I want you to be happy, but I don't know how to fix any of this. You're beautiful to me and always have been, from your dumb flippy hair to your cold ass feet. Even now, every time you smile at me, I get that sense of awe like it's the first time. Fuck this stuff his cheesy!" He glared off at the wall as Koge sat up a bit, looking up at him with teary eyes. "I hate this. I'm not good at it like you are. You have this way of saying shit to me that just… calms me down instantly and just shows how much you care about me. Why can't I do that with you?"

Frustrated with himself for not being able to say the words he wanted, Bakugou rested his head on hers, hiding his face in her hair. "I just want you to be happy, Koge. And I want us to do whatever you need to so that can happen again. You need extra help? We'll get a nanny or I'll take some time off. You want to teach again? We can make the house gym a studio for you, so you can teach at home until you're ready to reopen the one in town. If you want to lose weight, damn it we'll get up at three AM and work our asses off until you're back to how you want to be. I'll do anything you want… Because I'm better at doing than I am at talking."

After sitting in silence for a while, just listening to the fire crackle, Koge turned in his lap to face him. Hugging his torso tightly, she kept her face hidden, speaking so softly Bakugou almost couldn't hear her. "Katsuki… You're better at words than you think you are… You've been trying for weeks, and I've just been a brick wall. I guess, now you know what I've had to deal with our entire lives." She finally sat up from him, reaching up to cup his cheeks gently. "I'm sorry… But I think that if you help me, I can get better… I can do anything with you beside me, Katsuki." Bakugou kissed her forehead gently, tightening his grip on her. "I think the difference between us is that you're not scared to say that cheesy shit, where it makes me feel like I'm going to puke pure sugar."

Koge giggled, putting her arms back around his neck. "Oh shut up. You're just embarrassed to show your soft side, even to me."

"I don't have a soft side."

"Oh yes you do. It's right here!"

"Hey! Don't tickle me!"