Katsuki considers himself to be numerous things. He's a fighter (a fucking exellent one at that), one of the strongest and brightest in his class. But more than that, he's a strategist and he takes pride knowing that, in some scenarios, his strategy holds higher power and chance of winning than that of simple brute force his quirk would be able to provide him. And for the first time, in an incredibly long time, his thinking has come to a screeching halt.

He doesn't even have a reliable fucking thread that he can tail to get him out of this damn mess, everything just happened out of nowhere, errupting out of thin air and obliterating everything within its vicinity.

Should he tell anyone about these nightmares? Who would believe him? He knows that he most definitely wouldn't have listened to himself if he was standing from another perspective- he certainly can't tell (your name), the reasoning for that so painfully self-explanatory. How does one approache someone with such devestating news 'Hey there, you might die soon,' hell-fucking-no.

He's uncertain of what to do as of late, that lone fact sends tremors along the surface of his skin and raises the laid out hairs on his body to stand tall. He's unable to fully allow his eyes to close only so he could think for a damn second, without the horrid images of (your name), laying bonelessly underneath him. The thought alone makes his heart stir uncomfortably in his chest.

He won't allow her to get hurt.

A rough hand warily combs through, delicate (hair color) locks, he's been at this for a while now. Everytime he allows his crimson eyes to fall shut the vivid memories of his night terrors seeps back into his head, efficiently forcing him awake. To be honest, he'd rather force himself to stay awake, studying or simply just watching (your name) in her deep slumber, than being stuck in those unfathomable nightmares. Brooding won't do him much, he realises as he snaps out of his own disorientated and stressing thoughts. He fights back a groan from slipping past his chapped lips. 

He's fucking tired, knocking himself out doesn't sound so bad right now.

The burden on his shoulders might crush him beneath its finger before it actually would happen.

He doesn't know how much time passes, or if time even is passing at all. At this point, questioning his own consciousness is being held into high regard. Nonetheless, he lies there, in bed with his arms tucked around the girl  in his hold, with his nose buries against her head, inhaling the soft aroma, whilst hoping that the serene presence of her would eventually lull him to sleep.

It doesn't. No surprise there. He can still feel his erratic breath hitching a few times, palms heating up as a defense mechanism, for what? He doesn't know. He had tossed his sweater aside a long time ago, it was too hot— too damn hot it nearly made him choke. He throws his head back into the mushy pillows, his eyes are burning and he swallows down, hard.

He shifts his gaze and looks down where a pair of (eye color) eyes stares up at him.

"Katsuki," the female trails off, staring up at him with her dazzling (eye color) eyes that are too damn pleasing to gaze upon. Inwardly, he cusses. Her being awake and seeing him in this state is something he'd rather avoid if possible. "Are you okay?" She asks with the same careful tone, filled to the brim with selflessness that makes his heart leap unexpectedly in his chest, her voice isn't  shying away from its worry, he doesn't reply to the question, a small frown appears on her face as she is given a weak nod as answer.

He strengthens the grip he has around her and digs his face deeper into her hair as a way to sooth his own troubles. He can feel his body overheating as some vile way to cope with everything around him, the constant ringing that has been going on for too fucking long has almost burst his eardrums, leaving nothing but pure suffering behind in its wake. His body feels completely feeble due to the lack of sleep he has gotten, the last ounce of energy dissolving. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't-

"M'fucking tired." He grumbles, voice cracking as a speaks, to silence his own thunderous thoughts. Technically that isn't a lie but it isn't the complete truth either-- far from it; he wishes that being tired was the only cause of his fatigue. A pregnant silence falls upon them, it's comforting but at the same time unsettling since they're both aware that something as trivial as tiredness isn't the main cause for the blond's distress, they're both wary of the fact that he's lying. Yet, (your name) doesn't comment on the obvious lie. She slips out of his hold, doesn't miss how eerily warm his body temperature has been raisen to. Dismissing any replies that came to mind, she answers him by embracing him in her arms. It's a different type of heat, compared to the previous one closing in on him, one that he was foreign with and had encountered numerous occasions and that still affected him the same. Despite the amount of times she closes her arms around his bigger body, the blossoming across his chest is undeniable.

Belatedly, he allows a sigh of weariness to  push itself past his throat as he places his large hands on her back, wrinkling her hoodie . Her hand palms his spikes, they're messy and uncharacteristically soft for a person of Katsuki's aggressive edgy demour.

As she holds him, it's now she realized that he's shivering despite the clear heat that's radiating off his body, the way he buries his face in her neck and clings to her like a frightened child doesn't go unnoticed either.

"Wait," she mumbles, and detaches herself from him as his arms attempts to pull her back into their comforting hug. She pulled the hoodie over her head, leaving her in nothing but a thin, baby blue tank top. He thinks the color suits her. Her baby hairs flies into different directions and he fights the sudden urge to pat them back down with his hand. "Come here." She whispers as if spectated, she stretches out her arms that he quickly fills a millisecond later. Taken aback by the sudden desperation for her to hold him, she worries even more when Bakugou grabs her wrist in an unusual hard grip and shoves her hand back on his head. Her eyes remains incredulously wide as she stares down at him, his body is tense, muscles hard and pressed into her. Only when she starts moving her hand around in his hair is it when she feels him slacken in her hold. Her eyes soften at the sight, completely enraptured whilst something in her chest flutters around.

"There there ," she muses, "what a good boy." She declares, voice laced with mirth. He can feel himself chuckling, despite the exhaustion eating at his spirit. It doesn't matter what type of situation you find yourself in, not a single moment will be spared of (your name)'s playfulness. That's one of the many things he likes about her (she doesn't have to know that though).

"Shut up," he says instead, although it lacks its usual heat; he can feel a tiny smile cracking on his lips. Her body shakes slightly while she giggles in response to his snarky comment. "Once upon a time—"she begins and Katsuki abruptly cuts her off by banging his head against the crook of her neck. Yet again, the room is filled with gleeful giggles, they stop subsequently.

Her lips presses against themselves into a thin line, her heart is slamming itself against her ribs in such a hurried manner that it stings. She acknowledges the fact that Bakugou's mouth is dangerously close to the skin of her neck. In fact, she can feel his lips ghosting over her skin. A small, yet noticeable blush spreads itself across her face, the tips of her ears redden.

"Can you shut up for once," he mutters against her skin, internally debating whether or not he should bite the unmarred flesh, that should shut her up. "I'm trynna sleep." He's uncertain where the sudden spike of energy came from, though, it settles down just as quickly as it arrived when she starts running her hands through his hair. In a short spawn of time, he feels himself gradually drifting off. Ease oozes in his bones, the shrieking in his ears has died down and all taunting worries leaves his mind. He has always been weak for (your name) toying with his hair, her flexible fingers coiling ash blond locks around the digits. 

They lay there, in a peaceful silence plagued by unanswered questions and destructive thoughts running loose, their only comfort being the other warming embrace.

"You know," she says, voice so painfully faint as if he could break if it was just a tad bit louder. That's just another quality of (your name) that he admired, her ability to analyze situations in just a brief moment and to swiftly act upon the conclusion that was made. Her voice is never noisier than necessary whenever they're physically close, she knows that his ears are sensitive due to his blasting quirk. "You can always tell me if something's bothering you. I might not be able to do much, or anything at all really. But I'm always here to listen to you, I'll always listen to whatever you have to say Katsuki."

But by then, the frantic boy in her arms had already fallen alseep.

(Your name) pays mind to how he desperately tugs at her when he falls back asleep, like someone who is doing their best to stay afloat.

———————-

Did i disappear for more than a year and then give you a mid-1,7k chapter? Yes, yes I did.

Man It was such a long time ago I updated this fanfic. It was literally more than a year ago. I'm so sorrryyyyy kmfao. 🏃🏽‍♀️ Pls keep sending me comments ab updating, 'all are the only reason I pulled thru. I literally wrote this in less than 4 hours from scratch.

I realized that i have so much to do, this fic needs some cleaning up.

Anyway, shit going down in bnha's chapter 292. Y'all know I'm scared.

See u soon, remember. Apple juice beats orange juice every day of the week

- bessttie