Autophobia || Katsuki Bakugou

Chapter 1

Kaori sits in a booth by the window, looking down at her forearms. She sighs, seeing the scars from failed attempts from the past three years.

Three years. Wow.

She glances over towards the kitchen and hears her mother shouting at Kenzou as he walks out with someone's food. The sight makes her giggle lightly, nearly forgetting about the amount of homework she has to do once she gets home.

Ugh, I bet Shiketsu students didn't get this much homework. She thinks. It's a fucking Friday, why do I still have work to do?

She lays her head on the table and closes her eyes. About 2 minutes later, her mother walks over to where Kaori was and shakes her awake.

"KAORI! I've told you, you can't sleep in my restaurant, especially while it's still open! Come on, get up."

"Eomma~ I wasn't even asleep..."

"Alright well still, I don't want people thinking they could just sleep in my restaurant! I could lose business like this!"

"But I'm not just people, I'm your daughter."

"In here, you're just a customer."

Kaori sighs and sits all the way up.

"Do you have an umbrella? I don't remember when it started raining, but I have an extra one in the back if you need one."

Kaori shakes her head and stands up, grabbing her keys out of her bag. "No, but it's fine, I'm getting right in the car anyway."

"Well alright, I'll tell your brother you're heading home first. I love you." Her mother says, pulling her into a hug.

The embrace makes Kaori smile, glad her mother stopped drinking. So much has happened over those years, and part of her is glad she's still alive to experience all of it. "I love you too. Good night!" She adds, pulling away from the hug as she heads out the door.

She takes a brief moment to admire how beautiful the night was. The way the moon shined just right, highlighting the smallest things that would usually go unnoticed.

Unlocking her car door from a distance, she heads over but a group of men emerge from an alleyway, bumping into her. They wipe their hands on their clothes as they continue walking, ignoring the girl. "Tch- bastards didn't even apologize." She says to herself.

As she resumes walking, Kaori hears a sharp intake of breath from someone in the alley. She turns and slowly walks towards the source of the sound and freezes when she sees a familiar face:

Katsuki Bakugou.

"What the hell? What happened to you?" She asks, surveying him.

He has a big cut between his eyebrow and his hairline, a bloody lip and many small cuts and abrasions on his face. His knuckles are bruised and it takes a moment for Bakugou to realize who's standing in front of him. He begins to say something to his friend from middle school, but loses consciousness.

"Whoa whoa, what?" She reacts, getting closer. Checking his pulse, she sighs and stands upright.

I can't just leave him here... But how would Ken react if- no. Not gonna worry about my brother right now.

Finalizing her thoughts, she pulls him up and wraps one arm around his waist and puts his arm around her shoulders. God, you're lucky I work out. You're heavy.

Kaori kinda drags him to her car and lays him down in the back seat. Getting in the car, she starts it and puts on her seatbelt, sighing.  She drives to her house, checking on him every few seconds in the rearview mirror.

Once they arrive, she grabs the still asleep blonde and pulls him out of the car. Trying to balance him on one side, she unlocks her door and is for once grateful for her brother's inability to refold the pullout.

Kaori lays him down and pulls the covers off the mattress, leaving only the fitted sheet. She sighs and walks away, looking for the first aid kit. Finding it, she also grabs cotton balls and a damp washcloth. Heading back over, she sits on the edge of the bed with all the items.

How did this even happen? Were you that stupid to pick a fight with four grown ass men? She begins to gently dab at the cut on his forehead while thinking to herself. She opens the first aid kit and grabs the Neosporin and a medium sized band-aid. Applying the Neosporin, she puts the band-aid on the cut. Did they hit you with a bottle? She shudders at the memory of her mother hitting her and Ken over the years, but continues 'working'. Pouring a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball, she almost laughs. "I thought you 'refuse to lose'," she says, lightly dabbing the cuts on his face.

Moving on to his lip, she freezes momentarily before cleaning it and applying Neosporin to it as well. Done with his face, Kaori stands up and throws away the bloody cotton balls. She washes her hands, and sits back down.

Noticing how wet and bloody his shirt is, she sighs before taking it off for him and checks for more injuries. Only seeing a couple of bruises, Kaori throws his shirt in her laundry room and grabs one of her brother's t-shirts out of a drawer. She puts it on Bakugou and puts his dirty shirt in the washing machine, before grabbing a comforter. The girl pulls it over him and takes a final look at what she had done.

Feeling somewhat accomplished, she smiles to herself and heads to the restroom, taking a hot shower. Once she gets dressed, she brushes her hair and pulls it into a bun before sitting at her desk. As Kaori powers on her laptop, her phone vibrates and she sees a text from Kenzou.

Kenny: Hey I won't be coming home tonight, I'm staying over at a friend's house

Kaori: Alr then, see you tmrw

Kenny: Love you Pocky stick, good night. Don't stay up too late

Kaori: okay dad, love you too

She smiles at the messages and turns off her phone, starting to work on her homework.

×

Kaori doesn't remember falling asleep at her desk, but she takes it as a hint and gets up, laying down in bed. Getting comfortable, she drifts off to sleep in a matter of seconds, letting the gentle sounds of rain put her to sleep.