aerie (bakugo katsuki x oc)

chapter 85: washed away

On the way home, Mrs. Bakugo glances at me from the rearview mirror. "You know, they at least could have cleaned the blood off your face," she remarks.

I chuckle nervously. "Oh, yeah. I kinda just snuck out the door once my hand was healed, I didn't want to be there any longer than I needed to be."

"That's alright," she sighs, "We'll get you cleaned up when we get home."

"Thanks," I say, gazing out the window. 

Did she say home? As in, their house is mine too? That's half heartwarming, half heartbreaking. If only she knew.

   Is this really such a good idea? Going back to where Shiggy knows I'll be? What's stopping him from showing up and killing Katsuki's entire family? Me? Can I really protect them from something like that singlehandedly?

   I'm not sure. But as of now, I don't want to give up on my life here, I don't want to give up Katsuki. If he really loves me, I can't just leave him behind. Besides, I'm happy at UA, with Kats and Kiri. I feel like I belong, and I have people who love me. I can't just give that up over the fear of something that may never happen anyway.

After an hour long drive, we finally arrive "home".

"Alright," says Ms. Bakugo, as soon as we walk in the door. "Katsuki, get the first aid kit."

"Don't tell me what to do," he grumbles.

"Do you want to help her or not?!" she replies.

He rolls his eyes before shuffling to the kitchen and grabbing a white box from the cabinet.

He sets it down on the counter, and his mom opens it up. "Okay," she says, studying my face. "Let's start with that gash." She reaches in to grab a bandaid, and begins to open it.

"No, idiot!" Katsuki shouts, "You're doing it all wrong! You need to clean off the blood before you start worrying about that!"

Ms. Bakugo wastes no time smacking him in the head for the disrespectful remark. "Shut up!" she yells, even louder than him. "I was getting there!"

"Don't hit me, you hag!" he shouts, holding his hand on his head. "Why are you opening that already?! You don't know anything about this! Move over, let me do it!"

"No!" she shouts back, "I have this under control, now give me a rag with warm water!"

He groans, before angrily grabbing a rag from the cabinet and dampening it in the sink. He wrings it out, then hands it to her.

She snatches it from his hand. "Thank you," she spits. She then takes the rag and starts to wipe my forehead pretty forcefully, causing me to wince in pain.

"Stop!" Katsuki shouts. "You're hurting her! I told you to let me do it!"

She glares at Katsuki, then averts her gaze back to me. And after looking at me for a moment, her angry expression softens. "Fine," she sighs, handing Katsuki the rag.

"Finally," he says, snatching it from her hand. He glares at her as she walks away, and doesn't look back at me until she's left the room. And when he does, he suddenly looks kind of... shy. He lightly studies my face, before gently dabbing my forehead with the rag.

I don't know why my mind always goes here, but I'm suddenly reminded of all the times Shiggy has cleaned my face like this. Only, of course, it was him who was the one who inflicted the injuries in the first place. But still, it's a familiar, comforting feeling.

I close my eyes, and focus on the sensation of the warm dampness of the rough fibers cleanse away all of the pain of the treacherous night I experienced only hours before.

He moves from my forehead, to my cheeks, below my nose, and all the way down to the trails of blood down my neck leading to the collar of my shirt, lightly dabbing, and softly wiping.

Once he's finished, the rag is brown and black from the dried blood. He tosses it aside, and reaches into the kit for an alcohol wipe. "This might sting a little," he mutters, tearing the paper and pulling out the small white square, before unfolding it and bringing it to my forehead.

It does sting, but the smell of the sterile wipe is somehow comforting as well.

He lightly wipes the gash on my forehead, then the smaller one on my cheekbone.

At this point, I've opened my eyes. The sight of Katsuki closely studying my face and lightly touching it are sending tingles down my spine. It's so nice to see him acting so gently, and a lovely feeling to be tended to by someone who's usually on the aggressive side.

Once he's finished cleaning my wounds, he picks up a butterfly bandage from the kit and uses it to close the open gash on my forehead, then a regular bandaid for the one on my cheekbone and nose.

"There," he says, with a soft raspy voice, although, his tone doesn't sound as kind as his actions have been feeling. "There's nothing I can do about your eyes. Put ice on them or something. I'm going to bed," he says, then quickly leaves and heads up the stairs.

Damn, I thought we were getting somewhere. Oh, well.

I follow up the stairs, go to my room, and plop down on the bed.

Maybe he's not very talkative right now, but hey, it's the first night. Of course he has to keep up his 'mad at me' act. I'm sure that, if I suck up to him enough, things will get better. He's already made it clear that he's not gonna throw me out to the dogs, even though he probably should. He still loves me. And one day, things will go back to normal between us.

   Hopefully. Because if not, I'm not sure I could do this. I need him on my side now more than ever. He's all I got.