saudade [Bakugou K. X reader] [Book two]

[N I N E T E E N]

[Song recommendation: Mightnight City --- M83]

[Warning: None]

[Chapter Nineteen]

Kirishima was slumped forward on the bed, his head resting against Mina's shoulders as she rubbed his back gently. Izuku couldn't stop apologizing to Ochako, his legs folded under him as he cradled his head in his hands, refusing to meet her gaze. Katsuki was sitting on the edge of his bed, one arm draped through his legs and the other holding his head up with his elbow on his thigh. All of them were beginning to regain their senses and memories of what had happened.

Recovery Girl placed a bandaid on my thumb and thanked me for my help. She was busy checking everyone's vitals to make sure everything was back to normal when I walked to Katsuki's bed. I stopped in front of him, gently leaning my crutch off to the side. I reached forward and raked my hands through his hair, pushing it away from his face.

He hadn't said a word to me. It was concerning. I knew he was guilty from the way he looked up at me, his eyebrows pinched together and his lips in a small frown. I brought one hand down to his face, cupping his cheek in my palm. I leaned down and kissed his forehead. I didn't know what else to say or do.

"Recovery girl says you're all back to normal," Aizawa announced from his place beside the old woman's desk. "You're free to return to your dorms. Y/n, I want you to stick around for a few minutes."

I looked back to Katsuki. "I'll meet you in your dorm, okay?"

He didn't acknowledge me. He might've nodded, but if he did, it was so slight I barely caught it. He just stood up and followed everyone else out of the room. I felt my eyes narrow slightly.

"Kimina's quirk has a lasting effect," Aizawa said once everyone had left. "Though it doesn't just make them see their worst fears. It completely incapacitated them."

"From the way those three acted, Kimina's quirk is more developed than what we believed."

"Her quirk reaches much further than what we expected," Recovery Girl said.

"It went to their brains?"

I looked toward the door, slightly surprised to see Hawks there. He was the last person I expected to be interested in this. How did he even know? Was he there when the attack happened?

"The fusiform face area, or FFA, is a part of the human visual system that is specialized for facial recognition. It is located in the temporal lobe, which also plays an important role in processing emotions, language, and certain aspects of visual perception," I said.

"So her quirk alters the ability of the temporal lobe?" Hawks asked.

"When the quirk is inhaled, it goes straight to the temporal lobes and begins to chemically alter the neurons there. It takes them over and affects the victim's ability to process faces, emotions, and their visual perception of the areas around them. In Kimina's quirk, it will alter their memories to bring their fears to life. In the victim's mind, they are living through their worst fear. They are unaware of what is truly happening around them. The faces that they are seeing aren't really the ones that are in front of them. That's why the three boys attacked us. They couldn't process that it was us."