Drowning|| Drug Addict Bakugo

38

We got to the house, my tears coming to a halt as my body felt numb, except for tummy pounding headache and sore throat. They helped me inside and laid me on the couch. Sero sat next to me and comforted me as mom decided to put on a movie for a distraction. My eyes felt tired and I wanted to sleep, but my mind was so loud. "M-mom?" I whispered out. "Yes mija? Everything okay?" She asked full of concern. "I-I need two," I said quietly. "Kat- are you...are you sure? You were so proud of yourself for getting a week clean," she stated. "I-I need it. I c-can't d-do this without it," I stammered. "Baby, it'll be okay," she said as she put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "I-I need s-something.." I said as tears started to fill up in my eyes again. Don't cry don't cry don't cry don't cry.

"Mija.." she whispered. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, blinking away the tears as I continued to stare at the screen. If I looked at her disappointed face, I'd fall apart all over again.

"Kat, I'm going to say no," she said sternly. My chest tightened and I nodded, letting out a quiet sob. I should have expected that. She wouldn't let me throw away all my hard work because of a bad day at school. I cried quietly as my head rested on Sero's lap. He played with my hair in attempts to keep me calm, but all I could do was cry.

I was so happy...why? Why does the universe hate it when I am happy? My eyes felt droopy after my crying session, so I shut them and let my body drift asleep.

I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder gently. "It's time for lunch," Sero said quietly. I sat up and rubbed my burning eyes. Recollecting my thoughts, I stood up and walked over to the table. The plate was set in front of me but I couldn't bring myself to eat. I wasn't hungry. "Can you try to eat a few bites?" Mom asked me as she looked at me with concern. "I'm not hungry.." I mumbled. I wanted to just get up and stay in my room. Lay in the dark, cuddled with my warm blanket. "Three bites?" She asked. I bit my lip and nodded.

I know they're doing what's best for me, even if I didn't want to do it. I picked up my chopsticks and took a small bite, chewing agonizingly slow. I took another and felt nauseous. I but my lip and took a deep breath. Why is this so hard?

After swallowing my last bite, I stood up and excused myself to my room. I walked up the stairs tiredly before entering my room and laying on my bed. I wrapped myself in my blanket and curled into a ball. Why is this so hard? Why can't I be normal? Why couldn't I be happy?

I closed my eyes and let myself sleep again. It was the only thing I could do to stop these thoughts.

"Mom? What are those?" A little kid asked as she pointed at my bare thighs, littered with white lines, more than what I remember them being. "These are my story," I hear my voice say. "Can you tell me, mommy?" The girl asked with a bright smile. Her hair was dark brown, but her eyes were a light blue, having slight shades of yellow and green mixed into her innocent orbs. "Well, it's a little sad. But I'm okay now and that's all that matters. This just shows that I was able to survive my biggest battle yet," I hear myself say. I'm not trying to say these things, it's just coming out of my mouth.

"That battle must have been hard. What villain was it?" She asked with a sad expression. "It wasn't with any villain, princess. It was a battle with myself," I whispered as I held her close and rocked her. I kissed her forehead as she snuggled closer into me. "I'm happy you survived. I have an awesome mommy," she mumbled tiredly. I feel myself smile.

The front door opened and that's when u realized I was in a house I didn't recognize. "Welcome home sweetie," I say. "Hey, babe," I hear a familiar voice. Shinsou? "How was patrol?" I asked as I played with the girls hair. "Long. How is Semmi?" He asked tiredly as he sat next to me and kissed my cheek. "She asked about my thighs again," I mumbled. "Don't feel ashamed. That's just proof you fought something and survived," he said as he wrapped his arm around me and turned on the television.

"I can't help but feel so stupid for what I did when I was a teen," I mumbled. "We both did stupid shit, but look where it brought us. We're married, you're number 4, we have a daughter, a house, loving and supportive families. If we weren't how we were when we were teens, none of this would be happening," he said as he leaned his head on my shoulder. "I love you, Hito," I said. "I love you too, Kat," he responded back quietly before everything went black.

I woke up to a blaring alarm and I sat up. I looked around to see I was in my room. "KAT!" I hear mom scream from downstairs. I get up and walk down the stairs to see the hallway and downstairs filled with smoke. I covered my mouth and couched as I ran down the stairs. "Mom?!" I called out. "OUTSIDE!" She screamed. I rain forward and quickly made my way to the front door. I was pulled into a hug as mom and Sero were crying. "T-the stove. A grease fire," she blabbered out as she squeezed me tightly. "When we ran, we looked back and saw you hadn't woken up and it scared me!" She cried as she held me tightly. There were sirens blaring as I stood in shock.

Firefighters put out the fire and told us our house was okay, just a lot of burn damage in the kitchen and a bit in the dining and living room. Sero let out a sigh of relief before hugging his mom and then me.

"Are you guys okay?" The paramedics asked as they took our vitals. "The only one who was in there long enough to be hurt was Kat," mom said. "I'm fine," I muttered as they began pampering me. "I'm fine!" I barked as I began to get overwhelmed.

"We have to make sure your oxygen levels are okay!" An EMT said as they tried putting on a mask on my face. "OFF! IM FINE! REALLY!" I scream out. "She's not very fond of doctors. Hasn't had great experiences," Sero explained. "We just have to make sure before we can ensure you're safe," the doctor said calmly. "But I'm really fine," I grumbled as they put the mask on me. After a few minutes, they declared I had inhaled a bit of smoke and need to make sure I stayed hydrated. Once they left, we walked back into the house and saw the damage of the fire. "I'm going to make a few calls, get this repaired as soon as possible," mom said as she rubbed her face out of stress. "How about you boys go out. Spend the night at a friends maybe," she said with a sad smile. We nodded and went up to our room and began packing.

"Hey Denks, could me and Kat come over? We had an emergency at home and can't really be here," Sero asked. There was muffled talking on the other side before he chuckled. "Grease fire. We're okay tho. Kat just has to hydrate. She inhaled the most smoke," Sero explained. After a moment, he thanked Denki and hung up the call. "He said he'd come pick us up since he lived too far to walk," Sero explained. I nodded and took a deep breath. I had time to think now.

What was my dream about? Why was there a girl in my lap? Why was Shinsou there? Was this what my future was going to look like? Or is this what I hoped it looked like?

"How'd you sleep?" Sero asked as he slung his backpack around his shoulders. "I had a strange dream. Not a bad one, it was quite nice actually," I mumbled. I grabbed my back and we walked downstairs. "It's nice out, let's wait outside. It smells terrible in here," Sero said. I nodded as we exited the house and sat on the porch steps. "What was your dream about?" Sero asked.

I explained it to him and he smiled at me. "That sounds really nice. I'm sure your future could look like that if you work hard to achieve it," Sero said warmly. I nodded and looked down at my lap. "I'm sorry about today.." I whispered. "He- Mineta told me to give up. Since I already fucked up my chances to become a hero, I might as well stick to my addiction since it's the only thing I have going for me," I mumbled. "Well, that's just not true. You have a loving family, and you have a bright future ahead of you. Yeah, you may have fucked up a bit. But I'm sure you'll still make an amazing hero," Sero said reassuringly. "I'm glad everyone said no when I asked to get high. I think I would have really set myself backwards if I did anything," I said with a sigh. "I'm proud of you for recognizing that it was the best option for you," he said with a smile. I nodded and looked out at the road as I heard a car pull up. Sero stood up and reached for my hand. "Let's just have fun tonight. Get you out of your head," he said with a toothy grin. I smiled and nodded as I grabbed his hand and we walked to Denki's car.