𝔸 𝔾𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕎𝕒𝕤 𝕆𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕍.𝟚 💥𝔹𝕜𝔻𝕜💥

Chapter 6

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Endless Trials

The faint sound of a machine beeping hummed in Katsuki's ears, jolting him awake from his sleep-induced haze. The sterile scent of antiseptics filled his nostrils, and he slowly opened his heavy eyelids. Where the hell was he? Blinking groggily, he surveyed his surroundings, realizing he was in a small hospital room. A TV loomed in front, and to the left, seats, a coffee table, and a window adorned with a mountain of get-well cards and flowers that looked like they were about to topple over.

His eyes shifted downward, taking in the intrusive oxygen mask clinging to his face. A web of tubes snaked from his right side to a complex patient monitoring setup. Numbers flickered on the machine's screen, accompanied by beeps, cataloging his heartbeat and breaths. Trying to sit up brought a wince of pain. Useless. He felt like a damn corpse, limbs heavy and unresponsive.

He lazily looked down to see his left arm encased in a hard cast and bandages wrapped the visible parts of his battered frame. The last thing he remembered was hitching a ride on Tenya's back; anything past that was a blur of chaos. But memories of everything before that came crashing in as he remembered holding Izuku's lifeless body.

The memory hit him hard, a wave of grief crashing over him. The beeping on the monitors seemed to spike in response, as if echoing the erratic rhythm of his own heart. Katsuki's breath catches in his throat, his chest tightening with those overwhelming surge of emotions. He remembered the weight of Deku's limp body in his arms, the desperation to bring him back, the crushing realization he was gone—did he really lose Izuku?

An overwhelming sense of panic nearly swallowed him, it was almost as if he could feel Death's cold fingers tracing patterns down his spine. His eyes darted around the room in desperation, searching for any sign of green hair and freckles, half-expecting to see him lying on the adjacent bed. The room, however, held only the sterile hum of medical equipment, and the cold, the silence only squeezed to Katsuki's heart harder in response.

"Deku," he coughed, half a prayer, half a curse. The room felt stifling, the walls closing in on him as he grappled with the uncertainty of Izuku's fate. Katsuki's hands clenched around the edges of the bedsheet, his breathing growing shallower with each passing second. He need to get up, he needed to find him.

He struggled to sit up again when the door swung open, and there stood All Might, sauntering in with Izuku's stupid 'Quirk Analysis' journal and a cup of coffee. Oblivious, he sipped away until their eyes locked, and he almost choked on his coffee.

"Young Bakugo! You're awake!" He coughed, recovering from his near-death experience with the coffee. No shit, Sherlock. Katsuki said nothing as All Might hastily placed his things on the table.

"I'm going to get the nurses; hold on," he explained turning to leave the room. "Deku..." Katsuki croaked, his throat felt horribly dry and scratchy. A slight cough followed, aggravating his injuries. All Might paused at the door upon hearing Katsuki's voice, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Katsuki's eyes nearly narrowed into slits as he watched All Might, sensing an unusual tension in the old man's body language. The way his shoulders were slightly hunched, the furrow in his brow—it all spoke volumes. He could feel that something was up, and All Might was holding back. It was definitely about the nerd.

"We'll talk about that when I come back," he said softly before disappearing outside. Fuck this.

Gritting his teeth, Katsuki attempted to free himself from the confines of the bed, only to be stopped by the tightly wound bandages. Shit, they might as well have been a fucking straitjacket. A frustrated "tsk," escaped his lips as he strained, muscles protesting against the weight of his injuries. The pain was dulled, but it was there shooting through him with every movement. And each move felt like he was dragging himself through molasses, annoying sluggishness. He felt frail, weak.