STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 62 // Hurt

The next some days were hell but if said hell was contained within the remains of your frail body and trying to claw its way out.

Your head was constantly pounding. Your body always felt like it was underwater. Your memory was mostly foggy in terms of events. You knew names and faces most of the time, but recalling who you knew from where was blurry.

Your classmates did everything they could to help you prepare for your involvement in the war.

Jirou and Kaminari made you a calming playlist to help settle your senses whenever you got overstimulated.

Kirishima and Shoji set up a small workout corner in your room, so you could stay fit without having to travel to the training grounds or wear yourself out with the small journey down the hall to Aizawa's home gym.

Uraraka, Mina, and Asui put together a small scrapbook of the past year's memories, including pictures, news articles, and much more, to help you keep your memory alive as best you could.

Todoroki stopped by every so often and used his quirk to heat your pillows, blankets, and sometimes clothes, so you could stay warm regardless of how cold your physical body was.

Shinso played video games with you every night to keep your mind busy during the boring hours of the night.

Momo worked with Hatsume from the support department to tailor your hero costume, so it'd fit your since shrunken body.

Tokoyami taught you some meditative methods to help with your headaches, which he often used to help him and Dark Shadow sleep after a rough day.

Midoriya helped you learn some new techniques on the down low that would aid you in eventually wielding One For All.

Everything proceeded well, so well that you forgot you were dying, that Shigaraki was silently feeding off of you. That is, until you got a call.

You were making some small, pocket sized bombs out of Toxin for your comrades to use during the war when your phone started vibrating against the the kitchen table, which you had been sat at for going on two hours now.

"Hello," you said upon answering the call, setting the device beside your cluttered crafts as you put the call on speaker.

"Hey, Kiddo," an obviously feminine voice replied. However, you couldn't find any familiarity in it.

"Okay, if you've watched any TV, you know my heads a bit fucked right now, so I'm gonna need you to elaborate on who you are," you explained. "Please and thank you."

"I see you still maintained your attitude," the woman chuckled. "I'm Star and Stripes, Kathleen Bate. I was your mentor while you were in America."

Although you were unable to put a face to the name at the moment, you were aware of what she was talking about. America was where your whole life changed.

"Right," you acknowledged, "so is this some sort of attempt to jog my memory or a not-so-slick goodbye call?"

"I don't know," the woman admitted. "I suppose I just wanted to see how you were doing one last time." You leaned back in your chair, taking note of her tired voice and sorrowful tone.

"So a goodbye call then," you stated.

"If you'd like to think of it that way," Star and Stripes replied.

"Look," you began, grabbing your phone and turning speaker mode off as you stood to gather your bearings, which soon turned to pacing, "I plan on sticking around a bit longer, so you don't gotta worry about me croaking in my sleep. Don't you know how stubborn I am?"

"It's not a goodbye call me for," she countered. "It's one for you."

You thought you stopped breathing for a moment after processing her response.

"As a hero and your mentor," Star and Stripes continued, "I have promised to dedicate my time and life to not only protecting the people but buying the world time, buying you time. You may not have many days left, but I'm going to make sure you maintain all of them."

"What're you—"

"Do me a favor," she cut you off. "Watch me on TV, will ya? I need to know my favorite student is cheering me on."

The sound of the call ending had you pulling your phone away from your ear to look at the now black screen.

"What the hell is with everyone?..." you muttered, overwhelmed with how much was being throw at you in such little time.

You had to relive your whole life in one day practically every twenty-four hours. You discovered you and Shigaraki were consciously connected not too long ago. Now, your previous mentor that you barely remembered was, what, about potentially die in a fight she wanted to make sure you watched?

You abandoned the task you had been busy with for hours and headed to the living room where you sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Your eyes widened at the caption written in bold white letters upon a red banner at the bottom of the screen.

"AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO TAKES ON JAPAN'S MOST WANTED VILLAIN"

You watched fearfully as Star and Stripes headed into a fierce battle. Although she was prepared with fighter jets and a dead-set goal, you somehow knew that this fight wasn't going to end in your favor.

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"I'm [Y/N] [L/N]. It's a pleasure to be working with you."

"Ah, quit it will the professional talk. You're as much of a hero here as I am."

¥¥¥

"Ya know, that boyfriend of yours is some firecracker."

"Try being with him every hour of every day. Your patience level will become stronger than All Might himself."

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"You're my best intern. You deserve a break once in a while."

"Thanks, but being a hero is my normalcy."

¥¥¥

"You doing okay, Kiddo?"

"Yep, just the every day mental crisis of an upcoming hero. No biggie."

¥¥¥

Her voice rang in your head, bringing back snippets of conversations the two of you had during your stay in America, most of which Bakugo wasn't a part of.

It didn't hit you until now that the woman had almost become a mother figure to you. Whether that was because your memory was now hazy or because your mother was actually still live back then, you didn't know.

What you did know was that this was going to hurt. It was going to hurt a lot more than you could handle right now.

You turned away from the TV and grabbed your phone, heading to Bakugo's contact as quickly as your fingers would let out.

You may not remember him the next morning, and you may not even remember Star and Stripes died in twenty-four hours from now, so you wanted to the comfort while it was available.

"Kat—"

"I know. I'm on my way."

[EDITED]