❝Stars Aligned❞ » Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Reader

92

The days blurred together like smoke and ash.

Bakugou hadn't left the chair. Not once.

The hospital room was white, sterile, humming with the low buzz of machines, but it felt like a battlefield. Every beep of your heart monitor kept him tethered, every hiss of oxygen a reminder that you were still here, even if you weren't.

He sat hunched over at your bedside, arms wrapped in bandages up to his elbows, the blisters beneath still raw and aching. He barely noticed the pain anymore. All that mattered was your hand in his, limp and hot even now, like holding onto a coal that never cooled.

He talked sometimes, gruff and quiet, the words awkward in his mouth but spilling anyway.

"Doctors keep saying your body's... regulating itself. Like a machine resetting." His thumb dragged across your knuckles, careful despite his bandages.

"You're stronger than this. You always have been."

Other times he just sat in silence, staring at your face, memorizing every detail like you might slip away if he blinked too long. Todoroki came once, left without saying much. The others hovered in the halls, worried but wary. No one dared pull Bakugou from his post.

Then on the fifth day, the monitor stuttered.

Bakugou was on his feet instantly, chair skidding back. Your chest hitched, a strangled sound clawing up your throat. Your lashes fluttered before your eyes flew open, glassy and disoriented. You sucked in a gasp, lungs rattling like they'd forgotten how to work. Bakugou leaned over instantly, crowding your vision, trying to anchor you.

"You're fine. You're safe," he muttered quickly, harsh like he was scolding you even as his thumb brushed your knuckles.

"Don't move too fast, dumbass. You've been out for days."

Your eyes darted around the room, frantic at first, then slowly focusing on him. Recognition hit, familiarity softening the panic in your gaze.

"Kats.. I.." Your voice rasped, broken like glass dragged across stone.

Bakugou froze, then exhaled, tension leaving his shoulders in a rush he couldn't stop. His grip tightened around your hand as if making sure you were real.

"Yeah. It's me. Right here."

You blinked, focusing on his face, on the rough edge of his voice, the heat of his palm. For a moment, you just stared at him, something like relief flickering in your tired eyes. Then your brows pinched, confusion threading in.

"What happened? How did I even get here?"

The question landed like a blade to his chest. His jaw worked, muscles twitching, but he didn't answer right away. You tried again, voice weaker this time.

"The last thing I remember.... There was some sort of fire? And then—" You cut yourself off, eyes flickering with the effort of recalling, chasing shadows that wouldn't take shape. "It's gone. After that, nothing."

Bakugou's throat burned. He could still smell the scorched metal, still feel the weight of your body in his arms as he dragged you from that hellhole, your power tearing itself, and him, apart.

His hand lingered over yours, thumb twitching once before stilling. "...You don't remember the lab?"

Your eyes widened a fraction. "The lab? Just us getting there."

He studied you hard, searching for even the smallest hint of recognition. But there was nothing, just the raw honesty of your confusion.

The silence between you stretched, thick and suffocating. Bakugou dragged a hand over his face, bandages scraping against his skin. When he spoke again, his voice was low, almost ragged.