When the Strong are Weak [Bakugo x Reader]

23

The first couple of days back to school after your internship were the worst. You had sessions with Recovery Girl to take care of your wrist and any remaining injuries you had from your encounter with Stain, leaving you drained. The nightmares continued and though you wished you could talk to Bakugo about it you had already told him too much. The nights you woke up from those dreams you would go out running, much to Mama U's disapproval.

It was good for you, you would argue. Most mornings would be spent running a couple of miles around the neighborhood and the evenings you trained further with Bakugo and Kirishima. Sometimes Uraraka joined your trio or you trained just with her, learning as much of what Gunhead had taught her as you could. You were exhausted when you finally turned in for the night.

Your grades slipped some, which caught Aizawa's attention after the third week. "Y/N, stay a moment, would you?" He asked one day after dismissing class.

"Sure," you took a seat in the front row of your homeroom, waiting for the last of your classmates to leave.

He leaned against the podium in front of you and though he came off looking bored you could tell he was concerned. "Everything okay?" He asked simply.

"Sure," you repeated with a small shrug.

Aizawa gave you a look as if to tell you he knew better and stepped around the podium to sit on the desk beside you. "You know you can talk to any of the teachers here if something is bothering you, right? Midnight isn't busy right now if you'd prefer to speak with her."

"It's nothing like that, Mr. Aizawa," you made a face but smirked. "Thank you though."

"Your grades are slipping, Y/N," he told you. "Not a lot but it's enough that all of your teachers have taken notice. You come in each morning looking like you've barely slept. Uraraka has even voiced her concerns to Mic and mentioned that you leave at night and don't return for a few hours, if you even return."

"I didn't think she was awake when I left." Was all you said, your eyes downcast in a poor attempt to hide your guilt.

"Where do you go?"

"Wherever my legs take me," you shrugged. "I just run until I start to get tired. Some days I don't, so I just come here and run the PE Grounds for a while then shower in the locker room."

"So you just run with a change of clothes on you?" He scowled.

"No, I keep a clean uniform in my locker for those occasions."

"Uraraka also mentioned that you're training a lot."

"I mean we all are," you chuckled. "We have to."

"Maybe more than you should be," Aizawa rolled his eyes.

Tapping your finger on the desk you thought for a few moments. "I haven't been sleeping well since Hosu," you finally admitted. All the teachers had been made aware of what truly happened so you didn't have to elaborate on what you meant. "I have nightmares pretty much every night. They aren't always the same, almost like they're on a rotation of sorts but there's one similarity for all of them and that's everyone but me dying or being dead. That's usually when I wake up. I run and train so much to keep my mind busy and to blow off the anxiety the nightmares give me. I figured if I could tire myself out enough I wouldn't have the nightmares but they still come.

"And I know my friends are worried, some have said as much to me themselves. But I can't talk to them about it because it'll get out that Endeavor didn't take Stain out but they did." How can I include myself when I didn't do anything but get in the way and distract the others? "Todoroki and Iida and Midoriya. They took him out. And even if I talked to them about it, it makes me look weak. It's not affecting them any differently than before. There grades are slipping. If they aren't sleeping either they're doing one hell of a job hiding it."