MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

━ isolation

chapter 32

mania /noun/
mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and overactivity

Class 1-A sat huddled together around numerous desks, whispering to each other in hushed voices. But she could hear them from outside of the classroom. Shimamura's eyes remained staring at the ground as she listened to their voices from within. She took a deep breath, dragging her hand along the handle of the large red door.

Two weeks had passed since she was rescued from the League of Villains. They had her housed up in some hospital bed the entire time, not letting anyone visit except for her aunt, Aizawa, and a few other officials and pro heroes. The police questioned her when she was strong enough to answer them, and left without bothering her much. Although, she supposed she didn't give them good enough answers so they just stopped asking. A part of her felt bad.

When in the hospital, she met the pro hero that flew her out of the warehouse. Hawks was his name. He was nice. Kind. But his eyes stared into hers like he knew her truth. And she knew he did. Shimamura's biggest fear was people finding out about her bipolar disorder. She knew that the moment they figured it out, they'd treat her differently. Ignore her. Stop being her friend. So long to the good life. Her mind told her to avoid the kind hero named Hawks that saved her... as much as it hurt.

There was no doubt thousands of people have bipolar disorder across the world—maybe even in Japan alone—but Shimamura was different. She's always been different. Her mentality was just more severe than any other case.

Two weeks of hospitalization and they finally let her come back to school. She had wondered what it would be like when she came back, but never did she imagine she'd actually do it.

Current bipolar state: mildly depressive. It's been this way for a few days, unchanging. Everyone was shocked by that.

She sucked in a breath and opened the door, staring at the floor as she walked into the classroom. Her peers were sitting in their seats, now as quiet as statues. She could feel their eyes lingering on her as she sat in her designated seat in the back of the classroom. Dust had collected on the desktop.

She didn't say a word to her classmates. Her friends. It was now that she wished she had Hagakure's quirk so she could just turn invisible and disappear.

Midoriya threaded his hands into his scalp, fighting the urge to turn and look at the poor girl. He bit his lip, thinking. During the two weeks that Shimamura had been gone, he was able to piece together her disorder after Aizawa clued him in with the "lithium carbonate" comment—a medication most commonly taken by bipolar patients.

He wanted to talk to her about it. Not confront her... just talk. But he knew now was definitely not the right time.

Uraraka got up to walk over, but Kirishima stopped her. Kirishima shook his head and Uraraka sat back down. Aizawa had talked to Yaoyorozu and Iida to inform them of Shimamura's return, while Arima talked to Kirishima and Uchiha to tell them of her niece's current state. The four then told the class what their job was to help their friend.

They needed to give her time. Time to herself. Time to adjust. Just Shimamura and her own thoughts... her worst enemy.

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Shimamura wandered quietly through the loud hallway during lunch, headed toward the cafeteria. The students around her gossiped and talked as if nothing had happened because they knew nothing. Their voices were static in her ears. She couldn't understand a word they were saying as if it was a foreign language—distant and distorted. Her thoughts reigned triumphant in her mind as they tried to remind her of the past.