Chapter Text
"Guess who doesn't have a caregiver anymore."
Four heads, which had been facing the tv before the unexpected proclamation, swiveled to look over at Denki. A mix of shocked and confused expressions coloured the faces of his friends.
"What do you mean?" Mina exclaimed, alarm painted across her pink face.
Beside her, Sero leaned over the back of the couch to stare intently at the blond in the doorway. "Did you have a fight with Mirio?"
"That's a pretty shitty joke, Dunce Face," Bakugou growled from the end of the couch. Beside him, Kirishima's brow was furrowed, and his eyes were dark with concern.
"If you and Mirio had a fight, I'm sure you can work it out, bro. He's not just going to abandon you."
At the word 'abandon', Denki visibly flinched, but his forced smile didn't falter as he reassured his friends, "Nothing like that, guys! It's just that Amajiki was reclassified as a Little yesterday, so Mirio wants to be free to partner with him and help him adjust."
"But what about you? Who's going to help you, Denki?" Mina asked softly.
Denki laughed, "I'll be fine! I don't mind - really!" Noticing the mix of dubious, unsure expressions on the others, he continued, "It's not really abandonment because it's not like Mirio chose me. We were assigned to each other by principal Nezu, remember?
"But since I'm under 18, I still have the option to wait until I’m an adult to choose a caregiver, so I'm going to do that this time instead. I'll just take care of myself until I graduate!" he declared.
"If you graduate, " Bakugou snorted under his breath. Kirishima elbowed him in the side and flashed him a disapproving frown, before turning his attention back to Denki.
"Are you sure that's what you want? We're all here for you, bro, and most of our class are caregivers so-"
"No way!" Denki interrupted quickly. "I don't want any of my friends treating me differently or fussing over me. I've got this. Really, " he insisted, trying to plaster a confident smile across his face.
Judging by his friends' expressions though, he was failing to reassure them. Finding himself suddenly tired of acting OK after the stress of the day's unexpected news, and all the emotions it brought up, he let his fake smile fade.
"I'm feeling pretty drained from today, " he admitted in a quiet voice. "I think I'm going to take a nap before dinner. "
He listlessly waved a hand at the group before departing from the room and heading towards the elevators that went up to the dormitory rooms.
Behind him, Kirishima started to rise from his seat, but Bakugou put a hand on his muscular arm to stop him. "Let him rest, " he murmured in a quiet voice. "We can talk to him after dinner. "
The redhead looked like he was going to protest for a moment, but then sighed and dropped back down onto the couch. "You're right. Well catch him later. "
That plan fell through though when the normally energetic blond didn't show up to dinner. Bakugou and Kirishima exchanged worried glances and told Sero and Mina they were going to go check on their friend.
Before they could do so, however, Midoriya piped up, "He’s sleeping."
"Who asked you, nerd?" Bakugou immediately spat out.
Kirishima was a bit more diplomatic. "Did you speak with him?"
The green- haired boy nodded. "Iida and I stopped by his room on the way down. He said he was tired and was going to sleep through dinner and would grab some leftovers later. "
"I've already set aside a portion of tonight's curry for him to warm up when he is feeling more rested," Iida, their class representative, chimed in from his seat across from Midoriya.
The Bakusquad exchanged glances. "I guess that's OK, " Mina finally ventured. "As long as he eats later. "
"I wouldn't worry, " Midoriya added. "Mirio won't let him skip a meal. He's probably just worn out from today's training session. It was really intense. "
"Agreed!" Iida exclaimed, before launching into a discussion with Todoroki, Midoriya and Ojiro on the merits of the strenuous exercises their earlier class had covered.
Todoroki was only partially listening though; his attention kept getting pulled away by the worried expressions on the Bakusquad’s faces following Deku’s comment, and the way their eyes kept glancing towards the elevators. It seemed rude to inquire about what was bothering them, though. Instead, he simply watched with curiosity as first Mina and Sero, then Bakugou and Kirishima rose from the table and quietly left the room.
In the elevator, Bakugou pressed the button for Denki's floor, and Kirishima made no comment on it. After a short and tensely silent ride, the redhead was the first to step out of the elevator when the door opened, and the blond was right on his heels as he walked down the bright hallway and stopped outside Denki Kaminari’s door.
The door was shut, and no light was visible from the crack at the bottom. Kirishima knocked softly. "Denki? Are you awake, bro?"
They waited a moment, but when no response came Bakugou leaned past the redhead to pound his fist against the door. "Oi!! Pikachu! Open up!"
"Dude!" Kirishima knocked the other boy’s arm down before he could pound on the door again. "If he's sleeping, don't wake him up!"
They stared at each other a long moment before Bakugou relented and stepped back from the door. "Whatever. We’ll talk to him tomorrow then." He cast one last glance at the closed door before headed towards the stairwell to go up to his own floor with Kirishima following.
As their footsteps faded away, Denki sighed a breath of relief from the other side of his door. He had his back pressed against the thin wood, and slowly let his knees buckle as his friends’ footsteps retreated, until he slid down to sit in the floor.
He was relieved Kirishima had been there with Bakugou to limit his actions. More than once, the explosive blond had barged right into his room when he didn't answer his knock. As much as he loved his friends and hated to lie to them, he just didn't have energy to talk to them again tonight. He couldn't face their pitying stares and loaded questions right now.
He wasn't ready to face the truth of his new situation yet; he just wanted to pretend everything was still fine....