The class had been chatting like always as they arrived back in the dorms around noon. What they didn't expect was to see their normally angry ash blonde classmate passed out on the couch, sleeping peacefully. Katsuki didn't have a scowl on his face, making him seem like a completely different person.

"He looks so cute like this~" Mina squealed, taking a picture.

"Let's not wake him, he might kill us" Midoriya pointed out with a nervous laugh.

"Hm, he must've been really exhausted from Recovery Girl huh?" Kirishima wondered out loud as Yaoyorozu carefully draped a blanket over the sleeping boy. She'd always been the class mom, just like Iida was the class dad, and she happily accepted that role.

"At least he's fully healed up now, right?" Sero shrugged.

"Physically..." Kaminari muttered, frowning a bit as he looked down upon Bakugou.

"Are none of you bothered that we know absolutely nothing about him? We claim he's our friend, but I don't even know his favourite colour! A-and after all this shit... I-I... I feel so helpless"

"Hey, Kami, it's okay. We all want to help him get better" Mina whispered, hugging the electric blonde.

"But we need to let him open up to us, build trust"

"And how do we do that?! It's hopeless!" Denki whined.

"I-I don't wanna l-lose someone else t-to t-this!"

Jirou and Ashido started comforting Kaminari, even though he did have a point. They didn't have a plan to let Bakugou open up to them, they just hoped for the best... How could they call themselves heroes if they didn't at least try something? Everyone froze up and the room fell silent as Katsuki moved, small sounds of discomfort leaving his mouth.

"N-no... No, p-please... No... I don't... S-stop..." he pleaded silently his body shaking a little. He was crying... Not an awful lot, but there were tears.

"Nightmares..." Kirishima whispered, more to himself than anyone else, as he approached the blonde.

"Bakugou? Hey, it's okay, you're not where you think you are" the red head spoke, hesitating to reach out. Yet he did, very slowly, placing a hand on his back and rubbing soothing circles along with it.

"You're safe" he whispered as he felt Katsuki tremble under his touch, another stray tear rolling down his cheek. The class stared in shock and awe as the sleeping blonde calmed down again, small whimpers leaving his lips as he curled in on himself. Only a second later, his eyes shot open, a small gasp escaping his throat.

He backed up in surprise as he was met with those deep red eyes he knew all to well, fear overcoming him as he noticed everyone staring and looking at him with pity. He quickly wiped away the tears as he jumped off the couch, storming off to the staircase and fleeing the common room.

"He...looked so scared..." Uraraka whispered in shock. That wasn't the same person she battled at the Sportsfestival... It couldn't be! Others had seen it too and Denki started tearing up. The electric blonde normally didn't get so emotional, but his past ties to a similar problem made him feel even more at a loss than the rest of the class. Kirishima just stared at the now empty couch, slowly standing back up as he thought about what just happened.

"Kirishima... Do you know if Kacchan is taking any medication?" Izuku asked quietly, disturbing his train of thought.

"Medication..?" Eijirou echoed, frowning a bit. He remembered how Katsuki had reacted when he just had to take some medicine for his cold. He refused to do so, probably thinking that taking medicine would make him appear weak.

"I don't think so, no" the red head answered.

"Why?"

"I think it would be good if he was put on anti-depressants" the green head stated, making people stare at him with big, shocked eyes. Kirishima himself was exception to that.

"If my analysis is correct, he's suffering from depression, probably induced by childhood trauma... H-he... He has a low self-esteem, doesn't think much of himself... An inferiority complex. A-and he has trust issues because of it..."

I mean, he was onto something there, Kirishima knew that, but he still didn't want to admit that to himself.

"Wait... Childhood trauma..?" Jirou asked in shock, hoping she heard it wrong.

"Do you know more Deku-kun?" Uraraka asked confused.

"I-I... I know a part of what's going on, yes" the freckled broccoli whispered, biting his lip.

"A-and I-I really want t-to help Kacchan, it's just... I don't think he'll talk while she is still free. He doesn't feel safe, knowing she could come for him at any given moment... A-at least that's w-what I think"

"Who is she?" Sero asked, squinting his eyes.

"His mother..." Kirishima breathed, unaware that he said that out loud until he noticed people staring.

"I-I... I need to go check up on him. Excuse me-"

With that he pushed his way towards the staircase, running up to the top floor. He instantly noticed the door to his room was standing ajar, which was strange since he always closed the door. Unless-

"Bakugou? Are you in here?" he asked softly, pushing the door open. He didn't hear a response and didn't see the ruby eyed boy either. The drawers of his desk were pulled open and he could clearly see someone messed around in them. The doors to the balcony were still shut as well...

Glancing around the room, there was only one place where he could still be hiding if he were here and that was the toilet. Carefully, without making too much noise, he pulled the door open. His eyes widening as he saw Katsuki with a scissor in his hand, his arm bleeding from a single cut. Eijirou instantly pulled the scissors from his hand, throwing them away somewhere.

"I-I'm sorry..." Bakugou choked out, unable to look at the red head. He was well aware of what length people had gone through to keep him away from sharp objects, to keep him from cutting. And here he was... Betraying those who actually cared about him... How fucking selfish... He could've made more cuts with the time he had, but he didn't. Something in him felt instant regret after inflicting that one wound. Guilt...

He had done it in such a hurry, in a flurry of emotions. Because he was weak and he was scared and everyone just stood there, staring! He couldn't take that pressure! He needed to get out, he needed to feel something else, something to distract him from reality...

"I-I didn't... I wanted to..." he mumbled, tears coming to his eyes. Kirishima didn't know what to say or how to react to this whole situation. Yet something in him was smart enough to realise he needed to stop the bleeding and clean up the fresh cut.

So he did just that, taking pieces of toilet paper and making them wet before gently rubbing Bakugou's arm.

"W-why are you like t-this..." Katsuki breathed as he watched the red head clean up the cut before putting a band aid over it. It was hero themed, having Mirko written on it in big bold letters. There were also ones with Crimson Riot, Endeavor, All Might and other famous heroes in his little box.

"There, all better" Kirishima said with a small smile.

"Now... Do you want to talk about it?"

Bakugou gritted his teeth, pulling away his arm and staring at the shark boy.

"A-are you going t-to tell-"

"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to" Kirishima interrupted.

"That is... If you promise me that next time you feel like doing this, we talk it out instead, okay? Does that sound like a plan?"

Katsuki groaned, mentally cursing how cute Eijirou was being. How could one boy be so damn perfect?!

"...Fine"

Kirishima beamed at that, happy to know that Bakugou at least trusted him that much.

"You want to talk about it?" he repeated, tilting his head.

"No" Bakugou muttered.

"But I guess I will..."

"I don't want to force you-"

"It's fine" the blonde stated, crossing his arms.

"So are we gonna stand in this damn cramped space all day or are we gonna fucking move?"

It was only now Kirishima realised how close they actually were, standing almost against each other in the small space of the toilet area with a sink pressing in their sides. He couldn't help but blush, quickly moving aside so Katsuki could walk out.

It didn't seem like the blonde noticed the shift in his behaviour, no, he was way too busy stressing about what came next. He'd never talked about it with someone before... He'd never had anyone see him harm himself and treat him so gently... Whenever his mother discovered that he'd hurt himself, she'd punish him.

How dare he inflict damage upon his own skin? How dare he risk cutting himself in visible places? Was he crazy?! He could ruin the family name! Her whole status and everything she had build herself up to be! The image of a perfect happy family would be destroyed and she couldn't have that. It's why she always hurt him in places that were easy to cover up, so nobody ever saw something about the abuse.

And now he had to sit down and talk about it with Kirishima, explain to him why had needed pain to ground himself... Bakugou predicted tears in his near future and he already dreaded the moment he would have to go downstairs to eat. To be stared down by his curious classmates again. They only wanted to help him and deep down he knew that, but it just didn't feel that way. To him it seemed like they were trying to pry him open with their gazes alone, stripping him naked so he didn't have any armour to defend himself with.

Right now it only was Shitty Hair, but that didn't mean he felt less bare... Talking about his feelings and emotions wasn't something that he was taught as a child. He always had to suck it up and move on, everything stacking up inside him until it became too much. But if he cried, he was punished. If he showed any sign of weakness, he was punished. So it always came out in the form of anger.

Katsuki sighed, sitting down on the bed and staring blankly ahead of him. There were many ways he could describe Kirishima's room. From the fake waves on his walls to the punching bag in the middle of everything. It was so different from his own, so much like the red head himself. He felt an extra weight coming down on the matrass and for a minute they sat in absolute silence. Bakugou noticed that Eijirou had locked the door, which he appreciated. That way they wouldn't be interrupted.

"Why do you do it?" Kirishima asked quietly, breaking the trance of silence.

"It's...grounding" Bakugou sighed, starting down at his hands.

"T-the pain distracts me from my emotions... My fears..."

He swallowed a lump in his throat as he continued.

"It feels nice to just...being able to focus on that one thing, you know? It helps me cope w-with everything..."

He suddenly felt a warmth around his hand, seeing that Eijirou had taken a hold of it. He squeezed it slightly, silently showing his support before he took a deep breath.

"My hair isn't naturally red"

"W-what? What the hell does that have to do with any-" Bakugou protested, not understanding why he was bringing that up.

"Did you know?" he asked, interrupting. Katsuki blinked a few times, the serious expression on Kirishima's face foreign to him.

"Well...No, but it's not like I care" he muttered.

"Not a lot of people know about it, I try to hide it" Ei chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sometimes I wear a bandana to hide the roots, because I don't want people to see my natural colour. It... It belongs to a version of myself I want to forget..."

He frowned, looking down at the bedsheets for a moment.

"There was a villain attack and I couldn't do anything... My body was completely frozen... I felt so...helpless... Things turned okay, luckily, but what if it hadn't? I'd always dreamed of becoming a hero and once I had the chance to actually be one I..."

A small laugh escaped his mouth.

"Mina was the one to resolve the conflict. She'd always been more confident and popular than me... She didn't even know I existed back then, I just blended in with everyone else, not standing out at all. I'd beat myself up over what happened that day and I saw my dreams of becoming a pro hero shatter before my eyes... My quirk wasn't flashy, nor strong enough for me to make it in UA..."

Katsuki stared with big eyes. He would've never thought that this confident red rock was once a shy and insecure person...

"But then Crimson Riot inspired me and I started training every day to get stronger. I tried talking more, I tried to act confident around others and being able to back up my words with actions! After I graduated middle school and got the acceptance letter from UA, I was finally able to start a new chapter in my life, to change myself completely. So that's why I dyed my hair"

"You think I should dye my hair?" Bakugou snorted, making Kirishima chuckle.

"What? No dude! I just thought I'd give you an example of how people can change for the better. You can change too. To be more open about your feelings and accepting of yourself! I believe you can be flawed and still be super amazing! That's what being human is all about, isn't it? To overcome your own weaknesses with the help of others?"

"I guess..." Katsuki shrugged, a small smile gracing his lips.

"Thanks for cheering me up hair for brains"

"That's what friends are for dude!"