It had been a week since the war finally ended. Even though you’d been seriously injured too, you recovered quickly enough to be discharged just four days later. Now you were back in the hospital, sitting beside Katsuki’s bed after being told he’d finally woken up—one full week of unconsciousness. You hadn’t seen him since the moment everything went quiet on the battlefield. In the meantime, you and some of the others had already returned to U.A., trying to slip back into a routine that didn’t feel real anymore.

His parents were there as well, standing at his bedside. Mitsuki was already scolding him the moment he opened his eyes, snapping at him for pushing himself too far, her voice sharp with worry. Masaru hovered quietly behind her, tense but gentle, just relieved his son was alive.

The doctor stepped in.

Doctor: "We were watching what he did in the battle, and we did everything we could for him."

"We managed to rejoin enough bone segments that it's still in his arm. But there's no telling if it can be rehabilitated to where it's usable."

The doctor let out a heavy sigh.

Doctor: "If the goal is to continue doing hero work, you could get a prosthesis, like Mirko."

Bakugo didn’t even hesitate. With his good hand gripping his broken arm, his answer was immediate.

Katsuki: "No, hard pass. I need my palms for my Quirk."

Mitsuki’s voice softened—rare, but real.

Mitsuki: "Katsuki…"

Silence followed. Thick, frustrated, painful. Then—

A raw shout tore through the quiet room. His unbandaged eye went wide with fury, jaw clenched tight against the bandages on the right half of his face. He tried to sit up, fighting the restraints of pain and the white sheets.

Katsuki: "I don't care how harsh the rehab is, I'll start right now!"

Doctor: "For now, it's only light training for you."

Bakugo stared at him, stunned—almost offended. Light training? For him, that wasn’t training at all. That was punishment.

Doctor: "Get that heart healed first, young man."

Katsuki scoffed, looking down at his bandaged arm, every line of his body tight with frustration and the fear he refused to show.