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Bakugo was the first to notice how Y/n didn’t eat during lunch period, and if they did it was just an apple. How on the weekends, he’d find Y/n eating as if their life depended on it during game nights and the random comments from Y/n ‘joking’ about how fat they must be to be eating like that. No one else seemed to notice and that irritated him. All these so-called friends not seeing the obvious struggle Y/n was going through. Y/n wasn’t thin, they were muscular with some fluff, but that was normal. They were training to be a Pro Hero and their body reflected that. Bakugo was always impressed by the strength Y/n had and their ability to fight during no-quirk training days, though he’d never say that out loud.
That’s when he started carrying snacks in his bag. He’d randomly hand them a small bag of trail mix or gummy snacks and wait until they started eating them before going back to work in class. He would hand snacks to other classmates, not wanting what he was doing to look obvious, but Y/n was catching on. Bakugo only ever carried their favorite snacks. Neither ever talked about it directly.
A few weeks passed, and even if Y/n wasn’t eating full meals during the week, they were at least eating the snacks Bakugo gave them. But something changed and Y/n didn’t eat at game night one weekend. Bakugo caught Y/n in the middle of the night eating leftovers from the gathering but just turned around and left, acting like he hadn’t seen, hearing them continue to eat once he was out of sight. He thought it was probably a one-off thing, but It continued to happen for the next three game nights and Y/n stopped sitting with the class during lunch. He also noticed them starting to struggle to keep up in training courses.
Bakugo had had enough; he gathered two meals worth of food onto his tray and walked out of the cafeteria. Walking around campus, he looked for Y/n, finally spotting them under a cherry blossom doing school work.
“Hey, eat,” Bakugo barked at Y/n as he sat down next to them, putting the tray between them.
Y/n hadn’t heard him approach, looking up startled at Bakugo. Bakugo notices Y/n’s face scrunch up as they looked at the tray of food.
“No, thank you. I’m not hungry,” Y/n speaks quietly, going back to work.
“I didn’t ask, Dumbass,” Bakugo pushed, picking up an onigiri and holding it over the paper Y/n was writing on.
Y/n stares at the ball of rice in front of them, in an almost trance.
“Why are you doing this?” Y/n’s voice shook slightly, their face shown with anger.
Bakugo didn’t respond, just kept holding the onigiri out towards Y/n, waiting for them to take it. Finally, they do, they don’t start eating but they hold and look at it. Bakugo grabs a bowl of rice and meat and begins eating in silence. After a few minutes, Y/n puts their binder down, turns towards the tray between them, and begins eating the rice ball they were given. The two didn’t talk for the rest of the lunch period. Y/n finished the onigiri and drank a juice that was also on the tray. They didn’t eat anything else, but that was something, Bakugo thought. He finished the rest of the food himself. The bell rang out and the two walk together to class.
Bakugo started a habit of finding and bringing Y/n food under the same cherry blossom at lunch. Every week, he’d add another small food item. Sometimes they would eat it, sometimes they wouldn’t. The two began to grow close, talking more as time went on. After a couple of months, Bakugo started making a second protein shake in the morning and handing it to Y/n without a word and walking off.
The rest of the class started to notice the attention Bakugo was giving to Y/n and started teasing him about it when Y/n wasn’t around. This time, a few of the students sat in the common room studying with chatter happening every so often.
“So, Bakugo. What’s up with you and Y/n? Are you and her dating or something?” Mineta asked on the opposite side of the coffee table to him.
Bakugo looked up from the textbook he was taking notes from before returning to it. He spoke in a flat voice, “no, they and I are not.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Kirishima and I were talking about it the other day. He says you two would be good together. I knew you wouldn’t date someone who is as out of shape as she is for a Pro Hero,” Mineta replies.
Bakugo paused at that, eyebrows knitting together, “what are you talking about?”
Denki was the one to respond matter of factly, “Well, you know as well as anyone, Y/n is too big to be a pro hero. She’s too fat.”
Bakugo’s blood began to boil. Were they being serious? Were they not training with the same person as him? She? Y/n hadn’t used ‘she’ since their first year, and they were all now in their third year. No one else said anything and the two others went back to studying when no response came from Bakugo.
“Do all of you really not see what’s going on with Y/n?” Bakugo barks at his classmates.
This time everyone there looks up from their work, confusion written on their faces.
“What do you mean?” Todoroki asked.
“You all call me heartless but I was the only one to notice they have an eating disorder! You all call yourself heros, but you can’t even see suffering right in front of you? Y/n and I aren’t dating. I’m just the only one who fucking cared enough to help. Not only are you fat-shaming them, but you also misgender them? Some fucking heros you are! You don’t deserve to have Y/n as a frie-” Bakugo’s yelling was cut off by the ding of the elevator chime and Y/n walking into the common room.
Everyone looked at Y/n, their expressions were all different. Denki and Mineta looked guilty; Todoroki and Ochaco looked sad; Midoriya looked very confused. Bakugo was stood up, fuming about something, which wasn’t an out of the ordinary way to find him, but something was different. Y/n looked around confused at their friends, empty smoothie cup in hand.
“Is something wrong?” Y/n asks slowly.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Bakugo barks towards Y/n, causing them to jump slightly.
“Okay, I’m going to be in the kitchen. Don’t let me stop whatever is happening from happening,” Y/n escapes towards the kitchen quickly.
The group was quiet, no one dared to say anything. They really hadn’t noticed anything happening with Y/n. Bakugo shoved his books into his bag, following Y/n into the kitchen. He finds them washing out the travel cup he had given them that morning. Y/n turned, hearing someone entering the kitchen.
“Hey, what was that all about?” Y/n asks, noticing it was Bakugo who had entered.
“Why do you keep any of those extras as friends?” Bakugo was serious but angry with his next statement, “They’re constantly misgendering you and talking shit behind your back. You have to know they do it with how often it happens.”
Y/n puts the now clean cup on the drying rack, turning to look at the tall boy next to them.
Y/n speaks as a sigh falls from their lips, “because all of my friends do. They always have since I was a child. Doesn’t matter the faces or the names, whoever they are, they always do.”
“Well, those aren’t friends!” Bakugo criticized the person in front of him.
“And what do you know about friends, Bakugo?” Y/n challenge Bakugo with every word. “All you ever do is bully and yell at your friends! Do you think that’s normal? Calling them extras like they don’t have their own slew of problems? Just a few weeks ago you yelled at me because I ‘wasn’t enough of a challenge anymore’ in training! You do not get to tell me how to keep friends!”
Y/n threw to towel they had been holding at Bakugo’s chest before storming out the kitchen and up towards their dorm. They were right, Bakugo knew that. He always convinced himself that was how he helped push people to get better, but he knew better. The only thing he could think about after Y/n stormed off was that he blew it.
Any progress he and Y/n had made was gone. Whenever he would go to meet at their usual lunch spot, Y/n would get up and leave without a word. Y/n stopped attending game nights altogether and would leave the smoothies Bakugo made on the kitchen counter where he left it for them. Y/n didn’t speak up in class anymore and avoided any extra talking during training. If they weren’t in class, they were in their room sleeping. Bakugo only knew that because he had gone into their room after they wouldn’t respond to find them fast asleep. Ochaco had started making Y/n a plate of dinner each night, leaving it in the fridge for them to come get. Bakugo would notice the single dirty plate in the sink each morning.
It had been two weeks of that. Bakugo was walking earlier than normal towards class when he saw Aizawa talking to Principle Nezu outside of the classroom quietly.
“If that’s absolutely what Y/l/n wants, I will not forbid them from doing so, but I would like them to know I am saddened to see such a talented young hero leave the program,” Principle Nezu spoke formally.
“I’ve tried talking them out of it, but there’s no use. Y/l/n wouldn’t even leave their dorm this morning. They also don’t plan on mentioning it to any of their friends,” Aizawa’s face and voice were full of stress. This was something that had obviously been bothering him for a while.
Bakugo was frozen with the knowledge he just learned. Y/n wanted to leave to hero program? And do what? Join general studies? They’d get bored too quickly. His questions were answered as soon as he thought them.
“They already were accepted to a nearby public high school,” Aizawa says before noticing the blonde listening in. “Is there something I can help you with Bakugo?”
Bakugo’s eyes go wide when he realizes he’s been caught. With a quick shake of his head, Bakugo turns around and runs faster than he’s run in a long while back towards the dorms. He passes some of his classmates, all confused as to why he’s going back towards the dorms. He rushes up the stairs, the elevator takes too long, he thinks. As he passes the kitchen, he notices there isn’t an empty plate in the sink. He comes to a halt in front of Y/n’s dorm room. What was he going to say? This wasn’t information he was even supposed to know. He could hear movement beyond the door. Before his brain was able to catch up, his arm rose and three loud knocks sounded through the hallway. The movement inside stopped. A moment passes and Y/n doesn’t come to the door.
“I know you’re in there,” Bakugo argued with the wooden door in front of him.
Another moment passes before he hears movement again and the door is opened. Before him was an exhausted looking Y/n.
“What do you want, Bakugo?” Their voice sounded huskier than normal.
“I’m skipping class today. Want to join me?” Bakugo spoke cool and fast, not trusting his confidence would hold up if he spoke any slower.
Y/n’s eyebrows knit together, “you never skip class. What’s got into you?”
Silence filled the space between them before Bakugo finally broke.
“I heard Aizawa talking to Principle Nezu. Are you actually considering leaving?” Bakugo asked, hurt in his voice.
“Not considering. Decided. Why do you care? That’s one less extra in your class.”
Y/n started to close the door, but Bakugo’s fist slammed into it, keeping it open.
“You don’t get to just give up like that!” Bakugo’s voice began to rise in frustration and hurt.
“Oh, and what makes you think you get to make decisions like that for me?” Y/n’s arms cross in front of them.
“Because you’re my only real friend in this shit hole. You can’t just leave me!” He confided.
Bakugo’s words came out faster than he could stop them. They were a shock to himself even more than the shock they were to Y/n. Bakugo could feel his heart trying to leap out of his chest, and his body nearly shook with emotions he never let himself feel. Y/n’s body slammed into his, nearly knocking the wind out of him, their arms wrapping up and around his shoulders, face finding the crook of his neck. He squeezed them in a death grip back.
Y/n voice is muffled and their voice tickles Bakugo’s neck, “are you actually planning on skipping? I could go for a tonkatsu sandwich.”
Y/n could feel Bakugo’s laugh reverberating from his chest, “Yeah, we can go get something to eat. Wherever you want, I’ll pay. But first, you have to go tell Aizawa you aren’t leaving.