Chapter Text
“So I sat with him a while
and then I asked him how he felt
He said, ‘I think I'm cured
No, in fact, I'm sure of it
Thank you, stranger
for your therapeutic smile’
So that is how I learned the lesson
that everyone is alone.”
Bowl of Oranges - Bright Eyes
Katsuki stares at the piece of paper he's been given. The words ‘Rei Himura room 4910’ stares back at him. He wonders if he really wants to do this as he stands outside the hospital. He swallows nervously before approaching the sliding doors and walking inside. A tan woman with long white hair sits behind the front desk, appraising him like he's here to cause trouble. He rolls his eyes and walks up to the desk.
“It's my first day of volunteer hours. Do I need to sign in or anything?” He questions and she raises an eyebrow.
“You here for community service hours?” His lip curls up in agitation at the question.
“No! I'm just trying to be a good fucking person!” he spits before reigning in his temper.
“Does it make a difference anyways?” he asks slightly calmer.
“It does, you'll sign this clipboard then.” She says, sliding it across the desk to him. Katsuki snatches it up before scribbling his name across the next open box. He slams it back down as the lady smirks at him and takes it back behind the desk.
“Where's room 4910?” He asks quieter this time.
“Elevators are behind you. Go to the 4th floor and follow the signs when you get there.” He nods his understanding and walks away.
The elevator comes quickly and he steps inside, pressing the button for the 4th floor. He repeats the name in his head along with the room number, not wanting to mix them up. He knows the 4th floor is mainly for patients who are recovering from, essentially, a mental collapse, and he'd hate to make anything worse, and confuse someone by going to the wrong room, or getting the woman's name wrong.
The doors open to a sterile white hallway that reeks of disinfectant. He thinks this may be the most depressing place he's ever been. He sighs and turns left like the signs indicate and quickly finds Rei’s room at the end of the hallway. He knocks, and it seems like forever until the doorknob turns and nervous gray eyes peek at him.
“Oh, you must be a new volunteer?” she says before opening the door further and offering a gentle smile. He nods before introducing himself.
“Bakugou Katsuki.” He says with a small bow. She smiles wider and giggles quietly. It's a lovely quiet sound, but it also sounds like she doesn't laugh often.
“Himura Rei.” She responds, bowing back. He's not exactly known for gentleness, but he offers her a soft smile, as she gestures for him to come into the room. He looks around the small, clean room and doesn't see much in the way of personal belongings. No family pictures, no knick-knacks, just four empty walls, a bed and some cabinets.
He doesn't know what to say and suddenly it feels awkward. He can't help but wonder why he's even here. He's not a comforting person. He's just some annoying brat, and here he is in some traumatized woman's room, probably going to end up making her time here worse. A gentle voice drags him out of his self-deprecating tangent.
“Do you know how to play Hanafuda?” Rei asks, almost startling Katsuki.
“I've heard of it. Never really played, but I've seen my parents play it.” Katsuki answers with a shrug. She pulls a box out of a drawer, weathered and well-loved. She starts laying out the pieces as she explains the set-up to him. He watches silently, listening to her instructions. He doesn't tell her that he does know how the game works, well enough that he probably could play without instructions after years of watching his parents play. He just listens.
When she finishes explaining, he takes the seat across from her and they start playing. He loses himself in the game, his competitive nature coming out as he moves cards where they need to go, but eventually he comes out of his focused state and realizes Rei had already won. He looks up at her and meets her eyes. There's something familiar in them, but he brushes it off.
“Rematch. I only lost because I've never played before.” He challenges and the woman smiles, wider than he'd seen since he's been here. Her eyes crinkle in the corners and it reminds him of his own mom. She begins collecting the cards and redistributes them again.
The next few hours pass the same. Rei sets up a new match and Katsuki loses until finally, he slams his cards down victoriously.
“HA! Take that!” He says, louder than necessary, but losing doesn't come easy to him, and technically his volunteer hours ended over an hour ago. He should be home by now, helping his mom make dinner. It was worth it though, and she can't be too mad at him, right? Spending extra free time with a woman who probably spends the majority of her time alone.
Rei seems amused when he looks at her, like his outburst was funny to her. It makes him smile, probably the most natural he has since he's been here. It's too wide and probably a little feral looking, but it's him.
“Thank you for spending the afternoon with me. I'm glad you enjoyed the game, Bakugou.” She says, and Katsuki nods.
“It really was nice. I do have to get going though, I technically should've left a while ago.” He says, a hand on the back of his neck. She nods in understanding though, like she expected that.
“Oh I know. Most volunteers don't stay for more than an hour. I hope to see you again soon, though.”
“I'll be here once a week.” He answers and she nods.
“That's great! They'll probably have you with a new person next week though.” Rei explains and Katsuki's eyebrows furrow. He doesn't like that, he doesn't want to have to meet a new person in this facility every week, that sounds exhausting.
“You'll probably be back visiting with me next month. They seem to rotate the volunteers through the same 4 or 5 people.”
Katsuki just nods, and gives a grunt of acknowledgement. He's still not happy about that, but 4 or 5 people won't be bad, just may take some getting used to. They exchange goodbyes after this and Katsuki makes his way to the entrance of the building. He stops at the desk to sign himself out.
“I stayed past my hours, is that a problem?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Course you did. Overachiever.” She says with a smirk. “Not a problem at all. Always glad to have people that like the work.”
He grins to himself as he scribbles his name along with his time of departure in the box next to where he signed in.
“Kay see ya next week.” Katsuki says, sliding the clipboard back at the lady and waving as he walks away.
He calls his mom as he leaves the building and she answers on the first ring.
“An hour, Katsuki Bakugou? Where the hell are you?” Katsuki rolls his eyes, but he's grateful his mom can't see him as he grins at her greeting.
“We were playing Hanafuda, alright?! And she kept winning and I couldn't fucking leave till I won at least a round!” He argues, and his mom laughs on the other end.
“I should've known you got competitive. Fine brat, dinner’s on you tomorrow.” He scoffs.
“Whatever, hag! I'm walking back now, be home soon.” He says, pulling his phone away from his ear, disconnecting the call.
-
The next week is relatively the same. He goes in and is heckled by the woman at the front desk, and he goes to a patient's room and spends at least an hour with them. This woman is older than Rei, and when he comes to her room, he finds her lying in bed knitting. She offers to teach him and he wonders how hard can it really be.
The answer is very hard. The yarn keeps getting twisted around itself, and falling off the needles, and every time he thinks he's getting somewhere it falls apart. He considers bringing the pair of needles to school with him and melting them. That'd make him feel better.
“That's alright, it's not for everyone, dear.” She says sweetly, and he feels his face scrunch up in agitation.
“No, s’fine, I'll get it.” He mutters and she laughs next to him as she continues working. He gives up for now and watches her work, whatever she's making is on the small side, it's about as wide as her lap as she continues in adding rows.
“What are you making anyways?” He asks, genuinely curious.
“I make baby blankets, and they donate them to maternity wards in the area.” His eyebrows go up, slightly surprised.
“Oh.” Is all he says, as the room is plunged into silence. He undoes the yarn that he'd mangled and starts from the beginning.
By the time his hour is up, he leaves with a small ball of yarn and two knitting needles. She was impressed by his determination and insisted he take some, so he could ‘show her what he made next time he visits’.
The week after that he ends up in a Veteran’s room. The man seems incredibly excited to see a new face as he launches into some old war stories. Katsuki listens intently, as the man rattles on extensively. He tells him about how he lost the man he loved when he bled out on the beach from a gunshot wound. Katsuki thinks he feels his own heart break as he soaks up his words. He can't imagine.
By the time he leaves that day he feels different, a little older, and a little smarter in a way he'd never thought about before. He feels lucky to be trusted and confided in.
The week after is much more brief and ends up making up for the extra time he's spent with some of his visits.
They threw shit at him. He shudders at the thought and is grateful the administration immediately removed him from his volunteer list. He ends up stopping by Rei’s room with the free time. He's not sure why exactly, but he's incredibly fascinated by her.
When he knocks, he hears shuffling on the other side of the door before a younger woman opens it. He's slightly taken aback by the woman with similar white hair to Rei’s with red highlights throughout.
“Oh, sorry, I'm a volunteer with the hospital-” Katsuki starts to explain before Rei steps behind the girl in the doorway.
“Oh Bakugou! Fuyumi, this is the boy I was telling you about.” The girl smiles at that, and widens the door.
“Oh hello! I'm Fuyumi, nice to meet you.” She says, introducing herself. He nods.
“Bakugou Katsuki.”
“They didn't tell me you'd be visiting today?” Rei says, confused.
“I know, I'm sorry. There was a mishap with the patient I was supposed to visit and they've been taken off my list.” Katsuki explains, a hand on the back of his neck, as he looks away.
“It wasn't Chisaki, was it?” Rei asks and Katsuki blinks a few times.
“Is this a regular occurrence?!” He snaps as Fuyumi stands behind her mom giggling.
“It seems to be some kind of initiation, or maybe they just think he'll warm up to someone eventually.” Rei says calmly and Katsuki sighs wearily.
“No one was gonna warn me?!”
“To be fair, you didn't ask.” Katsuki nearly balks before he recognizes a twinkle in her eye. She's picking on him right now.
“Listen here, next time I'm using you as a human shield.” Katsuki grumbles, before throwing himself against the wall.
“I can go since you have a visitor.” He offers pointing over his shoulder towards the door.
“Fuyumi, do you mind if Bakugou stays to visit? He can be rather entertaining.” Katsuki's jaw drops.
“Okay, listen here, I'll be a lot worse than entertaining-” Katsuki starts before the two women giggle at his outburst. He blinks as his cheeks heat up.
“Fine, laugh at me, see if I care! Let me beat you in Hanafuda now.” He mutters sitting down at the table they played at a few weeks ago. She smiles and nods, pulling out the box. He's been spending some time at home playing with his parents to practice. He can't lose 12 times in a row again. She sets the cards up while Fuyumi talks to her mother about her life. He figures out that she's got at least a couple of brothers and that she's a teacher.
“Bakugou, where do you go to school?” He's caught off guard by the question as he tries to focus on the game.
“Don't think you can distract me right now. Ask me when I win.” He answers, never taking his eyes off the cards. Suddenly though, Rei’s hands are empty, and she's won the third round in a row. He groans in frustration and glares at the woman across from him.
“You're cheating, there's no way you're this good at this game.” He says, annoyed. She smiles as she begins putting the cards away.
“I've had a lot of time to practice.” She explains quietly and he can see some sadness in Fuyumi's eyes. Katsuki internally curses himself. ‘Great fucking job, moron.’
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean-” She shakes her head with a kind smile.
“Please, don't feel bad, that was not my intention. I hope you'll play more with me until I won't have to let you win anymore.” His jaw drops again and he can hear Fuyumi giggling behind her hand.
“Whatever! Enjoy your gigglefest, I'm going home!” Katsuki says, waving behind him as he heads for the door. There's more giggles behind him before he gets a goodbye.
“Thank you for stopping by Bakugou, I'll see you in a couple weeks!”
He waves again, before making his way towards the elevator. He stops in the lobby and stomps up to the receptionist.
“You couldn't have warned me that someone was gonna throw shit at me?!” He snaps. The woman looks up at him and laughs loudly at his question.
“Hoo buddy, you got Chisaki today? Man, I can't believe they still assign people to him.”
“How long has this been a problem?!” He asks, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
“Longer than you can imagine. Oh boy that's hilarious.”
“Glad everyone thinks my suffering is comedy gold. Guess I'll see you next week, but if someone else throws shit at me, we're gonna have problems.” Katsuki mutters, walking out the front door.
The next week he's sent to the children's ward, which is… Weird. Shimura Tenko is his name. After he's led to the children's area, he finds the kid in a room for arts and crafts. He's hunched over a table furiously scribbling… Hands? Katsuki watches from over his shoulder, not wanting to interrupt in case he makes the kid mess up.
The hands are really well drawn, especially for someone so young. He notices that his free hand is scratching at several bandaged areas of his body. It makes him feel a little sick, wondering what the hell this kid went through. Suddenly he hears the sound of him dropping his pencil, which gives Katsuki a chance to speak up.
“Those are, uh, pretty good kid.” His head whips around to meet Katsuki and his eyes are hauntingly empty.
“Th-thanks.” He mutters quietly as Katsuki goes to the other side of the table to sit across from him.
“I'm a new volunteer, Bakugou Katsuki.” He says, introducing himself. The kid doesn't respond as he begins to furiously sketch another hand.
“Mind if I knit while you draw?” He asks and with a barely seen shake of his head Katsuki starts practicing his knitting. He gets lost in the activity when he hears a quiet voice.
“Can you take me to get ice cream?” Katsuki's head flies up in surprise before he looks back down at the mangled yarn in his hands. He sighs, shoving it in his bag.
“Kid, I definitely can not take you out of this hospital. I'm not even an adult.” Katsuki explains and the kid looks up from the table.
“Alright, can you get me some ice cream then?” Katsuki laughs and nods his head.
“I'll see what I can do next time I visit, alright?”
Tenko hums softly, but doesn't respond otherwise before he takes the paper he'd been sketching on and crumples it up, throwing it in a trash can that's overflowing with similar pages.
“Hey, why’d you do that?!” Katsuki asks, shocked. The drawings were incredibly impressive. Deku would probably like to have seen them.
“Not good enough. They're never right.” He mutters and Katsuki watches him dig at his bandages, nails scratching under the tightly wound fabric.
“Hey, take it easy, you're gonna hurt yourself.” Katsuki says but commenting on it only seems to make it worse. He tightens his lips and looks around for hospital staff, this doesn't seem like something he should be handling himself. There's no one around though and Katsuki starts panicking internally before he opens up his phone.
“Hey, you wanna see my friends' drawings?” Katsuki asks, and Tenko’s fingers slow down.
“Hm?” He says leaning forward as Katsuki opens up his phone gallery.
“Here, it's just a short comic, you can swipe right 3 times for the rest of it.” The kid is quickly enamored and Katsuki's chest burns with a strange sense of relief and pride. Everything's okay.
The hour is up before he knows it and the kid asks him an endless number of questions about Deku’s work. He'll have to get more photos for next time. He stops at the front desk again, talking to the receptionist after signing himself out. He took a moment to peek at her name; Usagiyama Rumi.
“Hey, you can't tell me about the patients, can you?” She looks at him curiously, but shakes her head.
“Nah kid. Even if I know something, it's confidential. Someone caught your interest?”
“Shimura Tenko.” Katsuki says, and he can see sadness in the woman's eyes.
“He’s got a sad story. Sorry kid, good luck.” Katsuki nods, feeling disappointed as he makes his way to the exit. He stops as the doors open and he turns back.
“Hey, am I allowed to bring in food for any of the patients?” She looks at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Who and what?”
“Tenko. He wants ice cream.” She laughs, a fond look on her face.
“All I can tell you is that you’d have to check with his doctor.”
Katsuki just nods, as he turns around and walks out.