And we are back!

The funeral of Midoriya Izuku took place over the weekend.

It was a small, private affair. Izuku's father was unable to attend. He worked overseas and was not able to secure a flight on time. Most of the people who attended were friends of the family. Few of Izuku's classmates showed up. The Bakugou family called the day before to apologize for not being able to go. Their son was still in the hospital.

Overall, it was a distressingly quiet affair, broken only by Midoriya Inko's sobs.

Odd Future 04

Kashiwagi Miharu was an angel.

That was the prevalent opinion among the hospital staff. The young nurse was not only attractive but had an impossibly gentle disposition and was always diligent in her work. There was not a single person in the hospital who bore a grudge against or even disliked her. Even the roughest and angriest of patients became docile in front of her. She was just that sort of pure person.

Naturally, just like the fearful humans of olden days did with pure maidens, the hospital staff had sacrificed her by throwing her headfirst into the raging fire that was Bakugou Katsuki.

"Fuck!"

Miharu winced as Bakugou hit the mats covering the floor yet again. She moved to help him because that was what she did. It was her job. She was a Rehabilitation Nurse. It was her duty and her joy to help patients with long-term physical disabilities deal with their limitations and reach their full potential.

A single angry, violent glare from Bakugou stopped her.

Miharu had read his medical history. She knew he was only fifteen years old while she was a trained professional. She had dealt with older patients. She had dealt with larger patients.

None had a glare like that.

Maybe it was because of his red eyes which enhanced what was already a bottomless well of anger and frustration. Maybe it was because of his voice which was far rougher than most high-schoolers. Or maybe, it was the sheer restrained violence that just radiated from every pore on Bakugou's body.

Whatever the case, one thing was clear.

Bakugou Katsuki did not feel like a high-schooler. He felt like a wild, dangerous beast, and Miharu's every instinct was telling her that if she made a wrong move, she would find his fangs aimed at her person.

Thus, Miharu stayed in place as Bakugou managed to twist himself to a sitting position before reaching for the parallel bars. He was practicing how to walk. He had been doing so for the past half an hour. She should be helping him, but he absolutely refused to accept any aid. She feared he would hurt himself if she tried to force things.

Bakugou's prostheses were still not ready, so he was stuck using crutches for the time being. As he was now, he should not be able to stand up. He should not even be in rehabilitation just yet.

Miharu knew this to be true because she had watched several patients go through rehabilitation. Bakugou's case was particularly unfortunate. Bakugou was not just missing one limb. He was missing two. Worse still, they were both on the same side of the body, the left one. The feeling of emptiness, the loss of sensation, the dramatic shift to his sense of balance. Maybe if his missing arm and leg were on different sides of his body, he could manage to start walking in a relatively short amount of time. As things were, even keeping hold of his crutches should be a challenge.

Bakugou Katsuki should have realized this already. There had to be a limit to a person's stubborn pride. When faced with his inability to move, he should have seen the absolute necessity of letting her do her job.

Bakugou hadn't so he didn't, or if he had, he had simply dismissed the fact as inconvenient.

With his one good arm, Bakugou pushed his body, so his back was against one of the parallel bars while he reached for his fallen crutch. Slowly pushing his back against one of the bars, he managed to get back to his feet. It was an impressive feat for someone who by all means shouldn't even be in rehabilitation just yet. The boy had insisted, however, and no one had been able to stand against his sheer ferocity.

One of the nurses at the hospital was a big fan of documentaries. In his enthusiasm, he would send other members of the staff videos of particularly violent bits of wildlife. Miharu did not particularly enjoy such things, but sometimes she ended up clicking on the videos out of curiosity only to inevitably regret it after she was done watching. Nature was way too violent for her tastes.

However, as she saw Bakugou Katsuki literally growl like an animal, she couldn't help but be reminded of one of those videos.

It had been a short video, not even four minutes long. In it, a lion had walked up to a pack of hyenas feasting on a dead gazelle. One would think a lone lion would keep its distance from such a large group of carnivores, but that had not happened. The lion had merely strutted up to the pack of hyenas with complete confidence, never once looking worried.

The lion walked right up to the matriarch and killed her.

One bite. A single instant. It sank its teeth in the hyena's throat and didn't let go. The other hyenas had fled after that, leaving the dead gazelle for the lion. It had really been that simple.

Katsuki Bakugo reminded Miharu of that lion.

Not because he was violent. Not because she feared he would literally bite her. Rather, because they both moved with the same certainty. The complete confidence that the world would bow before them. Bakugou was treating his condition exactly like that. He was treating it as a foe that was already dead and just didn't know it yet. He would sink his teeth into it and wouldn't let go until it gave up. It was not a level of pride Miharu had ever had to deal with. It was maddening, yet it could be helpful if only he would let her help him!

Bakugou grunted. A miscalculation caused his crutch to slip from his hand. Were it not for his quick reflexes, he would have fallen. As it was, he barely managed to grab one of the bars in time. Even so, he was still in a precarious position.

"Hold on!" Miharu said as she made her way to him.

"Don't!" Bakugou snapped. His one arm trembled as he tried to regain his balance, tried to keep himself uptight. His knuckles were white from the effort. His hands were too sweaty. It was only a matter of time until he fell. "I don't need your damn help!"

Of all the arrogant, idiotic, inconceivable things!

"Why!" Miharu's patience finally snapped. "Why won't you let me help you? This is what I am trained for! People don't just magically get better! You can't just bash your head against the problem until it breaks. It doesn't work like that!"

Bakugou, for once, looked at her with something other than a glare. Unfortunately, his stare was nothing if not stubborn. "Watch me."

The effect was ruined by him slipping immediately after. However, Miharu was ready for it this time. She stepped in and managed to catch him in time, helping him steady himself.

"If I hadn't been here just now, you would have fallen. Again," she said, more than a little frustrated. "You could have hit your head against the bars. You could have hurt yourself, and then how would your parents feel?"

Miharu felt Bakugou's body tense at the mention of his parents.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?"

Bakugou mumbled something. It was too faint for her to hear. "What was that?" She asked.

"I said because I woke up in a fucking diaper!" Bakugou yelled. Even though they were alone in the room, Miharu did not doubt that Bakugou's voice had reached all the way to the hall and then some. "I woke up wearing a stupid diaper because they didn't know how fucking long I was going to be unconscious. Some retard thought of putting an adult diaper on me just in fucking case. Do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to take off a damn diaper with one arm in the middle of the night!"

She didn't. Even if she had, Miharu would have stayed silent.

"Then I ring the fucking bell because I really need to use the damn bathroom. The fucktards go and give me a fucking bedpan. All happy and so damn proud of their double-digit IQs. I politely tell them to go fuck themselves. I don't need a fucking bedpan. I need to use the damn bathroom! They say some stupid ass shit. I tell them to shove it up their assholes and start freaking hopping my way to the bathroom to fucking shit in peace!"

Bakugou's breathing grew heavier as he spoke. His face was flushed, and Miharu was certain it was not only due to anger.

"Do you have any idea how it feels to nearly fall on your own shit? 'cause that's what fucking happened to me. I was one wrong fucking move away from literally falling into the fucking toilet the entire fucking time. Then once that mess was over and done with I had to make my way back to bed. I fell on my fucking face on the way back, and the nurses had to carry me to bed. Then the fucking morning comes, and they come to my room telling me I need a fucking sponge bath. Like I couldn't stand on my own fucking leg and take a shower. And you know what? I fucking let them! I fucking let them give me a sponge bath because I knew I would fall on my ass if I tried to bathe on my own. 'cause I fucking knew I couldn't do it. I couldn't do something as simple as taking a goddamn bath! Then today, I couldn't even operate a fucking wheelchair on my own 'cause I only have one damn arm, so someone had to push me all the way here. I needed help to take a fucking elevator and walk a couple of yards! Like I was… Like I was some sort of fucking…"

He trailed off, his gaze firmly locked on the ground causing his hair to fall over his eyes as he struggled with the word he could not possibly bring himself to say. He knew it, though. Miharu knew it too.

Like an invalid.

Miharu had seen this many times. It was not just about the accident or the missing limb. It was also about all the consequences that came with it. Things people took for granted before were suddenly out of their reach. Taking a walk around the park. Putting on clothes. Going to the bathroom. Taking a shower. Cooking. All those simple, ordinary things suddenly became monumental tasks. In that situation, it was completely natural to become frustrated.

When faced with one's own inability so plainly, what else could one do but feel helpless and useless?

"It will be okay," Miharu said. She made her words firm as if she was stating a fact. Normally, she would have tried to be soothing. Less than an hour in Bakugou Katsuki's presence told her any attempts to be comforting would be perceived as pitying him. "What you are going through right now is normal. It is okay for you to feel this way."

Bakugou did not say anything. However, he also didn't try to shake off her grip. Miharu hoped that meant he was listening instead of this being the calm before the storm.

"I won't lie to you. You will never quite be like you were before." This was something she usually didn't say during the first session. However, once again, she felt this was the best approach to take with Bakugou. "However, I guarantee you will be able to do almost everything you could do before. It will be different, but different does not mean worse. That is why I am here. It is my job to help you return to your daily life with as little inconveniences as possible. Okay?"

Bakugou did something that may have been a nod. Miharu kept going.

"That will take time, though. It takes time for everyone. This is not happening in one day. It is not happening in two. You cannot force this. Even once you are out of the hospital and have your prosthetics, you will still need therapy. The more you fight me, the more time you'll spend here, unable to do what you want to do. Do you understand that?"

Bakugou stayed silent for a long while. Finally, his red eyes looked straight at her.

"No one puts a diaper on me again."

"I promise," she replied instantly.

"No more offering me bedpans."

"I will talk to the nurses on your floor."

"And I want to be able to take a damn bath on my own. No sponge baths."

Here she paused. "I will see what I can do. Maybe I can have a medical bathtub moved to your room. You would still need help to get in or out, but you'd be able to clean yourself on your own. Would that be preferable?"

Bakugou's brow furrowed as he considered the option. It was clear he didn't find it particularly appealing, but ultimately, it was better than the alternative. "Okay. That will work."

The teen took a deep breath. Miharu half-expected steam to come out of his mouth. It didn't. Instead, she felt some of the tension leave his body.

"Alright," he told her. "I'll give you a shot."

It was a start.

AN: Originally, this was supposed to be a much longer chapter. I wanted to go through Bakugou's rehabilitation all in one go so we could finally get to UA. However, after many deleted drafts, it became clear to me that this scene needed to be its own thing.