**So, this one was rather hard to write! I've had the idea for quite a while, and it deals with Bakugo going through depression and anxiety after everything he has been through in season 3. Basically his views on himself are drastically changing, and mental illness has been slowly creeping up on him the past few months. Do not read if mental illness is a trigger for you.

And, since this is fanfiction, some characters are probably OOC. IT IS NOT PERFECT, PEOPLE! Mostly my interpretation of the characters after the end of season 3, but whateves!**

Even though Bakugo's house arrest was finally over, the members of Class 1A had noticed that the blond had been spending more and more time in his room than usual.

The person to blame himself for the boy's behavior had been none other than Izuku Midoriya, since he was the only one who truly knew what his former childhood friend had been going through.

One day in particular was especially troubling for Bakugo's friends, as well as the class as a whole. The class made a mutual decision together not to scare Bakugo away by making a big deal out of his presence when he decided to leave his room once in a while, even if it was for something simple like getting a late - night snack before going back to bed.

"Hey buddy. Want to watch some tv with us, bro?" Kirishima asked gently as he noticed Bakugo open a cupboard to get some food one evening. The boy flinched after being addressed, dropped the food contents onto the floor and rushed back into his room, slamming his door more harshly than usual.

"Nice going, Kirishima." Mina Ashido said sadly with a shake of her head. She wasn't entirely blaming Kirishima for Bakugo's retreat, but with her women's intuition skills, she had a knack for telling what the explosive teen was comfortable with and the things that set him off. During this time especially, if someone approached Bakugo without him approaching them first, it was definitely something that would set him off running in the opposite direction.

Aizawa, who had been monitoring the dorm rooms that evening, shook his head with regret. "It's a shame. While I understand that Bakugo has been through a lot this semester; with being kidnapped and blaming himself for All Might's retirement – but as a teacher I can't allow a student to steep further into depression. All Might and I have ben talking, and we both agreed that it might be best to send Bakugo off to a treatment center for depression and anxiety. I hope that as his classmates, and some of you as his friends, will be able to break through to him before he's too far gone into his own head."

Midoriya sat on the same couch hours later, long after everyone else had gone to bed and pondered over Aizawa's words over and over again. He couldn't allow them to take Kacchan away, especially after everything they had been through. If Bakugo was in his normal state of mind, Midoriya wondered how he would feel if he did everything he could to help the troubled teen, even if he reacted negatively to any help offered to him in the past. Would this time be any different at all? Or, if Kacchan suddenly regained his old self again, would he hate Deku for lending his hand at all?

"Hey, dude, how long have you been here?" It was Kirishima. Most likely up to get a drink of water or heading back to his room after a drink of water.

Deku blushed at being caught off guard. He just hoped he wasn't mumbling to himself out loud again, which is probably why Kirishima came back to the living room, anyways. "Oh – umm… all night."

Kirishima smiled sadly and sat down next to his green – haired friend. "Hey, we can do this together. If we can save Bakugo from the league of villains, then we can help him get back to his old self again. I don't know what's been going on between you and Bakugo lately, but I notice that he – well – he doesn't act as angry when your name is mentioned, anymore. In fact, I've seen him talk to you a few times. That is, before he started spending all of his time in his room. The guy hardly says one word to me, either. Ever since his house arrest, at least. I miss him, and I know he's still in there, somewhere. Say, what happened between you guys during your little spar, anyways?"

Deku's face immediately turned pink after the question, he couldn't possibly tell Kirishima that Kacchan now officially knew about One For All, and a full fledged member of the All Might Secret Circle (as he called it, anyways). "Um…well – Kacchan was just very upset that day." True, true, no lie there. "You remember, with exams and everything. Actually, I think his answer will be much more informative than mine." He finished with a sheepish smile.

Kirishima nodded but didn't push the situation any further. He was too tired, and he knew that if someone didn't feel like telling him something, then there must be a personal reason behind it. "Okay, well, I'm going to head off to bed! But let me know if you need anything, okay?" His last remark sounded more concerned than he intended it to be, but he figured that he and Midoriya were close enough now to be concerned for one another.

Deku nodded and said goodnight to his friend. At that moment, he made a promise to himself to meet Bakugo in his room before breakfast.

The boy made good on his promise. That morning at 7am, Izuku knocked timidly on his classmate's door.

"Yeah?" Was all that he heard on the other end.

Well, Kacchan didn't sound upset or anything, and 'Yeah' could be an invitation to go in, but then again, maybe Bakugo thought that Deku was Kirishima. Nevertheless, Deku sighed to himself, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

"What?" Katsuki Bakugo asked, pulling the bed sheets over his head.

"Kacchan, this isn't easy for me to tell you this – but… t-they're gonna take you away."

There was no response from the other teen. With the blankets still covering his face, it was impossible to tell how Bakugo took this news.

Deku made his way over to Kacchan's bed and sat on the edge. The blonde made no argument against this, and Katsuki Bakugo began to sob.

"I don't want to feel like this anymore!" He cried.

Deku reached a hand to pull the blankets off his friend. To his surprise, Katsuki allowed Izuku to do this as well.

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to be locked up, but I don't deserve to be in U.A anymore!"

Deku's expression shattered into shock. "What brought this on?!"

"Everything is my fault. It's my fault I was kidnapped, because I'm weak. It's my fault that All Might was forced to retire, because I was an idiot. Now, it's my fault that –"

Without thinking of the consequences, Deku raised his hand to slap Katsuki hard across his face.

"Stop it!" Slap. "Just shut up!" Another slap. "You're not weak!" Slap. "You're not an idiot!" Slap. "And you're not a failure!" With another slap, Izuku stopped, completely out of breath. "You aren't any of those things, you're my hero! You always have been…"

"You're even dumber than I thought." Katsuki said, folding his arms and turning away, too embarrassed to take any compliments at this time.

"Even the strongest need heroes, Kacchan. You're mine. If you leave, then I don't think I could go on, either."

"You better not fucking leave because of me."

Izuku reached into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper, and handed it to Bakugo. "This is us when we were kids." The picture captured two young boys, one with blonde hair and the other with green. The blonde wrapped an arm around the sleeping green – haired boy, with protective eyes and a pondering expression. "Even though you were always kind of a jerk around the other neighborhood kids, you always acted like this when we were alone. You made me feel safe then, back when I had no means to defend myself. You're one of the reasons why I want to help people today. And I'm not the only one who's proud of you. All Might is, too. And he doesn't blame you for anything, I promise you that."

Katsuki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If I'm going to stay, then I'm going to need help. I can't just change overnight."

Deku nodded. "No one expects you too."

The boy's red eyes swelled up with tears again. "Just don't let them take me away."

Deku raised both of his arms, but it wasn't to hit the other this time. Instead, he engulphed him into a hug. "Promise me you'll eat something today?"

Bakugo nodded. "Yeah. Whatever."

No one said a word when Bakugo and Midoriya entered the dining room together. Some acknowledged them with a simple nod, and went back to eating. However, Kirishima frantically ran over to Bakugo and hugged his neck tightly.

"We love you, bro! We fucking love you!"

Bakugo tried to pull the other teen's arms off of him.

"No, bro! You cannot run away from my love! I will hold you forever!"

"No, Kirishima! You're choking him!" Izuku warned.

Bakugo, now blue in the face, dug his fingernails harshly into Kirishima's skin until he released him.

"Dude, you're making it too obvious, settle down bro." Kaminari said to Kirishima.

"Hu? What do you mean?" Deku asked, scratching behind an ear.

Kaminari and Kirishima blushed deeply. "Ugh. Nothing. We heard nothing."

"Oh, Kacchan, you're my hero!" Mineta said, leaning in his seat with a hand dramatically placed over his forehead.

Like nails on a chalk board, Bakugo scraped his fork against his plate. "That's it. Grape Juice is fucking dead." With that said, he knocked over his chair to run after the small boy with sticky balls for hair.

"No! Mr. Aizawa, help me!"

"Taking a nap. Take care of it yourself."

Mina Ashido clapped her hands together with glee. "Aww! Now that's the sweetest thing I've seen all week."