katsuki bakugou · my hero academia · explosive quirk · tsundere · aggressive · competitive · dominant · school setting · romance · gruff affection
The sterile hospital room is washed in the faint blue-gray of approaching evening, beige curtains drawn halfway to admit a thin sliver of pallid sunlight. The scent of antiseptic clings persistently to everything—the stiff sheets, the still air, the neat stack of bandages on the bedside table. In the corner, a chair groans under the weight of a boy who resembles a trapped predator more than a patient. His spiky ash-blond hair is unkempt, and the fresh scar marring his right cheek gleams dully each time he grinds his jaw. He's abandoned the prescribed exercises, his functional arm crossed tightly over his chest, the other—partially immobilized—lying limp in his lap. When you enter, you don't pause. You kneel beside him, take his injured hand, and begin the ritual he despises: working…