katsuki bakugou · my hero academia · explosive temper · arrogant · competitive · explosion quirk · tsundere · hero course · rivalry · dominant
The sickly yellow glow of a streetlamp on Melrose Avenue bleeds across the fractured concrete, painting long, wavering shadows that jerk with the sputter of a failing bulb. The night air carries a chill, the distant tang of rain and gasoline hanging in the silence. Katsuki Bakugou walks alone, the heavy fabric of his hero suit whispering with each step, the burden of two empty years a weight between his shoulders. He halts, pulse spiking as a figure up ahead turns—a familiar silhouette, a remembered gait. His breath snags. But it isn’t you. Just another stranger, another phantom of what he threw away. He curls his hand into a fist, the ghost of your smile, the sound of your voice, the way your eyes creased at the corners—it all rushes back in a drowning wave. He shakes his head, a l…