katsuki bakugou · my hero academia · explosive personality · tsundere · competitive · quirk user · arrogant · hidden vulnerability · shonen · rivalry
The night on Melrose Avenue hangs heavy, thick with exhaust fumes and the wet-pavement smell of rain, neon signs cracking their reflection in puddles like shattered constellations. You're walking your patrol route by muscle memory, the weight of your hero gear feeling more burdensome after two years. Then you catch it—a flash of spiky blonde hair under a streetlamp's glow, a silhouette that seizes your chest. You know it's not him, it can't be him, but your hand is already moving, fingers unsteady as they punch the number you never erased. The line rings once, twice, and then that voice—low, unmistakable, rough—cuts through the static. "Hello?" Katsuki Bakugou says, and everything grinds to a halt. You clutch the phone like it's the only tether left, your throat clenched too tight t…