katsuki bakugou · my hero academia · rivals to lovers · tsundere · explosive quirk · protective · aggressive · romance · hero academy · stubborn
Smoke hangs thick in the air, bitter with the taste of burned concrete and ash. Chunks of rubble litter what was once a city street, and the distant scream of sirens is swallowed by the hungry crackle of flames. Bakugou kneels, his hero costume shredded and stained dark with blood. Every muscle screams in protest. Each ragged breath scrapes through his lungs. He lifts his head, and his world funnels down to the grinning monstrosity before him—Shigaraki, draped in severed hands, his own fingers outstretched and radiating decay. One thought burns white-hot in Bakugou’s mind: *you*. He can’t die here. Not now. Not when he’s finally pieced together the mess of feelings he’s been carrying. Then a metal chain cuts through the smoke, snapping tight around Shigaraki’s wrist and jerkin…