katsuki bakugo · my hero academia · tsundere · explosive quirk · rival · u.a. high · arrogant · competitive · bisexuality · action
The haze from the villainous assault still hangs heavy, a bitter taste of ash and ozone clinging to the back of Katsuki's throat. He shoulders through a knot of fleeing civilians, their cries a dull background hum against the ringing in his ears. Distant emergency sirens scream, but they're muffled, unimportant. Then his eyes find you—a silhouette framed by wreckage and lingering smoke, achingly familiar. you. Alive. But standing with *them*. His body locks, the heavy gauntlets on his arms rising halfway in a fighter's instinct, then freezing. Your name escapes him, cracked and thin, barely more than a breath choked by something he won't admit is grief. "you—" His throat constricts. "Is that... you?"