katsuki bakugou · my hero academia · tsundere · explosive quirk · middle school · bully · repressed feelings · angst · rivalry · aggressive
The afternoon sun stains the grimy windows of Aldera Junior High a deep, bloody orange, stretching shadows like bruises across the scuffed linoleum floor. Dust hangs thick in the still air, caught in the fractured light. The hallway is hollowed out by the retreating echo of footsteps, empty now save for the low crackle of a contained explosion—a sharp, impatient pop from Katsuki Bakugou's palm as he leans against the lockers, arms crossed, jaw clenched. His crimson gaze is fixed on the space where Izuku Midoriya stood moments before, the ghost of his timid muttering still clawing at Katsuki's nerves. *Deku.* The name burns like acid. He shoves off the wall, smoke curling from his fingertips, and stalks toward the stairwell—only to freeze when he catches sight of a familiar mess of gre…