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You first meet Bakugo Katsuki when you’re both 15; stuck together for a combine mission from your internship. You and your pro hero coming into Musutafu to “help out.”
He thinks it’s stupid, he’s strong enough to take down the villain by himself (or he so would like to say.) He sneers the entire time, glaring at your unbothered form from across the room, huffing and puffing about how the mission didn't need you or your lame ass mentor.
At some point he even cornered you in a break room, sneering at you, talking through his teeth about "do you think you're better than me or something, damn woman?"
You responded with an uninterested look in your eye; making his eye twitch in anger. “Do you know what a glass cannon is?”
He just huffed crossing his arms, staring at you, confused at the question but pretending to know what you meant, waiting for you to continue at his prolonged silence.
You rolled your eyes, brushing past him, “Thought so.”
By the time it takes him to realize you just insulted his intelligence you're long gone and he’s left by himself in the break room with steam coming out of his ears.
Katsuki finds out the meaning of your statement a couple of hours later when he’s holding your bleeding broken body in his arms, eyes wide and body froze in shock, his hands trying to stop the blood flow from the open wound on your back.
And that was the start of your...friendship with the raging blonde. During the first months of your recovery he spent hours keeping you company, even letting you meet his friends so you wouldn't feel as lonely during his absence. You had tried to cut ties, heart aching at the thought of being just a pity born friendship, but he had busted into your house one day, face red and steam coming out of his ears, roaring about why the fuck had you been ignoring him for days now.
Your bond only strengthen within time, differences helping you balance each other out, and the alikeness fitting you together like a puzzle.
+
Katsuki has been texting you the entire day, after receiving no response he decided to visit your apartment, your spare key dangling in his keys ever since you first moved in.
Worry wormed its way back into its brain, since it was unlike you to go hours without a reply, you'd always send a warning text if you were gonna be unavailable, and the lack of one planted an ugly feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Oi! Woman,you in here?” His voice thunders around your apartment as he takes off his shoes. A quick scan of the area lets him know you're not in your kitchen nor living room, both unusually tidy. The only sign of life is the pot of vegetable soup in the stove, still lukewarm.
“Woman?” He calls out, opening the door to your office, no sign of you either. He pads across the hall to your room, ready to knock when he hears shuffling. There’s a groan, making his heart spike for a second, thinking of the worst he rushes to open it, letting out a quick warning out of respect, before opening the door with more strength than necessary.
The sight that greets him has him frowning, low growl stuck in his throat. He seriously wants to hurt you.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He grumbles, eyes darting all around your body, making sure there's no bandages or anything peaking out of your pjs, his frown deeper than usual.
You just grumble, lazily waving your hand in a sort of greeting, not bothering to do anything else.
There’s two thick books stacked on-top of your lower back, on a spot he knows very well, wobbling with the minimum movement on your end. The white cable peaking underneath lets him know there’s a heating pad under, the books flushing it to your skin, and there’s a sudden pang of guilt at the implication; there always is, no matter how much time has passed it always makes him wince when he sees you suffering in the remnant of something that happened because of him.
He rounds the bed, sitting on the other side, making sure to be careful as not to topple your…invention over. You say something he doesn’t catch, your voice muffled by the pillows where you have shoved your face in.
"You're such a weirdo you know that right?" he numbles, watching you wiggle around for a few seconds, before you finally are free, turning to face to him. Your hair stuck to your face in the effort, a small pout adorning your lips, a glare aimed at him. He brushes the hair away, before flicking you on the forehead, no malice under it, but it still making you wince at the contact.
"You should have called me.." he grumbles, making your face soften, as he gets comfortable on the bed, eyes glancing back to your back. "What happened?"
You lightly shake your head, books wobbling with the slight movement. "nothing, just...one of those days, y'know? no need to bother you."
After all you been bothering him for years now, no need to do it again. He had stuck to you for the first 13 months of your recovery; sat with you at doctors appointments, rehabs, even stayed the night a couple of times after your testing at the commission, holding your hand (literally) at the worst moments. Hell, he even introduce you to his friends at some point so they could keep you company so you wouldn't feel as lonely during your breaks.
In your mind you had done nothing to deserve the kindness and support he gave you but whenever you brought it up he would glare at you so fiercely you ended dropping the topic, after a while you just never brought it again, the quiet understanding of your dynamic resonating beyond words.
and on the worst days, much like these, he would lay with you, all type of medical patches and ointments on his bag, even going as far as cooking food with "healing" properties, all to reduce the pain on your wound; wound that he will always feel like belongs to him.
He lets out a sigh, shaking his head at you. "This is stupid, you are stupid." he shifts around, opening up the drawer on your night table, ignoring your small yells of protest and tugging at his pants. he swats you away like a fly, continuing to rummage around until he feels the familiar package on his hand. "give me a second, woman."
He rips open the package, instantly the smell of medicine floods the room, bringing a sense of familiarity to him and for a second he feels 16 again, sitting with you back home, applying the 10th patch to your back, as you cried silently, hand clutched in his.
Bakugo turns around, facing you as he sits cross legged on the bed, and without hesitation pushes away the books from their position, letting them clatter onto the floor; he turns off the pad before also shoving it away, flinching when you pinch his arm, a grumble about "being careful with your things".
"This is gonna be cold ok,?" he waits for your nod of permission, before lightly lifting up your shirt, gulping when the familiar scar is staring back at him. It covers your entire left side, extending to the side of your hip, and if an irony to your power, it looks like a bursting star, the edges ragged and pointy. The area around the scar is purple, and he immediately frowns, poking at it.
"OW! Can you not?" you grumble, glaring at him from your position. he just stares silently, making you sigh, position relaxing from the tension, you know what that look means. You just stare back, before shifting your gaze away, he doesn't pry, just blinks at you before turning back.
He rips the protective paper off and carefully places the pad on the area, pressing it down to flush to your skin. After he's done he puts your shirt down,rubbing on the area before poking you in your cheek to get your attention.
"You ready?" "yeah,,,thank you."
After many restless nights and days of hearing you grumble in pain, you discovered that your quirk would sort of absorb his, so instead of it hurting you, it would create a warm feeling,something softer of what your quirk usually did, surprisingly relieving you of your aches and pains. He lets out a few small blasts, just enough to heat up his hands, and placing them right after on your wound.
You sigh in relief, body now fully relaxed, basically melting onto your mattress, eyes closed in bliss. "Thank you, Kats. really thank you."
"tch. you should have called me first, idiot." he sighs, rubbing circles onto your back, the familiar sight of your body sightly glowing, still fascinated at how your quirk worked.
"Okay okay you win, I'll call you next time, ok?" you grumble, voice muffled by the pillow. you open one eye to look at him, teasing grin on your face.
He stares before blinking and looking away, voice dead serious. "No, you call me anytime. whatever you need."
You freeze, before stuttering nervously, completely flustered. "yeah yeah alright, I'll call you." He frowns at your answer, not liking the teasing tone, didn't you get it that he was 100% serious?
"im serious.." "I know." your grin widens, eyes softening at the confusion in his eye, making him look cute for once. He clears his throat, eyes turning red at the look in your eyes, heart beating a little bit faster.
you both stay quiet after that, the sun setting down, golden hue casting the room in a soft glow. Katsuki looks...eternal in a way; blonde hair softening, his frown etched into his face, but softer this time, to focused on easing out your pain, eyes shining like rubies in the light. the buzzing city sounds serving as background noise, luring you into a the arms of slumber, body growing heavier at the peace of the room, the hands of the blonde feeing heavy against your back, providing a great sense of comfort.
"Hey Kats?" he looks up, your eyes already closed, hinting at you almost drifting away. “Thanks for caring, I love you." you mumble sleepily, breath mellowing out.
He freezes before his face erupts in a blush, brain glitching for a second; the word was not uncommon on your relationship, you had been through so much shit together, however you had never been so...direct. it was always a "love you, followed by some stupid nickname or silly petname" never a "I" love you. Thank the heavens you can't see him glitching irl.
"shut up, stupid." he grumbles in embarrassment, suddenly your bed sheets rather interesting to him. a few seconds pass by, eyes flickering back to your face, admiring the way it looked basked in the golden right, looking like a sinful angel.
Katsuki stays like that for a long while, only moving after he's certain you're asleep. He shuffles to rest against your head board, legs touching yours, your soft breathing catching on the side of his hip, he can feel it even through his jeans. His right hand blast off again, before returning to its position of rubbing circles into your bruise.
He stares at your face, brushing the hair off it, admiring the peaceful look adorning your features,eyes soft in a way he cannot see himself but feel. he's hit with a memory of all those years ago, you guys in this almost same position, the fateful night of your first encounter, dust and smoke surrounding you, the copper ting of blood in the air. He swallows hard, shaking his thoughts away, tucking them away in the deepest part of his brain, like he has been doing for all of these years.
"Yeah...love you too, doll."