VOID [Katsuki Bakugo x OC]

Rule #12: Give Back

♪

In Rome, Cadence woke to chocolate.

On the bedside table, beside the alarm clock, sat a shiny, foil-wrapped chocolate bar, complete with bow and tag. As her brain still booted up, Cade stared at the mystery sweet like it was from another planet, afraid to touch it even from the safety of the downy comforter pulled up to her chin. Where did it come from?

The door to the bathroom popped open, and Katsuki walked out in a towel. "Fuckin' finally you're up," he said, crossing immediately to his suitcase, where he started rummaging.

Cade didn't look up from the mystery treat. "Hey Kat? What's this?" she asked, pointing to the chocolate. "Did... did you get this for me?"

"Do I look like the thoughtful type of fake boyfriend, Blue?" he grunted, finally finding his favorite skull t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. "Nah, it was out in front of the door when I woke up. I was gonna go grab us coffee before you got up, but got distracted." Without checking to see if she was looking, he started getting dressed.

Oblivious and chewing her lip, Cadence reached out and turned the tag over.

Cadence, you're my favorite! Enjoy! xo your biggest fan ♡

"How'd they find me?" she muttered, her heart sinking in her chest.

Katsuki shrugged. "I can toss it out if you want. It's also in the job description for me to taste your food for you before you eat it if that's what you want... so I guess–"

"It'd be safer to trash it," Cade sighed. "It's just... it was thoughtful."

"But creepy as hell, Blue," Katsuki pointed out. He shrugged his t-shirt over his damp hair and eyed her. She stared at the foil, wringing her hands in her lap. Maybe Cade was just acting weird because it was still early... but maybe it was something else. Fuck if he knew. "Hand it over."

Cadence frowned and turned to look at him where he stood at the end of his bed in boxers and his skull tee. Her cheeks warmed, but she didn't break eye contact. "No, Kat, I have a bad feeling," she said.

Rolling his eyes and huffing, Katsuki stomped across the small path between their beds and snatched the chocolate bar from the bedside table. He ripped the wrapping open with his teeth and cracked the corner off, inspecting the candy. "Looks like fruit and nuts," he said, mostly to himself, before popping the piece in his mouth. Kat grimaced. "Fuckin' gross. I hate when I'm right. It's raisins and... I dunno, macadamia nuts or some shit."

Once warm with embarrassment, Cade's cheeks paled.

Of course, Katsuki noticed. "What? Raisins declared war on your family? You got a vendetta against sweet and salty chocolate?"

She shook her head, grabbing the wrapped corner of the chocolate bar before standing and dropping it in the trash across the room. "I'm... allergic to nuts," Cade said softly, staring at the discarded treat. Did it mean anything? Was it on purpose?

Katsuki chuckled at her inadvertent joke.

"Shut the fuck up, Kat. You know that's not what I meant," Cade snapped. She whirled around to face him, deadly serious. "It's not a joke; I go into anaphylactic shock, and I almost died once because of it."

That sobered him right up, and his first coherent thought was that Cadence's allergy hadn't been in the handbook... And it definitely should've been. He recognized Cade's tell-tale anxiety symptoms, plain as the nose on her face: chewing her lip, trembling hands, ghostly white face.