Boosts & Blood (Experimented Bakugou/BakuBowl/Bakuharem)

Chapter 6: Sneakily

A shadow climbs past the windows, darting under the railing, and rolling on the floor. Drops of diverted rainwater collect on the broken tiles. The shadow doesn't look human behind the shifting darkness, it capes over them as they wander out. Closer and closer. Approaching until the tips of Katsuki's hairs are skyward like he's about to be shocked. And the shock arrives in a prolonged second, as the shadow pops out, and a blood curdling scream emits from the TV and Katsuki.

'Katsuki!' his dad calls for the fifth time. He rushes out from his bedroom, coming from the hall. He wears a polo shirt and sweats. 'Katsuki! Please stop—' His eyes blow in alarm when they land on the TV. 'Katsuki, what are you... what are you watching?'

'Something.'

He keeps staring as the red-lit scene plays on. The shadow's face is clear and contorted, with streaks of bloody light running where the black shadows die. Wrinkles of detail fold around their overgrown smile, and the scream fades in the background as the shadow knocks on the rackety door. Anybody there?

'Katsuki...' his dad says, 'is this a horror movie?'

'Duh.'

Without asking, dad's hand jumps to the remote control, and he handles it towards the screen. His thumb flicks over the power button as Katsuki lunges to his feet to stop him. He's in a one-sided tussle with his dad by the time the TV's off.

'Hey!' Katsuki calls. Arm reaching out with his face shoved in the palm of his dad's.

'I think it's time you go outside,' dad says. 'The other kids are playing, aren't they?'

'No! I was watching that!'

'What's up with you?' Dad asks, sighing. 'You shouldn't be watching horror movies, for heaven's sake, you're ten.'

A frown settles over Katsuki's face, and he shakes his head away. Relenting, his dad grasps his wrist, and spins him to the door. He's standing at the lobby, and being forced into his shoes, and pushed outside to play with the dumb neighbourhood kids.

'Be home before nighttime.'

His dad shuts the door, and Katsuki flinches. He stands there on the porch, unsure for a long moment, before he sighs and turns his head around. So annoying, his dad's incapable of letting Katsuki see anything that jumps above cartoons and unfunny skits. And most of the hero things he watches has to be after dark when everybody is asleep, because they're so scared of him seeing just a drop of blood on television. They always say it's traumatizing and a kid like him shouldn't intake more violence or else he'll grow to be twisted.

For one thing, the image of that lady's already beginning to twist him but they laughed that off. The one in the large mafia jacket, built bigger than a building, and those odd, terrifying eyes to pair. That wasn't a Japanese face Katsuki had seen, certainly Korean, but for one, he's not sure what type of face that was to begin with. Before his mind even unravels it, a voice calls.

'K-Kacchan!'

Deku rides down their street, handling a bike that's not his. Behind him, laughter trails, catching up to meet him. He's standing at their gate when two unrecognizable kids stumble beside, Katsuki eyes them down long enough for them to react to his hostility.

'Who're they?'

'My, uh, new friends that I met,' says Deku. 'M-Mom said that I should, uh, try and make new friends.'

'Oh. So, what're you guys up to, Deku?'

'Nothing much!' He hops off the bike, grabbing the handle to balance it. The biggest smile lights up his face when they meet eyes. Deku apologized a lot at school, breaking down to tears even and positioning Katsuki as the bully to every onlooker on that playground. He didn't do it on purpose, he's always too easily pushed to tears.