VOID [Katsuki Bakugo x OC]

Rule #17: The Only Constant is Change

♪

"After your behavior these past few days, you're lucky we don't terminate Bakugo's contract right now and send him home penniless."

    Opposite her parents at a small breakfast table in their new hotel in Montreal, Cadence sipped her steaming cup of coffee and focused on her breathing, willing herself to stay calm and collected in the face of their not-so-thinly-veiled threats. Her mother wore massive black sunglasses indoors, looking more like a bug than a human, and Cade watched her tense reflection in the glare of them. "You told us to fake date," she said coolly, dragging her eyes to the swirls of cream in her coffee, "So we are."

"We did not say 'please make-out onstage' or 'run away from an interview' or 'sneak out of the hotel to get caught by paparazzi'," Bryant hissed, lowering his voice as another hotel guest passed their table. He held his phone out for her to see - every headline was about Kat and Cade. "We did not tell you to make a scene."

Well maybe you should've laid out those parameters a month ago, Cade hissed in her mind. Could've saved me from a whole lotta confusing emotions... She glanced up from her drink, catching Kat's eye across the room.

On the opposite end of the dining room, Katsuki sat at a two person table alone, his eyes never once leaving Cadence's face as she spoke to her parents; their backs faced him, so he only had her carefully neutral expression to interpret. His hands cupped a rapidly cooling mug of shitty hotel coffee, a plate of uneaten food piled high and waiting for them to share. He wished he could read lips or use his quirk to listen in, like Jiro could, because right now his quirk was fucking useless and his ears were still on the fritz from the concert the night before, despite wearing earplugs.

But Cade looked up from her coffee, catching his steady gaze, and she smiled. A flutter of some unnamable emotion spasmed in his chest. Kat didn't smile back, but his frown softened, the crease between his brows disappearing; he nodded at her reassuringly and hoped she understood.

I believe in you. Don't back down. You've got this.

"And another thing," Bryant said, yanking Cadence out of her prolonged eye contact with Katsuki, "You understand that you're not actually falling for him, right? You and Katsuki Bakugo are in a transactional relationship, like a banker and their client; the two of you are profiting off of each other's fame, a mutually beneficial, business-only relationship. Do you understand me?"

Cadence understood, alright. She understood that her parents were controlling her like usual, telling her what she could and couldn't do, exactly how they always had. She straightened up in her seat and looked between her parents. "Are we done here, or do you need to yell at me some more? I'd really like to eat my breakfast." She stood to leave, but Bryant caught her forearm in his grasp before she could go.

"Listen, brat," he seethed quietly, keeping his voice down as more of his stepchildren came into the room. "You're on thin fucking ice. We know you have the day off, and that you and Dynamight are likely to go out. But if we get one whiff of drama, one whisper of a headline, we will make you wish you'd never been born. Got it?"

The not-so-thinly-veiled threat set a stone of icy worry sinking in Cade's stomach. When Bryant said things like that, they tended to happen. Even though her mother wore the pants in their relationship, Bryant wasn't just a trophy husband... he actually scared the living shit out of her, if Cade was honest with herself.

She nodded silently and yanked her arm from Bryant's grip. "Got it," she murmured. Cade grabbed her coffee cup and retreated.

Katsuki watched as she neared their table, studying her expression and her body language with a furrowed brow. "What'd they say?" He grunted as Cade plopped into her seat opposite him.