VOID [Katsuki Bakugo x OC]

Rule #27: Eyes Down

♪

"Red Riot, is it?"

Dressed in sweats and a fresh t-shirt, Kirishima froze barefoot in the hotel hallway, ice bucket tucked under his arm and signature hair pulled back in a little ponytail at the nape of his neck. He'd been waiting for the ice machine to free up so he could scoop a bucketful for their room, but the dude using it needed enough ice to cool drinks for an entire country, it seemed. Kirishima needed ice because Cade's bruises from the treadmill incident hadn't gotten much better, and an ice bath always soothed his sore muscles after some aggressive hero work, so he hoped it would help her too.

Ine Yamaguchi approached him from the direction of her room, wearing nothing but a sheer robe that left little to the imagination and served to remind Kiri that she used to model in her prime. "Y-yes ma'am," he answered honestly, keeping his eyes glued to her face. "Is, um, is there something you needed?"

Ine's lips twitched, pulling taut into what seemed like a genuine, albeit slight, smile... but didn't reach her eyes. "In fact, there is something I need from you, Red Riot," Ine said, tilting her head to the side in a way that reminded Kiri of a cat examining its prey. "Take this for me and give it to Cadence before her performance later." She produced a little plastic bag from the depths of her robes with a single white pill inside.

The heroic part of Kirishima sent warning tingles up his spine, his skin breaking out in goosebumps. Nearly everything about this interaction creeped him out, from her barely-there outfit to the little plastic baggie. A single pill separated from the rest seemed weird, too. "This is...?"

"Just a little something to soothe her nerves before her last performance," Ine said innocently, still near-smiling. "She gets such bad stage fright, you know. Always has, and probably always will, poor thing. But don't worry, this was prescribed to her by our staff doctor. You know the one – he keeps tabs on the children's blood sugar."

It couldn't be that bad, right? Prescribed by a doctor and straight from her mom, the pill had to be something normal... or so he convinced himself. Kirishima took the pouch from Ine and nodded. "Okay, um, I'll be sure to get it to her," he said, tucking it into his pants pocket.

The man at the ice machine finally left, and Kirishima took the opportunity to end the conversation, holding up the ice bucket for emphasis. "Thanks, ma'am. I'll–"

Ine's smile tightened for a moment. "That's all. You're dismissed."

"Oh," Kiri said, confused. He hadn't even gotten the ice for Cade yet. "Sure, I'll just... come back later, I guess." Assuming he could grab the ice in a few minutes once Ine had left, he turned and walked back toward the room, leaving Ine standing alone in the middle of the hall, her smile gone while she watched him go.

♪

Somehow, the Yams fam survived the tour. Only Tokyo remained.

One last performance, and then it would all be over.

Cadence didn't speak much anymore. And despite Hitoshi, Aria, and Kirishima's many attempts to get her to laugh, Cade couldn't muster up even a pity smile. Her heart wasn't in it. In all honesty, it felt like Kat took her heart with him when he left.

She constantly wondered how he was. If he'd been arrested, how could she possibly help? If he was in prison, what could she do? Now that everything went wrong... how could she fix it?

Even if Kat was arrested or ignoring her or disgusted with her or if he truly had been faking their relationship just for the press... Cadence still loved him, and she probably always would. She knew he didn't kill Rocket, and she knew that Kat was a good person under his gruff exterior. Katsuki deserved love and patience and kindness just like anyone else, but Cadence knew that only she could love him the way he needed, the way he liked.