Katsuki Bakugo is haunted by dreams of a mysterious girl whose dark allure pulls him deeper into a web of obsession. Unbeknownst to him, the girl is Nanami haruki, a skilled underground villain who thrives on negative emotions and is fixated on him...
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❥ 𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒖𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇. He knew. He'd been catching himself slipping up in ways that were entirely unlike him—hesitating during training, zoning out in class, getting distracted by the smallest things.
That wasn't how Katsuki Bakugo operated.
But lately, he couldn't control it. His mind felt like a maze he was stuck in, looping the same damn thought over and over—her. That girl from his dreams, and Nanami's face, constantly overlapping in his mind. He wasn't sleeping right. Wasn't eating as much as he used to. The damn dreams wouldn't leave him alone, and the more time he spent with Nanami, the more the lines between the dreams and reality blurred.
And people were noticing.
"Bakugo, you good?" Kirishima's voice cut through the murmur of the hallway. "You've been kinda... different lately. Distracted, y'know?"
"Shut up," Bakugo snapped automatically, not even bothering to look over at his red-haired friend. His shoulders were tense, hands shoved in his pockets as he stormed ahead through the corridors of U.A. His footsteps felt heavier than usual, like he was walking through mud.
Kirishima kept pace, undeterred by Bakugo's harsh response, as always. "I'm serious, man. You've been out of it. Even Kaminari and Sero have noticed, and they aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed." He laughed, though it was more out of nervousness than amusement.
Bakugo gritted his teeth. He didn't need anyone else pointing out what he already knew. "I said I'm fine, alright?"
"Yeah, but—"
"I don't give a damn what you think." Bakugo's voice was sharp, a final warning that made Kirishima back off, though there was still concern in his eyes.
"Alright, man. Just... let me know if you need anything." Kirishima gave him a small pat on the back before heading in the opposite direction, clearly not wanting to push Bakugo any further.
As soon as Kirishima was out of sight, Bakugo exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. His temper had been getting shorter lately, and he knew it wasn't helping the situation. He couldn't help it, though. Not with everything that was going on in his head.
Or rather, with what was going on with her.
Nanami.
No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn't stop noticing her. And not just in passing, but really noticing her. The way she would always pop up at just the right moment, the way her laughter echoed in his ears long after she was gone. The way her eyes would flicker with a hidden meaning when she caught him staring at her, like she knew something he didn't.
She was in every class, every hallway, every training session. Always there, always watching him with that same damn smile that twisted his gut.
It was getting harder to ignore how similar she looked to the girl in his dreams—the one who haunted him every night, drawing him into the same suffocating nightmare. The smirk that flickered on Nanami's face was just like the one he saw in his sleep, the one that mocked him from the shadows.
It couldn't be a coincidence. Not anymore.
But every time he thought about confronting her, something stopped him. Maybe it was the way she looked at him—so innocent, so genuine when she asked if he was alright. She couldn't be the same person from his dreams. It didn't make sense.
And yet...
"Bakugo."
Her voice cut through his thoughts, snapping him back to reality. He hadn't even realized she was standing next to him, her dark eyes watching him closely. Nanami was standing by his desk in the classroom, looking down at him with a soft smile.
He tensed instinctively, fingers curling into fists as he forced himself to meet her gaze. "What do you want?"
Nanami tilted her head, her ponytails swaying slightly. "You've been acting a little off lately. Are you sure everything's okay?"
Bakugo scowled. Of course, she noticed too. Everyone was acting like he was some charity case all of a sudden, like he couldn't handle a few weird dreams. "I'm fine. Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?"
She gave a small shrug, her eyes never leaving his. "You just don't seem like yourself. I guess I'm just concerned."
He snorted. "I don't need your concern."
Nanami didn't flinch at his harsh tone. If anything, her smile only widened, as if she was used to him lashing out. "Well, if you ever do need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."
That soft, sickly sweet voice of hers. There was something almost... comforting about it. But there was also something unnerving. The way she looked at him, as if she was sizing him up, reading him like a book. Bakugo clenched his jaw, glaring at her.
"Stop acting like you care."
Nanami's eyes sparkled with amusement, and for a moment, Bakugo swore he saw that same familiar glint he had seen in the dream—the one that made his stomach churn. She leaned a little closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Maybe I care more than you think."
Before he could snap back, she straightened up, her usual smile returning as if nothing had happened. With a small wave, she walked away, leaving Bakugo sitting there, fists clenched and heart pounding for reasons he couldn't quite explain.
He watched her leave, his mind racing with thoughts he didn't want to acknowledge. There was something off about her, something that made him want to keep his distance. But at the same time, he found himself drawn to her, his curiosity growing stronger by the day.
He wasn't the only one who had noticed her, either. Kaminari had mentioned it offhandedly the other day—something about how Nanami seemed to have "really warmed up" to Bakugo lately. And Mina, ever the gossip, had made some joke about how she and Bakugo made a cute pair, which had made him want to blow something up on the spot.
But the truth was, they weren't wrong.
She had been around him a lot more lately. Watching him. Smiling at him. Talking to him with that same soft, innocent voice that didn't match the unsettling feeling that twisted his gut every time she was near.
And Bakugo couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't a coincidence.
