Death Paradox 💥BAKUDEKU💥

Chapter 25

The Emperor

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Chapter 25

Two days.

It'd been two days since he'd kissed Izuku.

Katsuki was a mess. Not that he'd let anyone know—ever. But inside? He was all twisted up.

They'd been out here on this god-forsaken path for just over three weeks, in another damn world that didn't seem to want them here. It had been two days since they'd packed up, left the cave behind, and kept moving. And in those following days, Katsuki had run through every emotion under the sun—anger, embarrassment, even the strange, simmering satisfaction of it all. But he was left with one undeniable fact, loud and unchanging, like a boulder dropped in his path.

He, Katsuki Bakugo, had kissed Izuku fucking Midoriya.

No, no. Not just kissed. He didn't just fucking kiss Izuku. No, it was beyond that—way beyond that. He had lost it. He'd just... taken the moment, hadn't he? Like some damn wild animal. Like everything that had been building up inside him finally snapped. He hadn't planned it, hadn't thought it through—he just did it. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And the worst part? The absolute worst part? Deku had kissed him back.

His stupid mind hadn't shut up about it since.

But they hadn't talked about it. Not even once. After he'd come to his senses, Katsuki had been so shocked, so damn embarrassed, that he'd practically frozen on the spot. And what was worse was, Izuku hadn't known what to make of it. His expression had been this mix of nervous hope and uncertainty, like he couldn't tell if Katsuki thought the whole thing was some colossal mistake. So, Izuku had done the one thing Katsuki hadn't expected—he'd just... moved on, acting like it had never happened.

Katsuki had told himself he should be thankful for it. Thanking the gods of the parallel that he was glad Izuku had dropped it. And in some ways, he was. Izuku pretending it hadn't happened meant he didn't have to deal with it. Didn't have to explain what he'd been thinking, why he'd felt that intense, possessive urge to stake his claim like some kind of rabid animal. He didn't have to see that look on Izuku's face, the one that asked for answers Katsuki didn't have.

Because he really didn't have them.

But it was also bothering the hell out of him. Because, now, instead of feeling relieved, he felt like he was walking around with this heavy, unspoken tension strung tight between them. It was in every glance Izuku threw his way, every slight brush of their arms when they walked too close, every damn moment he spent lying awake at night, turning it over in his head. That damn kiss kept coming back, kept pulling at him, like something that wouldn't settle until he'd figured it out.

And maybe that's what was bothering him most. That some part of him wanted to talk about it, even if he didn't have a clue where to start. He wanted—needed—some kind of answer to this knot of emotions tangled up inside him. But every time he even thought about bringing it up, he clamped down on the impulse, shoving it down with all the other things he never let himself feel or say.

"Barbarian."

The voice snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. Katsuki blinked, the world sliding back into focus. Shoto stood across from him, arms crossed, the glow from the forge behind him throwing his face and armor into sharp relief. His mismatched eyes gleamed like frozen fire, and his expression—calm and vaguely condescending—was enough to make Katsuki's temper rise.