Red in Different Shades

41. A Sweet Frost

Niwa sat on the roof of Heights Alliance, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them to stave off the chilly evening air. The dark indigo sky stretched overhead, scattered with stars barely visible through the city's light pollution. She let out a slow breath, watching it swirl into a fleeting, cloudy wisp before vanishing.

The day had been long, and her performance during the joint training exercise gnawed at her. She should've anticipated Kuroiro's Quirk better. She sighed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. Today hadn't been her best. She could have been sharper, faster, stronger.

Instead, she'd been caught off-guard like a rookie.

But none of that compared to what had happened with Midoriya.

The memory of those dark tendrils snapping and writhing and lashing out like cornered snakes had her frowning at the sky. That kind of power didn't just come from nowhere. It was new, raw, and unstable. 

She'd known for a while that Midoriya was hiding something, and she tried her best to not dig into it, but today was the first time it felt like that secret had almost torn itself free.

She clenched her fists into the fabric of her jacket, her mind racing with questions she couldn't ask, let alone expect answers to.

A faint scrape of metal jolted her out of her thoughts. Her head snapped around, eyes narrowing as a figure hoisted themselves over the edge of the roof.

"What the—?"

Bakugou Katsuki swung a leg up and hauled himself over with infuriating ease, his movements practiced and fluid.

"Katsuki?" Niwa blinked, her surprise shifting into bemusement. "Didn't expect to see you up here."

He grunted, brushing off his hands as he straightened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you're usually not the rooftop type," she teased, a small grin tugging at her lips. "Climbing all the way up here feels more like my thing."

"Yeah, well," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I felt like it. You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all," she replied, her grin widening. "Welcome to my humble territory."

"Tch." Bakugou stuffed his hands into his pockets, his scowl as deeply etched as ever as he plopped down beside her. "It's freezing up here, dumbass."

"Then why'd you come?" Niwa asked, her tone light but curious. She could tell by the tension in his shoulders he wasn't looking for a fight tonight.

"Dunno," he muttered, his gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

She tilted her head, studying him. His usual fire was there, but it was dimmer, flickering instead of blazing. "Have you eaten?"

Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Of course I've eaten. That crappy beef stew again. Who the hell keeps picking that for dinner?"

Niwa gasped, feigning scandal. "Hey, I like the beef stew! Maybe you're just bad at appreciating the little things."

"Or maybe you've got crap taste," he shot back, but his voice lacked its usual bite.

Niwa gave him the win there with a quiet chuckle. For a moment, they sat in silence, the only sound the faint rustling of the wind in the trees below. Niwa glanced sideways at him. His posture was unusually rigid, his scowl less pronounced, and his crimson eyes were fixed on something far away, their usual sharpness softened by whatever storm was brewing in his mind.

"I know that look. You've got a lot on your mind," Niwa said softly, her voice cutting through the quiet.

Bakugou didn't reply right away. He shifted slightly, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than usual, the sharp edges dulled. "It's not my business to talk about."