When Heroes Collide - Bakugou X Reader Slow Burn

Chapter 103: Reflection

The courtyard was silent, the stillness broken only by the soft crackle of flames in the fire pit before me. I had wandered here without much thought, my legs carrying me to this quiet corner as if seeking solace in the warm, flickering light. The grand hotel loomed in the background, the sounds of distant music and laughter muffled by the thick walls. It was as though the world beyond the courtyard was moving on, resuming its rhythm, while I remained frozen in place.

I sank onto the stone bench near the fire pit, wrapping my arms around myself as the cool night air nipped at my skin. The flames danced wildly, licking the air with a mesmerizing rhythm, their heat reaching me in sporadic bursts. I stared into them, losing myself in the fiery chaos. Each flicker, each crackle, felt like it mirrored the storm raging inside me.

Tonight had been too much. Too many revelations, too much destruction, too many emotions layered on top of each other until they blurred into one unrelenting ache. My chest felt tight as I thought of the ballroom, now restored and alive again with music and laughter. It was like the chaos hadn't even happened, like the world was perfectly capable of erasing the devastation with a flick of a quirk. But I wasn't.

I felt trapped in the memory of it all: Reaper's blade cutting through the air, Bakugou's determination to shield me, Interstellar's soft voice confirming the truth that had uprooted my entire sense of self.

Interstellar.

Even her name felt foreign now. She wasn't just a hero anymore. She wasn't some distant figure I could admire from afar. She was my mother. My mother. The word tasted bitter and strange, as if saying it would solidify a truth I wasn't ready to accept. How could she have stayed away all these years? How could she have looked at me tonight and not known the depth of what her absence had now done?

My fists clenched as I tried to push the questions away, but they only grew louder, clawing at me from every corner of my mind. I thought of my real mother—the woman who had raised me, cared for me, been there for me every moment of my life. She had been enough. I didn't need another parent swooping in to rewrite the narrative of my existence, not after everything I'd already been through. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I buried my face in my hands. The firelight painted the edges of my vision orange, flickering like a heartbeat. My thoughts spiraled as I tried to make sense of the overwhelming guilt that clung to me like a second skin.

Was this my fault? Was I cursed? Wherever I went, trouble seemed to follow, dragging everyone I cared about into its wake. Tonight had been no different. I thought of my classmates, bruised and battered, their laughter now masking the pain they'd endured because of me. I thought of Todoroki's panicked voice, Bakugou's relentless fight to protect me, even Aizawa's strained determination to hold Reaper at bay. They had all been dragged into this, and for what? For me? I didn't deserve it. Not any of it.

The weight of everything pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe. The flames in the fire pit blurred as tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away, unwilling to let them fall. Not here. Not now. I couldn't afford to break—not when I'd already caused so much damage.

But the fire didn't care. It burned on, its crackling defiance an almost mocking reminder of how fragile everything felt in comparison. I stared deeper into it, losing myself in the way the flames licked the logs, consuming them without mercy. It was almost beautiful in its destruction, a reflection of how I felt inside.

The faint sound of footsteps on the stone path broke my trance, and I stiffened. I didn't turn around, but my heart quickened, unsure of who might be approaching. I had come here to be alone, to escape, to think. The last thing I wanted was someone else pulling me back into the chaos of tonight.