❝Stars Aligned❞ » Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Reader

76

The room was quiet, bathed in a low golden glow from the early morning sun filtering through the training facility windows. After 8 weeks of grueling sessions, today was supposed to be rest.

Supposed to be.

But rest had never come easy to you, not when your body held a borrowed curse. Not when your heart feared your touch more than your enemies ever had. It was a tough wake up call to have. All you wanted was to have your old self back, to finally become the hero you wanted to be but now you just felt stuck.

Bakugou walked in without knocking. He always did. A towel hung around his neck, his hair damp from the shower, not a shirt in sight as he kept on his casual black pants. You were already in your gear, black gloves on, pacing in tight circles like an animal too long caged. Nothing made you ease up or calm down. Even Bakugou was barely successful some days.

"You didn't sleep," he said flatly, seeing how evident it was that you were exhausted beyond your limits.

You finally stopped pacing to look over at him.

"Didn't want to."

He let out a breath, approaching with cautious steps. "You burned the entire left wall off the gym yesterday."

"I almost burned through a dummy with my name on it. A coincidence? Probably not."

"Could've fooled me with how bad you're spiraling." His voice was calm but edged with concern. "What's going on? You were doing better."

You turned your back to him, your fists clenched at the bitter reality. "Better isn't good enough. I still can't touch you."

"You do touch me. With the gloves on."

"I don't mean like that, Katsuki. I want to feel you. I want to grab your stupid jaw without melting your face off. I want to kiss you and not wonder if the decay is going to crawl up your throat. I want," Your voice broke, your chest heaving.

"I want you," you whispered. "And I'm terrified of destroying the one thing I have left."

He moved toward you slowly, deliberately. "Then let's try it."

You froze. "What?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small control device, one of the new quirk inhibitors designed for high-risk holders. You stared at him confused and bewildered. The fact he wanted to risk such a thing again was terrifying.

"They upgraded this," he said. "They've been testing it for guys like me with high-impact quirks. Now it dampens yours, just enough to keep it at bay for sixty seconds."

You stared at it. "You want to use it now?"

"Do you trust me?" You looked up at him. Always the same question. And the answer had never changed.

"Always."

He activated the device with a small click, then stepped close, close enough for you to feel the warmth radiating from his body. He reached down, took your gloved hands in his, and slowly pulled the gloves off one finger at a time.

Your heart pounded. No decay. No crackling. Just skin. Warm, calloused skin brushing against yours.

Your breath caught. Bakugou reached up and placed your bare hand against his naked chest, right over the long, jagged scar that had once marked where he died. Where he was killed by Shigaraki. You stared at it for the longest time, the raised skin still dark in colored, barely faded.

"This is yours," he said, voice low. "You didn't destroy me. You saved me."

Tears burned in your eyes, shaking your head at the horrifying memory of that day. And then, you leaned in and kissed him. A slow, terrified, trembling kiss. But nothing happened.