The sound of the punching bag filled the gym long after lights-out.
Smack. Thud. Crack.
I stood at the doorway, arms crossed, watching Katsuki;s fists hammer into reinforced leather like he wanted to punch the whole world into silence. His shirt was clinging to him with sweat, strands of blond hair stuck to his forehead. Every hit was precise, controlled—barely.
"You'll break your wrist if you keep locking your elbow like that," I said, stepping inside.
He didn't turn. "I'm not a dumbass. I know what I'm doing."
"Just sayin'."
I walked to the side and sat on the bench, watching him go at it again. He didn't ask why I was here. He didn't have to.
This was the fourth night in a row I'd found him down here after curfew. Ever since the Kamino incident. Ever since that day.
He wasn't sleeping. None of us were, really. But he was pushing himself like if he stopped for even a second, everything would collapse.
"Katsuki," I said softly.
His fist paused mid-air. That alone told me something was wrong. He always reacted weird when I said his name like that.
"I'm fine," he said, but his voice had that crackly edge. The one he got when he was lying.
I got up, walking toward him. "You were kidnapped. Held hostage. Watched All Might fight a monster with your name in his mouth. You're not fine."
He finally turned toward me.
His expression was tight, unreadable. But his hands? They were shaking.
"Tch," he muttered, glancing down. "You shouldn't be here."
"You don't actually believe that."
He turned his back to me, pulling off the gloves and tossing them onto the bench.
"I froze up," he said.
"What?"
"At Kamino. I could've blasted that warp freak or fried Shigaraki. But I didn't. I let them grab me. I stood there and let them."
"Katsuki—"
"And then you all—" His voice hitched. He didn't turn. "You idiots risked your lives to get me back. You could've been killed. You almost were."
I stepped closer.
"We wanted to," I said. "We wanted to bring you home."
"I didn't deserve it."
The words hit harder than I expected. I stared at him—at the back of the boy who never admitted weakness, never stopped fighting, never let anyone see just how much he cared.
"You think you deserved to stay with them?"
He didn't answer.
"You think you deserved to die?"
That made him turn, his eyes burning.
"I think it would've been easier!" he snapped. "If I didn't make it. Then I wouldn't have to see the way everyone looks at me now. Like I'm broken. Like I'm a fucking problem they have to fix."
My chest twisted.
"I don't look at you that way."
He faltered. "You should."
I shook my head, stepping closer until I was right in front of him. "You're not broken, Katsuki. You're hurting. There's a difference."
His jaw clenched. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't say my name like that."
"Why?"
"Because it hurts," he said, almost shouting. "Because every time you say it, I think about all the things I'll never get to tell you. And I hate that."
I froze.
"What do you mean?"
He looked away.
"I mean," he said, quieter now, "that I've wanted to say something since day one. Even that one time I could, I fucked up. I yell. I push you away. I say the wrong thing."
I reached up, cupping his cheek before I even thought about it.
He flinched at first—but didn't move.
"Katsuki," I whispered again. "Just say it."
His eyes searched mine. And for the first time since Kamino, they weren't angry. They were scared.
"I love you," he said.
The silence that followed was louder than any explosion he'd ever made.
"I love you," he said again, like he didn't believe I'd heard him. "I'm a mess, I'm loud, I suck at this, but I—God, I've loved you for so long, I don't even know what it's like not to."
My breath hitched.
Because the truth was—I knew how I felt.
Somewhere in the heat of our arguments, the way he always stood a little too close during training, the way he growled when I got hurt but never said anything more than "dumbass"—I knew.
And I hadn't let myself feel it.
Because loving Katsuki Bakugo meant opening a part of myself I'd been afraid to look at.
But now...
I took his hand.
"I love you too," I said.
His eyes widened. "What?"
"I love you," I repeated. "Even when you yell. Even when you act like a total idiot. Even when you call me names but then make sure I get the last meat bun at lunch."
"I—"
I stepped closer, pressing my forehead to his. "You don't have to always be the best. You don't have to make up for what happened. You don't owe anyone anything but yourself."
He was trembling now. Not from fear. From release.
I slid my arms around his shoulders, holding him like I knew he'd never ask me to.
"I'm still mad at you for calling me extra the first week of school," I murmured into his shoulder.
"I was scared you'd actually be better than me," he admitted, voice muffled.
"I am better than you."
He scoffed, a little choked. "Tch. Shut up."
"Make me."
And so, he kissed me.
It wasn't soft. It wasn't slow.
It was Katsuki.
Fiery. Furious. Honest.
It made my knees weak and my heart stutter.
When we pulled apart, he rested his forehead against mine, still catching his breath.
"You're mine now," he muttered.
I smiled. "Wasn't I already?"
He growled low in his throat. "Say it again."
"What?"
"That you love me."
I leaned in, brushing my lips against his.
"I love you."
And for once, he didn't have a smartass reply.
Just a soft, wrecked kind of silence.
The kind you only get when someone's world just got a little safer.
YOU ARE READING
|| She's Perfect || BNHA x OP! Reader ||
Fanfictioncomplete [F/N] [L/N] is an incredibly powerful young woman, living with one of the most powerful quirks known to man. She wants to become a hero to honor her parents, who were murdered by villains when she was four years old. After the accident...
