Unveiled Winds || Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Chapter 49 - Celebrating Victory

It had been nearly two weeks since the blackout.

Things had moved fast after that. Heroes swarmed the scene. Press releases were drafted. Reports were filed.

Eclipse was detained under maximum surveillance and transferred to a secure underground facility the same night.

You and Bakugou hadn't spoken much.

Not really.

You were both busy, he was dealing with press conferences, paperwork, and the fallout from the agency's end.

You had your own pile of aftermath to manage, including internal debriefings and a particularly painful set of interviews about Haruto.

Still, the distance felt sharper than just logistics.

Like something had been left unsaid back in that building.

And maybe tonight would change that.

Bakugou's agency was holding a formal event, half celebration, half press affair. A chance to acknowledge the victory, recognize the heroes involved, and formally close the case in the public eye. The whole city's top brass would be watching.

Which is how you found yourself in front of your bedroom mirror, eyes half-lidded, hair only half-done, while Ayumi buzzed around you like she'd had five energy drinks and a dream.

"You need to wear the silver one," she said, yanking open your closet with zero ceremony. "It brings out your whole badass goddess vibe."

You let out a soft exhale. "You're a lot right now."

Ayumi shot you a look in the mirror. "You're not enough right now."

You didn't respond.

Mostly because she was right.

You hadn't felt like yourself since that night.

Everything afterward had moved in a blur, but none of it felt real. Not the headlines. Not the congratulations.

Because the truth was... you didn't remember how it ended.

And ever since, it felt like something in you hadn't quite reconnected.

Ayumi paused from where she was digging through your jewelry tray and turned to face you fully.

"For someone who just took down the country's most wanted villain," she said, hands on her hips, "you don't seem very... cheery about it."

You let out a breath, slow and tired.

"I don't feel like I took him down," you admitted quietly, fingers fidgeting with the edge of the vanity. "I blacked out. Or—I don't know. It's all just static. Everyone keeps saying I stopped him, like I should feel proud, but..."

You trailed off.

Ayumi's expression softened. The room went quiet except for the hum of the city outside your window.

"You've been through hell, Y/N," she said after a moment. "You don't have to smile just because everyone else wants you to."

You met her eyes in the mirror.

Still, your fingers kept fidgeting, tugging at the corner of a folded tissue on the vanity, pulling at a thread on your sleeve.

Ayumi watched you for a beat longer, then sat on the edge of your bed, brows pulling together in thought. "You know," she said, voice lower now, more careful, "I've been thinking... what if Eclipse did something?"

Your head turned slightly.

She continued. "I mean, maybe not consciously, but—his quirk. We still don't know the full extent of it, right? He's always been tech-based, but the manipulation stuff? The way he gets in people's heads?"