Unveiled Winds || Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Chapter 57 - Letting go

The hot water helped, but only a little.

You still felt the weight behind your eyes, heavy and stubborn, like a headache that hadn't quite bloomed yet. But your skin was warm, your limbs loose, and for a few blessed minutes, you let yourself believe everything was okay.

You stepped out of the bathroom with a towel slung over your shoulders, hair damp and clinging to your neck as you rubbed it dry. The apartment was quiet, not tense quiet, just... calm.

Normal.

Almost.

You padded into the living room barefoot, voice light as you called out, "You still here, or did I imagine all that heroic domestic energy?"

No answer right away.

Then you saw it.

On the counter.

Takeout containers, neatly stacked and still warm. Two sets of chopsticks. Your favorite place, if the logo on the bag was anything to go by.

You slowed to a stop.

You blinked, trying to pull it back together. "You... got takeout?"

Bakugou was in the kitchen. His hoodie sleeves were pushed to his elbows, hands braced on either side of the bag. He didn't look at you right away, just reached up to rub the back of his neck.

"I would've cooked," he muttered, "but you've got nothing in your fridge except soy sauce and regret."

You choked on a laugh, covering your mouth. "Wow. You rehearsed that one?"

His mouth tugged into something sharp. Not quite a smirk. "Didn't have to."

You walked over, still drying your hair with one hand as you peered down at the food.

"...You got my favorite," you said softly, more to yourself than to him.

Bakugou didn't respond right away. Just leaned against the counter beside you, arms crossed like he hadn't been sitting on this moment since the second you'd shut the bathroom door.

You didn't say thank you, not out loud. But the glance you gave him, quiet and full, felt like something close.

And he didn't say anything either. Didn't ask if you'd been eating. Didn't bring up the news or the fallout or how wrecked you'd looked when he found you.

Instead, he pushed one of the boxes toward you.

"Eat."

You sat at the counter without a word.

The stool creaked quietly beneath you as you opened the takeout box, still warm, just like you thought. Your stomach grumbled the second the smell hit you, loud enough for Bakugou to glance over.

You ignored it, grabbing your chopsticks.

The first few bites were quiet. You weren't sure if the silence was comfortable or just necessary, like the space between breaths. Either way, you didn't try to fill it.

Bakugou stayed where he was, leaned against the edge of the kitchen counter, arms crossed. Watching, sort of. But not in that way that made you feel like you were being looked at. More like... monitored. Kept track of. Like he'd quietly taken up the job of making sure you didn't fall apart when no one was watching.

You chewed slower.

Bakugou moved beside you, no sound, no announcement. Just the faint rustle of fabric and the soft thud of something being placed on the counter.

You glanced over.

A black box. Familiar. Scuffed at the corners.

"...My first aid kit?"