Crosswinds || Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Chapter 60 - Opening the Case

The temporary conference room was never designed to hold this many people.

Originally, it had been little more than a workspace while Dynamite Agency's headquarters underwent reconstruction. Now every chair had been filled.

Additional tables had been pulled in during the early hours of the morning, stretching the room almost wall to wall. Case files, photographs and tablets covered every available surface, connected by handwritten notes and red markings that had grown steadily over the past several months.

After the attack on the agency, the fire, and everything that followed, Shadow Requiem had officially been escalated into a national-level investigation. What had once been your case, your agency's case, had become something much bigger.

Which explained why nearly every hero in the room ranked among Japan's best.

Lemillion stood near one of the windows in quiet conversation with Nejire and Suneater, the three of them falling silent as more people filtered inside. Phantom Thief skimmed through a stack of reports with surprising focus while Ingenium adjusted the projector already displaying timelines across the far wall.

Kirishima leaned comfortably against the table beside Kaminari and Sero, the three exchanging quiet comments that disappeared the moment Bakugou entered the room. Mina occupied the seat opposite them, one leg crossed over the other, though even she seemed unusually serious.

Across the room, Uraraka was already comparing notes with Deku, the two speaking quietly over several highlighted documents. Best Jeanist stood nearby, listening more than speaking, while Mirko looked seconds away from complaining that meetings should have a strict time limit before someone was allowed to punch something.

Ayumi caught your eye from further down the table. She offered a small smile. One that felt reassuring without trying to be.

Near the head of the room, Bakugou stopped.

You naturally fell into place beside him.

The conversations faded almost immediately.

Even Hawks, standing near the back of the room rather than taking a seat, lifted his attention from the Commission file in his hands. These days his responsibilities reached far beyond hero work alone. As President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, he was here to oversee the operation.

Bakugou stood at the head of the table with his arms loosely crossed, gaze sharp enough to cut through the lingering tension.

"Alright," he said simply.

He tilted his head slightly toward the projection screen at the far end of the room, where the map of recent Requiem activity was already loaded and waiting.

"We're not wasting time going over what's already been briefed," he continued flatly. "If you're in this room, you already know what's at stake."

A few heroes shifted, but no one interrupted.

"What matters is simple," he said. "From here on out, coordination isn't optional. If you run solo, you're a liability. If you hold information, you're slowing us down."

His gaze flicked briefly to the Commission representative seated near the middle of the table, Hawks, arms folded, watching carefully but not stepping in.

"Dynamite Agency isn't running this alone anymore."

The words carried more weight than the sentence itself.

The agency was still under reconstruction, operating out of temporary offices scattered across the city, but that hadn't stopped Bakugou from holding onto control of the case for as long as he could.