The Void You Left Behind - [Bakugou x Reader]

Chapter 13 - Reconstruction

Chapter specific warnings - none

After your conversation with Katsuki, you had decided to stop running away from your feelings. You had been such a wreck, and he had been there to help rebuild yourself. To say you were grateful to have him by your side was an understatement.

You had realised that being with Katsuki didn't mean you were letting go of Eiji - he would always be a part of you. You accepted that it wasn't you who had died and that it was okay to live your life without feeling guilty for everything you did.

For the past three months, you and Katsuki had taken it very slowly. You didn't put a label on your relationship, you simply enjoyed each other's company and welcomed every new step as and when it came along.

When Eiji passed away, life became flat, and death was lying on top of it like a lid - slowly suffocating you. All dimensions and colours had been lost, leaving you to drown in black and white pixels. But Katsuki had managed to give your life the depth that you had lost. You had asked for a sign to show you the way, not realising, that he had been the sign all along. He was able to show you that life was still good and that the sun was still shining, you just had to allow yourself to open your eyes.

Accepting your feelings had made you fall for him harder than you had thought possible. He showed you sides of him that he had never revealed to anyone else before. He was exactly what you didn't know you were looking for. His eyes held so much love for you, and he made sure to remind you every day just how much you meant to him.

You would lie if you'd say that you weren't afraid of the commitment, you were actually pretty terrified of giving him your heart. But that wasn't because you didn't trust him, it was solely because of what you had gone through. There was this fear inside of you that things would repeat all over again and that you would lose him just as you had lost Eiji.

But you knew that you couldn't live your life in fear. You couldn't miss out on opportunities just because there was a potential of something going wrong. Katsuki was the one who taught you how to live again and how to take risks. You were still afraid of commitment, but if he were to ask you to follow him into the dark, you would do so without a second thought.

"Earth to (y/n)!" A cheerful voice snapped you out of your thoughts. "Are you spacing out because you're thinking of Katsuki?"

The woman standing on the other side of the room was looking at you, wiggling her eyebrows, looking absolutely ridiculous.

You face flushed in embarrassment. "Shut up, Ochako. You know it's not like that."

Over the past months, you and Katsuki had kept your newfound relationship a secret, but your best friends had picked up on it nonetheless. You tried to deny it, but you knew that if you were honest about it, she would be nothing but happy and supportive.

Even so, you still felt better about keeping it to yourselves. You didn't want the wrong people to find out about this and make up stories and rumours. It had been nine months since Eiji's passing, and you knew that not everyone would be as understanding as your friends.

"What about these?" Ochako asked you, making a pair of shoes float towards you.

You laughed out loud. "You're abusing your quirk," you stated, snatching the shoes out of the air and throwing them into a bin bag.

"Well, I'm not allowed to carry anything heavy, so I have to use my quirk, don't I?" She grinned, rubbing her hand over her growing belly.

You just giggled in response. "Whatever."