𝔄𝔫 ℑ𝔫𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔄𝔴𝔞𝔶 | Katsuki Bakugo x OC

Chapter 65 - The Line Between Panic & Peace

Thank you for all of your guys' patience. This past few months have been so hectic and a big pain in the ass. Thankfully, I'll have more time on my hands in these upcoming weeks. Hopefully I can get through these chapters smoothly :)

Enjoy this transitional chapter <3

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Hina always preferred autumn over any other season. Summer was always too sweltry, winter too chilly, and spring would always trigger her unwanted seasonal allergies—pollen was her worst enemy.

So this past week, she relished every moment she could, as she was bored in isolation, to inhale the foggy mornings and listen to the symphony of nature. It rained three days prior to today, leaving the dirt path damp and muddy. Katsuki had gone back home to retrieve warmer clothes the day the rain hit, and brought two pairs of rain boots so they could go outside if Hina ever felt the mood to.

She did two days ago, and they hiked up the familiar path that led to the clearing bordered with pines. The very same clearing he'd taught her, more like discovered her knack of combat training. While there, she couldn't help but feel nostalgia for that day in the sun, rolling in the dirt and she pinned him down and he did the same to her.

Can we start training again? She'd asked while sitting on one of the large boulders resting off to the side.

Katsuki was standing in front of her, arms crossed and brows angled down. Sure, He grumbled.

When?

Soon, later, whenever. Up to you.

She'd mulled it over, letting the warm and cool breeze whisk leaves and needles between and around them.

Tomorrow?

He had clenched his jaw, hesitation pulling at his stomach. But he refused to let her see it for too long. Tomorrow sounds good.

And so yesterday there they were: Hina panting and Katsuki breaking sweat, both standing cautiously in front of one another.

From the beginning of their session, he hadn't held back. Every punch, every kick, and every dodge was thrown and kept with precision. He knew Hina was strong, that she wasn't made of glass but made of metal; strong and unwavering but malleable based on the situation at hand.

Hina had taken a step forward, her barefoot padding against the wooden planks of the cabin's back deck. She was watching for his shift in stance, waiting for him to move in response to her.

However, he saw right through her, and didn't move except for his shoulders rising and falling with every deep breath.

He was waiting. Waiting for a moment she would slip and he could immobilize her. And that moment was an easy one to time if he did it right. He just had to wait for her to blink, duck, and then come from behind her.

What he hadn't realized was disappearing so suddenly in Hina's line of sight was a terrible move.

Because the moment he had, while prepping his next move to hold her from behind, Hina's stomach had lurched. She'd keened, sharp and light, frantically turning to look for him.

Her vision was too blurry and her throat was closing up tightly as though a rope was tightening- choking her.

Firework. She'd heard under the loud thumping of her heartbeat.

Just hearing him had relief bleed into her limbs. The seizing of her breath subsided too.

She hadn't known when she fell to her knees, curled within herself, and her eyes welling with tears. All she did know was that she needed Katsuki to hold her close, to tell her everything was okay. That he wasn't going to disappear.