Atonement [Bakugo Katsuki]

🤍 Chapter 98 🤍

It was very early in the morning when Kimitsuki found herself waking up, and as her eyes adjusted to the meagre light in the room, she found herself bound. She was bound in a hug that she had not expected yet it was too warm to depart from. Katsuki had not pressed her against the wall, but he was still wrapped around her. Kimitsuki turned her head to look at the boy sleeping next to her.

Katsuki was still very deep in his sleep, and it was during such occasions that Kimitsuki enjoyed looking at him the most. His expression was completely clear of everything, and the gentleness of his pretty features made her smile inexplicably. She wished that he would keep such an expression.

From the sparse morning light, it was clearly too early in the morning – it was too early and too cold for Kimitsuki to want to leave the warmth of the bed. She did not even bother to heat her skin up as she usually would – instead, she sunk deeper into Katsuki's arms, hugging him back in return.

Thinking back to the events of yesterday was something that Kimitsuki often did inexplicitly when she was laid in bed so early in the morning. But today, she wanted to do nothing of such sort. Today, she simply wanted to lay in the comfort that persisted. There was no hurry for anything.

When Kimitsuki returned back to the world of consciousness, she felt a gentle gaze on her face. She blinked slowly, stifling her yawn as she turned her head to look at Katsuki. He was awake now, and he was looking at her with the same quiet expression that had persisted on his face.

"Ka-Chan, good morning," greeted Kimitsuki with a smile, and his eyes refocused as he was brought back to reality. "You're awake now? I didn't keep you in, did I?"

"Good morning," Katsuki replied, and he stuffed his head into the pillow next to hers. "No, you didn't," His voice was muffled. "I didn't want to leave,"

These words only made Kimitsuki smile even more, and she responded to his words positively, wrapping her arms back around him with meaning. She needed no warmth as long as she could feel Katsuki. He was warmer than the comfort of a Kotatsu in the depth of winter.

"Thank you for offering me to stay the night with you," Kimitsuki spoke, smiling in contentment. "I did feel a bit unnerved being alone by myself in the girls' wing... you understand me better than myself at times,"

"You don't need my permission to come here," muttered Katsuki, avoiding meeting eyes with her but Kimitsuki reached out to set her hand on his cheek. "What?"

"Look at me when you speak," Kimitsuki requested, turning his head to face hers. "I like looking at you when you talk to me. It makes me happy... I want you to see how happy you make me,"

Katsuki felt his cheeks burn at her words. His eyes fell onto the smile that had spread across her lips – and it was something that kept him tethered to the earth. His head flooded with the thoughts that had persisted in his mind the previous night – of his presence in the life of someone like Kimitsuki.

Kimitsuki was someone pure. She was someone who was loved by everyone, she had a way of reaching out to others that no one else did. She was so lovingly pure that it had even brought the smudge of villains to come after her. Katsuki felt his body tense up at the thought of it. He could never allow them to even look in her direction, much less get the opportunity to ever touch her.

But how could Katsuki look at her in the eyes when he was the complete opposite of her? He was not liked by their peers or beyond. He was someone who appeared so vile in the eyes of others that the same heinous group that aimed to hurt her had sought him out. They, who wanted to ruin Kimitsuki, had thought of Katsuki to be someone who would agree to their evil ideals.

It was true that if he continued to persist on the path that he was on, Kimitsuki may regret being so close to him. He could become like Endeavor – prideful, callous and uncaring. And Kimitsuki may very well become like any other member of the Todoroki family – hurt, fearful and mistreated. The thought of that burned Katsuki uncomfortably. He could not even dwell on such a thought.