𝔄𝔫 ℑ𝔫𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔄𝔴𝔞𝔶 | Katsuki Bakugo x OC

Chapter 43 - Hiding Paranoia

"What happened?" She asked, squeezing his hand. "Tell me."

He looked up. Big blue eyes, the color of the ocean and the sky.

He swallowed, returning the squeeze back. "It's nothing." He lied, his own voice betraying him.

"It's not nothing. I can feel your guilt from the lie."

He scowled, his anger now directed at the link that never let him hide a single emotion from her. It always betrayed him at the worst of times.

He responded with a glance, with an expression that made her throb with more worry.

"Katsuki." Her tone was soft, yet admonishing. A silent command laced within too. She wasn't going to budge. Not after seeing his hands shake to the tips of his fingers against his will.

He hated it. Hated how transparent he was to her. Hated how, with one look, with one call of his name, he'd bend his will to listen to her. He truly despised it. And at the same time he couldn't be more grateful.

This way he wouldn't bottle things up for years and hurt the people closest to him when he'd explode. This way he didn't have to constantly build painstakingly large, sturdy walls around his heart. This way he wasn't alone.

"It really is nothing," he mumbled, his whole body relaxing from her touch on his knuckles. "Just thinking 'bout Stitch face."

A step closer and he could feel her breath now. Her brows furrow as she peered through her fan of obsidian lashes. "Why are you giving the burnt toast the time of day?"

Her voice was serious, the inflections stern and dull. But the nickname threw him off and he couldn't help the tilt of his lips from it.

"Burnt toast?" She spluttered and he chuckled, tucking a strand of her bangs behind her ear. "Not bad of a shit-callin-name for him."

She smiled, ears rosy pink like the light burn on his cheeks and nose.

His smile drooped slightly, his brows furrowing again. How was he going to tell her this?

He searched her eyes, then brought his hand to cup her jaw, a determination bleeding through expression, through his chest too.

Her eyes widened, blinking quickly and worriedly. "Katsu-"

"He died."

Her breath hitched, the humming of the air-conditioning louder than ever, buzzing her thoughts.

"What?" She breathed, an apparent relief seeping in her bones and confusion suddenly replacing it. "Why does that worry you?"

Katsuki swallowed, biting his cheek, his nose flaring as he inhaled deeply and exhaled shortly after. "Our last conversation left a bad taste in my mouth," he admitted, shame flooding in his lungs and his breath, "and his death seems a bit too fitting. Like-"

"Like it's meant to keep our precautions low." She finished in a whisper, her anxiety mimicking his. "To catch us off guard a second time."

One hand pushed her head in his chest, his other arm curling around her shoulders to hold her closer, feel her nearer. "Like hell I'll let that happen," He said in her hair, noticing the shake of her shoulders cease and sensing the uncertainty and fear churning in her stomach subside.

"Yeah," she hummed, returning the embrace with a squeeze of her arms around his torso, a sigh that seeped reprieve from her stiff muscles to his. "I've got the Explosion Murder God: Dynamight by my side. I've nothing to worry 'bout."

"Damn right, " he smiled despite himself, clicking his tongue in faux annoyance. "And stop announcing the whole name."

She giggled into him. The sound made him flush pink and he grumbled under his breath on how stupidly adorable she was.