Blink If You Hate Me┃K. Bakugo

You Ready?

It was barely six, and the dorm was still wrapped in the comfortable pre-dawn quiet of a Saturday morning. The soft hum of the heater embracing her against the sudden bite of early autumn that had crept in overnight. Y/N dressed into her hero costume slowly, reluctant to leave the solace of her room, before she finally stepped into the hallway, where the air was cooler—an unwelcome reminder that the season had turned while she wasn't looking.

She'd decided against teleporting straight to the kitchen, hoping the short walk might help shake off the fog of sleep before their work-study shift, but now - halfway down the corridor - with every step sounding louder than the last, she was beginning to rethink her decision.

She tried to move quietly through the dimly lit passage, but the weight of her boots made stealth impossible—the heavy thud of each step echoing against the floorboards, the clear sound carrying all the way down toward Kirishima's room at the end of the corridor. She grimaced at that; he'd already been livid last night after they'd come back from the restaurant. Everyone knew it had mostly been Bakugo's fault, but that hadn't stopped Kirishima from lecturing all of them—and she had no desire to set off that rare, sharp edge in him again.

She had nearly reached the end when the bathroom door swung open beside her. A jolt ran through her, as a gasp caught in her throat at the sudden movement.

But it wasn't Kirishima's stern stare or spiky red hair that faced her - it was Jirou, blinking blearily in the doorway with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth, an oversized Radiohead tee drooped off one of her shoulders, messy purple hair framing her face like a halo.

"... Morning to you too?" Jirou mumbled around her toothbrush, rubbing at one eye "God, Y/N - you look like you just saw a ghost."

"I thought you were Kirishima" she whispered, glancing at his door to see if the noise had woken him up, "almost gave me a heart attack."

Jirou shook her head, letting out a small laugh, "Yeah, no kidding, after the way he publicly scolded you guys like a rampaging mother."

"Right," Y/N said, rolling her eyes with a wry smirk. "Really helping me calm down here." She muttered the words under her breath as she flexed her fists, feeling the reassuring weight of her reinforced knuckle guards built to absorb and redirect impact. Mei had designed them after a mission last summer, when a villain had caught her off-guard during routine hero work and a badly placed strike had left her hand sore for weeks. The inventor had been positively pushy about it, insisting she had a solution, and Y/N had finally relented and agreed to try them out.

"Not often I see you like this..." Jirou raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on her lips as she watched Y/N's brief confusion, "scared, I mean." She clarified, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Hey, don't go spreading this around," Y/N said, bumping her shoulder lightly against Jirou's. "You've got to help me keep my rep intact."

Jirou grinned, stretching one arm lazily over her head. "No promises." she gave her a lazy thumbs-up mid-yawn, adding a muffled "Good luck today hero."

"Thanks Rou" Y/N said, winking as she ducked around her, jogging the rest of the way downstairs, chasing away the last of her nerves.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Outside, the first pale light of day brushed the treetops, painting everything in a delicate dust. The faint scent of toasted bread and brewing coffee filled the ground floor, mixing with the cool morning crispness that drifted in through the open window.

Bakugo was already there, leaning against the counter in full hero gear, minus his gauntlets, which were placed neatly beside him.

His black compression shirt stretched over his shoulders as he leaned forward on one arm, the other idly bringing a spoon to his mouth. He was half bent over a bowl of cereal, scrolling through his phone with focus that made it clear he'd already been up for a while.