Hey bubs, I'm back!
Break was eventful and I got some stuff done so excited for what's coming. I would highly recommend caution as the theme and tone of the book is going to steadily get darker from here on out.
Also prologue and chapter one of a spinoff of An Infinity Away, Insanis Incendium | Dabi x OC, is out! Would appreciate it if y'all could give it some love :)
Love you all and enjoy reading <3
-----
Everything was just hot.
The air was hot, the sheets were hot, her skin, her breaths, the backs of her eyes. Everything was just hot.
She puffed steaming breaths. Her muscles were constricting and flexing as she tried to subside the heat in between her legs. The pain seated at the base of her spine eventually got hotter and hotter as it coiled and grew.
"Alpha." she whispered breathlessly into the black shirt curled into her fingers. "Alpha."
Then hot skin touched her from behind, scorching breaths burned her neck, calloused fingertips ignited her with every single caress.
A growl, a croon, a rumble echoed from the body behind her. Hot and soft lips on her ear lobe blazed her scarlet.
She couldn't think, couldn't move. Only could breathe boiling puffs of air as she whined for more contact, for more heat.
A hand, so much larger than her own, was pressed against her navel, pushing her against a wall of muscle and flaming skin. Those very heated lips were now pressing on her neck, on her gland eliciting purrs and barely there moans from her chest.
She was melting. Like ice-cream on a hot day, like snow when meeting the threshold of human flesh, like how anything cold reacts when in contact with warmth. She was melting so softly, so tenderly, she thought she'd lose her sanity, lose her entire being.
Then there were the points of teeth, teasing and biting and pulling. And somehow her voice got higher, and her breaths got even more scarce and fast and everything was just so so hot.
Beautiful, addicting, pleasurable pain was deep-rooted now. She wanted to reach that precipice that left her spent, that peak would douse the heat from which she was being driven insane.
Insanity. That's what she felt was consuming her. Scorching, searing, steaming insanity.
She could feel tears bunching up on her waterline, blurring her world as she just wanted to let go. Let go let go let go.
Then she was hit with a wave of burning fires and sweet sweet candy and citrusy mandarin that drove her to a delirium she'd never experienced.
She recognized the scent. It brought her clarity and yet muddled her thoughts even more. It made her courage stronger and yet made her conviction weaken. It made her posture straighten and yet made her limbs weak and wobbly like jelly. The scent was a contradiction that she loved and hated all the same. And the man who exuded it was someone she loved and hated all the same. He was a contradiction indeed.
More sweltering, heat clouded her mind. His scent, his touch, his rumbling voice, his everything. Just him. All of him was bringing her mind to a state of blind hysteria and irrational need that she didn't know what to do.
Then, somehow, she was on her back and he was above her. He was above her and caging her in and capturing her attention with those cardinal twin flames that he has for eyes. She was lost and then found. She was scared and then brave. She was sad and then happy. She was nothing and then everything.
Only he could do this to her. Only he had that power over her.
"Katsuki," she whispered, she prayed so fully, so devotedly, she was sure he'd listen with just the sound of his name.
And then he smiled, so bright, so whole that she thought she'd evaporate then and there.
And then his voice, a low baritone, so soft and luscious and so silky smooth poured out, past his lips, and into her ears.
"Hina." he said with so much love and so much affection, she was floating on a cloud of pure joy.
And then his lips claimed hers as his.
Hina woke up slowly. Despite the dream snapping her awake, she was still too sleepy, too groggy to sit up in shock.
She was expecting a dream of this sort after her heat as she had read it in an article; that she would most probably have a very suggestive dream with the alpha's scent she was most exposed to.
She was expecting it, and she had prepared herself. And yet she was nowhere near prepared enough. Especially not when the very same alpha in her dreams was sleeping beside her in blissful ignorance.
This was the first time she woke up before him since they've been sleeping on the same bed together. Considering that fact, she knew it was way too early in the morning. Especially noticing the sky was still a blanket of dark navy with stars for sequins.
And she would've gotten out of bed and ventured downstairs to keep herself busy seeing she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep--especially when all she'd see behind her eyelids would be the ash blond alpha above her with a smile she'd never seen him wear outside of the dream. She would've. But, like in the dream, he was caging her in with a leg over her legs and his arm over her torso.
He was warm instead of hot, but still a wall of muscle just like in the dream. And yet, it was innocent and protective that it still made her thoughts fuzzy from it.
It was so embarrassing from how comfortable she'd gotten with the alpha in such a short span of time. And yet it was equally as wondrous. She had a gut instinct, a hunch, that told her why they felt so attracted, so drawn to each other. But, she couldn't be sure, she couldn't- wouldn't assume.
And seeing as those thoughts of what could be, would only make her spiral, she resorted to observing him as a way to pass time.
Yes, to pass time. Not because she was falling for him. Not because she wanted to commit his peaceful features to memory. That was not the case. Not at all.
She sighed, turning herself on her side, and facing him. Her eyes trailed his expression, on his relaxed brows, his barely parted mouth rumbling out soft gentle snores she'd never expected from him. He was so innocent looking when asleep. So vulnerable, so amiable. It looked nearly impossible for the very same man who sported a scowl on his lips on the daily, who grumbled in anger more often than most to show such tender emotions.
A shift closer to him, and she relished in the comfort he provided. And then he pulled her even closer. A sigh of contentment puffed out of him with a so small, so tender curve of his lips and he inhaled her scent even more.
She almost broke into a fit of giggles of how satisfied and how needy he seemed. Almost. Instead, she graced an amused smile, adoring his rare relaxed expression.
-----
The first thing Bakugo noticed—without opening his eyes—when he woke up was the loss of heat by his side. The second was the enticing scent of chocolate pancakes.
He exhaled a deep breath, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. It took him a few moments to recollect his thoughts, but he realized that the source of warmth missing was Hina and she was the one cooking breakfast downstairs.
It felt strange to him. To not be the first person awake. To not see obsidian tresses sprawled in front of him first thing in the morning. To not feel her soft, supple wrist tucked in his neck when she shuddered from the both pleasant and unpleasant dreams she had. It felt strange indeed.
He wouldn't admit it, but Hina's presence was starting to become the focal point of his life. Where she was, what she was doing, how she was feeling. He wanted- needed to know it all. And this new desire of his was scaring the shit out of him.
Because he never bothered with another's life like this, never so fully aware of another's existence like this—maybe he did with Deku's when he was trying to master one for all but that was practically all of 1-A.
He was starting to notice more about her. He started to notice how her nose scrunched up when she'd laugh, noticed how she'd cup her cheeks when she was self conscious, how she'd keep his gaze when she was angry. He noticed how she'd always hum in content when she drank the first sip of her tea, noticed how she'd always put smiley faces on the mirrors after taking a shower. He noticed how her eyes would literally shift and brew with her emotions like an ocean tide, noticed how she'd grab the hem of his collar when she was seeking safety, seeking comfort. He noticed how she'd always find her fingers tracing the scar on his temple, feeling the leather of his left cuff.
He noticed it all. And no matter how much he tried not to, he couldn't help but keep note of every single detail of the Hina Tanaka.
A deep exhale and a glance at the clock and he shot up from his bed. He just realized he woke up late.
And today was when they were going to infiltrate a possible NVA meet-up.
Damn, he really was out of it this morning.
To make up for lost time, he shuffled to the bathroom, his thoughts on his new tendency to notice every little thing of the omega put on hold.
He freshened up within fifteen minutes, carrying his hero-suit case by his side as he went downstairs to the source of the delicious scent that woke him up in the first place.
When he reached the kitchen he was greeted with Hina's humming as she flipped pancakes with practiced grace.
He watched her for a few more fleeting moments, before announcing his presence with a gruff, "Morning."
She peered over her shoulder, a ghost of a smirk visible from the angle Bakugo was standing at. "Good morning." She replied in a chipper voice. "Have a nice sleep?"
"Hm."
She turned around fully, a brow perked up in both confusion and slight worry. "You okay?"
"None of your business Short Stuff." He mumbled.
"Sorry I asked, Pufferfish." she grumbled while plating his breakfast.
He sighed, somewhat peeved by her perceptiveness. "Hero stuff. Confidential hero stuff."
"Oh." She smiled sheepishly, rubbing her nose with her thumb. "Well don't stress too much. You're one of the top heroes in the world. You'll be fine."
"Heh. I am pretty strong."
She scoffed. "Get off your high horse. Your personality is trash." She pointed at him with the spatula in her hand.
He glared at her, practically steaming in fury. "You lil' shit!"
"You're only proving my point."
"I- You're dead when I come back."
"Please. You'll be too tired." She deadpanned while putting the utensil away, untying the ribbon of the royal blue apron behind her back.
"Is that a challenge?" Bakugo snarled, taking the plate to devour the delectable stack of pancakes.
She smirked, pouring a cup of coffee. "Maybe."
"Again! With. The. Shitty. Maybe!"
"Oh come on." She whined playfully, "I wasn't sure if it was a challenge. Honest to god."
"You're on thin ice." He grumbled.
"I think the phrase you're looking for is 'playing with fire'."
"And why on earth are you deliberately 'playing with fire'?"
"Because." She whispered, her eyes uncharacteristically vulnerable, leaving herself bare and oh so emotionally naked for him to gawk. "The warmth I find in fire is a risk I'm willing to take." Her gaze faltered, her fingers fumbling as she poured frothy milk into the coffee with delicate grace. She sighed then, her nerves halting their waltz of anxiety. "And besides, why would I deliberately walk on thin ice and risk drowning. That's a terrible way to go."
Bakugo watched her carefully. He was still startled from her intentional openness, still heartfelt from the trust she had in him. "Burning from fire is a terrible way to go too." He whispered, his eyes reflecting remorse and sorrow as he understood her underlying connotations.
With her lips curving up ardently, she quipped in a matter-of-fact tone. "Who said the fire that I seek is one that burns?" She poked his nose before turning around and fishing for something in the cupboard above the countertop.
"You make no sense." He drawled, wrinkling his nose before shoveling another mouthful.
"I don't, don't I?" She shrugged her shoulders, grabbing the small bottle of cinnamon powder. "Oh well."
A comfortable silence ensued, the clanks of Bakugo's fork on his plate and her hums were the only sounds in the room. As she sprinkled a small amount of cinnamon on the creamy froth, and took a sip. His ear perked at the soft hum escaping her and his brow quipped up with her muted wiggle of excitement.
Another habit of hers he noted into his list of peculiar things about Hina Tanaka.
He scoffed the thought away. Leave it to his brain to circle back there. Unbelievable.
"Raccoon Eyes and Round face will be here again." He said suddenly, trying to change the direction of his thoughts. "They wouldn't stop complainin' how I ruined a moment and Round face wanted to talk more with ya."
"You did ruin a moment." Her face contorted into a scowl that could rival the ash blond's. "And don't call her Round face!"
He tsked, "when she finally tells shitty Deku 'bout her tattoo, I'll stop callin' her that."
Hina's eyes widened, her eyes then blinking animatedly as she processed what he just said. "You know about that?" She asked disbelievingly.
"How the hell d'ya know?" He asked incredulously.
"She told me yesterday." She poured another mug of coffee, mixing the frothy milk with the dark liquid to make a chestnut colored drink. "How do you know?"
He rolled his eyes at the stupid question. "She told me. How else?"
Sprinkling to the cinnamon on the second mug, she scoffed with a shake of her head.
"Here," She said, scooting the Lord Explosion Murder mug closer to him. "I want you to try my cinnamon spice latte."
"I don't do sweet drinks." He grumbled, eyeing the sweet concoction with distaste.
Pushing the drink to him even closer, she said with expectancy glazing her irises. "Just this once. Please."
He initiated a staring competition with her, losing almost immediately. "Tch, fine ya shitty woman." He cursed while thinking, shitty puppy eyes, as he cupped the warm ceramic of the mug.
She smiled. "Shitty alpha." And she started putting all the ingredients back in their respective places, taking occasional sips of her drink.
Bakugo scoffed once again, inhaling the scent of the cinnamon spice latte.
And he froze, his eyes dilating as pink crept up his neck and ears and sprinkled his cheeks.
Damn it.
Now he understood the appeal of those sweet drinks in all those unreasonably expensive cafes.
The disgustingly yet enticingly sweet coffee smelled like her.
-----
Once more, the heroes were headed out to the abandoned building that was once the headquarters of the world renowned company, Nakamura Enterprises. The same building he toppled nearly two years ago to smoke out the infamous villain, Dabi.
The company was getting under Bakugo's skin. Everywhere the NVA's activity was being uncovered, Nakamura's name was plastered on it. If it weren't so obviously used as a cover, he might've already confronted the CEO. However, the fact only older buildings and properties of said conglomerate were being used, he could only tell that this was the work of someone who had close contact with the company's relations.
That was all he could decipher with the consistency of Nakamura Enterprises' involvement in NVA's affairs.
It unnerved him. Because there are endless possibilities for a motive when it came to an expensive company being used as a cover. So many possibilities where Bakugo had nor the patience nor the drive to comb through them.
That, and the suspicious tips the heroes have been getting recently only signify they might have an ally who was helping them in the shadows.
Whatever the reason was for their secrecy didn't matter to the explosion hero. As long as he could put the NVA behind bars he didn't care who was helping them. At least, for now.
Accompanying him, were Deku, Shoto, Gale-Force, Maborocamie, Creati and Red Riot.
And the noisy lot would usually anger and annoy Bakugo relentlessly. But, the details Deku gave him yesterday had his thoughts fully occupied.
"What was the tip?" Bakugo demanded the moment he barged through the doors and into his office.
Midoriya was already clad in his superhero costume, his hand clutching around his phone as he faced his childhood friend with a jump of fright. "Kacchan." He sighed in relief and then hardened his expression. "I got a direct text."
"You what?"
"I got a direct text."
"Protocol says our inside man can't contact directly."
"It wasn't our man."
Bakugo glared in confusion, impatiently waiting for Midoriya to continue.
Midoriya sighed, showing his screen. "He calls himself 'Goldengate'."
"Goldengate." He scoffed. "What is he a bridge?"
"Kacchan your name-"
"Not a word."
"Hai, hai." He lifted his hands in surrender. "Should we take his help?"
Bakugo exhaled, his eyes pinched close as he contemplated. "It could be a trap."
"It could be." Midoriya said, "But we can be prepared for it, if we take the big guns."
Bakugo agreed with a sharp nod.
"Then we take the big guns."
And here they were. The big guns—not all of them obviously, that would be a bad strategy—all ready to fight and put some villains behind bars.
"How much longer to the top?"
Bakugo rolled his eyes at Eijiro's question; the third time he's asked the same question in the past ten minutes. Sometimes heroes can be more impatient when they are ready for a fight.
"We'll get there when we get there." He growled at his red-headed friend.
"I estimate another four floors." Shoto supplied monotonously
"Sounds about right." Momo agreed.
Maborocamie puffed her cheeks while inspecting her nails. "I can't wait to do some new illusions."
Gale-Force nodded in agreement, his voice booming as he pumped a fist in the air. "Shoto-san, we should do our combined move. The Fire Inferno!"
Bakugo groaned loudly at the two heroes' antics. Maborocamie and Gale-Force; Camie Utsushimi and Inasa Yoarashi respectively.
Camie was a bubbly spirit who spaced out too much for her own good. Her looks were what got her modeling gigs left and right and hence her immense recognition in the public; especially with her perfect hourglass figure and silky dirty blond hair framing her angelic face, cute pout, and big doe eyes. Illusions were her forte and Bakugo always has a good laugh with her crude yet seemingly innocent humor.
And Inasa was a bald honest and honorable hero who took things too literally. His quirk gave him immense strength and versatility as he could rule the winds however he wished.
And he'd made these two friends—Bakugo very reluctantly called them as—when he was in a remedial hero course with Shoto in his first year after they all failed their hero license exam.
Yes, the famous number two hero failed his hero license exam. Move on.
"We could do it." Shoto replied, looking over his shoulder and nodding in agreement to Inasa two heroes over. "There technically isn't a roof, so we won't have to worry for collateral."
"We don't have to worry about collateral, the police already evacuated the block." Momo explained while observing a tablet in her hand that was showing the surveillance of the building.
"That's so manly of a move!" Eijiro exclaimed in praise while punching his fists together. "I'll be there to make sure none of the villains interfere."
Bakugo took back all his thoughts of how the heroes weren't annoying him right now. They were driving him insane.
He groaned, clenching his jaw. "Kill me now."
"Kacchan. They mean well." Midoriya said while clasping a hand on his shoulder.
"We should get our head in the game." Bakugo bit, slightly reprimanding the band of his so-called friends who were totally disregarding common protocol at the moment. "The NVA means business."
"Come one Katsuki-san. Lighten up." Camie said with a bubbly undertone, her dismissiveness of his bubbling rage comedically prevalent. "Do you want me to do a Maboroki to make you feel better?"
Bakugo clicked his tongue, only to smirk at the memory of her hilarious illusions of his half-and-half friend. "Maybe after we destroy the shitty villain scum." He relented, walking further up.
"Ah, Bakugo. Do I hear a smile in your voice?" Inasa commented.
Bakugo suddenly froze. And then he quickly plastered his back to the wall as he gestured his pointer on his lips for silence. They complied immediately, the carefree atmosphere evaporating and getting replaced with the buzzing of an impending fight.
"Did you hear something, Kacchan?" Midoriya inquired.
"No."
"Then why did you shush us?" That was Eijiro, standing between Midoriya and Todoroki.
"So I can hear." Bakugo deadpanned, his attention fully on the floor above them as he adjusted his hearing aids so he could hear even the scuttle of ants on the walls.
"Oh." Eijiro blinked owlishly while rubbing his nape in a sheepish manner with a nervous chuckle. "Yeah that would make sense."
The shift of some rubble above them had all the heroes quiet within a millisecond.
With a chopping motion similar to what spies use in movies as signals, Bakugo directed the heroes to head up the final floor silently.
And silently they do reach the final floor. The whole thing was just as untouched, just as barren as it was before when Bakugo and Shoto came in search of some leads.
"That was anticlimactic." Camie muses with a pout.
Inasa nodded in agreement, "I seriously wanted to do The Fire Inferno."
"Next time," Shoto said, crouching to the floor and picking up the same frame he was drawn to last time.
Except the frame was just as dirty as it was before he wiped the glass.
"Bakugo," He called out, his voice expertly monotonous despite the anxiety creeping up his lungs.
Bakugo turned around, his eyes widening at the frame he clearly recognized. He already thought something was suspicious as the heroes filed into the abandoned building. But the picture now showing the Todoroki family instead of the two girls in an identical picture frame certainly made the hairs on his nape stand up.
Suddenly, there were literal golden doors appearing and circling the heroes. And people—villians—of all types filed out of them with elaborate weapons that suspiciously looked a lot like support weapons.
The fight started instantaneously. Windy ice and fire covered the north side while explosions covered the south. A canon was covering the east and a literal human wall was covering the west.
The whole floor was enveloped in a shroud of darkness, and as a result, left the villains to scramble so they could regroup.
"I bought us some time." That was Camie through the comms. "Now anyone care to tell me what's going on."
"That was what I assume is Torii Kin's also known as Caper's quirk." That was Momo as another blow of her canon vibrated through the floor.
Bakugo puffed in anger as he exploded another extra. "Ya mean to tell me that the Silver Fox, Deku and I interrogated, was a fake?"
"Perhaps," Momo conceded, "I'm only explaining from what I know."
He only tsked at that, continuing his assault at the low scum coming his way.
Then Midoriya came to his side punching villains left and right, the cloak of green electricity sparkling in the dark and illuminating a small radius around him. "Kacchan, something isn't right."
"Of course somethin' ain't right!" Bakugo exclaimed, exploding a villain in the face.
"But Kacchan." Midoriya kicked another burly villain coming behind Bakugo, lassoing black whip to throw them across the floor. "Isn't their target Tanaka-san? Why would they set up a trap here if they knew we'd be coming?"
Clarity widened Bakugo's eyes as he punched another guy in the face with a simultaneous explosion, knocking him out cold.
He was an idiot. Of course he had his doubts when they got the tip. And sure, he may have overreacted to try and subdue the NVA as soon as possible despite knowing how smart and calculative they are. Goddamnit. Why didn't he ever consider that the attack on Hina was a diversion? That the trauma they instilled in her was all a false lead for the heroes.
And before Bakugo could lament any further, a stream of cerulean heat ripped through the darkness. The source right behind him.
He turned around at lightning speed, his reflexes reacting for him with small concentrated explosions when an arm coated in blue flames was grabbing for his neck.
It was like he was back in a nightmare.
The atmosphere was obsidian doom and the only luminescence was the twin flames of azure villainy that had tormented him and Hina in ways that would make the strongest of heroes freeze up in horror.
All that anger he had simmering underneath his skin was immediately frigid. Like he was a naïve teenager again, back in the forest that flipped his life upside down in one night. The walls were burning blue like the trees did back then. His friends were screaming his name like they did back then.
But unlike all those years ago, Bakugo smirked, his face contorting in prideful excitement as he smiled in the face of danger.
"It's over now, Stitch face."
He detonated a giant explosion at Dabi, relishing in how the body slumped at his feet within seconds.
But then a hand was shot from behind him, the purple scars exploding blue flames in all directions and burning his left shoulder.
Bakugo gritted his teeth in pain, turning around and exploding behind him blindly.
Except the hand disappeared.
"You still underestimate your opponents too much, Katsuki Bakugo."
Dabi was behind him again, and twelve more villains emerged from the golden gates open from all sides.
And these villains were in the top twenty of the Red List; the most wanted villains list.
It was two villains to one hero. Only Bakugo and Dabi were fighting one on one.
Chaos ensued like no other.
Two men formed lightning storms from the sky, and another released waves of water that seemed to appear from thin air, all meeting ice and fire and devastating winds from Shoto and Inasa.
A woman in bright pink was shooting concentrated lasers from her fingertips that were piercing everything in their path but was somehow being held back by Eijiro's hardened human flesh.
A small dwarf of a man was contorting metals into robots and a hulk of a woman was painting pictures that animated on their own, both slowly building an army. But an army of drones and cannon fodder was destroying it all by Momo alone.
A teenage boy was shining like the brightest star to battle the illusion of darkness that was struggling to overshadow his light and his twin sister was releasing shadows to trick Camie into making the wrong illusions and secretly hunt her down. However, neither could find her in the cloak of her own domain, leaving their plan to null.
Dabi now faced Bakugo with a manic smile and a crazed look in his eye.
"It's over now, Number Two Hero."
And before Bakugo could respond, Dabi seized and collapsed in front of him a second time.
Bakugo wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, so he grabbed behind him blindly.
Laughter from his left had his head whipping in that direction.
"I never use the same technique twice." Dabi whispered, his voice gravely with humor and pride, as he pierced a needle in Bakugo's abdomen.
Numbness prickled Bakugo within seconds, his vision blurring and head spinning slightly as he tried to regain composure.
But it was a fruitless endeavor.
Because Dabi easily circled him like he was a wolf circling prey. And then he lunged, grabbing Bakugo's neck from behind, forcing him to face the scene of heroes and villains battling once again as they did all those years ago.
The heat singed his skin as his vision was blocked from the veil of azure fire. And when the fire dissipated he saw all of his friends staring towards him in horror just as they did so many years ago, all of the villains seemingly disappeared from the scene.
And just as many years ago, his childhood friend sprinted forward reaching to grab his hand as he screamed the nickname he's always regarded with much affection.
"Kacchan!"
Midoriya's voice cracked and erupted as he ran as fast as he could across the floor and all of his fellow comrades- compatriots- friends ran alongside and behind him.
But Bakugo was already being pulled back through a golden doorway, his last words that he could utter before he parted into the unknown was an echo of what he said all those years ago.
"Don't come."