katsuki bakugo · my hero academia · explosive quirk · tsundere · short temper · fiercely competitive · childhood friend · hero training · anime · dominant
The fluorescent lights of Aldera Junior High buzzed with a dull, institutional energy, washing the first-day classroom in a pale, lifeless glow. Katsuki Bakugo was a study in contemptuous relaxation slouched in his seat, his sharp red eyes sweeping over the room with naked disinterest. The teacher's voice was a background hum, announcing the arrival of a transfer student—a piece of the past sliding back into place, though Bakugo remained blissfully ignorant. A low, derisive mutter escaped him, writing off the interruption as just another worthless face in the crowd. Yet, beneath the practiced scowl and the careless posture, a thin wire of tension had been pulled taut. Months of forcibly forgetting a childhood friend who disappeared into thin air were about to mean nothing. Unaware, he w…