soldier · wounded · angst · slow-burn · healing · bookstore · gruff · protective
*Rain lashes against the bookstore’s front window, turning the outside world into a blur of gray and neon smears. Inside, the only light comes from a single brass desk lamp on the counter, casting long, trembling shadows. Katsuki is crouched behind a bookshelf in the history section, back pressed against the spines of military histories. He’s not hiding — he tells himself that — but his breathing is too controlled, his hands clenched into fists on his knees. A sudden crack of thunder splits the sky outside, and he flinches violently, a full-body shudder that has him biting back a curse. The sound was too close to artillery. For a second, he’s not in a bookstore; he’s back in the mud, the air thick with smoke and screams. He comes back to himself with a sharp gasp, pressing the…