Chapter 97 - Peter

Bakugou felt like he was forgetting something as he left for the store.

In his defense, it was early in the morning, and he knew Y/N despised mornings; Katsuki had already gotten completely ready for the day and planned his itinerary before she had even rolled over. He left a small note on the door that read:

getting groceries.

also i used all the hot water.

-k

But in her defense, it was fucking 7 am.

Early hours had always been easier for him. Less people to worry about. Like now, for example: the streets of New York weren't nearly as packed as they'd been the night before. That meant he could relax a bit.

The store itself was a little corner shop only a few blocks from her apartment. Aside from a man outside trying way too hard to get him to sign some petition, the trip was undisturbed. He used his card to buy a few bags of simple groceries (he hoped she at least had basic cooking tools) and left the store without a hitch.

Even within those 30 minutes, the streets were now flooded with people. Should've left earlier, He thought to himself with a sigh.

He only got a few paces before someone stopped him.

She was short, maybe 5'2, and was clutching her phone against her chest as she beamed up at him with pure wonder in her eyes. "Are you Dynamight? You have to be him!"

A mask. That's what he'd forgotten.

Katsuki squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance at himself before looking down at the girl before him again.

Since he'd won his first sports festival, a few girls had started a sort of fan club online, and it had only grown as the years passed. With all of the awards he'd acquired in his line of work it was inevitable. It was routine for nearly every hero at UA, but especially with him.

For some reason, his dislike of the attention only seemed to garner him more of it.

"Uh... no. You're confused," he lied, turning his face away to obstruct her view a bit.

"No, you're definitely him! I'd know those eyes anywhere!"

Bakugou's stomach dropped– both at the fact that she wasn't letting up and the fact that some stranger claimed to know him by his eyes.

"Listen, I don't wanna chat, okay? Buzz off," He grumbled. He turned again, this time pushing past her to continue on his route.

"C'mon, I just want a photo! It'll only take a sec, alright? I'm such a huge fan, I should at least get a selfie."

He ignored her and continued down the sidewalk. His heartbeat was starting to pick up now and his throat tightened. Just keep walking. She'll leave eventually.

But then she grabbed his wrist. She said something, too, but he didn't hear what it was over the roar of adrenaline in his ears. "Let go," He warned, his voice dropping as he glared at the girl.

"I'll let go when you take a photo with me. Just one."

"If you don't fucking let go of me right now I'll blast you to hell. Let go."

The girl's smile fell and she dropped her hand, but it formed a fist at her side in frustration. "You're being so mean! All I want is a photo!"

Katsuki was already walking away at this point. He could hear the blood thundering in his ears as his anger grew in his chest, fighting every instinct to turn around and yell at the girl until she left him alone.

"OH MY GOD, IT'S A PRO HERO!"

He whipped his head around to see the girl with her hands cupped around her mouth shouting down the street. After yelling her piece she turned to him and crossed her arms over her chest with a satisfied grin.

"You motherfucker," Bakugou breathed, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

Nearly everyone in the area turned to see the commotion. Pedestrians on the street, drivers with their windows down, and customers inside shops all started making their way over to him– some running with their phones out, others gasping and shouting from a distance.

"Are you really a pro?"

"Look! Isn't he a Japanese hero?!"

"TAKE A PHOTO, TAKE A PHOTO–"

"That's Dynamight, isn't it? What's he doing here?"

Okay, maybe Y/N was right. She was super right. They converged like piranhas, yelling and shouting for autographs, photos, videos, everything they could ask of a pro. He inhaled through  clenched teeth. Fuck. He only had a few seconds before he would be literally against a wall with nowhere to turn.

The idea of not having his hands free was making Bakugou physically ill, so in a few swift movements he crouched down, crammed their groceries into his backpack, and stood up straight again.

The volume only rose as the crowd gained in size. Several arms reached out to touch him, grazing his arm, his hair, anywhere they could touch. "Fucking back up!" He demanded, but his words were only washed away amidst the sea of yelling.

Katsuki's breathing picked up. The amount of space he had had shrunk significantly in only a matter of seconds– he didn't see faces anymore, only heavy bodies pressing against him and begging him for his attention.

"I can't believe it's a real pro!"

"Please, just one photo!"

"DYNAMIGHT, I LOVE YOU! SIGN MY CHEST!"

He swatted dozens of hands away. "ENOUGH!" He yelled. Once again, it was to no avail. He didn't have a choice at this point– he was going to hyperventilate if he didn't get out of there. Too tight. No space. I can't breathe.

Bakugou aimed his palm towards the sky and unleashed a loud explosion above everybody's heads. It did exactly as he needed, pulling everybody's attention away for a split second while he angled his arms downward and set off another round of nitroglycerin to propel him into the air.

Screams and gasps echoed below him when he landed on the rooftop of the corner store. He was too relieved to even look back at the crowd, instead lightly hopping in place for a moment to ready his leap onto the next building. This one didn't require an explosion; he stuck the landing with ease and kept going, using the same momentum to continue across the building tops.

The roar of the crowd faded as he launched himself above the metal cityscape. It took a moment for him to orient and figure out which direction it was to Y/N's apartment, but once it clicked in his head he was off again, not daring to stay in one place for too long.

This was much better. No one else was up here except a few sleeping cats and startled pigeons. Bakugou leapt across alleyways and over radiators, slowly but surely making his way back to Y/N. This was actually much faster-- he felt a sudden kinship for Spider-Man.

He eventually made it to the right complex and peered down over the building's back. There were dozens of balconies, but it only took a moment for him to spot the plastic bowls and cat food. Bingo.

This time, he didn't use his explosions; both to avoid waking the building's occupants and to hopefully not draw any more attention. He had gotten more than he ever wanted just from the crowd. Using ladders, balconies, and windowsills, he climbed and jumped his way down to the correct apartment.

Katsuki took a deep breath of relief. In all of his years in Japan, he'd never experienced a crowd like that. They were completely unrelenting, pure entitlement fueling their begging and crowing, barely letting him take a breath or have even an inch of personal space. He shook his head and let his shoulders relax as he opened the balcony door.

He wasn't quick enough. In only a few seconds, he was yanked inside by a grip on his arm and slammed against the window, pinned by a forearm against his neck.

It was a man. A young man, probably the same age as him, wearing a blue suit and a mask that covered the top half of his face.

"Get the hell off me!" Bakugou yelled, snapping the bottom of his palm upward and clocking the man perfectly at the bottom of his nose.

"STOP!" Y/N shrieked. The man recoiled with a groan and whipped his arm back to ready a punch, but Y/N grabbed his arm. "STOP IT! He's with me!"

"Why the hell is he coming in through the balcony?!"

Katsuki was nearly blind with rage. "Who the fuck are you? What the hell are you doing here?!" He took a threatening step towards the man, fully intending to stomp him out for answers, but a gust of wind punched him in the gut and he fell backwards onto Y/N's beanbag.

"Cool it, Kat," Y/N warned. "He's a friend. Both of you need to calm the fuck down." She crouched down to examine the other man's nose. It dribbled with blood. "Shit, that's super broken."

"Why is he here?" Katsuki spat. He tried not to let his anger out at Y/N but that felt impossible at this point. He was having a fucking terrible day. Why the hell was another man in her apartment after he'd left?

"I'm her friend, dipshit," The man muttered. "Haven't seen her in a whole fucking year. Wanted to say hello."

"Peter," Katsuki said aloud. That had to be Peter.

"Uh huh. And who are you?" Peter grumbled. He pinched the bridge of his nose to slow the bleeding.

Another wave of anger had Bakugou seeing white. "Her boyfriend, motherfucker. What's with the fancy getup?" He climbed to his feet but now moved to stand in front of Y/N. It was subconsciously done– all he knew was that he didn't want Peter getting any closer to his girlfriend.

"Peter, I think you should go," Y/N grunted as she tried to push Bakugou out of the way. Unfortunately, he was much bigger than her, and getting him to move out from in front of her was damn near impossible. In fact, he barely seemed to notice; his eyes were locked on Peter like an angry guard dog, not moving an inch as his girlfriend tried to push him.

Peter didn't look too happy about being forced to leave. He stood up and shook his head to get his bearings. "Nice meeting you, man," He grunted.

Bakugou didn't respond– his eyes only narrowed.

"Thanks for stopping by, Peter. Sorry 'bout your nose," Y/N apologized. "I'll see you another time."

Peter was visibly upset. He mumbled a soft, "Uh huh," before exiting out Y/N's front door.

"Fucking asshole," Bakugou seethed before slipping off his backpack and emptying out the groceries.

"Where were you? I was really fucking worried, Kat. I woke up and you were gone. I thought... I thought you'd gone home or something."

Without looking up from his current task, he pulled the sticky note off the door and stuck it to the tip of Y/N's nose.

She pulled it off and took a moment to read it before sighing and sticking it on the fridge. "Didn't see that."

"Too busy with your old boyfriend?" He muttered. He probably shouldn't have, because the second he did Y/N grabbed his wrist and forced him to spin around to look at her.

"Is that what this is? You're throwing a pity party because you're jealous?"

"Why was he here? Did you invite him over?" He pressed. "I went to get us fucking groceries, I come back, and there's a whole ass man here trying to kill me."

"Leonardo told him I was home, so he stopped by before his match. And he wasn't trying to kill you, he thought you were trying to kill me. Why the fuck did you come in through the balcony? Are you trying to get arrested?"

Bakugou dropped the bread he was holding to face her fully. "Some fuckhead fan was mad I didn't take a photo, she started a crowd, so I left. Streets weren't safe so I used the roof to–"

Y/N's face fell into one of panic. "Fuck. Did they see you come in here?"

"No, they were leagues behind me."

Y/N seemed satisfied with that answer. She started unpacking his backpack with him and emptying the contents in the fridge. "Sorry he attacked you. He's a nice guy, I think he just got scared."

"Why didn't you tell him about me? He should've known I was coming home."

"He was really only here for about a minute before you arrived. Barely even finished my explanation about this–" She pointed a finger at the mark on her face, "--before you landed on the balcony."

Bakugou huffed in frustration but didn't respond. He was still angry; his heart rate hadn't gone down since the encounter and he could feel the muscles in his face refusing to relax. He had to be sporting a pretty mean scowl.

When Y/N finished unpacking she stood next to him and waited for him to look at her, but he was much too upset and much too focused on the task at hand to notice, so she touched the top of his hand. "Bakugou."

When that didn't work, she grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at her. "Katsuki."

As much as he wanted to stay mad, he couldn't as soon as she looked at him like that. "What?" He grumbled.

"I'm not dating him, I'm dating you."

"I know."

"I don't want to date him. I want to date you."

"I know," He repeated, feeling his cheeks get warm.

"Do you need space or reassurance?"

Katsuki paused for a moment as he stared at her. He could still barely think straight with all of the emotions flooding his head, but the sound seemed to die down when she touched him. His shoulders fell a bit as he finally let them relax.

"Do you know how fucking scared I was when I realized someone else was in the apartment?"

Y/N frowned. "Scared? C'mon, Kat, you could take Peter no question. You did take him, actually, his nose is definitely broken–"

"Scared for you, dumbass."

"Scared for... oh." Y/N dropped her hand in realization. "Shit. I didn't even think of that. I'm really sorry. That must've been... yeah, really scary. Are... you good now?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine." He paused to look at her when he added, "As long as you're safe, Tinkerbell. Don't scare me like that again or I'll kill you."

She smiled a bit. "That's fair. Can you forgive me if I make you pancakes?"

"Ha! Nice try. We've seen the pancakes you make," He retorted, flicking her forehead. "I'll make pancakes. You go shower, dumbass."