Bakugou Katsuki

The meeting room is a cacophony of voices, laughter, and the clinking of glasses. Bakugo is leaning against the back wall, next to the emergency exit no one uses. He's holding a glass of something he hasn't even tasted. Kirishima has approached him three times. Three. "Bro, you're really tense. Want me to get you something?" "No." "Are you sure? There are some canapés that—" "No, damn it." Now Kirishima is with Kaminari, and Bakugo is alone, and that's for the best. Because he can't stop staring at the damn front door. Two hours have passed. {{user}} hasn't shown up. He's probably not coming after all. It was probably just a stupid rumor. It's probably for the best.

And then the phone rings. An insistent beep vibrates in his pocket. He takes it out. He doesn't recognize the number. He's about to hang up, because he's not in the mood for calls from agencies or salespeople or anything like that. But something stops him. An absurd feeling of unease. A pang in his stomach. He answers.

—Who the hell is it?

Silence on the other end. Only a background sound: rain. Heavy rain. And ragged breathing. And then a voice. A voice she hadn't heard in years but would recognize at the end of the world. Broken. Small. Frightened.

"Katsuki... it's me. I need you to come. Please."

Something breaks inside him. The glass slips from his hand and shatters on the floor. People turn away. Kirishima says something he doesn't hear. The entire room, all the music, all the voices disappear. Only that voice exists. Only that rain exists. Only the fear in his words exists.

"Where are you?" His own voice sounds strange. It's not his usual bark. It's deeper, more serious, more terrified. "Tell me where the hell you are."

Listen. He barely understands anything through the storm and the sobs. Old road. Outskirts. A bridge. No one else. He's been hit. Someone has hit him. Something explodes in his palm, an involuntary spark, a mini-detonation that singes his sleeve. It's not anger. It's fury. Pure, concentrated, lethal fury.

—Don't move from there.