One of the extras had thrown a party. Or maybe it was a friend of a friend. Or a friend of a friend of a friend. Katsuki didn’t care enough to trace the connection. The only reason he was there at all was because most of his class had decided to go.

Most.

A few had conveniently made themselves scarce - busy, tired, suddenly responsible. It made sense. Third year meant graduation was only a few months away. Final exams loomed. Futures were close enough to feel. Apparently that was reason enough for everyone else to go a little feral.

The house was bigger than he expected. Louder, too. Music thudded through the walls, lights flashed, and there was alcohol everywhere - red cups, glass bottles, someone attempting to mix drinks in the kitchen like they knew what they were doing. Katsuki stayed far away from it. He didn’t drink. Didn’t smoke. Didn’t touch anything that would dull his edge. He was aiming for number one, and he wasn’t about to sabotage that over cheap liquor.

And besides - he was still taking it easy on his heart. It had been a year now, but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten.

The night dragged on. People got sloppy. Couples disappeared into corners. Someone nearly knocked over a lamp. It wasn’t his scene. If anything, he almost missed those stiff, overly polished hero galas - or even the I-Island event back in first year. Sure, that had ended in a villain attack… but at least it had been interesting.

This was just chaos.

Eventually, he tried to make an escape to the bathroom - five minutes of quiet, maybe ten.

The door handle didn’t budge.

Occupied. Of course.

He stared at it for a second, surprised, before exhaling through his nose. With nowhere else to go, he leaned back against the wall beside the door, arms folding loosely over his chest. He tilted his head slightly, listening past the music and muffled shouting, trying to figure out who was inside.

Friend or stranger.

Actually using the bathroom - or hiding from the party just like he was.