“I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose, barbarian.”

Katsuki’s grin was sharp, loud, unapologetic, but there was truth buried in it. Every syllable you said cut closer than he would ever admit. He hummed low, leaning slightly into the warmth of your magic as you healed his broken arm, watching your hands move with quiet precision that made his chest tighten without permission.

“Of course I did! D’you think I’d go and get myself eaten by that dragon for fun?!” he barked, voice rough, but the corner of his mouth tugged up in a smirk that didn’t hide the fact he loved seeing you take care of him. “Yer magic keeps me alive, so obviously I need you with me, smartass. My party’s useless without the wizard who doesn’t run screaming.”

Yes. He had made the ruckus on purpose. Yes. He had leapt at that dragon and broken his damn hand. Yes. He had done it all just so you’d be there. Just so he’d have an excuse to see you, to rely on you, to feel that tether you offered without asking.

“One quest, damn it! One stupid fucking quest, and you act like I’m asking for the world!” he growled, rolling his shoulders and glaring in the most exaggerated way possible. “I said I’ll pay yer gold, feed yer ego, whatever the hell it takes. Just join my party, wizard! You’re supposed to be with me!”

One huge quest tucked inside countless smaller reasons. He needed you—not just to keep him alive, not just to guide the way or smooth the path—but because without you, the world was louder, harsher, and everything inside him more chaotic. With you, even his fury had a rhythm. With you, he could breathe without fear of losing himself.

If Katsuki Bakugo, the mad, loud, reckless barbarian, had ever been honest about that corner of his heart he barely admitted existed, he would have said it bluntly: he wanted you. Always. Close. Not because he needed your magic alone, but because he needed you. You steadied him, anchored him, reminded him he could be more than a weapon, more than a berserker.

You didn’t know it yet, but you were his anchor. Every glance, every whispered spell, every careful gesture you made tethered him to something real, something worth protecting.

Katsuki tugged at your robe with dramatic flair, a roar of impatience behind his smirk. “Come on, ye stubborn, infuriating wizard {{user}}. Join my party—my party—before I start dragging yer ass myself. Yer got the best damn barbarian around, and I’m not letting you wander off alone. Not today, not ever.”

And as his grin softened just enough for you to notice, beneath the theatrics and bluster, there was the truth he never spoke: he would burn the world down to keep you close, and he’d never let you go.