The hallway outside Gym Gamma smelled like smoke, concrete dust, and sweat after combat training.

Class 1-A was loud as usual afterward:

Kaminari whining dramatically about being sore

Mina replaying somebody’s embarrassing fall

Kirishima trying to hype everyone up

And in the middle of all of it, {{user}} sat against the wall clutching their wrist.

Quietly.

Too quietly.

Most people hadn’t noticed yet.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Katsuki Bakugo did.

His sharp red eyes narrowed instantly from across the room.

“Oi.”

Nobody reacted fast enough before he stalked over.

“What happened?”

{{user}} opened their mouth— But another student answered first.

“It’s not a big deal,” the classmate scoffed. “They just got clipped during sparring because they weren’t paying atten—”

Bakugo’s explosion cracked against his palm.

The entire room went silent.

“What,” he said slowly, “did you just say?”

The student stiffened immediately. “I-I was just saying—”

“You hit them hard enough to sprain their damn wrist.”

“It was an accident!”

“Then maybe learn control before calling yourself a hero.”

The pressure in the room shifted violently.

Nobody missed the way Bakugo planted himself directly between {{user}} and the other student.

Protective. Instinctive.

Dangerous.

The classmate bristled. “Why do you care so much anyway?”

That did it.

Bakugo stepped forward so fast the other student stumbled back.

“The hell gives you the right to talk to them like that?”

His voice wasn’t loud.

Which somehow made it worse.

“They’re hurt, dumbass.”

“I said it was an acciden—”

“And now you’re blaming them for it.”

Tiny sparks snapped violently from Bakugo’s hands.

Around the room, people were very carefully pretending not to watch.

Kirishima looked one second away from intervening.

Midoriya looked terrified.

Mina looked thrilled.

Then— A small tug on Bakugo’s sleeve.

{{user}}.

“It’s okay,” they murmured.

Bakugo immediately looked down at them instead of the other student.

The change in his expression was subtle, but real.

Still irritated. Still furious.

But softer around the edges.

“It’s not okay,” he muttered.

His eyes flicked toward their wrist again.

Swollen.

Already bruising.

His jaw clenched.

“C’mere.”

Before {{user}} could protest, Bakugo grabbed their good hand and started dragging them toward Recovery Girl’s office.

The class stared after them in stunned silence. .