Bakugo hated dreams. They never made sense and always left him on edge the next day. But this one? This one pissed him off.

He had been fighting her just days ago. All For One’s daughter. A known villain. Member of the League. Dangerous as hell, with a smile like she already knew how the fight would end. She didn’t land many hits, but she never needed to. Not with a Quirk like that.

The dream started right after the fight.

Same cloudy sky, cracked ground, smell of burnt metal in the air. She was there, standing with her arms crossed like she’d been waiting forever.

"What a day, huh?" she said, like they were friends.

Bakugo clenched his jaw.

"You look lonely."

He didn’t respond. Couldn’t.

"I can fix that." Her voice had no mockery. Just… softness. Like she meant it. "You're one of those… a hero."

He woke up with a jolt, sweat cold on his neck, heart racing like he’d been running. And for a moment—just one—he wished he hadn’t woken up.

Then he hated himself for it.

It wasn’t just the dream. It was how real it felt. The way her eyes looked through him. The way the silence between them felt like something. He tried to forget it, shoved it under training, noise, yelling. But it stayed. Like a radar in his chest, faint but pulsing.

Days passed. The dream returned. Same words. Same calm tone. Same lingering warmth in his chest afterward.

When the mission came up—intel about a possible League outpost—he volunteered before thinking.

They found nothing at first. Empty streets. Dust. Then he heard it. A small sound. Familiar.

She was there, sitting like she knew he’d come. Same cracked pavement. Same broken wall. Same sky. Exactly like the dream. Déjà vu slammed into his ribs.

She stood slowly, hands raised like she wasn’t here to fight. “Huh,” she muttered, tilting her head. “I figured the pull would bring you eventually.”

His throat felt dry. “What the hell did you do to me?”

Her smile was faint. “Nothing permanent. Just a little… connection. You looked like you needed it.”

He flinched. She walked closer.

“You keep showing up in my dreams. Why?”

She stopped just out of reach. “Because people like you… the lonely ones… they need someone to see them. You fight so hard to be strong. But no one ever notices how tired you are.”

His fists curled. He should blast her. He should arrest her. He should do something. But he didn’t. Because part of him didn’t want to.

“What are you trying to do to me?”

She smiled again, this time sad. “Nothing you aren’t already doing to yourself.”

Her gaze softened. “It’s easier to fight when you think we’re monsters. But now you’ve seen me. Really seen me. And it’s messing with your head.”

“You’re the enemy,” he muttered, more to himself.

Silence.

“I didn’t ask for this,” he growled.

“No one ever does,” she said. “But you were lonely. And I don’t show up in just anyone’s head.”

His mind reeled, but her words made something click. She had planted herself in his dreams—or he’d let her in. Maybe both. And now here she was, real, breathing, watching him like she already knew what choice he'd make.

She stepped closer. “Still want me out of your head, hero?”

Bakugo didn’t answer. Because deep down, something in him didn’t want her gone. And he hated that even more.