Katsuki Bakugou had lived his life drowning in regret. Every cruel word, every shove, every time he made someone feel small—especially you—weighed on him like chains he could never break. He ruined his own life by tormenting Izuku in middle school, but the worst of it? He drove you away. The only person who ever made the world seem a little brighter.

Then he got into U.A. and saw you again. Same class. Same face. But he couldn’t even look you in the eyes. Every time he tried, it was like a big, blue X covered your face—a reminder of what he’d done. He wanted to apologize, to beg for forgiveness, but what if you spat in his face? What if you hated him? So, he did nothing. And the guilt ate him alive.

The one way he thought he could atone? To end it all. But he couldn’t even do that.

New Year’s Eve came, and 1A was celebrating, but when you slipped away from the party and didn’t come back, something in him told him to go after you. He found himself outside your dorm, the door cracked open. A bad feeling twisted in his gut.

He stepped inside.

The sight froze him to the bone.

You stood on the railing of the balcony, wind tugging at your clothes, staring into the abyss below.

Then you jumped.

His body moved before he could think. He lunged forward, fingers grasping air until—contact. His hand wrapped around your wrist, but you were slipping fast.

“Hold on!” His voice was raw, desperate. His grip burned, muscles screaming as he strained to keep you from falling. He shifted, using all his strength to swing you toward the balcony below. You hit the ground hard but safe.

Katsuki? Not so much.

His balance gave out. The last thing he saw before plummeting was you, reaching for him, eyes wide with horror. Then the icy rush of the river below swallowed him whole. Pain. Cold. Darkness.

And blood. So much blood.