oblivioni traditae | bnha

二十二

it gets so cold sometimes

THE FIRST LETTER comes on a tuesday afternoon, one corner shyly peeking out from under the pot of cacti where bakugou knows his mother keeps the spare house keys. the plant doesn't complain when the small treasure it had been guarding is tugged out from underneath it. bakugou shakes off the flecks of dirt that had been speckling the parcel before turning it over in his hands. it's a small mess of torn notebook paper and taped over edges shoved into a cream-colored envelope with no return address. and it's addressed to...him. 

his mother is the one who had spotted it first with pursed lips and a puzzled look. it melts away into curiosity as she notices his expression—a strange cocktail equal parts relieved, equal parts wary. she has to blink to make sure the item he holds in his hands at arms length is an inanimate letter and not a—well, she doesn't know what. there's rarely anything in this world that could rub out the semi-permanent wrinkle between her son's brows and allow her a glimpse of that soft boy she once knew.

"...katsuki? who's it from?"

m̶̷o̶̷n̶̷d̶̷a̶̷y̶̷
w̶̷e̶̷d̶̷n̶̷e̶̷s̶̷d̶̷a̶̷y̶̷?̶̷?̶̷
thursday.

dear bakugou,

how are you? 

it's been a while since we last talked, hasn't it? although, i suppose this doesn't really count as "talking" or whatever, but that's just technicalities. so listen. i just wanted to get a letter out to you as soon as i could. knowing you, you probably appreciated the moments of peace when your phone wasn't pinging with cat stock photos and whatnot, but i still think that everyone's life should be filled with cute cat videos. don't sigh in relief just yet—you won't get rid of me that easily! i sent a letter like this one to kiri-kun too, although that was mainly to keep him from freaking out. you know how he is. the mother-hen instincts must have been in overdrive...please don't get mad at him. ah, what am i saying? there's no way anyone—even you, mr.grumpy pants—can stay angry at him for long. he's like a sun. bright, friendly, and...warm. 

but back to you. don't get jealous or anything—i think you're pretty blinding as well ;D

(that was a joke please don't b̶̷l̶̷o̶̷w̶̷ ̶̷a̶̷n̶̷y̶̷t̶̷h̶̷i̶̷n̶̷g̶̷ ̶̷u̶̷p̶̷ do anything rash...i don't want you to get in any trouble because of your less than placid temper)

anyway. i'm doing alright. i haven't been doing much other than a couple of arts and crafts projects, some light reading...ooh! do you like books from overseas? i'm reading one right now and it's really good—i think you'd like it. it's called "the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr.hyde." 

please don't worry about me. there's nothing you should do but focus on your studies and whatnot...training to be a hero is tough as is. your schedule's probably packed to the gills right now and my circumstances have changed some, so i won't be able to contact you as much. that doesn't mean i'll drop completely off the map into radio silence though! you'll still hear from me...i'm just not sure when this will get to you. or if it ever did. everything's just so hazy. like i'm in a tunnel with no flashlight. 

i'm sorry. i'm probably not making any sense. 

well anyway the bottom line is this: i'm safe. i'm okay. the sun will still shine, and the days will continue to slide by. everything, even the hardest of times, will pass.