The sunlight filtered through the dorm windows.
Quiet. Too quiet.
Ren stretched on his bed, still feeling the afterglow of yesterday's birthday chaos. Eighteen now. GrabPack still hanging nearby. Fire quirk already itching to be used for practice—but nothing urgent.
Kaito was sprawled across his side of the room, half-asleep, murmuring about some puzzle in the factory-turned-school.
And then… Ren noticed it.
A sticky note, clinging to the edge of the windowpane outside.
His stomach twisted.
He opened the window slowly. Carefully.
It was… bigger. Longer. More intricate than any note before.
Pink ink. Heart-shaped dots. Little flourishes that made the letters squirm across the page. But it wasn't playful anymore.
It was intense.
The Note
Ren read aloud quietly, but the words sounded heavier than their tone:
"Renny-Penny… I saw everything last night. Every flicker of your flame. Every heartbeat that echoed in the fog. I know how it feels when your pulse races, how the warmth in your hands spreads when you try to make fire dance… I know you, inside, the quiet corners you hide from even Kaito, even them. I want to be there in all of it. I want to taste your breath, to feel your pulse, to know exactly how far I can reach you before you realize it. Every moment that isn't yours yet… I will take. Every laugh, every thought, every flicker of that fire—I will follow it. I want it. All of it. Yours."
Ren froze.
Kaito blinked.
"…Okay," Kaito said slowly. "That's… worse."
Mina shivered.
Denki gagged a little behind his hand.
Kirishima hardened instinctively.
Bakugou growled.
"Who the hell writes that?"
Ren's fingers twitched. Fire flickered faintly across his palm before he clenched his fist and smothered it.
"…It's her," he whispered.
Kaito's eyes widened.
"Toga."
Ren didn't look at him. Eyes fixed on the note. A chill ran down his spine.
"She's… closer than yesterday."
The note fluttered slightly in the breeze, as if alive.
The Group Reacts
Kaito pulled himself to his feet.
"We need to tell Mr. Aizawa."
"No," Ren said immediately. voice steady, controlled, but tense. "…Not yet. Let's… analyze it first. Figure out if she left anything else."
Mina peered through the window.
"Look at the handwriting. Every curve, every swirl… it's meticulous. Obsessed."
Denki's hands shook.
"She's… passionate… but… creepy."
Bakugou slammed his palm into the wall.
"She's crossing lines."
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…She knows my quirks now. She watched me yesterday. She studied me. She's tracking me… and she isn't subtle about it anymore."
Kaito muttered softly.
"…And we thought the last sticky notes were bad."
Ren finally tore his eyes away from the window.
"Today… we plan. We control the distance. I won't let her… get close. Not yet."
Mina nodded.
"We'll help."
Kirishima gritted his teeth.
"And if she tries anything… we stop her."
Denki gulped.
"…I'm never looking outside a window again."
Ren's Thoughts
Alone, he finally sat down, fingers tracing the words.
The fire in his palm sparked faintly again—subconscious reaction.
"…She's not just playful anymore," he murmured. "…She's serious. Obsessed. And she knows she can reach me."
A pause.
"…I can't let that happen."
Even with Kaito and the others close by, even with the pro heroes patrolling…
The world suddenly felt smaller.
More dangerous.
And Toga…
She was waiting.
Watching.
Planning.