𝓥𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻 | Katsuki Bakugou x Male reader

Chapter 2

"What's your name?"

"(M/N) (L/N)"

"Well, I'll bet my hat that was your sister, wasn't it?"

"Yes..." (M/N) trailed off. As he looked into the sea of people, he was able to see Eri crying into his mothers chest as she comforted her while looking at him with a sad expression.

The woman turned back to face the crowd in front of her, "Let's have a big hand for this amazing young man!" She said as she started clapping. However the citizens remained quiet as they slowly lifted up three fingers in tribute to (M/N).

"And now, for our second candidate."

Back in his respective spot, Shoto was looking up at (M/N) with a determined expression as he clenched his fist. He never thought he'd live to see the day where he actually wanted to be picked for the games. But he was willing to do whatever it took to save (M/N). The woman repeated the process of grabbing a paper slip from the bowl, before returning to the microphone and unfolding it to read out the name.

"Katsuki Bakugou!"

(M/N) vaguely heard the name, but wasn't really paying attention to the events around him, he still couldn't fully believe what was happening. Part of him thought this was a dream, that he would soon wake up in his bed, his whole family there as they continued with their daily lives. But he knew deep down that this was real, that Eri's name was called, that he volunteered in her place, that he was going to be a participant in the 74th Hunger Games. By the time (M/N) had come to his senses, the other tribute had been escorted up to the stage and was situated on the opposite side of the woman from (M/N).

"Here we are, our tributes from District 12. Well go on you two, shake hands." She moved back, allowing (M/N) to see the other person he was facing. It was only then that he recognized who it was. Standing in front of him was Katsuki Bakugou, the baker's boy. He had never spoken to him personally, but since his parents ran the only bakery in District 12, him and his family were talked about a lot, not to mention he was in his grade at school, but (M/N) had almost no recollection of the boy during his school life. (M/N) did have a run in with him once before though, he didn't think Katsuki would remember it, but (M/N) sure as hell did, and he probably wouldn't ever forget.

~

(M/N) trudged through town, drenched from the rain. He was looking for food. His family hadn't eaten in 2 days, and they would soon starve to death if he didn't do something. His father had recently died in a coal mining accident. (M/N) was devastated, his father used to take him out into the open fields of District 12 and show him how to use a bow. There wasn't much to hunt, but there was the occasional small squirrel, and he was estatic after he killed his first animal. Those had been the best days of (M/N)'s life, now he had nothing. 

His mother seemed to take the loss harder though. For weeks she did nothing but sit in her chair staring at the wall, or lying in her bed. No matter how much (M/N) tried to get through to her, she never did anything. He could remember Eri's crying face as he screamed and pleaded for his mother to talk to him. Very quickly, (M/N) realised that he would have to pick up all the pieces of his family and put them back together. 

His mother was expected to get a job after her husband died, but (M/N) couldn't even get her to respond to him, he didn't tell anyone though. If people found out that (M/N), an eleven year old boy, was trying to look after his mother and his five year old sister, they'd be put in a community home, and he didn't want that. But trying to support his family was extremely difficult.

(M/N) planned to sign up for tessara once he was old enough to, the minimum required age being twelve. However his birthday was still a month away, and he had no idea how to get food with no money, let alone enough food to last his family four weeks. Which is why he had spent the last six hours going around town, trying to trade Eri's old baby clothes for any kind of food. Obviously, he wasn't having the best of luck, it had been raining for the last two hours, and he ended up dropping Eri's clothes in a muddy puddle due to him shaking so much. He didn't bother picking them up, and kept walking, it's not like he'd find anyone who would take them anyway.