The Great Warlock War - Bakugo x OC Femreader

Chapter 78: The cowards courage

Aoyama was petrified; some time ago he'd lost sight of Toteki who he'd been talking to on the march here. The stoic boy with long black hair was handsome and Aoyama had been hard pressed to take his eyes off him. But once the fighting started, he didn't have much choice, the brave black-haired knight had boldly dived into the fray leaving Yuga rooted to the spot as he was too chicken to follow after him. Instead, as soon as one of the corpses spotted him, he ran, like the coward he was, and immediately found somewhere to hide. He ducked behind the hulking remains of a fallen ogre and that's where he'd been for the last couple of hours, shaking uncontrollably, cowering out of sight from the main battlefield where he hoped he wouldn't be spotted by the enemy.

Joining this war was the biggest mistake of his life. He was no hero; he wasn't brave or noble. He knew he was just some pathetic pampered rich boy, and he had no idea what he was thinking when he'd let Denki talk him into joining the knights. He was naïve to think that a couple of days of training would be enough to cure him of his weaknesses, of which there were too many to count. This was such a bad idea, he should have stayed in the capital, even without any money left, he could have figured something out, maybe he would have taken up begging or sold his expensive clothes. He could have even tried to find some simple work at a tavern to get by without his fathers continued charity, anything would have been better than where he found himself now.

He could see Sato fighting nearby, the tall muscular boy might be simple minded, but he was strong and brave, why couldn't he be more like the baker? At least Sato was fighting with honor, unlike him whose current actions were the farthest thing from honourable. What would his father say if he could see the sorry state of his only son? Aoyama shuck his head, it was hopeless. He knew he could never go back home to his own country now; not that his father intended for him to return anyway, he was sure. The noble lord was simply too ashamed of the pansy that was his sole heir. Yuga assumed his family estate would be taken over by his younger cousin instead. His father had always preferred his brothers son to him, and how could he blame him? He was a pathetic excuse of a nobleman.

"So, this is where you've been hiding?" Aoyama jumped at the sound of Mineta's voice as the short purple-haired boy scrambled over the thick waist of the dead ogre to take shelter alongside him. "I don't blame you, it's crazy out there. How are we supposed to fight against dead people?! This is not what I signed up for."

Aoyama looked down at Mineta, he had a black eye and a bloodied lip, he was roughed up and covered in dirt from fighting. A stark contrast to the sparkling untouched armor Yuga was wearing. Other than the dead creature he was currently pressed up against, he hadn't engaged with any of the enemies in order to get dirty like the others had.

"Where is your sword mon amie?" He asked, noticing the absence of Mineta's weapon.

"It got stuck in one of those corpse kids' heads. Then three more started coming at me so I just dropped it and ran."

Aoyama felt ashamed, even this perverted boy with his short stature had found the courage to fight. A tear slid out of his eye and ran down his cheek making him sniffle.

"Hey man, what's up?" Mineta asked him as he wiped the craven tear from his cheek.

"I just feel so useless, I can't fight like everyone else, I'm just too much of a coward." He sobbed, holding his cape up to his face to catch his falling tears.

Mineta put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "It's okay to be scared, we're all scared. Nobody wants to die here and if you don't want to die either, somehow, you'll find the courage to survive."

Aoyama smiled, warmed by his words. Although he didn't care much for the vulgar nature of this girl hungry shrimp, he had to admit that he wasn't a bad guy at heart. Yuga wiped away the last of his tears and stood up with Mineta beside him. "Thank you, mon amie, I will try and fight, if only to survive another day so I can gain more courage for the next battle."

Mineta smiled at him and shook his hand. "That's the spirit."

There was a loud series of booming noises and suddenly Mineta shoved Aoyama away from him shouting "Look out!" Yuga stumbled backwards a few feet and fell to the floor just as a giant foot came crashing down on the spot where he had been standing only moments ago.

"Mineta!" He yelled, but it was too late. As the charging giant lifted its foot and continued its path onward as if nothing had happened, the crushed form of the boy who had saved his life was laying there, with lifeless eyes staring up at the sky from inside a collapsed skull with blood leaking out of his ears and parted lips.

Aoyama cried the boys name, over and over again, willing his savior to wake up as he crawled closer to the ditch created by the giant, but he knew it was pointless. Mineta was gone; he had sacrificed his own life to save the gutless noble boy from certain death and now he would never be able to fulfill his dreams of one day being admired by the ladies he so desperately sought after.

Yuga got shakily to his feet, he couldn't let Mineta's sacrifice be in vain. He must survive and sing the perverts praise as one of pure hearted courage and honour. He pulled out his sword, gripping it as tightly in his hand as he could though his fists were still shaking, and he ran towards the beast folk warriors that were engaging with his closest allies.

Sato was only a few feet away from him, he was locked in combat with an elephant like beast man who was wielding a third dagger in his trunk, while another bull like beast man ran at him from behind. Aoyama didn't know what he was going to do but he targeted the bull man who was now almost on top of Sato. He yelled out the most ferocious war cry he could muster, though it still sounded pathetically feminine and more like a screech than a roar, as he charged the man in front of him.

He was only a meter away from his target when he tripped and fell forward, his sword flying out of his hand as he crashed face first into the floor. The bull man stopped in his tracks to watch as Aoyama ground into the dirt in front of him but then Yuga heard a pained yell and raised his head to see his once pristine sword plunged in the bull's chest.

Sato cleaved the elephant man's trunk from his face and spun to kick Yuga's sword deeper into the man's chest, piercing his heart and killing him. "Thanks Aoyama, you just saved my life."

Yuga blinked, still sprawled out on the ground covered in mud, as Sato walked over to him and helped him to his feet. He then pulled Yuga's sword out of the dead beast man and handed it back to him.

"I feel a lot safer with you watching my back." Sato smiled and began aiming for the next enemy as Aoyama gripped his sword handle tight and wiped the mud and tears from his eyes.

He'd saved someone, he'd actually helped; for the first time in his life, he'd been useful. He felt a small swell of pride bubbling up in his chest as he braced his feet and picked a new target. He could do this, he could help at least one person and he would do whatever he could to survive too.

Author's note: Nice little extra chapter for you here today. I hope you liked the ending for Mineta, though we don't like him so much in the Anime, I decided to give him a "hero's ending" and Aoyama has finally found his courage. :)

The next chapter should see us back at the AFO temple, where things are going to take yet another a turn for the worse. But don't worry, the heroes always win in the end right?! 

So, until next time... Plus Ultra!