K.BAKUGO X READER (Cover art by me)
In a life where I'd be safe in one moment and on the brink of death in another, I realized that he was the only force that could ground me. Of all the people in the world. My volatile co-worker. My menacing rival...
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part eight
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In our world, heroes are the hunters of villains, seeking beasts lurking within the shadows of cities. I'd learned how to pick up on clues, how to follow a trail, and how to find the footprints they'd leave behind in pursuit of unethical enterprise. What I'd failed to understand was what it was like to be the prey of this land. To be the one hunted.
I'd never understood what that type of fear was like. Every crack and whistle of the branches was equated to imminent threat. The hum of the drone above us was like watching a string on the verge of breaking. Waiting for the sound to change, for the snap of thread. My heart was pounding so loudly I feared he could hear it too. I wanted to call for back-up. Bakugo was against it.
"We're not using my radio," he hushed. "Long range calls are a last resort. Wherever those scumbags are hiding, they can intercept our calls and track us, and then we're fucked."
"I know, but there's a good chance there's something important out here. Something that'll help us find the lab and that'll probably kill us too. We could use the help."
"You think I can't handle a couple chunks of flying scrap metal?"
I rolled my eyes. "You could blow them up into shards of confetti if you wanted to. I get it. We're also not making this forest into a warzone."
My fingers clutched the sleeves of my coat. I remembered that dream. The snowmobile. The man lying in blood. The screams and the gunfire. The blade against my neck. Bakugo's terrified face.
He was always the boy who showed no fear and fought against any threat, no matter how dangerous. What made him my muse and my goal to chase after was that unlike me, he never lost. I could see that fire in his eyes right then. Crouched in the snow, padding through the forest like a wolf, as though he weren't the prey within this overgrowth.
The mechanical buzz grew louder as the black dot in the sky swerved its way through the branches. Bakugo grabbed my arm, tugging me against the wall of a rocky ledge. My shaky breath escaped in small puffs as I thinned my body as much as I could. The drone circled us. Powdered snow fell from the branches as it flew by. I turned my head slowly to Bakugo, hoping he'd keep hold of his patience. His jaw was tense, like he was on the fence of a decision.
Luckily, the hum disappeared. I wasn't satisfied with the silence, if anything, more terrified. It could be anywhere now. There was no way to tell.
"It's gone. Probably 'cause you finally decided to shut up, Miss Waterworks," he nipped.
"Sure. Put the blame on me, you loud-mouthed loser." It took me a second to register his newly formed insult. "And don't call me that! So rude!"
"Maybe instead of teleporting, I should just blast your dumb ass into the treetops!"
