𝓐 𝓜𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷 𝓔𝓷𝓭 | Katsuki Bakugou x Male Reader

Chapter 3

"It will have to be public," (M/N) said. "I'll make Kaina announce it in front of the entire population of Thirteen."

Eri smiled. "Oh, that's good. It's not a guarantee, but it will be much harder for them to back out of their promise.

(M/N) felt the kind of relief that followed an actual solution. "I should wake you up more often."

"I wish you would," Eri said. "Try and sleep now, all right?" And (M/N) did.

~

In the morning, he saw that 7:00 - Breakfast was directly followed by 7:30 - Command, which was fine since he might as well start the ball rolling. At the dining hall, he flashed his schedule, which included some kind of ID number, in front of a sensor. As he slid his tray along the metal shelf before the vats of food, he saw breakfast was its usual dependable self - a bowl of hot grain, a cup of milk and a small scoop of vegetables. Today, mashed turnips. All of it came from 13's underground farms. (M/N) sat at the table assigned to his family and the Todorokis and some other refugees, and shovelled his food down, wishing for seconds, but there were never seconds here. They had nutrition down to a science. Everyone left with enough calories to take them to the next meal, no more, no less. Serving size was based on your age, height, body type, health and amount of physical labour required by your schedule. The people from 12 were already getting slightly larger portions than the natives of 13 were in an effort to bring them up to weight. (M/N) guessed bony soldiers tired too quickly. It was working, though. In just a month, they were starting to look healthier, particularly the kids.

Shoto set his tray beside (M/N) and (M/N) tried not to stare at his turnips too pathetically, because he really wanted more, and Shoto was already too quick to slip him food. Even though (M/N) turned his attention to neatly folding his napkin, a spoonful of turnips dropped into his bowl.

"You've got to stop that," (M/N) said. But since he was already scooping up the stuff, it wasn't too convincing. "Really. It's probably illegal or something." They had very strict rules about food. If you didn't finish something and wanted to save it for later, you couldn't take it from the dining hall. In the early days, there was some incident of food hoarding. For a couple of people like Shoto and (M/N), who had been in charge of their families' food supply for years, it didn't sit well. They knew how to be hungry, but not how to be told how to handle what provisions they had. In some ways, District 13 was even more controlling than the Capitol.

"What can they do? They've already taken my communifcuff," Shoto said.

As (M/N) scraped his bowl clean, he had an inspiration. "Hey, maybe I should make that a condition of being the Mockingjay."

"That I can feed you turnips?" Shoto said.

"No, that we can hunt." That got his attention. "We'd have to give everything to the kitchen. But still, we could..." (M/N) didn't have to finish because Shoto knew. They could be above ground. Out in the woods. They could be themselves again.

"Do it," he said. "Now's the time. You could ask for the moon and they'd have to find some way to get it."

Shoto didn't know that he was already asking for the moon by demanding they spared Katsuki's life. Before he could decide whether or not to tell Shoto, a bell signalled the end of their eating shift. The thought of facing Kaina alone made (M/N) nervous. "What are you scheduled for?"

Shoto checked his arm. "Nuclear History class. Where, by the way, your absence has been noted."

"I have to go to Command. Come with me?" (M/N) asked.

"All right. But they might throw me out after yesterday." As they went to drop off their trays, Shoto said, "You know, you better put Buttercup on your list of demands, too. I don't think the concept of useless pets is well known here."