Latibule

40 - ᴇɴᴛʀᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴇxᴀᴍꜱ ᴠᴏʟ. 2

Previously on Latibule:

Shiori clung to my dress skirt. "I lost my mama."

"It's okay," I said, the black slowly fading into a light yellow as I placed a comforting hand on top of the little girl's head. I observed the former battle ground not too far from us. "Come on, now. I think my friends have got rid of all the bad guys now."

Hearing the shaky okay from the girl made me make up my mind. It was my task, as both a hero-in-training and a good role model, to take care of Shiori.

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Latibule — Chapter 40///Entrance Exams Vol. 2

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"Y/n?"

"L/n, where are you?"

"Here, right here!" I answered, waving to my classmates as I emerged from the woods, Shiori clinging to my hand as she walked a few steps behind me.

"Are you alright?" Kirishima was quick to worry, the air thickening a bit.

"I'm alright," I confirmed. My gaze fixed on Bakugou, whose shirt sleeve was ripped clean off. "What about you guys?"

"Fine," Bakugou answered, pocketing his hands as he averted his eyes.

"Why'd you disappear?" Todoroki asked, his eyes still flitting around to see if our enemies had any backup.

Before I could answer, Kirishima spoke up. "Oh, hello! Who might you be?"

Shiori stiffened behind me. I turned around to look at her. "It's alright, these are my friends." I picked her up, positioning her on my hip before turning to look at the others again. "Shiori, these are Kirishima, Todoroki and Ka— Bakugou."

"It's the ice guy!" she squeaked, hiding her face in my shoulders.

"Is she afraid of me?" Todoroki asked blankly.

Bakugou let out a huff. "Stop the chatter, we have to keep moving."

"Oh, right," I realized.

"So how old are you, little buddy?" Kirishima asked Shiori, who I'd shifted to be on my back, once we started moving.

"I'm four!"

"Wow, you talk well for a four-year-old," Kirishima complimented the girl.

I tuned out their conversation, focusing on Bakug0u who was walking a little ahead of us with Todoroki, being our main defense as Kirishima and I handled Shiori.

"Hey, Kirishima," I interrupted the conversation behind me. "Can you take Shiori for a second?"

The boy looked at me with questions in his eyes but took the girl nonetheless and chattered on.

I, nervous for some unknown reason, picked up the pace and tugged on Bakugou's remaining sleeve to get his attention.

"What?" the boy hissed, whirling at me as his anger flared, genuine, this time, and not only a facade. But... maybe it was a facade just a little bit. It seemed to mask... worry.

"Sorry," I murmured, looking down as we kept walking, me now beside him and the both of us between Todoroki and Kirishima, who was still carrying Shiori. "You've just been... off."

The boy sighed, his features softening and the anger completely fading away as he dug his hands further into his pockets, a sign that he was nervous. "I was... worried, you know? When I couldn't find you anywhere. I thought they might've..."

I smiled a bit. "Why would you be worried about me, Katsuki? You know I can take care of myself."

"I know," the boy emphasized. "That's why it's so— So—" He sighed. "I worried because I—"

Suddenly sirens sounded, tens — if not hundreds — of robots coming out of their places in the walls and charging at us.

We all halted, the conversation between me and Bakugou forgotten as I turned away from the blond and Kirishima handed Shiori to me again.

"Looks like they've gotten serious," Todoroki noted.

"Right," I nodded. "Shiori, stay behind someone at all times, okay?" I told the girl, setting her down behind me.

"But I'm scared!" she wailed, grabbing onto me.

I managed a smile, seeing all of the tree boys alert and ready to fight the nearing robots as I crouched in front of the girl. "Don't be scared. We've got this."

Shiori bit her lip. "Right..."

An explosion sounded, signaling that the fight had started. Doing my best not to keep checking on Shiori every two seconds (I trusted she'd yell if anything bad happened), I turned around, observing the robots we were up against.

The air was thick with emotions and electricity and I could almost hear the energy crackling through my body as I charged up my hands, aiming precise beams at the robots' joints, the only areas that weren't covered with a protective metal layer. It was much like I'd taken down the robots at the entrance exams.

"Way to go, L/n!" Kirishima cheered.

I chuckled. "It's like entrance exams all over again," I shrugged. "I'm using the same tactics."

"I suppose you're right," Kirishima laughed. "But the stakes are higher."

"Hey, less chit-chat!" Bakugou yelled, blowing up another group of robots right beside those that Todoroki was freezing.

I smiled despite the dangerous situation, my eyes straying from the fight and landing on the wonder on Shiori's face as she watched my classmates fight. She's just like I was when I was younger...

All of a sudden, a voice cut through the air. "Y/n!"

I was a little late reacting to the warning, however, as a cable wrapped around me and trapped my arms to my sides, dragging me away from the group. I started to thrash around, charging energy into my arms so I could maybe melt the cable but the hold only tightened and then, an explosion later, went completely slack.

My panic lightened into relief and it seemed Bakugou was relieved, too — to a degree —, as the air colored a light yellow as he unwrapped the chord from around me, allowing me to both move and inspect the bruises starting to form where the cable had been.

"You okay?" the blond asked, all anger gone from his demeanor as he gently placed his hands on my shoulders, turning me in every direction so he could see that I was, indeed, pretty okay.

"Yeah," I answered, trying to ignore the fact that my heart was picking up speed and the fact that I may or may not have sounded a little breathless. "Thanks."

He smiled lightly before slapping on his usual grumpy expression, looking at the robots gathering around us. "Great. Now let's kick some ass."