PUPPET // KATSUKI BAKUGO [1]

Chapter 49 // Anchor

"Says the one in the final seven!" Redhead shouted.

"You're here too!" you replied. "And thanks for waiting, by the way. It's nice to meet some admirers. You want a backflip, autograph, picture?"

"Cut the crap!" Black Hair screamed angrily as he balled his hands into fists. "Get down here and fight us like a real hero!"

"If I remember correctly," you began, "heroes save! You're sounding more like a little villain right now!"

"She's testing you, dude!" Blondie exclaimed to Black Hair. "Get ahold of yourself."

"She's trying to turn us against each other!"Brown Hair intervened.

'No, I'm trying to distract you,' you thought before shooting out your strings and attaching them to rumble that laid near the examinees.

You yanked yourself toward them and landed in the center of their poorly made circle with one knee on the ground and your other foot stretched back so that it'd be easy to stand.

"People like you annoy me," you sighed while standing to your full height. "Anyone wanna sacrifice themselves?"

"This is bullshit," Black Hair scoffed. "How the hell are you a top student? You've hid this whole damn time and only showed yourself when it came down to the wire. Sure, you attend U.A. Yeah, you've fought real villains, but you're nothing cool. You're just like all the other wannabes, and the only reason you ever got famous in the first place is because your weak ass boyfriend got himself kidnapped."

You felt all amusement leave your body. Any positive emotion that once resided within you had disappeared. All that was left was rage. You didn't even care about victory anymore.

You could take insults. You didn't care what people thought about you. If they liked you, great. If they didn't, who cares? You didn't live to be a simple people pleaser. However, you weren't going to stand anyone who had the nerve to disrespect Bakugo, and that wasn't because he was more than a friend to you. It was because he was more than the six examinees in front of you could ever be, and one of time had the audacity to say he was weak.

"What was that?" Double Braid asked in shaky voice as she raised a finger to point at you.

"What?" Black Hair questioned in annoyance.

"That look in her eyes," Redhead stated. "It just...completely changed."

"She looks like she's gonna kill us!" Shorty exclaimed. "I'm out of here! I'll take the make-up exam!"

He quickly grabbed three balls and hit each one of his targets, eliminating himself, before bolting.

"One spot left, six examinees remaining. This is getting interesting. I might stay awake for this one."

"Sorry, dude," Redhead said, hitting his remaining two targets. "You're on you're own."

"I'm leaving. This is crazy," Double Braid stated as she too eliminated herself and rushed off with Redhead.

"One spot left, four examinees remaining. Is this kid seriously gonna drive 'em all off with a look? That's kinda boring. Maybe I will take another nap."

"I got this!" Blondie assured confidently as she grabbed a ball and charged at you.

Before she even had a chance to use whatever her quirk was, you grabbed her outstretched arm, yanked the ball from her hand, and kicked her feet out from beneath her.

She landed on her back with a grunt, and you kicked her over onto her stomach before yanking her arm and locking it underneath your armpit, causing her to help.