Despite all the smack talk and edging on that you and Katsuki have done to each other in the past year of the two of you dating, neither of you were prepared to actually fight each other. Your martial arts were polished and efficient, but his strength and agility were raw and unmatched. He was your perfect counter, and you were at a loss over how to fight him without killing him with a weapon.
Katsuki quickly separated you from Shinso with a colossal explosion which launched you into a parking garage. Thanks to your slow but steady handle on Ghost again, you could go right through the cement walls and pillars with no injury. Katsuki followed you with that ever tenacious expression of impish excitement, and you knew you were in for it. You would have to be on the defense and find a perfect moment to knock him out, otherwise, he was going to exploit your weakness: him.
"(y/n)! Don't run away from me, baby! We're just getting started!" Katsuki launched himself at you, which you dodged by sliding underneath him. When he landed on his feet, he immediately went for a punch. You deflected the hit by throwing your arm up in an L-shape and opened up his guard to kick him in the chest. Katsuki caught your ankle and pulled you in towards him until his muscular hand grasped your throat. At first, your instincts told you to pry his fingers away so you could breathe, but you knew better than that. You swung your leg over to press down on his elbow, which broke the tightness of his hold. He let you go but didn't give you enough time to recover from your sputtering cough.
Everything was moving so quickly as you fought Katsuki with hand-to-hand combat. You were losing. Katsuki was physically stronger and just as fast with naturally aggressive movements. You didn't want to hurt him, but at this point, you were going to get your ass kicked if you didn't step it up a notch.
"I'm sorry Kacchan...but I'm gonna have to put you out if you're acting up like this." You took a deep breath and ran some chi across your body like golden lightning. Your movements were even faster than Katsuki's which caught him off guard just enough for you to lock your legs around his neck. It was just like what you did to Mirio and that was enough to force Katsuki to slow down for a moment. His face was square in your womanhood as you squeezed like a boa constrictor around his neck with your thighs. Katsuki tried to pry your thighs open with his hands but with the chi running through your body, he was having a difficult time. Instead, he tried to burn you with his quirk. His hands glowed a bright golden yellow and tangerine color against your thighs. Thankfully you had your suit redesigned to handle Todoroki level flames, so Katsuki's heat wasn't up to par.
His whole face went red with his mouth muffled and his cheeks puffing out. He was struggling for breath and tried to throw you down with him. Your back hit the cement ground with a loud huffing sound coming from your lungs and a squeaking grunt of pain. Katsuki knocked the air out of you but you gripped even tighter.
I just need to knock him out...then I can have Hawks watch him while I back up Shinso.
Katsuki was clawing at your thighs desperately for air while barely able to voice his pain...but you heard him try to speak and it caused you to have a lapse in your grip.
"...ba...be...it's...i-it's m-me..." Your thighs immediately went slack and you took the moment to let out a heavy sigh of air. Both of you were panting messes as Katsuki tried to vacuum back in the oxygen he lost. He was sweating like a powerlifter as he coughed up basically half a lung. You were surprised that you got Katsuki so well in a grip like that, but unfortunately for you, you probably wouldn't get it to work a second time.
"Are you..." Your spine felt like it was seizing up from how hard he threw you on the cement. You must have dislocated something from the way the pain traveled from one aching point through your whole body. "...are you alright...?" Despite your pain, you were worried about Katsuki. He had a tendency to wait until the last second to bail out of a bad situation since he was so soaked in his pride. He looked up while holding his neck with that familiar narrow glare that he'd give Deku in a fight...and for some reason that hurt you more than the physical pain.
"You're an idiot. You always were an idiot, (y/n)." Katsuki's voice was so dark and layered on thick as if each word slapped you in the face. It stung hearing him say that...but you knew it wasn't him...it was Vixen toying with his mind. "At the end of the day, you're just too weak to make the hard call. That's what Hawks said to me but you know what? I think that fits you here so fucking well. What are you gonna do now...you damn fucking Extra! Do you really think you can stop me now that I got out of your grip? I've been collecting sweat this whole time...just enough to go super-fucking-nova! What's it gonna be now? If you don't kill me (y/n), I'm gonna blow apart as many buildings as I fucking can! Or maybe I can just kill you right here and now," He growled the last sentence practically right in your ear. He let out a cackling laugh before reducing to a bold smirk and licking his lips. He was so close that your chests were touching and it ached you to your core that you couldn't just pull him into an embrace.
Katsuki's hand curled around your neck again with his thumb delicately rubbing your lower lip. His grip froze and his eyes gleamed scarlet red for a second. He looked so serious like he was trying so hard to say something but nothing came out...well until his eyes turned back to that venomous green. As if he never stopped speaking, he continued his monologue from earlier.
"My blood's boiling just thinkin' about it! Whatdaya say? Sounds like a fun game to me baby!"
Seeing Katsuki this way...his sharp grin and villainous gleam in his unnatural emerald green eyes...it made you sick to your stomach. Katsuki would rather die than let some punk villain take over his mind. He wanted to be like All Might...he wanted to be a hero...and you risked your life time and time again just to protect that. You killed so many people to shield Katsuki after you joined up with Hawks. You had lost your quirk, gone blind a few times, endured torture...just to see the person you loved most tell you that in order for you to save innocent lives, you had to kill him.
You saw a flicker of red in the corner of your vision and suddenly the sickness was replaced with hope.
"You want to play a game?" You started with a cocky smile of your own. Katsuki matched you in his black bodysuit with the two of you looking like a villain duo. The energy between you reminded you of Dabi and it was an odd sensation to feel with your boyfriend. The situation was heartbreaking, but seeing Katsuki act so tough against you of all people was...something. "Let's see if you can kill me before I rip that bitch Vixen limb from fucking limb for targeting you."
You felt something stick to your back and knew it was time to show Katsuki why you were the most terrifying mercenary in the field.
~~
Shinso followed a stray crimson Hawks' feather that led him straight towards Vixen as she tried to flee the scene. She was so sure that Shinso would not be a threat since their quirks didn't work on one another, but she didn't realize that his voice was not the only weapon in his arsenal. He was physically getting stronger, he was learning from you how to fight, and has been training with Aizawa after classes. Thanks to his friends who believed in him, he was able to trace down the woman responsible for murdering his family.
He ran with no hesitation and his eyes held within them a determined violet glimmer. Miss Vixen let out a 'tsk' as she picked up the pace and fled towards the more shady part of down. A taxi driver was sitting outside of his vehicle while smoking a cigarette when Vixen approached him.
"Hey! Hey big boy!" The bald and plump man turned towards the woman with a raised scarred brow.
"You talkin' 'ta me?" The moment he responded, his eyes shifted to that electric green trademark color of hers and he went rigid.
"Get in the car and drive you stupid pig!" She shrieked while running to the passenger side door. The driver got in and was shifting the car from park to drive when Shinso arrived.
"Oh no you fucking don't!" He gritted as he unfurled the quirk ribbon Aizawa gave him. He threw the end and it wrapped through the open back seat windows and knotted itself on the top of the car. Just as the taxi sped away, Shinso lurched forward into the air and landed in a crouching position on the top of the car.
"You are a bunch of psychotic fucking kids!" Vixen panicked with a shrill voice. With the way Shinso's eyes were so narrow and focused...his mask and black mercenary outfit truly turned him into a man to be feared. He wasn't playing around and after years of thinking his quirk was villainous, he was going to reclaim what was owed to him.
"You haven't seen psychotic yet. Just wait for what I have planned for when I get my hands on you." Shinso's voice was just loud enough to be heard over the car and the fact he wasn't yelling made the situation even more terrifying for Vixen. She was on the run here. Shinso was stronger than he ever was before. "I've been waiting ten fucking years to find you. Did you really think you could ever get away from me again? No...I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth. I'm not alone anymore. I have family now, and she will never let you leave this city alive."
Vixen's pupils shrunk when looking at Shinso through her own open window. There was one mercenary that no one could ever catch that hunted down villains like her and her associates. She heard dozens of horror stories from the past ten years of a mercenary that would vanish before her victims could even drop to the floor. She was merciless with bloodthirsty blades and a long list of those who disappeared after coming into contact with her. Shinobi was always the person that Vixen tried so hard to avoid. Seeing Katsuki say the Doctor was gone made it obvious to the villain that she was next on the hit list...and the adrenaline was rushing through her veins.
"Shake him off! Get rid of him! JUST DO SOMETHING!" Vixen screamed at her pawn. She always made everyone else do the heavy lifting for her...one on one fights would never end in her favor. The taxis driver slammed on the gas and started swerving to get Shinso to fall off. At first, Shinso's boots skid against the smooth top of the taxi, but he had a pretty decent grip thanks to his combat boots.
Hawks' feather then unlocked the latch on the door Vixen was leaning on. The woman flailed as she fell out of the car and tumbled on the asphalt with deep lacerations on her back, legs, arms, and face. Those scars would stay with her for the rest of her short little life. Shinso quickly redirected the scarf he had to latch to a nearby light post but the momentum of jerking himself from moving to a standstill immediately caused his shoulder to make a grotesque popping sound. He hissed in pain and dropped that arm's grip on the scarf, his strength relying on his right one alone.
"Thank god I fucking lift now..." He muttered to himself. Shinso dropped to the ground and held his injured arm with an intense look on his sweating face. Vixen was bleeding and torn apart from the fall...but she was still alive and awake. She smiled to reveal bloody teeth and gave a cackling laugh.
"You can't kill me...you hero kids are all the same...always doing things for the 'greater good' and shit like that...people like me will always exist and heroes will always be too goodie good to take us out...just try it...I fucking dare you." Vixen spat a mixture of blood and saliva onto Shinso's covered cheek. He calmly wiped it off before tying the woman's wrists and legs together in a capture technique.
"Bold words coming from a bitch that just swallowed as much gravel as she has dick."
Now that Miss Vixen was captured in Aizawa's scarf, his quirk-neutralizing ability was able to halt her mind control on both the taxi driver and Katsuki. This was an obvious immediate effect considering the taxi driver went from totally in control to crashing into a nearby telephone pole. Hawks' feather was holding the dazed driver in mid-air, leaving him completely unharmed. Shinso let out a deep breath he was holding and looked towards the direction he last saw you...hoping with everything in him that you were alright.
The fact you weren't already close by made him anxious...after all, your opponent was Katsuki Bakugo, the most tenacious and powerful member of UA's infamous class 1-A.
~~
Katsuki was blinded by a smoke bomb as you made your quick escape. Once the fog disappeared and he stopped coughing, he looked around to see you were nowhere in sight. The lights started turning off in the parking garage one by one with a heavy pound for each one.
It started at one...
...two...
...three...four...five, six, seven, eight.
The lights were completely shut off in the closed parking garage with him barely able to see two to three steps in front of him. Thanks to you using ghost, you didn't even break any of the tinted windows for him to use for light. Everything was silent to the point he could hear the pipes leaking above him.
He was sober enough to feel a spine-chilling fear crawl up his back and into his veins. It was clear that he went from the predator to the prey in just an instant.
"I thought you were going to kill me?" Your voice echoed in the empty parking garage with Katsuki looking around him, trying to pin your voice. It was thrown into every section of the garage though with no way to tell the source.
"You're just scared of me! A fucking weakling and a coward is what you are!" His voice muted all other sounds. He heard no reply and turned on his heels on the concrete. Katsuki wasn't sure what his destination was going to be, but it certainly wasn't going to be waiting for you to make the first move. He was going to win...like he always did.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Katsuki hesitated in his step before going back to where he was before. He wasn't sure why he felt like throwing up...there was this intense sense of doom and fear that came from being exposed in this type of environment with no way to find his target.
"JUST COME OUT ALREADY YOU ANNOYING LITTLE BITCH!" Katsuki's green eyes shined so clearly in the darkness that you were able to find him even without your amazing night vision. You smiled to yourself with an impish smirk. Katsuki was going to learn firsthand how you hunted your targets that outclassed you physically...although this would be one of the few you wouldn't be killing.
Time to begin.
You crawled like a lioness on the prowl amongst the rafters of the parking garage, using the vents to speak what you had to say. The vents carried your voice throughout the area, allowing you to become a shadow, a phantom.
Katsuki's hands were glowing as he prepared to let off an explosion to find you when you threw a throwing knife at him. He let out a hiss when he felt something sharp jab into his back right shoulder blade. His right arm immediately dropped and was rendered completely useless.
"W-What the fuck?!" Katsuki gritted as he tried desperately to grasp the blade that was just out of reach.
"You can give up if you want."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He screamed out in frustration and annoyance. He felt cornered like a jackal surrounded by a pride of lions. You were nowhere and everywhere at once. He had to find you quick or you were going to take him out. Katsuki bolted towards where he thought he one saw an exit, but he felt two blades lodge into his lower back. "F-fuck!" The pain in his voice ached your heart and made you once again second guess your course of action...but you had to remember your training. These weren't permanent injuries, just immobilizing ones for the moment.
"It'll be okay...he'll be okay...I just have to take him out right now...He'll be fine (y/n)...you gotta follow through. Follow through. For him." You closed your eyes to center your chi and calm your nerves. You knew that if you weren't focused, you could accidentally kill the love of your life.
Katsuki's legs twitched as he was all but glued to his spot in the garage. He couldn't move his right arm and both of his legs. He surged an explosive shot through his left arm just to get out of the garage, but it was like you came from nowhere as you slammed a kick right in his gut and knocked the wind out of him.
"W-w...what...t-the...f-..fuck..." He wheezed as he went flying. The Hawks feather that was once pressed against your back caught him in midair to prevent the blades from sinking into his muscle even deeper from the impact against the ground. Katsuki held his stomach with his left hand, barely able to suck in his breath from how hard you rammed your foot in his gut. It felt like when All Might knocked into him during his final exam.
You were so graceful as you landed on your feet with a catlike elegance. Each step was silent as you trudged forward encased entirely in shadow. The only thing Katsuki could see was the cold and unforgiving blood-red glow in your eyes...and it was that look you gave him while he was crumbling to the ground that finally made it click to him why so many people were afraid of you.
Just as Mom and Dad taught you, once again another target would crumble beneath you as you used the shroud of darkness to leave no trace of your presence like the phantom you named yourself after.
And deep down inside, returning to that part of yourself felt like coming home.
~~
A/N
Thank you so much to peachypear for this super cute fan art. If this isn't your Wattpad name, please let me know so I can edit it! :3
Happy Wednesday everyone! Sorry, it is a little late, it was my last day at work at my old job and my boyfriend took me out to celebrate! I am excited to start working from home come Monday!
This chapter was definitely interesting to write but I hope it was alright to read.
How do we feel about these two fights?
Shinso getting his own moment?
What about (y/n) versus Kacchan?
Next update we will see the consequences of Vixen manipulating Katsuki which will be exciting.
Hope everything is going okay!
Love you all!
Kiba