Victor | Katsuki Bakugou x Male reader

Chapter 12

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(M/N) was lucky that he was ready to move on because once he heard the feet, he had less than a minute head start. The moment he woke up, he was up and splashing his way out of the pool, running opposite to the Careers. His leg was slowing him down, but he could tell his pursuers weren't as speedy as they were before the fire. He could hear their coughing as they called out to each other.

Still, they were closing in, like a pack of wild animals. So (M/N) did what he had done his entire life in these circumstances. He picked a high tree and began to climb.

Running had hurt for him, and climbing was excruciating, since it required him to use force and make direct contact of his hands on the tree bark. Thankfully (M/N) was fast, and by the time they were at the base of the tree, he was six metres up. For a moment, they stopped and surveyed each other.

(M/N) didn't know how he'd make it out of his situation. He had no chance against them. All six were there, the five Careers and Katsuki. His only consultation was that they looked pretty beat up. But even then, they had weapons, and they were grinning at him, a sure kill sitting right above them. He felt hopeless, but then he registered that they were a lot bigger than him, which meant that they would no doubt be heavier than (M/N). There was a reason it was him and not Shoto that would scale trees in order to pluck the highest fruit, or rob a bird's nest.

Now (M/N) was smiling, "How's everything with you?" he called down in a cheery tone.

This had them somewhat taken aback, but (M/N) knew the crowd would love it.

"Well enough," the boy from District 1 responded. "Yourself?"

"Well it's been a bit warm for my taste," (M/N) responds, and he could almost hear the laughter from the Capitol. "The air's a lot better up here though, why don't you come on up?"

"Gladly," the same boy said.

"Here, take this Mirio," said the girl who was also from District 1, as she offered him the silver bow and sheath of arrows.

My bow! My arrows!

Just the sight of them made (M/N) angry. Angry at himself, angry at Katsuki for distracting him. (M/N) tried to make eye contact with said boy, but he seemed to be intentionally avoiding his gaze as he polished a knife with the edge of his shirt. Oh how badly he wanted to strangle Katsuki.

"No," Mirio said as he pushed the bow away. "I'll do it better with my sword."

(M/N) could see the short, heavy blade at his belt.

He gave Mirio time to pull himself into the tree before he began to climb again. Shoto would always comment on how (M/N) could climb even the slenderest limbs on any tree. Part of it was due to his weight, but most was practice. Knowing where to place your hands and feet was important, which is why (M/N) was another nine metres in the air when he heard a crack, looking down just in time to see Mirio and the branch he grabbed fall back onto the ground, hard.

(M/N) was hoping he possibly broke his neck, but the boy got back on his feet, swearing in clear frustration. The girl with the arrows, Nejire, he heard someone call her, scaled the tree until the branches began to crack under her feet, and she was smart enough to stop. (M/N) was at least twenty metres high when she tried to shoot him, and he instantly understood that she was incompetent with a bow. One of the arrows got lodged in the tree near him, and he was able to grab it. He waved it teasingly above her head, as if that was the sole purpose of him retrieving it, when really he planned to use it to kill them if he ever got the chance.

If only he had the bow.

The Careers regrouped on the ground and (M/N) could hear them arguing angrily amongst themselves, clearly furious he had made them look like fools. Eventually the moon rose into the sky and their window of attack was closing.