PUPPET // KATSUKI BAKUGO [1]

Chapter 10 // Pitiful

A bright light blinded you as you opened your eyes, and you became teary as you blinked a few times in an attempt to adjust your vision. You groaned as your muscles ached, and you slowly pushing yourself up into a sitting position before looking around.

"Oh, thank god, you're awake," an unfamiliar and elderly voice said, and you looked beside the bed you were laying in to find a small, old lady sitting beside you on a stool. "You've been out for quite a while," the woman added.

"What happened?" you asked.

"You passed out, most likely from blood loss," the elderly replied, and you stared at her, narrowing your eyes.

"Oh, right, you haven't met me yet," the woman chuckled. "I'm Recovery Girl. I take care of all students injuries."

"Oh," you said slowly, no other words coming to mind. Of course, you had heard of Recovery Girl, but you never expected her to be so...short.

"I've patched up your throat," Recovery Girl explained. "Your voice is perfectly fine and your throat is healed internally, but you will, unfortunately, have a scar across your neck. The wound should be healed within a few hours though, but keep the bandage on for the rest of the day just to be safe."

"Okay," you said quietly, rubbing your sore temple as you recalled previous events. "Wait!" you suddenly exclaimed, "who won?"

Recovery Girl gave you a soft smile, saying, "When the smoke cleared, you were both out of bounds, so there was a break while they checked the camera footage. You put up a good fight, young lady, but Bakugo did win."

If hearts could break, yours would be shattering into a million pieces. You worked so hard. You are so close, but it didn't matter. You were just making a name for Class 1-C, and you had to go and lose, and of course it was against the one person who said he would win from the beginning. You couldn't even prove him wrong.

"If it makes you feel better," Recovery Girl said, noticing your saddened expression. "I'm sure lots of heroes will be scouting you, and I'm positive you'll be transferred to the hero course."

"Yeah," you whispered, "maybe."

If you were transferred to the hero course, it meant nothing if Shinso wasn't by your side, and, besides, that wasn't even the reason you wanted to get so far. You only wanted to prove that just because someone isn't in the hero course doesn't mean they're not capable of everything a hero student is. You just wanted to show that you were more than an underdog, and, even if you proved that to the whole world, Bakugo would still think otherwise. You were sure of that much.

"Well, you're free to head out and go join your class," Recovery Girl said. "The fight between Bakugo and Todoroki will begin soon."

"Alright," you said, throwing the sheet off your body and swinging your legs over the side of the mattress. You couldn't help but shiver when your bare feet touched the cold, tiled floor, and you looked around, finding your shoes and a new uniform sitting on a nearby chair.

Assuming the new outfit was for you, you slipped on your shoes and changed into the clean uniform before returning to your class in the audience to find Todoroki and Bakugo stepping into the arena to fight.

"[Y/N]!" majority of your classmates exclaimed when you appeared in front of them. However, Shinso was the only one who jumped up from his seat to greet you.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his usual monotone voice present, but you could sense that he was worried as he glanced between your eyes and the bandage wrapped around your throat.

"I'm fine," you assured him. "I mean, it's gonna leave a scar, but, other than that, I'm good."

Shinso stared at you for a moment before nodding. He gently grabbed your forearm and pulled you down to sit text to him as the fight began.