STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 36 // Final Boss

You didn't linger around Emerson's dead body longer than you had to. As soon as you found the will and energy to move, you stood, trying not to think about the fact that you had just committed murder. The circumstance didn't matter because you had murdered someone.

Your eyes scanned the battlefield to find Midoriya unleashing his brewing rage into Shigaraki, rage that was also bubbling beneath your skin.

You had the willpower, the rage, the want, the need to fight Shigaraki. You had the quirks to beat him. You were capable, but your malfunctioning body wouldn't hold you through the fight. You needed something to hold you over, something to heal you.

Closing your eyes to spare you from the gruesome sight of Emerson's decapitated body, you leaned down and pressed your palm to their chest, activating Ephemeral and stealing the quirk you desired.

You raced over to where Midoriya and Shigaraki were battling each other in midair and shot out a string, which you wrapped around Midoriya's foot before yanking him to the ground.

"[L/N]—"

"Hush," you interrupted, looking up at Shigaraki to find the villain expectedly charging at you.

You raised your palm and created a clumsy amorphous solid barrier, one opposite of Emerson's crystal, around you and Midoriya, shielding the both of you from Shigaraki's attack. It was weak, but it was enough to keep the villain at bay for a moment.

You kept your palm raised, adding to the dome the more Shigaraki tore it apart. Once you were sure you had enough time, you turned toward Midoriya.

"Do you think..." you began, hesitating. "Do you think you could temporarily transfer One For All to me?"

Midoriya blinked at your request, his flowing rage slowly dissipating as it was replaced with disbelief.

"What?" he questioned, shaking his head. "Why would you?—"

"I wanna kill Shigaraki," you intervened, causing the boy to lean back with a hesitant expression. "I wanna be the one to beat him, but my body is not built like yours. Eventually I'd succumb to my wounds, but I was built to hold multiple quirks. I was modified to withstand many powers. My body can handle One For All. It can hold me over in the fight."

"[L/N], I'm not sure about this," Midoriya replied, and you grunted as Shigaraki's fist bursted through the barricade.

"Well, you need to decide now!" you snapped. "I can't hold him off any longer."

Shigaraki ripped at the barricade until there was nothing left but a pile of crumbled solid littering the ground, and you didn't have much place to escape to as the villain lunged, his hand outstretched toward your face.

Then, just as you thought you were going to dissolve into a pile of dust, just as you thought you were going to endure the same fate as your mother, an indescribable feeling washed over you.

Bruised and calloused fingers intertwined with yours as an overwhelming force entered your veins, and it wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasant either. It fell like pressure was exerted on you from the inside out, but it was as if you could slowly feel your torn tissue and burning veins piecing themselves back together.

Your hair floated around your head like a halo as your aura hovered outside your body, your senses becoming more honed in than ever.

Just as Shigaraki's palm neared the tip of your nose, you swung your fist upward and delivered a bone crushing punch to the villain's jaw, sending the man flying backward.

You looked down at your glowing fist, eyes widening as the cuts and bruises you had endured in your previous fight began to slowly patch themselves back together.