Paralyze |Bakugou Katsuki x Male!Reader|

94

Day 8 of my internship with Endeavour.

The day began with the usual intensity, although the morning seemed to have an unusual heaviness to it, however, I didn't let it affect my mood.

Besides the unfamiliar fatigue I felt in my body, there was an unexpected weight heavy on my shoulders, a weight I couldn't quite shake off.

As the training session started, Burnin' focused on enhancing our speed and agility, pushing us to our limits, Endeavour standing next to her in heavy silence.

I threw myself into the exercises with determination, but I felt the heaviness come crashing down on me, more specifically, on my limbs. My movements, which had turned sharper and precise, felt sluggish and uncoordinated. The motivation to push forward and face my limits seemed to have been crushed under this new feeling.

When it came to the obstacle course challenge, the difference in my performance was more than obvious. I approached the course with my usual resolve, but each obstacle only felt harder and harder to do. I was dead last falling behind, something that, despite not wanting to acknowledge it, had become the usual during our training.

Even though I thought I was getting better. The steps that were once firm and effortless, now felt forced and labored, the little bit of confidence I had somehow gathered over the past week now seemed to slip away with each and every step I took in my struggle to not be left behind.

I knew it was over when I tripped over a low barrier, an obstacle I could usually jump with ease. The sudden change in my balance sent me crashing to the ground, the impact leaving me only slightly disoriented as I was no longer on my feet but lying on my back.

As I stayed here on the ground, I realized that I was merely two meters away from the last obstacle before the "finish line". The all too well-known feeling of disappointment settled heavily in my chest and deep inside my mind, like a slap to the face of how limited I was in comparison to the others.

Surpass them? I wasn't even close to keeping up with them, and I was achieving to be better than them? What a fucking joke I am.

As I wallowed in my despair, I heard the shuffling of various footsteps approaching and then the light from the ceiling was being blocked from my sight.

They were standing around me, Katsuki, Shouto and Izuku, all three of them staring at me with different levels of concern.

"Did you hit your head?" Katsuki's voice felt muffled and distant as they slowly helped me sit on the floor. I just shook my head in response, staring blankly into the void.

I could hear their voices, but I couldn't understand them, I felt as if I was underwater. They were definitely trying to reassure me that mistakes happen, and so do accidents, their expressions said so. Or, well, Izuku's did, as he was the most expressive of the trio, and it was easy to read his emotions and intentions.

Even if I knew they were putting the effort to support me, there was something in the back of my mind that had begun making its way forward, fogging my thoughts with doubt, refusing to dissipate.

I stood up with their help, and as I dusted myself off, I tried to regain my composure, the question I hadn't thought about for months resurfaced.

Am I really cut out to be a hero?

The thought echoed in my mind, a haunting uncertainty that overshadowed any remains of determination I may have had left. I had faced challenges the past week, but today felt different. I replayed every failure, every misstep, wondering if this was all I was meant for, endless struggle and disappointment. My confidence was shaken, and my resolve was tested.