Death Paradox 💥BAKUDEKU💥

Chapter 15

THE HERMIT

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Chapter 15

There was less than a minute left on the clock.

Fifty-three seconds, ticking down in brutal, blaring red, and Katsuki's knees were damn near vibrating with the need to move. To do something.

He crouched low, fingers twitching like phantom sparks still lived there, eyes locked so hard on the field his vision had started to blur around the edges. His breath dragged rough through his nose, every inhale ragged, chest tight like someone had cinched a wire around his ribs and kept pulling.

Izuku was close now, too fucking close for comfort. He'd just cleared the last big push, weaving diagonally like an absolute maniac, and now he was within running distance of the card. Maybe ten feet. Fifteen at most but that wasn't the whole game. Not even close.

Even if he snagged the Arcana, and Katsuki could already tell from the shitty gleam in his eyes that he was going to grab the damn thing, he still had to make it to the finish line. Twenty, maybe twenty-five feet past the card, wide open, with no cover and nothing but that goddamn deathtrap watching.

Katsuki's hand clenched hard enough to ache. His nails dug into his palm, grounding him just enough not to keep him from fucking bolting back into the game.

Come on, he thought viciously, eyes narrowing against the sun as he tracked every jittery movement across the dirt. Come on, dammit—

The countdown flashed: 00:36.

Hurry the fuck up.

"Green Light."

Izuku launched.

Katsuki's whole body jerked like he'd been shocked, not even realizing he'd lunged half a step forward until his knee slammed into the dirt, hard enough to jolt him back to his senses. His breath caught, heart clawing its way up his throat, watching Izuku tear across the field like every second was his last.

Faster. Faster.

Dust sprayed up under Izuku's shoes as he closed the distance, eyes locked on that shimmering card like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

Five feet.

Three.

His hand snapped out, fingers curling around the card mid-stride, and the damn thing exploded.

Not into fire, not like the first time where it had become a void, but into a quiet shimmer, a bloom of gold and red mist that scattered like ashes on the wind, trailing behind him in a glowing streak as he kept running full-tilt.

Katsuki's hands flew to his hair, tugging at the roots. He's got it, he realized, gut twisting tight. Shit, he's actually got it.

"Come on!"

Izuku's legs burned up the last few feet of ground, the finish line looming close, so damn close Katsuki could almost feel it, almost taste the relief catching like static in the air. Just a few more steps, just a few more feet and—

"Red Light."

The words dropped like a goddamn guillotine as Izuku tripped.

One second he was upright, the next he was pitching forward, ankle catching someone's outstretched arm, limp and sprawled across the dirt, Momentum taking him as is arms flailed out, too fast, too much movement.