PLASTIC FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 15

' choices to stand by '

━━━━━

She can't believe it's been merely two weeks. In a span of seven days, she's been so exhausted. When the youth was a child, when she was but a poor rat dwelling the dirty streets, she was tired but this, this torture All For One guised under the name of 'training' was exhausting. The pinnacle of the level of tired one person could be.

She had prided herself for having a strong stamina but after days piled atop days, the youth has reached her limit. Now her actions are mirroring that of when she was but a kid. Running, hiding— pitiful.

"You can't pause this level," Tenko said— no, Tomura, she reminded herself. Shigaraki Tomura. All For One had insisted that Tenko Shimura was a name unbefitting of the man who would topple the faux peace the heroes had created. A new moniker.

"The only way to finish it is by beating the boss," he said over the intercom, crimson eyes watching the trial with fascination. As if it was his video games come go life. "Do it."

The youth directed a glare at him from behind a concrete wall, hoping that it would be enough to mow him into silence. "Isn't it obvious that 'beating the boss' is exactly what I've been trying to do for the past five days, eight hours, forty seven minutes, forty seconds and counting?"

"That's accurate," he said, vaguely impressed. "Your power is really rare."

"Shut up!" she yelled, leaving the protection of the wall and lunging at the monstrosity in front of her. It had razor sharp claws, razor sharp teeth, sensitive ears and a bulky body that would have given those steroid enhanced bodybuilders a run for their money.

She aimed for its neck this time, figuring out a day ago, twenty four hours, that there was a spot on the side of its neck that bore a different color from the rest of its skin so she hypothesized that it was probably the weak spot of the monster.

She twisted the knife, chucking it at the thing's direction. The weapon felt odd at her grasp at first but after five days, eight hours, forty seven minutes, fifty eight seconds and counting, with the knife as her only weapon, she'd warmed up to it.

The creature managed to dodge, bending it's neck a little bit to the left and reaching for her with its claws. She stepped on its arms, then jumped to evade the claws and landed behind it. After managing to breathe, she decided to hit her intended mark again.

A kick to its gut and when it doubled over, gasping for air, she grabbed the opportunity and stabbed it with the knife. Unfortunately, after days spent in fatigue and hunger and dehydration, her eyes hadn't functioned properly so the knife only hit the shoulder.

She was hit again, thrown against another concrete pillar and left a deep dent mark on the object. The creature growled, lunged at her again and she couldn't evade it this time. Its hands found its way to her jaw, hit hit hit until she could feel her jaw dislocated and her collarbones almost shattered.

When the creature tried to swing for the seventh time, the youth managed to wriggle out of its grip and crawl to a cylinder shaped block to hide. It didn't take long for the creature to spot her and raise the cylinder vertically to make her fall.
As the creature continued shaking the cylinder shaped concrete, a brazen plan entered the mind of the desperate youth. She transferred the knife to her non-dominant hand, breathing deeply and then when the creature opened its mouth to scream, she removed the resistance on her limbs, stopped her grip and let free fall do its job.