PLASTIC FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 39

' long live the queen '

━━━━━

Starbursts of explosions echo throughout the dense canopy of trees, followed by blocks atop blocks of ice. Compressed blonde boys and edgy boys captured in marble shaped gems are chased by boys with moonshine on them. Powers used to extremes, various limbs and the removal of gravitational pulls because they were heroes too and they needed to save.

Amidst the forest green bushes, Kaede sits, removes the remnants of the strands of her hair that fell on her shoulders, and watches everything unfold. Mr. Compress has made another one of his marbles while Kaede kept Katsuki on her clutches. A diversion, she remembers the magician saying.

It was too late when Tsuyu and Uraraka noticed Katsuki's disappearance. They prided themselves with their power and among them were Todoroki and Midoriya— the smartest ones of the bunch. Even the professional heroes had commended the two of them for their practical actions and yet.

Yet they trusted too much in their skills and failed to notice Katsuki's disappearance. What was worse was Tokoyami was missing too and they failed to notice that also.

They were a formidable bunch, even at her best, Kaede would never overpower them, but in a battle of wits regarding murder— war. They were practically infants compared to Kaede.

"I just used my magic to take him," Mr. Compress said, whole form propped on the extending tree branches, the marbles containing the fluke— and the bonus— floating on his palms. "Someone like that has no business being on the side of heroes. Not when we have a stage where he can shine even brighter."

"Give him back!" Midoriya shouts and Kaede, before anything else, assesses why he's all battered and bruised. A run in with someone from their side was the most conceivable thought, but with his presence here, that must mean he won. She'd give them credit for that.

"Give him back? That's a strange choice of words," the magician said again and Kaede resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was the one who did most of the work, but she'd talk it out later with the man. Using her favorite tool: violence.

"Give him back!" Midoriya screeches and by this time, Kaede has begun heading to the meetup point Mr. Compress had told her earlier.

"Bakugou doesn't belong to anyone. He is his own person, you damn egotist!"

"Move!" Another voice joins in, fainter as Kaede nears the meetup point where she can see some people already making their way. It's Shouto she realized when a burst of flames and ice treks it way to the sky following Mr. Compress.

More meaningless words come out of Mr. Compress's mouth— all fruitless she proved earlier but that didn't matter. The wall of trust U.A. painstakingly built will crumble if a student gets captured. She supposes it's not in vain.

Another mountain of ice follows Mr. Compress's trail and as he does his escaping maneuver, he relays the end of the mission to the other parts of the Villain Alliance and by the time Kaede is standing two meters away from the rendezvous point, there are already three people present.

A man, probably older than her seventeen or eighteen or nineteen or twenty notices her presence and in five seconds, flames intend to scorch her but she merely evades it with her fingers, using a gust of air. The final one for this day, she guesses.

"It's me," she says, face placid. "I'm sure you're aware of my identity."

The teen earlier narrows his eyes at her and Kaede has the urge to rip it apart, but like the wall of trust the heroes built, her stamina is crumbling to fragments. And she's aware that the repercussions for the quirk will arrive sooner.