Explosive Touch [Bakugo Katsuki x OC] - Book 3

Chapter 16 - A Sense of Dread

Smoke and debris were still up in the air, turning the examination site into a real battlefield. Dozens of black silhouettes were approaching, running closer and closer, until they weren't mere shapes of color in the distance, but clear human figures still running forward.

There was a lot of movement all around. Be it from the pseudo-villains invading the area, from those who had not yet forgotten their rationale and knew they had to move the wounded to a safer place, even from the rescuers from far away, who had no doubt heard all the commotion by now and had realized the added challenge.

Through it all, Atsuhi remained unmoving, feet rooted in the ground, fists clenched by her sides, and a pair of eyes staring hard at the oncoming danger.

The fighters over here are few and far between. The rest are going to arrive sooner or later, but until then, someone's gotta hold them off...

She briefly tore her eyes away from the incoming enemies to look around, spotting but a few people who could fight at all. It wasn't going to be easy, that much she already knew for certain. The question was – was it even possible?

"Only time will tell," she mumbled under her breath. Noticing Gang Orca and his minions (whose style of dressing was surprisingly coordinated, as all of them looked identical) approaching dangerous territory, she turned to the one person she could still notice standing just as motionless as her in her peripheral vision.

"Midoriya-kun!" she called out, making the greenhead look at her surprised, as if he hadn't noticed her before. "Can you help me with holding out the front here?" Midoriya nodded, moving closer to the girl and taking on a battle stance. He looked to be in thought for a short second, only to turn to her with furrowed brows and a serious expression.

"I'll take care of as many as I can from up in the air. Can you handle those who manage to slip past?"

"You got it. What about Gang Orca?"

A brief silence followed.

"We'll try to hold him off, at least until the others get here. If bad comes to worse, you can use your new ultimate move, Heat Wave. Kirishima-kun told me about it during the break." Atsuhi chuckled a little. Ever the fanboy, she thought. Though she couldn't argue that it was a useful asset in times like these.

"Right. We can do this."

The first wave was almost onto them. And worst of all? Gang Orca was at the very, very front of it.

Crap.

Midoriya crouched lower, his final move before he could jump up, and Atsuhi prepared a hand on the grenades on her belt, running through the possibilities of taking down a pro with just the two of them.

Yet, a blur of black and green whizzed past before either of them could even move an inch.

The blur, whom she quickly recognized as the Shindo of Ketsubutsu High who had so enthusiastically introduced himself just before the exam, headed straight for the main hero – or rather, villain. He moved low, body close to the ground, and calmly handed out instructions.

"You two help get the civilians farther away from here. I'll hit those guys with shock waves spaced at one-second intervals," he said, and a mere second later, the ground cracked up beneath the villains' feet, sending them tumbling and falling around.

Unfortunately, it hadn't managed to hit everyone. It hadn't managed to hit a very troublesome individual. The moment Atsuhi realized what was about to happen, she cried out.

"Shindo-san, get back, you will-"

"Too slow," Gang Orca calmly said. Just like that, Shindo was knocked down to the ground, temporarily paralyzed. Both Atsuhi and Midoriya already looked alarmed, knowing what Gang Orca's Quirk was capable of.