ethereal (k. bakugo x reader)

☁︎ ︎𝕤𝕞𝕠𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕤 ☁︎︎

  "Bye, Hawks. See ya." You sighed, giving the man a wave. He grinned at you, outstretching his arms and walking towards you. He wrapped his arms around you, patting you on the back.

  "I'm not usually one for hugs, but you've done so well during your time here. I'm gonna miss you, kiddo. Or should I say Snail."

  You smiled, eyes twinkling. "Nah, Gazmat fits me better. At least that's what Bakugo says."

  Hawks chuckled, pulling away from you and running a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Well, Bakugo was right. You're gonna go far, kid, and so is Tokoyami."

  You glanced over at the annoyed bird boy, who was itching to go home and brood. Your eyes softened. Tokoyami hadn't really learned much, you thought, since you had both just done Hawks's cleanup. You had been the one to take initiative, though, and had asked Hawks for some training. Since then, not only had you been able to control your quirk more, you had also discovered some new abilities.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

"Hawks!" You exclaimed, bowing your head. "Please, please, please, please, PLEASE train me! Pretty please!"

Hawks blinked, taken aback, then burst out laughing. "Ah, man, kid, you're a riot! Yeah, sure. I'm surprised you even need training at your level."

"I wanna be able to beat Bakugo!" You said, lifting up your head. Your eyes were filled with passion and determination. "I don't wanna just be some airhead with a powerful quirk, I wanna be able to live up to my hero name!"

Hawks hummed, tapping his chin. After a while, he finally spoke. "Alright, then your first task is this; make me a sandwich."

"Eh?" You said, surprised. "You serious?"

"Oh, I'm totally serious. There's a catch, though." He leaned forward, eyes widening. "You cannot touch the sandwich makings with any parts of your body. And you can't use any of my utensils, either."

Your jaw dropped, and you found your mind racing.

'No hands? No feet? No mouth? Is he for real? How can I do this?'

Realization struck you, and your mouth formed an O shape. "Ohh, you want me to use my quirk, huh?"

Hawks nodded, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Get to work, sandwich maker."

Attempt 1

You cracked your knuckles, staring determinedly at the bread, cheese, ham, and mayonnaise in front of you.

"Alright. Let's do this."

You sucked in a breath, releasing thick smog from your body and waiting for strings to appear. Unfortunately, none showed up. You frowned, disappointed. How did he expect you to make a sandwich when there were no objects with holes around you? Your head started to spin, and you sighed, flopping to the ground.

"Oh well."

Attempt 25

You stared at the sandwich makings in front of you, frustrated. Why was this so difficult? You had tried doing this 24 different times, and you failed in all of them. You sighed, ruffling your hair.

"Let's try this again."

You puffed out your cheeks, about to release gas, until a thought came to mind, and you paused.

"What if I've been doing this all wrong? Can I form my own utensils?" You pondered, eyebrows furrowing. "I've never tried anything like that before...but it's worth a shot."

You closed your eyes, taking in a deep breath. You pictured a butter knife in your mind as you emitted gas, eyebrows furrowed.

'A knife. A nice, dull, shiny butter knife. It feels...smooth. And cold.'

You reached your hand out, and felt something in the air. You grabbed onto it, opening your eyes.

It was a dark purple butter knife, formed from smoke.

Your eyes widened and you grinned widely, excitement coursing through your body. Strings appeared from your hands, and you giggled, wiggling your fingers around. The knife moved around in the air, and you could feel your heart thumping. You flicked your finger, and the knife landed in the mayonnaise. With another few movements, you had scooped out a fair amount of mayo, and had started to spread it.

  Your eyes widened as another thought came to mind.

  "Wait a minute, bread has pores! And I'm sure ham and cheese do, too!"

  Hawks walked in as you concentrated on the ham and cheese, more strings appearing. His eyes widened and he grinned, pride swelling up in his chest.

  "You finally did it. Congrats."

  You whirled around, eyes sparkling as you used your strings to put the two pieces of bread together.

  "Yeah!"

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

You and Tokoyami walked away from Hawks's agency, silent. Tokoyami wore a scowl on his face, obviously displeased with the internship. You glanced at him, gaze softening.

  "Oh, Tokoyami, I'm sorry that you didn't have a good time. I know how much you wanted to get stronger."

  "L/N, there's no need to apologize. It's not your fault I didn't learn anything." Tokoyami sighed, glowering at the ground. You frowned, patting him on the back.

  "Man, Tokoyami, if I were a pro hero, I would try to teach you everything I know. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, I mean it."

  Tokoyami looked over at you, smiling softly.

  "Thank you, L/N."