bandaid | katsuki bakugo

thirty six

the two stepped onto ground beta as soon as the gate opened, immediately looking around for the examiner they would be having to defeat.

"keep your eyes and ears open, chinatsu." yukiko mumbled, looking down each corner as they passed, "check the rooftops."

"student number, 654. name, yukiko endo. quirk, gas absorption and release." the voice echoed, and the two turned in circles trying to find the source, "student number, 830. name, osada chinatsu. quirk, heat absorption and release. you both are a lot alike, in terms of your quirk."

"where is he?" yukiko whispered.

"i can't see him." chinatsu mumbled, her eyes darting around from alley to rooftop.

straight in yukiko's eyeline, either Exanimate or a copy stood across from the two, holding a folder in his hand, "both exceptional students — not too low in class rankings or too high, just in the middle. from what's written in your files here, you both have a clean record. no expulsions, absences, suspension."

"what is he doing?" chinatsu whispered softly.

yukiko turned to look at her partner quickly before looking back at the pro hero, "has his copies ever been able to do things like this?"

"talk? i don't know." chinatsu cleared her throat, "what's gonna happen?"

Exanimate — real or fake — shut the file, throwing it behind his shoulder, "well, enough of that." squatting down, he placed his hands directly to the ground, "i haven't used this move since i've retired." he cackled.

"he's gonna use his ultimate move!" chinatsu shouted, "we've gotta get to higher ground."

"no," yukiko smirked, "stick close to me." taking a deep breath in, yukiko breathed out a barrier, encasing a half circle around the two, "careful. i don't know how fragile this is."

"you mean this is the first time you're using this?" chinatsu yelled anxiously, looking at the barrier and on the outside.

"actually, just my third," she chuckled softly, resting her back against it, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

Exanimate chuckled, "double rooted burial." hands shot through the concrete, scraping at the gravel as they pulled up decaying bodies with blood shot, dry eyes and broken skin. "you can't barricade from a fire lit under your ass."

yukiko immediately looked at the ground, her leg being tugged into the concrete. yelping, yukiko tried to tug her leg away, the arm of the decayed creature being torn off. she kicked her leg, screaming loudly at the hand squeezing her ankle. even without the body, it still pulled her closer to the same hole it came out of.

Exanimate stepped closer, knocking on the barrier, "this is a lot more than what you showed at the festival, yukiko." he chuckled, "my undead can move around for 15 extra minutes when a limb is ripped off."

chinatsu screamed at the hand moving around as it tried to pull yukiko under, "oh my god! what the fuck?" she shivered, her hands covering her face, peeking through her fingers from the horrifying scene.

"let me go. let me go." yukiko repeated like a mantra, even going so far as to force against the hands and peel off the fingers, watching as it jumped around the bubble, the decayed fingers ripping through hair and the students limbs.