Katsuki Does Not Dream of Pink Cheeks
Chapter 27: Hunt
"Tch. Collecting Eggs, huh? How lame."
Though the odds of a repeat had been slim, Katsuki had hoped the first round would be another obstacle race. He sought full redemption for last year. To be first in every event. All the better if he got to take first place in the ones he hadn't last time.
The circle they began to form was a fluid one. A visible minority of students froze in the middle and surveyed who was where in the line being forged around them. It became very apparent that they were avoiding standing by certain people. And not just Katsuki, who was used to as much, - given his volatile disposition - but Icy Hot as well. Katsuki reasoned that if either of them moved, the whole circle would reflexively shift.
Last year's runner-up wasn't alone for long. Deku and Four-Eyes joined him at each side, sharing some inaudible greeting as they did so. Uraraka found them soon after, standing beside the nerd as she joined in their chitchat. Katsuki didn't bother testing his observative endurance on her. Frankly, he began looking elsewhere as soon as she appeared. After the close calls with Ashido and Mt. Lady, he wasn't taking any more risks for peace of mind's sake. Once things got in motion, his desire to win would have to supersede all else.
"There you are, Man!" Kirishima waved as he came to stand to his left. "Weird game for Round 1, huh? Don't think I've ever seen em do this one."
"They'll probably never do it again once they see how easily I win it."
"There's that manly confidence! Must be contagious, I'm feeling better already!"
"You needed a boost? What are you, afraid of a few eggs?" chided Katsuki dismissively.
"Not really. My quirk's just not great for this kinda thing. But I won't let that stop me!"
"Hey, boys!" chimed in a known voice from the right.
Mina Ashido approached them, stretching her arms as she took the remaining place to his side. Her expression conveyed a clear enthusiasm and eagerness to get started. If Mina was upset with Katsuki over the distinct lack of a declaration of love in his announcement, she hid it well.
"Pfft," he spat. "Everywhere I go, you two pop up out of nowhere."
"I'm surprised I was able to get a spot since you're so popular and all." she mocked playfully.
"You ready, Ashido?" intercepted Kirishima. "I've got a good feeling about this year! How 'bout you?"
"Big time!" she replied happily with a thumbs up. "This year's gonna be one to remember!"
Katsuki made a point of looking away in disinterest as they spoke. Ashido's closeness was enough of a trial for him. Stealing glances at her was the most counterproductive option he had available to him. Not that that made the prospect any less tempting to the shaken young man. Stolen glances were acts of restraint compared to all the prolonged gawking he'd exhibited as of late.
Whether his ailment was natural or the malicious work of the stranger's quirk, the symptoms seemed to be growing dramatically worse with each passing day. In the span of a week Bakugo had gone from reluctantly helping with homework to bleeding from his nose over the same classmate. Impulsive kisses had been embarrassing enough, but now he was drifting into Ballhead territory. If it weren't for his appearance, Katsuki suspected the girls by and large would have quickly wrote him off as a creep like they'd done with Grape Rape early on.
Lord Explosion Murder also had his hard to shake first impression to thank for keeping his reputation from devolving. As rude and boisterous as he'd been throughout his first year, Katsuki had naturally garnered one of the more infamous reputations of his class, and while that hadn't always been to his benefit, it had ironically likely managed to spare him from being branded a pervert over the last week.
Open to any distraction that presented itself to him, Katsuki instantly noticed the tall man that entered the ground floor of the stadium. From the distinct shape of his head and the pinstripe suit he wore, Katsuki knew he looked vaguely familiar. The man was a pro, but not an especially esteemed one. He was so old school that Bakugo was surprised to have remembered him at all. It was The Scrambled Hero: Eggman.
If his rounded bald head and eggshell white skin didn't make it obvious enough, his quirk soon cleared any shred of doubt. Katsuki recalled seeing it once during a cooking show ad online, but he'd skipped the ad midway through. Regardless, it seemed Eggman was set on giving anyone and everyone unfamiliar with him a refresher course on his capabilities. Methodically, he moved from space to space, stopping at marked points on the field to hold his hands out and emit a golden glow from his palms.
Each glow was followed by what appeared to be a summons from thin air. Seconds after Eggman would hold out his hands and their glow began, dozens of ivory colored eggs appeared on the ground before him. With great ceremony, he bowed to each pile before moving on to create another at the next mark on the field.
"Wow… I thought he retired forever ago…" commented Kirishima quietly.
"You know him, Kirishima? Fill me in, cause I'm lost." Ashido muttered back.
"That's Eggman. He retired back in Crimson Riot's day… I'm surprised he's still around honestly… He's gotta be ancient."
"How's that possible?! I don't see a wrinkle on him!"
"Don't look at me," Kirishima shrugged, stumped as she was. "Could be his quirk? Maybe his skin's more like a shell than skin?"
"Wouldn't it still crack as he ages though?"
"How should I know?"
"Will you two shut up already?!" Bakugo grunted from between them.
Bakugo disliked being between two people having their own conversation in general, but hearing Ashido's voice had begun to lightly spin something in his stomach, so he needed to discourage her talking as much as possible until the event started and he could get away from her and focus. Katsuki didn't know what it was exactly, but somehow even Alien Queen's voice posed a threat to him now. Just hearing it brought back echoes of more stimulating things she'd said to him. Shadows of his humiliation.
With a slight pout, Ashido did as he bid and crossed her arms while Eggman finished the last of the outer piles and marched forward through the circle of students and to the final white chalk outline of an 'X' in the center of the circle they'd formed. The tall oval headed man presented his hands one last time before producing his largest summons yet. Dead center, a mountain of eggs appeared, towering high enough to rival Mt. Lady's podium in height.
"Let's hear it for Eggman!" she announced, gesturing to him with her hand.
A slightly confused applause followed from the crowd, eventually developing into a cohesive concert of approval to which Eggman promptly bowed, a measured look of pride on his face as he basked in the crowd's recognition for a few fleeting moments. How long had it been since he'd last heard such a thing? Was he on his first permitted leave from a retired pro hero living facility? A hermit making his first appearance in ages? A niche retired hero with a cult following that remained dedicated to him? Katsuki didn't have the faintest idea, yet he did find himself the slightest bit fascinated.
Not because he was impressed by any means, but it did give Bakugo cause to wonder how such a quirk had ever taken someone to the pro scene. Had he made it there in spite of such an underwhelming power? Or were there more applications to this quirk than he was seeing?
Before the youth could ponder this welcome distraction any further, Eggman began to make his exit without a word. He waddled as he walked, but in a strangely elegant fashion. As elegant as a waddle could be, at least. It seemed a purposeful sway, oddly refined rather than clumsy, indicating this had been his routine for the better part of a century.
"Universe couldn't have thrown me a stupider distraction if it tried, but at least it bought me a few minutes. Now for Mt. Lady to start this damn thing already!" Katsuki thought, hyping himself up as he readied his feet to spring into action.
"And with no further ado, we're going on to the main event! Here's your countdown! 3!"
The crowd roared with too many cheers to make any sense of.
"2!"
Katsuki caught a piercing gleam in Mina's eye from his peripheral.
"1!"
Refusing to let the devious spark distract him, Bakugo looked to the center pile. He knew fully well that Icy Hot was on the other side, likely planning the exact same thing as he was. Well, perhaps not exactly the same thing. But their target was almost surely the same.
"GOOOO!:
The small fry were all sure to focus on the outer piles. It wasn't sensible for them to go for the largest one that all the powerhouses had their eyes on. Even some of the more formidable competitors were likely to avoid butting heads with Bakugo and Todoroki in the first round, if they could avoid it. But for the proud who would settle for nothing less than the top? There was only one pile to aim for.
Just as he initiated his Blast Rush Turbo, Todoroki confirmed the blonde's deductions by instantly encircling the center pile with a wall of ice. Though his ice had always been the recommended student's favored quirk, even Bakugo had to admit that his rival had reached an entirely new level of precision with it.
"WHOOOAAA! And just like that Todoroki's already isolated the biggest pile with an ice blockade! Has he ALREADY secured a place in the next round?!" Present Mic asked from above, bursting with enthusiasm.
"That doesn't change anything for me, Icy Hot!" Bakugo called out brazenly, launching himself forward in his most powerful twisting motion.
Howitzer Impact made short work of the ice that barred his way, taking the brunt of Katsuki's initial impact as he burst through the shattering wall and carried out the rest of the explosive attack, launching a powerful series of blasts forward as he watched midair. Todoroki's wall only made his plan more effective. Thanks to the ice blockade, Katsuki didn't need to hold back. Now he wouldn't have to worry about leaving any survivors.
The smoke soon cleared, revealing the tremendous results of Bakugo's plan. Not an egg was left to be seen in the middle, only microscopic pieces of shell and yolks scattered about. Icy Hot looked to him, determination masking any trace of frustration as shattered ice fell all around. A handful of students were cowering behind him, bewildered by Katsuki's explosive start. The extras clearly hadn't expected the first round to start with such a bang.
"I should've known." Todoroki commented, wasting no time as he turned and sent himself forward toward another pile, ice trailing behind him as he rushed to the northernmost pile of eggs.
Those fixated on said pile scattered as soon as they realized Icy Hot's destination. None of the extras seemed remotely interested in trying to contest any objective last year's runner-up set his sights on.
"You destroyed 'em all?!" Kirishima acknowledged, horrified as he caught up to his friend.
"What?! Did you think I was paving the way to some easy eggs?! Think again!" Bakugo rebuked him.
"It's not like that, Man! I thought we were all heading for a brawl in the middle!"
It wasn't just his quirk that wasn't suited to a game like this. Not that Bakugo was one to judge. A hunt for eggs was far from ideal for either of them. That's why he'd changed the win condition. Since so many of his peers had quirks better suited to this sort of contest, he'd known going in that he had no chance of beating them in a stockpiling game. But if he took as many eggs out of play as possible? Now that was another story.
"Are you blind?! Everyone's avoiding us, you idiot, if you spend the whole ten minutes chasing fights, the others are just gonna run out the clock on you. You're better off just getting a few eggs and going Unbreakable."
"Okay, but how will I know if I have enough?" Kirishima asked cluelessly.
"Trust me, I'm not gonna be leaving many," Bakugo replied with a demonic grin. "If you manage to get even one, you'll still be better off than practically everyone else!"
"Not sure it's the sporting thing to do…" he muttered back uncomfortably.
"What're you talking about? Less eggs means everyone has to fight even harder for their spot! It doesn't get any more sporting than that!"
"Guess that makes sense…"
Kirishima stopped as if in ponderous thought over the logic, but Bakugo didn't have any time to waste waiting for approval. Like an apex predator, the blonde surveyed the field to assess how the early game was playing out. Every pile to be seen was obscured by students scurrying about and chaotically fighting one another. An all out battle royale to see who would get first dibs on the piles. No one seemed eager to fight those who'd placed highly last year, but the extras didn't seem to have any qualms with trading blows with each other. Others were more tactful, such as Ears, who could be seen tucking away eggs from one of the piles to the east under the cover of chaos (Not) Kirishima and Arms for Days provided while they were duking it out.
Katsuki's eyes eventually fixed on a few westward stray eggs as he watched Tail outmaneuver and knock around a few extras that had surrounded him. There were five at least to be seen yards away from them, strewn about, but intact. The explosion hero hadn't planned to go for any eggs this early on, but if this was his chance to pocket some, he wasn't about to pass it up. Bakugo propelled himself into the air and landed efficiently a few feet away from his target.
Now closer, he noticed several similarly sized scarlet ovals scattered about all around him. Katsuki hadn't caught them at first since he'd been so focused on the eggs and who was where in relation to them. Not to mention they weren't drastically different in color from the light colored dirt of the field, so they blended in somewhat if you weren't looking for them. But what were they? Something about the red potential eggs seemed vaguely familiar.
"I didn't see any red ones before and Mt. Lady didn't say anything about them, so it's probably a different quirk. What the hell are they? Landmines?"
While there were several surrounding the boy, none were quite close enough to keep him from reaching for the eggs, whether they were landmines or not. Nevertheless, Katsuki still decided to employ basic caution and inspect the faux eggs further.
"Might not even be a quirk. Could be a game obstacle or something."
Bakugo's investigation confirmed one thing. They weren't eggs. They weren't even entirely red and he could think of no reason as to why they'd have decorated them just for the game. Additional inspection revealed they looked more like dolls than anything else, though they were unlike any that Katsuki was familiar with. So why did he feel such a sense of deja vu?
The realization hit him a second too late. All the clues jumped out to him at once as another one of the mysterious dolls flew through the air and landed at his feet, causing the toy to come undone. It shared the features of the others: Primarily red with white lining, a spec of raven hair, and the creamy skin tone that tied everything together.
"Ponytail!"
The top piece containing a pin tied to a string parted from the bottom harboring its grenade, unleashing a glaring flash of light that bombarded the blonde's eyes, effectively blinding him instantly. Immediately after the flash grenade's explosion, he heard someone run towards him from the left. Though he instinctively hurled a light explosion their way, his now hearing reliant aim proved late. The bomber had already gotten past him and reached the stray eggs.
"Sorry, Bakugo! Afraid I'll be taking these!" Momo Yaoyorozu exclaimed triumphantly.
Katsuki refused to let his studious peer get away with pulling such a move on him. If he couldn't have those eggs, no one would. Without a second thought, the young hero sent out a stronger blast from his right and listened for results while waiting for the blinding white light to vacate his eyelids. The attack met something with a loud clang, followed by the sound of resumed running drumming lightly under the metallic echoes.
"Nice try!"
Bringing his hands to his eyes, Katsuki soon found the dark again with a quick rub of relief and promptly opened them, fully prepared to pursue the raven-haired girl. Her back was to him, ends of her U.A. training jacket flapping in the wind to each side as she ran eastward. A tungsten shield could be seen in her right hand - Clearly the means by which she'd braced herself for his last blast. As clever a maneuver as the flash grenade had been, Katsuki knew she had no means of stopping him if he chose to pursue. She'd already played her best card. Blinding him wouldn't work again.
His palm to the ground, Bakugo launched himself high into the air for an overhead view of the battlefield and his fleeing prey. So far as he could tell, no one else seemed to be paying any mind to either of them, which made sense given how few eggs were at stake over their conflict. Most of the others still seemed to be going at it over the piles, while a handful of others were chasing or being chased for what few eggs they'd managed to obtain. Katsuki reasoned that by this point surely at least the first two minutes had passed.
"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!
Wasting no time, the explosion user stuck his hands behind him and used powerful blasts from each to surge forward. Once he was projected to just pass over his target, the boy raised his hands to the sky and shot himself downward, landing with great impact in front of the egg thief. Though visibly startled, Yaoyorozu's determination was unwavering as she faced him and reached for additional dolls that poked out of her trousers. Katsuki saw that she'd also managed to get the eggs to stick to the inside of her shield with some sort of adhesive. He was moderately impressed she'd pulled as much off while fleeing, though this would likely come back to bite her if Bakugo sent another heavy attack her way, but to the creation hero's credit, it had at least left her hands free.
However, the ingenuity of egg placement only briefly held his attention. Drunk on the thrill of the hunt, the apex predator hadn't given Momo's flapping jacket a second thought whilst in pursuit. But now Katsuki Bakugo was compelled to notice that her U.A. issue top was fully unzipped, revealing the most shapely, luscious body he'd ever laid eyes on. A black sleeveless bra was the only semblance of restraint to her full voluptuous wonders.
"How the hell does that even support those…" he trailed off in his own mind, infinite favorable adjectives filling his head in an endeavor to aptly describe the most wondrous chest.
As if on cue, the world all around them was transfigured as a crimson ethereal plane enveloped him and the divinely sculpted goddess. Katsuki lost himself entirely in Momo's features. Her sublimely heavenly bust. A navel more trim and tantalizing than he would have ever believed was possible. Determined onyx eyes that made him want to know their every aspiration. Though he'd never admit it aloud, as Katsuki admired the raven-haired beauty's incomparable charms, he finally came to understand Ballhead's undying obsession with her.
"Why'd I never see Ponytail was so…"
He trailed off in his mind yet again while experiencing the most unwieldy of erections.
"Yaoyorozu… Her name's Yaoyorozu…"
Bakugo hadn't the faintest idea how much time had passed since he'd begun unwittingly worshiping each and every last transcendent feature Yaoyorozu possessed. The whole ten minutes could have come and gone already for all he knew. It had certainly felt that long. And yet, it also somehow felt as if no time at all had passed whatsoever.
Gauging time was difficult under the circumstances. No matter how long he gazed longingly at her in this crimson plane, nothing seemed to change besides the blonde's level of arousal, which inexplicably found new limits with each passing millisecond. Yaoyorozu's expression never changed, leaving her frozen in time with the same fierce impression etched on her face. He wondered for the briefest of moments if she'd used her creation quirk to produce some perfect version of herself with exaggerated proportions. Katsuki realized the foolishness of that theory as soon as his lustful mind finished pitching it to him. This was no trick. Just the most unreasonably desirable being the universe had ever produced.
Time had never stood so still. Yet even so, when it finally began to move again, Bakugo's eyes didn't budge one bit. Yaoyorozu was the only one granted movement in the crimson plane. Apparently unaware of her foe's complete and utter petrification, she pulled the four dolls from her trousers and tossed them toward the frozen admirer. They didn't stir him whatsoever as they landed. In fact, Yaoyorozu reaching for them had only served to drive his gaze back down to her belly button, a change in focus the enamored young man's carmine eyes didn't fight in the least. Katsuki's eyes were thrilled to appreciate every last inch of her.
He'd been supremely confident that blinding him again would prove impossible for the bookworm to accomplish. Yet here he stood, caught in the ultimate lustful stupor, unable to pry his eyes away from the otherworldly assets that had effortlessly seized him. And so when Momo's nesting dolls popped after hitting the ground, Katsuki was instantaneously blinded once more by her second round of flash grenades.
"What am I doing?!" the boy thought, dazed as he tried to reclaim his senses to no avail.
Despite being blinded, Yaoyorozu's beauty had stamped itself in his mind's eye. Even in the piercing white light he was enduring courtesy of the flash, her image still appeared in Katsuki's head, causing an outline of his buxom classmate to fill his impaired view. Even while lacking sight he couldn't help but stare. Her image was colorless, yet still more than captivating enough to hold him profoundly.
Before his sight had even begun to return, Bakugo felt something fall on him from above, leaving his upper body slightly tangled as the rest of unidentifiable fabric fell down to his feet. Since this was more uncomfortable than it was inhibiting, Katuski couldn't help but wonder for what purpose she'd draped the mystery cloth over him.
"Did she just put a fucking sheet over my head?! Does she really think that'll really help her get away? Hell, maybe she's just trying to buy time. Either way-"
As he emitted joint explosions, Katsuki was met with a drastically different response than anticipated. Rather than incinerating or blowing away the unknown material draped over him, it instead grew firm as it swiftly contracted around him from head to toe. He could feel that he'd been almost entirely covered apart from the convenient exception of his eyes. With little to do but open them now that the effects of the flash grenades had diminished, Katsuki tried to grasp what exactly had befallen him.
Aizawa's scarf - or rather, a scarf nearly identical to his - had indeed completely wrapped up and immobilized him. Momo stood facing him with an a small smile that implied due satisfaction in her accomplishment, though it abruptly shifted into a sigh of relief.
"What the hell did she do?! This is so fucking annoying!"
"That should hold you for a while. Looks like you chased the wrong person." stated Yaoyorozu, now beaming with pride.
Frustrated over his capture, Bakugo wanted nothing more than to go into a classic fit of rage, but between the scarf that covered his mouth and general firmness with which he'd been restrained, the bound hero was left with nothing to do but observe his captor.
King Explosion Murder's short lived rage evaporated after laying his eyes on the busty deity again. He even came to be thankful for his bindings, for such thorough coverage meant that his drooling and now profusely bleeding nose likely wouldn't be detected. Not to mention his unmanageable nether region.
"Fuck. Why the hell is she even hotter now?…"
"Sorry to leave you like this, but you left me no choice." Yaoyorozu continued, scanning around to form a plan on where to strike next.
Looking left to right a few times in her assessment, the creation hero wore a serious face and keen eye, briefly bringing a finger to her lip as she weighed over prospects. Still processing the best course of action, she soon peered both ways again to determine whether there had been any noteworthy developments in the seconds that passed, her face freezing midway through on Bakugo. Her expression shifted from thoughtful to concerned.
"Oh no! Are you okay?!" she inquired frantically, rushing to him and prying away the portion of the stiff scarf that had smothered his face.
Following its removal, Katsuki was able to catch a glimpse of the material that had been gagging him. He'd bled right through it.
"You must not have been able to breathe…" Yaoyorozu went on, a worried hand to her chest as she assessed the damage. "I'm sorry…"
Ironically, he still couldn't breathe. The bombshell's change in proximity only exacerbated his symptoms, causing a cascade of new blood to stream down his face. Said face felt incredible pressure as Katsuki unwittingly continued holding his breath.
"Give me a break…" he pled faintly, absolutely fixated on the anxious hand Yaoyorozu held to her irresistible bosom.
All things considered, Katsuki was surprised it had taken him this long to fall head over heels for her. By leaps and bounds it was the strongest stimulus he'd experienced, but it had taken about a week to come to this point - though Katsuki conceded that could have easily been due to their limited encounters. Regardless, now that he was finally observing Momo's overwhelming charms firsthand, the boy was painfully aware of the full stop they'd inspired. This was a true deadlock.
What little of his mind remained at the wheel decided to remind Katsuki of a clip he'd thought of not too long ago. The hairspray commercial that heavily featured Yaoyorozu and Kendo. Yaoyorozu's cocky and enticing smirk as she seductively lifted her curled hair… Her incredibly revealing hero costume… The idyllic memory proved too mouthwatering to bear as fresh drool escaped Katsuki's lips, his face a bright cherry red.
"... Are you still conscious?!" Yaoyorozu theorized cluelessly after observing his mesmerized state. "Don't tell me you're seizing?! Oh no… Quick, let's get you down on your side!"
"... W-what?!" Katsuki finally responded, his trance reflexively broken by the hand Momo brought to his shoulder. "No! I'm fine, damn it! Now get this crap off me!"
"... You're okay then?" she asked with brief confusion before letting out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!"
"Did you hear me?! Get on with it already!"
"Sorry, Bakugo." Yaoyorozu replied, sternness recapturing her face as she resumed surveying their surroundings. "Now that oxygen's getting to your brain, you should be fine, so that's one crisis averted... But I'm afraid I can't free you just yet. This is a competition, after all."
"Fine! I'll do it myself! Don't blame me if you get fried!" Katsuki raged, releasing impulsive explosions in an attempt to remedy his mummification.
This had the reverse effect. The scarf that had just begun loosening rapidly tightened again. Even Katsuki's gag somehow sprung up and covered the lower half of his face just as it had before. In spite of his generally sharp battle sense, he'd fallen for the same trap repeatedly due to excessive panic; The direct result of his perturbing unchecked lust. Seething with anger, he began to squirm violently as Yaoyorozu shook her head in disapproval.
"Struggling like that's only going to make it worse. That scarf is threaded with Nitinol alloy. The heat from your blast will just trigger its shape memory, leaving you right back where you started."
Yaoyorozu removed his gag once more while explaining the nature of her trap. Her nearness as well as the discovery of just how deeply the creation girl had trounced him led to another bipolar display from within. Immediately after Katsuki's gag was pulled off, another warm torrent poured down his nostrils. The rage in him was so short-lived that his nether region never had time to soften up.
"That's not good…" observed Momo. "I hope you're not having an aneurysm… Do you have a headache? Are you losing consciousness at all?"
"First she outplays me and now she goes and acts like my fucking nurse… Why is that more hot than it is humiliating?!"
"... I'm fine." Katsuki barely managed, his own voice seeming foreign to him.
"Great. You shouldn't need anything more than oxygen then." Yaoyorozu went on, her hand to her bust as a hankerchief miraculously sprouted from her cleavage.
"Why does that have to be the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen?!" he vented to himself as another round of fresh blood dripped down his face.
"And this should staunch the bleeding." his raven-haired nurse concluded with a perfectly calming bedside manner as she gently brought the handkerchief to his face, plugging each nostril for him with care.
"I can't get over it. Even her quirk's perfect… I can't take my eyes off of her… I… I…"
"That'll have to do for now." said Yaoyorozu, appraising her own handiwork with hands to her hips.
"Every fucking thing she does is so sexy! How's that possible?! WHY'S that possible?! She's not even trying to do anything, so why is it all so fucking perfect?! It's like watching some artsy statue come to life and move around like it's a regular person… I can hardly even get out a damn word… I'm in hell's erotic art gallery and apparently I'm allowed to make a lot of fucking noise here. That should really fucking bug me… but instead… I feel like I'd be fine just staring at her all day…"
"Sorry, Bakugo," she followed, satisfied with her work. "But you did come after me."
The Junoesque young woman left him with that, looking left and beginning to jog in the direction of her next objective. Seeing her breasts begin to bounce made Katsuki desperately wish his eyes could follow after her, even if the rest of his body had to remain bound. Immobile as he was, the boy was still able to turn his feet enough to look after his dark-haired classmate as she grew further and further away.
"Yaoyorozu…" Katsuki said aloud to himself, admiring everything to admire as the crimson plane gradually faded away.
Defeat was as mortifying as it had always been in the boy's experience. Even so, it was a more nuanced brand of shame than he was used to feeling. Losing to Deku or being captured by villains ignited every fiber capable of wrath in his being. That was the standard. Defeats were to be followed with righteous anger, lighting a fire under the explosive young hero that he never failed to use in a vengeful triumph. How dare anyone think they could beat him and get away with it. Katsuki blew away everyone who even had the nerve to try.
And then there were his failures last week. Failures that had rightfully stung his pride, but neither the shame nor the rage that followed were as deep as they should have been by all rights. The dream of losing to Uraraka, his defeats at the hands of Kendo, Ashido out-swimming him, and now his grandest failure yet of falling to Yaoyorozu without managing to so much as lift a finger. They all shared a common thread; The same layered feeling that had plagued the boy all week… That a part of him liked it.
Their more than formidable feminine wiles enticed him, but what made him incessantly long for them at length was an amalgam. Beauty slowed him, ingenuity impassioned him, and if they had those qualities and were also able to challenge him - And perhaps even come out on top - then they paralyzed him outright after a certain threshold. Was it the escalation of his symptoms or his obstacles that had left him mummified in the U.A. Sports Festival's first round?
"Yaoyorozu…"
Katsuki couldn't tear the name away from his mind, nor his eyes from her distant figure. Yet another newfound name that wouldn't be through torturing Bakugo any time soon. Though highly impractical given the growing distance, he still found himself eyeing her backside from afar. Out of focus, the boy could vaguely see that the brainiac was running towards Birdbrain and Frog Girl, who were in what appeared to be a massive struggle for one of the few remaining untouched piles. Of course, given his stupefied state, these observations didn't make Katsuki think twice.
"Fuck… Her name, her damn body… I can't stop thinking about any of it!"
The flame of rage he wished to fully ignite couldn't maintain itself. The more Bakugo tried to get angry in order to get his head in the game, the more he remembered how he'd gotten in his current predicament and the buxom beauty who'd bested him. Every inclination towards wrath was forcefully rerouted to lust.
Unprecedented attractiveness, cleverness, and the skills to back it all up. Yaoyorozu had violently checked all the boxes of Katsuki's known innate desires, leaving the boy in such a doting state that more than freedom, he wanted only for her to come back and face him so he could admire her matchless features once more.
"ANNNNNDDDDD WE'RE FIVE MINUTES IN ALREADDDYYYY!" Present Mic boomed from above. "Halfway through and it still seems like there could be some major upsets! What do you think Eraserhead?! Do you have a favorite to win it all?!"
"A lot will come down to whether or not those in the lead can keep their eggs in play. Those with more combat oriented quirks are sure to try and exploit this as the frontrunners emerge."
"OH! You mean like Katsuki Bakugo's maneuver we saw at the start?!"
"Same premise, different execution. Rather than try to diminish a frontrunners lead, Bakugo decided to take the initiative and take as many eggs out of play as possible so there'd be less to go for altogether, hurting everyone some instead of hurting one competitor a lot. As more of the remaining eggs are claimed, we're going to see significantly more targeting."
"SOUNDS LIKE THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HEAT UP THEN, EVERYONE!" Present Mic followed. "Speaking of Bakugo, where'd he go?!"
"He's the mummified one who can't move," Eraserhead commented dryly. "Bakugo severely underestimated his opponent. Because of that, she may have already eliminated him here."
"WHOA! THAT'S CRAZZZYYY! I guess a lot of us missed out on that due to all the commotion! Which student got the upper hand on last year's winner?!"
"Momo Yaoyorozu," answered Shota Aizawa with a tinge of pride. "She employed a tactic from her final exam last year, using everything she's learned to compete with the others at the top of her class."
"Amazing! I thought that mummy looked familiar! Is that the same material as your famous scarf, Eraser?!"
"Not quite. The material's different in some fundamental ways. It's something all her own at this point."
"INCREDIBLE!"
The crowd roared over the last of Present Mic's praise. Katuski was finally seething with rage by the end of it. Tempted to hurl explicit insults at the loud mouthed announcer, he refrained due to a gratitude beneath his venner of fury. If not for the peanut gallery, he might never have shaken his lecherous thoughts. Now that his eyes and mind had been given a chance to focus elsewhere, King Explosion Murder could finally begin his comeback. First, however, came the necessity of breaking his bindings.
"She really did a number on you, huh?" assessed a familiar voice lightheartedly.
Katsuki inched his feet leftward to look address the smugly grinning ginger.
"THE HELL DO YOU WANT, KENDO?! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY HERE?!"
AN:
The Preview:
Half of the first round behind him, Bakugo finds himself immobilized by Yaoyorozu's creation, without an egg to his name. Itsuka Kendo appears and stokes the blonde's competitive spirit. When finally free, it's uncertain whether or not he'll have enough time left to even secure a place in the next round - much less place first! Next time: Comeback. Go beyond, plus ultra!
Yours Truly:
A little later than planned, but you all know how the holidays are! I've made a poll for you all to vote for your favorite ship and/or hopes for the endgame. Can't promise it'll have any impact on the story, but I'm always interested to hear who you guys are rooting for! Thanks for continuing to follow the story everyone, hope you all enjoyed yourselves!
More to come,
ER
Review Responses:
Ultimatrix bearer - Hard to say if it's all types just yet, but unfortunately for Young Bakugo, U.A. is just stacked haha
Ultimate Savior - Hope you're enjoying the ride so far! There's more to come!
The Keeper of Worlds - No telling what Mina will do going forward lol Wildcards are unpredictable.