𝓝𝓸𝓽 𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓖𝓸𝓮𝓼 | Katsuki Bakugou x Male reader

Chapter 11

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(M/N)'s feet backed up automatically and he blended into the trees. He covered his mouth with his glove to disperse the white of his breath in the icy air. Adrenaline coursed through him, wiping all the concerns of the day from his mind as he focused on the immediate threat before him. What was going on? Had the Head Peacekeeper turned on the fence as an additional security precaution? Or did he somehow know (M/N) escaped his net today? Was he determined to strand (M/N) outside District 12 until he could apprehend and arrest him? Drag him to the square to be locked in the stockade or whipped or hanged?

Calm down, (M/N) ordered himself. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd been caught outside the district by an electrified fence. It had happened a few times over the years but Shoto was always with him. The two of them would just pick a comfortable tree to hang out in until the power shut off, which it always did eventually. If (M/N) was ever running late, Eri even got in the habit of going to the Meadow to check if the fence was charged, to spare their mother's worry.

But today his family would never imagine he'd be in the woods. He'd taken a few steps to mislead them. So if he didn't show up, worry they would. And there was a part of (M/N) that was worried, too, because he wasn't sure that this was a coincidence, the power coming on the very day he returned to the woods. He thought no one saw him sneak under the fence, but who knows? There were always eyes for hire. Someone reported Shoto kissing him in that very spot. Still, that was in daylight and before (M/N) was careful about his behaviour. Could there be surveillance cameras? (M/N) wondered about this before. Was this the way President Nezu knew about the kiss? It was dark when (M/N) went under and his face was bundled in a scarf. But the list of suspects likely to be trespassing into the woods was probably very short.

(M/N)'s eyes peered through the trees, past the fence, into the Meadow. All he could see was the wet snow illuminated here and there by the light from the windows on the edge of the Seam. No Peacekeepers in sight, no signs he was being hunted. Whether the Head Peacekeeper knew that he left the district today or not, (M/N) realised his course of action had to be the same: to get back inside the fence unseen and pretend he never left.

Any contact with the chain link or the coils of barbed wire that guarded the top would mean instant electrocution. (M/N) didn't think he could burrow under the fence without risking detection, and the ground was frozen hard, anyway. That left only one choice. Somehow he was going to have to go over it.

(M/N) began to skirt along the tree line, searching for a tree with a branch high and long enough to fit his needs. After about a kilometre, he came upon an old maple that could work. The trunk was too wide and icy to climb up though, and there were no low branches. (M/N) climbed a neighbouring tree and leaped precariously onto the maple, almost losing his hold on the slick bark. But he managed to get a grip and slowly inched his way out on a limb that hung above the barbed wire.

As (M/N) looked down, he remembered why he and Shoto always waited in the woods rather than tried to tackle the fence. Being high enough to avoid getting fried meant being at least six metres in the air. He guessed his branch must be eight. That was a dangerously long drop, even for someone who's had years of practice in trees. But (M/N) didn't have another choice. He could look for another branch, but it was almost dark now. The falling snow would obscure any moonlight. Here, at least, he could see he had a snowbank to cushion his landing. Even if he could find another, which was doubtful, who knows what he would be jumping into.

(M/N) threw his empty game bag around his neck and slowly lowered himself until he was hanging by his hands. For a moment, he gathered his courage. Then he released his fingers.

There was the sensation of falling, then he hit the ground with a jolt that went right up his spine. A second later, his rear end slammed against the ground. He laid there in the snow, trying to assess the damage. Without standing, he could tell by the pain in his left heel and his tailbone that he was injured. The only question was how badly. (M/N) was hoping for bruises, but when he forced himself onto his feet, he suspected he'd broken something as well. He could walk, though, so he got moving, trying to hide his limp the best he could.