PUPPET // KATSUKI BAKUGO [1]

Chapter 54 // A Far Away Peace

You tapped your foot nervously against the metal steps of the ambulance. You had been sitting next to Todoroki for a few minutes now, watching and waiting as they treated his wound and gave him a blanket.

There were more heroes and police surrounding the scene now. Bakugo hadn't been allowed to even get close to you and Todoroki yet because the paramedics wanted to have space to do their job. You could see Bakugo impatiently waiting a few yards away as Aizawa spoke with an officer.

"You doing okay?" you asked Todoroki, who held an ice pack to his freshly stitched and bandaged wound.

"I'm good," he nodded. "You should probably go see Bakugo before he blows another fuse."

You patted Todoroki's shoulder with a forced smile before standing up, pushing past some heroes and cops, and walking over to Bakugo.

"You gotta stop scaring me," Bakugo stated firmly as he yanked you into his arms. One snaked around your waist while the other wrapped around your shoulders, his hand cupping the back of your head, which he pressed into his own neck.

"I'm fine," you murmured against his skin while loosely circling your arms around his torso. "Todoroki was the only one injured."

Despite your words, Bakugo still leaned back to observe you. His hands cupped your face as he scanned for injuries and examined your entire body.

"I'm fine," you repeated, this time a bit more sternly. "No scratches or bruises."

"Always getting yourself into trouble," Bakugo stated with a sigh as his hands settled on your hips. You lifted your arms and rested them on his shoulders.

"Miss [L/N]?"

You turned at the sound of a shy feminine voice to find a female police officer standing behind you.

"Can you join me and Eraserhead for a talk for a moment?" she asked. "I'm afraid your...friend will have to stay here."

You looked back at Bakugo, who didn't seem pleased to be excluded from the conversation, but he eventually wordlessly released you to avoid an argument.

"Be right back," you said shortly. In a spur of the moment, you planted a quick kiss on his cheek, which left him flustered as you walked away with the police officer.

Once three of you were alone and distanced from the crowd, Aizawa spoke first, saying, "I want you to tell her," he gestured toward the officer, "what you told me but in more detail."

"Okay..." you trailed off slowly before turning toward the woman. "Todoroki and I were training when we heard this thumping sound. Suddenly, the door was busted down with so much force that it flew across the room. Todoroki pulled us to the floor, but he got hit in the head with the door on the way down, which is where he got the gash from. A man came in. He had short brown hair, gold eyes, and a mask like a bird beak. I decided to take the offensive since I have a provisional hero license now, and I swung from the ceiling and kicked the villain in the back. It got weird after that. He just let me kick him. After he recovered, he circled us for a bit as I shielded Todoroki, and he eventually left. He didn't fight or use his quirk. He just broke in, let me beat down on him, and then left."

The officer scribbled what information she deemed important onto the notepad in her hand before saying, "I'm confident you were right about the suspect, Eraserhead."

"You know the villain?" you questioned.

"Lots of us do," Aizawa replied with a tired sigh. "His name is Kai Chisaki, goes by Overhaul. He's the leader of a Yakuza organization called the Shie Hassaikai. Some of us heroes and the Hero Public Safety Commission have been tracking him for a while. He's involved in some dangerous transactions and work."

"The question is why?" The officer said. "Why did he show up in the first place? Did he plan to fight and then back out? Did he realize there were alarms and run to avoid getting caught?"

"He's too smart for that," Aizawa shook his head, "way too smart. If he's been able to avoid us for this long, he wouldn't do something this stupid. There has to be a reason."

You thought back to the break in, remembering ever detail in great depth to try and find evidence for a reason, any reason.

"You know how I observe people?" you said, and Aizawa nodded. "This Overhaul guy seemed like he was doing it. He never took his eyes off me, and he was watching every move I took, but he never tried to retaliate. It's also weird how he didn't pay any attention to Todoroki. It's like this guy was pretending Todoroki wasn't even there. He was focusing on me and nothing else. It's like he was trying to get to know me."

"Is there a chance he could've been after her?" The officer asked Aizawa. "Maybe he was going to take her but realized the odds weren't in her favor."

"No, he had plenty of time," Aizawa shook his head as he wore a conflicted expression. "If he really wanted to take her, he would've. There's a chance he just wanted to give us a scare, set us on the wrong course to give him more time to do whatever it is he's planning, but there's also a chance he's made [L/N] a target."

"The hell did I do to him?" you questioned while throwing your hands in the air to exaggerate your frustration.

"Nothing. He's a villain. You don't need to provoke one to make them act," Aizawa replied before turning to the police officer. "I want any officer who's free of work to be focusing on the Shie Hassaikai case. This guy needs to be found as soon as possible."

"On it. I'll file this information in the report," the woman nodded firmly before walking off.

"Can we ever get some peace?" you wondered aloud tiredly.

"You've chosen a hero life," Aizawa sighed. "The life of a hero rarely comes with peace."

[EDITED]