𝓐 𝓜𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷 𝓔𝓷𝓭 | Katsuki Bakugou x Male Reader

Chapter 26

---

Out in the hall, (M/N) found Sasaki standing in exactly the same spot. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.

(M/N) held up the white bud in answer and then stumbled past him. (M/N) must have made it back to his room because the next thing he knew, he was filling a glass with water from the bathroom faucet and sticking the rose in it. He sank to his knees on the cold tile and squinted at the flower, as the whiteness seemed hard to focus on in the stark fluorescent light. His finger caught the inside of his bracelet, twisting it like a tourniquet, hurting his wrist. He was hoping the pain would help him hang on to reality the way it did for Katsuki. He had to hang on. He had to know the truth about what happened.

There were two possibilities, although the details associated with them could vary. First, as he had believed, the Capitol sent in that hovercraft, dropped the parachutes and sacrificed its children's lives, knowing the recently arrived rebels would go to their aid. There was evidence to support that. The Capitol's seal on the hovercraft, the lack of any attempt to blow the enemy out of the sky, and their long history of using children as pawns in their battle against the districts. Then there was Nezu's account. That a Capitol hovercraft manned by rebels bombed the children to bring a speedy end to the war. But if that was the case, why didn't the Capitol fire on the enemy? Did the element of surprise throw them? Had they no defences left? Children were precious to 13, or so it had always seemed. And why would they do it knowing their own medics would likely respond and be taken out by the second blast? They wouldn't. They couldn't. Nezu was lying. Manipulating (M/N) as he always had. Hoping to turn him against the rebels and possibly destroy them. Yes. Of course.

Then what was nagging him? Those double-exploding bombs, for one. It wasn't that the Capitol couldn't have the same weapon, it was just that (M/N) knew the rebels did. Tenya and Shoto's brainchild. Then there was the fact that Nezu made no escape attempt. It seemed hard to believe that he didn't have a retreat somewhere, some bunker stocked with provisions where he could live out the rest of his life. And finally, there was his assessment of Kaina. What was irrefutable was that she had done exactly what he said. Let the Capitol and the districts run one another into the ground and then sauntered in to take power. Even if that was her plan, it didn't mean she dropped those parachutes. Victory was already in her grasp. Everything was in her grasp.

Except (M/N).

He recalled Mashirao's response when he admitted he hadn't put much thought into Nezu's successor. "If your immediate answer isn't Kaina, then you're a threat. You're the face of the rebellion. You may have more influence than any other single person. Outwardly, the most you've ever done is tolerate her."

Suddenly, (M/N) was thinking of Eri, who was not yet fourteen, not yet old enough to be granted the title of soldier, but somehow working on the front lines. How did such a thing happen? That his sister would have wanted to be there, he had no doubt. That she would be more capable than many older than her. But for all that, someone very high up would have had to approve putting a thirteen-year-old in combat. Did Kaina do it, hoping that losing Eri would push (M/N) completely over the edge? Or, at least, firmly on her side? He wouldn't even have had to witness it in person. Numerous cameras would be covering the City Circle. Capturing the moment forever.

(M/N) badly needed help working it out, only everyone he trusted was dead. Keigo, Mashirao, Eri. Denki wouldn't be able to do more than speculate, and (M/N) hadn't seen him since Kinoko's shop and had no idea of his current whereabouts. Katsuki also wouldn't be able to offer much insight from his perspective, and who knew what state his mind was in, anyway. That left only Shoto. He was far away, but even if he were there, could (M/N) confide in him? What could he say, how could he phrase it, without implying that it was Shoto's bomb that killed Eri? The impossibility of that idea, more than any, was why Nezu had to be lying.