Protecting You (Katsuki Bakugo x Reader)

Chapter 44- Protecting You

The world held its breath as they saw a young seventeen-year-old girl standing in front of the symbol of peace, the only person that was willing to protect the man who dedicated his life to the people of Japan...the people of the world.

You held calm, steady, and firmly with your two training katanas in an X-formation. You stood tall and strong with the world's brightest smile to quell your fears deep inside. The remnants of blood mixed with your tears had stained your cheeks, but that didn't stop you at all. For some reason, the people who watched you around the world had a flicker of hope that maybe...just maybe...today would be the day the symbol of peace could finally pass the torch to the next generation.

Katsuki, Izuku, Shoto, Mitsuki, Masaru, Aizawa, Shinso...

...the President of the Hero Association, the Secretary of Defense, Mirio, Endeavor, Rei...

...every person who ever believed in you, who saw you as someone who had the talent to become a hero...they were watching you now and they were cheering you on, throats burning, with everything they had.

This was your test, this was what the Oracle knew was going to happen. He wouldn't have sent you off just to be a sacrifice to All for One...not when the souls of all of those who died lifted you to where you were today. You didn't come here to be a sacrifice to buy All Might some time. No, you came here as an ex-mercenary, a hero from U.A. High, and as one of All Might's most precious students.

Even All Might needed to be saved, and you were the only person fearless enough to do it.

"(Y/n)! What do you think you're doing?! Get out of here before he kills you! I-...I can't protect you!" All Might grunted out in pain. You noticed the helicopter in the sky and a few reporters far out on the boundary of the battlefield with Endeavor and the medics who worked with Best Jeanist and the other heroes. They couldn't make out the quiet conversation, but if you yelled loud enough, their mics could pick it up.

All Might watched as you stood so proudly in front of him, just turning your face enough for him to see your bright smile. His heart skipped a beat when he watched you, tears springing to his sunken in blue eyes when you took upon the image of his own Master, Nana Shimura. He felt like a teenager again...one too weak to stop All for One from killing the person he loved most. He felt like he was watching it with his own eyes all over again.

"It's alright, All Might. I am here this time to protect you. To keep this symbol of peace alive. It's not just you anymore, this fire burns in all of us who want to be a hero. I feel it in my heart that I was meant to stand here...I was meant to protect you now." The way you spoke with such ease...even All Might had to fight the rock that seemed to lodge itself in his throat.

"(Y/n)..." Tears billowed down All Might's sunken in cheeks...fear holding his heart with an iron grip. He watched his teacher die...now his student stood before him because he was too weak to stand back up.

"To smile bright so the world knows everything will be okay. To proudly stand tall with confidence to say 'I am here'...these are the things that make a great hero, right All Might? Well, I'm smiling bright...you'll be safe because I am here." All Might was choking on the tears as he saw the spirit of his Master within you, your smile reminding him of his loss and greatest failure.

"Ahh Miss (y/n)...you were foolish to return here. Now that I can drain you with All Might too weak to stand in my way, I'll finally become un-killable." All for One chuckled to himself with this sense that he already won, as if you wouldn't stand a chance. Maybe he was right and you did put the final nail in your coffin...but there was something inside of you that reeked with confidence that you made the right choice.