Of Monsters And Men | Bakugo Katsuki X OC

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Summary ~ The war between humanity and aliens began in 2013 when the first Kaiju hauled itself out of the depths of the ocean. It rampaged through three cities, destroying everything in its path and killing thousands before it was finally taken down. As more Kaiju emerged from the sea, nations put aside rivalries and hatred in order to ban together and find a solution to save the human race.

Azusa had never imagined that this would be the world that she would grow up in. Mankind using giant robots to take down massive alien monsters sounds like the stuff of movies not the reality that she’s forced to live. She had also never imagined signing herself up to battle the monsters from the sea, but somebody needed to avenge her brother’s death and her father sure as hell wasn’t doing it.

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, suicidal ideation, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Heyy, Lovelies! This fic is my twist on MHA characters in the Pacific Rim universe. I am absolutely obsessed with Pacific Rim, it's probably my most favorite movie! So this fic is my mash up of two of my fave things. It is xOC instead of xReader, but I hope that you enjoy it all the same. I'm one of those readers who will imagine myself as the main chacter no matter what, so this can be read as reader-insert. Anyway, enough with my rambling, enjoy the story My Lovelies! <3

“Get going, Azusa!” He says with urgency as he ushers her out of the kitchen.

“I’m not fucking going anywhere without you, Toya! I have a bad feeling about this one! Please listen to me, don’t go with Dad!” She pleads over the sounds of their younger siblings crying.

“Dammit Azusa, I have to! Dad doesn’t have another co-pilot! We’ll be fine, just go!” He borderline shouts at her as he makes his way to the door.

“Don’t go! Please, don’t go!” She cries, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the door.

“Fucking let me go! This is a job, Azusa, and I’ve been called to go do it! Go help Mom with Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shoto!” He yells, ripping his arm out of her grasp and rushing out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“Dammit, Toya-”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Jolting upright in her bed, chest heaving and tears wetting her face, Azusa slams the button on her alarm. Letting out a groan, she wipes at her face and tries to even out her breathing. It takes a few minutes, as it always does, but she finally manages to recover and drags herself out of bed.

“Thanks, subconscious.” She mumbles bitterly as she makes her way to the bathroom. She goes through the motions of her everyday routine; getting dressed, putting her hair up, brushing her teeth, staring at the old family vacation photo on her dresser for too long.. Numbly, she finishes lacing up her boots, then stands up ready to answer the door for the knock she knows is coming.

The predicted knock does happen and she opens the door to greet her sister, “Morning, Fuyumi.” She says as she steps out of her room, closing the door behind her and locking it.

“Good morning, Azusa! You ready for today?” Fuyumi asks her as the two make their way to the elevator.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She says with a slight shrug as they step into the elevator.

After pressing the button for the Mess Hall, Fuyumi joins her sister in leaning against the back wall of the elevator. She bumps her shoulder against Azusa’s with a small playful smile on her face.

“It’s a big day for you, kinda thought you’d be more hyped.” She comments, her features taking on a bit of concern.

“It’s just another day, Yumi. Just another day of being one of his soldiers that he couldn’t give less of a damn about.” Azusa replies in an emotionless tone to cover up the anger burning beneath her skin.

Fuyumi lets out a heavy sigh as the elevator doors open, “He does care, Zusa… And I know that it won’t be the same without Toya there to cheer you on.. but it’s been three years. There was nothing more you could have done that day to stop him. He’s gone, you’re here, and you worked your ass off to get to this point. You deserve to feel excited about today.” She says tiredly as they walk up to the food line.

“Yeah..” Azusa responds quietly, letting the conversation fizzle out. They fill up their trays with no further conversation being made, then head for a table with open seating.

Unfortunately for both of them the only table with open seating just so happens to be next to the table that Katsuki Bakugo and his group are sitting at. Azusa rolls her eyes at the comments and praises she hears being thrown the blonde’s way as she sits down. It’s been two years since her group entered the Ranger Program and Bakugo’s arrogant personality hasn’t dimmed a bit. Not even being behind the scenes during humanity’s war against aliens has done anything to lessen his pompous attitude.

“Who do you think you’ll be Drift-compatible with, Bakugo?” Azusa hears Mina’s perky voice ask.

“I don’t think any of you extras could handle being in my head and I sure as hell don’t wanna be in any of your idiotic brains. I’m just gonna ask the Marshal to let me pilot by my damn self.” Bakugo replies with a tone full of annoyance, earning himself a few gasps of shock and a bit of laughter.

“Oh c’mon man, you know single piloting is impossible even with the tech we have now! Plus, I think we’d be Drift-compatible! We work well together and we’re both super manly!” She hears Kirishima exclaim and she lets out a small huff of laughter at the pose she knows he’s doing even without looking at him.

“I don’t need a damn co-pilot and if I am forced to have one, it better not be any of you idiots!” Bakugo bites out and Azusa rolls her eyes once again as she digs into her breakfast.

“What a jerk, Dad’s gonna be pissed if Bakugo actually puts in that request,” Fuyumi comments quietly before taking a sip of her juice.

Azusa silently nods her head in absentminded agreement as she takes another bite. Suddenly, everyone around her quiets down, their heads bowing in respect and words becoming low whispers.

“Good morning, Rangers.” Marshal Todoroki greets, his booming voice echoing throughout the Mess Hall and demanding attention.

“As many of you know, today is the day that groups A through D will be testing to find their Drift-compatibility partners, or rather, their co-pilots. All other groups will be excused from their training to witness the event, but do not mistake this as a free day. Learn something from what you witness. As for groups A through D, tests will begin at 0800. Be prepared and be on time.” He continues, his stern tone making everyone give an intimidated nod of understanding.

“Ranger Azusa Todoroki,” Marshal Todoroki calls out, causing everyone’s eyes to turn toward the girl. Azusa clenches her jaw and her eyes meet the cold blue ones of her father.

“Come to my office once you have finished breakfast. Thank you, everyone, you may carry on.” He finishes with a slight bow of his head before he and his second-in-command, Marshal Shota Aizawa, turn to leave. Noise ensues once again with the disappearance of the Marshal’s presence. Meaningless chatter and the clattering of dishware fill the room, but one voice, in particular, catches Azusa’s attention as very much intended by the voice’s owner.

“Aww, the princess get in trouble, again?” Bakugo’s taunting comment grates at Azusa’s eardrums and her grip on her chopsticks tightens.

Other than the whitening of her knuckles, she gives no reaction toward the blonde, her eyes cast down toward her food tray despite wanting to glare at Bakugo. She numbly finishes her breakfast, tells Fuyumi that she’ll see her later, then stands to clear her place. She can feel eyes on her as she takes her tray to the trash bin, but she maintains her facade of emotionless neutrality as she walks out of the Mess Hall.

“The fuck does the old man want now?” She mumbles out angrily under her breath as she steps into the elevator.

Jamming her finger against the button for the floor that the Marshal’s office is on, she lets out a long breath. Stepping back to the middle of the elevator, Azusa crosses her arms over her chest and closes her eyes. A minute or two passes and the elevator groans as it comes to a stop. She prepares herself, mentally and physically, to step out of the elevator when the doors begin to open but pauses when she comes face to face with Marshal Todoroki.

“Marshal?” She questions, bowing her head slightly, confusion flashing over her features before she settles back into her neutral state.

“We will be going down to the Shatterdome instead.” Marshal Todoroki says, his voice taking on a much different tone than earlier.

He stares at Azusa with an expectant look as he waits for her to move back so that he can step into the elevator. Azusa shakes the confusion from her mind and dutifully steps back to let the large man through the doorway. Tense silence fills the cramped-feeling space as she presses the button for the Shatterdome. The elevator groans once again as it begins descending.

“Why are we going to the Shatterdome, Sir?” Azusa asks, tone neutral and emotionless and the Marshal lets out a tired sigh.

“Azusa, please, it’s just the two of us you can call me da-”

“I stopped calling you that a long time ago, Enji. Why would I start again now? Just tell me why you wanted me to meet with you instead of letting me go get ready for my Drift-compatibility tests.” Azusa bites out, cutting off her father’s words.

Marshal Todoroki’s jaw clenches and his fists clench before the tension deflates from his body and a look of defeat fills his features, “I want to show you something.” He replies vaguely and Azusa sends him an incredulous look.

“You want to show me something?? This is ridiculous! I need to be getting ready, not dealing with your feeble attempts at earning my forgiveness ba-” Azusa’s anger gets the better of her until she cuts herself off, clamping her mouth shut as the elevator doors open.

Marshal Todoroki stays silent as they step out of the elevator, only opening his mouth to greet others. They move through the hustle and bustle of the Shatterdome, walking past Jaeger after Jaeger and all of the people working on said Jaegers. They finally stop at the far end of Bay 12, both of them turning their bodies toward the Jaeger standing tall against the wall. Azusa’s neck cranes as she looks up at the gigantic robot, a tidal wave of emotions flooding her as she takes it in.

“Bravo Inferno,” Azusa whispers out, tears building up on her lash lines and the Marshal quietly nods from beside her. “The day Toya died.. I thought she was too destroyed to salvage, I mean, you barely came back in one piece.. H-how is she here?” She asks, her voice thick with emotion and tears slipping down her face.

“It took the repair techs a long time, but they were able to put her back together. In fact, she’s better than she was before.. on the inside, that is. I made sure the outside was redone to look the same as when she first came out of production.” Marshal Todoroki says quietly, his hands clasped behind his back professionally but his face full of emotions.

Azusa stares up at her brother’s old Jaeger with a mixture of awe and sadness. The blue flame-colored paint reflects the lights of the Shatterdome, giving it a pearlescent shine. Bravo Inferno’s emblem, a flaming phoenix, is stamped proudly on the left side of its chest along with the numbers from the year it was made. From head to toe, the Jaeger looks just like it had the day Azusa watched it leave the base being piloted by her brother for the last time.

“What was the point of this?” Azusa asks, coming back to her senses and remembering that she is standing with the man responsible for her brother’s death. “You piloting again or something?”

Still looking up at Bravo Inferno, the Marshal shakes his head, “No, my piloting days are long since over with. I’m passing Bravo Inferno on to you, Azusa. It’s.. it’s what Toya would have wanted had he thought the war would still be going on.” He says looking at Azusa with the ghost of a smile on his saddened face.

It takes a moment for Azusa to work past the lump in her throat, to straighten her back even though she wants to fall to her knees and sob. A strained “thank you” makes its way out of her mouth as she blinks away the tears in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Azusa cracks her knuckles before crossing her arms and waiting for the tests to begin. She and the other Rangers who will be testing today are gathered around the training mats, most idly chatting as they wait for Marshal Todoroki and Marshal Aizawa. She does a quick glance around and sees some of the other Rangers stretching, so she follows suit.

“Hey, Azusa!” Someone calls out excitedly right as Azusa hears footsteps approaching her. Turning her head, she catches sight of Tetsutetsu and Kendo making their way toward her. She sends them a small smile and waves, Tetsutetsu’s bright smile making her want to put on sunglasses.

“Hey guys,” she says when the two get up to her, narrowly dodging Tetsutetsu when he tries to engulf her in a hug.

“You nervous?” Kendo asks when the three of them fall back into warm-up stretches.

“Nope. I just hope that I get a good co-pilot.” Azusa answers simply as she leans further into a leg lunge.

“How are you not nervous?? Literally, everyone will be watching; Rangers, Rangers-in-training, Marshal Aizawa, Marshal Todoroki.. You’re seriously not nervous about your dad watching the tests??” Tetsutetsu rambles out before he is whacked upside the head by Kendo.

“Dude, shut up!” Kendo reprimands and Azusa huffs out a laugh.

“No, I’m not nervous. I don’t care who’s watching.” Azusa says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Attention, Rangers!” Marshal Aizawa’s stern voice calls out and everyone stands at attention.

“At ease,” Marshal Todoroki calls out next as he steps up next to Marshal Aizawa. Everyone relaxes but keeps their full attention on the two men at the front of the room.

“We’ll go over a brief explanation of how the tests will work, then we’ll get started.” Marshal Aizawa starts as the bleachers along the walls of the room begin filling with the other groups of Rangers-in-training that aren’t testing.

“The tests will work like this; one-on-one melee combat with bo staffs. You all have been broken up into smaller groups based on your results from previous Drift simulations and screenings. These one-on-ones will help better identify who exactly you work well with. Remember Rangers, these are dialogues, not fights. The goal is to find a co-pilot that keeps up with your moves and keeps the scores even. Should one of you outright win a match then we’ll know that person is not a match for you. The cementing stage of this test will occur at a later date when you and your co-pilot are assigned a Jaeger and go through your first real Drift together.” Marshal Aizawa explains in his normal serious yet tired tone.

“Rangers Bakugo, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Todoroki, Kendo, and Hado, grab your bo staffs then step onto the mat. Each of you will have one match with each other then Marshal Todoroki and I will review your scores later. Your co-pilots will be announced tomorrow if we get through everyone’s tests today. Marshal Todoroki, if you would choose the starting pairings, please,” Marshal Aizawa says and Marshal Todoroki scans over the six Rangers lined up in front of him.

“Kendo with Bakugo, Tetsutetsu with Hado, and Kirishima with Todoroki.” Marshal Todoroki says, tone firm as always and his gaze already full of judgment.

“Rangers spread out across the mat with your respective opponent and assume position. You will begin when I say so.” Marshal Aizawa commands and the Rangers listen accordingly.

Once they’ve reached a space far enough away from the other pairs, Azusa faces Kirishima with her bo staff positioned diagonally in front of her. She takes in a deep breath, steadying the few nerves that have crept into her system, and bends her knees slightly ready to move to either defend or attack. Kirishima does the same, winking at her when their eyes meet with a playful smirk on his face.

“Rangers begin,” Marshal Aizawa commands, and the pairs begin their matches.

The match between Bakugo and Kendo ends quickly with the score being; Bakugou 4 and Kendo 1. That’s not to say that Kendo didn’t try her best to keep up with Bakugou, it’s just that the blonde was relentless. Despite them all being told that the matches were supposed to flow like dialogues and not fights, it’s just like Katsuki Bakugo to do his own thing. Tetsutetsu and Hado’s match ended a bit better with their scores being; Hado 4 and Tetsutetsu 2. In both of their typical fashions, they shook hands at the end of the match, both of them wearing confident smiles.

Kirishima and Azusa started out neck and neck, but that changed quickly when Azusa got the upper hand. Their match ended with the scores being; Azusa 4 and Kirishima 2. Azusa helped Kirishima up after her final time taking him down and wished him good luck on his next match. Kirishima, being the ever-bright ray of sunshine that he is, smiled warmly at her and thanked her for a good match.

The next three rounds of matches seemed to fly by while simultaneously feeling dragged out. Azusa had won by 1 point against both Hado and Kendo, which made her feel pretty good about ending up being co-pilots with either of them. She, unfortunately, lost by 2 points against Tetsutetsu and she was a little disappointed by the fact that one of her two best friends wasn’t a very good match for her to be co-pilots with. At the end of their, match Tetsutetsu gave her an encouraging smile and told her that he would have been honored to be co-pilots with her.

“Time for the final matches for the first six Rangers. The pairings will be as follows; Hado with Kendo, Tetsutetsu with Kirishima, and Bakugo with Todoroki. Get ready, Rangers.” Marshal Aizawa calls out, and Azusa’s entire being fills with dread.

“Prepared to lose, Princess?” Bakugo goads arrogantly as the two get into position and Azusa’s blood boils a bit.

Marshal Aizawa tells them to begin and Bakugo doesn’t hesitate to make the first move. Azusa blocks his bo staff a couple of times but ultimately Bakugo lands a hit to her shoulder.

“1-0.” Bakugo comments with a cocky smirk.

Not wasting another moment, Azusa swings her bo staff knocking the blonde’s bo staff away and rushing him. With quick movements, she brings her bo staff up, then swings it down, stopping it only inches from his face.

“1-1.” She says quietly, challenging him with her eyes while her face remains neutral.

They go back and forth for what feels like hours, both of them having stopped keeping track of the score after they hit 2-2. Both of them panting and sweating, their match continues on and on until a booming voice pierces the bubble they seem to be in.

“That’s enough! Bakugo, Todoroki, your match is over. Put your bo staffs away and get on the sidelines.” Marshal Todoroki sternly tells the two and Bakugo releases Azusa from the hold he had her in.

The blonde stands and walks off to put his bo staff away, not bothering to offer Azusa help. The two don’t even look at each other once they’re both situated on the sidelines of the training mat, standing as far away from each other as possible. Kendo and Tetsutetsu both send Azusa twin looks of surprise mixed with heavy confusion, but she chooses to ignore them in favor of watching the next group of matches.

Note ~ I know that there may not be much to go off of but let me know what you think so far! Should I post chapter/part 2 sooner than planned? Idk, I'm just loving how the story is turning out and wanted to share it with yall! I love and appreciate you, Lovelies! <3

Ps, @tr-mha-fan I'm doing my best to work on your (second) request, I promise that I didn't ignore your ask, Lovely! <3

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover

it's okay if you're not on a rec list

it's okay if you don't have 1000 followers

it's okay if you haven't written as much as you wanted to this year

it's okay if you doubt yourself

it's okay to want more attention

it's okay if you're too shy to share your work

you are valued. you are here. you are important.

there's at least one person out there who recognizes you and looks forward to what you have to say.

you belong.

Sneak Peek

Hey, Lovelies! Just wanted to hop on here and give y'all a little treat for all the love you've shown One Life After Another, Forevermore. I've got another fic in the works right now, not sure if it'll be a oneshot or multi-part series. I'm calling it Dance With a Demon and it's definitely an 18+ fic, so minors DNI this post or furture posts about Dance With a Demon, please and thank you.

Enjoy the lil snippet, Lovelies~

You’re not sure when it happened but suddenly he is so close to you, crimson eyes sending a blazing heat through your body. Your breath hitches when you catch a whiff of his cologne and your panties are starting to feel much more damp.

“There’s some sort of lust factor to your Quirk, right? There has to be because I never feel like this towards anyone right off the bat,” He rasps out, his voice quieter than before and husky.

“Feel like what?” You whisper, playing the dumb-innocence card heavily as you stare into his eyes.

“Like I wanna fuck you until you’re nothing but a drooling mess cumming on my cock,” He rasps out huskily, his face mere centimeters from yours.

Shasta Rose's Masterlist

One Life After Another, Forevermore | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five (final)

Dance With a Demon | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

18+ Oneshot

Nicotine | Aizawa Shota x Reader

18+ Oneshot

Worship Me Like I Worship You | Bakugo Katsuki & Reader

Oneshot

Love's the Death of Peace of Mind | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Oneshot

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Earth Shattering | Bakugo Katsuki & Reader, Kirishima Eijiro x Reader

Part One | Part Two

The Greatest | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Part One | Part Two

Taking Over Me | Aizawa Shota x Reader

Part One | Part Two | Part Three |

One Life After Another, Forevermore | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five (final)

Note ~ This part is a long one folks.. nearly 5k words.. idk feels long to me so I thought I'd warn ya. Enjoy the read! <3

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!Reader, Reincarnation, Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, Emotional, Temporary Character Deaths, Depictions of Injuries, Potentially Triggering Content, No Use of Y/N, Hurts So Good (let me know if I should tag anything else <3)

When you had breathed the first breath of your second life you could already tell that it was vastly different than your first. With the little bit of understanding you had been given at the beginning of that new life, you noticed that your new world was underwater. Your parents seemed to be the same, though; your mother was loving while your father couldn’t care less about you.

As you got older, you learned that the new species you had been born into had called themselves Mermaids or Merfolk. You had a tail instead of legs and appendages called arms, hands, and fingers. You only had hair on your head and all of the teeth in your mouth were sharp.

Your tail and fins were stunning gradients of deep, dark purple into dark blue that shimmered in the sun. Your skin tone was a sun-kissed and glowing golden tan. Black claws grew from the nail beds of your webbed hands. Your long, flowy hair was jet black and your eyes were the same stunning violet with cracks of piercing blue. 

Growing up, your mother and the elders of your pod had told tales of destructive and vicious two-legged beings that lived on land. The stories of your captured and slain kin terrified and angered you. Luckily, in that new life, you had been born much stronger.

Your mother and elders had taught you and the other Mers your age how to become fierce hunters. Not only that but you had been taught how to fight and defend yourself in the face of danger. You had excelled so much that time around that you were regarded with the highest amounts of respect within your pod. A proud candidate of becoming a future leader of the pod someday.

Shortly after entering adulthood, you and a couple of other strong Mers within your pod were tasked with hunting along the reefs near the shoreline. While your mother worried for you, you reassured her that you wouldn’t have been given the task if you weren’t strong or fast enough to handle it. The task itself was easy, the schools of fish that gathered near the reefs made for easy hunting.

Your first few trips to the reefs went by without any problems and were always bountiful. You and the others you went with had yet to run into any of the evil two-legged beings that were rumored to live near the shore. You even got so bold as to perch yourself on a rock that stuck out of the water and sunbathe some days. You only got away with it because your group would split up to hunt and you were fast enough to collect a good bounty before you had to go back to the pod.

During what had felt like your millionth time out at the reef, you were excited to find that when you perched yourself on your usual sunbathing rock, the surface world was gloriously sunny and warm. Laying back on the warm rock, you unconsciously let the happy clicks and whistles leave your mouth.

As you sunbathed to your heart's content, you heard the familiar clicks and squeaks of a pod of dolphins swimming by. Sitting up with an excited smile, you clicked back at them, calling them over to play a bit. You slid back into the water when they drew nearer, having accepted your invite, and began swimming around and jumping with them. Some form of tag had ensued and you were chasing around some of the younger dolphins of the pod.

You were only out of the water for a moment, having been mid-jump, but a moment was all your sensitive ears needed to pick up the sound of voices drawing near the shoreline.

“Aw, man, look! Dolphins!!” An excited male voice had called out, the sound and vibrations of his heavy footsteps picking up their pace.

“Yeah, I see the fucking dolphins! Let’s just hope the bastards didn’t scare the fish away, again! Fishing in this area lately has been shitty!” Another raspier voice yelled out as the pair stepped onto the sandy shore.

You were quick to hide behind your sunbathing rock, only the top of your head and eyes sitting above the water. You fought the urge to hiss as you observed the two-legged beings mess with long weird sticks. But along with the anger, something else bubbled up inside of you, something strangely familiar.

It was a feeling that didn’t feel anything like anger and it left you confused. Two-legged beings were bad. They were monsters. They captured and killed your kind just for your scales. You hated them.. except.. looking at the tall, muscular, and angry-faced ash-blonde on the shore.. you didn’t feel any hate.

You flinched as the two males waved their long sticks around and hissed quietly as two separate somethings landed in the water not far from where you were hiding. You silently slipped completely under the water and swam to where one of the objects had sunk into the sea.

Right away, the flash of something shiny caught your attention along with something else brightly colored. Cautiously swimming closer, you saw that there was a piece of fish meat stabbed onto something curved and sharp. You weren’t sure what the shiny piece or the brightly colored thing was, but the whole thing seemed threatening.

You grabbed the object angrily intending to steal it, but instead, you felt a sharp pain as your hand closed around it. You screeched and tried to pull away but the object was tugged in the opposite direction instead. You momentarily panicked as the object embedded itself deeper into your palm as it was tugged. That’s when you noticed the shine of something very thin attached to the urchin-like weapon.

You quickly bit at the nearly invisible line, hearing the snap of it breaking as your sharp teeth sliced it. Seconds after, you heard yelling so loud that even the water around you barely muffled it. You snickered to yourself for having angered the two-legged being.

You sobered quickly though when the smell of your blood hit your nostrils. Looking back down at your hand, your stomach turned as you inspected the curved barbs embedded in your palm and fingers. Your hand was stuck in a partially crumpled position and blood steadily seeped from the wounds. You prayed to the Sea Goddess that there weren't any sharks around.

Of course, if you had remembered anything from your previous life, it should have been that luck did not favor you. 

It had happened fast, and your first sign had been when all of the reef fish had gone into hiding. Your second sign was the warning calls from the dolphins before they fled the area. You growled to yourself, pissed at the situation you had gotten yourself into.

You were fast but sharks were just a bit faster than Merfolk in general, so swimming away wasn’t an option. You also really didn’t want to get back up on your rock because the two-legged beings were still at the shoreline. But when you saw a flash of gray and white out of the corner of your eye, you knew that you had no other choice.

You darted back over to your rock and clumsily lifted yourself onto it. You had just barely managed to get your tail tucked to your side and away from the edge of the rock when the shark jumped out of the water towards you. You screeched at it loudly, narrowly avoiding its open and deadly mouth.

Letting out another shriek as it partially landed on your body, you swiped at it with your uninjured clawed hand. You slashed one of its eyes and left deep claw marks all over its face as it writhed and thrashed, desperate to get back in the water.

Avoiding its mouth the best you could, you shoved it away from you using both arms and all of your strength. Yet another screech left your mouth as you shoved the shark because the action was driving the object stuck in your hand deeper into your flesh. The shark finally fell back into the water but not without scraping its teeth along the length of your arm and pulling a pained shriek from your lungs.

Water as salty as the sea itself streamed down your face, seemingly from your eyes, and made it difficult to see. Pained noises rose from your throat involuntarily as your chest heaved. Your whole body shook uncontrollably as you watched the shark swim out to deeper waters and eventually disappear, coming to terms with the fact that there was no meal to be had here.

“What.. the.. fuck.. just.. happened?” The angrier male voice from earlier spoke aloud from behind you.

You whipped your head around even though the action caused the world to tilt and spin slightly. You attempted to hiss and growl and warn the two-legged monsters to stay away from you, but your attempts were weak. Your threats turned to whimpers and pained moans very quickly and you looked down at your arm. Blood flowed freely from the sliced flesh, steadily dripping onto the rock below you.

“Ah, uh.. Fuck! Are you okay?!” The previously cheerful redheaded male called out, his voice panicked. You looked back at them, debating whether or not you should answer or just leave and try to swim home.

“You dumbass! She probably doesn’t even understand you!” The angry blonde yelled at the redheaded male. The redhead was about to say something back to the blonde but you interrupted.

“I.. u-under.. s-stand.. W-we.. s-speak.. the.. s-same..” You weakly stuttered out as black spots began to appear in your vision.

“Are you able to come.. To.. shor-” The redhead tried to ask you but it was distant and muffled, and suddenly you were in the ocean again before everything went black...

When your eyes cracked open again, you panicked. Some sort of dim light had revealed that you were no longer in the ocean. Instead, you were surrounded by weird cave walls that weren’t rounded and were made of something weird that didn’t appear to be rock. Not only that, but you were in a very small body of water, the end of your tail had stuck out and was painfully dry.

Panicked clicks and squeals left your mouth as your eyes darted around. Pained yells soon left your mouth as you tried to climb out of the small body of water but your injured arm protested heavily against the action.

Suddenly, the angry blonde from earlier was bursting into the cave-not-cave. You hissed and growled defensively when he tried to approach you. He let out a quiet, irritated growl of his own and put his hands up in a placating manner. Something in you clicked into place when you heard that familiar growl of annoyance come from him and you immediately quieted down. You stared at him with wide and confused eyes while he lightly glared at you.

“You done throwing your damn tantrum?” He asked, his voice full of agitation.

You silently nodded and he rolled his eyes before putting his hands down and stepping closer to you. The pain in your arm and hand hit you again in full force and a loud, pained whimper left your mouth. You went to grab at your arm, now wrapped in weird red-stained material, as more whimpers left your mouth but a large warm hand stopped you.

“Shh, it’s okay. I know it hurts but you can’t touch it, understand?” The blonde said in as gentle a tone as he could muster with his raspy and gruff voice.

You looked into his eyes, his breathtakingly beautiful and familiar crimson eyes, as water flowed from yours once more. He reached his other hand up and carded his fingers through your hair soothingly, his face soft and concerned.

It was like the air was stolen from your lungs when you whispered, “You’re from my first life. You’re him.. My Eternal Love..”

The blonde’s eyes widened for a second before he gave a small smirk, “Yeah. My name is Katsuki Bakugo. Are you planning on being hurt every time we meet, idiot?” He said with a teasing smile on his face.

“It just sort of keeps happening, I’m sorry, Katsuki.” You apologized quietly then gave him your name.

“Do you.. Will you have to go back to the ocean, Violet?” Katsuki asked you, a sad look in his eyes.

“Violet? What is that? My name is not Violet.” You told him, confusedly.

“Agh.. I-I know that! But it’s the color of your damn eyes! And it’s the name of a stupid flower! It’s romantic, damn it! J-just answer my damn question, Violet!” He said exasperatedly as his cheeks turned pink.

A sense of warmth filled you at the name given to you by your Love and a small smile graced your lips. It soon turned to a frown as you thought back to his question.

“I’m not sure.. I don’t think I would be able to live out the rest of my life in this very tiny ocean and I’m sure my pod is worried that I didn’t return to them.. But I do not wish to leave you, Katsuki.” You said in anguish and looked back into his eyes as more water spilled from your own.

“Shh, Violet, shh..” Katsuki said gently as he pulled you to his chest. “How about we get your arm healed and we can figure it out after that?”

You nodded against his chest, your uninjured arm clutching the material he was wearing over his torso. The water continued to flow from your eyes and you let out a low irritated growl.

“What’s wrong now, Violet?” Katsuki asked as he leaned back to look at you.

“My eyes, Kats! What is this ocean water coming from my eyes?! Why won’t it stop?!” You asked exasperatedly.

“How do you speak the same language as me but not know what crying is or  the word ‘tears’?” Katsuki asked amusedly as he wiped the water from your face.

“Crying? Tears? Why are these things happening?” You asked curiously as the ‘tears’ from your eyes began to slow.

“It’s just something that happens when you get sad or hurt, or sometimes if you’re feeling really happy. I suppose you wouldn’t notice tears if you lived in the water.” Katsuki explained to you, then kissed your forehead.

You nodded quietly in understanding while a yawn suddenly left your mouth. A small smile curled the corners of Katsuki’s lips up and he stroked one of your cheeks.

“Get some more rest, my Violet. See that bed right over there? That’s where I sleep and it’s probably where I’ll be when you wake up again, okay?” Katsuki told you gently and you nodded your head again.

He helped you get the end of your tail rehydrated before you sank the top half of your body further into the water. With one last kiss to the top of your head, he made the dim light go out and got into his bed. You fell asleep quickly to the sound of your Love’s breathing and ocean water hugging your body.

The next day, you are woken up by the panicked voice of your Love, “Violet?! Hey! Wake up! C’mon, Violet, wake up!”

You groaned as you groggily opened your eyes, thoroughly confused about what all the commotion was about, “Wha..? What’s wrong, Kats?” You asked as you looked up at his wide eyes and shocked features.

“What’s wro- Violet, look down!” Katsuki said a bit too loudly.

You complied anyway and looked down at your tail.. or.. what had been your tail.. but was now a pair of golden-tan legs.

Shock settled on your face and your mouth gaped wordlessly. Holding out your arms you saw that your fingers, much like your new toes, were no longer webbed or clawed. You felt around your ears and discovered that they were just like Katsuki’s now, no longer bearing finned shells to improve hearing. Your tongue ran along the now flat edges of your teeth and the gills that used to line your ribs were gone.

The only evidence that you were a Mermaid at any point were the small patches of tiny shimmery scales on your arms, legs, and face. At a distance, they could be mistaken for freckles.

You looked up at Katsuki, a tidal wave of emotions crashing through you as you tried to take in what happened to you.

“You didn’t know you could do this?” Katsuki asked gently as he crouched down next to you. You shook your head as your breaths started to get more labored from the panic settling into your bones.

Katsuki was quick to act as he lifted you out of the water and brought you over to his bed. He covered you in something large and soft then seated you in his lap and hugged you close. He spoke soothing words into your hair and rocked you gently from side to side.

Once you had calmed down, you spoke in a shaky voice, “I’ve never heard of this happening. The elders of my pod never mentioned anything like this being possible.”

Katsuki was silent for a moment before speaking quietly, “Violet.. I’m sorry about you possibly losing your family and your home.. but.. what if this was meant to happen by way of the Goddess of Fate? What if this is for us to be together?”

“I.. I can only hope that I’ll be able to visit my home and my family again someday, maybe in my original form, but.. I am very grateful for this, Kats. Of course, I would want the chance for us, you are my Eternal Love.” You said softly and pulled away to look at Katsuki face to face.

Katsuki’s eyes widened a bit before filling with adoration and softening alongside the rest of his features. Neither of you said anything more before you both leaned in toward each other and slotted your lips together.

A few months later, you slowly woke up to the morning sunlight shining into the hut you shared with your Love. Katsuki was already awake, his head rested on your chest and faced towards your stomach as he whispered words and gently stroked the small bump that seemed to grow a little more each day. You smiled warmly as you looked down at your Love, your chest filled with overwhelming emotions.

“Good morning, my Love.” You said as you brought a hand up, your fingers running through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp.

You heard Katsuki whisper ‘I love you’ and then he kissed your stomach before he shifted his body to lean up and kiss your lips.

“Good morning, Violet.” He said with a smile. “You still want to come with me when I go fishing today?” He asked as he laid back onto the pillows and pulled your body even closer to his.

“Yes. I think it’s time I stop fearing that I’ll see a member of my pod and visit the ocean again. I’ve been missing it lately.” You said with mixed feelings.

You were excited at the thought of connecting with the sea again. Excited to walk along the shore, telling your unborn child about everything you see. But you were also nervous and scared of the chance of encountering a mer from your pod. You knew they would be angry at you for not only not coming back home but for choosing to stay on land with the humans.

“You have nothing to worry about, Violet. I’ve been fishing the spot we’ll be going to for a while and there haven’t been any signs of Mers in that area. The fish are always plentiful and my fishing gear stays intact unlike when your crazy ass cut my line.” Katsuki said with a teasing smirk at the end.

“But if I hadn’t messed with you that day and had gone back to my pod like I first wanted to then it would have taken us longer to be together again.” You told him and poked his cheek.

“You were also attacked by a fucking shark, Violet. I think it would have been okay for us to wait a little longer for each other if it meant I didn’t have to see you so damn injured again. But at least I was able to help you with your injuries this time.” He said with an upset look on his face before he hid it and nuzzled it into the crook of your neck.

You tried to apologize but he was quick to kiss you to prevent you from getting the words out. After many more kisses and a bit more time in bed just holding each other, you both got up. When the sun had reached its highest peak in the sky, you and Katsuki went into the village to get fishing bait. Once he had everything he needed, Katsuki led the way to the fishing spot.

It wasn’t a very long walk and your feet were sinking into the warm sand before you knew it. The water was fairly calm at the cove that Katsuki had brought you to, the waves gently lapping at the shoreline. You hesitated for a few moments before stepping only close enough that the water touched your feet when gentle waves rolled in. Your eyes had screwed shut and you anticipated the return of your tail and fins when the lukewarm ocean water first touched your skin.

You were brought out of your scared and racing mind when a large pair of arms wrapped around you and your Love’s voice filled your ears. “Are you okay, Violet?” Katsuki asked in a concerned tone as he rested his chin on your shoulder and his hands gently stroked your stomach.

“Y-yes, I think so.. I just wasn’t sure what would happen when I touched the sea again.” You explained after letting out a relieved sigh at the sight of your still-human legs.

“I told you that you would be fine, Violet. Now, make sure you watch my amazing fishing skills and tell our brat all about how great their papa is!” Katsuki declared with a smirk.

You giggled as he kissed your cheek, then let you go to pick up his fishing pole. He made sure you watched as he cast his line out, a triumphant smile on his face when it went out quite far.

You spent a while talking out loud about everything you saw, your Love’s fishing skills per his request, and shells you found in the sand. You had been in the middle of rubbing your stomach and telling your unborn child about small sea creatures when you were suddenly splashed and hissed at.

Fear washed over you and you stumbled away from the water’s edge. Your panicked eyes searched the water until they caught on a pair of glaring cold blue eyes and blonde hair. Even if that was all you could see you instantly recognized the Mer as your podmate Neito. Your arms wrapped protectively around your stomach and you glared back.

“What are you doing here, Neito? Leave!” You called out angrily. You were splashed and hissed at again, and suddenly Katsuki was standing in front of you protectively.

“Who the fuck is this, Violet? What’s going on?” Katsuki growled out as he glared at Neito who had fully raised his head above the surface.

“How dare you abandon your pod?! Especially for a two-legged! You know what they do to our kind and here you are with one, carrying its child!!” Neito shouted, his voice was full of bitter anger and disgust.

“What the fuck do you know about humans, huh?! What your damn elders have told you is fucking wrong!” Katsuki shouted back angrily, his arms held out to the sides as if to shield you from Neito’s words.

“Oh, I know plenty about you two-legged monsters. Though, I do suppose that you do not seem all that intimidating. I would go as far as to say that you seem like a weak one.” Neito taunted with a smug look on his face.

Before you could stop him, Katsuki had shouted out in anger and raced towards the water. He wasn’t more than shin deep when two other Mermaids appeared from the water and grabbed him. The water became foamy from Katsuki’s thrashing attempts to fight off the holds of the two Mers, but they remained unaffected as they dragged him into and under the water.

As soon as Katsuki was grabbed you screamed, fear and dread filled your body and mind. You ran towards the water after your Love and the Mers that were dragging him away. Neito and the other Mers were fast so by the time you were waist-deep you weren't sure where they had gone.

That’s when you felt your body changing and your vision whited out for a moment. When it cleared again you looked down at your body to see that you had gained your Mermaid features back; tail, fins, and everything else.

You pushed your sudden transformation to the back of your mind in favor of diving under the water and searching for your Love. With your Mer-hearing back, you heard and felt the vibrations from thrashing from feet away and near the surface. You swam as fast as you could towards the commotion, tears flowing from your eyes even though they were immediately lost to the ocean around you.

When you came upon Neito, the other two Mers, and Katsuki they were all surfaced and Katsuki was panting heavily. He was kicking his legs to keep himself afloat but he was no longer fighting the Mers holding him. Judging from his red and swelling cheek and the cut above his eye, you had guessed that the Mers hit him for fighting them.

You swam towards Katsuki but Neito blocked your path causing a growl to come from you and Katsuki. You quickly quieted yourself down when one of the Mers holding Katsuki slammed its tail into his stomach. The pained wheeze and cracking of Katsuki’s ribs caused your chest to hurt and your stomach to drop. You whimpered as you cried and peered around Neito, your eyes connecting with Katsuki’s. He tried to mouth that it was okay but all your brain focused on was the look in his eyes... The same one that he had had in your last life when you were dying.

“Finally, they’re here,” Neito said, his face still smug.

You watched in horror as the heads of  your parents and the rest of your pod surfaced, all of them wearing looks of disgust. You cried harder from the fear of the situation. Your parents swam up to you, your father’s face full of disgust and disappointment while your mother’s was full of shame and sadness.

“You have betrayed us. You have betrayed the pod. You, this monster, and the abomination you’re carrying inside your body must be punished.” Your father said in a bitter and cold tone. This may have only been your second life with your parents but you already resented the way your father made the decision to toss you away so easily.

Suddenly, your parents grabbed your arms and held onto you painfully tight as they dragged you beneath the surface. You heard Katsuki yell and curse until his voice was muffled from the mers holding him dragging him underwater.

You and your Love were positioned to face each other, the two of you being held in place by your captors as you all floated in the open water. Katsuki couldn’t speak it but you could see the fear and love in his eyes. Your heart shattered and you sobbed. The elders of your pod surrounded you both and you knew what they were going to command.

“I love you, Katsuki! I’m so sorry!” You screamed as you thrashed against your parents’ holds. You saw the air bubbles escape his mouth as he tried to say he loved you. Anguish, love, adoration, and heartbreak swirling in his eyes as well as yours.

“Drag him down.” You heard one of the elders of your pod command.

You shrieked, screeched, and wailed as you watched the two Mers quickly drag Katsuki down into the dark depths of the sea. Before you could attempt to break free and chase after your Love the elders gave another command, “Slice up the traitor then leave her and the abomination for the sharks.”

Your shrieks, cries of pain, and blood were all that filled the water as your pod mates took turns swimming past you and dragged their claws through your flesh. You don’t know how long the torture went on for but your voice had given out at some point and your body was almost numb to the feeling of flesh being torn. After your parents each had a turn at leaving their marks your pod left without another word or look back.

As you sank into the dark, cold depths you apologized to Katsuki and your unborn child. It wasn’t long before something fast swam past your limp body. Staring blankly up at the dimming surface, you were happy that your consciousness faded before you could feel the jaws of a great white bite into you.

Author's Note ~ A few months ago when I had first written this fic I *sobbed* as I typed out the end of this lifetime for our poor Katsuki and his Violet, soo.. uhm.. I'm sorry if you cry.. But I appreciate every single one of you Lovelies and thank you so much for everything! <3

Tag List ~ @damnirina @queenpiranhadon

Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven |

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, potentially triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, suicidal ideation, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Here's the second chapter, Lovelies! Hope yall enjoy the read, and let me know if there are any tags I should add! <3

Enji Todoroki has always been a focused and serious person, someone who always did what needed to be done. He may have hated being bossed around and being at the bottom of the food chain, but his drive for power and need to be at the top are what got him where he is today. The day he became a Marshal was the day he truly began to look down on those he thought were far beneath him.

It hadn’t been very long after the day he ranked Marshal when the first Kaiju had pulled itself from the depths of the ocean and showed no mercy to the people of the cities it destroyed.

In all of his years, he hadn’t given the preposterous idea of aliens a single thought. There wasn’t any evidence to back up the claims of various wack-jobs around the world. Astronomers had proven time and time again that space was just cold and empty. Had Enji given even half a thought on the topic of aliens he certainly wouldn’t have ever suspected that they would emerge from the ocean.

It didn’t take very many attacks on major coastal cities around the world for nations to band together and try to come up with a solution to fight back. With the production of Jaegers came the preparation of pilots. Most of those who were volun-told to be pilots went through their training terrified. Enji, though, remained calm and level-headed through it all.

The day he stepped into a Jaeger and completed his first Drift seamlessly, Enji felt a new kind of power wash over him. He felt truly invincible like he could take anything on headfirst. And with this new feeling of power came a cockiness that he had trouble hiding behind a mask of stoicism.

Enji and his co-pilot, Toshinori Yagi, had made a powerful team. They hadn’t gotten along very well outside of the drift, mostly on Enji’s part, but they kicked Kaiju ass, nevertheless. They held the record for most Kaiju kills in Japan for two years. They were unstoppable.. until Okinawa.

It was 2200 and the two had just gotten back to their bunk when the alert sounded. Despite being as tired as they were, the two had suited up and rushed to their Jaeger, Mighty Endeavor. They had loaded up, Drifted, and made sure that everything was calibrated. Then they were flown off to Okinawa.

It was supposed to be an easy take-down and another kill for Mighty Endeavor and its pilots. The Kaiju, code-named Speartail, was a fairly small Category 3. Enji had worn a cocky smile the whole flight to Okinawa as adrenaline had coursed through his veins. Being in the red-haired man’s brain, Toshinori had just rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile.

The kill was supposed to be easy. They were supposed to have won.

Instead, what had happened was they were dropped into the water just off of the coastline and were immediately met by Speartail. The Kaiju, in all of its seemingly mindless brutality, relentlessly attacked the Jaeger. It moved quicker than anticipated, gliding through the water more smoothly than Mighty Endeavor. Enji and Toshinori had lost sight of the damn creature at one point, the both of them having to rely on Loccent to tell them where to look.

Unfortunately, in the few seconds that Enji had spent screaming at Loccent, Speartail had found its opportunity to launch itself at the Jaeger. Mighty Endeavor was hit hard, and Enji and Toshinori struggled to regain balance. Neither of them had seen the long tail of the creature coming toward the face of their Jaeger until the sharp, pointed end of it was speared through Toshinori’s chest.

A cross between a roar and a scream had been torn from Enji’s throat when he was struck with the phantom pain. The tail retreated as quickly as it came, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of Toshinori’s body. Blazing red and molten hot rage filled Enji and fueled him to not only pilot on his own but also kill the Kaiju. All the while, Toshinori’s lifeless body swung around limply from the piloting harness that it was stuck to.

Getting back to the Shatterdome that day had not been the success-filled occasion that it should have been. Instead, Enji was numb and his body had felt cold. It wasn’t until he saw the tear-soaked faces of Inko and Izuku that the reality of what had happened hit him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Enji became cold and closed off, even more stoic, after that day. He hadn’t even congratulated or shown an ounce of pride when Toya became a full-fledged Ranger and pilot. On the day of Toya’s Drift-compatibility test, Enji silently brought his son to a private training room and tested to see if they were Drift-compatible.

Once Enji had confirmed that he and his son were, in fact, Drift-compatible, he asked to be sent a new, more up-to-date, Jaeger. Bravo Inferno had arrived quickly equipped with the latest technologies, smoother and quicker movement capabilities, and better weapons than what Mighty Endeavor had. The men’s first drift and test run of the new Jaeger went without a single hitch.

Enji and Toya had been Chiba’s most effective team of co-pilots, holding the record for most kills out of all of the teams stationed at the Shatterdome. While he took the job seriously in front of his father, Toya’s ability to be humble only ever went that far. Outside of his father’s intimidating presence, Toya was overly confident and cocky as hell. The only people who could stand him, the only people he wasn’t cocky around, were his mother and siblings.

He would genuinely smile and laugh when teasing and playing with his brothers and sisters. He would cry in his mother’s arms whenever he came back from an especially rough deployment. Behind the closed door of their family bunker, he could just be himself instead of the Toya that had to deflect the judgment and harsh words of his peers by being insufferably cocky and easy-going. He laughed boisterously at the comments flung at him even though all he wanted to scream was that he didn’t even ask to be the Marshal’s, his father’s, co-pilot. He never did understand why people couldn’t see that Enji always treated Toya like he was just another Ranger to boss around like the rest of them. That is the number one thing that Enji would come to regret every day after the day that Toya died.

The alert for the deployment that day had woken both Enji and Toya from their slumber. The AI’s voice told them that Bravo Inferno was being deployed to take down a Kaiju entering the shallows a few miles down the coastline from the Shatterdome. The Kaiju, code-named Kurassha, was labeled a Category 3, a level of Kaiju that they had fought and won against many times by that point.

They suited up, locked themselves into their harnesses, dropped and Drifted, then they were off. The whole flight to the Kaiju, while short, was full of Enji trying to ignore the fact that he could see his old self in his feral-eyed and manically grinning son. Instead of joining in on Toya’s hype, Enji simply told his son to “take the situation seriously” and to “stay focused” in his ever-commanding, anger-bitten, militant tone. He wasn’t in any mood to deal with Toya’s energy, not to mention, Enji was still pissed that Toya had been late getting to the Bay to suit up.

Their Jaeger was dropped into the water within the general vicinity of where Loccent had tracked the Kaiju. It hadn’t taken much looking around before Kurassha had decided to show itself. The massive creature had simply chosen to slowly rise out of the water about 40 feet away from where Bravo Inferno stood ready for battle.

Enji hadn’t been as phased by the appearance of the Kaiju as Toya had, his son’s fear flooding his mind and covering his own. Even if Enji hadn’t been sharing a brain space with his son, one could tell from the look on Toya’s face that he was terrified. Enji had swallowed his own fear, gritted his teeth, and demanded that Toya get it together and get ready to fight.

The decision to rush Kurassha was made at the same time the huge beast began rushing them. The brutal collision of beast and metal seemed to have shaken the earth beneath their feet, waves ripping through the water around them. Bravo Inferno’s metal fists landed punch after punch to the Kaiju, the impacts not seeming to do much to stop its assault on the Jaeger.

One of the Kaiju’s hands, which had been far larger than it should have been in proportion to its body, had come up and immediately grabbed Bravo Inferno’s right arm. Neither Toya nor Enji could keep their roars of pain in as the monster in front of them started crushing Bravo Inferno’s arm in its grip. It wasn’t until minutes of pain later that the Kaiju just ripped the newly crushed arm off of the Jaeger.

Panting and gritting his teeth, Enji had ignored Toya’s pleas to tell Loccent to send back up. He shouted at Toya to shut up and focus back on fighting, wholly believing that they could still finish and win the fight. He pressed a series of buttons and activated one of Bravo Inferno’s weapons as he attempted to block Toya’s thoughts from his mind.

Before Bravo Inferno’s remaining arm could fully transform into the weapon Enji had selected, the Jaeger was being picked up. Kurassha’s massive hands fully wrapped around Bravo Inferno’s middle, crushing the metal and digging its claws into the Jaeger’s spine. Shouts of pain erupted from both Enji and Toya, once more, their suits shocking them with violent pulses of electricity.

Suddenly, they were spinning, the monster that had a hold of them gearing up to launch them. After a couple of spins, Kurassha let go sending Bravo Inferno flying toward the jagged rocks of the shoreline. The loud ear-piercing sound of stone puncturing metal echoed throughout the surrounding area along with the roar tearing from the Kaiju as it bounded after the Jaeger.

Both men were dazed, Toya shaking with fear, as they tried to get back up from their harsh landing, but the machine that they were linked to seemed stuck. Enji was silent, trying to figure out their next move, as Toya shouted into the Comms for Loccent to send out backup. Loccent had been in the middle of informing them that backup was on the way when the Kaiju pounced on them. The action caused the sharp rock that was already embedded in the back of Bravo Inferno to pierce through further, the sharp tip protruding from the Jaeger’s chest.

Kurassha made quick work of crushing and ripping off the Jaeger’s left arm. As the Kaiju continued with its brutal and aggressive assault, Enji did something he had never done before; he froze. To him, everything was happening in slow motion. Sounds were muffled, his body jostled in the harness as the Kaiju tore the Jaeger apart from the outside of the Conn-Pod. He hadn’t even registered Toya screaming at him until he saw the cracking of the glass panel in front of him.

It was then that sound came crashing into his eardrums and he was forced back into reality. Multiple alarms were blaring, Loccent was cutting in and out, metal groaning and crumpling, and the gut-wrenching sound of Toya crying. A frantic look around the Conn-Pod told Enji that the monster outside had a massive hand wrapped around the head of Bravo Inferno and was slowly crushing it.

Even though he knew the risk, Enji manually released himself from his harness and immediately went to prepare the escape pods. Somehow, it was still possible for them to eject and that was the one and only time that Enji thanked whatever God may be out there. He turned toward Toya, shouting for him to get out of the harness and get to a pod, and saw his son struggling.

Toya’s manual release wasn’t working no matter what he did.

Enji felt his stomach sink and he rushed over to try to help his son, but when neither of them could get the harness to release and the Conn-Pod was closing in more and more by the second, Toya stopped his movements. Enji was filled with panic and exasperation and was about to yell at Toya to keep trying but stopped when he met his son’s eyes. Toya’s face, while calm, was solemn and his eyes were filled with deep sadness and defeat. Enji was pulled into a hug that he didn’t reciprocate because his mind was still in shock over the realization he just made.

“You better take care of them, Dad. They’re your family, not soldiers. I love you, Old Man.”

Those were Toya’s final words before shoving Enji away from him and shouting for him to get into the escape pod and leave. Enji’s entire being was numb in a way that he had never felt before, not even when Toshinori was killed. As if on autopilot, he had climbed into an escape pod, pressed everything that he needed to then was ejected from the head of Bravo Inferno seconds before it was finally crushed with his son still inside.

He flew through the air waiting for the escape pod to crash land somewhere when a new kind of pain shot through his numbed body. It wasn’t like the phantom pain one could feel through a Drift and it was far worse than any physical pain he had ever felt. It was the kind of pain you only feel when you lose someone you love.

That was the day Enji Todoroki started regretting treating his son and the rest of his children like they were soldiers.

That was the day Enji Todoroki started feeling disappointed in who he was as a person.

That was the only day that Enji Todoroki had ever wished that he had never chosen to make being in the military a lifetime career.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Marshal Todoroki.” Aizawa’s firm voice knocks reality back into Enji’s mind and he blinks a few times at the tablet in front of him before looking up to his second-in-command with a question brow raised.

“You were.. overthinking the pairings, again.” Aizawa subtly excuses Enji’s wandering mind though his tone is tired and he lets out a sigh.

“Right.. My apologies, Shota. Where were we?” Enji asks, falling back into his serious and stoic mask.

“We were just re-evaluating the co-pilot pairings for the six that tested first earlier today. I just want to be sure that you are certain about who we’ve selected to be co-pilots,” Aizawa says, casting an unsure glance between the tablet in his hands and Enji.

“You have doubts about the pairings?” Enji questions with a tick of annoyance on his face.

“Only about one of them. Rangers Hado and Kendo will work well together, I believe. Rangers Kirishima and Tetsutetsu are practically twins, so they’ll Drift just fine. It’s Rangers Bakugo and To-” Aizawa begins to explain, ready to give his reasoning as to why the last pair wouldn’t mesh well when he’s cut off.

“They’ll work just fine together, Shota. If not at first, then they’ll learn to make it work.” Enji states, his tone definitive, and Aizawa lets out another sigh as he rubs his forehead.

“Okay then.. That’s all of the pairings, then. What time do you want to commence first Drift trials?” Aizawa asks tiredly.

“Set the mass alarms for 0500. We’ll let the Rangers eat breakfast before announcing their co-pilots and Jaeger assignments. We’ll have them all report to Bay 3, I’ve already had the groups’ Jaegers moved there.” Enji says as he scrolls through the pairings on his tablet one last time before closing tabs and signing out of it.

“Alright Enji, alarms are set,” Aizawa announces before closing the tabs on his own tablet and signing out of it.

“See you at 0530. Goodnight.” Aizawa says while standing, bowing slightly before leaving Enji’s office.

Enji mumbles out a “goodnight” as the door closes behind Aizawa, then releases a long sigh as he leans back in his chair. He checks the time on his watch, seeing that it’s already a bit late. He wonders if Rei has eaten already or if she waited for him. She doesn’t wait up for him as much anymore, usually choosing to grab him something from the Mess Hall and keeping it in their family bunker. But she does sit and talk with him while he eats and that’s more than he could ask for after everything they’ve been through over the years.

Especially when she’s the only one in their family that doesn’t blame him for Toya’s death.

Note ~ Let me know how you're feelin' about the story so far! Also, I know that I said that Enji is trash, and HE IS, but every other chapter/part or so will be written from his focus. I am still having a bit of trouble grasping onto Third POV stories as I mostly write in First or Second POV. So if the overall story or POV are a bit choppy, thats why haha! Anyway, I love and appreciate you all!! <3 <3

Taglist ~ @tomiokasecretlover