72 Bakugou and Shinsou

Shinsou's steps slow, eyes going wide. He snaps to attention when Katsuki kicks him (lightly) in the shin. His steps are hesitant at first, but they gain speed as he passes Katsuki, pulling the thing that looks like Aizawa's capture weapon up to cover his nose.

His steps halt, and he turns to stare Katsuki who hasn't moved a step from his original position. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Katsuki yells, glancing over his shoulder. "Go!"

Shinsou straightens slightly. "No."

"No?" Katsuki turns, his whole body coiled to attack. His heart pounds in his ears, and his vision starts to blur around the edges. 

"You can't save Midoriya by passing out in the middle of the path."

A pause. 

"I was planning on–" Katsuki was planning on holding his breath and running as fast as he could, which is–okay, it's a fucking terrible plan. But he has to get to Izuku. He has to��

"The path is a loop you dolt. He's probably close to the exit by now." Shinsou pivots on his heel and starts running.

Katsuki follows takes another moment to give up on his, frankly idiotic, plan, and grudgingly turns to follow the general department student. Within a few seconds, the night air begins to clear. All he can hear is the sound of his own breathing and their feet hitting the ground. The shadows seem to deepen in the absence of any other noise. Shouldn't the class B students be around somewhere? He can't even hear the sounds of fighting, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that means most of the students have avoided the villains. (Maybe it means something worse).

Something rustles off to the left, and Katsuki slows in order to see more closely. But in the next moment, the sound of a voice within his head distracts him. 

"Hello, everyone!"

Both he and Shinsou halt.

"Mandalay speaking. There are villains on the premises, be alert! You are allowed to use your quirks for defense, but try not to engage and get to base!"

The silence rings louder when her voice stops. Katsuki waits for the announcement to continue—hasn't Izuku told her the villains' goal? Is it too early? No further information comes, so he decides it's best to follow her instructions and hope they find Izuku—find the others—along the way. 

He takes three steps. A kind of screech echoes through the trees. Next to him Shinsou stiffens, and Katsuki feels goosebumps rise on his skin. He doesn't remember having to fight much the last time the training camp occurred. What he remembers is hands around his throat and Izuku reaching, reaching—

Something white flashes past his field of vision, and Katsuki steps back. More things that look like white stripes arch and bend through the air, and a muttering that sounds like flesh, flesh, flesh grows as the villain approaches. Katsuki dodges the attacks. His fingers twitch. He wants to use his explosions both for mobility and offense, but they're still in the middle of a forest, and he has no desire to start a forest fire.

He ducks under another band of white, and the villain comes into view, though the shadows of the trees still obscure him. The all-black of his clothes makes him still more difficult to see, but there's enough moonlight to make out an outline. Katsuki sidesteps another attack and hears Shinsou do the same.

The villain shifts, and his face comes into view. Not that his face is really visible. Just his mouth, really. The rest of him is covered with black leather, and though his lips are spread open, he manages to keep muttering about flesh.

Oh. Katsuki remembers this guy.

The white things he has been dodging are the villain's teeth, extended and distorted. And sharp. Very sharp. Katsuki can feel a trickle blood down his arm where he didn't quite move fast enough, but it's not deep. Without the use of his quirk, he doesn't have much to attack with. And constantly dodging doesn't leave him much room for creativity.

Katsuki grits his teeth. He hates running, but neither his nor Shinsou's quirk helps in this situation. Fuck.

"Oi, purple boy," Katsuki shouts.

There's a sound of rustling leaves as Shinsou dodges another attack. "What?" The general department student snaps.

"Hope you like running." Katsuki turns and dashes forward, leaving the villain behind.

Even with another of Class 1-A's top students (which he grudgingly admits is a label Todoroki deserved), they were barely able to defend from Moonfish's attack. This time, he only has Shinsou, who never exactly excelled in direct combat. He hears footsteps following him as well as the crashing noises as Moonfish propels himself through the trees. Katsuki hates running, he really does, but it's not like they were the ones to deal with this villain. If he remembers correctly, there's another threat coming.