Our Protagonists

by Khanical

Summary:

The JTA was somewhat bittersweet; we got introduced to much of the amazing class 1-B and their abilities, however they were mostly used as punching bags for class A to show off, and nothing more.

But what if things were different?

What if we were witnessing everything from class B's perspective?
What if we got a peek into their inner struggles and dilemmas?
What if matches 4 and 5 weren't absolute atrocities?

What if they could be their own protagonists?

ALSO - This isn't going to just be class B destroying class A for the whole time since that just wouldn't be fun or exciting. Expect back-and-forth fights that drag on for WAY too long!

In short - I rewrote the JTA to make class B cooler B)

Chapter 1: 19 Protagonists

Slowly, deliberately, dramatically, Neito Monoma descended the stairs leading to class 1B’s common room step by step, each footfall causing his golden-blond hair to bounce slightly. He wore a smug smile on his face, though inside he was beaming, like a child waiting for Christmas. Finally, it’s almost time! Tomorrow… 

His class was waiting in the expansive common room. Kendo stood near the stairwell, looking at Monoma with an exasperated face. “Will you just come down already? There’s no point to a dramatic entrance if you never get to the ‘entrance’ part”.

 

Shoda was sitting at the dining table, drinking one of his protein shakes (as usual). “I agree with Kendo; Mr. Kan said that we only have two to three hours until we’ve got to go to bed, so we’d better hurry up”

 

“Three hours?” scoffed Kamakiri, who was sitting next to Shoda with his feet on the table, peeling an apple with a blade that was jutting out of his finger. “That’s a whole lotta time for chatting about, what, different ways to slice em’ up?”. Tetsutetsu, sitting opposite to him, stopped sniffing suspiciously at the blender containing Shoda’s protein drink, and shouted with a toothy grin “Yeah! We just gotta turn up and go punchy-punchy, no plan needed!”

Pausing from browsing a selection of books in the bookshelf, Shishida spoke up, “If I may add my opinion, sir Kamakiri,  given that tomorrow’s joint training will be randomised, there will surely be many variables that could affect our chances against our sister class, purely depending on how they will match us up. So it will be in our best interests to be as prepared as possible.”

 

Sitting on a sofa with Awase, Tsuburaba, and Kaibara, Rin nodded, adding “And that’s not even considering the fact that class A have got more real life battle experience than us”. He pointed at his forehead, “so if they’re physically prepared, then we should try our best to be mentally prepared”. Awase was dozing, and Kaibara was watching Tsuburaba try to blow out different shapes with his quirk.

 

“So, what? Are we going to prep for every possible scenario?” Tokage rebutted while on another sofa next to Komori, Yanagi, and Shiozaki, with her arms draped over its back. “We can do the strategising tomorrow, after we know the teams”. Komori was shuffling and glancing around the room, Shiozaki was brushing her hair with a metal brush (gifted to her by Tetsutetsu), and Yanagi was just sitting there, spookily.

 

“Um…S-sorry if I’m wrong, shroom, but...isn’t it better if we just make a general strategy y’know…for what we could shroom- I-I mean do, against each person in their class, w-while everybody’s here so we could…brainstorm together?” stuttered Komori from next to Tokage.

 

“Uh...y-yeah! Great point, Komori” Kuroiro piped up from a corner. His voice was louder and higher pitched than usual. “We could talk about our worst matchups and see, uh, what…we could…um…do…” Kuroiro shied as all eyes went on him, causing his voice to lower and prompting him to tuck himself further into the corner.

 

Honenuki and Tsunotori took no part in the ongoing conversation, instead animatedly chatting with each other in English whilst sitting on the floor. Fukidashi sat next to them, trying but failing to make any sense of whatever those two were talking about. A ‘??’ is seen written on his speech bubble head 

 

Kodai and Bondo, ever the quiet ones, were by themselves on the kitchen island, not speaking a word. Kodai watched in awe as Bondo formed what seemed to be a figurine of sorts with his hands, using his glue as a base.

“Guys, SHH! Monoma’s here” an exclamation mark popped up on Fukidashi’s head as he silenced the class

 

Perfect , Neito thought. Everyone’s here, the atmosphere is just right (the room was dimly lit with candles, courtesy of Yanagi), and he was ready to deliver the most absolutely rousing speech anyone has ever heard. The only possible improvement would be if he had himself a spotlight. Or a stage. Or epic music in the background. Or-

 

Neito snapped out of his daydream at the sight of Kendo raising an eyebrow expectantly. Everyone was waiting, waiting for him. Driven on by the confidence and eloquence of a true class B member, he spoke:

 

“Tomorrow, my esteemed classmates! We, the greatest class UA has ever seen, will-

 

He was interrupted by a blinding flash of light. “Agh!”, he exclaimed, far too dramatically, squinting, and shading his eyes. “Who turned on the light?”

 

“Sorry, I did” Kendo apologised. “It’s just way too dark. Someone’s gonna slip on a candle at some point, and it’ll be pretty embarrassing to be the first UA class to burn their dorm down, especially since 1A has Todoroki and Bakugo in it. Also, Awase is barely managing to stay awake”

 

“H-huh?...What?”  dazed from the light, the headbanded boy mumbled at the sound of his name. “Has it started yet?”

 

“Okay, fine” Neito conceded at the mention of 1A, finding his speech-making vigour once again. “As I was saying, we, the gr-”

 

“Hey, Monoma?” Tsuburaba interrupted, “Your shoe’s untied”

Neito looked down. He wasn’t wearing any shoes in the first place.

 

Tsubaraba grinned,  “Made ya look!” 

But before he could chuckle, Shiozaki extended her vines dangerously close to his face.

“Tsuburaba! Cease this juvenile banter and apologise at once!”

“Ah!” Tsuburaba yelped, leaning back into the sofa, “S-sorry! Sorry, Monoma, just joking around. Please go on, I’ll shut up” He turned around slowly to face Shiozaki, whispering “please don’t whip me…”

 

With narrowed eyes, Shiozaki detracted her vines, but not before everyone else could get a good laugh in.

Finally, when everyone settled down, Neito tried to start his speech for the third time in the past minute.

 

“Alright”, he sighed, “We, class B, will show those INGRATES, those INEPT, ARRO- ahem, sorry - THOSE ARrogant…profligates…”

Neito paused. He had prepared and memorised a whole list of at least 50 more negative adjectives to associate class A with in his speech, but, for some inconceivable reason, he couldn’t bring himself to recite it. Now, don’t be mistaken, he still hated them with a burning passion, he’s sure of it. But, the atmosphere here, with all of 1-B relaxing in each other’s company in one place…makes it difficult to feel hate, or envy, or anything bad at all. Neito’s smug, theatrical smile morphed into a warm, genuine one. There’s no need to sour the mood , he thought.

 

“...we’ll show them what we’ve got”, said Neito. Everyone blinked, not expecting him to finish so soon, before clapping

It wasn’t a standing ovation by any means, and it ended in a couple of seconds, but Neito was still surprised that nobody criticised how his “speech” was just a generic motivation line you’d find in any movie or TV show. Maybe they’re just happy they don’t have to sit through an hour of him disparaging class A, or maybe they noticed his change in tone. Heh, who knows?

 

“Okay!” Kendo put her hands together. “We’ll go through everyone in class A one-by-one. Reiko, would you mind getting us a board?”

 

As Yanagi floated over a whiteboard using her quirk, everyone shifted slightly so that they formed a sort of half circle around Kendo and the board. Neito leaned on the table.

 

“We’ll start with Aoyama”,  announced Kendo as she began drawing a crude sketch of the French boy’s face on the board. “Any thoughts?”

 

“A soldier of the light”, remarked Kuroiro. “Not a good match for me”

 

As everyone started offering suggestions for strategies and tactics, Neito began thinking as he looked at his class. 

We-They will win this. Even though I’m just a side character, I promise, Class B, I promise I’ll help you show everyone what you can do. I’ll help you show everyone that you’re all protagonists.

Chapter 2: B versus A; Begin!

Summary:

Ok, things actually start off with the pre-match preamble and some of match 1

Field gamma, an expansive area filled with industrial buildings, tall metal structures, and an intricate web of pipes which spans across the whole area, was the chosen location for UA’s first year Hero course joint training. 

 

“Woah”, commented Rin. “This must be what your hometown looks like, Awase”

“Hell no! This is like what a toddler thinks an industrial area looks like. What’s with all these pipes? And what’s that random water tower doing over there?” Awase retorted.

 

Vlad King, the hulking, muscular, white-haired teacher of class B, huffed, his breath condensing in the cool winter air. He watched the scene before him: Both class 1A and class 1B were casually chatting with each other, either engaging in small talk or competitive yet light-hearted banter. Friendly conversations, mostly. Predictably, Monoma was harassing class A as usual. Vlad figured he should probably stop Monoma before he goes too far- oh, nevermind, Kendo’s got it. Vlad sighed, no matter how many times he must have told Monoma to keep some things to himself, it’s always in one ear and out the other. Though Vlad must admit he himself is sometimes a culprit of being…overly competitive with regards to his and Aizawa’s class.

 

In front of the students were the teachers: Himself, Aizawa, and All Might with Midnight. Everyone was standing on a metallic platform overlooking field gamma, and behind Vlad was a billboard sized screen. Everything was ready. Vlad inhaled deeply, before loudly barking:

 

“ATTENTION!”

 

All eyes turned to him as everyone stopped talking. Vlad smirked; he’d have the most powerful voice out of any UA teacher if it weren’t for Present Mic. 

 

“Today, you’ll be doing some Joint Training with your sister class in the UA course. In other words…” Vlad paused as the billboard screen behind him lit up with a tally for class B against class A, currently 0 : 0, “It’s class A versus class B, five rounds to determine the winning class!”. As chatter began to excitedly rise up again, Vlad muttered “The winning class, which will obviously be class B!”, causing Aizawa to roll his eyes before he started to speak up. 

 

“Though this is just training, we expect you to be on your best behaviour. Especially because we have a special guest here”

 

Aizawa stepped aside to reveal a purple-haired boy kitted in UA’s PE uniform, a mysterious metallic mask, and what seems to be Aizawa’s capture tape wrapped around his neck and shoulders. His half closed eyes were carrying dark bags while looking to the side, and his purple hair crowned his head like a lion’s mane.

 

Shoda’s eyes widened. “No way...it’s him-!”

“Hitoshi Shinso, the fellow from General Ed who brainwashed you” remarked Monoma with a smile. “This’ll be interesting…”

 

“Shinso wants to transfer to the Hero Course”, explained Aizawa. “There’s potential in him, so I took it upon myself to train him. He’ll be joining you all in this joint training so that we can see how he fares against others in the Hero course.” Aizawa turned to the purple-haired boy. “Any words?”

 

With a soft exhale, Shinso turned his head to look at the students of the Hero course directly. “I’m Hitoshi Shinso. Some of us have met before at the sports festival, but that does not mean we’re friends.”

 

He paused for a bit. “All of us are trying to reach for the top, but I’m already countless steps behind. If I want to reach my goal of being a hero, then each and every one of you are hurdles I must overcome. I’m not here to make friends... Thanks for having me”

 

Everyone blinked for a few seconds before lightly applauding. “Heh, I like this guy! The two of us will fit together splendidly” commented Monoma with a smirk

 

“Didn’t he say he didn’t wanna make friends, or was I just hearin’ wrong again?” questioned Tsunotori.

 

“Well, yes, but I do think I see a bit of myself in him” replied Monoma

 

“And we all know how much you love yourself”,  joked Kendo, which prompted the blonde boy to lightheartedly roll his eyes.

 

“You wouldn’t understand. People like Shinso and I, we’ve got to stick together” said Monoma. He didn’t elaborate any further.

Vlad King regarded both classes, explaining the rules of the Joint Training. There will be five 4 v 4 matches which will happen in different areas of field gamma. For each of the five matches, both classes will start off in their bases, where their jail cells are located. The goal is to get all 4 of the other class’s combatants in your class’s jail cell in the specified time limit. If the time limit is reached, then the class which had put the most people in jail wins, otherwise it’s a draw. Due to Shinso joining in, two of the matches will be a 5v4, though the team with 4 members will still win if they imprison 4 of the other side.

 

“Shinso…he’s one spooky guy”,  shivered Yanagi. “A 5 v 4 against him would be terrifying…”

“Yeah! It’ll be super unfair!” exclaimed Fukidashi, “we’d go POOF in like two seconds!”

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Shinso’s inexperience may weigh them down; bad team synergy is the fastest way to sink, if you ask me” reasoned Honenuki.

Tokage nodded. “Uh huh. Plus, you’ll win if you get four people caught anyway, so you don’t even need to take him on if you really don’t want to”

 

“You recommended kids are always overthinking things!” commented Tetsutetsu in his usual loud voice. “Just don’t talk to him and he’s not a threat. Simple as that!”

“Leave him in the dark…and he’ll be ripe for the picking” agreed Kuroiro

 

“I don’t know…” mused Monoma, “I’m sure he’s got some tricks hidden up his sleeves which he isn’t letting on yet. That gadget on his face, for example. I wonder what that does…”

 

“ALRIGHT!” shouted Vlad King, “everyone, pick lots to determine the teams!”

 

---

 

MATCH 1:

 

Shiozaki, Shishida, Tsuburaba, Rin         VS         Asui, Kaminari, Kirishima, Koda, + Shinso  

MATCH 2:

 

Fukidashi, Kendo, Kuroiro, Komori         VS         Yaoyorozu,  Tokoyami, Aoyama, Hagakure

MATCH 3:

 

Honenuki, Kaibara, Tetsutetsu, Tsunotori           VS           Iida, Todoroki, Ojiro, Shoji

MATCH 4:

 

Tokage, Awase, Bondo, Kamakiri           VS             Jiro, Sato, Sero, Bakugo

MATCH 5:

 

Monoma, Yanagi, Kodai, Shoda, + Shinso          VS          Midoriya, Uraraka, Ashido, Mineta

---

“What the fuck is that matchup?!”  complained Awase. “Look at that well-balanced team they’ve got, with Bakugo as well!”

“Don’t sweat it” Setsuna assured with her signature grin, placing a not-so-assuring dismembered hand on Awase’s shoulder. “We’ll make it work”

Behind them, Bondo was watching as Kamakiri ominously sharpened his blades together.

 

“Let me have at boom-boom boy…I’ll slice him up into a million pieces!”

“No way!” retorted Tokage. “He’ll atomize you in seconds, Togaru!”

Kamakiri groaned. “Setsunaaa…Why do you never let me have fun?”

“Because! I don’t wanna see your dumbass get hurt!”

“So I won’t!”

“You always say that! Remember last time?”

“That was just a scratch!”

“Oh ho! Don’t you “tis’ but a scratch” me!”

 

Awkwardly, Awase and Bondo stared at the bickering duo. Awase nudged Bondo.

“Hey, dude, I snuck in some snacks in my costume’s pouches. Want some?”

“Uh huh, thanks!” Bondo nodded eagerly. “Oh, wait, i-it’s not drugs, is it?”

“What? No!” Awase retorted, perplexed. “Why do you think that?”

Bondo shrugged. “ I dunno. Just making sure”

“I’m… in a team with Komori-?” whispered Kuroiro in barely-contained happiness.

“You sure are, shroom!”  exclaimed Komori from behind him, causing Kuroiro to yelp and jump out of the way. The mushroom girl continued, “Our match will be so fun-gus!”

“It’ll be like BOOM, WHAM, KAPOW! My head’s going WHEEE just from thinking about it!” said Fukidashi excitedly.

“Hold your horses, Fukidashi”, Kendo replied with a giggle. “They’ve got some heavy hitters on their team, so we need to strategize accordingly”

“Oh, don’t you worry”, said Kuroiro with his usual devilish grin (after having recovered from the shock) whilst staring at class A’s round 2 team huddling together. “Vantablack always has a scheme up his sleeves”. Kuroiro proceeded to chuckle, menacingly.

 

“Alright, I’ve got a plan for what we could do”, Honenuki said to his team.

“Already?”, questioned Kaibara incredulously. “You never fail to impress me, man”

“I’ve got a plan, too!” piped up Tetsutetsu with his shark-like grin, prompting a soft groan from the rest of his teammates.

 

With half-close, dreary eyes, Tsunotori drawled “I like you, Tetsutetsu, I really do, but if you tell us to  ‘just punch them’ one more time, then I swear I’M GONNA GOSH DARN-”

“No, it’s an actual plan, I swear!” interjected Tetsutetsu. “Here it is: we’ll split up into 4 1v1’s. I call dibs on Todoroki!”

The rest of his team paused for a second to evaluate Tetsutetsu’s ‘plan’.

“Well, I suppose it’s more nuanced than what you’re usually on about”, reasoned Kaibara. “But, looking at their team,  we’re going to need to get a lot more specific if we want to take them on.”

 

“Hold on…I think I can work with this. Nice thinking, Tetsutetsu!” congratulated Honenuki, making finger guns and pointing them at the steel boy.

“YEAH!” Tetsutetsu jumped with his fist in the air whilst Tsunotori and Kaibara stared, dumbfounded.

“Hell-llo, Shinso!”, exclaimed Monoma. “Welcome to the team, bud! Let’s work together to reveal class A for the pathetic neanderthals they are!”

Shoda stepped in front of him. “Hey, you might remember me. I’m Shoda, from the sports festival?”

Shinso blinked. “Oh, yeah. Uh, sorry about-”

Shoda waved his hands. “It’s all good. Just, before we start planning, as vice class rep, I’d like to apologise for Monoma’s poor first impression”, which gained a “Hey!” from the blonde boy.

“Yeah…” agreed Yanagi. “When you first meet him, he’s like…creepy, but then, you realise he’s just kinda annoying…”, another “Hey!” followed as Yanagi continued, “But later on you find out  he was actually very spooky the whole time…ya know?”. Kodai agreed with a short “Mm” and a nod of the head.

“...Huh?”, replied Shinso, with a puzzled look.

“She likes spooky stuff, it’s kinda her thing. But not creepy stuff, she’s very particular about that.” said Shoda, before clarifying “Ah-ahem, essentially, what she’s saying is that Monoma gets a lot better the more you get to know him. And it’s true! So…just bear with him, alright?” 

“Okay” responded Shinso with a brief yet thoughtful glance in Monoma’s direction.

“Come on, you guys”, said Monoma with mock annoyance, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, “You don’t have to give him a whole disclaimer for me” 

“It seems that our team is the first to be combatting ”, stated Shishida. “Fortunately, we’ve got quite the formidable lineup. Regardless, our opponents may become quite a hassle to deal with if we provide them enough time to formulate a coherent plan.” 

“So, I suggest we split up at first and rendezvous at their location, all attacking at my signal. They may be able to prepare from a frontal assault with the aid of Koda’s scouting, but with a multi-directional attack, each of them will be too preoccupied to assist others”

 

His teammates nodded in agreement, so Shishida continued, “I’ll go straight into the middle of their group to split them apart, sir Rin will provide backup fire from above, and pick of specific targets, sir Tsuburaba will provide defensive shield, and miss Shiozaki will be opposite to Rin, restraining our opponents using her vines ”

 

“Hey, I can do more than just air barriers!” Tsuburaba protested with a grin. “I’ve evolved; I’m not just the shield guy anymore. Just watch and see~”

 

“If I may, Shishida,” interjected Shiozaki, “I would like to stay back near our base to extend my network of vines passively, so that I may chastise any lost sheep that comes my way, or to retrieve any teammates should they wander too far or become overwhelmed by malevolent forces, heaven forbid”, Shiozaki closed her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer.

 

“That’s…a really good idea!” Rin complimented while in deep thought. Since we’re taking such an aggressive approach, Shiozaki will act as the anchor to our ship. But…are you sure you’ll be fine on your own? Or should I stay back to guard you?”

 

“It’s quite alright, Rin, but thank you for your concern”, replied Shiozaki, “I can defend myself from any attack. And if push comes to shove…”, Shiozaki opened her eyes, “I’ll be sure to enact my judgement, with my new Ultimate move”

“Ultimate move?”, Shishida scratched his chin, “Are you referring to Via Dolorosa?” 

“No, newer than that. It’s something more…gargantuan”, replied the vine-haired girl.

“Oh, I know what you’re talking about!” exclaimed Tsuburaba, “Man, you’ve been practising that move for ages. Ah hah, they’re definitely gonna piss their pants right off when they see it!”

“Since Shiozaki is staying behind, it’s best if we all stick together, possibly by riding me in my beast form” advised Shishida. “They might be able to pick Rin and Tsuburaba off easily otherwise, and if they overwhelm the three of us, then Shiozaki can always pull us back”

The other three nodded. “Riding Shishida? I wonder how that’ll be like” commented Rin.

Vlad King watched as his students strategized with  a proud smile on his face. “This is why I teach”, he raised his fist to his chest and clenched it, “just the sight of these students clashing together, helping each other chase the same dream is enough to brighten my day”

“Ah, what youthful vigour…” purred Midnight, “How electrifying!”

All Might stroked his chin, “I wonder how class A will fare against them. After everything they’ve gone through, it’ll be interesting to compare them to other UA students”
Midnight turned to All Might, “You really like class A, don’t you?”

“U-uh, no- I mean yes, but I like all students equally!” lied All Might.

 

“ALRIGHT!”, bellowed Vlad. “Round one teams, take your positions!”

---

 

 

Shishida, Shiozaki, Tsuburaba, and Rin were standing near class B’s base (A portable jail cell decorated with pieces of cardboard in the shape of their principal, Nezu)

“Look, I’m just saying it’s a weird-ass design choice!” ranted Tsuburaba, “Like, it literally looks like principal Nezu’s decapitated head is-” 

“Tsub, were you paying attention at all?” an exasperated Rin asked, his hands crossed.

“I am! But it just feels like he’s staring into the back of my head the whole time”, the oval-eyed boy responded, with a cautionary glance at the jail cell.

 

“If it brings you discomfort, Tsuburaba, then shall I destroy it?” offered Shiozaki whilst already extending her vines.

“We probably should refrain from tampering with it for now, Vine, just to be safe” advised Shishida, right before a horn blared, indicating that the match had started, “I suppose it’s time to get started”

“Wait, before you leave…” Shiozaki extended her vines so that they wrapped around Rin, Shishida, and Tsuburaba’s waists (with extra vines for Shishida’s extra weight).  “You three remember the vine signs, yes?”

Oh, the infamous vine signs. Shiozaki had made all of class B memorise practically a book-full of instructions for different ways to interact with her vines in order to send her messages through them. The three knew all too well what that was like, so they nodded. 

“I guess…it’s time to let the animal out now…” said Shishida with an ecstatic grin on his face. As his quirk activated, the beastly hero student grew to around 7 feet in height, now towering over his teammates.

 

Rin scratched his neck, “you say ‘the animal’ as if it’s a whole different person”

Tsuburaba shrugged, “I mean, it practically is, just look at him!”

Shishida growled, a manic grin taking over his face from the euphoria of using his quirk, “COME ON! Quit your chit-chat and let’s go KICK SOME BOOTY!”

Tsuburaba gesticulated wildly with his arms, “See??”

Rin chuckled, “Uh huh. Though it’s pretty cute that he still refuses to swear!”

Shiozaki sighed, “It is quite apparent that the Beast of the Apocalypse has taken over our gentle giant”

As the trio went off running (under the cover of metal pipes and other industrial structures so as to not be spotted by Koda’s birds) Tsuburaba chimed, “Apocalypse Beast, huh? Or Apocabeast. That’d be a sick name!”

“My name is GEVAUDAN!”, growled the beast boy.

“Okay, Apocabeast”, said Rin with a smirk, after which Shishida made the wise decision to ignore them.

In class A’s team, Shinso had just finished explaining his quirk to his teammates when a couple of pigeons flew onto Koda’s arms, who listened as they began chirping.

“Thank you, friends”, he said as they flew off. “They found Shiozaki. She’s near class B’s base, extending her vines”

“Well, then let’s pay her a visit!”, suggested Kaminari, small sparks of electricity crackling out of his hand, “I’ve been dying to face off against her, especially after the sports festival…”

“I dunno, man…” said Kirishima, “it feels wrong take the girl on while she’s all alone”

Asui, who was crawling on the wall, looked over “I get what you mean, Kirishima, but we’re supposed to assume that the opposing team are villains in this exercise. It would be a bad idea to leave a villain alone to do whatever they want, even if it’s an unfair matchup”

Kirishima slumped his shoulders, “I guess you’re right…”

Kaminari pondered, “But then again, it may be a trap. Or a distraction”

Koda agreed,  “We’ll have to be very careful, and make sure to stick together”

 

Shinso looked on, impressed. He was worried that he’d eaten up most of their planning time through explaining his Brainwashing, but his teammates were already beginning to formulate a plan, while he was just barely keeping up. He really had a long way to go.

 

However, from out of nowhere, Shishida, with Rin and Tsuburaba riding on him, pounced right through their team, a ferocious look on his face, “MEET MY ROARING RAGE!”, he yelled.

He grabbed hold of Koda and Kirishima, throwing them to the wall. Metal pipes and other rubble collapsed around the two.

“What the-!” exclaimed Shinso, but Kaminari was already dashing forward, a determined look on his face. He’d be far enough away from his teammates so that they don’t get shocked, and all three of them were bunched up in the same place! “Prepare to get fried!”

 

But Tsuburaba was too fast. While riding on Shishida’s back, he put his hands together, forming a square shape over his mouth. “Air Prison!”. He blew into the sort of ‘air mold’ created by his hands, his breath solidifying in a cube around Kaminari, trapping him.

 

Kaminari’s face smushed into the side of the air prison. “Aw, no fair…” he whined

Tsuburaba grinned. “Like that? We’ve leveled up, just like you have!”

Though Shinso was taken by surprise, he got over his shock, and his eyes narrowed in determination. He began adjusting the knobs in the metal mask covering his mouth.

 

At the same time, Asui began hopping over to where Koda was thrown, extending her tongue to retrieve him. Noticing this, Rin exclaimed, “Not so fast!” as he grew scales on his arms and shot them at Asui in a machine gun-like fire. 

Asui dodged it, but was prevented from rescuing Koda. She kept hopping around; stopping would mean that she’d get hit, but if she tried to go in and attack Rin, she’d either be grappled by Shishida or trapped by Tsuburaba.

 

While shooting, Rin tugged on the vine wrapped around his waist, pulling it to the top right.

Shiozaki seemingly got the message, as the vines raised Rin up, and moved him to the right, slamming him into the side of a wall. “Geez, Shiozaki…” groaned Rin, though he managed to cushion the blow with his scales, and pull himself over the edge, now giving himself a good vantage point to shoot from.

From the spectating area, Vlad King cackled into his microphone, with Monoma right behind him, cackling to the concerned class A crowd.

Vlad exclaimed, “And it seems that my class has already rendered three of their opponents immobile, though the match has barely started! It seems to me that the superior class are on their way to take an easy first win! Too bad, Aizawa!”

“Is it just me, or is Mr. Vlad a bit biased?” asked Mina from class A, to which many of her class eagerly nodded.

 

Aizawa grunted, “If I were you, I’d take a closer look at Shinso” causing Vlad to momentarily stop talking as the camera zoomed onto the aspiring hero student.

 

Shinso could only watch as the chaos unfolded. In a matter of seconds, they had taken out Koda and Kirishima, trapped Kaminari, and prevented Asui from doing anything except dodging. But he could turn this around! He had to, to prove he deserved to be in the hero course. With a final turn of the knob, his mask clicked into place.

 

“Nice going, Shishida!”, came Tsuburaba’s voice.

“Thanks”, gruffed the beast boy, his more polite side showing. “That air prison was also-”

 

Shishida stopped talking, a jolt going through his body. His eyes went blank, his limbs went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground.

“No!” exclaimed Tsuburaba, “That wasn’t me! That was…S-Shinso?!”  He copied my voice!?

 

Persona chords, voice modulator. A device resembling a metal mask, which alters the user’s voice to mimic that of others, was Shinso’s secret weapon. He grabbed his capture tape, aiming it at Tsuburaba, “Now’s the time to strike!” exclaimed Shinso, “we can-”

 

Before Shinso finished his sentence, Asui’s tongue wrapped around his waist, pulling him away from Rin’s line of fire. The Chinese UA student’s scales stabbed into the concrete ground where the purple-haired boy just was, half a second ago.

 

“Good job, Shinso. That’ll buy us some time!” complimented Asui. “We can counter-attack now”

Sure enough, the hardy Kirishima broke out of the rubble, yelling and charging towards Kaminari’s air prison, though it didn’t break upon impact. Tsuburaba considered trapping him, but he knew it was pointless; with a grin, Kirishima exclaimed, “You’ve grown, huh Tsuburaba?! I love to see it! BUT!”, the red-haired boy activated his quirk, further increasing his hardness to its maximum limit, “SO HAVE I! UNBREAKABLEEE!”, he punched the air prison, which shattered in an instant.

 

“Thanks, man!” said Kaminari, before Rin began shooting his scales at them, his jaw set in a grimace. This isn’t good…our main powerhouse is down!

However, it was all but pointless. Kirishima stood between the scaled hero and his friend, causing all of Rin’s scales to bounce off of his skin uselessly.

 

They’re making a comeback! Panicked Tsuburaba as he repeatedly hit Shishida in the back of the head to no avail. “Wake up, Apocabeast!”. Even Koda was starting to get up, shaking off the metal pipes weighing him down.

 

Vlad looked on in a mix of amazement and annoyance, which was barely contained by his grumbling voice, “Well…it seems as though class A is bouncing back from my students’ attacks. How unexpected.”

All Might smiled, “They’ve got this.”

Awase and Kaibara looked on as their two best friends, Rin and Tsuburaba, remained in the fight. “Come on, guys…” encouraged Awase with an intense look on their face.

“They’ll be alright”, Kaibara assured. “At least…I think they will”

 

Vlad King gripped the microphone like a vice, “Let’s see how this plays out”

Notes:

Hey there, thanks for reading!

Here's the deal:
I've drafted these first two chapters already and have decided to post them in quick succession since chapter 1 isn't really in the JTA lol
The thing is, I've got a big set of examinations coming up in literally a few days, so the next post will probably be in a couple of weeks, unless at some point I get bored of studying and decide to regurgitate out a new chapter.
HOWEVER, I'm not going to abandon this! I've already pretty much planned out all of the matches in my head so I have no excuse not to finish things off.

Anyways, thanks again for reading and hope you have a great day!

Chapter 3: Faith Rising

Summary:

Round one continues!

Notes:

CW: References to bad home life and verbal abuse

Okay, I'm sorry that this chapter is so huge! There wasn't a good spot for me to split this up into two equal parts, and I may have gone a bit overboard while writing this. I'll try my best to be more consistent with length from now on, but no promises lol.

Jurota Shishida was falling…further and further down….

 

At least, that was what he thought was happening. There was nothing to be seen in any direction. Was he falling down? Was he falling up? Was he even falling? What is down ?  

 

All these needlessly abstract questions clouded his mind as he attempted to ground himself. What had happened to him? He remembered he had felt a sudden jolt, and he was, inexplicably, now here. Evidently, thought Jurota, it is difficult to ground oneself when there is no ground in sight.

He tried looking at himself. It was the same as looking up, or down, or sideways…whatever those things meant: Nothing.

 

Wait…nothing?

 

No Shishida?

No…Beast?

 

Beast…Beast…it was what they would call him. 

 

Jurota remembered. ‘Beast’ was not one thing. It was two entirely different names, both of which different people used to refer to him.

 

One was used by his classmates. Jurota thinks it means ‘friend’.

 

The other was used by his father’s family. The Shishidas.

They called him many things: Beast, Brute, Bastard . But they all meant the same thing.

 Though, he thinks his mother had it worse than him. He can’t remember. It was too long ago.

 

Something sparked inside Jurota, a burning pang. He tried to prove them wrong. Tried to be anything but what they say he is. He’s still trying to, to this day. Only his father sympathises, because he reminds him of Jurota’s mother. But his father is not The Shishidas.

 

They made his mother go. They kept him around, for some reason…something to do with blood. 

He wished they didn’t.

 

He wished people wouldn’t call him Shishida. 

 

He wished he didn’t have to use his quirk as an excuse to even remotely express himself and

 

He wished that his father could just have a proper child with his real wife, so that he won’t have to spend all his life being their face, bearing their shame.

The burning feeling grew inside him, rising and pushing against the edges of his non-existent self, threatening to bubble over. 

 

Hold it together.

 

 He has to. He’s done it before and it isn’t any different now. He can’t prove them right. He’s not a-

 

“Watch out, you beast!”

 

Jurota felt yet another jolt coursing through his body, this one a million times more painful than the last. His limbs spasmed, before he jumped into consciousness with a roar.

 

He screwed his eyes open. What just happened? Was he dreaming?

His vision was blurry, but it quickly began clearing due to his quirk. Was it… Kirishima and Kaminari right in front of him?

 

“Whaat?! Dude, there’s no way he just brushed that off!”

“Man…if anything, your attack just woke the guy up”

 

Class A. They were in Joint Training . This was round 1. He turned around.

 

On Jurota’s left, there was Rin in the high ground. Tsuburaba was on low ground right behind Jurota, encased in one of his own air prisons. Possibly to avoid whatever attack Jurota had just sustained? In any case, Tsuburaba sucked the air prison back in.

 

It was then that Jurota realised he was still roaring, making him quickly shut up as he saw Class A’s perplexed and slightly off-put faces.

 

Tsuburaba laughed from behind Jurota, “Hah-hah! You guys scared? Why’d you stop, Apocabeast? Fight’s just started! Go mess em’ up!”

Rin smiled from above. “Yeah, you can go all-out. We’ve got your back”

 

They were smiling.

 

At their words, Jurota’s dazed expression turned into a small smile, which turned into a wild grin as his nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. He was quite aware of how mad he looked, and how frazzled his fur was from Kaminari’s attack. He made no move to fix it.

 

Instead, he roared loud enough to make the incoming birds and insects summoned by Koda to scatter in fright as he charged towards Kaminari.

“Hey! You’ll have to go through me fir-” Kirishima began to declare before Jurota shoved him out of the way. It didn’t hurt him due to his quirk, but it cleared the path towards the electrically-charged student.

 

“Crap, crap, CRAAAP!” yelled Kaminari as he stumbled backwards. “HE’S GONNA EAT ME!!” yelled the yellow-haired boy dumbly. Seems his intellect has already lowered a bit, Jurota learned that during their planning yesterday. But he’s not completely catatonic yet; he’s obviously improved since last time.

He’s gotten a lot more aggressive! thought Asui, who was further behind from Kaminari and Kirishima and accompanied by Shinso.

 

Damn… I’ll be pretty useless here… , thought Shinso. What did Mr. Aizawa say I have to do in these situations?... I’d better reposition for now. Don’t want to be dead weight for Asui.  With that, Shinso ran off, disappearing behind a corner.

 

At the same time, Asui extended her tongue in an attempt to retrieve Kaminari, however Tsbuburaba’s reflexes were too quick. With a deep breath, he blew out a long distance air barrier, which formed right behind Kaminari, preventing the frog girl’s tongue from reaching him.

 

From above, Rin watched the scene while maintaining his fire on Asui and Koda, though the skin on his forearm began to burn. He thought it was strange that Kaminari let off a shock when Kirishima was right next to him, and not only that, Kirishima wasn’t affected at all. According to yesterday’s prep, Kaminari hurts everyone all around him when he uses his quirk, which means one of two things:

 

1. He’s somehow learned how to control his electricity, or
2. He’s using a support item.

 

It was probably 2. That gadget on his hand was-

 

Wait a minute…

 

Rin screwed his eyes. Was that an…orange tracker stuck to Apocabeast’s shoulder?

 

But as Kaminari raised his arm and prepared to aim a shot at the beast, Rin had already figured out that the device stuck on to Jurota was designed to redirect electricity towards it.

Before Kaminari could activate his quirk, Rin shot his scales at it, causing it to fly off of the beast’s shoulder. “Tsub! Hit it!”

 

Not entirely sure what Rin was on about, Tsuburaba quickly created a small air barrier and pushed it forward with a gust of his breath, setting it on a course to hit Kaminari’s device, which then sent the orange trinket flying straight towards Koda.

 

In the span of a second, the device was volleyed over to Koda’s direction right as Kaminari began to activate his quirk, his slightly fried-out brain not registering that his quirk would end up shocking his teammate instead of the enemy.

 

“Koda!” shouted Asui as she attempted to catch the device with her tongue. She’d end up getting shocked, but at least Koda wouldn’t-

 

click!

 

Every student (sans Kaminari) could hear a soft click as the device landed.

 

However, it wasn’t on Asui’s tongue, nor on Koda’s body.

 

Instead, from out of nowhere, Shinso’s capture capture tape shot out and intercepted Kaminari’s device.

At that same moment, electricity came surging from Kaminari’s body, arcing through the air, into the device, and through the capture tape, disappearing into the mess of pipes where Shinso was presumably hiding.

 

---

 

“SHINSO?!”

 

Practically all students exclaimed at the same time back in the spectating area. Even the teachers looked surprised, and more than a little worried.

 

Jirou dug her face into her hands, groaning “Kaminari, you moron…”

 

Kodai’s eyes were uncharacteristically widened, and Yanagi was even more spooked-out than usual.

“Did he…sacrifice himself?” asked Shoda, his mouth hanging open.

“My, my, Shinso…” unlike everyone else, Monoma was smiling. “You’re just full of surprises, huh?”

 

Aizawa crossed his arms. “Hm. He still somewhat struggles to keep up with everyone else’s pace, but even now he’s still finding ways to improve. A pleasant surprise”

 

Midnight looked on with concern. “I just hope the poor boy didn’t hurt himself…”

 

---

 

“Huh”, said Kaminari, drooling out of his open mouth. His eyes were glazed over as he stared at Jurota, before he broke into a wide grin and gave the beast a thumbs up.

 

Jurota’s face creased as his eyebrows furrowed. He grabbed the capture taped and tugged hard. 

However, Shinso wasn’t pulled out. Instead, a ripped end followed the string of capture tape.

 

“Hmph. Sneaky” growled Jurota, as he turned to Kaminari. “As for you…”

He ripped out one of the vines wrapped around his waist, and threw it on top of Kaminari.

 

The vines wrapped around the confused boy, swiftly pulling him back towards class B’s base.

 

“NO!” exclaimed Kirishima as he dashed to rescue his friend, before being blocked by Tsuburaba. As he smashed the air barrier, Kaminari was already long gone.

 

“Forget about him !” grinned Tsuburaba as he stood in front of Kirishima. “I’m your match now!” 

 

Tsuburaba cupped his hands on his mouth, and narrowed the space between his hands as he blew out some sort of shape.

 

Kirishima couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in curiosity as Tsuburaba made what appeared to be a huge chicken drumstick out of solid air. “Air Club!”, he announced proudly.

 

An announcement blared through the arena. “DENKI KAMINARI HAS BEEN CAPTURED!’

 

Kirishima cracked his knuckles. “It’s time the two of us brawl it out! This is to get revenge for Kaminari! NOW HIT ME WITH ALL YA GOT!”

 

Internally hyping himself up, Tsuburaba grabbed the Club with both hands and swung it at Kirishima with all his might, yelling “HIYAAAAAAAA-!”

 

It shattered upon impact.

 

Rin would have face-palmed if he didn’t have to keep firing to suppress Asui and Koda’s birds. “Why did you think that would work?! Wait, don’t answer anything I say!” he hollered, understanding all too well the threat of another Brainwashing.

 

Kirishima shook off all the shards of shattered air. “My turn now! RED GAUNTLEEET!”

 

Before Kirishima could cave Tsuburaba in, Jurota tackled the air-headed boy and took the hit for himself.

 

“Thanks, man!” exclaimed Tsuburaba, before tugging the vines connected to his waist, which lifted him to high ground like Rin, and he was now on top of a building opposite to the scaled boy.

 

Jurota didn’t reply to Tsuburaba as he locked into combat with Kirishima. They couldn’t risk talking now. All there was left to do was to fight.

---

10 minutes later

 

 

“It looks like neither team is letting up”, commentated Vlad King. They’ve been locked in this position for quite a while now. The match might end like this soon.

 

“And with one point up, class B is sure to take an easy win right off the bat”, jeered Monoma, knowing that Midoriya’s team was within earshot. “Seems a fitting start, considering we’re the superior class!”

 

“But check it out!” Tetsutetsu pointed towards Kirishima on the screen, “My man ain’t letting up! Even if each hit from Shishida sends him tumbling backwards, he just jumps right back up! How manly!!”

 

“Whose side are you on, Tetsutetsu?!” asked Tsunotori, exasperated.

 

“Ours, of course! But, I mean, I’ve gotta cheer for my bro!”

 

“Your bro might have another thing coming. Check out the screen”, commented Kaibara, pointing at the screen providing an overhead view of field gamma.

 

Much of the right side of the battlefield was a sea of green, evidently being taken over by Shiozaki’s rapidly growing vines.

 

Kaibara continued. “If she reaches them, it’ll probably be game over”

“Eh, I think we should take a better look at our guys, especially the ones on high ground” interjected Honenuki, causing the rest of his team to do so.

---

 

Rin’s rate of fire had decreased quite a bit at this point, and blood could be seen dripping out of his gauntlets, the skin under which had turned completely red.

 

Tsbuburaba’s breaths came quickly; he couldn’t afford the time to take a full breath before he needed to use his quirk again. He had fashioned a blowgun out of solid air, through which he was now blowing darts made out of solid air. 

 

The darts were a lot harder for class A to dodge compared to Rin’s scales since they were invisible, but his aim was considerably worse than that of his friend’s, so their combined efforts only managed to sustain the fight rather than turn the tide.

 

As for class A, Asui’s movements were getting slower and slower. Whenever she managed to get her tongue near one of the class B boys, all they had to do was tug on Shiozaki’s vine, and they were pulled back to safety. Every few seconds, they’d interact with the vine to jump across buildings and pipes, making it pointless to try and close the distance.

 

Shinso tried a few times to brainwash them, but they seemed dead set on not talking to each other, even though it seemed to cause Tsuburaba physical pain to keep his mouth shut for this long. Shinso resigned to repositioning and repeatedly trying to grab them or take out their mode of movement with capture tape. However, they would focus their fire on him if he tried anything, and any contact with Shiozaki’s vines instantly ripped his tape.

 

Koda was finding it increasingly difficult to spot any animals at all, nevermind finding some that were willing to keep fighting for him. Before, he had managed to get a few hornet stings on Tsuburaba, causing red swelling on some parts of the boy’s skin, but all Rin had to do was activate his scales to be invincible to any insect attack. The best Koda could do for now was a couple of rats he found, so he’d just have to hope for the best.

 

Fighting in the midpoint of these two opposing ends were Shishida and Kirishima, the two repeatedly trading blow after blow without showing any signs of stopping.

 

Kirishima still wore a toothy grin, though the wince of pain every time Shishida slammed into him was still very visible: his body had gotten softer over the course of the battle.

 

Shishida looked as if he were in better condition. His face was set in a determined glare as he continued brawling with class A’s hardhead, but the truth was the spike of adrenaline from when he woke up from Brainwashing had long since dissipated. His hits lacked the same intensity, the same animal ferocity as before.

 

But even if it didn’t, Shishida’s large form lends itself to a more crowd-control oriented fighting style, which isn’t a good match against Kirishima, who excels in one-to-one combat.

So if he could, Shishida would go to pressure the other class A combatants, but Kirishima is in his way. If he were to just ignore Kirishima, then the redhead would terrorise Shishida’s own backline, which would be devastating since Rin’s close combat isn’t as strong as Kirishima’s, and Kirishima’s quirk directly counters Tsuburaba’s.

 

So now he’s stuck here, fighting through all the bruises hidden by his dense layer of fur.

 

All these thoughts bubbled in Shishida’s head as he withstood hit after hit after hit, his vision blurring. Shishida swung an arm at Kirishima, which temporarily threw him off balance, before he charged in with yet another haymaker.

 

But before it hit, Shishida felt a sudden tightening around his waist.

 

It felt as if Shishida’s soul was left behind as his body suddenly jerked backwards at a high speed, causing him to bump and knock against various pipes and corners as he was pulled further and further back.

 

It took him a second to realise that it was Shiozaki who was pulling him back.

 

As he went further and further back, the environment transformed from an industrial-like area to a green, vine-infested jungle, before he found himself resting his head on a bed of vines in front of Shiozaki’s lap.

 

“Oh, good lord! Why didn’t you return to me sooner, Apocalypse Beast?” said Shiozaki, a concerned look etched on her face as she placed a hand on his forehead and vines began wrapping around his body. These vines were different to her usual ones; they were more plump and the thorns were short and slicked to the side, so that they didn’t scratch Shishida.

 

“Miss Shiozaki? Why…did you make the decision to retrieve me all of a sudden? I must…return to Sir Rin and Sir Tsuburaba…” groaned Shishida.

 

Shiozaki answered. “I felt palpitations in your heart rate. But now you can ease down, beast. Under the name of Vine, I shall banish your pain.”

The vines wrapped around Shishida’s body released some water from their pores. It was somewhat soothing, but the pain lingered, as well as the worry in Shishida’s face.

 

“I-If I may, miss Shiozaki…” started Shishida, looking up at Shiozaki’s face, “our teammates are sure to be overwhelmed by enemy forces if we don’t act quickly-”

 

“And act, I will”, interjected Shiozaki. “I merely have to find the right vine to pull those lost lambs back into the warm embrace of light, after which the fortress of vines will protect us from their onslaught for the remainder of the time, and then our victory will be-”

 

Shiozaki paused, her eyes widening in realization. “Oh…dear lord…”

 

Shishida blinked. “Miss Shiozaki?”

 

Shiozaki’s expression was dark. “The connection…it’s been snapped!”

 

Shishida growled, his face contorting into a grimace, “Sir Rin and Sir Tsuburaba are in danger...if the two of them get caught, Class A will be one point ahead!”

 

Shiozaki sighed. “I suppose there’s only one thing I have left to do. It’s still very unrefined, but it’s our only chance of bringing our fellow believers back into the light. Have faith, Rin and Tsuburaba, for we have not forgotten you!”

 

Shishida lay on his back as the vines continued dousing him with water. “Lord…have mercy.”

---

 

The two remaining boys watched in confusion as their teammate was briskly whisked away.

 

“She’s bringing Shishida back? What about us?” questioned Tsuburaba while preemptively creating an air barrier for himself and Rin, to block any sound from Shinso.

 

“...Maybe she just lost our vines. It’s no issue, we just have to give it a quick-” Rin paused with his hand on the vine, feeling its significant decrease in weight compared to before. He looked around, saw the gnawed off ends of their vines, and saw numerous rats skittering off around a corner. “...Shit.”

 

“A quick shit?” asked Tsuburaba, turning around, and noticing the same thing as his friend. “Oh, come ON! Why does this ALWAYS happen to m-!”

 

“Watch out!”

 

Tsuburaba was interrupted as Asui flung Kirishima over to where the two were, using her tongue. The hardened UA student smashed right through Tsuburaba’s barrier and came flying right towards him.

 

However, Rin managed to jump in front of his friend and activate his scales in the nick of time, blocking the majority of the attack’s force but still sending all three of them tumbling.

 

Rin stood up at the same time as Kirishima, with the former taking up a fighting stance, while the latter stretched his hardened muscles with a grin.

 

“Damn, this is the third one of you guys I’ve tried to take on already; hope we don’t get interrupted again!” commented Kirishima. “But I’ve been psyched to try myself against your quirk in particular! Forget Shirts versus Skins, it’ll be Scales versus Skins!!”

 

“Mhm…” Rin nodded. He was buying some time; he had activated a hidden switch to block the holes in his gauntlets from which scales shot out of. Now all he had to do was wait for the pressure to build up.

 

“Aaanyways…” said Kirishima. “I got the first hit on you by surprise, so it’s only fair you get the next one. So-”

 

“Dragon Claw!”

 

Before the red-haired boy got the finish, Rin lunged forward and punched him in the face. Unfortunately, Kirishima didn’t do as much as flinch, and instead the sharp edges of his face cut into Rin’s fist, from which beads of blood were starting to form.

 

Kirishima looked more disappointed than anything. “That your Ultimate move? Just a regular punch?”

 

But now it was Rin’s turn to grin.

“The punch? No. But this is!”

 

Rin unblocked his gauntlets, and in an instant, let loose a full round of scale shots on Kirishima’s face all at once: a shotgun blast at point blank range.

 

Before Kirishima could even react, multiple shots broke through his hard exterior, stinging his skin like splinters. Not only that, but the pure force of the blast was enough to knock him off of the piping that Rin and Tsuburaba were standing on.

 

“THAT’S WHAT I’M TALking abouuut!” yelled Kirishima, his voice getting quieter from Rin’s perspective as he falls.

 

Rin seized his arm in pain for a second, before letting it fall to his side. “Let’s run.”

 

Tsuburaba nodded with uncharacteristic urgency and got up from the ground, only to fall right back down when a sudden rumbling sound shook the air.

 

“woAH! Hey…is that what I think it is?”

 

Tsuburaba and Rin looked on as tons upon tons of vines rushed back from where they were outstretched to, knocking pipes and buildings over on their path. As the clamorous sounds of rustling foliage filled their ears, all the vines bunched up in a singular area, piling on top of each other to create a towering mountain-like structure, about 5-6 storeys tall, casting a huge shadow across much of the battlefield.

 

From inside the multi-layered bundle of vines stood their source: Shiozaki, standing in a hollowed out area with Shishida sitting beside her. The thick scent of foliage was ever present, and it was completely dark, save for the tiny streams of light coming from the gaps in the vine through which air circulated.

 

Shiozaki’s voice was strained from effort. “Shishida…please lend me your senses, so that I may find and bring hope to our lost comrades.” 

 

“A wise idea, miss Shiozaki”, agreed Shishida as he transformed into his Beast form and trudged towards the nearest gap in the vines.

 

Shiozaki sighed and clasped her hands as if in prayer. “Have faith, Tsuburaba and Rin, for you are protected by Faith’s Guardian!”

---

 

Meanwhile, in the spectating area…

The place was filled with a cacophony of voices. Class B were ecstatic, whilst class A looked on in shock and terror.

 

Sero yelled, pointing at the screen “Is Shiozaki turning into a KAIJU?!!”

 

Sato was biting his fingers, “What’re they supposed to do against that??”

 

Jiro was staring wide-eyed, “How is she controlling all those vines at once? Must be a total headache…”

 

Bakugo scoffed. “Pathetic. What’s she gonna do with a huge pile of grass? Only a weakling would lose against that.”

---

As the mound of vines moved towards the battle zone, pushing aside any obstacle, it began to take shape into a sort of giant humanoid figure

 

Inside its ‘head’ was where all the vines seemed to be extending from; Tsuburaba figured that’s where Shiozaki and Shishida were holed up. 

 

Tsuburaba screwed his eyes as he and Rin ran towards the vines. Was that…a knight? No… a crusader?

The vines on its exterior shifted to look like armour.

 

Clutched in its hand and resting on its shoulder, the vines tangled together to form what seemed to be a sword.

 

Outside of the head, a knightly helmet was taking shape.

 

The armour was starting to get some plating,

 

Interlocked vines hung around it like chainmail,

 

A giant insignia of a cross made out of thick vines covered it’s chest,

 

And, if you looked closely, its shoulder pads were emblazoned with some intricate-

 

“STOP DECORATING AND HELP US ALREADY!!” , screamed Tsuburaba as Asui and Kirishima started gaining on them, with Kirishima being pulled up by a whole platoon of birds.

 

Suddenly, with a loud rustling of vines, the giant raised its sword, and began to bring it down right above where all four of them were running. Metal crunched and concrete crumbled as the gargantuan vine sword hit.

 

“H-huh?!”, exclaimed Tsuburaba as he jumped to the right.

 

“Damn it!”, cursed Rin as he dove to the left. It’s probably very hard to accurately control that when the scale is so large!

 

Asui and Kirishima were also scattered, with the avians carrying Kirishima being scared off by the giant, leaving the boy falling downwards once again.

Inside the head of Faith’s Guardian…

“Er…Miss Shiozaki?”

 

“Yes, Shishida?”

 

“That attack, I’m very sorry to say, did not connect with any of them. In fact, it nearly hit our allies”

 

“That’s alright. I-I...will be more careful in regards to harming our companions… but I do not intend to hurt the enemy either, only to help our allies…return to safety.”

 

“Please excuse me, but are you sure you can continue any longer, Miss Shiozaki? Your voice does sound… quite drained.”

 

“Do not mind me…it is too late to stop now, regardless of how I am feeling.”

“...Understood.”

 The giant continued swinging and slamming, keeping constant chaos down in the ground; buildings collapsed left and right, and the air was polluted with dust and debris.

 

---

 

Back in the spectating zone, Vlad King stared, wide-eyed, at the pandemonium. “She’s…destroying everything…”, he muttered, half amazed and half horrified.

 

“Whoo! Go Shiozaki!” cheered Fukidashi. “WHAM! CRUNCH! CRASH!”

 

“That thing’s…Enoki-normous!” murmured Komori, the mushroom puns starting to become a bit forced at this point. “I hope she doesn’t hit Tsuburaba or Rin, shroom…”

 

---

 

Through it all, Shinso ran next to Asui, hoping and praying that he finds someone from the opposing team. He’s been a deadweight for pretty much this whole match. This is his last chance to prove himself, to help his team.

 

However, he had two things going for him: for one, this chaos and confusion.

 

It might be helping class B escape, but it also causes unease, tension, and worry. Your senses are heightened, your adrenaline is pumping, your nerves are working, and you’d be more willing than ever to accept help from a friendly ally.

 

Heh, there’s one perk of being a Gen-Ed student: psychology.

 

But aside from that, there’s one other thing, one other strand of hope that he must hold on to: it was what Rin had called Tsuburaba earlier, shortly prior to when Shinso had intercepted Kaminari’s tracker.

 

With the help of Asui and her frog tongue, Shinso scaled on top of a mound of rubble to get to high ground. However, the dust was too thick, and he couldn’t spot them anywhere.

 

Shinso sighed. He’ll have to hope this works out.

 

As his metal mask clicked into place, Shinso yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Hey, Tsub! I need your help!” came Rin’s panicked voice.

 

Rin froze as the sound of his own voice rang through the battlefield. Shinso? He knows Tsub’s nickname? At that thought, Rin froze even harder - please don’t respond please don’t respond please don’t-

 

“Rin??” Tsuburaba sounded worried. “I’m comi-”

Tsuburaba’s voice cut off abruptly.

 

“Damn it!”, cursed Rin as he bolted towards the source of Tsuburaba’s voice. 

 

But he couldn’t outpace Asui. He knew it.

 

 Nevertheless, he still felt the old pang of disappointment in himself when he saw the frog girl carrying his friend away, almost concealed by the dust.

 

“No! Stop!”  yelled Rin desperately. He raised his arm and attempted to shoot scales, but all that came out were a couple of feeble scale shots, before his arm started shaking from the effort and pain.

Rin lowered his arm and let out a sound that was a mix between a groan and a yell, his teeth clenched in frustration. He should’ve been able to save him. After staring silently at the empty haze for a few more moments, Rin turned and ran in the opposite direction.

“Shishida, I sense someone feeling for my vines, who is it?” inquired Shiozaki

 

Shishida sniffed, “It’s sir Rin! May you pull him in?”

 

After a few moments, Rin rose up through the layers of vine up into the head of Faith’s Guardian, with his other teammates. He was covered head to toe in thorns.

 

Shiozaki immediately sent some of her water-storing vines, removing the thorns and soothing any damaged areas.

“It is wonderful to see you again, Rin”, said Shiozaki, “Well, I might not be able to truly ‘see’ you since it’s dark as night in here, but alas. I hope the journey up was not too painful!” 

 

“Salutations, sir Rin”, greeted Shishida. “Would I be so callous as to inquire about the whereabouts of sir Tsuburaba?”

 

“Hey” sighed Rin. “No, it’s fine. Tsub’s…well, they got him and…I couldn’t stop them.”

 

Shishida’s brows furrowed, and he began sniffing at the vine’s exterior. “I think…I may just about be able to smell them. Bearing 290 degrees, around 500 metres.”  

 

“Hm!”, Shiozaki acknowledged, attempting to move Faith’s Guardian forward, but then-

 

The three of them yelped as the giant shook and lurched downwards, with Shiozaki barely stopping it from collapsing.

 

“What was that?!”, shouted Rin as he got up from the thorny floor, which still seemed to be slightly shaking and trembling.

 

Shiozaki grimaced. “How did I not realise until now? It appears as though the demons have…somehow weakened the vines in the base”

 

Shishida grunted, “Meaning we’re stuck in place-”

 

“-and can’t help Tsub”, interjected Rin with a sigh. “Sorry, man…” he muttered to himself.

 

“I-I will try my best to alleviate the issue”, said Shiozaki as she got back to work, her voice laced with urgency.

Kosei Tsuburaba felt a soft embrace as clouds enveloped him, carrying him along the breeze, holding him tight yet snug. Is this what heaven feels like?

 

Rainwater drizzled around him, rejuvenating him, breathing life into his breathless body. In that very moment, it seemed to Kosei that life was but a-

 

CLANK!

 

Kosei’s eyes jerked open after being hit in the forehead with a metal pipe. Everything was a blur. He stared up at the sky, which was zipping past at a rapid pace.

 

Joint Training. Had he been captured? He felt like he was being dragged along by a rope; but instead of a rope, it was something soft and wet; and instead of being dragged, he felt like he was being flown like a kite.

 

He looked down. Was he wrapped in a pink ribbon? Hopping in front of him was Asui. 

 

Asui and a pink ribbon?

 

His brain connected the dots, before going into absolute overdrive.

 

Asui was carrying him…WITH HER TONGUE?!?!?

 

Kosei’s eyes went so wide they almost looked like normal eyes. What should he do? What should he do?!

 

Thinking quickly, he wiggled out one arm, blew out an air barrier, and held on to it for dear life. Their movement lurched to a stop, and Asui turned around.

 

“Oh hey, Tsuburaba”, chimed the frog girl. “So you woke up? Could you let go of that, ribbit?”

 

Kosei didn’t release his grip nor spoke a word.

 

“That’s fine”,  Asui retracted her tongue, causing Kosei to yelp and fall down while spinning around like a drill. She then deftly re-extended her frog tongue and caught Kosei, except this time making sure that his mouth was covered.

 

Kosei screamed internally. They were practically kissing!

 

Well…it’s not like Kosei was complaining. In fact-

No! , he thought. Stop thinking that!

 

He was about to be captured, and then his team would lose their advantage. He’d have to think of something, quickly.

 

“MMPH! MMMPH!”, Kosei’s muffled voice rang out as he tapped the side of Asui’s tongue like a wrestler tapping out. Asui sighed and moved her tongue so that Kosei could speak. “Ribbit. What is it?”

 

“Uh…y-you can’t cover my mouth!”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cuz I can’t breathe!”

 

“You could use your nose.”

 

“Erm…But-uh…but I have asthma!”

 

“Ribbit. Asthma?”Asui raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you need to breathe a lot for your quirk to work?”

 

“Uhh…..”, droned Kosei.

But at that moment, he saw it: class A’s jail cell. He had stalled enough time and his mouth wasn’t covered, so he could use his quirk!

 

Swiftly, Kosei blew a barrier around the door to the jail cell, preventing it from being accessed.

 

Asui stopped in front of the air barrier, slight annoyance exuding from her froggy face, and attempted to break or move it, to no avail.

 

“Come on, Tsuburaba. Suck it suck it back in, please.”

 

“Nuh uh!” Kosei shook his head aggressively.

 

Asui sighed. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Tsuburaba. Ribbit.”

At that, Asui tightened her tongue’s hold on Kosei, leaving the boy to only squeak as the last bits of air were squeezed out of him. Maybe that’s why his face was as red as a tomato.

 

Kosei croaked “Hard….way…!”

 

But as Asui prepared to slam him into his own air wall, they were interrupted by Aizawa’s voice crackling from a nearby speaker.

 

“Tsuburaba. You can’t tamper with the jail cells. Pull back the air wall.”

 

“Aw man…” muttered Kosei as he sucked the air barrier back in. Sorry guys…I let you down

“KOSEI TSUBURABA HAS BEEN CAPTURED!”, blared the announcement.

…..

 

“Damn it…”, muttered Rin, clenching his fist.

 

Shishida spoke with increased urgency. “Shiozaki, have you found a way out of our predicament?”

 

The vine girl’s eyebrows were furrowed. “No, I-I need more time-”

 

“We do not have more time!” interjected Shishida. “The enemy is flying towards our direction!”

 

“I beg your pardon-?”

 

At that moment, Faith’s Guardian shook. Kirishima, flung by Asui, crashed into the legs of the colossus, which yielded immediately.

 

The red-haired boy groaned. “One last time!”, the hardness of his skin increased greatly. “RED GAUNTLEEET!!” 

At that, he mowed through the vines, which instantly ripped apart through contact with his fists. Though Shiozaki sent more, Kirishima immediately destroyed them.

 

“Wh-what’s going on?!” stuttered  Shiozaki. “My vines are not usually this weak…”

 

Kirishima grinned as he continued punching. “Koda’s what happened! He used his animals to transfer some diseases to the vines down here, making em’ weaker than paper!”

 

Shiozaki frowned, but looked downward, as though she was in deep thought. “These pathogens…they’re spreading up my vines as we speak.”

 

Shishida scowled. “In that case… what is there left for us to do?”

 

“You could send me down.” offered Rin, wincing as he stood up. “I might be able to hold him off for a few seconds”

 

“No.” declared Shiozaki, her voice decisive. “The only thing we can do is cut them off!”

“What-” Rin started, but was cut off by the sharp sound of vines ripping apart.

“Hold on to something!”, ordered Shiozaki.

 

A fraction of a second, and they were falling all the way down. 

Though they were still encased in the hollow head of Faith’s Guardian, all three class 1B students felt the sudden 5-storey drop Shiozaki had subjected them to.

 

And as they started floating up in the air, all three of them screamed.

 

“WHAT THE HEEEEEEELL?!!”

“MISS SHIOZAKI, THIS WAS TRULY UNCALLED FOR!”

“THIS WAS THE ONLY WAAAY!”

 

---

Vlad King raised his mic up to his face. “It’s a big fall, but the only suitable option against class A’s attack. Props to Shiozaki for immediately and effectively dealing with this threat! A prime example of the skill present in the superior class!!”

 

At this point, a whole group of class A students have begun protesting against Vlad’s biased commentary.

 

“You tell them, Mr. Vlad!” cheered Monoma.

“Eh..I can’t say I agree”, countered Yanagi. “That’s quite the scary situation they’re in. Without that big vine giant and all”

 

“So Ms. Holy gave up that vine colossus of hers.” commented Kuroiro. “Does she have a tactic to back up on? Her chances seem null, if you’d ask me.”

 

“Well…” Kendo reasoned, “it’s not like she had much of a choice to begin with. At least they’re protected in that cage of vines that aren’t infected.”

 

Honenuki turned to Tokage. “I think I know what she’s up to. You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Tokage nodded. “Yep…I think it’s clear what Shiozaki was thinkin’, so I think you’re also thinking that Shiozaki’s thinking the same thing that I’m thinking she’s thinking of.”

 

Tetsutetsu covered his ears. “Too…much…thinking!”

Kaibara placed a hand on the metal boy’s shoulder. “Finally, something the two of us can agree on.”

---

The head of Faith’s Guardian landed with a thud. Its inhabitants were more than a bit shaken by the fall, but the impact was cushioned by the vines.

 

Rin groaned as he massaged his forehead. “So, are we going to fight now?”

 

Shishida lay on the floor. “The animal has used up much of its energy… but I figure that it can still throw a punch or perhaps two.”

 

Shiozaki was praying.

 

Shishida sat up. “Please excuse me, Miss Shiozaki?”

 

Shiozaki was still praying.

 

Rin held up a hand. “J-just wait”

After a bit, Shiozaki finished up and answered their questions.

 

“No, we are not fighting. Both of you are in too poor of a state for combat, and I have already expended much of my resources for Faith’s Guardian.”

 

“Wait…”, Rin’s voice was indignant. “So, we’ll just sit here doing nothing?”

 

Shishida reasoned, “In Miss Shiozaki’s defense, Sir Rin, I do believe this is the best tactical decision we could make. Trying to fight will likely lead to our loss.”

 

“The vine layers around  are plentiful as well as formidable”, assured Shiozaki. “By the time Kirishima escapes from the remains of Faith’s Guardian and breaks through, time will run out.”

 

Rin looked down for a while, before reluctantly complying, “...Alright”. If he had protected Tsub, then they could have won.

---

“So that’s their decision”, gruffed Vlad King. “Very well.”

 

With a large inhalation, he announced into his microphone. “TIME IS UP! The first match of Joint Training will end in a draw!”

 

“A drawwww??” complained Kamakiri. 

 

“It’s a bit anti-climatic", agreed Tsunotori.

“Actually, Pony, it’s ‘anticlimactic’”, corrected Honenuki.

“Oh, my bad!” Tsunotori grinned. “I’m such a silly bak-”

 

"That was still one hell of a fight, though" Tokage smiled slyly. "Class A's got guts. But I still think we can win our match."

 

“Do not fret, my friends!”, announced Monoma. “Those miscreants of the opposing class only avoided loss because of Shinso! These following matches will go a lot more smoothly…”

 

Kaibara shrugged. “I’m just glad Rin didn’t get his ass handed to him. Can’t say the same for Tsub, though…”

Awase nudged him. “Hey, we’ll see if you’ll still be talking shit after your own match. I’ll have my eyes on you!”

---

After a while, the fighters from both classes lined up side-to-side in the spectating area for their match reviews.

 

Tsuburaba and Rin looked at each other and started talking at the same time:

 

“Hey, I’m sorry about-”

“Rin, I’m sorry for-”

 

Rin blinked. “What are you sorry for?”

Tsuburaba scratched his head. “Isn’t it obvious? For getting caught”

“Oh. I was gonna be sorry about that”

“Wait a minute…” Tsuburaba paused. “If we’re both sorry about the same thing, then doesn’t it cancel out?”

“Hmm…”, Rin stroked his chin. “It probably does”

“Okay, neat!”

“Great!”

 

Shiozaki sighed. “If only all conflicts were resolved so easily.”

“Hmm” Shishida nodded. If only.

 

“Alright!”, announced Vlad. “We’ll make this quick, since Shiozaki, Rin, Shishida, and Kirishima probably need a quick visit to Recovery Girl after this. Aizawa?”

 

The class A homeroom teacher sighed. “Tell me what you think.”

 

Kirishima’s face was serious. “I should have been able to take out Shishida faster. I get softer as time goes on, so a drawn-out battle only allowed them to strategise.” 

 

Asui looked down. “Losing Kaminari definitely brought down our morale, but we still could’ve won if we managed to escape that standstill before they did. We were sloppy out there.” Koda nodded to that.

 

Shinso sighed. “I was pretty useless for most of that match. I couldn’t even use my capture tape to the fullest: everything you taught me just escaped my head. It’s so frustrating.”

 

Kaminari beamed and gave Aizawa a thumbs-up. “And I pretty much killed it! If anyone wants some autographs, just come right along! We totally couldn’t have won without me!”

Kirishima blinked. “Uh, dude-”

 

“Listen up.” Aizawa’s voice was sharp. “Koda, you were definitely the MVP on class A’s side. Just work on spotting animals more quickly”

 

Koda smiled beneath his mask, but still nodded.

 

“Asui and Kirishima, try to focus on what you can do to prevent your mistakes in the future, rather than the mistake itself. Especially you, Kirishima: real life battles aren’t as exciting as training; don’t prolong them more than you need to. 

 

“Yes, Sir!”, nodded Kirishima and Asui.

 

“Shinso, don’t kick yourself too hard. It’s hard to master the capture tape, so work on it day by day. Reflect on this match and prepare for your next one”

 

“...Understood.”

 

“Kaminari! You were too reckless out there. Just because you see a good attacking opportunity doesn’t mean you should immediately take it. Think before you act. Dismissed!”

 

Kaminari was left staring in half shock and half confusion.

“I think we made more or less the same mistakes.” commented Shishida. “Shinso’s Brainwashing prevented us from coordinating to make a better plan, leaving us stuck in the same position. I myself may have become too carried away in my beast form after having woken up; the exact reason, I do not know why.”

 

Shiozaki, predictably, had her hands clasped in prayer. “I know the judgement which you shall bestow upon me, Mr. Vlad: I did cause too much destruction. Faith’s Guardian is truly only supposed to be used in a wide, flat battlefield. However, I was unable to think of a better course of action”

 

Tsuburaba scratched his head. “I should’ve used my air barriers to block Shinso’s voice out more. That would’ve helped keep us all together. Plus, my aim with Air Darts is total shi- I mean, crap.”

 

Rin sighed. “It’s the same as Kirishima: I need to train my quirk more. My scales stop producing way too quickly. If I could’ve used my quirk, things would’ve been a lot different”

 

Vlad King clenched his hand. “Urgh! You four were so close to winning! I could’ve almost tasted it - and I was just about to laugh right in Aizawa’s face when - ahem, excuse me” Vlad composed himself. 

“Anyway, it’s just as you said. Shiozaki, your decisions were very impulsive, not to mention that lots of civilians could’ve died if this was a real fight. Don’t panic and think your plans through: there were many better options you could’ve taken”

 

“I shall repent for my sins” declared Shiozaki.

 

“As for you boys, I agree with your points: communication is key. Shishida, remember that retreating is a valid option in that fight, especially since you were at a disadvantage. If you all went back at once instead of being split apart, you would have planned for a good counterattack instead of scrambling to retrieve your other teammates”

 

“Indeed.” agreed Shishida.

 

“Rin and Tsuburaba, it was impressive that you lasted while separated from your team. My only recommendation is to improve your quirk proficiency, as you said.”

 

“Alright, sir!”, exclaimed the two boys.

 

---

After receiving some quick treatment from Recovery Girl, Shishida sheepishly walked out of the room. Did she really need to administer her quirk like that?

 

But just as he turned a corner, he nearly ran into Tsuburaba and Rin.

 

“Oh, hey man!” said Tsuburaba. “We were looking for you.”

“You were looking for me?” Shishida asked, surprised. “What for, may I ask?”

 

“Nothing much” responded Rin. “There were a couple of vending machines downstairs. We were thinking you might want a drink, after that long match. Tsub’s treat”

 

“My treat??”

“You’re the only one with cash.” shrugged Rin.

“Oh, fineeee” conceded Tsuburaba in an overly annoyed voice, though he was gonna pay anyway.

 

“Oh…” Shishida considered for a moment, before smiling politely. “Sure. I thank you sincerely for the offer, Sir Tsuburaba”

 

“Y’know…” said Tsuburaba, “you don’t gotta be so formal with us. We’re friends after all!”

 

“...friends?”

 

“Yeah!” replied Tsuburaba. “Like, ‘Sir Tsub’ would be a lot more chill, don’tcha think?”

“You’re still keeping the ‘sir’?” deadpanned Rin.

“Well, it’s up to him”

 

“Ah, if you so please, Sir Tsub.”

 

Tsuburaba grinned. “See? Much better”

 

“Hmm…” Rin considered. “Everyone calls me Rin since ‘Hiryu’ can’t really be split into one syllable. But it’ll be nice if you dropped the ‘Sir’.”

 

“Alright,” said Shishida. “Then, would it be Mr. Rin?”

 

Tsuburaba snorted, “Mr. Rin! Hah, you have to go with that!”

 

Rin stuttered “N-no, I meant just my name!”

 

“This is your name, Mr. Rin”, grinned Shishida.

 

“...This is payback for ‘Apocabeast’, isn’t it?”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Rin!”

 

“Ah, welp” chuckled Rin. “Guess I had it coming.”

 

Just then, Shiozaki exited Recovery Girl’s room. “Hello, boys. What brings you to collect here?”

 

“Oh, we were just going to get some drinks”, said Mr. Rin. “Do you want some?”

 

“Do they serve the blood of Christ?”

 

All three boys stared at Shiozaki in confusion, before she started giggling.

 

“Ah, just a joke!” smiled Shiozaki. 

 

“A joke?” whispered Tsuburaba, his face pale. “You can joke?!” He didn’t mention that that might’ve been the worst joke he’s ever heard.

 

“Not usually, but since you do it so much, I figured I might try one. And it seems that it worked: you look delightfully amused! I might further pursue the path of joke-making”

 

“You should take her in as an apprentice, sir Tsub”, offered Shishida.

“A good idea!” agreed Shiozaki, “In return, I shall teach you 50 more vine signs which I have thought of!”

 

“Okay, I really need a drink now” muttered Tsuburaba as the group started walking downstairs.

 

As they went down the stairs, Shishida said, “May I request one thing?”

 

“Yes?” said Rin as he, Tsuburaba, and Shiozaki turned around to face the beast.

 

“I’d like for you to call me Jurota.” requested Shishida. “It’s the name my mother gave me”

 

“Sure!”

 

“If you so ask, I shall”

 

“Alright, but only if you start getting a move on!”, urged Tsuburaba. “There’s only 5 minutes until round 2 starts, and I sure as hell don’t wanna miss it!”

“Language!” admonished Shiozaki sternly.

“Sorry!”

They may not have won the round, but Jurota still had a smile on his face as he enjoyed a nice drink with his friends.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! As a reminder, the next chapter is Kendo, Fukidashi, Komori, and Kuroiro against Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Aoyama, and Hagakure.

Chapter 4: Parallels

Summary:

The beginning of round two: Kendo, Fukidashi, Kuroiro, and Komori VS Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, Hagakure, and Tokoyami

Look at her.

 

Her confident gait, her reassured smile, her calculating eyes. It’s as though she’s already figured out a sure path to her victory.

 

Momo Yaoyorozu.

 

Kendo looked away, but kept glancing back as teams 2A and 2B headed towards their designated battle zones. Fukidashi and Komori were making small talk with Hagakure and Aoyama, while Kuroiro and Tokoyami were avoiding eye contact with anyone.

 

“Hey, Yaoyorozu?”, Kendo turned to her with a quizzical look on her face.

 

“Yes, Kendo?”, smiled Yaoyorozu.

 

 “I was wondering…why didn’t you join the beauty pageant, back at the school festival? Heh, everyone was asking me where you were.”

 

“Oh. Hmm…”, Yaoyorozu looked up, recalling her memory, “I think I was too caught up in band practice for anything else.” She turned to Kendo. “But why did people expect me to be there?”

 

“Because you two are like a duo!” piped Hagakure. “Ever since everyone saw that commercial you did with Uwabimi, people have grouped you two together; every Yaoyorozu fan is probably also a Kendo fan now”.

 

 “Ooo, this always happens with idols!” exclaimed Komori, jumping in between Kendo and Yaoyorozu. “They often get paired up, and their fans always want to see them together. Like with you guys!”

 

“Interesting…” mused Yaoyorozu. “It sounds like they’ve pushed us in the same box.”

 

Exactly.

Kendo looked down at her hand.

 

If people think the two of us are similar, they’ll start to look at what makes us different. They’ll see her excellent grades, quirk, and appearance. Then they’ll look at me.

 

Kendo turned to her side and flashed Yaoyorozu a determined smile.

“Well, I think it’s time we broke out of that box; I want to be my own hero, Yaoyorozu.”

 

She closed her fist.

 

“That’s why I’ve been dying to try my hand against you today!”

 

Yaoyorozu returned her smile. “With all my heart, I accept”

Walking strictly under the shadows of nearby buildings, Kuroiro smirked, peering at Tokoyami. “You know, I’d say the two of us are also cut from the same cloth, don’t you think?”

The bird-headed student turned his head and rested his eyes on Kuroiro, a serious expression on his face. “Oh? And would that cloth happen to be the obsidian-black robe of Erebus?” 

Kuroiro snickered. “Indeed, the two of us have stared into the abyss”

 

Aoyama looked at the dark pair. “Those two aren’t twinkling at all.…”, Hagakure nodded beside him.

As the two teams split off to head towards their respective starting zones, Yaoyorozu waved to Kendo. “Good Luck!”

 

Kendo nodded. “May the better team win.”

 

---

 

 

-Meanwhile, in the spectating range…

 

Monoma was rubbing his hands together, a maniacal smile creeping up his face. 

“Ohhhh, you class-A vainglories are in for it now! With Kendo on our side, your pathetic team WON’T STAND A CHANCE!”

 

Todoroki looked up at the monitor and crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I’m certain that Yaoyorozu has a plan up her sleeves; she always does.”

 

Tetsutetsu blinked and screwed his eyes at the monitor. “But…she doesn’t have any sleeves…”

Tsunotori grumbled. “Tetsu…”

He laughed. “Just messing with ya!”, which disgruntled Tsunotori even more.

 

Monoma eyed Todoroki, his smile still persistent but with a slight twitch. “Oh, you wish! Our Kendo is better than her in every single way!”

Awase muttered. “Well… I wouldn’t say Yaoyorozu is worse in every way-”

“EVERY. SINGLE. WAY.”

 

“Jeez, Monoma”, smirked Ashido. “You’re like- totally spazzed out. Even more than usual. Is it cuz you guys didn’t win the first round? Or….”

Her smirk widened as she slid towards the blond boy. “Are you getting all excited thinking about Kendo???”

 

Monoma scoffed, crossed his arms, and looked away. “Typical class-A. So vulgar.”

 

Kaibara shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s that . Kendo never hits on Monoma; she just hits him”

 

Iida joined the conversation, moving his arms robotically. “The most feasible explanation is that it’s because Kendo is no longer here to discipline Monoma!”

 

Awase slapped his hand against his forehead. “Shit, I forgot! Kendo assigned me to look after Monoma again!”, he began frantically searching the floor of the spectating range, “Damn it, where’s my bat…”

“ALLLLRIGHT!”, bellowed Vlad King. “Both teams are in position! Round two - begin! You can do it, team Kendo!”

 

“What’s with the biased commentary?!” shouted Mina, a group of class A students beginning to rally behind her.

 

---

 

Team Kendo were running straight ahead, towards the direction of class A’s base.

 

Kendo turned to her team. “Everyone, remember the plan?”

“Yep!” said Fukidashi, a ‘>:D’ appearing on his head.

“I’m a bit nervous, shroom…” murmured Komori. “But! My mushrooms are ready as always!”

“N-no worries, Komori! We’ll drape them in shadows…” announced Kuroio.

 

Kendo’s smile was determined. “Right! And remember - look out for each other. Even while we’re fighting, I’ll have your backs.”

 

“Wait…” said Kuroiro, a smile creeping up his face. “I can sense…a disturbance in the shadows…”

 

“Just as planned!” said Kendo as everyone halted to a stop. “Everyone, get ready…”

 

Just then, from out of nowhere, a dark, shadowy mass charged right through them, splitting them apart.

“Found you!”  jeered Dark Shadow as it coiled back for another attack.

 

But Kendo was faster: she enlarged her hands and clamped them around Dark Shadow. 

“Now, Kuroiro!”

Kuroiro eagerly jumped into the now-trapped Dark Shadow. “Now, it’s my time to shade…”

 

“AGH!” yelled Dark Shadow. “Wh-WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

It tried to retreat, but Kuroiro took over and made it slam its claws into the metallic floor.

 

“Alright.” huffed Kendo pointed down the trail of Dark Shadow’s body as she wrangled against its thrashing. “All that’s left to do is to follow the path.”

---

 

Near class A’s base, Tokoyami suddenly tensed up and stood in place. His jaw clenched. “Blasphemy…!”

His team stopped and turned to face him. “What troubles you, mon ami ?”, inquired Aoyama.

 

“I-It seems as though I am unable to move Dark Shadow. AGH!…those demons have him held in place!”

 

“It must be Kuroiro, then”, suggested Hagakure. “Let’s head over there and kick his butt!”

“No…” pondered Yaoyorozu. “It can’t be him. Last I remembered, he could only move through stationary objects.”

 

Tokoyami snapped his head around to face her. “That fiend need not move through Dark Shadow if he can take control of him-”

“Even so…” interjected Yaoyorozu, “you mentioned that he was being ‘held in place’. That suggests there’s an external force restraining Dark Shadow. The only one who could feasibly do that is-”

 

“You guessed it!” came a cheery voice.

 

They all turned around. Jumping and landing down in front of them, with her enlarged right hand pinning Dark Shadow’s body, was Kendo, her smile changing into a more serious look.

 

“Wow, attacking all on your own?” chirped Aoyama as he rested his arms behind his head and began charging his Naval Laser. “How dazzling! However, I shall sparkle even brighter!”

 

“Return Dark Shadow at once,” demanded Tokoyami.

 

“I will.” responded Kendo. “But first - stop him from wriggling around so much. Just to ensure he doesn’t whack me on the way back. Got a deal?”

 

Tokoyami narrowed his eyes on her.

 

Kendo squinted back even harder. “Or, I can practice my grip strength on Mr. Shadow here. Your choice.”

 

Tokoyami exhaled. Dark Shadow was acting erratically earlier, but now, for some reason, the bird-headed hero feels completely in control. He made Dark Shadow stop moving, and Kendo promptly let him go.

 

With that, Kendo went into a fighting stance, waiting for class A to strike first. 

 

Yaoyorozu was uneasy. Didn’t Kendo want to fight her one-on-one? Did she change her plan, or is she planning to chip them down and then retreat to her team?

She pulled herself out of her head and began activating her quirk. But that doesn’t matter now. They have advantage in numbers here, and there’s little Kendo can do on her own. 

What could go wrong?

…

Kuroiro would be snickering ecstatically if his corporeal mouth wasn’t enrobed in shadow.

I’m not sensing anything wrong, meaning class A is still completely in the dark! Kendo deceived them into thinking I wasn’t inside this Beast of Shadows by holding onto it and by me relinquishing my control.

Kuroiro felt something shift. Could he now move through this vessel? He figured Kendo had found a way to keep it stationary. Now, there was only one thing left to do…

 

---

 

It all happened at once:

 

-Kendo enlarged her hands

-Yaoyorozu stepped back and began creating something

-Tokoyami dashed forward

-Fukidashi opened his…mouth?

 

“CRASH!!!”

 

Fukidashi’s screeching voice could be heard in the distance, and shortly after, the crumbling of numerous concrete walls until a blast of rubble and dust filled the area.

 

Like a train, the giant letters about two storeys tall outlining the word ‘CRASH’ rammed its way into the fight, coming to a stop right between Team A and Yaoyorozu and Kendo, who all dodged out of the way.

---

 

In the spectating range, Vlad King sighed loudly into the microphone. 

“Not destroying things isn’t Fukidashi’s strong suit, but sometimes it seems as though the boy is going out of his way to break as much infrastructure as possible…”

 

Kamakiri cheered, “Yeah! Mess em’ up!”

Shishida turned to Shiokazi. “If I could be so blunt, I do think that your display in our match set a rather…extreme example of what magnitude of  destruction is tolerable”

“I shall repent.” sighed Shiozaki.

 

Tsunotori turned to Honenuki while pointing at the monitor, “I raised that boy.”

 

Honenuki turned to face her. “Really? How?”

Tsunotori’s face lit up in a grin. “Well…he’s got a boatload of extra onomatopoeia to use thanks to my manga and comics collection! I even introduced him to webcomics!”

 

Kaibara scratched his head. “I wouldn’t say that counts as ‘raising’-”

Tsunotori huffed. “Ugh, Kaibara! You’re so uncultured!”

 

“The fact that you own manga that Fukidashi doesn’t is a feat in and of itself. Well done!” complimented Honenuki.

At that, Tsunotori’s expression changed back into a sweet smile. “Thanks!”

 

Unlike the rest of her class, Kodai was fixated on the monitor showing Fukidashi himself. She stared at it, anxiously.

 

Giggling uncontrollably, Monoma turned to Todoroki. “Oh, did you think that you were the only one capable of mass destruction? Well, THINK AGAIN! Every passing second makes it more clear that WE’RE THE SUPERIOR CLASS!”

 

Todoroki exhaled softly. “I still think this is well within what Yaoyorozu has anticipated”

 

Monoma smiles knowingly. “The first stage: denial!”

 

---

 

Coughing, Yaoyorozu spluttered “Was this your plan all along?”

 

“Don’t act surprised, Yaoyorozu: I know you saw this coming. I can see it in your eyes” responded Kendo. “Which is why…”

 

She immediately pushed herself up and dashed towards Yaoyorozu, aiming to land a strike.

 

“...I’m not giving you time to think!”

 

Yaoyorozu blocks with a tungsten shield, which crumples easily. Then she makes another, and another.

 

“I am BATTLE FIST!” declared Kendo. The statement didn’t seem to be directed at Yaoyorozu, nor anyone else in particular. 

 

I am me.

 

“DOUBLE JUMBO FIST!” roared Kendo as she relentlessly attacked Yaoyorozu’s shields with both hands, which became a blur of fists and flying shrapnels of metal.

 

Behind the shields, sweat dripped down Yaoyorozu’s forehead. She clutched the shields closer and closer to her chest, feeling the force behind every blow. 

 

Kendo…you shouldn’t have to prove yourself, especially when being compared to my pitiful display. If anyone, it’s me who’s the inexperienced fool. But, don’t worry: I’ll put up a fight…worthy of the pro hero Battle Fist!

 

Having cleared away all of the shields, Kendo closes the distance for one last hit.

 

But Yaoyorozu’s chest was still glowing from her quirk: she had one last creation left up her sleeve.

Just as Kendo was about to stop her, something formed around Yaoyorozu, blocking Kendo’s attack at the same time.

 

It was a…human-sized hamster wheel?

 

Kendo’s hit sends Yaoyorozu rolling away from her at a fast speed until she knocks into the word ‘CRASH’ made by Fukidashi. 

 

Kendo stared in confusion and, despite herself, amusement at the sight of Yaoyorozu haphazardly tumbling around inside the wheel while yelping in discomfort.

“Crafty as ever, Yaoyorozu. But you’re still mine once that thing hits the wall!”

 

But instead of stopping, the momentum of the wheel caused Yaoyorozu to roll up the word.

 

As the wheel lost its speed, Yaoyorozu jumped out and just barely caught a grip on the top edge of Fukidashi’s CRASH.

With much difficulty, she pulled herself up.

“Is anyone still there?” she called out to the other side, but still kept her gaze fixed on Kendo.

“Oui, mon amie.” replied Aoyama’s voice. “ Cependant …It is only me.”

 

A second after his answer, Yaoyorozu had already figured out the best course of action. She began activating her quirk once again.

From below, Kendo frowned. She’s got some distance, and taken the high ground. This isn’t good…

“That was a nice trick, Yaoyorozu, but I can get up there just as easily!”

 

Yaoyorozu smiled as she wiped off sweat from her brow. “I know you’re dead-set on fighting me, Kendo. I can see it in your eyes. Which is why…”

 

She created a contraption about half her height tall, which stood next to her. It resembled some sort of gyroscope, except with a lens in the middle.

 

“I’m keeping you right here! Now, Aoyama!”

 

“My time to shine!” declared the French boy as he shot a laser right into the lens of Yaoyorozu’s contraption.

 

It redirected the laser from the top of the word down towards Kendo, who was standing in an open area without any cover.

 

Instinctively, Kendo enlarged her hands and clasped them together in front of her to block the beam, however the pain was still enough to make her wince.

 

At the same time, Yaoyorozu was adding another lens to her contraption. The laser got smaller and more concentrated into one point.

 

“You…can’t…keep this up….forever….” groaned Kendo.

 

“But can you , Kendo?” asked Yaoyorozu as she threw some nets to try to restrain Kendo.

 

Kendo flicked away the nets, which left an opening for Aoyama’s enhanced beam to hit her shoulder.

 

“AGH!” yelped Kendo. Her breath started coming in heavy.

 

Is…this it? My team’s so spread out that if I lose here, they’ll all become disjointed. Then…they’ll be picked off one-by-one. We’ll lose because I underestimated her .

 

Because she bested me.

 

Suddenly, Kendo began running as fast as she could towards the word ‘CRASH’ with her hands still held up in front of her.

Standing in slight perplexion, Yaoyorozu tried to analyse what Kendo was trying to do. Despite concluding that there wasn’t any way for her to get up there, she still felt a bit uncomfortable watching Kendo charge towards her.

 

What are you up to, Kendo?

---

 

(5 minutes earlier…)

As Tokoyami retrieved Dark Shadow from Kendo, he felt somewhat…strange.

It was as if his coat suddenly became heavier than usual.

 

Perhaps a demonic curse has been placed on him? Oh, if only it were…No, focus!

 

For a fleeting moment, Tokoyami considered the possibility that it was Kuroiro lying in wait inside his coat.

However, that couldn’t be. Tokoyami had made it a point to know his enemies better than anyone, and he knew that Kuroiro can’t move through objects that are moving themselves, even now.

 

If so, then could he have entered from behind? All around them, except directly in front of them (where Kendo was standing) pipes were heavily condensed and intertwined in a haphazard mess, thus providing his accursed foe ample shadows to slink into.

 

However, his team were deliberately standing in a clear area away from such shadows in order to prevent that very thing from happening, meaning Kuroiro has no opening.

 

Tokoyami smirked to himself. I have bested you, Abyssal fiend!

 

He concluded that the most likely scenario is that it’s a minor poison from one of Komori’s mushrooms, made in a fruitless attempt to hinder him. Perhaps it was rubbed on Dark Shadow by Kendo.

 

But all that doesn’t matter. He’s been thinking for about two seconds and the rest of his team has assumed fighting positions: they will swiftly take down Kendo before she has the time to retreat or get help from backup. 

However, Yaoyorozu is still vulnerable at the front. Tokoyami began moving to the frontline when-

 

“CRASH!!!”

Tokoyami instinctively jumped back as the word rammed itself into the space between himself and Yaoyorozu, the ground beneath crumbling from its weight. 

 

“Curses-!” he coughed as he got back up.

 

“Oh, mon dieu !” cried Aoyama. “Is everyone alright?”

 

“Yaoyorozu’s trapped there with Kendo!” Hagakure said with urgency. “You two help her and I’ll show Fukidashi what’s what!”

 

Tokoyami turned to face her and was about to respond when he felt someone tapping his back.

He turned around and nobody was there.

 

Suddenly, he felt a force violently pulling on his coat, closing in on his throat and making him stumble back.

 

Gagging, he turned around and saw Kuroiro’s arm, emerging out of his costume and dragging his coat back. 

Kuroiro popped his head out for a second. “BOO! The Abyss always finds a way!”

 

“Damn…you..!” Tokoyami grunted

 

“How delightful to see you here! But you’re no match for THIS!” exclaimed Aoyama as he shot his Naval Laser, making Kuroiro submerge back into Tokoyami’s costume to dodge it.

 

Tokoyami took the opportunity to throw his coat out into the air and send Dark Shadow rushing at it.

 

Kuroiro, however, somersaulted out of the cloak, dodged Dark Shadow’s claws, and submerged into it once again.

He rode Dark Shadow’s trajectory until it came close to Hagakure, and then tackled the invisible girl into the mess of pipes, where he dived into the shadows and dragged her with him towards class B’s cage.

“Wha- Ow! Hey, hey, hey-slow down!! AH! Someone, HELP!!” yelled Hagakure as she kept knocking into pipe after pipe with Kuroiro dragging her along.

 

Tokoyami glared at the maze of pipes before him. “Conniving demon! You never intended to fight me in the first place, did you?”

 

“What is there to do now?” asked Aoyama. “I can’t hope to catch up to him”

 

“Fortunately for us, I can.” said Tokoyami with determination. “You help Yaoyorozu, while I retrieve Hagakure.”

 

“I’ll be delighted to!” Aoyama winked, however his confident expression morphed into a sort of whiny frown when he saw the height of Fukidashi’s ‘CRASH’. 

“...once I figure out how to get over that….”

 

---

 

From the spectating range, Kirishima looked on in a mix of confusion and annoyance.

“What?? Kuroiro isn’t fighting Tokoyami? But why?”

 

“Eh, that’s just how he goes,” said Tetsutetsu. “He sorta wins fights by confusing the hell outta his opponents instead of beatin’ them.”

 

Kirishima scratched his head. “Man…I don’t really get it.”

Tetsutetsu sighed. “Me neither, bro.”

 

---

As Kuroiro glided across the shadowy underside of the pipes, holding on to Hagakure, his elation had him absolutely beaming.

 

My devilish scheme worked! This girl would’ve been impossible to catch if she went fully invisible. Oh, Komori’s going to be really impressed! Maybe I can come back and snag another one afterwards…

 

No, you can’t get too greedy! Every true Ambassador of Darkness must stay vigilant. If she sees me losing to crowhead, then I’ll sink to the floor and never go back out…

 

He tried to ignore Hagakure, who was violently kicking and wriggling around and yelling at the top of her lungs.

“I’M HEEEEERE! HELP ME FIGHT THIS WEIRDO!”

 

Kuroiro put on his theatrical, overly-exaggerated sinister voice as he addressed her.

“You’re out of luck, Invisible Girl: No soul can escape from the clutches of the dark! Like a black hole, I consume all matter and light until all that is left is me, utter Vantablack!”

 

Hagakure retorted, “Oh, COME ON! This is bad enough without having to listen to you go on and on! Just shut up!”

 

Kuroiro was taken aback by her bluntness. “You’re one to talk…” he mumbled sheepishly.

 

She noticed his change of tone. “Hey, I’m sorry, You can keep going if y-”

Kuroiro shook his head. “No, I-”

 

Hagakure interjected, “No, it’s fine!”

 

Kuroiro's voice got more feeble with every sentence.

 

“I don’t think-”

 

“But it wasn’t nice of me to-”

 

“Really, i-it doesn’t matter-”

 

“Please, I insist!”

 

“B-but, um…”

Kuroiro seriously considered letting Hagakure go so that he could run away in embarrassment, when he was interrupted by an interference in the darkness.

 

He looked behind himself, and quickly shifted up into a pipe above him, dodging Tokoyami diving in out of nowhere.

 

However, to Kuroiro’s surprise, Tokoyami didn’t continue to fall down into the abyss. Instead, with Dark Shadow wrapped around him, Tokoyami flew back up for another attack.

 

Kuroiro was easily able to dodge while holding on to Hagakure. “It seems the Shadowmaster dares return to me! Though, for how much you resemble a crow, your flight is no match for my haste!” he snickered.

 

With that, he zooms off with Hagakure trailing behind him, who was yelling encouragement to Tokoyami.

 

The bird-headed hero flew after him. “You can run, abyssal. However, you’ve already spelled out your doom!”

 

“How so?” inquired Kuroiro as the distance between himself and Tokoyami began increasing.

 

Tokoyami explained, “Pipes are intertwined here as far as the eye can see. It is truly a shadowy maze, a perfect environment for a fiend such as yourself.”

 

“However, during my initial attack, you made the mistake of jumping higher, close to where the uppermost layer of pipage lies. Meaning that…”

 

“You’re screwed!” exclaimed Dark Shadow as he clawed at the pipes above them. They fell, and more and more pipes followed as the structure became unstable.

 

Suddenly, more and more light started streaming through the top canopy of pipes.

 

Kuroiro scoffed as he kept on gliding. “Did you really think this excuse of a scheme was enough to stop me? As long as I’m on the underside of these pipes, I will always remain in shadow!”

 

“Oh, I’d think twice about that if I were you!” grinned Hagakure as she held up a hand, feeling the light stream across her body.

 

“You?”, Doesn't her quirk just make her invisible? , “What are you going to do?”

 

“You’re about to find out! Warp Refraction!” Suddenly, Hagakure refracted all the light into a single concentrated flash directed at where Kuroiro was submerged in shadow.

 

As Kuroiro’s sight was filled with blinding white, he had a childhood vision of his mother pulling him out of his soft bed to go to school, as he was yanked out of the shadows into the cold, icy, winter air.

 

Dark Shadow hid under Tokoyami’s coat as the other two started falling towards the ground.

 

---

“Class A quite like their refracting, huh?” commented Rin.

 

“Refracting? Is that what they’re doing?” asked Kaibara.

“Huh? Didn't Hagakure do...like...a flash?” asked Tsuburaba.

“Pretty sure Hagakure’s always flashing.” replied Kaibara.

“Oh, I see.” Tsuburaba nodded his head.

 

“Oh, come on, guys! It was Hagakure now, and two seconds ago, Yaoyorozu when she pulled out a whole-ass lens!” said Awase.

 

“A lens?” Tsuburaba sounded even more confused.

“We learned about them in physics, Tsub.” sighed Rin.

 

Awase interrupted Rin’s incoming lecture. “You guys may be infuriatingly bad at science, but we love-I mean TOLERATE you all the same. Sen, let’s just try to take in as much as we can from this match so we don’t get fucked over as hard in ours.”

 

Rin smiled, “surprisingly wise words coming from you, Yo’ .”

“But you guys are still screwed for your matches!” Tsuburaba stuck his tongue out.

 

Kaibara pointed at the screen. “Look, Yaoyorozu’s putting in another lens”

“Hey, you’re learning!” Awase patted him on the back. “Good for you, meathead.”

 

“Wait…” Tsuburaba’s face contorted in thought. “So a lens is just a piece of glass that makes the laser stronger??”

 

“Well…”, Rin considered what to say, but decided to spare him the explanation. “...yeah, that’s it.”

Tsuburaba wore a proud smile. “Heck yeah!”

 

Awase looked on. “Man, I feel bad for Kendo…and Kuroiro’s cornered as well! It’s hard to pay attention to just one…”

 

Kaibara frowned. “This isn’t looking good…”

---

Tokoyami swooped down to grab Hagakure before she hit the ground.

 

“Finally.” she sighed as Dark Shadow flew the two of them towards Kuroiro.

 

Still falling, the shadowy hero took something out of his pocket: some sort of pouch tied closed with a string.

He threw it down at the ground, and an explosion of mushroom spores dispersed across the concrete floor. 

 

Once it cleared, a patch of black trumpet mushrooms remained.

 

Kuroiro attempted to merge with the mushrooms, but his momentum forced him out, sending him on a rolling stop, hitting his back on a metallic wall.

 

Grunting, he got up and looked up at the wall. It was about 15 feet tall: far too high for him to climb. The light streaming in from above made it impossible to merge with as well.

 

From what he remembered, Komori was based somewhere nearby this area. If he could just get to her…

 

But he realised that there were also walls on both his sides: he was at a dead end.

 

Hagakure and Tokoyami landed behind him.

 

The latter turned to the former. “Aoyama and Yaoyorozu are going up against Kendo and possibly Fukidashi. You should go and help them: I can deal with this demonic fiend.”

 

“On it!” said Hagakure as she ran off into the distance.

 

Turning back, Tokoyami walked towards Kuroiro, stepping over the mushrooms. 

“It seems as though, Scion of Erebus, you have nowhere left to run”

 

Kuroiro returned a faint, grim smile. “It seems I don’t.”

 

Tokoyami stopped. “When you abducted Hagakure, you could’ve easily taken or at least incapacitated Aoyama as well. Do you have a distaste for combat? Or was it all for the sake of efficiency?”

 

Kuroiro shrugged. “Running is what I do best. Why put yourself through conflict or difficulty when you can just avoid it in the first place? The battles of a Shadow Admiral such as myself are all but a series of psychological traps and schemes. It is a battle of the mind.”

 

Tokoyami crossed his arms. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

 

Kuroiro sighed and looked down at the ground. “...Right. But don’t you think a strong person asking a weakling why they have a distaste for fighting is like a rich man asking a poor person why they don’t have nice clothes?”

 

Tokoyami blinked, but Kuroiro continued. “The feeling of being beaten up, blood mixing with sweat, coughing dry into the pavement. I know it better than anyone. Do you?”

 

The crowhead opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. He nodded.

 

“Well then, I hope you understand my point…Shadow-weaver.” said Kuroiro.

 

Tokoyami considered how to respond.“In that case, you can surrender and I’ll just carry you over to our cell. No fighting needed.” he said.

 

Kuroiro froze: Komori was hiding nearby their location. If he surrendered, Tokoyami could knock him out, go a bit further forward, and find her…

 

“Well?” asked Tokoyami.

 

“No.”

 

He’s going to be captured either way: at the very least, he could do enough damage to Tokoyami to make it easier for her to deal with him.

 

Kuroiro lowered himself and put his hand on the floor, brushing his fingers against the black trumpet mushrooms. They buzzed against his hand like water, penetrable and ready to submerge into.

 

The mushrooms had been out for a while in the cold and with limited moisture. In a few minutes, they’d completely disappear.

 

He just has to do enough damage in that time.

 

“Oh?” said Tokoyami as Dark Shadow reared its head. “I thought you didn’t like fighting.”

 

“Some things…are worth fighting for.” said Kuroiro.

In a heartbeat, Dark Shadow lashed forward, slamming into the metal wall as Kuroiro dove into the mushroom.

 

Dark Shadow punched down, but Kuroiro had already skipped through several mushrooms. The one he was in now was right behind Tokoyami’s exposed back.

 

“The Dark Admiral’s Bane: Shadow Strike!”

 

Kuroiro leaped out of the mushroom with a flying kick aimed at Tokoyami.

 

Unfortunately, it took Kuroiro long enough to say his move’s name for Tokoyami to turn around and easily block it.

 

But Kuroiro used Dark Shadow as a springboard to jump back into the mushrooms to attack again, and again, and again.

 

Battered from all sides, Tokoyami backed up further and further, until he was outside of the mushroom patch.

 

Kuroiro realised that this means he can’t attack Tokoyami from behind or from the sides anymore.

 

He had one final, head-on attack.

 

And as Kuroiro leaped out towards Tokoyami, Dark Shadow punched him straight in the gut.

He was sent flying onto the metallic wall with so much force that the metallic plates shook on impact.

 

Sliding onto the floor, Kuroiro coughed.

 

Was that really worth it?

 

His vision slightly blurred as Tokoyami began walking towards him.

 

But suddenly, everything got darker.

 

He looked up. Extending over the edge of the wall, was a large overhang consisting entirely of…mushrooms? It covered the entirety of the wall, and himself, in shadows.

Eyes widening, Tokoyami dove forward, but Kuroiro was long gone.

He swiftly flew up the wall with Dark Shadow.

 

Beyond, every surface was covered almost completely with mushrooms for as long as the eye could see. It would be impossible to find Kuroiro.

 

Sighing, Tokoyami flew the opposite way, back to where Yaoyorozu was.

---

From his hideout, Fukidashi finished placing the last ‘BRRR’ around a corner, and returned to the lookout point, talking to himself along the way.

 

“Dude, that ‘CRASH’ was crazy! I didn't even expect it to turn out that good! It was like RAAAH and everything went BOOM, CRACK, and WHOOSH! My heart went all BA-DUM just lookin’ at it, but I was also like WHEEE!”

 

As Fukidashi continued walking and talking, every onomatopoeic word he shouted out flashed as writing in his head.

 

But as he passed by one of the surveillance cameras, another word flashed on his head.  He didn’t speak it, and it was only written on his face for a second:

 

‘Now.’

 

Fukidashi didn’t make eye contact with the camera and he didn't stop speaking as usual, but his message was still picked up by the camera, and noticed by one particular student in the spectating range.

 

---

“Hm…” said Kodai seriously, her brows furrowing.

 

Yanagi turned around at the noise. “Oh, Yui…what’s wrong?”

“Mm mn!” Kodai shook her head aggressively. 

 

“You need something?”

 

“Bathroom.”

 

Yanagi shuffled aside as Kodai left to go to the restroom.

… 

 

Tokage was there.

 

She looked around. “Hey there, loudmouth! What’s-”

 

“Hm” interjected Kodai as she speed-walked into a stall and slammed the door shut.

 

Tokage blinked. Even for Yui, that was a bit brisk.

Hmmm…this could be one of two things…

She grinned as she walked away. “Well, enjoy!”

 

In the stall, Kodai waited for Tokage to walk away.

 

Then, she put her fingertips together.

 

She whispered:

 

 

“Release.”

 

 

Notes:

Hey, sorry for the late post!
This chapter was quite longer than expected, which is starting to become a recurring theme now lol

Also, apologies to all the Komori fans! I promise she's getting more screen time next chapter.