The Gem Hero: Deku

Chapter 7: Kirishima's Promise

Slayer76: Reviews are always welcome, they don't even need to be long.

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"Okay, Yuga Aoyoma. How exactly does your quirk work?" Izuku asks as they trek towards the replica of Kirishima's chosen house along with Mirio. He wants to have a basic defense plan made before the timer actually starts.

"Well, my quirk is called Navel Laser, but that is a bit of a misnomer. I can actually emit my laser from other things too. I just prefer to use my stomach because I can't make the circumference of the laser beam exceed its origin. By that I mean if my finger tips are 3 inches horizontally and vertically the lasers cap out at those measurements too. Using my laser for longer than a second also puts strain on my body. Enough strain to collapse my stomach, cave in my chest, break my fingers, hands, arms, etc. I choose option number one because you can live without a fully functional stomach." Yuga explains.

"You could live with broken hands" Mirio chimes in.

"No you couldn't. You wouldn't be able to open anything with broken hands. Could you imagine a world where jars can never be opened?" Yuga asks, aghast at the notion that someone would be okay with that.

"Let's get back on topic. Why do you only have that device on your stomach? Why not have gloves made with the same tech?" Izuku cuts in. He's eager to get back to business. Witty banter later, plan now.

"Too expensive, getting this belt made already cost my parents so much money that they'll die of old age before they can earn enough money to retire." Yuga sighs. It's one of the reasons why he wants to be a hero. He wants to give them back all the money they spent making sure his defective quirk wouldn't kill him early. He wants to be a Hero so that they can retire just like they planned to.

Izuku silently begins to plan a way to sneak a valuable gem into Yuga's backpack.

"Okay, how familiar are you with light reflection?" Izuku asks, while brainstorming how to tip the scales completely to their side.

"Quite familiar, I use to turn the hall mirrors into a death trap every time I stretched backwards and accidentally discharged." Yuga replies. Put quite a few holes in the wall too.

They spend the next 2 minutes walking in silence.

"Alright, I have a plan to take down Momo and Kaminari." Izuku states as they reach their destination. His eyes clearly displaying confidence. The look of assured victory.

( With Class 1-A)

"Who do you think will win?" Toru asks the class.

"Momo and Kaminari are fucked" Bakugo answers, getting confused looks in return.

"What do you mean? Momo's and Izuku's quirks are evenly matched, while Yuga isn't that strong. Momo and Kaminari should be more than enough to win." Mezo Shoji questions.

"Deku has had too much time to prep for this. He knows everyone's quirk and how they use it thanks to the Videos of yesterday's pursuit training. That look in his eyes is the same look he used to give his opponents at National chess tournaments before ruthlessly dismantling them. He already has a plan, backup plan and backup backup plan ready. He'll be practically invincible in this match unless something completely random and unpredictable occurs." Katsuki explains.

"You watched him play chess? I thought you hated each other" Ochaco says. Why would two people who hate each other willingly occupy the same space.

"We did hate each other, but my mom is friends with his mom, so we would pretend to be best buds whenever they were around. As a result, I was dragged along to witness Izuku completely fucking own his opponents, who were adults by the way, and defend his title as Japan's Chess Champion for the 3rd year in a row." Katsuki replies.

"Wait, Izuku is the guy that made my brother give up chess forever?" Iida is shocked that his brother lost to a 13 year old. His older brother came home after the National chess tournament's Final Round 2 years ago and refused to play it again. He sold his chess set and switched to playing a children's card game called Yu-Gi-Oh.

(Back to the fight)

"So what exactly is this wall for?" Yuga asks while examining the blue crystal around the house.

"It's there to prevent Kaminari from entering without Momo's quirk. That way our foes are forced to enter from the same side and together." Izuku responded before pulling a green emerald bow, and white quartz arrow from his stomach. The weird thing about this arrow is that the arrowhead has been replaced by a small sphere.

"Okay, so what's with the archery equipment" Mirio questions. Nobody uses those anymore, guns exist.

"I'm about to sit in a window and snipe Momo before she can make some type of laser cannon that is surprisingly nonlethal." Izuku replies before dragging the two of them into the house. He places his hands on opposite walls before speaking. "Be quiet, I have to concentrate." He announces before shutting his eyes and retreating to the depths of his mind.

He needs to remember the exact details of the house, every hall, every door, every floor. Furniture placements and windows, every minute detail that he can recall.

As he does this, blue sapphire creeps from his hands. It spreads throughout the house, covering the floor and walls alike. 5 minutes pass and Izuku drops to his knees with sweat pouring out of his body. This is the final step in securing their victory , if Deku's theory is correct. These crystals are blue, meaning that they reflect blue light, while absorbing all other colors. Yuga's laser is just amplified blue light that sparkles for some reason. This means that some of the beam will be bounced away at another wall, hopefully landing a couple hits on the way. This will continue until there's only regular blue light particles bouncing around and blinding everyone in the house.

"Okay, so what's next?" Yuga asks while Izuku catches his breath.

"Now… we wait .. for the match ….to start." Izuku answers between breaths.

(With Momo and Kaminari)

"So, how do we win here?" Kaminari immediately defers to his partner's superior knowledge.

"I have no idea, maybe I could make a giant mirror to reflect Yuga's laser blasts, but I have no idea what to use against Izuku. A sword could work if I take advantage of cleavage and fracture, but I have no way of making sure I don't accidentally cut an arm off. Anything else I can think of is either too blunt to damage him, or it has too much piercing power." Momo tells him, not realizing that she lost him as soon as she started talking about crystals.

"What's cleavage and fracture?" Kaminari asks.

"Long explanation short, those are the best ways to break gems without excessive brute force." Momo sighs. Sometimes being the smartest person in the group isn't as fun as tv shows make it look. Having nobody to bounce ideas off of is a definite downside to being too smart in comparison to your teammates. She sighs again before trying to figure out a plan to beat Izuku that Kaminari can understand and execute.

(Recovery Girl's office)

"There we go dearie, all patched up" Recovery Girl says after kissing Mina's jaw. Kirishima's head butt had caused Mine's jaw to crack in two places. There's still a light bruise on her chin, but that is supposed to disappear within the week. This doesn't stop Kirishima from flinching whenever he looks at it.

"Sorry Mina" Kirishima cries as soon as Recovery Girl leaves the room to get their hall passes. His tears begin to flow freely with nobody there to see them except his closest friend.

Mina pulls him into a hug and whispers into his ear that everything is fine.

"No, it isn't. Your jaw got broken and it's all my fault. That isn't manly at all." Kirishima replies, resting his head on her shoulder.

"You won a 2 vs 1, that's hella manly. Just because you gave me a little bruise doesn't mean you have to cry. This doesn't change how I feel about you" Mina whispers before wiping away the tears on his cheeks and looking him in the eyes.

"Your eyes look beautiful" Kirishima says getting a blush from Mina in return. While looking in into her beautiful eyes, Kirishima silently promises to keep her safe. He'll be her shield for as long as he lives.

"Flattery will get you everywhere" Mina smirks as she pulls him into another hug.