AN: Fun fact: apparently Camie uses gyaru slang in the original. The more you know.
But at this point I think I've already changed her character too much to really delve into that, but it's an interesting fact if you ask me.
Because I can't figure out a way to incorporate the Shiketsu student's quirks without it sounding forced, I'll just put a list here:
Kasoku – Acceleration: She can accelerate objects she touches with all five fingers. She's come around to using her quirk in combination with a rifle.
Maya – Particle Shift: She can turn herself and everything she touches into small particles and transport them to a nearby location. Basically teleportation.
Daichi – Power Up: Your standard time-dependent strength increase.
Kagami – Mirror: By making eye contact with somebody, he can reverse their perceptions – left becomes right, up becomes down etc... Good for melee combat.
The Girl From Shiketsu
IX. Earthquake
It was 6:37 AM, the sun casting long shadows on the streets as it rose slowly.
Momo turned around the corner, keeping her pace and breathing even and steady.
She ran past the riverbed without pausing, stray rays of light reflecting on the water's surface as she passed by.
"I know he never really talked much, but this table feels so empty without Todoroki." Camie rested her chin on the table's surface and glanced at Momo. "Don't you think so, too?"
Momo sighed and closed her book. She had been staring at the same page for the past five minutes, unable to read any of the words due to her clogged mind.
They were sitting at the café in the mall, and the two of them had subconsciously chosen to sit in a way that would allow a third person to fit with ease.
It was only when the waiter asked when their friend would arrive that they realized what they had done.
"It is." She admitted. "But ever since he moved into the dorms, he hardly gets any free time. I can't blame them for taking precautions with everything that's happened."
"I know, I know, but this was gonna be our week, you know?" Camie pouted. "Next week we're off to our summer camp, and because of the incident with U.A. they changed the location last minute… Now I dunno what to pack for."
"Well, I doubt we'll be going anywhere with a different climate, so I guess packing for a forest-like or swampy environment would be the best option." Momo explained.
Camie shifted, resting her chin on her hands. "After that, you're off to Venice with your parents and I'll have to do my summer homework. Not cool, not cool."
Momo smiled slightly at that. "Well, theoretically we're meeting up now to do said summer homework together."
"Yaomomo, it's the third week of summer vacation." The blonde deadpanned. "We've got infinitely better things to do than summer homework."
"And yet, we're sitting here drinking coffee."
"Argh, don't remind me. I had this super wack plan involving Todoroki's quirk and a swimming pool, but I guess we won't be able to do that anymore." She lamented.
Momo raised a brow. "A plan involving what and a what?"
"Does it really matter at this point?" Camie sat up and leaned into her chair. "I feel so guilty right now. After everything's that happened, there's nothing we can do for him."
Her sadness resonated with Momo, making her grimace. "We'll have to give him time, it's all we can do right now." She stirred her coffee absentmindedly. "At least he's answering my messages. His classmate made a full recovery already, it seems. He also mentioned that their teacher is making them work on their quirks."
"Hmmmm… Training might not be so bad. It serves as a bit off distraction, I guess." Camie hummed. "It's still pretty messed up, though."
"Wait a minute," Momo interrupted her. "you're trying to distract me from what you said earlier. Something about using a certain somebody's quirk for something?"
"Eh, well, you see, Yaomomo, uhm… it's not problematic to use your quirk in your daily life as long as nobody finds out about it, right? I mean, you do it all the time with small stuff when you help people out, right?"
Momo narrowed her eyes. "Your point being?"
Camie grinned sheepishly. "I thought… I'd be okay to plan the most epic, bombastic, rad birthday party of all time. It involved you and fireworks as well, to be honest."
Momo fell silent at that. Camie's birthday fell into the week they had summer camp, so the original plan was to celebrate it in the few days after the camp, before Momo left for Venice.
But now that Todoroki was residing in the dorms, that plan would most likely not work out anymore. From what he told her, it seemed they got some time off on weekends, but that was it.
Against her better judgement, she also felt a bit let down. Her mother didn't think much of festivities, and her own birthday parties were usually strict, formal events. The sound of Camie's birthday party… had been an unexpected spot of light.
"That sounds a bit much." She chose to comment. "Maybe we can do without the fireworks?"
"No! The fireworks are essential!" Camie stood up abruptly, slamming her palms onto the table.
A few other patrons of the café began whispering, not that it seemed to bother her.
"Okay, okay, the fireworks are essential, just sit down again." Momo gave in. Fireworks were nice.
Her friend grinned smugly and sat back down. "How about we reschedule it to your birthday then? If it's this far in advance, Todoroki can surely get a day off, right?"
That… wasn't such a bad idea.
Convincing her parents would be… troublesome, but it would work out. Somehow.
She smiled, feeling a bit better. "Yeah, let's do that. I'll ask Todoroki later."
"Camie, do you really need that many bug sprays?" Momo reached into her friend's shopping basket and inspected the different cans.
"I don't want any creepy-crawlies anywhere in my vicinity." The blonde girl shuddered. "I'd rather take a can too many than too few along."
"I understand one, but not five." Momo picked up a few of the cans and put them back into the shelf. "Besides, we're staying at an inn."
"But what if you guys have something really messed up planned for us? In fact, you telling me not to do this might just mean I should do it…" Camie looked at her suspiciously.
"Stop spawning conspiracy theories in your mind and think about ways to improve your quirk's capacity. Or increase your agility." Momo shook her head as they left the aisle.
Camie furrowed her brows in thought, her eyes lighting up when she seemed to have an idea.
"Before you ask," Momo interrupted her, "hairspray doesn't do either of those."
Her friend went quiet again.
[? ? ?] Yo, It's your gurl Camie! I swiped your number off Yaomomo's phone, so don't tell her (owo)
[? ? ?] Just wanted to remind you to hit us up when you have time ;)
[Shouto Todoroki] Right. Sorry about your birthday party.
[Camie Utsushimi] No biggie (^.^) We'll just turn Yaomomo's bday into the most epic shit ever
[Camie Utsushimi] I'm counting on you for that btw :P
[Shouto Todoroki] …okay. Good luck for your training camp.
[Camie Utsushimi] Wait do you know something? ? ? Do you? ? ?(O.O)
[Camie Utsushimi] Did Yaomomo tell you about the horrors she's gonna put us through? (ówò)
[Camie Utsushimi] Tell me! ! ! Plzzzz (T.T)
[Shouto Todoroki] I don't know what you're talking about.
[Camie Utsushimi] LIAR
[Camie Utsushimi] You totally know something! ! !
[Shouto Todoroki] I really don't know anything.
[Camie Utsushimi] I don't believe you
[Camie Utsushimi] I'll be watching you
[Camie Utsushimi] Just you wait
Training camp was just another word for hell, Camie was sure of it as she fell onto her futon. Her legs were aching from wading through high waters the entire day and she just knew she was going to catch a cold by the end of this week.
"Yaomomo…" she groaned, blindly reaching for her surroundings.
"She's discussing some things with Moura outside." Kasoku mumbled while stuffing another cookie into her mouth. "You want one?"
Camie glanced up at her, then lifted a tired arm to help herself to a cookie. "Thanks."
"Uuuuughhhh, it's still the first day and I want to go home already." Maya slumped onto the ground as well. "Why did we need to crawl through bushes for three hours straight? If I need to get somewhere quickly, I use my quirk."
"Not all of us have a quirk as convenient as yours. It's probably the reason why you're the laziest out of all of us." Kasoku teased with a small smile.
Maya narrowed her eyes and threw a pillow at her, which Kasoku dodged effortlessly. "Look, you can't even throw a pillow without missi-" The next one hit her in the face, making her drop the packet of cookies.
"Noooooooo!" Camie exclaimed, diving after them. "The cookies!"
But as her aching body screamed, the cookies narrowly slipped past her fingertips, landing on the ground.
"How cruel." Kasoku seethed, scowling at Maya. "You will pay for your unjust deeds!"
"Bring it on! It's not my fault you can't even dodge a pillow!" The redhead jumped up and stuck out her tongue.
"I will have you know that my family has passed down the secret techniques of the ultimate pillow attack to me. You should know better than to face the Kasoku techniques on your own." She slid into a basic stance, picking up the nearest pillow.
"Wait, don't fight!" Camie reached out to stop them. They were comrades, they couldn't fight! "How can you do this?!" She shouted dramatically. "How can you forget about our fallen brethren?!" Camie scooped up the cookie crumbs and held it out to them. "How could you?!"
Kasoku made a pained expression and averted her gaze. "I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough to protect those I care about…"
"Exactly!" Maya pointed an accusing finger at her. "People like her are nothing but a liability!"
"Fighting amongst ourselves is not the solution!" Camie cried out, pushing herself to her feet and stepping between them. "How do you think… How do you think they feel?! How do you think I feel?!"
"Camie…" Kasoku gasped.
"Camie, I'm sorry." Maya said quietly. "But I will never forgive her!" She roared a battle cry, her pillow impacting on the brunette's abdomen.
"Didn't feel a thing!" She retorted, flinging the pillow back across the room. Maya took a step back as she caught it. "Hey, no using your quirk!"
"I didn't." Kasoku grinned. "It seems you're just that weak."
"Bullshit." Maya activated her quirk, reappearing in front of Kasoku and tackling her to the ground, tickling her mercilessly.
"Bwuhahahaha, oh my god, Maya get off!" she giggled uncontrollably as she tried to swat the girl away. "Camie, help me!"
Camie looked away. "I'm sorry… you will have to pass this trial on your own." She said solemnly.
Kasoku's eyes widened. "Nooooo, you traitor!"
"Nobody's coming to your rescue!" Maya laughed maniacally, only to stop abruptly as the screen door opened, revealing Yaomomo.
She stood in the door frame for a few seconds before Maya exclaimed loudly. "Oh no, it's the Commander! I can't face her!"
"Commander!" Kasoku practically cried. "You've come to my rescue!"
Yaomomo hid her laughter behind her palm before clearing her throat. "It's good to know all of you still have so much energy after today, but you're a bit noisy." She smiled apologetically. "But I guess I can let Mr. Tanaka and Moura know that the training regimen today can be improved for the next few days. You can stay up a bit more, but be a bit quieter, okay?"
As she disappeared back into the hallway after waving innocently, a sense of dread came over the three girls.
Kasoku stretched her hand out towards the screen door. "No… Commander… why have you betrayed us?"
"Sorry about that, I've asked them to keep it down." Momo apologized when she got back.
"Well, they've quieted down now, so let's continue. There's one more point on the itinerary… What do you think about getting your provisional licenses?"
Momo tilted her head slightly. "Provisional licenses? Are you sure we're ready?"
Mr. Tanaka fiddled with his fingers nervously. "The principal suggested it. Apparently U.A. is sending their first-years… and you know how he is…"
"While I still don't think much of his reasons, I can't shoot down the idea completely. With the villains becoming bolder and bolder lately, it might not be a bad idea." Moura offered his opinion.
"True… I just wish he didn't outright state his motivations…" Momo sighed.
Things made more sense now, especially with Todoroki's increased training schedule over summer break. If they were preparing for the exams, then he and his classmates were doing the right thing by making use of every minute.
"So… you think you should go for it?" Their teacher looked at them with hopeful eyes.
"He's going to sulk if we don't, isn't he?" Moura asked tiredly.
"Probably." Mr. Tanaka answered.
Momo drummed her fingers on the table surface. "If we do, we're going to have to amp up training even further. U.A. and Shiketsu are the only two schools reckless enough to send first-years." She rubbed her temples with her other hand.
"The others won't like the sound of that." Moura commented. "Even the idea of obtaining their licenses won't motivate them enough."
"Of course, there's always the option of not telling them until the last moment…" Momo mumbled to herself. "…but that's a bit underhanded…"
"It'd be the best option, as much as I hate to say it." Moura pondered. "Let's just see how well they do during this week and decide at the end."
Mr. Tanaka nodded. "Okay, of course."
"Alright, this tactic relies heavily on you two working together." Moura explained. "It also needs a good sense of trust between you two."
Daichi frowned and glanced between Momo and Moura. "I'm sorry, it's very difficult to take either of you seriously when you're doing that." He stated apologetically.
"Consider this training of your mental resistance." Momo said while taking another bite of cake, dropping another matryoshka into the basket Kasoku was carrying.
Moura merely nodded in agreement, his hair extending further before retracting again.
Momo swallowed the next bit of cake. Because of the prospect of the provisional license exam, she and Moura had decided to mercilessly push on with the plans for the individual teams, but in order not to fall behind themselves, they had somehow agreed on their current state of multi-tasking.
She and Moura were working on strengthening their quirks, while Kasoku was carrying the multitude of creations Momo made in order to increase her strength. Kagami was busy running laps through the obstacle-ridden environment in order to help with his stamina and agility.
And Team Two… was panting hard, looking at them and awaiting instructions. The four of them were sprawled on the ground, Daichi the only one even still responding.
Maya only lifted her arm tiredly to signal Moura to continue talking.
"So… theoretically, Maya can transport others with her quirk, even if it does slow her down, however, it makes other people nauseous if they aren't used to it." Moura cleared his throat. "Basically, if the two of you work together, it would mean that Maya could get Daichi into the battle zone, leave an impact, and get out again. Once you've trained enough, it would allow you to become akin to a pesky fly for your opponents."
"Pesky fly? I'm pretty sure the term for that is 'poking'." Kasoku remarked as she wiped some sweat from her brow.
"I get what you're saying… But wouldn't it be more efficient to have me do it alone?" Maya asked.
"Can you shatter a rock? Because Daichi can." Momo wiped some crumbs away from her mouth before taking out a bottle of high-fat pudding.
Maya grimaced. "Fine, I see your point."
"I'm pretty sure this is what dying feels like." Maya groaned into her pillow. "I've never thrown up from using my quirk before…"
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off." Kasoku yawned.
"Less talking, more sleeping…" Camie mumbled into her pillow.
Kagami steeled his resolve. The vice-prez was doing her own training today and she had entrusted him with this very important task. He couldn't let her down!
Even… even if he was terrible at speaking to people, he would do this!
"Kagami, you look like you're about to wet yourself." Kasoku poked him in the shoulder. "You sure you're okay?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine." He insisted.
"If you say so…" She didn't sound very convinced. "All you need to do is play mind games with Camie. She will try to trick you with her illusions and you try to trick her by messing with her senses. Whoever scores ten hits first gets to eat the loser's dessert."
Kagami turned to her. "Dessert? We're fighting over dessert?" he asked, slightly in disbelief.
Kasoku shrugged. "You'd be surprised how much dessert can motivate her."
"Okay… what about you?"
"I'll be playing target practice with Shishikura. It will help both of us with our quirks."
"Oh, okay."
Kagami could still feel the area Camie had slammed her heel into after catching him off-guard. Going to bed without dessert also kind of sucked.
Daichi was still leaning over the toilet and throwing up.
Wasn't this training camp a bit harsh…?
"Stay in formation! Further to the left! Make sure to pay attention to each other!"
"Circle around the tree to catch the enemy off-guard!"
"Make sure to use everything available to you. If there's a tree or rock in the vicinity, do not hesitate to use it as cover!"
"One more time!"
"Somewhere in this area, there's an enemy assailant. You don't know anything about them, but I can give you directions on how to escape. You'll need to trust me for this exercise, but also judge the situation for yourselves. Whoever get's taken out by the enemy has to clean the toilets!"
Kasoku hummed as she loaded her airsoft rifle, Yaomomo's voice echoing in the background as she explained the rules.
With a grin, she disappeared into the woods.
"Team Three is busy scrubbing the toilets." Camie remarked casually in the bath. Kasoku let herself into the water as well and laughed.
"Gnnhahhnghgh…"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Maya asked her.
"It means I can't feel my anything." Camie stated in an apathic tone.
"Oh yeah? What did you do today?"
"Acrobatics… I think."
"Woah, Yaomomo, you look terrible."
Momo turned to Camie. "Thanks, you too."
"What happened?"
Momo went over last night's events in her head, the long-winded discussion with her teachers and the unexpected phone call from their principle.
"You don't want to know." She yawned, running a hand through her hair.
Slowly, the rest of her class assembled. Once everyone was there, she stood up. "Please listen to me, I have an announcement to make."
The chatter died down, all eyes on her. "As you may have noticed, the training so far has been quite a bit harsher than you may have expected. We apologize for that." She bowed slightly. "However, we didn't do it without reason. For those of you who didn't know, there will be a provisional license exam at the beginning of the next semester. It is unheard of that first-years participate, but our principal thinks that we should."
"I bet the first-years from U.A. are participating." Daichi commented.
"I will neither deny nor confirm that statement." Momo went on. "But after observing you these past few days, Moura and I have decided to go through with it. Is anybody vehemently against it?"
A few mumbles and heads shaking went through the room.
"Alright, then we will emerge victorious."
"It feels like it's been years since we've seen each other." Camie stretched her arms over her head. "It's good to have the gang back together again."
Todoroki merely nodded while sipping on his strawberry milk.
"How have you been?" Momo inquired, glancing at him.
"Okay. I've been spending a lot of time at tech support lately." He rubbed his forehead. "It wouldn't be so bad, but there's only so much Hatsume I can take at a time."
Camie laughed at that. "Girl troubles?" She asked slyly.
"No, she just talks, and talks, and then she's suddenly put some mysterious object on you and there's a high chance it will explode any moment, or it's going to almost break your leg." His voice grew quieter as his eyebrows furrowed. "Whatever it is, visiting her is always accompanied by pain and frustration. I'm pretty sure Midoriya is traumatized already."
"That…" Momo smiled shakily. "…sounds complicated."
"I don't want to think about it." He sighed. "How was your training camp?"
"Good." Momo chirped.
"Hell." Camie lamented.
There was a moment of silence, before Camie shook her head. "I still can't feel my legs, you know? I get that we're going for those license thingies, but was this much torture really necessary?"
"License? Is your class participating in the provisional license exam as well?" Todoroki perked with interest.
"Ah, yes, I was going to tell you." Momo brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I only found out about it during the training camp, though."
"Oh. We also only heard about recently."
"I don't wanna think about it." Camie whined. "I still have nightmares about 'that', y'know?"
"Do I really want to know what she's talking about?"
"No," Momo shook her head with a sigh. "No, you don't."
"Todo-'bro'-ki!" A female voice called out, followed by a black form and blonde curls, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "We got assigned to the same arena! Isn't that awesome?!"
Utsushimi grinned widely at him while Todoroki glanced at her impassively. "Please don't call me that."
"Dude, no faiiir. Yaomomo made the exact same face when I suggested it to her." Utsushimi detached herself from him and pouted. "Actually, hers looked a bit more like this."
Utsushimi made a grimace that he was sure would never be found anywhere near Yaoyorozu's face.
The blonde's attention shifted to something else behind him. "Hey, it's Midori-'yeah' and Ii-'d-mpfhmph-"
Before she could finish that sentence, another hand clomped over mouth, belonging to none other than Yaoyorozu, who was shielding her face with the rim of her hat. When she looked up, there was a light embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "I told you not to greet them like that, Camie." She hissed under her breath.
"Sorry." She went on in a normal volume, an apologetic smile on her face. "I had to take care of some things and she somehow escaped my field of vision."
"It's fine, nothing happened." Todoroki reassured her.
"Well, something should have happened." Another voice joined the conversation. "I can't believe you guys are actually speaking to U.A. vermin."
Yaoyorozu's smile grew a bit stiffer. "Shishikura, say something along those lines one more time and you'll be taking over cleaning duty on your own for an entire week."
The purple-haired boy in question froze up. "S-sorry, vice-prez." He mumbled hastily as he sunk deeper into his coat, disappearing behind his collar.
She shook her head and looked past Todoroki. When he glanced over his shoulder as well, he realized that their little interactions had garnered the attention of the rest of his class. Even Aizawa was looking over at them with a pensive frown.
"Please, as vice-president of this class, let me apologize to all of you on behalf of anything my classmates say." Yaoyorozu bowed her head.
A walking mop of hair joined them, also bowing. "As class president, I'd like to join in on that apology."
"Really, it's okay…" Uraraka stepped forward, but was quickly overtaken by Iida, who had rushed to the front lines. "As class president of 1-A, we humbly accept your apology, even if it was not necessary." He responded fervently. "Tenya Iida, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"I believe we've already met, but for formality's sake, Momo Yaoyorozu." She shook Iida's outstretched hand gracefully.
"Nagamasa Moura, it's important to build good relationships during our time as students." The heavily-haired student next to Yaoyorozu introduced himself next.
"Of course!" Iida reciprocated. "However, today, we will be healthy rivals."
Yaoyorozu smiled. "Well put, Iida. Let us all do our best!"
"Now, our class will have to take our leave, we still have a few things to prepare, as I'm sure you do too." Moura announced. He handed Yaoyorozu a stack of papers. "Hand these out to the others and tell them to sign and return it to me."
She nodded, turning back to Todoroki. "It seems I'll have to go now. Again, I must apologize that you had to hear what Camie said. I'm just glad I could stop her before she could say anything she'd really regret."
Todoroki raised a brow. "That bad?"
She hid her lower face behind the stack of papers in her hands. "Worse. And she spent the entire bus ride thinking those up, too." She lamented.
Todoroki couldn't help but chuckle.
"Anyway, I'll be on my way now. I hope both of our classes will be successful in obtaining our licenses. See you."
"Yeah, see you."
Yaoyorozu grabbed onto Utsushimi's sleeve and began dragging her along, but it didn't stop the blonde from waving at them.
Todoroki waved back until they disappeared into the distance.
The moment the Shiketsu students were out of earshot, he felt two looming presences from behind him.
"Gggggnnnnnhhhhhhh." Mineta gnawed on his glove. "Why is life so unfair?! Why does Todoroki get all the hot chicks?!"
Next to him, Kaminari had his arms crossed, attempting to look dignified. "Girls… in tight, black leather… maybe I should have attended Shiketsu instead?" He mumbled under his breath.
A few seconds later, the two of them were on the floor, groaning in pain, courtesy of Jirou and Asui.
"All that aside…" Mr. Aizawa spoke up. "The black-haired girl… Momo Yaoyorozu…"
"You know her, teach'?" Hagakure asked.
"Pray you don't run into her on the battlefield. She's no pushover." Aizawa seemed to grimace behind his scarf.
Yoarashi suddenly gasped. "I thought she looked familiar!" He bellowed. "She's the chick who tied with me, right?!"
"What? No way…"
"Tied with Yoarashi? So, she's around his and Todoroki's level?"
"Wait… if she took the U.A. entrance exams, why is she attending Shiketsu?" Midoriya brought up. He turned to Todoroki. "Do you know?"
"She declined upon being rescheduled for a re-match with Yoarashi." Aizawa elaborated. "She didn't give us any specific reason, though."
Todoroki adjusted the strap of his shoulder. "I do, but it's not that important." He answered Midoriya.
How was he supposed to explain that she, essentially, did because she didn't want to hurt Yoarashi's feelings? Without any context, that'd make her sound like a terrible person.
"You know her, Todoroki?" Ashido tilted her head in curiosity.
"We're friends."
"Is this really okay, though? They're our enemies today." She went on.
"It's okay. We've agreed to give it our all."
"What a wholesome friendship!" Kirishima dug his face into the crook of his elbow. Was he… crying?
"Ah, but that also means you know some of their quirks, right?" Jirou cut in from behind.
Todoroki looked at the crowd of students in front of the arena. "I do, but I'm not sure how that's going to help us against all of them. Like Mr. Aizawa said, I suggest avoiding her."
Truth be told, Todoroki wasn't sure how Yaoyorozu was going to do this. She was confident in herself, and it was clear that she had some kind of leader-status in her class.
But combat-wise, he'd only had a few light, quirkless spars with her before, and those didn't really amount to anything since she spent half of those analysing the way he shifted his weight as he moved.
He really didn't know what to expect, but judging from Utsushimi's reaction to their training camp, it wouldn't be pretty.
"…We're completely surrounded." Midoriya remarked.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Ashido sighed.
Todoroki turned his head, swerving his gaze in order to estimate how to deal with this the best way.
Bakugou had run off on his own, followed by Kirishima and Kaminari.
The rest of the class, including himself, had decided to stick together. He was seriously reconsidering that right now, since he couldn't use his quirk effectively with so many people around, especially if he knew nothing about the enemies' abilities.
"Everyone!" Midoriya exclaimed. "Let's do this! Let's show them… just what class 1-A can do!"
"Class 1-1!" Momo and Moura stood in front of their class. "All the other schools are about to go after U.A.."
"Alright, let's crush them together!" Daichi grinned. "Let's go!"
"No, not yet." Momo cut in. "There's one student we need to look out for. His quirk is extremely versatile, and he has mastered using it to a commendable extent. It's in our interest to let him pass instead of facing off against him."
"So, what's the plan then?" Maya raised her hand.
"We'll split up into our teams. Don't try throwing your balls randomly, that's only a waste of time. The best way to pass this portion of the exam is to restrain your enemy or catch them off-guard and simply touch the ball to the target. Remember what you learned during summer camp." Moura explained.
"So, who's this student that's got you worried, vice-prez?" Kasoku inquired.
Momo glanced at her. "It's the one named Yoarashi. You saw what he did during the sports festival. Now picture that but with small, lightweight orange balls that the majority of the participants will be holding rather loosely."
Kasoku laughed nervously. "Point taken."
"So, we wait for him to pass, and possibly take out many participants as well, before stepping in." Kagami added quietly.
Their classmates nodded slowly. Good. Momo still remembered Inasa Yoarashi from the U.A. entrance exam. She saw how much he had improved when the sports festival came around. And although Todoroki hardly spoke about his classmates, the one or two sentences he had said about Yoarashi showed his begrudging respect for his abilities.
"Alright, this arena is split up into different sections. Team Five will head to the urban area in the west, Team Four will head to the rocky area in the east, Team Three will head to the industrial area in the south-east and Team Two and Team One will remain here. We're out of time, so start moving. Further details will be explained over your earpieces." Momo swept her arm outwards, to which everyone started moving.
"Team Two, you will be joining the students in the U.A. hunt." They nodded and disappeared into the mass of heroes-in-training.
"As for us," she turned to her teammates. "We'll look for a place with a good vantage point."
Once she finished her speech, a breeze blew through her hair, brushing a few strands into her face.
"It has begun."
"PLUS ULTRA! IT'S TIME FOR A HOT-BLOODED BATTLE!"
Todoroki held his ears as Yoarashi starting shouting. A few seconds later, the wind in their environment began to accelerate, whirring into life as their surrounding began to become obscured.
"Yoarashi, wait!" Midoriya tried to reach out to him, but it was too late. The cutting wind picked up their opponents' balls and lifted them up, all while Yoarashi was grinning like a madman. He began laughing jovially as he flicked his wrist.
"WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!"
The hurricane around them was dyed orange as the balls blurred away into lines, followed by a multitude of beeps and small specks of red.
All of Yoarashi's targets suddenly lit up blue, but he was still laughing. "Alright, let the battle commence!" He fist-pumped into the air.
Sero patted him on the back slowly. "Dude, your battle's already over."
"Huh, what? Wait, seriously?" Yoarashi's smile fell from his face.
"What the hell?" Kasoku peered over the rock they were hiding behind. "That was insane… He took out over 100 students by himself… Thank god we have you on our side, vice-prez."
Momo looked through her binoculars and assessed the situation. "He eliminated more than I expected. On the bright side, he'll be leaving the battlefield now."
"To all teams: Yoarashi is off the battlefield, remember your training, watch out for each other, and win. The key to victory is crowd control, don't forget it." She spoke into her earpiece.
After getting confirmations from all teams, she nodded towards her own teammates. "We'll make things easier for Team Two here. Once they've passed we'll assist any other teams that need us."
"Gotcha'." Kasoku set up her rifle and adjusted the barrel diameter to fit the orange balls before finding a good position.
She gave a thumbs up when she was ready.
Momo went back to her binoculars. "Let's see… the tall guy in the yellow suit?"
Kasoku scoffed. "Almost too easy."
"Let's play it safe for now. We don't know how they'll react to our attacks." Momo replied.
In the background, Kagami began talking to some of the other teams while taking notes.
Kasoku rolled her shoulder and took aim. "Aren't you friends with some U.A. guy? Camie mentioned it once." She placed her fifth finger onto the orange ball, dropping it into the chamber, counteracting the recoil by adjusting her posture.
It shot out across the field, hitting its target.
Momo put a finger to her ear. "Maya, tall yellow guy in the middle. Kasoku's sending another shot over now."
"Roger."
"Yes, I am friends with a guy from U.A., but we don't talk about this kind of school stuff. Camie says it's boring." She answered the brunette's question. "Okay, that's one down for Maya. Let's see…"
"What about the girl with the cool bob?" Kasoku asked, right before the ground shook around said girl. "Ah, wait, my bad."
"Soundwaves." Momo explained. "There are easier targets. Further in the front, blue and white, black cape, He's going to turn to the side now."
"Found him." Kasoku sang as she loaded her rifle once more.
Sato's sudden elimination had taken all of them by surprise, putting them all on guard. It was only briefly, but Todoroki saw something flicker right before his third target had been hit.
A female form wearing a navy-blue hat.
A large volley of balls came towards them from the other side, to which he put up an ice wall, followed by Sero leaping up and reflecting all the balls with the non-adhesive side of his tape.
In the corner of his eye, he caught the flicker again. He shot flames towards it, watching as the red-haired girl materialized with a scowl.
"I'm retreating!" She suddenly said, dissipating into nothingness again, right before Asui could land a hit on her.
"What the-" He quickly had to redirect his attention as something approached them from the other side.
"Black cape. Repeat after me, Maya, black cape."
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I thought we were still targeting the U.A. students."
Momo sighed. "Have you found the correct one yet? Let Daichi take this one."
"Gotcha'."
She rubbed her temples. That was close, if Todoroki had spotted her a second earlier that might have not ended so well. His instincts were scarily on point. The frog girl was also too agile for Maya to hold her own against her.
"That's one down for Daichi. The other two have procured one each." Kagami relayed from behind. "Team Three seems most likely to pass first, they said they found a good opportunity to ambush a group of enemies."
"That's good to hear. The other two teams?"
"Team Four is taking a detour because they encountered some problems. Team Five has one each already."
"Team Four, huh? I hope Shishikura didn't pick a fight with anybody again…" Momo lamented. "Hmmm… there's a rock-like looking guy amidst the U.A. students. Can you do it, Kasoku?"
"You got it, I'm almost out of ammo, though."
"Don't worry about that." Moura said as his hair settled a few balls down on the ground next to her. "I have you covered."
"Sweet. Thanks, prez."
"Alright, let's get Team Two through this." Momo peered back through her binoculars.
Koji's target shattered on impact, weakly blinking red before it faded.
"It's the same as Sato earlier!" Uraraka announced, already pushing Koji aside, only to have one of her targets shattered instead.
Todoroki reacted instantaneously, putting up an ice wall in the direction the shots came from. Just as it manifested, Todoroki caught the flicker again.
"Look out!" He shouted, but not in time. Three people began moving simultaneously, but not in time to stop the shorter girl from touching her balls to the targets.
She grinned as all her targets lit up blue before she disappeared again.
"The more I watch her, the more I think her quirk is… I dunno … A double-bladed sword?" Kasoku mused as she readjusted her aim.
"How come?" Momo asked as she searched the crowd for more potential targets. Team Two had gotten through completely, as had Team Three. Team Five was still missing three people but would be done pretty soon as well.
"Have you ever thought abut how she could be quite literally 'gone with the wind?'"
Momo face-palmed. "How long have you been holding that one in?"
Kasoku laughed. "Longer than you think."
The ground suddenly started to rumble. "Ah, it's the pretty boy from Ketsubutsu!" Kasoku exclaimed.
"Everyone, make sure not to lose anything, we need to get down from here!" Momo commanded. "The same goes for all the teams still on the field! Make sure not to lose each other!"
Todoroki watched as the ground around him began to shake and crack, splitting in certain parts already.
He could make out Midoriya's frantic voice in the distance, but by the time he evaded all the cracks he was already somewhere else, on his own.
Himiko Toga was not liking this so far. She had infiltrated this place so that she could get closer to Izuku, because he was supposed to be here.
There was no fun in this at all… Where was her sweet Izuku?
The earthquake had really made a mess out of the area. Great, now she was lost, stuck in this totally un-cute person whose appearance she had copied. Ahh, she wanted somebody cuter…
A flash of black peeked in the corner of her eye. A girl, with blonde hair and a nice catsuit.
Ah yes, this would do. This was very cute indeed…
"Camie, where are you? Camie?" Momo frowned at the lack of response. Should she check the GPS?
No, Camie could handle herself, she had to take care of the others first.
"Kagami, what's the status?" She turned to him.
"Team Three and Team Five were unaffected by the earthquake. They've both managed to capture enough enemy students and pass during the commotion. Team Two is already back at the waiting room." He relayed.
"So it's just us and Team Four, which got split up." Momo ran a hand through her hair. "We've only gotten feedback from two members of Team Four so far. Camie and Shishikura are MIA."
"What's the plan?" Kasoku angled her head upwards. "Do we head over to their location?"
"Yes. Once the two of them pass, we will begin searching for targets for ourselves." Momo took out a device from her pouch. "As for Camie and Shishikura…"
She had put a tracker on Camie for… reasons but was a bit surprised to see how far away she was.
"What is it, Yaoyorozu? You seem surprised." Moura inquired.
"I'm probably overthinking this…" She shook her head. "If Camie doesn't respond by the time you three have passed, I'll go look for her."
Todoroki decided to run along the outskirts of the exam area, hoping to shake off the students who had chosen him as their prey. His eyes flitted around, looking for any sign of anybody hidden amongst the debris, waiting to ambush him.
He still needed one more person, dammit. He had managed to freeze one of his pursuers in place, the others escaping due to one of them having some kind of melt ability.
He scanned his surroundings once more, wondering whether he would find anybody in this abandoned area in time to still be amongst the first 100 students. Gritting his teeth, he realized that loosing his pursuers may have been an unwise decision.
Finally, a silhouette dashed across the landscape in the corner of his eye. This was it, his last chance! Without hesitation, he created an icy path towards the person, skidding across it to catch up to them.
However, as he got closer, he saw her.
The silhouette… was Yaoyorozu. What was she doing here?
His stomach knotted uncomfortably as he decided to follow her.
Momo glanced at her locator and her surroundings in intervals, ducking behind larger objects as she got closer to Camie's location. She hadn't moved in quite a while… was she perhaps confined?
She could only guess for now, so she sped up a bit more. The only three people from her class who hadn't passed yet were Camie, Shishikura and herself, and ironically enough the three of them were the only ones who left their assigned teams.
She was going to have a serious word with them later.
"Yaoyorozu, what's the situation?" Moura's voice asked her over her earpiece.
"I haven't found her yet, but she should be nearby." Momo responded.
The dot grew closer and closer, and the only thing Momo could think about was how empty the surroundings were.
She got closer to the arena boundaries and frowned. There was only really rubble, the Ketsubutsu kid's attack really did this place in.
"Camie?" She called out tentatively, stepping over the rubble. "Where are you?"
"Cam-" Her heart stopped for a split-second.
What? What was that? Was that…?
She descended the stony, rocky slope and approached the motionless form of black on the ground. "Camie?" She gripped the person, turning them on their back, their caramel blonde hair stained dark red. "Camie!"
Warm liquid ran along Momo's fingers, and when she inspected them, they were dyed crimson. Immediately, her mind ran through all the steps to take during a situation like this, her hands searching for the wound and putting pressure on it to halt the bleeding.
How long had she been here? Who had done this?
Confusion and anger were swirling up within her, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Step one, remain calm. Remain calm. REMAIN CALM.
Step two, … What was step two again? Did step two matter? Camie was bleeding out, she should skip right to step three, right?
"-ozu."
No, no, step two was important, right?! What was it?!
"Yaoyorozu!"
She snapped her head towards the voice calling her name. "Todo… roki? Why are you here? What about-"
"That's not important right now." He cut her off harshly. "What happened here?"
"She stopped responding, but I didn't think too much of it at first, but then her coordinates didn't change, so I was worried about her and went to look for her and…" Yaoyorozu rattled down under her breath, trailing off towards the end.
Her eyes were still wide as saucers, a slight tremble going through her arms as they put more pressure on the red blotch on Utsushimi's abdomen. "I need to tell the others!" She suddenly jerked upwards.
"Move." He told her. "You notify somebody, I'll take care of the wound." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, I'm here."
Shakily, her hands lifted away, immediately replaced by Todoroki's. He glanced at Utsushimi's face, noting that she was deathly pale. How on earth did something like this happen? Who would be so heartless just to leave her here like this?
Even if this happened by accident, wouldn't your first thought be to notify somebody? Call an ambulance? Anything?
Momo took a deep breath, her hand reaching to a small button near her ear.
So that's how they were communicating?
Momo opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly paused. Her face drained of all colour, and she gulped audibly. "I-is that so?" She suddenly spoke up, her voice surprisingly even. "T-Tell her not to do anything reckless again, o-okay?... Yes, yes, I'll do my best. Thank you for telling me."
Her hand sunk down again, her expression filling with disbelief, incomprehension, anguish and… fear.
"Yaoyorozu," He urged her. "What happened?"
She blinked, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her face. "Todoroki, thank you." She said softly as she knelt back down next to him. "But there are only ten places left, and if you're still missing a person…" Her voice was hoarse as she lifted her arm, holding out her target to him.
"I'll take care of things from here, so please, continue on with the exam, while you still have the chance to." She kept her voice even, but he could tell something was off.
"Forget it. Not happening." He snapped at her, anger rising within him.
She whipped around her head to meet his gaze, the confliction in her eyes clear as day, visibly taken aback by his sudden outburst.
Did she have any idea what she was saying? What she was insinuating? Did she honestly belief he would choose the exam, this exam he could take again at any given time, over her and Utsushimi?!
Didn't she know…
Didn't she know how important she was?
Not just her, but Utsushimi too?
He inhaled sharply. "If things were the other way around, me telling you to go on, would you accept that offer? Would you, Yaoyorozu?" He was aware that his bitterness, anger and disappointment leaked into his voice, but he needed her to understand.
She didn't answer.
"There you have it." He sighed. "Now get those thoughts out of your head and tell me what happened, because I'm not going anywhere until you do."
Her eyes softened as tears started spilling from them silently. "I'm sorry… I know I always talk big… but when it comes down to it… I don't know what to do…" She confessed quietly.
"Yaoyorozu, you need to breathe. Take a deep breath, then let it out slowly again. Clear your mind." He told her.
She followed his orders, tears still falling from her eyes.
"Better?"
She nodded. "I'm sorry, you're right, I'm not thinking straight." She took another deep, albeit shaky, breath. "Let me dress her wound before she loses more blood."
Her trembling hand reached to her arm, where she started producing bandages and pulling them out. After creating all necessary things, she motioned for him to let her take care of things.
He let her, averting his gaze as she began to peel Utsushimi's bloody uniform off her skin.
"Moura told me that Camie just got back. Apparently, she strayed from her designated path, but still managed to take out two other students, so now she's waiting in the lobby with our other classmates." She began explaining.
"What?! But isn't she right here?"
"I'm fairly certain – no – I'm one hundred percent sure that this here is the real Camie." Yaoyorozu went on. "She has the earpiece I gave to everyone in our class, and she still has that one random curl in her hair that she was complaining about this morning. Additionally, I planted a GPS on her because I knew we would lose sight of her eventually." Her voice was blank, almost drifting into nothingness. "I just didn't think things would end up like this…"
She cleared her throat. "You can turn around now."
His mind had been reeling at her words, and he caught onto what she was insinuating, and suddenly her choice to not take any action made sense. He turned around, his eyes meeting hers.
They were slightly swollen, wet streaks mingled with a smidge of red on her cheek. She had pulled Camie towards herself, nestling her against her upper body, one hand feeling for a pulse.
"She needs medical attention." She said. "But… there's another pressing matter at hand."
Todoroki grimaced. "If the goal was to take her out during the exam, why still parade around as her in the lobby? Why let her take credit for your victory?"
"Exactly. My conclusion is that it probably isn't a student from another school, but…"
"A villain."
She nodded grimly. "With all the things that've happened lately, it's not implausible. And if that's the case, we need to check the area for more victims. Additionally, we can't let them know that we're aware of their presence."
Todoroki shook his head disapprovingly. "You're telling me that you were planning to do all this on your own? With an injured person, on top of that?"
She looked away, ashamed. "I didn't want to involve you in this. This exam is important."
He knelt down in front of her, close enough that he could hear Utsushimi's ragged breaths. "Look at me."
When she did, he put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, because we don't have much time and because I'm only going to say this once." Her expression was strained, but she nodded.
"The exam may be important, but it'll never be as important as you."
Another wave of tears spilled from her eyes, and he wiped them away with his knuckles, the only part of his hands that wasn't stained with blood. "Don't cry, it's not like you. You're the strong, talented vice-president of Shiketsu's hero course class 1-1. Act like it."
It looked pained, but she managed a smile. "Thank you, Todoroki."
"Good. Now, let's secure the perimeter and get Utsushimi to a doctor."
Izuku felt confused as Utsushimi waved at him from across the room.
Ever since the encounter with her in the arena, he couldn't help but feel like something was off.
She was behaving as if they were meeting for the first time, which was… weird. Didn't she even greet him when they arrived just a few hours earlier?
Momo was emotionally exhausted, her pulse still higher than she'd like it to be. It was such a distressing situation, and her heart plummeted at the realization that Todoroki had gone through this ordeal countless times already.
She held Camie a little closer as she followed Todoroki through the rubble. They stuck to the outskirts of the arena, just in case the second phase kicked off before they got out.
Somehow, she had managed to convince Todoroki to let her be the one who'd carry Camie, arguing that his quirk would serve as better defence for all three of them should anything happen, but in reality, she wanted to be there to make sure that Camie was still breathing, that her skin was still warm and that she was still… alive.
She didn't want to know what would've happened if Todoroki hadn't been there to snap her out of her stupor.
Someday, somehow, she'd make it up to him.
But first, there was a villain they needed to catch.
If the situation hadn't been so dire, she might have laughed at the baffled expressions of the proctors who were waiting at the door for the last stragglers to arrive.
But could she blame them? Camie, Todoroki and herself were covered in blood, not exactly the sight you'd expect from three examinees.
"What happened?" One of the proctors finally managed to ask.
Momo straightened her posture. "I'd like to talk to the person in charge."
Todoroki slumped against the wall in front of the infirmary, sliding down until he was sitting on the cold ground. Exhaustion came over him, lulling him to fall asleep.
"Todoroki!" Aizawa's voice tore him out of his half-asleep state. "Todoroki, are you alright?"
His teacher knelt down in front of him, hands gripping his arms in worry.
"It's not my blood." He answered tiredly.
Aizawa sighed in relief. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Todoroki looked up at his homeroom teacher. "I'm going to use my quirk now. I'll tell you if you can cancel it out."
"What's this about?"
"I'm sorry, I need to make sure you're really Mr. Aizawa."
The long-haired man sighed. "Fine."
When all was said and done, Todoroki glanced to each side, then whispered in a low voice. "There's probably a villain in the lobby with the other students."
Aizawa visibly froze up. "Are you sure?"
Todoroki nodded. "They currently look like a female student from Shiketsu by the name of Camie Utsushimi. Dark blonde hair, black catsuit."
"Todoroki, if this information is false… it will have serious repercussions."
"I know, but I have proof."
"I'll need to see this proof."
In that moment, the door to the infirmary opened with Yaoyorozu and Mera stepping out. The older man caught sight of Aizawa.
"Eraserhead, perfect timing." Mera said, an oddly serious tone to his voice. "I need you to do me a favour."
His teacher stood up to face Mera, his brows set in a serious manner. "Yes?"
"Miss Yaoyorozu here has explained some… rather unsettling circumstances to me. If this got out, it'd cause another public scandal we can't afford right now." The man's words held weight to them. "Which is why we're going to have to do this in secret. Only the four of us will know the exact details of what transpired here, at least for now. I trust Miss Yaoyorozu and Mister Todoroki to keep quiet about this until I say otherwise."
The two students nodded sombrely.
"Good. Now, I will announce the second phase, and as the students head back to the arena, we'll swipe up this doppelgänger amidst the chaos and… take care of things. I'll leave that part to you, Eraserhead. I'll give you the details on our way back."
Aizawa nodded grimly as well.
"Now, you two… there's a shower in the infirmary, wash up and change back into your school uniforms. No matter how important and valuable this information was, the two of you still fail. While the second phase is in action, make sure to come up with matching cover stories, and remember, not a word about this, okay?"
Todoroki gulped and nodded, as did Yaoyorozu.
The two adults disappeared down the hallway and Todoroki let out a long sigh.
When he looked up again, he saw Yaoyorozu extending her hand towards him. Her blood-covered hand.
He took it and let her pull him up.
"Come on, let's go." He said softly, tightening his hold on her hand. She nodded mutely, and the two of them stepped through the door.
Moura began directing the remaining students from his class to different locations where civilians needed rescuing.
He sighed internally, wondering exactly how Yaoyorozu had managed to fail the first round. This would be much easier with her here, considering the fact that his classmates actually listened to her, and not just half-heartedly did what he told them to.
"Hey where'd Camie disappear off to?" Maya asked.
"Dunno, but wasn't she acting a bit weird?" Kasoku pondered.
"Yeah… Maybe she hit her head or something?"
Moura shook his head as the two girls headed off in different directions.
Did nobody understand the concept of working together? What happened to the hard, grovelling week they spent in summer camp?
Yaoyorozu smoothed the pleats on her skirt for what seemed like the thousandth time.
After a while, she leaned forward, supporting her forehead on her hands. "They still smell like iron." She remarked with a dry chuckle.
"The doctors said she'll pull through. Though I'm still surprised they believed our story." Todoroki responded, equally void of emotion.
He felt drained.
The story he and Yaoyorozu had come up with wasn't the best either, and neither of them were very good liars.
Additionally, there was a distinct timeline issue where their story didn't match up with what the others saw.
He'd need to talk to Aizawa again before being confronted by his classmates.
"Hey, Todoroki?"
He looked at Yaoyorozu when she spoke up.
Her fist was clenching the fabric over her chest. "Does it get easier?"
"No, it doesn't." He answered bluntly. "It's more like… you grow accustomed to it."
"I… see…" She closed her eyes. "Then I want to do my best. I'll do my best so that nobody else will have to experience anything like this."
Todoroki smiled a little at that. She seemed a bit livelier, that was good.
"One more thing, Todoroki." Her grip on her blazer loosened, her flat palm resting gently against the fabric over her heart. It was a gesture she made whenever she wanted to convey something heartfelt.
"You better listen, because I'll only say this once." The corners of her lips tugged upwards as she quoted him. "The three of us may have failed this exam, but today," her black eyes locked onto his, "you were my and Camie's hero. Thank you."
As much as her words made his heart swell, he shook his head. "Don't undermine yourself, Yaoyorozu. You can be your own hero."
AN: This may alternatively be called "The OOC train wreck", thank you for reading it!
This chapter... kinda exploded length-wise. I'm not sorry.
Also, this gives me the setup for the ultimate character dynamic. May I present to you: BakuTodoMomoCamie in the supplementary lessons? The glam quartet? The fantastic four?
Leave a review!
~Emi