Chapter 10 - Team H vs Team J! Shouji's Regret!
Tokoyami and Asui awaited the sound of the buzzer that was signify their time to attack. Waiting outside of Battle Building C, their goal was simple. They had to sneak into the building and either retrieve the nuclear warhead from the enemies or succeed in capturing the Villains with their rolls of capture tape. The Villains have five minutes to set up their defenses before the Heroes entered.
"We're against Kirishima and Sero," Tokoyami stated, breaking the silence that had been building between the two. "Are you aware of their Quirks? I confess I was not paying much attention yesterday."
"Kirishima can harden his skin," Asui explained. She tipped her finger against her mouth, pondering the other for a moment before finishing her explantion. "Sero can create tape from his body."
Tape and Hardening. Two Quirks that could prove to be slippery if paired together. Sero's tape would probably be the biggest hurdle due to the nature of tape being sticky and tough to remove. He imagined it would probably be used like rope. While Kirishima would definitely be an asset in hand to hand combat.
"If we can get past the tape, we've got a good shot at taking the win here."
"You're sure you can take on Kirishima?" Asui asked.
"At range, he's useless. If he can only harden his body, his only way of putting us out of commission would be a full scale attack."
Tokoyami glanced upward at the building. Behind those windows was a maze of dark, similar looking, industrial corridors, each confined so that making any progress would be more than difficult with the wrong Quirk. But there was also the advantage of the darkness inside the building. There was no sunlight to directly harm Dark Shadow, meaning he'd be able to use more power indoors.
"Hey, I trust you," Asui whistled, her tongue rolling out of her mouth as she smiled. "We've got this if we're careful, and you've got Lil Shadow."
"Dark Shadow is a useful tool to have around," He admitted, feeling Dark Shadow stirring beneath his cloak.
"I don't see him as a tool though," Asui muttered to herself, her gaze falling on his cloak. "He moves and talks, he's his own person then, right?"
"More like an extension of my abilities," Tokoyami explained. "Dark Shadow does have his own personality, but he does what I command without any resistance."
"But he's not a pet though, if he can think and talk for himself," Asui said.
The rest of his class didn't understand Dark Shadow well enough to really get a feel for how it was like being tethered to him. Tokoyami had his entire life to feel out and understand his Quirk and while he certainly kept it happy, he knew just how destructive Dark Shadow would be if it wasn't constantly being repressed by Tokoyami's will.
"What do you think happens when that conscious mind takes over?" He stated coldly. "When it's power becomes so great that it overtakes my own actions and desires. What do you think a demon does then?"
Asui didn't reply, looking away in silence.
"That is why I call it a tool. To think otherwise would be to invite disaster."
They stood in silence for a minute, waiting for the timer to begin in earnest. Asui didn't bring up the issue of Dark Shadow's sentience again, instead opting to pick at her costume and mumble to herself while Tokoyami leaned on the iron railing outside the building's main entrance.
"Heroes, can you hear me?" All Might's voice echoed inside their ears.
Tokoyami almost jumped a mile, having forgotten about the ear pieces that they had been told to wear prior to entering the battle arena. Asui looked over at him with a small grin at his flustered form, pressing her hand to hear ear before replying, "We're here Mr All Might!"
"Just All Might will do," Their teacher replied with a hearty laugh. "Now then, the Villains have had time to fortify the building. You are free to enter in ten seconds. Good luck!"
"Ten seconds?" Tokoyami muttered, pushing off of the railings and readying himself to head inside.
Asui hopped up beside him, looking ahead with that peerless gaze of hers. Now it was just a waiting game and then the real fun would begin.
"Start!"
Asui hopped over to the main door, pushing it open gently. Tokoyami moved along behind her, eyes darting around that first hallway. And what met them was nothing too threatening. A dark and spooky hallway that led into the building. It seemed that there were no defenses set up at all around the entryway, meaning they'd be able to proceed.
"Alright, I'm going to move on ahead and check things out," Asui announced, hopping onto the wall to their left. She landed on the wall, sticking to the surface a small thud and began to pad her way down the hall, Tokoyami following a fair distance behind.
The moment he felt the sunlight of the entrance diminish, he allowed Dark Shadow's claws to emerge, dark shadowy tendrils that were ready to put up a fight. "Dark Shadow, cover any corners that Asui isn't checking."
"Shut up," Dark Shadow growled, yet doing exactly what it was told to do.
This was a part of it's strengthened form. In the darkness, Dark Shadow was able to do much more and cover further ground, but his attitude took a turn for the sour and he became more difficult to hold back. However this darkness wasn't too bad. With fluorescent lighting at various points in the building, he would be able to keep his Quirk in check for the exercise, even if his Quirk's attitude would be awful the whole time.
Dark Shadow took the right corridors while Asui took the left, the group carefully moving their way to the stairwell at the far end that moved to the next floor. This pattern continued... and continued.
"You would think that Sero would defend the halls more," He noted as they reached the fifth and final floor, still seeing no sign of any attacks of tape. They had spent a good four minutes being careful enough at getting up there and now they had a good eleven minutes to find the weapon.
"Perhaps Kirishima and Sero are hiding in the weapon room," Asui suggested.
"Holing themselves in for the long haul," He grumbled, turning the corner.
And walking straight into a massive wad of tape.
"Tokoyami!" He heard Asui shout as he fell backwards, bouncing off of the tape and back into the first corridor. As Asui turned the corner, she also saw the sight that lay before them.
The door to the weapon room lay at the far side of the corridor. But between the door and themselves was a thick layer of tape that stretched out across various points in the corridor, almost like a tripwire system.
"Dark Shadow, can you break the tape?" He asked, pushing himself off of the floor with his hands.
"Can I break the tape? Just watch me," Dark Shadow growled, dark claws slashing at the tape. A few swipes later and the tape was tattered beneath their feet. "Can I break the tape, he says? Doubting my abilities, he thinks?"
"It seems that Lil Shadow's upset," Asui said. "And not so little anymore," She added.
"This is not the time to be selfish or moody, Dark Shadow. We must dispatch of the Villains soon," Tokoyami stated to his Quirk, the Shadow giving him the side eye before retreating back to behind Tokoyami. "So what's the plan?"
"If we charge in, Sero'll tape us," Asui whispered. "But if I can wrap him around my tongue, I might be able to capture him with the capture tape."
"You'll need Dark Shadow to go in first then. That room has to be covered in tape, right? Only Dark Shadow can break it."
Asui nodded, pointing at the door. "Let's go!"
They sprinted down the hallway, silently making their way to the door. Tokoyami lifted his cloak, allowing Dark Shadow to appear from the front, slamming into the door and knocking it off of it's hinges. A pair of male screams echoed from the room and he was satisfied that he managed to spook the pair inside.
Running through the door after Dark Shadow, he could already feel his Quirk slicing down rolls of tape. Asui hopped in behind him, using his cloak as cover before ducking behind one of the many pillars lining the room.
"How'd they get through the tape so quickly?! Aw, this isn't manly at all!" He heard Kirishima shout panicked.
"It's that Shadow dude. We gotta take him out quickly or he'll take down all my tape!" Sero shouted from across the room.
"Great, they're targeting me," He thought, darting to the opposite side of the room as his partner. He needed to keep as far away from her as possible for the best diversion. If they focused on him, they might just forget about Asui.
"Dark Shadow, defend my blind spots!" He shouted, running from the pillar he was hiding behind. He could see another pillar halfway across the room that was blocked by a few lines of tape. He could probably get through it if he jumped at the right moment but he knew this move could either make or break him.
"Get him!" Kirishima called out.
He felt something whiz by his head just behind him, realizing it was probably more tape. Sero was focusing on him. Perfect.
Leaping forwards, he curled up and slipped through a small gap in the tape, landing just behind the next pillar. He was roughly on the opposite side of the room to his partner, who hadn't moved from her initial position.
"He's behind the pillar!" Kirishima announced.
"I know! He's mine!" Sero shouted.
Suddenly two wads of tape burst from either side of the pillar, curving around. He barely had time to react as Sero pulled back on the tape, slamming it straight into Tokoyami's chest and pinning him to the pillar.
But wait? This wasn't the capture tape. He wasn't out of it yet. "Now Asui!" He shouted.
"Oh shit, the other one," He heard Kirishima call out, but by then it was too late.
Asui darted from her spot, her tongue already extending towards Sero who was already stuck holding onto the tape that was keeping Tokoyami pinned. The panic was exactly what they had wanted and Asui almost grinned when she noticed Sero let go of the tape he was holding to shoot some more.
Tokoyami felt the grip lighten and with a roar, he darted around the pillar, pushing himself along towards the group. Sero, now realizing the mistake he made, tried to shoot tape at the both of them. But his aim was off from the pressure and his tape missed Tokoyami.
"What the heck?" Sero shouted, suddenly feeling his waist tighten and he looked down to see Asui's tongue wrapped around him.
Kirishima finally kicked away his confusion and launched himself towards the trio, slamming his hand down towards Asui's tongue. But he was too late. Asui pulled herself towards Sero, zooming straight past Kirishima, causing him to slam his hand into the solid floor below.
"Damnit!" He growled, turning to where Asui had now pinned Sero to the ground, her weight keeping him from being able to move.
Kirishima charged once more, eyes on Asui who couldn't move without removing her hold on Sero! He'd be able to capture her for sure!
Tokoyami grinned.
"The match is over! Heroes win!"
Kirishima, Asui and Sero all stopped, seemingly confused as Kirishima let his Quirk fade out before turning around in confusion. Tokoyami was still over by Sero and Asui and he was going after them. He wasn't captured so how the hell did the match just suddenly end?
Tokoyami, with immense satisfaction, pointed at Kirishima. Well, not at him, more like behind him.
The red-haired boy span around, a strangled cry erupting from his throat as he felt his knees buckle underneath him as the weight of his mistake came crashing down around him.
For standing there, nuclear weapon in hand, was Dark Shadow.
"I had my Quirk sneak around the room while you had me pinned to the pillar. The moment you took your eyes off of the weapon, you'd already lost the match," He explained, reaching a hand out to pull Asui up from the floor.
"Man, we were so close too," Sero groaned, taking in deep breaths as he felt Asui being lifted off of him.
"Sorry about that," She said to Sero.
"Y-You tricked us!" Kirishima choked out. "That's not manly at all."
Tokoyami rolled his eyes at this, "Battles aren't manly. Battles are battles. And as you saw in the fight with Midoriya, sneak attacks often work better than punching at a literal wall like yourself." He would never have won the fight if he'd gone 1 on 1 against Kirishima, so he was glad that Dark Shadow had been able to snag the nuke in time.
Had Dark Shadow been a few seconds slower, Asui probably would have been knocked down by Kirishima and he'd be facing a 2 on 1 situation. And he worked better with 1 on 1 battles. Adding Sero's tape to the mix and he could have lost the fight easily.
"Students, please head back to the viewing room so we can go over your battle."
"All right, after watching that battle, you each had your ups and your downs," All Might explained in the viewing room, looking at the four heroes who each had fought. "Sero and Kirishima, you both acted rashly and let your guards down multiple times. By focusing on Young Tokoyami, you completely ignored Young Asui who was able to attack you when you least expected it."
Kirishima looked absolutely dejected by All Might's words and All Might noticed, placing his hands nervously on Kirishima's shoulders.
"But don't despair! That is precisely why you must aim to become stronger. Focus on seeing the bigger picture."
Those words rang a bell for Tokoyami. Just over a month ago he was getting the exact same advice from his teacher. He'd adapted and felt he'd done a very manageable job of keeping on top of everything, aside from getting snagged on the pillar.
"Young Asui, you were extremely skilled at scouting and hiding from your opponents. You used your Quirk well and took down Sero very quickly. But you need to learn to be faster with your movements. Had that been a real bomb, you wouldn't be able to afford hiding as much as you did."
Asui nodded silently, poker face still on point, as All Might then turned to face Tokoyami.
"You've come a long way in such a short time. In group fights, you were overwhelmed back in the Entrance Exam. But here you were clearly able to view the battle in it's entirety. You were caught on that pillar, which in a real scenario, would have been more fatal than you may realize, but you were aware of your teammate's movements and you used yourself and your Quirk as a good distraction. I would say the best student of the battle goes to you."
All Might turned to draw the next balls out of the ballots but paused, glancing back at Tokoyami, "Although you might want to try working out more. Get your physical body in shape so that you can make sharper movements in battle."
"Did All Might just tell you to work out more? That's hilarious! Finally someone tells you!" Dark Shadow laughed.
"I am not above turning all the lights on tonight Dark Shadow," He growled as a threat.
"Young Tokoyami, who are you talking to?" All Might asked.
Tokoyami paused, he felt his face flush and then, "I didn't mean to say that out loud. S-Sorry."
All Might gave him a rather weird look, the rest of the class devolving into small murmurs until, "Anyway, moving on!"
The class ended about forty minutes later with everyone feeling pumped up from their lesson in their costumes, but ready to call it quits for the day. They were told to head back to class to get changed and collect their stuff before they were allowed to head home. But it seemed the class consensus that everybody hang out for a little while to wait on Midoriya.
As they all trudged back to the main school building, the class began to notably separate into their groups. Kaminari, Jirou, Kirishima and Bakugou were leading the walk back to school, although Bakugou was more trudging ahead of everyone else. It seemed his battle with Midoriya had shaken him.
Sero, Aoyama, Ojiro, Tooru and Mineta were all chatting away in their own little group while Iida, Uraraka and Ashido were all chatting near the back of the pack.
Satou, Momo and Todoroki all seemed to be off in their own worlds as they walked which left the small group of Tokoyami, Shouji, Kouda and Asui right at the tail end of the group.
"You were impressive today, the pair of you," Shouji stated, looking at Tokoyami and Asui. "The class just won't stop talking about you guys, Midoriya and Todoroki."
"Seriously?" Asui asked incredulously. "I thought we did pretty shaky. Some people are weird though."
Then they heard a small, timid and soft voice join the conversation, "Um, I thought you were pretty cool, both of you." Kouda stood there, sheepishly holding his hands as they continued walking.
"Well thank you Kouda," Tokoyami replied, smiling at the boy.
"Oh, no problem."
"Oh, and Kouda," Tokoyami added. "Thanks for last night. It worked."
"Last night?" Shouji asked.
"Remember how I said I was having nightmares. Kouda gave me some ideas on how to get back to sleep." Kouda gave a small shy wave at his name being mentioned.
"How did you even contact each other in the middle of the night?" Asui asked.
"The internet."
It was a pretty short answer but that seemed to be enough for Asui to tell Tokoyami to add her to the group. Apparently she wanted to make a lot of new friends at U.A. and she thought this would be a good start. "Call my Tsuyu, by the way."
Tokoyami felt his feathers bristle in surprise, "Of course, Tsuyu, my apologies."
"It seems we're the last people to arrive," Shouji stated, his appendages now forming into eyes, trying to spot the rest of the class. They had all gone ahead leaving the four of them alone on the sun-drenched road that led to the school.
"It's not like we're in a hurry," Tsuyu shrugged.
"Midoriya won't be done with Recovery Girl for a long while yet." The rest of the group gave Shouji a mix of bewildered looks, even Tokoyami wondering how he knew that. "What? This is his second time visiting her in two days. Don't you know how her Quirk works?"
"I get the feeling you're going to tell us," A small wisp of Dark Shadow stated, materializing around Tokoyami's neck, much to the surprise of Kouda.
"Ignore him," Tokoyami grumbled, placing a hand to his beak in annoyance.
"As I was going to say," Shouji continued, one of his many eyes glaring at the Dark Shadow Tokoyami was trying to calm down. "Recovery Girl's healing Quirk requires a user's stamina to heal them. Not only was Midoriya absolutely shattered after the last battle, but he was already healed yesterday, meaning his stamina is much lower than it should be."
"Oh, um, so he's too weak to fully heal quickly?" Kouda summed up, Shouji giving the boy a thumbs up in return.
"I see." Tokoyami had wondered what Recovery Girl's limits were. Repeated visits would certainly be an issue, especially for Midoriya as his Quirk was so destructive in its nature already. And with his Quirk taking so much out of him, his healing may not even work right away.
The group fell silent as they approached the large glass doors that led back into U.A. High School's main building, the group heading in with Tsuyu splitting off to head to the women's changing room. With a wave of her abnormally large hands, she bid them farewell for the moment and padded off. The other three each headed towards the men's changing room to get changed.
As they each began to change back into their school gear, Tokoyami noticed something clinging to Shouji's hero uniform. More specifically, the boots. Small flecks of frost from his round of battle, although it really couldn't be called a battle when Todoroki completely decimated Ojiro and Tooru without even needing Shouji's tracking skills.
Shouji had just finished changing his face mask when Tokoyami felt he needed to ask, "Hey, Shouji? Are you feeling okay after your battle?"
The taller boy sat down on one of the changing room benches, slipping on his school shoes before letting out a rather audible sigh. "I am actually quite frustrated, I must say."
Tokoyami could see Shouji's arms drooping, his main hands clenched into fists. Out of everyone in the group, Shouji looked completely fine, didn't even work up a sweat. And Tokoyami could tell that was taking it's toll on the boy. "You wanted to prove yourself, didn't you."
It wasn't a question but a statement from the bird, who was frowning as much as someone with a beak could possibly frown. Kouda was watching out of the corner of his eye, looking rather down as well at those words from Shouji. They had only known each other for two days, for goodness sake, but seeing the taller boy frustrated on such a momentous lesson was certainly not fun.
"My first time in my costume, my first time in a real fighting lesson and I got shafted a few seconds in. I wasn't useful enough." Kouda and Tokoyami both jumped when they heard the slight crack as Shouji slammed his left fist down onto the bench.
There were no words that could be said for the taller boy. Nothing would fix that pain that Todoroki's actions had caused, but when Shouji finally let his arms drop to his sides once more, fists unclenched, the two others were surprised to hear, "I don't blame Todoroki. Even if I wished it, holding grudges is not my style. I want to see us all improve but I need to show my own improvements as well."
Shouji really was one of a kind. And just kind in general. Tokoyami had somehow ended up with a rather weird group of friends at the end of his first two days at U.A. But as he noticed that now-familiar crinkle in Shouji's mask that meant he'd cracked a smile, he knew that he wouldn't change it for the world.
A/N - This was a fun chapter to write! I'm glad people are enjoying my characterizations for these characters as I know I'm not that great at writing. I know Tokoyami is a lot more serious and brooding, but I'll leave overly-serious Tokoyami to the writers that do him justice and stick with my more "Socially awkward nerd" Tokoyami. He's such a dork and I love him for it.
Kouda is a character I'd like to use more since he's got a lot of canon interactions with Tokoyami, moreso than Shouji, so I definitely want to make sure he's a fun character to listen to. Pure cinnamon roll who cares too much. That's about right.
And obviously Asui/Tsuyu. Blunt, lovable Froppy. She pairs up with Tokoyami a lot and is a good bridge character that keeps Tokoyami invested in the rest of the class.
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I'm not the best Boku no Hero Academia writer out there, I'm still working on my characterizations, but I'm glad some people like it!