Round 4: The RNG isn't Your Friend and the Crit Rate is Bullshit.
All of our teams faced off for war, One For All and Decay were primed to go. I sighed and stuck my headband on my wrist, double tying it to use a dirty tactic. Ibara looked up at me with a 'I'm very disappointed in you, my love' face.
High risk, high reward, plus Itsuka and Tetsutetsu's defenses. We raged forward, One for All blasted in my ears, my limit was at five. Coming right for us was Team Todoroki, Team Togaru, and Team Midoriya with Team Bakugou and Monoma.
"They're comin' for us, man!" Tetsu snapped. I smiled.
"JUST WHAT I WANTED!" I howled, spreading my hands and looked at them, "Whatever you do, trust me!" I felt a vine lash onto my waist, 'Nana, have Float ready to go.' I thought, Launching off Tetsu's shoulders and into the air, I felt the band get snatched off my wrist.
"WHOA! AN EXPLOSIVE SACRIFICE FROM SHIMURA! JUST WHAT IS HE THINKING?!"
'One For All FULL BRACER!' I was floating upwards, Slamming hard back down with my leg, "FALLING ICARUS!" the ground cracked and chunks of it flew up and all the teams that were bigger tried their hardest to get away, hence why I only went with three other teammates.
The pairs were too small, and the vast groups were too slow to dodge or even deal with the earth moving beneath them. Using the explosion as a distraction… I tore my way to the heavens and smashed the earth!
In the bedlam, my team reeled me back in and set to work gathering bands, my leg throbbed and I could barely stand. The battle still raged as I sucked up the pain. My power thrummed hard, and I was gasping harshly. My chest heaved, and it felt like a freighter punched me. But in my bandaged hand was a band from one of the scattered teams, blood poured from me and I didn't care. I could barely feel it.
All I could do was to be carried by my teammates, trying my best to stay on my feet. One For All in this case was more internal than external. Then… I felt the pain abate and I looked down at my leg, seeing a black and purple pulsating wrap there. 'You owe me one, kiddo!' an unknown voice boomed, I saw a man with two bandoliers on his chest, a firm jaw, and a cocky smirk, 'Name's Daigoro Banjo! That quirk's Blackwhip! Top Grade, treat her right and you'll be fine!'
'Did I break my leg?' I thought, trying to get an answer.
'Nah! But ya got pretty torn up. I couldn't just let the new guy bleed out! I'm a nice guy, right?!'
'Yeah, thanks, Daigoro…' I smiled and stood back up. The time was almost up, and everyone was still fighting.
"SHIMURA!" Bakugo roared loudly, acid shooting out from the bubblegum pink girl and we just barely dodged. Blackwhip formed on my damaged arm and hand, my decay broke my pant-leg bandage. My eyes locked on him.
"BAKUGO!" I thundered, charging at him with my new quirk helping me out, keeping my injuries safe so I could heal them, I drew my fist back and punched a shockwave of air right at him, blowing them apart, aside from the rock-hard copy of Tetsutetsu.
We balked and darted back away from the others, leaving them be but I saw Bakugo riding on the shoulders of the copycat. We were tearing cheek away from the others and ending up seeing Monoma yoink his band with Vine.
'Thanks, Monoma, I owe ya one!' I thought, finally being able to- suddenly we were yanked right towards Izuku's team, Blackwhip, Vine, and Tetsutetsu's Steel made it harder, Kendo picked up a bunch of rocks with her hand and smiled. She threw them and Izuku had to stop them, blood dripping from his nose. He had a pretty nasty quirk himself, if he could catch us it'd be all over.
"ANOTHER AMAZING MOVE BY TEAM MIDORIYA AND AN EXCELLENT COUNTER BY TEAM SHIMURA! WE'RE DOWN TO THE WIRE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
"TEAM SHIMURA IS LEADING AT THE MOMENT FOLLOWED BY TEAM BAKUGO AND TEAM TODOROKI!"
Then… it was all over. Everyone stopped, and the others let me gently down, I laid there, my head in Ibara's lap, Blackwhip keeping my leg and arm from bleeding out on me. Ibara smoothed my hair and kissed me on the forehead.
"Are you still hurting, Tenko?" she asked.
"A- A little, yes," I admitted lamely, feeling her lips on my arm, blackwhip curiously tangling with her vines a little. She giggled, seeing them tangled together.
"Oh! Hello!" she exclaimed, "Seems like this is another facet of that quirk, yes?" she touched them and it tangled around her hand, she giggled even more.
'Daigoro, what the hell?' I thought.
'Kiddo, this isn't me, this is the quirk, it likes her.' he answered, 'Dude, tap that.'
'I can't do that!' I thought.
'Bitch, I saw you fight that bastard without fear of death. What're you so afraid of?' he asked.
"Heee… hehehe…" Ibara giggled, the little tendrils tickling her. She looked so cute. Her hair was tangled around them too,
'I don't wanna mess this up with some dumb mistake…' I thought, 'like decaying her…'
'Kid, you would've done that already multiple times, the only limits you have are the walls you built yourself to hide behind…'that's not healthy at all. She's basically giving you bedroom eyes, letting you cuddle against her chest, and basically claiming you as her husband!' Daigoro ranted, 'So man the fuck up! You're not like that crusty dipshit! You won't hurt her, you don't even dream of hurting her!'
'Yer even using her lap as a pillow right now!'
Ibara was still giggling and petting my hair between giggles. Vines covering my body like a blanket, Blackwhip stopped tangling, but I saw Yui standing nearby.
"Aww, Yui. Not yet! I want to hold him some more," Ibara whined, pouting and crossing her arms, "A brief nap for him will help him! Let me hold him!" she turned to me and leaned over me, kissing me.
"I'm sorry love…" she sighed, "I have to go for now, we can cuddle later after your victory," I squeezed her waist with my arms.
"No. Too tired." I yawned, "Just got comfy," she sighed and wrapped her arms around me, her vines shifting, making a soft lulling tune. She kissed me fondly and settled me in one seat, I was peacefully napping.
When I woke up, I saw Togaru in my face. His mandibles scraping together and making a sharp scraping noise, I heard Jurota shouting about indecency and 'who's idea was this to have such depravity!'
"Dude, look out there," he said, "Look at the girls and TELL ME that ain't Ibara," I rubbed my eyes and peeked out, seeing the girls in cheerleading outfits? What? I mean, they looked nice, but what was so bad about it?
"What's so bad about it?" I asked, "It's just them having fun…" then I clapped eyes on Ibara, and I almost did an anime-level overreaction. How'd she- what'd she do?! I mean, the uniform was cute on the others, but Ibara was stunning! Ibara looked up and waved her yellow pom-poms at me, a bright smile on her face despite her blush. The uniform had a green and orange color scheme to it, and I couldn't stop staring. It wasn't tight on her, and it looked like she was having fun.
"Oh my god, she looks so cute! That girl from 1-B! The one with… the… vine… hair? Kirishima? G-guys? What's up?" a boy with golden hair and eyes with a black streak in his hair didn't notice me nearby. An eye flew back to Setsuna, and she was talking to Ibara. Ibara smiled.
"Hey! Tenko! Tenko~ T! E! N! K! O! What's that spell? My lovely Tenko!" she cheered, making me hide my face behind my hands and just curl into a little ball. She pumped her pom-poms and looked so cute, her vines making little heart-like shapes.
"OH WOW! LOOK AT 1-B! FANSERVICE OVERLOAD! AND WHAT A CARING GIRLFRIEND, CHEERING ON HER BOYFRIEND!"
I just wanted to go back to sleep, cuddled against Ibara and just hearing the soft lullaby of her vines and her heartbeat. She loved it when I was with her. Maybe a little too much. I still tried to figure that out. Soon after, I realized I was just tired, and I wanted to rest before the next event.
Ibara came back up, her hair undoing itself, "Come here, darling," she said, helping me up and taking me to my break room, sitting in a chair and one of her vines shutting the door, she held me close, petting my hair and humming softly.
Her vines became like a blanket again, "Sh. Tenko, rest now, okay?" she asked. I closed my eyes, hearing the whisper of her vines, her soft, warm voice humming out a calm lullaby. She was so was a light. That's what she was. More of a beacon. Comparing her to everything else was impossible. Because she could just be anything. A dream, an angel, a demon with the face of an angel, a goddess even.
I slowly relaxed and she chuckled softly, "Sleep well, my love," she whispered. I was so lucky to have her with me. Falling asleep in her arms, cozy in her vine's embrace. Lovingly held and valued like me being a clone didn't matter.
Held in her arms, away from the loud and maddening crowd… at peace. Sleeping against her like I was home. I was home, wherever she was. A pleasant dream, laying like this in a house somewhere far away into the country. In a secluded clearing in the forest, no heroes or villains. Just us, laying in bed and watching the day go by. She had even longer hair, even though she preferred it waist length. She looked older, had cute glasses, and was sleeping with them on.
I reached up and touched her cheek, finding that my main punching or slashing arm was covered in scars. I was older too, but it felt right. It felt like it meant me to be where I was. I loved her. And what woke me up was a nightmare. Burning filled the room, blood was on my gloved hands, Ibara's breath stopped and I woke up with a start, seeing her still pressed up against me with a smile on her face.
"Ibara, wake up. Ibby? Come on, wake up!" I urged, "D-don't be dead, come on," I shook her a little.
"Mm? Tenko? You look so worried," she yawned, blinking and looking at me with a smile, "Don't worry, lovely, you'll be fine."
They were going to start the fights. Oh boy, here I go. Here I go into the breach once more.
Game on, UA!