A/N: As always I own nothing from the MHA franchise.
CHAPTER 3
'There's no way Aizawa-Sensei put this together by coincidence, ribbit.'
Tsu looked around at her group as they walked towards their home base, discussing what team they thought should be their first target. The general agreement they had was to avoid direct conflict with the 'villains' as much as possible, especially heavy hitters like Todoroki or Tokoyami. If they could emphasize defense and stealth, they could probably rescue at least one other hostage, and since it was unlikely any team could pull off getting all the dummies, their own and one other might be all they needed to win. Getting into a long, drawn out fight would only make them more vulnerable among 16 different opponents.
"So, what team should we focus on targeting?" asked Kirshima.
"I vote Team 2! I want Round 2 with Bakugo," Uraraka chimed in.
"Mm, I don't know about that." Midoriya muttered. "N-not that I don't think you could take him, Uraraka-San! You've gotten so much stronger since the Sports Festival! But, knowing Kacchan, he's going to put himself on offense, so if we target their hostage he probably wouldn't be there anyway."
"Haha yeah, he'd look at defense as sitting on the sidelines in the exercise. I don't see any of his teammates convincing him otherwise, even if it made sense." Kirishima started laughing at the thought of it.
Uraraka seemed to deflate a little bit, her suggestion defeated. "Well," she said, "If we're thinking about defense, I'd probably avoid Team 4 then. Todoroki, Kaminari, and Yaoyarozu have a lot of long-distance attacks to keep any of us at bay. My quirk usually works best up close."
"Oh, that mean you want to be on the offensive, Uraraka?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, I'm ready to show off what I learned from Ryukyu! Our classmates won't know what hit 'em!"
"YEAH! Gah, I'm itching to get going!" Kirshima smashed his hardened fists together. "I bet you and I could make some great combo moves with our quirks!"
"OH! What if I used my quirk to make you weightless-"
"Then you throw me and I harden-"
"I'll release my quirk and with your momentum-"
"I'LL SMASH INTO THEM LIKE A HUMAN CANNONBALL!"
"They'll be so stunned we'll practically be able to walk out with the hostage!" Uraraka fist pumped, getting that dark glint in her eye.
"Let's call it…ZERO-G CANNON!" Kirishima practically screamed, making Midoriya wince beside him.
'But, offense isn't our biggest problem here…' Tsu couldn't help but look at Midoriya, sensing that he probably was thinking the same thing, as he'd started muttering. Not that she blamed Uraraka and Kirshima for making the other hostages a priority. If any of them saw someone in trouble, the first instinct was to leap toward the situation, not stay put. 'That's going to be the hardest part of this 20 minutes. The unknown of staying in your base and not knowing who could be coming after you means having to constantly adapt. When we were in the dark at the summer camp, I almost panicked because we didn't know what was going on, just like now. Who knows what we might face?'
Plus, there was another problem that they needed to acknowledge.
"Guys, we need to confront the bigger issue here…ribbit."
The trio turned to look at her, the question written across their faces.
"Aizawa-Sensei put us all together for a reason. I don't know why that is yet, but the four of us are not even a week out from the raid mission."
"Ah, I'm sure he just wants to see how our teamwork has improved since working so closely with each other." Kirishima gave them a reassuring smile. "Maybe it would be better to have you and Uraraka together? After all, you've been teammates in your work studies! You probably know each other's styles really well by now."
"No, hold on, that's not my point. If anything, he's put a bigger target on our backs." She pushed on before Kirishima could interrupt again. "In our tests with other heroes-in-training so far, our class has always been the target because of all we've been through. Other students want to show they can be on our level, even surpass us. Besides Tokoyami-kun, we're the only students who've had work study experience so far in the class."
"I think I get it." Midoriya put his finger to his chin in a motion strikingly similar to what she normally did. "You think we're going to be the other four teams' target in this battle."
"Exactly, ribbit. Not only do I think putting us all together has made us the team to beat in the others' eyes, but…we're also in a weaker position from the get-go."
"Hey, what do you mean?" Ochako crossed her arms and huffed defensively. "We took down that brute outside the compound! Kirishima helped take down two dangerous villains! Midoriya beat Overhaul! We've got plenty of strength on our side!"
What Ochako didn't notice, though, was both Midoriya and Kirishima wince at the mention of their fights. Tsu caught it though.
"Yes, that's true, but it wasn't easy, even with the pros there. If we're being honest, ribbit, let's look at our team right now. Midoriya-" -her green-haired friend quickly looked up- "You've gotten much faster and stronger while handling your quirk, and you didn't get any injuries thanks to Eri, but your body still seems exhausted. Based on the dark circles on you and Ochako, you both seem to not be sleeping well right now."
"No w-"
"And before you try to deny it, Ochako, I can tell because I haven't been either and I can recognize the signs."
"I…I'm sorry, Tsu, I didn't know. You're really good at hiding it…"
"I know. That's not a good thing either though…and Kirshima…"
"Haha, nice try Froppy! I'm great! Ready for whatever comes our-"
"You were in full-body bandages not even three days ago and you still have a slight limp no matter how much you're trying to hide it."
Kirishima froze mid-fist pump at her complete (and accurate) analysis. "Ah- well…when you put it that way…harsh, man… just trying to keep our spirits up,,,"
Tsu sighed to herself. She hated having to feel like the bad person in these situations. But somehow it always fell to her. And now she'd brought down her two peppy teammates. Were frogs by nature a glass-half-empty species?
"I'm sorry, everyone. I've trying not to be so blunt all the time…"
"No, no Tsu, don't apologize." She looked up in surprise at Midoriya. "You're right. We needed to hear this. We all want to push ourselves, but we're facing big disadvantages and need to play this right. What do you think we should do?"
Ochaka nodded her head. "Deku's right, you don't need to feel bad, Tsu! Someone needed to say it before we charged in there. Gah, Kirshima, we need to do better!"
"YOU'RE RIGHT. MANLY HEROES PLAN AHEAD TO KEEP EVEN MORE PEOPLE SAFE! What're you thinking, Asui?"
She turned away so they couldn't see the slight blush on her face. So they were all willing to put their trust in her for this? She couldn't let them down, especially after everything they'd gone through last week. They needed this win. They could do this.
"Well, first off," she started, bringing her finger to her chin (Midoriya could copy it, but it was still HER habit after all) "we need to establish both sides of the equation, offense and defense. Kirishima, Ochako, I think you're heading in the right direction. You two should be a pair for this exercise. Your quirks would work well together, the power of momentum you two share with your quirks making you a fantastic wall that opponents will struggle to get past- "
"ALRIGHT!" They both shouted, glad (and slightly relieved) that their excitement hadn't been misplaced after all.
"That being said, I think you two should be our defense." She pushed on before they could start asking questions. They didn't have too much time to prepare after all. "We already talked about how the best route for the rescuers will be to utilize stealth to try to take any other team by surprise. The less combat the better, we just don't have time for it. Kirishima, your physical style isn't as effective if you can't go all-out, which naturally means noise. And if I'm right and we become the others' main target, whoever we put on defense is going to be doing most of the fighting."
"Oh, I gotcha." Kirishima looked around the bottom floor of the base. "In a small, tight space like this, I can get in their face no problem!"
"Exactly. Plus, keeping you here means we don't have to put additional stress on your bad leg by having you walk as much as I'm planning for Midoriya and I."
Ochako could see where her friend was headed. "Does that mean you have a plan for which base to hit first?"
"Yep. We're going to hit Ida's team. It's the furthest away from our home base, but because of that they won't be expecting us. If Midoriya and I time it right, we should catch them off guard. It all depends on who they've left to protect the hostage, but on such a balanced team I couldn't say who's it's going to be."
"It's a gamble, but if stealth is our goal it's the most sensible target to avoid a drawn-out fight," Midoriya mumbled.
"After Midoriya and I claim the hostage, our priority will be to make it back here. With the distance between the bases, it's all we'll have time for. Hopefully, if everything goes right, we'll be able to regroup and all four of us can play keep away from the others until time runs out. Two hostages safe should be enough to win the exercise."
Tsu looked up at her friends, trying to put down the nerves she had as the lead in such a chaotic exercise. "So…are you guys on board?"
The three of them looked at her other, quickly huddling together to whisper. A sweat-drop appeared over Tsu's head as they talked. 'Huh, I didn't think it would've required THAT amount of discussion…ribbit.' She quickly glanced back at them as they broke apart.
"OF COURSE WE'RE ON BOARD!" Ochako yelled, making her jump (she was part frog, after all).
"We just grouped up to mess with you for a minute," Kirishima smirked. "It's a great plan, Ochako and I'll hold it down till you guys return! Just don't take too long, I don't know if I can keep Uraraka from thrashing Bakugo too badly if he shows up!"
"You got that right," his partner confirmed, mimicking him by punching her fist into her palm. "Mc'Boom Boom's going down!"
That was the moment they needed. Midoriya burst out laughing at their classmate's newest "hero name", and the laughter spread to the rest of them. It was as if all the tension they'd been feeling all day faded. No matter what happened, they'd pull through.
"Attention, teams. We'll be starting in one minute," Aizawa's voice boomed across the facility.
As their giggles died down, she brought them back to focus. "Alright, let's get to our positions. Remember, while we want to do our best, we're still not 100%, so don't do anything drastic."
"Right!"
"Okay, Midoriya, let's sneak out the back. We've got work to do."
There was something off from the start. Where was everyone?
Tsu looked around the empty central square from their hidden lookout point on the edge behind some pipes. They'd traveled almost ten blocks from their base location, hearing nothing as they moved. Something big was coming. But from where?
It'd been nearly two minutes and nothing. No sounds. They hadn't seen anyone. Like the whole training ground was holding its breath.
"You feel it too, don't you Asu—er…Tsu."
"Yep. Something's about to happen. The important thing is we stay to the side. To get to #1, we're gonna have to pass through this area unfortunately."
"Well, that shouldn't be a problem if-"
Tsu felt a chill run down her spine as Midoriya continued talking. Wait, a chill? It was nearly seventy degrees out today. It had been a warm season so far after all…wait…
"Midoriya-kun, MOVE!" She yelled at her partner, springing farther back while wrapping her tongue to an overhead pipe to accelerate herself.
She landed about twenty feet farther back than they'd been, Midoriya crashing clumsily next to her, his balance messed with from some ice on his boot. "Leave it to Todoroki to take the first attack," he said, chipping his boot against the ground to remove the unwelcome weight.
"Quick, let's get out of here before- is that Tokoyami-kun?"
A shadowy punch had just smashed the largest glacier in the middle of the square, freeing the bird-headed quirk user. His eyes were focused squarely on Todoroki on the opposite side of the square.
"They haven't noticed us yet. Quick, if we get to that alleyway we'll be halfway across already." Tsu pulled on Midorya, seeing the fire that had appeared in his eyes. They didn't have time for a fight.
"Right! DUCK!" Midorya pulled her behind an ice block as fire seared across the battlefield.
"Wow, they're really going all out."
"Mmhm. I think they're using similar strategies."
"What do you mean, Midorya?"
"Well, they were both quick to jump into this fight. For Todoroki, that's not quite surprising, but Tokoyami typically avoids fighting if he can help it. But looking at his team…he's really their most effective offensive weapon here. Ojiro is best for physical, but Tokoyami is more balanced, so sending him into a large fight against our friend makes the most sense. It seems their strategy is fighting so they keep the strongest players away from their bases, while their partner goes to search for hostages."
"Hm, you're right, ribbit." They dodged into the alley, already spotting the next spot of ice to be their next protection. "But there's one problem with their plan."
"Really? What is it?" Dark Shadow blasted another way of flames out of the way. 'Wow, Tokoyami must've been doing some extra training with Hawks. Dark Shadow's resistance to light has grown a lot stronger. Good for him.' She shook that thought off, getting back to her point.
"Besides occupying each other, no one else will join this fight now, knowing who's involved. Everyone will just avoid them, it's too risky. You'd have to be crazy headstrong to chance taking on-"
"YOU BETTER NOT BE STARTING WITHOUT ME, ICY-HOT!"
'And I already stand corrected…' They hunkered down as an explosion ripped across the square, sending ice flying in all directions. Bakugo had leaped right between Todoroki and Tokoyami, sending a horizontal blast from each hand at both. An ice wall and shadow blocked the blast, but both combatants were pushed to the edge of the square.
"C'MON, YA SECOND AND THIRD PLACE WANNABEES! I WANT A REAL FIGHT THIS TIME! I'LL TAKE YOU BOTH OUT AND YOUR TEAMS TOO."
"You want me to go all out, Bakugo? You'll regret that." Todoroki wasted no time, sending a massive wave of ice across the square. Tokoyami leaped left, Bakugo moving right, completely sealed off from each other by the ice.
Bakugo propelled himself straight forward, using the momentum of his leap from the dodge. "NICE TRY, YA ICY BASTARD, BUT NOW YOU'VE SEALED OFF YOUR COLD SIDE TO ME! YOU'LL HAVE TO USE THOSE FLAMES TO PROTECT YOURSELF, ASSUMING BIRD-BRAIN IS CHARGING TOWARD YOUR COLD SIDE"
"This isn't good for Todoroki-san… he needs to defend now, but he can't use flames to keep Tokoyami at bay, and his cold is more effective against Bakugo. He's exposed." Midoriya muttered from their ice block.
"Uh Midoriya…"
"Could he turn around and do a backwards strike? But he can't see his targets then…"
"Midorya!"
"Oh. Yeah, Tsu?
"We've got bigger problems." She pointed over to their destination, the path to Base #1. What had been a clear path a second ago had now been fully encased in Todoroki's ice wave.
"It looks like we're sealed in, ribbit. And if we try to jump up to the roof, we'll get spotted by the other three and dragged into the fight."
"Ugh, you're right…if Kacchan catches sight of us we'll have no choice but to confront him!"
"Wait…hold on…"
"What is it, Tsu?"
She looked over to where Todoroki was defending against the explosion-quirk user. 'We may not be able to get out of here discreetly with our own quirks, but…maybe we can use this new change to our advantage…'
"Midoriya, you're not going to like this, but I've got a plan."
"Hrr! Remind me to tell Asui-san after this that I HATE it when she's right!"
Kirshima was blasted backward by the electric lightning strike, quickly tearing off the target that had been stuck to his leg and crushing it in his hand. He felt something bump into his back, looking to see their hostage floating between him and Uraraka, nearly back to back.
"Hey man, those targets aren't cheap! Break your own equipment!"
"Sorry, dude, but maybe you should fight me MAN TO MAN THEN!" Kirishima took a swing at the electric user, who scrambled back, getting too close in his irritation. "Uraraka, what's the plan?"
"Huh? I thought you had one! Wh-DUCK!"
She pulled him down as a thick stream of tape flew over their heads, missing both narrowly. From the strangled yelp they heard, it sounded like someone else wasn't so lucky.
"Sorry, Kaminari, but that hostage is mine!" Sero pulled hard on the strip, pulling his friend forwards straight into Kirishima, who from his hunkered down position pushed up hard. Kaminari went flying and, luckily for the defenders, landed straight onto the getting-up Ashido.
"OW! Damnit, Chargebolt! Get out of the way!"
"Don't get mad at me! You were in the way of my landing!"
'Phew. Maybe now I can get a moment to-UGH!' Thank goodness he had developed his hardening to take over even faster than before, the white-clad leg that had just struck the side of his head seemed to have come out of nowhere! If he was at 100%, he could've shrugged that off like it was nothing, but now, here he was, down on one knee. Pathetic!
"Apologies, Kirishima-kun. Normally I look down on sneak attacks, but against you villains in this exercise, I'm willing to make an exception." Ida landed neatly next to Mina, saluting his teammate as he stood.
"Kirishima, you okay?" Uraraka pulled him up to his feet, turning to face the four foes in front of them.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He wiped his chin, feeling a slight trickle of blood run across his palm. "Guess all that talk about us being the main targets wasn't too far off."
"Everyone except Team #2 is here. Based on the distant explosions, I'm guessing Bakugo must be facing off with another group. Hopefully Deku and Tsu didn't get caught up with him."
"Mmhm. But we gotta do our thing. Problem is, I can't get close to any of 'em, everyone besides Ida's got projectile attacks and are keeping me at bay."
"Same here. What can we- MOVE!"
He jumped to his left, waving his arm quickly to get the acid off. "Mina, what the hell? You can't move that fast!"
"Haha, you're right! Good thing we have TEAMWORK!" Kirishima turned quickly, barely getting out of the way as another wave came at him. Mina rocketed by him, piggybacking on Ida as she released attack after attack. "I call this move, ACID RUSH!"
'Gah, I can't counterattack. Between dodging and their speed, it's all I can do to keep my hardening up!" Looking over, he saw Uraraka faring no better, narrowly avoiding one of Kaminari's ground shocks by floating above the ground. The jolt had also made Sero move as well. 'Huh, right, they're from separate groups, and aren't taking each other into account, at least not yet. Maybe we can use that!"
"Uraraka! Remember what we talked about earlier?"
She ducked another attack, glancing over at him. "You mean the Zero-G-?
"Yeah, let's DO IT! Go!" Bursting forward, his sudden movement surprised Ida, causing him to slip on a puddle of Mina's acid. Jumping over their tangled limbs as they fell, Kirishima leaped toward his teammate.
Catching him in midair, Uraraka activated her quirk. "Here goes nothing!" Whipping his weightless form around, she planted her foot forward, bringing her hands together the moment she let go. "REEEEEEE-LEASE!"
"ZERO-G CANNOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" His weight returned, Kirishima shot forward like a rocket at the electric-quirk hero, who had been heading straight for them. Kaminari screamed, dropping to the ground at the last moment. Unfortunately, he'd been blocking Sero's view.
"Cannonball!" Red Riot yelled in triumph as his fist finally made contact with an opponent, or more specifically, Sero's jaw, knocking the poor guy out cold. 'Yikes, didn't know I'd have that much speed. I'll be manly later and get the poor guy an ice pack.' Landing in a somersault, he saw Sero had just started a new tape strip, he guessed probably to get Kaminari out of his way. Maybe he could use this…
"Hey, Uraraka, catch!" After attaching the end to the wall, he hurled the hero's limp body over to the other side of the room.
"Kirishima, what on earth?" She caught Sero, looking over in confusion.
"Get to the walls, make sure the strip makes contact. I'll throw you from the center each time you come back! Let's slow this thing down to our liking!"
She nodded, quickly understanding what he was going for. She leapt toward him, making herself and her new passenger weightless. "Right! Hope you're timing's right, I'd like to not splat!"
"I've gotchu!" Reversing roles from a minute ago, he threw her toward the farthest wall, the tape following behind like a comet's tail. Poor Kaminari had to duck again, and with the room cut in half now Ida and Mina were stopped just as they got moving. Before any of their foes knew what had happened, she'd bounced back, was thrown again, and in less than a minute of rapid pinballing the tape strip had created a spiderweb of angles across the room.
"Damn, I can't run in this, I'll get stuck!" Ida paused, looking for a straight path forward.
"Don't worry, I can melt this!" Mina started to reach toward the nearest strand. "WAH!" She pulled back as a hardened fist nearly caught her in the shoulder, her momentum causing Ida to stumble back as well.
Kirishima banged his fists together, smiling at the two as Uraraka rejoined him, setting down the unconscious Sero. Kaminari had gotten his leg caught between two of the tape streams and was stuck on the other side still. "Yeah, you may be able to, Mina…but can you melt enough before my fists of justice connect? You're cornered! Well, uh, actually we're in the middle of the room, but gah, you know what I mean!"
Uraraka put her hand on his shoulder. The tables had turned. By her guess, about 10 minutes had already passed. All they had to do was hold out. "Red Riot, let's do this!"
He smiled, pleased to hear his hero name every time. He could still live up to his idol. He could DO THIS!
"Right, here we go! CHARGE!"
"THAT ALL YOU GOT ICY-HOT?! THAT QUIRK OF YOURS IS A CRUTCH IF YOU'RE SPENT ALREADY!"
Psh. He already had this won. The burns on Scarface's right side were already evidence of that. If he couldn't use his hot-cold to balance his temp, battling two opponents like Tokoyami and himself separately like this would cause his body to pass out from the strain. Stupid to send that wave of ice down the field, all he did was limit his own field of vision. In less than a minute, it'd be over, then he'd take out emo-boy on the other side. After they were both out, he'd finally get to his base and wipe the floor with-
"K-KACCHAN!"
'HIM?!' Bakugo froze for a split second, causing him to get blown back by a wave of flames. He whipped around seeing Deku staring at him from across the field. 'Finally.'
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING, NERD?! I WAS GETTING BORED!"
"S-stop beating up on Todoroki over there! You know I'm the only one who c-can…t-take you on!"
He narrowed his eyes at that. "What are you saying, loser?!"
"I'm-I'm…I'm saying BRING IT! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS, KACCHAN!
Bakugo couldn't help but grin at that. He'd been waiting for this. "Well, it's about time you-"
He saw the bright flare in his periphery. "Shit!" Turning to the side, he sent a massive blast ripping through the flames, dispersing them quickly. Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. Damn, he'd gotten too distracted by-
Deku. Deku was right in front of him. Wait, what?
SMACK!
A slap? A SLAP?! WHAT THE HELL?! Whipping his head back, for a moment he was too stunned to speak. Then all he was seeing was red, glaring at the idiot who had already retreated to the ice wall.
"C'mon Kacchan, I was speaking. If you're gonna ignore me, I'll just have to smack some sense into you!"
"UghhhhhhhhhhgrrrrrrrAHHHHHHHHH DAMNIT DEKU, I'LL RIP YOU APART!" He propelled himself forward with his propulsions, heading straight for him. "LET'S SEE YOU TAKE THIS!" The nerd had made it too easy; he was trapped with only the ice wall behind him. He raised his arm, pulling the pin from his gauntlet. The massive explosive is all he'd need-
His leg jerked back the moment he released the blast. Wait, what? His explosions didn't move him in these jerky motions. What was-
"Midoriya, now!"
The nerd had leapt out of the way, just before the explosion had reached him. The blast blew clean through the ice, revealing the path to the road behind it. Wait, had he just been bait? Well, THAT WOULDN'T SAVE HIM-
His gaze was ripped away from his rival. Wait, there he was again. Hang on, why was he going in circles?! Looking down, he finally saw the long pink lasso that had looped around his leg up to the knee, but it wasn't connected to-
"Damnit, camouflage!" He'd been PLAYED. Reacting quickly, he sent a blast straight onto his leg where the tongue was. He heard a grunt of pain, disrupting the frog girl's focus and she lost her camouflage, but she was still holding on. That was fine, now that he knew where she was he could take them both-
"5%!" Deku's fist hit home, knocking him right in the stomach. Shit, he'd only taken his eyes off the idiot for a second!
"ASUI! RELEASE!"
The wind knocked out of him, he was suddenly flying backwards. Bakugo saw Icy-Hot barely look up before he flew directly into him, sending both heroes-in-training straight into the wall, leaving a heavy depression as they fell to the ground.
'Damnit. Can't move yet.' He glanced up, but all he could do was watch as that damned Deku and Frogger made their way through the hole he'd made.
"W…we'll finish this later…you damned nerd…" *cough*
A/N: I love writing interactions between Kirishima and Uraraka. They need more screen time together, because how could they not be good friends?! Friends who knock out other friends together stay together XD