"Hey, don't run away!" Bakugo chased after Scales but I blinked in front of him, cutting him off. "What the hell? Why are you-get outta the way!"
"Just leave it, you shouldn't go after him." I looked back to the alley he had disappeared into. Certain there were other people hiding out. Ready to ambush.
You're being paranoid now, Taka.
"Why the hell shouldn't I? He wants a fight so I'm gonna give him a fight." Bakugo blew air through his nose like a bull ready to charge.
"Takaomi's right, we should just go." Kirishima came to stand beside us. "Although." He paused and looked at me. "I do have a lot of questions now." I found I couldn't keep eye contact with either of them for long. There wasn't any good excuse I could come up with that they'd believe. I could buy time though.
"Tomorrow. I can answer whatever questions you have tomorrow. I just..." I wrapped my hands around my torso in a self hug and took a deep breath. Releasing it slowly. "I just want to go home right now." Bakugo reached forward and held my shoulder, then pushed me into a spin corralling me ahead.
"Right, whatever. Lead the way then." Bakugo dropped his hand and walked beside me. Kirishima fell into step on my right, occasionally looking down any alleys we'd passed. "So you actually knew that guy?"
"I said I'd answer your questions tomorrow." I was beginning the nervous habit of tapping my fingers against my thumb. Index, middle, ring, pinky and then repeat.
"I don't care what you said." Bakugo turned his head, not looking where he was going, just at me. "You obviously lied about that creep."
"Dude, c'mon." Kirishima on my other side tried to placate.
"I don't know him, I just know who he's affiliated with." My finger tapping fell out of sync when I skipped my pinky. It frustrated me and I crossed my arms, holding my hands under my armpits to keep me from fidgeting. I shook my head and scrunched my face thinking. "You're right about the gang stuff though." I swallowed and waited for one of them to comment about it.
"So... You're in a gang?" Kirishima began. "What'd he called you, an Akuma?" I nodded, not looking at him.
"That's right, sort of. We're not a gang anymore. We stopped being whatever makes us a 'gang' two years ago." I uncrossed my arms and scratched at my head, pulling at the roots of my hair to try and de-stress myself. "Ugh. The fucking Dragons have had beef with us forever and-!" I threw my hands down to my side and yelled my frustrations. "I'M FUCKING TIRED OF IT!"
"Whoa, hey. Keep it down, we're in residential." Kirishima raised a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion.
"So the damn Dragons have been harassing you over middle school gang bullshit?" Bakugo surmised. "He looked older than that though."
"It wasn't middle school bullshit, I'm the youngest in our group. There were high schoolers and people who'd just dropped out. The Dragons always had a lot of people come and go in their gang. There were only ever five of us in the Akuma's, and our oldest guy is twenty five. The other's vary, the next youngest is Masaru who's eighteen." I answered.
"Wait, that guy at Daichi's?!" Bakugo stutter stepped and gaped at me. "Are the rest of them..?" I nodded.
"Yeah. Kuroi was the guy with wings. Kenzou was the one drinking sake." I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Enji was likely going to give me another speech about staying out so late without notifying, but at least I had those cookies to hold over his head. I stuffed my phone back and sighed.
"You've met them?" Kirishima was talking to Bakugo now. "Now that I think about it, Mina mentioned someone named Kenzou earlier."
"Yeah. Ran into them a few nights ago." Bakugo narrowed his eyes thinking. "I wonder if my old man knows. Does Old Man Daichi know too?"
"Pops does know, somewhat. We go see him often enough and he overhears what we talk about." Talking to Bakugo and Kirishima about this was lifting a weight from my shoulders I didn't know I had. I was beginning to relax. "Masaru used to work there so I'm not sure what all he really knows. Oh, and both Mina and Toru have met Kenzou. Just briefly." The expression that appeared on Kirishima's face made me uncomfortable. "They're not bad guys, Kirishima. We just grew up in not so great situations and did things to... well, it made life tolerable at least. I'm not going to excuse what we did, but... It's in the past. They're good guys. I swear."
"I believe you." He didn't say more than that. I imagine he had to process everything so I let him be. Not much time passed and we made it to my home. The lights on in every room meaning I was the only one unaccounted for. I sighed, not looking forward to talking to Enji. I'd forgotten to tell him I'd be out again. It was my own undoing.
"This is me." I walked up and opened the fence to the front yard and turned to face the guys. They were standing and waiting for me to walk through the door. "Thanks for walking me home, seriously." A faint barking was coming from the door, Ponta was excited about something. I spared a glance over my shoulder before addressing my classmates again. "I'd appreciate it if this all stayed between us. Please." Bakugo looked offended.
"Tch, like I'm some fucking gossip. Just get inside already so I can go home."
"Sure thing." Kirishima nodded while gracing me with a soft smile.
"Takaomi Aoki." Enji's disciplinary tone made me freeze in place. "Nice of you to come home finally. Where've you been?" He noticed my classmates and just leaned against the open doorway, arms crossed. "Oh, did you walk her home?" Kirishima clapped his hands to his sides and bowed respectfully. Bakugo only nodded slightly.
"Yes sir!" He stood from his bow. "Sorry we were out so late. We thought we'd walk Takaomi home since it's already dark." I turned and headed for the door, Ponta bounded out to greet me.
"Oh, hey girl." I bowed down and picked her up, carrying her under my arm like a football. She paddled the air staring up at me, happily panting and wiggling her butt. Enji took a step out to let me pass by.
"Thank you for looking out for her. Get home safe." Enji waved them goodbye before following me and closing the door behind him.
My feet were dragging and my eyes kept shutting. My daily commute to school was mostly muscle memory at this point. Once I'd gotten home last night Enji gave me a brief scolding before sending me to my room. I'd done my homework in a distracted rush because the triplets had gotten into Reiko's and my closet. We spent a good amount of time trying to locate all our misplaced clothes. After that I finished my homework and then I passed out, just exhausted from the day.
I rubbed my face, thankful I never bother with makeup. Raking my hand through my unbrushed hair yawning for the thousandth time that morning.
"I hate nightmares." It was the same one as the night before, just reliving a real memory from my past. Just this one had a twist at the end that involved Scales and my classmates.
I shouldn't bring them into this mess. Maybe I'll talk to Aizawa after class.
With the school gates coming into sight so too were the ever present news reporters. Slowly they were becoming a permanent fixture and I hated it. They were already ganging up on some of my classmates. Uraraka and Deku were caught up in the crowd and slowly making their way through. I thought I could wait for a better opening, or at least until they were distracted enough that I could just blink past them all. I shouldn't get in trouble if I don't get caught.
"You gonna move or what?" I didn't have to look to know who it was, his constantly irritated growl was obvious.
"No. I think I'm just gonna stay right here." My shoulders sagged and I yawned again, rubbing at my eyes with the back of my hand. He went to walk past me but stopped, looking down at my face.
"You look like shit." Blunt as ever. That wonderful trait of his. I lightly hit him on the chest with the back of my hand.
"Aww, I feel like shit. Thanks for noticing." I cooed sarcastically while staring at the crowd studying their layout. Pursing my lips when I saw an opening. "You want to not have to deal with them today?" I asked. Referring to the reporters of course. He looked at the crowd then back at me with a brow raised in silent askance. "Give me your hand."
"Why the hell do I have to-" I grabbed his hand before he could finish his sentence. Noticing it was slightly sweaty but I didn't comment on it. "Hey!" I activated my quirk and all motion around us ceased. The world was suddenly silent and the breeze was now just stagnant air. I pulled him along not bothering to see his reaction. It looked like Iida had everyone's attention which was perfect. We slipped behind him and through the gate where I ended my quirk. The wind carrying my stray hairs and the birds overhead continued their songs.
"Not so bad, right?" I let go of his hand and raised it like I was showing it to him. "I can bring people into my Time Pause as long as we're touching skin." I saw him discreetly wipe his palm down his pants before smoothly shoving them into his pockets. A dusting of pink highlighted his cheeks.
"Don't just fucking grab people's hands, dumb ass." His tone was a little more subdued and he marched off to the classroom.
Sitting in class Aizawa announces we're going to pick our class president. After a bit of a vote, where almost everyone voted for themselves, Deku was chosen. I'm not sure how or why. He looked like a chihuahua shaking in the cold compared to the calm and composed Yaoyorozu. Hearing Bakugo signature grumblings from behind me, I turned to look at him. He always had an interesting expression when it came to this Deku kid.
That's most definitely murder in his eyes, I wonder what he's got against Deku?
Maybe when he grills me for info later I can ask about it.
Actually, I wonder when they're going to do that? It's Mr. Hizashi's English class right now. I look at Kirishima, he's busy writing and erasing pretty consistently. He didn't approach me this morning or even say hello. Not that it bothered me, I just assumed he'd be more curious. I focus more on my assignment and rub my tired eyes.
Don't overthink this, Takaomi. Not everything about you is super interesting.
Lunch comes and I'm debating taking a power nap. I grabbed my lunch from the smallest line which were ordinary turkey sandwiches as well as an energy drink. Sitting in an empty seat next to Sero and Mina I dug into it without prompting.
"Hahah, were you hungry Takaomi?" Sero nudged me with a rounded elbow. I hmm'd in response and kept eating.
"Are your eyes okay? They still look a little bloodshot?" Mina leaned over the table and examined my face. I stared back at her chewing. "You look really tired too."
"Man, I love Lunch Rush's burgers!" Kaminari sat himself next to Mina diagonal to me. "What's up with Takaomi's face?" I sighed and let my head hang down and Mina slapped Kaminari's arm. "What? I wasn't insulting her! You were just staring and I was curious." Sero was laughing at the situation. My sandwich was already half finished. I cracked open my can of jitter juice, the carbonation fizzled. I'm not sure what the label said it was called but it had B12 and taurine and that was enough for me.
"I didn't sleep well last night." Chugging half the can in one go. I burped and set the can down. "When I got home the triplets got into our closet and scattered mine and Reiko's clothes around the house. I'm dreading what kind of quirks they're going to get when they reach that age, it's a total shot in the dark."
"You have four siblings?" Kaminari asked, munching on his burger. "That's rough, I only have two and I can't stand them sometimes."
"Wouldn't they have some similar quirk to your parents? Why are the quirks going to be a shot in the dark?" Sero asked. Kirishima and Bakugo were just now getting to the table. Kirishima sat next to me and Bakugo on his other side farther from the others.
"Oh, we're not related. I live in a foster house." Gulping down more of my drink. All their heads swiveled to me in surprise.
"What?" Kirishima wasn't sure what conversation he'd just sat himself into. "Wait, so that guy at the door wasn't your Dad?"
"No, that was Enji. Well, Mr. Shiro, but I call him Enji." I finished the rest of my sandwich in one bite and chewed quickly. My eyelids were heavy but I was doubtful they were going to give me time to take a nap now. "I've been living with them for a little over two years." I brought my free hand up and counted off. "There's myself, Reiko who's a middle schooler I share a room with. Kai who's older, he's about to graduate. Then the triplets, Mamoru, Minoru, and Miroku. they're almost four and it is terrifying. We all live with Hiromi and Enji Shiro as our foster parents for different reasons."
"Guy at the door?" Mina picked up on that one phrase. She really was perceptive. Kirishima looked at Mina and realized he'd somewhat outed himself in walking me home. That wasn't a secret, but the whole Dragon's and Akuma's business was. Mina was quick to put the pieces together. "Oh, did you walk her home? Look at you being all manly, Kiri!" He just laughed it off as I finished the rest of my drink. The others had only made a dent into their meals when the alarms began.
Warning! Level Three Security Breach! All Students Please Evacuate The Building In An Orderly Fashion!
"Whoa, what's that?!" Sero and the rest of us stood up. Their meals were forgotten as the surge of students started rushing by.
"Everyone's freaking out, what happened to the 'orderly fashion'?" Kaminari wondered, getting bumped into by a passing student. "Hey!"
"This isn't good, someone's going to get trampled at this rate." Kirishima said. "I'm gonna go try and calm them down."
"I'm with you." Kaminari and Kirishima ran into the crowd. I lost sight of them.
"Wait, guys!" Mina ran after them and disappeared.
"We should probably stick together." Sero said, standing his ground the best he could as the swarm of students started getting uncomfortably close. "C'mon."
"Hey, what's a level three security breach?" I heard Bakugo shout at some poor student. He'd grabbed the guy passing by like a fish out of a pond.
"Uh! Oh, uh, that means someone managed to break into the school!" Bakugo released him and the student scampered into the swarm.
"An infiltration?!" I stopped following Sero, losing sight of him almost instantly as the students were funneling into a smaller hallway. I paused time and wiggled my way free, coming up beside Bakugo before starting time again. "Did I hear that guy right? Someone broke in?"
"Sounds like it." Bakugo stood taller, unafraid. He looked ready for a fight. "I doubt whoever it is will make it this far, but if they do." He punched his open palm and ignited a small explosion. "I'm gonna kick their ass!"
"Everything's fine!" A shout from down the hall near the exit got our attention. It was Iida, somehow plastered to the wall above the door. "It's just the media outside. There's absolutely nothing to worry about." Already the crowd was beginning to calm, just listening to his reassuring speech.
"Oh, that's all?" I relaxed my tense shoulders. "If that energy drink didn't wake me up this sure did. Damn."
After lunch it was decided that Iida was going to be our class representative rather than Deku. In light of his exit sign speech no one objected. Save for Aizawa who was snuggled up in his obnoxiously yellow sleeping bag, but his objections were more on us taking too long. Once the other positions were filled he unzipped himself and continued on with class.
"Today's training will be a little different. You'll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you." Aizawa's weary gaze looked over the class. Sero shot his hand up.
"Sir, what kind of training is this?"
"Rescue training." Aizawa answered. "You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that.
"Disasters, huh?" Kaminari said, turning to Mina. "Sounds like we're in for a big workout."
"Totally!" She agreed stoked.
"This is what separates the men from the boys," Kirishima leaned forward in his seat talking to Kaminari. "I'm shaking with excitement!" I got caught up in my own thoughts as well, not as openly excited like the rest of them. I knew I was tired and it was going to affect my performance.
"I'm not done yet." Aizawa spoke over the class. They shut right up and listened. Informing us that we had the choice to wear our hero costumes and that the facility was going to be off campus. We were quick to get changed and met up by the bus. Iida tried getting us to board in an orderly fashion but the layout wasn't exactly made for it. Although I ended up sitting next to Bakugo because of it.
"Wake me when we get there, 'kay?" I crossed my arms and let my head lull forward, my eyes closed as I attempted to get a micro nap in. I really needed to find a way to get a good night of rest. My classmates' conversations were looking to keep me from my nap.
"Well, if any of our classmates have pro quirks. It's Todoroki, Bakugo, and Takaomi." I opened my eyes to my name. The few in the front seats were looking our way. I ignored it and closed my eyes again.
"Sure, but Bakugo's always angry. So he'll never be that popular." The frog girl said. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Pfft!" Holding a hand to my mouth to try and stifle it the best I could. Bakugo shot up from his seat and leaned over the railing in front of us.
"What did you say? I'll kick your ass!" Baring his teeth like an animal, but Tsuyu didn't bat an eye.
"You see?" She said, pointing at him. It ticked him off more.
"I don't see how Takaomi puts up with you honestly," Kaminari shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Everyone here knows you have anger issues with an explosive violent streak, like a literally explosive violent streak."
"I'll show you violence!"
"Hey, cut it out. We're here." Aizawa's monotone still carried weight through the bus. Bakugo sat back down in a huff, crossing his arms.
"They just can't match your intensity." I said. The glare he shot me just restarted my chuckles. "Pfft!" My hand back up to my lips. "Sorry, hehehe!"
"Shut the hell up." He grumbled and stood, we were already at the facility.
Pro Hero Thirteen greeted us and explained the what's and why's of the USJ facility. The place was huge with a shipwreck, landslide, a fire, a windstorm and more. It was really impressive. Aizawa walked up to Thirteen, interrupting their speech.
"Isn't All Might supposed to be here already? Let me guess, he booked an interview instead." He was looking around the entrance. The overly buff superhero nowhere in sight.
"That is weird, where is All Might?" I wondered as well, crossing my arms. "He's honestly fast enough to not be late for anything."
"He's probably got important business or something." Kirishima answered my musings. "The dude's likely busy with all sorts of things, being number one hero and all."
"Before we begin, let me just say one thing." Thirteen sought to get the class back in order. Getting caught up in their own ramblings again. They were just as spacey as their Hero Costume. "Or maybe two things. Possibly three, four, or five things..."
"We get it!" The class responded, getting our teacher back on track instead.
"Right right, listen carefully. I'm sure you're aware I have a powerful quirk." Uraraka was nodding along so energetically. It was obvious she was a fan. "Now you should also know my quirk can be used very easily to kill." The class was startled, murmurs here and there. "Please don't forget that if you lose focus your powers can be deadly. Even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone."
I looked to the side where Aizawa was leaning against the wall. I know this was likely a planned speech for each class that came through this facility, but... It was pretty spot on. I found he was looking right back at me. Not expecting it I blinked like an idiot. He motioned with his eyes back to Thirteen, a hint to keep paying attention.
"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you now have a solid idea of your quirks potential. And because of All Might's combat training you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when facing other people. Carry those experiences over to this class today. You're going to learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using your quirk to hurt one another but to help. That's what being a hero is all about." Thirteen ended her speech in a bow. "Thank you so much for listening."
I didn't need All Might's combat training to tell me how dangerous my quirk can be. Although, Aizawa's fitness test was pretty informative.
I looked back up at Aizawa. He's stood up straighter from the wall.
"Right. Now that that's over let's-" A surge of energy swept through the large overhead lights. The crackling unmistakably electricity.
"What was that?" I wondered. Watching Aizawa follow the sound toward the center fountain.
What is that? Did a power surge blow up the fountain? Is that smoke?
That wasn't smoke. There were people coming out of a swirling shadow, lots of people. This wasn't a part of the rescue training, was it?
"Stay together and don't move!" He commanded. "Thirteen, protect the students."
"Whoa, what is that thing?" Kirishima took a step forward, as did Deku. "Has the training started already, I thought we were rescuing people."
"Stay back!" Aizawa pulled on his goggles, his expression critical as he examined the surge of people. "This is real. Those are villains." I didn't bother to count the crowd, only try and identify the ones in charge. The one who'd emerged first. The one with hands on his face. He hadn't taken a step since he'd first showed up. The others walking freely ahead of him. Then a large black monstrous person stepped out beside him. He raised his hand in a silent command and the monster stopped.
That's the leader, for sure.
Yaoyorozu and Shouto were speculating the how's and why's of the invasion. I kept my eyes on the enemy ahead of us. They all were making their plans to escape, I needed to be alert. People tend to forget quirks that cover long distances if they weren't paying attention.
"Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school." Aizawa ordered, not turning his back to the villains. I saw it, and likely so did Aizawa. A metallic behemoth of a man held one hand in the other. His arms looked like cannons as he planted his feet. Aizawa's scarf raised to an unseen wind along with his hair. He leapt off the platform not bothering to use the stairs. The villains he encountered weren't expecting for their quirks to be erased and hesitated at the wrong time. His capture scarf ensnared them and he quickly slammed them together knocking them out cold.
I quietly walked closer to the edge behind Thirteen. He hadn't taken out the arm cannon guy yet. Already swamped with the amount of villains around him.
"Let's move, everyone!" Thirteen turned around and ran off, leading the way to the exits.
"Whoa, he's holding them off. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated him." Deku was right beside me watching Aizawa deal damage.
"No, you shouldn't have." I say, to him.
"This is no time to be analyzing. We have to go." Iida called after us.
"Right." Deku turned and ran after. I backpedaled at a slower speed, keeping my eye on that canon guy. Something was off. There was another guy with him now, a stupidly muscular guy with four arms.
"Takaomi, come on!" Iida called to me more forcefully.
"I'm coming, go head!" I blinked next to him, my eyes still behind me. "You don't have to wait for me."
"Even still, we have to stick together." He ran off and I followed this time. I couldn't shake the bad feeling I got. Before we could make it to the door a familiar plume of shadowy smoke appeared before us, blocking our path. A deep and charismatic voice emanated from the darkness.
"There is no escape for you." Their fluctuating form seemed to flow upwards like a mist. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello." The misty man's yellow slits of eye appeared to squint. "And besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?" Deku in front of me went from quaking in his boots to suddenly alert at the sound of All Might's name. This bad guy was monologuing. Was he buying time? Thirteen was in front so I kept my eyes to the back. A flicker of movement caught my attention. "I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him. There must have been some sort of change in plans we did not foresee." The movement I'd seen was a small dot that was rapidly getting larger. I activated my quirk just in time. It was a cannon ball! A massive one the size of a small car! I couldn't jump up high enough to pause it, nor did I have enough oxygen to push everyone out of the way. If I took a breath it'd explode in the middle of our group!
Damnit! Think! You're on your own with this one Takaomi! If I could wait for the cannon to get closer so I could touch it, then I could stop it. After that Thirteen could suck it up with her Black Hole before it detonated.
The plan sounded good in theory, but I'd have to execute it. My classmates' lives were on the line. I looked over my shoulder and none of them were even aware of the dangers behind them. Frozen in time listening to the villain's speech.
If I pulse my breath like a slideshow. Then maybe I can get it where I want it.
It was worth a shot. My options were try or die. I controlled my breath slowly, watching the cannonball. Inhaling in a staccato like a musician would playing an instrument, except in reverse. The cannon shooting forward and stopping in time with my inhaling of breath. Every time I held my breath between intakes, time paused.
Holy shit it's working!
I had to elbow my way through some of the students. Pushing Tsuyu and Koda out of the way as gently as I could. When I restart time it'll feel like I shoved them. I hit my back against Uraraka before the canon made it to a spot where I could reach. It would have landed right next to Kaminari. I touched it and Paused it, pulsed my breathing again to make sure. There was that pressure on my chest, not as powerful as when All Might broke free but I paid attention to it. Thankfully the canon didn't budge. Perfect! I released my breath and sucked in much needed air. The villain's speech picking up right where I'd left it.
"-in the end I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play. Hmm, what's this?"
"Ah! Takaomi?!" Uraraka had been pushed forward because of me. Kaminari's shock had him stutter stepping away from the massive cannonball. Bakugo and Kirishima charged headfirst unaware of what I'd done. Kirishima's hardened spear hand flowing right through the shadow mist and Bakugo's explosion created a larger area of smoke. I kept my hand on the canon actively making sure to keep it paused in the confusion.
"Did you think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear the place up?" The smoke was clearing and I saw the boy's confidence faded quickly. The villain's response was just as casual as before.
"You live up to your school's reputation. But you should be more careful, children." The mist was rising faster and coiling in darker tendrils. "Otherwise someone might get hurt."
"Where the hell did this come from?!" Kaminari yelled. The others were backing away from me and the live explosive.
"You two, get out of the way! Right now!" Thirteen was poised to suck up the villain but with Kirishima and Bakugo in the way her hands were metaphorically tied.
"I'll scatter you across this facility, starting with you." A shadow tendril had appeared from below me, swirling open into a warp gate. I must have not noticed it in the explosion. "You have some old friends that wish to pay their respects." My class watched me fall into the darkness, the cannonball came with me.
"Takaomi!"