The shinobi just smiled wider, cocking his head to one side.
"Likewise," he purred, finally taking his hands out of his pockets. Dropping into a dangerous stance, his arms ready to defend and attack at the same time.
"Though that all depends if you can even lay a finger on me."
Bakugou P. O. V.
There's a slight chill in the air with the changing of the seasons, as Class A watched two destructive powers stalk each other around the training ground. Two pairs of crimson eyes silently measured up their respective opponents. No one in the audience dared make a sound as the seconds dragged on. The tension in the sweltering air absolutely smothering as they waited for the inevitable booms of Bakugou's devastating explosions. It might have been their nerves, but the area around them already felt warmer.
Bakugou was uncharacteristically calm, which terrified his classmates. He would usually charge in explosions blazing, but for some reason, was content to observe his enemy first. Perhaps he finally learned his lesson after failing to get his Provincial License. Deku watched his childhood friend face off against an unknown enemy. His muscular body crouched in his usual fighting stance, ready to pounce with deadly accuracy, but still, he held his attack. Deku, of course, had a few theories as to why he would behave like this, though there was no way to be sure until the scene before him played out.
"Though that all depends if you can even lay a finger on me."
The shinobi's words echoed in the ash-blonde's head again as the teens circle each other for the third time. The playful smirk never left Kyo's face. Only growing more pronounced as he continued to circle the Beast of Class 1A. He was baiting him, that much was clear. He wanted Bakugou to lose his cool. To charge in blindly and fall prey to his mysterious quirk. But unfortunately for him, taunts don't work on Bakugou anymore.
I'm going to do more than lay a finger on you. I'm going to blow that smug look off your fucking face, Bakugou vowed silently.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the teen's movements. They were incredibly fluid and precise. Not an ounce of energy wasted in any move he made. No doubt achieved through the shinobi's years of experience in the field. Despite Bakugou's natural ability, that wasn't something he could ever hope to emulate in the measly months he had been at UA. The apparent gap in their combat skills already put Bakugou at a considerable disadvantage. Not to mention his rival's most significant advantage over him. The fact that the explosive hero had no idea what his opponent's quirk was, while it was a safe bet to assume Kyo knew his thanks to the Sports Festival being broadcast across Japan.
However, knowing that the odds were severely stacked against him only brought a confident smirk to Bakugou's face.
Well, I've never shied away from a challenge before,
The thought further pumping him for the fantastic fight he could sense coming his way.
This is going to be fun.
Before they could circle their makeshift arena for the fifth time, Bakugou suddenly lunged forward. Swinging his usual explosive right hook. Though this time, he aimed for the ground instead of attacking his opponent directly. Filling the air with thick black smoke and ungodly heat, which immediately enveloped his opponent. The powerful blast sent the resulting debris flying toward the concealed shinobi at devastating speed. High-speed projectiles, any average person wouldn't be able to see coming until they pelt him within the smokescreen. Without letting up his attack, Bakugou aims another explosive swing where he believed Kyo was but hit nothing but air.
Before Bakugou can regain his bearings, something substantial abruptly collided with his gut, almost knocking the wind out of him. The hero's reaction severely delayed due to the compromised field of vision from his own explosion. While the hothead was thrown back from the force of the blow, he manages to recover enough to slide to a stop before he crashed into the ground. Bakugou's teeth clenched tightly to force himself to resist the urge to check on the injury.
He proceeded to glare daggers at the cloud of smoke, slowly dissipating to reveal a slightly disheveled teen crouched incredibly low to the ground. Having successfully dodged or reflected, most of the debris hurled at him. A piece of rubble tossed playfully up and down in one of his hands.
"Come on. That can't be everything you've got?" Kyo mocked.
"Of course not! I'm just getting started!" the ash-blonde assured with a sadistic grin. His nitroglycerin drenched palms, instantly raising to point themselves at Kyo. His classmate's paling as they realized he was preparing for one of his AP shots. A devastating barrage of explosions was swiftly unleashed on the copper-haired teen as Bakugou used one of his new special moves. His AP Shot: Auto-cannon.
"Now die!"
As much as Bakugou hated to admit it. This punk was good. Kyo had managed to dodge all of his blasts by using pieces of rubble to detonate the explosions early before it had a chance to reach him. Only the shinobi's clothes seemed to be taking a beating, as they were repeatedly torn in places from a mixture of explosions and shrapnel. While the hero's attacks weren't actually inflicting any physical damage to his opponent, they were still working out as planned.
While Kyo was busy dodging his attacks, Bakugou managed to momentarily catch the shinobi off guard when the explosive teen suddenly emerged from the smoke of a tactfully placed blast used to hinder the shinobi's line of sight. Kyo's crimson eyes widened in surprise as the ash-blonde sparks his palms to life, ready to shove it right in the copper-haired teen's smug face. Kyo had barely jumped back in time to avoid the blonde's wrath.
Bakugou had been studying the shinobi carefully throughout the fight. After testing the limitations of Kyo's combat abilities, the blonde eventually determined that his long-range attacks were too slow to work against his opponent, with how effortlessly they were dodged. The shinobi's speed was simply too great for any long-ranged attacks to ever catch him off guard. And once you coupled that with his insane reaction time, there was only one course of action left.
Get in close and beat the crap out of him!
Testing the shinobi's speed wasn't the only reason he pelted him with a barrage of explosions. Bakugou had slowly herded him closer to the edge of their battleground to where his classmates were stationed, to cut off his escape route to the rear. Noticing how he often retreated by jumping backward instead of to the sides. There should be a split second where the shinobi's attention will falter when he realizes the quick change in his surroundings. And Bakugou plans to exploit that weakness.
Right on cue, Kyo's attention was torn from the blonde to take in the hero students blocking his path. With an opening exposed, Bakugou kicked off the ground to increase his speed with the aid of his quirk to quickly close the distance between them. However, the instant he picked up his foot, crimson eyes snapped back to him. A knowing grin calmly spreading across Kyo's face. It is then that Bakugou knew he royally fucked up.
For the first time during their match, Kyo effortlessly sidesteps out of the way. His feet creating slight drag marks in the sand. Bakugou's sparkling palms nearly smashed into a terrified Deku. The hothead's anger toward the nerd delaying his reaction.
At the last second, Bakugou flipped his wrist toward the sky to stop his momentum by using an explosion to force himself to land. Causing him to accidentally stomp violently on one of Deku's feet in the process. Earning him a satisfying shriek for his trouble. But hey, that's better than an exploding palm to the face.
"Sorry, Nerd," he muttered passively, his eyes still locked on Kyo gracefully drifting across the ground. At the same time, Bakugou thrust another explosion at the shinobi with his other arm. The copper-haired teen just barely evaded the near point-blank attack and skidded to a stop a few feet away. The fabric around his shoulder completely scorched and falling apart at the seams. The front of Deku's clothes was also singed ever so slightly, but unfortunately had no burns to show for it.
"Whew, that was close!" Kyo whistled, pulling at the disintegrating fabric on his shoulder. Which instantly came apart in his hands, to reveal the beginnings of a burn underneath. "But you're gonna have to try harder if you actually wanna touch me."
Bakugou doesn't bother replying. Not willing to get roped into his taunts. He continued to release a series of fast close-range explosions. The shinobi seemed content to keep dodging his attacks. Confident that he would never get hit. Not even bothering to block them with his arms.
Gritting his teeth, Bakugou unleashed an erratic volley of explosions. Testing Kyo's defenses by continuously fluctuating the intensity and range of each one. Throwing in numerous feints and kicks to try and trip him up. The explosive teen's body on auto-pilot as his mind focused on working through his options with lightning speed.
Speed's not his quirk, the explosive hero mused to himself.
While Kyo's speed was impressive, as a quirk, Bakugou could think of many that were faster. His eyes zero in on the sweat starting to glisten on his opponent's brow and the rigidness of his muscles. He was beginning to tire and slow down. A quirk wouldn't give out so soon, at least it shouldn't be with someone so skilled. Bakugou risked a glance at his classmates on the sidelines, his gaze settling on where the shinobi's brother was standing beside Tokoyami and Shoji.
Does he have some sort of wind manipulation quirk like his brother?
He theorized to himself. It was common knowledge that families tended to have similar quirks to one another. Children either manifested a parent's quirk or their parent's quirks will merge to create a new quirk altogether, as was the case with Bakugou. An air quirk could explain how he could move with such fluid movements and dodge with little energy expended.
However….
Crimson eyes scanned the smoke which blew lazily around them. Any wind manipulation would affect the smoke, which wasn't happening at the moment.
No, he just hasn't used it yet.
The thought baffled him. How could Carrottop possibly last this long without using his quirk? Especially since Bakugou's been doing everything he could to blast him to pieces.
Is he waiting for me to wear myself out?'
If Kyo's quirk was super powerful, it could be exhausting to use after a long period. While that would typically be a good strategy, that doesn't quite work against Bakugou, considering his quirk only gets more powerful with the more sweat he accumulates. The explosive hero grinned then. This gives him an idea.
Bakugou aimed another normal swing at his classmate's face. The shinobi casually moved out of the way as usual, but as he sidestepped, Bakugou opens his fist and flung some of the Nitroglycerin sweat from his palms. His leg was also twisted around to block Kyo from jumping back, as well as to the right. With no time to dodge, the highly flammable liquid hits the shinobi's face in time for a well-timed explosion to go off from Bakugou's hand, which extended and eventually ignites Kyo's face as well. Not waiting for him to recover, Bakugou used another explosion to charge into him, colliding his fist into Kyo's face hard, which sent him flying.
A cheer erupted from the sidelines as Bakugou finally got a substantial hit in. He was too focused on his fight to notice they had been watching in concerned silence. The explosive student allows himself to enjoy the sight of Kyo rolling along the ground, while the shinobi tried to slow himself to a stop. Bakugou sported a triumphant grin while his lungs breathed in as much oxygen as they could during this short reprieve.
Kyo eventually managed to recover and quickly settled back into a defensive crouch. His burned cheek, still steaming from Bakugou's attack. Crimson eyes bore into each other for a few seconds before Kyo unexpectantly straightened up. A determined smile on his face.
"Wow, I can't believe you actually got a hit in. Aizawa-sensei was right. You guys are tough," he laughed, making an elaborate show of dusting off his clothes. His laid-back attitude was putting Bakugou on edge. Kyo reached a hand to his burn, wincing slightly at the light touch.
His eyes suddenly hardened. "Unfortunately, for you, that just means it's my turn to attack. And Bakugou?"
Bakugou's ears perked at the mention of his name.
"Thank you for hitting me," Kyo thanked with a mischievous grin. Slowly bringing a hand up close to his face. "I can't use my quirk otherwise."
And with that, he snapped his fingers.
Bakugou flinched. First, from being reminded of Compress's quirk. Half-expecting himself to be shoved into that airless turquoise sphere again. Then again, from the flaring pain in his hand. The explosive hero cursed under his breath, thankful that the pain distracted him from the traumatic memories of his kidnapping. The resulting adrenaline grounding him to the present.
A confused look crossed Bakugou's features as he regarded the smoke wafting from his right hand. For a split second, he thought he accidentally activated his quirk out of fear. However, a quick inspection revealed the burns weren't on his palms, instead, they were centered around his knuckles. Exactly where he had punched Kyo before. Dread making his blood run cold while his red eyes widened in realization.
….
"Though that all depends if you can even lay a finger on me."
….
"...you're gonna have to try harder if you actually wanna touch me."
….
"Thank you for hitting me…. I can't use my quirk otherwise."
….
Bakugou let out an aggravated growl.
How could I be so stupid!
He had been so proud of himself for not falling for Kyo's taunts before.
Only for it to be revealed that he was being led around by the nose the entire time. Leave it for a shinobi to speak in fucking code. To passively explain everything, Bakugou needed to know about his quirk from the fucking start. The explosive hero was suddenly painfully aware of all the slide marks and rubble on the ground. He was so fucked.
"I see you figured it out," Kyo noticed, picking up a piece of rubble off the ground. Casually tossing it up and down. To the rest of the class, he explained, "My Quirk is called Detonate. It allows me to turn everything I touch into a tickin' time bomb. One I can trigger remotely."
With another snap of his fingers, the piece of rubble exploded into dust. Blowing away ominously in the breeze. Like Bakugou's chances of victory.
"Now it's my turn to attack," Kyo announced. His tone suddenly taking on a darker quality.
Bakugou was up Shit Creek. Forced on the defensive while he dodged explosion after explosion on the ground. Utilizing his quirk's versatile flying capabilities to keep his contact with the sand to a bare minimum. Now that Kyo's footsteps had successfully turned the very landscape into a fucking minefield with all his jumping and sliding around earlier. Not only that, but all the rubble that Kyo used to block his attacks earlier could be detonated at any second with just a simple snap of his fingers.
Man, how he wished he could break those fingers. However, Bakugou was having trouble enough, just dodging these explosions. Let alone actually getting close enough to deliver a blow to the shinobi. Even if he did manage to touch him, the blonde would risk blowing himself up in the process.
An explosion detonates in front of him, singing his ash-colored locks and covering his right side in a thick layer of soot. Annoyed, the original explosive teen blasted himself into the sky. Needing a few blissful seconds to gather his thoughts together in peace. Bakugou passively wondered if this is how his classmates felt whenever they had to fight him.
Once out of firing range, the tenacious teen allowed himself to casually free-fall while he assessed the situation. The cold air above helped to clear his head while the slight stinging of his fresh burns fueled his need for vengeance.
From above, Bakugou could see all the damage they had done to the training ground. It was going to take the school a long time to clear all the debris away, for it was an absolute wreck. Massive craters littered the entire field from Kyo's explosions, while the rubble from Bakugou's attacks would take weeks to pick up.
Bakugou's opponent made no attempt to follow him into the sky. Probably not as comfortable maneuvering in the air as he was. Surprising since his brother possessed a flying quirk. Instead, the quirk-copycat leisurely paced around the battlefield. Replenishing the bombs he had already used while waiting for Bakugou to land again.
Great.
Bakugou never imagined that he'd fight someone with a similar quirk as him. Now he understood how Kirishima felt when he met that guy from Class B. This connection sparked an idea. Because their quirks were so similar, it would be fair to assume they shared near-identical weaknesses as well.
The explosive teen hastily thought of the logistics of his own explosion quirk and how they might affect his adversary. Like Bakugou, his explosions must also place a physical strain on his body. With the more massive blasts sapping his stamina faster. Kyo already appeared to be getting tired. His speed steadily getting slower as the fight dragged on. The shinobi's muscles, especially in the shoulders, became more tense and rigid. However, unlike Bakugou's quirk, Carrottop's was triggered remotely.
He couldn't possibly be feeling the effects of recoil, could he? Maybe he injured himself during his roll earlier?
He pushed the thoughts away. The reason didn't matter much. Only the fact that it slowed him down considerably. The hothead's own arms ached with the extended use of his quirk. Screaming for him to put an end to this cocky bastard already.
I better wrap this up.
The hero's body expertly twirled in mid-air with the sole purpose of dive-bombing Kyo. Bakugou wished he could have used his Howitzer Impact, but the move would've killed his whole class at such close proximity. So this would have to do.
After revealing his detonation quirk, Kyo didn't seem to concerned with dodging any of Bakugou's attacks anymore. Choosing instead to block with his body, furthering his advantage over his opponent. This meant Bakugou could use the shinobi's arrogant strategy to his advantage.
As Bakugou predicted, Kyo swiftly reached up to grab hold of the blonde, but a last-minute blast to change his direction was enough to keep from getting caught in the other teen's grasp.
Countering the copper-haired teen's move, Bakugou grabbed hold of Kyo's outstretched arm and threw him with the extra force of an explosion. Slamming the shinobi hard onto the ground, but not before both of Bakugou's hands detonated from the contact.
Pain immediately flared across his palms, but it's ignored. Thankfully his thick skin helped protect him from burns, especially on his palms, so Kyo's quirk wasn't as effective as it could have been. It was a reckless attack. Bakugou knew that. But as the fight progressed, it became painfully clear that the only way to defeat Kyo was to get in close. Hopefully, putting the shinobi down before his quirk burned Bakugou to hell. Just like his fight against All Might, this wasn't an opponent he could afford to fight without being willing to take risks.
"You think fighting someone with a similar quirk as me is my worst-case scenario? I hate to break it to you, but I've already lived through my mine!" Bakugou challenged, flexing his hands in anticipation of the shinobi's next move. "Try harder next time!"
The copper-haired teen recovered quickly, but he was breathing hard. Obviously exhausted, but even still, his eyes continued to shine brightly. The chaotic grin never leaving his face. Only growing as time passed. It was only then that Bakugou realized he was grinning like a madman too. It had been way too long since he was allowed to blow off so much steam. To be able to fight so freely without having to worry about getting killed in the process.
Both explosive teens charged each other. Explosions from both sides, shredding their clothes in their frenzy to get the upper hand on their opponent. Their movements quickly blurring together as they continued to evade each other's attacks until their watching classmates had trouble distinguishing one from the other. Crimson eyes locked together, neither willing to give up until a winner was decided. Their intensity, however, was apparently freaking their class out. Some of them voicing their concerns.
"They're going to destroy the whole school at this rate."
"Are we really going to be stuck with these two monsters all semester?!"
"We're all going to get murdered!"
"We better not get stuck cleaning this mess up."
In their frenzy, Bakugou heard the distant voice of Aizawa-sensei telling them to stop. He could already feel the dampening effects of the eraser hero's quirk on his body. The blast he had aimed at Kyo's chest only half the size he had intended it to be. The blonde gritted his teeth angrily. Bakugou didn't want to stop. He couldn't. There was no way in hell that he was going to let his teacher steal this victory from him. He was only a few moves away from ending this match for good.
Kyo must have felt the same as him.
Before, the blonde had the opportunity to do something stupid, like attack Aizawa in his crazed state. The shinobi promptly pulled something reflective from his pocket. Pointing it towards their teacher, effectively blinding him for a few seconds.
A chorus of shocked gasps sounded behind them. Feeling his quirk flare back to life, Bakugou aimed a powerful explosion at the ground under the shinobi's feet. Forcing Kyo to jump to avoid being pelted the debris.
"Your mine," Bakugou laughed sadistically, blasting into the air, but not before grabbing the front of Kyo's shirt as he passed. Unable to dodge Bakugou while in the air, they both rocketed into the sky. Kyo desperately trying to break the blonde's hold on him. Detonating the crap out of his wrists and dealing heavy blows to the hero's body, but the blonde's hands maintain their death grip on Kyo. A satisfied smirk on his face.
Once they were high enough up that Aizawa couldn't cancel their quirks without risking their lives, Bakugou lifted his hand toward the sky as he had done in his fight with Deku.
"Game over," he shouted at the top of his lungs, before rocketing them back to earth.
"Not yet!" Kyo promised over the deafening whooshing of wind in their ears. Swiftly using one of his hands to trace the entire length of his side. At the very last second, he managed to twist them around by detonating part of his own body. Throwing off their trajectory enough, so they both landed painfully on their sides. The force of their crash knocking them away from each other. The resulting dust cloud hiding them from the class's view.
A quick scuffle could be heard within the smoke, before falling silent. Everyone watched the smoke cloud slowly disperse in stunned silence. No one dared to move. When the smoke finally cleared, it revealed a frustrated looking Bakugou with both of Kyo's hands poised to snap his fingers on either side of his head. Meanwhile, Bakugou's own sparkling hands hovered just above Kyo's heart and throat.
It was a stalemate. And both Bakugou and kyo looked absolutely pissed about it.
"No fair. I should've had you!" Kyo pouted, lowering his hands first. Smoke still wafting from his ride side from where he had detonated himself. The exposed skin already colored an angry shade of red.
"Yeah, right. I would have found a way out and kicked your ass," Bakugou retorted, rolling his angry blood-red eyes. But despite his annoyed words, he was smiling. At least as much as Bakugou is capable of smiling.
Something hard and durable wrapped around both of them, pulling them roughly to the ground. Bakugou and Kyo exchanged a dazed look with each other before staring up at a furious looking Aizawa. His black hair standing on end and his eyes flashed red with the activation of his quirk and possibly murderous intent as well.
"I'm glad you two are starting to get along," the underground hero growled, tightening his hold on them. The capture weapon ground into them, irritating the multiple burns they both had along their bodies. "Because you'll be seeing a lot of each other while you serve detention for the next month."
"Fuck."
Tohru P. O. V.
The rest of Class-A watched as their homeroom teacher dragged both explosive teens off to detention. Aizawa not even bothering to release them from his beloved capture weapon. The rest of the class was instructed to partner up and spar for the remainder of the period.
Tohru's worried gaze watched them retreat until they disappeared from view. She let out a defeated sigh. She had a feeling Kyo was planning a stunt like this, though she had hoped he was going to restrain himself at least a little bit.
Oh well.
A few feet away, she spotted her other comrade with a small group of students. Tsubasa currently chatting with a sweet-looking boy with green hair and freckles. The young hero student seemed to be asking questions at the speed of light while jotting notes just as quick in a scorched looking notebook.
"Your Tengu Quirk, is that a mutation coupled with some sort of Air Manipulation?"
"Sort of, it's more of a-"
"If that's the case, why does your brother have a detonation quirk?"
"That's because he-"
"Do you come from a family of Shinobi?"
"Yes we do-"
"What's your top speed?"
"I'm not exactly-''
Her teammate tried to answer all of his questions as best he could, but another question would be asked before he finished giving an answer to the previous one. She suppressed the urge to giggle, knowing Tsubasa behaved similarly when he found something he was interested in.
"Midoriya, it's not polite to bombard our guests with so many questions at once. Please limit yourself to three at this time," a tall boy with glasses and bright purple hair cut in. His arms making weird cutting motions in the air. He seemed to be trying to calm the other boy, but it was clear to anyone watching that he was too far gone to be helped.
On the hero's other side was a tall girl with beautiful black hair pulled into a long ponytail. Her onyx eyes studied Tsubasa's wings with curious fascination. She looked like she wanted to touch them, but waited patiently for permission. Though with the rate the freckled boy was rattling off questions, she would probably be waiting for a very long time.
The last person in their group was a boy with half white, half red hair. He didn't appear to be that interested in what they were talking about. Just content to stand there with his friends. Every now and then he would give a gentle reminder to his classmate, telling him he had to take a breath before he passed out.
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked cooly behind her.
Startled, she whipped around to offer her sincerest apologies for whatever she was doing wrong. Her frantic eyes focused on a boy with bright spiky red hair. He was frowning, something that seemed to look so utterly wrong on his soft face. The redhead had a subtle scar above one of his eyes, which, to her confusion, were not looking at her. Following his gaze down, she saw what she assumed was a child with weird spherical purple hair.
The boy seemed panicked about getting caught. Though Tohru didn't understand why. He didn't appear to be doing any harm. He stood unusually close to her with some weird rectangular device held out in front of him, which seemed to be pointed in her general direction. On closer inspection, she realized it was a phone, similar to the one Aizawa-sensei provided the trio upon arriving in this world. The brunette had never seen a phone quite like it before. She was excited to learn they had a camera feature….
Realization suddenly hit her. Her face turned bright red in embarrassment.
"Mineta, you didn't," another voice chimed in. The familiar pink form of Mina coming to stand in front of the kunoichi. Shielding her from the pervert.
"C'mon man. I can appreciate a hotty when I see one, but taking photos like that is not very cool," a boy with golden hair added. Resting a casual arm on the pinkette.
The redhead held his hand out to his smaller classmate. "Hand it over," he urged, motioning for the phone. He was met with little resistance, the phone is eventually placed in his hand.
"Now, you can have this back when you made it up to Honda-san. Understand?"
There's a weak nod from the class pervert, who then sulked off somewhere else. The response satisfied the redhead, so he nods back in agreement while pocketing the phone.
"I'm very sorry that you had to deal with that. Mineta can be… well, there's really no excuse for his behavior," the redhead apologized for his classmate's rude behavior. While he spoke, he applied a large amount of hand sanitizer to his hands. Courtesy of a tall boy with black hair and bulky elbows. "My name is Kirishima Eijiro. Would you like to spar with me Honda-san?" he asked, his face bright like the sun.
Tohru couldn't help but brighten up in response. "I would love too!~" she beamed. "And you don't have to be so formal. Tohru is just fine with me~"
"Alright, Tohru!" He smiled even brighter if that was even possible. Offering his hand to lead her a little way off, so no one would get caught up in their fight.
A few girls cry out in disappointment as Tohru is whisked away from them. They had hoped to be turned back into the cat forms they were in earlier. Tohru waved at them as she passed. Promising to hang out with them later.
"We'll do a simple sparring match," Kirishima began, backing a few paces from her. "We'll be using our quirks. The first person to pin the other or get their opponent to forfeit wins. Does that sound good to you, Tohru?"
Tohru nodded her head.
"Great. Mina, will you call the start of the match for us?"
"Sure thing Kiri!" Mina called from a safe distance away. Kaminari and Sero standing next to her. "Get ready, get set, GO!"
Kirishima immediately activated his quirk, waiting for Tohru's attack. However, the brunette was taken off guard for a second, seeing his quirk in person. She knew he had a hardening quirk thanks to the info Aizawa provided them. But reading about a quirk and seeing it first hand were two different things. She didn't expect Kirishima's quirk to be so fascinating to look at. Tohru absently wondered how it worked.
Distracted by her thoughts, the kunoichi doesn't remember she's in a sparring match until Kiri appeared right in front of her with a hardened fist preparing to strike. Surprised, Tohru just managed to dodge the attack. The brunette attempted to counter with medical ninjutsu when Tohru remembered she was only allowed to use her transformation powers in front of others while they remained in this world.
Tohru was suddenly hyper-aware of the 20 pairs of curious eyes on her as she sparred with Kirishima. Probably expecting another great spectacle like the one Kyo performed with one of their most powerful classmates. That was just too much pressure for Tohru to deal with.
What do I do?
What do I turn him into?
What would Kyo do?'
She panicked.
Tohru clapped her hands together in an attempt to focus her powers.
Alright, turn him into a bunny. Bunnies are easily scared, so he'll flee the second I make a move towards him.
A smile pulled at her lips as a battle strategy began to take shape.
In my cat form, I will be able to capture him quickly.
That was the plan anyway.
Tohru looked back at Kirishima. Her transformation powers already being directed at him with the image in her mind. When she noticed for the first time that the cute little horns he had on top of his head look an awful lot like cat ears.
A pair of red cat ears instantly popped on top of Kirishima's head along with a long fluffy tail. The girls in the class shrieked in a mixture of excitement and jealousy as Kirishima was turned into the most precious thing ever. The redhead, on the other hand, was staring at his hands, noticing that his hardening quirk had reduced dramatically from Tohru's power. Only his nails remained elongated and sharp, though he had no idea if it was because of his quirk or hers. For the most part, Kirishima took the change in stride. Having promised himself to never back down from a challenge ever again.
However, Tohru was flustered by her mistake.
I lost focus again, she berated herself harshly.
With an ability as powerful as hers, along with one that relied heavily on her thoughts. It was extremely dangerous for her to get distracted when fighting, or ever, for that matter. She pushed her worries to the back of her mind. Wandering down that dark rabbit hole was something she should never venture down for too long. Instead, Tohru clapped her hands together in an attempt to calm herself and change him back to normal, but her powers picked up on the chaotic state of her mind and refused to activate. The brunette sighed to herself. She figured that would happen.
Kirishima closed the distance with his renewed agility. Aiming a subdued swipe at her arm. She sidestepped him easily. Her movements even more graceful than Kyo were in his fight with Bakugou. The kunoichi smiled to herself. Kyo was definitely the most talented fighter out of the three, but Tohru is the fastest. Her specialty involving evasion since she disliked hurting people when she could help it. The twins had always told her that she moved with a grace that they could never hope to copy, though that only applied when she's performing. The rest of the time… Her mind recalled her tripping during her introduction to the class. Her cheeks burned red in embarrassment at the memory.
Something dragging her backward interrupted her ever scattered thoughts. Her sapphire eyes darted over her shoulder to see a clawed hand clutching the back of her shirt, pulling her down toward the ground. She hastily unzipped her jacket to free herself from Kirishima's hold. Jumping back a safe distance while he struggled to untangle his claws from the fabric. When he managed that, he charged her with a determined grin on his face.
Tohru dropped into a low crouch. Her hands scooping up as much sand as possible. When he was within range, she flung it out in front of her. With another clap of her hands and a clear image in her mind. The kunoichi imagined the chemical makeup of the sand changing to stone.
Sure enough, the sand congealed together, morphing into multiple large rocks, which Kirishima crashed into before they had the chance to hit the ground. A surprised hiss escaped his lips as he comically rubbed where one hit him square in the forehead. His cat ears laid flat against his head while his tail swayed sadly behind him.
"Sorry!~" Tohru couldn't help but apologize, which earned her a few amused giggles from the sidelines.
The redhead laughed as well. "No worries! We're sparring after all."
"Right~" Tohru agreed, trying to focus.
They continued sparring for another 10 minutes before Kirishima finally managed to pin her-gently Tohru noticed-to the ground. He did an incredible job using his new form against her. He must have a lot of knowledge of cats because he utilized all their strengths perfectly.
Tohru, on the other hand, was too flustered to recover from her initial mistake. It was more difficult than she imagined to only use her transformation powers than she first believed. Especially by herself instead of offering support to her friends. Never liking to use her abilities to cause harm, she's mainly relied on supporting her allies and using her skills to subdue or handicap opponents. It wasn't until Kyo offered that she shouldn't think of fighting as inflicting harm but to think of it as protecting herself and those important to her that she was finally able to use them against others. However, attacking head-on by herself was still something new for her. It looks like she'd have to practice more.
Kirishima let go of his hold on her and offered her a hand up. "Wow, Tohru, you were amazing!" The redhead grinned. The cat ears on top of his head, making him look even cuter than usual.
"Thanks!~" Tohru replied back happily. Taking the offered hand thankfully.
"Can I ask you something?" He asks, helping her to her feet.
"Of course!~"
He scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. "Well, I was wondering why you didn't turn yourself into an animal form?"
Tohru blinked at him a few times. Her sapphire eyes slowly look up as her hands felt the top of her head. Her face turned as red as Kirishima's hair when she realized she never used an animal form on herself.
"Umm…. because I got flustered when I turned you into a form I didn't mean to, and well, I guess I forgot to transform myself," she mumbled in an embarrassed tone. Her hands covering her face from view. Tohru felt like she was never going to live down the embarrassment she was currently feeling. She was so thankful that Kyo ended up getting detention.
The redhead's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment as well. "I'm sorry, Tohru. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just curious!" He stammered quickly. Kirishima gently removed her hands from her face and held them gently in his. "It's alright, Tohru. Everyone gets flustered ever now and then. And it is easy to forget things when we are. We're all still working on controlling our powers. So there's nothing to worry about. No one's going to think any less of you. Alright?"
Tohru can sense the sincerity of Kirishima's words. She looked around at the group around them. She saw nothing but a sea of smiling faces looking back at her. Some of which were nodding in agreement to Kirishima's words.
Tohru found herself smiling as well. She'd only ever felt this accepted by her comrades, but maybe she could find companionship in this group of students as well. "Yeah, let's do our best together~."
The redhead offered her some advice as they watched the other students break off to spar. He suggested that rather than focusing on using her powers on her opponents, she should instead focus on transforming herself. This way, her opponents wouldn't be able to use the animal traits against her as he had done in their fight. Kirishima also believed that maybe this will give her a confidence boost in her own powers instead of offering support to others.
The hero's assessment took Tohru by surprise. She didn't recall telling him that she was self-conscious about her abilities due to her usually providing support to the twins.
Was it a lucky guess?
They were interrupted by Aizawa's sudden return. The exhausted teacher dismissed the rest of the class early. A reward for them not killing each other while he was gone. While the rest of the class started to leave, Aizawa reminded Mina, Kaminari, and Sero that they also have detention for the prank they did to the class president. It turned out, Iida's natural hair color wasn't purple, after all. The class offered them their condolences as the trio obediently filed behind the raven-haired hero as he led them back toward the school.
Kyo P. O. V.
It was a longer walk back to the classroom than Kyo would have liked. The burns on his side flared painfully with each step. What remained of his shirt and the bandages on his chest rubbed roughly against his injuries and his other still healing wounds uncomfortably. It took all of his willpower not to wince at the discomfort.
He could feel eyes on him from the students from other departments, though he resisted the urge to look around. Kyo had grown accustomed to people regarding him warily, with his incredibly bright orange hair and intimidating blood-red eyes. For a shinobi, he stuck-out like a sore thumb. Kyo gritted his teeth together. He didn't need to justify himself to anyone.
When they arrive at the classroom, Aizawa ushered them in, before slamming the massive door behind them. The growing cold with the incredible amount of malice rolling off his body. A more tremendous aura Kyo thought the underground hero was capable of producing. He was actually impressed. Though he maintained his casual demeanor.
Aizawa glared daggers at him as he towered over the copper-haired teen. Kyo resisted the instinct to growl at the person invading his personal space, though he allowed his crimson eyes to narrow into a death glare at the raven-haired hero. The hero doesn't look that impressed by his self-control, which ticked Kyo off even further. He could feel the temperature starting to rise with his agitation, so he forced himself to calm down. Reluctantly breaking eye contact before he blew them all sky-high on accident.
Aizawa seemed pleased by his submissive response. He held his hand out to him. "Hand it over," the pro-hero ordered vaguely.
Kyo tsked, before fishing out a kunai from his pocket. It was what he used to blind the underground hero during the last leg of the fight.
I guess I shouldn't have done that,' Kyo mused to himself.
The shinobi reluctantly handed the weapon over to his new sensei, though he gave it a playful twirl before he dropped it into the man's hand. Aizawa regarded it thoughtfully for a few moments before letting out a long sigh.
"Empty your pockets," he ordered.
"Why?" Kyo muttered, crossing his arms impatiently.
"You expect me to believe this is all of it?"
The copper-haired teen really wanted to protest, but the look Aizawa shot him told him that he was absolutely done with his hijinks today. Not wanting to get expelled on his first day, Kyo gritted his teeth and started withdrawing an assortment of kunai and shuriken from his pockets. Even opting to unclip his hidden arsenal on his belt as a show of good faith.
Blatantly ignoring the weird look, Bakugou directed at him as Kyo removed an ungodly amount of weapons from his person.
"There, you happy?" the explosive shinobi spat.
"Rarely," Aizawa deadpanned in a bored tone. "Is this everything?"
"What, do you want me to strip down to my underwear?!" Kyo growled angrily. Steadily losing his patience.
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "I told you yesterday that weapons are prohibited on school grounds. You will only be allowed to use them in class, or have you forgotten that?" the underground hero looked like he was ready to strangle him at this point.
Kyo crossed his arms angrily. "Yeah yeah, whatever."
"I mean it. I will strip search you before every class if I must. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
"Good. Now both of you take a seat," Aizawa ordered with an exasperated sigh. The two obliged without question. Bakugou took his usual seat while Kyo sat down at Kaminari's desk a few seats over.
"You're both to sit in silence and reflect on why you're here until Lunch. Please refrain from killing each other or blowing anything up," he finished with a yawn and a wave as he left the room. His sleeping bag tucked under his arm as he headed toward the teacher's lounge for a well-deserved nap.
As soon as he left, Bakugou shifted in his seat to place both legs up on his desk. Slouching his body in his chair in a more comfortable position. Kyo smirked at that. It seemed he wasn't the only one that enjoyed breaking the rules. The shinobi placed his own legs onto his borrowed desk. Reaching a hand into one of his combat boots to pull a hidden kunai from within it.
Kyo then proceeded to casually throw it up into the air and catch it, in the same manner one would do with a ball. Throwing the kunai was more to help distract himself from his injuries and fatigue more than anything else. He was still exhausted after traveling to this world, and his intense fight with Bakugou did not help. Eventually, the familiar motion allowed him to lose himself comfortably in his thoughts. Aizawa had no idea what sort of monster he unleashed on himself when he told Kyo he couldn't bring weapons to school.
Flashback:
Kyo let out a huge yawn as he stretched from his impromptu bed on a nearby bench. Aizawa had been scolding that purple-haired eavesdropper for the better part of an hour. Exhausted from traveling and losing interest after Aizawa confirmed the kid wasn't a threat, just stupid, Kyo had decided to regain some of his stamina with a much-needed catnap.
From what the shinobi was able to discern, the all-mighty Aizawa had a habit of adopting strays. He had taken in the insomniac teen a few months ago after the pro-hero took an interest in his performance at the so-called UA Sports Festival. The teen had no family to speak of and could benefit from a positive guardian figure in his life.
So the underground hero did the unthinkable. He opened his life to the troubled teen, in the process, doing whatever he could to get him into the Hero Course. That was supposed to be the end of it, but a couple weeks ago, he took in yet another kid. A little girl, this time by the name of Eri. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, but the little girl managed to worm her way into what was left of Aizawa's heart. Thus completing the ragtag new family.
It was because of this worried new addition that brought Shinsou here in the first place. The little girl was concerned when Aizawa was late coming back home. Completely distraught that a villain had gotten him. Shinsou being the wonderful big brother he was, came to investigate after leaving Eri with some guy named Mirio.
So after Aizawa finished chewing the troubled teen out for disobeying his direct orders by coming here to eavesdrop on them. Shinsou humorously turned around to scold the raven-haired man for worrying the poor traumatized girl by not even giving them a phone call to say he was going to be late. The look on the underground hero's face was priceless, as he struggled with wanting to smack Shinsou and also feeling incredibly guilty for worrying Eri. Though he did end up hitting the teen with a stack of graded papers. So that was how Shinsou ended up getting drafted into their scheme to protect Class A.
"Looks like you get to be in the Hero Course after all," Aizawa announced unenthusiastically.
Shinsou's excited face quickly morphed into something bittersweet. "I kinda hoped that I wouldn't be risking my life the second I signed up, though."
"Well, next time don't eavesdrop on other people's conversations," Aizawa retorted with a shrug.
"Besides, risking your life is what it means to be a hero," the teacher explained, putting a reassuring hand on the former general ed student's shoulder before making his way to leave. "We better go get Eri and call it a day."
The underground hero reached for the door but paused with his hand on the doorknob. He turned back to the shinobi. His onyx eyes focused on Kyo. "I realize that you're all used to doing things your own way, but please refrain from using weapons outside of class. UA has a very strict 'No Weapons' Policy. They are only to be used during specific classes under the direct supervision of teachers. Even off of school grounds, this country frowns on the use of weapons. They are seen as a Villains tool."
"You've gotta be kidding!" Kyo exclaimed, thoroughly offended.
He took great pride in his weaponry skills. They were a massive part of his fighting style. He spent countless hours caring for them and even forged his own, as well as all the weapons his teammates used. They were apart of him. So much so that his soul's physical form was a fucking kunai for crying out loud. He was just expected to leave a part of himself every single day? Kyo's crimson eyes began to flicker a brighter shade of red as they narrowed in agitation at the hero before him.
"No fuckin' way."
Aizawa was not phased. He walked back over to the shinobi. Only stopping when he towered over Kyo with his hair standing up, his own red eyes glowing menacingly at him. The hero's quirk had a weird effect on his body. Not only did it stifle his powers considerably, but had the unexpected impact of flaring up his emotions. Fogging over his mind, which made it hard to focus. Kyo was convinced that was why he lost control of his actions during the end of the fight.
"Kyo. You are forbidden to bring weapons to school. Do you understand?"
The copper-haired shinobi tsked, but mumbled a "Yes sir," under his breath. Though when Aizawa looked away, Kyo smirked wickedly.
Yeah, right. Challenge accepted you, shinobi wannabe.
He had no intention of following that rule.
The movement of Tsubasa crossing his arms with a disapproving look on his face caught the mischievous shinobi's attention. Kyo rolled his eyes at his goody-two-shoes of a brother. His twin must have known that Kyo would never agree to such a rule. And without shedding blood, he's not obligated to either. Kyo had his own will after all.
The copper-haired teen was annoyed with all the secrecy, though. The shinobi understood why they couldn't come right out and inform the class of future heroes that they were in danger of dying horribly within a burning inferno. Still, it sure was preferable to keeping up the exchange student charade for a whole semester. The number of lies they'd end up telling by the end of this mission was going to be annoying as hell to keep straight between the five of them now? Or was it six?
Kyo sighed in exasperation. Gods, he fucking hated lying. But his brother tended to be right about these sorts of things, so he would follow his lead.
For now, at least.
End of Flashback
The shinobi risked a glance at the other teen. The explosive teen's attention currently focused on the kunai casually being tossed in his hand. Kyo sighed. He really wanted to be friends with the blonde, but he now understood it wasn't going to be that easy. It seemed Aizawa wasn't just a stick in the mud about him bringing his arsenal to school. Weapons did have a negative connotation in this world, after all.
They're not heroic or some shit. Yeah, fuckin' right, they're not.
Kyo tossed the kunai even higher. The tip just barely missing the ceiling before it flipped over on itself and plummeted back to earth. The copper-haired teen wasn't a weapon master for no reason. His tools didn't do anything he didn't want them too. They have definitely saved more lives than they've taken.
The world is divided between heroes and villains, huh? And if you're neither your nothing, the orange-haired reminded himself glumly.
No shades of grey. Hardly any room for debate. Kyo was used to being ostracized by the locals since they tended to attract trouble wherever they went. However, it appeared that they were already being classified as something evil for who they were as people-or as Bakugou put it earlier, for being some sort of mindless soldiers.
Way to go, Aizawa, Kyo thought flippantly. It had been his idea for them to use something familiar as their backstory.
Kyo choked down the lump in his throat. He really should be used to it by now considering their bloodline. Even Tohru, who was 100% human, had been looked down on and hunted since birth. They're not supposed to fit in. They're not meant to plant roots. That's the whole point of their wandering curse. Why should this world be any different?
Still….he had hoped it would be.
As Kyo continued to fiddle with his kunai, he could feel Bakugou staring at him. He tried to ignore it at first. Not really in the mood to talk with how dark and self-deprecating his thoughts were turning. But as the minutes dragged on, it was becoming increasingly clear that Kyo wasn't going to get any peace until they addressed the elephant in the room.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Kyo asked tactlessly. Not bothering to stop what he was doing.
Bakugou P. O. V.
The original explosive teen couldn't help but stare at the kunai as it continued to be tossed up and down so casually. When they were fighting, Bakugou had mostly forgotten that Kyo was a shinobi. He seemed like the rest of his classmates, with his own personality and ideals. Kyo seemed too lively and mischievous to be a mindless living weapon that he had read about in history books. Though seeing him with an assortment of weapons, tools he used with deadly precision, Bakugou was reminded that Kyo has a different purpose than the one he strived to achieve.
Kyo was a shinobi. A person trained to kill without a second thought. A human weapon that must be prepared to kill despite that person's relationship with their assigned target. Whether that was a child, a friend, a significant other, or a family member. While Bakugou joked about killing the people around him when he's angered and had no qualms about killing villains who had already hurt countless people. At his core, Bakugou was and will always be, a hero. A person meant to save people, to protect those from people who wished to do others harm. Someone who should never be associated with those with little regard for human life.
Unlike Shinobi, Heroes maintained their individuality, their ideals, and their free will. They cared for their comrades and the wellbeing of everyone around them. Bakugou and Kyo should only ever be facing against each other with the intent of destroying the other. It was unnatural for them to be on the same side.
Heroes save.
Shinobi kill.
Simple as that. Only…. it wasn't that simple.
Bakugou thought back to how the twins stood up for their teammate when she tripped during her introduction. They both looked ready to fight anyone that even thought of laughing at her. That type of protective behavior didn't fit with the cut-throat mold that the shinobi were sworn to uphold. They were trained in a world in which only the strongest were meant to survive. Instead of standing up for her, they should have shunned her. Bakugou had only just met Kyo, but even the antisocial teen could tell the copper-haired shinobi didn't appear to be the type of person who would kill his teammates if ordered to.
Bakugou's crimson eyes narrowed in frustration.
Why the hell would Aizawa-sensei think it was a good idea to bring them here?
His mind angrily trying to solve the riddle of their unnatural presence in a hero school. But there were just too many contradictions in logic to come to any sort of conclusion. Bakugou couldn't figure out what he was supposed to make of them.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Kyo asked out of the blue. He didn't bother to stop tossing the kunai, though he did turn towards Bakugou. His crimson eyes looked tired.
The question caught Bakugou off guard. The future hero did, in fact, have a problem with him. But he didn't really want to address it right then. The ash-blonde also couldn't just blow up and deny it, because doing so would confirm that he did have a problem with the shinobi. Before he had the chance to respond, Kyo back-pedaled and rephrased the question.
"Sorry, I'm still a little jet-lagged. What I meant to ask you was, if what I'm doing now is bothering you?" Kyo paraphrased, waving the weapon in his hand. No longer tossing it.
Bakugou didn't believe that lie for a second but decided to ignore the deception for the moment. With a growl, he asked, "You mean breaking the no weapons on campus rule?"
Kyo shrugged. "Well that and me tossing it to make detention go by faster. You looked a little uncomfortable about it."
Bakugou tsked at that. "Like I care what you do. If you want to get in even more trouble, that's up to you."
Crimson eyes studied his face for a long moment. Bakugou was used to Kirishima's scarlet eyes staring back at him, but Kyo's eyes were crimson just like his.
Just like blood.
It was unsettling. Thankfully Kyo broke eye-contact with him first. Twirling the kunai in his hand a couple times before suddenly stabbing the desk with it. The unexpected movement made Bakugou jump despite himself. A silent curse yearned to fall from the blonde's lips for Kyo, pulling that shit on him but ultimately settled on shooting the other student with a death glare instead.
"So it does bother you," affirmed the explosive teen quietly. His face taking on a thoughtful expression. "Why's that?"
Pissed off, Bakugou snarled, "First of all, it's you that's bothering me. But also, I want to be a hero, and heroes have no use for weapons." Emphasizing his words with the sparkling fists which slammed onto his desk with such force, the wood groaned loudly in protest. Scorch marks slowly burning deeper into the desk while smoke billowed lazily to the ceiling. Bakugou trying his best not to blow anything up as Aizawa had asked. He had already exceeded his monthly desk limit.
The shinobi turned in his seat entirely, until he faced his classmate. "Really? Heroes never use weapons? Not at all?"
Bakugou reigned in his anger. Of course, that wasn't true. Aizawa never went anywhere without his capture weapon. Then there was all the support gear they used in the field. Most of which could easily be classified as weapons. His own gauntlets did more damage than the supposed weapon in Kyo's hand.
"We use support items, though we mainly rely on our quirks to defeat villains," the hothead finally answered.
"So you're bothered by the fact that this," he yanked the kunai from the desk, "Is a tool solely used to kill, while your support items are meant to help utilize your quirk?" Kyo summarized. His tone was lower than it was before, more controlled and leveled. The copper-haired teen seemed annoyed. He rolled his right shoulder subtly, and Bakugou doesn't miss the way his eyes twitched ever so slightly in response. "Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but your reasoning is flawed."
"Say what?!"
"You heard me. You're wrong about this solely being a weapon." He twirled the kunai in his hands. The movement was so fluid and natural that it put Bakugou on edge. It wouldn't take much for Kyo to whirl it around and fling it at him. The shinobi must have sensed this because he stopped twirling it. Instead, he held the handle out to him for him to take. Bakugou hesitated briefly before carefully taking it from his hand.
The kunai was more substantial than he expected. The dark metal cool to the touch, and the wraps on the handle smoothed down from extended use. It was actually pretty despite its deadly capabilities. There were hardly and scratches on the weapons surface. Obviously well taken care of.
"You seem to know a lot about shinobi. Then you must know that a lot of our weapons were originally farming equipment that was then modified to meet our needs. Most of which are designed to be replaced easily and readily with objects lying around," Kyo explained with a smug grin on his face. Knowing full well that he was poking holes in Bakugou's reasoning. "That kunai in your hands is an essential tool for us, though it's mostly used as climbing equipment more than anything else. It has an infinite number of tasks it can perform. 'Weapon' is merely one of its functions. I'm willing to bet it has more uses than any of your support gear."
Before Bakugou could protest, Kyo continued. "A weapon's sole purpose isn't just for killing. They are tools to be used as their master wishes."
The ash-blonde scoffed at that. "That's rich coming from you. Aren't Shinobi just human weapons to be utilized as their master wishes?" Kyo doesn't dispute this. He looked like he wanted to deny this claim, but held his tongue like a good little soldier. The one shred of the shinobi's rebellious spirit was reflected in the murderous eyes glaring back at him.
So he does just follow orders, huh?
This aggravated Bakugou more than anything. He hated it when people didn't speak their minds. It annoyed him when people needlessly restrained themselves to make themselves look better. To Bakugou, it screamed that a person was weak-willed, vulnerable to getting taken advantage of by villains, which was incredibly dangerous. With his tenacious temper clouding his judgment, Bakugou continued to push Kyo's buttons. Hoping to get a rise out of him.
"So who's your master Carrot top? Or are you just on loan to the school for the moment?" the ash-blonde mocked ruthlessly.
A low warning growl escaped Kyo's mouth as he stood from his seat. His white knuckles standing out against his tan skin from how hard he clutched the desk. The wood crying out in protest.
Bakugou stood up as well. No way was he going to allow this punk to tower over him. "And here I thought you might be someone I could get along with, but no way am I going to even associate with someone who can't think for themselves. I refuse to be forced to wonder if the person next to me might stab me in the back if ordered to."
Bakugou's words were like a punch in the gut for Kyo. Even the hothead could see that in the way his classmate physically reacted after the words left his mouth. "I don't understand how someone like you allows themselves to be used? If ordered to, would you really kill your teammates?"
"Shut your mouth," Kyo growled under his breath. His orange bangs hiding his eyes from view. His lean body trembled in barely contained rage. "I'm warning you."
But Bakugou wasn't finished, not by a longshot. He needed answers, or he would never be able to relax with such dangerous people infiltrating his class. He would not stand in the presence of someone capable of doing terrible things to his classmates. Bakugou refused to sit back and allow the possibility of anything terrible to ever befall his new friends. He'd rather die than have any of them fall prey to the torture he had been forced to endure at the hands of his kidnappers. It was for this reason Bakugou needed to asses for himself the morals of these shinobi.
The ash-blonde gave the kunai in his hands a testing toss. Catching it clumsily when compared to Kyo's skillful display earlier. "If someone handed this to you and ordered you to kill your brother right now. Would you be able to slit his throat without a second thought?" Bakugou proposed darkly.
A deafening crack echoed through the room when Kyo snapped the edges of Kaminari's desk off, from his death grip on it. The air around them suddenly thick with scorching energy. It was overwhelmingly suffocating, even by Bakugou's standards. The explosive hero's wary eyes watched Kyo as he struggled to control himself from detonating everything around them. Blood slowly dripped from the side of his mouth
from him, biting his lip in a desperate attempt to control his anger.
"I don't care what you or anyone else thinks of me, but you best believe that I would never hurt anyone important to me. Anyone stupid enough to even suggest something like that to me would be coughing up their own blood before they even finished their sentence," Kyo vowed in an icy tone. His eyes finally looking up from where they were hidden behind his orange hair, revealing glowing red eyes that looked nothing less than demonic. "You got that, Baku-hoe?"
The insult irked the ash-blonde. Bakugou attempted to take a step forward, but the menacing aura increased, forcing him to stay where he was. It was clear the shinobi meant what he said, and Bakugou really didn't want to clean up the resulting mess if he pushed the other explosive teen beyond the breaking point. The orange-haired teen remained silent. His eyes daring Bakugou to say something else to piss him off. His fingers poised to blow them both to hell with a single snap of his fingers.
Bakugou took a reluctant seat on top of his desk. Willing the majority of his anger to leave his body as he crossed his arms. "While I'm glad to hear you're not just some mindless lackey. You do realize what you just said was clear insubordination? You might want to keep such dangerous outbursts to a minimum," Bakugou stated in a guarded tone. His voice lacking its usual bite. The shinobi's expression was unreadable. Though after a moment's hesitation settled back into his seat as well.
Bakugou rolled his eyes at how reluctantly he fell back into line. "Are you a complete idiot? You can get yourself flogged for saying stuff like that, can't you? That's assuming they won't go straight for the more hardcore punishments like maiming or execution. Do you want to die?"
"Of course not!" Kyo shouted back, angrily. Realizing he was shouting, he took a deep breath and lowered his tone. "This was your fault anyway. If you didn't piss me off, maybe I wouldn't have incriminated myself," the shinobi hissed quietly.
"Shut the fuck up!" Bakugou yelled back, hopping back to his feet. "It's not like I'm going to turn you in. I'm just warning you to keep your fucking mouth shut about stuff like that."
Kyo regarded him for a few seconds. Bakugou could see the gears turning in his head as he debated whether or not his new classmate was telling the truth. Of whether he was going to trust him with such delicate information. Bakugou wasn't a sellout. He wouldn't rat someone out, no matter who they were. Just another deadly secret for him to keep.
Great.
After mulling it over, Kyo finally responded, "Well, I appreciate it." He stood up once more to extend a hand of truce to Bakugou. "We good now?"
Bakugou blinked dumbly at him for a few seconds before looking away. Both perplexed and annoyed at Kyo's constantly changing moods. But he took his hand and offered one reluctant shake in response. "Fucking whatever."
The door to the classroom slammed open then. The two explosive teen's managing to scramble back into their seats before Aizawa strolled in with the gloomy-looking forms of Kaminari, Mina, and Sero following right behind him. At least they weren't dragged here like they were.
"Find a seat and sit in silence until Lunch."
Everyone grumbled a very unenthusiastic "Yes sir," before he turned on his heel and left them to their own devices. Kaminari tried to whisper something about the state of his desk in Kyo's ear, but the orange-haired teen just laughed it off. Refusing to say what happened to it. Immediately getting roped into the rest of the squad's conversation.
Bakugou watched him intently as he joked happily with his idiot friends. Kyo was an enigma. Bakugou had essentially pissed him off enough that he revealed information that could endanger his life if the wrong people had overheard and then asked if they were on good terms. Kyo then mingled with his new classmates like they had been friends their whole fucking lives. In no way, should their exchange have ended this way. But here they were like everything was A-OK.
The future hero had to admit that he did feel a little better knowing Kyo wasn't some heartless killer like the other villains he had encountered. Still, Bakugou would have to do some in-depth soul searching about what made a villain before he was 100% comfortable with Kyo and his comrades. Something told him it was going to be a long semester.
Finally got this chapter done. Hopefully it won't take as long to post updates as this chapter took. I have most of the story already outlined. I'm really excited about it and hope you enjoy the ride.