"Good. Everyone's finally here." He heard his mother's voice as he entered the room, annoyed as it always seemed to be, though his being late should be excused. He had stopped a school-wide panic, after all.
That didn't stop him from getting the stink-eye while he moved to the open seat near his vice.
"I suppose a well done is in order, Ichigo Kurosaki. Your quick thinking halted any injuries to those in the cafeteria and throughout the school, though you didn't need to go as far as you did. Reports of your voice reached about a mile outside of UA grounds." Shiho reprimanded him, getting a stark nod in reply, though he was a little proud of himself. "Anyway, that isn't why we are here. You four were selected to represent the two Heroics classes, and I'm here to explain what that entails."
In his opinion, Shiho was probably the best teacher to give out lectures. And he had listened to a lot that day. She didn't beat around the bush, reflecting her 'no bullshit' attitude and making listening to the monotone responsibilities that much easier.
As the explanation went on, Ichigo realized that being the class rep was what he had presumed it to be. A glorified teacher's helper, though not without its perks. There were meetings every other Friday that got him out of his morning classes, no offense to Present Mic and Ectoplasm. He had access to the teacher's lounge, which he didn't benefit from, but it was a cool privilege to have.
And, his favorite, he was responsible for regulating the rules while the teachers weren't around. Including inside the dorms.
Now, he wasn't going to flaunt his authority, but it was nice to know that he could shut down any future...contentions between his classmates.
Especially ones that annoyed him.
(-)
Nozomi paced across her desk, tea-cup in her hand. "Someone else entered the building, Shiho, and it wasn't the press. UA has been infiltrated, and no-one knew until ten minutes ago."
The undercover hero leaned forward, arms on her knees as she covered her mouth with her interlaced hands. "What were they after? It must be unimportant if it took this long to figure out that they had gotten inside."
The small animal sat on the edge of her desk, feet hanging off the side. "We're not sure what they were after, but they entered one of our security rooms, where we keep our files and records, though nothing is missing. Nothing. The only reason we discovered it was a slight misstep on their part, one of the cameras catching a wisp of black smoke floating out from under the door. It's likely that they took pictures of whatever they were after, just so we wouldn't know what to expect. Whoever planned this was smart."
Shiho's hands migrated to her forehead, looking down at the ground. "Great. Smart villains are all this place needed." She rubbed the side of her eyes with her thumb. "How'd they get in though? They could be as smart as they wanted, they shouldn't be able to get past the wall without being detected."
Nozomi placed her tea down next to her, wiping off a small mustache that had found itself present on her face. "Warp quirk, and a powerful one at that. It got them in and out of the facility seamlessly, not a trace left behind if you don't include the smoke. We're not even sure if the two are related in any capacity."
Well, that was fantastic. Who knew what they were up to now.
"So then. What's the plan wise-one?"
There was the smirk. The one she oh-so loathed. Probably because whatever came out of Nozomi's mouth after it went against her better nature.
"Absolutely nothing. Continue as normal, but add an additional hero to every classroom lesson. This could be a chance to nip this weed of a problem at its root."
"You want to ambush the villains? What kind of ingenious monster are you?"
"One who cares very little about the suffering of those who attempt to tear down my fine establishment."
(2 weeks later)
He had never been one to look forward to class field-trips throughout his years in school, but the upcoming 'surprise' trip to the USJ? It was on the bearable side of things and actually had him a little excited. No one but himself, excluding Momo, who had been at the same meeting where he learned of it, had any idea of the trip happening. It was just one of the perks of being an elected official.
And that was why Zangetsu was strapped to his back, though he had enough sense to conceal its pitch-black blade with white bandages. He was pretty sure having an unsealed weapon, that was directly connected to his quirk, on University Grounds would get him into some sort of trouble.
And apparently, carrying it around at all pissed off certain explosive classmates of his, who seem to just enjoy being mad. "Why the fuck do you have that shitty sword with you? We did combat training yesterday dumbass."
"I don't need to explain it to you, midget." His eyes remained ahead of him, knowing it would piss her off just that much more.
"I guess you don't, Carrot-Top! And quit callin' me a midget!" She growled, but she continued to walk next to him until they entered the already filled classroom. He blamed his mild lateness of the failure of his alarm clock.
"Hey, Ichigo." He heard Eiko poke at the heavy metal weapon, her hardened finger giving off a light ring as the two connected. "Why'd you bring your sword to school? I thought we did battle training yesterday, with all the robots and the flags and stuff. "
"We did, but I can't really explain why I have it. Aizawa will explain it when she gets here, and she'll give a much summary than I can." He caught notice of the time, leaning against his desk. "Speaking of which, she should be entering in about…3 seconds."
The class looked over to the door, with it opening after the allotted time passed and revealing a fully geared Shiho Aizawa. It didn't make her look any less tired. Let it never be said that his mother was a morning person. "Good to see that you all know how to be quiet when class is starting. Keep it that way for a moment, if you don't mind." She sighed as she pulled out a list of things to address.
"Today, Heroic Studies and Training class will be taking up the entirety of the day. You shouldn't have to worry about your other subjects, as they have already been informed. The class will be led by myself, All-Might, and one more person, just to keep things moving throughout the afternoon."
Surprise and excitement filled the class, the implications of an all Heroics day not lost on any of them. "Excuse me!" Hana raised her hand to garner Shiho's attention. "What'll we be doing for such a long time? There isn't a lot of things that would take that long, especially when it comes to heroics."
"Good question." Shiho rubbed some sleep from her eye. "During your time at UA, the Hero Course has been taught to you through Combat Training. Today's method, however, is Rescue Training. Any half-minded hero-in-training knows that being a hero is more than just subduing villains. There are also more natural causes for a hero to need to go to work, such as rockslides, monsoons, sinking boats. That is what we are going to be focusing on today."
Izumi raised her hand. "Is that why we're leaving campus? Because the campus can't supply that experience?"
A nod was given as a reply. "Rational observation Midoriya. The UA school-grounds, while able to provide a multitude of different terrains, aren't able to recreate those types of experiences, or at least not to the extent we look for. That's why we are going to the USJ, or the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. For those unfamiliar, I will explain on the way there. For now, though, we need to get moving. Put on either your PE clothes or wear your hero costume, whichever one works best."
She placed her summary of the USJ in her scarf. "Now! Meet me in front of the main entrance in 15 minutes!"
"YES, MA'AM!
She made a mental note on the improvement of their responses.
"Jeez, they still haven't fixed it?"
He didn't think of himself as someone who complains often. Especially when people poured their time and effort into something, like his costume. They had made it with utility in mind, though managed to keep its look similar to his original idea. Still, they had yet to loosen up the straps on his chest, even when he had made a specific request for them to do so. It bothered him way more than it should, but he had given them two weeks to fix. He knew they were built by the Support classes, so maybe he would visit them, whenever he got the time.
The bus they were taking to the USJ was about as nice as you could expect it to be, which more than made up for the slight discomfort of his costume. It wouldn't have been too hard to fall asleep, given the amount of space provided. Of course, that would be if he could ignore the other 21 people on the bus, and if he had been tired. "Hey, Ichigo-kun?" His eyes lazily slid across to his right side and onto Eiko, who had gotten closer to him without his knowledge. "Has anyone said that your quirk is kinda like All-Might's? Like, you're super strong! Oh, and you can fly!"
He shrugged. "Not really. I've always been compared to my dad instead of him. Besides, other than having enhanced strength, I don't see much else in common between our quirks."
Her eyes lit up with recognition. "I guess so. Also, your dad is Shinigami, right." He nodded, as she sat in the open seat next to him, where his arm had been resting above. "I bet it's cool to have a quirk you know can take you far, as long as you train it right." Eiko complimented, looking down at her hardened hand. "I'm not sure mine will get all that much attention, even though it's useful. It's just not flashy."
"I dunno." He stared at her hand, watching the jagged edges recede. "I've seen a lot of really good heroes with quirks that don't really seem useful or practical, let alone flashy. I know I'm lucky to have my quirk, but I also know that I had to work my ass off to get it to the level I wanted." He lifted his own hand, which was covered in a multitude of small scars. He could thank Yoruichi for those.
Eiko seemed to have understood what he was saying but still looked a little doubtful. "And hey, being a hero is more than just your quirk. You could have a quirk like Bakugo's, but if you also have her shitty personality, you won't be going far." He told her with a smirk, which succeeded in garnering a laugh from those who heard him.
"Oi fuck you, Kurosaki!" He dodged a small booklet aimed at his head. "My personality is kickass!"
"Yeah, if you call a dumpster-fire kickass!" He shot back, sparking one of their world-class insult matches.
Almost as world-class as his cooking.
"Shut it. We're here, so show some manners."
As the bus slowed to a halt, they filed out of the vehicle without trouble and formed an easily manageable group for himself, Momo, and Shiho to monitor. The addition of the hero walking out of the USJ would make it that much easier. Speaking of which, fuck was that thing huge! It had to be about 2 miles in diameter, and it's dark grey, dome-like roof sat higher than most of the skyscrapers in Musutafu. Which was pretty damn high.
UA really did have shit-loads of money.
"Ah, is this the group of young heroes I've been waiting for?" A slightly processed voice filtered out of the baggy, space-suit inspired costume that housed the teacher for their current lesson and pro-hero, Thirteen. "You all look like a promising bunch! It'll be nice to formally meet you all!"
He heard Izumi and Ochako fawn over the hero from a little further back in the group. He had always heard from his father that Thirteen had the most maternal aura out of any hero he knew. That was excluding his birth-mother, of course, but it was still quite the title. She definitely had a soothing voice, no matter how fake it sounded. "I am the pro-hero Thirteen, known as the Black Hole hero. We can get to know each other better as the day goes on, but for now, welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!" She clicked a button on her remote, opening the massive red double doors that sat behind her and allowing them all to walk in.
Course, they were all quite stupified by the sheer size and structure of the USJ. "What are you all waiting for? It won't bite, I swear!"
Aw. He could kinda get used to her being around.
The class all followed her in, Izumi and Ochako heading the pack as they chatted with the rescue hero about her admittedly amazing feats, of which there were many. Ichigo's favorite, which he had come across when his father mentioned her and made him do some research, had been the time when she saved hundreds of people from the collapse of a building. It had been a relatively small and old building, but the problem wasn't it's age. The issue was that it wasn't built under the codes and regulations of construction law.
This led to a major collapse in its structural integrity, and almost crashed down on a New-Years festival taking place in the land plot next to it.
However, in a display of pure skill, she managed to swallow all the building's rubble before it hit the ground, as well as avoid swallowing the few people who had been in the structure. Then, she managed to sue the construction company for a tens-of-millions of dollars and donated it to the cause of the families involved.
All in all, she seemed to be a great person. One deserving more than the 23rd spot in the Hero Rankings.
As they arrived at the stairwell that dipped down into the basin of the USJ, Thirteen stopped them to deliver an explanation of the day's plans. "As I'm sure Erasure-Head explained, today we will be focusing on Rescue Training! Some quirks just aren't built for fighting villains, but rescuing people is even more important than that! With my quirk, I'm unable to participate in battles with villains because it poses too much danger to them. Black Hole is a very versatile quirk, but it's also very deadly. As important as it is that the villains are stopped, we don't want to kill anyone."
Her tone was infected by wistful regret. "The hero business is dangerous, even to the villains. There will be a time in your life that there will be someone you cannot save. Someone just outside your reach. Oftentimes, that is the cause of resignation for young heroes who haven't been prepared. But, we must keep moving forward. There are far too many people within our branch of influence to let that feeling stop us from saving a hundred more!"
"And that is why we have Rescue training! Oftentimes, your call to action will be unrelated to just battling the bad guy and will involve a different type of disaster. The USJ is meant to simulate that to the best of its abilities, but always remember that it is just a simulation. Out there, it will be much harder, and the actions you take will have consequences. The key to being a good hero? Control! I know some of you have unruly quirks, but with a little practice, you will be an important part of any hero team!" She managed to take their emotional wheel, and spin it at about 400 rpm.
He was starting to feel dizzy.
"Now, let's introduce all the disasters we will be working with today!" There were a select few cheers that reached her ears, encouraging her further.
She pointed her gauntleted finger directly to their left. "To the east, the Landslide-Zone!"
"On its leftward flank, the Ruins-Zone! Also used to simulate earthquakes!"
"Dead ahead, the Mountain-Range-Zone!"
"To the southeast, the Conflagration, or better known, Urban-Fire-Zone!"
"Due-East, the Flood-Zone, or Overflow-Zone!"
"And last, but far from least, the Downpour-Zone!"
"Each one of these will replicate a specific set of circumstances similar to the real world! They will give you an idea of what to do, but do not expect them to replicate them in their full capacity. Now! Excuse me as I talk to Eraserhead for a moment! We will begin once we are finished!"
As she dismissed herself and their other teacher, Ichigo leaned over the railing to their left, looking into the simulated Landslide. 'I thought they said All-Might was going to be here. Hope he didn't forget, the big oaf…' He thought to himself, staring down at the empty disaster-land...only to watch as a dark purple portal ripped a tear in space right where he had been looking and let out some far-from-friendly looking people out into the east-most zone.
'Probably part of the training…?' He muttered to himself, but his instincts roared a completely different thought.
'DANGER!'
A multitude of identical portals erupted across the man-made landscape, though the bulk was clearly focused on the Main Plaza. "Woah! I thought we were just doing rescue training, but this looks cool as hell! Whoever dressed those guys up, give them a raise!"
The rest of the class looked down, a few nodding in agreement.
Ichigo watched Shiho's reaction as she caught sight of the fake villains, though her face convinced him that they were far from fake.
There were villains inside the USJ.
Shiho's goggles quickly came on as she and Thirteen readied themselves. "EVERYONE GET BACK! THESE ARE REAL VILLAINS! THIRTEEN, PROTECT THE STUDENTS!"
Her voice was dominating, loud, yet muffled as her scarf tightened up in its battle-ready, terse form. His sword quickly came off his back. "On it Eraserhead!"
"Ah. Here we are." A ghastly dark cloud of mist, larger than any of the others opened itself on the plaza grounds. Its voice barely managed to reach his ears. "It's rude for us to just assert our presence, but allow me the honor in introducing ourselves to you, heroes." A scrawny, deathly pale man exited the portal covered in dismembered hands. He seemed to be the closest thing to a leader, from how the others looked, or more accurately, directly avoided looking at him.
What followed him out seemed inapplicably more intimidating.
It stood with a stature comparable to the Number One hero's, even with the ugly slouch in its back. Dark purple skin hid dangerously bulky muscles as they seemed to strain at their mere existence, the level of strength displayed clearly unnatural. Its face was morphed into a harshly disfigured shape, a yellow, bird-like beak encasing eerily sharp teeth that were marred into an uneasy smile. The worst part? Its exposed brain, housing two empty, dead eyes that seemed to stare endlessly at nothing.
He hoped, for the suffering that was being placed on that body, that it wasn't alive.
A third villain exited the portal, and its eyes met his own the second it fully emerged. The body of the villain was a hulking mass of death, even bigger than the other nightmare-fuel. Their lower-face was covered by a white mask that stopped where their mouth was, revealing a set of obscenely large teeth that enclosed another much smaller set. The torso and legs of the villain were covered in a green fur that was also used as a sort of cape, covering its backside and sheathing an equally large sword.
Two ram-like tusks shot out of the side of its head, their point of contact covered by the green fur on its ears, giving the sharply shaped head a vicious way of attack. Their arms seemed human enough, as bulbous as they might be.
He almost puked when he saw the cauterized hole in its chest, piercing all the way through its heaving body. Vital organs, like the heart, lungs, practically the entire digestive system, just missing. It was bone-chilling watching whatever 'that' was, functioning in any capacity.
"We are, the League Of Villains." The final villain showed its face, or lack thereof, as the purple mass relocated into one body, centered around a pair of wispy yellow eyes. They almost gave him deja-vu, for some reason.
"What is our goal, you might ask yourself? Simple. Kill the Symbol of Peace and everything he stands for!" He felt everyone who had been behind him stagger backward a small way. "Speaking of which...I only see Thirteen and Eraserhead. The schedule said he would be here...perplexing."
The fear imprinted on the faces of his classmates told him many things. First of which being that they had been far from prepared to deal with any villains.
The lanky villain scratched at his neck, slouched over in disappointment. "Where is he…" He mumbled, his hoarse voice sounding depressed. "I went through all the trouble of gathering this useless crowd, and the Symbol of Peace isn't here…I wonder if he'd show up if we killed a couple of kids?"
"I'm sure that would garner at least a little attention."
"Plus, I'm sure it would be entertaining to watch."i
With the flick of a pale wrist, the hoarde of villains started to race up the stairs. "There's n-no way that there are villains h-here! What about the T-Trespasser-Sensors?" Eiko stuttered out as Shiho's scarf flailed wildly, preparing to intercept the large crowd of villains.
"I'm sure they're disabled. One of those villains probably has a quirk that disabled all communication in and out of here." Thirteen analyzed. "These guys aren't stupid. They planned this out with a specific goal in mind."
Ichigo cut in. "Yeah, they're trying to take down All-Might! The damn Symbol of Peace and they're trying to kill him!" He turned to Shiho, who was already prepared to jump into the fray. "And I know what you're thinking! Don't tell me you think you're going down there on your own because from what I can tell, that is far from rational!"
Eraserhead growled. "Ichigo, I'm not asking. Follow Thirteen and get the hell out of here."
"I'm not asking either! Do you know what I would do if Yuzu and Karin lost their mom for a second time?" He grabbed her arm. "Do you know what I would do when I have to watch them cry! When I have to hold them, tell them everything's going to be alright because Isshin will be too out of it to do it for them?" He squeezed a little harder than he meant to. "Because I sure as hell don't.
She looked at him with eyes that screamed anger. She was pleading for him to reconsider, but he stared back in a way that told her it would be a wasted effort. "Fucking problem child." She muttered, shrugging his hand off. "Thirteen, get the rest of the students out of here. Kurosaki and I will hold these guys off."
The space hero nodded. "Right! Let's move it! Out the door we came in from, let's GO GO GO!"
Izumi didn't budge. "W-Wait! Ichigo and Aizawa are outnumbered by the hundreds! Are we really just going to leave them?"
She felt a hand fall on her shoulder, belonging to the Black-Hole hero. "If there's one thing I've learned from working with Aizawa is that you don't argue with a Kurosaki. They'll be fine, but we need to get out of here. We'll only be in the way if we stay here."
She wasn't convinced in the slightest but watching as the two jumped off the platform and down the stairs, she realized that there wasn't much they could do. "Y-Yeah, okay…"
"Alright, Problem-Child. Cover my back, don't do anything stupid!" Eraserhead told him as they were about half-way down the stairs.
"Can do, Dry-Eyes."
He knew he should've been nervous or scared. He probably should be pissing himself but in reality? He was excited. Way more than he should be. "Making first contact! Stay close!"
And that officially marked the start of the USJ Incident.
The multitude of villains who had been foolish enough to run up the stairs were cleared out in a second, a few swipes of Aizawa's scarf knocking them down onto the ground below. They probably broke the bulk of their bones when they hit the cement below, but it was hard to feel bad. They were trying to kill everyone in the building, after all.
But, for such a seemingly organized group with a plan that had been viewed as concrete, something was off. There were bullets, lasers, about any type of projectile you could think of if he were being honest, being fired at them. Yet, one out of ten got within about ten feet of their general area, and that was being generous. It was like the villains that had entered the USJ were nothing but common street thugs...which, given their sheer numbers, probably wasn't too far off.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, there was no hesitation between their landing and their next move, both splitting up to dispatch as many as possible. He had to be a little too careful for his liking, a single swing of his cleaver probably having the ability to kill an untrained grunt.
Course, that didn't mean he went easy on them.
His first opponent threw a haymaker, which he ducked with ease before inverting their right knee with a heavy kick. As they crumpled over him, he threw their over-sized body at a small group of three men, each of which having a quirk that worked at range instead of up close. They were sequentially buried under the hulking man-mass.
He let his foot sweep under another thug who had charged him, knocking her off her feet before knocking her out with a quick jab of his hilt into her temple before she hit the ground. His eyes flicked over to his mother to see how she was doing, which he realized pretty quickly that the villains were highly outclassed. They couldn't even touch her, and she wasn't using her quirk in any capacity. That was just her hand to hand combat skills showing through.
Once he assured himself that she was fine, he returned his attention to his group of under-trained thugs. He lowered his grip on his hilt to the chain below, sending the blade careening into the thigh of a rather scrawny villain with the flick of his wrist and tearing it back out with another.
It felt like he was fighting a bunch of meth-heads if he was to compare it to something.
After clearing out a good dozen of fodder villains, Ichigo looked around the plaza, eyeing down the leader of the villains. He wasn't distressed, even though his 'army' was being taken down by the ten-fold. That was when he realized that, both the wispy villain with the warp quirk and the behemoth with the hole in its chest had split off from him.
He quickly located the warp villain, as he was floating over the entrance where his classmates had escaped. Or at least, he hoped they escaped. He couldn't see, because of the angle he was at.
That left him to look for the other, more immediate threat. He searched everywhere within his sight, not seeing the 'creature' even with his advanced vision.
'Where the hell is this guy…' His mind raced as he attempted to locate any sign of the furred villain. Not above, to the east, north, south or even the west. He was clueless to the location of such a giant villain. That was until he felt a spirit pressure clash with his own.
He tried to turn around and face where the pressure came from, his torso only getting halfway through its rotation before a clawed foot landed on the side of his head and kicked him across the concrete ground. His body carved a path in the cement, coming to a sharp halt as he dug his sword into the earth.
Christ did his head hurt.
"Oh? Didn't expect a lowly hero-in-training to survive one of my attacks, let alone get back up so quickly. Not to mention this spirit energy. Ah, you would have made such a good meal back in my youth."
His eyes locked with the monsters for a second time, getting a glimpse of the pure ego and wickedness that define his being. "What in the hell are you, you sick freak." He growled out, dust and dirt falling off his body as he stood up..
The thing gave out a disturbing belly laugh, a bolstering vein finding its home on Ichigo's forehead. "I suppose I should introduce myself to one of the last Soul Reapers alive, as a homage to our pasts." His grin would give the Cheshire Cat competition. "I am the Hollow known as the Gran/d Fisher. One of the last of our kind, actually, and I do find it to be a pleasure to be meeting you, young Soul Reaper."
"It's Ichigo Kurosaki, and I have no clue what the hell you're talking about. Hollows? Soul Reapers? Sorry, but I'm not part of your shitty roleplay." Ichigo let his spirit energy buffet down on the landscape around him, the air becoming unbreathably thick.
The Hollow's demeanor didn't change, still grinning like a mad-man. "Oh? Of course, you have my apologies. I should've guessed that you weren't informed about your heritage." His hand waved haphazardly. "You should ask your dear-old-dad about it sometime. But then again, that's assuming you make it out of here alive!"
Ichigo spat out the blood that had slowly pooled in his mouth. "Yeah-yeah-yeah. Enough monologuing already, let's just do this!"
The midnight blade coruscated an irradiant blue glow as he initiated their first clash, his feet imprinting on the Earth as he cascaded himself forward. The hollow, in its surprise, managed to draw its sword at the last second, narrowly blocking the overhead slash that threatened to cleave its way through his right arm. The strength of the attempted laceration forced the tip of his blade down towards the ground as he bounced back, a small gash left in the dirt as his sword dragged on the ground.
He wasn't left with time to regather himself, a streak of firey energy striking his chest with unpredicted force and staggering him backward. "That was Kido, wasn't it?" The Grand Fisher questioned, looking down at the singed fur. "So you must have contact with Soul Reapers who were alive during the time of the Soul Society. That it's awfully rare, as the amount of those could be counted on my two hands." A glare filled with anticipation and excitement was shot at Ichigo. "I'll have to pay them a visit later on."
The fisher caught his responsive slash using one of his tusks, almost dislocating his wrist when the weapon was twisted and pulled in an attempt to disarm him. The forward momentum from the failed maneuver led him into a combat roll, shoulder falling on his sword for just a moment as he caught the unguarded tusk between his calves before finishing his revolution, the head the tusk was connected to consecutively being leveraged into the ground.
"Shut the fuck up." He denoted, the white spire of spiritually hardened dentine and ivory pinned beneath his sandal. "You're giving me a headache."
This brat...had the audacity...the impertinence to say that to him? That would just not do. He would teach the boy some manners!
With an inhuman roar, the reaper was flung off his incising tooth, though he landed on his feet with a backflip. Cocky bastard. His sword, which had been resting on the ground, was shifted to his side, reinforcing his grip with both hands before dashing wildly towards the hero-in-training. Only to have the building-cleaving swipe of his sword met with an equally powerful slash. Their blades quickly separated, though they were quick to find each other once more and split just as fast.
"I sense that your classmates have been split up all over this institution…" He mocked, dodging a particularly strong slash to his chest. "Maybe I'll play with them after I'm done with you!"
His laughs were cut off as a heel dug into his gut. "For someone so talkative, you've yet to do anything worth remarking on." The blunt side of Ichigo's sword slammed into his cheek, causing him to stumble backward.
When the hollow grunted acknowledgment, Ichigo started his assault again, snapping his blade forward like a bullet was fired from a gun. The Grand Fisher, with a lazy swipe of his tusk, parried it to his left, following the sword as it was whipped back to the owner. Ichigo was forced to duck under a slash at his head, his sword reaching him a moment later than the Hollow, arriving just in time to block a straight kick to his stomach.
The kick made Ichigo slide back a few feet, which he cleared in less than a millisecond as he spotted an opening, delivering a deep slash across the hollow's thigh, inches away from cutting the tendon that gave his leg function. Grand Fisher tried to kick away, jumping back and warding Ichigo away with a wild slash of his sword, but once again Ichigo was on him within a moment. His sword met with the Fisher's blade, sparks flying as the edges ground against each other.
"You know, when you and the others showed up, I was a little bit wary of how strong you would be." Ichigo snarled, his body weight pressed against his weapon. "But you're weak, way weaker than you should be for as much as you talk!"
The Hollow, for the second time since he'd arrived, stopped smiling. "How dare you call me weak, you pathetic little brat! I am the great Grand Fisher! I've barely shown you a fraction of my power! I could have this entire league bow to me!" He raged, shoving Ichigo's Zanpaktou away and backing up. "Watch as I show you the true might of the Hollow King!"
…
For a moment, Ichigo was sure he had been stalling, not feeling or seeing a change in...anything. Then, he noticed that the monster had started to grow bigger.
Dangerously bigger.
It started slowly but quickly became a rapid expansion of his body mass. He grew taller and taller, seeming becoming bulkier and stiffer, until stopping at about 60 feet tall, his sword matching the height of the hollow in length. "See now, the difference between you and I? I kill hundreds of puny humans under my foot, like ants! Destroy skyscrapers with a swipe of my sword! Yet, here you stand, barely reaching my ankle in height! How comedic!"
He was probably visible to about anyone in the building at his height, eyeline reaching above the peaks of the mountain zone without difficulty. Ichigo heard Shiho yell from behind him, but he stopped her with a thumbs up. He was stoic, maybe a little angry, but overall unimpressed. His mass had increased, yes, but the spirit pressure and energy that were emitted by his body had remained the same. So, in reality, the transformation seemed useless.
That was until the blade was swung at him, which he had seen, but had pushed off as futile, the several tonnes of additional force moving behind the sword impacting his own sword. The result had been his body being flung into the staircase at the speeds of a truck, knocking the air out of him and breaking a rib. Probably a few ribs.
"Ahaha! Such a fool, to even attempt to block my attack! Do you not see the size and power I currently possess? Boy, you truly are outmatched!"
He probably shouldn't have underestimated the transformation as much as he did, or at least, that's what his side was telling him. Still, it was a puny transformation.
Ichigo shrugged the rubble off. "One attack. That's all it's going to take for me to incapacitate you." He said a confident grin on his face as a familiar aura shrouded him. "And, with your size, you aren't dodging shit."
Zangetsu started to vibrate with sheer energy, a radiant heat bursting off the weapon and the user. Ichigo's eyes bristled with light as he watched fear seep into the giant's expression, reacting to the skyrocketing spirit energy coming from the Soul Reaper. The hollow even started to back up as the weapon was hoisted above Ichigo's head. "W-Wait! You're a hero, right? You wouldn't kill me! You couldn't!"
"It won't kill you. It'll just hurt really, really bad." He disappeared from where he was standing, unobservable for a second before appearing at chest-level with the behemoth.
"Getsuga Tensho!" His spirit shook as the blue crescent was ejected from his blade, growing as tall as the Fisher's torso before making contact with his chest. In an eruption of blue light, the attack cut deep into the hollow's thorax, creating a cut that went over the already present hole.
Ichigo had watched for a moment, the hollow attempting to nurse the wound as spirit energy seeped out in the masses.
The massive injury, the leaking spirit energy. The skyscraper of a body couldn't sustain itself, evident by the laborious breathing and stumbling movements.
"No-no-no… There's no way you beat me!" He muttered, hand over his bleeding breast. "I have lived for centuries longer than you! This should be impossible!" Blood splattered down onto the ground. "I'm the King of Hollows! I refuse to fall like this!" He continued to spout, taking a few weak steps before collapsing face first, in front of the triumphant Ichigo.
...And now his head hurt. And he was tired.
"That's one of the four down…" He told himself, standing straight as he looked down at the Fisher. Or rather, about eye level. He was 60 feet tall, after all. "Stay here, I guess? I doubt you're going anywhere anytime soon."
He rubbed the back of his head. "Now, to regroup with Shiho."
(-)
Shigaraki was pissed. Today was going so wrong, and he hated it. First, his coffee hadn't been prepared right, though he knew he had ordered perfectly. The kid was lucky he left the store before tasting it.
Second, All-Might hadn't shown up like he was supposed to. Seriously, the Symbol of Peace couldn't even be on time? Just another reason to hate him. Tear everything he loved to the ground. Was that too far? He didn't think so. Not far enough, if you asked him.
Then, Kurogiri had let one of the kids escape, and now, the guy Sensei had personally recruited was on the floor, knocked out by a student who was so much stronger than he had any right to be! Absolute bullshit, right?
Well, at least he still had Nomu. Nomu wouldn't fail him like all the others did. "Tomura."
"What. Now. Kurogiri." His throat felt parched, chapped as his voice sounded more strangled than usual. He sounded like he smoked packs of cigarettes on the daily.
"We need to take out the two down here at the plaza already. They've taken out most of our troops, not to mention the Grand Fisher." Kurogiri told him, acting like he was stupid. He knew they needed to be killed. That's what he had planned on doing.
"That worthless mini-boss is nothing compared to Nomu. None of these guys are even close enough to his level to scratch him." He declared, watching as the monster heaved breaths into its chest. "And I think it's about time we let him loose, don't you?"
Break
"Hey, Izumi! That was a great plan you came up with!" A super-soaked Ikuyo complimented, carrying both of her green-haired classmates as they floated away from the Overflow-Zone, a massive whirlpool left in their wake.
"I-I don't know…You guys did everything!" She countered, he usually fluffy hair drooping with moisture. Her plan almost failed, so she refused to take credit for their success.
Tsuyu, however, wasn't having it. "You made us work together. That's the only reason we got out. Kero." Her padded finger poked at Izumi's cheek several times.
Pink dusted her face. "I mean…i-if you guys think so…"
"Yep! We sure do!"
"Yeah."
She felt she had no room to argue, giving in as she placed her head against Ikuyo's back. She liked having friends. "Hey! There's Ichigo and Aizawa!" She heard Ikuyo point out. "And that one really big villain we saw early is on the ground! I think Ichigo beat him, which is super hot-blooded!"
Her eyes peeked over Ikuyo's shoulder, the wet fur on the hood of her coat making it a little hard, but she managed to confirm all of the sightings, amazed at the sheer size of the villain, even more so that Ichigo managed to beat it. It reminded her of how she beat the Zero Pointer, during the exam.
Thoughts aside, they probably could land down on the plaza and help them out with the rest of the villains! For how much everyone was worried, they seemed to be getting out pretty safely!
She just wondered for a moment.
'Where'd the big purple guy go?'
(-)
Shiho cursed under her breath. "How many more of these fuckers are there?"
Her roundhouse-kick knocked out a villain, one of what seemed to be a group of thousands. She was probably exaggerating, but you got the point. There were just so many that she had put on their asses, but they were immediately replaced by another who was just as eager to fight. Just as shitty too.
Her eyes had started to hurt, and she could feel a headache starting. She shook her head to shake away the cloudiness of her brain, absent-mindedly breaking the nose of a thug with her scarf, his consciousness evaporating in an instant. "I really /need to upgrade my suit…" She muttered to herself, prepared to take on another wave of idiots.
Only, they weren't looking at her. They had their backs turned, watching as bodies were thrown up and away from the crowd without care. They had even started to walk towards her, in hopes of getting away from whatever the hell that was. What the hell would even cause them to do that?
"Get the hell out of my way you wannabe-villains!"
Ah.
That explained some.
That explained a lot, really.
She managed to see the top of the person's bright orange hair as they charged through the crowd of goons, bursting through the final wall and making their official appearance as the thugs were sent flying over his head. "What the hell are you doing, problem child!"
Ichigo looked at her, clearly irked by her statement as he pointed an accusing finger. "I'm just trying to survive out here, alright! Everyone got split-up around the USJ, and now I have no clue what to do! I was planning on taking your stupid ass and dragging you out of here, but I can't exactly do that anymore!"
Shiho's expression became serious, almost fearful. "So no one has gotten out?!"
Ichigo shrugged. "Probably not? I don't know!"
Her face became uneasy, strained almost, as she looked towards the ground. "We have to assume they didn't, meaning that we won't have any help, back-up, or emergency relief." She stared him dead in the eye, or at least he assumed, her goggles hiding her eyes. "Ichigo. We're alone here."
He shrugged, unworried. "I'm not sure we need back-up. I took down a guy who said he was the strongest out of all of them, so we should be fine." He reassured her, looking back at the crowd of fodder. "I think all we need to worry about is getting the class to regroup and make sure that no one's in critical condition."
Aizawa opened her mouth to criticize his naivete.
But the words never left her mouth. They stood stuck in her throat as a disgustingly muscled fist plowed into the boy in front of her, punching with enough force to splinter a steel beam. His body went limp against the fist, sending him surging across the USJ before being buried in one of the cement walls that bordered the mountain zone. She didn't even have time to look at the creature before it was gone again, upon Ichigo within a moment as it grabbed his arm and flung him back to where he had just been launched.
Watching him scrape against the ground, sliding uselessly against the rough cement, a bar of rebar sticking through his abdomen. For the first time in her life, she couldn't think logically. His chest continued to rise and fall, the air still making it past his bloodied and dislocated jaw, though it was dangerously sporadic. What would be buried in her mind, was his eyes. They sat void of their warm confidence, filled with unreadable emotions she had never seen on his face.
She never thought a single punch could do that to her boy. Could break down everything her son had built over the course of his life.
"Hehe! I thought that you could've been a little more entertaining than that! I guess the Grand Whatever was just that useless!" She heard the laughs of the villain labeled as Shigaraki as they pointed at Ichigo's limp body. "Nomu! Stop for a moment! Let him watch as you take out Eraserhead! It'll crush him that much more!" She watched its empty eyes zero in on her, pupils shrinking like an owl's when subjected to bright light.
Her rage must have enhanced her senses to some odd and impossible degree because she managed to react to the creature's attack fast enough to dodge the bone-breaking power. Her quirk activated to its highest level, clearing the effects of any quirk in her vision as she wrapped her steel-woolen scarf around its wrist. "Don't you EVER." She pulled the purple arm behind it, placing her feet on its back as she grabbed the other arm. "Touch. My. Son."
And she pulled.
Hard.
Shigaraki could hear its bones creak under the enormous pressure placed on its joints, shoulders slowly receding out of their sockets. Shiho felt the fibers that tethered its arms to its shoulders breaking, the muscled cordage straining beyond any reasonable point. Until there was a deafening rip.
All the built-up pressure found itself released in a second's notice, the arms of the Nomu slowly tearing off as Eraserhead jumped from its back. There were a few connected strings of sinews, but they would be considered, 'removed' by most medical experts. There weren't even stumps left, leaving the thing bleeding profusely out of its empty shoulder-sockets. Its ribcage was probably visible, ignoring the blood.
"Fuck," She dropped its arms without another thought, falling lifelessly to the ground. "You." She spat down at its fallen body, her bleeding eyes closing and deactivating her quirk as she ran towards her son.
Her own footsteps deafened her ears as she ran weakly, her energy coming close to spent as she stumbled towards him.
She didn't even get half-way before the sound of muscle meshing and rebuilding stopped her dead in her tracks. Her eyes peeked over her shoulder for just a moment, seeing the leviathan reattach its arms as it stood up. Like nothing had happened. She had ripped its arms off, and it stood up as if nothing happened. It had bled at least two gallons of its disgusting blood…
Yet it stood up as if nothing had happened.
"You should see your face!" Shigaraki howled, arms clutched on his stomach. "Nomu has four quirks, one of which being super-regeneration! You'll never be able to hurt it fast enough because it will always regenerate whatever you do! AHAHAHA-AHA!" He started hiccuping from laughing so hard.
She stared at the scarred menace as it turned around, fear collapsing into her features as its eyes instantly pinpointed her location.
This time, she was too tired to do anything, a grizzled hand clasping around her throat and gripping with just enough force to put her neck on the verse of burst. She heard Ichigo's gargled yell, but it was blocked out by the blood rushing to her head. Her heartbeat pounded in her head, hands clawing at the limb with no success, futilely trying to get air into her lungs.
So, this was how she died huh?
Damn...
She knew old age was wishful thinking.
(-)
Zangetsu wasn't one for tears, but it seemed fitting. He had never seen Ichigo so deaf. Though, from rage instead of fear. He'd never felt the rain pour as hard as it did. He'd never seen a world flood so quickly.
Tears fell from his cheeks as he realized it would be the last time he would be able to speak to his companion, and he was deaf to whatever he was going to say. 'Ichigo…" His voice was choked. 'Did you know, that I've watched you throughout your entire life? It would be comparable to what you would call a movie, but if it stretched on for over eighteen years.' A sad laugh escaped his mouth. 'To think that I've only been able to speak to you for less than a year. You probably don't care all that much for me.'
He sighed, feeling defeated. 'I know I'm a little too hopeful when I say that we'll see each other again. Maybe a reincarnation, but not me. I don't even mind all that much. It just pains me to tear away all of your progress from you. Make your understanding like that of a mere child once more.' He frowned. 'And this time, I will not be there to guide you. I pray that whatever being replaces me holds the same interest in moving forward as I did.'
'I hope you understand why I'm ripping this away from you. Your potential shall only grow with this setback. He'll make sure of that.'
'Goodbye, Ichigo. I hope to see you in another life.'
And, by tearing off the mask that sat on the left side of his face, a white liquid burst out across the world.
It sat, empty for a moment. An empty void of white, before red, started to leak into its colorless canvas, like a drop of food coloring in water.
'...Damn. First time being conscious and I gotta save your ass, King? I gotta pick up the slack with whatever that guy was teaching you.'
'Oh well.'
'What can you do.'
Break
She was paralyzed.
Izumi couldn't describe it in any way other than that.
Paralyzed.
She wanted to run in, her legs shaking and twitching as they tried to get her to fight that thing. The thing that made their teacher and her strongest classmate look like nothing but practice dummies. Her heartbeat at a dangerous rate, blood pumping through her body at an accelerated rate as it prepared to give its all to save the people in need, right in front of her. People within her reach.
But she couldn't.
Just by looking at the creature, fear managed to seep into her previously untouchable desire to save people, halting all her instincts and telling her to run. Run like hell.
But she couldn't even do that, barely managing to stay up on her two feet as her throat inhaled burning air.
"I'm sorry, mom." A lonesome apology, too quiet to be heard by even her ears escaped her dry lips. Her hands gripped into fists, her right foot sliding back a short distance
"I don't think I'll be able to give you grandkids like I promised."
And with a burst or untapped adrenaline, her mind went numb as her legs burst to life. Her rapid footsteps thundered in her ears, One-For-All surging through her body at an unknown percent, much higher than her 1% cap.
She watched the mutilation of muscle and fiber tense, its unfeeling eye flicking onto her in an instant. Its blank and deadly stare would've frozen any sane person in their tracks. It should've a least made her hesitate a little. Guess it proved that she was far from sane.
Her body ached by the time she came within striking range, the Nomu unable to raise its defenses in the short time it took her to clear the space between them, leaving her with a clear shot at any part of its body.
She chose a spot right below its eye, where its teeth and brain-flesh met. If its teeth didn't break, it was in for one hell of a headache, she would make sure of that. "SMASH!" Her vocal-cords burned, her fist tearing through the air and carrying a current of Mach-Speed winds behind it. Her whole being was poured into her fist, red-veins finding themselves present on her arm as she swung for his face.
It all evaporated the second contact was established. All her momentum, power, disappeared, the only remnants of her punch being super-powered were the gusts that blew over her target. The creature had managed to absorb the entirety of the impact, including the damage she had expected to be inflicted on her hand. Even the white glove on her fist remained intact.
It had managed to contain All-Might's power with ease.
And she was left within arms reach of it, completely powerless. Its stare seemed to taunt her. Like it knew she couldn't do anything.
She couldn't even retract her fist before its open hand curled up in a fist of its own, ready to deliver a life-ending blow to any part of her body. She watched its muscles contract as it moved to pull its fist back, her pupils shrinking in fear as she started to fall backward.
Only to hear the most terrifying, powerful yell that managed to freeze the bird-creatures own body, impossibly scaring an emotionless monster.
A simple glance at its source managed to wipe away her fright, filling her with relief as she fell on her hands.
"I-I-Ichigo!"
Looks like she was having those grandkids after all.
(-)
Thinking logically was almost impossible.
Scratch that.
It was impossible. He could barely manage to differentiate his enemy from his friends. His vision was tinted in blues and greys, all the while looking like it was affected by heat distortion. Unbelievable spirit energy pulsed through him, contained by the white casing that hardened around his body like a second skin.
And the second his body was operating at a usable capacity, his clawed feet sprung to the ground without a second's attention, focused on the one comprehensive thought raging through his mind.
'Something needed to die.'
And in a matter of moments, his full attention was placed on the creature in front of him. The Nomu.
His grip on Zangetsu tightened Shunpo-ed next to the being. Or at least, he tried to Shunpo, only it felt different. Faster, more controlled, efficient. No matter what he used, he ended up next to his target, his midnight blade cleaving through Nomu's hand and allowing a desperate breath to escape his mother's lips.
The Nomu recoiled in pain, free-hand clasping the end of the stump as thick, horribly discolored blood oozed out the open wound without resistance. Its teeth started to grind as it attempted to regrow the lost appendage, regenerated thew starting to flick out of the clean-cut.
Only for Ichigo's bright-white palm to shove into the raw flesh, crushing the fresh tissue. Only a moment later, a bright red light burst through the small openings left between the wound and his hand, evaporating into smoke after another.
Its eyes met the partially masked face of its enemy, black sclera melded into deadly yellow irises in an endangering stare. And, his mouth, tilted in a murderously lopsided smile.
He had just cauterized the wound.
He had just disabled one of its hands.
Completely.
He shifted his grip from the front of the harmed limb to what was left of the elbow, elongated nails digging into the rough flesh without a thought, blood staining his white 'skin'. Its eyes dilated as his leg shifted behind him, arm pulling the mutilated giant over his head.
A small crater surrounded them as its one-ton body embedded in the ground, crashing through meters of cement and dirt before coming to a stop.
He was almost surprised when it got up without hesitating as if it couldn't feel pain or any type of strain on its body. His brain couldn't process the surprising emotion, only working to adapt to the change.
It didn't matter what he did to it. The only thing that would stop it was death.
His grin marred further.
.
His brain barely processed the incessant babbling of the hand-wearing man-child, registering as nothing but childish complaints and cutting off the further evaluation of his unnecessary talk.
He dodged a small flurry of punches aimed at his chest, pushing the final punch to the side and using the momentum to give him access to the left side of its body.
It wasn't able to turn its head before its uninjured arm was severed from its torso.
It didn't even have a chance to bleed before the same palm as before fell onto its injury, an identical light blinding its left eye as its flesh was burned closed. This time, he had crippled half of its fighting capabilities with a single move.
And it knew. It just didn't care.
It wanted to kill him...
No…
It needed to kill him. That's why instead of retreating, it attacked him again, punching at him with its handless arm. Its movements had become unrefined, just desperate attempts to try and his him with everything it had. It used its arm as more of a flail than an arm.
But when his sword cut its legs off from the knees down, all of it halted. Its wild movements stopped. The pure bloodlust towards him gone. Its stare even became blank, head tilted to the side as it laid lifelessly on the ground.
Ichigo, in his primal, inhuman state, kicked its head with his clawed foot, a little disappointed in the anticlimactic end. For a moment, he studied its face, its body, watching for an ounce of movement, even when ordered by the lanky man in charge. It did nothing, almost as if it accepted death.
His smile dropped completely, flipping his sword in his hand so it pointed towards the ground, right above the creatures head.
It pierced its brain a second later, causing a last, final spaz of its body and muscle, before falling limp for the last time in its life.
It was dead.
He had killed it, the monster ended with his own hands. By the unknown power flowing through him.
His body fell dormant as he listened to the rambling of the leader, the ghastly henchmen, who's tuxedo was covered in cuts and burns, providing what he thought to be common-sense advice to his ill-minded leader.
He heard the doors he and his classmates had come through burst open, the iconically deep voice of All-Might echoing in his ears. Curses were rattled off in the hundreds by the villain once more, a curse going out to him and the Symbol of Peace, their eyes finally meeting his still ones.
The ceramic on his face finally crumbled along with the rest of his 'armor,' leaving him standing on his extremely tired and weak legs, as his eyes stared down with the villains.
"I am going to end you, you filthy bastard!"
And the portal closed.
He had won.
And now, he needed sleep.
