Chapter 13
Midoriya POV:
"Wow. That was…" You don't have anything to say, but thankfully your classmates have plenty to say instead.
"Why isn't he using his Quirk?" Ojiro frowns as he stares at the screen- mainly on one of the contestants, Ren Amiya. "It's kinda disrespectful…."
"Who cares! He almost had him - and look, he's holding his own against Bakugo, one of the best fighters in our class!" Sero comments excitedly, the plain boy practically bouncing in his seat. His smile looks a bit like a zipper - all jagged lines and square edges, though it seems genuine enough - you can't really tell.
"Why didn't he show these moves off back at the track?" Rikado questions. "He's a real fighter!"
"It's sorta scary…" Jirou mutters, giving Ren another disconcerted glance. "But sorta cool? I mean, I'm not really into that kinda macho stuff…"
"He's experienced." The white-haired honor student to your right remarks. Todoroki's eyes narrowed in concentration as he focuses in on Ren's forms during the fight, shown on repeat on one of the monitors. "He has some form of training, that much is obvious."
...Did nobody else notice? You sneak a glance at the other students, all of them chatting away without a care. Or are you the only one who realized it?
Maybe it's because of your training. You've spent hours analyzing and researching the moves of every pro hero you could think of, watching every video you could find in order to gain a bit more insight into the moves a Pro Hero. Each Hero had their own individual styles of fighting, one which reflected their own personal philosophy. Endeavor's stoic strength, Kamui Wood's flowing movements, All Might's explosive bravado.
Ren's moves were not like the moves of these Pro Heroes. They weren't a product of muscle memory or reaction, training or practice. Rather, the moves you saw were quick and brutal, delivered with a lithe sort of grace found in utility rather than practice. Zero hesitation.
You narrow your eyes as you watch Kacchan begin pursuit, his movements unusually sluggish to start as he ascends the staircase.
Back then, during their fight- Ren tried to go for his eyes, didn't he? That's what you saw Kacchan react to - the explosion a panic reaction rather than retaliation, a distinction you could only make due to your extensive research on Kacchan. Any other student you would doubt their ability to go for the face like that, but…
Zero hesitation, huh? Just like that time, on the bus. And again- there! With his gauntlet! He aimed it directly at Bakugo, and you're sure he pulled the trigger- only nothing happened. Ren was willing to shoot Kacchan point-blank with a gauntlet designed to explode - that would've been extremely dangerous for Bakugo. Even if Bakugo's Explosion quirk gave him a bit of blast resistance, (something you had only assumed based off observations), he would still be badly injured from an attack like that.
And Ren hadn't even flinched.
You should be scared. Actually, you should tell All Might about your findings and stop the fight right now. Both of them - Kacchan and Ren - were in danger of going too far. It was a bad matchup, too much bad blood - and someone was bound to get seriously hurt.
But… you bite your lip. You didn't think you would hesitate, when it came to doing the right thing, but-
You don't think that Ren is a bad guy. He helped you, back at the bus. He's nice, patient, and funny. And he's - not using his Quirk? or he's hiding his Quirk, or isn't able to use it well.
A stray thought pops into your mind. Maybe that's why he fights like that; to compensate for his Quirk. His fighting style might be unorthodox and brutal - and yet, he's able to compete with Kacchan in hand-to-hand combat, something you could only hope to do. Perhaps that sort of instinct was what someone needed to succeed.
And if All Might stopped the fight now, everyone would lose. You'd have to explain why you thought Ren was dangerous, and that might alienate him from the rest of the class. Kacchan- Bakugo would get mad, and he might take it out on you… or worse, take it out on Ren. As for Ren himself…
You let out a weary sigh, slumping slightly as you realize the truth.
It'd feel like you were betraying him. Ratting him out. You don't want that; he was someone you knew, someone you could call… a friend. He might get mad at you, and rightfully so; who were you to interfere like that?
He might even get expelled, you realize with a start. Quirk violence wasn't unusual, especially in a training exercise, but violent actions like that… that was what villains did, right? Not Heroes, and definitely not Heroes in training. Telling on Ren might cost him his chance at becoming a hero.
You clench your fist. You don't think you could do that to anyone. Not to Kacchan, or Iida, or Ochaco- not to anyone else, and definitely not to someone you called a friend. You knew how awful it was to lose your dream.
So just this once, you held your tongue. Kept your eyes glued onto the fight, waiting for something to happen. If you felt that there was even the slightest chance of escalation, you would ask All Might to stop the fight. You silently promise yourself. If not for yourself, or Kacchan - for Ren's sake.
All you can do now is watch, and wait.
Ren POV:
What happens when you have to fight someone stronger than you?
You try to outsmart them.
And if they're smarter than you?
Use trickery and deception to even the odds.
And if even that doesn't work?
You run the fuck away, and hope that's enough.
Because ultimately, you don't lose until you finally give up. Even just staying alive can be considered a victory. That was my motto; and, sad as it was to say, I'd like to think it served me well during my sixteen years of living.
Bakugo was stronger, and smarter than you. You learned all that in our first scuffle. You knew you had very little chance of beating him in hand-to-hand combat; his combat sense and ability being absolutely absurd. Even using every trick in the book had only given you a brief reprieve, not the overwhelming advantage you had hoped for.
Thus, running away was the only practical solution.
Your chance to even the odds was when you incapacitated one of his gauntlets. You noticed back on the track that Bakugo's gauntlets gave him better control over his firepower, and the ability to store up his shots. With one of his gauntlets gone, Bakugo had to either let go of his other gauntlet to fly or pursue you on foot. He chose the latter option.
The problem was- he's still really fast!
Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-FUCK-
Click.
DOWN!
"DIE!"
BOOM! The force of the explosion behind you flings you forward, sending you in a lurching stumble before you regain your footing, sneakers squeaking on smooth concrete as you continue your sprint forward. You're almost thankful that Bakugo's too angry to think straight, and that he's -
"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT!"
- not trying to just knock you out, but utterly obliterate you with his shots, giving you the slightest time to react and dodge.
Well, is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Depends on if you make it through this training exercise in one piece.
You dash to the left, cutting across instantly to the right in a squeal of rubber soles, acutely aware of the pair of pounding footsteps behind you practically echoing your own. He's getting closer-
"Tch." You flick out with your Quirk, prodding the concrete behind you just slightly upward - and are rewarded by the sound of Bakugo falling face-first onto the ground as he falls over your little roadblock. The reward of a momentary breather is put to good use as you dash around the corner, flinging yourself up another staircase on hands and knees, legs burning with exertion, before taking a few precious, painful seconds to throw up a concrete wall between you and Bakugo. Gah, you really are out of shape. You tap the comm device in your ear, turning it back on.
"Situation with the missile, Yaoyorozu?" Your voice comes out scuffed and hoarse. You feel even worse than that; like some kind of sandy raccoon had lodged itself inside your sternum and was refusing to leave. God, you needed some water. And some Tylenol. And maybe a little rest-
"Almost at the third floor, Ren. Just a bit longer." is your teammate's reply. Yaoyorozu barely sounds winded. "-Hey, what's going on down there?"
"Little busy now-" You grunt as you rest your back against the wall, resisting the urge to snark a bit more.
Then it occurs to you that Bakugo's been quite for an awful long time, and-
BOOM! The crashing boom of solid plaster and concrete wall shattering like fine china, accompanied by some incoherent rage-screaming from one Katsuki Bakugo informs you that your time for rest is up and that your angry blonde-haired aggressor is on the move. You can hear footsteps to your right, pacing angrily forward in a clomp-clomp-clomp of heavy-duty army boots - you can practically see them move, almost smell the nitroglycerin in the air from where you were. You lower your voice. "Just - hurry it up, will you? Don't want this building to come down."
"On it." There's a click, then silence as the other end of the receiever goes quiet. Yaoyorozu must've turned off her device. At least she has her part under control.
You stretch out, cracking your neck audibly as you tilt your head side-to-side, squatting to stretch out your aching hamstrings. That was a good few seconds of rest. Now, you just need to-
Click.
"DIE!"
BOOM!
Your squat might've just saved your life. Instead of hitting your head through the concrete, Bakugo's blast obliterates the upper half of the wall behind you, just barely missing your head - but the impact is still enough to send your vision into a backwards-upside spiral as your head snaps forward, legs jolted upwards in a tumble that churns your gut - you lose consciousness for a brief, culmulative second, and when you come to it feels like you've been kicked in the head by a plowhorse and run over by a jogger with size 30 sneakers. It takes a second to realize that you're lying on your side - white wall fragments digging into the back of your suit, your left sleeve with a thin layer of paper-white dust. It takes another second to realize that you've been blasted through the wall, into another wall, and that Bakugo's right there-
"DIE!"
Move MOVE MOVE MOVE- No time to rest- you fling yourself to the side, ignoring the aching pain that rushes through your body like water through canals, just barely avoiding the next explosion, rolling to the side and onto your feet to sprint away from the enraged blonde. You're getting better at avoiding these one-gauntleted explosions, but not good enough to try and fight him.
"STOP RUNNING, FUCKER! YOU SCARED, HUH? SCARED OF ME?" Bakugo roars, spittle flying out of his mouth. His palms are practically on fire at this point, half-sized explosions constantly popping off against his hands.
You turn around. Smile wide, exposing a perfect little gap where Bakugo gave you that love tap to the chin.
Flip him the double bird.
A second later, you duck behind the wall, scrambling to turn the corner before the explosions started up again.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"JUST KEEL OVER AND DIE, YOU SHITTY BASTARD!"
Good. Keep Bakugo angry, furious. It makes his movements erratic, but predictable. If he's thinking clearly, he'll do something tricky. You can't allow that to happen. Actions made on a knife's edge were your comfort zone.
BTOOM! You throw yourself to the side, the impact rattling your bones even as you pop to your feet, before sprinting up the next staircase, sliding through the corner as Bakugou follows close behind. You're on the third floor now; walls everywhere, a corridor of concrete blocks and pathways snaking over and across like a 3D map of Main Street. Good, you can lose Bakugo here-
"STOP MOVING, YOU DAMN-"
Click.
LEFT!
BTOOOOM!
Your feet pump against the hard floor as you put on the speed in a last-ditch sprint, flinging yourself to the left - half a second later the corridor behind you is blown apart by the explosion, the wall completely torn to smithereens by an explosive blast. Seems like Bakugo was taking a shortcut.
Faster, need to go faster. Need to lose him- You duck, fumble with your pockets as you run, stumbling over your feet-
It's just a sixth sense now, like some kind of primal instinct from battling with Bakugo for so long - like warning bells going off in your head, you can practically smell the heat, taste the nitroglycerin in the air, a sole second of hesitation before you throw yourself to the ground, plugging your ears-
"DIE!"
Click. A deeper click this time.
Uh-oh.
BOOOOM!
The wall behind you vaporizes, a translucent corona of red and yellow blooming outward from the hole in an instant, the force flinging you to the side like a ragdoll, your vision swirling white and black as spots dance across your vision- yet, even avoiding the brunt of the blast and plugging your ears, you still can't avoid the sheer volume of noise produced by the blast. You've heard that close-up explosives can reach up to 200dB; past 140dB permanent damage can occur. And that felt like much more than 140dB; the sound making your ears and eyes ring painfully, legs trembling before almost collapsing, barely managing to catch yourself against the wall.
"Urgh…"
You feel numb. Probably the metric ton of adrenaline still coursing through your veins, making you feel like melted ice cream even as the bruises multiply - all boneless and lightweight. That's probably the only thing keeping you awake right now, actually -
Your feet feel like they've been locked in place, two stone anchors where your shoes were. It's impossible to run, not with your ears and head ringing like this, a shrill scream of a ringing-
You try to run anyways, fail to do so, fall against the rubble of the ruined building, swaying like a boxer on the ropes as your vision blurs. Two Bakugos step forward. No, one-and-a-half, shifting and vibrating with the motions of your head. He's smiling. Pointing a gauntlet at you. You blink, try to focus. No use; it's all fuzzy. One of your ears pops with a crunch.
"-ire that! If you do, this exercise will-" All Might's voice crackles through the intercom. He sounds... panicked, and you blink as you try to figure out what he meant.
"-will hurt a bit-" Bakugo's voice is fuzzy in your ears.
Doesn't matter. Grenade. Dropped it on the ground, the pin already pulled.
Click.
Your smile is just on the wrong side of vicious, salty blood swelling in your mouth from your bitten tongue yet you still savor the look of panic on Bakugo's face as he sees the grenade roll towards him. You take the opportunity to stumble away, blindly limping away in the opposite direction of Bakugo. The flashbang goes off with a bang; you hear Bakugo curse, then more explosions echo in the chamber as the blonde. Ducking behind the rubble to catch a breath, you realize that your hearing is back; a bit fuzzy, but fine for now. It's oh-so-tempting to just sit down and rest, your eyes already feeling like they've been dragged down by sand - You slap your cheek, hard, shaking off the nausea and shock of pain as the numbing veil of adrenaline leaves your system-
Come on Ren. Just tough it out for a bit longer.
No flashbangs left. Almost there.
"Where are you! Come out, Ren!" Bakugo roars. By the sounds of it, he's lost track of you. Good. You need time to think, and recover. Good thing that thinking under pressure is one of your specialties.
What to do, what to do… you're pretty much out of options, no? Time is running out for your team, and it isn't like you have many other options left. Perhaps you took one too many hits to the head, but nothing is coming to mind, either. You could forfeit- actually, forfeiting sounds like the best course of action, but that hit must've knocked all the common sense out of you because you're definitely not going to forfeit.
No. Your eyes narrow as you bite your tongue, reveling in the shock of clarity that comes with the pain. I'm beating Bakugo in his own fucking game.
Crackle- Your earpiece turns on with a burst of static.
"-This is Yaoyorozu. I'm at the fourth floor. Iida's guarding the missile. He's standing right in front of it." There's a second of silence, as your partner clearly hesitates, before- "Hey, are you okay? I heard Bakugo screaming..." Her voice trails off. Guess she was too polite to comment about the sounds of murder-death going on below her.
"I'm fine." Your words come out grunted and slightly muffled. You pull off your mask for a second, wiping off the blood that had accumulated on your face, spitting out a chipped tooth fragment. There's blood in your mouth as well, and some on the inside of your suit; you make a mental note to inform the Support Division about this particular problem. Perhaps they'd give you a mouthguard, or some self-cleaning mechanism. "I'm on the third floor right now, still trying to get past Bakugo."
"Bakugo? I think I can see him - hold on one second." There's a shuffle, then a moment of silence as Yaoyorozu rummages for something, before she picks up the transceiver again.
"Yeah. He's by the staircase; I can see him from here."
Shit. All Might's lecture echoes in your head.
There are four staircases, each one located at the southeast corner of the building. Only one staircase per level, which means they acted as natural choke points. That also meant that you were trapped on the third floor - facing down a pissed-off Bakugo - with your partner separated from you.
Which, again- why didn't they give you a weapon? You get that you're supposed to be using your Quirks, and that giving kids weapons is probably a terrible idea but this situation would be so much better if you had a weapon. Or- crazy idea, I know - some training? Before you're thrown into the deep end? Anything would-
Wait. You were given something. You remember now.
You check your pockets and, sure enough, there's a roll of plastic "capture tape" in your front pocket - a long, thin band closer in consistency to nylon rope than any simple tape. You give it an experimental tug, noting the resilience. Maybe it's not strong enough to easily contain Bakugo, but it's definitely sturdy enough to hold something heavy.
Okay. Your partner's in position. Bakugo's trying to sniff you out, and you need to get to the fourth floor. Time to use that gray matter between your ears for once. You slap the side of your helmet, ignoring the sharp stab of pain and forcing yourself to concentrate.
"Momo, can you pull me up from the fourth floor?"
"What? No! I mean, maybe if I built a motor or something, but that'll take some time..." Yaoyorozu's voice trails off. Time was the thing we had the least of right now. You don't know how much time was left, but you were assuming you didn't have a lot. You doubt that you had gone for longer than twenty minutes, even if it felt like much longer, but-
You click your tongue irritatedly. "Okay, just hold on…"
What's the trick? You're full of tricks, just need to do something unexpected. Unfortunately, the bare-bones training area was meant to dissuade you from that type of thinking; nothing you could really exploit to your advantage. Besides, Bakugo's not going to fall for another trick of yours - at best, he'd probably just blast through it with raw force.
...
Your Quirk. If you could just use it, you'd be set - but in the end, it's just too damn slow. You had the advantage back during initiation because nobody was actively breathing down your neck; you could just sit back and map out your actions. Here, you doubt you'd be able to pull off something complicated like that - and you doubt that would even matter, really, with a single explosion being able to nullify that advantage instantly.
Walls. Walls and pitfalls. Walls and pitfalls- What else can you do? You have rope, walls, pitfalls-
…
You raise your head, your thoughts put on hold for just a second as you realize what is in front of you.
And a window. A window that's the perfect size, actually. A window that - you only just realized, that was just large enough for someone, maybe a slightly-skinny teenager, to squeeze through. And on the top of the building was another window. And a bomb.
Two windows, and a fifty-foot drop. Surely there was no way this could go wrong?