Chapter Eight: Ride


Morie dozed off for a while. Then the bus they were on jerked, and she sat upwards with a start like she had just seen a jumpscare.

Like what most people did after an embarrassing situation, she glanced around, sheepishly adjusting her ponytail before pretending like nothing happened. She took in a conversation going on right next to her.

"Doesn't Midoriya-chan's quirk resemble All Might's?"

- was the question brought up by Tsuyu as they sat on the bus as it rocked from back to forth.

"All Might never gets hurt, though," Kirishima pointed out from beside her.

Tsuyu did have a point, however, Midoriya's strength seemed to be way too powerful for a simple augmentation type quirk. Heck, even their fighting styles were similar, both relying heavily on their fists.

"Yeah, though that may also mean that maybe Midoriya hasn't attained full control of his quirk yet, or maybe since he's a fan of All Might he subconsciously emulates him." Morie theorised, deep in thought, while Midoriya seemed to be immensely uncomfortable with all the spotlight that was on him.

They were currently on the way to the their first rescue training at a location outside of Yuuei. There was a faint buzz of excitement in the air as this was the first time they were going to have rescue training- which was essentially what made up a Hero, after all. What were the point of Heroes, who could not help in rescue in one way or another, after all?

"To be honest, Midoriya, I'm envious that you have such a flashy quirk."

Kirishima said, and he solidified his hand as he held it up for his inspection. "My quirk is useful, but it's pretty plain if you ask me."

"Hey hey, I told you, Kirishima," Morie sighed, giving him a nudge as she pushed back her hair, eyeing him with a small mock-glower. "Your quirk is really cool and you can count on it to defend yourself. Besides, you don't need a flashy quirk to be a successful hero- no offense, Midoriya."

"It's alright, Rie-san!" Midoriya stated, flailing his arms somewhat before he continued on earnestly. "Anyway, I think Kirishima's quirk is more than enough to go pro."

"If we're talking about strong and flashy quirks, you gotta bring up Todoroki and Bakugou," the red-haired boy brought up, red eyes darting to the side, and aforementioned boys (or at least, Bakugou) perked up at the mentions of their names. Morie's eyes lingered on the boy with white-red hair for a moment, before her lips curled downwards and she turned away pointedly.

"Bakugou-chan's always angry, so he's not going to be popular," Tsuyu pointed out bluntly, fixing the blonde boy with a blank stare as if she was deep in contemplation.

I think I just died inside from how straight to the point that is.

Evidently, that honest sentiment rubbed Bakugou the wrong way. Veins nearly popping out from anger, he pushed up from his seat and made to lunge at the frog-like girl, glaring as his teeth bared and he barked out.

"What the hell? You wanna fight, bitch?!"

"See?"

The frog-like girl paid him no heed, simply turning to her side and sticking out her tongue.

(Oh gosh Tsuyu that was bloody adorable.)

Subsequently, Kaminari smirked as he gestured at Bakugou, yellow eyes looking highly amused as he commented snidely.

"Even from the brief time our socialisation has taken place, it has been made apodictally clear that his personality is very much akin to a turd, steaming in a sewer..."

A vein bulged in Bakugou's forehead at that as he glowered at the Electricity user.

"What the hell is with that vocabulary!?"

He roared- though she highly doubted that he was the only one who was surprised.

Kaminari promptly sniggered at the blonde boy's rage, evidently enjoying the way he managed to push his buttons. Morie smiled wryly at that, deciding to join in after a moment of hesitation.

(What was the harm, right?)

"That was wonderfully eloquent, Kaminari," she resisted the urge to snicker as they bumped their fists, and she pressed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter. The spiky-haired boy promptly turned upon her, growling. He looked about a second away from exploding (no pun intended.)

"You piece of shit, the fuck are you laughing at?!"

But Morie couldn't take him seriously, not when the tables have turned and Bakugou Katsuki of all people was getting teased. Bless Kaminari, this was a bloody miracle!

"S-sorry," she bit out in between her laughter, not feeling very sorry at all. Then she straightened up, fixing her dark eyes on him as she put on her best straight face as she spoke.

"It's nothing- just overwhelmed by how adorable you are, Bakugou."

Her voice came out in a deadpan, and a corner of her lips curled up at that.

There was the sound of Jirou dropping her phone and Kaminari nearly falling from his seat, but other than that, the bus was shocked still into silence (where in the world had those crickets come from?) Morie was filled with a smug sense of satisfaction that even the loud, foul-mouthed and spiky-haired boy was rendered speechless, but it didn't last very long at all.

(Oh god what has she done? Bakugou would definitely be after her blood for this!)

"I'm not fucking adorable, you shit!"

... She did give him the credit for recovering quickly.

A vein popped on Bakugou's forehead as he cursed loudly, looking as if it took all his willpower to not lunge forward and throttle her at that very instant. She noticed that the pink-haired girl, Mina's eyes, however, was sparkling- flecks of gold positively glimmering from within her dark eyes.

"Oh my gooosh! Morie-chan!"

Mina cried out, completely losing her shit as she squealed excitedly at the not-confession. "I didn't know he was your type!"

Morie sweatdropped at that, groaning at the misunderstanding as she resisted the powerful urge to facepalm though red was already beginning to colour her cheeks. Wasn't she obviously being sarcastic?

Someone please save her from this mortification.

"She was obviously being sarcastic," Momo pointed out, frowning as she echoed her thoughts. Immediately, the dark-haired girl straightened up, grateful beyond words for Yaoyorozu's timely intervention.

She proceeded to hide her glowing face in embarrassment as she stuttered out in affirmation. "Yes, thankyousomuch!"

'This is mortifying,' she groaned inwardly- why did she do that again? Was this payback for her tendencies to annoy people on purpose?

It was then did Kirishima thump her shoulder in a comforting gesture, though Kaminari was now howling with laughter.

Unsympathetic shit.

"Man, adorable? Hah, no wonder Bakugou's pissed off!"

.


The humiliating journey ended ten minutes later, and Morie cheered up significantly at the sight of the adorable space hero, Thirteen.

Her eyes sparkled at the sight of one of her favourite heroes of all time- rescue heroes barely got the credit they deserved. Thirteen, in her opinion, was amazing what with his calm personality and the gentleness with which he handled disaster relief. Gentlemen, in her opinion, she grudgingly admitted, were goddamn attractive.

Morie forced herself to pay attention as he gave an impassioned speech about how quirks could be both deadly and useful at the same time- and it was up to them to decide how to use them. She mulled over that, feeling slightly sick at that thought of using Pressure on another human being- actually, she didn't really want to think about that. Instead she fiddled with some stray marbles in her vest pocket.

"Thirteen's really cool, huh?"

Kirishima whispered in barely disguised awe, an excited grin spreading over his face as he turned to her.

"Yeah, he really is," she responded somewhat absent-mindedly, cheeks turning pink. Kirishima's grin widened, and she looked away hastily, muttering under her breath. "You didn't see anything."

"Definitely didn't see nothing," he remarked cheekily.

Morie sighed in surrender. "Double meanings, really? Kaminari's been rubbing off on you."

"Nah, I think I got that from you," Kirishima pointed out, causing a sheepish laugh to escape from her.

At the moment, the excited chatter bubbled on within the ranks of the class as they gathered together after Thirteen's speech- though the unexpected struck, deadly and unprecedented.

Aizawa-sensei was being strangely quiet. Out of curiosity, Morie followed his line of sight and her eyes widened. Right in the middle of the USJ, where the fountain was located, a black hole was forming. A hand reached out of it ominously, and it looked like it was reaching towards them.

"Kiri," she nudged him softly, her voice turning hushed. "Do you see that?"

Koroshima followed her line of sight, eyes widening at the disturbing sight.

"... what is that?" He questioned, frowning.

A feeling of dread was settling in her stomach by now, and she felt her throat going dry.

Something wasn't right. It might be just her, but that black mist looked like a portal of sorts, and something- no, somebody was coming out of it.

Then-

"- Huddle together and don't move! Thirteen, protect the students!"

It was the first time she saw their homeroom teacher so unhinged. The normally sloppy looking man had donned his combat goggles and stood in front of them protectively, his bandages floating about him in a flurry of movement.

"Get back- these are real villains!"

He emphasised. Pulling on his goggles, Aizawa launched himself into attack, his bandages unraveling and trailing after him as he leapt directly into the group of villains.

Sensei specialises in attacks against groups, but can he really defend himself and protect us at the same time?

(But there was more.)

Another black mass was starting to form right in front of them, and out emerged a towering figure with what seemed to be black, wispy flames for a face. The flames hovered once, twice, and the slits the figure had instead of eyes flickered... was it scrutinising them?

It spoke after a brief pause, the voice echoing out clearly for all of them to hear.

Danger's here, she thought, as a cold feeling began to spread through her body.

"We are the League of Villains," a seemingly disembodied voice emitted from the man made of black flames. "Today, we have come for a simple purpose- to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."

Those words alone seemed to act as the beginning- and the trigger of an entire series of occurrences.

"Stop! You have to evacuate!"

Thirteen was shouting in alarm now, and her eyes widened at the sight of Kirishima and Bakugou leaping to attack the villain, fists poised to strike. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight.

It was like the world had stopped, and her voice choked out a shout of alarm. What were they thinking? These were villains- not matter how strong they were, they didn't know the villains' quirk. They could get hurt, or even killed without the villain batting an eye!

Immediately, she made to push forward, but in that instant, it all went down to shit.

With a shudder, the floating black mass begin to grow larger and larger, until it had them completely encompassed within the darkness. It swallowed them whole, lurking about them with blazing malice- and the reality of the situation hit her as her world began to spin.

(They could very well be dead by the end of today.)

.


Suddenly Morie was falling. She was tumbling into an unknown heat, and her eyes opened to searing pain.

An angry, red burn had formed on her right arm and leg as she had evidently been tossed directly into flames. Her body had been spared the same fate due to her handy Hero costume, though her arm and her right leg seemed to be in pretty bad shape.

Pushing herself up, she flinched at the jolt of pain which shot through her, causing her knuckles to tighten and whiten as she gripped her side, wincing.

Around her stood worn-down buildings and flames- just her luck that she, of all people was currently stranded in the flame zone in the USJ. Any wrong move while she used her quirk could result in the flames going crazy, a.k.a she might get burned alive. Being burned alive wasn't the most appealing way one could die, and neither was the thought of dying from asphyxiation.

"Minamoto-san!"

She jolted up at the familiar voice.

The sight of Mashirao was a much welcomed one as she recognised his light blonde hair and mild features. He hurried over quickly, skilfully darting around the flames in the vicinity as he headed in her direction.

"We have to go- there are villains after us."

"I can see that," Morie stated, paling at the sudden presence of around three hostile enemies about ten metres behind them. "Let's go."

They started off in the direction of where the centre of the USJ would be. The villains were consistently some ways behind them- if they slipped up or hit a dead end, they would have no choice but to fight. Then a jet of flames soared past them, and they quickened their pace.

"They're breathing fire."

Mashirao stated, the smallest of frowns creasing his usual neutral expression.

"Explains why they like the fire, then."

Morie chuckled weakly at that statement in response. Breathing was harder than usual- was it just an effect of the numerous flames burning up the supply oxygen, or was it just her... ?

"Are you certain that you are alright, Minamoto-san? Those burns look rather serious," Mashirao questioned, fixing upon her a worried stare.

"No," she admitted begrudgingly. "But I'll be fine."

There was hardly any other option for them. They were injured, outnumbered, and at a severe disadvantage. Morie refused the idea of getting caught or defeated by the villains (she was sure Mashirao felt the same) so all they could do at this point was run. It was a desperate option, but if it could keep them alive, she would gladly keep on running in spite of her injuries.

She could handle a little pain, right?

Ironically, just as that thought crossed her mind, a slew of flames hit her across her back and she let out a cry, stumbling slightly. She was terribly lucky in the sense that her suit was fireproof as well, but yet she was unlucky in the sense that the whole situation seemed to be mocking her.

Steering Mashirao off their original path, she raised her hand and visualised the pressure gradients of the air around them to flow and fuel the fires- the pressure in the air was already high enough, thanks to the unbearable heat of the scorching flames. With a roar, the flames grew to an incredible height- the villains could not chase them if they could not see them, after all.

They ducked behind a pillar, seeking cover from the flames, their breathing coming in heavy and ragged gasps.

Then-

"Minamoto-san, your hair!"

The touch of alarm in Mashirao's normally calm voice set her on edge immediately, and Morie's eyes widened.

Out of the corner of her eye, her ponytail of dark brown hair was set alight at the end with small flames. The situation would have been very much comical if the fire had not been inching up her ponytail and creeping dangerously closer to her head.

Morie's eyes roamed the surroundings wildly- there were no sources of water which she could use, and they were running out of time to hide. The diversion wouldn't last for long, they need another plan as soon as possible.

What should she do? Try to blow the fire out? No, that was impossibly stupid, the fire was too big. Smother the fire with her hands? Again, the fire was too large for that, not too mention they had nothing on hand that could effectively smother it.

There had to be a way but nonono- she couldn't think why couldn't she think?

Agitation shot through her as she was almost on the verge of losing her nerve, but she forced herself to take in a deep breath as she dispelled the incoherent thoughts from her mind.

("Breathe- ")

- and she silently made a decision.

Whipping her gloved hands inside her vest, she procured what was none other than a Swiss Army Knife, which had been hidden in her vest pocket as one of her emergency tools. Morie stared at the blade in her hand, feeling the weight in her hands. Her fingers curled around it. Tightened.

Then she swallowed.

Gathering up every last bit of her resolve, she brought the blade up to the back of her neck, pressing against the dark brown strands firmly. Deliberately, she brought the blade across swiftly- once, twice?

(She lost count.)

Accompanied with the sudden action was the sound of her hair elastic snapping as the length of her ponytail was now splayed out on the floor, looking sad, charred, and lifeless. They sizzled with small sparks of deadly flames, and Morie glanced at them with a strange detachment, knife still in hand and breathing heavily.

Stowing away her knife, she shook her head, shaking off the stray strands as she increased the pressure around her, and the resulting breeze gathered up her strands of hair. The breeze began to carry the strands somewhere, letting them float leisurely in the wind, in the direction opposite of where they would go. The great flames would have burned over their tracks by now. It was best if they discovered her hair in another place, and went off looking in the wrong direction.

Then-hair, now-decoys. Impassively, Morie turned back to face her comrade.

"Let's go, Mashirao." She said quietly, already creeping towards an opening in the flames pulling her helmet and her visor back on. Without comment, Mashirao followed after her as they disappeared once more into the sea of flames, making the last dash for safety.

Right now, she might have been the one holding Mashirao back, but it was precisely because of that that she swore to herself to personally ensure that both of them would get through this alive.

(There were no words to express how much she appreciated his thoughtful silence. Her mind was growing clearer and clearer now by the minute, but she pushed aside her unnecessary thoughts and focused on running. Adrenaline was kicking in now, numbing her pain, and a smile split across her face.

There was hope.)

.


A/N:

In which Rie pulls a Mulan. Or a Sakura. I was thinking of it as a metaphor.

It was about time that she got some bad luck, don't you think?

I still think Horikoshi is a genius for pulling off the whole 'calm before the storm' thing in this chapter. On the other hand, the whole Rie being sarcastic with Bakugou thing was inspired by a scene in school.

Thoughts?