Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 109:
"Round 5: Begin!"
Uraraka Ochaco ran into the testing arena and her eyes darted around inside the pink goggles of her recently updated costume. The lens of her goggles under the helmet was shaded dark pink and kept her eyes from view, so no one watching through the cameras around the testing ground could see what she was looking at. In a room at the front of Arena Alpha, Class 2-A stood gathered in front of a big screen some of their teachers and Recovery Girl were watching too. Out of the previous four entrants, only Iida stood there watching the Final Exam of his classmate who went in right after him. The other three who had lost: Aoyama, Ashido, and Asui, were all missing from the room despite having a long time between each round where Recovery Girl was able to see them.
Iida was the first to pass the Final Exam's practical section, and he was the last to doubt the parameters of what the test would involve. Everyone already knew what Uraraka was up against when she ran inside. She did not run to the middle of the large round circular arena, but instead sprinted to one of the sides close to a staircase up to the upper level that encircled the arena stage. The staircases behind the tall white pillars around the round room, led up to upper sections that had rows upon rows of metal benches above them. It looked like a real arena, a colosseum… a stadium. It had a similar feel to a smaller Sports Festival stadium, and the feeling of running through the Sports Festival in such an intense situation was bringing memories back to each of the students' minds.
Uraraka took a deep breath after running behind a pillar near the stairs though. She poked her head out around the pillar, and she looked towards the middle of the room and then up to the second floor of the stadium where she spotted her enemy. Her target was the only other thing moving in all of Arena Alpha. It was up on the second floor, moving down the bleachers and turning its metal head back and forth while looking around on the same level. Then it looked down to the first floor, and it rose its head straight to the pillar Uraraka was poking out from behind. Already!? She thought in panic and then tried to calm herself while jumping out from behind it. If it saw me there's no point in hiding- Uraraka's eyes opened wide behind her dark pink goggles.
The large bulky robot on the floor above did not move for a staircase to run down at her. It pointed its hands behind it and shot off the ground with jets coming out of its feet. Just like Asui's! Uraraka turned and ran for the staircase, while the Anti-Nomu-Terminator shot diagonally out of the air towards her back. It sped up with the jets it fired out from its hands, and Uraraka glanced over her shoulder as she heard the blast and could see how much faster the ANT was moving now.
"Uraraka's is so fast," Sero said while leaning in towards the screen with his eyes wide back in the viewing room. "It's even faster than Iida's!"
Iida nodded his head as he noticed that as well, though his eyes just stayed focused on the screen. He held his metal helmet in the crook of his right arm, and he thought about why it was he believed the ANT he had to face was not made to try and match his speed. He had considered that they were not able to make it any faster, but his did not have capabilities that Uraraka's was showing already. In that case, Iida thought. His eyes focused more on the girl who spun forward and sprinted faster up into the staircase. It does not have the same strengths as mine either.
"She's just running-" Mineta started with his eyes wide and shaking at the aspect of going up against one of these things on his own.
"That is not true." Mineta turned to his right and up at the tall girl next to him who was watching her classmate carefully. The black-haired girl in a tight red shirt split down the middle had a weapon's belt on her waist as well as two straps of closed pouches going over her shoulders and down the sides of her costume. Momo Yaoyorozu said in a calm voice though while rooting for her classmate in her head, "Leading a faster enemy into a more cramped quarters where they will be able to use their speed less, especially when its speed is reliant on the use of its arms as well, is a great strategy. Uraraka is not just running."
Win, Midoriya thought, staring at the screen with hopeful eyes though a nervous heart as he could not see Uraraka's expression well to see how she was thinking. On his right side though, Midoriya saw Bakugo lean back with a smirk on his face that made the green-haired boy's eyes dart over, then snap back to the screen as he wondered if there was something he was missing.
First move is always, Uraraka ran to the top of the stairs and cut to the right. She ran a few steps and then quickly made herself float while at the same time jumping at a pillar on the second floor that stretched much higher up to the ceiling. She touched her fingers together after jumping up with Zero Gravity, returning her weight right as her legs were touching into the pillar. Her body was curved up, but with the returned gravity she started falling until she was completely sideways against the wall though with her legs bent against it. Uraraka touched herself again before she started pointing too far down, while her feet were still up against the pillar, and she started unbending her legs while at the same time removing her gravity again.
She had the momentum pushing off the wall of someone weighing a hundred and twenty pounds, and her kick force sent her weightless body flying straight towards the top of the stairs right as the robot behind her was sprinting to the top. Its head was already turned the direction Uraraka was coming from, and it rose up its arms fast by blasting flames out the palms. The raise of its arms that quickly up in front of it to block was unexpected, and Uraraka's eyes opened huge behind her pink goggles as the palms of the ANT started to glow ready to fire. Uraraka touched her fingers together, returning her own weight and dropping below the flames that the ANT fired out at her.
Her classmates who just yelled her name out in panic opened their eyes wide again as the girl dodged beneath the blast by only inches. Bakugo's smirk that actually dropped started to return, though he scoffed at himself for a second in annoyance at second-guessing the decision he already made in his head. Uraraka hit the ground with her body curling in, and she dropped into a forward roll that looked painful, especially since she did not use her right arm much to help her curl. She rose her right hand instead, and she smacked it into the bulky body of the robot that was still nowhere near the limit for the amount of weight she could carry with her Zero Gravity Quirk.
The robot she touched instantly shot backwards, and it stopped firing flames from its hands though was too late to stop itself from slamming its back left shoulder into a pillar and bouncing off straight into some metal benches. Uraraka's eyes darted to the pillar and a rock she just saw fall off of it, then to the bleachers that broke but were still connected down to the floor in most places. She started running for the pillar, as she saw the ANT lifting its hands and grabbing the broken benches on its sides to pull itself up. The robot flipped its body around, then it fired a jet of flames out of its left hand and dodged a rock that Uraraka threw at it as hard as she could while it weighed nothing, then returned its gravity alone without returning the Nomu's by only touching her index fingers together that she had removed the rock's gravity with.
The robot that shot itself away spun around in the air and bounced on the floor then the ceiling as it pointed jets down. It spun around and around in the air, but Uraraka stared towards it and took a deep breath as she saw it steadying itself with its four jets. Then her eyes shifted to its right shoulder, where she saw a dent in the steel from the last time it slammed into one of the benches on its dodge away from her rock aimed at its face. She had specifically aimed at the two glowing red eyes on its head, and she saw how much it cared about protecting those now that it had injured itself dodging away. She also realized what Iida already had, and she nodded her head in understanding before turning and running towards the benches, and steel that she knew would be able to pierce through this particular robot.
The teachers in the watching room grinned, and Recovery Girl leaned back in her seat a bit. The students around them were mostly sill watching intensely, but some of them were realizing as the teachers did that this was a similar moment to Iida's not long before the end of the last round. All Might nodded at the screen in front of him, A hero's ability to react, and to make decisions quickly based on the knowledge they've acquired in that short period of time. Young Aoyama and Ashido were unable to handle being so suddenly thrust into a fight against Anti-Nomus, nor was Young Asui prepared for the difference in fighting techniques and abilities of the ANT facing her compared to the others'. It is an unfortunate disadvantage to those who go first, but reacting should not determined on how prepared one is. Young Uraraka though… All Might's smile rose as the girl turned and started running from the ANT while carrying two huge chunks of steel with her. As much as the ANTs were made to face them, they still were chunks of metal and this one did not see the obvious trap as it started after the girl it was determined to take down and nothing else.
A few seconds later, and the entire watching room filled with cheers from Uraraka's classmates. One student did not cheer with the others, as Mashirao Ojiro kept as focused a look as possible on his face. He clenched his fists at his sides and his tail curled in anticipation of his fight that was up next. They had a few minutes where Arena Alpha was going to get fixed up and they could talk to Uraraka, as well as listen to how the teachers graded her, though all of them already expected their classmate was going to get an A for sure. Uraraka swung her left arm around in a few circles and rubbed her shoulder with her right hand, but then she turned towards where she saw one of the cameras and she gave it a big thumbs up while a split-in-half ANT sparked behind her.
"…Esquomalador's president Peña claims the new laws will prevent Trigger, T4-Trigger, Personal, Riot, Vertigo, and Super Heroin from making it into the country's ports. The problem with his statements is that Honduras and Venlumbico's governments have not enacted similar tactics, so the land routes are just going to become the new main ones. Although Mexico has been increasing its rate of arrests in its southern regions, drugs still move in through the north of Esquomalador and through its southern border already at rates almost as high as its neighbors. And if Peña does not work to enact a more comprehensive drug policy that encompasses more than just ship checks and random port searches, drugs will continue going into his country. His new policies won't even slow drug imports from overseas, as villains will simply move to the ports of their neighbors and then bring in shipments over land."
Ojiro took a deep breath and then lowered the slip of paper he had brought up with him and had glanced down at a couple of times in a nervous way. He had his entire script memorized, but he was already feeling nervous because of a different part of his Final Exams earlier that he had not done very well in. After lowering his paper he stared at the panel of heroes in front of him who had been taking their own notes the whole time and were now making some final ones as he finished.
Ojiro spotted Hagakure behind the teachers lift up a white glove and give him a thumbs up. He felt a bit of relief knowing that she thought he did well there, then he tried to keep a serious look on his face that was not nervous when his teachers started tearing into his report. He was already expecting it after watching a few other reports before his, but the report order was randomized unlike the practical tests and he did not have much to base his questioning off of.
"…and you say that President Peña 'claims' certain things multiple times in your presentation. On your report copy I have here, you did make sure to cite it, however you shouldn't just make such broad claims without saying where you got your information from." Midnight looked up and pushed her glasses a bit up her nose before continuing to the student, "As your classmates and anyone who does not have this paper before them may doubt where you are getting your information from or how credible it is to just make a broad statement like that."
"…And what are those 'more comprehensive' measures?" Ecotplasm narrowed his glowing white eyes at the student still in his hero uniform as all of the second years in the hero course had to be for the full three days of their Final Exams. "You talked a lot about the problems of the current most violent crimes in Esquomalador, but other than 'changing' the policies, and making them 'more' comprehensive, you didn't give a detailed plan. Something exact, specific, that they could do to fix these problems. Something more tangible than just 'they're not doing enough.'"
"…A very good report. Very good, and detailed. You showed that you spent a lot of time researching this…" All Might hesitated, then the teacher who was too nice to the point that he started every comment that way continued, "But I agree with Ectoplasm. I understand that you are suggesting policies that also handle land transport of hard drugs, drugs which all the most violent crimes in Esquomalador are based around. However, closing borders or just, making them more difficult to cross based on suspicion of carrying drugs… Well, it is difficult. Do you think the government should have border guards searching every vehicle to cross over? Every single truck, which will consist of thousands every day, which will require a much larger workforce at the border to handle. And although you could now say that this could be a good solution to the high unemployment rate you already mentioned," All Might continued, and he finished in a questioning tone, "How will they pay those border workers? Already the policies requiring searches at ports will create hundreds of jobs as you mentioned, but taxes need to raise in this case to pay for those government workers, and the people of Esquomalador are not well off as things stand currently. Asking them to pay more, and then asking them to do so again when similar policies did not work with the only difference being that these will be more extensive, is something that will get President Peña removed from his office very quickly."
Ojiro sweatdropped as he did not have a response for All Might here, and though All Might did not ask him for one, it frustrated him that he came up blank after researching Esquomalador for the whole term. The teachers finished up their critiques of his report, and Ojiro thanked them for listening before heading out of the auditorium.
Hagakure subtly got up and scooted down her row, all the students she was sliding past pulling far away with nervous looks on their faces since the girl was practically naked in her hero costume. She ran out of the auditorium and spun her head back and forth, then she ran over to her left where she saw Ojiro leaning back against the wall. He had his right hand up against his forehead, his head leaned back on the wall and his teeth gritting in frustration. "They've been hard on everybody so far," Hagakure began while jumping in front of Ojiro.
He had already seen her on his side so he was not surprised by her jump before him. He lowered his hand from his face and tried shifting the frustrated expression he had, but he couldn't keep it up after a few seconds. "I can't-" he started, then he shook his head and lowered his gaze to the floor where he saw Toru's white shoes. "As much as I bulked up with Rhystorm, training harder than ever… I couldn't even dent the ANT. I messed up my presentation, and my internship's over so- so what did I accomplish?"
Hagakure reached forward and she started hugging Ojiro, but he pushed back from her. He looked down into the blank space where her face would be while holding her back by her bare shoulders. "You're up soon, Toru. I don't need to, I shouldn't be worrying you with-"
"I'm not worried," Toru said. Ojiro's eyes widened a bit, and the shorter girl in front of him lifted a glove she put on his right cheek. "I'm not worried about you, because I know you're going to be fine. Wait until the grades come out at least, before beating yourself up over it. I want you to watch my report too, after all," she slowed down at the end of her sentence, turning her head and twisting her right foot on the floor in a nervous way.
Ojiro took a deep breath and he calmed himself down. Toru's right. Don't get caught up in… I should have done better. I trained so hard for this. Prepared all- Ojiro shook his head and then he lowered his hands from Hagakure's shoulders while nodding his head. "Yeah. You're right. Let's get back in there." He rose a hand to his right cheek as he started walking the other way again with his girlfriend, and he added, "Thanks for that."
"Round 8: Begin!"
Koji Koda jogged out through the starting gate into the building. He sprinted towards the steps as his first move, and he ran up to the second floor and straight up the bleachers. As quickly as he could he ran to the closest window to the entrance gate, and Koda smashed through the glass before shouting outside. "Come animals! I need your help! Please come help me!"
The building's interior did not have much for Koda to work with, so his first move was gathering up some weapons. His classmates watching all thought he was making the best first move, but some of them started shouting at the screen for Koda to move. His shouts attracted the ANT that Koda had not even searched out the position of yet. All of the other rounds had had a few moments after the start before any interactions with the ANTs occurred though, and Midoriya nodded while staring at Koda in a focused way. He knew he needed to get there fast. He looks nervous though. Come on Koda.
You can do it, Jirou thought, focusing on the screen and a friend of hers she had passed her spring Final Exam with their first year.
Bakugo glanced behind him, and he turned back forward as the boy with spiky red hair behind him walked up to his side. Bakugo did not say anything, and Kirishima just ground his teeth before focusing on Koda up on the screen. After Iida and Uraraka won one after the other, it had seemed like things were changing for their class who got used to the final's parameters. Then Ojiro lost in his drawn-out fight, and Kirishima thought he would win next because Ojiro's biggest problem was piercing through the robot's armor. For the first time in all the matches though, the ANT did not go after the participant. Their goal was to fight and beat the ANT, and Kirishima's stayed away from him for twenty embarrassing minutes of charging around and destroying everything to try and make it harder for the robot to avoid him. He had failed, and he was exhausted, but he came back and was watching the round right after his despite the pissed-off expression on his face.
After the sixth round with Ojiro, they had run out of time for the practicals on the first day. They were onto the second day of finals now, and Kirishima went first as Round 7. It had been something many of them had thought was done on purpose, and some thought the teachers might just start them on Round 8 with the student in class who was numbered as 8 and had it on his hero costume box. The seventh student in the class had never had his seat number claimed by someone else, and no one wanted to be number 7 anyway to be associated in any way with Kaminari Denki. It was similar to how their class also had a missing number 13, leaving them with nineteen students total in Class 2-A but numbering up to 21. It was almost the perfect gap that some of the students expected they might end right after Jirou that day too, especially after how long Kirishima's match had gone first.
Everyone in the spectators' room focused in on Koda as he ran away from the ANT. A few of them winced and Jirou even turned towards Midnight and asked if that was necessary, as the ANT chasing Koda smacked a hand through the air and slammed one of the birds flying around its head. The smack slammed the bird into a nearby pillar where it hit hard and then fell motionless to the floor. Koda stared back with his eyes wide behind his yellow mask for a moment, then he had to spin more and cross his arms to protect from the heavy punch of the robot that sped up and attacked.
Koda's feet lifted off the floor and he let out a yell of pain as the punch bruised both arms immediately. He hit down on his feet but stumbled back and then fell and skid on his back a few more yards away. He put his hands down on his side and flipped over onto his hands and knees, then he started running forward on all fours until he got up to his feet to run again. "Keep attacking!" Koda shouted behind him through the orange mask on the bottom of his face to hide his mouth while he shouted so loudly. He looked back over his shoulder again, and his eyes bulged while he tried ducking. The ANT was giving him no time to run, and it slammed its head forward even as two birds tried blocking its vision, and then it slammed a fist into the side of the boy's face.
"Koda!" Sero called out, actually worried as he saw blood splash from their classmate's face on that punch.
An orange mask flew off of Koda's face, the straps broken. The boy who had been wearing it spun out while still in mid-sprint, and he hit the ground and bounced and then slammed into the railing between two pillars of the second floor.
"Running away and hoping that birds would take down an Anti-Nomu," Sato muttered. He felt bad for his classmate, but also nervous as he was up next. He was hoping he had a bit longer before having to go out there and fight, and also hoping to see more of his classmates defeating the robots to give him a better shot at doing the same. "It wasn't enough."
Asui thought the same, but the frog girl who had lost her own fight against the ANT noticed that none of the teachers sitting at the long table in front of the screens were reacting yet. Midnight smiled and the woman leaned forward a bit as she saw Koda pushing his curled fingers flat into the floor at his sides, and shifting his body up the railing.
"Hey, is this really alright?" Ashido stepped forward and asked All Might who just nodded and kept watching with a serious look on his face.
Young Koda, do your best!
"Keep going!" Koda shouted, opening his mouth wide and yelling it at the top of his lungs at the ANT. "Please! Help me!"
"He's just going to get more birds killed," Sato muttered. And that's just going to hurt him more than-
A spark flew from the right side of the Anti-Nomu's neck. The ANT started sprinting towards the boy on the railing who dove to his side and into a roll, then got up and ran into the bleachers where it would be harder for the ANT he had not seen fly yet come after him. Birds kept circling the ANT, and some flew in and pecked it in the face and got in front of its eyes again. Bakugo's eyes narrowed more at the screen, and he focused on the birds that flew around the ANT's head alone to notice that some of the creatures were not actually attacking at all but just getting in the ANT's way.
What is Koda doing? Midoriya thought.
"Please! Keep chewing! You're almost there!"
The students had not seen Koda's mouth earlier when it was hidden behind the muzzle, but he had not been shouting at the birds alone. The ANT running up at him slowed down and stumbled to the side, sparks flying out of some of the cracks in its steel armor. Inside of the robot, flies and fleas and the smallest of insects were chewing away at the wires that held the ANT together. The wires on the inside were not easy to tear through though, and the ANT looked up with flickering red eyes and then charged at Koda, jumping up on metal benches and jumping from one to the next up towards the running boy.
Koda turned around in mid-run though, and he jumped up on the metal bench closer to the ANT himself. Just need something to shake the insides! Rip the wires almost chewed through! Koda jumped to the next bench right as the Ant was jumping up to the one below it. Just have to dodge one! Koda looked like he was going to jump, then he stopped with his legs bent. The ANT threw its punch early while leaping off the next bench down, then Koda stepped to the left and dove himself on the outside of the ANT's punching arm. The ANT's other arm punched below its extended one, hitting Koda in the side and making the large boy gasp out some spit again. It looked like he might get punched away from the ANT, but Koda threw his arms out and grabbed the robot by the head while still in forward momentum. Koda turned his body in midair so he would not hit down as hard, making sure he slammed down on top of the ANT he was tackling down on the bleachers too.
Most of Class A stared at the screens in shock as Koda tackled the ANT in a very violent and physical way which was unlike him. He slammed it into the ground and yelled out in pain as he bounced and rolled over his own back, but he flipped again in his roll and slammed the ANT down again, more sparks coming out of it. Birds flying above shot down and started pecking at cracks on the robot, and one reached its beak inside and grabbed at an exposed wire. Another bird tried doing the same only to squawk and fly off as it got sparked, but then it shot back down and pecked again. Koda sat up on the robot he had flipped over, and he put both of his huge rocky hands together over the top of his head. "AhhHHHH!" He slammed both hands down into the flickering red eyes of the ANT's face while it rose both arms at its sides.
Koda smashed the robot's head back into the ground as it started lifting it. The head slammed into the floor, the red eyes turned dark, and the robot's arms fell limp. Koda panted hard while staring down at the robot below him, his eyes wide behind his yellow mask, blood trickling fast down his face from the cut on his right cheek. He lifted his right hand and rubbed it across the side of his boulder-shaped head, and then he said in a softer voice, "Thank you." Koda looked around at the birds, then back at the robot. "All of you," he added for the insects inside. '…I don't know why you're shy Koda. You're the bravest person I know…'
"He did it," Sato said, amazed as he stared at the screen where he thought for sure he was going to see Koda get knocked out soon.
"Alright Koda!" Kirishima shouted. A few of the others who had been too focused that they did not see Kirishima come back in glanced back at him in surprise, but Kirishima looked genuinely happy as he shouted that for their classmate. Ectoplasm looked over his shoulder too with more of a frown that the student was not reflecting more on his own loss. Kirishima was thinking hard about that though, but seeing Koda succeed and shout like that after all the time he had known him being so afraid of being seen shouting, it made Kirishima smile through his own frustration.
Ojiro looked over towards Kirishima in the most shock of the others around him, then he lowered his gaze down and clenched his fists at his sides. I can reflect on my own shortcomings, without getting depressed over them. I, should still be happy for my classmates. For Koda. Ojiro smiled and lifted his eyes back to the screens in front of them, I am, happy for Koda.
Over the next hour, three more students went through their Final Exams. Sato failed his, then Shoji won after another hard-fought fight that lasted a little longer than Koda's but ended in another plan that Shoji had started from right after running into the arena. Cementoss had to come back into Arena Alpha a few times to fix it up, but he did not have to fix it more after any fight than he did at Round 11, when Jirou went. As Jirou stormed out of the arena afterwards, while her ANT stood undefeated in the middle of the room, all of Class A stood silently in the spectating room.
The room was a complete mess, with the second floor destroyed as were most of the bleachers that all had to be replaced with stone at this point. While Cementoss went in there to fix up the arena, a few of the others had hesitant looks on their faces thinking about what they had just seen. Jirou's ANT had dodged her attacks like Kirishima's, staying far away and making the girl chase after it. Her attacks were a lot more destructive than Kirishima's though, and they were a lot less precise. The teachers had finally ended it before the time limit, calling out that Jirou had destroyed too much of the arena that she was supposed to be protecting, as it was a replica of the Sports Festival's after all. The angry look on her face before they even called her out had just gotten even more furious as she failed. It looked more than just frustration, and Yaoyorozu turned from the screens a few seconds after Jirou left.
Yaoyorozu left the room with a few others glancing back at her, most of them glad that someone was going to talk to her about that. A couple figured Jirou should just be left alone right now though, and Shoji looked away from the door behind him to stare at the screen instead. He looked at the extensive damage done to the miniature Sports Festival stadium, and despite how much Jirou destroyed it, the place still looked fine to him, at least in comparison to the real one the previous year. It's been eight months, Shoji thought, trying to push those thoughts from his head.
The tall boy with a mask on the bottom half of his face that stretched down into his tight blue costume opened his eyes and narrowed them below his white bangs. It's been eight months, of villains rising. Their numbers have risen constantly. Escaped Tartaros prisoners, Stain cultists, The Harbingers, there are too many to count… The Army of Death too. Since the Sports Festival, things are… Shoji tried distracting himself again, but his narrowed eyes shifted down from the screens he was staring at. '…as much as I saved you that day Shoji, you saved me…'
"Hanta Sero, you're up next," Midnight looked back to the boy behind her seat who lifted his eyebrows for a second. He gulped and nodded before smiling in a more confident way like he had this under control.
When Sero turned from Midnight though, his eyes lowered to the floor while he started walking to the door. I thought they'd do a break like when it should have been Kaminari's. I guess we still have time today, for one more. That one more should be Zach though. Sero shook his head and he headed out of the room, getting his expression more serious and tightening his hands into fists at his sides. Zach's gone though. He's out, doing him. I've gotta do me. Sero stretched his arms out in front of him, and he cracked his neck to either side while grinning his big teeth to cover half of his face.
"I've got this," Sero told himself. He clenched his fists and punched them together in front of him, then he lowered his arms slowly down to his sides. His grin lowered into a smaller one, and his eyes got a little sadder as he thought, I wish there was someone else going before me though. Just, between me and Jirou. That's your spot. She looked so angry too, and is it just about Kaminari? I mean, thinking about the Sports Festival, it's gotta be Zach too at least a bit. Or, Kaminari did- he did… Sero clenched his fists tighter at his sides with his teeth grinding and his grin completely vanishing now. Anger spread over his face instead, thinking about the blond who had fought alongside him for the whole Sports Festival. Almost the whole festival, Sero thought, clenching his eyes shut for a moment and stopping in the hallway towards the start area in Arena Alpha.
He thought about how they all saw Midoriya's huge final attack on Inhuman from outside the stadium. Sero saw Kaminari's worried expression, how he sprinted back into the stadium in panic. He ground his teeth and slammed his right fist out into the wall at his side, thinking about how Cementoss had shouted at him, Sato, Ojiro, and Hagakure to stay and protect the people they were guarding. They had all run off after Kaminari though, not because they wanted to see if the others were okay too, but because they had to protect their comrade running recklessly back into the stadium on his own. And we couldn't find him! I, I looked for him, and then we got out into the bleachers and he was shouting down at Zach, tears in his eyes and- and! And he had killed Aizawa sensei, sometime between then. That bastard. Fuck. Except, the one crying for Zach wasn't- it wasn't really him. It was Kaminari. Not Raijin. Though they were the-
Sero started shaking his head around fast. I'm up. I need to focus. Beat an ANT, because we might actually have to fight ANTs in the future, because Kaminari stole some of them and gave them to the League. They have the designs, and I need to be able to stop ANTs on my own. Even if I do join a hero team, I'll pull my weight. Sero started grinning again and heading forward towards the entry gate to the arena. After all, I'm in the Class A. The infamous class of Zach Sazaki, Lifebringer, (probably) Death! The class with all the best new heroes! I've got this. I've gotta become a hero. Then I could finally get out there, and start fighting villains just like you. Well, probably in a bit of a different way. But similar in that I'm going to take, them, down. Sero walked confidently for the gate where he saw Cementoss walking in the other way showing he was done fixing the place up.
Sero nodded at his teacher who wished him luck in the fight, then he stepped right up the gate and took a deep breath. It wasn't goodbye forever. I know that. As many goodbyes as you gave me, we'll meet again. And if I'm a hero, there's all the more opportunity for us to meet. So there's another reason for why I'm going to win right here, why I'm going to be a hero… my friend.
Six Months Ago…
Sero looked down his hallway on the fifth floor of Class A's dorm at Heights Alliance. He stared past the others' rooms to the one at the end of the hall, and he lowered his eyes after a second and then turned to his doorway. What is Iida doing? Why did he- There's no point in removing Zach from the chat. He got rid of his phone. He threw it all away last night. Sero shook his head and he ground his teeth. He stepped into his room and closed the door fast behind him, finally letting an angry look come over his face for the first time all day.
Damn it. Damn! I meant all that shit… I really, I don't think Zach was wrong to do- but! Why the hell did you have to leave?! Zach!
Sero snapped open his clenched eyes and shook his head around. I don't have long until eight o'clock. I've gotta… he flicked on the light next to his door, and then he looked down to the floor in front of him. He stared at an envelope in front of his door that he had leaned back against. Sero's eyes started growing wide as he reached down and picked the envelope up, and he flipped it over to see 'Sero' written on the front of it. No way, he thought, lowering the envelope for a second and shaking his head. Then he froze and his eyes bulged again, Except, he knew. He planned it all out, so, this really is- Sero lifted his envelope and ripped the top of it off as fast as he could.
A few floors below him, Mineta dropped an envelope at his feet and he stared at the folded up letter he spread in front of his face. 'Hey Mineta,' Mineta snapped his head back for a second and he clenched his teeth with his heart yanking in his chest. He sniffled and already had to wipe his eyes again even though he had finished crying on the bus. Damn it! Zach! Mineta could hear Zach's voice when he read it as if Zach stood in front of him saying those things aloud.
'Hey Mina…'
'Hey Shoji…'
'…Please, don't tell anyone you got this letter. I didn't leave one for everyone.'
'…didn't leave one for everyone.'
'…didn't leave one for everyone.'
'…didn't leave one for everyone.'
'I'd leave a phone number that you could call in case of an emergency, but I can't put the people who will be with me in that kind of danger…'
'I'm sorry,' Koda stared at the letter shaking in his hands, and his eyes opened huge as he started reading farther down on the letter addressed to him he picked up from his floor. 'On April first, after the April Fool's Day villain attacked, I felt bad that I hid behind you. You're big so you were easy to hide behind, but you were the shyest boy in class so I felt terrible for bringing all that media attention over to you. And yet, even as the cameras all pointed over and you got nervous and scared, you stayed where you were. You didn't try moving out of the way so they could see me, and I had to come out on my own. You were willing to stay there in the spotlight…'
Shoji clenched his hands on the sides of the letter he was holding in such an angry way. He had said on the bus that he wanted heroes to catch Zach, and he believed that they would, and all he wanted to do was bring this piece of paper down to the teachers and hand it over. '…when those videos started playing at the Sports Festival, you never once looked like you doubted me. I thought people would think I was a sleeper agent about to turn, but you assured me it wasn't true. I almost…' The letter had some hesitant marks there after he wrote that, and then there was a small scribble before the next line started, 'As much as I saved you that day Shoji, you saved me. Those videos almost sent me to a dark place, but you were there for me…' Shoji's eyes clenched as he felt them getting wet, but he shook his head and started lowering the letter.
'…really, you just need confidence. Your power is so cool, and every time we got matched together in class you were the one who won our fights. Against Midnight sensei, and the capture the flag game too. If Iida had been able to get to the flag there was no way we would have won that.' Mineta stared at the letter in his hands with his eyes getting wider, and he lowered his bottom lip as he kept reading, 'You just have to stop being such a pervert, and girls would be all over you. You could be an amazing hero, one of the best, and only the best heroes get super popular with the ladies. You know those girls you're being weird to don't like that kind of stuff, and if you were just a nicer guy to them… Well, I'm just saying. Anyway…'
'…the first person I met at U.A., and the brightest person I've ever known. I still think about what you told me after the Sports Festival sometimes. It's one of the things that kept me from, from just breaking down. Every time. I think about how you told me not to mope, and I, I want to be the cool guy who doesn't mope for long. I just, Mina, I just wish I could tell you how much you mean to me on a single sheet of paper. You were one of the closest people to me, and you always cared so much about me, and, I'm sorry. Goodbye Mina. Thank you for…'
'…and I'm sorry. It wasn't just not saying enough on the train.' Iida sat at his desk chair, holding a letter that shook in his hands. The page was covered in wrinkles from all the times he had crumpled it up while quickly pacing back and forth in his room. Over the top of the page though, Iida could see his shelf full of rows of glasses that he had yet to clear out despite not needing to wear them anymore. He thought he owed it to the boy responsible for that, and responsible for him being there at all, to at least read what he had to say before turning in the evidence. Iida shook as he read those top lines again, and then he brought a hand to his head and pushed his fingers into his forehead over and over in frustration.
Zach! I cannot allow- I, I can't! Iida opened his eyes and lifted his hand a bit to keep reading the letter. '…I felt Midoriya's text in my pocket, and I didn't check to see what it was for quickly, as I had already seen Manual out there. I should have come to help you sooner. I think a part of me thought it might have been about you and Stain though… and I…' There were little gaps between the words as Zach seemed to be unable to think of how to continue, and Iida ground his teeth at his read this aloud in his head in Zach's voice. Except you did come! You sprinted across the city, why are you apologizing for what I did that night?! Iida clenched his teeth even harder and he turned his head and leaned back with his eyes filling with water at what came next, '…and I know because of that, I know you'll have a bigger problem with what I do than most…' Iida curled his fingers into the sides of the page harder, as tears spilled out the corners of his eyes. 'I just needed to say this now because I don't think I'll ever be able to in person. Iida, goodbye. Thanks for being…'
'…and I'm glad you didn't say anything about my nightmares. Before anyone else, you must have known about Jenny. I'm glad you never said anything though, Sato. I couldn't have taken it if everyone was looking at me in pity all that time, like I sometimes saw you doing. You didn't pry into my business, but you didn't avoid me either, just the subject. I always appreciated that. I'm going to miss you. Goodbye Sato, you were…'
'…Thank you, for keeping quiet about what you heard on the roof that night. And… I think you're the, you're one of…' Todoroki stared at the letter he had out on his desk. His bags were on his bed, and he stared down at the letter with his eyes narrowed and dark. He closed them again and then lifted up the letter in his left hand. He got ready to burn it, and he scrunched up his face in frustration at the page in front of him. 'I'm sorry Todoroki…' Half of the page was covered in scribbles, and crossed off things scratched away so hard that it was impossible to see below them. Todoroki already knew what it was Zach had written and scribbled out so many times though, and he knew what the apology on that page really meant even if he figured the boy who had written it at the time did not know what he was writing. 'You'll be a great hero, better than Endeavor I think. Goodbye, I'm sorry. For worrying you when I was on the roof, and for what I did in the training forest, and leaving in the courthouse, and- and… and I'm sorry for all of it Todoroki.'
'…You were one of my best friends. I'm sorry I lied so much, and I wish things didn't have to be this way. We're on different paths now though, Midoriya.' Midoriya Izuku was one of the last ones in Class A's dorm to leave, and he kept reading his letter over and over long after the others had gone home. He shoved it into his bag as he finally got up to leave, but he had the entire thing memorized already. 'This is in no way your fault. Don't blame yourself like you did last time, all the last times. Decide without feeling any guilt how you want to move on from here, but know I'll always believe in you. I know you can do it. Master One For All, Midoriya. Become better than All Might. The new pillar. A stronger pillar. Never think that what happened to me is in any way on you, because it's not. You're going to be the greatest hero. Not because of One For All, but because you're you. Because you can save anyone, but you've known it for a while Midoriya. I'm not someone who needs saving. You're going to save the world though. When I think of what a hero looks like, I see you standing on top of Inhuman letting out that yell, and everyone gathered around you.'
Zach was running out of room on the bottom of the page he wrote to Midoriya, and Midoriya's watery eyes spilled more tears as the start of another line got scribbled out so Zach could just finish at the bottom. 'I wish- Thanks for always being my friend. Goodbye.'
'Goodbye Sato, you were a great friend.'
'Anyway, goodbye my friend.'
'Iida, goodbye. Thanks for being my friend.'
'You were willing to stay there in the spotlight because you knew I was afraid. I don't know why you're shy Koda. You're the bravest person I know. I'm sorry we didn't talk too much this last year, but I'm happy because I feel like despite that I can still call you a friend. Goodbye Koda, thanks for being my friend.' Koda lowered his gaze below that line to another one quickly written in pencil, 'P.S. I'm sorry for killing those animals in the forest in front of you.' Koda sucked in a deep breath and tears fell from his eyes onto the page he was holding.
In his bedroom back at his family home, Hanta Sero lay back on his bed holding his letter over his head. He let out another laugh and shook his head while reading over the goodbye letter again. Geez, take something like this seriously. Sero laughed at the joke Zach put there that he remembered from three months ago, a joke Sero barely remembered telling and laughed so hard that Zach reminded him of it in his letter. He lowered his eyes down to the bottom of the page, then he dropped the letter down to his chest and let out a sigh while dropping his head into his pillow. His smile lowered down and he thought about Zach's voice saying that final line he always wound up staring at so much longer than the rest of the letter. '…Thanks for being my friend. Bye Sero.'
'Bye?' "Goodbye." Now that was a goodbye. Why say the one in the forest so seriously if you knew we were going to read things like this afterwards? I'm sure a bunch of others must've gotten one. Don't want to ask anyone though, that'd be a bit weird. They might demand I hand it over to the cops too. No way. There's not even anything on here about what he's doing now. Sero curled his hand up into a fist on his chest, crunching his letter into his hand. I've gotta get rid of this thing. Shit. I don't want to, but I can't have this laying around. Even if it doesn't say his name anywhere on it. It was his. They'd take it as evidence… They're not going to catch him though. With or without this letter. They'll never catch him, and he's… not going to just come back. Sero closed his eyes and then lifted the letter up and started reading it again, putting a bigger smile back on his face as it felt like Zach was talking to him directly with it.
Sero read the final line again though, and he closed his eyes this time while letting out a long, deep breath. 'Bye?' He opened his eyes and stared at the bottom of the letter, then he lowered his arm to his side and stared up at the ceiling in his dark bedroom. Then Sero opened his mouth, and he whispered, "'Til we meet again."
A/N Thanks for reading! Anyone remember how Zach was the last one to leave the dorm back in ch.93 as they were leaving to go camping? Or how when Jirou went to Zach's room a few chapters before that, he was blocking the door while there were a bunch of sheets of paper on his desk that he didn't want her to see? ;) Well it turns out Midoriya wasn't the only one who got a letter slipped under the door before Zach departed. Chapter of Class A taking on their final exams for the fall term that has almost gone by while Zach's out there fighting in the Army of Death... Anyway, just wanted to mention those foreshadowing things I threw in earlier. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review telling me what you think below!
GDawg4826 chapter 108 . 21h ago
Damn. Big badass airship is badass. I expect there will be more interaction scenes between the army members now that they've gotten a base. Figured the news article Midoriya saw at the beginning was Sandlot, but didn't want it to be true. Oh well, his fate was probably pretty much sealed when he decided to try and take on the Fergus Conglomerate on his own. Really loved the relaxed chapter with no fighting for once, especially after that terrifying horror arc. And it sounds like Zach is finally going to do something more about Darling! Woohoo for that!
Glad you liked the airship and interaction chapter between Army of Death. Poor Sandlot, surviving all that horror just to die not long after. Anyway, we'll see about more developments within Zach's army, next time we get to them. U.A. focused chapter this time after a string of straight AoD ones. And then there's Darling who... well, don't wanna respond too much down here. No spoilers after all. I'm glad you're liking the developments though, and thanks for reviewing!
Catgun5000 chapter 108 . 9h ago
Please tell me you were inspired by XCom2. The giant airship and 'Commander' just screamed XCom. If so then Exodus is definitely Templar material
Actually had never heard of XCom before. :P Lol guess it's a cool coincidence though!
Lief 17 chapter 108 . 16h ago
Another great chapter! Having a ship like that makes me remember all the mecha anime I've watched lol. I'm also thibking if Himiko Toga somehow was able to sneak in there and then everything gets destroyed by the LOV. I'd really hate for something like that to happen though.
Haha I actually thought a bit about the original Gundam series while I was writing some of the bridge scenes. Let's hope Toga doesn't get in! XD Won't say whether or not that's a possibility... you'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for the review!
red123 chapter 108 . 21h ago
please do not be zachxdarling I do not like ocxoc, what happened with zachxmomo?
Don't worry just yet, Zach's got that virginity on lockdown for now! We'll see what happens though, stuck in cramped quarters with a beautiful girl in love with him who walks into his room and drops her clothes, may just be one of Zach's most trying trials yet. ;)