Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 149:
"Hey," Zach walked up on the left side of a boy a few inches shorter than him. The teen had short blond hair less than an inch off of his head, mostly hidden under his black hat just like Zach's. They were walking towards Gymnasium A, Zach just following along with the class who he had introduced himself to back in the classroom to no response. Zach kept his expression showing a good mood though, and he blamed everyone walking out on the class representative saying that they needed to follow after Hazano sensei without delay. The boy Zach walked up to was one whose excited expression Zach saw upon entering the classroom, though he had noticed the other teen also looking at his fellow classmates on his sides who had harsher looks like that green-haired boy who was glaring at his back even harder now that Zach walked up to one of his classmates.
The teen who turned to Zach noticed his green-haired, six foot three, pissed-off classmate glaring their way too and he turned back forward after glancing to the side. "Lifebringer," the boy greeted curtly.
"You're calling me by my hero name?" Zach wondered confusedly. Think about it. If you're trying to be combative, you wouldn't compliment me by treating me like a hero. "And you are," Zach continued, trailing off at the end to allow the other boy to answer.
"Kotsumura Keiji," the blond student replied.
"So Kotsumura, how does this ranking system work?" Zach asked.
The boy next to Zach looked back again at the taller black-haired boy standing at his side and looking at him interestedly. He noticed the glare from Dendo behind him again, but this time he kept looking at Zach for a few seconds as they continued down the hall. "It's kind of like a tournament," Kotsumura replied, looking back forward but speaking in a friendlier tone without trying as hard.
A girl in front of Kotsumura who had long blonde hair falling out of her black hat spun her head after hearing Kotsumura respond to Lifebringer in less of an apprehensive tone. "Though there's no point in asking him about it. Kotsumura's only rank 27."
Is their entire school based around ranking? Do they treat each other badly determined on how high each person is ranked? That's such a- Zach cracked a smile as the blonde girl stuck her tongue out at Kotsumura in a joking way, and Zach noticed the annoyed look on Kotsumura's face was not as serious as he thought for a moment. He erased all the thoughts he was starting to have about some school hierarchy, and he wondered just where he was going with that.
"We only really care about rank on Ranking Day," the girl next to the blonde said, glancing back over her shoulder at Zach too. "The rest of the time it's just for seating and such."
She's a mind reader, isn't she? Zach nodded at the girl as she spoke, but he saw her eyes bulge at his thought. The short girl had brown hair falling evenly around her head, straight and curled out at the tips away from her neck. Her bangs were parted in the middle to either side, her skin was paler than most of her classmates, and she was the shortest person in the class from what Zach could see at a few inches under five feet tall. Called it, Zach thought at the girl, lifting the left corner of his lip up which made the surprised girl spin back forward.
Kotsumura glanced towards the brunette who just spun around with red cheeks, and then he looked back at the taller teen on his side, "Careful what you think around here. Himazuri's a mind reader."
Zach looked to Kotsumura with his eyes wide, "Really?"
Himazuri's lips pursed but she couldn't help air from blowing out as she laughed. Kotsumura and the longer-haired blonde gave the short girl confused looks, and Himazuri composed herself but continued to grin looking like she was hiding something. Zach smiled in a similar fashion, but he stumbled a step forward and lost his grin as a rough shove hit his left shoulder. He bumped into Kotsumura on his right when he got hit, and he turned his head after stopping from one step. Three teens were walking faster past his left side, and the one in front who bumped him glared over out the corner of his eyes before smirking at Zach's look. "Oh, sorry about that."
"It's fine," Zach said, standing back up straight and continuing to walk, looking back at Kotsumura as he did. "You said it's like a tournament? How do they determine who fights who…"
Kotsumura got a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face, as he saw Dendo's smirk wipe off his face in place of an even more annoyed look towards the back of Lifebringer's head. They reached the corner of the hallway though, and Dendo turned with a snap of his head away to march towards the gym, his two friends coming up closer behind him. Zach looked to the corner of his eyes as they turned the corner before him, which Kotsumura noticed and sighed at.
"We get to pick our own opponents," the blonde girl in front of Zach said, after turning the corner herself. She looked back at Zach and walked backwards, "You might want to wait a few rounds and see how it works… and see some of our Quirks." She smirked at Zach which made him get a more curious look at what she was thinking. "I'm Tiona by the way."
"Tiona?" Kotsumura asked, his voice raising in confusion.
"Did I say you could call me by my first name?" Tiona asked, darting her eyes and narrowing them at Kotsumura who froze with his mouth open. "But Zach here said to call him by his first name. You must have gotten very used to that over in America, didn't you?" She rose her eyebrows more at the black-haired boy behind her who just chuckled at the question.
A chubby teen with big pointy ears and a shorter and brown-skinned teen with a shell on his back behind Zach looked at him closely. The way he chuckled at Tiona's question, and their classmate's question itself had them both listening closely, not that they were not already watching Lifebringer with close gazes. "I didn't go by Zach when I was gone," Zach replied to Tiona's confused look. Then he glanced to his right at Kotsumura who was also giving him a curious expression, "Would have been pretty dumb using my real name while on the run."
He's way too… laid-back, Kotsumura thought.
What a weird guy? This is what Lifebringer's like off-camera? Tiona turned back forward and her lips lifted into a sly smile.
He's just, thinking about totally normal… I should stop prying. I'll just tell Dendo he caught me, Himazuri took in a deep breath and looked ahead towards the gymnasium. I need to focus on myself anyway. Top 10!
"You getting into the zone already?" Tiona wrapped an arm around Himazuri's head after spotting the intense look over the shorter girl's face. "You thinking about catching up to me? Is that what that look's for?"
"N-No, of course not," Himazuri said, waving her arms up and then pushing up on Tiona's arm to get it off her.
"Reika here," Kotsumura began softly with a nod at the blonde who gave Zach her first name. "Got ranked fifth at the start of the fall term." Kotsumura cupped a hand to his mouth and added softer, "It was actually her lowest rank so far, because Curly back there jumped up to fourth last time."
Zach looked back when his classmate motioned behind him. The two walking closest behind them made eye contact with him, and Zach looked at the teen with a large shell attached to his back that his shirt seemed designed to fit over and leave exposed. The brown-skinned teen's shell was the same color, as was his curly hair over his head which let Zach know Kotsumura was talking about him and not the pointy-eared boy with no hair at all over his dark-blue skinned head.
"See you boys in there," Reika said, grinning back specifically at Zach before turning to the right near the gym to go to the girls' locker room.
Kotsumura watched Reika's back for a second as she headed off the other direction, then he shook his head and turned back to Zach with an accusatory look. "What?" Zach asked, though he looked to be suppressing a grin himself like he knew what that look was for.
"You're here five minutes and you've got the strongest girl in the class flirting with you." Zach shrugged and gave his classmate a skeptical expression like he didn't know what Kotsumura was talking about. When he looked away though, the smirk grew more on his face and he was only half-turned from his classmate who easily saw it.
Kotsumura laughed and started, "You sure your Quirk isn't-" he stopped himself, and his eyes shifted over towards the locker room door they were about to reach. "Hey, be careful of Dendo," Kotsumura mentioned, muttering it under his breath and slowing down for a second. "When we heard you were looking to go back to school, he got real pissed about it, and shouted all this stuff about how if you tried to come here he wasn't going to allow it. I don't think he really expected you to, but he's not one to back down from something like that."
"Thanks for the heads up," Zach said, then he walked forward into the locker room without hesitating. A mind reader. Don't know her range. Dendo, he looks strong. Confident. Angry, but I killed people and am now getting let into his class he's had to work hard for three years to stay in. Give him a chance.
Zach did not have any pause in his steps after entering the locker room, and Kotsumura watched him head straight over to a locker in a different row than his. Guess he's already got his costume here, Kotsumura thought with a shrug, before heading over to his own locker and avoiding the looks of a couple of the other guys frowning towards him. He stopped at his locker and put in the combination, but he glanced to his side at a classmate his height but with spiky white hair who furled his lip back at him and rose his eyebrows as if asking what Kotsumura was doing. "He seems like an okay guy," Kotsumura said, then he got to getting changed into his hero costume without elaborating any further on it. I think Dendo's just paranoid.
Zach saw out the left corners of his eyes as he opened up his locker, one of the class staring towards him with excited eyes yet still an intense and dark expression. He pretended not to see Inasa though, just going through his locker instead and checking out his costume that had been sent back to him in its entirety after he got it licensed. The Super Costumes for Super Heroes' branch here really wanted to hold onto it longer. Of course they couldn't replicate the tech though. No one knows how it's made. I don't even know how they made this specific design. It feels like nobody messed with it though. No hidden microphones or sewn-up cuts. Zach's hands ran over the fabric of his costume as he lifted it up, looking like he was just taking it out to put on.
The costume Zach lifted made the others in the row of lockers with him stare with confused expressions. They expected something more along the lines of the white or black costumes they had seen him wear on television in the past. He held up a vibrant blue costume that had green highlights on the shoulders though and a cool symmetrical red pattern across the back. The highlights of green were over the bulges on his shoulders where there looked to be extra armor, but also down on his belt and on the symbol in the center of the costume. The 'L' in the middle of Zach's costume over his chest was outlined in green with red filling the center, a black background in the circle, and a white outer outline of the circle that also cut in with four white lines from the circle's edges making a thin 'X' behind the L.
Zach rested the top half of his costume and the belt down on the bench next to him, then he lifted up his blue and red pants and stood up to get out of the pants he was already wearing. "Going with bright colors huh? You think that will make people believe you've changed?" Zach glanced over his right shoulder and saw a taller student behind him, the tallest student in the class from the looks of it. The tall, lanky teen had tanner skin than his two classmates with him. His eyes were blue, his hair short and red, and he glared into Zach's eyes when Zach looked back at him.
"I didn't pick the colors out myself," Zach said, and he looked away and just started getting out of his black uniform pants without paying much attention to the three behind him. "It was a gift from a friend."
Zach sat on the bench between lockers and lifted a foot to slide his pant leg off, and a foot stepped down on the bench just on his right side too close that it actually was an inconvenience. He continued taking his pants off without saying a word, even as another of the three behind him had stepped up into his personal space and was now leaning down his head on Zach's right side. "Cut it with the act, 'Lifebringer.' You're not fooling anyone."
Zach folded up his school uniform's pants and leaned forward, placing them down in his locker while ignoring the green-haired teen beside him. "You're not a hero, and you never can be," Zach slid his costume's pants up his legs. His tight black underwear went to just above his knees, and his socks went up past his ankles, but between his shins and his knees were several scars on both legs that Zach covered up with his pants. Dendo did not look down at them for as long as the other two behind him, but all three continued to glare at Zach even after he covered them back up. Dendo smirked at the side of Zach's face and added in a softer voice while leaning his head closer, "You, who killed your mother."
Zach froze. His hands were on the buttons on his shirt, but he froze and stared into his locker with his eyes widening a small amount. Dendo stared at the other teen in surprise, pulling his own head back at that expression that flashed over Lifebringer's face. There's no way he could know. Calm down. Zach continued unbuttoning his shirt, though a voice echoed in his head in a darker, angrier voice than Dendo's. "You, who killed your mother." Why would he say something like that? It's obvious, when you think about it.
That's going too far, Dendo, Flugeru thought, looking down at the others as he always did since he was six foot ten.
Kelushi kept his expression as harsh as it was before he heard what Dendo said. The shortest of the three standing around Zach, he was still over six foot and had almost as muscular-toned a figure as Dendo. He kept himself silent and did not disagree with what Dendo said, holding his tongue despite what sounded like something he would usually consider too harsh. "People want him to be this superhero, but I know better. He's a killer. He's killed before and he'll do it again. Who knows how many he killed that year no one knew where he was? As soon as he gets emotional here, he's going to show his true colors. Maybe it will be against other villains, or maybe he'll just lose his shit when some people who dislike him heckle him in the streets or call him out during a press conference. If he snaps on them though, they don't have any way to protect themselves. He's a murderer, and I'm going to show everyone that he's more dangerous than any of them are accepting…"
I want to stop you, Dendo, Kerushi thought as Dendo smirked again while Lifebringer was turning his head towards them. From making him snap like you say he could, but if he can snap so easily then you're right. Then this is the right thing to-
Zach unbuttoned the next button on his shirt while staring straight into Dendo's eyes. He just continued to unbutton his shirt, and he stared calmly into his classmate's meaner gaze. "I'm sorry you don't like me," Zach said, and he stood up from the bench to continue undressing. His eyes were back on his locker, and he calmly took off his school uniform and folded it up again like he did with the pants. When he took off the uniform though, Zach had a very tight white shirt beneath it. The shirt was long-sleeved and pressed close to his muscles, while covering up his entire torso from his waist to around his neck as well as down his arms to his wrists. Zach had a watch on his right wrist and a thick bracelet on his left too, stuck in place over the end of his white shirt before the scar tissue on the back of his left hand.
Ignoring Dendo's attempts at bullying just made the green-haired teen grind his teeth in an even more pissed-off way. He shook his head and rose a hand, pushing the flip of green hair over it down to the right before pushing up in the front on his bangs. Dendo was in his green costume already, the same color head-to-toe except with some white designs on the front, his belt, and on his shoes. He had a tinted visor pushed up on his forehead, keeping his spiky green bangs up. The students had all taken their black hats off, and Zach did the same revealing his spiky black hair that the teen next to Zach who had done a lot of research on him recognized. Dendo's lips curled far down at the corners for a second, before he twisted them up and added to his newest classmate, "Changing your hairstyle doesn't make you anything like Titanium. Except, maybe the part where he lost his license."
Zach slid his arms through the sleeves of his costume, his lips flat and his eyes focused ahead as he continued to ignore the teen next to him. "Not going to take off your undershirt? Afraid we'll see what your body looks like with all those scars? Don't worry, we all know how you got them. Pretending you were in a spy movie and joining up with villains like an idiot."
Zach nodded his head while lifting up a visor of his own. He looked like he was barely paying any attention, and he lifted the visor up over his head and fit it over his eyes before pressing a button on the side that made the top of the visor open up and wrap over his head in a helmet. Zach punched both fists out in front of him and the watch and bracelet opened up and covered up his hands in powerful gloves, with different patterns on them though both looked high-tech and like Zach knew perfectly how they worked. Zach bent in his elbows a couple of times and he patted down on the front of his chest, then he looked down at the symbol over it and gained a small smile for a second at the design. They did a great job on this. It feels so comfortable, yet strong. Shouldn't show off everything it has right here, just making sure it's still working.
"Listen here, Sazaki," Dendo started, as their class vice-president just called out from one end of the locker room that they needed to get out there. "You don't belong here." Zach turned to the side and looked into his classmate's eyes, his black eyes with dark green irises in the centers of them. "You're a killer. Don't think that being a celebrity means anything. Just because you get more news' coverage than anyone else, you're still just a name."
Zach closed his locker and turned away from Dendo without responding. The boy behind him snapped a hand out and grabbed Zach by the left arm, and he squeezed on his upper arm with a dark look on his face that the other five near him all saw when they looked over at the sound of Dendo's voice. "You're nothing here. You're not our classmate, and you have no right to be here with us."
"But I do," Zach said, and he shrugged his left arm out of Dendo's grip. He looked back at the muscular teen with an uncaring look on his face, "If you need me to prove that, then go ahead and challenge me. Then we'll see-"
"Oh I plan to," Dendo said, stepping forward and grinning down at Sazaki who he got in the face of. "You think you're a big shot, but you've never seen me fight." Dendo stepped past Zach even though there was no room, shoving into him and knocking Zach's back into the lockers. "You won't even touch me," Dendo finished, a wide smirk spreading over his face.
Zach looked after Dendo and watched him walk off to the other side of the locker room. Then he glanced back at the other two who were behind Dendo and not saying anything against what had been said. Zach's expression was blank, undeterred, and the other two got emboldened by him ignoring Dendo and continued to give him dark glares as they walked past too. Zach watched them go, then he looked near the end of the row where another muscular teen but with dark hair was standing. Zach looked at him, into his eyes, and the dark look was gone from his own replaced by a more competitive one. Dendo's probably rank 2, isn't he? Zach turned away from the teen he looked at whose heart was racing in excitement, and who cracked a giant smile as soon as he turned away before returning to a more intense and serious expression.
Class 1 of Shiketsu's third-years gathered together in a room that Zach was pretty sure was not Gymnasium A. The room looked more like one at U.A. he could compare it to from back during his first combat training. Zach looked towards the opposite wall from where he entered, where instead of computers though, there was a long window going the length of the wall. The window was black like it was tinted to be impossible to see the other side, though he wondered why it would be tinted this direction instead of the other way around to make people in the gym unable to see them. Zach's question to himself was answered as lights turned on in the gymnasium, and he realized that it was just black because the light from their waiting room did not pass through the glass into that gym at all.
Zach stepped up close to the glass and stared through at a gym that looked very bland between the white walls and solid wood floor. There were square panels all over the ceiling that looked identical though some were illuminated and others not. "I'll explain this in some more detail than usual, since it is Sazaki's first time here," Hazano began after all his students had gathered in front of him. "Unlike at U.A., we don't have Recovery Girl here to heal you students if our training goes too far. But, since you're third years and all, that really just means we put more faith in you students not to badly hurt each other with that knowledge in mind."
Zach nodded in understanding at his teacher who turned from him to look through the glass next. There were some screens above the glass window across the wall, and Hazano lifted up a remote at the center screen. "The fights will only go as far as to the first knock-down though as an indicator for victory. As for our facilities, we are equal to U.A. or even exceed them in certain aspects. I do not believe U.A. has a gymnasium like this," Hazano said, while Zach stared up at the screen that had been split in half vertically with two different images flipping through rapidly on it.
The flipping images slowed down, and then it stopped all at once to show two different environments on display. One side of the screen showed a forest with scattered trees and grass between them, while the other was a rocky landscape with few natural barriers. After the screen stopped flipping through choices, the wooden floor of the gym made a loud clanking noise and a line split the rectangular room down the middle into two equal-sized square zones. The floor opened up, and out from the ground below arose the environments chosen by the randomized system. "The zones are picked before a challenge is made," Hazano began while Zach watched a forest rise out from below the surface.
Should be a pretty big advantage for the challenger then. They can wait for a zone best fit for them or least fit for their opponent. Zach looked up at another screen that a list popped up on right before he rose his gaze.
"Last term's rankings," Hazano looked back at all of his students around the waiting room. "This is the final Ranking Day. You all knew that, and I hope you've been getting yourselves ready for this. However you're ranked at the end of the day will be your final ranking here at Shiketsu that you graduate with."
So that guy is Inasa, Zach thought as he looked at the top of the list. He turned his head to the side and looked over at the teen he thought about who was still staring straight over at him as he had been for a while now. Heard all about him. Nothing about any of the others though. I recognize a couple, but I'm sure if their hero names were up next to their names on the list I'd know more. All of them have provisional licenses. They've interned for two years now, three for Inasa, or Gale Force. His costume's pretty cool. Definitely works well with his Quirk based on all those tubes-
"I challenge Sazaki."
Everyone in the waiting room looked over towards the boy who just declared that with no hesitation after Hazano finished talking. Zach turned his head too and stared over at the green-haired teen with a v-shaped scar on his right cheek. Hazano frowned at his student who already had the second highest ranking in the class, and he started, "Sazaki doesn't have a rank, Dendo. You don't get any-"
"Sensei, I accept," Zach said, interrupting his teacher as politely as he could. Zach nodded at Hazano when the bald man looked back at his student, then Hazano sighed and looked back through the window into the gym they had booked for the rest of the day.
"Alright. Just to let you know, Sazaki," Hazano looked back at his newest student. "Should you win, you wouldn't be moved up to Dendo's spot. The rankings are fluid and will be judged at the end of the day. I decide based on all your fights."
Zach nodded in understanding back at the teacher. "'Should he win?'" Dendo scoffed, stepping closer to Zach and walking right up to his opponent. "That's not going to happen."
Kotsumura had beads of sweat rolling down both sides of his face as he watched Dendo step right up to Zach. Dendo's never backed down before, but he could at least be a little more cautious. I don't get that confidence here. This is Lifebringer we're talking about!
"Alright Dendo, you have position Alpha. Sazaki, you'll start at position Beta." Hazano pointed through the window and towards the other side of the room where a light glowed between the rocky area on the left and the forest to their right. Dendo's starting point was much closer to the windows, just on the other side of them with the huge half mile gap between the starting places.
A door opened up on the edge of the waiting room for the two to go through. Zach turned away from Dendo and headed over to the door first, Dendo following right behind him so Zach could see the slightly taller boy towering over his back. Zach walked straight through the door and then started a jog across the room to get to his starting point. He lifted up a hand to his visor and tapped a button on it as he got prepared, and he glanced back over his shoulder towards Dendo who glared through his own visor he pulled down over his eyes. The smirk still covered Dendo's face but there was another expression on it now too.
He's taking this more seriously than anyone, Zach looked back forward and his eyes darkened behind his visor. He really wants to stop me. He's not just being a dick to be a dick. But, he still…
"Hazano sensei," Muoko Kimi began. The class rep stepped up next to her teacher she was the same height as, the tallest girl in the class at five eleven. "Is this a good idea? We all know, Dendo's feelings towards Lifebringer."
"He's your classmate now too," Hazano started. "As the class rep, you've got to accept him first Muoko."
"It's not about accepting him," Muoko countered in a lower voice. She did not want everyone else listening in, but everyone was focused through the glass at the first two competitors and not many of them were talking. "But if Dendo goes too far, he may push Lifebringer to go that far in response. If Lifebringer counters with Death in a stronger form-"
"Do you not trust Dendo?" Hazano questioned, still just looking through the glass without looking back at his other student. Dendo was right on the other side of it, though from his side the glass was tinted and he could not see or hear them back in the waiting room. The other students looked to their teacher whose expression was calm and relaxed even as this fight was about to get started, "After three years, you don't know his strength by now?"
Muoko frowned and she turned her gaze back through the glass with a frustrated expression. I do, but I don't know Sazaki's. Nor do I trust him.
"Dendo. Sazaki. Raise your right hands if you are ready." Hazano lifted up a microphone and announced into the gymnasium the two students had readied themselves in. They were standing on the split point between grass and rocks, trees on Dendo's right side and Zach's left on the other end the room. The students rose their hands, and Hazano could see both clearly as the screens lining the top of the window had camera angles all over the gym with one right on Sazaki's starting point. "First one to knock their opponent down wins the match. Commence in three, two, one. Start."
Dendo released an exhale as his legs unbent from the crouched position he was getting in during the countdown. He sprinted forward, his eyes focused across the room towards where his opponent should have been charging back at him. The gym was shorter in the gap between the two of them than it was longways, and the walls on either side of Dendo were farther from him than where his opponent was supposed to start. His eyes narrowed darkly and he slowed down his run, because instead of running towards him in the fastest way to meet each other, his opponent darted to his left farther into the rock zone where he became hidden in only a second as there were a lot of rock surfaces at different elevations.
"I thought you were going to prove that you belonged here, Lifebringer," Dendo called out while turning a bit and heading into the rock section. High ground. Dendo bent his knees and leapt up in the air, his eyes scanning around behind his green-tinted visor. Where is he? Dendo landed down on the highest area of the rock section near him, giving him a good view over the most area that he could see. This section of the gym was covered from wall to wall in brown stone, lumped up in some areas and dipped down in others, though there were no deep crevices or ravines to hide in. It was just a rocky zone with what could almost be considered hills scattered about though with sharp cliffs on some sides, or the occasional boulder disconnected from any other rock surface. "Not a lot of places to hide," Dendo mentioned, calling it specifically towards the area where there were some clear hiding spots and that he suspected Sazaki was behind.
Dendo brought his right hand to his side and opened up his fist so all his fingers were pointed straight out. His palm and pressed-together fingers glowed with a white veil, his muscles tensed all over his right arm, and then he stomped forward and slashed his right arm diagonally in front of his body. Dendo's Quirk, Slicer, created a huge green slash with a white outline that came out of his arm and ripped a trench through the ground from Dendo's high ground over to a rocky outcrop ahead of him that it split straight through. The Slice he made ended after breaking through the other side of the rock face, making rocks blow apart from it but the slash to stop and not continue slicing all the way to the wall, or through whatever would have been on the other side of that rock face should there have been someone there.
The slice traveled a hundred and fifty meters in a couple of seconds before blowing apart that hiding place, cutting through the ground cleanly in its path without stopping. Dendo did not get dismayed that he did not see any sign of Lifebringer on the other side of that hiding place. His eyes scanned over the area, his head slightly turning left and right while keeping all the possible areas Lifebringer could be in sight. His fighting style in the Sports Festivals relied on close quarters' combat. I took a look at his suit, and I didn't see any of the weapons he used to have on it.
"You over there?" Dendo called one direction, while keeping his eyes shifted the other way. He kicked his right foot up, dragging the toe of his right green boot with white crossing designs on the sides across the rocks. He slashed through the floor and cut across two hiding spots this time, blowing through the first one with such force that the green slash kept going before blowing apart the second one and stopping. "Are you just going to hide the whole time?" Dendo shouted, smiling in a taunting way he imagined Sazaki could see.
Zach crouched in an awkward position behind the first hiding spot that Dendo targeted and blew through. There was still enough cover on the side he pulled away to that he was fully out of Dendo's sight. Staying directly in the middle. He destroyed the closest one to him right there while still targeting one on the outside where he projects I am. He was right with his first guess at where I was. He has good instincts. Zach stared at the tip of his knife that showed him a reflection back towards the middle of the rock area. He watched and waited, and then he flicked a knife up into the air and moved.
Zach held his breath and he darted while crouched, his body moving quickly behind rocks and completely out of sight as he hid his presence which was easy from such a distance. He grabbed a rock as he was darting past the second spot Dendo had attacked, while Dendo swept an attack at a third place in the opposite direction. Zach kept running forward and keeping a far distance from Dendo, but he swung his right hand behind him and the rock he threw rolled out from behind the cover he darted out of the other side of.
Dendo snapped his head around and saw a rock rolling like it had been kicked by someone running the same direction as it, over to some cover that was still large enough that someone could be hiding behind even half blown to pieces. There! Dendo slashed both arms down across each other, creating a huge green X that shot across the area. It was only halfway to its target, when a dink on the rocks to his right made him snap his head that direction. At the same moment that Dendo turned like that, seeing a knife of silver steel and a black hilt hitting the floor, Zach threw three knives up in the air on the exact opposite side of his opponent. When he threw up the three knives he was also several meters closer to Dendo than he was a few seconds ago on the circle around.
"What is he doing?" Kerushi muttered, glaring up at one of the screens where he saw Lifebringer just throw three knives up in the air again. He glanced at Flugeru to see if his taller friend understood Lifebringer's plan, but Flugeru slowly shook his head in response at that look.
"Look at him go," Reika whispered to Himazuri next to her. She glanced down at the shorter girl and then got a confused look on her face at the brunette's huge eyes. "What? What's he thinking about?"
Himazuri's eyes were locked through the glass on the boy who started running as soon as he flicked those blades up. He can't seriously, plan to…
Dendo's eyes darted to the left, as the lowest of the three knives thrown was passing across the corner of his vision. He did not know that three were thrown, but after seeing the first knife he made several deductions as to his opponent's strategy. He does have knives. They were hidden in that costume of his, the number of them is just unknown instead of displayed like his old one. The last one was made to make me look that way so he could get on the other side, so this one, Dendo spun the opposite way as the knife that was flying by his left side, but due to the half second that his eyes had darted over to it, it did not matter that he knew he was meant to look that way. The next knife had already been thrown, and Dendo's eyes had to snap up instead of to the side that Zach was currently on, as there was a loud Clink above his head.
Two of the knives collided in midair, and the one that was lobbed earlier was slammed down by the second with the blade pointed down at Dendo's right shoulder. It came down fast, but Dendo did not stumble away only yanked his right side back, taking his foot off the ground and swinging his leg away while using his Quirk. As his yanked his foot back like that, he swung his leg in an arc and cut a semi-circle around the solid ground he was on. The knife hit the ground where he just was, the other bouncing off of it and falling near him. When he looked up at the clinking noise of the two knives though, Dendo had also seen the third of the knives Zach threw at once before. As the other two knives hit down, there was a brief silence where Dendo pretended to be looking around for Zach again and not expecting any noise. As soon as that knife hits the ground, he'll be on the opposite…
Dendo jumped away from where he was just standing, spinning around and swinging his right arm down at where he had been standing in a panic. There was no sound of that blade hitting the floor at his back where he was going to act like he was spinning in surprise. The knife never hit down on a rock surface, and the only ground around them was rock, which meant something had stopped it from hitting the ground and making a noise. He caught- Dendo's eyes shook and he stumbled back a step upon landing, as the ground where he had been standing slashed apart from his arm swing. That knife, where did it go?! Dendo's head snapped to the left as he heard something, only to see a rock bouncing off of a boulder only five meters away from him. The thought that had just rushed through his head had him in too much panic to realize it was just another sound trick, because the knife that he had dodged from hitting his right shoulder had no longer been on the floor right next to where he had been standing.
The green-haired boy's arms were risen to slash at the boulder, but he saw the smaller rock from one of the surfaces he had destroyed bouncing off it looking like it had been thrown over. Dendo's breath caught in his throat, as he felt something touch his right foot. His eyes darted down before his head started moving, his foot staying planted down hard as he expected arms wrapping around it to try and take him off his feet. Instead, he stared with shock filling his eyes, at the knife resting on top of his right shoe.
The knife was perfectly balanced on top of his foot. It was so balanced, that it rested on the guard with the hilt on one side and the blade on the other, only wobbling once Dendo's foot started to slide as he doubted it could actually be resting like that. Impossible! Dendo's mind was rushing with possibilities for what could have just happened, but the fact that it was so balanced made only one of the options possible. He knew Zach could not have thrown the blade or even tossed it onto his foot to have it land there so perfectly, and he would have felt more than just the touch on top of his foot if it had been thrown. That left the only option, that Lifebringer had just placed the knife on top of his foot.
As the shock left Dendo's expression, a look of anger flashed over it followed by pure rage. He's going to regret that. That's the only chance he'll get! FUCK YOU! Dendo flicked his right foot up and swept his left hand across his body, catching the knife by the hilt and continuing to spin in a three-sixty. A circle of green with flaring white outlines shot off of his body in every direction and tore up the ground around him. As rocks rose into the air, Dendo spotted a knife flying between two and he slashed his right arm up towards it, cutting the blade cleanly in half while also splitting all the rising debris in two directions with the rubble blasting apart from each other.
As the rubble blew apart like that, Dendo stared across the rock area with his furious look turning surprised for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed darkly at the black trees out ahead of him. They were getting darker farther into the forest, trees dying one by one from the blackest at the middle of the room to the ones still blackening farther in. Think you can lead me in there?
Zach kept running around the rock zone, getting closer to Dendo again with his eyes darting from him to the next cover he was going to dip behind back over near his opponent. The others inside the waiting room watched as Dendo spotted the trees, and the look of realization hitting him that Zach had gone into the forest, while Zach was throwing knives up into the air behind their classmate in a new trap two after the one Dendo was currently falling for. "You think you can find more cover in there?!" Dendo shouted loudly, as he thought Sazaki had just darted far away from him when he started his broader attack covering more of the rock area. Dendo slammed his right foot down on the ground, still gripping a knife tightly in his right hand, and he swung his left leg up in a roundhouse kick at his shoulder-level, creating the largest Slice he had made so far… in the opposite direction of where Zach was, and aimed so much farther away than the boy rushing straight towards his back.
All the blackened trees started to fall as they were sliced through, only a few of the living ones around them getting knocked over by the same attack. Zach darted to his right as a knife came down on the same side, still a good distance away from Dendo. Dendo snapped his head to the left as the sound came from his right and back behind him, and Zach moved out of his cover as quickly as he swept behind, throwing the two knives he already had in his hands up in the air. One collided with one on its downwards arc, while the other flew just past the right corner of Dendo's vision, making him spin to the left instead as he figured the knife was thrown on his right to make him look right.
The trees falling on one side of the gym made for a lot of noise, almost drowning out the clank above Dendo's head of the knives colliding with each other. Neither one was coming down towards him this time, but he still moved just expecting they were going to come down at him. Instead he almost moved into where one was redirected, and he stopped short and leaned back, before curling his fists in fury at how lost he was as to his opponent's position. All around him rocks and knives kept slamming into each other and falling, like his enemy was on every side at once yet nowhere he ever looked.
Zach was running circles around his opponent, staying completely in his blindspot the entire time or creating that blindspot himself. When Dendo swung his arms or turned to make a kicking Slice, his movements blocked his own vision which worked as much as distracting him with sounds. Zach switched up which side he went on based off the expressions of the teen in front of him, telling him whether Dendo thought he was trying to make feints to have him turn one way or if he was flustered enough to just spin the sound of any noise. Earlier when he had run close to the forest as Dendo spun around and blocked off his own vision in every direction, he had swept his right hand to the side and created a rolling Death fog that flooded into the forest and got thinner on its way in, killing the trees farther inside slower to make the boy who finally saw them think that he was running deeper into the trees and killing more.
As he sprinted, he aimed his right hand ahead of him when he noticed Dendo regaining his bearings, looking like he was about to figure out which side he was on. A grappling hook fired out of Zach's right glove and locked onto the back of a boulder ahead of him, then the wire retracted fast with Zach popping the toes of his feet up so he was dragged on his heels. He slid across the ground with ease on his specially-made boots, barely any friction to slow him down or even make noise as he shot across the floor forty meters in a second. He tossed a knife up behind his back as he was halfway across to his new spot, and when Dendo turned he saw a knife just rising in the air diagonally but with momentum in the opposite direction as Zach was now, and the last spot Zach had been in got blown apart by a slash too strong that it kept going through that rock face and cut through the ground another twenty meters almost to the wall.
Zach's eyes darkened as he saw that trench through the ground in the corner of his vision. He pulled two knives out and they flipped around in his hands expertly a half dozen times before he stopped with the blades pointed down and back at his sides, his legs crouched and his eyebrows narrowed in as he took in a deep breath.
"He's, toying with him," Muoko whispered in disbelief as she stared towards the darker-haired boy on the screen before her. "Why put the knife on Dendo's…"
"He had the drop on him there," Flugeru muttered. "But he messed up not finishing it. Dendo's heated."
Muoko shifted her eyes to the right where the tall boy was leaning forward and staring through the one-way glass hopefully. You don't get it, she thought with her eyes still wide as she stared at her classmate.
Hazano was standing behind most of his students, which was good since he was staring at the screens with his eyes wide too though his expression dark and serious. Dendo hasn't seen him once since he left his sight earlier. This is absurd. I can barely keep track of him on the monitors, any time I shift my attention. It's not that he's that fast, it's just- Ch-clunk. Hazano turned his head and looked behind him to the door of the gym's waiting room.
A couple of the students glanced back at the door, but they all spun back quickly as they were afraid to lose track of their new classmate and whatever he was doing out there. "Norasaki," Hazano said, as the naturally bald administrator stepped up behind him. "What brings you here?"
"I came to inform you that Sazaki will be late today, if he comes in at all," Norasaki began. He kept his voice low as the students in there were clearly watching a fight with intense focus. A few of the students in front of Hazano heard what Norasaki said though, and they perked up and paid attention even if they did not look back to show they were eavesdropping. Muoko and Reika were both too interested, and the vice president on Muoko's left side, Tomoki, focused on what was behind him as well. Over on the far left side of the group, a blue-skinned teen with pointy ears darted his attention over to the teachers who he stared at with huge eyes as Norasaki continued when Hazano asked in confusion what he was talking about.
"Sazaki was attacked on his way here today. A group of five villains ambushed him on his walk to school, caught partly on camera by a reporter who tried to interview him this morning. He apprehended the five of them, but I…" Norasaki's eyes grew wider and his expression focused as he looked through the glass to a figure he spotted out in the gymnasium. "How…" he muttered, stepping forward on Hazano's side while Zach's new homeroom teacher was staring out with even wider eyes now too.
That's why he was late?! "Who were the villains? League?" Hazano questioned quietly, while staring out at Sazaki who was only five meters behind Dendo, and moving almost in step with the other teen, predicting his every move in a perfect rhythm with his movements.
"The police have yet to identify any of the villains," Norasaki began in just as low a voice. "They have not spoken, their faces aren't in any database, and all of their fingerprints have been burned off. They don't even know if they're Japanese. The news is calling them the Mystery Assassins."
Are they the ones who shot at Sazaki last week? Hazano thought with a dark look towards his new student. Why didn't he tell me? He acted like he didn't have an excuse. Did he even consider it was an excuse, or did he just not want to draw further attention? What the hell's with this kid?
Dendo heard a loud slam of something right behind him, sounding like someone landed directly on his opposite side when he had just turned because of a different noise. "SHI-" Dendo started spinning, kicking his left leg up as he did in a panic. A Slice started coming out of his leg, but when he was only halfway turned he saw that there was nothing behind him at all.
The other teen who had moved with Dendo's turn stood up straight only inches behind Dendo. He placed the knife in his left hand down on Dendo's left shoulder, while letting out an exhale on the back of Dendo's neck that had all the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Dendo's head started turning to the left, a rage-filled look spreading over it even more enraged than the last time, as he recognized that soft touch and already knew what he was about to see when he looked at his shoulder. He started moving as soon as he felt the touch this time though, spinning around fast and swinging his right arm up and then down in fury on his other side. The swing of his arm cut a ravine straight down through the arena floor and made a trench that blasted all the way to the wall of the gym in an instant, carving a huge line through the wall from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.
Dendo was panting with his eyes huge and starting to get bloodshot as he had been unable to blink knowing that his opponent would dart right in front of his own face should he close his eyes. His breath hitched though as he saw what he just did, Slicing so hard that if Sazaki had really been behind him, that would have been very bad. Then Dendo's heart fell, because when he spun and swung like that so furiously, the knife on his shoulder obviously fell off. Yet despite it falling from his shoulder, he never heard a clinking of a knife hitting the ground next to him. Sweat covered Dendo's body, as the knife should have fallen within inches of him, and yet somehow it was caught again. Then he felt the small touch on the top of his head.
Dendo's dark green eyes snapped up, to see the tip of a blade sticking out over the top of his forehead. After Zach had reached over Dendo's head and placed the knife from his back, he immediately dropped down into the lowest possible crouch behind his opponent. As Dendo's eyes rose up to the blade sticking out over his forehead, Zach slid around the outsides of his legs so that he was directly in front of Dendo, pulling two new knives out of his belt and flipping them, clenching the hilts hard and with a furious look on his own face that he rose with just as Dendo's eyes started to lower in shock. Dendo realized when he looked up, that once again he had looked in the exact direction that his opponent wanted him to. This time when he looked down though, he finally caught sight of his opponent for the first time in the entire match.
Zach's right hand was slashing up close to Dendo's left leg, and Dendo pulled it back as quickly as he could. It's a feint?! Dendo's arms that he started swinging up, he crossed in front of him defensively instead as Zach's knife coming for his left leg did not slow down and just kept moving up towards his upper body. Then Dendo saw the second knife. Zach had already risen it up, and he jammed it down while rising higher out of his crouched position. Dendo's right leg was the clear target, Zach's eyes even shifting to the part of his thigh that would make for a non-fatal wound. Dendo pulled his right foot off the ground, and Zach continued to rise up, his knife curving back as he did so it would have missed Dendo's right leg anyway. Zach stood up straight, both arms coming down flat to his sides with his knives pointed behind him. He stared down into Dendo's eyes, as Dendo fell, picking up his second foot when he was already stepping back with his left.
Dendo fell on his butt with his arms still crossed in front of his stomach in a half-assed way as he had become doubtful part of a second ago that his upper body was even a target. His expression was confused, panicked, and he was breathing heavily as he stared up into Zach's calm eyes looking back down at him. "You were right," Zach said. Dendo's eyes snapped open wide and he curled his hands into fists angrily, realizing how he must have looked sitting there, and getting ready to keep fighting. A loud ding rang out through the gymnasium though, and Dendo's huge eyes shook as he realized that he was currently sitting on his butt. Zach continued to stare down into Dendo's eyes, and he said to the larger boy staring up at him in shock, "I didn't even touch you."
A/N Fight! Well... kind of like a fight! Zach savages his new bully. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Leave a review below telling me what you thought!
QuestingforBitches chapter 148 . 22h ago
Bit rich of Mirio talking about how Endeavour doesn't know what he's talking about with Death. Has Mirio even met Zach? And since when are Deku and Bakugou so in touch with him that they just know he's lying?
Well Lemillion was there for the League of Shadows battle and came to the Qingxiao flood too. And since no one else knows about Endeavor and Zach team-up during the Sports Festival... also, Lemillion's not wrong, admittedly. Deku and Bakugo figured he was lying from the start, plus Zach also had that specific convo with them in the hospital about All For One, though he didn't really say he was lying. Really, through the time Zach was in AoD, I mentioned often which of his classmates were always skeptical when they'd hear other things about Zach 'cause they thought he was Death, and Midoriya and Bakugo were almost always certain that he was. After their fight against the April Fool's Day Villain too we saw them talking about it. Glad to hear the questions! Thanks for reviewing!
DarkJokes chapter 148 . 22h ago
Here he is Mr Death himself easily able to find the assassins that were hiding. If there is one thing I love about this fan-fic. At this point nah I won't even be calling this a fanfic. This is a story of its own. A different and much interesting story. The character development is really the best in this. We could see Zach being a little shy bitch in the first episodes to a calm and confident guy now. He's come so far and he's matured a lot. Zach truly deserves the best ending he can get.
I never thought anyone would make me say this but at this point I really believe what Zach does is what a true hero should be doing. I considered Deku and others great heroes for never giving up and sticking to their justice but now it just seems flawed. Truly hope he gets the ending he deserves and if he's supposed to die at the end it better be one heck of an epic battle.
Also wow lemillion needs to chill. He's really dipping his toes in dangerous waters. Sazaki takes betrayals way more seriously now. Especially if it's someone from his school I can't imagine what he would do.
He might not kill anyone but I'm guessing he'd never consider His U.A classmates as his friends. Anxiously waiting for the next chapter.
Thanks for your amazing updates!
Really glad you're so into this non-fan-fic! (though I still don't own BNHA)! Lol, glad I made you reconsider how you think about heroes too, I guess. Lemillion's playing a dangerous game, though he's been warned about it now too. We'll see how he moves ahead from here... Thanks for the review! Updated in 1 day, so here you go!
Todorokiii chapter 148 . 7h ago
There are too many things to say, really. I love this story, it's so well planned and every chapter was made without a fail. Thanks btw, this like became my coffee since I jave exams tomorrow. Haha. Zach, you never failed to impress me. He was so calm when he took out by he assassins, what a pro. Zach is the best example of a hero, before he would hate his quirk and learned the hard way. He started from the bottom and practically tried everything, to be a hero, a villain, a vigilante, ah commander of an army. Hehe. He went through alot and since then, we all know he needs a break. And I guess going to school is like break after everything those past months and even if assassins are following him, he would consider still himself strolling in a park. Haha. And Lemillion, haha, finally someone who actually wanted to find out something about Zach and Death. Thats cool but seriously, spy on him? He knew how many was watching him and actually heard him and Todoroki as a spy? Your putting Endeavor's son to the hospital. Todoroki wouldn't stand a chance, even if I love him. Not in this fanfic though. Now, shiketsu peeps? Please befriend the Zach, and what's this ranking system? Interesting. And UA and Shiketsu battle, I'm still waiting. Btw, where's the scandal of Ashido and Zach? I need reactionss! Hahaha
Crack and coffee! Love how addicting my story is to you guys, and trust me it's as addicting to me too. Zach's done just about everything. Been everything he could be, seen the world, and now taking on a top prospect of even a school like Shiketsu is something he can do... with ease. Shiketsu peeps do not seem to be as keen to befriend Zach as you hoped... but Zach's making quick work of breaking them down and already has a couple people he's talking to in a friendly way. Ashido and Zach scandal, we'll see! Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
yasideen1 chapter 148 . 5h ago
Why is this fic so addicting
And are you gonna add the extra OFA quirks
Apparently because it's crack and coffee combined. Also, I added Midoriya's dark capture Quirk thing we saw back in his fight against Phinx, which I was writing as we were coming to understand it from awesome ghost dude. Can only add in what I understand though, so a lot of the new stuff in the manga is likely going to be left out of this altogether as it might get tough to include it with them all in their 3rd years already and lots of this stuff happening in the past. I'll likely reference more stuff from the manga once it happens, and maybe shift around what did and didn't happen like I have before in this (Gran Torino losing his Quirk while Lemillion kept his, since Gran Torino wasn't on his mission to go after Kurogiri at the time because Zach and Kurogiri were doing their thing, making it so Gran Torino was the one to get in the way of Overhaul's shot and save Emi who he now watches over... stuff like that). Hope we get to see more of those Quirks though in the coming manga chapters! Thanks for the review!
someguy1011 chapter 148 . 4h ago
Hey, this is the first time i'm doing this but I just wanted to say that this story is utterly incredible, I first picked this up when it was around chapter 30 and you just keep exceeding my expectations with every chapter. Zach is one of the best characters I have seen, his own flaws and strengths are very interesting and human It's really a breath of fresh air. Keep up the great work I always look forward to what you have come up with. BTW im cackling at zach just shrugging his shoulders at like 5 guys trying to off him.
Hey, you're incredible too. XD I'm really happy to hear you've been reading this for so long and continue to enjoy it! I really tried making Zach have his own flaws and problems too, along with the strengths I do give him, and over time I've tried making him a stronger character than where he started while showing how he was getting there. The "human" comment really just makes my day. So thanks, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one too!