A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back to The Crow's Atonement, because Chapter 9 is here. Also, holy crap, you guys are the best, this story has passed 1,000 followers and 200 reviews.
Disclaimer: Like everybody else on fanfiction, I own nothing.
"Standard" - Normal Speaking
'Italics' - Thoughts
"Bold" - Super Moves
(Yaoyorozu Manor - April 6, 2268)
So, kids, how'd your first day at U.A. High School go?" Hanzo inquired, looking at his two children who had changed out of their school uniforms and were now dressed in casual home clothes.
"We found out that our homeroom teacher is none other than Eraserhead." Itachi stated.
"Huh, never heard of him."
"None of us have, and we also had a Quirk Apprehension Test," Momo added, "we had to undertake a series of physical tests. I'm not entirely sure why, but perhaps it was to gauge who needed more attention when it came to teaching. I finished in first place and Ita-kun came ninth."
"Ninth isn't bad. I mean it's better than last. Your mother wouldn't agree though. For her, the only place worth attaining is first place; second a stretch." Hanzo chuckled.
Itachi nodded, "I'm not concerned about Mother's expectations, and it didn't help that the test was designed around more practical quirks like Mo-chan's Creation. With my Sharingan, there was nothing else I could do but try my best. And I spoke to Itsuka-san afterwards. Turns out, her homeroom teacher is somebody named Vlad King and they didn't even have a test like ours."
"They didn't?" Momo inquired, looking surprised.
Itachi nodded, "They did a different kind of test. She didn't detail it, but like ours, it involved using their quirks. I guess Aizawa-sensei wasn't wrong when he said that teachers at U.A. are free to teach however they want."
(U.A. High School - Musutafu, Japan)
The following day was considerably uneventful until after lunch. They started off with homeroom class under Aizawa-sensei, before moving onto English classes with Present Mic who couldn't help but scream whenever he got fired up and taught them from 08:40 to 10:30 and then maths under Ectoplasm from 10:30 to 12:30, and after that was lunch where food was served by Lunch Rush who prepared their meals by vomiting it up onto a plate.
When it came to English, most of the class seemed to struggle.
The vast majority struggled to put a basic sentence together and those who did, spoke in the wrong word order. For Itachi and Momo, learning English was a breeze as Hanzo, who had business connections in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, had taught them from the age of seven, and the others who grasped the foreign language easily was Tenya - "because English is the universal language!" - Mashirao - as he was their friend and they'd taught him - Izuku, Katsuki and Shoto.
After lunch, they were sat in class until All Might burst into the classroom.
"I AM HERE... ENTERING THE CLASSROOM, LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" The muscled hero declared, posing in the doorway.
Itachi watched as Izuku gasped, looking like he'd just gone into cardiac arrest as he fanboyed over the man. The man was impressive - there was no doubt about it - but Itachi had no idea why the green-haired boy was acting like Japans No. 1 Hero was gods gift to man.
There was admiration and idolization and then there was... whatever strange thing Izuku had.
The rest of the class seemed similarly awestruck by his sheer presence.
"No way, is All Might really gonna be teaching us? This is super manly!"
"That costume design is so sliver age, dude! The art style clashes so much, it's giving me goosebumps."
"All Might!" Izuku squealed.
"I'll be your Foundational Hero Studies teacher!" All Might declared, posing and showing off his muscles, "you'll be learning and training to develop your heroics skills. Today, you'll be doing Battle Trials, a form of combat training. We've prepared the gear that you requested to go with your quirks, Put them on and gather at Ground Beta."
Pointing at a wall, several shelves holding their requested uniforms slid out. Itachi got up and allowed everyone else to get their outfits first, just so he wouldn't be caught up in the commotion, then headed off to the boy's changing room.
"It's the quirks and the clothes that make the man... and the woman. But know this, from here on, you are all heroes." All Might declared, scanning over their uniforms and snickering when the saw Izuku's.
The poor boy had turned up in what looked like green pyjamas and a face shield with rabbit-like ears.
"Oi, Yaoyorozu, you look super cool and ready to kick ass."
As somebody distracted him from listening to All Might, Itachi turned to Kaminari Denki who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. The Sharingan quirk user furrowed his brows as he stared at the white shirt, black jacket with white lightning patterns and strange headset by his left ear.
"Thank you, as do you, Kaminari-kun. Now, please, let's listen to All Might before we miss anything."
The blond chuckled awkwardly as Itachi dismissed him just as quickly as he acknowledged him.
Tenya, outfitted in a lightweight, futuristic-looking armour with massive exhausts wrapped around his armour, raised his hand into the air, "Sensei, regarding our performance and trials, we will be using the fake city from the Entrance Exam?"
"No, this'll be an indoor test of sorts," All Might declared, grinning, "Most villains act in the open, but the smarter ones operate indoors where you have to limit yourself to avoid collateral damage. You know, hostage taking and black market deals? This time, you won't be beating up robots. You'll be separated into villain and hero groups and you'lll be fighting in two-on-two battles."
"What about the foundational training?" The frog-like girl, Asui Tsuyu, inquired.
All Might chuckled, "This is your foundational training!"
Momo raised a hand, "How do we determine wins and losses?"
"Do we get to kill our opponents?" Katsuki inquired, glaring at Izuku.
"Are we simply fighting each other, or is there some sort of objective?" Tenya asked..
"Will we be expelled if we fail?" Ochaco added.
"Isn't my cape fabuleux?" Aoyama Yuga added, posing as he sparkled in shiny armour.
Seemingly overwhelmed and on the verge of a mental breakdown from the barrage of questions, All Might produced a piece of paper and began reading from it.
Itachi had to withhold a sigh. What sort of teacher didn't memorize their own lessons?
"Right, villains we be guarding a nuclear weapon they intend to detonate. The heroes must stop them and foil their malicious plans!" All Might said, "For the villain to win, they must fend off the heroes until the bomb goes off, but for the heroes to win, they must defeat and capture the villains, or touch the bomb before their time limit is up. And your teams will be decided by... BALLOT BOX!"
"That's disorganized!" Tenya protested as the hero presented a box.
"Isn't that to be expected," Itachi said, drawing many eyes to himself, "in a drastic rescue operation or fight against a powerful villain, heroes didn't get to pick and choose who they work with. They must simple work with who they're suddenly partnered with in the spur of the moment and it could be somebody they've never met before."
Tenya nodded, stiffening, "I see, that makes sense. Forgive my interruption, sensei!"
"That fine. Now come and see who you've been paired with!"
The costumed students gathered around and pulled pieces of paper out of the box. The teams were as follows:
Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Momo Yaoyorozu.
Team B: Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji.
Team C: Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta.
Team D: Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida.
Team E: Kyoka Jiro and Ochaco Uraraka.
Team F: Rikido Sato and Eijiro Kirishima.
Team G: Yuga Aoyama and Hanta Sero.
Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami and Tsuyu Asui.
Team I: Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure.
Team J: Mina Ashido and Itachi Yaoyorozu.
If he recalled correctly, Mina was the girl with pink skin and horns.
Itachi saw her looking around, seemingly confused, so to put her out of her misery, he walked over to the pink-skinned student and introduced himself.
"Ashido-san, you're my partner for this exercise." Itachi said, watching as her dark eyes brightened.
"Awesome," she cheered, spinning in a circle as if showing off her form-fitting outfit, "we're going to kick so much butt!"
She wore a purple and turquoise skin-tight bodysuit designed in a camo patter. and the front of the outfit was low enough to show off a bit of chest - not that Itachi was looking. She also had a sleeveless, furred waistcoat that was left unzipped and violet and beige boots.
Itachi nodded and looked at All Might as the man plunged his hands into two boxes. One had 'villains' written on the front, whilst the other box had 'heroes' on it.
He pulled out balls with 'A' and 'D' on them.
'So Midoriya-kun and Mo-chan will be going up against Bakugo-kun, who already doesn't like the both of them, and Iida-kun.' Itachi thought, glancing at his sister who began conversing with Izuku as a bloodthirsty grin was plastered all over Katsuki's face.
"In all scenarios, the villains will already be in the buildings," All Might announced, "after a five minute recon and preparation period, the heroes will be allowed to proceed. The rest of the class will be watching through cameras and can provide criticism once the battle is over.
"Hey, uh, Itachi, isn't Yaoyorozu your sister?" Mina asked him.
He nodded, "She is. Give me a second."
Itachi quickly approached his sister as All Might demanded that everyone else follow him and head for an observation room.
"Mo-chan, Midoriya-kun. Good luck."
Momo smiled at him, "Thank you, Ita-kun.
Izuku nodded, "Thanks, Yaoyorozu-kun."
Momo skimmed over the piece of paper that provided them with a layout of the building. From what she could see, the first three floors were a maze of corridors, while the nuclear bomb that they had to secure on the fourth and top floor.
Meanwhile, as they approached the building, Izuku was muttering up at storm behind her.
"Midoriya-kun," she called, snapping him out his funk, "I do believe it would be beneficial if we formulated a plan of sorts."
"Right, right, sorry," Izuku muttered, "It's just... my opponent is Kacchan and Iida-kun. I'm just really tense, I guess. I hate the way Kacchan treats me, but I admire his confidence, his passion, his strength and his quirk. He's better than me in every way possible, but at the same time, I really don't want to lose to him."
"I see. You said that Bakugo-kun tends to start off with a right hook?"
Izuku nodded, "Yeah."
"And his quirk allows him to produce explosions?"
"Only from his hands. He sweats out something like nitroglycerin." Izuku answered.
Momo nodded, "If it wasn't for those massive gauntlets that he has on, I'd coat his hands in carbon dioxide powder. Rob him of the oxygen he needs to cause explosions. Long-range combat would be ideal, but Bakugo-kun would likely blast himself towards us to close distance."
"That's a good idea, but even if he didn't have those things on, Kacchan is really fast. He wouldn't give you the chance to get close enough, and once he knows what you're doing, he won't give you another opportunity." Izuku replied.
Momo sighed, mentally cycling through another set of plans, "Then we'll have to take him on together, or bypass him entirely. If we do happen to engage him, would you be willing to use your quirk?"
"And throw away my arm?" Izuku squawked.
The raven-haired beauty rolled her eyes as they came to a stop outside the target building, "In yesterday's test, you managed to limit your power to a single finger. I understand that it will be painful, but I'm asking if you would use a finger or two, Midoriya-kun?"
The green-haired boy paused; then nodded.
Momo procured a motion sensor out of her thigh and held it up to the building. The device beeped repeatedly as it tracked the movements of Tenya, who seemed to be stood in the same place on the top floor, and Katsuki, who was running through the second floor.
"He seems to be gunning for us already." Momo mused, pulling open a window on the bottom floor.
"Yeah... Kacchan's impatient like that. He'll probably focus all his attention on me, although since you got first place in the Entrance Exam, he might want to make an example out of you instead." Izuku replied, crawling through the open window and entering a bland, grey hallway; then turning around and helping Momo through.
"Well aren't I a lucky girl?" Momo deadpanned, getting a soft snort in return.
Holding up the motion sensor as the jogging through the hallway, Momo watched as the circle representing Katsuki lost its interior downwards arrow, informing her that he was now on the same floor as them and he was approaching them fast.
Momo was barely able open to her mouth to warn her partner of the approaching threat, when Katsuki shot out from another hallway. She skidded to a halt and yelped as Izuku tackled her to the floor, narrowing preventing her from eating the explosion that shot out of his right hand and blasted through the wall her head had been in-front of a second earlier.
"Found you, shitbags."
Apologizing for unintentionally using her chest as a cushion so he wouldn't crack his head off of the floor, Izuku hastily rolled off of her and scrambled to his feet, half of his mask destroyed and a minor tear in his outfit by his left shoulder. Momo coughed, waving away the smoke as she picked herself up and looked at the blond who glared down at them.
"Are you alright, Yaoyorozu-san?"
"Yes, thank you, Midoriya-kun."
Katsuki sneered at them, one arm extended threateningly, "Oh yeah, keep standing there, you'll soon be very not-alright. And why'd you fucking push that bitch out the way, Deku!?"
Izuku opted to ignore the question and turned to Momo as they backed away slowly, "Just as I thought, Kacchan's going to devote all his attention on me, Yaoyorozu-san. Go ahead and-"
"I'm not leaving you alone, Midoriya-kun." Momo cut him off.
She didn't know anything about their history, asides from the fact that Katsuki believed Izuku to be a quirkless loser and probably bullied him in the past. And this was a test that required teamwork and running off would probably get points, if All Might counted such a thing, deducted from them. Plus, the blond seemed to have a massive superiority complex and with his magnificent temper, would probably end up killing the green-haired boy if left alone with him.
Katsuki snorted with disgust, "To hell with that, Shit-for-Brains, I can take your pathetic ass any day. I gotta teach fucking Ponytail a lesson. Nobody takes first place from me, nobody."
The blonde wore a sadistic smirk as he lunged at her, swinging at her with his right hand. She ducked within his guard, avoiding the blow and the accompanying explosion that blew Izuku further down the hallway and made her ears ring as she drove her elbow into his stomach. Grunting as it made contact, he looked borderline murderous and slightly surprised as Momo grabbed his arm, twisted in place and flung him over her shoulder.
Katsuki let out a choking noise as he hit the floor with his back.
"Midoriya-kun said you have a habit of leading with your right arm," Momo said, slowly backing away, "I doubt becoming predictable feels nice?"
As the blond began to pick up himself, face twisted by an angry snarl, Izuku spoke, "I've watched you fight countless time, Kacchan. I've analysed and took notes on heroes and yourself. The notes that you blew up and tossed out. I'm no longer the worthless Deku, now, I'm the Deku who never gives up!"
"Fucking nerd, now you've both pissed me off even more, I'm gonna blow the two of you through a fucking wall! And you can fuck off, Glasses, I'm really angry right now!"
Momo let two stun grenades fall out of her abdomen as she rushed towards Izuku and corralled him down the hallway. The explosives went off and Katsuki roared angrily, setting off an explosion of his own in his rage, blasting them off their feet.
Back in the observation room, the rest of the students were watching with anticipation. Many were taken aback when Katsuki seemingly ambushed Izuku and Momo, some commented on how lucky Izuku was for landing on Momo's chest after tackling her to the floor, whilst some were confused as to why it seemed like Katsuki was talking to himself at times.
"Aw man, there's no sound. I wish we could hear what they were saying. Bakugo seems to be really mad and Midoriya seems really fired up." Eijiro complained, frowning as he watched the camera feeds.
"He said," Itachi started, lipreading with his Sharingan active, "and I quote 'Fucking nerd, now you've both pissed me off even more, I'm gonna blow the two of you through a fucking wall. And you can fuck off, Glasses, I'm really angry right now'."
He looked around, noticing how everyone was looking at him like he'd grown at second head.
Mashirao seemed particularly perplexed, "Yaoyorozu-kun, you swearing seems... really off."
"Young Yaoyorozu, you know what they're saying?" All Might asked, appearing equally confused.
"I'm lipreading. My Sharingan lets me do that." Itachi replied dismissively.
"That's so cool," Mina cheered from besides him, prompting him to turn to her as she grinned at him, "read my lips, what am I saying?"
Itachi watched as she mouthed something to him.
"Ashido-san, please wash out your mouth with soap, I'm not repeating that." He said, causing her to laugh.
"What'd she say, what'd she say?" Denki urged, grinning.
Itachi stared him down, "I'm not repeating it."
"Anyway," All Might interjected, holding up a roll of white tape, "teammates can communicate with each other through wireless earpieces. And then there's this capture tape. The moment it's been wrapped around your opponent, that means you've been captured. Not only that, but the heroes can't afford to waste too much time, since they only have a fifteen minute timeline."
Mina cringed, "Looks like the hero teams are at a massive disadvantage."
All Might grinned wider, "Didn't Aizawa-kun teach you our motto. All together now..."
"PLUS ULTRA!"
Neither Momo nor Izuku were feeling very Plus Ultra at the moment. After being knocked down by the explosion that Katsuki had set off, the blond was upon them once more. Launching himself at them with explosions from his hands, he booted Momo in the chest, knocking her down, and then twisted in mid-air to brain Izuku with his foot.
The kick was blocked and Katsuki unleashed another explosion halfway through a right hook as Izuku began to wrap the capture tape around his leg, forcing him to disengage.
"What the fuck do you think you're-"
The impact of something wooden slamming into his face cut Katsuki off. Stunned from the blow, anger swelled up in his chest as Momo expertly twirled a wooden staff and jabbed him in the throat as he moved to blow her away. Gasping for air, Katsuki took another hit to the right side of his head, a downward strike to his shoulder which painfully jolted his arm, another jab which may've broken his nose, and a sideward sweep which took out his legs from underneath him.
Momo went to attack him once more, swinging the staff at his chest.
Katsuki wasn't having any of it. As one of his grenade gauntlets shone red momentarily, he thrust out his other arm and blasted the Creation quirk user at point-blank range.
Letting out a cry of pain that was joy to his ears, she was launched down the hallway as her staff was destroyed. Mid-flight, she twisted in the air and launched an expanding net at him which he tore through with another explosion. Then, Izuku - 'That fucking nerd!' - had the audacity to step on his hand as he ran past him to get to his teammate who groaned as she picked herself up, leotard torn and burned.
Meanwhile, Momo felt like she'd been run over by a truck and then trampled by a heard of bison.
"Yaoyorozu-san, we have to go, now." Izuku said, hurriedly helping her to their feet. Recognizing that they had to retreat and reorganize, and that fact that trying to attack him without a proper plan was borderline suicidal, she allowed him to pull her along various corridors as Katsuki screamed with rage behind them.
They hurried along until they found the staircase, by which point, Izuku plopped himself down to take a breather.
Momo lungs burned as she took as many deep breaths as possible. This wasn't ideal for her. Momo liked to plan things out - so much so that Itachi would poke her on the forehead and stop overthinking things, especially when it came to homework - but trying to fight and formulate a plan whilst an angry murder gremlin tried to blow her face off was nearly impossible.
She needed sufficient time to think, but Katsuki wasn't going to give her that.
"Suffice to say, Midoriya-kun, Bakugo-kun's quirk is remarkable." Momo said, glancing at the stairs as she heard Katsuki's screaming get closer and closer.
Izuku nodded, "And I can't get the right opening to use my quirk. I'll either blow you away alongside Kacchan, or he's in my face or yours and firing off explosions. We may have to split up."
"That's-"
"Yaoyorozu-san, please," Izuku pleaded, "Kacchan can't attack us both if we're not together. You might have a better chance of creating a plan to take Iida-kun out of the equation. Let Kacchan focus all of his attention on me."
Momo hesitated, not liking the idea, but eventually relented, nodding, "Alright, just put Bakugo-kun in his place."
There was a dull explosion nearby and Katsuki came sliding around the corner that they'd come from earlier, a maniacal look in his eyes as he grinned at them, the blood streaming from his nose making him look like a serial killer who'd emerged victorious after a struggle with their victim, "Found you, fucknuggets, Also, why won't you use your quirk, Deku? You know, the thing you've been hiding from me for the past ELEVEN FUCKING YEARS!? Huh, do you think your better than me, you shitstain, are you looking down on me?"
"You need honestly need counselling, Bakugo-kun. Getting upset over a lie is understandable, but this rage? It's not normal, and it's not healthy either." Momo said, looking taken aback by the sheer amount of rage on display before her.
"Fuck off, Ponytail, you wouldn't understand." He retorted, spitting blood on the floor.
"Kacchan, I-"
"I know all about your damned stalking, Deku," Katsuki interjected, raising his left arm and pointing it straight at them as he pulled back on the massive handle with his other hand, sliding it back and then tugging on a pin that suddenly emerged from the new space, "as you know already, my explosions are sparked by the sweat which comes from my palms and it's a lot like nitroglycerin. Now, if those morons designed these things exactly as I asked, then I can store my sweat into this bracer and blow you to kingdom come."
Momo recoiled as she saw sparks emerged from a hole at the front the bracer handle, just as All Might's voice bellowed into their ears.
"Young Bakugo, stop! If you hit them with that, you'll kill them!"
Turning so the nearest camera wouldn't get a glimpse of her chest, she unzipped the part of her outfit that hid her breasts from view and got to work with Creation. A few seconds later, she had created a massive shield, wide enough to fit two people behind, as Katsuki tugged harder and harder on the pin, and then pulled it out entirely, "If I don't hit them directly, they won't die!"
How considerate of him.
Momo was about to pull Izuku behind the titanium-tungsten alloy shield she'd created, but paused when he looked at her and shook his head.
'What's he doing?' Momo thought, gasping with horror as a massive explosion lit up the hallway, casting massive shadows behind the green-haired boy and the shield she created.
It ripped up everything from the ceiling to the floor as it raced towards them like the approaching gateway to hell, but Izuku turned to meet it with nothing but determination in his eyes and one arm raised; fingers splayed out, save for one gloved finger which had crimson energy coursing through it and was tucked into his thumb.
Izuku flicked and yelled, "Delaware Smash!"
The rapidly approaching fireball of death came to a sudden halt as a shockwave, purely composed of nothing but air, slammed into it and redirected all the explosive force outwards rather than forwards. The walls, ceiling and floor between Izuku and Katsuki were obliterated, reduced to dust as the blast overpressure of the explosion slammed into them, whilst the whole building trembled.
"Young Bakugo, do not use that move again or I will stop the match!" All Might's voice rang into their headsets.
Taking the window of opportunity their attacks had provided for her in the form of a massive cloud of dust and debris, Momo dashed for the stairs as she heard Katsuki giggle from somewhere behind her, "Hehehe... hahahah... that's more like it, Deku. I want you to show me what you can do at full power. Come on, we've got six minutes left. Go all out, nerd, or I'll fucking kill you. You hear me!?"
She gritted her teeth, hearing another explosion and a cry of pain from Izuku in her ear.
'I can't believe I just left him.' Momo thought, holding up her motion sensor to see that Tenya still hadn't moved. Quickly reaching the floor below him and wincing, tears gathering in her eyes as she heard Izuku's pained cries, additional explosions and Katsuki maniacal laughter, she procured a stepladder and placed it directly underneath him; then attached a powerful explosive charge to the floor beneath him.
With that set, Momo wiped her tears away and made her way to the top floor where she found Tenya glaring at her dramatically.
"I am... magnificently evil, MWAHAHAHAHAHA," he laughed theatrically, "What will you do now, hero? The only thing between you and this bomb is me, and you are nearly out of time, hahahaha!"
After all the pain she'd been put through, Momo couldn't stop the soft laughter that slipped past her lips, even as she smiled at Tenya, held up a detonator and pressed the red button on the top.
"You're right, villain, I might be running out of time, but here's where you're wrong. There's nothing between me and the nuclear bomb." She replied, full of confidence.
"YOU WILL NEVER- Kyah!" Tenya squealed as the floor rumbled and then suddenly collapsed from underneath him.
Momo walked over to the hole and gazed down it, smiling at Tenya who stared back up at her in shock. He scrambled to his feet as his quirk roared to life, but it was too late, as she walked around the hole in the floor and pressed one hand against the nuclear bomb.
Yet another tremendous exploded rocked the building, prompting a cry of surprise from Tenya as a spark of worry jolted through Momo's chest.
A second later, All Might screamed in their ears, "Hero team, WINS!"
Not wasting any time to celebrate, Momo made a break for the stairs where Tenya met her by the third floor - helmet tucked under one arm and he looked just as horrified as she did.
"Yaoyorozu-kun, what is going on? What's with all these explosions?" He inquired.
Momo shuddered, "I think Bakugo-kun has lost his mind. He seemed to really have it out for Midoriya-kun. And that last explosion, he might've been severely injured."
They quickly made their way to the bottom floor and came across a scene that looked straight out of a warzone. Most of the walls had been destroyed, all of the windows had been blown out and the floor was littered with burn marks and craters.
Izuku was kneeling down on his knees in the middle of the room. Two of the fingers on his left hand seemed to be busted, whilst one was busted - red, bruised and bloodied - on the other hand. Otherwise, he'd managed to keep himself out of a state that Aizawa-sensei would've disapproved of, save for the near total destruction of his costume, his black eye and the first-degree burns that were all over his exposed skin.
Katsuki, who looked like one massive bruise, had been blown out of the building entirely. He was laying on his back, staring up at the sky vacantly as he began to hyperventilate, as if he couldn't believe that he'd just lost.
All Might sudden materialized from thin air, Itachi in tow, raising the blond into a seated position.
"It's time to go back, Young Bakugo. It's time for you to hear the criticism. You might have lost, but use this as an opportunity to learn and reflect on." The man said softly, but Katsuki simply shrugged him off and walked away, heading towards the observation room.
Momo gently placed her hand on Izuku's shoulder, prompting the boy to turn to her and display a tired smile.
"We won, Yaoyorozu-san, thanks to you."
"No, it's thanks to you. If you hadn't convinced me to leave you behind, we probably would've lost." Momo replied, then the adrenaline rush she didn't even know she was on wore off and her legs gave out from underneath her as additional pain and tired muscles screamed at her, but Tenya caught her before she could faceplant the floor and gently lowered her to the floor.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, Yaoyorozu-kun. I think you both need to go to Recovery Girl." Tenya stated, looking at them with concern.
Momo nodded tiredly as Itachi squatted next to her, looking at her with concern, no doubt taking in her torn costume and the bruises and burns she was sporting.
"Agreed." Izuku replied, gingerly holding his injured hands.
Itachi turned his back to her as robots carrying a stretcher wheeled themselves over and stopped next to Izuku, prompting the green-haired boy to sigh as he got on the stretcher and allowed himself to be wheeled away.
Momo was about to ask what he was doing when Itachi looked back at her.
"Piggyback?"
Momo's face burned with embarrassment as Tenya stared at them oddly, "Really, Ita-kun?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
Giving Tenya an appreciative nod, Momo clambered onto her brother's back. She circled her arms around his neck, resting her head against the back of his own as he hooked his arms around her legs and then stood up.
"You fought well, Mo-chan." Itachi said.
She shifted on his back, "Thank you, Ita-kun. I probably would've done better if we'd been paired against somebody else. My fighting style meant I constantly had to be close enough to be in Bakugo-kun's explosive range. Planning is difficult in the face of such aggression."
Itachi hummed in response.
Sighing, she allowed Itachi to carry her all the way to medical, a comfortable silence between them.
A/N: And that's Chapter 9 for you guys. Hope you all enjoyed Izuku and Momo vs Katsuki and Tenya in the Battle Trials. Canon Momo would've broken down in the face of Explosion, so I hope you enjoyed this Momo getting a few hits in and contributing to the win. As expected, next chapter deals with the rest of the Battle Trials.