I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba or MHA.


Chapter 5

The passage of time was something of an anomaly to Tanjirou. There were times he would get so invested into something that days or even months would pass in what felt like an instant.

After Urokodaki's training, in which he was told to cut down a massive boulder in order to qualify for the Final Selection of the Demon Slayer Corps, he trained himself for six whole months, repeating every step of his training, every form of Water Breathing until his hands cracked and bled.

That whole time passed by so quickly, it felt like a few days had gone by before he met Sabito and Makomo. A year of his life was spent on that cold, snowy hill in the span of what felt like a few weeks.

Then there were moments during battle. Time there was the exact opposite. Regardless if you've been running around everywhere, pumping your legs to no end, and swinging your sword countless amounts of times, only minutes pass.

Even on Mount Natagumo, even during the train incident, the minutes he'd spent immobile and waiting for help had felt like years. Even when fights dwindled down to nothing more than stalling for the dawn, every swing of his blade felt agonizingly slow.

He was currently facing a similar situation, minus the combat. It had been two days since the miniature training session that Ryukyu had held to teach Tanjioru the basics of being a hero.

On the first day, he woke up relatively early, usually before Ryukyu, and brushed his teeth. This certainly was something that was intriguing to him, given that there was this weird thing that they put on the head of the brush. This… toothpaste. The taste of it was something else, for sure. It would take some getting used to.

Afterwards, he would look around the house for things to do, waiting for his current guardian to wake up. Usually it would take an hour or two, and since it was a plentiful amount of time, he decided to use it to get a good training session in. He took up the wakizashi that she had left him the day before and began practicing his breath styles.

When Ryukyu eventually woke up due to the sound coming from outside, he definitely wasn't prepared for what came after, for multiple reasons.

She gave him a major telling off during the middle of training, saying that it wasn't a good idea at all to train as soon as he woke up, without any food or anything. He had to give the body time to relax, and wake up first.

And second, he was apparently very, very loud when he trained early in the morning, and it made a huge racket that probably woke up a lot of the people around them.

She was also not a morning person.

The telling-off continued for about 10 more minutes, which Tanjirou patiently listened through until she finally relented and let him back inside the house. She got some quick food ready, though not before she forced the boy to take a shower, due to the sweat that he worked up.

Even after all of that, he didn't regret that training. He needed every moment he could get, and he was damn well going to use it.

But for now? Looks like he had to relax for a little while longer. Instead of that training he had resigned himself to, he made do with something else, which was, in his opinion, equally as necessary.

A long soak in a hot bathtub.

He needed this once in a while. After everything he had gone through, it made sense. He had only experienced this luxury a few times before. Now, it seemed like he could have it every day. Whenever he wanted.

Definite win in his book.

Following the bath and a small breakfast, he had hours of time to kill to do whatever he felt like doing (except training, Ryukyu was pretty adamant on that). He spent that time fiddling with certain things that were considered "common household appliances".

Why was she not fazed by the tens and hundreds of buttons that littered across everything and anything, he wasn't sure. To him, she was pressing buttons at random, and different things were coming on the screen. He tried to emulate that, by pressing the buttons he thought he had seen her press to try to get the screen in front of him to function.

Easier said than done. He spent an hour trying to read the immensely small text on the buttons on the television remote. He didn't even know how to turn it on, much less what those buttons do!

He kept on pressing random buttons to see which one did what, and he eventually learned that things were powered on by pressing a big red button with a certain symbol that was usually at the top of whatever machine he was using.

Good to know. He had to get used to these types of things if he was going to be living here for now on. They had the ability to make life so much easier, even if they looked like they did the exact opposite, and made his life harder.

Practice makes perfect. No worries.

He would then get a little training done after getting permission reluctantly from Ryukyu, in which he worked on sword swings and increasing his stamina, so he could get used to fighting with a smaller form.

Swinging a sword was different, due to the heights of everyone around him being about a half meter taller than he was used to. He had to compensate for that by including jumping and hitting for high spots, and this meant breaking a few of his habits that he picked up through most of his years. That would also take time.

He and Ryukyu both had pretty much nothing to do by the time noon rolled around, so Tanjirou proposed the idea of going out and exploring more of what the city had to offer. He thoroughly enjoyed the last time they did it, and he was looking forward to learning more about the place he would be living in.

Changing into some clothes and a jacket, Tanjirou and Ryukyu, with her hood pulled up to mask parts of her face, once again ventured out into the city, with the hero introducing the boy to the various wonders (horrors) of the city.

Hundreds of people were bustling around everywhere, and the swarm of bodies obscured most things from view, yet she knew exactly where she was going.

Walking along prominent highways, she pointed out important buildings, what they were, and what purpose they served, just like last time. A lot of them were similar to things that Tanjirou had seen in the villages that he sold his coal in. Clothes makers, tool builders, and more.

There even were a lot of restaurants in various places, where they sold different types of food that came from places all around the world, not just from Japan. They stopped at one for a long overdue lunch, and it was certainly an experience that he would remember for a while.

They continued like that without trouble, with Tanjirou readily absorbing the information. He was, once again, astonished at the capabilities that a city could achieve. No matter how many times he could say it, that wouldn't change. Thinking about the possibilities were one thing, but seeing them firsthand? That wasn't something you could prepare for no matter how much you expected it.

The next day came upon them, and the cycle repeated. Breakfast, training and lunch all went smoothly. Tanjirou would have preferred to keep up with his training for a few more hours, but that was something that Ryukyu wouldn't let him do.

"You're young. Trust me, you might feel like you have all the energy in the world, but if you push yourself too hard, it won't be good. Remember when I told you it's okay to relax once in a while? You don't have to spend every moment training," she had said.

Every moment training? It didn't seem like he was. He knew how to train in moderation. He wasn't Inosuke!

After all, he had first learned how to fight by having real knives flung at him from every direction! He ran over potholes with swords that tried to impale him! He stood under waterfalls for hours on end! Hell, he even climbed across mountains with ledges so thin that when he fell, he had to catch himself with the ends of his nails!

What he was doing now was nothing compared to what he had encountered with Urokodaki, though it was probably best not to mention that to Ryukyu. People here seemed to have different standards of training compared to Urokodaki. He was a bit extreme like that.

And so he stopped for now. Even if he didn't want to, he couldn't just outright refuse her. Not after what she had done for him. She was a hero, after all. It was literally part of her job to do those things. It was probably the right thing to do.

"Okay. I'll relax for a while." He sat back on a chair, with a mug of cold water in his hands. Midsummers here were definitely a lot warmer than he was used to.

Once again, silence enveloped the two of them.

"Since we have nothing to do, Tanjirou, do you want to go and see what the mall is like?" She suddenly sprung a question at him.

"The mall?" He had crossed that building yesterday along with Ryukyu, and that was probably the most people he had ever seen at one spot. Apparently it was a place that had everything and anything. Food stalls, stores, and even games. He was never one to be interested in playing around with games, but he wondered what that would be like.

"Yeah. That place with tons of people. I haven't been there in a while, and you've been working hard lately. It might be a little boring here with nothing but training and a TV, so I figured it would be a good change of pace."

It wasn't a bad idea. Of course, he had all the time left of the day to do so, and he had gotten his training in. Maybe this would be a good way to get some relaxation in. Plus, if she wanted to do it, why would he refuse it? Not to mention he was quite curious to see the things that would be there.

"I don't mind at all," was all that he could reply. Oh how he would come to regret that.


And thus, he was now in his current situation.

Being indoors this time, he was roaming along long hallways of what he now knew as a mall. The mall. He needed to remember that. Needed to file it in his brain as the single most terrifying thing he had ever bore witness to.

So many things shattered, he couldn't even count them all. His eardrums? His eyesight? His spirit? Where did he even begin?

As soon as he entered, his ears were bombarded with noise that felt like the equivalent of the massive blast from the villain attack a few days ago. Lights poured out from the translucent dome-like rooftop, ambushing his retinas, forcing his eyes shut. He instantly brought his hands up to his ears to try to block out the sound still assaulting them.

He didn't want to go any further. He wanted to turn around. He wasn't good around large crowds of people, and he had really bad experiences with them. Out of all the times we passed through areas like this, something always went wrong. He saw Muzan, the progenitor of Demons of all of them, in the one time he went to the heart of Tokyo.

His ears eventually got used to the constant loud noise, and he was able to walk through just fine, except for one thought that kept crossing his mind.

Why? Just why? How do people do this? How do people think this is any sort of normal?

The boy lamented the whole way, yet deep inside, who was he to talk? Usually, the existence of demons itself was abnormal. If someone came around, yelling around that demons existed and they were man-eating creatures, they would be laughed at and be called crazy. Yet that was his normal.

What was normal, and what wasn't? Tanjirou felt that was a question that would last a long time.

They spent quite a bit of time there, visiting various places and doing different things. There was a pretty large section of the mall that was designated to something called an "arcade", where there were different types of games that kids around his age seemingly enjoyed.

He really didn't see what was so interesting about it. The concepts in and of itself were interesting the first time he looked at them, but he couldn't find the same energy as the other kids had to keep at it. Though he certainly could appreciate how they managed to fit something so intricate in a box that size.

After exhausting all of the coins that they had gotten, they exited the arcade and made their way to some other sections of the mall.

"Where was it, where was it? It should be here somewhere…" Ryukyu was muttering something under her breath, trying to pinpoint a certain location out of the dozens of shops and food vendors that were in their immediate vision.

"What are you looking for?" He asked lightly. What she was looking for, Tanjirou couldn't tell. All he did was follow her around until her eyes lit up, finally spotting the place she had been looking for.

"Ah, there it is!" She dragged Tanjirou over to a section of the mall in a manner not unlike a child. Tanjirou coudn't see in front of her rather tall frame, so he had no idea where he was headed.

"Ryukyu-san, where are we even going?"

"We're going over to this ice cream shop. There's no such thing as coming here and leaving without a cup."

Ice cream? It certainly sounded interesting…. but what exactly was it?

Standing in the decently long line gave him his answers soon enough. It seemed to be some kind of food, or dessert in a way. The board on top of the shop detailed many "flavors" that they sold, much like the udon stands back home had. At least this was something that he could understand.

Next to him, Ryukyu didn't seem to be eying the menu at all. All she did was look down at Tanjirou, and ask him a question.

"Have you ever had ice cream before?"

He shook his head. "We didn't have anything back at home to freeze things, so we couldn't get such things like ice."

She looked surprised at that. Was it that well-known?

"That sucks. Well, this is a good opportunity to try it. In my opinion, it's one of the best things I've ever eaten. You really need to try it." That was a pretty high regard to put it in.

His interest was getting raised bit by bit as he advanced through the line. They made it all the way to the front of the line, where there were many different colors of what they considered "ice cream" layered out in front of him.

"Well, which one do you want?" Ryukyu asked from his side, pointing to the various ice cream.

If he were to be honest, he didn't really care which flavor he got. He looked through the menu, and couldn't recognize any of the flavors except chocolate, which was considered a luxury food in Japan, and something that he never got to try.

"I'm fine with whichever flavor you choose," was all he replied with. He preferred to leave that to someone who knew which ones were the better flavors, and besides, he wasn't that picky of an eater anyway.

"Okay then. Two scoops of the cotton candy flavor, please." She turned to the man behind the counter and told him their orders.

"Coming right up, miss!" He took two scoops, placed them in cups, and handed it to them. Ryukyu placed some yen on the table, already knowing the price given how much she frequents the ice cream shop, and took the ice cream, giving one to Tanjirou.

"Here, take it," she told him, holding the cup out in front of him. "And be careful not to drop it, it's really cold at first."

As they exited the line, he rubbed his fingers against each other, and gingerly took hold of the cup, heeding her warning. Even then, as soon as he touched it, his hands nearly leapt in the air again.

Cold!

The only thought his mind registered was the sharp sensation seeping through his fingers, preventing them from moving. Good thing they couldn't move, otherwise it probably would have dropped.

Nevertheless, he dug his spoon in, and put a generous amount in his mouth. Once again, the coldness of it overtook his mouth, but the flavor…. wasn't all that bad. No, it was actually really good!

It tasted like something that he never actually tasted before, so he assumed that was what this "cotton candy" tasted. Otherwise, all that there was to it was that coldness, which was easy to swallow down. He then took another spoonful and put it in his mouth, and swallowed it down. He was going to try to finish it as fast as he could, but then…

A sensation overcame him that he had never felt before. It was like a sharp pain in the back of his head that stopped his trail of thoughts temporarily. He let go of the cup with one hand and grabbed his head, hoping to stop the pain, but failing.

"What was that?" He groaned, clearly affected by whatever just happened.

He could hear a Ryukyu laugh. "That's what happens when you eat it too fast. It's called brain freeze, it doesn't feel too great. Cold things generally are better eaten slowly."

Tanjirou stares blankly at the cup once the miniature migraine fades away. "Does that always happen when you eat ice cream?"

She closed her eyes. "Not really. I would have told you beforehand, but I just wanted to see how you would react to it. It didn't disappoint."

Tanjirou kept staring, but he eventually smiled. It reminded him of how Nezuko was before she became a demon. She enjoyed playing harmless pranks on him from time to time, and he would just accept them. It was all in good fun, and it was his duty as the eldest to laugh along with them.

"But still, this is very good. Thank you for getting me this." He felt a little bad for just complaining about something without showing gratitude.

She opened an eye and looked at him. "Yeah."

They walked for a little while further until they reached the exit.

"Did I ever tell you that you act way too much like an adult at times?" Ryukyu asked out of nowhere.

Tanjirou looked up in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

She elaborated as they exited the mall. "It's fine to let yourself relax. There's not a need to be all proper all the time, just let yourself live a little."

Tanjirou didn't say anything to that. He just kept silent, and was thinking it over. He didn't understand. What about him was overly proper? He was just acting as he normally would.

He threw his cup away at a nearby trash can, and put his hands in his pockets to warm them up again. There were a lot less people during this time of day now, and he was easily able to relocate Ryukyu.

"Well, don't worry about that. It's still better than acting all immature all the time. Less of a hassle."

"Why would I purposely be a bother to someone when I could just act normally? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" Her logic really wasn't making sense to him.

"It is, but you normally wouldn't see that in most kids. Trust me, you're way different from them."

Tanjirou was about to respond, but something caught his eye above him. Was that… something black on the rooftop to the side? Was that supposed to be there? It looked like it had a vaguely humanoid shape, but why would it be there?

"Kids these days tend to act a little spoiled in a way. Always demanding things, and never being satisfied. I guess I have to admit at first, I kind of expected you to be the same at first. But then-"

"Ryukyu-san," he interrupted in the middle of her monologue, "what is that person up there doing?"

"What do you mean, what thing…" she trailed off as she saw what he was pointing at.

"Hmm…." She looked up towards the rooftop. To her, it looked like a person in jet black, rather broad for a regular-sized person without a mutation quirk. Was it a hero just surveying the people down here?

She had never heard of one that dressed like that, but she was only a few months in the job. She couldn't have known all the heroes that existed in Japan.

"I'm not sure, though it's probably a hero just on patrol, though why would it be on the roof, I have no idea. Well, I do that a lot too, so I can't really talk."

They kept walking down, heading somewhere that Tanjirou wasn't sure.

"So where are we going now?" He changed the subject without too much effort.

She shrugged. "I don't know. There are many places we can go, but it's your choice. We could just go…."

Tanjirou was looking up at her, and he saw her facial expression shift. She was still staring at the thing on the roof, and her eyes instantly narrowed, and her face shifted into one that he knew all too well. "What is he doing?" She muttered aloud, soft but enough for Tanjirou to pick up.

He had seen it on many faces before. Giyuu, Inosuke, hell even Zenitsu at one point. Every time they went into battle, their faces mirrored into what he was seeing now.

"Is there something there?" He looked towards the rooftops once more, and breathed in, trying to smell any dangers nearby. Besides the many people that were around them, he couldn't detect any direct hostile intent coming from anybody. So why…?

Then he saw it. Looking back on the rooftop of the mall, the figure that was once there was no longer there. His eyes trailing down, he saw it in his peripheral vision. It had jumped, and was falling, and falling, and falling…..

"Tanjirou, get back and run from here, that's not a hero," she ordered him as she took off her jacket and dropped it on the floor.

His feet were still rooted to the ground as she dashed forward towards the falling man, and yelled out for everyone to hear.

"EVERYBODY GET BAC-"

She couldn't finish. Or didn't make it in time. The ground exploded beneath them, creating a force of wind that drove everyone in the vicinity back, and off of their feet. People fell flat on their bottoms on the floor as dust was picked up on the air, swirling in the wind to obscure their vision.

Luckily, Ryukyu was in front of Tanjirou when he had hit, and unintentionally shielded him from the impact. Not like it would have mattered. Tanjirou ran next to Ryukyu as the wind cleared. They both got a close-up view of the one on the rooftop.

Dressed in a black type of body armor like she had expected, the man was relatively unarmed by the blast. He had one fist on the ground, almost in a comic-like fashion that would have been considered corny if it wasn't for the fact that it made a large crater in the ground beneath him. His face was in full display, with a somewhat of a grouchy look, with a loosely trimmed mustache and a fully covered beard. Her mind connected it to one of those actors that played kingpins in the movies that kids loved so much.

The main thing that stood out was his size. It wasn't that of a regular human. If he stood upright, he would tower over everyone. He estimated he was about twice, or three times the size of an adult male.

This was obviously no regular civilian, that much they both knew. And a hero definitely wouldn't do something so blatantly pointless like this. That left only one other option left.

"Tanjirou, I told you to run from here. This isn't someone you can deal with!" She looked back at him without taking her attention off of the imminent danger.

Too many thoughts were going through his head. Yes, this was a villain, but it wasn't a demon. He could probably take him on if he wanted to, alongside Ryukyu. She didn't have to fight it alone.

Yet the other thought clashed and contradicted against that one. He wasn't in his prime yet. He was weak as of now, and would be a liability if he did choose to ignore Ryukyu and fight. Many of the skills that he had wouldn't be put to the same effectiveness as they used to. He would likely injure himself while doing so.

Besides, she was a hero. She could take this on herself. They were trained to protect others after all.

He turned around and ran away from the scene, something that he felt really uncomfortable doing. He was usually the one that did the charging into things, not the opposite.

"Everyone, get as far away from here as possible! This isn't a safe place to be. I'll handle this in the meantime, try to get to safety!" Ryukyu's hard voice echoed across to the bystanders, catching their attention, pausing them for a couple seconds, and galvanizing into action.

Everyone else he already fled and gathered a distance away, and for some reason they were waiting, some holding up their phones in the hero's direction, hushed whispers going around…..

He scanned his surroundings. A relatively old man was still on the floor, and struggling to get up nearby, and no one seemed to pay him any attention at all. Their eyes were fixed on the scene in front of them.

Tanjirou went over to the old man, and tried to help him out.

"Mister, are you alright? Do you need help getting up?"

The man saw Tanjirou helping him, and grasped his hands. He pulled himself up with the assistance given, and managed to wobble back into a stable position.

"Thank you, young one. You should hurry and find your parents, they will be really worried if they didn't see you were okay here."

Tanjirou didn't even bother to correct him. The man had already left and was well on his way away from there, as fast as his old legs let him go.

Tanjirou ran back to the crowd, which parted slightly to give him space for him to watch in the back. He wasn't just going to leave her there alone, and it wasn't like he could go anywhere else. He didn't know the city well enough to make it back to the house yet.

All he could do is watch to the side as someone else did the fighting….


Yet another villain stood in front of her, one that literally jumped off of a roof and landed right in front of her.

What was with this shit, seriously? Two days ago her house got attacked, and the day before that, ANOTHER villain decimated the downtown. She was supposed to be on break, watching a little boy, damnit! What was with her shitty luck all the time?

Dragons were supposed to be lucky!

In a way, she was lucky. If an attack happened somewhere else, then hell would have been rained on somewhere else, and casualties would have occurred.

Lucky for others, yet unlucky for her. Great. Well, she was a hero, can't bitch about your job.

I need to end this as fast as possible. I'm pretty sure not that many heroes come by here during this time of day. Good thing he's a size type. Not sure many people can handle that.

People were watching, too. Especially Tanjirou. Why not give them a show? It was cases like these when she wore custom-made expandable clothing over her jacket, and why she had her metal claw on her.

Her back arched, and her spine sprayed to grow. Her arms and legs increased in height. Claws sprouted out her fingernails, and scales appeared on her sides. She felt her face expand until there was a good distance between her eyes and the end of her nose, which was technically a snout now. She leaned forward and put her arms on the ground so that she was on all fours. A tail and a pie of wings grew out from behind her, until she completed her draconic transformation and was now a good bit larger than the aggressor. The claw in her hand fit snug over her right hand as her size expanded.

The crowd was going wild behind her, she could hear it, but she didn't train in U.A for nothing. She participated in the sports festival, and this was nothing compared to what that was. She tuned out the sound until all she could hear was her own heartbeat and the villain in front of her.

His behavior was for sure strange. By this time, most would have rushed forward by now and used everything to defeat the heroes. That was simply their way of doing things. But he just stood there, and watched her transform.

Fine by her. She would just make the first move herself. Closing the distance between them with one bound, she raised a paw, bent some of the fingers, and thrusted them forward, aiming for a knockout in one blow.

If only it were that easy.

The villain raised one of his gigantic arms to tank the shot, sliding back a bit as he did so. His feet, which were planted in the ground, made foot-sized indents in the ground, going through a straight line.

She followed up yet again with a sweep of a paw, this time faster and stronger than the previous one, which was avoided yet again. He ducked back and let it fly past him, momentum carrying her past him.

She had to admit, that was one hell of a dodge. Was his quirk related to speed? That was a high possibility, though he did show aspects of strength enhancement too. It would also explain his body size. She didn't have enough information to go off of yet, but the villain wasn't exactly being secretive about it either. She could figure out along the way.

It just made it easier on her, and she wasn't going to complain.

The villain struck at the opening, and Ryukyu braced her right arm, absorbing the impact along her scales. The impact sent a miniature shockwave down her arm, jarring it for a couple of seconds. Before he could pull back, she grabbed his forearm, held it tight, and brought it towards her. As she did that, she sent a vicious bodyshot to his abdomen.

It was slow, given that she had her metal claw piece on her hand at the time, and it weighed quite a bit. It slowed her punch down to a point where both of them could see its path quite well, but the villain could do nothing about it due to Ryukyu's insanely tight grip.

CLANG!

The metal impacted the villain's stomach, yet instead of impacting skin and sending him flying away, it was stopped dead in its tracks, ringing like a large bell chime.

As if it were made of pure metal.

"What the hell?"

No way in hell that's anything but a strength quirk.

She hasn't seen anyone, hero or otherwise, be able to withstand a blow with all her weight on it. It was just too powerful to stop. Given his size, it would make a little more sense if it had less of an effect, but it shouldn't have stopped completely. Nothing should have complete resistance, especially against the type of metal her claw-piece was made of.

Good thing is, she now knew what quirk her opponent had. It was some sort of reinforcement type, one that provided enhanced defense and hardening of the body or skin. It may have had potential strength benefits too, but that would have to be tested.

She was kicked away by a large foot to the chest, creating about 15 meters of distance between them, though no damage was done given that she braced for the impact intentionally. They stopped their movement, and stood across from each other, analysing their stances and watching for any signs of aggression. Ryukyu moved a little to the right, given that the sun was in the corner of her eye and was slightly blocking her vision. The villain did the same, evening out the space between them.

Everyone around them watched in anticipation, silence dominating the area. To them, they would never be able to see something like this in person. Witnessing a hero in action was something that people could brag about, they even had the chance to be seen on T.V.

The villain suddenly jumped, and she noted how the ground cracked when she did so. He extended his leg, aiming for a kick to the face. A punch or a kick, it didn't matter. For what she had planned, she needed only one shot that could serve as an opening. This one was shown clear as day.

Her arm raised up, in a position to block the attack. The kick slammed into her palm, sliding her a little to the right and off balance, but that was made up for by her next move. She gripped the limb tightly, keeping him from drawing his foot back.

It was a move that she had seen a few nights back, when Tanjioru charged headfirst into a villain. He had kicked out at the man, but his foot had been grabbed, keeping him from doing anything else, being completely at mercy.

She kicked off the ground, and as she did so, she grabbed the other arm of the villain. She arched her back, spreading her wings in the air and bringing them down. The two of them were lifted off of the ground, violent bursts of wind surrounding them as Ryukyu made her way higher and higher in the air.

One advantage that flight had: it was really hard to fight back against. It wasn't a great feeling, being hoisted off of the ground, and suddenly being weightless. Especially if your limbs were compromised, and you were unable to move your body.

There's nothing you can do against that. All the man could do was try to bend his body forward, and try to pry his legs out of her grasp with his remaining arm.

Like she was going to let that happen.

"It's over now!"

She folded her wings in, allowing herself to fall down to the ground. She started to spin and rotate her body downwards, gaining velocity faster and faster.

Now in a free-fall, gaining momentum and about to crash down to the ground, she braced her legs and arms, ready for the impact, and as she did so, she readied the villain that was currently in her grasp, and threw him down with as much force as she could.

BAM!

The ground once again exploded beneath them, making a new crater, this one much bigger than the rest of the ones he had seen. A shower of debris fell around them, silencing the crowd that was watching in the distance. Dust obscured the surroundings, rendering everyone unable to see the outcome of what just happened.

The dust cleared, and everyone could see the figure of the Dragon Hero, holding her opponents down from the face, with the one on the floor offering no resistance.

She was prepared for any sudden movements, so she didn't let her grip loosen one bit. She waited, a second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds. No movement.

"Phew, it's done."

She heaved a sigh of relief. That took a lot more out of her than she cared to admit. This one was the one of the longer battles that she had to go through. Whoever this was, he was completely unlike what she had fought before.

She was so used to stopping villains from just one slam of her paw, and she never needed to actually do more than that.

The crowd saw this, and went completely insane. She heavily doubted anyone knew who she actually was, her information as a hero online was incredibly sparse, but to see a hero defeat a seemingly powerful villain that looks as intimidating as this one did was bound to get her fair share of attention.

She didn't care about it either way. The people could cheer all they liked. There was one thing in the crowd she did want to see, however. She looked up and scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar red-headed boy. And lo and behold, towards the very front, she saw him. With a smile on his face.

That enough was enough to warm her heart, and she found herself smiling along with him as well. She finally was able to show him how a true hero should act. Fighting with all they can, and not like she usually had does. She was proud, in a weird way. Proud of herself for actually being able to do something for Tanjirou that she never would have been able to if this didn't happen.

Then, she found herself flying through the air, looking towards the sky.

"What the fu-"

She wasn't even able to think properly. She could no longer feel the villain underneath her palm. Her vision was spinning, and there was a searing pain throughout her arm. Light-headedness consumed her entire being as she found herself tumbling across the ground. Rolling for a few meters before stopping. She turned over, and pushed herself up to look at the one responsible.

Shit, he's still conscious after that?

The very same villain she body-slammed was standing, perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened before. The scariest part was, he didn't even look angry at all. No, he was starting to smile. That smile then evolved into full-blown laughter.

"That was impressive, you made me use something that I never thought I needed to use!"

Ryukyu was barely listening, still somewhat disoriented, but she caught the words.

"What do you mean, barely use? What the hell was that, some sort of weapon?"

The man kept chuckling. "Oh no. The mighty hero is getting angry, isn't she? It wouldn't do for the big bad villain to reveal all of his cards, wouldn't it?"

She let out a breath, sighing in resignation. "Figured not. It would be nice, but it doesn't really matter what you have, cause I'll still beat you down regardless."

The villain spread his arms wide. "Oho? And how, do you expect, you'll be able to do that?"

She raised an eyebrow. Cocky much? All that did was tell her that he had something else in his arsenal that he had yet to reveal. Classic villain stereotypes, he doesn't give a shit because he thinks he's going to win.

She dug her feet into the ground, and pushed forward, this time using all the power that she had, regardless of the effect it had on her surroundings. Would she get in trouble for that? Probably not, considering what this dude was capable of.

She rocketed forward, aiming directly towards him. She swung her left paw, which now held her metal piece she switched over from her right, directly at his head.

How will you dodge this now?

He jumped over it once again, though this time there was a significant crater in the ground where he stood. She didn't have time to dwell on that as he rocketed forward towards her head, an arm cocked back.

Luckily for her, she had a really long neck that came with her new form. It came in handy a lot more than one would expect. She leaned back as far as she could while still maintaining balance as the fist flashed by her face, and took a step back to right herself. Before gravity could bring him down to the ground, she jumped forward again and smacked him up in the air. If she were to be honest, the dude didn't go too far at all. She jumped from the ground, extended her wings to a low glide, and grabbed him from the air just before hitting the ground. Slamming him to the ground, she continued to glide, dragging him for a distance, then picked him up and viciously backhanded him.

Given the metal piece and how much force she put on it, he went flying. He thudded on the ground many times before rolling over, much like she had at first. Though this time she wouldn't do him the favor of standing around. Reaching him in a few bounds, she aimed to incapacitate, and using all of her force possible to put him down. Using her signature palm slam, she raised her palm, and sent it rocketing down.

Crack!

"Gah!"

Only for it to rebound again with a sickening crack. She struggled to maintain her footing, eventually regaining it after a few seconds.

She took a few steps back, and gingerly put her weight on both arms. Her mind was reeling. She had completely forgotten about his initial body enhancement, and hitting it so hard felt like she just slammed a god-damned nail. That hurt a lot.

"Strength isn't your quirk, isn't it? There's no way that could have happened otherwise!" She questioned, a hint of accusal in her tone.

"Bravo! It took awhile of tossing me around to finally understand! Though I must confess, I didn't put you in a position to figure it out easily. Well done!" The man cackled loudly as he stood back up on his two feet. "But you aren't fully correct either, you see-"

She didn't let him finish. With a roar, she tore up the already broken foundation in front of her, and flung it towards the villain. What the point of that was, the people were left guessing, though she knew.

If it were some form of redirection, they would fly back at her in broken pieces. If it was his initial hardening, it would shatter like glass. Whichever he chooses, it would lead to the inevitable reveal of his quirk.

It also served as a good distraction.

A good chunk of mass was sent flying to her left, which would be his right. She followed his eyes, marking where he would focus. It was trailing onto the middle, then it started to drift to the left…

She made her move them. She pushed to the right side, and this time, aimed for something different all together, she dashed out underneath at the exact moment the rock was above him. She swept an arm at his knees, specifically at the back joint connecting them. He could try to jump over it, but the rock will crush him, and that does more harm than good. He could try to block the rock, but then that gives her another shot, and a chance to figure out what his true quirk was.

She had almost completed the sweep when everything around the area was blasted away, including her. Wind buffeted around them, and the people in the surroundings covered their hands over their eyes because of the force.

There it was again! Some sort of thing that pushes things out. Like force. It wasn't some sort of reflection quirk, but it allowed him to do that. That didn't explain the hardening though. Maybe it was a subpart of his quirk too? Whatever it was, it was too versatile.

"It seems you've figured it out already, hero," he called over in a mocking tone. "Though it was necessary for me to get out of that, yes, that was my quirk. I can take the energy that is dealt to me, collect it, and redistribute it."

Ryukyu was puzzled. She would have never guessed exactly what that quirk would me, though that was good to know. Why did he tell her that? That was pretty dumb of him to do that.

"Why tell me that?" She asked.

The villain looked at her strangely. "You mean…" He stopped and his body started shaking. "HAHAHA! You didn't even figure that out yet! It seems I overestimated you quite a bit! Your quirk is rather powerful, but you don't have the brains to compensate for it! Simply incredible! Is this what heroes are?"

He was baiting her, it was obvious. He was trying to get her riled up and try to charge at him recklessly, and then take her down that way. It would make sense, considering he thought she was an idiot, but she was thinking her thoughts over. Whatever damage he took, he could redistribute. But clearly it didn't apply to physical injuries, because even she could see he was bruised all over. The more she hit him, the stronger he became.

Damn, are there any other heroes nearby? I could really use some help here!

U.A was a school that prioritized education as much as physical, and she thought back to her classes. His energy quirk could be used in too many ways to count. It could strengthen his attacks, use it to propel himself, and potentially harden himself. So many things.

"But unfortunately, you must die, hero. I held back long enough."

Go ahead, I'm waiting.

He propelled himself at her, shooting once more like a missile towards the stationary hero. She nimble dodged that one, landing the villain right behind her. Before he could recover, she was on top of him. Now aware of his quirk, she had to be careful to dodge everything that came her way. She couldn't let herself tank any shots, they would hurt like hell.

She first threw a straight jab at his torso to unbalance him. He, of course, tanked the damage using his quirk to harden his body, but realistically, it would take the same amount of energy in order to harden it. If she kept this up and dodged his tracks, he would run out of energy. If he didn't use energy to harden his body and if it ran out, then he would lose.

He threw a right hook, which was dodged as she moved to the right, gusts of wind shooting from his fist as a result of the blow. She rolled down on the ground, folding her wings in to make sure they didn't get crushed, and kicked off the ground from her position. From behind, her hardened tail came in from behind and smashed into his side, unbalancing him. The blow struck the entire side of his body, causing him to fall from the ground.

Getting on top of him and holding him to the ground with a palm, she drew back a fist and sent a glaring blow to the side of his skull. As she expected, it was hardened, but all quirks had their limitations. He was still being affected little by little because of it.

Again and again, she hit him. Twice. Thrice. It almost was comical, like a school bully beating up on a poor, innocent boy. But this time, the one being beaten up wasn't the one that was innocent.

She once again flew up in the air, with the villain dangling from her grasp. With a swift turn to the right, she threw the villain down to the ground. The ground split up again, it was like a repetitive cycle. But she didn't see any other way.

She kept to the air as she waited for the air to clear. Now aware of what he could do, it would be in her best interest to keep a distance for the time being.

Not to mention the fact that she was starting to tire quite a bit from this. Her arms were feeling especially heavy and quivering from all the shots she had to throw, and all the attacks that she tanked. Her breathing was ragged, and she had noticeable injuries on her. It was obvious that she wasn't doing well.

"Is it over?" The civilians toward the side started to speak up.

"I can't see anything…"

"What just happened?"

"That was awesome!"

The muttering of the crowd drew her eyes over to their direction to check if they were still safe. Other than the area around them being completely destroyed, they seemed to be out of the line of danger, though barely.

Sirens wailed in the far distance. She looked behind her to see that there were oncoming police cars, and they were speeding over in their direction.

About time. I've been making a massive racket for the past 10 minutes and only now the-

She heard the impact of concrete below her as she swiveled her head into the direction. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to uncover the source of the disturbance.

The air was still filled with powdered debris that it was hard to make out anything. She couldn't tell what had happened from her current position, and the chances were too great that he was going for something else of importance other than her.

She let her wings go still, and she started to fall directly on top of the position where she last chucked the villain. It didn't take long for her to reach the ground, and as she entered the cloud, she found no sign of anyone there.

What?

Her stomach tightened in panic. Where did he go? There was no sign of any sort of movement from above! No one can just disappear like that!

She had to take back to the air to search when a sickening pressure entered her gut. The air was driven out of her lungs, and all the strength she had remaining left her. She stumbled back on her legs as she almost deactivated her quirk.

Where?

She looked around, but still there was no sign of anyone there.

Why the hell is this cloud still here? Get out of the way?

She blew away the cloud with her wings, giving her vision once again. A distance away, she could see people watching, yet they were left unharmed. There was no one in her immediate vicinity, so where the hell could he have been? And how did he manage to strike her like that?

She still felt that something felt very off here. Something was really unnatural, and she felt that it was important, but she couldn't quite place it. It was like there was something around her still that shouldn't be there….

The air!

The cloud that she blew away with her wings still floated around her, and it was too thick. There's no way that something could stay in one place for that long.

"Hnrg!"

Once again, that feeling of breathlessness overtook her. Her throat felt like it was constricted. She couldn't draw in any breath, and she felt her strength fading away.

Shit, I can't transform back! Not yet!

She almost lost her grip on her quirk, but she powered through it. She felt a pressure on the back of her throat, and she turned around to see that the air, which had taken the shape of a hand, was grabbing on her neck, attempting to choke her.

With a low growl, her tail came up and tried to smack the hand out of the way, but it was stopped dead in its tracks. Another clang, identical to the initial metal-like hardening, caused it to rebound off without taking any damage.

Anger started to bubble from within her. She forced herself around and grabbed the sand-like arm with her own hand, and started to squeeze it, attempting to crush the sand to relieve the pressure. The hardening kept up, rendering her efforts useless.

She started to panic. She couldn't breathe properly, and she could see black spots dancing from the corner of her eyes. She could feel her body shrinking back into human form slowly but surely, and her strength was all but fading.

Before it fully could, she had to try everything that she could. Maybe if she blew away the rest of the sand, she could make the arm disappear?

She put as much force as she could muster in her wings, and blew the sand away. The cloud blew over a little bit, but since her strength was currently restricted, it didn't accomplish much.

She tried using both of her arms to pry it open, but they were slipping and losing their grip, the claws slowly retracting until they disappeared entirely, turning back to human hands.

The rest of her body followed suit, until she was now back to a human. And the hand was still there, now preventing her from moving. She could now breathe, but recovering the strength was a difficult task. The hand now covered about half of her upper body, which was being crushed.

The cloud then started to move. It condensed in front of the hand until it took the shape of a human body, and after losing its transparency, the familiar body of the villain was holding her.

"It's sad, it's sad indeed. The hero usually always wins. But in the end, you weren't a hero. There's no use continuing your struggle, nothing can save you now. You died, giving it every ounce of effort. I must commend you for that. And even now, you struggle." He cackled. Was this how she died? After a movie-like monologue?

As much like a movie as it sounded, it was reality. She was powerless. The whole 'plus ultra' thing really was a sham, huh?

"Let me tell you something else, Hero. You thought my quirk was energy?"

She stared at him, with defiance and hatred in her eyes. She didn't respond to him verbally, but his words triggered many thoughts. He did say he could use energy, nothing about this sand thing that he did. So what was that about?

He grinned. "That wasn't my only quirk. The one that I serve gave me multiple quirks. That's why you lost."

She finally broke her state, her eyes widened in surprise. Multiple quirks! How the hell was that even possible! Everyone has one quirk.

He raised the arm, tightening it, about to crush her windpipe, when startled yells came from the audience. Her eyes flickered over to see what the commotion was, until an endless fear consumed her whole being.

No. Stop. WHAT ARE YOU DOING! NOT NOW!

Another being was running over from the side, with a determined look on his face. Approaching with impossible speeds. A certain red-headed boy, a weapon in hand, ready to strike.


Thanks for reading!