Force of Will
By Sam W. Ryder
Author's Note: To those who took the time to review I thank you! Your answers are at the bottom. For additional notes about the story send me a P.M. I do my level best to answer all of them.
(Please note: this is not fully beta'd yet. Also, I will be posting these chapters on my page a few days ahead of here.)
Chapter Three:
He awoke the next morning as he expected, mid free fall toward the koi pond. He tried to use his flames to push himself away from the water, but to no avail. What came next was a twenty minute battle that ended in a draw before breakfast. Amid his father's complaints of how girly his son was, he doused himself with a kettle of steaming water and settled in at the table for breakfast.
"So, Ranma-honey. Is it true you beat Kuno black and blue for Akane's honor? Inquiring minds want to know." Nabiki leaned forward over the table ever so slightly, never once did she take her eyes from him as she took another long drink of her coffee.
He didn't even pause his defense of his plate, his father intent on getting some form of win in as he answered. "Oh right," he said, feigning disinterest. "Naw, I didn't touch him. Aizawa took him down, but he's definitely got a major thing for Akane."
He paused before muttering under her breath, "couldn't tell ya why."
It wasn't quite quiet enough though, and Akane glared at him before going off on a tirade about boys, and how stupid they all, and Ranma in specific, were. It lasted until the end of breakfast, which didn't bother Ranma as he just returned his attention to fending off his father and eating his food.
It got worse as the three of them walked out the door, Nabiki joined them once more to make sure they didn't get lost, though Ranma was about to take off on his own when he found a huge crowd standing just inside the gates, even as he stared at them he heard no noise and found himself moving to look away before he caught himself and like a curtain had been pulled away he'd no problem seeing or hearing them. They were all young men, all with their quirks at the ready, ranging from a hamster mutation quirk to a man with extending fingers, who was wiggling them in a way that made Ranma nauseous.
"And Lo!" Kuno's voice came far above the crowd. "There stands the coward, sniveling beside my fierce tigress!"
Ranma bristled as soon as he heard the word coward and blue balls of fire began to seep from his skin. "I didn't fight you cause I thought you were a civilian! If you wanted to challenge me feel free! But not in public you stick swinging psycho!"
"And now he impugns upon my honor. The honor of the ancient and noble house of Kuno! However, I shall acknowledge your request for a challenge, battle in public between future heroes, even one as cowardly as yourself, would be unseemly!"
Despite his words, he didn't leave. Instead he turned his attention toward Akane. "My fierce tigress, I would date with thee, however these commoners would do the same. Thus have I decided that should they wish to partake in your company, they should prove their worthiness. Prepare yourself!"
The entire crowd surged, a living wave of hormone driven teens all allowed to use their quirks due to the dojo's permits covering its entire grounds. At first he just watched, as it wasn't really his business, but when the long fingered kid managed to wrap his digits around her arms and pulled them out to the side, She was left wide open.
He didn't think, he just moved. Slipping into the crowd, he slammed his foot into the chest of the pit bull boy, rabbit punched a guy whose nose was seeping with a red fluid that bubbled down his face and finished with a hip throw as he reached the boy with the fingers. He was straining against Akane's strength, sweat rolling down his face like a river.
Ranma swept his feet from beneath him and ducked below what looked like a hammer made of bone. Somehow, the quirk had allowed its user to manipulate his bones and their shape. It came around again, this time trying to crush him. Ranma met it with his fist, shattering the bone and sending its owner stumbling back.
"What are you doing!?" Akane yelled at Ranma, "I don't need your help!"
Ranma was about to yell back that she obviously did, when a feeling of danger swept over him like a storm and he leapt into the air, blue flame bursting from his palm to push him into a controlled spin. It was only because of the fires rippling around him that he could tell the attack was coming. He curled into a ball to minimize the target he presented, and he made the flames in his palms burn brighter, nearing white hot in an attempt to force himself away. It wasn't enough, as blunt air struck his leg with all the force of a falling anvil and he grunted in pain.
He immediately found the source, Kuno. He held his bokken at the ready again, and Ranma could see barely perceptible air surging about the wooden sword. With a wave of his hand fire bloomed anew and he flung it forward to meet the coming burst of air, the two clashing as the flames dissipated the force of the wind strike, but were stopped in their tracks.
Ranma landed, "You were supposed to make a challenge!" He snapped, slamming his fist into the face of another teen, though he didn't stop to look at which one.
"Verily I shall do so! However, you interfere with a battle betwixt my beloved and those fools seeking her affections! I shall not have it!" Kuno roared.
Leaning forward he prepared to rush the kendoist when the sound of the door opening caught his attention. "Ranma, Akane, if you don't go soon you'll be late for school!" Kasumi called.
A grim smile tugged at his lips, now he was on a time crunch. Like a bolt of lightning he sped forward, a fist buried in the gut of one target, turning as he swung his leg about to catch the chins of another pair, dropping them. Like wheat before the scythe they fell, until only the handful that surrounded Akane and Kuno himself were left. Still, he hadn't stopped, the wind rushing past his ears and his hands ignited. When Kuno began launching his strikes toward him, Ranma launched the flames towards the swordsman's feet, ducking below the kendoist's projectiles.
The air whipped by well over his head, and suddenly he was in Kuno's guard, a wicked thought occurring to him. Striking as quick as he could, he slugged the boy across his jaw, setting his plot into motion as he collapsed. By the time Kuno hit the ground, Ranma was already off and running.
"See ya Akane." He called over his shoulder. He wouldn't have left if her last opponent hadn't hit the ground just as Kuno had. Sure, she was sweating and her clothes were torn, but she'd finished the attackers. He bounded to the fence in a full sprint, then began leaping across the rooftops. Each jump drew him higher in the air, small gouts of flame aiding his ascent, though always too tightly controlled to risk igniting any of the nearby terrain.
As he landed on the ground in front of Yuuei's gates not twenty minutes later, he found himself slightly winded, but the clock said he had a minute left. By the time he made it to the classroom he found AIzawa waiting for him. "Saotome, it's the second day and you're already late."
Ranma cringed, "yes sensei, but the guy from yesterday, he and a bunch of guys attacked me and Akane Tendo from 1-B at the dojo. It's a quirk dojo see an-"
"Tatewaki, Kuno. I see. Extenuating circumstances happen. However, as you live in a quirk dojo you may wish to adjust your schedule accordingly. As the son of the principal of Shiketsu it's likely he's as eccentric as his father." He opened the door and stopped Ranma before he could step into the class. "I will be having a word with the principal to see if an understanding can be made."
Ranma nodded and the two stepped in the room.
"Dude, what happened? It looks like you got caught up in a fight." The redhead, Kirishima, Ranma reminded himself, said.
"Talk on your own time. Let's begin." Aizawa said cracking open a book.
The time passed, and the class everyone was looking forward to came quickly. Hero studies. The door burst open and an extremely chiseled and buff man with blond hair strode into the room, the chatter reaching new heights as he did.
"I am here! Coming through the door like a hero!" The teacher howled as he burst through the door, striking a heroic pose that they'd based a number of his action figures around. All Might, the world's number one hero, the symbol of peace himself. Just as Nabiki had hinted at. Though Ranma would swear there was something off with the man.
"Oh, wow." "That's his silver age costume! So Cool!" All the exclamations followed the same pattern until All Might lifted a hand.
"Now, now, we've a lot to do. For today's class you will be studying." He punched forward holding out a card with a single word printed neatly across. Battle. "A battle trail! However, if you're going to be training to be heroes, then you'd best look the part!"
On one side of the room lockers holding numbered cases extended from the wall. Each case was based on their seating number, and Ranma's eye's locked on his. He was curious to see what his costume would look like, what the support companies had made of his mishmash of notes and his awful design.
"Okay now get yourselves down to training ground beta!" He disappeared far faster than he'd come, leaving a large trail of smoke in his wake.
As they entered the locker room Ranma pried open his case. Basic was probably the best word for it. A black vest with a thick furred collar, a titanium adjustable chest plate the back of which was lined with fur pockets, it's front had a hollow crystal dotted with near microscopic holes. His pants were plain black with armor about his knees. His shoes were odd however, seeming to be Kung fu slippers made up of multiple layers of wire mesh. They were comfortable though, so Ranma didn't mind.
"Looks good dude, though I gotta say it doesn't really scream 'I am here' ya know." Kirishima said.
Ranma grinned, he wasn't wrong but it wasn't supposed to, yet at least. In comparison to Kirishima's baggy red pants, the red straps across his chest, and the helm making it look like he had horns, Ranma's costume probably seemed rather bland. The next second, a single orb of cobalt fire floated in the air in front of him. Wrapping a hand about the fire he plunged it into the crystal on his chest plate. The fire settled within the gem and shined like a small beacon. It also served as a way to heat his chest plate and as a resting place for Willa.
"I think that'll say it enough." Ranma said
The two made their way out joining the others standing in front of All Might. The rest of them filed out slowly after almost like they were walking in slow motion to show off for a camera.
"Hey, hey, hey!" All Might, "Now that's what I'd call looking like a Hero!" He stood there, his hands at his waist, eyes locked on someone over Ranma's right shoulder and if the martial artist was right was fighting off the urge to laugh.
"Okay, no time to waste! Believe it or not, most of our encounters with villains are indoors! Secret lairs, hostage situations, robberies, and countless other scenarios, so today we'll be simulating that."
"Will we be fighting robots again?" Iida asked, he held his hand up in the air even if he didn't wait to speak.
Ranma rolled his eyes, he'd met the type before, relied on their teachers for everything, followed every rule. The perfect student, but never the one who became a master. They were too rigid and set in their ways. If a situation came up, chances are improvising wasn't something he'd do well.
All Might shook his head. "No young Iida, your opponents today will be... Your own classmates!
We'll choose teams through lots, and opponents the same way," he replied.
Iida's hand shot into the air again, "Sensei, wouldn't it be better if we paired up based on complementary attributes?"
Ranma had to fight the urge to slap his hand to his face as the kid with the green hair, Midoriya, he reminded himself, answered the walking stiff, pointing out that real combat was rarely ideal, and one would have to be able to work with what they had. Ranma didn't really care who his partner was, but he did hope it wouldn't be the boy with engines in his legs. Sure, he'd adapt, but he really didn't want to.
"Here's the scenario." All Might said, holding a note card up to his face. "a group of villains have managed to get their hands on a nuclear device. You have tracked them to this building and have to either retrieve the bomb by touching it, or immobilize the villains with this." He held up a roll of tape. "Capture tape. However, your sources say the bomb will go off in ten minutes."
Ranma grinned.
"Hey teach," he asked as All Might began rummaging around in the boxes to draw pairs, when the man looked up and Ranma knew he had his attention, he continued. "Do we have to wait until we're inside to go at it?"
There was a bunch of murmuring, though Ranma'd swear it came from where Kaminari and the tailed guy stood, he didn't look to make sure. He did file the possible answer away for later though. If the two were close range only, which in the tail guy's casebwas pretty likely, then he'd already have a few ways to deal with them.
All Might paused his drawing and brought his hand to his chin, "A fair question young man. I'd say that yes, you'll have to engage in building."
With a nod Ranma turned his attention to the balls now soaring into the air pair by pair. "Team A will be Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka. Team B, Ranma Saotome and Tohru Hagakure." All Might started, but Ranma stopped paying attention.
His partner was the invisible girl. He could work with that. Plans began to form in his head, plans that didn't care who their opponent was, because he knew that he was going to win regardless. After all, Ranma Saotome doesn't lose.
"Going first will be Team D, Momo Yaoyorozu and Denki Kaminari as the villains, and Team I, Ojiro and Aoyama Yuga as our Heroes. Villains get in there and get set! Heroes, you've got five minutes before you can enter. The rest of you follow me."
Ranma followed close behind, straining to remember the quirks that were on the field. Momo was the easiest, her quirk the previous day had been used in every single event, and it was honestly the most versatile he'd ever seen. Her partner Kaminari? well, Ranma still wasn't sure what his quirk was.
When they reached a room just off the tunnel in front of the building, Ranma could see what was going on, the dozen monitors assured that. Momo was already on the move, talking to
Kaminari who by the looks of him wasn't paying attention to anything but Yaoyorozu's very revealing costume. Holding back a scoff as she passed Kaminari the bomb. She herself began to glow and pull out pieces of what looked like the bomb, and began setting them up. In no time flat she'd filled two rooms with the fake bombs, each attached to one another with a wire or string.
Probably to yank them into the halls and stop the heroes, Ranma guessed. It was a good plan but didn't the blonde guy have a laser? Hauling them anywhere didn't seem like the greatest of ideas.
"Heroes, the time has come!" All Might called into his microphone.
It happened pretty quickly, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari readied themselves in the third floor room with the bomb. Yaoyorozu was looking about the building with a number of monitors while Kaminari faced the door in a sloppy ready stance, his shoes were even off.
On the hero's end of things, Ojiro burst through the door with Aoyama right on his heels, both paused in the front room staring at all the bombs. They stopped there and Ranma cursed wishing for a way to hear what was going on, but it was more than likely they were just trying to figure out if any of them were real. Ojiro cautiously approached them and touched one, then another. Soon they were both doing it and Yaoyorozu whipped her hand at Kaminari who lit up like he'd been attached to a few dozen strings of lights.
Ojiro and Aoyama fell twitching to the ground.
Ranma stared open mouthed at the screen, he was more than happy to have someone else show off Kaminari's quirk. Electric types were a rarity. He'd only met two on all of his travels, and neither looked as powerful as Kaminari. He couldn't help but wonder if he could have avoided getting shocked. He knew he was fast, hell, you'd need a speed quirk to be faster, but could he move faster than electricity? Somehow Ranma doubted it.
The two 'villains' made their way down the stairs with Yaoyorozu watching the two downed hero's on a handheld monitor. They didn't have anything at all to worry about though. The teens didn't even twitch when the capture tape was wrapped about their wrists.
"The Villain's Win!" All Might called into the microphone. The symbol peace struck a button and several drones were released from the walls. They collected Aoyama and Ojiro while Yaoyorozu and Kaminari returned to the meeting room.
It was a good plan, fill a room with fakes, making the two hero's have to try and touch each one to avoid possibly walking past it and fighting for a fake. A wire ran between them all and as soon as both hero's had touched one of the decoy bombs, Kaminari let loose, wires sending his charge straight to the heroes. All in all, Ranma was much more wary of competing against Yaoyorozu. he was the best, sure, but even the best could get beaten if they went up against someone like her.
"Next as the Heroes, Team E Vs. Team B, as the villains."
As he and Tohru made their way into a different building, Ranma's heart began to race and he grinned. He'd seen Todoroki's power, or at least a small amount of it. He was Ranma's opposite by the looks of it, ice to his fire. It was going to be fun.
"Villains, your time is starting now." All might's voice echoed through the speakers and Ranma turned his attention to the floating pair of gloves beside him.
"So how do you want to do this?" Ranma asked, giving himself a shake before he began to warm up. Blue fire slipping into the air.
"Well, you can draw their attention while I slip the tape on them when they're not looking?" Tohru suggested and pulled off a glove and hid the roll of capture tape in her closed hand to show her point.
The fire filled the air above them bathing them in an eerie cobalt glow. Her plan, Ranma admitted to himself, was a decent starting point. They didn't know the capabilities of their opponents, though Shoji was easier to make a guess at than the other one. He'd seen the tentacles at lunch, the masked teen fed one while he spoke with the other and he'd had a feeling that wasn't all he could do.
The real problem came with his flames, he couldn't see Tohru either and she could easily be caught in the crossfire.
The clock was still ticking. Grabbing the bomb, he looked at where Tohru was, where her boots and gloves were left on the ground. Picking up the faux bomb he turned to the stairs, "that'll work as a basis, we can hammer out the rest on the way up."
"'Kay!" Tohru chirped.
The flames trailed behind them as they made their way up the stairs, and soon enough everything was set. His fire filled the halls and a few of the rooms, Tohru was on the third floor just off the landing, and the bomb was in the last room, the one furthest from the stairs with a veritable wall of fire licking at the stone, slowly scorching it black.
The startling horn came,
"Willa, head down to the third floor," Ranma said and from the flame held within the depths of the crystal Willa leapt out, her orange fire a steep contrast of the blue and in an instant the blue flames grew brighter. She frowned at him before saluting and flying off.
He knew they'd be in the building in seconds.
"Ranma! There's ice everywhere and it's spreading. I'm trapped."
There was a tinkling sound that came with fracturing glass and Ranma turned to the window as ice exploded across the floor toward him and Ranma jerked his arm. It wasn't a requirement to move his fire but it did make it act all the faster, the flames he'd planted whirling towards the sheets of ice like the winds of a hurricane. steam filled the air where the fires struck. Still the ice came. It was a losing battle, the fire he'd access to started wearing thin, each strike extinguishing the flame. Clenching a hand in front of him streamers of fire sped through the air and Ranma began to move.
Pressing the fingers of his free hand to the earpiece he spoke. "On my way."
He leapt down the stairway, the fire a crackling ball of cobalt the size of a beach ball and immediately after landing felt like he was breathing frozen needles. Ice covered the walls, the ceiling, and he could see where Tohru stood between the outline of her feet to the breath that fogged the air. Willa was hurling fireballs down the stairway.
"Ranma what happened to you?" Tohru asked her teeth chattering.
With the ice growing thicker and the tapping of footsteps drawing closer, Ranma didn't dare to look away from the stairs. He wasn't about to lose his first Hero exercise because he wasn't paying attention. "What do you mean?" He asked. As far as he could tell there wasn't a single thing off about himself.
"What do you mean, what do I mean? Did you always have boobs?"
Like the walls, floor, and ceiling Ranma froze. Ever so slowly a hand found its way to his chest and it wasn't the well muscled chest he hoped to find, but the breasts that'd plagued him since Jusenkyo that awaited him. The urge to run filled him, not to run away because Ranma Saotome didn't run away, no, he wanted to run just so he could beat the ever living crud that called itself his father into a pile so screaming mush. He risked a glance at Tohru to see how she reacted and almost smacked himself. He'd somehow forgotten she was invisible.
The footsteps began to ascend the stairs and every excuse he'd come up with which was none, was set aside. "It's the effect of a quirk. Cold water turns me into a girl, my pops fault, questions later," Ranma said.
Two wisps of flame seperate do from the orb and began to spin about Tohru's feet. "Just keep still. It'll be over soon."
As he finished speaking he winced as a pain shot through his head and his side. Willa had been destroyed. Glancing over to where she'd been he found a spike of ice extending from the wall and piercing the space she'd once floated.
"I recommend you surrender." Todoroki said as he topped the stairs.
Ranma stood there, his blood roiling in his ears, a small detached part of him couldn't help but note Todoroki probably thought he was considering his suggestion, before he launched himself toward his classmate and slammed a fist into burned teens stomach, only his grip on Todoroki's shoulder kept him from tumbling down the stairs. Turning he threw the teen across the room where he was buried into the wall.
Fire bloomed in the air, not the small balls that typically came but writhing comets that blazed about Ranma as if caught in his orbit. Ranma surged forward a white flame about his knuckles. He could see the frost forming at the other teens fingers edging its way along the wall. He moved faster.
"Young Saotome." All Might called.
"Ranma!" Tohru yelled.
He didn't slow, lashing out he buried his fist into the stone beside Todoroki's head ignoring the shards of stone that kicked back towards his face. Slowly he dragged his hand down turning the stone to a thick putty like consistency. Grasping the hero who sought to bring him to justice, he flung him to the floor.
"Didn't think they'd let someone so puny be a hero." He grunted. He wrapped the tape around the still stunned teens arms and set the fire about spinning through the room, steam streamed from the floor and walls.
"Todoroki has been captured!" All Might's words echoed through the speakers. He seemed to be speaking with an odd hitch in his voice.
"Ranma, it's getting kind of hot in here." Tohru said.
The flames stopped, the invisible girl wasn't quite as invisible as she was before, the steam giving her a distinct outline. His face flush Ranma turned away and the fire that'd been hovering about him leapt from their positions to cover the camera in the corner of the room.
"Sorry 'bout this," Ranma said scratching at the back of her head.
Soft steps sloshed in his direction, "Why be sorry? That was amazing! He was all 'I recommend you surrender' and you were all fwoosh and bam and crack! And you turn into a girl!" She was almost cheering, apparently ignoring the fact that he was now a she. A fact Ranma was grateful for.
The ice was gone, but Shoji still hadn't shown up. "Where's Shoji?" Hagakure asked, voicing his thought aloud.
"The bomb." Ranma realized and sped back the way he'd come. As he reached the fourth floor landing a feeling that he could only ever describe as a piece of a puzzle that'd been missing suddenly fell into place deep within him. Swinging his arm around Willa leapt from her hand, the fire that made up her body white rather than the normal orange.
Shoji wasn't waiting for them when they arrived, in fact the hall was empty, he was about to call for Tohru on the com when he spotted a tendril peering at him from around the corner at the other end of the hall. It stared wide eyed.
Pressing on his com he took off at a run. "Contact, fourth floor," he snapped. Willa was well ahead firing a veritable storm of sparks.
Only more tendrils awaited him as he turned the corner and he spotted what Willa had been firing at, it wasn't the tendrils or Shoji, littering the floor were numerous small pools of water. Apparently Shoji collected some of Todoroki's ice, Ranma thought.
A hand latched on to his arm and Ranma jerked away. Right into the path of an incoming ball of ice. Pain rang through his head and he could feel something hot sliding slipping down his face. He caught the next ball and crushed it.
"Willa cool it." He snapped at the fairy who was wildly shooting bursts of white fire, some at the incoming balls of ice and others at the hands and walls.
He brought up a hand. "Invocation six: Sniper." He snapped firing three shots of dark blue fire.
The first missed entirely the second two however, they battered the hands back leaving deep black scorch marks on the skin. They fell flopping to the floor a moment later and Ranma recoiled.
Shoji apparently took that as his sign to move, he came rushing around the corner, his six hands filled, four with balls of ice and the other two, Ranma couldn't tell. As the six armed hero in training slung a hand at him Ranma took a step forward ducking under the swing and pivoted around to his back. Rearing back, Ranma prepared to strike the other teen in the back when a hand knocked his arm away. He forced his other hand forward, his arms blazing with fire, again a hand knocked his arm away. Dropping down Ranma swung his foot around sending the taller boy toppling to the floor.
Popping up to his feet Ranma bounded off the wall sparks of fire dancing through the air like a swarm of angry bees but it didn't matter as Shoji began to raise himself to his feet a roll of tape swung around his wrists and the alarm blared.
"The Villains Win!" All Might roared.
Still mid air Ranma curled into a ball and landed in a crouch. Shooting a grin at the larger teen he clapped him on the shoulder, "good fight."
A mouth formed on a free tentacle, "and you as well Saomtome-San. And you Hagakure, your timing was perfect."
"I was good, wasn't I?" She chirped happily. "But you two, you're so strong!" She led them back to the main room where both he and Shoji, now freed from the capture tape, turned their backs as Hagakure put her uniform back on.
"Okay boys, let's head back and see what All Might has to say about our performance."
Ranma allowed himself to be guided back to the viewing room, Willa perched on his shoulder. Todoroki was already waiting for them when they arrived and he shot Ranma a glare that made Ranma think for a moment that he could atomize whatever he looked at. He snorted to himself, as fierce as the glare was, it lacked something, just like Todoroki.
"Dude, what's with becoming a chick?" Kaminari was the first to speak as he rushed them.
"I suppose you could have to seperate quirks, I've heard a few hero's have both their mother and father's quirk before but they are interconnected somehow. But the fairy is still a girl, why is it not a boy now? So maybe, the quirks are separate? However, the fire did turn white hot when she came out when Ranma was a girl. I can't help but wonder what other effects it might have, he was able to use her to make those bat wings actually fly, would it work the same or would it have melted it?" Midoriya mumbled. He was leaning forward clutching for a backpack he wasn't wearing dressed as he was as a green rabbit.
Mina had stepped closer and was currently eyeing him, now her, up and down before slowly reaching out and poking Ranma's breast. "Hot damn, they're real." She stage whispered.
"All of you, you're being rude." Yaoyorozu snapped, "He-She..." She paused to look at Ranma.
At first Ranma was grateful to the recommended student until she looked at him when she couldn't figure out exactly which gender she should use. "It don't matter which body, I'm a guy. This body is the result of a really old quirk."
Izuku was back to muttering. "Ah, so they are connected. If I remember right, just before All Might made his first major rescue that French hero, Gemini swapped his gender back and forth. I don't see any hint of French in him though, Maybe they're related but further back? Can his quirk change genders as well?"
All Might moved between Ranma and the crowd surrounding him save for three. Yaoyorozu who looked at the crowd in disdain and Ranma in pity. Ojiro, who Ranma found staring with a look Ranma did recognize, he was being sized up. The last was Todoroki who still glared at him like a child glared at a parent that took away their favorite toy. "That is quite enough of that. Suffice it to say, Aizawa will explain further, however, Young Saotome doesn't have a quirk that changes his gender."
It effectively quelled the mob and though there were some murmurs they moved into the room proper as All Might went over their performance.
"Well done, all of you." All Might said as he looked at Ranma and the others, "Todoroki, while your strategy may have worked against another team, you may want to consider actually having your teammate be a part of your plan. Things may have gone differently if you and Shoji-Kun were to face Young Saotome together."
Silently, the boy with bi-colored hair nodded.
"Shoji-Kun, you did extremely well under the circumstances, your ambush was well thought out and your tactics were effective. However, when the battle came you had tunnel vision and forgot all about Hagakure."
"Hagakure-San, despite the rough start you received from Todoroki's icing the building, you showed a great amount of fortitude. You trusted your partner to do his job and made sure you were in place at the most opportune moment. Not even the slight malfunction with your wardrobe slowed you down."
Hagakure stiffened, or at least her clothes did as she fully faced the screen and her arms raised in such a way Ranma was sure she was covering her face. I guess she didn't think about the camera's when we were there. He thought.
"Saotome-San, your quirk is powerful, and you've shown versatility with it some of the new pro's lack. Not to mention your hand to hand some of the best I've ever seen. You were able to quickly size up the situation and acted without hesitation. That said, you have also shown a slight disregard for your teammate and ended up putting her in an uncomfortable situation and for a short time it seemed your anger got the better of you. As a Pro Hero, you cannot allow that to happen."
Ranma couldn't stop his smirk at the beginning of his review. That changed about midway through, he knew he messed up when he was reheating himself, he'd forgotten Tohru was there. His anger was a different story, he knew full well the pain people with fire quirks could bring if they didn't keep control of their temper. He hadn't, sure he hadn't hurt his opponent in any way that Recovery girl couldn't fix and it wasn't even a near thing. Still, how many times had the old man told him that his white fire was meant for things that weren't living. In the end he nodded.
"I'll deal with it." He said. All Might shot him a thumbs up and clapped him on the shoulder.
"You just keep working at it Young Man."
The next second he was across the room again pulling two more balls from the box. "Next we have Team J, Kirishima and Fumikage will be our hero's while Team C's Ashido Mina and Rikido Sato will be our villains."
While it was plain to see that Kirishima was almost exploding with energy he and Fumikage took a much more cautious entry approach. Instead of breaking the door down or freezing the entire building they simply opened the door and waiting for them was Mina.
Already the floor in front of her bubble and frothed as whatever she sprayed from her hands ate away at it. Despite Mina's stance, and from what Ranma could tell she had some form of movement training at least she was ready to move in any way she needed, she was bantering with them.
Kirishima seemed more than happy to banter right back but Fumikage's shadow creature sped from his stomach and right for Mina. She leapt backwards pirouetting as she went spraying more of the liquid from her hands right into the shadow, it did nothing at all.
"Mina's acid doesn't seem like it affects Fumikage's Dark Shadow. It isn't surprising since while physical he doesn't seem to have much of a body. Maybe the energy itself is just focused at certain points at a high enough volume to affect the real world? Oh wow!" Izuku's rambling trailed off and Ranma found his attention back on the screen.
The pink skinned girl wasn't aiming toward the shadow anymore her wide swipes through the air targeted Fumikage sending him back pedaling toward the wall. All the while she was skating, of all things around Kirishima and dodging his every punch. It looked to Ranma as if she were having a blast.
Sato burst through the wall and wrapped his arms around Fumikage and backed back into the other room from which he'd come. It'd become two one on one fights.
Ranma wasn't sure which to watch, Sato didn't seem to be having much problem with Fumikage who despite his struggling couldn't free himself and the Dark Shadow was roaring at the muscley teen but wasn't attacking. That said every time Sato would reach for his capture tape the avian teen would struggle more and the Shadow would lunge leaving them at a stalemate.
While Mina and Kirishima seemed to have fallen into a battle of attrition and both had a lot of gas in the tank.
Growing bored, Ranma started to let his attention wander when Dark Shadow latched himself to the ceiling and began reeling both its host and its captor upward. That in and of itself didn't seem to bother Sato but when the shadow began spinning them about the room like a yo yo going around the world he ended up letting go and crashing into the wall. Fumikage through his capture tape into the air and Dark shadow lunged for it and in the same motion for Sato. The tape was around the would be hero before he could get his bearings.
"Sato has been captured." All Might announced into his microphone.
The news was enough to dampen Mina's mood as she began skating deeper into the building. Kirishima followed after his hand held firmly to his ear. No doubt letting Fumikage know which way they were going.
The Avian teen rushed after his partner not even seconds later and it became a chase through the bottom floor of the building.
"Apparently, the two think it'll be more likely for them to capture Ashido than find the bomb."
Ranma shook his head with a derisive snort. "They forgot about the bomb. No one's touched it yet."
"Ah! Since they've not seen someone succeed through attaining the bomb you're saying they disregarded it as a possibility?" She asked her eyes narrowed at the screen and she bit her thumbnail.
Ranma stared at her for a moment and nodded, it was a rare thing for someone to understand him so well. "Yeah, pink girl's taking advantage of that."
"Damn!" Kaminari said apparently having listened in on their conversation, "Mina's running out the clock."
The wild goose chase was still going, so far the hero's had chased her through the lower level of the building no less than four times and Mina had used that time to spread her acid in such a way the two hero's had to move far slower to avoid it. As for Dark shadow, Fumikage had long since reeled him back into his stomach, the shadow had been lunging at the pink girl for the first two rounds and not once had he gotten her as she slid behind walls, through doors, and even under tables. The end result being there were holes all over the first floor.
Though from the pinched look on Mina's face as she took each and every step, it was starting to wear on her.
The alarm sounded and she skidded to a halt, hands on her knees and breathing hard. "The villain team's the winner! Wow the villains are racking up the wins here."
Mina flashed a victory pose before slapping Kirishima's outstretched hand. They collected Sato and began their way back Ranma began to zone.
The rest of the fights weren't nearly as interesting and not because the next hero team, Midoriya and Uraraka beat out Bakugo and Iida. By the end the Hero team was only one victory ahead of the villains.
Ranma after heating a thermos of water with his quirk found himself changing back into his uniform. After looking over his uniform he was pleased to find that it had held up rather well. It wasn't burnt or melted and the crystal had even come through without cracking.
"Kaminari, don't you think that splashing Saotome would be unbecoming of a future hero?" Ranma heard Shoji state his tone as dry as the Sahara.
Iida appeared next to Shoji a moment later, his arm chopping up and down. "Indeed! Even if his quirk changes him into a woman there's no need to harass him."
Turning to face the electric teen, he found the boy holding a bucket of water looking a bit sheepish. "Dude, it was just a joke right? I wasn't going to really splash him!"
Whether it was true or not Ranma glared at the teen, a single orb of fire igniting and flowing from Ranma's shoulder. "Do you see me trying to plug you in sparky?"
It wasn't a threat so much as a promise and Kaminari seemed to understand that as he slowly backed up with the bucket and ended up slipping on something sending the water splashing across the floor dousing Ranma's legs. He'd long learned that he couldn't actually feel the change but from the way Kaminari's nose began to bleed and the other's turned away from him red faced he knew it'd happened.
Still clad in his boxer's Ranma grabbed his towel and headed for the showers. He turned the showers on to boiling before saying anything. "You guys go ahead. Tell Aizawa sensei I'll be there in a minute. Kaminari, this is the only warning you get."
The shower had taken a few minutes, not because he was particularly dirty or sweaty, in fact he rarely sweated. No he just wanted to make sure Kaminari was no doubt out of the room by the time he stepped out. It worked, in fact no one was in the room when he exited the showers. He finished dressing and after he made sure that his costume was fully in its case again, he snapped it closed and headed back to class so they could be dismissed for the day.
He stepped into the class to find Aizawa looking far more irate than he'd seen before. "So due at the end of the week you will all turn in a paper regarding Jusnekyo and why it's a class four restricted area, as well as an essay about sexual harassment. Saotome, that goes for you to."
Aizawa said and gestured toward his seat.
Ranma took his seat and nodded.
"Good than we've one more issue to deal with before I release you all. Saotome, you've received an official letter of challenge from a student at Shiketsu. Our principal has decided to accept as long as it is not televised and the student in question ceases his harassment." Aizawa seemed even more ticked off after he was finished.
"Let me say, you have shown restraint where many your age may not have. Keep up the good work. Now, all of you go home." He snapped and waved at the door.
Amongst the scraping of chairs a voice rang out. "Excuse me Sensei, I have a request." Ojiro called and Aizawa like everyone else in the room stilled.
Aizawa just stood there until Ojiro realized he was waiting. "I'd like to challenge Saotome to a spar, with your permission, I'd like to use ground beta or the gym."
Ranma found the Pro's eyes locking with his own. "Sure." Ranma sighed. He'd been thinking it would happen but the guy didn't look to be any better than Akane.
"I'll see to it that a space is cleared for your practice. Tomorrow, that is.." Aizawa said and without another word or backwards glance walked out of the room.
Authors Notes: Another chapter bites the dust.
Guest: Nejire in all fairness is interested in every body and thing, but I get what you're saying. It will be a fun thing to write I think. I'm looking forward to it.
Safetyhazart: Thank you for your review and it did make me laugh. So here's your answers, I chose Genma and Nodoka's quirks before choosing Ranma's, though I like that you feel they are very anything goes. As for writing Kuno, my eyes may or may not have been burning while I was writing him. Thank you for noticing, I thought about Ranma's quirk and could have gone with the OP route and honestly it would have irked me to do that. Ranma need's to struggle it's almost a requirement in my mind. You will see the Tendo's quirks though not for a little while, that said you have seen Soun's and Akane's. I hope I answered all of your questions and I truly hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Firemaster101: I truly appreciate your review, as for your guess I will not confirm nor deny it.
Dumbledork: I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the review. How Kuno got into Shiketsu will be revealed soon-ish. Oh, wait... My bad. You probably saw that.
Blackholelord: Thanks for reviewing. I will definitely be putting a strong woman at Ranma's side. That said it may not be Momo. I'm sorry to those who do like Akane, but I've no intention of pairing her with Ranma. And yes, there will be utter chaos abound.
Death of Snipers: First let me thank you for beta'ing my series here. Second while I answered your question via P.M. I'll say this here, I do have plans that involve your questions so everyone else will get to wait and see.
Major Simi: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for reviewing.
James Birdsong: Thank you for reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy!
AnimeA55Kicker: I appreciate the time you took to review, however the school of indiscriminate grappling is merely the more formal way of saying anything goes. If you were to look it up you'll find that while the Saotome style is an Ariel style that doesn't make it any less indiscriminate grappling. If you'd like I will provide a link. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you'll continue reading.
MissWarning: I'm glad that my work got your attention! I'm going to keep working hard on it and my other projects. Right, now I'm still hammering out a schedule as I've a few real life issues and it seems a never ending set or things to do while desk-locked. Anyway I do hope you'll continue to enjoy and thank you so much for your review.
Finally, to Death of Snipers: I've got to say, thank you very much! You being my beta has helped me quite a bit.