Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.
To Be a Hero
i won't give up!
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.
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"Hey, hey, what's the matter? Aisaka's not moving a muscle! Is this Shinso's Quirk?!" Present Mic shouted from the cube. His eyes were wide with shock that the girl below would suddenly stop her attack. He tried to look closer, but he couldn't see her expression because she stopped moving with her head tilted downwards. The only thing he knew was that just second ago she had been angry at what Shinso said. "He didn't stand out at all, but could he actually be someone amazing? Who could've imagined this?!"
"That's why I said the entrance exam wasn't rational," Aizawa responded with a gruff tone as he looked down at Shinso Hitoshi's information sheet. The Voice hero also turned to look at the sheet with a raised brow, letting out a confused mumble.
"I had someone compile individual stats of each student for me during lunch since it was going to be a one-on-one... Shinso failed the practical exam for the hero course, but since he also applied for general studies, he probably knew that would happen. His Quirk is very powerful, but the practical exam consisted of fighting faux villains. That gave an advantage to those with physical attack Quirks... He wouldn't have been able to rack up any points with his Quirk."
"Well, what is his Quirk?" Present Mic asked as he looked for himself.
Shinso Hitoshi, Quirk: Brainwashing.
"Th-That's...! Could this be the end for Aisaka?! NOOOOO!"
Aizawa pushed the suddenly emotional hero out of his way with his arm cast. His black eyes focused on the unmoving girl in the ring. It seems that she really fell under Shinso's Quirk, and one of two things could happen at this point.
But either way, it will be over quickly.
Shinso took a few steps forward to move away from the out of bounds line, though he knew that he ws fully under control now. He stared at Shiro's slightly slouched form and frowned.
"I would have liked to not use this on you again, but this is the only way," he revealed despite knowing she couldn't answer him anymore. "Turn around and walk out of bounds."
At his command, Shiro's body started to move on its own. She turned around; one step, two steps, three steps... She was slowly making her way to the other side like an obedient puppy.
My body is moving on its own because of his command, but I can still hear myself this time... she thought while each step she took seemed to echo loudly around her. It was as Ojiro said, in a one-on-one, there was no way that there could be an outside force to help her snap out of this control. This was the worst-case scenario for her, but like she had suspected, Shinso knew just the right things to say because he knew she was susceptible to provocation.
"Please do your best for me, too."
As those words echoed through her mind, she willed herself to focus harder. She had taken a huge gamble with this because she wasn't sure if she would still be conscious of her mind, but now that she knew, it was now or never... She needed to make this work because the out of bounds line was just a few feet in front of her.
"It's as you said… 'Go beyond', 'Plus Ultra'... Maybe you won't understand, but even with a Quirk like this, I have my own dream," Shinso said as she neared the line. "So, lose for me."
Sorry Shinso, but I can't do that...!
Before Shiro took another step, the air around them picked up as a gust flew past his face. He stepped forward to decipher what was going on, but the girl suddenly rose up into the air.
"Th-This is...!" Present Mic's voice boomed at the unnatural sight of the girl floating above the air before descending once again
"Her reality rewrite took effect," Aizawa stated with a grin.
It was as he had suspected; Shiro may be easy to provoke with the right words, but she had been trained for years to think ahead and plan for the impossible. It was well within her capabilities to find a way to combat a hard situation, and Aizawa believed with his whole heart that she would pull through the risk that was falling under Shinso's Quirk while waiting for her rewrite to take full effect. Although using both eyes simultaneously took time, once it was activated, it couldn't be easily stopped.
Down below, Shiro's mind had never been clearer as both of her eyes finally focused enough on herself to rewrite a second of her body's density to be lighter than air. As quickly as she rose, she came crashing down onto the ground from 10 feet above. The impact effectively knocked the senses back to her.
"This is amazing! Aisaka broke out of Shinso's control!"
The crowd cheered as the girl stood back up with a wince. She rotated her right shoulder slightly to make sure that nothing was broken. It hurt like hell, but everything seemed to be in the right place... However, she knew it was going to be harder to throw him out from a distance now. Ouch… This is the second time I injured my shoulder because of him, she lamented as she turned back around to face Shinso.
"You... You shouldn't be able to move freely!" he gritted through his teeth.
I'll admit that you hit the right buttons for me to get mad... It was a good thing I had activated my reality rewrite as a precaution seconds before because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself... But I was skeptical that this would even work!
Shinso took a cautious step back as she moved away from the out of bounds line. Her eyes shone with determination. But he wasn't ready to lose yet, either.
"When we met back at the entrance exam, I thought we were the same because of what you said to me," he narrowed his eyes. "But you had this ability hidden all along, huh? Thanks to my Quirk, I've been behind from the start. You're just like the others! You're just one of those people who can easily reach their goals!"
Easy? Shiro ran towards him before using her whip to entangle the male once again. However, this time his arm shot out to block it so that it only caught one arm. If reaching goals was this easy, the world would be in chaos!
"Why don't you say something?! Do you look down on me this much?!"
She rotated her position and pulled him around towards her as he aimed a punch at her. Her left eye spun and she dodged by ducking under before sending over a harsh push on his torso. Caught by surprise, he tumbled back several feet but then grabbed ahold of the whip that was wrapped out his other arm to steady himself. The force of his pull dragged the girl towards him and he grabbed her, but at the last second, she maneuvered out of Shinso's grip.
However, he still had a grip on her attached weapon. "I'm not going to give up!" he shouted as he continued to pull her towards him.
...Me either! Shiro's left eye spun wildly just before they both landed on the ground with a loud THUD.
The crowd grew silent. Both had fallen extremely close to the line, but upon inspection, one leg had crossed the line while the rest didn't. Midnight's arm shot up at the definite outcome.
"Shinso-kun is out of bounds!"
At the announcement that the girl will advance into the next round, her classmates all let out relieved sighs as Ojiro slouched back into his seat, his body finally relaxing after the final result. "I was so nervous..." he also sighed in relief as a smile appeared. She really did it!
"Turning tables at the last moment!" Iida noted with astonishment. "Shiro-kun is always so unpredictable!"
"That general studies guy is so lucky! Man!" Kaminari commented with hints of envy. He imitated the action with his own hands to get a feel of how the purple haired male did it, pouting as he nudged his neighbor urgently. "She landed right on top of him!"
It was unfortunate that his neighbor just so happened to be Bakugou, and the male was already irritated for some reason.
"Shut up, Dunce Face!"
Kaminari shrank with dejection, choosing to immediately do as told since he didn't want to piss the male off more.
Shiro got up on her feet quickly, seeing that Shinso couldn't do so until she got off of his fallen form. While usually she'd be embarrassed for being in this kind of predicament, her face was showing no signs of that. Instead, her eyes shone with a different emotion for her opponent.
"I have to admit, Brainwashing is a pretty handy Quirk," she said. Immediately, memories from the past flooded into Shinso's mind.
"Wow Shinso, your Quirk is Brainwashing?"
"Seriously? I've never heard that before! So you can control anyone with that, huh?"
"You can do as much bad stuff as you want!"
"No one would even know it was you... Hey, don't control us, okay?"
"Everyone says that," he clipped. But of course, if someone else had it, the first thing I'd think is that they'd use it for evil, too. I'm used to people insinuating that about me. That's just what the world is like. Even so... Shinso's sullen purple eyes bore into her ruby ones from his position on the cold cement floor. The girl offered him a small smile that he figured was out of pity, but she then extended a hand out for him to take.
"Just imagining how well your Quirk will work against villains... I'm almost jealous."
His eyes widened while she tilted her head slightly, signally that she was waiting for him. Finally, he reached up and took her hand. Happy that he didn't leave her hanging in front of so many people, Shiro pulled him up swiftly.
"What a great show of sportsmanship!" Present Mic's voice boomed from the announcement cube at their action. "Even though the match didn't turn out to be as interesting as we'd all hoped, we should praise them both for a bravely fought match. Clap your hands!"
They stood across from each other and bowed as the crowd gave them a round of applause and cheers.
"You were right, though. I was angry at you," Shiro revealed afterwards with a small shrug. "But it's not something I can fault you on forever. Every Quirk works differently... And I can see that you're not letting that difference stop you from becoming a hero. It's not easy to become a hero, you know. But I don't doubt you'll make a damn good one in the future."
She was encouraging him again in her own way—just like that time during the entrance exam. From her expression, he knew that she remembered exactly what she had said to him, too. Shinso turned, his back now facing her as he stepped towards the stairs to go down the tournament ring. The corners of his mouth slid upwards.
"...You can't help the things you long for, after all," he said. "Depending on the results, they'll reconsider our transfer into the hero course. Remember that. Even if it didn't work this time, I definitely won't give up. I'll get into the hero course, get certified, and I'll definitely become a better hero than you guys!"
At his new declaration, Shiro let out a small huff with determination. "Yeah right—" Her mind suddenly went blank.
...Did he really use his Quirk on me again?!
"Heh, people are usually wary when they talk to me, though," Shinso's shoulders slacked as a chuckle let out. He allowed his Quirk to deactivate again as he craned his neck back to look at her with a small smirk. "Don't let anyone else trip you up before we face each other again... I fully intend on defeating you next time."
She rolled her eyes and smirked as well.
Like I'll let that happen, Shinso.
The next match quickly started with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu while Shiro went to get her shoulder fixed by Recovery Girl, but it looked like it will take a bit of time as the two fought it out with near-identical Quirks. It was quite comical, really.
Walking back through the halls towards the inner building of the stadium, Shiro wondered if Midoriya was still with Uraraka in the player waiting room. As she passed by the room that the two were in, part of the conversation between Uraraka and Midoriya traveled through the door. Curious but not wanting to interrupt them, she stood outside and listened on.
"...when Iida-kun said he'd challenge you, it actually made me feel a little embarrassed."
"Uraraka-san..."
"That's why it's fine. Everyone's facing the future and trying their hardest. That means we're all rivals, right? That's why... Let's meet in the finals!"
After hearing that, Shiro realized that the girl had already made up her mind and was ready to face her battle just fine. With a content nod, she walked away from the waiting room to join the rest of her classmates; she got out of the tunnel just in time to see Kirishima and Tetsutetsu sending each other the final punch that sent the both to the ground.
"The two guys with the same Quirks! Tetsutetsu versus Kirishima! A head-to-head fistfight! And the winner is—?" Present Mic led on with great enthusiasm from the cube as everyone looked at the chief umpire for her judgment.
"Both contestants down! It's a draw! In the case of a draw, after they recover, the winner will be determined by a simple contest, like arm wrestling."
As the health bots wheeled the two unconscious players off to Recovery Girl, the audience around her all cheered with awe. From behind, she heard Midoriya running up to catch up.
"Shiro-san!"
"Oh, hi," she greeted back as the boy caught his breath, and she noted that he was clutching a burnt notebook in his hand. It looked like the one he always had with him, filled with hero information and sketches of battle strategies.
"It looks like I missed Kirishima-kun's match… But ah! I heard about Shinso-kun's Quirk and I thought it was amazing that you broke out of it!" he rambled on with a look of awe. "Congratulations! Uraraka-san also wanted to congratulate you, but her match is starting soon."
"Thanks Midoriya-san," she replied with a tilt of her head. "Uraraka-san was very nervous when I last saw her. I'm glad she's okay now."
The male nodded with his eyes shining with respect and determination for the mentioned girl. "I sketched a rough battle plan for Uraraka-san to use against Kacchan, but she's determined to do this on her own. That's what I like about her; she's really amazing in that way," he said as Shiro gave him a knowing look. However, he mistook her look for something else and covered his face with embarrassment. "I-I meant 'like' in the way I like you a-and the rest of our classmates!"
I thought that was pretty clear... Shiro blinked idly and wondered why the boy was so flustered about it. "Well, we should get to our seats before the match starts."
Quickly locating class 1-A's section, Midoriya was on the lookout for Iida to sit next to him and she was about to follow suit when she noticed Todoroki leaning against the wall towards the next tunnel entrance, watching from behind all of the seated audience with a contemplating look. Midoriya also glanced over at the person who caught her interest and the bicolor haired male just so happened to turn his way as well. His green eyes grew wary against those serious heterochromatic eyes when he remembered the conversation that they had towards the end of lunch.
Shiro sensed a sort of tension between the two, and it was for obvious reasons. After all, Midoriya was going up against Todoroki after Uraraka and Bakugou's battle. Thankfully for the curly haired male, Iida spotted them when he turned around and motioned them to come.
"Let's go, Shiro-san," Midoriya suggested since the match was starting soon. Shiro was about to follow when remembering the look on Todoroki's face stopped her.
It wouldn't hurt to check up on him, right?
"Actually, I'll catch up in a bit, okay?" she offered the male an apologetic smile. He nodded before walking down to meet the class president.
Shiro walked towards Todoroki, who regarded her appearance coolly. Though, he didn't necessarily look unhappy to have her stand beside him... Or that was the impression his unbothered gaze appeared to show, anyway.
"There's enough chairs at our section for you to sit, you know," she commented offhandedly. The male shrugged.
"I wanted to be alone."
"Oh," Shiro blinked awkwardly and pushed herself off the wall again. Maybe she should've minded her own business after all. "I guess I'll go—?"
"No," he said immediately to stop her from leaving. "I wouldn't mind if you stayed."
With a curious pout, Shiro resituated herself against the wall besides Todoroki. Very much like his Quirk, he was always hot and cold, and she didn't quite get him.
"The eight and last match of the first round! He was kind of famous in middle school! This isn't face of a regular person! From the hero course, it's Bakugou Katsuki!" Present Mic announced as their two classmates finally walked out to the field. From the side that she was facing, she could see the expression on Bakugou's face and she had to agree when she saw that weird gritting scowl on his face.
"Versus—she's also the one I'm rooting for! From the hero course, it's Uraraka Ochaco!"
"He's gotta stop picking favorites so casually. That's borderline picking on Bakugou…" Shiro hummed softly at the hero's blatant comment. Todoroki looked at her with slight bewilderment and she tilted her head in question. He seemed to have a habit of giving her that odd look. "What?"
"It's just surprising that you'd say that. I didn't think you liked Bakugou."
The comment worked to make her cheeks flare. "I don't like that prickhead! It's just... This is different," she retorted slowly before growing increasingly agitated as she continued to think about the explosive blonde. "He just has a bad attitude. Terrible. Hmph, it's the worst, actually."
"...I see," Todoroki responded slowly.
However, he still felt a clench of displeasure from seeing that she was blushing when she talked about the blonde. Trying to ignore it, he faced forward to pay attention to the match.
"Eighth match, start!"
Bakugou's eyes narrowed as he stared at his opponent.
"You're the one that makes things float, right, Round Face?" he asked. He only recognized her because she always hung around Midoriya and Shiro; there might've been a previous time that they were opponents, too, but he didn't care too much about that. He needed to win in order for him to advance to the next round, so he will not hold back. "If you're going to withdraw, do it now. You won't get off with just an 'ouch'."
The girl only glared back at him with those determined round eyes. As soon as Present Mic announced to start, she ran towards him with her body low to the ground.
"Withdrawing isn't a choice!" she shouted. Bakugou raised his right palm, ready to receive whatever she was going to do. Sparks ignited.
"Then, die!"
Uraraka neared him and zeroed in on his torso with her arms out. She remembered from the combat training that Midoriya told her the blonde always started out with a right swing, so as long as she knew that and avoid it, she can touch him and make him float. Here! If I dodge here...!
A giant blast blew up before her and the impact threw her body back several feet as black smoke littered with fiery orange sparks surrounded her. "This is no good," she blocked the debris from her face as she looked around the black smog. "Even if I knew about it, I couldn't react in time!"
"I'll take care of you," the blonde's threatening voice projected somewhere within the fog.
Deku-kun and Shiro-chan can always turn things around even when things aren't going in their favor, she thought as she pinpointed Bakugou's location. Using the smoke screen as an opportunity to conceal her body, she quickly got into action. To be on the same level as them, I have to do the same!
"Don't underestimate me!" Bakugou shouted as he swung his right hand towards the emerging figure within the smoke. He slammed his palm down, expecting to restrain the girl, however he was met with only fabric. Under his hand was an U.A. girl's gym jacket, but nothing else.
"Oh, she made her jacket float and sent it over there?!" Present Mic explained with an impressed tone. The girl was now behind the blonde. "She did it in an instant, too!"
If I make him float now—! Uraraka was so close to touching the blonde to activate her Quirk, but his reflexes were so quick that he immediately sent a blast to propel her back once more. Stopping herself from tumbling further away, she was ready to try again.
"Too slow!"
Another explosion.
She came up from the other side, "Take this!"
BOOM!
Another explosion.
And another.
"I'm not done yet!"
BOOM!
Bakugou swept his arm at the incoming girl once more as she relentlessly got up after every one of his blasts to try again. His sharp eyes and ears listened for her every movement as he sent more explosions that blew up both the cement from the ground to force the girl to recoil back.
All around them, the crowd was watching with horror and dread for the poor girl.
"Hey, shouldn't you stop this?!" One of them said as he called out to Cementoss, who was standing as a proctor for the battles.
"Yeah, isn't this going too far?"
"It's like he's toying with her!"
"I can't watch..."
"Hey!" Another stood up with anger as he addressed Bakugou. "How can you say you want to be a hero like that?! If there's such a huge difference in your abilities, then hurry up and send her out of bounds!"
Shiro frowned at the hero sitting just a section below her who spoke up about the battle. She honestly didn't see anything wrong with it. True, the explosions that keep coming Uraraka's way was unsightly and hard to watch, but that was because Bakugou was wary of her every move. He saw her as a formidable opponent to watch out for.
So, the Pro Hero's suggestion about him toying with Uraraka was preposterous.
"Are you really a Pro Hero?" she asked loudly with incredulity. Besides her, Todoroki was in silent agreement and at the same time, he was impressed at her boldness to speak her mind in front of such a large crowd of opposing views.
The hero she addressed turned to them with an offended look, "Excuse me?!"
"I asked if you're really a Pro Hero," she deadpanned seriously. "Because it sounds like you don't even know what's going on by saying something so incredibly disrespectful towards both of the players."
The female hero sitting beside the outraged hero also stood up and gave her a disapproving frown, "Don't you think you're being disrespectful towards us Pros? You're just a kid, what do you know?! That guy is bullying and playing around with the poor girl!"
Playing around? Shiro continued to doubt the status of those heroes since they couldn't see how seriously Bakugou was taking Uraraka's attacks. Furthermore, it was also inconsiderate of them for thinking that Uraraka was just some helpless girl. You've got to be kidding me...
"They're idiots if they haven't figured it out yet," she muttered so that only Todoroki heard, but a cacophony of boos surrounded her part of the bleachers from the previous heroes' comments.
"If you're backing that guy up, then you're no good, either!"
"I agree! Can't you see he's going too far?"
"Stop the bullying!"
"Seriously, why hasn't he been disqualified?!"
"There's booing from part of the crowd..." Present Mic relayed when he drew his attention towards that section. "But honestly, I also feel the—" The mic was suddenly slapped out of the Voice hero's hands as Aizawa pushed him away with his elbow. "Ow! What're ya doing?!"
"Was that a Pro saying he's playing around? How many years have you been a Pro?" Aizawa demanded. "If you're saying that with a straight face, there's no point in you watching anymore. If a mere first-year student can understand something as simple as what's going on here while you can't, then go home and look into changing careers! Bakugou is being careful because he's acknowledged the strength of his opponent who has made it this far. It's because he's doing everything he can to win that he can't go easy on her or let his guard down."
The crowd humbled down at the Erasure hero's voice of serious disapproval. Awkwardly, the vocal Pros sat back down.
"Eraserhead..." Shiro's lips quirked upwards in a satisfied grin to know that her mentor was also on the same page as her. She was a bit surprised that Present Mic hadn't caught on... Though, that man could act like such an airhead when he got too carried away with his radio-show persona. Looking at Todoroki, she felt him mirroring the same thought process as her.
They both realized long ago what Uraraka was doing... After all, it shared a fundamental strategy that she had used against Todoroki during their combat training.
The girl below changed her demeanor as she finally raised her body from that slouched posture. It couldn't be helped that Bakugou hadn't noticed what she was doing earlier because of his position, but it was a huge miss for many of the "Pros" out in the stands to not have noticed.
"Because she kept her body low, Bakugou responded by expelling his explosions near the ground where she is," Todoroki remarked as he watched the girl draw her hands together to release her zero-gravity Quirk. "In addition, Uraraka's relentless attacks narrowed his field of vision and kept him from noticing."
Following her companion's remark, Shiro looked up to the sky and smirked. Dozens of blown up pieces of cement were suspended in the air. Uraraka was using Bakugou's explosive properties to store up weapons this entire time.
"That's what I'd call using your resources."
Uraraka rasped out a tired but determined breath as she stared at Bakugou. "Thanks, Bakugou-kun... For not letting your guard down..." she said before releasing her Quirk. "I'm gonna win!"
The amount of rocks suddenly falling from being released in their zero-gravity state was a sight to behold. It was a tremendous meteor shower. With the opening that the distraction created, she immediately raced towards her opponent.
Bakugou looked up at the falling shower of debris and raised his left palm up while bracing it with his right. So this was her desperate plan... He let out a deep breath and focused all his energy on his one palm. There was just enough sweat gathered from continuously heating up his hands to evade and counter the girl's relentless attacks for him to pull this off.
It doesn't matter because I must win!
Firecracker-like sparks traveled up his entire arm before an enormous explosion blasted from his palm up towards the debris, the force and extent of the blow immediately obliterated the large rocks into smithereens while throwing the girl back.
"Since you're friends with Deku, I thought you'd be up to something..." he said as the black smog cleared slowly to reveal his smoking hand. Internally, he winced from the pain shooting up his palm. That was close...
Uaraka stood back up shakily and staggered to turn back around. "You're still standing?" Bakugou got back into battle stance at her willpower and started running towards her. "All right, let's get serious then!"
Suddenly, her legs buckled, and she fell. Despite it all, she still desperately tried to crawl her way towards Bakugou, who had stopped running towards her fallen form but was still cautiously observing her every move.
My body... But... Uraraka bit her lips with frustration as she crawled with all her might. She had tried so, so hard, and she couldn't let this end here. I can still...
Alas, her body couldn't hold up.
...Dad... I'll definitely... Become... A hero...
Midnight stepped once the girl stopped moving and held up a hand. "Uraraka-san's out of commission," she announced. "Bakugou-kun advances to the second round!"
Hm, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It turned out less exciting than I wanted :( It's mostly build-up for the next chapter though, so stay tuned for that!
Aaaaand, more fanarts! :D I love them so much, thank you! (Remember to delete spaces and add ".")
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