Kimiko had learned to hold herself with a deathly stillness.
It had started as a deer-in-headlights situation, drawing out the prey-instinct within her. But several nights of shivering under bedsheets in a cold sweat, subconsciously believing that movement drew attention and attention meant death, honed the skill to a razor sharpness and carved her into something fierce yet brittle.
So as Aizawa stared her down in her seat, Kimiko crushed the urge to squirm and stared coolly back..
She refused to be prey any longer.
"Well, sensei?"
With an air of utter boredom, he said, "Were you trying to kill Shoto Todoroki?"
"What?" Her calm façade shattered within. He thought- "No! Why would you ask that?" She forced her breathing to steady.
"You were running at him with a knife." His tone was slow, as if explaining something to a toddler. "You could've picked a hammer, or that tranquilizer."
He thought she could want to kill someone? After all those haunted nights and lightless days? Delirious laughter bubbled up in her throat. For all his cold logic, Aizawa didn't really get what was going on here, did he?
Mirth in her eyes, Kimi crooned, "I just wanted to cut him up a little, you know?"
"No," He said flatly. "Frankly, I think you're a little unstable."
The laughter died, his words a physical blow. Something cold settled in her clenched chest. "I already owned the knife." Her voice was low. "It's much easier to wish for something that you already own, something you already have emotional ties to, than to want to create something out of nothing. It's less vague, and easier to direct emotion to. That is why, not some…some reason like-"
Like her own subconscious purring a gun, a knife, and guts on the floor, the words a song in her veins. Like her hands aching to cradle what had once been her lifeline, to feel a leather grip sliding between her fingers.
"Not some reason like wanting to kill him," Kimi finished. "So no, I didn't -and don't-want to kill Shoto Todoroki."
Aizawa paused, the shrugged. "Good to know."
Her stomach unclenched, tension that she didn't even know was there dissipating. Her frozen posture to melted into the chair.
"Still," he said, "Why not a tranquilizer? The extra energy spent would have been worth it; it's hard to dodge something as fast as a bullet, and it would've been an instant knockout."
She couldn't very well tell him that neutralization in such a way had never even occurred to her; that wasn't favorable for her valiant quest to prove that she was sane. "I didn't understand it, didn't know what it looked like, or if there were different types of doses or something. It's too hard to put any emotional investment into something so vague."
"But you made one in the end," he pointed out.
"Yes. I uh…" She couldn't exactly tell him about All Might or One for All, but a little improvisation never hurt anybody. "I strained my mind to unleash adrenaline-boosted emotion, giving me enough power to force something of my own interpretation into existence (I'm not really clear on that part, actually). That's kind of why I was in a lot of pain when I woke up; my nerves must've been fried from the strain."
"I see," said Aizawa. "I'll be blunt with you; your quirk interests me. I've never seen one that's psychology based, one that requires training of the mind instead of the body." In that way, she was the opposite of All Might; the thought made her feel a pang of disappointment. "That's not to say you won't need physical training; your quirk itself does not seem to be offensive based, merely giving you the means to do so. The rest is up to you to do physically."
"I'm not really build to be a fighter." Her body wasn't necessarily frail, but more lean and lithe. Her thin frame wouldn't be able to pack on heavy loads of muscle. Hand-to-hand combat seemed forever beyond her, no matter how much she wanted to take after All Might.
"True," agreed Aizawa. "But you can work that out with All Might; I understand that he's taken you on as his protégé?"
Her body stiffened. "How did you-"
"I caught him watching your match in secret and confronted him, but that's not important. Before each school year, I take the liberty to do some background research on my students. That way, I can have a predetermined idea of their capabilities so when I observe them in action, I have some basis to form my conclusions on. It's leads to much more reliable judgements."
"Oh."
He snorted at her lackluster response. "Yes, 'oh'. I'm sure you're aware of what I found on you?"
"Aware, but hoping otherwise," Kimiko confirmed.
"Denial." He shook his head. "Hope is a very useful tool for you, but be cautious of when you use it. I hope you are sufficiently recovered from that situation-"
"I am, sensei. The doctors were very good at their job."
"I meant mentally," He snapped. "Your mental fortitude is very important in keeping your quirk in check, since it's so flexible in interpretation. I'd hate for it to become a danger to the others around you; wouldn't it be a shame if you snapped and wished for, say, a fire to devour the school in a fit of childish fury?"
Kimiko bristled. "I wouldn't do that!"
"See that you don't," said Aizawa. The lazy air settled back around him, and she allowed her indignation to die.
"I don't think I could anyways."
"I disagree. The stronger your conviction, the stronger your quirk. And it can be argued that the convictions of madmen are the strongest of all."
Was he implying that she was mad? No, he'd outright said it before.
What are you playing at, Shota Aizawa?
Whatever he was trying to do, whatever he was trying to provoke or discover, Kimiko didn't care anymore. She smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, I'm rather fond of this school."
"And keep it that way." Aizawa pulled out his yellow sleeping bag and began smoothing it out on his desk. Kimi waited patiently as he ran his palms over the crinkles and folds, taking his sweet time as she sat there watching.
Finally, he glanced up. Seeing her waiting for advice like an eager puppy, he threw her a bone. "As your teacher, I recommend you do some testing to explore the in-depth workings of your quirk- how it operates, limitations, things like that. Now get out of my classroom."
Sensing the lack of malicious intent, Kimi smiled again, smaller this time, but more genuine. "Yes, sensei."
/~/
Aizawa liked to think himself a rational man.
He methodically combed through his student's files, taking an objective approach in measuring their capabilities. Background research was done thoroughly in order to reduce the subjectivity of things like character assessments. This year's batch had potential, so he'd lowered his test to one expulsion and he'd determine transfers based on the fights.
Minoru Mineta… he didn't have much faith in him from the start. His quirk was the most lackluster, and from what he could find, his personality wasn't going to make up for it. It had only been his creative application in the quirk exercises that convinced him to allow a transfer instead.
But then the girl, Midoriya, made a scene which had quite annoyed him, really. And her arguments were decent considering she'd obviously made them up on the spot. But he had something she didn't; background knowledge.
Minoru Mineta wouldn't pursue the paths she described to him, because Minoru Mineta didn't want to fight. Though it was a teacher's responsibility to shape their students, it was more prudent to support them on a path which their nature was more suited to.
However, she had raised points about what was possible, and he supposed that people could change. But mostly, it was because failing the boy left him with an odd number of students, which made paired assignments difficult.
That was all.
Kimiko Midoriya was a wild card. Her psychology-based quirk was fascinating, especially in a world that found glory in raw, crushing strength. She didn't seem particularly vicious in nature, regardless of her battle style, but she wasn't meek- Midoriya had proved to have a bite to her.
Yes, Aizawa would be keeping a close eye on her- though it was partly a security reason. At the same time, he'd also watch Bakugo, which was entirely for security reasons. Now there was a troublesome kid…
/~/
Unstable. Mad. Crazy. Kimiko played with the words in her head, turning them over again and again. It had never occurred to her that that was how others would see her as; she'd considered herself a little broken, yes, but never insane.
Kimiko raised her hands, thinking about a time where she'd see them drenched in blood every single time. She was getting better, that was for sure. And there would be a day where the mantra gun, knife, guts on the floor would be nothing more than a distant memory.
That thought as her empowerment, Kimi got to work in her backyard.
She'd never gotten the chance to explore her quirk, preferring to let pure emotion drive it over purpose-driven emotion. It had just been an extension of her, responding to her whims; a leaf being tossed around in the wind.
But more than that, her quirk was wrong. It wasn't developed in the same way others were; it was a mutation, a half-assed quirk where something went wrong. Or like the doctors called it, it was a bastard quirk, something to be ashamed of.
But that wasn't it either; she'd felt some protective instinct, that this was special, something to hold close to her chest. So she did, and no one knew.
Until now.
She cringed, imagining how Bakugo would react, but she'd deal with that later; now was the time to learn.
Her primary skillset consisted of teleportation, creation, and body-enhancement. There was self-teleportation, such as sending herself into a villain hideout, but then there was teleportation of others; like summoning her knife towards her.
Generally harder was creation. First was the fact that she had to constantly expend energy to keep her creation existing. Second was the fact that making something out of nothing wasn't supposed to be possible, but her quirk apparently bended the rules of the universe. Not that she was going to accept 'I defy the rules of the universe' as an answer; this was what she'd have to look further into.
A hypothesis was that she made things and took the materials from the nearest possible source. Going off that, Kimi picked up a twig in one hand and wished for a small wooden circle in her other.
A wooden button appeared in her palm, but the twig seemed perfectly whole.
Okay, maybe not. Things she created never lasted long; she had to spend extra energy to keep them existing, so that couldn't have been it. Kimi chose to focus on something else; after all, it was more important to find out how she, personally, created things opposed to how it happened scientifically.
Two main factors came to mind; understanding of the item and understanding of what you want it to do. The two together made it easy to create a strong enough longing for her quirk to activate, but she'd never tested each individually.
On second thought, she had; the tranquilizer had been a manifestation of a want to neutralize her opponent. All that was left was to see what happened if she wished for an object without a purpose.
Slowly and meticulously, Kimiko visualized a gun and separated it from the purpose of taking down an enemy. Just a gun, she thought. Just a gun, not for killing, not for surviving, I just want to see a gun.
It appeared in her hands, and Kimiko pointed it into a patch of flower-less ground (her mom was very fond of her vegetation) and pulled the trigger, bracing for the ear-splitting bang.
It never came.
Kimi fiddled with the trigger a couple more times, before taking the gun apart, spreading the pieces on the ground. There were bullets, and all of the parts were present and in working order, as far as Kimi could tell anyways. Theoretically, it should have worked; there was nothing wrong with it. But nothing happened.
Kimiko was confused, but she was probably allowed to be confused in this case. Regardless, she had made a discovery, and that was always exciting. Impassioned, Kimiko ran back into the house and threw open her drawer. Underneath all her notebooks on heroes, she pulled out a fresh one and scrawled, 'Quirk Notes' on the front.
Note #!: Creation- requires a purpose for the object in order for it to be in working order.
And she went on to furiously scribble down more details. Despite everything that had happened to her, in the end, Kimiko Midoriya was still a planner and an expert note-taker, and nothing would change that.
/~/
Paired assignments. She didn't really know how she felt about that.
She, along with the rest of the class, had been thrilled to have All Might as their teacher. It had left a bright, bubbly feeling in her chest, but the declaration of their assignment sent a spear of uncertainty through the glee. A mock hero-villain simulation was certainly interesting…
Who did she hope for as a partner? Kimiko scanned her classmates, and the best she could come up with was 'not Mineta or Bakugo'. The realization dawned on her that, consumed with the desire for victory and getting knocked out in the first match, she'd failed to get to know her fellow classmates.
Already, Yaoyorozu was swiftly making more connections left and right with an expert social grace. Lighting up at the familiar face, Kimiko made her way over and gave a playful nudge with her shoulder.
Yaoyorozu turned. "Oh, hey Kimiko."
"Kimi is fine." She smiled.
The taller girl returned the expression. "Then you can just call me Momo. Yaoyorozu is too long anyways."
"Yeah, alright. Nice costume by the way." Though very revealing.
"Thanks, you too."
Kimi's costume was a navy blue with a bit of forest green. It wasn't as fancy as she'd wanted it to be, certain previous encounters leaving her obsessed with the practicality of it. The colors were meant to be not particularly eye-catching, leaving her some semblance of stealth.
It was a sleek, simple design that emphasized speed and flexibility. The only frivolous design choice was the ridges on her helmet, jutting out to resemble All Might's haircut. She was, after all, a loyal fangirl through and through.
"Anyways," said Momo. "Who'd you want for a partner? It would really suck if I got paired up with Mineta, no offense to him, but hey- wouldn't it be cool if we got paired up?"
Kimi placed a finger to her chin in thought. "Well, that would certainly be an interesting combination, though I'm not sure of your fighting style. Both of our quirks are very flexible, which would be useful in securing the target. But we'd have problems with heavily aggressive opponents and we both don't have the build for physical combat. Not to mention our quirks would be lacking any raw offensive power-" Kimi cut herself off abruptly. "Not that I'd mind being paired with you! Ack, I was doing the rambling thing again…"
Momo laughed. "Okay, I get you. But seeing your match yesterday, I don't think we'd be lacking in offensive power at all." She tossed Kimi a teasing smirk.
She blushed. "Yeah, let's not talk about that."
"Did you see Todoroki's face when you rushed him with the knife?"
I guess we're talking about it. "I was a little busy trying trying not to die."
"Don't exaggerate," Momo chided. "Anyways-"
"Kimiko Midoriya!" called All Might. Kimi snapped to attention. "Will be paired with Fumikage Tokoyami!"
Who?
"They will be facing Tenya Iida and… Katsuki Bakugo!"
A jolt of panic shot through her. Her head snapped around, matching her horrified gaze with Bakugo's burning one. A steady chant of oh shit, oh shit, oh shit pounded within her and she glanced away.
"Midoriya-san," called a soft, low voice.
A boy clad in black with a bird-like head approached. She waved. "…Tokoyami, I presume?"
"Fumikage Tokoyami. Pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-san."
"Nice to meet you too, and just Midoriya is fine."
"As you wish."
He certainly didn't have Bakugo's powerful predator build, but Tokoyami held himself with his own quiet strength. Normal people fidgeted. Shifted their weight and made the occasional twitch. Tokoyami was deadly still, taking in everything with a keen eye.
Kimi smiled. They'd get along just fine.
/~/
Tokoyami looked up from his paper. "I have sufficient knowledge of the layout."
"Yeah… I'm good too." Kimi exhaled slowly. "Let's talk strategy."
His birdlike head tilted. "Are you nervous?"
"Justifiably so," she confirmed. "Bakugo is powerful, and he's scarily smart to back it up."
"You have background knowledge on him, then, since you were unconscious for his match."
"Yeah, we went to the same school before this. Anyways, his intelligence applies mostly reacting in the midst of fighting, and less towards planning and strategy, so as long as our strategy is sound, we got this."
"You make it sound as if it will be simple," Tokoyami noted.
Kimiko ran a hand through her hair. "No, far from it, actually. But the plan will obviously take into account our personal capabilities, so unless we get our assessments of each other or our opponents wrong, we should have a reasonable chance."
"Except we have no way of understanding them or us thoroughly," he pointed out. "Perhaps it would be best to create short plans based on the current situation."
"Yeah," Kimi sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'd just prefer having everything under control from the beginning, but that's never going to happen, is it?" A touch of her old bitterness seeped into her words.
"We should still have a rough idea of the plan of action." He gave her a basic rundown of his quirk, and Kimi explained hers in greater detail. "It is reasonable to assume that the building will be dark, allowing Dark Shadow to become more offensively oriented."
"Okay. And Bakugo isn't the type to hang back and guard; he'll be coming right at us from the moment he can. I'll go in and bait him and you cover, okay?"
The two talked in hurried bouts, before All Might called, "Begin!" and they sprang into action. Kimi sprinted up the stairs, heaving up the window and leaping in. Tokoyami slid in after, smooth as a shadow, and they slowed their pace.
It was dark, empty enough for their footsteps to give a muffled echo. Kimi forced her tense body to relax as she glanced around corners, the anticipation building to almost unbearable heights. Then-
"MIDORIYA!" There was a howl and a flash of movement and Kimi ducked, twisting under Bakugo's forward lunge. Explosions rocketed from his palms over her head and she heard Tokoyami hiss.
An avian shriek sliced through the ruckus, presumably from Dark Shadow, but Kimi didn't look back and barreled forwards. Her ears pricked up at the sound of approaching footsteps much too heavy to belong to her partner.
Tokoyami shouted, "To your left!" but she'd already turned, arms wrapping around the arm that was hurtling towards her face. Her physique wasn't suited to take a blow head on, so she used his own momentum against him, throwing Bakugo into the floor.
He crashed into the ground and thrashed against her grip, but like hell was she about to enter a battle of brute strength. Kimi sprang away, running after Tokoyami.
They barely made it round the next corner when there was another blast of sound, the walls around them giving a shudder. Bakugo plowed after her, but his rage telegraphed his next punch. She sidestepped easily, capture tape already in hand. She tossed it around his arms and pulled taut, a move pulled from Aizawa.
Bakugo lunged against his restraints, but Dark Shadow rose from whatever darkness he was borne from and dragged him down into the ground.
From beside her, Tokoyami flashed her a look and veered off in another direction, trusting her to catch on. The plan was to lose Bakugo and get the jump on him- he's going to circle back.
Was she to press on and secure the target, or help Tokoyami? Kimiko skidded to a stop, the urge to run, run, run towards her goal thrumming hotly through her veins. It took a physical effort to attempt rationality.
They weren't familiar with each other's fighting styles, so it wouldn't help if she went back to fight with him. But knowing Bakugo's pride, the moment he had the chance he would go back to hunting Kimi with that same vengeful fury.
And besides, Tokoyami was closer to the path to the goal from where he was now. For Kimi to circle around them would take far too much time, so…
Kimi forced herself to run into the open, trembling and terror-struck and wanting oh so very much to flee, but braced herself and cried, "BAKUGO!"
A wrathful blast shredded the wall before her.
Kimi braced an arm before her against the dust and debris and overwhelming heat. A chunk of the wall slid past her, drawing blood across her forearm. The warm liquid slid down between her fingers, hot and sticky.
Like a train, Bakugo hurtled straight for her, single-minded in his pursuit. He dropped the physical attacks and thrusted his hands forwards, sparks of light going off in his palms.
"DIE!"
That ancient, primal power came alive within her,
Dropping smoothly into a crouch, Kimi shot forwards and teleported behind him. The knife was in her hands and she gutted him, avoiding the vital organs. The stab was shallow enough to avoid much damage, but it was enough to elicit a startled, wide-eyed look.
"No," Kimi purred. "You die."
Delirious laughter built within her- Bakugo just looked so damn shocked, like he hadn't even considered the prospect of taking more than a beating. Like he hadn't expected to bleed.
I'll convince you otherwise, she thought with a touch of venom, before a grin split her lips; she'd caught sight of Tokoyami quickly ducking round the first corner. Her eyes snapped back to Bakugo.
And then the world went white.
Ruthless, searing heat shredded her skin- burning, writhing, scorching. She flinched back but Bakugo slammed his fist into her head, sending her stumbling back against the wall. With a roar of hatred, he grabbed her shoulder- grabbed her roughly and hatefully and lit his palms up with fire.
Kimiko screamed, collapsing to the floor to clutch desperately at her shoulder, fingers clawing uselessly as if they could tear the pain away. She didn't have time to nurse her wound, for another blow right to the temple crushed all thought right from her head.
She must have passed out for a second because the next thing she saw was fire, another explosion lighting up right before her eyes.
The wall behind her crumbled, and she was sent skidding back. It was all Kimi could do to cling to consciousness. Bakugo loomed over her, face twisted in an ugly leer. "Still awake? Why won't you die?!"
He sent another crashing blow to her head and she reeled, seeing stars that did not feel and light that did not warm. Ruthlessly, he continued to pummel her without mercy. Blow after blow had her body going limp, too battered to resist the barrage.
"Why?" Kimi rasped. "Why do you hate me?"
Bakugo bared his teeth eyes miniature explosions of their own. "Funny you should ask that, Midoriya, you filthy little liar!"
Kimiko struggled to her feet, swaying.
He threw her back to the floor.
Helpless. Pathetically sprawled on the ground. It sent a wild panic surging through her, and Kimiko's eyes opened wide. Wide, taking in the palms thrusted before her, tiny kernels of light festering within, volatile and about to erupt.
Her terror was a living, writhing thing beneath her skin. Her legs were useless, weak with fear, and the only thing she could do was beg that cold power in her with all her heart as she reached out-
-and grabbed his hand.
The kernel of heat died in his palm. Before Bakugo could react, Kimi managed to collect her emotions enough to flash away, out of the blast zone. Without second thought, she ran.
"You won't get away, you bitch!'
Despite herself, she huffed, "That's not very nice," and broke into a run.
"Turn around and face me!"
Yeah right.
Her footsteps rang loudly as she abandoned all thoughts of stealth. I wonder where Tokoyami is; I didn't memorize past this floor, I sure hope he did. Though he should be alright; Iida's probably guarding the target so-
There was a BANG and the world was spinning, the ground rushing towards her face; her nose was crushed sideways with a crackling of bones, releasing a dam of blood.
On your feet on your feet on your feet-
Ignoring the burns on the back of her arm and the rawness of her cheek, Kimi whirled, knife held before her protectively- not that it would do much against an explosion. How did he hit me, I was out of range-
Oh.
His gauntlets- they enhanced the power of his blasts in some way. She'd miscalculated, and was now going to pay- he'd closed the distance, and she had no way of outrunning him this time.
Half the fourth wish sent power surging to her legs and she streaked towards Bakugo, spinning to slice him on the arm before trying to scramble away. The pain didn't elicit so much as a flinch as Bakugo spun with her, landing a punch in the back of her head.
Her vision temporarily went dark, but she kept running anyways. Light slowly returned to her eyes, enough for her to see stars flash with every step.
"Fight me! Stop running, damnit!"
She had to keep going, but her legs suddenly felt so very wobbly- and which way was the staircase again? Her head was spinning, spinning, spinning-
"COWARD!"
The word, despite everything, gave her pause. Coward. A man was bleeding out in front of her, a gaping wound in his throat. Coward. There was a fracture in her jaw, a bullet in her shoulder, there were impossible odds and an impossible situation, but she'd fought her way out and lived- lived!
Rage filled her, the fiery emotion boosting her wish reserves and she was suddenly in front of Bakugo, her fist smashing into his face, screaming, "I'm not a coward!"
Her other hand sent the knife streaking through his flesh. Without so much as a flinch, Bakugo set off another explosion right in her face but she dug her heels into the ground and lashed out again, this time striking nothing; he'd darted backwards to pummel her from a distance.
But she wasn't just going to sit back and let that happen.
She'd felt hopelessness, desperation, fear, but never rage. He'd beat her into the floor; she wasn't just going to sit and take it. Kimiko gave a feral snarl as she switched to a reverse grip on her knife. Her lips pulled back to show teeth as she charged, single-minded in intent- she was going to rip, tear, eliminate, destroy-
Bakugo howled as he pulled the trigger on his gauntlets, and the resulting explosion was so hot that all Kimi could see was white.
/~/
"No." Shoto hissed, the word wrenching from his mouth. A couple pairs of eyes glanced at him.
"What are you talking about?" said Denki Kaminari. "It's over- she ain't getting up from that one."
He couldn't articulate the surety in his chest and all he could do was shake his head. "No. Not yet. No."
Kaminari shrugged. "Sure, man. Whatever you say."
It wasn't over. He'd only fought her once, but Shoto knew that when Kimiko Midoriya began fighting like a demon, she'd be ripped to pieces before she rolled over to accept defeat.
He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
/~/
A/N. Next chapter will finish up this fight scene, and poor Kimi will finally get a break.
Reviews are love!