With a quick flick of his arm and a kick, Midoriya flies off and away from Muscular.
Lying prone on the ground, Midoriya and his injuries had worsened.
I have to do something. Something. But what? I could just leave. I didn't have to fight. Maybe it was time to move on.
No.
Something about Midoriya. His look, his attitude, his determination. There was something I couldn't shake. Unlike me, he didn't deserve to be left alone with no one else to defend him.
Before I knew it I was preparing to jump off my spectating point. As I was doing this, the little boy threw a rock that hit Muscular in the back of his head. Now, all attention was pointed at him. I heard some indeterminable words come from the boy and silently thanked him for the distraction.
I leaped from the ledge and began gaining velocity toward Muscular. As soon as he noticed me, it was too late. One Switch later, I had dug my heels right into the side of Muscular's face and forced it right into the ground.
I lept back off of him and used his shock to introduce myself to my new friend.
"Hey. The name's Kirika Asuga. You don't know me but I'm an ally right now."
"Wha-what?" Midoriya said. "Are you from class 1-B?"
I hesitated. If I said yes, I would easily be figured out if we ran into any class 1-B students. If I said no, it'd be very suspicious. And if I said I was with the Villains, he wouldn't trust me at all.
"No." I start, improvising a decent lie. "I live around here and I was talking a walk when I saw the gas and flames and decided to see what was going on. Then, I found you guys."
"You have to run." Midoriya said, now upright. He was ironic but had the right idea. "He's way too powerful. I'll hold him off while you go. Take Kota with you."
I was surprised by his acceptance but I figured he was a bit off-kilter after his numerous injuries. However, I wasn't going to let his decision come to be. He was obviously out of his league (pun not intended) and I knew he wasn't taking in how he could die at any instant.
"Sorry," I said, "If anything, you and Kota need to go. You aren't in good shape and even at your best, you can't beat him. So let me."
Midoriya stuttered at my sudden heroism and, frankly, I was a bit caught off guard myself. But we couldn't waste time and Muscular was bound to get up anytime.
"My Quirk allows me to switch places with anything in my sight, which includes the air around us. I can also Switch other people and things but that takes more effort." I explained. My Quirk is actually quite powerful but I aim to use it only as a form of mobility. After that incident, I didn't use my Quirk offensively.
"I can essentially power up my body to allow for stronger attacks." Midoriya said. I had guessed his Quirk was that simple. Power-up Quirks are generally like that.
"You little pest!" Muscular shoots up from the ground and prepares an attack toward me. I prepare myself for a kick, Switch, and kick Muscular in the side of his face with his fake eye, assuming it was his weak spot.
I had always been the analytical type myself with my head constantly on a swivel. Maybe it was from birth or because of the situations I was put into; a survival instinct. Whichever it was, I thanked myself for gaining such skills.
"I knew you would become a traito—" I cut Muscular with a quick double kick to the mouth. I looked over at Midoriya to see if he had heard anything. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed anything in particular and probably took Muscular's words as worthless banter.
I knew I wasn't making a dent on Muscular at all. My Quirk may be useful for surprise attacks but it does nothing for my physical strength. I realized I'd have to use Midoriya.
"Midoriya!" I yell. "Try to hit him with your Quirk! Trust me!" Midoriya had a look of confusion on his face, but he readied himself anyway, hopefully realizing what I was going to do.
When Muscular went to attack again—this time aiming at my partner—Midoriya started his attack. As he almost made contact with Muscular, and Muscular nearly made contact with him, I Switched Midoriya to Muscular's backside where the punch would be landed right where Muscular wasn't protected by his Quirk: the nape of his neck.
"ARGGH!" Muscular yelled. He wasn't going to back down; we needed to end it quickly.
"Okay, kids. You've given me no choice. No more playtime; I'm using my serious eye." Muscular pulls a fake eye from his pocket and replaces his old one with it. The new one looked much more menacing than the former.
"Crap," I muttered. From what little time I had had with Muscular, I knew he had incredible control over his powers. I also knew that he wouldn't use his full power unless he wanted to kill.
"GET BACK!" I screamed, silently hoping Kota was out of range and that Midoriya heard me.
We ran a few meters away to brace for Muscular's incoming attack. I didn't Switch in fear that I would wear out before the fight was over.
Muscular completely destroyed the land where we used to be.
"He… he really was just playing around…"
"Crap!" I say in shock. I was desperately wondering if we could beat him. Midoriya couldn't get a hit in with Muscular's Quirk and high alertness, and even if he did he would break something. I glance at the boy's crumpled arm. I could land a hit but it wouldn't have put a dent in Muscular. My realization came because of the last attack Midoriya and I had made, but it would cost Midoriya.
"MIDORIYA!" I screamed, grabbing the boy's attention. I tell him the plan and he gets what I'm trying to do. He knew the cost, yet seemed to be willing to pay it fully.
As Muscular went to attack again, I readied myself. Midoriya was postponed behind me and much farther away from Muscular.
3
2
1
"NOW!" I screamed. Midoriya used his Quirk and shot toward Muscular. Mid-air he attempted a punch, but it was too far away from Muscular to even be considered direct. Muscular then knew what was going to happen, so he forced more muscle onto the back of his neck to protect it. I already anticipated this, so I instead switched Midoriya so he would hit Muscular right where he wouldn't expect.
Straight in front of him.
"I know you haven't been using your full power, Midoriya. Well now's the time. I'll Switch you straight in front of him and you have to land the most powerful punch you can. Use your Quirk to increase your velocity too. Oh, and just in case…"
Even though I told him just that, he went beyond. Midoriya's whole body lit up with a green lightning much brighter than before. He shoved his broken hand into one of Muscular's bulging muscles.
"Now… Speed doesn't matter."
The aura I could feel from Midoriya was… I wasn't sure how to describe it. He was so determined to save Kota and I that he'd… he'd die for it.
"Midoriya… What are you planning?"
Few remarks were made that were hard to hear in the heat of the moment but one stood out:
"Heroes stake their lives! Turning talk into action is what we do!"
He hit Muscular head on and straight in who-knows-where. Before I could even tell there was debris flying straight towards me and a huge shockwave threw me off the cliff. I was shocked but had practiced a drill similar to this when I was younger. I was maybe ten meters from the cliff and another fifteen down. I was readying myself for another Switch when I saw a figure from the corner of my eye.
"KOTA! ASUGA!" Midoriya yelled Kota and my names from the top of the cliff. Both of his arms were then broken and he had no chance of grabbing Kota so it was up to me.
I Switched over to the balling boy, he was clearly aware that if he kept falling he'd reach his doom. I grabbed him and prepared him and myself for another Switch.
"This is gonna hurt."
I switch up to the cliff but because I couldn't see the ground of the cliff, we ended up several meters from the ground. I had put Kota on my back, and for good reason. At the rate we were traveling, a fall would break at least one leg and Kota wouldn't have to go through that pain where he was. I could deal with it. I had broken many bones before that.
As we come closer to the ground, I brace myself for impact. But it doesn't come as quickly as I thought. I looked down and Kota had sprayed water underneath us and it was slowing us down.
However, he stops and we continue our fast-paced decent. This time, the fall wouldn't be as bad and I hoped I could make it without any injuries.
BAM!
We hit the ground roughly and then tumbled over. I spread myself out on the ground, happy to be there. But before I could enjoy that, a searing pain shot through my leg.
"Uggghhh!" I breathed out in pain. My ankle was the problem. I may have sprained it, but the pain suggested otherwise. I had broken something.
"Asuga-san! Are you okay?" Midoriya asked, obviously in his own pain.
As I started my answer, fatigue and nausea overcame me.
"Yeah…" I managed to get out. "Just really nauseated. I probably just have a sprain. Nothing huge. I just haven't used my Quirk like that in a while. "
I flex my leg around and see how to stand with it best. After figuring it out, I stood up.
"I guess it's time to figure out what's nex-" I couldn't even finish my sentence when we heard a crumbling by the cliff wall.
"N-no way." Midoriya gasped.
"Not bad, Midoriya. You too, Asuga. Nice teamwork." Muscular said.
"Kota! Grab on to me!" Midoriya yelled while Kota scrambled to get to Midoriya. "Asuga-san! We have to run!" He noticed me still staring at Muscular.
"No, you go, Midoriya." I said, not turning around. "I don't want you to see this."
"Wha-what?" Midoriya almost whispered.
"Go!" I yelled. That time my voice was shaking. I knew what I was going to do and I knew what it would do to Muscular.
"I'm not leaving you here!" Midoriya yelled. "Kota you run farther back." He ushered Kota backward and away from the fight. He knew not to go far or else Muscular's attention would be drawn to him.
I turned around for Midoriya to see my face. The shock in his eyes was as clear as it'd been when Muscular had withstood that punch.
"Midoriya... if you stay, you'll see something that will taint your memories f-forever." I said. My face was continued into a desperate, anxious, and depressed mess with tears running down my cheeks. My face was twisted with emotions I hadn't shown since the incident.
He now knew the stakes and involuntarily stepped backward. Then, a wave of confidence came over him. An emotion I'd never experienced washed over him like a blanket.
"You can do this, Asuga-san." Midoriya said with determination set in his face. "I trust you."
He... he trusted me? My mind was in a twist of emotion. It was a haze I was brought out of when Muscular boasted.
"Come on!" He yelled "Try and take me on. I'll even let you take the first hit." He opened his arms and flicked his fingers towards himself; beckoning me to fight.
"Alright," I mutter, "make the balanced unbalanced and you win."
My quirk wasn't what most thought at first: teleportation. It was actually much more complicated. My quirk allowed me to switch places with other things which included air. I generally did this because my quirk generally auto regulates the space that should give an equal switch and so switching with air is perfect because it's practically everywhere. However, I could hijack this automatic function and make a Switch unequal. When this happens, it takes a lot more energy and causes one side to explode with the increased matter and the other to implode with the missing matter needing to be filled and it all colliding.
That was my plan: create an uneven Switch with both sides of it directly beside Muscular.
This risk of killing him was high; that much was certain. But the risk was worth it. Midoriya's battered and bruised body. Kota's sad and frightful tears. The world's ignorance of Muscular's ruthlessness. My sanity. That made it worth it.
Remember, Asuga. Remember. They trust you.
I imagine the symmetrical, large bubbles of my quirk; the sections of substance that I switch so easily. I took those sections and placed them by Muscular. Then, I started to change the bubbles' symmetry. I decreased the size of the bubble on the right side of Muscular (closest to the wall) and increased it on his left. It took immense concentration and my anxiety didn't help.
This was what I had been afraid of.
This was why I was afraid of my quirk.