These Stones We Skip

by miraimisu

Uraraka, as a newcomer to the most powerful guild in this forsaken village, had not only one, two; but three responsibilities: grow stronger until she was able to pin the world down, untangle the mystery that her past was and survive under the eyes of a crowd that watched over her as night chased the sun, the charade going on and on until the thread... suddenly snaps. [MEDIEVAL!AU]

6. Č h a pt er 1 5

[A/N]: -wakes up from coffin- uuuuuh wtf I HAVE BEEN SO GONEEE IM SOOOORRYYYYYYY 3 Uni got me, emotional shit got me but! I promise to update a bit earlier next time! Please enjoy this, and sorry for the delay!

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Pain and numbness were all she could feel, taste, and make out in the blatant light that stabbed her eyes as her and her companion walked into the desert. Her eyes were somewhat dull despite focused, skin dimly pale after weeks, months, maybe years of isolation. She lost track ages ago— time never seemed to matter when you felt alone, encased.

Her eyes shimmered anew under the sunlight, her boots digging into the supple sand of the golden, dry area. A narrow, faded road wafted into view, and they took a sharp turn to follow it in direction of the . The paper in her hand slapped the wind that rushed under it, and the girl looked at it again in doubt when a small road came into view, coated in sand.

The duo reached a point where the girl had to narrow her eyes into the map, and turn to the right.

"Fairy," the tall man walked barely an inch behind her, peering down with curiosity before looking up again, seeing mountains appear in the distance. "you sure this is the right direction?"

The brunette stopped in her tracks, standing a step away from him. Wind blew sand around them in what seemed to be an approaching sandstorm, but they wouldn't fret about that now. They had more important issues to take care of. Uraraka tugged down at her hoodie to cover her eyes so sand wouldn't sprinkle into them, and cocked her head in the previous direction. "The mountains around there make it pretty obvious we're reaching our region."

Shinsou whipped his head around matter-o'-factly, then stepped to stand near her again. "Not like there aren't any mountains whatsoever." he unbuttoned his cowl a little, and frowned at the bleak desert around them. "This place has been ransacked."

Uraraka hesitated a bit at this observation. While the map she had been given did say they had to go in that direction, the destroyed houses and approaching storm made it look like another test from their boss, but it was nothing they could confirm, nor lose time with. "I know." yet, she contemplated the thought a little. A little lizard emerged from a dump of sand, and climbed up a house's crumbled pillars. "We have to keep going, though. We got stuff to do."

Uraraka walked forward again, and her companion didn't take too long to follow behind. It wasn't very usual for her to take the lead, yet he allowed her to this time. There was a very mystifying glint to her eyes that morning and it didn't seem like she was going to stop walking any time soon. Not like he felt like doing anything right now, they had been walking for hours, days, who knows— just too much time.

"Whatever you say." they walked for a few seconds in silence, the sand dancing around them as they trudged along the old road. If he squinted, he could make out the shape of a small building, standing in the middle of the way. Then, there was a break between some mountains, probably a valley that led to their region. Only she knew the way after that. "Do you know what our plan is?"

Uraraka turned her head to meet his eyes, grimacing in distaste. "It's not that complicated…"

Shinsou nodded, yet crinkled his eyebrow a little in caution. "I know it is, but we can't mess up now if we wanna get to the truth." at this use of terminology, she kept her words in. It was still a very muddy ground to walk on and she wouldn't be getting used to it anytime soon. "That's the responsibility we were endowed with along with our profession."

Uraraka gulped, and remembered the prideful pin attached to her dress. In normal occassions, she knew no professional would carry such token. In fact, she didn't know anyone who did so, mostly because it meant a hinder strategic-wise, having your opponent know what class you belonged to. Regardless, she had grasped that pin for so long in desperation — for something to hold onto, to not cry and miss her roots, just to know who she was— and now here she was.

She peeked at Shinsou carefully, taking in the dark rings under his eyes and the several scars decorating his hands. "You look tired."

He didn't take her comment into consideration other than to remark his point. "The place we're going to has a hotel too." then, he shed a confident smile that would have put her on edge before, but now gave her a new kind of safety. "We may not have to pay after this."

She didn't give a reaction, yet Shinsou knew that by not doing so she was most likely agreeing and condoning it, yet her eyes remained content. Uraraka knew what she was getting into. She had always known so. Even in this dry desert though, she could hear some distant pitter-patter. There must have been a leak in one of those broken houses.

But, everything was empty, devoid of voices and laughter to fill the place. Her village had been full of laughter once, people brimming the paths and chattering among each other as trades, friendships and stories flourished. Time, while stuck and jumbled, still flowed and tangled between the people around her. Somehow, time seemed to have stopped here, turning this once habitat into a husk. What had happened here?

Without realizing, Uraraka had stopped in her tracks to examine a torn down big house, with a well full of vines and moss in front of it. It was familiar, somehow— not the actual place, but the ran down aspect of it and tense silence. It was cheerful before, she knew judging by how inhabited this had been— yet it seemed like this had been empty for a hundred years. It made her wonder…

"It's probably been a sandstorm. There seem to be tons around here." his clear voice spoke wisely, making her spin around to watch some currents spin sand around, and hit some broken walls. "Don't let this hold us up. Gotta keep going as you said."

Uraraka turned heel in the direction of the small building, which upon closer inspection seemed to be some kind of road hotel for merchants and travelers. It made her wonder what kind of people they'd have to deal with in the stage they were in, but pushed the thought aside to face this with optimism. Just as they neared the place, she heard loud chatter and something big breaking. That couldn't be good.

She turned the knob and stepped into the place with Shinsou on tow.

"How many damn times have I told ya to fucking give me the right room?" there was a cracking noise, then a grunt from somewhere in the room. "Fucking damn it, man!"

"That's not my sword, you cunt— give mine back!"

A glass full of beer flew across the air as Shinsou stepped into the crowded big bar, the door still open and letting light slip in.

"Motherfucker, what the hell is this shit for?"

"IT'S THE SHIT YOU ASKED FOR!"

"What the hell— you're GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"

It was all a damn madhouse seeing how people fought and ran around and about, and the pair of foreigners stared at the scene in wonder. It made Uraraka actually look back at the paper in her hand and then look up again. Shinsou scoffed at the barbarian scene before them and made his way in by pushing Uraraka aside quite rudely and walking between wiggling fighters. The girl looked up with a hand to her chest, dodging people as she went with meek apologies and graceful slow movements.

She had never been exposed to this kind of environment in the past, torn down furniture, fleshy man and lots of broken glass scattered around the floor. There was a big roof of glass at the top of the building, then several balconies from where some customers looked into the bar, screaming atrocities at the others from above. The ground was made of stone, the tables around the place were old and probably worn out from so much banter, probably done too often.

Uraraka didn't like this rowdy place. Judging by the boring look in her companion's face, he didn't seem to enjoy it either. She took a seat at a stool by Shinsou. "How are we going to get this done in such crowded space?"

Shinsou dug his elbow into the greenish wooden bar, waiting for a waiter to show up. "I got no idea, fairy. But if they get to see our faces from too close, we are over. So cover those cheeks a little, will you?"

The brunette squeaked before tugging the collar of her brown cloak up, it covering her mouth and almost her nose. The desert was pretty warm, but the movement and noise of the stuffed bar made those perks be a walk down the forest. "Again, maybe we could ask the bartender?"

Shinsou blinked at her as if she had said the most stupid idea ever, but a second later, it was gone as he realized that they had no better option than that. He looked forward again, bottles of countless beverages twinkled under the sun from above, through the big crystal ceiling. He nodded curtly, only making his striking resemblance to Aizawa all the more intense.

Just as her peer continued to ignore her blatant wonderous stare, it made her also realize how similar he was to Bakugou sometimes. It was almost earth-shattering to see him act so distant and heartless all the time, they looked like the same coin, yet seen from different sides. Also, be so handy in combat and still keep pressure down with that responsible vibe of their, dissociating from people and affection— but the main difference she had seen that had probably scared her the most was how silent Shinsou was.

Admittedly, it had been something hard to get used to, him being so unspoken about things. It was always like she had to be on edge for whatever thing he would say, for it looked like he would always say something worth hearing every time he spoke up— which mind you, he did. But with time, the tension had somewhat toned down to him being a bit less silent and her catching up on his eyes and little hints. Now all they had was a pretty solid companionship, yet it was still tense.

Just as it was when she stared at him for answers like now, too tired to actually search for them on her own. Before long, the bartender appeared in front of them, cleaning a glass with a dampened cloth. The sneaking pair covered their faces almost instinctively. "Good afternoon. What's it gonna be today?"

Shinsou looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Coffee." when the bartender looked at the girl, Shinsou brushed her off. "Nothing for the lady. Thanks."

Strangely enough, the shut girl didn't budge at this, and the man went off to prepare his order in silence. When Uraraka was to speak again, a shadow rolled behind her. She didn't move an inch, nor did Shinsou, until they locked eyes to speak again. "Do you think he's here?"

The boy pressed a hand to his nape with an uneasy frown. "Don't think so, or else things would have been different."

The brunette nodded and looked around with a quirked eyebrow, feeling free to move again. "If you say so."

Some spoon clashes and a broken barrel of wine later, a china mug of coffee came to the sorcerers in the middle of that noisy, dirty bar. Shinsou acknowledged the drink with a nod and stirred it lazily with the spoon, aware of the bartender looking at them thoughtfully. "You two look familiar…" probably because they were hiding their faces. "are you two new to the region? Maybe pirates or something?"

The way this place was and seeing the scruffy aspect of the bartender, it had been pretty obvious this place was hosted by criminals and pirates. Needless to say anyone with a good pair for eyes could come to think Shinsou and Uraraka were pirates, they were blending in with them after all. What else could they be doing there?

"I'm sorry to tell you that's not anyone's business but ours." Shinsou's voice was a notch too stern to Uraraka's liking, who gulped thickly and looked at him in slight panic from under the hoodie. Shinsou didn't pay attention to her in the slightest and continued glaring at the bartender carefully. Before long, the man gave up and left the pair to attend to his own affairs.

The brunette looked at her partner with a slight frown. "Stop being so blatant about us being on incognito." snapped the girl, looking to her sides. "We have to find our objective first."

The boy nodded, and Uraraka lay her elbows on the bar, then looked to her side. There were a bunch of shady men cheering a few meters away from her stool, and when they noticed her stare, she smoothly turned to look at the drinks before her. She could see some other groups from the mirror that hung behind the drink shelves, so she didn't bother to turn again. Some tables were getting rowdy and excited with the passby of minutes, yet she felt as out of place as she had before. Some tables had already turned to look at them in their silent observation, seeing the small intercourse between Shinsou and the barman.

Something was going on here if people were observing them through the banter and noise.

"Hey." called she lowly, making Shinsou snap back into attention, looking forward. Not letting people know they were whispering so secretly between each other was probably the best idea. "They know what's up."

"You think so?"

The sorcerer nodded curtly, entwining her fingers under her nose. She focused her vision on the mirror, on a group of four that was staring at them. "It's weird for such a scruffy group to be staring at us so intently. We don't really stand out that much, do we?"

It was probably weird to see a little girl in a place like this, so dusty and crowded with men that were anything but nice, charming or simply bearable. To their credit, Uraraka had never been in a situation like this, so she didn't quite know how to behave other than the basics: don't be noisy and oblivious, keep it low and don't be a show-off. Keeping your profile low on undercover missions was probably the only thing Uraraka knew how to do.

But handling a mob of muscular, gross and rude pirates, mercenaries and whatnot was a completely different story.

Her eyes scanned the area briefly, combing quickly through every crane of the tables and men, and became increasingly aware that another table was turning to look at them. Despite how the situation was going downhill, no brakes or warnings, Uraraka couldn't find anyone flashy enough that could tell them who the owner was, or just anyone who seemed clean enough to carry the wealth this place seemed to require. There were rooms up there, plants, expensive drinks. This place was dirty, but it was by no means a cheap investment.

Panning through the messy, there was only one person left they could trust. Shinsou eyed him when Uraraka did, and whistled loudly. It could probably be heard from the rooms of the establishment.

The bartender left his chat with some other customers, and neared them. Uraraka was probably the only one to notice how the general banter in the tavern lowered notch by notch, almost to a point that it became just a hushed murmur. It was then when she became painstakingly aware that all eyes were on her and Shinsou, and a cold sweat ran down her spine.

"Excuse me sir, we are searching for the owner of this establishment." his voice was awfully loud among the big place. It filled the room despite the hoarseness it carried. "Do you happen to know where they are?"

The bartender had been cleaning a glass all the time, but stopped this time after hearing this. His head lowered a little, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "The owner, you say? May I know what for?"

If there was any noise in the room before this, it suddenly died down to a gust of air wheezing through the room. Uraraka's nails tapped against the counter in anxiety, biting her lip under her hoodie as if in shame— but she was mortified to be observed this begrudgingly, probably seeing through the act and knowing they were no criminals, someone who could peek their nose in and ruin whatever shady business they had here— exactly the reason why they were there.

The customers and the bartender were all a gang. They had been busted all along. It had been an act. Uraraka paled, hearing chairs scrape out of their tables, making something sink in deep, settling and coiling in her gut dangerously slow, cold and nasty, piercing through her sensitive skin.

Knowing Shinsou, he had probably caught on the act long before she had, yet he decided to persevere and still ask. "We have some business to talk about with them. Could we please speak to them?"

The man rested the glass on the counter, gingerly as if to not break it, and slanted his hands on the counter. "I'm afraid that won't be possible, sir."

A moment passed, maybe two, and there was a shake in the counter before the glass before them shattered to pieces soundly, scattering in the direction of the barman and piercing his ragged shirt under Uraraka's insistent stare, her hands curled into a fist and her nose scrunched in concentration. More chairs scraped out of place, and Shinsou got up from his seat.

He heard steps coming in their direction. "We won't ask twice: can we please see this man?"

A bottle shattered in the distance, among with a cackle of laughter from one of the men. "We aren't accepting any official meetings as of now. Please," and suddenly, from the corner of his eye, the man drew out a butchering knife, shining to view under the milky sunlight. Shinsou's face was shrunk to a sneer. "leave."

At the sound of the knife being drawn, Uraraka heard a compass of steps and sly laughter booming across, reaching her ears and making her finally stand up from her stool and kick it upside down with her foot. "You all are so damn disgusting!"

With a swipe of her hand, Uraraka summoned a gale of wind that knocked out half of the building's rooms, a deaf noise rocketing across the establishment and knocking a few customers out and to the ground, blowing on Uraraka's cloak while she held onto the hoodie of her uniform. Bouquets of holes adorned the superior halls of the building, inner balconies destroyed and a corner of it all collapsing to spare debris.

Some of the people who were able to pick themselves up again looked at her in disbelief, and urged the mage to stare at the crowd in focus, the barman behind them already cornered to the shelves of drinks. "We won't ask again." spoke the girl lowly. "Do as we ask, or we will start an ugly fight."

The dust and rubble cleared, giving Uraraka full view of some of the men actually advancing again, to which she wiped a bead of dirt off her cheek. There were a handful of them still standing, broken bottles ready to probably pierce her guts out, and Uraraka wondered how could it be that this gang was so resilient, yet their boss was a complete coward squirming behind the counter.

"Fairy." the girl turned to face Shinsou, who had his staff ready to use in case things got noisy. "We can't beat around the bush much, and we gotta control this guy." his hand slanted on his nape, looking at her lazily in such a manner that it made her feel trusted. It was a feeling still so new to her, yet it made her heart race wildly. "If you wanna do something, be quick about it."

The girl let out a dashing smile, thankful for the amount of faith he seemed to have in her. "You got it!"

The girl slammed her hand on the wooden floor, and sprouts of wild nature and roots sprouted from under the ground, tangling around the pillars of the building and squeezing them so hard parts of the ceiling started collapsing, making people run away in fear while chanting curses in their direction. Others stayed to see the scenario, and got tangled in the roots of the growing wilderness.

The very few that got through it were charging at Uraraka with admirable speed, much to her chagrin. Muttering a small word, Uraraka placed two fingers of her right hand under her nose in focus, and after a flash of light from her soft eyes, she dashed after them, hands wrapped in lightning as her hands dived for straight strikes, dodging between the big men at the speed of light.

"H-How the hell…" mumbled the boss from under his hiding spot, looking at her in deep fright. Her face was contorted into a deep grimace of pain. "Is she so fucking fast?"

Shinsou shed a smile at her domain in jinxed speed, seeing her appear everywhere and attack her opponents with the precision of a professional. "It's what we are trained for."

There was a deaf impact echo in the distance as Uraraka suplexed the man to the ground, him falling into an unconscious state but the brunette had never felt this alive, and sighed erratically at the short fight, yet so energy-consuming. Afterwards, she turned to him with an uncanny frown knitting her features. "Take him?"

Shinsou effortlessly hopped across the counter and grabbed the boss by the collar, raising him to his level. It dawned on him that the guy wasn't that impressive height-wise. Maybe it had been a rouse all along. "Taken." then, he eyed a small door behind them and nodded to it, making Uraraka nod back in coordination and rush to open it.

The office behind the doors was quaint and bleak: a desk, a chair Uraraka took to the center of the room, and a candle that flickered with the slam of the door. Shinsou tossed the man onto the chair, whereas Uraraka tied his hands to the poles of it. The boss wiggled uselessly, teeth gritted in frustration. "I don't fucking get it, who the fuck are you two!"

The girl united with Shinsou proudly, and despite the obvious height difference, they towered over the cowering man like two skyscrapers in a desert. Shadows covered most of their faces, making it more difficult for the man to find anything to hold onto. He took a step forward while she stayed back, and slapped a hand on the back of the chair, leaning carefully towards the man. "There is some business you've been doing around the Capital we wanna know about."

"Excuse me!?" bellowed he, unbelieving, as if he had been told an insulting joke, but it was obvious something was very wrong when they had had to wreck a whole building for him to spill the beans and reveal his identity. Whoever this man was, he was hiding something, and that something was going to be harder to get. "I don't know what the hell you two are looking for! I got my contacts in the Capital, true— but it ain't anything illegal!"

"Oh, yeah?" Uraraka's look turned stern as Shinsou leaned back from his towering. "Then why did your unsuspecting clients come attack us so suddenly, eh?"

The boss tried to fight against the ropes tied around his wrist, desperately wanting to be set free and only being able to burn his skin. He hissed in pain. "I don't give a fuck about those asses! They just come here for a hard drink and some people to fight! Do you think I would be as fucking obvious to host a place full of pirates in the middle of nowhere?"

Of course, he realized he had slipped that word all too quick, and when he looked up again, the two villains were looking at him skeptically. Uraraka craned her head to Shinsou. "Do it."

Before the man could question anything, Shinsou's eyes flashed in purple in the same way hers did earlier, and the man was thrown deeper into his chair as his eyes went blank. "Gazapo." Shinsou's voice echoed in the man's man, which seemed wider and just a black, empty wall he could no longer access to.

He had lost his ability to think straight the moment he saw that light, and screwed his eyes shut in a grimace of pain at the feeling of suddenly feeling like he had eyes everywhere looking at his body, observing every of his movements and tracking them. He fought against his invisible grip uselessly, grunting to himself as the uncomfortable feeling in ten fold. He wanted to think about how to get out of there, but nothing came to his mind. He was drawn to a blank.

"What the fuck have you done? What shit is this?"

Shinsou cleared his throat, looking at him in a dead stare. "From now on, for every lie you tell us, you will receive a little punishment. So you better keep it honest, or else. Got it?"

"What the fuck…" he shook his head to himself at how foolish he had been to be a coward and get pulled into a mess like this. His fingers curled to try and undo the ties, yet nothing happened. "Yeah, got it, whatever!"

At this, Shinsou smirked, and saw the man make a slight slump forward before he was back on the chair again, confirming that Shinsou had full control over him. Uraraka let him drive the situation while padding to the man, and crossing her arms in front of him— a gesture she didn't particularly like, but she had been taught to look tough when you were softer.

Uraraka and Shinsou had practiced this torture procedure— if it could be called that, as most of the people who knew what they were into would call it quits and confess after the second question left lied. She knew what to ask, how to behave, but the situation and the sudden responsibility never failed to surprise her.

Uraraka put her boot on the chair's edge, leaning down to the man just as Shinsou had done. But on the other hand, he had seen that kind of rash and unkind behavior before, and he had seen it reflect in her own persona too. Not what he liked best about her, considering how much of an ass that other leader was.

"Are you in any way related to the Jirou mafia business?"

Both men whipped their heads to her, one not expecting her to be so blunt and the other mentally telling her off for such impatience. But she succeeded in being assertive and authoritative, given the stutter of the man in his speech and the sweat that started forming in his skin, all noticed by Shinsou's eagle eye. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'm fucking n—!"

The boss let out a piercing screech that probably echoed all the way to the desert, seeing how the building was no more than decaying debris. He bended in twain, gasping for air as a malady spread all throughout his body, hitting him hard and slamming all its weight on him, almost rendering him motionless after a minute of pure agony. His blood was boiling, his head spinning, as if in a fever, lightheaded. His muscles constricted badly, a part of his leg surely snapped, and when he looked up to the two, there seemed to be no remorse in their glare.

"This power…" then it hit him. He knew who they fucking were. "it's can't fucking be! You two…!" panting, his eyes landed on Shinsou's dead ones. Uraraka didn't even flinch.

At this, his glare hardened. His partner took this as a hint to move forward. "Again, are you related to that mafia?"

He had experimented the slight bits of Shinsou's Gazapo and he didn't want none of it again. Not that it mattered, he knew they would have more trouble around his area than they expected, and bit back a smirk. "Yes, I am." spoke he clearly, still hoarse from the spell's effects. "I got a bunch of contacts there."

Uraraka spoke next, following her role. "Then would you be able to provide us with the current location of its headquarters?"

The boss looked at Shinsou briefly before glancing up at her. The fact that he couldn't see their eyes was ever so troublesome. If only he could summon some magic and knock their hoodies off, he would at least get closure on their appearance. He could only see dark uniforms under the worn out cloaks, hers probably a long dress with golden ornaments, and his plain as his eyes, staring at his like a deadpan.

He sighed. "I could, but it ain't that easy as—" Shinsou frowned at him, and at the slight feel of pain tickling up from the back of head, he shook his head with a remorseful grimace. "Alright! It is! But what I mean is that I don't have the data here! Mafias like the Jirou family are constantly changing places to not stay idle. I know they are somewhere near the Capital— but I got no idea where, exactly."

It was a lie, partly. But Shinsou's spell didn't see through it, as it probably was true that they were in the area. While the sorcerer trusted his gut enough to know he was hiding something, he trusted his abilities more than that. But he was tired as hell, and decided to not pry further than that. They had fulfilled their mission, and could let this man off the hook now that they got this confirmation out of him. Their real mission started now.

The sorcerer let his enchanting drop, and Uraraka let out a sigh of relief. The man before them seemingly felt happy to be in control of his body again, comfortable in his own skin. "That was easier than I had expected."

Shinsou grunted, brushing his hair aside. "Yeah, but," he stomped a step forward and gave the chair a hard kick, making the man fall to the ground with a loud yelp and a rattle from the cracked furniture. Neither of the sorcerers wanted to pick him up, though Uraraka felt it was out of place. He leaned over him again. "you better not send your scum after us or we are coming after you, got it?"

The boss nodded eagerly, smile wobbly. "Y-yes, of course!"

"Good." he went around the chair and crouched to snap the ties open with his knife— because they may be undercover and rough, but that didn't mean they were gonna let a man rot in there. "Let's get going, fairy. It's getting late."

Uraraka nodded and followed him obediently, hearing the man curse and brush his wrists in astonishment. Feeling generous, she closed the door behind them so the man wouldn't get to see the horrible state of the building around them. Twisted the knob and done the deed, Uraraka found herself crashing with Shinsou's back, and when she staggered back, something pointy poked her back.

It took her two seconds to realize there was a whole crew of hidden rangers pointing at them with their bows and arrows from the broken in-balconies and cranes between the debris. They were being ambushed. The boss had known this all along, made Uraraka gulp down heavily as she was pushed to the center of the room.

It was intimidating, but she knew they wouldn't die out of this. Every one of their attackers pulled back from them, pointing their daggers and arrows at them. The sound of threads tensing only made the situation more tense, yet none of them were afraid of them. Their weapons were mid-tier, basics, and they would probably have no plan for them. One of them from the crew spoke up. "Any last words, fuckers?"

Shinsou only rose an eyebrow, and grabbed the collar of his uniform. He fake-fanned himself with it. "Well, yeah." he clarified, and then tugged at his cloak a bit stronger with a frown of severity. "It was fun while it lasted!"

Then, he discarded his cloak in the air, which transformed into a thick fog that spread to the rangers in the balconies while its owner went forward from under it— a wolf escaping from the scene, purple and black, growling before tackling one of the attackers and stomping over him for the exit, and as he tried to rush there, chaos ensued: arrows started flying at the escapist, panicking at how some were shocked at the transformation, but none of the arrows reached the wolf in time.

And as some of the arrows went after Shinsou, some were already pointing at Uraraka, who only held her hands up with a small smile before the threads snapped, and all of them pierced through her cloak, but only managed to hit a pile of mist as the owner disappeared under the raid, and the smallest of robins peaked from under the cloak on the ground, and she wobbled a little before fluttering her wings and flying right after Shinsou, successfully avoiding the arrow rain with her small size.

Uraraka flew fast after him and caught him running past the building. The robin landed on Shinsou's back before she recovered her original view in a flash, not able to hold her transformation any longer and fearful for Shinsou's safety on the opening. The wolf still went on running away from the hotel, and acknowledged her briefly by looking at her when she flung her legs to a side. "I couldn't hold it anymore, and I had no time to prepare an anchor like you did."

"Doesn't matter." managed to say Shinsou through puffs of air, and an arrow landed right by their side while running. They were novice rangers but they had one hell of an aim. "But you gotta do fucking something."

Despite their speed of escape, some rangers were still firing arrows at them from outside the building, and due to the transformation's stamina consumption. Uraraka frowned, grabbed Shinsou's fur for support and summoned an enchanting seal, which appeared right before her, aimed at the building. "Solar Flare, release!"

And a blast of light shot out from her hands and luminous seal before it hit the building and made it explode into fire and firecrackers with a white, deaf blast of power and preposterous lights, most probably having hit the zone where those mercenaries kept the weaponry and, most likely, powder from the cantines at the south. The blast from the explosion made sand rush up to them and the building came crashing down loudly, caught on fire and ashes from Uraraka's previous attacks.

After this, a gust of silence overcame them, only the wind accompanying their ride as they galloped away from the scene, carrying the information they needed and a bag of corpses behind them. Such a shame the boss hadn't played hooky with them and Uraraka hadn't asked about it, maybe he would be alive now.

Uraraka eased her legs on either side of the boy, and grabbed her hat as the hoodie of her cloak flew backwards. "We did it, hell yeah!" cheered Uraraka, adrenaline after such escape pulsating through her. Remains of the explosion still erupted from the war zone. "We must hurry forward, will you be able to last until we get there?"

"I'll do my best." mumbled Shinsou, grimacing in exhaustion, yet aware of their haste. This little escape had been a hold up, and they had no time to waste. "Let's push onwards."

The girl nodded once before craning her head to look at the mess they had caused to freely, seeing smoke come out of the ran down building, and couldn't help but feel a rush of guilt overcome her— but she pushed it down, yet felt it only piling up at the bottom of her gut. She had to accept it though, that no matter the remorse she felt for her ways, this was who she was now.

She couldn't look back anymore, and instead focused on the path ahead with no other thought on the matter.

In the distance, a few steps behind the big pile of rubbish, two people stood there, a woman and a man. "Who are those… freaks?" he clearly wasn't used to these antics, pointing at them with a shaking figure. "Did you see what they did!? How did they do that shit?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at the troublesome couple, stern concern embedded in her features. Midnight exhaled deeply, arms crossed, and watched them disappear in the horizon, eyes shimmering at the feminine figure. "Do not underestimate that little girl. That you just saw there…" her eyes glowered to an inch, growing darker.

"That's just a part of the Moon Fairy's power."

---

Shinsou had been able to revert back when they were nearing the end of the desert passage, mountains announcing their proximity to the road to the Capital's barriers. Trees were starting to surface from the ground after bushes, hearing the river that rounded the Capital and the small forests that littered the area. It was a fairly fresh air after the ruckus at the tavern and the haste at the runaway.

They stepped out of the driest part fast enough, and while the trees were still rather small, they could give enough shade under the blistering heat. Uraraka wiped a bead of sweat with her hoodie. "It sure has gotten hot. I thought it'd get a bit fresher being near the river." spoke she, which made total sense. The murmur of the stream was audible enough to give a sense of direction.

"The air is rather disturbed, though." it was something both had agreed on, and while it didn't provide a reason for the warmth of it all, it did make sense out of the tension in the air. "There must be a hunter raid going on somewhere around here." he eyes her knowingly. "Let's hope we don't crash with any of them."

Uraraka gulped in silent agreement. The sole word brought mixed feelings to her heart, seeing only red, golden, silver, and a terrible quench to her stomach, one she never enjoyed yet never found bad, either. It was then when her mind tried to tell her to move on— but her heart had fallen under the spell so fast and so hard she could no longer move past it, simply weave it into her heart, sew it and hope for the best.

Couldn't help but feel her heart wrench whenever they were mentioned— when he was mentioned. She felt like she wanted to fucking cry, and she didn't know why. There was this feeling incrusted in her brain and heart, so painful yet addicting she couldn't help but wonder, what was going on behind her back, in the faraway village.

A part of her was curious and wanted to know. But her sense of duty kept her awake and hoping, one day, it would go away soon. "We should hurry to the Council and get this over with."

Her partner agreed, and they started making it there through the small patches of sand and the startings of the forest. While they skipped some rocks and cut through some troublesome bushes, they heard voices from somewhere on the lands. There must have been some guilds trying to make profits out of zone missions, making Uraraka gulp in sudden nervousness at who they could come across.

After how she had left things back at home, the thought of facing anyone related to her past still made her heart pulsate accelerated.

Out of the blue, a blob appeared from under the dry grounds before them, urging Uraraka to draw a hand in front of her partner to prevent him to step forward, and a creature started surging from the ground, sand slipping off its back, and he let out a grunt of disturbance, as if someone had come to wake it up from a deep slumber.

Uraraka had the thought that this creature was odd and different from the various ones she had encountered the zone, and drew her hands up with magic while Shinsou readied his staff, ready to attack— but a crimson figure blasted before them at the speed of light, a cloud of dust waking up and making the two travellers cover their heads with their cloaks, and sliced the creature in twain before it tilted, fell and shattered to the ground, then turning into a pile of sand.

From within the creature, a small share of golden nuggets could be made out from under the sand. Their mysterious man came to pick them up with a toothy grin, his back to them as he laughed heartily. Then, he turned to them happily, showing them the small chip. Only now did Uraraka realize the was face to face with the very own Kirishima, his new knives on his hip while he looked at them. Her breath hitched, suddenly realizing that if he was here… then the guild was here, too.

It would make her job more difficult, and the thought that someone could come help him made her whip her eyes around, paranoid and hysterical at the thought of anyone finding out her undercover identity.

"Damn, am I not thankful for this! My guild is looking for these, I didn't know there was a golem in such a random place." the other two stared at him dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. "Thanks a bunch!"

After packing his little treasure, he took the time to scan the figures' sudden tense appearance, and realized how dark and mysterious their clothes were: dark worn out cloaks, with dry stains on the tall one's and the other, though, was clean, but the way the small figure seemed to be staring at him through the shadow on their eyes was incredibly unsettling. It was so remarkable and strange his smile melted into a frown and a question rolling off his lips.

"And who the hell are you two?" asked he, keeping his tone as less accusatory as possible. "It's not time to be traveling around. Above all not with those shady cloaks on…"

The redhead quirked an eyebrow, and Uraraka was prompted to talk, yet she feared being recognized by her voice. So she only stayed idle, none of them moving as the redhead scrutinized their frames carefully, deeming them to be suspicious enough to be worth considering. The fact that they weren't saying a word made it darker to him, and he knew he had seen those kinds of clothes before.

Suddenly, he came to a quick conclusion that made him spin his knives in preparation for a possible fight. "Those clothes…" his scowl was knit further. "the Jirou family wears stuff similar to those."

Uraraka gasped in surprise at being related to such scummy business, making Kirishima shift and Shinsou take his staff out to take the redhead out. The purple-haired sorcerer launched at the hunter with all his might, making the ground beneath him shake and rise to knock him out, yet Kirishima dodged it and attempted to try and stab him, yet to no avail, as when he caught Shinsou slightly off guard, his knife sliced through the air, and his cloak hung from the knife. A small round stone rolled out of the mound.

Astonished, shocked, Kirishima stared at the cloth, unbelieving what he was seeing. "What the hell? Where did he even—?"

Shinsou appeared from behind and kicked him to the ground with a foot to his neck, and Kirishima fell down with the loudest of thuds, groaning in pain.

Her hand reached out to heal him, yet Shinsou stepped between them. He knew the redhead was much more capable that this, and assumed he must have been tired from the raid his guild was doing, and not attentive enough. If he had thought they were dangerous enough to belong to the Jirou family and still charged at them with all his might, he must have been a worthy, confident foe. It only made him lament he had missed a good fight.

Shinsou spun his staff around to point at him, and narrowed his eyes in distaste. "No one tries to attack us that easily, dumbass." his voice was hoarse enough to not be recognized. He bent down to pick his anchor up, and kept it in his pocket. "You better be ready for—"

Uraraka slanted her slim hand on his forearm, trying to draw the weapon down. Her head hung low, admitting the weakness and the weak bond she still felt to this man. The sorcerer shook her head sadly, and whispered a small "Don't, please." to her companion. There was no need to beat him up, this wasn't a part of their mission, there was no need to cause more damage.

In fact, it would be better of they got going now, and Shinsou admitted this with gritted teeth. "Whatever." Kirishima weakly released a sigh of relief, his hands unclenching. "Put him to sleep and let's get going, fairy. It's gonna get late."

Kirishima had no time to complain, as when he had the courage to speak, the smaller figure knelt down before him. Her hand caressed his head, brushed some spikes away from his face. It was… a warm hand, he knew no criminal would have those hands, so smooth and caring, looking at him in a concerned stare, one he could barely see through the shade of her hoodie.

But then, he caught a glimpse of brown, the blush of those cheeks he had commented the first day, the roundness of her face, and he realized, he had heard that nickname before—

His breath was stuck in his throat, but before he could speak once more, her hand stroked his mane once more, and he instantly fell asleep into a pleasant dream, eyes closed and cheek on the ground. Uraraka sighed in relief, and stood on her feet again. "Hurry up. We can't let things like these get in out way."

She caught up with him and they started walking again to the Capital, pace quickened and her mind troubled with the nagging feeling that her past was somewhere near her, and that she could absolutely do nothing about it. The weighing feeling only got heavier the more she walked away.

In the distance, Kirishima still slept for some minutes. Whenever he woke up, he wouldn't remember none of the events that had occurred.

---

Uraraka would have never expected the Capital to be this awfully peaceful this late in the afternoon. She had guessed that it was probably due to the hunting expedition going on at the outskirts of the town, but not even the Council's surroundings were jam-packed with people. When she had last come around here, it had been full of people talking about the central's lacking administration, but there was no one anymore.

It was weird. She felt weird being a place so oddly quiet like this. In fact, when she and Shinsou entered the building, they were met with an important lack of employees. Both blinked amusedly. "I'm guessing you were exaggerating when you said the employees here were suspiciously lazy, there's not even a single employee here to start with."

The girl blinked at the vacant scene, and looked to her right, where some sofas and a small glass table rested. There were remains of coffee and tea on it. She took one of the mugs, skeptical. "It's still warm, so there must have been someone here recently. There was activity here before we came in." she brought her hand to rub her jaw, a pout of thought. "Where has everyone gone, though? Will the general still be here?"

Shinsou looked around some more. "Well, whatever has happened here must have been important. There isn't a damn soul around here…"

The brunette gulped, a flash of recognition flashing through her eyes and mortifying her when Shinsou's purple tresses suddenly became a bit clearer, when his body became taller and he looked at her with that red, piercing glower of his she had grown fond of, somehow. It took her a moment to snap out of it and despite the sudden image only lasting for a second, the shudder ran down her spine in a trepidating slow manner.

Shinsou wasn't prone to swearing, but whenever he did, it would click on her the wrong way. She hated still being this dependant and weak. "Fairy, snap out of it."

A small blush crowned her plump cheeks and she stepped forward to meet him at the staircase. "Got it, sorry. Today must be catching up on me faster than usual."

"I'm still curious about how everyone is absent, and so suddenly. It's not like they should be out of work this soon either, considering how much work they had if what you said was true." the girl puffed her cheeks, and as they passed by the second floor, she peeked a little in search of anyone. There were some people gathered together, discussing things that probably related to administration— nothing of importance.

Uraraka skipped some steps to appear by Shinsou's side, following his trail of thought. "Weirdly enough, they are gone in such a important point of the day. By what master said, burglars and crime in general occur when evening is near. Could they be out on patrol?"

The sorcerer pondered the thought and deemed it to be the most logical one. "It's what makes most sense to me, but I can't quite lay my finger on it either." he remained silent for a few seconds, then looked at her. "Do you remember what… master told us? About the whole mafia thing?"

"Not like he filled us much on the matter…" sighed the girl. "We only know a bit about what their business is about, but we don't have a slightest clue on who they are, or where their headquarters are."

"You told me your guild had a special patrol for that issue, right?"

"Doesn't mean they are making the best progress, but we can always ask them someday. For now, it will have to be just the two of us in this." stated the girl, voice flat and serious, ascending up the stairs to, again, another set of offices. They didn't bother looking into that floor. "Say, do you think he knows about us doing this?"

"Master isn't a stupid man, he probably knows of us sneaking out without a warning." Uraraka looked at him all the time, and appreciated a slight change in his voice as he spoke. "But I doubt he will do anything about it. My old man always knows where we are, as if he was a step ahead of us."

"Do you think he will come look for us?"

"I doubt so." his answer was almost immediate, something she was relieved to witness. But she was sure the thought of it still nagged him like it did to her, and she detested the thought of feeling as if he was looming over them. Something was very wrong with that man. "You remember what he told us, do you?"

Uraraka's eyes were cast down at the memory of it all, hands clutching her chest in an attempt to get herself together. She bit down on her lip, eyes shimmering in distress. "I will always find you…" the sentence still felt ominous, making her feel as if a god was watching every movement of theirs. It didn't feel as if they were being protected… it was something worse than that. "I don't… want to be a pawn to his twisted visions, Shinsou."

"I don't either, but you already know how I see things, don't you?" both sorcerers stopped on their tracks. The staircase was longer, more distance from the general's office separating floors. It looked endless. "I don't want you interfering with my old man's plans. It's the only reason why I helped you get out of there, because I know you may want to act nasty."

Ah, such was Shinsou's ability to destroy every piece of camaraderie between them. Uraraka sighed with a patient smile. "It's only a matter of time somebody sets your dad in the right path."

Shinsou looked at her for a few seconds, his expression never shifting from the everlasting dead stare that hung from those clear, stone orbs of his. Then, he turned around with a "Hmph." as Uraraka stared at him in wonder, lips an inch agape. Her hands were still on her chest, somehow worried again for this troublesome clash. "Is yours the right path, though?"

It was in times like these when she remembered that her association with Shinsou, while highly effective and helpful to improve her abilities, it was all there was to it: pure mental and mutual exploitation of the other's abilities for future benefits. It only made her wonder why Shinsou had agreed to play along with her if he knew she could become a hinder in their plans.

She didn't say anything else again, only sighed with a troubled look in her eyes and continued their path up to Gunhead's office. They finally reached their destination, standing before the big doors. There was light from under the door, he was probably inside the room. "Ready?" asked she, eyes looking at him despite facing the door.

The other sorcerer merely nodded, then they pushed the double doors open at the same time and entered the room along each other, sunset sun seeping into the big round room and casting long shadows to the exterior of the room. The man they were looking for sat by the window, and turned around to the sound of the doors being thrown open in a way so rude he could only expect it to be them.

"Ah, I was expecting you. The notorious Purge." Gunhead spoke clearly, with no animosity in his voice, making Uraraka shift her position. She brought her fingers to her hoodie and threw it behind her, shaking her strands free from the cloak. "Just as I suspected. I had a whiff it was you two under those cloaks."

Uraraka shed a sincere smile, stepping forward to shake the man's hand. "It's good to see you again."

Shinsou came back from closing the door and removed his own hoodie as well. He observed the brief exchange between them with a quirked eyebrow. "Wait, you know each other?"

The brunette nodded, and brought a finger to her chin. "Yeah! We had a meeting with him once before the battle with RampAge." her eyes then looked at Gunhead, surprise brimming at her chocolate pools. "I'm surprised you remember me, though."

The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Ah well, it's hard not to remember such personality. You made a big impression on me— well, all your companions did." his jaw rested on his palm now, looking at her silently. "The rumor had it you had died, though."

Uraraka blinked at this, a klink of suspicion clashing with her. Still, she answered calmly, unaltered. Shinsou looked at her, catching the drift as well. "I went undercover. As of now, I reckon I'm still stated missing to the public… and my guild, too— if all is well, that is. But that's not a topic to discuss now."

"We are currently under an unofficial mission, and we need a few questions to ask you." interjected Shinsou. His eyes stared at Gunhead severely, aware of who we was speaking to. "We have a few questions to ask you about the mafia business that has been going around the region these months."

Gunhead leaned backwards on his chair, making it creak a little under his weight. He considered the two kids for a few seconds, then decided to cooperate. "It must be a pretty important mission if you are so demanding about it, right?"

Uraraka looked at her companion in thought. Despite the urgency of the situation and how much it would benefit the Capital, Gunhead seemed pretty laid-back about the situation. She figured it was because he had some juicy information about them and was confident they wouldn't need their services, but it was still somewhat unsettling.

"It is important— we are talking about the safety of our lands after all, our families and our guilds." Shinsou's voice was strained and tired, but he still managed to get his words out. "So we need whatever information you have on the matter to make things easier for us. For the sake of our nation."

The general looked at them in deep skepticism, because while he was pretty sure they were trustworthy, he was aware of where they came from and the man they were associated with, and he had to measure his responses properly. Their looks spoke no ill intentions, yet their backgrounds weren't slate clean either. Taking a leap of faith in this situation could mean information being leaked in the wrong direction, thus causing havoc.

Still, he decided to trust them. It was better to have a few destroyed buildings rather than have a mafia destroy it all. He propped his hands under his mask, silently pondering what to say next. Uraraka looked at him expectantly, suddenly getting a off vibe out of this eerie silence. She could tell Shinsou was also getting tired of it.

"My soldiers have been detecting some energy disruptions from underground and somewhere around the actual Council, and we are growing tense at the thought of an ambush to the core of the Capital. They may outnumber us, or overpower us. It's a matter of trying to keep the at bay, but he know nothing of them." explained Gunhead, his voice almost a hushed whisper of either fear or impatience. "We are sure there are some of them lurking in the shadows of this town, and they spread through all the nation."

So they were hiding, huh? Considering this, they may not be as numerous as Gunhead assumed them to be if they were being so cautious. Uraraka could also remember the encounter she had with Midnight that had ended so badly, and the small army she had with her. That woman was important to that clan, and was to be feared as a necromancer. Just the thought of how the battle had gone and the dreary aura she had with her brought creeps down her spine. That overwhelming presence was probably the aura Gunhead meant.

Thinking of that battle also made her remember Bakugou and how badly injured he had ended mental-wise. Her mind somehow traveled back in time, to them in that small campfire, and recalled his dark words, almost whispered in a red, scarlet and bruising glare.

There is a traitor in our midst.

She had almost wanted to mouth it to feel what his words would feel like, rolling off her lips. The proof Bakugou had told her was solid enough to make her suspicious of anyone in her past guild— yet who could it be? And wouldn't the Council be wary of her guild if there was someone shady there? The thought of a Jirou being in her guild made her awfully aware of the severity of the situation.

If they were attacking this town, they would probably go for her guild as well. And it was a part of her she wanted to protect in the distance.

"So they are hiding?" asked Shinsou, cocking his head a little in thought while Uraraka kept the ball rolling. "The Capital isn't that big, and there are tons of soldiers. Isn't there a patrol here?"

"Of course there is, but these are not your regular criminals— they are like ghosts." Shinsou and Uraraka shared a glance. They had had to deal with spare soldiers from the clan and they knew how they acted most of the time. "A vast majority of this breed are necromancers, not your gentle ones— they are pure evil."

This was probably said with the intention of scaring them or warning them, but it didn't succeed. Instead, both warriors stared at Gunhead in wonder, probably asking for more information. The leader sighed, silently wondering what the fuck had happened to these children for them to be this hardened.

"They leave trails of blood in their wake and some… are just monstrosities, artificial beings probably made out of chemicals and magic— and they are horrifying." stated Gunhead, shoulders shuddering at the vivid images of crimson flooding the town he had sworn to protect. "I am sure their deals aren't done for the money, as the Jirou clan is wealthy. It's full of illegal hunters and necromancers, which can ransack caves and villages fast. No wonder they are so infamous."

It made her remember her first encounter with Shinsou at the dungeon, such an ironic foreshadow of this very moment. She spoke next. "Then what could they be using them for?" Uraraka's frown turned into a sad trail of thought at the horrifying things they could be doing to this town this very same moment. "I am aware that they deal a lot with gems and different notorious chemicals… I don't know enough on the matter."

She tried to rack her head and remember anyone who could know, but in this state of emergency she couldn't recall anyone with certainty. She could look into it later on. Meanwhile, Gunhead nodded. "Yeah, we don't have a good list on what they are doing but my men are doing a great job at it. We are on several small battles with rebel clans at the north after RampAge's destruction, and half of my men are out there."

"Any casualties?"

He immediately answered Shinsou's question. "My men are almost immortal, that's how I raised them." Gunhead smiled, and despite Uraraka not being able to see it, she smiled too, sensing the pride in his voice. It must be good to have people to fall back on. "But going back to the topic, half of my men are missing, and the task is difficult as we have less and less agents to check on the mercancies that exit the country."

Shinsou immediately connected the dots. "Do you think the Jirou family could have something to do with the revolts?"

"That was my first thought too, but they are too far and the weather is terribly cold up there. Necromancers are terribly powerful, but they are terribly sensitive to temperature changes. Their skin can almost fall off when it's too hot, they say."

What an oddly specific detail to include, she thought, but didn't doubt his words. "Maybe they are buying illegal goods to enhance their powers." suggested Uraraka. "I bet most are shared around this town, it would explain why they are so fixated on lurking here."

Gunhead nodded his head. "That's a possibility, but I don't think they are here for that purpose." he crossed his arms, and started explaining. "We have confiscated some of their goods here at the Council, and we are keeping around one third of their total purchases. They want to probably take over the Council to take what is theirs."

"Are those so dangerous to be something so desired and also hated?" asked Shinsou curiously. It was a wonder how people could fight to vigorously for something as inane and simple as gems. Those should be valuable if they were willing to risk parts of their family for it. "They must be doing dirty stuff with them if they are so desired for."

"Well, it's an illegal clan we are talking about. They are obviously not doing charity work, that's for sure." Gunhead tapped a finger against the desk of his office in deep thought. "We aren't sure what they are there for, but it's for sure that they are up to no good. We must catch them and get ahead."

The feeling of being outnumbered and chased by an enemy so fierce as that mafia didn't bode well in Uraraka, who started fidgeting with the back of her hair, and struggling to offer a measure. Her own problems would always seem like kids' play compared to the powerhouse they had against them. "It's complicated business. We could start by finding some of their members and either getting rid of them or getting the information out of them."

"Getting rid of them?" Shinsou smirked, she gave him a side glance. "When did your methods become so drastic, fairy?"

Uraraka grimaced, looking to the opposite side and regretting being this wild and vicious. She could sometimes cross the line when it came to words and bluntness, but she wasn't concealing her intentions either. "We can't let them roam scot-free around here either… do you really think they have intentions of stopping? Of course they don't." the brunette frowned and looked at Gunhead. "If you have any clue as to where we can stop them, please provide us!"

Shinsou felt this warm and good feeling of satisfaction click into him at seeing her so resolved and determined, probably her best trait yet something she rarely showed so fiercely before their association had taken place. Before they had trained together, slaughtering someone had been less of an option for her— whereas now she didn't seem to hesitate, and was as objective as it was required from them.

If someone was on their side, they would heal. If someone was against them, they would take the daggers out.

"Well…" Gunhead took a small torn flyer from his side and slid it to them. The duo stepped to the desk and she took it gingerly, her eyes widening like saucers. "Tomorrow, we will be holding the National Championship in the Capital, in the coliseum. There will be a grand crowd and the best guilds will be competing in it— yours included, by the way."

Uraraka had heard of this competition from Jack in the past, and Shinsou should know what it was, being the leader of one of the best guilds of the country. Competitors from all over the nation would gather in this place and fight for dominance of the arena, but only the best were accepted for this. Her village was small, but it was extremely powerful. She knew they could probably win this competition.

"A big crowd, huh?" Shinsou took the paper and examined it carefully. "It sure sounds like a good opportunity for some assassination for them."

Gunhead's palms pointed at them in affirmation. "Exactly." then, he took out a list. "We have been checking on the competitors and we have a pair of suspicious names who could have relations with the Jirou mafia. Knowing this, they are probably there to outpower everyone and sweep the competition, taking the prizes home. We accept powerful warriors, but not when they have dark intentions and will probably turn against us."

Uraraka spoke next. "Yeah, but still— most guilds are powerful enough to probably go against those two and win fair and square. Wouldn't that be easier, to tell them about it?"

He shook his head and got up from his seat to look out the window. His silence grew mysterious and tense, as if scared of what was to come. "We aren't exactly sure that these two contestants are criminals, so we can't tell them to attack two warriors and burn them to a crisp. If they were to be innocent, it would put them in risk."

"Then what can the Council do other than cross their arms and wait?" asked the purple haired sorcerer, rubbing his neck in irritation, because it felt horrible to be useless. "If it's illegal for the contestants to meddle, then I'm guessing the town would have your head for murdering two innocent guildspeople."

"Which is exactly why I need your help." at this, Uraraka and Shinsou jumped a little in their spots. "The classification processes are over, but that doesn't mean you can't go and crash the party. Find a way to get into the championship and discover who are the Jirous in the battlefield." he brought his hands behind his back. "The final battle will involve 4 people from each of the six guilds that have resulted victorious, out of which there are two that could be actual Jirous."

The logic that followed this rule made Uraraka shudder visibly and gulp heavily, claws tearing her skin apart as the truth seeped in fast and hard. The moment she realized this, it felt like she was facing a door behind which a giant, fearsome monster waited for her, anticipation mixing in with utter fear and trepidation. It was overwhelming.

"So that means…" the brunette spoke faster and louder. "that means that then those two are people infiltrated in those guilds, am I correct?"

"Obviously so. But who those two people could be isn't accurate information, thus is something I can't provide you with. This is based on speculation, barely official as we don't have the tools to find the culprits." Uraraka drew a shaky breath, looking at Gunhead with a concerned, calm expression— yet inside, she was absolutely terrified. "I am aware your power is above the average, and you wouldn't have much trouble winning over the competition. You will have to sneak into the coliseum and enter the battlefield. And as soon as you have taken care of it, you must flee and let the battle carry on."

Uraraka looked down at the flyer with crinkled eyebrows. "Flee, huh?"

Gunhead exhaled a great amount of air. "I am guessing you will accept the job, as it benefits your search for the clan. You can find these people and take them wherever you want to interrogate them, all as long as you take them to our headquarters." the way he pronounced it made it seem like an easy task, and he must have a great deal of trust on them if he was so sure of them being victorious. "And I'm sure you are pretty tired as well, you also seem to have a few scratches on your skin."

Shinsou arched an eyebrow at the sudden change in topic, but answered regardless. "Yeah, we've had a busy day."

They could hear the smile in Gunhead's voice. "That's no problem, you shall rest in here before the championship. We will provide you with enough clothing and weaponry to be ready for this mission, so please follow the hallway to the room wing."

He was dismissing them so quickly… something was wrong. Was he tired of the topic? Uraraka was about to say something, but Shinsou saw this coming and spoke first. "We will. Thank you very much, General. We will head there now without further ado."

The General finally dismissed them with a nod, and Shinsou took the hint to leave and grabbed Uraraka by the arm, dragging her out of the room. He only let her go after he had closed the doors and had Uraraka following behind as he headed for the rooms. "Meanie! I was going to say—"

"I know what you were going to say, reason why I prevented you from talking." Uraraka squared the hit and shut up, rubbing the spot he had grabbed with a hiss. "You have noticed it too, haven't you?"

She topped fidgeting to catch up with him and hum in irritation. "Of course I have. Something is very wrong."

"His behavior was awfully tense for a full-fledged like that." stated Shinsou bitterly, biting back a full-on analysis. "And the way he spoke to you… he didn't seem very surprised to see you were alive, either."

Uraraka nodded, aggravated by how bleak the corridors were and trying to desperately piece it all together. The problem was that they had been here for a day and it felt as if they were being observed too intensely. This place gave very odd feelings. "I'm aware of that. He didn't seem very bothered by all of this… just as all his coworkers were back in the day. Maybe he is a bit of a laid-back ruler."

"I can't see such wealthy town being this successful with a lazy ruler, but that's a topic for another day." he looked at her then, turning corner to the room wing. It was, as expected, empty. Not a sound could be heard other than their voices, and they sounded drowned out too. "About the two contestants… do you think they could be among our own guilds?"

She didn't know what to answer to that, as she wanted it not to be real, but it wasn't a far-fetched concept either. Still, maybe keeping this a secret from Shinsou would draw a line in their companionship— she couldn't have him thinking badly of her guild in that sense. There was no necessity for him to know. "I'm sure it's not my guild's case. Could it be yours?"

"Nah." shrugged he, but both knew that they could be members of a guild polluted with a Jirou torn, and it pushed them to a tense silence as they considered the thought, suddenly feeling out of place. It was sickening to think this way. "Perhaps sleeping it off will do us some good. Sunset's almost over, and tomorrow's a great day."

Uraraka branched off from him with a shaking smile, waving him goodbye. "Roger that. I'll see you tomorrow!"

And with that, they entered their rooms— and while Shinsou practically limped on his bed, Uraraka stopped for a few seconds, leaning on the door to let the train smash all its weight on her and rethink her steps. It was getting dark outside, they very few people around the street very hearable in the unbearable silence of the castle. The thought of a crew of mafia members lurking around town and carrying out their own persona judgements sickened her to the core, made her see pictures she didn't want to see.

She looked at her hands, then clenched them. Uraraka was a woman with tons of stamina, and she wasn't near sleepy despite the battle some hours before. She wasn't at her best, but she could probably do something more useful than sleeping some unneeded extra ours.

The sorcerer nodded to herself. Perhaps some patrolling of her own would help unravel the secrets of this town.

---

The streets of the Capital were, in all fairness, colder than she could have expected. There was a small breeze wafting around her everywhere she went, with every one of her ghostly steps as she went around town. A thin mist hovered above the ground with small sparks from the fire torches around her, the night camouflaging her feet and frame as she advanced through the sea of fog and silence.

It was a tranquil night. The only noises she could hear were the cries of owls and the chirping of some birds and cicadas, as if accompanying her in her travelling. Had Edgar been there and he would have enjoyed a healthy feast of those bugs. He would have probably made her job easier. Sighing, Uraraka continued walking through the street, lights thrown at her hoodie in a dim, white light. The night was cold, the lights were warm.

But there was no one in sight, and she was being swift enough to make sure no one was appearing in areas she had previously inspected. She was now in the residential area, a place she considered to be more prone to actual vandalism. A gust of wind hit her, making her shiver as it penetrated her clothes and skin, and Uraraka looked up to the big castle of the Council. Some lights were turned on, making the building look tall, scary, as if looming over the town.

It was such a grand palace during daylight, yet so cold and heartless at night, like a monster looking over the silent, sleeping town. She tried to fight the chill that ran down her spine, and walked forward again. Her steps advanced decisively around the area, buildings mostly dark and tall over her petite frame. She looked to her sides. "There's no one around…" there was a small stream of water by her side, the murmur of the bubbles meeting her ears. "Where could they be?"

Suddenly, she picked up gruffy steps coming towards her, and Uraraka hurried to hide into a small gap between houses. She got in as deep as possible to avoid the light giving her away, and blended with the shadows. The place was so extremely tight she could not turn her head much, only hear hushed voices she couldn't quite understand. Her first guess was that those were the pair of Jirou members that were searching for their nightly victim, and made her frown in distaste.

When the girl deemed them to be far away enough, she slowly slid off the gap into the light, shaking her uniform into place. Uraraka was quick to pinpoint their location a few meters away when she turned in their direction. They were crossing a bridge over the small stream into the other side of the town. These crossing streams were such a charming part of the town, idle and reflecting the flames of the torches.

But Uraraka's heart was in a frenzy. With the energy she had now, there was no way she could face off against two high-ranked necromancers or hunters like them and not cause destruction in her vicinity. She would have to find another way around town without crossing paths with them.

The sorcerer turned in the opposite direction, rewalking the steps from before, and made her way into a street she hadn't been in for some time. It was still as wide and silent as before, the pavement unaltered, it conserved its features and its atmosphere yet when she got to the end of it, something felt weird.

Uraraka looked down at her feet, frowning once again. There was something wrong with the place she was in at the moment, something big was lurking somewhere around her, nearby. It felt like there was an overwhelming crowd under her feet, around her, above her. A massive mass of power and life was observing her, but she couldn't tell where this feeling was coming from. When Uraraka looked up, she was surprised to find out she was standing right before the steps of the cathedral, and the more she stood there, the colder it all felt and the weirder it was.

Confused, the sorcerer whipped her head around in search of a new enemy, yet was met with the silence of the nearby streams and a confusing hush. She took a step back and glanced up at the cathedral, which just as the castle, issued a stark dark aura as the darkness of the night fell from the top of the bell tower. There seemed to be nobody around her other than her.

Perhaps it had been enough for tonight, and decided to go back to the palace. Without dedicating a spare thought, she turned heel in the direction of the Council, steps light and pace a bit more hurried than she realized. She could comb the street the day afterwards and go through the other half of the Capital— this had been enough for one night.

Uraraka stepped over the wooden bridge of the stream, then proceeded onward through a passage which was dimly illuminated by the oil torches. Her cloak could be seen above the mysterious fog and the pale colors of the white buildings, and in her haste, Uraraka tragically failed to hear the same gruffy steps from before turning corner to see her walking away. One of them narrowed his eyes to ensure he wasn't dreaming, then started walking faster to see her.

"Oi, who the fuck are you!?"

Time stopped for her in that precise moment, because Uraraka could pick up that voice from anywhere in this Earth and know it was him, that it would always be him with his golden hair and scarlet glare, piercing through her heart and setting it on fire, fear and trepidation escalating all through her until she felt rooted to the ground, frozen, speechless.

Summoning up all the strength she could muster, Uraraka turned to make sure she wasn't having a nightmare or a dream, that it was him— and she could pick up the sound of his breath hitching as well, and when light was thrown over her eyes for a moment, her eyes shrunk and widened to a terrified shaking glance, and she made the decision to flee, and instantly started running away from the duo of hunters.

Bakugou of course didn't stop his chasing, and when he was able to break away from his reverie, he broke into a desperate run after her while Midoriya trailed behind him, meters behind the ruthless yet somewhat panicking leader. Her figure was getting lost into the night, yet the blonde wouldn't be giving up that easily this time around, and tried to increase his speed despite his legs begging him to stop after days of endless training.

A few minutes later, Bakugou turned into a street where he had lost her. The pavement was highly illuminated and the fog was significantly fainter, but there was no trace of her— yet Bakugou knew best, and frowned in aggravation because he had seen those eyes, some strands of her hair, and unbeknownst to him his hands were shaking, he was almost panting in desperation because he fucking knew. It had to be her.

Midoriya staggered to his side, somewhat confused by this change in his behavior. He only knew of one person who could and had done this to him but he decided to be tactful. "Bakugou, do you think this was someone from the illegal clan?"

The aforementioned clenched his hands into fists, gritting his teeth and letting his eyes scan the street freely. The fact that she was gone only made him think it had been nothing else but a mirage, but the way his heart was beating told him otherwise. He couldn't be wrong. It had to be true. He was somewhat empty when it came to Midoriya's question. "Got no idea, greenielocks. But there was someone in dark clothes walking around too late in the night."

Yet, he didn't move from the spot until some moments later, when he stepped back, only to look again. Where was she? He was sure it had been her, it couldn't be in any other way. But if it were to be her, what was she even doing in the Capital, so late into the night? This was a fucking nightmare. Midoriya deemed it to be fair to ask. "Do you think it was…?"

"I got no idea." his head tilted forward in anger, his fists tighter as he squared the hit with dignity— he had lost her, again, apparently, but he had lost her and being reminded of it brought back those unneeded stupid feelings back. "But I don't wanna stay longer and discover, I'll fucking rip her head off. Let's get going."

Bakugou and Midoriya walked away in silence, letting the almost crazy Uraraka calm down. Her hands were fisting the fabric of her shirt for dear life, panting to calm her thundering heartbeat and make sense of the new rush of feelings that surged within her so suddenly, her cheeks red and her temple sweaty, hands heavy and legs wobbly at the thought of being so close to him once again. This feeling of nervousness and trepidation… yet overwhelming joy for seeing they were alright, that he was alright…

A lone tear ran down her cheeks, and she clasped a hand over her mouth while she stifled in sobs of her own. It was him, he was there, he had almost found her and the shock was somehow as heartbreaking and new that all she could do was softly tremble and calm herself down. No one would hear her whimpers of relief, or her throbbing beating heart after seeing him again.

She had discarded these feelings after so long. Why in the world was this care and relief coming back so strongly?

Uraraka didn't want this. She had never wanted this. And she shivered and tried to relax until those feelings were burnt to a crisp. She promised herself this would be the last time she ever considered his presence. Never again.

In a not so faraway place, a certain blonde shook his head at the thought of her being alive and well as it was such a shocking and disconcerting thought that it brought his heart back beating— but he didn't want this feeling, this anew weakness.

He didn't want this. None of them wanted this.

But far underneath the mask of their own strength, they couldn't help but be happy they had at least gotten to remember what it had once been to stand together in a battlefield.

---

"Oi, Nameless! What are you doin' there on your own?" asked Katsuki from the distance. The little girl looked up to see her three friends standing under the small shelter at the lookout, just at the peak of a cliff that looked over the lands of their home. Under the shimmering downpour, the brunette could barely make out the shelter, let alone their voice. "C'mere, we're doing stuff!"

Despite she knew that his voice was commanding and probably meaner than necessary, she complied like she had been taught to. Nameless went up the hill and ran underneath the small roof, where Kirishima and Mina stood too. They were sketching things in a notebook, sometimes looking over the limits of the cliff, to the towns below. Only then did she realize that they were exactly at the limits of their town, just a step away from Katsuki's human one.

What were they doing there? The question was blatantly evident in her eyes and Katsuki, as intelligent as he was, didn't take long to catch up on it. They had been friends for so long— well, if 'friends' was even an appropriate statement for whatever he could hold with any other person — and they had found ways to read each other in ways that were still unknown for her. It was so intuitive and quick. He was around her age, fourteen or so, but he would look a thousand years older when angry.

Just like now, basically.

"Do you remember that fucking girl that was kidnapped so many years ago? I think I already told you about her— a magician or some shit. I don't even remember anymore." Katsuki put a foot on a rock and looked over the part of his nation, frowning. "My people want her back in case your people attack us. She's apparently a damn powerhouse."

"Our people!?" bellowed her almost indignant, prompting Katsuki to side glance her. "I heard our parents speaking about war, and your people planning to make a move soon!"

"Again, how much time has it been since then?"

At this, Nameless was rendered speechless. The blonde retreated from his observing position and regarded his friends that stayed behind with a shake of his head. "My people are getting tired of staying idle, and they got their weapons ready. The problem is, your race has lots of magicians like you and good fighters like Kirishima, hence why they want that overpowered bitch on their side. They count that after being kidnapped for this long, she will go berserk against your clan."

Of course, everyone stopped whatever they were thinking about or doing when they heard this reasoning and connected the dots. Kirishima was the first one to speak. "Dude, do you think we're gonna help you find that magician if it means ending our species? Of course not."

And Nameless agreed wholeheartedly, looking at her friend intently. "We will always defend our town wholeheartedly— just what was even crossing your mind when you offered that idea?"

"Tch, fucking fine then." afterwards, Katsuki looked at Nameless dead in the eye, scowling. "But I was hoping you would be a decent person and help me find someone who has been hostage for… years. If you had been kidnapped and probably tortured, wouldn't you be fucking dying to be rescued?"

A clap of thunder struck from the sky behind Nameless, surprising everyone but her— she clutched her head as a flash of recognition brushed through her mind, feeling the hard touch of claws on her head for a second, tears down her eyes. Her eyes stared off into the horizon before she snapped out of it, shaking her head.

Sister was the next one to break the silence. "Your nation wants to attack us because of a girl we didn't kidnap. My people wouldn't do such a thing!" Mina got up from her seat by Kirishima to face the blonde. "Your species is just looking for a excuse to shame us and exterminate us! How du—"

"I'll help out."

Everyone's eyes snapped to Nameless and her determined stance. Her clothes were splashed with the rain from outside, darker, but not dimming the shining determination in her eyes. A step away from her, Katsuki smirked. "If we rescue that magician, perhaps the humans will let up and won't attack us. At this point, it's the only opportunity we have to stop the war."

Kirishima shook his head with a remorseful expression. "Those bastards — no offense intended, Katsuki—"

"None taken."

"— but those assholes are hungry for power more than anything else. How is a magician's presence going to stop them from their pretenses?" his resolve was strengthened, and he shook his head again with a grunt. "No dice. If anything, they will use her as a weapon against us— and worst of it all is that we didn't do anything wrong. We were here first!"

Mina frowned at him. "We could strike some kind of deal with them that will benefit them. Maybe there is hope after all for peace if they end up economically benefited."

"That's the whole fucking point." stated Katsuki with a grimace. "My people ain't stupid. They will probably lose soldiers in this selfish mission of theirs— if they are given a profitable business, they will most likely give in."

Nameless nodded. She sensed Mina was willing to cooperate, yet Kirishima wasn't as convinced. She looked at him pleadingly, and stepped to his side, then grabbed his hands. "Please, do it for our sake. For the town we live in." a small leak let water fall on their entwined hands. She shook it a little. "Remember when we used to play horses around and take water supplies?"

Katsuki glared at their joined hands with a frown, then crossed his arms and looked to a side. On the other hand, Kirishima sighed in frustration. "You always gotta bring good ol' Harold into this, huh?" Nameless nodded eagerly, Mina chuckled. She glanced at Bakugou from the corner of her sight. "Fine, but don't tell me I didn't warn you."

Nameless giddily put a fist up in celebration, which Katsuki ignored easily. "We can't let our elders know of this, we will be using code names from now on."

"Code names!" exclaimed the redhead, apparently more excited now at the prospect of being undercover. "Hella cool! I wanna be… Stoneheart!"

Of course, the trio shared a quick glance before looking at Kirishima and speaking in unison. "Harold." making Mina giggle at the pout the boy offered. Katsuki smirked at the ridiculous nickname, yet knew it would work out. "I'll be Howitzer, alien girl here will be… Pinky?" she nodded in agreement, and Katsuki then looked at Nameless. "But you…"

The brunette pointed at herself. "What about me?"

Katsuki stepped to stand before her, towering over her still small frame. His arms were still crossed, stern and demanding. "I'm fucking tired of you not having a name, so I'm gonna spare a neuron and give you one."

Nameless obviously widened her eyes, startled by how frustrated and how overwhelmingly serious he looked. She fluttered her eyes, staring deep into his crimson blazing depths. They were burning up, scorching hot and devastating against her more timid gaze.

Finally, he spoke. "Ochako." he spoke hoarsely. "Your name is gonna be Ochako."

"Ochako?" asked Kirishima. "Why? I would have never expected you to be so thoughtful about it."

Katsuki looked from him to her again, looking deep into her eyes. "I have seen her drinking tea far too often. I have never seen her drink anything else. And it suits her. What the hell is wrong with i—"

"It's… a cute name, Katsuki." Ochako smiled to herself, then looked at him with a bright smile. "I don't recall ever having a name… it feels nice. Thanks, Katsuki!"

Kirishima and Mina looked at the scene, smiling at how happy Name— Ochako looked. Katsuki only growled a small "Whatever…" ignoring the small thumping of his heart at seeing her this happy.

---

"Fairy, you gotta hurry already!" Shinsou walked the path to the coliseum quickly. The streets were devoid of people since everyone was watching the tournament, cheers and screams ringing from the coliseum that waited for them ahead. The walls to the facility were starting to appear before them as Shinsou ran a few meters ahead of her. "We will miss the introductions if you don't let go of the brakes!"

Uraraka tried her best to catch up with him, and eventually did. The great area of the coliseum appeared as they went up the small hill on the path, seeing the great concrete walls and the roar of the public in the distance. The sheer feeling of that much people in there was almost overwhelming, making her hands grow heavy and her heart thump loudly in her chest. She was just hoping things would go according to plan.

Trumpets echoed in the distance, and Uraraka felt this emptying, voiding feeling of a death parade marching straight into this town. Whatever was going to happen in that tournament wasn't any good at all, and she was just hoping this feeling of isolation, as if the whole world was falling through her chest and making her sick would fade soon. The galaxies of her eyes stared into the horizon, out of focus, yet straightened into focus again as she heard the bellowing of guards at the entrance.

One of them ordered them to stop, making the duo slow their run until they were walking to them, only to stop in their tracks. "Stop! You have not been invited to the Grand Final! Uncover your head and show us your identity!"

Shinsou straightened his uniform, refusing to tug it down no matter the circumstances. "I was hoping a friendlier welcome." it was a bit strange for Uraraka that Gunhead hadn't warned his guards of the plan, making her wonder how messy the Council was of there was such disorder within its soldiers. "I can't believe we got this damn hold up."

The brunette scowled in frustration at the hinder, and rubbed her hands through her gloves. Her eyes were fixated on the crew, yet she spoke to Shinsou. "How much leeway did the General give us?"

His eyes looked at her, almost bored, yet he knew better than to be bored with whatever this woman was planning. "There is no leeway as such for what he mentioned."

"Good." nodded she, then took a step forward and tugged a glove off her hand with her teeth. The moment made a painful flash of deja-vu run before her, yet she didn't have time to dwell on it. "We need to get through this door. If you don't let us through, we will have to burst through."

This army seemed to have a generalized vice on cockyness, as some chuckled. At least they hadn't started laughing their ass off like those did with Bakugou once. If anything, it surprised her they weren't writing them off completely. "Please. Are you really going to waste all your stamina on us? What for, even? And would you even be able to take us all out?" one of the guards snickered at her. "Who sends you, strangers?"

Uraraka shoved her glove into the pocket of her uniform, licking a small cut on her lip. "Sorry, we are in a hurry, we don't have time to exchange data like this!"

Uraraka put a foot forward and brought a hand up, flickering her fingers to create a rippling thread of vines that surged from the ground and knocked all guards off their places with a gale of wind behind them, slates of stone dancing out of place and rolling to Shinsou and Uraraka's feet. The girl paid no heed to it and watched all guards flop to a side of the nearby stream, others falling straight into it in such disoriented state that some didn't seem to come up to breathe.

As Uraraka watched them flee with a stern glance, Shinsou whistled. "Damn, fairy, you sure don't play around when you are in a hurry." his fingers rubbed his jaw in thought. "You've been using tons of root magic lately."

Uraraka breathed a shaky giggle of guilt, putting her glove back on. "I had thought of using fire magic, hence why I removed the glove, but it would have been too flashy and would have attracted other guards' attentions." she looked around, surprised no one had come around to check on the ruckus. "We can't barge through the door, but we are at least sure we haven't been officially noticed by the army now that the ones that did are gone."

"Sounds like a plan." conceded the other, looking up to the wall. "I'm guessing you want us to climb it up." then, he saw Uraraka taking a few steps backwards, and knew she had planned this, making him smirk. "Nevermind that."

While Shinsou figured a way to climb up the wall himself, Uraraka jumped onward and made herself float up to the wall. If she wanted to be on her prime for the Grand Final, she would have to save as much stamina as possible. The way up was hard, her stomach twisting painfully, but she let it pass, go down, and before she knew it, she was endless feet up on the wall's bailey, landing on her knees with a hand to support herself in case nausea stricked.

But it didn't, so she got on her feet and whipped her head around the paths on the great wall under her feet. There didn't seem to be anyone around there, probably guarding over the tournament that was taking place in the coliseum that lay before her, a bit smaller in height. She squinted her eyes to localize a small cabin carved on rock on the wall's of the coliseum, like a restricted area in a circus. She guessed Gunhead and all other important politicians were there to look over it all.

A second later, Shinsou raised behind the wall with his hands on his pockets, making Uraraka look behind her after she heard a cracking noise. He had probably made a rock pillar to get up there. "Could you be more flashy, white?"

With a snap of Shinsou's fingers, something small detonated deep below their feet, almost hearable, yet Uraraka had a pretty well trained hearing. "No one will climb it up now that it's gone and rubble, so forget about it." he jumped off the railing of the wall and to her side. "No one's here."

The girl pointed at the squared cabinet. "They must be guarding the area around there and the entrances to the coliseum from the hallways below us." then, she walked to the railway that gave view to the coliseum, its own bailey a garden away. Below her lay some taverns and gear shops, but that was irrelevant now. "We could maybe make it there with a jump, the master cabin's edge is nearer than the coliseum's bailey."

"Fair enough." Shinsou took a few steps back, like Uraraka, and both leaped over the bailey to the coliseum's master cabin, where Gunhead and his pawns should be at. However, Uraraka didn't make it on her feet, and had to hold onto the edge of the structure so she wouldn't fall to the depths below. Shinsou tsked and grabbed her wrist. "Do you have to be so fucking clumsy?"

She was tugged up to the ceiling of the master cabin, and instructed on these events, both warriors lay on their fronts as to not be detected by the crowds around the coliseum. "Thanks for the save. I'm not the most graceful." he nodded in acknowledgement, and crawled with her to the edge of the cabin to watch the spectacle below, the arena coming into view. There was the soft lull of the clash of blades and the bellowing from the warriors below.

If she squinted, she could make out various corpses lying on the floor, sprawled. Some bodies steamed a faint trail of smoke, making Uraraka aware of who had been their attacker. She turned her head to Shinsou. "Let's see how the battle unfolds. It seems like some teams have been taken down already."

"Can you spot your guild around there?"

The sorcerer tried her best to pinpoint the location of her peers among the moving blurs— she could clearly see the golden mane from her prior leader, which obviously gave her this sinking feeling at the memory of him almost catching her on the streets the previous night, but she didn't think about it more than she was needed to, only jotted down that his red cape had somehow turned black. Then, somewhere nearby, she could see a blur of hardened red skidding around a pair of contestants that seemed to be doing their best against him.

Uraraka nodded. "They seem to be going against your guild above everything. Think they are complices?"

She didn't think so. Shinsou's guild was still standing, attacking people at random. She could see this blonde man and another one with silver hair, then a girl with auburn hair. She guessed their other integrant had fallen down. "Your guild doesn't seem to be a part of this alliance despite its wishes to take mine down. They all must know our guilds are the strongest, and will want to chip them down."

That was something he could agree on. If he was the weakest links of a competition, he'd want to join forces with someone a bit stronger and take the big ones down. Two halves of a orange make a full orange, they say. "Right. Can you spot your other minions?"

Uraraka shook her head in disdain, but complied anyway. The fact that she was probably stronger than most of them didn't make them her pawns or anything like that—it was almost disgusting that he thought of her as some kind of hidden boss or just a powerhouse that could act in their name. Disgusting. "I can see Bakugou and Kirishima…" she searched a bit around the colorful heads within the attackers. Then, she heard a pained scream, and looked at its source to find Todoroki holding his sword above him, panting. "Yeah, that's Todoroki. I'm surprised Midoriya isn't…"

Shinsou tapped her shoulder twice, and pointed at a spot in the crowd. Indeed, there sat her leader with Kaminari and Yaoyorozu. It brought her immense joy that everyone was safe, and at the sight of seeing them cheer for their peers, she smiled. Though, a part of her heart shrunk, wishing she could be there with them, enjoying the spectacle, or making them proud battling there.

She shook the feeling away, but the bitter pang of regret remained despite the tremendous benefits she had obtained from this deal. Uraraka looked at Midoriya. "His arm…" the boy hugged it close to his chest, cradling it. "he seems to have broken it."

"That explains why those are there in his place." Shinsou pointed at the arena again. There were even less people around. "Wait..."

The brunette squinted and was immensely surprised to find a very familiar face making the grounds shake and tying every foe to the ground with her whip. Her breath hitched at the odd choice. "Jack? Of all people?"

First things first, if Uraraka was startled to find her there it wasn't because she was any less able than the others, but because Jack didn't stand out as much to really pick her for such important events like these. She would have probably chosen Kaminari so they'd cover more field weapon and ability-wise. Midoriya and Bakugou were good strategists— something was odd in here.

"Your guild and mine is still standing, along with what seems to be two more." Shinsou removed his own gloves from his hands and craned his head to his companion. "We still gotta find those Jirou bastards in the crowd."

Uraraka nodded and turned her head to the battle again. If they had to spy with their little eye and find a culprit, they'd have to do so and wait until the charade was over.

---

These fuckers were harder than he had expected them to be, thus making his job much more difficult than it was supposed to be.

Bakugou took a step forward and swung his sword forward to get rid of another hunter with dark hair, yet another one came from behind and tried to attack him, only to get a blast to the face. This was confusing— what was the deal with people going so hard against them? He took a look at his right to see Jack struggling to get some offenders off her face, but eventually getting past it.

He wiped a bead of sweat off his cheek, looking around. Todoroki had been merciless against those he encountered, attacking randomly while Bakugou and Kirishima took care of the most direct ones. Everyone knew of Todorki's lineage, so no one dared attack him, knowing how capable this man was of freezing them to nothing or burning them to a crisp if provoked hard enough.

But Bakugou was another type of barbarian, standing surrounded by clouds of his own smoke, hands trembling while his sword dripped the sweet honey of violence. He trudged forward to see the battle unfold, and found Kirishima helping Jack out. That was good. It seemed like the battle was mostly won for them, excepting for some losers from Grinning Blade, but he could manage.

The hunter heard hurried steps coming from behind the smoke, which he cleared with a hand to slice his sword across the abdomen of a man he had fought earlier, but the way he was launching at him so eagerly… something was off about this desperate kind of fighting, as if he couldn't feel pain. But he didn't have time to ask. He had to win the tournament.

"What a damn drag." he finally kicked the man to the nearest wall, landing with a loud thud that ended in broken debris and a faint explosion. The crowd seemed surprised and delighted by this powerful show, making Bakugou grin. This was the kind of show they wanted, then he'd give them that. His guild would be the fucking best no matter what.

Besides, one had to feed the beasts, like the circus. He wouldn't mind being the bad bully this time around, knowing everyone was so weak in comparison to them. Yet, those guys… they were so resistant, they weren't fucking giving up.

In fact, the man got up from within the debris and started walking again, as if it had been a measly punch. Not used to being ineffective like this, Bakugou stared at him in horror. "What the fuck is going on?" he charged a hand and directed it to the wall. "What kind of damn abomination are you? Die already!"

Bakugou blasted a powerful explosion towards the enemy, and a small earthquake rumbled across the battlefield. The crowd of spectators shook at the powerful attack, which had left the leader in a small pant, heaving up and down. Kirishima sprinted to his side. "Yo, what's up with that dude?"

The man got up again from within the debris, making the blond sigh in aggravation. "No damn clue. He's a wimp, but he ain't giving up. I don't know if I should be impressed or suspicious of this bastard."

The crowd was looking at them expectantly. It was obvious something was up with this guy if he wasn't taking any kind of damage from his attacks, on anyone else's. The people around them were falling down and being defeated, but this guy was a damn pain. He didn't even seem to be from any other guild considering how singled out from the rest he seemed. "Everyone's starting to notice. Do you think this guy is—?"

"Beats me." Bakugou's voice was rough and hoarse, gravelly like no other. "I don't give a fuck about that treaty if it ended how it did. But this guy is too much of a freak to not consider him a part of it and he's giving us too much extra work." the red-eyed hunter looked at his peer and nodded at the guy. "Keep him busy while we sort this trash out. I'll go help Jack."

Which was a rarity, since Bakugou rarely went out of his way to help others. He did once and… it didn't end well. It was a bitter thought, but it was there and it sucked. He swallowed it up and ran to see Jack keeping some spare people away from her, them being that guy with the same ability as Kirishima and some other girl. They retreated when the girl made the ground under them break.

Now that the blonde thought about it, it looked like they were going to end up winning. There were very few enemies out from his village still standing. The final showdown would probably take place between Grinning Blade and Yuuei, it seemed, and maybe a pair of guys who dared team up with them. "Jack, have you seen that guy yet?"

The girl promptly looked at him with an arched eyebrow, and looked at the way Bakugou had walked. The guy Kirishima was trying to beat down was seemingly resilient at any kind of attack, either it was physical or magic-based. She frowned at this. "I had noticed him before, didn't think much of him." she looked at her leader afterwards. "What's the matter now? I thought you weren't gonna cooperate with Gunhead's business."

Bakugou looked around. A sea of corpses lay around them, some bloody and some scorched, obviously none dead. He hummed in distaste at the metallic smell that tainted his now caked hands. While he was enjoying this final statement of the championship like a kid, something in him told him this was a too rushed way to organize it. When he had been told about this arrangement it had come as a surprise, and it had only been justified as them being prepared for a war situation with many objectives around.

It still sounded overly messy and too destructured. He wasn't a nosy man but he wasn't a fool either. "I hadn't planned on it, but something's wrong here— starting with that guy."

Jack, still on guard for any new attack, looked at him again from the corner of her eye. No one would attack her if Bakugou was around, and seeing the various cracks around her, she wasn't someone to be taken lightly either. "I got this feeling this tournament is too imbalanced to be something innocent and pure. That guy feels out of place considering the amount of power needed for this."

Somebody finally fucking noticed. He looked at the guy again. "Do you think he's one of them?"

Jack looked at the man again, only gave him two seconds of her attention span. "If there's somebody else in here from that place, it's gotta be him." spoke Jack hurriedly, then took out her whip. While her sword lay in place on her back, she decided to ask and carry out their plan despite Bakugou's reluctance. "What are we gonna do? Give him a beating?"

"He ain't giving it a rest, I don't think beating him up will do any shit. Don't be dumb." he pushed his spikes out of his forehead, bringing his sword again. "But he ain't more than a pushover, so we should be able to at least tie him up."

She agreed with him at first. That man looked weak enough to be considered less than a menace, but then, she saw Bakugou's fierce frowned eyes. She had seen that somewhere else. "How do you know he's so weak though?"

He turned to her. "You gotta be kidding me."

"What I mean is…" she sighed, and discarded the jacket of her uniform. The purple coat with the fur floated away. "I don't mean to be rude, but people who are defensive and evade and block attacks like this aren't weak by default." Jack looked at him almost slyly, without animosity. "You've been through this— you should know that."

Bakugou caught the drift almost too quickly, and gritted his teeth. He could remember that reference like it had been the day before. And she was, sadly, absolutely right. He could still recall the way she skid against the pavement and raised her head to him as if she deserved to be at his level, her brows knit… he knew that look. It had been almost feral. It wasn't a look a weakling would pull that easily.

He could see a strong opponent a mile away, but the way his radar had failed that day, perhaps this man could go over his expectations. He looked like some kind of punching bag one could go on and on against without it being affected, it was almost scary. The guy was like some kind of unmovable object, receiving hit after hit, and not giving back any single one of them. It was as if he was resting all the time, waiting for a opportunity to strike back, storing the impact—

Bakugou's eyes widened. He had seen that shit before. Taking a step forward and seeing the guy suddenly limp in Kirishima's grasp, he shouted. "Kirishima, get away from that motherfucker!"

The redhead was obviously startled by this, and looked up from the unconscious foe. "What's up now, dude? Chill al—"

But indeed, the guy's skin started getting awfully cold, the skin of his hands cracking and getting swollen. He let out a grunt of discomfort, as if in pain, and as a strange steam started issuing from his shoulders, the hunter was quick to jump away and hop to Bakugou's side. The show was drawing everyone's attention, an inexplicable chill steaming from the hole he had created. While some minor foes fought in the background, the members of Yuuei and Grinning Blade stood before the crevasse.

This was the first time they stood so enar without a threat dangling from their weapons. "It's… getting so fucking cold." spoke someone from behind, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Bakugou looked at his peers with a dipped stance, ready to fight whatever lied ahead. There was a low crumble of debris in the hole, then a growl, and a reddish light shone from the depths of the hole. Debris started moving, crumbling to the ground, steps were advancing out of the depths. They were heavier than whatever that man had been before, and it was starting to let out sounds that were anything but human.

Two claws grabbed the ends of the hole, poked their fingers into the concrete coliseum and poked their head out, letting out a screech of terror as a layer of ice coated the surface he touched, spiking out as the creature was revealed. The chilling noise made everyone step back, even Bakugou widened his eyes at this monstrosity. "What the hell is that?" wondered he, merely a whisper.

There was a horrified gasp in the public, some screaming for their lives and running out of the public seats as the monster surfaced. It had gotten enormous, big, hair longish and muscles swollen to burst. His back was somewhat hunched over, eyes shining in a bright red. He had a big mark in his chest along with marred, scarry skin. His skin had turned sickly green, his height making Bakugou look up in sheer horror.

In the end, he had never meant to defeat whoever Jirou traitor was there, but he'd have to apparently kill the bastard before he killed everyone in sight. Aware that this was not their job and being in a lackluster state, Grinning Blade fled to the battlefield and went on defeating minor foes now that Yuuei had their hands full. Kirishima, Todoroki and Jirou stood behind Bakugou, both startled at Grinning Blade's lack of perspective. They'd probably come back when the minor opponents were dealt with.

"It's… a colossus."

Todorki's expression didn't seem fazed other than shocked, if anything… he looked almost heartbroken at the image, but no one asked. They had no time for meaningless explanations— all they knew was that they'd have to deal with this guy before he escaped the facility and carried out whatever scheme was implanted in its— his? brain. Bakugou wasn't sure if this monster was still person, but he was a menace.

And judging by Todoroki's shock and slight shake in his hands, he was fearsome.

Bakugou got in a battle stance, making his companions follow suit. "We gotta take him down now, give it your all!"

But before anyone could take a step forward, the golem took it first, making the ground shake and their feet stutter to function. The monster launched forward, ready to catch the guildmates by surprise, but Bakugou had his sword ready, his hand also readied for whatever that fucker was trying to do—

But before he could land a hit on the guild, a pillar of rock surged from the ground, punching the golem in its guts and making it topple before a full swing of fines poked from around him and attacked it, tying the monster to the ground, tightening enough to make the monster scream, probably at the verge of choking. Bakugou's eyes widened in warning, and suddenly, it was getting darker— the sun seemed to have gone away, it was as if time had gone by in just a second, and when he followed the track of the rock magic, the moon was shining proudly.

Two figures stood on top of the president's cabin, the moon making their figures dark enough to not be distinguished, but he knew that presence, this everlasting night time that chased any fight that followed them. His breath hitched, his eyes pulsed and shook in what seemed to be a primer of fear in the leader.

"It can't fucking be…" growled he, squinting at the two figures. Their uniforms were blowing in the wind.

Kirishima gulped. "Is that…?"

"The Purge, White Death and Moon Fairy!" exclaimed Todoroki, charging his arm in flames. "They must be the ones behind all this!"

In his critical state, Bakugou could only say yes to that and look at them daringly. His eyes shone under the blaring moonlight, stars dotting the clear sky, but crimson red stared at the two, as if screaming at them to come if they dared. Shinsou straightened his posture, frowning at the small unwanted committee. "That's gotta be our objective." he looked at her once before taking his staff out and jumping out from the cabin into the battlefield.

Air surged right up at him like blades, but the man handled the land perfectly. As soon as he did, without any recovery time needed, he sprung forward to get all those he knew would get in his way. He wouldn't be being merciful to whoever interfered in his business. Bakugou saw him flash forward right past him after the enemies Grinning Blade was fighting, making his own mates stare at the scene in disbelief.

Should they go after those mercenaries, or make sure that monster stayed where it should? The golem seemed to be idle for now, so he had no other option but switch back to his original plan. "Fuck!" they looked at him, seeing Bakugou clench his fists with a squared jaw. "Get rid of those fucking assholes, we ain't have all day!"

Bakugou stared up at the figure that was still observing the scene, making Uraraka gulp, yet sigh and decide to fuck it, bang it and destroy it, as this was her mission and he wouldn't be getting in her business ever again. She hopped off the platform and landed on the ground on her feet, making the battlefield shake and some hats topple off. But the hidden figure still stood sane and healthy, getting up again and walking to the monster as if no one was there—

But Bakugou wasn't having none of it. He came from a side and attempted to slice her in half with his sword, yet failed as she effortlessly jumped away from him. "Where do you think you're going, bastard?"

Uraraka landed a few meters away from him, watching his frame skid against the ground. When he recovered from her dodge, he stood proud and tall, smirking with that awful shit-eating grin of his— just as she remembered him. A wave of nostalgia pulsated through her, crossing time and space, making her wonder if this urge to cry at the sight was something she should be feeling.

What should she be feeling at seeing this feral man wanting to kill her this badly? He knew she was dangerous, judging by the careful holding of his sword and how cautiously he was observing her despite the arrogance that ran in his blood. Obviously, he thought he could take her down. She didn't doubt him at all— yet didn't doubt herself either.

She had let him beat her down one too many times.

She had promised to herself this wouldn't happen again. And no matter what her feelings for this man were, she would stick to it.

"Moon Fairy, eh?" she seemed startled at the way he spoke her name, like a mix of venom and sheer distaste. Uraraka knowingly looked at a side from under the hoodie that hid her face, scowling at the small handicap that the night trick supposed. In the end, she'd have to be cautious, just like he would. "I can see where that awful nickname comes from."

She was tempted to be blunt and talk like she always had, but both intimidation and the risk of being recognized held her back. Kirishima hadn't recognized her, but Bakugou, in his state of hatred for her, definitely would. A part of her wanted to hope he knew she was alive and well, but how would he take her taking sides with his enemy? Would he repent from being a bastard to her in the past, or shield himself once again and put barriers between them again?

No matter how she looked at it, they were at stage zero. And she couldn't let her feelings, whatever they were, interfere with her job. He kept on talking. "I won't be foolish enough to say I'm gonna beat your ass, I'm hella sure you can handle mine in a silver platter." his weapon started steaming off a very familiar liquid, melting off the blade. "But I know what your deal is, and I ain't gonna let scum like you hang around town."

And he truly meant it. Uraraka could recognize the liquid that was dripping from his weapon, probably due to the heat he was forcing on it with his ability to inflict more pain in her. He had taken the time to actually poison his blade. No wonder there were so many people in the—

Before she could complete her train of thought, Bakugou flung himself to her with a bang of his ability, only to be rejected as he hit a solid wall in his way. Confused, the leader looked up at the interruption, so unexpected and damn simple he swore at his exhaustion and inability to think twice in the night. His eyes trailed up the concrete wall, only to find that his hit had barely damaged it, and found his opponent sitting on top of it, peering down at him.

He couldn't see her expression, or barely her hands, but he could tell she was mocking him— which, as a matter of fact, she wasn't. If anything, Uraraka was thinking her moves, but Bakugou would never see that. "Oi, what the fuck are you staring at? Come down here and fight me!"

The girl only stared at his impatience, and wondered what would happen if she gave in to her past and refused to hurt him— only to shake her head and stand up in the wall she had created, whipping her cloak behind her. Her eyes looked down at him, darkened caramel meeting the same damn burning crimson she had been fond of. Once. Was she, now?

"Forgive me for this." and Uraraka leaped off the edge, so suddenly that Bakugou barely saw it coming, as her hands summoned a great deal of energy that, when contacting with the ground beneath her, exploded into thunderbolts, lights and fire that shook the whole battlefield. In the distance, Shinsou watched her opponent skip the attack with a jump, almost flabbergasted at her sudden energy.

Her hands were surrounded in thunder and static energy, making her look like a goddess Bakugou wasn't sure if he should worship or not. But for the fierce look he could see under the darkness of her disguise, he would respect her. Startled, he barely had time to compose himself. "What the…"

Uraraka was quick on her feet, but Bakugou was great moving along the battlefield. She sent a sea of fire arrows his way, which he deflected with his sword while going close to her, running and running until he was trying to blow her away with his sword, which she herself blocked with a shield of plasma. They continued clashing, his sword crashing with her shields and various magic spears she could muster, all done in such a rapid pace he was barely keeping up with how many weapons she had created and destroyed in a split second.

When Uraraka found an opening, she wrapped her hand in a quickfix of iron, spreading it forward until it would cut the skin of his abdomen, a hand on her wrist to control the influx. Using this technique made her incredibly sick, as she was basically weaving elements in her body temporarily, as if borrowing them, to attack her opponent. She knew that, however, deep down, if it had been another person, she would have stabbed him and let him rot.

She hated this weakness, but withdrew her weapon and felt her body respond to it with a shake. Bakugou clutched his side in pain, looking at her panting frame, both wiping dirt and sweat off their jaws. "'The hell are you even made of, Moon Fairy?" he was almost scared that someone would go as far as that and actually execute such attack with this accuracy.

Uraraka frowned, and looked at him definitely, trying to recover from this tactic. If she knew how to handle weapons like the rest did, she would be better off wielding them— but this was what she was best at. Shinsou looked at her from the distance, both teams still after seeing Bakugou getting attacked.

"Fairy ain't losing time, ain't she?" everyone became aware of Shinsou's presence and took a fighting stance again. Thanks to the hoarseness in his voice and the ruckus from the scene back there, no one could match his voice to Grinning Blade's leader, and his guildmates were handling the loose ends with the shitty contestants. "He must consider her a powerhouse if he's going there himself, the strongest hunter from this nation. Wise idea."

Todoroki stepped close to him, taking the initiative as Kirishima gauged going there to help his leader. "What is your business here?"

Shinsou looked at him lazily. "Our business? We have a job to do." he wouldn't be giving the little prince the chance to figure out stuff that wasn't his own. "You guys are just dragging us down. And judging by how fierce that guy is being back there, you all know who we are."

"Of course we do— hold on!" Kirishima was able to recognize that voice, as when he had been put to sleep, he could recall the remains of this man's voice and… a gentler one, but he couldn't pinpoint where or when he had heard that one. Regardless, he frowned at his foe from the day before, readying his knives. "You are the guys from yesterday!"

Todoroki looked at his peer. "These are the guys that ambushed you?"

Shinsou stomped his foot on the ground, sending them all to the ground— and prayed Uraraka would avoid this small spell. "We didn't ambush him, he came to us saying we were from the Jirou clan like he knew everything in this damn world." as if it was an insult, the sorcerer feigned offense for the sake of drawing the line. "Superficialisms won't take you anywhere."

No one could stand up, but Jirou slowly drew her plugs to a crevasse on the ground while Shinsou told the group off. Todoroki saw this and while trying to fight the gravitational pull, he grimaced. "We know what your business is outside of this town! Don't try to tell us you are all good and sparkles when you are the total opposite!"

"Good and sparkles?" he chuckled. "Your definition of good and sparkles is definitely different to the one fairy and I share. You know, things aren't as black and white as you see it."

Kirishima grunted, and managed to get up as Shinsou weakened his pull a notch. However, the redhead was brought to his knees once again, yet he got up again. He didn't know what Shinsou's intentions were, but he most certainly wouldn't be dying at his hands. "You never answered my question… who the hell are you two?"

This question took the sorcerer by surprise. It was something that not many people would ask them in such serious note— if anything, they'd ask as an insult as if they were… aliens. The thought made Shinsou chuckle at the irony of this life. "We may be total aliens, we may be rogue and we're probably the most dangerous bunch you will cross paths with as of late. I'm a thick-skinned person, rough, and undeniably strong."

Jack called out a small earthquake that broke the gravity pull, letting her and Todorki stand up fully while Kirishima relaxed, muscles loosening. Really, these guys were… annoyingly strong. It made him wonder what the future would hold if this were to happen again. "And what about this… fairy you speak of? The girl fighting Bakugou?"

Shinsou tilted his head a little, then looked at the flashy fight that was taking place behind them. He brought his hand to his nape and smirked in a sly, cunning gesture that had Jack gulping. "Oh, her? She's definitely more soft-heartened than I am… but she will end up hardening. It's only a matter of time this happens. And when she does…"

Shinsou let his hands be swallowed by white fires, steaming a faint cold aura as his eyes were lit up. "When she does, she will become your fucking queen!" and he launched a hale of wind and fire that Todoroki swatted away with a sweep of his sword, and tried to take him down with a strike that Shinsou denied all too quickly, making the prince stagger and be vulnerable for a second the sorcerer took advantage of, and pushed him away with another slap of his flames.

Surprisingly enough, as the knight rolled away and stood back up, he realized his clothes hadn't been burnt, and that he was mostly fine other than the impact on the ground. What had that been for? What was that element even about? Judging by the sneer in the sorcerer's expression, it was as if it was more important than what it looked like, thus making everyone cautious.

Regardless, Kirishima sprinted up to him and tried to take him down with his knives, as if for payback from what had happened earlier. "You two are just pawns from the mafia!" he grunted, avoiding a hale of wind from his enemy. "Reveal yourselves before we have to force you! We are hunting your people down."

Shinsou wanted to reply, but no one was really giving him a rest. Todoroki was attacking from behind while Jack tried to break his grounds under his feet, and Kirishima tried to swing his knives at him and not really giving the sorcerer a way to either slow down and come up with a powerful spell or simply shake them off. Uraraka was the fast one of the duo, he was more the thinker and she was the doer.

He was at disadvantage and the thought was giving him chills and a fair sense of danger. He frowned at everyone that was trying to take him down and attempted to push them all away with a shockwave on the ground that everyone skillfully avoided, making him stagger because he didn't have enough stamina to perform bigger spells, having wasted it all in his previous knockout for the colossus which needed a lot of strength to actually put him away.

Shit. But he couldn't let them defeat him so easily. If Uraraka had been in his place, he was sure he would have been able to do this. A part him knew Bakugou somehow knew this arrangement would play against him, but another thought he wanted to have a showdown against fairy.

Certainly, they had a questionable notoriety among most guilds and towns. No wonder he wanted to get rid of them despite not really knowing what their intentions were. Rash as ever.

Shinsou groaned when Todoroki's flames touched his uniform, singing parts of his skin. He didn't have time to lament this wound, as he had to dodge Kirishima's knifes and Jack's whip. If he got enough space, he would—

Then, the unexpected happened. Jack's whip, wrapped in flames and electricity, tied around half of his body and knocked him to the ground, making the mighty sorcerer fall to the ground with a loud moan of pain. His exhaustion and lack of sleep, too anticipated for his father's plans, had backfired on him spectacularly. "What the— you can't do that!"

Jack tightened her grip on the wiggling mercenary, looking down at him, knowing he had somewhat underrated her after not daring attack her. "I can." she showed him a series of gems in her hands, which she let fall to the ground and shatter. "Asui sure can teach some handy emergency moves."

"Is your hand alright?"

Jack looked at her wounded hand and nodded at Todoroki. "Just a measly thing. Should heal later. The effects of these techniques sure are annoying."

Kirishima smirked at the man that had dared try to knock him down earlier, pushing a foot to his body in an attempt to turn him around and reveal his identity. "Looks like we turned tables, eh?"

The purple haired man grunted, then looked at the fight between Uraraka and Bakugou. They had once talked this out: being undercover was their first priority as to not risk their past guilds' reputation and good name. If they revealed his identity to the world, everything they had worked for would be absolutely ruined in a matter of minutes— and he wasn't having that.

With a last spark of energy, Shinsou shifted with his hands to put them on the ground and direct all his remaining energy to the golem behind them, and panted as a enormous thorned vine started cracking the grounds beneath them, surging through the rocks and suddenly emerging to snap the now weakened vines in twain, releasing the monster from its provisional prison.

Everyone heard the snapping noises, and how the golem roared to life after being released, making everyone turn to look at it, including Bakugou, who stopped the fight to look at the unfolding scene. "Hah? What the fuck is this now!?"

Uraraka tried to tie the monster back together, but Bakugou wasn't having none of it, and swung at her with enough efficiency to cut the ties of her hoodie, brushing her chin. "Ugh…"

He didn't give a fuck about the monster now, his peers could take care of it while he sorted the trash out. He held his blade in front, glaring at her. "You're… a damn pest!" he let out a heavy pant of frustration and hidden exhaustion, but he was stronger than to give up so soon. Above all, when he had this… foe in front of him, just as beaten up as him but refusing to give up with a determination that reminded him of painfully clear eyes, a smile, and then a freezing corpse rotting in his useless hands. People like her were nothing but a good riddance— yes, when they made him go crazy as the previous night, seeing Urarakas where there were none.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" spat he, hands shaking as dreadful images came back, reminding him of thoughts he had sworn to never live through again. "I'll get rid of every and each one of you!"

A slice of energy tried to cut her in twain, only for her to deflect it wrong and make Bakugou dodge, making it arrive straight to the roaring monster behind them, some meters away. It was startled by this energy swing and growled loudly, halting all fights in awareness that this monster would be striking anytime soon after being triggered like this.

"Fairy!" at this scream she looked at, finding Shinsou already beaten up. Seems like their alliance would be over sooner than expected, seeing how the tides were turning. "Do it now!"

Uraraka leaped away from Bakugou silently, but he still realized this and turned to her— all too late, as when he realized her distance, light was already wrapped around her in the seal that shone under her feet, her hands twined in a prayer to then spray forward in a frown of fierce anger and concentration, knowing this was her last opportunity.

And for a split second, Bakugou saw. And he wanted to think this was… a dream.

But she was already past this, and flung her magic all over the battlefield with a sweep of her hands, breaking the seal. "World Order: Two!"

And before the world turned to black, he saw greenery appear, vines shooting from the ground in an awfully loud noise— he thought the world was ending, but it was only being covered in wood, sand, the faint smell of forests, and the distant image of her walking away from him taunting his mind until he broke down and fainted.

---

"Ugh…" his hands touched hard, dried soil, and felt them undeniably tight and… strained? He tried to wiggle free, yet to no avail. "What even is…"

When his eyes fluttered open, he found stabbing light to be wafting around the scene, making him have to adjust his eyes to the newfound daylight. It seemed like their night spell was done for the moment, making him gasp in realization that then, they had both depleted their stamina in this ultimate spell.

His head craned to a side, and he was tugged up into a sitting position. Surprisingly enough, no one had removed the hoodie from him— in fact, it was the only thing shading his eyes as sunlight filtered through the vines of the new forest, the greenery ceiling dotted with holes. The earth under his touch was undeniably tough, grainy, and hot.

He groaned as he opened his eyes again, and Shinsou was met, unsurprisingly, with the frames of Kirishima and Todoroki. Jack was nowhere to be found, so he guessed she had gone around for a quick search. Shinsou also realized that Bakugou wasn't around, and assumed he had ended somewhere near fairy after the spell.

Gunhead was going to have their head for transforming his coliseum into a forest maze. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't even seen him trying to interrupt the fight— if he had been in the cabin that is, because he hadn't been able to check in the heat of the fight.

Weird.

Kirishima and Todoroki weren't even pointing at him with his weapons. They just stared down at him, judging his position. They seemed to be waiting for him to be more awake so they could shame on him more. In fact, Kirishima scoffed at him, tired of this charade. "You're finally awake."

It didn't even sound rude— his voice was as warm and kind, yet full of a venom triggered by discordia and immense enthusiasm to get the issue over with. Todoroki nodded, and took a step forward. "Tell us who you are or we'll be the ones making the curtain go up."

Of course, the man refused profusely. He knew he was going to lose this battle already: his hands were tied, he was sure that his body was drained enough to not be able to move or stand up. If he had slept some more the night before and gauged his attack better on the colossus, he would have pulled it off perfectly well.

But well, if this was how destiny wanted to play it out, he was no one to judge. "Whatever."

And with that, Kirishima also stepped forward but before he could even touch the hoodie, Shinsou flung his head forward to whip if backwards, letting the fabric fall on his neck with a flop as both boys stepped back in sheer fear at the image before them. Shinsou blinked back the light and shook his hair into shape, groaning at the lack of covering. Regardless, his expression of absolute boredom never changed.

"Shinsou, it's you!" he almost wanted to roll his eyes at the shock— it was too palpable to be real, but it was also too palpable to be fake. It was almost amazing that no one had expected this to happen, or at least framed him. Todoroki's shock was surprising. "I want to say I'm completely taken aback but I should have seen this coming."

Knowing the shitty people they took the Purge to be, he took it as an insult of the worst kind. "Untie me already. You already know who I am."

Todoroki flickered a flame to the ties and the leader was fast to wiggle free, rubbing his wrists. Both boys knew he was serene enough and smart to not attack them while he was at his lowest. It would take him some time to recharge— time during which they could interrogate the shit out of him.

"What are you even doing here, Shinsou?" asked Todoroki. "You were the leader of a guild— when we heard you had disappeared it was said you had gone on a hunting mission and never came back."

The other man looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Rumors suck when they have no base." he sighed. "The high members from my guild knew about me going on an important mission, it was your fault you didn't bother to check."

Kirishima was thoughtful at this. When he had first asked Bakugou due to rumors going around the market, the leader had simply said he had probably gone to do some shady hunting — finally, he had added, because he was so tired of that bastard — but Kirishima should have expected he was doing something more important than this.

But he had more to say, and frowned in anger. "Despite your turbulent intentions and ideologies, you were the leader of a successful guild. I don't even understand why you would join a criminal, illegal clan so easily after all that has happened." he tried to comprehend it, but obviously couldn't— but knew Shinsou wasn't really searching for proof of innocence, seeing how he wasn't justifying himself either. "Was it because you were frustrated with being the runner-up? Did you think you were weak?"

The other smirked, shaking his head. "I don't mind strength as I mind my objectives, reason why I had to leave." his voice was clear, as assertive and clear as ever. "This we are going through is a step. And I doubt any of you will be stopping this anytime soon."

No one was expecting such confidence and clarity in his answer, and raised an eyebrow in response, almost skeptic. "This?" Todoroki's voice was edged, trying see through Shinsou's words but failing to, as a dark mist surrounded them— and he didn't like it a single bit. "What are you even talking about?"

The sorcerer closed his eyes in meditation. Should he tell them about his plans? What would it change? He knew the cards would play in his father's favor, and they couldn't hurt him out of the battlefield either, with him being the head of a neighboring guild. He wanted to think they knew better than to declare war on a guild with more members in a moment of crisis. In this state, he was invulnerable to anyone, he was free to do as he desired.

"Nothing of your incumbence, there's nothing you can do to stop it from happening. I left to fulfill a part of my mission— and that's something my companion and I have cleared already, I believe." he dared to stand up, hands up as to let them know he wouldn't pull out his— now that he realized, he had probably lost it. "Whether we are split up or not, I have already thrown my stone into the lake. You all will end up doing the same and contributing— it's what's meant to happen."

Kirishima was sharp and straight to the point, and remembered that particular other member that had been fighting Bakugou with what seemed to be the upper hand. "Your companion— where is he?"

"Beats me. She'll be perfectly fine, and with or without me, she will do as she's been told to— she's not a stupid woman." Todoroki have him some thought. Whatever Shinsou's intentions were, if they were as rumored, it wasn't good news, and having his powerful pawn on the loose wasn't a good idea either. He frowned at the way he was talking about her, and felt there was a trick to it.

He talked about her as if she was under his control. A part of him believed she wasn't. "Shinsou, you are practically under our control. We won't torture you, that's not our way— but you know us." the knight spoke gently, but with an aggressive edge. "You have to at least tell us her identity, you know we won't let you two around."

"It's not a matter of us being active as a duo— the effect of the time that has passed is everlasting. It has happened before. It will happen again." that was what his father had told him, and Aizawa was not a liar. "No matter where you put us two, we won't be separated that easily. Make no mistake, I have no fondness towards her, but we will still have a mission to accomplish. We will be fulfilling it as time passes."

The more Shinsou spoke, the weirder it all sounded and the less sense it made. What was he even talking about? Clearly he knew what he was saying— but why so coded? What was even this mission they had? "Shinsou, you aren't making any sense. Trust us whatever criminal business you want to take part in with your partner will be closely looked on—"

"Oh, I never said this mission was specifically action-orientated. But it's alright, you will never understand— she doesn't, either, and that's why we are here as well. She doesn't want to understand, but she will, soon." he decided to cut the root of this topic immediately, he was tired of showing birds to the blind. "Now, if you wish to meet my partner, she's probably sorting out her end. I doubt you will find her."

"We are more capable than we sound." assured Kirishima. "However, if you were really sure of your partner's strength and the validation of this mission thing you got going on, why are you trying to hide her so?"

That was a good question. "We made a deal to go on incognito until we were over hunting the Jirou clan. And please, don't give me that look— didn't we try to tie the beast down earlier? We have been recommended with a mission to go after that mafia."

"So that's this mission you talk about so vaguely?"

"Oh, no, that's a whole other story. But our main focus is finding the headquarters of this clan. The other part is more of an underlying issue she will come to terms with soon and we will take care of when the time comes."

The redhead looked at him aggravatedly. "For fuck's sake, so you aren't on a criminal business?"

"Did I ever say I was?"

No one would ever admit to be a criminal, but it was true that maybe they had judged and joined Shinsou's mentality and his runaway too soon. However, his way of speaking about missions, ends and destiny so ominously wasn't helping him either. "You being silent and refusing to help us find your mate isn't helping your image at all." Todoroki sighed. "If you say your mission is so strong, if you truly are going after the Jirou mafia and if you truly believe your companion is as strong, help us lure her to us."

Now, that was an interesting offer. Aizawa wouldn't be very happy to know they had revealed their identities, much less that they had sided with people he would meet as enemies someday— but Shinsou realized that if all was as predestined and fatalistic as planned, then all these inconveniences didn't matter at all. Time and thought would be the ones to play the game.

So he decided it wasn't a bad idea to join forces. "I see how it is." he shoved his hands into his pockets and rubbed the back of his neck. "Whatever. There shouldn't be any problem with any of it." but he has one last thing to say. "But I will let you find out her identity yourselves— though you must be really stupid to have not figured it out."

Kirishima had started walking away with Todoroki, both hoping Shinsou would willlingly follow, but had to turn around to face him again. Kirishima was the first to speak. "That pawn of yours… we will find her regardless."

Shinsou shook his head silently, serious and dead silent.

"That's not what I mean." again, these people clearly weren't in his wavelength, but they would be someday soon. "However, I will let you know, this woman isn't at all my pawn— she's the farthest point from it." he let the words set in before he sighed and looked at the dead in the eye, frowning and breaking his serene features with what seemed like a murderous threat.

"It's not me you should fear from us two."

---

Birds were chirping somewhere above him, and he didn't need to open his eyes to see there was sunlight above him, too blatantly warm. Everything seemed different from a few minutes ago, as if the world had changed with the snap of fingers, winter shifting to summer and rendering Bakugou motionless on the ground.

His body was numb, but even in his numb state he could tell he had taken severe hits from that guy's spell. He couldn't even remember how he got here, just remember wind surging from within, dark vines dashing around him before he was knocked out along with most probably everyone in the battlefield. He must have been tossed around very badly to end like this.

"Guh…" he tried to flinch and get up, yet his side was hurting— but there was something warm pressed against it, and a shadow came to cover the sun that shone above him. Bakugou wanted to close his eyes, but he also wanted to enjoy the healing magic. "What… the hell…"

This warmth… it was so familiar, so unique and so relaxing. He had felt this one day, just one that he had let the curative streams into his body. However, as soon as he grunted out like that, the figure gasped, and the warm current was gone in a flash.

He heard the person leap away from him, landing some feet away, and he took the opportunity to sit up with his eyes still closed, hissing. Bakugou touched across his chest and arms, and was surprised to find out his wounds were closed and that his muscular pain was no more than a dull ache underlying in his body.

His scarlet eyes opened to the greenery and immediately searched for his savior. A second later, he was met with the very same figure that had made this mess a few steps away, holding the unconscious human body of the colossus on her shoulder, looking at him carefully.

Bakugou was speechless for a solid minute, trying to find words to say. This person who was presumably his enemy had helped him out— not from a deathly threat, but whoever this was had gone out of their way to help him out. It made him realize that maybe things weren't as jaded to black and white as they seemed.

As they stared into the other in silence, Bakugou guessed that he should be the one to speak first. "Thanks, I guess. Not like I would have fucking died— but thanks, anyway."

Finally, the figure nodded and hopped onto a big mossy branch of the forest, looking up to find an exit to the roof of the maze. Bakugou stood up and decided that attacking her right away. His hands were deeply irritated with the overuse of his ability, and his sword had been lost in the heat of the battle, he would be beaten up pretty badly.

Uraraka looked up into the sun before turning her head to him, wind blowing on her hoodie as sun filtered into her eyes. The body on her shoulder, so surprisingly light, was shifting on her hold, but she could examine him for a little longer.

His hair was as wild as she remembered, his muscles clenched as hard as they did in sight of danger and those heavenly eyes… so red, scarlet and crimson glaring into her with daggers, fire, and coal— stuff that he would have never done to her at a certain point in the past.

Would he, now? How would he ever react knowing it was her under this hoodie? In the end, she didn't want to know. He had never cared for her, did he?

Her chin dipped down, and she looked forward again to the exit, jumping branch by branch with the body on her with the speed of a panther, disappearing from his sight two seconds later. All she left behind was the scent of mint and a rush of spring new breeze at her wake.

But then, Bakugou remembered the brown honey he had reached to see before she had attacked, and the unmistakable chill of fear that ran down his spine. That feeling… only one person in this world could give him that look with such molten eyes.

There was no doubt. "So that's who you are, huh?" but he couldn't bring himself to believe that, it had to be but it just couldn't be true. He clenched his fists. "Fuck."

It turns out he'd have to do some deep thinking tonight. But for starters, he'd have to get out from that maze and later hunt down that witch.

He would be getting her back soon. He'd rescue her from the shadows of destiny again.