Lightning – My Hero Academia
Chapter 46: Uneven Teams
Ako, Yui, and Koko all stepped out from amongst their class, standing side by side in front of Mr. Aizawa. As soon as he saw him, Bakugo's eyes widened...then he smirked.
"That little runt. This must be my lucky day." He said to himself.
"This isn't good," Deku thought to himself. "Kaachan will be out for him. But I can't go easy either. Sorry, Ako."
"Alright. The captor team and the 6 hostages – both of you follow me. The rest of you will enter into that building right there," Aizawa pointed to a nearby building. "When it's time, I'll come back for the hero team. I suggest you take this time to start planning out your strategies." He said to Ako's team before leading the other students into the city hall building.
"Good luck, you guys!" Uraraka said, waving to Ako's team before they all went in. Meanwhile, the remaining students of classes 1-A and 2-A began to chat with each other as they all filed into the building that Mr. Aizawa had directed them to.
"Well, it's not my ideal team, but we do have pretty decent chances with you here, Ako." Koko said to him.
"Don't forget me! I can take these guys on!" Yui said confidently.
"I wouldn't be so sure though. Did you see the guys with the green hair and the spiky blonde hair?" Ako asked them.
"Yeah, he was cute." Yui commented.
"They're both...which one?" Ako asked once he realized what Yui had said. He looked at her oddly. She didn't answer. She just smiled and giggled.
"Focus." Koko rolled her eyes at this.
"Those two are really strong. The blonde hair one has an explosion quirk. I don't know exactly what Deku's quirk is, but I do know now that he's fast; maybe as fast as me. Stronger too." Ako explained.
"Great, so between those two, we're already outmatched. And we don't know what the deal is with the other 3." Koko summarized.
"Maybe we should try quitting. That's Koko's favorite strategy." Yui teased.
"Really? Oh haha, good one." Koko grumbled, stepping towards her.
"Hey hey, settle down. Save the aggression for the captor team. We need to figure out a game plan here. Do we have any ideas?" Ako asked.
"Not really. I don't have enough data on this team to be able to figure out what we can do." Koko shook her head.
"This is a hunt, you know. The best way to hunt is to separate the weakest ones from the pack and pick 'em off." Yui pointed out.
"Our main goal is to rescue the hostages though." Ako pointed out.
"Yes, but she does make a point. Mr. Aizawa said that we'll be starting out here. So what we can do to start out is survey the area, figure out the layout, and who we're up against. It's not much, but at least it's a start." Koko reasoned out.
"Huh, alright. We'll go with that. You think you can figure that out quickly?" Ako asked.
"Probably. Depends on the layout of the building. But we do know that the hostages will be in the back, so we at least have our starting point." Koko said.
"And then what?" Yui asked.
"I don't know. We'll see what we find when we get in there."
"Sounds like a plan. Or at least half of one." Ako ndded and offered a fist bump to his teammates, which they both returned...
Meanwhile, Aizawa led the captors to the back room where the hostages would be kept. Once the 11 students were gathered in this room, he began to get them all prepared.
"Okay. We'll start with our hostages. It's a little theatrical, but we'll have you all sit here in a circle with your hands tied in front of you." He said, reaching into his pockets and pulling out some old bungee cords.
"Oh, do we have to?" Katsuo asked.
"Obviously or otherwise I wouldn't be saying it." Aizawa answered. He went around and tied all of their hands together in front of them at the wrists.
"Oh no, the heroes-in-training have been captured, ahhh." Chikashi jokingly cried out in a soft, high-pitch voice as the he and the other 5 hostages sat down where they were directed.
"Next up are our captors. Each of you will put on these ski masks to help simulate the part. What you decide to do to keep the building under lockdown is up to you, but obviously in this situation, the hostages are the only thing keeping you safe from being swarmed by police, so if you exit the building, you're out.
"Your focus will be on the heroes here inside. Got it?"
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa, sir!" Deku answered for the group.
"Tch, we don't need a team of 5 for this. I can handle those pesky rats myself!" Bakugo said as he put his ski mask on. The ski masks only covered the top halves of their heads while leaving the eyes and mouth exposed.
"You do what you want. I know a couple of hostages that I will be keeping a close eye on," Mineta said with a chuckle. "Um, Mr. Aizawa, I can't put this mask on." He then said, pointing to the sticky balls on the top of his head: the source of his quirk.
"That's fine."
"Oh, Mr. Aizawa, I'm afraid that I too cannot wear this mask either. It will undoubtedly ruffle my feathers, if you know what I mean." Aoyama said, turning his head side to side to swish his hair around.
"No. Put the mask on."
"This is exciting!" Mina exclaimed as she put her mask on.
"Do your best, guys!" Tsu encouraged them, smiling and giving them a thumbs-up even with her hands tied together.
"But they're the bad guys. I don't think we're supposed to root for them." Uraraka pointed out.
"Oh, yeah. Well then..." Tsu started to say something else, but she couldn't come up with anything, so she just shrugged quietly.
"I'll go and brief the hero team. You'll hear an announcement over the intercom when it's time to start. The hero team will have 20 minutes to save the hostages. Be mindful of that." Mr. Aizawa informed them before stepping out.
"We gotta sit like this for 20 minutes? Ugh." Katsuo grumbled.
"Hey, it's not so bad! At least we get to relax! We just gotta wait to be rescued." Uraraka said.
"Heheheh, true. You guys are funny. I'm Lula, by the way. What's your names?" She introduced herself.
"I'm Uraraka Ochako!"
"And I'm Tsuyu Asui, but everyone just calls me Tsu. It's nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too!" Lula responded with a grin.
"Hey, Bakugo, what's wrong? Why the long face?" Mina asked, poking at Bakugo's arms. She noticed that he was rolling his eyes and scoffing, prompting her to check on him.
"This whole exercise is a waste of time. We should be training ourselves, not helping out a bunch of newbies that think they're competition." He expressed, keeping his arms folded in front of him.
"Oh, come on, Bakugo! Get into the spirit of things! It'll be fun! Can you at least try to play the role?" Mina insisted.
"Yeah, Bakugo, at least make our time as hostages interesting." Chikashi chimed in jokingly.
"Shut up!" Bakugo barked at him.
"See? That's perfect!" Mina gave him a thumbs-up.
"Oh boy," Deku facepalmed. "This is gonna be a disaster...I wonder why Mr. Aizawa put us together as a team." He wondered aloud.
"Attention, students," Principal Nezu's voice came on over the intercom. "The hostage scenario test will begin in 5...4...3...2...1...you have 20 minutes."
"Okay, guys! Let's huddle up! We need to come up with a game plan! And fast!" Deku gestured for his team to come in.
"Screw your stupid game plan! I'm going to look for that creep with the speed quirk!" Bakugo said, pressing his fist into his hand and causing a small explosion to burst out.
"Wait, Bakugo! We need you here! You're like our strongest guy!" Mineta argued.
"I am the strongest! That's why I'm gonna end this before it even starts!" Bakugo declared before leaving the room.
"Ah, après moi, le déluge. I guess we're a team of 4 now, Midoriya, aren't we?" Aoyama pointed out.
"I guess so. Alright, Deku. You're the smart one. What's the plan?" Mina asked, joining up in his huddle. Aoyama and Mineta got in the huddle too.
"Um...okay...so Kaachan is obviously not following us, but he was right about one thing: our main concern here is Tanaka. You all saw his speed quirk at the sports festival, right?" Deku asked them.
"Indeed we have. His speed might just parallel your own, I'm afraid. The rest of us won't be able to keep up." Aoyama said.
"Exactly, which is why we're not gonna take him on directly yet. Mineta, we can set up traps in the hallways with your sticky balls. That should immobilize him. While you set up traps and Kaachan goes on patrol, the three of us will stay here and guard the hostages.
"Mineta, if you hear anything, call me and I'll come and back you up. Or I'll find Kaachan if he finds them first." Deku decided.
"B-But what if they find me first?! I don't wanna get pummeled!" Mineta said fearfully.
"Just be smart and you'll be alright. We're counting on you, Mineta." Deku said to reassure him. Mineta took in a breath and nodded.
"Alright. I got this."
"See, I knew you'd come through for us!" Mina said with a grin.
"Let's hope it pays off." Deku said. Only time would tell if his strategy would turn out to be the right one...