Chapter 5

Decisive Battle - Scary Monsters Part 2

What was once a somewhat nice clearing amidst the thick forest trees had evolved into a giant battlefield. Littered all around were broken trees and craters, with bushes stomped to paste and some trees even uprooted.

Responsible for this carnage was none other than Itsuka Kendo, utilizing her quirk to the best of her abilities, relentlessly smashing her adversary into a fine paste. This adversary happened to be her friend Mashirao Ojiro, who found himself unwillingly locked in combat against her.

"Snap out of it, Kendo!" he yelled in frustration. This cat and mouse game had dragged on for far too long. He had no clue what was going on with his friend, but he was convinced that something wasn't right in her head at the moment.

"Indiscriminate shock!" Ojiro heard with half an ear, pinpointing the source immediately. His relief was palpable that Tetsutetsu was by his side; he was certain he couldn't fend off both of them without inflicting serious harm, mirroring the damage they were attempting to impose on him.

A strained grunt of pain emanated from the silver-haired boy. Ordinarily, electricity wouldn't even tickle him, but constantly maintaining his quirk had drained his energy rapidly. Currently, only about 70% of his body was shielded by the steel that would normally mitigate harm.

A maniacal laughter erupted from Kaminari's lips. "Hahahaha! Is that all you've got?! Better to die than let a weakling like you roam this planet— Urk!" His taunting was abruptly cut short by a steel-covered right hook from Tetsutetsu.

"Shut up and stay down!" the teenager screamed in a blend of anger and concern. The other boy's body was launched several meters before crashing onto the unforgiving ground.

"Heheheeh-AHAHAHAHAHA!" Tetsutetsu uttered a curse under his breath upon witnessing Kaminari rise once again.

"What on earth is wrong with you?!" He was absolutely justified in his bewilderment; Kaminari's body appeared utterly battered, his adversary far outmatching him in physical prowess.

Despite this, he rose yet again. His hands were now openly bleeding, his mouth not merely missing a single tooth, and his once-yellow training suit marred by splotches of dirty brown.

Tetsutetsu was fairly certain he had broken one or more ribs in his fury, yet he persisted in standing tall.

"Wrong with me? I should— blarghh!" A stream of vomit, tainted with blood, surged forth from the teen in the midst of his words, staining his training suit in his own crimson.

Tetsutetsu could only gape in a blend of horror and disgust. "Alright! Points don't matter anymore, you win, man! Just let me call a nurse!" He hurriedly manipulated his watch, attempting to summon a nurse who would hopefully arrive in time.

Almost instantly after his plea, Kaminari's body crumpled like a marionette with severed strings, collapsing onto the ground.

"A Nurse Bot will promptly reach your location. The process will not exceed a few minutes!" The robotic voice from his watch offered reassurance, prompting Tetsutetsu to exhale a sigh of relief before recollecting that he was not alone.

Swiftly turning his attention, he found his new teammate sprawled bloodied on the ground, with the girl poised to deliver a crushing blow.

"No, stop! We surrender!" he shrieked, sprinting toward both of them. Remarkably, as soon as the words escaped him, the girl's stance wavered, her colossal hands, once poised to crush Ojiro, faltering uncertainly.

It culminated in their abrupt collapse behind her, her body following suit. With a resounding "Thump," she lay supine, utterly unconscious. The precise reason for her sudden cessation at his command eluded Tetsutetsu, yet relief flooded over him regardless.

Kneeling swiftly beside Ojiro, he assessed the damage, only to discover him fully aware.

His breathing came heavily, his visage smeared with blood of unknown origin, and his attire smudged and soiled. Nevertheless, he was intact.

"Is it over?" he whispered faintly.

Rather than replying, the silver-haired boy allowed himself to crumple, reclining beside Ojiro.

"Heh… Hehehe… Hehehehehehehe—" What commenced as a leisurely chuckle from Tetsutetsu, joined by Ojiro, burgeoned into an uproarious laughter, akin to Kaminari's earlier mirth.

The two of them persisted in their laughter, even as the nurse bots arrived, tending to Kaminari before conveying him away.

"You sure you don't want one?" Tetsutetsu asked for the fifth time, holding out a headband toward Mashirao, who was busy using Tetsutetsu's shirt to tie up Kendo's legs.

"No, I'm not here for points... yet. And I can't take them anyway, remember? I'm on a team," Mashirao quickly replied while focusing on securing Kendo's legs with his own shirt.

"Yeah, but it doesn't feel right if I'm the only one taking them," Tetsutetsu responded with the same answer as before. Mashirao just sighed. "Listen, if you really want, you can meet up with my team and give the headband to Izuku. He can use it."

Tetsutetsu's determined smile in response was intense. "Okay, looks like we're teaming up a little longer!"

"Not a problem," Mashirao added with a smile, impressed by Tetsutetsu's earlier display of combat skills. His smile disappeared abruptly when he heard Kendo stirring.

They both jumped a few meters away into fighting stances, watching in silence as Kendo slowly regained consciousness.

"What... what happened?" she mumbled groggily before her eyes widened in horror as she looked around, realizing she was tied up.

"Kendo?" Mashirao called out cautiously. His words seemed to snap her out of her panic as she froze, like a statue in shock. Slowly, her gaze moved upward, her expression stuck in complete and utter disbelief.

"Ojiro..." she whispered softly before breaking down into tears.

Honestly surprised and a bit taken aback by the sudden shift, both teens could only watch in astonishment as the girl who had moments ago been eager to crush him broke down in front of them, apologizing repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry... hic... I'm so sorry..." The words were said over and over for about half a minute, leaving the boys just standing there, unsure of how to react. Snapping out of his daze, Mashirao quickly approached her, untying her restraints in a hurry.

Tetsutetsu stood awkwardly by, feeling a bit out of place, as the girl enveloped his temporary teammate in a tight, emotional hug.

After a few minutes of Kendo gradually calming down, Mashirao managed to free himself from her grasp, his shoulder now damp. Kendo used her sleeves to wipe away the last traces of tears on her cheeks, saying, "I-I don't know what got into us..."

"Trying to kill us, that's what," Tetsutetsu muttered under his breath. Mashirao did his best to further comfort her, saying, "It's okay, Kendo. I can tell you didn't mean it. I hope..." he added cautiously.

"Absolutely not!" she quickly reassured, getting back on her feet, which mildly surprised the other teenager. "I was so angry for no reason," she explained, earning a nod of reassurance from Mashirao and a raised eyebrow of curiosity from Tetsutetsu.

"Um, I don't mean to alarm you, but I'm still looking for my teammate."

"Oh, right. Come on, I'll help you," she said, gesturing for them to follow. Both of them, albeit one somewhat reluctantly, complied.

The three of them strolled leisurely through the forest, each lost in their own thoughts. Mashirao was busy mulling over his fight and how he had been easily defeated. Kendo was also lost in contemplation, focusing more on her own state of mind than anything else. And as for Tetsutetsu…

"Kaminari Denki has arrived at the medical tent, Team Kendo loses one member." A mechanical voice came out of Kendo's watch, gaining her attention.

"Um, Kendo?" the silver-haired boy cautiously spoke. Her nod indicated her attention was on him now. "About your teammate, Kaminari... I'm sorry," he awkwardly expressed his regret for how badly he had roughed up her teammate.

"No, no, it's okay. He was acting crazy like me during the fight. I only met him today in the cafeteria, but he seemed a lot more composed than what you saw, so again, I apologize for earlier, for the both of us," she said, offering another apology.

"It's fine, really. No one got..." He stopped suddenly.

"Blerghh!"

An awkward silence hung over the group, noticed only by Kendo as Mashirao was too lost in thought to sense the change in atmosphere. "Are you okay, Tetsutetsu?" she asked with concern after he abruptly halted mid-sentence.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm good," he dismissed.

The rest of the walk continued in silence until the trio eventually reached a clearing.

"You can come out, they're allies," she called out loudly into the bushes. In response to her words, two more individuals emerged from the surrounding vegetation.

One was another silver-haired boy, similar to Tetsutetsu's hair, although he was more chubby, wearing a tracksuit resembling the one worn by the girl Mashirao had met earlier. The other person had a unique mutation, with blade-like appendages sprouting from his cheeks. His green hair and unusual head shape gave him an insect-like appearance.

"Ojiro and Tetsutetsu, meet Shoda and Kamakiri. Shoda and Kamakiri, this is Ojiro and Tetsutetsu," she introduced the groups to each other.

"Who are they?" Shoda asked with concern.

"Why does this guy have our headbands?!" Kamakiri's voice boomed, his surprise mingled with accusation.

"In short, they defeated us both, and Kaminari needed medical attention. That means we're on our own now," Kendo quickly explained, locking eyes intensely with Kamakiri.

"Yeah, we've also got the message from our watches." Confirmed Shoda.

"You got beaten?" Surprise was evident on Kamakiri's face, his eyes narrowing as if searching for any sign of deception. Kendo simply nodded. "Tsk," was Kamakiri's only response.

Mashirao interjected, his tone slightly awkward. "My, uh, teammate."

Kendo turned her attention toward him once more, her voice apologetic. "Ah, I'm sorry." She then offered an explanation, addressing her team members. "You see, Ojiro here is a friend of mine, and the girl we've been bringing with us is his teammate."

Kamakiri briefly retreated into the foliage before reemerging, accompanied by another figure.

A palpable sense of relief spread across Ojiro's countenance as his eyes fell upon his missing comrade. "Let go now!" Said figure yelled towards her captor.

Kamakiri complied, relinquishing his grip on her hands that he had held captive, his demeanor remaining disinterested. The girl, taken aback by the abrupt turn of events, stumbled down onto her knees, her body unprepared for the sudden release. Fortunately, Mashirao was quick to react, extending his arms to catch the falling girl just in time.

"Komori!" Mashirao exclaimed, his voice infused with palpable relief.

There was a pause from the newly arrived figure as she stared blankly at him.

"Who?"

…

Mashirao directed his gaze downward, his attention fixed on the girl nestled within his arms. As he examined her features more closely, a moment of stunned realization washed over him. While her hair bore a striking resemblance in color and style to that of Komori's, there were distinct deviations that set her apart.

Unlike Komori, her hair wasn't covering her eyes, and his teammate also didn't have a constant blush on her cheeks. He also couldn't help but notice, a bit embarrassed, that her figure was feeling appreciably more endowed than what he remembered from their escape of that monster.

In his shock he abruptly let go of her and without anything to support her the girl fell face first into the ground.

"Smooth." Kamakiri commented.

"I'm really sorry!" Mashirao apologized once again to the girl who introduced herself as Uraraka Ochako. Uraraka's blush deepened as she felt a bit bashful about the repeated apologies.

"Don't worry, it's okay. It didn't hurt that much," she reassured him once more.

Kendo couldn't help but experience a sense of déjà vu.

"So, what's the deal? She's not your teammate?" Tetsutetsu questioned, a clear expression of confusion on his face. Ojiro simply shook his head. "No, Komori has her hair covering her eyes and doesn't have Uraraka's blush." A faint blush appeared on Ojiro's cheeks as he recalled another distinction.

"Well, I was pretty sure she was your teammate. I mean, small with brown hair," Tetsutetsu remarked, gesturing vaguely in her direction.

"I'm not that small," Uraraka pouted in response.

Mashirao let out a sigh and laid down, feeling a mixture of frustration and exhaustion. One teammate was still missing, and they had no leads on her whereabouts. He couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't come up with a plan for such a situation, like what to do if they got separated. Should he venture to the meeting point on his own? But what if Komori was actually safe and waiting somewhere for him? The whole situation was wearing him down.

"So, what's the plan now?" Tetsutetsu directed his question toward the prone form of Mashirao. "Are we going to keep searching for your friend?"

Mashirao let out a defeated sigh. "We don't have many options at this point." He got to his feet, brushing off stray grass that clung to his shirt. "The problem is, that was my only lead. It doesn't make sense – the area I discovered earlier was like a battlefield, covered in mushrooms..." he pondered aloud.

"Battleground?" Shoda's confusion was evident. "I don't want to diminish your skills," he turned toward Tetsutetsu, "but when we encountered those two earlier, it didn't exactly look like a battleground at the end. Maybe there were a few snapped branches or bushes, at most."

"Yeah, but... there were craters everywhere," Mashirao's gaze shifted toward Kendo, who blushed under his scrutiny. "L-look, I still don't understand what happened earlier, but usually, I control my attacks to avoid leaving craters."

"Maybe we should revisit that location? We still have..." His teammate checked his watch, "4 hours and 40 minutes left on the clock." Mashirao nodded in agreement.

"Uhm, before you go, could I maybe go with you?" Uraraka, who had remained quiet until now, looked up with a hopeful expression. She gestured slightly to her left, where Kamakiri stood, his disinterested demeanor unchanged.

"Don't you have a team?" Ojiro asked, his surprise evident. "Oh, sorry, that came out wrong." He quickly added.

Uraraka sighed softly, her voice tinged with a hint of regret. "It's okay, really. The truth is, nobody needed me anymore. I was so conflicted about which team to join that there wasn't a spot left for me anywhere." She spoke with a touch of self-consciousness.

Tetsutetsu, with a bright smile, interjected energetically. "Why not join my team then!? I guarantee we'll be the manliest team around!"

Uraraka's eyes widened. "Manly? But I'm a girl!"

Tetsutetsu's enthusiasm remained undeterred. "Being the manliest goes beyond gender!"

As Mashirao stifled a chuckle at Tetsutetsu's attempt to convince Uraraka to join his team, Kendo approached him and tapped his shoulder.

"It looks like we're going separate ways now. Sorry for not finding your teammate," Kendo expressed regretfully.

"No need to apologize. It's all right. Good luck with the rest of the exam," Mashirao replied.

"Same to you!" Kendo called out as she and her remaining teammate swiftly departed, presumably on a quest to find an exit from the forest.

Waving his friend off he turned towards his own temporary team for the moment, seeing both of them still in a heated debate.

"Will being manly really make me stronger?" Uraraka inquired with a sense of curiosity.

"Even better, it'll make you a more manly person,"

Uraraka seemed a bit puzzled. "But how do you become manly?"

"It's simple! By just being manly!"

"..."

Mashirao found himself unable to contain his chuckle. "Okay, let's not get too caught up in that. Come on, we need to hurry. We only have 4 hours left."

"It must be here somewhere," Ojiro murmured and led the trio through the forest. Uraraka had kindly been given permission to join their group in the search.

Ojiro's voice sounded full of certainty as he pointed ahead. "There." He pointed to a broken tree trunk and quickened his pace, soon leading them to the familiar battlefield he had stumbled upon earlier. Tetsutetsu's astonishment was palpable. "Wow, now that's what I call a battlefield."

Uraraka nodded enthusiastically, her approval evident. The clearing was characterised by massive trees that had been uprooted seemingly effortlessly, craters of considerable size scattered throughout, and an array of clearly non-native fungi sprouting from the ground, trees and various surfaces.

Mashirao's mind was still struggling with the question that had been plaguing him: who could have abducted Komori, and for what reason? It remained a mystery. The thought of one participant attacking another without a headband seemed strange to him, unless he simply wanted to pick a fight.

A realisation occurred to him. "Uraraka, do you know why Kendo's team took you?" he inquired, turning to the cheerful girl who was currently crouching in front of a mushroom patch, apparently contemplating a taste.

"Uh, well," Uraraka began, placing her finger thoughtfully against her cheek. "Actually, they never really told me why. They just dragged me along, and ... um ... they threatened to beat me up if I didn't cooperate." She was shaking, a hint of fear in her voice.

Suddenly Tetsutetsu appeared in front of her, two mushrooms between his teeth, producing an exaggerated grin reminiscent of a sabre-toothed tiger. His tongue hung out in a playful grimace.

Caught off guard, Uraraka stumbled backwards and landed on the floor, laughing at the comical sight of Tetsutetsu. Tetsutetsu wore a grin of his own, his demeanor warm and friendly. "You should laugh more, it suits you," he remarked, his grin transitioning into a kind-hearted smile.

Uraraka's laughter abruptly ceased, and she turned away from Tetsutetsu. "R-really?" she stammered, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

"Absolutely! Your laughter is like, super manly!" Tetsutetsu enthusiastically declared, prompting a snort from Mashirao at Uraraka's somewhat bewildered expression. However, Mashirao quickly redirected his focus back to the battlefield.

"Hey, Tetsutetsu—"

"Actually, you guys can just call me Tetsu!" he interjected cheerfully.

"Tetsu, then," Mashirao continued, "did you have your fight with Kendo here?"

Tetsutetsu appeared momentarily taken aback before he scanned their surroundings with a growing sense of recognition. Confusion lingered on his face before a spark of realization illuminated his features. "Yeah... yeah, that girl and I fought here before we were ambushed. I can tell you for sure that it didn't look like this before or after our fight."

Mashirao's curiosity persisted. "Do you think your fight was loud?"

"Huh?"

"I get it!" Uraraka exclaimed, her fist meeting her open palm with emphasis. "If our fight was loud enough to attract attention, maybe Mashirao's teammate came to investigate. Perhaps after we left, she emerged from hiding, and someone else who had been drawn by the commotion took her!" She concluded, her expression proud.

Ojiro affirmed her deduction. "Exactly what I was thinking," he confirmed, causing Uraraka's cheeks to puff up with pride.

"But who?" Tetsutetsu questioned, his brow furrowed as he mentally revisited Uraraka's explanation. "Yeah, I haven't come across anyone or any team capable of causing this much destruction, except for Kendo's," Uraraka mused.

Ojiro's blood ran cold, a creeping sense of dread settling in his stomach. His complexion turned pale, and a chilling realization dawned on him.

"I did..."

Man oh man, you're eating good tonight won't you dear readers? Anyway, I wanted to finally finish Ojiro's and Komori's arc so we can finally go to Manga, which will be much shorter trust me, before finally going to Izuku's arc and then we are done witht he entrance exams.

Last Chapter of Scary Monsters tomorrow… well today for me since it's midnight, but eh…

Cheers!

(For anyone confused why Kendo and Kaminari attacked, I guess they were feeling manly ;) )