While Kyouka, Shoto, and Katsuki were dealing with Muscular, other students faced their own adversaries.
Shoji was heavily panting as a few of his arms were severed, blood dripping down from them. He was hiding behind a thick tree, leaning his back against it.
"Are you okay, Aoyama?" Shoji looked down at Aoyama, who was crouching down in front of him while lightly whimpering. "No cuts on you?"
Aoyama's entire body was trembling as he held himself. "Non, but please worry about yourself. Look at your arms…"
"I'll be fine. My arms can regenerate as long as I have the originals. Only the duplicates were severed. So, no permanent damage here." Shoji gave Aoyama a smile from under his mask. It was obviously a pained smile, but he did his best to work through it. "I only got one good hit on that guy. But it was enough to temporarily discombobulate him so we could hide. But this villain has the instincts of a hunter. I feel we're one wrong move away from being found again..."
"I'm sorry, Shoji. I'm so sorry…" Aoyama continued to apologize under his breath, tears welling up in his eyes as he held himself tighter, but Shoji just placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, you don't have to apologize for my state. I managed to protect you and you don't have a scratch on your body, do you? I call that a success." Shoji let out a quiet groan as he closed his eyes for a second. "But I'd be lying if I said this doesn't hurt like crazy…If you're really that sorry, then pay me back with a soda when we get back."
Aoyama nodded, wiping away his tears as he tried to force a smile. "Oui…A soda."
However, their luck of being able to stay hidden wouldn't last for long as both boys felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. They both slowly turned their heads to be met with the sight of their hunter.
It was a man whose entire body was wrapped in a black straight jacket, the only exposed part of his body being his mouth, which was being held wide open by metal clamps.
Drool was dripping from this man's mouth as his teeth extended into razor-sharp blades that went into the ground, slowly lifting his body up with these blades. "More flesh…Give more flesh…Break from work…"
'I didn't even hear him approach us! How quiet can he be?!'
Shoji's eyes widened as he glanced at the ground, seeing a trail of blood that came from his severed arms. He internally cursed himself for being so careless and not trying to cover up his tracks.
"More flesh!" The villain's teeth extended into multiple blades, shooting at the two teens.
Shoji shoved Aoyama away, ready to take every single blade himself. He felt that he was the only one who deserved to get killed, knowing that it was his fault that they were caught.
His life flashed before his eyes, seeing the blades come at him in slow motion, not noticing a fourth person entering the scene.
"Smash!" Izuku drop-kicked the flat side of the blades, shattering them in an instant.
Shards of metal fell to the ground as Izuku landed, holding a phone in hand.
"Did he really have to hang up on me?" Izuku frowned at his phone before pocketing it and keeping his eyes trained on the villain in front of him.
Izuku slowly reached for his necklace, soon feeling that Kyouka's heartbeat was much lower than it was before. Then that must mean that she's doing fine. Even if she isn't, then she's definitely in a better state than she was before.
Even though he had no way to confirm Kota's well-being, he had faith that Kyouka had managed to keep him safe.
For the first time in a long time, he truly felt grateful for Katsuki, and that he was able to help those two.
He wished that he could hear their voices as well, but he'll take what he can get. He can't afford to be too selfish in this kind of situation.
"Midoriya?" Shoji's voice called out to him.
Izuku just smiled while not taking his eyes off the villain. "Are you okay, Shoji? You're not too hurt, are you? I only took a look at you for a second, but I saw how injured you were. What about Aoyama?"
Shoji shook his head. "I'll be fine. And Aoyama doesn't have a scratch on him." He groaned, starting to step forward. "Let me help you fight this guy…"
"Wait, Shoji! You're in no state to battle!" Aoyama grabbed Shoji to try to stop him, but he was starting to get dragged into the fight himself.
Shoji had no intention of stopping. He had to at least contribute in some way instead of being a simple bystander. Not while Izuku is willing to protect him.
Izuku held his arm out, signaling Shoji to stop. "Please, give yourself some rest."
"Don't think I can handle myself, Midoriya?" Shoji asked with a pained chuckle. "I can-Urgh…I can still fight…"
"Shoji, don't. I'm asking you as a friend to not step in this fight. I know you're strong, but I don't want to take any risks. I can tell you won't be able to fight at 100%. Besides, I've seen this guy on the news before. He's an escaped death row convict." Izuku explained as the villain kept drooling, not moving an inch yet. "His face may be covered up, but the quirk is familiar from the reports I heard. He goes by the alias Moonfish."
"You…on list…Can have your flesh…" Moonfish groaned out, looking down at Izuku, drooling more than he did before, suddenly firing blades at the boy at high speeds.
Izuku's eyes widened as he used 15% to barely jump away in time, but he didn't have any time to recover as Moonfish fired even more blades in Izuku's direction.
Izuku had to dodge them again and again, cutting it close each time. Those blades were much faster than he expected them to be.
Unfortunately, he's never actually seen Moonfish fight due to the news not covering his encounter with other heroes. So, he has no clue of any actual weaknesses this guy may have.
All he knew was that it took multiple heroes to stop him, one of them getting killed and a few others hospitalized. It took Endeavor finally arriving on the scene to stop him.
He had to think about what he could do. From the looks of it, there's no way he can get up close and attack Moonfish with a punch or kick. He could use a 100% Delaware Smash on him, but what would that even take him out?
If it doesn't, then that would just leave him a broken finger, and that might cost him more than a finger if he messes it up.
For now, he'll keep that as a last resort, and he'll keep using a 100% Detroit Smash as a last resort.
'Maybe this could work!' After dodging another set of blades, Izuku pulled back his leg, starting to channel 20% of One For All into it.
"St. Louis Smash!" Izuku delivered a powerful kick toward the villain, firing a strong gust of wind at him.
Moonfish dodged the attack by quickly extending his teeth even more, pushing his body higher into the air. The blades under him shattered from the attack, but as he fell, he immediately shot more blades into the ground, catching himself as if nothing happened.
The villain continued to fire blades toward Izuku, forcing the boy to go back on the defensive.
'Dammit, that barely did anything.' Izuku felt the pain from using 20% throughout his leg, so he opted to use his other leg to jump to give his hurt leg a rest. 'There's no point in using that much power if it's not going to hit him. But if he dodged, then that means that the attack will likely hurt him. Looks like my goal will be to find an opportunity where he's open to attack. Now there's the question of how I'll get that opportunity. A villain like this isn't so easily distracted or caught off guard. Think, Izuku…Think!'
He knew that one wrong move would result in his death. He couldn't afford to make a single slip-up. The only reason he managed to not get killed with his earlier attack was because Moonfish was busy catching himself. But that took him only a few seconds to do.
For a moment, Izuku thought about how he ended up in this situation. But it's not like he had any regrets about how he got here.
Flashback
"What's exactly going on out there?" Sero asked himself, looking out the window and seeing all the smoke from the forest. "Not a single person has come back since Mandalay's message about the villains. I'm getting stressed out of my mind over here."
"Dammit, I wish we weren't stuck in here." Kirishima slammed his fist against the wall. "We should be able to go out there and help them. For all we know, our friends could be facing some seriously dangerous villains while we're just twiddling our thumbs."
Izuku had a tight grip on his phone, seeing that Kyouka was at Kota's hiding spot and that her heart rate was skyrocketing. If she's not leaving the area right away with Kota, then they must've run into a villain and are unable to run away.
He wanted to break out of this room right now, so he could help them before it was too late. He can't just sit by and do nothing while the lives of his best friend and this child are in danger.
The stress on his face was very apparent, and Monoma saw this before he leaned back in his seat. "Forget it. There's no use stressing about the situation. You guys from Class A sure love to be overdramatic."
"Are you telling me you're not worried about your classmates even though there are villains scampering around? You must be one heartless dude." Kaminari scoffed, sitting next to Monoma and bumping his shoulder with his own.
"Of course I'm worried." Monoma glared at Kaminari, making a fist as he pressed it against the table. "But people like us can't do anything to help. We're spectators. If I had a bigger role, I would do everything in my power to help. But I can't. We don't all have crazy powers to fight villains with."
"Sounds like your own damn problem." Katsuki walked past Monoma and was now standing in a corner with his hand on the wall. "Thank god I don't have to deal with that, cause there's no way I'm letting those morons have all the fun."
A strong explosion was then fired from his hand, creating a hole in the wall. Katsuki jumped out of the hole and everyone, including Vlad, was stunned by these actions. But there was one boy who was ready to follow.
"Guess we're doing this now…" Izuku sighed, pretending to be disappointed by this course of action, but in reality, he was glad this happened as he jumped after his old friend.
"Whoo! Let's blow this popsicle stand!" Mina raised her fist as she and a few others tried to follow along.
"No one else is leaving!" Vlad rushed toward the hole and slammed his hand against the wall before a wall of hardened blood was created, sealing the hole before any else could make it out. "Eraser isn't going to like this…"
Meanwhile, Izuku and Katsuki were running toward the forest before Katsuki looked behind himself. "Why were you the only one who followed me?! Get outta here!"
"You're the one who said to get out for action!"
"That didn't include you!"
"Of course it didn't!"
"To hell with it! No use complaining now!"
"Then why did you star-You know what, nevermind! Okay, how about I go left, and you go right?! I need to make it to a cliff over there!" Izuku faced the direction of where his best friend and Kota were.
"Fuck you, I'm going left! You go right!" Katsuki barked at Izuku and turned to where his old friend was facing.
"W-Wait, let me be the one to-"
BOOM
Before he could finish, Katsuki used a strong explosion to send himself flying toward the direction of the cliff.
Izuku stopped running and sweatdropped as he saw Katsuki flying away, knowing there was no way to stop him now. "That's the spirit…"
His eyes widened, realizing that Katsuki would be the one to take care of Kyouka and Kota. Sure, he did have faith in his old friend's strength, but leaving the lives of his best friend and a child in his explosive hands didn't give the best feeling.
He touched his necklace, feeling Kyouka's heartbeat skyrocketing as his hand wrapped around the pendant.
Izuku tightened his hold on the pendant as he contemplated following behind Katsuki to confirm Kyouka and Kota's safety with his own eyes, but he shook his head, knowing that he'd be leaving behind whoever might need his help over on the right.
He had to admit that as rash and reckless as Katsuki is, he's strong, and he'll do whatever he can to defeat any villain that crosses his path in order to win.
Izuku then let go of his necklace and continued to run into the forest.
What he didn't notice was that mere seconds after he let go of his necklace, it was pulsating faster than ever before.
Ochako and Tenya were holding their breath as they had barely made it out of the gas in time, both taking in a long inhale to get some fresh air back.
Ochako was carrying the two unconscious, weightless bodies of Pony and Kojiro.
Tenya was carrying Reiko, who took in a long inhale as well after holding her breath. The girl was also using her quirk to carry the weightless body of Shoda before carefully setting him down.
Reiko then hopped off of Tenya's arms and she looked behind herself to see where the gas ended. "The gas doesn't seem to be spreading. Creepy."
As a test, the girl closed her eyes and attempted to use her quirk on the gas to see if she could manipulate it, but it was to avail as the shape of the gas was still the same.
'That sucks. So, I can't manipulate liquids or gasses.'
"I apologize that we couldn't save the rest of your classmates in time! I beg for your forgiveness!" Tenya bowed down, making a 90-degree angle with his body.
Reiko physically cringed, shaking her head. "No, please lift your head up, Iida. You did what you could." She leaned over to Ochako, whispering. "His intensity is frightening."
Ochako smiled at her, whispering back. "You get used to it."
Tenya straightened his body before looking back at the gas. "I worry for whoever might still be stuck in there. It frustrates me that we're safe while any of Class A or B may be in there, suffering the effects from the gas."
Ochako crossed her arms. "I understand, but I don't think there's much we can do in there without any protect-" As if the universe heard her, a disembodied pair of shorts came floating towards them with 3 gas masks hooked on the belt. "God?"
"It's Tokage." Reiko approached the shorts, unhooking and taking the gas masks before the shorts went into the gas. "Where'd she get these masks though?"
She handed one to Tenya as he examined it. "Yaoyorozu must've used her quirk to create these gas masks." He tightly gripped the mask. "I sincerely hope that Asui and Koda received masks themselves. But there's also the possibility that it got to them too late."
Ochako looked at her friend, whose face was so easy to read, before placing her hand on his arm and smiling at him. "You should go, Iida. We don't know how many people in the gas need help. And with your speed, you can help anyone who may be stuck in there."
"Are you sure, Uraraka? Are you and Yanagi comfortable continuing on by yourselves?" Tenya looked at the two girls with concern.
"C'mon, Iida, you don't take us for a couple of helpless damsels, do you?" Ochako teased with a smirk.
"I would never! Man or woman, we students of the hero course are plenty capable of handling our own dilemmas when required! I was merely showing concern and caution!" Tenya chopped the air in a panicked motion.
"Pfft, just messing with you!" Ochako bursted out laughing while giving Tenya constant gentle smacks to his back.
Ochako's antics earned a small chuckle from Reiko as she placed her hand on the other girl's back. "There's no need to be concerned, Iida. If push comes to shove, I'll do my best to protect Uraraka."
"Uh-huh! We'll make a great team, Yanagi!" Ochako smiled widely as she raised her hand. "I'll protect you too!"
Reiko jumped from the sudden enthusiasm before giving Ochako a weak high five. "Mhm. Yeah…"
"In that case, I wish you two the best of luck. Please, do your best to stay out of danger. I'll meet back with you as soon as I'm able to." Tenya put on his gas mask as he grabbed the three unconscious, weightless students. "Farewell for now."
Tenya got into a running position as his engines revved up. With that, he ran deep into the forest with a clear goal in mind: Rescue whoever he can from the gas and get them to safety.
The two girls watched him leave before Ochako turned to face the path ahead of them. "You ready?"
Reiko faced the path as well, nodding with a slight tremble in her legs. "I am. But I'll admit that I'm a little scared."
"So am I." Ochako gave her a thumbs up. "But a little fear never killed anyone, right?"
"Technically, that's not true and people have died from-"
"Away with fear!" Ochako shouted out with her fists in the air as she ran down the path.
Reiko's eyes widened, not wanting to be left alone, as she followed after the other girl.
'But I'm honestly a little excited to see if there are any horrors before us. I just pray that we survive whatever those horrors may be.'
Ibara was running through the center of the forest, having no idea where to find anyone from her class or from class A. She was wearing a gas mask that she grabbed from Momo a few minutes ago, who immediately ran off to find more students.
But having this mask on filled her with guilt, knowing that those she left behind were knocked out by the gas. The reason she's still conscious in the first place is because of Tsuyu.
After she and Kuroiro managed to scare Tsuyu and Koda, mostly Koda, the gas came in, knocking Kuroiro first. Ibara was about to attempt to use her vines to move Tsuyu and Koda as far as possible, but Tsuyu beat her to the punch by wrapping her tongue around Ibara's body and throwing her as far as possible away from the gas.
Tsuyu told Ibara to run as far as she could and try to get any help from either the teachers or any of their classmates.
When she turned around, she saw that Tsuyu and Koda were already knocked out, so she just ran away from the gas as fast as she could while holding her breath. She was lucky that she managed to get a gas mask before she couldn't hold it in anymore.
But now that she was safe in the gas while still enveloped in it, she was lost on what to do. She thought about spreading her vines around to find someone, but with the spreading fire and the potential of a villain using the vines to find their way to her, it wasn't worth the risk.
So now all she could do was blindly run around this gas until she could somehow manage to find somebody.
Ibara clasped her hands together and closed her eyes while continuing to run, starting to send out a prayer to those she left behind. With this prayer, their chances of being safe at the end of the night will surely increase.
As she finished up her prayer, she bumped hard into someone, forcing her and whoever she bumped into to fall to the ground.
They were both on guard, Tokoyami releasing Dark Shadow, whose body was larger than usual, and Ibara's hair rising up. They were ready to attack until they got a look at each other, deactivating their respective quirks as they stood up.
Ibara sighed in relief at seeing a friendly face as she placed her hand on her chest. "Tokoyami, correct?"
Tokoyami nodded, adjusting his gas mask a little. "Yes. And you're Shiozaki."
Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami with a mean look on his face as he punched the air multiple times. "I'm itchin' for a fight, Fumikage! I can kick anyone's ass right now!" He then got up all in Ibara's face. "I'll take you down!"
"Calm yourself, Dark Shadow." Tokoyami scolded his partner as a beat of sweat rolled down his head. "Excuse him. In this darkness combined with our more than stressful situation, he's rowdier than usual. To be truthful, it's a little tiring to keep him at bay."
"It's quite alright." Ibara gave a warm smile as she patted Dark Shadow's head. "I can understand his emotions."
Dark Shadow blushed before backing away, his fists still up. "You're weird, lady! Don't touch me like that! Let's leave her behind to rot!"
Ibara lightly giggled. "Maybe what you need is a prayer to soothe your soul."
"Apologies, but we don't-" However, Tokoyami's protests fell on deaf ears as Ibara gently grabbed Tokoyami and Dark Shadow's hands.
"Nonsense. No matter your beliefs, I believe a good prayer can calm anyone down. As long as you're open to it, that is." Ibara closed her eyes. "In these trying times, we must have faith that we will be guided to a safe destination. If it helps, try thinking about what's precious to you and maybe reminding yourself how blessed you are for having those precious things."
With that, Ibara began to pray in her mind with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow looking at each other with a confused expression, but they both decided to play along and closed their eyes as well.
Even though they only occasionally pray when they're at a shrine, it couldn't hurt to think about what's precious to them.
As they reminded themselves of these simple things, Tokoyami's heart rate lowered at a steady pace, while Dark Shadow's body slowly shrank to its normal size.
After Ibara finished her prayer, she slowly released the hands she was holding, still smiling at them. "How was that?"
Dark Shadow lowered his head in shame. "Sorry for being rude earlier…"
"You were only rude because you and Tokoyami were feeling overwhelmed by our current situation. That is no fault of yours." Ibara started to pat Dark Shadow's head again, but he happily accepted the head pats this time.
"Hm, I'm impressed." Tokoyami placed his hand on his chest to feel his steadier heartbeat. "I can't say I'll necessarily pray when I need to calm down, but your method of thinking about what's precious to me helped."
"I'm glad to hear that." Ibara was still patting Dark Shadow's head. "Now that we're all calm and have our heads straight, perhaps we can work as one to find some of our classmates."
Tokoyami nodded. "Mhm. It might be wise for the two of us to-"
BDROOM
Ibara raised an eyebrow at that sound. "Bdroom?"
Setsuna and Yui were still going deeper into the gas as it got thicker and thicker the further they ran.
To prepare, she split apart her head and torso before beginning to split her limbs into pieces.
Okay, this can wor-
BLAM
A bullet was shot straight at Setsuna, but it hit her entire left leg as it detached from her body, which fell straight to the ground, motionless and dead.
"Setsuna?!" Yui gasped, almost falling to the ground in shock, but managed to stay standing up.
"I'm fine! It got my leg when it detached! Sucks I couldn't split it into pieces first!"
'Thank god I detached my hip from my leg, or I would've been left without any bottoms. I ain't going commando tonight! Not in that kind of mood!'
"That didn't go as planned! Was hoping to leave you immobilized, but your freak show of a quirk didn't let that happen! Let's see if her quirk does the same!" A voice shouted from a little deeper into the gas. The voice sounded like it belonged to a boy around their age, and it sounded like he was wearing a gas mask of his own.
He then aimed his gun at Yui, but when he fired his bullet, the bullet was blocked by a disembodied hand along with a couple of extra pieces of disembodied flesh from various body parts.
"Leave her out of this, weirdo!" Setsuna glared toward where she heard the voice.
'Looks find we found our gas culprit. And he's got a gun too. With gas this thick, there's no way his accuracy could be that good. Either he's really lucky or he can somehow feel what's going on in this gas. Okay…'
"What, you think you have some authority over me?! You entitled asses like you always have to look down on others, don't you?! That's why you deserve to die!" The villain who was known as Mustard reloaded his gun before preparing to shoot at Yui again, but he felt dozens of figures in his gas, all moving very sporadically. "Huh?! Why's there so many of you?!"
"Sorry, not listening!" Setsuna said right above his head, making him shoot straight up, but only a shoe fell on his head. "One inch off! I bet you'd know about being an inch or three down, huh?"
"Shut up!" Mustard fired his gun to where he heard the voice again, but it was a hand that dropped in front of him.
Setsuna blew a raspberry to taunt the villain further, resulting in another shot being fired, making a piece of her fall.
"That was my favorite piece, ya know! I had a name for her too!" Another shot was fired that resulted in another piece of her falling. "And that was her twin! Hallie and Annie!"
One last shot was fired, but Mustard heard something heavier fall to the ground this time. He stepped forward to see the back of Setsuna's head lying on the ground, completely still.
"That's what you get!" Mustard kicked the head, sending it rolling away like a ball, as he laughed with absolute glee. "You thought distracting me would make me run out of bullets so you can take me down with your bare hands! But you were too damn cocky! I bet an oh-so-great U.A prick wouldn't have ever expected to be outclassed by a commoner!" He walked to where Setsuna's head rolled as he slowly reloaded his gun. "A classic double tap wouldn't hurt…"
While he reloaded, he felt a finger tap his shoulder. As he turned around, a hand touched his gun. The gun suddenly began to grow to an absurd size, until it was too big for him to carry as it fell on his legs, being almost as big as a horse.
"What is this?!" Mustard felt himself panicking as he tried to push the gun off his legs, but it wouldn't budge. "Get this off of me! I can't move!"
As he tried pushing the gun, he heard a voice call out to him from the ground. "You gotta use your knee-Oh yeah. Yeah, you're screwed."
He turned to see the head of Setsuna, blankly staring at him before she winked at him. "Y-You bitch!"
"I think you meant to call me a bad bitch!" Setsuna's head floated up before rocketing itself towards Mustard's head, headbutting him with a lot of force as she glared at him. "That kick hurt, ya know!"
Mustard felt a little dazed from that headbutt, but he tried to reach for that girl's head that was floating right in front of him. He hoped to at least grab her by the hair and slam her head into the tree next to him. That can break the gas mask on her face, and then she'll be completely at his mercy after he gets this oversized gun off of him.
But when his hand got closer to her head, another hand grabbed his. "Huh?"
He looked up to see Yui, the other girl. He completely forgot about her after being so infuriated with Setsuna's taunts and antics. He watched as she placed her hand on his mask, shrinking it until it was as small as a tennis ball.
He closed his mouth, trying to hold his breath with his own gas surrounding him, but he knew he had no choice but to deactivate his quirk. All the gas started to clear the air, making everyone's vision much clearer as well.
Mustard could now see that Yui was holding an enlarged twig like it was a baseball bat, looking like she was ready to beat him with it, so he immediately put his hands up. "I-I s-surrender!"
Yui gave a single nod and slowly lowered her twig, loosening her grip on it as well.
Mustard sighed in relief, but his luck would run out as Setsuna quickly snatched the twig with her teeth and swiftly swung it right on his temple. "I'm still pissed about that damn kick!"
With that hard hit to the head, the villain was knocked out cold, falling back onto the ground.
Setsuna released the twig from her teeth and turned to see Yui giving her a deadpanned stare, clearly judging her for knocking out a defenseless villain. "What? Not like I brutalized him. I knocked him out quick."
But Yui was still giving her the same stare.
Setsuna groaned, rolling her eyes. "Hey, I won't apologize. He kicked me first and shot at me. I call this a fair exchange."
Yui just sighed.
Izuku was panting as he dodged yet another set of blades fired at him. He still hasn't been able to land a single blow against Moonfish.
All he's been doing is dodging and occasionally having to shatter some of the blades when they would get too close for comfort, leaving countless shards of them on the ground.
He internally groaned, almost feeling like he'll have to resort to using his finger and if things get too bad, then he might have to use his entire arm.
He'd rather not break any of his limbs during his first encounter with a villain, but he'd rather have that instead of getting killed right here. He refused to die until he's able to confirm Kyouka and Kota's safety with his own eyes.
After landing on his feet and dodging another set of blades as he heard Mandalay's voice ring in his head. 'Everyone from Class A and Class B, Eraser Head has just granted permission for all of you in the forest to engage in combat! I have also been notified that Izuku Midoriya is on a kill list for the villains! Both he and Katsuki Bakugo have left the facility, so they aren't in a secure location at this moment! Midoriya, please stay safe and try not to take any unnecessary risks! The same goes for the rest of you!'
Izuku sweatdropped at the fact that he was already going against Mandalay's direct order to him, but it's not like he had any regret about it. However, he'll definitely owe her and the rest of the heroes an apology when this is all over.
In a way, he was kind of relieved that he was the only one on a kill list instead of someone else. He found it much easier to deal with when his own life was at the most risk.
But just because he's the only one on a kill list, it doesn't mean his life is the only one in danger, as he just saw a little while ago when Moonfish tried to kill Shoji and Aoyama. So, the faster he finishes up this fight, the better. While still in the air after another dodge, Izuku held out his hand, ready to flick his finger as it glowed.
But before he could flick his finger, he heard a battle cry coming from high above. And it sounded like it came from a girl.
Wait, he knew that voice. It's-
Ochako dropped from the sky, falling like a rock as she used her body weight and momentum to grab Moonfish's head, slamming it hard onto the ground as the blades were forcefully retracted back into his teeth, some blades breaking on impact.
Moonfish was now face down on the ground, lightly groaning in pain as Ochako was sitting on his body, wiping some sweat off her forehead and touching her fingertips together. "And release."
"U-Uraraka?!" Izuku's eyes widened in shock, not expecting Ochako of all people to show up. But his eyes quickly shifted over to the downed Moonfish, seeing an opportunity finally presented itself. "Uraraka, please move out of the way!"
"Got it!" Ochako jumped off Moonfish, getting as far as she can, as she saw Izuku running towards the villain and jumping into the air. "Hit him with all you got, Dekiru!"
Izuku raised his leg before quickly and forcefully bringing it down hard onto Moonfish's head. "20%! Manchester Smash!"
The axe kick resulted in a large cloud of dust being created around where the villain's body was lying, and a loud pained grunt being heard from him.
Izuku jumped out of the dust cloud, his leg hurting more than it did before. Yeah, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to use the same leg for 20% smashes twice in a row.
Right beside him were Ochako and Reiko, the latter girl he expected to see even less than Ochako. While his classmate was congratulating him on landing that hit, he thought he should greet her. "Oh, hello. Yanagi, is it?"
Reiko flashed him a small smile and nodded. "Indeed. And you're the infamous Midoriya who breaks his bones and failed his exam."
Izuku's head dropped as he suddenly felt a wave of shame hit him like a typhoon, sensing no malicious intent from that backhanded comment, so it must mean that she was being sincere with that.
He genuinely wasn't sure if that was better or worse. "Does everyone in Class B see me like that?"
"Don't sweat, Dekiru. I think it's neat to have a reputation as the outlier." Ochako assured him with a sweet smile and raised a finger. "And you know what they say: there's no such thing as bad publicity."
"It's bad publicity when it's not what I want to be known as…" Izuku dropped his head, but the lighthearted atmosphere quickly disappeared as groans were heard from the cloud of dust.
'I was too naive to think that kick could finish him off. A villain who's dangerous enough to be put on death row is bound to be able to tank more than one hit like that.'
Ochako gasped as she grabbed Izuku's shoulder and effortlessly pulled him to the side as blades were fired at where the boy was standing moments ago.
Ochako quickly tapped her fingertips together, releasing her quirk on Izuku before he fully realized what had just happened. The girl sighed in relief. "That was a close one."
Before Izuku could thank her, dozens of blades were fired at them in an irregular pattern, so the boy grabbed both of the girls and jumped out of the way in time, but not without suffering a deep cut to his leg.
And of course, it had to be the leg that was already in pain. Just his luck.
Izuku grit his teeth as he landed and his knee buckled, stalling his ability to dodge again.
He saw blades heading right towards him and the girls and he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge in time.
Looks like he had no choice now.
"Smash!" Izuku flicked his finger at the blades, firing a powerful blast of air, destroying all the blades as it continued its way toward the dust cloud.
All the dust dispersed in an instant and Moonfish was hit by the blast.
Moonfish's body was sent flying, but he quickly shot dozens of blades into the trees and ground to catch himself.
The villain's body was now suspended midair, everyone getting another look at him now.
Moonfish's mask was slightly torn now, revealing one of his eyes. He was still drooling from his mouth, but now there was blood mixed in with the drool.
"Looks like a knockoff Cenobite." Reiko commented, looking at the ground.
"Dekiru, your finger…" Ochako looked at Izuku's broken finger in concern for her friend.
"Don't worry about me. It's only a broken finger. You know I've suffered worse." Izuku smiled while keeping his eyes on the villain. "You two should go now. I don't want my fight putting you in danger. No offense, but you two can't dodge as fast as I can."
"Who says we need to dodge?" Reiko pushed her arms forward, sending countless glowing pieces of metal shards at the villain.
Moonfish countered by firing his own blades at the shards. The shards and blades clashed for a few seconds until the blades broke through.
But Izuku shattered the blades with a punch and gave Reiko a thumbs up. "Good thinking, Yanagi. With both our quirks, I'm sure we can find an opening."
The shards were now floating around Reiko as she gave Izuku a small smile. "Agreed. I'll be counting on you, Midoriya."
Ochako watched from behind the two, making a fist, trying to ignore the trembling she felt in her legs. 'With Dekiru being the main target for these guys, I have to make sure to do what I can to protect him if he needs me.'
The three teens faced Moonfish, prepared for anything that's thrown at them.
However, not all students were so lucky with their encounters with the villains, which Tenya would discover as he had just finished dropping off Tsuyu, Koda, and Kuroiro.
He was making his way back to the forest, back to taking the main path, but he was stunned at the sight right in front of him.
Ojiro and Toru were both lying on the ground, small splatters of blood around them.
"Ojiro! Hagakure!" Tenya rushed to their sides to check on them.
They had cuts all along their bodies, including a distinct puncture wound on their thighs.
He crouched down to them and closely examined their bodies, seeing that they were still breathing, but their breaths were slow.
They needed help right away, but as he tried to decide who to pick up first, he felt a hand weakly grab his ankle.
Toru groaned as she looked up at Tenya. "Iida…Save Ojiro first…His tail was badly stabbed while protecting me from that girl…"
Tenya could hear light whimpers from the girl as if she was trying to hold back tears before he nodded at her. "I will. But I'll come back for you right away. You'll both be alright as long as we get access to the medical supplies we have at camp."
"Thank you…" Tenya could almost hear Toru's smile as she fell unconscious, letting go of his leg.
Tenya carefully lifted Ojiro and made his way back to camp, looking down at the other boy. "Ojiro, when you finally regain consciousness, I will make sure to tell you all about Hagakure's selfless deed."
'Not a single person is dying tonight!'
A/N
Chapter 62 is done! This was a very fast chapter to write, but I spent so little time writing it since I've had so much free time since the end of June and mainly used it on myself. Went on two trips, celebrated my birthday, learned how to saber fight a little with some friends, and played Trails into Reverie while discovering a few other games. Had a good summer all around.
This chapter was an interesting one to write because I wasn't too sure what events to include other than Izuku making an appearance. But I had to have a little debate with myself about whether I should include certain things or save them for the next chapter. Had to make a damn list.
I also might be wrong because my memory is kind of crap, but I think this is the first chapter without Kyouka making an appearance. Took 62 chapters for that to happen. A fun milestone.
Time for the reviews!
Bucio: I have like 70-80% of her second quirk figured out, so who knows what it will fully entail. But yea, Shoto and Katsuki did save Muscular's life from suffering the devil herself, Kyouka.
TOPCAT-59: A fun guess you have there. But also, imagine if I went with one of my original ideas for her second quirk out of like 10 of them, being able to turn her jacks into laser blades. Yes, I was considering giving Kyouka earphone jack lightsabers. Wait, that would've been fucking sick!
Robin Chwan Fatliyansyah: Kyouka has a smile that can make the Joker look sane. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But the idea of Kyouka having the goal to kill Katsuki is an interesting one indeed.
Ability King KK: Shoto might have to go all detective mode for this. Get that man a monocle and a tobacco pipe.
Geraze90: Time to replace Kyouka's jacks with knives so she can go full yandere mode.
Migetsu Newgate: Yeah, I'll just have to suck it up and handle Toga in a way that feels right to me in this story. However, I will tell you that I briefly considered having Kyouka run into Toga instead of Muscular, but killing her in the same way she blew off Muscular's arm. But yeah…I threw that idea away pretty quickly.
drake wind: Fun fact, I was gonna have Izuku join in instead of Katsuki, but I thought Katsuki would be more fun. I have plans for Muscular's reintroduction, but I'll say that it won't be anything like in canon.
Draconis678: I was gonna take his good eye as well, but I thought that taking his arm was enough. I also can confirm that Kyouka possibly could've done that without Shoto's help…A little behind the scenes info there.
Rys-AND-Clash: I'd be more excited to reveal the quirk if I knew what to call it lmao. All I know are the details of the quirk. Hey, if you haven't already, you should read An Insecure Violet. Amazing story and to be frank, my story looks like even more garbage right next to it. But yeah, give it a read if you haven't.
WendyMarvel12: I should confirm that I 100% won't be covering the 2 other movies in this story. If I do ever cover them, then they would be their own separate short story. That's a big IF though.
Pochita55: Don't worry, I have some more drama planned for the future. As long as I can avoid those cliche misunderstanding dramas.
Reviews are done!
That'll be all for this chapter! Feel free to leave a review!
