Maqsud wasn't quite sure how he ended up in this position, but frankly speaking he didn't necessarily hate it either.
Paint ball matches were a semi common occurrence in the third year of the hero course, either dividing the class into two sides to fight or by having the class as a whole fighting him and the heroics teacher for the year, there were the times where they'd arrange for the sister classes fight each other but that was kept sparingly since Kan was pretty competitive and that unfortunately had been rubbing off on the students more in recent years.
It certainly came to a head this week when Ueno's harassment of Togata lead to assault and the poor kid's mental breakdown in Shuzenji's office.
Hopefully Nezu's talk with Kan afterwards was just scarring enough for Kan to take it down a notch, he'd feel bad for Kan, but the man definably brought it upon himself after he pointedly ignored their concerns about Togata's avoidance of his classmates.
Hopefully things won't be so bad now that the three instigators weren't around, and if it wasn't then Togata could easily join 2-A instead and they'd have a discussion about which of the students left would continue-
A paint pellet whizzed pass his head and Maqsud quickly ducked and moved to another place for cover.
*In the middle of match Suds.* Maqsud scolded himself quickly holding up a mirror to see around the corner and only caught a glimpse of green before it moved out of sight.
*Damn it.* he cursed in his head *He's going to try and smoke me out.* He thought as he panted under his mask.
I had been years since he last had a match as intense as this one and he'd be a right liar if he said it wasn't a bit thrilling.
He hadn't known Midoriya was licensed to carry a gun much less had one on him at all times when the kid came up to him that morning, he'd been sent by Ito-San to help in the usual firearms demonstration he gave the third years but hell if it wasn't a big mistake to think the kid couldn't meet him toe-to-toe.
His shots weren't as accurate as his own but that hardly mattered when the kid had just about everything else working in his favor.
Midoriya's frame was on the smaller side, and he was lean which gave a much smaller target for him to work with, and the kid was smart and fast enough to use the urban area to his advantage.
He was certain that when they reviewed the footage later that it would only reinforce to the others the reason for Midoriya's reputation in the underground wasn't earned just from his brain, Midoriya might not have used it against his students, but he damn well could hold his own in a firefight.
Midoriya's students probably knew he was a stronger opponent than he looked and was another reason that kept people from going against the boy, despite his lack of formal training Midoriya wasn't just holding his own but actually had him on the run.
And if this wasn't just a showcase for the students, he wouldn't be enjoying it as much as he was, it was a guilty pleasure of his to have a shoot-out like this, and to have someone he could have a more real fight with than he usually would was a delight.
Maqsud knew better than to stay in one place and he moved to go further into the apartments Midoriya had forced him into, he didn't like fighting in these kinds of places because it was very restrictive in what he could do.
The series of apartments didn't have much in the way of cover and the tight quarters wasn't ideal, Midoriya managed to be a pain from a distance and Maqsud had no doubts that he'd be even worse in a close combat situation that the apartments would lead to, the halls weren't much better by comparison but the tradeoff of cover for space was currently speaking worth it.
Sulking around the halls brought him back to his days before he broke into the lime-light circuit, Midoriya had cut the power to the building and the inside was sparingly lit by the occasional window, a scene that was definitely pulling him back to his time searching through old warehouses and the like.
And that was another thing that he'd picked up on Midoriya, he knew not only how use the environment to his advantage but to mentally off put his opponent.
Back in the open where they started Midoriya used his slightly faster reaction times to make fighting in the open a nightmare, taking the high ground and had no hesitation to chuck whatever he could get his hands on straight at him, including his ammo.
He kept wipes for the glass of his mask's goggles but if he hadn't, he'd been unable to see anything from his left side, the only reason the 'head shot' hadn't caused him to lose was because Midoriya hadn't thrown it was enough power in it to be a true head shot.
He had gotten in a few hits before this, but they weren't 'killing' blows so the two of them were very much still in this fight and currently speaking Midoriya still had the high ground on him so to speak.
The kid's experience in the districts was clear as day when he watched Midoriya weave seamlessly through fire-escapes when he was still trying to out-run the kid. And he wouldn't doubt that Midoriya was more adept at fighting indoors than he was.
Maqsud had to be careful of every step he took as he turned the corners, his body was tense as he half expected Midoriya to jump him at any second and start another to be started to his disadvantage.
He jumped at every creak in the building and he ended up pointing his gun at nothing but the empty corridors more than once as he moved through the build, which would be slightly embarrassing in the replay later but he was more worried about not letting Midoriya to get the jump on him.
It felt like an eternity before something finally happened and upon hearing something bump into one of the side tables he whirled another and shot off two rounds, the hissing shriek of a cat in reply made him jump but indeed saw there was an orange tabby he almost shot before the poor thing ran off.
Well fuck, strays wandering into the fake city areas wasn't uncommon and he probably would've caused the cat to become sick if it licked off any paint that got onto its fur, shaking his head Maqsud turned around planning to got lost before Midoriya came to investigate the racket he made.
A sudden and very swipe of a knife to his throat made him jolt back quickly nearly losing his balance and he tried to reach for his guns, but the barrel of a pistol was just as quickly pressed directly towards where the apex of his neck met the underside of his chin.
The shot that was fired next unsurprisingly was much worse than a throat punch and Maqsud loudly choked as he was flung back and desperately tried to get back some sir as he fell on to his back, he turned on to his side with quick gasps and heavy panting with a hand on his throat "M-muqit al'um." he choked out as he regained his bearings.
"Ah! I'm so sorry Snipe-San! Are you okay? Should I get Recover-" Midoriya said near immediately as he knelt to Maqsud's side, but he quickly raised a hand to silence the boy.
"N-nah, just give me a second Deku-San." Maqsud shakily told the greenette as he recovered and forced himself up to his feet but leaned on a nearby wall for security.
Did Maqsud ever mention how much he hated it when people when for the throat? Because it really sucks and Maqsud was sure to be feeling this for the next three days at least bloody hell, throat hits were right up there with being stabbed in the gut in how much they sucked.
And as someone whose been stabbed in the gut more than once he could damn well say it was too.
Shaking his head, he took a deep breath through his nose "Well, congrats on winning Deku-San." Maqsud said though his voice was still rough and pushed off of the wall and stood up again, and he took stock of himself.
There were some green splotches on his clothes here or there along with one big one on his upper left bicep, but it wasn't that much damage all things considered other than the throat shot, his right hand also had green on it from when he clutched his throat.
Midoriya was a right sight covered in far more purple paint than he was, and he almost got Midoriya out a couple of times from where his shots were.
"Thanks Snipe-San, we should go back to the students now, yes?" the boy guessed just a touch unsure as he carefully watched Maqsud.
Maqsud nodded "Yep, you kids get all that?" he asked, bringing his hand up to the comms in his mask.
"Most of it Snipe-Sensei, we, couldn't remember which button was for the night vision." one of the students answered him and he hummed in reply.
"That's alright, kid. I recorded everything so I'll just switch it to the night recording when we get back there." he assured me as he and Midoriya walked out of the building together.
It took them about five minutes to return to the observation area where the kids were, all fifteen students standing there in their costumes waiting for them.
"Alrighty kids, before we review the footage anyone want to tell us what they noticed during the fight?" Maqsud inquired. The students shuffled around a bit before the class president, a girl named Doi raised her hand "Doi." Maqsud said with a nod encouraging her to speak.
Doi hesitated for a second "Deku-San, took advantage of his size to use smaller objects for cover which wouldn't work for a larger person, like a garbage can lid." Doi said playing with one of her twin ponytails.
Maqsud nodded again "That's correct, when in a fight you can't just account for things that will be to your advantage but your opponent's advantage where you're fighting." Maqsud confirmed, a fair enough assessment but that was an observation more fitting from a first year "Anyone else?" he asked.
Another student closer to the back raised his hand "Yes?" Maqsud said pointing to the kid.
"You were able to keep seeing after Deku-San attempted to blind you because you carried wipes." Colson? No, not Colson, Coulson said.
Maqsud always had trouble with English names, and the kid's notice-me-not quirk didn't help with that problem.
"Indeed, you should always keep certain supplies to perform minor maintenance of your costume, especially for your eye gear." Maqsud told them though again that wasn't exactly what he was looking for them to say either.
Looking over the group, the students no one else raised their hand immediately after, or in the following minute, Maqsud mentally sighed and was about to call it and replay the footage when a hand was timidly raised.
"Jin-Ho?" he called, and the boy bit his lip, his eyes glancing at his classmates.
"Deku," the boy paused his brow furrowing "Deku-Sensei didn't just use his size to win, he carefully drove and lead you to an area where you were at a clear disadvantage and further went on to overwhelm you by cutting the power, something that would make your quirk significantly weaker." Jin-Ho answered, his words far more confident once he remembered the proper honorific for Midoriya.
Maqsud smiled with a huff, it was always the quiet ones that were his favorite.
"That is a very good point, which is one of the reasons we drill into you how important it is to always be aware of your surroundings. Even small mundane things like a set of sprinklers could be used to change the entire course of a fight with the right person, quirk or not a simple distraction will make all the difference and even a single second can change everything." Maqsud expanded upon.
"Too few heroes internalize that and end up dead or forced into retirement within their first year of leaving school." Maqsud told them "... I've lost a lot of classmates to exactly that, but something I haven't lost a student to yet, and I don't plan on starting now." Maqsud said moving over to the screen.
With the press of a button the footage began with him and Midoriya standing in a street with a pair of guns in hand and then giving each other a bow before the alarm of the fight starting rang throughout.
And almost instantly Midoriya stomped down on a sewer grate causing it to flip and he kicked it with enough force to send it flying at him in mere seconds, something that was still just as shocking as it was to watch happen as it was when the sewer grate came at him.
"This moment, what can you tell me about this moment Doi?" Maqsud questioned turning back to the students.
Doi flinched and her hand when back to her hair "I um, you shouldn't underestimate your opponent Snipe-Sensei?" she guessed.
"Yes, Deku-San doesn't have a strength quirk, but he doesn't need one to become strong enough to do the damage a minor one could do, the same could be said for any person you fight in the future. A villain with a gun quirk shouldn't be considered neutralized because they don't have a gun in their hand, a mistake like that will kill many." Maqsud explained before letting the recording continue on.
Midoriya on the screen continued to capitalize on the few seconds to slink back into the shadows climbing up to the roofs to begin his bombardment, a mix of random debris and his paint pellets tossed by hand.
Maqsud quietly gulped as he watched Midoriya's careful take down of him.
Despite being one of the ones wearier of the boy capable of taming some of the scariest names out there, Midoriya was... easy to relax around and it was hard to keep his guard up when the boy rarely bared his fangs.
And even if Midoriya was mostly pacifistic... the fact was Midoriya was as smart as Nezu and had years of mentally breaking people by their quirks into simple and easy to manage numbers.
"As you can see here, none of Deku-San's moves were without purpose, each move was made specifically to draw me nearer and nearer to the apartments here." Maqsud said "And he took equal turns in both leading me and forcing my hand into retreating to where I'd be most vulnerable." he added as Midoriya jumped down throwing a streetlight directly at his head.
Maqsud remembered what came next, he ducked around a corner to clean his mask when the power was cut off, and he got to watch as Midoriya merely flipped a switch, and he pressed the night vision cam.
The cameras were bathed in green, and the outside ones could hardly be more than blank from the exposure but almost immediately Maqsud saw that after Midoriya caused him to go deeper that he wasn't jumping at nothing.
Because each and every time Midoriya was carefully creeping around the halls basically circling him like a shark, something that was very unnerving to watch from the outside.
The only saving grace in the whole problem was that Midoriya hadn't been behind the cat, he only took advantage of the distraction to get within arm's reach and reminded perched and waiting for him to turn, both his eyes and the large combat knife seeming to glow eerily in that moment.
Then just as fast as he remembered Midoriya leaped at him swiping the blade just a few inches away from his neck holding the blade downwards like for stabbing rather than upwards for a proper slash, and the pistol Midoriya had was pressed to his neck then shot.
Maqsud paused the footage once his body hit the ground as that was as good as the demonstration over, he glanced at the time stamp and wondered how all of that could've happened in only three minutes and ten seconds before turning his attention back to the students.
More than a few were gapping at the footage and Doi even held her hands over her mouth, Maqsud wasn't surprised by their reactions, even with the training they had gotten and the experience of internships he doubted they'd seen anything as coldly methodically as Midoriya's take down was.
And though they hadn't said it Maqsud was sure more than one of them hadn't looked twice at Midoriya because he was quirkless... so watching him, a well-known pro hero get his ass handed to him by said quirkless person was likely earth-shaking for them.
"Any comments Coulson?" he asked, the boy's mouth opened and closed "'Kay, how about you Jin-Ho?" he inquired seeing as Jin-Ho was more starstruck than shocked.
"It's a perfect Undergrounder based take down Snipe-Sensei! Deku-Sensei isolated his target and took you completely off guard before taking the kill shot, and he caused little if any damage!" Jin-Ho answered brightly, something expected since he was planning to go underground himself.
Maqsud huffed bemused "Indeed, he did." he remarked with a grin "Any questions for Deku-San?" Maqsud asked leaning back against the console.
Jin-Ho raised his hand eagerly "Ah, yes Jin-Ho?" Midoriya replied.
"How come you didn't become a hero Deku-Sensei? You'd make such an incredible undergrounder." Jin-Ho asked and Midoriya flinched.
*Well fuck... * Maqsud cursed in his head, he wasn't expecting that and apparently that's a sensitive topic apparently *Okay Suds how are you going to redirect this?* he thought panicking slightly.
Before he could think Midoriya huffed disbelievingly as he lowered his head and shook it "That's easy Jin-Ho, being a hero would've been too restrictive and I can do a lot more as I am now than I ever could as a hero." Midoriya answered, surprising the students.
He, himself was also surprised by the answer but didn't let the students linger on it, drawing their attention back to him and continuing to analyze the recording.
But he tucked the odd response in the back of his mind to bring up with the other teachers later.
Muqit al'um
Mother fucker