"So far, fifty-six people have passed. Don't panic, but do consider that your time is almost up. Good luck." Mera chided in warning over the intercom.
"Man, that's over half!" Kaminari pulled on his hair nervously.
"We haven't run into anyone. Kinda weird." Eijirou frowned with suspicion.
"Well, over 200 examinees have failed, he said. They're thinning out." Hitomi shrugged, but kept her ears turning on her head, keen to pick up on the smallest sound. But it was her nose that caught something first. "Ah— there's a bunch of scents nearby."
"Where?"
Taking a deep inhale, she pointed up and to the right, at a different section of the arena. "That way."
Katsuki— walking ahead of them —suddenly veered right, approaching a tall shute that led into the next zone, which looked to be a mock-up of a small town. Wordlessly, he started climbing the ladder.
Eijirou quickly followed, only a few rungs behind the blonde. Hitomi sighed, wishing not for the first time that Takeyama hadn't designed her boots with heels, sucking it up and hurrying after them. Kaminari— fearing being left behind, scrambled and brought up the rear.
"Hey, Kaminari. Why'd you follow us anyway?" Eijirou called down to him.
"I dunno. 'Cause you guys started running. I didn't wanna end up alone. Are we going after the people Saito smelled?"
"Shut up!" Katsuki barked, the first thing he'd said since they split from the rest of the class.
"Why you always gotta sound so mad?" Kaminari was unfazed by the angered demand.
"I told you to chill out, Bakugou." Eijirou chastised fearlessly.
Hitomi giggled, remembering a time when Katsuki would've thrown himself down on Eijirou and "blasted him to hell" for telling him what to do.
Reaching the top of the shute, they exited into an empty road leading into the town, the absence of the sound of the usual hustle and bustle making the place feel eerie. If it had been nighttime, Hitomi wasn't ashamed to admit she would've been afraid.
"Hitomi said there were a bunch of people, so the four of us should work together." Eijirou continued to mediate between the two blondes.
"Go die."
Eijirou shook his head. "Come on man—"
Hitomi stopped, hackles rising, and eyes widening. "Guys!"
"Look out!" Eijirou acted fast, pushing Katsuki out of the way from a large fleshy projectile. Only to be hit with it himself.
"Kirishima!" Kaminari gasped.
"Damn it!" Eijirou grunted, voice muffled as the flesh wrapped around him, floating away with him. "What's going on…?!"
Hitomi stared in horror, and a fair amount of disgust, as Eijirou was turned into a big human-meatball. His eyes, tufts of hair, parts of his costume, and several fingers being the only things left behind that resembled him. In this form, Eijirou lowered into the hand of the culprit.
"What the crap?! Did that really just happen?" Kaminari gawked in fear for his friend.
"All I know is that bastard looks like he's to blame." Katsuki snarled at the purple haired Shiketsu student. "So I'll kill him!" Katsuki's lips twisted into a feral smirk.
Hitomi spotted something. On the ground, surrounding the Shiketsu student, were a dozen more fleshy meatballs.
"That explains it." She mumbled, then drew her batons, raising her voice just enough for her other two teammates to hear. "That's where the scents came from. But I wondered why there weren't any sounds of a fight. It's just him."
"More examinees have passed. We're at sixty people now. That means there are forty spots left." Mera sounded pleased that the round was coming closer to ending.
"I'm from Shiketsu." The purple haired guy needlessly pointed out. "Please notice, my school keeps our hats on when we're working. Why's that? Because… each and every one of our movements is crowned by the legacy and honor of our school." He dropped Eijirou carelessly on the ground.
Hitomi bared her teeth, blood burning at the sight of her friend being treated in such a way.
"This is a demonstration. Proof of the difference in level between my peers and your vulgar class. We value obligation and dignity; things that appear to be sorely lacking among you."
"Whoa!" Kaminari latched onto Hitomi's arms, keeping her from stomping forward. He gave a small whimper when she started growling at the Shiketsu student.
Hurt him. Hurt him. Some part of her— one colder and more vicious than the part that had demanded to cause Jeanist trouble —screamed for her to make this guy pay. For what he did to Eijirou, and for insulting her class. Her friends.
Katsuki scoffed at him, still smirking. "I really hate your type."
"He's hard to follow. Makes me feel kinda dumb." Kaminari admitted.
"He said his beady eyes are full of tears, so he can't see how strong his opponents are." Katsuki "explained" for Kaminari.
Hitomi gave a sharp laugh, then blinked as her mind caught up with what he said.
How strong his opponents are. Strong. Opponents. Opponents= plural.
She inwardly preened. He thinks we're strong!
The Shiketsu student was clearly offended by this. "My eyes are dry and handsome, thank you!"
"Hey, maybe don't provoke this guy!" Kaminari whisper-shouted. "Look what he did to Kirishima!"
"Tch."
"That's exactly why we're gonna provoke this try-harding dickhead!" Hitomi yelled the last part, making sure he could hear her.
Kaminari sputtered. "Sw— You sweared!" He turned to Katsuki, as if to confirm what he heard was real. "She sweared!"
"Swore." Hitomi absently corrected, used to doing the same for Hana.
Katsuki ignored Kaminari, and huffed a short cackle. "So it's a heat of the moment type thing." He observed, talking lowly, as if to himself.
("League of asshats", "try-harding dickhead", Katsuki found himself wishing she'd been as foul-mouthed to Jeanist, just to hear what she could come up with for the Hero.)
"UA High." Shiketsu Guy started with a bitter tone. "I have respect for your school. I take pride in the fact that our institutions are treated as equals. But your class is shameful." His back lit up in a short flash, tentacles of flesh extending out, resembling boneless fingers, and his arms receded into himself. "You act in ways that disgrace Heroes!"
Hitomi tensed. If she could transform, she would probably be big enough that the guy couldn't scoop her up and turn her into a ball. If only she could.
"He's attacking again! I don't wanna be gross!" Kaminari jumped behind Katsuki.
"Shut up!" Katsuki looked back at the Shiketsu Guy, still smirking. "Obligation? Dignity? You just like to hear yourself talk. I don't see any proof. Show us with your actions, not your cheap words! If you can."
Shiketsu Guy glared furiously. "Beast. You're worst of all, Bakugou!" He detached the tentacles from his body, shooting them out at the three.
Katsuki fearlessly charged ahead, making a funnel with his left hand, putting it in the palm of his right, and preparing to blast the guy away.
"AP Shot, Auto Cannon!"
Come on! Transform! Fight with everything you've got!
The voice shouting to her in her head, sounded strangely like the blonde in front of her. The one that alway gave it his all. And everything in Hitomi wanted to do the same.
But she just couldn't.
Katsuki rapid-fired, exploding the flesh away, all with that confident grin.
The Shiketsu Guy recoiled, his tentacles in pieces littering the ground.
"I had to make a weak version so I didn't kill anyone." Katsuki said, as if he hadn't just destroyed the guy's efforts in one move.
"You know what, this is why everyone's terrified of you— you're way too feral!" Kaminari grimaced.
"I like it." Hitomi commented casually, earning a gawk from Kaminari.
The Shiketsu Guy returned the flesh to himself, building it all back onto his body.
"So those nasty finger things just float back to him?" Kaminari surmised with a face of disgust.
"I see now." Shiketsu Guy started lowly, again making parts of himself hover around him. "I'll teach you a lesson by breaking you! This will show you what it means to be dignified, and behave like a Hero!"
"What is up with this disgusting dude?!"
"He thinks he's better than us." Katsuki scoffed, then charged. "But I bet he'll shut up when I blow him to hell!"
"Hey wait! Don't forget that we're in the middle of a test!" Kaminari called after him.
"That's exactly why I'm gonna kill the guy!"
Hitomi tensed. She had a bad feeling about Katsuki going headlong against the Shiketsu student— they'd already lost Eijirou before the fight even really began. But there was no stopping the blonde, she would just have to trust him. The best she could do was back him up.
"Ragh!" Hitomi roared, running after him.
"Wh— Damnit Saito! Not you too!"
The twin batons felt comfortable in her hands, balanced and heavy. Hitomi spun them faster and faster, until they were two silver blurs. When the flesh flew at her, she deflected them with her spinning batons, sticking her tongue out in disgust when the squishy tentacles seperated and splattered from the force. While she did that, Katsuki was setting off singular blasts of his AP Shot, keeping his aim precisely on the airborne pieces of the guy.
"Ugh! Let's just get this fight over with!" Kaminari yelled, loading red disks into the shooter strapped to his right forearm. He shot two off, toward the Shiketsu student. "Maybe this'll speed things along!"
Their enemy dodged them, and the disks both hit and embedded themselves in the metal fence blocking one side of the bridge.
"Hah, you should work on your aim." Shiketsu Guy taunted.
Hitomi worked hard to keep the smirk off of her face, playing along with Kaminari when he acted dejected at the "miss".
"Keep your beady eyes on us!" Hitomi barked, drawing his attention back to her and Katsuki. She skated around the meatball-ed examinees scattered around, hoping to swoop past and grab Eijirou. The three of them all needed to be out of Kaminari's way, so he could shoot off his Quirk without them being between him and the disks.
The Shiketsu student scowled, raising his lumpy, incomplete arms and pointing them at her. "Maybe I should make you something more appealing, mongrel!"
"Enough talk, die!" Katsuki appeared in front of her, letting loose another round of rapid fire.
The smoke from the attack hung thick in the air, and Hitomi used it to her advantage, zipping past and scooping up Eijirou before falling back beside Kaminari. Now Katsuki just needed to get out of the line of fire, and—
"You've left yourself open."
The smoke cleared, and a tentacle clamped over Katsuki's exposed back.
"What the—"
"You weren't paying attention. I had a piece of flesh sneak beneath us. You saw, earlier with Kirishima. Once I touch you, you're my plaything!"
"Katsuki!"
"Bakugou!"
Both Hitomi and Kaminari panickedly ran to help, only to be stopped by the blonde himself.
"Hey, idiot! Catch this!" Katsuki's voice was muffled, his head and shoulders already pulled into the flesh. But with his hands free, he tossed over one of his grenades.
Kaminari caught it, and he and Hitomi watched helplessly as Katsuki was turned into one of the meatballs. He fell right into Shiketsu Guy's hand, unable to move or demand to be put down.
Hitomi snarled.
Shit. Kaminari can't electrocute him, not until he lets Katsuki go.
"Pathetic. You must be remade from scratch." The Shiketsu student boasted, high and mighty.
Hitomi carefully set Eijirou down, chest rumbling with deep growls, her glaring gaze never leaving their opponent.
"No way…" Kaminari croaked.
"This is a demonstration." Shiketsu Guy continued on with his lecture. "This test has an unusually low passing rate. At first this seemed counterintuitive given our current world. With All Might retired, wouldn't it make more sense to flood the streets with Heroes? And so, I must assume that their goal is to weed out the riffraff. We can surmise that they're starting to be more selective in order to bring the profession of Hero to a higher level. And I agree with this way of thinking. So I decided to thin the herd myself."
"What qualifies you to judge who deserves to be here?!" Hitomi raged, her fur standing on end.
"You're ignoring the test because you think you're superior?" Kaminari sputtered. "What are you, a crazy person?"
"I'm simply separating the mediocre and extraordinary." Shiketsu Guy clenched his hand, squeezing Katsuki— knowing there was nothing he could do about it. "By the way, your comrades here still feel pain in this form. Your untamed electricity will torture your friends if you use it. Out of the four of you, you're the only one who has yet to even try to prove himself. It seems to me like you're too useless to be here."
Hitomi froze, and saw red.
…
"You're wrong!"
Denki jumped, looking to his left at Saito. And what he saw made his breath stutter.
Her lips curled in an enraged snarl, and her hands clenched the poles so tightly he thought they might bend.
"Kaminari is incredible! Especially compared to someone so pompous and cruel as you!"
Denki stared at her, and almost cackled when she interrupted Meatball-freak before he could even start to make a retort— but he was too busy being taken aback.
"He's come to our rescue time and time again! He's brave, and strong, and compassionate, and an amazing friend! Charge-Bolt will be a fantastic Hero, just wait!" Saito finished, her words cracking like a whip.
Denki smiled, feeling himself stand taller. "You know, keep this up and I might think you've fallen for me!"
With a grin, Denki pressed the pin on the grenade, throwing it like a baseball. It soared past Meatball-freak, and exploded, making him stumble, and drawing his attention to it, acting as the perfect distraction.
Saito darted toward Meatball-freak, off like a shot. But instead of fighting him head-on, she veered right, and spun her baton. One end smacked the underside of Meatball-freak's hand, simultaneously batting it away, and knocking Bakugou into the air. Saito dove under Meatball-freak's arm, caught Bakugou, and somersaulted with him held close to her chest. As soon as she stopped rolling— a good distance away from Meatball-freak, she turned her head back, and nodded to Denki as her metal batons audibly clattered to the ground.
"Now, Kaminari!"
Denki charged up, pointing at Meatball-freak with a determined glower.
"By the way, bigshot… You happen to be standing in a really killer spot!"
A bolt crackled and shot from Denki's hand, zapping Meatball-freak, and any straggler pieces of flesh that was between himself and the disks.
Meatball-freak grunted, falling to his knees and trembling with the aftershock.
The gear was a serious game changer, making it possible to use his Quirk without endangering his teammates. Something even Bakugou had set out to do. Denki had noticed the way he used his AP Shot precisely, careful not to hit Saito, Kirishima, or Denki himself. It just went to show how much he had grown. And Denki wasn't about to let this ignorant asshole talk shit about his friends.
"Listen up! Bakugou might seem like a total jerk on the surface, but he's actually trying really hard to be a Pro Hero. He threw that grenade to me while being attacked. That was a result of calm judgement and planning!"
Saito jolted, standing and holding Bakugou away from her as he slowly regained his form.
"And Kirishima is such a good dude that he rushed into enemy territory for his friends, even though it was a totally stupid thing to do!"
Kirishima— from his spot on the ground next to Denki —started going back to normal too.
"And Saito's fiercely loyal! She fought alongside Bakugou, knowing he'd be careful and avoid blasting near her, and she prioritized getting our friends safely out of the way, even if it meant getting closer to you."
Saito tentatively let Bakugou go once he fully had his legs again. Of course he brushed her off as soon as he could, but she kept watching him with concern.
Meatball-freak struggled to his feet, still shaking.
"You only know bits and pieces of information about these guys. Don't insult what you don't know!" Denki pointed again, raising the voltage even higher.
"I'll teach you to be more aware of your place! You degenerate!" Meatball-freak cried, running at them.
But Denki didn't move, letting Bakugou and Kirishima take him. With hardened fists, and explosive palms.
"Nice work, Charge-Bolt." Saito grinned, lightly punching him on the shoulder, the both of them ignoring the very one-sided brawl that was happening.
Denki masked a wince, her pulled-punches still strong enough to hurt. Not that he would ever admit to as much.
"You too. And, uh, thanks. For what you said…"
Saito beamed, with no signs of her previous anger. It was almost scary, how quick her mood could shift.
"You're my friend! Of course I'm gonna stick up for you."
Denki smiled, turning to their other two teammates when he heard Kirishima make a noise of interest.
"The more damage he takes, the more people get released." The redhead gestured to the meatballs on the ground, that were wiggling and changing back.
"No wonder he was only using long distance attacks." Bakugou scoffed, delivering the finishing blow on Meatball-freak.
"Thanks for the save, guys." Kirishima gave them a sharp-toothed grin.
"You idiots— What took so long?!" Bakugou demanded.
"Why are you so mean?!" Denki sputtered. "No one's ever gonna like you if you act that way!"
Saito shrugged, picking up her batons. "I like him."
Denki blinked, head whipping around to stare at Bakugou to get his reaction.
All he did was click his tongue, glowering to the side, in the opposite direction of Saito.
"You can't just say stuff like that, Saito! It makes it sound like you—" Denki gasped, pointing over at the used-to-be meatballs. "Whoa, look behind you! Those other fleshballs are all waking up!"
There were plenty of them, all disoriented, and confused.
Bakugou licked his lips. "We've got targets."
Kirishima wore a scary expression of determination right along with him.
And even Saito seemed unfazed. Grinning and twirling her batons.
"We only need eight. What do we do with the extra?"
Bakugou's smirk sharpened at the edges. "We slaughter 'em all!"
Denki sighed, just hoping he wouldn't be rendered stupid by the time the first round ended.
His friends were way too feral.