Day 211, 8:00 AM
Even in the zombie apocalypse, nature was not cruel enough to get rid of all trees in the forest. Looking above, Kirishima sees a sky full of gray clouds, indicating that there's a chance of rain. Kirishima thinks back to before the end of the world, when he would watch the news to see the latest update on the manliest deed done by the latest pro hero and skim the weather channel. The only time Kirishima cared about the weather was during December when he wished to test his body against whatever snowy elements Mother Nature decided to bestow upon him.
Behind him, Sato and Koji Koda follow him with Koda looking around, saying nothing.
"You guys see anything?" Kirishima asks.
Sato shakes his head. "No." He turns to Koji Koda. "What about you, man? Anything from the birds?"
Koji Koda calls a bird back and has him land on his forearm. "He sees that he can't see anything."
Sato nods. "Okay, so, we're kinda out of luck with food."
"There's gotta be something," Kirishima says, "we just gotta keep looking."
"We could eat the birds that Koji Koda is using to scout."
Koji Koda gasps, eyes going wide. He shakes his head vigorously, holding his hands up, looking scared. "No," he begs, "please, no."
"Yeah man," Kirishima nods, "let's try and not kill the birds."
Sato sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right; don't want to get some kind of bird flu. But if we don't find food soon, we're going to starve to death."
"Don't lose faith, man; we'll find something."
"But Koda's birds haven't spotted anything in the last few kilometers."
"Maybe the deer and elk and other wildlife are hiding somewhere; we just have to find it." Kirishima looks at Koji Koda. "Also, as much as I don't want to do this, I think we should keep our quirk usage to a minimum."
"That's a myth," Sato grumbles, "quirk usage attracts zombies? That is absurd; Kaminari said that zombies are attracted to sound and if they're attracted to quirks, how come all the mutant-type quirks in our group haven't been attacked?"
"Deku said he's conducting some experiments and that we should wait just in case."
"But looking for wildlife depends entirely on using Koda's quirk."
"I understand man but... maybe we should use this as an opportunity to hunt without using our quirk." Kirishima bows his head. "After all, my quirk isn't useful for tracking as Bakugou so nicely said but I can defend myself against a bear."
"Bears aren't that big," Koji Koda points out. "Here in Japan," he quickly corrects.
"We know but still, we gotta do something. We'll figure it out, guys."
As the three of them step over a fallen log, they take cover behind another fallen log, one overgrown with green plants. They hide behind the log as a pack of zombies staggers in front of them, heading in their direction.
"Hide," he whispers.
They quickly duck behind the log once more and wait a few seconds before deciding to look up again.
Okay, Kirishima assesses, all seems to be going well.
The zombies turn their back to the survivors while sniffing the air, and looking around. The zombies growl suddenly and go walking in the opposite direction, staggering and limping like drunk bastards.
Kirishima picks up a rock about the size of his head and sneaks up behind one of the zombies. Holding the rock high above his head, he smashes it down on the back of the first walker's head, killing it instantly.
The other two zombies turn around and go for Kirishima. Kirishima punches the second zombie to his left and knocks it back before activating his hardening quirk. The third zombie bites on Kirishima's skin, unable to make him bleed, and simply breaks all its teeth. Kirishima smacks the rock over the third zombie's head once more before shoving it back. The second zombie goes for Kirishima, ready to bite and kill but Kirishima hits him over the head with a rock and makes the zombie drop.
"Easy."
Lying on the ground motionless, the second zombie suddenly comes back to its undead life and claws at Kirishima's legs.
Bakugou suddenly runs up and kicks the second zombie in the skull. He proceeds to stomp on the skull while balling his fist.
"Holy shit, man," Kirishima smiles, "look at you coming to my rescue and everything."
"You shouldn't have put your life in danger, shitty hair!"
"Aww, you knew I could've taken that zombie and you still protected me."
"Shut up, shitty hair!"
Deku comes walking forward with Mina, Shoji, and Mashiro behind him.
"Kacchan, did you see what happened?" Deku asks. "The zombies were walking in our direction."
"Good, that means I get to kill something ugly."
Sato looks over. "What are you guys doing over here?"
"We were continuing with the experiment from earlier," Deku answers. "The quirk usage theory is still being experimented on but I think there are strong results." Deku looks around, trying to find zombies. Deciding to go back in the direction he came from, he gestures for everyone to follow him, which they do."Those zombies that turned their backs to you, I think it was because of us."
"Really?" Kirishima smiles. "Do tell."
"I create a fireball with my quirk, a very small fireball and I wanted to see if it would attract zombies. I was very quiet and..." He shakes his head. "I think it would be better if I just show you."
Deku leads the others to another log and they quickly hide behind it.
A group of four zombies stagger about ten meters away but fail to notice the students. Deku turns to Mashiro.
"Use your tail," he orders.
"Sure." Mashiro begins moving his tail, flexing it like a muscular arm before spinning it like a ceiling fan.
The four zombies pause and look around like lost, confused children. Once Mashiro pauses and lets his tail go limp, the zombies simply turn around and begin walking away.
"Shoji," Deku whispers.
Shoji begins moving duplicate arms, making wings but does not grow any additional body parts. The zombies pay no attention to him and continue to walk off.
"Watch this," Deku whispers to Kirishima.
He takes out a matchbook and scratches it. He makes a small fireball the size of a stress ball and plays with it, making the flames leap between his fingertips and make a mini tornado of fire.
The zombies pause in their tracks suddenly, like a movie that suddenly freezes, and they go quiet. The walkers growl, which soon evolves into roaring as they stagger in the direction of the UA students, looking as if they could see the students through the log.
"Holy shit," Sato curses as the zombies close in on them.
"Surprise!" a new voice calls.
A floating knife sticks into the skull of the first zombie and shoves it back, causing the second zombie to collapse to the ground. Hagakure charges the third zombie and stabs it in the head. Hagakure shoulders the fourth zombie hard before reaching behind and stabbing it in the brain. As for the second zombie on the ground, Mina does the honor of leaping over and using her acid quirk to melt the zombie's face.
The zombie growls, its face dissolving from the corrosive acid but not enough to melt the skull or brain. But it does lose its eyes and reach blindly for its target, already knowing where Mina is without needing its dead optics.
Hagakure finishes the zombie off before wiping the blood off the knife by using the zombie's shirt.
"Did you see that," Deku points after extinguishing the fireball. Deku stands up and heads over to the zombies. He uses his foot to flip the first dead zombie on its back.
"What was I looking for exactly?" Kirishima asks.
"What I wanted to show you." Deku sighs heavily. "It looks like our quirks do attract zombie threats."
"How is it that possible?" Mashiro asks. "I mean... sounds make sense but them being attracted to quirk usage makes zero sense."
"I'm trying to figure it out," Deku says, "I'm not quite sure exactly but..." Deku narrows his eyes and rubs his chin. "I'm trying to figure out how this zombie virus works or whatever but... whatever this disease is, I'm at a loss."
"Wait, if zombies are attracted to quirk usage, how come Shoji and Mashiro didn't attract any zombies?" Sato suddenly asks.
Deku looks over at them. "Based on what I gathered, it looks like the mutant-type quirks like Shoji, Mashiro, and Hagakure have some leeway. It looked like the zombies started to notice Mashiro twirling his tails but they didn't act when he stopped moving. As for Shoji, he has multiple arms but the zombies pay no attention to him. Then again, he didn't create any body parts on his arms. As for Hagakure, she is perpetually invisible but she didn't use her warp refraction."
"So, mutant-type quirks have leeway?" Shoji asks aloud. "Interesting. But... if we use the powers that come with our mutant-type quirk, then that means..."
"It'll attract zombies," Bakugou finishes. "If invisible girl used her light refraction or if octopus boy duplicated body parts on his tentacles, then it would attract zombies."
"That seems to be the gist of it," Deku nods. "This could be dangerous."
"That's why we've been getting so many zombies showing up at the front of our gate," Kirishima grumbles. "And I was really looking forward to going all-out with my quirk against zombies."
"Oh shit," Deku curses under his breath, "I remember something. Kaminari said that when he and Kodai went to the car dealership to retrieve cards, Kodai used her quirk multiple times to shrink several cars. A beast came out of nowhere and crashed through the wall. The beast was blind but they were able to sneak away. Kaminari said that when Kodai used her quirk again when the beast was out of sight and in another room, it crashed through the wall almost half a second later."
"That means it's not just walkers and runners it can attract," Bakugou grumbles, "it can attract beasts from a distance away."
"And if quirk usage can attract all types of zombies from a distance away, that means... in theory, we could be attracting a horde every time we use our quirk. A beast or a brainiac. If something as small as a fireball can attract zombies, imagine what big, prolonged quirk usage could do."
Mina groans. "That means... we can't use our quirk anymore? But, that's not fair! Kuroiro has been using his quirk whenever he and Kaminari go on a bike ride!"
"And Kaminari said that he's had a few close calls. Plus, they're on a moving bike so it's hard to pinpoint their exact location."
"We can't use our quirks anymore," Sato groans. "I mean, my quirk is useless without sugar but still.
Koji Koda looks down. He looks at the sky to see a bird flying above him. He closes his eyes, clenching his fists. "I can't use my quirk to scout anymore."
"What are we supposed to do?" Hagakure asks, touching Mashiro.
"Oh," Mashiro hesitates, "uh, we just hunt without using your quirk or at the very least, try and kill zombies without using our quirk."
"But how? How are we going to hunt when we have no guns or anything?"
"We have revolvers," Mashiro points out.
"Only two of them and they're in Kaminari's hands whenever he goes scouting."
"We can figure it out," Deku suddenly yells.
"I don't care," Bakugou suddenly shouts, "if my quirk attracts zombies then I'll welcome it."
Kirishima grabs Bakugou's shoulder. "Hey, Bakubro, remember what you said at the sports festival? Quirks are like your muscles; if you overuse your muscles, you'll run out. No offense, Bakugou, you can blow up as many zombies as you want with your quirk but you don't stand a chance once your arms start hurting. And the more you use your quirk, the more dangerous zombies you start to attract. Beasts, brainiacs, and they've killed pros before."
"Stop worrying about me, shitty hair."
Kirishima retracts his hand. "I wouldn't be very much of a man if I didn't worry about my friend."
"Let's just go," Deku says, "let's get out of here and tell the rest about us."
As they begin walking back, Kirishima and Mina stay behind in the back of the group, keeping an eye out.
"So, how has it been, Kirishima?" Mina asks.
"Oh, the usual," he shrugs.
"Been up to anything lately?"
"Aside from rereading the same manga about twelve times, I'd say nothing much."
"Who knows, maybe the thirteenth time you'll read it, it'll have a different ending."
"One can hope."
Mina looks forward. "Maybe you'll write your own manga one day."
"A manga of manliness. I'll have to ask Manga to help me out but I think I can do it."
"Oh, any chance I can help you out with that manga? You know, add character dynamic, relationship, cute... romantic hotsprings scenes." She sighs heavily. "Ahh man, I could really go for a dive in hot springs right about now."
"Yeah, me too." Kirishima smiles. "I remember the hot tub from UA; that feeling is one I'll never forget."
"You know, I was going to suggest that since it was going to rain, we could fill a barrel with rain water, have Deku use his quirk to heat it up, then we could sit in it and just hang out."
"A barrel? Can the two of us fit in a barrel? We'll be stuck together like Siamese twins."
"But isn't that the best part?" Mina asks with an eye of mischief. "You and I pushing up against each other in hot water; doesn't it sound nice?"
Kirishima smiles. "Yeah, I kinda like the sound of that."
Bakugou looks over his shoulder, looking at the duo with disgust.
I'm not surprised these two are talking about perverted topics; we ARE teenagers and we're deprived of most stuff.
"You look jealous," Hagakure suddenly says, sneaking up on Bakugou. "What's wrong, Kacchan?"
"Don't call me that, invisible girl."
"Are you jealous because you don't have someone to want to touch you?" Hagakure grabs Mashiro's shoulder. "Are you actually jealous of what Kirishima and Mashiro have that you don't?"
Bakugou flips her off.
"I'm over here, jackass."
"Whatever."
Kirishima and Mina laugh, soaking in the amusing sight of Bakugou being burned, unaware that their hands are subconsciously touching.
UA Dorms
10:30 AM
Sitting on the balcony in her bedroom, Shiozaki closes her eyes, cups her hands together, and makes a prayer to God. As she is about to finish her prayer, the door opens and Sero stands on the balcony.
"Sorry, were you praying?"
Shiozaki nods.
"I didn't mean to interrupt; I just wanted something to talk to."
"What's wrong with the present company downstairs?"
"Uh, the people downstairs just aren't interesting to talk to, and... it's kinda boring. There's nothing to do and we're still waiting for Deku and his science team to get back from whatever science project they're working on." He pulls a chair out and sits next to her. "Any chance I can pray with you?"
"Yes." SHiozaki scoots her chair closer. "Have you ever prayed before?"
"No, not like you."
"Do you have any religious beliefs?"
"Shinto but I'm more interested in your religion. Are you Christian, Catholic?"
"Christain," Shiozaki.
"How did you get into Christianity?"
"I was raised that way by my parents. they studied abroad in America during their college years. They got into Christianity there and when they came back and gave birth to me, they decided to raise me Christian."
"But what do you think?"
"I love my religious beliefs; I love my system of faith. We need faith, now more than ever." Shiozaki looks ahead. "It's been so long since I saw my parents. I pray to God every night that they're alright."
"I'm worried about my parents too. I've just been hoping that they're okay rather than just... praying. But... I want to see what it feels like to pray."
"Oh," SHiozaki nods, "well, I'm glad that you came to me and... I'm glad you want to learn."
Shiozaki gets up and pushes Sero's hands together in a praying gesture. Shiozaki pauses it dawns on her that she is touching Sero. It's been so long since she's touched someone that she forgot how good it felt.
Sero shives, slightly pushing his head into Shiozaki's forearms like a baby snuggling into its mother's arm.
"Sorry," Shiozaki says, pulling back. "I didn't mean to-"
"No," Sero shakes his head, "it's okay. It's been so long since I... since I was touched affectionately. I haven't seen my family or my... my little brother... my sister. I miss them."
"I miss my little sister too." Shiozaki pulls her chair closer to his before sitting down. "So, let's pray together. Let's... put in a good word with the Big Man and pray that He is looking out for our family."
"Is there any specific way for me to pray? I don't want to get in trouble with the Big Man."
Shiozaki laughs. "There is no wrong way to pray. All I can say is, if you want God to help you, then prepare yourself so He can help you."
"Has the Big Guy come through for you?"
"When He does come through for me, He does. He gave me faith, something to believe in."
"And sometimes, that's enough?"
"Sometimes."
Downstairs
Pacing around the room with nothing better to do, Shinsou sighs heavily before steadying himself against the wall.
"What is taking them so long?" Shinsou asks aloud.
Manga distracts himself by drawing on the kitchen table with crayons. "Hey, experiments take time. All we gotta do is wait and wait and wait." He looks to Shinsou. "Come draw with me, man."
"I'm not into drawing," Shinsou refuses.
"Can I join?" Tsuburaba asks.
"By all means. I'm drawing One Punch Man. Now, be warned, I hate it when people use the color green so if you're going to use the color green, keep it out of my sight."
Tsuburaba nods. "Sure thing."
Sitting on the couch, Tsu and Tokoyami look at each other awkwardly. When Tokoyami can no longer face looking at the frog girl, Dark Shadow suddenly emerges and looks at them.
"Hey, Fumikage, are you just going to stare at her like that?"
Tokoyami closes his eyes. "Go back to her cave, Dark Shadow."
"But it's so boring in there; I promise I won't make too much of a mess." Dark Shadow looks and taps Tsu on the head. "You know Fumikage has a crush on you."
Tsu blushes. "Ribbit?"
Tokoyami opens his eyes. "Dark Shadow..."
"Yeah, Fumikage told me himself; he really likes you, Tsu. I remember when I accidentally called you Asui, he corrected me and told you to call you 'Tsu', even though you weren't in the same room."
"Dark Shadow!"
"Let's be honest, Tsu, without me here, Fumikage here would be flying without a place to land." He turns to his host and gives him a thumbs-up. "I'm your wingman, buddy."
"DARK SHADOW!"
"Gotta go." He turns to Tsu. "Ciao."
Dark Shadow sinks back into Tokoyami as the bird looks away, trembling like a freezing mountaineer.
"Pay no attention to the deceptive words coming from this unreliable entity's oral cavity," Tokoyami urges, "he is simply a deceiver."
"Oh." Tsu looks ahead. "So, it's not true? You don't have a crush on me?"
Tokoyami winces, closing his eyes harder. "It's... no. No, I don't have a crush on you."
"Oh, okay."
"Even so, it would be natural. Bird and frog?"
"It also isn't natural for frogs to be friends with snakes in nature, ribbit." Tsu looks down, a somber-looking donning over her. "Kinda like... Habuko Mongoose."
Tokoyami opens his eyes and looks over at her. "Your friend at Isamu Academy." He looks down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up unwanted memories."
"It's okay; it was a long time ago."
"Seven months is not a long time."
"It feels like a long time ago."
"Time goes slow when you forget what time it is." Tokoyami leans back on the couch. "They say time heals all wounds, thought but I do not believe this will be the case in the not-so-distant future."
"We just got to hold onto each other closer, right?" Tsu looks at him. "And never let the other go, right? Right?"
"The less friends you have, the more they're worth."
"I don't want to lose any more of you but at the same time... I don't... want to let you guys down."
"And how are you letting us down?"
"Ever since this apocalypse, ever since the outbreak, our lives have been in danger every day. Whenever we go outside the walls, we put ourselves at risk of never coming back. I lost Habuko before I even realized it and... Kaminari and his team have been coming back with more near-death encounters every time they leave the wall. And then at UA, we lost Tetsutetsu. And the same night, we lost Iida and Aoyama."
"Those were circumstances beyond our control," Tokoyami tells her, "it is not our fault. The only ones at fault are the ones who took their life; I believe the Devil is reserving a special place for Hell in them."
"The reason I never go outside the gates is because... I'm afraid of coming back without a friend." She croaks with a tear on her cheek. "I can't stand the thought of going outside the walls and seeing a friend die, that's why, I don't volunteer to go on any more supply runs anymore." She looks up at him, eyes full of tears. "I'm such a coward, Tokoyami."
Tokoyami quickly pulls her in for a hug. "No, you're not a coward."
"Aww..." Dark Shadow emerges from Tokoyami and wraps his shadow hands around her. "It's okay, Tsu."
"You're not a coward; you're just a kid. We're all still kids." Tokoyami tightens his grip slightly with Dark Shadow stroking her hair. "We're just kids." He pulls away to look her in the eyes, wiping a few tears away. "But our classmates are the best; we made it into the most prestigious UA school in the country. A school with a 0.2% acceptance rate. We had pro heroes as our teachers; we were trained by the best. We fought villains before and we made it to the second and third rounds of the sports festival. I'm worried about our classmates not coming back too but I trust them. I promise you, Tsu, any minute-"
"Open the gate!" someone outside shouts.
Tokoyami immediately gets off the couch and runs outside to see Kendo opening the door.
Kaminari comes riding through on his dirt bike with the jeep with Kuroiro, Jirou, Komori, and Mineta inside following close behind.
"Kaminari, are you okay?: Kendo asks before freezing in place, eyes wide. She spots something on the chest of Kaminari's white shirt.
Reluctantly with a shaky voice, she asks, "Whose blood is that?"
