(A/N) And so comes the time of year where I'll (maybe) be able to update a little more frequently. Thanks for your patience everyone.
On the matter of crossposting to AO3 amidst the recent (and frequent) issues with this site, I have to say that I... kinda don't like AO3. Like, at all. Maybe I just don't know how to use their tags, but I have yet to encounter a decent story on there that isn't a FFN crosspost.
That said, I discovered that AO3 allows authors to post images within their chapters, and in theory, that's cool as shit. Drop a review or a pm to let me know what moment in any chapter of my stories (it doesn't have to be this one) you'd like to see illustrated, and if I do decide to crosspost, I'll do so with light novel-esque imagery. Sounds fun, actually.
Some perfectly reasonable concerns were raised last chapter with how easily Shirou was flustered by Rumi in front of the students. My intention was to take inspiration from his teenage self's character in FSN and affiliated works, but I totally get that such things probably wouldn't carry over into adulthood. I'll definitely be mindful of similar situations moving forward.
Other than that, I'm humbled by the overwhelmingly positive responses that this story has garnered. Sincerely, thank you all and I hope you don't terribly mind the giant cast-iron wrench that I've shoved up the USJ arc's rectum. Be sure to drop a review letting me know if you do (or don't) like the direction that this story is taking from this point forward, and I'll do my best to adjust accordingly.
P.s. drop by my forum (in my profile) if you have a question and I'll answer it to the best of my ability.
X
"No. It won't work."
A peculiar-looking man slapped the barstool next to him out of frustration. A severed hand masked his visage, but his angered, blood-shot eyes were clearly visible. He glared at the television in front of him despite there not being a displayed image.
"Why not, Sensei!? The nomu is strong, isn't it? It's supposed to be a match for All Might! Why wouldn't it be able to handle the rest of them, too?"
"Don't be foolish, Tomura. All Might is the strongest hero alive, even weakened as he is. The only reason we believed that plan would work is because we know his weaknesses and planned for them accordingly."
"And what," spat Tomura. "You're saying the nomu can kill the Greatest Hero, but he can't kill–"
"No. I don't believe it would be capable of holding Archer back for more than an instant. It would be a waste of resources."
"So then what do you suggest, Sensei?" One of the barstool's metal legs gave out, and flakes of foam padding fell to the floor. "You don't expect me to give up, do you?"
"Of course not."
"That's why I'm here, after all."
The angry man spun around and glared at the figure covered head to toe in a suit of armour coloured darker than the midnight sky.
Tomura laughed right in his face. "And what's a two-bit midboss like you going to do? Didn't Archer toss you in the slammer years ago?"
The other man's armour-clad frame rattled. "A witless creature like the nomu wouldn't do any better, boy."
The voice on the other end of the television spoke again. "He's right. Archer may not be a force of nature like All Might, but his notoriety is not undeserved. By the very nature of his quirk, he will never be at a disadvantage in combat."
"Which is why we need to back him into a corner before the fight even begins," finished the armoured man.
Tomura scoffed. "Not a very chivalrous knight, are you?"
For a moment, the suit of armour was deathly still.
"Chivalry? I lost my right to bear any code of honour long ago. My hatred has no place for such courtesies."
Through the cracks of his helmet, eyes shone with a maddened glint.
"Slaying Emiya is just the beginning, after all. Once he's dealt with, I'm on the first flight back to England."
Tomura pushed himself away from the bar. "Whatever. Let's go, Kurogiri. We have a job to do."
Glowing eyes opened in the darkest corner of the room.
"Of course. I'll gather the villains."
X
Many faces among the crowd of students contorted into looks of varied surprise.
"USJ?"
"It really does look like USJ."
"Mm. Definitely USJ."
"It's USJ, then."
Shirou stepped in front of his class and clapped once to get their attention. He smiled broadly.
"Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, everyone."
The peculiar name did not go unnoticed.
"Wait, it's actually USJ!?"
Their teacher laughed, only stopping once he felt a gloved hand land on his shoulder.
"Hm?" His eye lit up in recognition. "It's nice to see you again, Senpai."
The individual, clad in what seemed to be a space-themed hero costume, gave him a thumbs up with their other hand. Their expression wasn't clear through the tinted helmet, but their body language was fairly positive.
"Hello again, Emiya-kun!" they turned to face class 1-A squarely. "And welcome, students! I'm–"
"Thirteen!"
Embarrassed, Midoriya slapped his hands over his mouth. His face was beet-red.
Thirteen laughed it off. "That's right! My reputation precedes me. I am humbled."
"Thirteen is the best rescue hero I know," added Shirou. "UA helped her build this state-of-the-art facility so that she could teach you guys everything she knows about emergency situations during this field drill. I expect all of you to be respectful and appreciative of her efforts today."
Thirteen was caught off guard by his sudden demanding tone. "Eh?"
"Of course!" proclaimed Iida with a raised hand. "Thank you, Thirteen!"
The rest of them were quick to follow.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch!"
"Thank you."
"Thanks."
"Thank you!"
The Space Hero scratched the back of her helmet bashfully.
Shirou smiled. "Everyone, get into groups of four. We'll follow Thirteen's lead for this exercise."
The students blustered excitedly. Though few of them knew each other well yet, they would take this opportunity to forge new bonds. Despite the commotion, teams were forming at a respectable pace.
"They seem like an altruistic bunch," whispered Thirteen to the rookie teacher standing next to her. "I might do a lot of rescue work, but I've never been thanked before I did anything."
"You should expect at least this much, you know. There isn't a single foundational course at UA that's more important than what you can teach these kids. To know how to save a life is invaluable for a hero."
"Of course." She chuckled, though her tone was appreciative. "All Might told me the same thing, earlier. It's a shame that he couldn't make it."
Shirou hummed. "Was he supposed to come?"
"No. After the incident on campus, Principal said that he wanted to keep him nearby as much as possible until they finish investigating the break-in. He's the greatest deterrent to any villain with nefarious intentions towards the school."
The newer teacher nodded in understanding. If that shadow villain had any desire to infiltrate the school a second time, the chances of running into All Might was a pretty good reason to abstain from doing so. Though the man's input on field trips like these would be valuable, Shirou had no issues with taking the entirety of the role onto himself if it meant that UA was a little safer for the students.
Class 1-A, now split into five different groups, looked to them expectantly.
Shirou nodded. "They're all yours, Thirteen. I'll be here if there's anything–"
He pushed her to the ground right before a rain of gunfire pelleted the air above them. Some of the students shouted in alarm while others whipped their heads around, trying to locate the perpetrator.
CLINK.
CLINK.
CLINK.
The metal of a sabaton scraped against the ground at a steady pace. Slowly, an armoured man drew closer from the entrance of the facility.
He dropped the pitch-black minigun that he held underarm and it hit the floor with a loud crash, and its colours melted into a more common metallic grey.
Midoriya stared at the intruder unflinchingly. Somehow, he looked familiar, but full-body suits of western armour were incredibly rare in Japan.
His eyes widened. He started to shake.
"B… Black Knight!"
The name made everyone tense.
"Emiya." The voice was distorted by the helmet. "I am here to kill you."
"I don't get it!" Midoriya shouted. "You're supposed to be in prison!"
Black Knight was slow to turn his head towards the boy. Painfully so. The sound of his helmet rubbing against his gorget made a terrible screeching sound.
When their eyes met, Midoriya realized two things.
That this man was beyond a shadow of a doubt a villain, and that he was terrifying.
"I was. My new colleagues assisted my escape."
Shirou stepped forward. It wasn't lost on anyone that he had purposefully placed himself between the villain and his students.
"You shouldn't have come here. You won't get away."
"…"
Black Knight appeared inanimate for a moment.
Then he chuckled.
"Of course I will. I still have a score to settle with Arthur, after all."
Before anyone could stop him, Bakugo walked up to his teacher's side. Sparks crackled menacingly in the palm of his hand. "Who the hell do you think you are, Jackass? I'll–"
"Stand back. This isn't a fight that you're ready for."
The wind was ripped away from the boy's sails. He didn't argue, but his teeth clicked together quite audibly as he clenched his jaw.
The sound of naked steel being drawn echoed loudly despite the size of the facility. Black Knight held a broadsword of the same colour as his dress.
All the while, Midoriya hadn't looked away from him for even a moment.
"S-rank villain: Black Knight," he mumbled. "He was arrested six years ago by the Camelot Agency with the assistance of Japanese pro hero Archer."
"Midoriya?" posed Asui questioningly. She was standing right next to him so she could hear him clearly.
"Quirk: Knight's Poise," he continued as if reciting a textbook from memory. "It allows him to instantly master any object that he touches. His most commonly-used weapon is Arondight, a powerful support item stolen from–"
Black Knight raised his sword, and Izuku felt his heart threaten to give out on him.
There was a shift in the air. As the blade came swinging down, it created a tunnel of wind that barreled towards them. The earth was torn to pieces as it moved and the glass dome surrounding the facility began to collapse as the air pressure changed in an instant.
If it hit them, then they would die.
"Rho Aias!" shouted Sensei, thrusting his hands in front of him.
A barrier intercepted the attack. It didn't look very sturdy, but it was definitely unique– some sort of ethereal, layered flower.
And yet, while the first layer shattered, the shield managed to stop the wind in its tracks.
Midoriya let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
The panic was quick to return once the sword rose once more.
"Tell me, Emiya," asked Black Knight, "how many more times do you think you'll be able to stop Arondight's swing before your body fails you?"
Sensei wasn't saying anything. What was Black Knight talking about?
Yaoyorozu gasped.
"Sensei… Your arms!"
They were bruised and battered, littered with cuts from the tips of his fingers all the way up to his shoulders. The sleeves of his hero costume were torn to shreds.
Some students motioned to intervene, but Thirteen rose stopped them in their tracks.
"Enough. Your teacher wasn't trying to be dismissive when he said that this wasn't something that you could handle. That sword is a weapon that has no business being in the hands of a villain, let alone one as dangerous as Black Knight. I want to help as much as you do, but we need to put our efforts towards trying to be less of a burden than we already are."
Izuku gulped, understanding the true scope of their predicament. This wasn't about them being students. An S-rank villain like Black Knight was too much for most heroes as well.
….Wait, but then–
"Archer is hurt because of us," Todoroki concluded. "He only stood his ground because he knew that most of us wouldn't be able to take that hit if he moved."
"…"
Midoriya bowed his head. When he didn't think Thirteen was listening, he spoke.
"… I… I have an idea, I think."
X
In the teacher's lounge, All Might nursed his coffee mug with trembling hands. Sweat dripped down his brow as he faced his current biggest annoyance with a pained grimace.
"Why the hell are you still here!?" he wanted to scream, but he abstained lest he run the risk of letting her grow suspicious of his condition.
Usagiyama, conversely, looked entirely at peace as she sipped from her own mug.
"…Say, Miruko-san."
"Mm."
"Isn't that Emiya-san's thermos?"
She acted surprised for a moment, turning to the side and read the tag that she already knew was laminated to the side of the container.
"Oh? It is indeed."
"…"
"…"
Sweat continued to drip down the poor man's face. "If you don't mind me asking… why is it that you have his thermos?"
His second question was met with a single long and obnoxious slurp, after which she let out a satisfied sigh. "I like his coffee better, obviously. His blend is nice and I'm pretty sure he sprinkles cinnamon on top or something. That said, did you know that he keeps his thermos in a plastic bag inside of his man-purse? That's weird, right? I mean, Most people just carry it on the side, right?"
Oh. So she just took it without asking, then.
"…"
All Might was in too much discomfort to muster even a half-hearted reply. Though he had hoped that small talk would take his mind off things, all it did was make him want to pull his hair out.
Seriously, she needed to complain about her boyfriend's unimportant character traits somewhere else! Couldn't she see that a man was suffering here!?
Ah. Right. He was keeping that bit to himself.
Screw it. He'll just go ahead and ask.
"Er… why, exactly, are you still–"
"Attention. Villains have breached the campus. Students are asked to avoid confrontations at all costs. This is not a drill. I repeat–"
The intercom announcement came so suddenly that it took a moment for the pair to realize what was going on.
Then they acted.
Miruko placed the mug down gently on the table, ran to the window and crashed straight through it.
Now wasn't the time to be worrying about property damage. Every second lost was potentially a life slipped away.
Due to the teacher's lounge being in a central edifice overlooking the campus, Rumi was able to get an immediate view of the conflict. Right by the front gates, a strange portal was literally leaking villains. Thankfully, some of the faculty had already intercepted them.
Thanks to her quirk, she landed squarely on two legs without any issue despite the four-storey drop. Now that she was closer, she could appreciate just how many villains there actually were.
There was practically an army of them.
She heard the sound of someone landing behind her. A quick glance over her back told her that All Might was absolutely furious.
As he should be.
That said, however, it was definitely strange that anyone would think invading UA while that guy was around could be anything but a terrible idea.
The villains noticed his arrival, and they had the complete opposite reactions to the ones she was expecting.
"There he is!"
"Does Shigaraki know?"
"Bullseye!"
"This will be something."
"End of the line. Haha!"
A black beast-looking villain charged straight at the number one hero. They met in a flurry of punches, but Rumi hedged her bets on the exchange not lasting very long.
Not that it was any of her business. She had plenty of others to play with.
A toothy grin threatened to split her face. The fire in her eyes was positively malicious.
"HEY, HEY! LOOK AT ME!"
Her scream, loud as it was, caught the attention of a good number of villains. She rushed to the nearest one and slammed their head into the ground with the heel of her foot.
"That's right. I'm the strongest! Get ready to have your rears handed to you by Miruko!"
The path that she carved for herself was met with virtually no resistance. Every villain she came across was knocked out swiftly and brutally. None could even hope to stand a chance.
She paused, and her ears twitched. She flicked her head to the side and saw some kids going head to head with some villains.
Hm… Those were the kids from Shirou's class, weren't they?
She nodded to herself.
Mm. Mhm. Definitely. They were putting up a good fight, but…
She pounced on the action. The five villains that surrounded the group of students were put out of commission with a single roundhouse kick.
She huffed and faced the students with a bright smile.
"Good job keeping up, but you should go find the others. Leave the bad guys to us heroes; you can pay us back a hundred-fold when you graduate."
The way that they stared at her with glimmering eyes and bright faces made her smile a little wider, for some reason.
X
Another blast came from the sword, and another petal was shattered. Though his body suffered the consequences, Shirou stared at the villain unflinchingly.
"Will you give up yet, Emiya?"
"…"
"So be it."
Once more the weapon was raised. A focused glint crossed Shirou's eye. Unlike with the previous attempts, he threw one leg behind the other–"
"Die, you fuckin' piece of shit!"
Shirou's eyes widened in horror as his student rushed past the defences of his shield. He shot forward with his explosion quirk propelling him like a rocket.
Black Knight noticed, obviously. Though he could have easily tried to take another petal from Rho Aias while avoiding the attack from the young student without issue, he instead adjusted his aim to strike the boy down.
The villain knew that ending someone's life while Archer couldn't do a thing was just as much of a victory as killing the man himself.
And yet, it didn't quite work out that way for him.
Bakugo wasn't the only one disobeying their teacher today. Todoroki launched a tsunami of solid ice at the villain at the same time.
Black Knight swung Arondight at the ice and shattered it easily. With his other hand, he reached out to grab the incoming human explosion.
Neither Black Knight nor Shirou expected Midoriya to ride Iida's shoulders under the cover of Todoroki's ice. With the bespectacled boy's quirk, the pair was right under the villain's nose before he had even noticed them.
Midoriya wound back his arm.
"Detroit Smash!"
Everything in the facility in the direction that Midoriya punched was instantly obliterated.
Shirou froze.
The boy was really–
Black Knight stood to the left of the two boys, completely unharmed. All four of them were staring at the villain with shellshocked expressions.
Their teacher frowned. They really shouldn't be so surprised.
Even the strongest of attacks is useless if it misses.
The boys weren't in a position to protect themselves from the highly dangerous criminal. If Black Knight had anything to say about it, they'd all be dead in an instant.
So Shirou allowed the shield to dispel.
Black Knight immediately changed targets. If Archer was saying that he'd exchange their lives for his own, who was he to argue?
Iida, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki noticed the change. They wanted to scream, but nothing came out.
"It's over!" shouted the villain. A torrential blast came from Arondight, this one much more powerful than the ones before it.
The students at Shirou's back forgot how to breathe.
"Fragarach."
The attack doubled in size and flipped around. Black Knight was hit head-on and was launched across the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Upon hitting a wall, he slumped over and did not move. The armour's blackened surface lightened until it became a lustrous silver.
There was a dead silence that followed, though it was swiftly interrupted by Thirteen. "Seriously, you kids… I told you to leave it to your teacher, didn't I?"
The four responsible for the reckless maneuver just continued to stare at Archer with mouths agape.
Shirou frowned. "What do you think you were doing!? You could've gotten yourselves killed!"
"But Sensei!" begged Midoriya. "Your arms! We thought that you…"
That he was sacrificing himself to keep them safe.
"No excuses. I'm afraid the principal might need to have a word with you four."
They grumbled, but it was clear that the tension had left the room. Everyone was safe, after all.
Thirteen, however, couldn't keep the uneasy feeling inside of her at bay.
"You cut it real close this time, Emiya-kun," muttered Thirteen under her breath.
Shirou, unaware of her inner machinations, pulled out his cellphone and dialled the Principal. He should probably let the man know what was happening here.
"Archer-kun? Archer-kun, is that you?"
The principal sounded almost worried. How unusual.
"It is. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint was attacked by Black Knight. He escaped Tartarus somehow. Luckily the situation is under control, but–"
"I've been trying to reach you, but you weren't answering your phone. UA is being attacked by Villains."
Shirou's face was blank.
"I'll be there in a moment."
He put the cellphone back into his pocket.
"Thirteen, would you be able to look after Black Knight's arrest? I'll be back for my students in a little while. There's an emergency back on the main campus."
Thirteen nodded. "I was afraid that would be the case. Hurry. Leave it to me."
X
All Might grimaced.
This… villain.
It was strong.
He punched the giant with everything he had, and yet he wasn't even capable of leaving a bruise. Conversely, its own blows hit like a truck.
The hero clenched his teeth and cursed his own ineptitude. If he were at full power… there would be no way that something like this could be a threat to him.
And yet, he would hold firm regardless. He needed to. The faculty and Miruko-san wouldn't have any issues dealing with the rest of the villains, but it was clear to him that this one here would give them problems.
He coughed.
Damn it. Being locked in the teacher's lounge with Miruko-san meant that he hadn't been able to leave his muscled form all day. The strain on his body made him feel like he'd collapse at any moment.
Even so, the memory of a quirkless boy rushing into the arms of danger to save a classmate spurred him on.
He heard the hopeful shout of a student.
"Archer's here! These villains ain't got a chance!" shouted a student from the safety of one of the buildings.
All Might could feel it when the younger man arrived. The Wrought Iron Hero's focus was wholly on him. Not the droves of villains threatening to tear the school apart, but on him… and his inability to defeat the villain he was facing.
Archer's gaze was equally judging and compassionate. If the man, sharp as he was, hadn't already figured out that he wasn't well, then at the very least he was starting to suspect something was wrong.
All Might snarled and his muscles bulged.
He couldn't have that. Few knew that he was now a shell of his former self, but Archer was the one person who absolutely could not know under any circumstance.
He knew the man since he was a boy. Without a doubt, he was the embodiment of heroism– more so than himself, even. That said, giving him One for All was never an option. Though he would have unquestionably been the greatest hero, he didn't have the right mentality needed to bear the burden of the Number One spot.
Not yet, at least. The title was just as vile as it was glorious. It ate away at its bearer, taking whatever it could. Archer, as he was currently, would give his everything to that title without an ounce of resistance. His sacrifices would not go unrewarded, but there would be too little of him left for that to matter.
And so, until the day came that Archer was truly ready to bear the weight of The Greatest's duty on his shoulders, All Might would fake it for just a little while longer.
For his sake.
"Plus… ULTRA!"
The villain's defences did not matter. His quirk did not matter. The poor matchup that he posed did not matter.
Once confronted with the full power of the Number One Hero's fist, the villain was felled instantly.
Onlookers cheered. The villains that remained quickly lost their will to fight once they saw how outmatched their champion was when faced against All Might.
They would all be captured without further issues. It was an overwhelming victory.
All Might faced Archer, and despite his even expression tempered by a decade of fieldwork, the older man could still make out the spark of admiration that existed behind his powerful gaze.
And so, the ruse could continue for now.
X
Police Chief Tsuragamae rubbed his mutant brow tiredly. Through the one-way glass, he stared at the shackled purple-haired man with lidded eyes.
"Were you able to scrounge anything, Tsukauchi? Where he got that support item, at least?"
The man standing next to him shook his head. "Sorry, Chief. We couldn't get a peep out of him. We gave Camelot a call, and they said that they hadn't even realized that Arondight was missing until this morning."
"Tch."
The dog mutant sipped his coffee, not having any issues doing so despite his anthropomorphic face.
Tsukauchi seemed uneasy about something.
"Uh, Chief… one more thing."
The said chief quirked an ear.
"Hm?"
"We were contacted by a representative of the Government of the United Kingdom. They want custody of Black Knight."
Tsuragamae almost spat out his coffee. "What!?"
"Yeah. They only shipped him to us back then because they thought our facilities would be better equipped to contain him, but they're not happy that he was able to escape Tartarus. Apparently, the Camelot Agency in particular wasn't too impressed. I'm pretty sure they're the ones that pushed for that decision."
The chief clicked his tongue. Some of these hero agencies had too much political power for their own damn good.
"I wish we knew how he managed to get out in the first place." He mumbled.
The bastard went and got himself arrested twice and still wouldn't cooperate with the police. The nerve of some people.
X
"Damn it…. Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Shigaraki Tomura slammed the top of the bar repeatedly with a closed fist. The surface began to groan from the abuse.
"At ease, Tomura. This outcome was always a possibility after all."
"Then why the hell did we bother!?" the young man shot back at the blank television screen. "I should have been there myself! This is what I get for relying on a bunch of side characters."
"It's too dangerous for you to face Archer and All Might both… as you are currently, at least. We could only place so much expectation on Black Knight's shoulders. He might have gotten close to killing Archer once, but he was incarcerated for over half a decade while Archer has continued to grow stronger. Considering he failed, we were correct to think this way. Had you gone to UA in person, there is no guarantee that Kurogiri would have been able to extract you in time."
Tomura growled. "This was a waste of time. I thought you said that All Might was weaker or something? The nomu wasn't able to do a damn thing to him."
For a moment, no response came from the television.
"He's most definitely weakened, though it is quite possible that we've overestimated the extent of his deterioration. However, there is a positive outlook to be found… despite the mess."
The young man wasn't impressed. "Like what?"
"If he can still manage this much, it simply means that the torch has yet to be passed on. There is still time for us to end One for All conclusively."