Now comes part two, the part full of fist and heartfelt tears.
"The conditions of the exercise are as followed. It's the heroes job to disarm and or capture the villains hiding away in one of these buildings. Each team will be given ear buds to communicate with your teammate and capture tape in order to properly subdue the enemy team without having to give them a concussion."
Vlad King demonstrated by pulling the capture tape apart as he spoke. The shorter pudgy arm belonging to their class vice president, Nirengeki Shoda, raising up. "What does the villain team need to do to win?"
"Excellent question. The villain team will be given a head start where they will be able to hide the bomb on any of the buildings floors. If the ten minutes are up and the timer for the challenge ends the bomb goes off meaning the villains win."
Juzo Honenuki nodded along with a few others, a hand raising to scratch at his chin. "I see, so it's a matter of staling."
The sharp toothed grin of Setsuna Tokage greeted them as she raised her hand next. "What happens if the bomb is damaged?"
"The bomb itself is fake but if any serious damage comes to the bomb it with emit a pink smoke meaning the villain teamwins."
"What!? You mean we can't go all out on our first hero training!?" Shouted Togaru Kamakiri, the pincers of his bug like head poking out of the crowd to shout.
"We've already done a test to see how powerful we are at our strongest...I suppose now is the time to test our ability to control that power." Muttered Kojiro Bondo next to him.
The conversation started to change into different topics but the entire time Kendo had not said a word, she was unusually quiet. The normally gentle but boisterous girl instead choosing to stand in the back and watch the conversation go on. She was clearly lost in thought, an action that some of the class noticed right away.
Tetsutetsu kept giving her concerned looks before looking away.
The eyes of Setsuna never left her, a worried but knowing look on her face.
And Monoma looked furious, his glaring eyes refusing to leave the large frame of the intruder in their mist.
Even when the villain team F left early to prepare, Kendo still didn't say a word.
This was bad, really bad! His first class in hero training and he was going against Kendo of all people!
Midoriya has never beaten Kendo before...and that was when she liked him! Now that she was furious at him she was probably going to pound his stupid face in!
Muttering softly to himself he paced back and forth, a hand scratching at his cheek as he walked.
All of this was too sudden, he wasn't ready to face Kendo just yet! He didn't even have a hero costume. Not to mention he had hardly gotten a grip on his new move, let alone been able to practically use it in combat! Maybe he should talk to Vlad and see if...
A yanking at his sleeve pulled him from his thoughts, blinking a few times before turning to look down at his teammate Kodai...atleast that's what he thinks her name was, he was honestly freaking out too much to make sure. He had basically forgotten that he wasn't alone for this test...
Smiling down at the lanky, black haired woman she stared back with an unreadable look on her face. "Is there something wrong Kodai?"
"Mmm?" She didn't exactly say anything but he weirdly understood her, her head tilting quizzically.
"Uh no, sorry I didn't think of a plan yet."
"Mmm?"
"It is mostly because of Kendo..." He sighed before blinking confused, turning to look back at her. "Wait, how do you know about that?"
"Mmm."
"Oh I didn't realize you were with her group when that happened...no offense."
"Mmm!" She muttered, her hands going to her sides.
"I'm sorry. I've been really distracted lately."
"...Mmm."
"Trust me it's a long story. I don't think we have time to talk about that."
"Mmm."
"You're right, raincheck." Running his fingers through the top bush of his hair he sighed. "We should really think of a plan...what did you say your quirk was again?"
"mmm."
"Really? That sounds really useful. How many items at once?"
"mmm." She muttered, twiddling her thumbs as she looked at the floor.
Scratching his chin in thought he hummed, his eyes staring at one of the old grey walls of the factory esc building they were in. Slowly, his eyes drifted to his right, moving over to the large clunky fake bomb that they were supposed to protect. The thing was a little too big to hide, the obnoxious design sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the room.
"Ok. I think I have an idea."
"Mmm?"
"Of course I'm going to tell you. What would be the point of not letting you in on the plan?"
Multiple TVs were scattered across a wall, each of them showing a different part of the same building. Class 1B stood in the corner of the monitoring room, huddled up as they waited for the first match to start.
The faint sound of chatter filled the room as everyone excitedly waited. The room full of energy and excitement.
It was the first time they were allowed to use their quirks in a practical setting after all.
Tapping his foot against the ground impatiently Neito Monoma huffed, his eyes refusing to leave one monitor in particular. On it that green haired jerk was talking with Kodai, muttering a little to himself before turning towards her to ask a question. A question she usually nodded and hummed to...it almost looked like they were actually planning something. Which was crazy because he's tried talking to Kodai before but she always just responded with soft sounds or shrugs.
Monoma prided himself on getting to know his comrades in class 1B but within the few months they were at UA he could never properly get her to open up to him so the fact that some outsider has her talking really pushed his buttons...
Frustrated he tapped his foot a bit faster before finally speaking. "What a joke this is! It's bad enough that All Might is favoriting class 1A but now we're stuck taking on the rejects as well? This will not stand!"
His class looked over to him with weird looks, some of them even rolling their eyes.
"Are you still on that? A student was sent to the hospital after the USJ attack and has been gone ever since. I'd hardly call that 'picking favorites." Frowned Hiryu Rin.
"Yeah man! Really unmanly." Tetsutetsu crossed his thick arms at him.
Hell even Ibara Shiozaki looked mad at him!
None of them were treating this seriously! All acting like it was 'no big deal.' Like they weren't being pushed aside like they were nothing! The others may claim he was crazy but he knew the truth...1A was trying to steal the spot light! They were growing too cocky in their moment under the sun and now some punk who didn't even pass the exam was sharing classes with them? Absolutely not.
Tokage next to him looked over the same monitor before giving him a knowing smirk. "Are you sure it's not because Kendo was staring at green the whole time Vlad was talking?"
His mouth twitched.
"Of course not! Why would I care who Kendo spends her time with? If she wants to waste her time with trash that's her choice!" The man angrily grumbled, hardly convincing anyone nearby.
Tokage clearly didn't believe him, rolling her eyes, but instead of continuing that conversation she choose to change the subject to something he hated even more.
"So who wants to make a bet that they're having a lover's quarrel?"
His eyebrow twitched this time, his foot taping faster. Opening his mouth he went to yell at her only for Yosetsu Awase to push himself in between them to look at the monitor.
"Who? Midoriya and Kendo?" Looking up at the screen the welding user finally looked interested in a conversation. The boy liked gossip a little too much. "Is he the boyfriend I heard about in the cafeteria a week ago?"
"Is that why Kendo has been in the dumps lately? I've been meaning to ask about that." Kinoko Komori quietly whispered, poking her hands together, flinching a little at the sound of a loud voice behind her.
"Of course not! I asked Kendo before and she said she didn't have a boyfriend!" Screamed Tetsutetsu, forcing his way to the front to look at the same monitor. "He's probably just some jerk that's been bothering her!"
"Finally someone's making sense...I don't think Kendo would waste her time with such a punk when there are clearly better options in the class." Yelled Monoma, shoving Tetsutestu aside to keep looking at the monitor.
The rest of 1B watched Monoma and Tetsutetsu argue for a few minutes, shoving each other around, before letting out a collective sigh.
They were both way too obvious for their own good.
"Where do you think the bomb was placed?"
The words seemed to have snapped Kendo out of her thinking, her teal eyes blinking a few times before looking back at her partner. "I'm sorry what?"
Chuckling deeply Shisida pushed his glasses up. "Sorry, I was asking if you figured out where Midoriya and Kodai would hide the bomb. I do not speak to Kodai much but since you know Midoriya I thought it would help to ask your opinion."
"W-wait hold on, I don't know Midoriya..." When she saw Shisida raise a furry eyebrow she relented. "As well as I thought I did..."
"I see."
Unable to take the look that he was giving her she looked down at the map schematics of the building they were given. Raising a hand she scratched at her head in thought before scoffing.
"I wouldn't put it past Midoriya to try and pull something, he's always been resourceful like that. Neither of us have the ability to check the top floors first so he probably planned on putting it on a higher floor...that and since you and I have physically stronger quirks then his and Kodai's most likely means they are going to stall. Probably barricade themselves in whatever room the bombs in..."
When she turned back to face Shisida he was just...staring at her.
"..what?"
Clearing his throat the large man chuckled, scratching at his hairy neck. "Forgive me. I had not realized you planned all of that already. If you ask me, it sounds like you know Midoriya more then you let on."
"I-I wouldn't exactly say that..."
"Do you think they'll come after us?" Shisida inquired curiously, pushing the conversation forward.
Kendo shook her head. "Coming after us would open them up to getting captured. Midoriya has a healing quirk and Kodai's quirk leans more towards defense...staying with the bomb and running out the clock is the best strategy on their part."
"What do you suggest then?"
Slamming her fist against her palm she finally grinned. "I say we go in hot and fast! If we rush the floors fast enough it wont give them enough time to predict us. Once we find where they are hiding the bomb we overpower them. Whoever finds the chance to get to the bomb first is the one who shuts it off."
Nodding along he hummed. "A hard counter plan to Midoriya's then...hmm alright. I'm in."
Kendo nodded back, smirking confidently. "Looks like we got ourselves a plan then!"
Finally some action, she just has to not think about it and the fighting will distract her.
"Team B. You are free to enter the building. Your time starts now." Vlad king's voice rang through the PA system alerting them that the match had started.
As planned the two entered the building through the first floor. Shishida took the lead, his large frame squeezing through the halls. Every time he made it to a door he would quickly remove it from its hinges before moving on. Kendo would follow behind and check his corners, making sure to quickly scan every room in case they were hiding.
Just like she thought there was no sign of them lying in wait for an ambush. No sounds of them coming for them. They were hiding somewhere.
The two proceeded up the stairway to the second floor continuing their search pattern while remaining cautious of any surprise attacks. Like the first floor, they found no signs of the bomb or the "Villains".
Even with how fast they both were moving in sync several minutes had already passed and they still had at least three more floors to check. Kendo had not realized how BIG this building was before they came up with the plan. Whenever they do find their hiding spot they both are going to have to be quick with the draw.
The third floor was again more of the same. No sign of any bomb and no enemy team...Making their way up to the fourth floor Kendo was starting to feel antsy.
Was there something she was missing?
Walking up the final step she immediately noticed that there was objects blocking their path. Desk and the like standing in their way. Which probably meant they were getting close...
Shishida started to easily throw the debris aside, taking a few steps forward.
Pressing his foot against the ground he felt a shift, looking down he blinked at it confused. Before it could even registered what he was looking at the floor exploded upward, pushing his large furry frame up into the ceiling.
"Gah! What the!?" He bellowed, struggling to free himself.
"Are you alright Shishida?"
"I'm fine...just give me a sec and I'll free myself."
Squeezing around the trap Kendo took a closer look. It looked like an object was shrunken and then hidden under the floor boards. Then when someone stepped on them they were returned to normal size.
So that's their game huh.
"Hold on I'll get you free!" Grabbing the bottom of the object she wrenched it sideways to pull it away, the trap descending. "Guess they trapped this floor. That means they must be close."
"Yes but I don't understand...I thought Kodai could only shrink and grow objects within her sight, so how...is...she..."
His words trailed off, his gaze shifting to his right. Kendo looked at him confused before following his sight.
Standing not far away was their classmate Yui Kodai, her hero costume sticking out from behind a pile of desk and other objects like a sore thumb. She smiled at them, the gentle uptick of her lip before giving them a wave, turning and dashing down a hallway out of sight.
"There she goes!" Shisida yelled, getting up to chase after her, only stopping when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Wait! Don't just go charging in!"
"Yes but you said..."
"That's obviously a trap! Who knows how many other items she has laying in wait." Kendo's brows knitted together in thought. "Why would she just reveal herself to us like that? It doesn't make sense..."
"Hmm, you must be right. You think she's trying to pull us away from the bomb?"
"...maybe. I didn't expect our enemy to just reveal herself to us like this. It doesn't make sense."
Looking over the room she noticed that farther up the steps and into an adjacent hall the debris got thicker and harder to see, a room completely boarded up not far away. A self made fort made out of whatever they could find...If she had to make a bet they probably hid it that way. Following along the path they made sure to be careful of any traps when suddenly there was a shift to their right, some of the debris bursting open. In a green flash Kendo watched as Midoriya emerged from his hiding spot, jumping onto Shishida's back and wrapping capture tape around his neck.
"W-what the!?" The large bear like man yelled, thrashing about in a wild attempt to get his attacker off to no prevail.
"Shishida!" Kendo shouted for her teammate, lunging forward to help only to step on another trap, a large desk shooting out of the ground and knocking her back.
Letting out a groan she sat up to see Shishida slam his back against a wall to shake Midoriya off, Midoriya's eyes glowing green, jade embers coming out of his mouth. Emerging from a doorway Kodai reached into her belt and pulled out some scrap, chucking it at her and pressing her fingers together. Kendo rolled aside, just barely avoiding the large chunks of scrap as they crashed against the ground.
This was bad, they fell right into their trap hook line and sinker.
By the time she got back onto her feet Kodai was already gone again, disappearing amongst the chaos.
"What the hell is she? Part fox!?"
"K-kendo...help."
"Oh right!"
Leaping into combat she tried to help her teammate as he struggled against the capture tape. Growing her hand she swatted at Midoriya, managing to knock him off of her teammate and back against a wall. Slamming against the wall he got back into his feet quickly, thrusting a fist forward against Shishida's stomach. Grunting against the strike it did not seem to have done any good, Shisida punching down at him just for Midoriya to dodge to the left.
The two traded a few blows but it was obvious that while Shishida did have the size and strength advantage Midoriya had more experience. From what she could tell Shishida was telegraphing his strikes too much, something that came from in experience in a fight.
In the corner of her eye she saw a massive bolt flying at her, forcing her to jump back from the two fighting. Yet again when she looked over to where the bolt came from she saw nothing. She couldn't get close and the way that Kodai was using hit and run tactics was making it impossible for Kendo to even find her, let alone catch her.
Letting out a growl Shishida activated his quirk, his teeth grinding together as he grew in size. Towering over Midoriya now he swatted at him, striking him hard enough to punch him straight through a wall with a loud crashing sound.
Turning towards her partner she shouted. "What the hell Shishida! Vlad King said no concussions!"
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to..."
Footsteps stopped him mid sentence, both of them turning to see Midoriya get back up. Even in the low light they could see the cuts and scrapes along his body erupt into green fire before closing up. Behind him they could see Kodai emerge from a corner, spinning a bolt in-between her fingers.
That was new...
"Kendo go get the bomb. I'll hold both of them off." Grumbled her partner, putting his body in between them.
"What! Shishida!"
"Just go! We're running out of time!"
Kendo really didn't want to...but the way they were positioned she could hardly do anything. Grumbling she nodded, making a mad dash for the room. The sounds of fighting could be heard behind her as she ran, her boots slapping against the floor. Enlarging her fist she slammed it against the fort, breaking it apart and running into the room.
Ok, get the bomb, help partner...
Blinking she paused her step, staring at an empty room. There was nothing here.
Wait...where's the bomb!? She was sure it was here! If it's not here then where...
"Shishida of the hero team has been captured!" Vlad King's voice said through the speakers.
The sound of footsteps making her turn towards the destroyed door. She saw the green glowing eyes first, Midoriya's tall frame tiredly walking into the room from the hallway.
Finally.
Getting into a fighter stance she frowned, her hands going up to her face.
"Give it up Midoriya, you could never beat me in a one on one fight. Tell me where the bomb is!"
Walking farther into the room he nodded as he spoke, his movement growing sluggish. "I know I could never beat you head to head Kendo...that's why I decided not to fight you at all."
Taking one final step Midoriya sagged, his body falling forward and falling into the ground face first.
"That's time! Villain team wins!"
Vlad's words were like a knife into her...she hardly even did anything! They can't have lost just like that!
Walking into the room Kodai followed, taking a look at her before sliding a hand into her pocket, pulling out a tiny figurine of the bomb. It took a second to realize that it wasn't a figurine at all but the actual bomb! Placing it onto the ground she pressed her fingers together, the tiny bomb growing back to full size. All she could do was stare, her teal eyes going to Kodai, the bomb and then back to the passed out Midoriya. She wanted to be mad but...
Leave it to Midoriya to once again leave her speechless
A snort escaped her mouth as she shook her head, slowly walking over to check on the passed out boy.
Now that she finally had a closer look at him she picked up on more details. He looked...honestly really bad. Heavy bags hung low under his eyes and his hair looked messy and uncombed. Hell, even his tie was not done right.
It did not look like the fool has been sleeping well lately, she chastised herself for even caring. What he did in his free time was none of her concern she told herself and yet when the robots came to take him away to the infirmary she could not get the thought out of her mind.
Ever since the match Kendo had slinked into the back of the room, choosing to going back to not saying anything. Shishida had followed after her like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs, standing nearby as he watched the discussion about their match.
"Alright everyone. Would anyone like to identify who the MVP of this match was?" Vlad King asked the group of hero hopefuls.
"Midoriya duh."
"I would say Midoriya sensei."
"Midoriya!" Tetsutetsu pounded a fist into his palm. "I don't agree with hiding away like they did but Midoriya went and fought one of our strongest classmates head on which was super manly!"
Letting out a hum Vlad nodded at the answers before gesturing to their quiet princess Kodai standing silently nearby. "While I do agree that Midoriya had shouldered most of the work for this test I would argue that Kodai was much more important. Does anyone know why?"
The class looked amongst each other confused, it taking a while for someone to answer. Their vice president raising his hand to answer.
"She was one of the keys to stalling out the match. They were able to control the situation, forcing both Kendo and Shishida to shift from attacking to defending, putting them on their back foot." Staring down at the floor in thought he paused before continuing. "By ambushing the hero team in the hallway they both were able to control the battle location. Forcing two of our strongest fighters into a narrow hallway filled with other objects made it hard for them to counter attack. Shishida could not properly use his quirk for the added strength and size because of how tight it was and Kendo spent most of the match fighting against her large teammate trying to get in to do anything. In doing so they forced them to split up, making it easier to target one of them first and wait out the clock."
Kendo and Shishida flinched slightly at that, frowning at the words even though they were kind of true.
Shoda continued on, not really giving anyone room to join in on the conversation.
"They also combined that with a form of misdirection to trick the heroes into believing that the bomb was in the room covered in protection and not on Kodai. Kodai mostly played support, activating traps and forcing the agro on Midoriya where they wanted it."
The class was dumbfounded by such a heavy info dump. They all knew their vice president was smart but that was a whole other level, even Vlad King seemed a little surprised. He stared for a second before grinning proudly.
"Well said Shoda. Let it be said that it is easier to defend a point then it is to attack one. Going on the offensive is a dangerous game but can have it's benefits."
"What I still don't understand however is why you, Kodai, was chosen to hold the bomb on your person." Shoda turned towards Kodai with a raised eyebrow, looking over at her quizzically. "If the test was real that would mean that the bomb would have gone off with you holding it, killing you almost instantly. Why did you both decide to go with that kind of strategy?"
For the first time the class watched as shock moved across Kodai's normally blank face. It wasn't as extreme of an expression as some of theirs but her eyes opened wider then usual. Her mouth opened slowly, closing it and then opening again to speak.
Her voice leaking out like a whisper. Her words sounding so matter of fact that it was startling. "Sometimes you have to die for what you believe in."
For the second time that day the class looked shocked. Vlad King recovering first, nodded slowly with a grim look on his face.
"Yes. There is a saying that goes something along the lines of 'There is nothing scarier and more dangerous then someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain.' Let this be a harsh lesson students, sometimes the most dangerous people out there is a person with a cause. You must be prepared to face someone like that in your time as a hero." Taking a breath Vlad King went back to smiling, walking back over to the box for two more teams. "Now then, the next team will be...team A and team D!"
The class had already started to move on to the next subject when Shishida nudged Kendo gently.
"Kendo...I was going to check on Midoriya at Recovery girl's office after this, care to join me?"
Looking up at the larger furry man she nodded slowly, giving a small nervous smile.
"Sure."
Yet again he found himself in the endless dark. He's been walking but he has no idea for how long. Where was he walking to again? He had forgotten. The only thing greeting him being a flat endless darkness spreading in every direction with nothing else in sight. As if that's all this place has ever been. All that it was, it is or it ever will be.
WEAK
The voice was deep, powerful and shook the ground when it spoke. It was familiar, like listening to a voice recording of himself speaking, only deeper and more distorted by time. He should be scared yet for some reason he was not, a weird feeling of nostalgia coming over him as it spoke. Looking around the darkness his green eyes flickered around until stopping.
A single burning green ember in a world of darkness.
Walking towards it slowly it hovered in place, a small mote of green light stuck in a perpetual dance. The voice rumbled again, only louder this time, as he got closer.
TOO WEAK. HOW ARE YOU TO PROTECT THAT WHICH YOU CARE ABOUT LIKE THIS?
Opening his mouth words surged forward from his lips, almost like intuition. As if he has had this conversation before. A sense of deja vu coming over him.
"I'm trying to be stronger yet every step I take feels like more steps back." Clenching his scarred fist he stared down at it frowning. An ugly reminder of the past. "I want to be strong, strong enough to protect those I care about. Like All Might. Yet that dream feels so far away..."
The ember did not answer him, it floated there in a small rhythmic dance. For a split second he started to question if he was imagining things and simply talking to no one. But then it responded.
STRENGTH, COMES IN ALL FORMS. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS. THERE ARE MANY.
BUT WHAT GOOD IS STRENGTH IF YOU KNOW NOT WHAT FOR?
WHERE DOES YOUR STRENGTH TRULY COME FROM?
Opening his mouth to answer he paused, not really knowing what to say.
YOU MUST FIRST FIND THE ANSWER. FIND THE TRUTH WITH YOUR OWN HANDS AND TAKE YOUR DESTINY AS YOUR OWN.
WAKE UP.
AND RISE.
Sitting up with a start Izuku quickly panted. The scene playing before him one that was all too familiar.
Waking up with a start, panting for air and trying to calm his racing heart, the feeling of a cane smacking against his head.
"Again I find you in my office! How many times must I teach you this lesson young man!" Recovery girl angrily yelling at him again. "You just keep going over your limit!"
Trying to swat the deadly instrument away he blocked it with his arm.
"I'm sorry! Please stop hitting me!"
"No. I've grown just about tired of having my assistant take up one of my beds every other month! If I was younger I would..."
The sound of a cough made them both turn towards it, only now did Midoriya realize that they weren't alone.
Sitting in a chair that was a little too small for him the large beastly form of Jurota Shishida raised a hand to wave.
"Before you start giving him a concussion I just wanted to let you know that I was here as well."
Sitting up more in the bed Midoriya blinked a few times surprised. "Shishida? What are you doing here?"
"Checking on you of course. I heard that you passed out due to exhaustion and wanted to make sure you were ok." Pushing up his glasses he chuckled in a deep tone before gesturing behind him with his hand to reveal Kendo was standing in the door. "I was not the only one worried."
His and Kendo's eyes met and he found his words leave him. She looked at him before looking away with crossed arms.
"Mmm."
All three of them jumped slightly in place, even Recovery girl looked a little shocked as they all turned to the secret fourth person in the room. Kodai sitting in a chair next to his bed.
"Kodai? How long have you been there?" Shishida muttered.
She seemed to think for a second, letting out a hum before speaking. "The whole time."
"T-the whole time!?"
"I take it you wanted to check on me Kodai?" Midoriya smiled gently.
"...mmm."
Before the conversation drifted even farther Shisida's voice pulled the conversation to himself.
"Midoriya I must know. I heard that you had a healing quirk, yet what you showed off during the test was anything but. What was that?"
Midoriya's eyes drifted back to Kendo finding it hard to look away from her, Recovery girl talking for him instead.
"It's a new thing we've been practicing. Apparently Midoriya has the weird ability to use his quirk on himself, the only draw back being it takes up more stamina. As of right now he can only use it for a few minutes at a time." Looking Midoriya over she did the routine check ups. Testing his reflexes and shining a light in his eye. "Which would be useful if this fool didn't keep going over his limit and passing out!"
"I'm sorry Recovery girl, I don't mean to worry you."
"Bah, just words. If you meant it you'd avoid getting hurt in the first place!"
He didn't have words for that, merely nodding along. Probably looking like a scolded child.
"Yes well, I just wanted to apologize Midoriya." Said the large bear like man, bowing slightly to him. "I may have gotten a little carried away during the test."
"Please don't apologize, I think we both got a little carried away there." Midoriya said with a smile.
Looking over the scene playing before her she frowned. An unfamiliar feeling coming over her as she watched Shishida bond with him and Kodai hanging over his bed. Clenching her teeth she turned to leave only to be interrupted by Shishida.
"Kendo, where are you going? I thought you said you wanted to check and make sure Midoriya was alright?"
She was worried about him?
Looking back, teal met green eyes.
"He looks ok to me." She muttered, turning and heading out the door.
Getting up quickly Midoriya looked to Recovery girl for approval to leave. She met his pleading look before sighing and nodding.
He was out the door the next second, turning left down the hall and following after her. Kendo's orange ponytail drifting around a corner.
Shifting his weight in his tiny chair Shishida looked around the quiet room, no one saying anything. Raising a hand he coughed into it, attempting to say something but deciding not to.
He ran, his red shoes patting against hard wood floors.
He followed her into the hall, waves of other students getting in the way. Luckily he could make out her ginger hair anywhere.
Rushing outside of the building and into the cooler air he jogged trying to catch up, his voice calling out after her. "Kendo wait! Please just, just give me a second!"
Down the many steps and farther off of the campus he followed, trying his best to catch up. The busy bustling hours of students getting in the way. Past the campus homes and farther down he could tell she was heading for the train. If he didn't catch up to her now she was going to leave the campus for the day and who knew when he was going to have another chance to see her.
Breaking away from the crowd he followed her, watching her turn a corner and out of sight. Quickly making the turn he didn't see the hit coming.
Crack
Stumbling back from the blow his back hit a wall, the sharp sting from a right hook gracing his jaw.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA AT HOW MAD I AM AT YOU RIGHT NOW!" Kendo shouted, her hands clenched at her sides.
"I can make a guess..."
"SHUT UP." The pure anger in her voice making him jerk back at her shout. "DON'T YOU DARE..."
Taking a deep breath to calm herself she unclenched her fist. "Don't you dare make a joke or try to smile this off right now Izuku Midoriya or I swear to god."
Walking back and forth Kendo tried to find the words she wanted to say, her mouth firmly knitted together into a frown. While all Izuku could do was stare down at the ground in shame, his head hung low.
"Do you have ANY idea how worried I was for you!? The last time I saw you, you looked like death warmed over, so tired you could barely walk and then after that nothing! No text, not a single call, hell I would've been happy with a message in a bottle! But no, I get silence. I had no idea if you were hurt somewhere or even alive!" Letting out a sarcastic, bitter laugh she shook her head. "You know I even tried to go to your apartment to talk to your mom but when I did I found out that she's apparently in America!? Thanks for that little heads up!"
Pointing at him she frowned even harder, her long finger poking against him.
"I have been worried sick over you for almost two months and then there you were one day!" Thrusting both of her arms out at him she gestured to all of him as she yelled. "Just hanging out with people in the 1A class like it was no big deal! I thought...I thought something bad happened but it turns out you were just living the life!"
He really was the worse wasn't he?
She let out a small hiccup, a small intake of air that pulled his eyes up towards her. Tears trickled down her face through glaring eyes before falling to the cold hard ground.
...He had never seen Kendo cry before.
Kendo had always been so strong, so well assured over the years he had known her. No matter what she always looked at the best of any situation and did the best she could with what the world had handed to her. It's one of the things he really admired about her. Yet standing before him now, looking like she was about to break...it was painful to see.
It was only then that the truth slammed against his chest like a truck.
He did that to her.
Bringing a forearm up she rubbed at her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the crying, her shaky voice coming out through the tears.
"So what? Did you just get tired of me and decide to ditch me for your cool new friends? Well fine! I don't...I don't need you anyway! I can do this all on my own!"
Kendo turned her back to him, slowly starting to stomp off down the steps and towards the train. Heading out of the campus and most likely out of his life...
Opening his mouth noises refused to come out, clinging to his throat and refusing to let go.
She was going to leave him and it was going to be entirely his fault.
What if she knew the truth and it only made her more mad?
None of this matters without her.
"I...I didn't make it into the hero course." His voice came out so weak, so quiet, he wasn't sure if she could even hear him.
A foot stopped at the stairs mid step. She paused, her head tilting slightly to the side before turning to face him with a confused look on her face. "...what?"
Maybe it was the months of no sleep, or even the years of trying so hard to keep it all in but in that moment, that single moment he could feel the dam start to break. His head lowering, his shoulders raising and he cried. Guilt and shame running down his face in the form of red hot tears.
"I d-didn't make it Kendo...I failed. I know I, I should have told you but I was too..."
Ashamed
His words petered out, the unused word hanging in the air.
"We-we promised each other that we would be rivals. T-that we would be the best heroes this world has ever seen but I failed...nobody wants to be rivals with a failure so I just didn't tell you. I've been trying so hard to fix it...Recovery girl took me in because she saw potential but no matter how hard I try I keep making people worry for me." Massaging his eyes with his palms his chest shook. "I'm so sorry Kendo...if you never want to see me again I understand."
Watching him as he cried she could feel her tears start to match his, her eyes blinking as her frown tightened. Stomping over to his slumped and defeated frame she shouted.
"You think I care!" He reeled back like she just hit him again. "I mean yeah, you not getting into the hero course sucks but I care about YOU Midoriya! Not your quirk! Not what you can do for me!"
She shoved him, making him stagger back. "And especially not some STUPID promise we made years ago! I only made that promise because I thought we were going to do this TOGETHER! AND YET AGAIN HERE I FIND YOU TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING BY YOURSELF!"
The bottom of her fist raised up, hammered against his shoulder after every word. Each period slamming against his broad chest like the end of a very angry letter.
"You. Big. Stupid. Idiot. I. Hate. You."
Leaning in he wrapped his arms around her, her hits getting weaker and weaker as she went on.
"I'm sorry Kendo. I never meant to hurt you."
Slowly, she sagged. Her words petering down into mumbles. Wrapping her arms around him she couldn't help but nuzzle softly up against his shoulder, tears making his shirt wet. Her voice barely heard muffled against the cloth.
"I hate you."
"I know."
"I'm still mad at you."
"I know...I'm sorry."
Tension slowly left their shoulders along with both of their energy, months of frustration bleeding out into each other. It was a good thing that they were leaning against each other or they both would probably collapse. Pulling away from the hug Kendo rubbed at her reddening eyes before facing him.
"We're going to make a new promise."
Rubbing at his own eyes he nodded along. "Ok, a new promise."
Placing her hand on her chest she spoke. "I promise from now on not to pester you anymore about the past. There's no point in digging up old bones, you dont have to tell me if you really dont want to...but in exchange you have to promise me that you are going to tell me what's going on in that big head of yours. I'm tired of trying to guess."
"Yeah...I think I can do that."
Sticking her pinky out she squinted at him. "Promise me."
The action was so childish he couldn't help but let out a weak chuckle, wrapping his pinky around hers and shaking it. "Ok, I promise. From now on, I Izuku Midoriya, will not hide my feelings from you."
And I promise to never make you cry ever again.
"Good." Letting his hand go she looked him over. "You look terrible by the way."
He wanted to tell her that he felt terrible as well but instead just rolled his tired eyes. "Gee thanks."
"Knowing you you probably haven't had a single decent meal since your mother left." Turning she seemed to think for a second, her head tilting before gesturing for him to follow. "You're going to tell me everything that happened since you started to go to UA yeah?"
"S-sure...only if you tell me what's been happening on your end."
Nodding she started to head down the steps towards the train out of UA.
"C'mon then, my mom should be finishing up dinner. My family has been asking about you non stop since you left. I think...they really missed you."
Blinking surprised he stopped his step to watch her for a second. The way she said that final part made him pause, she didn't openly say it but...sending her a small genuine smile he started to follow her to the train station.
"I missed you too Kendo."
If the back of their hands bumped against each other while they walked side by side. If they walked a little closer then usual. If they both thought about holding the others hand.
Neither of them said.
Notes:
They say that apologies are meant to bridge the gaps in the differences in people
I apologize if anyone gets frustrated because they just want these two to be happy together but I'm a fan of stories where they portray relationships as a challenge. Where they have to grow and learn together. Where it's a lot of giving and taking.
The perfect relationship isn't going to just land in your lap, you have to WORK for a relationship to thrive. This wont be the only fight these two go through but it will probably be the worse one.
Here's to growing together.
...also writing fight scenes is hard. I spent wayyyyyy too long trying to make fight scenes fun and interesting instead of just..."they punch each other, the end. Now drama!"
