Kaminari was nervous. Then again, fighting against anyone who even looked like Kira was scary enough as it was, let alone the fact that her Quirk was extremely powerful—or so he had been told. The only thing he knew about Kira was that she was a recommended student with a powerful Quirk, so right off the hop, the matchup was going to be intense. And that was without the context that she had been paired up with Yaoyorozu Momo, another recommended student.
But of course, as luck may have it, there was something else about Kira that made Kaminari wary of her. Something that was just… unnatural. There was something about Kira that honestly scared him—something wrong. Something that made her seem… off.
There was this… aura around her that made him feel as if whenever he so much as looked in her direction, he was staring at a villain, not a hero in the making. That, at any moment, she could turn around and kill him or something to that effect.
Then… there was her eyes.
Her eyes were empty, dull of life or emotion. When he first made eye contact with her this morning, he could've sworn he was staring at a corpse. But, evidently, that wasn't the case. She was still alive, and when she noticed he was staring, she asked why he was staring at her.
He, of course, brushed it off, not wanting to give her the wrong idea. Just saying that he got lost in thought and she happened to be in his line of sight. She didn't look convinced but let it slide. Either way, it didn't matter. The point was that, she was creepy, and if that were all he would've been fine, but there was more.
The next thing that bothered him was her hero costume. It wasn't that it was too flashy, or that, because she was a girl it was oversexualized like Yaoyorozu's or, to an extent, Uraraka's. It was that it was bland.
It was a basic pinkish-purple suit, a tie, a pair of fingerless gloves, and black dress shoes. There was no fanfare, there were no flashy add-ons, it was just a basic suit and tie. It was almost like it was purposely designed to make her look like a casual citizen. Someone who could blend into a crowd of people on their daily commute to work.
That made him think that she was planning on becoming an underground hero rather than a limelight one. There wasn't anything wrong with that, but still, at least have some kind of padding, armour, or hell something that makes you stand out! Even Eraserhead had some merchandise.
But Kira… just looked like a businesswoman. Completely unbothered by anything—and that was something else he had a problem with. She showed zero emotion. Not when Midoriya was getting pummelled by Bakugo, or when Kujo disabled Todoroki's Quirk and proceeded to jump Shoji and him with Ojiro!
It was almost like… she didn't care.
But then, there was the glare she shot at Bakugo when he came back, so then what was it? Did she care and just not show it? Or was there something else that he didn't know about? Not that he wanted to know, but he was curious.
Of course, there was Yaoyorozu and her equally as powerful Quirk to worry about, but that was neither here nor there. Sure, the daughter of the super-rich support item tycoon Takeo Yaoyorozu was no laughing matter, but she at least seemed normal. The difference lay in that. Yaoyorozu seemed like a nice person, while Kira did not.
It was that separation that made Kaminari nervous. The sheer difference of thought that the two must have had was dangerous when separated. But putting them together in a situation like this could only spell disaster for whoever they were fighting.
And so, with those thoughts dancing around in his head, Kaminari stood idly behind Jirou, his partner, as he adjusted his black jacket, dusting off the white thunder decals of the layer of dust that had encroached on its pristine colour. His pants, leather-based and great for conducting electricity, were also a shade of black, as were his shoes. His yellow eyes showed nervousness, though that was to be expected.
His partner, Jirou, showed none of that in her onyx eyes—as a matter of fact, it showed a level of competitiveness that Kaminari didn't expect to see in someone as laid back as Jirou. Her wavy, short-cut hair sat firmly on her head as she fiddled with one of her earphone jacks, which was what her Quirk was. She wore a black leather jacket, a torn pink shirt, and black leather pants with massive speakers attached to her lower legs that also acted as boots.
Just when he thought his partner was normal, he encountered something very… similar to the thing he was complaining about with Kira. That being that aforementioned dark aura surrounding her. But unlike Kira, there was something debatably worse with Jirou that Kira lacked.
While it seemed at first that Jirou was normal, it had become very clear to him that she wasn't. If anything, she wore her emotions on her sleeve, and they weren't exactly pretty. When she was paired up with him he saw the disgust in her eyes, but that quickly went away when she looked him up and down, and sighed, that disgust being replaced with annoyance more than anything else.
But there was something else before that that had given him a negative impression of Jirou. Because when All Might came into the room—which was a pleasant surprise, to say the least—and when he announced that today's class was a battle trial, like everyone else in the class, Jirou had a reaction.
And it was borderline mortifying.
If there was one thing that Kaminari knew well, it was body language. Why? Well, he blamed his mother. While his father was an electrician due to his Quirk "Electric Vaccum" his mother was a guidance counsellor for the criminally impaired. She worked at Jabberwock Prison in Esuha, and there she met a few interesting figures.
She would tell Kaminari stories of the crooks she had meetings with and told him how to spot how someone was feeling just by looking at them—what positions to look for, what the look in their eyes meant, and what their resting face told you about them.
People liked to think that Kaminari was stupid. But he wasn't. His mother didn't raise an idiot. It was only because he had an "electric personality" that caused others to believe he was a dumbass. Sure, he wasn't the best in school, but he was emotionally smart. Moreover, thanks to his mom, he knew how to read people.
So if Kira was scary because she looked as if she was a blank slate, Jirou was terrifying because of the sheer amount of determination that she had to win this. But if that was all, then maybe he wouldn't have minded being paired with Jirou.
But, of course, just like Kira, that wasn't the case.
Because there was something else about her reaction that made him think that there was something seriously wrong with Jirou, and it was all thanks to the look she was giving Kujo when they were about to head out for at the beginning of class.
It screamed, "I'm going murder you, and there will be nothing anyone can do about it."
Of course, he didn't think she could, especially after that recent showing of Kujo's, but the fact that she looked at him like that meant that there was some prior history between them. Whatever that history was, he didn't care to know about it. What he did care about was her reaction when they didn't get paired up to fight him.
She got mad.
She got really mad.
But it wasn't the loud kind of anger. It was the silent kind of anger. The kind you'd ascribe to a psychopath. The way her hands clenched into fists so tightly that the fabric on her gloves tensed to the point of nearly breaking, or the scowl on her face nearly revealing her gritted teeth, or that downright furious look in her eyes that screamed "How dare you!"
It was like she was about to lose her mind, made even worse when he won. But, of course, she didn't make her anger known. She kept it to herself, and her reaction to his winning seemed to be for her to deflate like a balloon and relax. As if she had gotten to a point of rage that developed into a calmness.
Or, she was going to apply that to this battle and take her anger out on their current opponents. Or, if he was unlucky, she'd take it out on him. And if that was the case, then he really didn't want to be in the same building as her. But, unfortunately, because they were a team, and because they were placed here by All Might to wait until the allotted time the villain team got to prepare was up, he was stuck in the same general area with her.
They had yet to have been given the all-clear to be deployed out for the training exercise by All Might, leaving them standing by their lonesome out in front of the faux city gates. To be honest, Kaminari kinda of hoped that it would remain that way—only so he could get his barrings, he wasn't scared or anything, no-sir!
But, it was getting dreadfully silent. So, out of sheer boredom, he decided to test his luck and strike up a conversation with Jirou.
"So, um… do you got a plan or something, uh, Jirou-san?" Kaminari asked as Jirou looked over her shoulder. Immediately, he flinched. Why? Well, it was because of the fury in her eyes. The burning hatred that was there, for even just a moment. It was like he had disrupted a funeral or something. He just hoped it wasn't directed at him.
"Not particularly. If I had to guess, Kira is going to be the attacker in this situation, while Yaoyorozu is going to be laying it thick with defence," Jirou paused, setting her jaw as she blinked. When her eyes reopened, the vitriol and hate were gone, replaced with a cover of trepidation as she began to twirl aimlessly with her jacks.
"My jacks can plug into walls, which allows me to hear vibrations, so I can tell if someone is moving around. If we can get the jump on Kira, we can overwhelm Yaoyorozu and take the bomb. There, that's the plan, okay?" Jirou said, turning her head away from facing Kaminari. After the shiver of fear was gone, Kaminari sighed, chewing the inside of his cheek.
The plan was interesting, and in theory, it could work. But there were a lot of things that could go wrong, at least in Kaminari's opinion. He wanted to strike up his own ideas, but with the way that she had looked at him, with eyes that basically said "do not object" he felt like it was a bad idea.
He got the idea that Jirou was all about "her way or the highway" and that was the worst kind of person to get involved with. He would know, his cousin was one of them. There was a reason why he never talked to Kasuga anymore…
They stayed there in silence, waiting for the buzzer for what felt like ages. Neither Jirou nor Kaminari tried to strike up a conversation, and as the electronic clock ticked down to zero, the buzzer echoed out and the gates to the faux city opened. Jirou pulled out a map from her jacket, opening it up and pointing at the X planted on one of the buildings.
"This is where the building is, just down this corner and to the right. We gotta disarm that nuke before it blows up the city," Jirou said, faux concern in her voice as she put the map back into her jacket. Kaminari was taken aback by her acting skills, and a part of him wanted to get in on the act, but he had to take it seriously. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was to overdo it like Ida did.
"Y-Yeah, sure thing!" Kaminari responded as the pair ran towards the objective. As they got closer to the building, Jirou ran ahead of Kaminari, crouched beside the entrance of the building, and then plugged one of her jacks into the wall.
"Top floor, they seem to be pacing. Did they not make up a plan or something?" Jirou thought aloud before shaking her head. "They're up there, we can get them by surprise!" Jirou continued, unplugging her earphone jack from the wall, and taking a step into the building. But before she could enter, a group of bubbles flew out of the ground, all with skull-shaped iconography within them.
As soon as they appeared, Kaminari's eyes widened. He knew what those bubbles meant—he had seen them in action on the first day at the apprehension test—and by the time he had realized what it was they were, it had already been too late.
"JIROU! GET BACK!"
"huh?—"
Time seemed to slow down, as when the multiple explosions ripped through the air, they shattered the nearby windows of the buildings surrounding them, and having been caught in the middle of the explosion, Jirou had to take all of that.
Jirou was thrown back, and hard. Surprisingly, though, that was the worst part of the explosion—the actual blast. The actual damage done to Jirou wasn't nearly all that bad. Parts of her costume were burned, and her face had minor burns, particularly around the left side of her face which took the brunt of the explosion, but aside from that, when she went down, that was all he noticed.
At first, anyway.
When he got a proper look at what happened, that was when he noticed the myriad of cuts—some deep, others surface level. The worst of the cuts were around the left side of her body, primarily around her cheekbones, lips, chin, and parts of her neck—though thankfully nowhere near the jugular.
It was also there that he noticed a large chunk of her costume was done on the left shoulder, which was where the absolute worst injury was, which was a deep five-inch long gash that had appeared with a large burn that surrounded the wound.
Dotting her left arm were a bunch of minor cuts, but aside from that, she was fine. Sure parts of her costume were burned and exposed some skin but it wasn't anything major. Out of everything, though, it was that gash that was the most concerning.
Kaminari wasted no time rushing to her side to help her up, as she had been mostly focused on the gash in her shoulder. From her expression alone he noticed that she was fighting back tears of pain. But aside from that, there was a deep anger in her eyes that pointed out to Kaminari that she was furious—as she should be, especially because of how much damage Kira's bombs had done to her.
Which… wasn't that a topic. Without even confronting them, Kira had already completely taken Jirou out of the picture—because no way in hell All Might-Sensei was going to keep her in the exorcise.
And to prove his point, not even a second later, All Might came in over the speaker.
"Kaminari, keep Jirou there, medical robots are on their way to pick her up. I'm going to end the—"
"No, I can still fight!" Kaminari interrupted, staring straight ahead as Jirou looked up at him, narrowing her eyes despite the pain.
"A-Are you mental?! Y-You saw what those—ow…!" Jirou stopped herself, clutching her heavily wounded shoulder as blood seeped down and around it. She was running on adrenaline, which was obvious. The moment it ended, though, was probably when all of that pain that was being held back would unleash and that was something he didn't want to be here for.
"Kaminari, I cannot in good conscience continue this. Especially after what just happened. Do not argue with me on this," All Might replied as Kaminari swallowed down the growing tension in his chest, but before he could think whatever the situation was through, he blurted something out without thinking.
"With all due respect, All Might-Sensei, it's a hero's job to stop the villain, is it not?" Kaminari retorted, his heart pounding in his chest. Was he really arguing with All Might? "If this was a real situation, then I'd be leaving an active crime scene with a nuclear weapon about to go off. I cannot, in conscience, allow that to happen, All Might-Sensei."
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, while at the same time, the medical robots appeared to take Jirou away. Kaminari passed her off to them as gently as he could, and when they put her on the stretcher, he watched as they disappeared with her. Finally, All Might responded.
"Very well. Spoken like a true hero, Young Kaminari! Be careful, keep a straight face and push forward," All Might said, the connection cutting. Kaminari sighed, staring toward the building. A full minute and a half passed just for that to transpire. The trap had succeeded in delaying him and also taking out a vital teammate in the exercise.
He was alone, and he had to face two recommended students. One that, if it hadn't been obvious by now, had some form of battle experience from what he could tell, and the other was Yaoyorozu Momo, who had a pretty overpowered Quirk and a smart mind to back it up.
"Luck does not seem to be in the favour of Kaminari Denki today, no sir!" He thought, shuttering, before slapping his face with both hands and taking the plunge. He was going to win, and that was that. If he lost, he'd look like a fool.
Back in the viewing room, the other members of Class 1 - A had been watching everything unfold, and out of everyone in the room, Ida was the one to speak up first. "All Might-Sensei! Shouldn't you reprimand Kira-san for her actions toward harming Jirou-san in such a horrible way?!" Ida asked as All Might hummed.
"You're correct, Young Ida. Young Jirou was injured horribly by that attack. But, until I can confirm something with Young Kira, I'll be holding my tongue. That being said, take this as a lesson. In a real scenario, you won't have the chance to pull out in a dangerous situation such as this. As Young Kaminari said to me before I gave the all-clear to continue this trial, it is a hero's job to stop the villain. If it means risking life and limb, then that is what a hero does."
All Might paused, staring at the screens with intent. "While what Young Kira did was dangerous, I would like to believe she wouldn't use a full power bomb to attack another student like that on purpose."
"Uh, All Might-Sensei? I-I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but that wasn't a full-power bomb from Kira-san," Kujo spoke up, catching All Might's attention rather quickly.
"What do you mean, Young Kujo?" All Might asked, looking over to him as Kujo chuckled nervously.
"W-Well, I happen to know Kira-san outside of school, and when I was over at her place once, when she was taking out the trash, rather than go down to the garbage bins, she used her Quirk. All of the trash that was in the bag, and the bag included, were, uh… vaporized," Kujo answered as another student, Ashido, spoke up.
"Huh?!" Ashido exclaimed as Kujo grimly nodded.
"Yeah… As you said, All Might, Kira-san would never use that powerful of an attack on a living being—not intentionally, I don't think. I don't know how weak she can set her bombs to, but I'm pretty sure that's the weakest—or at the very least, it's as weak as she can make them currently," Kujo continued as All Might grimaced.
"I see. Thank you for telling me this, Young Kujo. It seems I'm going to have to have a word with Young Kira after this is over…"
As All Might turned back to the screen, Josefumi felt his heart slowly calm down. Having to run defence for his ally and friend against All Might was not something he had ever planned on doing until that moment. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why Kira had planted such powerful bombs in the front doorway.
Unless, of course, he was right, and it had been an accident—which he wanted to believe, but given everything that he knew about her, it didn't seem to be the case. Kira was a very deliberate person. Once she set herself to something, she did it, consequences be damned.
So, just like what All Might was going to do, he was going to hold his tongue he confirmed something with Kira. Until then, he'd level a critical eye toward what was happening on the monitors, and move on.
While other students in the class seemed to have a bit of a problem with letting the trial continue, All Might didn't seem like he was going to budge on his decision. Out of everyone in the room, it was Ida who was the most frustrated, especially given how… violent the result had been.
What he couldn't wrap his head around was why. Why use so much force on another individual? It was completely unnecessary—especially to a fellow student! When he met Kira yesterday, he got the impression that she was a good individual, but to go out of her way to do that…
It didn't paint a good picture of her, that was for sure.
Others in the class had similar opinions, except Bakugo. He was still focused on the fact that he hadn't been seeing things yesterday. That Blondie really did have an explosion Quirk. Which, once again, made their initial meeting at Aldera confusing, because if her Quirk was an explosion-based Quirk, then what was it that had punched him in the face that day?
He knew the difference between the force from an explosion and the force of a fist, and what he felt that day was the force of a fist. So, unless that was someone else in the classroom taking advantage of the situation at the time, then how the hell could Blondie have two Quirks?
"Unless she's lying about something, like shitty Deku…" Bakugo thought, a scowl taking up his visage. Something definitely wasn't right here, and now, he wanted to get to the bottom of it. But the question was how? Don't get him wrong, he wanted to know what the fuck was happening, but he wasn't about to dive head-first into this.
He needed to wait. Needed to have a reason before jumping in to figure out what the fuck was going on. He was going to figure out the truth behind what Blondie was hiding, and once he did, he'd air that shit out for the whole class and, probably, the school. Because if there was one thing that Bakugo loathed, it was secrets.
Back on the battlefield, Kaminari scooped up a few bits of rubble from the ground by the entrance, then stepped into the building. He had eight rocks in total, meaning he could pre-emptively set off eight potential booby traps—that was, of course, if they were motion-triggered. He didn't have long to secure the bomb or at the very least knock out both of the "villains," but he had a sure-fire way of doing so.
The only catch was actually making it to them before the timer ran out.
Due to his control over the electricity that he had in his body, he could generate enough electricity to knock someone out, or "paralyze them" long enough so that he could seize victory. But for him to get to that point and unleash his attack, which he fittingly dubbed "25-volt paralyze blast," he would have to reach the bomb and, subsequently, Kira and Yaoyorozu.
Now, that would've been easy, had he not been met with a choice.
In front of him were three hallways, one sprouting off to the left, the other sprouting off to the right, and one straight down the middle. He couldn't see down any of them due to the severe lack of lighting. He theorized, however, that If one had a booby trap, then that would lead him down the correct path to the stairwell.
Was this flawed logic? Yes, but it was the only thing he had to go off of, and he'd be damned if he had ended up like Jirou had and threw the match. Plus, no self-respecting hero-in-training would give up because of a small hiccup—especially if a nuclear weapon had been involved. Granted, this wasn't a real nuclear bomb, but All Might did say to treat it as a real situation.
So with that in mind, he threw the first stone down the middle hallway, and the result was nothing. That marked one off the list of the three options that had been presented to him.
Collecting the stone, he returned to the entrance and threw one of the stones down the right hallway, and it had a boobytrap. The bubbles that launched up from the ground exploded, leaving nothing of the stone that he had thrown. So, with that in mind, he walked down the hallway, and sure enough, it led to the staircase.
He was met with the same three decisions, and each time he would throw a rock down one of the hallways. It even became somewhat of a pattern, and some of the hallways even doubled up—thankfully a single rock took care of them—and some even had boobytraps that didn't lead to the staircase of that respective floor, which was smart on Kira's part, but that still didn't mean he wasn't going to continue his plan.
The rest of the way up the building went something along the lines of this:
Middle—nothing—a dead end.
Left—Booby trap!—a dead end.
Right—nothing—go down, staircase, next floor.
Middle—double booby trap—a dead end.
Left—nothing—a dead end.
Right—booby trap!—go down, staircase, next floor.
This pattern continued till he got to the fifth floor, where he was met with a straightaway, a staircase, and no booby trap. There was still a decent amount of time on the clock, six minutes to be exact, and he had two rocks to his name.
He stared up the final staircase, narrowing his eyes. He threw one of the stones to the stairs, just to make sure it wasn't booby-trapped, and thankfully it wasn't. He picked up the rock and continued on his way up the stairs. Once he got to the top floor, he was met with a door. He again threw a rock, and there was no boobytrap.
He was beginning to think he was walking into a trap. Neither of them had left the room since he entered the building, so he felt as if something had to have been set up. There was no way in hell they didn't have something planned for him once he opened that door. So with that in mind, he had an idea.
He stood beside the door and grabbed the handle. Pushing down on the door handle, he let the door drift open, and when it did, a massive explosion erupted from the room, and a cannonball came flying out. Of course, the cannonball had been made of rubber—so maybe calling it a rubber ball would've suited it more, but still!
The ball bounced against the wall, then ping-ponged around the small room before the room with the bomb, causing Kaminari to press himself up against the wall beside the door. It eventually stopped, coming to a halt in the middle of the room.
Kaminari's heart was racing. Had he been bit by that ball, he would've been knocked out and lost the round. Thankfully that hadn't been the case, but there was probably a chance that it would've been so if he didn't do what he had done.
"HOLY SHIT! That was a close one!" Kaminari thought, coughing into his hand. Now with no more distractions or reasons to not step into the doorway and confront the "villains," he stepped into the doorway, made a mock gun out of his index finger and his thumb, then smirked, aiming it directly at Yaoyorozu. She stepped back in confusion, a rubber ball in her hand and a cannon to her left. Before she could do anything, Kaminari's fingers began to glow with electricity as he let out his attack.
"25-volt paralyzing blast!" Kaminari said, shooting directly at Yaoyorozu, who attempted to dodge out of the way, only to be hit by the lightning-fast attack. The moment the attack hit her, it caused her to freeze up and fall to the floor. Electricity danced around her as she twitched, lying down on the concrete.
The attack wasn't fatal—he made sure of that—then pointed towards where he had hoped Kira would be, which was next to or somewhere next to the bomb, had been, only to notice she wasn't there. In fact, as he looked around the room, it had been practically empty—say aside from the bomb.
There were three windows all of which were opened, and the bomb had been smack dab in the center of the room. It was alluring, the idea of running up to get the easy victory, but it seemed like that would've been too easy.
"Why does this feel like a trap?" Then, he saw her out of the corner of his eye. Coming at him with a karate chop aimed at his neck, was Kira. Kaminari jumped back just enough to avoid the swing, only to be met with a swift right jab aimed directly at his gut, which landed, causing him to double over in pain.
"Urgk…!" Kaminari grunted. When he bent down, he received a high kick to the nose, making him stagger backwards, as blood dribbled down from his nose and now split lip. During the impromptu pummeling, Kira remained silent, giving him a cold glare. She wasn't trying to taunt him, nor was she trying to make him feel like an equal. She was solely focused on beating him to attain victory.
He scrambled to protect himself, putting his arms up to block another hit to the chest. He returned the favour, balling up his fist to try and sock her in the jaw, but she simply moved it out of the way and punched him in the shoulder, making him stagger again. She was physically strong, which again, made sense since she was a recommended student—but damn if it didn't hurt!
Kaminari got into some defensive stances his dad had taught him and began to block as many attacks as possible, being pushed back by each one. It was hard to ignore, but it was obvious that Kira was a professional. She had to have had some sort of formal martial arts training. The attacks she was dishing out were stuff he had seen in Karate movies and kung-fu movies—of course not with the same finesse, but still.
And it was because of that lack of mastery, she left a small opening right on her chest. It was embarrassing to do, and he knew it could get him some snide remarks from the other girls, but it wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter—it wasn't as if he wanted to touch Kira's chest, but again, what other choice did he have?
As soon as she went in for a grapple, Kaminari took the chance to slam his hand into her chest, making her face turn beat red, stunning her for a split second, which was all he needed. "25-volt paralyzing blast!" Kaminari said, zapping Kira, causing her to fall backward onto the floor—again, another non-fatal attack.
"Sorry, Kira, but I had no other choice. Hope I didn't offend ya!" Kaminari remarked, breathing heavily as All Might's voice came over the speakers.
"The Villain team is unable to continue thus Hero Team Wins! Please report back to the viewing room for assessment!" As All Might finished talking, Kaminari let out a sigh of relief. He had won, thank god. He walked over to both Yaoyorozu and Kira and stood them up, both of whom shook their heads.
Kira gave Kaminari a sharp, pointed glare, her face still red, and it caused Kaminari to clam up. And just like that, all of the bravado he had been feeling upon his victory had been lost, all thanks to the angry stare of a woman.
"I-I, Uh—"
"Don't. Not another word." Kira's blunt answer was enough for Kaminari, her face still red as she walked out of the doorway and out of sight, straightening her tie as she walked. Kaminari and Yaoyorozu walked back in silence, following just behind Kira as they made their way to the viewing room.
He had felt a bit awkward for touching a girl's chest of all things. He couldn't say it was an accident because up until that point, she had been well guarded and that had been the only place where he could've striked, as it was the only opening that he could've seen in the frantic flurry of action that the small scuffle had been.
Once he had returned to the viewing room, he was greeted by All Might smiling at him. "Good job Kaminari! You were not only able to win on behalf of Jirou, but you did so in a professional way! I think it is obvious who the M.V.P. of that match was!" All Might declared as Kaminari looked away with embarrassment.
"T-Thank you, All Might-Sensei!" Kaminari said, bowing quickly before taking his seat.
"Now, before we continue, there is something I have to address first and foremost. Kira," All Might began, looking over to her, as she raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a problem, All Might-Sensei?" Yosihhara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, there is. Those bombs you planted at the entrance of the building, are you aware of how powerful they were?"All Might asked as Yoshihara blinked, confusion taking up her visage. How powerful they were? What was he on about?
"What do you mean? Did something happen?" Yoshihara asked, concern leaking into her words.
"Yes, something did happen. Given your response, I take it that it was unintentional. But, Young Jirou had to be taken to the infirmary due to a grievous wound she had suffered thanks to the trap you laid at the entrance of the villain base for the test. To be specific, she had a particularly nasty wound that looked rather deep and was bleeding fairly badly," All Might answered as Yoshihara flinched.
That… wasn't supposed to happen. At most, the only thing that was supposed to happen was for Jirou to receive some papercuts, but not that. "Will… will she be alright?"
All Might nodded. "Yes, she should recover just fine with Recovery Girl. But, I hope this shows you just how dangerous your Quirk can be. After this is over, I want you to go to the infirmary and apologize to Young Jirou. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir…"
"Very well, then let us continue the exercise! The next teams will be…!"
The fights continued into the end of the day, ending with Koda Koji and Rikido Sata vs Asui Tsuyu and Tokoyami Fumikage, with the latter being the victors. Team Asui had been the villains, and Team Koji had been the heroes. The fight wasn't as interesting to watch as some of the other fights had been, but Yoshihara simply chalked it up to being tired.
While she had been upset that she had hurt Jirou as badly as she had, that wasn't what she was focusing on at the moment. She had been humiliated! She had thought up a plan to let them win, and if push came to shove Yaoyorozu's canon would've come in to finish it. But that Kaminari kid… was smarter than she had thought.
Yoshihara had thought that he was dumb after seeing him in the other classes, but it was clear that hadn't been the case, at least in a pinch. Not only had he beaten her, despite it seeming that she was beating him when they fought one-on-one, but he had also touched her chest! The bastard had touched her chest!
Of course, it wasn't on purpose, at least she thought so, but the point still stood! She was upset, but she wasn't going to let that spoil her mood any more than it already had. The class had ended after that last match, and everyone was gathered at the entrance of the testing facility where it would lead back into the change rooms to get back into school uniforms, then head for home.
Yoshihara stood beside Josefumi, who had been side-glancing her from time to time, almost as if he wanted to talk to her about something. Just before they were about to leave, All Might spoke up in front of everyone.
"Well done, everyone! No serious injuries, apart from Midoriya's and Jirou's! Great teamwork, though! You all did splendidly, considering this was your first training exercise!" All Might said before turning around. A boy with rounded elbows, Hanta Sero if she had remembered correctly, spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.
"Coming after Aizawa-sensei, such a straightforward class is… almost a letdown…." Sero said as All Might responded almost immediately.
"We teachers are free to hold no-nonsense classes if we choose! Now, I'm off to give Midoriya and Jirou their evaluations! Change out of those costumes and head back to the classroom!" And with that, All Might disappeared in a cloud of smoke generated by his fast running speed. Before Yoshihara left to go get changed, Josefumi elbowed her gently on the shoulder, gaining her attention.
"Hey, after you get changed, meet me in the hallway across from our classroom, I need to tell you about what I found out about it. Okay?" Josefumi whispered as Yoshihara nodded, not even needing the context of what it was Josefumi was talking about. If he had more information on The Stand Bullets, then she was going to need it.
Once getting into the changing room and walking to her locker, which she unlocked and opened, Yoshihara pulled out the suitcase her costume came in. Opening the case on the bench splitting the change room in two, she began to take off her suit and folded it nicely so that everything would fit within the case.
And that was when a gasp erupted through the changing room. The gasp came from Ashido who covered her mouth from shock, and the gasp drew attention directly to Yoshihara, and in that moment, her face lost all colour. She had forgotten that in her stupor of thinking about what Josefumi had spoken about, she hadn't changed in one of the stalls, meaning her skin had been exposed to the air.
The scar-riddled skin on her back, shoulders, and parts of her arms, had been exposed to the air for everyone to see. Scars that she never intended anyone to see were now open for every one of her female classmates, sans Jirou, to see.
There were scars of all types on her back—deep ones, shallow ones, some thin some thick. All of them were random, there was no rhyme or reason for them. They coated every inch of Kira's back, moving onto her upper arms and shoulders. Some were shallow, others weren't, and they were all discoloured in some way or another. The worst scar of them all, however, had to be the one that went down her back in the form of a deep, almost entrenched slash.
She remembered how she got that scar. It was one of her first. In fact, it was the first. She remembered how she got it… and it hurt just thinking about it. She remembered the feeling of the blade digging into her back, dragging down from her left shoulder to her right hip. That Bitch had done so three times, imitating a claw slash, just so that if anyone asked she could lie about it.
She had gotten that scar at five years old.
But of course, nobody else really talked about that one in particular, and when everyone saw her scars, all eyes were on her. And the first person who spoke up in Yoshihara's building panic was Uraraka.
"O-Oh my god, Kira-san what happened to you?!" Uraraka's voice was shaky and had Yosihhara bothered to stare any of them in the face, she would've seen that all colour had drained from their faces, except for Mina, whose skin turned a lighter shade of pink.
Her eyes were covered in shadow, her head lowered as sweat dripped off of her face from the panic that had been slowly encroaching on her. She didn't want to feel panic, she didn't want to have a panic attack in front of everyone, so she pushed past the panic that had been arising and spoke a simple, yet shaky, sentence.
"I am fine. Nothing is going on with me anymore. Please do not ask where they came from. Please…." Her tone of voice was almost on a begging level because, in all honesty, that was what it was. She was begging for them to shut up. She just wanted to get changed, talk to Josefumi, then get home without having to look anyone in the eye.
And thankfully, as if some ethereal being granted her wish, nobody else said a word. With that grace of an opportunity she had, Yoshihara quickly finished getting undressed and put on her school uniform. She closed up her suitcase that had her hero costume in it, then bolted out of the locker room, forgetting to lock up her now empty locker.
She stormed off to the meeting location that Josefumi had set and waited there patiently, tapping her foot to the sound of her heartbeat. She had come extremely close to having a meltdown in the locker room, and for obvious reasons, too. Thankfully, it had been avoided.
The less she thought about it, the better. Besides, it will never happen again.
It didn't take long for Josefumi to show up, and by the time he did, Yoshihara had calmed down enough that she could hold a conversation. When Josefumi approached, he got close to her, so much so that he could say all that it was he wanted to say without any of the cameras picking up their voices.
"I'll have to keep this brief, seeing as I don't want either of us to be late to catch the train, but a source of mine mentioned that he is in cohorts with someone who knows another person who is in league with the people who are creating the bullets. He didn't elaborate, but he's a trusted agent of ours, and he's deep in undercover at the moment," Kujo said as Yoshihara hummed.
"Is that all?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as Josefumi nodded.
"Unfortunatly, yes. It's not a massive lead, but it's better than what we had before, which was nothing. Now let's get back to class so Aizawa-sensei can dismiss us," Josefumi said, the pair now making their way to their classroom. As soon as they did, Aizawa, who had been mid-nap, dismissed everyone without a second thought, going back to sleep after the fact. She had to assume that he had been tired from working all day.
Once she was dismissed, she made her way to the infirmary on the other side of the school. A part of her didn't want to apologize to Jirou due to how much of a jerk she had been, but she didn't deserve to be hurt as badly as she had been.
As she made her way to the infirmary, she bumped into someone, and when their shoulders collided, they both stopped for a brief second to see who had bumped into who. The person in question had short, dark green hair with yellow highlights, and narrowed brown eyes. Notably, she had a golden crown-shaped headband in her hair and didn't look the least bit happy. The person, a female student, glowered at Yoshihara and huffed.
"Watch where you're going," she hissed, before continuing down the hall. But, Yoshihara was caught up in something. Something that had couldn't help but think about, especially given what Kujo had said to her all those weeks ago.
"Stand Users attract other Stand Users…. Those were his words, and for some reason, I feel drawn to that girl. Could… she be a Stand User?" Yoshihara thought, watching as that girl faded into the crowd of students making their way home. "Well, if she is, she didn't seem interested in starting a fight in the middle of the hall."
With that, Yoshihara continued making her way down to the infirmary, and luckily, it wasn't much further from where she had bumped into that potential Stand User. When she entered the infirmary, Yoshihara knocked first, getting the attention of the aforementioned Recovery Girl.
She was small—like, really small. She easily stood around 115cm, so around 4 feet tall, and she looked like she was about ready to enter a nursing home. She had gray hair, which was to be expected for someone as old as she appeared. Her hair was styled in a netted bun, with a large syringe poking diagonally out of it to the left.
Her eyes looked closed, but clearly, that wasn't the case. If one squinted, you could make out light blue eyes just peeking out from her eyelids, which made Yoshihara question if she was even capable of being a nurse due to her age.
She was dressed in a doctor's lab coat, a yellow dress with a red vest-like design, and a belt with a large pink R buckle around her wrist. Large boots that went up past the end of her dress made up her footwear, and she had a purple-tinted visor over her eyes. Then, of course, was the large cane that looked like a syringe that she used to walk around.
"Ah… that oaf Ya—I mean, All Might said that you would be here, Kira," Recovery Girl said, her voice sweet and caring, though there was a noticeably annoyed undertone. "Tell me, girl. What gave you the idea to use deadly force against a classmate?"
"It was an accident, Recovery Girl," Yoshihara replied, anxiously rubbing the back of her neck. "I never intended to use that much force. I had set my bubble bombs to be extremely weak, but I guess I didn't think about how much force multiple of them going off at once would have…" Yoshihara continued as Recovery Girl sighed.
"You know, deary, you can be honest with me. Drop the act," Recovery Girl said, confusing Yoshihara as she blinked.
"Act?" Yoshihara probed as Recovery Girl sighed.
"The fake emotion, deary. That's what I mean. You can fool a lot of people, but not me. I've met one too many Sociopaths before, and I know how to spot their deception," Recovery Girl said, and just like that, the mask slid off entirely, as Yoshihara's typical cold expression replaced the faux remorse that had taken up her visage.
"Very well. If that's what you want, then I'll oblige," Yoshihara spoke, her tone robotic and hollow. "But you do believe me when I say it was an accident, yes?"
"Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here. I know being a Sociopath doesn't mean you are without empathy entirely. It's simply muted, and with time, it can be fixed. Considering you're aiming to be a hero, that more than proves your willingness to be a good person. Even if it's to conform with society's standards," Recovery Girl answered, turning her back to Yoshihara, who took a seat in one of the nearby chairs.
The infirmary wasn't all that large. She could see to the end of it with a quick glance. Three beds lined each side of the room, and no one seemed to be in any of them, except for Jirou, who was dead asleep in the closest one.
"Why is Jirou asleep?" Yoshihara asked as Recovery Girl spoke.
"Because of her wounds. I had to put her under so that I could work on the large gash in her shoulder. You realize that it went down to the bone, correct? You're lucky that my Quirk can fix this wound up fast, among other drugs and Quirk-enhanced medicine. She'll likely be here the whole night, though. Which means I won't be going home anytime soon."
"I could aid you if you'd like. All I'd have to do is call my Guardian, and she would give me the okay," Yoshihara answered as Recovery Girl waved her offer away.
"No thank you, deary. Don't get me wrong, I would love the help, but I'd rather it be from someone who has some medical knowledge than without. That, and I doubt that Jirou would want to see your face after what you did. If I were her, I'd hold a pretty large grudge against you," Recovery Girl said, turning to face Yoshihara after having finished kissing Jirou's arm.
Yoshihara was confused at first until she noticed the minor cuts and burns begin to slowly fade away. Recovery Girl sighed, wiping sweat off her forehead. "Oh dear, I'm starting to get tired…"
"And you're absolutely sure you do not need my assistance in any way whatsoever, Recovery Girl?" Yoshihara questioned, as Recovery Girl smiled.
"I appreciate you're willingness to help. Despite your flaws, you seem like a good person. But I'm sure you're tired and that you want to go home. You're a growing young lady, and you need your rest. Go home, Kira," Recovery Girl replied as Yoshihara stood up from the chair she was sitting in, and approached the door to exit the infirmary.
Before she did, however, she looked over her shoulder, the mask back on her face that replaced the cold, dead look that she usually had on with one of "earnest remorse," as she spoke. "Tell Jirou that I'm sorry about the wound when she wakes up next."
"Of course. Now run along. You're going to wind up late for your train.
And with that, Yoshihara walked away, leaving Recovery Girl to take care of Jirou. As she did, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty, even through her mask. Seeing Jirou look as helpless as she did… even if she was a jerk, she didn't deserve that.
"I need to work on weakening my bombs, it would seem…" Yoshihara thought as she made her way to the exit of the school.
Tomorrow was another day.
[XXXX]
Lurking in a bar, somewhere far away in Kamino Ward, specifically Yokohama, sat a man shrouded in darkness, looking at a newspaper. Just adjacent to him was a man covered in many hands, a glare of hatred in his crimson-red eyes. His hair was a bright teal, and he wore a pure black jumpsuit.
Behind the bar counter was a man made entirely of black mist, and he was wearing a metal brace of some sort around his neck. Additionally, he wore a blueish-black button-up vest and a white shirt, along with a pair of black pants and shoes.
In the newspaper was an article that read: "All Might becomes a teacher at U.A. High!" The man completely covered in darkness smirked, adjusting his seating position to have one leg over the other, revealing the fact that he had been wearing an orange pinstripe suit. He placed the newspaper down on the counter, purple eyes staring into the hand-covered man's crimson-red ones.
"You see this? It says here he's a teacher at U.A. now... very interesting, don't you think, Tomura Shigaraki?" The man, Blackwell, said, folding his arms in front of his chest.
"Hmm..." Tomura started, looking at the newspaper. "Now what would happen... If villains... killed the symbol of peace?" Tomura asked, his voice hoarse, almost as if he hadn't drunk any water in years.
Blackwell's smirk increased, letting out a small huff of air. "I'll tell ya what. I'm a betting man, and considering you have... that thing over there," he gestured over to a massive hulking bird-like creature with sharp, disgusting-looking teeth and an exposed brain, "If I give you one of my… assistants to help kill the symbol of peace, would that sweeten the deal for you? I think a partnership between The League Of Villains and Damnatio ad Bestias would work wonders, hmm? What do you say, 'Sensei'?" Blackwell asked, saying 'sensei' in a mocking tone as a chuckle rippled throughout the bar from a TV monitor that read "audio-only."
"Well, I have to say I'm intrigued. But how am I to know that you'll keep your word?" The voice asked as Blackwell simply smiled.
"Oh trust me, sir. If there is anything to say about me and my word, it's that it's solid. Besides, angering one of the world's most powerful men would be a surefire way to commit suicide, wouldn't you say? Besides, all those Quirk-having losers won't even be able to attack them I'm going to send in, on the account that they're a Stand User."
As Blackwell finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes toward the screen, his tone becoming a lot more threatening. "Besides, sir, it also allows me the knowledge that I know you won't be able to take their non-existent Quirk if they intrigue you. Because, allow me to be honest, All For One, you don't scare me. So even if you were to come after me in the weakened state that you're in, I can assure you that your death would be solidified."
The voice identified as All For One chuckled before responding. "I like bold people like you. Alright then, I'll believe you, and besides, you drive a hard bargain. I share your opinion. A joint partnership of The League of Villains and Damnatio ad Bestias would indeed work wonders, as you phrase it," All For One replied as Blackwell let out another huff of air.
"A pleasure doing business with you, All For One. I'll send them over by the morning. But just remember, they're not following the orders of your student, they'll be following their own orders, outside of the "kill All Might" one. Capiche?" Blackwell said as Tomura growled.
"Whatever. Just leave before I turn you to dust," Tomura spat as Blackwell got up and left without another word. As he left, Tomura couldn't help but scratch his neck, his eyes narrowing under his hand mask. "Who woulda have thought that a criminal like him was hiding behind the mask of a Hero? Goes to show how shitty this society really is…" Tomura drawled, the scratching at his neck becoming more prevalent. "Why couldn't I kill him, Sensei?"
"Because, Tomura. It would've been a waste to have seen you die. Blackwell is many things, but a fool he is not. Take this as a lesson from me, Tomura. When faced with people like him, it's best to negotiate your way around the problem. Getting into needless battles will only harm you in the long run," All For One answered earnestly.
Tomura, for his part, didn't really care all that much about what Sensei was telling him. He merely wanted to destroy—to scratch that unending itch he had to kill, kill, kill. Only then, he'd be satisfied. Only when that itch stopped itching, would he be satisfied.
The sun began to fall over the horizon, the magnitude of the deal struck by Blackwell, All For One, and The League Villains would soon be realized. This was the spark to the eventual bonfire that would erupt into a chaotic flame of death, destruction, and the loss of innocence.
And Blackwell, for his part, couldn't have been more excited.