Over the Top

by papireaz

When I died, I expected a few manga volumes. Maybe to learn what the One Piece is. Instead, I found myself in a world that I recognised, a story I had read and what's worse was that it was a story I had no interest in wanting to involve myself in! Then and again, the offer to become a Hero is far too tempting...

34. Issue 33

Sorry for the last chapter being shit.

This should rectify it at least!

Musician - D. Gray-Man OST.

---

Summary so far:

Heroes vs Villains in a secret counterattack!

Will the Heroes manage to beat the Villains?

Or will their counterattack be for nothing?!

---

"Man, I can't believe our camping trip is already over. It felt like it lasted for like two months!" Kaminari told me, sitting next to me on the coach. "Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. I just can't wait to go back home, relax, eat a few snacks and watch TV. And then we can play games for the rest of the week since it'll be our last week on holiday."

"Yeah, it's crazy how time flies by."

"What were you doing with Tokage last night?" He asked me, elbowing me in the ribs. "Were you two having some 'fun'? Come on, spill the beans! Or did you spill something inside of her?"

"No, I did not have sex with her."

"So then, what were you doing with her?"

"We were…"

"Fucking like rabbits?"

"Tokage and I were playing a game." I corrected him.

"Called who can get on top of the other first?"

"No! Not everything you can do with a girl has to be related to sex!"

"But why not? Dude, you freaking blew it! What a virgin! Boo, get off the stage! How the hell do you fumble something like that?" I shoved him in response, but that didn't calm him down. "C'mon, don't take your anger out on me. It ain't my fault that you are an idiot who can't bag a chick."

"Like you can?"

"Pfft, it's easy for me. I have impressive charisma and the ability to make anyone laugh - Not to mention I'm good-looking! Compared to you, I could make Tokage mine if I wanted to!"

"Yeah, just no. I don't know who filled your head with delusions, but that's just not the case. Kaminari, if you ever manage to get a girlfriend I swear I'll buy you something expensive. Like a brand new TV or something."

"How about you give me your bike!"

"I'll break your fucking kneecaps."

"So that's a yes?"

"Why on Earth would you ever think I'd agree to something like that?"

"Fine then, if I manage to get a girlfriend before you do, can I borrow your bike for a week?"

"Sure." It's not like I didn't want Kaminari to get a girlfriend and be happy - Just that I doubted that he'd get one currently. Kaminari was, well, he was still immature. To say nothing of the fact that he and Mineta had a bet on who would have the biggest boobs in our class post-graduation. It's not like I was more mature than the two of them, I spent my days obsessed over watching the clouds in the sky, skipping lessons or just random bullshit that happened in class.

"So, what were you Tokage doing?" Hagakure asked from the seat behind me, "Mina said that she saw you two kissing on top of a tree."

"Well, you can tell Mina to stop spreading lies around like they are a contagious disease." I told Hagakure, "I'm telling ya', nothing happened between Tokage and me. We just had a conversation, that's it."

"A conversation about what?"

Well, it was about the pending counter-attack against the villain invasion that should be happening soon enough. But it's not like I could tell everyone that, so I instead smiled at Hagakure. She pouted, poking my cheeks in frustration, before sitting back down and talking to Mina about the latest perfume or something. I wasn't listening, especially when Kaminari pulled his phone out to read some manga.

"Sora, your series is pretty cool. I reckon Bleach will make it big, don't you think?"

"It's already made it big. Our editor told Tokoyami and I that volume one will get an immediate reprint. That never happens." I was proud of our series, even if it was technically plagiarism. Well, not really.

"Man, I can't believe an idiot like you could write something so cool. Seriously, who woulda' thought you could make a cool action series about Shinigami? Not me, that's for damn sure!"

"Now, now," Uraraka chimed in, turning around from her seat in front of us, "Sora's always been creative! Isn't that right?" She nudged Jiro with her elbow.

"Hm? Yeah, he's always been so creative. Hey Sora, remember when you copied a song I wrote for a poem you had to write in literature class? I do. Especially when I got in trouble 'helping a friend cheat their exam.' So yeah, Sora's definitely the most original person I know." She injected as much sarcasm into her voice as she could, "I bet in a few years Sora will start smoking cigarettes because he thinks they are 'cool' because he saw someone else smoking them. That's the type of person he is."

Iida and Yaoyorozu glared sternly at me, even though both sat at opposite ends of the coach.

"Relax, relax. Don't get your panties in a twist, I won't start to smoke cigarettes anytime soon."

"But that's not to say that you never will?"

"But in a few years, he'll be a man!" Kaminari said, "He'll be a big boy! So that means he gets to smoke!"

"Who decided that being a 'man' means you have to start smoking? Isn't that the opposite of being a man if you are pressured into something you don't want to do?" Hagakure asked us.

"I think I'll take it over from here," Bakugo butt in, "These two nerds have no idea what being a man is. They are such pussies I bet that if I offered them a pack of cigarettes, they'll run away."

"Oh yeah?" I stood up from my seat to throw some paper at him. "Don't pussy the fuck out now. We go back to Musutafu in a few hours, you'd better buy a pack or two. I'll bring the alcohol, and we'll see who's the one who pussies out."

"Deal! I'll show you the fuck up."

"Oh please, I bet you'll get drunk from one beer."

"I ain't a lightweight!" He screamed at me, "I bet you'll smell the smoke and pass out like a little bitch!"

"Oh yeah? I bet you'll smell a glass of vodka and go crying back home. Hopefully, you'll walk in on me fucking your mother to see my impressive cock-,"

"YOU FUCKER-,"

"Boys."Aizawa's icy tone made the two of us back down, but it didn't stop the two of us from glaring at each other. "Now that juvenile routine is out of the way, we'll be making our way to Mount Kurohoshi in about one hour. If you want to take any pictures of the camp one last time, we'll be making a pit stop for you to do so." His eyes caught my own as we both nodded at each other.

One hour.

That's how long we had left until the plan would be executed.

I could hear chatter around me, but I wasn't focused on it at all. Even Kaminari had gone to sleep, the bastard had been awake all night playing cards with Aoyama, Todoroki and me… Even though he was tired. Well, at least he won a few hundred yen. That counted towards something at least.

Honestly, I couldn't stop my left leg from shaking.

The only problem was that I didn't know if it was from nervousness or excitement.

"We're here," Aizawa told us, the coach slowing down before pulling over. "Take your bags with you, only if you want." I made sure I had my phone before I poked Kaminari in the ribs.

"Wake up."

"Hm? Are we back home yet?"

"No. We are taking pictures, now get the fuck up."

Kaminari merely yawned in response.

"I'm serious, get the fuck up or else I'll kick you in the balls."

"I'm tired."

"Don't play poker until three AM next time then."

"But you did."

"I didn't train for eight hours, I rested and slept during the day."

"That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair. I'm serious Kaminari, get up."

"Fine, fine."

The two of us were the last people to leave the bus, and while Kaminari was whistling at the view, I surveyed the area. Where would the villains come from? Where would the heroes come from? Tokage, whose bus was parked right before ours, had the same idea as me. The two of us used primitive sign language to confirm what the plan was, we'd take our respective classes and rush back to camp as quickly as we could to meet with Nanao and her task force.

"Hey, why don't we take a whole class photo?" Mina suggested. "It's not like we've taken one before, plus the weather is nice and all. And the scenery is nice."

"I think that's a great idea," Iida replied, before turning around to stare at Kaminari and me. "Are you two going to loiter around all day, or what?"

Sighing, Kaminari took our place near the front of the photo. Since we were the last to join the picture, we had to crouch on the floor. What made things worse was when Vlad King took Aizawa's phone from him and forced our teacher to join in on the photo, which meant that the girl behind us had to lean forward to accommodate Aizawa standing behind them. Momo's… Momo's were very perky.

"Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

"Fuck you!"

"Hm."

"C-cheese!"

"Breadsticks!"

"Who yelled breadsticks? Was that you Uraraka?"

"I'm hungry."

"This is a class photo, not an all-you-can-eat buffet!?"

"I know…"

"Tch, I could be sleeping right now."

"Kaminari, stop ruining our fun!"

"Yeah Kaminari, stop being such a party pooper. Are you on your period or something?"

"Jiro?!"

"What? Stop acting so scandalised Yaomomo, it's the truth."

"Ahem. Aren't we supposed to be taking a class photo? SERO! Line up properly! Move your left foot forwards by about-, Don't make such an unflattering pose!"

"Kids, calm down. Or else I'll delete all the photo's."

"Aizawa-sensei, it's just some fun. Please."

"Yamazaki!" Vlad King barked, "Do something about that frown on your face. And fix your hair, it's atrocious and ruining the picture."

"Of course, he's frowning. I swear, it's like he's permanently frowning."

"And his stupid hair. I swear, I always tell you to get a haircut! Just cut it short!"

"No!" I replied, "Short hair doesn't look good on me. Anyways, hurry up and take the fucking picture."

"Language."

"Fuck you, asshole."

Click.

The picture was a simple one. Jiro and Kaminari were both arguing with each other, while I was trying to trip Bakugo up, who at the same time was trying to kick me in the back. Mina, Hagakure and Uraraka had decided to blow a kiss toward the camera. Midoriya and Todoroki decided to awkwardly wave towards it while Yaoyorozu and Iida were scolding us for ruining the photo, with Sero and Shoji laughing their asses off. Koda and Tokoyami were both holding a small bird to the sky, while Mineta tried his hardest not to wince at Kirishima pulling him into a headlock unexpectedly.

Only Asui and Ojiro actually tried for the photo, with Aizawa having given up as he buried his face in his hands.

All in all, it was a pretty cool photo.

Before 1B could take their class photo, someone coughed from behind us. Three police officers, two men and a young girl, awkwardly cut in and attracted the attention of our classes.

"Hiya," The girl began, with the most familiar blonde hair I had ever seen. "Ya' see we've been having some difficulties, so could ya' help us? It's for our plan ya' see."

"Help you? And how can we do that?" Vlad King asked, sending a confused glance to Aizawa. Weren't the police supposed to be back at the camp, waiting for us? That was before one of the men behind the girl walked forward, and I managed to get a good look at his face.

Patches of gnarled, wrinkled, purple skin covered much of his lower face and neck with multiple piercings across his face to keep the patches up. But it was his eyes, as always, that unnerved me the most. A blueish-green that held such hatred it sent shivers down my spine, and that was when I realised who he was.

These three 'police officers' weren't police officers at all!

Immediately, I summoned my Nimbus only for a wall made from cement to appear in front of us as blue flames danced around it, only narrowly missing our classes. On our left, Cementoss and many of the U.A staff stood next to us. Snipe, Thirteen, Ectoplasm, Hound Dog and even Present Mic all managed to make it, which made me wonder about other heroes like All Might and Midnight. Were they waiting for us somewhere?

"Tch, those fucking heroes made it in time." Dabi complained, "I knew we should have burned these kids without going up to them."

"But it wouldn't have been as fun!" Toga replied, "And don't you think you need a lot more fun injected into your life? That's what Zero said you needed. But he also told me that I needed to cut back on the blood, so what does he know."

"Children." Mr Compress complained, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I was promised a team full of competent villains, not whatever this farce is."

"Say another word, and I'll burn you to death," Dabi warned him, before sending a wave of blue fire toward the U.A staff. "All we have to do is kill a bunch of kids. Really, it's not that hard."

"But didn't that Zero guy say not to kill anyone from 1A?"

"Yeah, but the other guy said-, You know what, I don't care anymore." Dabi smiled at the rest of us. "I'll just burn this entire mountain down, so long as he shows up as promised I'll kill everyone on this damn mountain."

Before we could even react, a wall of red flames blocked his path towards us.

"You can try, but don't think you'll win villain scum," Endeavour yelled from behind us, charging Dabi and the rest of the villains head-on, "The only thing you'll be killing is time in the hospital once I've taken care of your pathetic attempt of villainy."

"Oh man, I've been waiting for this moment," Dabi grinned, "Come on then Endeavour, I'd like to see you try!"

"Uh, Dabi, I think ya' might want to look to our left," Toga yelled, dodging one of Snipe's bullets. "They brought a whole army with them."

Four other heroes had shown up with Endeavour. Crust, Gun Head, a young woman with short, slightly curly, light hair and ram's horns on her head that I immediately recognised as Onemu Shinya, one of Ingenium's most famous sidekicks. For the wrong reasons, which involved a leaked sex tape with a cow, but it was great to see her here…

"Haha, this is great." Hold on, he sounded familiar...

"Manual?!" Iida and I both shouted at the same at us, Manual stood there in his full costume with a smile on his face. Holy fuck, I did not expect Manual to come here.

"It's been a while, but when I heard my two trusty apprentices were in a bit of a pickle, well how could I not help out?" He laughed, before turning his attention towards the villains.

That was a lie, and the three of us knew it.

His daughter probably coerced him into doing this.

"Dabi, uh, what do we do know?" Toga asked him.

"Nothing. Congrats, they upped their freakin' numbers. But that's not going to help them, now is it?" He tilted his head as blue flames began to appear on his hands. "It's not like we don't have other friends too." Eight other villains appeared on top of the mountain pass. Muscular, Magne, Twice, Mustard, Moonfish and three different Nomu. One had a chainsaw for a head, the other had a hole in its chest and the last had a massive spiked tail.

Within seconds, the number advantage we had was turned against us.

"Oh fuck." I heard Jiro swear behind me.

"So, how about we get this party started, eh?" Dani grinned, blue flames dancing around his fingers.

"Not yet." A twirl of purple mist swirled into existence next to the villains, with six more generic-looking Nomu finding themself standing side-by-side with the villains. "We have an hour until All Might and the other staff members at U.A realise that Tomura isn't actually on their premise. Despite that, an hour is all we need." Kurogiri explained, staring directly at our class.

Oh.

Shit.

"I must admit, this plan was rather genius. But, everything was seen through by our de facto leader-," Kurogiri was cut off as Endeavour charged at him, the other heroes following suit. Grabbing me by the shoulder, Aizawa pushed me toward everyone else in 1A.

"Change of plans," he said, putting on his goggles. "Everyone in 1A and 1B needs to reach camp as quickly as possible, without Vlad King and I's help." Shit, shit, shit! They had us fucking outnumbered! Even with the two teachers entering the battle, the numbers were still eighteen to eleven. Fuck! Had Zero seen through everything?! But how?

"But-,"

"Just go," Aizawa commanded, before nodding at the rest of 1A. "Work together, and use all the skills you've learned this past week to make it out alive. You're permitted to use your Quirks, only in case of a fight. Now go!"

Fuck.

Fuck.

I thought I had finally gotten him! I thought my plan was foolproof, how the fuck did he see through it?!

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kurogiri said. We watched as Endeavour's fist caved Muscular's chest… only for him to turn gooey.

"Haha, look at my clones! They are working!" Twice yelled happily, "Thank God they work, I really would have shot myself in the head if they didn't."

"Three of our esteemed partners are roaming the woods right as we speak." Kurogiri explained, "You wouldn't want to put the children in harm's way, would you? I speak on behalf of the League of Villains here, we only want one thing. Give us Izuku Midoriya, and we shall be on our merry way. Understand? What's more valuable here, the lives of everyone on this mountain, or a singular boy?"

"Like hell are we going to give you Midoriya!" I shouted at Kurogiri. "You can send all the fucking villains you want, we aren't folding. Do your worst, asshole." Next to me, everyone in 1A and even 1B agreed. Some more confidently than others, but all of us had reached the same consensus. The villains wouldn't lay a damn finger on Midoriya if we had anything to say about it.

"Spoken like a true hero." Crust said, giving us a thumbs up.

"I told you, these kids sure are something else!" Manual added, elbowing Onemu Shinya.

"I see." She replied, smiling at us. She'd be cute if I hadn't seen her and a cow... Well, I suppose some people enjoyed that. It's not my place to judge, but hey, knowing a hero was smiling at us had to be a good thing, right?

"Now, listeners," Present Mic stepped forward, as did the rest of the U.A staff. "I think you all need to get going. We got it from here." Wrapping my middle finger over my index finger, I summoned my Quirk to create a platform our classes could sit on while we tried to escape the battlefield. Damn it. We just going from one battle to another. Muscular was one of the three clones, but who were the other two? Damn it.

And where the fuck was Zero?!

---

Chapter

Thirty-Three

'Don't make promises that you can't keep.'

---

"Okay, what do we do now?"

"Now," I started, pointing towards the direction of where our camp was. "Now we head back to camp, which is where the police are supposed to meet us. Then, they'll safely escort us back to Musutafu. But I don't think it'll be that easy."

"Because of the three villains roaming the woods?" Someone from 1B asked me.

"Nah, not because of that. The villains had police officer costumes, which meant that they knew we were going to meet with the police. It allowed the teacher's guards to be let down since they thought something had gone wrong with the plan. That meant something must have happened to the police officers meant to meet us at camp, either something happened at camp or they were ambushed on the way to camp."

"And how do you know so much about what the teacher's plans were?" Sero asked me, "Heck, how do you even know so much about this."

"Because I was the one who helped to make the plan," I explained.

Everyone from both classes stared at me in silence as we walked deeper into the forest. Well, everyone apart from Tokage, who merely stood next to me waiting for someone to try to lash out at me.

"You knew about all this?" Tetsutetsu yelled. "You knew about a villain attack happening, and you even helped the teachers. But you didn't tell any of us? Why?"

"Why?" I asked him, suppressing a snort. I turned around to walk towards him, standing face-to-face with him. "Why the fuck would I? Tetsutetsu, who even are you. Stay in your fucking lane, you aren't even in the list of the top fifty people I'd tell I'm dating someone, let alone something as sensitive as this. Either way, it was something I couldn't tell anyone."

"And why's that?"

"Because it wasn't his place to say," Tokage replied for me, pulling me backwards. "If you want to take it up with someone, take it up with me. Go on, I dare you."

"You knew?" Tetsutetsu asked her.

"Yeah, I fucking knew." She said, shoving him to the ground. "And if I think you weren't deserving of it, one of my closest friends, imagine how he must feel. Tetsutetsu, you don't know anything. Please, just be quiet for now."

"You told her of all people?" Mina asked me, I could tell from her tone of voice that she was genuinely hurt. "Not telling me about this, I understand. But not even someone like Yaomomo? Or Iida? But her?"

"What is there something wrong with me, Ashido?" Tokage stepped forward, "If you want to say something to me, go on and say it. Don't beat around the bush, I don't like that. If you want to say something about me, say it to my face."

"Considering the fact that every time I see you interact with him, it leads to petty insults, consider me surprised that Sora trusts you over his friends." Mina replied.

"Maybe, just maybe, not every interaction I have with him has to have you involved in it. Stop being pissed that he didn't tell you about this but he told me, because it's not like I randomly found it about it. He came to me with all this, and that's because I'm involved in what's happening right now, for better or for worse."

"What do you mean you are involved in this?" Kendo asked her. "Setsuna, I thought you trusted me."

"I trust all of you, but there are some things that I can't trust anyone with. Not even myself," She replied, looking at the ground sadly. "I know it's hard for you all to accept, but Sora and I have a very good reason for knowing about this attack, and for helping somewhat in the counterattack against the villains invading. But I can't tell any of you that, not because I don't want to, but because I can't. Just trust me on this."

"How did you even find out about the villains invading?" Jiro asked me. "I wasn't aware that you were speaking to villains regularly enough to know of their plans." Before I could open my mouth to respond, Aoyama stepped forward and bowed his head low toward everyone. Tokage hit me on the shoulder lightly, clearly surprised by his actions and tried to get an answer out of me.

I shrugged my shoulders in response, it's not like I knew what was happening either.

"I-it's because of me. I'm sorry, but I was working with the League of Villains the entire time. The only reason the villains are attacking is that I sent them our location, and it's because of Sora and Tokage that the heroes are helping us right now. If it wasn't for them, we would have been attacked without any help." He explained, tears flooding his eyes.

"Y-your lying! Bullshit!" Hagakure screamed at him, "How the hell could you, no you're joking. Sora, please tell me he's joking?" I opened my mouth to try and explain the truth, or part of the truth, that I had 'seen' it with my Quirk. But Aoyama turned around to shake his head in response, and I could see the determination in his eyes.

Shit, he wasn't allowing me to explain that I had another Quirk.

Even though I told him that I'd explain it to everyone, he was trying to cover for me. I could tell from his eyes alone that he thought this was the start of what he wanted to do in order to fully move on, that this was his first step. And yet despite that, it would mean that I'd have to lie to everyone again.

Here he was, pleading to me so that I'd follow his lead.

"Fuck you!" Bakugo yelled angrily, punching Aoyama in the face. However, oddly enough, it was Midoriya who stepped in front of him, causing Bakugo to hesitate ever so slightly. "Get the fuck out of the way, Deku. This has nothing to do with you, and as much as I'd like to punch you in the face, this worm takes priority."

"I w-won't let you hit him Kacchan!"

"Huh? Get the fuck out of my way before I kill you."

"Back off." I jumped in, separating the two before a fight eventually started. "Bakugo calm down. He's…" Shit, do I tell them the truth?! If I told them about my second Quirk, would they inevitably connect the dots and realise I have more than one Quirk? Will they treat me differently? Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. "He's telling the truth," I whispered, backing away slowly.

"You're lying," Jiro yelled. "Bullshit, I can see it on your fucking face. I thought we were over this, we aren't some delicate things that'll break if you tell us the truth. Sora, we are capable in our own right. We don't need you to 'protect' us."

"Oh please, if it wasn't for us, everyone here would be dead by now," Tokage replied, "The least you could do is shut up for a moment and listen to us. Yeah, we lied to you all. In fact, we are still lying to you all." She then glared at Aoyama and I, "What Aoyama just said is the truth. Not all of it, but he was a traitor. Was. I don't trust him, but Sora does. And if he trusts him, then I suppose I'll let him handle it."

Jiro froze at that.

"It's a bitter pill to swallow for all of you, I know. Sora trusts me, and I… I trust him. With my fucking life. I wouldn't have teamed up with him if I didn't, and while we may not see eye-to-eye on certain topics, there is a reason we are working together," She shouted, "So listen the fuck up. We will split up into groups. Five groups of four for each class, this is so that the three villains don't catch on to us quicker, and also so that we can move faster towards the camp."

"How the hell can we trust them?" Tetsutetsu asked incredously. "Class 1A, always acting like they are better than us. I'm not a reject for them to laugh at, I took the same test as them and passed. Why the hell would you work with a damned-,"

Tokage slapped him across the cheek before he could finish his sentence, surprising not only him but everyone else.

"This isn't the time, nor is it the place. We have deranged lunatics coming after us with the intention of murdering all of us, so get off your fucking high horse for one day. If not for them, do it for me." Tetsutetsu slowly nodded at that, but that didn't mean he still didn't glare in my direction.

"Tokage, you'll take 1B and separate them. Go to the left, I'll take 1A and go to the right. Good luck." She nodded at me, took her class and walked away from us, leaving only everyone in 1A behind.

No one was moving.

"Are you going to explain, or are you just going to brush past it?" Momo asked me.

"Brush past what?"

"Don't. Just don't."

I sighed, kicking a rock in anger. "Listen, it's as Tokage says. This isn't the time, nor the place. If you want an explanation, I'm afraid I have none."

"That's a lie, kero," Asui told me, "You reek of a liar."

"Yeah, you know what, I am a liar. I've lied to all of you for a long time, but so fucking what. They are my secrets, my burdens. Do you think I don't want to tell you all the truth? I don't have the truth, I don't know anything. I'm a mystery to myself, let alone to you." I kicked another rock in anger. "I can't explain something I don't know, so don't ask me."

"But if you did know, would you tell us?" Yaoyorozu asked me.

Turning around, I walked forward without replying. If I could, would I have told them the truth? I…

I didn't know the answer to that question.

No one said anything for a while as we walked deeper into the woods, eventually, everyone naturally split up into groups. Kaminari, Sero, Hagakure and Aoyama were the ones to separate first, with Hagakure and Sero wanting to talk to Aoyama personally. The second group to leave was Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami, although Yaoyorozu kept on sending me guilty looks. She probably thought that she was responsible for my outburst earlier, which just made me sadder.

Fuck.

Bakugo, Kirishima, Asui and Shoji were the next ones to go, and finally Todoroki, Ashido, Koda and Ojiro split off from us a few minutes later, not without promising to message me every five minutes.

That left Jiro, Midoriya, Mineta and me.

Great, just fucking great.

"Well, is there anything you all want to say to me?" I asked them, making sure not to tread on too many branches so as not to attract any noise.

"W-why are the villains after me?" Midoriya immediately asked.

"Why else. It's cause' of your Quirk." That immediately put him on high alert and made me realise what I said. Oh fuck. That just slipped out. "Uh, I mean. Fuck."

"What about his Quirk?" Jiro asked me confusedly, "What's so important about it?"

"Uh, don't worry about it. It was just a joke."

"Shut up. Midoriya, what's so special about your damn Quirk?"

"D-do you know Sora?"

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, kicking another rock in anger, before nodding. Fuck. Fuck, what did I just do?! Fuck, how the hell was I going to explain that one? Why did I follow what Aoyama wanted? If I had just explained to them I had a Quirk that allowed me to see visions from the future, it would be much easier to tell them the truth. But that wasn't the truth at all, that was just me lying to them.

I was constantly lying to them, and I only realised it now.

"H-how long have you known?"

"Camp's not far out from here."

"Answer me-,"

I turned around to face him, sighing while doing so. "Why? Listen to me Midoriya, I'm not a threat to you. I helped you create your Full Cowling for a reason, and it's because I believe in you. Me knowing the truth about you and your Quirk changes nothing, absolutely nothing. No, I'm not in cahoots with All For One, if that's what you are wondering about. So please, just relax. I'm on your side."

"Who's All For One?" Jiro asked me, confused.

"I'll explain later." I waved her off.

"How about now, you bloody hypocrite." She shouted at me, "You scream about helping us, but you'll never let us help you. You'll break every bone in your body to help us, but if a single hair is twisted the wrong way when we help you suddenly it's a crime? I call bullshit. We've had this conversation before, and we'll have it again. Why?"

I turned around to face her, so annoyed with both her, the entire class and myself. Why couldn't they just understand?

"Why do I want to protect you? Or why I'm so fucking scared whenever we face villains that have murdered dozens? Listen to the words your fucking saying, Jiro." I shouted at her, "I don't want to lose anyone, and if I told everyone about the villain attack then I can tell you exactly what would have happened. Zero would have found out about our little plan, and he would have shat all over it. More than he already has. We'd all be dead by now if it wasn't for my secret, so-,"

"You think I care about that?" She screamed at me, "I don't care about you keeping that a secret, I care for the fact that you know so much about us, yet you'd rather ignore us and lie to us instead of telling the truth. You and Aoyama are keeping something secret from us, and I know it. Tokage fucking knows it as well. It hurts so much. It hurts so much that I trust you enough to tell you everything about me, about everything that worries me. But you never even considered to even hint at the pressure you were forced under, I thought that even after our conversation a couple of days back that things would change, but I was wrong."

"She's right," Mineta chimed in, "You two are friends, you should-,"

"I'm your friend as well, asshole. Don't forget that." I interrupted him.

"Not from where I'm standing," Mineta replied, "This is exactly what I mean. You help us, not to become who we really want to be, but who you want us to be. You don't really care for us, do you? You never have. Not when all you do is lie to us, twist and manipulate the truth so that you are the one in the right. So that you are the most important one here so that you are the centre of the attention."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you'll lie to us if it means it 'protects' us. But you aren't protecting us, just protecting your ideal version of us."

"Are you listening to the shit spewing from your mouth, Mineta?" What sort of ridiculous statement was that. What the fuck does that even mean? "I don't just want to protect you, I want to help you-,"

"And that's the damned problem, Sora! You want to help us, but we can't help you. You'll gladly listen to us pour out all our issues to you, but you'll never tell us your issues. You bury everything, bottle it up like it doesn't exist, but when it spills out you just want to ignore it. You want us to ignore it. You just want to move on, but that's not okay. You can have your secrets, but if they are hurting you please allow us to help you." Jiro pleaded with me.

"S-She's right, how can we be called your friends when you only help us?" Midoriya asked me.

"There are some things that I can't talk about. Not because I don't want to, although I'd prefer if I don't, but because I can't." I eventually said, "Because if I talk too much, I'll fucking die. Because I don't even know the true extent of the secret, and that's why I'm working with Tokage. Because she's in the same boat as me, because the two of us are looking for the same thing."

"And what's that?" Jiro asked me.

"The truth." I answered bitterly, "I don't know what the truth about me, about all my secrets are. My secrets are a secret to me, and that's funny. I'm confused, lost even. But I need to find out the truth, because if I don't then what's the point. How can I go forward with making my dreams a reality if I'm still lost and confused, if I want everyone I care about to succeed - I have to succeed with you guys, right? Or else I'll be left behind."

Jiro shook her head. "You'll never be left behind, not by us. Not by me. But the lying has to stop, Sora. It's like you don't trust us, and I know that's not the case. But they don't," She pointed at Midoriya and Mineta, "And everyone else that left sure as hell doesn't. Your actions speak louder than your words, so really think about it. Because we shouldn't even be in this situation. I understand wanting to protect us from your secrets, but if it endangers us, then what's the point?"

I didn't reply to her, only pushing forwards to get to camp as fast as we could.

The four of us said nothing to each other for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. I still had barely any service on my phone, it was enough to send messages, but Nanao hadn't read any of mine. That meant something must have happened to her, which slightly worried me. Splash. What was that sound just now? Did it come from in front of us?

"Sora-,"

"Shut up." I crouched low, making sure not to make any noise as I looked ahead. Oh fuck me, what sort of fucking luck did I have? Sitting near a river and a mountain top, a tall blonde-haired man stared at the sky. He was extremely muscular and considering his villain name and Quirk revolved around muscles, I thought it was oddly fitting. Especially with that horrible scar over his left eye.

"Oh, fuck me sideways." Jiro whispered, "Isn't he the villain that was the clone?" I nodded at her, clicking my tongue as I tried to find a route around him. There were none, the bastard had picked the best possible position to block our path. Even if I flew, he'd eventually catch up to us. The only way to get to the camp at this point was to go through him.

I glanced at Midoriya, who was shaking his head at me.

"I-I can't," He told me, "I won't fight him. I'll just r-run, like always."

Midoriya barely beat Muscular when they first fought, and considering Midoriya wasn't going to fight this round… Well, that painted a very ugly picture. I'm sure that Mineta, Jiro and I could hold him off, maybe even get a few good hits in, but we wouldn't finish him off. Not if I didn't sacrifice something in return, but if I did that, well that was a gamble on its own.

Tch, what to do.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

"Jiro, Mineta. I need you to support me from afar, no buts, I'll handle him up-close. He's a tough opponent, I'm pretty sure he can enlarge his muscles to an insane degree or something. Midoriya, I know I'm asking a lot from you, but if there is even one per cent that you can fight, I need you to fight. You can fight, I believe in you. I know you can, but if not, just stay put." I had to do this. He was the one standing in the way of my friend's safety.

Midoriya nodded at me, although even I could see the disappointment in his eyes. The disappointment directed towards himself. I turned back to Muscular, glaring at the hulking man. Fuck me he was tall, probably over two-hundred centirmetres. But he was an obstacle.

He was a villain, and he deserved to die. He deserved to have his throat slit, for him to be burned to death. To stab him until he bleeds out. To cut his head off and parade it around like a trophy.

To murder him in cold blood and relish the moment.

Ignoring my headache, I summoned my Nimbus and closed my eyes. Focus. I made two wolves, focusing ten per cent of my Nimbus on building a stable sword. I'd distract him from all angles before going in with the kill-, No, I'd stab him in the legs and arms. I'd stop him from moving. But that would kill him. I winced at the pain my headache was giving me as I walked towards Muscular.

"Oi, fuckface." I yelled out to him, "I bet your mother was a right whore, wasn't she? Considering how you turned out, you big fucking giant, I hope you had a shitty childhood. I mean you're a piece of shit, so you probably did. But since you're tall, I thought I'd give you extra shit for it. So I hope that you know that-,"

I dodged his massive fist narrowly, but I clearly wasn't fast enough.

He had cut my cheek with a single punch…

What the actual fuck, I thought that only happened in anime and manga?!

"Ha, that kid behind you doesn't happen to be Midoriya by any chance?" He asked us. Shit, I forgot they were going after him.

"Midoriya? Who's that? That's my cousin, Hachiman Hikigaya."

"Who?"

"Exactly, who?" With that, I leaned forward to stab him in the arm, only for my blade to deflect off his skin. I wasn't able to avoid the punch to the stomach, and I gritted my teeth as it sent me barreling back to Jiro and Mineta.

"Your silly tricks won't work on me! I ain't stupid," Muscular yelled at me. Tch, he really was an annoying bastard. "That is Midoriya, isn't it? Well isn't that great, this makes my job a whole lot easier."

His voice was annoying me.

"Uh, I don't think your plan is working." Jiro told me helpfully.

"No shit Sherlock, so just shut up for a moment." I replied, getting back up and shaking the pain away. He was strong, not only that but he had nothing to lose. I had to protect Jiro, Mineta and Midoriya. Even with my training, I still probably wouldn't be able to beat him, not without tapping into breaking a couple of bones, or worse, for power. And I wasn't going to do that.

I sent both of my wolves to attack him, but unsurprisingly, their claws weren't sharp enough to bite into his skin. Tch. Making another sword, I recalled some of the Nimbus I had used for the wolves, making them slightly smaller before stabbing my sword onto the ground, drawing a thin line.

"You ain't gonna cross this line," I told him, grinning at the cunt as I wiped the sweat away from my brow. "I don't care how strong you think you are, I'll make sure that you'll never cross this damn line. If you want a fight, I'll give you one. One that you'll jerk off to for the days to come in your prison cell, you piece of leftover trash."

I was going to target his eyes.

I was going to stab the fucker until he couldn't see anymore.

"Jiro, Mineta," I turned around to smile at them. "I know I told you I needed your help, but I can handle this." I turned to face the bastard, the grin on his face sending chills down my spine.

"Oh, I remember you. Zero said you were off-limits, but what he won't know won't hurt him. So come on, show me that you're all talk just like the rest of you pitiful heroes! Show me your blood!" My grin matched his, my left eye twitching in excitement as I raised my sword to the air, and yelled those damned words yet again.

"BAN..."

Clouds, from both above and from my Nimbus twirled around in the air, wrapping around me. No, I'd need more clouds if I wanted to even stand a chance against him without sacrificing anything, he was like my opponent during the USJ. Zero's grunt who had Zero take control of him, but it still wasn't enough then. Let alone now. But how? How the hell could I improve my technique?

Even if I focused on using my hand signs, would it still be enough to beat muscular? Would I be able to beat him all alone?

Would I get the damn fight I want? An exciting one, scorched earth and a battle to the death.

Closing my eyes, I used my left hand to raise my middle finger at him, and focus all my power on my sword. I'd stab him in the eye, but in order for me to do that, I needed to make sure that he thought that I was aiming for anything other than his eyes. And to do that, I needed to piss him off.

To really anger him.

"KAI!"

I charged him, immediately taking his punch to my ribs as I stabbed his arm, and this time my sword did not break. It managed to cut him. Blood dribbled down from his arm to the floor, and I grinned, aiming my next slash at his legs. He kneed me in the chest, sending me flying upwards, before jumping on top of me and trying to punch me back to the ground. Using my sword to try and block his punch, I spat at his face, before gathering some Nimbus on my left arm, sharpening it into a Chidori and piercing his chest.

He backed away, grinning from his injuries. Even if he was slightly bleeding, it was proof that he wasn't invincible. That Chidori to the chest was blocked, it barely pierced his skin, let alone his chest. But it cut him, even if it was a small one.

Ha, I'd cut the bastard up into small little pieces.

"DIE!" I yelled, a wave of Nimbus flying at him, but Muscular ignored it completely as he ran through it and sent a roundhouse kick towards my head, I had to duck in order to avoid my head being detached from its shoulders, especially as he leaned forwards to punch the ground so hard that it started to shake. Picking up a large piece of the ground, he threw it towards where Jiro and Mineta were, forcing me to run towards them and cut the boulder into smaller pieces.

I gritted my teeth as he slammed his fist into my sides, but I held my ground.

"I'm getting closer to your line, what are you going to do about it?" He mocked me, grinning as he licked the blood off his hand. "I'll admit, you aren't bad. You have some skill, but skill won't be enough to defeat me. Neither will your friends over there be able to defeat me, so why are you fighting so hard? You're all about to die anyways."

"I'll kill you," I replied, laughing maniacally at him. "I'll kill you so badly that there won't be any pieces left of you to bury." This time I cut a thin line across his chest, savouring the anger on his face.

"A Hero never says that shit," He replied, "But the last heroes I killed were an odd couple. Even to their last breath, they still tried to defeat me. They even caught me off-guard and managed to flood my face with so much water pressure that my left eye simply burst. It's why I have this artificial eye, and I had never been in so much pain before in my life. Losing an eye like that? I'm proud of it. I'll admit it that you're skilled, but you'll never defeat me all alone like tha-,"

I didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence as I stabbed him in the eye, savouring his scream. I didn't even notice that he broke one of my ribs in response, only grinning at the sounds of his anger.

"Maybe you should have focused more on the fight, then you still would have had your other eye," I taunted him. "There is no way that you are getting past this line, I swear on it." However, he still had his other eye.

The fight wasn't over yet.

"You," Huff, "Brat. I'll kill you. I'LL KILL YOU!" He ran towards me, throwing haymakers one after the other in an effort to catch me off guard. But I relished each punch he threw, poking him with my sword before smearing his blood all over the floor, laughing as we fought each other to the death.

"You're one crazy bastard," He grinned at me, "But we are cut from the same cloth, you and I. I can see it in your eyes, you enjoy fighting. You enjoy this fight just as much as I do, no, probably even more. Ha, you have a hunger for it in your eyes that won't be satiated by just defeating me alone. It's a shame that I have to kill you, it would be a joy to see your eyes develop."

"Shut up!" I yelled at him, stepping to the side to avoid one of his punches before plunging my sword deep into his abdomen… only for it to snap. Shit, my Bankai ran ou-,

I was launched into the ground, tasting the dirt, before I was kicked all the way back to Mineta and Jiro. I tried to stand up, despite the immense pain I was in. Coughing up blood, Muscular slowly walked towards us. A grin enveloped his face as he walked past the line I had previously drawn.

"You need to-,"

"Shut up, and help me up." I interrupted her. I spat out some blood, smiling at him approaching me. It was fun. This was so much fun, I could barely keep my excitement in check. He thought he could beat me easily, but I'll tear his fucking throat out. I'll show him my true strength, I'll show him that I'm a winner. That I'm strong, that I won't lose to him, or anyone!

"We can-," Mineta started, but a sharp glare from me made him stop speaking altogether.

"It's my fight!" I snapped at the two of them, before wincing in pain. My head. "I-I'm sorry. I just-, I-," No words came out as I coughed out more blood, but it was when Jiro and Mineta stood in front of me, standing up to Muscular when I truly froze. No, I wasn't going to allow them to fight. It was my fight. I wasn't going to allow them to die! They are stealing my fight. Get up!

Get up!

I won't let them die!

They are stealing my fight!

Get up!

GET THE FUCK UP! GET UP, YOU USELESS SACK OF SHIT!

GET THE FUCK UP! GET UP, GO BE A WINNER!

"Argghhhhhhhhhhh!" I screamed from the top of my lungs, trying my hardest to stand back up. Even Mineta and Jiro were scared for me as I pushed past them, conjuring another sword, only this time using it as a walking stick. "Fuck," huff, "Right," huff, "Off." Blood was pouring down my face, and I couldn't feel my left side at all.

"You do know you stand no chance against me, right?" Muscular laughed. "Not only am I going to kill you, but I'll kill your two friends right behind you. I'll then take Midoriya to my employer, and if I see anyone else in your class I'll kill them. Just give up already. You heroes are always the same, you talk the biggest garbage but you can never back it up."

I bent my knees, raising my sword to cover half of my face.

"If you enter within a meter distance, I'll cut you down." I huffed out. It was a bluff, and he knew it as he walked slowly toward me. Jiro… Mineta… Midoriya… Just run. Save yourselves, just get the hell away from here. If I can't win this damn fight alone-,

Oh, that's right.

I was trying to win all this alone.

Had I really gotten that arrogant? I could fight alone, but why the hell would I? Not when I had others around me that I could rely on! But it's my fight. So what if it's my fight? It was our chance at survival, and that's what really mattered. I could trust them in helping me win, no, in helping us win.

"Mineta, now!" I yelled, ducking as a purple ball flew flying towards Muscular's face. He couldn't dodge it in time as it stuck towards the left side of his face. "Jiro!" I shouted, jumping to the side as shocks from under the ground unbalanced Muscular even for just a second. I made another sword, using a tiger hand sign to focus one-hundred per cent of my Nimbus into making it.

It was heavy, heavier than my actual tachi.

I swung it with all my might, grinning as it pierced the muscles building on his back that he tried to use as a defensive mechanism. "Jiro, again!" I yelled, trying my hardest to cut deeper. This is it! Our path to victory!

"It's too shallow!" Muscular yelled, grabbing me by the legs as he threw me like a ragdoll. I landed next to Midoriya, who had tears streaming down his face as he watched our fight. He was trying to stay far away from the fight, but he was still facing us. His hands were balled, and he glared at Muscular with such determination that I was taken aback for a moment.

"You can do it," I urged him, "Please man, please just fight."

But he shook his head.

"Please Midoriya. Please."

"I-I'm n-not like you. I-I'm just a coward-,"

"Shut. Up." I grabbed him by the shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. "Please, just shut up. You aren't a coward, and I'll never believe that you are one. But we'll die if you don't do something, anything, so just hurry up man! You helped me. I nearly gave up, but you helped me. I don't know if I can help you just as much, and I don't know if-,"

"I don't deserve my Quirk," Midoriya cut in, crying as he tried to wipe away his tears. "You, Kacchan, Todoroki-kun, Uraraka-san. Everyone in 1A would be more suited to my Quirk than me, I'm just a Deku. Useless. It's my name, it's all I'll ever be. Useless before I met All Might, useless during the sports festival, useless to save Iida. And useless right now. How could I have ever thought that I could be a hero?"

"What did Uraraka say again?" I asked him. "Oh, right. Sure, Deku might mean useless. But it's also short for Dekiru."

"...you can do it." He whispered.

"Yeah, that's right," I punched his shoulder lightly, "There is a reason why All Might chose you as his successor. Not me, not Bakugo, but you. You're a hero. You won't fold, and when the going get's tough you're reliable. Maybe you think you haven't shown it, but you have. And you will continue to show it, even if you have little faith in yourself. Because I believe in you, everyone else believes in you. So believe in the you that we believe in, and I'll be there with you every step of the way."

"Sora…"

"I need a hero right now, and you're the only one I trust." I told him, "You're the only one that I know can beat this fucker. The only one I beieve in. You'll be a great hero, the best! I have so much faith in you, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I helped to ruin your self-confidence, but let's take this bastard together. You can do it. You just-,"

A loud scream from the cliff made me pause my sentence to stare at the kid standing there. Midoirya joined me, and even Muscular stopped his assault to look at the boy who screamed loudly.

Kota?

"Y-You!" Kota screamed, "Y-You killed my parents!"

Oh, fuck me right in the ass.

I got up and ran towards Mineta and Jiro, pulling them aside as Muscular stomped on the ground and picked up a piece of large rubble, throwing it at us. Only for the piece to then go flying past us and crashing into the cliff Kota was standing on, with the force Muscular threw it at shattering the cliff completely. Chunks of rock fell onto us as I made a shield to protect Jiro, Mineta and myself.

"Dumb kid, don't interrupt my damn fight." Muscular growled, before turning his attention towards the three of us.

But it was Kota's screams that made my eyes widen.

Shit, he was falling! And at the speed he was going he would die on impact! Fuck! But there wasn't anything I could do, shit, this wasn't like that time during the hot springs. I couldn't just leave Mineta and Jiro. Fuck.

Fuck-,

Black tendrils with a glowing green outline shot past me, wrapping them around Kota as he was safely put to the ground. I turned around to grin at Izuku Midoriya, who stared at his arm with a mixture of surprise and proudness.

Holy-fucking-shit!

Midoriya, I fucking love you!

"I'm sorry," He apologised to the three of us. "I should have jumped into the fight sooner, and because of that the three of you got hurt. Forgive me."

"If we beat this bastard, it's all good." Jiro replied.

"What she said." Mineta said.

"Let's beat this fucker into next year!" I yelled, standing back up. "I'm not stopping until this cunt is knocked out. That, or he begs for forgiveness like the bitch he is."

Muscular merely laughed. "Four hero brats at once? Oh great, I'll bathe in your blood. This trip was totally worth it. Midoriya, was it? I couldn't give more of a shit if the League of Villains wants you, I'm going to kill you right now."

Four against one…

I liked those odds.

Jiro and Mineta provided ranged support while Midoriya and I charged him. Whenever I took a hit, he'd punch Muscular and vice versa. The two of us were bloody within a few seconds, but I managed to use my sword to block most of his punches. Muscular howled in anger, but that didn't help him at all.

Especially when I slipped behind him and stabbed his back while Midoriya let out a flurry of punches into his stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as he shook the two of us off, the two of us landing with a thud.

"Midoriya, ya' think you can finish him with a single punch?" I asked him breathing heavily.

"I think so, but I'll need a distraction," He answered, wiping the blood away from his forehead. "Sora, thanks. Really. I'll try and live up to the expecations you have for me, I promise you that. I'll become the hero that you need, even if it's by not running away anymore. I swear."

"You already are living up to my expectations." I replied, "And I think I have just the perfect distraction for ya'. Get ready." I stood back up, waving at Muscular. "Who's the biggest, and ugliest motherfucker standing? That's right, it's Zero! Look behind you!" Muscular wasn't the brightest bulb in the room, and I shook my head as he fell for the oldest trick in the playbook.

So much for 'not falling for my tricks.'

I then ran up and jumped on top of him, using the one moment where he was distracted to get in and use my Nimbus to cover his eyes and ears. Even his mouth, in a non-kinky way. I then jumped off, hoping that it enough.

But it was more than enough time as I felt the wind rush beside me as Midoriya ran towards Muscular, each step he took emitted such power that I even had to take a step backwards. Rearing his fist back, Muscular doubled over in pain as Midoriya's fist eventually buried itself in his stomach, multiple times, before the villain was sent flying backwards to the cliff he destroyed…

For Midoriya to destroy even more than he did. I whistled loudly, hopefully I never have to fight him. I know that I'd lose that battle.

But the fight was over.

I didn't need to see a body to prove it. I collapsed to the ground in relief, Midoriya laying down on the ground next to me. We both laughed for a few seconds, before hi-fiving each other as we grinned at the result.

"Hey Sora, I feel lightheaded." He told me.

"No shit, you look like you broke your arm and your fucking shoulder. But rest up mate, you did great… Deku." The smile on his face as he heard me call him by his hero name made my day. I hope that he knows that this was the only time that I was going to refer to him as 'Deku' and that I'd call him Midoriya or Izuku for the rest of his life. It sounded way more natural to me.

He eventually passed out, which was understandable. Not everyone had a healing Quirk as I did. Even though it was slowly healing me, my ribs were starting to already feel better second by second. If only it could do something about my headache. Oh well, nothing can really be perfect.

"H-he saved me," Kota whispered from beside me, wiping his tears away. "Why would he do that? I was mean to him, I was mean to you. I was mean to everyone, so why? Why would you all save me?"

"C'mon kid, stop being stupid. He saved you because you needed to be saved, that's all. He's the real deal, the future number one hero. So if you want ideas for what to dress up this Halloween, listen to me and buy a Deku costume. With the bunny ears." Ha, that would be the funniest shit ever! I can just imagine Kaminari and me laughing at him, while Mineta would be the one taking the pictures.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's your hero, isn't he?" Don't kids usually like this sort of shit? It's been a long time since I was a kid, but if Spider-Man saved me as a kid I'd be fucking thrilled.

"My hero?" Kota repeated, wiping his tears away. He slowly looked at Midoriya, a small smile forming on his face. "I like the sound of that," Kota replied, staring at Midoriya with such a level of fanboyism that even I was surprised.

Oh well, he's just a kid.

"Of course you like it, I suggested it after all."

---

I carried Midoriya on my back while Mineta helped Kota stand as we made out way to camp. Kota apparently snuck out despite Mandalay's warnings, and he had no idea that there was a villain attack. This meant that the camp was fine, rather the police were attacked en route to the camp which was why Dabi, Toga and Mr Compress showed up in police costumes.

Tch, I tried calling Nanao now that I had service, but she wasn't picking up.

I thought I had finally gotten one over Zero, I thought that I had beat him! How the hell did he see this one coming? Did he have a spy in the police force? But even then, Nanao only told Tsukauchi Naomosa who handled all the planning himself. That was what I was told at least, so then did someone else leak the information?

Or was it just a fluke? Did the villains see the movement of police vans near the mountain and got suspicous?

"How long until we've reached camp?" I asked Kota, who was leading our group through the forest.

"N-not long." Kota answered, "How's Deku-kun?"

"He's fine."

"Y-you seem annoyed?"

"Deku is such a stupid name in my opinion."

"Nu-uh! It's the coolest name in the world! I bet it's cooler than your hero name! I bet yours sucks, and you are jelous!"

"Kid, Deku can also be written as useless."

"Huh? I thought it was short for 'Dekiru.'"

"Yeah, well you were wrong," I pointed at my chest as I made sure to give my sales pitch to Kota. If he became a hero fanboy, and I got merch, well why wouldn't I want him to buy some? That's just passive income. "Aozora is a way better hero name."

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"That name sucks balls!"

I gasped at that. Who the hell was teaching these kids fucking swear words?! I was going to have a fucking talk with them, those bloody bastards. How dare they. A child… Pfft, that was the funniest shit I had ever heard.

He was a tiny kid trying to swear.

How cute.

"Your face sucks balls." I replied, sticking my tongue out at him. "You just can't comprehend the pure genius that 'Aozora' means, don't worry though, maybe when you grow so will your tiny brain. Don't blame your tiny pea-sized brain for not getting it, because when you do I'll forgive ya'."

Jiro nearly tripped me up for that comment.

"Stop arguing with a literal child," She scolded me. "Aren't you supposed to be a role model? Isn't that what heroes are meant to do?" Huh.

I can do that.

I turned to face the kid, a smirk forming on my face as I thought about what I'd say next.

"Yo, kid, I hope you know that society is a lie. Santa doesn't exist, and neither does the Easter Bunny. It's just some guy in a costume, or something. Oh and another thing, girls don't like it when you stare at their tits for too long in my experience, so keep you-," Jiro punched me on the arm for that comment.

"Behave."

"I'm just trying to lighten up the mood." I told her, shaking my head in disapproval. "Kid, tell her you found my jokes funny."

"What's tits?" He asked innocently.

"Oh come of it, you know exactly what they are." He wasn't fooling me for a second, especially after that incident a couple days ago during our bath. That little pervert! I wasn't going to be kicked in the balls by Jiro because you wanted to play innocent!

"I absolutely have no idea into what you are inquiring about."

What kind of eight year old says that?!

"Aren't you a smart little kid," Jiro said, holding his grubby little hands. I glared at the kind, telepathically trying to get him to back off from her. Why is he holding her hand… It should be me damnit! "Did you know that Sora used to be a stupid troll a couple of years ago?"

"Troll?" Kota asked in confusion, turning around to size me up. "But he's short, how can he be a troll?"

"Oi, oi ,oi." Was my eye twitching? It feels like it's twitching. "Pick-on-Sora day isn't for another few months, so cool it with the witty remarks. And the height jokes."

"Yeah well Shino's taller than you." Shino? Was that Mandalay's first name? Huh, I never knew that.

"Yes well she's taller than the average girl, just look at Jiro here. Mandalay's a good head taller than her!"

"So what? Height doesn't matter for girls!" Jiro yelled defensively, "Perhaps if you weren't such an… asshat all the time, maybe you'd grow some more." Kota giggled at the sentence, probably because of the word 'asshat.' I had no idea what that meant, nor did I want to know."

"Just fucking swear already, he's just a shitty kid. Filter or not that brat is going to middle school soon, and we all know how middle schoolers talk." It was an unwritten rule, once you reached middle school (or plain, old secondary school back in the UK) you were meant to swear like a sailor.

"He's just a kid." I rolled my eyes at that. Please, what sort of eight year old doesn't giggle whenever they hear swear words? Maybe I had a bad upbringing or something, but swearing wasn't that big of a deal. So long as I didn't swear to anyone in front of my parents, I was fine.

"So fucking what? I think my first word was a swear word. Pretty sure I called one of the older kids that ate a big slice of my cake a 'bitch' or some shit. The funny thing is that I don't even like cake, I hate it!" Hirotaka Nijima, wherever you are, just know that one day I'll find you and eat a slice from your birthday cake you fucking twat!

What kind of monster eats an orphan's birthday cake?!

"You're so dramatic," Jiro rolled her eyes at me, "Kota-kun, you better not grow up to be like him."

Kota-chan?!

Where was my '-chan?!

What. The. Fuck.

"I want to be like Deku-kun when I grow up!" Kota yelled.

"How admirable, be sure to buy his manga though. It's really good." If I couldn't convert him to an Aozora fan, I might as well make the best of the situation.

"Deku-kun writes a manga?" Kota asked me, clearly surprised by the information I was divulging. Well, a little white lie won't hurt him. Why was Jiro shaking her head at me? I haven't fone anything wrong yet!

"Yes, it's called Bleach. Buy it or else he'll hate you for the rest of his life." Kota nodded at that, making me smile. Ah, another loyal customer. Business is doing great, I reckon Tokoyami and I should celebrate the reprinting of volume one by going out and buying some shit. Some beers? Oh right, we are underage.

We walked in silence for a few minutes, with Mineta trailing behind us. I tried to talk to him a few times, but he either gave me one-word answers and flat out ignored me. What a cunt move.

"Are we there yet?" I complained, making sure that Midoriya was still breathing. Sure he was muscular, and he was slightly heavy to carry, but it's not like I couldn't use my Quirk to fly him-,

Oh wait, why didn't I think of that.

Problem solved.

Duh.

"We're close, around five minutes out." Kota replied.

"I'm impressed you know where we are," Jiro commented, "Although what else can you really do here other than walk around the forest."

"You can catch bugs. That's fun." Jiro took a step away from him, walking closer to me. Deserved, what kind of kid things that catching bugs is a fun passtime? I much preferred getting the fuck away from them, grabbing a shoe and then throwing it at them until they were squashed to death. Then getting five rolls of tissue to pick up the dead bug, wrap it neatly and then throw it in the bin.

"That's, uhm, nice," Jiro responded with a thumbs up, "I'm sure that, uhm, it's fun."

"It is!" He said excitedly, "I even have a collection of them in my room! Want to see them?" Jiro tried her hardest to be nice to the kid and politely decline, but I knew the truth. She hated bugs, even more than I did. While I got angry at looking at bugs, she became downright terrified when in the presence of one.

"That's… so cool Kota, I can't believe it!" Jiro said, with about as much cheer as me wearing a pink dress. Actually that wasn't too bad, as much cheer as me reading Tokage's pathetic attempt to write 'Love is War'. Pfft, what kind of asshole would steal someone else's idea to write a series? How disgusting.

"I know right! The dragon beetle is the coolest, it's even supposed to be poisonous! Apparently there are a few in this forest, but I haven't found one yet. But when I do find one, I'll be sure to show you, Jiro-san!" Dragon beetle? Wasn't that from a game?

"No, no. Uhm, that's not necessary. What if I terrify the beetle so much that it dies? I couldn't possibly do that to you." Jiro said, waving her arms in the air to show that she wasn't on board with the plan.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

I grinned at Kota, who merely grinned back at me. Ah, so it is from a game. He just wanted to prank Jiro, what a sneaky devil… And it was something I would absolutely do given the chance. Sadly, a terrified Jiro was not a cute Jiro. Sorry kid, but her feelings takes priority over your funny prank.

"Don't listen to him, it's from a game. Grandia 2, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Kid, I basically play RPG's all day in my room. Old one's, new one's. As long as it has a good story that's long, I'm down." It was like an addiction at this point, but-,

The stench of blood violently attacked our senses.

Grabbing onto Kota's collar, I made sure that he stayed close to us as we walked closer and closer towards the campsite. Police officers were littered across the floor, or rather their bodies were. Some had their eyes missing, or even full on arms. Others had half of their head cleanly cut, or were missing their lower body completely. Jiro gasped beside me, and Kota looked away in shock at the sight.

But me?

I was pissed.

At all this life lost…

At this massacare…

A tall man sat hunched over in the middle of camp, he wore a black straight-jacket that only left his mouth exposed, and he was feasting on… Oh God. But when he turned to look at us, the most unnerving smile I had ever seen was pointed directly at us. Unlike Muscular's smile of excitement, Moonfish's smile made me want to crawl in a hole and hide for a long, long time.

Moonfish wiped the blood from his mouth, leaving the body he had cut up and was eating from to slowly walk towards us. I tried to turn around to run, but everyone beside me was paralyed with fear. This wasn't like Muscular, a true villain, what was before us was simply just a monster.

"C'mon!" I yelled, tugging on Jiro's arm, "We have to go befor-," I wasn't able to finish my sentence as Moonfish came running at us, I had dropped Midoriya off and made a sword already ready to fight the bastard. Shit, shit, shit!

Fu-,

Blood?

Why was their blood floating in the air?

Was Moonfish floating? No, that was his head! We watched as his head was dettatched from the rest of his body, before it rolling directly beneath our feet. Squelch. Moonfish's dead body fell to the floor with a thud as blood poured onto the ground from where his head used to be. I couldn't believe my eyes, especially when Kota kicked the dead villain's head like a football.

"I warned him, I warned all of them," Standing in front of us, with his full armour on show, Zero wiped the blood off his double-sided sword and bowed towards us, "I must apologise to you all for not being able to restrict Moonfish sooner. Had I known that that fool sent Moonfish out, I would have arrived sooner."

"You think being sorry is going to resurrect the dead?" Jiro shouted at him, surprising me.

"No, I don't," Zero replied, "But it's the least I can do. I regret not killing Moonfish as soon as I had the chance, but that's in the past now," He then pointed at me, "But I didn't expect to see you here, nor the star of this show. Hand over Midoriya, now, and I swear I'll force everyone to retreat. It's a promise."

"Over my dead body!" I yelled, dropping Midoriya gently on the ground and making a sword construct. "Everyone, get out of here. Take Midoriya and run, I'll hold him off." This was my fight, I had to-,

"Are you stupid, or what?" Jiro berrated me, "After our last fight, you think we'll just let you fight this one alone? Not to mention you're injured. But more importantly," She stepped in front of me, staring directly at him. Her left arm was trembling with fear, but she still faced Zero with a determined look on her face. "I have my own score to settle with him, and I won't be saved again by you. Not this time. I need to do this."

"But-,"

"If she wants a fight, she can have one," Zero interrupted me, "I'm not a monster, Yamazaki. I won't hurt her. I won't hurt any of you, I just want Izuku Midoriya-,"

"Why do you want Deku-kun?!" Kota asked him.

"It's not more so what I want from him, rather what his value is, simply put Midoriya here is the key to getting what I want, and therefore I need him," Zero explained, twirling his sword in the air to then catch it in his right hand. "But Midoriya can wait, there are more important things right now. Kyoka Jiro, you wanted a-," I screamed in anger as I ran towards him, swinging my blade with enough force to cut him in half.

He blocked my sword easily, but I followed up with a headbutt that made him stagger backwards, allowing me to tackle him to the ground. This was fun. Reinforcing my fists with Nimbus, I repeatedly punched him in the face, hoping to break his mask. However, within only a few seconds, he had turned the tables on me. Summoning a small knife, I had to jump away from him, and watched as he twirled the knife around in the air.

"I thought you said you didn't want to kill me?" I asked him.

"I don't, but so long as you're alive, whatever injuries you sustain will only make me feel slightly bad. Especially with your, well, 'special' healing ability." He replied. Before I could face him again, Jiro grabbed my right arm and pulled me back.

"Stop." She whispered, "Just stop. Why are you so against me fighting him? It's not just your fight, he nearly killed me during the USJ. I couldn't sleep for days, I even doubted if I could be a hero afterwards. But you expect me to just run away? You expect me to just allow you to protect me, like I'm some princess? Bullshit, I have my pride as well. If you want to fight him, fine. But don't you dare try and tell me that I can't fight with you, especially when you're injured. Especially when you are doing exactly what you are telling me not what to do."

"I'm fine," I told her. Honestly, it was just a bruised rib. Probably. Plus my healing Quirk was kicking in, I could feel it. But she didn't know that. "Just take Midoriya and run-,"

"If you hadn't already noticed, Mineta and Kota took Midoriya and ran away while you were distracted," She told me, pointing behind us where they used to be. "I get it, you want to protect us. But not alone. You can't endure everything, so stop trying to be something you aren't. You won't win like this, you'll just end up dying a pointless death."

I stared at Zero, who was circling us.

"Zero's my-,"

"He's a villain, and we are heroes," Jiro interjected, "That's all it is. Sure, I want to get my revenge on him. But this fight is more then that, he's after our friend. I know in your mind you think that beating Zero is the same as protecting Midoriya right now, but it isn't. You're fighting him because you want to, because you enjoy it. I can see it in your eyes."

My eyes?

"Jiro…" My eyes, huh? It felt like recently my eyes have been betraying how I really feel, even if I don't try to show much emotion with them. I guess I was a horrible actor, which made much more sense now that I thought about all the bad grades I got in drama. But she was right, I wanted to fight Zero for my own reasons, not to protect Midoriya. But loosing to him right now wouldn't protect him at all, it would put him in more danger.

So what else could I say? I nodded at her, before turning to stare at Zero. God knows I wanted to beat him all alone, but I wasn't that strong. I was injured. And I didn't know where the other villains were, I had to believe in Mineta and Kota to find a place to keep Midoriya safe. As much as I wanted to fight him, I wasn't able to just abandon everyone for a fight that I wanted.

But Jiro also deserved to fight him.

Zero wasn't just my problem anymore.

I changed my tachi to a short sword, using the remaining Nimbus as well as fifteen per cent from my reserves to construct two crow's. We needed a plan, and a thumping good one at that. One that wouldn't get us killed or allow him to escape and catch up to Midoriya. Luckily, Jiro did all the planning for me.

"I'll attack from from a distance, and you should tell your crows to do the same. Then you go in to fight him up close and personal while he's distracted and try to break that mask of his, how's that for a plan?" Jiro asked me, raising her fist out for me.

"Sounds like a fucking good time, I'm in!" I replied, bumping my fist against hers.

Immediately, my crows rushed him as I stayed back for a moment, waiting for my opportunity to strike. Zero split both of the crows in half with a single swing, before pointing it directly at me. I grinned in response, watching as the crows repaired themselves before attacking him from behind.

That was my opening.

Jiro plugged her earphone jacks into the ground, making the earth beneath us crack slightly, and I used this chance to sprint towards Zero, my sword held high. Grabbing one of the crows from mid air, he threw it back towards the other crow before stabbing his sword into the ground to try and keep his balance. Using some more of my Nimbus, I created a platform in front of me and jumped on top of it, before leaping towards him swinging my sword down, yelling as loudly as I could.

Zero snorted, kicking me in the stomach before slamming me to the ground.

"Was that your master plan?" He mocked me, laughing. "That was pitiful."

I grinned, twisting my fingers to transform my crows into a pack of wolves and watched as they pounced on top of Zero who was caught off guard. Jiro took this opportunity to move a little closer, picking up some rocks and pelting it at Zero while he wasn't looking. It distracted him enough for me to grab my short sword and plunge it into his-,

I dropped the sword, pulling back as I tried to clear my mind.

"What happened? You nearly had him?" Jiro asked me confused as she ran away from Zero who simply stared at me. I jumped backwards, trying to clear my mind, but it simply wasn't working.

"I just, It's just, uhm," I couldn't think straight, and my head was killing me. It was tough for me to even keep my eyes open, not to mention my thoughts… Why was I so bloodthirsty? It made me want to vomit all over the floor. "I can't do it, I just can't." I whispered. It was slowly dawning on me that I was losing more control over myself, that even my fight with Muscular wasn't entirely 'me' fighting him.

It was terrifying to realise that I wasn't myself.

Was that voice in my head really…

"Getting cold feet?" Zero's sardonic voice snapped me away from my thoughts, "Well since you've done well in fighting me as is, how about I take it up a notch? Tell me, would you like me to use a Quirk, or would you like me to use two Quirks?" I gritted my teeth in anger, that smug prick!

"Y-you weren't even using a Quirk to fight us?" Jiro gulped, "How? How do you get your weapon then?"

"Oh this? That's simple," Zero clicked his fingers as a spear appeared in front of him. "My Quirk, one of them, is called 'Touch and Go.' It allows me to place a marker on items and transport them towards me, thus the name touch and go. The number of items I can 'touch' is limited to twenty, and the number of items that can 'go' can only be three at a time. It doesn't enhance my strength or anything, I was merely fighting you with the skills I have developed."

Jiro took a step backwards, likely in fear.

Zero wasn't a monster, not like Moonfish. But he was different in his own way, and that made him dangerous. But training? Well it was obvious that he was well trained, but there was certainly more to it then that.

How did he get this training in the first place?

"Multiple Quirks? That's impossible!" She yelled at him, "How can you exist like that? Surely you should have died by now! How would your body be able to cope with all that stress!" Zero nodded in response, agreeing with everything she was saying.

"You're right, naturally it is impossible for a simple human to hold multiple Quirks without their body exploding due to all the conflicting powers. Our DNA simply wouldn't be able to hold it all in, and I'd simply die if I were just a simple human," Zero explained, "But that just isn't the case. Isn't that right, Yamazaki?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him, confused. Just what the hell was he trying to suggest?

"Have you still not connected the dots? Are you telling me that the entire time that you've known you have had multiple Quirks, you didn't think for a second as to how your body might handle it?"

"No, not really." I answered honestly, "And to be frank, I don't give a shit. No use crying over spilt milk-,"

"Hold up, did he just say that you have multiple Quirks? Sora, tell him if he wants to lie to me that it has to be believeable." I could only stare guiltily at Jiro, watching as her face fell in disappointment. "Holy shit, he's telling the truth. How? You know what, why didn't you tell any of us? Why the hell didn't you tell me? Is this one of your secrets?"

"This isn't the time for this," I told her, but she wasn't listening to me.

"You don't tell me what to do, I'm not someone you can just order around like that!" Jiro was getting more and more heated by the moment, and I had a sneaking suspicion that this was all a part of Zero's plan. Fuck. "Why didn't you tell us? Why did you keep something like this a secret, were you afraid that we would treat you differently? Is that it?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then why?"

"Because like I said, I don't know the full story myself, Jiro," I snapped at her. "If it makes you feel better, the only people who know about it are the staff at U.A. It's a secret for a reason, if word got out my private would be over. Aoyama covered for me, that's our little 'secret' as you put it."

"Why didn't you tell us then?"

"He cut me off and lied to you all before I had the chance to tell the truth, he wanted to atone for his mistakes. To not live in fear." I explained. That was what I had gathered at least.

"Aoyama eh? Interesting." Zero interrupted. "I didn't expect he'd tell you all the truth about himself."

"You go after him or his parents and I swear-,"

"I won't do anything like that. I already promised you, didn't I? No one in 1A, 1B or family members related to them will be hurt," Zero said, "I may be a villain, but I have certain lines I won't cross."

"But murder clearly isn't off the table for you, is it now?" I asked him, pointing at Moonfish's dead corpse. "Do you even know the value of a life? Even someone like him, a monster, you still cut him down mercilessly. But you want to talk about lines?"

"Had I not cut in when I did, you and your friends would have been skewered to death," Zero laughed, "I don't expect you to agree with murder, but don't act like a paragon of justice. You want to kill me, badly. That's why you dropped your weapon, isn't it? Because you don't like that 'side' of you." Jiro looked at me confused, asking me what he was talking about, but I simply tried my hardest to ignore her.

"Fuck you," I replied, "I'm just saying don't draw a line in the sand for killing people, but then go on and kill a villain. Doesn't make you seem trustworthy. Why aren't you atrgeting 1A and 1B? What's your plan?"

"Plan?" Zero shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't have a plan, not everything I do is a part of some grand scheme. Perhaps I just don't want innocent blood to be spilt, perhaps I don't want you to suffer. Or perhaps I've taken a liking to you and your friends. But just know that I will ensure their safety, whatever plans the other villains have will not include those you care about. Or else, well as you can see with what happened to Moonfish, it won't go so good for them."

"So what, you'll kill anyone that disregards your orders?"

"I'll kill anyone standing in my way, within reason of course. You and your friends don't stand in my way, I have no reason to kill you-,"

"Bullshit! What about the USJ, huh?" Jiro yelled at him.

"The USJ incident was a very special case. Once again, I'm not the villain in charge of this operation. I don't call the shots, I merely… try to guide things as best as I can to ensure minimum bloodshed. In fact I would have preferred if this attack didn't happen, but my hand was forced. I don't want to take Midoriya, but if it's what must be done, then I am in no position to deny it."

"So you won't hurt me or my friends, but you'll take Midoriya away? Ain't that hypocritical of you?" Zero shook his head.

"If you give me Midoriya, I promise you he'll be fine. I'll personally return him by the end of the day, it'll just be a-,"

"All For One want's to destroy the Quirk, doesn't he? That's why you need him. He destroys One For All then you get what you want, am I right?" Tch, it was so obvious, why didn't I put two and two together.

"What are you talking about?" Jiro asked me. "You mentioned All For One again, who are they? Why do they want Midoriya? Just what's going on here?"

"Now's not the time." I replied, summoning another sword. Shit, we have to defeat him right here and now!

"Now is the time," Jiro shouted at me, "Why do you know so much? How do you know so much about the villains?"

"Now's not the time, so stop being a nosy bi-," I stopped myself from finishing that sentence, sighing in response to my thoughts. My headache was getting worse and worse, which clearly wasn't helping me.

"You were going to call me a bitch, weren't you?" She asked me sadly, looking away at me. "You were going to lash out at me, and tell me to mind my own business, weren't you? Sure, I might have messed up a few days ago. But I thought we had patched things up, I didn't realise you were still hurt over what happened between us."

I didn't say anything, merely clicked my tongue in response. "Jiro, it's not that. I just, I'm stuck alright. I feel like I'm angry all the time, and I don't know what to do with all it. You don't deserve to be treated like that, not by me. But I'm trying, but-," I wasn't able to react in time as Zero rushed the two of us, throwing his sword at me causing me to duck down in order to dodge it in time.

But as I looked back up, my blood ran cold.

Holding the knife he had summoned in his left hand, he held Jiro hostage as he stared down at me. "You know, I never thought I'd say this but in a fight the first rule is to never get distracted. All I had to do was wait for the right opportunity, and lo and behold I took it."

"If you-,"

"I told you already, didn't I? No one in 1A, 1B or any family members will be harmed." Zero explained once again. "So long as you listen to what I have to say, no one will be harmed. I don't want to do this, but I have to do this." With another snap of his fingers, he got rid of the spear in front of him, instead a white table with three legs landed right in front of us.

Only for me to realise that it wasn't a table, it was a piano.

"You know what to do, Sora." Zero said softly, "Please don't make me do this." Jiro screamed for help, but her screams were being drowned out by the fear that the piano had on me. Deep within, I could feel it. I could feel the excitement that was unlike anything I had ever felt before, which was why I was so afraid of that emotion. That same emotion that I felt during my 'vision' of the future, of that version of me that had lost it…

Was that going to become me?

"No, I can't," I tried to run away, but it was like I was drawn to it. I wanted to desperately turn away, but I couldn't. Jiro was trying her hardest to escape, constantly stepping on Zero's toes and trying to hit him, or use her Quirk, but nothing was working. Zero was close to a full head taller than her, which made me realise that he was around the same height as me.

It was odd that as I walked slowly to the piano, it felt like it was a death sentence for me. Like it was the 'end.'

"Fuck off!" Jiro yelled, "Sora, run! Just go! Please! Just run away!"

"I can't do that." I replied, my mind becoming more and more blank with each step I took towards the piano. Jiro couldn't die, not here. I had to play the piano, because if I didn't… it wasn't something I wanted to do.

I was terrified.

But I had to do it.

If Aoyama could face his fears, I could too, right? If Midoriya regained his confidence, if Todoroki could start to use his fire again, and if Iida could get over his revenge, then I can play a damn piano. I was still afraid of what would happen, not to me, but to everyone around me. I still had no idea what was happening to me, but I had some clues. But maybe I was wrong.

"Please, I promised you, didn't I? That I'd never let you play the piano, so please." Jiro pleaded with me, "I know you feel like you've betrayed me, and I know I can be a bitch sometimes. But please, just run. Just leave me, save yourself. Don't play it, I can see it in your eyes. You're terrified, so please don't do it."

"I'm sorry," I apologised to her, smiling at our memory of the promise she made me. "I also promised myself that I'd protect everyone, no matter the cost. It was a foolish promise, a promise that I can't keep, but yet here I am, trying to keep it anyways. I really am sorry Jiro-,"

"So then why did I make a promise I couldn't keep?" Jiro shouted at me, "Why did you allow me to make it, just for me to not be able to keep it. Is that it? Is that how much you trust me?"

"It's because I trust you that I allowed you to make that promise," I smiled at her, "Nothing more, and nothing less. But you can't keep every promise, and right now your safety means more to me than a promise we made. I'm sorry, but I will do this." I turned my back to Jiro, hoping that she'd forgive me. Was it selfish of me? Yeah, maybe. But I had to do it.

"I give you my word, no matter what happens I will ensure that no one in 1A or 1B will be hurt by whatever happens here," Zero interrupted my thoughts, "This wasn't my idea, but my hand was forced. I truly regret that you have to do this trial. I wish things could have turned out differently, that things didn't have to be this way, but they are. My promise may just be words to you, but I will protect everyone in 1A and 1B from you. Even… even at the cost of my life." My eyes widened at that.

"You may think of me as some villain, and I am one. But I don't want anyone to be hurt, ironic I know. I have my own goals, that's true, but this isn't the way I want to achieve them. As I said, my hand was forced, by someone with more power than you could ever imagine. So I give you my word. No one you care about will be hurt by what could happen here, Sora Yamazaki." I smiled at Zero, closely watching his left hand.

His arm was shaking while he said so, ultimately lowering the knife away from Jiro, before throwing it to the ground completely.

Maybe he wasn't such a bastard after all? A villain, sure.

But not a absolute cunt.

I turned to look at the keys, sleek white. There wasn't a seat for me to sit down on, but that made it easier for me to play. One key at a time, I played the piano as if I knew it instinctively. Like I had been playing for years, even decades, and forget about everything in the world around me. I forgot about Jiro and about Zero. About everyone in 1A and 1B. About Tokage and Nanao. About Hinata, Gekko and Miwa. About Aizawa-sensei and everyone at U.A.

It was so easy, it was like falling asleep.

I even forgot about myself.

G major 7, A, G major 7, A, G, A-,

---

Maybe I overdid it this chapter? I feel like I put far too much content in this chapter, but I want this section of the arc to be short - Like 2 chapters short. The next chapter will deal with what's happening to Sora, the 'pianist' and what it means, how the heroes are faring against the villains, what happened to the rest of 1A and 1B, the police forces, etc.

Also the spelling/grammar might be not as good this chapter, I tried my hardest, but I was a little busy these past two weeks.

Sorry.

The next chapter will be a lengthy one, and I can't wait to finish writing it (4k words written already, I'll finish it soon... probably.) This section of the manga and anime was hit and miss for me, I much prefer the following raid arc for various reasons. Although, who knows if there will be a raid arc here, well I know the answer but you don't.

Still, I suppose I am rushing to get to different parts of this story, all before taking a slower pace once again. If one looks deeply into it, you could draw the conclusion that it is a metaphor for life itself... but it's not intended. I just don't feel the need to really show other POV's when they will be the exact same thing/Not as interesting and would feel like filler.

I prefer to get right to the point.

SkullWolfStream:

Thanks for that. I really didn't expect it to be taken down (And it has been taken down now!) but I really do thank you for going out of your way to do that. Mass reporting it wasn't the outcome I was expecting, but it was effective nonetheless. And it was only thanks to you, and many other readers of this story.

SO THANK YOU ALL!

Jay-Not-So-Gay-Eleven:

First of all, I like your name. Secondly, Sora is definitely a hypocrite. He cares for Miwa at the start and treats others like shit, at first I wanted him to treat Miwa badly as well but I thought I was just being cruel for the sake of being cruel. And as for Sora and Miwa ending up like Kirito and Suguha or Raku and Onodera (That last one was deserved, Chitoge ALL THE WAY!) it was simply a scrapped idea.

I'll edit it out... soon.

Although Sora and Jiro ending up together? Hoo boy, that'll be interesting when I write some 'scenes' out soon. The main pairing for this story has been 100% decided, and honestly I'm super proud of it. Where I take the characters (and the journey Sora and mystery girl X will go on) make them get together, and not because of anything else.

They'll realise that they like each other and want to go out with each other.

Currently, Sora likes Jiro romantically but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings... yet. Or maybe never? Still, everyone will get their happy ending. Even if Jiro doesn't end up with Sora (But who's to say she won't?) that doesn't mean she won't find someone else romantically.

Currently Sora and Jiro wouldn't work. Sora is far too protective of her, but he also lies to her in order to protect her and himself. He isn't being a good friend to her currently, let alone a boyfriend. As of now, a potential relationship between the two wouldn't last at all. Which is why as I've said before, romance for Sora won't come in to play until the very end of the story.

Other characters will get their romance, but not Sora.

Why? It's as Initial D says, street racers don't need girls.

And Sora convinced Todoroki by beating him into a pulp. I do think that's a good 'solution' if I say so myself, beating him to a pulp to show him he's wrong. 10/10 would recommend to a friend (Especially a misguided one.)

Ah, you got me. The final pairing is Sora x Hospital bed! They will have babies together called chair and pillow.

And Native is irrelevant, so I made him somewhat relevant to the characters here. I don't think the wiki even registers a Quirk for him...

MintEdd:

Megumi is my favourite character in JJK, so yeah, sorta. Creating animals is only the first step however, and he will definitely evolve his new technique.

The Dark Sapphire:

Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

GymNatty321:

Yeah, this story is so trash. Really, the author should go jump of a bridge or something. /s

CurryKing:

The usual 'strengths' of reincarnation stories is 10 chapters of self-doubt, another 10 chapters of the mc kicking everyone's ass and being trusted right away by everyone, then another 10 chapters when he becomes an asshole before being abandoned half way through an arc. I don't want to make a standard reincarnation story where 'you have to preserve the timeline' right away.

Sora originally did that to protect those he cares about, but when he realised he was being selfish in not letting them grow even more, he decided to fuck canon and change things up for better or for worse. I took my sweet time in developing that, yes. I focused far too much on the junior high drama, yes. But it was all for a reason, so that when Sora changes for the better it feels earned.

I agree the first chapter is rough in showing what I want, and the fact is that while I'm getting close to finishing Part 1 of this story the edits for the early chapters are still a couple months out from being done. But thanks for reading, even if you'll never see this.

I've seen people call this a 'slow burn' and I agree entirely. I'm taking my time with this, even if I'm rushing some sections sometimes, I want to take my time to develop each relationship, each character, and the world at large. Not out of a 'goal' to make things more emotional or anything, but rather to test my writing skills. To improve them.

Plus, I like slow burns.

Blackholelord:

Oh yeah, I definitely overdid it. I'm going to add a lot more to those early sections, but it'll mostly just be expanding on stuff I briefly touched on + Including a few familiar faces every now and then, teasing what's to come. Ultimately, it's not up to my standard. Even if when it's edited and fixed people still don't like it, I'll still have written what I wanted to write.

A prologue showing Sora's growth in his early years from being an asshole to a potential hero.

Guest-Questioner:

Uhm... okay?

Mickeysofine:

The random Japanese was used as a gag. I don't think it's even accurate, I just wanted to show that the person reincarnated as Sora doesn't originally understand the language (Not like any baby can understand a language when they are born.) That's all.

Ordnassela6:

I reply to all my reviews, partly because it's a lot of fun for me.

And it does increase my word count.

Fan De Fin:

Okay, I haven't studied Spanish in two years, but I'll try my hardest to not sound like an ass.

¿Está arreglado ahora?

Can you read chapter 33 and 34 now?

AND THAT'S IT FOR THE REVIEWS THIS CHAPTER!

Next time on Over the Top:

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