AnimeFan13579: You're right about the trio, especially Izuku.
Whitemare: For the Touya Todoroki, you might need to wait for later chapters, and for the Federal Bureau of Hunters, in this fic, it's the Federal Bureau of Awakeners and they attempted to persuade Trinity like how they did with Jackal. Also, don't worry about it, you're not bothering me with your rant regarding Goto, he was made to be rant by everyone. XD
Daemon of Wrath: Yup, as I promised, the Helpers and Criminal X will appear in future chapters. Also, given how being a Ruler's vessel made people much more powerful than mere S-Ranks, it's no surprise for them to be National Hunters. For Jeju Island Arc, it'll happen between the Final Exam arc and the I-Island arc. Overhaul has already been captured a long time ago when I introduced Eri a few arcs ago. It's how Nighteye is currently in trouble as investigations on Shie Hassaikai were canceled.
Reader20448: Thanks.
stream187: Sorry for the absence, life's been keeping me busy, not to mention, there are other fics that I wrote. For Stardust, it requires Itarim and the Apostle, and right now, the story isn't ready to open that can of worms yet. Lee Minsung will make his appearance, but merely as a side character in this early part of the saga. Also, happy late new year to you as well.
UEIS HQ
Chiba, Japan
"….oh, damn!" Karasu exclaims as he looks at the aftermath of Ochako. Tokoyami watched in silent awe but mentally agreed with Karasu that the battle was intense. The battle between Ochako and Todoroki during the hero foundation class is already intense with how Ochako easily beats Shoto but beating someone more experienced and stronger than current Shoto is amazing.
Ironically, Ochako had to encounter another ice mage but given how she already fought against Shoto, she seems to be able to fight the ice mage easily. Another ironic thing is that he also falls for the trick, believing Ochako is weak at close range, and tries to attack her. Still wasn't as impressive as the Shadow Monarch easily beat Baruka though, in his honest opinion.
"Brr…" Tokoyami turns to see Melissa shiver as her drone radiates powerful heat towards her, warming her up. Thankfully, Tokoyami's mana and Karasu giving him a bear hug seemed to reduce the cold from the blizzard earlier, so it wasn't as bad for him. "I-I swear…..the more I see….the more bullshit magic is…"
"….Quirks are also bullshit," Tokoyami deadpanned before pointing at Karasu, who puffs out his chest proudly before realizing what Tokoyami meant and giving him a death glare.
"…..Please, I rather not have this debate again. I hear Uncle Might and Papa keep doing it and I'm sick of it…." Melissa grumbles before shivering.
"But…you're the one who starts it," Tokoyami points out as Melissa gives him a look, promptly shutting Tokoyami up. "Understood."
With the Trinity
"You did amazing, Ocha," Izuku says with a smile as Ochako walks back, returning his smile with her own.
"Well, I got the best sparring partner and boyfriend to help me out," Ochako says as Izuku's smile grows wider.
"Oh, now you're smiling? What? Forgetting you're jealous when someone asks her to teach him?" Eijirou teases before he winces in pain as Izuku slams his elbow towards the boy's gut.
"I had to say, you're really impressive," Mirei says as she approaches Ochako. "I wasn't expecting you to be able to fight close quarter."
"Well, I have a support magic that grants me high durability and strength to myself and my teammates, so I had to take advantage of that. Besides, it's the point of my appearance, none of my opponents will expect me to be able to fight them in close range." Ochako says with a cheeky grin.
"Oh, wow. That's a smart strategy!" Mirei exclaims before giggling. "I can see people thinking you're easy prey before getting punched with an overwhelming force, like animes."
"Yup," Ochako says as her grin grows wider.
"Yeah…." Izuku sweatdrops, thinking that Ochako may have too much fun with her strategy. "A-anyways, Amamiya-san-"
"Call me Mirei, after all, we're fellow Awakeners in UEIS and hero students," Mirei says as the trio looks at her in surprise. "You guys weren't exactly subtle about it. Your uniform is UA student uniforms."
"W-well, we're more surprised that you're a hero student, I thought you're a student from a dojo," Izuku says as he rubs the head of his back. "What school are you from?"
"Seiai Academy, I'm in my second year," Mirei says as they all look at her in surprise.
"….I thought she's our age," Ochako admits as Mirei chuckles.
"Anyways, I had to admit, I wasn't expecting to meet so many strong people in just one day," Mirei says before rubbing her head sheepishly. "I….used to think no one would be able to fight me as everyone was easily beaten down when they sparred with me, while even believing I don't need help from others, until Edgeshot-san fought me and easily beaten me, proving me wrong. Then, seeing all of you guys..." Mirei's smile drops. "Let's just say meeting you guys was one hell of a wake-up call…."
'She sounds like Bakugou….but, much gentler and not blinded by the truth….' Izuku thought, slightly wary of Mirei. Hearing her speak reminds him so much of Bakugou, but at the same time didn't. Unlike Bakugou, Mirei shows her remorse for her previous mindset and is affected by the loss she got from Edgeshot. To be honest, Izuku would never have noticed how affected she was if not for her admitting everything.
"There's always a bigger fish out there…." Izuku speaks as he pushes aside his wary towards the girl. "That's the lesson I had to keep myself in mind to not get drunk on my powers. The world out there is large and right now, we're merely in the small part of it. Perhaps, you might keep that lesson in mind, not simply to keep you from getting arrogant, but remind yourself that you can still get stronger."
"…wow, you're wise for being my kouhai," Mirei says with a smile. "Thanks, for not judging me from my past actions…"
"I think you're beating yourself up is enough punishment," Izuku says as Mirei pulls Izuku into a hug. Ochako and Eijirou were taken aback by her actions with Ochako biting her lips to stop herself from lashing out and remembering Izuku's promises. Thankfully, Mirei let go after a few seconds hug, for the sake of Ochako's sanity.
"Thanks," Mirei says before Edgeshot decides to get everyone's attention.
"Now then, Goto, how about you choose who's to fight next?" Edgeshot asks as Goto clenches his hand before taking a deep breath and looking at a woman with long black hair and red eyes wearing a cap with a pink jacket.
"Tawata, you're next," Goto says as the woman, Tawata, looks at her boss before raising her eyebrow.
"Me? Seriously?" Tawata asks as Goto nods. Tawata lets out a sigh before holding her katana's hilt on her waist and walking out.
"Guys," The trio looks at Mirei as she calls them. "I hope you don't mind but….may I go for this round?"
"Are you sure?" Izuku asks as Mirei nods.
"There's one thing I need to confirm…." Mirei says as she looks at Tawata, gripping her katana hilt tightly. Izuku had no idea what she was talking about, but judging from her tone and actions, it seemed personal. Ochako and Eijirou seem to notice this as well and decide to agree.
"All right, go break a leg, Mirei-san," Izuku says as Mirei brightens up and nods before she walks into the arena, surprising the adults.
"Huh, so I get the friendly match one…." Tawata says with a raised eyebrow.
"Even so, please treat this as a serious match," Mirei suggests as she pulls her katana out of its sheath, holding the hilt while taking the stance of a master swordswoman. Tawata merely nodded, knowing she couldn't take her lightly as she could sense Mirei's mana was powerful. Tawata pulls both of her katana out of the sheath.
"A dual-wield swordswoman…." Izuku mutters as he looks at both of them preparing themselves.
"Before we start, may I ask something?" Mirei asks as Tawata raises her eyebrow.
"Sure, what is it?" The woman asks.
"Did you….ever fight a monster in the wild and save a young girl?" Mirei asks as Tawata looks at her in puzzlement.
"What are you talking about, kid? I never fought a dungeon break in a forest in my career as an Awakener." Tawata says as Mirei looks at her silently before nodding.
"Sorry, I was merely curious," Mirei says, lightly chuckling. "Forget about my silly question, let us start." As she said that, light green energy flows through her blade like a wind. Tawata takes a stance as her eyes glow purple, and her hand grips the hilt tightly.
When Tawata blinked, Mirei was already a foot away from her as she swung her blade targeting her neck. Tawata widens her eyes before using one of her blades to block the attack. The impact causes a powerful shockwave across the room and pushes Tawata back slightly. Tawata can't help but look at the girl in shock, not expecting such strength from the girl.
"Hmm," Izuku looks at the clash with a raised eyebrow, not bothered by the shockwave. "I guess she wasn't joking when she said she was strong."
"Yet, you look unaffected at all." Ochako deadpanned, covering her face from the shockwaves.
"Our fights create much greater shockwaves than this." Eijirou rolled his eyes.
Mirei takes a deep breath before moving forward with the swiftness of a raging wind, attempting to strike Tawata again. Tawata is more aware of the girl's strength and blocks the attack with one of her katana before retaliating with another with a stabbing attack. Mirei immediately jumped back to create distance, but Tawata didn't hold back as she charged at the young girl, trying to go for a double strike. Mirei takes a defensive stance and tries to block the strike, but the impact creates a much more powerful shockwave than before that shakes MIrei's entire body and sends her back, even causing cracks in the ground.
"She's no slouch either," Izuku mutters as he observes the battle, still unbothered by the shockwave.
"Okay, seriously. How are you looking so nonchalantly!?" Ochako asks her boyfriend incredulously.
"Compared to Igris, this is nothing," Izuku mutters while shivering. He still remembers the beatdown he got during the Job Change Quest and the swordsmanship training with Igris during his 10 months.
"…." Both Ochako and Eijirou shivered as well, but for different reasons. They only remember the ruthlessness Igris displayed towards them during the tutoring sessions.
Mirei kneeled as she stabbed her katana to the ground, slightly panting as she looked at Tawata, her vision split into two for a brief moment before regaining her sense. The impact from the blade, especially the sound, was painful for someone with enhanced senses like her. She can't help but notice how the majority of S-Ranks seem unbothered by the shockwaves and impressed at how their enhanced senses didn't affect them badly, except for Kei who uses a gas mask.
"You still want to continue, kid?" Tawata asks as Mirei grins slightly, holding her oni mask.
"I'm not done yet, let me show you my strength!" Mirei exclaims before putting her mask on. Suddenly, everyone feels tension coming from the girl. Goto narrowed his eyes, wondering how putting a mask was enough to shift the atmosphere in the air. Suddenly, Mirei's entire hair turns pitch black as red lightning crackles from her mask and her hand. Grinning, she pulls out her blade from the ground before taking an attacking stance. Izuku notices that, unlike the previous graceful stance she takes, this one shows more aggression and raw strength.
"Heh, here I come!" Everyone blinks at the excitement and slight aggression from Mirei's voice before charging at Tawata with a greater speed, a red lightning trail visible on her back as her katana glows dark red. Tawata coats her blades with a purple aura to block the attack, but Mirei easily shatters the blade, shocking everyone. Then, red lightning bursts from the impact as Tawata barely dodges out of the way, her jacket slightly burned as she looks at her shattered blade in annoyance.
"Some sort of power-up or mode change, giving increased strength and red lightning instead of green energy resembling wind. Storm perhaps?" Izuku mutters. "The mode change seems to give Mirei-san more aggression, or maybe excitement, making her like a typical Blood Knight in media. Her increased strength is now more powerful than Tawata, even after she imbued mana on her blade. I wonder how strong she has become and what Tawata-san has to offer…"
"…oh, wow. It's been a while since I hear him muttering," Eijirou mutters, scratching his cheeks.
"….I wish I knew this side of him earlier…" Ochako pouts.
Mirei grins wider before charging at Tawata, who summons a pair of mana blades using her katana hilt before blocking Mirei's incoming attack. She kicks the girl back to keep her distance, but Mirei regains her footing before sending a flying slash made of red lightning, Tawata simply neutralizes it with a slash from her mana blade.
Mirei can't help but scowl before charging in as Tawata tries to attack her with a blade strike, but Mirei disappears in a blur, surprising everyone, and tries to land a powerful downward slash from the back. Tawata twirls her blade and blocks the attack, earning an annoyed grunt from Mirei.
"I know, Oni Kureha." Mirei mutters to herself, gaining everyone's attention. "Yeah, let's use another method,"
"Um, who are you talking to?" Tawata asks, slightly confused. Who is this Oni Kureha Mirei mentioning? Izuku can't help but wonder about it as well, is it something related to her mode change? She doesn't have any earpiece in her ear and no sign of telepathy is detected from the building, so does her awakening give a being possessing her body or something?
Mirei puts her blade back into her sheath, confusing everyone as they all ponder what is she doing. Mirei takes a deep breath, taking a step back while gripping the hilt of her blade. Then, she turns into a blur before suddenly, multiple afterimages of her appear as they all charge at Tawata. The woman is taken aback by this, but she doesn't give much time to process it as she blocks an incoming attack from one of the afterimages before it disappears and another afterimage appears and tries to attack her. She slices the afterimage but it disappears, then two Mirei appear and try to attack her from above and below, but Tawata immediately deals with them.
Three Mirei appear and try to attack Tawata from above on, the right and left sides. Gripping her blade, Tawata spins as her blade cuts down the afterimages but she doesn't see any sign of Mirei. Then, Mirei appears from her back before pulling her blade from her sheath and performing a quick draw on the older woman, green and red energy flowing from her blade.
BOOM!!!
The attack creates a cloud of dust as everyone covers their faces except for Edgeshot, Ryuji, and Izuku. As the cloud clears, everyone widens their eyes in disbelief as they look at the arena.
Tawata managed to block Mirei's attack just in time with one of her mana blades before pointing another one at Mirei's neck. Mirei is completely frozen in shock, her oni mask falls from her mask while the energy disappears from her blade as her hair turns back to white. Tawata looks at Mirei before her lip forms a smirk.
"That was a nice fight, kid," Tawata says genuinely. "If I were a second too late, you would've won. You got talent, but you lack experience."
"…..t-thanks," Mirei mutters before she puts her blade back into her sheath with a sigh and tries to grab the mask, but both her and Tawata's hands make contact.
"Oh, sorry. I was trying to help," Tawata apologized before retreating. Mirei merely nodded with a small smile as she picked the mask up and cleared the dust before putting it on her head.
"A-again, thanks," Mirei says with a smile, which Tawata returns with her own.
"Well, perhaps we can spar again sometime if you're interested," Tawata says as Mirei seems to brighten up.
"Of course!" Mirei exclaims a bit cheerfully before bowing down. "Thank you for the fight." With that, she walks back to the Trinity. Tawata let out a sigh before walking back to her team with Ryuji hums.
"Good job on not losing to the kid," Ryuji comments as Tawata looks at her guild master, barely hiding her scowl before walking away, grumbling.
"Well, any suggestion for the next sparring match?" Edgeshot asks as Ryuji ponders a bit before looking at Kenzo.
"Tanaka, go forth," Ryuji says as Kenzo grins slightly, cracking his knuckles.
"Sure thing, boss," Kenzo says with a grin before walking forward. Eijirou takes off his shirt before cracking his neck, his tail swishing left and right as his pupil turns to slit. Kenzo blinks when he sees this.
"Hey, kid. I was wondering, is your dad the Silver Mane?" Kenzo asked as Eijirou furrowed his eyebrow.
"Nope. I'm pretty sure he wasn't my dad, my parents died during an accident a long time ago…" Eijirou says before looking away, making Kenzo wince.
"Um, sorry kid." Kenzo berates himself for bringing up a sensitive topic. Eijirou merely waves it off before taking a stance and extends his sharp claws. Kenzo tenses up as steams and a red aura comes out of his body. Both boys make eye contact as their bodies twitch.
"Begin!" As Edgeshot starts the match, both of them charge in and clash with each other, creating a much more powerful shockwave than before. Then, Eijirou follows with a claw strike as Kenzo tries to block it, but to his surprise, Eijirou easily wounds his arm so easily. Before Eijirou can follow with the second strike, Kenzo jumps back to dodge the attack. Kenzo winces as Eijirou's entire claws pierce through the concrete like dipping his hand into the water.
"Okay, the claws must be avoided," Kenzo grimaces as he wasn't expecting such powers from the boy. He suspects the boy can pierce through any defense no matter what, especially given that Eijirou wounds him despite the super durability he gained from the awakening that let him become an S-Rank fighter. He has solely mistakenly analyzed the boy, he may seem to be the tank of his group, but his specialty is more of tearing down enemies' defense.
"The man's hesitating…." Ochako points out.
"Of course, especially given how he wrongly analyzes Eijirou's ability," Izuku says as he looks at Kenzo raising both of his hands. "When he sees Eijirou's class in his license, he expects Eijirou to be like him, an immovable wall and hit with an overwhelming force, never suspecting Eijirou can easily pierce through any defense with little force required. So, he lacks any preparation. Not to mention, Kenzo-san is built like a typical bodybuilder with a heavy focus on his upper muscles, so he lacks mobility compared to Ei. The struggle he's facing isn't just his opponent, but his habit of being the tank of his team."
"…" Kenzo tries to hide his shock and horrified expression as his enhanced senses hear what Izuku has said. How in the world did the boy read him like an open book from a simple clash?!
"That's normal for Izu-bro, man," Eijirou, who seemed to notice Kenzo's shock, spoke up. "He's the brain of our main trio, and he always pulls some new trick to keep us on guard and adapt to any fight."
"…" Ryuji clenches his fist, slightly angry at how Midoriya read Kenzo like he's an open book. His gut instincts were right, the boy was more dangerous than he seemed. His appearance looks like those typical rich spoiled kids with an insane gene pool, but it seems that the more he looks at the boy, he's a prodigy. He remembers that the boy was only awakened 10 months ago and not long after, Kirishima followed suit, and then, the girl, who awakened a few months after Midoriya. Two of them show strength far greater than any S-Rank awakeners that trained endlessly, not to mention the insanely slow growth for any S-Ranks, so how are they easily grow stronger in less than 10 months!?
Eijirou rushes towards Kenzo with a wind-coated fist. Kenzo's instinct screams at the danger that the attack poses and barely ducks from the attack. Eijirou's attack misses before a tornado burst from his hand and into the roof, tearing a hole in it. Kenzo sweats before he counters with a punch to his gut, but it is a mistake as Eijirou activates his quirk that has been enhanced by magic. The impact may create a large shockwave, but Eijirou didn't budge an inch.
'Shit…' Kenzo deadpanned before jumping away from Eijirou before he could retaliate. 'Did I make a wrong assumption again? He didn't budge an inch from a mana-enhanced punch.' Kenzo clenches his fist, flowing more mana into his fist. Eijirou coats both of his claws with wind magic before sending multiple wind slashes toward Kenzo, who widens his eyes as he dodges away but barely as some of the blades slice through his skin. As he regains his bearing, he touches the cut on his cheeks before looking at Eijirou.
'So, the defense penetration also applies to his magic.' Kenzo grits his teeth before letting off a huff as more steam comes out of his body, his red aura grows more intense, his skin grows slightly red, and the ground underneath cracks.
'Ah, fuck it. YOLO.' Kenzo thought before he charged in toward Eijirou, who used his partial Therianthrope transformation and his quirk to block it, which sent him back a few feet. Kenzo rips the ground and uses it to toss at Eijirou, who slices it with his tail coated with wind magic. Kenzo uses that distraction to get close and tries to deliver a punch at Eijirou, but he tilts his head away before delivering a wind-enhanced punch, sending him tumbling a few feet. Kenzo got up before he hastily jumped away from Eijirou's attacks. The moment Eijirou made an impact with the ground, a large crater was formed, and the surrounding was covered with a cloud of dust.
Kenzo immediately gets up and charges at Eijirou through the cloud, grabbing Eijirou and keeping him in a headlock. Eijirou grits his teeth before using his tail to grab one of Kenzo's hands to get free and they start to wrestle with each other. Everyone was unable to make clear what was going on as the cloud of dust grew thicker, only able to see their shadow. Izuku looks at them before letting out a sigh and lowering his head, confusing the girls.
As the dust is clear, it reveals that Kenzo and Eijirou somehow end up in a stalemate as they immobilize each other's limbs. Everyone blinks owlishly as both Kenzo and Eijirou growl at each other and try to break free but to no avail. Izuku facepalms while Ochako bursts into laughter and Mirei merely tilts her head in confusion, wondering how their fight made both of them end up in such a bizarre position. Ryuji's eyes twitch violently while Edgeshot chuckles.
Back with Tokoyami and Melissa
"… Well, that happened…" Karasu commented.
"I…am conflicted, especially after seeing such an amazing swordfight between two skilled swordswomen…" Tokoyami mutters in disappointment. "Also, why did Kirishima not simply use his wind magic?"
"Maybe he needs to move? No, he coats his hands and claws using winds before unleashing. Maybe that's why? He can't hold the wind magic for so long and he needs to unleash it once he activates it?" Karasu made some analysis as Tokoyami hums.
"Nope," Melissa says, getting both of their attention. "Based on my drone's energy scan, he can keep it up and able to hold it as long as he likes. The reason is much simpler."
"May you elaborate?" Tokoyami asks.
"…men being men." Melissa says in a dry tone, making both Tokoyami and Karasu look at her in confusion. "…you know? Mano-e-mano? Fight fairly like a man? Those kinds of phrases?"
"…..both of them do give such vibes." Tokoyami nods in agreement.
"Well, that made this fight less impressive." Karasu deadpanned.
Back with everyone
After announcing the fight ended with a tie and separating both Eijirou and Kenzo apart, both of them were given a disappointed glare from Izuku and Akari respectively.
"….sensei taught you better than that," Izuku says as Eijirou looks away, blushing in embarrassment.
"Seriously? I thought you're supposed to be the Blade Guild's top fighter but doing something like that?" Akari asks as Kenzo looks away, grinning sheepishly. Ochako snorted at Akari and Izuku somehow agreed and scolded the musclehead of their respective team.
"I…..expect something amazing…" Mirei says, voicing her disappointment.
"True, but in the end, life's full of disappointment," Ochako shrugs. Edgeshot clears his throat as he tries to gain everyone's attention before starting the final sparring match. To everyone's shock, Ryuji decided to step in before looking at Izuku with an unreadable expression. Izuku made eye contact with Ryuji before he also stepped in. Ryuji note that his friends show some worry or concern towards him, but Edgeshot didn't say anything or his mana didn't show any sign of worry, but curiosity.
'Is he expecting the boy might give me a hell of a match?' Ryuji can't help but scowl at the lack of reaction from his former dojo rival before looking at Izuku. Ryuji notes how each of his friends takes a defensive stance as they face his guildmembers, but Izuku merely stands there, looking at him emotionlessly.
'Let's see how long you're staying that way,' Ryuji immediately charges with his hand outstretched. Izuku's eyes widen slightly as he senses a hint of bloodlust coming from the man as Ryuji performs a powerful thrust using his right hand, creating a powerful gust of wind, pushing Ochako, Eijirou, and Mirei slightly. None of them expect such a powerful gust of wind from a simple thrust performed by the man, but given he's the guildmaster, it does make sense.
"Hey," Ryuji widened his eyes as he turned around to see Izuku, who was unharmed by the attack. But, his face shows a cold expression, and his eyes glow dark emerald. "What's with the damn bloodlust? Are you attempting for assassination or you're simply too excited that you forget that it's a mere sparring match?"
Ryuji's instinct screams at him as he dodges away from Izuku's punch. The moment he made contact with the ground, it exploded and the entire room shook like an earthquake. Ryuji almost trips himself from the shake while everyone tries to maintain their balance. Ryuji look at the large crater created by Izuku's fist, causing him to sweat slightly as he doesn't even sense any mana on that attack, meaning Izuku merely uses his raw strength.
For the first time, Ryuji feels like he might've bitten more than he could chew, but he would never admit it to everyone.
[To be continued]