I don't know if all of you here also read Path of Waves, but to say what I said there, I wasn't able to post More than You Think last week because Fanfiction was down, but as of Monday the 18th, it's been uploaded. As for those on Ao3, we're approaching the 7k hits marker, which makes me giddy as it's slow, but it's growing.

With the chapter itself, we are finally here, the USJ, the second major arc…of season 1. Like, man, I knew I planned to set up to cover things and introduce characters and set the stage, but to be honest, the OG draft for that was only 10 chapters, but things were added, removed, refined, expanded on and simplified like so many other projects. But while it took a while, I'm happy with the journey here, especially since season 7 will be out soon, so more content to work with as I've already mapped out stuff for this story all the way to the Summer Camp.

Chapter 19: Bonfire in the Rain.

If there was one thing that Bakugo could say about U.A. was that it was weird as fuck.

Not even the school, just how things have been lately as when he left for his first day to cement himself as the top dog and show that he could be that hero, that he could destroy and save lives like they mistakenly thought he did, the old hag didn't yell at him to have a good day, or not to fuck things up, she….hugged him, gave him a smile and told him to enjoy his first day.

That was creepy as hell. He was so caught off guard by it that he didn't fight back like he normally did and only processed it halfway to school. But then again, that wasn't the weird thing that she'd been doing over the previous months, as she wasn't as aggressive as she used to be and spent a big chunk of her time out. What was she doing? Not shopping, not out having a blast, not out on dates with his old man.

Oh no, she was spending her time with Auntie, who wasn't handling her useless son up and running away like some bitch all that well. And when they heard that he had resorted to crime, well, it was like the Jenga tower, and her mind fell apart. When he saw her, he wished he didn't, with how heartbroken she was. She was meek, she wasn't strong, but she didn't deserve to have a worthless son like that fucking Pyro, an idiot who, because he couldn't control that crazy thoughts of his, left his mother questioning her every decision, feeling like she failed to raise him and now felt that his crimes were hers to bear.

It didn't help that some nosy reporters had found out where she lived and worked and seemed to thrive on making her already shitty life all the worse. She barely handled it a week before Katsuki's folks stepped in and made it crystal clear they were to leave her alone or face legal action and maybe a few explosive beatings from him, not that they can prove that last part if they did pussy out and try to report him.

Getting her boss to transfer her office to another building was easy; at least the man was smart enough to understand that the media were fucking vultures, so it would be better for everyone if they didn't know where she went to work; same with getting auntie to move in with them the other day. However, he was sure his parents did that so they could keep a closer eye on her. He didn't know why, but he did and didn't like to think about it.

That weirdness, that sense of something being wrong, didn't end at home. Still, he was also at school when he got to class on the first day. At the same time, he could barely tolerate some of them, namely that fucking pervert and dunce-faced moron. Still, frog girl, Asui made things a little bearable as he knew she knew her stuff, and she had the balls to call out bullshit when she saw it.

He could respect that.

But then, despite the fact he set a new record in the entrance exam, he came 3rd in Aizawa's quirk assessment, third! He had been robbed by Ponytail and Candy Cane, who got in via the recommendation exam. The worst part was that Ponytail bragged that she was the only one who figured out their hobo of a teacher was full of it with his expulsion threat, and he later learned during their first hero class that Candy Cane beat him while holding back!

Those same battle trials only spat in the face of his goals of being the best, as sure his team won with ease, but so did Ponytail, Candy Cane, Vines, Tsu and Edgelord and even Dunce's face and Ear lobes! Some of those won faster than he did. He couldn't even win the fucking class rep spot as no one voted for him as they should have. Instead, it somehow landed in the lap of four eyes.

This brought them to the present, as they rode a bus to their rescue class's destination, though why they couldn't use one of the many test areas U.A. has was beyond him. "She's just being modest, but Shiozaki definitely has one of the strongest and flashiest quirks in class." Weird hair commented towards Vines, who merely nodded along with her before he lifted his arm and activated his quirk, turning his skin jagged and hard like stone.

"Much better than mine. Sure, I'm durable, but it's not gonna turn heads, you know?" Kirishima stated that Shiozaki offered him a frown, but one lacked any real disappointment.

"I didn't enter the hero course for fame, Kirishima." She reminded him, to which he laughed as she made it clear early on that she was going into hero work solely to help people, both through her work in the field and through worthy charities.

"Wouldn't ever dream of that." He laughed it off as Sero picked up things from there.

"He's right, you know; you do have a pretty great quirk for being her, especially since you have to factor in popularity." He stated that since pros might be judged by how successful they were, they were also part celebrities. It was part of why a pro like Wash could make the top 20, as he wasn't bad at his job, which was far from it, but he was incredibly popular with kids. Sero should know as he watched his shows every Friday growing up and owns at least 30 different pieces of Wash merch.

Kaminari pointed towards the back of the bus, where Bakugo, Todoroki, Jiro and Koda sat, all quiet. "Unlike Todoroki and Tokoyami, who are the cool, quiet type and Bakugo, who is as pleasant as sewage lit on fire." Well, they were quiet as Bakugo jumped to his feet.

"The hell you say about me, Pikachu? Talk shit when you don't fry your brains." Bakugo yelled back at the guy whose quirk came with the stupid-as-shit drawback of too much power, leaving him brain-dead for at least 5 minutes. Which, paired with how he liked to use significant attacks, meant he was a 1-pump-2 pump and dumb kind of guy.

"Bakugo, if you're always mad, you can't expect people to like you all that much. (Kero) It's not a good look." Asui added, getting him to turn his ire to her.

"Oh," She met his gaze without a hint of fear, and he had to control himself, as she was the only person here he respected enough to even recall her name. Sitting back down, he crossed his arms. "Screw you."

Kirishima laughed, trying to lower the tension on the bus. "He's not all bad; he can totally be like Endeavour."

"You do remember Endeavour's been number 2 for like forever. At this rate, he'll retire before he becomes number one," Jiro asked him, which only made Bakugo angrier. Oddly enough, Todoroki let out an amused chuckle; weird, you would think he'd want his dad to take the top spot.

"(Kero) With Bakugo's attitude, that'll suit him just fine. He has a face that'll make kids cry." Asui wasn't letting up with her criticism as she could respect a lot of things about Bakugo, such as his drive, his dedication to hard work, his similar approach to blunt honesty, and his commitment to being a hero. But that was it since his social skills were in the trash, and so were his tact and approach to things. She was blunt, but she tried to not be mean or hurtful. Meanwhile, Bakugo seemed to thrive off getting on Iida and Yaoyorozu's nerves.

"What the hell, frog legs?" Bakugo demanded of Asui, who just croaked back at him, leaving some to giggle at the funny dynamic that had been forming between the resident bomber and frog girl, especially since it wasn't something any of them had expected to see.

"It's true, isn't it? Do you even remember half their names?" Asui was aware of that fact; she found it strange as well, but he wasn't the worst choice for a friend, and he did have redeeming qualities underneath all that…Bakugo. Case in point: He raised his finger to call names, only to pause and then retract his finger, which went down as well as you could expect.

"What the heck, man? It's been a week, and I know at least 15 names off the top of my head." Kaminari yelled at him, as he wasn't the brightest bulb in the store but even could remember the names and faces of classmates.

"And that's where I have him beat since I'm great for the camera and have a powerful and flashy quirk to boot." Aoyama gloated, only for Mina to shut him down with a giggle.

"Yeah, but it does give you stomach aches." The Frenchmen muttered something in his native tongue to Mina's statement as the conversation moved on.

"Yeah, flashiness is important, but a quirk needs to be steady and versatile. My tape doesn't seem like much, but I'm a whiz when it comes to getting around, capturing, and evading." Sero lifted his arm, namely his elbow, to show off the joint.

"And I can just walk a little funny, and no one even remembers I'm there." Hagakure, the resident invisible girl, added, which made sense since her costume consisted of boots and gloves with nothing else. This fact made more than a few of them, namely the boys, a little embarrassed to be around her.

"Don't you, I don't know, get uncomfortable with being naked?" Ojiro asked her, as she seemed so uncaring about it during their combat trial, as he thought the costume was just invisible to her. She was letting her feet and hands be visible for a reason, only for her to just say that she only had those two things. Safe to say, he was happy Todoroki ended their fight as quick as he did, as he wasn't sure he could focus, knowing there was a naked girl somewhere around.

"Not really. It's not like you guys can see anything. Would you wear clothes if you were invisible?" Hagakure asked, sounding confused about the entire concept of shame born from nudity, which tracked as people wore clothes partly for function, like staying warm, and partly to remain decent so that your naked form wasn't seen so casually. But if you couldn't be seen at all, well…

"I wouldn't." Mineta giggled, which got him some unfriendly glares from his classmates, mainly the girls, as not even a whole week into the school year and Mineta had already made a name for himself as a pervert.

"And that's why we're thankful we can see you, you little perv." Hagakure shot back as from how during their quirk assessment, when Mineta saw his name at the bottom, of all the things he could be upset about, he was upset that he quote 'Wouldn't get a harem of hot babes.' Then there was how he acted during the battle trial, being more concerned with ogling Yaoyorozu and Mina than actually securing the bomb. Though it was satisfying watching All Might chew him out for his behaviour.

"Alright, we're here," Aizawa called, ending the conversations as the students looked outside to see the massive dorm, one almost as tall as the Tokyo dorm but much…much bigger. Bakugo had been expecting a stadium, but this was big enough to give at least 10; what the fuck? Did U.A. need to build another fake city inside of it? Why? By the time they got to the entrance, they could look to either side of the stairs leading up to the main doors and not see where it ended.

Their attention was taken from the size of the place to the person waiting for them. A pro dressed in the white fusion of a pillow and space suit happily greeted them; "Welcome, everyone. I hope you're as excited as I am for your first rescue class." They greeted them.

"It's the Space Hero: Thirteen." Round Cheeks squealed, which Bakugo thought about as he heard the name before. He knew that she wasn't a normal pro but a rescue specialist, so he didn't pay her or other pros like her much time.

"She looks like a marshmallow." Racoon Eyes giggled.

"Now, why don't you enter." Thirteen heard that but took it in jest as the class bowed to her, eager to start this, having not yet registered that All Might was absent.

"We look forward to learning from you!" With that, she led them inside and once again, they were left in awe at the size of the place as the outside made it look big, but the inside?

The inside was a marvel of engineering and scale as they could make out at least 4 different zones, one covered in water with a boat in the middle of it, another was a mock-up of rocky mountainous terrain, the third was what appeared to be a landslide with pieces of buildings sticking out of it. At the same time, the 4th looked like a city after a major earthquake. There was a fifth spot, and going by the paint they used to colour its domed exterior, it was probably for training in fire-related issues.

All this wasn't even at ground level, as at the top of the stairs where they stood, they would need to descend a crazy long way into a massive central plaza area. From where they stood to where they could make out a large water fountain, it must have been at least a couple hundred meters. If Bakugo's eyes weren't playing tricks on him, he bet you could run up at least 5 football fields just to make it to the fountain. Thanks to all the trees that dotted around it, they couldn't even be sure if it was an equal distance from the fountain to the other side.

"Holy…this place looks like a theme park!" Kaminari uttered out.

"You mean a theme park on all the drugs? This place is huge! How does the U.A. even have the space to fit all this without us ever knowing?" Sero yelled back as Thirteen walked forward, stopping at the top of the stairs before turning on her heel to face them, her arms raised like a presenter.

"Shipwrecks, landslides, thunderstorms and infernos. These are part of a facility I designed to train students like yourselves to become the best rescue heroes you can be. To be able to handle any disaster that life can throw at you." She listed the zones to them, their eyes tracking from one to another, their designs giving away which was which.

"I named it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!" Thirteen announced, leaving them surprised as the name sounded too close to another place with the abbreviation of USJ.

"I'm surprised they didn't sue," Iida commented.

"They tried, we won!" Thirteen seemed a little too happy about that fact, making them wonder if part of the reason for the name was just to pick a fight with someone and win.

Aizawa ignored that and walked up to Thirteen. "Thirteen, Where's All Might? I haven't seen him all day." He asked, keeping his voice low so the students didn't hear.

"About that," Thirteen did the same, lifting three fingers as he did. "Turns out he was busy doing hero work on the way to school and used up all his time. He's resting in the teacher's lounge." She explained to him, to the displeasure of the underground hero.

"That's the height of irrationality," Aizawa replied, thinking of ways he would have to improvise now that they were down a teacher. "Can't be helped; now let's start." Stepping forward, Thirteen did just that, with a speech that Bakugo had to admit was pretty great. Unlike a certain pyromaniac, she didn't let her quirk dictate her actions if it did have an effect on her mind.

When she finished it, the class applauded it, feeling pumped to start their training. "So, for this, you'll be split into groups" Aizawa's statement was interrupted when the light began to flicker and die, one by one, till all were dead. The area was still lit, the dome being built to allow light in, and dozens of street lamps were dotted around the area, but it was still strange.

"What the?" Mina asked.

"An electrical short? Now of all times." Iida asked, as even those street lights started to die. Looking around, Aizawa didn't like this at all. His gut was screaming that something was up, and that feeling only grew worse when he felt a shift behind him, like a 6th sense crying out as he turned to the central plaza, where before the fountain, the air started to shift and flicker before a massive dark cloud of mist forced itself into beating. And from it, he saw someone walking out. Even from this distance, he could see the malice in those eyes, hidden behind a severed hand grasping their face.

"Thirteen!" He yelled, turning to face the threat fully as more people came through, the pro tracking each and trying to get a good idea of their quirks.

"As those people down there?" Kirishima asked, squinting to see better.

"Don't move!" Vlad seemed to agree as he held up a hand to stop some of his classmates from getting too close. "Those aren't workers for the school but villains."

If they weren't paid as much to fight against some kids his age, Pyre would have left by now; as of all the spots he could have been sent to ahead of the expected students, he wasn't sent to the flame zone, which seemed like it would have been a blast, nor was it sent somewhere like Ruins or Mountain where he could cut loose more then usual.

No, because Shigaraki, in all his wisdom, thought it best to put in the one zone which never stopped raining; he would wonder how U.A. could afford to run this place or where they got the water if he wasn't so pissed about being soaked to the bone. So, unlike most of the villains who decided to wait around in the rain, he decided to stay inside a building. Koharu wondered if their employer was incompetent or if he hated them.

"I wouldn't know, Koharu, but they should be appearing any second now," Pyre replied, though one of the villains with him answered his statement.

"I hope so; it means I can get a good workout in." Slamming his fists together, his brass knuckles he was wearing clanging with the impact.

Pyre had his back to them, his gaze on the fierce artificial rainstorm outside. "Stay sharp; just because they're students doesn't mean they're dangerous," Turning to them, his emerald eyes glowed while he smiled at them. He didn't mean any harm, but he had been told he looked unsettling more than once when he did this. "After all, I'm their age, and I'm very dangerous." That seemed to be true here as the villains all stepped back, scared that he might strike like a viper, if not burn them to ash where they stood.

"Yo-you're different." One of them, sweating a little under his gaze, stuttered.

"Yeah, I mean, you're a monster compared to them." Another added, a little more confident as Pyre merely hummed and turned back to the rain, sparring them his gaze.

"Whatever you say." If that were their feelings on this, then he wouldn't have put much faith in their abilities as they believed that U.A students would be easy pickings like fools. Then there was Shigaraki's plans, namely the parts that were lacking; when Nine accepted jobs for them, they did their research, planned entry and escape routes, and Pyre would pour over every scrap of information there was about any possible pros they could encounter. That was why Nine felt comfortable sending just him after that information that Clockwork had.

However, Shigaraki was the inferior leader to Nine, not only in his rule through a fear approach but also in the fact that he gathered all these people and didn't bother to distribute information to the students. They didn't know names, faces, or something as basic as quirks. Shigaraki already all but admitted that they had a source, probably someone who could get access to school records to have planned for this assault, but could that source also get them more information?

Koharu suggested that they could have, but that Shigaraki, in all his 'wisdom', thought that sheer numbers could get the job done and never asked for such details. Koharu said that, if nothing else, it proved that Nine was right in that Shigaraki is too much of a reckless idiot to be the real power behind this League of Villains, which made him giggle at how she described him as a puppet.

Seeing this, the other villains wondered if the stories about him being crazy were true before Pyre noticed a portal opening. It was in the distance, so he couldn't make out details, but he could say for sure that 2 bodies came through it. "Stange, wasn't it meant to be at least 3?" Pyre thought aloud before shrugging his shoulders. If Kurogiri somehow messed up, that wasn't his issue as he stepped onto the window still to go check.

"I'll meet you there." Was his statement as he jumped out the 4th-floor window, where the villains rushed forward, seeing Pyre already rushing off.

"Are you all right, Koda? I apologize that I couldn't make the landing softer." Tokoyami asked his classmate, the two standing in the middle of the road after he saved them both from what could have been an unpleasant impact with the pavement.

"It's fine, that was a surprise," Koda replied, though his already meek nature made it hard to hear him. "Where are we?"

Looking around, it took little to make a guess. "I believe this would be the downpour zone. Does that mean that there is a limit to that teleportation? Why else would we still be within the USJ?" He asked as the villain said something about wanting to kill All Might? What purpose did it serve to scatter them? Was it merely a divide-and-conquer approach?

His question was answered when Koda pointed out that a mass of villains were heading for them; their portal entrance must have alerted them to their location. "I see because they scouted ahead and put villains we could struggle against around. Dark Shadow." His quirk, a shadow creature, came forth, ready to fight, but out of nowhere, a fireball crashed between the two spots, the heat it gave off causing the rain to evaporate and turn into steam that shot out towards both sides, forcing it to cover their eyes.

"What in the world?" Tokoyami asked as the villains seemed to be informed of who this was.

"Crap, already?"

"They're fast!"

When the steam cleared and the rain fell back to normal, both sides could see Pyre. His attire was different from what he used to wear, having gone through an upgrade of sorts; now, he sported a green and white sleeveless version of the Shrine Maiden clothing and sandals. Around his waist, he had a thick white and purple obi sash atop, of which he wore a white and red smaller sash. Over this, he wore a large purple and green haori.

He also wore a purple wreath like headpiece that looked like two snake zagging through his hair with their heads just behind his hairline and a pair of purple diamond shaped earrings. His hair was braided into a ponytail that went to the base of his neck. With the final and most essential piece of his look being his closest friend, Koharu wrapped around shoulders, almost like an oversized scarf thanks to the fact she was well over 2.3m long.

The two students didn't need to be told; they could feel that this one was the most dangerous out of the assembled villains. Tokoyami narrowed his eyes, wary of his possible flame quirk, though he wondered why they were placed here. "What is it that you seek here, villainess?" Instead of an evil smirk or a hard-faced response, the two saw the villain flinch before pouting at them as they messaged the bridge of the nose.

"I swear, I might as well get used to it," Pyre whispered to himself as Koharu laughed at him, telling him that humans should develop better senses of smell if they can't tell sex from looks. Kota picked up on this, and he quickly whispered this to Tokoyami, who looked back at his classmate and then at the thoroughly unamused villain.

"You're a,"

"Guy, I knock; it's shocking." Pyre narrowed his gaze at them, not caring in the moment that the raven-headed boy looked just a little apologetic as he cracked his neck, his body warming up. "Well, there goes my good mood, so please do me a favour and make this fun." Pyre didn't give them time to think as he dashed towards them, his clothing fluttering despite the rain, making it so that others' clothes stuck to them more.

Tokoyami was quick to react, "Dark Shadow!" He commanded as his quirk raced to meet Pyre, he wasn't sure how strong it was, but he didn't need to know as he followed that he had learned from any spars with Chimera, when the quirk was about to hit him, he ducked under it and hit it with a palm strike that bent it's elongated body, before striking it 2 more times as he closed the distance, using his smaller size and superior speed to his advantage.

Midoriya aimed to finish this quickly, a quirk strike to the gut to stun them and follow-up strike to the face would be it, but the right arm of the shadow beast stretched back, blocking his initial strike, though Pyre could feel his fist sink in a little before he jumped back to avoid its left arm. "You rely on ranged attacks, don't you?" He asked, noting that the boy looked surprised and relieved that he managed to counter that. "Figures, else you wouldn't be so shook right now."

When Dark Shadow went for another strike, it wasn't as wild as the first one, so Pyre counted it by jumping over it, and when its faced up to strike him while he appeared opened, he blasted the quirk with a blast of steam right as it got close, getting a surprised, irritated scream from the quirk, "Dammit, Fumikage, that hurts!"

"It talks?" Pyre asked, even as he continued the attack, moving in between Dark Shadow's strikes to try and get close to end things. He knew he had a job to do but how often did this happen? Sentient quirks were rare, super rare! "I didn't know U.A. would have someone with a quirk like that, you call it Dark Shadow, didn't you? Is it really a creature made from shadow, or is there something else?" Landing their first hit of the fight, Dark Shadow's enlarged claw sent Pyre flying, but he quickly recovered, flipping in the air and landing on his feet.

"Do you believe that I would so casually share my secrets with an enemy?" Tokoyami asked him, keeping the pressure up to keep his opponent at a distance. Koda being to the side, same as the rest of the villains who looked like they could wait to see which one of the two came out on top.

Crossing his arms, Pyre blocked a punch from Dark Shadow, the force making it feel like his bones bent, but they'll be healed up good as new in a couple of seconds. "Well, excuse me, but I thought we could have a conversation. It's rare for me to get the chance to talk to people my age." Tokoyami blinked, as he thought they looked young, but after the mistake earlier, he didn't want to say it.

"You're age? You're a teenager?" Tokoyami asked as Pyre bat aside one of Dark Shadow's arms and jumped up, landing on its head, driving it into the ground before backflipping off the furious quirk.

Landing, Pyre smiled as he pointed a thumb to himself. "Yup! Turning 16 coming July, Pyre at your service!" Hearing that name and seeing his fashion style made Koda realize who this was, and he started shaking, trying to work up the nerve to tell Tokoyami that they couldn't beat this one. While Koda was terrified by his name, Pyre snapped his fingers as he realized something. "Oh, silly me, I asked for your quirk information but didn't give any of mine. Is there anything you'd like to know?" Koharu called him an idiot, but it was called being polite, and it wasn't like he'd share any significant weaknesses.

"You can't be serious," Tokoyami stated as there was a brief pause in the fighting.

"Nope! I'm serious." Pyre replied.

"Alright, them. I'll humour you. What is your quirk called?" Tokoyami struck at the same time, trying to catch Pyre off guard. As if he wanted to be chummy, he'd use it against him. As Eraser had informed them on the first day, hero work was unfair, and he should take every chance he got to succeed.

If Pyre was surprised by the attack, he didn't show it as he fired off a fireball, which proved to catch Tokoyami and Dark Shadow off guard as it crashed right into the quirk's face, with it recoiling in pain and shock. "Volcanis, which means my body can generate large amounts of heat, which can take the form of steam or fire," Prye replied, rushing with the quirk distracted, forcing Tokoyami to dodge to the side as Pyre brought his foot down in a classic axe kick, his heel cracking the road on impact.

Not done, Pyre twisted his body, while still in its position as to bring his arms under him to prop him up, swinging his hips and kicking at Tokoyami, this time landing a strike to his forearm, throwing the boy off balanced as Pyre had to roll to the side to avoid the counter-attack from the new recovered Dark Shadow. "Just that?" Tokoyami quickly added, needing to buy time as it was clear that whoever this was, they weren't some run-of-the-mill thug.

Jumping to his feet, Pyre grabbed onto Dark Shadow's strike, his arm bending before he added his other hand and forced it down. He jumped onto the limb and ran towards the source. Tokoyami once more barely avoided a kick to the face as Pyre landed and turned to him, acting like this wasn't even a warm-up.

To be frank, it wasn't. U.A student he might be, Tokoyami was no Chimera, and unlike the rest of the scrubs here, Pyre had plenty of reason to take this at his own speed. "No, I can take it even further. All I have to do is burn, and I'll be able to access my transformed state."

"Then why aren't you using it?" Tokoyami asked, trying to figure out a way out of this.

"Because there's no need, that'll be excessive, and I don't have any issues with you or your school. I was only paid to handle you; contact didn't say anything about the how." Pyre shrugged his shoulders with a smile. He saw this as less of a fight and more of a social call. Was that weird? Of course, it was, but so were most things about him.

"I see; well, you might be motivated by nothing more than financial gain, but your very presence on our school grounds is enough of a reason to dislike you." Tokoyami attacked him again, but there was a change in him, he didn't know what but it was like he suddenly didn't feel like playing as Pyre blasted out steam from his mouth, twisting his body and kicking Dark Shadow aside, his glare turned to a terrified Koda as his snake hissed at the quiet boy.

"It's rude to continue to speak to a lady when she doesn't want to talk, let's correct that" There was no warning as he sent a massive fireball towards Koda, one that Tokoyami had to block with Dark Shadow. Still, the brilliant emerald flames ate away at his quirk, as it might have been dark out with the storm like conditions, but these flames in the moments they were around bright.

"What happened, Koda?" He turned to his classmate and wondered what he could have done to earn the ire of this strange villain.

"I tried to get his snake to turn on him, but she ignored me," Koda whispered. He had been trying to talk with the snake the entire fight, but the two combatants hadn't noticed.

Seeing the after-effects of his flames and how smaller Dark Shadow was, Pyre realized something about it. As if it was a manifestation of shadow, that meant that sources of light could be a weakness, such as his flames. "Oh, now I see. Well, looks like this was a bad match-up for you." Pyre concluded that that was a little sad, but that was just how things were. As he took in a deep breath, Tokoyami instantly knew what was coming.

"Serpent's Fireball!" Pyre let loose the largest fireball yet, this one the size of a car as it careened towards them, the intensity of the flames being hard to make out details as he shoved Koda aside.

"Dark Shadow!" His quirk was strong, but this just wasn't a fight he could win. Regardless, Dark Shadow answered his command and tried to catch the attack, directing it upwards away from them. Still, it was too strong as the blast barrelled straight through his quirk, who screamed in pain as it was forced out of existence from the light. "Koda, run!" Tokoyami yelled towards his classmate before the attack crashed into him, causing a scream out of him as he was sent flying back, rolling to a stop, still smoking from the fire.

Walking over, Izuku gently kicked him onto his back and saw that he was out like a light. Nodding that half the job was done, he turned to see if he could take care of the second one, but Kota, that was what his fallen classmate called him? He was already running, turning the corner just in time for Izuku to make out his tear-filled, terrified eyes.

"Looks like we'll have to track that one down. Take care of this, will you?" Pyre got up again and started walking after his target. He could run, but he wasn't in a rush.

"S-sure thing." One of the villains who didn't do jack replied, though he couldn't fault them for that. He got there first and handled the issue without trouble.

"Yeah, it'll be a quirk." Another pulled a knife out, but before they could take a step, a fireball crashed where their feet would have been, sending them onto their buts with a yelp of fear.

"I never said kill him but to make things clear," They looked up to see Pyre staring them down with his emerald eyes glowing, an effect that seemed to be shared with Koharu who gazed at them like they were little more than fat rats. "All you're to do is restrain him till I get back. If you needlessly hurt him or kill him, I'll burn your hands and feet off. Understood?" When they nodded their heads as fast as they could, he turned to leave.

"Good."

Koda didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get as far from that villain as he could, that force of nature. He had recognized that name. He had seen the news reports. Pyre and his friends had been on the rise for months now; they were well-known C-class villains who each had taken down fully trained pros like it was nothing! Stupid, stupid, stupid! If he had just talked Tokoyami this, he wouldn't have fought him, they could have just made a break for it.

Seeing an alley, he sprinted into it and hid behind a dumpster, his heart beating like it was trying to jump out of his chest as his efforts to help meant nothing. While they fought, he tried to talk to the snake, to use his quirk to get to turn on her owner, or at least distract him. He had done it plenty of times, made pets disobey directs orders-all with the owner's permission but he knew it could be done. But as soon as he formed a connection, she didn't even resist him like well trained dogs did, she just downright refused to hear him out.

First, she laughed at his attempts, but when he pushed, she got angry, and that anger must have been picked up by her master, who looked his way with eyes that housed fire. He needed to find Todoroki; his quirk could counter those flames, but the issue was he didn't know where to look. Was he here with them, or somewhere else? How would he call for him without giving away his position?

Hearing a thud cut off frantic thoughts short as he covered his mouth with his hands, peeking out the corner, he saw Pyre was right there! He didn't see him, but he was looking for him. "If Tokoyami couldn't fight him, I have no chance against him." He whispered in fear as the villain looked around the area for a bit, before moving on. Koda listened for his footsteps in the rain as they faded away, before he seemed to jumped off to another area, allowing the rocky faced boy to take a sigh of relief.

"Oh, sweet little human." A silk-like voice, soft-like feathers but as dangerous as a viper's strike, spoke up. Koda was nearly having a heart attack as he had heard that before; he had heard it only a few minutes ago. Feeling something warm above him, his petrified eyes looked up, and he just barely held back the scream. As he didn't see the snake, he saw a massive skeleton perpetually ablaze, the skeleton closer to that of an anaconda than what he had seen.

"You think you're safe now?" Koharu continued as she slowly made her way down the fire escape, curling around the bars and stairs to approach the frightened brat, which so much reminded her of a hamster she once ate.

"H-how?" Koda managed to ask as she continued her approach, reaching him and starting to wrap around him. He could have fought back, he could have tried to run, but they both knew that would be futile and only end with him in a worse state than his friend, as while her human wished to hold back, she made no such promise.

"Does it matter? Oh, what's the matter? Does this form unsettle you?" She twisted around him, wrapping him, keeping him close as he leaned her skull to his chest, hearing through her non-existent hearing the blood rushing in his veins, how fast his breathing was, how hard his heart pumped. "Does it make your skin crawl, your heart race?" He nodded, not trusting that he could speak when in such a nightmarish situation. He had never been afraid of snakes or anything besides bugs, but right now.

He was frozen in fear.

Koharu revelled that, as any predator did, there was a particular joy in trapping your prey and seeing that they know they're at your complete mercy, which she couldn't describe, even if she tried. But her human understood it. He had the same every time he had the chance to express his joy, to spread his delight through emerald flames. Flames that turned her into this, into something more significant. "Consider this payback for trying to control me like I was another mere snake, a beast of its instincts."

Before she could continue to toy with the poor boy, the wall next to the exploded thanks to a familiar fireball, stepping through the smoke and dust back into the rain, Pyre took in the sight that awaited him. He raised an eyebrow as he figured that Koharu was going to do something like this when she asked for the two to split, but it got the job done.

"You have a choice here. You can surrender and come quietly, or we can make you." Pyre informed him, not caring to lie and say they could try to escape. They all knew that wouldn't happen and that the attempt would not end well for the student.

Koda didn't even need to think about it, as he lowered his head and said with wobbly lips and shameful tears. "I...I surrender."

Poor Koda is not a fighter; even if he had animals on hand, he would never send them to be incinerated. And yes, Shigaraki, at this point, is both the best planner and incredibly petty, which is why he put his human flamethrower out in the rain. There was meant to be more stuff, from Slice's POV and how she's doing in the attack, but as you can tell, I was fast approaching my extended word limit, so I'll push it to the next chapter.

Now, usually, I'll say that the next chapter will be out next week, but not this time as with assignments needing my attention, I can't have my grades slip-you understand, I'm forced to say that rather than April 10th as the next upload, I'm forced to push this to April 17th. It's not an idea, and I don't like it as much as I enjoy writing. This is my hobby, but it's a compromise I have to make. I hope that you all stick with it through that time.

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