Chapter 10: Sibling Rivalry
Everyone in Class 1-A was gathered and separated into their groups, four students were now about to face off while the other sixteen were watching from a room filled with screens showing different views of the future battle site. Kaoru was licking his lips nervously beneath his face concealing mask, wondering what would happen when it was his turn to face his sister and Bakugo Nao. They would be the fourth set of pairs to face each other. Kaoru was trying to think of what strategies he could use to defeat his sister and her partner, but their Quirks gave them the range advantage, plus he was sure that Bakugo Nao would use her explosive making Quirk to lay a ton of booby traps. "It's about to start," Hisa said, and Kaoru focused on the first match: Miura Hiroshi and Ishida Ishi as Heroes against Chiba Hiromasa and Tetsutetsu Banzan as Villains.
Miura and Ishida were waiting outside the building, and Chiba and Tetsutetsu were already guarding the weapon. "BEGIN!" Deku announced, and immediately Miura and Ishida ran in. "Watch them closely, and try to take mental notes," Deku advised the students, "Watch how they use their Quirks and try to think about how you would use them compared to how they use them." Miura and Ishida weren't stopped before they faced Chiba and Tetsutetsu just outside the room where the weapon they were supposed to protect was held. Chiba immediately let loose with his Razor Leaves Quirk, forcing Miura to take shelter behind Ishida as she activated her Rock Manipulation Quirk to protect herself from the leaves and formed an armor of stones around her body. She tried to move forward, but Tetsutetsu used his Real Steel Quirk to cover his body in steel and slammed a giant fist into Ishida, knocking her back and shattering her armor.
Miura touched her on accident, and his Energy Vampire Quirk drained her of energy, leaving her swooning as Tetsutetsu ran up and hit him with a regular sized fist to the noggin, knocking him out. An alarm sounded and Deku declared, "It is over! The Villains win Match One!" Robots came to check on Miura and Ishida, and Deku turned to the students watching and said, "Can anyone tell me Ishida and Miura's mistakes?" Ozaki Dai raised his hand and said, "Their problem was that they charged into the fight without taking their opponent's Quirks into account. Chiba-san and Tetsutetsu-san had Quirks well suited to countering theirs. If they hadn't attacked directly and tried to lure them away from the weapon instead, they could have captured it and won the match." Deku nodded and smiled, "Indeed. This is why it's important to study people's Quirks and how they work as much as possible."
Creati-sensei then said, "Alright then, Ojiro Haru and Tokoyami Mika, you head out first since you're the Villains. Ibara Shin and Honda Yuta, you should try to think of a plan for them, and keep what Deku told you in mind." The four students all headed out and got ready, while Kaoru considered his sister's and her partner's Quirks and compared them to his own and Hisa's. Anyway you sliced it, they had the advantage of range, and he was sure that Bakugo Nao could make some kind of explosive traps. He suspected her Quirk was like Creati-sensei's, she needed to eat to turn her body's lipids into her explosives. He doubted that she could do that forever; but if she was as crazy as she acted then she could create something that would capture or knock out him and Hisa quickly. And then there was his sister Mysa; she and Hisa might be physical equals if what Josuke told him was true, but Mysa's Electrification Quirk she inherited from their Dad would counter that and give her an edge in a fight between them. A direct confrontation would be a bad idea, then how to beat them?
Kaoru looked at the screens and saw that the second Match was starting. Honda quickly lifted his hands and created his hypnotic balls and led the way while Ibara's Vines grew and surrounded the two of them. Everyone watched as they made their way through the building. On another screen, they saw Ojiro turn invisible and take off his clothes to go after his opponents while Tokoyami stayed behind to guard the fake bomb. Ojiro ran out to go after their opponents, and he made his mistake. He found Honda and Ibara and Honda's Lure worked like a charm, he turned visible as he was hypnotized.
The three of them then headed in the direction of Tokoyami Mika and the weapon she guarded. It seemed as if all of them would gang up on the girl and easily defeat her, only for her to close her eyes and yell, "Go, Shadow!" Tokoyami Mika's froglike shadow then hit Honda from behind, making him dissipate his hypnotic balls of light. Ojiro then was freed from the hypnosis and just in time turned invisible to avoid Ibara's Vines. Tokoyami quickly targeted the Vine user, who was powerless against her shadow and swiftly captured while Honda was tackled into a joint lock until he submitted. "Match over! Villains win!" Deku announced, and he then turned to the students watching, "So, did this go the way you thought it would?"
"Not really," Hisa said, "It looked like Honda and Ibara had it in the bag before Tokoyami attacked Honda." Deku nodded, "Indeed. This is why it is important to always have more than one plan in place, don't rely only on your Quirk. You need to be sure to think of your own weaknesses and try to find a way to cover for them." Everyone agreed with this as Creati-sensei said, "And now it is time for Martin Thomson and Kurihara Miyuki against Miyaki Koichi and Ito Ogami. Keep your wits about you, everyone." Kaoru swallowed but started to have a plan in mind. It would be risky, but it seemed the only way he could win, and he went to Hisa and whispered in her ear to tell her as quietly as he could so Mysa wouldn't hear it.
"Are you sure that would work?" she asked him. "You got any better idea?" he asked her a little loudly. Mysa looked at him and then pointed at her wolf ears with a cocky grin. "Tell me your plan, quietly," he told Hisa, only to be interrupted by the start of the Third Match. Unlike the first two Matches, the Villains, Thomson and Kurihara, went on the offensive!
They abandoned the Weapon and went after the Heroes Miyaki and Ito. Kurihara used her Snow Woman Quirk to create a blizzard of ice and snow ahead of them, and leaving the halls behind them covered in slippery ice, while Thomson stayed ahead of her, his Gatling Arms ready. Unfortunately, they ran too fast and soon they completely missed Miyaki and Ito. Miyaki used his Light Manipulation Quirk in a similar manner as Invisible Girl Hagakure Tooru and made himself and Ito invisible to the attacking Villains. Once they were past them, Ito carried his partner and ran through the ice, using the claws on his Wolf Boy feet to cling to the floor and make it to the Weapon, winning the Match easily. "Heroes Win!" Deku loudly declared, and couldn't help commenting over the loudspeaker, "Let this be a lesson, you don't have to fight to win."
"Wow… that was anti-climactic," Mysa commented as they watched how easily their classmates won without fighting. Deku and Creati-sensei had proud smiles as Creati-sensei said, "Like Deku said, you don't need to fight to win. Sometimes you may be overpowered or outmatched and need to prioritize your missions. Being a Hero is more than just beating up Villains, it's also saving people, and stopping weapons like bombs. Also, make sure to keep your wits about you, and don't go off half-cocked." Kaoru nodded, and thought of his plan, and thought about Hisa and thought he had an idea. He had forgotten that the point of the exercise wasn't to beat the Villain, only to capture the Weapon.
Mysa cockily smacked her brother's back in her Werewolf Form, knocking him down and said, "Be careful, Bro. Try not to lose too fast." Hisa helped him up and said, "Wow, is she always like that?" Kaoru told her as they walked to the building where the Match was, "The problem is that she has the advantage. My Quirk puts people asleep, except for blood relatives. My siblings, parents, Grandma, are all completely immune to my Somnambulist Quirk. We think its because it's based on pheromones and pheromones are less noticeable by family. But she has the advantage of both our parents' Quirks, so she has super-strength, enhanced senses, and can blast lightning or use it to electrify herself so if we manage to get too close, she can just touch us and ZAP!"
Hisa nodded to all of this, "I see, and then there's Bakugo and her explosives. They really have us over a barrel here." Kaoru nodded, "Yes. But I was just reminded about something else important to a fight. Psychology, knowing how to manipulate your opponent. Bakugo and Mysa are a lot alike, and I got a crazy stupid plan to get them, if I can at least get my sister out of the way, you might have a shot. You in for my new plan?" Hisa nodded and Kaoru told her. When he was done, she said, "Kaminari-kun, that's really dangerous. They might beat the crap out of you." Kaoru nodded, "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see."
The tone sounded, and Kaoru started running straight into the building, while Hisa stayed behind. Kaoru had his eyes open as he ran, and smelled the air with every breath, searching for boobytraps. He found the first one barely two meters in, and narrowly avoided it. It looked like a mine, and almost matched the floor's color. He dodged it, and kept his eyes open and saw the floor was covered in at least a dozen mines. He took a deep breath through his nose and smelled Mysa and Bakugo Nao on the third floor. Kaoru kept his wits and stepped around and over the mines as he made his way to a stairway to the second floor.
He was sure that Mysa could hear him now with her superior hearing. He took a deep breath and then laughed his loudest, so loudly his voice echoed through the building as he said, "Is that the best you can do, Bakugo!? Our Mom always said your Dad was an idiot, I guess it's genetic!" He heard an explosion from the floor above him and knew that she had heard him. The Bakugo short temper was strong in the daughter of Dynamight. Kaoru loudly bellowed, "Man, I can only imagine what a dumb broad your Mom must be, though since your bio-Dad married Red Riot, I guess it was easy to find a stupid surrogate! Some drop-out that couldn't get any work any other way!"
For ten seconds there was nothing, but then he learned he made a terrible mistake. The ceiling above him exploded, and Bakugo Nao dropped through the hole she blew into the floor, looking beyond pissed off at him. She glared daggers at Kaoru as she screamed, "DIE YOU PIG!" A mini-rocket blasted out of her shoulder right at him. Kaoru barely avoided it, and another one, and a third! Oh God! She's trying to actually kill me! Bakugo Nao stomped closer to him and told him, "You bastard! I'll have you know that my Mom is one of the smartest, most beautiful Heroes in the world!" Kaoru stood his ground and waited for her to get closer. Bakugo Nao stopped and raised her hand, and to Kaoru's shock, she formed a revolver in her hand! "What the Hell! I thought you could only make explosives!" Kaoru screamed. "You dumbass! What do you think makes a gun go boom!? All a gun is, is an explosion in the hand, aimed through a tube! Now, apologize to my biological parents now, or I'll blast out your knees, elbows, and balls!"
Kaoru quickly lifted his hands and swallowed. "Alright, alright! I don't know who your Mom is, okay!? I'm sorry! You're Dad's the Number Two for a reason, because he's really really really awesome! I'm sorry! Don't shoot!" Bakugo stomped closer and said, "What about my Mom, dickhead?" Kaoru realized she was close enough finally and slid back his sleeves, revealing a tube under his sleeve. "I'm sorry to her too, whoever she is," he said, and then lifted his wrist, activating the mechanism in his Hero Outfit. Bakugo Nao was blasted in the face with his sleep-inducing body odor and said, "Oh…you…ba…" Before she fell unconscious. Her gun hit the ground and went off, sending a bullet ricocheting and nearly hit Kaoru's head!
"Oh, Jesus Christ Above!" Kaoru screamed as he realized how close he had just come to dying. Mysa jumped down from the hole Nao blew in the ceiling and Kaoru screamed, "You couldn't have shown up sooner!? That crazy bitch almost shot me!" Mysa raised her hands, "I'm sorry bro! I didn't think she was that crazy! I was going to act, but when she made the gun, I was afraid if I wasn't careful then she'd shoot me, or you on accident! Sheesh, I knew she was proud of her Dad, she never stopped bragging about how he was the Number Two in Japan while our parents weren't even in the Top Ten in Japan and America."
Mysa then looked at Kaoru and said, "All that said, I'm still going to beat you, and win this Match. Don't make me hurt you, Brother." Kaoru sighed and cracked his neck, "You never could beat me in sparring you know." Mysa nodded and transformed into her werewolf form and lightning crackled around her, "Back home we weren't allowed to use our Quirks, only our martial arts skills." Mysa blasted lightning right at Kaoru, and Kaoru swiftly tore off his outer coat and blocked the lightning, setting his coat on fire. He threw it away and ran straight at Mysa and kicked her in her stomach as hard as he could, his rubber boots stopping her lighting from shocking him.
Mysa was in her werewolf form, and just like their Mother, her strength was increased tenfold. She took the kick easily and then blocked another one. Mysa lunged forward for a slash with her claws and Kaoru grabbed her arm and flipped her onto her back hard enough to crack the ground. "Got you, idiot," Mysa said as she immediately shocked him with her lighting at point blank range. Kaoru collapsed from the shock, and Mysa stood up and looked down on him. "Anything to say, Kaoru?" she asked as she looked at him. Kaoru coughed and said, "I win." Mysa looked up through the hole and saw as Hisa jumped over the hole and grabbed the weapon.
Deku's voice sounded, "Heroes WIN!" Mysa's jaw dropped as she said, "Oh, you…you… How… I…" Kaoru chuckled, "Yeah, I was bait, to take you two away from the Weapon. I knew we couldn't take you on head-to-head. But the last match reminded me the point of this exercise isn't to beat the Villains, only to capture the Weapon. You might be the most powerful of us, Sis, but you're also the cockiest." Mysa ground her teeth as she deactivated her Quirks and woke up her partner. "What happened?" Nao asked. "We lost. My brother tricked. We fell for it hook, line, and sinker." Nao glared at Kaoru, then closed her eyes and nodded, "Fine. You win this time. But you better know, I learn from my mistakes."
Hisa jumped down to their level and high-fived Kaoru, smiling with her sharp teeth, proud of their victory. "Your crazy plan worked, and you don't look too beat up," the shark girl said. Kaoru nodded, "Yeah, but it was a close one."
They all returned to the Screen Room and saw that none of them were seriously injured, though nearly everyone gave Bakugo Nao a wide berth. The last Match began, Ozaki Dai and Sakurai Sally as the Villains against Kida Kohana and Nakamura Yasuo as Heroes. Unfortunately, it was a very quick match. Sakurai Sally faced both of them by herself and spread her Sleeping Flowers everywhere. Before they could retreat or destroy the flowers, Kida and Nakamura were out cold. The Matches were over, and everyone learned a lot about power, and how to use it.