Chapter Nine
Laser & Acid VS Druid & Paladin
"...Team E, Yuga Aoyama and Mina Ashido, are the heroes!" All Might declared to the class, revealing the final results. "The villains are going to be Team F, Koji Koda and Sarah Kurusu!"
Koji's breath hitched, letting out a small eep. His nerves were already on edge simply from being around so many people, but being the defenders as well? It was almost too much for the animal-loving hero.
"Hey, it will be alright," Kurusu whispered to him, walking by his side as they were led to their building. "I know you aren't the biggest fan of people, but stay strong. I know you can do this."
Rather than bolstering him, Koji's partner's words only fanned the flames of his shame.
'She's so brave and courageous, but she stuck with someone like me, too scared to even speak up. She should have been partnered up with someone else, rather than a scaredy-cat like me.'
"Okay, my young wards!" All Might grinned, standing in front of the final building. "Come get your gear! The sooner we finish this final battle, the sooner you all can head home early!"
"Aw yeah!" Ashido cheered, bouncing forwards. "I gotta say, All Might, you're a much cooler teacher than Mr. Aizawa. Oh, but please don't tell him that."
"Hahaha, don't you worry, young Ashido, no word of the matter will leave my lips!" All Might promised. "And besides, we simply have different teaching styles. Who knows, some people might prefer his methods over mine."
Each person stepped forth to grab their items, with Koji going last. The capture tape in his hands felt heavy, the thought of hurting someone weighing heavily on his mind.
"Okay, Team F, time for you to get to work!" All Might said, holding the door open for them. "Show me what you're made of!"
"We will do our best, All Might," Kurusu nodded confidently, a confidence tried and failed to mimic, only being able to give their teacher a shaky nod in return.
The animal-loving student followed his Centaur classmate, who was leading them based off the map All Might had provided them with.
"It appears that the weapon is located on the fifth floor," Kurusu explained, slowing her pace to walk alongside Koji. "This works to our advantage; unlike our classmates, we have the entirety of the building to fall back on, meaning that we can stall them as much as possible to draw out the time."
Koji nodded his head in response. It sounded like a good plan, one he was happy to follow along with.
Up and up the building they walked, passing each floor. While Koji agreed with Kurusu that having the weapon being at the very top of the building was a good thing for defence, it was still a long walk upstairs. If not for Koji's strong physique, it was likely that he'd be huffing and puffing after arriving on the fifth floor.
"Here we are," Kurusu declared, holding open the door for him, allowing Koji to see the fake bomb that had been set up in the centre of the room.
"So, one thing that I believe will give us an advantage over our opponents is our knowledge," Kurusu explained, turning to face Koji. "Since we were in the same Entrance Exam site, as well as worked together during it, we already know what each of our quirks are."
Koji nodded, looking around for something to write with, only to realise that the concrete floor and walls prevented him from writing in them. Frantically, he looked to Kurusu, miming for a piece of paper and pen.
"Sorry, Koda," Kurusu said with a remorseful expression, "I don't have any paper or pens on me."
Koji hung his head in shame, only to lightly jolt when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
"I understand someone having an issue with speaking," Kurusu began, speaking with a sympathetic tone. "One of my sisters is also very shy, and it takes everything within her to speak to someone she doesn't know. However, I know you can do it."
Koji looked up in surprise, taking in the small smile that Kurusu wore.
"Do you think you could manage whispering?" she asked, her equine ears flicking gently. "Because of my enhanced hearing, I would be able to hear even the smallest whisper from you. Do you think you could do that? For me?"
Koji paused for a moment, thoughts racing through his mind. Memories of his mother's joyful expression when Koji had been accepted into U.A., of his dreams to follow in his father's footsteps, being someone who fought for those who were laughed at. All of his life, Koji couldn't think of a better way to honour his father's memory, even if he didn't have many memories of the man himself. The fact remained, his father was a hero in all but legality, and Koji wanted to be just like him.
"O-Okay," Koji whispered, but from the way Kurusu's expression lit up, she must have heard him.
"Very good," she beamed. "Your quirk allows you to control animals, right? That is how you found our fellow students who were trapped in our testing site?"
Koji nodded, starting to understand what his teammate was planning.
"Then here is my plan," the Centaur began. "We shall go to the roof, allowing you to call out to any birds that are nearby. We shall use them to keep an eye on our opponents; the map schematics show that there are few areas that aren't able to be viewed through the windows. The animals will then share with you where the enemy is, information that you'll be able to relay to me through our communicators."
Koji gave his teammate a small smile. It was a plan that worked to both of their strong suits, allowing them to take advantage of their strengths.
"Will I need to fight?" Koji whispered, his body tense at the idea of conflict.
Kurusu hesitated, opening her mouth before closing it, mulling over her words in her head.
"If you do not wish to fight," she began, "then I will not force you to do so. Each of us have our own specialities, strengths that we must capitalise on. If you believe you are best suited to guard the weapon, then that is what you'll do."
Koji nodded, following her as they walked to the roof access.
"Just remember," Kurusu continued, looking over her shoulder, "should you choose to guard the weapon, I may not be able to stop them from reaching you. Our victory will rely on you. Understood?"
Even though the idea of fighting his classmates scared Koji to no end, he knew that it was a fear he'd have to conquer. If he wanted to be anything like his father, he'd have to have the courage to stand up for his friends, even if it meant fighting when they couldn't.
Rounding his shoulders and standing tall and proud, Koji gave Kurusu a resolute nod, his determination firm.
"Excellent," Kurusu smiled, continuing towards the roof. "Well then, we'd better send out the call to your animal friends if we want this plan to succeed. I'm certain our enemy is coming up with their own strategy."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"So what music do you like?"
"Pardon?" Aoyama asked, looking back at Mina with a confused expression.
"You know, music, symphony of the soul, stuff you dance to," Mina explained, looking up at her French teammate from the perfect splits she was doing on the sidewalk.
"No, I understood you, I was simply taken aback by your question," Aoyama said, looking skyward thoughtfully. "If I had to say anything, most likely classical? That was often the genre that Maman and Papa would play, so I grew up with it as a child."
"Oh yeah, I can see that," Mina nodded, getting up from her splits and moving into another stretching form. "Me? I'm much more of a hip-hop and pop type girly. Rap's also really good, though I don't understand all of what they're saying if it's in English. Oh, and I love rock, you know, that real good head-banging stuff, music that makes you want to belt out the lyrics even when you're real bad at singing."
Taking a moment to pause her rambling as she stretched, Mina took a proper look at her teammate's appearance. Aoyama wore a suit of armour, but unlike the practical appearance that one of their opponents, Kurusu, wore, his seemed much more flashy and ceremonial. The metal of the armour was a lavender coloured hue with a golden trim, and it consisted of a chest plate, two spherical shoulder pads, elbow-length vambraces, and knee-length boots. The flashiest parts of his costume however were his cape and glasses. His cape was a long, glittery reddish indigo piece of fabric, reaching all the way down to his ankles. His glasses on the other hand were wing-shaped with a red tint, the ends swooping up past the top of his head.
'We really are different, aren't we?' Mina asked herself, glancing down at her own costume. While Aoyama's armour seemed much more ceremonial than functional, armour was still armour. Mina on the other hand had designed her hero costume based on what she thought looked cool. The white mask she wore over her eyes: because it reminded her of a Racoon's face, especially with her black sclera. Her skin-tight body suit: because she looked hot in it, a fact she wasn't shy about. Even the purple and turquoise colours were simply because those were her favourites, and the camo pattern was because of her love for the style. Her tan-coloured waist coat with the fur lining: again, because she thought it looked cool, and it fashionably added depth to her outfit. The only practical part of her costume was the acid-proof nature of her clothing, a must have with an acid quirk, and her shoes. Her acid-proof boots were specially made by her support company to have holes on the sides of them, allowing her to secrete acid from her feet to slide around.
'Well, at least I'm not the only one who chose something they'd be comfortable in,' Mina decided, strengthening her spirits. 'Eikiri is basically in pants, and Jiro's looks like it's basic streetwear. Yeah, no need to be all down in the dumps, Mina Ashido! After all, it's the actions of the Pro's that are more important than their costumes, right?'
"So, your quirk is a belly laser, right?" Mina asked, picking herself up off the ground.
"Oui," Aoyama smirked before turning to the side. Placing his hands on the back of his head just like he did the day before, he thrust out his hips, sending a beam of dazzling light shooting out into the mock-city.
"My quirk is as dazzling as my personality, non?"
"Yeah, sure," Mina hesitantly agreed. While she wasn't sure what to make of her teammates pose while using his quirk, her time as a popular student in middle school had taught her how to steer the conversation.
"Well, while my quirk isn't as, uh, flashy as yours," Mina said, "I'd say it's just as powerful, if not more."
Concentrating on her quirk, Mina produced globules of acid in her palms. Giving the French student a grin, she flung her arms out, throwing the milky-white liquids at a nearby street light. Upon contact the acid began to eat through the metal, acrid smoke rising from the dissolving material. Dropplets fell onto the concrete as well, causing puffs of smoke to rise up from the now pockmarked sidewalk. After a few seconds, enough of the street light's side had been eaten away for it to become unbalanced, causing it to tilt on its side, with gravity quickly taking hold, causing it to crash down across the street.
"And I'm able to control the acidity of it as well," Mina elaborated, producing new acid that ate through a metal railing, but when it came into contact with the concrete floor left it unmarked.
Mina's demonstration was rudely interrupted by a loud yelling noise, quickly followed by the flapping sounds of what must have been the fake city's entire pigeon population gathering on the roof. Mina and Aoyama watched the cloud of birds with open mouths, though they quickly snapped them shut as a bird dropping fell far too close for comfort.
"Let's get under the awning," Mina suggested, already making a mad dash to get undercover near the building's entrance. Aoyama found it an agreeable idea, quickly joining her as they watched the circling birds, safe from any aerial bombardment.
"Well, that spectacular display was well timed, because it's time for the fifth and final match of the day!" All Might announced. "Indoor Antipersonal Battle Training, Round Five, Start!"
"It is finally our time to shine," Aoyama declared, striding confidently into the building, his cape flowing behind him.
"Oh yeah!" Mina cheered, deciding that now was the perfect time to properly test out her new shoes. This time creating an acid that had a low acidity, a low viscosity, as well as a slippery texture. The acid shot out of the holes on the sides of her boots, coating the ground underneath her feet.
"Woohoo!" she cheered, sliding down the hallway past Aoyama, throwing her hands into the air with a leap at the successful costume design. However, in her excitement she released acid of a higher acidity. Droplets of these fell onto Aoyama's cape, burning holes through them.
Smelling the acrid smell and hearing the faint sound of acid eating through fabric, his shocked expression caught sight of the damage to his cape, quickly turning to face Mina, his expression livid.
"Eh heh, sorry," Mina apologised, clasping both of her hands together. "I didn't mean to damage your cape, promise."
"Hmph," Aoyama huffed, turning his face away. "Perhaps it is best if we split up. That way we can cover more ground."
"Wait! Maybe that's not such a-" Mina began, only to trail off as Aoyama stormed off, unheeding her words, "-good idea. Oh man, I really didn't mean to damage his costume."
"Okay, focus, Mina," she said to herself as she walked through the corridors. "You just need to find the weapon and the 'villains'. Then you can radio Aoyama for help. Simple."
As she made her way through the first floor of the building, guided by the map in her hands, Mina heard a tapping sound to her side. Looking over, Mina saw a pigeon resting on the windowsill next to a flight of stairs, tapping the glass pane with its beak.
"Hello, Mr. Pigeon," Mina said, walking over to the window. The bird simply cocked its head at her, giving her a look.
"Well, it was nice to see you, Birdy, but I have a bomb to disable," Mina said, waving goodbye to the bird as she walked up the stairs. "Wish me luck!"
However, the pigeon didn't seem to appreciate her words, as it flew away into the sky as she ascended the stairs.
"Maybe he's telling all of his pigeon friends about how I'm going to win," Mina thought, giggling at the silly idea. "Yeah, they'll all see that Mina Ashido is going to win this, just like Eikiri did!"
"Hey, Aoyama, I've reached the second floor. Where are you?" Mina asked over the communicator.
"I have also made it to the next floor, mademoiselle, and there has been no sign of the méchants," he replied back.
"Meshon?" Mina asked aloud in confusion. She could guess what he was referring to, but she had no idea what the word meant.
"Non non non," Aoyama corrected, "not meshon, méchants. It is French for 'villain'."
"Oh, gotcha," Mina whispered, poking her head around a corner as she crept through the building.
There was a moment of silence over the radio channel, a silence that Mina decided to capitalise on.
"I'm really sorry about your cape. I didn't mean to damage it, honest," she sincerely apologised, leaning her back against a nearby wall. "I was just so excited, you know? All my life I've wanted nothing more than to be a hero. Everyone in my middle school thought the same thing, that I had all of the traits to be a hero; I have a powerful quirk, a cheerful, outgoing personality, I'm able to make friends with anyone, and I'm good looking. But it always felt like a fantasy, like a childhood dream. Heh, even after the Entrance Exam, it still didn't feel real. And sure, we had classes yesterday, but that seemed more like an initiation rather than actual hero training. So to be here, in this moment, to look back at all of the time and effort that led me to it? It was kind of overwhelming."
The line was silent after she finished. Mina sighed to herself, beginning to push herself off the wall, only for Aoyama's voice to stop her.
"My maman made my cape."
Mina's breath stilled in her lungs, her teammate's words rolling through her mind.
"While the rest of my costume was made by the support company, my cape was made by her," he explained. "She wanted me to stand out in the crowd, to dazzle and wow everyone around me. To tell them all, 'Look at me! Here I am!' To show everyone that even someone like me, a boy with a defective quirk, can be a hero."
"Defective?" Mina said, only realising she had said her thoughts aloud when Aoyama responded.
"My quirk. You remember what I said about it yesterday, non? I can only fire my laser for a second, otherwise my tummy gets very sore. Even still, I want to be a hero, a dazzling light for all to look at."
Mina pushed herself off the wall, continuing her search of the building. And as she checked both rooms and hallways, she felt as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders.
"I'm sure you're going to be a dazzling hero, Aoyama, I just know it," she promised.
The line was quiet for a moment, before Aoyama's voice carried over. "Thank you for your confidence, Ashido, but I'm sure…"
"Aoyama?" Mina asked with a worried tone, confused why he'd trail off mid sentence.
"Merde, the enemy has found me," he relayed. "Come back me up, I'm at the southwestern corner of the second floor."
"Wait, what do you mean the enemy has found you?!" Mina yelled. "Who is it?"
"Kurusu, I can hear her hoofbeats," Aoyama revealed, his voice ragged and his breathing heavy from exertion. "I'll try and stall her, but I don't know if I can beat her alone."
"Don't fight her, you idiot, run away!" Mina yelled, already dashing towards the southwestern edge of the building to join her teammate.
"Non, she'll just run me down. Hurry!"
"Aoyama!" Mina cried out, but he didn't reply to her, only letting out a battle cry that was picked up by their communicators.
"Viens me combattre, Centaure! I am not afraid!"
"Aoyama? Aoyama?!"
But no answer came to her as she ran through the hallways, at least, not from Aoyama.
"Yuga Aoyama has been captured!" All Might declared, revealing what Mina had been dreading and hoping wasn't true.
"Crap, that means it's now two against one," Mina muttered to herself. "Okay, stay calm, Mina, you just need to find the weapon. It's most likely to be on the higher floors, so I'll try at the top and work my way down."
Sticking to the edge of the building, it allowed Mina to stay within the light that streamed in from the windows, rather than making her way through the gloom that was the innermost corridors. As an added bonus, it allowed Mina to look out at the city skyline, filled with birds flying around.
As she rounded a corner, Mina caught sight of the staircase leading to the third floor right ahead of her. Glancing around and not seeing any of the 'villains' lurking nearby, Mina burst into a sprint, dashing towards the stairs. However, as she neared a hallway on her left, the sound of metal rasping against metal set her nerves on end. As she got closer, it was this adrenaline that pumped through her veins that allowed her to notice the trap before it was sprung. There on her left was Kurusu, dressed in plate armour that covered her torso, arms and equine legs, leaving her head exposed. She was in midswing, a rounded mace gripped in her right hand, heading directly at Mina's abdomen. It was only years of dance training, maintaining her flexibility, as well as anticipating an ambush that allowed Mina to react in time, sucking in her gut and pulling her torso back. The metal head of the weapon brushed past her bodysuit, before slamming into the corner of the wall, sending shards of concrete flying.
"Hey, you could have killed me!" Mina complained, producing acid from her feet to slide back and out of her opponent's reach.
"I promise you, any injury you would have sustained wouldn't have been life threatening, nor crippling," Kurusu responded in a cold manner, raising the tower shield she held in her left hand, causing it to cover the majority of her body. "The most you'd suffer would be able to be healed by Recovery Girl after the match."
"That doesn't make me feel confident!" Mina complained, her body lowering into a more combat-ready stance. "And it isn't me you should be worried about, but yourself!"
"We shall see," Kurusu replied as she charged forward, her mace lowered to the side, ready to attack.
Mina ducked to the side, causing the mace to swing past her, only for her movement to leave her open to Kurusu's left, her shield slamming into Mina's shoulder, sending her tumbling.
"Aren't shields meant to be used as a defensive tool?" Mina hissed, clutching her injured shoulder.
"Any competent fighter is able to use their shield as both a method of defence or offence," Kurusu explained, raising it once more.
"Oh yeah?" Mina challenged with a grin. "Well, how can you use it as either option, if you don't have a shield?"
She flung her hands forward, pitching globules of acid at Kurusu. Predictably, her shield blocked the incoming attacks, just as Mina planned.
"Sorry about your shield," Mina apologized in a teasing tone. "I promise to make it up to you."
"No need," Kurusu challenged, her eyes meeting Mina's over the lip of the shield. "After all, it's only cosmetic damage."
"What?!" Mina gasped, taking another look at the shield. While the smoke had shown that her acid had had an effect, as the wooden front of the shield dissolved it revealed the metal backing, untouched by Mina's attack.
"What the hell?!" Mina shouted in shock. "My acid is meant to be able to melt metal."
"Some metals, certainly, but tungsten?" Kurusu said, now being the one to have the teasing tone. "You'll find that other than having a frustratingly high melting point, tungsten is also highly resistant to corrosion, which includes your acid."
"Ah crap," Mina muttered, sliding away from her opponent. "Okay, Plan B: Run away!"
Mina raced through the corridors of the building, trying to loop around and get to the staircase, all the while keeping out of reach of Kurusu, whose pounding hoofbeats sounded out behind her. While Kurusu was faster, Mina had the advantage of being able to take tight corners, a feat that her Centaur opponent wasn't able to do without slowing down, allowing Mina to stay ahead.
"Ha ha!" Mina laughed behind her. "You'll never catch me at this ra-gahk!"
Her teasing was cut off as an arm reached out from a nearby corridor, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her, causing her to lose her balance. But rather than fall to the ground, Mina was pulled towards the origin of the arm, revealing Koda, the large, quiet boy, who with surprisingly nimble movements looped capture tape around her torso.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his quiet voice barely audible to Mina.
"Mina Ashido has been captured!" All Might announced over the speakers. "With that, the villains are the winners for the final match of the day!"
"Aw man!" Mina sighed, her shoulders drooping. "And here I thought we could win!"
"It was a close match," Kurusu reassured, striding forth with her mace now hooked onto her belt. "If it wasn't for Koda reaching you in time, it is very likely that you would have stayed ahead of me. Because of my lower half, I'm not able to travel up stairs nearly as fast as you could. It was really a race to see if I could catch you before you reached the stairs."
"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it doesn't seem so bad," Mina admitted, before turning to look at Koda. "Say, how did you find me?"
Koda looked to Kurusu, however when she gave an encouraging nod of her head, the rocky-headed student hesitantly opened his mouth.
"My animal friends told me," he explained in a shy, quiet voice. "They told me where you were, so I could get into position and help Kurusu."
"Your animal friends told you?" Mina asked before her eyes quickly narrowed in understanding. "Ah, that pigeon sold me out. What a traitor! I feel so betrayed!"
"Well, it's understandable you wouldn't have guessed that was why there were so many birds around the building," Kurusu explained. "It's only natural; after all, very few of us know each other's quirks."
"Yeah, well that simply means you won't be able to surprise me with it next time!" Mina declared, giving both of her opponents a grin as they walked through the building to the exit. "Next time, I'll be ready, and I'll have come up with some tricks of my own!"
"I can't wait to see them," Kurusu smiled in return. "Against any other shield, that acid attack of yours would have worked wonders. Unfortunately, my family uses tungsten for that exact reason, along with many others that make it an excellent material for armour and weapons."
"Then that just means I'll have to make an acid that can stop you in your tracks," Mina said, poking her tongue out cheekily. "After all, we're meant to go Plus Ultra, right?"
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"Well, that was certainly a spectacular final battle!" All Might grinned, his gaze focused on the final four students. "And in a similarly spectacular fashion, we have two V.I.P.s!"
The class broke into murmuring, talking to each other on who they thought it would be.
"Now, the V.I.P.s for this round are young Kurusu and young Koda!" All Might continued, looking out at his students. "Anyone want to venture a guess as to why?"
Many hands shot up, with All Might calling on the first he saw? "Yes, young Ida?"
"Sarah was a V.I.P. due to the diligent nature that she displayed," the speedster declared, giving a rare smile to his friend and rival. "Rather than waiting for the heroes to come to them, Sarah took the initiative to hunt down the heroes. While it wasn't a heroic action, if you instead view it from the opposite angle that Sarah was taking the initiative in capturing the villains as they invaded a building, then her actions become exemplary."
The class was stunned, not only by Ida's words, but also his angle of reasoning.
"Y-Yes, those are valid points, young Ida," All Might admitted, looking over the rest of the class. "Any other suggestions, perhaps as to why young Koda was a V.I.P. as well?"
"Was it because Koda used his quirk to quickly find where the heroes were?" Asui ribbited, tilting her head in wonder.
"Aha, an excellent point!" All Might beamed. "Exactly, young Asui, that was one of the reasons why young Koda was a V.I.P. for this round, but not the only one."
"The reason that cemented Koda as a V.I.P.," All Might continued, "was his determination to go beyond his limits in the match. Even though he was incredibly shy, he worked up the courage to not only speak with his teammate, but to also raise his voice and call upon the animals within the city. And rather than stay with the weapon, directing his teammate on the whereabouts of the heroes with his quirk, young Koda managed to work up the courage to assist his teammate, very possibly winning them the match."
All Might turned to Koda, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder, all the while a proud, smiling expression bloomed on the hero's face.
"You truly embodied the truest essence of a hero, young Koda," All Might congratulated. "You should feel incredibly proud, my boy. You truly went Plus Ultra."
Koda's eyes welled with tears, overcome with emotion at the praise from Japan's No. 1 Pro Hero. He tearfully nodded his head, quietly whispering, "Thank you, All Might."
All Might gave his quiet student a nod before turning to the hero team. "Now, for the heroes. The first issue you two ran into was splitting up, not due to a plan, but because of animosity."
Both Ashido and Aoyama lowered their heads in shame at that remark.
"However," All Might continued, "while that might have been an issue at the beginning, you did apologise to each other afterwards, which is more than I can say about some hero team ups I've seen before, so well done!"
"Thank you, All Might," Ashido beamed, bowing to her teacher.
"Oui, thank you, All Might," Aoyama added, bowing as well.
"Aside from your rocky start, you both did admirably in your test!" All Might praised. "Young Aoyama, you knew that you couldn't face off against young Kurusu alone, so you called for backup, a very wise move to do. Remember, class, calling for help is never a sign of weakness. Failing to recognise when you're out of your depth is reckless, and can put not only your own life in danger, but also the lives of civilians counting on you to rescue them."
"Now, as for you, young Ashido," All Might said, turning to face the rosette, "once you knew that the villains were on the same floor as you, you remained vigilant to danger. It was this vigilance that saved you, allowing you to create some distance when young Kurusu tried to ambush you. Additionally, once you realised that your acid would be ineffective, you made the correct decision to try and escape. In truth, you likely would have made it to the stairs if young Koda hadn't intercepted you. Understood?"
"Yes sir!""Oui."
"Excellent!" All Might nodded, glancing around the room. "Now, I feel I've had you cooped up in here for long enough. Alright, everyone, let's head on out to Ground Beta's entrance, where I'll give my overall review for the class!"
Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you all had a joyful day with friends and family; I know I sure did. And as a late Christmas present, here's the latest chapter.
Righteo, that's the end of the Battle Trials in the Battle Trial arc, though we have one more chapter to go before the arc is fully wrapped up in a bow.
Again, mixed thoughts for this chapter. On one hand, Koji is one of my favourite "side characters" within Class 1-A, though given there aren't many who you can call a side character, the bar isn't that high. Seeing how we got some details about his backstory (which is more than we can say about Rikido and Hanta), I decided to flesh some of it out. What we do know is that Koji's dad was a righteous figure, getting angry at those who laughed at others. Add in the fact that Koji's mother did face discrimination due to her heteromorph features, to me this makes it seem like Mr. Koda was a normal human (or at least as normal as you can get within MHA), and was kind of like Kimihito in Monster Musume canon. The way that Mrs. Koda talks about Koji's father makes me think that he's dead, most likely killed by a rampaging villain or by a quirkist individual with similar views to the Creature Rejection Clan (may they all burn in Hell).
I also just realised how shallow Hanta and Rikido are as characters. We have no details about their past, no personal ambitions, just flat, filling out characters. Hell, Hanta is literally described as a background character, and he's in class 1-A! As for Rikido, he was the last person within class 1-A to have his quirk revealed. He has some depth due to his love for baking, but still, come on. Suffice to say, if I even do another series in My Hero, you can bet good money on one of these guys being replaced, or both of them if the numbers require it.
I also liked writing Mina's section, as she has a very bubbly personality, and her interactions with Yuga, who is very, let's say unique, was amusing.
Other than that, not much else to say regarding the chapter. We got some nice character moments, what I hope are good fight scenes, and some character development. I'll do the reviews first, and then you'll get a nice surprise.
First, Sakumon16, once again thanks for the reviews. We all ship KamiJiro in his house, and trust me, Minoru is going to get his comeuppance. Just a reminder, by perving on the girls, he's perving on Sarah and Kórinis. Yeah, I don't think that Tenya and Shoto would take too kindly to their classmate perving on their close friend/relatives (and Katsuki would likely be pissed as well, though I've always seen him as more of a tsundere for some reason, so he'd just get angry if questioned about it). And I agree, if redeemed, Himiko is a very interesting character to study. I actually planned to do this in a story I started, though it has puttered out into a quiet death at the moment, that being Blood and Faith. It's really interesting to see how the suppression of quirks within Japan causes some people to undergo a psychotic break. If done right, Himiko can be a perfect example of redemption. However, if she isn't redeemed? Well, to be perfectly blunt, I don't like canon Himiko, like at all. She claims to be this person who suffered, and sure, she isn't wrong, but she literally joined the League of Villains and follows Stain's ideology because she wants a world that's easy for her to live in. Emphasis on easy for HER to live in. She just wants to be able to kill people and drain their blood whenever she so chooses. Does she have a tragic past? Absolutely yes. Her parents for me represent everything wrong in Japan in My Hero, a country that is very focused on suppressing people's freedom of expression and the utilisation of their natural abilities, simply due to some bad eggs in the past (looking at you, All For One and Destro). However, her tragic past doesn't give her a right to kill innocent people simply for her own perverted lust. As for which Himiko we're getting? Well, you'll just have to wait and see…
Siarles, thanks for the review. I really liked your theory on Denki, and I agree, he's much more of a literacy-skilled student than STEM, maybe with the exception of electronics and some physics. His maths skills must be abysmal for him to be the bottom ranked student academically. As for your theory on his quirk, by all means, go further in depth, I loved reading it. I've seen very few series who go that route, can't remember which one it was, but one of them had Denki challenging electricity into his body, boosting his speed to lighting levels. The only reason Ibara won was because he grazed her on the first hit, then overcharged himself, causing him to lose control on the second attack, causing a self-ringout. I think the issue with Denki shorting his brain is the expulsion process. When fighting the villains in the U.S.J., he was able to stun them by touching them, and there weren't any issues. Every time we've seen him short circuit himself was after his indiscriminate shocks. Who knows, I might have Sarah teach him some basic moves with Escrima sticks, probably made out of copper, since they're VERY conductive and quite strong as a metal. You also got it on the money, Hound Dog's mother is going to be Polt. Now, with the matter of Polt's age, I raise a counter; WE DON'T KNOW HER AGE, BABY! I've always seen Polt as older than any of the main cast, even though she has a very energetic personality. Add in the fact that she is canonically a CEO, runs multiple businesses, and is wealthy as hell, it isn't that far fetched. Hound Dog at the start of the series is thirty two years old, so I'd put Polt at around fifty years old, even though she wouldn't look it given her fitness training. As for Hound Dog's father, he'll be making an appearance at the Sports Festival alongside Polt, so you'll meet him then. And yeah, pretty obvious it was going to be Power Loader as a heteromorph. I did think about making Vlad King as a vampire, but a) that was way too on the nose, and b) vampires in Monster Musume are very specific. If I did it, Vlad wouldn't really be able to be a teacher, due to them being allergic to UV rays. For the other teachers, there isn't really a way to make them heteromorphs, so they'll remain as is. My idea for this crossover is to merge the two worlds into one, making the changes seamless. That's why some characters are heteromorphs, simply because it makes sense in this new reality. You'll see further examples later on in the story.
Artorigus, wasn't sure if you were going to make it before the next chapter! Great to see you again. Don't worry, we all hate Mineta here. I can count on one hand the number of My Hero stories where Mineta has some positive development, and trust me, I can imagine what people write/draw about him, especially with his quirk. As for your suggestions about improvements to his suit, yes, Denki will be getting some upgrades. He already got some with his Shooters and Pointers, though that was just before the Licensing Exam, but we'll move up some details this time. Won't be too crazy, especially not the railgun he pulls off in the War Arc, but something suitable, then we might ramp things up from there. As for Momo, we'll be seeing more of her past soon, don't you worry. Also, DING DING DING, we have a winner! That's right, Hound Dog's parents are Polt and Poltfan, a cameo character within Monster Musume. Poltfan is an actual dude who the author of MM put in as a character, and canonically, Polt is married to him. It just made sense. As for your name suggestions, damn are they good. Unfortunately, I won't be using them for Kórinis and Sarah, for one main reason; the names I already had in mind for them I feel suit them better. For Kórinis, Jorōgumo are an actual heteromorph species, a subspecies of Arachne, and they originate from Japan, rather than Greece, the homeland of the main species. Rather than the human-like upper half and spider lower half, they have a human body, but also have six eyes, exoskeletons on their arms, the ability to produce webs, a spider's abdomen connected to their spine, and six spider legs attached to their upper back, which they can hide. Overall, much easier for a Jorōgumo to blend into the crowd than an Arachne. For Sarah, I love the idea of Acella, the Sagittarius Hero, however Sagittarius is known as the Archer, and while Sarah is skilled in almost all forms of combat, she specialises in melee shield combat. However, I love both of the names so much, so if it's cool with you, I'll probably keep them for O.C. characters in the future. I already know who could be Ascella, but I'll need to find one for Jorōgumo, though I do have a few loose ideas. Hell, if you have any ideas for an O.C. with those names, just let me know, I'll probably add them.
Okay, as promised, your surprise. As I mentioned last chapter, we have fanart now! Specifically, two awesome artists reached out to me, and I can now show you the fruits of one of their labours. So, without further ado, thank you very much, Lisa-Katagiri, for your amazing artwork. You can find her artwork on Twitter LisaKitagiri. Unfortunately, Fanfic doesn't allow images on chapters, but it will be displayed on my Ao3 page, so check it out there.
Now, there are two more to show, one of Kórinis and the other being Shoto. They'll be drip fed to you over the next few chapters, so stay tuned.
Anyway, that's all from me. As stated last chapter, we have one more chapter for the Battle Trial arc, so for your sneak peek, next chapter is called, 'Heart to Heart'. We have two conversations happening, with some lore drops as well as expansions on certain characters' perspectives. Other than that, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, one spent with friends and family, and that a New Year's resolution is made that you can actually complete this time!
See y'all next year…(ha, I can actually say it now without it being a threat)
- Jevm