Last time on Kill One Hero…
While Sanageyama and Tokoyami were engaged in battle, Momo began to generate firm, steel walls around the makeshift tent she had pitched, taking Aizawa's advice as to focus on the battle. These walls ensured that Sanageyama couldn't easily escape from the tent, even if he was able to discover Tokoyami's weakness to sunlight.
Meanwhile, Aizawa had focused his efforts on giving himself first aid, his Goku uniform currently deactivated as he did so. He was nearly done, but he would soon be interrupted.
"Why are you all just sitting around?"
His eyes widening, Aizawa instantly got up and reactivated his Goku uniform… because there was another member of the Honnoji Academy Elite Four standing right in front of him… Ira Gamagori.
"I thought you teachers were meant to be diligent… but if you aren't, it seems I'll have to whip you into shape… JUST AS I WOULD A STUDENT!"
Chapter 37 - Reflect
Right as Gamagori finished his proclamation, he activated his Goku uniform once more.
"THREE STAR GOKU UNIFORM!" Gamagori shouted, "SHACKLE REGALIA!"
His transformation finishing, the newfound defensive state of Ira Gamagori revealed itself. Aizawa's muscles began to tensen… as he knew that he couldn't beat this guy by himself, but he still had to try. After all, he was embarrassed by how much work he had to put onto his students all because of his mistake; he had to make up for that.
"Yaoyorozu, focus on making sure 'the beast' doesn't get loose!" Aizawa said, using coded language to make sure Gamagori wouldn't know what they were talking about.
"But, what about him?!" Momo responded, referring to Gamagori.
"I'll take care of him myself, you focus on what you need to do!" Aizawa responded, as Gamagori laughed.
"So… you're intent to not drag others into your punishment? How noble of you."
"Nothing noble about it… just taking responsibility for my mistake." Aizawa responded.
"Your mistake hasn't yet been made." Gamagori stated, as Aizawa raised an eyebrow, "That would be challenging me alone, despite knowing you have no chance."
"Heroes can't always fight on their most favorable terrain, yet they still have to fight regardless." Aizawa replied, "As someone who launched an unprovoked attack on my students, I take it you don't understand that."
"Hmph… we'll just have to sort out who's ideology is stronger in the realm of battle." Gamagori stated, "And I think you'll find mine QUITE CONVINCING!"
Beginning to whip himself rapidly, a drop of sweat began to fall from Aizawa's face, as his efforts to stall had seemingly come to an end.
Quickly running away from his current position so that Gamagori's Scourge Regalia would face away from both the U.A. building and the tent where Tokoyami and Sanageyama were fighting, Aizawa made it so that Gamgori's attack wouldn't strike an area that it was critical they protect… and by the time he made it there, Gamagori had reached his maximum size, and he exploded.
Shooting his whips all over, Aizawa barely had a moment to react, as he was forced to instantly begin dodging Gamagori's onslaught of attacks.
"He's completely zoned me out!" Aizawa thought, "I need to figure out what to do… it's basically guaranteed this guy was able to take out Bakugo, because there's no way in hell that kid ran… I just have to hope he's still alive-"
His thoughts were cut off by a stray whip from Gamagori hitting him, and that singular hit from Gamagori cascaded into another, then another, then one more after that, until it seemed that Aizawa was getting hit by more than he was dodging.
"You all try to dodge punishment… but that's not how this works." Gamagori stated, "You either submit to it, or you grow tough enough to ignore it… AND THAT ONLY COMES WHEN YOUR WILL IS UTTERLY PURE!"
With that line, the frequency of Gamagori's whippings only grew more frequent, as Aizawa began to take serious damage from Gamagori's attacks.
"Hm?"
Taking a break from constantly attacking Aizawa, Gamagori reverted back into his Shackle Regalia state. This was in response to an incoming projectile weapon launched at him, a makeshift grenade of sorts… which triggered a flashbang that Gamagori wasn't expecting in the slightest.
Rushing towards Aizawa, the one who had created this flashbang, a goggle-wearing Momo Yaoyorozu, grabbed her teacher, and prepared to get him away from Gamagori. It was too little, too late, however, as Gamagori had already begun whipping himself again to prepare to activate his Scourge Regalia.
"Trying to escape punishment, are we?" Gamagori questioned, "When will you all learn… THAT YOU CAN'T RUN FROM RESPONSIBILITY!"
Unleashing the Scourge Regalia once more, a wave of tentacles rushed towards Momo and Aizawa. Momo scoffed, as she turned around and quickly created a shield as a temporary means of defense from the Scourge Regalia, but upon the tentacle's contact with the shield, it shot back into the pair of Momo and Aizawa, knocking them both back.
"That's a bit better… BUT YOUR WILLS ARE STILL TOO WEAK!" Gamagori shouted, as he ceased his constant attacks with his whips, but remained in his Scourge Regalia form… he still had too much energy left to burn.
Thankfully for Momo, Aizawa had been able to protect her as the duo was both launched back through the P.E. field with the shield, ensuring that Momo didn't have any substantial injuries. By the time they had stopped, they were backed into the forest just outside the U.A. Grounds.
"That flashbang didn't last nearly as long as I was hoping…" Momo thought aloud, "But that doesn't matter, are you alright, Mr. Aizawa?"
"Fine enough… you should've focused on Tokoyami though-"
Interrupting his response, Aizawa broke out into a coughing fit, with blood coming out of his mouth as he did so. His lung that he had damaged when he fought against the Pacifista alongside All Might, Izuku, and Chopper meant that he couldn't exert himself as heavily anymore, and that the bit of exertion he had done so far was fatal to him.
"Yes, but I couldn't exactly leave you on the field alone." Momo stated, "There's no chance you'd have survived against him!"
"Nonetheless… for your safety, I'll have to stall until help can arrive." Aizawa responded.
"But…"
"This… is what heroes do." Aizawa stated, "And until you all can succeed me… it's my responsibility to do this... and make sure that you have the brightest future possible!"
"What a touching sentiment… but it's no more than that." the deafening voice of Ira Gamagori interjected, "Your arrogance, and interference with Lady Satsuki's will… THAT is the reason that I will punish you."
"Todoroki!"
"Right!"
The ground below was suddenly coated with ice, as Ryuko quickly moved down to the ground, slipping underneath a sound wave attack from Jakuzure.
"Hmph… well isn't that annoying!" Jakuzure commented, "You know, I could finish you all right now, but I think that my symphony needs to be broken in a little bit more first."
Shoto wasn't so intent to let Jakuzure do as she wanted though, as he quickly fired a Heaven's Piercing Ice Wall at her, which she dodged by quickly flying to the right.
While Jakuzure did this, Ryuko threw her Binding Cloth up towards Jakuzure, who looked down and groaned.
Throwing her baton out of her Symphony Regalia, it began to twist and turn in an odd way, almost as if it was being controlled remotely. With this odd movement, the baton was able to break Ryuko's Binding Cloth in two, and then after that, the baton was returned to her.
"You're all like flies…" Jakuzure began, "Hard to squash, but nothing more."
"Goddamnit…" Ryuko shouted, returning her Binding Cloth to her person, "Ever since she went in the air, we haven't been able to land a single hit on her!"
"We were tasked with merely stalling her, so perhaps this is a blessing in disguise." Tenya commented, as he, Ryuko, and Ochaco all dodged one of Jakuzure's sound wave attacks, "If we were to still be on the offensive, we may have dug ourselves into a corner already."
"Stalling her isn't exactly realistic though." Shoto added, "The longer we stall, the more likely it is that someone else loses, forcing us to fight more opponents on top of this one."
"That ain't even mentioning the fact that there should've been U.A. staff in the building still." Ryuko noted, "If they haven't come out by now, it's safe to say that they've already been dealt with."
Tenya scoffed, "I suppose you're right… but what can we do?"
The group remained silent for a moment, as Jakuzure upped the ante with her attack and symphony.
Instead of attacking in an easily dodgable area, Jakuzure instead attacked in a wide, large area, sure to engulf everyone if they didn't act fast.
"Launch a counterattack!" Ryuko shouted, responding to Tenya's previous inquiry.
Grabbing her binding cloth, Ryuko threw it around Shoto, and rushed towards Ochaco, as did Tenya. Ochaco quickly tapped each of them, as they all leaped into the air, suspending themselves above Jakuzure's attack.
Reacting to this dodge, Jakuzure merely moved her aim upwards. Before Jakuzure could tilt her Symphony Regalia fully though, Shoto used his flames to propel himself forwards towards Jakuzure, while Ryuko, who Shoto was attached to, prepared her Binding Cloth.
The pair shot towards Jakuzure, who merely smirked, as she effortlessly began tilting her Symphony Regalia at speeds nobody knew Jakuzure could muster, turning the devastatingly powerful sound wave straight to Shoto and Ryuko. Neither of the two had the time to react to the attack, as they were both forced to take the full force of the attack, causing them to shout out in agony.
"Todoroki! Matoi!" Tenya shouted up to the pair.
"Release!" Ochaco stated, pressing all her fingers against each other.
Falling out from the large attack radius of Jakuzure, Ryuko's entire body felt like it was crying out in agony, and Shoto… well, he was knocked out completely.
Tenya ran up to the pair of Ryuko and Shoto with Ochaco in his arms, leaping up into the air so that Ochaco could touch them both with her quirk, ensuring a safe landing for them.
"Is Todoroki alright?" Ochaco questioned.
"Tch… he was almost done before, but now…"
With his ears now bleeding to add on to his injury he had gotten from Sanageyama, Shoto was completely drained of any and all energy.
"One down, three to go." Jakuzure said with a smirk, as she tilted her Symphony Regalia down, and fired upon everyone before they could so much as mourn their classmates.
Looking up, Tenya quickly activated his engines, as he utilized his speed to collect Ryuko and Ochaco on his legs, afterwards throwing them out of the blast radius… but by doing so, he left himself vulnerable to attack.
"Ida!" Ryuko shouted, as she landed on the ground and slid across it.
While Ryuko and Ochaco slid backwards, Tenya was currently tanking Jakuzure's blast, full force. He placed his hands to his ears, as his entire body trembled at the intensity of Jakuzure's vibrations… and Ryuko knew she had to act.
"Uraraka, float me!"
"But you'll-"
"DO IT!"
Reluctantly, Ochaco touched Ryuko, allowing her to fly into the air. Seeing her approach, Jakuzure scoffed.
"Stick to the ground, girlie." Jakuzure said, "The skies are my domain."
Throwing her baton down, Jakuzure aimed to land a simple, yet decisive attack against Ryuko. Ryuko dodged it by turning in midair.
"Work on your aim first!" Ryuko shouted, as her cheek was grazed by Jakuzure's baton on its return, and went straight back to her hand.
"Right after you work on that brain of yours." Jakuzure stated, as she began to move her speakers to Ryuko in order to attack her, "You wanna get me to stop attacking your friend, right? WELL FEEL FREE TO TAKE HIS PLACE!"
Having expected the incoming sound attack more so than the last time she and Shoto were in this exact same position, Ryuko still didn't have a clear picture of what exactly she should do now… thankfully, she didn't need to though, as gravity was restored to her body, and she began to fall towards the ground; Ochaco had deactivated her quirk after they had gotten Jakuzure's aim off of Tenya.
"I ain't going down without a fight!" Ryuko shouted.
Quickly reaching into her guitar case, Ryuko took out her Scissor Blade while she was falling. Attaching it to her Binding Cloth, Ryuko threw it directly at Jakuzure's Symphony Regalia.
Scoffing at Ryuko's desperate assault, Jakuzure threw down her baton to effortlessly intercept Ryuko's blade… but to Jakuzure's surprise, when the baton made contact with Ryuko's Scissor Blade, it was split in two.
"What?!" Jakuzure angrily questioned.
The Scissor Blade continued its upwards path until it reached one of the speakers that belonged to the Symphony Regalia, penetrating it effortlessly.
"You… BROKE MY SPEAKERS!" Jakuzure shouted.
"My Scissor Blade can work on her!" Ryuko thought, before mumbling, "It's just like that Nomu from the USJ… their uniforms are made of Life Fibers!"
With this realization, Ryuko smirked… this was gonna be easier than she thought.
"Uraraka, FLOAT ME AGAIN!" Ryuko shouted, closing in on touching down on the ground.
"NOT ON MY WATCH!" Jakuzure shouted.
Jakuzure unleashed a new portion of her toolkit she had neglected to show off up to this point; a missile designed to look like a flute, which quickly shot itself down to Ryuko.
"Oh crap!" Ryuko said.
"Ryuko, focus on your plan!" Ochaco said, leaping into the air and touching Ryuko's shoulder just before the red-haired girl landed on the ground, afterwards releasing her quirk on Ryuko so she could touch down onto it, "I've got this!"
"Alright, but when you use your quirk, just put it on my Binding Cloth, alright?!" Ryuko responded.
"Got it!"
Ochaco then put herself and Ryuko's Binding Cloth under the effects of Zero Gravity quirk. Due to the strain she was currently experiencing from the constant usage of her quirk, Ochaco covered her mouth, but kept focus on what needed to be done.
Leaping into the air, Ochaco quickly reached the missile, putting it under the influence of her Zero-Gravity quirk. This put an extreme strain on Ochaco's body, considering the weight of the missile, but she had to bear with it; she was determined to not let her friends down.
"Now… just like Deku used to do!" Ochaco thought, as taking advantage of her weightlessness, she punched the air behind herself, letting herself be propelled forwards, straight towards the missile.
Throwing both of her legs towards it so that she could kick it, the missile began to fly away, eventually reaching an empty patch of grass a little bit away and exploding. The only thing left to show that it had existed was the floating debris in the distance, and the airborne Ochaco, who was barely able to deal with the nausea in every part of her body.
"Damn… this sucks…" Ochaco thought, "But… I have to hold on… at least until Ryuko finishes the job!"
Usually, Jakuzure would have stopped Ochaco's last move. She simply could have caused that missile to detonate early, or sent a barrage of physical music notes at Ochaco to intercept and stop her, or just blast a bit of Life Fiber-enhanced sound at her, but at the moment, she was a little bit preoccupied to do any of these, all because of Ryuko's plan.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN RUIN MY SYMPHONY, STINKING BITCH?!" Jakuzure shouted, as she fired those aforementioned physical music notes at Ryuko.
"As a matter of fact, I DO!"
Ryuko began to run to the right, dodging most of the physical music notes as she did so, but some were still able to hit her, causing her to flinch with pain… it was a good thing that dodging wasn't the main point of her running, then.
By tugging her Binding Cloth, Ryuko's Scissor Blade which was attached to it also began to move, slicing through Jakuzure's Symphony Regalia.
"WHAT?!" Jakuzure shouted, looking up to see that her Symphony Regalia was being cut through like butter, "THAT DOES IT! THE GLOVES ARE COMING OFF!"
Out from her Symphony Regalia, missiles just like the ones Ochaco previously deflected came out, only this time, it was a barrage of them instead of just one.
"SAY BYE BYE!" Jakuzure shouted, as they all launched down towards Ryuko, who was left without a single way to dodge…
"RECIPRO… BURST!"
Out from left field, Tenya Ida utilized his Recipro Burst in order to make a last minute save on Ryuko. Running as fast as he could, the pair were able to get out of the range of all of Jakuzure's explosions before his engines stalled.
"Ida! You're alright!" Ryuko remarked with a happy, genuine smile.
"Of course! That last attack was tough, but nothing I hadn't dealt with before!" Tenya replied with a similar smile.
"Ah crap, my Scissor's gone!" Ryuko noted, as when Tenya had grabbed her, she loosened her grip on the Binding Cloth. Ryuko looked up into the air to find it, but instead of holding the same grimace as before, she smirked, "Oh… seems I'll get it back soon enough."
"Tch… of course that monkey saves her just in time!" Jakuzure angrily commented, "Oh well, I'LL JUST HAVE TO PAY YOU ALL BACK DOUBLE-"
"REFLECT!"
Turning her attention over to the voice that just spoke, Jakuzure saw none other than one of her many flute missiles she had previously sent to Ryuko rebounding straight back to her.
"Uh oh…" she muttered, and a moment later… a massive explosion occurred, as Nonon Jakuzure's Symphony Regalia had been defeated.
"That was… Uraraka?!" Tenya questioned with a smile.
"She grows into more and more of a badass every time I see her!" Ryuko added.
Unfortunately for Ochaco, she wasn't able to exactly bask in the glory of her achievement, as with that last 'reflect', she had overworked her quirk too much. Vomiting in midair, her quirk immediately deactivated, and she was sent barreling to the ground.
"Wait, is she…"
"Her quirk must be out of energy!" Tenya replied.
Leaping out of Tenya's arms, Ryuko began to rush towards Ochaco, and Tenya followed afterwards.
Tenya would have followed at a faster speed, but his engines were stalled, and since he didn't have the same superhuman physique Ryuko had, he was a lot slower than her.
"Crap… I'm not gonna make it!" Ryuko thought, "C'mon body… GO FASTER!"
Ryuko tried to move as fast as she could, but… she wasn't getting much faster than she was already going. Things seemed hopeless, as Ochaco was unable to so much as move in the air… but then suddenly, an ice wall appeared out of nowhere, angled so that Ochaco would gradually lose momentum as opposed to it all being lost at once upon her contact with the ground.
"Todoroki?!" Ryuko questioned, confused, as she looked over to see the boy, breathing heavily and with his flames on. He fell to one knee, still clearly exhausted.
Tenya arrived right behind Ryuko, as he went over to Ochaco, making sure that she was alright.
"Yeah… I'm fine." Shoto said through heavy breaths, "That sound wave… it just knocked me out for a bit."
"I-i'm alright too…" Ochaco muttered, slowly getting up with Tenya's aid, "I… just… I just need a minute."
"So then… we're all alright?" Ryuko questioned, "Heh… I would've thought one of us would have been knocked out with how powerful she seemed but… was she even trying?!"
"No… but allow me to fix that mistake."
While the sound of a drum permeated the ears of each of the four, a tower began to sprout behind them… and at the top was none other than Nonon Jakuzure.
"My last performance was a little bit tuned back, so that you losers could keep up." Nonon stated, "But for my encore… I'll make sure you know just how good my songs can sound, with my Symphony Regalia: Da Capo!"
With Shoji, Tsuyu, and Koji all on his back, Kirishima was moving as fast as he could towards the corner of the P.E. field that would allow him entry into U.A. Academy. Due to the excessive weight of Shoji, combined with the other two, he was forced to maintain his hardened state on his lower half to hold a steady position, while having his top half be 'normal' to make sure he didn't unnecessarily scratch or hurt his friends. While it was annoying, it was also quite good training… but a sight in front of him made him lose sight of all that.
"Bakugo?!" Kirishima questioned.
In front of him was the boy he had just called out to, Katsuki Bakugo, bloodied and beaten and trying desperately to get to his feet. He had one hand on the ground, while his shaky legs forced himself up.
"Hey, hey, easy man!" Kirishima said, awkwardly walking over to his friend to try and help him the best he could, "You've got blood all over you! Come with me, I'm going to Recovery Girl with these guys right now-"
"No way." Katsuki responded.
"C'mon man, now's not the time to be stubborn!" Kirishima responded.
"I ain't running… I ain't got what I want out of this fight yet." Katsuki stated, "Until I win… until I get stronger… until I make that guy kneel… I ain't running a single step."
A drop of sweat fell down Kirishima's face, as he recalled what Katsuki had said to him after his fight with Mirio… every fight he faced, every opportunity in front of him he could get stronger because of… he wanted to take that chance, because he wanted to get stronger.
"Is this really that important to you?" Kirishima asked, as with a deadpan expression on his face, Katsuki turned to face him.
"It ain't about that." Katsuki responded, "The most important thing in a fight… is about achieving the victory you want. I haven't gotten that yet, so I've gotta keep fighting."
Every time Kirishima was put face to face with his classmates, whether that be Mina or Katsuki, he was constantly reminded of his past self. He still had a lot of growing to do before he could graduate from being the person he was in the past.
"Well, if you've got something you want that badly… then go." Kirishima said, "Make it quick though, cause I'm gonna call for backup."
"Whatever." Katsuki said, as he placed two explosions behind himself, and rocketed off into the distance, determined to find and defeat Ira Gamagori, "I'm gonna make that guy kneel."
END OF CHAPTER NOTES
Ongoing Battles
Fumikage Tokoyami vs Uzu Sanageyama
Ryuko Matoi, Tenya Ida, Shoto Todoroki, and Ochaco Uraraka vs Nonon Jakuzure
Shota Aizawa and Momo Yaoyorozu vs Ira Gamagori
Mashirao Ojiro and Hanta Sero vs Various Two-Stars
Completed Battles
Katsuki Bakugo vs Ira Gamagori (WINNER: Ira Gamagori)
Tsuyu Asui, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Koji Koda, Mezo Shoji vs Hoka Inumuta (WINNER: Hoka Inumuta)
Current KO's
Honnoji Academy
Only a few one stars left out of the 1,343 originally present (most taken out by Katsuki Bakugo)
16 two stars out of the original 16 remaining
3 three stars out of the original 4 remaining:
Hoka Inumuta resigned
U.A. Academy
Toru Hagakure (heavy damage dealt to by Sanageyama. Won't be able to exert herself much, but she's gotten a decent bit away from the battlefield)
Denki Kaminari (one shot by Sanageyama. Will be knocked out for a decent amount of time)
Kyoka Jiro (ears bleeding due to Jakuzure's attack. She's mostly out of commission but could show up to make a clutch play or two)
Rikido Sato (only hit by a few of Gamagori's attacks, like Shoji. Should be up sometime soon, and he would've been up sooner if he was strengthened by his quirk)
Yuga Aoyama (?)
Mezo Shoji (knocked out by Inumuta's Conqueror's Haki)
Koji Kota (knocked out by Inumuta's Conqueror's Haki)
Tsuyu Asui (knocked out by Inumuta's Conqueror's Haki)
Mina Ashido (knocked out by Maiko Ogure, who was promoted to 3-Star)
Eijiro Kirishima (vacated the battlefield)
Former KO's
Katsuki Bakugo (knocked out by Gamagori, starting to get back up)