Last time on Kill One Hero…
"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!"
Chapter 38 - Blasting Threads
"She's still up?!" Ryuko questioned.
"I have to admit… you've all got some pretty powerful wills." Jakuzure stated, "My blasts were perfectly tuned for each of your respective durability's, so if you weren't strong willed enough, you'd be out cold… but I won't make that same mistake of holding back anymore."
Looking back at her classmates, Ryuko saw that nobody behind her was prepared for battle at the moment. Shoto was still on the edge of consciousness, barely able to hold himself together, Ochaco was still feeling nauseous from the overuse of her quirk, Tenya's engines were stalled, and Ryuko herself was without her Scissor Blade, and even her Binding Cloth was nearing its end.
"We put everything we had into takin' her out… we don't have anything left!" Ryuko thought, "But… the fact we were able to get that far the first time means she's not invincible… we can still win!"
"Now here's a little tune known by everyone all over the world." Jakuzure stated, jumping off of the tower she previously was on, and pointing her new baton forwards, "Beethoven Symphony No. 5: Fate!"
From the top of her hat, a pink, physical manifestation of the sound she played shot out at supersonic speeds.
Reacting quickly even despite his poor condition, Shoto summoned a wall of ice to block the approaching attack. Despite his best efforts, Shoto's ice didn't last so much as a second against Jakuzure's sound, as Shoto's ice shattered the second Jakuzure's sound made contact. The sound then made its way to the students of Class 1-A, but with the still peppy Ryuko and Tenya narrowly shoving the slightly more delirious Shoto and Ochaco to the ground, they were all narrowly able to duck down and avoid the attack.
"Ow! My friggin' eardrums!" Ryuko said, as the sound was still affecting her even outside the radius of the physical wave of energy.
"I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" Jakuzure replied, as red and black sparks began to come off of the pink wave of sound, as Jakuzure's attacks were beginning to be empowered by her Haki. Her pink sound attack began to slowly expand to the degree that it would hit the students who had previously dodged.
Quickly reacting, Shoto Todoroki used his flames, in order to push himself out from under Jakuzure's wave of sound. After getting out himself, he used a quick bit of ice to push the rest of his friends out of the way as well.
"Ida! How long until your engines are back up?" Ryuko questioned as she began to get up.
"About 10 seconds!" Tenya responded.
"Stick with Uraraka then, me and Todoroki will stall for as long as we can!"
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU'LL GET THE CHANCE?!" Jakuzure shouted.
Before Ryuko could react, another burst of sound moved out of Jakuzure's Goku Uniform, and launched straight towards Ryuko, Tenya, and Ochaco. The sound wave engulfed all of them, not leaving so much as a moment for any of them to react.
"Everyone!" Shoto shouted, as he began to rush towards the group with his ice. Before he could make any substantial progress, however, he was forced to stop due to Jakuzure's baton, which was now coated black, and seemed stronger than ever before. Shoto tried to dodge, quickly swerving out of the way, but the baton still left a deep cut in Shoto's face even despite his attempt.
Shoto was left with a large cut on his right cheek, a testament to just how fast Jakuzure had become now that she was no longer holding back.
"You stand still, and wait for the performance to end!" Jakuzure shouted at Shoto, "For disrespecting Lady Satsuki's Symphony Regalia… I'M GONNA MAKE YOU ALL PAY!"
While attacking the students of Class 1-A, Nonon recalled her past… and the reason why this fight had gotten on her nerves so much, and why her Symphony Regalia meant so much to her.
Over 12 years ago, when Nonon Jakuzure was about 5 years old, the relatively quiet girl was invited to the Kiryuin Manor for the first time.
While Ragyo Kiryuin was the CEO of Revocs, a sub company known as 'Sicarius' was run by Nonon Jakuzure's mother, Ichika Jakuzure. Ichika was one of Ragyo Kiryuin's closest allies, and one of the few people that Ragyo saw as an equal, or in the realm of combat, a superior.
Due to just how often she was busy with work, Nonon Jakuzure was very often left all on her own, with only her mother's butler and a mountain of books to accompany her. Diligently, Nonon Jakuzure typically did all of her assigned work without so much as being asked, but today was the day that all changed.
Walking into the Kiryuin Manor, she was greeted by the slow playing of a piano. The sound was odd, yet pleasing at the same time. Questioning the source of the noise, Nonon Jakuzure decided to seek it out, utilizing her astute sense of hearing to easily find the room where the sound was coming from.
Standing directly outside of it, Nonon Jakuzure saw a piano directly ahead of her, with a young, blue haired girl playing it. Nonon Jakuzure emotionlessly watched on, as the girl ahead of her lightly tapped each of the keys on the piano with just enough force to play the notes to be played, her elegance and grace being apparent to even the blind.
Her mouth mildly parted at the sight ahead of her, Nonon Jakuzure questioned to herself if she should break the silence, but as the playing of the piano stopped on a dime, it seemed she wouldn't need to.
"How long are you going to keep staring at me?"
The young, blue haired Satsuki Kiryuin, in a single swift motion, got off the stool she had previously sat on to face Nonon Jakuzure. A single drop of sweat falling from her face, Nonon responded.
"I wasn't staring…" Nonon Jakuzure replied, "I was just wondering… why are you playing that thing?"
Satsuki responded in an instant, "What? You think I shouldn't?"
"I mean… you could be studying right now, right?" Nonon Jakuzure questioned, saying that as if it was the most normal thing in the world for a five year old, "So why aren't you?"
"For what reason would I study?" Satsuki responded, as Jakuzure hesitated to give a response.
"Cause… that's what you do."
"Ha… ridiculous." Satsuki scoffed, as she began to walk towards the doorway Nonon Jakuzure stood at, "You'd be intent to do something without wanting to do it?"
"...It's what my Mom wants, though."
"Only a fool lets others decide their path." Satsuki responded.
"What? You don't listen to your Mom too?" Jakuzure asked.
"I listen to my parents only so that I may do what I want." Satsuki stated, "There's nothing else in the world that should make someone not follow their heart."
Moving past Nonon Jakuzure to exit out of the door, Satsuki moved forwards while Jakuzure was left in the room that Satsuki had just left. Nonon Jakuzure looked down, trying to make sense of Satsuki's words in her head… but she couldn't, and as she had been taught by her mother, the inability to understand was to be deemed as failure.
And so, she decided to put herself in Satsuki's shoes, taking a seat at the very same bench that Satsuki had sat in a moment before. Nonon Jakuzure looked at the entryway of the room and around her hesitantly, as she wanted to make sure nobody was watching her, and then… she placed her hands on the keys, and played the very same tune that Satsuki played moments before… and she understood everything that Satsuki had said previously.
The notes Jakuzure played began to flow through her head, as everything perfectly clicked together. Every key she pressed and the sound that followed soothed her mind, as she moved from key to key just as Satsuki did previously, forming the same beautiful melody that had lured her to this room in the first place. Jakuzure may have been merely mimicking what Satsuki had just done without a true understanding of the fundamentals behind it all, but her ability to mimic Satsuki's playing at just a glance was… incredible.
Satsuki returned back to the room, her own face unflinchingly neutral despite her surprise that Nonon Jakuzure was able to mimic her so perfectly. Stopping at the exact same time that Satsuki had stopped her playing earlier, Satsuki yet again took the chance to speak up.
"You played the same song I did."
"Yeah…" Jakuzure replied, unsure of how to proceed, as her spirit had moved on from the place it was mere moments before. Her heart was pounding, and dopamine was flowing through her brain.
The only thing clear to her now was that she never wanted to go back to the life she lived before.
"Could you… teach me more?"
After that moment, Nonon Jakuzure and Satsuki Kiryuin began to grow closer than ever before. The wonders of music, the wonders of friendship, and the ambition of Lady Satsuki, all these things were new phenomena that Jakuzure had never experienced before, only able to be shown to her by her first ever friend.
After that, years flew by, and days passed… until the time had come for the construction of Honnoji Academy.
"...that is our mission, and why I created Honnoji Academy." Satsuki finished, having relayed the details of why she had created Honnoji Academy.
Satsuki's four elites, Ira Gamagori, Hoka Inumuta, Uzu Sanageyama, and of course, Nonon Jakuzure, all looked on at Satsuki with determination in their eyes. They had all known that Satsuki was planning something big ever since they had been brought together, but this was… even bigger than they had expected. Each of them holding an intense loyalty towards Satsuki Kiryuin, they knew they would follow her no matter what.
"In our mission, we will be armed with uniforms made out of Life Fibers, known as Goku uniforms." Satsuki stated, "Three stars should be the safest to go with, so I will bestow them upon you now."
Satsuki walked up to the first of the Elite Four she wished to grant a uniform to.
"Nonon Jakuzure. For as long as I have had this mission, you have been by my side, and your exceptional talent you showed me on the day we met is the only reason that I was ever inspired to rally others to my cause." Satsuki stated, as Jakuzure looked on at Satsuki, a neutral, somewhat somber look appearing on Jakuzure's face, "In honor of our bond… I grant upon you the first Goku uniform created, the Symphony Regalia… with your musical talents, the likes of which allowed you to easily surpass even my own in the first week I taught you the piano, I trust that you will make good use of it."
Looking down upon her Goku uniform that Satsuki held out to her, Jakuzure was honored that Satsuki had remembered what had happened all those years ago… and she smiled.
"Thank you, Lady Satsuki." Jakuzure stated, "I'll treasure this gift, and use it to fulfill your ambition."
Now back in the present, Jakuzure reflected on these moments that she had shared with Lady Satsuki. Satsuki understood her better than anyone else did, and the Symphony Regalia was proof of that; to destroy that proof was no better than spitting in the face of Jakuzure's best friend.
"I made a promise a long time ago that I would always be there for Lady Satsuki." Jakuzure thought to herself, "If you losers are really presumptuous enough to think you can take that away from me… then try your best, but my will… IT'LL ALWAYS BEAT OUT YOURS!"
With one final fierce blast of her Haki, Jakuzure stopped firing her attack, as the pink manifestation of sound gradually disappeared from the battlefield. As the sound dissipated from the air, the reality of the situation was clear: Ryuko, Tenya, and Ochaco were all as good as knocked out, and only Shoto Todoroki, as battered and bruised as he was, had been left standing.
"So… what's your plan?" Jakuzure coyly asked Shoto, "You gonna run? Or are you gonna accept your fate and die?"
"...As a hero, I can't run." Shoto responded, "I won't let you hurt them."
"Trying to live up to the expectations of this hero-infested society, eh icy-hot?" Jakuzure asked, as she scoffed, "Only a fool lets others decide their path."
Meanwhile, in the forest outside the P.E. Ground of U.A…
"This… is what heroes do." Aizawa stated, "And until you all can succeed me… it's my responsibility to 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."
Getting up slowly but surely, Shota Aizawa, as shaky as his body was, still completely rejected every inch of the will that Gamagori forced onto him.
"Arrogance? You seem to not understand…" Aizawa said, "I know I can't beat you… not as I am now. I've been too weak and too ignorant for far too long for that to be an option."
Aizawa then got into a fighting stance, forcing his body to act in accordance to his own will instead of Gamagori's.
"But for the sake of those who will be able to beat you… I will fight, down to my last breath." Aizawa stated, as Gamagori smirked.
"Ha! Seems you do have some ambition to you." Gamagori responded, "But it's not enough… any less than complete certainty in your own strength, and you won't be able to do a thing to me!"
Preparing for the fight in advance, Aizawa jumped backwards, lightly pushing Momo as he did, giving her the signal to run. Momo hesitated, but after recalling Aizawa's words, she realized it was foolish to stay, especially without a plan. Nodding, Momo turned back and ran away.
She wasn't a moment too late either, as Gamagori unleashed his Scourge Regalia on Aizawa the second that Momo had begun to run.
Activating his Goku uniform in an instant, Aizawa quickly dodged Gamagori's first attack, both jumping onto the side of a tree and throwing his binding cloth as he did. After he landed onto the tree, Aizawa pulled on his Binding Cloth, which had attached to another tree, allowing him much more freedom with dodging Gamagori's attacks now that his horizontal velocity was constant (this is since he only has to worry about dodging height-wise and width-wise now).
"Even with my Two-Star Goku uniform… this guy is just too strong." Aizawa thought, "I'll just have to improvise."
Realizing that Aizawa could dodge them, Gamagori adjusted his Scourge Regalia so that his tentacles moved faster than before. It was tough, but Aizawa was still able to dodge them. Not only had he been able to analyze how the tentacles were attacking him during their previous fights, but that aforementioned faster movement was no more than a burst of speed, as a moment later, Gamagori's tentacles began to slow down to speeds even slower than during the beginning of his attack.
"He's slowing down..." Aizawa thought, "Then... I bet that means he's running low on energy!"
Soon enough, Aizawa's hypothesis was proven, as Gamagori had to return his tentacles to his body, beginning to reactivate the Shackle Regalia.
"NOW!"
Taking advantage of Gamagori's transformation back into the Shackle Regaila, Aizawa threw his Binding Cloth forwards the moment he saw that the Scourge Regalia had stopped attacking. Surrounding the body of the Scourge Regalia, when Gamagori's tentacles returned to him so that the Shackle Regalia could reactivate, the tentacles weren't able to mold to Gamagori's body, being blocked by Aizawa's Binding Cloth; Gamagori was left vulnerable!
"My Binding Cloth was tough enough to stop him..." Aizawa thought, as he got into a stance that could prepare him to dash towards Gamagori, "I'll just have to hope this next part works too."
Sure he could use the technique due to how many times he had been told the simple nature of it, Aizawa tapped his feet against the ground as many times as he could in quick succession.
"SHAVE!"
Moving towards Ira Gamagori at speeds which rivaled even All Might's own, Aizawa had used the Shave technique for the first time. (he wasn't superhuman enough until he got his Goku uniform, hence why he didn't try and use it at the USJ, against the Pacifista, or during his time in the West Blue)
Launching his foot forwards, Aizawa was able to get past the defenses of Gamagori's Shackle Regalia, firmly kicking the Scourge Regalia underneath… and, with the power of All Might on his side, Ira Gamagori suffered a decent bit of damage…
…but it wasn't nearly enough.
Ira Gamagori tightened his Goku uniform the second Aizawa had attacked him, snapping the Binding Cloth which had stopped his transformation into the Shackle Regalia, and trapping Aizawa's leg inside him. Aizawa flinched.
"I've played right into his hand!"
"Funny… one of your students tried something just like this earlier… but, my body is even tougher than All Might's. You said it yourself, you can't beat me as you are now… but you tried anyway." Gamagori stated, "AND FOR YOUR ARROGANCE… YOUR BELIEF THAT YOU COULD DEFEAT ME WITH YOUR HALF-BAKED CONVICTIONS… YOU. WILL. BE. DISCIPLINED!"
The Shackle Regalia then began to whip itself with a fierce conviction, as Aizawa was caught in the crossfire, lacerations beginning to appear across his body as a result.
"YOU SAY YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME AS YOU ARE NOW… BUT THEN YOU TRY TO LAUNCH AN ATTACK REGARDLESS!" Gamagori shouted, "YOU THINK YOU'RE A HERO?! NO… IF YOU GO ONTO A BATTLEFIELD WITHOUT THE INTENT TO WIN, YOU'RE NO MORE THAN AN OVERQUALIFIED CIVILIAN!"
Unable to get out a word with just how intense his beating was, Aizawa began to be whipped intensely.
"The USJ… the Pacifista… this guy here…" Aizawa thought, "Every time… I've been unable to protect my students, leaving them forced to find ways to get past the challenges that I was too weak to beat myself."
The Shackle Regalia had nearly accumulated all of the energy that it needed, as it had expanded to its maximum size; the Scourge Regalia was nearly unleashed... and Aizawa remembered something, or someone.
"This world here… it's happy, but there are many places that haven't yet gotten the luxury of seeing a happy ending." Aizawa recalled a voice telling him, "That's why I can't stay… but I still thank you for helping me see what a happy ending looks like, Aizawa. You'll grow up to be a fine hero someday."
"Dragon…" Aizawa thought, recalling the name of his former friend, "Every time I try to get stronger… the world reminds me of why it's not that easy."
And now… the Shackle Regalia's charge had completed, and an explosion of whips and tentacles occurred. Aizawa was about to get hit by them, cementing his fate, but luckily, he wasn't alone.
A large, inflatable air bag came between Aizawa and the first of Gamagori's tentacles. Inflating after sensing the force behind Gamagori's attack, Aizawa was launched backwards, where he was caught in another airbag.
"HANDS OFF MY TEACHER, ASSHAT!" Katsuki shouted, to the shock of Gamagori.
Katsuki put his hand forwards, and made a circle over his palm, "Now AP… MACHINE GUN!"
Firing tons of miniature explosions at Gamagori from a distance, Gamagori used his tentacles defensively in order to block each and every attack.
"How the hell… he blocked each of my explosions so easily!" Katsuki thought, "I would've thought that at least one would hit..."
"You're back up… I'm impressed." Gamagori said, "But now that you are… I'll have to keep my promise, AND MAKE YOU KNEEL TO LADY SATSUKI'S WILL!"
Refocusing in an instant, Gamagori instantly launched an assault on Katsuki. Surprised by the fact Gamagori's tentacles were able to extended in order to reach him, Katsuki's eyes widened, as he narrowly was able to dodge backwards.
"You, creation lady!" Katsuki shouted, referring to Momo, "Get Mr. Aizawa outta here, and meet up with Kirishima at U.A! He's getting the other teachers, so there's no reason to stick around, this battle'll be over soon!"
"That goes for you too, you're quite injured-" Momo began.
"I know… but before that happens…" Katsuki interjected, as Aizawa, his consciousness fading, focused on what Katsuki was saying, "I have to get the victory I want out of this fight."
"But… every time the world tears away my hope…" Aizawa thought, as he focused on Katsuki's face, his smile, and the determination both showed, "It's always my students... those who have already surpassed me, that bring it back."
"What do you-"
Firing an explosion directly in front of Momo, Katsuki aimed and succeeded to get her to stop.
"JUST GO! YOU'RE WASTING OUR TIME!"
Momo scoffed at Katsuki's barbaric nature, "Fine, but promise me you'll run yourself if you get too injured."
"Sure, sure."
With that reassurance, Momo then walked away from the scene, as Katsuki refocused his attention on the battle ahead of himself. Gamagori was still in his Scourge Regalia form, but held off on using his tentacles.
"So, you want to fight me one on one, eh?" Gamagori questioned.
"You bet your ass I do." Katsuki responded.
"What do you intend to gain out of this? You already know you can't beat me... or do you need a reminder?" Gamagori asked, pissing off Katsuki.
"First thing, dumbass, there's no such thing as can or can't. If I wanted to, I'd find a way, I'd probably even get that creation lady to stick around cause of her quirk." Katsuki stated, "The victory I want though… is to get stronger. I'll throw myself at you again and again, until you can't so much as hit me anymore! That is what I want outta this fight!"
The bold declaration Katsuki made to Gamagori impressed him to no end, as a giant grin appeared on his face.
"Someone who wishes to discipline himself for a change… I like it." Gamagori stated, "LET'S SEE IF YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BACK THAT UP!"
Gamagori unleashed his Scourge Regalia once more, this time, faster than ever before.
"That's too fast!" Katsuki thought.
Unable to avoid even the first strike, Katsuki began to fall backwards from the impact, but instantly used an Explosion to launch himself above Gamagori's incoming attacks.
"I can't dodge him head on… I'm not strong enough yet for that." Katsuki thought, as he began to prepare his next attack, "He had to block my AP Machine Gun though… I'll force him to do that, and-"
Before Katsuki could go through with his plan, Gamagori interjected.
Reverting back to his untransformed state, Gamagori rushed towards Katsuki faster than the eye could see, and punched him in the face, and directly into the ground. Katsuki's impact with the ground had left a visible crater in it, as the boy spit up a mixture of blood and saliva due to the damage he had taken once he had caught up with the damage he had taken, which was just as much as if he had simply sat still and took all of Gamagori's tentacle attacks.
Gamagori transformed back into his Shackle Regalia form right after he did this.
"I thought you said you wanted to make it so I could no longer hit you." Gamagori stated, "So then why did you try to attack me?"
"So that you block the Explosions instead of attacking me, dumbass!" Katsuki fired back angrily.
"And you've seen that won't work." Gamagori stated, as he began to rapidly whip himself, "Face it: I'm too fast for you to dodge, at least as you are now. That's why you can't rely on your senses when you're facing me."
"Can't rely on… the fuck are you on about?!" Katsuki retaliated.
"I'm your opponent, not your instructor." Gamagori replied, "YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND THAT OUT YOURSELF!"
Unleashing the Scourge Regalia yet again, Katsuki breathed in, as he keenly focused himself purely on dodging, and nothing else. It was a better effort than before, but after dodging about three tentacles, he was hit by the fourth, then after dodging some more, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, and from then until Gamagori ran out of energy, Katsuki was hit sixty-three times in all, only being able to dodge about forty percent of Gamagori's attacks in all.
"He's right though… there's no way I can get past him." Katsuki said, as he was breathing in and out heavily from just how much he had to exert himself already, "His strikes are fast… but each and every one of them is strong as well. I'm just lucky he hasn't got an ounce of killing intent on him."
Gamagori began to rapidly whip himself yet again, preparing for the Scourge Regalia once more. Bloodied and beaten, Katsuki steeled his resolve.
"I'll just have to try again."
Gamagori unleashed his Scourge Regalia again, with a barrage of tentacles coming with it. Focusing on dodging yet again, Katsuki yet again was barely able to keep up with anything that Gamagori put out. Hit after hit, Katsuki's body grew weaker and weaker, blood being drawn from it and bones shattering all across it. Nonetheless, something beyond Katsuki's body urged him to keep going, to keep fighting even despite all the pain and all the damage he had taken.
That same something intervened when Gamagori began to focus his attacks upon Katsuki's back, attempting to force him to the ground.
"No."
Exploding upwards and into the air, Katsuki launched himself into a barrage of several tentacle attacks from Gamagori, forcing himself to succumb to more damage than he otherwise would have, afterwards falling to the ground on his back, as Gamagori returned to his Shackle Regalia form. The intent behind this attack from Gamagori may not have been clear, but it certainly was to Katsuki.
"I… will never kneel to you." Katsuki emphasized after he had gotten up.
Gamagori remained quiet, as his respect for his opponent had only grown... there was no need for words anymore.
Whipping himself yet again, the Scourge Regalia unleashed itself moments later, and yet again, Katsuki took another beating. Sixty-four hits.
"This time… I'll be more proactive." Katsuki thought, "His killing intent has raised up a notch… he's ramping his speeds up higher and higher."
Then it happened a second time, as Katsuki's breathing began to grow shaky and unsteady. Fifty-nine hits.
"My quirk factor's slowing me down." Katsuki thought, "I need to stop relying on my explosions."
And a third time, where Katsuki's body began to hurt more than it did even against the Nomu at USJ, even more than it did after his fight with Deku, even more than any other time in his life. Sixty-two hits.
"I'm… too slow without my explosions." Katsuki thought, "Gotta be faster."
Fifty-five hits.
Each time Katsuki was hit, the boy subsequently became more bloodied and more beaten… his body should've shut down by now, and he should've been completely knocked out… but at the same time, it didn't...
In fact, it had seemed that all the damage did was let the unnecessary thoughts from Katsuki's mind escape his body.
"Everything is… so quiet now."
Katsuki's eyes were shut. His breathing was so shaky before, but now, it could finally begin to steady. He knew that his body was shutting down, and that he shouldn't even be able to move anymore… but he was too focused on this fight to think of that.
"I've… felt like this before." Katsuki thought, as Ira Gamagori began whipping himself yet again, intensely focused on the new look that had appeared on Katsuki's face.
"It was… against Mirio, when I landed my first hit on him." Katsuki thought aloud, as his mind was too fuzzy for his thoughts to be kept inside of him any longer, "But now… it's different... more consistent."
The threads from Gamagori's Shackle Regalia then came undone, as they rushed towards Katsuki.
"I can feel… that guy's breath… not just his, but the breath of his whips, the breath of the trees… even the dirt beneath my feet." Katsuki thought, as he dodged Gamgori's first, second, third, and fourth attack from his Scourge Regalia, "Then… is this what he meant when he said I can't rely on my senses? I have to rely on… this breath?"
Faster and faster, more and more unpredictable… it didn't matter what kind of attack Gamagori threw out any more, his Scourge Regalia could no longer hit Katsuki.
Zero hits.
"Whatever the case… that breath of yours…" Katsuki whispered, "...is so damn annoying."
Placing his palms behind himself while still dodging his opponent, Katsuki prepared himself to use an Explosive Shave to reach his target.
"I can go faster…" Katsuki thought, reading the breath of his explosions to find his way to.
Tapping his feet against the ground ten times over, and boosting his speed with his newly strengthened quirk, Katsuki fired a supercharged, yet to be named version of the Shave technique… but his next attack would not go unnamed.
"Cluster… Impact."
Straight in front of Gamagori, Katsuki placed both of his hands forwards, and unleashed an explosion more powerful than any other he had used before.
Engulfing the entirety of Ira Gamagori's body, the explosion could surely be seen for miles around, and in terms of its raw strength… well, it was incredible just how much Katsuki had developed in the short span of this fight, even if when the smoke cleared, Gamagori hadn't moved an inch, while Katsuki was completely out of energy.
Both fighters remained silent, as they both knew that the fight was already over. Katsuki began to fall down forwards, towards Gamagori, but before he did, he cast one final explosion right below himself, propelling himself the other way so that he fell down on his back, and not on his knees. Breathing heavily, he couldn't move any more.
"Even now… you still won't bend to mine or Lady Satsuki's authority." Gamagori observed, "I can't accept your behavior… but your ambition, I might know it, but I can at least respect it."
Katsuki continued to breathe slowly on the ground. He was in unimaginable pain, and couldn't so much as respond anymore.
"Well… you've achieved the victory you sought, so I'll forfeit for now." Gamagori stated, "Next time we meet though… you will bend to Lady Satsuki's will, and I won't hold back like I did today."
Continuing to breathe heavily, Katsuki nonetheless murmured a response to Gamagori under his breath before he passed out.
"I will... make you kneel."
Walking away from the scene, Gamagori couldn't help but smirk at his opponent's last words.
The winner of this fight was Katsuki Bakugo.
END OF CHAPTER NOTES
This chapter's title actually references something, instead of following the usual trend of just being named after whatever happens in it... I might do this more often actually, it's fun to come up with names like these.
Anyawys, this chapter's title references One Piece's Chapter 194, "Cutting Steel", which is the chapter where Zoro's fight against Mr. 1 begins. I figured it'd be fitting, seeing as Katsuki's fight with Gamagori has a lot of parallels to that fight.
This was a conscious choice to have all those parallels too, because I figured that the way Zoro was able to sense the 'breath of all things' would be the best way to tastefully bring up Katsuki gaining that ability without it seeming like plot induced stupidity. We've seen it happen time and time again too, from Zoro, to Koby in Marineford, to all the Mantra users on Skypiea, it doesn't seem like training is a pre-requisite to gain the form of Observation Haki that the user is most accustomed to.
But anyways, that's another fight done and over with. Katsuki's basically gotten over his ego by this point, as he no longer needs to win every fight, instead, he's now going into every fight with the intention to get stronger for the fights that he really needs to win. (sort of like Zoro with his promise he made after he fought Mihawk)
Mirio hinted that this should be Katsuki's goal all the way back in Chapter 33 when he declined Katsuki an opportunity to rematch him, but at this point, Katsuki has fully ingrained that message into himself.
Only two more Elite Four members to go, Nonon Jakuzure and Uzu Sanageyama. Next chapter will cover Sanageyama's fight, and then Chapter 40 will finish off Nonon Jakuzure's fight. I hope you'll all enjoy them!
Oh, and for the Aizawa fans, don't worry, he's not gonna be taking these massive losing streaks any longer. Just one more to go in Chapter 39, then he starts making some bigger moves. It's just tough to balance out the older generation of characters when there are already so many characters to balance in Class 1-A… I understand why the original authors of these stories had so much trouble with them now lol.
See you all in the next chapter!
Ongoing Battles
Fumikage Tokoyami vs Uzu Sanageyama
Shoto Todoroki vs Nonon Jakuzure
Mashirao Ojiro and Hanta Sero vs Various Two-Stars
Completed Battles
Tsuyu Asui, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Koji Koda, Mezo Shoji vs Hoka Inumuta (WINNER: Hoka Inumuta)
Katsuki Bakugo vs Ira Gamagori, Round One (WINNER: Ira Gamagori)
Katsuki Bakugo vs Ira Gamagori, Round Two (WINNER: Katsuki Bakugo)
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
2 three stars out of the original 4 remaining:
Hoka Inumuta resigned
Ira Gamagori forfeited his fight against Katsuki Bakugo
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)
Ryuko Matoi (knocked out by Nonon Jakuzure)
Tenya Ida (knocked out by Nonon Jakuzure)
Ochaco Uraraka (knocked out by Nonon Jakuzure)
Katsuki Bakugo (passed out from exhaustion)
NEXT ARC SYNOPSIS / SNEAK PEEK
Nah I'm just kidding, but I just realized I accidentally did one for both Chapter 30 and Chapter 31… THAT BOTH TALKED ABOUT THE SAME ARC- I'm so mad.