•Manipulation• [BNHA × Male!OC]

Chapter 43: We were in the playground, things were getting muddy

After watching nailbiting fight after nailbiting fight, I got more and more antsy as time continued to pass without my name being called.

Then, I recalled the point that Midoriya had brought up earlier.

"We have odd numbers..." I sigh, muttering under my breath as yet another team is called. This time it was Hagakure and Shoji.

"Good luck guys!" I shouted amongst other's shouts of encouragement. The well wishings had audibly diminished in volume as now only 5 of us were left. Me, Bakugou, Midoriya, Sero and Mineta.

"No way...is one of us going solo?" I overheard Midoriya's mutterings as the next match started. "But that would be insane... So would it be a three vs one? ...but that-"

"Midoriya, you amazing green broccoli boy," I grin as I step towards him. "You know I love you but..." I grab him and pull him into a headlock.

"COULD YA STOP IT WITH THE MUTTERING???" I lament, messing up his green curls as much as I could as he protested until he finally agreed.

"Sorry Ryo," he sighed, picking at his hair. "I was just really worried about everything-"

"Sero, Mineta, you two are next," Aizawa called and Midoriya and I froze.

Midoriya looked up at me like a deer in headlights.

"You don't think-"

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"No, no I do think..." I mutter as we both turn to Bakugou, currently looking away from us.

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"I'm paired with Kacchan..."

I patted the boy on his back.

No matter what that seemed to be the most obvious pairing. The whole point was to test our weaknesses and that included relationships within the class. Whether I joined or not there was no doubt that the two sharing some severe childhood angst would be working together.

So, we twiddled our thumbs for the next half an hour until-

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"Midoriya and Bakugou," Aizawa called and my heart sank.

I would be alone in my exam.

Both boys gave me one final look, Midoriya's being one of worry while Bakugou's was more unreadable.

"What, you guys don't think I can do it?" I grinned. "Focus on your own fight, I can hold my own," I jeered as I shoved them forward.

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'fake it till you make it right?'

My hands shivered slightly as I clasped them together.

'I can do this...'
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"Hawks?" Tokoyami gasped as he spotted the signboard indicating Ryo's opponent.

"No way! He's soloing the number 3 hero?" Kaminari protested and Kirishima looked on in worry behind him.

"No way that's fair!" Mina added.

"Well, he is handicapped right?" Sero laughed nervously.

"It seems he only had his inner plumage," Tokoyami added, "They must have made him remove his outer guard feathers..."

Still, Tokoyami was a little startled to see the man here. The number three hero was so busy with missions he had barely met the man once through his hero internship but here he was, fighting his classmate.

"Those weights should slow him down too...! So Ryo should ve fine!" Kirishima suggested nervouly.

"Right...?"
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As the whistled echoed through my head, I immediately turned tail and ran.

Through the past year or so of sparring with Hawks I'd never beaten him. Not even when he was handicapped with NO feathers.

I stood no chance.

So I ran.

My only chance was to escape ground Gamma before he found me.

And soon, I was just a fee hundred metres from the gate.

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Then he flew down before me, a flurry of red feathers flying loose without his outer feathers to keep them in check.

Not that it mattered though as he immediately made them all return to his back.

"Trying to run without fighting me turtledove? That's not very nice," he grinned but it only made me shiver.

For as much as I joked about or with the guy, when I was facing off against him, his usual laidback personality sent chills down my spine. He had the attitude that he was better than anyone...

And the credentials to back that up.

I grit my teeth and slowly shuffle backwards.

"So this was the surprise?" I sigh rather convincingly. "Why'd you have to torture your poor ward like this?" I ask, knowing that he hated it when I called myself a ward or call him my guardian.

"Stop, you're making me sound old..." He grumbled and sighed, throwing his head back as he ran his hand through his hair.

This made me notice the heavy looking shackles on his arms and legs.

In fact...

They looked heavier than the others.

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Maybe I had a chance-!

"Your fault for making me eat KFC like twice a week," I joke, trying to hide my visual scanning of the area. "I always tell you we can get better fried chicken downstairs, or maybe just grill it ourselves? It's be a hell of a lot healthi-"

"You know, one thing I always liked about you was how well you talked," he grinned, eyes still in the air, head still cocked back. I froze on the spot.

'He...'

"I think you forget that how you speak was largely influenced by me," he slowly drops his head, golden eyes staring right at me and I flinch.

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"I know your tricks Ryo."

With that I dash away, running behind a nearby building and away from the open plains that led to the exit.

As much as this roundabout way would take longer, such enclosed areas would be more in my favour. I had more things to manipulate and vault or jump off. In a large open expanse like before, I couldn't hide from Hawks.

And I sure couldn't outrun him.

So my only bet was to outmanuever him.

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"Motherfu-"

A feather appears before me.