"Woah, Bakugou, you're actually really good with a knife. It's kinda weird." Uraraka says as she places a variety of vegetables from a bowl onto his cutting board.
The boy growls in response, "How the hell is that weird?! Just cause the rest of you are as useless in the kitchen as you are on the field-"
"Maybe I should just let those 47 boulders I saved you from, hit you next time." You shrug as you and Denki walk past his table.
"Hey, at least he's not blowing things up." Denki offers as the two of you carry plates over to the large table set-up of silverware, napkins, cups, bowls, and dinner plates.
"Shut up!" Bakugou calls after the two of you, which only causes you and Denki to laugh under your breaths.
The first three days of training elapsed quickly. The third day's exercises were just as vigorous as the second day's. You and Bakugou continued to challenge each other throughout your training, calling each other out anytime either of your quirk attacks seemed weaker and making the exercises harder for each other. However, today, the usual fire that burned in Bakugou's eyes was different. It had been replaced by an even stronger, brighter, blazing, and more threatening flame. Sometime during your training, you'd remembered the conversation the two of you had at the brink of dawn and wondered whether admitting his struggles had lifted a weight off of his shoulders. Regardless, his newfound determination was only going to make both you and him even stronger on the training grounds.
"I'm really starting to hate that we have to make our own dinners." Kirishima complains as you stop by his work station. The cluster of kitchen utensils and sloppily arranged vegetables makes you shudder. You slowly start to tidy up his space, organizing the knives by size and grouping the produce so that all the different vegetables remain within their type.
"Thanks, you're the best." Kirishima says with a beam, as he continues to work his knife through the ingredients.
"I know." You smile back at him, "Now, I'm going to go drag a currently lounging Aoyama to wash some dishes with me."
Kirishima whistles, "Good luck with that."
After guiding the kicking and screaming, dazzling blonde over to the sinks, you, Aoyama, Tsu, and Todoroki clean all the dirty dishes of those who took on the cooking preparations. As soon as you finish, Mina announces to everyone that dinner is ready and the four of you head over to serve yourselves. You take your tray and head over to where Mina, Bakugou, Kiri, Sero, and Denki sit, taking your spot in between Mina and Denki.
"So, do you guys think we'll get to choose partners for the test of courage thingie Pixie Bob was talking about?" Sero asks.
"Hopefully," Denki says, in between bites, "I wanna pair up with Bakugou. It'll be hilarious to see him scared."
Bakugou's only response is a lazy "tch" as he continues to eat his meal.
Mina swings an arm around your shoulders and catches you off guard, "Well, we are going to go together." She turns her head to face you, "You definitely seem like the type to watch scary movies like they're nothing. I'll be more than safe with you."
You laugh nervously and move the food around your plate with a fork.
'Actually, you've got it all wrong. That's my brother. Shinsou watches horror movies to sleep. And just hearing the film from the other side of the wall makes me lose sleep. I should really switch my room to the guest one.'
Mina, Denki, Sero, and Kirishima then start to take bets on whether you or Bakugou will be the one to break during the test of courage.
Bakugou looks over at you and a smirk creeps up his face, "Are you sick?"
You frown at him, "No. And if I were, why would you have that creepy look on your face?"
He scoffs, "You've barely eaten anything. Don't tell me you're actually scared."
You roll your eyes, "Please, it's only going to be a walk through the woods. Pixie Bob will probably just use her quirk to make little mud monsters. It's nothing we haven't seen already."
Bakugou shakes his head and sets his fork down. The blonde looks over at the rest of the group and gets their attention, "Hey, losers, she doesn't know about the story behind these woods."
The four of them turn their heads back to you and Bakugou, completely dropping the conversation they were having about their bet.
"Oh, yeah. You were washing dishes when Mandalay came and told us." Mina explains.
Kirishima nods, "Mandalay came and told everyone at the cooking tables the story."
Sero gets up from his seat and walks over to the neighboring tables, pulling Todoroki, Aoyama, Tsu, Midoriya, and a few others who were in charge of cleaning and organization duties, over.
"What's going on?" Todoroki asks, standing behind you.
Tsu nuzzles her way in between you and Mina, while Denki slides over and gives Midoriya room to sit.
"Why was I pulled away from my delicious food? My tummy isn't full yet." Aoyama whines from his standing spot next to Todoroki.
Bakugou closes his eyes and crosses his arms. A snarky look spreads across his face as Sero begins to tell the story.
"From what I remember, Mandalay said this forest used to be the private property of an old woman. She lived in a large stone house directly in the center of the woods. The house had a small tower attached to the side and every night, she'd climb the stairs and light a lantern at the top. The source of light in the dark piqued the interest of many living on the neighboring mountains. Everyone wanted to know why there was a single light coming from the middle of the thick forest, so many of them made their way down the mountains and through the maze of trees. The families they left behind waited days and days for their return. But they never came back. And like clockwork the light would appear every single night, waiting to lure in another victim. Until eventually, the light ceased to emerge from the shadows. A brave group decided to then search the forest, in hopes of finding their lost friends. But when they made their way to the center of the woods, there was nothing there. The group returned back to the mountain completely unharmed. Only, every night for the rest of their lives they shared a recurring dream. They dreamt of a woman, living in an old stone house with a light tower, coaxing them to go visit her in the woods. Mandalay says the restless spirits of those who fell into her trap still roam around the forest. And occasionally, a dim light will appear in the darkest hours of the night."
"Ice prince, hold me." Aoyama grasps Todoroki's arm, clinging to him with all his might.
Next to you, Mina and Tsu are wrapped in each other's arms, your frog-like friend patting Mina's head reassuringly. You and Midoriya share a tight-lipped smile.
'It's just a story. Mandalay probably just made it up to shake us before the test of courage.'
"Everything Sero said is true. This forest is crawling with vengeful souls." Aizawa appears behind Sero, a wide and chilling grin plastered on his face. "Now, clean up your dishes and meet in the front of the building."
Aoyama practically faints against Todoroki and everyone else gets up uneasily, your minds plagued with haunting images.
You and the rest of Class 1A and 1B meet up in front of the camp after washing the dishes and wiping down the tables. The Wild Wild Pussycats, with their excited smiles, wait for you all beside a smirking Aizawa.
"We are all gathered here for a very important task." Mandalay announces.
"We've waited days for this very instant." Ragdoll continues.
"Now, the time has finally come for you all to embark on the test of courage!" Pixie Bob finishes, ecstatically. Tiger just nods, firmly.
You look around at your classmates and the previously shooken up group challenge each other eagerly.
"I'm so gonna win." Sero says, nonchalantly.
"In your dreams, bro." Denki retorts, crossing his arm confidently.
"Both of you are going down!" Kirishima competes with the two.
"Actually, you're all 'going down'." Aizawa interferes, "The remedial group will be attending classes with me tonight, instead."
The group shares a look between them and they all make a run for it, each of them screaming as they try to run away from their responsibilities. In less than three seconds, Aizawa has them all wrapped and bound by his scarf of doom. Your father lets out a tired groan and starts his trek back to the inside of the building, dragging five very dramatically devastated students behind him.
"Alright, the rest of you, follow us!" Mandalay says, as she and the rest of her hero group start to walk into the forest.
You look behind to where your father and your friends walk into the camp building and wish for the first time in your life that you had to take extra classes.
After a good ten minutes of walking deep into the labyrinth of trees, your instructors stop in a small clearing. You look around, instinctively, searching for any form of danger. You catch Bakugou's eyes, a silent laugh playing at his lips. You squint at him, mocking his snarky expression. 'Asshole.'
"Okay, everyone. This is how the test will work. Class B is going to start off as the scarers. They will take their place in the area and when they are ready, Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. We have left flags with your names on them at the far end of the route. Your mission is to make it there, collect your flag, and return back here!" Mandalay explains.
"To make it clear, those who are scarers are not allowed to make physical contact with the walkers. Think creatively and use your quirks to terrify the everything out of the others!" Pixie Bob says with a little too much aggression despite her instructions against it.
"The winners will be determined by those who make the most people wet their pants!" Tiger adds, also too eagerly.
You sigh, 'I'm really starting to think this is more for their entertainment than a fun activity for us.'
"Alright, my lovely kittens, come draw a paper and find your partners!" Ragdoll speaks, waving around slits of paper in her hands.
Everyone lines up, after Iida instructs them to, and waits as Ragdoll hands every single one of you a piece of paper with your partner's name written on it. You unfold the note in your hands and read the number written in black ink, eight. You clutch the paper in your hands and pray that the universe aligns you with a good companion.
You hear a familiar groan and turn your head to where Bakugou stands beside Todoroki, steam practically swirling from his skin. Todoroki looks back at him then catches your gaze and shrugs.
You let your eyes wander, scanning the crowd of pairs until you finally found who you were looking for. Your body visibly relaxes at the sight of Mineta and Ojiro looking at each other's papers and staying together.
'I have nothing to worry about, now that the pest has been taken care of. Now who could my partner be?'
"Um, are you still looking for your partner?"
A smile forms on your face before you even see the boy. You turn to face the voice behind you and are greeted by a shy, freckled smile. Midoriya holds out his scrap of paper marked with a large number eight and you hold out yours.
"Awesome! We've never really worked together, so I'm excited. Although, to be fair, I wish it was under other circumstances. I don't really like scary things. If I'm being honest, I've only ever really watched a few scary movies. And they were enough for me to never want to watch another ever again. Which you'd think is strange for me wanting to be a hero and protect the city and its people from the evils that lurk within. But at least those evils are physical beings, you know? Not weird paranormal creatures with their own diabolic agendas. We should be okay, though. I think those stories are just made up. Plus, we know it's just the other class who's scaring us. You don't seem like the type to be afraid of the whole paranormal thing, anyway. So we'll be fine."
You let the boy ramble on until the very end catches you by surprise.
You sigh and look at him, "Listen, I don't know why everyone keeps saying that about me. Since you were very open with me, which I appreciate, I guess I should tell you that I am the worst when it comes to horror movies. I know it's all fake and the pop-scares are predictable, but the images just won't leave my head."
Midoriya nods eagerly, "Exactly! And then all of a sudden I'm making up scenarios in my head about a creature following me down the hall. Sometimes, I can't decide whether to look back, just to make sure there's nothing there, or just completely booking it to my room."
You listen to the boy and understand him completely, adding, "Or sometimes, I'll be completely fine just washing my face, right? Then, as soon as my eyes close and I'm splashing the soap off with water, my mind thinks it's the perfect time to imagine a girl with no face standing behind me in the mirror, just waiting for me to open my eyes."
"Yeah! Or do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and your mind just tells you that there is someone watching you sleep in the corner?" Midoriya continues.
Todoroki, Jirou, Bakugou, and Iida blink at the sight of you and Midoriya theorizing and overanalyzing the situation.
"I've never watched a scary movie. Do those completely unrealistic things actually scare people?" Todoroki wonders out loud.
Iida puts a hand to his chin, "Yes, that's the intention, anyway. However, with people like them, who tend to overthink, put themselves in the situation, and fixate on the experience, these movies can be detrimental to their sense of reality. Completely blurring the line between fact and fiction. Although their brains acknowledge the movie's circumstances as irrational, their morality takes over and they experience a sense of empathy."
Jirou raises a brow at the two, "So, in short, they overanalyze and make up scenarios in their heads, that scare them, even though they know it's not real."
"Precisely. It's very common. I've experienced it once or twice, myself. " Iida says.
"Idiots." Bakugou growls.
One by one the pairs of students start to head off into the forest. Students hide behind the shadows of the trees and bushes, waiting for the prime moment to pop out and scare those walking by.
"You two, it's your turn!" Pixie Bob says, pointing a faux paw at Uraraka and Tsu.
The two haven't even taken three steps before Uraraka admits, "I'm scared. And those screams really aren't helping."
As of right now, many pairs are making their way through the test of courage. Screams pierce the silence every so often, leaving the many waiting their turn feeling very uneasy.
"I think that might be Kiyoka and Toru. Don't be afraid, here, take my hand. We'll get through this together. One step at a time. Ribbit." Tsu responds.
You smile at your friend's kind words. Tsu is always looking out for others and it's something you've come to really admire about her.
You watch as Tsu and Uraraka slowly disappear from view. They're the fifth group to go in and anxiety slowly starts to build up within you. It's an odd feeling unlike the usual butterflies that take flight in your stomach when you're nervous.
"More than half of the groups have already gone in. It'll be our turn soon." Midoriya notices.
The green haired boy swings his arms and claps his hands each time they connect in front of him. It was obvious the boy was growing jittery, eager to get the test over with.
You force down your growing anticipation and offer a smile, "We still have a whole two groups before us. Plus, we can just calculate Iida's and Koda's screams and prepare for the scare."
"Alright group six, prepare. Group five has been in there for two minutes, leaving you with only a minute before you head in, yourselves. Don't let those nerves start to eat at you." Pixie Bob says, tauntingly.
A gust of cool wind blows through the trees, sending goosebumps spreading across your skin. Not because the air was cold, itself. But because of the smell of rising smoke it brought with it.
The disturbing feeling forming inside your soul only grows stronger.
"There's a fire." You say.
"What?" Iida responds.
"A fire? What do you mean, kitten?" Ragdoll asks, cautiously.
"I don't-'' The scent of burning wood hits Pixie Bob before she can finish her sentence.
Midoriya directs his attention to the top of the trees and his eyes widen. You quickly follow his gaze and a knot starts to form in your throat as you watch black smoke surge up into the air.
"What happened? Was something set ablaze?" Iida wonders, trying to find a logical explanation.
"Maybe, there's been a fire on the mountain?" Ojiro offers.
No. There is something very off about this fire, these flames are unlike those started by a match and wooden logs. You squint up at the sky, focusing in on the tiny blue embers that would rise and slowly turn to ash.
"Hey, what's happening?!"
"Pixie Bob!"
Your head snaps in the direction of Mandalay and Pixie Bob's cries. Your muscles tense up as you watch a red glow form around Pixie Bob. It raises her, against her will, and pulls her away from you and the rest of the group. A woman with red hair and another with lizard-like features emerge from the shadows of the forest, evil radiating from the expressions on their faces. Pixie Bob is thrown against the ground at their feet and the woman places a long, wrapped weapon harshly against her skull.
"Pixie Bob!"
Both you and Midoriya call out for your injured teacher, neither of you hesitating to run to her aid. Tiger and Mandalay stretch their arms out, blocking the path to the hero and the unknown figures, holding her captive.
Your heart races as Mandalay looks back at the two of you. Lines of distress form between her brows, her jaw clenches tightly, and her deep brown eyes water with warning, "This is bad."
You swallow as your mouth suddenly goes dry and your chest grows tight with each passing second. Your mind races with the endless possibilities of situations your friends and father may be going through right now. Your heart jolts at the thought of your dad. This isn't the first time the two of you are separated during a villain attack and you hate every second of it. Looking over at Midoriya, you watch as his chest rises and falls at an inconsistent rate. The boy looks over at you with wide eyes and his chest caves in abruptly as a realization hits him, "Where's Kota?"
"Everyone!"
The room where the remedial classes are held goes silent as Mandalay uses her telepathic quirk to communicate to all the students and teachers on the campsite. Aizawa's stomach drops at the urgent sound of her voice, as he mentally prepares himself for her following report.
"Hey, it's Manadalay's quirk." Kirishima points out.
"She sounds scared." Mina's voice trembled slightly.
"I wish her quirk worked both ways. I want to know what's happening." Denki swallows nervously.
Your father gives them all a look, it's all that's needed to tell the students to remain silent.
The silence leaves them all in suspense, waiting to hear Mandalay's next words. Mina reaches over to grasp your hand, only to realize you aren't there. Her heart sinks at the thought of you out there.
A million different possible situations flood through Aizawa's mind as he attempts to anticipate Mandalay's message. He grows concerned about the safety of his students and daughter, uncomfortable with the fact that not only does he not know what's going on, but also that he isn't the one protecting you all. He curses to himself, wishing he had been selfish enough to place you in remedial classes for the sole fact that he'd always have you near him.
"We are currently under attack by two villains. There is a high possibility that there are more. Everyone who can move, retreat back to camp immediately! If you come across an enemy, do NOT engage!"
The hero's voice is hurried, the intensity of the situation coming across in her warning.
"Vlad, I'm leaving you in charge here. Protect this group and make sure to get any of the kids who make their way back here, safety settled."
And with that Aizawa takes off into the hallway, racing down to the entrance, and pushing through the main doors.
'C'mon my little fighter, make it back.'
Your father stops dead in his tracks as soon as he makes it outside. He curses beneath his breath at the sight before him. The thick smoke engulfs the night sky and blue flames burn through the forest's canopy of leaves. Aizawa listens for any calls of distress and any other signs of attacks.
"Your concern blinds you, Eraserhead."
The chilling voice steals your father's attention but before he can manage to get a good look at the villain, Aizawa is quickly immersed in an attack of maliciously burning fire.
"Stay out of our way. This isn't about you, heroes." The enemy's voice yells over his fire's roaring blaze. The fire finally settles and the villain lets out a laugh as he beholds Aizawa's state.
"Exactly as I expected from a pro." The dark haired, blue eyed villain lifts his chin to where your father holds himself against the wall of the roof of the entrance to the building, with his scarf. The arsonist faces certain defeat as Aizawa looks down on him with gleaming red eyes and a lethal gaze, his quirk fully activated. The severely scarred man raises his palm in the direction of the pro hero, activating his quirk to its full potential, but nothing occurs. Your father manipulates his weapon around the villain, pulling the man towards him in a tight snap. Aizawa unties his scarf from the roof and the opponents collide in midair, the hero taking hold of the back of the enemy's head and driving his knee into the man's face.
As they fall, Aizawa pulls on his scarf, turning his rival around so that he lands harshly against his chest. The pro moves swiftly, forcing the villain's cheek down against the ground, taking hold of his left arm, and using his body weight to keep him pinned down to the ground.
"Your name, purpose, count, and positions. Now!"
The enemy struggles against Aizawa's hold, unable to knock the hero off of him.
"Why should I-"
An abnormal crack emits from the arsonist's shoulder. Your father grimaces, holding the man's arm up at an unusual angle.
"You have another arm and two legs left. Speak." Aizawa spits out.
The immobile man scowls, "Fine. Since I know your name, I'll tell you mine. I go by Dabi."
Aizawa pauses, giving Dabi the chance to continue answering his questions. When the villain remains silent, your father reaches over and pulls Dabi's right arm to meet his left arm, in a twisting motion.
Dabi hums, holding back his pain, "Now, Erasure, what's the rush?"
"Mr.Aizawa!"
Iida, Ojiro, Mineta, and Koda make their way out of the forest, panting and their faces contorted with fear. Dabi uses this distraction to his advantage and moves out from under Aizawa's strong hold, "I see your students really are that important to you, hero."
Dabi turns to face you father and taunts, "I hope you can protect each and every one till the end. See you later."
With a growl, Aizawa tightens the still attached scarf around his body, willing it to pull his rival towards him. The scarf slices through Dabi's figure and the rest of him starts to melt, falling to the ground and pooling into a muddy liquid. The group of students, who stand near the bushes, witness the villain's gruesome escape and proceed to Aizawa's side. Their teacher runs right past them, heading directly into the forest they'd just escaped out of.
"Get inside, now!" Aizawa orders.
Iida, Ojiro, Mineta, and Koda watch as the man who's done so much to protect them, disappears into the awaiting entanglement of trees.
Your hearts beat brutally against your chests and your throats sting from the sharp breaths you suck in, as you and Midoriya race through the forest. You'd both agreed on keeping your quirks within a state of deactivation in order to conceal them as best as you could. The villains you'd left Mandalay and Tiger with to take down had introduced themselves as a smaller squad associated with the League of Villains. The image of the red-headed woman, Magne, threatening to crush Pixie Bob's skull in, with her weapon, remains troubling your mind. You let out a frustrated groan, to which Midoriya looks at you in a concerned manner.
"They weren't supposed to find us." You manage to get out, over your heavy breathing.
Midoriya shakes his head, practically wheezing out his words, "How does the league keep finding us and what are they after now?"
You continue to speed past the trees, "Clearly they've done enough investigating to know All Might isn't attending the training camp. They must have some other motive."
"And that's what scares me." Midoriya's voice shakes as he speaks between breaths.
The two of you run deeper into the forest, pushing yourselves past your limits in order to make it to Kota's hideout in minimal time. The air grows harder to breathe in and it isn't because of your levels of exhaustion. Rather, the heat of it burns your lungs and warms your already sweating skin. Midoriya stops and places his hands on his knees as he struggles to get enough oxygen into his system. The leaves and branches on the trees surrounding you burn in suffocating blue flames. You stand in place, chest rising and falling rapidly, before making a quick decision in your mind. You summon the dormant water spirit within you and build up the energy it takes to gather up the earth's natural resources of water. Taking as much control of your breath and relaxing your body's hyperactive state to the best of your ability, you close your eyes and move your arms through the air swiftly. Large amounts of water rise from beneath the ground's surface and any nearby bodies of water, taking form as it circles around you.
Midoriya watches with glossy eyes as you completely recenter yourself and fall into a meditative state, despite having had the adrenaline pulsing through your veins only mere seconds ago. You take a step back and thrust your arms upward, drawing a diagonal line from your back foot to the tips of your fingers. The water you'd already gathered and more from earth's depths, erupt through the surface, as you will the maelstrom to extinguish the scorching flames. The liquid rises in a towering wave and comes crashing down against the vulnerable flames.
"Midoriya! Go after Kota! I'll extinguish the rest of the flames. We'll all be in more trouble if they continue to burn through the forest!" You call out over the sound of the wave colliding with the trees.
"You're right but you'll draw attention to yourself! I can't leave you like-"
"I can protect myself! I'm quite literally in my element! Now, go! I'll meet back with you as soon as I finish putting out the fires!" You urge him on.
Midoriya's worried eyes look at you before his brows furrow and he nods, knowing damn well what you are capable of and putting his faith in you to save everyone from the unforgiving flames. You dip your chin, nodding back at your friend as a signal that you are sure of this and that he can carry out his mission to find Kota. With the dismissal, Midoriya turns and bolts through the drenched trees.
You watch his figure fade before turning and running off in the other direction. You make it several feet before you meet the flames your large wave didn't manage to reach. This time, the water spirit is very much awake and mustering up the earth's water takes less energy than you'd needed when you'd previously done it. Raising both arms up to the sky, the fluid element breaks through the surface, on either side of you, and rushes up into the air. You lower your arms slightly over to each side and the water uses your movement as a guide. It curves the trajectory of its motion so that instead of shooting straight up, both sides bend in opposite directions. The water directed by your left arm extinguishes the flames raging through the trees on the left side of your path while your right arm does the same on the other side. After establishing this form, you take off in a run, dousing out the fires as you go along.
'I need to finish this quickly before I draw too much attention to myself.'
You think back to Midoriya's nervous eyes and his image only further encourages you, knowing you need to get this done and make your way back to him as quickly and safely as you can. It makes you feel uneasy that the two of you are separated and running through the villain infested forest alone, without knowing any of their locations. You stop running after about a minute and keep your arms up and directing the water's movements, a soreness starting to take form in your muscles. You twist your foot against the ground and dig your boot into the dirt. Closing your eyes and catching your breath, you summon the earth spirit and open your senses to the terrain's vibrations. The usual grayscale map of the stretch of land appears in your mind and you wait for any ripple-like forms to indicate movement nearby. When nothing appears, you snap your eyes open and deactivate your earth quirk, before continuing down the path of trees set ablaze. You continue this cycle every minute or so, stopping to use your quirk to scan for any potential signs of villains.
Sprinting through the blazing forest, you manage to make it to the very last tree set aflame. You fall to your hands and knees, panting as you finally deactivate your water quirk. Your arms sting from keeping them up and pointed out towards the trees and your throat burns from the gasps you take to bring in oxygen to your lungs. Your stomach turns and you shut your eyes, a few stray tears falling down your cheeks as the dinner from earlier threatens to make its way back up. Your muscles stiffen at the sudden pulses that make their way up from the ground through the palms you rest on the surface. The familiar layout takes form in your head and you see a set of ripples moving quickly over to your location from the right. Their stride and how heavily their feet make contact with the earth lets you come to the conclusion that the pair are most likely male.
Pixie Bob's instructions ring through your mind, 'If you come across an enemy, do NOT engage!'
You make your way over to where a cluster of large rocks lie beside a couple of bushes and you stomp your foot down into the earth. With your quirk activated, the boulders are lifted and suspended a few feet into the air. You make your way between them and situate yourself into a crouching position in the center, before manipulating them to form a barrier around you. You leave the slightest space between the boulders at the level where your eyes reach, in order to get a good glimpse of the villains who are coming after you.
It takes the pair another three minutes to reach your location. You've finally managed to steady your breathing and heart rate when the two men emerge from the trees across from where you hide. You eye the two, taking in as much information as you can from their looks alone. A severely scarred man with dark hair and icy blue eyes, looks around for any signs of you nearby. His companion looks less than uninterested as he stands with his arms crossed over his chest, covered from head to toe in a black suit with gray detailing.
"Oh no! She got away!" The masked man says, feigning concern, "Can we go now?"
"She extinguished every single one of my flames in a matter of minutes." The other points out.
"Yeah, so what?" The bored man asks before quickly changing his demeanor, "No wonder the boss wants her so bad! She's stronger than you, Dabi!"
You blink and your hands ball up into fists.
'Shigaraki, you damn spoiled brat.'
The last time you'd seen him was at the mall where he'd held you against your will and offered you a position in his league. You know how badly the villain wanted you to join his forces, but putting all of your friends at risk like this, doesn't help his case in the least. He acts like a child who will stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wants.
"Man, too bad we didn't come for her today, she seems nice." The masked man continues, "I will absolutely bring her down with my quirk whenever the boss decides it's time to retrieve her!"
Dabi shakes his head, "Focus, Twice. Honestly, I'm glad our little element friend spent her time chasing down my fire. Our top priority is to make sure that everyone is distracted in order to give Compress the chance to capture Bakugou."
Something in your chest stops functioning for a second at the mention of the familiar name. You clench your jaw and give it everything in you to not break through the rock barrier and send these aggravating villains down a deep hole to the Earth's core.
"Well, what's taking Mr. Compress so damn long to capture the little pain?" Twice asks.
Dabi shrugs and starts to walk away, "I think he's waiting until every piece falls into place."
"Huh? What pieces? Is that a metaphor or something?" Twice asks, confused as he follows his companion back to the direction they came from.
The minute you let pass for them to get far enough away from you, goes by excruciatingly slowly. Once you've determined the distance between you and the villains is sufficient for your guaranteed escape, you activate your earth quirk and send the shelter of rocks blasting out from all sides of you. You don't waste time thinking about the consequences of using your air quirk, determined to find the obnoxious blonde you consider a friend. You're gently sweeped off of your feet and are airborne within a second of summoning the friendly air spirit. You rush through the wind, maneuvering your way through the obstacles of trees. You remain beneath the veil of leaves and branches in order to not give away your position to any villains overlooking the sky.
"Listen up! In the name of the pro hero, Erasurehead, Class 1A and 1B students are granted permission to engage in combat!"
A 'tch' slips out through your clenched teeth, wishing this decision had been made a couple minutes ago.
"Important announcement! We have discovered one of the villains' targets is a student who goes by 'Kacchan'. 'Kacchan' should refrain from acting individually and engaging with the enemy, make it your goal to make it back to the camp!"
Your chest feels constricted as you let Mandalay's words sink into your head.
'Why the hell are they after Bakugou?'
The announcement plays through your mind a few times before you realize the message gives away some helpful information for you. Mandalay referred to Bakugou as 'Kacchan' so the only one who could've relayed that information was Midoriya. You change the direction of your travel towards the location where you'd last seen Mandalay and Tiger fighting against a couple members of the villain group. Midoriya is either still with the heroes or on his personal mission to find Bakugou. Either way, he can't be far from that checkpoint.
You thrust your arms behind you, urging the wind to move you faster through the maze of trees.
There's a sudden crash and you manipulate the air, moving you quickly through the forest, to stop instantly. Less than twenty feet away from you, dust from the ground rises up as a result from an explosion of some sort. Now that you don't have to worry about being able to interact with the enemy, you dart yourself over to the commotion. You slow down as you get closer, analyzing the situation from your position, hiding in a tree. You watch as Tokoyami struggles to control Dark Shadow, the silhouette acting ferociously on his own accord. You spot a bleeding Shoji carrying a very broken Midoriya and you choke down the sorry whine that threatened to escape your lips.
'Midoriya, what did you have to go through?'
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Hello, everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you all had an amazing week and that you have an even better weekend!
I cannot express how much I loved writing chapter thirty-three! This is only part one and, let me just say, part two gets even better! Originally, I wanted to write this entire battle as one chapter but I ending up writing a total of 24 pages! So, both my editor and I thought it'd be best to split the chapter in two.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! There's nothing I love more than writing some fun action scenes. Also, I just love moments with Midoriya.
What was your favorite part?
Thank you all so much for voting for my chapters! I still can't believe I'm doing this and how much Ignite has grown. And it's all thanks to you all. So, thank you all so, so much! Your comments and direct messages always make my day!
As always, I love you all so much and...
See ya next chapter!