Chapter 50: Going Full Ridley Scott's Predator
The next day, Izuku and Ochako walked into their class and found Kyouka and Tsuyu standing around Momo's desk, happily chatting away.
"So she's able to go, then? Cool."
Tsuyu crossed her arms and grumbled, "Shouldn't have picked rock, kero."
Kyouka gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "We'll bring you back a souvenir. You know for sure she's gonna pick out something that's leopard printed," Kyouka said with a smile with the other girls laughing. Kyouka then nervously pinched her ear jacks and tapped them together. "Though are you sure it's okay for me to wear that? I don't mind picking something more, you know, feminine."
Momo waved off her concerns. "Oh, it's not going to be a problem at all. Dior will have exactly what you want ready in no time."
Kyouka sighed. "Oh, good. So what about you?"
Momo smiled, a graceful elegant look that only helped her refined image. "Now that would spoil the surprise."
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "It's gonna be something really mature, I bet."
Kyouka shuddered as she swallowed a lump in her throat while Momo chuckled. Deciding it might be best to change the subject before her imagination started to run wild, Kyouka noticed that there were new people in the room. "Oh, Midoriya, Uraraka, you guys are the last ones who signed up, huh?"
Izuku nodded. "I guess so. I'm actually shocked Iida isn't here."
Ochako snickered. "Oh, you know for a fact he's gonna be peeved he didn't grab a spot in time."
"For shame, for shame. How could 1-A's class representative fail to apply for the prestigious honor of getting the first elective summer class?" Izuku mockingly lamented before he and Ochako started laughing.
Momo had a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh of her own. It wouldn't be proper for the vice class representative to be seen laughing at the expense of the class representative. The amused side eye from Kyouka made it pretty clear she wasn't succeeding.
"Ahem," Momo cleared her throat, "I think we should all take our seats. The bell will soon ring and we all know that Aizawa-sensei doesn't like to waste time."
With a few seconds to go, everyone was in their chairs, ready for Aizawa to come in and get the class going. The clock struck the top of the hour and five heads all turned towards the door, waiting for their teacher to walk in. As if on cue, the door to the class slid open.
"Good morning Aiz—" Their welcome was cut off quickly. It was not Aizawa that strolled in.
Himiko smiled brightly as she walked into the room and made her way to the podium. Gone were her usual messy side buns, replaced with a single ponytail. Even her wild bangs were stylized. Instead of her eyepatch, she wore a pair of oval glasses perched on her nose. The simple changes gave her face a measure of maturity it normally never had. She was also dressed smartly with a slim black blazer over a collared crisp white shirt. The wide collar was pulled open, so that everyone could get a good view of her neck. Over her legs, Himiko had on black slacks that hugged her curves just right and ended high on her ankle. With the black flats she was wearing, she was showing off just enough leg to get the attention she wanted.
Standing in front of the class, Himiko's smile got wider. "Good morning class." Turning, Himiko walked over to the board behind her, and picked up a piece of chalk, bending over just a tad more than she needed to, but in the process making those tight black slacks hug her just a little tighter, and the bottom of the blazer hitch up just a tad.
All at once, three heads cocked to the side to get a better, respectable, look.
Ochako gulped because with how tight those slacks were and with her bent over like that, it was made so, so clear that Himiko had a fucking perky butt. A quick glance over and she saw that Izuku was also staring, though fortunately he was holding himself together perhaps a little better than her, else something would be on fire by now.
Tsuyu for her part had her hands clenched in her lap, squeezed together by her thighs as she tried really, really hard to ignore that part of her Quirks instincts. All and all, Himiko had three of the five in the class all agreeing, she's got a nice butt.
Himiko took the chalk and as big and as overly cutesy as she could, wrote her name onto the chalkboard. She turned around just as Izuku, Ochako and Tsuyu got their heads back on straight, missing their momentarily dumbfounded looks.
But she caught Kyouka rolling her eyes. "Seriously? I get you're probably bored, but you might want to leave before Aizawa-sensei catches you and makes you take this class."
Plopping the chalk down, Himiko huffed at the idea. "I let the teachers know I had no intention of taking their silly extra classes. Frankly, you guys are all nerds for signing up."
"Hey!" Izuku complained.
"Oh, don't even try to deny it," Himiko teased. "You're the biggest hero nerd in the world."
"She's got a point, Deku," Ochako said with a chuckle.
"Oi!"
Momo raised her hands, calling for calm, before she addressed Himiko. "I understand you wish to hang out, Toga. Having to stay at school now that classes are done must seem boring. But we are here for a special elective class. I'm sure there will be time to talk once we're done. Now we must be ready for Aizawa-sensei… or whoever is teaching this class, for that matter."
"Oh, that's a good point, Yaoyorozu," Deku said. "We don't know who's actually teaching the class."
"Ah-em," Himiko cleared her throat and rapped her knuckles on the board. "As I was saying, good morning, class."
…
…
"Noooooooo," Ochako groaned as she leaned forward in utter disbelief. "You can't be serious." Her doubt was mirrored by her classmates as they looked at Himiko like she had gone crazy. Well, crazier. More crazy than is the normal amount of crazy they deal with.
Himiko adjusted her glasses. "You all can call me Toga-sensei."
"I refuse," Ochako countered immediately, "because there's no chance you're our teacher."
"Toga is your teacher and you will show her all the respect afforded to her position," Aizawa stated plainly as he lazily walked into the room, already feeling the headache the day was going to cause him. "And she will be teaching the special elective today."
All five heads looked at him wide eyed, then at Himiko who waved smugly. Izuku started scratching his neck nervously. "Soooo, is it too late to run?"
"Oh, definitely," Himiko answered.
Kyouka's hand shot up. "W-w-who's bright idea was it to let Toga teach?!"
"Principal Nezu was the one that came up with this idea."
No one sitting liked how much that made sense. Though it did put any of their other questions to bed. For the most part. Izuku raised his hand. "So Toga-sensei," Himiko vibrated upon hearing that, "what exactly is this lesson going to be about?"
"An excellent question, Izuku." Himiko smiled brightly as she walked back up to the podium, and after fiddling with some controls and having Aizawa give her a hand, she got the projector screen lowered and a static image of the outside of a jewelry store. "You all are going to be dealing with what the police are calling a hostage situation."
Suddenly the class got a little more serious, their attention on the projection. The store itself was large and built into a larger building. On the street we're several police stand-ins, dummies dressed in police uniforms. They had a perimeter set up all around the building.
Momo frowned. "How much information will we be given for this?"
"Not a lot. You only know what the police know. It's a single villain, with an unknown motive and unknown Quirk. A rough estimate of twenty to thirty hostages, but soon after the building was taken, contact with the store's security systems were shut down and people were moved away from the windows. The villain has made no demands, or made any attempt to make contact with the officers or negotiators," Himiko explained as she pulled up some more slides.
Ochako leaned back in her chair, looking a little overwhelmed. "Hold on this is… What you're saying is we won't know anything?"
"Yup."
Everyone shared Ochako's flabbergasted expression. Himiko just shrugged. "This is a step into the unknown for you guys. Almost everything going on inside that building is a complete blank. You need to expect the unexpected."
"Are the hostages unharmed?" Izuku asked.
"At various times a hostage has walked past the windows of the building, making sure that they are seen, and then they walk away," Himiko answered. "It's a different hostage each time, however this has only been done three times . And the situation has been going on for roughly three hours, though the break between each time a hostage has been spotted has been about the same. When you all are at the site, the police will be expecting to see another hostage walk by the windows."
"And they're just walking?" Izuku asked for clarification.
"A lazy stroll, but they make eye contact with the officers and make sure they have been seen before going back."
Himiko watched as her five classmates/students exchanged looks. She could see that each of them was thinking pretty hard about this. "Alright. Go get your costumes. We have a bus waiting to take you to the testing site."
The bus ride for the five was moderately quiet. Each person was going over the information, or more accurately, the lack of information given. Neither Aizawa or Himiko had ridden with them, but they had been told that like the finals, teachers would be watching and grading their performances.
Now that they were on site, at one of the furthest back police checkpoints, they had been given 'police reports' and had also been given a blueprint of the store. More or less, it was exactly as Himiko had explained. So as they studied the layout, the five moved in closer towards the store, but taking back alleys at Kyouka's suggestion. Best to try and not let the villain know that heroes were on scene.
They reached an alley exit that had a clear view of the store just across the street. And now that they had arrived, they needed a plan.
"So, anyone here any good with stealth?" Kyouka asked as she peaked around the corner and kept an eye on the jewelry store. "Because I don't see how we're getting over there without being seen."
Izuku shrugged. "Unfortunately, that's more Toga's thing."
"What we need is to figure out what's going on with the hostages," Ochako decided. "I could float up along the building roofs and work my way down to one of the windows."
Momo shook her head. "You'd still be floating across the street. Even if you are above the windows line of sight, you could still get spotted by the store's cameras. Just because the system can't be accessed externally anymore, doesn't mean it isn't still operating for those inside."
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "Jirou, can you hear what's going on?"
"Oh, that's right!" Momo clasped her hands together. "You should be able to figure out where the people are just from their sounds."
Kyouka nodded and crouched down, sticking both ear jacks into the road and covering her hands with her ears, trying to block out all the background noise. "There are… some people in there, I think. This far away it's kinda tricky. Plus… it doesn't sound like they're making a lot of noise."
"Most of the hostages might be dummies," Izuku said with a frown. "So they won't sound like a group of thirty people."
"How about the villain?" Ochako asked. "Maybe they're stomping around?"
The group waited silently as Kyouka listened, but ultimately she pulled her jacks out and shook her head. "Sorry, I can't tell who's who in there."
"Maybe we should just rush in," Izuku suggested. Though even he didn't sound super convinced at his own idea.
"That sounds like a good way to get the hostages killed, Deku," Ochako said, shaking her head. "We have no idea what this villain can do. Or if they've done anything to the people in there."
"And the longer we wait means they have more time to do… whatever they're doing in there," Izuku countered.
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "Midoriya has a point."
Momo looked over at her, startled. "You think we should just rush in?"
Tsuyu shook her head, "No… not really. But I was talking about the last thing he said."
"'Whatever they're doing in there?' Is that what you mean?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah. Doesn't this seem… weird? Toga told us this was a hostage situation, right?" Tsuyu went on. And when her classmates nodded she pointed out, "But she specifically said, it was a hostage situation because the police were calling it that."
"That's… huh," Kyouka tapped her jacks together, thinking about that. "But they had to pick this spot for some reason."
"Want money, go to a bank. Want diamonds, go to a jewelry store. Seems clear cut to me," Ochako pointed out.
"But have they even tried to take anything? Remember, they haven't made any demands. No exchange of people for even a method to get the diamonds and stuff out. Just nothing."
The five were silent. Once again they were running everything through their heads. Then Izuku's head snapped up as he remembered something. "Toga said, 'expect the unexpected.' This is her lesson. She's teaching this class, so nothing about this is going to be what it's supposed to be. You're right Tsu, she said it was the police who thought it was a hostage situation. She never said it herself."
And, oh, how that made the stomachs of his friends and classmates drop. "Okay. So this is Toga trying to teach us something… and she's a mean teacher." Ochako recalled the last time Himiko had tried to teach her a lesson. It ended with both her pinkies dislocated and her getting machine-gun punched in the face. "So… let's work this out. This isn't about whatever is inside that jewelry store. So what the villain went in there for… is what?"
"The people." Dread dripped from Momo's voice. "It must have been the people."
Kyouka held up her hands. "Wait, we just said this wasn't a hostage situation. Now we're saying it is?"
"You take hostages because you intend to trade their lives for your safety and other things. A car and guarantee of safety after a robbery. But this villain, if they wanted the people… then they aren't hostages… They're…" Momo gulped.
"Bait, kero." Tsuyu finished. "Letting them walk in front of the window, that's them dangling the bait."
"But why?" Kyouka asked.
"You put bait out… to catch something… or someone." Izuku took a breath. "Heroes. In a situation like this, with an unknown Quirk in play, of course the police would call for heroes to take over dealing with the situation. The villain is trying to lure us in there. That has to be it."
Ochako snuck her hand in under her visor and rubbed her brow. "I swear, Toga is just trying to mess with us. This is way too complicated." Ochako pulled her hand away looking serious. "Well, if the villain wants us to go in there, then we absolutely can't just go rushing in. We—"
"HELP!" The shrill scream cut the kids' discussion off as from one of the windows of the store, a woman started banging on the glass. Her blouse was stained red and she looked panicked and horrified. "HELP! She's killing us! She's—URK!"
Something flashed across the woman's throat, and the window was splashed with blood. Her body collapsed in a heap while her blood dripped down the window.
Izuku's body lit up, first bathed in green as he picked up a nearby trash can and used it to shatter a window, then the glow turned into lightning that danced across his body. Just before he took off, Ochako wrapped her arms around his shoulders and floated herself. As one, they rocketed out of the alley, cleared the no-man's-land between them and the store, and rushed inside. Leaving their stunned classmates behind.
It took some seconds but Tsuyu snapped out of her shock first. "So much for not rushing in, kero."
Momo and Kyouka quickly joined her as they also rushed across the street after Izuku and Ochako.
Tsuyu leapt through the hole that Izuku had made and came to an immediate stop, Momo and Kyouka almost crashing into her with an oof.
"Asui, we need to keep going. There's no telling where Midoriay and Uraraka could…oh…" Momo's eyes widened as she saw what Tsuyu was looking at. Kyouka wretched and turned away. Lying sprawled out on the floor, was the unfortunate victim that they had seen have her throat slashed open. "M-Midnight-sensei?"
Tsuyu walked over, and closely examined the dead teacher. "Her throat…"
Momo peeked down. "I…" Momo sighed heavily. "I see."
While she was lying in a pool of blood, with the front of her civilian clothes stained red, there was no gaping wound in her neck. Both stood by before glancing at each other. "We weren't… actually worried someone was dead, right?"
"N-no. Of course not," Momo confirmed. "U.A.'s training methods may be unconventional, but they aren't barbaric."
"Even though Toga's teaching this class, kero?"
"…I just had a disturbing thought. You don't suppose that the villain is actually—"
"AAIEEEEE!"
The sudden blood curdling scream yanked Tsuyu and Momo's attention from their dead teacher and over to Kyouka, who was backing up, hand over her mouth and all color draining from her face. Momo quickly ran to her side, asking her what was wrong, but Kyouka latched on to her, shaking like a leaf.
While Momo tried to calm Kyouka down, Tsuyu looked to see what had terrified her classmate so badly. "Kero—!"
Her croak got stuck in her throat. Lying on the floor towards the back, face down in a pool of blood and a knife sticking out of his back, was Izuku.
The three knew this wasn't real. It couldn't be real. But the sight was so disturbing—and unfortunately, so familiar—that it struck a chord in them. They had all seen Izuku's broken body get taken away after the USJ, so seeing this, sure felt real. As Kyouka finally got her heart to stop trying to beat itself out of her chest, Tsuyu walked over to Izuku's body and knelt down. Taking her hair, she brushed the end of it against Izuku's nose. Izuku's face twitched, and he closed his eyes that much tighter as he tried not to sneeze.
Tsuyu flashed the group a thumbs up, and while they breathed a sigh of relief, Tsuyu pulled at the knife handle that was sticking out of his back, only to find it was just a handle, clipped to his cape.
"Okay," Kyouka sighed. "Okay, so… Midoriya is dead and—"
"Darn it! I lost sight of her down the hall, Izuku. Did you have any luck down the other hall…way?" The group turned to see Ochako come running out of one of the halls, stopping as she caught sight of Izuku on the ground. "Oh god, Izu—"
"It's alright, kero!" Tsuyu had her hands up, quickly working to stop the coming panic attack she knew was about to get unleashed. Even staged, seeing Izuku 'dead' was going to be traumatic for Ochako. "It's okay. It's not real blood."
Ochako closed her eyes, and growled out, "I'm going to kill Himiko."
Momo crossed her arms. "So I take it we all agree that Toga is the villain here." The surviving students nodded. "Uraraka, what exactly happened? We were only a few seconds behind you two."
Ochako glanced down at Izuku and shuddered. "When we jumped in, I saw someone running down the hall. So while Izuku went to check on Midni— I mean the hostage, I ran after the person."
Tsuyu frowned. "I can't believe Toga would be fast enough to double back and kill Midoriya before we got in… Are you sure you saw someone?"
Ochako started pulling at her fingers, face scrunched up. "I'm… I thought I saw someone…"
"With everything happening so fast, maybe you just saw a shadow?" Momo offered. "Because unless there are two villains in the area, Toga isn't fast enough to outrun you, double back and kill Midoriya, and then vanish again before we made it inside."
Ochako closed her eyes. "Oh god, I'm an idiot. Now Izuku's just… lying in blood and I can't… damn it!"
Tsuyu moved over to Ochako's side, trying to comfort her friend. Momo also tried to make her feel better. "It's going to be alright. We'll find Toga and get back at her. Plus, it's not like Midoriya is actually hurt or that the blood is real."
Kyouka knelt down and got some of it on her fingers, rubbing it. "Um… we sure this isn't real blood?"
The group looked at Izuku's corpse and then Midnight's. Momo nodded certainly. "It's not like U.A. would have access to this much blood or be willing to waste it."
There was a pause.
"Doesn't U.A. like, make blood for Toga to drink?" Kyouka asked.
Another pause, and while the group wasn't looking, both Izuku and Midnight shuddered a little.
"Security breach! Security breach!"
Head's snapped up as an alarm began to blare over the store's intercom. At the same time, thick metal shutters snapped shut over the store's windows and doors while the lights in the store dimmed. Even as the last metal shutter snapped shut, locked into place, the wail of the alarm and the synthesized voice kept ringing out. But with each repeat of the message, the voice became more and more static, slower, and warped. "Security breach. S-S-Secuuuuuri-it-it-ity breeaaaaaa…"
And then it fizzled out and there was silence. A dim gray silence.
The girls looked at each other, each just a little unsettled now that they found themselves locked up inside the store. Kyouka frowned and walked over to one of the shuttered windows. She rapped her knuckles against the metal, and winced. "Well this su—"
Vzzt clunk!
In the silence of the store, the strange sound cut through Kyouka sharply. The sudden silence of an industrial light suddenly getting shut up.
Vzzt clunk!
And again. Slowly, the girls all walked over to where the sound was coming from, the other hallway that Ochako hadn't come running out of.
Vzzt clunk!
One after another, the lights in the hall were going out, creating a black void that none of them could see into. Light after light, the darkness approached. And with a sinking horror, it was getting more and more evident that the lights were going off faster and faster. The four backpedaled away from the hall, into the store's main display room. With one last flicker, the lights in the hall were out, and no one could see into it now. Then, the lights in the room flickered. One went out, and a corner of the room was dark. Then another and another. Light was quickly becoming a scarce resource.
"Nope!" Ochako grabbed Momo and shoved her away, towards the hallway that was still illuminated, "not dealing with that."
Tsuyu bounded after them with Kyouka hot on their heels. No one wanted to even think about trying to deal with Himiko in the dark. Rushing into the hall, Ochako turned and slammed the door shut. The group took several steps back away from the door, half of them watching it to see if someone tried to break through, while the other half had their eyes up towards the ceiling, looking at the lights.
"Anyone know where this hallway leads?" Ochako asked.
Momo had her report unfolded and was quickly looking over the building layout. "It looks like this hallway… leads towards…the workers breakroom and… the storage warehouse at the back of the building."
"Okay, then let's head there, kero. There's a good chance that's also where the rest of the hostages will be," Tsuyu suggested. The group agreed.
"Hey," Ochako glanced over her shoulder as she stepped back away from the door. "Do those layouts have anything about this place's security? I mean, aside from the alarms and the shielded windows?"
"Would love to know how Toga's controlling them," Kyouka grumbled as they started walking down the hall.
"More than likely she's borrowing something from Mei," Ochako concluded. "Remember how she kinda hacked the sports festival that one time?"
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "I mean, she's the teacher of the lesson. I bet teachers have control over everything that's going on in these training areas. Means she can make things act like she wants."
"Like a damn horror movie?"
"Seems like it, kero."
Momo glanced up from the layout. "Lets not forget that we are supposed to be taking this lesson seriously and at face value. We've lost a hostage and Midoriya is dead."
Ochako sucked in a breath through her teeth, while the other girls muted themselves. Satisfied that the chatter was toned down, Momo continued to look over the layout. "Ah, here we go. Security includes silent and audible alarms, emergency shutters and door locks. It does have emergency lights in case of power outage, fire suppression systems and… drop seal fire doors."
Kyouka blinked. "Drop seal what?"
"Basically, their doors that drop from the ceiling to close off a hallway or something if there's a fire. Helps contain it for the fire suppression staff to put it out," Momo explained. She then glanced up. "Ah, here's one. See, this would drop down and seal off the hallway."
Tsuyu blinked and looked back towards Momo, while Kyouka and Ochako looked at her. Then they all looked up at the door, everyone giving the sealed up door in the ceiling their undivided attention. Kyouka frowned. "… Did we just jinx ours—"
SLAM!
The door, without warning, slammed down. On one side, the front two of the group, Tsuyu and Momo, and on the other, the two at the back, Ochako and Kyouka.
"Oh god damn it!" Kyouka rushed forward and started banging on the door. "I swear I'm shoving a jack right into Toga's ear for this!"
A muffled, "Are you alright?!" came from the other side.
Ochako walked up and cupped her hands up to her mouth. "Yeah! We're fine! You?!"
"We're good, kero!"
Kyouka growled. "I don't suppose anyone here can pry this open?"
Ochako walked up to the door and knelt down. "… No chance, even if I floated it, it sunk into a slot in the floor. There's nothing for me to—"
Vzzt clunk!
Kyouka's head whirled around, eyes going wide as she saw that the hallway they had been walking down was now starting to go dark. "Shit shit shit." Kyouka glanced to the side, and saw that while the way forward was now blocked, the hallway did still have another path. "Uraraka!"
Ochako saw what Kyouka was looking at and banged on the door. "Go on ahead! The lights are going out here! Kyouka and I will take the way to the break room and meet up with you guys in the warehouse!"
"Good luck!" Momo called through the door.
The pair took off, rounding the corner just as the lights in the hall they were in went out. Kyouka was huffing as she skidded to a stop at a door labeled 'breakroom.' Ochako kept her back to her as she walked backwards, eyes on the hallway where they had come from, peering into the darkness. Her head twitched to the side when she heard Kyouka jiggle the door, and found it was locked. "Seriously? Okay, so wha—"
Kyouka growled as she jammed her ear jacks into the door. "Not dealing with this crap!" The wooden door began to vibrate before it exploded into splinters. Ochako blinked a few times, before whistling.
"You don't think we'll get points off for property damage, do you?"
Kyouka flinched, but powered on. "Hero's have insurance, right?" When Ochako leveled her with a blank stare, Kyouka tried not to look her in the eye. "Come on, let's get moving. There should be another door out of here so we can meet up with Tsu and Yaoyorozu."
Getting inside the break room, it was a mundane room. Some tables and chairs, a small little kitchenette for people to warm up their lunches or dinners to eat and, like Kyouka was looking for, another set of doors that would get them to the other part of the building.
"Alright, let's get out of here and… huh?" But as Kyouka actually looked around, she noticed things were just slightly amiss. Chairs were knocked over, and some tables pushed aside. Like there had been a fight, perhaps. Then her eyes fell on a closet and a red puddle leaking out from underneath the door. "Oh no. Uraraka, we might have another injured hostage!"
Kyouka threw open the door, ready to either provide aid, or more likely by the amount of blood, confirm another death. She wasn't able to do either as she froze in place, her mind not able to process what she was seeing. It was a moment of complete and utter confusion. "Wha?" Her mouth was only able to mutter out a confused half word as she looked down at the slumped over, blood soaked corpse of Ochako. "Urara—"
Kyouka didn't even have a chance to turn around before Himiko was behind her, quickly drawing her knife, and slashing across Kyouka's throat, sending blood spraying everywhere.
"Dead."
Reaching the warehouse, Tsuyu had to turn away from the sight while Momo had a hand over her mouth in shock. The room was stained red; blood splashes covered the walls, the floor, the boxed up merchandise, and some splatter had even reached the ceiling. Bodies were strewn about, with knives sticking out of them, and some still leaking blood onto the floor. The gelatin corpses were just life-like enough that seeing them left in such a state, in the low light, was enough to send shivers running up the pair's spines.
"We should… should we check on them?" Momo asked as she looked around.
"I… think so. If someone's still alive, we need to provide aid."
Momo nodded, before she reached down at her stomach, which was now glittering blue and purple sparkles, before she created a pair of first aid kits. "Here, it's filled with compression bandages and things to help with bleeding and open wounds."
Tsuyu took one of the kits. "Toga might be hiding amongst the bodies, kero." Momo's head snapped up and looked at the scene. "It just feels like something she'd do. So be careful, kero."
"When Uraraka and Jirou get here, it might be a good idea to have her try searching for her. Now that we're inside the building."
Splitting up, the pair began working their way in opposite directions. Tsuyu winced as she examined the dummies. Unlike with Midnight and Izuku, the cuts on these were deep, cutting into pouches of either more of the fake blood or something like it, so they looked like they were bleeding. Tsuyu wasn't really sure what she should be looking for, to see if one was alive. Maybe it would be another teacher playing the role. But so far, she wasn't seeing anything. Still, if there was someone alive, they had to find them.
"Tsu? Momo? You guys in here?"
Tsuyu's head snapped up, seeing Ochako come running into the room from the other entrance. "Uraraka! Over here."
Ochako's came jogging over to her. "Tsu? Any luck with Himiko yet?"
Tsuyu shook her head. "No sign of her. Yaoyorozu and I are seeing if there's anyone alive here. Though it looks like she killed everyone, kero. Yaoyorozu thinks we can find her if Jirou uses her Quirk inside…" Tsuyu paused and looked around while Ochako walked up beside her. "Uraraka? Where's Ji—"
Shunk!
Himiko put a hand over Tsuyu's mouth as she drove a knife right into Tsuyu's heart and blood splashed all over the concrete floor. "Looks like you found me after all."
Momo looked around the room, no longer paying attention to the bodies. She had heard Ochako calling for them. Heard her and Tsuyu talking. But now, the room was silent. "Tsu? Uraraka? Jirou?!" Why hadn't she heard Kyouka when Ochako found them?
The silence of the room made every noise stand out. The way her boots sounded on the concrete floor. The soft hum of the lights. The air conditioning fans spinning on bearings that needed just a little oil. Though it was a wonder she could hear anything over the sound of her own heart thundering away in her ears.
Oh, something was wrong. Something was most definitely…
"Hey there, Momo."
…wrong.
Ochako was just standing in front of her. Smiling brightly. The dim lights casting a dark shadow over her face, except for her smile. Wide and toothy. A deranged smile that looked like it was being pulled over her face. Momo's eyes then traveled down, and she saw all the blood dripping off Ochako's body.
"Uraraka?"
Ochako stepped forward, and Momo now could see the knife in her hand. At the same time, her form began to melt. Like hot candle wax, bits and globs began to fall off the young woman's body, splatting onto the ground with every step. As brown hair fell away, blonde began to peek through. "Oh, I killed her the moment she and Izuku burst into the room."
Himiko's voice was a twisted amalgamation of her's and Ochako's. An unnerving sound that made Momo take a step back. Her eyes wide. "You mean!? It was you with us the whole time?!"
"He he he, yup. Made it so easy to pick you off. One," Himiko ran her knife against one of the metal tables that had some boxes on it, cutting into it with a screech, making sparks dance along her blade, "by one."
"But, but the lights and—"
"None of you were ever looking at me when it happened. I was always behind you. Always just out of sight. You all need to learn to pay better attention. Because now, you're all dead."
Momo dropped the first aid kit, reaching for her side as she began creating a weapon to defend herself with, but Himiko was already rushing her. Momo had only just made her bo-staff when Himiko grabbed her wrist before she could grab it. Flipping her over onto her back, Himiko flipped the blade around in her hand, and drove it down into Momo's chest and stomach, viciously stabbing her to death.
"Congratulations, all the hostages are dead, you're dead and the villain escaped," Aizawa stated plainly. "You have failed this class on every conceivable level."
Izuku, Ochako, Kyouka, Tsuyu and Momo all lowered their heads.
"Sooo, how'd everyone enjoy my first day as a teacher?" Himiko strolled down the street, as Aizawa informed the class the lesson was over. Collectively, the bloodstained group of students turned, and shot her looks of death. Which Himiko just returned with a toothy fanged smile. "I'll take that as a resounding success then? How'd you like me going full Ridley Scott's Predator on your asses?"
Kyouka, hiding behind Momo, glared daggers at Himiko. "What even was the point of all that?! Just an excuse to try and traumatize us?!"
Himiko just smirked. "If you think this was traumatizing, do I got some bad news for you."
"Toga," Aizawa cut in. "Why don't you explain what you were trying to teach them, then you can get snippy."
"Oh right, yeah, I guess I still gotta put on my teaching hat. Okay class, Toga-sensei has some things to teach you all." Himiko suddenly getting serious was at odds over the fact that she was only wearing the under garments of her hero costume. "What do you think I was trying to get you all to learn today? There were three lessons you all needed to learn."
Ochako kept her mouth shut, but the 'was one of them that you're an enormous bitch' really wanted to slip out. Fortunately for the group Izuku seemed to have an answer, "To expect the unexpected?"
Himiko tapped her nose with a smile before pointing at Izuku. "Very good. In fact, that was one of the lessons you guys picked up on. You went into this lesson thinking you were dealing with one thing, but were able to figure out, it was a whole different ball game. Though it did take you a little while."
Tsuyu crossed her arms. "Then what were the other things?"
"Pay attention to things that don't add up," Himiko answered.
Kyouka's jacks pointed at Himiko. "How the heck were we supposed to know you had transformed into Uraraka?"
Himiko looked back at Kyouka with a raised eyebrow. "How often does Ochako refer to you guys by your first names?" The group blinked. "And when have you ever heard her call Izuku anything but Deku?"
Himiko watched as recognition dawned on Tsuyu, Momo and Kyouka, all three looking like they wanted to die then and there. "God damn it."
Ochako was starting to hate that there seemed to be some kind of logic to the madness here. "Okay, but what about Deku and I? We didn't really have a chance to do anything."
"That leads into the third and final lesson. Sometimes, the only thing villains want, is to kill you. And they're going to do whatever they can to make sure you end up dead. Killing a hostage in front of you like that, of course you all would rush right into an obvious trap."
While Izuku and Ochako winced at that, Momo didn't look convinced. "That seems extreme."
"Stain," Izuku sighed. "You were playing the role of Stain, weren't you?"
Himiko shrugged. "Stain, or Shigaraki… Look, sometimes things aren't complicated. It's not about money, fame or status. Sometimes it's just someone wanting you dead."
Kyouka frowned. "But… aren't those two just outliers? I mean, that's not how it normally is, right?"
"Do you remember how many people followed Shigaraki on his raid to kill All Might?" Himiko asked. Kyouka looked uneasy at that question. "Just because a villain isn't nicknamed the Hero Killer, or part of some big league, doesn't mean they aren't out there."
Aizawa nodded. "The news covered Stain and Shigaraki because of their public attacks. However, many times villain attacks on heroes don't get covered so openly. Either because the attempt failed, or the hero themselves wasn't well known. Or it's just because the papers and the government don't want the idea to spread that there are villains out on the streets that are happy to try their luck. But you need to understand, this is a numbers game, and even if the villains are only successful a percentage of the time, the number of them means that sooner or later, they will get a hero."
When he was sure the message had been heard loud and clear, Aizawa dismissed the group, telling them to enjoy their break before it was time for them to head to summer camp.
So that just left the kids by themselves. And even if they were taking the lesson to heart, Himiko could still feel the looks she was getting as they were making their way back to the main campus. Even when they had made it back to the locker room, Momo was still giving her the stink eye.
Himiko just sighed and looked at Momo. "You aren't actually mad I taught you a valuable lesson, right?" She looked over the rest of her bloodstained friends and classmates as they were getting out of their costumes. "You all got the message?"
Kyouka just kept glaring at her. "Oh, we got it."
Momo crossed her arms. "I think after something like this, that someone on our side deserves to get something called a 'shot' back in retribution."
Himiko smirked. "Okay Momo. I get you want a little payback. That's fair, and you're more than welcome to take your shot. But since you're kinda privileged, want me to tell you exactly what you're asking for?"
Momo frowned and walked up to Himiko as the blonde explained, "Oh, so you do know, huh? Okay, it's all fair. A rich girl like you getting the crap scared outta her, probably thinks she deserves to get a shot in. So," Himiko stood up straight, put her hands behind her back, closed her eye and poked out her chin. "Take your shot."
…
…
CLANG!
The sound of something heavy and metal slamming to the ground was not what Himiko expected to hear. She was expecting Momo to either slap her, which seemed like a rich girl thing to do, or maybe punch her. But again, Rich Girl probably couldn't hit that hard. So, when she opened her eye and found herself on the wrong end of a cannon, she was a little put off. To say the least.
"Ummm, what's with the cannon?"
Momo knelt down and put her hand on the firing mechanism. "I'm taking my shot now."
Himiko's voice went up an octave as she squeak out, "That is not what I meant by taking a sho—"
BANG!
When Midnight came into the room to check on the students, almost certain there might be some words said between them after that shit show of a 'lesson', she was not surprised to see that someone had taken their pound of flesh out of Himiko's hide. She was surprised to find the girl stuck against a wall, several feet off the ground, with a splatter of quick drying capture cement holding her in place.
"Huh, so you're just hanging around?"
Himiko glared daggers down at Midnight. "I. Fucking. Hate. You."
Midnight was amused, if a little conflicted. On one hand, she hated that apparently Himiko was taking a page out of Aizawa's teaching book and was resorting to terrorizing as a method of teaching. But at the same time, HImiko was trying to help her friends.
"Izuku and Ochako might have a good head on their shoulders with people wanting to kill them, but Momo, Kyouka and Tsu? I think they need a crash course."
That had been Himiko's explanation when all was said and done last night. So once again, Himiko was showing care and compassion for others. In a very twisted and fucked up kind of way.
"Hey, so are you going to get me down?" Himiko growled out.
Midnight looked up at her. "You soaked me in your blood packs, right?"
"I had to make things authentic."
"Hmm," Midnight turned around and flicked off the locker room lights. "Good night Toga."
"OH YOU BITCH!"
It suddenly dawned on Izuku, as he helped pack up the rest of the contents for the barbeque into the cooler, that since this was at the beach, there was a very good, almost one hundred percent chance, that he was going to get to see Ochako in a bathing suit. And not the kind that the school issued to them.
Izuku gulped loudly as he tried to keep himself focused on the task at hand, but his mind would wander. Would it be frilly? Something like she had worn before, where she'd wear something over it, like she had done back when they had been training at the beach over a year ago. Maybe it would be a two piece? Oh, if it was a two piece then he might see…
"Izuku?"
Izuku blinked and looked up to see his mother walking into the kitchen, with Eri happily bouncing around beside her. She was carrying a little pail and bucket, and was in some adorable pink beach suspenders. "Ye—" Izuku cleared his throat after he squeeked. "Yeah, mom?"
"Try not to cook the food before we get to the beach. Okay?" Inko had a very knowing but amused look in her eye.
Izuku's hand went up to his nose, and waved away the whiffs of smoke. "I wasn't. I mean…"
Inko just chuckled, and took Eri to the living room to wait to leave. "Let's get a move on, Izuku. I'm sure you just can't wait to meet everyone at the party."
Izuku quickly got everything finished, packed up and loaded into the little wagon to take to the beach. Walking outside, he missed the smile on his mothers face, but did hear her teasing remark, "And I'm about to let you and Uraraka spend the next few days off on your own. You know how to make your mother worry so."
"M-MOM!" Izuku whirled around. "Nothing is going to happen!"
Inko arched an eyebrow. "Nothing? And here I thought you were taking her with you so something could happen."
Izuku's cheeks flushed and he started rubbing his hands together. "I-I-I mean… I do wanna… um… you know, I mean this and that are two completely different things."
"Oh, I know. But you're going to stand there and say you're not going to try and spend a little time together away from All Might's eye?"
Izuku was not about to tell his mother that she was pretty much right on the money and that he really was hopeful that All Might wasn't going to be with them the whole time. Inko could see through her son though, and she gave him a smile. "I trust you, and Uraraka. So if the two of you do want some alone time, well I think that would be just fine." Taking Eri's hands, Inko walked off, with Izuku just a little frozen in place.
Did… did Mom just give me permission to sneak off with Uraraka?! That means we could… we might be able to… Does this mean I might get to kiss her?!
Izuku was a walking cloud of smoke by the time he caught up with his mother and Eri, his brain overloaded with all the little things he and Ochako could do away from their chaperone's watchful eye.
"The food's here!"
When Izuku arrived at the bead, he saw that apparently he was the last to show up. Mei, dressed in some white beach overalls and a large straw hat, walked up to them, looking hungry. "We were wondering how much longer we'd have to wait."
Tenya and Hitoshi, both in swim trunks, with Hitoshi in a sleeveless shirt and Tenya in a loose t-shirt and a swim cap over his head, joined her and immediately began helping get the food and barbeque supplies out of the cart Izuku had been pulling, adding it to everything that the group had brought. "It's good you're finally here, Midoriya," Hitoshi grunted as he picked up some bags. "Now maybe Uraraka will stop asking everyone if we think you'd—ACK!"
Tenya firmly pushed Hitoshi on. "Ignore him. Unfortunately even students attending the exemplary U.A. can become frayed at the edges if they haven't eaten in a while."
Izuku blinked. While he was wondering what Hitoshi had been saying about Ochako, he had to wonder, "But we're not even late?"
Mei picked up one of the last bags. "Apparently when you're going to get to have barbeque, you're not supposed to eat at all the day of it."
Hitoshi looked over his shoulder at Mei. "If I'm going to have barbeque, I'm making sure I can eat as much as I can."
Izuku nodded. "Oh, yeah that makes sense."
"True, but doing so shouldn't make one so short tempered," Tenya said with a shake of his head.
Mei just rolled her eyes. "Boys are weird."
Following his friends, Izuku was led to their reserved spot on the beach where the rest of his friends were waiting. With every step, Izuku tried to prepare himself. Ochako was going to be here. In a swimsuit. And swimsuits tended to show a little more skin than regular clothing. It was perfectly normal. So normal in fact that there should be no reason for him to gawk at Ochako when he saw her. None. Zero. Zilch. Nadda.
"Oh, Deku! You're here! And… oh…"
…Oh. My. God.
Izuku was doomed the moment his eyes found Ochako. She was wearing a bright orange and green bikini top, with gold trim separating the colors in circular lines, and with the front tied together with an oh-so-delicate knot. Ochako's skin had a slight dazzling sheen, her suntan lotion made the muscles in her arms and the muscles lining her stomach seem all the more alluring. A white and orange tie-dye sarong was wrapped around her waist. The loose-fitting fabric drapes over her curves, revealing her toned legs and drawing attention to her sculpted but round figure.
The swimsuit top was no different from your average swimsuit, but combined with the sarong and the fact Ochako was wearing it, especially when viewed through the eyes of a love struck boy, it made her irresistibly seductive and tantalizingly beckoned him into the dangerous waters of young love and teenage lust.
If there was any saving grace, it was that Ochako herself was a tad preoccupied to notice Izuku's wandering eyes. Lost in those very same waters, her own gaze was getting pulled towards Izuku and what he was wearing. An opened loose white unbuttoned shirt that blew in the wind, teasing the hardened pecs and rippling abs Izuku had built from his time training to be a hero. His blue white and red trimmed swim trunks hung loose around his hips. The cord had become a little loose on the walk to the beach, so Ochako could just make out the point where Izuku's abs ended and his pelvis began.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Fortunately for the two, their open gawking wasn't noticed by anyone, since as soon as the two caught sight of each other and paused to appreciate the view, Himiko hurried up to them and got them both under each arm. "Finally! Keeping a beauty like me waiting for my food is a crime Izuku! Isn't that right, Ochako?"
Himiko was wearing daisy duke shorts that squeezed around her upper thighs. Her top was a decently black swim top with a single strap over one shoulder. Izuku and Ochako were still a little lost, taking a few moments to speak, but at least this time it could be excused because Himiko had their heads pressed into the side of her chest.
While Izuku worked to recover, and silently thank Himiko for the save, the group made it to the beach. Tsuyu eyed the three, shaking her head when Himiko winked at her before letting the two go, then holding out her hand towards Tsu. "Pay up."
Tsuyu sighed. She was wearing a wide brimmed straw hat, a white and green striped boyleg swimsuit and a cute white sundress over that, which she was now digging through so she could slip Himiko some cash. "One of them couldn't even make it a second, kero?"
"Fu—" Himiko eyes drifted over towards Eri, though the girl was more preoccupied with pointing excitedly towards the ocean and running her feet along the sandy beach. "No. No they couldn't."
Hitoshi put down the bags he was carrying. "You're not going to make it."
"Shut. Up."
"Totally isn't making it, kero."
Himiko whirled around. "Why don't you two go f… Hate. Hate this."
"Easy money," Ochako said with a smirk, now back to her senses too.
Izuku frowned, "Eh?"
Mei hummed as she started digging through some of the bags to help get everything laid out. "We all took bets on if Toga would make it the whole day without swearing in front of Eri."
Tenya shook his head. "Betting on something like this is childish."
Mei looked up. "So, do you want your money back?"
"…I didn't say that."
"Hate all of you!" Himiko grumbled.
Inko leaned in with the group. "So what's the action?"
"Mom?!"
"If she swears or not, and then it's pre meal, mid meal or post meal," Mei explained.
Inko looked over at Himiko before digging into her pockets and fished out some 1000 yen notes. "She'll break at the end."
"Betrayal!" Himiko threw up her hands.
Izuku couldn't believe his mother while Inko just waved him off. "Oh, it's all in good fun Izuku."
Izuku huffed. "At least bet for her. Here," Izuku pulled out some yen as well, "she makes it. Put my money with Uraraka's."
Ochako looked away, whistling a little tune, while Himiko growled, "She bet pre meal."
"Uraraka!" Izuku looked aghast while Ochako immediately went on the defensive.
"Oh, don't you even try that, mister! Even Toga didn't want to bet on herself!"
Izuku's head snapped to look at Himiko, who instead turned to look at the ocean. "Just because I'm a realist, doesn't make the betrayal hurt any less."
"You were going to pick mid meal," came the calm voice of Shouto, the last member of the group Izuku hadn't seen yet.
"Todoroki, you at least didn't… um…" Izuku trailed off when he turned to look at his half and half friend. "…What's with the towel?"
"I think Toga is jealous I look better in my swimwear than she does," Shouto answered honestly.
"Wha?"
Himiko screamed, pulling at her hair. "That's not 'swimwear!' It a fu—" Her rant came to an abrupt stop when she saw Eri come out from behind Izuku, her big eyes wide as she looked up at her excitedly. "—reaking loincloth!"
Eri pouted, kicking her feet into the sand. "Aww, she didn't say any fun words."
Before anyone could address that alarming statement, Shouto crossed his arms and coldly looked at Himiko. "It is not a loincloth. A fundoshi is a form of swimwear worn in this country for generations."
Izuku looked at Shouto, noting that he wasn't wearing a shirt, then looked down. "Ah… a fundoshi is a little, um… little."
Ochako scratched behind an ear. "We all kinda agreed that it might be best if he… covered up. After Toga kinda wrapped him up and threatened to bifurcate him."
Shouto just shook his head. "It's jealousy. I see this behavior all the time when my sister is watching her soaps. Hysterical women will behave irrationally once threatened."
While Himiko didn't say it out loud, the 'bitch did you just' was oozing out of every orifice in her face.
Hitoshi leaned over to whisper to Mei, "Did we say anything about violence, or just the swears?"
"Swears."
"Well, at least Eri's going to get a show." Hitoshi pointed to Eri who was back, watching the interaction with rapt attention.
"Aww, it's so cute how she wants to watch her aunty kill someone."
"That's one way to describe it," Hitoshi said, not sure if this wasn't the start of Eri's villain origin story.
"Lets just," Himiko pressed her hands together and took a breath through her nose, "make one thing crystal clear. I am not jealous of you. You've done nothing to make me feel jealous."
"Besides those women coming up and just throwing themselves at him," Hitoshi slipped in.
Izuku's eyes went wide. "Wait, really?!"
Shouto just looked bored, and a little confused. "It did happen. And no one has come up to Toga yet. So she's upset." Ignoring Himiko's pointed reply, Shouto continued. "Though how they tried to flirt was confusing. There was no exchange of handkerchiefs or pieces of embroidery." Minus Izuku, Mei and Eri, everyone at that moment was looking at Shouto with varying degrees of shock at just how old his idea of flirting was. "They mostly just asked if I would like to join them at one of the changing tents."
Izuku's head tilted to the side. "The changing tents? You were already in your swimwear, right?"
"I was."
"Then why would they be asking you to come to one of those tents if you're already changed?"
Shouto agreed with a sagely nod. "It's very strange."
The group now had something else to look shocked about. Inko was seriously wondering if she was going to have to give her son 'the talk' again, while the rest were looking at them and realizing in horror that it was possible for someone else to be as dense and naïve as Izuku. Himiko leaned over towards Ochako and whispered, "And this is the boy you're desperate to get some quality alone time with. Good luck trying to get him to understand how anything works."
Ochako shot back under her breath, "Oh, you're just as bad!"
"No. You're all kind and romantic about it. So you're gonna put water wings on him and hold his hand in the kiddie pool."
Ochako blinked, not entirely sure she was following the analogy, and kinda wished Himiko would just say it. And not just because she was pretty sure that would mean she'd win the bet. "Okay… so if I'm in the kiddie pool with Deku… What are you doing?"
"Kicking him off the high dive and watching him drown in the deep-end… Okay, so that sounds worse than it actually is." Himiko laughed nervously.
"You think?!" Ochako whisper-screeched back at her. Ochako then took a moment, before adding with a red blush in her cheeks, "You know, half the fun might just be teaching Deku… how to swim."
While Himiko grinned wickedly, Tsuyu looked over at the pair, and muttered, "I'm a very good swimmer, kero."
Now that everyone had arrived, the party could begin. As the wood for the grill was lit and let burn down into coals, the kids were able to just relax. Holding Eri's hand, Ochako took Eri to splash around in the ocean shallows and race the small waves back and forth as they broke on the beach. And Tsuyu would carry Eri on her back, taking her out into deeper water with a mask and snorkel so she could see some of the pretty fishes and coral along the seafloor. Mei had brought a small basket with her, filled with things to tinker with as she sat on a beach towel. Himiko found herself as the acting referee for the boys, who had found a beach volleyball net and were in the middle of a "friendly" game. Izuku and Shouto vs Tenya and Hitoshi.
To the boys credit, the game had started off innocently enough. Just a casual game with a leering girl totally not playing favorites with her calls. Things took a turn when during the middle of a serve, Hitoshi called out Shouto's name. Shouto had replied with just a short, "Huh?" And that was all it took for Hitoshi to freeze him in place and let Tenya spike the ball right at his feet.
"That's not fair!" Izuku complained to the ref. Himiko though had enjoyed the move too much, so she said it was fine.
Afterall, "You boys never said 'no Quirks allowed.'"
From there, the game turned into a small reenactment of U.A. 's sports festival. Ice would freeze the sand underneath someone's feet, sending them face first into the sand. The ball would suddenly glow and make a sharp turn to avoid a player's hand. Tenya seemed to think the game was football and leapt into the air to deliver an engine powered kick to the ball, the impact of which created a small crater in the beach. Before things got too out of hand, Inko stepped in, much to Himiko's displeasure. She had been getting one hell of a show.
So after saving the little beach volleyball court, Inko put the boys to work getting everything ready for grilling. The thin yakiniku-style meats were put on their skewers, and placed with the squid skewers, the meat sizzling as it hit the grill. Fresh corn on the cob, still in its husk, was placed on the grill to start cooking. Inko sat and began making onigiri and slowly, the smell of the barbeque wafted out over the group's little section of beach and pulled the remaining members of the group towards the grill and table. With so many hands to help, the food was grilled, and soon everyone was filling up their plates.
"Itadakimasu!"
Digging in, everyone happily munched away. Eri, still excited from her swim, kept going back and forth from eating and talking wildly. "And then we saw all these fishes and I almost got close enough to touch one! Can I go swim some more later?!"
When Inko looked over at Tsuyu, she nodded happily. "I'd be happy to take her out some more, kero."
"YAY!"
Hitoshi took a large bite of one of his beef skewers. "Oh, so did you guys see the entertainment channel was rebroadcasting the sports festival the other night? But they had these Quirk and hero analysts talking through it."
Tenya nodded. "Oh yes. My brother pointed it out to me."
"Umm, no, I didn't see that," Ochako muttered. "Was dealing with getting blood out of my hair most of the day."
Himiko whistled and looked away when Ochako, Izuku and Tsuyu glared at her.
"Ah, well considering you two," Hitoshi motioned towards Izuku and Ochako, "aren't at each other's throats, I guess that makes sense."
Izuku blinked while Ochako just looked lost. "Eh?"
Mei chuckled. "Oh right. All those make-believe fights they did."
"I'm sorry what?" Ochako put down her corn. "What fights?"
"While the analysts only briefly spent time on the first two events, they went into extreme and unnecessary detail about the tournament," Tenya explained, "They may have alleged that certain matches were made to give some of us participating an easier chance to win."
Ochako frowned. "What does that even mean?"
"A couple of the guys on TV sorta implied that Midoriya was given easier or better matched opponents so he could win. 'Because All Might was interested in him,'" Hitoshi made hand quotes for that last bit.
Izuku almost choked while Ochako looked pissed off. Swallowing down a slice of pork, Izuku coughed out, "What match did I have that was easy?!" Mei raised her hand and Izuku just looked aghast. "Seriously?!"
"Yeah, I wasn't… What'd they say I was again?" Mei asked, making it clear she hadn't really cared enough about the whole thing to even remember.
Hitoshi cleared his throat for dramatic effect. "'A clear symptom of U.A.'s modern age take at affirmative action for those that shouldn't even have been allowed to take place in the event in the first place.'"
Himiko stopped eating her rice ball. "The fu… The heck does that mean?"
"They brought up that the sports festival should really just be limited to the hero classes and that trying to get everyone involved at a minimum cheapens the event and at worst calls into question the rest." Shouto explained. "There's a growing feeling that the sports festival should focus more on the next generation of heroes and less on the… supporting cast no one cares about."
Izuku's face scrunched up. "Gross."
Ochako was equally disgusted. "'Supporting cast no one cares about?' They didn't actually say that, did they?"
Tenya sighed. "Unfortunately. Though there was severe pushback from some of the other hosts. So it wasn't an opinion shared by all."
Izuku rubbed his brow. "Do these people know that this is our school's sports day? Not letting everyone take part is just… messed up. Also, isn't the sports festival the place where the people in general studies can have a chance to move into the hero classes?"
Hitoshi pointed at Izuku as he nodded. "Exactly. It was what I was planning on if my entrance exam fell through."
Inko, who had been sitting quietly, took a bite of her food. "I'm still wondering how these analysts seem to think my poor boy had it easy."
Eri looked at Inko, then towards the upset Ochako, before poking Himiko. "Say one of the fun words. I think you're supposed to."
Himiko hated that Eri was technically right. Because she did have some choice words. But she also wanted that money. So she held her tongue.
"Well, there was Hatsumi and her whole Quirk affirmative action thing. Then there was the whole thing with Yanagi," Hitoshi continued.
Izuku groaned. "We had a psychic battle! How is that anything but cool?!"
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "To be fair… it kinda just looked like you two were just standing around, grunting and making faces at each other."
"Yeah."
"Kinda."
"Pretty much."
"So," Hitoshi continued. "The general feeling is that you kinda didn't have your first match until Bakugou."
"Though," Tenya quickly added, "the other hosts and analysts pushed back against this too. So this isn't some agreed upon idea. The shock jock is known for his wild takes."
Izuku chomped on some pork. "This is my life. Even when I win I lose. No one has it rougher than me."
"Ahem?" Himiko raised an amused eyebrow.
"I alone shoulder the heaviest burdens."
"Izuku, do you think you're being cute?" Himiko asked, amusingly taking another bite of onigiri and chasing it with some grilled squid.