As the day begins and my eyes open, I move my head to rest on the pillow and stretch my arms. I then realize that half of my right arm had collapsed during the night. A part of being asleep is not being able to control my body, so I quickly fix it before doing anything else.
I look around and see my mother still sleeping in her uniform. I sigh, grab my phone, and check the time. It's 4 o'clock, so I'm fine.
It doesn't take me long to get out of bed and into the shower. Technically, I don't need to clean myself, just restore my skin, but I don't want to feel gross.
The water touches my skin as the cold drops slide down. No matter the day, time, or weather outside, I always use cold water. It helps me relax and is honestly cheaper. After a good five minutes of just standing there, I grab a bar of soap and use it all over my body without a care. With my eyes closed, it feels more like a massage than anything else.
My mom interrupts my meditation with a knock on the door, shouting as I quickly open my eyes.
"Do you think we're rich?! Stop messing around and get out of the shower!"
The water stops pouring as I get dressed. Staring at my face in the mirror, I try to remove the mole that appeared the day before, but it won't go away. Even if I cover it, it comes back when I'm not looking. It's not bad, but not having total control over my appearance is a shock to me after all these years.
I enter my room and quickly get dressed, adjusting my tie and making sure my shoes aren't scuffed. With that, I'm ready to go. I grab my bag and make sure everything is inside.
With that, most of my daily routine is done. Just as I'm about to leave, I kiss my grandma, who is still having trouble with her energy, and say to my mother.
"Goodbye, I might be a little late today."
"You're always late, but yes, take care."
We don't usually say such things, but things are finally taking a different path. The streets are mostly empty, with one or two people walking to who knows where, and I walk quickly to the station.
The station is as full as you might imagine. A crowd of people is waiting for the train, and I take advantage of my quirk to get as close to the front as I can. After a while, the train stops, on time as always. The doors open, and I slide into the mass to finally enter the car.
Unfortunately, the seats are already taken, so I sigh while putting in my earbuds, leaning my head back as the music I recorded on my phone starts to play.
I'm not limited to one music genre; I listen to a bit of everything. But today, I wanted to get back to my roots a little bit, so the songs playing are similar to psychobilly, which is similar to punk rock.
Finally, my station arrives. The door opens as I wait for the people in front of me to move. When I leave, I notice my classmate, Ochako Uraraka, looking around, maybe searching for something.
"Are you lost?" I ask with a smirk as I wave at her.
She looks at me and smiles, quickly closing the gap between us. "Ah! I wanted to talk to you, Akuma. I saw you and Deku on TV. Did you fight Stain?! That's insane!"
"It is. I arrived late, though. I just fought him when he was at his last straw of strength. Honestly, Deku did the most."
We walk together toward UA, as we often do. After a moment, she starts throwing punches in the air, using different techniques I recognize superficially.
"Those moves are interesting. When I taught you the basics, I realized you had potential."
"Yeah? Maybe we should have a sparring match. I was enlightened by Gunhead; I might win against you this time."
It takes me a while to realize that, for the first time, I'm actually having a conversation with no planning, no scheme, no forethought—just me. And it feels very good.
We end up getting to UA early. She takes a large step and interrupts my stride, pointing at my mole.
"I just realized, that's new, isn't it?"
"Ah, that? I can't seem to take it off. Does it look bad?"
"I think it suits you. You look good!"
She smiles and gives me a thumbs-up. We finally get to the 1-A door. As I open it, I'm baffled to see Bakugo with such a strange haircut.
"Man, and I thought my internship was a mess. What the hell happened to you?"
"Shut up! Why do you care?! And wait! What the hell were you doing in Hosu?!"
"Oh, yeah! Akuma, I thought you were training here. Did you escape?!" Kirishima asks as I simply smirk, looking at Deku, who is talking to Iida.
"What can I say? I read people very well. Maybe I should read cards? Clairvoyance might be a second quirk of mine."
"Tch."
"Now that you mention it, it's true! All four of you fought the Hero Killer! How did you manage to beat him?!" Denki asks as I scratch my head.
Iida sighs as Deku looks a little ashamed. Todoroki is just being Todoroki, thinking who knows what. I answer, "To be fair, I just entertained Stain until the heroes rescued me. When I arrived, Deku and those two were already about to beat him."
"That's not true! If Akuma hadn't arrived on time, we would have been defeated!" Deku interrupts me, standing at his desk. I look at him with sympathy. Unlike other times, I was trying to be honest, but I guess he doesn't like credit?
"Oh, right, didn't you also stop a bank robbery, Akuma? I'm jealous; I was only doing commercials." Momo comes up behind me. She looks worried, for all four of us.
I wave my hand and shake my head. "It's really nothing. I'm sure that if you tried, you would do better than me."
"Hey, dude, what the hell happened to you? Aren't you being a little too humble?"
"I don't think so…"
The day continues, as the topic is, as you might have guessed, Stain. Everyone seems convinced that they are out of any danger, and while that might be true in some sense, I wonder how chaotic the police force is right now. Well, I can't help them even if I wanted to. I don't know what hideout Karma chose for himself, and I'm honestly curious to see his response to my proposal.
Having Stain on my team is going to ease a lot of the recruitment process. I mean, the things that are going to happen from now on are a direct consequence of what happened yesterday, so having the central figure on my side is the best move.
We get called outside with our costumes. Just as I was grabbing my stuff, I notice a pink-haired girl staring at me from the door. I quickly grab the box containing my clothes and rush to Mei.
"Hey, what's up with you?"
"Akuma! I finally have time to give you this!" Mei says as she hands me a new helmet, red and just like the previous one, faceless. The texture was different; it felt more fragile.
I ask her, "I thought I sent a new version of my suit without the helmet? Did you make this before that?"
"Yup! It can't go to waste, you know! I made it as a distraction and a gift for helping me with my babies. You should try it on."
Well, I can't say no after she helped me. The exoskeleton Mei made for me is still mostly intact and works like a wonder, so why not try this one too?
I slowly put the helmet on. It fits more comfortably than the previous version. A satisfying click ends all movement. I realize that instead of the usual darkness, I can see the world through a digital panel.
"Well, this is new."
"Right, right?! Do you like it?!"
"It's good, actually, but isn't this going to make it more fragile?"
"Well, that's the catch, but I guess you can deal with it."
Huh, yeah, this isn't going to last long. At the very least, this is another incentive to fight from afar, as they told me. I turn around to see her smiling at me. She's covered in oil as usual, with her hair being even more messed up than last time.
"Oh, yeah, why did you send me that message?"
"I have to ask you a few things. We can have a brainstorming session. I really need new inspiration."
So that's it. Well, I guess that's fine. I try to take the helmet off, noticing it has deployed a protective mesh around my neck. Mei takes a step forward and pushes a button near the angle of the jaw, which makes the helmet retract. I gently take it off; the helmet ended up contracting into a single, incredibly compact panel.
"Well, this is great. Thank you, Mei."
"No problem, see you later, Akuma!"
She starts walking away as she waves at me. I stare at her before kneeling down and opening the box where my costume lies, placing the newly obtained piece inside. As I close the box and look up, The I see Denki and Mineta staring at me with murderous eyes.
"...Ah."
After calming those two rabid beasts, I finally get to the changing room with only a few scratches. I take my place to start changing. The room was full, and murmurs of different conversations could be heard. I was in the middle of adjusting my new chest plate since the last one had to be replaced after fighting Stain.
Beside me was Iida, staring at his hand with a serious look on his face. I didn't hesitate to
ask,
"How are you feeling?"
"Ah, Akuma, it's getting better. I just need to keep it together."
"That's good to hear. I'm glad that I arrived on time, so please take care of yourself."
Iida's face softened as he put on his gloves. "Thanks. I really appreciate that you came to help, Akuma. I'll tell my brother to send you an autograph; I'm sure you'll like it."
Oh, yeah, I told him I was a fan of his brother. Great, now I feel like a jackass.
"I-it's fine. How is he, anyway?"
"He… he's angry at me, and it's probably normal. Even he admitted that if 'that' guy didn't save him on time, he could have died."
"'That guy'?" Didn't Ingenium manage to make Stain run?"
"No, not at all. He was about to be… you know, before that guy… Karma, appeared. He doesn't know why, but he owes him one, and I don't even know what to think."
Well, this is awkward… I can just smile softly at him, grab his shoulder, and tell him, "It's going to be fine. Just focus on training. Your brother will recover, and you need to be in top form, right? Let's go."
"Yeah, that's true, Akuma!"
With his usual energy restored, Iida puts his helmet on. I follow him while pressing the same button Mei pressed. The helmet restores its form as I put it on. The sound of metal plates lining up around my head ends with a click. The panel activates as I walk, leaving a satisfying sensation on me.
"I AM HERE!"
All Might, as bright as ever, received us in his muscular form, striking a pose that made me wonder how much muscle that man has. Normally, and following the continuity of the story, at this time we would be at a construction site to do some kind of obstacle course among metallic structures. But instead, they told us to come to a control room. Displayed on the televisions in front of us were images of a city.
"Good morning, boys and girls. We are here after the peak of your field of expertise, and we want to see how much you've all improved. But this being a special occasion, Principal Nezu decided to make a new game for some of you."
The whispers didn't keep me waiting. I heard my classmates asking each other what All Might meant by that as he stared at me. Taken aback by this, I stare back at him. I think it was the first time we looked at each other.
"Young Akuma! Please take a step forward."
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes! Principal Nezu told me that you made a deal with him about this game. Therefore, you were one of the four selected."
Ohhhh, so that's why... Damn it. I move forward as he tells me, looking at my classmates as they grow interested. I take my helmet off and rest it under my arm without retracting it.
"Next are Young Izuku, Todoroki, and Bakugo. Please come here, too."
"Midoriya and Todoroki were selected thanks to their participation in Stain's arrest, while Bakugo was selected for being the first place in the sports festival."
The three of them took different approaches to the mention. Deku looked worried. Todoroki just sighed and obeyed, while Bakugo smiled like a crazy man.
"Please, let me explain how this new game works. The four of you will be divided into two groups of two people. One group will defend and the other will attack. The ground is going to be a city designed for this kind of environment. The two in charge of the attack will have 15 minutes to take this briefcase from one side to another. The defense team will, of course, try to prevent that."
I stared at the cameras. This is something new even for me, so I need to be aware of what kind of terrain we are going to fight on. This city seems to be quite large, so 15 minutes is an advantage for the defense team, but there is something I don't like about it...
"Now! The two teams are going to be selected. Please, Akuma and Izuku, you are one, so please, grab one."
He says as he puts his two hands in front of us. Izuku and I look at them and then at each other. I step forward and point at the left one. All Might opens it and reveals a blue ball inside.
"Defense!"
Great, this is the second time I've defended against Todoroki, and the last time he wasn't using his other side, so I can expect to end up as a pile of ash.
"Then Todoroki and Bakugo are the offense team! Isn't this a bit unfair?" Mineta says, scratching his chin with his hand. And he has a point. Those two counter me by a mile, and I don't think Deku can contain them on his own, but there is still time to think.
As Bakugo and Todoroki refuse to look at each other, Deku and I are transported to the zone where the fight is going down. They also gave us a holographic map to see the entirety of the city without having to move, so we put it on the ground as the hologram reflects at the height of our chest.
"I knew it."
"Did you see it too?"
I stare at Deku with a smirk as he also nods. With a click of my tongue, the words start to flow.
"This isn't fair in the slightest. They have a lot of space, and we don't have any corner where we could even dive them, not to mention that both of them have destructive quirks, further limiting our options."
They start in a crescent-shaped entrance, from which follows a corridor of about 100 meters, entering a city with the main street and two deviations. The city is a kilometer long with around 15 buildings. Then another big exit where they enter a roundabout big enough to fit 5 buildings in each half, with two ways to go. They can easily separate and force us into a 1v1, which, as I said, is a disadvantage.
At the end, there is another corridor of the same 100 meters before the exit, which is the same as the entrance. The whole thing is 1.7 km long, making it easy to travel in less than 6 minutes for someone like Bakugo.
"What do you think, Deku?"
"Well, I don't feel confident enough to fight any of those two right now, so we should stay as a team."
"We could, but they have a more effective range if their objectives are close to each other."
"So we have to fight them separately?"
"If we do that, one of them could easily escape."
"Then we should corner them."
Unlike the two students arguing, back in the control room, a crowd of students watched Izuku and Akuma point at different places on the map below them. The things they said weren't heard, but sometimes they nodded, other times they disagreed.
"Whoa, they're already pointing out some weaknesses?!" asked Mina, moving her fists up and down as she looked at the screen. Both of the defenders looked at the map in different ways. Deku was hesitant, trying to understand how their opponents could attack and how they should counter them.
Akuma, instead, thought about how they could attack to close off the options for the attack team.
"That city… it seems to be an advantage for someone capable of breaking their way through," says Momo, who was also trying to figure out how she would approach that situation.
With that, All Might spoke with a smile. "Yes, maybe it is, but part of this exercise is to work as a team. If someone like Bakugo tries to break his way through without paying attention to his teammate, he will be easily overwhelmed. This game is meant to be played with strategy and temperance."
Back on the ground, Akuma stared at the entrance where their opponents would emerge. Beside him was Deku, somewhat nervous, but still sure of the plan they formed.
Minutes before, they had finally caught the principal point of this track.
"Those are choke points," said Akuma, pointing out three places that stood out: the entrance, the exit of the city, and the entrance to the final corridor.
"Nowhere to hide, just a single in and out. If we managed to trap those guys only 5 minutes per place, we could easily win."
"But how? Are you able to block those places with your threads, Akuma?"
"No, I don't think I can. My reserve is not that big, and they can easily break through, so that's impossible."
"So what should we do? Fight and then retreat? Isn't that going to be super exhausting?"
"Yeah… wait."
Akuma stops, as he finally gets the last piece he needs to complete the equation: a war of attrition… that's it.
"Okay, I have a plan, but I need you to put in your maximum effort because if one of us fails, the whole thing gets destroyed, alright?"
Deku nods, trusting Akuma with whatever he is thinking. Akuma puts his helmet on as he opens his arms for a dramatic effect.
"Are you familiar with the term, guerrilla warfare?"
The timer runs out inside the chamber where Bakugo and Todoroki waited to finally enter the training ground. Bakugo hits his own hand with an explosion and a grin on his face.
"Finally! Let's kill those losers!"
"Bakugo, don't get so comfortable. They surely have a plan, and we have to prepare for anything."
"Huh?! Don't think I don't know that, you half-and-half bastard!" Bakugo says as he looks at Todoroki with anger, also throwing the briefcase to him, this was the objective, and even Bakugo thought Todoroki was the best one to transport it
And so, they start going up in the stairs that take them to the area where the game will take place
Todoroki and Bakugo walk into the semicircular area, with walls that cannot be climbed, in the distance they see the next part, a long corridor with the same walls
As they step into the ground they stare at the same place, the corridor seems to be the perfect place for an ambush, but they can't see no one there
-They are waiting at the other side, be prepared-
-I know!, can you stop saying obvious things?!-
Bakugo says as he looks at Todoroki with anger, at the same time, he steps on something that clings tightly to his leg. He looks down to see a cluster of reddish threads preventing his movement.
"WHA?!"
The next second, like a hammer, Akuma falls from the sky, in the middle of them, sending a kick directly at Bakugo, who blocks it and responds with a heavy explosion that fails to hit his enemy, but instead hits Todoroki, sending him flying away.
"TCH!"
"Calm down!"
Bakugo hits the ground with another explosion, freeing himself as he looks around. A shadow passes behind him as Akuma uses a technique Bakugo has never seen, dividing his arm into branches to attack Todoroki, who immediately responds with a glacier.
The glacier forces Bakugo to move away as he sees Akuma in his direction. Without hesitation, he throws an explosion directly at him that ends up being blocked by the organs coming out of Akuma's back.
"Wait, it didn't break?!"
A smile comes from behind the mask. Akuma is surprised to see his body being able to withstand Bakugo's explosion, which was lethal a few weeks ago. His body is adapting. He still had to regenerate, but it was a great step.
The next second, a blaze of fire comes from behind. Akuma shields himself in the ice he previously avoided. In front of him is Bakugo, with both of his hands pointed at him, laughing as he blows the entire ice structure behind Akuma, making a cloud of icy fog.
"Damn it, Bakugo!"
"Where is he?!"
Bakugo turns his head to see a shadow passing by. He doesn't hesitate before attacking it. The smoke clears with the explosion, revealing nothing but a scorched carcass.
"A fake one?!"
As the attack team shifts to be prepared for the next attack, they are surprised to see not Akuma, but Deku in the sky. His body is covered in red veins and a green aura, while his eyes glow with green electricity.
"10%!"
He screams as he gets closer. Without even moving, Bakugo tries to retaliate, but he's not quick enough. Deku's fist hits first.
"SMASH!"
A roar fills the entire place, while Akuma watches with a smile from afar.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Hey! Just a quick statement.
First of all, thank you for reading this book until this point, I really appreciate it
Second of all, for some personal reasons (College) I'm only going to upload probably one time a week after the 1st of September, sorry about it.
I promise to be as consistent as possible, so don't worry, I plan to continue this book until the very end.
That's all, thank you.