Chapter 36: Fire Zone
No! It's that guy's Quirk—teleportation!
Yoshikage Kira had nearly given up resisting, but feeling Earth's gravity still pulling him, he snapped his eyes open. He was free-falling toward the ground!
Everything was red—flames engulfed the bases of several steel skyscrapers, the fire spreading relentlessly but not yet reaching the tops.
Lucky? His firefighter helmet shielded him from the raging air currents, letting him breathe steadily.
Kira quickly gauged the distance to the nearest building's rooftop. Adjusting his breathing in mid-air, he enveloped himself in Hamon, landing with a leap and grabbing the roof's edge!
*That was close…* After a quick breath, Kira hauled himself up.
Looking at the burning building below, he felt an odd familiarity… like Fuyuki City ablaze!
"Fuyuki burned because of the Black Grail, but this is just Thirteen's man-made disaster zone. One person's power caused this fire…"
In such a blaze, even the strongest hero would feel helpless. You could save the injured, but what's burned is gone forever.
Pushing aside these thoughts, Kira spotted a nimble figure below, darting ahead with several pursuers on their tail.
"That's… Mashirao Ojiro!"
In his martial arts uniform, Ojiro used his flexible, tough tail to swing between buildings, exploiting terrain to shake off his chasers.
Seeing Ojiro, Kira relaxed slightly. They were in USJ's Fire Zone, and the League of Villains had clearly stationed people here, planning to scatter them via teleportation.
If he was right, the others were likely teleported to different zones, each facing multiple enemies waiting in ambush.
No time to worry about them. Seeing Ojiro nearly hit by a trash can lid thrown by a villain, Kira decided to help.
"Still, my options are pretty limited right now…"
Spotting discarded construction materials on the rooftop, Kira devised a plan.
Like throwing a javelin, he stepped onto the roof's edge, grabbed a steel pipe, aimed behind Ojiro, and hurled it with force!
"Go, Gungnir Spear!"
Like a falling meteor, the pipe broke the sound barrier, streaking toward the ground behind Ojiro with unstoppable momentum!
*Ding!*
The pipe pierced the ground like a true javelin, landing right in front of the lead pursuer. It didn't hit him, but its buzzing, swaying tip grazed his nose.
"What… what the hell is this?!"
The villain in tattered clothes screamed, stumbling back dramatically, crawling away with shaking legs.
"Where'd that attack come from? Look around!"
The group's leader stayed calm, ordering them to scan the area.
"Boss, up there! Top of the building!"
One quickly spotted Kira, who hadn't bothered hiding.
"Another guy, huh…" The leader gritted his teeth. "None of us can fly. Ignore him for now—catch that slippery eel first! The firefighter's just a distraction; he can't hit us!"
Reassured, the villains followed orders, ignoring Kira to chase Ojiro, who'd gained distance.
"Hey, not one of you is coming for me?" Kira removed his helmet. The earlier throw, hampered by the helmet, had veered slightly, nearly hitting the villain. Just a scare, thankfully.
"You know, I missed on purpose…" Kira muttered, raising his clenched fist and pressing his thumb down. "Heroes don't kill. But I'm not letting you go after Tailman."
As the villains passed the pipe, none noticed—blinded by the fire's glow—that it was slowly turning red.
The tattered-clothes villain, still shaken, glanced at Kira on the rooftop, now smiling. He whipped around to the pipe in front of him.
"Watch out!"
His desperate yell made the leader pause and turn. They witnessed the scene unfold:
As if forged from dynamite, the pipe erupted in a high-intensity blast, like a focused version of Katsuki Bakugo's explosion ray. The explosion engulfed the nearest villains instantly!
The tattered-clothes villain, farther from the pipe, had bolted before the blast, instinctively shielding himself. Still, the shockwave shredded his shirt's back, sending him rolling meters away!
When the explosion cleared, he opened his dust-stung eyes. He'd been thrown to the entrance of a burning convenience store, where a flaming sign teetered above him.
"Attacking U.A. was a mistake… I could've been a hero. When did it come to this?" he muttered, red firelight filling his world. Arms spread, he gave up on living. "I always knew it'd end badly for someone like me, but why am I so sad…?"
Feeling sparks fall, he closed his eyes, waiting for the sign to break free and end him.
*Snap.*
He heard plastic snap. In his final moment, he thought—*What a nice sound, like my guitar strings breaking after a wild performance…*
Guitar strings! He couldn't die yet—he still had to play!
He opened his eyes, staring in despair as the sign fell toward his head, unable to move a finger…
Suddenly, a javelin pierced the sign, pinning it into the concrete wall!
The sign stopped less than 20 centimeters from his nose, its flames singeing his hair.
A hand gently touched his arm, sending a surge of strength. The villain rolled out from under the deadly sign.
Looking right, he saw his rescuer and gave a bitter smile. "You? Why save me…? Even if you're dressed like a firefighter, I'm your enemy…"
It was the one who threw the explosive javelin—Yoshikage Kira, in his orange firefighter suit.
"I just want to tell you two things," Kira said, standing calmly. "First, my aim's perfect. You were wrong to think I'm no threat."
"Second, heroes don't kill—not even enemies who try to kill them."
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