Chapter 16: Static Induction
The teams were decided. Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu, Minoru Mineta, Denki Kaminari, Katsuki Bakugo, Tenya Iida, Hanta Sero, and Yuga Aoyama were the search party. The remaining nine students were the ones to be rescued.
"Damn it! I can't believe I'm on the same team as you, Deku!" Bakugo's face was contorted with rage, unable to accept the team composition.
Standing behind him, Kirishima said with a sigh, "Bakugo, you chose that spot in line yourself. I asked you if you wanted to switch places earlier, and you said no..."
"I'm not gonna be one of the hiders!" Bakugo said, crossing his arms with an expression that said it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Someone as strong as me... how could I possibly be rescued by someone else!?"
"Is that so?" Mina Ashido poked Mashirao Ojiro's back and whispered, "But I heard that during the Sludge Villain incident, Bakugo was rescued by All Might..."
"Hey, you with the pink hair! What are you mumbling about!?" Although Mina had spoken quietly, Bakugo had still heard her. His face turned beet red as he tried to explain. "That was All Might! Does it even count as a rescue when it's All Might!? It was assistance! Yeah, that's it, assistance!"
"Bakugo was very impressive back then," Tsuyu Asui said, resting her chin on her hand with a calm expression. "When all the Pro Heroes were helpless, he held on for several minutes. Not many people could do that."
"W-Well, of course!!" Bakugo laughed, his hands on his hips. "I'm the man who's going to surpass All Might and become Number One, after all!"
"Um, Kacchan..." The hiders had already left. The search party had to wait five minutes before they could move. Midoriya approached Bakugo. "Let's discuss a search plan. There are nine of us, so we can split into three groups..."
"Is that your plan, Deku? It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Bakugo rudely cut him off. "This training ground is several kilometers in diameter! You think we can cover the whole area in just three groups!?"
"Pairs! We'll work in pairs! You hear me!?" Bakugo spun around and shouted at the others. "You'll split into pairs and search in the four cardinal directions! I'll be a mobile unit and search from the air!"
Without waiting for a reply, the moment he heard Thirteen-sensei shout, "Search team, go!", Bakugo set off explosions from his palms and launched himself onto a nearby rooftop.
"...Bakugo has a point," Momo said, making a decision. "Let's go with his plan."
"Midoriya, to be honest, I think our search team is at a huge disadvantage here," Denki Kaminari said, his hands behind his head. He had the antenna of the wireless earpiece on his right ear extended to its maximum length. He stood behind Midoriya, watching him search meticulously. "The rule is that once you've chosen a hiding spot, you can't move. But there are just way too many good hiding spots around here, don't you think?"
"Kaminari-kun, we are aiming to be Pro Heroes, after all," Izuku Midoriya replied earnestly, flipping over a large rock. "When an earthquake hits, people could be trapped anywhere. We have to search every little nook and cranny. The slightest oversight from us could mean the loss of a precious life."
"I get the principle, but isn't it a bit much to be looking for that kind of realism in a game?"
"Kaminari-kun..." Midoriya was about to retort when the ground nearby suddenly began to shake. The surrounding rubble started to dance and jump.
"WHERE ARE YOU HIDING!? GET THE HELL OUT HERE!"
Bakugo was flying through the air, using the recoil from his explosions. The blasts were causing the already-damaged buildings to crack further, each explosion sending rocks flying higher into the air.
Seeing Bakugo fly past him, Midoriya looked at his retreating back in shock. "That's Kacchan! What is he doing!?"
"See? Looks like you're the only one here who's seriously following the rules," Kaminari said with a shrug. "All Bakugo cares about is winning. He doesn't give a damn about breaking the rules."
"But that's not right! Everyone else is trying to enjoy the game!"
"Midoriya, I'm sorry." Kaminari dropped to one knee, a confident smile on his face. "But my motto is—when you play a game, you play to win."
Kaminari pressed his right hand to the ground. In that instant, he released a burst of electricity. The dispersed current shot out in all directions, eventually encompassing nearly half of the collapsed training ground with Kaminari at its center.
Midoriya suddenly felt a numbing sensation, and his heart gave a violent thump. He clutched his chest, asking in surprise, "Kaminari-kun, what was that...?"
Kaminari kept his head down, his voice calm and reassuring. "Midoriya, you know about static electricity, right? Everyone has it. In a very dry environment, it can build up, but it's usually harmless. However, the moment you come into contact with another person or another charge, a potential difference is created. In the instant of separation, it's released, and your body is affected by the static in various ways..."
He pointed to the earpiece on his ear with its fully extended antenna. "What I just released was a low-voltage current. My specially-made earpiece can receive the feedback from that signal, allowing me to pinpoint a target's location in an instant. This is a new ability I've developed—Static Induction!"
As he finished speaking, Kaminari stood up with a cool flourish. "Midoriya, there's a person underground about a hundred meters to the southeast, and another one in a building about fifty meters due east."
"Kaminari-kun, that's amazing!" Midoriya was full of admiration for Kaminari. To come up with a method like that in such a short amount of time... his on-the-spot thinking was incredible!
Denki Kaminari gave a smug smile. "Haha, of course! During the last villain attack, I was useless because I couldn't communicate with the outside. So when I got back, I hit the books and crammed a bunch of knowledge about electricity. That's when I discovered this way of using my Quirk. And the best part is, it doesn't cause me to short-circuit! I'm way more awesome than Bakugo, who just blows things up randomly, right!?"
He laughed triumphantly and reached up to run a hand through his hair. Suddenly, his hand froze, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Oh no... I forgot that my hair has static electricity too..."
The next second, the cool and collected Kaminari who stood before Midoriya a moment ago suddenly went vacant. His arms dropped to his sides, and his hands instinctively formed into a thumbs-up gesture, which he began to repeat in a mechanical, robotic motion. Drool trickled from the corner of his mouth. He looked like a complete idiot.
Midoriya's mouth twitched. He wasn't sure what kind of expression to make. "I seem to remember that whenever Kaminari-kun's brain short-circuits, he enters this completely harmless state..."
It was obvious what had happened. Kaminari's hand, still carrying a large amount of charge from his recent discharge, had come into contact with his hair, which, just like his tracking targets, had accumulated a large amount of static electricity in this environment. The result—total system crash.
"Go, Midoriya!" Kaminari's upright thumb seemed to say. "Use the intel I just gave you and get us our first win!"
"KAMINARI-KUN!!" Midoriya nodded at him with determination. He took off his school jacket and wrapped it around his hand to avoid the static, then helped Kaminari sit down on the large rock he had just overturned. "I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!"
With tears in his eyes, the young man set off towards the glimmer of hope he had just seen... Behind him, a human statue held a steady thumbs-up.
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