Chapter 56: Cavalry Battle (Debrief)
"In third place, Team Kira!"
Hearing his team's name, Yoshikage Kira let out a sigh of relief. That was almost a complete disaster...
Kira let go of Toru Hagakure and walked over to Hitoshi Shinso, who was sitting on the ground, still in disbelief. He held out a hand and said with a smile, "Your Quirk is brainwashing, right? It's very powerful."
"Powerful...?" Hitoshi Shinso looked up, his dark circles prominent. He looked at Kira blankly, then suddenly sat up, grabbed him by the collar, and said fiercely, "If it's so powerful, then why were you unaffected!?"
With one minute left in the match, Yoshikage Kira had been standing in a safe spot, waiting for the time to run out. Toru Hagakure was perched on his shoulders, watching in awe as Bakugo hunted down Neito Monoma.
"Hey, hey, Kira! Shouldn't we get in on the action? We might be able to steal his headband, you know," Toru Hagakure had said, enthusiastically massaging Kira's shoulders. "The higher our rank, the better, right?"
"We're in second place right now," Kira had said, rolling his eyes. "Even if we get more points, we can't surpass the ten million. Be careful you don't try to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. Besides, why don't you ask the two behind you if they want to go for it?"
"I'll follow your lead," Ibara Shiozaki had said immediately.
Jiro, looking weary, had also said, "The Class Rep is right. It's best not to cause any more trouble."
"Is that so...?" Hagakure had said, disappointed. Then, a mischievous thought occurred to her. "But if someone comes looking for us, then it's okay, right?"
Kira looked up and saw a bizarre team approaching them, consisting of Mashirao Ojiro, Koji Koda, a sausage-lipped student from Class 1-B, and another from the General Course.
This was a team Kira was not unfamiliar with. In fact, he had been paying close attention to them. The team he had mentioned during the team-up phase, seemingly offhandedly but actually with intention, was this very one.
As a student from the General Course, Shinso had no specialized training, nor did he have a variety of amazing inventions like Mei Hatsume, and it was unlikely he had a powerful Quirk. So how had he passed the first round and secured the crucial rider position on his team?
Kira had been extremely wary. He had provoked Tetsutetsu's team, appealing to his Hero Course pride, hoping he would eliminate this unknown factor for him.
It seemed Tetsutetsu had completed his mission well. When Toru Hagakure was counting their headbands, Kira had noticed one with the same point value as Shinso's team, and Shinso's own forehead was now bare.
Is he trying for a last-ditch effort...?
Kira suddenly noticed the casual look on his face, as if he weren't worried at all about being eliminated.
Kira had settled into a defensive stance, a faint ripple of Hamon flowing around him. "Be careful," he had whispered to Hagakure. "He might have an ace up his sleeve."
"An ace, huh? Let me take him on!" Hagakure had perked up, puffing out her invisible chest. "Who goes there!? State your name! My blade does not strike the nameless!"
The line was so cheesy that Hitoshi Shinso had frozen for a second, then lowered his head and covered his face. "This is too easy," he had muttered. "Are all the Hero Course students this brainless? The standards for this school must be way too low. They're letting any cat or dog in..."
Seeing that the other team was ignoring her, a strange anger had welled up inside Hagakure. The match was almost over, and she had been nothing but a useless pretty face, with no chance to show off. And after she had sworn to protect Kira before the match...
She had looked at Ojiro and shouted, "Ojiro! Why are you helping this guy!? And you too, Koda!"
Neither of them had responded.
Something's wrong. Really wrong...Kira had noticed that Ojiro, Koda, and the sausage-lipped boy all had vacant eyes, as if their attention wasn't on the match at all.
Hitoshi Shinso had looked up and said to Kira, "Hey. How did trash like you get into the Hero Course? The standards at U.A. are laughably low."
"What did you say!?" Seeing him insult her, Jiro, and Kira, Hagakure had exploded with rage. "You're just some guy from the General Course!"
Jiro had extended her earphone jacks and frowned at him. "I suggest you take that back. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe."
In Jiro's eyes, he had just insulted U.A., insulted All Might, and insulted all the teachers who had risked their lives to protect the students.
"Your name is Hitoshi Shinso, right?" Kira had also spoken up. "You should know what you just said. You will be held responsible for your words."
Shinso had suddenly felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have said something that would insult so many people. But the words were already out, and he had successfully gotten all three of them to respond. He wasn't going to take it back.
Oh well. I can just apologize to them after it's over.
As the victor.
"Now," he had said, "take off all your headbands and give them to me."
Ibara Shiozaki had been shocked. After her three teammates had responded, they had suddenly frozen, as if they had been petrified. Then, after Shinso had spoken, Toru Hagakure had suddenly started to untie their headbands.
Although Ibara had only teamed up with Kira for the money, she was naturally happy to qualify. She knew she should stop Hagakure, but Kira hadn't given the order. Should she act on her own? What if he got angry and refused to pay her?
(If Kira knew that in Ibara's eyes, he was the kind of black-hearted boss who would look for any excuse to dock an employee's pay, would he feel sad?)
While Ibara was hesitating, Hagakure had already taken off all their headbands and was holding them in her hand. She was supposed to walk over to Shinso and hand them to him, but perhaps her subconscious was screaming at her that it was a competition and she couldn't get off the 'horse.' She had frozen, confused, unsure of what to do next.
Seeing Ibara's Medusa-like hair floating in the air, Shinso had been a little wary. If he had Kira's team walk over, who knew if Ibara would accidentally touch one of them.
He knew his own Quirk's limitations all too well. He had hesitated for a moment, then decided to have his own 'horse' walk over to them.
When he saw that Ibara still hadn't decided to attack him, he had felt a surge of confidence and had reached out for the headbands, which were floating in the air like loot from a treasure chest—
A sharp glint had suddenly appeared in Yoshikage Kira's eyes. In an instant, a golden ripple of Hamon had enveloped Jiro and Hagakure, snapping them out of their trance.
(For a brief moment, Kira had seen the Hamon outline Toru Hagakure's body...)
Hitoshi Shinso had been momentarily blinded by the sudden flash of light and had instinctively closed his eyes, missing the sight of Hagakure's figure.
He had quickly realized that he had screwed up. When he opened his eyes, he saw them re-tying the headbands, watching him with wary eyes...
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