Iona peeked around the tree she was crouched behind, intently watching the boy with lots of arms. The arms had eyes and ears instead of hands and he was waving them around.
She ducked back behind the tree, to where her new notebook was lying open on the ground. She picked up her pencil and, with her tongue stuck out in concentration, started drawing the boy. All she had with her was the normal pencil—her colored pencils were all in her bag inside the building—so she couldn't color it in, but Zuku promised to help her color later after the training was done.
A few minutes later, Iona was satisfied with the drawing, and peeked back around the tree for another look. The boy was still waving his arms around. Was he looking for something?
Returning to her notebook, she remembered what Zuku told her about an-a-lyz-ing. First you have to notice something about the quirk, then think about why that would happen, or what it could do. With the boy, his hands had turned into eyes and ears. She scribbled that down next to her drawing, making sure to draw an arrow pointing to his hands. For the second part… he was acting like he was looking for something. Maybe more eyes and ears made it easier to look? She smiled, jotting that down.
"Hey, that's pretty good!" A sudden voice said beside her.
Iona jumped, and Kemono appeared right in front of her, but looking up at the source just revealed Tooru—she said Iona could call her that because Ha-ga-ku-re was so hard—she was wearing weird black clothes and her rainbow hair was in a ponytail.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." Tooru said.
Iona smiled. "Hi Tooru!" She greeted as Kemono went to hug her. Iona could feel his happiness, and she giggled when she felt Tooru's hand patting his head.
"Hi Iona! What are you doing all the way over here? Are you watching Shouji train?"
"Uh huh! Zuku's teaching me how to an-a-lyze quirks. And now I'm practicing."
"Oooh that sounds like fun!" She said, crouching down next to Iona to look at her drawing. "Whatcha got so far?"
"His quirk lets him make lots of eyes and ears, and that makes it easier to look for stuff."
"You're right so far!" She said. "His quirk lets him turn his hands into eyes and ears. He can also make mouths and even more arms. And they do make him really good at searching for things."
Iona smiled, happy that she was right, and went to write down the part about mouths and arms.
"Are you training too?" She asked once she was done.
"Yep! I'm actually hiding from Shouji. He's trying to find me. It's training me to be more sneaky."
Iona tilted her head, trying to notice something about Tooru so she could an-a-lyze her too.
"Is that why your clothes look weird? Do they help you be sneaky too?"
"My… My clothes?"
"Uh huh. They're all black and shiny."
"You can see them? But they're invisible, like m-… Wait, can you see me?"
"Yeah! I really like your hair and eyes. They're really pretty. Like rainbows."
Tooru stared at Iona with wide eyes, long enough that she started to wonder if she'd done something wrong. Was Iona not supposed to see her? Kemono was supposed to be invisible, but she could still see him. But then suddenly Tooru screamed, making Iona jump again, before picking her up and lifting her into the air. Iona panicked for a second until she saw the huge smile on Tooru's face.
"Hagakure." She heard Shouji call out. "Screaming kinda gives you away."
"Shouji!" Tooru yells. "Shouji she can see me!"
"She can?"
"Yes! This is-! This is so… Gaah!"
She shifted Iona around to squeeze her with a hug.
"Ah! Wait! HEY ETSUMI!"
There was a rush of wind and suddenly Zuku was there.
"Hagakure." He said.
"Etsumi can I keep her?"
Zuku tilted his head at her. "Can you-."
More wind and suddenly Iona found herself wrapped in Zuku's arms. "No. You may not."
"But Etsumi she can see me! No one's ever seen me! Even I haven't!"
"That's wonderful, Hagakure, and I'm very happy for you. But you still cannot 'keep' her. I won't fault you for being excited, and you can celebrate and talk to her later, but it will have to wait until you've calmed down enough to not overwhelm her."
Tooru pouted, then took a really big breath and sighed. "Fine." Then, to Iona. "Sorry if I scared you, Iona. I was just really excited. I've never met anyone who could see me before."
"It's okay! We can talk about it after you're done training if you want."
Tooru smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you."
Zuku patted Iona's head. "Good. Now you two go ahead and get back to work.
Turning away, Zuku carried her back to the tree she was hiding behind, setting her down and then picking up her notebook and handing it to her.
"This looks great, by the way." He said, ruffling her hair, which had her giggling. "Very well done, and some good analysis too."
Iona smiled, bouncing as she held the journal to her chest. He gave her head another pat.
"I'm gonna go back over to the heroes. How about you go see what else you can find?"
"Okay!" Iona said, before taking off towards some of the other students. She'd an-a-lyze all of them. That'd make Zuku really happy!
She giggled to herself as she ran.
Her first stop was a boy whose name she couldn't remember. He had funny looking elbows with tape shooting out of them.
As she drew him, she wondered how much tape he could shoot before putting more tape in his elbows. Cuz she could remember her mommy putting more tape in the… the tape thingy at her old home. His elbows were a lot bigger though, so she bet it was a lot.
He seemed focused on his training, so she didn't ask him any questions, instead just leaving once she was done with her drawing.
From there she went to the boy with the weird hair that looked like purple bubbles. He was pulling them off and putting them in a pile, but more kept popping up.
She wondered if it was hurting him, because it always hurt her when her hair was pulled, and his was being pulled all the way out.
She decided that it probably did, because she could see blood too. She wasn't worried, even though there was blood, because Zuku said that the training everyone was doing was hard, and might hurt a little, but was good for them.
Moving around to a better spot, she sat down and started drawing him. Once she was done, making sure to write down that his hair kept coming back no matter how many he pulled, she crept closer for a better look. He didn't seem to notice her as she crouched next to the pile. They looked kinda squishy. She reached a hand out to poke one.
"Ah, wait!" The boy suddenly said. "Don't touch those. They'll stick to your hand and won't come off for a while."
Iona pulled her hand back, then tilted her head at him.
"How come they don't stick to you?"
"Because it's my quirk." He said, pulling another one to add to the pile. "It wouldn't work too well if it stuck to me too, right?"
Iona opened her notebook to scribble down the fact that they didn't stick to him.
"Does other stuff stick to you?"
"I don't…" He stopped, eyebrows scrunched. "Huh. I guess not. I don't think glue or tape or anything like that really sticks to me. I've never thought about that."
Iona wrote that down as well, then continued to watch as he started again. She left a few minutes later when she couldn't think of anything else to add.
She looked around for her next stop, smiling when she found Mina. She was over by a really big rock with Jirou. Iona took off running, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Looking behind her, she saw Zuku.
"Careful." He said. "That area over there," he pointed to the right, "is where Bakugou and Todoroki are training. It's not safe for you, so we don't want you getting too close."
He looked over her head towards Mina. "Here, you see those trees over there?" He pointed to the left.
"Uh huh!"
"Go over there first, and then you can go from there to Ashido and Jirou, okay?"
"Okay!"
He smiled, and patted her head. "Good girl."
Then suddenly he was gone again. Looking around, she saw him all the way over by the big building, practice fighting with someone.
Smiling, she did what Zuku said and ran over to the trees, then from there to Mina.
Mina was holding her hands against the rock, with smoke rising from under them, and Jirou was hitting the rock with her ear things.
Once more, she found a good spot to sit and got to work drawing them. But this time, figuring out what to write was tricky.
It was easier for Jirou. Following Zuku's advice, she noticed that Jirou's ear things were stretching every time she hit the rock. Then from there she thought that maybe they could stretch really far to hit things far away. She smiled at that, satisfied.
Mina, however, was harder. She did notice something: the rock was smoking under her hands. And then she thought that maybe Mina was burning the rock, because smoke means burning, but that didn't seem right. There wasn't any fire, and Iona knew that fire was what made stuff burn.
Getting up, Iona crept closer for a better look.
"Careful Iona." Mina said, stopping her. "Don't get too close. This is acid. It'll hurt you really bad if it touches you."
Iona nodded, backing up a few steps. She opened her notebook again. So that's what Mina was doing. She was using her quirk to make acid to hurt the rock. She still wasn't sure why there was smoke if there wasn't any fire, but Zuku could tell her that later. He said that if there was something she wasn't sure about, he'd help her later. She wrote down her question, then got up to find someone else.
She was heading towards the boy with the funny voice, who was shooting lasers into the sky, when she spotted Momo and Satou sitting at a table covered in desserts. She saw cake and brownies and cookies and all sorts of treats.
The funny boy was forgotten as she changed directions.
Momo and Satou were really focused, and didn't notice her approaching from behind them. She snuck closer, crawling under the table once she reached it. She came out on the other side, standing up to peek over the top. The table was so tall that she could only get her chin over the edge. Satou didn't notice her, but Momo smiled and waved, even as she continued to eat. Iona smiled back, before looking at all the treats on the table. There were so many.
Her eyes landed on a big plate of cookies right in the middle of the table. Cookies were her favorite, especially chocolate chip.
She wanted one, but there was a problem. It was right in the middle. She couldn't reach it, even standing up on her toes. Plus… if this was here for Momo and Satou's training, was she allowed to have any?
Looking back at Momo, Iona tried to decide what to do. Momo was focusing on her training, so it would be rude to distract her, but she really wanted a cookie, and it'd be bad to take one if she wasn't supposed to.
She bit her lip, thinking, until finally decided that she really wanted the cookie.
She bounced a little bit. "Hey Momo…" She called out.
"Yes?"
She pointed at the plate. "Can I have a cookie please?"
"Of course." Momo responded, moving the plate closer. "But only one, okay? It's not long until lunchtime."
"Okay!"
She reached out to grab one, when she got an idea. "Can I take one for Zuku too?"
"Yes, you can. I'm sure he'll be quite happy."
Iona smiled, grabbing a second cookie "Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
Tucking Zuku's cookie into her shirt pocket, she ate her own, bouncing at the taste.
As she finished it, she noticed the boy that was almost the same age as her—Kouta, Zuku had told her—watching her from over by the big building.
She started walking towards him when she got an idea, turning back to Momo.
"Can Kouta have a cookie too?"
Momo was focused back on her training again, and just nodded at her. Smiling, Iona grabbed another cookie and started running to Kouta. As soon as she did though, he turned around and disappeared around the corner of the building. She stopped. Did he not want the cookie?
No, he might still want it. She would just have to follow him.
She started running again, reaching the corner he went around, but when she went around it herself he was nowhere to be found.
Iona frowned, looking down at the cookie in her hands. Maybe she could give it to him later?
Or, she perked up, maybe she could give it to Chako or Tsu. There were more cookies at the table, after all, she could get another one for Kouta if she found him later.
With a new destination in mind, she followed the building around. It would lead back to where Zuku and the heroes were.
Reaching the next corner, she went around it, only to stop when she bumped into something. Or someone. That was a pair of legs.
Looking up at the person she'd ran into, she saw Mister Eraser. He was leaning back against the building with his arms crossed, looking down at her.
He didn't say anything, just stared down at her.
Iona took a step back. Mister Eraser didn't seem like a very friendly person. He didn't talk very much, and he didn't smile.
Then she got an idea. There really were a lot of cookies on that table. Holding her hands up, she held out the cookie she was holding.
He blinked, then reached out to take the cookie and ate it.
"Thanks."
Iona smiled. Maybe he was a friendly person. Maybe he just didn't like to smile.
Stepping back towards him, she held her hands up to him.
He blinked again, then sighed. Crouching down, he picked her up, then she was tucked up against his chest.
She giggled, grabbing onto the funny scarf he was wearing. Her giggles transformed into a big yawn as she was suddenly reminded of how tired she was. Zuku woke her up extra early today.
Turning away from the building, Mister Eraser started walking. He walked until they reached a really big tree, then sat down next to it. Shifting Iona around in his arms, he leaned back against it.
Iona yawned again. She was really tired, and Mister Eraser was comfy. Maybe she could take a nap before giving Zuku his cookie.
She closed her eyes, drifting off almost immediately.
Izuku turned away from where Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Kendo were laid out on the ground, groaning in discomfort and sporting quite the collection of bruises and marks that would soon become bruises. As he did, Mandalay's voice rang through his skull, calling out to everyone that it was time to stop for lunch. He smirked at the relief that bloomed in nearly everyone at the words.
Putting on a small burst of speed, Izuku hurried towards Iona. Eraser was a light sleeper, and Izuku did not intend to let this opportunity go to waste.
His phone was already out by the time he got there, ready to catch Eraser sleeping under a tree, Iona napping in his arms.
Eraser's eyes snapped open instantly, awoken by Izuku's arrival or perhaps by some instinct telling him that someone was fucking with him.
"Well now that's just adorable." Izuku said. "Thank you, Eraser. I'll be sure to put that to good use."
He waved his phone for emphasis, and felt a bit of dread from the man.
"In all seriousness though." He continued, scooping Iona up into his arms, careful not to wake her. "Thank you. She needed a bit more sleep."
Eraser grunted, standing up. "It was a chance for me to sleep too. Undisturbed, because who's going to try to wake me up and risk waking her as well. Plus it means she can't get into anything she's not supposed to."
"Fair point." Then, turning around to head towards the main building, "Thanks again, Eraser."
Moving away, he gently shook Iona. He hated to disturb her sleep, but she needed to eat. And if she napped the day away, then it would just mess her sleep schedule up even more.
She stirred a few seconds later, stretching out in his arms before rubbing at her eyes with balled up fists. She blinked up at him, and it took a few seconds for her to recognize him, but as soon as she did, her face lit up.
"Zuku!" She said, voice subdued with exhaustion.
"Hey there, Sleepyhead." He greeted, shifting his grip to under her arms and holding her out in front of him. "Ready for lunch?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You didn't eat too many sweets, did you?"
"Nope! Just one." She pulled a cookie from the pocket on her shirt and presented it to him. "I saved one for you!"
Izuku smiled, hearts clenching, then shifted her to sit on his shoulder.
"Why thank you very much." He said, taking the cookie and popping it into his mouth. "Now let's go get some lunch."
They made it to the main building just after most of the other students, many of them hobbling in in varying states of soreness, with the worst off being the ones who'd been sparring with Tiger or Izuku. As they entered, he felt, then saw Jirou's eyes on him from behind, giving off a strange combination of curiosity, concern, and a kind of slimy feeling he interpreted as being disgusted or weirded out.
Sure enough, before they could make it inside, she called out to him.
"Hey Etsumi. Can I talk to you for a second?"
He turned back to look at her with a raised eyebrow, before shrugging and setting Iona back on the ground. The food was already prepared and set out for them, so she'd be fine going ahead without him. Hagakure was almost sure to snatch her up again, but she seemed to have calmed down at least a little.
He could still feel what was probably the purest, brightest happiness he'd ever felt with 'Observation' from her. And he was still slightly surprised that he'd somehow missed the fact that Iona could see her. He hadn't noticed it back when they were first introduced, or when they were together at dinner last night. He thought her being able to see Kemono was because he was her quirk, but maybe it was a simpler adaptation to let her see that which wasn't normally visible.
"Go ahead inside and find something to eat, alright?" He said, patting Iona's back. "I'll be there in a minute."
She responded with an "Okay!" and raced inside.
With her gone, he turned back to Jirou. "So what's on your mind?"
"What the hell is wrong with your muscles?"
He blinked at the bluntness, then tilted his head. That was… an interesting question. "What do you mean?"
"This morning, when you were throwing the ball. You… it sounded like steel cables under your skin. It was…"
She shuddered, disgust surging. "What was that?"
Izuku's brows knit. He remembered the disgust he'd felt from her when he was preparing to throw, pulling all of his quirks into place. But… he hadn't used 'Metallum' at all, which would be his first guess for a cause. Besides, he knew he'd used the quirk in front of her on at least one occasion before with no reaction, and it seemed like this was the first time she'd heard it.
Perhaps this was an unintended side effect of his body being pushed beyond what it was really meant for? Just evidence of his maximum strength, like the ozone stench that had started to appear when he went beyond a certain point. He could almost see how the same thing could bring about that 'steel cable' sound she was talking about. He wasn't an expert in material sciences or anatomy by any means—in fact, both were now on his list of topics to educate himself on—but quite a few of his strength quirks achieved their effect by increasing muscle density. Maybe if they were pushing his muscles to the point that their density was comparable to steel, then they would start to behave similarly?
He couldn't even be sure when this started happening. He obviously couldn't hear it himself if he hadn't noticed it this morning. His catalogue of enhancement quirks had only changed by one since I-Island, when he'd pulled them all into place during the robot time trial, though it wasn't as if he'd been anywhere close to putting his full strength in, not like he did for the softball throw. Maybe actual muscle exertion and clenching had something to do with it?
Hmm. Things to test, though they may have to wait until he located a hearing quirk comparable to Jirou's. The one he had wasn't anywhere close.
For now though, he needed to provide an answer to her question.
"Honestly, I'm not too sure." He said, deciding on the truth. "This is the first I'm hearing of this."
"But…" He continued, tilting his head, making a show of considering her words. "I can think of a possible reason or two. Consider the sheer amount of force my body was exerting. And then think about how dense and durable muscles would have to be to achieve that, and to withstand it. Maybe they sound like metal because that's how strong they have to be to not be shredded?"
"But… If that's the case…" She started. "How come I've never heard it before today? How come I don't hear it right now?"
He shrugged. "Like I said. First I'm hearing of this. I haven't had a chance to look into it. At a guess? Maybe it's conditional. Maybe my muscles only take on those properties when they need to, when I'm actually exerting myself."
"For instance…" He pulled on all of his enhancers in a flash, and clenched his fist in front of him with all the force he could muster. The way Jirou recoiled, disgust on her face, told him the sound was back.
"Yep." He said. "Conditional."
He let the enhancers settle back into place.
"Maybe you're only hearing it now because this morning was the first time I've properly exerted myself since the USJ. Or maybe I've been getting stronger, developing strength just as anyone else might. Or maybe it's none of that."
Jirou grimaced. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense… It just…" She shuddered again. "It caught me off guard."
Izuku smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, now that I know about this, I'll be looking into it as soon as I get a chance. You've given me information about myself that even I didn't know. As a quirk analyst, both by profession and hobby, that's something I can appreciate."
He tilted his head towards where everyone else was already eating. "C'mon. Let's eat."
He finally made it into the building and, sure enough, Iona was in Hagakure's lap, eating her lunch as Hagakure fawned over her. He sighed internally. Whatever, so long as she didn't go overboard, and she didn't make Iona unhappy or uncomfortable, he'd let her be excited.
Honestly, the analyst in him was a bit excited too. He could see Hagakure as well, but it was through the use of extrasensory quirks like 'All Sight' and 'Spectrum,' and neither allowed him to do so in proper color. The former was all washed out white, black, and blue, and the latter was either similarly dull blues of the x-ray vision or the stark palette of thermal vision. Iona could not only see her with just her natural biology, but could do so in full color. There'd definitely been descriptions of color during the revelation.
Then again, he was assuming that Iona's vision operated in the same light spectrum as most people. She could see everything completely differently.
Hm. Now that was something to think about, and not just from an analysis standpoint. When he and Rei adopted her, they were given all of her medical records, and nowhere in there had he seen anything about vision exams. It might be worth an appointment. Depending on the results, there might be one more thing to look at during the eventual return trip to I-Island.
He shook his head, putting that thought off for when he called Rei in the evening. For now, it was time for lunch.
Shouta leaned back against the wall, considering the conversation he just overheard. Was Etsumi getting stronger?
Well, that was a stupid question. Obviously he was. Not even in an abstract "he seems like he's stronger" kind of way. Shouta had actual documented evidence that Etsumi was, at minimum, stronger now than he had been at the start of the year.
The softball throw. His first measured around eight kilometers, this recent one was sent into orbit, with brute strength alone. Not even comparable.
There were other things as well, now that he was thinking about it. Slightly less concrete because he didn't have actual numbers to compare, but still there. Back during the apprehension test, for the fifty-meter dash, Etsumi had completed it in under a second, but did that even compare to what he could do now? A couple times throughout the day, Shouta had seen Etsumi vanish from view and appear on the other side of the camp—distances greater than fifty meters—to interact with Iona, only to reappear just as quick. He remembered—fuzzy, but still there—Etsumi struggling to fight the Noumu at the USJ, only to throw around comparable levels of power in his fight with All Might without so much as a hint of effort.
Was what Etsumi said the truth? Was it just natural growth over time, and as powerful as he was, he simply wasn't at his peak yet?
Or… Shouta's mind went back to his thoughts from the day before, about why Ragdoll's quirk reacted differently to Etsumi and Bakugou. Frustratingly, both possibilities still seemed just as possible. One insanely powerful quirk, more powerful than even One For All, that might not even have limits as he could understand them, or multiple quirks all compounding to achieve a similar effect. He could see both being responsible for the strength increase. Of course, if it was the latter, that would mean that not only did Etsumi have multiple quirks, but he somehow had a way to acquire more, which was just something else entirely to consider.
He sighed, resting his head back on the wall. Whatever the cause, he knew he wouldn't like it, assuming he ever figured it out.
The rest of the day passed fairly quick. Training proceeded without issues, unless the growing number of bruises he was leaving everyone with could be counted. Before long, it was time for dinner. By the time everyone filed in and found a seat, the two classes were pretty well mixed—with only minor issues from Monoma, though Izuku actually hadn't heard or seen much from him at all so far—Iona was sitting between Yaoyorozu and Shiozaki—the latter keeping her thorny hair up and away from Iona—and Izuku was sitting with Ochako, Tsuyu, Ashido, and Hagakure. Aside from a level of anticipation and giddiness in Ashido and Hagakure that made him slightly suspicious, all was calm.
So, naturally, his suspicions had to be proven right.
"So Etsumi~." Ashido cut in during a brief lull in the conversation. "I heard a very interesting rumor about you while at I-Island."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?"
Her smile widened. "That you and Jinsei are dating."
Izuku's fork stopped halfway to his mouth, his brain bluescreening as he tried to decipher the words that just passed through his ears. What the hell did she just say?
His shock was so great that he actually reconsidered those words against all the other languages he knew just to make sure he hadn't simply misunderstood them as Japanese.
Him and Jinsei? His alter-ego? His very temporary alter-ego who had spoken only a handful of sentences to Ashido during the entire week? ThatJinsei? How the hell had she gotten it into her head that they were in a relationship?
No. Wait. Maybe it wasn't totally far-fetched. One of his primary points of introduction was saying that he—Jinsei—was a friend of Izuku's. He'd been referring to himself by his given name, said that he'd known Izuku longer than anyone, and had definitely said at least twice that he knew Izuku better than anyone else.
Damn. Intense familiarity and long histories were typically indicators of some form of relationship, weren't they? Sometimes even romantic ones. But… that alone shouldn't be enough to base such a theory on. Unless…
He glanced at Ochako, giving off quite a bit of amusement and trying her very best to not show it. She looked quite interested in her meal.
He traced back through his memories of I-Island… There. Day two, when he and the others had run into Ashido and Hagakure when getting lunch. The two of them had held Ochako back when the rest of the group was leaving. They'd been out of earshot but still well within the range of 'All Sight.' He retraced the memory… read their lips… Yes, that's what it was.
Back to the matter at hand. Source of the rumor aside, how did he want to address this? All in all, it didn't particularly matter if Ashido believed the rumor. Jinsei had been intended as a temporary alter-ego. If an opportunity presented itself in the future where he needed an identity that wasn't Izuku or Oni, he might use that one again, but for all intents and purposes, Jinsei was dead and would never appear again. So, no harm no foul if people thought he was dating someone who didn't even exist and whom they could never interact with. He also didn't care overly much about her opinion in the first place, so she was free to think whatever she wished about him.
The fact that he'd never before considered forming a romantic relationship with anyone and that doing so ranked firmly towards the bottom of his list of Things He Wished To Do wasn't all that important.
What should his response be, though? Based on his actions and words at I-Island, outright denying that he knew who Jinsei was wasn't ideal. He could deny the relationship part, certainly, though something about the way that Ochako was trying to hold back her amusement, and how both Ashido and Hagakure were holding their phones, powered on and ready to be held out, told him that might not be the right play. Maybe just standard indifference? Just accept the situation and move on? Ashido thrived on attention and drama, which was no doubt her goal here, so denying her that might be the way to go.
Oh, wait. Maybe he could go a step further. Instead of outright denying her of the drama, give her something more worthwhile to focus on. It would mean giving up his recently acquired blackmail material, but he'd consider that a worthy price for not having to deal with this.
Focusing back on Ashido—his shock and analysis had only eaten up about two seconds—he considered his response.
"Good for you?" He said, deciding to start with indifference. "I'm not sure why you feel the need to tell me about it."
"But is it true? I'm not hearing a denial."
He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say?
"But…" Now there was a tiny bit of frustration rising. "You-. I thought…"
"Ashido." Izuku said. "You should know by now that I don't feel such emotions as embarrassment. I'd first have to care what other people think about me, which…" He shrugged. "But what I do feel from this conversation is exhaustion, so I'll make you a deal. In exchange for you not trying to pry into my life to get a reaction, I'll give you something you can actually use."
He held up his phone. "I have on here a picture that I think you'll find quite interesting. Someone who might actually care if it gets out."
Ashido narrowed her eyes at him. "What kind of picture?"
"First, do we have a deal?"
She stared at him for a few seconds. "Fine. It's no fun trying to mess with you anyway. But it better be a damn good picture."
Instead of responding, he simply pulled up the picture he took of Eraser and Iona and turned his phone around to show her.
Izuku smirked as he watched, almost in slow motion, Ashido and Hagakure's eyes widen, surprise, amazement, and then giddy glee shining to the forefront in turn.
"Okay, yes. Deal. I'll never try to create drama from you again but you have to send me that now."
His smirk grew to a full smile as he sent the picture to the two of them. "Knock yourselves out."
Since he was already devaluing his blackmail material, might as well go a bit further with it. He pulled up the messenger he used with Nezu.
7:31 [Deku]-
-'I have a piece of blackmail you might find use for.'
-'I'm afraid it's not overly valuable since it's already entered the students' social circle, but I imagine there aren't many opportunities for the student and teacher circles to overlap, so they might still appreciate this.'
-EraserheadIsGoingSoft.jpg
7:32 [MysteryBoxMammal]-
-'Oh?'
-'Now isn't this interesting.'
-'Yes I imagine that some of the teachers will appreciate this very much. Present Mic and Midnight in particular will be delighted, I'm sure.'
-'Thank you for sending this to me. Do please pass along anything else you might acquire.'
7:34 [Deku]-
-'Will do.'
He also sent a quick text to Ochako as well.
7:35 [Izuku]-
-'We're absolutely going to talk about this later, by the way. That was a very valuable piece of blackmail I had to give up to deal with that.'
7:35 [Ochako]-
-'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What you get up to with your own alter-egos is your business. I'm not here to judge.'
He shot her a look, which she met with a shit-eating grin. Oh yeah, they'd definitely be talking about this later.
Speaking of, he'd also be having Words with Rei as well. The way Ashido and Hagakure had been handling their phones seemed like they had some kind of proof ready to go should he try to deny anything, and since the only "proof" they could have which would be at all substantial would have to be pictures, and since Rei was the only person who could have pictures of both him and Jinsei and whom he knew for sure had the skills to edit them together, that painted her as the most likely candidate.
He took a deep breath, resisting the urge to sigh. Whatever, it's not like the situation bothered him, aside from the very vague annoyance at Ashido attempting to pry into his business. Besides, there was another matter that more important, and probably needed addressing.
Kouta.
Throughout the day Izuku had witnessed three separate instances of Iona trying to interact with the other child, only for him to avoid her before she could say so much as a single word.
And the fourth had just taken place on the other side of the room. Once again he had avoided Iona's attempt to talk to him. This was the first time she'd even gotten close enough to talk to him, but the end result was the same.
Izuku didn't need 'Observation' to see that Kouta didn't like any of them, but since he did, he knew that it went much deeper than that. The child harbored a bone-deep resentment of every hero and hero student present at the camp, including the Pussycats. There were, at least, some mixed feelings when it came to them, but the hatred was no less potent.
Underneath all of that was eyewatering grief, more than a child his age should ever have to feel.
Izuku had a pretty good guess as to what was going on. He already knew that Kouta had lost his parents—heroes both—to a villain. Most likely, every person to offer him condolences and well-wishes had to mention that his parents had died heroes, doing their duty to protect people. But to a child like Kouta, what did any of that matter? All he knew or cared about was that his parents were gone, and that everyone he met seemed to think that the way they died was something to be proud of.
Assuming his guess was on the mark, it was little wonder that Kouta hated every single one of them here at the camp. Heroes and students training to be heroes, just more people supporting the same system that robbed him of his family.
He wasn't too sure how that might translate to him avoiding Iona. Perhaps he was just angry enough that he didn't want a friend, didn't want things to change, ignoring the possibility for something better purely because it was different. By now he was usedto the anger, and any change would be a disruption to any semblance of peace he had.
Though, Izuku was probably giving Kouta too much credit. He was what, five? Six? That was probably expecting a bit too much of him. It was more likely that Kouta was simply associating Iona with the hoard of hero students and didn't like her because of it.
Izuku patted Iona's head as soon as she was back within reach, having beelined back to him as soon as Kouta left. He could feel disappointment and even a bit of sadness radiating off of her.
He watched as Kouta stalked off into the woods, not even taking any food. He very briefly considered following, but ultimately decided against it. He might care a bit more than usual considering that Kouta was a child, and their circumstances were close enough for him to relate to, but staying with Iona was more important to him—and maybe Kouta's actions making Iona sad made it a bit harder for Izuku to care. Besides, he could see Bakugou standing up to follow after Kouta in his place.
"He didn't wanna be friends." Iona said, hugging his tail.
"Don't worry." Izuku said, patting her back. "He's just sad and angry, and doesn't want friends right now. He's had some bad stuff happen to him, and isn't okay just yet. U-… Bakugou is going to go talk to him though."
He blinked, brow furrowing. The words "Uncle Katsuki" had legitimately almost left his mouth. Where the hell did that come from?
And wow, a surprisingly intense bout of longing for a life he'd missed out on. What if he had been allowed to continue that life? Would he have remained close enough to Bakugou to consider him a brother? It was a nice thought in any case.
He shook his head, giving Iona another pat to hers, before scooping her up. "C'mere. Let's eat."
Katsuki watched as the little boy, Kouta, stalked off into the darkness. Leaving Iona to stare after him. Katsuki was pretty sure he hadn't eaten anything.
Obviously, he didn't much care for any of them, student or hero. Katsuki had a pretty good idea why. He'd kept up with hero news almost religiously ever since Izuku disappeared, so he recognized the name Izumi. It also belonged to a hero team that got killed a few years ago.
He thought it was weird though, how much he avoided Iona.
He avoided everyone, not just her, having kept his distance all day long, almost hiding, watching everyone work and train with open contempt on his face. The only times he ventured anywhere near was when Mandalay or one of the other Pussycats asked him to do something. But then with her, he'd run every time she so much as walked in his direction.
Whatever the case, it didn't change the fact that Kouta hadn't had anything to eat. Getting up, Katsuki grabbed a plate and walked off in the same direction he'd seen Kouta heading.
He paused at the edge of the clearing, tilting his head, listening for footsteps. He turned his head back and forth, trying to find…
A waving hand caught his attention. Etsumi, back in the dining area. He pointed at Katsuki, then turned his hand slightly to the left and pointed again. Katsuki got the message. He nodded, then turned and headed in that direction. He walked until he reached a rock formation jutting out from the forest. It was out in the middle of the forest, far from the mountains that bordered it. A product of Pixie-Bob's quirk, maybe?
Whatever the case, he spotted a ledge partway up, winding around and sloping slightly downward. Getting a good feeling about it, he followed the rock formation around until he found where the path met the ground. Oh yeah, almost definitely Pixie-Bob. No way this rock formation with this perfect pathway was entirely natural. If she didn't make the entire thing, then she certainly made the path.
Shaking the thought from his head—wasn't important, wasn't why he was here—he started climbing. He paused briefly as he rose high enough to see over the trees, appreciating the scenery, before continuing on.
As he felt like he was nearing the top, Katsuki heard something that sounded like a hose spraying a wall. Kouta's quirk, maybe? He seemed to remember the Water Hose duo having water quirks, as their name suggested. The noise was coming from an area out of sight, around a slight curve in the path.
He heard the water stop and decided to scuff his feet on the ground, announcing his presence. A second later Kouta's face, already scowling, appeared from around the bend.
"You!" He yelled, fully emerging. "What are you doing here!? How'd you find me!?"
"I brought you some food." Katsuki said, gesturing to the plate with his free hand and ignoring the second question.
"Don't need it. Now go away."
"Look, be angry all you want, but don't be stupid. You need to eat."
"I said GO AWAY!" Kouta screamed. Water was beginning to leak from his hands as his control over his quirk lessened.
Katsuki stared back at him, unimpressed. "Can I at least leave the food here?"
Kouta glared at him for almost a minute. Then, apparently realizing that blustering and shouting would get him nowhere and that Katsuki wasn't leaving, just huffed and sat down on the ledge, muttering. "Stupid hero-wannabes coming here with your stupid quirks and stupid training."
"You hate heroes." Katsuki said. It wasn't a question.
"You think? All they do is fight and die. And then everyone acts like that's such a great thing. They don't… Nobody realizes how stupid it is."
Katsuki didn't respond, didn't explain that the concept of crime, and fighting crime, didn't start with quirks, just became much more intense, much more of a spectacle. This was Kouta rationalizing his anger, saying anything like that would do nothing but provoke him.
Instead, he figured he'd try to address Kouta's anger towards the students specifically.
"Y'know… You're welcome to hate heroes all you like, you have your reasons, and no one but you can decide what you think… but everyone here has their own reasons to become heroes. I'm sorry for what happened to you. It sucks, and no one should ever have to go through that, but you're not the only one who's gone through something awful. You shouldn't judge us without knowing our circumstances."
"Oh yeah? And what's your stupid reason? What's so important for you to want to throw your life away for it?"
Katsuki pushed back the burning irritation that rose up at the insult to his goal, Izuku's goal. He swallowed it back, clenched his fists around the heat rising in his palms.
"My best friend is dead."
Kouta turned to him with wide eyes. Just as he'd pushed back the irritation, he also pushed back the slight rush of satisfaction he felt at Kouta's obvious surprise. Instead, he settled for explaining, training his eyes on the horizon as he spoke.
"Well, I don't know for sure that he is, but he went missing when he was four, and that was fifteen years ago, so he's probably dead. He went missing and no one could do a damn thing about it, no one could give me any answers. No one could save my friend. Everyone I talked to just told me how sorry they were, and that there was nothing more they could do."
He clenched and unclenched his fists, resisting the urge to let explosions crackle across his palms as he recalled the rage he'd felt back then at the lack of answers and constant condolences.
"I could've hated the heroes and police for what happened. I did hate them for a little bit, but I knew that hating them wouldn't bring him back, and that my friend wouldn't want me to. So, I decided to become a hero instead. To follow through with the dream that he and I shared. I intend to become the best. Not to fight the villains, but so that I can make sure that no more little kids go missing."
He looked back at Kouta to see him still staring, eyes wide and for once with no anger on his face.
"I won't tell you what to do. Hate us all you want, but will hating us do anything? Will hating Mandalay and the others do anything? Or will it just push everyone away?"
He didn't wait for a response, not that he was really expecting one, he just turned and started heading back. Either Kouta would do something with what he said, or he wouldn't and would continue to hate heroes forever. Whatever he did, it was entirely up to him.
He paused briefly, thinking. Then, after a moment, he added. "Y'know, you could try making friends with Iona, the little girl. My classmate adopted her, and there are only so many reasons for a little kid to need to be adopted. I'm pretty sure she lost her parents too."
At that, he turned away again and started walking, sinking back into the shadows.
After dinner, the Pussycats called for everyone's attention before they could escape to the hot springs, announcing the first of the special "training" exercises planned for the week.
Nezu had been of a mind that the week shouldn't justbe harsh training, that there should be at least some elements of reward for the students' performance, even if the reward was presented under the guise of more training. Izuku had agreed, and so they came up with a few games for the students, starting with tonight's: the test of courage.
The students would be divided into groups, with half spread along a trail through the forest, tasked with scaring the other half, who would be walking along that trail in pairs. Obviously the students would be divided up by class, to spur that much more effort into the scaring.
And maybe, just maybe, Izuku had suggested that 1-A be the ones to do the scaring, because if he were on the opposite side, it would amount to little more than a stroll through the woods. 1-B—all the students, really—had about as much potential to be scary as Iona did, which is to say: none at all. And maybe he also would like to scare some people.
Not to mention he'd like it if Iona could participate, and no way was he going to let anyone scare her, even if it was a controlled environment.
Which is how Izuku and Iona found themselves in the forest, towards the end of the trail, and the final obstacle for 1-B to pass by to make it back out.
"What do you think?" Izuku asked once they were in position. "Ready to scare some people?"
"Yeah!" Iona answered, bouncing.
He held up a finger. "Ah but first, I think you'll be needing a costume."
He gave his hand a lazy wave, tiny rainbows trailing from his fingers. Iona's excitement became almost palpable.
"Now then…" He said, lowering a bit and ruffling a hand through her hair. "What would you like to be?"
"Ah!" She exclaimed. "Kit! I wanna be a kit-su-ne! Like you!"
Izuku's hearts clenched a bit as he complied, giving his hand a little flourish for her benefit. In a flash, there was a pair of fluffy triangular ears poking through her hair—literally, if anyone were to look close enough—and an even fluffier tail behind her, both a light purple to match her hair. He also added a loose approximation of his mask over her face, with the design changed a bit and the colors changed accordingly.
Iona squealed, thankfully concealed as Izuku was already using the illusion quirk to prevent anyone from hearing the two of them. She spun around, back and forth, delighting in the way her illusory tail swished through the air.
It was taking a not-insignificant amount of focus to match up the movement of the tail to Iona's own movement. Maintaining the appearance of it being properly attached as she moved back and forth, and then simulating not only the effect her momentum would have on it, but also its natural movements besides, and the movement of the fur through the air. It was a decent bit of practice with the quirk; a nice benefit of the situation, very much secondary to the happiness Iona was feeling.
"There we go." He said, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Excellent."
'Now then… time to start the show.'
Pulling on 'Tempest' he tweaked at the air around them. Fog, dense and just a few steps from suffocating settled across most of the forest, limiting vision, though not so much that the students would be able to get lost, just enough to give him some room to play with.
Using his illusion quirk, he created a few copies of Iona to fade in and out amongst the trees and through the branches overhead. He also recreated her giggling, faint and echoing through the fog.
As a final touch, he found a particularly thick tree to climb up into, making use of 'Gecko.'
There were other tactics and effects he could use, things like a low-level, continuous use of 'Conqueror,' which would put everyone within range on edge, or a very faint droning noise created by his illusion quirk, or any number of visual effects he felt like conjuring up, but he did need to hold back at least a little.
For one, there was no need to scare the students toomuch. This was a game, not some criminal hideout full of targets to terrify. Not to mention that, as excited as Iona was to take part in this, she might not react well to properly terrifying anyone. Again, a game, she certainly wasn't in it to hurt anyone.
Additionally, there was no need to risk exposing himself over a bit of fun. He didn't need the students running out of the forest in terror yelling about horrible visions and ghost children.
So, in addition to not going all out, he'd also be pulling back what he already had out for certain groups. Some might not hear anything, others might not see any ghosts, he'd probably also temporarily dispel Iona's "costume" a few times. He'd be toeing a fine line between going far enough to have some fun, but not so far that he'd give himself up.
Getting settled up in the tree, Izuku watched as the first group entered the forest. Monoma and Awase. He smirked. Well, he might end up dialing things up for this first one. He couldn't pass up a chance to get one up on Mister "1-B is superior to 1-A in every way."
He tracked the pair through the forest, along with the other groups which were slowly trickling in. So far, they'd held up surprisingly well, only breaking when they ran into Yaoyorozu's group. She'd come up with something that even Izuku would admit to being impressed by. She'd used her quirk to produce a couple special harnesses that were almost invisible in the darkness, except for the thick rope around their necks that was suspending her and most of her group from tree branches. The harnesses apparently kept all pressure off of their necks.
Those harnesses, plus Jirou using her quirk for the same method Izuku considered using—a low droning noise to set the other class on edge—and Bakugou covered in quite a bit of—probably fake—blood, was evidently too much for Monoma and Awase, and most of the other pairs that passed through. The fog engulfing the forest probably helped a bit too.
Finally, the pair made it past the last group before Izuku and Iona, and he got everything ready.
"Get ready." He said, replicating his voice next to Iona. "I'll give you a signal when it's time to jump out."
"Okay!" She whispered, loud enough for him to still hear her up in the tree.
He tweaked 'Tempest' again, thickening the fog just a bit. He double checked his illusions, making sure the copies of Iona were in place—he adjusted the transparency a little bit, better to look like spirits—and that her laugh was echoing through the fog.
An idea crossed Izuku's mind as he waited for the pair to get close enough. An idea that had him rolling his sleeves back down and pulling a pair of gloves from 'Hotbar.' It would require making physical contact with them, and even in a game he wasn't about to risk Monoma copying his quirk.
He noticed the moment that Monoma and Awase crossed the noise-cancelling barrier he'd set up, the moment that the echoing laughter was able to reach their ears. They paused, and there was a brief moment of confusion and ever so slight fear, then relief and some amusement when Awase recognized it as Iona's laughter and told Monoma. Then fear and apprehension a second later when they realized there was far too much to be just one little girl laughing, and that it was coming from all around them. Then Monoma, for just a brief instant, spotted one of Iona's copies, before it faded from view.
As they started walking again, Izuku added a bit more. A copy of Iona skipped across the path right behind them, and Izuku was somewhat proud of the sounds he added to that to make it believable. The scuffing of her shoes on the ground, crunching of leaves, the weight of her steps, even a stick cracking under her shoe. It had the pair whirling around to look, only to spot nothing as Izuku cancelled it out just in time.
He also recreated her voice in their ears. Nothing too extreme, or often. Just the occasional "Are you here to play with me?" or "Will you stay here with me?" or something similar.
(He might've also created a copy of Iona right next to the original, startling her a bit until she realized what she was looking at, delighting her. He made the copy wave at her, before fading away.)
The end result was that the pair was rather on-edge by the time they made it to where Iona was hiding. Izuku took a little—probably too much—pleasure in the fear he felt from them.
As they drew closer to the target location, passing by Izuku's tree, he lowered himself, hanging down. He placed himself just a few feet behind them.
"Get ready." His copied voice said, quiet in her ear.
Reaching a hand out, Izuku exhaled with an exaggerated "Haaaa." He pulled back as the pair reacted, pulling himself back up into the tree, just slow enough for them to see. And now they were facing away from Iona.
"Now."
She jumped out from behind a tree, and in a voice far louder than any of the copies the pair had been plagued with, let out a mighty adorable "Raaaah!"
It was just about the cutest thing Izuku had ever seen.
The sudden volume on top of everything Izuku had been doing to them had both of them letting out high-pitched, terrified screams, louder than even what Yaoyorozu's group had caused.
Which of course is when Izuku swooped in for the kill.
Behind them once again, he surged forwards faster than the pair could react, and suddenly he was in front of them with a hand around their necks, lifting them up into the trees.
They screamed again, Awase even lashing out with a punch that landed harmlessly against Izuku's cheek.
Deciding to have mercy on them, Izuku dropped the act. Cancelling out the copies and echoes, and even Iona's costume. His face split into a wide smile as he laughed at their reactions.
He set them back down, in front of a giggling Iona. Moving back behind them, he slung an arm around their shoulders.
"Well that was fun, wouldn't you say?" He said, patting their shoulders. "Iona thought it was fun, right Iona?"
"Yeah! They screamed really funny!"
"See? Iona thought it was fun."
He wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Ah, mortals. So much fun to play with."
He gave their shoulders another pat, this one a bit harder to shake them out of their shocked stupor. "Alright, on you go. We have to get ready for the next pair."
He made a shooing motion when they still didn't move. "Go on, get out of here. Go be somewhere else."
They finally started moving at that, slowly picking up speed until they were running, disappearing into the fog.
Izuku lowered himself to Iona's level, holding a hand out for a high five.
"Nice job! Ready for the next group?"
She slapped his hand with enthusiasm. "Yeah!"
"Hey." She said a second later, looking down at herself. "Where's my costume?"
"Sorry." Izuku responded, throwing up a second, closer noise cancelling barrier around them, as Monoma and Awase hadn't yet passed through the bigger one. "I had to turn it off for a little bit. Remember that super big secret I told you about my quirk?"
She nodded. "Uh huh."
"Well, to make sure that secret stays a secret, I have to hide most of my quirks, including the one I used to make your costume. Because if too many people see it, they might figure out that I have lots of quirks."
"Ooooh. Okay."
Izuku smiled at her immediate understanding, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Don't worry, I'll put your costume back in a little bit. Now what do you say we get ready for the next group?"
"Yeah!"
Izuku ruffled her hair again, before lifting himself back up into the air. He was already tracking the next group. Kendo and Tokage were due to cross the barrier in under a minute.
Now, how to go about scaring them? What parts should he tweak?
The rest of the night passed without issue, with the Test of Courage concluding and all of the students retiring for the night, tired and sore—and scared, in the case of the 1-B students—but happy.
Unlike the day before, there was no early wake up call. Between the intense training and the late night, the students were allowed a full night's rest to recover.
Once everyone was awake, Mandalay announced that instead of resuming their training, the two classes would be participating in another special training exercise, this one offering a bit more challenge and benefit than just trying to scare/not be scared. Capture the flag.
Aside from a few loose boundaries and designated areas for the flags—three per team—the students had almost free reign of the entire forest. The goal was to take all three of the opponents' flags, and the game would last all morning. For a bit of added challenge, Pixie-Bob would be an active participant in this one, using her quirk to create a few mobile obstacles in the form of her earthen creatures, which would be roaming around fighting students on sight.
In the planning for this one, Izuku had suggested that he not participate, so as to not make it unfair. It was already well known how he fared in capture the flag against 1-B, so there was no need for a repeat performance.
Although, even if he wasn't going to be taking part normally, on either team, that didn't mean he wouldn't be participating in a different way.
"Alright." Izuku said, looking over his shoulder at Iona, who was on his back, nestled between his wings with her arms around his neck. "Ready for our top-secret mission?"
"Yeah!" She responded, with all the determination a four-year-old could muster.
He nodded, smiling. "Then let's get to work."
Their mission was simple: Sneak through both sides and take one flag from each side without being noticed. If they were noticed, they would lose. However, that was only the case if they were noticed before taking both flags. If they were to be noticed after, then it would just come down to fighting or fleeing until they made it back to the camp.
Additionally, once they got started, he wouldn't be flying, meaning that he couldn't just take to the air as soon as they grabbed a flag.
In the interest of at least a little fairness, he'd also be holding back a little bit. With Iona on his back, he'd be limited in how fast he could move. There would be no 'Ghost'—it wouldn't work completely with Iona on his back, but he had a few ideas for how he could make it work—and limited use of his illusion quirk. He wouldn't be making himself and Iona invisible, but he would use the auditory aspect to cover up any noises they made. The constant rasping of his scales scraping against leaves and trees, the crunching and snapping of leaves and branches underneath, the quiet giggles of Iona—because as serious and determined as she was, she was four, and this was a game.
Besides, between that and being able to see everyone with 'All Sight,' he didn't really need any other advantages.
The bounds of the exercise were roughly circular. A massive circle with the camp at its center, and the flag areas on opposite sides. So, with no good ways of approaching by land, Izuku and Iona started off by flying outside of the bounds so that they could approach from behind.
They approached the 1-A side first, where Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Ashido, Kirishima, and Aoyama had been left as guards. Jirou had her jacks in the ground, listening for anyone approaching, Yaoyorozu was using her quirk to prepare the area, spreading traps and the like around the perimeter, and the other three were patrolling nearby, ready for a fight.
Izuku smiled as he came to a stop, far enough away that the trees blocked normal eyesight. Yaoyorozu was good, but her attention was currently focused on the side opposite from him and Iona. Not necessarily a bad thing, as that's where enemies were most likely to come from, but it left his path clear. Were he in her position, he would've focused his efforts on the area right around the flags before doing anything to the perimeter.
He looked back at Iona again. "Ready?" He whispered. The illusion quirk was active and preventing sound from traveling far, but he didn't want to push it with Jirou so close.
She nodded.
"Good. Kemono? You're up."
The quirk popped into existence next to him, gave a determined nod—just as adorable from him as it was from Iona—and started sneaking towards the flags.
He crept slowly through the trees, completely silent as Izuku was using the illusion quirk on him too, masking the sounds of his footsteps. Izuku kept a close eye on the guards as Kemono got closer, watching for any signs of detection.
"Stop." He said, both out loud and in Kemono's ear with the illusion quirk, prompting Kemono to freeze.
Jirou was looking in Kemono's direction, eyebrows drawn together in concentration.
She shouldn't be able to hear him, unless Izuku's noise cancelling wasn't perfect and he just couldn't tell because the sensitivity of his hearing didn't even approach hers. Either that or perhaps, with her jacks embedded in the ground, she was picking up the vibrations of Kemono's footsteps, something Izuku could do nothing about.
One more thing to test, and one more reason to find a comparable hearing quirk.
"Just wait." He said, grinning. "Your opportunity is coming."
Right as he said that, Jirou's attention snapped to the opposite direction, to the handful of 1-B students heading right for them.
"Go." He said, right as Jirou announced the problem to the other guards. "Get to the flags, then wait just a little longer."
Kemono did as he said, reaching the flags and wrapping his hands around one. Then, just a few seconds later, 1-B burst into the area, throwing everything into chaos. Izuku saw Monoma, Kendo, Awase, Yanagi, and Bondo.
"Now." He said as the fighting started. Kemono pulled the flag out of the ground and started running back.
Yaoyorozu reacted quickly to the attack, creating and throwing out a handful of flashbangs, that were apparently altered to limit them to only bright flashes of light, likely for Jirou's benefit. This must've been part of a pre-planned response, because the other guards all shielded their eyes just in time, leaving them free to move as the attackers were left blind.
Thankfully, they were all preoccupied, and so none of them noticed Kemono making off with a flag.
Kemono jumped up at Izuku as soon as he was close enough, throwing arms around his neck as Izuku caught him. Excitement and happiness rolled off of him in waves.
"Very good, Kemono!" Izuku praised, patting his back. "You performed wonderfully. Now, let's give that flag to Iona so we can start heading for the next one."
He set Kemono down, then moved to get Iona down off of his back. Once she was on the ground, Kemono handed her the flag and she slipped it into her backpack, brought along specifically for this.
"Excellent!" Izuku said once she had her bag back on, scooping up both of them and lifting them up onto his shoulders, much to the delight of both. "One down, one to go. Onwards!"
Turning away from the 1-A flags, he started moving. They'd be taking a long loop around the forest so that they could approach from the back for the 1-B side as well.
Halfway around, they came face-to-face with one of Pixie-Bob's constructs, slowly trudging through the forest. Izuku could've avoided it of course, but where was the fun in that? It's not like the constructs counted towards being spotted.
He mock-gasped as it turned to face them. "Look, Iona! An enemy! They want to stop us from getting the other flag!" He turned his head to look at her. "But we're not gonna let it, right?"
"Yeah! We're gonna win!"
"Then you're gonna have to help me scare it off! C'mon, give it your best war cry. Show it we mean business!"
The construct picked up speed as it started lumbering towards them. Izuku raised his free hand towards it.
Iona scrunched up her face in the most adorable attempt to be fierce that he'd ever witnessed.
"Raaah!" She yelled, eyes shut. Izuku's hearts clenched so hard at the sight that he was almost too slow to match her.
He snapped his fingers, unleashing a very targeted shockwave with 'Conqueror.' The construct fell apart at the seams when it hit, collapsing into a pile of dirt and stone.
"It worked!" She exclaimed, bouncing on his shoulder. "Did you see? I made it go away!"
"Yeah you did! You scared it off! You were just too strong for it. It didn't want to mess with you."
He patted her back. "Come on. We better get moving before any backup shows up!"
Carefully lifting her up and depositing her on his back, he took off, dashing through the trees, Iona's ecstatic laughter filling the forest around them.
When they made it to the 1-B flag area, Izuku found it covered in thorns. They'd made the smart choice and left Shiozaki as one of the guards, along with Kuroiro, Komori, Tsuburaba, and Fukidashi.
In addition to the thorns everywhere, there were also fungal spores floating through the air, some landing and sprouting mushrooms. Shiozaki stood close to the flags, head bowed, while the other four stood guard around the perimeter.
Once again, no one paid much attention towards the rear of the area, mostly focusing in the direction of 1-A's side. Hm. Maybe that's something he should bring up with the heroes? Both classes disregarding the rear like that, just because the other side hadn't—yet—had the thought to try sneaking up on them.
Well, for the moment he wasn't going to complain. All they were doing was making it easier for him.
Izuku considered how to approach. With the thorns and spores, there was no way he was bringing Iona or Kemono anywhere near the flags.
"Alright, here's the plan." He whispered. "This area's just a little more dangerous than the last one, so I'll have to sneak in alone. But I've got a very important job for the two of you."
He lifted Iona off of his back and set her down. "I need you to stay back here and be my lookout. Kemono can come a bit closer with me. When you see something, you'll let him know, and then he can let me know. Got it?"
"Yeah!" Iona said, forgetting to keep her voice down with how excited she was. "We'll be like sidekicks!"
Izuku ruffled her hair, then Kemono's when he appeared right next to her. "Exactly like sidekicks."
'Alright.' Izuku thought. 'Let's see if I can actually do this.'
Using the illusion quirk, Izuku created a transparent cylinder in the air in front of him, a few feet in diameter and about a foot tall. With what he was about to do, taking this slowly and starting by defining the space he'd be using was probably the way to go. Then, taking a careful look at the area around the flags with 'All Sight,' he created a copy of the area within the cylinder, the shape disappearing as the main illusion appeared.
He created the more… static details first. The ground and trees, then the vines. Finally, he added in little copies of the students, keeping track of them with 'All Sight' and making the illusions move in time with them.
Izuku sighed. Maintaining the tiny details and keeping the movements of the illusion in sync with the real world was taking more focus than he'd anticipated. But the end result was well worth it. He'd essentially created a three-dimensional live camera feed.
Being careful to maintain everything, he lowered the illusion to the ground, so that Iona could see it.
"Here you go." He said. "Now you can watch everything for me."
He pointed off to the side of the illusion, around where they were currently standing. "So, right now we're over here. I'm gonna go over this way," he pointed to the side of the flag area closest to them, "and sneak up on them. What I need you to do is watch the students. If any of them start walking towards me, then you let Kemono know, and then he can let me know. You can also let me know if anyone else shows up. Got it?"
"Got it! I'll watch them! And make sure no one sneaks up on you!"
"Good girl. I'm counting on you."
"Kemono." He said, looking at the quirk. "I want you to stay by the very end of my tail. When Iona signals you, give me a tap and I'll know to stop. Then give me another tap when I'm good to move again. Okay?"
Kemono nodded, moving to stand by the end of his tail. It should be long enough to stay away from the thorns and spores as he went in.
With that, he turned and got moving, quickly making his way towards the flag area. This one would be a little easier for him to sneak into than 1-A's would've been. Theirs was a bit more open, better for visibility. This one had more trees. Less visibility, but better for a fight, and easier to defend, especially with Shiozaki's vines adding to the clutter. Though, that meant that the guards' decision to stand still and guard rather than patrol wasn't very wise.
Izuku stopped. Well, actually, maybe not.
He tilted his head. He hadn't thought about it before, but what if Shiozaki was able to receive sensory input through her vines? If she could, even if was as simple as heat and pressure, then the guards' decision not to patrol wasn't so stupid. Still a littlestupid, because what if someone came through to do exactly what Izuku was about to, but certainly less so.
He'd have to ask Shiozaki later to confirm whether his guess was on the mark and, if so, update the analysis he'd done on her quirk.
Izuku shook his head. That was a task for later though. He got moving again, reconsidering his approach.
Once he was close enough, he made sure to add himself to the illusion, that way Iona could see where he was.
As he made it to the first few vines snaking over the ground, Izuku lifted himself up into the air, pressing his tail to a tree and keeping it there with 'Gecko.' He weaved his way through the trees, far enough off the ground to not touch any of the vines.
Suddenly, he saw the students start to move. He smiled as, a second later, there was a tap on his tail. He froze as he watched.
Okay, his opinion of them was improving slightlyonce more. They weren't just standing in one spot for the entire game, they were periodically changing positions. At a guess, the reason they were doing it like this instead of patrolling was because, if they were patrolling and happened to step on any vines—and if Shiozaki happened to be able to feel sensation through them, but not so much as to distinguish from one person to another—then Shiozaki might get used to it and not notice if anyone else came through and stepped on them. By moving around as little as possible, and doing so at scheduled intervals when they did, she'd be more likely to feel an interloper.
Izuku watched the guards carefully as they repositioned. Komori and Tsuburaba stayed mostly in the same area, Fukidashi ended up a bit closer to Izuku, close enough that if he took a few more steps to the left, he'd see part of Izuku's tail, and then Kuroiro decided to forgo walking, just moving through shadows to end up directly below part of Izuku's tail.
He watched for a few seconds, waiting to see if he'd be caught. But after looking around—and forgetting to look up—Kuroiro moved again and ended up farther away, facing away from Izuku. A second later he felt another tap on his tail and started moving again.
Getting closer to the flags, Izuku considered how he should go about grabbing one. The vines were woven together tightly enough that, although the flags were still visible, he wouldn't be able to fit his hand through without touching.
Izuku considered his options. He could use 'Ferrokinesis' to grab the little pole the flag was attached to, and very carefully maneuver it out of its cage, or…
He smiled. Or he could do something a bit more fun.
"Get ready, Iona." He said, replicating his voice next to her. "I can't get the flag without letting them know we're here, so we'll have to run away. Stay there. I'll come get you as soon as I have the flag. Go ahead and call Kemono back."
He saw her nod and say "Okay!" and readied himself.
As soon as Kemono vanished, Izuku thrust his hand into the cage of vines, grabbing a flag and tearing it loose. Shiozaki shouted out an alert immediately, giving proof to his guess. Turning, Izuku put on a burst of speed and headed back the way he came, though he made sure to move just slow enough that the guards running over to the flags were able to see him.
Coming to a stop, Izuku put the flag in Iona's bag, then scooped her up and placed her on his back. Once more, he moved just slow enough to give them time to catch up.
"Close your eyes and hold on tight." He whispered to Iona, before turning to face the guards.
"Ha ha ha!" Izuku bellowed as soon as they came into view—all the guards except for Shiozaki—"Foolish heroes! We've taken your precious flag! Come take it back if you can!"
With that he turned and started moving, beginning the chase. The students took off after him.
As he moved, he made sure to angle his path just right. He couldn't let this end too soon, and there was a convenient fight between the two classes taking place just a little ways ahead.
"Haah!" Izuku yelled, bursting into the clearing and interrupting the fight. All the participants—seventeen in total—all froze to stare at him.
"Foolish heroes! You'll never take us alive!"
He charged into the crowd—tossing students through the air as he passed, much to their confusion.
It was then that the 1-B guards burst into the clearing behind him.
"Get him you idiots!" Tsuburaba yelled. "He's got one of our flags!"
This prompted the 1-B students to start moving. Izuku shifted his wings as he saw the attacks coming for him with 'Observation,' tucking them close, covering Iona and ensuring she wouldn't be hit by anything.
Rin reacted quickest, sprouting scales across his arms and launching them at Izuku. They peppered across his body, barely even felt. He kept a careful eye on each one, making sure none had any chance of hitting Iona.
Rin's attack spurred 1-A into motion as well. Only, they must not know that he'd taken one of theirs as well, because they didn't aim for him, but 1-B. They re-entered the fray just as Izuku threw Rin into a tree. With him out of the way, Izuku saw an opening, and darted towards the other end of the clearing, angling himself towards his next destination.
"1-A idiots!" Tsuburaba yelled out. "He's got one of your flags too!"
"Ha ha ha! Catch us if you can!" Izuku shouted as the students tried to organize themselves. 1-A was torn between believing Tsuburaba and pursuing Izuku, and thinking it was a trick. Several students couldn't quite untangle themselves from their respective fights in time and were left behind by the bulk of the group.
Two flying arms, courtesy of Tokage, darted in for a hit. Izuku's hand flashed out at just the right time to catch both in his grip. He kept them, carrying them along rather than throwing them away just to have them come back for another try. She could try to split her arms up further of course, but then she'd have less weight behind the attacks, and then he would start throwing parts away, forcing her to expend time and energy to retrieve them.
There was a roar of engines and Izuku slowed just enough to let Iida's kick pass harmlessly in front of his face.
Izuku smiled. Just a little farther…
He used Tokage's arms to swat away the horns thrown by Tsunotori. At the same time, his free hand darted out to catch Kuroiro by the neck as he materialized out of the shadows next to him, and threw him back into the pursuing crowd.
Tsuyu's tongue shot past him, dodged by a casual dip under its path. She was positioned up in a tree to his right. Ochako mimicked her position to his left. They launched themselves simultaneously.
Tsuyu's kick passed harmlessly in front of his head, just as Iida's had, as he slowed once more, which put him in just the right spot for Ochako. Instead of a kick, or a punch, or even a tap with her quirk to make him weightless, her hands slipped under his wings, reaching for Iona. Izuku's hand darted out, catching her arm just as her fingers were an instant away from Iona, and tossed her back into the trees.
"Ha! Nice try heroes! Targeting my sidekick. But you won't be stopping either of us! Now let's see how you deal with our minions!"
He put on a small burst of speed, heading right for the "minions," which were two towering earthen constructs, looking over at the approaching disturbance. He darted between them, carefully weaving through their massive fists and leaving them to deal with the students.
"Ha ha ha!" He bellowed. "Better luck next time, heroes!"
With that, he tossed Tokage's arms up into the air and charged forth towards the camp.
He burst into the clearing seconds later, slowing his charge and moving his wings to reveal Iona's bright, smiling face. He slowed to a stop as he reached the heroes.
"Winners!" He exclaimed, arms spread wide and head thrown back.
"We did it!" Iona yelled.
"We sure did!" He agreed, scooping her up and setting her on his shoulder.
"You did what?"
Izuku turned to face Mandalay. "Just our own little game." He gestured to the flags sticking up out of Iona's bag. "Sneaking around to steal a flag from both sides."
"And you managed it without anyone noticing?" Eraser asked.
"Almost. 1-A's we got without issue, but Shiozaki's quirk is close to ideal for this situation, and apparently she gets a certain amount of sensory input from the vines, so they noticed me when I got their flag. But they had no idea I was there until then."
At Eraser's unimpressed expression, Izuku added. "Yeah, we might want to come up with some exercises to reinforce situational awareness."
He tossed the flags over to Eraser. "Here. I'll leave it to you to decide how they can earn those back. It was almost too easy to sneak past them."
"What, had enough fun?"
"For now. We'll see what the rest of the day brings."
Izuku smiled at the exhaustion rolling off of Eraser. "It's getting pretty close to lunch." He bounced Iona on his shoulder. "We're gonna head inside and get started on preparing the food."
Without waiting for a response, Izuku moved past Eraser and towards the building.
"I'll come too." Pixie-Bob said, trailing after him.
Izuku didn't respond, just taking inventory of the ingredients he could see in the kitchen so he could start planning out the meal.
A minute later, Izuku froze in place halfway through the building, thoughts interrupted as a feeling of… something washed over him. A barely-there sinking feeling in his gut, a ghost of a shiver down his spine, a slight buzzing in his fingertips.
This was… anticipation. Or something like it. Anticipation of something to come. Something… Something was coming.
It hit him, then, the memory of when he'd last experienced this feeling. Right before the USJ, he'd felt the same thing. The hypothetical calm before the storm, the moment of silence before shit hit the fan. It was still just as novel of an experience to be on this end of it.
He scanned through the buildings, looking for anything out of place, but found nothing. Everything was mostly as it had been since they'd arrived two days ago and all the heroes were still present. As he expanded his search outwards, a smell hit him. He took in a deep breath, trying to catch as much of it as he could.