Bab 2337: 79
Chapter 79: Pretender
A/N: I went ahead and made a few... creative liberties in this chapter; hope all of you are ready for the surprise! And again, the events of the chapter ran off on me. A bit more info at the end ;)
What he had seen through his bugs was bad. Really, really, really bad. The presence of Kentaro and his group of killers never meant anything good — Izuku knew that at a very personal, very intrinsic level.
And with Stain suddenly into the fold — Kentaro's fold, right within his grasp and control — Izuku didn't know if he even wanted to know what they were up to. The possibilities were endless, and that wasn't a good thing.
What could possibly be worse?
Well, Aizawa's death-promising glare was a possible contender.
The half-lidded, anger-infused red eyes of Aizawa's that greeted Izuku when he arrived back onto campus scared him half to death. The moment Izuku stood before the dorms Aizawa had seemingly appeared out of nowhere — if that was Nezu's doing or just Izuku's exhaustion and negligence catching up to him, he couldn't tell.
Nonetheless, the very moment that Momo and Todoroki had disappeared from his sides (and that Izuku could attribute to Nezu's machinations for sure, and for that he was thankful that the principal had foresight to at the very least keep his friends out of trouble) Aizawa had appeared before him like a phantom in the night.
It was through simple, unadulterated fear, and a look that promised a proper chewing out the next day, that Izuku was able to restrain from instinctively attacking the man. Aizawa was tired, that much was obvious. And so, Izuku slipped past his teacher and into the dorms, never even needing his bugs to know that Aizawa's eyes watched him until he disappeared behind the doors of Heights Alliance.
A quick probe for his friends revealed that both Todoroki and Momo had been deposited in their rooms, so that resolved one worry off of Izuku's list. Another involved the newfound information that the night had sprung on them, but that conversation was for later.
The five of them decided to have that talk tomorrow with the others. Between their hasty escape from the area via Traveler's teleportation, the curt departure of Kaniko, and the exhaustive trip through campus back to their dorms, there wasn't much time otherwise.
If anything, though, Izuku was at the very least glad that Kentaro had left without incident. He'd learned by now that the serial killer couldn't exactly be predicted, but considering everything he said… Izuku shoved the thought through the back of his head.
Or tried to, at least. It wasn't as if he would be able to think about anything else but that for the rest of the night. And he couldn't even exert his worries out in a physical matter, especially with Aizawa up and about. And so, Izuku tried his best to sleep.
He was only able to get an hour or two in.
There he laid in bed, wide awake and well past the sun's rising past the horizon. That being said, if somebody asked him last night to expect a persistent pounding on his door, partnered with hearing his name being shouted over and over and over again, he would have disregarded the thought completely. But alas...
"What's taking you so long?! Midoriya!? … Midoriya! Midoriya! Midoriya! … Broccoli Buggy Boy!~ Are you ready yet?! What's taking so long? ... ARE YOU FEEDING YOUR BUGS OR SOMETHING?"
Izuku blinked. Wait a second…
Izuku slowly crawled out of his blanket and took his time finding a steady footing once his feet touched the floor. He meandered his way to the door — his visitor was obviously not going to leave anytime soon — and braced himself to open it.
He had to move his face back to avoid the incoming fist that followed the opening of his door — which was partly his fault for not giving a warning to the person behind it, he had to admit — but otherwise the hyperactive embodiment of sugar incarnate finally stopped knocking once Izuku was in her sights.
"Hado-senpai?" Izuku asked with a slight rasp, exhaustion still seeping his bones.
"Yay!" Hado squeaked, pumping a fist in the air. "You're ready! Finally!" She grasped his arm in a bear hug. "Come on! Come on! Let's go! Oh, and get your pack!"
Izuku was barely able to follow through with that last part, swiping the aforementioned pack from beside his door, before he was being dragged off down the hall, down the stairs, past some of his classmates, and out the dorm's doors.
"Wha whoa!" Izuku exclaimed. "Where are we going?"
"Mirio sent me because I could fly across campus! He said that you're late to the thing you promised to come to!"
Izuku just barely was able to prevent himself from tripping himself up with the way Hado was testing his ability to keep up with her fast pace.
"I don't remember anything about that?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Oh well, too bad!"
Izuku sighed. "In—"
"Oh oh!" Hado interrupted. "I was wondering about some things! You use bugs all the time you know? So, in that case, if you take a bunch of stink bugs and put them all in one place, or like, in a bad guy's pocket or utility belt or something, then could you—"
Izuku resigned himself to Hado's lively and vibrant chatter.
Meanwhile, Spurt cleaned up after the mess left in Izuku's room, even going so far as to make the bed. The things he did for fresh coconut.
[Ground Gamma: Cementoss-Configued Battlefield Formation A]
Izuku lowered the spider down by its web, its silk allowing it to descend from his fingers and onto the waiting palm below.
Eri giggled as the arachnid landed on her palm and started crawling around all of her fingers, tickling her as it weaved its way to and fro the delicate crevices of her hand.
"I've been meaning to bring something up with you Midoriya!" Togata called out. His hair flared up, body enveloping in the golden hue of One For All as he dodged a massive incoming tentacle.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Eri talks a lot about spiders now! She— Whoa!"
This time, a black tendril erupted from Togata's hand, shooting out to curl around one of the giant towers of rock that made up the battleground. He began to pull himself towards it to dodge the giant clam hand that had come his way.
"Nice one Tamaki! Nearly got me there!" Togata dodged a showering of ink as he turned his head back towards Izuku. "Anyways, Midoriya; Eri says they're here favorite animal now!"
"Uhuh!" Eri suddenly exclaimed, the hand that held the spider (Golden Orb Weaver this time around) raised into the air. "Spiders are really cool!"
"You see!?" Togata dodged up into the air, activating his Float quirk this time. Hado blasted off a wave of her energy in return fire of a One For All empowered, which Togata dodged again with another use of Blackwhip that pulled him through the air.
"You know," Izuku noted, mostly keeping his bugs out to watch the ongoing spar while he kept his own eyes on Eri, "Did it really have to be me that had to watch Eri while you were all off sparring? Not that I'm complaining of course. But like… still?"
"Aizawa's off doing something!" Togata announced. "Left early this morning like he's been doing a couple times recently! And he asked us to watch her while he was out! But we had this whole thing here in Gamma planned, you know? And I didn't want to burden any of the others so early on a weekend! I don't know how they'd react!"
Togata let out a punch, the golden hue of One For All surrounding his arm as it slammed down on the ground, causing Amajiki to stumble. "Besides, it's easier to explain all this to you Midoriya!"
"It's not like you're hiding it!" Izuku yelled over the rumbling of the ground. "And now that you have those tendrils it'll be harder to explain away anyways!"
"Nonsense!" Said tendrils shot out from Togata's arms, picking up a previously discarded clam from Amajiki. The clam blocked an incoming wave from Hado, all the while Togata let out a blast of air towards Amajiki through another glowing punch, leaving Amajiki to collapse into the far wall.
"Besides! … Again!" Togata called out, dodging one of Hado's blasts, "I told you, Blackwhip can look like telekinesis. I just need to pretend that it's a physical and tangible manifestation of it!"
With the loss of the ground defense, Togata was finally able to freely focus on Hado. It wasn't long until his hodgepodge of quirks and skills were able to destabilize Hado while she was in flight. And with a rather quick burst of speed and a combination of Flight and Blackwhip from Togata, Hado was subdued.
"Oh man!" Hado whined. "You got me again!"
"Nothing new," Amajiki muttered, recovering from his impact from the wall. "Mirio's always been good. His new quirk just elevated him to a new level."
"I know right!" Hado cheered. "It's so like him to be this good!"
Togata rubbed the back of his neck. "Guys…"
Right. Izuku reminded himself. The other two know about One for All. Something about constant whining and accidental slip ups or something like that.
"Oh! Midoriya!" Togata called out, releasing Hado from his hold. "How about you take a turn?"
Izuku turned his head this time to face the descending Togata. "Hmm?"
"Take a turn!" Togata's smile shined. "Spar with me!"
"Ooh! Oh! Ooh! My turn with Eri!"
Before Izuku could refuse, Hado was already bounding straight for him. She gently pulled him off his seat and plopped herself down by Eri. Amajiki followed suit, albeit in a much calmer way as he simply sat himself on the other side of Eri.
Izuku sighed. "Alright," he said, doing some stretches in preparation.
"I should have known that your insistence in wearing my costume meant something," he continued, referring to the fact that all of his hero gear was already equipped on his person. The only thing missing was his mask, which he promptly pulled out from his pack and placed over his face.
"Should I use my pack?" Izuku asked.
Togata stroked his chin in response. He held a finger up and opened his mouth, only for him to close his mouth and lower his finger. This repeated a couple times — three times, exactly — before the blond finally made up his mind.
"How about later?" Togata suggested. "I have something that I want to show you!"
Izuku shrugged, stripping his flightpack off and leaving it with the others. "I look forward to it."
"Alrighty!" Togata cheered. "Time to show you my POWER!"
Within a few moments, Izuku and Togata stood across from each other, dozens of yards apart, staring each other down across the rocky landscape and past the towering outcroppings of cement.
They agreed to confine themselves within only a small designated area of the gym, if only to keep things within viewing sight of the others. Izuku brandished his eskrima sticks, pointing them at Togata as a swarm of bugs appeared behind him, greatly overshadowing his smaller form.
"Ready when you are," Izuku challenged.
Togata smiled. "Then we start." He drew upon a blinding smile. "Now!"
Togata began running at Izuku at full sprint — but oddly lacking any reinforcement from One For All if the lack of any evident golden hued aura meant anything.
Izuku tightened his hold on his eskrima sticks in response, shifting into a more defensive stance as he sent a few smaller swarms ahead to attack.
However, the moment that they were within around two feet of the blond, their movements became sluggish, slow, blurred, fuzzled, leisured, plodding, turtle-ish—
Izuku snapped himself out of the strangely calming effect. It had barely been a few seconds, but those few seconds had Togata ever bit closer, much closer than Izuku's liked. Considering he didn't know exactly what he was dealing with, he needed time to think. And so Izuku did the best thing that he could do in such a short notice. He ran.
"You didn't want my flightpack on me because you just didn't want me flying out of range!" Izuku immediately shouted the moment he realized the bare nature of his back.
"Aw! You know me so well Midoriya!" Togata cheered, showing no signs of stopping. "Want me to give you some hints though?"
"Don't think I need them!" Izuku exclaimed, ducking behind one of the many stone towers surrounding them. That had him thinking. He took the moment to remove several cords of silk, flying them off with a few of his bugs.
Izuku grabbed at a few nearby rocks on the ground and kept them in hand. In tandem, he made sure his bugs further ahead were prepared. But before then, what he had to do now was continuing his escape from his opponent.
"Some sort of confusion-inducing field, right!?" Izuku questioned.
"Close!" Togata smiled, something Izuku saw through the backwards facing bugs on his head. "Close enough, I'd think! So I'll tell you!"
"You see, it's actually a stamina stealing field! Kind of like that big guy from—" Togata paused, turning his head to gauge the distance between himself and Eri. Nonetheless, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "The raid!"
Izuku passed the rocky outcropping, taller than either he or Togata. The blond in question wasn't too far behind. Izuku ran past it in a blur. When Togata did the same, he was none the wiser when the bugs dropped the first string.
"I've been practicing with it, you know? For people around my age it cuts their reaction speed and such by half and increases my own by the same margin. But adults don't really feel much of anything! I still need some practice to improve it to do anything to them if All Might's research is anything to speak for. But in this case, you are my kohai, so it should be effective!"
"So I'm guessing it's twice as effective the smaller things get?" Izuku thought aloud. He was coming upon another rock outcropping. A few strides and he was past it, and then another string was dropping in tandem with his pursuer's gait.
"Yep! I'm sure that you noticed it with your bugs!"
Izuku spread out his bugs until he found an outcropping that he reasonably believed he could climb. He pushed himself faster, gaining a bit more distance from Togata than before, and set straight for the rock.
"Whoa! You got a bit faster! You've got a plan or— Whoa!" Togata ducked at the incoming projectile. "Pelting rocks? A nice makeshift plan, but— Ah! Where'd you go!?"
An expansive curtain of bugs had erected itself between Izuku and Togata, effectively blocking the blond's view of the other. It only took a few seconds for Izuku to take several turns and evade behind a few of the rock towers.
By the time Izuku was in hiding and the bugs were cleared, Togata had no idea where his opponent had gone. But Togata wasn't one of the Big Three without warrant; he had plenty of skills beyond pure combat prowess. Izuku gave himself a minute at best before he'd be found.
Izuku abandoned his eskrima sticks on the ground and had begun the perilous scaling of the rock. Surprisingly enough, with the aid of his bugs he was consistently finding footholds to grab a hold of, almost as if they had been meant to be there. Though, considering that the place was specifically morphed by Cementoss, the fact that they were meant to be there remained entirely possible.
"Wait! Now you're climbing? What gives?" Togata had finally caught up, his head tilted upwards and staring right at the steadily rising Izuku. And he was standing right at the base of the rocky tower.
Perfect.
"Midoriya?! Where are you going?! The fight's down here! Or are you going to make me climb up there to get you?!"
Izuku paused. He wasn't too far up, but with his deftness he'd scaled a good seven or so feet in the minute it had taken for Togata to catch up with him — just out of the boy's reach.
It would do, but that didn't mean he wanted to stop. Izuku continued climbing; all that was left were the last steps of the plan.
Izuku chanced a look down at Togata during his continued climb, eyeing the confused boy below with an amusement hidden by his mask. "Hey Togata-senpai! How's it going down there?!"
Togata chuckled. The movement concealed the webs around his arms slowly moving around and down to legs. "Doing well Midoriya! Though, I'm surprised! I have to applaud your rock climbing skills!"
"Thanks!" Izuku cheered. "I cheated a bit with my bugs!" The extensions to the strings were nearly done by estimation, and Togata was still none the wiser. "It was easy!"
"But why up there?" Togata questioned.
"Needed time to think!" Izuku responded, stringing up the lie. And then he called forth two separate swarms from ground level.
Togata didn't move to take action, expression unbanking since he was confident that his field would protect him. But Izuku wasn't aiming for Togata; the two swarms flew up the side of the rock and up to him.
When they arrived Izuku covered himself in them, blocking the view of the two strings he took from the bugs. He then positioned the strings, haphazardly on two jutting formations of rock within a few crevices.
"And, well, you're aura can't reach me from up here!" Izuku added. "And I'm pretty sure that you're purposely limiting yourself to this quirk to test your proficiency in it, right?!"
A few bugs — as sluggish and difficult to control they were — remained near and Togata to ensure desired trajectory.
Hopefully this works.
Togata stroked his chin. "Well, when you put it that w—"
Now.
Izuki let go of the wall, freefalling and aimed directly towards Togata. Togata's eyes widened in response, but he wasn't able to react.
Izuku's fall was fast, the near invisible silken threads following his descent. The slackened strings trailing behind him were long, and they only grew taut at the last moment, pulling on Togata's legs and tripping him onto the floor.
One hit, one aerial attack that Togata wouldn't be able to block. That was what Izuku was banking on.
Two feet; Izuku directly above his opponent, and he could feel the strain on his body and mind induced by Togata's quirk.
But it wouldn't matter. Izuku controlled his fall, his velocity only to be stopped by the helpless and flat form on the ground who was staring right at the descending mass.
…
The impact was harder than Izuku had anticipated. And a lot more golden colored too, he realized.
"Oh man!" Togata cheered. "Spider web threads? Wow, those things were really hard to see! I didn't realize what happened until after the fact! You would have gotten me for sure!"
There was a barrier in between Izuku and Togata; a transparent, golden shield of light that had protected Togata from harm.
"But too bad I was holding out on you, Midoriya! Behold, my second quirk for today's match!"
Izuku blinked. "Wha…?"
Half of the shield dispersed, leaving the headspace between the two open. Togata was free to move one of his hands, the other keeping up the shield in place.
But Izuku, still within Togata's field, couldn't react fast enough to what happened next. A long, yellow staff of light materialized in Togata's hands.
"Bop."
Togata jabbed the weapon forward, straight at Izuku's head and pushed him off and onto the ground.
The next thing Izuku knew, his senses were speeding up back to normal, Togata towering above him with a golden sword aimed at his neck.
"A sticky situation! Uh… you have found yourself in Sir Midoriya! Do you yield?!"
Izuku blinked. "I suppose?"
Togata nodded, raising the sword to the ceiling. "Then it is my win!"
Eri's cheering erupted off on the side, her enrapturement of the fight breaking upon the declaration of a winner. That explained the oddly out-of-nowhere knight actions.
Though, Izuku noticed, Eri's cheer was also followed by another shout, one that had Izuku reeling his head over in confusion, only to find Ashido cheering along amongst the other three.
Izuku blinked, and then he shook his head. I'll figure it out later.
Togata offered his hand out, which Izuku promptly took as he was pulled to his feet.
"So," Izuku began. "Two quirks this time?"
Togata's head bobbed up and down in agreement. "Yep! They're called Hardlight and — get this — Stami-Not!"
Izuju wrinkled his nose. "Really?"
"Hey, I'm not the one who named them!" Togata defended. Then he took up a wide smile. "But I do think the names fit quite well!"
"Right…" Izuku trailed off. He looked over again at where Ashido was, the pink-skinned girl noticing and waving in response.
"Well," Izuku said, turning back to Togata, "I have to admit that it was a good fight. Though… are you three good to watch Eri now? Because it looks like one of my classmates wants something from me."
"Sure she didn't just want to watch?"
Izuku shrugged. "Can't think of a reason that she'd go out of her way to."
"Hmm. Well alright!" Togata gave a thumbs up. Afterwards, he went ahead and tapped his finger against his head.
"You have some good smarts in that head of yours, Midoriya. A nice fighter too — you would've gotten me if I didn't have Hardlight. Keep that up, will you? You're already well on your way on becoming a super-duper pro hero! Don't lose that spirit! "
When he had walked over to find out why Ashido was here, in Ground Gamma watching his fight with Togata, all the girl had said was that she was here to pick him up. Semi-urgent business, apparently.
And so, Izuku bid farewell to Eri and the others and went to the locker room to change out of his costume and into his normal clothes.
He met back up with Ashido not long after, who immediately went on an animated spiel. As to the reasons she came to retrieve him, well Izuku wasn't quite sure what they were yet. Though, he did have an idea; he just needed to find an opening to ask...
"I'm so jealous!" Ashido shrilled. She enclosed both of her hands into fists and pulled them into her chest with unabashed glee. "You get to train with the Big Three like it's nothing! You were all like bam! And slam!"
"But all I did was run away?" Izuku scratched his head. "And attempting a jump onto Togata-senpai from, like, ten feet up?"
"Pfft! That's besides the point! You had him by the ropes! Too bad for you that Togata-senpai has all these trump cards of his coming out from all over the place."
She placed a finger on her chin in thought. "Hmm. Makes me wonder why he has so many quirks in the first place. What happened to him using that freaky flashing-quirk!? Aw, but still! It must be like a whole different thing, sparring with them! I wish I could too! I mean, Tsu and Ochacho get Nejire-senpai all to themselves when they're with Ryuku!"
"I'm sure you could ask," Izuku suggested. "All three of them are nice. I'm sure that they'd be willing to help you with anything you ask."
"I couldn't do that!" Ashido rebuffed. "I don't want to pester them! Besides, I wouldn't have what it takes. You saw how our initial fight with Togata-senpai went! You can take him, but I can't! You're like, super skilled!"
"Thanks, I appreciate that," Izuku said. "Though, I think you're selling yourself short. I mean, you say I'm skilled, but I could say the same with you! You're off interning in Ishikawa with Yoroi Musha! He's been around forever! He wouldn't have picked you up if he didn't see potential!"
"Fine!" Ashido grumbled. "But even still! To counter: you intern with Edgeshot! And because of that you indirectly get three other pros to teach you because of his leadership of The Lurkers! That's a three in one deal; one master and two rising stars!"
Izuku opened his mouth to retort with a long rant, but ultimately decided on a shorter answer. "Fair."
"A yup!" Ashido agreed, popping the 'p.' "It sort of reminds me of a little while back when Aizawa sorta kinda compared you to being just as proficient as the Big Three."
And there it was. "Is that why you're here with me?" Izuku asked.
Ashido looked over at him. "Huh?"
"Aizawa," Izuku repeated. "Did he ask you to come get me or something?"
"Oh yeah!" Ashido nodded. "Aizawa-sensei wanted to send somebody that wouldn't be biased, or something." She scratched at her head in thought. " Hmph! Not sure what he meant by that though. But he did look really angry when I asked him.
"And so… he picked you?" Izuku asked somewhat hesitantly.
Ashido shrugged. "I think I was just the closest to him at the time. I was on the couch feeding Spurt when Aizawa entered the dorms and asked for you. He must've seen me first or something!"
"I can imagine," Izuku grumbled.
"Heeeyy," Ashido made a few playful jabs with her elbow, a conspiratory smile dawning on her face. "What'd you do this time? Hmm? Come on Izuku! You can tell me! I'll keep it to myself, promise! I'm just curious now that I'm sorta-kinda periphery-leveled involved!"
"I'd… rather spare you the details." Izuku averted his gaze. "You'd probably get more in trouble knowing," Izuku lied, trying to ward of from telling Ashido anything further.
But Ashido didn't relent. She sent him some puppy dog eyes that reached deep down into his nerves, her whimpering lips making things worse.
"Fine," Izuku muttered, if just to keep Ashido off his trail. "I snuck out after curfew."
"OOOHH!" Ashido "Sneaking out after dark? Naughty naughty! You're giving off some serious bad boy vibes now! You just moved up in the list!"
Izuku slapped his face. "Please, don't say that? Please?" He peeked an eye passed his hand. "And what list?"
"Oh? What's this?" Ashido continued, ignoring his question. "Are you, gasp! Embarrassed?"
"No! And did you just say gasp?
"You totally are! You're deflecting!"
"Am not! I just—"
Izuku suddenly found a familiar cloth wrapped around him and pinning his arms. "Midoriya," the bland, monotone voice of his teacher said. His piercing red eyes stared right into Izuku's core.
"Oh look at that" Ashido exclaimed, already turning the other way. "I have homework to finish! Bye Aizawa-sensei! Good luck Midoriya! Okay bye!"
"Traitor!" Izuku yelled. "You could've helped!"
"Midoriya," Aizawa said again.
Izuku let out a nervous laugh, turning to face his death. "Uh, heyo! Aizawa-sensei. Nice weather we're having?"
A/N: And… I don't know climb speeds. I made an estimation. And this battle also ended up being a whole of a lot longer than I originally planned, so… Aizawa's part next time?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
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