Hung stasis in the students' visions, the scene was as horrifying as it was picturesque.
A naked figure was hovering above Luke's unnaturally bent one, punching out.
The girls screamed.
Boys' eyes widened.
Then, as the figure's legs touched the ground, it vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
Luke put his hands on the ground and flipped back, landing on his legs. He dusted off his palms, took a deep breath, and let it out. Then, knowingly, he nodded to himself.
And when he looked up, he found the gobsmacked students looking at him with the same looks they had given to the naked figure.
"… React!" Mina screamed at Luke. "Can't you just react?!"
As if that were a cue, the children began firing shouts one by one.
"… Who — was that?!" Ojiro gulped, looking everywhere, his tail quivering in nervousness.
Shoji and Sato exchanged a shaky look between themselves as well. The former instantly turned the ends of his appendages into ears to pick up any movement. The latter threw a handful of sugar into his mouth, risking total mental-capacity failure.
Kirishima hardened his body and stepped out of the protected group, walking to Bakugo.
With one nod from Fumikage, Dark Shadow enlarged even more, becoming a massive umbrella over the students, protecting their flanks with its claws.
Uraraka gulped, putting her back against Mina, whose palms began sweating with acid.
Unlike them, Momo… couldn't afford to let herself succumb to fear.
"Luke!" she shouted, creating an infrared scanning device and throwing it to him. "Who was that?!"
Tenya, Todoroki, and Bakugo nodded at that question, raising their guards to the maximum.
Luke's nonchalant expression was in itself a sign, suggesting that he had recognized the attacker. That meant the person behind their classmates' disappearances wasn't a Villain.
That should have been a matter of joy…
It was just that — if it was a planned act, then didn't it mean the entire thing was a test?
Moreover, if it was indeed a test, by losing their classmates, hadn't they already lost a great part of it?
As if things hadn't taken the worst turn already, then who even was that Hero, daring to go against so many trained Quirk users by himself and… succeeding?
"It's a senior," Luke said, smiling. "He graduated this year and has joined Sir Nighteye's Agency as a Sidekick."
The students' eyes widened.
"… Aina didn't mention anything…" Momo commented.
"Yeah," Luke nodded, remembering the silly grin planted on the girl's face yesterday. "It must be Sir Nighteye's orders. She told me she will be here, but…"
"Haha!"
All heads snapped in a direction.
With a flapping red cape on his shoulders and wearing his white-blue Hero Costume, the Pro Hero walked out, laughing out loud.
He had blond hair, and his eyes were blue.
All the students looked between the Pro and Luke repeatedly, seeing the uncanny resemblance.
Not only their appearance, but their physique also matched, Luke being only a few centimeters taller than the Pro. However, with their spiky blond hair, it was almost impossible to tell the difference.
"… Yeah, you guys are thinking right!" Luke smirked. "Meet my older brother, Mirio Togata — Comedy Hero: Lemillion!"
What?!
From Midoriya and Todoroki to Momo and Uraraka, all eyes widened.
Meanwhile, Lemillion continued to laugh for a while. "Oh… Haha! Thank you for the introduction… Wait… What?"
Mirio's laugh died, and he stared at Luke.
A deadly silence persisted between them, all hearts beating fast unknowingly.
Then, as if finding a lost friend within each other, the Clown and the Comedian burst out in a fit of laughter.
"Hahaha…" Luke laughed.
"HAHAHA…" Mirio laughed louder, trying to outdo Luke.
"OH MY GOD!" The girls snapped. "SHUT UP!!"
Luke and Mirio's mouths twitched wryly.
"And you!" Mina pointed at the Pro, blushing. "If you have a Costume, why were you… running around naked?!"
"Oh, that…" Mirio scratched his chin, smiling. "Sometimes, seeing an unexpected scene freezes you. I wanted to take advantage of it, but you didn't freeze… Haha…"
A frown settled on all faces, except Luke's.
Because they had all indeed frozen the moment Mirio had revealed himself. If it were any one of them in Luke's place, then…
Suddenly, as he calmed down a little, Midoriya's memory triggered. "Hey!" he shouted. "I know you! Mirio Togata… aren't you one of the Big 3 of UA?!"
That was the death knell.
The Big 3 of UA was one of the most discussed groups in their first year. The three third-year students of the group were unanimously considered the strongest in the school, closest to becoming full-fledged Heroes.
"Yeah," Luke said, backing up a step. "He's not only one of the Big 3, but… also the strongest."
"… Where are our friends?" Midoriya asked, sensing his broken breath.
Mirio grinned. "That should not be your concern at this moment…"
ROARRRRRRR!
The roar came out of nowhere.
A chill ran down all students' spines.
The sudden noise had made them involuntarily look for an earth beast attack. As their heads snapped toward Lemillion again, the Hero had already vanished.
Suddenly, with a massive BOOM, the entire piece of land under their feet exploded.
Three humongous rodent-like earth beasts threw everyone off, adding chaos to the forest's natural darkness.
As Bakugo lunged at one beast, Tenya and Todoroki went for the other two.
"… Uraraka!" Midoriya shouted, activating Full Cowl. "Everyone! Hang…"
Kirishima's scream buzzed in their ears, and faces paled instantly.
That was only the beginning, though.
One by one, as the rodent beasts attacked, blinding the visions, screams and shouts kept filling the forest.
Todoroki's left side almost exploded with fire when a punch landed in his stomach.
The soles of Bakugo's feet burned into the earth. He tried to let out his strongest blasts through the palm of his hands, but a fist to the gut sent his eyes rolling into his head faster than thought.
Tenya tried to shoot up from one tree to another to get a bird's-eye view of the land.
A punch landed on his face and sent him shooting back toward the ground.
Where… Where… The hair on the back of Midoriya's neck had stood up. Suddenly, following his instincts, he punched at his left.
The punch went right through Mirio's shocked face. "… Incredible…" he praised. "I will have to use my most powerful technique on you, then."
Lemillion's hand blurred, and his fingers went for Midoriya's eyes.
Instinctively, Midoriya closed his eyes, despite Mirio's hand going right through his face. A punch, like a brick of steel, hammered into his stomach, bile rising to Midoriya's throat before he passed out.
"Power!" Mirio shouted, raising his fist toward the sky.
But when Lemillion readied himself to confront the trickiest target, he saw an utterly baffling scene.
Luke… was sprawled under broken pieces of an earth beast, already out cold —
— Nyx lying on his chest, her wings twitching as she played dead.
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