Chapter 64: Appear Strong When Weak
Shoto and Momo hadn't done much planning during their walk to their exam area. Momo thought perhaps her partner was waiting to see what their exam area looked like, but even after seeing that it was a residential area made up of a mixture of apartment buildings and houses, Shoto had remained quiet. She wasn't even sure if he was planning on tracking down Eraserhead to fight or if he was going to run for the escape gate.
"Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, Midterm exams begin." The PA system said, and Shoto started moving in a light job. Momo might not know what his plan was, but she knew it would be best if they stayed together, so she followed him.
As Shoto turned down an alleyway, he said, "You seem a bit nervous."
Momo gave a slow nod, "A bit. We're going up against Eraserhead. Even with the additional weight, I'm not sure we'll be able to handle him." If Shoto had been paired with someone like Gizon, Ochaco, or Bakugo, she was sure they wouldn't have an issue. Even with Eraserhead taking away their quirk. But while everyone was training under pro heroes and learning how to fight during their internship, Momo had only been taught beauty standards from Uwabami.
Even on the rare occasion Uwabami had taken Momo and Kendo out on patrol, they didn't run much into anything above a purse snatcher, leaving most of their time filled watching Uwabami take photos with fans..
"I don't blame you, Yoaoyorozu, truth be told, I am too," Shoto said, trying to make sure he sounded sincere because he truly meant it. And that caught Momo off guard. Shoto was the son of Japan's number two pro hero. He had been trained from a younger age how to fight with his quirk and was one of the strongest students to ever come to UA, "And It's no surprise, given our opponent. Eraserhead has proven himself to be able to handle opponents far stronger than him, and he can take our greatest strength."
"So what's our move?" Momo asked, defaulting to making Shoto the leader of the group, as it was obvious he had a better handle on the situation.
"We take away his greatest strength too. I recall something Hisahito said to Eraserhead at the beginning of the USJ. His usual tactic is sneak attack. So we have to make sure he doesn't get the chance. I want you to make something small and easy, that way you know the moment he cancels your quirk." Shoto said as they stepped out of the alleyway and continued down the road, "Once he draws himself in, I'll distract him, while you escape and find us at that exit gate."
Momo nodded and started to make small Russian nesting dolls. They were something she always made as a kid, so she could make them without much thought, and since they were small, they didn't take much lipids to create. She also had the forethought to hold them in her belts so she didn't leave behind a trail for Eraserhead to follow..
As Momo looked back at Shoto, she saw he had a small layer of frost on his hand, showing he was keeping his quirk active as well. Shoto looked back at her and then his eyes dropped down the nesting dolls in her belt, "What are those?"
"Oh, they're just Russian nesting dolls. I had some when I was a kid, my mind just thought of them." Momo said, pulling a doll in half, to demonstrate, then slipping the pieces into her belt. As they continued down the street, Momo realized how sound Shoto's plan was, "I didn't expect anything less from you, Todoroki. You were able to come up with a plan to use against Eraserhead so quickly. Within moments of seeing the exam area, you knew what the best course to take was."
Momo had a plan, but it was nothing compared to Shoto's. It would be just like her fight against Izuku during the Sports Festival. The plan would have only gotten them so far before they ran into Eraserhead, and anything they threw at him, he would be able to easily cancel and capture them.
"This is nothing." Shoto absently minded without realizing that was the wrong thing to say to Momo. In his mind, Eraserhead's tactic of moving in the shadows and sneaking attack was only useful when his opponent couldn't see him coming. But take that away and force him into the light, Shoto knew he could handle Eraserhead in that situation.
But that wasn't how Momo could see it: "You and I are the recommendation students for Class 1-A." It was easy to see why she thought they had started in the same place, as they had gotten into UA through the same avenue, "But even since the Sports Festival, no, even before that. Since the USJ attack, you've proven to be far stronger and more mentally prepared for being a pro hero. All I could do was stand back and watch, but you did your best to help. Even during the Calvary battle, all I did was follow your order."
Shoto paused. He had been the team leader, but Momo had done more than her fair share in keeping the team going and in the fight. She had been the one to notice the change in headbands, "Then what about the one-on-one. You got to the semi-finals."
Momo shook her head, "Anyone could see the difference in our fights against Midoriya. You were an actual challenge for him, he just made a show out of me. You were matching him, while I was on defense the entire time. Nothing I did fazed him."
"But you did make him don his armor. You remember what Uraraka and Hisahito told us about what he said in Recovery Girl's office after your fight. He saw you as a bigger threat than me. He could have easily used his armor against me, but he waited until he was against you." To Shoto, it was clear why Izuku did it that way, so why couldn't Momo see the same?
Despite walking into the sun, Momo couldn't help but shiver, "Then how did you do it? How did you recover after something like that? You're the son of the number two pro hero and lost." Momo said, because if anyone should be kicking themself, it should be Shoto. As Endeavour's son, he was held to a higher standard by society, yet he failed worse than Momo.
"I'll admit it hurt me a bit. I underestimated him, perhaps it was because he was from the Support course. But that day he caught more than just us hero students off guard, no one in the stadium could have seen that coming. And in a fight the element of surprise can easily turn the tide. But I have trust in myself that if we fought again, I would do better, that I would win." Shoto said. He might not fully understand Izuku or the thoughts that ran through his head, but he was sure Izuku would try to support Momo all the same.
Momo looked down at the ground. That couldn't be it; there had to be a more logical reasoning behind Izuku's actions that day. He wanted to show the world who he was, to get transferred to the hero course. To keep himself at the forefront of everyone's mind, he kept on revealing new inventions. And after beating one of the strongest first-year students, he wore his armor to show that he could become even stronger.
Shoto looked back at Momo to say something, but then noticed something, "Yaoyorozu, you're not making your dolls." Momo's eyes opened wide, and she tried to make more dolls, while at the same time, Shoto noticed the frost covering his hand had disappeared. "He's nearby."
"I'm sorry." Momo said. She hadn't even noticed herself. She was too distracted and forgot about what she needed to do. She tried to create another doll but found that she was unable to. Dread overcame her as she realized what they meant.
Suddenly, Eraserhead's voice echoed despite the open area, "If you know I'm here, then you should be acting."
Feeling the sun disappear, Shoto looked up and saw Eraserhead blocking out the sun as he threw the end of his scarf down. Instinct took over, and Shoto took a step back and tried to send a wave of ice at his teacher. Seeing that fail, Shoto jumped to the side, narrowly dodging Eraserhead's scarf, "I suggest you prioritize evasion, seeing how I've taken your quirks away."
Yet Shoto's plan wasn't simply running away. As Eraserhead landed, Shoto acted quickly by dashing forwards and throwing a kick, "Yaoyorozu, go. I'll buy you time." Eraserhead rolled under the kick, and as he stopped, he saw Momo had started to run away. So he grabbed his scarf and threw it at Momo, but then Shot got in the way. He grabbed hold of the end of the scarf and quickly began to freeze it.
Ice traveled down the scarf until Eraserhead activated his quirk as he looked at Shoto. The ice stopped a few centimeters away from his hand, so Erasehed pulled out his knife and cut it off. The frozen section of the scarf fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
"This can't possibly be your plan?" Eraserhead said, keeping his eyes on Shoto, "I'll give it to you that you did well, figuring out I was most likely to target you as you're the team's offense. But without your quirk you don't have much hope here."
"I don't have to win. Just buy some time." Shoto said as he shifted into a ready stance. He didn't have any official martial art training, but he had picked up a few things.
Eraserhead smirked, as this was going to be a lot more painful than anyone would first think. He dashed forwards, seeming unaffected by the weights on his ankles and wrists. And when he threw a punch, Shoto raised his arms, thinking he could block it. But then Eraserhead's fist hit Shoto's arms, and he couldn't believe the amount of weight that was behind the attack.
Normally, when someone wore weight arm bands, they would be slowed, but Eraserhead was often at that size and strength disadvantage with villains he found while patrolling during the night. Perhaps in big movements like using his scarf to swing between buildings, the weight slowed him down, but in close quarters with quick, powerful strikes, he knew how to use the extra momentum to deliver more powerful strikes.
Shoto's arms were forced into the air as he stumbled back and tried to keep his balance. Seeing this, Eraserhead rushed forward and readied his scarf to wrap Shoto, and it would have worked had Shoto decided not to roll backwards and then off to the side.
Now out of Eraserhead's line of sight, Shoto held out his left hand and sent out a jetstream of fire at his opponent. Yet Eraserhead must have seen this coming as he threw his scarf at a power line and, once it was secure, used it to pull himself into the air. In midair, Eraserhead spun around and threw the other end of his scarf at Shoto.
Shoto held out his left hand to throw fire, but nothing came out. In one fluid moment, the scarf wrapped itself around Shoto, pinning his arm against his sides. While Eraserhead gracefully landed on the power line. Then, like a scuba diver getting off a boat, Eraserhead leaned back and fell. Keeping his scarf against the power line, this turned Eraserhead into a counterweight, meaning as he fell to the ground, Shoto was pulled up into the air.
As Eraserhead softly landed on the ground, he looked up and saw Shoto swinging in the air, and with his arms pinned, all he could do was kick his feet. Looking down, Shoto saw Eraserhead pull off his goggles and apply some eye drops, "You think this can hold me. The moment you go after Yaoyorozu, I can either freeze or burn through them."
Eraserhead replaced his goggles and put the eyedrop back into his belt." Maybe." He then reached into a different pouch and threw something out underneath Shoto. Shoto looked down and saw they were cow caltrops, "Though I would be careful under your land. Otherwise you're going to have to deal with the old lady."
"You pretending to be some kind of Ninja?" Shoto called out.
"Let me make this clear, this is very different from when you faced the Hero killer. I know your quirk and how you fight. I've seen you train every day since the start of the school year, meaning I know how to defeat you." Eraserhead said as he cut his scarf to leave Shoto hanging, "Worse, I know exactly where to hit you to make it hurt. You might have let go of the mission of not using your fire to shove it to your father, but you still have some of his bad habits.
"Your plan was a nice gesture to the lady. Place most of the burden on yourself and keep her out of harm's way. That could be seen as a noble notion, but the truth is, you think like your father. You believe you can handle everything by yourself, but even no man is an island, and even pro heroes often need to work together.
"So perhaps next time you should ask your partner if they have an idea, a plan before immediately taking charge."
Shoto was about to make a comment about how Momo hadn't offered a plan, but then he recalled the look she had at the start of the exam. It looked like she wanted to say something, but decided not to. Should he have pushed her to speak her mind? Her comments earlier made it sound like she didn't believe in herself.
"People think exams are to show off what you've learned, but the smart ones know they can think something in the middle of one. Hopefully with the time you have to yourself you can think of something." Eraserhead said before using his scarf to pull himself into the air as he began to track Momo down.
Leaving Shoto behind to deal with Eraserhead, Momo just ran; she didn't have any idea where to go or how to get there, so she just left to run around aimlessly, taking any random turn she came across. As such, it didn't take long to find herself lost. But she couldn't stop, as that meant Eraserhead could find her soon. But if she didn't stop, the more lost she became.
Should she stop and make something to help her go faster? Should she try to make her way to the exit gate? That's what Shoto had told her to do. Or should she try to loop around and help Shoto in case he got captured? Where was she? Where was she going? Could she find the gate and pass? Or was Eraserhead going to find and capture her as well?
In her panic, Momo didn't notice the overturned trash can and stumbled into it. Instinctively, she held out her hands to catch herself, but the rough cement ground easily cut them up. As Momo sat up and pressed her back against the wall, she grimaced at the pain coming from her hands. As if she were on autopilot, she created some gauze and quickly wrapped her palms.
Momo tried to think, tried to come up with a plan, but with her mind racing, it was impossible. She couldn't think of what to do; her inner voice kept telling her that no matter what she chose to do, she would be captured, and she would fail. All the training she had done from a young age had led to this moment and meant nothing.
Momo brought her knees up and dropped her head down. She was a failure, and there was nothing she could do except cry. Tears flowed down her cheeks and dropped into her lap. She thought she could become a pro hero, that she could make her own way without being stuck in her parents' shadows. Yet every time it mattered, when it came down to her, she couldn't rise to the occasion.
It probably won't matter what teacher she went up against or who she was partnered with. She would have failed.
As Momo started to cry, she didn't notice that her Creati-glasses became more opaque, as if she had asked Edith to look something up. "Accessing video archives. Accessing 'Forgive Me."
That caught Momo's attention, and as she focused on her glasses, a small window appeared, as if she was watching a video on her phone. It was just white, then it changed to show Izuku sitting in Classroom 6-G.
"Midoriya?" Momo questioned
"We are recording Jabsiu?" Momo then noticed Izuku's disheveled hair, and he had small dark circles under his eyes, along with the different stain marks on his shirt and arms, "Alright, thanks. Hey Yaomomo. I want to start off this video by saying I'm sorry. I can't believe how odd that sounds coming from me, but I've noticed how you've been acting since the Sports Festival. And I recognized it, because it was the same way I used to act before meeting Mei, before I was given a chance.
"At first I couldn't understand how someone like you could possibly be acting that way. But then I noticed how you were looking at me and that helped me realize why. You were looking at me because I'm who you lost to in the Sports Festival."
"A proud and powerful student from a well known family, the vice president of Class 1-A lost to me." Izuku's voice rose as he praised Momo, but became melancholy at the end as he looked down at the ground and shook his head, "Huh, a student from the support course who failed the entrance exam for the hero course. And I know a lot of people couldn't believe it at first, nor could I."
Izuku took a deep breath and then looked into the camera again. It was clear he was holding back tears, "I want you to understand something, Momo Yaoyorozu. Out of everyone in Class 1-A, Hisahito, Uraraka, Todoroki, and even Kacchan, you're the one I am most afraid of facing, even after the Sports Festival. Your quirk and control over it are an engineer's dream. All the hard work I had put in over the years could mean nothing in the face of your quirk. One look and your quirk could make anything I made obsolete.
"I know my armor is my one shot at getting in the hero course. It's my one advantage. But with you, in a second all of that could be gone, just like that." Izuku furthered his point by snapping his fingers, "My purpose at UA taken."
Izuku then wiped his eyes before continuing with a light nervous chuckle, "Oh man, I've never been good at pep talks, but for once, I can understand what you're feeling. You fear I'm better than you, that I could take your spot in Class 1-A. I felt the same; every time I saw you guys training, I questioned if I would ever be able to do that well. And that feeling turned to doubt, doubt that you could ever be a proper pro hero.
"But I've seen how smart you are, you get straight A's in every class. I see the potential you have as a pro hero and I wanted to help you get there, that's why I gave you the glasses. The mind is mightier than the fist, so stop thinking you're weak because you're not. If your opponent hits hard, you make something that hits back harder. Stop limiting yourself, you aren't bound by rules. Just think it, create it and use it. Trust in yourself, I know you can do it, because I believe in you."
Izuku then paused, "I'll end with this. It should have been you who won. Midnight gave you permission to only use nine millimeter rounds, if you had gone any bigger you would have punched right through my armor. So unbound yourself and fly."
The video ended, and Momo cried. How could she think she was so weak? How could she not see she was being a fool? She was a recommended student for Class 1-A, having far outdone others who had tried. She had been voted the class vice president because they trusted her. The same classmates who had looked to her to help with the written exam. Izuku was smarter and better than her, yet he still believed she could be the better hero. She had so many people looking up to her, and she had forgotten about that.
Picking herself, Momo looked around and, though she hated to cut her heroic moment, she couldn't help but realize she had no idea where she was or how to get back to Shoto. Luckily, she had some additional help. Looking down the alleyway, Momo said, "Edith."
Her Creati-glasses turned to look more like sunglasses. "You won't happen to know how to get back to Todoroki."
"I do." Edith said as a blue trail appeared on the ground, looking how Momo imagined a path would appear in an augmented reality video game, "Also Eraserhead is at your six clock, up high."
Before her mind could go to the moral question of whether it was against the rules to use Edith or not to track Eraserhead. Her Creati-glass was an official part of her hero costume, and she didn't often use Edith for strategy, just the more basic functions Izuku had added. Momo turned around, and before Eraserhead could block her quirk, she created a smoke grenade and threw it at Eraserhead.
As the smoke grenade went off, Momo turned around and turned off down the alleyway. She knew she was going to need Shoto's help in defeating Eraserhead. Following the highlighted path, Momo ran as fast as she could. When Shoto came into view, she saw a small alert appear on her glasses, and small items on the ground were highlighted in red. Getting close, she saw they were cow caltrops and quickly swept them away before attempting to untie the scarf holding Shoto up.
However, after failing several times, Momo just decided to create a knife and cut through the scarf. Shoto landed on the ground, and as he stood, he started to give a thank you, but Momo cut him off, "Todoroki, I'm sorry. I haven't been the best partner for this exam, and I haven't been the Vice President the class needed me to be. I know it's no excuse, but I'm sorry for being down on myself. I was too focused on everyone's achievement that I had forgotten about my own. I could only see my struggles and never used them to push myself to be better."
Shoto nodded.
"You and Mido… Sutaku were right, I have what it takes to be a proper pro hero. I just need to be reminded of that." Momo said.
Midoriya? Shoto was confused. How could Momo have talked to Izuku? An answer came in the form of Edith calling out, "Eraserhead, at Creati's 1 o'clock, 200 meters and closing."
Shoto had forgotten about Edith, yet before he could question if using the AI was considered cheating, Momo called out, "Todoroki use your fire to slow him down and then create an ice wall so he can't erase our quirks."
Shoto nodded and turned to unleash a large wave of fire. As the fire raced down the street, Shoto created a large ice wall. He then turned to Momo and said, "Yaoyorozu I'm sorry as well. Early you looked like you wanted to say something, I should have asked. Now what is your plan?"
"Do you really think it can work?" Momo said.
"Yaoyorozu, I trust you. You're better at this kind of stuff than you. You're the smartest one in the class. During heroic class, we always look to you to come up with plans and they always work. I realized this isn't a situation where I can just brute force my way through, our opponent can just as easily turn those actions around and use them against us. We're going to have to outsmart him." Shoto said.
"You're right. And this is not the right place to do that." Momo said as they took off. She might not have been able to think properly before, but now, with her mind focused on the problem, she had come up with a plan.
"I trust you gut." Shoto said. "I believe in whatever plan you come up with. And I don't know if this is the right way to say it, but I've always trusted you. During the Sports Festival, you know how to fight against Kaminari's quirk. And even only after seeing him fight once you were able to figure how that general-ed student's quirk worked. I trust your instincts, that's why when we were voting for class presidents I voted for you."
Momo started to tear up. She couldn't believe how much trust her friends had in her. Even when she couldn't see it herself, they were always there looking towards her because they could see it. They were right to do so. Momo might not fully believe in herself, but as long as her friends were there, she couldn't let them down.
As they ran, Momo began to explain what her plan was. "I've been thinking from the beginning, you were wrong, Eraserhead's strength isn't sneak attacks or attacking from the shadows. It's turning people's strength against themselves. People grow up with their quirk; it's a constant, and they learn how to fight with it. Take that away, and most won't even know what to do. We need to return the favor."
"All right, just tell me what to do." Shoto said, following after her.
"First we need to find an open area or a narrow alleyway, limit his mobility. Then we take away any chance Eraserhead has of erasing our quirks, that way he can never gain that advantage." Momo said.
"So, a narrow alleyway, we fill it with smoke. With Edith and with a pair of goggles, we'll be able to see through the smoke." Shoto offered, but Momo shook her head.
"It's likely Eraserhead has faced that situation before. The moment our fists come into view, He just won't use it to erase our quirk but also use it to locate the rest of our body and attack. We have to be exact in how we counter Erasure. Luckily I have access to Midoriya notebooks and from those I think I know how Erasure works. Eraserhead has to see a part of someone's body to use his quirk."
As Momo and Shoto ran out of an alleyway, she looked left and then right and spotted a large open area about the size of a futball field. She didn't know if they would find any area better, so she turned and headed for the field, Shoto right behind her.
"But what constitutes a body part? What if someone was invisible like Hagakure, or they were covered from head to toe in clothes. Or armor, like Midoriya. Eraserhead can't technically see a skin, or a body part. We need to make it so we're the same."
"But Yaomomo, won't your quirk tear through any clothes you have on?" Shoto questioned. That was the reason her hero costume was the way it was; she needed open skin to make full use of her quirk.
"True." Momo said as they reached the opening of the street and overlooked the field, "Luckily your costume covers most of your body. All you need are some gloves and a mask."
As Shoto slowed down, Momo turned to him and tossed him a pair of gloves, "They're made of a heat and cold-resistant material, so they shouldn't get in the way of your using your quirk." As Shoto slipped on the gloves, he saw Momo create a mask. It was in two parts; the first was a balaclava, or ski mask, that covered his neck, along with his mouth and nose, and his hair and ears. This left over his eyes visible, but that was handled by the second piece, which was a large black visor that looked like it was from a welding mask.
"Here, put these on. You'll find magnets to hold the visor in place." Momo said, handing the items over.
While Shoto slipped on his mask, he saw Momo create a pair of gloves for herself, then a puffy but form-fitting jumpsuit, not too dissimilar to Eraserhead's. She then created her own mask, large enough to hide her hair, as she wasn't sure if Eraser worked on that as well. He thought that was the end of it when, suddenly, the sleeves of her jumpsuit retracted and two cloaks came from her forearm.
Momo handed over to Shoto, then noticed his confused body language, "If Mr Aizawa sees us in these get ups he'll know we're up to something. These cloaks won't just hide us, but give Mr Aizawa a clear target to aim at. Now we just need to come up with a convincing act to get him to follow us into the field."
"Feign panic." Shoto suggested as he slipped on his cloak.
"Not much need to fake that." Momo said in an attempt to joke, "Edith, you won't have perhaps been tracking Eraserhead this entire time."
"You mean like hacking into the UA security system and watching from the many cameras in this fake city." Edith asked.
"I guess." Momo said.
"No. Unfortunately my creator placed set limitations upon my coding and I am unable to do as such." Edith said.
Momo immediately started to think of a way they could find Eraserhead when Shoto suddenly grabbed her cloak and pulled her towards the field, "No need to find him. He found us."
Tossing a glance over her shoulder, Momo saw Eraserhead. Hopefully, he won't notice the open field and will be too focused on getting the cloaks off of them. If that didn't work, then Shoto would have to use his quirk to draw Mr Aizawa in, or Momo would have to create something to pull him in.
Momo was drawn out of her thoughts as she felt something wrap around her shoulders. Then she felt the scarf go tight, and then felt the cloak get pulled off her. Turning around, she saw Eraserhead had started to swing into the open field, but he was still close enough that he could quickly retreat. And it looked like he was going to do so as the realization of their plan hit him.
Eraserhead started to turn around, so Momo yelled, "Seal him in!"
Hearing this, Eraserhead's eyes went wide as Shoto acted fast and pressed his right leg against the ground. Ice quickly spread out the open area, yet only left a thin, smooth layer covering the ground. At the street Eraserhead was heading for, and other streets and alleyways surrounding the field, ice walls sprang up and quickly climbed.
A cold draft overtook the area, making Momo happy for the extra layers of clothing she had on.
The walls had sealed Eraserhead in the open area with no structure to use his scarf against to help with his movement. And those jumpsuits and accessories Momo and Shoto were wearing would make it impossible to see their actual body. But then he noticed Momo pulling back her right sleeve and, focusing on her arm, Eraserhead activated his quirk, only to realize it didn't matter as Momo had already created an item before pulling back her sleeve.
Lining up her shot, Momo pressed the button, and a hook and rope shot out at Eraserhead. The moment the rope had wrapped itself around his waist, Momo hit the button, causing the rope to be reeled back in, all the while she yanked her arm back.
As Eraserhead came flying in, Momo felt heat coming from Shoto. She turned to him just in time for a tall plume of fire to come out of his left foot, jetting him into the air at Eraserhead.
With all that going on, Momo thought they had Eraserhead and were going to take him down, but then Eraserhead proved why he was such an effective pro hero even when his quirk wasn't combative. Using the momentum he was getting from being pulled in, he dodged Shoto's fire attack before getting in close and ramming his knees into his student's chest.
Leaving Shoto to fall to the ground, Eraserhead headed for Momo next. Pulling out his knife and cutting the rope, Eraserhead attempted to tackle Momo to the ground, but she dodged to the side, leaving him to slide across the ground. Though all pro heroes could be caught off guard and would at some point in their career, Eraserhead had trained his instinct to begin to react quickly when he was in such a situation.
Quickly spinning around on the ground, the Erasure Hero grabbed his scarf and threw it at Momo and Shoto. After using them to slow down, Eraserhead then pulled his scarf in, pulling all three to a center point. Shoto used his cleated shoes to get back onto his feet and attack with his quirk, while Momo created items under her jumpsuit to provide support.
Eraserhead had to admit to himself that he was impressed with their coordination and planning. While he kept his name and quirk out of the news, there were always villains who were able to figure out how his quirk works; they would try to counteract it with smoke or objects to obscure his vision. A few had even tried to cover themselves with extra clothes, though they would then find themselves with no mobility to fight or would not do a good enough job.
Yet it seemed the extra clothes she had created were doing the job, while telling Mr Aizawa that Momo had more or less figured out his quirk. While he generally said he had to see a person's body for his quirk to be effective, the specific part was that he needed to be able to see any organic part of a person's body. It didn't matter if it was skin or a single strand of hair; if it was organic and naturally attached to the person's body, he could see it.
Yet he was not seeing any of that from Shoto. Momo's clothes might not have been perfect; Eraserhead could see a small gap between the gloves, mask, and jumpsuit as she moved. Shoto had no such gap. It was as if all his clothes had been sewn together to be one giant piece of cloth; even his visor was mirrored, so Eraserhead couldn't see his eyes.
And with no structure to use his scarf against, Eraserhead was forced to rely on his natural speed to dodge all of Shoto's attacks. Normally, that wouldn't be too bad, but the ice Shoto had covered the ground was slick, and Eraserhead was not able to get proper traction. This left him to pull his knife out again and attempt to cut Shoto's jumpsuit open, yet either Shoto was able to dodge Eraserhead or his jumpsuit was created from a cut-resistant material.
And all that didn't go without saying, Momo was doing her part quite well. Her jumpsuit gave her enough room to create small items like throwing knives and smoke bombs, which she would retrieve by pulling back her sleeves.
Dodging a fire-covered fist, Eraserhead realized Momo hadn't thrown anything at him for nearly a minute. Tossing a glance over to her, he found that she was missing. In that second, Shoto acted quickly, and with Eraserhead's feet against the ground, Shoto encased his teacher's body, save for his head and right arm, in ice.
Eraserhead's eyes quickly jumped back to Shoto, leaving Momo free to run up from behind and slap a pair of cuffs on his right wrist. As Momo slid to a stop and Shoto pulled off his mask, revealing he had a bad case of hat hair, the PA system turned on and said, "Eraserhead has successfully been captured. Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki have passed."
"Yes." Momo cheered as Shoto set his left side on fire, melting the ice in the immediate area. As he walked over and pressed his left hand against the ice, holding Mr Aizawa in place, Momo took off her mask and then undid the zipper on the front of her jumpsuit.
"You did well, you two. You knew my main form of movement was using my scarf so you led me to an area where I couldn't use it, and you made sure I won't be able to leave. You were even able to come up with a way to make my quirk ineffective." Eraserhead then turned to Momo, "How did you come up with such an idea?"
Momo was hesitant to answer; she still wasn't sure if using Edith was against the rules, as she was an advanced AI. In the end, she decided she needed to come clean: "We had some help from Edith."
"Your personal AI Sutaku was created for your glasses," Eraserhead said, and Momo nodded.
"Yes. Normally, I only use her to pull up chemical formulas or to switch the mode of my glasses, however during the exam I used her for more than just that. She allowed us to know when you were close, and she allowed me access to Midoriya's hero notebooks. It was after reading his notes about you that I was about to come up with the theory of how your quirk works and create the plan to wear extra clothes. I'm sorry if that wasn't allowed."
Mr Aizawa lightly shook his head, "While Edith is not a typical support piece, it is one nevertheless. A big part of being a pro hero is knowing what villain you're facing. Before raids pro heroes are given folders on what villains they might encounter. And when an alert of a villain attack is sent out for aid, a description of the villain and their quirk is given. All you have done is used Edith to stream that process. And it is good on your part that you have not become overrelent on your AI."
Momo nodded and had to wipe some tears, "Thank your Mr Aizawa."
"Though I am curious what information Sutaku has within his notebooks." Mr Aizawa asked.
Momo quickly gained a nervous smile, "It's best if you don't know." Mr Aizawa gave her a confused look, so Momo held a finger against the side of her glasses and whispered, "Edith something light." Her glasses turned opaque, and Izuku's notes appeared. They automatically scrolled until they stopped on a note. Momo cleared her throat, then said, "Your favorite coffee shop is in Tokyo, and it was started by four college students. You often visit on the weekends, and whenever you do, you buy some roast to bring home."
"That's not in there." Mr Aizawa tried to call Momo's non-existent bluff. How could Izuku possibly know about that?
"Sir, they named a drink after you." Momo said.
Mr Aizawa suddenly cleared his throat, "Excuse me." He then turned away from the two and walked away. It seemed he needed to have a conversation with a student about privacy and a group of four college students about copyright infringement.
"Does he have anything to say about me?" Shoto asked.
Momo watched as her glasses immediately switched to Izuku's notes about Shoto, and they began to scroll again, "Hummm, you have a sister. Fuyumi Todoroki, she's an elementary teacher and ahhhh, she's been voted best teacher in the district for the past four years."
In that moment, Momo, Shoto, and Mr Aizawa all collectively decided they were a little afraid of Izuku's intelligence, along with his level of detail. Mr Aizawa could only hope Principal Nezu didn't take too great a notice.
"Gizon Hisahito and Minoru Mineta, please report to City Whiskey." The PA system said.
"You want to go see who Hisahito kills first?" Shoto asked, and Momo laughed, then nodded.
Chapter 65: Making the Difficult Choice
Gizon couldn't decide who was luckier, Mineta for deciding not to talk to him and come up with a plan. Or Himself, as he didn't have to talk with the little runt. Either way, the little runt wasn't accidentally losing his soul because Gizon wasn't having to glare at him.
At least Principal Nezu gave Gizon that small peace of mind of having him go second in the midterm exams, that way he wasn't stewing in hate for the whole afternoon. He could get in, get it done, and get away from that pervert for the rest of the day. Though the face Mineta had on while they walked to their exam area, Gizon already knew this was going to be the longest ten minutes of his life.
"I can't wait. This is going to be my best chance to get in close and feel those delirious melons." Mineta said, almost giving himself a bloody nose through indirect means, as Gizon felt his anger flare up instantly. The only reason Gizon didn't kick was because he suddenly got a better idea.
It was clear that one of the aptitudes for the exam was teamwork, so Gizon needed to show he could work with anyone. Even someone whom he hated in the depths of his soul. So instead of kicking, Gizon started a counter in his head. Every time Mineta had a revolting comment about anybody, Gizon would add a tally.
After they had completed the exam, the number of tallies was the number of times Gizon was going to punch Mineta. And by the time they reached the exam area, Gizon had added another two tallies.
Walking into the exam area, Gizon looked around and saw that the area was filled with boulders. It was probably to stimulate a landslide or rocky terrain in general, but to the yellow blonde-haired boy, it looked like Principal Nezu had tried to build a pyramid out of a boulder and then pulled a few out from the bottom. He then spotted a small robot coming up to them. It turned out their starting area was on one of the major ledges about halfway up the crumbled pyramid.
When they reached the starting area and the droid left, Gizon sighed and looked back at Mineta. The grape shivered and looked up at Gizon, "Yes?"
"You don't want me as your partner, and I don't want to be your partner either. But we still need a plan if we want to pass and make it to summer camp." Gizon huffed.
"Really, I thought you would be all against summer camp. It would take you away from scaring kids away from wherever you were spawned in." Mineta said, trying to sound tough, but immediately crumbled under the uninterested, unimpressed look Gizon gave him.
"Leave the insults to Bakugo." Gizon said, exasperated, and if Mineta thought the summer camp would just be fun and games, then he clearly forgot what school he went to and who his teacher was, "Midnight is a close-range fighter, whose quirk allows for one-hit KO's. If we both attack then we are going to lose."
Gizon then turned and looked at a boulder that made up the edge of the ledge. He walked over to it and looked down. It was unlikely Midnight would be in the open; she would most likely be hiding somewhere to …. Gizon immediately dropped to the ground as he spotted something. There was no way she was that crazy or stupid. Yet as Gizon crawled over the top of the boulder and looked down, he saw her, standing right in front of the exit gate.
Great, not only was one of them going to have to be the sacrificial lamb to distract Midnight, but they were going to have to draw her away from the exit gate. Gizon looked back at Mineta and then slid down the boulder. He relayed what he saw, "So one of us is going to have to draw her away from the gate while the other runs for it."
Mineta grinned; he would never get an opportunity like this ever again. He would lure Midnight away from the gate and then jump her. She was surely using her quirk, and he could pretend to be knocked out, all the while getting to enjoy her body, "I'll be the one to draw her away."
For that comment, along with the face Mineta was making, Gizon decided to add another tally. "You forget Midnight is quick and with her whip she had a far greater range then either of us have. I think it would be best that I head directly for her. You loop around the side, then make a run for once she's far enough away."
Gizon then questioned why he was trying to use logic with someone like Mineta, as he immediately said, "I want to be the one to lure Midnight away." -Gizon sighed as he knew if he wanted Mineta to agree to his plan, he would have to use the little pervert's known logic against him. And luckily, Gizon had grown up watching and learning from the world's best 'negotiator'.
Gizon took a slow breath, and then his voice became silky smooth, almost as if he were a siren, "Alright, Mineta, you can do that if you wish. But do you really think that will get you more hotties? No one ever thinks about the decoy; it's always the handsome hero who actually did what was needed that all the women fall for. You can be the reason we pass and get to go to summer camp. Better yet, our classmates will know it."
Gizon tried not to grimace at his words, but fortunately, he could see that Mineta was actually contemplating his options. Gizon couldn't actually believe Mineta was putting so much thought into such disgusting logic. It seemed he had reached a decision as he suddenly pointed at Gizon and in a confident voice said, "Alright, this is how it's going to go down. You're going to head straight down to Midnight, keeping her attention on you. All the while, I'll head down the side and get into position. Once I'm ready, I'll signal for you to engage Midnight and draw her away from the exit gate. When she's far enough away, I'll make a run for it and make us pass, then I'll get all the hotties in this school."
"Aye-aye, captain," Gizon said with a mock salute, then Mineta walked off to the side to find a trail to follow down. Gizon then looked around until he found one of the hidden cameras that allowed everyone to watch. He pointed at it, pointed at Mineta, and then made a show of cracking his knuckles.
Up in the observation booth, everyone present gave a nervous chuckle. While no one in Class 1-A enjoyed having Mineta has a classmates, and they all vocalized their opinions behind his back, Gizon wasn't afraid to say it to his face and was the one most likely to deliver minor physical harm to him to make him stop, something they had all seen him done, whenever Mineta started to push his luck a bit too far.
"Minuro Mineta, Gizon Hisahito, Midterm exam begin." The PA System said. While Mineta began to slowly climb down the race face, Gizon turned and took off running towards the edge and jumped off.
While Gizon landed on a boulder and his body absorbed all the kinetic energy, in the observation booth Izuku turned to Mr Aizawa and asked, "So why was Hisahito left with Mineta without any kind adult supervisor." -Mr Aizawa tried not to snicker at Izuku's accidental jab at Midnight, "I mean from what I've seen Mineta is just an open book pervert and Hisahito absolutely detests him because of that."
"Like the entrance exam, we are not just looking at our ability to pass the test, but for other factors as well. One factor is teamwork and it is clear Mineta and Hisahito are at the most odds with one another." Mr Aizawa said.
"And we have Bakugo as a classmate, and he doesn't like anyone." Ochaco said, and Izuku had to nod as he understood that better than anyone else.
"But picking and choosing teammates isn't always a luxury pro heroes have in the field. A pro hero must be willing to work with any other pro hero they come across, even if they hate each other, they must be willing to put aside their differences and fight together." Mr Aizawa explained.
"Well it seems Hisahito is willing to put it aside, when needed." Izuku said.
"True." Ochaco said, though she really couldn't defend Gizon, "Though he's technically threatened his teammates with that motion and there's still a chance Mineta does something Gizon can't turn his nose away from."
"We'll have to wait and see." Mr Aizawa said.
With one last jump, Gizon landed on the last boulder and crouched down on it, "Hello there, Midnight."
"Quite the show you put on with those jumps." Midnight said, pointing her whip at Gizon, "Though now I know you've powered up your quirk."
"Even if I had walked down, you should always assume I have enough energy within my quirk to fight." As Gizon looked at Midnight, he pushed out his senses and felt that Mineta was still a few boulders from reaching the floor.
"Ensnarled by my beauty that you can't even move." Midnight jested, but Gizon just dropped his head and shook it, "Come on, that would have worked on any other hot blooded male, even if it was a blush of embarrassment. What is up with you?"
Gizon sighed, "Really, you want to try and have that conversation, right now?" However, he was willing to do so if it distracted Midnight and bought him time.
"Yes, otherwise I'm going to start to think you swing the other way." Midnight said with a lick of her lips.
Gizon dropped his head again and, in a deadpan tone, said, "Have you seen the girl I spend my time with?"
"Ah, but you haven't taken her out on a date." Midnight pointed out, and Gizon shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe I'm waiting for school to end." Gizon said.
"No, there's something else." Midnight said.
Gizon sighed. Maybe it was because he was still trying to outrun his past, and he didn't want her to get fully tangled up with it. Too late for that. Or it was because he didn't think he deserved something like that. Though if he was being honest, while he enjoyed Ochaco's company and thought it would be nice to go on something that could be considered a date, his mind had never seen it that way.
In the beginning, Gizon spent time with Ochaco to help her control One for All. His focus was on making her a better fighter, so when the self-proclaimed demon king made his move, All Might wasn't there alone. That was all he saw their one-on-ones as, just another opportunity for them to be a better team. Gizon thought something would come from the kiss he gave Ochaco during the Sports Festival, but it had been nothing more than a fleeting moment of emotion.
He wasn't sure if he still had romantic feelings towards Ochaco. But the truth was, Gizon kind of wished he did. He had a chance at a normal life; he wasn't living in the world of villains, where emotion could get him killed at a moment's notice. He didn't have to hide emotion like he had always done, something that had always come to him far too easily, even from a young age.
Maybe over the summer, he should see if there was a chance he wanted to take with Ochaco.
Took a sharp breath, Gizon refocused himself, quieted his emotions. They might not get him killed, but they could still get in the way in the middle of a fight. Pushing his sense towards Mineta and locking onto his quirk, Gizon saw he was on the ground and moving into a spot he could run from.
"Well maybe, there is." Gizon said as he slipped off the boulder and landed on the ground, "But it's not like I'm going to tell you anything."
Midnight huffed and took a step towards Gizon, "I've lost count of the number of students I've helped confess to their crush. Come on, why do you have to take every fight so seriously?"
"The last time I didn't take a fight seriously, it ended so poorly that if I told you, you would have nightmares," Gizon said as he powered up his quirk. A yellow ethereal glow appeared around his body. And then in the next second, he bolted towards Midnight. As predicted, she was quick to make a cut on her suit while drawing back her whip, then swinging it at Gizon.
Having kept an eye out for this, Gizon slid to stop just outside Midnight's range. Then, as the tip got close, he leaned back, and it missed his eye by only a few centimeters. He then took a step back and knew he had Midnight's attention as she took a step forward and followed with a back swing.
Gizon took another back step, and it seemed Midnight didn't see his plan because she took another step towards him, but then she called out, "Where's your little friend? What, you decided to send a big, rough, and tough man to handle the innocent, helpless damsel?"
"I don't see an innocent helpless damsel anywhere around here. Just a feral cardinal woman." Gizon said as he took another step back, "Come on if you manage to catch me, I'll give you a kiss."
Gizon immediately regretted his words as a feral look overcame Midnight, and instead of taking another step and swinging her whips, she dashed towards Gizon, "Come here, lover boy." When she was only a few steps away, she swung her whip in an attempt to get it around Gizon's waist, but he dropped to the ground and then rolled to the side.
As he got back on his feet, he had to block a kick from Midnight, then dodge a left cross. Gizon allowed Midnight to stay on the offensive as she slowly pushed him to the boulders. The moment Gizon's back was against a boulder, Midnight smiled, and pink gas rushed out from her suit, almost as if a smoke grenade had gone off.
Thinking quickly, Gizon kicked Midnight away and then hopped onto the boulder. As he landed in a crouch, Midnight regained her balance and was about to swing her whip, but paused as she couldn't see Gizon. Then he looked up and glared at Gizon. In a stern tone, he said, "Come on, I thought you wanted a kiss with a fair prince in shining armor."
"You little brat." Midnight said as she swung her whip and would have hit Gizon if he hadn't jumped to a different boulder, "Now you're going to get what's coming for you."
"How's this for not being serious? "I don't think so," Gizon said in a sing-song tone.
Midnight growled as she continued to whack-a-brat with her whip, but continued to miss as Gizon jumped around. While it never showed, Gizon couldn't help but feel giddy as Midnight's annoyance turned into one of irritation and then into fury. Some small payback for all the other times she had attempted to get a reaction out of him.
The game had come to an end due to Gizon miscalculating a jump. Not because he missed, but instead, he had misjudged how stable one of the boulders was. The moment he landed on it, he felt it start to roll, so he moved quickly to jump to a different boulder. Yet as he pushed off, the boulder was pulled out from under his feet as if it were a rug.
Stuck in mid-air with no way to get a clean jump, Gizon could only watch as Midnight took the opportunity to get his whip around Gizon's waist and pulled him to the ground. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled away in an attempt to unravel the whip from around his waist, but that just caused it to go tight. A gasp escaped him as the air was forced out of his lungs, and he was dragged back to Midnight.
Grabbing the back of Gizon's collar, Midnight lifted him onto his feet with a seductive grin, "I believe someone owes me a kiss now."
Gizon didn't attempt to free himself from his teacher's whip; instead, he shook his head and said, "Nope." Then, before Midnight could react, Gizon got a breath, inhaling a large amount of pink gas. The next second, Gizon's body went limp, and Midnight had to shift her arm to properly hold his weight.
With a stomp of her heel, Midnight let out a frustrated, "Damn it." Then she realized where Gizon had led her to, or more accurately, where he had led her from. Looking at the exit gate and then around, she couldn't spot Mineta anyway. Chances were, he was supposed to run for the exit gate the moment Gizon drew her away from it, but for some reason, he had frozen.
Luckily, Midnight knew what kind of person Mineta was, and it would be all too easy to force him out of his hiding spot. On the plus side, she could use the security footage of what she was about to do and show it to Gizon, and make him finally blush towards her. So with the grace of a professional, Midnight unravelled her whip from around Gizon and then lowered herself to the ground and knelt down. She then lowered Gizon down, placing his head in her lap, and then leaned a bit to the side.
Then, in a voice that sounded like an angel only on the surface, Midnight called out, "Oh, Mineta. I've captured your teammates and given him the reward all good boys deserve."
Looking around, Midnight saw the top of Mineta's head lightly poking out from above a small boulder. It seemed like he was going to need a bit more convincing, so Midnight called out, "He fought so hard, so I offered my lap as a pillow so he could rest. He seems to be enjoying it very much. Wouldn't you like to join him?"
Midnight saw Mineta peer around the boulder, and she could tell he was absolutely fuming. Mineta was cursing Gizon in his head. After all the times he threatened Mineta, he gave in and was the one who got to enjoy Midnight's soft thighs as the world's most comfortable pillow.
"I will never forgive you for this, Hisahito, you hypocrite," Mineta said as he stepped back behind the boulder. But if he gave in, then there would be no Gizon to stop him from enjoying the woman's soft touch.
"Oh my, what a strong man. Willing to leave his partner to enjoy the comfort of a woman's soft touch, while he continues to fight and win.' Midnight said as she licked her lips. She was going to have some fun, and who cares if she got in trouble for it later? She could just say she was doing what she thought was necessary to give the two boys a proper fight, "Won't you rather lay down your heavy burden and enjoy my company as well. I have more than enough room on my chest."
Midnight knew she had him, as Mineta confidently stepped around the boulder and began to walk towards her. He looked as if he were from a cartoon and was getting carried by the scent of a fresh pie. He drooled a bit, and his eyes looked unfocused. She had to hold back a chuckle as she didn't expect it to be so easy, though she was sure if Gizon was still conscious, Mineta would be more hesitant.
But the knight in shining white armor was unconscious, and Mineta was nothing but putty in Midnight's hand. She had him hook, line, and sinker; it was all too easy. Until Mineta was only a few feet away, and then Midnight's plan came crashing down as she swore she heard Gizon suddenly call out, "Take another step, Mineta, and I promise you're going to die a virgin."
Mineta froze as if he had been turned to stone, all the while Midnight looked down and saw that Gizon was conscious and had his eyes open. Before Midnight could question how Gizon was possibly awake, he blew out, and pink smoke came out. "Hello."
Gizon then winked before spinning around and ramming his knee into Midnight's diaphragm. He then rolled and got onto his feet and said, "You know, Mineta, I wanted to give you a chance, but you failed. I'll deal with you later, once this is over. For now, just stay out of my way."
Gizon jumped back as Midnight tried to sweep his leg before getting on her knees, "Bad boys like you should be punished." Grabbing her whip, Midnight swung it at Gizon while pink smoke exploded, covering her. She expected him to step back to dodge the whip and smoke, but Gizon stepped to the side and then took a big breath before rushing into the smoke. With the smoke obscuring her vision, Midnight didn't catch Gizon until the last second, when he threw a hard punch to her kidney.
Midnight felt brile fill her mouth, but she didn't care as she threw a swipe at Gizon. It seemed Gizon was unimpeded by the smoke as he launched into a combo that made Midnight glad that breathing in her own quirk didn't knock her out. When Gizon finally let off the attack, she stumbled back with her ears ringing and her legs feeling weak, as if she had let herself get talked into running a marathon. She tried to throw a punch, but she hit smoke-filled air, and before she could react, a glowing fist that felt like it was made out of steel hit her under her chin in an uppercut.
Midnight barely managed to keep her balance, but then Gizon stepped forward and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying/falling out of the smoke cloud. She hit the ground and rolled, expecting Gizon to keep his momentum, but as she got to her knee, she could only see the pink smoke cloud.
"You know it's a pretty idiotic move to use smoke as a cover when you can't see through." Gizon's voice came from the smoke as a shadow silhouette appeared at the edge of the smoke cloud, "Even more so when your opponent can."
As Gizon stepped out of the pink smoke, Midnight forced herself to get onto her other knees. And when she looked at Gizon, she could see that he had his eyes closed, "I call bull. That first hit was lucky, and any trained fighter would only need one to know where their opponent was."
"My quirk deals with energy." Gizon said as he opened his eyes, his iris glowing a faint yellow, "Everyone has their own unique quirk signature. It's not an ability that I find too useful in conventional fighting, but it sure makes it easy to locate someone who thinks they can hide from me."
Midnight huffed, grabbed her whip, and swung it. Yet instead of stepping back or to the side, Gizon reached out and grabbed the whip out of midair. This caused the tip to quickly wrap around his hand, then he pulled the whip in close and wrapped it around his forearm. Before Midnight could react, Gizon pulled his arm back, pulling her towards him.
Midnight stumbled forward, but before she could fall to the ground, Gizon caught her with an arm around her waist. She thought Gizon could at least blush from this, but when she felt his strong arm gently around her waist, Midnight felt her own cheek warm up. Gizon then looked her in the eyes and said, "I thought I owed you a kiss."
Alarms and bells started to go off in Midnight's head. They got even louder when she noticed he wasn't blushing, meaning he was serious. Midnight's logical side was yelling at her that this was some kind of trick; it was the most emotionally blunt kid she had ever met, saying it. And even if it wasn't a trick, she was going to get in trouble for it either way. But her eyes couldn't help but take in Gizon's blonde hair that looked golden in the sunlight or the depths of his yellow eyes. Her hands couldn't help but notice the warmth of his body.
Midnight bit her tongue to try to contain herself, but she let out a high-pitched squeal, her eyes turned to hearts, and her body melted into Gizon's arm. Gizon couldn't believe someone who acted like this around kids got a job as a high school teacher. But nevertheless, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
Midnight let out a sigh of tranquility. She had forgotten all about the test, or that she was on camera, or that she was being watched by Shota Aizawa. It had been far too long since she was in the comfort of a strong man who knew how to be gentle. She could feel herself losing the will to contain herself, so she let it slip out, "How about one on the lips this time?" If only she were a younger woman and still in high school.
"Sorry, but that's reserved for someone else," Gizon said, popping the bubble of Midnight's fantasy. She gave him a look of confusion, which he answered by drawing his head back and then headbutting her. The moment the attack connected, Midnight's eyes rolled back inside her head, and when Gizon released her, she dropped to the ground like a house made out of cards.
Gizon's entire body flinched and shuddered as someone would do if they found themself in an extremely disgusting position. He then grimaced and said, "I feel like I need to talk to Shiozaki." He then took a breath, and his face returned to a more natural neutral expression. Then, with a small whistle tone, Gizon reached to the back of his belt and pulled out the cuffs all the students had been given.
Crouching down, Gizon rolled Midnight onto her stomach and grabbed her arms and placed them on her back. The moment Gizon cuffed her wrists, the PA system said, "Midnight has been captured. Gizon Hisahito and Minoru Mineta have passed."
Yet Gizon wasn't finished as he reached back again and pulled out a pair of normal cuffs. He slid over to Midnight's feet and then cuffed her ankles together. He was always fine with causing more distress for his least favorite teacher. If Midnight wanted to take it, it was him getting back at her for all the times she tried to get him to blush; he was okay with that as well.
"I'll never forgive you for this, Hisahito. I'm sure you have this planned from the very start. Why do you get to feel her body and enjoy her soft touch? It should have been me." Mineta would have continued ranting, but Gizon shot him a death glare, one strong enough to make even All Might or Eraserhead freeze in place for a second. While Class 1-A had gotten used to the fiery glares Mr Aizawa and Bakugo gave, there was something about Gizon's that no one could ever get used to.
Gizon then looked at one of the hidden cameras and called out, "Oi, Mr Aizawa I'm sure you teachers have some sort of keys to get the cuffs, but that second pair!" -Gizon reached into his belt and pulled out a key, "Midnight is going to have to find me to get them off."
Up in the observation booth, Mr Aizawa used his scarf to hide a smirk. Hopefully, this would get the lesson to stick in Midnight's head. And while Mr Aizawa never quite liked Gizon's seemingly indifferent to anything outside of fighting, at least he knew how far to take it. Unlike the pro hero he had just fought.
"Now," Gizon said as he turned and looked at Mineta, his eyes giving off a menacing yellow glow, "for you."
In what was perhaps the smartest decision in his life, Mineta decided to immediately turn and bolt out of the exam arena. Gizon, however, didn't immediately begin to hunt him down, but instead took a few seconds to stretch his arms and back before running after the little pervert. Thus starting the most terrifying game of cat and mouse.
While Class 1-A couldn't be sure if they were really hearing Mineta's distant screams or not, the PA system turned back on and said, "Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido, report to City Echo."
Outside City Beta, Denki and Mina stood up from the tree they were using for shade and began to walk to City Echo. For the time they had during the previous two exams, they had attempted to come up with a plan, and they thought they had a good basis. Whatever obstacle Principal Nezu had placed in their way, Mina would melt a path through, and once they got close enough, Denki would get close enough to use his quirk to incapacitate Principal Nezu.
As they walked off, they cheered as if victory was already assured. Up in the observation booth, Izuku peered out the window, watching them, "Neither of them really has a brain cell, and it shows." This made Ochaco laugh.
But what Denki and Mina had failed to take into account was that Principal Nezu was never going to give them that chance. Something they began to realize as they saw the demolition area, they were fighting and came to dread as they heard and then saw the distant construction crane moving around and knocking down buildings.
Not wanting to find themself trapped by a collapsed building, Mina and Denki took off. Using her acid quirk, Mina burnt holes through the walls as quickly as she could so they could escape. They soon found themselves in an apartment building, and they were able to catch their breath, all the while hearing buildings collapse around them as if they were dominoes. Denki made the comment that it felt like Principal Nezu was creating an inescapable maze, while Mina said it felt more like Principal Nezu was directing them into a trap.
And if they were being led like cattle, their best move to disrupt Principal Nezu's plan would be to charge directly towards him. But how were they supposed to do that if buildings were being knocked down left and right, they didn't have Gizon's absorbing quirk, or Ochaco's super strength, or Iida's speed? If they made a dash for it, then Principal Nezu would most likely have them locked down before they could say Plus Ultra.
But what other options did they have? With that decided, what paths should they take to get to Principal Neuz? Running down the unbroken, uncovered road so they could move as fast as possible, with the potential they had a building could drop on them. Or did they sift their way through the wreckage so there was nothing to be dropped on them?
In the end, Denki and Mina decide to try it on the open street, as it would be fast and they could move more easily in the case of falling debris. As the sound of falling buildings ceased, Mina quickly melted another hole in the wall, and they took off in the direction of Principal Nezu's crane. Who was sitting up in the cabin and watching their futile attempt through a pair of binoculars?
"It's such a shame they choose a blitzkrieg strategy." Principal Nezu said as he used his free hand to turn a controller, sending the wrecking ball into another building, "Even after I put so much effort into creating a path of destroyed buildings that I won't be able to touch them in."
Principal Nezu watched as his latest domino track of building continued to fall, with the last one crashing to the ground half a block away from Denki and Mina. Grinding their run to a halt as they had to dive behind cover so they didn't get hit or blown away by the debris field.
Principal Nezu began to hum a tune as he lowered his binoculars and reached over for his prepared teacup. He was about to take a sip when something caught his eye. Quickly bringing his binoculars back up to his eyes, he saw a sight that was quite the surprise. Denki and Mina were running straight for him.
And as they reached the destroyed building, Mina helped Denki onto the top of it and then showed her strength by swinging up as if she were a gymnast. They came across the side of the building, making sure to stay on top of the more intact portions so they didn't lose their footing. Principal Nezu was quite happily surprised as he didn't expect such bold actions from two people like Denki and Mina.
UA's principal began to move his crane around, looking for an option to slow the two students down, but only to find his options had already been knocked down. Any building he hit, the corresponding domino effect would take far too long to be effective. Yet while it might not physically slow the two down, it could do so mentally. Make them question if their current path of action was the correct one to take. So, using both control sticks to move around, Principal Nezu began to knock down as many buildings as quickly as possible.
As he swerved down around to his original position, Principal Nezu once again used his binoculars to look down at Denki and Mina. Yet he could not find them anywhere, no matter where he looked. It wasn't until he looked straight down and saw them standing at the base of his crane. They appeared to be in the middle of a game of rock, paper, scissors, and Denki won, so he placed his hand against the crane, causing electricity to spiderweb up the tower and shut everything down.
Moving the control sticks, Principal Nezu found them inoperational, yet it did not matter, as he might be stuck at the top of a very tall construction tower; they had not technically captured him. And that became very evident to Denki and Mina as they did not hear any announcement about them capturing Principal Nezu; instead, a few seconds later, a large alarm went off, and the PA system said, "Time has expired. Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido, mid-term exams failed."
Seeing the confusion on the students' faces, Principal Nezu pressed a button on his collar, and when he spoke, his voice came out of the PA speakers, "I will congratulate you on disabling my crane; however in order to pass you were told to place a cuff around one of my limbs. By using Kaminari's quirk to disable my means of attacking, all you have done is essentially trapped me in a very high location, a location you would need to climb to to arrest me. And if I were any villain with a mobility quirk or if I had a parachute I could just as easily escape. Never assume a villain is captured until they are behind bars, because at any moment they could break free."