[Yaoyorozu's POV]
I stood at the observation deck, analyzing the video feeds of the ongoing matches, when All Might's booming voice echoed behind me.
"Young Yaoyorozu! Your breakdown of Team C's maneuvers was spot-on! You've got a strategist's mind sharper than most!" And his passionate smile shined with an accompanying thumbs up.
My cheeks flushed faintly as Hagakure and Ojiro nodded approvingly beside me.
Mina hugged me from behind, grinning and nudging me playfully, "Girl, you're making the rest of us look bad for not answering All Might's questions! If I was partnered with you instead our group could have won the match easy!"
I smiled politely, but my eyes flicked to the match roster screen.
The final match pairing glowed on screen:
"Villain Team: Yaoyorozu Momo & Jiro Kyoka vs. Hero Team: Kaminari Denki & Hakuro Amago."
'Hakuro. Late. And on the second day no less.'
His arrogant smile flashed in my mind—the boy who never seemed to take anything seriously, and yet was supposedly more intelligent than me because of a quirk.
It was unfair.
Kaminari scratched his head, "Uh…does this count as a forfeit? My partner's absent."
Jiro fiddled with her ear jack, "All Might's gonna have to pick a substitute. Sucks for Hakuro—he'll get docked points. But he's the one who's gone so…"
All Might waited for around a minute before he adjusted his microphone, "Ahem! Due to Young Hakuro's absence, we'll randomly select another student to replace—"
Creak
The observation deck doors slowly opened, and my eyes narrowed as Hakuro strolled in shamelessly.
"I believe this is what they call fashionably late?" he said with an annoying smile.
All Might stepped forward and spoke, though he wasn't scolding him.
"Hakuro! Where have you been young man? Attendance is expected for every class from all students! I hope you aren't planning to only attend Hero-specifc classes."
Hakuro yawned, "Apologies All Might. I got caught in a villain attack. I was hit with knockout gas."
He pulled out a medical slip, with an accompanying Incident Report, handing it to All Might. "Hope I didn't miss the fun."
The class erupted.
Mineta cowered, "Villains?! Did they get captured?!"
Bakugo crossed his arms, "Tch. You were just too weak if you were late for such a stupid reason."
All Might took his time to read the slip, "This…appears legitimate! It even has a signature from Kesagiri Man's Agency! You are excused Hakuro. Make sure to give this to the front office so you can settle your morning absences as well."
All Might handed the papers back to Hakuro "The slip also says you're fit to participate so I hope you don't go overboard. If you feel ill, just say so!"
While the class continued to converse about the turn of events, I continued glaring at him.
'A villain attack? It sounds like a convenient excuse. And it seemed like a lie. But the evidence was telling. Fully trusting a gut feeling was nonsensical.'
'Besides. I needed him to partake in this match to prove that I was superior. That he couldn't outhink me. Only then would this dissatisfied feeling in my chest go away.'
I must have been glaring too long though because Hakuro turned and locked eyes with me, then smirked. As if he knew what I was thinking.
"Shall we begin, Yaoyorozu?" He suggested, "A battle of wits? I've been eager to see that Creation quirk of your in action."
I cooly responded, "I hope you're prepared to lose."
Jiro leaned in beside me, nudged me, and whispered, "He's got a medical slip. Should we go easy?"
Quietly, I responded with steel in my voice, "No. He wants a battle? I'll give him a war."
A few minutes passed as All Might gave Hakuro a rundown of how the Battle Trial's worked.
"So just to make sure—" Hakuro said with a playful coy tone in his voice, "Those are all the rules correct? The time limit is fifteen minutes. In order for the heroes to win, we need to either capture both villains or secure the weapon before time runs out. And in order for the villains to win, they either have to capture both heroes or protect the weapon until time runs out."
"Precisely young man! I couldn't have explained it better myself!" All Might beamed.
"And we are free to use whatever methods, correct?"
"No maiming, severely injuring, or anything along those lines, but yes."
"Understood. Thank you." Hakuro quipped with a pleased face.
We descended to the training zone, Hakuro humming a tune behind me, hands in pockets, acting cockily as ever.
I clenched my fists. 'Today, I'll dismantle him. His laziness. His arrogance. Every smirk will be wiped clean.'
'I won't be outdone by someone who was given his talents for free.'
'I'll prove my hard work was not in vain.'
***
[Hakuro's POV]
The industrial zone loomed ahead, its labyrinth of rusted pipes and skeletal scaffolding groaning like a living thing in the wind.
Kaminari strolled beside me, his hands laced behind his head, with a grin as unshakable as his apparent lack of situational awareness.
We were heading to the frontmost building, a large, overburdened infrastructure. It was clearly built for the industrial theme, with an overabundance of pipes, gas tanks, and machinery.
You could climb to the roof of any building if you wanted. It was like a massive playground.
Yaoyorozu and Jiro had already left 10 minutes earlier so that they could station themselves at the bomb.
I adjusted the weight of my costume, which was a simple coat—an ivory fabric to be precise. With black tights underneath.
Being quirkless, I didn't have too many requirements. I just required a suit with various sized pockets (all hidden) to carry all my tools, multiple straps around my body to ensure they stayed connected to me, and the coat and clothes itself offered some protection against the general elements.
Like the cold, heat, and electricity.
I wasn't immune of course, but it was better than regular civilian clothes.
I had the same insulated pants and gloves, with thick black iron-sole boots in case I needed to drop-kick an opponent, or walk across hazardous terrains safely.
I also had goggles for eye protection.
But I was missing the key component of my costume.
U.A. didn't give me the weapon I designed and requested them to make.
Inside my costume suitcase, there was a note explaining it was still being discussed among staff.
It seems they wanted to observe my ethical intuition and overall skill level before deciding to give it. They were wary of giving a lethal weapon to a student.
Which was both understandable but also ridiculous given how all students were here to train the lethality of our quirks. Not to mention the weapon itself was basic.
But there was no changing things now.
BEEEP
The buzzer blared, signaling the start of the match.
I shoved open the entrance door, its hinges shrieking like a banshee.
Kaminari hovered at my shoulder, practically twitching with nervous energy.
He elbowed me with an excited smile. "So— you're the smart one, Hakuro. How do we win this thing? I don't enjoy losing and I'm willing to bet you don't either!"
"Winning is easy." I said as I scanned the maze of pipes and catwalks, while my mind was already dissecting the battlefield.
"They're on defense, so Momo will obviously—"
**
"—make a fortress." Yaoyorozu said to Jiro. "We have zero incentive to leave this room. We'll barricade ourselves in this room to protect ourselves and the bomb. Jirou, anchor yourself near the entrance."
She pointed to a central platform flanked by storage tanks. "Use your quirk as a sonar grid. In case they foolishly try to approach, your quirk will catch even a single heartbeat from them."
Yaoyorozu smirked, "I say foolishly, but they don't have much choice. They have to approach us to even have a chance at winning. We'll be at the advantage the entire time this way."
Jirou plugged her jack into the floor and closed her eyes to focus. "Got it. And you?"
Momo's skin shimmered as she conjured thick rubber sheets, draping them over key pathways of the room. Then she made a set of rubber clothes for each of them.
"Kaminari's their only real threat. Hakuro's clever, but lacks physical prowess in this scenario. If we insulate every surface, Kaminari's electricity becomes useless."
Jirou grinned, "I feel bad for them already."
Yaoyorozu smirked once more as a pure metal plate slowly grew out of her back. "And Hakuro? He'll have to waste time when he walks into—"
***
"—a barricade," I muttered, eyeing the metal beams that were blocking the path. "Charming."
We could have attempted to squeeze through it, but they were laced with barbed wires.
Plus given the time limit and their massive weight, we didn't have the option to slowly move them either.
Kaminari frowned. "This just feels like bullying. Now we have to go all the way around!"
I knelt, brushing dust from the floor.
'Faint scuff marks. They were fresh.'
I looked across the hallway, and saw the faint footprints enter one of the far-off rooms. Most likely where they were stationed. They didn't bother covering their tracks. Or just didn't realize. They were students after all.
"Looks like we'll have to enter from another entrance." I said getting up.
"Ughhh. But it took us 3 minutes to get here!" Kaminari said in frustration. "Shouldn't we just risk getting cut up moving past the metal. Aren't we just screwed if we don't?"
"No. We're bored." I said as I walked over to the the wall we entered from and—
BAM
Kicked an exposed piping hard enough to get it loose.
I crouched and after a couple of seconds of struggling, yanked the pipe free.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
I gave it a couple of practice swings and adjusted my grip each time to get a feel of it.
If I didn't have a weapon, I would just have to use a makeshift one.
Kaminari glanced at the steel pipe in my hand, "You're… not going to hit the girls with that… right?"
"I won't if they don't tempt me."
"..."
"Just follow me. You're right that we'll be tight on time, so every second matters."
I turned and began running towards where we entered the building from.
Kaminari reluctantly followed after me until eventually—
"Bro! We're back at the entrance!"
"Very perceptive Kaminari. Your genius is truly frightening." I sarcastically said as I began to walk out the front door.
"Wait! Hakuro! Your plan is to give up?! Do you want to be disqualified?"
I continued to walk. "Why would I be disqualified?"
"Because you're leaving the building? Isn't that obvious?"
"When was that part of the rules?"
Kaminari froze and blinked slowly. Until he spoke with a baffled expression. "...Huh?"
I turned back to him, "When did All Might state we couldn't leave the building as part of the rules?"
"Uh…." And he closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he thought back to the rundown of the rules. "Now that you mention it, he didn't. But isn't it kind of obvious?"
"This is a practice villain scenario Kaminari. If you approach real life battles with self-imposed 'rules' in mind, you're going to get killed before you realize it. Since All Might didn't mention we couldn't leave, then I'm going to make use of that."
"..."
"Just keep following me and trust me. It's not against the rules and this is how we're going to win."
"Sigh~ I'll trust you man. But you better know what you're doing."
He hesitantly followed me outside, and together we left the building.
***
A few minutes earlier
As class 1A watched from the monitoring room as the two teams were discussing strategy, they continued to watch Hakuro's team specifically to see what they would do. It was like watching the level 1 under-leveled hero in a video game march towards the final boss in their lair.
Sero itched the side of his head. "They're just… standing in the hallway. Talking. Not even moving toward the bomb. Did the metal blockade stump them that much?"
Kirishima frowned. "Maybe they're scared? But that just seems wrong to me. They didn't seem the type to back down from a fight. I thought they would have had some passion in them!"
"No Ribbit." Tsuyu disagreed. "Hakuro looks too calm. It feels like there's something else going on."
Eventually the screen shifted as Kaminari and Hakuro began running, and ran out the front entrance, completely leaving the arena, causing the class to erupt.
Mina threw her hands in the air. "They can't just LEAVE! That's gotta be against the rules!"
Kirishima looked aghast. "Wait, did they just forfeit?! That's not manly! That's cowardly!"
"Wow, they're just… walking out the front door? Is this a trick?" Sato mumbled while staring in confusion.
Iida adjusted his glasses with slight hesitation before turning to the Symbol of Peace. "I dislike being the one to say this, especially as I am well acquainted with Hakuro, but All Might sensei. Leaving the arena is a clear violation of protocol. You must disqualify them!"
Meanwhile, All Might simply stayed silent, remembering Hakuro's earlier questions:
"All Might, just to confirm—those are all the rules? No hidden conditions?"
All Might had enthusiastically replied, "The rules are simple! Protect or secure the bomb within the time limit! No lethal force allowed! Everything else is allowed!"
"Understood."
The smile on All Might's face grew wide.
'He's a clever student.'
Uraraka walked up, "Um. All Might? We can't see them on the cameras anymore since they left the building. Is the battle over then?"
All Might turned and pat her shoulder.
With his eyes glinting in appraisal, "Actually… I never specified you students could not leave the building. So they are NOT disqualified."
"EHHH?!" The class echoed.
All Might continued, "I hadn't really considered this scenario. But it's not as if it's cheating. Hakuro and Kaminari are well within their rights to leave since I never forbade it."
As the chatter of the class began to grow with varying opinions, All Might spoke aloud once more.
"Patience everyone! Let's continue to watch until the match is complete! We can resume discussions once all parties are present!"
***
[Yaoyorozu POV]
The fluorescent light in the room hummed within sterile silence. The only other occasional noise was Jiro's fidgeting and my agitated heartbeat.
'Two minutes left.'
There were only two minutes left on the timer until we automatically won by default.
Hakuro and Kaminari had yet to put up any fight so far. They had yet to be even seen or heard by us.
Frankly, it was irritating.
All of Hakuro's smugness for what? To not even attempt to win this battle? To not take it seriously?
But I could imagine him snickering to himself as me and Jiro wasted our efforts for 15 whole minutes on edge and tensed while he enjoyed the thoughts of our mental anguish.
Plus, it would be an easy excuse for him if he refused to try. He could blame his defeat on it. On his lack of effort.
But deep down I knew Hakuro would come eventually.
He would at least make some sort of effort to secure victory.
I took a quick glance around the room to make sure all of our defenses were secured.
I stood with my back against the incoming warm sunlight from outside, and my face locked onto all the entrances into the room.
'Rubber-lined doors. Insulated suits. Every entrance was barricaded with my steel beams. Of course I had to really push myself for all of it, but it was worth it. They can't possibly breach this defense.'
'So why… why does it feel wrong? What am I missing?'
Jiro looked at me with a strained face. "I still don't hear anything Yaoyorozu. Not even the echo or vibration of a single step. Do you think they gave up?"
"Hardly. Hakuro has too much of an ego for that."
"But then where are they? I doubt they can move through this building without me hearing them."
Jiro moved to another corner of the room and plugged her earphone jacks into the walls, straining her face once more.
"Still no movement. Are they waiting for something? Do you think Hakuro's smart enough to make a bomb? Maybe that's why they're taking so long."
I gripped my rubber shield, "Kaminari's electricity can't pierce rubber. Hakuro's quirk is analytical, not combative. They have no play. But the bomb suggestion is a possibility. Back away from the walls just in case."
As Jiro made her way backwards, a prodding thought kept nicking the back of my brain.
'This will be a flawless victory for us. For me against him.'
'Unless… Hakuro has somehow outplayed me.'
'No!' I chastised myself.
'I thought of everything. There's no situation in which they—'
BOOM!
The window exploded from directly behind us.
Shards of glass razored through the air as Kaminari and Hakuro crashed through the 3rd story windows, a storm of sunlight and splintered panes flying towards us.
My shield snapped up reflexively, deflecting glass while Jiro yelped, diving behind a pillar for protection.
Hakuro stood up, goggles over his eyes while dusting the shards of glass off his sleeves.
Kaminari stood beside him, "Woo~! Yeah! Let's do that again! My blood's still pumping from that! I feel like an actual hero with that stunt!"
'W-what?!' My mind screamed in confusion as I tried to warp my brain around this scenario.
'How is he here?! How are they both here?!'
I got on my feet and flayed my hands at them, "You—! Hakuro! You just disqualified yourself! You can't just burst in through the windows—"
"!"
But Hakuro completely ignored me and began sprinting.
'What is he—? On no! The bomb!'
I turned around as quickly as I could, "Jiro! Quick! Stop him!"
But thankfully she was already back on her feet and was between him and the bomb.
Her Earjacks latched onto the speakers on her boots, and sent a massive head rattling noise cascading towards him.
But he had already prepared himself by keeping a keen eye on her from earlier, and leaped to the side as her sonic wave harmlessly flew past him.
However her attack had successfully stopped his running momentum.
"Sigh~ Kaminari." Hakuro let out a groan. "I thought I told you to run immediately once we landed. We could have won right now if we split directions. She wouldn't have been able to target both of us at the same time."
"Awww shoot!" Kaminari scratched the back of his head. "Sorry man! I didn't think we had to be that quick."
It was at that moment that Jiro's shock form the overall situation wore off and she waved at the two accusingly. "Can someone explain what the heck is going on?! How'd you burst in through the window? How did you not even get disqualified for leaving the building?!"
But Hakuro ignored her and looked around the room with a sharp eye before he stopped and smiled at me with a single eyebrow raised. "I thought you'd be more mindful of your weight, Yaoyorozu. How much did you eat this morning? Aren't you worried about your figure?"
Kaminari: "????"
Jiro: "????"
"Excuse me?!" I yelled in shock while unconsciously grasping my stomach.
'What kind of nonsense is he bringing up?! Is he calling me fat?!'
'No, wait. Calm down Momo. He's trying to agitate you.'
'To get into your head and distract you.'
'Calm down and keep your head cool.'
I closed my eyes and steadied my breath.
Hakuro gestured to the room. "The rubber barricades. The insulated suits. Metal beams. How much did you eat this morning to create all that? It had to be at least five pounds worth of calories. I'm impressed by your appetite. You eat for a family of four."
Twitch
"..."
I felt my eyebrow twitch in anger, but Hakuro shamelessly carried on.
He sighed at tapped the steel pipe in his hand against the floor.
"It's a shame. We could have won peacefully. Now we have to settle this with violence."
Jiro and I guarded ourselves. I raised my shield and generated a baton.
While Jiro pulled out the metal staff I had created earlier and given to her to wield in case a melee fight broke out.
"Jiro! No need to overexert yourself." I commanded. "Just keep Hakuro away from the bomb! They have less than a minute left to try and win!"
"Like we'll just let you stop us!" Kaminari yelled as he ran straight for the bomb.
I ran after him as fast as I could, hoping I would get to Kaminari before he got to Jiro.
However Kaminari looked back at me and grinned wildly, before—
"!"
—he suddenly turned around and lunged at me.
I leaped back to dodge him.
Thud!
And he fell on the floor face first.
"Ow!" He groaned as he rubbed his nose. "That worked out a lot better in my head."
I raised my shield at him, "What on earth are you doing Kaminari? How could you just give up trying to win and try to attack me?"
"I don't get it either" Kaminari breathed out as he got back onto his feet and glared at me, "I'm just following the plan."
'The plan? Why on earth would attacking me be part of Hakuro's plan?'
And then it hit me, and I clenched my jaw and my knuckles around the baton whitened.
'Is he taunting me?'
'Purposefully targeting me just to cause physical harm since it could be excused in the Battle Trial? Is he trying to bully me down as if saying I'm beneath him?'
I glared at Kaminari. "I didn't expect someone like you to follow through with such a thug-like plan Kaminari. Targeting me for revenge? How pitiful."
But Kaminari simply froze and gave me an odd look. "Uh….what? Revenge? I have no clue what you're talking about."
Then he grinned again, "Then again, I don't care. Right now, all I know is that Hakuro gave me a job for us to win this thing. And I won't let him down!"
ZZZZTT
Then Kaminari unleashed a bolt of electricity that flew in my direction.
However its unpredictable and volatile behavior caused it to spread out. By the time it reached me, I was able to block most of it with my rubber shield and clothes.
"You can't defeat me like that Kaminari." I said with pride.
My failsafes against his quirk were well thought out. He couldn't get past them.
But he unexpectedly smiled, "I don't need to defeat you Yaoyorozu. All I need to do is stall you."
***
[Hakuro POV]
Meanwhile, around 50 feet away.
I studied Jiro, a steel pipe spinning in my grip.
I was acting playful, but I was staying alert for when she might create another sonic echo. I dodged the first time since she was still in shock, but if she decided to spam her attack, the situation wouldn't be good.
I just had to find the right opening to catch her off guard. Or create one. And soon.
I trusted Kaminari could hold off Yaoyorozu for at least a minute. He just had to create wild blasts of electricity to force her to back up. He also had to call out anything she created with her quirk for me to prepare.
The best option is If he could tackle her and unleash the entirety of his electricity. That would render her armor useless and she'd be paralyzed.
The worst case scenario would be Momo making a giant knockout gas canister or concussion grenade or something along those lines that could knock everyone out and let the timer go to zero, causing us to lose.
I can deal with Jiro. But Momo is a wild card with her infinite possibilities in combat.
Jiro smirked at me with her metal staff poised to attack, "Sorry Hakuro. Without an attack powered quirk, you stand no chance against me."
"A flashy quirk? I don't see the need for one."
And I sprinted straight towards her.
She plugged her earlobes once more into her shoe's speakers, but I reached into my outfit and—
Fwoo Fwoo
Threw out two groups of senbon that cut right past her ear jacks, while others punctured straight into them. (A/N: They were heavy senbon that were closer to darts. But senbon sounds better I think. Let me know which you prefer. Senbon or Darts.)
"Ugh!"
She groaned as her ear jacks recoiled away from her speakers and a couple drops of blood dripped down them.
She glared at me but I continued to advance.
I was prepared to launch the iron pipe like a javelin if she continued her sonic assault, but Jiro predictably did not wish for more needles in her earlobes. She, like most of the class, were not mentally prepared to withstand pain in a fight for a chance at victory.
Once I was in range, Jiro thrusted her staff at me—but I pivoted, and the metallic staff whisked past my head.
Being untrained with a staff, Jiro's failed strike left herself wide open.
I maneuvered right in front of her face, swung my leg forward and—
Bam
"Keuk!"
Thud
Kicked her straight in the stomach as she flew straight onto her back.
"I hope you know I won't pull my punches Jiro. I'm a staunch supporter of gender equality."
"This doesn't feel like equality…" she groaned out.
She quickly tried to get back onto her feet.
But I dashed forward and swung my metal pipe—
Clang
And smacked the staff in her hands away, sending it flying a couple of feet away.
She laid on her back helplessly as I stood over her.
I brought my arms up and she looked in fear as I—
Fwoosh!
—swung the pipe full force arcing toward her head.
"..."
But I stopped millimeters from her face. A hair's width from impact.
Jiro was wide-eyed as she glanced at the weapon and then at me. Breathlessly she spoke, "For a second I thought… you were really going to hit me…"
"This is training. Not a cage fight. No point in removing your teeth. Let's end this here."
And I pulled out a pair of cuffs and dangled them over her.
She sighed in defeat before raising her wrists.
I latched them onto her to symbolize her being captured and officially out of the match.
I glanced behind me, and saw that Kaminari and Yaoyorozu were still at a standstill, both trying to outdo the other with slight beads of sweat forming on their faces.
Kaminari was using his superior firepower to hold Yaoyorozu back. And Yaoyorozu was unharmed from her superior defense, but was stuck trying to get past him. It was poetic in its own way.
I walked over to the bomb and placed my hand firmly on it.
All Might soon spoke over speakers. "BOMB SECURED! HERO TEAM WINS!"
"Woo hoo~!" I heard Kaminari scream at the top of his lungs. "Let's gooooooo!!"
He raised both hands in victory as he sprinted towards me. "Hakurooo! You freakin' genius! We wooooon!"
And he forcefully dabbed me up before wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
"Alright, calm down, calm down. Don't accidentally electrocute me because you got too excited."
But he didn't listen as he smiled wildly and pulled me in every direction, going on and on about how cool our team must have looked from the cameras. Especially in the moment we burst in from the windows.
"I wonder if they recorded that moment!" He yelled enthusiastically. "I wanna show my parents—"
But I zoned out of the conversation as I watched Yaoyorozu glare at me, her jaw visibly clenched with her baton and shield thrown onto the floor.
She was begrudgingly walking towards us.
'Someone seems salty. But I would be too if victory was so close, only to shatter in my hands at the last second.'
I called out to her, "It seems the score is now 1-0 for me. I would wish you luck in the next match, but..." I shrugged in exaggeration, "even that wouldn't help you against me."
"Hmph." She huffed as she helped Jiro up after unlocking the handcuffs. "How fitting for someone like you Hakuro. Your victory was only due to you twisting the rules."
"Twisting the rules?" I raised an eyebrow. "Let's not be a wet blanket here Yaoyorozu. It's one thing to be annoyed at being bested. It's another to throw dirt on my trophy."
She stepped towards me, "Your trophy is a fake at best. Everyone knew you weren't supposed to leave the building."
"Well that's just incorrect. Not one of you 'knew' we weren't supposed to leave. You simply 'assumed'. You constrained yourselves. Don't blame me for being smarter than you to notice it."
And that seemed to get under her nerves as she gave me a death stare.
"Oookay…" Jiro breathed out slowly as she raised both hands in peace to try and reconcile both of us. "It was only a single match. There'll be more in the future to decide who's smarter than who."
"Y-yeah" Kaminari nervously chuckled. "It was well played from both sides. Hakuro was simply better this time."
"But he wasn't better." Yayorozu grit out as she crossed her arms.
Jiro took that moment to slap Kaminari's shoulder. "Great, you set her off again."
Yaoyorozu got closer to me and pointed, "You just found a loophole in the rules Hakuro. There was nothing strategic about it. Anyone can do better if they cheat their way to the top. But I guess you would know everything about taking the easy way. Wouldn't you?"
"Oh, don't be immature. What exactly are we training for Yaoyorozu?"
"..."
I continued, "You two can answer this too, Jiro and Kaminari. What exactly are we training for?"
"..."
"..."
The duo just looked at each other, then at us two, and stayed silent. Probably because they didn't want to be involved in our dispute.
I took that as an answer in itself.
"We're training for Real. Life. Battles. With criminals. Genuine villains that wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the gut if you showed an opening. All these self-imposed "rules" you place on yourself are just chains that hold you back from accomplishing what you need to."
I began adjusting my outfit while occasionally looking at Yaoyorozu, "Don't blame me for your world view being based off standardized tests and planned schedules. You simply dislike me for breaking down your worldview with my ingenuity. That's what happens when you think the world has set rules that it follows. That there needs to be order and precision in everything."
I looked directly at her, "You think you know everything. But you don't. So stop acting like you do. Otherwise you're in for a brutal wake up call."
Kaminari tried to chime in, "Uh… didn't you say you 'knew everything' yesterday Haku—"
"Shut it Kaminari."
"Shutting up."
Me and Yaoyorozu entered another staring contest before she stormed off for the exit. "You're incorrigible" she grit out as a final message, and left as her ponytail swayed behind her in righteous fury.
"Yaoyorozu! Wait!" Jiro called out with an outstretched hand but was unsuccessful. She turned to us. "Ugh. Nice going you two." and she chased after the creation quirk user.
"What—? I didn't do anything though?" Kaminari muttered.
He kicked the pipe laying on the floor near him.
"Man. And I was hoping to have a chat with Jiro too. That plan has gone up in flames."
"It's fine, she's not going anywhere." I said. "You can still have your chat with her if you catch up."
"Why would they be back?" he asked in confusion. "They're clearly not in the mood to stay anywhere near us."
"Do you remember why we had to jump through the windows?"
"Because the door was— Ooohhh. The doors are sealed shut with steel from Yaoyorozu. Right. Right."
"Exactly. And she might have created a lot of objects up until now. But Yaoyorozu most likely can't create anything else at the moment."
I took a seat on the floor. "So we're stuck here until All Might comes. You can go relax with the girls and chat with Jiro."
"..."
Kaminari stood in silence for a couple of seconds before—
Thud
He sat down right beside me.
"Nah, it's cool dude. We won this match thanks to you. It would be lame of me to ditch you just to chat with a chick."
"Suit yourself."
"Besides, I'm on your side. It was a fair victory. You asked to make sure there were no other rules. Not your fault that they didn't specify."
"I wasn't looking for acceptance, but I appreciate your words."
"So…" Kaminari drew out with a tired breath. "You play any video games?"
"If I find the time."
"Bet! Which ones do you—"
BOOM
One of the doors into the room burst open.
"Fear not students! I am here to save you!"
And All Might stood proudly at the entrance.
He looked at both teams, "I must say. It was a close call near the end with the timing, but both teams performed an exceptional display of both strategy and skill in the final battle of the—!"
Chapter 14 - "Battle Trials!"
-----------------
So! How was the chapter?
Give me any criticism or compliments!