And so, the two-versus-two combat training began.
Class B, myself included, drew lots in turn to form teams.
"Looking forward to working with you."
"Likewise."
The person paired with me was Yanagi Reiko.
Her Quirk, [Poltergeist], allowed her to manipulate nearby objects.
"All right, everyone has a partner, yeah? Now we’ll divide you into Villain Teams and Hero Teams!!!"
And now, the matchups would be decided by a drawing conducted by our teacher, Loud Cloud.
The students watched Cloud rummage through the container with tense expressions.
"Okaaay, first up! Villain Team! Ichijo and Yanagi versus Hero Team! Tetsutetsu and Tsuburaba!!!"
"Ugh... We’re up first...?"
"All right!!! Come at us!!!"
Whether it was good luck or bad, we had ended up fighting in the first match.
And on top of that, we were up against Tetsutetsu, who had been fairly well-known even in the original story.
The other students continued being drawn one after another.
But as the first pair, we had to enter the building before we could properly see the rest.
"All right, everyone’s in position, yeah? You have five minutes to plan! Being enthusiastic is great, but try not to destroy the building, okay?"
Was that referring to Class A?
Even without Midoriya there, apparently a building had been wrecked. Bakugo must have gone wild.
‘No... now isn’t the time for this...’
What mattered now was protecting the bomb behind us from being taken by the Heroes.
I immediately began working out a plan with Yanagi.
"I don’t know much about Tsuburaba, but judging by Tetsutetsu’s personality, there’s a high chance he’ll charge straight in without caring about anything else."
"Yeah. That’s right... Tsuburaba has a defensive Quirk. He’ll probably support Tetsutetsu while Tetsutetsu charges in."
Ultimately, the important thing was stopping Tetsutetsu’s charge and preventing Tsuburaba from supporting him.
"Hmm... Yanagi, could you tell me exactly how your Quirk works?"
"Uh... my Quirk is [Poltergeist]. It’s similar to telekinesis—I can control objects around me. Up to about the weight of one person."
Unfortunately, the building, including this room, was completely empty except for the bomb.
And while she said she could lift the weight of one person, that standard was probably based on Yanagi herself.
There was no way she could lift me, when I weighed easily more than twice as much as she did.
Under normal circumstances, her ability would have been useless in this particular match.
"Then how about this? Can you control it?"
"...A soap bubble?"
As I said that, I held a soap bubble the size of a billiard ball floating over my hand and asked Yanagi.
Strictly speaking, Yanagi’s Poltergeist was an ability that manipulated objects. Unlike telekinesis, she could not control liquids or gases without a distinct form.
But unlike other liquids, soap bubbles had a definite shape due to surface tension.
That was why Caesar Zeppeli, Jonathan’s friend from the original story, had used soap bubbles as weapons.
"Hmm... I think I can do this."
"Good... Then that settles it."
Boom!!!
"Come out, you Villain bastards!!!"
While Yanagi and I were talking, Tetsutetsu smashed down the door and entered, bellowing at us.
His body had already hardened into steel under the effects of his Quirk, [Steel].
It looked like the five minutes of planning time had already passed.
It was already too late to reposition.
We immediately dodged Tetsutetsu’s attack and moved as close to the bomb as possible to protect it.
Then I quickly poured Hamon into my gloves and shouted at Yanagi.
"There’s no time, so listen! Just one is enough! You only need to hit Tsuburaba!!!"
"Got it!"
"You think I’ll let you do that!!!"
Boom!!!
Upon hearing that we were targeting Tsuburaba, Tetsutetsu rushed at us to stop us.
I evaded his attack and fired my technique at him.
"Bubble Launcher!!!"
"Hey! Soap bubbles?! That’s not what you said during your introduction!!!"
"This is what you call an application of your Quirk!!!"
The soap bubbles were brimming with Hamon.
Their toughness and staying power were on an entirely different level from ordinary soap bubbles.
Of course, they were still bubbles, so the bubbles themselves could not hurt the opponent even when they hit.
But the Hamon energy contained within them was steadily damaging him.
"Ptooey!!! What kind of soap bubbles are that vicious...? They got all in my mouth."
"They’re slightly special soap bubbles, you see."
Tetsutetsu had been pushed back for a moment by my Bubble Launcher.
He was acting as though he was fine, but after taking that much Hamon, his arms were probably tingling badly.
As proof, unlike before when he had charged recklessly ahead, he now paused to assess the situation.
But my preparations were already complete.
‘Ichijo Original: Bubble Circle.’
Dozens of soap bubbles remained intact even after being fired toward Tetsutetsu.
When I swung my arm, those bubbles spread wide and filled the interior of the room.
This technique was called Bubble Circle. It was my original technique, created with Caesar’s Bubble Lens from the original story as inspiration rather than being a technique that had appeared in it.
In an enclosed space like the inside of this building, with walls on every side, the bubbles slowly floating around me would become a reliable barrier protecting me.
And because they contained my Hamon, I could move them to a certain extent according to my will.
With soap bubbles floating all around him, my opponent would have trouble moving freely.
"Tch! This is nothing!!! I just have to pop them!!!"
But unlike when he had taken my Bubble Launcher directly, he seemed to have checked the number of bubbles around him and decided to simply crash through them with his body. He hardened his entire body into solid steel and prepared to rush me.
Unfortunately for him, I had not used Bubble Circle to target the Tetsutetsu standing before me.
"Yanagi!!! Now!!!"
"Got it!!!"
"What?! Gah!!!"
At my signal, the soap bubbles flew toward Tsuburaba, who was standing in the rear.
Anticipating an attack, he had used his Quirk, [Solid Air], to solidify the air into a shield. Unfortunately, he could not block every bubble.
When one of the many bubbles touched his body, the other bubbles floating nearby covered him like iron filings drawn to a magnet.
‘Bubble Barrier.’
Before long, the bubbles completely enveloping him connected together and became one enormous bubble, trapping Tsuburaba entirely inside.
Of course, no matter how much I called it a barrier, it was ultimately just a soap bubble.
If it took a proper punch, it would undoubtedly pop immediately.
But it was a spherical bubble only large enough to barely fit one adult man, to the point where saying it had crammed a person inside would be more accurate.
Could he really get into a position to throw a punch at the wall while trapped in there, where it was hard even to assume a proper stance?
He would probably pass out from the lack of oxygen inside the bubble first.
"Damn it... Tsuburaba!!!"
"Whoa there. Where do you think you’re going?"
"Ghk!!!"
Clang!!!
Without hesitation, I fired a Bubble Cutter at Tetsutetsu as he tried to rush over and help Tsuburaba, stopping him.
It was a horrifying sight: a soap bubble and a human body colliding with the sound of metal striking metal.
After taking my attack, Tetsutetsu must have decided it was dangerous. He stopped trying to help Tsuburaba and redirected his focus onto me once again.
"Aaaah!!! You’ve been cowardly taking cheap shots from range this whole time!!! Fight me fair and square!"
"Huh? I’m a Villain right now, though? If you don’t like it, why don’t you become a Villain?"
"Ichijo... that’s harsh..."
As I said that, I continued firing Bubble Cutters at him.
And the Bubble Cutters that bounced off Tetsutetsu’s body were being manipulated by Yanagi with Poltergeist, chaining together second and third attacks.
"Aaaaaah!!!!"
Apparently unable to endure any longer, Tetsutetsu rushed toward me with a terrifying expression I had never seen on him before.
Seeing him charge, I smiled faintly and steadied my breathing.
‘Seriously... I’m glad the two of you are our opponents.’
If our opponents had been Kamakiri, every last one of my bubbles would have been popped.
If they had been Shishida or Shiozaki, we might have been overwhelmingly defeated before we even had time to devise a plan.
That was why I could sincerely feel relieved that those two had been chosen as our opponents.
"Take this, Ichijo!!!"
Crackle!!! Clang!!!
Our fists collided together along with Tetsutetsu’s battle cry.
But there was an overwhelming difference in our weight classes.
Even with his Quirk’s help, there was no way Tetsutetsu—whose Quirk was not directly strength-enhancing—could beat me, strengthened by Hamon, in a contest of power.
Thud!!!
"Ghk!!!"
In the end, my fist landed squarely on Tetsutetsu’s face after he was overpowered in our clash of strength.
‘Sorry, Tetsutetsu. I’ll heal you after class!!!’
"Kyo-o-o-o..."
In that state, I drove my Hamon Breathing to its limit.
"Hamon flowing through steel!!! Metal Silver Overdrive!!!"
Like Baron Zeppeli, who sent Hamon through a frog and shattered only the rock beneath it, this punch used the power of Hamon to ignore Tetsutetsu’s defense and transmit one hundred percent of the impact inside him.
I had held back, so he was not seriously hurt, but it was more than enough power to knock him unconscious in an instant.
"Ghhh..."
"Villain Team, victory!!!"
Teacher Cloud’s signal ending the match rang out as Tetsutetsu lost consciousness.
"We did it."
"Yeah. We did."
And so, the first match ended in victory for us, the Villain Team.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register