Chapter 76
After binding Komori in capture tape, an act she seemed to enjoy quite a bit, Izuku returned to Shoji, Toru, and the recently arrived Shinso to give his invisible girlfriend the anti-fungal spray. He would have helped her to remove the mushrooms directly if it were just the two of them, but as they were in the middle of an exam, Toru went to deal with the issue in private while Izuku remained behind to discuss strategy with Shinso and Ojiro.
Voicing his thoughts aloud, Shinso ran his fingers through his purple hair, a deadpan expression on his face as he flatly remarked, "You should have formed the reconnaissance squad on your own. With your speed, power, and those BS tentacles, there isn't a single person in either of our Classes that can stop you..."
"Maybe," admitted Izuku. "But that's ultimately just your assumption. I'm not invincible, so if Class 1-B gathered the right members and caught me by surprise, they could take me out fairly easily. They just don't know how to utilize their Quirks against human targets effectively, so they're holding back their true power. After all, this is an exam, not a real battlefield."
"If you say so..." replied Shinso, stopping his hand on the back of his neck to add, "Either way, now that you're here, you might as well help us wrap things up. Use those tentacles of yours to dig a hole into the enemy base. Our opponent seems to be able to soften inorganic matter, but he doesn't appear to be able to control it. Even if he hardens it again, he's basically a sitting duck without anyone to defend him."
"Sounds good," replied Izuku. "You're also the On-Site Commander, so if you think this the best course of action, I'll follow your orders. What will you be doing in the meantime?"
As Izuku had brought Komori with him, almost like walking a child with a safety harness, Shinso answered, "My Quirk can't transmit over electronic signals, so Ojiro-kun and I will take these two to the prison or watch over them until you can secure the enemy team's briefcase. So long as you can do that, nothing else matters."
"Then, that's what I'll do," replied Izuku, seeing the duo and their captives off before waiting for Toru to return. It took nearly twenty minutes for her to do so, but he didn't mind as it meant the other students, specifically his girls, would have more time to show off...
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By combining her powers with Ochaco's, Mina created a 10m tall golem out of her acid, manipulating it like a puppet to prevent the members of Class 1-B's assault team from approaching while Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sato protected them.
Unable to conceal his admiration, Kirishima exclaimed, "This is way cool, Majin-san! Those kids from Class 1-B don't stand a chance against your Acid Titan...!"
Adopting an uncharacteristically awkward smile, Mina replied, "Thanks, Kirishima-kun." while holding her fingers up next to her horns to control her creation. She knew Kirishima had a crush on her, even if he didn't, so it was a little awkward hearing him praise her all the time.
Punching his hardened fists together, Kirishima said, "Right! I can't just stand by and let you do all the work! I'm going in...!"
Without waiting for a response, Kirishima broke from his group's defensive formation, charging at a short, somewhat chubby kid with short, ice-blue hair, a round face, large eyes, and a predominately black, white-trimmed Hero Costume that looked like a muscle suit. If Izuku had been present, he would have said the kid looked like a member of the Ginyu Squad from Dragon Ball Z, complete with a blue 'scouter' over his left eye.
Seeing Kirishima charge at him, the stout youth, Nirengek Shoda, looking anxious and naturally apologetic, muttered aloud, "Why is he coming over here?" while putting up his hands in a defensive posture. He and the other attack squad members had been unable to approach due to Mina's Acid Titan, so he didn't understand why Kirishima was rushing over when his team had an absolute advantage.
Waiting until Kirishima had gotten fairly close, Shoda punched the ground near his feet before leaping backward. His actions confused Kirishima at first, but it became clear what his intentions were when he activated his Quirk, causing the ground beneath the fiery youth's feet to explode like a landmine.
Since the explosion was the result of Shoda's Quirk, Twin Impact, not an actual landmine, Kirishima tore through the dust and debris, the surface of his body resembling jagged stone as he shouted, "Nice try! But you'll need more than that to take me out...!"
Belying his stocky build, Shoda backstepped, weaved, and dodged out of the way of Kirishima's attacks with practiced ease, his hands held close to his body like a boxer as he looked for openings in his opponent's defense. Whenever he uncovered one, he would throw a simple but swift jab before immediately resuming dodging, his expression looking progressively more worried as he softly remarked, "You shouldn't have come to attack me on your own..."
As soon as Shoda finished speaking, Kirishima felt a heavy impact against his chest, emanating from one of the spots where his opponent's jabs had landed. A visible crack spread across his chest, causing blood to leak out, but he refused to back down, charging at Shoda with reckless abandon as he shouted, "You pack one hell of a punch, man, but if that's the best you can do, this match is mine...!"
By hardening his body even further, Kirishima barely felt it when Shoda triggered his Quirk a second and third time, causing pieces of his body to flake off like chipped stone but ultimately doing little damage as he strung together an increasingly tight series of punches and kicks.
Realizing that Kirishima wouldn't be defeated with his usual methods, the look of concern on Shoda's face became increasingly prominent. His full-powered punches were strong on their own, but when combined with his Quirk, they were terrifyingly potent. He had been learning hand-to-hand since he was a child to 'avoid' seriously injuring people, so opponents like Kirishima were a terrible matchup against his fairly passive nature.
Fortunately, just as Shoda was forming the resolve to throw a marginally more serious punch, one of his teammates, a boy wearing a casual, drill-themed Hero Costume, stepped in, shouting, "Heads up, rock boy! This is going to hurt...!"
Spinning his right arm and fingers at a tremendous speed, the boy, Sen Kaibara, impacted Kirishima's left forearm, chipping off several rock-like fragments thanks to the drill-like bits on his fingers. Unlike Shoda, he had very little qualms about using his Quirk against others, so with Kirishima being a 'rock,' he decided to play the part of a strip miner.
"Ow, ow, ow! That really freakin' hurts!" exclaimed Kirishima, doing his best to break free from Kaibara's assault but struggling due to a slight difference in speed. The harder his body became, the more difficult it was for him to move freely. He could remedy this by making his body soft, but then he would have no way to defend himself against Kaibara's attacks.
Just as Kirishima thought he would be overwhelmed, a powerful stream of pH-neutral acid impacted Kaibara's body with the force of a firehose. He didn't sustain any injuries, but he was sent sliding a considerable distance and struggled to recover due to the 'acid' being extremely slippery.
Before Kirishima could think to thank her, Mina screamed, "Get back here, you stupid blockhead!" with a frustrated, visibly annoyed look on her face. She appreciated that Kirishima was doing his best to behave like the 'man' he aspired to become, but charging haphazardly into the enemy when you had no idea what they were capable of was just reckless.
Realizing he had made Mina angry, Kirishima scratched the back of his head, an awkward laugh briefly emanating from his throat before he turned to Shoda, a more natural smile adorning his face as he said, "It was a great fight. You're really strong for such a little guy. Let's do this again sometime, okay?"
Though he and Shoda were still enemies, Kirishima extended his fist for the much shorter youth to bump. Shoda was a bit taken aback by this, believing Kirishima might be trying to trick him, but since he could always activate his Quirk to trigger a second impact, he ultimately reciprocated the gesture before watching in dumbfounded silence as the hot-blooded red-head returned to his team to receive a berating...
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With Toru accompanying him, largely because she had nothing better to do, Izuku used Blackwhip like a shovel to scoop at the mud-like remains of Class 1-B's headquarters, making steady progress until he reached an underground room that was unaffected by the softening Quirk.
Dropping into said room, Izuku encountered a fairly tall figure wearing a costume similar to Ida's. Instead of the predominately white coloration of Ida's costume, however, his was primarily clay-colored, appearing orange over a base of black. It actually looked pretty badass, especially with a streamlined black helmet and breathing apparatus, but Izuku hadn't come there to admire his opponent's outfit, stating, "Hand over the briefcase." in a firm tone.
"Sorry, but I can't do that..." replied the man, adopting a combat pose as he added, "My team—my friends and classmates are counting on me..."
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Name: [Juzo Honenuki]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Softening
Bond Level: 56
Current Level: 24
Effective Level: 47
[Attributes]
Strength: 42
Agility: 37
Vitality: 108
Intelligence: 61
Dexterity: 51
Luck: 72
Free Attributes: 120
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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Nodding in approval, Izuku remarked, "You certainly aren't lacking in conviction. But, as you cannot move the briefcase, you are limited in how you can use your Quirk. Even if you tried dropping the roof down on top of me, it would only slow us down. Since my mobility is much higher, it would only take a few seconds for me to capture you."
Lowering his stance even further, Honenuki replied, "That might be the case, but a real Hero never gives up, no matter how the odds are stacked against them. So long as there are people counting on me, I'll find a way-"
Before Honenuki could finish his motivational speech, Aizawa's lazy voice came over the speakers permeating the city, stating, "The Foundational Heroics First Term Practical Exam is now over. Class 1-A was the first to recover the opponent's briefcase and input the shutdown sequence for the Villain robots, so they're the victors. All students are to gather at the rendezvous point within the next fifteen minutes."
Turning on his heels, Honenuki's eyes widened beneath his mask as he saw the briefcase he was meant to be protecting wide open. At the same time, an incredibly excited and bubbly girl's voice exclaimed, "Score 1000 for Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl~!"
Since Toru was currently bereft of her gloves and boots, no one could see her throwing up double peace signs before she ran over and pounced on Izuku, nearly triggering his Tripping Perk. Fortunately, just as they were about to fall over, placing themselves in a fairly awkward position, Izuku supported them upright with Blackwhip, smiling wryly as he whispered, "I get that you're happy, but don't forget the situation..." while patting Toru's invisible head. He ordinarily would have cupped her pillowy bottom and given her a deep kiss, but even if she were invisible, it would have been fairly obvious what they were doing to any observers...
While pretending to laugh bashfully, Toru exploited her invisible status to press her thigh against Izuku's crotch. She absolutely adored being in the spotlight, so now that she had scored a thousand points for her team, she really wanted someone to praise her for it. Luckily, they had the following few days off, transitioning into the final week before Summer Break, so she was confident she could get Izuku to reward her plentily before his birthday celebration on the 15th...
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(A/N: The moment you forget one of your opponents is invisible, you're asking to be caught unawares xD...)