74

 Chapter 74: Chapter #73 | Desensitized

Notes:

Hey there folks! Happy Holidays. This was supposed to be a Christmas release. Unfortunately my poor editor was busy enough through the holidays that they forgot they had chapters to edit until I mentioned it again. Fortunately however, it's edited and ready for a new years release! Happy new year everyone! Here is the first chapter of 2024.

This chapter was a nightmare to write and finalize. Several rewrites later and we have something we are happy with. The reason this took so long to get out, is because this is the last we're going to be seeing of these characters for awhile! Until a game with them comes up again we'll be seeing, well, not much of these guys.

Last chapter we had:

-Kirishima Recovery

-Midoriya Reflection

-Mirio gets a message...

Enjoy Everyone!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Midoriya watched from the corner of his eye as Tokoyami approached Vlad with a hand up. What precisely he was up to, Midoriya didn't know. If it was what he suspected, then they would be having words. Shoji hissed as Midoriya checked the claw marks gashed across his chest. Midoriya clicked his tongue, shook his head, and pulled the bandages from his bag.

"You're lucky, a bit deeper and I'd have been sending you to Recovery Girl on a stretcher instead of bandaging scratches. Moriko's spirits don't appear to do as much damage as their real-life counterparts, or, at the very least, he wasn't pushing his quirk to do so. Real wolves don't use their claws to hunt. They use their teeth, but that doesn't mean their claws won't rip you open."

"It got me the opportunity I needed, and I didn't have to make everyone squeamish yet." Midoriya just shook his head.

"If a plan outside of a very small select few situations involves you getting intentionally hurt to complete an objective, then your plan is shit. Two choices after I bandage this. You can either make a quick trip to Recovery Girl while Tokoyami and I are on the mats, or you can go after we fight in the finals. But if you go with the latter, I am going to smack these scratches during our bout."

Shoji's eyes dipped as he frowned behind his mask. "Isn't that rather dismissive of Ms. Matsumura? She did manage to beat Kirishima, even if it was just by time and restriction."

Midoriya's eyebrow lifted unwittingly as he snorted. "Ah yes, she only won by the restrictions of wrestling and the buzzer. I am the one being dismissive." Shoji winced slightly, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah, you have me there. It was close, but she still beat him, even if it was a bad ma- Ah. There it is again."

Midoriya tilted his head wryly. "It's easy to do, and words are hard. Feeling something and verbalizing it can oftentimes lead to the proverbial foot in the mouth. But no, not dismissive. She's damn good," suspiciously good, though he didn't need to know that, "but she isn't your match. Don't drop your guard, of course. But no, she won't make it to finals."

Shoji shrugged his shoulders in a noncommittal gesture as Midoriya placed medical supplies down beside him. After the several minutes it took to dress Shoji's wounds, Midoriya found himself stepping up onto the mats across from Tokoyami.

Both men put their hands up while Dark Shadow loomed protectively over Tokoyami's shoulder. Midoriya smirked as he took a deep breath. The smile shifted towards something much more predatory, and an involuntary chill made its way down his opponent's spine. The buzzer sounded, and Midoriya stepped forward. Tokoyami opened his mouth.

"I surre-"

"Finish that statement, Tokoyami, and we're going to be revisiting certain aspects of your training."

Tokoyami's beak clicked together as he frowned. "What happened to knowing when to retreat?"

"We both know that this isn't that time."

"I have no interest in participating in this sisyphean task whilst on live television, Midoriya."

Midoriya rolled his shoulders out and adjusted his stance, lowering his center of gravity. "We have a contingency for classmates, remember? Let's do it that way. Just like that day in training, let's get showy with it, alright?"

Tokoyami blinked, his mouth parting slightly in surprised amusement. After a moment, Midoriya heard the chuckle rolling deeply from his chest. Tokoyami's feathers ruffled around him as he lowered, mimicking Midoriya's stance. "You really want to do that on an international stage? I… I can accept that. Let's give them a mad dance, Midoriya."

Midoriya smiled now, a wide, shit-eating grin. Nedzu was either going to love this or absolutely despise it. "They want to make a show out of us, soooo..." Vlad narrowed his eyes from the side of the mats. Midoriya wouldn't go as far as to throw out the rules. Hell, there weren't many to begin with. Hesitantly, he raised the whistle to his mouth, then dropped it suddenly.

"Let's try to keep things to the event, please, you two? Yes?" The dual grins Vlad received didn't endear him to this any more than before, but still, glancing at the clock first, he raised the whistle and blew.

Dark Shadow darted forward while Tokoyami ran right. Midoriya leaned back as claws ripped through the air where his face had been just a moment before. He couldn't help the pride that flared at that. They had caught the loophole in Shoji's match and weren't holding back. Two points for the pair.

Unfortunately, Dark Shadow suffered from the very same loophole that he sought to exploit. Midoriya chambered his fist at his ribs before slamming it into Dark Shadow's beak. The shadowed bird squawked as it lashed its claws out again towards their opponent.

Midoriya stepped back, Dark Shadow's claws just barely catching the fabric of his singlet on their tips. Several small, circular holes opened from the points as Tokoyami slammed into Midoriya's waist headfirst. Tokoyami's arms wrapped around Midoriya's waist, and the momentum of the impact sent both men skidding an inch.

Midoriya slid his arms between the two of them carefully, ducking his face down into Tokoyami's back as Dark Shadow lunged over the two now hunched men. As soon as Dark Shadow passed over them, he gave Tokoyami a light tap, wrapping his arms up and around Tokoyami's shoulders through his armpits. Bringing his fists to his sternum, Midoriya gave a quick twist to the side, giving Tokoyami his back while the bird man in question blinked at the sky.

Just as quickly as the sky had appeared, Tokoyami braced himself as the mat came into vision. The impact was softened notably by Midoriya somewhat catching him before the impact. That didn't mean that he hadn't felt it in his bones when the concrete beneath the mats made itself apparent, however.

Vlad blinked, narrowing his eyes as he stared on in reluctant astonishment.. Did… did they just…

…

Nedzu himself blinked from the VIP booth as the crowd's volume grew from a dull roar to a cacophony even through the sound suppression built into the room. Turning away from one of his guests, Nedzu glanced at the screens showing the event and preparation areas. Nedzu, in fact, turned just in time to see Midoriya dip out of the way of his classmate's quirk with just enough room for Tokoyami's shadow to leave a scratch trailing down his cheek.

Midoriya stepped back again before spinning and plowing into Tokoyami's middle. The two men skidded, Tokoyami wrapped around Midoriya. Logic would dictate the moves following, moves that they had already seen in other matches. Fighting was, in a way, systematic in these kinds of bouts. Instead, Nedzu spotted the slight tug on Midoriya's midsection just before Midoriya…

Oh, you've gotta be fucking with me. "What skilled students we've been blessed with this generation!" Nedzu turned back to the man he'd been speaking with before, his smile carefully controlled.

"Yes, very skilled, indeed." Behind his back, Nedzu sent a quick message to Vlad King.

…

Yes, yes they did. Vlad concluded his thoughts after watching Midoriya backflip with Tokoyami that, yes, they were adhering to the word wrestling. The crowd was loving it. He, as a ref, not as much. Nedzu, if the vibrating of his phone in his pocket was of any indication, either wanted him to kill it or play it up.

Instead, Vlad simply rubbed the bridge of his nose and watched the timer. Moments later, the commentary from Mic shifted from professional to wacky, and Vlad got his answer. Play it up. Great. Greeeat. Vlad stepped up and onto the mats.

…

"Oh, come on!" Sero said indignantly as Midoriya and Tokoyami traded places with Shoji and Matsumura. "I get the hell beat out of me and you two get to do THAT." Sero's hand jerked out to point at the exasperated and rather tired-looking Vlad King. Normally, Sero would have a sound argument. Midoriya and Tokoyami had fought in less of a wrestling match and more of an overly glorified exhibition of fancy flips.

Sero's indignation was heavily undermined, however, by the absolutely delighted grin he was sporting. Midoriya shrugged. "Better to show something off than to just surrender."

Tokoyami gave Midoriya a confused glance. "I was under the impression that you simply wanted to put on a show."

Dark Shadow poked its head out from the collar of Tokoyami's singlet. "What could that have possibly shown off?"

"To anyone that wasn't particularly paying attention or gets footage from it later out of context, it'll speak to skill. To anyone who knows what they were looking at, it'll still speak to skill, just of a different kind. The ability to take an impact, the ability to work together, your quirk's ability. Not really what we were looking for in this event, but it's something."

Tokoyami moved to the side as Vlad King walked by him. Stopping between them, he clapped big hands onto Midoriya's shoulders. "Let's not do that again, yes? A one-time palate cleanser was quite enough, don't you think?"

Midoriya smirked as he looked past Vlad and instead looked up at the glass of the VIP booth. "Yes, sir." Vlad sighed, grumbling as he moved back to start the next match.

…

Matsumura hadn't been thinking of it when she'd spoken with Kirishima. She matched his height, after all. A solid five foot eight. Her opponent was not five foot eight. Shoji stood across from her, standing at an intimidating six-four, arms like tree trunks, and six of them to boot. So far, he'd given up no practical information to his opponents, other than the fact that he was big, strong, and didn't flinch even at being bitten by goddamned wolves.

Both contestants' arms went up, and Matsumura's brain raced with ideas. Ideas that didn't help the young woman in the slightest. She couldn't ambush him, she couldn't set up the marks through the arena with the format of the event, and she sure as hell wasn't going to match the wall of muscle in strength. Maybe speed? He's a large person. If I can wrap a leg and get him off balance, I might be able to take him to the ground. But what the hell do I do with him once he's down? Maybe if I get a couple marks on his back, I can lock him to the ground?

Grimacing, Matsumura gave a slightly shaky smile to her opponent. "Go easy on me, you hear? I'm not as durable as your classmates seem to be."

Shoji dipped his head, and Matsumura couldn't see behind the mask, but the serious look in his eyes seemed genuine. "Of course, we've already been cautioned by both our professors and by Midoriya."

Somehow, that response was less than comforting for Matsumura. The whistle blew, the buzzer buzzed, and Shoji began to approach slowly. Matsumura ran to meet him. She would need every bit of advantage that she could get. The closer he was to the edge of the arena, the closer she was to points.

Matsumura went low, the palms of her hands already chilling in preparation for quirk use. Shoji dropped low, getting his arms out in front of himself as he prepared to catch the young woman. Matsumura pushed left, tucking herself into a roll that took her under his arms and let her slap her hands across his leg.

Or, the maneuver would have done that if her instincts hadn't screamed at her mid-roll to abandon the plan. If there was a single thing that she had picked up from her mother's education growing up, it was that when your instincts told you to do something, you listened. Matsumura kicked out, throwing herself to the side.

Skidding along on her stomach, the young woman popped back up only to pale at what she saw. There was another arm extending from Shoji, and it had just impacted where she would have ended up. Slowly, Shoji stood up. Rolling his shoulders, his eyes narrowed on Matsumura.

"It would appear that you have very good instincts." Matsumura stood and put her hands up, even as Shoji blitzed towards her. Shit, fast. A step back, Matsumura barely managing to catch the one hand that reached for her with some hastily created silk. Another step back, and she had to leap to the side to avoid yet another hand coming at her. Another reached out, and she rolled the silk spread between her fingers over the hand stuck to it, redirecting it into the path of the other.

Another step, and she felt her heart hammering in her chest. Another hand, and she spun out of the way, in the direction of the bound arm. She rolled her back across the arm, trying to stick close to him as she gave the appendage a firm tug. She felt her heart soar. She was behind him, one arm bound and behind him. She could-

Matsumura felt the hands close around her limbs, even as she moved to step into the back of the large man's knee. The arms and other body parts split, over and over, as hands wrapped around her arms, her legs, folding over her wrists and shoulders, fully immobilizing her. The worst was the eye, a single eye on a stalk in front of her face as she fought the restriction. She felt her chest constrict with the horrible wrongness of it, the uncanny feeling spinning up in the back of her head as evolutionary warning bells sounded in her brain.

"That was rather dangerous. I must admit, you are quite craft-" Matsumura kicked off her shoe and slammed her bare foot against the mat. Frost snapped across the area before silken strands shot up, crisscrossing haphazardly in the air, forcing Shoji to move. But rather than away, the air was driven from Matsumura as Shoji back-slammed into her chest. What little air had remained fled her, as well, when her back hit the mat and his weight pressed down on her.

For a brief moment, she felt her bonds loosen, the hands opening with the impact. But it was only a moment before the sickening sound of crunching bones made it to her ears and Shoji was flipping over and pinning her solidly against the mat. Matsumura let her head drop back to the ground as the whistle sounded. Fuck.

…

Matsumura was frowning as she stepped off the platform. She couldn't believe that she'd been overwhelmed so easily. Granted, she couldn't properly use even half of her quirk, handicapped as she'd been by the rules of wrestling, but still! She had expected better from herself, and she just knew that her mother was going to have something to say about it when she got home from the festival.

As displeased as she was, Matsumura was overcome with shock when she saw the expressions of surprise and the grinning faces of several U.A. students. First and foremost was the redhead that she had fought down to an almost tie in the previous match. Kirishima gave her two big thumbs up before gesturing her over.

"Color us impressed, Matsumura!"

"I can certainly second that!" Sero echoed.

"A dark dance."

"Uh," Matsumura blinked at the positive support from her opponent's classmates. Part of her wanted to think that this was some kind of weird form of bullying, a kind of mocking. But from what little time she had spent with Kirishima, he didn't seem like that kind of person. "I got pinned in the first round, though?"

Sero shook his head, even as he snorted and waved off her concern. "Yeah, and most of us get pinned in the first twenty seconds against Shoji in grappling. Don't feel bad. The only one that can actually fight him head-on like that is Midoriya."

Kirishima gestured again for Matsumura to take a seat with them, and she hesitated. Technically, they were supposed to stay seated in their own school areas. But, they were certainly nicer company than Maita was. Nothing against the guy, just… Matsumura thought about it for a second. Yeah, better company here. Plus, they had better seats. Perks of being U.A., I guess. And she did really want to see what they'd meant.

Matsumura sighed and took the seat. The other students cheered, including the metal guy she had fought in the first round. So, yeah, there was that. The whistle blew, and Midoriya called out something to Shoji. Nodding, both men walked forward to the center of the platform. They spoke for a moment, though Matsumura couldn't quite catch what was being said at a distance. She did note with some sense of curiosity that whatever was being said must have been pleasant enough, as the two ended their brief conversation by sticking out their right hands, then, in a clear gesture of camaraderie, clasped their left hands over one another.

Matsumura scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as the two men stilled. Kirishima whistled. "Just like in training, huh? Keep a close watch. You're about to see something crazy." Matsumura turned her head, even more confounded to see Kirishima's eyes locked on Midoriya and Shoji. With a sudden building of energy, the two men's hands separated before coming back together with an abrupt and thunderoussmack. Matsumura's jaw dropped.

…

The sting on the back of their hands was the least of either of their concerns as they began a rapid-fire shuffle of limbs across the mats. A step left, a step right, one foot between the legs of the other as the other stepped back. Neither could gain an advantage as their hands flashed out, nearly too quick for the audience to track. Shoji's hand would latch around Midoriya's inner forearm, only for Midoriya to roll his palm to the outside of Shoji's arm and push his hand off his wrist. He'd grab onto the outer forearm and Midoriya would do the same, but it was Shoji who would have to let go, else risk breaking his thumb trying to keep his grip.

For a moment, it looked like Midoriya was on the back foot when the tempo shifted. Suddenly, it was Midoriya slapping Shoji's hands away before nearly grabbing a fistful of his opponent's singlet. Occasionally, Midoriya would catch an arm and slide his hand down Shoji's wrist.

He'd made the mistake of letting Midoriya catch his fingers in training only once before. Midoriya had already hooked his thumb around Shoji's ring finger and wrapped his palm around his pinky before Shoji realized what had happened. He had only needed his fingers broken once to learn that particular lesson.

Shoji shied away from the probing hand when he felt it glide towards his fingers. He reached out with his other hand, slapping Midoriya away with an open palm. Midoriya, though, found the opportunity that he'd been looking for. He dipped quickly past Shoji's guard, grabbing at the man's upper arm and hauling him with a grunt over his hip and not so gently to the ground.

Midoriya wrapped his legs around Shoji's neck while pulling his hand toward his face. The entire task was made more difficult by the webbing between Shoji's arms. But difficult wasn't impossible, and he threaded the arm between his legs.

"Yield," Midoriya growled. Both men panted heavily from the speed at which they had been moving. Shoji's response was a sort of groan as he strained and lifted Midoriya's heavy frame off the ground before slamming back down. Even if he was shorter than Shoji by a couple of inches, the guy was dense.

Midoriya grunted but kept his grip on Shoji's arm. "Yield," Midoriya growled the word again and was smacked off the ground a second time for his efforts. "Fine," he muttered and twisted. With a crack and a crunch, Shoji screamed.

…

Kirishima winced at the noise of pained disbelief that came from the hero section of the stadium, even as the tone of the audience seemed to reach a fever pitch, a fact that certainly contributed to the expressions on his classmates' faces.

"Did… did he just break his arm?!" Matsumura's voice was tentative as she stared across the platform, an unhealthy pallor taking over as the sounds of bones breaking, something done so casually, repeated in her head. Noting her reaction, several of the 1-A students closest winced, it finally hitting home just how commonplace something like this had become.

Kirishima grimaced as he responded slowly. "Yeah, sounds like he just broke Shoji's elbow." On the platform, Midoriya and Shoji sprung away from each other with an unexpected level of agility, Shoji keeping one of his arms close to his body as Midoriya began moving them in a circle once more, his hands outstretched and poised in front of himself.

Matsumura snapped her head towards Kirishima, her indignation flaring at the blase attitude. "They're going to keep going?"

"I mean, probably, yeah. Shoji is used to breaking bones." Sero shuddered slightly as he said it.

"This is normal for U.A.?!" The horror continued to mount the longer that she spoke with the students.

"Woah, woah. Don't include us in that." Tetsutetsu looked almost as sick as Matsumura. "1-B does not regularly break their bones."

"I mean, they don't, either. Most of them haven't broken anything. It's just the minor stuff. Stress fractures, small breaks, strained muscles and ligaments." Mostly in the joints. "You know, the normal stuff you get from hand-to-hand training. Shoji is unique even among all of us, though. Lots of broken bones from him."

Both Matsumura and Tetsutetsu stared at Dark Shadow. "Wait, is that why he hasn't used all those extra arms like he did against me? Is he trying to limit the number of bones that Midoriya can break?"

Kirishima, Sero, and Tokoyami all exchanged a glance before deciding that, no, some things didn't need to be said out loud. "Uh, yeah, something like that." The method Midoriya used for dealing with Shoji's extra limbs was usually to tear them off. Midoriya and Shoji probably both agreed to avoid doing that in public. The breaking of bones is much more palatable. That's normal, after all.

The crowd roared again, and the students focused on the match as the timer ran out. The whistle sounded just as the two locked together again, and in the moment that it took to register the sound, they both relaxed. Shoji broke first, a laugh bubbling up as Midoriya grinned and slapped him on the back.

Those in the audience that were not already on their feet stood as Present Mic announced Midoriya's victory and the completion of the wrestling event. He followed with a reminder that awards would be given out during the last day of the seven-day festival before finally directing everyone who would be attending to the location of the next major event's seating.

Midoriya tuned the rest out as he walked alongside Shoji towards their classmates. Cannon Tight Ropes, huh? That was Mina, Uraraka, Momo, Awase, Shiozaki, Shoda, and Tsuburaba. The grin he'd felt before came back to his face as he collected up his things. That ought to be interesting.

Notes:

Following this soon, in the next week or so, will be the December monthly chapters! So if you're into the Konosuba crossover story, or are excited to continue, or start for the free members, our Ancient Greek story, the new chapters of that will be following shortly after. Those two stories can be found down below by following my support link. The chapters always go free after a bit!

If anyone would like to support my writing, remember you can find out how Here! I'm infinitely grateful for anyone who can and does!