Life is Hard

Leaning up against a tree, I narrow my eyes, 'Finally, I have time to talk to you… Kuro.'

He clears his throat, 'Shall we do it there?'

I close my eyes for a second and my control loosens, and our body stays standing. But neither of us are in control. Instead, we were in a blank white room.

A few years ago, we discovered that if neither of us took control, we would both end up here, in our "mind palace."

Here, our mental bodies could interact with each other, and standing across from me is a boy who looks like a mirror image of me, except he had black hair and black eyes, compared to my white and gray.

I narrow my eyes, "What the fuck was that shit, Kuro?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I told you, I couldn't just stand down from a challenge like that, since your bitch ass wasn't gonna do anything."

"I was gonna fucking prove it, and not spout shit. We are trying to keep a decent public image, you know."

He laughs, and says in a smooth voice, "You may be, but I thought it was amusing."

I shake my head, "Fucking bitch."

Kuro points at me, "Besides, you're telling me off, but what the fuck was that shit with Bakugo? "It doesn't matter as long as you rise to the top?" "You can try?" Are you fucking mental? He's an enemy, not a friend!"

Anger starts building up inside of me, "What the fuck was I supposed to say!? I told him what he wanted to hear. Remember, unlike the others, he isn't an idiot! Having someone capable and intelligent on our side is worth keeping!"

He laughs holding his hands out, mocking me, "Yet you easily get rid of him and Todoroki during the race! Make up your mind, Shiro! You can't play the friendly type and be the winner at the same time! The world isn't that nice!"

The anger slowly starts turning into a rage, "I can control my own situation, I don't need you butting in all the time!"

He smirks, "Or what? Are you gonna tell your daddy?"

I give him a cold glare, "You mother fucking bitch… If you say one more word…"

"Woah, Woah, Woah, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

That was the last straw, I had snapped.

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!!"

Charging at him, I throw my fist out, which he easily dodges. Next, I duck down and try to sweep him off his feet. He easily jumps over it and kicks my face, sending me flying back.

I roll across the floor a few times, but before I can get up, Kuro lands on top of me, pinning me to the floor.

He laughs slightly before leering at me, "Tell me, what is the difference between a horse and a king?"

I furrow my eyebrows while I struggle to free myself, "What are you talking about, there is a huge-"

But Kuro cuts me off, "No, no, not like that. I'm not talking about obvious stuff, like how one's an animal and one's a person or one has two legs and one has four. It's puzzling if their form, ability, and power are exactly the same, why is it that one becomes the king and leads them to battle while the other becomes the horse and carries the king. So what are the characteristics that distinguish these two beings? There's only one answer… INSTINCT!

He yells out and I stop resisting, my eyes narrowed, "So?"

"In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain power, they need to develop a killer instinct, and that instinct is mostly forged in battle!

They must develop an insatiable hunger to engage in battle, they must live to mercilessly crush, shred and slice their enemies, this thirst for power is not an unnatural desire, in fact, it forms the very essence of our beings, deep within our body lies the whole instinct to dominate and slaughter our enemies. Shiro, you don't have that, you try to use your brain to win a fight, you attempt to defeat your enemies with reason and logic, you don't tap into those pure base instincts that exist within your core waiting to be released!

And the simple matter is that it doesn't work, you're weak, SHIRO!!! I won't put up with that, am I clear?

I don't know about you, but I refuse to play horse to a king who's weaker than me, someone whose uncertainty and hesitation will end up getting us both cut to pieces. If I had let you take control at USJ, that is exactly what would've happened. If you aren't willing to assert your strength and retain the crown, then I'll take over as I please. Which means I'll be king. You may be in control most of the time, but remember this, I am stronger."

I quickly exit the mind palace and glare at the floor. It was a grim reminder that he isn't necessarily on my side. He just does what is best for him and what interests him.

I slump down against the tree and lean forwards, closing my eyes, breathing in and out, trying to calm myself down.

I give out an annoyed sigh and look up at the sky, "Fuck…"

The seconds stretch into minutes, and before I knew it, it was time.

Stretching my legs, I start walking back towards the stadium, 'Calm down. Right now the pros will probably be looking for if I can hold myself in a fair fight. They know that I can plan, but they haven't seen my combat abilities. Kirishima will be the perfect opponent for this.'

Then Kuro's words ring in my mind, 'Shiro, you don't have that, you try to use your brain to win a fight, you attempt to defeat your enemies with reason and logic, you don't tap into those pure base instincts that exist within your core waiting to be released!'

I slam my fist into a nearby tree, gritting my teeth in annoyance, "Shit! That fucking bastard!"

A few more minutes pass, and I am waiting at the entrance of the arena.

I look up to the announcer's box and I can see Present Mic ecstatically talking to Aizawa, before rolling his neck and getting his "professional" face on.

"Audience!!! The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting! Match number one," he pauses slightly as both Kirishima's and my face appear on the large display.

I roll my neck and start walking forwards while Present mic starts the introductions, "The white-haired wonder, winner of the first round, and playmaker of the second, from the hero course, Shiro Hirota!"

*Momo POV*

I narrow my eyes as the crowd cheers wildly at Shiro's name and he waves slightly at everyone, 'He seems… different…'

"Versus! Manly and passionate hardening! From the hero course, it's Eijiro Kirishima! The rules are simple," the crowd cheers as well and the flames on the corners of the stage start burning even brighter.

'It's not Kuro, but it's different from the normal Shiro. He seems colder…'

I frown slightly, 'Hmm, what happened between him and Kuro?'

Uraraka looks at me with concern, "Is everything all right, Momo?"

I give a smile, "Yeah. It's nothing too big, just a side thought.'

*Shiro POV*

"Force your opponent out of bounds or immobilize them. You can also win by making your opponent say, "I give up!" Bring on the injuries! Because we've got our very own Recovery Girl on standby! Put your ethics and morals aside for a moment! But, it goes without saying, anything life-threatening is crap! It's not allowed! Hero's should only use their fists to catch villains!"

Cementoss takes a seat on the side, "I'll step in if things go too far."

I nod and look towards Kirishima who is stretching his arms out and grinning at me, "Our revenge match, huh?"

I silently look at him as I recall our match during the combat training.

I roll my neck and create two wads of Bungee Gum in my hands, "Start!"

'He's going to be wary of my arms and legs since that is how I got him last time.'

Clasping my hands together, I slowly pulled them apart creating a long pink pole.

Kirishima raises his eyebrow, "A staff? You're going with weapons, Shiro? That's unmanly! We should fight using our fists!"

Ignoring him I hold my staff to the side and take a deep breath in.

*sigh*

Charging forwards, I thrust the end of the staff forward like a spear and aim for Kirishima's weak spot, his eyes.

"Wh- oy!"

He blocks it, but I thrust again, and again, laying down a barrage of thrusts. Finally, one goes through and he unconsciously closes his eyes as a self-defense method. That's when I strike. Pulling my bo staff back, I sweep him off his feet and slam it back down on his head.

The final strike doesn't do much against his hard body but it doesn't need to. The flip gave me a tactical advantage and the strike to the head was just to assert my dominance.

Looking down at Kirishima, I point my bo at the boy's face, a cold expression on my own, "Give up."

'That should be good enough for close range. I'll have some more time to demonstrate my hand-to-hand combat against other people if I need to.'

He glares at me for a few seconds and lets out a sigh, "You got me, I give-"

But before he finishes his sentence he grabs the end of my staff and pulls it forwards, "You fool!"

Caught off guard by his sudden counterattack, my body gets yanked forwards and Kirishima smirks as he winds his fist up.

'Shit! I was caught up in my thoughts! I can't do anything in time!'

*BAM*

Tensing my stomach, I protect my organs from any severe damage but I still get sent flying back from the impact of Kirishima's punch. I let go of my staff and I taste some blood in my mouth as I roll across the floor. I start emitting Bungee Gum from my hands, connecting it to the floor to prevent me from rolling out.

I start panting heavily as I look at the white line right behind me, 'SHIT!!! Is Kuro right? Is my fighting style that flawed?'

I cough some blood and spit onto the floor and quickly look away to avoid freezing up, 'I'm sure he held back, but that still hurt like hell.'

I stand up shakily and grimace as Kirishima looks at me grinning and cracking his knuckles, "What's wrong, Shiro? This is unlike you, to get caught off guard like this. Hell, I'm surprised that even worked."

'This bastard.'

I put my hands together and made another staff, this one thicker than the previous one.

Taking a few deep breaths to ease the pain, I make a brief report on my body, 'Definitely bruised, and I have a few fractures in my ribs from the impact. I may have some internal damage, but I can't tell yet. I need to finish this quickly.'

Kirishima looks at me cautiously as I stand there, waiting for him to make the first move, 'Close combat is dangerous. Maybe I'll go guerilla.'

We both watch each other for almost a minute before Kirishima starts advancing, and I take another deep breath before focusing my eyes, 'Let's do this.'

I dash forwards, much to Kirishima's surprise, and thrust my staff towards his chest while reducing its hardness. It gets through Kirishima's defense and touches his chest.

Upon contact, it almost flattens, as it expands and covers the chest area of his body.

I back off briefly as Kirishima looks at his new covering of Bungee Gum. He tries to move his arms, only to find that his movements are slightly restricted.

I silently nod my satisfaction, 'Before I retreated, I rehardened the Bungee Gum around him.'

I create another pole of Bungee Gum and repeat the pattern. This time, I jab at Kirishima's left leg, creating a cast of Bungee Gum around it.

"Give up. Your leg is immobilized."

He grins at me, "A real man never gives up!"

Pulling my hand back, I throw three balls of Bungee Gum at Kirishima. He dodges one, but the other ones land on his forearm and ribcage respectively.

'Shit, I'll have to use that.'

Waving my hand in the air, I look like I am simply waving, but the reality is different.

I pull my hand back again and throw something past Kirishima, but to the others, it appears that nothing comes out.

Kirishima looks confused, "What was that, Shiro?"

I scoff, "Like I'm gonna tell you."

Creating a fourth pole, I start attacking rapidly. Thrusting my pole over and over again, but Kirishima dodges them all. I keep on pushing him back until he seemingly trips on nothing.

"Uwahhh!!!"

He falls to the ground with a loud thud and his eyes widen as he feels something under his hands and feet connecting it to the floor.

"What! What is this! Why can't I move!"

I quickly move around Kirishima's body, making sure that his limbs are firmly stuck to the ground before moving back.

Midnight notices this and cracks her whip, "Kirishima has been immobilized. Shiro advances to round two!"

The crowd cheers wildly at this and I let out a small sigh, 'That… was harder than it should've been.'

AN: HMMM??? What did Shiro do? How did he win? Find out next time on MHA: Bungee Gum!!!

Just finished the manga for Akame ga Kill. I am not disappointed

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