Chapter 45: Face of the Hero Department

Recap:

Suijin guessed his plan was just to wait there for the entire time; unfortunately, he didn't account for the unnaturalness that was quirks.

So to Suijin's 'Bulging Eyes', some shadow-like thing attacked the students' position. He could only tell due to the two yellow eyes, and as he was gawking at the scene, a student he recognized from class 1B popped out!

'Shihai's quirk has to do with stealth, from what I remember.'

A quick tussle in which the…more scrawny of the two lets out a pathetic "PWEH" sound at the end

Shihai then seemed to morph back into a shadow and attempt to run away. Suijin needed to concentrate to track him, as his speed was fast and any shadow could be him, but another enemy came to interrupt!

"YOU DAMN SNEAKY SHADOW! FIRST YOU WANT TO INTERRUPT ME IN A FIGHT AND THEN YOU RUN AWAY! DIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

'Thank you for running away!.' Suijin said a quick prayer while thanking God that he was far enough away that the explosions didn't affect him.

Meanwhile, the pipes ahead didn't survive the large, constant explosions of Bakugo, who was attacking in the air.

But the distance between the two was enough that the poor Shihai could eject himself from his quirk and get thrown into the wide open.

Unluckily, Bakugo's keen eye caught that a flying angry ball was heading towards him.

'CRAP!'

Thinking so, Suijin wondered if he should help; at one point, he didn't want to intervene and lose the element of surprise, along with furthering Bakugo's fury.

But on the other hand, he was supposed to be trying to be a hero, and he didn't want anyone to be seriously injured, though part of him still believed there were heroes present to deal with any mishaps.

As he was in an internal struggle, Shihai took the decision out of his hands.

Throwing up the red flag in the air, Shihai used Bakugo's attention, being displaced, to run ahead and hop in the shadows created from the rubble.

Then, in his usual fashion, he escaped!

"YOU THINK THAT'LL GET RID OF ME!!!"

Bakugo wasn't satisfied, so with practiced movements, he stopped his palms from producing explosions by flipping in the air and grabbing the flag before stuffing it in his pockets.

Then, with his stomach facing the ground, he put his hands several degrees behind him while facing below and ignited his nitroglycerin sweat!

"COME BACK HERE SO YOU CAN DIE!"

Suijin looked at the rocket flying away and shook his head.

'This…is going to be troublesome.'

________________________________________________________________________________

Suijin looked ahead, observing the aftermath while processing what he had just witnessed.

"So, is this event meant to simulate a retrieval situation gone wrong? Now, not only do you need to grab your 'target,' but also protect and keep them safe for an extended period of time."

"If that's the case, expanding the maze's space further tests our tracking abilities, wide-range attacks, and stealth prowess, allowing everyone to play to their advantage."

Reviewing his words, Suijin nodded to himself, believing he had grasped the general idea of this round.

"If everyone is playing to their own advantage, then I should as well."

He said it aloud, feeling that talking to the open air would clear up his previously confused thoughts.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible."

Looking ahead, a distorted silhouette emerged from the relentless, never-ending smoke.

Suijin took in the appearance of his new acquaintance: blond hair, blue eyes, a lean build, and, most importantly, an irritating voice.

He was easily recognizable as Neito Monoma, someone who practically embodied the stereotypes associated with the hero department.

Obnoxious, rude, and arrogant—all of these traits seemed to converge in Monoma.

Suijin couldn't help but think, 'Though his quirk, Copy doesn—...wait? COPY!'

Suijin's off-handed thoughts conjured a scheme to have him and his new acquaintance easily pass this test.

He smiled, though no one could see it, and Monoma shivered as if he were prey in the eyes of a predator.

But steeling himself, Monoma continued with his provocation. "I mean, how could you pass by when you face me, Monoma of Class 1B?"

Ignoring the snide remarks, Suijin replied, "I'm—"

"Suijin Shimizu, of Class 1A," he said with so much venom that one might wonder what great injustice Suijin must've committed to incur such malice.

"Of course I know; everyone knows about the famous class that defeated villains in a chance encounter." Starcasm dripped through his malice-filled tone.

'Correction. This would be easy if I could deal with him before I punch his face into a wall.'

"Oh, that. It wasn't as much of a big deal as everyone's making it out to be."

Suijin pulled on the depths of humbleness he possessed to downplay their achievement.

It was clear Monoma had a grudge against Class 1A, and his plans wouldn't work if they couldn't cooperate.

Unfortunately, someone just wouldn't let things go.

"Oh, really? I was under the impression that it was a great exploit. But it appears you all are a bunch of frauds masquerading as a group, superior to everyone else."

He turned around, seemingly done with the conversation and ready to leave, already forgetting how he was going to "stop" Suijin, as he claimed earlier.

However, as he turned around, putting on a faux relaxed position with his arms on top of his head, he heard something that compelled him to turn back.

"Guess you don't want to be better than 1A."

Suijin appeared impassive in his listener's eyes.

"I mean, the title, '[Class 1B student carries Class 1A's through the second round before ruthlessly defeating him in the third]. ' I thought this would fulfill your desire for Class 1B to be on top, but oh well."

Suijin was going to copy him, planning on putting on a lazy expression of his own, hoping that Monoma would take the bait. However, things worked even better, as without him having to turn around, Monoma responded.

"Well, if you're going to offer yourself on a silver platter, then who am I to refuse? I suppose if you're begging, then I have no choice but to oblige."

Suijin wanted to give a deadpan stare, but he chose to internally shake his head while outwardly nodding.

"So, what Quirk do you have?"

"Normally, I'd safeguard this secret, but since you won't be able to defeat me, I guess I'll show you."

Suijin crouched down, placing his palm on the ground. To Suijin's bewilderment, the area in front of him, the rubble, seemed to sink as if its weight increased, causing it to partially sink into the ground. Monoma then stood up, seeming tired yet feigning indifference to it.

"Honenuki's Quirk: Soften. I got it when we high-fived before coming in. It can trap things in the ground, making it an effective capturing tool."

He beamed as he spoke, trying to show off the Quirk and his classmate, expecting praise.

'Shameless. That's not even your Quirk!' Suijin couldn't help but think.

Still, he had to admit to the versatility of Copy. Where others saw weaknesses due to the outside conditions of requiring others to use it, Suijin saw immense potential.

What if there were two Bakugos flying in the air like twin dominating towers of destruction?

Or two Todoroki's who make glacers that dwarf cities before letting them fall, destrying all below.

Maybe two Kaminaries who can produce enough voltage to fry someone inside out.

The prospects were endless, and all his Quirk needed was someone to line up on a wall and wait for the order for them to shake hands before he could single-handedly deal with most problems.

Suijin imagined that in the future, this quirk would flourish when he joined a proper hero agency and had access to choosing who he wanted on the team.

Still, Suijin thought back to other examples of powerful quirks and asked, "How long does it last?"

"I have about 30 seconds left of this quirk before it disappears and 5 minutes in total," he said offhandedly.

If Suijin had proper eyes, they would be twitching like mad by now. '5 minutes, AND YOU WANTED TO BRAG WITH THAT!'

The boy looked up, facing the blue skies. If he looked at that face any longer, his fist would end up somewhere he didn't want it to.

He tuned out the world for a full moment before calming down and looking at Monoma, who was confused at this point.

"Oi—"

"SHHHH!"

Suddenly, Suijin put a hand to his mouth and grabbed Monoma by the back of his gym uniform, pulling him into his previous hiding spot.

Keeping a hand over his growingly restless companion, he tuned into the duo in front of him.

"Where are you going?"

"Where? DUDE! Didn't you see that huge explosion over there?"

Seeing his friend shrug his shoulders, he continued, "Anyways, according to my Quirk, there's a whole bunch of flags and people to the back of us, meaning all the other areas are vacant. And with my Quirk, there's no way we can't find a flag."

'Behind.'

The duo then quickly sped off, hoping to clutch onto the opportunity to secure their advancement to the next round.

Suijin thought to himself while pulling his hand off of Monoma's mouth, lest his skin get bitten off.

"YOU—"

"Behind. According to them, we can find a whole slew of enemies. Defeating them should be no difficulty for your expertise, and where many people are, many eyes will be exposed to your amazing Class 1B abilities."

If you can't change the winds, adjust your sails.

Taking this saying into account, Suijin opted to play to Monoma's ego and his hyperfixation by putting down Class 1A and putting Class 1B on a pedestal.

Suijin didn't want to give him any more time to think, lest he think of a counter. He started moving cautiously, scanning the area while keeping his head on a swivel.

Suijin, while moving his thoughts back to the past few weeks, thought back to the moments that taught him to do this, to who drilled these techniques into his head, and couldn't help but think to himself,

'I'll use your teachings to pass this round and the next. I'll keep going until I win the whole thing. So please keep watching, Dad!'