Interlude 5

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|Back at the changing room…|

…

After Suzaku left, the boys from class 1-A spent a few more minutes in the changing room, wasting some time chatting with each other or simply lost in their thoughts as they changed into their UA gym uniforms, before eventually everyone came out.

The same went for the girls, who came out at almost the same time as the boys and reunited with them on the way to the training ground, walking together from then on as a group, and talking about what aspects they would train in today or asking for advice to their classmates as they walked.

The only exceptions to the rule were Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya. The first two because they had left for Ground Beta first without waiting for anyone, and Midoriya because he just stayed silent most of the way, only breaking his silence when someone asked him for advice in their training, which the youth answered eagerly using his vast knowledge of Quirks.

—Maybe a bit too eagerly though, since his overly detailed and long pieces of advice most of the time overwhelmed those who asked him, which ultimately led to them stopping doing so after a while, leaving Midoriya to have only his thoughts to entertain himself for the rest of the walk.

The class continued like that for a few minutes, walking peacefully while chattering among each other, until they finally found themselves at the training ground.

The moment they stepped inside Ground Beta, everyone immediately began mentalizing themselves and preparing to begin yet another wonderful day full of training.

However, those thoughts ceased altogether when they all saw what awaited them at the entrance.

Even Bakugo and Todoroki, who had left for the training ground way before the group, were also there standing at the entrance, simply watching the spectacle with focused eyes.

-Whack!-

-Swoosh!-

-Bam!-

-Plaf!-

And how could they not?

There, somewhere a bit far away from them, their homeroom teacher, Aizawa-sensei, was hurriedly dodging the barrage of hits coming his way while barely managing to accomplish so.

However, what surprised them more about the situation, was the fact that the one putting their teacher in such a perilous situation was actually just a student like them.

More specifically, the same red-haired student who had entered their classroom earlier while being carried by his teacher.

Suzaku Suzuki.

"What is going on?" A girl with her black hair tied into a spiky ponytail asked with a worried face after seeing that their teacher was being attacked by someone unknown.

As the girl looked confusedly at the situation, another girl walked up front next to her and looked at the battle with an excited gaze. "What is happening? It looks fun!" She had pink hair and skin, and her eyes were tainted with a black color.

Then, as the girl looked excitedly at the combat, the blond youth with the bolt on his hair that had talked to Suzaku at the changing room, or in this case, Kaminari Denki, eyed the fight while smirking in bewilderment at the sight. 

"He actually went and did it…"

"Oi Kaminari, what is going on?" Suddenly, after hearing the blonde's comment, a black-haired girl with earphone cables for earlobes asked him as her eyes remained glued to the battle going on.

"Huh?" Denki looked at her confused for a second, before he pointed at Suzaku with his finger. "Oh, that guy, he said that he was gonna spar with Aizawa-sensei, but I didn't think he was being serious!"

"Spar with Aizawa-sensei?" The girl asked as she gained a strange expression.

The same went for most of the girls who heard Kaminari's words and hadn't been there when Suzaku declared his intentions in the changing room, being confused by the fact that the teacher was actually sparring with someone.

Normally, their teacher would just tell them to train on their own, or in the most exceptional of cases, tell them to train with each other. However, he himself never offered to train with them, at most, he only gave them a few pointers while looking over everyone's training.

And yet, now he was actually fighting against a student?

And in a spar, of all things?

'Well, with that level of skill, it isn't that crazy…' Mashirao Ojiro, a blond guy with a huge tail behind him thought after hearing Kaminari, his eyes staring at the ongoing duel with an awed glow in them.

He himself had thought of asking Aizawa for a spar before, as being a melee combatant and a martial arts practitioner it was normal for him to want to improve his abilities in a real fight. However, he had long understood that his teacher's proficiency in close combat was something way beyond him at the moment.

Thus, it was normal for him to be in shock after seeing another student like himself not only fighting on par with his teacher but somehow also overwhelming him during their fight.

'They are on a whole another level… -Sigh…- I think I still have a long way to go' Ojiro shook his head as he heaved a sigh.

Then, suddenly some floating clothes appeared next to him, and a feminine voice coming from their direction asked in a cheerful tone. "Are you also capable of fighting like that, Ojiro-kun?!"

Ojiro glanced in the invisible person's direction with a wry smile. "N-no, I don't think I would be able to, Hagakure-san…"

And, as the entire class talked and watched amazed at the duel, the two boys who had left earlier than everyone and were now standing at the front started having their own thoughts about the whole situation.

'What is his Quirk?' Todoroki squinted his eyes at the blurry figure of Suzaku running after Aizawa. '... Is Aizawa-sensei blocking it so that he can force that guy to fight in close quarters only? It doesn't seem to be working very well...'

Then, he glanced at his right hand.

 'Although I should be able to easily take care of him with my ice, in case he were to fight me from up close, would I be able to defend myself…?'

Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed at that thought.

No, he didn't think so.

He was confident in his abilities to take down anyone in his way, but if he allowed Suzaku to get close to him, he didn't doubt that the redhead would overwhelm him in a matter of seconds with those quick movements of his.

Whether he would be quick enough to escape from such a situation if that ever got to happen in the future, Todoroki wasn't going to wait to find out.

'I should prepare against him, just in case...' He thought as he put his mind to work.

As Todoroki was busy imagining strategies to deal with Suzaku during the festival, a certain explosive blonde next to him was staring at the fight with serious eyes, his usual furious demeanor gone completely.

'That bastard, he is good...' Bakugo thought as his fist tightened in frustration. '...Fighting him from up close will be dangerous, even with my Quirk at my disposal... should try to maintain my distance at all times if we get to fight? I still don't know what his damn Quirk is though, depending on it, maybe even being at a distance will be dangerous'

A troubled countenance filled his face at that moment.

However, with a quick shake of the head, Bakugo replaced his somber expression with a grin filled with fighting spirit.

'It doesn't matter, I'll show that bastard his place when the time comes'

It was apparent by then that the two main contenders for the winner's spot in the sports festival were paying close attention to whom they considered the biggest threat at the moment, aside from each other.

Not only because he had ranked first place in the practical exam, but also because they knew nothing about him and how he had managed to score such a high rank in the first place.

As far as they were concerned, Suzaku was at the moment the most unknown variable in their road to becoming the winner.

Of course, not everyone was focusing on that particular matter.

"He is overwhelming Aizawa-sensei?" Midoriya asked in disbelief as he stared at the two figures moving through the distance like ninjas.

Ida, who was next to him, massaged his chin as he stared amazed at the fight. "His fighting abilities are top-notch… Although I thought he was being overconfident at first, it seems he was not wrong when he said Aizawa-sensei was the only one with the skill to fight him…"

"Woah, he is going all swish swish, and then pow pow" Uraraka said plainly while staring at the fight with a bit of a lost face.

Ida sweatdropped a bit while pushing his glasses up. "That is an interesting way to describe it" 

Midoriya, however, didn't listen to what they said, as he was lost in his own world at that moment.

'So this is what the first place is capable of?'

He glanced at his own fist, the same fist he had used to punch the 0-pointer.

'Despite all the power that All Might gave me, I'm still so far behind… Was it really right for him to choose me?' An unsure expression appeared on his face.

He had been given the power of the strongest hero of all time, and yet, he was still lagging behind his peers like Bakugo, Todoroki, or in this case Suzaku. It was normal for him to start doubting his capabilities.

Still, it didn't last for much, as a nervous but determined glow emerged in his eyes not long after.

'No, All Might trusted me… In this sports festival, I must show him he didn't make a mistake when choosing me!' Midoriya thought as he clenched his fist in eagerness to prove himself.

And, as Midoriya was making a motivational speech for himself inside his head, the battle between the sus teenager and the hobo hero continued while under the watch of all class 1-A.

Fists and kicks rained upon the tired man, each single one of them fast like a whip, and barely visible to the naked eye as they shot in the teacher's direction. 

However, it seemed the erasure hero was way more agile and perceptive than he appeared with that tired expression of his.

Although he looked like he was struggling somewhat to react to Suzaku's attacks, he was still being able to dodge every single one of them, which evidenced the good reflexes that he had.

Especially when considering that Suzaku's fighting style centered on being as confusing and deceiving as possible so that the opponents could have the least time possible to react to his attacks.

-Swoosh!-

-Swish!-

"Come on, man, stay still!" Suzaku muttered under his breath as he threw two punches in Aizawa's direction, only to be met with the air as the teacher somehow managed to dodge them on time once again.

"..." Hearing Suzaku, Aizawa simply frowned faintly, not having the luxury of even speaking, as even the smallest loss of focus would make him fail to dodge.

Now, normally, any other student would have lost their cool after fighting for so long without managing to land a single hit. However, Suzaku knew better than to get angry simply because his opponent was rather slippery.

Although he was not landing a single hit, that didn't mean much, as he was still pressuring Aizawa to be completely on the defensive.

Something that, coupled with the fact that the teacher's sole focus was to dodge his attacks, gave Suzaku the perfect way of breaking through Aizawa's evasion streak.

'I guess I'll have to step up the level a bit…' Suzaku thought, as his eyes behind the glasses gleamed with amusement.

As to how he was gonna break through Aizawa's defense? It was rather simple, actually.

Unbeknown to Aizawa, his incredible focus was gonna turn out to be his downfall in the end, as slowly but surely, Suzaku was making sure the teacher unknowingly adapted to his fighting style, that way, the moment there was a slight change in the way he moved, the erasure hero wouldn't be able to react on time.

Of course, changing styles mid-fight was easier said than done, as it was a move that required skill, adaptability, and swiftness, all while simultaneously focusing on the battle going on to assure not to give the opponent any opportunity to attack.

… Something that Suzaku had trained exhaustingly during the past 9 years under the tutelage of Tatsuo to do.

As for what style he was gonna change to, it was a simple choice.

Although he had learned several types of fighting styles in order to counter any other that his opponent may use, there was still one that, in a way, could be considered Tatsuo's main fighting style.

The one Suzaku was using at the moment.

It mainly consisted of using highly deceiving moves like kicks that turned into punches, punches that turned into kicks, headbutts that turned into knee strikes, etc… All the while mixing them with normal attacks so that the opponents wouldn't know if to expect feints or not.

Basically, it was a fighting style built upon every feint possible in existence, and whose main focus was to play with the mind of the opponent and use that very same confusion to strike blows whenever possible.

Still, if Suzaku was already using it, how come he was supposedly going to change into it now?

The answer was that, although Suzaku was using it, he was not using it in its entirety.

Besides the feints hidden behind each blow, there was another stage for Tatsuo's fighting style that Suzaku had yet to use against the teacher. Tatsuo called it the "Cherry on Top", as in a way, it complemented further the already deceiving and misleading nature of the style.

In summary, by slowing down the movements at crucial points during attacks, one becomes able to confuse their opponent and cause them to dodge or block when they shouldn't, thus allowing for the user to attack them in that vulnerable state. 

On the other hand, the slowing also made the opponents unable to dodge, as the attack's slowness gave the user a much wider time frame to redirect their attacks in case the opponent tried to avoid them.

Of course, slowing down meant losing power and momentum, while also leaving oneself vulnerable to counterattacks.

However, Tatsuo's fighting style also contemplated using this type of slow strike to prompt the opponent to attack, and thus create an opportunity for a counter when the opponent expected it the least.

As for the matter of the attacks losing power due to slowing down and thus losing momentum, while it was true for the most part, Suzaku and Tatsuo had both trained their bodies to become able to exert as much power as spontaneously as they could, and in the shortest distance possible. Similar to Bruce Lee's one-inch punch, except they applied it to almost all kinds of attacks that meant using their bodies.

So, although their fists may turn slow, that didn't mean they couldn't be devastating.

And this second part of Tatsuo's martial arts was what Suzaku was planning to use. As for whether Aizawa would be able to successfully get out unscathed from it or not, that was yet to be seen.

"... Let's see how you handle this" As he continued barraging the homeroom teacher with kicks and punches, Suzaku smirked, before he threw one more punch, one that seemed to contain more power behind it.

Aizawa was planning to dodge it, however, the moment he thought the fist was about to shoot at him, Suzaku's movements slowed down.

When he saw that, an expression of bewilderment crept up to the erasure hero's face.

However, not being one to waste an opportunity for counterattacking, he rapidly tried to throw a swift punch at the seemingly vulnerable Suzaku. Knowing that if he didn't make use of this, he probably was never gonna get out of the teenager's punch and kicks prison.

-Swoosh!-

"...!"

However, to the teacher's surprise, despite seeming to be in a really compromising state, Suzaku still managed to dodge the fist by a hair's breadth.

And the moment he saw his punch hit the empty air, Aizawa knew he had screwed up.

-Bam!-

The next instant, Suzaku's body twisted unnaturally from his dodging position, and threw another much more powerful punch straight into the teacher's stomach, causing him to widen his eyes as the air escaped from his mouth.

"Ugh—!" Aizawa's grabbed his belly as he took several steps back.

Still, he didn't go down, and after recomposing himself an instant later and seeing Suzaku following after him, he quickly threw a kick toward Suzaku's legs, aiming to force the redhead to avoid the hit so that he could create a bit of distance between each other.

-Tack!-

Unfortunately for him, Suzaku didn't dodge. Instead, he shot his foot toward Aizawa's, and in a violent motion, kicked harshly Aizawa's very kick. Thus, not only blocking it but even knocking his leg back. Clearly overpowering Aizawa's strength.

When he realized his kick had failed, Aizawa hurriedly tried retreating, however, the moment he did that, another punch from Suzaku was directed at his stomach.

Aizawa immediately tried blocking it, but the attack suddenly shifted and shot straight towards his chin.

'So damn tricky!' The teacher cursed in his mind as he moved hurriedly to avoid the hit.

Knowing that getting hit on the chin would mean a certain defeat, Aizawa squeezed his reflexes to their utmost potential and painstakingly threw his head backward.

-Swooosh!-

… And, fortunately, with that movement, he managed to avoid the attack.

However, a second later a sharp pain came from his nose not long after.

'He broke my nose…' Aizawa's eyes squinted at the realization, as he felt a liquid flow down from his nostrils. 

Unfortunately, he didn't even get the chance to process the damage, as immediately after dodging the fist, another blow came towards his chest.

In a hurry, he moved his hands to block it. Although this time, readily expecting the attack to change directions at any moment.

-Crack!-

However, the attack didn't change trajectories, instead, it fully hit the tired teacher's block, causing his arms' bones to scream in protest.

'What strength…!' Aizawa gritted his teeth as the pain assaulted his arms.

Still, not everything was lost.

In the next instant, a small smile appeared on Aizawa's face, and the next moment, he threw himself to the ground, quickly rolling away.

Then, he grabbed something from the ground.

"Pay more attention to your environment," The teacher said with a tutoring tone, as he picked up the bandages-like weapon and stood up.

Suzaku's eyebrows rose in surprise at the sight. 'This guy, he guided me all the way here to grab his weapon while I was beating him up…?' He then scoffed faintly. 'What an annoying guy, not even the old man was this annoying during our spars'

However, knowing that it wouldn't be advantageous for him to remain at a distance from Aizawa now that he had his weapon, he didn't doubt for a second and immediately kicked the ground. Shooting straight toward the erasure hero like a bullet.

However, that proved to be a mistake.

"Got you now, kid" 

Knowing that Suzaku would look to shorten the distance now that he had gotten a hold of his capturing weapon, Aizawa quickly controlled the binding cloth and sent it to block Suzaku's way, like a net ready to trap him the moment he touched it.

And that it did.

"Crap!"

-Whip!-

Unable to control his body mid-air, Suzaku ended up falling onto the weapon, which immediately tightened around his body the moment he touched it and thus caused Suzaku to end up looking almost like a mummy from one moment to another.

-Sigh…-

The moment he saw Suzaku become immobile, Aizawa grinned and cleaned his bleeding nose while heaving a tired sigh.

"Kid, you sure did a number on me…" He muttered, breathing haggardly as the words left his mouth, evidently being way more tired and injured than the redhead was.

As Suzaku looked at his bound body, he raised an eyebrow. "Damn… I'll tell Arata to make me something to move mid-air, otherwise, I'm gonna get cooked in the festival"

While Suzaku talked to himself, Aizawa approached the youth, being confident in his win. However, he flinched a bit when he saw Suzaku trying to free himself and making his weapon tremble in front of the pressure he was exerting.

'This kid sure is something…' Aizawa thought as he sweatdropped.

However, knowing that his weapon had restricted opponents way stronger than Suzaku was, he didn't hesitate for much longer and eventually walked toward the bound teenager, stopping just a meter or so away from him.

"You were too hasty at the end" Aizawa commented with a serious look, making Suzaku turn to look back at him with a frown.

"What? I couldn't hear you from all the way there. Come closer" Suzaku said, shooting the tired teacher a confused look.

Aizawa frowned in response, wondering if the teenager wanted to surprise attack him the moment he tried getting closer.

It was such an obvious tactic, that Aizawa almost chuckled at that.

However, he had made sure to bind the teenager tightly. Even if he somehow managed to move a little, he wasn't going to be able to reach him.

So, disregarding Suzaku's request, he simply spoke louder.

"I said that you were too hasty at the end"

Suzaku, however, simply shook his head and looked at Aizawa with a clueless expression. "Whaaaat…? Man, come closer, I can't hear you from there!"

That annoyed the teacher, who saw that Suzaku wasn't going to stop until he yielded.

'Whatever, let's humor him a bit…' Aizawa thought.

However, he didn't step closer, as he knew the young man would immediately try something if he did that, instead, he simply leaned forward before shouting at Suzaku.

"I said you were too has—!"

"You fell for it!"

However, he was forced to stop when he saw Suzaku trying to headbutt him.

Aizawa mentally scoffed. 'From this distance he won't—'

-Bonk!-

-Shatter!-

Unfortunately, he never got to finish his thoughts, as the next second, Suzaku's glasses bulged up and struck violently Aizawa's face, knocking him to the ground, and getting shattered in the process.

"Hah!"

Using that opportunity, Suzaku escaped from the binding cloth's grip, and landed right in front of Aizawa, before kneeling next to him as he grabbed his collar and pointed his fist at the teacher's face.

"For a hero who can block others' Quirk, you sure forgot I had a Quirk in the first place, huh?"

Aizawa didn't say anything at that, and instead, he simply stared at the sus teenager with a blank expression.

'I got beaten by a student… Let's just hope Nezu won't lower my salary because of this…'

…

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|An hour later…|

…

After beating Aizawa, Suzaku spent a little more time with class 1-A , getting to know a bit more about those who had once been simply fiction for him, while the teacher went to visit Recovery Girl to heal his injuries.

Most of the teenagers came to talk to Suzaku after he was done with the spar, asking the usual stuff about where he learned to move like that, or commenting on how similar he was to ninjas, for some reason.

Kirishima, in special, was very enthusiastic after he saw him beat their teacher.

The guy asked him about his training regime, which he regretted once he heard what Tatsuo had put him through.

Although the spiky redhead wanted to get more muscles, there was a line he wouldn't cross.

During the talk, Suzaku also noticed four people in particular staring at him with an intensity that almost caused them to start shooting lasers at him.

The first one was from the prickly brat Bakugo. However, Suzaku simply ignored it, being faintly accustomed to it by that point.

The second one was from Midoriya. Although he didn't know why the green-haired kid was looking at him that way, Suzaku didn't care much either. He was probably just having some shonen-protagonist-like thoughts.

You know, those types of thoughts like "I must become stronger!" or something along those lines.

The third one was from a white-and-red-haired guy with a burn scar on his face. He didn't know him, nor did he remember him from the show, so he didn't pay that much attention to his gaze.

And finally, there was the French guy who could shoot a laser from a belt he had on his waist… He didn't totally like his gaze for some reason, it felt annoying. However, not knowing why he disliked it, he just ignored it… Much like all the others.

It was apparent by then that he wasn't that concerned about how or why others looked at him.

Instead, he just kept talking with Kirishima, as he was a cool dude, much like Tetsutetsu was.

Even their Quirks were similar.

Still, not being especially friends with him, after a while he eventually left the training ground and went to change back into his UA uniform.

The process didn't take him much, and after picking up his stuff and leaving his hero costume back at his classroom, Suzaku left the school for good. 

-Sigh…-

A while later, as he walked through the streets of Musutafu in the direction of his apartment, Suzaku let out a long sigh as he looked dreamily at the sky, longing for the moment he arrived home to take a nap.

As he imagined the fluffiness of his king-sized bed, Suzaku frowned faintly before he began massaging his neck with a pained expression. "Talk about doing enough exercise for a day" His tone of voice oozed exhaustion and annoyance.

And it was normal for him to feel like that, after all, today had been a rather hectic day for him.

First, he woke up too early and ended up arriving at class on time. Then, he had to show Tetsutetsu what the pecking order was, only for his teacher to hear him boasting out loud after he had been done with his friend, and issue him another fight, though this time with a pro hero instead.

One that he almost lost because of his lack of mobility.

'I should ask him for one of those…' Suzaku noted mentally as he remembered the great versatility that Aizawa's weapon had.

Still, that was a matter to think about on another day.

As of now, he wanted nothing more but to arrive home and fall unconscious on his bed until tomorrow.

-Beep, beep, beep!-

Unfortunately, it seemed like fate had its own set of plans for him.

"Who is it now?" Suzaku asked as he pulled his phone out with an annoyed expression to see who was calling him now of all times.

However, his expression visibly eased up when he saw the words "Old man with dementia" on the screen.

"What does he want now?" Suzaku raised an eyebrow in curiosity, before picking up the call and putting the phone on his left ear. 

{"Oi, brat!"}

"Sup old man"

{"Don't sup me, I need you to come to the dojo"}

"Again?" Suzaku pursed his lips in laziness, wanting to simply go back home.

{"It's an important matter, so stop being a lazy fuck and get over here"}

-Beep-

Unfortunately, the old man left no chance for refusal on his tone, and without even waiting for Suzaku to answer, he hung up, leaving the redhead to let out an annoyed sigh as he put the phone back in his pocket.

"Whatever…"

…

-To be Continued…-

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(A/N: I should be uploading the next one within three days, hopefully.

Also, I went to see the new movie. In my personal opinion, a 7/10 at best.

But well, I liked Kungfu Panda 4, so my opinion isn't valid.

Anyway I hope you liked the chapter)

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