38

Chapter 38: This Day and That DayNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

When Hizashi first hears the plan from Nedzu, he has his reservations. Even though the students involved aren't from his own class, Hizashi is still worried about their well-being. There have been several instances in the past, during standard hero field operations, where the use of an informant or bait was necessary, but Hizashi's never been fond of them. There are too many risks. However, he trusts Nedzu, and he trusts UA and the teachers who work alongside him. So, he goes along with it.

He doesn't know how Nedzu knows about the villain attack, or why he won't say how he found out, instead dodging the question every time someone asks. The plan that Hizashi and the teachers receive is too detailed to be from a vague tip. Someone had to have known about the whole fiasco from start to finish, which points to a villain betraying their own. It makes him anxious. It could be a trap. But either way, he's determined to protect the students.

He pulls Shouta aside after the meeting with Nedzu. Throughout the whole briefing, his friend was noticeably frustrated at the principal for keeping information from them. Hizashi gets it. He wants to know what's going on too, especially if it involves the students. Everyone in that room besides Nedzu knew they weren't getting the full picture. But it's probably worse for Shouta since it's his own class that's targeted.

"Hey," Hizashi placates. "It's going to be alright. The plan is great. This is Nedzu and his High Spec quirk we're talking about." He smiles softly, trying to lighten the mood.

Shouta sighs, keeping his signature scowl. His eyebrows are pinched and he looks tired , more so than he usually does.

"I have a request." Shouta states, sweeping past any other topics in his typical fashion. He folds his arms and taps his fingers into the fabric.

Hizashi's smile loosens, but doesn't fall. "Request?" He repeats. "You know I'd do anything for you!"

It's a lousy attempt at a joke, but even so, Hizashi means it. Something Shouta knows too.

Shouta pulls out a sheet of paper from seemingly nowhere. "As Nedzu suggested, the students have been divided into groups for better supervision. And you've got…" He trails off and frowns down at the paper like it's offended him.

Hizashi walks over to stand beside him and gently pulls the paper from Shouta's hands. It's the chaperone list for tomorrow, already pre-selected by Nedzu. Hizashi was told he'd be one of them and reads the list over until he reaches his name. He hums.

Shouta nods. "You've got Bakugou...as well as Midoriya. Thankfully Nedzu had the forethought not to put the two together as partners. That would've been an even bigger headache." Shouta clutches his head as if he can feel the phantom ache of the imagined migraine. "But those two are…" He trails off.

"Troublemakers?" Hizashi hazards a guess, though he doesn't see how Midoriya could be a handful. Wait. He did recover Eri from the Eight Precepts so…

"Something like that." Shouta confirms. "They have a strange relationship, and I need you to keep an eye out."

Hizashi nods. Shouta mentioned the incidents to him before. He'll make sure the two don't fight.

"Is that the favor?" He wonders.

Shouta shakes his head. "No, but it's part of it. Out of all of my students, you have the two that might choose to...fight back...when the villains appear." He reveals. "Bakugou's impulsive and prideful, and Midoriya has a habitual history. I need you to-"

"Keep an eye out?" Hizashi finishes with a wink.

"...Keep them safe." Shouta says instead. He glares at Hizashi. "You think you can do that?"

Hizashi has been friends with Shouta for a long time. It took years to earn the man's trust, something he doesn't easily give away. Hizashi remembers being called to look after 'Deku' and Eri while they were sleeping at Shouta's house, the first night they'd appeared. He remembers slipping into complacency and letting Deku- or 'Midoriya' he found out later- get away.

"I'll keep them safe." Hizashi promises.

He won't make the same mistake again.

And yet now, separated from half of his charges, Hizashi doesn't know if he can keep that promise.

He was so focused on Midoriya, who was spacey and distant, who he considered to be the first one to run into danger, that he didn't even notice when Bakugou and Kirishima charged at the mist villain.

Nedzu's plan relied on taking care of 'Kurogiri' first- preventing their force from being divided while also seizing the League's means of transport and escape- so Hizashi didn't think twice about chasing them to stop them.

But by then, it was too late.

Shouta's gaze was blocked for a second, and that second was all the villain needed to get at least some of them. Hizashi was lucky to end up with Bakugou and Kirishima, but Midoriya and Todoroki are nowhere in sight.

He feels a little like a failure.

They're in the ruin zone, and the fake cityscape prevents Hizashi from seeing the action by the entrance and the plaza. He doesn't know if the plan is progressing. He doesn't know if the students are safe. Unfortunately, he can't ponder his predicament too much, because there are villains in this place too- low ranking grunts from the Eight Precepts it seems- and he needs to protect the two children he still has.

"Eat shit, fuckface!"

...Despite the fact that they're holding their own against the villains surprisingly well.

"Bakugou!" Hizashi cautions, for the 7th or 8th time, "Don't stray too far from us!"

The blonde clicks his tongue, before blasting another person and retreating back to where Hizashi is fighting.

"You've already said that." He grumbles under his breath once he's rejoined them.

Hizashi fights the urge to point out that he wouldn't have to repeat it if Bakugou listened the first or second time. Instead, he uses his quirk to knock out three more villains and watches Kirishima defend against two more. He sends a sound wave their way too and gets a smile and thanks from Kirishima. At least one of his students likes him.

The temporary battle ends and Hizashi grins, clapping his hands together. "Alright, little listeners! Great job! Now, we're going to get out of here!"

"And go where?" Bakugou snaps. "We lost icyhot and fucking Deku and we don't have a clue where they ended up!"

Hizashi pauses, smile faltering as he thinks that over, but Bakugou isn't finished.

"There are villains all over the place, 1-A is spread out across this shitty facility, and we can see fuck all with these damn buildings in the way!" He blasts a wall nearest to him, the concrete breaking off into a spiderweb of cracks. His breathing is heavy.

He's right, in many ways. Hizashi doesn't know what to do in this situation either- what Shouta would want him to prioritize. He has his students with him, but not all of them. He can choose to take Kirishima and Bakugou to the exit, or he can search the rest of the zones in the USJ for Midoriya and Todoroki. Already, he knows what choice he has to make.

They're in the ruins zone, which is one of the zones closest to the exit. If they travel around the building, checking the other zones, they should be able to regroup with the others. If Midoriya and Todoroki were caught in the teleportation quirk, then Hizashi will find them.

"Alright," He grabs the teens' attention. "We're going to look for Midoriya and Todoroki. Together." He gives Bakugou a pointed look. "If we follow the walls of the USJ in a circle through the different zones, we'll come across them sooner or later. But," He emphasizes, "You two need to listen to me. If I say run, you run. If I say hide or escape, you do so. Is that clear?"

Bakugou scowls, like Hizashi just told him to slap his grandmother. Kirishima shifts nervously, eyes flitting between them both, but makes no move to agree either.

Hizashi folds his arms over his chest, standing firm. "I am a pro hero. And your chaperone. If you do not listen to me, your positions at UA will be in jeopardy."

His warning only serves to make Bakugou angrier, and Kirishima more nervous.

" Fine." His volatile student spits, face turned away as if it physically pains him to agree. Kirishima finally nods too, expression more sad.

"Good." Hizashi praises. "The landslide zone is next, so be prepared. There are probably villains waiting there too."

His two charges nod dutifully and follow him closely as he leaves the building they currently occupy. They traverse the ruins and rubble carefully, keeping an eye out for any more villains, as well as loose footholds.

He doesn't see anyone else though. Not criminals or students. He doesn't know how many people were separated with the warp quirk- if all of them even were. Shouta's vision was only blocked for a second, so he should've regained control of Kurogiri after his line of sight was cleared.

Still, Hizashi was at the front of the blast, so he has no way of knowing. He can only hope they were the sole three that were teleported and that Todoroki and Midoriya are safe at the exit with the others. That's wishful thinking, however, and a pro never relies on hope alone.

At the very least, Midoriya and Todoroki should still be together, right?

"Lookie here! One of the brats is all alone!" Someone sneers.

Shouto looks up and finds that he is surrounded. He only had approximately one minute of peace before he was hounded by a group of villains. That's longer than he thought he'd have, given the circumstances. These guys don't look like anything special either, which makes him question the forethinking of this so-called "villain alliance".

The other criminals laugh at what cliche villain #1 said, as if it was something funny and not just an obvious observation. It's true that he's alone. Midoriya did not appear with him when Shouto was unceremoniously dropped into the landslide zone. He was standing next to the green-haired teen at the entrance, but as soon as the black mass erupted from the villain's body and moved toward him, Shouto leapt back to dodge it. Judging by his presence in the landslide zone, he didn't manage to.

Still…Shouto is rather grateful for his solitary presence here. He wasn't fond of his assigned partner for this field trip and he detested the idea of a chaperone. He's tired of being handled with kiddie gloves. He entered UA to be a hero, he doesn't need anyone beside him to prove that he is capable. After all, if he doesn't do it alone, how will he convince that man of his competence?

"Awwwww, I think the poor kiddie's scared!" Another person taunts, accompanied by another round of laughter. Shouto narrows his eyes.

With a wave of his arm, he sends an avalanche of ice at the villains, encasing all of them instantaneously. The silence he receives is rewarding.

The "fight" with the villains around him further enforces in his mind that he can handle himself. They're weak in the face of his ice quirk. Once he defeats the lot of them here, (if there are any more lying in wait), he'll join the fight in the plaza and assist where needed. Surely, even with all the heroes present, there is something he can do to alleviate some of the burden. Those are his teachers down there. And All Might. He wants to help.

As it turns out, there are a few more stragglers in the landside zone, but not many, and none that give him trouble. Shouto questions their purpose. Why employ weak individuals like them, if they aren't enough to take on a single student? Then again, it isn't as if Shouto can be compared to his classmates. He's received training since he was young, and he has yet to meet anyone who can withstand the full force of his ice.

Once he's done freezing those foolish enough to stand in his way, he takes a second to warm up. Frost clings to his right arm from the repeated use of his quirk, but it's well within what he can deal with. He just needs a minute or two until it melts back into nothing.

From where he stands, he has a partial view of the main plaza. Too much is happening to make out individual details, or to tell who is winning, but Shouto thinks it's the heroes. Really, this whole thing is strange. Why were the heroes able to get here so fast? What are the villains after? There are too many questions…

"Todoroki! There you are!" An overly exuberant voice greets him. Shouto would click his tongue if he had less self control. As it is, he simply scowls. It seems his solitude has been invaded.

Present Mic reaches him first, followed closely by Bakugou and Kirishima. Only two look happy to see him, the other appears just as annoyed as Shouto is.

"Is Midoriya with you?" The pro asks, scanning the surroundings for any signs of the missing student. Shouto shakes his head. He's a little envious that Midoriya managed to warp by himself, but then again…that might not be the best case scenario.

"Maybe he wasn't teleported!" Kirishima offers enthusiastically.

Bakugou scoffs before anyone can answer. "If half-and-half was warped, then Deku had to have been too. He was between us, dumbass ."

Kirishima droops.

"Despite his harsh delivery, Bakugou's right." Present Mic agrees. "We don't know who all was separated, or how many, but since Midoriya stood in the middle of our group when we were hit, he has to be in one of these zones."

Shouto doesn't say anything, even though he doesn't think Midoriya is the type to stay put. Wherever he initially landed, he's probably already entangled in the hero fight in the plaza. Shouto itches to leave too, though he recognizes that now isn't the time.

"So, what are we waiting for?!" Bakugou huffs angrily. "Let's find him before he does anything stupid."

It reassures him that Bakugou is just as wary of Midoriya as he is. The two seem to have some history, he's noticed. Perhaps the blonde is aware of how suspicious Midoriya acts- the things he says and does that don't make much sense to Shouto. He doesn't trust it. Not like the others do.

For all intents and purposes, Midoriya presents himself like a fellow student. He is friendly towards his classmates. He participates in assignments. He stays at the top of the class. He's a model student and a nice guy.

Or is that just an act?

Shouto's not an idiot. Despite being unfamiliar with the normal routines of school and friendships, there is something going on where Midoriya is concerned. He's sure his classmates have caught on as well, but none of them question it like he does.

Like why did Midoriya disappear from class on his first day of school? Why did he know about the battle trials- and imply that he knew of Shouto's quirk? Why did he get in a fight with Bakugou? Why was he lying about where he was this morning? Why did it seem like he was overly nervous about today?

Shouto supposes it isn't fair to draw conclusions before he gets the full picture, but these clues he's discovered do not paint a good one.

Midoriya is up to something. And, if it is what Shouto thinks it is, then…

The boy might be a villain.

The conflagration zone is…hot. And completely devoid of their classmates, as Izuku soon finds. There are a few villains, the lower ranks of the Eight Precepts if he has to hazard a guess, but they don't have the strength or the numbers to deal with him, Uraraka, and Tsuyu. Despite the fighting and hypervigilance, Izuku is put at ease by the lack of other students. That means most of them should be safe at the exit, likely getting evacuated if they weren't already. If Aizawa-sensei was still able to use his quirk against Kurogiri after Kirishima and Kacchan interrupted, perhaps the number sent through the warp quirk was even smaller than Izuku initially thought. It might have just been their two groups that got hit, and that was if Todoroki, Midnight, Jirou, and Ashido were standing close enough to get affected too.

"Deku," Uraraka calls, stepping carefully around the flames. "What do you think all this means?"

Izuku turns the question over in his head, wipes the sweat from his brow. "Are you talking about the villains?" He clarifies.

Uraraka nods. "Yeah. Why would they come after us? And why here? This is part of UA…" She trails off, collecting her thoughts before she speaks again, this time more hesitant. "... shouldn't villains be scared of messing with us?"

Izuku opens his mouth to respond, but Tsuyu beats him to it.

"It's a declaration of war- kero." She looks ahead, her lips pulled into a contemplative frown. "They called themselves the villain alliance and they said that they were here to kill All Might. It must mean that they believe they're capable of doing so. If they think they can take on the number one hero, a hero school would be nothing in comparison."

Silence follows her words. Izuku is shocked, but more pleased, that she's managed to grasp what's at stake here. Moving forward, it should be easier to drive home how important their future training will be.

"That's horrible." Uraraka declares, her tone belying just how terrible she thinks it is.

"It won't work out in their favor." Izuku states firmly, refusing to believe anything else. "They're unprepared for dealing with this many heroes and they didn't manage to separate us at the start. We've met force with force and we have to have faith that the pros will win."

The two nod grimly, since that's all they can do, and they pick up their pace as they approach the mountain zone. Izuku's grateful to see it. This conflagration zone is way too damn hot.

"I wonder…" Uraraka muses when they finally step out of the heat and stare up at the wall of stone before them. "...if our teachers knew about the attack before it happened."

Izuku eyes her quickly, but doesn't respond, not trusting himself too. He busies himself with thinking about how they'll climb the steep surface. Tsuyu stays suspiciously silent, her body soaked in sweat. Perhaps the heat affects her quirk more than an average person.

"It just seems weird, right?" Uraraka continues. "That there were so many heroes here. I didn't think about it before, but that's not normal for a field trip, is it?"

"Uraraka." Izuku interrupts. "Do you think you can use your quirk to take us to the top?"

She looks up, as if noticing the mountain for the first time. "Oh! Y-yeah, uh, I can do it!" She touches them both, allowing her zero gravity to float them up.

Thankfully, the subject is dropped now that Uraraka's concentration is directed elsewhere. Or so Izuku thinks.

"It is strange." Tsuyu says suddenly. "That there were heroes on standby. It must mean that the school knew about the attack beforehand."

Izuku feels her gaze on him as if it's a physical thing, but he refuses to acknowledge it.

"But that can't be!" Uraraka protests, clapping her hands when they've reached their destination. Izuku stumbles just slightly when he lands. "If UA knew, then they never would have sent us here!"

He flinches at that, and then tries to play it off as he scans the mountaintop for people. He didn't want his classmates to be involved, but it was necessary . Nedzu knows what he's doing.

They move quickly across the rocky landscape. The expected villains appear, but it's easy to take care of them. Izuku uses their elevated vantage point to observe what's happening across the USJ. The fight in the plaza is hard to see with all the people moving and quirks flying about. He thinks he sees All Might battling the Noumu, but they're fast and he can't tell for sure. There doesn't look to be anyone left by the entrance, at least, so maybe that means his classmates have made it to safety.

He can see structures that look similar to ice in the next zone too. Hopefully that means what he thinks it means.

"It was probably a trap for them- kero." Tsuyu explains, picking back up the prior conversation. "If no one showed up, the villains might've called it off."

"But how did UA even know in the first place?" Uraraka questions, frustration obvious in her tone. "This is tough!"

Izuku wonders if now's the time to come clean. They evidently suspect something, and he could clear a lot of things up if he just told them. But still- revealing some things while not revealing others is also a form of deception. And Izuku can't spill the whole story. He can't tell them. Not about All Might's quirk that is also his. Not about the time travel. Not about the alternate dimension him being dead. It's too much.

He doesn't know how they'd take it. He's had less than a week to earn their trust- a measly amount. They may think he's crazy, or a villain's double agent.

"Someone probably tipped off the heroes." Tsuyu replies easily. "Someone who encountered the villains before."

Uraraka tilts her head. "Another villain? You think maybe they were betrayed?"

He grimaces. It seems his thinking is correct.

Tsuyu shrugs. "That could be so...or a vigilante."

Izuku trips over his own feet, nearly face-planting before he manages to right himself. His face burns with embarrassment from the near fall and yet it feels as if all the blood has left his body.

"Are you okay?" Uraraka asks, concerned. "You almost fell."

Izuku swallows, words trapped in his throat, when an explosion sounds in the distance. All three of them turn to the right where a large pillar of ice has appeared. It's still far away, but it serves as a good beacon.

"Looks like we found Todoroki." Izuku points out. He smiles in relief despite the swirling thoughts warring in his brain.

Uraraka matches his smile, pumping a fist. Tsuyu brightens up as well.

They take off in the direction of the ice, and not only do they find Todoroki, but Present Mic, Kirishima, and Kacchan as well. The group climbs over the crystalline structure, apparently used as a means for them to ascend the mountain.

"Midoriya!" Present Mic yells, rushing towards the three of them. "Are you hurt?! Is everyone okay?!" He searches Uraraka and Tsuyu too, but thankfully, none of them are injured.

"We're fine." Izuku responds. "We were looking for you guys. Are you okay?"

He also scans them for blood or injury, but no one looks wounded. It seems the villains spread across the USJ this time were low level as well.

Present Mic grins. "Fantastic now that everyone's together. It's time for us to get the heck out of here."

Punctuating his words, as if by some divine, karmic, intervention, comes a rumbling that shakes the entire facility. Their group falters, swaying back and forth to keep their balance. After it passes, Izuku looks at the plaza far below and sees it surrounded by a large cloud of smoke.

"What's going on?" Kirishima wonders, voicing aloud the question they're all thinking.

Laughter echoes all around them, as if coming from the walls themselves. It's hauntingly familiar.

Underneath them, the ground starts to move.

His eyes are burning. That's not new though. It comes with the quirk. He's battling villain after villain, assisting in fight after fight against those with the nastier quirks, and his students have all been evacuated.

All except a few, that is.

Because Kirishima and Bakugou and Todoroki and Midoriya and Uraraka and Asui- they're all missing. Presumably somewhere inside the facility and presumably with Hizashi and-

Shouta's eyes are burning.

If he wasn't needed, if his quirk wasn't useful in this fight against the Eight Bullets, the upper echelon of the Eight Precepts and the nastiest of the bunch, he'd be making sure his students are okay. Unfortunately, his ability is integral to their success, and there's never a moment he isn't glaring down another foe. He blinks in long intervals, his eyes drying more and more and it burns just as much as he's already grown used to it.

All Might battles the grotesque monster, the "noumu" they were warned about, that wields numerous quirks. Their fight is mostly uninterrupted, however some villains attempt to sabotage the number one, and are intercepted by surrounding heroes. Overall, it seems there won't be any prolonged or meaningful interference. All Might's face is inscrutable- it's impossible to tell how hard the fight is for him other than the fact it's not over immediately. Shouta would say the number one hero is struggling, if he even knew what that looked like on the man. However, no one else is strong enough to face that thing, so they have to rely on him for this.

Thirteen and Snipe keep the captured Kurogiri hostage. They're the only ones still by the entrance. The elevated platform gives Snipe the ability to freely use his quirk on the villains below. Shouta can tell that the hand villain, "Shigaraki", is angered by the loss of his warp quirk user, but the heroes are doing a good job of preventing anyone from breaking away from the main fight and attempting a rescue. Which is good. As Nedzu relayed to them yesterday, that quirk is their method of escape. If "Kurogiri" is not rescued, the villains will be cornered.

The battle in the plaza, on the other hand, is a stalemate. The heroes have the advantage in numbers, but the villains they face are vicious. It takes multiple heroes to pin down just one of the Eight Bullets. The close proximity doesn't help the heroes who wield more destructive quirks. While it is part of a hero's training to work in teams, with people and quirks they might not be used to, the flow of the battle is chaotic and the villains purposely take advantage of it to make the heroes work against each other. If they weren't given information beforehand, this could've been worse. Much worse.

Thankfully, even with the surprise appearance of the Eight Precepts, there are enough heroes to fight back. Shouta relays what he knows of the villains and their quirks over the coms- information he received from "Deku", he thinks, before he knew the boy as Midoriya.

Which brings him to his greatest fear in this situation. Worse than the villains recovering their warp quirk user and escaping, worse than this being a trap that not even Nedzu could see through, worse than whatever the fuck a noumu is and its terrifying abilities that match All Might- is the possible re-kidnapping of one Midoriya Izuku.

Why would the "League of Villains" plan their debut attack on a hero school class? Why would they care about scarring a few children? Seemingly, they've only come for All Might, and the kids might serve as some sort of distraction or liability, but…

What if it's more than that?

The League has teamed up with the Eight Precepts. The Eight Precepts have no stake in this battle. Why involve themselves in a grudge against All Might? After all, their role has always been more underground, and they've made sure to hide their hostility towards heroes outwardly. So why'd they give that up?

Shouta can only think of one reason. They know about Eri and Midoriya.

Which would also mean that UA has a spy somewhere. Maybe even a double agent. He really wishes that the principal would've told him how he knew about this attack beforehand. Altogether it doesn't add up.

But, Midoriya was kidnapped for five months. He knows this. The boy shows signs of torture, at least physically, just like Eri does, and produced a quirk when he was quirkless only a few months prior. He knew about Eri, and rescued her singlehandedly, which would've been impossible without insider knowledge on the Eight Precepts. It makes sense that Midoriya could've escaped the yakuza group, or was released by them, only to go back and rescue Eri, who he knew about from his time being held as well. Midoriya told Shouta before that Eri's quirk is essential for their operations, and therefore her whereabouts need to be kept a secret. But what about Midoriya?

What if the Eight Precepts figured out that it was Midoriya who stole Eri from them and wanted to enact their revenge? What if they traced his attendance to UA and decided to attempt another kidnapping? What if they teamed up to satisfy their own revenge while also lending a hand to the League?

Shouta doesn't know the answers to those questions. And he prays he'll never find out, except for when he's interrogating them from behind the one way glass in Tartarus.

He returns his attention to the battle and directs his gaze at the crystal quirk wielder. Hojo Yu. The man's next swing is a little too short with the absence of his crystals and he misses his mark, stumbling a little at the destabilization of weight. Immediately, Kamui Woods spreads out his branches to trap the villain. Two more bullets, Setsuno Tōya and Tabe Soramitsu, rush to break him out, but they are intercepted by other heroes and pulled into their own fights. Hojo struggles, but even after Shouta lifts his gaze off the man, his quirk isn't enough to rip through the wood encasing him, especially when Kamui Woods continuously grows more.

As if that's a sign, the fighting slows around them. Everywhere Shouta looks, another one of the villians is being subdued.

Rappa Kendo is still giving the heroes trouble, tearing through opposition like a rabid dog. Shigaraki and Chisaki Kai stay completely out of the fighting- instead they observe behind a yellow forcefield- the quirk of Tengai Hekiji.

All things considered, it's going well. Shouta knows not to let his guard down too soon, but the battle has noticeably tilted in their favor.

Ryukyu traps an unconscious Katsukame Rikiya under one of her claws. Cementoss and Ectoplasm work together to restrain Sakaki Deidoro. The two who worked along Hojo earlier are quickly being cornered. Fatgum and Mount Lady pound at the barrier keeping the other three separated. And although All Might still trades blows with the noumu, it has yet to touch a single hero besides him.

The end, Shouta observes, is within sight.

He blinks.

"Mimic." Overhaul commands, his voice loud and clear as it cuts through the commotion. His eyes crinkle as if he's smiling behind his mask.

"Take away their hope."

There's a heavy pause. One where Shouta frantically racks his mind for the name Mimic and why Overhaul would say it. Why is it so familiar-

All at once, laughter echoes throughout the whole facility, as if the walls are alive and mocking them. The lights start flickering, and rumbling shakes the ground under their feet. Before anyone can react, walls shoot out of the ground, dividing the heroes and villains. The soil heaves underneath Shouta, causing him to lose his footing. He jumps away from a rocky outcropping that sprouts up from the ground as he watches their surroundings twist and change.

"Shit."

Notes:

Hey, me again, here to grovel at your feet and beg for forgiveness. I'm sorry about the terrible update schedule and I pray everyday that I can do better. ;-;

On the other hand, I'm grateful for the positive attention this has received and thank everyone so much for the comments and kudos. Also, on that note, try not to be too judgemental in the comments please, I tend to avoid them now because of it. If you think there's something not great about this story, I encourage you to write your own and I'll come read it. That being said, I don't want to moderate comments tho, because I think everyone's entitled to their opinion.

That's all for now, wish me luck so that I can get you guys a speedy update! >_<