The robots take Midoriya to the infirmary, while the rest return; Bakugo in particular has a bitter expression on his face.
All Might names Iida as the MVP of the match and asks the students why, so Momo starts talking a lot about each person's mistakes, placing strong emphasis on Bakugo's.
I watch Bakugo's expression worsen with every passing second.
Shortly after, the next match begins: Hagakure and Ojiro as villains, and Todoroki and Shoji as heroes.
The match ends quickly with Todoroki freezing the entire building…
'Dude… it's just an exercise.' I feel somewhat tempted to ask All Might if the exercise is graded, and I just didn't hear it.
Other battles happen, and then it's Himiko and Momo's turn as villains against Kaminari and Jiro as heroes.
"Good luck," I say to Himi as she leaves the monitoring room and prepares to enter the building alongside Momo.
She gives a small smile and waves.
─── ◆ ───
POV Himiko Toga
"So, Toga… I think I have an idea for us to win," Momo says as we take a look at the papier-mâché bomb.
"I'm listening, Yao-chan."
She doesn't seem to mind me shortening her name; honestly, it's a complicated one to pronounce.
"First, can you transform into me? Like you did with Kaneki in yesterday's test?" I nod.
"Yes, but I need to drink some of your blood." She looks a bit surprised but quickly composes herself, creates a syringe, draws her own blood, and hands it to me.
I glance at my outfit. 'I don't want to melt it on the first day of wearing it…'
"Yao-chan, can you make me a changing booth?~" I ask. She looks confused but starts anyway. She opens the front of her outfit, turning away from the security camera, and begins creating it.
"Oh, so you have to expose skin to create things, that explains your outfit, Yao-chan~" I say playfully. She looks embarrassed.
"Sigh… yes…"
She seems a bit down… better not mention that she could add some zippers to her costume.
Though, considering the level of exposure, Hagakure would easily take first place… even if no one could see anything.
"Thanks, Yao-chan," I say as I step into the booth, take off my clothes, keeping only my ring, and drink her blood. The amount should be enough for the entire exercise.
I step out already with Momo's appearance.
She watches me with a certain astonishment.
I can't blame her, seeing yourself like that outside a mirror must be pretty strange.
"Incredible… can you use my Quirk too?" she asks while placing metal barricades on some doors.
"No, I can only do that if I drink more blood and have a stronger connection with the person." I drag the booth aside and store my clothes in a safe spot.
Momo seems even more stunned hearing her own voice coming from me.
"Your Quirk is amazing, Yao-chan," I say, looking at the metal barricades.
Momo looks happy at the compliment and thanks me.
"So… what's the plan?" I help her with some barricades and take the opportunity to ask.
"The plan is this…"
─── ◆ ───
POV Kaminari
The match starts, and we enter the building. Jiro plugs her jacks into the wall to try to locate Toga and Yaoyorozu.
'At least we didn't go up against Kaneki…' I think as I follow Jiro through the corridors.
"Watch out!" Jiro shouts as she throws us to the ground. I hear the projectile that was thrown at us hit the wall with a loud sound.
I quickly get up and look toward where the attack came from. I see Momo running, frustrated, her footsteps echoing through the halls.
"There! Let's get her!" I start running, with Jiro right behind me, as Momo occasionally throws more of those strange projectiles backward.
"This is weird… something's wrong, Kaminari!" Jiro suddenly stops, but I keep moving forward.
Then I hear a shot and Jiro's scream behind me. Turning around, I see her trapped and immobilized in a large net.
Then Momo appears beside her with capture tape in hand.
"No!!"
"..."
"Wait… if Momo is there, then…" I turn just in time to see Momo's figure transforming into Kaneki, and with a disturbing, twisted smile, he says:
"Sorry, Kaminari-san~" His voice is more melodic than usual.
Four red tentacles emerge from his back.
"Oh no..." I sniff.
─── ◆ ───
POV Kaneki
"Congratulations, Himi," I say to the bouncing figure in front of me, already dressed in her outfit, walking beside a somewhat disappointed Momo.
"I had planned something more complex…" Momo complains.
I can see the other pair, already downcast, looking even worse after hearing her grumbling.
Himiko is declared MVP by All Might, and Iida gives the conclusions this time, without being too harsh on the already dejected losing pair.
"So for the final match: Team F as villains versus Team E as heroes!" All Might announces.
Tec I crack my fingers as I head toward the exit.
"So it's our turn now, Sato-kun." He agrees with a snort and a nod.
"Nooo!" I hear Mina's cry of defeat in the distance, followed by an "Finally it's time to show my magnificent brilliance to the world!" from Aoyama.
"Good luck," Himiko tells me before leaving. I nod at her.
Already in the building, I stand beside Sato, observing the fake bomb.
"Your Quirk increases your strength after eating sugar, right, Sato-san?" He confirms with a thumbs-up.
"I want to try something… here, see if you agree." I begin explaining the plan to him.
His expression shifts between hesitation and excitement.
"Sounds cool… but isn't it kind of mean?" I raise a smile behind the mask, or at least I think I do, but I remain as expressive as a rock.
After a bit more discussion, we decide to try my plan, especially after I promise to tell everyone it was my idea later.
─── ◆ ───
POV Mina and Aoyama
We move through the corridors cautiously. Everything is too quiet, but every now and then, the sound of breaking glass echoes through the halls, becoming more frequent.
Mina seems quite nervous but keeps moving forward.
Then the two turn into a completely dark corridor.
Mina blinks in confusion.
They turn back just in time to see the lights behind them bursting one by one in the distance.
The two run through the lit corridors as the sounds of breaking glass and something heavy being dragged echo through the building.
Mina and Aoyama, already lost, search for some reference point on the map.
Then a vibration echoes from the ceiling.
The lights go out, leaving only a single light in their field of vision, which they run toward and stop beneath.
Two red eyes lurk in the darkness.
Mina raises her guard.
The eyes blink and get closer with each blink.
Each time, their position changes, beside the corridor, on the wall, even on the ceiling.
Aoyama fires his beam toward the eyes, lighting up the darkness, but nothing can be seen in its trail.
Aoyama keeps firing as they continue running through the dark corridors. Despite her fear, Mina remains steady.
Then suddenly—"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Aoyama is thrown aside.
Mina can only hear his scream echoing through the darkness, fading more and more.
Mina feels herself being restrained by something. She struggles and uses her acid, but is held firmly. Then All Might's voice echoes through the speakers:
"The villains win!!"
Then she is released from the restraints.
─── ◆ ───
POV Kaneki
"That was too cruel, Kaneki-kun!!!" Mina shouts at the red eyes watching her from the darkness.
"Sorry, at least it's a better experience than horror rides, right? Haha." I let out an awkward, dry laugh that echoes through the halls.
Seeing her silence, probably sulking, I decide to add, "You're very brave, Ashido-san. I doubt most people could stay as steady as you did."
That seems to improve her mood.
"Hmph, call me Mina… idiot." I sigh in relief as she seems better, guiding her through the dark corridors to the exit.
'Good thing I scrapped the idea of breaking some walls…' I think to myself.
"You even blocked the first-floor windows!!" she complains, covering her eyes from the light as I remove the construction block from the window.
"Okay, I admit that was clever…" she says reluctantly.
We return to the monitoring room, Sato bringing a defeated Aoyama, who mutters something about his brilliance being blocked.
Then I get my ear pulled.
When it ends, I look up to see Himiko with her arms crossed.
"You went too far with Mina, Kaneki-kun," she huffs, apparently forgetting Aoyama was there with her.
"My bad," I apologize again to both of them, making the class and All Might burst into laughter.
I receive the MVP result.
Then we all gather again in front of Gate B.
"Good work, everyone!! Aside from young Midoriya, there were no major damages!"
After a few more words, he prepares to leave.
Then he seems to remember something and turns to me.
"Oh right, I almost forgot! Young Kaneki, Principal Nezu said the documents you requested are ready. You can stop by his office to pick them up!" Then, in a burst of air and dust, he leaves.
'Already done? I only asked yesterday…' I exchange a nod with Himiko, then head back to the locker room, change into my uniform, and go to Nezu's office.
─── ◆ ───
If you'd like to support my work and receive bonuses such as 5 to 10 advanced chapters, spoilers, early access to my new books, polls, and more, check out:
P @ t r 3 0 n - Condor7