Shigaraki and Kurogiri, who had jumped back wary of the attack, were once again separated from Nomu.
"Tch... You might think you pulled off a neat trick with the flashbang, but don't you get it's pointless. Nomu, kill the brats, now!"
Whether injured or frozen, it didn't matter to Nomu with its 'Super Regeneration'. No matter how much the children resisted, it couldn't be a serious blow; it would overpower them with its overwhelming strength.
And only he could give Nomu the orders to wield that power.
Shigaraki, who believed this without doubt, eagerly anticipated the scene of the U.A. students, their faces twisted in despair after Nomu tore free of its restraints and regenerated, being smashed to pieces one by one.
But after waiting a few seconds, he realized something was wrong.
He had given the order. To kill.
But... there was no sign of Nomu moving.
"Nomu! Hey, what are you spacing out for! Hurry up and break free, kill the brats... Hey, Nomu!?"
No matter how he called or yelled, there was no response. It wasn't responding to his orders, which should have been absolute obedience.
As Shigaraki himself became the one confused, a calm voice reached his ears.
"I thought it was strange... It's one thing that attacks don't work and it heals instantly with Super Regeneration, but it moved far too little except when you gave it an order. It didn't even try to twist away or put out the flames when its body was burning, or when it was frozen. So I thought... for whatever reason, maybe it can't move at all without your orders. That maybe it only does things it's been ordered to do, either now or in advance. Right now, or perhaps it only does pre-commanded actions."
It was Midoriya's voice. He had jumped back to avoid being caught in Bakugo's charge and Todoroki's cold after throwing the stun grenade, returning to a spot next to Towa (her school uniform was buttoned up again).
"I don't know if it's because of its 'Quirk' or if you did something to it. But... this guy probably can't think and act on its own. Then, if we can stop your orders from reaching it, it'll become just a useless, immobile hulk! So we created an opening with the flashbang and had Kacchan blast its eardrums to make it deaf!"
"Impossible... Even so, Nomu has 'Super Regeneration'! It'll restore those in no time..."
Before Shigaraki could finish his rebuttal, something scattered from Bakugo's palms, falling onto the floor with a clattering sound.
When Shigaraki instinctively followed the movement with his eyes, he saw... small metal fragments. Some were crushed as if from an explosion, others were charred with soot.
Seeing this, Kurogiri understood the meaning before Shigaraki did.
"I see... While blasting the eardrums, he simultaneously drove fine metal fragments into Nomu's ears."
"Even if it can regenerate, it can't do so if there's something blocking where it needs to regenerate, right? Its ears are full of metal scraps now, no space for the eardrums to come back!"
"You... brat...! How dare you pull such a stunt...! After I went through all the trouble of creating Nomu to kill All Might...!"
Scratch scratch scratch scratch—Shigaraki clawed at his neck and arms, driven by irritation.
Now that Nomu could no longer hear his voice, Shigaraki appeared no different from a misbehaving child throwing a tantrum. His screaming fit was almost laughable.
However, contrary to that, they couldn't let their guard down as long as one other person remained completely calm.
"Quite clever thinking... I'll admit it, Tomura Shigaraki, they've exceeded our expectations."
"What are you talking about so smugly, Kurogiri...! Hurry up and retrieve Nomu! If we remove the metal scraps from its ears, we can use it again!"
"Understood. My, my, you're quite the demanding master..."
"I said don't let them, Kurogiri!"
The moment Kurogiri made a move to act, Bakugo charged from the side to punch him, but faster than that, Kurogiri's hand mist swirled and overflowed before him.
"Thinking the same trick would work twice shows you're still children. Both you... and her."
"Hah?"
Annoyed and wondering what he meant, Bakugo quickly checked around himself and his comrades, confirming no black mist was appearing... meaning no gate had opened yet. Of course, none around himself either.
If no gate had opened, there was no risk of his explosion's shockwave being redirected elsewhere. No worry about it being countered back at him like what happened with No. 13.
Thinking he'd just blow away the mist along with everything else, Bakugo thrust both hands forward... but in that instant,
"...Ribbit?"
"!?"
"...Tsuyu Asui!?"
From the mist Kurogiri had deployed, right before Bakugo's eyes... a familiar classmate's face was expelled.
Bakugo hadn't noticed. Besides Midoriya, Kirishima, Todoroki, Towa, and himself being present... Tsuyu had been hiding nearby.
After helping carry Aizawa with Mineta and Ojiro, she had returned to observe the situation, watching from the water just as before.
Both Shigaraki and Kurogiri had detected Tsuyu doing this earlier. Therefore, Kurogiri immediately found her hiding in the same way. Using his Warp Quirk that could pull targets from any distance as long as he knew their exact location, he summoned her as a shield.
Seeing Tsuyu appear, Midoriya envisioned the tragedy one second later and screamed.
Bakugo, already committed to his explosion motion, tried desperately to redirect his aim, but mercilessly, his full-power blast was unleashed directly toward Tsuyu's face...
•••
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