SALUTATIONS EVERYONE!
Time for the first new posts of the new year! I know 2025 has just begun but there has hardly been a moments rest since. I am always looking forward to curl up and read to relax and I hope these chapters bring you some tranqulity in the chaos of life.
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CHAPTER 75
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Katsuki blew up, his eyes darting around his surroundings trying to catch the sight of pink or red, but red was all that he had in his vision at the moment. And when that happened many things went over his head, including lucrative advice.
None of his classmates felt much better when their target vanished, along with their efforts to pin her down.
Gone.
All that was left was a puff of smoke, dissipating into the air like mist.
A clone. Mashirao slapped his forehead, as realization dawned on him too late, his tail slapping the ground in frustration. "I forgot she could do that!"
"Where did she go?"
"I know I got her, how did she get out!" exclaimed Minoru. He even made sure that his quirk would last longer for this day, but she had somehow slipped through it.
"It was a clone," Izuku explained. "They're solid, like Ectoplasm's. It's impossible to tell,"
"Check around here," Shouto suggested, trying to keep a level head.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Katsuki snapped, nostrils flaring.
"When did she even make a clone?" Eijirou asked.
"Probably from the beginning, kero, "Tsuyu speculated, tapping her chin.
"Is that even fair?" Denki groaned, rubbing his head.
"What do you expect, facing the strongest in class?" sighed Hanta.
Doing her utmost to remain calm, Momo's sharp mind began to sift through the next possible steps after Sakura vanished from their sight. Her voice cut through firmly, "We need to track her quickly. Jiro and Shouji, you two have the best sensory abilities in the group."
With her earphone jacks Kyoka leaned to the ground to try and listen for any sign of Sakura, trying to tune in any vibrations but the chaos around her was making it impossible to pinpoint anything. "I can't hear anything over all the noise guys!"
"Same here," said Mezo, some of his tentacles turned to ears for sounds, even extending them to cover more ground.
Toru's voice piped up from seemingly nowhere, as usual, her invisible form blending perfectly with the landscape. "Wait… are we even allowed to work together? There's only one bell, right? I thought we were supposed to do this alone."
This innocent question sent ripples through the group like a stone dropped into still water. Suddenly, everyone was talking at once, their voices overlapping as they debated the rules of the exercise.
Momo frowned, holding her chin with thought. "Well, she didn't say outright that we couldn't work together,"
"Well yeah but that's the only way to win, right? There's one bell, which means there's going to be only one winner," Satou pointed out.
"Yes! There must be only one star!" exclaimed Yuga, pointing with a rather striking pose.
"Yeah, but you've got to get it from Sakura first," Kyoka said.
As frustrations continued to grow, so did the bickering, everyone's head snapping back and forth as they scanned the area, unable to see past the shadows formed by the forest grounds. They were unable to see the movement in the dark, nor could they feel the eyes set on them, as the person had hidden their presence, like a predator when they stalk their prey, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.
"That's how it looked to me too," Minoru agreed, folding his arms, "She's not going to hand out participation trophies. One bell, one winner."
The class exchanged glances, the weight of the single bell suddenly feeling like a silent judge over them all.
"Yes, but everyone else is an obstacle, too," Hnata said, rubbing his head where he had collided with another classmate. I mean, seriously, Sato, you've got to watch who you're trying to bash in,"
"You were the one shooting your tape all over the place!" Sato countered, pointing back at him.
"And Mineta!" Kyoka cut in, glaring at the small boy who looked sheepish under the sudden attention. "You almost got me with your quirk! Why don't you watch where you're throwing those things?"
Eijiro tried to cool the situation before it set ablaze, "Guys come on, we need a plan here."
"Yeah, but what's the plan?" Denki huffed, folding his arms. "Work together or split up?"
"I say we stick together, at least until we find Sakura," Momo chimed, attempting to regain the composure of her class. In most "Tracking her is going to be hard enough together if we go alone-
Sero crossed his arms. "But what happens when we find her? We all go after the bell at the same time? That's gonna get messy fast."
A blow debate broke out, Tenya and Momo were opting for all of them to coordinate a plan together, but many still had reservations about that being the point of the training. Otherwise, why would Sakura offer only one bell? That intended one winner. Usually in terms of training, they were told about the importance of teamwork, however, there was an emphasis that there could only be one hero at the top of the ranking and the fierce competition. No one could tell what Sakura's intentions were behind this form of training.
Izuku wasn't sure what to do either. It looked like Skaura meant to force a one-sided battle royal. Where she stood as the only target.
The air filled with ash and smoke, that landed on their tongues as Katsuki let off a powerful explosion to break through the bickering. He was already stomping off, his back turned from them.
"I'm not wasting time waiting for you idiots to get your thumbs out of your noses and make a fucking decision!"
"You really think you can take her on alone Bakugou?" Shouto asked. Though he held no malice behind his words, they still hit Katsuki like a rusted blade and twisted.
"Shut your damn mouth! You're all acting like she's some damn immortal! Shaking in your boots, biting your nails over what to do. I can't stand looking at you scaredy cats! I'm gonna find her and beat her at her own damn game. Just stand back and watch!"
It wasn't just arrogance. Izuku was sure of that much when it came to Katuski, he had been humbled into reflecting upon himself. And he went through experiences with Sakura. Yet it seemed he held a stronger ambition.
"Still a hot head," Denki shook his head.
"I heard that sparky!" Katsuki barked back.
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A distance from Ground Omega, comfortably seated in a dark room were many of the U.A. staff who had chosen to spend their Sunday with a live marathon of class A's independent training session. The multiple cameras placed around the area offered them a view from various angles. Where they could watch the class unfold. And the consensus was, it had a rocky start. With the students losing sight of their target, and also losing time bickering with each other.
Hizashi, true to his word had made popcorn for the event, though he was the only one enjoying it at the moment. He leaned back in his seat with the tub in his lap. Nemuri sat next to him, with a bemused expression.
"Aren't they just passionate?" She praised, her eyes glued to the screen.
"If that's what you want to call it,"
Principal Nezu sat with his chair heightened so he could view the screens better, sipping some tea. While casually seated, his eyes had a firm grip on the scene before him.
"Well the first half seems to be going as well as expected," he said.
Shouta stared quietly at the screen, doing his best not to feel as if he was being placed on some trial for his student's performance. "Haruno knows how to play them,"
Nemura arched her eyebrow, casting a glance at Shouta, taking note of the faint downward tugs in the corner of his mouth. "Now, now, they just started playing the game. Don't be cruel and rule them out so soon,"
Class B's homeroom teacher Seikjiro Kan, had started leaning forward in his seat to get a closer view of the screens. His eyes were sharp as daggers, that wanted to cut through to all class A's inner workings. This wasn't with any malicious intent (he assured himself), he merely wanted to know if he could gauge the distance between his homeroom class and Aizawa's. Class A was thrown into the limelight that year, and they would likely carry this with them passed graduation. He needed to know if his students needed to play catch up to the troublemakers. Or, if they were already ahead of their own volition in staying on track with this year's curriculum and staying on course.
"It's to be expected. Sakura is the focal point of this exercise—everyone wants to prove themselves against her. The problem is they're letting their insecurities dictate their actions." Even if they didn't realize it. Shouta knew by now that Sakura rarely acted without intention.
"Yes, I agree," said Nezu, "I don't believe she's as straightforward with her intentions as this training exercise appears to be."
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"We should coordinate a plan," said Momo.
"We don't have time, and besides what kind of plan could we even come up with against Sakura?" asked Kyoka.
"I say we should track her fist!" suggested Hanta. This had been the typical layout for the last few minutes of conversation. No one was agreeing, and it didn't seem as if that would be changing any time soon.
"You morons do whatever the hell you want," Katsuki growled, his teeth grinding together trying to grate out the annoyance he felt for his classmates. When he thought about the fact that they had all been training to get stronger and work their way towards becoming heroes. Only to trip up over an exercise like this, against a single person. It burned him inside. "But I'm out of here."
Izuku took a step forward, hand reaching towards Katsuki but never daring to do more than hover, "Kacchan wait-
But Katsuki wasn't having it. "Don't bother me Deku! I'm not wasting my time sitting around arguing with you idiots! If you want to keep squatting behind Fivehead's back and cower, that's on you! But I'm done letting her make our class reputation."
Since the attack at the USJ, eyes had fallen on the first years of class A. The attention that gathered wherever they went, the scrutiny and praise they received for the constant mixing with villains. But no one knew the full details of those events. Or they would realize that the real centerpiece was Sakura. The only one who didn't hesitate about anything. Who could stand against all the obstacles that had anchored everyone else.
"We get called the top first years of UA, but we all know who's carrying that title. What do you think happens when we graduate huh?" The class had fallen into stony silence, almost afraid to breathe an argument. "I'm not riding on anyone's coattails. I'm not playing this stupid game the way she wants," Katsuki declared, turning his back to them. "I'm going to beat her. That's all I need to do."
His words felt like ink staining their minds, and whether he had this intention, Katsuki managed to stop the waves that had been rocking their emotions and bring a sense of calm to the class once again. While Katsuki charged off on his own, blasting his way through the air, and vanishing into the grove of trees, everyone else in class A decided to take their own frame of action. No longer attempting to coerce anyone to follow them.
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Within the shadows not far from the clearing, lurking like silence was Sakura. Her presence was erased, as she watched her classmates, tracking them, with keen notice as they took off in several directions. Stirring the ground, and the foliage as they moved through the forest grounds.
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she watched them run, searching for her, unaware of just how close she was.
"Time for the real lesson,"
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The basic consensus had been that everyone would take their direction and instincts to guide them in finding their target, but no further discussion followed. Everyone went about in their ways, including Izuku.
He maneuvered through the forest, leaping between the trees powered by his full cowling. He kicked off on the branches to continue the stride. The terrain was similar to the training camp, and if he thought about it back then, Izuu realized he might've had an easier time with that surprise exercise of Aizawa's if he went to the trees instead of staying on the ground getting attacked by clay monsters.
This was a specialty for Sakura too. From the training, when they were working on his mobility, Izuku remembered the way she practically weaved through the environment, using it to her advantage. And she seemed to enjoy it as well. That was the most comfortable situation. It helped him improve his reaction time as well when they raced. If he didn't want to get hit in the face with a branch or knocked off balance and dropped to the ground. He still wasn't anywhere near as controlled as Sakura was.
That's what concerned him. Although Sakura showed adaptability, she revealed a preference for the forest setting. She didn't specify the reasons. But she still chose it for their training today, even though most heroes operated in the city areas. At first, he thought perhaps this gave her an advantage to combat her shortcoming in numbers. However, this setting also allowed most of them to play recklessly with their quirks compared to being in a city. Except anyone who had a quirk with the potential to create forest fires with their flames and explosions.
Izuku's mind carried him back to Ground Gamma, on the night after the provisional licensing exams. Where Katsuki had taken him, and demanded a fight. There was quite a bit of damage despite them staying on the grounds. Aizawa's words still made his ears burn.
Yet, Izuku's hyperactive thought process couldn't help pointing out that something was off about this training and its initial impression. It appeared as if Sakura chose an environment they would be able to fully utilize their quirks without fear of damage, which was a disadvantage to her. However, tracking was made harder. Another thing Izuku realized and noted about Sakura was that she liked to strategize and analyze despite the combatant nature of her quirk and her advanced skill set.
When they spoke on the topic, she showed a similar vigor as Izuku that he compared the experience to holding up a mirror.
'So why does she want us to hunt her?' Yes, he was certain that was her goal in all of this. If the training was merely for the sake of combat, she would've stayed in the clearing. But she chose to take off, without leaving a single lead, nothing to even indicate the direction.
Before Izuku could be consumed by his overthinking, his ears flinched as a shrill shriek hit them. Grabbing onto a branch, he swung himself forward and landed, stilling to find the direction of that noise.
But there was nothing more than eerie silence and that's when a new thought bubble emerged, was the intent for them to hunt Sakura or for Sakura to hunt them?
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With his attuned ears, Mezo only needed to hear the scream once to grasp the general direction of its source and followed it as if he had a compass needle pointing the way. He dashed through the forest, maneuvering his body much easier than would be expected for his size, the untarred grounds, tree trunks, and other assortments of nature did not waver his mobility.
"Hey, Shouji!" A few minutes later, he saw Hanta swinging along the trees, using his tape as if they were vines. "Did you hear that scream too?"
"Yeah,"
Hanta must've been closer to hear the screams and headed in that direction earlier than him. The two kept a close pace with each other. They were interrupted by troubled rustlings, and a voice that was becoming increasingly familiar, it was glazed in distress.
"Help me!" Breaking through, Hanta and Mezo were taken aback at the sight, their eyes slightly darting side to side, as they followed a line of rope, one end tied to a tree, and the other catching like a primitive trap, lassoed around the ankle, none other than Denki. He was swinging like a broek chrismas ornimant.
Hanta squinted his face like he tasted something sour, "What the heck are you doing Kaminari?"
"Oh you know just hanging, what does it look like?!" Denki kicked up his free foot that was dangling, his arms hanging over his shoulders as he tried to and failed at regaining some control over his movement to help alleviate the embarrassment of his situation.
"It looks like you've fallen into a trap," Mezo said without any malicious intent behind his blunt delivery. "The kind you use to catch animals,"
"I get it so can you get me down already please!" Denki begged.
Hanta covered his mouth, pinching his cheeks to keep the smile from forming on his lips. "I kinda want to hear how this happened first,"
"Are you serious-
Mezo stiffened, and took a step back as he heard rustling out in the bushes, whatever it was didn't have any intention of hiding, as it just grew louder. There weren't any dangerous animals on these training grounds though. However, something did growl like one and clambered out of the bushes, foliage stuck to him. Katsuki. He brushed a hand over his head heavily.
"That damn Dunce Face!" Denki gave a hard swallow, sweat dripping down from his neck, as he looked at the ferocity in Katuski's eyes. Since he had just lost his prey, he was appearing very feral, and Denki unfortunately knew why he was enraged and who would be the target of that fury.
"B-Bakugou, good to see you finally up."
Hanta frowned, "Bakugou was here the whole time?" Then taking note of the light smoke coming off his body with the distinct smell that appeared on all of Denki's targets he hit. "Oh…."
Katsuki had his head twisted in all directions, searching, "Dammit, she got away!"
"Did you two find Sakura?" Mezo asked calmly. Hanta was not as gracious, taking in the state of the self-proclaimed perfectionist.
"So what happened exactly?" Hanta really wanted to hear the full story, because he had an inkling in his gut that it was going to be a world of laughs.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and Remember to stay strong!
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-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia
Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) ( 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (76, 77, 78)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter ( 30, 31, 32)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter 22, 23, 24, 25
-Through the Looking Glass chapter 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. 33,
-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
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