Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"I said you—"

Just as Shota Aizawa was being slammed into the ground for the second time by his hair, a jet-black blade cut through the air.

"Don't go doing weird things to other people's uncle!!"

That phrasing didn't sound like anything Kirisame would normally say, but this slash was also different from any slash from Kirisame that Midoriya had ever seen. In fact, this was the first time he saw his friend's moves carry so much raw emotion.

It was an indescribable mix of irritation and anger.

The sharp blade, cold with fury, cleanly severed the arm of the Nomu holding Aizawa. Kirisame grabbed the teacher by the collar and tossed him to Tsuyu Asui, who had already leaped out of the water. The Frog Girl reacted swiftly, catching their homeroom teacher with her tongue and pulling him to safety.

Freeing her hands, Kirisame switched to dual-wielding her swords. The intricate patterns on the swords of the Genji brothers flickered in her eyes for a fleeting moment before the remaining hand and both legs of the Nomu were severed from its torso. The dismembered parts collapsed to the ground and rolled away.

Without pausing, Kirisame hurled one of her swords.

The katana, Kikkō Sadamune, pierced through Kurogiri and nailed him to the ground. A red light shot from the hilt and spread fast through the air, binding the scattered mist and the solid form inside it tight together, chaining it to the sword's hilt.

The girl didn't spare a glance back at the bound Kurogiri. She stomped hard to shed her momentum, twisted abruptly, and turned toward Tomura Shigaraki by the pool, not even sparing a moment to check Aizawa's injuries.

In the blink of an eye, no one had time to react. Only Kirisame knew that even though she had forcibly retrieved that sword, the effects of her Quirk's rampage were far from over. The fever, pain, and dizziness from overusing her abilities continued to torture her in waves. A war of attrition would mean certain death.

From above, she had witnessed the speed of that brain-exposed enemy. If she couldn't temporarily subdue this group in a very short time, the consequences would be dire.

Without using a combination technique, she could only wield two swords at once. With Kikkō Sadamune used to bind Kurogiri, she only had one sword left now.

"Kirisame! Don't let that guy's hands touch you!" Midoriya could only shout this warning.

Her long blade swept across, successfully forcing Tomura Shigaraki away from Midoriya and the others, back to the center of the area, since he couldn't call Nomu for support.

The speed just now was Kirisame's limit in this state. In just a few seconds, she had used up nearly half of her barely recovered strength. Biting her tongue to stay alert, she narrowly avoided Shigaraki's outstretched right hand, spinning her body sideways to grab his arm and execute a shoulder throw.

The throw, landing him on the back of his head, knocked off many of the hands attached to him and most of his composure. The young man's dazed face immediately showed panic.

"Father... Father!!"

Kirisame pressed her full weight onto him, holding both his wrists with one hand raised above his head. Because her hand wasn't big enough, she had to grip extra hard, leaving deep red marks on his slender wrists.

Ignoring the young man's panicked, teary cries of struggle, she leaned down and asked softly:

"What do you want to do?"

Golden against crimson.

Stagnant water against a volcano.

In that instant, both found something disturbingly familiar in each other's eyes.

Kirisame smiled.

Her smile was twisted by pain, irritation, the burning inside her, and excitement, making it seem foreign and cold.

"You don't know, do you?" She said with a hint of delight in her grin. "You don't really want to kill All Might that badly. You just don't know what to do with yourself, right? Having a goal feels good, doesn't it?"

Tomura Shigaraki's red eyes, bloodshot and full of malice, widened in shock.

"Hey... what's gotten into Kirisame?"

Mineta stared in horror at his classmate.

Midoriya and Asui exchanged a glance.

[...She's acting really off. Is it from the Quirk rampage?]

The tip of the blade hung over his heart. Though the girl was trembling all over from forcing herself, her hand holding the sword was steady. Tomura Shigaraki looked into her empty golden pupils and felt a strange sense of pleasure rising from his anger.

"Haha... cough... cough..." He gave up struggling. "So U.A., the school that prides itself on raising heroes, has people like you, huh..."

The young man's damp breath brushed against Kirisame's neck, his usually hoarse voice carrying a hint of seduction: "Go ahead. Do it. I'll show you we're the same."

The distant door was kicked open, and from Mineta's joyful shout, Kirisame knew All Might had arrived.

—But that didn't affect what she was about to do.

Neither Shigaraki's words nor All Might's arrival caused even a second of hesitation in Kirisame. The blade, glittering dangerously, dove straight down toward Shigaraki's heart as Midoriya and Mineta watched in horror.

—She didn't succeed.

The short sword started vanishing from the tip up in her hands, inch by inch. Kirisame paused, then let go and didn't fight it, rising quickly before Shigaraki's knee could connect with her.

In that brief exchange, the Nomu had regenerated and appeared behind her. The very fist that had nearly knocked Aizawa out was swinging at her with a fierce wind.

Kirisame didn't have the strength to speed up anymore. The chance to take down one enemy had come and gone. And with All Might here, she wasn't needed anymore. So she just stood there and closed her eyes.

—A gust of wind swept by. When she opened her eyes, she was already next to Midoriya and the others.

The one who had taken that punch from the Nomu in her place was the number one hero, the villains' main target today—All Might.

Letting out a sigh of relief without meaning to, Kirisame turned to look at Shota Aizawa, who had just managed to lift his head and cancel her Quirk.

Mr. Aizawa was covered in wounds, blood dripping from his eyes. It was clear that forcing his Quirk had caused him secondary damage.

"Sorry..." he said.

Kirisame blinked, then drove her sword into him.

Given Kirisame's current state, Yagen could only do that much—stop the bleeding and set his broken bones so they wouldn't pierce anything critical.

But it still helped quite a bit.

"Is that okay? They were coming at you ready to kill, weren't they?" The girl wasn't particularly angry, just tilting her head, confused, at her guardian.

The dark-haired guardian struggled to raise his hand and patted her head. "Because we are heroes."

"We can stop villains, but we don't have the right to kill them."

At least not when backup's here and the enemy can't fight back—not while you're still a student.

Under the worried looks of her classmates, Kirisame felt the restless irritation from before inexplicably ease up.

Though she still didn't fully agree, the girl nodded at her guardian to let him know she got it.

Shota Aizawa let out a relieved breath, then couldn't hold on any longer and passed out.

All Might really seemed reliable.

...Not to mention the arrival of Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima—they were pretty reliable too.

Even with two fingers broken, he stubbornly stood in front of her—Midoriya was dependable too.

Asui and the others took the unconscious Teacher Aizawa away first. Feeling too unsteady to be of any use, Kirisame wisely chose to watch from the sidelines.

The moment Kirisame’s quirk was nullified by Aizawa, the Black Mist regained his freedom. He had to admit, the girl the master had sent him to check out was indeed peculiar. First, that thing binding him was strange enough, but worse, the longer he was tied, the more reluctant he was to let go when freed.

Distracted for a second, Black Mist was caught by a roaring Bakugo, who grabbed his main body, blasted him in the face, and slammed him hard to the ground.

At the same time, Black Mist let out a groan.

...Normally, this wouldn't be strange, but the problem was that his groan had a melodious, almost pleasurable quality.

Black Mist's eyes were naturally slanted and soft-lined. When he smiled, they just looked cunning, and with his deep voice, it fit perfectly—a very dignified villainous aura.

But the instant his tone shifted, his entire demeanor changed.

...It made him look like a deviant with a peculiar fetish.

That groan made Bakugo flinch as if burned.

Shigaraki was stunned too.

Under the incredulous and somewhat disgusted gazes of everyone, Black Mist whirled around to look at Kirisame.

His expression screamed: "You set me up!"

The girl blinked, innocent and confused.

Basking in Shigaraki's suspicious stare, the dignified villain couldn't explain himself and felt like spitting blood to clear his name.

In truth, soon he would be genuinely spitting blood.

All Might lived up to his title as the No. 1 hero, breaking the deadlock even though his attributes were completely countered. Though his injuries made him tremble slightly, his straight back gave the kids an unshakeable sense of security.

Kirisame stared at him, for the first time feeling something like trust in someone she'd known for only a year.

*He really is like Mr. Klaus.*

He seemed to be saying,

"I'll remember you."

Kirisame pressed her throbbing temple, gave a regretful smile, and stood up.

All Might had reached his limit. Amid the rising smoke, just a few words with Midoriya and he completely lost his 'ALL MIGHT' form.

The students were right there, just moments ago looking at him with admiration and trust.

Just as the dust settled and the No. 1 hero started to panic, a hand gently patted his lower back.

...It was so hot that All Might flinched.

He turned and found himself caught in the girl's kaleidoscopic eyes.

"Will you... fall into delirium with me?"

Midoriya stared in shock as All Might realized he had returned to his muscular form.

Flower patterns spun and bloomed in Kirisame's eyes. The girl suppressed the urge to cough up blood and said, "I'm not in great shape right now. Maybe only about three minutes, sir. Please make the most of it, sir."

*She figured out I'm Toshinori Yagi.*

"When did you...?"

"I'm very familiar with your blood, and you just lost a lot of it."

Afraid to ask more, the teacher of the people—supported by Cementoss, who had come to help—quickly walked out of the students' sight.

The group then gathered around.

Bakugo frowned at Kirisame. "What the hell was that about earlier?"

Facing her curious classmates, Kirisame, who had just exhausted her last bit of strength, could no longer stand. Her legs gave out, and she seemed about to hit the ground.

Bakugo reached out to grab her.

But the barely conscious girl instinctively dodged the explosive blond radiating heat, and caught sight of Shoto Todoroki coming toward her.

The classmates were dumbfounded as Kirisame-san staggered over to Todoroki-kun, who was radiating cold and wore a grim expression.

—And hugged the thigh that was covered in ice.

Rubbing against it contentedly.

Mineta was so jealous he could spit blood.

Before Bakugo could freak out, something even more shocking happened.

The ice on that side began melting rapidly.

Todoroki was startled and froze for a moment.

*Luckily I was wearing pants underneath*

The boy let out a belated "Oh" and then realized his luck.

He quickly reacted, pulled her up, covered her entirely in a thin layer of ice, and ran off carrying her on his back to Recovery Girl.

Bakugo furrowed his brow, clicked his tongue, and followed.

A worried Midoriya still lay on the ground, helped up by Asui, slowly making his way to the stretcher.

"So hot... is it going to be okay?"

After a long silence, Kirishima's worried voice came through.

"Ribbit."