Heroes of Today

Part 11~Thorn

Naka walked out with a confident expression though Akiko could be convinced to say it was just stupidity.

Aoyama was definitely acting stupid as he walked out. If he thought he had any chance against Naka he was mistaken. The start was announced as Naka charged forward and threw a clone into the air. Aoyama screamed as Naka's clone blasted him away.

~~~

Akiko grumbled a little as she looked at Bakugo. Something told her this wasn't going to end well.

Bakugo blasted forward as Akiko pulled up a wall of vines. He easily burnt down the plants causing Akiko to jump away. She went to grab one of her berries when Bakugo tackled her.

His palm sparkled as tiny explosions went off near Akiko's ears. She gasped, trying to push Bakugo away. "Give up," he ordered as Akiko sighed.

"Fine." She let her arms fall to her side.

Bakugo stood up, letting Akiko sit. She let Bakugo walk away before she hopped up.

Walking to the viewing box, Akiko glared at her friends. "Say one word and I'm pushing you over the railing," she threatened, making Uzu chuckle evilly.

"Told you you would need earplugs."

"But earplugs hurt my ears." Akiko leaned against the railing giving Uzu a small glare. "Shouldn't you start getting ready?"

Uzu huffed as he walked away. Naka laughed at them as he watched. The battle raged on below while Todoroki tried to kill Midoriya. Midoriya's fingers broke with each attack he deflected. 

Akiko jumped as a wall of fire burst from the arena. 

"Okay, what is with the fire today! Are you trying to burn me to the ground!" Akiko ducked under the railing as Endeavour shouted 'encouragement' to his son.

Cementoss and Midnight tried to stop the fight as Todoroki and Mdioriya punched through the walls. Midoriya went flying back, crashing into the back wall and slumping to the ground. Todoroki won the match.

Shaking his head, Cementoss fixed the arena as Uzu and Kirishima walked onto the stage. 

Kirishima dashed at Uzu, hardening his skin. Uzu dodged the attack, jumping to the side and extending his arms to grab Kirishima. Kirishima hit back, making Uzu scream. 

Uzu jumped to the side, hitting the ground with his tail to launch him in the air. He spread his wings open and glided with some control to land on Kirishima. Uzu threw Kirishima before rugby tackling him and dragging him across the ground. 

Holding Kirishima into a choke lock, Uzu slowly forced Kirishima to blackout. 

"Well, that was a bit excessive," Naka growled as Akiko patted his back.

"And Todoroki's attack wasn't?" Akiko smirked as Naka glared at her. "Come on, don't be grumpy. You're meant to be the happy one. I'm the sarcastic one and Uzu is self-destructive, you're happy."

"How is Uzu more self-destructive than Naka? He literally blows up," Kaminari asked, making Akiko chuckle.

"You do not want to know the answer to that." Akiko leaned up as Naka walked away. "If you keep watching, you'll probably receive the answer anyway. Uzu is not the smartest person in the world."

Uzu glared as he walked into the stands. "Did you just insult me?"

"...Yep."

"Why am I still friends with you?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

~~~

Naka took a deep breath as he walked out. Bakugo cracked his knuckles, small explosions coming off his palm. Naka charged forward swinging his clones forward. "Let me just throw myself into the equation!" Naka's clone didn't even get close as Bakugo shot him with a large explosion.

Naka screamed as the pressure waves threw him out of bounds, crashing into the wall. "Ow. That hurt."

~~~

If Uzu had any sense of self-preservation, he would have been scared as he walked towards his death.

Uzu dashed across the arena, reaching out to tackle Todoroki. Todoroki grabbed Uzu, freezing his skin and covering Uzu completely in ice. Well, that was a quick match.

Akiko sighed, at least this was over. Well, almost. Bakugo had beaten up Todoroki and Uzu was meant to fight Naka but he still had a concussion so that wasn't happening. Those two will just have to beat each other up at a later date.

"I would totally win!"

"No way! I would explode you all the way across the city!"

Akiko sighed as she lowered her head. "If you both don't shut up, I'm throwing you into the river!" Akiko tightened the vines holding up her friends as they screamed at her. She really needed to invest in ear defenders.

~~~

Naka let out a tired sigh as he collapsed on his bed. He was tired and he was pretty sure he had eight million thorns stuck into his skin! He turned over slightly as his phone buzzed. 

'Hey, bro! The guys and I were planning to hang out over the weakened! Wanna join?'

Chuckling, Naka was more than happy to agree. He kept texting Kirishima, glad to hear that Uzu didn't hurt the redhead too much. Yawning, Naka kept texting Kirishima until he fell asleep.

~~~

Akiko walked through the door, smiling up at her mum. The plants in the house seemed to beam as Akiko entered and watered them. Her dad sat in the living room, a pencil growing out of his fingertip so he could write. Her sister baked in the kitchen, a pencil tucked behind her ear as she wrote down the new recipe. 

Sitting in the living room, Akiko pulled out her laptop as she started typing. Time to use this event in her stories!

~~~

Uzu waved away as he ran to his hand, cautiously climbing the outside of his house and rolling through his window. He casually picked out the thorns in his skin and dumped them into the trash. He peeked his head out of the room before closing the door and sitting in front of the games console. 

He was about to start playing when his phone buzzed. 

'Hey there. I was wondering if we could talk?'

Uzu didn't recognise the number. 'Who is this and what do you want to talk about?'

'I'm Sero. I want to talk to you about your scars. I think you're like my brother.'