Blossoms of the Dark

XXXV Shouto: Battle

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that All Might would become a teacher.

But in equal parts surprise and enthusiasm, I walk with the others toward Grounds Beta. All Might is already there waiting for us.

I find Hanada-chan standing toward the back of the group, leaning on the wall, one arm on her hip and the other resting on her cane, ankles crossed. I move toward her. And as if I couldn't get any more astonished, I take in her costume. Or rather, suit.

She's wearing an entirely monochrome suit. White dress shirt, black waistcoat, and black breeches held at her waist with a gleaming silver buckle belt. On top of all of that is a body-length black trench coat. She's wearing polished, black leather, knee-length boots. Furthermore, she's wearing black dress gloves and a white silk choker. She has an expensive black analog watch on her wrist. She has put some kind of silver shell over the top portion of her ears, covering the pointed ends. She's removed her glasses to wear a black masquerade mask with a white border. And that's not the least of it. She's styled part of her hair to form two devil horns and the remaining hair into a low chignon with some tendrils hanging loose. She's adorned the chignon with white amaryllis flowers.

I'm too stunned to say anything, and she notices it too. She smirks her signature smirk and drops her gaze onto my costume, which is much, much less elaborate than hers: a plain off-white full-sleeve shirt with matching pants and boots; two gold straps over my shoulders; and a substance resembling ice which covers the left side of my body save for my left eye which has a red lens in place.

The entire time her smirk doesn't fade. It makes me feel a little uneasy.

Once she seems to be done taking me in, she raises her eyes to meet mine. "May I ask what your inspiration was for your costume?"

I take a deep breath. "It's to defy my father and his given quirk." I don't say anything more. I give her a few seconds to piece it together, and she nods her head in understanding.

I take this as an opportunity to ask about hers. "So why do you look like a cross between a circus performer and a dancer at a masquerade ball? And where are your glasses?"

Her eyes widen at my question. Then she laughs. "A cross between a circus performer and a dancer! You wound me! I wanted to wear something that would hide my bandages and something monochrome. Monochrome to honor my namesake. Combine that with my rich background and taste for things exquisite, extraordinary, and extravagant, this is the result. " She briefly waves a hand up and down her body for effect. "As for the glasses, the mask has my prescribed glass lenses fitted in place. I didn't want to risk breaking my pair during hero training."

"Exquisite, extraordinary, and extravagant, huh?"

"Yes. Exquisite. Extraordinary. Extravagant," she responds, raising an eyebrow as if she's daring me to demean her taste.

I simply smirk back. "Kudos to you then."

She seems pleased by my answer, and she turns to face All Might again. I do too just in time. All Might is about to tell us what the Trial of Battle will be about. But before he can, Iida-san interrupts him.

"Sensei! Regarding the performance ground we'll be using, is it the mock-city from the entrance exam?" he asks.

All Might doesn't seem to take offense at all. "You'll see. In fact, take two steps and you'll be there! THIS WILL BE AN INDOOR BATTLE!"

The entire class stops chattering immediately.

Having everyone's attention now, All Might continues. "Villain-cleanup is usually seen out in the open, but statistically, the better part of it is an indoor job. Most acts of villainy are committed indoors. Imprisonment, house arrest, the black market ... In this hero-saturated society, ANY VILLAIN WITH INTELLIGENCE IS LURKING IN THE SHADOWS!

"For this test, you'll separate into 'villain' and 'hero' groups. FOR A TWO-ON-TWO TEAM BATTLE!"

"What about foundational training?" a girl wearing a mostly green costume asks.

"THIS IS FOUNDATIONAL TRAINING!" All Might booms. "Only this time, there won't be any robots it'd be okay to just destroy.

"For this training, we'll have some 'villains' guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying! The heroes must stop them and their nefarious scheme before it's too late! If the heroes capture the villains or reach the nuclear core before the time runs out, they win. If the villains manage to keep the core the whole time or capture the heroes, they win.

"Your teammates and opponents will be chosen by LOTTERY!"

All Might brings out a box labelled "LOTS" and starts drawing out random slips of paper with our names on it. I am paired with the guy who has the tentacle quirk, Shouji Mezou. We're Pair B.

But All Might is drawing lots of two, and there are 21 total students in class. It seems that All Might realizes this too. By the time he's finished drawing lots, only Hanada-chan is left without a partner.

"Young Hanada, you are left without a partner. You can choose-"

Hanada-chan cuts him off. "Pardon me, All Might-sensei. But I have an idea."

All Might quiets instantly. After a moment he recovers. "Um. Go ahead. What's your idea?"

"Sensei, I would like to challenge you to a trial of battle."

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Image URL: https://i.quotev.com/img/q/u/19/1/3/qga7hnvqtd_l.jpg

Note: I have copied some dialogue from one of the English-translated versions of the manga. The link to the chapter is here: /manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-8/