Toshinowa

10

"I really wish I could catch flights back at least two days before class starts, not the day before."

"Yeah you seem really tired. Well, you're unpacked so I'll let you rest. See you at breakfast?"

"Of course." I shut the door quietly behind me. I didn't have anything else to do, so I decided to go back to my temporary room.

"Ki!" Damnit. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

"You here to challenge me again?"

"No, I think you got enough of a beating yesterday."

"Oh, so you're not ready to lose again?"

"I didn't lose!"

"Yes. You surrendered. That means you lost."

"I didn't surrender! I got bored. You weren't anywhere near as good as Shokya said you were."

"Really? Because all your injuries in the end say otherwise." He still had a broken arm that Recovery Girl wouldn't be able to heal until tomorrow.

"I let that happen so you'd fell better."

"Whatever. Even Kiroshima agreed that you lost."

"No way-" There was an explosion near the front of the school. "Get back to your room. Now." I'd never heard him sound scared before.

"What about you? You can't fight with that arm."

"I can't anyway. Not without permission from my homeroom teacher. I have to go back to my dorm. Now go!" I took off running toward the teachers' dorm.

"Itzuki! Go hide in your room!" I ran down the hallway toward my room. Right as I was about to go inside, I heard a little girl's voice.

"You're not a teacher. What's going on?" It was a little girl with long, silver hair and a little horn on the top of her head. I crouched to her level.

"My name's Itzuki, but you can call me Ki. I don't really know what's going on. Something happened out in the front of the school. They have us coming back to our rooms so they can make sure everyone's safe."

"Why are you in here if you're a student?" I couldn't help but smile at the girl.

"Something's wrong with my old room so they put me in the only open room in the whole school."

"Eri. What are you doing out of your room?" It was Mr. Aizawa. Was she his daughter?

"No one came to check on me after the big noise so I went to find someone."

"You can't be wandering the halls right now. Let's go to my room. It'll be safer there."

"I saw what happened out front. What was it?" He gave me a look that said I already knew. "Oh." I clenched my hands into fists. They'd found me. And now they were coming for me.

"You can sit on the bed. Just don't touch anything." The curtains were pulled close, making it dark. He went to the window and glanced out. "There's no one out on this side." My phone went off. I silenced it before checking the message.

"It's Shokya. She said they got into the first-year dorm."

"Of course they would look for you there. Your room change wasn't put on file. Are the students alright?" I typed as fast as I could. She answered just as fast.

"Yeah, the other teachers got them out of there." We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Is Deku ok?" The little girl, he called her Eri, looked as if she was about to cry.

"I'm sure he'll be alright. You know better than anyone how strong he is." She nodded.

"He's a good fighter. He'll be ok." More silence. "What's that noise?" We listened. I heard it, too.

"It's like..." My breath hitched in my throat. "Scratching on the window."

"Get in the closet. Both of you." I ushered Eri into the closet, looking back at the window before going in myself. Right before I shut the door, the glass shattered.

Then followed a rush of blue flames.

I could feel the heat from our hiding place, even though we weren't anywhere near it, as they blocked my view from wherever Mr. Aizawa was. Eri whimpered as I pulled the door closed, leaving just a crack so we could see.

"Where's Eraser Head?"

"I don't know, I can't see him through the flames." The flames disappeared. He was crouched in the corner where the flames wouldn't have reached him.

"Well well. You remember my special opening move." That voice...

"Is it really you this time? Or just another clone?" Neither of them stepped into each other's line of sight.

"Why don't you come out and see?"

"Why don't you come out first. Then we can talk."

"I don't want to talk." Another burst of flames. "I want the girl." It hit me.

The voice. The flames.

"Wow! You're getting really good at big fires!"

"Yeah. But I wish I could control them more. Then I wouldn't hurt my teammates when I use them."

"Come out!" He sang it, taunting me. "I know you don't want people to get hurt. Come with us and no one will." I covered my mouth with my hand, silencing my cries.

"What is he talking about, Ki."

"It's nothing, sweetie. We have to be very quiet now, so he won't find us." She buried her face in my shirt. She was terrified. And so was I.

"Fine. I give. I'll come in first." Another burst of blindingly bright flames. And then he was in the room.