The Couples of Class 1-A

LCO | Ch. 24: A Vicious Game of Hide and Seek

*WARNING: violence/sparring-related injuries

Edit 4/2023: Re-write of the action sequences in the later part of this chapter out of personal preference.

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"Gear up for hero training. The principle wants us to try something a little different for class today, so we'll be heading to ground gamma."

The chilling words of their teacher resonated familiarly with each of them as they picked themselves out of their seats and collected their costume cases.

"It's rarely a good thing when Aizawa-sensei wants to change things up..." Kaminari grumbled to Mineta as they grabbed their cases.

"I hope it's not anything too experimental..." Mineta whined next to him.

Though the others didn't risk voicing their complaints out loud, everyone was thinking the same thing. As a result, the bus ride was eerily quiet the entire way to ground gamma. By the time the shuttle stopped to let them out, each of their nerves had been thoroughly jostled, and it didn't help that an unusually chilly breeze was there to greet them the moment they all stepped outside.

"Alright students," Aizawa began, his gravelly voice instantly seizing the attention of his class, "this morning, the staff and I have decided to demo a new exercise. Is everyone familiar with hide and seek?"

The students' faces suddenly went blank, somewhat taken aback that their teacher would even bother asking something so obvious.

"Yes?" Kaminari answered oddly, What sort of activity is this going to be...?

"Good." he then turned and guided the student onto the field, gesturing to the building-cluttered area before them, "Today, we are going to assign everyone to groups of 6 for a special exercise called 'Villains, Heroes, and Bystanders.' The premise is relatively simple, so hopefully you all should be able to understand it pretty well."

There were a couple of uncertain grumblings among the students, but Aizawa ignored them.

"In each round, there will be two heroes, two villains, and two bystanders. The objective is simple: both of the bystanders will hide somewhere inside of the designated area. The heroes will be tasked with finding and securing the bystanders, while being under fire by the opposing team. For the villains, they need only to distract the heroes for the allotted 25 minutes to pass. In other words, if the heroes rescue the bystanders, they win; but if they run out of time, the villains win.

"As a separate option, heroes can also capture their villains using the provided capture tape. But if they don't succeed in finding their civilians afterwards, the villains will still secure a win. This is essentially a hostage-rescue exercise with a time limit."

"So then are the bystanders just supposed to sit around and do nothing?" Kirishima asked suddenly, raising his hand.

"A fair question, which unfortunately I have to say yes," he shrugged, "However, though no winning or losing is involved with the bystanders, I would urge those chosen for such roles to be diligent and observant while playing their roles. To understand how a civilian thinks, I believe it is beneficial to be stuck in their place at least once. Not to mention..."

He pointed a lazy finger at his class, "Everyone will get a turn in the end to play as either a villain or hero. I can recycle bystanders if I need to, so don't think for a second that any of you can get out of this."

"Oh," Kaminari muttered in the back, their teacher having completely read his mind.

"Any more questions?"