Heroes of Tomorrow

Part 16~First Hit

Todoroki gulped, staring in fear. "He got more than half of them in an instant. A student. But closer to being number one than most heroes."

"You're not gonna fight?" Aizawa frowned in confusion as Todoroki blinked. "You must be interested in taking the top spot yourself."

"I didn't even get my provisional licence, though."

Mirio hummed, glancing around. "Think that's it for the long-distance fighters."

Akiko blinked. "Am I a short-distance fighter?"

"Short to medium," Uzu shrugged as Akiko blinked as Midoriya spoke up.

"There's more to his Quirk than we're seeing. Whether his true power is slipping through matter, or whether he's somehow warping himself through space-"

"He's not." The group fell silent as Akiko spoke. "He's not warping. I can sense him- or the water inside him. It gets weird whenever he activates his Quirk, but it's still there."

"Then how is he moving."

"He's moving through the floor. I'm unsure how yet, but it's where he is."

"Either way, he's still landing his attack directly. We should be able to counter him at the moment he's about to make contact. Even if we can't tell what he's doing, we should theorise with what we do know and use that knowledge to find a way to beat him."

The students cheered as they got ready. Once again, Akiko motioned for Uzu to not fight. Uzu huffed, getting annoyed. "Whatever you're trying to work out better be worth it."

"I have an idea," Akiko whispered into Uzu's ear as she pulled Uzu away.

Mirio slipped under the floor as Midoriya turned, already guessing where Mirio would appear. Mirio chuckled as he reached through Midoriya's body; he spun himself and punched Midoriya's gut.

"I've discovered that most people try to launch a counterattack just like you did. So naturally, I've trained to work around such moves. Nice try, though." Mirio dropped back onto the floor as Midoriya collapsed.

Iida, Kirishima, Koda, Sato, Ojiro, Uraraka, and lastly, Hagakure, all taken out in a flash.

"Hey, check out Togata," Nejire awed, walking closer to Tamaki. "He's gotten super powerful lately. Are you even watching?"

"Mirio's been strong ever since we were little kids. Problem is he needs to learn how to hold back."

The class lay before Mirio, groaning in pain and collapsed on the floor. Mirio looked around, sure there was more. He was missing someone. He didn't react when the thorns travelled through his head. Found her.

Akiko stood atop the rocky wall, a frustrated look on her face. "Now!" Akiko created a huge wall as Mirio disappeared. The second he did, he went to hit Akiko when the wind threw him off course. Akiko grinned almost smugly. Mirio disappeared again, about to hit Uzu when he spun, dodging and letting Akiko shoot at the blond.

The thorns once again travelled through Mirio as Uzu landed by Akiko. "Okay, what's the plan now?"

"You. You're my plan. My thorns are too slow to do anything, and he'll just pass through any wall I create."

Uzu huffed. "Guess it really is up to me," Uzu smirked. "Hey, remember when we used to play heroes?"

"We don't have Naka."

"Don't need him."

"Just remember your timing."

Mirio disappeared as Akiko held out her hands, the maze of vines spreading out, almost filling the space. The vines grew as Mirio jumped out, hitting Akiko as she gritted her teeth. Her vines wrapped around Mirio, holding him for longer than the man planned.