To Find A Needle In A Haystack.

Chapter 3: Intermission.

A few weeks have passed since Atsushi and Akutagawa joined 1-A, and they already felt so done with school. Turns out that Akutagawa had about the same level of schooling as Atsushi did, so the silver-haired boy felt a bit better about his poor education. However, that did not stop the mafioso from poking fun at Atsushi, much to his dismay.

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Atsushi and Akutagawa now find themselves in front of Ground Beta, ready to do a group training exercise with the rest of the class. Kaminari was the one to suggest it, and many others jumped on the chance to train for the Sports Festival. Midoriya, the green haired kid, had asked them to join as well so the class could know their "quirks".

Atsushi does feel bad for lying to the boy that he and Akutagawa had quirks and not abilities, but he understands the need for it.

They enter the training space, and it is rather large. The place is spacious, and most of the class has already paired off and started sparring. Atsushi is a bit impressed, slightly nodding in approval at the teenagers. It's good that they took the initiative. Akutagawa just glares at everyone, obviously not happy. The mafioso coughs into his hand, drawing the attention of a few of the closer students.

"Akutagawa-kun, Atsushi-kun! Glad you two could make it!" Midoriya says as he hurries over to them, a sunshine smile on his face.

"Hello, Midoriya-San." Atsushi says as he smiles back at the greenete. Now that the two have arrived, most of the spars going on around them have stopped.

"I would like to know your fighting capabilities before placing you with a sparring partner, so please, if you don't mind, fight each other!" A blue haired student Atsushi vaguely remembers being called Iida says, arm moving in a chopping motion. It reminded Atsushi of Kunikida back at the agency. He was about to speak up when Akutagawa said something instead.

"Fine, but I still think this is idiotic." He says while rolling his eyes. The mafioso walks to the center of the room, tilting his head for Atsushi to follow him.

Atsushi quickly follows, jogging to catch up. Now the entirety of the class is standing to the side to watch them. The two take their places and stand ten paces apart, neither getting into a ready stance. Nothing happens for a while, but then Atsushi's legs transform into tiger legs as he jumps up, Rashomon following closely behind as it comes up from the ground. The weretiger recognizes it as the move Akutagawa pulled all those months ago on that ship when he was trying to get Kyouka back. Atsushi chuckles a bit, remembering how he won that fight. He lands back on the ground, and dodges another swift attack from Rashomon directed to his left leg. Seriously, why can't people leave his leg alone?! The fight lasts for almost an hour since neither Atsushi nor Akutagawa want to damage the building or harm their classmates. They understand the importance of property damage, after all. The fight ends when Atsushi is restrained by Rashomon for more than five seconds. Akutagawa drops the weretiger unceremoniously onto the floor as he coughs into his hand again. The whole class just stares in awe, some with slight fear, and the gym erupts into chatter and shouts.

"How are you guys so good?" Kaminari says dumbfounded.

"Atsushi-kun, are you ok? That's a lot of blood." Yaoyorozu says a bit worriedly as she approaches Atsushi.

"You guys are really strong!" Midoriya says excitedly as he also runs up, his green eyes shining with delight. Atsushi stands up with Yaoyorozu's help, and chuckles nervously.

"We have a lot of experience fighting, so we both got really good. And yes, Yaoyorozu-San, I'm alright." Atsushi says as he waves the girl's worry off with a hand. Akutagawa nods in agreement, coughing again.

"Yes, our lives demanded a lot from us. One does not grow up in the slums and survive on kindness." The black-coated man says. The class goes quiet at his words, looking both confused and worried.

"The slums?" Iida asks, sounding concerned. Akutagawa looks at Iida, eyebrows furrowed, and nods again.

"Yes. For most of my childhood, I grew up in the slums. Why are you looking at me like that?" Once again, the class is silent. Atsushi has an idea why, even if he doesn't understand it fully. Surely at least some of these kids knew how bad people without enough money had it, right? Any hope is gone when he scans the horrified looks on the class's faces. Atsushi decides to cut in and do damage control.

"Yeah, but he doesn't live like that anymore. We have an apartment not too far from UA, and we have enough money to get by, so everything is fine now." Atsushi says in a placating manner. The class relaxes at that, but they still look a bit worried.

They get paired with a few others, and end up having to tone it down so they don't beat their opponent in only a few seconds. It's sundown when everyone decides to go home for the day, some saying that they'll be here tomorrow. Atsushi and Akutagawa leave last, deciding to help clean everything up. As they walk back home, it is silent. It's not awkward like most of the time, but comfortable and welcoming.

"Midoriya reminds me of you." Akutagawa says out of nowhere, making Atsushi startle a bit. Once the mafioso's words register, Atsushi nods.

"I see where you're coming from, but he reminds me of how I was before I joined the Agency." Atsushi comments as his eyes follow a bird flying overhead. Akutagawa shakes his head.

"No, he's self-sacrificing, like you, Jinko. You saw how he was during our sparring match, right? Just like you, running to the danger instead of away from it." Akutagawa says with a hint of..... fondness? Atsushi was stunned. Did Akutagawa just actually compliment someone, and him of all people? The rest of the walk was filled with silence once more, and Atsushi was feeling a bit more ready to do this whole school thing.



Author Notes:

I was not expecting people to read this, but I'm happy people are. This chapter really kicked my ass, and I wrote most of it today so sorry if it isn't the best. Next chapter will focus on the first round of the Sports Festival. See you all next Saturday!