Happy Ending ((TENYA IIDA X OC))

Chapter 9

"Listen up," I instructed upon entering class 1-A Wednesday morning. "We have a lot to talk about."

The class slowly hushed as Sato trailed behind me to scribe 'fear' on the chalkboard. Panning my gaze out for a moment, I cleared my throat.

"Who can tell me what the opposite of fear is?"

A collection of hands rose in the air. I chose Ashido.

"Bravery counts, right?" She asked and I nodded.

"Another," I requested, choosing Midoriya.

"Predilection."

"Good," I said. "Dream Walker feeds on fear, we confirmed that with Ms Leroy on Monday. Who can guess what I'm trying to say?"

Another array of hands rose and I glanced across the faces of my previous classmates.

"Kaminari," I chose, looking directly at him.

"Are you tryin' to, like, guess his weaknesses or something like that?" He asked unsurely.

"Precisely," I confirmed, approaching the board whilst I wrote 'predilection' and 'bravery' under Sato's previously written 'fear.' "It's safe to say that Dream Walker's kidnappings are staged as ploys of fear toward the public. In taking these people, he strikes the public of Japan with paranoia since he picks people at random. With the fear he produces from citizens in Japan and the people he takes captive, I'm certain that he uses it as a powerhouse somehow and that he's stronger then he ever has been before."

"How's that even possible?" I heard Kirishima ask.

"I'm not sure," I replied honestly, turning back to them. "But one of Dream Walker's trademark qualities is to create nightmares out of people's worst fears. I suppose it has a connection to that."

"Did you get stronger when you inflicted nightmares?" Todoroki asked from the back of the room, referring to the Sports Festival last year.

"No," I said. "In fact, I felt drained afterward. I presume it was because Dream Walker took the energy from when I counted on his quirk and used it to take me over."

"In the fight against Bakugou." Todoroki guessed. Attention swept in his direction and he scowled.

I nodded. "He's been consuming energy for God knows how long."

"What else have you learned?" Uraraka raised her hand curiously.

"Well," I breathed out. "Dream Walker's brutality is not limited to anyone. During the time of his manifestation, not even his sister was spared."

"What do you mean by that?" Hattori asked, raising a brow.

"Similarly to me and my mother," I said, recalling her face and frowning. "He corrupted his own sister before disappearing."

A light gasp echoed off the walls of the room and I grimaced. "I didn't think that would be the case, but like I said, Dream Walker is unpredictable."

"How are we effectively supposed to fight someone like him?" Midoriya asked, resting his chin in between his fingers as he thought.

"A buddy system was thought up by Whiplash and I," I replied, prompting the green haired boy to look up at me. "Partners will be paired once we get out to ground beta, and after Whiplash and you all are finished with you stamina and stability exercises, we will commence in proper training against Dream Walker's quirk."

"Will we get to choose who we get paired up with?" Kaminari's arm shot up in the air as he spoke.

"For the most part, yes," I confirmed. "I want you all to pair yourselves with someone with a quirk that compliments your own. Unity in that way as well as unity in bond will help you all drastically on the battle field."

"Unity in bond?" Kirishima raised an eyebrow.

"Make sure you know the person well," I explained. "After you're all paired, I want you to spend as much time with your respective partners for as many hours as you can. Train together, eat together, study together, etcetera. It will do you all good in the long run to know them better then you already do now."

"Anymore questions before we head outside?" Sato stepped forward, looking across the faces of students as he clasped his hands together.

At the sight of none, Sato commenced his portion of the class and we filed outside.

The remainder of Sato's teaching didn't take more than fifteen minutes, which then directed the spot light back onto me. I still didn't have a solid idea on how I was going to teach these people how to fight Dream Walker since I had no idea on how to do that myself. Not only that, but since I don't have his quirk anymore, they won't have an accurate example on which to go on.

I bit my lip uneasily as class A formed a line in front of me. Sato, whose smile didn't falter, took the empty space beside me with his hands on his hips.

"You ready, boss?" He asked under his breath.

"No," I replied. "I'll just have to wing it."

"Winging it is the best way to go." He replied jokingly, prompting my eyes to roll as I took a step forward.

"Alright," I said, lacing my fingers together behind my back. "I want those of you who have experience fighting me while I used Dream Walker to step forward."

Hattori, Bakugou, Kirishima and Midoriya's team from the Sports festival stepped out of line as instructed.

"You all are going to be 'team leaders' in this exercise," I said, gesturing that they make a separate line in front of their classmates. "While you teach your comrades, I'll be teaching you. Pairs will be made at the end of class, so don't worry about that."

I closed the small distance between myself and the line of leaders to see who was left, and upon doing so, my eyes widened as they fell to Purple Hair standing amongst the remaining students. His eyes met mine instantaneously and he grinned amusedly.

"Pick your poison," I said, eyebrow twitching. "Choose who you want to lead wisely, starting with Tokoyami."

Groups were thus made and the two extras — Purple Hair and Sero — were given permission to choose which of the five groups they wanted to join.

"Team leaders," I said whilst the groups formed lines of their own. "Today will be a trial day where you share with your teammates what you already know about Dream Walker. It can be strategies you think worked against me or small things you picked up about the fighting style of the quirk itself."

Midoriya rose his hand halfway in the air. "When are you going to teach us?"

"Be patient," I said. "I'll dictate when I think you're ready."

I huffed out my nose and excused the groups to do their brainstorming while Sato bopped up and down on the soles of his shoes beside me.

"Sooo," he said, standing still again. "When do you plan on teaching them?"

"When I figure out how to use my ice in a similar manner to how I used Dream Walker," I explained dully. "If I can manage to do that, I think I can teach Todoroki how to use it in a similar way to get the other students trained faster."

"Isn't that unfair to the rest of them?" Asked Sato. "And what about that guy with the bird head? He has a shadow quirk too, doesn't he?"

"Tokoyami?" I asked and he nodded. "Sure, he does... but I don't know."

"Are you scared or something?"

I bit down on my lip at his question and sighed heavily again.

"I don't have time to be scared."

Sato said nothing at that, but instead looked down at me quizzically as I eyed the groups.

It wasn't the shadows that I was afraid of, but the things that lurked within them.