The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 21: Focus

"Midoriya, come in!" Izuku was perched upon a ledge observing the forested area beneath him. He could hear explosions and other loud noises somewhere within. He lifted his hand to his ear, not taking his eyes off his focus.

"I'm here, what's up?"

"I've found a couple of the other teams, one of them is headed your way. It's Aoyama and Sato. I'm on my way back, I would guess the team will arrive two minutes after me,"

"Understood. How long until you arrive?" his teammate went silent for a moment as he thought.

"I'm going to take about three minutes. Will that be enough time?"

"Yeah, I can work with that," Izuku got to work. They had been doing this exercise for about twenty minutes now and he was only now running into others. Class 3A had been split into pairs and dropped off at different places in this forest. They had been tasked with finding and capturing the rest of their classmates. Izuku had been preparing for a moment like this, his plan was already partially completed when Sero had called in. He hurried to finish his trap as best he could. He was realizing now that he probably didn't have enough time to hide it completely, but it was the best he could work with the time he had.

"Sero, slow down a bit and let them see you so that they case you. Once you reach the clearing turn into the area we set up the trap and get past it without breaking it. Tape up the place you ext from. I'll take care of the rest,"

"Got it," Satisfied that his teammate would be fine Izuku climbed up into the trees to wait for his first victims. Soon enough he could hear footsteps and breaking branches coming from the right. A moment later Sero dashed out from the bushes and turned for the area Izuku was hiding. Dashing into the area enclosed by thick trees Sero jumped over the hidden trap and covered his exit by taping the space between the two trees he jumped past. A second later he saw Aoyama and Sato barrel out of the forest running straight towards the trap without even knowing it. Both of his opponents ran right onto the trap without hesitation. But to Izuku's dismay, nothing happened! They were standing right on top of it, but it was staying put. He cursed himself for making it so sturdy. Aoyama and Sato seemed to be having trouble deciding what to do, but a moment later they turned to leave. Izuku couldn't allow that and at the moment he made a hasty decision.

Aoyama and Sato were about to leave the clearing when suddenly a burst of flame shot from above their head leaving a wall of fire blocking the way they'd come. Sato immediately went for his sugar stores, and Aoyama began aiming his laser. Izuku jumped down from the trees onto his hidden pitfall trap as hard as he could, desperately hoping he could loosen it enough to make his opponents fall. He felt something shift beneath his feet when he landed and heard a crack. It was working. But suddenly he had a much bigger problem on his hands as he was in an enclosed space with Sato. A fist came flying straight towards Izuku's face, and he barely ducked in time to avoid it only to have to roll to avoid the next one. Izuku needed to put his full concentration into dodging otherwise he would miss a move. Just one direct punch from Sato would be bad, so he couldn't let that happen. Duck, jump, parry, parry, jump. His thought process was completely filled up with avoiding his attacker that he didn't sense the itch in the back of his mind that had appeared. He was beginning to get tired. His movements were getting slower, Sato on the other hand still seemed fine. He thought he was doomed until suddenly a line of tape shot onto Sato's face. It wouldn't distract him for long, but that moment was all Izuku needed to jump up and grab a low hanging branch. He could hear his trap beginning to work, the supports were beginning to break. Any moment now. Then he felt something hit him and wrap around his legs. The weight he was supporting with his arms suddenly increased exponentially and he was straining to not let go. He looked down to see Sato had jumped and managed to grab his legs.

"I've got you MIdoriya!" shouted Sero from behind him. Another line of tape hit Sato, but this time it stuck to his back. Aoyama spotted Sero quickly and began firing lasers at him, but Sero was quick enough to be able to dodge. Then Sero jumped off a branch using his own weight and the branches he had woven through when dodging like a pulley system which ripped Sato right off of Izuku. Sato fell hard, and with his weight and speed of descent the pitfall broke completely, The ground beneath Sato and Aoyama's feet opened up and the two fell into the tape web Sero had set up inside. Izuku exhaled and collapsed on the branch he was perched upon. They had done it, they'd captured their first pair. He didn't have long to celebrate however when he heard a familiar battle cry approaching rapidly from the clearing.

He had no time to think up a plan before Bakugo was on top of him. He was grinning like a madman as he launched an explosion at where Izuku was perched. The green-haired boy barely jumped out of the way in time but had no time to recover as Bakugo was already throwing a punch at him. Kacchan made another explosion, and this time Izuku was hit sending him flying into the clearing and leaving him dazed. He climbed to his feet and quickly got ready to stop Bakugo's next attack but then he noticed Bakugo's partner off to his right. Of all the people he was prepared to face off today, she wasn't one of them. They locked eyes, and suddenly Izuku found himself hesitating. That moment of hesitation cost him as he didn't see Bakugo coming until he had received a punch in the gut.

"I'll take Uraraka!" said Sero, rushing to his aid. "You just focus on handling Bakugo," He was right. Izuku tried to shake thoughts or Uraraka from his mind, he was only partially successful. Kacchan w's rushing him again, Izuku adopted a defensive position and parried his opening punch, Kacchan followed up with a stream of attacks one after the other. Izuku was somehow managing to hold his ground, but his body felt like it was on autopilot, and he was beginning to slip up. Little by little Kacchan was getting through his defense. Holy crap! Since when was Kacchan this strong? Izuku needed Kacchan off of him, and fast. He began to heat up his body, it was almost second nature by now. Kacchan sensed what was coming and took a step back. Flames burst from Izuku's mouth scorching the ground where they hit. Bkugo made sure to keep a safe distance from the orange flames. Izuku began to advance, keeping up his stream of fire and as he did so Kacchan began to step backward. Izuku was hoping that maybe he could force Kacchan into the pitfall. He was getting closer. But then nausea rushed in and the ground started swaying, he stumbled and his flames went out. He could feel that he was about to change and he panicked. He fell to the floor. He could hear a voice. It sounded incredibly far away.

"Deku!" he could hear footsteps rushing towards him where he lay. He heard a second angrier voice cut in

"Don't go near him pink cheeks! I'll handle this nerd myself," He felt someone lifting him up and carrying him away from where they had just been fighting. Deku tried to stay conscious, to fight the change he felt coming. But he only held it a few minutes longer, it was like it had already slipped through his defenses.