Chapter 25: Gathering Shadows (Patreon)

Izuku led the students of class 1-B into Ground Beta, the students following him like sheep to its shepherd. He ignored the murmuring coming from behind, his mind already used to it from the various physical training sessions he’d held with them.

He was well aware that he was being talked about behind his back, some of which included the use of derogatory terms. Well, let them. It’s not like it could hurt him or anything. Plus, he could get back at them with the tortu- training he was about to commit. Discipline is an important factor for heroes, after all.

“Alright.” Izuku suddenly stopped, causing the students behind him to stop in their tracks, their whispers dying down as only the howling wind was left roaring in the area. “So, anybody here have any idea what we’re gonna do today?”

None of them raised a hand for a few seconds. Izuku waited until somebody did so, and he wouldn’t continue until someone did. Initiative is also a valuable trait in the hero business, and pussyfooting was frowned upon by the majority of the veterans. At least, those still alive to enjoy the gift that was life.

It only took about half a minute of awkward silence before somebody raised their hand. She had orange hair and teal-colored eyes, face morphed into one that radiated determination. Acknowledging the girl, she lowered her hand and stood at attention.

“Sir, will we be conducting urban warfare?” A grin floated up Izuku’s face.

“What else can we do in this concrete jungle?” He gestured towards the buildings scattered around the area. “But with a twist. You already know how sneaky villains are, or did you forget the time where you all… I dunno… cried for dear ol’ mama and papa while cradling yourself with a thumb up your mouth?”

At the sudden jab, some of the students winced, specifically, those that had the fortune, or misfortune in their case, to go against him as a demonstration a week ago. It was fun traumatizing teens, and it gave them a healthy dose of fear of being put in the same situation they found themselves with him.

“Now, you’re all gonna have turns doing it yourself.” Izuku grabbed a box that he had placed here just a few hours ago in preparation for the test he was going to conduct. “Each one of you take a piece of paper from this here box, and we’ll move onto the next phase.”

Immediately, the students formed a single file line, none of them pushing against each other or bumping into each other like mad dogs in a cage – or just human beings in general in a supermarket. They already knew what it was like to get chewed out by him, and Izuku knew they all felt that way.

Perks for being feared, but they can’t argue he brought results to the table. Already, they were being shown comparable to their sister class, even with less real-life experience. The Sports Festival was just a few days away, and they were doggedly chasing after them, trying to prove themselves that they were their equals, or their superiors.

Must’ve hurt that the news always kept on talking about class 1-A, leaving class 1-B forgotten on the wayside, but that was a minor problem. They still had those rose-tinted glasses on their eyes, so whenever they saw their sister class, all they saw was the fact that they got to fight villains.

They didn’t take into consideration that they could’ve lost their lives, and Izuku tried to ram this thought into those stubborn little heads of theirs, but sadly, his words fell on deaf ears. So, all he could do was make sure that they were ready when shit hits the fan.

Once the last student quietly took their slip of paper, noting that it was the pony girl, horns, hooves, and the likes, Izuku tossed the box away like it was worth nothing.

“Okay, those with red colored slips, raise them in the air.” Four students raised their hands, and Izuku had to stifle a laugh. Fate worked in mysterious ways, it seemed. “Step forward.”

Said students stepped forward, those being Itsuka Kendo, Neito Monoma, Setsuna Tokage, and Juzo Honenuki.

“Well, didn’t expect this, but this is probably going to be a very fun afternoon for all of you.”

“Uh, sir, what are we going to do?” Izuku’s grin didn’t leave his lips.

“Remember when I said that what I did to those five last week, you would be doing to yourselves?” Kendo furrowed her brows while the rest of the class did the same, before her eyes widened, a metaphorical light bulb hovering atop her head. “Yes, you will all get a team, with one team doing their best to escort VIPs, while the other will try to stop them from reaching their destination.”

“Oh, dear God.” Shiozaki made the sign of the cross as the light from above shone down upon her. Izuku still had no idea how that keeps happening, or if it was just a part of her quirk they weren’t privy to. Hell, even Melina was stumped at the light show, the spectral girl muttering to herself like a mumble rapper.

“As for how teams will be made, those with the red slips will be each team’s leaders.” Kendo, Monoma, Honenuki, and Tokage all looked at each other, before their competitive spirit rose from within. “And how you choose your team members goes like this: You have a number on your red slip, that’s the order in which you’ll choose a student from the class. Once all of you have chosen a member, repeat from the beginning until no one is left. Are my instructions clear?”

It took them a solid moment to understand, but otherwise, they got it loud and clear. With his part done for the moment, Izuku stepped back and let the students do their thing.

“Take your time, or don’t. You have twenty minutes. You pass the threshold and those without a team will be getting a zero for their session this afternoon.” They were about to protest, but a glare silenced them all. He didn’t have to remind them that his word was law when he was the one teaching.

Again, the pussy-footing thing. They had to erase all manner of hesitation if they wanted to make it big in this cutthroat world, and hesitating could cost someone dearly.

Of course, he still had to keep a close eye on them, just to make sure that everybody was playing fair. Can’t give one team a very clear advantage over the other. Plus, even the one with first dibs can get countered by the other team leaders by taking the one who they most likely would’ve chosen on their next turn.

It took about fifteen minutes for the class to finish their line-ups, and Izuku had to say, they really thought about their team composition very hard. But it would be remiss for him to talk about it now. Time’s a wasting, and the sooner they finish this session, the sooner Izuku could go back to lazing around back in his temporary house.

He also had to meet with Sir Gideon later in the night. He still needed to get back to the Lands Between, and lately, the lack of action got him a bit jittery. Even Melina was not exempt from this. Even with her curiosity and enjoyment from consuming all kinds of media found on the internet, her main goal was still and would always be reaching the foot of the Erdtree. And they couldn’t do it here in Japan.

“Alright then, you all settled?” The students gave him a nod. “Okay, the rules are simple. The Hero team will have to escort a few VIPs, or in this case, training dummies, from one end of the grounds, to the other, while the Villain team will have to stop them by any means necessary. This could include knocking the hero team unconscious, tying their wrists with capture tape, or killing the VIPs.”

Obviously, the moment he mentioned killing the VIPs – even though the VIPs were just robots created for the sole purpose of being destroyed for practice – made them blanch. Just the thought of killing made them queasy, but sadly, even if they didn’t want to kill, in this line of work, someone has to do the right thing, even if it meant bloodying their hands.

Just think about it. Why the hell would you lock up a Villain, who already had dozens of prison breaks and murders under his belt, when instead you could just make sure he was gone permanently? It would save countless lives the villain could’ve cut short because of reasons nobody cared about.

Oh, you were abandoned as a child? You got sexually abused? Nobody gives a shit when you start doing it to others. Do not get him wrong, however, Izuku detested killing, but if it was against people who deserved it, well, sharpen your swords and ready your torches, it was time to burn someone alive and impale them through the ass.

Of course, there were limits to that. Why kill a villain when said villain only stole things to either feed himself or just because he was an egotistical ass? Izuku believed that what a person’s done is proportional to what he would receive. When a person kills, they better be prepared to be killed back. If a person steals, they better be prepared to be stolen from.

It’s like a scale. Once they reach past the tipping point, no matter how hard one tries to atone or change, their deeds would forever affect people for an eternity.

Grand larceny is one such thing. Why kill the perpetrator when he could still atone for what he’s done? Belongings could still be replaced. Mass murderers on the other hand? Your sob story is only going to get them through so much, what with people grieving over the loss of their loved ones.

Shaking his head, Izuku heaved out a long sigh. It’s just… looking at these hero students… these children reminded him of a time when he was an idealistic young boy. An idealistic young boy who died because he just couldn’t let go.

“Uh, sir? Are you okay?” And even with their fear, one of them, Kendo, was still able to show him some concern. Hell, most of them were showing concern. Their faces said it all, save for some of them who were still looking at him in fear – Monoma in particular who looked like he was seething, but radiating fear like a water hose. “You went silent for a minute there.”

“Sorry, just some bad memories.” Izuku calmed his pounding heart, a grin replacing his frown. “Anyway, where were we? Ah, right. So, hero team and villain team rules, any questions so far?”

None of the students raised their hands, his instructions ringing crystal clear in their heads.

“Alright then, by the way, we’re going to conduct a round-robin style format, so each team will be able to fight all other teams within the afternoon.” Izuku grabbed a whiteboard and marker that was lying nearby. He then created the format in writing, showing it to the rest of the class. “So, first group, Kendo vs Tokage. You have ten minutes to prepare. The rest of you, follow me to the observation area.”

Following Izuku like good little ducklings, the students not joining the current exercise quietly walked, eyes roaming about everywhere, surveying the area they would likely be in during their turns. The entire Ground Beta was going to be their playground this afternoon, and if there was one thing Izuku taught them, it was to always observe and take note. Who knows when it could be useful down the line?

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Unbeknownst to them, Blaidd and Patches quietly observed from one of the dilapidated buildings scattered about the area, the wolf-man making sure that his sword was always at the ready in case things got messy. The bald man, on the other hand, did his best to appear as small as he could, what with his weapons nowhere to be seen.

Blaidd had to hold in a scoff. Truly, Izuku’s description had not done the bald man behind him justice. He deserved way worse, the slimy coward.

Looking away from the retreating figures of Izuku and the group of humans, Blaidd hummed as he placed a hand underneath his snout.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“You mean, when are we going to show ourselves to Izuku?” Patches' grin made Blaidd’s eye twitch. Slimy bastard was going to get them killed if he didn't put much thought into their next actions. “I mean, he’s THE Tarnished? Slayer of Godrick, now a shardbearer, but remember his nickname?”

“... The pacifist Tarnished.” Blaidd sighed at the ridiculous nickname. How he got stuck with that name, he didn’t know, and Izuku was anything but pacifistic. He would gladly skewer an opponent, provided said opponent didn’t learn his lesson and just leave Izuku the fuck alone.

“Yep, that’s the one.” Patch’s laughter echoed through the dim hallways. Thankfully, it wasn’t strong enough to reach out of the building they were in. “Funny that… Man nearly killed me ‘cuz I thought him a thief.”

“This, coming from you?” Blaidd raised an eyebrow at the bald man. Patches’ grin didn’t vanish, and the wolf man was content to let it lie. “Anyway, we still need to do something about our… predicament. We cannot stay here.”

“Hm… Yeah, I can see that.” Patches hummed, his signature squat in full display. “We get discovered and we may as bloody well say our prayers. Unless we show ourselves to Izuku first.”

“... You know, I hate that I can’t come up with anything.” Blaidd sighed as he stood up to his full height, fully dwarfing the bald man in his shadow. “Come on, let’s get a move on. I’d rather not get frozen feet.”

“Right behind ya!” Patches stretched as he stood up, his spine making cracking sounds as he did so. “Ah, bloody hell, that hits the spot.”

“Come on or I’m leaving you behind.” Blaidd called from near the doorway leading to the outside. “If you get caught, well, no skin off my back.”

“Tch, heartless bastard.” Patches clicked his tongue while following Blaidd’s footsteps. The wolf man sighed, of all the people to be stuck with, it just had to be the slimeball. Oh well, at least they’ll be meeting Izuku again, and truth be told, the Tarnished was a breath of fresh air in the Lands Between. He couldn’t wait to talk with him again – and quite possibly, steer him into service for his lady. She needed all the help she could get with her plan nearing its fruition.

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A/N: Sorry if it's a bit short. A festival is close and as one of the many officials (a very minor role, but still otherwise, needed) helping with the efforts, I'm gonna be strapped for time up until next week.