A BOOM resounded as Manga Fukidashi from Class 2-B screamed out the word.
The letters materializing in reality because of his Comic Quirk, creating the same effect as the word's actual meaning.
Midoriya left behind a crackling blur as he used Full Cowling, now standing at 19%. He appeared behind Manga and kicked using his newly-created Shoot Style. To not injure the guy too much, though, Midoriya involuntarily held back his strength.
That… soon turned out to be a mistake.
"Deku!"
The shout echoed across the surroundings.
Midoriya was so focused on holding back his strength and using the exact amount of force needed to incapacitate Manga that the shout instantly took him aback, alarm bells ringing in his head.
They were fighting on a bridge between the forest and the city, with a river roaring under it.
Midoriya had made sure that Manga was alone and there weren't any traps at the location before confronting the guy.
Unlike many others, he had decided not to head straight to the middle of the Battle Center X.
First, using Full Cowling would deplete his stamina. If he were to meet a strong opponent and were forced to use 50, or even 100, percent of One For All, then it wouldn't bode well for him in the end. It would like repeating the last year's Sports Festival all over again.
Second, with his agility, Midoriya could easily keep track of the laser boundaries and continue to advance slowly but steadily.
And third, but by far the greatest reason, was that Midoriya… wanted to win.
No more flashy entrances and over-the-top use of One For All.
No more going out of his way to chase Luke, Todoroki, and Bakugo's paths.
Last year, All Might had asked Midoriya to tell the world that he was here…
All he had ended up doing was winning the first stage and then succumbing to his stupidity by repeatedly using One For All at 100%.
This time around, with All Might already retired, the words his mentor had told him carried even greater weight.
The Battle Royale gave Midoriya the perfect stage to play out to his strengths.
He had a solid strategy — Keep a low profile and hold onto big moves till the very end!
The only reason that Midoriya had even confronted Manga was that the guy had refused to budge off the bridge.
Jumping over the large, gurgling river, or even heading to a different bridge, could have attracted unwanted attention and would have taken time.
The other, safer option was to neutralize Manga right away. Because of their shared Training Camp, Midoriya already knew the Comic Quirk's ins and outs. He was quite sure that he could take on Manga and win the battle in the blink of an eye.
Presently, from Manga's use of the BOOM word to Midoriya using Shoot Style, not even two seconds had passed.
It was because of all this that the shout, calling out his name, had rung alarm bells in Midoriya's head, because… he had recognized the voice.
As he hung midair, and as he was about to kick Manga, Midoriya looked over his shoulder, concerned. "Uraraka?!"
A CRASH echoed off the bridge, raising dust.
When the dust settled, a figure walked out from the city side of the bridge.
Indigo hair.
Dark Purple eyes.
Black jacket and trousers.
It was Hitoshi Shinso, who had only recently transferred into 2-B from the General Education.
Something about him was different, though. There was a mask on his face, covering his nose and mouth, and looking eerily mechanical. He pressed a knob on the mask, rotated a few dials, and came to a stop next to Manga, who was holding his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Shinso asked.
"Yeah…" Manga replied with a grunt of pain. "He slammed right into me…"
Shinso nodded and continued to walk forward, reaching the middle of the bridge.
There, sprawled on the dusty, concrete bridge, listlessly watching the sky with his unfocused eyes, was Midoriya — the target of Shinso's Brainwashing Quirk.
"Last time," Shinso said, crouching over Midoriya's face, "my Quirk worked on you because you didn't know about it. I don't know how you came out of Brainwashing's effect, but I knew you would have prepared for it this time around. But it's not only you who has been working on your Quirk. I… I, too, want to become a Hero."
Manga dragged his body forward, holding his shoulder. "We…" he said, hesitating. Then, he took a deep breath. "Most of us in Class 2-B are not as strong as you guys. So… we decided to do something Class 2-A would never consider…"
"Teaming up…" Shinso nodded, getting up, smiling behind his Artificial Vocal Cords.
Midoriya's heart skipped a beat.
That was not something he had even considered. Truly.
Not one student from Class 2-A would ever team up with another, especially with the event being a Battle Royale.
And, exactly because of this, they would fall into the 2-B students' trap, just like him.
"Get up," Shinso commanded.
Midoriya stood up and faced Shinso, dreading the next command to be either to go out of the laser boundary or just stand here till the boundary reached him by itself.
But, in the next moment, he realized that he had utterly misjudged how much Shinso had changed in the last year.
"Todoroki, Bakugo, Luke…" Shinso spelled out names. "Against them, Class 2-B lacks firepower. No. It lacked firepower. Now, we have you."
He pressed the knob on his mask, tuning it to another voice.
"Come, Deku," Shinso said in Tenya's voice. "Let me take you to meet your friends. I am quite sure many of them will never expect you to go… all out, just like how I knew you wouldn't against Manga."
Then, the two Class 2-A students crossed the bridge, heading right toward the city, wielding the greatest weapon —
— A brainwashed user of One For All!
The only thing that worked out in Midoriya's favor in all this was that…
… he was neither the first Class 2-A student, nor the last, who had fallen into the 2-B students' trap!