Koji Koda was, without a doubt, a timid person.
That was the impression Nora formed after trying to come up with a systematic plan together. The moment he learned what Koda's quirk required, an immediate problem became obvious.
"Koda," Nora called out gently. "This is an artificial city… there aren't any wild animals nearby."
"..."
Koda glanced left and right, confusion flickering in his eyes—until the realization struck him. "!??"
Nora could practically feel a giant GANNN materialize behind him like something straight out of a comic panel.
"Sensei!!!" Nora spun toward the camera and called out desperately to All Might.
***
After a brief discussion, they finally received permission to let a few sparrows into the artificial city.
"Sigh… I guess we can relax a little now," Nora murmured.
Koda nodded repeatedly in gratitude.
You know, it'd be faster if you just spoke, Nora thought. But as a former introvert himself, he understood all too well how difficult it was to break through that wall—though it was undeniably troublesome at times.
"Alright, let's go with a simple plan." Seeing that no strategy was going to come from Koda, Nora took the initiative. It seemed Koda had intended that from the start, silently entrusting the planning to him.
"You can have the birds scout the area, but it's not like you can communicate telepathically with them," Nora explained. "So we'll use a radar-like method instead. When it comes to movement, I'll be much faster on my own. Your job is to gather information—find clear paths, locate the enemy's position, and relay it to me through the earpiece."
"You search, I enter. That way, it doesn't matter that this is our first time working together," Nora said, summarizing the plan.
Just as Nora understood Koda's quirk and capabilities, Koda also understood Nora's. He nodded quietly, accepting that he wouldn't be able to come up with a better strategy.
"But for the birds to fly in, scout, and return to report the situation, it'll take time. So divide them into two or three groups to reduce the downtime," Nora continued. That way, the birds could rotate in shifts.
"There are two drawbacks to this method. First, with fewer birds per group, the information will be less detailed. Second, you'll have to work really hard to keep track of everything."
Koda nodded firmly, clearly expressing that he didn't mind the workload. However, he hesitated before raising another issue.
"U-Um… I can't actually hear the animals' voices. I can command them, but they don't talk back to me…"
He corrected Nora's misunderstanding of his quirk, looking apologetic.
"Ah, that's fine too. You don't need to hear the birds' voices," Nora said, nodding at the new information. "Just think of it like sonar. Give them a command: fly forward, and if they encounter another human, turn back immediately. Depending on how you time it, we can at least figure out the enemy's location."
It was a simple idea—but more than enough.
Koda's eyes sparkled with excitement, as if he had just discovered a brand-new way to use his quirk. He nodded vigorously, the message clear:
Leave it to me!
Nora nodded back and extended his fist toward him.
Koda blinked in confusion for a moment, then, understanding the gesture, gave a shy smile—though it remained hidden behind his mask.
Bump.
With that, the two of them were ready to move.
Piiii—
The sharp whistle signaled the start of the match.
Nora immediately dashed into the building the moment the game began.
A second later, Koda's sparrows soared upward and slipped inside through the upper windows, beginning their scouting route.
Meanwhile,
Aoyama and Ashido were also doing their best, drawing on each other's strengths and experience. Their conclusion was simple: the best strategy was to ambush the hero team from a blind spot before they even reached the bomb.
After all, the hero team's victory condition was just a single touch—so engaging them far away from the bomb was the safer choice.
The building had four floors, and the bomb was hidden on the very top level.
An ambush on the first floor would be too predictable and could be countered easily.
Instead, they prepared a pincer trap: one of them waited above the third-floor staircase, while the other hid behind the stairs on the second floor.
The moment the heroes tried to climb up, they would strike from both directions and surround them instantly.
"With Nora's speed, he'll probably rush in ahead by himself. That makes it much easier for us," Ashido explained confidently as she finalized the setup.
But the moment the game began—
Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh— flap flap flap—
The loud rush of wings and beating air filled the building.
Ashido peeked out cautiously and spotted several sparrows circling near the high ceiling, darting through the corridors and stairwells. They were moving along every possible path, almost as if they were mapping the entire area.
When one of the birds happened to spot her, it froze for a split second—then abruptly turned around and retreated in a distinctly unnatural manner.
"!!"
Ashido felt a chill run down her spine.
A hunch clicked in her mind.
"Aoyama, cancel the ambush! We're retreating to the hall right before the bomb!" she ordered into her earpiece.
"Ehh?! But I haven't shown my sparkling brilliance yet!"
"You can show it later!!" Ashido snapped back as she sprinted up toward the fourth floor.
…
"Woah!" An instinctive note of admiration escaped one of the spectators. The rest of the classmates had been watching the action unfold from the beginning. Although their conversation was hard to catch from the monitoring room, it was clear they had quickly grasped the strategy.
"That's clever," Yaoyorozu commented, observing the birds as they scouted the building in coordinated batches.
The others nodded in agreement. "You can avoid an ambush this way," Hanta Sero added, noting how Ashido and Aoyama swiftly repositioned themselves whenever a bird spotted them.
"It's also smart of the villains to abandon their original plan," All Might remarked. "Flexibility is crucial for a hero too. If they had stubbornly stuck to their plan, they could have been countered severely."
By the time the discussion had wound down, Nora had reached the fourth floor.
It was a long, narrow hallway with a single door behind the villains—exactly as they had anticipated, expecting Nora to arrive alone.
"Good plan," All Might commented again. "In a narrow hallway, they can reduce Nekoyama's advantage in agility." Tokoyami nodded in agreement.
As expected, Aoyama, using his long-range abilities, moved to the front and instantly fired a laser toward Nora.
The attack was fast, but still predictable—after all, all you had to do was anticipate the direction his body was facing. Nora leapt left and right, sometimes sliding across the floor, even kicking off one wall before springing off the other.
"Ohh!!" Naturally, the beast-like movements immediately drew everyone's attention.
"It's like a beast," someone muttered.
If Nora had suddenly possessed this body, performing such hellish parkour might have been impossible. After all, as a former veteran Dota player, who would bother with sports? It would have felt like a waste of time.
But Nora had inhabited this body for years. Despite his poor battle instincts, moving it came naturally—especially with the balance boost provided by his Mutant-like physique.
As he reached the midpoint, Ashido stepped into range, her acid attack extending toward him. With both of them firing projectiles simultaneously, Nora was forced to halt for a moment—just dodging had already consumed most of his available actions.
He couldn't advance further.
"If they keep this up, the villains will win when time runs out," Kirishima warned.
But… sadly, the first to fall was—
"Ughhh!" Aoyama collapsed, clutching his stomach.
Seizing the opportunity, Nora pressed forward once more.
Now it was a one-on-one showdown with Ashido.
Athletic and agile, Ashido moved like a seasoned sports girl, her body perfectly tuned for motion. Her acid attacks splashed around like liquid barriers, making it extremely difficult for Nora to close the distance without taking a hit.
And in the narrow hallway, finding a way past her was nearly impossible.
"It's not exactly a great image—a girl splashing liquid like that," Nora commented casually.
"Hehe, that's quite a thing to say to a girl," Ashido replied, calm and unruffled by his remark.
"Can you make those… endlessly?" Nora asked with a wry smile.
"Who knows," she replied, smirking.
"Well, if we just stay here, we lose—but maybe I can make it through if I try," Nora said, smiling in return. With that, he leapt forward, closing the distance for hand-to-hand combat.
Ashido reacted instantly, swinging her left hand upward in a splash.
Nora, anticipating the move, took a small step back before advancing further. Then Ashido swung her right hand from above—but before it could come down fully, Nora was already close enough to parry it aside.
Some acid splashed onto his body, but not much. Undeterred, Nora pressed forward to subdue her—only to see her left hand raised again, ready to spray him. He was forced to step back, but that tiny gap gave Ashido the opening she needed: she swung her leg while releasing another stream of acid.
"!?" Nora stumbled back more than one step, retreating toward their original position. Now they were about three meters apart.
"It's sticky," Nora complained, brushing at the acid. It wasn't strong enough to damage him seriously, but it was enough to leave a rash—at least Ashido had controlled the lethality. "Thank goodness it's not white," he muttered to himself.
"W-What a thing to say!" she replied, trying to remain calm.
"Sorry," Nora quickly apologized. "Didn't mean for you to hear that."
Then, suddenly, his earpiece crackled.
"Ca… Carpet bombing," came Koda's voice.
Nora looked up in horror as all the birds he controlled moved in perfect formation—five columns, three rows—covering the entire hallway.
"D-Don't tell me…!?"
"GEHH!!?"
"EW!!"
"??!!"
A chorus of shocked voices erupted from the monitor room, all strikingly similar in tone. After all, seeing birds moving in precise formation—like a miniature military jet squadron—dropping their treasures in a controlled manner was nothing short of insane.
Nora quickly swung his brace to intercept the bombing, while Ashido shrieked, "Eeeek!"—spending almost all her acid to shield herself.
The only real victim was Aoyama, clutching his stomach on the floor as the acid bomb hit him.
"GGYEEEKKK!!!" A scream of unimaginable pain echoed through the building.
Seizing the opportunity, Nora lunged forward again.
"We have to talk after this, Koda!" he muttered, suppressing his complaint.
Ashido tried to react—but it was too late. Nora had already passed her and smashed through the door.
The next moment:
Piiiii—
"Hero's Win!!" All Might announced, declaring the victor.