Chapter 7: The Fragility of Flesh
The Shipwreck Zone was no longer a body of water. It was a glacial valley, a landscape of jagged white peaks and smooth, treacherous plains. The air was so cold it hurt to breathe, turning every exhale into a dense cloud of fog.
Midoriya Izuku stepped carefully onto the ice. His red sneakers found purchase on the slippery surface. He looked down.
Beneath the translucent, bluish-white floor of ice, he saw a face. It was a villain, his mouth open in a silent scream, his hand reaching up as if to grab an ankle. The ice had captured him in perfect detail, freezing the ripples of the water around him.
"No way..." Mineta squeaked, clinging to Midoriya's leg. He looked down and saw another villain, this one holding a knife, suspended in the deep freeze. "They... they aren't dead, are they?"
"No," Tsuyu Asui said, hopping down from the boat to join them. She crouched, touching the ice with a gloved finger. "He didn't freeze them to the core. They're just in suspended animation. Like frogs in winter. Or at least that's what I think.."
Midoriya shivered, rubbing his arms. He looked at his own hands. "I... I didn't have to do anything. I was ready to use my power. I was ready to break my fingers again. But Kuzan-kun... he ended it in a single second."
They began to walk across the frozen lake toward the central plaza. The silence was heavy. Every step echoed. It felt like walking through a graveyard of statues.
"He's so strong," Midoriya whispered, his analytical mind racing. "To freeze this much mass instantly... his thermal regulation must be off the charts."
"He went to help Aizawa-sensei," Asui said, her eyes narrowing as she looked toward the center of the USJ. "We should hurry to him. The fighting sounds intense."
The Central Plaza
The battle was not going well.
Shota Aizawa was a man who fought with logic and precision. He erased quirks, he used martial arts, he leveled the playing field. But logic has no power against overwhelming brute force.
The creature—the Nomu—stood over him. Aizawa's arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. His face was smashed into the concrete. The creature roared, a sound devoid of humanity, and raised a massive, purple fist to deliver a finishing blow.
"You're cool, Eraserhead," Shigaraki Tomura said, scratching the dry skin on his neck. "But you're not the final boss. You're just an NPC."
Shigaraki reached out his hand. "Now... let's disintegrate you and see if All Might shows up."
Crack.
A sound like a gunshot echoed through the plaza. But it wasn't a gun. It was the sound of the air itself shattering.
Shigaraki paused. He felt a sudden drop in temperature. Frost began to crawl up his sneakers. He looked to his right.
Standing there, hands in the pockets of his white suit, was Aokiji Kuzan. He looked utterly relaxed, almost bored, but his dark eyes were fixed on the villain with a cold intensity.
"You know," Aokiji drawled, his voice low and resonant. "I hate field trips. Something always goes wrong. But this..." He gestured to the battered form of his teacher. "This is just bad manners."
Shigaraki turned his whole body. "A student? You're the one who froze the lake. Impressive. But you're just a kid."
"A kid who wants to go home," Aokiji said. He took a step forward. "I don't care about your ideology. I don't care about your manifesto. I'm not like All Might; I don't need to smile while I save people. But I can't just watch you break my teacher."
Shigaraki laughed. It was a dry, rasping sound. "You think you can be a hero? You think you can stop us? Nomu."
The massive creature turned its beak-like face toward Aokiji.
"Kill him," Shigaraki ordered. "I feel sorry for having to use the Nomu on a child... but playtimes are over."
The Nomu moved.
It was faster than the eye could follow. One moment, it was standing over Aizawa. The next, it was in front of Aokiji. The displacement of air alone created a shockwave that blew the dust away.
Aokiji didn't even have time to take his hands out of his pockets.
BOOM.
The punch connected with Aokiji's torso. It was a hit meant to rival All Might's power.
The impact was catastrophic. Aokiji didn't fly backward. He exploded.
There was a sickening crunching sound as Aokiji's body was instantly pulverized into thousands of glittering ice shards. His torso, his head, his limbs—they shattered like a glass sculpture dropped from a skyscraper.
Chunks of ice scattered across the plaza, skidding across the concrete.
"NO!" Midoriya screamed from the edge of the zone. He, Asui, and Mineta had just arrived. They froze in horror.
"Kuzan!" Ojiro, who had just emerged from the ruins with shoji, stared with wide eyes. "He... he just..."
"He's dead," Mineta wailed, tears streaming down his face. "He shattered him! He's gone!"
Shigaraki cackled, throwing his head back. "See? Fragile. Human bodies are so weak against true power. Game ov—"
He stopped.
The air didn't warm up. It got colder.
A wind began to swirl in the center of the plaza. A blizzard, localized entirely around the pile of shattered ice that used to be Aokiji Kuzan. The shards on the ground began to vibrate.
"What?" Shigaraki hissed.
The ice chips flew upward, swirling together like a reverse explosion. They clicked and snapped into place. First the legs, then the torso, the white suit reforming from the frost. Finally, the head.
Aokiji stood there. He rolled his neck, creating a sound like ice cubes cracking in a glass. He brushed a speck of frost off his shoulder.
"Arara," Aokiji sighed, looking at the Nomu. "That was heavy. If I were anyone else, I'd be dead right now."
The silence that followed was deafening.
The Nomu pulled its fist back. Its arm was coated in thick, jagged ice where it had made contact with Aokiji's body.
"He... he reformed?" Midoriya gasped, his tears drying instantly. "He turned into ice to avoid the damage? No... his body is ice."
"Nomu!" Shigaraki shrieked, scratching his neck furiously. "Crush him! Don't let him reform! Smash him until there's nothing left!"
The Nomu roared and lunged again.
Aokiji looked at the beast rushing toward him. His sleepy eyes narrowed.
"You're a pain in the neck," Aokiji muttered. "Literally."