Chapter 18: Chapter eighteen: A funny list of events.

(General POV)

4 hours.

That's how long Shigaraki Touma waited, watching the gates of UA from both far and close. That's how long he needed to blend into the crowd before he had his chance to strike. 

A little birdie inside the school told him about the break times, when the teacher's would be busy. When they would eat lunch, when the school cafeteria would be packed with everyone around campus.

That same little birdie tweeted its tune on where the teachers worked, where the schedules and class trials would take place. When they would take place.

So Shigaraki waited. And waited. And waited. 

4 hours.

Starting 7 in the morning, he left the bar with Kurogiri's help. Kurogiri himself, the warp gate user, was on stand by a few alleys away, observing the situation from afar.

Making sure that when they did strike, it would be their chance.

So they waited.

At around 7:35, Shigaraki joined the crowd, blended with them, both close enough to be seen as one of the reporters but far enough not to get entangled with their meaningless conversations. The press wouldn't see All Might today. No matter how much they screamed like children on a tantrum, but that didn't mean they weren't useful.

-8 am: The first bell rings from afar. The first class should have started, leaving 3 more to go.

...

-9 am: Second bell rung from afar. 2 more hours to go.

...

At around 9:30: The reporters started rioting. They were making a ruckus, various phone calls and nervous interactions with their team members left them restless. They were indeed useful NPCs.

-10 am: The second bell rings. The reporters were anything but negligent, they rioted even more. Not causing enough of a commotion for anyone to act, however.

UA's gate stood proud and tall, the only thing stopping them from entering and getting their source material for this weeks news. Everyone wanted to cover All Might. 'After all, that bastard was the reason for society's corruption still existing.' Shigaraki grimaced at the very idea of seeing All Might.

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to get rid of the hero who kept society stable, because no matter how you looked at it, he's the only reason Japan is up and running.

-10:15 am. A brave few decided to cover the wall itself, though that would certainly not make this week's cover. The reporters there stayed active until 11.

-11 am: They wouldn't budge, but now they were anxious. If need be, they would wait until the end of the day to see All Might. That's how popular the hero was, how deluded the media is.

...

-12 am: The final bell. It was time.

"Man. What the hell is up with them?! We just want to have an interview with All Might!" A reporter spoke as his colleague, a camera man replied. It was even more pathetic.

"If we could just go home.. Damnit! Why the hell isn't All Might here? If he were-"

A scuffed voice violently interrupted the two. Their talk was stopped by a third party leaning in. A hooded boy.

"Just shut the hell up already!" He said with ferocity that made the two flinch.

"All Might this. All Might that. You mobs sure know how to bootlick-" Shigaraki spoke as he looked over to UA.

"You all want All Might so bad?" He said almost chuckling. He looked over to his phone which read '12:14'.

"Fine then."

While the crowd continued to clamor, for those two reporters, his footsteps felt the loudest. Walking to the gate, he placed his hand on the walls of UA.

"DECAY"

The walls fell the moment he used his quirk. No one missed the opportunity. Especially not the ambitious HNA reporter at the very front of the crowd, not the one who would, no matter what, get her chance.

"The walls are down!"

"Hurry! It's our chance to interview ALL MIGHT." She basically shouted as the crowd stampeded their way through the gates of UA. Shigaraki, dead center in the crowd as they covered his form couldn't help but smirk.

"Go fetch." No one would hear his mutter as he disappeared into the crowd, pulling his hoodie tight, and gone with the wind.

...

---

(General POV)

'Faster'

Izuku soared through the halls of UA. Every second passing, his acceleration pushed the boundaries of his speed to their max; In mere moments he would be outside, but that didn't mean who ever was currently ravaging the teacher's lounge would simply wait.

Once he leapt from Nezu's office, he decided the fastest way to reach the intruder was at an angle. Hall after hall, room after room, he eventually passed

"Instantaneous acceleration"

"Anti-Gravity"

"Strong Jump"

"Bouncy Body"

Now, Izuku was fully aware of the perpetrator's position in real time. He could map out the entirety of UA with the bird's help, in some way, they increased his sensory capabilities; He wouldn't need to constantly emit a sonar wave when they had already been on full alert.

He could see many things because of his winged compatriots.

The Teacher's lounge.

The class rooms.

...

The cafeteria...

This is why Ectoplasm's quirk would have been lovely. He couldn't help but grumble at the smug thought of that teacher's face saying "Oh~ You need to earn it!"

Biting his jaw, he swore he'd get that ability.

'The student's should be able to handle themselves.' He thought as he noticed Tenya acting to stop them. A soft smile covered his lips.

*WHOOOOOSH

Izuku leapt head first into a wall, angled directly towards the perpetrator. A perfect angle for max speed. Lowered towards the ground at a 70 degree angle, he leapt.

"Permeation"

"Tracelessness"

And he phased right through the tungsten shields that inlaid the walls.

And through the budling itself. Invisible to everyone outside.

Not that he would make a silent approach. No. He wanted to have some fun with this hunt.

...

---

(General POV)

(Cafeteria - General POV)

In mere moments, the entire room leapt into a frenzy. Panic was scary to many of them, and the 'heroes in training', frankly speaking, lack the grit needed do deal with high stress situations. It was why the more recent classes held promise compared to their seniors. They had what Aizawa dubbed, 'the character of a hero', with a few exceptions. Like Mineta.

Not that any of that actually affected the stampede, flooding students who had lost all reasoning under their fear. They would have scattered if there wasn't only a single exit.

"Villains!"

"RUN!"

The crowd was in delirium, adrenaline fueled psychosis caused their logical reasoning to fall flat, leaving their flight and fight responses to go wild. Few people here had the sheer mental strength to calm down from the sudden attack, that was of course barring the exception of the victims. 

Those like class 1A, for example, among other new classes were taking the blunt of the force.

The older children never experienced an attack in their years at UA, thus were most violent.

"What's happening?!" Kirishima blurted out as dozen, among dozen of students of various shapes and speeds passed by them, ignoring the few who had almost fallen into the crowd.

"Why is everyone panicking?!" Uraraka screamed. Not that her voice was heard as hundreds of panicked voices drowned her own, everyone was looking for a path out of the cafeteria.

'...' Ida was distracted. The notion that neither of his class presidents were there and the sheer response of the crowd had sent him into a spiral. He was panicking too.

'Where are the teachers?!' he couldn't help but stutter, barely in place as the entire swarm crushed him between larger and smaller bodies; Izuku couldn't help here even if he wanted to, as physical contact with any number of people would surely send him into a hospital bed.

'Damn it.' Ida couldn't help but think as his class wobbled around the crowd, trying to sustain balance between the number of people hitting against them.

"I-IDA!" Uraraka shouted again, and they all could see why. The crowd was making her loose her standing, she was falling to the floor as the runners trampled her shoes. Injuries would be procured here regardless if it all stopped now. She wasn't the only one either.

"I got her!" Mina said as she took action. Kirishima's face was heavy, indecisive for a few moments, he looked in some way disgusted at himself, but quickly snapped out of it. Searching for others who needed help, he decided to be the hero for once and take initiative. Thankfully, there were none who needed help, rather, the few that did just ran with the crowd in terror.

Mina, in her slick fashion, moved through the slowing people one after the other, eventually reaching out to Ochaco. Her pink arm and Ochaco's hand intersected and pulled away a few times as the girl sunk by the crowd's viscosity; A passerby moved through the space between the two, cutting the attempt mid way. It was at this point two things happened, Ochaco almost slipped onto the floor as a few steps barely evaded her body, and Mina decided to jump in. As the crowd decided to pick up pace again, it was difficult for her to actually move through the blockage between them; although it was a risk, to lose her footing and endanger herself, Mina moved even closer.

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"Grab my hand!" Mina said as Uraraka reached out one last time, and Mina barely managed the touch of their nails, fingers separated only by a single millimeter, but that would not stop Mina. Mina then leapt towards Ochaco's body, by pure chance, there was no one who stepped in her path and her footing was stable. Ochaco too took a risk and jumped towards her, but was hit by another. Ochaco grabbed Mina's hand and pulled her close enough for the two to maintain some balance in this torrent.

But even then, the two class 1A girls were still affected by the vast number of those who had decided to run with the crowd. It was something akin to a reverse bystander effect, everyone 'had to' leave, because everyone else was panicking.

Ida, who was watching it all, couldn't help but see all the other class members sprawled out around the crowd, at this rate, there would be injuries. He looked around for anything, anyone. Then... He saw the windows.

"Reporters" He couldn't help but widen his eyes at the sight of teacher's holding hundreds of reporters in place. That was the reason behind the alarms. There were no villains!

"Everyone! Stop!" Somehow, more panic spread, he should have felt relieved.

"It's Just Reporters! Calm down!"

But to no avail, they would not hear him, they couldn't even register what he said under the screaming of several scattered voices. They couldn't register it even if it was silent, they were in a state of sudden activeness. 

"Move! Hurry!" One spoke. Ida could only faintly hear them.

"Villains are here!" Another screeched. Everyone was deaf from the noises and panicked words of the student body.

They didn't shift, like a pebble in a river, he could only try to keep his composure as shoulder after shoulder, he was bumped into but those few that successfully passed others. Sweat ran a marathon across his face; At the realization, that no matter what he said, he couldn't be heard, he froze.

'They're not listening' Ida thought as his body went still, only for a second as the crowd made him straighten himself as not to be crushed by their steps. He quickly snapped out of his trance as his gaze passed the entrance.

He- He had to tell them! But how? HOW COULD HE DO THAT? How could he get them all to listen?

Panic had finally got him too.

Looking around, haphazardly, he saw his classmates again. Under their panicked expressions, he couldn't help metaphorically slap himself back into a calm demeanor.

...

"Calm down Ida." His voice unheard as the screams were still rampant, but his eyes gave a cold determined look.

To him, everything was silent.

"You just have to alert everyone simultaneously." Conversing with himself, he looked around for a way to stop this.

...

Now carefully planning, less time was needed for him to formulate a plan of action.

Crowd.

Sign?

Entrance.

Everyone is looking there right? he should be able- Wait...

!

He could do that!

"Ochaco! I need your help!" Like an owl, his head snapped towards Ochaco and Mina, who were stuck in the middle of the rampant flow, like a hedge or stone cutting through a river.

Basically yelling at her as the two girls looked at him confused, he decided there was no time for staying still. The crowd was noisy enough that his voice was again, left unheard. Slowly but surely waddling towards them, one foot at a time, almost falling over several times, he asked again midway.

"Can you make me massless?" She nodded after a few seconds. It wasn't a good idea for her use her quirk while nauseated by the crowd, but thankfully Mina was here incase the worst happened. She could vomit later.

'Hopefully, whatever Ida has in mind would fix this.' 

"ZERO GRAVITY"

"Thank you." He said as he aimed to where everyone wanted to go. The exits. He looked at the large, red sign that said, 'EXIT'. The space above it should be enough for him to garner their focus.

Aiming his body, he sprinted like his life depended on it. For a small, minute second, he broke passed his record speed from sheer strength.

"ENGINE"

But it didn't go as planned.

Rather than a straight line above those infront of him, he spun repeatedly at an extreme speed, the inbalance of force cause his legs to turn him into a table top spin toy. But it worked: Everyone's focus was taken!

He couldn't stop midway.

He had to go faster.

"Engine boost!" He thought as he murmured the words loudly.

Thus, his pipe covered legs ran even faster as he spoke, his body spun faster as he reached the exit sign. It was a comical sight, he did several flips in the air which notably silenced the crowd. The force of the spin sending him on his side, he landed right above the exit sign with everyone's eyes on him, but he wasn't done yet.

'Be Concise. Clear. And Confident! MAKE AN IMPACT!' He thought as he had everyone's attention. Hundreds, and truly, hundreds gazed on him as those on the floor took the brief moment to pick themselves up, still frightened by the entire situation.

"LISTEN UP! EVERYTHING IS OKAY!" He said, his legs shaking as he held onto the ceiling for support, he couldn't keep doing this for long. He could barely keep himself in place. But he got everyone's eyes. The crowd slowed to a stop in seconds.

"ITS JUST THE MEDIA OUTSIDE! THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! AS UA STUDENTS, WE NEED TO BE CALM EVEN IN A SITAUTION LIKE THIS AND SHOW EVERYONE WHOSE THE BEST OF THE BEST!" He said as a shine collectively rose among everyone. Eye's glimmered, no longer terrified, but rather in relief.

It was the police sirens outside that took the rest of the effort needed to calm their heavy chests. Many were thankful that they finally arrived.

Like that. All of them took a moment to look around and calm themselves, many were much less dazed. Everything was calm once more as Mina and Ochaco, along with a few others, stared at Ida with thankful looks, and Kirishima looked like he was relieved.

*Shake Shake

Ida's legs wouldn't hold for long, nor would his arms. Thankfully, he had no mass. So he just dropped himself down.

'Phew. That was worrying.' He couldn't help but be relieved. Moments later, Momo arrived in the cafeteria. Utterly shaken.

"I- I was gone for 6 minutes?" Shaken from the sight, she had in fact rushed after hearing the alarms. Sadly, it seems both the Vice and president were unready for this situation as her gaze covered across the fields of young Pre-heroes. They were all calm, Ida was almost on the floor, Kirishima and others were helping and Mina and Ochaco sat exhausted. Bruised?

...

Staring at the scene, a sigh was loosened from her lips. She had strengthened he discipline after hearing Izuku's words, her desire to be a hero, to giver everything possible to do so was great, but now? A rain of disappointment poured across her self esteem as she realized that once again, she couldn't do anything. Though he fist was clenched.

'No. I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I wasn't even here to do anything-' A failed attempt of self control caused the fingers of her right hand to dig in to themselves. Almost cutting through her scuffed and calloused covered palm. She couldn't say that.

She had no right to give excuses. She was Vice president, when the President was unavailable, she had to take control.

"I won't repeat the same mistake twice." Uttering the words her father told her at 7, now focused on her classmates, moved to assist those that had needed it. She would never be useless in a situation like this, ever gain.

...

---

(General POV)

(UA Campus - Teacher's lounge - 3rd building)

"Where's that damn file?!" Shigaraki slowly, meticulously ran through the entire shelves of folders that covered the wall. UA had several teacher lounges, this was a meeting room where they'd discuss important class trips.

Unlike the bold, ferocious desire to kill All Might fueling his actions, now he felt underwhelmed by how boring all of this was. The birds screaming at him didn't make it any easier.

'If this chain quest doesn't get me to the final boss, I swear I'm going to kill someone!' He thought as at the corner of his eye, it appeared.

On the desk, in plain sight... Damnit.

...

He froze for a moment, before uttering a few quiet words.

"The drop item."

Words ran across his mouth unconsciously, offering no comment on the last minute of unnecessary searching.

His body inched its way towards the round table that spanned most of the room. He grabbed the file that laid atop with 4 fingers, careful not to accidentally corrode it. 

*BOOM

Sadly. He had to fight a Mini-boss before he could get the loot.

*Cough cough

The wall facing him exploded into a burst of dust. Concrete particles scattered as the room had been obscured for mere seconds. Shigaraki, with all his training, did not stay still as a 'heroic' figure hovered through the room's new open window.

The person who passed through... was a young boy with green hair?

'Is this a hero?' Shigaraki thought as the boy's eyes drifted across his body, rapidly switching limb to limb.

Then a soft grin appeared. Then a smile.

...

"Hello there." The boy spoke with a happy expression. A joyful smile.

Somehow, it felt far more dangerous than it should have.

 

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