Chapter Text
“They tried to kill us, yeah? They’re still trying to kill us. They just got smarter about it. Instead of beating us in the streets, they beat us in the courts and the insurance claims. Is it really so surprising that when we were left with no other options, we went and got even?”
- From “Interviews With The Null” by Professor Eli Whitman
Sakuya sat with Himiko and Mei as they watched the rest of the first bracket, Mei was last up so she had a while to hang out with them. Most of the other people in the family section seemed to be giving them a wide berth. Probably due to the way that Sakuya had made herself known to them. Still Tooru and Ojiro stayed around and chatted, though Sakuya felt like they were unsure what to make of her. She caught them gazing at her and while she couldn’t read Tooru’s expression, Ojiro’s was definitely appraising, as if she were a particularly vexing puzzle.
Mei had taken to hopping between her lap and Himiko’s like her own personal game of musical chairs. Personally, she didn’t understand the desire, yes Himiko was very soft and comfy. The issue was that Sakuya was built more like a gymnast or a swimmer. All her bow drawing had left her upper body well built while keeping her very lean and lithe. So, what Mei could find comfy about her lap was a mystery, but Sakuya suspected it might be a ploy to steal her candies.
Sakuya turned her attention to the next fight, apparently Todoroki was directly after her and he had not gone lightly on Sero. Now, however, it was Monoma Neito against Kirishima. This fight was of particular interest to her, seeing as whoever won it would be her next opponent in the bracket. She leaned forward in her seat and began to study them both carefully. Kirishima’s quirk proved particularly troublesome for her. The countermeasure she had devised would take time to fabricate from her arm and it certainly wasn’t going to earn her any fans. Yes, Project Bunker Buster was a bit cruel, but effective.
What had her actually shocked was Monoma. The blonde was good, like, really good. She watched as he moved in and copied Kirishima’s quirk and instead of simply using it as a blunt instrument, he straightened his hands before hardening them. He turned what equated to a pair of bludgeoning weapons for his foe into effective chisels. Obviously, Monoma had a quick mind for creative quirk applications.
With a quick series of jabs, he punched holes into Kirishima’s armor, leaving him exposed and vulnerable. It was a war of attrition at that point, every crack in Kirishima’s armor was patched by a weaker hardening that took longer to cover it up and the outcome of the battle was an inevitability. Sure enough, there was a single faltering in Kirishima’s defense and Monoma consumed it, a single strike to the diaphragm that caused Kirishima to drop his hardening. In that moment, Monoma struck once more with a swift attack at Kirishima’s head, knocking him out.
Sakuya sat back and sighed heavily. “Well, that’s going to be a problem.”
Mei and Himiko hummed in understanding, they knew her plans almost as well as she did. However, Tooru’s body shifted towards her. “Sorry, Midoriya-San, but I’m confused, wouldn’t you want to fight Monoma? He’d be forced to fight you on even footing.”
“That, Tooru-San, is exactly what the problem is.” Sakuya explained as she chewed fingernail in thought, Mei immediately moved to pull it away. Chewing on things was a bad habit of hers when she was planning. “I had a plan for each of you if we met in the finals. Acting on the fact that you all are new and haven’t done enough studying your quirks to realize your major weaknesses yet. Using the surprise to then act effectively against you, but Monoma…Monoma, I can’t plan for. There is no real way to counteract his quirk outside of my existence and he’s expecting that. I had hoped that my skill would outweigh his own, but after seeing that fight, I’m not as certain. In short, this is going to be my least favorite kind of fight.”
“What kind of fight is that?” Ojiro asked.
“A fair one.” She gritted out.
Himiko gripped her hand and Mei migrated back from her lap into Sakuya’s.
“Hey,” Himiko said. “You got this. You worked really hard to get where you are and there’s nothing that can stop you now. I’d bet anything you’re going to win this, full sweep.”
Sakuya smirked, she felt better just from the affection that her girlfriends showed her. It was a guiding lighthouse when she felt lost at sea. Anchors in her storm.
“Anything, you say? Careful, Himi.” Sakuya said with a waggle of her eyebrows. “A girl may get ideas.”
Himi giggled and leaned forward. “Then let me be clear about what will happen after you win.” Himiko leaned forward and whispered a few things in her ear that Sakuya was pretty sure would be considered illegal in a few countries.
Her face red, she turned to Mei. “So, any words of encouragement? Or are you just here to purloin with more of my chocolatey snacks?”
Mei at least had the decorum to look guilty as she shoved a handful of Raisinets into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before she spoke. “I don’t see a need for encouragement, most of these guys see this as a PR opportunity. Hell, I’m bowing out in my first round because I’m using it as a marketing campaign for HatsuDoriya Industries. For you, this is more than that, this is a statement and a future. You’re going to win, simply because you want it more than the rest of them.”
Sakuya was shocked by her wisdom for a moment, the stunned feeling was immediately undercut by the fact that Mei took a large grip of unwrapped Cherry Jolly Ranchers and popped them into her mouth all at once. Sakuya tried to grab her, but she danced away and primly returned to Himiko’s lap, looking smugly satisfied.
“Hey, I just realized,” Himiko said, her eyes narrowing. “If it’s HatsuDoriya Industries, where’s my name gonna fit in?”
Seeing a chance for revenge, Sakuya shook her head mournfully. “Damn shame, Himi. Guess you’ll just have to take one of ours eventually.” That left the girl red and squeaking and Tooru and Ojiro laughing. Sakuya’s smile widened, it was a good day to start a revolution.
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Bakugou was pissed. No, pissed wasn’t a good enough fucking word for what he was. Furious? No. Angry? No. Incandescent? Yeah, yeah. Bakugou was goddamn incandescent. This was supposed to be his big debut, he was supposed to show all these people who was the future Number One Hero. Then, like every other day of his life, fucking Deku showed up and made a mess of it.
She, and yes, she, because Bakugou wasn’t a dickhead, had gone and made herself into some stupid symbol. He knew enough history to know the last time the Null symbol started showing up in places. He was too young to have remembered the Null Revolts, but his parents talked about them. About Quirkless and Heteromorphs setting bombs and about checkpoints being set up everywhere. Things calmed down after the HPSC took care of things and beat them all up, but now Deku had decided to display the symbol like a fucking battle flag.
“Fucking Deku,” He mumbled as he got ready for his. “Trying to be a symbol, huh? Well, let’s just see what they think when I smack back down.”
He stood and marched to the entrance and leveled his eyes at Birdhead. His palms sparked and popped, he felt his teeth grit together. This wasn’t even going to be a challenge. he didn’t bother stalking forward, didn’t bother posturing or yelling. Birdhead wasn’t anywhere on his radar of threats, he just moved. In quick and deliberate bursts of speed from his palms, forcing his opponents quirk to continuously readjust before he hit it with a massive blast of light and pain. It shrank away like it was afraid of him, he grinned and kept up the pressure.
Birdhead tried to retreat and create distance but Bakugou followed him. He ripped through the shadows like paper and saw Birdhead cowering behind it. Disgust filled Bakugou, this was what a future hero was like? Where U.A. got off throwing him in with all these extras, with fucking Deku, he had no clue. It was time to show them the difference in levels. He tore through Birdhead’s defenses and didn’t stop.
By the time the match was called, there was a smattering of feathers strewn across the arena. Birdhead lay in a broken heap on the ground. Bakugou…Bakugou felt numb, there was no satisfaction, the only time he felt anything actually quicken his heart was when Deku was around. That wasn’t anger, however, it was something deeper, more primal. He hadn’t known what it was, why he felt it every time emerald eyes watched him from a distance. That was, until he saw the same gaze in someone else, in a man who grinned and had eyes like blood.
Yeah, Bakugou knew what he felt around Deku. Something old, the same something that told you there was a predator in the brush. The same feeling when he had been drowning in muck, trying not to die. The same feeling he had when he first saw Beacon and Shigaraki fighting each other. That feeling that whatever he was seeing was above his skill and he was small and insignificant. He knew that feeling well now, it whispered nightmares into his sleep. He didn’t hate Deku, he was terrified of her.
He hadn’t realized it, but now he knew, he had felt it since the day she had outstretched her hand in that river. He had been told since he was a baby that he had a strong quirk, that he was strong. He had been told that Deku was weak and not worth his time. Yet, every time he looked, she was there. Ignoring the paradigm of society, standing in front of him, emerald green filled with pity and disappointment. As if he were the one breaking some taboo, like she was the paragon and he was something lowly.
Beyond that, he saw something else, something deeper, that thing that made him feel fear. There was a predator that was lurking in the bushes, something swimming deep in Deku’s eyes. Just far enough under the surface that he could make out the vaguest shadow of something great and terrible. The rest of the extras thought he made a target of her because she was weak or worthless. They knew though, deep down, they were just as afraid as he was, they just hadn’t realized it yet. Their subconscious recognized the monster before the rest of them did and they tried everything to keep it down.
When he saw her on his first day of U.A., he was able to tell how much closer to the surface it was. It used to be the vaguest hint and now he could see it distinctly in everything she did. How she moved, how she talked, everything was done in the calculating efficiency of a hunter. At the USJ, he had seen what that animal would look like unshackled and unbound, that was what Shigaraki was. A wild animal, pointed in a direction and told to hunt. Deku would be twice as dangerous, so he had to smack her down, before something worse rose up from her. That was the hero's job, after all.
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The rest of the match ups had gone about as Sakuya had expected, though she found that Bakugou had been unnecessarily rough with Tokoyami.
No surprise, She thought darkly. Bakugou has never been more than a brute, now you get to dismantle him in front of everyone.
At least Mei’s PR stunt had Himiko laughing afterwards, that made Sakuya feel a bit better. The set up of winners from the first rounds left eight more people: Bakugou, Monoma, Todoroki, Iida, Uraraka, Ibara, Midoriya and Ashido. Like she did in the first round, Sakuya scanned the match-ups and determined the most likely winners. Bakugou against Uraraka, that would depend on Uraraka’s ability to use her quirk creatively, in all likelihood though, that would go to Bakugou. Todoroki against Ashido was a laughable notion, Ashido’s acid wasn’t exactly going to do much if Todoroki kept her at a range. Iida and Ibara would have been interesting if Ibara had any strategy beyond just hunkering down and going for full defense.
That left the only real toss up, Sakuya against Monoma. She had seen him fight and was surprised by his skill. He had a pretty good idea of how to fight and utilize his opponents' quirks against them, he exploited Kirishiman’s weaknesses with efficiency and grace. She stood and walked down the halls, pacing really, trying to keep her mind focused on the battle. So of course, she would run into Endeavor.
The man had always cut a larger than life figure, now that he was standing in front of her, Sakuya could tell why. The man was easily six and a half feet tall and built more like a bodybuilder than a fighter. Sakuya found that odd, his quirk didn’t require strength so why would he need to build mass? It clicked instantly, heat, he needed more mass to spread out the heat of his flames. So, theoretically if you got him to overuse his quirk enough, he wouldn’t be able to keep up. Sakuya smirked as the man loomed over her, satisfied with her own mental puzzle’s solution.
“You are the Null,” He said the word with the same tone as “leper” or “abomination”. “The one who made it this far…somehow.”
Sakuya looked him up and down, maybe should have been intimidated by the living inferno himself. Yet, after Todoroki told her his story, all she could see was another man who thought he was untouchable. Sakuya knew men like him her whole life. Teachers, principals, Bakugou, it was just the same brand of asshole in a new flavor. So instead of cowering like he probably expected, she stood taller and took a step toward him.
“Yeah, I’m also the girl who’s going to use your son as a mop and clean the arena with his face.” She said, meeting his eyes.
“You’re being awfully cocky, girl.” He sniffed and turned his head up imperiously. “There’s no guarantee that you’ll make it past this upcoming round!”
Sakuya let herself grin wide and dangerously. “Watch me, Endeavor. Watch me and see as some Null beats your supposed masterpiece. Then, when they're picking him up off the floor, remember this. I won’t win because I’m more powerful, or stronger, or faster. It’ll be because I’m just better than you.”
Present Mic’s voice piped in from the speakers. “And it looks like Ashido Mina is knocked out cold! Our winner going on to the Semifinals is Todoroki Shoto!”
Sakuya shouldered past Endeavor. “Sounds like that’s my cue, tell Shoto congratulations for me. He’ll probably need it since I doubt his father has ever given him any praise
She could feel the heat in the hall starting to rise by degrees, but was careful not to look back and not to pick up her pace. Predators sensed openings like that, but if you appeared unbothered, confident, then they hesitated. So she walked forward and only let out a gasp of terror when she’d rounded the corner. She almost collapsed into delirious giggles, but she couldn’t let herself. She had a fight to win, after all.
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Fighting Monoma Neito was like fighting fucking water. That was the lesson Sakuya was learning, the blond was all flowing and fluid movements. Each motion he took naturally bled into a new strike or readjustment, it was clear that he was classically trained. Sakuya in comparison was trained the old fashioned way, which meant she got her ass kicked until she didn’t anymore.
This was to say, while Monoma’s technique was flawless, his attacks lacked the power that had taught Sakuya pain. His strike to her side probably would have hurt someone who had been trained to bend out of the way of strikes like that, but Sakuya learned to grin and bear it and he just didn’t compare in raw force. That, however, didn’t mean he was losing. Each attack was a small chip into her, the weathering of a mountain and he slipped around her own strikes like he was made of air.
So they were at an impasse, she wasn’t able to break through his defenses and his attacks barely made her flinch. She had to change the paradigm at some point, but that required a strategy that she didn’t have the luxury of coming up with right now. She did have one advantage that most would have missed. Monoma was tired, it was obvious that he won by decisive and quick action that overwhelmed opponents by utilizing their quirks against them. Sakuya was a new type of enemy, he had no tricks either and he was slowing long before her. Now, she just had to find a way to capitalize on it.
She watched Monoma’s movements closely, but that distracted her and let him get a lucky shot in, she felt a rib finally give in and crack. She had to back away as her breath caught and…right there. Monoma’s movements stuttered, just slightly as she moved unconventionally. She had unconsciously used her metallic left arm to block her body. The arm that was still hidden, Monoma would have no reason to train for an unconventional body movement like that.
The problem with training, She thought. Is that you don’t know what to do against unconventional opponents.
Instead of resetting herself to a neutral position, Sakuya lunged into Monoma’s guard. Usually a stupid move, your opponent would have plenty of time to stop you with a punishing move and create distance between you both once again. Monoma knew that, so he had discarded it as an option. So, he was completely unprepared for the strike she gave his diaphragm in his moment of confusion. As he reeled, she went and shot a jab in his face. Traditional martial arts rarely went for full face strikes, so Sakuya knew he’d be unprepared. There was a moment of disconnect when a person got struck in the face, where your mind tried to reconcile the haze of new pains in your body. Sakuya had enough experience to reform that connection, Monoma did not.
To the boy’s credit, he managed a recovery and got some good strikes in, but they had both been balanced on a knife’s edge. Monoma slipped first and now all that was left was the tumble down. Still, Sakuya could feel him making her pay for every inch of ground. Each punch and kick she delivered was met with a retort of pain, a fractured bone, broken nose or any other multitude of pains. Finally, in one strike, she dodged into Monoma rather than away from him and grabbed his outstretched arm. Using her own body weight and momentum, she planted a knee into his back and pushed him to the ground.
“C’mon, man.” She grunted in his ear. “This was actually a pretty fun fight, I really don’t want to break your arm in the middle of the crowd.”
Monoma tried a few more pulls and twists to escape before eventually sagging in defeat. “I yield!”
The crowd was silent, this was what Sakuya had expected as she helped Monoma to his feet. She ignored them and gave the boy a friendly smile.
“Good match,” She said. “If you want, we should absolutely do a regular sparring match.”
Monoma blinked several times. “Y-yeah…sure”
She walked away with confidence, because she knew what she’d just done. Up until now, everything could have been attributed to luck, but she had beaten Monoma in a straight up fight. A Quirkless Support Course student had just beaten a Hero Course Student. People had assumed she’d be a gimmick, knocked down in the quarter finals. Sakuya had just shown them the truth, she had just proven that she was dangerous. As she limped away, she couldn’t help the spread of pride in her chest.