Chapter Eight

A few days later, the entirety of class 3-A is on the training field again, this time on training ground beta. Today's game? Villain simulation. It's a lot like the licensing exams we had to take but I get the feeling that these new exercises are purely intended to help Shiori and I integrate with the other students.

"You ready to kick ass?" I ask my sister, cracking my neck as I take my ear buds from her and stash a second set in my belt. We decided after our last incident on the field that it would probably be beneficial for Shiori's teammates to be impervious to her quirk so we had a few more sets of these made.

"Ready" she confirms and she seems like she's in a better mood today. I grin at her, hoping I can make her proud this time. Today we're facing off against unknown heroes posing as villains and this is our chance to prove we can work together effectively as a team.

A siren goes off, indicating the start of the battle and I immediately start scanning the area, on high alert.

"Come on. We've gotta clear our surroundings before we can keep going" I say. Shiori follows my lead, ducking into a back alley and following it towards the first signs of commotion. Once we get to the corner of the building, I see the first villain squaring off with Yaoyorozu and Jiro. I immediately press back into the alley, not wanting to give away our position. Shiori takes a step forward to get a glimpse and we share a look.

Yaoyorozu lashes out with her self-made spear, dancing quickly around a flurry of attacks from a woman who looks like she can produce chains at will from any part of her body. She parlays the incoming blow, wrapping her chains around the spear and knocking both girls out of the park with a thick iron chain beneath their feet. I wince as they go down but I can't watch her complete the finishing blow.

"Now!" I whisper shout, leaping from the shadows stretching my arms out in front of me and splaying my fingers as waves of energy roll off me. It's not a lot, but it's enough to push the villain back. She fights it, struggling to stay up as Shiori runs to get Yaoyorozu and Jiro out of the way. Once they're clear, I finally let loose, pulling one of my hands back and driving it forward. My pulse vibrates out of me at the same time that a loose chain breaks through and wraps tightly around my left wrist. I cry out as it tightens and yanks and I realize at the last moment what's about to happen. My pulse slams into the chain villain and sends her flying, but as she shoots backwards, the chain around my wrist snatches me after her. It yanks me into the air before I crash to the ground and a sharp pain shoots all the way up to my elbow. I curse, trying to pry the chain free with my other hand. Damn it.

"Kaida!" Shiori shouts out behind me but I hear another villain approaching, ready to distract my teammates from helping me. I suck in a painful breath through my teeth and hear the chain lady laugh as she gets up from the rubble, dusting herself off.

"Powerful pulse kid... but you're gonna have to try harder than that" she tells me, her inky black eyes and dark wild hair making her look like the epitome of the word villain.

"Don't worry" I pant, giving her a smirk even though I'm pretty sure my left arm is shot.

"I'm just getting started!" I shout, wrapping both hands around her chain and pulling it up hard. I grunt through the intense pain slicing through my wrist, doing my best to ignore it as I swing her through the air, bleeding my energy down into my palms and slamming her into an opposing building. She crashes through the concrete with incredible force, but the chain doesn't loosen. I huff cursing my shaking hand as my fingers start to turn purple. Shit... I try to pull on it but the chain tightens again and I yelp. I grab the chain with my other hand, starting to focus my energy on one certain point when I see her starting to crawl out of the hole I put her in. My heart races. Is this really going to be it? Am I really going to get tossed out in the first half hour?

Anger and desperation swirl through me, muddled with self-doubt and fear. What the hell am I supposed to do? How can I do any of this on my own? My eyes flit back to Shiori, trying to hold her own against a man with limbs like rubber, reaching out and ready to attack. I have to do something! Suddenly, Todoroki appears, skating over his own ice as it surrounds us, and he comes to an abrupt stop in front of me, meeting my eyes seriously.

"You okay?" he asks, a little out of breath as he takes the chain in his left hand and sets it ablaze. The chain melts away, burning a brilliant ember red before it breaks apart and the coil around my wrist falls to the ground. I gasp in relief, cradling my injured wrist to my chest and look up. To my surprise, Bakugo is there too, blasting away at the chain villain before joining us.

"Well, extras? What's it gonna be?" he demands, looking at us all with that cocky grin.

"You comin' with us or are you ready to lose?" he adds. I swallow, that earlier self-doubt coming back to claim my attention. How is it that they were able to save the day so easily? How is it that I feel like I have so much less self-control? I look over to Shiori who seems to be sharing her own surprise with Jiro, absently popping a gummy worm into her mouth.

"We'll follow you" I tell Bakugo, forcing the doubt back down. No way am I gonna quit with Shiori around. If I don't protect her, who else will she have?

"Um... why are you eating candy?" I hear Jiro ask my sister as we start deeper into the mock city.

"Oh, it's my quirk. If my blood sugar gets too low, I kinda just pass out" she shrugs. Yaoyorozu stares.

"You just... faint?" she asks and Shiori nods, snacking on another worm.

"Yikes, that sounds scary..." another voice notes and I realize that Hagakure is with us too, slipping her gloves back onto her invisible hands.

"My quirk just kinda sucks the life out of me" Shiori jokes, laughing a bit at herself. I smirk, but no one else laughs, in fact, most of them just look concerned.

"Come on... I hear something up ahead" Todoroki says, capturing our attention again. A hush falls over everyone as we follow his lead, quieting our footsteps to creep around an enormous abandoned bus. I clench my left fist and wince at the pain. Shit... I was right. Using this arm isn't gonna go well. I try to ignore it as we round the bus but Bakugo falls back, eyeing me sternly. I glare at him in return.

"What?" I demand, trying to keep my voice low. He grimaces.

"Your hand" he says, pointing. I shake my head.

"What about it? It's fine" I insist.

"Is it?" Shiori pipes in, poking my wrist.

"Damn it, Shiori!" I hiss, trying not to scream. My whole arm throbs and I grit my teeth. Shit.

"Hm... seems like it hurts" she muses flatly and I glower at her.

"You can't fight effectively like that" Bakugo tells me gruffly. My face flushes as the anger swims through me.

"What do you know?" I snap, shoving past him and walking back up to where Todoroki is assessing the situation. Just across the street is a small gathering of some of our other classmates and a few of the villains. From the looks of it, the villains are on the winning side.

"What do you think?" I ask Todoroki and he looks at me in surprise. I sigh.

"I'm trying to... do better" I roll my eyes and he smiles a little. My breath catches a bit and I clear my throat. Now's not the time, stupid.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe we take your advice this time. Disarm them with a distraction before teaming up to subdue them" he tells me and his gaze lingers on my face for a little longer than maybe it should. My face heats.

"So, um... who's the distraction?" I half whisper, clearing my throat again. Jesus, Kaida. Pull it together.

"We need someone who can really exaggerate and make an obnoxious entrance... someone..."

"HEY DUMBASSES, DID YOU MISS ME?" Bakugo interrupts Todoroki, sauntering out into the open and splaying his arms wide as he laughs. Todoroki yanks me back behind the bus with the others, cursing under his breath.

"Is he insane?" I complain and I'm met with Shiori's narrowed eyes.

"He's literally you" she replies dully and I make a face.

"We are not the same!" I argue, gesturing between the two of us. Shiori looks in his direction then looks back at me dispassionately.

"Literally you're him with boobs" she reiterates and my jaw drops as the others try not to laugh. Traitors.

We all watch as Bakugo draws attention to himself, walking into the midst of the villains group and trash talking the lot of them. A couple of our classmates look hopeful but the others? All I can see from here is pure defeat and mortification. I can't help but to snicker a bit. What a show off. After a few more minutes we all start for the group, splitting up with Yaoyorozu and Jiro to the left, Todoroki and Hagakure taking center, and Shiori and I taking the right.

"Okay, so we'll come up behind snake lady over there first..." I begin, trying my best to strategize. At first Shiori nods along, seemingly interested in my sudden improvement, but in a move we didn't foresee, one of the villains rises up out of the ground.

"Shiori!" I shout as a mound of mud takes the shape of a human man, grinning ear to ear. He grabs my sister's arm and pulls her in, threatening her capture. Shiori raises her arm, but I get there first, tearing her away from him and blasting the mud man, known in the hero world as Muck, backwards. He melts instantly, sinking to the ground to dodge my attack. I curse, holding my left arm in front of my sister to shield her, and I look around anxiously. Looks like the villains expected us and the lot of them in the center are holding their own against our teammates well enough that a few have even broken off from the group, heading this way.

"Kaida, I..."

"Shiori, look out!" I interrupt, feeling the vibration of energy beneath my feet as Muck starts to resurface. I spin around to face my sister and push her against the wall, blocking her from Muck as he shoots back up and swipes out, landing a blow in the center of my back. I gasp and for a moment, Shiori just stares at me. I can't read her expression... can't tell what she's thinking... but before I can ask if she's okay, I'm pulled back by my hair and thrown to the asphalt. I cough, taking in a gasping breath. Shit.

Another villain arrives just in time, yanking me up by my bad arm. I yelp, cursing myself internally for showing the pain. Ignore it, Kaida!

"Look at this one" the woman who grabbed me smiles, her grip tightening. I bite my lip and without a second thought, I release a wave of energy that knocks her to the ground. I race towards Shiori without looking back, watching as she squares off with Muck and I lose my focus. I can't let her get hurt. What if something happens to her? Again... I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears and before either of them can do anything I drop to my knees, slamming both of my hands into the ground as hard as I can and send an earth shattering pulse straight through the cement. My left hand screams in agony but I don't care. I look up to see Muck stumble to the side and as soon as he does, I reach out with my right hand, using my energy to wrap around my sister before yanking her to my side. She shouts in surprise, gritting her teeth when I let her go.

"You're safe" I breathe, but my arm is killing me and the energy I just put into my last attack has me feeling winded. I stand up, readying myself for close combat at Shiori's side. She does the same, both of us holding our fists out in front of us. I suck in a breath through my teeth at the vibrating pain in my hand. My left fist shakes noticeably but I don't have time to nurse an injury. If this were the real world... we'd be dead if I did.

The next few minutes happen in a blur. Muck and the new woman lunge forward at the same time, forcing Shiori and I to duck. I sweep the woman's legs out from under her and feel the pressure of Shiori's weight as something shoves her into me. I panic, sensing the imminent loss and my adrenaline spikes again, energy rolling through me like lava. I can't let us lose here. That's the same as losing in real life and I will not lose, not ever. Shiori's life will depend on decisions like these someday and I'm not about to let her down now. I stand up, dragging Shiori with me and emit another energy blast, shoving the two villains away from us. Out of my peripheral I can see our group from before fighting their way towards us but... it'll be too late by then. The woman disappears from her place in front of me, laughing as she reappears behind us. I gasp and time slows down.

As the woman hauls back a fist, her skin suddenly flashes a gleaming silver. My sister pulls back her own solid hit, fist clenched. But if she connects like that, if she doesn't get out of the way, she'll get hit too. Instinctively, I launch myself off the ground and throw myself into the fray, ready to take the hit, but it comes from the opposite direction. Shiori's fist cracks across my face and everything goes very suddenly very still and very silent.

All at once, I can hear my own heartbeat slamming in my ears and my eyes widen. I don't move my head for a moment, stunned by the pain in the left side of my jaw and I try to contain the rage that's starting to boil over. I swallow hard, body shaking.

"Why would you do that?!" Shiori screams at me and when I look at her, her eyes are shining with rage and her face is an intense red. I bite my tongue, not wanting to snap at her.

"I was protecting you" I tell her darkly, clenching my fists. My left wrist shudders but I'm not paying it any attention now, not when Shiori's looking at me like this.

"I don't need your protection all the time, Kaida! Look at yourself! You look like you can barely stand!" she snaps and something in me seems to break apart. I grit my teeth.

"I wouldn't have to protect you all the time if you actually did anything! But you're so focused on planning and being ready that you never have time to act on it!" I bark. Shiori flinches, the anger in her eyes flaring.

"Act on what?! You're always there before I even get a chance! How can I prove myself if you're taking all the hits for me?" she retorts angrily and I scoff, glaring at her with an anger I haven't felt in a long time.

"You don't get the chance? What the hell am I supposed to do, huh? While you're standing there thinking about your next move. You want me to let it go?! Watch you get hurt?! But that makes me the bitch, right? Taking all the hits for you?" I demand and a raw and ragged feeling opens up inside my chest.

"Yes, you're the bitch! You never give me a chance to do it myself! You never let me live it down, Kaida! Every time you look at me all I see is that goddamn responsibility. All I see is mom, forcing me to take care of you! But I'm my own person! I shouldn't have to take care of you!" she shouts through gritted teeth. Her words crash into me and I can feel myself losing control, feel my energy seeping out through my feet. The ground shudders in tandem with my shaking hands.

"You think you're the only one taking care of someone? You made breakfast in the morning, but who put dad to bed when he was drunk on the front porch?! You set reminders for me to get my homework done, but who pulled you out of your dazes?! Pushed you to train?! Protected you all this time in the field?! When you couldn't function, I cut off everyone I knew. I left everything behind to focus on us!" I scream, dead set on keeping my tears at bay, but I can see Shiori's eyes shining too. Both of us so full of rage and unspoken grief... in this moment I almost resent her. Resent her for even trying to take care of me in the first place. I never asked for it. I never wanted it. All I ever wanted was for us to be happy again after mom.

"No one asked you to!" she shouts back.

"No one asked you to, either!" I yell.

"God, I hate you!" she spits and I reel back. Her words hit me like a slap in the face and though I can see her tears too, I feel ashamed of the few that start to escape. I swallow hard, wiping my face and glaring at her as hard as I can.

"Then fucking leave. Don't bother yourself with caring for me anymore. We're done" I snap.

"Yeah. We are" she agrees coldly. I don't waste any time waiting around though, instead, I shove past the gathered group of classmates and teachers and start back towards the school. No one reaches out to stop me... no one even tries. I can only guess that they're as shocked as I was at first, but if I'm honest, part of me saw this coming. I grit my teeth, fighting against the tears that threaten to spill once again. Yeah, maybe this was a long time coming... but I didn't know it'd hurt this bad.