Part 1
The work-study program for hero hopefuls had started up again at the government’s request, leading the students of the Hero Course to spend another chunk of time at hero agencies where they could hone their skills and improve their teamwork. Meanwhile, it came to light that Kurogiri—the member of the League of Villains currently confined at the maximum-security facility known as Tartarus—had in fact been created from the corpse of Oboro Shirakumo, a friend of Shota Aizawa and Present Mic from their school days. The authorities had summoned the two schoolteachers for a confrontation with the villain, and their appeal to Kurogiri had yielded a single fragment of intel. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Hawks (who had already infiltrated the Paranormal Liberation Front) to suss out the location where Tomura Shigaraki was in the process of having his Quirks powered up. Behind the scenes, the plans for a massive mobilization effort were coming together—one that would ideally take out the entire Paranormal Liberation Front in one fell swoop, and which would involve both professional heroes and the Hero Course students of U.A. High School.
Winter’s icy bite was still a bit too fierce for the cherry blossoms to bloom, but early February brought with it the Japanese holiday of Setsubun, marking the last day of winter according to the old calendar. The exact customs for the holiday differ from region to region, but the one nearly universal practice involves driving away oni (horned Japanese ogres) by throwing roasted soybeans and shouting, “Oni, begone! Good fortune, come in!” Oni have been a familiar concept within the Japanese collective consciousness for ages, between this bean-scattering practice, the game of onigokko (known in the West as tag), appearances in fairy tales, and any number of oni-related sayings and idioms. In modern times, there’s even an app for receiving phone calls from oni. Surely, though, one reason for the deep-rooted position of oni in Japanese culture is the tale of Momotaro. As the story goes, Momotaro (a boy born from a giant peach) enlists the aid of a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant to defeat an island’s worth of wicked oni. In that sense, Momotaro is synonymous with the concept of oni slaying.
“… Which is why you’ll be splitting up into a ‘Team Oni’ and a ‘Team Momotaro’ for this face-off,” explained Shota Aizawa. An excited gasp rose from the members of class 1-A, all lined up in their gym uniforms. A lesson at school had to be taken seriously, but Aizawa’s use of the word face-off brought to mind a game, and games meant fun. The location of the lesson also played a role in the kids’ excitement; a hill rose in the center of the space, surrounded by a modest forest. Boulders dotted the area, providing plenty of hiding spots, as well as vantages from which to launch sneak attacks.
Before the students could get too worked up, Aizawa unveiled a box.
“You’ll draw lots to determine which team you’re on. Make it quick, now.”
As the class gathered around their teacher, only Katsuki Bakugo looked less than thrilled.
“Bakugo,” Aizawa called out. “No need for you to pick. You’re on Team Oni.”
“Huh?” grunted Bakugo, clearly taken aback at being singled out.
“You were born to play an oni, man!” said Denki Kaminari with a snort.
“Say that again, sparky!” Bakugo spat back.
“I’ll explain why later,” said Aizawa.
Even Bakugo in all his discontent was no match for the homeroom teacher of class A, so he backed down while his classmates drew lots.
Assigned to Team Momotaro were Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, Minoru Mineta, Denki Kaminari, Kyoka Jiro, Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido, Mashirao Ojiro, Toru Hagakure, Rikido Sato, and Koji Koda. Meanwhile, Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, Fumikage Tokoyami, Tenya Ida, Mezo Shoji, Eijiro Kirishima, Momo Yaoyorozu, and Yuga Aoyama found themselves on Team Oni.
“Sensei!” yelped Ida, one hand shooting into the air. “There seems to be a discrepancy in the number of members per team!”
“Because Team Momotaro is at an overwhelming disadvantage, as I was about to explain,” said Aizawa as he distributed three bean-sized balls to each member of Team Momotaro and a single cudgel to each newly minted oni.
“If a Momotaro gets whacked by a cudgel, they’re out. And an oni is out if they get hit by three beans, which can be collected and reused after being thrown. Team Oni’s goal is to wipe out every member of Team Momotaro, while Team Momotaro can only win by rescuing the ‘hostage’ held by Team Oni.”
“Did you say hostage?” asked Midoriya. Aizawa turned away from the confused students.
“Playing the part of the hostage is none other than Eri. She’s sitting in the hut at the top of the hill as we speak. Both teams must treat her as if she were an actual hostage. Understand what that means?”
They did not understand what that meant.
Aizawa’s gaze drifted back to the kids and landed on Bakugo, who scowled.
“Bakugo—you have a special assignment. Throughout the course of this exercise, you’re going to become friends with Eri.”
“Huhh?”
It took a moment for Aizawa’s words to sink in, but then Bakugo’s eyes bulged wide in shock. The rest of class A was just as dumbfounded.
“You may be on the villain team this time,” explained Aizawa, “but someday you might find yourself needing to rescue young children. When the time comes, the mission’s success may ride on your ability to win over a child.”
“The hell? What’s wrong with just grabbing the kid and calling it a day?” said Bakugo.
“Imagine it from the hostage’s point of view. Say you sneak past the villain and try to drag the child away by force. You’d be no different than the villain in their eyes. Say they start crying, alerting the villain to your presence. Suddenly you’re thrown into combat while trying to protect the hostage. Any decent hero prioritizes the victim’s well-being. Understood?”
Aizawa’s steely stare left no room for argument, and the thorough explanation cowed Bakugo into silence.
“Anyway, Team Oni will start from the hut, and Team Momotaro will start from the edge of the forest. To your places, now. The face-off begins in ten minutes,” said Aizawa, prompting the teams to split up and march off.
Still pissed and doing little to hide his bad attitude, Bakugo stomped his way up the hill.
“Bakugo, dude!” said Kirishima, running up to his friend. “That’s one crazy assignment you’re stuck with, huh? But hey—I’m here to help! You’ll be besties with Eri before this is done!”
“We will all contribute to the cause!” said Ida, who led the rest of the charge.
“But how on earth will Bakugo befriend Eri?” said Yaoyorozu, who rested her hand against her chin as she pondered the uphill task.
“Bakugo must befriend a youngling … An ogre of a challenge, to be sure,” said Tokoyami.
“I have to agree there,” said Shoji.
The group struggled to imagine how Bakugo might pull this off,
but Aoyama, at the back of the pack, spoke up.
“It all begins with a dazzling smile, non? Much like my own, or Midoriya’s.☆”
“Right. Midoriya made friends with the girl,” said Todoroki, pausing to recall. “Try following his example?”
“Did your brain spring a leak?” roared Bakugo. “Deku can follow my lead ’til he dies trying, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I take a cue from him!”
Meanwhile, as Team Momotaro moved to the far edge of the forest, they too were feeling anxious about Bakugo’s special task.
“Kacchan and Eri? Let’s hope for the best …” muttered Midoriya.
Uraraka was just as worried. “Step one: not yelling at Eri … the way he does with everyone else,” she said. “That’d be a good start.”
“I doubt he would scream in Eri’s face, but what if she sees him raging at the rest of us? That could be enough to scare her,” said Asui, placing a single finger on her chin.
“Him? Make friends with a kid? No way!” said Kaminari, who already saw it as a lost cause.
“Sensei really cooked up a cruel assignment this time …” added Mineta.
“I get being worried about Bakugo and his problems,” said Jiro, already at her wit’s end with the boys, “but remember—our job is to actually rescue Eri.”
Team Momotaro’s mood suddenly grew tense.
“Right,” said Midoriya with a nod. “So, what’s our plan of attack?”
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