The High Tech Hero: Yamikumo

Hitoshi thinks he’s gonna get away with it, until Yamikumo starts talking.

“It’s a good joke and you know it. I thought long and hard about it.” Though at the threat of being gassed to sleep, his humor fades away. “…I could brainwash you into sleeping… If you want to gas me into sleeping.”

It’s a bluff, he doesn’t actually like using his quirk on people close to him.

“I’m beginning to think you don’t like me.”

Yamikumo opened his mouth, paused, and then continued, “Guess it’s a good thing you don’t care what people think of you.”

Maybe it would be better to drop it for now. It wasn’t as though Shinsou’s sleep schedule was any of his business. And still, Yamikumo couldn’t very well ignore someone suffering right in front of him, even if Shinsou brushed it off with a weak smile and a lame joke.

“No… No…” Hitoshi shakes his head, “That’s not necessary… I will cope. Besides, I’m close to solving the mystery of the universe… Did you know everything is equal to 42…” He tries to hide his smile at his own joke, but fails.

Besides, he doesn’t need anyone finding out about his private lesson from Aizawa… yet…

Yamikumo stared at him blankly, and then blinked slowly.

“Thank you for comparing to me to the superior species…” He looks over Yumikumo, wondering what the other could be holding back from.but he decides to let it. He’s lived a long life of being discriminated against and looked down upon because of his quirk… He always thinks most see him a villain in the making off the back.

“That’s not necessary… Also, are you even allowed to do that outside of combat practice… Not that I know anything about combat training….”

“I’ve slept recently…” Three days ago…

“I help you out by talking to you, so other people think you’re brainwashed all the time and never talk to you.” Hitoshi is never unaware of his affect on people. It’s one thing that is never far from his attention.

It bothers him, not that he ever mentions that it bothers him.

“My villainous nature keeps people from small talking you.”

“Thank you for your noble sacrifice.” Sarcasm dripped from every word in that sentence. “But you and I both know that you’re about as villainous as a house cat.”

Yamikumo could have pointed out his own lack of social graces, that Shinsou severely overestimated his own reputation with the class. Instead, he decided more threats were in order.

“Uh huh… Yeah, sure.” It’s clear that Hitoshi doesn’t believe a word that he says.”What would you do without me though? I’m such a big help too you. Ya know, since you can’t see out of one eye…”

He hides the fact that he thinks it’s hilarious that he was threatened with death over a comment about his unruly bangs. “Besides that, isn’t your own sleep schedule abhorrent?”

“Name one time you’ve actually helped me,” Yamikumo said, flippantly waving him off. “And anyway, our sleep schedules aren’t at all comparable. At least I actually get a few hours of sleep at night. When was the last time you slept?”

“I look better than you.” He says, taking the pencil from him. Twirling it in his fingers a few times. A smile tugs at his lips, though he doesn’t let himself fully smile at the retort he was given about being stabbed in the eye.

“At least I can see out of both my eyes.”

“If I could, all you fuckers woulda been dead a long time ago,” Yamikumo retorted. Really, he could see just fine, used to the long, unkempt bangs that hung in his face.

“Or…” He starts, a coy tease in his voice. “Or, you can hand me the pencil… and I’ll be nice?” He doesn’t plan on using his quirk on Yumikumo… But he enjoys making a few people squirm with the idea that he might.

He wasn’t actually the type.

“Try anything and I’ll stab you in the eye,” Yamikumo teased right back, no real weight behind his threat as he turned to hand Shinsou the pencil. “...No offense, but you look like shit.”

@nuravity

Yamikumo stumbled back as a smaller form collided with his, though he regained his footing quickly enough and was offering a hand before he'd registered who the other person was.

"Are you all- you alright?"

Uraraka wasn’t sure what the rush was, but before she knew it, everyone had fled the classroom. Rising and placing her books in her bag, her brown hues took a quick glance to the window to see another grey day with rain. It had the been same for the past few days, a dull color that began to take over. With a silent deep breath leaving her lips, she gripped her umbrella from her bag and began to descend the stairs to the entrance.

At first she stood in front of the doors, lost in thought. Should she take the long way home? We’re other students going to the common area? The nearby sound of thunder caught her attention back to reality, the movement of a nearby individual making her realize she wasn’t alone either. In fact, he looked familiar. She could of sworn she had seen him before - or had passed him before. With a small smile, the rain continued. “Ah - hello there! I wonder if the rain will ever stop.”

Yamikumo paused right at the edge of the dry pavement, at the moment the wind chose to change direction. Cold droplets sprayed the teens, raising gooseflesh all along his arms as he turned to face the girl who’d just spoken.

“Sounds like it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he answered, and as though to prove his point the sky overhead lit up, followed by the low rumble of thunder. He raised a hand to shield his face from the cold mist. “You got far to walk?”

She was going in pretty blind. She didn’t have a way to communicate with Yamikumo. All she knew was there were people in this building. And she needed to get them out. Rune kept her Quirk active, just in case something came up. She had to be on guard. The noises from the building let her know it was unstable. She expected to hear people calling out for help. But since there was no such sound, that must mean they weren’t able to. Was something stopping them? 

Where even to start? The first floor was too big to search alone. By the time she would have finished, the villains will have gotten their way. Rune rushed to the second floor, not knowing what was waiting for her. And not knowing that the light from her Quirk had already given her away. 

Someone was watching her from a distance. A large figure. A woman with a speed Quirk. She charged towards Rune. But she wasn’t so fast that she was a blur. Rune turned around just in time to be face to face with her before she slammed into her. Rune was thrown into a wall so hard it caved. She had little time to get back on her feet and analyze the Quirk before she struck again. 

Just as she recovered the woman came at her again, this time striking Rune in the ribs. The hit took the air out of her lungs and she was on the ground again. Rune grit her teeth and stood back up. She had to be faster. It looked like the Woman’s Quirk only let her move in a straight line. She didn’t have any time to think more on her limitations, because she was coming back for another attack. Rune readied herself, prepared to block and break her leg. But the attack didn’t land where she expected. It was a feint. Instead of hitting her shoulder, it struck her ribs again. In the same spot. 

Rune was on her back again, coughing. ‘Damn.. She’s trying to break my bones..’ The woman stood over her and picked her up with a single hand. And demonstrating her strength, used her other hand to break the ribs in the right side of her chest. 

The twins stayed close to one another, always within arm’s reach of the other as they patrolled the roof of the building. Had they spread out a bit more, they might have been prepared for what happened next.

Thunk!

“...Did you hear someth-”

The sister jumped as her brother was swept to the other side of the roof by a net that came out of nowhere.

“Nii-chan!”

She’d barely turned around, reaching for her partner instinctively, when a dark shape rushed her from the opposite end of the roof. She threw her arms up in an X across her face. Yamikumo threw a punch into her diaphragm, and when she doubled over grabbed the back of her head and shoved it down as he brought up his knee into the bridge of her nose. She fell to her knees when he let go, blood streaming down her face. Yamikumo moved quickly, cuffing her while she was still dazed.

“Imōto!” The brother thrashed under the weight of the metal net. “You bastard! I’ll- GYAAAAAAH!”

The brother’s curse broke off into a pained scream as an electric current ran through the mesh at the push of a button on Yamikumo’s gauntlet. It lasted no longer than a second, just strong enough to be painful. Yamikumo grabbed the sister by the back of her jacket and dragged her to the far end of the roof, away from her brother, then cuffed her wrists to a steel construction beam. With her secure he went to do the same to the brother, cuffing his hands through the mesh in the net and chaining him up at the other end, as far from his sister as the roof allowed.

Two down, that left four more, and the rest of the group should be all on the lower floors based on what Scara said. It wouldn’t be as easy to take out the rest in a blitz attack indoors with limited points of entry, especially if the others noticed their rooftop guards not checking in. But the criminals now faced assault from above and from below.

“Ah it’s fine, I told him not to worry about it. He’s been so busy and there’s nothing too big I can’t handle.” Momo said.

She said that, but Yamikumo couldn’t help thinking she looked stressed. Every time she told him to ‘stop and smell the roses’ flashed through his mind.

Rune didn’t wait to scout the scene before jumping down into the fray. Once on the ground she moved cautiously. Unsure where the villains were. Cries for help came from inside the smoking building. 

“Does anyone have eyes on the villains?” She called out. People screamed answers at her. ‘They’re inside. They have hostages’ ‘Someone is on the roof’ ‘They took a hero’ She could only pick out so many things being said. “Looks like the danger is in there” She looked around Yamikumo. “I’m going in” She called out to anyone who might be listening. 

The inside of the building looked like it had been hit by a storm. Most lights were out. Some were flickering. Chairs and papers were scattered everywhere. It must have been some kind of lobby before. 

Yamikumo made his way across the rooftops, ever mindful of a pair of figures standing on the roof overlooking the crowd. The building was three stories high, overlooking the smaller building Yamikumo came to perch on. His dark suit let him vanish into the shadows and he activated the night-vision in his helmet to peer into the building next door.

“I have eyes on you, Scara,” he said. The sidekick, Scarawing, didn’t move or do anything to give away he’d heard a thing, but after a brief pause Yamikumo was able to make out a faint, ‘Here.’

“Neon’s entering the building right now, on the first floor,” Yamikumo continued. “I need you to tell me as much as you can without getting caught; numbers, quirks, weapons, locations, hostages.”

Scara spoke low and quiet, keeping his head tilted down. Two on the roof, two on the second floor where Scara was held, and there were two others left to guard the entrance. As it turned out, the gunshot heard earlier did not come from an actual gun but from one of the criminal’s quirks; a gun like barrel in the back of her throat that let her spit bullets with force comparable to a handgun, but with far greater speed and accuracy.

“She hit my wing,” Scara whispered. “She went downstairs.”

One of the others could transform their body into mud-like goo. Two were siblings, and discharged massive blasts of energy whenever they came into physical contact. Those two were on the roof. Scara was unsure of the rest.

“Try to stay calm; you’re going to be okay.”