My Swarm Academia: Call Of The Void

The class filed into the building, leaving the "hero" pair outside the doors. Once inside, the "villain" team went upstairs to find the objective. The audience followed All Might into the bas.e.m.e.nt, where they found an observation room full of monitors.

As they entered the room, they were all abuzz with excitement. Most of the class were trying to get to know their teammates, getting ready for their round. But soon, the discussion went to the battle that was soon to begin, and from there took a somewhat inevitable turn.

"So, who do you think will win," Ashido asked cheerfully.

"I think it will be Bakugo," Kirishima said. "He seems really intent on winning, and he can really do it."

"Want to bet?" Kaminari asked. "Midoriya packed a lot of power. Did you see that pitch? I'll put a hundred yen on him."

"Yeah, but he hurt himself badly," Ashido said. "My money is on Bakugo- two hundred."

"Well, I'm for Midoriya," Sato said.

"Are you seriously starting a betting pool on this fight?" Yaoyorozu asked incredulously. This was combat; this was part of their training, and they were treating it too lightly.

"No, no, let them continue," Kai spoke up. With a smile on his face, he thought about the situation as the discussion continued back and forth, with some small change being put at stake. As his betting mind came to its conclusion, he spoke up again. "I put 3:2 odds in favor of Deku, and I'll put 20,000 yen on him."

That effectively killed the discussion. Everyone turned to look at Kai, thinking that he was crazy. They just couldn't even guess what he was going to do next. That was just too much money for some high schoolers making a little wager.

Kai smiled as if he was oblivious to what he had done. While this was in part to end the discussion so they would be quiet as the trial begin, and it had, he was confident on his bet. He had enough to pay that out if necessary, but there was one factor that he considered in his favor: if Bakugo's grudge took him too far, All Might would intervene, the match would be cancelled, and bets would likely be called off.

But it wasn't really about money. He just wanted them to shut up.

His eyes were glued to the screens, trying to keep track of where everyone was at all times. Luckily, he had finished talking in time to see Bakugo blast off down a hall, in pursuit of Deku. Well, at least that was in line with Kai's predictions. And Iida's, and Deku's though the class couldn't tell, not being able to hear them, nor see their faces.

Upstairs, Deku and Uraraka had infiltrated the building through the window, suspecting the front door may have been trapped, or prepared with an ambush. Cautiously, they pushed their way into the building. A relentless booming sound pulsed through the building, quickly growing louder.

Suddenly, a shadow burst out from their right. Quickly, Deku grabbed Uraraka and tackled her to the ground as an explosion erupted in their direction.

Kai almost applauded Deku's reaction speed. He'd had a bit of warning due to the noise of Bakugo's explosive dash, but still, he had been able to act admirably. Kirishima criticized the ambush, but not only was ambushing a good strategy (as All Might said), it wasn't much of an ambush with all the warning noise he'd made. But Kai wasn't going to argue semantics now.

Especially with the events unfolding as they were. Kai could see things to admire on both sides. Deku was smart and restrained. He didn't use his Quirk at all, instead relying on his reaction speed and knowledge to counter Bakugo's attacks, even doing a well-executed judo throw. Then, as Bakugo charged in a third time, he sent Uraraka ahead to the objective, dividing his attention well. On Bakugo's side, he was relentless, constantly putting pressure on Deku, and keeping him on the run.

However, Kai could tell that his rage was getting stronger as time went on. From his ideals as a Quirk Supremacist, the most likely answer was that he felt like Midoriya was taking it easy on him by not fighting Quirk to Quirk. Idiot. If he had seen Midoriya use it yesterday, he knew the cost of using his power as well as the output.

Of course, there could be more driving his anger, but what would that be? In Kai's experience, nothing frustrated people like him more than being underestimated, even when… no, especially when they are misunderstanding the underestimation.

Things were starting to get boring on that end, so Kai turned his attention to Uraraka and Iida, who had met at the bomb. Iida seemed to be really into the acting side of the scenario, judging by his grandiose gestures at his preparations and the movements of his helmet that hinted at maniacal laughter. Often a problem with maj-sacks: if they start letting loose, boy do they ever. He and Uraraka started playing a sort of tag session, each keeping distance while trying to advance.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the observation room shifted as All Might spoke. Not to the audience, but into the intercom.

"Young Bakugo, stop!!! Are you trying to kill him?"

Kai shifted his eyes to the relevant screen. Deku and Bakugo were in a straight hallway with no escape routes for either of them. Bakugo was pointing his gauntlet at Deku and slowly, deliberately reaching for a pin on the side. Now its function was clear, even if its power wasn't quite so. But if All Might was worried, then its power could not be underestimated.

Kai kept his eyes glued to the screen, watching Bakugo. He was not fazed at all by the reminder that Deku's death was quite probable in this situation. Kai couldn't hear him, but he could imagine what he was about to say.

"All Might! Get up there and-"

Suddenly the room shook. The screen that was showing Deku and Bakugo went bright, then dark as the explosion lit up the hallway above, then left behind a cloud of smoke. Kai felt a chill go down his spine. Not because of Bakugo's power. Not because Deku could have died, nor that it would have made Bakugo a murderer. Not even that Bakugo was remorseless as he recovered from his own blast, as yet unsure that Deku had survived.

But because All Might, a Pro Hero- the top Pro Hero in Japan- and the teacher in charge, with the power to get in and stop the fight himself by jumping with all his might at any time, was simply watching. As if he was surprised and stunned as the rest of the class. Then, the shock wore off.

"MIDORIYAAAAA!!"

Then the smoke cleared enough, and Deku's form could be seen, and the audience breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sensei, please put a stop to this! That Bakugo kid's gone mental. At this rate, he'll kill him!" Kirishima pleaded with All Might.

"No, things will be fine, he is more in control than it seems," All Might said. Then he turned the intercom on again. "Young Bakugo, if you shoot another blast like that, I'll end this exercise f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y and you will lose. Launching an attack with such an extensive damage radius while indoors defeats the purpose of protecting your stronghold! It doesn't matter if you are a hero or a villain, that was just foolish! Once more, and you'll earn yourself massive demerits!"

The class was reassured, trusting in All Might's judgement. Kai on the other hand, felt his last bit of trust in him die. His trust had started fairly low, considering All Might's lack of assistance when his mother had come to him for it. But, Kai had had to give him the benefit of the doubt, as she had been somewhat delirious and rambling, as she herself had put it. It was somewhat understandable that she would have been simply passed off as crazy. She had been through a lot. Now, Kai had a first-hand experience to prove All Might's judgement was lacking at best.

With that conclusion reached, Kai reached up and pulled the veil on his hood closed. Now, even if they were looking, nobody would be able to see his expression. Now, there was only one sign of his cold rage: a cold dry rattling as his antennae twitched and clattered against each other.

Kai closed his eyes and concentrated. He had a plan to make.

And more than a few promises to keep.