Idol Hero | BNHA

Chapter 23

"Begin!"

Bakugo didn't waste any time rushing in and aiming an explosion at Noriko. She quickly created an ice wall that managed to block the attack, but it shattered right after that. Noriko moved behind Bakugo and back away. She knew she'd have a better chance of winning if she used kept her distance.

Noriko created a few ice birds that flew at Bakugo. He easily destroyed them and started to charge at her again. Noriko stomped her foot on the ground and blocked his attack with another wall before creating a bull out of ice that charged at Bakugo as soon as he shattered the ice wall. As Bakugo hit the bull with a few explosions, Noriko created more ice birds, which Bakugo managed to easily destroy with a larger explosion.

"These ice animals aren't gonna do anything against me!" Bakugo yelled as he ran toward Noriko.

He's right. How am I supposed to get a single hit in if he keeps destroying everything I throw at him? He has to reach his limit eventually, but I doubt I'll be able to last that long. So then what can I do? Noriko thought, panic swirling inside her as she tried to think of some way to defeat Bakugo. But she didn't get much time to think before Bakugo aimed an explosion at her that hit before she had time to react. Noriko winced as the pain from the explosion coursed through her and she was sent backward. There's so much force behind his attacks. I can't let any more of those explosions hit me.

Bakugo ran at Noriko again, not giving her any time in between attacks. She barely had enough time to block his attack with more ice before she created a ram that charged for Bakugo. He was easily destroyed with another explosion, but Noriko made another one that ran for him just after Bakugo shattered the first one. That one was destroyed by another explosion before Noriko made one last ram and a few ice birds that Bakugo all destroyed in one big explosion. It was like her ice was too thin to do any damage, but Noriko had no idea what to do to fix that.

Another explosion came her way and Noriko didn't have time to block it. She winced as she stumbled backward and nearly listed her balanced. Noriko would've fallen out of bounds if she hadn't stopped herself with some ice. It was the same trick Todoroki had used and Noriko had thought it would be a good trick to use to keep her out of bounds. Which it did.

Noriko barely managed to dodge Bakugo's next attack and ran around him. She quickly turned and rapidly created explosions aimed at her. Noriko was barely able to create layers of ice to protect her from the explosions. But with each explosion, the ice started to get thinner and thinner before the last explosion, which seemed to have more force than the others, hit her. Noriko was pushed back by the force of the explosion and fell to the ground.

She took a few deep breaths before creating an ice dragon and staggering to her feet. It took Bakugo two explosions this time to shatter the dragon, but Noriko was reaching her limit. Her entire body felt cold and she felt a lot more tired. It was slowly becoming harder to breathe and her breath was visible. Every time Bakugo destroyed the few ice creatures she managed to create, it hurt.

The feeling of reaching her quirk's limit was something new to Noriko. And she hated it. It felt as though she was dying. Everything was so cold it felt like she was on fire. She wasn't made to fight as a hero. She wasn't made to fight at all. Maybe, with enough training, Noriko would be able to fight. But she wasn't sure that was something she wanted. Sure, she wanted to spread hope to people all around the world, and being a hero would help her accomplish that. But Noriko felt she was much better off just being a singer.

Noriko made another weak attempt to attack Bakugo with more ice creatures before they were shattered by explosions. She had hardly trained with her quirk. She had so little experience using it, especially for fighting. Noriko was sure her quirk would be a lot more useful if she had started training with it years ago, but she had never bothered to.

When Noriko had first discovered her quirk when she was four, she had been so excited and had shown it off to everyone around her. Her father had still been alive at the time and he had been so happy seeing her use it, so she would make little ice animated sculptures all the time for him. It had been the happiest her dad had been since her mom died - when Noriko was showing off her quirk to him. Noriko had inherited her quirk from her mother, and her dad would try to teach her little things that her mom used to use her quirk for. 

For two years, Noriko's dad had been so happy. It had been the greatest thing that had happened to Noriko. She loved making him and her baby brother happy at the time. Whether that was from using her quirk or just being a good daughter or older sister. Seeing her father actually take care of himself instead of being trapped in the grief of his wife's death had made Noriko so happy. It had been her only goal. To make her dad happy. Even as a five-year-old, all she cared about was making others smile.

But when Shiro had developed his quirk, their dad had been so disappointed to find out that Shiro had inherited his quirk. Noriko never figured out why, but she had always thought it was because he expected Shiro to also have some form of their mother's quirk.

After that, Noriko and Shiro's lives became miserable and their dad soon died in a drunk driving accident. Noriko didn't doubt that Shiro still blamed himself for what happened, but Noriko had always told him he didn't do anything wrong. Noriko had always found it strange how quirks could change people's lives so much.

Bakugo used another explosion that sent Noriko to the ground. She struggled to her feet only to be attacked by another explosion. She had no time to react, and in her panic, she had created a few ice birds. But it had been the wrong thing. Noriko had needed to create a wall or a shield. But instead, she had created the first thing that had come to her mind.

The explosion hit her and the ice birds shattered before Bakugo even used an explosion on them. She fell to the ground and tried to get up, but pain shot through her entire body as she tried to move. She felt like she had been laying in snow with nothing but a t-shirt and shorts on. All she could feel was cold and pain. She was at her limit. She wasn't able to keep going.

I have to get up. I have to keep going. I can't give up.

After one last failed attempt to get up, Noriko let her body fall limp and the world around her slowly faded to darkness.