Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

HOLIDAY SPECIAL: SNOWBALL (2)

There were some shrieks across the snowy field, followed by distinct cackling that definitely sounded like their classmates. Shouto and Izuku shared a faintly amused glance at the explosions and yelling that followed while Jirou raised a gloved hand to muffle a snort, one earphone jack still plugged into the ground.

"Half of the Gen Ed students were taken out by Bakugou's group," she informed them, patting down a snowball and pausing when there was another commotion. "Ah. Class B just took out the other half."

"That was quick," Ochako commented with a nervous giggle, making a collection of floating projectiles nearby.

"Kacchan doesn't mess around," Izuku muttered, settling back on his haunches with a thoughtful expression. "I doubt he bothered to take Hatsume-san's baby, which means Class B probably commandeered it, so we'll have to look out for that. Since they're built to function in snow, it's likely that it's resistant to the cold. Hatsume-san will kill us if we severely damage them, and she's scarily good at hunting people down and I don't want to be subjected to that again, so we'll need to find a way to deactivate them."

"Why do you do that?" Jirou suddenly asked, looking perplexed.

"U-uh, do what?"

She waved an earphone jack around. "Call them babies. They're machines."

Izuku froze up and hastily glanced around, looking spooked enough to set everyone on edge, but after a few moments of tension he loosened up again. "Don't let her hear you call them that," he said gravely. "Besides, calling them babies makes people confused, which is really entertaining. I made babies with Hatsume-san; would you like to hold our baby?"

Shouto had to admit it was amusing to consider what people would think if they didn't know what they were talking about. Ochako giggled to herself as Izuku continued to list of peculiar phrases that had double meanings, until she was laughing so hard that she had to bury her face in the crook of her elbow, trying to muffle the sounds.

"Alright, I hear that," Jirou conceded with a faint smirk.

"Anyway," Izuku recovered himself, tossing a snowball up and catching it, "the babies. Aoyama-kun, Satou-kun, Ojirou-kun, and Shouto-kun; your Quirks would be too destructive. Kouda-kun's Quirk isn't really useful for this situation, and Shinsou-kun, your Quirk wouldn't work at all. Jirou-san could help us pinpoint the location, but... I guess that leaves Tenya-kun and Ochako-chan as the most effective against the babies, because they need snow to function, so if Ochako-chan uses her Quirk, they'll be useless in the air."

"Can't we just steal the... babies?" Ojirou asked hesitantly, making a sweeping motion with his tail across the ground to sweep up some snow.

"They're probably really dangerous, and I don't really want to take my chances with a machine that has the potential to become sentient and want to destroy us all," he responded with a shudder and a haunted look.

Shouto caught Shinsou's bewildered gaze and shrugged minutely. There was no knowing what Izuku had been through in the future, since his friend was adamant about keeping the details as secret as possible, despite spilling the truth to multiple people within only a few months. He couldn't help but wonder how the present differed from the future. What was he like? Did he become a hero? Was... everyone still alive?

A sudden crash sounded, followed by a loud whirring that edged on a metallic screech. He didn't have time to contemplate it as Jirou suddenly raised her head, indicating an approaching ambush. Ochako protectively scooped up all her snowballs, keeping two clasped in her hands, which proved to be a good move as Sero suddenly whipped around from behind the hill, and she immediately slammed a snowball into his face. Shouto's gaze snapped upwards as a shadow cast across them, and he hastily threw up a barrier of ice to prevent Kaminari from dropping down. Ojirou batted away some snowballs with his muscular tail, pausing just long enough to allow Satou and Shinsou to throw some at Ashido and Eijirou in retaliation. Aoyama huddled down as best he could, nervously ducking behind Izuku whenever a rogue snowball approached.