Chapter 10
Midoriya and Ojiro walked for ten minutes without meeting anyone. They have left the area with the tall buildings, and were now in the residential area, filled with smaller houses. They had trained many times in ground beta before, and they knew they were approaching the wall surrounding it. Soon, they’ll be forced to go backwards.
Suddenly, they heard the loud horn, informing them that one of their opponents had just been taken down.
“Four to go, including us” Ojiro commented.
“Who do you think it could be? I don’t picture Kacchan not being in the last three, and Todoroki is really good in tactics. Must have been Kirishima? But he’s physically super strong too…” Midoriya muttered, half for himself.
“Don’t overthink it!” Ojiro replied. “We have no way to know it anyway. Not before encountering one of them. In fact, I’m probably not the strongest one now…”. His tail was dangling behind him, as if he felt quite uncomfortable. “On second thoughts, I think I’m glad we teamed-up!” he finally declared.
“Hey, thanks!” Midoriya replied, slightly blushing, like every time he was getting a compliment. “May I have one more coil of rope then?”
“Not quite!” Ojiro replied with a smile. “We have an agreement”.
“Don’t worry. I know!”, the green-haired student quickly replied, not wanting to let Ojiro think he would betray him.
Ojiro nodded. He knew Isuzu was faithful to his friends. That’s why he agreed to this alliance in the first place. Never would have he done that with Bakugo. Or even Kaminari. Kirishima, maybe, with all his manly stuff, but he wasn’t particularly close to him…
About Kaminari… Ojiro knew he would have an explanation with him after all that. Hopefully, he’ll understand that keeping him locked up was objectively the most logical move.
They walked in silence for five more minutes. They both knew chatting was a risk now; whoever was remaining in the game could try to take them by surprise.
Suddenly, Midoriya stopped in front of a little two-floored house.
“What’s up?” Ojiro asked.
“Say, Ojiro… Aisawa did say there were some hidden items to loot in the battlefield, right?”
“He did! Although I didn’t find anything. And one cannot search all these buildings…”
“But look at this!” Izuku said, pointing at the door’s house with his gloved-finger.
Ojiro squinted. “I don’t… oooh!” he exclaimed as he finally noticed the dark UA symbol painted on the door. “Nice catch, Midoriya! You think this is a hint?”
“It must be. Without such clues, one could never guess where the bonus items are located. But once you notice it, it’s obvious!” Deku enthusiastically explained. “I’d like to search it!”.
“Be quick then!” Ojiro replied. “I don’t like being static”.
“You don’t want to come with me?” Izuku asked, surprised.
“Not really” Ojiro said, crossing his arms. “I prefer watching the surroundings. If anyone sees us both entering the house, it would be easy to trap us inside or to tackle us when we exit it. And since you noticed the clue, it’s just fair you get the bonus, whatever it is. You need it more than me, since Bakugo stole all of your gear!”, he added, finishing with a friendly smile.
“Thanks! I’ll be right back!” Izuku replied as he hastened towards the door.
It was unlocked. Deku quickly went inside. He wasted no time, quickly inspecting the rooms on the first floor, not caring about the parquet floor creaking under his red boots. The three rooms were empty; no furniture, no nothing.
A little bit frustrated, Izuku climbed the narrow staircase leading to the first floor. It led directly to a large room, which contained nothing but an old, yet sturdy chair in a corner. He was about to leave empty-handed when he noticed a door in a corner of the room. It led to another room, far smaller, with only one window. Under it was lying a large chest with an imposing, yet unlocked golden lock.
“Yes!” Midoriya exclaimed as he lifted its top. It was quite heavy, and the student felt it’s weight despite all of his training.
He showed a disappointed face when he finally looked into the chest. He was picturing a stash full of ropes and roll of tapes, but it was mostly empty. There was only a small ziplock bag in the bottom.
He seized it nevertheless. As he grabbed it, he felt through his gloves that the bag was containing something else. Something quite thick but supple. Midoriya thought of a moist sponge. He inspected the bag further, and discovered an instruction sheet visible in its back. It reads:
==== Anesthetic solution ====
This pad is soaked with an anesthetic solution. Its dosage has been adapted for use against human enemies in combat situations.
Instruction of use:
Firmly apply the pad over the victim’s airways. It should cover both the nose and the mouth.
The average time for the anesthetic to kick in is 30 to 45 seconds. That may be longer if the victim manages to hold his breath or is of heavy constitution.
The victim will remain knocked out for at least five minutes. The effect can be extended if the pad is maintained, but won’t last more than 15 minutes due to its volatile nature.
For the same reason, the pad could only be used once. Use it immediately after opening its container.
==================
“Nice!” Midoriya thought. “That should be the “chloroform” Kaminari related. That could be a huge advantage combined to the element of surprise. But should I tell Ojiro? He has all the gear and if this works, it would make that advantage useless… on the other hand, should I wait till the very end and not try to use it before on someone else…?”
His thoughts were brutally interrupted as he heard some louds cries coming directly from behind the window.
*
Ojiro was looking at the house, thinking. Maybe he shouldn’t have left Midoriya looking for stuff by himself, but he didn’t feel like the greenie was going to betray him. Midoriya was his friend, and he was known to be loyal to his word. In fact, he had never been comfortable with exercises involving fighting with his comrades, even for training purposes. Thinking of that, it’s not that surprising he ended up tied up first.
Ojiro was still unsure the pairing up was a good move. One thing was sure though, he would never have agreed to it if it wasn’t Midoriya. Bakugo was far too unpredictable and would likely have considered such an offer as an insult to his might anyway. Todoroki’s style is far more solo too. Denki was a nice friend, but he didn’t really have much to offer, and he could be a smartass too. Maybe Kirishima would have been relevant, with his manly stuff and…”
Lost in his thoughts, Ojiro didn’t understand he had an issue with gravity before it was too late and he fell down, face first on the floor. A bit stunned, he still wondered what could have happened when he felt a firm tugging on his tail, tightly constricting it near its tip. The tugging resumed, with enough strength to start dragging him backwards. Laying down on his belly, Ojiro couldn’t see what was happening, but quickly understood: someone had wound a rope around his tail. He fears were confirmed when he hard Kirishima’s ecstatic voice:
“Look! Bakugo! I got him!”
“The fuck!” Ojiro exclaimed, vainly trying to straighten up or to use his feet to block the tugging! “Let me down! Help!!!”
“Don’t let him stand up!”. That was Bakugo’s husky voice.
“The hell!” Ojiro exclaimed. “You two teamed up?”
“Why is everyone surprised about that?” Kirishima replied, still holding his rope.
Bakugo didn’t dignify him with an answer. Instead, as Ojiro was finally trying to stand up with his arms and to try to put up a fight, he felt Bakugo’s knees harshly landing on his back, definitely pinning him on the ground.
“Ooof”, Ojiro exclaimed as the sudden pressure of Bakugo’s knee emptied his lungs.
“Shut up! And gimme your hands!” the explosive boy just answered.
“What do you…?” Ojiro exclaimed, as Bakugo was seizing his right arm, then folded it behind his back in an armlock. “Ow, you’re hurting me!”
“Poor thing!” Bakugo mockingly replied. Then Ojiro felt a cold and tight bite around his wrist, it gripped around it much tighter as he heard the characteristic ratcheting sound.
“Where the hell did you get handcuffs? The ones we had at the beginning were locked, they weren’t supposed to be used!”
“That’s not the same pair!” Kirishima exclaimed. “I found this one in a chest in an old building where…”
“Would you stop blathering too?” Bakugo almost shouted at him. “And you”, addressing Ojiro, “give me your other hand!”.
“NO!” Ojiro replied, trying to wriggle under Bakugo. He rationally knew he had no chance, with his right wrist already in cuffs and his tail being still maintained by Kirishima’s rope, but the way he had been surprised was already very humiliating, and he wouldn’t make it worse with a quick surrender.
Of course, that didn’t please his blond foe.
“Your choice!” he just grunted, before he took the cuffs and used it as a leverage to put his already cuffed wrists in an armlock again. As he was twisting his arm, Ojiro cried out in pain. That catch was not dangerous in itself, but very painful. And Bakugo knew it. In combat training, it was his favorite to subdue villains. As long as he controlled his strength, Aizawa let him use it.
“Surrender!” he ordered him.
“Nnnngh… no!”
“I won’t wait all day”, he angrily commented, increasing his pressure a little more. “Let go or I’ll break your arm!”. He leaned forward, closing his mouth to Ojiro’s ear. “You know I would do it”, he whispered.
“Hey!” Kirishima exclaimed, disapprovingly.
But Bakugo’s move worked, as Ojiro felt a hint of primal fear in his guts. He knew Bakugo would get penalized if he hurt him too much, and he knew that an arm break is a common injury in UA, but the pain combined with the pressure and humiliation were too much. He slightly unwinded his arm, which Bakugo noticed immediately. He seized it, while Ojiro only opposed a symbolic resistance. Two seconds later, the second iron ring was being ratcheted around his left wrist, locking his arm in his back.
“Well done!” Kirishima exclaimed. “But you wouldn’t have broken his arm for real, right?”
“Probably not! I knew this little lizard would be too scared and would surrender before that.”
“Go to hell!” Ojiro muttered, slightly wriggling as he tested the cuffs.Those were hinged ones too. Which meant the fight’s really done. Unlike regular chained cuffs which just hobble the hands, and with which you can even strangle an enemy if you’re skilled, these ones are really immobilizing.
“How do we tie him up good, Bakugo?” Kirishima asked, finally releasing the pressure on the rope holding Ojiro’s tail. He looked like a disciple asking his mentor to teach him a new move. “I mean, whether we use a hogtie or a shrimp tie like Todoroki, his tail will get on the way…”
“Let me think…” Bakugo replied, gazing at the surroundings. “I think I know! Gimme your rope and put him on his feet”.
Kirishima did so, and held Ojiro by his shoulders as he was standing him up. The blonde boy wondered for a second if it was worth trying to escape, but decided not to: Kirishima had him quite strongly, and now Bakugo was pulling his tail backwards again, forcing him to stumble. Plus, what chance did he have two versus one plus being handcuffed?
As Bakugo dragged him a few more steps, he was fuming. His tail was strong and mighty, it was his strongest point; in his normal condition, he would have sent anyone trying to attack it flying. But with that quirk suppressant…
“Ouch!” Ojiro let out a little cry, more of surprise than pain, when his back came roughly in contact with a rigid wooden pole. Glancing up, he saw that this was the electric pole in front of the house. Bakugo’s plan became clear as he started wounding the rope linked to his tail around the pole, then around his torso.
“Oh, good plan!” Kirishima exclaimed. “So we can tie his tail behind it, so that he can't move from the pole even if he’s standing up”.
“Yup”, Bakugo simply added. “But take a rope and tie his ankles anyway. Together and around the pole! We have enough, he had a whole stack with him!”
Ojiro stood here helplessly as he felt more and more rope ensnaring him, linking him to the pole at his torso, while Kirishima was tying his ankles together, above his short boots. Bakugo then quickly unlocked one of his cuffs, just to immediately recuffed them behind the pole.
Ojiro’s eyes landed on the house. They made quite a ruckus but was Midoriya aware of the danger? At that stage, he definitely didn’t want Bakugo and Kirishima to win just by catching everyone by surprise…
“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE YOU TWO TEAMED-UP. WERE YOU AFRAID NOT BE ABLE TO WIN BY YOURSELF, BAKUGO?” he cried out, deliberately louder than needed.
The blonde explosive boy froze for a second as he heard him, then his face writhed in anger.
“Shut up, you stupid lizard”, he hissed, showing his teeth. Kirishima stayed still, focusing on knotting the rope binding Ojiro’s ankles. Deep down, he hoped that Bakugo wouldn't take it too seriously. Luring him into an alliance wasn’t easy, precisely because he tends to see any help offered as an insult to his might.
“Oh, did I touch a sore point?” Ojiro continued his taunting. But from the corner of his eyes, he saw Midroiya’s green uniform passing in front of the window. At least, his friend is aware of the situation now.
“YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP! Hey, shitty hair, give me the tape… and gimme another piece of your rags”.
Kirishima couldn’t help but notice the way Bakugo addressed him because Bakugo hadn’t called him “shitty hair” for a while… since Kamino, in fact. Ojiro had really pissed him off. He hastened to oblige, knowing now what Bakugo wanted to do. He tore another piece from his wrappers, now indeed closed to be reduced to rags, balled it up and handed it to Bakugo with the roll of black tape.
Ojiro, on the other hand, was clueless as Bakugo approached his face with the rag.
“Uh, what are you dommmMMMMPHHH?” he began, as Bakugo took advantage of his confusion to harshly force the rag deep inside his gob.
“There!”, he said, as he was pressing his gloved palm over Ojiro’s mouth, handgagging him and preventing him from spitting out the rag as he was tearing a piece of tape with his teeth.
“Mnn nnn'ph hnfm phn nn phhnph! N nnnn'ph mmnn nph!” Ojiro tried to apologize. Of course, it was too late. Let alone Bakugo’s handgag, the cloth was large, completely stuffing his mouth and preventing his tongue from moving.
“Hmmmm… I think I’ve just got enough to do this!” Bakugo said, completely ignoring him.
“MMhnph nrm mnn nnnng?”
Bakugo quickly left his hand and immediately pressed the tape over Ojiro’s lips. Ojiro understood at that stage he was being tapegagged, just like the way Denki or Deku was, so he expected Bakugo to cut the tape right away. But instead, he was unrolling it all around the pole.
“Pmmnphm nnn'ph nn phhnph! N'm phnrrm!” Ojiro vainly pleaded, shaking his head as he understood Bakugo’s move. To no avail: Bakugo suddenly pressed his right hand over his forehead, forcing his head to come in contact with the pole, and completed the turn of tape with his left hand, passing over his mouth again, thus pinning Ojiro’s head to the pole. The roll became depleted just as he finished the second turn.
He then took Ojiro’s head behind his hands, not too gently slapping his cheeks over the tape.
“There! I would have gone with a regular gag but this one suits you better!” Bakugo mocked him, his face extremely close to his. “Now say again, who is afraid to lose?”
“N'm phnrrm, Hnhngn! N nnnn'ph mmnnph phn.” Ojiro replied behind his gag, with a defeated tone. As Kirishima finished knotting the last rope binding his legs just over the knees, he knew he was done. The ropes were pinning him and his tail to the pole; he couldn’t move his torso, his hands, his legs, and now his head. The gag was making his posture far more uncomfortable than before. And Bakugo just slapping him in the face was an utter humiliation.
He stopped ten seconds after though, when the loud horn resounded, sealing his defeat.
“You used all the tape?” Kirishima asked his friend.
“Why not?” Bakugo replied. “I took down Deku and Half’n’half took down Sparky, so it was just him left!”
“And us!” Kirishima remarked with a smile.
“Indeed!”. In a very swift move, Bakugo grasped Kirishima’s wrists and held it.
“Woah, Bakugo, what’s…”
“Come on here”, Bakugo replied, heading towards the house, almost dragging an unresisting Kirishima behind him. “We still have business to do, and I don’t want to waste my time!”
“O—okay!” Kirishima replied, trying to follow him without stumbling.
“Of course!” Ojiro thought as he watched them entering the house. “They don’t know that I’ve freed Midoriya. And they must have decided a way to decide the winner between each other. I hope they don’t intend to search the house first…”