Chapter 75: Unconventional Threat

The day was meant to be one of fun, one of excitement and relaxing after all the stress of the year. But for Uraraka and Mellissa, it's anything but as they're confronted by villains on thier own and need to handle both situations without letting them escalating.

The soft morning light filters through the tinted windows of the bakery/café, with few customers in at the time, so when the door opened with the chime of the bell, it was soothing more than annoying. It also meant the smell of fresh coffee and warm pasties could linger. To the back, where the counter was, the cashier stood ready for any customers; to their side was the glass display showcasing all their in-house baked goods, adorable and delicious.

For Shuri, she was quite calm as she sipped on another cup of coffee, decaf, along with a couple of slices of banana bread, the other 2 having already been eaten with pleased moans from the woman who spoke favourably and at length with their waiter about it. Mellissa noted that the poor man was smitten with the woman, showing the classic signs of a guy who saw a pretty girl but had no confidence to do anything about it.

It would be funny if this woman weren't a villain who she was sure could kill them both.

"You're not eating? You seem so hungry before," Shuri mused, looking at Mellissa, whose sliced Banana bread was hardly touched, and the same with her drink, which would soon grow cold.

"I'm not now," Mellisa replied, only for Shuri to laugh at it, her amusement sounding melodic, sweaty, and attractive, which only made the hairs of Mellissa's neck stand on end. Was…was this why she didn't notice sooner? This woman wasn't physically dangerous, not like other villains; she was almost like an angler fish's lure. She drew you in, and before you knew it, it was too late.

“Oh, come now, you had trouble getting it. It would be a waste if it were thrown out," Shuri told her, reaching for another bite and letting out a cute moan as she did so.

“I can pack it for later.” Mellissa glanced at Shuri's hand, ignoring how soft it looked and how pretty her nails were. She focused on the small knife she held, and hadn't let go of it this entire time, to the point she swapped where her coffee was on the table so she could use her left just so she could keep her hold on the damn knife.

Mellissa was sure it had to do with her quirk, or maybe she was just skilled. Uraraka told her about the crazy knife girl from the summer camp, Shuri. If that was her real name, it could be the same.

"I would hope so. I did pay for this round. Money doesn't grow on trees." Shuri tutted her.

Mellissa narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want a dime of your blood money.”

Shuri scoffed at the accusation. "I have you, this face hasn't harmed a fly. I'm just…how you say, plugged into things, and do work, which I can't report on a tax form, but other than that, I like to believe I’m an outstanding citizen.” She finished with a little chuckle, but was the only one who found it funny.

“Delusional is more like it.” Mellissa knew she wasn't in a good position, but wouldn't let herself be cowed by this criminal.

Shuri didn't get angry at the slight; instead, she leaned on the table, supporting her head with her free hand. “I wonder which one of us is the delusional one.”

“What?” Mellisa challenged.

“You’re a famous gal, Mellissa. Very famous, but nowhere near as big as your daddy. He might not be strong like All Might, or smooth like Hawks, or a snack people would fawn over,” Mellissa didn’t bother hiding her disgust at the idea of this woman being close enough to her father for her to fawn over him. "But he's a genius, and he's proven it time and time again just how far above others in his field he is. In a way, he is the All Might of the support industry; it's fitting that they were partners for a time."

“What are you on about?” Mellissa asked, as it was like this crook liked to hear her talk.

“My point,”  Shuri shushed her like she would a child in class, " is that it was a real surprise that he worked with villains, with the Thunder at that. The underworld is still buzzing about that, but then he went and got arrested, confessed to it all, and is little trial, being kept all hush hush, can be tacked if you know who to ask and how much to slip them."

Mellissa didn't respond, but she thought she didn't need to. It was true that despite how big the I-island incident had been and the details that had leaked or been officially released, it was being kept out of the public eye. Other events made it easy, at least in Japan, to focus on other stuff.

But that didn't mean it wasn't happening. Mellissa made sure she watched each day of the trial; she didn't care if that meant waking up at 2AM to watch them live on an international news channel. And things were not good. With her father pleading guilty, it was less about him trying to fight it and more about keeping the record clear and accurate. Even then, what could be proven only made things look worse for him, and many times they had brought in former assistants, employees, and even board members to testify and give their perspective on the evidence.

She was knocked out of such thoughts when Shuri continued to speak. The criminal leaned closer to her, the red in her eyes almost shining. "But I have a theory. Maybe he was never the one who worked with them. Why would he when he was at the top of his game and only had further elevation, money, and fame to gain by staying clean?"

Shuri's smile turned greedy and vicious, and she was so utterly pleased with herself that Mellissa nearly threw caution to the wind and punched her. And what came out of her mouth only made the urge stronger. “Maybe he was covering for his daughter, who some birdies tell me wasn’t all that noteworthy and only known because of her daddy.”

"I—" Mellissa nearly made a move, but Shuri twirled the knife in her hand, her gaze turning to the waiter, who seemed smitten with her. The man spotted her attention and went red as he served another table, nearly tripping on his two feet.

The group the man was attending to looked at them, and seeing the absolute beauty, realized the situation, just not the one Mellissa knew, and laughed off their waiter’s mistake, Shuri offering him a pleasant, patient and pretty smile when he managed to stand straight once more, as if to convey she didn’t see him as any less for his mishap.

Melissa felt her fight pull back, as she was the only one, the only damn person here who knew who Shuri was, and that her little non-verbal flirt was little more than a reminder that her potential boy toy was just collateral should the criminal feel threatened.

“Please don’t interrupt me, it’s rude.” Almost as fast as it all started, it ended as Shuri scolded Mellissa, who bit her tongue and let the crook continue.  "Where was I? Oh yes, you were the one who reached out to them. Maybe you were angry, maybe you were greedy, or maybe it was a mistake. It doesn't matter why; it only happened, and when daddy dearest found out, he took the fall to keep you safe, even sending you to Japan, far from the attention."

Mellissa had rarely felt as angry as she did now, and not just because this woman accused her of being anywhere near as dirty as her, not because she was a hostage without a rope to tie, but because she was bringing up her father, a sore spot if she ever had one.

“I…I would never do that, and I would never let my father take the punishment for something I did.” No matter how things went or what Papa did, he was still the man who raised, taught, and loved her. She might hate what he had done and how he let his fear push him to such an awful place, but she wouldn't just sit here and let this woman make light of his fate.

“But you’re saying your good father would do it?” Shuri was quirked to counter, and when Mellissa didn't immediately respond, the villainess sighed but pulled back the interrogation. “Looks like I’m wrong, I owe her 200K for that lost bet, pity.”

"So that's what this is? You wanted to track me down, and what? Confirm your bet, kidnap me, try and make me do something for you?" Mellisa demanded, only for Shuri to laugh at the notion.

"None of the above, young lady. I didn't even know you were in Japan, much less the area. I don't know how, but you managed to cover up where you vanished off to pretty damn well. I've been hearing reports of your sightings as far as Norway and Kenya." She waved off, though truth be told, it wasn’t as if the Thunder kept tabs on Mellissa post I-island, she just wasn’t important enough.

“But now you know.”

“Now I know,” The villainess nodded, sipping her coffee, humming at the flavour before she added. “But I’m not going to leak it, provided you do something for me.”

“I refuse.” Mellisa shot her down before she could make it into the air.

Again, Shuri hardly seemed upset; she was more amused and interested in her. “How harsh, you didn’t even hear my request.”

“Because whatever it is you wish, I won’t do it.” Melissa reaffirmed as she crossed her arms.

Shuri hummed but didn't answer with words. Instead, she reached into her purse and extracted a phone, a pretty sleek one housed in a red and pink case with white storm clouds patterned across it.

She unlocked the device and tapped away at it, acting like a regular 20-something checking her socials. Mellissa was about to push things along, believing that Shuri had taken her refusal and accepted it, but then the woman gently set the phone on the table and passed it over to Mellissa.

“Even for her?” She asked, the phone faced down, so Mellissa couldn’t see who this ‘she’s was, but the way Shuri looked at her said enough. So, she picked it up and looked at whatever was-

She dropped the phone, ice shooting through her veins as she looked at the woman and feared her more than Wolfram.

“How did you get that?” she asked as Shuri collected the device. Its screen showed an image of Eri leaving the hospital, obviously taken from a distance.

Putting her phone away, Shuri kept up her pleasant demeanour. "Like I said, I'm in town for business relating to U.A. I'm…well, you could call me a nobody, a middle woman who no one recalls, and does what she's paid to do with no questions asked or anything scene, but I can share this." She started, flashing a soft smile that only made Mellissa want to run.

"I was hired by the Thunder, and it was something about delivering something to this little girl. So, I need to get close to U.A. to do it.” She finished, seeing how pale Mellissa got at the reveal, no doubt she was dreaming up all sorts of awful things.

"Oh, relax. I just said this face hasn't hurt a fly. It's not dangerous; it's simply a gift from them to her. They met during that Shie Hassaikai mess. Pyre seemed quite concerned and promised if I harmed her, I could say goodbye to my face and my legs." Shuri waved off the threat from one of Japan's most wanted and dangerous villains, as if she would smack him like a granny.

Mellissa clearly didn't trust her, but she wasn't making a fuss about it. She took the time to think and weigh her options about this. As she did so, Shuri continued to enjoy her little sugary treat, pulling her phone again to check through her messengers, chuckling now and again as she saw something amusing.

The waiter came around again to collect Shuri's plate and cup. She offered to pay for herself, and with a smile and flutter of her eyelashes, the man was left smiling like an idiot as he almost floated back to the kitchen. Once he left, Mellissa spoke. “So…what’s my role in this? I’m to hand it to her?”

“Nope, that’s not how my job works." Shuri shook her head, popping the ‘P’ sound.

She didn't pull out a paper so much as she recited what it had to have told her. "It was clear; it has to be me, not anyone else. What I need from you is to not make a fuss. U.A. is to be skittish, and I don't know where this little bean lives. I only found out she would be present by chance. I lose this chance, I fail my job, and I was already paid a stupidly large downpayment, and in my line of work, failures mean less biz, which means less for me to pay my rent."

'Yeah, no doubt Pyre has that sort of money after how much Papa paid them.' Mellisa kept the bitter thought of the literal millions her father foolishly handed to criminals to herself.

Shuri offered her hand. “So, do we have a deal?”

Line break

Uraraka has faced many challenges since coming to U.A. These include the USJ break-in, the Sports Festival, Hosu, the finals against All Might, I-island, and the summer camp attack. Provisionals followed, followed by Shie Hassaikai and Overhaul.

There were so many challengers, each as difficult as, if not more so than, the last, pushing her to her limits of power and creativity just to survive after all that.

'Who would think this guy would be next?' She, as she aimed, gave this…Gentle Criminal's character is on a chase. She didn't know who he was, and why he was so obsessed with U.A., but she couldn't let him get close.

But she learned she couldn't attack him like everyone else; she couldn't close the gap to touch him and render him weightless, but his quirk wasn't unstoppable. She had been watching and saw how he bounced on air platforms like trampolines. After she made a risky bet and punched the air to fly after him, she passed the spot she was sure he had just been in without issue.

“He’s not leaving barriers behind him, but I can’t let him figure it out,” She thought aloud as she aimed her hand towards Gentle’s back, thinking of how All Might could change the weather with a single punch, and how Bakugo used his quirk to set loose explosions, specifically, how he found a way to narrow that into a ranged, focused attack. “I get the once chance.”

She powered One for All up, spreading it around her body and raising the output to just 10%—nothing that would hurt her but should do the job. She sent a silent goodbye to her penny before she flicked it towards Gentle.

“Zero Gravity: Money Shot!" Uraraka called out as she fired the coin. Its small size and mass would typically render it useful. Still, when she had rendered it weightless and sent it flying at the speed approaching that of a bullet, it hit with a lot more force than it had any right to.

Gentle had only had time to spot something incredibly small coming towards them before the coin struck him in his side, knocking the wind out of him and making him accidentally release La Brave.

"Gentle!" La Brava cried out. Gentle grunted but managed to readjust, seeing that he was heading to a construction site. He could make another platform and escape, but he needed a way to keep this young lady busy so he could return, collect La Brava, and get to U.A.

Without any alternatives he could see, Gentle landed in the unfinished building, using his quirk to soften the landing and prevent any damage. After all, it would be quite impolite to undermine the hard work of blue-collar workers, as Gentle would believe.

Uraraka quickly followed, cancelling Zero Gravity on herself while keeping One for All active.

Gentle was waiting for her, his coat billowing in the wind, a well-appreciated bit of chance set dressing. "Well, I must admit that you're quite the persistent one, as expected of a hero student from a school as famous as U.A." He used his quirk to create a platform, which he used to jump up onto an elevated steel bar. “But this battle is but a delay.”

Uraraka flicked another coin at him, grateful that she always tried to carry change. But unlike before, Gentle evaded it as she gave chase, the two jumping through the steel skeleton of the unfinished building. "Would you please just surrender? You aren't going to be allowed onto campus anyway; you'll be caught before you can make it past the gate!”

Gentle made a barrier, but like him, she also learned and flicked her finger out, the force being just enough to send her off course and towards a beam, which she bounced off towards Gentle, who leapt out of the way, but only barely. Despite that, he didn't seem too worried, at least to her.

"Haha, but that's where you're wrong, young lady. My genius and wonderful partner, La Brava, has designed a program which will bypass U.A.'s security; we'll be able to sneak in and out without anyone being the wiser." Gentle was worried, terribly so. Uraraka proved to be the speed and powerhouse he had feared. He couldn't waste time with this, but couldn't escape. He needed a way to slow her down, or make her stop with her pursuit altogether, but how?

‘I can’t believe he just admitted to that. I’ll need to bring this up with All Might later.’ Uraraka's shoulder clipped one of the platforms Gentle had left behind, sending her into a dangerous bounce-induced spiral. Such would have thrown anyone for a loop and had them projectile vomiting. Still, she had a tougher stomach than that, resulting from her quirk's side effects and all the training she's done.

So she only felt a little sick as she managed to write herself, grabbing onto a beam as she passed it, cancelling her momentum and allowing her to get her feet under her once more. She glared up at Gentle, who seemed shocked at her quirk recovery. “As if I’ll allow you to leave, you could be plotting something, that’s pretty darn far from a gentleman if you ask me.”

She finished by rushing him, but she flicked herself in a new direction at the last second, giving her an altered line towards Gentle. Another coin in hand, she flicked it at him, hitting him square in the chest, sending the man tumbling off the bean, where she was waiting. She dashed for him, trying to lay a hand on him and end this.

Gentle saw her coming and, without thinking, created two more barriers: one to act as a shield and the other beneath him, catching him. As Uraraka evaded the shield, he flexed his back muscles, drawing out as much power from his trampoline as possible to rocket out and clear of her reach.

Gentle flipped and landed again, but his foot slipped and he nearly fell on his face. "Oh, would you change your tune if you knew of my brilliant yet dastardly plans?"

Having just arrived at the fight, La Brava was not cursing for the first time that she had such tiny legs. She had to move a lot more to cover the same distance as taller people. But she was here, and it wasn't looking good. Gentle wasn't caught yet, but that wasn't the concerning part. 'Gentle, we don't have much time. She could have called ahead, or U.A. could have sent people to look for her. You might not like it, but we might need to pull back.'

Narrowly evading another swipe, Uraraka did catch him unawares with a kick to the leg. It was more luck than anything else that she hadn’t caught him then and there. "Dear heroine in training, despite the fact that I am a proud rule breaker, I ask you not to associate myself or my partner with the violent brutes you have the misfortune of seeing with the League and Thunder." Gentle confessed, short of breath, as this was not an easy fight.

Uraraka wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon, so she kept up the chase. The two were almost dancing through the structure, and La Brava found it hard to see what was happening, even though her familiarity with Gentle allowed her to better spot the spots he'd used his quirk on. “But you want to attack U.A. as well?”

Gentle didn't know why she kept coming at him with open palms, but he didn't give her a chance. When she snagged his coat, he shed a tear as he whipped out a letter-opening knife and cut off the captured piece of cloth.

How tragic, he would need to fix this later. Having escaped her latest attempt to capture him, he replied to her accusation. "Oh heavens no, I have no intention to attack anyone. I have no taste for kidnapping, murder, or any other such violence. My only goal is to simply sneak into your school and escape."

Uraraka froze, but only for a moment before she went right back to it. A plan was forming in her head to handle Gentle as she tracked where some of his bouncy things were and tried to find the rest. “Wha-why would you do that? What do you gain from it?”

Gentle's blue eyes seemed to glow as he replied, "I wish to show the world that I am indeed a master criminal. After all, it would take nothing less to break into U.A. after all your mishaps and incidents, and your guard being higher than normal, would it not?"

"Even if that's true, that's still reason enough to keep you off campus. Everyone is on edge, and people need to relax. Still, if you manage to get close, they'll call the police and cancel it," Uraraka declared as she found another four of his platform things.

Gentl twirled his Mustache. What was he? A cartoon villain? "Oh, but you'll only need to alert law enforcement if I was detected or alerted them, and I'm betting you haven't done that yet?" He asked, but moved on before she could stutter out anything.

"Ah, then we can still come to an agreement, no? I can promise you on my Mustache and name that I won't harm or touch a thing. If you allow me passage, then you can still have your culture festival, and I get my amazing breaking and entering, followed by escape. We all win." He proposed. Her answer was three coins in quick succession sent his way from Uraraka's hand, the girl firing each with her thumb.

Even as they missed, or in the case of the third, Gentle dodged, Uraraka shifted to try and get him into position. “What kind of hero would I be if I accepted a deal like that?”

Gentle tapped his chin in thought before agreeing with her. “Hmm, you’re quite right, it would be quite suspicious if you were the sort of character who would agree.”

‘A rhetorical defeat, and he’s not even fighting it!’ La Brava’s jaw dropped slightly, but Gentle seemed to have a plan.

"Well, then, I can only take the drastic option for this. I wish it hadn't come to that, but I can't allow the aftertaste of the tea to fade before I accomplish what I set out to do!" he declared as he jumped about the place, touching everything he could, activating his quirk. Soon enough, the entire space was bouncing and flexing about like it was all made from rubber.

'What is this? How is he making everything act like this? The structure should have collapsed by now!' Uraraka bit her lip, but kept her cool. She could handle this; she just needed an opening, a means to handle this guy.

As Gentle bounced about the place, he explained his quirk, as it was clear to him she had no past knowledge of it. "Allow me to impart some wisdom on you. The things I elasticize return to normal gradually, so imagine how this unnatural bounce affects the structural integrity of this steel."

Uraraka realised what he meant and rushed for him. Her plan wasn't finished, and she didn't know where they all were, but she couldn't just stand by. “Wait!”

"Oh, and did I mention that I thought removing the bolts from them prudent?" Gentle added, holding his hand out to reveal he was holding several bolts. She didn't know how he removed them, as they should have been bolted in place—hence the darn name!

Her yell came too late as the entire structure seemed to fall apart, and it was heading right towards her. She wondered, if only for a moment, how her classmates had handled such a challenge or if they could, but she wasn't them.

She was Ochaco, the daughter of parents involved in construction since before she was born. Immediately, she spotted where she needed to act and set off, One for All powering her to leap through the chaos as it came down. A hand touched each steel beam, leaving it suspended in space. Others crashed into the weightless ones, but she rendered them weightless as well.

That done, they still carried all that momentum and were heading straight down. Aiming a hand upwards, she launched a punch, as strong as she dared, creating a blast of air that sent her right back to where she started, putting her in the position that she could get into the proper stance, raise her hands up, and catch the entire pile of steel beams like it was just a large heavy bag of pillows.

Gentle and La Brava were lost for words, as he had planned for that to be it. “Oh my, what sort of quirk is that?”

Uraraka took a breath, letting go of the steel and letting it float about. "Liar, you said you were nonviolent. If this place came down, it could have hurt a lot of people."

Marching up, she grabbed one of the steam beams. She held it like a bad, Gentle's eyes widening at the comical sight as Uraraka got ready to ensure he wouldn't even see U.A.'s lawn. "But if you already messed with it, I can use it."

Line Break

At last, the heat is dying down, so I can work and walk about without the risk of sweating. Also, I managed to catch up with Dress-up Darling, at least the dub, as I love how wholesome the entire thing is. Now, I just need to catch up with Dandadan, as I'm a few episodes behind.

Now, this chapter was a tricky one, as the set-up last chapter places Gentle, La Brava, Uraraka, Mellissa and a disguised Pyre in the same area which as you can imagine, is a surefire recipe for disaster as even if they never reach U.A. if Pyre is made, then they’ll be forced to cancel the festival and probably take another hit to their rep despite having nothing to do with it. That all ignores the fact that Pyre has effectively taken Mellissa hostage, along with the entire café.