Indoor Combat Training

As Jilan Jiyu had expected, All Might announced the contents of the combat training: indoor combat against other people.

"Although the fights against villains we usually see mainly take place outdoors, statistics show that villains are more likely to be found indoors." At this point, All Might stole a glance at Jilan Jiyu before continuing, "Imprisonment, house arrest, underground dealings-in this hero-saturated society, the truly dangerous villains lurk indoors."

All Might looked around at everyone, now dressed in their battle costumes. "You'll be divided into hero and villain teams for indoor two-on-two battles."

"Aren't we going to do basic training?" Tsuyu Asui asked somewhat indistinctly, her long tongue hanging out. Asui's battle costume was a skintight suit that resembled a diving suit. Its frog-like blue-green color went rather well with her long, dark green hair, and it was easy to see that the costume was suited for fighting underwater.

It might have revealed something about his childhood, but Tsuyu's costume reminded Jilan Jiyu of Gero-Tan from the tokusatsu show B-Robo Kabutack. Incidentally, Jilan Jiyu was quite interested in her hands, which might secrete some kind of mucus.

"This is practical training to help you understand the basics!" All Might began explaining the details. "The important point this time is that you won't be facing robots you can simply destroy."

"The scenario is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout, and the heroes have received word and set out to eliminate the threat. The heroes must capture the villains or successfully recover the nuclear weapon within the time limit; the villains must protect the nuclear weapon until time runs out or capture the heroes."

"That setup sounds like a game..." Denki Kaminari racked his brains.

"Rainbow Six Siege, right?" Jilan Jiyu suddenly said. "The defenders have to make their stronghold impregnable, while the attackers begin their assault after negotiations break down. The biggest similarity is that neither the villains nor their allies can do anything to endanger the hostage."

"That's it!" Denki Kaminari smacked his right fist into his left palm. "That's the thing I've always wondered about in that game. If neither side can touch the hostage, why doesn't the hostage just run out?"

As the people around them looked on, impressed without really understanding, Jilan Jiyu calmly said, "There's nothing strange about it. In the scenario, the attackers are an elite unit sent in, and there are also plenty of police officers hidden nearby. They just can't launch an all-out assault because of the hostage."

"The villains understand that too, so they won't harm the hostage lightly. Their only way out is to defeat the rats who have infiltrated the place, and only then can they seize the initiative. In the exercise we're about to do, the so-called 'nuclear weapon' serves the same deterrent purpose."

"However, I have a question." Taking a deep breath, Jilan Jiyu addressed All Might, whose explanation he had completely taken over. "Under the treaties Japan has signed, it can't develop nuclear weapons. In other words, this nuclear weapon may have been developed in secret and discovered by a country like the United States, which hired a group of villains to come and steal it."

Ignoring the growing amounts of cold sweat on the people around him, Jilan Jiyu continued his analysis. "So, to keep this from being exposed and avoid sanctions from other countries, the government sent a small number of heroes and ordered them to arrest the villains on criminal charges. The villains on the other side also have a tacit understanding: both sides want to deal with each other rather than let this 'weapon' explode..."

"Um... young Jilan, that's not it!" Seeing the students around him wearing expressions that said, "So that's how it is," All Might hurriedly stopped him before he could damage the government's reputation. "This is only a hypothetical situation. It was the training scenario we used when I was studying in the United States. The 'nuclear weapon' could just as easily be replaced with something like jewels!"

"The United States... In that case, I don't have any questions." Jilan Jiyu immediately accepted the scenario.

Just what kind of misconceptions do you have about the United States?!

The other students of Class A silently grumbled to themselves.

All Might wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. Thinking that he really couldn't underestimate students these days, he took out a box and said, "All right, young Jilan has explained everything very clearly. Since Pro Heroes often have to form temporary pairs with heroes from other agencies, we'll draw lots to decide your opponents and partners!"

Thanks to the "training" Jilan Jiyu had given them in the classroom, everyone obediently drew lots one after another this time, and the drawing was soon over.

Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka; Team B: Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji; Team C: Momo Yaoyorozu and Minoru Mineta; Team D: Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida; Team E: Yuga Aoyama and Mina Ashido; Team F: Mashirao Ojiro and Koji Koda; Team G: Kyoka Jiro and Denki Kaminari; Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami and Tsuyu Asui; Team I: Jilan Jiyu and Toru Hagakure; Team J: Eijiro Kirishima and Hanta Sero.

"Team I..." Jilan Jiyu glanced at the slip of paper in his hand and looked for his partner.

"Over here, I'm over here~" A pair of enormous gloves floated in the air, waving frantically at Jilan Jiyu. "Jilan, I'm your teammate!"

Although it was a little spooky at first, after spending enough time around her, he had gotten used to this kind of paranormal occurrence. "Habit really is humanity's greatest weapon against the abnormal," Jilan Jiyu muttered to himself before walking over to Toru Hagakure.

"Jilan, you were amazing just now! You managed to work out so much from so little information, and even I could understand it!"

After spending the past few days together, Jilan Jiyu had come to understand Toru Hagakure's personality somewhat. Although he couldn't see her expression, he could tell she was very excited. She was that kind of lively girl.

"With you around to explain the rules, Jilan, maybe we can win!"

"Much as I hate to discourage you, our chances of winning aren't very high." Jilan Jiyu looked around. Several teams were already standing together. "My Quirk isn't suited to a head-on confrontation, and you're more of a support type. We don't stand much chance against the others in a direct fight."

"Is that so..." Toru Hagakure was a little downcast for a moment, but she soon recovered. Clasping her hands together, she said with a laugh, "Then we'll just have to hope we draw a really lucky lot!"

Beside All Might were two boxes, each with a single round opening. One was labeled "heroes," and the other "villains." He had already randomly divided the balls marked with the ten letters between the two boxes. He reached into both boxes at once and pulled out two marked balls.

"The teams for the first match are-Team A as the heroes and Team D as the villains!" All Might announced. "Those two teams stay here. Everyone else, head to the monitoring room."

Team A was Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka; Team D was Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida.

Izuku Midoriya hurriedly turned his head in alarm and looked at Katsuki Bakugo, who was grinning ferociously at him.

"Kacchan... I!"

"Shut up!" Katsuki Bakugo cut him off roughly. "Deku, I'm going to blast you to pieces!"

In a way, that really was a draw of destiny... Jilan Jiyu thought silently.