The only sound that could be heard were the light groans of class 1-A as they shakily got up from the floor after being thrashed by Mirio.
"Damn… that guy's tough."
Sero pointed out—rubbing his aching body.
"Indeed. Worthy of being U.A's finest."
Iida praised—adjusting his broken glasses he shakily put on his face.
"Still, what's his quirk? How does it work? Does he phase through matter? Or is he becoming an astral projection? Could he be making a temporal clone that temporarily takes his place? Could he…"
Midoriya was already muttering away with his theories about his quirk.
Everyone just sweat dropped at this.
"Does he do that all the time?"
Nejire asked them.
""Yes.""
Everyone replied in a monotone voice.
"Mirio…"
Suddenly, Tamaki turned around from his wall staring contest and put his entire attention on Mirio.
"He's getting serious."
Tamaki said—no shyness in his tone anymore.
Everyone was shocked and turned to Mirio and saw that him and Sam were sizing each other up.
"Whoah…"
"He's so manly."
"Sam must have figured out his quirk."
The students of 1-A all started silently chatting at the scene.
"Quiet. It looks like they are about to begin."
Aizawa brought them out of their whispering and everyone—even the easily distracted Nejire—gave the coming bout their undivided attention.
———
Sam felt a bead of sweat fall down his face.
'This guy is incredible.'
Sam didn't even touch him yet, but he could already see the boy had no openings.
Sam was a master martial artist. He was taught by quite possibly the strongest—and most terrifying—man in the whole world.
He was trained to be able to outdo anyone with a quirk with pure skill and strategy.
But this kid in front of him was going to be a challenge.
'His quirk is just so weird that I can't logically create a plan of attack. I need to-'
"Whatcha thinkin' about?"
He interrupted as he suddenly disappeared from his spot.
Sam immediately got into a defensive stance and waited for any sign of his resurfacing.
He quickly turned around and blocked a punch from a naked Mirio—feeling the tremendous power in that punch through his forearm.
Sam went to counter attack but his hand went right through Mirio's arm.
And before his eyes, he dropped back under the ground.
"Shit!"
Sam was already thinking about many different tells, but how could he find out where he would suddenly appear. It was as if he just popped back into existence!
Sam once again turned around and caught a quick glimpse of Mirio before he submerged again.
Something Sam noted was that he was leaning in a different direction.
"He leans towards a direction. That's how he controls where he ends up. Based on the direction he was leaning toward, he should appear…"
Sam turned around again and got into an attacking position.
POP!
In just an instance, Mirio popped out right in front of Sam.
'There!'
Sam's fist immediately shot towards Mirio like a bullet.
PUNCH!
Sam's fist connected with Mirio's cheek, making him stumble back a few steps.
'Gotcha!'
Sam had a victorious smile.
GASP!
Sam turned towards his audience and saw the amazement in their expressions.
This made Sam feel a bit prideful as he did what the other kids couldn't.
But that was only for an instance, as Mirio gave a hearty laugh.
"Hahahahaha! Amazing! You even figured out how I control it! Truly incredible!"
Mirio praised Sam, slowly walking back to him—not even minding the red cheek and the slight blood leaking from his lip.
Sam smirked.
"Doesn't really look like it. You're the true monster. You'd easily body most of these so-called pro's infecting the streets right now. Honestly, I'm stunned."
Sam praised Mirio.
Mirio didn't sink this time, he straight up charged at Sam like a bull.
This caught Sam off guard for a moment, but that moment was more than enough for Mirio.
In just a few steps, Mirio was right in front of him with his arm reared back for a punch.
Sam instinctively crossed his arms in an X before his face and blocked it.
BAM!
"Grrr…"
Sam growled at the pain in his arms.
That punch was insanely strong. He looked down at his arms and saw the bruises already forming on them.
They slightly shivered from the impact.
He looked back up and he sunk underground again.
Sam quickly readjusted himself and got into a defensive position, but before he could, he suddenly felt a hand grab his foot.
He looked down and saw that Mirio phased underground and while still underground, he grabbed Sam's foot.
Sam's eyes widened as he is pulled out of his combat stance.
Mirio suddenly rushes up from the ground with his fist aiming for an uppercut.
Sam could only fall on his back to avoid the punch.
He felt the wind whistle from how close it was to destroying him.
Sam quickly got back to his feet and saw Mirio rushing again and just as he was about to strike him again, Sam went to intercept him.
However, once again, Mirio surprised Sam by stopping his punch and shot a quick jab right into his midsection.
"Oof!"
Sam felt the air leave his lungs—but he still had enough strength to back away as his foot came in for a roundhouse kick to the side of his head.
Sam took a few breaths and saw that Mirio ended his assault—allowing Sam to take a breather.
'This son of a bitch… he's adapting. He's a genius.'
Sam thought as he looked at Mirio with genuine respect.
Once again, Mirio disappears into the ground and once again, Sam stood his ground.
He kept his senses sharp as he waited for Mirio to once again attack.
POP!
Sam immediately turned around and saw Mirio pop up again.
'Shit!'
Sam had been awaiting a sneak attack, but Mirio anticipated that thought from Sam.
Sam quickly brought his hands into a cross in order to block the incoming fist of Mirio.
Just before the fist could hit his arm, he suddenly realized his error.
'He can phase through me.'
The fist went through his arms and the fist was on a path right towards Sam's face.
He quickly leans back as far as he can.
CRACK!
Sam groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his nose.
He leaned backwards and the fist that phased through his arms didn't land a critical blow, but his nose was hit as he bent backwards.
He held his nose and felt the blood gushing out of it.
Seeing the blood on his hands, Sam shook.
Sam then looked at Mirio and saw…
'Fuck…'
Sam said with fear as he was staring at the man he feared most.
Wushan.
He looked down at his bloody hands after removing them from his broken nose.
What stunned Sam was that his hands were tiny. And the room wasn't a gymnasium anymore.
"No… I'm not here!"
Sam knew this place. It was a dark underground room filled with bloodstains everywhere, weapons and ammunition of all kinds. He then saw some of the most brutal and draconian exercise equipment that made him shiver in terror. In the middle, just where he happened to be standing, was a plain concrete floor with some paint marking boundaries.
This was Wushan's private gym. Or as he liked to call it, his toy room. He trained people there and 9 times out of 10 the training ended with the death of his student. Only the fingers and Sam managed to survive.
Sam, who was shaking after seeing this dreadful place again, closed his eyes.
He remembered what he was doing. Who he was fighting.
He then remembered Rumi.
His friends.
His new life.
He remembered that final exam that had traumatized him, yet liberated him.
'I won't be chained down by these memories!'
Sam declared in his mind, fighting against his trauma.
He stared Wushan right in the eye.
"I know you're not here. But when you come here, just know I'll kill you. Along with your little pets."
Wushan just stared at Sam with a sadistic smile.
———
Everyone watched with horror as Sam stood still, shaking like a leaf while holding his broken and bloody nose.
"Oh shit."
Aizawa knew what was going on.
'I shouldn't have let him fight!'
Aizawa was about to go and end the fight, but was stopped by Nejire and Tamaki.
"Let go of me! This needs to end!"
Aizawa yelled at the two students who were confused by Aizawa's interference.
Meanwhile, Mirio was looking at Sam with confusion and worry.
After breaking his nose, he was about to apologize for going so far. But he had no words the moment he saw Sam's eyes.
They were vacant.
What's worse, was the shaking that was progressively getting worse and worse.
"Suzuki? You alright?"
Mirio wanted to check on Sam, but stopped when some signs of life returned to his dull eyes.
"No… I'm not here!"
Suddenly, Sam yelled aloud, making everyone watching halt all thoughts.
"Sam."
"Oh no. It's just like at the final exam."
His classmates started to watch with worry—all too familiar with Sam's current state after seeing the traumatic final exam Sam had to take.
They knew he was hallucinating.
However, just as they were about to go put the fight to an end, they were halted by an ungodly killing intent from Sam.
Mirio, even with his cheerful personality, took a step back in caution. His face one of absolute seriousness.
Sam, who was still shaking, looked up at Mirio on his own, his vacant and dull eyes now showed malice and dread.
"I know you're not here. But when you come here, just know I'll kill you. Along with your little pets."
Sam venomously threatened.
His hateful stare lasted only a second before Sam's eyes showed only exhaustion.
His stiff muscles finally started to relax and he looked at Mirio with respect.
"Sorry about that. I'm a bit messed up here."
He said—pointing at his head.
Mirio just deadpanned at this.
Sam sighed seeing the confused look on the blondes face.
"I concede. As I am at the moment, I have no chance of victory. If I were to be hit by your fist just once in a vital part of my body, I would be in danger. Meanwhile, you and your quirk are very hard to predict, since you literally bug out of existence when you teleport. I am truly impressed. I look forward to seeing more of you in the future, Togata Mirio."
Sam analyzed and debriefed almost as if he was making a report.
He then turned around and walked out of the gym—ignoring the worried and fearful looks he was getting from his classmates.
The moment he left, everyone finally let out a sigh.
"Damn. I hoped I wouldn't see him like that again."
Kaminari admitted, feeling shaken up.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take before I have a heart attack!"
Mineta cowered with tears running down his face.
"Didn't you guys notice?"
Midoriya pitched in, making everyone turn to him.
"Notice what?"
Iida asked.
"He didn't need any help bringing himself back. During his final he had Mirko to help him get through it. This time, he seemed to accept that he was hallucinating and forced himself out of that state."
Midoriya said—his voice full of worry and hope for his friend.
The other students gawked at Midoriya before looking at the door that Sam walked out of.
Then, they all smiled a bit with hope. If he was able to control himself, he might one day be able to move on.
"That was so cool!"
Ruining the melancholy moment was none other than Nejire—who stared at the door with stars in her eyes.
Aizawa sighed—wishing to be in his sleeping bag after dealing with this stressful situation.
"Wowwie! He really was tough! He landed some solid hits! I can't believe he was able to break down my abilities so quickly! Hahahahaha!"
Mirio started laughing—all traces of his seriousness immediately disappeared.
The students lightened up at the happy atmosphere, no longer too bothered by the scene they witnessed.
They were terribly worried for Sam, but after hearing what the big three said about him and recalling the progress he had made during his time at U.A. They could only believe in their friend.
However, despite his efforts to ease the tense atmosphere, Mirio couldn't get Sam's wrath and dread when he threatened him.
Mirio already concluded that Sam was hallucinating and that the person he threatened wasn't himself. But he couldn't pretend he didn't hear it.
He truly planned to kill some people.
He pitied Sam.
Whatever happened to Suzuki, it clearly wasn't his fault.
'Sir would know what to do.'
Mirio thought, remembering his mentor that he admired more than anyone.
He put that thought away and approached the rest of his underclassmen with a proud smile.
He almost forgot that he was testing them, due to the fight with Sam. So he decided to explain what he thought of them, and also telling them about his quirk.
The underclassmen devoted all their attention to Mirio, feeling great respect for him after seeing him personally beat them and even beat Sam.
Mirio was worthy of his title as the strongest student.