Chapter 28: A Lingering Shadow
The late afternoon sun cast long, orange shadows over the U.A. High courtyard. The Battle Trial was officially over.
Katsuki Bakugo walked toward the main exit in total silence. His head was down, his explosive pride completely shattered. He had lost to Deku. He had seen Todoroki freeze an entire building in a single second. And he had watched Roronoa Zoro slice through that exact same ice like it was paper, finishing a match without a single scratch.
"Kacchan! Wait!"
Bakugo stopped but didn't turn around. Izuku Midoriya ran down the path, his right arm wrapped in a heavy cast.
"I have to tell you something," Midoriya panted, his voice trembling but determined. "My Quirk... I didn't hide it from you. It's a power that was given to me by someone else recently. I still can't control it, but one day, I'll make it my own and beat you with it!"
Bakugo slowly turned his head. His eyes were wide, filled with tears of absolute frustration and rage.
"A borrowed power? Are you mocking me?" Bakugo's voice cracked. "I lost to you! I saw that half-and-half bastard's ice! And I saw that Quirkless swordsman treat the strongest guys in class like they were nothing! I... I'm going to start from here! I will surpass all of you!"
Bakugo turned around and walked away, wiping his face aggressively. All Might, who had been watching nearby in his massive, muscular form, stepped out to try and comfort the blond, but Bakugo brushed him off.
A few yards away, hidden in the shadow of a large oak tree, Zoro stood with his arms crossed.
He had heard the entire conversation. His sharp hearing hadn't missed a single word.
A power that was given to him? Zoro analyzed silently, his single eye narrowing as he looked at Midoriya, and then at the towering, muscular hero standing near him. And the Number One Hero is the one secretly watching over him. I knew I saw them training together at that beach.
Zoro smirked, pushing himself off the tree trunk. The pieces of the puzzle had finally clicked together. Midoriya was All Might's secret successor.
What a strange world, Zoro thought, walking toward the exit. But it doesn't matter whose power you borrow. If you don't have the will to wield it, you'll die anyway.
The next morning, the air outside U.A. High was filled with an irritating, chaotic buzzing.
Word had officially leaked to the media that All Might was teaching at the school. Because of that, a massive swarm of reporters and cameramen had camped outside the front gates, shoving microphones into the faces of every student.
Zoro walked up the path, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He was already annoyed.
As he approached the gate, three reporters instantly blocked his path.
"You there! You're in Class 1-A, right? Tell us about the Symbol of Peace!" a man demanded, stepping uncomfortably close.
Zoro stopped. He didn't answer. He just slowly lifted his head, fixing his single, piercing eye on the reporter.
He didn't draw a sword. He simply let a microscopic fraction of his killer intent leak out. The air around the swordsman suddenly felt impossibly heavy, cold, and suffocating.
The reporter gasped, the microphone slipping from his trembling hand. His survival instincts screamed at him to run. The reporters instinctively parted, creating a wide, clear path.
"You're in my way," Zoro muttered softly.
He walked through the silent crowd without anyone daring to ask him another question. Aizawa, standing near the security barrier, watched the exchange with tired eyes, noting how effortlessly Zoro commanded fear.
Once inside the classroom, Aizawa briefly went over the results of the Battle Trial before dropping a new assignment.
"Now, onto homeroom business," Aizawa announced. "We need to pick a class representative."
The classroom instantly erupted into chaos. Everyone wanted to be the leader. Zoro just crossed his arms on his desk and buried his face in them. A class leader? What a pain. Within seconds, he was fast asleep.
By the time he woke up, Midoriya was nervously standing at the front as the new Class Rep, with Yaoyorozu as the Vice Rep.
Lunchtime arrived soon after. Zoro grabbed a plate of white rice and grilled fish, sitting alone near the massive cafeteria windows.
Suddenly, a blaring, deafening siren echoed through the entire school facility. Red emergency lights began flashing violently.
"WARNING. LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE EVACUATE OUTDOORS PROMPTLY."
Absolute panic erupted. Hundreds of students scrambled for the single main hallway, shoving and trampling each other in a desperate bid to escape.
Zoro sighed, picking up his plate of food. He calmly walked into the massive crowd. He didn't push or shove. He simply stood his ground. Desperate students crashed against his solid, muscular frame, but Zoro didn't move an inch. He was an immovable rock in a raging river.
"Zoro! This is crazy!" Kirishima yelled, fighting through the crowd to reach him. "Why aren't you running?!"
"Running from what?" Zoro replied calmly, taking a bite of his fish. "Nobody even knows what the threat is."
Suddenly, above the screaming crowd, Iida flew through the air and slammed face-first into the wall above the emergency exit sign.
"EVERYONE! EVERYTHING IS FINE!" Iida roared at the top of his lungs. "IT IS JUST THE PRESS! THERE IS NO THREAT!"
The crowd stopped. Students looked out the nearby windows, seeing the massive mob of reporters flooding the front courtyard. The panic subsided. Midoriya later gave up his Class Rep position to Iida, noting his excellent leadership under pressure.
Later that afternoon, as the school day ended, Zoro didn't head straight back to Master Kenji's dojo. He walked over to the massive, U.A. security gate.
The top teachers and Principal Nezu were already highly suspicious of the incident, quietly realizing that ordinary reporters couldn't turn high-tech sensors into dust. They knew someone else had orchestrated the chaos.
Zoro stopped in front of the gate. The thick metal had completely crumbled into gray dust, leaving a massive, jagged hole that looked alien against the school's architecture. He crouched down, reaching out to rub the metallic dust between his fingers.
As he did, time seemed to slow. The chaotic sounds of the school courtyard faded into a low, distant hum. A violent, sickening ripple of energy burst from the crumbling metal, washing over him.
Zoro froze. His fingers clenched, the metallic dust grounding into his skin. His single open eye suddenly glowed with a faint, luminous white light—not a Quirk, but a raw, instinctual defensive flash. His breath caught in his throat. He felt an intense, pulsing pressure in his chest, like a silent, powerful scream. The air itself tasted like decay and pure malice.
A ghostly, formless swirl of black and purple seemed to rise from the metal dust, invisible to everyone else. A jagged, dark bubble of confusion popped in his mind: ...What is this feeling?
It wasn't just physical force. It was hatred. It was a killing intent so absolute it bypassed all logic. It was a miasma of pure destruction. This wasn't the first time he'd felt it, but it was the strongest, most alien. It was Haki—the Color of Observation—bursting forth in a powerful, involuntary survival instinct.
Zoro stood up, slowly, the dust falling from his fingers. His usual smug smirk had been replaced by a grim, hard line. He didn't know the name for it yet, but he knew one thing:
Reporters didn't do this. Someone else did. Someone with a deadly power, and a whole lot of killing intent.
Zoro looked out toward the empty streets beyond the gate, a fierce, hungry smile pulling at his lips. He rested his hand on his swords.
Looks like the real fight is finally coming.
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