MHA: The Sentry

_____[POV: Third person]_____

The colossal hole in the sky began to close slowly. The vast stellar void that had been revealed was gradually disappearing as the atmosphere and blue sky filled the torn space once again.

Silence reigned over the battlefield, but it didn't last long.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

The villains screamed in panic.

"WHAT WAS THAT IN THE SKY?!"

"IS THAT SOME KIND OF QUIRK?!"

"WHAT KIND OF MONSTER CAN DO THAT?!"

Pure terror and disbelief took hold of the criminals.

They had come here confident, believing they had a solid plan, an invincible Nomu plus two more.

But now?

They were defeated and terrified, all because of a single attack that wasn't even aimed at them.

Aizawa stared at the sky, still reeling from what had happened.

He took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure, but worry consumed his thoughts.

Ryuji…

He had been fighting the other Nomu when this happened.

Was he okay?

Or worse…

Was HE somehow responsible for this?

Aizawa didn't want to believe it, but the possibility left him uneasy. Especially since there had been that other clash of forces before this absurdly destructive attack.

Todoroki, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression.

He was somewhere between surprised and scared.

The gap between him and the one responsible for that attack was… immeasurable.

He swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the spot where the air explosion had occurred.

"How am I supposed to surpass this…" he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Shigaraki was furious.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Shigaraki shouted, his body trembling with rage and frustration.

He looked at Kurogiri, his teeth grinding.

"Tell me that was All Might!"

Kurogiri remained silent for a moment before responding in a low, grave voice:

"No… It wasn't him."

The mist villain furrowed his brow, still feeling the remnants of the impact in his own body. He knew All Might was powerful, but he had never seen anything like that before.

"Shigaraki… We should retreat."

Shigaraki clenched his fists, his shoulders shaking.

"DAMN IT!" He growled, kicking a nearby piece of debris.

Everything was going wrong. The Nomus had all been scattered and possibly defeated. The students had managed to escape, and the invasion itself was failing.

And now, there was some freak among the students who could literally create a hole in the sky.

Kurogiri raised his mist, expanding it to surround Shigaraki.

"Come."

Shigaraki stepped forward, ready to enter the mist and escape.

But then his body was forcefully yanked back.

"Huh?! WHAT?!"

Before he could react, he was violently dragged across the ground, rocks and debris flying everywhere.

And the next moment, his head was firmly pressed against the ground. A strong hand gripped his skull, crushing it against the cracked concrete.

The dust settled, revealing Ryuji, standing there, looking down at Shigaraki with his usual monotone but slightly nervous expression.

He sighed deeply, seeming mentally exhausted.

"You're not going anywhere, buddy."

Shigaraki tried to struggle, but it was useless. The crushing weight of Ryuji's hand kept him completely immobile.

His fingers twitched, wanting to touch Ryuji and disintegrate him.

Kurogiri prepared to act, his mist expanding—

But he was instantly interrupted.

*SFX: FOOOOOOOOOSH!*

Todoroki unleashed a new wave of ice that surged toward him.

"You're not going anywhere either," the boy said, his voice cold and determined.

Kurogiri's mist recoiled for a moment, an irritated grunt escaping him. He had no way to rescue Shigaraki, and now he had to deal with Todoroki, Ryuji, and Aizawa.

He had no choice.

With one last glance at Shigaraki, Kurogiri disappeared.

Shigaraki trembled with rage, realizing he had been abandoned.

Ryuji looked at the scene and sighed heavily. He then glanced at Aizawa and Todoroki, who were still clearly shaken by everything that had happened.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, carefully analyzing the boy.

He wanted to ask.

He needed to ask.

But before he could say anything—

Todoroki stepped forward.

He stared at Ryuji, his expression serious.

"It was you… wasn't it?"

"Huh?" Ryuji blinked, still holding Shigaraki's head to the ground.

"The explosion. The hole in the sky."

Silence fell.

Aizawa's eyes narrowed even further.

Ryuji stood still for a moment, then swallowed hard.

"Ah."

He averted his gaze for a second, his expression growing slightly nervous.

"Yeah… Well…"

He scratched the back of his neck.

"I swear it was an accident..."

Aizawa and Todoroki stood frozen.

Ryuji sighed again, muttering to himself:

"Damn… This is going to be hard to explain..."

The uncomfortable silence between Ryuji, Aizawa, and Todoroki was abruptly shattered by a loud metallic clang, followed by the high-pitched whine of malfunctioning thrusters.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Everyone turned just in time to see Izuku clumsily flying through the air, his armor sparking and shaking as if it were about to explode at any moment.

"Crap…" Ryuji muttered, ready to intervene if Izuku turned into a human meteor.

One of the hand thrusters failed, followed by the foot thrusters, and poor Izuku plummeted like a brick, hitting the ground with a painful thud.

He rolled a few times before coming to a stop right next to Ryuji, who was still pinning Shigaraki to the ground.

An awkward silence fell over the area.

Izuku lay motionless for a few seconds, then the back of his armor opened, releasing a puff of stifling steam, and he fell forward, gasping for air.

"Ugh…! Fresh air at last!" he exclaimed in relief, climbing out of the armor with the expression of someone who had nearly been roasted alive inside a giant sardine can.

He looked around, sweaty and slightly dazed.

"Is everyone okay?!"

Ryuji, still holding Shigaraki's face to the ground, raised an eyebrow.

He then pointed to the villain crushed beneath his hand.

"I'm fine. Him? Not so much."

Shigaraki mumbled something unintelligible, but no one paid him any mind.

Izuku blinked. "Oh… Well…"

He sighed in relief and then immediately turned to Ryuji, his eyes shining with curiosity. "How the HELL did you make that hole in the stratosphere?!"

Ryuji visibly tensed but kept a neutral expression.

"Uh…"

Before he could come up with an excuse, Izuku was already in analysis mode, chattering away as he began piecing together a theory.

"Okay, let's break it down! You told me your quirk works with an internal energy that you can store and use in various ways, right?"

Ryuji blinked, confused.

"Yeah…?"

Izuku continued, completely ignoring Ryuji's hesitation.

"And you also mentioned that you can absorb energy from the Sun and store it. If we combine those two pieces of information… then it's possible that you concentrated ALL of your stored energy into a single massive attack, which would explain the devastating impact and the hole in the sky!"

Aizawa and Todoroki listened in silence, absorbing every word. Seeing an opportunity to control the narrative, Ryuji grinned widely.

"Exactly!"

Izuku beamed with excitement.

"Really?!"

"Yep. I concentrated all my energy to take down that monster… I just kinda overdid it a little."

He made a small gesture with his fingers, indicating a tiny amount.

"Like… just a little."

Aizawa and Todoroki seemed to accept the explanation for now, but they were still clearly shocked by the level of destruction.

The roof of the U.S.J. was simply gone, and the stratosphere now had an official record of damage. Or at least, it did.

Izuku, on the other hand, couldn't stop smiling.

"That's amazing!" he said, mentally taking frantic notes. "So your accumulated energy can be released all at once, exponentially increasing the power of your attack! I knew you were hiding something!"

Ryuji laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Haha… yeah. Who would've thought, huh?"

He avoided looking at Aizawa, who was still analyzing everything with suspicion.

Izuku, meanwhile, remained excited. "This is INCREDIBLE! I never considered this possibility, but it makes perfect sense! If you were able to do that now, it means your energy capacity has an unknown absorption limit! Maybe, if we do calculations based on the solar radiation absorbed and the energy dispersion—"

Ryuji raised a hand, cutting him off.

"Izuku, chill."

"What?"

"I almost had a heart attack seeing that hole in the sky. I don't want a second heart attack finding out that, technically, I could've blown up the planet if I messed up the attack."

Izuku fell silent for a moment, then smiled.

"Fair."

Aizawa still didn't seem convinced. He narrowed his eyes at Ryuji.

"Even if your explanation makes sense, an attack like that is still way beyond what any student should be capable of."

Ryuji raised his hands defensively. "Hey, hey! Blame the big guy I was fighting. If he wasn't such a tank, I wouldn't have had to go all out."

Aizawa sighed heavily, running a hand over his face.

"You're going to give me a headache…"

He gave Ryuji a suspicious look but decided not to press further for now. There were more urgent matters to deal with.

Mainly Shigaraki, who was still face-down on the ground.

Ryuji looked at Izuku and gave him a light pat on the back, almost knocking the boy over again.

"Now, help me secure this guy before he starts complaining again."

Izuku smiled sideways and nodded.

"Got it."

----------------------------------------

The sound of sirens and multiple hurried footsteps was approaching.

Ryuji, Izuku, Todoroki, and Aizawa looked toward the entrance of U.S.J., seeing a group of teachers emerging alongside All Might, who led the front with a serious and tense expression.

It was obvious that something like this would happen.

They had seen a hole in the sky, after all.

The first thing the teachers did was assess the damage around them. U.S.J. looked like a war zone, the roof practically nonexistent, signs of destruction everywhere, and several villains immobilized in the central plaza.

Midnight, Cementoss, Snipe, and the others stopped in shock, trying to process what they had just witnessed.

All Might maintained his composure, but it was impossible to ignore his gaze fixed on the sky and then on Ryuji, as if trying to connect the dots.

The silence was broken by a muffled grunt and the sound of something being dragged.

Everyone turned their heads, only to see—

—A small white ball of fur dragging a massive body across the ground.

It was Rice Cake, in her cute and small form, pulling the corpse of the Nomu she had defeated. Well... half of it, specifically.

The absolute silence was followed by an extremely exaggerated reaction.

Even the police officers stopped what they were doing to look at the bizarre scene.

Izuku was the first to react.

"W-WAIT! RICE CAKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The white wolf, still in her small and cute form, simply continued pulling the Nomu's body, stopping at Ryuji's feet and dropping the corpse from her mouth.

She wagged her tail proudly, looking at Ryuji as if expecting praise.

"…"

Ryuji blinked a few times, then looked at the completely mutilated Nomu on the ground.

"Uh… good job?"

Rice Cake wagged her tail even faster.

Midnight placed a hand on her chest, surprised.

Snipe scratched his head, confused.

Cementoss blinked, speechless.

All Might… well, All Might just stood there, watching with his mouth open.

"What… what the hell is going on here?" Cementoss asked, looking from the tiny wolf who dragged the Nomu's body like it was a toy.

Rice Cake simply sat in front of Ryuji, wagging her tail happily, as if saying, "Was I a good girl?"

Izuku, still in shock, stammered:

"Y-You… killed him?!"

He gulped, looking in horror at the corpse.

"Hold on, man."

Ryuji interrupted, raising his hand to cut off any thoughts.

Izuku looked at him immediately, clearly expecting an explanation.

"Listen, I already analyzed the Nomu I fought." Ryuji began to explain, his tone now more serious. "That thing isn't human."

Izuku's eyes widened.

"What?"

The teachers immediately focused on Ryuji, waiting for him to explain further.

He sighed, crossing his arms.

"I used my Quirk to examine its composition." Ryuji continued. "It's a combination of several people. Hence the multiple Quirks. But the consciousness itself… is already gone. What's left is just a bunch of flesh and powers stitched together."

He pointed to the Nomu's head.

"It's gone. Over. It's just an empty shell programmed to attack until it dies."

A heavy silence fell over everyone.

Izuku gulped again, his worried expression fading as he processed the information.

The teachers exchanged tense glances, but it was hard to refute Ryuji's explanation.

In the end, Cementoss was the first to nod slowly, Midnight sighed in relief, and even All Might seemed to accept the answer.

But then—

"Wait."

Everyone looked at Snipe, who pointed directly at Rice Cake.

"If that thing is a pup… how the hell did it drag that thing over there?"

The wolf looked at Snipe, then at the body, and then growled softly, as if feeling offended.

Ryuji smirked.

"You underestimate the power of motivation."

Rice Cake lifted her head proudly.

Finally, Aizawa decided to proceed with the evacuation plan.

"Alright, you three, let's go." He looked at Ryuji, Izuku, and Todoroki. "You need to get out of here."

----------------------------------------

After all the chaos that Rice Cake caused, Aizawa guided Ryuji, Izuku, and Todoroki out of the U.S.J., where the other students and the police were already waiting.

The captured villains were being loaded into police vehicles, and the area was still filled with tension.

On Ryuji's shoulder, Rice Cake was comfortably nestled, still holding a piece of the torn uniform from the Nomu she had defeated, as if it were a trophy.

As soon as the three stepped out, the group of students immediately reacted.

"Are you guys okay?!" Uraraka ran up to Izuku, clearly worried.

"What the hell happened in there?!" Kaminari asked, nervously glancing at the U.S.J.

Hagakure, on the other hand, went straight to Ryuji.

"Ryuji!!"

Her voice trembled, and Ryuji raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Hagakure?"

She stopped in front of him, still panting, as if she had been running around before seeing him.

"Are you okay?! You disappeared in there, then there was a huge explosion, and then there was a hole in the sky! Did you get hurt?!"

Ryuji smirked, shaking his head.

"Calm down, calm down, I'm fine."

He pointed to himself.

"Alive, in one piece, no holes in my chest or arms ripped off."

Hagakure hesitated for a second but sighed in relief, relaxing a little.

But before she could say anything else…

"Ooooh, so that's why you were so worried!"

Mina popped up from the side, crossing her arms with a mischievous smile.

"Hagakure kept talking about you the whole time, Ryuji. It was 'What if he's hurt?', 'What if he doesn't come back?', 'What if he's buried in the rubble?'"

"M-MINA!"

Ryuji blinked, confused.

Izuku and Todoroki raised their eyebrows at the same time, while Ryuji looked in the direction he knew Hagakure was.

On his shoulder, Rice Cake just watched everything with bright eyes, her ears twitching curiously.

"…?"

Hagakure was completely red, even though she was invisible to the others.

And when Ryuji's eyes met hers, she blushed even harder.

She immediately hid behind Mina.

Ryuji just arched an eyebrow, confused.

"…Did I miss something?"

Izuku and Todoroki exchanged glances, while Mina laughed shamelessly.

Hagakure just wanted to disappear.

Ryuji was still trying to understand the situation with Hagakure, but he didn't have much time to process whatever was happening.

"Ryuji Fugimoto?"

A calm and firm voice caught his attention.

He turned his head and saw Naomasa Tsukauchi, the police detective, walking toward him.

On All Might's shoulder, Nezu was sitting, his eyes attentively analyzing everything.

"We need a moment to talk with you."

The chatter among the students died instantly.

Izuku and Todoroki exchanged glances, Hagakure was still hiding behind Mina, and the others fell silent, watching.

Ryuji, on the other hand, just sighed internally.

"Of course, this would happen... After all, it's not every day someone puts a damn hole in the sky, right?"

Keeping his relaxed posture, he raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… okay? Right here, or do you want a special room for this?"

Nezu smiled, clearly amused by the sarcastic tone.

"How polite of you to offer a proper location! Indeed, I prefer to talk in my office."

The principal's gaze shifted briefly, landing on Rice Cake, who was still perched on Ryuji's shoulder.

Her crystal-blue eyes narrowed, and she growled back.

A low growl, but full of warning.

The atmosphere grew slightly tense.

Nezu only smiled even more, as if he found the reaction amusing and interesting.

Ryuji, on the other hand, patted her head, reassuring her.

"Hey, calm down, furball. The rat's not gonna bite me."

Rice Cake still seemed suspicious but didn't growl anymore.

With a sigh, Ryuji lifted her off his shoulder and set her on the ground, looking into her eyes.

"Stay. I won't be long."

Rice Cake thumped her tail once on the ground, clearly displeased.

"Oh, and no biting anyone."

Rice Cake just turned her face away, offended, as if saying, "Why the hell are you assuming I'd do that?"

Ryuji raised an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that, we both know you would."

Rice Cake just huffed but didn't respond.

"Great." He then looked at Naomasa and Nezu. "Alright, let's go. The sooner this starts, the sooner it's over."

And with that, he followed the two to the principal's office, mentally preparing himself to deal with yet another headache.

_____[POV: Ryuji]_____

Sitting in Nezu's office, with All Might on guard, Naomasa with that detective look of someone who's seen too much shit in life, and Nezu preparing tea as if this were an afternoon tea party and not an interrogation.

Definitely not how I wanted to end the day.

Nezu gave me an analytical look and began:

"First of all, Ryuji, let me thank you. You saved our students and teachers from a terrible fate. Your bravery and efficiency were remarkable, and I deeply respect that."

Well, it's not every day that a super-intelligent bear-mouse thanks me.

"Ah, sure. No problem. Almost dying because of villains is part of the school experience, right?"

Nezu smiled, placed his cup on the table, his gaze sharpening like a blade.

"But I also need to admit that your actions are… extremely suspicious."

Ah, here it comes.

"You brought an extremely suspicious and dangerous quirk-bearing animal to the school…"

Technically, Rice Cake came to me.

"You caused absurd destruction all over U.S.J. during your fight…"

Technically, the villain was in the way of my fist.

"And, of course, your latest feat of scarring the skies and killing a villain in a single attack."

Technically… okay, that one was my fault.

Nezu leaned forward, his small, bright eyes fixed on me.

"So, Ryuji… Who are you really? And who do you work for?"

I looked at him indifferently and let out a tired sigh.

This made All Might shift uncomfortably in the corner of the room and Naomasa stiffen, as if my sigh were the announcement of an impending apocalypse.

And then, with all the calm in the world, I replied:

"I am Ryuji Fugimoto."

Silence.

"And I don't work for anyone. I'm not affiliated with anyone. And I definitely have nothing to do with the villains who attacked today."

Nezu and Naomasa didn't blink.

"Rice Cake is my pet, and she's not dangerous to anyone without bad intentions. Also, she came to me, so technically I didn't 'bring' her."

My tone made it clear that I found it ridiculous to be explaining this.

"All the destruction was just a side effect of my quirk."

Which, of course, is true... A half-truth, I used pure brute force for that.

"And I only killed the guy because he wasn't even human anymore. His consciousness was long gone."

Silence.

Nezu blinked.

Naomasa looked at him.

Nezu looked at Naomasa.

"… He's telling the truth."

Nezu furrowed his brows.

I could almost hear the circuits in his head overloading.

I took advantage of the awkward silence and casually apologized:

"Ah, and sorry about the little incident with the sky. I kinda overdid it a bit."

All Might stretched his neck in my direction, as if expecting to hear something that made sense.

Naomasa intervened, trying to understand the logic:

"Wait. How exactly can your quirk do something like that?"

I shrugged.

"I released all the stored energy at once in a single attack."

Nezu arched his eyebrows, as if he had noticed something strange.

He analyzed me for a moment, then asked:

"But doesn't that show that you've been accumulating energy internally since your quirk awakened?"

All Might suddenly raised his head, I saw his expression darken before he even opened his mouth.

"Wait… Does that mean, that day in the infirmary…"

"Yes." I cut him off before he could finish.

I raised my hand and let a golden energy glow at the tip of my fingers.

The room felt warmer, they watched me in absolute silence.

"I had more than enough energy to heal you completely, All Might."

More silence.

"My power can turn the world upside down. If I wanted, I could heal any disease or injury."

My voice came out lower. "But not everyone would see that as a good thing. That's why I chose to hide it."

Naomasa wrote something in his notebook, understanding exactly my point of view.

All Might seemed shaken.

Nezu took a sip of tea and gave a curious smile. "You are truly intriguing, Ryuji."

He placed the teacup on the table and looked at me.

"So, how about a deal?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"U.A. will cover up your involvement in the attack and the little… incident in the sky."

Fair.

"No disciplinary or legal consequences will fall on you."

Great.

"Additionally, we want you to become an Elite Class Student."

…Okay, that's new.

But before accepting, I decided to add some conditions.

I crossed my arms and spoke seriously:

"I want unlimited coffee jelly."

The three of them stared at me.

"Not Lunch Rush's. I want the ones bought from outside."

Nezu blinked.

"…And?"

"I want Rice Cake to have free access to U.A."

Nezu tilted his head.

"Rice Cake?"

"My cute little pup."

Nezu smiled.

"Interesting… I accept."

I gave a slight smile.

"Then we have a deal."

_____[POV: Third person]_____

The salty night breeze blew across the dock, carrying the scent of rust, oil, and sea spray. The dark waters of the harbor reflected the lights of cranes and anchored ships, creating a spectacle of fragmented shadows and glimmers.

Amidst it all, a massive cargo ship sat silently at anchor. It was a metallic colossus, stacked with containers like domino pieces. The sailors worked tirelessly, unloading the cargo, but their gazes kept drifting toward the main gangway, where someone very important was about to descend.

Footsteps echoed on the metal ramp.

She appeared first.

A woman with short, precisely cut red hair, every strand in its rightful place. Her amber eyes glimmered under the artificial lights, cold and impassive, scanning her surroundings with an air of natural sovereignty. Her presence was suffocating, and silence followed her like a shadow.

Behind her, a tall, imposing man in a dark suit accompanied her like a true bodyguard. His muscles were tense, ready to react at the slightest sign of threat. His gaze swept the area like that of a predator, but the woman in front of him walked unhurriedly, unafraid.

When her feet touched the ground of the dock, a group of men awaited her.

The leader of the group stepped forward, a thin, middle-aged man wearing a cheap suit and a calculated smile. He bowed slightly, the apparent respect in his posture contrasting with the tension in his eyes.

"Welcome to Japan, ma'am," he said, his voice smooth and oily. "We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

She didn't respond immediately. Her gaze swept over the group, each of them shrinking under her silent judgment.

The man continued, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.

"I've arranged everything as per your instructions. Your new personnel are ready, your false identity has been registered, and the residence we've chosen for you meets all the required specifications."

That's when she felt it.

A gaze.

Among the men in the group, one of them was staring at her.

He didn't seem particularly brave or special, but something about his expression bothered her. Perhaps it was the obvious curiosity, or a poorly disguised admiration. But she knew.

And she hated that gaze.

She smiled.

Softly, unhurriedly.

She raised her hand delicately, as if asking for silence. Her index finger rested on her own lips.

Then, she pointed at the man with her hand shaped like a gun.

"Bang."

His head exploded.

There was no sound of a gunshot, no flash of gunpowder, no visible weapon. But the upper part of his body was shattered in an instant.

All that remained was his lifeless torso, the remains spilling onto the dock as the rest of his body collapsed forward, drenching the concrete in red.

The other men choked in shock.

The leader froze, his eyes wide as he stared at the mutilated body of his subordinate.

The woman looked at the corpse with disdain.

"I despise that kind of gaze."

With a calm motion, she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, wiping away the small splatters of blood that had landed on her flawless face.

"Take me to my new residence," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I've already wasted too much time on disgusting people."

The leader, still trembling, quickly gestured for his men to guide her.

She entered the designated car, the doors closing softly behind her.

Inside the vehicle, her chest rose and fell irregularly.

She bit one of her fingers, her teeth pressing into her pale skin.

Her amber eyes gleamed with excitement.

She had finally arrived in Japan.

And soon…

She could finally pair them together.

As she had always desired since coming into this world.

----------------------------------------

(A/N: This chapter wasn't supposed to take so long to come out, but I had some tasks to handle that delayed the release. The U.S.J. arc has come to an end, and the first of the 7 mysterious ones has arrived in Japan. Surely everyone here wants her to die first, and honestly, I do too—I'm not keen on keeping a toxic, shipping-obsessed bitch alive for too long. And being the good person that I am, I'd like to ask you all for torture methods—I know your devilish minds have all kinds of bad ideas. Well, changing the subject, the sports festival arc is finally approaching. My progress has been pretty slow, but that's because I don't want to rush anything. Everyone enjoys seeing a bit of interaction here and there, and I honestly think it's cool. And it's also in this arc that I'll introduce your beloved lazy cat girl—she just wants to be a hero for the money, nothing more. Well, that's all I have to say for now. See you in the next update.)