MHA: Blackout

Before 1st Act
It was some day after they returned from the spa. While there, Vitalis had learned a lot about relaxing, resting, and rejuvenation. Her day had been busy, and she had learned about the amazing calming effects of yoga.

Which is what she was doing, this day, in the gym. With a mat placed down, the girl, clad in a tanktop and yoga pants, she was busy stretching her legs. Grabbing them, pulling them this way and that. Then twisting her torso, and stretching her arms. It was so nice.

The spa trip was fruitful in more ways than one for the bugster, he's gotten a better insight on how some of his peers function. He went to gym to resume his usual workout session but was pleasantly surprised by a tiny vampire girl. "Hail, friend. How was the spa trip for you?" He said while tilting his head, perplexed by her movements.

Vitalis paused mid-stretch to turn towards the voice. She was reasonably flexible, and her current clothing choice allowed her free of movement, so her twist looked a bit suspect. “Oh, hi!” Her face brightened up. Somehow, she hadn’t interacted at all with this particular classmate during the spa. But anyway.. “It was good.. Mimiyr, shiea’niyr. How bout for you Kaizzen?”

“I certainly had fun!” Kaizen said as he got down started doing one arm pushups. “I don’t think I’ve had a chance to talk to you properly since our U.A days, how have you been?” Due to all the training they had, the bugster hadn’t had the time to properly catch up with her. “That cousin of yours, Vigridis. She’s certainly an interesting character.”Despite being related, the two were so different from each other.

“I’ve been good.. Meiya neh ashier…” She mumbled in a soft tone. “Thankx for assking! It’z good you had fun! Sso did I! What did you do?” She cocked her head. It was unusual he’d just bring up Vigridis like that. “Hm? What do you mean? Did ssomething happen with my cousiin?”

“Been hanging out with some people both old and new. Bug catching with Goto, swimming with Haya, getting punched by Isa, oh and chatting with Hideki and your cousin.” Kaizen shifted his body’s position, so that he can push his whole body upwards with one hand on the ground. “Well, kinda when we returned, me and her had a sparring session. She nearly bisected me, but it was fun.” Kaizen continued on without missing a beat.

“Bug catching??..” Vitalis repeated, with a cock of her head, staring at him. “Didn’t that… Iduno.. Feel a bit weird?” she questioned. “Getting punched? Are you okay? Why did Isa hit you? Oh! You chatted with Vigridis? Really now? Didn’t her personality annoy you? What did you talk about?” Vitalis, for one, could never find anything reasonable to speak with Vigridis about.

Wait, so they hadn’t talked but fought? “She nearly did what?! What what?! Why?! Are you okay..? How.. how was that fun..?” The poor smol vampy couldn’t understand.

“Not at all, I keep bugs in my room all the time as pets. I asked for it. She takes some getting used to, but I think she ultimately means well, most of them time. We talked about Hideki’s performance and they eventually ended up fighting each other. It was… amusing to say the least.” Kaizen quickly swapped to his other arm and repeated the same motion. “I also asked for that. You know how much I like fighting. You shouldn’t worry about it too much. You know I’ll always be fine, especially with this quirk of mine.” Kaizen has always acknowledged that his quirk allowed him to take a lot more punishment than many of his peers, recovering from near death experiences in the matter of minutes.

Vitalis wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not about Kaizen keeping bugs. Perhaps she shouldn’t be, so she would just drop it. What he said about Vigridis, though, left her a bit confused. Were they talking about the same person? Her cousin? “I guess you two are similar in that way…” But she always thought Kaizen was a nicer person than Vigridis. “But yep, your quirk is tough..” She’d agree on that front, since that was an undeniable fact.

“Haha I guess we are..” Kaizen walked over to the dumbbells, easily grabbing the heaviest weight they had to offer and began doing curls with them. “What’s the matter? You don’t seem to fond of her.” Kaizen picked up on her tone of voice, he felt that there was something going on between the two. “Does like to pick fights during family gatherings as well?” Kaizen asked half jokingly.

“Ehhh, ssorta. I’d ssay sso, I guesss. Shhe likess to boasst about her strength to me and “my siide of the family”,” Vitalis answered. “Shhe’s jusst like that, I supposse.. It’z hard to blame her, shhe wass raissed that way. We pretty muchh all were.”

Vitalis paused for a moment. “Hmm.. You’re alwayss doing that ssort of thing. Like weightlifting and the like. How bout join me for ssome yoga? I learned it'z as usseful, rejuvenating, and good for your musscles as it iss relaxing.”

She was right, the bugster always lifting weights, so much so that they feel like a proper exercise anymore. Kaizen sighed and decided to join the small vampire. "Very well.. I'll try it your way for once." He walked over towards the vampire girl and sat down next to her. Size difference was very noticeable. "So… what exactly am I suppose to do?" He asked, patiently wondering what was the next step. He doesn't know much about yoga, so she would need to educate him in that.

Vitalis looked at the big bug-like person. There was a small frown on the crease of her lips. “Can you.. Can you even stretchh like that? Are you, you know, limber?”

“Of course I can! See!” Kaizen put his legs forward and reach out to touch his toes. Surprisingly, he was able to do so without too much trouble due to the multi-jointed nature of his limbs.

“Ooo~! Nicce! I seee!! Sso bugz can do yoga! Okay,” she took up a stance, “follow me!” Then she began performing some various stretches around her body. Her legs, her arms, twisting her torso. These were the mundane ones at the start. Then there was going to be more meditative, yet tougher forms.

“Why not, our limbs can bend at unnatural angles sometimes, depending on orientation.” He explained as he followed her. Kaizen always had a soft spot for Vitalis ever since their days in U.A. He couldn't quite explain it, perhaps it was a passing resemblance to his own petite little sister? Or maybe it was just her generally cute demeanor. While it started off as something more at first, he eventually treated her like one of his little sisters.

“I can do this all day!” Kaizen proudly announced, as he easily mimicked Vitlalis movement, the only difference being he was doing it three times the speed, treating it more like an actual exercise than stretching.

“Hmm…” Vitalis wondered. “If that’z the casse, I wonder if thiss iss helping you at all…” she mumbled. If his limbs could bend in ways a human couldn’t then it was likely that yoga wouldn’t do anything for him. At least not “human yoga”, but it wasn’t like she knew “insect yoga” or whatever.

“Do you feel anything from thiss? -Oh and you’re going too fasst! Thiss iss suppossed to be a bit meditative! Go slower! It’z not a racce, siilly!!” Vitalis didn’t really know that Kaizen viewed and treated her as a little sister-type. Many people probably did, but she was actually a bit oblivious to that sorta thing. This was just who she was, and what she was used to!

“Well, I dont exactly feel things the same way you guys do.” Kaizen’s insect physiology meant that he “felt” things differently from his peers. “That being said, stretching does help loosen the insect muscles. So yea, it does help.” He replied with a chuckle. “Ok now that I‘ve tried it your way, now is your turn!” Kaizen shifted his body and did a handstand. “Come on, its only fair!”

“Really? Iss that sso? Well then, good!” That was surprising to Vitalis, but she was glad to hear it all the same! She tilted her head. “A handsstand? Okay.” He was playing low ball right now, right?

Vitalis leaned forward, and easily did a handstand. She was even able to keep the balance.

Kaizen didnt know Vitalis could do that; was she into gymnastics? The bugster decided to step up his game by lifting one of his hands off the floor. “Ok now do it with one hand!” For all he knew she could probably do it. Is there anything this Alucard could not do?

“Mm. Okay.” Her soft voice came out. One of her legs extended for balance as she gradually lifted her other hand off the floor. “Th~ere.” She was a bit wobbly, but otherwise balanced.

Kaizen could not believe his buggy eyes when he saw the little vampire balancing herself on one hand. “Wow, where did you learn to do that! What sorts of stuff do you guys do back in Romania? Can Vigridis do this as well?” He asked while maintaining his handstand. The bugster was curious as to how she was so talented in something like this.

“Vigridiss? Oh, haha!” Vitalis fell onto her back as she laughed. “Whoops~ Oh, yeah. Vigridiss can do WAY more than that! Shhe’s an athletic geniuss! A siingle hand-sstand wouldn’t even bother her. Shhe could maintain it all day if shhe wanted! Shhe can walk on her hands, all day, too. My cousiin iss a lot better at thiss ssorta sstuff than me. But um, uh, yeah, I mean, I heard my mother wass BIG into gymnasticss for awhile, sso I deciided to try my hand at them a bit, jusst to seee what my mother did to become a better hero.”

“Hmm interesting… your family sounds very colorful. I wonder if I’ll ever get the chance to meet your other relatives.” Was their family entirely made of individuals as interesting as them? "As expected, so Vigridis is that sort of person...I like her." He feels that he can relate to someone that tryhards in just about anything they do. "So you became a hero because of your mother?" Kaizen always wanted to know what makes people pursue such a dangerous career, was it for the fame and glory? Or maybe a sense of justice.

“Hm.. I’m shure you’d like a few of them!” she stated flatly. She knew there were peeps in her family she didn’t want Kaizen to meet. Or ever interact with. Vigridis wasn’t honestly one of the worst of her family, despite how.. she can be. But there were others she thought were fine. Or even fun. “There’ss a few like you. You like Vigridiss? Haha! That’z kinda new.. But I’m glad to hear it! I think… if Vigridiss hass ssomeone who actually likess her for her, as a person, then shhe’ll gradually chhange and become better.”

“Becausse of my mothher?.. Hmm.. I guesss you could put it that way,” Vitalis answered, thinking on it. “But it wass becausse of what happened to her. Shhe fell into a coma for 18 yearss. My entire life. I never want to seee anything like that again. That classs a while back was the first time I had ever seen my mothher walking and talking! Sso I deciided I want to ssave people. Ssave everyone! Sso no daughterss or sonss or anyone have to seee their mothhers or fathhers laying bedridden. Or their family or friendss. It’z agony. That’z why I’m a hero.”

"An admirable reason. So you more in it to protect people, an understandable sentiment that many can relate to, especially those who have suffered from tragedy." Although Kaizen didn't know the true circumstances of her mother's coma, having a family hurt was definitely something he can relate to. Although there was one thing that struck him as odd. During the reunion between mother and child, the child was apologizing to her, almost as if she was the one at fault. He curious about that as well, but it's best not to pry too much into other people's lives, especially with regards to sensitive topics.

"Well suppose it's only fair I tell you my reason. At first I only did it to help improve my family's social standing. To help them reclaim what was rightfully theirs. But some way down the line, I got caught in something much bigger than I was. I was the at the wrong place at the wrong time. And for that…" Kaizen thoughts briefly went back to the night where he fought in the warehouse. "I died." A certain innocence in him died that night, the naive and optimistic Kaizen was no more. In its place, a battle-hardened warrior that wanted to punish the evil doers that have wronged him and everyone else. "But I was reborn, a warrior, with a clear purpose. To overcome and overpower any threat that came my way. To constantly hone my skills and prevent others from suffering as I have, that is why I fight."

Vitalis chuckled. “Iss it admirable? I supposse sso.. Thankx, Kaizzen! Yeah! It really painss me to seee tragedy befall people. And to seee how that affectss their loved ones. I want to sstop that from happening. That’ss why I became a hero.”

“Improve family’ss ssocial sstanding? What do you mean? What’z rightfully theirss? You died?! Huh??” She took it to mean metaphorically. Since he was literally alive right in front of her. “Uhh.. that’z a bit sscary. But um c-cool! Ssorta like me, then! To prevent ssuffering! Good, that’z good!”

"Nevermind don't worry about it. Whats important is the here and now." Kaizen said with renewed vigor as he finally returned to sitting down. "Geez look at me, pouring my heart out to explain my reason and you boil it down to "Prevent suffering." Hahahaha." Kaizen let out a hearty laugh.

“Pouring your heart out..? But you said never mind…” she mumbled in dissatisfaction. “But yeah, okay. You did ssay ssome thingss… Sso uh, now what?”

The small vampire didnt seem satisfied with his answer, which prompted him to reconsider his previous answer. “....My family...they were treated badly, because of our position in a hierarchy, I thought I could change that by climbing up the hierarchy. But it didn't change anything, it only opened my eyes to see how flawed such a system was. As for dying…..” There was a brief pause before he continued his sentence. “.... I got into a fight where I was hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. It was a long and grueling battle, took down quite a few of them too, but there was only so much you could do against guns with armor piercing rounds. Looking back at it, I am still wondering how I survived.” Kaizen turned to Vitalis, hoping that she was an acceptable reply. “Are you satisfied with that answer?” He said to her with a solemn tone. He hasn’t told that to anyone outside his family members.

She nodded. “Mhm.. That ssounds… Alsso siimilar to my family. But even more draconian. My family tendss to get too into “power” and trying to prove they’re the besst and that ssorta thing. Exxcept ‘family’ iss consiidered a big deal there. It issn’t a place to desstroy one another.”

“Perhaps we are not so different after all, but hey at least you’re still on speaking terms with some of yours.” Kaizen was of course referring to her mother. It must be nice to have a family member she can still talk to. “Do you still keep in touch with other members of your family?” He wondered since he only knows about her mother and cousin.

“Um.. I supposse… Not really, though, siince I jusst kind of departed from them. And never really liked them. And Vigridis’s siide hass a self-impossed rivalry with my siode of the family, but shure, I guesss,” she stated. “My mother’ss the only one I really care about -and I almosst fucked that up.”
She shook her head. “What about you? Iss there no one?”

Kaizen was taken aback by the girl’s sudden use of foul language, he didnt think a lady, especially one as adorable as her, would utter such words. “Well, you certainly have colorful vocabulary.” He remarked sarcastically. He doesn't know exactly what happened between them, but thats fine, it wasn't his business. “I suppose my mom and some other relatives still send me letters, but I haven’t found the time to reply to them.” That was a lie, he couldn’t bring himself to answer his mother, not just yet.

Vitalis gasped, hand quickly moving to cover her mouth. “You heard that?! I thought I sspoke sso quietly!..” Her cheeks turned pink. “Pleasse, pleasse, pleasse ignore that! Don’t ever mention it! I.. I didn’t mean to! I don’t normally usse suchh foul language!”

In her pleading, it seemed Kaizen moved on, and she sighed in relief. “Oh, well.. Don’t the letterss mean they’re thinking about you? Trying to get in touchh with you?”


“Hehehe, it’ll be our little secret.” The bugster reached out to the vampire girl and gently patted her on her head. “Yeah they are, and I’ll reply to them when I am ready. I don’t think they are all that bad per say, but some things take time to get used to, you know?” Kaizen got into a crossed legged position, and readied himself for a mediation session, something which he is actually familiar with. “Apologies for bringing such sad topics, but I am grateful that you are willing to share with me about your past.” The bugster appreciated her openness to talk about her past.

Vitalis pouted when her head was pat in a condescending way. She nodded to what he said. Though she wasn’t sure she really understood it. There really wasn’t anything (other than a coma) that would keep her from her mother. “I haven’t told you too muchh. My passt izn’t that bad, beyond what I did to leave my mother in a coma for 18 yearss. Or rather, what my quirk did, siince ssome people want that disstinction, though for me, perssonally, I don’t really seee a differencce. But yess, thankx for talking about yoursself!”

The girl sat down beside him in a meditative position.

“If there is one thing I learned from my family, it's that sometimes, it's best not to ask too many questions, especially regarding such sensitive matters. Though I appreciate that you are willing to clarify such a detail, I also understand why you would want to keep that hidden from most people.” Kaizen had started putting pieces together and saw the bigger picture. To think such a sweet little girl had a quirk that could send someone into a coma.

“Hm.. Iss that so..? Maybe..” There seemed to be wisdom in that. Vitalis knew, anyway, that she did not want to ask questions of her family, so yeah. “Mhm..” She hung her head. “I feel so ashhamed about it! My own mother! I didn’t mean to! I… I… I jusst can’t believe I did that to her, you know? I wishh I could take it back, but it cannot be undone. It wass not even my choicce to.”

"Hey don't beat yourself up, friend. Quirks can be dangerous sometimes, which is why it's important for us to control them and not let them control us." Thinking back, Kaizen wasn't the best role model for his siblings in his younger years. "You can't change the past. Best thing you can do is work towards a better future. Think of it this way. At least your mother is fine now. And you've learned to control your powers so that it will never happen again." The bugster had a more optimistic outlook in life lately. Some day, he might even return to his family's home for a reunion.

“Yep. I learned to control my quirk, sso that that would never happen again! Never! And yess, I’m alwayss working towardss a better future! That’z why I’m a hero!” Vitalis flashed him a big smile. She wasn’t sure if her mother was really all that “okay”, but that was neither here nor there, and didn’t really need to be mentioned.

The bugster was impressed to see her unwavering resolve. "Good to hear! Now then.. how about we.. get something to eat." As if right on cue, Kaizen's stomach began to rumble.

Vitalis chuckled. “Shure. Though I don’t think we shhould eat the ssame thingss.. Let’z go.”

~~~~~

Skipping lunch right before fighting a battle-crazed vampire wasn’t exactly the best decision he has ever made, but then again it's far from the worst decision he has ever made. The rumbling of his stomach was enough to make him forget that he was nearly cleaved in two by an over enthusiastic vampire.

“Heh, I’ll have to return the favor to her someday.” The bugster thought quietly to himself as he turned on the radio to play some jazz before starting his cooking session. He decided to prepare some japanese curry. Seeing Amon enjoying such a familiar dish made feel homesick, so he ordered some from the online store.

It was then that Kaizen remembered that he agreed to give cooking lessons to Katsumi. Not wasting any time, he went outside and flew towards Katsumi’s balcony to knock on her window. “Katsumi, are you in there? Your first cooking lesson is about to start.”

Katsumi had taken a peek at the kitchen on her way to her room. When she didn’t see her teacher there, she decided to head up. Maybe he’ll come get her when he is ready, or he will forget. Maybe she should check back in 15 or 20 minutes.

She’d return to her room, sit on the bed, and maybe browse her phone for a bit until she heard a knock on her window. Her eyebrow lifted in confusion, wondering who that could be. She got up, went to the window, and opened it to reveal Kaizen on the other side.

“You… decided to come by my window? Is something wrong with the door?” She asked him a bit sarcastically, stepping aside to let him in if he wanted.”

“I thought it’d be faster for me to fly up here rather than taking the stairs.” Kaizen took a moment to inspect the girl’s room. It was just as he expected, a lot of rich girl stuff. “Your room is….as to be expected.” Kaizen said flatly. “Have you tried jumping out of a window to get down? It's an exhilarating experience!” The bugster said, still hovering over her balcony. “It’s a lot faster taking the stairs, I can tell you that.”

"A glamorous room, isn't it?" She responded with a smile. When Kaizen mentioned jumping out of the window, Katsumi hummed a bit in thought. "Perhaps one day if I own bungee equipment. I've only a sword and a quirk that could soften my fall, both of which would cause property damage. For now, I am bound to the stairs."

If only she could fly like a certain someone.

"Will you be carrying me out the window or will you fly down the stairs?" She asked him.

“I will carry you out. Consider me, your valet for this lesson.” Kaizen went closer to the balcony to allow the girl to sit in his arms bridal style. It was the most comfortable way of carrying a person, lest she wants to be carried over the shoulder like a dirty rug.

Hearing that, Katsumi went outside her window and closed it behind her, “How very gentleman of you, thank you.” She told him, ready for him to carry her.

The bugster carried her effortlessly on his wings. She was a lot lighter than he thought she would be. But it’d be best for him to not vocalize such thoughts. “Hope you’re ready for this.” The bugster launched himself skywards with a small explosion. He made a few loops in the air before finally landing in front of the doorway of the dorm. “Well, I hope that got your blood pumping. Today we’ll be making Japanese curry. Similar to what Amon was making on our first day here.” Kaizen explained before putting her down. He wasn’t quite sure how much she knew about cooking but he was confident that she wouldn't burn the kitchen down as long as he was there.

By the time he’d finished their flight, Katsumi’s eyes were wide and she was clinging tightly to him. Of course she anticipated speed, but she had not been expecting an impromptu rollercoaster ride. Her hair was a mess and she’d been shaking a bit.

“B-Blood is pumping...yes…” He was lucky she didn’t pee her pants! The bastard!

She was put on her feet, her knees shaking a bit but taking a few breaths to regain her composure. “Japanese curry.. Sure. Let’s begin the lesson without the theatrics.” Katsumi borderline hissed out the word, but was nonetheless ready to begin.

“Perfect. We shall start with arguably the most important of cooking. Preparing the ingredients. Or as the french call it, Mise en place. I am sure someone of your social status knows what that means right?” Kaizen was sure that she had a chef prepare meals for her but she would at least know some cooking terms right.

Kaizen laid out the uncut ingredients on the countertop along with a list of what ingredients they would need and how they should be prepared. “Alright, let’s start with something simple. How good are you with knives?” Kaizen said he sharpened one kitchen knives, rinsed it and planted it on the cutting board. “We’re gonna be dicing some onions. Observe.” After peeling the onion, Kaizen quickly diced the onions into neat, evenly cut pieces in less than a few seconds. “Now you try.” Kaizen said as he handed her the knife and one unpeeled red onion.

Katsumi lifted an eyebrow. “No. No one in my family speaks French. But if I had to guess it means “something in place.” She answered. Yes, Katsumi went to a lot of restaurants, but she didn’t have a private chef or anything. Her mother mainly did the cooking, with her father helping every now and then. That was if they decided not to go out to eat.

“I’m well trained. A knife is basically a shorter sword.” Katsumi told him, watching him sharpen then rinse one of the kitchen knives, then as he started to dice the onion at impressive speeds. Her eyes widened a bit, clearly impressed by it.

When it was her turn, she grabbed the onion and peeled it first, tossing the outer layer into the garbage before doing her best to mimic his actions. Of course, dicing an onion was much different than stabbing a person, so her movement was slower and her dicing wasn’t as even as Kaizen’s, but she was learning.

And there was something else.

Katsumi sniffled, using her arm to wipe the tears. “What next?”

“A little rough around the edges, but acceptable.” Kaizen, happy that she was willing to learn something from him. Kaizen grabbed a deep pot, turned on the heat and placed it over the stove. The bugster quickly minced some garlic and put all the chopped ingredients into the pot along with one tablespoon of vegetable oil. “This is called saute, we are trying to fry it quickly in vegetable oil. We’ll leave that there for about 5 minutes and come back to it later.” Kaizen then grabs a few potatoes and carrots, peeling them and chopping them as well. He cubed the potatoes while chopping the carrots into bite sized pieces. He then passed the unchopped portion to Katsumi. “You want them to be at appropriate sizes so that they all cook at the same time. Some vegetables take longer to cook than others, so keep that in mind when chopping them up.” Kaizen didnt just want her to know how to do it, but also understand why it was done a certain way. “Take your time, you shouldn’t rush yourself, especially when you’re holding sharp objects.” Kaizen politely reminded her to be careful with holding a knife since he is pretty sure she can’t grow back lost body parts.

As Kaizen was explaining the art of saute, Katsumi’s eyes were irritated by the onion. Still she persevered, trying to pay attention to him as he continued the lesson. It was difficult, but she was doing her best.

She shadowed him, watching him work his magic on the pan and the vegetables. Was this what her mother had to do each time she cooked? All of this? Because if yes, she would have to show her mother more appreciation for her cooking than she normally did.

“Yes, I understand. I work with blades much bigger than this daily…” Katsumi reminded him, reaching for a paper towel and lightly dabbed out the remaining tears from the onion mishap, throwing it away so that she could try to focus.

With Kaizen’s words and advice in mind, she steadied her hand and started working on chopping the vegetables. Katsumi peeled what was needed and readied them for the knife, dicing the potatoes and carrots. Again, they weren’t completely even but this time they were better than the onion. She knew the potatoes would take longer to cook than the carrots, so she focused on making the pieces a bit smaller than the carrots.

“Here, it's done.” Thankfully, the onion’s irritation had fully gone away.

“Hmm, slightly uneven, but acceptable and an improvement compared to before!” Kaizen said upon examining her new cuts, they had greater consistency then before, but the potatoes were cut a bit too small.

“Alright now comes the chicken.” The bugster grabbed the four chicken breasts he had taken earlier. He grabbed a separate chopping board and knife and started cutting two of them into good sizes. Once again, he did so with impressive precision. “Arguably, the heaviest part of the meal, the meat. Try to use separate knives and cutting boards when cutting raw meat to prevent cross contamination. I’d advise you cut them into these sizes, too small and they cook too quickly, too large and they won’t cook all the way through.” Kaizen understood the importance of hygiene when it comes to food. “After that, season it with your choice of seasoning. Today we will be using garam masala which is a combination of different spices. You can always buy pre-made ones in the store, but if I've got the time, I prefer homemade ones.” Kaizen sprinkled the spice all over his portion of chicken, making sure to get a nice even spread. The bugster didn't get to go out to the store much as a child, so he mostly stuck with home made ingredients. Kaizen waited patiently for her to finish cutting her portion of the chicken.

Kaizen was much more knowledgeable with food and ingredients than Katsumi originally thought he'd be. From what her father told her, boys her age usually only know how to make the poor person's basics like cupped noodles. But watching the other work his magic on the vegetables and the chicken make Katsumi wonder a few things.

"Were you studying to become a chef before you came here or something?" She asked him, the question mostly rhetorical as he passed the chicken over to her.

Katsumi hated handling raw meat. It was literally the innards of an animal. Something's organs. She wasn't a vegan or anything, she just didn't like needing to handle these sort of things. Regardless, she spiced her portion of the chicken. Perhaps it had a bit more than needed, but overseasoned was better than underseasoned in her book.

She then readied the chicken to be cut, mimicking the size Kaizen cut his chicken into. It seemed that she would need a bit more training to get it perfectly correct, but at least she hadn't set fire to anything and the chicken wasn't on the floor.

Katsumi pouted a bit, "It's not perfect. Again." She muttered, becoming a bit frustrated.

“I started cooking because of my ma, the rest I learned from the internet.” Was all Kaizen said when asked about his knowledge regarding cooking. He noticed how the girl perhaps put a bit too much seasoning. "Don't worry about it, it is your first time after all." Kaizen reassured her that it would be fine if as he dropped the chunks of chicken into the deep pot earlier. "And now we leave those in there for about 10 minutes until they are a nice brown color." While waiting for the chicken to cook, Kaizen began cleaning the cutting board and knives he had used before. "While we wait for that to cook, we can start cleaning the utensils we have used. Helps minimize clutter in the kitchen. Better to do it now then later." Kaizen believed greatly in living efficiently, which also includes cooking.

After 10 minutes have passed, Kaizen added chicken stock, the carrots, water and bay leaves into the pot. "The chicken will act as a base for our curry. While the bay leaf helps give it a pleasant smelling aroma. And now wait for the water to boil." They needed to wait for a period of time, so Kaizen took this opportunity to get to know her better. "What do you usually eat back at home, Katsumi?" The bugster wasn't too familiar with the background of her family. All he knew was she seemed like a rich person and had a strong quirk.

Katsumi sighed. At this point she was a bit discouraged but Kaizen taking the time to reassure her made her want to keep going. At least so the other knew that she wanted to learn and wasn’t a waste of time.

Though it was impressive that Kaizen taught himself. Katsumi wasn’t sure if she had the patience to teach herself if she couldn’t get it right the first time.

She took mental note of Kaizen’s directions, helping him clean the utensils while they waited for the 10 minutes. As it went by without much conversation, Katsumi resumed watching and listening to him, wishing she’d brought a notepad or something to take notes.

At his question, she looked at him. “Hm? Well, if we do not eat at a restaurant, my mother usually cooks something. Curry, cuisines, anything in a book she will try to make for us. My brother and I try to help her where we can.” She answered him. Did she shatter his belief that she never lifted a finger?

“You said you learned from your mother. Were you made the chef of the family? Or was this just a hobby for you.”

“Hmm interesting, so you help around the house as well. That’s….good to know.” Kaizen was indeed surprised to hear that her life wasn’t as lavish as he thought it would be. “Not quite, we mostly take turns cooking and tending to the farm. It was more for necessity instead of a hobby but I do quite enjoy the process of learning new dishes.`` The bugster thought about how he always wanted to try outside food in his younger days. He quickly grated an apple for the next step

The chopped potatoes and grated apples were placed into the pot which was then sealed with the lid. He left it slightly ajar. “We leave the lid slightly open so that it reduces the liquid.” and with that Kaizen turned his attention to making the roux.

“Alright, time for the roux, this is where most of your flavour will be coming from.” He grabbed a bowl and mixed together a combination of spices and flour. He then placed a pan with butter inside over another stove element, turning up the heat. “You want to stir these slowly until it has absorbed all the butter evenly. And then after that you add these.” Kaizen then added some tonkotsu, tomato paste and honey into the mix to finish it off.

“Alright once all of that is done, you start slowly mixing the roux into the main pot. Try not to pour too much at time, you want it to mix evenly.” Kaizen demonstrated this by pouring a little bit of the roux at a time and waiting for it to mix well before continuing. “Here you give it a try.” Kaizen handed the pan to her to let her try mixing it in. “I like you , Katsumi…. You are willing to get your hands dirty and try out new things which is not something everyone of your social status is willing to do.” Kaizen commended the girl, his opinion of her has greatly improved over the course of this cooking lesson.

Katsumi raised her eyebrow at that. Oh, Kaizen worked on a farm? That was… different. Interesting. She assumed he was another city boy who lived across the town from Suppression or something. Or that he lived on the outskirts of the town. She wanted to ask him a few questions about his farm life, such as if they tended to animals or if they were a different kind of farm.

“Roux,” what a strange word.” She commented as she watched him start mixing the main pot. This part was definitely a bit strange for her. So many different things were all being tossed together with Kaizen knowing exactly what was needed by heart. What sort of wizardry was this?

After the next set of instructions, Katsumi was a bit surprised to hear him say he liked her and commending her for actually trying. She smirked at him.

“Are you speaking from experience or from stereotypes?” She asked him. “Yes, my family may be well off, but my father would be damned if his children grew into dependent adult babies. I share his sentiments. How can I be a hero if I am too afraid to get mud on my hands? Or if I’m so pathetic that I cannot take care of myself despite being able-bodied and capable?”

Katsumi, as she watched the food cook, decided to ask him. “The farm. Do you raise livestock or do you grow something?” She asked him. They were going to be standing around a bit, weren’t they? May as well make conversation.

"More from experience I suppose. I grew up alongside some wealthy people. Some were nice but sheltered, others not so much. They think being born in a financially superior family makes them generally superior. Well… let's just say there are some things money can't buy or fix." Kaizen remembered how some of them used to pick fights with him thinking he was some pushover. He ain't.

"Our farm had both livestock and crops. The usual cows, sheep, chicken and pigs, all free range of course. A large assortment of vegetables with no growth enhancements or genetic modification. We were essentially self-sustaining for the most part." Kaizen remembered his time at the farm, as the eldest, he was expected to be able to take care of the farm and supervise his siblings when his parents were absent.

"What about you Katsumi? What does your family do? Your family name is familiar, but it would be rude for me to simply assume your story without hearing it from you." He was curious about her background. From her family name, he could surmise certain things but not everything. The food was still being cooked, so it would take some time before he had to show her something else.

“I see. Entitlement runs both ends of the spectrum, though upper class is much more common, and far more irritating.”

Katsumi, too, had seen her fair share of individuals who believed they could live off their parents’ money and spend the rest of their lives as lazy good-for-nothings. She never said anything to those types of people because she knew that they needed something bad to happen to them in order for them to learn a lesson.

She listened further, hearing about the livestock and the crops Kaizen had on his farm. It was exactly as one would expect of a farm. If Katsumi bothered, she might start calling him “Old Mcdonald.”

“I see. Organic, no chemicals… Sounds delicious. Do you sell the crops in the market or through a family owned business? I might put in an order.” It wasn’t often that vegetables were grown pure after all.

When he asked about her family, she smiled. “Ah, my father was the former number one hero, Raiden. My mother worked as a wardrobe consultant in a modeling agency called Exozu. Both of them recently retired, but my mother still makes some money by selling some jewelry and weapons she forges.” Katsumi’s tone seemed to lighten talking about her parents. “My brother… Well, he’s off doing his own thing. Truthfully, I don’t know what he’s doing and I don’t really want to know.”

“You won’t have to, I already have some growing on the rooftop as we speak. Though I have to warn you, they are not as big or pretty looking as their enhanced counterparts.” Kaizen explained, hoping that she would have more realistic expectations

“So you are his daughter.” Looks like Kaizen's assumptions were right. That being said, he does recognize the pressure of being the former number one’s daughter. “Must be tough to have all that expectation on you.“ Kaizen turned his attention towards the pot and realized it was just about time. He wanted to ask more about her family, but it’s probably best not to pry. “And now, the finishing touch, this part is completely optional, my ma says it improves the taste and I don’t think she’s been wrong about anything in cooking.” Kaizen added a dash of coffee powder onto the pot before mixing it in.

“Alright and we are done!” He proudly as he plated the curry alongside some rice. He gave the first one to Katsumi then for himself. “Give it a try.” The curry was largely savory with a mild heat to it. Some chunks of chicken tasted a bit over seasoned. But apart from that, it tasted pretty good. “Here’s a tip for seasoning next time, most of the time its safer to add less because you can always add more later. But apart from that, I think you did pretty good for your first time, Katsumi.” He gave her his signature thumbs up of approval. “Though you cannot see it, I am actually smiling on the inside it.” The bugster added humorously.

Again, Kaizen surprised her by mentioning that he’d been growing crops on the rooftop. “I assume you have it covered or something to keep it safe. But isn’t it vulnerable to crows?” She asked him. Katsumi knew those were the smartest types of birds; would they find a way into Kaizen’s plants. Would the other students who had access leave the plants undisturbed?

“You get used to it.” She answered him. “If you focus hard enough on your goal you start forgetting how much pressure is put onto you.”

Just like that, the curry was done and… did he just put coffee into the curry? That… was definitely not something she’d ever think to do. Ever. But he seemed to be enjoying it. Katsumi took the plate and grabbed some chopsticks to give it a taste.

Immediately she could tell exactly what Kaizen was talking about. The seasoning was a bit much and there was no way that she could remove it. But if she had put less, then she could have fixed it. Lesson noted. The flavor wasn’t ruined by the coffee either and everything seemed to be well. Overall, it was a good meal but it could definitely be better.

“Understood.” Katsumi responded. Though the food wasn’t terrible, she did notice something. Something she wondered if it was normal.

And still she received a thumbs up from him. Despite messing up what would have been a perfect dish.

She’ll have to practice more in her free time. Perhaps she could have someone sit and eat her test meals.

Katsumi smiled back at him, laughing a little at his joke. “Next time I will make a dish to bring that smile to the surface. For now, I need to practice. That means I’ll have to have you test every meal I make. Every. single. one. Do you mind?”

“Uhh.. sure.” Kaizen agreed cautiously at the girl’s request. “Well, as your teacher I guess, I am invested in the improvement of your crafts, so why not. And here, I took the liberty of writing down the recipe and instructions for you in this notebook.” Kaizen handed her a notebook that was humorously shaped like a rhinoceros beetle. The front of the book had a hand-drawn caricature of him holding a frying pan and giving a thumbs up.

Katsumi took the notebook and inspected the cover, unable to help the smile that crawled onto her face. “How cute.” She commented, opening the notebook and spotting the recipe. She’d skim over it, seeing the precise ingredients and the steps.

“Thank you, I will practice this as soon as possible.”

After 1st Act
The bugster finally decided to take his teacher’s advice on taking a break from his usual training and fighting. He made a decision to catch up with the kids he had befriended from a nearby preschool. At first they were scared of him just like many other people, but eventually they warmed up to him. And they’ve been friends ever since.

Today was just like any day for him. They would play heroes vs villains, and the giant bug always ended up playing the villain because apparently he looked the part. So he decided to take a step further by transforming into a more monstrous form along with a modified voice box that gave him a creepy raspy voice.

It was business as usual, the active kids were blasting him with harmless and unrefined quirk based projectiles while the other kids laughed around and drew pictures of him. However, there was this one kid that tried to climb a tree to copy a move the bugster did and unfortunately fell down. He began crying from the pain, an appropriate response for a child. The bugster stopped playing for a while and tried to approach the kid to comfort him. “Come on, Takumi. You gotta be more careful.” He spoke in a creepy raspy voice.

It hadn’t been long since Hotaru transferred. Even if she had been a “model student” of her last class, the failures of the others to the extent of the class dispersing did hit morale. Then there was her new class, that was seemingly mass injured in a simple patrol. The bruiser didn’t like to give in to stress, but she couldn’t help but not really want to do anything at the dorms. No video games, no swimming, no training. She didn’t want to just lay in bed though, either, so here she was walking.

Letting out a light sigh, it was a nice way to clear her head sometimes. However, as she was loosening up, something caused her to tense again. She heard a cry, something not so rare since they were near a little park. As she walked through it though, she saw something unordinary. The kid was crying, and there were a few others shouting and throwing things. Their target was a large, insect-like creature. Was it a thug? A villain? The voice didn’t sound too friendly either.

She acted without taking much time, her arm shot out as an ebony whip, clasping at his leg before tugging him back towards her.

“You should take your own advice, screwing around like this in broad daylight.”

“What are you-” Kaizen turned around a familiar looking tomboy looking girl, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he was very sure he had seen her before. The bugster barely budged from the tugged, indicating that she was using enough force in her pull. “How can I help you, lady? Are you lost? Do you need directions perhaps?” The black insect spoke as he slowly walked closer to her. His eyes looked way too menacing to be a friendly bug, and voice didnt help at all.

The kids got to their injured friend and comforted him before turning their attention to the commotion. “Is Mr Kaizen in trouble?’ one of them asked, but none of them really knew what was going on. The bugster was just as confused as they were.

The sturdiness was a surprise, but probably to be expected. The thing was well over six feet and armored. As it approached her, looking down at her from his height, the black appendage returned to its normal form and folded itself with the other one.

“Trying to sound tough?” Hotaru questioned, staring up at him. “Cornering kids and making them cry. How about I show you what that’s like?”

“Not at all…. Is that what you think I am doing?” Kaizen was mildly amused by her assumption, even letting out a small chuckle. Unfortunately this chuckle sounded more like the laughter of a demonic entity. “I remember you now….you’re the one that calls yourself Titan, yes?” Its amazing how a simple change in the voice box can change the mood of an entire conversation. Instead of a friend reminiscing about schoolmates, he sounded like a thug picking a fight.

Hotaru’s frown grew at that, seemingly none too amused. She wasn’t sure how he knew of her, but she did have some work experience. Anytime someone seemed to pick up a mantle it also got some coverage as well.

“Last chance pincers. I’m not a kindergartner.”

“Last chance, for what exactly?” The insect questioned in genuine confusion. “And for the record, I don't even have pincers. See” He added, as he showed his humanoid fingers. Which probably looked like he was about to attack.

The moment his hand moved toward her, Hotaru’s hand turned black as she reached up to grab it. Twisting and pulling him forward, the girl yanked with full force to pull the larger figure over her and slam him onto the ground.

“An ass-kicking,” Hotaru answered, cocking the other arm back before the blackened fist struck out towards the bug.

“Oh.” was all Kaizen said before he was slammed into the ground by the deceptively strong tomboy. Strangely enough, he always wanted to fight her while he watched her on the sidelines during his UA days. Kaizen would catch her black fist, his own hands beginning to crush hers. “Haha, you know, I always wanted to fight you ever since I saw you in action.” The bugster muttered as he got back up while still holding onto her fist. ”But don’t you think you should ask a person before you start fighting ?” He asked, which sounded extra condescending because of his voice. “Get ‘em good!” One of the kids cheered on when he realized a fight was brewing.

Hotaru struggled a bit to push forward with her fist. Looking at the hand beginning to pressure hers, she returned her gaze upwards. Slowly, her skin started to blacken and pulse with red tints and strings gleaming across the surface of her body. Her physique morphed and grew in stature until her head reached an equal height to his, or what constituted for one. It was a mostly amalgamous form, albeit humanoid. The surface seemed sturdy, like armor, but fleshy and biological in nature still, and her hand no longer shook to fight against his grip.

“I’ll give you my autograph.” The voice that spoke wasn’t feminine, but deep and modulated from the shift in her biology.

Suddenly, her other hand gripped his shoulder before her head slammed into his to stagger him and loosen his grip. She stepped forward a moment then, before glancing over to the voice of the kid.

“That’s nice, but you should stay back, kiddo.”

And there it was, her mesmerizing titan form, something which he always wanted to see, up close and personal. Unfortunately, the presence of the kids really sullied the moment for him since didn't want to see anything too violent. However, upon receiving the head butt, he knew he had to do something.

While she was distracted by the child’s words, the bugster immediately grabbed the lady with a bear hug and attempted to fly skywards with a jump. “You know, as much as I want to fight you right now, I’d rather not do anything too violent in front of the kids.”. While in the air, he got a good look at the girl’s titan form, it was as inhuman as he was, something he found intriguing.

“Huh-” Titan had hardly enough time to mutter a reaction before she was taken into the air. He had a tight hold on her, but now that they were in the air, what was he planning? Perhaps a divebomb. To keep him from slamming her into the ground or into other debris, her own large arms wrapped around him as well and gave an aggressive squeeze. She even put some energy to increase the musculature in her arms just to make sure he felt it. “Oh, what a kind villain, stopping at making them cry. Maybe I’ll cut you some slack and not rough you up that much!”

The kids looked up for a moment, they seemed impressed by the fight. However the attention turned to somewhere else when an ice cream stop nearby a street. Prompting them to head towards it with glee. Upon seeing this, Kaizen was happy to see that he had an opportunity to fight properly. "So I am a villain? Alright let's go with that…" he muttered out loud." I didn't think you were the hugging type." He added. Kaizen could feel the muscles around him tighten due to her squeezing. He laughed at the notion that she would go easy on him. "Don't hold back on my account." The bugster stopped fluttering his wings and allowed them both to free fall. "I'd recommend letting me go. It'd be a lot less painful for you."

"I'm a people person," She replied as they began to fall. She raised a brow, not that it could be seen. "You're threatening me with blunt trauma? I thought you were a fan."

As the ground draws closer to them, Titan pulls Kaizen forward to separate himself from the asphalt. Then he plants his feet against the exoskeleton to attempt a springboard off the so-called villain faster toward the ground..

“Really? You don’t seem the type from what I remember…” Kaizen doesnt remember this titan girl being overly friendly with anyone. “Oh I am a fan, more than you know…” He didnt seem to resist the girl, allowing himself to springboard off as he plummeted into the ground. The bug stood back up with ease, even dusting himself off.
With the kids preoccupied with getting themselves ice cream, Kaizen was finally free to exercise a bit of his combat prowess. “Show me a good time, Tom boy.” The bugster sprang forward with surprising speed, appearing as a blur to most normal people, shattering the ground behind him. He went for his signature gutbuster punch, putting enough force to break bones behind it. He usually wouldn’t put that much force in his opening attacks but he had a feeling she could take it.

What he said made her pause, but she entered a stance anyway. Feet apart, arms up, prepared to react to any advance. When he shot forward, she hummed. So he was a speed type as well. Her arms raised, but not to block. The blow was quick, and struck her abdomen. Her body lurched slightly and her feet dug into the ground, mostly remaining rooted in place. Her arm shot forward during the impact, twisting her hips to carry the limb with more force aimed right at the villain’s head.

"I don't think you have enough stamina.

The bugster took the blow to the head but instead retaliated with a much stronger strike after noticing she barely felt the first one. Unlike most people, he doesn't feel pain, allowing him to put more focus on counter strikes. "So you can take hits too huh? Good, that means I don't have to hold back as much!" Kaizen performs a back flipping kick, delivering two upward locks to his opponent's chin while creating distance between both of them.

Titan's head shot back as the hit collided with her chin. She took a step back, lowering herself slightly before pushing off the ground with great strength. The asphalt cracked underneath the weight and pressure and the behemoth shot forward like a truck barreling at full speed. She ducked low during her approach, aiming to spear him and tackle him to the ground where he wouldn't have that maneuverability.

The bugster stood his ground and was ready to perform another counterstrike until he saw something in his peripheral vision, the kids were returning from their ice cream truck escapade and running towards the two. Kaizen, distracted by the kids and knowing that he couldn't retaliate in proper brutal fashion, took the ramming attack head on and was subsequently pinned to the ground. “Mr. Kaizen, Mr. Kaizen we brought you some ice cream and….” One of them spoke while the other kids turned to Titan and looked puzzled and confused. A second later, one of them hurled a small and harmless pebble towards her. “Hey! Stop bullying Mr. Kaizen!” The kid.

“Hey now! Stop throwing stuff at her!” The bugster said while still being pinned by Titan. “She’s not a bully..she’s my…”He was looking for the right words to describe her without lying to the kids. “....my playmate! We were playing heroes and villains” he replied. “Oh!!! Does that mean she will play with us too?” The kids asked gleefully, jumping up and down from joy. “Of course she will! Right, Titan?” Kaizen said while looking back at her.

Titan was quick to mount over him, holding his collar down with one hand as another cocked back ready to punch. That was before the children returned. Titan looked over, about to tell them to keep away, before she started being berated by them and dubbed a “bully”.

“H-Huh? I’m not-” It didn’t hurt, obviously, but it was still shocking. She didn’t expect the person under her to suddenly defend her either. “Uh…”

She looked at the kids, then back down at Kaizen who she was ready to punch. Perhaps Hotaru had jumped to some conclusions. “R-Right… right… yeah…!” She answered as her right arm lowered, still a bit confused though thankfully her face couldn’t show it.

“Ehem..” Kaizen cleared his throat, somehow removing his creepy raspy voice. The bugster got up to his feet and patted her on the shoulder. “This here is Titan, she is also from UA.” He introduced him to the kids as they all gathered around her staring in awe. “Woww how many villains have you fought? Are you always so huge? Do you want my ice cream?” She completely was bombarded by questions. One of the kids stepped forward next to Kaizen and gave him a chocolate ice cream cone. “Ah yes, thank you Takumi.” The bug happily accepted it.

Giving Bugster some room, Titan stood up as the children descended upon her. She gave a small waif at her introduction, still only barely following along with the current developments. The assault of questions didn’t help her retention.

“Well, I’ve fought quite a few--Ah, no… I can make myself bigger or smalle--Wha--I mean… I wouldn’t want to take yours from you…” She also took note of how the person next to her suddenly didn’t sound so creepy.

The kids played with the two for a while until it was time for them to leave. The group seemed really happy to have made a new friend. And left, making the two heroes promise to play with them again some day. Kaizen turned to Hotaru to properly ask what she was there for. "So do you just go around punching random strangers? I don't think that's very plus ultra of you." Kaizen teased. He briefly asked if she had any idea who he was. "So I take it youve been chosen for this program as well?" He wanted to confirm if they were new classmates.

Sighing a bit in relief as the kids had their fun, Titan turned to Kaizen and grumbled a bit embarrassed. Bringing a hand to her face, it ran down the front of her altered visage in disappointment. “No… I don’t,” She replied in a pout. “Wait, you’re in Suppression too? Oh that’s just great…” She didn’t only try to beat up some kind of acquaintance, but a new classmate. “I’m sorry. I just transferred after enough of my class failed and I heard the new class just got merc’d by villains on a patrol, so I was on edge. I saw you with the creeper voice and the weird villain banter and the kid crying and didn’t want to take a chance.”

Letting out another sigh, it was even more embarrassing admitted. “Wait, so how do you know me?”

“In hindsight, it did look pretty suspicious.” The bugster thought about the whole misunderstanding. “I was in the same batch as you in UA, from class 1A. I am Kaizen Shinkami, the Apex Bugster, or bug boy, whichever you prefer.” He introduced himself with his name alongside his hero name, hoping that maybe she remembers him. “I am, as you said, a “fan”. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Titan.” He extended a hand to her, showing that he had no hard feelings despite the somewhat hostile encounter. He was curious as to what happened to her group. “I am sorry to hear about your class… is everyone alright?” Having experienced a life threatening situation himself, the bugster knew what it felt like.

“Kind of… but I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions… I can take a hit so I should’ve just walked up and asked,” Hotaru said with another sigh before flinching. She turned to him and stared before pointing at him suddenly. “Bug guy!”

He was kind of hard to miss, but they were in separate classes, Hotaru didn’t pay much attention, and she also had never seen him like this.

“Wait. You never looked like this! ...Did you?” She questioned grabbing his hand. She supposed she could’ve missed it, but Hotaru could’ve sworn he was usually smaller and more green. “Ah… They’re fine, mostly. I just wasn’t expecting for a portion of the class to fail. A couple were injured during patrol too, but they’re fine. Hearing you guys were hit too, and worse, was what kind of worried me.”

"Well, I like to change things up a bit, keeps my enemies guessing. And also I was supposed to look the part of a villain, hence the creepy voice." He explained to her, hoping to clear up any confusion. "Yes we were hit hard too, but we will recover from this. Our line work never gets easier, that's just the reality of it. Tell me, Titan. Why did you become a hero? " Kaizen always found it fascinating on why everyone wanted to become a hero since his reasoning...was less than heroic for the most part.

"Ah, so it's your fault," Hotaru said in jest. By this point, her armor began to shift and shrink, returning to her default appearance. She frowned a bit at his comment. It didn't really get easier, but that didn't mean she had to tolerate people getting hurt. "Huh? That's kind of out of the blue," She said with a small chuckle. "I didn't really have a good reason. I wasn't interested in anything in the way of a career, but my quirk is good and I have family experience so I went with this."

Her reason kind of sucked. She coasted off talent and no drive. It was why there wasn't much seen of her at U.A. All the big events most were hyped about, she didn't care for. Then the real Titan passed away and she was stuck with a mediocre track record. In a way, the original would've undoubtedly said no to being a part of something like this, but for her it was another chance at the Sports Festival to get Titan recognition.

"It took my grandad kicking me over and over before I got the inspiration to keep his name alive." She smiled a bit, but it didn't look that joyous. "What about you then?"

“Hmm.. interesting, you do this to continue his legacy…a noble cause.” He thought about how meaningful her reason was to be a hero compared to his. He often had problems coming to terms with his reasoning on becoming a hero, unlike his fellow classmates who had noble and altruistic purposes, the bugster was much more machiavellian with his purpose. As much as he didnt want to admit it, he views himself to be selfish and unheroic as his main motivation was the pursuit of a worthy challenge.

Did he really care about his teammates and innocents being hurt? Or is that just a reason he uses to justify his violent retaliation, even he doesn't truly know. “I do it because I believe only a few people are truly capable of doing what we need to do. Those who are given more in life must not cling to it, but risk it all at every moment for those of us who cannot. The world can be a cruel place, but it doesn't mean it has to stay that way.” He explained. He did to a certain extent feel a sense of responsibility, what was the purpose of his strength if not to fight the battles that others cannot.

“That seems pretty noble too. Why all the pondering?” Hotaru asked. It was a similar outlook to her grandfather, though a part of him just liked to stir up trouble. Still, he didn’t like seeing people with no will to fight being picked on. It was a heroic sentiment, so she wondered why he seemed somehow unsure. “Or did I shake you up when I attacked you earlier…?”

"No you didnt hit me that hard…" he answered rather flatly before explaining his view. "Well… my raison d'tere has changed quite a lot over the past few years, sometimes I like to be reflective and look back at why I fight." Does it really matter why heroes fight villains? As long as they fought on the right side right? Those were the questions he had always asked himself. He admired people like Hotaru, they remained steadfast on their purpose, they seemed pure and benevolent with their intentions, without any ulterior motives. " Your grandfather sounded like a fun person to be around. To be inspired by family members, hmm I haven't felt something like that in years. " He thought out loud before adding another question. "So have you met anyone else here yet?"

"I don't see the problem," Hotaru stated. "I just told you I didn't have any reason, and that inspiration only started a couple years ago when he died." She wasn't sure where his confliction came from. One didn't need to be completely altruistic to be a hero. "He was fun though. You would've liked him I think." He already had a bit of a taste of Titan, which was either purposefully or otherwise inspired by the original.

"Uh… not too many. Mari. Kikyo. Uh, Isa… Oh, Vigridis," She listed off. It wasn't everyone she had spoken with but she also hadn't spoken at length with a majority.

“So you’ve met quite a lot of them already I see…. Did you give them a similar greeting as well?” He teased her, he still found the entire ordeal to be particularly amusing. But knowing that they were new students being brought in of her calibre made him happy, especially a familiar. “Regardless, I am happy to have you in my class and look forward to working with you on the field.” The bugster was glad to have another muscle type, perhaps she too shared the love for battle as he does? “Its getting late, lets go home. Would you like to take the Bugster express? Beats walking, I assure you that.” Kaizen offered his friend a lift, since it was the fastest form of transportation available to them right now.

“Agh-” Hotaru grumbled, a small tint of red covering her face as she slugged him in the arm. “No! I didn’t! They weren’t pretending to be a villain.” She huffed before stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets. Hotaru gave a brief nod in response. “Thanks… hopefully I can make things easier on all of you a bit.” There were still many she had yet to meet, but that could wait for now. She would be formally introduced eventually. For now, she figured it was best to continue as she had been and be ready the next time a situation popped up. “Oh! Uh… Sure. You’re not gonna… like, do that thing where you spin around and try to make me sick are you?”

~~~~~

After finishing his heart to heart talk with Agi, the bugster turned his attention to visiting the other two he had let down in the mission, his beloved cooking student and the second pretty boy of the class. He brought two fruit baskets, one of each of them, both filled with the fresh harvest from the rooftop gardens. He even brought some curry and rice if either of them wanted some. “Katsumi, Yori, are you guys awake?” The bugster came into their room rather shyly, carrying the goods. “I’ve brought you all some fruits from the garden. Freshly picked Agi, already got his so dont worry you won’t have to share.'' He tried to lighten the mood, but he knew it wasn’t gonna be that easy.

Kaizen placed the respective basket on the tables next to them before moving on to the main purpose of the visit. “I owe you both an apology. I should’ve been there besides both of you instead of messing around with those fellas up top.” Kaizen gave a bow to both of them, knowing that if he hadn’t held back in that encounter, the team wouldn’t have sustained so many injuries. “I do not expect your forgiveness, but know that the next time we meet them I will deal with them appropriately. Their crimes will not go unanswered.” The bugster gave them a promise that he is prepared to carry out, even if it will cost him a few limbs here and there. While he knew it wasn’t very hero-like, he’d be lying if he said he didn't want to return the favor to the perpetrators ten-folds.

Yori had come to visit Katsumi for the sake of talking through what had happened during the mission. Of all the people Yori had spoken to, Katsumi was the most stubborn about what happened during the mission. He knew he couldn’t convince her, so he wasn’t going to sit there and try for the next hour.

However, to their surprise, Kaizen had come to offer them what smelled like delicious food and lovely fruit.

“Yeah, come in!” Yori invited the other inside, greeting him with a smile. Though the same warmth was not met as their classmate started apologizing to them.

When he was finished, Yori had been the one about to speak up and tell him it was alright and that it wasn’t his fault. However, Katsumi beat him to the punch.

“Why are you apologizing?” She asked him, getting up from her bed and standing up as best she could. Katsumi didn’t exactly care if her hospital gown wasn’t fully closed from the back. She was more worried about answering Kaizen.

“You’ve done nothing wrong! You fought one of the villains and sacrificed a limb to help Yori stop the bus. Yori was injured because the bus crashed; that isn’t your fault. And I was injured because of my incompetence. My failure to do the task I was given is not something you should beg forgiveness for. If I had taken down that rotten little- that villain- I would have been able to come to your aid! You wouldn’t be worrying about me or Yori right now if I could have done what I was supposed to! I should be the one apologizing to you. So, I’m the one who’s sorry Kaizen. I apologize for being too weak to do the one job I had.”

Yori’s eyes widened a bit. In the weeks he’d known the proud and slightly egotistical Katsumi, he never thought he’d hear her go on a tangent about how weak she was.

He looked at Kaizen and awaited his reply.

In a similar way to Yori, the bug was also surprised by this, he never though Katsumi would openly admit her own shortcomings

"Not quite the response I expected."

The bugster spoke, he wasn't expecting the girl to be so understanding with her response. To think that Kaizen used to have such strong hatred against this girl and yet she was the one comforting him now. "You honor me with your words, Katsumi. But the truth is I could have easily won my fight had I'd been a bit more merciless against my enemies." and that truly was the reason why Kaizen felt terrible for the entire ordeal.

Kaizen was silent for a bit after this. He had some food for thought to process.

I had more than enough strength to end the fight there and then. And yet I choose to spare them my wrath. Agi told me that a true hero saves everyone, including the villains. But what good is that if it results in all of you getting injured or worse? Am I to prioritise the lives of criminals over my comrades? The bugster wondered to himself as he stepped forward and got a better look at the girl's injuries. "Does it still hurt? " He asked, feeling responsible for the girl's injuries.

Its easy for people to be idealistic when things turn out well or when no-one dies. If any civilians had died today, it would have been a different story because their blood would have been on our hands. And If any of my teammates had died, their blood would have been on mine.

Despite his inner thoughts, Kaizen puts up a positive front for his friends. While he was still not happy with the results, he believes it was pointless to share his point of view of mull over spilt milk. "Seems like we both have areas to improve in then. Now then, are any of you hungry? I made some curry for both of you." Once again he was thankful for not having a face. It was much easier to hide such dark thoughts when you always look like a bug.

‘If he’d been merciless?’ Yori asked himself as he and Katsumi both listened to the other’s words.

In truth, everyone would have won their battles if they weren’t holding back, but to what degree with Kaizen? He didn’t know. All he knew of Kaizen was that he was powerful in his own right, while also being very kind.

“I mean, I can’t feel anything cause of the drugs.” Yori reassured his friend, trying to make Kaizen feel at least a little bit better if possible. “But even without them, I’m sure I’d be fine.”

Katsumi wanted to ask more questions, but seeing how Kaizen shifted the subject to food, she decided she would ask it at a different time.

Yori moved in closer seeing the food with Katsumi. The blue haired girl was visibly pleased at the sight of the curry, while Yori himself was enthralled by the appearance and size of the fruits.

“Yes, please. Everything looks amazing, Kaizen! I’ve never seen fruit this big before!” Yori praised as he took one of the fruits to examine it. “Are you going to eat with us?” He asked.

“We’d be delighted if you could, Kaizen.” Katsumi added.

“I am happy to hear that.” The bugster said to Yori. He was happy to see that both them are expected to make a full recovery physically. “Yes, this harvest has proven to be very bountiful. Though there is only so much natural growth methods can achieve. These days, genetic modifications and specialized fertilizers can achieve much greater growth, though they do sometimes have the side-effects of making them less tasty. At least that's what I’ve heard. ” The bugster explained his rationale for still going full organic.

“It would be my pleasure.” Kaizen replied. He handed them both one lunch box each along with some utensils wrapped in napkins. The container contained both the curry mix and rice. “I hope you like it, I added a bit more heat this time, though it's not strong enough to burn you, I hope.”

Yori looked at the fruit a bit more closely as Kaizen explained. The fruit itself looked amazing to him and he hadn't been able to eat as much fruit as he wanted since he got to Japan. The price for six strawberries was downright expensive. This was a damn treasure, and Yori wasn't going to miss out on it.

And neither was Katsumi.

"If it looks like a fruit and tastes like a fruit, I'll be happy to eat it. I haven't been able to eat one since I got back from touring." He responded, taking a fruit from the basket. Yori and Katsumi would also take the lunch boxes with a 'thank you'.

Yori would move to grab something that could be used as a table then pulled the visitor's chair over so all three of them could sit together.

"Come along Kaizen, let us enjoy this meal together." Katsumi gestured to the open chair, hoping the other would come and sit.

"As you wish." The buster sat at the chair and opened up his own container which was slightly bigger than the others. His curry smelled different as he put more heat in it. "Itadakimasu!" He slap while clapping his hands. "So. Had of your relatives visit you guys? I am sure some of them must be worried sick when they received the news." The bugster asked, as he did see some heroes exiting the hospital earlier.

“Itadakimasu!” Katsumi and Yori said with him, clapping their hands together as well before opening the box and unwrapping the utensils. They could smell a bit of heat in their curry, but Yori and Katsumi both didn’t seem to mind.


Yori would be the first to answer. “Yeah, my parents and Amano. My brothers might come by later or wait until I’m out of the hospital.” He answered.

Katsumi then said. “My parents stopped by already. They were… less than pleased, but not at me.”

Her father looked like he wanted to murder the woman who sent Katsumi to the hospital, but a proper talk with him eased his rage… for now.

“And what about your relatives?” Yori asked Kaizen. “You did survive a bus crash, and sacrificed a limb to help slow the bus down. Have they come to show support?”

“I see...” it was nice to know that they had such a caring family, top heroes no less… unlike him. “I’ve survived the worst. So it's not surprising that they are not concerned. And even if they were, their visit would mean nothing to me.” Kaizen spoke rather coldly. He still felt the sting of their betrayal till this day. “I’d rather not, involve them in my endeavours, we’ve caused each other enough problems.” He, to a certain extent, acknowledges the rift was also partially his fault, but he still believed that it didnt justify their betrayal.

The two listened to him as he spoke, taking the obvious hint that Kaizen didn’t care as much about his own parents as Yori or Katsumi. Seeing his reaction, they decided that they wouldn’t ask about it further.

“I understand. Though, I have a question, if you don’t mind me asking.” Yori spoke up. “Did it, you know, hurt when you lost your arm? I’m sorry if it’s insensitive.” He added the last part. Having seen Kaizen so...purposefully and without hesitation put his arm into the engine, Yori was seriously curious.

"No, insects do not feel pain the same way humans do, all I feel are vibrations. I haven’t felt any physical pain in a very long time. And even if I did, so long as I can regenerate my limbs, I would still do the same.” There was a sense of zealous conviction in his voice. “The price of a few limbs is nothing compared to the life of my comrades.” Despite the supposed grievous injuries he had endured, the bugster seemed unfazed revealing his somewhat inhuman nature. Growing up strong with the inability to feel pain and a healing factor to boot seems to have affected the bugster’s way of thinking. He viewed himself as an expendable shield to take hits, as well as a sword that retaliates with unmatched ferocity.

Yori and Katsumi shared a glance after Kaizen said he didn’t feel pain and hasn’t felt it in a while. So, did that mean Kaizen couldn’t feel other human senses that connected to pain? Like pleasure? Yori was the most curious, but he wasn’t going to be asking that question anytime soon.

“I can’t say I’m happy to hear that answer, but it’s good to know you weren’t hurt at least.” Yori commented. “Just… be wary of that way of thinking. That can’t be good for your mental health.”

Katsumi would then add. “I hope you won’t be so liberal sacrificing your life as you are with your limbs.” She reached over and squeezed his arm. “Your arm can grow back, but we cannot get another Kaizen. Do you understand?”

Upon hearing their worries, the bugster can’t help but sigh, they should know by now that he can’t be brought down that easily. And yet, there was a warm feeling within him, knowing that his friends cared about his well-being that much. Katsumi’s words in particular caught him off guard since it sounded like something his mom would say to him. “I…” Kaizen stayed silent upon seeing someone reach out to him in such a way before finishing his sentence. “I understand. I will endeavour to do better next time.” He didn't promise them he won't get hurt again, only that he would do better. “We should probably eat our food before it gets cold.” Kaizen reminded them that their food had remained untouched for a while now.
 
images-1.jpg
Hideki Mitsuki
Hideki like the rest of the class or well most of the class sat in their seats the day after their first patrols. Ota sensei let the whole class know that unfortunately Katsumi, Yori and Agi had taken some injuries that required them to go to the hospital. Luckily they would be alright but they would be gone for a few days. The man then dropped a bombshell for the class. They would be getting some new students. Class numbers ten and eleven were being cut from the program and the top students from both of those classes were being put into other classes. So looked like their class would be getting some new faces. Hideki wondered why those two classes had been cut and wondered who would be joining their class. For now though he wuld just have to wait for those answers.

Ota sensei after a few more minutes of talking would end class for the day and was allowing them some freedom and relaxation for a few days. It would be a nice change of pace. After their spa trip about two months ago the class had been working hard and working nonstop. After their patrols yesterday that turned out to be more difficult then anyone had thought, the school was now giving them some time to relax.

As the class was dismissed, Hideki decided that he wanted to go visit Katsumi, Yori and Agi in the hopsital and take some time to relax and maybe head into the city for a bit. He would get a chance to do all of that, but unfortunately was only able to see Katsumi in the hospital. As he tried to visit Yori and Agi as well they both were not alloed visitors at the time.

Collab with @Jessica
Katsumi had been idly looking out of the window, watching the clouds roam blankly. The doctors had just finished giving her her treatment and warned her that she must stay in bed unless she wanted to risk internal bleeding again. She gave them a noise of acknowledgement and they left to go look after the other patients. Agi and Yori more than likely.

No one had visited her yet, which left her alone with her thoughts. That she was a failure. Her father had trained her better than this, and yet here she was in the hospital. This shouldn’t have happened at all… Katsumi should not be in the hospital, and yet here she was…. All because she was a failure… Weak…

She fought back the tears in her eyes, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist. Katsumi would not cry.. She wasn’t a fucking baby… She was better than this…

Hideki entered the hospital and made his way to the front desk where he asked for a couple of room numbers. Once he explained to the receptionist who he was, she gladly gave him the numbers. Hideki thanked the woman and made his way to the elevator to head up to one of the rooms. Hideki had sneaked off to the hospital alone without any of the other members of his class. There was one person who he thought going to see them alone would be better. Knowing her she would be like how Hideki himself could be at times.

Hideki got off the elevator and walked down the hallway as he made his way to the room that he was looking for. Hideki knocked on the door and waited for an answer. He didn’t just want to burst into her room.

She perked up a little hearing the door, wondering who it could be. Her parents had gotten word about what happened, surely. Was it them?

Katsumi wasn’t sure if she could face them right now… She was a failure…

She quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat, trying to remove any hints of sadness she might have had.

“Enter.” Katsumi called.

When she saw it was Hideki, her eyebrows rose a little. “Oh, Hideki. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Hideki heard the words he was listening for and entered her room before closing the door behind him. As he heard Katsumi speak he could tell that she was off a little bit. He also noticed her eyes were just a little bit red, not a lot but just enough for someone to maybe notice and Hideki happened to notice.

Hideki smiled as he walked over and sat in the chair next to Katsumi’s bed. “Yeah sorry about just dropping in unexpectedly, but I wanted to come check in on you and make sure you’re doing alright.” Hideki offered her another smile. “How are you feeling?”

She sighed and leaned against the back of the propped up hospital bed. “Like a failure. Other than that, my body is weak and betraying me.” Katsumi answered him. It probably wasn’t what Hideki was expecting but it was the truth.

“I’d like to hear about your mission, if you wish to tell me.”

Hideki hadn’t heard Katsumi talk like this before. She always seemed so confident in herself and her abilities. Hideki had kind of thought that she would be a bit down, but she seems to be really down. Hideki wanted to help her if he could, but first he would answer her request and talk about his team's mission.

“Yeah sure I’ll tell you about my team's mission, where to start?” Hideki leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and reached his arms up in the air as he stretched them. “Well Haya was the leader of my team, I was second in command and then Kuroi and Vitalis were also on our team. We were patrolling a relatively quiet part of town. Kind of out by the countryside, but it recently had a bit more criminal activity than usual. Though to be honest I wasn’t expecting us to really have to deal with much. Maybe some low end purse snatcher or something. Anyway Haya had set us up in two teams of two, her and Kuroi would be out in front while Vitalis and myself would stay back from them a bit.”

Hideki would pause for a moment as he took a sip from the bottle of water that he brought with him. “Early on things were going pretty smooth, we had no criminal activity to report, but then Haya and Kuroi ran into a van that was disabled on the side of the road. They went over to see what was going on, they eventually found that the van had five criminals in it and that they were stealing some high grade medical equipment. Haya and Kuroi fought against three of the villains, while two others found where Vitalis and I were. One of the criminals I fought was able to control wind and air pressure, while the other could create and control rocks and the earth and such. I was taking on the wind villain and I was winning the fight as I had the advantage with my fire. He was smart enough to switch opponents because he saw that Vitalis would have a tough time with her mist and I would have a tougher time against the rock opponent. To make a long story short, Vitalis and I had a combo attack that took out the rock criminal, but the wind villain got away. I actually accidentally got poisoned by Vitalis mist because the wind villain had used his air pressure to force Vitalis’s mist in my direction.”

As Hideki spoke about his mission, Katsumi quietly listened to his words. She figured a team led by Haya would go more smoothly than if it was led by, say, Vitalis, and she was glad to hear that the team's mission went a bit smoothly despite the few hiccups.

"And I assume you are alright?" She asked him. Being poisoned by Vitalis’s mist would definitely not be something anyone wanted to go through, and if Hideki would have no lasting damage from it, then she could say their team succeeded. "Your team still did very well. Be proud that you managed to accomplish your mission."

“Yeah luckily we were able to take care of the poison so that I have no long lasting effects from it. It did hamper me during the battle, but it was an accident so nothing to complain about I suppose.” Hideki shrugged his shoulders as he looked up at the ceiling as Katsumi said he should be proud that his team accomplished their mission.

“Ehh, we accomplished about half of our mission. Two of the criminals got away, including the one I was directly fighting at first. It could have gone worse and it could have gone better. I’m still a little frustrated, especially with myself, but overall it wasn’t bad.”

Hideki then looked over at Katsumi as she sat in her hospital bed. “So want to tell me what happened?”

Katsumi shook her head lightly. “I see you had the same end result as our team.”

Though she would rather not speak about it, she didn’t really have much of a choice. If she didn’t tell him, then someone else would.

“Our mission was to stop an ongoing bank robbery. The villains tried to escape on a double decker bus going quite fast down the highway. Agi got caught on the top of the bus, forcing us to follow suit. I took on a robot woman villain, Yori took over the driving, and Kaizen was tasked with another villain on the second floor.”

Katsumi sighed, remaining calm and collected as she sipped her milk. “My battle did not go great, and neither did Agi’s. My villain did this to me. Agi was terribly wounded, though I am not certain from what. Last I remember, I was beaten until I couldn’t feel pain anymore, and my sword… My own sword…” The memory of watching her precious blade shattered made her clench her teeth. “The sword was used to stab me. The paramedics said it was pinning me to the seat when they found us…”

She let out another sigh, more an attempt to control her own emotions. “The two ringleaders got away, but we were able to have the goons arrested and the money returned to the bank. I still classify the mission as a failure.”

Hideki sat there and listened, not taking his eyes off of the ground in front of him. He could hear how painful this whole experience was for her. Hideki didn’t really know what to say, he wanted to help her. He also knew though that he would feel the same way if he were in her situation.

Hideki took a deep breath as he shifted his eyes to look at Katsumi. “You didn’t fail, you took on a powerful criminal and lived to tell the tale. You also took down their goons and returned all the money that they stole. You are so far from failing. I know what it feels like to fail or what it feels like to think you failed but please believe me when I say you haven’t failed and you aren’t a failure.” Hideki offered her a light smile before continuing.

“To me failing would be giving up. I know you a bit now and I know that’s not something you do. I know you’re going to get out of here and you’re going to train so hard that it’s going to hurt, but it’s going to make you better. And should you get a chance to fight that villain again things will be different. I’m just glad that you’re still here.”

She was quiet as she listened to him. Though she disagreed with his viewpoint, Katsumi knew he was right in his own way. Their main mission had been to return the stolen goods and prevent lives from being lost, which they technically did. The main villains got away, but… They technically completed their mission.

But to Katsumi, that just wasn’t good enough. Not when it was her own expectations towards herself.

“I appreciate you trying to make me feel better.” She began, “But I was trained by a former Number one, Hideki. A *failure* like this should not have happened at all. I’m *better* than this but I failed! How can I look my father in the face after I failed to do something I’ve been training for since I was a child?” Katsumi took a few breaths to try and regain her emotional control.

“My apologies,” She murmured, “This issue is regarding myself. I should not be having childish outbursts.”

“You know I used to have thoughts like that. My parents trained me to be a top hero. I always wondered how I would tell them how I failed a mission after they took their time to train me. I also wondered what they would say or do. Unfortunately I don’t get to know what they would do or how I would tell them I failed a mission.” Hideki stopped to take another sip of his water.

“I don’t know your father, only as much as the rest of the world knows about the former number one hero. But my first thought is that I think he will be happy that you are alive and safe. I can’t imagine he would be upset with you. Every hero in the world has lost a fight or at the very least taken damage to themselves in a fight. I’m sure many have felt that they failed a mission when they really didn’t. I know I have and I’m sure I will in the future.”

Hideki took a pause to catch his breath before continuing. “You remind me a lot of myself, Katsumi, or at least the person I used to be. Well maybe I shouldn’t say used to be. In reality I still have moments like this myself. When I first entered UA two years ago I had the mindset that I was better than people and that I was the best or that I had to be the best. And yes while being pro heroes means we do need to do our best and try to be the best, it doesn’t mean that getting hurt during a mission means we failed. I know it's frustrating but you didn’t fail your mission. You got back the stolen money, were able to take a few dangerous criminals off of the street, and the most important thing you did. You guys prevented any civilian from being hurt or killed.”

Hideki was starting to get worked up himself a little bit. If you would have told him two years ago that he would be giving this talk to someone then Hideki would have called you crazy, but he really had grown in the past two years even if he still has more growing to do he has definitely grown at least a little bit.

“To answer your question on how you can face your father. Well I think you juts face him as you normally do. You didn’t fail, but if you don’t want to believe me and want to say that you did fail, then knowing you, you won't let that stop you. You will go out and make sure you don’t fail the next time. I think your father will agree with me, but if he doesn’t then I think he will know that you won’t let this little bump in the road stop you and he will be proud.”

Katsumi wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Hideki started to speak, but it was certainly not this. As she listened to him speak, giving her more information about himself that she would have never believed if you’d told her 10 minutes ago. Katsumi didn’t interrupt him at all; instead, she stayed quiet. She learned more and more how alike she and Hideki were without her even knowing it.

Her stern look softened completely, to one of empathy and concern for her friend. “Hideki…” She murmured as he started to settle down.

“I don’t know what happened to your parents, but I’m sorry it did…” She reached over and gently ruffled his hair. “I did not think you and I would be a lot more alike than I thought, and I’m not sure I can say I’m happy about that. If you were like me once, then I can say you’ve certainly grown. Maybe one day I will look to my past self as you do yourself, because I don’t think I could forget what you just told me. But thank you for sitting here with me and helping me see your view of the situation. And for telling me your story. I’m truly grateful.”

Katsumi took her hand back. “I’ll take your word of advice and face my father as I would any other day, but I’m afraid I just cannot agree that I didn’t fail. Though the mission is technically not a failure, my incompetence earned all of my teammates more injuries than they should have received. If the training I received could not have prevented the unnecessary injuries Yori, Kaizen, and Agi received, then I have failed. But this will not stop me from continuing to improve myself; I can promise you that.” She assured him, letting him know that this visit wasn’t for nothing.

Katsumi couldn’t shake off that this mission wasn’t a failure, but she could at least take what she learned from it and use it to apply herself. She wanted to be as excellent of a hero her father had been in his prime, and then surpass that. If she couldn’t do that, then what good was she to the Takeshi name?

Hideki wasn’t really sure what he was going to say to Katsumi when he started on that rant like that, but what he said seemed to make an impact on Katsumi. Honestly Hideki wasn’t really going to tell her about his own parents, but in this moment it just felt right. While Hideki and Kastumi had different childhoods they did have some similarities as well. Hideki had looked away for a moment but looked back up at her as he felt her hand start to ruffle his hair. He definitely wasn’t expecting that and didn’t know what to do, so he just let her keep going.

He looked back at her and saw much kinder eyes and a softer look for her in general. It seemed that his words had gotten through to her at least a little bit. “Yeah you and I, while growing up different, do have some similarities in our stories from childhood. I wasn’t really prepared to say all of that to you, but I think it was something that I wanted to tell you and maybe something that you needed to hear. I’m glad I was able to tell you this and even if you don’t agree with me completely I hope you do at least agree a little bit. Also I have no doubt that you will grow in your own way as a hero and maybe more importantly as a person.”

She still seemed to be upset about the injuries that her team got from their fight. Hideki hoped he had one last thing he could say to help her with this. “You know my parents always told me that being a hero, being in this line of work there are always going to be people who get hurt or worse. No matter how much training you put in sometimes things happen that are out of our control or something villains are really bad people who do everything they can to hurt people. As a hero we need to save who we can. You won’t be able to save everyone every time, but those are the people who are going to stick with you the most, more than the people you do save. Seeing your comrades or civilians get hurt is going to make you want and need to get better. And knowing you how I do I know you will.” Hideki offered her a smile.

Hideki spoke like a man who'd been through so much, with plenty of wisdom to share. Just what has he gone through to make him one of the wisest people in the class? What happened to his parents? So many questions that she felt she would not receive any answers to.

"I… am aware that a hero cannot save everyone. I do not like it, but it is the unfortunate reality." She murmured, sighing softly. "My issue is I am expected to take down the villain. But alas, it could not be done. However, that doesn't mean it's over."

She rested her head against the back, looking up at the ceiling.

"No, it's not over… I have a feeling we will see our respective villains again. And next time, they will not get away." She looked at Hideki. "Right?"

“Yeah I know.. our job isn’t a easy one and letting people down or not catching every single criminal is frustrating. I know like I said earlier my group let two criminals get away as well. I was and still am frustrated about that, but I’ll just have to make sure it doesn’t happen the next time.”

It seemed that Katsumi had calmed down a bit, maybe some of Hideki’s words had gotten through to her.

He smirked at her next comment. “Right, next time they won’t get away. Hopefully I’ll be there to help you.”

Collab with @Azurian Dream

Hideki had been enjoying their weekend. He had done plenty of different things over the weekend, including just taking some time to relax. Hideki had been at their campus house and had been bored. He decided to get out of the house for a little bit and go for a walk in the city. The boy eventually made his way to the shopping district, he wanted to check out some stores and such and see if he wanted or needed to buy anything.

Hideki was walking down the street, when he stopped and started to look into a window of one of the many stores in this district. This was a good area because it had a lot of different kind of stores and there were stores that were good for everyone’s price point. There were high end stores as well as stores more for people who were low on cash. There was a little something for everyone.

And a little further in the particular store was a freshly dressed Ichika trying out a long sleeved purple dress with dark gold designs going all the way down to her legs. Her hair tied up with a special jade hair pin complimenting her horns. Wearing a charm bracelet covered in unique charms collected throughout most of her life. It wasn’t shocking to say the least he was looking into a high end fashion store but the sight of a fellow student who usually just wore baggy clothes most of the time would probably be a big catch off guard moment especially as she was even further decked out with some eyeliner bringing out her full lashful beauty with ice blue lipstick. The dress was also designed with a tailed person's needs as her tail was free from being trapped in it.

Hideki decided to go into the store. It was on the higher end, but he had some money saved up and maybe he could find some things to send to his grandparents. Hideki looked a little out of place here as he seemed to be the only teenager in the place. Most of the other customers were all adults who had full time careers and could easily afford anything they wanted from here. As Hideki turned the corner something caught his eye. Was that who he thought it was.

“Ichika?” Hideki walked up to the girl who he would never really expect to be wearing clothes like this.

“Hm? Ah hello… Hideki right,” Ichika asked as one of her classmates she had really yet to interact with came closing in on her. From her expression she wasn't caught off guard, nor embarrassed, she wasnt even flustered she had the same calm demeanor as usual.

“Is something wrong,” She asked, turning towards him.

Well she barely knew his name, not a great start. To be fair the two really hadn’t had much chance to interact these first two months. “Oh no nothing is wrong, I just didn’t expect to see anyone from class here. I also didn’t expect to see you all dressed up.” Hideki smiled at the girl. “You look nice.”

“Thank you. It's not uncommon for a laid back fighting girl to want to feel pretty once in a while,” Ichika spoke, bowing properly to him in her dress as she adjusted her tail. Picking up her purse since the dress had no pockets she turned to him.

“I see, so what are you doing here then,” she asked in a fair turn.

“Well I just wanted to get out of our dorm for a bit and take a walk. I ended up here at the shopping district and decided to do some browsing and maybe buy some stuff for my grandparents. I decided to check this store out and well I found you here.” Hideki slightly laughed as he looked around the store.

“What brings you here?”

“My grandmother owns the store. She wanted me to try some of their new lines to make sure it can survive an actual tailed person. The rest is also all new line stuff ,” Ichikas explained. As she tilted her head.

“So what do you think?”

Hideki was a bit impressed, this was a pretty high end store. Ichika's grandmother owning it meant that her family must be doing pretty well for themselves. “Oh wow she owns this whole store? That's pretty impressive, this is a more high end store.”

Hideki then smiled as Ichika asked how she looked. “You look great! I think you should definitely buy or get all of those clothes. You really pull off the look!”

“Much obliged, they are well crafted. My grandmother worked hard on them and she will enjoy your kind words,” Ichika nodded to the craftsmanship.

“Any who they need to be tested for use so by all means I shall walk with you for a bit to make sure they survive the outside,” Ichika decided as she motioned for Hideki to lead the way on his route.

Hideki smiled as Ichika motioned for him to lead the way and Hideki obliged her as he started to walk down an aisle towards the front door. “So how was school been going for you so far?”

“Very well Haya, Mari, and me have been working on combo attacks and such. Also been working on Mitsuo on my stealth attacks, and my grades are holding well in the B+ average so i feel good,” Ichika blatantly answered.

“And yourself?”

“Oh hmm a combo attack between the three of you that could be a pretty strong attack.” Hideki smiled as the two of them made their way outside. Hideki opened and held the door for Ichika as they went outside. “School is going well for me, grades are pretty good and I feel that I am getting stronger, can’t say I’ve been working on any combo attacks though.”

“You should. Agi is a good start, his quirks easy to work off,``Ichika suggested.

“So how about personal life keeping yourself stress free,” she asked politely.

“Hmm I’ll have to ask him about that, I’m planning on going to see those guys in the hospital, so maybe when I’m there I’ll talk with him about that.” Hideki and Ichika walked down the street, it was a nice day as the sun was out and shining and it wasn’t too hot or too cold. There were plenty of people out and about on the street.

“Ehh for the most part, really just kind of focused on school and now that we're starting our real world patrols and such those are really my main focus. What about you?”

“Not much past school, and baking. Mainly just smaller st,” before they could continue there was a rather rough patch of men on bikes passing by as a woman screamed.

“THIEVES,” it would only take a second glance to see the bikers were in fact driving off with an antique small security container, and the now very obvious cash register.

“...get to it I’ll set up assistance,” Ichika quickly said, running off across the street clearly aiming for the only place they could turn to escape.

Hideki and Ichika had been enjoying a relaxing walk as they talked and got to know each other a bit. Though it seemed that the relative peace would not last long. A woman shrieked as some bikers stole some goods from her store.

“Right.” Was all Hideki said as Ichika started running Hideki made sure no one was around him before putting both arms behind him and firing off flames at his back. He jumped forwards as his flames created propulsion behind him pushing him forward. “Stop right now and return what you have stolen!” Hideki yelled out as he started to chase the villains.

“Huh, HAH you heard him boys,” the lead biker chuckled as the boys started to fling quite a few antique items of certain weight at Hideki. One in particular halted and started to skid, but was suddenly shot off their bike by a well sized wad of gum sticking them onto a bobaco stand. A little distance ahead Ichika had climbed up onto a water tower impressively with her dress still intact though a bit wet around the waist.

“What the hell,” another of the five bikers left spoke, spooked by the attack pulling out a metal pipe aiming to ram into, and swing at Hideki.

Hideki dodged and weaved as some of the items were thrown at him. He watched as Ichika was able to capture the one criminal quite easily. Impressive, he thought to himself, he hadn’t gotten the chance to see Ichika in action very much. Hideki was still using his flames and propulsion as one biker suddenly stopped his bike and turned around to head straight for Hideki. A metal pipe in hand ready to swing. Hideki dodged under the pipe and while passing the bike fired off a huge flame at the back tire. The flames caused the back tire to pop and forced the biker to skid and fall off his bike landing on the ground next to the biker that Ichika had caught.

Two bikers down and three to go. “I suggest you give up now unless you want to end up like your friends here!” Hideki yelled as he continued his chase.

“Not likely bucko,” the lead man snidely responded as he opened the register and spring loaded a storm of money at Hideki as the other two slowed down, one pulling out a gun, and the other a Katana. Luckily for Hideki the gunman was taken down by a spring shot Ichika in only a tank top, and small shorts covered in candy crystals catching him off the bike like a wild lion catching a zebra. Now there were only two as Ichika knocked out the gunman with one brutal candy punch to the face.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Hideki continued chasing the three bikers ahead of him. Hideki saw the two bikers right in front of him, one took out a gun while the other took out a katana. ‘Damn I need to take the guy with the gun out first, he could seriously hurt somebody’ As Hideki thought that to himself, Ichika was already a step ahead of him as she was able to take out the biker with the gun.

The biker with the katana saw that and let down his guard for a moment. Hideki smirked as he saw his opening and moved in. Hideki used more flames as he boosted his speed and caught up to the biker with the katana, Hideki then covered his right fist in flames and punched the criminal in the face as the man fell off his bike and hit the ground hard. Hideki then boosted his speed again to go after the last biker.

The last biker turned his head around and saw that he was the only one left. He was stopping though, the man weaved in and out of traffic as he tried to speed away. Hideki flew up a little higher to get above the traffic and looked down from above at the lone biker. Hideki moved him and fired a flame shot right at the last bikers back. It hit the man causing him to crash his bike. Hideki landed next to where the man was now laying on the ground in pain. “I told you to stop, this all could have been avoided. The police should be on their way soon.”

Thankfully Ichika caught up pretty quickly carrying her dress in one hand, and dragging the baddies in solidified gum in the other. It didn't take long for the police to get statements, and for them to show proof of hero license. Once it was all said and done Ichika bagged the dress in her purse walking in her normal wear.

“Hm the dress didn't hold up badly, might need more stretch material in the leg area though climbing was a bitch,” Ichika admitted as the two continued back towards the store nonchalently.

“You alright,” she asked.

Ichika caught up with Hideki and had the criminals in tow. It looked like none of them had any quirks, or at least now useful ones for combat. They were able to capture all five of them without causing any damage or hurting any civilians. They were also able to recover most of the items taken. The police showed up soon and took away all five criminals along with getting statements from Hideki and Ichika.

Hideki laughed as he and Ichika made their way back towards the store. “Well I don’t think that dress was really meant for combat or climbing, so I think it held up better then it probably should have.” Hideki smirked as they made their way down the street. Not exactly what he had been expecting to do today, but now that he has his provisional license he is basically a full fledged hero and this type of stuff could happen at any time.

“Yeah I’m alright, it didn't seem like those guys had quirks or anything so luckily it wasn’t too much of a fight. Luckily no one got hurt.”

“Normal crime is still a thing that starts and ends fast,” Ichika, noticing his words as they walked, it was true the dress had done better than one could have expected of it.

“Also you did perform well. It was interesting to see one fly via flames. Though you should probably work on some sort of gauntlets to let you maneuver better as you don’t seem to have much control of maneuvering mid flight,” Ichika noticed during his chase of the motorcycles how easy it was for him to get caught in a pincer.

“Yeah I suppose you’re right, you just don’t hear much about people without quirks committing crime. Looks like there are people like that out there though.” Hideki then noticed that she had already seen a way to try and help him. After seeing him fight one time she already had suggestions.

“Yeah maybe you’re right, I hadn’t really thought about that before. I’ll have to go to the hero tech personnel at the school and see what they can do. And thanks, you performed pretty well yourself. The fact that you can shoot gum like that at far distances and hit your targets is impressive.”

“Of course not its normal it's not as catching as super villain news many forget a lot of small crimes get overlooked by the bigger spectacles all around them,” Ichika noted this had been something she, Amano, Agi, Yori, Yamoshi, and even Rosalie had noticed in their youth when they were planning on being heroes originally the world loved heroes, and were obsessed with the battles, but a regular crime that wasn't as amazing to watch ergo people ignored it for the most part.

“You should mention to Agi his nanos mold off their metal form to evolve in fact ah actually he hasn't shown off his special nanos so I should probably not ruin the surprise as he has told me. He does have special metals from his expired nanos though they make for really good heat resistant metals to mold into heat gear,” Ichika spoke nodding at the thought. That and Agi loved to tinker so it was a bonus in a way to help one friend get gear and help another have fun.

“Nonetheless grandma will be excited to hear of the dresses unique resiliency,” Ichika nodded.

“Actually weren't you carrying some bags a bit ago,” Ichika mentioned, noticing he was not coming back with said bags.

“Hmm, another good point. Yeah you’re right, it’s definitely much more newsworthy to have the big flashy fights and big bad criminals on the news. I figured though that most people who don’t have quirks wouldn’t want to deal with heros who do have quirks. Guess I was wrong.” Hideki blushed slightly at that, it seemed that Ichika had really put a lot more thought into all of this then Hideki had. It made him a bit embarrassed.

“Hmm well I’m planning on going to see those guys in the hospital, but I won’t mention anything about those nano’s to him.” Then Ichika said something that made Hideki panic. He frantically started looking around the street. “Oh no no no you’re right. The gifts I had for my grandparents I must have dropped when I started chasing those idiots.” Hideki closed his eyes as he put his hand on his forehead. “Those gifts were on the pricier side too.”

“Well let us go back and look I bet the police might have them given the scenario,” Ichika offered turning a 180 impressively fast clearly not minding helping out the poor boy, and his lost gifts.

“You don’t have to come with me if you got places to be.” Hideki turned as he started following Ichika back to where the police were. They were still wrapping the crime scene.

Hideki made his way over to the person in charge of the scene and asked them if they had seen any bags with gifts in them. Unfortunately the man didn’t see any bags around the scene. Hideki waked back over to where Ichika was. “Well the police don’t have them. Good chance some random person picked them up and took them.” Hideki sighed. “Guess I’ll be spending more money then I thought I was going too today. Man it’s going to be nice when I get paid for doing some hero work. Not that it’s the money I cared about but still it won’t hurt.” Hideki smiled and laughed a bit.

“Actually isn't that your bags up there,” Ichika eyed with a raised brow at a tree with some minor scorch marks on it from where Hideki had first launched, holding two rather out of place bad hanging off its branches.

“Money saved mister fame and fortune,” Ichika chuckled at Hideki though he had a point. It would be nice to earn something from all the hard work they were putting in so they could have the smaller things in life like better grocery money. Better yet to save up for some better supplies in general or some better clothes.

“Shall I fetch them or do you trust your climbing skills,” Ichika teased.

Hideki looked up to where Ichika was pointing and a sigh of relief washed over him as he saw his bags hanging from branches on the tree. “Yeah, it looks like that’s them.” Hidkei laughed a little bit.

“Don’t worry I got them.” Hideki used his left hand as he fired out some flames, just enough to lift him off the ground high enough to reach the bags up in the tree. As he came back to the ground he checked on the contents of the bag and found out that they were fine.

“Well looks like everything is fine, nice job spotting those, maybe you’ll make a good surveillance hero.” Hideki smirked.
 
It was a nice weekend, one where some might consider sleeping in, Amon would’ve too, but instead he’s roaming the halls of the common areas while trying to get his hair and clothing in presentable order. A few sheets of paper and a longer one was in his hand. “Ohhh, chicken, tuna, hamburger...crepes, that means fruits too and sauce. Seafood? Shrimp? Maybe? That would be like 5000 yen...There’s no breadcrumbs for frying in the dorms so I’ll need to...Sweet mayonnaise or sour cream would—Ack!” Without a thought he wandered near the stairs entrance and turned a corner, unfortunately crashing right into somebody.

“Ah, I’m so sorry!” Amon could tell from the height and location that it was probably a girl, which was the worst case scenario for an incident like this. At least he didn’t touch anything he shouldn’t have...probably. “Oh, Katsumi-san, my apologies for that, I was a bit distracted.” He rubbed his head while apologizing to the best of his abilities while gathering the scattered papers that fluttered around the hall.

Katsumi had just gotten the last of the stitches from her shoulder removed, leaving a prominent scar on her body. However, the healer she visited’s quirk had a side effect; slight imbalance. Which meant she would be a lot more clumsier than usual, which was why the healer, despite their medical prowess, couldn’t become a hero.

She’d been holding copies of the medical agreements she, her father, and the practitioner signed, stating that Katsumi was getting the utmost treatment. Katsumi had been trying to read through it, to try and regain her balance by working through the side effect but she was soon bumped into by another classmate.

“Ah!”

Katsumi fell onto the floor, the papers scattered everywhere beneath her. With a sigh, she started gathering the papers again with Amon’s help.

“It’s fine. Just be more careful.” Katsumi bit her tongue at the rest of the sentence she wanted to say. How can she make a threat when she’d been so pathetic during her first real battle?

With the papers gathered, Katsumi grabbed onto Amon and used him as support to stand up. “Are you in a rush?”

“Emmmm, sort of.” Amon remembered that Katsumi was quite injured in their previous operations, feeling a bit guilty about all of this as he helped her up. “Mnemu-uh, Amano-chan was talking with the pres about a party for the new guys, you know, the class merge.” He ruffled some of the papers and rolled up the list of items, tucking them away in his pocket.

“That’s work you know, getting ingredients for 24 people in order and stuff, we don’t usually get most of this on campus so I’m taking the weekend for a shopping trip.”

Oh right, she heard about the party Mari wanted to organize. Katsumi had been contemplating whether or not she should go, since she didn't exactly feel like she deserved celebration after the catastrophic failure that was her battle with Transfora. She should be using the time to train…

But then again, it wouldn't hurt to go and get some things for herself. She was in need of some snacks for a lonely movie viewing she would have with herself. The usual.

"Do you mind some company?" She asked. "I'd like to purchase a few things for myself."

It wasn't as if she was going to foot the bill for the party or anything.

“A few things for yourself? Uh, sure, I don’t see why not.” Amon replied, though he was a little worried about her state, and whether or not the notorious princess with named branched furniture in her room would even shop in remotely the same places as everyone else.

“But you’re not gonna, you know, collapse or anything, right?” He was just going to a supermarket, he didn’t know what Katsumi even needed. “So...what do you plan on getting, I could bring it for you...or not, I’m just going to a grocery store.”

Katsumi raised an eyebrow at him for a moment. "I will not collapse. I visited a doctor and a side effect of their quirk is clumsiness. At worst I will need you to hold the jars." She responded to him, though at his question, Katsumi started to wonder about other things. "I plan on getting a few things for myself to snack on inside my room. After the failure that was my mission and my battle, I do not feel I deserve to be part of the festivities."

Was that answer good enough for him? "Though if you do not want me to tag along with you, then now is your chance to say so. I will be going regardless if you accompany me."

“Is that so…” Amon scratched his head a little, he was a bit too focused on his old friend Agi, he didn’t know how the operation and injuries affected Katsumi. She was always the prideful sort, the ordeal probably hit her quite hard as well. “N-No, it’s not that I don’t want you, it’s just that-” With a sigh Amon gave up on explaining, “No, nevermind, it’s fine, I don’t mind the company.”

"I assure you I will not be mad." Katsumi told him to give him a second chance, though if he didn't mind, then that meant the plans were settled. "But if you are certain, then give me a bit of time to put these documents away. I will meet you at the door, unless you have a preferred meeting area." She was well aware that he could end up leaving anyway, but regardless of what happened she would be getting her snacks.

“Alright...I’ll wait for you then…” Amon said a bit defeatedly, perhaps he would have more work than expected today, something that he really should avoid saying out loud. He gathered up the pages and lists while leaning against the door frame, muttering a few things as he flipped through them. “...Hopefully there’s going to be eggs on sale...if you added sales tax, ugh…Is Katsumi-san going to come soon…”

As Amon was thinking aloud, Katsumi approached behind him, counting the yen she had on her person before putting it away. She would then lean over his shoulder. “I’m right here.” Katsumi would then move to get in front of him. “I’m ready when you are.”

Amano was nearby, taking a moment to check out the common rooms. That was until she heard the boyish voice of Amon call out to Katsumi. Her curiosity was piqued. She slinked down the stairs. “Ready for what?” She asked from the top of the stairs, making her way down to her tailed classmate and team member. She had missed a bit of that conversation, so she needed some filling in.

“Oh, grocery shopping, you know, the usual. Though I’m planning to pick up a few things for the party too.” Amon waved and smiled at Amano, “Katsumi-san says she’s feeling well enough to run some errands too, don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” He added, explaining Katsumi’s presence despite her previous injury and reassuring their pink hued classmate that she would be fine.

Katsumi nodded once in confirmation. “He will be purchasing things, and I will be purchasing things for myself. Are you in need of food or groceries? Amon has a list he could add to if you want, or you can tag along as well if it’s something you do not want Amon eating along the way.”

“I’m not a starved peasant from the year 1500...Katsumi-chan…” Or maybe I am to her. Amon refrained from putting some thoughts out loud.

Amano gave a slight sigh. “Well I guess that’s already been let out for everyone huh? Unfortunately me and Mari decided to postpone that for just a bit longer. But If you’re just buying groceries, then that should be fine. Mind if I tag along?” She skipped a few steps on the way down before landing on the floor. “I have a few things I wanted to get too.” Though not really for groceries. But that wasn’t important really.

Katsumi shrugged, “I don’t mind. What about you, Amon?” She asked him. This wasn’t to try and put him on the spot, rather just to get him to voice his opinion. Saying “no” was always an option if he wasn’t comfortable.

“It’ll be fine…” Amon said, almost in resignation, at this point he would accept half the class coming along with him, seeing as how people just keep on showing up. He looked up at Amano while crossing off all the perishable food items from the list, and circling down all the uncommon stuff that they could only get at the big supermarkets. “Sweet soy sauce? That’ll be hard to find…” As the boy kept on talking to himself about various items, he nudged the dorm doors open into the slightly warm summer air. “What can go wrong, it’s a grocery trip.”

“We’ll be fine.” Katsumi assured him, using Amano as support every now and then so she wouldn’t fall. Even if Amano didn’t know about the current side effect Katsumi was undergoing.

By the looks of it, the supermarket wasn’t too busy when they arrived. A person coming and going every now and then, but nothing they needed to be concerned about. It meant that they could shop in peace for a while before the rush started.

“Do you need one or two carts, Amon?” She asked the other.

“I think one would be fine for now, if you’re not getting that much stuff.” He replied, not knowing how much Katsumi or Amano would be getting. They could carry their own stuff, probably. Amon took out a cart, he was gonna get a decent bit of stuff, but it’s not like there would be some unexpectedly large item that would take up a ton of space.

Picking up the shopping list he started from the top. “Ok if we skip the perishable stuff...soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, wasabi soy sauce...What is the stuff you guys need? I come here a lot, I probably know where they are.”

Amano was asked what she was there for. “Well, actually, I’m here for some Ammonia. And some new jars. Those aren’t related. I just knocked a few of my jars over and they broke.” She looked over at Katsumi who had been using them for some stability all along the way. (Well really Amon’s tail constructs)

“Ammonia? Down to the left pass produce, clearing products is around there I think. Jars? Not sure if this place sells jars on their own, I have a few extra myself if you really need them.” Amon replied while popping various things into a shopping cart, his mind not considering why his classmate requested ammonia specifically. Amano’s quirk didn’t really bother him, not as much as the other boys anyways. “Careful, Katsumi-san.” Glancing over at the girl who nearly walked into a display case, Amon quickly barricaded her from going any further with his tail and pulled her back a few steps.

Katsumi looked at Amano with one of confusion, wondering why she wanted Ammonia. If she wanted glass cleaners, she would have said “glass cleaners.” So why Ammonia specifically? Curious, curious.

When Amon warned her about nearly walking into a display case, despite having obviously seen it and yet her legs could not react quickly enough to respond, Katsumi realized that she would need to take drastic measures.

Her eyes saw the cart.

“Pause a moment.” She told the two. Katsumi would then slip into the cart, her back closest to Amon while her legs would dangle out from the front. Was this embarrassing? A little bit. But she would not be slowing them down anymore.

“I am simply here for snacks. Tell me when we come across the snack aisle and I will grab what I want.” She told Amon.

“O-Okay. Then how about we meet up there then, Amano-san?” Although slightly surprised by Katsumi’s course of action, Amon responded and calmly asked their other companion to rendezvous with them at a later time. It was a bit awkward, as Amon consciously stayed away from the shopping cart a bit more than usual, since there was an entire human girl inside of it. He wasn’t sure what’s the right distance to keep, Yori never made a protocol on a “girl in shopping cart” situation.

“I should get some chicken thighs, um, can you hold this?” With a smile Amon slowly (and with extreme caution that didn’t match his casual tone) set a tray of packaged raw chicken and a bag of tomatoes into the cart. I hope raw produce isn’t too cold for her...or something. “Snack aisle is after we get everything on the list, mkay, Katsumi-chan?”

"Could we also get some legs too? I like having something easy to hold on to when eating." She responded to Amon's comment on thighs. Meanwhile, Amano may have been here for a specific reason, but she caught sight of a few snacks she was particularly interested in as well. "Oh sorry Katsumi, but can you take these too?" She placed a few more packages for herself. "I swear this is the last thing I'll get, my jars and chemicals aside."

“Legs, hmm...Ok, sure I guess.” Amon added another 1500 yen to the list mentally, good thing they cut out some perishable items. But he might also need to cut out some snacks now. He picked up a package of bone-in chicken legs and tossed it on the growing Katsumi grocery pile, before shoving the items and the girl towards the snack aisle.

“So Katsumi-san, what do you need, seeing that you’re...a little…” Tracing his fingers along the various packaging Amon glanced over at the giant pile of groceries that Katsumi may or may not be able to see through. “Do you have a favourite jagariko favour? What about Dorayaki? Katsumi-chan?”

Katsumi set some of the groceries on her stomach and lap, with the more disgusting ones such as the meat set to the side. She piled the snacks where it was most comfortable, but soon enough, the food was beginning to pile on her. If things became too much, she would certainly be completely trapped.

“I prefer the original jagariko, and I will take just about any dorayaki. If it is sweet, I will take it.” She told him.

“Hmm...Okay!” Amon tossed a few packages of the selected snacks into the cart (still right on Katsumi), he picked up the original red bean dorayaki, but also the matcha, white chocolate and salted egg custard ones, along with a variety of other snacks. “I hope we didn’t go over budget…” He mumbled while shoving the cart towards check out. Amon was the type who has done enough of this to tell the size of a bill from how much the items piled up in the cart, but it was hard to do that when there is a whole extra person inside of it.

Amano took a moment to herself to grab the things she had actually arrived for. Returning just in time with several large pickling jars, and two large containers of Ammonia. “Sorry to run off like that. I’ve got what I need.” She was going to place them in the cart, but with the girl in there and all the snacks surrounding her Amano wasn’t too certain these would fit.

“Um… Hey Katsumi, could you hold these?...” She added a bit hesitantly. Partly because she didn’t want to drop them, but her arms were getting heavy: and partly be she had a feeling she wasn’t exactly happy about all of this stuff being laid on her.

Katsumi was starting to reconsider getting into the cart, but it was either that or she stumble around the store like a drunk.

“Give them here.” She responded, taking the jars and containers from the other girl. “Are you certain you two don’t need another cart?”

“Uhhh, it’ll be fine.” Amon said as he used his tail to prevent the pile of items from spilling out of the cart. “Yes, it’ll be just fine. We’re almost done anyways.” He felt a bit self conscious, as a few people in the store were staring. Is it because I’m with two girls...no, that can’t be it. Amon thought quietly as he started to prop up items onto the register conveyor, gesturing at Katsumi to maybe help out.

“So, who’s who’s stuff again? Are we splitting the bill?” He asked as the ‘beep’ sound of scanning barcodes rang out a few times, and the total price displayed on the register climbed higher and higher.

Katsumi gave items to put on the conveyor belt, putting some on it when she could. She recognized some of the items as her own, but all of them? No. Then the question came about “splitting the bill.”

“Of course we’re splitting the bill… You did bring money, yes?”

“Uh huh...but umm…” Amon watched as the number on the register ticked up past 5 digits, he pulled out five 1,000 yen bills and stretched them out, showing the little stack to Katsumi. “We might have gone, over budget.” Which was the rich people's way of saying being poor, it was quite poetic. Amon ran his fingers over the bill one more time, as if that would make them magically multiply, shopping with rich people really makes you go overboard. It was a few moments of silence before he took a deep breath, and-

“Please Katsumi-sama I promise I’ll pay you back I’ll give you the weird slime Amano-chan left in my room my parents abandoned me when I was little I really don’t have money anymore! I’ll push you around in a shopping cart as much as you want!”

“Shh!” Katsumi pressed her finger against his lips, the noise as sharp and demanding as her glare. “I will not accept your tragic backstory as an excuse. If you’re going shopping, then you need to bring more than pocket change or you plan accordingly!”

She pulled out her wallet and took out some bills, counting the appropriate amount before holding it in her hand.

“I will get my Yen’s worth of either goods or services. By accepting this Yen, you will listen to me or I will take the groceries and I will do with them as I please. Are we understood?” She said, waving the bills of Yen around a little to further entice Amon.

In other words, Amon was going to become Katsumi’s personal butler and errand boy until he made up the difference. The same would go for Amano as well if she didn’t bring enough money either.

"Of course! I have no qualms helping you with something or another. I actually didn't even bring any cash. I planned for this." Amano was far too chipper about essentially tricking Katsumi. But now she had a great excuse to hang out with her.

Red irises looked side to side for a bit as Amon thought about every possibility that could stem from this. The good, bad and the ugly. "Uh, yes! Of course Katsumi-sama." He exclaimed with a smile, though the words 'I've done worst things' was what danmaku-ed through his mind a million times.

"Ehhh...am I becoming a meat shield…" A slightly despair filled whisper came out of the boy as he picked up about a dozen shopping bags with a tail construct while getting Katsumi out of the cart.

Her eyes stayed glaring between the two. “Amon. You will wish that’s all I had you do when I’m done with both of you.” Katsumi then looked at Amano. “Whatever tickles your fancy, but I will not be treating you as a friend until I receive my money’s worth. Now, Amon, carry me back to the school. Amano, carry the groceries. When we get back you will become my new favorite chair.”


After quite a bit of long conversations and chatting with his family Agi had finally got a break from it all as he went down to the cafeteria his right arm still completely bandaged up as he was looking at the menu options. Though as he pondered his options he mentally sighed as even the thought of options was bringing him back to the fact of how much he had fucked up as a leader. He just stood there half tempted for some junk food options to eat away the bullshit of his thoughts.


With a light hum and a soft crunch sound, Amon set down the small plastic konpeito bag that he was tossing up and down on the cafeteria table. “Just give up, there’s no such thing as hospital food.” He said casually with a smile, “We can go somewhere when you get discharged.”


Goto had also been taken to the hospital as well. Mostly for monitoring. He had a concussion, and had passed out, but he would be fine in the end. However, for now, he was still in some light clothes, and his head wrapped in bandages. “Hey Amon, pass me those things. I sure as hell ain’t eating this.” He may have asked, but that was just a formality, as he picked up the bag from Amon and took a few for himself. “Sho what' evoyone finking about gooing when Agi’s shoulder isn’t fucked up?” A few crumbs flew by as he spoke.


Yori had also gone to the cafeteria for some food, but seeing his friend and team leader there (as well as others), he approached and very gently placed his hand on Agi’s left shoulder. He looked mostly fine, with bandages wrapped around his head and more bandages hidden by his shirt. Yori had to move and be careful while his ribs and leg healed. There would be a lot of bruises, but those were the least of his worries.


Hearing Agi’s question, Yori answered. “Anything that doesn’t involve a bus.”


“Ya no joking it feels like its nothing at all minus some pizza rolls option they have,” Agi chuckled to Amon’s silly response to the lack of options sounding any good. That was about when Goto struck stealing Amons snacks as Agi was happy to have his best bro team around.


“Goto how the heck did you get a concussion your suppose to be the dodge master,” Agi taunted as he added. “Heh we should hit up a club or something we got Yori who is a master at getting us into trouble after all,” Agi suggested as said bird boyo popped up placing a hand on Agis’s shoulder clearly worried a little for him. The look of Yori’s own wounds however was a reminder of how he had failed Yori as well.


“Thankfully not… quite frankly I think I’ll be sticking to a bike for a while or maybe the bullet train,” Agi joked though being serious about never riding a bus ever again.


“You all look like crap…” Kuroi commented suddenly, though partially the observation was just him thinking aloud. He hadn’t seen them in any of their rooms and figured they had wandered about. Unsurprising, that they would all be here.



Kuroi seemed the least harmed. He had some scuffs and bruises, the worst of which was a patch over his nose where one of the pricks punched him. Likely more strange to them all, were the traces of mud across him, primarily on his shorts and shoes, and the absence of his shirt which was replaced with a hand-out white tee the hospital had on hand.


“I guess all of yours went to hell more than mine did,” Kuroi mused as he sat down.


“Oh, at least I don’t look like I got rode through a mud pile what happened to you,” Agi asked curiously about Kuroi’s situation since the boy also still had a bit of mud in his hair.


Goto swallowed hard before responding to Agi’s call out. “I’m the pursuit master, dickhead. So I recommend you start running if you don’t want your ass kicked.” His words were somewhat harsh, but that was just how he always talked to the bois. When the idea of going to a club came up Goto gave it some thought. “Well, it really depends. Hey Yori, what’s the place with the hottest girls around?”


“I’m pretty sure I saw Amano-chan punch Goto…You know, the one who wants to know about hot girls.” Amon said a bit tiredly as he pushed the small plastic bag with the sugared rocks towards his blue-haired buddy. He was mostly ok, although the strange smell of charred clothing, metal, and just a little skin lingered around, a few bandages covered the areas that have been grazed by electrical lasers. “Because somebody wouldn’t listen to instructions and went off to get himself killed. Not naming names here.” Well, everyone would know who it's referring to, just by the sarcasm alone.


Seemed like the gang was all here.


“Amano punched Goto? Doesn’t surprise me.” Yori commented. His sister was pretty meticulous about her plans, and she didn’t like coming up with new plans because someone on her team wouldn’t listen to her. His eyes fell on Kuroi when the other spoke up, which made him curious. “Wanna fill me in on what happened to you guys?”


Everyone had their different wounds, each ranging from severity. Because of his treatment and how long it took he wasn’t given any information about the other teams yet.


“I dealt with a literal mud-slinger wannabe.... Unfortunately, there were a couple others that knew what they were doing. Haya, Hideki, and Vi all got hurt worse than me,” Kuroi stated a bit solemnly, eyeing the damages present on each of his friends before deadpanning as he reached Goto. “Or maybe you look worse than you are if that’s where your mind is at already…”



Resting his head in the palm of his hand, his eyes turned to Yori as he questioned further.


“A boy band, or siblings. Either way they had mud powers; as annoying and lame as it sounds. They were jacking from some kind of medicinal truck or…” Suddenly he paused, once again looking at Goto. “How did you manage to get punched by Amano? I’ve never even seen her frown… or less than bubbly.”


“I’m pretty sure she did it with a smile.” Amon added in, it took him a while to rendezvous with the team but it was a sight to see Amano smack Goto while he was struggling to go fight more. “Goto doing the usual, but it was like you were going at your arch-nemesis or something. No wonder she smacked you that hard.” Amon said while shrugging at Goto, he knew some info about the villain he fought, just not why Goto seemed to have some obsession with him. “I didn’t really do much, it was some guy who can use electrified lasers, Ichika-san went ahead and slammed him, it’s really thanks to her I found out how he worked. Though those lasers did almost catch my hair on fire.”


Goto wasn’t aware that it was Amano who had pushed him over. Of course it all made sense after that. “That was her! Man Yori, how the hell did you survive growing up with her! She is absolutely batshit insane.” He knew ever since that seal project that she was absolutely willing to sacrifice him to further their mission. He took some of the sweets in
Amon’s bag and threw them up in the air to catch them.


“Hey I took out like the entire goon-squad on my own! Just because a talking robot egg decided to piss me off, doesn’t change the fact that I did a number on those pussies.” He heard that they were stopping a truck with medical supplies from being pulled over. “Yeah, Egg-Dude was talking some shit on jacking some chemicals. Not sure what he was looking for exactly.” Goto looked over at Agi. “So what were you two caught up in? All I caught was you weren’t taking the bus anymore.”


Yori would be the one to answer Goto’s question about their mission. “We had to stop a double decker bus, that came out of nowhere, from getting away with a bunch of money. The brakes were cut, no steering wheel, doing around 80 to 90 down the highway. Everyone got caught up with a villain while I took over the bus. I had to crash it into some poor farmer’s land, which is how I got banged up.”


He looked at Agi for a second then back at the group. “That’s the gist of it, but I’ll leave it there.” If Agi didn’t want to give more information then Yori wouldn’t give it. This was why he paused there, to give Agi the chance to add.


At the question regarding Amano, he smiled. “You get used to it.”


“Oh ya well come over here trash hog so you can pursuit my boot up your ass. I may got one arm, but that’s enough to keep you at bay shortstack,” Agi laughed in response to Gotos ego of victory however he did earn it so Agi obliged his snarky remarked with one of his own.


“Goto you know how you talks the reason no girls will ever come near use even with Amon’s boyish charm, and Yori’s goddess charm,” Agi countered to Gotos suggestion.


“Heh, that’s easy you didn’t stick to her plan did you,” Agi asked knowing full well the reason Amano would hit the junk food pit. However, what Kuroi and Goto had to say about their perspective missions was intriguing. Now that he thought about it their locations…


“Also interesting,” Agi mumbled to himself shaking his head at the thought as he turned to Kuroi.


“Ohhh that’s what Hideki meant when he texted me you and he getting rooted in like carrots,” Agi smiled laughing now as he finally understood what Hideki had been talking about. However his smile faded a bit when Yori talked about their bit of action, and even though Yori gave him a chance to add Agi was silent on the matter.


Goto smirked at that response. “Yeah, why the hell do you think Yori hangs with me? That dude gets enough attention, so someone’s gotta act as a balance.” He looked over at Kuroi at the carrot’s comment. “Oh? You and Hideki were rooting carrots? You know I always had a feeling you were more interested in that. Hideki is a little surprising, but not really.”


Goto leaned back in his chair, starting to get a little bored. “Man when the hell you guys get out of here? I’m tired of the shit back at the dorms. I heard we got some new people though. Haven’t gotten around to seeing them really yet. Got a couple of girls from what I hear.”


Yori looked at Agi with a raised eyebrow. "Goddess charm?" Well, some of my fans do think I'm possessed by a goddess." He flipped his hair a little with a smile, the tone of which he said that sentence letting the others know he was just joking.


Goto was right. If Yori wanted to be left alone, hanging with the anti-charmer was the best way. Something about Goto just repelled girls like no one's business.


"We leave when we leave," Yori answered Goto's next question, but what he said next definitely got the purple-haired man's attention. "New people? I thought our class was packed already."


“I dunno what charm is, I always thought girls just wanted my food, rules of the jungle you know.” Amon popped a small sugared star into his mouth with a crunch. “And I’ve heard a few of the other classes disbanded so we’re getting merged, with tons of dropouts and all.” There really weren't any dropouts with their class, while some of the others had an eighty to ninety percent drop rate. Amon found that sort of strange, but also oddly poetic.


"If that's some sort of euphemism it's too stupid for me to understand," Kuroi retorted lethargically. "You should be worried about the date you managed to get rather than what new girls there are."


Though this was the first time Kuroi was hearing about the newcomers. He also didn't have much room to talk being dateless with no experience himself, not that he really cared.


"I thought your charm was just being a pretty-boy," Kuroi remarked. "Are conditions really that bad in the other classes?"


“Cause pity,” Agi chimed at Goto with a chuckle before turning his eye to Ypi with a raised grin. Leave it to Yori to be the pretty boy to the detail. Amon response was no shocker it wasnt the sort of thing Amon was into after all.


“Girls took your food cause you were too friendly making them think you were flirting,” Agi explained with a shoulder shrug on his buddy misses opportunities.


“Oh ya Mari brought me the folders for the new people your not going to believe what french comedy is going to come back to use,” Agi joked at Yori specifically pretty sure the bird prince could guess who he was talking about.


“The other five are very damn interesting as well,” Agi nodded as he turned to Kuroi.


Wait Goto got a date? How long was I out for real? Did you trick some poor girl,” Agi asked legitly concerned as he turned to Goto.


“Hey hey, what’s wrong with being friendly! I treat girls like I would anyone, like an upstanding citizen.” Snapping back at Agi for his comment, Amon didn’t see what was wrong with being friendly, or offering snacks to girls. But the real whiplash came from the news that a lot of them took awhile to process. “...I think you were out for 10 years, Agi-kun, that’s realistically how long Goto would take to get a date.” He replied in a deadpanned fashion.


“Beat her in a race. I said we should wager something. She said if she won we’d all go do something together.” He gestured to his goon-squad. “So the only natural progression was to turn a group hang out into a 1 on 1 date. She also asked me while in a bikini, so… Of course I was gonna try and capitalize on that offer.” Oh Goto…


Yori looked at Goto, taking a second to register what he’d just said before he chuckled. “We were all shocked you got a date, but now it makes a lot more sense. You have to win a bet against the poor girl for one to date you.” Should Yori feel bad? No, because Goto’s mannerisms didn’t exactly help him in the dating department.


But it did give him an idea.


Amon placed his forehead on the slightly cool table just to process the information. He wasn’t the type who’s big into the dating scene, well, not nearly as much as the other boys, but even he knows that there was way too much information and way too many things wrong with this situation. “Uh-huh.” A small noise came out of what looked like a large pile of white hair, agreeing with Yori.



“Regardless of Gotos despicable dating tricks its been awhile since we all just sat down and bsed like this,” Agi smiled sittit down at the table.


“We really should plan to do something as a group like we use to,” he notioned except for any ideas Gotos sleazily came up with trying to get girls those always failed miserably and were miserable.


“Actually with that said let me take a rare chance to torture you all like you love to torture me. You guys interested in any of the girls in the class,” he asked looking particularly at Kuroi for some reason.


A smirk broke on Kuroi’s face as they spoke further about it. “It was pretty funny when she told me. I lost a bet,” He said with a snicker, following with a bit of smugness. “And I even vouched for you and told her that I was harder to deal with than you are, so don’t screw it up and make me a liar.”


Kuroi then paused at Agi’s comment. It had been a while since they all spent time together. They had interacted individually, but nothing like this. He gave a short nod to his suggestion. “As long as you’re fine with Amon and I mooching off you,” He said, though it would be nice to do something, even if it was simple like the arcade. However, the boy then entered a drawn-out silence. He blinked, before looking back at Agi with confusion. “Why’re you staring at me? ...And why are you changing the subject at random.”


Crunch--


Amon snacked quietly as he decided to stare at Kuroi, he wasn’t really doing it before, but since it was brought up he might as well be doing it now. “Trying too hard to force normalcy just makes it weird Agi-kun. I know a lot of things happened,” Amon cleared his throat and quickly whispered: “like Goto getting a date- But I digress, it’s only courtesy for one who asks the question to answer it first, isn’t it?”


“Fair enough I think four, in particular, are intriguingly eye catching, but cause I know how dirty you all play I won’t give names until you all answer cause I can at least keep my word,” Agi smiled placing the bait on the table, but not giving them the advantage over him.


“You first buckos.”


“Four, wowee Agi-kun, leave some for the rest of us.” It was abundantly clear that this was a topic that no one really wanted to talk about, though Amon didn’t even have an answer. The impression he has of the girls in the class are blurry at best and his own interests aren’t much clearer. “Interested? Like...in what part? What aspect? You know I get confused easily.”


“Personality for you Amon,” Agi chuckled.

“Personality...huh? They’re all pretty nice, other than Viggie, she’s really scary.” Amon picked up more snacks and mumbled, thinking about the girls in their class. “I guess Isa and Ichika-san are cool, Vitalis is hard to understand, she got mad at me for not noticing her nail polish...Hmmm...They’re all sort of scary in their own way, but Viggie is still the weirdest. But I mean, girls are weird in general...”


“You know at least we can agree on that part Amon.” These girls were all insane. Well at least most of them were. The most normal of them seemed like the Class Prez, Aika, and Haya, but normal could still be annoying. An example would be Vitalis getting mad at Amon for her nails. “Like why get upset with something like that?” He kicked his legs up on the table, leaning back. “I mean everyone in the class is pretty hot, so lucky us. But I’d say Aika is the least insane from what I’ve seen.” Which wasn’t much mind you. But hey, what he saw was nice. Which was all he had to base it off of as Goto hadn’t had any interaction with her at all.


"I've just been calling her Elsa and Ice Queen, but I think Viggie is better," Kuroi said with a smirk. "Vi is harmless. Viggie got mad because I wouldn't try to stab her with my quirk, seriously anyway."


As a result, he was sure he was fairly low on her list of expectations. Still, she did have some air of wanting to help.


"I dunno, she's a bitch but there's a part of her that does want to help I think."


“She’s basically the equivalent of a wild dog. She only understands one language, and that’s power,” Ag responded giving his two cents on that particular gal.


“I’m bound by contract to say that all women are beautiful, and as much as I don’t like gossip I’m gonna take advantage of this.” Yori began, “Holding a conversation with Vigridis has been the third most difficult thing I’ve had to do here. I don’t understand how someone doesn’t know what fun is.”


“Hot? Like Hideki-san?” Crunching another piece of candy Amon asked, overhearing the conversation half heartedly. “Oh wait, you mean in the other way. I guess I’ll say that all women are beautiful too, Yori’s advice is usually sound. I think maybe Viggie just grew up in a different place, you know, Ramen-nia or something? They probably bring up their kids differently there it’s culturally diverse, it’s hard to imagine an entire country like that though.”


“Aight that leaves for Kuroi, and Yori to give actual answer. Any sound testing you want to admit to Kuroi,” Agi teased.


“I mean, she is hot, but I thought we were talking about her being a bitch?” Kuroi replied. Either way, the consensus was that Viggie was somewhat difficult to deal with. He didn’t think Romania was to blame either. “And why’s that? Because all of you gave great answers?” He questioned in a deadpan. “Sound testing? For what?”


“Hm sounds like our baby boy isn’t ready to come out with his news,” Agi teased elbowing Yori.


“I suppose not. To be honest, I’m surprised Veggie’s personality didn’t completely ruin her for you. Doesn’t matter where or how she was raised, it’s no excuse for her behavior.” He responded, knowing fully well what he said but "Viggie," was a cute nickname, and he felt the girl didn't deserve it.


Was he a saint? Of course not. No one was, but there were plenty of people out in the world who had horrible upbringings that grew up to be great people. What was Vigridis’s excuse?


Then came the question about his answer. “I told you I have a contract to abide by. If I showed favoritism it can get pretty nasty for the girl in question should my fans find out.”


"Can someone translate please?" Kuroi grumbled in response to Agi. "Doesn’t that contract get to be a pain in the ass?"


Yori nodded a few times. “Of course, but it keeps me from making a public apology and shattering delusions.”


"You could always shave your head as penance like that one person," Kuroi remarked with a smirk.


“Here I’ll answer for Yori ahem. He’s into Ichika,” Agi smiled teasingly as he got behind Yori grabbing his friend’s hand to clap them together as he gave that answer.


“Anywho I guess that does leave me to answer,” Agi chimed surprisingly coming to what the boys were apparently interested to hear as Agi had never really shown much interest at all to the opposite gender or just relationship of that kind at all.


“I think Katsumi’s pretty damn impressive she so skilled with a sword, and stylish in combat she’s also got that cool cold shoulder vibe she gives to her enemies. Mari is very calculating and intelligent she also plays a mean poker face against her enemies. Well, you guys might remember Rosalie from class 1-B in Ketsu, but if not she’s wildly unpredictable with a force to reckon with while also planning long-term strategies to catch her enemies off guard. As for my final answer Amano she always looking out for the best answer never accepting the bare minimum, but the best result. She is confident, a risk-taker when needed, and always learning beyond all of us. She is also always concerned and not afraid to show it,” Agi smiled clogging Yori’s ears right before answering with his Nanobyte muffling Yori’s ability to hear the actual answer.


“I feel like none of us are actually interested in this sort of thing. Maybe that means we could all be idols, what do they do again?” Amon stated blankly after listening to Agi’s take, it was like he was picking a coworker instead of the girl to give chocolate to on White Day (and office romance usually leads to bad results). “Or it’s just me, what were we talking about again?”


“Huh… oh, the dragon,” Kuroi mused, pondering his last interaction with her. “She’s pretty good-looking and seems relaxed. I dunno, I think she’s ticked with me for some reason.”


He glanced over to Agi momentarily. “Right, ice cream girl…” He muttered. Kuroi never interacted with her. He knew exactly how much his dad messed with her mother and wasn’t eager to test if she was like Agi or the rest. “You never stop talking but now you want to? You were the one that brought the topic up, and then you omit half of it.” More of Kuroi was wary of what was insinuated regarding his “news” more than Agi’s fourth supposed crush. He was about as clueless as Amon when it came to this stuff.


“Girls. Women. Or guys I guess. And I wouldn’t have the patience, for the people or the prep.” Yori made sure to scare him away from even preparing for being an idol. That was so much damn work. “I dunno. I wouldn’t say I’m not interested in it, more of I’m not looking. Aside from my situation making it complicated, I don’t really know where to start.”


Goto was still leaning back in his chair as everyone talked about the girls. “I have a hard enough time not thinking most girls aren’t insane. So then I gotta figure if dealing with insane girls is worth the fact it’d be so easy to just have some fun.” His brow started to furrow. This was a serious matter for a man with very little computational ability. In his state of focus, he didn’t realize he had tipped his chair back too far. It was soon that he was reaching the critical point, picking up speed.


“Well, we can talk about how long it takes Goto to piss someone we don’t know off when we finally go out again for a boy’s night,” Agi chuckled before noticing Gotos chair.


“Hey be careful Go… there he goes,” Agi watched as with Goto’s final small push his friend fall right back barely caught mid-fall by Agis still well reacting nano’s as Agi sorta kept him suspended in fall to avoid him doing anything else reckless for a moment.


“Aint that right Yori,” Agi laughed as he slapped Yori on the ass finally freeing his avian friend from his Nanos in Yori’s ears.


Inconspicuously shoving some more food (in slow motion as he eyed his friends), Amon blinked a few times. He supposed that most girls are sort of insane, but so were most people.


“Ah...High school romance sure is a lovely thing, kimochi-ii~” He sat back relaxing in his seat with a little smile. One might see some pink bubbles in the background if they tried hard enough.


Yori would give Agi a bit of a look. “That was when I was 12. You really won’t let that go, will you?” He smiled. Though Ichika was (and is) really pretty, he didn’t have much faith that anything could happen between them. They’d probably be better off with other people anyway.

Though Yori couldn’t hear what Agi had to say about Amano, he could tell one thing about his friend. Something that he might bring up later.


And then, the sudden tingle of pain against his butt as Agi delivered a hard spank. Yori, with wide eyes, looked at his friend. “This means war, you know.”


“Fine then let’s see the end of this feud. Kuroi is to ask out Haya, and Yori is to ask out Ichika and if anything comes of it me Amon, and Goto demands a free paid for meal at an all you can eat meat place,” Agi challenged pointing at Yori while his Nanos pointed at Kuroi.


“Good sir you may be the master of the act, but with my quirk, I can easily be the master of that ASS,” Agi joked threatened as his Nanos formed into a massive ominous threatening slapping hand.


Yori shook his head a few times. “Nope. How about you ask out Katsumi? She was the first one to pop into mind when you started complimenting the girls. Or maybe Mari? Or Rosie? Let’s not focus on my old childhood crush, who I haven’t spoken to in a while when you’ve got a dry streak when it comes to dating.” He told his friend.


“Also you better watch those Nanos before you become my next crush.”


“Uh-huh I see you checking me out Yori it’s only a matter of time,” Agi laugh Jovial before realizing he had called back the Nanos holding Gotos chair causing the hedgehog boys fall to complete with a “thwomp” to the ground.


Goto hit the ground with a thud and was quickly knocked unconscious, as his friends did other, far more important things.


“Also you know it’s not exactly wise for me to date anyways Yori. In collision with your contract, my lineage makes it dangerous to date especially once people realize my background… OH SHIT GOTO,” Agi sighed before panicking as Goto in his supreme laziness had not prepped at all, and had somewhat koed himself. Rushing over to his friend he immediately aligns him over his good shoulder ass end up as he looked at Yori.


“QUICK WE NEED A NURSE HEDGEHOG DOWN HEDGEHOG DOWN.”


Suddenly the “war” began and Kuroi was left resting his head in an arm pillow as he apathetically observed the altercation. He wasn’t really interested, they got like this sometimes. It did mean none of the injuries were all that bad though if this was the topic of conversation, which was good. However, then he was brought back into the conversation and his head lifted up.


“Uh, what?” Why the hell was he being dragged into this. “How would me doing that end any feud? Not like-for fucks sake…” Before that conversation could go anywhere, a thud was heard and Goto was down. Deadpanning and with a groan, he pushed himself up. “I’ll go find someone.”


He did like Haya. For some reason he felt about as comfortable around her as he did all of them. Regardless, he wasn’t going to ask anyone out over some stupid bet, or feud, or dare, and he was especially going to avoid any drama between them and a girl. Whether Goto was taking it seriously or not, he wasn’t going to be involved if it went south or incurred any other dramatics.


"Good grief, it's good to be young isn't it?" With a screech of chair legs on the floor, Amon got up and followed. It appears that everything was back to normal, well, this was normal for them.
 
~~~The Next Week~~~


The dripping of water could visibly be heard echoing throughout the whole emptied building a factory from the pre-war days having not been owned or used since the destruction of the pride of a nation from long ago. Yet for the first time in many moons, the sounds of a visitor walking across the hollow shell or a former towering symbol of business caressed its embrace for the very first time. An animalistic being was walking amongst the rubbled structure with fur white as snow meshed against a ring leader-like outfit with an impressive top hat. The male appearing entity halted with a soft hum before tilting his head spinning his can into the folds of his underarm as he gently turned to his left as if sensing an unseen force. With an almost soothing voice, he speaks out.

“Ahh been quite a while since we met last my avian beauty. I assume this chance meeting wasn’t much chance given you’re here in a building I just “bought” not only five minutes ago,” he spoke turning to follow to the shadows waiting patiently for an answer.

Staring at the other with crimson red eyes, was a woman clothed mostly in blue with golden armor in parts, with a pair of large wings it would be fairly obvious what her quirk was, or at least on the outside. Beside her a shadowy figure takes up a guard position, making no moves, as a woman dressed in red, black and white, a fine suit, seems to take offense at his casual tone, the bird winged woman holds up a single hand however restraining her from thinking. “I had hoped my presence here would be more convincing. My shadow here as well as my own..skills have uncovered a plot that is of the gravest danger to either of our plans if not the world as a whole. We would like your assistance in solving the situation.”

“Ah, another truce is it? I don’t know last time we made peace we rattled Japan's whole core, but I am assuming this is a matter with the leftover remnants getting back off their feet,” the ringleader asked clearing having an idea on this matter more than expected. It was no shock even though her “resources” were more supreme his were ever-growing.

“I have heard the whistle on the wind, and have quite the insider on the matter he was rather easy to buy and more than willing to listen to reason on that matter when I offered “resources”. Must keep a eye on all you, after all, you're so fickle in your sway in the world,” the ringleader explained what would obviously be her first question. He eyed the woman’s “shadow” a rather zealous lot, and equally as dangerous as them both.

“I give information, short of one goal it is on others how best to carry it out. Either way the same fool has made overturns to us as well... I do not mind. The important fact of the matter is they have hit a moment of fate. Or will do so soon. A child or a young woman I suppose will bring their plot to fruition or ruin. Their team is meeting some matters of Success. Arata here has a plan to deal with them.”

Speaking with a faceless mouth and nothing more than a blank shadow, a wispy voice old and worn speaks forth. “We shall let the Chosen believe she is a Queen... While seeing to it that her friends are nudged towards a truth... Their main base, the round one will not so easily betray, or perhaps cannot as Foxglove is wise to not trust... The girl shall draw them out... The girl shall lead us there... Then aside from the one we have used, the research and labs shall be erased, before ANVIL and HA can collect... A mad girl’s plot, a plot no more. Your help is required for when the time is right.. Silence to this plan, silence to those who would….. Speak.”

“Act without soiling our hands to be a single moment upon this critical scene I see. Yes he is rather eccentric at playing people please do not kill him for he is very useful I assure you. Ah yes, the four cases that went down last month I was rather impressed with both sides of the matters,” he nodded acknowledging the problem at hand.

“Regardless what their goal is indeed a blemish on a perfect world so I will assist as requested, and even personally see to Foxglove myself,” he smiled with sharp canines as he tipped his hat to the shadow and the queen of sight.

“Let us see to this swift and proper shall we.”

“As you… wish.” says the shadowy figure, with their business concluded the avian stares at the other male for a while before turning her back. “We’ll meet again.” And with that the three leave the building, taking some care to split off from one another, a van waited for the winged woman and the other, while the shadowy figure took on the appearance of a policeman, average looking and forgettable.

~~~

Meanwhile at another location a test was being conducted as the Science Team of the former Number 1 Villain meets in secret at one of the many disposable sites they had used before, a man with the Gasmask of a Fox grunt’s a bit, as a man with a bald head and massive mustache wears a lab coat all the bit too small for his massive frame.

“Ah, so who do we have today?” The latter asks, looking past a two-way mirror, as the masked man tilts his head a bit. “Patience much is to be learned, though the slip up on your end may mean I must take a direct hand in gaining what we need.”

“Sir the earnings from our ahem “bus tour” met the quota we needed, and the “medical run” got the special ingredients we needed, as for… well you know,” the scientist that was giving the reports didn’t give the final overview as it was clear the two leads were just arguing about it.

“Your good to go Iko,” a male in a similar lab coat with frosted white black hair, and a purple sweater underneath sighed.

“Yes Dr. Igotor,” the assistant spoke quickly leaving the already hostile room,” with that said Igotor looked to his associates with a besmirched face.

“Can you both stop being so damn ominous? You’re bringing down the room. Also, newsflash, testing is going to get nowhere if we don’t have a more physically fit subject to run the tests on. We can’t properly play with better supplies if all our subjects are starving frail outcasts,” he added before typing in some new serum bases for the already weak formula at hand.

“We keep playing safe to keep the patient’s alive cause our goal is not to kill them, but without a healthy host we cant produce a damn actual solution so mind telling me what you brawn for brains plans to do that,” he questioned Mobius is particular.

The fox masked man turns his head at the first bit of the conversation. “Survival of the subjects is of secondary importance... Though maybe we could use the other to help in getting us who and what we need after a proof of concept is shown... If not before that.”

For his part Dr. Mobuis looks at Foxglove and then Igotor, grunting a bit as he reflects on the responses and accusations, before giving a reply. “There is an experiment I am working on, a biomechanical warrior, I may use its first test run to find us a suitable candidate, or we could deploy drones around the area to take note of what all there is to see. I would say to focus on those Kids from before, but we don’t easily know where they’ll be. Do we?” He says eyeing Dr. Foxglove.

“Hmm.. That may be something within our realm of possibilities, some of them at least. After the beating they were put under I suspect they’ll be deployed again here soon..” he says.

“They would do as perfect subjects especially if were saying fuck it to living rates,” Igotor mumbled running some video feed from Mobius’s particular mission watching the speedster in particular.

“Heh he really gave you a hard time,” the purple-shirted scientist chuckled as he moved to the bomb scenario, the oni girl was also a very viable subject from the looks of it. Next was the video feed of the medical truck theft. The most potential from that group would probably be the blood boy. The last feed was the run-away bus feed.

“Oye that one,” Igotor shouted out to his associates pulling the image of the Apex Bugster kid. Enhancing the image Igotor turned around in his chair.

“That one if you’re going to pick from the flock of the newer generations if our serum can “cure” that it’s a winner we can be as intense with the serum as we want with that test subject,” he smiled rather monstrously with excitement.

“Heh, If I can find him, otherwise maybe it is time for a new Scheme.” Dr. Mobius says. To this Dr. Foxglove gives a nod.

“Yes, depending on our next activities I may have something in mind.”
………………………………………………………

Elsewhere, Ota stands at the podium in the classroom with Mari off to the side, looking over the rest, he speaks;

“Some of you were hurt not but so long ago, but yet here you all stand today. Strong as ever, maybe even stronger. Today’s Mission will be slightly different than before, as Mari requested the patrols for some of you, you have new faces among you and there will be an additional member brought in while two more are taken out. Mitsou and Aika, both of you will be needed elsewhere, for the time being, you’ll be aiding one of the other classes during this operation. Gather what you need, get in your gear, and head to Class 04 and 03 respectively.

Mari, I leave the rest to you outside of the matters we discussed previously, it should be noted that your teams will be scattered further from one another.”
Taking a step back, Ota leaves the rest to Mari.

“We have a wide range of requests and patrol locations. I for one wish to scout out some of the areas we were hit in and Amano will be doing the same. The Principle helped come up with the teams I am about to announce, some of them go against my basic judgement.

Team One shall be led by Kaizen and consists of Vigidris, Vitalis and Goto. You will be heading into the interior to patrol a city sector around the Greater Tokyo area.

Team Two shall be led by… Isa..”
A shout could be heard at that of a Woooo!, as Mari Continues; “and members consisting of Yamoshi, and Haya and a girl from one of the other classes by the name of Kujaku, Shako, hero name of Scylla. She will be waiting for you at the departure areas, you’ll all be taking the train but will be patrolling a section of National Forest near our school. It has Temple grounds, deer park, nature trails...” Carrying on Isa’s attention seemed to be locked in on this, she clearly knew the location, though it was highly unlikely to be the family temple considering this one had national renown.

“Team Three Shall be led by Hideki and shall consist of Ren, Yori, and Katsumi. You will be patrolling around the commercial and shipping district of the nearby town. You have the least distance to travel.

Team Four shall be lead by I with Ichika, Aika, and Kikyo to complete it. It’s patrol path will be around the chemical plant. It would be wrong to call it a patrol as we are going to attempt following leads as best able with what was on hand from the police questioning.”


With that she pauses for a bit before continuing;

“Team Five shall be led by Amano and consisting of Agi, Rosalie, and Amon, shall patrol the shopping district we were last at. And lastly, team Six shall be led by Kuroi with Hotaru, Daichi, and Iniji making up its members. You four have the furthest distance to travel and will be joining a hero patrol team towards Mount Fuji and its surroundings to keep an eye on a few of the all-weather tourist spots, be sure to be ready for a little cold.”

And with that, she was done as she took a few steps back to her own desk waiting to be released so she could change.
 
After a quick drive into Tokyo a bit past the Shibuya district Kaizen, Goto, Vitalis, and Vigidris were finally delivered onto their district in a rather busy corporate section. Everywhere was alive with movement with people desperately playing their lives out from point A to point B. It was a pure experience of real-world industry praying on the energy, and lifeblood of cogs in the machine. Almost drone-like ants in a hive network. There was one particular building about five stories tall that was surrounded by a massive amount of people heading in, and out of some sort of supply company. It wasn’t uncommon for Japan to see heavy business, but to see it outside the bubble was a bit depressing with everyone around them so drained, angry, panicked, and all-around moving frantically, some even bumping into the heroes due to them grouping together.

Notable there was a rather big collective amount of well-armed vehicles driving into the building seeming to deliver a rather heavy load of crates. There was even a presence of police and rent a cop around guarding the scene. If the heroes approached they could learn about what was going on by the friendly-looking cop at the front entrance.

Goto looked around here. If he recalled correctly his mom’s office building was nearby. He didn’t know the exact building of course. He didn’t care to ask. Still, seeing all the people in their suits and business attire, he couldn’t help but feel glad to be where he was right now. Not the actual place, but in his life.

Working in an office building would probably drive him to do something drastic. “Man, I just don’t understand how people can bring themselves to work in an office all day. They can’t honestly be happy with that, right?”

Kaizen was surprised to have been made team leader, despite his lackluster performance in the previous mission but nonetheless accepted his role with pride. There was something about this mission that felt different, a certain spiciness in the air, almost as if a fight was brewing, or perhaps that was just the superheated curry he had packed. “With this power, I will seek to reclaim what is rightfully mine. On this day, the enemies of justice will find no weakness, no mercy, only the unassailable strength of the Apex Bugster.” Kaizen thought to himself quietly as he clenched his fist with righteous determination. “Not everyone works to be happy, they do it so others can be happy.” He replied to him dryly. His opinion of Goto was not the best, but he was willing to still be a reliable ally when it counted. The Alucard’s have proven to be formidable allies, so they should be able to keep up with his pace with little issue.

“Hail, Mr. Officer. We are one of the patrol teams sent by suppression. Seems like you guys are transporting some important cargo. Is it anything we should know about?” The bugster asked politely. What was all this ruckus about?

“It’z life,” murmured the smaller vampire in response to Goto’s words. “Ssome are misserable, but it’z all they know. Otherss are not, becausse they make their livelihoods to ssupport their familiess, and that’z good enough. It’z life.”

“But yess.. I, too, would not find it so agreeable to be cooped up like that,” Vitalis actually agreed, in a soft-spoken shy voice.

“Drones,” Vigridis began, in an obviously not-so-impressed tone. She had a slight disgusted frown and almost seemed to have her nose upturned at them. If you were to pay attention, it was pretty clear that the taller Alucard didn’t hold a high opinion of Japanese society at large. “People with weak wills and constitution, lacking in confidencce. Thosse types will always be preyed upon by the stronger-willed oness. They’re drones. With no life of their own.”

After she said her spiel about it, her silver eyes flicked down to Vitalis nearby. The girl could feel the fury burning behind that seemingly innocuous gaze.

After the teams were announced, Vitalis had winced. She knew that this particular team would not be favorable for a certain someone. All along the way over, she could feel her cousin’s judgmental, angry gaze boring into her. With a silent seething, she sat there. Vigridis had otherwise remained cordial, and not said a word on the matter. But Vitalis knew her cousin could not like the current situation. Even Goto, she knew, was not someone her cousin cared for, and surprisingly, to an extent, she shared that sentiment; worried the lazy, arrogant fool would be more trouble than he was worth. Only Kaizen did either Alucard have a strong opinion on. Vitalis inwardly sighed, this was going to be a long mission.

“Ah perfect you must be the Suppression reps we got the call would be helping right,” The officer said rather surprisingly out of place catching the students off guard. As he opened the gate doors to let them in he gave some info.

“Were transporting some rather big jewelry from the Chaos of Kyoto gem collection the seven biggest gems ever mined in japan specially cut to be perfect. Hell, their shavings alone go for millions,” he explained almost in a stranger response a message prompted in their earpieces to head over to the very building where they were at to help with transportation. Yet oddly there was a weird buzz in the message, and from a female voice, none of them would recognize.

“You can join up with the seven the collection will be brought down soon there going to be splitting it up to avoid any potential thefts, but given how this is all rather hush hush no needs to worry,” the officer happily smiled tipping his hat to them as he directed them to the back closing the gate once they entered.

“Hmm I see.” The bugster was suspicious of the whole situation as they weren’t told anything about a mission like this. And if it was as important as they say they were, why weren't they told anything about it. “Very well, we will help you on this escort operation. Let us know where we are needed. What’s the travel path look like? Also, may I know who is in charge of this operation? Is it a pro hero?” The bugster was cautious about the whole ordeal, he wanted to know who was in charge of the operation before it began. If nothing else he could get answers once all of this was said and done. He had his worries about splitting up the team, since he knew that some team members were not as willing to cooperate as others given their relationships and personality. But nonetheless, he was willing to do whatever it took to ensure the operation's success.

“Who wass that?” Vitalis immediately questioned, kinda directing it towards Kaizen as she looked up at him. Though really her question was for whoever could answer. Her red eyes blinked. The duel-haired girl simply did not like what just came over the comms, and was instantly suspicious. Her instincts rising.

"Yeah but it ain't living…" He murmured to himself in regards to the response Vitalis gave him. He listened to the explanation from the officer. He wanted to do better this time. Communication was hard for him, and all he knew was it was painfully difficult for him to get his message across sometimes. But he was going to try his damndest. Even if he was going to have a bad time with the two other vampires.

Kaizen was cool. But it seemed like he shared another of Goto's flaws: going too hard. Albeit this manifested in a different way than in Goto. More frenzied bloodlust, less running into your inevitable death. But Goto knew of his flaws. But those wouldn't stop him from doing better than last time. He had learned a few things from his last bout and his test with Hideki.

As the students would near the complex there would be a slight buzzing noise of some hostility from inside the first floor of the building followed by an unexpected shock wave that burst from the first floor while an explosion accompanied it off on the fifth floor. The blast wave would send the heroes, the police officer, and all people and equipment flying back quite a few feet as the debris from above came falling down upon them in ominous pursuit causing great amounts of damage to the surrounding area and wounding, trapping, and knocking out many people all around them. The disorientation of it all would be extreme to what the kids had experienced prior to this point. Chaos was all around them as cries for help could be heard from every direction not too far there was a few people trapped under rubble, another two unconscious in a flipped over the burning van, and a bit away from that was a little girl with a bleeding leg crying as a piece of debris was about to collapse on top of her.

Kaizen had picked up on a strange noise coming from the building but didn't know what to make it… was it a bomb? "GET DOWN" He screamed to his squad. The bugster was caught off guard by a sudden explosion, instinctively raising his arms in front of him to block whatever debris coming his way. While it was indeed disorientating, the bugster had to recover quickly and take control of the situation. After shaking his head, he quickly took in what just happened, observing the many dangers that were present. He had many questions, but now was not the time for them. For now, at least, he had to prioritize the safety of the people. Seeing the little girl in the danger, Kaizen sprang forward, shattering the debris that was about to land on her. Kaizen quickly tore a small piece of cloth from her clothes. "You're gonna be just fine." He said while treating her wounds. "Vigridis, cut that van open and get those men out of there. Jetstream, Miasma, I'll get the rubble off them while you get the others to safety." The bugster saw a fire extinguisher somewhere in the rubble and quickly tossed it to the taller Alucard.

Kaizen moved forward, trusting that his team would follow up on him. He began easily lifting the pieces of rubble off the injured, getting them on their feet if possible. While he was doing that he made an attempt to call for an ambulance on his communicator. "This is suppression team 1, requesting immediate medical aid and fireman team to our coordinates, we got a burning building, multiple injured from two large explosions, possibly in critical condition." While helping the victims, he kept an eye out for any suspicious-looking individuals, perhaps they are still here. He didn't know how many more were in that building so he had to work fast. Once the team finished stabilizing the area outside, he would scout the inside of the building with his squad. "Vigridis, once you're ready, I want you to enter that building if there is anyone else inside. I'll handle the higher floors. Miasma, Jetstream, you two stay outside and lead any civvies that come out to safety."

When the sudden burst caused the building to shatter, Goto flinched in surprise and shock, letting out a hardy “FUCK!” It all happened in an instant, but that was what Goto was best with. Fans engaged, rotary drives enabled. Goto didn’t hear Kaizen’s last part. But that was okay, he was already in action, and went flying at top speed towards the little girl trapped in the landing zone of the rubble. He had to quickly dodge a few bits of debris and rubble himself, but he was almost there. Only 5 meters away. He wasn’t sure he’d make it in time if he didn’t overdrive. He pushed beyond a stable top speed, rocketing toward the girl, as he decoupled from his railing, losing control. He wrapped an arm around her and spun so that he was traveling backward with the girl in his arms, before slamming into a street lamp. He let out a grunt, gritting his teeth. “Get outta here!” He cried, getting back up and rolling back on his heels before running back into the chaos, hurdling over bits of rock and rubble.

Damn, if everyone wasn’t panicking, getting people to a safe place would be a helluva lot easier. He went back to keeping his eyes peeled, doing his best to direct traffic and keep people from being trampled.

The sudden shockwave and explosion made Vitalis’s question fall on deaf ears. It blasted her away, but after a disorienting tumble, she quickly bounced back to her feet using agile and deft handwork and footwork.

Meanwhile Vigridis was thrown. The lanky, taller Alucard also took a tumble, but like the rest of her team, was pretty much back on her feet quickly, shaking away any disorientation.

Vitalis pouted. Why had he called her Miasma? She wondered. “It’z Shhadow Misst…” she mumbled, going forward to help the poor injured civilians caught in the blast.

Vigridis was right on to what she was ordered to do, as if she had already decided it herself and Kaizen’s order was actually just total coincidence. Creating two shortened blades at her sides, but superheated, she slammed them into the van where she knew the people wouldn’t be. The metal hissed and sizzled as her blades cut through it deliberately. With a strong shove, she created another construct within the van, looking like the jaws of life, breaking apart the van with enough force to crack it like an egg.

After the van had been cracked, the two bodies were basically exposed. She reached in and yanked the unconscious people to her. Using whips of silver light to wrap them up and hold them to her, as she pushed the van even wider to allow the trio room to escape. With a firm grunt, the Alucard hefted out the two, and caught the thrown fire extinguisher, which had largely been unrequired. Still, briefly, she sprayed it with its signature hiss onto the flames still on the van, and any nearby flames. Better safe than sorry. She tossed the fire extinguisher aside and moved over to the others.

She set the people down as her cousin came over to help carry them even farther away to safety, and probably give them a bit of on-the-spot makeshift first aid. “On it,” she said, after leaving the two behind, running right into the building. Her previous constructs floating quickly after her, as it was pointless to leave behind what was already created.

This time her usual Hero garb was on. The Egret's Alabaster Plume Vestment. Which was made with special hardened fibers that only reacted to her quirk and her quirk alone. She seeped Soul Energy into the outfit and the silver energy literally trailed down her body, almost like liquid. Almost sensually. Every part of her dipped in her quirk’s Soul Energy. She actually glowed silver as she entered the gloom of the exploded building and quickly looked around. Vigridis’s scanned the place for any civilians in need of immediate aid. But she also made sure to keep an eye out for any immediately suspicious people -aka, “villains.”

"Copy that Suppression Group 1 "help" is on the way," the older woman's voice acknowledged over the comm line. Right as the message ended there would follow an annoying hissing electrical crackling sound. The comm's along with a series of cellphones all around hissing before their signal strengths went dead. It was probably clear at this point no help would be arriving as fast as they would hope...they were alone on this matter for now. The blast would surely catch attention and get a reaction but the medical and law enforcement aid would be delayed.

“Quite the fancy stripper outfit baby,” a voice called out with a callous whistle yet before the vampire could respond to the dark something blitzed past her in a fast stream of purple light this however would only be distracted as out of the darkness extended out a massively red claw that slammed into her.

From the outside, as Goto aimed to jump back into the fray a purple blur stirred right towards him halting a bit in front of him unleashing a miniature shock wave that would force him back, and feel very similar to the very first wave from earlier. The source was quite obviously a villain who now snickered at him pointing at Goto.

“Oye who let the shrimp into the pool careful slow shorty don’t want to get gobbled up in the spiral of a beautiful blast,” he laughed like a hyena slapping his kneecap. His costume was a strange skin-tight suit with a faceless mask. The most notable thing was the purple energy coming off his suit. From the attack is seemed like there had been more purple from when he had speed at Goto… potentially some sort of charging quirk? At that moment an extending long red and black claw had flown out of the first floor grasping on tightly a fighting Vigidris before exploding upon letting her go forcing her back as it was retracted back into a very nasty looking man’s bug-like body. He was primarily human-looking, but with an insect-like clawed left hand followed by multiple spider-like appendages with hostile red tips escaping out his back.

“Cackle Blast don’t play with your food. The boss wants this to a show after all,” he chided his partner’s actions before turning to Kaizen with a strange smirk.

“I see the full course has arrived,” he chuckled taking out a cigarette touching the end against his clawed hand instantly lighting it as he took a long drag of it before buffing out some smoke in a perfect circle looking directly at Kaizen with a nasty smile.

“So enjoy the front row seat ya little grubs?”

And just like that the culprits finally showed up, though there were noticeably fewer of them than expected. It was possible there were still a few hiding in the shadows, but he had some idea as to how the explosion was caused. "ShadowMist, JetStream, see if there is anyone else in the building." The bugster said before turning his attention to the culprits. "This won't be like last time." He told himself mentally.

"I'd suggest you both surrender before things escalate further…" Kaizen warned before he charged forward with great force and unnatural speed for his larger form. He was aiming at the spider-like foe. It seemed like he was aiming for a direct attack by striking him from the front, but at the second he used multiple small explosions to change his direction, placing him just behind the multi-legged one. He attempted to grab a few of the legs with a vice-like grip, hoping to either force him to rip his own legs off to continue moving or stay restrained.

Since Vigridis had been paying such particular close attention, she was able to defend against the blast she took. But only just since it had come so fast. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, and she was blown back out of the building. Lowering her arms, there was smoking coming off of her. Luckily, her suit actually added quite a bit of defense when the Soul Energy of her quirk was powered through it. Hence why she wore this Hero garb.

Still, the attack hadn’t been a nice one and left her momentarily stunned. She also only just happened to know what a “stripper” was, so his statement confused the Alucard since her outfit actually covered most of her body. “I do not understand, why would you call me a sstripper? My skin iss not showing, nor am I removing my clothes.”

With that and Kaizen’s support, she held up her hand. Her blades from before flew out and attempted to stab in places that would either impair the villain or pin him, such as through his feet. Making sure with enough skill to not hit Kaizen.

The smaller vampire frowned when the communication devices around hissed and went out. With a lack of aid, that would make this much worse.

Vitalis heard the order given her, eyed the two villains, and began running inside. If any attack came her way, she would use her mist-form to dodge it, but she would not use it if it was unnecessary. “Are you shure?” she asked. “I can help..” She could, but didn’t necessarily want to. This particular place was crowded, and her mist could affect her teammates.

“You don’t study your villains do ya big bug,” Burgeon Spider asked fully restraint from behind His spider-like limbs held in a strong vice-like grip making it impossible for him to move his torso, and yet the villains smugly continued to smoke his cigarette looking up at the impressive tower of bug.

“Your a little too big for my type if I am honest, but I’ve worked with bigger,” he snidely remarked with a cocky grin. He did, however, pause and lift an eyebrow at the white dress glowing chick’s words before looking at the bug.

“She not all there in the head is she… she does know she’s wearing a skin-tight suit right like nothing left to the imagination,” with that as she went in to attack there was a chain of loud popping as he literally disconnected his leg and rolled away from the flying swords getting knicked by them in a few places However the bigger problem was as soon as he had rolled the limbs completely turned red and exploded upon Kaizen with immense blast force damaging the bug at point-blank range. With his claw extended he flung it forward popping off his clawed fingers that once were close enough converged a chain of explosion around Vigidris. With a loud maniacal grunt, a nasty liquid spurted out of his empty sockets as a new set of appendages came off completely black with a tad bit of red at the tips.

“So wanna try again you two,” he asked finishing his cigarette bleeding from a few spots of orange-like blood from where Vig had hit hardening in place before flaking off closing the wounds.

"Tch." That was all Kaizen said before the limbs he held exploded. As the smoke cleared, the bugster emerged with some cracks all over his exoskeleton but was otherwise unfazed by the explosion. He was more annoyed than damaged. "Vigridis, aim for his human limbs." He said coldly as he charged forward once more, using the explosions to propel him forward and upward.

Once close enough and with a significant elevation Kaizen would throw a strange looking box towards the man, followed by a concentrated explosive blast. The blast would completely destroy the box and possibly showering his face with extremely spicy curry he had made for his meal. Kaizen stayed in his sky, waiting to see his reaction, giving Vigridis a chance to go for her own attack while also “priming” his other arm for another more devastating blast from above.

Vigridis had braced herself against the sudden explosions. But they were literally all around her. When the dust settled she brought her hands down. Her otherwise silver-white outfit was now quite gray. There were small burns where they could be, smouldering on her arms and torso. She brushed her hair, putting out some fire. The bruises on her were reddish black.

But even so, she didn’t really seem fazed. In fact, there was a glare on her face, as if she had become angered. She didn’t need Kaizen to point out obvious things to her. “If you have something to ssay, make shure it’z actually usseful and something I would not have consiidered. Otherwise jusst focuss on the fight!” She told the bug.

The explosions had actually been powerful enough to burst one of her constructs, which rained down in glittery sparkles. But the other two swords were fine. She raised a hand quick and the swords launched at the villain. Aiming to gut him then and there. If he dodged, they’d readjust course and continue at him like heat-seeking missiles. Meanwhile, not wanting to give this male any leeway, her other hand.

From it burst a strange undulating blocky formation that looked like white blocks connected to form a column. This column fired straight at the center of his body.

“Ah sorry did you think it was going to be easy grub,” Burgeon taunted Apex Bugster who was clearly holding it together but was showing slight signs of agitation. Upon the attack Burgeons, spider limbs came to life spiking the ground to lift the male above the projected curry blast. While the box bits met their target bashing him a bit in the torso area, and his blocking hand the sauce instead of getting him in the face was completely splattered all over his feet. With his longhand, he took a drip of it and ate it.

“Oooh you like the good stuff beetle,” Burgeon chuckled clearly liking the spicy meal. It was with this distraction that Vigidris’s constructs came into play. Wildy dancing around and blocking them with his demonic hand Burgeon was distracted to part two of her attack.

Upon fast pace, Burgeon was hit point-blank by the pillar flying away with the attack as he gaged out all his current breath before digging his now bright leg spider legs into it pulling himself on top of the pillar. Once he was stable he jettisoned upward into the air latching right onto Apex. Clamping the bug’s wings closed with half his spider limbs as the other four stabbed into his cracks trying to pry them right off. As this went on Kaizens priming armed was wrapped around by Burgeon elongated demonic hand as multiple parts of his insectoid bodied started to turn brighter red the more Apex fought him upon falling from the sky.

Right as it seemed Apex would counter an explosion went off, and then another before Apex could react again. Quickly the two became a massive spinning ball of black smoked explosions before impacting into the ground as the two struggled rather surprisingly both still in a manner of speaking one piece. Burgeon fought to keep Kaizen’s restraint now missing two complete spider legs.

“You two don’t really get along do you. Seems to be no sense of trust here from her majesty to you. YEHAW DOGGY,” Burgeon hissed with a wild rodeo-like laugh.

Kaizen was surprised to see his opponent would attempt to grapple someone like him, he was mildly impressed by how fast his movements were, being able to outmaneuver him in this form. He accepted the explosion with open arms, not bothering to resist, or at least that was what it seemed like. As the smoke cleared, an insect with a heavily cracked exoskeleton was revealed, multiple large gashes and holes could be seen throughout his armor, and yet… there was no blood.

“My turn.” The bugster muttered before delivering a nose-breaking headbutt to his opponent's face to disorient him while quickly shedding away the broken armor, allowing him to break free from the grapple. Immediately after that, Kaizen retaliates by attempting to grab Burgeon’s head from the face-side and slamming him into the ground with immense force, enough to create a crater on the ground. If this move succeeded, he would release a point explosion into his face which would push him even deeper into the ground. On the off chance, he was still conscious, the bugster would have disappeared from his sight. Waiting to strike from an unknown location while also giving his vampire friend a chance to throw in her own attack.

Orange blood spurted out of Burgeon Spiders lips as he groaned in extreme pain from the unexpected wailing, and yet he laughed strangely as he pointed up with his stub of a hand in the midst of all the combination of attacks Burgeon had disassembled all his insect limbs into multiple throbbing red chunks that were now scattered all towards all the people they had just helped.

“Have fun… with that,” he coughed with an insane grin before checking out unconscious the second wave of numerous explosions chained off causing debris to fly, cars to explode, and more chaos to ensue as more chunks of the building began to fall apart even further. Around Vigidris multiple people were running over to her for protection as a rather well size chunk fell her way that wouldn’t be solvable by just cutting it was too thick, and solid a piece with concrete and metal beams holding it together. If she cut it would burst into projectiles harming the people around her. If she blasted it, it was potential to fall towards other disoriented people.

Kaizen himself would see a few people thrown about by the explosions as small debris came raining down threatening to pelt them to death, while a little further a fourth beam was starting to give out as people ran back into the building towards Vitalis for shelter… however if that beam gave out the whole building would start to collapse in on itself.

Vigridis was ready to attack when she saw an opportunity. But after Bug slammed him into the ground, it seemed he was out. Her efforts were unnecessary. Except he had one more “trick” up his sleeve! He sent explosive body parts out and around to, um, “take everyone down with him”? Vigridis supposed, thinking on villain cliches. She really had no idea why he did what he did, but saw opportunity to aid horrified citizens.

She quickly created some golden shields that would protect structural parts that would be damaged by explosions. But it seemed she was not quick enough to protect from all of the explosions. Or perhaps some of her constructs had been hastily made and didn’t stop the explosions.

But Vigridis wasn’t deterred. She saw people fleeing her way from the oncoming destruction. She sighed inwardly, why were their legs so damn slow? A glowing gold whip swung out and caught the people around their torsos, yanking them towards her like an octopus. Then a dome of Light Force was constructed around them, which had a brick-like pattern. Simultaneously, Vigridis sent out her Soul Energy with quite a bit of mental strain, and up sprang another similarly-designed column construct pushing back up on the collapsing building, holding it in place. The strain on that one was really tough, and Vigridis finally grimaced, feeling veins bulge in her head.

But then the concrete above them slammed into their dome, shaking it. The people screamed for a brief moment, but the concrete then slid down and fell to the side, collapsing safely on the ground. With a sigh, she released the dome, held up her hands, and Vigridis stabilized her column construct to hold up the building. She remained standing there, focusing on the column.

“Tch.” The bugster was disappointed with the outcome of the fight, to think such a dastardly person could just escape his much-deserved comeuppance by knocking himself out while also causing more trouble. The bugster always thought the garbage of society got away too easily for their misdeeds. He was already holding a piece of the van that was damaged earlier above the villain, ready to deliver him to the ICU with the next attack, but it seemed that it wouldn't be necessary. He tossed aside the van and flew towards the civilians being rained on by debris and quickly created a safety net with his web to shield the innocents below him. Once his hazard was dealt with, he would retrieve the van he had earlier and make a beeline towards the collapsing building and shove the van piece into place, using it as a secondary pillar to stabilize the structure. He didn’t need to help Vigridis, he had faith that she would handle it herself, as she always did.

Once again, because of the bugster’s mercy, the innocents were put in harm's way. With every passing encounter, he is slowly realizing that holding back will eventually lead to more people getting hurt, or worst, dying. He walked over and sprayed a thick layer of webbing on him, making sure he wouldn’t have a chance to getaway. “There’s probably still more people that need help in the building. Let’s a get a move on.” He would help Goto, but he was confident he could handle the other guy.

As Kaizen bagged and tagged the unconscious villain the moment he would turn around would introduce a girl around his age freaking geared up to the military extreme holding in her hand directed at him a… flip phone?

“It’s for your oversized Tamagotchi ass,” she rather rudely commented as a terrifying amount of static white tentacles burst out of it grabbing onto Apex Bugster overwhelming him before insanely pulling him into the phone disappearing completely from sight. With that, the phone short-circuited being thrown by the new girl before it literally burst into pieces. Whether or not Vigidris had seen all that play out was questionable as she was extremely busy rescuing people from all the chaos.

Goto was making his way back up, moving towards his crew, only to be knocked back down by some sort of sparking idiot. There was another there. His name was Cackle Blast? That shit sounded weak as fuck. “Work on your naming Sparky…” Goto mocked as he slowly stood up, approaching the masked villain. He took exaggerated, slow steps. “So then. I take it you’re the dickheads who caused all this shit? You’re both fucking cowards.” He pointed directly at the masked man. “When I catch you, I’m going to fuck you up so bad, you’ll be laughing in an iron lung.”

“Oh ya, what's your snot nose name Sonic Underground cause you are drumming me to boredom lazy ass,” Cackle shot back before going in for a speedy roundhouse kicking aiming to give the kid vertigo without his fucking body holding it in place.

Goto couldn't help but smirk as the speedster took his taunt. Goto was fast, but truth be told, he'd almost never meet the speed of another speedster if it wasn't either a massive tailwind or if he wasn't riding their ass the entire time. He had hoped to see if he could weasel his way into a race to shake the guy, but he wasn’t going to get caught off guard like that. His rotary drives engaged, spanning around fast enough to whip up a breeze. He took to the air in a quick arc, swinging overhead, feeling the breeze of his kick barely scrape by his head. He pressed his hand against his foe and engaged his fans on his feet to propel him downward. In that instant, he moved at high speed, shoving his face hard into the ground. "Eat shit Laughing Shock!"

“MOTHERFUCKER,” Blast screamed in pain as he was interrupted into asphalt, his mask now earning a nice-sized crack on the left side. In retaliation, Goto would be caught up in a breakdance-like spin delivering two high-speed kicks, the first to his face, and the second to his right rib as Blast spun upright heading toward a distracted crowd.

“Catch me if you can, you blue asshole,” Cackle laughed, releasing a mini burst throwing people around him into the debris, and such. He was strangely keeping to the parking lot area, but once the Blue hero started after him it was clear the playing field would get only bigger.

Goto was quickly kicked off, with a solid kick to the face. The 2nd kick landed, but he managed to defuse some of the force, sensing another kick was coming from the way he moved his legs from under him. The bastard then sped off, throwing a few people to the side. Goto was quick to run up to catch them. He thought he was doing something didn’t he? No, now things were going exactly the way the brash hero wanted. In a speedster versus speedster fight, most people assume the victor is determined by who wins the race. Kind of thinking is wrong. “There’s a reason I’m the Pursuit hero.” He said to a woman who was caught up in the fray. “Now get outta here.”

With each person he caught, Cackle Blast had to slow down just a little. That split second was all Goto needed. He curved his path, intercepting with the draft that the other speedster left. He may not be big, but something moving that fast causes one hell of a pressure differential (He didn’t know exactly what that meant. Just that it was important to his quirk). Before the villain could grab the next person, Goto sped far faster than he had moved previously behind him, hitting him in the back with a powerful drop-kick

“Not so fast now are yah?”

Cackle Blast lets out an extremely painful gasp of air as he was suddenly met with a scenario he hadn’t predicted… being caught up to he was slammed again into the ground by a dropkick however as Goto taunted his target the man’s suit glowed a bright purple blasting Goto right off into the air with a pulse wave. Cackle Blast forced himself up hissing at the agitation of his opponent ironically.

“Okay you wanna see fast punk… then keep up,” was all he said as he started to circle across the building in a direction towards another that would be all too familiar to the blue blur. The man whizzed past some people before snatching a woman on her lunch break as he dived up collecting energy as his suit started to turn purple again. With an impressive jump, he lunged up onto the building balcony turning towards the blue blur as he yelled.

“Now piss ant grovel or this bitch will feel what you did at a much better level of pain,” he threatened Goto now holding the woman by the throat just a bit off the balcony’s edge.

Goto was flung into the air, and quickly worked upright himself, engaging the fans on his shoes. This gave him enough time to regain control of his momentum and carry it back in the direction of the villain. Goto landed with a slide, looking up from the sudden cloud of dust to see that the man had grabbed a woman as a hostage.

“Wait… What the hell?”

The woman was struggling against the man, trying her best to fight back against his hold. Her face was adorned with glasses, and though she wore makeup, the evidence of some wrinkles and dark circles under her eyes indicated someone who likely had a stressful life. “Get your hands off me you creep!” And if her blue hair wasn’t evidence enough, that nagging voice was all Goto needed to know.

How does this sort of luck happen? There were hundreds of people nearby, and he just happened to pick her of all people. It’s easier when you don’t personally know the people you’re rescuing, but...

“You’re one sick bastard…”

The woman looked up at the boy in front of her, her face stiffened in fright. “Goto?” Shit. She noticed. He wasn’t sure what to do right now. He looked at the man currently holding the hostage right in the face. “I swear I’m going to make you-” That was when the woman spoke to him. “No! you need to run.” She wasn’t going to let her son be injured because of her.

Goto clicked his tongue. If he just dropped her then Goto could grab her, but he’d probably get away, or perhaps he had something else in mind. Damn it all! “The hell are you even after then?”

“Goto is your name wow I take it back that fucking worse than what I pegged ya for you runt. OH FUCK WHEN THE STARS ALIGN,” Cackle laughed uncontrollably as it caught up to him that this lately who legitly was similar to the hedge douche was clearly related to him.

“CAN YOU BELIEVE THE GODS ARE ON MY SIDE. Tell me who she is, your sister, or your mother. Actually, no don’t tell me this is too much to handle,” he viciously taunted as the woman resisted earning her a quick miniature wave blast just enough to halt her movement.

“Don’t be dumb bitch I will snap your neck before I drop you for him to catch you,” he threatened. He then eyed Goto who decided the insult was the route to go with him.

“Heh what can I say, never been paid so much in my life to be fucked with,” he strangely answered.

Geez, this dude was the most annoying fucker on this god-forsaken planet. He couldn’t help but grind his teeth from the stress, the frustration, and another feeling he wasn’t quite sure about (it was the shame of not being able to keep his mother out of all this). This was one of his weak points. He needed a plan and by god did he suck at making them. They were on a high rise. If the less bitchy vampire was here, he could have her suffocate this dude. The cracks on the mask would have made that possible. He felt the breeze blowing behind him, pushing his ponytail backward. A headwind. That was the worst case for a direct approach.

Speed can only go so far. He had no techniques or abilities or trump cards. All he had was his speed and flight. Usually, they served him well, but right now, he had nothing. No power stops this from happening. He was at the mercy of whether this man let his mom fall, or harmed her before then.

He wanted nothing more than to destroy that bastard. Frustrated he turned around and jumped off the building, his mother letting out a sigh of relief seeing her son runoff. But Goto hadn’t given up. He was swinging back down in a wide arc, letting gravity add to his speed before swinging back up on the other end with the tailwind following. “You bastard!” He shouted, riding the tailwind upside down, grabbing his mom from him as he flew by.

Cackle snidely watched as he raised his hand blasting Goto and his mom right at the jumping point of Gotos escape. Separating the blue blur from his mother as they began to fall out of control worse for wear before Goto could adapt a fist at a good speed bashed into his face, and then again, and again. The speedster had jumped after him, grasping onto Gotos' shirt, and proceeded to pummel him.

“WHAT’S WRONG PUNK CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER YOUR OWN DUMBASSERY,” Cackle laughed violently as the blue blur’s mother’s screams could be heard.

Goto was hit with retaliation of energy, stunning him for a moment, and causing his mom to fall. He needed to break free from this dude. Goto could taste his mouth filled with iron, his face repeatedly punched. His wrist rotaries then flew into maximum speed, as he reached out and grabbed hold of the current they had created, spinning on it faster and faster, hoping to get the dude to fly off. If he didn’t have the chance, things would be really bad.

Luckily it seemed the maneuver worked as Cackle was flung like a rocket off of the blue blur. Yet before the hero could make an effort to get his mother back Cackle unleashed another wave that pushed him further away from her… and her right off the cliffside edge that he had barely missed. A woman’s scream could be heard echoing softer, and softer out of existence until it was heard no more.

“Ohhhh that fucking sucks for you,” Cackle maliciously hissed getting back up from his brutal fall his suit damaged, and his helmet further cracked. However, he seemed still willing to push Goto further over the edge for whatever damn reason.

“Catch up blue asshole there still quite a bit of fun to be had,” he sneered as he burst ahead away from the cliffside towards another populated area this time zipping around light posts to throw Goto off if he chased him zigzagging around making it hard to ride the airwave. However, as they neared a park a fully-charged Cackle Blast as bright purple as could be halted in the middle.

“Lets see how many other people you can fail today shall we motherless rodent,” Cackle roared as he charged himself upholding his hands to his chest clearly about to unleash a massive blast that would be equal no doubt to the first at the beginning of the mission. As time slowed down Goto would only have so many precious moments to devise a plan to protect the people all around him. There were old trees that could be knocked down to wedge against others mitigating some of the waves. There were a few people near the fountain that was almost pool deep as it was wide. There was also a stationed wrecking ball vehicle with the ball near the ground not too far from Cackle Blast. While not too far from Goto was also a mattress collection outside from a going out of business store.

Goto had no time to react. He was knocked away from his mom before he even had the chance to grab her. He wanted to rush in and search for her, but the man was already running off to cause more havoc. “You’re one to talk. You just keep running away from shit!” Goto followed in close pursuit, riding the rail as quickly as he could. The sudden changes in direction didn’t keep Goto from being right on his tail, but prevented any chance he had to attack. When he landed in the pack, Goto knew that something bad was about to happen. This was a helluva lot worse than when that Egg dude was with them. Goto didn’t have the time to try and get that crane moving. He sure as hell couldn’t operate it if he could. But even just a moment more to get people out of the vicinity would do something. He charged the rocking ball at max speed, pushing into it and moving as fast as he could, trying to knock him over. He hoped it would have enough momentum to hit him.

As soon as he let go, Goto would rush and pick up as many people in the near vicinity and carry them away from the soon to be blast radius. “Everyone clear out!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. There was one person still there. A kid, who was standing there dumbfounded by the villain in the air. Goto didn’t have any time. Running in there could get him seriously injured. Or worse.

It was exactly the kind of thing his Dad would have done. His answer was simple, he rushed in to grab the kid.

As the energy wave flushed out from Cackles Blasts body quite a few things took place the Wrecking ball made its heavy mark slamming into the villains left shoulder flinging him with enough force to cause a temporary disruption before the blast ignited completely. Goto in his intense pursuit was able to grab everyone out of the death range of the blast. Anyone hit by the aftershock would only receive moderate to minimal damage.

However with how close the kid, and Goto were even with Goto shielding him would conjure their death sentence at such a close proximity to the blast. However the blue blur had made his choice, and the annihilation of the park was instant. Everyone watched in horror as the dust started to settle a dislocated armed Cackle Blast climbing back up his mask completely shattered as he laughed.

Goto didn’t know how much more he could do. Everything he tried failed. He’d done his damnedest. The last thing he remembered in a moment of consciousness was feeling the pressure from the explosion about to find him, then a loud ringing sound, and a warm and wet liquid oozing from his ears. Then darkness.

“Die the way of the hero you stupid little shit. For not even saving an extra life HAH what a fuckin eyesore of a loser,” he hissed menacingly. He wanted to see the burnt corpse of the moron who thought he was such hot shit to dare even blink his way. What he came across though as the smokescreen ended was nothing that he sought. Instead, there was a strong dome of pure blonde wires wrapped tightly where Goto, and the child had been.

“What the Fu... gaaaaaah,” before he could even finish his sentence the wires came to life latching onto his arms, legs, and throat strangling him with merciless force so monstrously that the man convulsed in place unable to move much at all harming himself as blood started to drip from the gripped points.

“You laugh at him, but a villain can’t ever grasp the sacrifices that a hero must contemplate every single step of their journey,” a strong feminine voice hissed from the dom as more blond wires started to move, and eventually reveal a living breathing unconscious Goto tightly holding onto an unconscious child. Both were pretty beat up, but alive breathing. However that was nowhere near the concern of the now terrified villain as he was met face to face with not just any Pro hero, but the number one hero of Japan Iron Volt. The grip on his joints and throat tightened causing him to gargle a bit as he fruitlessly tried to get free.

“A plague-like you deserves a quick snap to the throat, but that is not right to do in front of these people that you have already screwed with for no reason, but your own pleasure. The image of your disgusting face lifeless is not a scar I will further add to their messed up day,” she spoke with a high fever of rage yet calmly still had herself under control as she hoisted the two young ones in her hand standing up.

“Yet you're going to wish I had caused from one mother to another you nearly killed you have called upon a storm,” she sharply spoke as the wires now revealed to be her extended out hair sheened with electrical force before horrifically electrocuting the bastard in place to the point of unconsciousness before dropping him in a pile of smoke. He was alive, but his next stop would definitely be a long-term stay at the ICU.

“Hey semi less lewd Vampirella get your sheep out of the den so we can get this started,” the new girl yelled out at Vigidris seemingly and surprisingly waiting on Vigidris to escort her people to safety. The girl simply sighed in annoyance even tapping her foot as her hands suddenly grabbed an M4 Rifle off her back that was definitely not there before. It was even notably modified with what appeared to be specialized add ons.

Using some shovel constructs, she pushed just enough rubble up under the collapsing building to support it, so she no longer had to hold the pillar construct. With a relieved sigh, she heard the voice. Her eyes glanced the female’s way. “What did you do with my companion?” Vigridis demanded.

She noticed the weapon that was drawn. Her suit lit up like flowing silver again, and Vigridis made a note her shield constructs would have to be particularly reinforced to stop the gunfire. The vampire took a readied posture for whatever may come. “And what shheep?”

“36 feet under literally,” the new gal responded, shaking her head at the vampire’s lack of spatial awareness of the goings-on in her immediate area.

“The ones cowering underneath you who are so disoriented they might as well literally be sheep,” she pointed out to the people still literally within Vigidris radius of protection. If anyone could hear this conversation casually they would probably have a hard time picking the villain, and hero apart at this moment.

“You heroes aren’t really at full capacity when you got people around, and well as much as I don’t give a fuck if they live or die. I would rather have your full attention or this will feel rather lazy ass on your part of it. Besides your my first official hero fight, and I would rather go all out and whatnot,” she explained so damn casually it was eerie.

“So mind moving the flock out of our way little bo peep?”

Vigridis’s eyes glanced down at the ground at the answer. 36 feet would take a while to dig through, making it a gamble and risky at the moment. Her eyes flicked to the cowering people around her.

“Leave. Find somewhere ssafe. Find the policce or authoritiez.” She told the people. Her shovel constructs came and scooped up the people like the rubble, and carried them a good distance away, depositing them away from the blast zone and the area. Then the silver shovels flew back over to Vigridis and floated beside her.

“You don’t know a thing about me,” she hissed to this random villain. Vigridis flexed her hands and cracked her neck. “I’m not a hero to ssave people.” A smirk appeared on the girl’s doll-like face. “So, come at me going ‘all out’, or whatever.” The Alucard’s eyes flashed a bright light of silver, almost blindingly so. “That’s what I want! What I need. What I crave!”

“Well then let’s get to know each other you anemic stiletto hoe,” the new girl stormed in fury towards Vigidris triggering a few volleys of bullets at the flying vampiress. The level of impact would definitely tear, and crack many of Vigidris’s defensive constructs with impressive aim on a moving target. Once the gunfire finally ceased the military gal was right underneath her smiling as she pulled a pin from a red grenade that was thrown upward in a perfect arc towards her bursting into an intense ball of flames threatening to consume Vigidris as from out of the corner of the eye she might be able to spot the army girl wall running taking aim, and firing one unnaturally orange-colored shot heading straight for the vampiress’s torso with an ominous feel.

“Heh.. getting to know you iss too simplisstic, it izn’t what I aspire to.” Vigridis constructed walls and walls of glowing copper. The volleys of bullets began their symphony of chinks and strikes against the forest of walls. The Alucard strained a bit to keep them up, making sure they had enough strength to withstand the barrage.

Then she noticed the enemy had closed the distance, now right before her, throwing something. She immediately spotted the thrown grenade and the resulting fireball. Vigridis’s weapons zipped towards her like flashes of silver lightning, while she quickly crafted another few swords, until the weapons “fanned” out near her. This weapon fan immediately spun intensely, making it look like the blades of an electric fan. Blowing out the fire easily, just before it struck Vigridis and became dangerous. Then she noticed the orange-glowing bullet.

It gave her bad vibes. The girl’s quirk? She readied a defense, but those bad vibes… Vigridis thought otherwise. Instead she leapt up on two of her swords, and flew through the air just barely with enough speed to dodge whatever shot that was. Feeling the powerful burst and pressure near her torso as she barely dodged it in time. Speedily, she shot towards her opponent and then the swords joined her weapon fan, which she swiped hard at her opponent as she landed, rolling. Then she swiped it again at her back. And snapped, while her hand struck the ground, two of the construct swords flew to pierce the enemy.

“Heh not a bad sense of survival,” the military girl responded with a smirk as Vigidris avoided tanking the shot as she had most of the other attacks today. Seemed she wasn't an idiot as much as the villainess had thought. As the fan blade came for its first strike Vigidris would yet again see that orange glow illuminate all around the girls rifle as she shifted her grip on it to use to block unexpectedly tanking the fan blade hit rather than being shredded as the girl feet also glowed causing a crater of all the impactful energy to fissure the ground. As Vigidris spun and aimed for the girls back her combat vest swapped to the orange glow tanking the strike though showing some signs of cutting getting through as the attack had been a lot faster then the first.

Forcing the military girl back a bit once Vigidris touched ground the two girls spun to meet each other's gaze as the third and final volley of the combo was the two blades coming right at the military gal. With a excited wide smile she stood her ground crossing her hands together as her whole body was consumed by a much darker oranger illumination as the blades struck they shatter against her body into glitter dust as the girl took a step back to keep balance from the momentum the blades carried with quite a few cracks appearing behind.

“Ooooohhhh that was adrenaline inducing,” the military girl said rather amped that she had indeed tanked that hero's attack. With that new found excitement she flipped her gun back into firing position.

“My turn,” she greedily sang launching a grenade from the extra barrel of her gun at vigidris left side more as disorienting distraction as she closed the gap between the two slamming the buttstock of her weapon into the vamps faces before coating her guns barrel in that damn orange hue as she used it to catch into the fan blades scissor like grip forcing the two to fight for the blades. Before an orange hardened fist dug into Vigidris’s gut pulling back as she pulled her gun back forcing Vigidris forward into a headlock. Once she had a good grip the girl wall jumped before throwing Vig into a collection of rubble changing ammo clips to reload her gun.

“Don't keep me waiting stranger.”

“My sensse of survival -iss very high,” Vigridis revealed. Her attacks had done minimal damage, which was irritating for the Alucard, but not unexpected. This villain had confidence, which meant she was likely capable of avoiding significant damage for a while. This battle would go on for some time, she thought. Vigridis noticed the weird glow make contact with each of her attacks. The girl’s quirk could be used as a form of defense, similar to her own. This would be tough…

Furthermore, two of her sword constructs shattered. And Vigridis grit her teeth; she hated it when her constructs were broken. That was never a good sign. It always meant she had to expend more Soul Energy to replace the broken constructs. Luckily today she was overflowing with Soul Energy, after spending quite a bit of time in the Soul Realm in preparation for today’s mission.

Even if her survival instincts were high, she couldn’t respond quickly enough at the thrown grenade. It exploded right next to her, the thing catching her in the explosion. Vigridis’s body rocked by the explosion, her armor glimmering gold, having taken the brunt of the blast thankfully. But then the girl combo-attacked her with a hit to the face, drawing blood, and a nasty punch. But lastly she was thrown away into rubble.

After a second, Vigridis pulled herself up out of the rubble. She took a few gasps of air, blood dripping from her bruised, blackened and reddish face. Her armor glittered silver but was also covered in black from the grenade, red leaking out of some wound in her side. The girl was clearly injured, holding her side for a moment, and staggering. Then her eyes trained on her opponent and narrowed, glowing silver slits.

“Iss that all you got?” Vigridis countered, through clenched teeth. “I took worsse beatings when I wass 5!” Yeah, maybe not, but the bluff had purpose. She held up her hand, golden light sparking off of her extended hand, flying up above the other woman. Golden swords appeared in the sky, one beside the other, creating a ring of swords that were spinning. She held down her hand at the girl. “Draconids!” She shouted, the swords all pointing at the villain, firing like falling meteors. The golden glow indicated these swords were super-hot and had more energy powering them than her previous blades. The power behind them was enough to explode rubble when they struck the ground.

“HAH bring it Sephiroth’s bitch,” the military girl with an insanely excited gleeful smile at the sheer intensity of the attack. The bluffs, and words from Vigidris clearly ignored for the promise of such an unforgettable moment of combat as the blades came blazing down upon her like a meteor from the beyond. A ghastly dark orange overtook her whole being, and equipment as she switched her rifle to semi fire as she started to unleash oranges bullets up into the sky taking just a few out before the rest made impact all around her in a glorious chain of hellfire destruction with her moving wildly about not foolish enough to wast armor to tank them directly. So impactful was it that even Kazien so deep underground, and Goto so far away would probably hear it if not feel it. Yet when all was said, and done as the flames of chaos started to calm themselves a single shot fired from a pistol would knock Vigidris back on her ass. However with the shot not as powerful as the rifle had been luckily if it would probably only semi dig into Vigidris, but the bruising would not be pretty as it had been a heart shot.

From the ashes of the attack a equally wrecked military girl started to slowly exit the stage of destruction smiling with blood covered teeth, and eyes. The military girl had survived the attack, and while clearly taking immense damage she was still standing alive, and functional for the most part. Her vest was completely gone as was her rifle no doubt torn asunder by the blades. Her shirt was probably the only piece of clothing not torn to hell as her pants were in ragged form. The only gear visible not wiped from existence being a radio comm device on her belt along with the M9 pistol and ballistic knife in the other. She clearly considered herself nowhere near done, nor Vigidris despite their obviously built up wounds between the two.

“Heh, quite the temper tantrum you got there 5 year old,” she chuckled spitting out some blood way fucking to happy about all that had transpired.

“I doubt anyone here is gonna forget this fight. Probably burned right into their retina’s A FREAKING COSMIC BLAST OF DISPLAY… ohhhh I couldn't ask for a better first showcased fight,” the girl psychotically did a little twirl before concentrating on VIgidris stumbling a little thanks to her own wounds as she came to a halt.

“Ohhhh we can't stop there, come on more MORE,” she laughed out of control rushing at Vigidris like a hyena after its first meal in a long time.

Vigridis took yet another hit, not expecting an attack during her barrage. Getting back to her feet, she trembled and twitched. Touching her hand to her chest where the impact had been, the woman winced. Blood dripping from her hand. She glanced down, noticing a large impact-zone on her chest, with a bloodied bruise. Even with her Soul Energy, her armor hadn’t managed to hold up under that attack? Hmp. Well she wasn’t dead.

The Alucard looked back up as her foe excited the smoky blast zone, looking a little worse for wear. She began saying stuff, a few pitiful attempts at insults. When she praised the situation, Vigridis gave a toothy-grin, blood leaking from her parted lips.

“More?! Of coursse mini-bosss! Become exxperience and help me ascend to a new level!” Vigridis shouted. She took a stance and began concentrating. Immediately silver energy rose off of her like steam, eyes switching from their usual silver to little beacons of gold. “Parhelion!”

The energy-steam rose into the air. Above her a large orb of white-hot light appeared as the energy pooled into it. Then two more smaller orbs appeared on either side, and a ring appeared to connect the two. But not only did that one form, a second formed at the exact same time. Two Parhelion structures of light glowed in the sky above them. They were both smaller than her usual one, but two was a new feat.

Vigridis noticed and began chuckling. Then burst into laughter that was a bit manic. She had to push some of her hair out of her face and right herself after talking. “I have gotten stronger. Heh, perfect!”

Regardless of her huffs of air, Vigridis shouted once more, creating a couple more constructs. “Gáe Bulg! Gáe Dearg!” Two largeish spear-constructs formed in her hands. The silver energy that made Gáe Bulg darkened to such a degree that it appeared nearly black, like obsidian. The Soul Energy making up Gáe Dearg burned with intensity, and actually made the spear reddish, there were a few nasty hooks on the end to make it look less-spearish. Vigridis grinned once more, but it was clear holding together all these powerful constructs was a strain on her. This was clearly meant to end the fight. And since she was making it, Vigridis thought she could definitely end the fight.

“What's the American saying… pride before the fall,” the Military girl grinned her level of excitement peeking at the final boss move build up. With a spin of her knife she charged it with an orange glow before launching it at Vigidris dropping the now bladeless handle as she pulled out a grenade launcher pistol, and with both it and her M9 bursting into a maliciously dark orange fired at the lower orbital construct. With a squeeze of the trigger both bullet and grenade fired off with unnatural high speed. The bullet would make its target first, shattering past the attack's constructive walling as the grenade entered. A massive disruption of Vigidris’s control would surely be felt as the attack imploded on itself before triggering the other constructs into a massive ball of released energy in the sky sending a shock wave down onto both Vigidris, and Military girl slamming them down with immense force as the sky around them went a blinding white before quickly returning to a bright blue in the area.

“I don’t know, I’m not an American,” she said just before her foe’s attack was launched, sinking into her glowing energized construct. Whatever she did, seemed to cause a strange disruption, with the construct’s physical shape and her control being sent into disarray. Vigridis was shoved down at the sudden shockwave from the first parhelion imploding.

After the brilliant flash of light, Vigridis glanced up. Her second parhelion was cracking, then crumbling away into pixie dust. She grit her teeth and emitted a low growl of frustration. She wasn’t pleased to see that happen to both of her parhelions, after expending so much Soul Energy to make them! Such a waste.

With a groan, she pushed herself up out of the bloodied mud, her usual silver-white pristine self now drenched in red, black, and brown. Using the red spear as support, leaning on it for the moment. Wiping off her face, she managed back to her feet, gasping a bit from the extremely agitated wound in her chest. But she still had her spears, and this wasn’t yet over. She focused her eyes back on her opponent, readying her spears.

In response the now equally bloody drawn military girl stood back up pulling out two extender batons using them to help push herself up. Whipping the blood from her face like some war paint with the mud mixed in she simply smiled, spinning the two batons as they glowed that malicious orange. Yet right as she was about to charge her radio phone sounded off.

“The mission is complete, everyone fall back pull back.”

“The hell I am MOTHERFUCKER… GRAAHHH THIS AIN'T OVER,” the military girl screamed in rage as she was quickly overtaken by the same static power that had kidnapped Apex Bugster pulling her into the radio phone as the device blew up upon completion. Leaving a well-wounded Vigidris to be left… very confused.

Vigridis wasn’t as confused as she was utterly stunned. Her posture slumped a bit, and her spears touched the ground, the ends trailing the earth. What the?! Her opponent up and zipped away. Disappeared. She was gone.

Fury rose in Vigridis just like the other. “HEY!! WAIT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE NOT GOING TO FINISHH IT! WHY ARE YOU JUSST LEAVING LIKE THAT?! WHY?! GET BACK HERE! THIS ISN’T OVER! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME AND LOSE LIKE YOU PROPERLY SHHOULD!”

This was about the first time Vigridis had raised her voice so. But when it became apparent her opponent wasn’t going to come back, the Alucard slumped even more. She felt lost. Her opponent had just left in the middle of it. What the hell...

As Vitalis would enter the dark the meager amount of injured, and barely conscious people would be high in level staggering almost to a point to make greenhorn vomit at the sudden overwhelming work to be done. People were bleeding from the ears, disoriented movement, and all over numerous wounds.

Vitalis stared into the gloom of the building. She immediately spotted all of these injured people lying around. A momentary flash of horror crossed her face, but it was gone a second later, replaced with determination. She rushed over to the first small group of people, spoke to them, trying to calm them down, and produced a small first aid kit. She began to tend to the minor injuries she could with medication, gauze, and bandages.

As she did this a woman came stumbling to her worse for where, but stable it seemed.

“Miss guh, the people on the fifth floor no ones seen any of them yet… everyone from the fourth floor, and below has escaped. But we haven’t seen any workers front hat floor,” she expressed extremely concerned.

Vitalis frowned at this information. For one, it could be some sort of trap. But, two, that it just sounded awful! She glanced down at her first aid kit. “Okay, hun, can you help the people here?” She asked, not really wanting to leave, but she was short-handed. “Here..” She began tending to this woman’s wounds. Then after it was satisfactory, she handed her the rest of the first aid kit. “I’ll go check the fifth floor, help the others here.”

With that, Vitalis ran towards the elevator. If it didn’t work it didn’t matter, her mist-form could fix that issue. If it didn’t work at all, when she pressed the button, she’d just have to make the trek up the stairs.

The elevator would not respond which would force her to aim for the stairs which upon opening would entrance world of new nightmares as the unnatural red light showcase a hall of blood-stains all across its steps, and walls. There were no bodies, yet there was a clear site to build the picture of an immense fight that had taken place. The further Vitalis would climb up the more abhorred the image played with the destroyed scenery. Yet the true terror was what was to be seen on the floor itself.

Nope. The elevator hadn’t worked. She hadn’t expected it to. She could solve this problem right now, and zip up the shaft as mist, but… she had a sinking suspicion that wouldn’t be wise; she needed her power for later, no doubt.

Vitalis made her way up the stairs. As she ascended she skid to a halt at the mess of red before her. The poor girl stood, staring in utter disbelief. Momentarily she was just completely frozen in fear. How could this happen?!? She swallowed, feeling tears building in her eyes. All those people!!

She shook her head, then wiped her eyes on the back of her arm, and continued forward, with new resolve, and newfound hate bubbling in her stomach.

At every atrocity Vitalis winced, turning her face away from it. She couldn’t bear to look at the bloodstains and destruction. But each one she passed, her hate grew. Ohhhhh, she hated whoever had done this. Hated them!

Finally she made it up to the fifth floor, with a few gasps for breath. Her feet felt squishy, the soles of her shoes painted red, due to all the blood she ran through. The truth was, while she seemed to be holding it together, inside she was a mess. All that blood.. Those people.. Vitalis was ready to burst and cry. But she held it back. That’s not what heroes did.

Yet as she entered the main hall there was only one place the blood trail led to. The biggest office with the doors wide open would see a true masterpiece of horror. The big office probably owned by the owner of the company which probably made the dead massively big body octopus man pinned to the wall by a Naginata in the stomach, a Broad Ax in his left shoulder, A iron staff broken in half with one piece in his abdomen and the other half clenched in one of his lifeless tentacle arms. There was also a sickle sticking out from behind the man's back, a nokogiri was dug into the deceased right side, probably the wound that had decided the end of the fight. There was also a destroyed wooden mallet that had potentially been the last weapon to be used in the fight as the room was dented into hell.

To be noted there was also a strange smell to the sight it was clear the room had taken some hits from the explosion yet from the look of the scene it was almost as if the bomb had been after the kill as some of the blood out in the hall was in fact burnt into a pungent stench that would swarm Vitalis senses. Yet there was something else to note there was from the look of it no sign of metal shrapnel of the bomb used which was strange in of itself as the bomb seemed to be thrown rather than laid to explode. It was almost as if this crime was completely separate from the one below. The methods were completely different, the style way more brutal yet if she looked she could find some hints of how such occurred.

Vitalis winced at the scene, immediately bringing up her sleeve to cover her mouth and nose. There was an awful, strange smell, but it was mostly just a reaction to the horrid scene before her. This was the first body she had found, which was both bad and good.

Drawing in a few breaths of determination, she moved forward over to it. She was afraid to touch the body, but pushed that fear aside. Inspecting the scene, she noticed the gruesomeness of it all, and turned aside, trying not to cry. Shaking her head, she looked back over. And read the gruesome message in the victim. "This is the payment for trying to leave that which you are destined to." She frowned, not knowing what that meant.

All of the weapons sticking out of him were obvious, but he was holding a broken staff. She assumed he had broken it by using it on whoever his assailant was. She didn’t see any such wound on the two villains from before, so that must have meant it was someone else. At least a third villain was involved.

A small twinkle caught her eye from this angle. Pinned to the wall just beyond the body was a.. coin? She reached up and plucked it off the wall. Holding it in her hand, she turned it over, inspecting it. It was no coin she recognized.

Behind her the hall was unusual. There had been an explosion in here that dealt all this damage. The burned walls, the exploded-out glass. That weird smell from before was charcoal, sulfur, and… saltpeter? She guessed, wrinkling her nose. Was that a firework instead of a legit explosive?

Wait. What was that? Her ears caught something! She lowered herself, and calmly followed the noise. It was murmuring..? Yeah, murmuring. Coming from.. The back! A room that appeared to be untouched. There were people in there! Vitalis hesitated. Should she open it?

She was going to; they could be victims! The people from this building! Vitalis tried the door, giving it a shake. Locked.

Of course it would be. But the murmuring from within.. Of course it could be dangerous, but it could also just be the staff. Vitalis was courageous though, she turned into mist and entered the room through the cracks between the door and its frame. Solidifying on the other side to find the floors resident’s all trapped within. The girl sighed in relief. “Hey! I’m a hero. I’m here to help!”

The voices went silent for a moment before a small click of the door could be heard as it gently opened revealing some scared to death people… no doubt they had seen everything from the look of it.

“H~hey..!” Vitalis lowered the volume of her voice. “Hi, hi. My name iss Shhadow Misst. I go to Suppresssin. We’re here to help. Iss there anyone hurt? Are you all okay? What happened here?”

“It was madness that the boss was attacked by this massive elephant man,” one answered.

“He was carrying a ton of weapons and with some strange firework like contraption that shot off everywhere before we knew it we were dropping like flies while the boss was fighting for his life,” a woman trembled remembering it all.

“There was a strange conversation in which the elephant was accusing our boss of leaving some sort of family behind for the work of peasants. The Boss retaliated about something involving the clans being useless but that's all I remember before blacking out,” the last one spoke revealing apparently the explosive had some sort of knock out agent within it released upon explosion. It was doubtful she would get much else info out of them, but the scenario built was way different then the scenario downstairs. The downstairs felt now more like a distraction, but it felt so disconnected from what was going on up here as if two crimes were hitting the same spot at the same time.

“Elephant man?” Vitalis repeated, just to make sure she had it down. She listened intently to them after that. The weapons was obvious. But the firework-explosive having a knock-out agent was new. Good thing that wasn’t still lingering in the air. Vit’s nose was a bit stronger than regular humans, so perhaps she had smelled the weird scent of a knock-out agent before, but it hadn’t been strong enough then to knock her out.

Vitalis creased her forehead. “I don’t get that either, but okay, thhank you very much! Thiss iss very usseful!” She said to everybody. “Alright, let'z get everyone out. Ambulancess and paramedicx are on their way.”

As quick as he was napped he was thrown out of a car flying up with its roof before crashing down. In suit, the radio of the now destroyed car exploded as the static was followed by a message.

“Don’t worry I am sure helps on the way…,” the voice being the cruelly realized taunt of the woman who had issued their mission... It was pretty clear from the get-go they had been a controlled element to the happenings here… the bigger question was… why? However as Kaizen would probably take in his new surroundings he would realize he was definitely underground, and still in the vicinity of his team as the logo for a kiosk was that of the building moving company.

“Quick over here quickly,” a rather strange almost African accent called out to Kaizen in a forced whisper the source of a dark-skinned worker kneeling on a wounded leg where clearly something had pierced him rather cleanly. Behind the man were a few other clearly harmed, and bruised workers of the building who were at an entry point to the next area of the underground parking lot. They were all clearly terrified by something the source of which would be heard as a mechanical-like drilling sound as a car was thrown towards Kaizen direction barely missing on impact as the workers went silent. Yet the most wounded one kept eye contact with him taking a dangerous chance to check the scene before dropping back down. “Quick and quietly you can still make it,” he pleaded. If Kaizen was to check over the vehicle he would see five robots looking for him with menacing piercing armament designs with quite a bit of blood on them.

The bugster was angry. Really angry. To be blindsided once again with such ease, had his senses dull that much? In the past, anyone who would even attempt such a move would have had their limbs broken and shattered. But he had to put such feelings aside as he noticed this was a more pressing matter to attend to. Whoever was behind this was gonna have the beating of a lifetime when the bugster found them.

Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to leap into the fray, but he had a feeling his enemy was way too cunning to simply overpower with brute..at least not in this form. The bug silently crawled to the civilians, taking great care to hide in the shadows. Once he arrived, he questioned the bloodied man. “What happened here? Could you give me the details?” He asked when he arrived.

The machine the vehicle was thrown at turn shoving a fist into the vehicle as it exploded forcing the machine back a bit as it stood right back up fast charging to the spot the Apex had originally been at releasing a mechanical yowl when nothing was found.

As soon as Kaizen made it over the lead worker closed the curtain thankfully present As Apex made his way into the kiosk. The man kept silent for a moment until the machine ahead started to walk away far enough to allow speech.

“We don’t know we felt two massive tremors and then suddenly those things appear ripping out of vehicles from some strange static light,” he explained kneeling back down in pain with a makeshift pipe that had clearly been used as a weapon.

“I was able to distract them for a moment to get us away, but… not all were lucky,” he explained the grimace showing his regret as the others kept silent in fear of what they had seen happen to them.

“However they might be alive, I think there using them as bait their further near the entrance point, but in our condition, we cannot outrun them or hope to fight them,” he explained with heavy breath. The belt around his wound clearly spoke to Apex that even if they could this one ,in particular, wouldn’t get far at all.

“You here to save us yes,” one of the others asked. “Your a hero right,” she added clearly hoping for anything good at this point.

The bugster took a moment to listen to the man who has clearly seen some better days. His rage had subsided as remembered the true purpose of a hero, saving lives. "Yes, I am here to save you, all of you.” Kaizen answered to her while turning to all of them. These people have suffered enough. He turned to the dark-skinned person and gave him the medkits given to all heroes when patrolling. “You've done enough, sir. Stay put and I'll handle things from here." Kaizen said, reassuring the man that he would do everything in his power to keep them all from harm. Till this day, the bugster has never seen himself being a true hero, but that wasn’t an excuse to let innocent people die. "I'll clear all the robots, once that's done, we can go out together." If nothing else, at least he can cut loose a bit on these enemies.

But that wouldn’t satisfy him, knowing that the culprits of these atrocities were still out and about. His thoughts go back to his teammates, he was supposed to be the leader of this team and yet he allowed himself to get abducted just like that. Back-to-back failure is certainly a new experience to the bugster, but nonetheless, he wasn't about to let these people suffer on his accord.

And with that the bugster began crawling on the wall and into the ceiling, seeing a robot squad. He attempted to ambush it by grabbing hold onto its headpiece and ripping it off with a strong pull of his arm. Truthfully he didn't know how strong these robots were, but considering he has fought some military-grade stuff, they shouldn’t be too strong. His plan was simple: eliminate all the robots present and get everyone out.

Yet to Kaizen’s level of preparation as he tried to pull off the head of the machine the sheer weight of it would prove the task of beheading unlikely as the slammed both of its hand onto Kaizen insectile forearm arming aiming to crack into it before ripping Kaizen right out of his hiding spot before swinging him right through a cement pillar as it slammed into him ramming him through another. The sheer strength of it was next-gen compared to the training robots Kaizen had probably faced before. With the machine still ramming into Kaizen, the two slammed into a wall as the robots shriek signalled the others from a ways away. A few hissing snap showcased its piercing arm burrowing into its forearm before launching out in extension trying to pierce the bug gorily.

Kaizen was puzzled by the high performance of the robot, why would someone purposely send robot of such strength to terrorize civilians? Wouldn't they be able to achieve more by sending more weaker robots? Unless of course they were expecting heroes of their caliber to arrive. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered how much these groups of villains had prepared beforehand.

The bugster took the hits like a champ, he has experienced worse. He took the time to observe the way the robot moved, it's intricate motions and machinery. From there he would find an answer on how to scrap this tin can. He noticed there were tubing of some sort on the side of the torso as well as pistons at back of it's legs.”If you are listening to me right now, know that you are next.” he spoke to the robot, hoping that the message would be relayed back to its creators.

When the piercing attack came, he would not only dodge the attack with a slight shift of his body, but also reposition himself to the back of the robot. He would deliver two vehicle-busting punches into the piston-like structures behind it's legs. He would then reposition himself once more to the front of the robot to deliver an attack that he would only use for killing blows. The attack was aimed at the red tubes which seemed to be points of vulnerability. Suffice to say, such a situation had never arised before.

He called it the "Heartbuster Haymaker.", an armor piercing attack made to completely obliterate it's receiver. His arm would rocket towards it's target at blinding speed, using small explosions to propel it into the torso. Once the arm was sufficiently deep enough he would unleash a devastating secondary explosion, aiming to turn it's target inside out. How many more of these metal monsters must he destroy? Because after he's done with them, he’s coming for the creator next. “By my life, I swear these people will be saved, and by my hands, I swear comeuppance will come to the perpetrators of this crime.” the bugster quietly thought to himself in tranquil fury.

As the robot was utterly annihilated two more would appear jumping at jet backed speeds with more hammer like arms and much more notable with no visible weaknesses like the other. It was possible what Kaizen had just wrecked was considered cannon fodder and more so as these smashed into his back shell shattering his wings into pieces as they slammed him into their now destroyed robotic ally. Their plating was also considerably much higher in density, and their more articulated limbs suggested a better maneuverability as Kaizen learned real fast as he was hit hard by one with a swinging arc like a pinball through one, two and three cars.

Blindsided by robots, if there was a cosmic entity pulling the strings of these events, they must be laughing at the bugster’s unfortunate circumstances right now. Kaizen chuckled to himself, realizing the stupidity of this whole predicament. Fortunately, for him, right before he went through the multiple cars, he managed to grab a few pieces of the fallen foe, namely the spiked pieces of the arms. As he got back up, the bugster fastened the spikes onto his hands, making makeshift knuckle dusters using his webs.

He went forward, lifting up a car in the parking lot and threw it towards the two bots. But this was only a distraction since almost immediately after that, Bugster emerged from the car, punching a hole straight through it, Making a mad dash towards the bot on the right. He would send the first punch to the head seeking to crack its optics while simultaneously sprarying a layer of thick web into the other one's eyes. Surely they would have a hard time removing it with those hammer hands. He would then follow it up with a flurry of punches strong enough to crack through concrete into the joints of the arm, aiming to break it off completely or at least cripple it enough so it wouldn’t be able to use it. The more joints it had, the easier it was to break them. These bots were indeed a cut above the usual tin cans he faced, they were still in
robots, which meant they had their limitations.

As the battle goes on a drone flies by with a screen attached to its bottom. “Ahahahaha! It truly is a small world after all!”

Watching as the bug broke his machines bit by bit, he grins a bit, not minding the fact he was taking credit for his own work as the Bugster started to gain on them. These were better than your run of the mill robots, expensive to make and yet the other fools did not see the value in them! They were already withstanding forces that the basic poverty invested welps of goons weren’t able to take, but still not good enough.. Though that was fine. They were perfectly adequate for the task at hand.

“Hahaha! There are still more left, you know? Ah, if only I had sent the correct one here, still I thank you for being part of my test program!”

As the car made its impact the bug added into a series of combos that would normal gear the advantage yet as he went in for tank hits he did indeed damage the optical sighting on the one he went for the kill on as his webs grappled onto the face of the others yet… the limitation of their capability was much grandeur than he had accounted for. The robot that took the hits did indeed lose a hand, but in the middle of Apex’s wave of pierce strikes it without warning blocked with its good hand flexing its hammer hand to capture one of Kaizens into a locked wrestling grip. With the halt the one he thought would be completely blind had no problem finding him as it began to return the favor with some heavy haymakers against APex Bugsters body. The cause for this unaffected sight was revealed fast in the form of the drone that proceeded to mock him. It wouldn't be hard to guess it was feeding visual feed into the other two bots. Yet as the damage delivered by Kaizen started to take its toll on the grappling bot a strange timer went off as it exploded into pieces sending Bugster into a hammer uppercut from the still undamaged bot sending the bug into a freshly formed fitted car seat. Charging after the Bugster the bot took flight threatening to squash the bug like a doomed roach as it came hammering down.

With each strike he took, he could feel his exoskeleton’s integrity getting weaker and weaker. To think these tinnies were able to give out such a level of punishment. All he could think about right now was how the school should get robots of this calibre for their training sessions instead of whatever they were using before. The presence of the floating drone did annoy him, but more than anything else, it gave him a face to look forward to pummeling with righteous indignation. How many more of these robots were there? Based on his current injuries, he could probably safely take on another two or three. The creator mentioned something about having other variants which meant that it was possible that they were stronger versions which was something bugster found intriguing.

The bugster sighed, tearing through the seat he was implanted in, managing to dodge the hammer strike at the last second with an overhead jump. The bug struck the bot from its back with a kick, latching onto it and shooting a web to pull the drone into his grasp. “Baldy” he said, before using the drone as a blunt weapon to continuously bash the thrusters of the robot. He looked like a caveman using a rock to break an animal's bones. He would finally shove the drone deep into one of the bigger thrusters and unleash an explosion inside the robot.

As the bot was brought down with an impressive series of brutal executions with the blast scrapping it to hell the bells of victory were still far from ringing it seemed as heavier steps could be heard. Yet for a moment there would be a hellish quake of force from above shaking the lower grounds… clearly something was happening upstairs with Vigidris. Yet the heavy steps that followed more closely as a massive wind turbine themed robot appeared clearly told him… his own situation was far from over.

With a virring sound a massive blast of wind would come at him pushing him into a flying route with a wall as it started to near him putting the high velocity pressure on him.

As the bugster shatters one more robot, he took one of the hammer arms for closer inspection. "I should get one of these." He muttered to himself. He felt the quakes from his teammates attacks, worrying him slightly. "Vig must be wrapping it up. I should to." Kaizen was wondering where the next robot would be, but thankfully for him, he didn't need to worry about finding it. He could feel the heavy footsteps of a bigger robot.

As he flew across the room from the wind blast, he spotted a concrete pillar that was intact and latched on to it, using the spikes on his knuckles to dig into its surface. He would then pivot towards the pillar, hiding behind it to protect himself from the windblast. When the robot eventually got the pillar, all it would find behind it is a massive hole. "If one side blows the other side must suck right?" He silently thought to himself as he emerged from behind the robot. Spraying a thick layer onto the back of the turbine mechanism before delivering a hammer strike towards it with immense force, to dent thick armor. He wanted to break his fan, the rest of the body would eventually follow suit.

The bugster’s theory was correct, as the main turbine of the robot was swiftly disabled. However, it immediately retaliated by grabbing him with its humanoid arm and repeatedly slamming him onto the ground. The robot would plant him into the ground with a mighty slam before repeatedly stomping on the bug, causing orange blood to stain the cracks on the ground. Once the bug seemed sufficiently weak, the robot would raise its cannon arm towards the bug, aiming to end his miserable existence once and for all.

Kaizen, despite not feeling pain, was starting to feel the injuries taking their toll on his body. He could see the bright blue energy gathering inside the cannon in front of him. Was this it? Is this the limit of his power? “Tch.” Kaizen said defiantly. “No.. I refuse..” he thought to himself, swinging the hammer at the cannon arm causing the shot to go wide. The robot quickly attempts to recover by refocusing its aim only for a hammer to come flying into its barrel, causing it to malfunction and implode. “As long as there are people to protect… challenges to face…..” Kaizen dashed forward with renewed vigor, he wasn’t about to let some tin can defeat him, not like this. The robot attempts to defend itself once more by grabbing him only to have his fingers completely ripped off, it’s fluids began to splatter onto its insectoid opponent.

After ripping its fingers off, Kaizen scaled the robot’s arm, and delivered a deep punch into an exposed portion of the robot's wiring, pulling out a good chunk of its insides. It’s motor movements began to become noticeably slow, possibly due to having damaged essential components. With another punch, he managed to knock the robot on its back, prompting him to get on top of it for rapid disassembly. “And as long as there are bastards out there for me to punish…..I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING!!” he yelled as he pulled out armor panels, wires and motors from its chest. The turbine on legs could be seen desperately trying to pry the bug off with its stump of a hand and vestigial cannon, but all of its efforts were in vain. And with one final pull of his arms, the bugsters secures his victory by pulling out the robot's head along what looks the equivalent of its spine.

The bugster stood on top of the giant robot’s non-functioning body, holding his trophy high above his head and let out a victorious roar that shook the heavens. His mind was reliving a similar moment he had experience during his combat ritual. The arena crowd would cheer his name as he ripped his opponent’s horn off and secured his victory. “KAIZEN! KAIZEN ! KAIZEN! Even though they did grow back, the damage done to his opponent’s ego would likely take much longer to heal, assuming they healed at all.

“Heh, just like old times.” he quietly said to himself as he tossed aside the head and went in search of the survivors, still bleeding from his wounds. The moment has passed, and he has duties to attend to. He didn't have time to cocoon himself, he had to make sure he could save people he had promised to save.

Though as the Apex Bugster came back to the hiding people who had in fact collected the very people they had told Kaizen were still missing their eyes on them were not of that to a savior, but more scared of said saviors' violent battle. They were clearly grateful as they came towards him, but the way he had finished that enemy was rather… beastly and terrifying like well…

“Thank you,” the darkly tanned man with the leg wound smiled being helped by the bug. It took awhile, but once everyone was outside the damage from Vigidris battle would be utterly insane. Clearly someone had pushed her hard. Though as the Bug would see to the wounded being treated the man with the leg wound called out to him.

“I doubt I have to say this, but don't mind how they looked at you. A true warrior always looks frightening to those they save; it's the cost of the job one may say having a savage look,” he jokingly laughed, offering his hand to shake Kaizens.

The bugster wasn’t surprised at how the others looked at him, in fact he didn't really mind at all. His duties did not require gratitude from those he had saved. Upon inspecting the environment, he could see that he wasn’t the only one pushed to his limits. “I am used to it, but all the same, I appreciate the gesture.” He gladly shook the man’s hand. “In many ways, you were just as brave as I was, maybe even braver.” he was of course referring to the man’s action prior to meeting him. To fight the robots as a normal person, it would surely be a challenge.

“Heh, this,” he smiled looking at his leg wound. “I think it will make a good battle scar. I hear it's all the rage for the ladies,” the man joked, shaking the bug's hand with a firm grip. “Regardless, they do appreciate you. Just not yet used to registering a fight. You know how that is when you have your first fight or see it in person it encapsulates a unique memory,” he expressed his opinion to help make the bug feel better.

“I did what I had to do to survive, and do my part,” he expressed not taking any glory in the moment, but being rather humble.

“Truly a tale to pass down from generation to generation.” He answered, remembering how tales such as these were often told to the next generation. “Their gratitude is not necessary for my work, but it is appreciated. Thank you, sir.” He returned the grip, feeling a bit warmer inside, knowing that despite his violence, he had done something good for these people. “I remember my first fight, I ran home crying to my momma…. she wiped my tears with her claws.” he muttered out, seemingly amused by his own memory. And yet in spite of this “victory”, there were still many unanswered questions. What was their plan here? How did their comlinks get compromised? Whose face did he need to clobber? The bugster noticed Vitalis wasn’t around, perhaps she needed help?
After Kaizen saw to the kind people he would be notified of more folks coming out of the building found on the fifth floor where the second explosion had been set off. As the three conscious heroes would regroup they would be informed by an officer that Goto’s villain had been caughts, and goto had been successful at aiding the capture. He was apparently being sent to a Suppression directed hospital. Vigidris regardless of any complaints would find mandates from Suppression to be hospitalized as well leaving Kaizen, and Vitalis alone on sight

Vigridis roughly pushed by whoever was telling her such. Sourly she hissed, “I do not need a hospital.” Maintaining her dignity she managed to steel up her nerves and walk forward firmly, even managing to hold back the limp. She had a nasty wound up her side and leg, and the one on her front was even worse. It looked like her front was fused a bit with her outfit, glowing a bit orange-red from the impact. There were a few other scrapes and cuts and bruises here and there, especially on her face, which blood dripped repeatedly. Yet she insisted she did not need a hospital.

“Vigridis, calm down.” Kaizen placed his hand on her shoulder. “As strong as you are, you are in no condition to continue your pursuit.” He said rather firmly. “The sooner you recover, the sooner we can track down these people. And when the time comes, we can fight to our heart’s content.” Kaizen hoped that she would be reasonable to see that she would likely not be able to keep going. “Even if you don’t want to go to the hospital, at least take some time to recover.” The bugster once again urges his vampire friend to rest up for a bit.

“I’m not pursuuing, you idiot. They teleported away, where would I go?” Her eyes flicked over to him. She really was not in the mood. Clearly. ‘Take some time to recover’... She thought about it. Hm, she supposed she could make a gate here..

Meanwhile Vitalis walked out with the others from the upper floors. She had info she needed to tell. After a bit of time far away from the scene though a man with a limb was walking through the back allies slowly he started to morph into a massive elephant making his limb seemingly easier to deal with as he was moving towards a massive semi cargo truck.

“My your old acquaintance did quite the number on you,” a woman who strangely looked out of place with metallic antennae, and a rather impressive sized book. The newly formed Elephant man smirked at the observation.

“No matter if he was a betrayer that didn’t make him less of a warrior he was master to his fate as one would expect in the clan circle. A true berserker of the Shauta clan even if he left life like a fool… no one gets to leave the clan… no one,” he remarked with a heavy pull to get into his trail that was a strange mix of african tribal with Samurai meditation makeup.

“I see well we got the gem’s as our employer wanted, and you got your target as you wanted though I am curious why the third party wanted to join us so last second hmm,” the woman smiled tilting her head to look into the truck.

“Testing the strength of the Gatakiriba tribe… though it's pointless, Kaizen Shinkami has been marked for a long time. Yet I will observe and let you third party have there fun to test the mettle of Gatakiriba’s prodigal son to see if he is worth the title of Oniwaka worthy of the death maker of the Animilia of clan,” he male chuckled clearly rather excited to see it all play out.

“I see well. I hope your results are to your liking, and once again my boss appreciates your co-op on this mission today.”

“Hm, from what I saw today it should prove well enough worth my time,” the big man said before closing his container doors as the vehicle started to drive away, and the woman disappeared into a flash of static light.
 
  • Like
Reactions: timv999 and Thaleko
As the class is dismissed, the members of Team Four would have time to gather and a chance to speak to one another from within the locker rooms, fortunately the location they had to travel to was right near the school, a rather calm and small City, there wasn’t too much to be concerned with in terms of travel or basic travel time. Though time wasn’t endless the group of four in this team would be able to set this all up to Hideki’s liking, after all would any villains just attack a town outside of a hero school?

Hideki listened as the teams were announced, today instead of being second in command of a squad he would be leading one. He was a bit nervous as he hadn’t lead a team out into a patrol like this before, but after these past two months of intense training he believed that he was ready for the task. His squad consisted of Katsumi, Yori and Ren. Overall he thought it was a strong team. He had worked with Katsumi before and he knew her strengths. He also knew that she would be motivated to do well after what happened with her squad's last patrol. The same could be said for Yori. He was a part of that squad with Katsumi as well. Hideki was sure that Yori ..would be motivated to do well. For Ren, Hideki didn’t know much about him yet. He had gotten a chance to talk with him and he seemed like a nice enough kid, but he wasn’t sure how he would be in case they got into a fight.

After the team got ready, Hideki met them all by the exit of the locker rooms to go over their plan. “Alright guys, so lucky for us the area that we are patrolling today isn’t too far from school. So we will be able to walk there and it should only take us a few minutes. I am going to take a note from Haya and split up the squad into two teams of two. Katsumi and myself will make up one team while Yori and Ren will make up the other. When we get to our area we will come up on a main road. Katsumi and myself will head left while Yori and Ren will head right. Katsumi and myself will patrol the west side of our district and Yori and Ren will patrol the east side. Eventually we will meet back in the middle. Should we come into any contact please make sure to alert the other two members of our squad as well as alert Mari. We will be using frequency six on our radios. Before we set off does anyone have any questions or concerns?”

Ren got dressed into his uniform, before attaching his spear behind him and sighing. First mission with a new team and a new team leader. He hoped this ended a lot better than it had with his other team, which started out with a fight and more fighting, but from what he knew, Hideki said the class got along with each other. Katsumi was pretty nice, she helped him with the kitchen, which was interesting. But he knew nothing about this Yori. But as he moved to leave and found Hideki waiting for them, he found out who Yori was. The idol. Miss. Homoki had mentioned something about the idol once, when he talked to her. He was….a singer or a model, by the looks of him, he could be either.

After they were all gathered, Ren listened to Hideki’s plan. He thought it was a fair one, but the shopping district would be packed. Was it a good idea to split right at the border and not somewhere closer to their mark. Then again, they had done this more than he had and probably had a plan that matched this, from Hideki’s comment about someone named Haya. So, he would follow the leader and see how things went. He couldn’t really question Hideki, since he had never worked with any of these people. This was a mission, he couldn’t question anything as freely as he normally did, because wasting time would only cause the villains an opening to get away. “Walking sounds like a good idea. Ren commented, his last class got into an argument once on a mission and they were told to run, because two of the members decided to race each other. It was not a good day.

Hideki was right about his two teammates. Yori, though a bit nervous after what happened during the last mission, was determined to do better this time. He didn’t want one patrol going wrong to define his career or have him be too afraid to continue forward. It was just a lesson that he was going to take with him for the duration of his hero career. He would take that lesson and do better.

Katsumi, on the other hand, wasn’t nervous as all. She too was determined to not be made a fool of again. She wanted to show what she was truly capable of. Though the loss did put a huge dent in her confidence, she would need to continue forward instead of letting it drag her down…

It was unfortunate she has yet to see the bitch that put her out of commission for a bit. But one day, she would.

Yori and Katsumi were both in uniform, said uniforms thoroughly cleaned and patched of any tears and damage from their previous mission. It was as if nothing happened to them. However, Katsumi’s costume had one major difference to it.

Her sword. She did not wield one made by her mother nor the one that Agi had designed and made for her. Instead, it was a normal blade with a rubber grip to it. Nothing fancy. A stark contrast to her costume’s elegant design.

They listened to the plan, Katsumi giving a nod of acknowledgement while Yori gave a verbal “okay.”

“Shall we?”
She asked Hideki, indirectly telling him that she was ready to go.

Yori looked at Ren with a smile. “Sure. Just let me know if you get bored walking on the streets.” He responded, also ready to move on with their patrol.

Hideki smiled happy that there were no questions or concerns. Hideki was a bit nervous, but he was determined to see this through and to make sure that none of his team were hurt in the process. ”Alright the four of us will head together to the Main Street of the shopping district, once we are there that is when we will split to each take our zones of patrol. Yori I would like you to report to me about every ten to fifteen minutes, simply letting me know if you guys are alright or not. One more thing guys.”

Hideki paused for a moment as he looked at each member of his squad. “No one here is allowed to end up hurt alright. I promise to have all of your guys backs, I have a feeling you can make the same promise to me. Whatever happens we are a team and I will do my absolute best to make sure that us and all the civilians we come in contact with stay safe out there.” Hideki smiled at his group as turned around and started to head out. ”Let’s go team.” Hideki was going to make sure that nothing would happen to his team. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to forgive himself if anything really serious happened to any of them out there.

The four of them set out for their patrol. The walk was only a few minutes long and there was a little bit of small talk but for most part the group seemed pretty serious and on alert.

When the four of them made it to the main street Hideki looked over at Yori and Ren. ”Alright guys this is where we will split up. Starting now we will use hero names only.” Hideki looked down to the left the way he and Katsumi would be going before looking back at Yori and Ren. “Good luck you two, and remember report in every ten to fifteen minutes.”Hideki have them a smile before he turned to Katsumi. “Let’s go.” With that the two of them turned to head left and to patrol the west side of their district.

Ren nodded, as Yori told him if he was sure, “Last thing I want is to rush and get tired by the time we get there.” he teased, as he joined Yori in the walk towards the city so they could get on point and do the patrol as they had been ordered. He thought about the plan that Hideki made and was sure to keep his part in it his main focus. Although he wasn't going to say he wouldn’t get hurt, he would do his best to make sure that he followed the order.

When they got to where they would be splitting up, he nodded as he turned to Yori, “Ok, so just you and me from now on.” he commented as he motioned Yori to take the lead. He followed beside him as they walked. “I hadn’t got a chance to meet you, since the transfer. Ren Abiko, Telekinesis is my quirk and I am sure that we will get along, as long as you don’t mind a little banter every so often about my opinions.” he joked, hoping that he wouldn’t end up in a disagreement like he had before.

As the group splits up to go it’s own ways, Ren and Yori would come across a tired looking man in a lab coat, trying to load some heavy canisters into the back of a van. “So much for hired help these days..” He says, struggling but finally lifting one of the canisters and setting it in the back of the van. “One down, three to go.”

Elsewhere with Katsumi and Hideki would run, or rather walking into a panicked crowd, who seemed a mix of confused and anxious as they headed away from one of the central shopping districts, why and what for was up to anyone's best guess. Or a questioning of one of the bystanders.

As Hideki and Katsumi we’re walking along the road, all seemed to be quiet so far. People seemed to be enjoying their day out shopping and such. It was a nice day as well, not too hot and not too cold. The sun was out and shining all and all it seemed like a nice day. Maybe today would be peaceful as well. Hideki looked over to Katsumi who hadn’t really said much as of yet. ” Well all seems pretty quiet right now, maybe we won’t really run into much tro….”

As Hideki was getting ready to finish his sentence the two of them walked into a crowded area where people seemed to be running away and were scared. Hideki quickly looked around to see if he could see what was going on, but to him at least In this area it seemed to be alright. Hideki grabbed onto a shoulder of a person who was trying to run away. ” Sir I’m sorry to have grabbed you, but we’re heros and we can help. Tell me what’s going on? Why are you running?” Hideki looked at the man waiting for his answer.

“Huh?!” Looking up at who had snatched him, the man was about ready to hit him, just out of desperation to get away, as he says in a semi-coherent response;

“I don’t know! A red mist formed in the streets and four people just started taking people hostage! They were robbing the bank, so much water and red mist pushing everyone away, some woman with black skin..not like a person, but something else was shouting for us all to run off for our own good, then she ripped off a car door and threw it at one of the police patrollers that were in the area, knocked him over and out before he could do anything. Now let me go! I don’t want any trouble!”

He says, fighting free of the grip before continuing on his way, a bit slower than before.

Katsumi walked alongside Hideki, keeping her eyes and ears open. Last time she’d been distracted because of the group’s idle chit chat, which prevented them all from hearing the double decker racing down the street. This time, things were different. She needed to stay sharp.

She gave Ren and Yori one more look, “Good luck.” Was all she said before the group was split into two teams. Katsumi would follow Hideki closely, a hand on the hilt of her blade in case she needed to act against a sudden threat.

The sight of the anxious crowd had Katsumi suspicious. She steeled herself, immediately scanning the area for the source of the problem, though she wouldn’t have to look for long.

A panicked man explained to them the situation as best he could, making her frown. If they confronted the villains as they were, they’d be outnumbered. Unless Yori and Ren could join them, Katsumi didn’t want to overestimate their abilities. As proven, it didn’t matter how powerful one thought they were, they could still be beaten…

“Attention. Do I have your attention?” She said into her headset, awaiting a reply.

Yori’s attention turned to Ren as he properly introduced himself, the purple haired man keeping his smile. “Yori Yubiki. I can turn my hair into wings, shields, and needles that’ll do some surprise acupuncture.” He responded, his smile turning into a grin. “What fun’s a friendship without a little banter?”

As they walked, Yori and Ren would come across the old man loading some canisters. From the looks of it, he didn’t see anything overly suspicious. However, he didn’t want to cross off everyone as innocent. You never know when a villain could pop up out of nowhere after all.

Before Yori could call out to the man, he paused hearing Katsumi’s voice on the other end. He pressed the button. “Go ahead.”

“We received information of four people forming red mist and taking hostages. Apparently they were robbing a bank. A woman with black skin supposedly had super strength as well. That’s all we have and be advised we may require your assistance should we engage.”

Ren listened to Katsumi and nodded, as he turned to Yori. He had seen the old man and was going to help him, but at the same time, it sounded like the man was not the only one that needed some help. He paused for a moment as he thought about the situation, before he turned to Yori, “You go aheads and help them out. I am going to help this guy out and then head towards you guys. I know we should both go, but I feel a little bad if we just leave him to do this alone and he seems to need to load these boxes. It’ll take me a few minutes to move everything.” he told Yori.

Without waiting for an answer though, he moved over to help the man, he called out to him, “Hi.” he said before he stopped and bowed to him. “My name is MoonShadow, and I am going to help you out.” he offered, after all, the sooner he did this, the sooner he could help out his team. “Just tell me where to put them and I will get these boxes moved, okay?” he told the man. It wasn’t hard to lift them with his Movement, but he decided to do one at a time. They were a little heavier than he thought they would be, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t lift them with his Telekinesis at all.

Hideki listened to the scared man as he explained some of what was going on. ” Thank you very much sir, please continue that way down the street and get away from the bank. Please try and do so in an orderly fashion and stay safe.” Hideki let go of the man’s shoulder and offered a friendly smile to try and calm the man down a bit. Hideki turned to Katsumi who had already alerted Yori and Ren of the situation.

Hideki had paid attention when the class went over all of the reports from their last patrol missions in class. The way the man described some of the villains, well they sounded familiar but Hideki couldn’t be sure until they got there. ” Alright Voltress, lets head to the bank now. Sounds like we have a situation.” Hideki looked over at Katsumi and nodded his head as the two of them made their way down the street. The bank was just a few blocks down so it didn’t take long for them to arrive.

Once they arrived at the scene they would see the confusion as people continued to flee from the area.

Looking up at the helpful young lad and his offer to help, a hero judging by looks and name, no one would name a child that aside from the Americans.. Or so he hoped, still the tired middle aged man was not about to turn aside a helping hand, keeping a calm tone of voice he speaks up in response. “Oh that’s alright, if you have anywhere to be this will just take me awhile, there is no danger here is there? I would like the help, it doesn’t much matter where they are stashed inside of the van.. Damn things weigh about 70 kilos, I was meant to have some younger people here to help me, but I don’t know where they are.. Nor do I care, though I will be revoking their contracted pay for this.. Young people these days just don’t understand the value in an agreement and dependability.”

Elsewhere the two that were there and moving upon the scene would see a break in the red mist, it was the girl from before causing it and the woman and man from the mall as well as the water man from the chemical factory. It was the exact same ones from before, provided one paid attention in the debriefing. It seemed if they were not working together then they at the very least knew one another.

“Understood.”

With that, Katsumi hung up and looked over to Hideki. She gave him a slight nod. “Alright. MoonShadow and Corvus will come as soon as they finish assisting someone else. We shouldn’t get careless.” She added the last part. Katsumi didn’t want to end up in the hospital again, and she’d be damned if she let Hideki end up in the same spot she was in.

She followed him towards the bank, the two moving through the commotion to try and get towards the source. The confusion on the street and the fear was evident. If they waited too long, they’d risk the lives of the hostages, but if they rushed in it could be their own lives at stake.

“HotShot.” Katsumi spoke up, catching glimpses of the villains through the mist. “It’d be better to wait for the others. I understand the risks, but I’d sooner wait a few more minutes and have a chance at arresting them than do something stupid.” She told him as if he didn’t have the same ideas.

Yori didn’t seem too sure about leaving Ren by himself. Yes, Katsumi and Hideki alerted them of a bank robbery. However, he didn’t know how quickly Ren could get there on his own. Yori could fly the two there and be there in a few minutes flat. He didn’t know much about the other’s quirk except that he had telekinesis.

“MoonShadow, can you use your quirk to fly? Or pick up all the canisters and put them into the van?” He asked. Yori didn’t want to be rude but helping an old man lift canisters was less important than an ongoing bank robbery.

Hideki stood there back a bit with Katsumi as the villain in front of them continued to cloud the area with her red like mist. The villain didn’t seem to know that they were there. Hideki bit his bottom lip as he tried to decide what they should do. As much as he hated just standing there and waiting, Katsumi was probably right. It would be better to hang back and wait instead of the two of them to just rush in. Hideki looked over at Katsumi. ” I hate the idea of us just hanging back like this, but yes you’re right Voltress. We should wait for reinforcements to arrive before we move in. Please Voltress can you alert Mari to the situation, I am going to let Corvus and MoonShadow know the situation and maybe that will get them to pick up the pace a little bit.”

Hideki would tap his earpiece as he called out to the other members of his team. ” Corvus and MoonShawdow please listen. From what we can tell criminals are robbing the bank. It appears as they are some criminals we have fought before. It appears there are some inside as well and they have hostages most likely. Voltress and I are waiting back a little as we wait for the two of you to join us. Please do you best to hurry here.”

Ren shook his head, "I have to do them one by one. Go. I will catch up. Don't worry." He assured Yori. "They need you more than I do. No matter how small the job a hero should help where they are needed. And for a moment, I am needed here." He explained. It wouldn't take him long to get the boxes put in the van. But he would need a little time between using his quirk to help and using it to hello his team.

When he heard Hideki on comms he nodded, "Corvus will head there now. I will be right behind him. Helping out a civilian." He reported to Hideki before he turned to Yori, "Go." He told him before he went to the man. "Okay. It'll be quicker if I do this myself. Just give me a target." He told the man.

“Ah. I thank you for your help then.” Pointing at the containers, he started with the closest one. “Might as well do them closest to furthest, I dare not take up your time for long, your friend seemed rather distressed.”
Yori frowned, but he gave a nod and spread his wings. “I’ll see you there.”

With a few flaps of his wings, he launched into the air and started flying towards Katsumi’s and Hideki’s direction. He looked down, watching as some panicked individuals were running away, gradually growing more and more into a crowd of onlookers. There, he caught Katsumi’s signature blue twin tail style and sword.

Before arriving, he dropped down a bit away from the scene to keep from getting spotted by the villains, running up to Hideki and Katsumi.

“HotShot, Voltess.” He said as soon as he arrived, looking towards the red mist and whatever villains he could see. “What’s the plan?”

Katsumi turned her attention to Yori. “We were going to wait for both of you and make things easier on ourselves, but in truth, I think we can distract them until MoonShadow arrives.” She commented. Three versus one shouldn’t be too bad, but they couldn’t exactly get overconfident.

Hideki turned as Yori came down from the sky and joined them. ” I would like to wait for MoonShawdow to get here, but we can’t waste anymore time. Corvus, do you think your wings can create enough wind to blast that red mist away? If we go in blind there’s a good chance that we will be taken down. Once you create enough wind to allow us to see, then I would like Voltress to rush in for the attack.”

Hideki turned so that he was now facing Katsumi. ” You are the fastest of the three of us, the criminal won’t be expecting her mist to be blown away like that. Once Corvus does that I want you to rush in and take them down. Your speed should make it so that you can get to them before they have a chance to realize what’s going on. Once you engage the enemy, Corvus and myself will either give you backup or we will make our way into the bank.”

Ren nodded as he started moving them. It was easy enough, he had them in the van after a few minutes before turning to the man, "I would help get them where they need to be, but I have to go. So, I'll see you around." He bowed before he turned away and started to run towards the direction Yori flew.

He got on comms, "MoonShadow is on route." He announced it to his team. He had been a little longer than he thought, so he had to find a way to make up the time. But he didn’t know the town well enough to try a short cut, but he paused for a moment, he could always find another way. He made a sharp turn and started towards the direction he knew Hideki and the rest were, only he was coming from his own way and not the way that Hideki and Katsumi had been. He would hit the bank at some point.

Yori looked over at the mist. “...Maybe. It won’t be much but I can definitely thin it out.” He said, though frowned. “Not exactly eager to see what that mist does and I don’t think you guys are either.” He said, indirectly telling them to be careful.

Katsumi nodded once at Hideki’s plan, “I-”

The words caught in her throat, the memory of fighting Transfora clear in her head. She wanted to say “I can do it,” but...

“I...can try.” She answered instead, the confidence in her voice wavering. Katsumi readied her hand on the grip of her weapon. “I can try. Don’t count too much on me.”

Yori frowned hearing that, but regardless, she knew what she was supposed to and let them know.

“Alright, HotShot, Voltess, be ready.” Yori told the two of them, readying his wings.

“If this fails, focus on evacuating the hostages.” Katsumi told the two. “I’m ready to go.”

With that, Yori sprung forward using his wings to shoot large gusts of air at the red mist. Though the gusts wouldn’t completely clean the streets, it at least gave Katsumi room to work with.

Meanwhile, Katsumi charged her legs with lightning and shot forward at who appeared to be the woman causing the mist, charging the blade with her quirk to work as a taser should she hit the person.

Hideki could hear the trepidation in both Yori and Katsumi’s voices. It seemed that they both were still nervous and unsure since their last patrol mission. To be honest Hideki wasn’t one hundred percent sure about this plan either, but they needed to act and with the little information he had to go off of this was the best he could manage to come up with.

Hideki looked at both of them and gave them a reassuring smile. ” Voltress, Corvus I believe in both of you. We’re going to stop these guys and save anyone who might be trapped inside. No matter what happens I have your back. I believe in you, now believe in yourselves and let’s go be heroes.” Hideki looked at both of them and nodded as Corvus went to start the plan in motion.I

Ren sighed as he paused for a moment, he ran for a bit but as the bank got closer he looked confused. Was he at the wrong place? No, this was right, it had to be. Then it hit him, there was not a welcoming door in front of him. Instead, there was a back door. This was it, but he came in through the back. He thought of moving around, but another idea got him. If this was the back and everyone was starting in the front. Wouldn't that cause the villains to check the front and leave whoever was in the bank giving them money a chance to escape. He decided that he would take the chance. In his mistake, he reached the back and all he had to do was get in and take his chance at getting the hostages free. Plus, with him coming from inside the bank, they would surround the group. So, he moved towards the door, crunching down and with his mind, repeated the lock. Before quietly poking his head in and creeping into the bank. Quietly making his way through to the front.

Something very curious happened with the efforts of Yori and Katsumi, they had not paid much attention in class had they? Either way the effort was partially successful, as the red dust was blown back enough to clear a path for Katsumi to run through, tendrils of it seemed to pop and spark with her electrical charge generation, but before much thought could be given to this, the attack had connected. However something far grander would result from it, a massive field of electrical currents bounced and dived, arcing through the girl and into the dust taking a large portion of the charge with it. In place the dust formed into stabbing spears and spasmed, shooting of into the surroundings as the rest coiled around the girl or came to rest on the ground below. With a BZZZZRT sound followed with broken speech, the girl is left just standing as she forms her red mist into a large sweeping blade, with one arm limp and getting back to her feet her gas masked face did betray her eyes which looked like a mixture of rage and pain. “YOU BITCH!” She says at that, unleashing her red mist at the other, though in this case a reminder and answer was given, it was rust.

Elsewhere another female figure could be heard and seen laughing, in white and red clothing that hid very little, pure black and metallic skin shows through as the electrical charge dissipates around her, on her feet were some rather thick soled boots, it seemed she had learned from her previous encounter with class 07. Cracking her knuckles she draws in the three heroes to her line of sight, pointing at them she rolls her head. “I’m afraid I’ll need ta ask yah to stay outside during business hours with the Bank.”

Lastly inside of the bank, it would take a blind person to have not seen that wind and electric lightshow. Looking at the other, Tribal points out the door and the one known as Watermeister hurries out, slamming the entry door open as artful strands of water flows up from the nearby surroundings forming into various sea life, he sends a shot of three starfish at Yori, considering the boy to be the most dangerous to their plan.

For his part, the man known as Tribal stays in the bank but spreads out his ‘tattoos” to entrap and threaten the hostages, a bit of a “motivational tool” for them to finish their work. “We should have stayed with the Van..” He says, regretting their little heist.

Hideki’s plan had partially worked. Yori was able to clear enough room for Katsumi to go in and get an attack on the first villain. While her attack did strike the enemy, it hadn’t taken her down completely and only made her pissed off. Hideki hadn’t been sure when he saw the red mist at first, but now he was. The enemy they were fighting was FeO, she was able to control rust. Hideki remembered her from the file they went over during class. Then another villain appeared who told the three of them that they shouldn’t be here during banking hours. Finally a third villain appeared, this time coming out of the bank. The man was using water to create sealife. He was another villain Hideki remembered from their class. His name was Watermesiter.

” Alright Corvus, you take on Watermesiter, Voltress, I’m leaving FeO in your capable hands, I’ll take on the third enemy here. We need to take these guys down hard and fast. Once we do we can take on the final enemy inside. They won’t let us get inside until we take these guys down out here first.”

Hideki quickly ignited his right arm and fired off an attack at the third enemy who told them they should leave the bank. Hideki smirked as he started to make his way closer to her. ” Business hours mean that we’re allowed inside. So I’m going to have to ask you to step aside lady.”

Hearing Hideki’s plan, Yori had to wonder if flapping that mist around was such a good idea. He could stop his wings and go through it to fight Watermeister, or he could drop in and separate him from his teammates. Though, even in the name alone Yori could already see that there was potentially a problem.

The Water part of his name. But if Hideki thought he could do it then Yori wasn’t going to question his judgment.

The least he could do was try.

He used his wings to shield the shocks and pieces of the red mist mixed with Katsumi’s electricity. Yori would then move and swooped down to grab the man in question’s shirt. His intent was only to get him away from his group. If MoonShadow could hurry, he might have an uninterrupted battle.

Make time for the more experienced heroes, he supposed.

Katsumi knew Hideki was trying to comfort them. His words, though motivational, didn’t prevent her or Corvus from going back to the hospital.

She only hoped that Hideki was right to have confidence.

Katsumi dashed to the clearer spots of the mist, readying her stance again though she didn’t stay for long as she was forced to hop up to avoid the sweeping blade. Shit!

She readied her sword once more, this time without the electric charge. Katsumi dashed forward, her sights on FeO to try and attack her again.

Even if the sword was blunted by rust, she could at least charge electricity through it. It was better than nothing, right?

Ren sighed, he had to decide something quickly. The hostages were being forced to do things that were illegal. He couldn't let himself be found out, not until he had a better idea of what this guy could do. So he waited a moment before he poked his head around, just enough to see while staying unseen. Before he hid again. His best option was to come out of hiding and hope that this guy was not crazy enough to kill the hostages. It looked like the villain surrounded the hostages with some figures. Making him wide open. Ren took a deep breath and hoped that it was the case.

Taking his spear, Ren held it in an angle that made it hard to see where he was hiding. He took a final breath before he jumped up and threw his spear at the villain, taking hold of the spear just as it got closer, stopping the blade as it was less than an inch from the villain.

As the hero group began it’s counter attack, or maybe even ambush, the element of surprise was on the side of the senior students. Yori’s grab attack was a mixed bag, Watermeister was fully aware of the other, having launched projectiles at him beforehand. Yori had gotten close, but now he was in the middle of the water circus, a dolphin made of water circled the group as Watermeister grabs the hand of Yori bending it away from him, as another hand dusts of his pristine uniformed shirt, though one thing was telling, physically he was not stronger than Yori.

“How rude! You lack the understanding of fine art! Let me teach you Philistine!” He says as his water lashes out at the birdman’s wings while they were this close to one another.

Staring at the man, the woman smiles as she takes the fire shot head on, the flame spread out across the carbon fiber being, causing no obvious damage or discomfort to the woman. She point of fact, smiles back at him, she didn’t seem to care about the robbery, or stopping the hostages, escape or the money. “Well now, using a bit of fire to make me hot and bothered?” Rushing towards him she attempts to engage him in melee with a brutal swing of her right arm. “I rather like to be the one doing the picking up.”

Back at Katsumi and FeO, the later contorts her red mist into a series of red beams, or at least cutting arms, as her gasmask visage remains hidden, not caring to talk to the other, she uses multiple beams to stop the sword rush in its tracks, though neither truly solid or as durable as the blade the other girl had, the sheer quantity made up for it as the rusting material seems to taint the blade being used against her, with narrowed eyes she disperses the mist into a cloud behind her, which she takes a few steps back into, disengaging or readying her next round of attacks. This cloud was a good deal smaller than the one before, but much more concentrated.

Meanwhile inside of the bank, Ren’s kindness would prove to be his own undoing, or at least in point, while he had gotten the jump on Tribal, the later had no intentions of surrendering, recalling his tattoos, the strands of physical matter jump towards the spear’s source, aiming for his arms and legs, or the general area from which the attack had originated, while also slapping the spear aside for safety’s sake. He at least didn’t seem focused on killing or harming the hostages, but he also stood in the main direction that they could leave from. “...If it was anyone other than me you would be dead after that mercy.”

As soon as Hideki saw his squadmates attack their enemies he started to doubt his plan of attack. ‘Was this the right move? Should I have said something different? Maybe I should be fighting that villain instead.’ All of these thoughts came rushing through his mind as he watched his comrades' attacks work or not work to varying degrees. As Hideki had those thoughts for a moment he quickly tried to shake them from his mind. As a leader he needed to have confidence in his plan and in his comrades, so that's what he was going to do. Have confidence that they could do what he was asking them to do. Another worrying thought was the fact that he hadn’t heard anything from Ren in a few minutes. Hideki also decided that he needed to place his trust and confidence in Ren as well.

As much as Hideki wanted to help all of them he had his own fight to worry about. He wasn’t sure at first when he saw her, but after watching his fireball do little to no damage to the woman he realized who he was fighting. He was fighting Carbon Shock, the woman whose body could be turned into carbon fiber. If Hideki wanted to deal any damage to her he would have to turn up the heat exponentially and that's what he was planning to do.

Hideki saw her rushing towards him, she took a swing with her right arm coming straight for his face. Hideki ducked down and quickly heated up his right hand and put fire behind his punch. This time his fire was heated more than his last attack. ” Well if you love being hot and bothered, you’re going to love me then.” Hideki smirked as he attacked.

His eyes darted from the villain to the new water beings that appeared. What the hell? Yori couldn’t get the villain too far, but at least they could have their 1 v 1 with minimal interruptions ‘less one of his friends turned their attention from someone or something else.

Yori’s hand was bent away, but the hold wasn’t strong enough to pin him or anything.

“Lack the-“ He was beginning to repeat what the man said, forced to tear his hand away to use his hair as a shield to block the water. Yori could only block a portion but still felt the sting of the water’s whiplash. “I make art, you pompous freak.”

Behind him, he broke off pieces of his hair and converted it into needles. Said needles sprung up from behind and shot at Watermeister.

For a split second, he wondered if he and Katsumi should have switched opponents.

The blade was rusting, quickly turning it into a blunt weapon. Katsumi wasn’t going to get anywhere using a piece of metal against this woman, obviously. But it didn’t mean she would be completely useless... Dammit, if there weren’t so many people around them within the reaches of the rust, she would have just unleashed her all at the bitch.

This one was good at long distance; Katsumi wanted to test how good FeO was in close range.

Katsumi used the hem of her costume’s collar to try and shield her mouth and nose, the cloud grabbed onto her a bit though she charged electricity into her legs to make a dash towards the woman herself.

Ren rolled to the side, as he kneeled to force his shield up, a sharp pain hit him. Even though his shield could hold back the forms as long as he focused it in their direction, he had moved too slow and a few had gotten to him before he could stop them. He pushed his shield out, as thin as he could before he let it fall, as he moved quickly. He was not going to have time for talking if he wanted to focus on getting the hostages out. They couldn’t go forward, they would have to go back the way he came. Which meant he would have to get the villain to move, which was not going to be an easy task.

He ran to avoid another hit, but his hand waved upwards as a chair lifted and one by one he pushed an empty chair at each of the physical shadows. Once they hit he turned the chair towards the villain himself, stopping it just as it was getting close to a hostage, he couldn’t chance hurting them, so his focus on the chairs were limited when he tossed them around him, but as they got close to the villain it was hyper focused on just hitting the villain. In case he dodged, Ren had to pull the chairs back before they could hit a hostage. He moved quickly to defend himself, but he kept moving his focus to find his spear. Searching small parts of the bank, to see where it had landed.

“My, I think it’s love at first sight.” She says a bit sarcastically, Carbon Shock grinned a bit as Hideki upped his fire and punched her head on, and she bends a little, before grinning widely and pushing her head towards his fist, bit by bit forcing it back. “Yah know, I don’t care about all the crime shit, but getting to fight people like you, makes this all worth doing.” She says as she quickly raises her right leg up aiming a kick for the left side of Hideki.

Back over at Yori and Watermeister, the other was a bit surprised at the reaction from Yori, with a soft smile he withdrew his water a bit, using it to make constructs that took in the hits from the needles and slowed them down enough where they could not be a threat. “My, and here I thought you said you were an artist. Summoning more of his current water supply from the shield, he forms a roughly car sized whale and readies to slam it into Yori.

FeO grunted a bit and swung at the girl, getting tackled a bit, she quickly forms her dust towards herself and hardens it, allowing the rust to throw her back and away from the girl, holding her chest a little, she has a rather nasty glare in her eyes as she starts to mold her rust cloud into an assortment of blades aiming to stab them all into Katsumi. “You bitch..”

Inside of the bank, Tribal narrows his eyes at the chair assault, calling back his tattoos, cutting apart and ripping up chairs being thrown at him was a simple matter, he didn’t have to hold back from killing anyone by mistake, he could go wild around him. Cutting down the chairs and breaking them up into smaller pieces his eyes briefly scan the area around him to see what this mind chair throwing fuck was up to.


Hideki quickly looked over at Yori and Katsumi who both were having varying degrees of success in their fights before yelling over to them. ” Switch opponents if you feel like you have to. I trust you guys to make the right decision! We have to win these fights.” Hideki was worries about both of them, but he had to stay focused on his own fight right in front of him. That’s when he switched his attention back to Carbon Shock.

So this woman didn’t care about their plans or being a criminal? She just wanted a good fight. Hideki smirked for a moment before answering her. ” Don’t worry I’ll give you a fight you won’t forget. It’s a shame though, if you just want good fights you should of been a hero then. You obviously don’t seem to care about your groups plans that much.”

Hideki then watched as Carbon Shock forces her forehead into Hideki’s fist and starts to push it back. Hideki then out of the corner of his eye saw her swing her leg to kick him. Hideki braced first impact, while the kick stuck and did force him back a bit, Hideki then took his left arm and caught her left leg and held her there. They were now both standing right where they were. Carbon Shock’s forehead hitting Hideki’s fist and Hideki’s left arm holding Carbon Shock’s leg to his left side. ” You want heat? I’ll show you heat! Time for dragons breath.” Hideki opened his mouth and like a dragon fire breathed a huge amount of flames at Carbon Shock. This attack was his hottest one yet and it was coming straight for Carbon Shock’s face that was striking Hideki’s fist.

Yori had to leap out of the way of the damn whale, but even then he suffered more of the water’s whiplash. The water getting into his hair, while uncomfortable, could make flying take more stamina than he wanted to. The pain of the impact was dull, and if there was a bigger injury underneath the skin irritation, he couldn’t exactly feel it yet.

Katsumi, too, had to jump out of the way of the slashes but even then a few of them caught her, creating cuts. Some would need stitches, while the others would simply need a band-aid.

This damn bitch and her stupid quirk…

However, then Hideki said the magic words, and both Yori and Katsumi seemed all too willing to do so.

As quick as Katsumi arrived, she leaped back a good distance from FeO, but this time, she wouldn’t move in to punch or tackle. Instead, with lightning charging through her legs, she would quickly dash away from her opponent and appear next to Yori.

The electricity would shoot from her legs into her muscles, charging up her strength as she grabbed Yori. The purple haired man looked surprised, but once he saw his new target, he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable.

With one strong throw, Katsumi shot Yori towards FeO while she turned her focus on Watermeister. With electricity moving from her muscles to the palm of her hand, Katsumi quickly aimed and shot a non-lethal volt towards the villain.

Meanwhile, Yori used one hand to cover his mouth as he used his wings to boost himself towards FeO. He shot multiple needles at her as he landed nearby, the needles moving quickly as if honing in on her.

Ren took care to stop the shredded chairs from hitting any of the hostages and his eyes shot a shine. He smirked to himself as he pulled each piece of chair back. Clumping the pieces together into two, his hands lifted as he motioned them forward again. As he did this, his spear found it’s way up, using movement like this was not easy and Ren had to take deep breaths to avoid showing the strain too much. As the chair clumps attacked the villain, his spear spun back into play from behind. Faster and faster as it was pulled from the place it had been tossed over to and between hitting the villain and returning to Ren. The chairs took their part in the attack, but Ren’s focus was more on his spear returning to him and hopeful striking the villain from behind then if the chair clumps hit their mark. When the spear was closer he could let momentum finish the spin while he made sure the pieces were in his control throughout the whole thing. It was hard to control and he was not going to be able to use his Telekinesis for a minute or two, as his mind recovered. But he would have something to make sure that he wasn’t at the mercy of this villain.

As the pair switch targets, Watermeister is caught off guard and even if it were toned to a lower setting the sudden charge of energy zapped at a man surrounded in water, or with water based animals and abilities, a man who was hovering with the power of his water, went slightly better than one would expect. That being to say, he was shocked with the full voltage as the water carried it over and around him, threw his constructs and into his water hovering feet, jerking a bit as his hair stood up, the water splashed and flared wildly as he crumbled to the ground, still alive but in no position to fight, smoking a bit from his clothes.

Elsewhere the Feo and Yori fight would play out as poorly for her as it had her partner in crime. While she could solidify the steal at points, when it was being used as a mist and redefined, the needles went through the cloud of mist, as ultimately that was all it was, rust, a large collection of rust that ate away at metal around it, it was as effective as hiding in a smoke grenade. People couldn’t see you, but they very well could hit you. And so they did, strands of needle like, what were they? Hair? Feathers? She wasn’t sure, but she knew it hurt, it hurt bad as they stabbed into her knee and shoulder, she quickly fell on on leg, clutching the other as it bleed out, screaming and yelling she curses. “DAMMIT! FUCK! I GIVE! Get it out!”

That left the two that were currently fighting. Carbon Shock and Tribal.

On the side of Hideki, his temperature was enough to get her attention, but the lack of force did little more then force her to draw back. “He.. Hot stuff heh? Fraid heat won’t be good enough. But hey, only two more of you here and the fourth is still doing all of this..Otherwise I’ll just surrender , but a fight would be nice, see what you can do, ehh?”

Inside of the structure, Tribal stands his ground though he takes a hit to the back, it was not enough to deal with him, however he had had enough, moving his tattoos towards some of the hostages the tribal claw marks pointing at them. “Show yourself, coward!” He says out loud for all to hear.

Ren caught his spear and moved to view, "Strategy and cowardice have often been mistaken for one another." He twisted his spear and lowered his body in a stance that showed he was ready to fight. "Cowards hide behind others. As do losers. So, which are you? A coward or a loser? Or are you going to play with me?" He teased. "I rarely get to have this kind of fun." He needed an opening and whether this villain took the bait or not, he had his spear it was all he needed. And if he had to, he had a plan.


Hideki would watch as his attack hit Carbon Shock, while it was hot it wasn’t that forceful so it only forced her back a bit. That would be an attack that Hideki would have to work on if he wanted it to be as strong as a dragon breath. Hideki was able to see out of the corner of his eye that it appeared both Katsumi and Yori had defeated their new opponents.

” Good job you guys, head into the bank and try and evacuate the hostages. This woman here is only concerned with a good fight she doesn’t care about the bank robbery or hostages. I can hold her off out here. Also see if you can get a hold of MoonShawdow I’m a bit worried about him. Now go!”

Hideki didn’t want to give Carbon Shock any time to breathe as he quickly blasted off a few fire attacks right at her.

Katsumi knew water and lightning did not mix at all; it was quite obvious. But watching as her ability completely incapacitated the man made her eyes widen. He was burnt and his hair stood in all directions, but from where she was she couldn’t really tell if he was alive or not.

She moved in closer to the man, gently placing two fingers on his neck where his pulse would be. Then, let out a sigh of relief when she felt that his heart was still beating.

“Seems I’ve overdone it.” She commented.

Meanwhile, Yori was pleased to see one of the main people giving them problems was down for the count. She seemed to be panicking as she lost movement in her leg and shoulder. Hell, he would be too if some hero suddenly paralyzed him.

“Hey, relax.” He told her. “It’s temporary, but it’ll go by faster after the police arrest you.”

Both Katsumi and Yori received their next orders, acknowledged it and quickly moved towards the building.

“MoonShadow, do you copy?” Yori spoke into the headset. “We’ve got the situation outside handled. We’re moving in to help you.”


“And so you show yourself, Mentalist.” Tribal says of Ren, or rather his ability, redirecting his tattoos at the spear armed hero, he sends a near full force attack for the other, aiming for his arms and legs, it seemed he still did not want to kill anyone at least. “I’ll be going out that door once I put you aside, your friends can have the bloody hostages.” He says with his eyes on the back entrance that Ren took.


Ren smirked as he used his spear to block as many of the villain's attacks. A few got through, Ren was fast with his spear but without his telekinesis there was no way he was going to be able to block them all. He managed to defend himself enough not to be in too much pain. "I'm not moving unless you kill me. So, why don't you let them go so this can be a true fight." Ren retorted. He heard Yori on comms, "I'm in the bank." Was all he said so they knew he was already there. Last thing he needed was to distract them in their fight. He had to hold back a lot because of the hostages. This guy wanted to get past him, he was going to have to do a lot more than bleed Ren. It was clear this villain didn't have a stomach for death, but under Ren's outfit, he could feel each hit that he missed would leave a bruise. Few and far between didn't make them hurt less. Just a little longer, and he could avoid overweening his quirk and use it freely again.

Listening to him going on about her plan, she looks at the other two who were down and out as she smiles a bit. “Well fuck it all, ain’t I just kind to let you all do as you please ehh?” Rolling her shoulders she smirks a bit. “Way I see it, if I can thump you here and now, then I can just waltz on out of here, lest you're generous enough to turn the other way.” Grinning at that she meets his firepower with her own, punching the flames were able to cause shockwaves to disrupt them, though they were getting to her bit by bit. She betrays no sign of this as she smiles at him. “You don’t have what it takes to beat me.”


” Well don’t worry about them, your fight is with me. If you can beat me you’re going to be able to get away from here. The rest of my team is going to be inside the bank. It’s a shame though, someone like you with your quirk should be a hero. You love to fight right? Well as a hero you fret to fight all the time. Plus you don’t have to worry about going to jail.”

Hideki watched as his fire attacks were punched away by Carbon Shock. Hideki wasn’t sure if she was starting to take any damage or not, but regardless he was going to do what he had to to take her down. What Hideki knew about Carbon material was that it could take some heat, but after enough heat even carbon would not be able to handle it. ” Don’t think I can take you down huh? Well let’s just find out shall we.”

Hideki lit up his right hand and forcefully shot a huge stream of fire right at Carbon Shock. This attack was the hottest and strongest Hideki had thrown out so far. Plus he wasn’t stopping, he was going to keep going with this line of fire until she was down and out. ” Let’s see if you can handle all of this heat!”

Yori and Katsumi rushed into the bank following Ren’s word, quickly finding their classmate, the villain, and the hostages.

“Corvus, extract the hostages. I will assist MoonShadow in any way I can." Katsumi instructed the man, who nodded once and hurried to do his task.

Katsumi would then rush to Ren's aid, her electricity at the ready as Yori moved to each hostage. He saw that none of them were tied, much to his confusion, but he didn’t question it. Instead he would round them up and begin leading them outside, staying close in case they needed protection.

Ren saw them enter and lead the hostages out and smirked, his shield went up, “Just in time.” he said, letting go of his spear. “Let’s see how much of this you can really take.” he said. He had been in defense the whole time, but with the hostages being taken out, Ren had one thing on his mind. He clenched his fist and pulled it back as his shield pulled back. As it did, his spear moved to block the tattoos more effectively then he had. He pulled his shield around his fist as it pulled back and aimed it. He pushed the air, forcing the pressure of his shield to fly right at the villain’s chest, as he chased after his own attack towards it. It wasn’t a long distance, but he was going to take away as much distance as he could get, his spear moving with him, keeping his tattoos at bay, fewer getting through then when Ren was using his spear to block. When he was close enough he used his pressure shield again, to aim a blunt but stronger force of a punch at the villain’s face.

As Hideki faces off against Carbon Shock she laughs a little bit at his words. “Me? A hero? Heh, wonder about that.” Laughing once more she holds her arms wide open and braces her legs.

“Fine! Let’s see what is stronger! My resolve or yours!”

As his steady and powerful barrage of flame shot forth and impacted against her body, her Carbon Fiber skin was strong and flexible, maybe even better than her mother’s hard armor, but for now it did nothing to help as the flames bit by bit become too much and eventually, rather than burning she passes out from heat exhaustion, falling forward as she did so, though causing Hideki to drain himself a bit in the process. It seemed he had won this exchange, though the woman played along with his ploy, though judging by the fact she had learned from her fight with Mari’s team, maybe she would learn from this as well and give up her previous ways.

But that was a question for another time.

Meanwhile inside of the bank Tribal grinned a bit no matter how they moved that spear it was still an attack along a single vector, he could bend and twist his tattoos to stab out and around objects, as the “shield” came in close, he had more problems adjusting as the closer it got as more of his attacks were blocked or diverted, still with the arrival of the other two, the freeing of the hostages and the lack of backup, he weighs his chances and simply holds his hands up as the fist hits him, he shakes it off and holds his jaw while smiling.

“The Lawyers will make sure that comes out of my sentence. You all win. I can’t fight three on one.”

It was clear that he would not change his ways from this, but at least he would be off the streets, unless they wanted to shut him up, his smug look of indifference faded away as time went on, replaced with a look of resignation.

And with that, the bank robbery came to a close, the police had also arrived judging by the sirens. It was now on the four senior students to regroup.

Ren glared at him, as he paused. He gave up, seriously? He clenched his fist, as he looked at the villain, “I hope you get out soon. Tigers don’t change their stripes and next time, I will make sure to match your attacks.” he promised, before he sighed, looking to Katsumi and pulling his spear back into his hand, before he sheathed it, “Thanks for showing up. Sorry I was late.” he told her before he motioned the villain to move towards the exit with the rest of them. He wasn’t going to lose track of him, but he wasn't going to just expect him to move to the police on his own.

When he meet up with the others all together he bowed, “I apologize. Helping the old man took a lot longer than I thought it would and I ended up taking a strange turn, while trying to make up the time. Ended up at the exit of the bank.” he explained. He didn’t try to be late, but protecting one was just as important as protecting a group, so it wasn't like he was going to be able to ignore the old man. At the same time, he would understand if they were angry, he took a bit of time and had cost them some time of their own.

Hideki would use most of the energy he had left as he shot a huge and steady flame attack at Carbon Shock. The villain’s carbon fiber skin did well to hold up against the barrage of flames. Eventually though she would pass out from heat exhaustion. Hideki would pant for a moment as he fell to one knee. The boy was doing his best to gain back some energy. ” Well looks like my resolve is stronger.” Hideki continued to pant and catch his breath. He was happy with the outcome of his fight but he knows he needs to improve. Hideki still looking over at Carbon Shock who was now on the ground. ” You put up a good fight and made me realize I need to be stronger. Thank you for that. After you do your time and pay for your crimes, I hope you change your ways.”

Hideki was about to get on the radio when he saw the rest of his squad coming out of the bank. It appeared that all of the hostages were safe and didn’t appear to be hurt. Hideki was also surprised to see MoonShawdow come out of the bank as well.

Hideki stood up as he gathered with his team, the cops had now arrived and were starting to take the four criminals away plus take statements from the hostages. Hideki looked over at Ren as he told his story. ” Well I would have liked for you to get her sooner, but I understand what you did. In the end it worked out.” Hideki was really happy and proud of his team. There were some things that they all could have done better, but this situation seemed to turn out well. Hideki looked around at his group. ” Good job everyone, we were able to take down four villains that were on our watch list and were able to save all of the hostages. After we give statements to the police we will keep patrolling the area. I’m very happy and proud with how this all played out though.”
 
After much debate, the police had authorized the release of one of the escaped vehicles used in the supply grab primarily thwarted by the first Team Amano venture. After much depth of research, not much was discovered from it, but there were peculiar traces of elements and dirt samples on it. Thus it would be seeing a much more thorough investigation through a specialized Anvil sector for analysis, and a quirk scrub via their special investigator branch. The students were in fact escorted by Anvil to the sight. There was a big unmarked semi-truck uploading the van on the police sight with a via non conscripted police vehicles that would play vanguard and a few others ahead that would be carrying the samples collected. Of course, no ones has expected anything of this, or anyone to attack trying to steal/destroy the evidence, but given the oddity of the timing of attacks, it was by Anvils behest this be taken cautiously.

Team Amano was also given the directive to immediately group up, and follow the orders of Sergeant Fivashi the Anvil lead on the transport to Anvil HQ. Agi himself was rather alright taking orders from Amano, and with the team dynamics in general he literally had combing strategies, and work styles with all members included Amon, Rosalie, and Amano were people he could work off of easy. However…

“I feel uneasy having another mission involving a big vehicle,” Agi blunted spoke out of the blue as they neared the police garage.

Rosalie hummed softly, shaking her head. "I get what you mean. Missions weren't exactly easy with the last class," she admitted, giving Agi a soft smile. "Then again, we weren't a team last time we had missions! So things are already looking up~" she gave Agi a little grin. "Wouldn't ya say, big guy?"

It was true for her at least. People on a team with others whom she could rely on were making her feel more at ease. She glanced at the others, Amon and Amano. "It's good to see you again Amano." She was prepared to follow the others' leads as they'd already worked together in the field. "Ah! And Amon, was it? It's good to meet you!" It was an unfortunate disadvantage for her. She was a relative newbie with this class. Though... that wasn't really saying much.

“Yep, that’s me, Amon, Deakaha Amon, I think I’ve seen you before at Ketsubusu, Rosalie-san.” Amon had some memory of the girl, though she was more or less just a passerby in his life. Agi had mentioned her a few times and he had seen her at school occasionally, though the connection was nowhere near deep. He offered her a handshake with a smile.

“Amano-chan is a capable leader, I think we’ll be just fine.” He added, trying to reassure the others, especially Agi who seemed a little irked at the whole situation.

Amano, who had finished getting a rundown from the Anvil agents, returned to her party. “Right, well then I think it’s important to note a few things.” She wanted to get the official stuff out of the way first. “This vehicle was stolen recently, as you know, by a group of villains who were working together. We believe them to be affiliated and coordinating with many of the other villains from the other attacks’ last assignment. Be prepared, as this could easily be an ambush, and even if it wasn’t they may meet us there to prevent further analysis of it. Keep an eye out for a large middle-aged man. Bald, with a comically large mustache, and apparently smells like boiled eggs. His name is Doctor Mobius. His quirk allows him to manipulate machinery, making him perhaps the most dangerous villain to encounter here. Outside of that, keep an eye on anyone else suspicious.” She pressed a button of her container, causing a Mnemu tube to release and activating it. She pulled a piece off of it for everyone here. “This is all the information we have on everyone we encountered last mission. I highly suggest merging it with your memories.”

With the more official talk out of the way, she stood up and turned to face where they were going. “Right, so as far as we know there is no evidence of bombs or cut brake lines or any other sabotage.” She pumped her fist and gave a shout, trying to pep everyone here up. “Alright, let’s do this! Everyone ready to get going?”

“Ya that’s a bit comforting,” Agi admitted patting Rosalie on the shoulder giving a thumbs up though still mulling over his head if this was a good idea to move it rather than like say teleport it, but the likelihood of someone able to teleport something so big was unlikely.

“I have no doubt on Amano’s leading skills just my luck with vehicles,” Agi corrected Amon as the double-decker bus ensured he would never get on a bus again.

“Would be strange as the police found nothing, but maybe something more unusually can be pulled by the Anvil team,” Agi shrugged as someone with long green hair in strangely winter attire walked up to them.

“Yosh you must be the Suppression kids right A pleasure to meetcha. I am Sergeant Fivashi I am lead on this little transport should be easy sailing, but react as needed unless directed otherwise our priority is getting the rig, and samples to HQ. Though if something happens it’s to control the damage. Aight good. You must be the team lead correct,” she directed herself to Amano.

“You can decide which of your members are where. I want you with the truck driver given your skill type, and if separation comes to exist you’ll have a line you can still talk through to your team to assist you. As for the rest of your team disperse them among the other vehicles as you wish or with you. Ill is in the lead truck if you have anything to report do so immediately,” she motioned handing them all a walkie-talkie to keep lines with Anvil.

"Ah yeah," Rosalie smiled, taking Amon's hand to shake. "I remember wanting to get to know you better. Your quirk is really cool!" She chimed cheerfully before pulling her hand back. "If we're lucky, everything goes off without a hitch~" She added, further reassurance, though this time a bit more for herself than Agi. She was a little nervous after all.

Luckily, Amano came to give a briefing of the situation. Rosalie nodded along, trying to follow along. Then, Amano gave each of them a small piece of Mnemu. "Hm..." she looked at the little thing in her hand before shrugging. She'd experience this before. She'd known Amano for a long time after all. Mnemu was cute. And this was far less invasive than others might consider. To her anyway. It was a good way to give information fast.

"Right~" Was all she said before doing as instructed to merge the memories. She couldn't afford to be at a further disadvantage after all.

Although, as things continued, a thought occurred. "If there is a chance of ambush..." She tried to think of what her mother or father would do. "Shouldn't we give the truck one more look over? See if anything was missed ourselves before beginning transport?" If there was anything to find, wouldn't it be best to give it a quick once over? Especially when they had Mnemu and Agi's Nanos, which would likely be more thorough than any one person could be.

"A stolen vehicle...hmm." Amon sat back and crossed his arms. Perhaps the tingling feeling that ran down his spine was about that. He always had a particular affiliation with thieves, as strange as that might sound.

So that was who Goto fought while we were apprehending the others… "We still have no idea of the enemy's motivation, or the scope of their operations, if there were the possibility of an ambush, it's best if we set this up as a trap. Perhaps ANVIL or the police are using this vehicle...and us, as bait to obtain more information." He said while tapping the tip of his tail on the ground, sounding fairly serious. Though in a few seconds Amon opened his eyes and smiled, returning his voice to its usual cheeriness. "Ah, I'm not too good with this sort of thing, haha, just guessing around."

At the mention Rosalie had about searching the truck, Amano nodded in agreement. “You’re absolutely right.” She looked at what was recently released, placing it back in its tube and into her canister, then pulled out another one, releasing it just as the first had been “Search the truck for anything strange.” The ooze of course said nothing and made its way back to the truck to get a better look. She then turned to Agi, who was visibly a little nervous. “Well Mr. Tech Scion, are you feeling up to running diagnostics on the truck before we go?”

She also had to give some thought to who would be traveling with them. Rosalie could best work at a distance. Agi, though being more effective in mid-range combat, had a lot more maneuverability in tight spaces. As for Amon, he’d pretty well relegated to the mid-close range with his tail. He also would need room for his constructs. The back of the truck seemed like the best place for him right now. She turned to the woman. She remembered hearing that name in passing from her brother, Ryu. “Sergeant Fivashi, I want Rosalie to take the rear, Agi will take the front, and Amon will be on me.” She looked back at everyone else in her group. “Does that work for all of you?”

“Actually I have a bit of an idea tinkering what if we have Mnemu, and a batch of my Nanos with the truck investigating it while moving. Allows us to search it, and move at the same time, and leaves a surprise for anyone who tries to break in,” Agi suggested taking an extra walkie-talkie that a collective of his Nanos scoped up, and headed straight into the semi bed immediately starting to crawl into every crevice and crack they could find. Sgt Fivashi little tapped her forearm before nodding.

“Alright get your slime in the truck Diva Vu. Everyone gear up and roll out,” the Anvil leader shouted as everyone got to their perspective truck, and started to head off into the open. As Agi got into one of the leading vehicles he checked comms with his teammates.

“Hey, you all be careful alright,” he motioned on the comms as Sgt Fivashi started to drive them onto the streets.

Amano was busy checking her systems. Everything seemed nominal. Her biggest concern now was knowing that Doctor Mobius had control of machines. If her oozes were trapped she'd be out of luck. She opened up another container on the passenger side and released it. She needed a backup. "We're trusting you, Ion Storm. Keep your Nanos on high alert for anything suspicious."

Now all she could do was wait. "Jabberwocky, how's the ride from the trailer?" She asked him just wanting to make sure he was feeling okay, and that they had a connection from inside the truck. As for Rosalie… "Cherry Bomb, I trust you're able to not blow up the road too much." She chuckled a little, mostly to indicate that she was joking.

“Nothing suspicious, Diva-san.” The back trailer’s interior was nothing out of the ordinary, though one unusual thing was a red thread-like pattern that sprawled out on the walls and ground. They all converged in one place: where Amon was sitting. Although not as distant as Agi nor Amano, he had his own system for detecting unusual going on, and laying traps. The thin red constructs served as a medium for any interceptive maneuvers. “I’ll keep on alert and report any irregularities.”

“No worries there,” Rosalie replied to Amano with a small grin. “Cherry Bomb’s set to stun, captain~” she added, giving a little salute before wishing everyone a quick “Good luck!” as she got to her own vehicle. In the event that she needed to fight, it was best if she was hands-free. So, she was riding in the passenger seat. She fiddled with her walkie-talkie a bit, humming to herself.

In truth, Rosalie was still feeling the nerves a bit herself. But she wasn’t about to let that get in her way. Plus, they were slowly being overtaken by excitement and confidence in her comrades. “I’m counting on all of you. And don’t forget, I’ve got your backs too!” She chimed into the walkie, wanting to give one more bout of encouragement before they set off. It was encouraging in and of itself that her idea had been listened to and acted on. Not only that, Agi had managed to improve on it a bit as well. She was feeling more confident with each passing moment.

As the ride took off, the first third was pretty peaceful, nothing much to note as for a moment a rather eccentrically big biker gang started to come into the scene from behind. Slowly they started catching up to the vanguard vehicles Rosalie herself would be the first to see them slowly encroaching.

“Oye everyone look alive. Potential problems coming from behind,” An Anvil agent reported.

“Yosh. Everyone alive there are local biker gangs in this area. Do not react unless given reason to,” Sgt Fivashi called out as Agi looked out his window.

“Anything sketchy Cherry Bomb,” he asked, unable to see much from this front angle. Over at her side, the bikers would appear like a rather normal group of young adults just taking a group ride. However, there were obviously quite a few looking at her rig and a few of the others very concerningly. Yet there was no sign of attack; it was now turning rather eerily as a turn down a lane saw more motorcycles joining the gang. Now quite the size of a legit full biker gang.

As this was going on Amon would hear Agis nanobytes buzzing out of the blue as they started to collect, and rattle a bit opening the top of the van inside the semi. Swirling like a motioned control they started to adjust some parts signaling Mnemu to enter a particular pipe that was congested with oils that would gunk them up too easily.

From Amano’s semi rig two very unique-looking bikes started to pass by one a futuristic dark purple carrying a rather sleekly uniquely stylized biker with no jacket, and what could be more described as a dress shirt appeared on the driver’s side. The other on Amanos side was a hot pink blazer designed with hilariously an idol picture of Yori stamped on it carrying what appeared to be two females both completely covered in yellow jumpsuits.

“Steady everyone,” Sgt Fivoshi said over the line as there was a rise in tension in the air.

Amano looked out her window. It was clear they were being targeted. Her biggest concern now was ensuring no one got hurt. However, right now they still had the chance to get as many people out of the way as possible. “I have no doubt this will end in a fight, but let's work as hard as we can to ensure we can minimize the damages. Fivashi, can you find if there are any roads currently closed that we can take?” With so many people on their tail, Rosalie would be a boon for certain. They just need her to let loose without too much collateral damage. They also needed to make an escape route for them. Amano spoke to her team through the comms.

“We’re being surrounded by a group of bikers. Rosalie, focus on defense and ensuring your vehicle has a straight shot at the rear of the truck in case you need an escape route. Amon, you’ll be that route. Do you think your tail can make a ramp for a car to drive up? As for you Agi, use your Nanos to slow them down and keep them from overtaking us. We can’t let them get in front of us. We need to control where we’re heading and we can not let them take control of that.” She took charge of her team, her usual more bubbly attitude taking a break as she tried her best to think of every possible outcome. Right now her concern was making sure they could shake their assailants and ensure no one gets harmed.

“Understood, I’ll get right to it~.” Amon tapped the earpiece as he listened to Amano’s instructions, the red threads that entangled the interior of the vehicle began to converge into one single thick thread. The red line went from Amon’s position to the back of the trailer as he fiddled around with the controls a bit, soon throwing open the back door.

The back bumper of the truck glowed red as he made preparations to generate the ramp in question, though looking at their pursuers on bikes, Amon felt a bit concerned for their flexibility. He pushed back some of the strands of hair in his eyes as the wind from the movement blew them around, Amon fixed his gaze on the car that Rosalie was in, gauging the size of its body, wheels, and speed carefully. “Cherry-san, I’m ready to receive at any time, start closing distance, I’ll follow your pace.”

Rosalie was quite enjoying the peaceful ride, eyes flickering from scene to scene as the window provided varying images for her entertainment. She was content to watch the ongoings of her surroundings until said surroundings were flooded with bikers. That in and of itself was an interesting screening, but she knew this couldn’t be coincidental. Something was up.

“For the moment, you know what I know big guy,” she replied to Agi, refusing to let her nerves get the best of her. “I’m counting a lot of bikers. Maybe 10 or so that I can see immediately.” She hummed checking the mirrors, relying on the ANVIL agent driving her as she tried to get an accurate read on the situation. “Maybe 16 or so altogether, give or take. No… 18? Grrr their all buzzing around like flies!”

Amano was quick to begin planning, and Amon followed orders to a T. Rosalie grinned thinking they’d be out of the woods in no time, but that wasn’t the case. She fiddled with a few marble-like objects in her hand, huffing as she directed the agent to try speeding up to the safety of the rig before them only to have their escape cut off by two bikers. “I don’t think defense is gonna be an option much longer Diva Vu,” she mentioned into the comms. It was coming. She could feel it. The marbles in her hand began to glow as she prepared for the worst. She was filled with worry, nerves, but excitement as well. She wasn’t the kind of girl who’d let fear cripple her after all.

Right as Cherry Bomb made her statement a blast of violet-like plasma smacked hard against the semi’s cabin basking primarily at the driver’s side as a sudden loud thunk could be heard on the vehicle followed by something apparently crashing out in the distance.

“Amano invader on the truck bed Amon watch out for potential attacks,”,” Agi called in hissing as he watched the attack play out from the male biker ballsingly using some sort of energy blast to make his jump. Rosalie would watch horribly as one of the vanguard trucks got disabled and flipped onto its side by the abandoned bike with that reaction enacted the bikers started to slam into the rigs with the two bikers in front now aiming to drive right up the ramp Amon had created.

“Anvil HQ we are under attack I repeat we are under attack the package has been prompted to priority any hero, or anvil in vicinity aid in biker dismantlement,” Sgt Fivoshi reported as she started to slow her truck aiming to get to the side allowing the other two trucks to take point.

As this was happening the two girls on the Yori bike jumped off latching onto the truck cabin door on Amano’s side smashing in the window as one jumped through, and proceed to fight for control from the driver as the other grabbed Amano wrestling to pull her out of the vehicle.

Rosalie herself would see her window bashed in by a baton as the bikers were now aiming to fuck up the vanguard vehicles out of commission. With some pulling out spiked batons clearly aiming to dismantle the tires themselves as they drove a bit away to rev towards in force.

Amon would find his wait till ramp tactics fruitless as the two bikers ahead of Cherry Bomb drive up and jumped off onto the semi bed leaving their bikes to become suicide bombs to potentially hinder Rosalie, or the other rigs. The two took out spiked batons and rushed to attack Amon immediately.

“Diva Vu where do you want your calvary piece,” Sgt Fivoshi asked debating where to have Agi jump off to assist.

Just like that, it had begun. Rosalie grits her teeth. "You guys are ruining this drive," she growled just before a baton came crashing through her window. "Ah!" She shielded her eyes from potential harm before shaking her head. "If you wanted to talk to me that bad, you could have just asked. There are much better ways to get a girl's attention," she joked, trying to keep up an air of confidence as she threw the now charged marbles out the window.

At first, it would seem like a measly attempt at tripping up the bikers. Then, the marbles would begin to explode with impressive force under their wheels. "You speed up. Hit the gas and ram through anything in the way!" she ordered the ANVIL agent driving her vehicle. He didn't seem nervous, but he was certainly not as calm as one might hope. Luckily for Rosalie' the bikers had leaped from their bikes. She didn't feel as bad about crashing through the suicide bomber vehicles now. Swerving would only put them in more danger.

Amano could tell that Rosalie was in serious trouble. If they couldn’t get her inside, these bikers would cause some serious issues. Over the earpiece she called out to Amon “The keyword to activate Mnemu's attack mode is ‘Juxtapose.’ Sick it on the bikers there. He should gum up the works. Agi, we need you in the back to knock them off Rosalie's car.”

That meant it would be up to Amano to fend off against the bikers in front of them. She hit another button on her gear case, releasing what looked like a small pistol. She reached into her ear and pulled out a string of mnemu, feeding it into a unique slot on the gun. This couldn’t deal damage directly, but she had given it instructions to obscure vision and interrupt the mechanism of the motorcycles. The pistol fired with compressed air, making it incredibly quiet all things considered. She took aim at one of the two females upfront, aiming to cover up her vizor with ooze

“Good grief, I knew this would happen.” Crimson eyes darkened a bit as Amon heard the raving of the engines and more. He didn’t fault Amano’s decision to open the door and have Rosalie rendezvous with them, but any method they can provide for Rosalie to regroup with them would necessarily invite the enemies in as well. At least this wasn’t anything they can’t handle yet. As the two attackers came into the interior of the trailer, it was clear that they didn’t notice the glowing red stripe that ran down the middle of the floor. It blended in nicely with the craft’s overall aesthetic.

So they have weapons, interesting. The presence of weapons didn’t really mean much, it’s either that the attacks didn’t have quirks fit for this sort of assault, or that the weapons work in tandem with said quirk.

Snap-

Two soft snapping sounds can be heard echoing in the chamber, though they were quirkily drowned out by the commotion. The attackers who were rushing in had trespassed upon the traps Amon laid, as the flat red stripe came alive and ensnared both of them by the leg. Jagged, bear trap-like constructs clamped down hard on the calves of the attackers, carving deep into the flesh and clearly aiming to draw blood.

“Juxtapose. Make sure they don’t pursue me.” While dashing past the entrapped attackers Amon gave the order relayed to him by Amano. He grew the constructs more, deepening the leg wounds.

As Amano shot her own attack to blind the visor it earned more of a chuckle as a young femininely hyper voice responded while wrestling for Amano’s gun.

“I think we better take this serious sis,” she bubble laughed opening her visor as the suit went completely empty as a massive collection of orange slime came out latching onto Amano almost developing her in her seat as the gunked visor, and the girl’s suit went flying away.

“Ohhh hello miss we will be taking control of this big rig yep, and it would be wise to just let it happen,” the orange slime requested as the upper half of a gooey female emerged with a raised finger and a nod to her own instructions to Amano.

“Resistance is futile,” the one attacking the driver spoke as it followed in suit revealing a more cosmic purple-colored slime that started to suffocate the driver with a more emotionless voice.

Amano was caught off guard by the sudden soft voice calling from the orange slime currently smothering her. This was a problem. Usually, the ooze was far more cooperative than this, but now she was in the same situation many of her opponents had been. Tearing away the ooze usually wouldn't be an issue in her usual situation, but now she needed a way to get her off. Ugh… She hated doing this…

Mnemu was connected to her sinuses, not just her ears… Which meant that he could be released from a few other places. She kept her mouth shut, not wanting to let the ooze from her assailant enter inside, but her mouth began filling with something it hadn't in a very long time. Meanwhile, she felt the building pressure in her nostrils and tear ducts. These girls no doubt had some sort of Semi-permeable membrane just as Mnemu did, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to hold complex shapes. In other words, he could keep them out, and give her a more agreeable purchase to hold on to.

Meanwhile, she reached for her canister. These girls were most likely more than 70 percent water. In other words, they should be susceptible to cold-based attacks. Her canister had a flash freeze chamber for Mnemu. While nothing directly offensive, she knew she could use the liquid nitrogen in it to stave off attacks. She just needed to get her hand on that chamber.

In one fluid motion, she opened her mouth as the pinkish-grey ooze flooded out of each orifice on her face, forcing itself between Amano’s assailant and its master. She shoved her hand underneath her own ooze and threw it out the window, coughing at the feeling of something being pulled from her sinuses. It was a good thing she had prepared several other oozes on the floor of the cab. "Mnemu, cover the window!" The ooze quickly reached up and spread itself as a membrane across the open window on her side.

She then grabbed her canister and opened the nitrogen compartment. "Fivashi-san please bear with me!" She took a knife from her belt and cut the line. The sudden rush of freezing liquid struck her ooze at the window, causing it to stiffen and hibernate, creating a solid surface on the window. She moved the hose to the other side, pinching it closed with all her might.

"Ngh!" She shoved her hand into the purple slime's membrane with as much force as she could muster, wincing at the frigid temperatures quickly freezing her own skin.

Without warning the orange slime girl released a loud “eep” as she was thrown out by an unexpected force of pink slime it seemed the two twins were not the only slime girls in town at the moment. Latching onto whatever she could the Orange slime girl huffed at the rude surprise as she started to slither about getting on top of the semi as she proceeded to seep into the cracks.

Inside the vehicle though the purple twin was having a much harder time as she let out an enraged scream as Amano literally triggered a psychotic rupture of nitrate inside her body causing it to solidify fast. Yet before it could reach her human have she separated splitting from her more gelatinous half as it shatters luckily freeing Sgt Fivoshi who in frustration ripped a glove off pointing at the other half of the slime as a pressure blast of heated steam erupted slamming the purple slime into the walling forcing her to stay in place.

“Diva Vu the other ones trying to get back in,” the Sgt hissed as oozing orange slime started to exit out the cracks. The Anvil operative wouldn’t be able to keep the pressure on the purple one for long especially with still driving the big rig.

This was problematic. They were trapped in tight spaces, and if there was even a tiny crack in anything, they could make their way inside again, and then they’re stuck in slime once again. If she had to hazard a guess, she figured these girls were much like other Amoebic life forms. They would have small skeletal-esque organelles inside that allows for the locomotion of their other organelles. They would likely also have a nucleus, which would likely be needed for regeneration, housing all their genetic make-up. But what she needed to do was to stop them from getting in. A base would dissolve the cell membrane, at least causing enough damage to get them to retreat. But that would require quite a long amount of exposure.

She had already run this test on Mnemu, remembering the jar of ammonia she left him in. Something of his size took almost 5 hours to really break down completely. Still, it would likely hurt them, and make them think twice about forcing their way inside. But the only base she could realistically think of right now was gasoline, and… Ha! How ironic.

“There should likely be a bottle of antifreeze here somewhere…” Her container of nitrate was empty now. It had done its duty. Not to mention, she didn’t have much of Mnemu left to help out. Still, almost any truck driver would keep a bottle of antifreeze in easy access just in case. She looked at the floor and under the dash. Nothing. It was difficult while moving, but thank god truck cabs were so roomy. She barely managed to squeeze to the side of the seat, and found a bottle of that sweet, sweet and incredibly deadly liquid.

“Sorry Mnemu, I don’t have much else of a choice.” She pulled out the last bit of her ooze she could muster. It wouldn’t last her much longer. She shoved the last bit of Mnemu into the bottle, closed the cap and shook it up. Then she picked up her air pistol and poured some into the intake pipe.

She peeled off the frozen layer of Mnemu from the window, peaking out and firing at the orange slime point blank with a blob of antifreeze-soaked Mnemu. “I’m really sorry about this!” She shouted, knowing there was no way this could be a pleasant feeling.

Rather instantly the orange girl started to scream in some rather unladylike words as she reeled back her slime trails flopping like a fish onto the cargo container. Unpleasant was clearly more a lower-tier term than what that slime girl was feeling. Yet karma always played itself out as Amano would have a purple slime rope around her neck as she was pulled straight to the back of the compartment area. Sgt Fivoshi’s jet stream had run out of juice, and the woman had to pull her full attention back on the road as she veered, and dodged some in-coming traffic. Once Amano was close the purple slime picked her up and slammed her into the ground making sure that air gun could be directed her way as Amano’s firing arm was fought for in a large vat of purple slime.

“You did as best as you could,” the purple slime spoke before open mouth kissing Amano as she filled her mouth with her own slime looking to suffocate the girl rather gruesomely into an unconscious state.

Amano struggled as she was engulfed by the slime girl. The color of her form was actually quite beautiful, but that wasn't something she could really appreciate right then. The kiss from her assailant caught her off guard. And then exactly what she had expected began to happen as the girl filled Amano with her own biomass. It was a disgusting feeling that made her gag and choke. Or at least try to. Amano desperately grasped for something around her, eyes welling with tears, less from sorrow and fear and more from discomfort from having her body violated like this. She had exhausted all her options now. If she had just planned a bit better then maybe she wouldn't be about to perish in such a hideous way. It hurt so bad. Her lungs being filled with this foreign substance.

I can't let it end like this!

The scientist of the tried and true scientific theory had done well in keeping them alive and on the road so far. But now she needed a little crazier. An experiment in a way. She felt her hand touch a familiar presence. Still a little cold to the touch, and more solid than usual, was a shattered bit of Mnemu she froze earlier. There was a little bit of antifreeze left in the bottle too. It wouldn’t be enough to stop either Mnemu or the girl on her back, but it would help defrost him quicker. She kicked the container over onto her ooze pieces, picked a handful up, shoving them inside with significant force.

The pink slime sat still inside her, slowly warming up. However, he was inert from being frozen. He just needed a few stimuli. She reached to her canister and pulled out her shock baton, letting it spark to life and thrusting it into the ooze girl as well shocking not just her violator, but herself as well

The Mnemu pieces woke and began moving around their new environment, engulfing some of the organelles inside the ooze girl, likely enough of an emergency to warrant an immediate reaction.

“GAHHHH,” the purple slime immediately went into convulsions as the mnemu agent inside her combined with the electrical shot and antifreeze caused her to get off Amano and start slamming all-around before as she got right in front of the window.

“Finally,” Sgt Fivoshi had recharged enough heat to let out a particular strong jetstream of heat at the blob sending her right out the window clearing them of the danger. “Are you alright Diva Vu,” she asked turning around to the girl for a moment as she continued to drive.

Amano hacked and coughed. It was like the worst case of pneumonia she ever had. She stood up, sitting herself upright and placing a hand on her chest. In a raspy and pained voice, Amano looked up at Fivashi. "She's a terrible kisser…"

In extreme screams, the two bikers hilariously were brought down rathe fast trying to free their legs as Mnemu proceeds to slap them around quite a bit for a rather comical display of two people getting bear trapped and getting rather easily detained by a slime. However, what Amon would not be ready for was for a fast-paced bright light energy swing as a more dress-attired male… female… was rather hard to discern gender as Amon was kicked back by the flipping-in attacker. Rather quickly the biker took off their helmet bashing it into Amon’s head like a club forcing the tailed boyo further back as they extended a handout.

“Return to the beginning and burn,” they simply said as a wave of energy was splashed out threatening to vaporize Amon in an impressive display of violet energy.

When the light and smoke cleared out, Amon raised his head and looked at this new intruder behind a red barrier with an intriguing smile. A solid crimson crystal enclosed him the moment he realized that there was someone tasked to be hell-bent on keeping him in place. “Interesting.” He stared at the androgenous intruder still smiling, “I see you’re actively attacking a government caravan. I wonder if what’s in here is worth such a risk.”

From the moment those dangerous-looking bikers showed up, Amon had a strange suspicion. Attacking a government militaristic caravan isn’t like your run-of-the-mill heist or robbery, it was an act that carried great risk and an undefined reward. There was something specific they sought from this particular team, clearly, ANVIL has underestimated the importance of those samples they were carrying. Yet there were other things that unsettled him, but Amon returned his attention to the fight in front of him.

“I see an energy construct quirk. My how unfortunate for you,” the androgynous figure strangely vocalized with a voice that had no discernable gender. With that said with a click of their other hand a more concentrated splash of energy contacted onto Amon barrier. At first, it seemed fruitless, but in a bizarre twist, the splash halted in movement and wrapped around the red barrier… as it started to turn a deep blue. The wave of energy still connected to the hand of the enemy who had blasted it.

“For you are in for a rough time,” the villain spoke pulling back the energy into their body absorbing and pulling Amon by his tail where the source was connected. However at that moment, a radio call popped in that wad more high wind, but immediately triggered Ion Storm nanobytes that removed themselves from the car, and latched onto Amon pulling him back from being an easy target-giving him a chance to think out a quick strategy.

“Interesting.” The enemy seemed to have a habit of talking about important things while fighting, not a smart move. Energy...unfortunate...I see, so it’s that sort of system. Amon jumped back quickly while the intruder was distracted by the nanobytes that fluttered in the trailer. Ranged abilities sure are convenient. His tail whipped back quickly, a distinctive ‘whoosh’ sound can be heard like a crackling whip. It was obvious that this intruder had some advantage over him, the ranged was one thing, and the ability to assimilate energy was another, it was like they were tailored to fight against him. Amon wondered if his teammates encountered such enemies as well.

“Unfortunate? I suppose, though it would be hard to call an event ‘misfortune’ if it were planned.” As he spoke Amon inserted his tail tip into the floor of the trailer, puncturing it. As the intruder staggered forward a metallic swish and clunk can be heard. Amon adjusted his center of mass and leaned back, knowing what would happen as a crimson glow flashed for a moment all around the four walls of the trailer in a line, making a square, and the portion of the vehicle the intruder was standing on was cut off from the rest, aiming to shake the intruder with it. Enemy abandoned vehicles, it would be best to shake them instead of fighting at a disadvantage.

The trailer that lost its hind wheels as support fell into a diagonal ramp, some sparks trailed behind it as the metal dug into the pavement. That gets rid of the need to defend out of range. Amon’s tail was still firmly in the floor that remained as he balanced himself, even if the intruder had a mobility portion of their quirk, they would be forced to either fight in a more confined space through melee combat or be shaken off. And besides...it would be easier to…

Unfortunately, while the move did indeed appear superior a strategy its collateral damage would seem to not scare the villain away as they rushed forward before the piece would topple to spark against the streets to land barely on the edge as they looked at Amon with a approving smirk.

“Maybe you’re onto something, or maybe you’re not so hero material yourself,” the villain expressed as their hands were engulfed in a small burst of energy waves… clearly they had a close-combat style. Yet that last bit of wording almost felt like it was striking at something not relevant to the situation, and more so on Amon. With that equal to the style of how Amon tried to shack them the attacker sliced at open-air sending a thin wave of splash energy that sliced off more of the container. With that fair share of force, the villains charge Amon with a series of hand jabs and kick aiming to force Amon toward the vehicle.

“Oh?” Amon ducked and stepped aside as the intruder began to engage in melee combat, doing a light dance around with his tail still firmly latched in the ground. “If you think that, then how about you try to convert me to your cause?” He gave back a similarly sly smile as he continued, clearly not trying to retaliate but more focused on evasion, he made a few circles around the intruder while still smiling. “Do you have a sick younger sibling? Or maybe the government took your friends to do human experiments?” What a load of bullshit, my imagination, though good tragedies can do wonders.[i/]

Amon stopped at the edge of the spark trailing vehicle, the two’s positions are now switched with him on the outer side and the other on the inner side. His smile grew a bit wider as he exclaimed to the enemy: “Come on! Give me a reason to doubt everything I’ve believed! Give me those heart-piercing reasons for your acts!” With that, the latching construct on his tail began to dissipate as Amon leaned backwards a little, after dodging in a circular fashion his long sturdy tail had wrapped around the intruder’s legs several times already. He tightened that grip, still smiling.

“You jump, I jump, mon chérie.”

“Hmph, do I need to? Your mother’s blood is in you, isn’t it? You’re as tainted as the rest of us,” the villain spoke making it clear they were aware of Amon’s background… that no one else was aware of.

“Really bondage? Rather desperate for some physical attention let me help with that,” they chuckled before dropping to the ground and pulling up their legs to their waist grabbing Amon’s tail and unexpectedly biting into it’s tip. At first, it was strange but quickly as the villain’s mouth started to glow Amon would start to feel the energy in their tail deplete apparently their energy consumption was full-body as Amon would also feel a foreign substance in their tail that was the enemies energy pulling at his.

“You did your research on me, did you?” The words did make Amon halt for a moment. But it wasn’t the emotional weight, it was the fact that this person knew about his family, combining that with the fact that their quirk almost perfectly countered his and this entire situation, a frightening hypothesis formed in his mind. Though there wasn’t time for such theories on the battlefield.

“Everything’s dirty if you put your mind to it, how about you call my name or something? You probably know it. I heard some people are into that, never really experienced it for myself though.” He teased, though the situation is a bit problematic now. Amon’s plan all along was to get the intruder away from the caravan, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that they were after whatever evidence and samples they were transporting, this person might also be just a simple distraction to keep him entangled whilst his allies operated other facets of the operation.

Cutting open the trailer and trying to pull the other off with him were all to prevent their plan from unfolding, his goal wasn’t to win the fight, it was to defend whatever intelligence carried. With a sigh Amon withdrew some of the energy that he allocated in his tail tip, and concentrated most of it in the middle portions, tightening the grip on the other’s limbs. If the enemy requires contact...as long as I keep the generation port clear, melee is still an option.

With a dash while the enemy was still entangled on the ground, Amon got near the figure curled on the ground. He did his best to whip the middle, tied portion of his tail ahead, while giving a firm kick to the other. Running ahead Amon used his entire body weight, attempting to drag the other off of the piece of stuttering metal.

“Never let go dear, never let go.”

As Amon pulled the attacker out of their bite the person in question was right at the apex of the kick hilariously using Amons on the tail as a shield to defend themselves. However, it was clear Amon was trying to throw them off with their next tactic.

“And here I thought you wanted to get to know me intimately ,” they taunted as they splashed the tail with pure violet energy. The problem was Amon wouldn’t be able to dodge this time around as they had gotten in for close combat, and while the energy wasn’t harming him it was taking complete control of his tail forcing it to loosen up as the villain converged them both in a splash protecting them both from what would have been massive injuries ripping them to shreds on the road. Once the two finally came to a halt the splash effect ended with the two separated. As the questionable villain got up they sighed in annoyance.

"Hmm self sacrifice I see well aren't you the one with terrible bedside manners," they sighed folding their arms before adding.

"So how are you going to make this up to me," they asked, seeming rather serious on the question.

Amon was pretty sure he could survive falling off of a moving vehicle just fine, even just shrug it off. His mother’s blood was in him and it showed in his quirk, in video game terms, he had pretty high HP values. But the fact that he didn’t even need to protect himself, his opponent (at this point he felt like the word opponent fitted better than enemy) did that for him.

He got up and looked at the boy...girl...whatever and then down the road, thinking about what they said. So is this what Yori calls ‘the insecure type’? He thought quietly. “...Technically, I already did.” Amon muttered while avoiding the other’s gaze, he looked down the street, “our fight lasted much longer than expected and we were moving the entire time. If we were on that car for any longer you would’ve retreated anyways, ANVIL’s headquarters is just up ahead, it might be hard for you to get out of there so easily.”

The street they took was still pretty deserted as the sun’s changing altitude pulled the shadow of things longer and longer. Amon thought for a bit, some stuff that Yori taught him and some stuff that his mom said about a girl’s heart or whatever. He sighed and took a few steps ahead, getting closer to the other.

Chu-

I think this is what they would want...probably.
Amon thought as he touched the other’s face, lowered his head and planted a light kiss on their lip. “...You can send your dry cleaning bill to me. You know who I am, right? Too bad I don’t know your’s.”

“Hey speak up,” the villain demanded unable to hear what the hero Amon was mumbling about. That was when Amon in a very strange fashion walked up to the villain whose hands glowed ready to attack but was caught off guard as Amon’s head moved in close with hands catching their face, and pulled them into an extremely unexpected method of attack… a kiss.

The villain paused completely at the soft touching of their entwined lips, and as Amon pulled back they followed up with a stupid line about the laundry bill. There was confusion which was eventually easy to connect the dots, there was an oddity which eventually you could chalk up to a reason or two, and then there was just completely being baffled by a scenario. For the villain at hand, all three had been mixed into a blender and then used to pimp slap logic right out the door.

The energy waves dispersed from their hands as this was oddly no longer a fight it seemed as Amon’s tactics had completely killed the tension of combat, and had thrown the book of logic right out the truck. Finally blinking shaking their head trying to groud themselves they started to laugh placing a hand on their face as they looked at Amon.

“Well aren’t you a strange one,” was all that escaped their lips as the laughter softly died out.

“Fine, you can call me Phanes for now, but don’t be expecting things to play out like this all the time. You’re cute and daring, but boyish charm only works once on someone like me,” they warned.

“And don’t be expecting to catch me now after doing that little stunt. Though I’ll keep you in mind. Seems we will be burning to the ground together for quite a while,” Phanes sighed as they lifted up their arm before being latched onto by a line of orange slime being pulled up to the top of the building they were next to.

“Don’t kill anyone until then,” Phanes taunted as they were out of sight, and out of mind.


“Go,” Sgt Fivoshi signaled Agi as he opened the truck door before swinging onto the back with some quick thinking it was clear to get to Rosalie the quickest was to join the herd. Taking a few steps back on the truck bed Agi prepped himself slapping his face to be fully concentrated as like a god damn maniac he ran jumping right off the truck. At first, the thought that was a bad idea was whispered in his mind. Yet as his nanobytes grabbed onto the motorcycle mid-air he was reassured with a louder voice that THIS WAS FUCKING NUTS. Kicking the current occupant right off the bike to be sprawling onto the roadside straight into some sidewalk soil it was at least guaranteed that the biker would be alive, but probably in the ICU. Quickly his nanobytes pulled him properly on the bike as for a moment or two he was started to lose the group yet with a hard turn of the throttle he started to catch up.

“THANK YOU DRUNK GRANDPA,” Agi chaotically yelled as when he was little his grandpa’s had once taken him on some driving lessons on using a motorcycle. Though of course he never told his grandmas about that… or he would be short two grandparents. As he made his way he drove straight towards Rosalie’s truck.

As Cherry Bomb unleashed her marble attack three of the bikers were easily taken out on losing a front tire, and another being blasted off his bike by the shockwave, and another hilariously losing a back tiring causing him to go off-road flying into a water fountain. As the bikers were thinned down to twelve men it was clear the stacks were now upped. As such example, a crab-like claw tore off Cherry bombs door as a crab man biker swerved away for a second aiming to come back in for the damage hit. Yet, before he did a nanoblade, cut him off as Ion Storm got between Cherry Bomb and the crab ass.

“Hey, bombshell looking for some fun,” Ion joked. It was clear big rigs were too easy a target at this point if they wanted to fight back they need to use the enemy’s style against them.

“GO GO I’LL regroup with the other units,” the driver motioned, knowing she was needed elsewhere to kick ass.

"Whaaa~aaat the hell man?!" Rosalie shouted as a crab-like arm tore through her door. "I needed that to keep the wind out of my face!" Perhaps that wasn't quite the priority she believed it to be, but Rosalie was finding a joke or two here and there that was quite helpful in keeping her worry manageable. Still, as the biker attempted to return, a knight in shining armor appeared.

Rosalie breathed out a quick sigh of relief hearing Agi's voice and grinning. "Always. Although, I'm pretty sure this is neither the time nor place for that," she said as she hopped from the truck onto the back of what was now Agi's bike. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging his body to steady herself.

"You two think this is a fuckin game?!" The crab quirked man shouted as he swerved back into the two.

A smirk formed on Cherry Bomb's lips. "If it was, we'd be in the lead, ya know." She said before lifting her hand. The man looked confused as a sort of glowing dust blew out of it to crackle in his face. With a yelp, the man tried to steady himself. Unfortunately, all he would feel was the sting of a boot ramming into his side as Rosalie shifted her weight to steal his bike right out from under him, leaving him to tumble along the side of the road.

"Woohoo! I'm gonna be like auntie Cupie!" The bomb-themed hero shouted, grinning at Agi. "You ready to do some real damage?!"

“Hell ya let’s rope us some baddies,” he chuckled coming in close to high five her as a nano rope was formed as he pulled back then with a visible countdown they both pressured their breaks slowing down so fast that they caught three poor bikers in the chest slingshotting them off their bikes… this was getting pretty violent cause now Agi was pretty sure his ICU count was rising… even though he could shrug a few off onto Rosalie’s count. As he pulled back the nano rope some of the Nanos stayed with Rosalie forming some half dome objects to take her marbles.

“How about Operation Drop Zone,” Agi called out.

"Drop zone?" Rosalie questioned, before a grin formed on her face. "Haven't gotten to do that in a while~" She held up slightly larger balls for the nano's to take, each beginning to glow vibrantly. The first to fly off dropped a bomb which would blow creating a large flash of light. It blinded two of the biker's causing them to ram each other and sending them off-road. There was no boom, and they seemed to have jumped from their bikes before major damage could be done. But this was a risk they took when they decided to attack the transport.

"Flashbang!" Rosalie cheered. Fear had quickly become excitement. This was going off without a hitch! Well... at least they were able to fight back. The next couple of bombs acted more typical, though the nano's were careful to drop them just above the bikers. They weren't powerful enough to kill, but they'd hurt like hell. And Rosalie was counting on that.

The bikers quickly adjust trying to avoid the nano bombers two more, unfortunately, met their fates as front tires were obliterated leaving four bikes left. With the others ready, and armed one came swinging in clashing with Agis nanoblade as he pushed them back. For a second he saw Amon’s scenario turn back as he radioed Amon giving a message to his nanobytes at the truck. Once that was done the biker came back at him but was met with panic as Ion Storm lanced the buys engine with an extended Nano blade forcing the baddie to bail out onto the curb as reverted the blade to the rope. At this point harming them to the extreme was no longer an avoidable concern as he lassoed a baddie nearing Cherry bomb as he yanked the poor soul off his bike crashing him into the other biker riding the unit of the last annoyance on a bike. Nearing Cherry Bomb he was about to make his way for Amon before a massive bike came landing down hard in front of the two heroes. The biker pulled out a massive shuriken that defied the laws of movement and spun like a chain and sliced off the front half of Agis’s bike. Fighting to keep from flipping or tipping Ion Storm blocked the telekinetic blade coming back at him with his Nano Blade before forcing it back at its owner as he got on both his legs praying Cherry Bomb would have enough time to get to him as he jumped towards her.

Cherry Bomb was set to cheer when they'd gotten rid of most of, if not all, the bikers. Agi had even managed to save her from an encroaching disaster. Unfortunately, a new threat reared its ugly head. She swerved to avoid a collision but quickly regained control. "W-watch out!'' She tried to warn Agi but to no avail. "Shit!" He had to bail out.

With a rev of her bike, the ice cream-haired hero zoomed into position, ready to receive Ion Storm. "Falling with the style I see?" she asked, trying to keep up a brave front, though she'd been worried she might not make it in time.

“Ya, ya, ya your a class A act,” Ion Storm mumble laughing a bit at the joke as the bigger bike clearly planned to concentrate on them as he caught his returning Shuriken. Once he was in front of them he launched directly at them with aggressive force yet before Cherry Bomb could divert Ion Storm shot his hands around her sides stealing the controls as too big collectives of his Nanobytes caught the weapons in a hailstorm of sparks. As the biker fought for the return of the shuriken Ion Storm made his gamble.

“He wants it back pretty badly be a shame for us to not add something to make up for keeping him from it.”

Rosalie yelped when she felt Agi's arms wrap around her. "H-hey! I could have handled it!" She scolded him, her cheeks heating up as she felt Agi accidently gave her a little squeeze on either side. If she didn't know any better she'd have thought he was trying to get his arms to rub up on the merchandise. "I better not feel anything poke me back there or there's gonna be hell to pay ya little perv," she was joking of course, trying to mask her embarrassment, although for just a moment she did sound mad.

Luckily for Agi, he'd blocked the attack and provided just the right opening before he could be booted from the back of the bike they'd stolen. "Hmph, yeah, it would be a shame," Cherry Bomb laughed, her pout turning into a small grin as she reached out to touch the shuriken. Soon, it would begin to glow, a telltale sign of the "something" she could add. "There we go! Perfect present~," she said.

"Oh ya you sure your not too excited, or is the cold air getting to you," Agi shot back knowing full well he had to take over for this idea to work even if Cherry Bomb make it sound other wise. With the addition made Agi released the Shuriken as it returned it was clear the biker realized what had happened but it was too late as it got close enough for the explosion that took place to shred the back tire sending the biker flying out of bounds.

“OH WHAT THE HELL AMON,” Ion Storm yelled as a good chunk of the trailer came sparking towards them the problem was given the force it would definitely veer of and harm people if not dealt with.

“We need to get that off-road fast ideas,” Agi asked as he prepped all of his Nanos in preparation to change the trajectory of that motherload of issues.

Rosalie's eyes widened. "Oi! Another crack like that and..." Before she could finish, she noticed exactly what Agi didn't. "Grrrr... This isn't over big guy!" She shouted as she focused on that road. Grabbing two handfuls of the marble-like balls she toted around, she charged them, throwing them at the chunk of the trailer coming toward them. It would help slow it a bit, but ultimately the rest was up to Agi.

"You think you can stop it or should I turn this bike into a bigger boom!" she said, giving him the option as she moved his hands from the handle to gain control of it herself. "What do you think?!" she shouted. They were a bit time-sensitive on this matter, after all.

“... RAM IT,” Ion hissed only having one option as he collected all of his nanos into a single hammer. He would have to do a magnetic kinetic reverse smash at a larger scale to push that thing to the ocean side of the road meaning their was potential it would fuck them up pretty bad on the bike.

“Worse case we get de-biked best case you show some badass skills keeping us moving,” he motioned as he prepped his Nanobytes to create a negative pull on themselves.

Rosalie nodded in response to Agi's best and worst-case scenario. "Well I did learn from one of the best," she said, taking a deep breath as she revved the engine. "Let's just hope some of it stuck!" Maybe it wasn't the most reassuring as she leaned forward just a bit, the bike speeding up to rush the sparking hunk of metal. "Hold on tight Agi!"

“Ooohh this is a terrible idea,” Agi yelled as the hammer grew way bigger until it was massive. Once they were close Agi swung with all force ramming his hammer in at impact before a major kinetic blast unleashed from the reversed magnetic force pushed off a heavy layer of nano’s, and successfully sending the cut piece off the road into the water as the bike literally jumped sideways as Agi reflexively collected it all onto Rosalie as a set of armor in case they crashed willing to brunt any damage on his body with his flesh rather than see Rosalie get hurt.

Feeling the armor envelope her, Rosalie breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her body could take a lot of damage. It could withstand point blank explosions. But she wasn't immune to all damage and she hated pain. If something was strong or big or bad enough to hurt her, it was enough to piss her off royally. The unfortunate part was the armor made it a little harder to steer when the impact knocked them off their balance. They began to swerve and skid to the right first and then the left. Rosalie steered into it, using her and Agi's weight to hopefully get them back on track. If this didn't work though, they were going down. It'd work though... right?

Luckily it did as the bike stabilized, and held with Agi breathing in a sigh of relief. Patting her backside he felt the weight of the swing on his other arm a second felling like a hell all over from the kinetic reverb.

“Good job now we need to catch back up,” Agi chimed proud of how skilled Rosalie truely was with a bike.

“Yeah yeah, I know!” Rosalie said, breathing heavily after managing to pull off re-stabilizing the bike. She was gonna need a nice long soak after this. Maybe she could go to a hot spring. She deserved that much. There was no time for that now though. They had to rejoin the group, and with her at the wheel… handle… it was up to her. “Just hang on,” she said as she kicked it into high gear, zooming forward now that they were in the clear.

Mnemu, and Ions Nanos had found a strange tracking device wedged deep into the pipings of the vehicle on it was delivered coordinates for targeted areas that completely match up to the areas where the prior Team Agi, Team Haya, and Team Amano met their first real world missions. There were also coordinates to the place Team Mari had just ended up this round where a lot of concerning stuff was found. It is noted in the battle report that it seemed enemies with quirks designed to specifically fuck with the suppression students were in high volume to a concerning degree. The only one not countered was the last minute add in Rosalie. There was also samples that pointed even further connection to the area Team Mari was just at.

Further notes transmitted in ANVIL report to Suppression Principal Amagi...
 
  • Like
Reactions: timv999
A bit excited as she had some idea of where they were headed, Isa hurriedly leaves the room when the Okay was given, donning her gear and running for the nearby station, Isa hurriedly buys the Tickets and waits on one of the station benches for the next train to arrive, she had no idea of how long it would take the others and she wasn’t one for prep talks, they would have the train ride to do that.

True to form the rampage’n oni was in a hurry to get this patrol on. The Destination was Nara Park, or at least a portion of it.

Haya sighed as she got to the locker room and changed, putting her blindfold on and this time, she was taking her guitar. Thankfully it was toned and in a condition that would make using it useful and not questionable. It was going to be an interesting mission. Their leader was already gone, to the train station and she had no idea if they would make it to get there together. So when she was done, Haya waited outside the lockers for Yamoshi and Shako, two that she had no idea who they were. So she called out, “Yamoshi, Shako, this way.” after a while of waiting. “Isa already left, so we should hurry to meet her at the train station so we can get our orders. Just thought we should all go together.” she told them so that it didn’t seem like she was trying to take over, she hoped. She was not going to make it to the train station alone. She would find it, because of the sound, but as they got closer, the trains would irritate her to the point that her sense of direction would be off.
“To be honest, I need the help to get to the train station.
she added.

Fairly heavy steps echoed throughout the hall as Shako approached the locker room. Fortunately for her, she had everything she needed on her already, so, there really was no need to take up any more of anybody’s time. She already had a bit of difficulty finding the correct place, but, now, she was certain she was in the right place. Made all the more apparent when a feminine voice caught her ears, calling out her name and someone else’s. The colorful young woman made her way over to the girl sitting outside the lockerroom. Following her voice definitely made it easier to find the right location, something she was appreciative of.

“Oh, hey. You must be...Haya. Right? I have no problem going as a group. Safer that way, and easier to keep watch on things.” Shako said evenly to the other girl, smiling underneath her armor.

Shako had to think for a moment as to why she would need help. However, after giving it a moment of thought, she remembered the files she had read, and Haya’s specifically mentioned blindness. How fascinating...but impressive. Then again, this class was fifty shades of crazy, even by her standards. So, it wasn’t too much a kick in the head.

“No shame in asking for help. I’d be glad to give you any assistance. I’m Shako. Nice to meet ya.” As usual, her vocal patterns were somewhat warped by the armor, creating an almost empty echoing effect. She hoped that it wouldn’t throw off Haya at all.

Yamoshi was brimming with excitement himself, although for a different reason than Isa, or any of the others, if they shared his feelings. Yamoshi’s experience with his previous class had been less than favorable. He was looking forward to seeing how this patrol played out. It had to work out better than before, right? And yet, just when he thought he couldn’t be up for a better time, he heard his name as he exited the locker room. Geared up and ready to go he smiled. “Nothing like hearing your name called out by a beautiful girl~” He said cheerfully as he met the group of two.

"Haya, and you must be Shako, yeah?” he asked, being a bit more serious now. “Your shell looks super awesome; I love the colors!” His hands came up to rest behind his head, his fingers interlocked. Of course, he’d have been delighted to know there was a cute girl under there, but that didn’t matter. He was on a team of three beauties! He wasn’t about to let it start on the wrong foot. “That said, we should probably move along. Since you said you might need a little help, I can lead the way to the train station. We should probably hurry a bit too, or Isa’ll leave us behind.” He laughed a little bit, beginning to walk, assuming the two would follow, if not lead the way themselves.

Haya nodded, “Let’s go.” she said as she started to move along with them to the train station. It was going to be a little hard for her to make sure that she didn’t lose a sense of direction. Shako’s voice seemed to be a distance away, but the way the sound bounced off of her, made Haya understand that it just might be her armor. Haya had not decided to try out her new armor just yet. She wanted to train a little with it, before she did that. It would make it easier for her to move and use her sound that way. Since she was not used to armor, it was not a good idea to have a crash course, out of the blue.

Yamoshi seemed to have a way about him, his words made Haya curious as to the way he meant them. But she didn’t mention that. It was what she knew as charm, from what she could tell. That was the only way that she could think of it. So when he approached, all she could do was smile at his comment. But now they are off. To the train station, and the way that Shako’s armor worked with sound, Haya could follow it’s direction easily enough.

As the three get together and their affairs in order, Isa curses out loud; “SHIT! I Forgot about the blind girl!” In this moment of crisis, she turns to see said blind girl and the others approaching, fortunately or perhaps not so much, they would have some time to talk aboard the train, waving at the rest, it seemed said train was nearing the station, it would not be much longer, though if they had missed this one another was not far behind. Waving at them all, she waits to board as the train starts it’s deceleration. “Yo!”

Haya smirked as she heard Isa’s voice, as they got closer. She sighed, she had followed Yamoshi and Shako about one third of the way to the station. She waved at Isa as they got closer, they had bought their tickets together and were on their way to board the train when Isa called to them. Haya followed the sound of her voice and stopped to follow her on the train when they caught up to her.

Shako offered each of her companions a polite nod, her upper arms hanging at her side while her normal lower arms folded across her chest in a comfortable but stoic posture. When they began moving, she turned her head to Yamoshi, the latest person that she had just met. He made a comment about Haya being beautiful. Which, yeah, obviously. Then complimented her shell, prompting a hidden smirk underneath her carapace.

“Shako I am, and thank you. The colors are natural. If you think the shell looks good you should see me without it.” The colorful girl quipped with a broadened smirk,

“Oho~” Yamoshi remarked, giving Shako a grin of his own, though it was seen due to his lack of armor. “Well, color me curious. Maybe after the mission I can get a peek,” he retorted, wondering partially if the shrimp girl was just talking a big game. It was fun nonetheless. “For now though, we should hop onto the train. Don’t want Isa leaving us in the dust again,” he added, teasing the Oni just a bit.

“Heh, what can I say, you all are just too damn slow. But yeah, don’t worry too much, it’s a nice place we are going, tourists, deer, monks, priestesses, priests, you get the idea. We gotta do our job but I just don’t see any problems there.” It was then that she noted a flying drone, a hobbyist built one to be sure, as it zoomed in on them and the train, rocking back and forth as if to say ‘hello!’ before it zipped off back into the sky. “Must be nice to just sit around and do that, still though, if we got the time we should feed and pet the deer, their sweethearts.”

It was likely unusual seeing Isa acting in this manner, a departure from her normal sailor like manner of speaking, before much else could be said, the Train pulls up and a ten minute timer was given to board before the next departure, the estimated time to Nara station would be right around thirty minutes, plenty of time to talk and get to know one another, wasn’t it? Or would time pass them by quickly?

Waving for them all to get on, Isa switches her attention to Shako and smiles a sharp toothed grin. “Hiya! Name’s Isa, er I guess Oni for this, just follow my lead and we’ll have no problems! Well..maybe collateral damage, but hey! Easy break east fix!”

"Well, sometimes slow is the way to go," Yamoshi retorted with a little laugh, an ironic statement given his penchant for relying on speed more often than not in battle. "Ya don't get t' enjoy much of the funner thing in life if you're always speedin’ through 'em." Still, he smiled. Nara park seemed like it'd be an enjoyable excursion if nothing else. He even perked up at the idea of petting and feeding the deer. "Hell yeah!" He cheered. "Let's feed us some deer. So relaxin’, even the Oni's backing off from the harsher language," he jabbed, obviously joking.

Yamoshi was looking forward to the day. Even if the unexpected were to happen, he was sure they could handle whatever came their way. "Maybe we should play a game on the train. Could play ‘would ya rather’ to pass the time. Or just get to know each other a little better. Wouldn't mind learning a little more about the fine ladies I'll be accompanying~"

Shako’s smirk evolved into a full grin at Yamoshi’s response. It was refreshing to see someone who didn’t recoil at her flirting, or at least not back down after she reciprocated. This was already proving to be an amusing diversion from her usual activities. Isa seemed headstrong and sure of herself, something that Shako definitely admired in a leader. However, she also seemed unfocused. With any luck, that wouldn’t be a problem. When Isa spoke to her, Shako nodded respectfully, a minor bow in greeting and acknowledgement.

“Hello, Isa. I am Shako. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Oni. My hero name is Sylla, for future reference. I am looking forward to serving under you.” Another short bow from Shako before she returned her attention to Yamoshi, who was quite enjoying himself it seemed. The idea of petting some deer did sound relaxing, but she was almost certain that wasn’t the kind of thing she was brought along for. Her mind wandered briefly before being returned to Yamoshi at his mention of getting to know them better. Her smirk returned and she simply spared him a quick glance.

Haya listened to them all and frowned before she turned towards the direction that Isa's voice last came from. "Actually. Since we are on a mission to patrol the park I think we should focus on a plan of formation and what to do if something does happen. Relaxing, petting and feeding is for the times that we have free time. If something happens on our watch and we aren't prepared, we will fail as heroes." She stated.

Haya had led a mission before and the way Isa took this so lightly was concerning. What were they going to do if they ran into another villain? There was no way they could just wing it. And if she didn't plan now, would her plan work while they were on the field. "Games are nice. But I don't think we have the time for them. And we shouldn't act like we do."

“If some shit head wants to attack the park, we fuck’n break em in half. Here’s the plan given that’s what you want;” She says looking at Haya.

“If you got something in mind, you can handle all that, when it comes to me, heres what we do, we patrol, take breaks at the rest stops where other tourists are around, if any trouble comes up, I’ll gauge the threat with my instincts, unless the HA computer things we have report something, and always in the battle I’m on point, I batter an opening and you guys exploit it. Simple as.”

Isa says, her plan mostly consisted of patrolling where the most people were, and if a battle came up, orders, or at least directives would be issues based on what the communicators said or what Isa herself felt. “I mean yeah, if shit happens some of us should concentrate on getting the civvies away, but if some trouble comes here of all places, we’ll it’s likely up to no good. Lives are important, more than breaking them for doing something like this, but we can’t just think the enemy is gonna just sit back and allow some big plan to play out. So we do an outline and I trust in my strength and that of you lot.”

With seemingly no further rebuke or counter suggestions for the time being, Isa and the rest continue their travels with small talk or a quietness over the group, while Isa had been very direct in her words, she made no secret that larger plans would be left to Haya. Isa played to her strengths and what she knew best, being the spearhead. A half hour later and all four of them would arrive safe and sound as Isa looks up at the sky as they exit the train. “Huh.” Noticing a drone flying about she could have sworn it was the same one as before, or at least the same model.

“Small world, heh.” She says at that, waving the others over as a small deer watches them from a security fence that kept the small animals from becoming rail kill. For now the task was rather simple, as Isa waves a hand forward. “Alright, let’s look like big propper heroes and take a stroll yeah?”

Yamoshi was disappointed, but he understood what Haya was saying. They weren't going for a fun day in the park. They were working. Well... technically. They were still students officially, but this was official business. It was better to take things seriously.

Of course, Isa had other plans. She was very much a go with your gut and bash through anything in her way kind of hero. At least, that's what it seemed like to him. It kind of reminded him of his father.

"I don't disagree, getting people to safety should be our first priority. But Haya's probably right. Just seeing what happens and having each other's backs might not be the best course of action." Yamoshi gave a little sigh. "But even if we are weary, we should be able to enjoy some of our time out and about," he added, not wanting to get too caught up in the seriousness if he didn't have too.

Luckily, it didn't matter much. They boarded and got to their destination. Something did stick out to the young man though as they reached Nara. "Small world is right..." he commented as he looked up to find the same, if not an identical drone. He narrowed his eyes to a squint. What were the odds? "Huh? Oh... yeah," he gave a small laugh. "Guess we gotta put on a show," he said, speaking metaphorically. They had a part to play: heroes. "We should probably keep an eye out for any more drones while we're doing this too." He couldn't shake a weird feeling he was getting. Mama didn't raise an idiot (sorry dad). He wasn't gonna just let this little "coincidence" lie.

Haya didn’t say anything after Isa mentioned her ‘plan’. She didn’t say anything because it was something of a plan, but to be honest, it was something less than a good plan. There were a lot of unknowns, but focusing on two things, fighting and saving people gave no room for flexibility when the time came. If they didn’t have a formation, they didn’t know their roles and couldn’t switch if their roles became blocked. Who should fight? Who should be concerned about the civilians? Who should assist? What path should they take? In a situation of chance, what way would they be able to know what the other needed to do their job. These were all questions she had hoped a plan would help, even for just a few, but Isa’s plan made no connection to any of them. So she sat in silence for the train ride, trying to come up with a plan that would work the way that Isa designed it.

When the train stopped, and they all got out, Haya sighed as she trailed behind them. She felt like this was not going to be a good day. She also hoped it would be a quiet day, to avoid the issue of the ‘plan’. But Yamoshi pointed out that they needed something more. Well, that was a step in the right direction. She hoped that would bring something to light before she actually paid any attention to what Isa and Yamoshi also mentioned, the drone. His is was similar from what Haya could feel, but the signal coming off it was not only similar, it was still trailed back to the same place they came. Could that be ‘another’ drone, with the same sound or were they being followed.

She brushed it out of her mind, there was no way that they would know, anyone would know, what team someone was on and who would be on the same time. It could just be a school drone like before. Even if the sound wave was nothing like the school had, it was possible that they had upgraded or changed it because of the distance. She wouldn’t worry too much about the situation, for now, they had a job to do. Anything else was secondary.

Shako listened to her comrades speaking, mostly about some kind of plan. She wasn't a particularly great strategist, but, with this being a routine patrol, the obvious plan was to stick together and keep an eye out for trouble. Rescuing civilians was priority one, with engaging villains a second. Of course, she herself was more suited to engaging criminals. The drone had caught her attention as well, but, she honestly figured it must of just been a growing hobby. But, her companions were skeptical, which only made her suspicious of the drones as well. Her eyes followed the machine briefly before returning to her allies.

It seemed like leadership in this instance was a little unclear. Her information was presented as Isa, or Oni was the lead, but, Haya was also clearly more experienced in the role. More than that, they had opposing styles of acting, with one being reserved and cautious while the other was boisterous and active. Shako found herself wondering if this was going to become problematic.

"I only just met you all, but, I think with what we know of each other, we should just focus on a singular goal at a time. Let's worry about following the patrol. If something comes up, we group up and adapt. Right?"

"We just gotta be ready for whatever comes our way." Yamoshi didn't think there was any way to really predict that, but he had a feeling something was coming. Maybe it was the drone. The others seemed suspicious of it as well. Well, not counting Isa. It was a small world after all. But not that small.

Then again, maybe he was reading too much into it. "We should keep our eyes peels though. I feel like something is off. And I don't like it. It's totally bringing down the mood." If they were lucky, really lucky, this wouldn't matter. Everything would be fine. But he couldn't shake the feeling and he wasn't about to pretend something didn't feel off. "Anyway, let's just make sure we rely on each other if anything does happen. Teamwork makes the dream work and all that," he said cheerfully, trying to keep his spirits up, along with those of his companions.

“You guys worry too much.” Isa says at last. “Maybe that dinky little thing is following us, maybe some great challenge awaits, maybe I’ll get a blister on my toes, maybe we won’t have some perfect formation set up, but when in the hell has any of that gone to plan? All I know is strength. I don’t know what in the hell you guys can do, ain’t never fought any of yah, the Cat or the Principle, one of em gots a sick sense of humor. Leaving me with this shit..”

With a huff she crosses her arms behind her head and walks; “Look round yah, shrines here and there, little coffee shops, places to cleanse one’s self before entering a shrine propper. Even the deer are out here wanting a bit of feed for themselves, animals too dumb to feed themselves now.” Laughing a bit at that, she lowers her arms and yawns a little.

“Point is if we get attacked I can make openings and you all make use of it. There is nothing here we know well for tricks or getting quickly the drop on anything. What more do you guys want? Do any of you know these woods in detail? For now I’m on point, you two are on the sides.” She says of Shako and Yamoshi. “And you can be in the back to tell us whatever.” She says of Haya.

“We’ll head for Todaij Temple, most of the paths through the park are small and there is no way we can reach everyone, should be other heroes around, it’s 1200 hectares of land. We can’t and won’t be patrolling all of it, we’ll deal with problems we can see or are called for. You guys want more of a plan than that, then get to working on it. Cause I dunno when and where we’ll run into something and there is everything from trails big enough for two people to pass to the world’s largest wooden building. I hit things, you guys can come up with the plan for a given area, cause no one plan is gonna work for all this shit and I score poorly on savin people unless it’s to move some rubble.”

With all of this said, Isa motions the rest to follow her, as she eyed the drone one last time, though maybe they were right to not treat this as a vacation, she just didn’t know why anyone would want to attack this park of all places considering how huge it was. And so the group sat out down the nature trails leading from the station and the central paved path.

Haya sighed, Isa seemed to make a formation for them, but lectured them more on plans being useless. Haya did her part though, staying behind and hoping Isa was right. Nothing would make her happier than being wrong, but at the same time. The fact that Isa decided her own limitations explained part of why she didn't seem to think on what to do next. Haya closed her eyes behind her blindfolded, walking behind them, she focused on the path and the way she could help. Her hands were tired and nothing more could be done on the matter. They got a formation, this would have to work for now. When combat starts, if it states Haya would have to figure something out to make sure Isa's plan went further then 'smash'.

Yamoshi nodded along with Isa’s words. She was confident, if not a little reckless in her approach. But he couldn’t help agreeing all the same. They could try and anticipate anything, but at the end of the day, there was no guarantee it would amount to anything. This was why he wanted to enjoy the day if possible. Visit a shrine, feed a deer, maybe score a date… anything was possible. And yet, he knew he needed to be cautious. Especially with this bad feeling he was getting from the drone.

“I don’t know about worrying too much, but I get what you’re saying,” he said calmly. If anything, this was probably the first time in a long time that Yamoshi had been accused of worrying too much. He was usually in quite the opposite camp. It was almost scary how lackadaisical Isa’s approach was. Still he fell into formation. “Guess we’re keeping our eyes peeled and sticking together.” He grinned, hands coming up to rest at the back of his head with his fingers interlocked. “There are worse ways to spend the day than patrolling a park with three gorgeous girls.” Maybe he was assuming a bit with Shako, not having seen her face, but he was willing to take that bet. Besides, she was fun, that mattered more than looks.

Shako followed behind the others, her eyes maintaining a near constant scan of their surroundings. It seemed that Isa had a very relaxed view on patrolling, which, she supposed, wasn’t all bad. Especially since from what she could tell, Isa was the type who could go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. Her stats were impressive, and some part of Shako would have to admit that she was quite curious to see her in action. Not that she was hoping any kind of conflict would occur, but, she couldn’t complain about that kind of opportunity. That wasn’t even touching on Shako herself getting a chance to stretch her legs and punch something that wasn’t a sandbag or a dummy. It wasn’t exactly a chance that she got very often.

The red skinned girl clenched her fists, some sensation of tension forming in her arms while her gaze followed every flicker of movement around them. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but, it was a sort of sense she got sometimes. A tingle in her fingertips before a sparring session, or the faint bounce in her feet when she could feel someone’s gaze burning into her. That feeling that in one way or another, a fight was coming.

“To be completely honest, I don’t care about the specifics. I’m just here to follow orders and provide assistance. I’m your tool, use me as you see fit.” Shako said calmly, her eyes darting from one member of her party to another, though they lingered for a couple of moments too long on the flirtatious boy that insisted on complimenting her and the other two females.

Haya sighed as she followed behind, feeling the way the sound moved through the trees. It was hard to focus, while her mind was working, the animals were everywhere making noise and even her company was no better at silence. It was not going to be a good mission for her, especially since Isa wanted to stay with a large group on such a small road. She was going to have to work with it, find a way to make sure that she helped more than she was hindered.

As the group of four continued onwards they reach one of the more winder stone and brick path surrounded by a few nature trails, some time had passed and things seemed to be going rather normal. No major incidents and very few minor ones. Nearing the temple they were aiming for, the group near a rest stop with a wayshrine to pay respects at, in Shinto at least. Isa does so, stopping to pray at the altar, clapping her hands when done, when something did get her attention, something that got all of their attention. A man standing at least eighteen to twenty feet tall in ancient Samurai armor and red glowing eyes, suddenly bursts from the tree line, using it’s Katana to destroy the shrine in one fell swoop as his massive free left hand reaches out to grab Isa, who straight on shifts into her red form as she huffs a bit grabbing at the hand as she shoved it back. He for whatever reason was now trying to snatch her.

And before her classmates could react, a second figure pops out of the ground with a blood stained shovel, smiling at them, her eyes seeming distant. Wearing an old style dress, with ribbons and a scarf, she was likely a bit warm in all this heat, but she didn’t seem to mind, holding the shovel in front of her she took on a stance as if to say, no to any advance they made. “Uh uh, I can’t let you do that… Would you all kindly fall down and… BLEED!” With that she brandishes the weapon swinging it at the trio in general as she lets out a laugh.

Should any of them use their smartphone wanted App, the woman would show up as being considered extremely dangerous with a current classification of B rank with a consideration for A. For Haya an image of the woman was akin to a demon and earth. The giant samurai on the other hand did not turn up anything at all and for Haya this one would appear most strange as if being there but at the same time not. Like a ghost of the past rather than something in the here and now, however the imprint left from it gave no doubt that it was indeed in the here and now.

“Fuck!” Isa calls out, she couldn’t help her allies, for here and now she had to fight the giant. More like the Giant wanted to fight her. “Haya! Do your shit!”

Haya moved quickly as she snapped her fingers at each attack she could get to, deflecting as many as she could as they hit trees. This was definitely not a good plan. As soon as the man arrived, Haya felt confused, it was like he wasn't even present but the sound of Isa and the way it felt, said that he was. But before they could react another figure appeared, female from the sounds of her and she swung an object that was still very much present and very much lethal from how Haya’s deflections were pushed back more and more . “Yamoshi, I need you to get to Isa, I can block and move at the same time, or I might miss. Shako, I need you to stand behind me, when she gets close enough, we will begin our own attack. Until we do, Yamoshi fall back, there is no telling what else is here and we need to help Isa.” she ordered. This was no time to get Isa’s approval on orders. Yamoshi was thin and his muscles sounded like there was more to them than being slim. So I could only guess that he would be fast enough to move past the female. At the same time, Shako had armor, she might be able to take the hit, but only if the female was close enough.

Unfortunately for them all, it was a plan, Haya had to say out loud. Her first plan was to help Isa, but because the female had her pinned for now, there was no way that she was going to be able to do that. And the female covered too much ground swinging that thing around. If they didn’t stay close to Haya there was no way that it could be sure that they wouldn’t be hurt, or worse. For now, they had no choice but to stand their ground and stay where they were, Isa was on her own.

“What the hell?!” Shako shouted out in surprise as that huge man made himself known. How the hell did they miss someone so huge?! The vibrations alone from his movement should have been almost seismic, but the way he moved was intense.

The armored young woman prepared herself for a scrap, only for another assailant to appear, this one female and armed with...a shovel? What was today? Still, even with the strangeness of it, she was a perfect example of not underestimating what lies before you. More importantly, the female began attacking, Haya defending the two of them from her attacks. The strength behind the swings was deceptive, there was more danger behind that weapon than one would expect at first glance. Perhaps she wouldn’t be able to withstand them, but, Haya was being pushed back.

Shako moved behind her, waiting , when the orders from her comrade came out. It seemed that she intended for the boy to go and help Oni while the two of them kept this girl busy. Was that wise? Perhaps she and Oni should handle the big guy. But...no, it wasn’t her place to question orders. This group, to some extent, at least, had worked together. They know about each other. Shako was a stranger here, and it was best that she kept her hand close to her chest as best she could, as well.

Shako’s eyes watched the woman attacking them intently, just searching for any kind of opening she could find. Her guard was well kept, considering how widely she was swinging that weapon. Her movements were precise, but disguised as uncoordinated sweeps, whoever this woman was, she was experienced and confident that she could take a hit, but knew full well that any openings presented would be exploited. How good was she at counter attacking? Damn it, she hated not knowing more about her enemy. How many hits could she take to gather information before she was out of the fight?

“Watch her left, just give the signal and I’ll move in.” Shako spoke softly to her comrade, hoping that between the resonance of her helmet and the impressive sense of hearing that Haya undoubtedly had, that she would hear and understand.

Yamoshi sucked in a deep breath when the gargantuan samurai attacked Isa, destroying the shrine in the process. “Oh what the fuck?” It had almost been a good, eventless patrol. He was hoping the worst they’d see were a few petty crooks. But no, of course not. He leaped back out of harms way when the second assailant reared her head. Dammit, why?

“It was shaping up to be such a nice day too,” he grumbled before Haya jumped into action. He was amazed at first, and then realized how serious this actually was. These weren’t run of the mill villains. He could tell even without consulting the criminal app. That would have been a great resource about now. Maybe there was an observable weakness. “There’s nothing on the big guy,” he spoke after whipping out his phone. Damn. “But the girl… she’s dangerous. Especially with that shovel,” he added quickly. “She’s still good without it, but it might be worth getting it out of her hands,” he advised before tucking away his phone.

Yamoshi was taking this seriously. If they didn’t, they would die. He didn’t wanna die. There was still a lot he hadn’t done.

Luckily, Yamoshi had an advantage at ranged combat. With Haya fending the woman off, he had a chance. “Here goes!” He launched a flurry of roughly 8 pinkish red neon blasts at the Shovelier. Hopefully that grants Haya and Shako a chance to counterattack while offering him a chance to pass her and get to Isa. He didn’t wanna leave her to fend for herself even if she was a super tough badass.

As the trio take their actions against the Shovelier she is partly pushed back by the assault, but not fully onto the offensive as the four hit blow struck against her shovel, leaping up into the air, she points the shovel down towards the three with a crazed look in her eye as she dives straight for them, a wave of pressure builds up in her wake and batters down upon the three, the movement being very swift and short. It may provide Yamoshi a chance to rush past, but it would be highly risky to do so.

On the other end, Isa was pushing the giant’s one hand back, steam could be seen billowing from his left hand and arm even as some of the armor and..flesh bends and breaks, or shows signs of it, however the samurai’s eyes flash a bright red as his right arm comes up bringing the sword forward into a stab on the stationary Isa, while typically such a weapon might not do much, this blade was fairly large, thich and honed to a razor’s edge, easily as valuable, if not more so than his full set of armor and black sealed clothing.

Pressing forward, he drove the weapon into the lower chest region, turning it sideways as he went further in, pressing into a lung as he twisted and pulled with the blade, a sickening snap could be heard as Isa cries out in pain, letting go of the hand as it pressed in, the armored giant continues it’s reach with the left hand, some of it’s fingers inoperable as it grasps around Isa and squeezes, while for her part Isa grabs hold of the blade that was now ran through her back and applies force and pressure as blood runs out of her mouth, amazingly cracks and chips were starting to form in the blade, she seemed to be breaking it, though the question remained of what would ultimately break first, her or the blade?

“FUCK! FUCK FUUCK!” Isa screams and snarls, biting her sharp teeth into the hand grasped around her, drawing out what seemed to be blood, though odd as she digs into the upper thumb of the warrior. Whatever this giant warrior was, it was not purely man nor purely machine.

"Shit shit shit," Yamoshi's eyes widened hearing Isa's screams, his eyes directed toward the sight as Shovelier leaped into the air. He didn't have time to hesitate. If there was a moment to move forward, now was it. Especially since Isa was in trouble. "I'll leave the undertaker over here to you two." Normally, Yamoshi might have worked in a compliment or two, but this wasn't the time, nor was it the place. He charged forward and for a moment, as Shovelier was hurtling down at an alarming rate, his entire body began to glow the vibrant pink/red of his neon bolts from earlier.

If not for this, Yamoshi was sure that he'd be caught in the wake of Shovelier's looming attack. But he was just able to get by. "Oi!" He shouted launching an assault of neon blast similar to those he's fired at the Shovelier. These were more precisely targeted though.

Yamoshi aimed for the hand holding the sword, the samurai's shoulder joints and each of his eyes. He'd even put a little more power into these blasts, concentrating them to hopefully cause more damage if the samurai didn't try to block them or anything. It would be an added benefit if these attacks managed to get the monstrous mechanical swordsman to back off Isa. If he was lucky, it might even give him and the Oni a chance to retaliate.

Haya pulled back, the enemy was close enough, "Shako, go." She ordered Shako to go on the offensive. She jumped out of the way and pulled her guitar out. Forcing the sound, she built up just enough in the guitar to push back. "Hit once and move back." She told her. When Shako had her turn, Haya would use her guitar to direct the blast of sound at the female after Shako was done. It was to see whose attacks would have more effect if either of them were going to have a chance. Haya needed to find a way to at least hold the female off.

Shako observed the battle closely, concerned that these foes may be above them. Hearing the commotion going on a short distance from them was all the more concerning. Oni's voice was full of rage and pain. That was bad. With her opponent pressing the attack, she couldn't divert her attention to check on Oni. The armored girl cursed under her breath, finally seeing some kind of opening. Haya had noted it too, ordering her to attack. Finally.

Shako juked back before crouching low, then, darted forward with her tail moving in a sort of serpentine fashion. This movement was swift and easy to misconstrue with the way her tail moved. As soon as she was onto her opponent, her vision focused on her, observing the way she moved the shovel, waiting for a clear shot at her chest. Center mass, aim for the sternum. Least chance of resistance and most likelihood for a strong impact. Of course, she has to pull her punches in the air, but the strength and speed were still considerable.

In a flash, Shako's right arm shot forward in a straight, the muscles releasing the pressure to shoot d with great speed. Her fist clenched tight for both power and protection of her own body. She would press forward, wait until the blow struck home or otherwise, then immediately spring back to her ally.

As Yamoshi joins in on the attempt to take the mecha Samurai, the attack on eye eyes did little else but dent and force back some armor, the interface for it seemed electronic and more of an observation unit. Though some damage was done, it was still intact and armored. The shoulder attacks coupled with Isa’s own efforts pushed him back, with a stumble the Samurai pulls back on it’s sword as Isa manages to break the metal with a bit of force and damage to her hands, heaving over, she pulls the back half of the blade out from her back wound pulling it out with a bit of blood following. Letting out a bloody and enraged scream, Isa ignores her condition for the moment, deciding to trust in her regeneration, though in pain and having to clutch her side time to time, she holds up to her words from before and runs up to the giant, who was considerably above any of their heights and just impacts her right fist into the lower sheen of the machine, knocking it’s leg back wards and forcing the machine to fall to one knee as it swiped it’s right arm with broken sword at the two, hurling the blade like a telephone pole at the pair.

Back with the main group the Shovelier is caught in the sky during her diving attack and hit right in the chest as she falls backwards she uses the metal of her shovel to deflect the attack from Haya away from herself as she heaved a bit to get some more air as she looked at the pair. However it did not seem to do more than delay her and Shako would noticed something with her impact, the heavy coat wasn’t just some coat, while more cheaply made, it was hero style full body armor that made her nearly as durable as the giant Samurai fighting beyond them.

“...I said… FALL DOWN AND BLEED!” She says with that as she does a more risky if not damaging and daring attack as it was crazy. That being she spun in place at high speeds and darted towards them with the shovel swiping outwards, its sharpened blade turned towards the pair.

Yamoshi grit his teeth. The samurai had been pushed back and Isa was free from its grasp, but she was hurt. Worse, she was charging forward and attacking again. He shook his head. She was unlikely to listen even if he tried to get her to hold back some. Plus, her strength was instrumental to even having a chance.

“Fucking go nuts!” he cheered Isa on as he covered her with blast after blast of neon light. Each attack of his grew strong as he tried to gauge the durability of the samurai. “I’ve got your back Oni!” He added, wanting to help provide an opening for her as much as she would for him.

Shako smirked beneath her helmet when her blow struck home. Unfortunately, the small sense of pride would fade quickly when she realized just how durable the armor that woman was wearing was. As she landed and righted herself, Shako looked to her foe, whom began to spin like a bladed top, the weapon outstretched in a violent horizontal arc. The woman was moving quickly, and definitely didn’t leave any sort of opening for her to get her. However, that didn’t mean Shako didn’t have some small means of engaging in some kind of offense. Shako lunged forward, leaping up into the air as she rolled her body forward in a midair somersault, throwing her tail in an aggressive overhead swip. The goal was to hit her over the head and hopefully stop her rapid spinning to open up for another blow.

Haya noticed how little both attacks seemed to affect the female and she sighed, there was only one way to find a way to get through. She moved towards the female, behind Shako. She would back up Shako the best she could, but if the female moved Shako out of the way, she would blast her guitar a lot more then before, louder then she had done when anyone else would be in front of her that she wasn’t sure could take it. She had an idea, but she was going to have to face this female head on, just like Shako was going to have to do the same. There was no way that they were going to be able to really hold back, no matter who was around. They just had to minimize the range of their attacks and focus the damage best they could.

At the confrontation with the giant, the faceless being seemed to register annoyance as it lifted it’s right arm to guard it’s face from more impacts as it’s left arm reached up with speed and effort and swatted at Isa, batting her right into Yamoshi before attempting to stand itself up, it’s eyes beaming red light and glowing as the right hand lowers to press into the ground as it tried to stand up.

Isa grunts a bit turning her attention to Yamoshi as she grins and bears the pain. “..We need to bring that son of a...bitch down.. I wanna bait him, or see if I can get up...to his head..ideas?”

Meanwhile back at the spinning Shovelier, she grins a bit and stops mid spin as Shako gets closer, hooking her shovel into the back heel of the other and around her foot, using her remaining momentum she throws her directly at Haya as she looks on at them, the smile gone from her face. “I’ve killed better people than you, you know? Or were they better? You are alive, they are not. Is it stronger? But you’ve yet to show that...huh..huh,huh, huh?” Holding her shovel down by her side, she tilts her head sideways as much as the human neck would allow, and suddenly beams into a smile. “Egg head didn’t say I needed to kill you, but hey, I wanna see what you bleed? So if you die, it’s clearly as you were too weak.”

Yamoshi grunted as Isa crashed into him. He just barely managed to stay on his feet as he caught her. "Normally, everything has weak points that you can exploit. People, machines, whatever. I would say we should go for the knees, but I don't know how well that'll work." I was already pretty badly hurt after having a sword run through her. "You got anything in mind?" he asked as he helped get her back on her feet. He wasn't expecting much. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised if Isa boiled things down to 'hit him really hard' and left it at that.

"I could condense a crap ton of neon into something big to try and shred through his armor with concentrated heat and force." That was another gamble though. But it was a good bet. It could work. In any other scenario trying to wear down the samurai might work. But a battle of attrition wasn't in the cards. "Think you can keep him off me for a minute or two while I prepare, Oni?"

Shako exhaled sharply in a grunt as she was caught, cursing inwardly as she was spun around and released. A short scream escaped her lips as she was thrown into her comrade with the full brunt of her body, landing in an unpleasant roll. Several revolutions on the ground later, she planted her upper arms, flipping over to right herself as she slid a few more feet along the ground. Their enemy was strong, experienced, and obviously off her rocker. The way she spoke was crazy, and the look in her eyes was nothing if not unsettling. The mockery didn’t bother her much, but the concern of having to go full tilt, especially on land, concerned her.

Shako moved to Haya, checking to make sure she was okay. Perhaps it would be best if they tried to hammer out a better plan. If not, she would just have to try harder. Maybe if she could get a good hold on her, she would actually be able to do some damage. “Haya, we need to get a solid opening. Maybe I can get through that armor with a stronger punch. How much force can you generate? Enough to knock her off her feet?”

Haya felt the movement of Shako, which gave her little time to react. She moved to one side but fell back from the weight of Shako's tail sliding passed her. She was able to dodge most of it but back on her feet she listened to Shako. "I generate sound and it doesn't seem to affect her. Neither does your punch. All we have is to keep her busy at this rate. Instead of me following up your attacks. We will attack one at a time. She's not going to give us an opening, so we will have to try to make one with continuous attacks." She explains. This female didn't let them attack her and brutal force was getting nowhere. She faced her guitar at the woman and blasted the sound thru it, towards her. Taking the adjustments she needed to keep the female facing her guitar. Trusting that her team would find a way to avoid getting hit.

Listening to what Yamoshi had to say, Isa nods her head, still in a bit of pain, but she smiles through it. “Don’t worry about that!...Just make it fast.”

With that, Isa decides to embark on her other plan, as the giant mostly gets up on its feet. It suddenly strikes her, to hit the alert button on her communicator to summon other heroes here, something she didn’t even think about till now. Waving her arms, or rather her right arm, as her left protested at the effort, she picks up a chunk of the prayer shrine and throws it at the Samurai. “Hey! You big Bastard!” With that the machine focuses on her alone as it throws the broken blade to the ground and reaches for her, in a re-enactment of the first encounter, he uses his right hand this time and starts to overwhelm the weakened Isa, pressing in against her own right arm and pressing in on her, causing her wound to bleed even more, putting pressure upon he cracked ribs. She would hold for as long as she could, the question was if Yamoshi could do what was needed.

Back at the Shovelier, the girl seemed a bit irritated this time with the sound wave blasting into her, she takes a second option in withstanding it. She kneels. With shovel in hand, she points it towards the ground and starts to quickly work with it to make a tunnel or fox hole for herself, much like drill as she braces against the impacting waves, and submerges into the ground beneath the road way, partially as a raised mound of earth heads towards the pair with startling speed. Almost like a worm or a Land based Submarine she hurriedly heads somewhere they could not easily reach her, though the dirt mound did seem to be heading their way to close in for close combat.

Yamoshi watched as the girl ran back into the fray, prepared to take on the gargantuan samurai. He immediately got to work. He condensed neon into a ball of energy, each second allowing it to grow larger and larger until it was a bright shining beacon. He grit his teeth. "Been a while... since I've used this much..." he grumbled to himself and nobody else in particular. Yamoshi was certainly beginning to over extend his quirk. But if Isa could manage what she was doing, fighting through the pain she was undoubtedly feeling, he could do at least this much.

Still, Isa was in trouble. The monstrous being was beginning to overwhelm her. He sucked in a breath. It was just about ready. "Oi! Oni! Get outta the way!" He shouted a warning before unleashing an almost comically large blast in the direction of the samurai. He was aiming for the chest and head area, where Isa should have been out of harm's way regardless, but he still wanted to give her warning.

"Come on!" He said still pumping more neon into the blast. "Channel your inner Veg- Goku. Yup. Cause Goku actually gets to take out baddies..." he griped, his words practically inaudible as he maintain the blast, aimsing to take out the samurai if he could.

Haya felt the ground, the vibrations and movement, when the female started to shovel. She turned to Shako, “Keep watch for when she comes out, and hit her as hard as you can.” she said before she started to run. She moved through, avoiding the vibrations of the female under them to find the spot she had started from. She was going to have one chance at really getting to her. If she played her guitar at the entrance and the female was still in the ground, the sound would vibrate enough to not just reach her in full force but to send vibrations throughout her senses. If she got out before Haya could get to the openings and play, Shako would be ready for her next attack. At least that was the idea. Haya had to get on her knees to make sure she found the hole’s opening. When she was sure she stood over it and blasted her guitar through it, hoping that it would reach the female before she popped out of the hole, so they could help Isa. It didn’t feel like Isa was doing too good and Yamoshi’s help was not helping as well as Haya had hoped, at least not from the way he felt. It felt like he was trying to do more, but she couldn’t tell if it was because the figure was getting hurt and he needed to end it. Or if it was because nothing was going on. Either way, she couldn’t feel the figure clearly, it was like he wasn’t there but sound still came off of him, so he had to be….right.

Shako moved quickly, skidding to a stop as she focused herself, eyes focused on the ground below. Haya used her guitar again, the sound waves were intense, even with them being directed into the ground the way it was. The red skinned woman inhaled slowly, drawing her right arm back while she lowered her center of gravity. Any moment now...the sound was growing louder somehow. The movement stopped as the soundwaves hit the target in the ground. Her eyes narrowed as she dashed forward overtop of it.

“There!” Shako shouted, a drawn out shout of effort as she threw her arm doward in straight, at full power.

Even just the movement caused her great discomfort, a loud groan of pain escaping her lips through gritted teeth. A short stream of blood shot from her right arm in a few places from the sudden pressure of the muscles. However, hopefully the pain would be worth it, with the intense force of her punch smashing through the earth with a great roar. An explosion of earth and force generated a mild shockwave. Shako’s fist punched cleanly through the softened earth, directly into her opponent from above. She wasn’t sure if the blow would hit her opponent’s head or back, since she couldn’t see which angle she was at underneath the ground.

With the Blast from Yamoshi, Isa takes a bit of a chance and pulls the giant forward with what strength she could muster to ensure he got hit. “He..he..ke.ke.” She says greeting through pain, laughing at the being before her, she felt a glow and partly seen it coming from behind her, trusting in Yamoshi to not fuck up, Isa falls backwards, free from the Samurai’s grasp as the massive wave of energy and force slams into the head and chest of the black Samurai. There was a loud shock and a BOOM as attack impacts in areas it had before and that Isa had also helped damaged. What was to come was both horrifying and yet... Wrong, the reasoning behind the oddities that Haya had felt.

For inside was something neither man, nor machine, but a meld of both, cooling fluid and artificial blood flowed from a massive exposed chest that had all manner of electronics and serves, capacitors and wiring affixed to it, the vacuant eyed expression from one side of split helmet showed a man with a look of dread to his face, eyes long faded from life, as a voice chimes in from the robot, or cyborg, its red light shining. “YOU DAMN KIDS THIS MACHINE IS WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF YOU! But No matter, I’ll just dispose of you all here and now!”

With that canisters of gas deployed around the robot as various exposed systems glowed; “SELF DESTRUCT AHAHAHAHA!”

But nothing happened, the sturdy falls of footsteps could be heard as the machine ran into the forests badly damaged, from where it had come.

On the other side of things, the Shovelier was driven a bit and even punched for her troubles, only to see the mad quack speaking out of his gore puppet, the fat bald fuck was going to run away wasn’t he? As the punch sailed right into her, Shovelier lurchs over a bit but then smiles. The Material on her dressed seemed softer to the touch, but the body under it was hard as well, she was finally starting to take damage and they found a means of playing whack-a-mole with her, but what was to come would be something they could not envision that showed she was not just playing at being a Villain.

“Hehahhahahaha!” And with that she dives with her shovel, using it to spin and speed, heading right for, and then kicking off shovel to go behind, Shako. Haya was also now behind Shako and not easily able to fire, as the crazed woman makes a mad flying dash for a young couple that were part of a crowd watching this whole affair, heroes were on the way as well, but she knew a way out, sliding her sharpened blade under the neck of the male, she cuts open his throat and then shoves the hands of his female partner over the gapping wound, before putting the blade to her neck as well.

“HAHAHAHA! HEROES! Take the baddie or save the two! A Throat cut can be survived if you just put a bit of love and strength into it. I'll give you thirty seconds!” And with that she cuts the woman before pointing her shovel at the ground and running away just as the giant had, digging a hole rather quirky in front of her position.

"ALL RI--ight?" Yamoshi's enthusiasm quickly took a nosedive as he saw insides of the samurai. A dead body. That was a dead body. It was being forcefully puppeted by some being unknown to Yamoshi.

Swallowing hard with an audible gulp, Yamoshi tried to pull himself back into the moment as the figure spoke. He was clearly off his game now, shaken by the visual created by the opening he'd helped to make in the hull of the monstrosity he was fighting with Isa. "You sure? I'm worth a pretty penny to some amazing people," he managed to bark back at the voice, feigning confidence. He couldn't let the bad guy see him sweat after all.

And yet, as the comical "SELF DESTRUCT" and horrendous laugh rang out, he sucked in a breath running to try and grab Isa.

"Look out!" He shouted, only for nothing to happen and for him to stop in his tracks. The Samurai... ran away? "OI!" He shouted as he wound up and launched a neon javelin in the direction of the metal former human... being? "Grrr..." He grit his teeth. His hand stung. He's shot a lot of neon from there and nowhere else. It wasn't as spread out as usual. In short... he was exhausted. Unfortunately... there was no rest for the weary. "Isa, you alright?" he asked, kneeling to check on the girl. Meanwhile, the Shovelier was making an escape after injuring two individuals, a man and a woman. Shit... how was this going so bad? Could Shako and Haya handle it? What was he supposed to do?

Haya could feel the moving vibrations, she had hoped that the sound would have been trapped with the female. She was going to keep it in the hole, but the female got free. She sighed, as she turned towards the direction of when the female was now heading. She could feel what was up ahead before the woman got there and started to run. Tossing her guitar behind her, but she was too late. Both victims were down and the female was gone, when she reached them. She wasn’t really sure how to help them, but she could hear their hearts racing and slowing at the same time. ‘First Aid’. It was something her uncle had not gotten a chance to teach her, but said her sound might be able to do. But what could she do? Love and Strength? She had no idea what that meant, but if she didn’t act quickly she was going to lose the hostages now casualties and she wouldn’t know if she could move forward from that. Love and Strength? What did that mean? Haya hesitated, but she placed her hands over the female’s throat, maybe if she put some pressure it would help. But she wasn’t sure if that was going to be enough, it was all she had right now and to put all the pressure on one side, meant she couldn’t do the same for the male.

Shako was taken aback by the impressive durability and determination of her foe. The shovel woman simply darted off, laughing maniacally with minimal damage as she needlessly slaughtered two civilians. What was her damage? Why did she do something like that? Even villains had reason, this woman was just mad! The red skinned woman’s body shook, the surprise giving way to inward directed frustration and despair. She was a fighter. A warrior. And this was nothing but a total defeat. Her right arm ached, every movement of the muscles was painful, but, at least it would heal okay given a little time. But, right now, she needed to focus. Innocent people were dying.

Pulling herself from her addled mind, Shako darts over to the pair of injured civilians, one of which was now being treated by Haya. The male was still bleeding profusely. Shako dropped down to her knees, raising the man upright so he rested against her while she grunted with pain and effort to tear the man’s sleeve, improvising a tourniquet to wrap around his wound. Unfortunately, the location of this wound would probably make this a 50/50 at best, and her lack of legitimate medical knowledge didn’t help matters.

“Try to hang in there, sir, help is on the way…” Shako managed to say to him softly, her jaw clenched as she worked through the pain to apply the cloth tourniquet as correctly and efficiently as she could manage, also using her hands to maintain a firm but not too firm pressure against the bleeding. She didn’t figure they were even remotely close enough to a hospital to just carry him to one. She could only hope that a paramedic or heroes would arrive to help.

As the chaos unfurled around them, Isa collapsed where she stood, while still bleeding, her healing seemed to be focused on interior damage given the decrease in blood flow, it would be wrong to say she was safe, but she wasn’t about to die at least. Pointing out with one Arm she motions to where the giant had left. “Go..” If Yamoshi did this or not would be up to him, but he would find the same thing that the arriving heroes would, a hill in the woods had a tunnel dug through it, though not likely by the shovel girl alone and the tire tracks of a truck leading off into an older utility tunnel and subway train system was what it lead to, from that one would need to take a strenuous effort to carry out a search, the important thing to note would be the fact a rather large truck and trailer had to have been used in this task. Here and there bits an pieces of the Cyborg littered the wooded path as did snapped limbs and scared trees.

In the case of the two girls, though bloody and fraught with peril, the pair’s efforts would be….

Not in vain. Even though they hesitated, it was clear that the girl had cut the pair with the notion of wounding and prolonging their lives to serve as a decoy rather than pure assassination. It was only scant seconds later that a jeep raced down the narrow road carrying a couple of medical orderlies with a couple pro heroes perched on the side runners. More help could be heard coming in the distance, but in the here and now the medics threw themselves over the bodies and set to work at once, not even bothering to talk to the two girls, with a bit of flame heat from a hero, some suture work and compress bandages, they had stabilized the two, but they had lost a lot of blood, they were not out of the woods just yet. Giving some short conversation to the hero, both the man and woman were loaded onto the hood of the jeep and strapped down atop some carrying runners for makeshift stretchers.

The male hero with the fire finally speaks with the two bloodied girls, relaying what he was told, the man had a rather military look that was very casual, like bdu get up, or at least fatigue pants, a camo mask, gloves and a black shirt, it was rather simple as far as hero outfits went.

“They should live, but they likely won’t be talking for awhile, will need serious physical therapy, least some healer quirk is on hand. But they’ll live, it didn’t seem she was aiming to kill them outright so much as to kill them slowly. A minute or two later than we came and they both would have been dead.. We’ll see about promoting the Shovelier to A Rank...she’s too damn dangerous.. As to the big guy, well from what we seen by security drones on the way, the Association has decided to name him Kurogane.”

While he does all of this, the other hero with him takes some of the left over medical supplies and sets about trying to fix Isa up. “You guys got somewhere to take her, I mean other than a hospital? Should be an ambulance up here sooner or later.. And by that I mean the sooner.. We just judged the civies to be the most critical.” He felt a bit bad at not taking notice of the fellow hero till now, though the girl seemed like she would live at least...still that was some major damage, picking up a fragment of the sword that the giant had thrown, he whistles a bit as he taps a finger against the metallic fragments.

"Oi Oi," Yamoshi said through grit teeth as he looked over the bleeding girl. She was doing significantly better than he'd though, but better than horrible was still pretty bad. "Focus more on healing than the samurai cyborg thing. The pros are on it and I'm sure they'll relay anything they find to us," he said both trying to reassure her and let her know he wasn't going anywhere.

Even so, when the other hero approached, Yamoshi was at a loss. "Honestly, I'm grasping at straws here man. I've got nothing. Just make sure my friend is okay," he said calmly. "Pretty sure the hospital is it for now unless you're plannin’ on giving her mom a call." Yamoshi shivered at the thought of calling up the Oni's mom. God he prayed for the poor soul in charge of that.

"Uhh...I..should.." Says the hero a bit nervous, but he does what he says.
 
As Mari heads out to get changed, she waits for the other two to join her, standing in the autopool, she would likely be driving this time. Their objective was simple, to head back to the Chemical plant and look for even the most scant of clues, for her part Mari was in her gear and checking her batteries, she was ready to go.

“Bittersweet present and ready for investigation,” Bittersweet came in rather excited for once with a strange device tucked into her side belt along with a combat vest with multiple pockets. It seemed Ichika’s hero outfit was styled to have multiple looks and add ons when called for this one appearing to be a combat investigator angle. Ichika’s senses were heightened making her actually very proficient for detective work, and given her father Jettitare aka Dark Matter detective hero profile there was no doubt she had been trained to track as well.

Kikyo spared a quick glance at herself in the mirror in the locker room, noting both the form fitting nature of her bodysuit and the unusually confident look on her face. The young woman smiled slightly at her reflection, and unusually enough, she smiled back. The nerves had been getting to her about going on her first assignment with these new people, and definitely had her worried that she would wind up looking silly. With a huff of an exhale to psyche herself up, Kikyo made her way to the meeting point, immediately noticing that not only was Mari already there, but, so was one of her new classmates that she hadn’t met yet. She looked like she was ready for war!

“Uhm, hey! I’m here and ready to get to work!” Kikyo announced with a smile, her hands resting on her hips as she fixed her posture to stand upright, chest puffed out as if she were a pro hero arriving on scene.

“Interesting equipment from both of you.” Mari remarks studying the pair briefly, smiling at Kikyo she opens the van’s driver door, taking a seat behind the wheel, as her tail wrapped around her own body. “While I would hate to rain on your parade, it may take awhile till we actually have something to fight, or so I hope.. Just hold onto that fighting spirit for now, one never can be sure what awaits.”

Looking at the other two, she waited to see if they had anything else to say, they knew where they were heading, everything else could be taken care of when they arrived. “Fortunately it should not be a long trip unless traffic gets in the way.”

Kikyo shrugged at the remark of equipment, since she herself didn’t use much. Then again, this bodysuit was considered equipment, since it was a costume and all. She filed in with the others, ready for a car ride, which was something she had always enjoyed growing up. Something about sitting idly and watching the world go by was calming. Mari’s mention of combat brought back a couple of her minor concerns. After all, outside of standard one-on-one fights without quirks, she wasn’t all that useful.

“Hehe...yeah, i’m hoping we don’t have to do much fighting. If i’m being honest. Uhm. Mari. Sorry.” Kikyo giggled nervously before responding softly, her gaze averting to try and hide how silly she suddenly felt.

"Sexy," was all Ichika said, giving Kikyo a thumbs up of approval as she got into the van. It was her first time meeting the scarred gal but so far it was a positive first impression, and she would leave it at that.

"One should not go looking for combat, but if we run into it we do our best to trounce it," Ichika nodded in agreement. Getting into the van with the others.

With a solemn nod, Mari starts the van and puts it into drive. “We’ll all be fine, I’m sure of it.” She says in an attempt to comfort Kikyo a small amount. In truth if trouble came their way, they might be hard pressed, but that wasn’t a fact to share out loud, what would it help to do so?

Around a half hour later they were down the highways and into the factory district, starting with the chemical factory, Mari hoped some evidence was still left to be gone over. Maybe the factory would be limited in its operations for the time being. It had only been a week after all. Arriving at the location, the two large trucks had been removed from the scene and parked nearby with the factory at full production, or near enough to it, the wall breakage and the van that most of them took, or what was left of it was still on hand as a policeman and someone in the black of ANVIL were cataloging what all was inside of it, or rather what wasn’t, including the broken safety wall.

“Alright.. I guess for now we’ll settle on asking some questions or seeing if they’ll let us look over it.” Mari says, powering the van off and putting it into park.

Kikyo’s face showed signs of nervousness, but was also attacked with a sudden blush at the word “sexy” used in reference to her uniform. Nonetheless, she focused her mind on the task at hand, dealing with this investigation. She had been briefed slightly on the events here before, but, for the most part it was a mystery. When the van pulled off to a stop, Kikyo moved up to Mari.

“Asking questions? Are we just doing interviews for now, then?” Kikyo asked her, looking out at the police officers and others that were around. It appeared as though everything was running smoothly here, almost as if nothing had even happened.

“The police already took all samples they could from the trucks minus tearing them apart which they plan to do later in fact I think from what I read from the mission file that they will be claiming them tomorrow for tear down,” Ichika explained to Kikyo. This would probably yield no results as questions had already been asked, but sometimes a second sweep triggered memories to reveal new info.

“What Ichika said more or less. I’m not sure we’ll find anything, but for now, let’s talk to the Policeman and the ANVIL trooper, it would be nice to see what they have learned and to make sure we can do our own look over.”

With that Mari leads the trio on over, where they were engaged in a bit of a debate, both of them were Sergeants though the ANVIL one seems a little on edge or maybe tired of being here, Mari walks up to the pair and gives a brief bow to both males, introducing her class by her names as the two look at them.

“Kids? Ah, you’re the ones from the report.” Says the Police Officer, The ANVIL Sergeant nods at the pair and speaks up; “So what can we do for the three of you, we’re a bit busy here.”

“We were wanting to follow up the investigation with one of our own, and to learn if you learned anything of note? It was among those in my own class who were attacked here, also not to be rude, but what is ANVIL doing here?” Mari asks.

“Huh? I’ll leave it up to the Policeman here, We were here just to look at the chemicals being made in this factory and to see what was being stolen, the Government deemed it enough of a threat for us to have a hand in it, we just want to make sure someone isn’t about to make a bomb or chemical weapon. But so far everything seems to belong in medical research and sees use in hospitals from everything to putting people to sleep to acting as a cleanser as our own put it.” Says the ANVIL man, to which the cop now adds in;

“Yeah, the Trucks are already cleaned and going back with us but they’ve been searched, we’ll be taking them apart to learn more. The Van has mostly been cleared and we are still collecting remains from the escape route. You guys can take a look, just be careful with what you touch and report any findings to us.” With that he waves them off as Mari looks at Ichika.

“So, Bittersweet, anything interesting on that fancy gear of yours? We have two courses of action open to us. The van might be worth poking around, or the debris trail, though that has had days to be contaminated, both have.”

Kikyo listened diligently to the men as they spoke, as well as to how Mari interacted with them. Mari, as always, was highly professional, and regarded both of them as equals it seemed. She wasn’t sure if she herself would have the capacity to do that kind of thing yet. Though, she was at least carrying some small semblance of authority and title now. Kikyo looked to Mari as she spoke to Bittersweet, brushing her hair out of her face as she pondered one what course of action they should take. Right now, she didn’t feel like putting forward any kind of motion. She would try to get a feel for everyone before she started doing such a thing.

“Yes I have a material analyzer/recorded DNA device on all current anvil/Hero track targets/trouble makers,” Ichika smiled, taking out the rather strange device from her belt.

“It's one off few ever made by Surge Alloy. It was a gift to my father Dark Matter,” she smiled confidently with a nod.

“So if we find anything I can scan it and get a 85% direct scan… it's a bit old or I would say 99%. Regardless My animalistic senses can be a large help. I also took many investigative courses,” she chimed clearly rather excited as her tail gave it away wagging a bit.

“I would say maybe a second look in the vehicle. I know they don't expect much from this so I doubt they were completely thorough,” she admitted.

Kikyo listened attentively, though, her attention span had a tendency to dip when it involved context that she didn't understand. Technology being one such contextual failure for her. Her eyes almost glazed over for a moment as she watched Ichika speak, her nervous smile forming again.

"Well, that, uhm, device sounds wonderful/amazing...anyway, the vehicle. That sounds like a plan for now." Kikyo replied with a nervous chuckle, preparing herself to leave the vehicle.

Her mind wandered widely, trying to think of something useful she could do to help them. Attentive eyes scanned the environment, hoping to scope out any useful reflective surfaces.

“Hmm..” Thinking about all that, Mari gives a nod, though she was curious how the machine was able to do all of that or what a scan would return on villains who were yet to be caught.

“Maybe we’ll find something in what is left of the van at any rate, all he took was the Engine and front axle with wheels. So the body should be left mostly intact, let me know if your search turns up anything.” With that the trio walk over to the van and climb inside, with Mari careful not to touch anything as she searches the area around the back doors of the van.

“Agi, or Amano would have been perfect for this,” Bittersweet nodded as they started to dig through the vehicle looking for anything that could have been missed.

“Actually given how light the first review was, if we tear a tire off, and look into the break line we might find a unique soil sample,” Bittersweet suggested as she popped out of the back seat looking at Mari for permission to tear a tire off preferably the back ones.

“Do it...but I prefer it is one the policeman doesn’t see, at least till we have something to show.” The law abiding class rep wasn’t as narrow walking as she once was, in this case it was better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Mari for her part starts searching the floor of the van to see if she found any dirt or rags, anything at all, even a water bottle or bag that once contained food. “Let me know if you find anything, I’ll do the same.”

“Hi hi,” Bittersweet confirmed as she pulled out the rigs jack device and crawled out the window starting to pump up the backside tire that the Anvil operative, and policeman as she worked the girls might have found it a bit odd how silently everything was. As the dragon girl got the tire off there would be for a moment where she stopped and turned her head.

"Kikyo this may be a strange suggestion but see if there is anything strange about the back seats I am getting a strange scent," Bittersweet suggested as now being around the vehicle for a moment she was staying to notice unique smells.

With that Bittersweet returned to her own investigation noticing a odd asking if sand all-around the grease and oiled substances around the ties connection points and bolts.

"This vehicle went through some pretty sanded areas I am noticing which is strange as the rest of the vehicle and the rubber of the tire shows no signs of such. Could be a thorough cleaning to avoid such being noticed," Ichika suggested to Calico Kat as she went back down to get under the rig to see what else she could find.

Kikyo nodded to Bittersweet at her recommendation, moving to investigate the rear of the vehicle. Her eyes scanned the interior, not immediately noticing anything. Her hands moved around the seats, searching for anything that stood out. After several seconds, her fingertips brushed over something peculiar. It felt like stitches or thread used to close a tear. "Hey, it feels like there was a recent repair done back here on the seat."

The young woman quickly moved around the seats for a better look. Sure enough, there was a cut in the fabric, recently sewn back together. Certainly in some attempt to hide the damage.

“Maybe, let’s see what we find.” With that they look at the evidence they had found, which included an oil rag that Mari had found, the sand samples that Ichika had found and the one final clue, which was upon opening it a cleaning cloth belonging to a tuna factory was found within the seat. Mari had a funny feeling about that last clue, either way between the three and Ichika’s computer, they were led to one place, an old warehouse district that had a tuna cannery, an oil processing facility and a number of warehouses. Leaving the information to the police, Mari asked them to give them some time to look before they arrived, promising to share whatever they found with one another.

Upon reaching the complex, Mari split up with the others, to ask workers what warehouses might have been recently taken over, abandoned or anything strange might be happening at.

They all had clear orders to call for one another if they found anything. For her part Mari began searching for one such complex.

Bittersweet had checked with some of the older workers in the cannery section asking for any knowledge on anything strange in the maze of small business. After many questions there was one that stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Calico, Meikyo meet me outside the chain line past the older blocks, and bring the car I think i got something that might help us,” she instructed over the line waving at the elderly foreman as she walked outside to the edge of the cannery.

“Apparently the rig from the site does not belong to any of the active companies. However I showed a picture to one of elderly foramen of the area, and he swears the only people that had a rig that clean, and well maintained up, and left a while back three months ago,” Bittersweet explained dialing on her phone to pull up some info on the area.

“But the plot thickens the company was called Tenshin Asuga they apparently bout a long since abandoned, and falling apart structure off the beach side a little way away from here down the decommission road. The company is fake…,” Ichika halted as her result to the police line of japanese companies pulled no result.

“...I think it's safe to say your hunch latched onto something Calico,” Bittersweet spoke with a lower voice as she added.

“Because the property has been listed as condemned for the last seven years without any changes,” she finished.

“Hmm..” Doing what she was told, Mari brought the van around and listened to the story being given by Ichika. It made sense more or less, but there was now the moment of truth. Checking one of the side doors to the structure, it was of course locked, moving on to the next couple she finally finds one that was unlocked as she took point and went inside she motions for the others to stay back or at least to follow in with a gap between them.

Getting inside, the place seemed to have been in the process of being abandoned, or in fact had been the later, a strange smell lingered in the air and before her were some tables of different sorts and a record player that detailed some of what was going on here, as she hit the play button and paid close attention. What played out was a discussion that was brief and chopped up, it seemed some medical research was being focused on here and there was mention, or so she rationalized about some of her friends or class, something to do with anti-quirk research. Putting her focus on the left over lab work she looked to see if anything more solid could be learned and just who they meant aside from “that one”.

Kikyo did her part to aid in the investigation, between small searches and asking simple questions, she felt about as useful as a screen door in a rain storm. Of course, her allies were all doing wonderfully to contribute to the assignment. Gleaning useful information at every turn. When Mari brought the van around, Kikyo was of course with her. The investigation continued, with the building they needed to scope out. Something about it gave her a really bad feeling, but, that wasn’t exactly uncommon either. Sometimes, she was something of a scaredy cat when it came to dark mysterious buildings. Sometimes, they could lead to some very unpleasant flashbacks.

Kikyo followed behind Mari into the building, waiting a few moments before she did to ensure some proper spacing. The place looked nearly abandoned, but the lab equipment was definitely throwing her off. What could they possibly have been doing in this place? Then, Mari found a creepy record player, hitting the play button before Kikyo could say something against the idea. For some reason, she felt all the more creeped out by the revelation and wanted to wait. The young woman listened to the tape, curious about what exactly they could have been referring to. What kind of crazy research was going on? Why did people always need to be so needlessly vague? Especially villains, it seemed. Kikyo sighed heavily, looking about the room again. What stuck with her the most, though, was the peculiar mention of anti-quirk research. Was such a thing possible?

Bittersweet listened calmly to the recording taking it all in on the rather strange idea of quirk removal. While she doubted such was possible there was documented proof of a quirk that could legitly steal quirks permanently. Thus such a thing…

"Is it possible," she barely said, saying what they were all thinking about. However the smells were starting to get pungent, almost sickening.

"Something smells really off here," she hissed as if multiple levels of hellish torture had been performed in this very room. Yet with a soft thud everyone's attention was brought to the door a bit away that was now falling forcing the door wide open. A rather older, and thin make in a patient gown would be revealed rather near death by some strange means as all his veins were rather bulged. While it would be a s guess to say quirk related it was indeed more like something was being rejected by the body.

"He..lp… please. Where are my… arms" the man pleaded strangely incoherently as his hands were tightly around his chest holding onto a document.

With the new discovery, Mari was not sure how to react to it, other than defaulting on her training. She was no medical expert however this man knew a lot of what happened here, or hopefully he did and they might find out what was wrong with him.

“Sir, please remain calm… For now let us get you out of here. Bittersweet, bring him to daylight, be careful in how you touch him..” She then says in a lower tone; “I rather you not touch him at all. I don’t think he’s a villain but we can’t be too careful.” Then back in normal tone; “Meikyo watch her back and phone the police, I’m going to collect what I can from here. Now move.”

With that Mari immediately grabs the tape player and starts to look through the scattered papers. “See what he has on him as well, carefully.”

Kikyo was made more uncomfortable at Ichika’s mention of the scent of the area. She herself couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, and she hated it when people expressed what their own senses perceive that she didn’t. The idea of not knowing was frustrating too. Then, it got so much worse when the man entered the room. What was wrong with him? He looked strange, and the way he talked was unsettling. But, he definitely didn’t look like a villain, just a citizen in need of help. Hearing the quick order, Kikyo moved off to call the police, informing them of their location and of the situation, with them having found a civilian in need of medical attention. Also, the situation may be dangerous so exercise caution.

With that done, she moved to follow behind Bittersweet, following her lead. To be honest, she was concerned about touching the man, in case he had some strange contagious ailment, but also that she could just hurt him if she wasn’t super careful.

“Alright,” Bittersweet acknowledged as she kept an eye on the gentleman yet as Bittersweet started to crystalize her claws with rock candy to avoid direct touch in a moment of sheer silence Calico would watch something extending past the very door that the man had escaped from ram into Bittersweet sending her crashing into Meikyo. Both were bashed through the wall sending them rolling away from the factory wall. As soon as the hole was made though the quicker it was filled up by a bunch of small transparent cubes wedging in blocking the newly made exit along with all the other ones. Slowly from the same door the seemingly sick man came from emerging a well dressed unpropitious situation of a newcomer. His upper face was hidden behind a mask that was connected to a dark almost officer like hat. The male appeared to be young, however so, was up in the air. He momentarily looked at the weakened man before directing his sight to Calico, and more importantly what she had. There was an otherworldly silence as the two seemed to have each other's attention.

“Quite perplexing to find someone else here. I wonder how you arrived here at such a crucial moment, but let us not be swayed by the temptation of confusion. That which you have is meant to not exist. An ideal world can’t keep blissful balance with such a nasty idea floating about so please hand over what you have, and you may leave peacefully,” he offered as more cubes started to form behind Calico. The only escape was through a door on her right, but that led deeper into the building where it was hard to tell what could be experienced. There would be a moment of distraction though as Bittersweet with a fully crystallized hammer claw bashed into the cube wall causing a mere crack as she was forced back before screaming in rage bashing at it again trying to break through.

“FIND A WAY TO HELP HER ESCAPE MEIYKO,” Bittersweet growled in rage trying to break through they had already called in for the police now was time to deal with the immediate threat.

Kikyo was prepared to go with Bittersweet to escort the civilian, only for something that she hadn’t expected to happen. A freaking villain appeared. The sudden rush of force caught her more than a little off guard, and she was thrown through the wall and onto the ground, landing in a painful roll. A groan escaped her lips as she slowly recovered, making her way up to her feet to assess the damage. Her body hurt a bit, but everything seemed fine. More interesting than that was the sudden appearance of strange transparent cubes. The objects were clogging the hole in the wall they went through, and seemed to be blocking off everything except for a single door.

The young woman favored her side for a moment, noticing that Bittersweet was out there with her, but Mari was still inside with the villain. The man had been speaking to Mari, clearly demanding something from her. It must have been the evidence that Mari had just collected. He was strangely well-spoken for a villain, and to Kikyo it just presented an air of superiority that she found annoying. She noted that Bittersweet shouted to her to find a way to help, and was attacking the cube. It didn’t seem to be doing much damage, however. Kikyo moved to the cube, seeing her reflection in the object, which gave her some small idea.

“Don’t give it to him! Whatever he wants, he’s clearly a villain, so whatever his reasons, we don’t want him to have it! Hold on!” Kikyo shouted to her companion, focusing as she looked at her reflection, who then moved to climb out of the cube on the interior of the building.

The reflection of Kikyo, or rather, Meikyo, crawled from the object like a ghost from a yurei film. She stood upright, looking at Mari before darting for the villain, throwing as fierce jumping superman punch at his face as she could muster. With her strength not being all that great, she hoped she could at least hurt him or distract him. Even if he managed to damage her without outright destroying her, maybe she could manage to catch him off guard with the glass she was formed from.

Studying the other man, as well as the attack that shoved her allies out and left her in, the civilian was in here as well, but the man seemed unconcerned with that. He did seem very concerned with what she had, which she didn’t even have the time to go over what she had in the first place. Hearing the man out, she honestly did consider his request, provided he would honor it, nor did she have time to look up who this man was, one thing was for sure, he wasn’t that well known, she would have remembered such a distinct looking man. However it was Kikyo’s words plus her own sense of Duty that lead to her next remark.

“Hmm.. I’m afraid I can’t do that so easily, plus I think you’ll find capturing me will take a bit of work.”

With that Mari jolts off with speed, making for the door and slamming into it hard enough that her body seems to lurch from the impact as she makes her way beyond and deeper into the storage building, looking around the place seemed rather packed with materials or shelving at least, as her eyes adjust to the darkness.

Right as the girl was about to seemingly surrender a girl of glass came swinging in catching the villain off guard getting a good punch in forcing him back a few steps. His movement was almost robotic as he sighed, straightening back up as the glass figure went for another shot as the kitty burst out with a witty take on her chances.

“Then let us play this out,” he dodged the glass figure, catching its hand, and twisting in a perfect twist as he slammed into the wall before a cube slammed into shattering its head to bits. With another twist of its hands he flipped the glass figure hard onto the floor as smaller cubes slammed into its limbs making it useless as he chased after Mari.

“Shit,” Ichika swore as her working on the cube was finally taking hold with the cracks growing bigger, and bigger. Turning for a second the structural integrity of the place had many holes, and ruptures, and with that said.

“Meikyo, you're smaller than me, see if you can sneak in or get more of your glass clones to chase after. Once I get through this I’ll catch up.” she directed, smashing harder, and harder against the cube making more damage with each swing. Yet as she would say that the man on the floor started to scream as his veins started to pop bleeding out a nasty black ooze.

As the villain chased after his prey he entered the fray of the dark slowing his steps to a snail's pace as he tapped a button on his vizor. Within a second he was now able to see via night vision in the dark aisles. He slowly moved about keeping an ear out for any noise of the speed kitty.

“My offer still stands if you want to stop your foolishness. There's no dishonor in leaving alive to fight another day… all the time in the world to make up for it,” he spoke, trying to trigger any sounds of signal where she was. Though in contingency a few more cubes started to appear yet they were stationary, slowly appearing more and more outward clearly trying to find her by scare tactic or by legit touch.

Kikyo smiled as she saw the first blow hit home, but, was disappointed at just how little of an effect it had. She should have known that she wasn’t strong enough to actually do any decent damage to him. Nonetheless, she glanced at Bittersweet who issued another order, which made sense, really. Kikyo quickly moved into the cube, entering the mirrored dimension as she was accustomed to, stepping through to the other side of the cube and climbing out in a similar manner to that of her clone.

Once she was through, she could see the remains of her clone, and worse, the civilian. The young woman covered her mouth in horror at the sight, having to restrain from retching at the sight and sounds. Her brain was already hurting from the severe damage done to her clone. Her eyes scanned the glass remains. He had used enough force to shatter her this badly, even without knowing she was made of glass. The damage would have been almost as bad to her actual body. This guy was a villain alright.

From two of the cubes, Kikyo created two more reflections, both of which were quite ready to engage the threat again. Unfortunately, now he knew at least a little about her quirk, so less an element of surprise. But, that didn’t matter. She had to move. First the two clones darted through the door after the pair of them as Kikyo looked back to Bittersweet.

“I’ll help as best I can, but, please try to hurry!” With that, Kikyo dashed after her reflections, with them having a few seconds of a head start.

It was too damned dark! The reflections were having a difficult time navigating the room, moving cautiously to try and find their foe or Mari. Whichever came first.

With her ears sticking up and focused, Mari pins down the fact that the door had opened not once, but twice more, the question was if he had help or if this was one of her allies. Keeping up her movements, she didn’t exactly care if he heard her, well what little bit movement allowed, there was no point in trying to just hide from him till the police showed up, she needed to find the exit or a place he could not easily reach, she also was unsure if his cubes could be seen through from him or if, though she would try and avoid seeing if that was the case as she runs around the volume of shelves and listens for the tell-tell sign of an air duct or ventilation system, or air flow from a door or window.

As Mari moved about the night vision visored villain turned to the source of the attack immediately sending the faster small cubes at her trying to pin her down, or knock her off the higher ground. With each cube more quickly follow as the mystery villain kept his full attention to not lose sight of the speedster again.

“Manners are long since still due on the first meeting, and I will abide by those standards. Thus I must gauge you be new heroes as I don't recognize you. Not to say you have no experience or fame to bout at me. Yet much like myself I garner your still climbing to put yourself out on these cluttered halls of fame we chase, but enough on that you can call me Maunder. Now this can still go to the benefit of both parties to surrender what you have, and you can keep the witness,” the villain offered, bringing his attack to a grinding halt after the torrent of shots he had taken.

“Let it be known this is my final non-violent offer,” he called out.

]

Kikyo’s reflections moved steadily in the room, listening as closely as they could. One of them was clenching her fists tightly, the other remaining more calm, but on edge. They crept further into the room, reacting suddenly at the sudden flurry of movement and noise. One of the reflections darted forward, jumping up to latch onto the source of the movement.

“So you like breaking mirrors, huh? Let’s see how you like it when they fight back!” Kikyo’s reflection shouted, diving for the villain, wrapping her arms around his neck so she was clinging to him. The other reflection immediately followed, sliding across the ground to throw her foot into the back of his knee in an attempt to bring him to the ground.

Kikyo wasn’t particularly adept at grappling, but she studied holds for subduing targets with minimal damage.

As Mari listens to all that is happening and can even see it a bit with her naturally boosted night vision, the Cubes were a problem, using her bioelectricity against them, it was not as powerful as say Katsumi’s but it was more than enough for the smaller cubes. With her position being narrowed down a bit she had no reason to not talk back to him.

“You may be offering something grand, but we both already know that man won’t leave here alive. That is why you ignored him. And as you said we are up and coming.. I cannot just let you have your way.”

With that, it was then that Kikyo’s quirk came into action leaping upon the man as she just uses the chance this buys to climb up a shelf, shocking a few more cubes, Mari quickly works at breaking down a vent cover, setting down the data she collected, the cat girl would work at pulling herself into the duct work, as she squeezes in, grabbing at the papers to get what she could, for now she did not favor their chances in fighting the cube man here and now, if she knew more about the building so she could give Kikyo positions to attack from, she may have tried a stand up conflict.

“I see then let us play out our parts properly gah,” the man was about to rapid fire his quirk before he was rudely interrupted as the mirror girls came clashing in yet before they had his full attention he was able to eye Mari, and more importantly the data. Right as Mari was driving into the vent a cube would form snatching away half of what she had before pulling back at high speed.

“It's rude to interrupt, ladies,” he snapped before he was kicked in the back of the knee forcing him down on said knee. However as he was forced in, she oddly didn't fight back as much, the reason being rather clear as the one grappling him was pimp smack in the face be the return cube not smashing her but definitely creating some space as he rolled away getting some distance between himself and the constructs. With a whip of his hand he brandished out a dual pair of knuckle dusters. With that the three started to swap blows keeping the man distracted.

“Mari I busted through the first wall… the man's dead. His veins popped and he oozed out this disgusting black ooze. I was able to collect the document before it got stained. I covered the body in a hiding spot for later retrieval. I can't follow you through your route, but I can circle around to meet you in the cafeteria section,” Bittersweet instructed.

“Meiyko let your constructs distract the man for now let's regroup with Mari,” she called out heading straight to the cafeteria where Mari should be heading even through the ventilation route.

“Fu-!” Kikyo’s reflection shouted out in pain as she was thrown back from the villain, falling onto her back before jumping back up to her feet.

The other clone had managed to connect her kick, and moved around in a circle around him, pivoting on her heel to throw her hand back at his face in a backfist. The motion would generate a decent amount of force, and potentially disguise the movement. Her preferred martial art was effective at moving around targets and striking from various angles.

Kikyo herself, however, heard her ally shouting to her, quickly turning around to run back out the door. Attempting to make for the cafeteria. Hopefully her reflections could decently hold him off. The first reflection groaned as she touched her upper lip, feeling warm fluid between her fingers. He had made her bleed. First he shattered her, now this? Through gritted teeth, her reflection growled and threw her arm around his neck, hoping to put him in a sleeper hold with all of her strength.


“Just go to sleep. Don’t make me angrier.” The reflection hissed into the villain’s ear, tightening her grip as the other reflection stepped back. She both recoiled a bit from her counterpart, and also stood ready to strike the man again if he reacted aggressively.

With the data being partially stolen, Mari narrows her eyes with a grunt, clearly not happy with the situation, however she didn’t want to fight the cube user in here as she takes a look at her laptop, it seemed the other teams had trouble of their own as well, minus the group that went with Kuroi, though that was mostly a case of not being able to communicate from this far away. Stashing it away back behind her, she speaks up on her comms. “I got half of the data, for now I’m getting out of here, out in the open we’ll have a better chance at taking him on. Hopefully his barrier won’t be too difficult to break in here. Also Meikyo, nice work, but get out of there if you are inside as well.”

With that said she continues her crawl.

With the orders given Bittersweet would exit her current route from a side route rushing quickly over to where Mari would be exiting out with Meiyko right behind her. The three would meet back up rather quickly in the more open space section of the building, a massive cafeteria room.

“So what we want to try, and capture him is that the plan,” Bittersweet asked.

Back at the other room Kikyo’s Mirages were putting up a hell of a resistance on Maunder forcing him to legitly concentrate on the glass clones as he started to reroute his cubes creating a wall between him along with the more violent clone from the more calm clone blocking the back handed attack before the cubes pushed against her forcing her further away. With the fighting style revealed of the glass girl, Maunder found some irony to it.

“Ah a fellow martial artist I see,” he commented as he was still able to breath since he got a guarding hand into her grapple. The construct still had some impressive strength for being made of glass. With that he chuckled as the glass entity made a threat into his ear.

“Such terrible manners you possess in this integral moment of your second demise,” he taunted before using his free hand to wail on her primary gripping hand with quite a bit of force to start cracking it. Upon the fifth hit he grasped onto the damaged hand pushing against it with his forearm caught in the grapple as it finally shattered. Grabbing the rest of her now severed hand he quickly turned around, and backhanded her with her own hand. Discarding the hand tightened the grip on his knuckle dusters and proceeded to deliver a series of kempo styled attacks aiming to break her torso. With each hit he switched his attack side making it hard to get in a counter, or guard. In fact before the glass kikyo knew it she was no against the wall as he smirked.

“Not bad, but not enough,” he spoke as three cubes from each side came flying in with the goal to shatter her again.

Kikyo ran in to meet with the other girls, a look of panic on her face. This was much more intense than she had anticipated on her first mission with these guys. Sure, she should have expected this kind of thing, what with them being considered an elite hero training group. She exhaled slowly, looking to her comrades.

“Can we capture him? I’m not even sure we’re strong enough to do that, you guys.” Kikyo muttered, frowning at her teammates.

Meanwhile, the fight with the reflections and the villain was picking up in both pace and intensity. Kikyo’s darker aspect was losing control, and even her lighter reflection was growing concerned. However, this would only grow worse as the sudden movement of those cubes sprang up, splitting her off from her counterpart. Sure, she could travel through the cubes, but, it was a rather troublesome, tiring, and time consuming thing to do. With determination, she drew in a breath and began to step into the cubes. These damned things were so weird to move through!

Kikyo’s reflection gasped in pain with each strike made on her hand. The sound of gradually cracking glass rang in her eyes. Her own cries were growing in intensity as well, but, she couldn’t let go. She had to hold onto him tightly as long as she could, then, he broke her hand. The appendage shattered, sending shards of glass around the area. The clone cried out in pain as she stumbled backward, looking at her now broken hand with a mixture of fear and rage. Then, the real attack came. He turned and slapped her with the remains of her own hand.

The clone gasped out in pain as the hand completely shattered against her face, spinning her fully around before facing him again. A look of pure rage crossed her face, a long crack down the left side of her face as a thin trail of blood leaked from her eye, neatly falling into and filling the crack. She went to respond, but the wind was knocked from her as the first of his blows struck her body. Again and again he hit her, each blow rocking her body aggressively from side to side her body began cracking aggressively. After she lost count of his strikes, he finally stopped. Kikyo doubled over, coughing up a bit of blood. She was against the wall.

Kikyo’s reflection was caught between being stunned and a blinding fury. She looked down at her broken hand, and the traces of blood on her right palm. She was bleeding? What did that mean? It didn’t matter. Her vision went red, Kikyo’s right hand shifting slightly as her fingertips took on sharpened points akin to claws, a thick shard of glass protruding from her right shoulder. With a scream of rage, she ripped the shard from her shoulder, wielding it like an improvised knife and leapt forward at him, narrowly avoiding the attack that was meant to finish her. With all of her body weight, she drove the attack down at his shoulder in an aggressive arc.

With an impressive pull out her glass dagger was blocked with a sharp nasty looking combat dagger creating sparks as he deflected the blow, and delivered an intense cracking haymaker to her face before grabbing her throat lifting her up as his cube came flying in smashing her to bits. With the level of violence he growled turning to the more passive one as he knew his time was up.

“We will call this for now unless you want to end up like your immortal twin.” he threatened.

Kikyo’s darker reflection was surprised by the sudden deflection and introduction of his own bladed weapon. Wait a minute, of course he was armed, that was some kind of military uniform wasn’t it? Stupid stupid stupid! Her face moved directly to him as he held her at bay, her eyes losing the white and turning black, with an audible growl hissing through her gritted teeth. However, she didn’t see the haymaker coming, a powerful punch rocked her back, knocking her away from him before he grabbed her. When he held her aloft by her throat, she struggled in vain, gasping out a few choked sobs before the cube finished his work.

The other clone escaped the cube, now about six feet away from him as she looked down at the shattered remains of the other clone. The look in her eyes was fear. But, something more. Like a memory clung to her mind that the shattered glass and imagery conjured. She looked up at him, her body trembling. Her fist clenched, digging the nails into her own skin to distract her panicking brain. She had to hold him off or capture him as best she could. Kikyo knew she had no chance alone, but, she couldn’t just leave.

“I...I can’t just let you go...you’re a villain. I have t-to stop you.” Kikyo’s voice faltered, her fear proving to be too strong. She took a stance, feigning a preparedness to fight him if he lunged at her. Even with the focus of her preferred martial art being avoidance and interception, she was in no state to be able to compete. This was going to be her end. Again.

“There is no point fighting, and you are bluffing,” Maunder pointed out rather bluntly as he holstered his dagger. He constructed a wall blocking her from rushing him in case her nerves flickered for a moment.

“There's also no honor in fighting when your opponent is clearly mentally checked out, there is nothing left to gain for me, or your original. Unnecessary blood spill is an obsessed fools game,” he spoke as he turned the corner out of sight, and out of mind.

Kikyo’s reflection fell to her knees when the villain raised the wall. She wanted to protest, to yell at him to stop and give chase. She couldn’t move. Her body shook, and for a moment, she wept, wrapping her arms around herself before her body slowly ceased in it’s movement, losing its color and appearance, leaving behind a crystal clear glass structure. The statue slowly began to crack before finally shattering into a dust of tiny shards of glass.

Meanwhile, the original Kikyo’s mind was assaulted by information. Sensory and otherwise. She held her head for a moment as though she had a headache, with a faint trickle of blood running down the corners of her eyes. The young woman wiped her face, looking at her hands in horror as she quickly turned around in an attempt to hide it from her comrades. She suppressed a sob and sniffled, wiping away the thin blood trails running down her face. Once she was certain her face was clear, she looked back to her comrades, a look of defeat on her face.

“I’m sorry...he got away.”
……………………………………………….

(Item Investigation)

As the police arrived it was clear Maunder had retreated, the body Bittersweet had hidden had been taken unfortunately but Ichika's hero garb had been found with the stains of the black ooze gaining them info to have forensics hopefully get some DNA of who the deceased was. Now all there was left to do was go over what they had left of the info they had swiped.

“We got a few files, the DNA of my jacket, and well guess we better go over what we can decipher from it all,” she sighed as the girls had parked the van near the police cruisers to avoid any more surprises for the day. Thankfully the back of the van had a table so they could legitly overview their evidence.

“For now, don’t speak of this to anyone till I’ve talked with the Principle, Ota-Sensei and the police. In all honesty we should be handing all of this over.” Mari says in response to all of this. “It’s just some chemicals, with a few pages missing.. Honestly given what I think this is, that is for the best. This information should be destroyed.. But that is up to those who oversee us.”

“Alright for now we will agree to keep quiet until it's clear the rest have a right to know,” Ichika agreed sourly as she didn't like keeping secrets but in this case it was best that way.
 
eUSDVfVl.png

Under the majestic view of the snow-sprinkled Mt.Fuji, lies the Hoshiro Ski Resort. It was an averaged day, perhaps a bit more busy than usual, in which the hero students arrived. The chilly wind did nothing to diminish the cheerful atmosphere as children, teenagers and adults all moved about the resort lobby in their bright and colourful winter outfits.

It seemed peaceful, the ambient noise was nothing but the chatter and laughter of the guests as well as the low humming of the ski lifts. A group of students in middle school uniforms pushed Kuroi, Hotaru, Daichi, and Iniji out of the way as they ran down the lobby.

“Ah, I’m so sorry about that.” A bespeckled woman who looked like a teacher apologized to the group as she hurried along, following the kids, while grabbing the hand of a timid lookingblack haired girl who trailed behind her.

As much as treks through the snowy mountain wasn’t his description for fun, it didn’t stop him from keeping a smile and lively attitude as they reached the lodge, besides it was his first mission in a new class and a perfect time to make a good impression, noticeably his stomach squeezed with the thought of messing up.

Daichi let out a louder than needed scare when he was pulled from his worried thoughts by a group of children and an apology followed up by their supposed teacher. “Oh heh no worries It wasn’t a bother…” Not that his jumpscare didn’t contradict that.

Kuroi deadpanned as the rush of sugar-infested kids charged past the group. Obviously, he was none too amused, even more so as Daichi let out a scream, which he alerted the man to with a look of ‘Really?’.

Hotaru was rather unphased by the kids, assuring the teacher it wasn’t an issue. She was fitted with her standard outfit, that more looked like she was just heading out. Pants, boots, a long-sleeve shirt and her leather jacket; all customized to stretch and conform to her needs.

“Uh… you good dude?” She asked with a raise brow.

Iniji breathed out a bit after taking off his scarf, though he pulled it back up again as there were children around, he didn’t want to seem frightening with his scars. Though their new classmate being startled by some preteens running about felt a bit awkward, but also strangely comedic.

“Ishida-san, please compose yourself.” He said quietly while glancing around.

A white haired woman in winter clothing looked around the crowd nervously, after catching view of the students, she looked down at some papers in her hand and up again, before skipping towards them. She seemed a bit nervous, her voice was soft and shuttered a bit.

“Ah, you four must be the hero students here to help out today, welcome.” She gave a little smile and waved at the four. “My name is Hotohan, Yukime Hotohan, you can say I...run this place?” Tilting her head a bit she seemed a little lost in thought. “I’m not too good at this job though, I have to get my nephew and little brother to help me sometimes, you might see them around, they’re both really capable, I feel bad for having them be stuck here helping me. Ah, I got carried off talking about myself, Sorry!”

The woman clasped her hands in front of her and took a little apologetic bow. “For now, I would just ask your team to patrol the more popular areas first and check for anything suspicious, around the lobby would be fine, four is pretty thin manpower for the fields.” She said with a little giggle, white mist emanated from her, little soft particles flowed from the woman’s hair. “Ah! Sorry! That’s my quirk, it comes out sometimes, haha. But I’ll leave it up to you guys now!”

Awkwardly, Daichi scratched his neck, his body more tense then before. "Heh sorry guys just nerves, you don't gotta worry." Great, they hate you already!

Thankfully he couldn't stay in his thoughts for long when a beautiful woman with white hair addressed their arrival. "You can count on us ma'am."

Kuroi gave a quick nod to the woman. She was a bit ditzy, but seemed nice enough. He looked to the others, somewhat lost. He really wasn’t the best choice for a “leader”. Not to mention, his team was practically made up of strangers, save for Iniji. Still, it wasn’t as if they were best friends.

“Okay… first I guess. You’re both transfers and we’re not, so unless you met beforehand we don’t know anything about each other,” He said, pointing at the aforementioned transfers. “Call me Kuroi, Lifeblood, whichever. I can manipulate my blood, though it’s mostly lethal unless I aim away from vitals… Second, it might be better if we split up instead of herding in a group like this.”

Hotaru gave a pitiable pat on Daichi’s back before folding her arms. “My hero name is Titan. If you know about the former, you have a good idea of what I can do. If not, I can morph or harden my body.” Giving a soft exhale, she couldn’t understand how those kids had so much energy with the cold. “I think that’s good. We can’t sit in one place.”

“Iniji Irokei. I can make things I look at fall apart. That’s all.” Iniji pulled up his scarf a bit as he looked at the new transfer students, secretly he hoped that nothing would happen on this patrol, though it might be wishful thinking. He looked around the venue quietly, seemingly lost in thought.

One of the most populated places in the resort was the gift shop and cafe areas, where the guests can enjoy a hot meal or just warm up for the time being. Hotohan led the two man team that decided to go this way towards the area, it was scattered with people passing by or sitting at the tables and chairs. A small lifted stage with a screen behind it was near one of the sitting areas, the white haired woman looked at the time on her phone and gave the two hero students a smile and a wave. “Ah, it’s almost story time, I’ll be away for now, feel free to come and watch my humble presentation.”

In a few moments she hurried on the stage, her white winter jacket replaced with a long cape with kimono-like patterns. “A long long time ago, there was a small village at the foot of a snowy range, and a village girl lived there. She lived a harsh harsh life, her parents forced her to work, while the people didn’t like her either, for she was always wearing rags and sorting through scraps. So one day, this village girl…”

A burst of white mist and particles fluttered around the stage, like a snow storm. “...She decided to run away towards the mountains, she has had enough, and would rather freeze than put up with the terrible people around her.” The white mists grew thicker and denser. “But as she climbed, it got colder and colder, the girl was scared and wanted to turn back, but suddenly!” Another burst of white mist, this time in a strange formation, it looked like the wiggling tails of a fox or wolf. “There was something moving in the distance, when the girl got closer, she saw that it was an injured white fox. As kind as she was, the girl decided to pick up the hurt animal, and keep it safe while she tried to go back.”

The mist cleared a bit as the white haired woman took a few steps forward. “When the blizzard had ceased, and the sun broke through the cloud, it would shine on the girl who froze to death in the storm. The white fox in her arms hopped out, and revealed its true form.” The strange formation of white particles were back, this time clearly in the shape of nine fox tails. “The girl’s kindness had moved the injured and weakened spirit of the mountain, it offered her an opportunity to become one with it, and protect the mountains together.” Hotohan closed her eyes as the shapes made from particles became more defined, almost real. “And so she did, thus, anyone who transgress against these lands will be cursed by its guardians, it is said they protect this place to this day.”

“Teehee, of course, that’s only an old legend, I hope everyone can continue enjoying their day!” With a smile the woman closed off her presentation, when she walked off the stage two people ran up to her. A white haired young man and a familiar looking bespeckled woman, the teacher from earlier, looking slightly concerned about something.

It relaxed him a little by the casual pat on the back, something his mother would do when she noticed him getting anxious in popular environments. “Hero names spitfire, basically I get stronger the more I’m hit, speed, stamina that type of stuff.” Daichi was kinda jealous of the boys quirk which sounded way cooler than his, not to mention Hotaru and Iniji’s quirks, Iniji in particular peeking his interest due to how vague he described it.

“Sounds like our best bet to cover the area, so I’m in.”

Daichi’s attention moved to a voice coming from the stage, though he didn’t want to get distracted his ear stayed focus with the story and once it was finished he felt a chill go up his arm, that couldn’t be real right? Was he that naive? On top of that Daichi had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something didn’t feel right, it was unlikely he would even know how to act on those feelings unfortunately. “Was that story a little morbid or what?”

“I mean… kind of, but aren’t most of these folk tales like that?” Hotaru questioned. Her aunt was big into the horror stuff, even if Hotaru herself didn’t care for it. Then again, maybe the girl only thought that because her aunt only really told the scary stuff.

Glancing back at the audience, the tall woman noticed the teacher’s anxiety. “Sensei, is everything okay?”

The woman adjusted her glasses and looked at the hero student that came over, she composed herself and began speaking. “O-oh, it’s just that, I was doing pre-lunch attendance and one of my students was absent. I think he might’ve forgotten the time to meet back up with the class or have gotten lost so I’m inquiring with the staff for help…”

The white haired young man beside her added: “Yeah, I’ve made an announcement on the venue already to no success, so I’m asking aunt Hotohan to check the guest GPS tags, it would be dangerous if someone wandered out of bounds.”

“Yes, we have a system like that in place, for business and safety reasons.” Hotohan said as she took off the caplet. “I’m going to go and fetch that info now, but Titan-san, Spitfire-san, it would be of great help if your team can help search the outer fields in the meantime. It’s a boy, around 14 years old, blue down jacket…”

“Well, that’s a field trip for you. Of course we’ll help,” Hotaru assured the teacher as they began on their way. She pressed the side of the communicator to talk into it and warn the other team. “Oi, we’re heading to the outer fields. One of the kids got separated so Spitfire and I are gonna look for him. Keep an eye out for a 14-year-old boy in a blue down jacket.”

With a short walk over to the outer fields, his mind retraced the words the sensei had given them. “A 14 year old with a blue jacket...Not exactly what I thought my first mission in my new class would be but a welcoming surprise.” It was a lot less stressful than having to fight some big baddies with a superiority complex. “Uh, boy! Your sensei is looking for you! You shouldn’t be wandering alone…”

“The kid couldn’t have gotten too far right? Why is a kid running away from his group anyway? Little brat I could already tell you that.” His head turned to Titan who was already on her own search for the boy.

“If you’ve separated from your class, please come to us!” She called out with a sigh. “Aren’t kids always running off or getting lost? That’s why there’s supervisors.” There was also the chance that something bad had happened, but Hotaru didn’t want to jump straight to that conclusion.

Meanwhile on the observation deck, a somewhat strange young man with distinctive protrusions on his head was there. He was wearing a staff uniform, though strangely ornate.

“Hmph. I can sense it, a tempest of retribution swirling above, bringing forth the divine punishment that this world deserves…” The figure pressed one of his hands onto his forehead, while a few passersby stared. He opened his eyes and paused for a bit, before smiling at the guests. “There will be light winds of around 15 kilos per hour to the Northwest, no precipitation, please plan accordingly!”

A Japanese squirrel hopped out from a nearby tree onto the young man’s head, who clearly became distressed by it. “N-n-nno get off, you’ll mess up my forecast! Hey!” As the animal scurried off he wiggled the strange feathery head pieces while catching sight of the two students.

“Oh, you must be the heroes here to help, Nee-san mentioned it. It’s still quite peaceful here, hmph.” The young man chuckled a little before adding, “but don’t you wonder what’s underneath these delusions, my honoured heroes.”

Kuroi stared at the strange individual blankly. He seemed like quite the character; weird, but not in the same way Amano was. He glanced at Iniji, as if questioning silently if his patrol partner made sense of the guy’s peculiar wording, before looking back at the forecaster in question.

“Yeah… we’re the heroes…” Kuroi affirmed in a deadpan. “What delusions are you talking about?”

“Hmph.” The young man flinged his head somewhat haughtily, causing the staff ID that hung around his neck to go flying a little as well. ‘Matoi Kazeya’ was written on the ID. “The delusions of grandeur that we, humanity, feel of course. Endlessly sundering all that exists in this world, destruction to all that we touch...I can hear it in the winds...the whispers of ruination that emanates in the stratosphere.” His head feathers wiggled a bit more like some sort of animal ears while he spoke.

Iniji tilted his head and looked lost in thought again. He wondered if this guy was playing a character for whatever job he has at this resort, since his words are clearly dramatized to an extent. Though there is still the chance that he is just weird. Reaching out he tapped Kuroi on the shoulder. “Tetsuya-san, I think we should minimize our interference with the staffs’ duties unless required to, let’s continue the patrol.”

“Right,” Kuroi replied, as if what the guy had said was completely natural. He looked at Iniji before glancing back at the chunnibyou. “Yeah, I guess-”

“Oi, we’re heading to the outer fields. One of the kids got separated so Spitfire and I are gonna look for him. Keep an eye out for a 14-year-old boy in a blue down jacket.”

Kuroi nodded a bit at the transmission, pressing the side of the comms to reply back. “Sure, let us know if something happens,” He replied back before talking to the supposed employee. “Hey, if you see a student with a blue down jacket, let him know his class is supposed to have met up in the lobby… Let’s keep moving Iniji.”

The other boy simply looked at Kuroi silently. “Understood.” He said calmly, before following suit.

As the team spreaded out in the other fields, the snow was a bit troublesome. Some areas were quite deep or steep, though at least those weren’t probable places for a lost child to go.

The search of Hotaru and Daichi’s team wouldn’t yield much result, as they came and went a somewhat strangely demeanored black haired girl looked on at them while whispering something barely audible. “They’re the heroes...yeah....it’ll be fine, they’re the heroes…” She mumbled before running back to the bespeckled middle school teacher.

Meanwhile, Kuroi and Iniji were working on the same goal, just in a different area. When they were patrolling an area that is nearly out of the boundaries of the resort, somewhat deep into a snow covered mountain forest, they slightly fanned out from each other to cover more ground. As Kuroi walked in the snow, the sun would break through the pinewood trees and a shimmering light different from the blinding reflections of the snow could be seen. It was a plasticy material, coloured blue, sort of like a winter jacket.

As Kuroi searched, he noticed the contrasting reflection. He began moving towards the plastic material. It stood out more and more as he grew closer to it before he stopped a couple feet away from it.

"...I found something," He spoke into the communicator.

It looked like a jacket. Maybe it was the kid's. It didn't bode well though if he left it here. He tugged lightly at the apparel, but when it wouldn't budge he attempted to scoop some of the snow away.

It seemed Daichi and Hotaru’s results came up negative for the search for the kid, the only notable thing that happened was the noticeable school kids whispering to each other while looking at the student heroes. “Looks like they’re gossiping about how cool we are Hotaru.” Daichi giggled a little up before composing himself at the realization that he was on a mission.

Just as he finished speaking their communicator went off. “Hey whatcha got Lifeblood? Find the kid?” Spitfire always looked at things in the positive sense, never thinking that the child could be in any danger. “You there?”
One of the school kids back at where Hotaru and Daichi broke off with the group. It was the same shy looking black haired girl who always hung her head low, trying to hide the strange marking on her face. She tugged at the pink haired hero student’s clothes, and as if it took all her courage, opened her mouth. “H-Hero-san...I...I think I know where Kenji-san is, he’s in the forest out West...I......No, please, don’t tell anyone I told you this.” The girl quickly ran away into the crowd.

Hotaru glanced back at the small girl who approached them and fled. She was confused at the suggestion, but shrugged. “That was a bit weird… Maybe one of us should go check on the kid. She seemed--”

Suddenly she paused as Kuroi’s voice came through on the communicators. It took her a moment to process what was said. “Wha-” She started to question it, but then her head jerked in the direction of the crowd that the girl had disappeared to. “I’m going after the girl!” She declared before sprinting off. She didn’t know if the kid saw something, or what, but that was too much of a coincidence.

As Kuroi went to scoop the snow away, the entire picture would become clearer. With the snow cleared a bit something more brightly coloured can be seen...brightly coloured in red.

It was an arm, wearing the blue winter jacket, connected to a torso, the rest of the body likely to be dug out soon. The hand was in a white winter glove that was stained brown-ish red, it was tattered with many slashes, and similar wounds can be seen on the flesh near the hand and wrists below it. Though caked in blood, none of the wounds seem to be extremely deep nor have hit a major vein, it seemed more due to the large amount instead.

Kuroi went silent on the comms. A feeling of dread swept over him as he scraped snow away, becoming focused on his current actions. As he revealed enough to make out some cuts, blood, and a portion of the body, he froze. His voice hitched in his throat as he stepped back.

“...I-It’s a body… Blue jacket… kid--blood…” He muttered out, pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. “He’s dead… Cuts everywhere…”

“Tetsuya-san!” The sound of crunched snow can be heard as Iniji ran up to his classmate after hearing the communication. He froze for a moment at the new, but it was only for a split second before he composed himself and dashed at the direction Kuroi went in.

“...A corpse...Tetsuya-san, are you alright?” Iniji could tell from the other’s voice that this wasn’t a pleasant experience, it wasn’t a good one for him either, but he had seen enough of it to keep his composure. “Tetsuya-san?” Putting a hand on Kuroi’s shoulder Iniji looked down at the body, he bit down on his lip, and took off his fingerless black gloves, putting back on the white full gloves in his old hero outfit. “Call the police. I’ll examine the scene further.” His voice was eerily calm.

The touch from Iniji caused him to flinch and glance back. Kuroi paused before giving a slight nod and backing away. He pulled out his phone and called the police to report the body, looking back as Iniji seemed to be relatively unshaken by the whole thing.

Iniji looked at the body after the snow was cleared out, the clothing looked mostly untouched other than the forearms, wrists and hand, which were shredded with some sort of slash. There was a distinct lack of blood anywhere else, in fact, there wasn’t even a lot of blood around the body.

“These wounds aren’t the cause of death. I’ve seen enough slashing wounds to know, these aren’t lethal.” They didn’t even hit a major artery, it was as if the victim only briefly touched the source of the cuts or whoever made the cuts purposely avoided doing serious harm. “But the victim is dead, and there are some signs of struggle, so the cause of death is likely something less visible. Electrocution, suffocation, hypothermia, only an autopsy would be sufficient to find out. Rigor mortis sets in more slowly in the cold, it’s hard to determine exact time of death.”

Iniji stood up and turned to Kuroi, “There’s nothing we can do other than preserve the scene and wait for professionals to deal with it…Tetsuya-san? Are you alright?”

Kuroi breathed a small sigh as he was on the line, feeding information to emergency services. He glanced at Iniji as he checked on him. His face had returned to a more stoic expression, but it still appeared a bit strained. The corpse was one thing, but the modus operandi not being the cuts was a bit comforting to him.

“Yeah… I was just surprised…” Kuroi replied with a slight nod. “I’m not sure that gives us any clues though, just that he wasn’t stabbed to death…”

“Quirks can kill from a great distance, Tetsuya-san.” Iniji’s incandescent eyes stared down Kuroi as he spoke, his words heavy, heavier than the situation at hand already. “Worst case scenario, we would never find the killer lest they wish to hide themselves. Many have quirks suited for this sort of act, some you may not expect.”

Iniji wasn’t wrong, though his words brought back the same thoughts that the body originally did. Kuroi was all too aware that there were quirks and people capable of doing something like this and not even being around to implicate themselves if they were smart. His father could do the same thing, and had. Though, he was a “different breed”.

“You’ve got a point… Guys, gimme an update. What’s going on on your ends?”

A wave of shock and sickness ran through Daichi as he listened through the communicator, he was lucky he didn’t see the body or he would have definitely hurled, this was a whole new territory for him. His brain took a few seconds to compute what hotaru had just said before he could say something. “Okay keep updated.”

He thought again about what that little girl had said, if that is where the boy was found then his killer couldn’t be too far away from there. “Alright I’m heading west into the woods, the killer could still be out there.”


Hotaru meanwhile was pushing past the crowd with brief comments of being in a rush as she chased after the girl who had disappeared. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry—Kid! Wait a sec! Lemme talk to you!”

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, especially not after her meeting with Kaizen. At best, she just saw where he went and maybe saw someone else with him. At worse—Well, Hotaru didn’t want to think about that, but it was on the table.

It was difficult to move about with all the people around, and the girl quickly disappeared into the crowd. Even when Hotaru passed the location where the middle schoolers were standing, that specific girl couldn’t be seen within them. As the hero student past some whisperings can be heard in the group

“Why does Aoyaku look so upset at this?”

“Yeah yeah, I know right? Shouldn’t she be happy that Kenji isn’t around to bully her now?”

A young man in a staff uniform stumbled into the lobby from the observation deck, he took a deep breath, some white mist was clouded above him, blocking the strange white protrusion that slightly wiggled on his head. He was leaning against the doorframe, and looked a bit sickly. As he saw Hotaru the young man held himself up a bit more. “Hero-san? You’re one of them, right? There was a little girl that looked really scared, she ran down the observation deck. I wanted to stop her so she didn’t get into any of the restricted areas…...but it’s strange, I was feeling under the weather the entire day, and now it’s gotten worse.”

He tapped his forehead as if having a headache, and shook around his head rapidly for a bit. The white mist that clouded above the man scattered a little, then regathered around his head again. “She went that way, I’ll be fine, probably just fatigue.”
“I’ll watch over him.” Hotohan walked up behind Hotaru, the white haired woman looked a little nervous and exhausted, the white misty particles from her quirk emanated from her slowly. “It’s my responsibility to keep my younger brother out of trouble.” She gave a soft smile to Hotaru and urged her to go on.

Hotaru paused a moment in the crowd and used that time to look around. Keeping pace wasn’t an issue with her quirk and the girl being a kid. However there were too many people to charge around like a bulldozer. She caught the words of some of the kids, mentioning an upset girl.

This way?

As she wondered, one of the apparent staff made themselves known. He seemed fatigued. It could be nothing, but maybe something was done to him as well. Once again, she hesitated before the woman from before approached. She gave a nod.

“Thank you!” She said before rushing past them to the observation deck. Why was she putting up such an effort to run and hide?! “A-Aoyaku-san! I just want to talk!”

As Hotaru went further away from the main venue, into a distant clearing with scattered piles of snow, a distinct shout can be heard. The response wasn’t one that she would expect, it belonged to an adult male.

“Help! Somebody! What’s happening! Ahhhhh-”

In the direction of the sound was a man that was near a deep pile of untouched snow, his pose was strange, as if something was pulling him. He flailed around, white misty snow particles kicked up all around him.

“W-what is this!? Help!”

Hotaru stopped as she heard the cries for help. She wasn’t sure what to make of the sight, but the guy was scared and needed help. She dashed toward him, ready to use her quirk at a moment’s notice, and reached out to grab him.

“I’ve got you! What’s wrong?!”

Moments before Hotaru reached out at the man, a black chakram flew in front of him, slowing down briefly. A small squeaky voice can be heard. “Hold on, I’ll-I-” The man attempted to grab the flying object, but the speed and sharpness of it only left a shallow cut on his palm. The object soon disappeared along with the echoes of the soft voice.

The struggling man shouted in alarm but quickly saw another target to grab hold onto, he grabbed Hotaru’s hand. A light suction can be felt by Hotaru, as if trying to drag someone from snowy quicksand, though it won’t be a problem for her strength. More and more snow particles flailed up, but disappeared soon as the strength difference became apparent. As if nothing had happened, the suction force holding the victim down disappeared.

“I-...I...It’s not what it looks like! I wanted to help-I-I didn’t want to just leave him...The monster got him, the monster already got Kenji!” A small black haired girl peaked out from behind a tree, her eyes widened and her breathing was heavy, cold sweat dripped down her face as she shouted to the hero before hiding back behind the tree.

“Whoa-!” Hotaru let out a sound of shock, but didn’t let that deter her from grabbing the man and pulling him out of--whatever it was. She could feel the traction, but as her arm turned black to compensate for the tugging, whatever force was there seemed to let him go. “You okay?”

Quickly checking on the guy, Hotaru looked over to where the girl hid. Those particles seemed familiar, but were they just normal snow or a product of a quirk?

“Gimme a sec,” She spoke into the communicator.

She kneeled down and faced Aoyaku. “Aoyaku, if you’re trying to help, then please come out and talk to me,” She pleaded. “No one else will get hurt while I’m here, but I don’t know who this monster is or where they are. Please tell me what you saw.”

“I-I…” The girl shifted out of the forest, but was still just peeking out of the tree. “I saw people...Kenji...and him,” she pointed to the man Hotaru just pulled from the snow. “I tried to help but my quirk...it...it can’t protect anyone! No one thinks I can be a hero, I didn’t hurt anyone!”

As for Daichi’s endeavours out in the woods, he was tagged along by the young man that was with Hotohan and the middle school teacher for a short while. He looked quite shaken as well, a given considering the recent happenings.

“H-hero-san, Aunt Hotohan told me to go update the emergency stop programs of the machines around...I hope I don’t run into the killer, I don’t even have a quirk, haha.” He laughed melancholily. “I’m not good with machinery maintenance either...but everyone else is busy...please take care, hero-san.”

As the search continued for the boys killer, Daichi had covered a fair bit of ground by the west side of the resort, sadly coming up with no leads or clues. The only thing left to do was to go back the resort and keep the guests safe, that was until he was interrupted by a soft male voice.

"Oh i see…Well If you can take me there I can probably help you out with that, not sure what the specs are but It shouldn't be a problem." It did spark him as odd that he was of the quirkless population though he shrugged it off as nothing important.

“Thank you, hero-san. My name is Yukime Gyohai, I run errands around here.” The young man said as the two made progress towards the side boundaries of the ski slopes.

They eventually arrived at a small shed in the forested boundaries. “This is the control shed for some of the lifts and generators around, it’ll just be a routine update, Aunt Hotohan gave me everything I need. Please don’t be too concerned about me, you probably have more important matters to attend to.” Gyohai waved a small USB keychain at Daichi and unlocked the shed, stepping inside, clicking to door shut.

“Nice to meet you Yukime, though you really don’t have to call me that, Daichi is fine.” Maybe it was the hero worshipping society they lived in or more of a respect thing but he could tell how on edge and tense the male was. Not long after they reached the shed just outside the resort. “Well thanks for the help here, I’ll be sure to get this powered down, just make sure to take the safe path and go straight back to the resort, for all we know this maniac could still be here.”

There was a thought that maybe he should follow Gyohei back to the resort but he needed to prioritize shutting down the resort before anyone else could be hurt. Thankfully with some prior electrical training with his father, who was truly thorough with his training, he watched as the lights around the resort dim red.

But as he was about to walk back, Daichi noticed the male’s footprints prominently in the snow, giving him the idea to follow him to make sure Gyohei made it back safely.

In the snow, the nervous looking male dropped something. It was the USB keychain he had shown earlier, there was nothing out of the ordinary. A sticker was on the USB with the string “update_61766c6e636820” printed on it. Though he didn’t notice, and returned to the resort lobby promptly.

The team was separated in their investigations, Iniji and Kuroi were at the first crime scene still trying to extract information from the victim’s body; Hotaru had found a nervous looking girl who was classmate of the victim, and happened to save another guest who was in a strange situation; and Daichi accompanied one of the resort’s staff to oversee a machinery maintenance update.

They’ve all seen some things, perhaps even things that will help them crack the case. But what they all could feel was the distant rumbling of something.

Daichi would be the closest to the source, a sound that is slightly like a muffled explosion could be heard, then it was the rumbling of the ground.

Kuroi, Iniji, and Hotaru would be more distant from the source, though it was still able to be felt by them...and soon seen by them.

Rushing down from one of the Northwestern mountains that surrounded the resort grounds, a crashing wave of snow flowed down in an avalanche. Though only one portion of the mountain, it caught all things in its way, trees and stones and some animals. All buried underneath the white frost. The most distant ski slopes had some guests on it, though the affected area was small, it was undoubtedly that humans became buried underneath the layers of snow.

“Hello? Hello! It’s me, Hotohan Yukime, yes, we’re evacuating everyone, but there might still be people trapped under the snow...I already got the guest GPS system booted up, please help! Ah!”

Click- beep- beep- beep

It was the communication that the heroes of the day would receive, before the signal got cut off as some transmitters went down in the avalanche.

When Iniji saw the tumbling snow he shouted into the communicator, “Ishida-san, Sunemizuki-san, how is the situation?” Before turning to Kuroi, “I think saving lives is more important than preserving the scene right now.” Despite saying that, Iniji can’t help but feel that everything lined up too easily, if the avalanche’s displaced mass affects the scene or even hides the body completely, there would be no autopsy report, and the only thing they would know about the crime would be what he and Kuroi gathered. “Tsk.” He didn’t want to give up on the investigation, but it was true that they can’t leave live people to die under the snow either.

Kuroi watched the scene unfold. He felt the ground rumble a bit as the avalanche overtook the land. After a moment's hesitation, he growled.

"Alright. Everyone has gps tags for tracking, right? Go find the control room or wherever you can track people and direct us," Kuroi told Iniji as he started running. He didn't want to leave the body either, but they might be able to save some of the people on the mountain still. "Help evac anyone around you and then head to the mountain to help!"

“...I won’t be of much use out here, I’ll leave the outfield to you, Tetsuya-san.” Iniji nodded at Kuroi’s suggestion, his quirk wasn’t suited for this type of situation at all, but perhaps he could still help. Their communications were on a special line that didn’t go off, he could still relay important information to his teammates.

Running through the snow and into the lobby, most of the guests were already gathered up and getting ready to evacuate. The strange young man, the weather forecaster he and Kuroi saw earlier, was leaning against a wall overlooking the crowd. “...What a coincidence, just when I was feeling unwell...I should’ve felt it coming...but…” Iniji only overheard a little before he promptly ignored a ‘staff only’ sign and squeezed through the heavy iron door of the control room.

“...Yukime-san?” The white haired woman was in the room, the entire place was nearly filled with the white mist that her quirk generated, her eyes were closed as if she was meditating. “Yukime-san!” Iniji shouted at her, startling the woman. “I’m with the hero team, please allow me to assist you in contacting my teammates.” He explained. Hotohan Yukime looked exhausted, though she gave a slight nod, glanced at the GPS tracking system on the screen, and went back into her meditative state.

Hotaru paused in her actions as well. She could hear people talking over the communicator and took a moment before looking back at Aoyaku. "That's not for anyone else to decide. Being a hero means doing what you need to to keep everyone else safe… so do me a favor and go with this guy back to the evacuation zone."

Hotaru pressed on her earpiece. "Update on the enemy quirk. Not sure how it works but it's like the snow turned into quicksand. It doesn't seem strong enough to overpower me though," She relayed. At least that meant it wasn't the girl. She had some chakram or something as her quirk.

“Titan-san, it’s me, Iniji. There’s 6 people scattered down the hill 800 meters Northwest of you, the owner allowed me to help with the system, please go on ahead.”

As the transmission came, the scared looked middle school girl, Aoyaku, ran out after feeling the vibrations. She grabbed the man she attempted to save and looked at Hotaru. “...I’m sorry, hero-san.” The girl whispered before looking up at the man, “let’s go evacuate now, mister.”

“Tetsuya-san, go North, Titan-san would be there, the highest concentration of trapped people on steep terrain is there. Please support her.”

Before Iniji could analyze where Daichi is and where he should optimally go, something strange happened in the location he was at. A white tendril seemingly made out of snow came out of the snow and latched onto Daichi’s ankle, towards the opposite direction of where the resort lobby is, towards the West, where the avalanche happened. The strength was not strong, though the grasp was firm it only tugged at him like a small dog biting on the pant legs of a person, trying to drag them somewhere.

As everything was about to get chaotic, Daichi had left the emergency station and had followed Gyohei when he stumbled upon a usb laying in the snow, the same one the male had been holding before he left. “Gyoh-” In the middle of the shouting he watching as the snow above the resort began to tumble down the mountain, without much thought he sprinted closer to the resort, narrowly missing the avalanche.

Soon after the transmission from his fellow teammates came in, thankfully they were all safe. “There was a guy out here before the resort was almost layered, I’m going to go find him.” Beginning his search Daichi strived his way to where he last seen Gyohei, that was until he felt something tug at his ankle, as he looked down he pulled his leg out of his grasp, surprising him that it didn’t look anything natural. “What the…” His initial reaction wasn’t a feeling of fear but curiosity, if it was something dangerous wouldn’t it have tried harder to grab him?

“Hey Something doesn’t feel right, I think the snow’s alive?” He spoke on the other end of the intercom.

“Spitfire-san.” Iniji finally came through. “There’s a rest area to your West, three guests trapped there, please go support, I’m in the lobby. The staff is handling the evacuation.” While Iniji spoke, the little tendril kept tugging at Daichi despite him trying to walk the other way, towards the West direction.

Titan glanced back at the girl for a moment before she sprinted forward. Her legs stretched the material of the pants and shoes she had and each step grew more intense and pushed her farther forward with each bound. “Thanks Iniji!” She quickly called as she altered her course. As she reached the newly paved grounds, she slowed and her arms began to grow. The appendages enlarged and toned while the hands grew to mimic large, claw-like scoops. The woman began to pave way through the snow, flinging large packs of the avalanche away to dig to uncover those buried.

“Careful, Spitfire. I saw the snow trying to drag off one of the guests… At least, I think it was,” Hotaru spoke in the coms.

Once Kuroi arrived to the area, blood poured out of his skin as he scoured the surface. When he came across a blip, the tendrils swirled to act as drills into the thick blanket, pulling people out one by one.

“Why… the hell do you sound so calm about that?” Kuroi questioned into the communicator as he dragged another person from the snow.

The snow...is alive… Iniji thought for a moment but shook his head, he had to focus on support for now. “How many did you get? Spitfire-san, what’s your condition?” He reinforced his focus and looked back at the screen, fanning the white mist that the woman emitted a little.

As much as his gut was screaming at him to go check out what was going on, Daichi’s need to help decided it was more pressing. With little resistance he dashed away from the tendrils grips before coming upon screaming and arms desperately trying to pull themselves out of the layer. “I found the three guys, thanks iniji.” While his quirk was so suitable at rescuing and defense, he made due with what he had and within a couple minutes he was able to dig them out of the snow. “Straight ahead is the resort, get inside and warm yourselves up.” He demanded the shivering guests and watched as they marched back to safety.

Yet again he felt a familiar tug at his ankle, this time almost causing him to fall face first. “I’m alright, found three guests and they’re safe, how is everyone else?”

“...That’s all of the signals dealt with, the resort’s emergency staff got a few as well.” Iniji said into the comms as he sat back a bit, breathing a sigh of relief. The little tendril that tugged at Daichi seemed to have disappeared, but soon resurfaced and latched onto the boy again, dragging him back towards the clearing where the snow flew up in a flurry of white particles, revealing an unconscious person with their GPS tag crushed by a falling object.

“...So...has any of you obtained information on the...you know...case?” Iniji whispered into the comms in a lowered voice, as the exhausted and stressed out looking owner was still behind him. “Any information that could be useful? The body’s condition was strange, there were cuts on the hands that weren’t lethal...but I have no idea why they were there.”

As Kuroi and Hotaru ushered people to the evacuation zone, they heard Iniji’s voice in the coms.

“I’m not too sure… I followed that girl, Aoyaku. She said she saw a monster take the boy, and said it was the same monster that was trying to drag another guy into the snow, but all I saw was some white flakes,” Hotaru mentioned. “I’m not sure exactly what her quirk is, but she summoned like a chakram out of nowhere; said she was trying to help the boy and the man I saved.”

Kuroi hummed a bit at that. “The kid’s body was cut up, but the cuts were shallow. Apparently whatever killed him wasn’t what gave him those wounds… Still, why was he cut like that?”

Hotaru let out a sigh. “I dunno. I heard some of the class mention that the boy was bullying her. Maybe she did it to him when he was picking on her?”

Daichi hadn’t noticed much on his end, the only thing that came to mind was the nervous boy who had dropped the usb in the snow. “I found a usb, not sure that would help much..” Daichi listened closely to his teammates' stories, almost shocking him with who they thought could be the culprit. “You think I kid could do that? I get the shallow wounds but she’s a kid?” If only he had inherited his fathers detective mind.

“...White flakes, snow coming alive…” Iniji thought for a bit, he had a hypothesis, though the facts that laid on the table didn’t fully support it. There are enough different types of quirks that could achieve that functionality. “...Perhaps it was outside interference after all.” Though what Hotaru told him about the little girl’s quirk perked his interest. “The nervous looking who can summon charkrams? Who says she’s trying to help…” Sitting back in the chair Iniji came up with something, though it wasn’t of much help to solving the actual case.

He waited for the others to return with the rescued civilians, the emergency team stationed in the area and investigative police had already arrived.

“Hmph! You’re the one that killed him! I heard the policeman say it, there were cuts! A lot of cuts!” A high pitched voice of a teen jeered at the girl Iniji tried to look for, he furrowed his brow and walked up.

"Yeah. It kinda looked like the owner's quirk, she could make shapes out of these white particles for her story... but I dunno, it could just be snow kicking up," Hotaru mused into the mic. "Well… I mean the girl did… I don't think she did it, killed him I mean, but her quirk may have activated if he was pushing her around. My aunt used to have a problem with her quirk activating with her emotions too."

"Iniji also said the cuts were too shallow for that to be the cause. Had to be someone else," Kuroi added.

“Ah, you’re back.” Iniji nodded at his teammates and went on to speak to the girl. “I assume you’re not very good at controlling your quirk just yet.” He said calmly, not too compassionate but not with prejudice either. The girl nodded nervously and took a few steps back.

“I see, if what Sunemizuki-san described with the second victim matches the first, then I have no reason to doubt that she was trying to help. If the victims were being pulled into the snow by some unknown force, they would likely be struggling to grab ahold of anything nearby. You saw this struggle and attempted to pull them out with the objects generated by your quirk, though if my assumptions are correct, you couldn’t control the energy concentration or sharpness of them well.”

The girl looked away and at the ground, she nodded again. “Yeah...I...I wanted to give them something to grab but it just…”

Iniji sighed and went on. “That explains the numerous shallow cuts only around the hands and wrists. Though how and why people were being pulled into the snow is another mystery.” He turned to Kuroi and asked, “Tetsuya-san, if possible we should compile a report on the initial status of the body, the scene was likely displaced during the avalanche. It would be best to leave further investigations to the professionals, heroes aren’t trained to do this.”

"You did good kid. Keep at that quirk, my aunt used to have trouble controlling her quirk too. Don't let it get to you," Hotaru told her. The girl probably panicked and ran away. The edgy guy next to her froze up, she couldn't imagine being a kid, trying to help and just having to watch it happen.

Kuroi let out a small sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… I wish I could just have to deal with the straightforward jobs," he murmured. Though it was nice they at least helped everyone else.

Just as they finished talking to the girl, Daichi had just missed the conversation before he reunited with everyone. “Glad to see everyone’s alright, well done guys.” While proud a pending question still nagged at him. “So what do you think really caused this?”

“...Who knows.” Iniji pulled up his scarf and prepared to leave. “Too many quirk users can kill without anyone ever knowing it was them.” He eyed the resort owner for a moment, but shook his head and walked away.

After the hero students left the resort, investigations were made to the mystersious murder of one of the guests. The autopsy report came out stating suffocation as the reason of death, and Aoyaku Chudocho was cleared of suspicion just as deducted. But the actual case remained unsolved for an extensive period of time, until it was eventually closed. Very little known villains have both the quirk and motive to commit such a strange crime, and it is nearly impossible to pinpoint anyone’s involvement after a period of time has passed.

The Hoshiro Resort was shut for investigations, but reopened at some point. Although more incidents similar to the first occurred, there were no more deaths. But the accidents were enough to create a number of rumours around the facility, eventually causing it to close down and the land abandoned, slowly fading away into nothing but an urban legend about curses and spirits wandering through the snow.

Normal End 2: The Spirit of Hoshiro
 
~~ The Next Day ~~

Nomura, Ota - Classroom 07
Interactions: General

"Good Morning Class." Ota says, with only one seat being empty this time, behind him were a number of faces with associated information being beamed unto the blackboard.

"You all came back once more. Always do that. I want you all to pay attention to these faces, they are the ones you fought, and epically to these two." Pointing out one from Team Isa's battle, there was also the Doctor from before. Or rather the Red Mustached man.

"The good Doctor Mobius had a hand in several of the team missions of yesterday and may have taken a direct interest in this class, we are currently reviewing other information gained from the other operations, but he is likely not working alone and has contributed significant funding towards robotics. Kaizen there can fill you in on that, he also may have had a hand in Team Amano's mission. And he most assuredly did with Team Isa's. Which brings me to this charming black armored fellow."

Twitching his jaw a bit a look of disgust washed over Ota's face, briefly, a rare display of being shaken from his normal sly smile and demeanor.

"Among his many crimes we have to add.. Necromancy or maybe technomancy? This Samurai here, we ID'd some of what was left of the body beneath the industrial grade steel and mechanical parts, a Totsu Isasawa. He used to be a rather mid tier Yakuza, his quirk was the channeling of electrical currents and power through his body, essentially redirecting and absorbing electricity. He was a rather large man standing in at 8 feet tall. He died in an ANVIL operation, but his body was stolen from cold storage soon thereafter. We had not found the body till now."

Pointing at and highlighting some of the debris, he changes the slides from the other Villains.

"We believe he was hunting Isa, who is now away though still needing medical care for now, for those that were curious... I must say it's odd not having her swearing, but ah yes.. On that note, while we are unsure if he, or rather it will show up again for her, we consider this a high class threat. Should you engage it, no not engage him with electricity based abilities, you all are also authorized to do whatever it takes to destroy it.

On that note, Kaizen, Vigridis, you two in particular, do not engage it alone. That thing has industrial presses and gears that are designed to casually bend steel beams.. Also no, the boosted size is not a mistake. Mobius seems to be using him as a corpse puppet, the electrical charges from electronics within the construction feeding and provoking movements and control of this.. Cyborg. While damaged considerably, I can asure you it is well and truly active."


Letting that sink in for a bit he rolls onwards, truly grateful to get his mind off this abomination as he switched the view back to the generic baddies.

"The Hero association also upped the threat on many of those you faced. Keep that in mind should you face them again, you even had encounters with the normally fatal kind. Including some people that ANVIL is very keen on getting it's hands on.. Make of that what you will. But enough of the doom and gloom my dear students, I and the principle have been talking and in a few more days when Isa is able to move around again, you'll all be going along with Cecil, Myself and Shako to the Tokyo Bay Imperial Memorial Aquarium. You'll have a weekend stay and then we go back into the fire. But ah, for that we have a special guest."

Turned around a laptop on his desk, a video comm was open as a girl shows up, though she didn't seem human in the least, blue and a little bit eerie at first, yet warm in her expressions, a hologram. A prerecording?

1629253965069.png


No, that didn't seem right, or at least in short order it wasn't as she flickers briefly. "Greetings class 07. I am Facility AI Neptunia, the Memorial Aquarium is my home and a refugee for wildlife and exploration for the human mind. I see from your brief file notes that I actually knew the parents and even grandparents of a few of you. My what a small world it truly is.

At the Aquarium you will have full use and lodging at the following facilities, the undersea research labs Block A through D, the Hero Association lodge and training center on the Eastern Annex, the Aquarium in full outside of some of the food preparation areas and tanks, the wild life refuge, scuba diving, the submersible tour, the underwater lodges, the coral reclamation zone and some of the performance tanks are likewise open to you. You've all taken such good care of Cecil so far to be allowed and he'll accompany you to some of these."
A series of images would showcase showing the named locations and the human caretakers and scientists hard at work.

"Together may we enjoy blue horizons. I do look forward to meeting you all in my wonderful garden. It is always an honor to welcome heroes. Ah yes and please make sure to note what lodging you want when you arrive... The Hero lodge is about like your current dorms meets a hotel and the underwater lodge connects to a moonpool and diving room, I do promise you it is safe, we have only had two incidents there in fifty years of operations. Do be well." With that the hologram winks off and the video feed is killed.

Ota grins a bit at his class and makes a wave to the class. "Don't make me have to track you kids down, that AI has eyes everywhere there, so I'll know if you are doing something you shouldn't. Either way Class Dismissed, I'll see you in the coming days for your normal school work. We leave this weekend, first thing in the morning and will be back here by dusk on the final day. Ah yes, bring swim ware, if you have interest in such there is a beach at the hero lodge, wetsuits are provided by the aquarium... Also Kaisen, stay behind. I need you for something for a few minutes. Also... It's likely no secret now who Isa's mother is. Officer Sugouro is on the Campus with her eldest son to check on Isa. They don't plan to stay for long but I encourage you to not try provoking her.."
 
Last edited:
haya2-gif.216667

Yori wasn’t the type to gossip…

Okay, maybe he was, but he’d never openly admit to it.

He’d heard that Goto’s date with Haya went as one would expect. It wasn’t great and it ended about as poorly as you’d think. Yori had asked Haya to let him know how the date went and what happened to see if Goto followed anything Yori gave him as advice.

Yori really did want to help the blue haired man where he could. He knew Goto had potential, but damn did his personality really hinder his chances at anything.

And so, curious about all that happened, Yori went seeking for Haya until he eventually found her.

“Haya, hey.” He greeted her, “You got a minute to talk?”

Haya was about to head back into her room, when she felt Yori, someone she had intended to speak with about a few things. Ichika and Mari had been no help in the confession question, so she figured he would have a better way to explain it. And she had wanted to talk to him about his mother. It was something on her mind since meeting Kikyo. But when he found her first, she smiled at him and nodded, as she looked in his direction, “Yeah. I actually wanted to talk to you too. I had some questions.” she stated.

“Yeah? I’ve got some questions too. I think you already know them. Go ahead and ask yours first. I’ll answer as best I can.” Yori told her, wondering what kind of questions the other might have.

Haya thought before she motioned to her room, “Why don’t you come in? Talking in the hallway might seem strange.” she stated before she led the way to her room, which was only a foot or so away. She opened her door and walked in. Across the door was a desk with a metal steel chest beside it, beside the door was the same kind of chest and it sat beside her ‘bed’. Her bed had a normal mattress on top, but the ‘frame’ of the bed was more like a pod than anything else. In the far corner was a basket for her clothes and on the other side of the door was her closet.

When Yori was in the room with her she looked towards him again, “I guess I should start with something that might be a little less complicated. I was talking to Kikyo when she came and she is very nice. But we got hungry and she cooked something. It was very nice and reminded me about my mother. But when I thought about it, my thought was….I never thought of being a mother. I never thought about it until that moment and….I’m a little concerned that I won’t be able to be a mother at all. My sound helps me see things in a way that most can’t but at the same time, I do need help with basic things too, since I am blind. So, I was wondering, since your mother is blind, how did she become a mother?”

Yori nodded once and entered her room. Her room, to him, looked a bit plain but it was understandable. She was blind; it wasn’t like she could look at all of her decorations or anything. The only thing that struck him as a little odd was the pod bed, but he figured it might be her using it to not accidentally roll off or anything.

He learned that Haya was concerned about being a mother, and since his own was in her exact shoes, she wanted to learn more. Yori was happy to help.

“She and my dad both wanted children, so she became a mother. The how, well, I’ll have to refer you to certain websites for that.” He answered jokingly in the last part. “Yes, she’s blind, but that didn’t stop her, you know? She had my dad to help her and her quirk for a few basic things, but everything else was all her.” Yori started to think back. “If I remember right, she was a master at echolocation so she could navigate the house while holding one of us as a baby. She’d use her fingernail to find out how many ounces of water in a bottle, her finger to test the water’s temperature, her scent to figure out messes, things like that. It’ll take some work, and it won’t be easy, but if you choose to be a mother then I think you could do it.”

Yori wasn’t sure if the answer would be satisfactory, but from what he knew, that’s the best way he could describe being a mother as a blind woman. His mother told him a few things, but she never went further into detail.

He then said. “If you want a more detailed answer, you could always ask my mother. I think she’d be happy to answer your questions on that topic.”

Haya thought about what Yori was telling her and she supposed with help, she could be a mother. The better question would be if she would ever find someone that cared to help her to be a mother or that she was worth the effort. In this, she found she didn’t know enough about herself to say that she didn’t need help, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if she honestly wanted to be a mother.

So, she shook the idea away, “I have another question, but since you answered mine, then I can answer yours. Afterwards, I can ask you my other question.” she told him. She thought about how to ask her next question. It was going to be strange and she didn’t really want to get the same strange answer that made no sense to her, like she got before.

So now it was his turn to ask a question. He supposed that was fair, though he was curious about what she had to say. Regardless, he would ask.

“I wanted to know how the date went, but answer me this. Did Goto steal any of your food?” Yori asked her.

Haya smiled, as she nodded, “Yes, I had to stab him with my toothpick. He was a bit upset.” she chuckled, “But I think the date ended pretty bad, I don’t know what I did. Kuroi said to talk to Goto like I do him, so I did. Kuroi is a lot more understanding, I think Goto thought I was judging him, but I was very curious on why he decided to be in a school for teamwork if he didn’t want anyone in his way. I just thought it was strange.”

Haya would hear a slap, then a deep sigh from Yori. He had facepalmed and the sigh was one of exasperation.

“God dammit Goto,” He said. “The one piece of advice I gave him was not to steal your food, and look at what he does. He steals your food!”

He wondered what it would take for Goto to actually listen to a person, but Yori digressed. He couldn’t help Goto if Goto didn’t want the help, but at least Yori made the guy shower for once.

“I can’t imagine you doing anything wrong, but then again, I wasn’t there.” Yori said. “There might be something more to it. No one becomes like him without a childhood to shape him into it, so your questions might have started striking something personal. I wouldn’t worry about it too much..” He assured her. It would make sense why he suddenly put his guard up after Haya started asking her questions. “Let Goto be the one to bring up that topic next time. If he wants to answer it, then he’ll answer when he’s comfortable.”

Haya nodded, “I will keep that in mind next time.” she wasn’t sure there would be a next time, but she would keep it in mind anyway. If nothing else, it was good advice when dealing with others, Agi, Yori and Kuroi might be okay with her questions, but she wasn’t sure who else was like Goto when it came to her questions.

“Well, there was my question. Your turn.” He said to Haya. Yori wanted to ask Goto what the hell he was thinking stealing Haya’s food. He was certain Goto didn’t dress in the outfit Yori had planned for him, nor did Goto act like the gentleman he should have.

Ugh, how hard was it to just listen?

Haya thought again, “Well, i told you in the hospital that Kuroi said he liked me and I told him I liked him. But he also said something about confessing. I asked Ichia and Mari and I am not sure what Mari was talking about, because she moved around the subject but Ichika said when you say that you like someone to that someone. But I did that, so I don’t really understand what kind of confession Kuroi meant, if I already did that?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Yori’s eyebrows lifted a bit, the information processing before a big, silent smile crept onto his face.

‘Oh Agi, look at our little boy grow~’ He thought to himself, then thought how to answer Haya’s question.

“Well, what did he say exactly regarding the confessing? Context is important and I don’t want to share the wrong information.”

Haya thought and said, “He said, ‘I like you’ then he went on to say, 'If you confess to me my heart might….’ Beat out of his chest I think he said, or something like that. But when I asked him, he just kept saying, ‘you know’. But I told him I didn’t know what that meant.” she explained as little lost as to what was amusing from the sound of Yori’s face.

Yori was grinning, happy for the two. “In this context, it means he likes you in a romantic way. By sharing this piece of information with you, he’s confessing to you. If you feel the same way about him, then you would confess to him by sharing that piece of information. After that, you can start a romantic relationship with him. Go on dates with him to see if you two are compatible, and if you are, then you can become boyfriend and girlfriend. The “my heart might beat out of my chest,” thing he said is like slang. He’s saying his heart is gonna beat hard and fast, probably from nervousness and excitement.”

He would then ask her. “So? Do you like Kuroi romantically?”

Haya thought about what Yori was saying and then she sat on her bed and thought more. Romantically thought of Kuroi? She liked Kuroi, he was her friend, but did she like him enough to think of him as something more? She wasn’t sure how to answer it, she hadn’t thought of it. “Are you sure that is what he meant? He was very admit about me giving Goto a serious chance.” she wasn’t sure that Yori was wrong, but she thought that Kuroi was hoping that she would get with Goto, in that sense.

A ‘hmmm’ of thought followed her question. “Well, it’s possible I’m wrong.” Though Yori didn’t think it was the case, there was still a chance of there being some sort of misunderstanding with what Kuroi was saying.

Kuroi was pretty damn dense romantically.

“If you want to be sure, you could have a private talk and ask him. Communication is key, after all.” He told her. “If you do like him that way, or you don’t and just want to remain friends, or you just don’t want a relationship right now, you can let him know depending on what he says after he reiterates. That make sense?” He asked this time. In the end, he just wanted to see his friends happy, be it through friendship or a relationship.

Haya nodded, “I will talk to him about it then. Hopefully, he doesn’t continue with the ‘you know’ statement.” she chuckled, as she looked up towards Yori, “He already told me that kissing him was not a good punishment, but I don’t know any other way to make someone talk without busting their equilibrium.” she stated. Then smiled, “Did you have another question?”

For a moment, a very brief moment, Yori wanted to grab Haya by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

He thought Kuroi was bad, but damn Haya was worse.

“A conversation will be just fine.” He responded with a smile then said. “Nope, nothing else. You already answered my questions about your date with Goto. If you’ve got any other questions in the future, just let me know, alright?”

Haya nodded, “Thank you, I will. But if you are curious about the date, does that mean you also wanted me to be with Goto?” she asked curiously. There was a strangeness in the questions and answers that she was given. Plus, she wasn’t really sure who they thought she should be focusing on. For now, she was not going to think too much on who to be with and more on making friends, because that is what she wanted. At the same time, Yori seemed to focus on the relationships of people, which made her wonder if he also had a relationship. “Are you in a romantic relationship?”

At her first question, Yori shook his head. “No, that’s not why. See, I knew the date wouldn’t go well, but I figured I would try and at least give Goto helpful tips to try and lessen the blow. A date made because of a bet asks for trouble, in my opinion.”

And he turned out to be right.

“Goto has the potential to get a girlfriend, but he doesn’t clean himself up and his mannerisms are shit. It drives me insane, because if he just did a few things differently he wouldn’t be complaining about women not giving him the time of day. So I used his date with you as an excuse to try and coax him to get on the right track. It didn’t work, obviously.” The thought made him sad, but he gave no hints of it.

Then came the question about his own romantic life, making Yori sigh. “No. I’m a singer with a lot of female fans. If the crazies of those fans found out that I was dating someone, they’d search that person out and hammer them with death threats, reveal their location, obsessively stalk them, all kinds of bad stuff. So, Yori Yubiki is not allowed to date anyone.”

He then smiled, “However, that doesn’t mean one of my disguises can’t. Maybe one day... But for now, I’ll just help my friends find their special someone when I can.”

It was obvious from the way he spoke that Yori would like to pursue a romantic relationship with someone, but his circumstances made it incredibly difficult. It didn’t leave him a lot of room to meet new people with the intention of getting to know them and maybe dating. He would be forced to just… continue as he was now.

He still had hope though. Plenty of it.

Haya nodded, "I see. So wouldn't dating a hero be your best option. Fight fan with fan?" She asked curiously. "I don't know much about being famous, but wouldn't anyone you are seen with get those threats. Even your sister just because She is female?" She asked. "A hero could take care of themselves and you wouldn't need to worry about them." She suggested. But that was just her idea.

She nodded to him, "I appreciate the advise and will talk to Kuroi when I take him the hammer." She noted. She got to her feet, "I have to check in with Agi to see if it's ready. But when it is I can talk to Kuroi about his feelings."

He listened to her words and knew she was right. A hero was his best chance at a relationship, though there was something in his mind that lingered.

There was always the possibility of the other person trying to get more fame from dating him. He hated to think it, but the fact that it was possible made him cautious.

“Amano still gets those threats by the way. She doesn’t care, thankfully, but it can be taxing depending on the person.” Maybe if he dated a hero that didn’t check social media at all, then maybe things would go better. He’d never hear the end of it from Rika, but whatever.

Yori headed for the door and opened it, standing to the side so Haya could leave first. “Let me know how it goes, okay? You know where to find me.”

He really hoped whatever happened between Haya and Kuroi would end with both of them being happy.

Haya nodded, “I will make sure to do that.” she assured him.
Haya sighed as she got to the kitchen room, the sound of someone there was something that was familiar but she wasn’t sure if it was a new student or not. The sounds coming from there were actually familiar, but she wasn’t sure if that was just because they did common things, like everyone else. Or they were someone she had not really interacted with. So, she wanted to investigate the noise and paused when she got to the room, “Hello?” she called, not really moving any more in. She was sure that most of her interactions were just fine, but she felt for once, to make it clear that she was blind, instead of talking and finding out that through half the conversation she was blind.

“Huh? Oh.” There was the sound of footsteps from the living room, Amon looked down at the cutting board and blinked a few times, seemingly lost in thought, before setting down a knife and looking over his shoulder. “Haya-san? Good evening, how’s it going?” After confirming who the newcomer is, the boy returned to his previous endeavour, picking up the knife again and quickly flicking it over a piece of fish multiple times. He knew that Haya isn’t able to see, but used sound to disconcert different objects and actions, he wondered if all the less than common (for high schoolers) cooking maneuvers he had been doing was bothering her. Perhaps it would be a good time to explain, though there wasn’t a need to jump to such a conclusion yet.

Haya titled her head and shrugged as she moved towards the voice, “What are you doing? Amon-san?” She had heard the sound when she was cutting with Kuroi, which did not happen too much. At the same time, Kuroi did say Amon was picky with his food, so she wasn’t sure if the sounds would be the same as when Kuroiwas in the kitchen to when Amon wasin the kitchen.

“Fish cleaning.” When the girl asked what he was doing, Amon just answered naturally. “Flounder fish, you gotta take off the scales first, then guts...head...tail...all of that. It’s a bit loud so it might sound like it’s more nearby, big fish and all.” He mumbled as he sliced the portions he spoke about off, brushing them aside off the cutting board and then cutting the remaining fish meat into fillets. Setting the pieces out Amon wiped his hands a bit and walked a few steps ahead, peaking out to the living room. “Karei no nitsuke, there was a sale on fresh flounder last weekend.” The boy informed Haya on what he was making cheerfully.

Haya nodded, as she listened, that was something that she was not sure about. But at the same time, she was not sure about of lot of the kitchen stuff. “I feel.” she stated, before she asked, “So, are you going to make fish later today or are yo just getting it ready for when you wnat to make fish?” She was curious how he cooked, from teh way Kuroi told her, it was impressive.

“Oh this? I put it out to hang over the counter and defrost this morning, that’s the getting ready part.” Amon tilted his head at Haya curiously, did she not know a lot about cooking? Though there was no reason to judge any of his peers for lackin in such knowledge. He left the fillets on the side in a plate and picked up a package of harishoga from the cabinet, picking out some strands to put on the side of the plate.

“Sake...Mirin...Light soy...and---Yare yare, who the hell is eating all the sugar, barely any left...” He said to himself while gathering the said ingredients from the various cabinets and drawers laid around the kitchen.

Haya looked confused, “Sugar, for fish?” she asked. She had never heard of that, in fact she wans’t sure she had heard of much that was cooked with sugar. She did know that there was a different way to cook everything, but sugar seemed like a strange one to her.

When Haya seemed confused about the sugar Amon could instantly tell that the girl didn’t really cook a lot. Sugar was used in most stir fried dishes and soups in order to create certina flavours. He turned over while holding the little container, and began mixing the ingredients together into a light broth.

“Most homemade dishes have sugar in them, Haya-san. You don’t taste it directly, it’s there for the aftertaste or to balance out other flavours.” He laughed a bit at the other’s confusion, “just because something isn’t sweet doesn’t mean there was no sugar added.” With that, Amon pinched up a small bit of sugar and dropped it into the broth, the small crystals quickly melting away.

Haya nodded, that didn’t sound right, but since she had never heard of it, didn’t mean tha it wasn’t true. Kuroi told her that Amon cooked differently and that was the case, from what she could hear. “My house only has a few ounces of sugar at a time, so I have never heard of that.” Sugar wasn’t banned, but generally they just came from sweets that went to waste when her father brought them over. Other then that, her mother thought sugar was bad for her speed, so she only used sugar from natural foods and her uncle honestly agreed that sugar was not something that a child should have.

“Oh, me too. I don’t keep a lot of sugar around either, this is more than enough for me,” Amon showed the small container to the girl, it was enough for him, just not the 20+ people in the dorms. “Every dish has less than a few grams of sugar, usually a pinch or two. It’s not for the sweetness, it mutes the raw smell and aftertaste of most ingredients. Haha, you don’t cook a lot, don’t you, Haya-san? Perhaps your family didn’t either.”

As he spoke Amon put the mixture into a flat sauce pan and turned up the heat, watching the thin light broth slowly boil before going over to pick up the flounder fish on the counter. “You see, the main flavour will come from soy sauce and sake, with mirin and sugar muting the bitterness in the saltiness as well as suppressing the fishy aftertaste that persists even when it's cooked.”

Haya shook her head, “My mother cooks every meal. I am blind, so cooking isn’t something that I was allowed. But I am the only one that is blind in my family. My mother is actually always cooking at home, she is a housewife, so she is very good at it.” Haya wasn’t sure why not using sugar was a sign that her mother didn’t cook. Sugar was only allowed for tea, that was how she understood it. But she listened to his explanation before she nodded, “Okay, what about honey? My mother uses honey sometimes on her dishes to help with that, is that the same?” she asked. She recalled the smell of honey when her mother cooked, it happened a handful of times, but it was something that caught her attention.

“Hmmm, you can, it works sometimes.” Amon replied while looking at the fish simmering in the sauce. “Cane sugar, condensed milk, honey, sweet peppers or onions...they all have their own functionalities, tastes and textures, you can’t only use one in everything, each ingredient has their place in dishes. Only using a single type while dismissing others makes cooking boring. Honey has a thicker texture and heat will evaporate the water...so in a light broth like this cane sugar is a better choice.” He gently flipped the slices of flounder fish over with some chopsticks, miraculously keeping the soft fish still intact. “Phew, it didn’t fall apart.”

Haya nodded, sugar was not part of her family’s home, so she wasn’t really sure what he meant, since she couldn’t see it happening, but she was sure that in his experience this would be something that was right. “So, how would you know which texture you want?” Haya asked, curious as to if she did use different ways, then how would she know which to use for what dish.

“Huh?” Amon was a bit confused at the question, the texture of food was much like the taste, you just chose based on what you felt like that day. “I don’t know, it depends on what you want in your dish, it’s all opinion, different people like different things.” The flounder fish continued to simmer in the pan, a slight smell of sweet soy broth and cooked fish filled the rooms. “Whether to have light thin broth, creamy stews, chunky soup, tender meat or tough meat, crunchy or soft vegetables...It’s all up to you and what you want to eat at that particular moment, isn’t it?” He said with a soft smile.

Haya thought about it and shrugged, “Honestly, Kuroi is teaching me how to cook, I am not even allowed to be in the kitchen at home, when someone is cooking.” she smirked. It seemed like Amon was a lot different then Kuroi when it came to cooking and deciding how to do it. Although Amon was interesting, for the fact that she was blind, she figured Kuroi’s way was best.

“Haha, is that so? It’s true that Kuroi-chan might fit your style more, I didn’t think you would like a frivolous guy like me, Haya-san.” Amon laughed as he slowly picked up the now cooked piece of fish with a spatula and laid it on a plate, he admitted that he was pretty extra when it came to food related things, the other boys would even joke around about it. “I’m not a great teacher, a lot of this comes naturally to me, so I always found it hard to teach others the specifics.” Pouring the light sauce onto the plate, half covering the fish, Amon hopped over to the counter below the cabinet and picked up the harishige he put there.

“Would you like to try?” He asked casually while sprinkling the thinly sliced harishige on top of the flounder fish, with the last bit of light sauce to top it off.

Haya smirked at Amon, as she shook her head, “I will respectfully decline. It does smell good, but I ate earlier. It is interesting to feel you cook, though. I think” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she tried to avoid eating after she had eaten. For several reasons, she was not exactly sure it made sense to otters, so she just avoided explaining it.

“I see I see, it’s good to have a regular diet...well, it’s not much coming from me.” Amon didn’t mind that Haya declined, it was decently late into the evening and definitely not an appropriate time for food. Some girls had this thing about not eating too late into the day or something, or at least that’s what Yori said once. He wasn’t like that at all though, he just ate anytime he wanted, his quirk could drain it all easily.

“Alright then, guess I’ll have dinner number three by myself.” Picking up the plate Amon walked towards the dining table and plopped it down with a pair of chopsticks. “Ah...right, sorry I distracted you from whatever you were doing Haya-san, your lifestyle sure is interesting, haha.” He smiled a did a slightly exaggerated waved, to make sure the other girl knew about his body language.

Haya smirked, “I wasn’t really doing anything, just wandering around. My bed is going through an update my uncle sent. So I had some time.” She commented, her uncle updated the software of her bed so that the data information that he gathered could help him come up with a better way to help her sleep. It was an ongoing experiment that her uncle was adamant that they complete.
Haya moved through the building to find Goto. Since the date, she had felt bad about upsetting him. She wasn't sure how sure did, but obviously he had gotten upset with her. So, She wanted to apologize. Yori was right about pushing, She should have let him explain. She asked questions and didn't give much room for understanding. So she couldn't expect him to just keep answering. Goto and Haya had just met for a few minutes twice. They didn't know each other well enough to understand each other. So, Haya continued her search from top to bottom to apologize to Goto.

Goto was released from the hospital, mostly okay, but his ears still had some ringing going on from the blast that he found himself in. He could tell he was fast. He was faster than that stupid bomber. He was strong too, being able to force him to resort to hostage taking. But what the hell was he supposed to do about that? So Goto was “training” as he called it.

Truth be told, Goto was actually sitting in common space in a similar upside down position as when he and Haya first talked, reading. Or at least… trying to. Goto was diligent with his studies, but no matter how hard he tried, the words never stuck well. And reading was all the more frustrating to do. His brow was furrowed in frustration. He had spent the last 20 minutes on this one page re-reading it over and over again. It was all on hostage tactics, but the vocabulary was too much for him, and he’d fallen down rabbit holes of dictionary dives.

Haya started from the top and moved down until she made it to the first floor. When she got to the common area. She paused as she turned to an odd shape. It was similar to the way Goto had been when she first met him. She wondered if it was him again. As she moved to a seat nearby, "Goto?" She questioned. It was probably him, most people had habits and Goto's form had a habit of changing in strange positions.

Goto was still a little hard of hearing. He didn’t even notice her as she said his name, but jumped a bit, startled when the couch moved from next to him. He jumped, which made him slide off the couch and bump his head against the floor. “Argh… Sonuvabitch…” As he rubbed the top of his head, he noticed Haya sitting next to him for the first time. “You’ll need to tap my shoulder or something next time.” He spoke in a voice that was louder than usual, compensating for his difficulty hearing.

He picked his book back up and sat down again, reading down the page he was on a few more times before inevitably coming across a word he didn’t understand. “What does c-con...ti...tin---genky mean?” He asked Haya, trying to sound out the word “contingency.”

Haya thought of how to explain it, "It's a step for a possible future. Like planning something for the future even though the future is unknown." She said she wasn't sure if that helped him but it was how she understood the word." But she was sure that it was Goto, by the way he sounded and his language. "I will be sure to do more than say your name next time." She promised.

"Actually. I was looking for you, if you have a little time?" She asked. She wanted to talk to him about their date and apologize for it.

Goto was still struggling with his reading. Did she just explain that wrong? That didn't seem right. Why would you make a plan if you didn't know what was going to happen. "Yeah. I think that's fine. I need to break. The smell of books is starting to make my head hurt…"

He leaned back in his seat, closing the book and letting it drop on the table. "Oh shit I forgot to book mark the page…" He then picked up a rubber ball he brought with him for breaks, and started bouncing it against the wall and back to him. "What's up then?"

Haya smirked at him and chuckled a little, "Well, that might also be my fault." She said recalling his surprise when she arrived. “Sorry about that, but then again, that is also why I want to talk to you.” she pointed out.

Haya took a deep breath and turned to Goto, “I wanted to apologize for asking you a lot of questions that you were not ready to talk to me about and for upsetting you. I should have let you open up about what I was curious about on your own. I apologize for pushing the topic and asking a lot of questions that were not open for discussion. I didn’t mean to upset you.” she told him and sighed as she stood up, facing towards him, “I think I came off badly as well, and I didn’t mean to. I was simply curious about you and I did it like I do with Kuroi, I just kept asking and expecting that you would change the topic in a way that would tell me to stop. But instead I upset you. I am very sorry for that.” She bowed to him in apology and waited for him to say something.

As soon as Goto heard what Haya was saying, he wasn't concerned about it at all. But he knew to let her talk. If he had learned a few things from his disaster date, it was that Haya liked talking. "I don't need an apology. 'I'm sorry' doesn't change things."

He looked away. Knowing that he made some mistakes that day too. "That said, I also messed up. But now we know better." He stood up ready to stretch out his limbs. "I need a run. Well, glad we got that out of the way huh?"

Haya smirked slightly, as she stood straight, ”Mind if I join you? I am not as fast just yet, but I think that some practice might be helpful in helping me get to that speed. After all, one day I still plan on beating you. Sound is faster than Air. And I think my mother could beat you, so I have to beat you.” she told him. She would challenge his speed every chance sh egot, now that it was out of the way.

Goto didn't mind. He was just glad she wasn't there to make him answer so many questions rapid fire. "Sure. Just… give me time to find the words. I may be a hard headed, impatient ass, but I know what I suck at. And words are something I need a contingenky for. Did I use that right? Also I'm just gonna have to trust you on the sound thing. Science is also not a strong one."

But as the books in the table indicated, it wasn't from lack of effort. "So do all the girls hate me now?"

Haya smirked, nodded, ”Yes, you used it right.” she giggled, ”No. Ichika sounds upset when I mention the nickname you have for her and Yori is upset because you took my food. But other than that, I don’t know if anyone else is upset. I doubt it. Mari said it was an expected turn out.” she assured him as she took a breath. Then she moved out of his way, ”And I don’t hate you. I am just glad that we can move passed it.”

Goto pumped his arm, pleased that he may actually have learned something from all of that. Of course most of his excitement was drained when he heard that Ichika had heard what he almost called her. “Eh?! You told her?! Oh man, she’s gonna kill me… Or worse, force feed me.” He shuddered at the notion, all with that deadpan look on her face the entire time. He might have been mad, were he not too scared of what was to come.

But then Haya said something he actually could relate with. “I think you’re right about the moving on. Most people look at me and assume that because I’m rude, and crass, and really bad at school that I don’t know what my weaknesses are, but believe me, I know them better than anyone. That’s why I’m not afraid to make a few mistakes. Pain’s a powerful teacher. Helluva lot better than orbital percentages.” He meant ‘arbitrary.’ “And since I make so many mistakes, I realized the words ‘I’m sorry’ don’t mean shit. I’d rather admit I made a mistake, learn from it, and move on.”

Haya nodded, “That makes sense.” she told him. It was an interesting way to see the world and even though Goto seemed a little lost in his own world and speak like he was confused, she was understanding that he had a good sense of himself. “That is important to know. My uncle says if you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses then you will just be a burden on your team and yourself in the end. she added before she thought of something, “If you make a lot of mistakes and learn from them, does that mean your new mistakes are from things you didn’t learn anything about.”

"Well no. You don't like, tell a dog to sit one and give him a treat. That's not how it works." Goto said, casually throwing his hands behind his head. "Let's head out to the track field. I wanna actually run for bit." He always did enjoy his track workouts. And running a mile or two with Haya probably would give him a better time talking with her than before. Partly since she might not be able to talk as much with the running. It would give him time to think.

"You know I think part of the problem with us talking was I suck with words. I work better with something real. Like visuals. And um… well you know that isn't exactly an option."

Haya smirked nodding, “Let’s go then. I’ll race you.” she said, but she didn’t really give him a chance to agree as she started to rush for the door, using her sound to map out her direction and the shortest path to the track. She hadn’t been to the track, but it was probably the best place for her to practice. Goto’s suggestion meant that they could have their rematch and she could try again.

“H-Huh? Hey wait, I haven’t even had the chance to stretch yet!” Of course she was already off. And Goto was following as if by instinct. He couldn’t resist a challenge. But this time, he was going to run on foot. His quirk may make him faster in the air, but he wasn’t slow on the ground either. He was looking to get some energy out with running instead of flying. This was what he wanted in the end.

“You know, you’re a little crazy.” He called out from behind. His form was immaculate, having spent his middle school years as a trackstar. Fortunately for him he almost exclusively wore trainers in the dorms.

Haya chuckled, as she ran even faster, trying to keep her lead for as long as she could. She didn’t really understand why he called her crazy, but she knew that she was not exactly what he might call sane. But to be fair he was an odd one himself, and as much as he knew about himself, she wasn’t sure if he understood how he was to others. Because he called her crazy, without mentioning that he was also just as crazy.

He rushed forward, pulling into a full sprint as he approached the track field, but with the false start, and the fact that today he wasn’t working on his quirk, he wasn’t able to catch up completely, though it was close to a photo finish. As he reached the end, he bent over, keeping himself held up by his knees. “Seriously… A little warning next time?”

Haya smirked, “You are the fast one, you should always be ready.” she teased, with a chuckled, “Besides, it was fun. You should really work on kick-starting your steps a lot faster. I thought you would never catch up.” she warned for her own amusement. He seemed to have kept up just fine, without his quirk, so the fact that he wanted a warning seemed a little silly to her. “So, since we are running the track, and you are the only one that can actually see it, I guess I will be following you.” Feeling around them, the track was flat, so she had no idea where it actually started or stopped. The only way she managed to make it here as she felt others run it before. She was sure she was standing either on the track or somewhere just near it. She wasn’t sure about the distance at the moment, but she was sure that she was at the track because Goto stopped too.

Goto gave her a joking middle finger, lingering for a few seconds before realizing she may not be able to discern that level of detail. “I’m flipping you off. Which I realize I should mention, that was as a joke. Please don’t jab me with something again.” He stood up and looked around the field as he started doing his stretches properly. He paused for a moment when she mentioned she couldn’t really see the track “Oh yeah… I didn’t think about that.” Man, sometimes this sorta thing made shit a bit more difficult.

“Hey Haya, how are you with your grades?” He asked, still stretching out as needed.
Haya noticed his finger and looked towards him with a ‘really?’ glance. After he explained, she smirked a little before she sighed, “I have nothing to jab you with but my finger and that would probably hurt me as much as it would hurt you.” she chuckled. Truth was, she could use sound around her finger so it didn’t actually touch him, but she had no reason to really do that. But she felt him move, stretching as he spoke and she shrugged, “I have not been told anything, so I would have to say they are fair. It is not like Ota pulled me aside or anything. They adapted everything for me and I accomplished everything just like everyone else, so fair is what I think they are.” she stated. Her grades went through her uncle, because she couldn’t see, and her uncle never said anything to her about them nor did Ota. so, she guessed that she was passing and being lead, she could only guess that they were good grades.

“Wow. Wish I could get something like that. I usually just end up with a marked up paper saying what I did wrong. Not that I get it most of the time.” He had a few teachers in the past that wouldn’t explain to him what was wrong about his answers. Some even took him asking as a question of their authority. So he just didn’t bother asking. He somehow managed to scrap by enough to make it to Ketsubetsu with Agi and the others, and they helped bring his grades up, even if just a little. But it was enough to keep him hanging on by a frayed rope, rather than a thread.

“So I take it asking you to be a study partner, may not be my best choice then.” Of course thinking back on it now, that could only lead to them having some more disputes like their “date.”

Haya smirked, “Probably best not to. We have a better track record on the track then alone together.” she teased. She didn’t mind helping him, but figured as a group they would be fine. But Goto didn’ts eem like the person that wanted a whole group to know words were a bad combo with him.

"Well. Then I guess we can just be running partners." Well if this was the kind of thing they'd do together then it didn't matter. "Dates kinda suck. Haven't been on many, but I'mma be honest ours was one of the better ones. Usually my date left me. So maybe this is where I should be then." He laughed. Girls were difficult to understand. With guys, speaking what you thought usually didn't cause much of an issue. "And I heard Kuroi was challenged to ask you out on one. Maybe he'll actually do it, if he's got the balls. "

Haya smirked, "I would like to be your running partner then. It will give me the chance to improve my speed. But I promised to take the date seriously, and it's rude to leave your date without a good reason. You didn't give me any reason to leave you on our date." She shrugged. She might have just been the type that accepts others, but she felt her limit was never reached with her date with Goto. She honestly believed that getting to know him was more important than deciding if she liked how he did something. "Well, I'm glad it was a good one at least a little bit." As for the Kuroi bet. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Kuroi was a friend and she liked being around him. But she didn't think he was one to take a challenge just because. She was sure that her next date would be something less about a bet and more of someone she liked or that liked her.
Haya decided that she was going to the training area to feel the air, after her mission she had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was not sure how she would have done things differently. She had wanted to not be the leader but at the same time, the leader she had…..she just didn’t work well together with. Then there were the villains, she was hoping to trap one, but Shako must have misunderstood what she had said and decided to attack when the sound had her trapped. And on the other hand, she had helped to save two people, blood on her hands but she helped. She was a little concerned with being teamed up with Isa like that again. Isa had a point there was no way that they could predict what was going to happen. But it wouldn’t have taken them long to get to her, if they had a solid plan.

She sighed, there was no point in thinking about it now, the villains got away and the one that was the most injured was Isa herself. Haya thought she should check on her, but right now, she felt like ‘I told you so’ would come out and that would just be point after point stated without any real understanding. Isa was stuck in her ways, and Haya believed in her own.

Back to the training area the bugster went, while he definitely saw more action during this patrol, he technically did fail his mission which he wasn’t all too happy about. He was testing out this new weapon and style recommended to him by Mr Ota. He wielded a blunt halberd, but strangely he was using it one handed, performing wide powerful swings. Then he noticed his blind friend nearby. “Hail friend, I haven't had the chance to talk to you in awhile, I trust that your mission went well?” He opened with a common topic.

Haya smirked half heartedly at the large form that called to her. The sound of his voice was similar to Kaizen but he neither felt or completely sounded like Kaizen. "Kaizen?" She said, confused. She knew he was the big one, but she had not really spoken to him as the big one. In fact, the only conversation they had, he was human. So it took her by surprise.

"Yes, or bug, if you prefer. Much more appropriate in this form I take it." He joked, realizing that this was technically the first time she saw him in this form. "You went on a mission with a girl from a different class, correct? The one with a mantis shrimp quirk? How did that go?" Kaizen asked curiosly, she seemed to have some similarities to the bugster.

Haya thought about the question, ”She likes to fight a lot more than she seems to think. I’m sorry if that came off mean, but she seems more interested in fighting then i am used to.” she haid before she move dtowards Kaizena nd tilted her head, “Is she a friend of yours? I thought she was nice, but in combat, I think she is like Isa, who I don’t get along with in a fight.”

It took he a moment, before she smirked, ”What about your mission? How did that go?

"I see, well, not yet. But I'm always eager to make a friend, especially one with her disposition." He explained, noting that Haya doesnt like combat focused types. "You don't get along with Isa? Why is that?" He asked from some clarification, since he knew Isa is a very decent fighter.

"Didn't go so well, the villain left with the spoils, they came for, even had time for assassination, but they suspect that the first crime is more of a distraction for the second one." Failure after failure, the bugster just cant catch a break. "They had strong robots backing them up, stronger than the ones used in U.A and even our current school." The bugster clench his fist, remembering how close he was to losing that fight. It frustrated him, since he didn't think the fight should have been that close. "They manage to hack into our coms somehow, who knows, they could be watching us right now for all I know." He couldn't help but feel that they had stumbled upon something much bigger.

Haya nodded, as she thought about what she knew about the comms, ”Well, Amaris-Sensai did the same thing, but I guess that was more cheating than anything else. I understand your point, though. If they are still listening in, then they would be able to know everything on our end and training. Like where not to go, or who to send to deal with which person. But since we don’t have our comms right now, I guess that would not be possible. I am sure that after your report, Ota-sensei looked into that and fixed it before he would send up out.” she assured him, he seemed to think too much about his mistakes over what he actually did right. ”You should focus on working with your team to get a better feel for them, I think. I think, maybe you won’t need comms as much if you know your team well enough.


“You are right, Vigiridis and Vitalis handled themselves well enough, but in hindsight, I should have been there to assist Goto with his opponent. I underestimated his opponent, and because of that, his mother was nearly killed. Bottom line, people got hurt because of my decisions. Thankfully there were no casualties this time.” While his voice remained as calm as ever, there was this gnawing sensation at the back of his head that annoyed him. To have this much strength and yet to always fail, it was beyond frustrating. But he did well to hide such feelings from his peers. “Anyways, what are you doing here anyways? Trying out some new power move?” he asked, trying to switch the topic.

Haya smirked, she could hear the tone in his voice, he was lying about what he thought, but she wasn’t going to say anything. Sound was her only power, she knew how to tell a vibration, tone, micro flex or any kind of change. But she learned that telling people that sometimes upset them, so she wouldn't say anything. ”Isa and I couldn't work together well and I feel like I had some mistakes to work out, so I came up here. I thought about what I had ordered of my team, when Isa was pin down and wondering if it was the right way to do things. We saved the couple that would have died, but both villains got away.”


“At least everyone got out of it alive this time, but we won’t always be so lucky. Which is why it's important for us to get stronger, faster and smarter than our enemies. Outsmart, outmaneuver and overpower! That's how we’ll win this war against evil!” Kaizen shouted, pumping himself up while spinning and thrusting his training staff at the air. It seems his daredevil personality has made a bit of a resurgence in light of recent events. Or maybe he’s just gotten much more comfortable around the people surrounding him.. After noticing his faux pas, Kaizen promptly apologized. “Ehem… excuse my faux pas, I tend to get really passionate about certain topics.” Kaizen calmed down a bit, returning to a neutral stance.

Haya smirked, as she listened to him, she had to move out of his way to avoid him from hitting her. But when he calmed down she said, “That is almost true. My uncle said, sometimes it’s your passion that had to be more than your opponent.” She sighed as she thought about what he was saying, “My uncle says that you have only one thing to focus on, on a mission, the primary mission, which usually does not have to do with fighting. Fighting is secondary and when you do start to fight, you need to stay on point. Focus on the primary mission no matter what is going on in the fight. Because if you fail the fight but give your primary the opening it needs to succeed, then you have won the battle.” it was vague, but she understood it, so she figured that Kaizen would know what her uncle meant.

“Hmm..lose the battle but win the war… yes that is definitely a sentiment I can relate to." Kaizen nodded in agreement at the old man's message. For many, fighting was just a means to an end. But Kaizen, it was one of the primary reasons he became a hero. At least that's how it started. "Fighting isn't always necessary to further our goals towards a peaceful society, but if push comes to shove, we must be ready for it. When words and diplomacy fail, our fist and might won't." He recalled U.A teacher had taught him an important lesson when they discovered his "obsession". "We should never look for a fight, but if a fight were to find us, we must be ready for it. That's what they taught me in U.A" he nodded somewhat proudly at the fact that he still remembered.

Haya smirked, “My uncle taught me that fighting is not important as winning in the end.” she thought he had got it, but part of her doubt he understood the message. “Like this. On my mission with Sweat Bod, I didn’t focus my plan on getting through him, it was to get the generator. Fighting him was a secondary mission. If my generators were moving and he was in the way of that. Fighting him would be an option, but only enough to get the moving generators in a good location to continue on. My mission’s focus never changes, a fight is just a fight, it’s not as important as the mission objective. Letting evil get you into a fight, no matter who wins the fight, means evil wins, because they made you focus on them as much as they focused on you.”

Kaizen tilted his head in slight confusion, the message was clear enough right? It isn't always about fighting. "Yes. I understood that." He said while wondering why she was essentially repeating what she had said before. "As I said before, we won’t always have to fight. In fact, I believe that in most situations it's completely avoidable if you have the right skills and equipment.” As battle hungry as the bugster was, he too knew the virtues of avoiding violent conflicts when necessary. “I’ve never had a situation in my life where I was “forced” to fight. I am not forced to fight evil. Evil is forced to fight me.” There was a certain zealousness in his tone, in spite of his battle-hungry nature, deep inside there still exists a strong conviction to deliver and uphold justice even if he doesn’t view himself as a hero. “Bottom line, we don’t always need to fight, but when we do, we make it count.”

Haya smirked, Kaizen made a point but drew it back to fighting as a focus. Haya was starting to think overthinking it would probably just confuse him more and make her lost in the conversation to the point that she had no idea where it was going. So she just smiled at him, “Right.” was all she said on that topic, instead she moved the conversation to a different topic, “Why are you so big? Last time I saw you, you were smaller, taller than me, but not as big as you are now?” she asked curiously.

"Well that's simple. My bug has bigger muscles and contains more insect organs that can produce various substances." Kaizen raises his right arm, letting out a small explosion from the pore on his palm while on his left arm he spins a web, attaching it to his staff. He begins tossing the staff upward before pulling it back to him, he was sure he echo location was able to detect movements like that's. "It's also because I have thick armor covering it. As you can "see"". He joked as he shed away his thick armor, reverting to a much more slender and humanoid form.

Haya felt the movement and thought of something else to question as he gave his reply, “But if you built on your human form muscles, would your bug muscles improve even more?” she asked. She was lost in how his quirk actually worked, being a bug meant that he could be a big bug, but if he improved being human and was able to fight as a human, would his bug form be more powerful?

"Well, it doesn't quite work that way. My body changes from human to insect during the cocoon stage. Inside the cocoon, my body uses the available "resources" to restructure into the desired form. If it needs extra resources they'll generate new ones. The larger the difference between two forms, the longer it takes for me to transform. Hence why I usually don't do mid combat transformations. While I can make my human form stronger, the only thing it will benefit is the transformation time." He explained to the best of his abilities. But in truth, there are certain things even the bug doesn't understand about himself.

Haya thought of how he explained it and nodded, wouldn’t being human and working out be better to limit time between then. It would make him faster and powerful to be able to help his team. Wasn’t that the point of training, to benefit your team in the end. But he seemed set on thinking that being human was a bad idea, it had been something he mentioned before. What could she do about that, it wasn’t like she could really feel what he looked like or tell him what to do. She would let him figure his own way, in that case, “Well, it sounds like you like to be a bug and I don’t mind. Human, you are cute, but can I touch bug you’s face?” she asked, so she knew what he looked like and could help him, instead of mixing him in with other things around her.

“Hmmm yea… I guess I do enjoy being a bug. I am always battle ready with this form. We never know when we will be called upon in the field, so I have to stay like this. Besides, I just like having extra arms to do chores you know?" He explained while chuckling a bit. "Hmm do you do this with every person you meet?" He asked, wondering how many faces has she had touched and what else she had touched. The bugster move forward to touching range. "Go ahead. It's not much to see though, I'm just a giant bug." He added.

Haya hesitated, “I do it to my teammates, so I can feel them. Otherwise, being blind, I won’t be able to tell the difference between an enemy or an ally. It is the only way that I can be sure to help my team, otherwise, I hold back a lot more than I should and become a handicap to my team. If that happens I might as well not be a hero. she said, not sure if he was bothered by it, “If you don’t want me to do it, then I won’t. It’s not something you should feel you have to do if you don’t want to. she said. She didn’t want him to feel like she was pushing it on him. He had let her do it to his human form, but maybe his bug form was something that he didn’t want to be touched.

“A pretty lady asking to touch your face? How could anyone say no.” He repeated his phrase from the time they met in the hot spring. “I am messing with you. Go ahead,” He said while chuckling. Kaizen never thought Haya so sensitive towards such matters, but nonetheless was grateful for her consideration. “It's not like I can feel anything, it's all just exoskeleton.” He noted the fact that there was no skin on his bug form, so he wouldn’t be able to feel the “touch” of a person, not even pain.

Haya nodded, as she touched the bug as she had the human. It was strange, he felt….empty. The flow of sound was gentle against his shell, but she had to pull her sound back a lot more than she was used to. Bugs were sensitive to the flow of sound and she pulled away as she turned to him. “I feel what you mean.” it concerned her a little, but she was sure that he kept the world away for a reason. She just hoped that in the end, he wouldn’t regret it. She had a feeling of him, now, that was the point, but she also felt that she should understand him better. So that she could understand why?

“You sound somewhat distraught.” he could hear it from the tone of her voice. “What? The bug form not as cute as the human form?” He joked, laughing a bit. He didn't quite know what was in her mind, but he had his assumptions. Most people who find out he has a human form would often ask why he chooses to remain in his bug form. People often think it's because of some sob story or a tragic event. But the truth is, he just likes being that way. Even before the entire ordeal with his family, even since his quirk became active, he chose to remain mostly in his insect form, something only a few of them actively partake in. He would only revert to his human form for formal events or family photos.

Haya sighed, shaking her head, “I wouldn’t know. Your shell makes it hard to read more than just the surface. It just feels like you are holding yourself hostage in this form. I am sure the armor is good, but it is concerning.” she stated. Being a bug or human didn’t matter. She had managed some interaction with an insect before, which is how she knew to be gentle, because of how dangerous sound was to bugs. But he felt like a beetle, being protected from the world that was after them.

"Hmm how so?" When people find out he has a human form, they tend to think he's hiding it because of some insecurities when that couldn't be further from the truth. "A hostage in my own body? Now that's a concept." He thought about it, it made it seem like he was in this form involuntarily. He never understood why people pitied him for being in his bug form, he was stronger, faster and felt no pain.

Haya thought of how to explain, “I mean...well, not that you are being forced, but you aren’t open to everything else there is other than fighting. Expecting to have a fight every moment and being in a shell to be protected from it, is something that feels to me like you are a hostage in your own quirk. But that is just to me, you might think it isn’t. I just feel like fighting isn’t everything that you are.” she explained as best she could. She didn’t think that he was being who he was meant to be, because he seemed to be isolated in his own insect skin. Maybe if his insect skin was less about protection and more about experiencing everythings he would think differently, but at the moment, it felt to her that the world was not something he was experiencing.

“Fighting isn’t not everything I do, but it is indeed a significant part of me.” She was right about his obsession about fighting. “Nonetheless, I acknowledge your points. I will endeavour to improve on that. Who knows, you might even see my other form more often. ” This was something that he had been working on for a while now. While he has definitely improved from back then, he still has a long way to go. “What can I say? Old habits die hard.” he laughed a bit, knowing he’d need to appear more human to his friends.

Haya smirked, “I hope that you can at least come out of your shell a little then. I don’t think you should avoid being an insect if that is what you want, but you should let your insect come out of the shell a little more. I am sure that you have a form that has less shell and more you.” she didn’t think that he should be human if that was not what he wanted. But his insect forms should all have a difference. Maybe he had a form that was more insect than shell. Something to open him to the world and still let him be an insect like he wanted.

"I suppose I could always go with somewhere in between, but that tends to be even creepier than going full insect. I believe the term is called the uncanny valley." He explained why he tends to avoid hybridizing his human and bug form. "As for the shell, almost all my insect forms have shells, unless you want me to look like a large maggot, which is also very terrifying to many people." He joked.

Haya nodded, “I have no idea what that looks like, but if you think that would be nice, I will agree.” she smiled. She wasn’t really sure that there was any way for her to know what a maggot looked like until he showed her and she felt what it was like. She was sure that it would be more open. But at the same time, the hybrid form sounded like it would be a better option. He would be able to be more open to the world and ready for a fight if he was a hybrid.

“Oh my apologies.” He awkwardly apologize. With how well Haya navigated herself, the bugster often forgot that she was actually blind. “In general, most people would find that look rather unpleasant,” he explained. Looking at the time, he realized how long they had been chatting. It was almost time for him to visit his injured friend. “This conversation has been… insightful to say the least. Thank you for your time. I will let you continue with your training now, and I hope to talk to you again soon. And perhaps the next time you see, I’ll look a bit different. Farewell, Haya.”

Haya smiled at him and nodded, “I will talk to you when we get a chance next.” she said. She liked talking to Kaizen, even if they disagreed with each other, they could talk about it. She didn’t think that Kaizen needed to change so much as open himself up to show himself as more than a warrior. Which she believed that he was, he was kind and from what she heard about him on missions, he cared about others. “Have a good evening, Kaizen.”
 
Last edited:
*Note - Flashback collab, from before the latest mission

Lifting some weights, Aika was doing slow and steady movements. The way to better build one’s muscles was with slow but extensive exercises, instead of rapid movements. Those who wanted to become muscle blimps went for fast and basically inflated themselves with all the heat. But those who knew better went for strength over inflated muscles. It’s exactly how she saw some people who appeared skinnier than her manage to beat up large blokes. And she knew well that she couldn’t afford to make it harder on herself to move further. The diamond skin was already doing that enough on its own. Not to mention the pure diamond form.

Finishing a set, she put down the weights and looked around the training area. She wondered if she should do some pull ups next, or work on the stomach. Putting her hand on it, Aika was glad that the crazy lady with those steel knives didn’t focus her attack on one spot. If she did, then she might’ve been in trouble. Getting up, she started turning her shoulders, making sure they were still doing alright, while deciding to go do some pull ups next.

Agi had finally settled back into the dorms since last night his first night on his own bed was a god sent. However as everyone was out, and he wasn't exactly allowed to leave alone for his first week back he found himself rather… bored. Heading up he decided to work on the garden. As he worked he started to hear someone using the weights on the girls side of the workout area. As he finished up his pruning, and cleaning the plants he decided to sneak, and peak at who the heck was working so long term. To his surprise it was Aika… the one person minus Mitsuo he had yet to speak with. Afterwards he wasn’t sure if he should interrupt her regiment, but there was also no one around which came off as a bit lonely. He also didn't know a damn thing about her and she did have one of those sour faces like Vigidris.. So it was possible that this could go bad.

“Heh working hard, or hardly working,” Agi called out, deciding to go in natural waving to her in his gardening clothes with a red tank top sporting his chainsaw scar for the world to see on his right shoulder.

Glancing up, Aika raised an eyebrow at Agi ”I could ask you the same, mister dirt on the floors.” She said, gesturing to the fact that his footprints weren’t exactly the cleanest ones. Recalling that he wasn’t around before, something about how he was injured a bit more severely in his patrol ”Let me guess. You’re stuck here?” She decided to ask, before moving and beginning to do some pull ups.

“Heh touche sweat queen,” Agi countered with how much of a workout Aika had clearly accumulated quite a bit of a glisten without her quirk. So far alright, definitely better interaction than the soul vampire.

“Oof you got me,”: he joked pretending Aika had shot him in the gut as he chuckled before taking his boots off for his Nanobots to place back with the garden.

“Ya just pruning, and keeping the plant’s in order someones gotta take care of them. What about you, why are you not hanging out with the rest,” he casually asked.

”Got a training routine. Can’t skip a beat. Otherwise my quirk is harder to manage.” She responded briefly, counting the pull ups she did in her head. She kinda wished she had brought her earphones now, so she could focus on her training properly. Though Agi was the guy with the quirk that could also toughen, although not exactly like her. His was nanites that he could control or something.

Finishing the pull ups set, she got off and turned to look at him ”Say, you’re tough. Wanna see who has the tougher quirk between us?” Aika asked, turning her shoulders after the exercise.

Agi listened to her explanation rather impressed with Aika's goal to never take a break to keep her quirk up to shape. Also how she made it sound it was clearly Aika was a bit militaristic.

“A challenge between two defense styles? Heh why not I am game to dance,” Agi chuckled with a grin as his skin started to turnblack as his nanbytes went into combat mode. He was itching to stretch the combative bone ever since he was in the hospital. This would be a good way to get back into the swing.

“Though it would be best to take this to the track properly since this is impactive type training,” Agi notioned with a laugh.

”Guess it would be preferable, yeah. Don’t want to wreck a good gym.” Aika mentioned, stretching her arms as she did ”Then lets head out, Nano. Unless you’d want to change first to something else, in which case, I’ll wait outside.” She said, before beginning to walk down the stairs. She was already sweaty and in an outfit fitting for a fight, so she saw no reason to shower or change her clothes.

“Heh no problems here I Usually just wear my scarf or shorts anyways in my hero outfit,” Agi chuckled as the two made it to the selected battleground without a rhyme or reason Agi took of his gardening clothes leaving them on the ground just wearing his gardening shorts, and a white shirt as his skin went into full pitch black mode.

“Alright any rules or all out. If so, bring it,” Agi smiled, ready for what Aika would do.

Aika seemed to consider something as she stretched her arms a bit more ”Just one rule. If either of our skins gets exposed, the other wins. Plain and simple as that.” She said, before activating her diamond skin in response to seeing his skin get covered by the dark nanites ”Now lets rumble.” She said, before swinging a right fist in the direction of his chest. She didn’t see the need for any underhanded tricks, feints or the such. This was straight and simple, a test to see which of them would break first.

“Come on,” Agi called out smiling wildly as Aika came in swift throwing a flawless right hook that was countered in a full display of sparks as Agi used his right elbow to redirect her hit away as he came in with a open palm to the center of her chest to vertigo her balance.

Agi’s hit would impact its target, and some more sparks would fly as Aika glanced down at the hand briefly. If it wasn’t for the diamond taking the majority of the impact, she’d probably have felt the vertigo strongly. Spinning on the spot and sending her left leg at his left shoulder, aiming the heel of her foot to hit him.

The sudden twist had done its job as Aika took advantage of Agis' close in attack as she spun threatening to capsize the boy over. With a twist of his upper body he used both his forearms together to block the hit protecting his head. A fury of aggressives sparks flew on impact but more so as Agi hostile twisted his right arm to catch Aika’s leg as he then swung her like a hammer right into the ground. Not giving her a chance to get back up he mounted her and started to wildly swing aiming to force her to give or break.

Having been grabbed by Agi, Aika was flung and landed against the ground, before raising one arm to help defend herself from some of the flurry of swings he began throwing at her while being directly on top of her. With her free, right hand, Aika threw a strong right hook right at Agi’s face, before also raising both knees up to hit him right between his legs.

The right hook made its mark sneaking past his wave of his attacks, and even disorienting him for a sec however he could feel her movement, and shoved his left hand down catching Aika’s second attack forcing him off into a dodge roll away from her as he got back up. Watching his opponent with hawk-like attention he slowly started to circle around her slowly closing in.

As he rolled to the side, Aika immediately got up, and kept her eyes on Agi. Seeing him begin to circle him, she lowered herself, before charging at him, beginning to spread her arms, as if she was aiming to grab him by his body. However, she instead lowered herself even further, bringing her hands to the ground and using the momentum to bring her feet upwards, and as soon as they were beginning to be aimed at Agi, she pushed herself off the ground, aiming to wrap her legs around Agi’s head.

In response Agi shifted his weight down as the two parties went past each other as Agi dived down. With a twist mid slide Agi pushed off ground tackling Aika from below, and twisting her mid air to use her as a landing pad as she met the ground face first with Agi twisting his own legs around her waist rolling both of them disoriently as he got his hands around her neck and face and was trying to apply choking pressure with his nanos providing intense tightening of his muscles.

With the sudden twist Agi had performed, Aika found herself in a very uncomfortable position, and his current attempt was not feeling very nice. She could feel a bit of pressure on the diamond skin where he was applying it. But as her arms were still open, and he was both occupied with being on her face and neck, she sent her hands, open palms, right at his ears, aiming to completely mess up his orientation with this.

Luckily for both parties Agi let go of her head, blocking one of her hands, but taking the receiving end from the other, hurting like a sour patch kid from hell on his sense of hearing. Knowing full well she would keep at it He pushed her upward kicking her in the back forcing distance as he regained more into an upright position. Yet unlike last time he went in fast going for a fast paced shot to her left shoulder aiming to put the pain on her movement of attack.

Getting pushed away, Aika quickly turned to face him, and stood at the ready as he got up. Seeing him charge forward right at her, Aika narrowed her eyes, and once he was close, she’d spin on the spot, allowing him to miss her shoulder, and instead send a kick right at his back.

With the kick making its mark Agi forced himself into a painful twist around getting right behind Aika delivering a return thank you in the form of a strong left elbow into her back as the spin then spun him away as he dug his hands into the ground forcing her recovery as he spun kick to trip Aika.

After the elbow into her back connected, Aika stumbled for a second, before hearing him dig his hands into the ground from behind her. Unsure of what he was aiming to do, Aika decided to do a dive roll forward, aiming to put more distance between them, making his kick miss her. After the roll, she quickly turned to face him, staring him down as she waited to see what had happened.

Agi slowly got back up with a smirk on his lips as he dusted himself off before motioning for a true blue fist fight as he slammed his together running at her with a quick right jab for her face followed by a rib shot from his left ending in him catching her arm pulling her into a head butt.

Preparing herself as he charged forward, she met his jab at her face without any issues, the diamond didn’t seem to budge, and the rib shot was met with a stare, before he seemingly decided to pull her into the head butt. Deciding to answer his pull, Aika pushed her own head forward, intending to meet his head with more force than he even intended, while also grabbing his arm with her free hand, and beginning to squeeze it, trying to see if the sharpness of her diamond could perhaps pierce through his nanites.

In response to the loss of control Agi twisted his forward foot behind Aikas twisting the center of force as their heads mist he locked his foot with her and with her grip on his other arm used the torque to deliver a heavy haymaker into her face. His Nanos in her diamond grip refused to let go, seeming to respond by flexing his muscle fighting her from getting a full piercing grip.

As he shifted the center of force around, Aika felt him release her arm. Seeing him come in with the wide and strong punch, Aika raised her arm to block the incoming hit, which did force her arm a bit closer to her due to the strength. And feeling the resistance from the arm she was holding, she slid her hand down his arm, until she reached his wrist, and strengthened her hold there, before pulling him down and raising her knee, aiming to hit him against the jaw with her knee.

Agi loosened his facial muscles as he had no way to get out of this as his face met her knee. Thankfully his nano skin held but he felt a nasty rattler. He did however had no desire to see her have the upper hand long as he twisted both his hands in different motions breaking her grip as he grabbed her face stand back up tall as he slammed his head straight into her face with upward force before swinging both his hands back, and dual open palm striking her stomach with intense vigor.

Getting hit from below by his head, Aika felt a bit of the hit through the diamond skin, and then the hits against her stomach pushed her backwards a couple of steps. Thankfully, since they were open palms the hit was more spread out, allowing her to not feel it as much. Looking back at him, Aika moved her stance to be slightly lowered, and just offered a wink in return to his latest attempt.

Agi smirked at the cutesy wink as he also lowered his stance he was starting to get a read on Aika’s style, and with such knowledge was starting to read her movements a little easier even with all that diamond making it rough to do. With no rhyme or reason he dropped to a runners starting stance before bolting right for her pushing off the ground as he performed a circle spin using his left leg to perform a downward ax kick not for her head or shoulders but right for her most open area in her style, her chest. It was clear when most went up against her they went for her limbs hoping to chip her skin off better at her further away point, but having a female form meant her upper chest had to be a bit smaller layered to make up for the stress of snake weight meaning if he hit hard enough HE COULD CRACK IT.

Watching his smirk in return, Aika frowned slightly as he seemingly misread her tease. As he prepared for his charge, she prepared as well. As soon as he started his charge forward, Aika’s diamond skin would turn harder, sharper, and heavier. She raised her right fist, and as his axe kick would impact its target, doing nothing to her chest in her Pure Diamond form, she would bring her fist downwards right against his leg, aiming to hit it as hard as she could.

The moment of sudden madness on the scene to all future Mizushimas came full alert into Agis senses at was clear how Aika planned to counter with no other means to escape such a brutal counter agis other leg kicked out in panic deflecting the blow as his balance topple and he fell forward catching Aika in his shirt as he fell down sparks flying as their torso connected unexpectedly as Aikas head went up through Agis shirt catching the to into a awkward body pressed moment before the shirt stretches, and was ripped apart by Aikas skin tight against it as he instantly backed off her for a moment in well a hard to describe moment of intimate contact. Agi looked like he was going to say something but kept quite not sure how to respond to all that. Instead just coughing as a girl going inside his shirt basically clamping their torsos together was… not something he needed to process in the middle of a fight. Regardless if she was diamond skin her form remained the same and he was just going to palace those thoughts in jail in his mind at the moment.

As Agi moved backwards, with his shirt having been ripped by her sharper skin, Aika could notice something was bothering him. She stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around him entirely, intending to begin squeezing the breath out of him, and see if her current form could break through his nanites now by using sheer force.

Agi was caught in a worse for wear situation as his moment of pure boy cost him a wide opening. Thankfully in her moment of grappling, one of his hands had been at his side while his other had been higher. Aika’s intense hug was starting to push out the air from his lungs as his nanobytes fought to keep together in this tight intensity. Grabbing Aikas waistline on her pants with his trapped hand his free hand swiped around grabbing the back side of her waistline as well. With a warrior-like mental roar he broke Aikas grip for a moment with his trapped hand just long enough to kneel down, and hoist her up backwards into a FULL GERMAN SUPLEX. As Aika was literally hammered into the ground with her own weight he came in with a flip hammer kneeing her in the stomach in thanks for the intense hug rolling off with it away from her. Breathing heavy he was starting to feel the adrenaline kick in.

Aika could barely feel his hand on her waistline, but the roar had surprised her for a brief moment, before she found herself tossed forward, hitting the floor with a lot of force. The floor cracked, and Aika was completely on the floor as she heard Agi roll away. Getting onto her knees, Aika cursed under her breath, deciding to practice getting up more in this form. Looking at Agi, she knew well he had the upper hand with speed now. But she had serious doubts he’d be capable of breaking through her skin. That hit had made it harder to maintain, but she was determined to not let it drop.

With enough experience now to her style Agi now knew he had the speed advantage as her quirk while a grand defense slowed her down in ways where he wasn't as limited in movement, but now he was going to take full advantage. Rushing her left Aika would feel a hit to the shoulder that carried more force before as at the apex of contact there was a moment of sped up force. Agi was now using his nanobot skin to direct speed increase upon impact, thrusting his body faster to deliver more torque with his normal strength being limited to defense. Agi would never break her skin so he now needed to rely on a dirty trick which was right up his allies' style as he had learned. Next was a kneecap to her stomach yet again sped up right at impact sending her hurtling a bit back as he took an offensive stance.

It was clear Agi was picking it up to match her ruthlessness. Problem was Agi could feel in his bones he couldn't keep up like this much longer. Aika was no push over in the power department, and while he was showing a good front he was breathing heavily. Not to mention these attacks were brutal on his body if it finally was doing damage to her skin great but his muscles couldn't take these burst attacks long. Agi was a adapting fighter limiting himself to one style of combat so while he had the savage advantage of speed attack wise and defense was still in Aikas corner. Even if he went full out with his work's preferential potential it was clear cracking Aikas shell was near impossible. Yet his own nano layer was holding but his skin was screaming from all the grapple pressure, and the bruises they were causing.

With her lowered stance, Aika took the incoming hit against her shoulder. The speed that was added made the diamond skin vibrate a bit, but luckily for Aika, she still felt nothing. She reckoned that if it managed to cause the vibration, then she would’ve definitely felt it with her regular diamond skin. As he came around with a kneecap against her stomach, Aika took in the hit, feeling the vibration once more, this time feeling the hit even through the skin. Even if it wasn’t shattering, the increased speed had an effect.

As she was low to the ground, however, Agi’s hit with the knee wouldn’t manage to send her backwards too far, as she was quick to press both hands against the ground, causing some sparks as she brought herself to a stop. Looking upwards at Agi, Aika seemed to keep her hands against the ground, while she actually raised them ever so slightly, intending to try and trick him into delivering a hit to send her upwards.

Yet instead what she got was Agi rushing her Delivering a downward haymaker as for a moment his skin went so dark it was almost like looking into a black hole. The sudden tension of Agi presence created a strange mixture of an aura of pressure, mixed with the of the unknown. Agi’s face was extremely concentrated on her; it was clear whatever this was, was something he had not shown anyone other than her. Sparks were coming off his own skins as it seemed his nanobytes were tightening more, and more as Agi swung with all his might down onto her as a massive click speared off followed by a wave of pressure coming off his hand as his fist moved even faster with kinetic force.

The Haymaker would make contact, and the incredibly increased force from the punch sent Aika flying, until she impacted the wall with a large bang. While she was still conscious, the pain from the hit was definitely there. She could also feel that at the point of impact, her diamond seemed lessened than before, and looking back towards Agi, she could see a chunk of what appeared to be diamond, in a very nice size, at Agi’s feet. Smiling, her glance moved upwards to meet his gaze, before her diamond skin seemed to vanish, leaving Aika looking normal once more.

”Congratulations Agi. You managed to do something no one else has in a while.” Aika called out to him, starting to walk away from the impacted wall slowly. The spot where Agi’s last hit made contact was quite red, but Aika just seemed to shrug off the pain as she approached him, and grabbed the diamond chunk from the floor. Her right hand fingers seemed to be getting a couple of cuts from holding the diamond just like that, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Though as she congratulated her opponent she would be met with Agi seeming to disappear at the sound thud. At first it would be a bit confusing before she would notice he was flat on the ground, his skin returning to its normal color with him having quite a few bruises, especially all over his haymaker arm.

“Thanks… though I think I might have overdone it by playing two aces at once. Haven't really mastered either of them yet heh,” Agi chuckled against the cold ground smiling with a bit of confidence as for a moment he had Code Void working for a minute, and was able to pretest out his new ace attack… though clearly he needed work out the kinks as how he was using it now was well… to depleting of energy.

“Mind helping me back to the dorms buddy?”

Watching him drop to the ground, Aika listened to his explanation, rolling her eyes as he did. She was used to serving as a practice dummy for different stuff from her previous highschool, and even back then, people would sometimes drop just like Agi did. Pocketing the diamond chunk, she bent down towards him ”Two aces, huh? Maybe try focusing on one before jumping to the next, if this is how you end up.” She said, before she started to grab his arms, and move them around her shoulders. After a moment, Agi would find himself being piggy-backed against Aika’s back.

”So what was that last bit? Seemed like your skin was basically pushing against itself to cause those sparks. Condensing itself?” She asked, as she started to carry Agi out of the training area and began to head towards the dorms.

“Condensed magnetism is basically a constant magnetic push and pull to build up kinetic energy. I call it Code Void as when I do it it turns my skin to be so void of color it's like looking into a black hole from what I have heard.

“Basically like your diamond skin's more intense form, it's meant to be a war form meant to tank and push back hits, but all that energy started to build against my body so I gotta release it in attacks or risk breaking the constant flow to keep it up. Though the other bits are a work in progress attack with more to come on that when I actually got it figured out,” he chuckled.

“So you are offering to see it come to full fruition,” he asked.

Hearing the explanation, Aika wasn’t sure if she would entirely compare her Pure Diamond form to his Code Void. Her form was stable, his was ever shifting, at least, on the nanite level. When he asked about the offer, she sighed ”I wasn’t offering anything yet, but I don’t think there would be anyone else in class who could take the hits from that and take minimal damage. Maybe that bug guy.” She said, thinking about how he seemed to have a rather tough exterior.

”You said you need to release it. I don’t suppose the energy could be released in a manner similar to a static charge?” Aika pondered, before thinking back about his movements ”And if you want to better utilize the energy, it might be better to go for attacks that don’t just waste energy through the movement. That haymaker of yours is rather wide spread. You’re basically wasting some of that excess energy on just your movement, when you could be going for smaller, but quicker attacks. Like for example, against my diamond skin? Pinpoint attacks, in a singular spot and in quick succession, will do more damage than wider, slower and stronger attacks.” Aika gave her thoughts about what he said.

"That sounds like you're offering Aika," Agi chuckled, pointing out how for someone not interested she was clearly very interested in giving ideas.

"I would but I got in trouble for going type to type with Vigidris last week with Ota we sorta destroyed the track field… along with the bleachers," Agi laughed knowing full well a training session with Kaizen would end probably just as hard core. There was an element to remember Agi had handicapped himself for this fight never using his nanobytes off his body. Yet it was clear he didn't want to completely rely on that style of fighting alone.

"Hmm kinetic release in smaller doses is feasible, but I would have to be extremely careful who I used such a style on… but I might be able to go that route. You might be onto something though I'll do some mathematics, and test it out," Agi chuckled, thankful for the advice.

"How about you let me show my thanks with a soda or something for letting me waste your time," Agi offered as they got to the dorm with a small tap to her shoulder it seemed he was able to walk on his own again as he got off her back.

"Actually do you mind if I give some advice as well to the victor of our bout?"

”Eh, not big on sodas. Besides, I was the one who asked you.” Aika said, watching him as it seemed he was able to walk by himself again ”You can give all the advice in the world. If it's heeded or not, that’s a different story.” She shrugged as she entered the dorms. By now, she had grown an appetite, but first, a shower was definitely in demand now.

"Aight far, but I notice you don't use your weight to your advantage in your style when in diamond mode," Agi spoke freely.

"You're very much a wrestler, but your style could profit by also using your mass to hinder your opponents. You already have great attack power, but you could gain more edge by using more gravity central attacks," Agi spoke waving as she left, leaving it at that for the day.

Hearing his advice, Aika waved back to him as she approached the elevator. It was good advice. She had built her style around being more defensive, having a good shield, so she didn’t consider that. As she entered the elevator and started heading up in it, a faint smile passed on her expression. Agi was certainly one interesting friend she was gonna have.
 
Kikyo was sitting in her room, looking over a list of her new classmates. The list had sveral names, a few of which were crossed out, a couple of which had smiley faces, and a couple that had little hearts beside them. She hummed softly to herself, sliding her pen down the list of names before stopping at one at random; Iniji Irokei. Kikyo stood up, checking herself in the mirror really quickly to make sure she hadn’t been too sleep drunk this morning to put her uniform on incorrectly or something. That would be embarrassing. Pushing the thought from her mind, she exited her dorm, seeking out one of the maps to find the dorm room of her next chosen victim of attempted friendship. After a few moments of searching, she found it, and made her way to the dorm. It was admittedly taking her a bit to get accustomed to the new place, but the map was definitely helping.

A few gentle raps upon his door rang out as she stood up straight, putting her hands behind her back and a polite smile across her face. First impressions were always hard, and all she could do was hope that this would be pleasant for both parties. Maybe he would be a bit brash or something. She knew full well that not every member of any hero program was super friendly. But, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends anyway. Sometimes, you just have to try a little harder to get to know some people.

The sound of keyboard and mouse clicks with an occasional ruffle of a book’s pages was interrupted by a muffled knock on the door. Iniji’s eyes perked up towards said direction. He didn’t have many ‘friends’ in the class, although he has attempted to maintain a polite and professional relationship with everyone, the sense of unclosable distance was still there, like always. Slowly he got up, gently pushing back a strand of hair tucking it behind his ear, and went to open the door.

“...Good morning, Asuka-san.” It was one of the new transfer students who had recently arrived in the class, Iniji wasn’t sure why the girl came looking for him, for he was pretty unremarkable the entire time. Although he still erred on the side of politeness like he always had. “I have not anticipated such a visit, how would I be of help to you today?”

Kikyo’s smile brightened when the boy answered his door. She offered him a polite bow when he greeted her. He was so polite and matter of fact, it was almost unsettling. The young woman wondered inwardly if he was putting on a face or if he was just naturally super formal.

“Hi! Uhm, I mean, good morning. I just wanted to come and say hello, and, uhm, hopefully just talk for a little bit? I thought that since we’re going to be classmates, maybe we could try and get to know each other a b-bit. Is that okay?” Kikyo offered in reply, her smile and nervous method of speech offering the truth of her nerves.

“Oh, and you can just call me Kikyo. We’re both students, no need to be so formal, you know?” Kikyo added with a nervous chuckle, her eyes scanning over the boy and noticing that he seemed to have his own visible scars.


“I see.” So it was just a new student trying to get to know the class, it was nothing out of the ordinary on a logical level, though the whole event still felt incredibly foreign to Iniji. Despite so he simply returned the bow. “Please to make your acquaintance, Kikyo-san.”

Incandescent eyes shimmered a bit in the light as Iniji looked at the girl, he was never one to ask or talk about the scars and appearances of others, lest he adds hypocrisy to his list of vices. “If you have any inquiries about me, I would give my best effort to oblige with satisfactory answers.” Although he tried to do things differently, Iniji’s voice still came out as usual, soft, polite, and ever so slightly monotonous without much emotion.

“Pleased to meet you too. Would you be okay with me coming in, or, maybe stepping out to have a conversation? I don’t mean to intrude…” Kikyo responded politely, her smile remaining as she gently bowed again.

The young woman pondered on his methods of speech, the lack of emotion he displayed, the formality behind his word choice. He was perplexing. Or, maybe he was just better educated than she was? To be fair, where she was from, it was pretty rare that people spoke very formally aside from the more upper class individuals. Even they, on the other hand, not so much as this boy here.

Kikyo thought about what she could ask him, especially without prying too much,. After all, she was a stranger to him. “Oh, well, I guess I wonder what brought all of us here. I bet we all have very different stories. Why did you decide to come and join this program?”

“Of course, if you would like, though my amenities are quite lacking compared to my peers.” He responded to the first inquiry while pondering about the second. It was a troublesome question for Iniji, like most others, he had hopes and dreams and aspirations, though they have crumbled under the weight of reality far too early in his youth. He couldn’t just very well say the real reason he was here. A long silence was slotted between the girl’s question.

He shuffled the various papers and binders and books that were strewn about, although it did little to alleviate the visual effect of a mess. Organization was something Iniji was fairly good at, though it was hard to tell from an outsider’s perspective.

“I joined because I want to be useful.” After the ruffling of papers stopped, a statement came out of the boy. In the end, it still came back to this. Iniji thought, half laughing at himself and half pitying himself.

Kikyo stepped into the room once he allowed her too, her eyes scanning the simple set up with a curious gaze. It was nice to see more plain accommodations, since, she honestly expected almost everyone here to go a more lavish route. Or, maybe, she was just letting her own prejudices and assumptions run wild because of her rural upbringing. She shook her head, removing any such thoughts as her eyes glanced over a peculiar set up, something about computers always eluded her. They just never made much sense to her. Too complex. Too much going on.

Kikyo listened to the boy, then observed him in silence as he seemed to ponder on how to answer her question. Yeah, she supposed that was a mite deep of a question to start off on. Perhaps she should have saved that for later, if at all. “Don’t worry, I think your room is nice. Just because it isn’t super elaborate doesn’t mean it isn’t comfortable.”

Kikyo’s response was brief, and the short period of silence was uncomfortable, but not surprising at all, given the details. When he did respond, he was going through some papers and books, it seemed. Her eyes scanned over some of the titles and covers, noting that most of them seemed to be academic in nature. She pondered for a moment about his response before nodding briefly.

“I think I understand that. I mean, we all want to be useful, right? To provide for ourselves and others in some way? To be, I don’t know, necessary?” Kikyo replied softly, taking a seat on his bed after a few moments, realizing it would probably be even more awkward for them both if she remained standing.

The nervousness was making her itch to clean up, and her eyes scanned his books and papers, some part of her wanting to arrange and fix them to get a semblance of order to the room’s apparent growing look of chaos. Of course, that would be rude. This was his space, not her’s.

Iniji tilted his head slightly when the girl went and sat on his bed, he wasn’t sure if that was an okay thing to do logically, but he felt pretty much nothing at the gesture, perhaps a small sense of troublesomeness as he would need to remake the bedsheets to sooth out some of the wrinkles later. Lining up a stack of papers Iniji clipped them into a binder, a page with a complex looking diagram floated out with the top text: assembly drawing - pneumatic pressure valve s.5.4.

“...My apologies.” He said quietly and half knelt down to pick up the scattered page while thinking about the girl's response. “I am glad for your understanding, Kikyo-san. But perhaps I’ve misspoken, ‘usefulness’ is an ugly word to be put upon humans. While we all are a resource, it is not one that should be spent lightly.” Iniji caressed those words mentally, not wanting to plant such concepts into others so callously. He sighed slightly and went on. “I...I hope my uneventfulness doesn’t bore you, Kikyo-san.”

KIkyo couldn’t help but note the slight change in his demeanor when she sat on his bed. Perhaps she offended him by sitting on his bed? She cleared her throat and stood up, adjusting the spot she sat upon to make sure she hadn’t messed anything up. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she turned back to him, noting that he was cleaning up his things. Oh gosh, did she make him feel uncomfortable about the state of his room? This was not off to a great start.

“Oh, uhm, sorry about that. You have nothing to apologize for, Iniji.” Kikyo responded, listening closely to what he was saying about her response and the usefulness of people. She supposed she hadn’t ever really considered what that sort of terminology really meant in terms of people. She pondered on his words, his eyes looking briefly away before moving back to him.

“I think I get what you’re saying. We’re all people, not tools. We can provide services, but, it isn’t the same as being used. We, uhm, we should also try to remember that everyone we know and meet has their own lives. Wants, needs, hopes, and dreams. All of those things that make us unique.” Kikyo added with a polite smile, glancing back to him again, her hands folding behind her back.

When the boy spoke again, she frowned slightly, flashing him a sort of apologetic look.

“What? Oh, n-no, you don’t have anything to apologize for. I mean, you aren’t boring me at all. In fact, I think you’re really interesting. There is probably more rolling around in your head than most of our peers. I think you have a lot to say. People should listen.”

“Yeah...Wants...Needs...Hopes and dreams.” Iniji muttered as he finally clasped all of the ordered papers into one file binder. The girl had a point, even as empty as he once felt, being nothing but a puddle of shattered beliefs, it wasn’t a lie to say that he still retained those things. Kikyo seemed nervous, though her nervousness seemed different from his own. Perhaps she was just timid or excited to meet a new person, a luxury that Iniji could rarely feel for himself.

Providing services isn’t the same thing as being used… The logic was simple in theory, but it was a struggle in practice, drawing metaphorical lines was never Iniji’s strong suit. It was simple to say that you will refuse to be used by anyone, but most fall into those roles without even realizing it, even walking into them with open arms.

“I don’t have the credentials to be lecturing others, those who knew me for longer in this class would more often than not scoff at my words. They aren’t wrong to do so, I have quite the trouble sorting out my own thoughts already.” Recalling his encounters with the others in their class, Iniji still felt like he was left far behind in terms of thinking. Naoko-san...Shinkami-san… “To think without learning is perilous, I’ve been hurt by it again and again, yet I’ve never learned.”

Kikyo watched Iniji as he spoke, trying to discern as much about his thought process as she could from his words and body language. Unfortunately, she never was all that insightful in regards to reading people. Of course, when it came to knowing people, she wasn’t exactly great at that either. After all, how could she? Even her own reflection was a completely different person than her. Literally, in some regards.

“Why would they scoff at what you say, Iniji? I think a lot of us have difficulty sorting our thoughts. Heck, I think a lot of us don’t even really understand ourselves enough to properly translate our thoughts well enough to understand who we are as individuals. My brain confuses me on a daily basis. Sometimes, I can’t really tell where I end and my inner voice begins. I-if that makes any sense.” Kikyo spoke evenly, though, she let herself ramble a bit, something she usually actively tried to avoid. How often did she just start talking about herself only to wind up super confused and have no idea how to articulate what she was trying to say?

When he spoke again, there was a wisdom to his words. In truth, a little more wisdom than she could immediately wrap her mind around. “To think without learning? I’m confused. Isn’t it learning that makes us think?”

Kikyo’s face scrunched up a bit like it did when she was deep in thought, like she was trying her best to unscramble her thoughts or solve some intricate riddle. She couldn’t help but hope he didn’t think she was a dolt or something.

Iniji can see Kikyo’s confusion, it was written quite clearly on her face. He didn’t know what she had been through or her motivations, and he wasn’t interested in making uneducated guesses or callous assumptions about it. Though it made him feel strangely vindicated, he had always been envious of those in the class who seemed to have such firm ideals. Things people believed in, things they acted upon, firmly, without hesitation. Everyone had themselves sorted out, it was only him that stared into nothingness blankly pondering about everything he had believed in. He’s lost the ability to unconditionally believe things now, much like how shattered glass can be put together, but the cracks will always remain. At every turn he would be paranoid if the purpose he had swore his life to would turn into a bloody path with him at the helm.

“Then perhaps I would suggest you speak with some of our other peers.” He replied to the girl, mustering up a small and slightly melancholy smile. “They’re all quite colourful. Many of them are admirable, if for nothing else but their firm ideals.” Dropping the file binder in the steel cabinet, Iniji walked over and sat down beside Kikyo. [color=#c8a4ee\“Only after losing it have I realized how comforting it is to have something you may believe in; how painful and exhausting it is to live without any sort of ideal...If I were to suggest, Kikyo-san, for those who don’t have an unignorable burden, it’s best to not think of such things too much.”[/color] The colours in Iniji’s eyes swirled and glimmered a bit as he glanced over at the girl beside him.

“You won’t be able to go back once you do.”

Kikyo pondered further, trying to muster as much of an understanding of what he had said as she could. It made sense on a surface level, sure. However, there was always more to this kind of thing that just the surface implications. After all, learning lessons was as much about the individual comprehending the lesson as it is about the lesson itself. Her expression softened slightly when the boy began speaking again, her smile slightly returning when he mentioned speaking with the others. She already had the intention of trying to get to know everybody, but, he also made a fair point. There was certainly a lot that she wouldn’t be able to understand on her own.

“I would love to speak with them all. I would love if we could all be friends. But, I’m not silly enough to think that we’ll all get along famously just because we’re in the same program. We’re all different, after all.” Kikyo responded, a bit of a reserved smile remaining on her face for a few moments as she pondered what he said about having ideals.

Did all of the others have such a firm grasp on who they were and what they wanted? On their beliefs and ideals? Kikyo herself struggled with the idea of following some strict concept of what she wanted. Outside of helping people, she didn’t really have any long term goals. At least, not that she wanted to even remotely discuss. There was that part in the back of her mind with a callous smirk that ached to get out whenever she looked in the mirror. Attached to her anger, to her sense of misery. She was always there. Waiting.

The young woman’s mind cleared, however, when the boy sat beside her. It took her back for a moment when he did so, more so, when she noted the smile on his face. Sure, it wasn’t one of happiness, at least, not that she could tell. If anything, it screamed out that he was just trying to express some shade of how he was feeling when talking to her. Almost sympathy, but, not really. She listened to his words, but, if she were to be honest with herself, she got a bit distracted by his gaze. Before when they were further apart, her mind hadn’t really taken in his face. But now, in this proximity, her eyes focused on his. As well as the scars on his face.

Somehow, they looked more full now, more apparent, but, it was his eyes that drew her in. The colors were vibrant and intense. More than that, though, there was intensity. Some sense of misguided focus, like they were actively searching for something. It took a few moments for her to realize that he had stopped speaking, and a faint blush coated her cheeks as she briefly averted her gaze from his.

“Uhm, yeah...I guess I don’t really know what my beliefs are. I want to say that I just want to help people. That my goals are all selfless and I just want to make the heroes who saved me proud. But…” Kikyo responded softly, her voice catching when her mind returned to the mire of her tangled emotions. Melding with the harshness of her memories, the sensations coming flooding back as she raised her hands to cross her arms, holding her arms around her as though she were shrinking into a defensive posture, hiding in a corner.

“Maybe I get lost in my head too much. Maybe I should try not to think about it too much, huh?” Kikyo asked him idly, her gaze returning to his face.

Iniji didn’t do anything as the girl beside him shook a bit and curled herself up, logically, he probably should, but he didn’t. Everyone has these things that they want to curl up and get away from, it’s just that some people can force themselves to stay and face it. He closed his eyes and turned away from Kikyo after she averted her gaze, perhaps looking into other people’s eyes made her uncomfortable, or it was just him, looking at him makes her uncomfortable.

Quietly Iniji got up from the bed, making some distance between him and the other, he walked up to the laptop that sat on the desk, beside the file binders. A few mouse clicks can be heard. Right click, save, it would be unfortunate to forget about saving and lose his work progress over this.

“That is not for me to decide.” He said, in response to the girl’s questions, without looking back at her. “I believe I’ve made it abundantly clear that I am not fit to give others advice.” There was a certain coldness to the words, even beyond Iniji’s usual stoicness and politeness. Despite maintaining his composure, deep down Iniji knew that he wanted to push this girl away, no, perhaps he needed to push her away. It would be a disaster for her if she would ever come to view him as someone to turn to for frivolous soul searches.

“...It’s so that you won’t regret things someday in the future.” It was a quiet whisper, a slightly confusing statement. Iniji didn’t want to judge the others, but he felt that he had the right to judge himself. Someone like him had no business getting up into the lives of other people like such, he didn’t know what gave Kikyo her scars, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t assassination assignments.

When the pressure of the bed faded, Kikyo turned her attention to Iniji as he rose and moved over to his laptop computer. He looked so thoughtful, but, no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t read him. It was like there was some great invisible barrier between him and the world, and she was just on the outside. It actually reminded her a bit of when she looked at herself in the mirror. Though, even more closed off, like the terror of letting anything through would tear apart the very fabric of his world.

Kikyo push her thoughts down as he spoke again, looking at him curiously. He spoke like he had no right to give advice, like just because the words were his that they were poisonous. It was strange to her, to see someone so adamant that they were unworthy of being known. Her eyes narrowed, a somber and melancholic expression forming over her face. Perhaps she was overly empathetic, and perhaps he would be displeased by it, but it was just something she couldn’t resist doing. The sad look in his eyes was piercing. It made it difficult for her to respond, at first.

“It may be an odd thing to say in this day and age, but, I honestly don’t have any regrets. I don’t feel like I’ve made the incorrect decision more than a few times in my life. Because, when I make a decision, I make the choice that feels right in my heart. Sure, sometimes my emotions overrule my logic and I get hurt for it. But, at least I know that I followed what I believed was right. I think if more people were willing to forget about the what ifs and the long term effects of their actions, there would be less horrible scheming and suffering in the world.” Kikyo’s voice varied in it’s tone and cadence as she spoke, going from curious, to hopeful, to sad.

The young woman chuckled briefly, brushing the white hair above her eye to the side, tucking it behind her ear, her fingertips gently touching upon the scarring of her face. “I suppose that’s pretty naïve of me. Isn’t it?”

Belief. Belief. What a beautiful word that is, to believe in something; to act upon it so adamantly; without hesitation, without regret. That girl was quite emotional, Iniji could tell as much, perhaps if he were one with that much empathy, he wouldn’t be standing where he was today.

“Regret is a pointless emotion. Only regretting things would get you nowhere. Don’t be sorry, be better.” Even if you were to wish you’ve never done something in the past, there was no way to change the fact that such happenings did occur. ‘Heroes’ are those who act, without hesitation, without worry. It was something Iniji has learned during his time in this class, don’t be sorry, be better.

“I’m not qualified to judge whether or not one could be considered naïve. Naivete that works out in the end is called heartfeltness, sincerity, or whatever other emotion we attach to such a category of actions.” Iniji sighed a little again, he didn’t want to get near Kikyo again, least to make her more uncomfortable. Instead he walked over to his window, in the white porcelain vase there was a yellow chrysanthemum and white lily, slightly wilted inside. Picking up a sheet of origami paper patterned with little clipart of various sweets, Iniji stared at the sheet against the sunlight.

Kikyo pondered on his response about regret. She supposed the idea made sense. After all, it didn’t matter how much regret you had of an act, it wasn’t like you could undo it. The words he used, ‘don’t be sorry, be better” sounded like something her father would say after giving her a good scolding for messing up on the farm. The memories of her father and her old life brought a nostalgic smile to her face for a moment, before it disappeared when he continued speaking.

“I think I get what you mean about sincerity being the positive result of naivete. I hadn’t ever thought about it before, though.” Kikyo responded, watching the buy move away from her again, moving to a vase by his window.

Her expression would soften a bit, noting how he seemed to be keeping his distance. Time to test some waters. She would get a tiny glimpse past that wall if she had to get him a little mad to do it. She just had to peak behind the curtain. The young woman stood and stepped closer to him, her eyes first gazing at the flowers in the vase, lovely in their color and form, even with one of them wilting. The unfortunate symbolism behind them, however, told her not to mention them if it wasn’t necessary.

Then, her eyes moved to his face again. “You speak of regret with such familiarity. Do you have regrets, Iniji?” The young woman’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper, it’s tone delicate as her gaze scanned his face, again, noting the scars and his rather significant emotional detachment.

“...Of course I do. I do a terrible job of hiding it, don’t I?” The sheet of origami paper in Iniji’s hand shook a bit, and the little pieces of clipart patterns on it all fell out, perfectly cut among the outlines. The boy caught the pieces in his hand and crumpled up the sheet of paper with oddly shaped holes in it. He felt strangely calm, since he had a good self awareness about his own mannerisms. It’s only out of denseness, or disinterest, or perhaps higher emotional intelligence that the other students haven’t mentioned it yet. After the confrontations he’s had in the past months, some words seem to come more naturally. Perhaps he had changed for the better, or he had just given up on himself.

“One can even say my life is forged with regret after regret, whenever I try to fix one thing I just do more things I eventually regret.” Iniji leaned back naturally, tilting back his head to look at the sky outside of the window, though it did cause him to get further from Kikyo’s attempt to close distance. A calculated move. His tone was strangely lighter than before, he laughed at himself mentally again, perhaps he had truly given up on his life at some point in the past two months.

Iniji took a deep breath while looking at a few clouds that drifted by. “Phew-” He breathed out as if defeated by the girl in front of him. “It would be great if I never was born...Ah...p-prehaps that’s too heavy for you, Kikyo-san.” At this point Iniji wasn’t sure what he wanted to do anymore, maybe he wanted to drive Kikyo away, or maybe he wanted to be more honest with himself.

Kikyo wasn't surprised by his reaction. A guy carrying that much emotional weight on his shoulders must have been carrying around a whole lot of regret. It just made his responses all the more sad. The way he looked so thoughtful and self reflective was nice, in a way. In a way it made him look less mysterious, like she could actually see through his troubles. But, it was so quickly replaced with the same exterior when he continued speaking. The subject matter they were discussing was quite heavy. She wasn’t a stranger to that kind of thing, though. Of course, she rarely spoke of her traumas.

The young woman couldn’t help but wonder if he actually wanted her to let him be. Surely he was forward enough to tell her if he wanted her to go, or if he wanted to be alone. She folded her hands behind her back again, shifting her weight back and forth briefly as she nervously bounced back and forth for a few moments, pondering on what to say next.

“I know you don’t know me, and I don’t know what you’ve done or been through. But, I think no matter who you are, even the most vile people, have had positive impacts on some people. Someone on this rock has lived a better life because of you, whether you know it or not.” Kikyo said softly, her gaze averted for most of it before returning to his face, her eyes searching for any slight reaction in his body language and expression.

“Uhm...th-that is to say that, everyone has the capacity for good, and every life makes an impact. We tend to overlook the good we do when we feel guilty. I think if you just took some time to think about it, you’d realize that your presence has still been a force of good. After all, you’re here, learning to be a hero. That takes a lot of courage and a desire to do good.” Kikyo managed a friendly and reassuring smile, deciding it was probably best not to take another step toward him this time.

There were a lot of pretty words in the conversation, so much that it made Iniji’s head hurt. This wasn’t something he was completely unfamiliar with, the class had more than enough of its share of positive people that kept dragging him to places. Yubiki-kun...Mizushima-san...Kimura-san…Though Iniji can appreciate the gesture from a logical standpoint, his own behaviors are troubling from a social perspective, and those who wish to professionally put their lives on the line for the sake of others might just pick up on these sorts of thing. But in the end, for those who didn’t know the severity of his regrets, it was just pretty words.

Iniji recalled how Kuroi looked shaken when discovering the corpse at the ski resort, while he simply processed the information and proceeded. Most of these heroes in the class, even the most stoic of them, have yet to see the blood and carnage he could cause...or he once did. It was easy to say pretty words to people when the idea of ‘villainy’ was a farfetched dehumanized ‘thing’ on the horizon, an assignment given to you and an afterthought when celebrating a good victory.

“I see, you truly are a sincere person. Thank you, Kikyo-san” Iniji said a little wearily, taking her words and putting it into the pile of kind gestures that may all shatter and disappear with his lies.

Kikyo could tell that she was tapping at the wall. Nothing she could say would really do any good in regards to making him feel differently. Which was fine. It wasn’t like she was some profound person who could break through emotional barriers. Still, though, she couldn’t help but have tried anyway. Maybe in time he would open up a bit to his classmates. Maybe not. Either way, she felt that her efforts were worth it. She nodded briefly, hearing what he said about her being a sincere person. Sincerity was a trait that she was proud of, any other implications were unfortunately beyond her current comprehension.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re at least willing to listen. Even if it’s just another nicety that you probably get all the time. I...I suppose I should probably let you be, huh? I hope we can talk again sometime soon.” Kikyo added, offering another polite smile before turning around to go towards his door, turning back to look at him as she opened up the door.

“Thanks for humoring me, Iniji. It was nice meeting you.”

Iniji gave her a small wave. “Yes, Kikyo-san. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

When the door clicked shut Iniji let out a breath of relief. He walked over to his desk and tapped his laptop’s sides. It was burning hot. On the screen there was a window that said ‘AutoCAD.exe has stopped responding’.

Good thing I saved… Iniji thought as he pressed down the power button.
 
With some of her earlier visitors finally gone, Isa lifts and IV prodded arm to bring some beef sticks to her mouth, chewing on them, while not the healthiest of things, they were tasty, more people than she thought had came to visit, which was nice, still being in bed like this was boring.

“Gah.. I ain’t as strong as I thought I was, but can’t go feel’n sorry for myself.. Let’s see here..” reaching for the small media player she was given, Isa thumbles with it and it drops to the floor. Groaning at that, she couldn’t, or she could get up and get it, but knew the nurse would give her pure hell for doing such.

Aika arrived at the hospital not long ago. It was a place she rarely visited, luckily for her, but she wasn’t there for herself today. Isa was probably one of the few she knew from the previous highschool that she thought was pretty cool. Even if Aika herself shut Isa out once they got to Suppression. After asking for Isa’s room, she started walking there. She had no idea what Isa would even think, considering Aika rarely went out of the dorms in her free time.

Reaching the room, Aika opened the door, just in time to see Isa drop something to the floor. Approaching the bed, she kneeled down and grabbed the media player ”Heh, had one of those back when we started at Shiketsu.” She mentioned, before standing up and handing the player to Isa ”Heya Isa.” Aika said, before moving to a chair next to the bed and sitting down ”I’m surprised to see you here.” She added.

“Huh? Oh Aika, hey! Ouch!” Stretching out to wave only hurt things more, but Isa accepted the player, turning it on, it only had the sample tracks, but that was not the fault of anyone if they didn’t know what she listened to.

“Ain’t I just popular? Heh. And yeah, I’m surprised to see me in here, but my own fault..well more like the fault of the fatass with the mustache, but still.. Ah well, how are you and all the rest?”

”Well, you are an Oni, and everyone wants to meet you.” Aika casually said, listening to the sample tracks from the media player. They weren’t the best tracks, but they were still nice as background noise ”And well, I think most are alright. Don’t believe anyone else got admitted this time around.” She mentioned.

”Fatass with a mustache huh? Teach actually told us a bit about him. Gonna be on the lookout for the guy.” Aika said, looking Isa over ”So what exactly happened? You ain’t the type to be taken down easily, and that I know for a few years now. “ She asked.

“Eh.” Isa thinks on that for a bit and shrugs a little. “A giant just came out of the woods, wanted to grab me, I fought him, was pushing him back, breaking his grip, broke a few of his fingers, then he took his right hand and ran me through with a giant sword, he had a lot of steam coming off of him too, so I guess that took some effort.”

With that she points at where the scar or wound would be and continues. “Son of a bitch then turned the blade sideways, breaking a couple ribs, I eventually broke his blade’ n’then me and Yamoshi teamed up and blasted him a bit to where he ran off, then I just collapsed. And isn’t no fishing story, hole in the side of my was big enough to stick my hand through, I was bleeding all over the place, just finally woke up today..”

With all that talking she stops to take a deep breath and winces slightly at the effort before grunting a bit. “Figures no one else ended up here though, company would be nice, but it’s good I don’t have any.”

Hearing Isa’s explanation, Aika’s eyebrows rose a bit. A giant with a giant sword. And a hole big enough to put her hand through. It sounded like Isa was really lucky she didn’t die ”Well, good morning then. And yeah, it is better. I didn’t have any interesting stuff with class 03. At least, nothing like that.” She remarked ”So wait, you broke his blade, while it was going through you? I knew you did some crazy stuff sometimes, but that sounds absolutely bonkers.” Aika said, leaning back in the chair.

”And I thought you were popular so that people kept coming to visit you. Or do you want someone to have a sleepover with you here?” Aika asked, clearly teasing Isa.

“Yeah, while it was in me I grabbed it, cracked and broke it and pulled it out.. That might have been a mistake, but better than leave’n it to him.” Isa says in response. “Heh yeah a few been bye, as to a sleep over, you wanna do that? This place might be haunted you know.” She says with a grin.

“But nah, I’ll be fine, though it is boring in here, should be getting out soon enough. How did your band performance go last time? No sooner I dipped out the bug wanted to fight me.”

The reminder of the performance she did with Haya made Aika shrug ”I dunno. It went alright, I think. No one boo’d or anything like that. Not a lot of audience either, but that’s probably for the better. Not used to an audience.” She said.

”So not long huh? If that’s the case, I won’t bother staying the night. You can just chill here with all the ghosts. Maybe you could scare a few with your own stories.” Aika joked with a smile ”And once you’re out, if you do want to play with me and Haya, I’m sure that can be arranged. I don’t have a drum set in my room, but I do have a bunch of band sheets that include drums.” She mentioned.

“Huh, Yeah, I can do that, though nice yah remember. Or even Vocals, but ehh. But sure, when I’m out of here I might as well take you up on that, and don’t worry I won’t bring an Audience.” She says with a playful grin.

“Though I ain’t afraid of no Ghost. They better be afraid of me!” Isa says with crossed arms, shaking her head a bit as she did so.

“But yeah, this place is boring.”

”Not surprising.” Aika said, looking around the room ”But yeah, at least you aint got long to suffer from boredom here. Oh, by the way,” Aika leaned forward a bit ”Not sure if anyone else told you, but we’re gonna be going to some aquarium over the weekend. And that Aquarium has some kind of AI to keep watch.” She said, shrugging a bit at the last remark ”So we’re gonna get to see a bunch of fish. Oh, and maybe swim some.”

“Yeah! I was told about it early on! I dunno if I want to stay in the hero lodge or in the underwater rooms though, could be pretty cool, but still you are kinda trapped under the water… Who knows maybe all three of us, that is Haya as well could do a little show, heh I’ll take on most of the attention if yah want. Just make sure no one is film’n heheh. But yeah a lot of stuff I wanna do there.” Isa says a bit excitedly.

”Eh, I’m not overly excited about it. Not a big fan of fish. And even if I can swim, I’d rather have an open air space. But since others are excited, I’ll go. Not sure how Haya will get to see things either, seeing she can’t, well, see.” Aika said, leaning back in the chair again and shrugging ”But either way, class activity I suppose.” she added.

“Eh, well there is the land stuff too at least… ah yeah Haya might not like the place as much, though in a way I think she can see a bit, though dunno how that works with water. Least it doesn’t seem to bother her fighting… huh maybe the lodge will have some land based stuff we can all do, plus I don’t think everyone here is gonna go in either, sides you two that is.” Isa says, pausing a bit here and there to collect her thoughts.

”Hmm, yeah. I suppose so.” Aika said. After a moment of silence, she stood up and glanced at Isa ”Well, I think I’ll let you finish healing up. So I’ll see you back at school. And if you take longer than you said, I'll come and beat up the doctors.” Aika offered a wink and a small wave, before heading out of the room, to let Isa rest a bit with the ghosts.

“Heh, don’t try to make me laugh, that just makes things hurt more. And don't worry about it! I’ll be fine! Had worse!” Pausing for a bit Isa wences.

“Well that one is a lie, but really, I should heal up in time! See yah!”


The oni calls out after the other before closing her eyes to lean back, at least the bed was pretty nice.

After surprisingly putting some actual effort into his clothes as he was about to go to a national museum and wanted to respect the atmosphere Agi was waiting at the entrance of the dorm with a casual wear dress shirt, and black pants. He hadn’t been waiting long as he was in fact a few minutes early to their agreed meet-up time. Whistling a soft toon he was rather relaxed today… it seemed that last mission had helped uproot what was left from the rut of his first mission. His classmates had all experienced some strange happenings as well… it was also concerning how strange certain missions were now connecting almost like something big was about to go down. No, it was he knew it… but now wasn’t the time to concentrate on that. Today was a day to relax, and have some casual fun viewing history with a friend.

Coming up from behind him, Mari seemed to have been out and about, as she tilts her head. “Hmm... I’m unsure if I should say you look nice in that or it is a surprising contrast. Both facts may be true, however.” For her part Mari had on a simple white dress top with a skirt, the design was rather simple with little frills here and there. With a bit of a smile, she moves out of the way so he would have room to leave if there was nothing else he needed. “I was checking up on Isa, she seems alright all things considered, though rather tired.”

“Well enjoy it on either accord it’s rare for me to not be in lazy wear so consider yourself a worthy foe to make me do so,” he joked with a chuckle giving her a proper bow before noting she to was rather well dressed.

“Though at least I match a little to the prime and proper leading lady today,” he smiled.

“Ah. Ya, I brought her some stuff awhile ago from Ichika she's been making special meals for her recovery to help speed up her body natural enzymes,” Agi nodded understanding at her reasoning to moving as he followed out the dorm with her holding the door, and closing it once she was away from it. As the two headed for the gate Agi casually tilted his head her way.

“You know I am surprised when we first chatted at the Spa you painted yourself a ruthless tactician, but from what I have seen, and heard minus your first training day missions here you seem to be prioritizing a lot different than what you expressed originally,” he spoke making small talk as they headed for the gate.

“Oh? What, did you expect me to issue not a step-back order? Japan has had no need for a Dictator in some time, though if the Emperor asked..” Smiling at that she follows along, walking at his left side. “And I wouldn’t say I’m ruthless, so much as pragmatic. I would have thrown us at the villains we had not so long ago... Though I myself did not fight..ah, a small matter.” She says not wanting to talk about her own mission, or rather not being able to do so. At least not yet.

“Though were there any other places you would like to go besides the museum? We will be in the city after all, limited in size and scope it may be.

“Heh well if they ask you at least it’s clear they have some common sense from picking out the best,” he complimented with a smile. She was indeed smart, and hell probably give enough time could lead at that level. Everyone in the class was slowly evolving and she was no different. As they reached the gates he raised an eye curiously at an unexpected request of hers.

“Oh? Are you trying to extend our time together I am flattered,” he teased before legitly thinking about it. He had a bit saved up atop the fact he had rented a car for the day he could go a little further, and worse case touch into his actual savings if needed.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t extend my time with you so why not we can hit up a restaurant if you like maybe hit up another landmark if you like,” he offered as they went past the gates. Once they were at the car he opened the door for her considering some sights they could see for fun.

“Oh my, someone has been rather busy I see. But while I am honored that you would spend so much time and effort on me, I was more of wondering what you want to do or interests you may have to check up on.” As they exited the gate she took him by the arm walking alongside him, wrapping her own around his as she smiled without a lack of confidence. “You do seem like you want to treat this as a date after all, though let us see how that goes.”

“Though I did have another place we could go, an electronics store of some sort, I won’t hold your arm everywhere we go of course.”
She was clearly doing this on purpose to see if he would squirm or how he would react in general.

“Heh, more so I barely do much as the school has funding projects for gear construction, and honestly I get my hobby habits out there… actually with that said I do need some components for Kurois gift need some extender piping material for the handle of a hammer prototype,” he spoke starting to mumble some schematic equations halting himself before he could bury him in thought. However, what really pulled his attention was the sudden feeling of the warmth of her hand against his wrapping around. He paused for a moment, and rather surprisingly kept his calm even though he was silent for a moment.

“Though now you have my curiosity, do you craft much,” he asked, distracting his nerves from the sudden feminine contact. Yori had thankfully taught him tactics to deal with sudden signs of unexpected affection, the first being to not squirm or panic, and to concentrate on the conversation or new topic at hand. Though truth be told a small blush did emit from his cheeks for a moment at first contact.

“Well I mean I did offer a fun outing heh so your wish is my command tonight,” the sheer confidence of what she was doing was clear on her face the smile was a deadly facade to testing the waters, and while he was majorly unexpecting this interaction he was impressively keeping himself calm… on the outside. For a girl who seemed straight on the go, she clearly enjoyed toying with him like a cat with a mouse. However, this mouse wasn’t going to back out from a challenge. Apparently, this had now turned into a date out of his words though he really had just wanted to hang out. Well then touche to his opponent for switching the battlefield of tact right from under him.

“Alright we can go there first than milady,” Agi smiled as he helped her into the vehicle closing the door as for the one second he was out of her view completely took a quick breath at the heavy “haymaker” she had thrown into today’s event.

Grinning at that she smiles a bit and says to him; “Care to rethink that assessment on me being ruthless? Maybe you were right after all.” As he got in she was a bit surprised he had done this much for a casual hangout as he seemed to think of it.

“Hmm, you could say I do, I charge spare energy into capacitors that I use for other energy-based items. Such as my computer or other small devices that I use day to day.” With that, she buckles herself in. “I assume you do as well, given your quirk relies on such… Ah yes did you have a store in mind?” She at least seemed done with teasing him for now.

“Potentially, but I think it can handle, and if you're not careful might counter back,” he surprisingly flirted as they started moving once they got a bit of distance she started to talk about her quirk use.

“Ah, I actually got to be careful with such stuff when it comes to energy consumption. My quirk can both benefit, and backfire with it. If my Nanos are on my body energy consumption gives me a big boost, and a heavy amount can make me play one or two of my ace cards. Though if my Nanos get struck by energy while off me they can sorta enter a drunk state humorously,” he chuckled explaining his quirks interworking with energy consumption. From the sounds of it, it was clear energy of electrical nature was beneficial to his body, but not so for his Nanos solo.

“Funny enough my grandpa on my mom’s side does something similar to that actually he’s sort of a living battery for lack of a better term. Actually ya there’s a really good bargain electronic store people rarely check out. It has specialty-type electronics that are usually hard to come by,” Agi explained rather excitedly.

“Hmm, we shall go there first then at least you would rather one of the other sites first? Though curious, it still sounds about like your quirk to come from it. My own parents have cat-like features after all. So a nanomachine user with a battery charger isn’t so far out there. Though my own electrical aspects are a sudden mutation not found within the family.”

Upon arrival, it was quite the unique store as Agi had expressed. It had a wide selection of more hard-to-find components and more resilient parts.

“So Mari, what are your experiences in crafting mechanically and such,” Agi wondered as to what hand she could play on such a matter. It was rather surprising given her natural habit, but that two is what made him want to learn about her.

“Huh, I have heard about quirks jumping around like that before, but ya that makes you even more unique, and intriguing to observe. So which ones are best suited for a collapsing handle,” he chuckled as he placed down some cufflinks and wiring to differ which ones were more flawless, and able to hold together an extending handle with a pressure capacitor.

“I don’t know if I’ve played around with machines as much as you or this shop, but I tend to build my capacitors and a few other things out of prebuilt parts, I’m not someone you can just throw wires too and expect a computer chipset a few minutes later, or ever.”

“I can follow instructions or build something from parts once I know what it is I am doing… Hmm..”
Looking at his collection of materials she took a surprising choice.

“For something collapsing, as long as there is nothing inside that can cut, tear, or rip apart, I would go with the wires. Provided you can get them to coil correctly they can run the full length of what you wish. Cufflinks can be more fragile for what you are using. At times older methods are best. Otherwise I would just make the extending portion to something else and make the handle itself into the capacitor.”

"Well legitly color me impressed. You know your stuff. Maybe you should come assist me at the tech lab," Agi nodded as she gave a A+ answer that went beyond the actual question he had asked. She definitely knew crafting to a solid degree.

"It's nice to talk with someone who can understand that sort of conversation," he smiled. Picking out some other things he motioned.

"So might be random, but you need something from here," he asked, offering to pay.

“Ah, and don’t do that, you’ve already spent a bunch already.” Mari says to his offer of paying. “As to the Tech lab I do go in there at times.” Looking over the shelves, Mari selects a couple of internal parts for her laptop and a hardshell wrap around case. Paying for it via invoice she smiles a bit.

“Besides this is a work related expense, the school funding covers it with a little from me for my hero gear. I want to try making my laptop more durable and lighter, but maybe I should just ditch it all together.” Making her purchase and heading back out to the car Mari waited for them to head to their next destination.

"Actually now that you bring that up why not design a gauntlet, or visor to handle that sorta stuff. Carrying a laptop seems rough and easy to break on the field. I could try out some designs with you if you have the time later on this week," he offered chuckling at her rejection, but finding it a bit endearing that she didn't want him to spend his money on her.

"Though if you want to stick with the carry style I can help, I got some good contacts who can also help you upgrade your hardware and I am really good with software," he also offered clearly the helper mentality he was. Seemed If she didn't accept one of the offers he would just keep finding ways to help until she took one or told him to stop

As they drive to the national museum it appeared rather busy.

"Huh, interesting… didn't see an event listed today," Agi mumbled as he parked the vehicle, opening the door for Mari as they closed in to see what was going on. As they got closer Mari would probably notice some of the people going in given her family's political agenda. There were even some military/anvil reps heading in.

"Ah sorry are you here looking to enjoy the exhibit. There was a last minute reservation of the whole museum for a politician's birthday," the guard explained at the front entrance.

Thinking about his response, she nods her head. “Actually a gauntlet or something like that would be nice and convenient. A visor might not work so well, what with me not having human ears. Makes it a bit difficult for things like glasses or visors, so a gauntlet with a flip up display or some such might work.”

As they arrived, Mari was partially wondering if there was some sort of accident, but the nature of what was happening put an end to that. Taking note of some of the people and senior officers, Mari had some idea what was going on, taking Agi by the arm once more, Mari whispers into his ear;

“I could try pulling some connections to get us in, but I’m not so sure it will work. Maybe we should go elsewhere?” She didn’t much like it but such things happened, if she knew who’s birthday it was she could mention her mother to them and just with whoever it was and use that as an excuse to look around.

"Actually mind telling us who," Agi randomly asked, not giving an inch on giving up on his promised plans with Mari. In fact he suddenly was wearing quite the straight face as if ready to gamble his way through with confidence he wouldn't lose.

"A diet member Onbero Atiko," the guard was willing to answer with a raised brow as Agis smile started to turn into a sharp grin.

"So then I imagine Surge Tech's got representation here tonight," Agi asked.

"You would be correct the top of the top of what I understand. Regardless if you don't have an invitation I will have to ask you to leave," he enforced as Agi pulled out his phone making a quick phone call.

"Hey Grandpa, how are you doing… doing fine. Hi grandma...hey you wouldn't happen to be at the Tokyo national museum tonight would you?... Awesome mind getting me in?... Ya I promised a friend we would go around the exhibit tonight to have a relaxed break from heroing… thanks," Agi hung up the phone looking at Mari.

"No worries I got this, just give us five minutes. I promise we have an invitation in," Agi politely requested of the guard.

"...Fine I'll amuse your bravado and then your outta here," the guard mumbled clearly wanting to shoo then and there but given how confident the boy was acting and on the off chance.

“Grandpa?” Mari asks then thinks back to his file, her eyes widened a bit. “Of course, Your Mother would be his... Isa isn’t the only famous one.” Pondering all this for a bit Mari decides to add in anyways;

“Actually tell the dear official that Nakao Mari would like to pay her respects on behalf of her parents, had I known he was here I would have gotten a gift.”

Before the guard could give a confused response to Maris legit standing Allo Tamoyo appeared with a wave at his grandson.

"Sorry about that there with me big guy," the older man laughed as the guard went wide eyed with realization that the kid wasn't bluffing.

"Of course sir apologizes for holding them," the guard responded, opening the blocker in their way. As they walked in Agi smiled at Mari.

"Heh see I keep my promises, and now we got the whole place to enjoy albeit with a few chatty people," Agi cheered lightly as he even took a victory lap adjusting his hand to hold hers more properly as if showing her off as they went in.

"So who's this young lady," Allo asked out of curiosity.

"Oh ya this is my friend and class president Nakao Mari," Agi spoke, introducing her proudly for that fact...that she was a friend.

"A pleasure young lady," Allo laughed at the formalities giving her a proper bow. Clearly knowing how Agi was he was able to decipher it meant the two were just hanging out.

"Hopefully he hasn't been driving you to crazy tonight," Allo teased.

It seemed her own mention wasn’t needed, but she planned to wish the man a happy birthday all the same if she ran across them. Turning her head to look at Allo, Mari releases Agi’s Arm and gives a polite bow in return then ventures a soft smile as she offers her hand to shake his own.

“I must say being the Grandpa and having the hair you do, you must be the former hero Surge Alloy? Your company and reported history are rather interesting in some circles. And yes, Nakao, Mari is my name.” She offers up.

"Oh I'm still relevant I see. Ah I am sure half the people here would argue that interesting is the word choice," he joked, laughing a little loud at himself. Hey once it died he had a soft grin as he shook the young lady's hand.

"So just looking to purus the museum tonight you two," he asked.

"Ya we've hit quite a few bumps these few months, and honestly out of all of us she's had to bear the stress of top side decisions. So I wanted to treat her to a relaxing night even though I doubt she feels any stress. I just want to show my appreciation for what she does," Agi expressed honestly, causing his Grandpa to smile.

"Just like your parents. Well miss before I let you both head off for some fun, anything you want from me?"

“Hmm, I can’t say there was anything I needed, but you are welcome to join us. I could even distract some of the people wanting your attention if you wish to speak with your Grandson.” Mari offers up, smiling a bit thinly. “Let us say more than a few people here would know me and leave it at that.”

At Agi’s mention of her and stress, she says nothing to dispute it, having such a talk on those matters with Hideki earlier in the day, this was not the setting or the place to correct someone. “It would be interesting to speak with you some more, later on if time allows. Given your own history, you found yourself in a situation much like my own, though in different times, such may prove valuable. Otherwise I would like to tour the sights briefly with Agi at the least.”

"Well then I will make sure to get back with you before you two leave. No worries, my wife is good at distracting. She distracts them right out the door with her gaze," Allo laughed.

"I imagine so miss Nakoa I have some inkling of knowledge to your family. Alright go have some fun you two," Allo revealed with a smirk as he waved them off.

"I am aware you want to correct me by the way," Agi mused to Mari as they headed to the Edo period exhibit.

"But you do deserve a lot of credit for dealing with us wild animals," Agi expressed.

"You throw yourself in just as hard if not harder than the rest of us and ask nothing for it. Though I can tell you have a lot on your mind," he expressed some worry but didn't pry.

“For now let us enjoy ourselves and have a look around. What is on my mind can stay there for now.” She says leading them off. “We still need to speak with your Grandfather later on as well.”

“Alright then let me wander a little to the world of Mari. Tell me about yourself. I mean you have gone through my entire file as I have yours, but I want to hear it from your perspective. Also, feel free to delve into mine with any questions. Yet first, tell me why you aspire to rise to the top,” Agi asked as they slowly walked around with Slowly gliding through the artistry of the Edo era painting a unique background for them as he watched her awaiting an answer.

Pausing to look at an image and to exchange some pleasantries with a politician or two, Mari takes in the images with an inquisitive gaze and decides to answer his questions finally, but not before she made some comments first. “Do you know the value of art? It tells you the culture, feelings and norms of a people in a given age, something in their character that never changes, or totally shifts. Picasso's work took a dark turn given what went on in Spain at the time. The American artstyle is chaotic and without purpose it seems, changing with whims and demographics. It tells where a people have been and where they will go or how they have changed. It is in many ways History.”

“As to the about me, I am the only daughter of a political aide and a salesman that specializes in high quality furniture products for the elite. Well raised I have sought to never shame my family and I played with my cousins or other kids around me, along the way I found the world of books and saw the society we have.”


Pausing at that she points at a scroll of a Daimyo Lord and kneeling Samurai, the painting below it a peasant revolt.

“While I believe Japan needs a strong and guiding hand, that lies in our political system, not through swords and dictates, one must make the people see what is best for them as conceited as that may sound. Those words and that need has driven me for some time. I am not interested in being a hero for more than fame and connections. Because I plan to take those from there and to use them to enter into the world of Politics. From there I can make true change to aid the HA and ANVIL, the Police and the JSDF, so that even a thousand years from now the notions of Japan, our history and our people can know not the works of trouble and distress but see a clear line to our past.

I also wish to see my family well taken care of as I am the only child they ever had, as that is my Duty. When you said I felt no stress Agi, you were very wrong, but I chose for it to not control me.”

“What else would you like to know?”
She asks.

“Art can also shape history in of itself. The western take on Hell’s imagery and nine levels of punishment was brought to existence by Dante’s Inferno. A horrid place gave form by one writer’s stroke of a pen. Art is both a gateway to a time and one that further evolves time. One could argue its also a look into how far we have fallen, or arised,” Agi responded clearly agreeing with Mari’s concept as they ended up at some more at a shogunates collection of belongings.

“When I was a kid I was obsessed with learning the trade of my grandpa in technological advancement some times buried in book three years ahead of my grade. Sometimes my parents, or older siblings would find me asleep against a massive pile of advanced welding techniques, or programming guide,” Agi chuckled giving his own perspective on his life to her in fairness.

“You’re always caring about with an eye on everything around you. I am sorta jealous. I have a hard time concentrating on that. Though while I haven’t stretched myself thin I know I spent little time on an actual childhood wanting to grow up to fast,” looking at the scroll that told a tale of such a young shogunate who never knew a life past the samurai’s code.

“Sometimes I feel I have locked myself out of many routes in life, but I keep persevering through. I dug my route, and I plan to see it to the end,” he spoke looking at the end of the scroll where when all had betrayed the shogun he still stood his ground protecting those he promised to in his homeland.

“Oh, so we’re allowed to say you do feel stress well that’s a relief. I mean you take care of yourself obviously, but do you ever think about letting someone take care of you in equal turn,” he softly chuckled before adding.

“Leading is all well, and good for someone rising, but no one wants to lead in everything sometimes they want someone to be by their side, and equally guide each other in life,” Agi noted as he looked at a broken bow on display.

“Or they eventually find themselves snapped with no way to find an equal in life,” he mulled over that with his own strange thoughts on his question.

“Hmm, I’ve had more than a few arranged marriage requests, for the sons of some people in this building right now point of fact. I’ve found them all to be lacking. If one cannot find an Equal then they can aspire to find one who can keep up.” Mari says in response, then moves on to what he said earlier.

“As to leading, I do so as I must, if the class finds me wanting or acceptable only time will tell. So far I’ve not had the luxury to communicate much less command them, the laptop is inefficient when you are being chased through a maze and dealing with a hostage situation. That bow in a way reminds me of the Imprisoned Empress. To have such a purpose and yet to be so broken.”

“You must get a lot of those offers. I imagine, can’t say it’s surprising. You’re confident, intelligent, you know what you want, and you’re a challenge not meant to be conquered, but respected. You won’t let someone topple you, and it’s clear whoever you’re working with you help to reach their potential or end up taking the reins from them to make proper use. I imagine those same things probably scared quite a few away though to,” Agi expressed before surprisingly taking her hand, and then randomly taking a finger, and seemingly measuring it from her elbow to her wrist clearly remembering the result as he then took the same finger tracing it around her wrist in a circle.

“And could reality wreck havoc with an arm blade gauntlet that doubles as a hacking computer device,” he strangely brought up ideas for the device for her he had suggested awhile back. He did return her arm knowing he had probably gotten a little too bold there for a moment.

“I doubt anyone finds you wanting as more of they want to meet you at your level. You’re a perfect set piece to how people should act in this guard we take a stance for our homeland,” he expressed before eyeing her on the empress bit.

“My mom once said something interesting about her. While she was clearly a blood-thirsty wolf she had a valid point that no people can stand long without uniting eventually under one rule, or ideal. The Empress though extremely ruthless, and broken did have a sound voice on the issues the nation had at the time,” he spoke standing next to her looking at the bow as wandered in thought for a moment.

“Perhapes. But that rule must be born from consensus, not the force of arms of another.. Strange coming from me no?” Not minding his touch she didn’t seem to show any sort of reaction as she smiles thinly.

“Already most of you are stronger than me. The blade might come in handy though I rather not have to use it.. But given the freaks that have been thrown at us and the fact I would be helpless against that black armored Samurai some insurance couldn’t hurt, but ah, did you have more questions for me? Though on that note, what of you, I can imagine no shortage of families wants a connection to your own. I find yours interesting for different reasons but I cannot deny that doesn’t factor into my views. Your grandfather has things I could learn I’m sure.”

“Agreed you can’t force people under one banner you have to make them want to for the right reasons that positively impact everyone equally, but that’s easier said than done a little force will always be needed in such works to get something started,” Agi sighed knowing well peace never fully worked without the blood of patriots of the land. Mari then brought up a very intriguing question of her own.

“Strong is subjective your stronger in your own rights. A lot of Anvil, and heroes don’t use combat alone to win after all. Brains win over brawn quite a lot. I myself try to balance it out, but I do foolishly go overboard on one side to the other,” Agi chimed raising an eye to her next question.

“Well if you don’t mind me spending time with you for quite a while I think we can get something up, and going in a week. My Surge Tech buddies should have no problem helping out with it. I understand that the best blade is the one you don’t have to draw after all,” Agi smiled to her clearly planning to deliver what he promised.

“So what do you want out of your potential suitors. I imagine you don't want someone you can just walk all over. So what makes you notice others,” he asked on her offer to give some more info of herself adding as well.

“How about hobbies outside of the job. What is Mari like outside her duties?”

“Oh ya my older sister had to literally bash some wannabe suitors away when she became of age. She made it real clear real quick she had no desire for a man that just wanted to use her to gain a famous family into their fold. My brother… can't date to save his life. As for myself well I see a problem with getting with a girl that’s only after my family ties besides given my lineage I have to be careful.”

“If my hero career does take off many old fangs will notice me real quick, and will look for many nasty ways to get at me to get at my parents or grandparents. Surge Alloy, Nimbus, Grudge, Kazuo, Iron Volt, and Blue Inferno heroes who had shock waved the villain community, and not all of them have been laid to rest. I can’t enjoy something as luxurious as a normal life. Nor can I be with someone normal they have to be strong, and able to fight,”
Agi expressed a bit winded, but a valid point nonetheless.

“Oh, and how do I gauge alone without my family factor,” Agi teased with a soft smirk.

“Ya my grandpas an encyclopedia of knowledge of the older ways of heroes. He was a lead on the original Yakuza take down… quite honestly he actually thinks Suppression is the right direction for the newer generations. All you gotta do is ask him, and he will flood you with advice,” Agi commented on his grandpa.

“What else about my family interests you hmm?”

Smiling at that, he seemed to have asked or pointed out a lot this time, as she wags her tail around and stands her ears up slightly straighter.

“My, you get excitable… Though to break all of these down and in order, my hobbies are what you have seen so far, looking at art, reading history or in general, so called thinking man hobbies, playing games...board games and the like, such as chess, though on that note because of my upbringing I know various things from giving a massage, making a meal, how to sing a little bit and some other homemaker tasks. Though I would not call those hobbies..skills maybe?”

Moving along her expressions remain unchanged at his offer of spending more time with her. “Hmm.. I’ve had worse to hang around, at least you can look me in the eye and talk. And haven’t tried pulling on my ears to see if they are real.” Then a pause.

“As to your family status, some will seek it out for that alone, that is only natural. But I have my own legacy to consider. Not sure I qualify for your strong line of reasoning, maybe you would have luck taming the Oni, though I find such fairytales are just that.. As to your family, wealth on it’s own is useless, if one does not make use of it for the gain of power or the spread of ideals it’s just as valuable as my so-called golden bells.

Your family has many generations of directly impacting history, of quirks like my own and eccentric tales. Those I don’t mind so much, the point is there is much in the way of information and even equipment I could gain, plus I rather like speaking with older people at times. There is much in the prattling they can get up to that are of value. Other than that I could say the money, but that would be a lie of sorts. While I wouldn’t care to be a pauper's wife, my own family, while not rich, are not poor. I’ve never wanted for anything and I budget my hero pay and allowance carefully. I would rather spend money on a few new books than a fancy jewel. Though interesting notes on your Sister, I cannot say I’m against such alliances provided the male in the equation is Worthy of my attention.. I am as fickle as a cat after all. Nya.”


Holding up her hand like a paw she gives a single wink.

“Honestly I am quite a fan of your hobbies as you already know, and I haven’t forgotten that you still owe me a rematch in go. Ya, I am very energetic and make it hard for others to keep up a lot. Huh, funny I learned how to do massages with my Nanos. We should trade techniques. Hm if you ever deem me worthy I would love to hear you sing,” Agi spoke as the two neared the end of the Edo exhibit.

“People have really done that to you,” Agi asked legitly surprised given how real they obviously were.

“True, and at the same time my expectations are a little unrealistic, but that might be because I don’t think anyone wants me for me. So I make it a high bar to keep a distance from people just looking for a quick grab at glory. Like I said strength is a matter of perspective I would be lucky to have leading like you interested in me,” Agi honestly pointed out.

“Heh, I could get along with Isa, but I think she’s way too different on my tastes. Better suited to being a friend that is fun to kick ass with,” Agi chuckled on that comment.

“Regardless the bells do match your appeal,” Agi lightly flirted with a tilt of his head.

“Oh trust me the joke my whole family a massive top ten hero experiment has been stabbed to death. As for money, it’s nice, but it has no weight to it. I like what businesses like Tamoyo Rescue Corp do with it, and honestly, I am sorta a minimalist in earthly possessions minus my crafting tools, old video games, and bonsai tee I don’t accumulate much else, and would rather save for trips like these,” he expressed with an enjoying smile. He laughed a bit at her cute cat expression this time being a bit bolder as he took the same hand she had in cat pose, and lightly tugged it to follow him.

“Alright miss adorable lets get you to my grandpa before you strike me down with adorable overlord,” Agi joked.

“Hmm, a minimalist with all that much? Though there is no point in living like a monk.” She didn’t mind his hobbies at least, or if she did she never voiced them.

“Haha, it’s fine. Plus the old people tend to be forgotten or ignored by the younger generations. I’m sure he likes a little hero worship. Plus I do wish to speak with him. Plus your grandmother is here as well, couldn’t hurt to speak with her either.” She says allowing her hand to be taken as they walk.

“Hmm.. Someone that likes you for you rather than what you are or were born into, why not someone for both? I find love is a rather fickle thing to count on alone. The luster of the Princess in the tower is lost to the prince after a few dozen years. At least so it seems.”

“I don’t, I still have a life. Just don’t collect much unless it has a purpose, or is for someone I care for,” he expressed as he did still do things with his earnings, he just also believed in saving his money for better opportunities like tonight.

“I have definitely bled my grandparents out of their stories. They definitely could keep you listening for months, but damn are they good stories,” Agi grinned as they made their way into the Nobunaga exhibit ironically.

“Hm, I could accept both to a degree. However, with me, romance doesn’t just die if I am going to commit to someone I am going all in. Not to say I'll drive them insane with romantic gestures. Just make sure they know my feelings for them will never waver. If I am to stand by them as a husband I will stand by them through whatever storm they weather,” he explained.

“Hahaha.” She says laughing politely. “Trying to be a poet or a fool? Maybe both?” She says in a way of teasing him.

"Probably both. Heh I think that's the first time I’ve heard you genuinely laugh. You should do it more often, it's rather nice," Agi smiled at her little tease as he interjectedhis own. Once they found Allo Agi let her go.

"Aight no embarrassing stories about me Grandpa," Agi chuckled waving of as he gave them some privacy.

"Ahhh at least let me tell the one about when you accidentally punched your aunt Shizui when your quirk first popped up," Allo jovially teased his grandson before he was gone.

"Heh, alright, young lady, lay it on me. I have a feeling you want to know quite a bit. I can see it in your eyes," he chuckled, grabbing a drink as he gave her his full attention.

“Hmm a time and place for all things.” Mari says with a smirk as they make their way through the party, wishing the man of the hour well, they soon made it back to Allo.

“Ah, I think I’ll be talking to you for a long time if I do that. Though I am curious about your quirk utility or how you sought about discovering and making use of it, you much like I didn’t have the ability to face off against the more super-powered of your class without breaking yourself. Though I wouldn’t mind hearing more stories of little Agi..” She offers with a smile, much to Agi’s cost.

"Oh trust me at my age there's nothing but time. Ah, you're not wrong I had a rough time in my first year at U.A. I had a grand cliff to climb to make up the difference of power my classmates had to me," Allo admitted honestly as he took a drink for a moment remembering those critically important moments of his life.

"I didn't let that stop me though much like you won't either I wager. Where I couldn't match in performance on an uneven field I made the difference by studying my own physiology. I designed gear to work with only my quirk. I discovered my sweat if super great would cause a flashbang effect. I used my endless electrically created energy to fuel into energy weapons. I built upon myself to even the grounds I walked on with my fellow classmates. Made tech that made my opponent's life hell. I eventually even discovered that, like a maniac, if I devoured another energy source I could temporarily be on strength par with others like Kazuo," he said, halting for a moment, clearly remembering a particular airport battle where that ability was pushed to the limit and beyond.

"When all else failed I kept adapting strategically, and personally. Keep evolving and learning about your quirk that's how you shave off the difference in strength," he expressed.

"And do as much damage to them as they do to you. Learn all you can of your quirk, and you will find it can be a true powerhouse in its own right" he added jokingly and seriously at the same time.

"Ha by all means the boy was extremely energetic before his quirk first came around. My poor daughter Shizui was babysitting him, and she decided to scare him with her own quirk. Which in turn caused him to panic and cause this nano ball to just nose dive right into her stomach knocking the wind right out off her… ohhh it was hilarious," he laughed remembering the phone call right after she made to Takagi.

"So before I drill on, how's my grandson holding in comparison to you and his other classmates," Allo in turn asked a question.

“Hmm..” Pausing to think on that, Mari taps her chin for a bit after she processed the story. “I cannot say exactly, given where I specialize and he does so are very different things. He’s performed to the same level as his allies and hasn’t held anyone back, and in a standup fight he would likely beat me unless I could burn him out over time.. So let’s say above expectations? I think he has the makings of a good pro hero. If he goes beyond good, that all depends on him.”

"And how do you gauge him personally," Allo asked with a curious look.

Carefully considering his question, Mari was somewhat glad Agi was not here to have the answer. “I am not sure. He seems rather complementary to me but he has aspects of himself that are at odds with my own. Overall he is rather interesting and there was a question he asked me earlier today that I plan to test him with. If he passes I would like to give him the chance to explore a possibility. I also think he is something of a fool, but in a manner it is contagious. Is that a satisfactory answer?”

"Well from my own experiences having someone different than yourself around is a good thing they can cover your weaknesses while you cover there's. Oh? I pray my grandson gives you a good answer. Hahaha given his family history, a fool is very much in all Tamoyo and Mizushima boys. It’s a good trait to be infected with. I am glad to hear he's making positive waves indeed," the old man chuckled.

"Well anything else before I hand you back to my soon-to-be-challenged grandson," Allo asked.

“Hmm... Not for now, though I’ve taken up enough of your time for today, though I do hope to have a chance to speak with you again.” With a slight bow, Mari heads off to find Agi, he shouldn’t have gone far.

"Whenever you want miss Nakao don't be a stranger," Allo chuckled as she went on her way. It wouldn't be hard to find him as he was lounging out at the Yayoi period collection. Once he noticed her he got up with a cautious look.

"So what evil knowledge did he bestow upon you," Agi asked.

"Actually don't tell me I felt the cold chills. So did we want to go out for a bite? My treat wherever you like," Agi said remembering that she had mentioned such an addition to the night.

“Hmm... Somewhere less formal than this, though you are the one in the suit. I would be fine with getting something we could take to a park or somewhere we can just sit in peace, so anything is fine with me really.” Mari says not really having any place in mind. “Though if I must pick a place I may have an idea or two.”

“Well if you’re not against a long drive I have a place in mind,” Agi offered as they headed out. It was a slightly longer drive to a more empty part of the countryside away from the city life. Parking at a nature sight there was a notable ramen stand. Getting out yet again opening the door for his lovely tag along over to the stand where an old man nodded at them.

“You will never have ramen of any kind better than here I promise you, or I’ll carry you through the forest piggyback,” Agi joked as he pulled her chair out. The view around was rather well suited to the ocean behind the stand bringing in the soft ocean air as the forest below gave a hint of peaceful nature in the small whispers of the nightlife.

“Ramen is okay, but I know of an open grill for oysters and even some fish.” She says as they get their food and find a place to sit at, overlooking a forest and sea in the distance. “Hmm.. Some time has passed, we should get ready to head back, but first, a little reward for you and some parting words;”


“Irregular toy blocks are scattered all around the floor…
The stacks collapse, and the remains form another stack..”


And so she carries on for a few minutes, singing a song of forgetting and remembering, of carrying on to another time and clutching one's memories dearly.

With that she smiles a bit and then speaks. “I will not lie to you Agi-san, your position and family are pluses, but I rather enjoyed this night and I am curious to give one another a try. While I won’t do some things with you there are others I can give and will offer. I do not expect an answer now, but at the Aquarium it would be nice. We can tour it as a proper date or we can just forget or remember this little memory while going our own ways. I am not a woman that will just be treated lightly, nor will I treat a significant person in such a manner. So think this question through.”

“Hmm you’ll have to take me there sometime,” Agi chuckled as he enjoyed the view. He watched as Mari got up apparently about to give some sort of reward, but what he got instead was a mesmerizing experience of some rather very impressive singing from Mari.

“That was really good honestly I wasn’t expecting such a talent… heh you should get Aika, and Yori to make a group band with Haya on the guitar you could rule the world with a voice like that,” Agi honestly answered albeit a little silly. Than came a very unexpected offer in equal measure. Though they had joked about it being a date Agi had seen this all as a way to hang out with a friend.

“To be fair I appreciate your honesty Mari, and this night was fun. Yet before I can answer such a thing honestly I would rather get to know you as a friend first. Don’t get me wrong you are an amazing girl, but I know little of you as well as you know me. Jumping straight into a relationship so early could very well be disastrous on both are parts… so let’s make sure we can be friends first,” Agi requested not to say she wouldn’t be a great girlfriend, but really it was too early to say if such a thing could work between them Agi was a rather defiant type not holding himself back whereas Mari was a political powerhouse that wanted things a certain way. It was hard to say if such personalities would match up well. So it made sense to be friends first.

Pausing to consider his response a bit she smiles a bit. “Oh well, can’t blame me for trying first. Though very well, if that is your wish, though now I may need to sing for others.” Swishing her tail around she just smiles it off.

“Though yes it is possible we wouldn’t work out that well. And someone like you likely has others that are interested I’ll admit. Though with that answer given and my attempt fruitless aside, we really should head back now, I do not exempt myself from my own rules. As to the band, I would say Isa is more likely, you’ll be a bit surprised if that comes to pass and as to my expectations.”

And so things ended on a civil note at least.


Waiting till all of the class was out, Ota kept his vision firmly planted on Kaizen, hands clasped behind his back, he remains smiling, before lowering his hands on the desk and standing up, though shorter than the Bugster, Ota had a way about him to not seem the small man in the room.

“So, care to guess why I asked for you to stay?”

Kaizen wasn’t sure what his reasoning was, but he had a few good guesses. “I can see a plethora of reasons. Is it because of my disappointing performance as the team leader? The fact that the villains managed to get away with the spoils they came for? The untold amount of injuries our team indirectly caused through our intervention.” Kaizen didnt seem angry at all, since he was already expecting it. He was merely listing down the possible reasons he had to call him.

“Well you have a valid introspect for self Criticism, but no. In each of your fights I’ve noted an emerging pattern and I would like a sparr with you and some of my ice weapons to see if I can help you correct it before it becomes more of a problem.” Ota says.

“Hmm very well. I am never one to turn down a challenge, especially from one such as yourself, Mr Ota.” This was strange, normally it was him issuing the challenge. “May I ask, what exactly do you find, problemattic with me? Are you referring to my fighting style?” Kaizen took a shot in the dark, but considering that they were sparring, it shouldn’t be too far from the mark.

“You’ll see in short order. Let us just say I specialize in fighting cases like you, but let’s not put either into the hospital, I do know how much you like to go all out. Let’s call it a duel with Halberds, first to three strikes wins.”

With that he leads the bug out to the field and forms two of the polearms with his quirk and a field of ice to battle upon, a bit sleek he tosses the other to the bugster and starts out with the most strange of kickoffs.

“Tell me Kaizen, what is it like to be so strong yet so weak? How is it to see yourself bested again and again, to meet that fate here again most likely?” Turning his blade in his hands, Ota arranges the weapon behind his back and awaits in a receiving stance. “You wanted to break them, didn't you?”

The bugster caught the staff and gave it a few practice twirls and swings, noting that it was much too light for his liking. But even so, it made for a decent enough weapon. “It frustrates me to no end, but it does provide an opportunity for self improvement.” The bugster took a strange stance, using the pole arm with one arm, while the other remained free. “Yes, that I do not deny. But I stopped, as such force was no longer necessary…... If you are trying to anger me, it’ll take a lot more than that to do the trick.” He patiently waited for him to make the first move, Ota had an advantage with this weapon, so it's only logical for him to be cautious.

“Hmm, shame I was expecting that to work.” With a smile, he decided to attack, launching in from low and below he gets inside of the arc that Kaizen could produce to cut off his range advantage before it came into play, twirling the halberd in his hands, Ota aims for Bugster’s lower forearm and chest.

The bugster has fought opponents who were supposedly more nimble than he was, would Mr Ota prove any different? In response to the sudden attack, Kaizen would stab his halberd into the ground, using it as a pole to lift himself off the ground to avoid his opponent's strike, going for a spinning side kick on his opponent.

With that Ota smiles a bit thinly and drops backwards a bit and launches a sweep kick at the blade and pole which was now off center. “Taking the high ground are we?”

Ota’s kick had succeeded in destabilizing the halberd but the bugster wasn’t about to let him get the better of him that easily. Continuing the momentum he had generated from his spinning kick, he would launch himself to the side, while ripping the halberd off the ground. As his feet landed on the ground, he would dash toward his opponent, striking forward with a flurry of multiple thrusts, once again with one hand aimed at Ota’s center mass, showcasing his superhuman strength and reflexes.

As the bug boy struck out with his power, Ota lifts his halbred into a blocking position and then deploys several ice wall between it and himself to stop the attack as he taps the halberd behind himself. “Kaizen. What would you have done if I could not have defended against that and you had struck me down? A match of three blade hits, of normal strength. In each of your fights you have gotten progressively worse, your bloodlust, what is the cause of it? Why is your power just thrown about so readily be it against friend or foe? UA did not train you that way and this started after what happened with the bus.”

“My apologies, you did not specify that I wasn’t allowed to use my quirk, I shall correct this.” And with, the bugster quickly shed his large exo-skeleton, leaving him in a much more slender form. “I doubt that you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself considering who you are.” The bugster slams the pointed halberd into the ground, shattering the blade bit of it. He proceeded to wrap the head with a thick layer of web. “That should do the trick.” He had effectively turned the weapon into an oversized bud. “Gotten worse? I simply fight with a certain expectation of my opponent, that is all, regardless of how I feel. Besides, every single time I’ve fought my friends they’ve always proven themselves strong or skilled enough to match my strength.” He explained, spinning the staff, trying to get used to the new weight. “We failed that mission because I chose to hold back. My friends got hurt, and that's something I want to avoid in the future.” Kaizen raised the now blunt spear and pointed towards his opponent. “But if you have alternative solutions, I am all ears.” He wasn’t ignorant of his nature, but he felt that it was necessary to carry out his duties. If the teacher was gonna suggest an alternative, he would gladly listen.

“Your forms take time to fix, or to form, rather So you have defaulted towards the most powerful one in all cases, what if you have to face something weaker? That could end up on the morning news as a pro hero murdering? You aren’t safe from an ambush just because you pick your most armored form. I’m saying watch the power you put into a battle and learn finesse over power.. As I said in a direct battle clash you could likely beat me, but if you go at all problems like you are a wrecking ball, only ANVIL would have use for you and I can tell you we fight less than heroes do.” Ota says.

"Actually, this is classified as one my weaker forms, I haven't had the chance to use the stronger one…" he explained while still listening to the lesson he was trying to convey. "Then I'll hold back, I'm always holding back. Unfortunately that hasn't resulted in my friends getting injured. Think about this, if I had KOed CCMM with single strike, then I could have helped Katsumi with Transfora and she wouldn't have end up in the hospital. Had I KOed Burgeon sooner, he wouldn't have been able to spread out his explosive spines as his swansong." The bugster sighed as he charges at him feigning anger and frustration, he looked like he was going for a direct attack when suddenly he would lower his body for a sliding strike, aiming for one of his leg instead.

“I see I and the Principle may be worrying for little reason then. Still… We have a match to finish, though the face of a bug man is difficult to read.”

As the match started back off, Ota notices the slide during the fakeout, at first guarding high he then allows the polearm to slide down his hands and puts it forward to reach the hit rule, even as the bugster continued for the legs. “You would do better under the guard dog I think.”

"Exactly why I use this face and body. It betrays no emotion, no pain, both of which are liabilities during combat." The bugster explained his reasoning for staying in bug form. "Why are you and the principal worried about me anyways?" He had some hunches but he'd rather not assume. "Who's this guard dog of Anvil. You guys seem to hype her up a lot." Upon scoring points on each other the bugster quickly backflipped away, creating some distance between the two. "Who knows? maybe I'll get a chance to fight her some day." Kaizen switched his stance, grabbing the halberd with both arms. "Show me what you got." He beckoned Ota, hoping to see his prowess with his weapon of choice.

“I did say we were playing for points not skins, I’m starting to wonder if you are a bug or some sort of savage.” Ota says at that, but obliges nonetheless.

“As to the guard dog, that is Isa’s mother, you should try going to talk to her, her presence can be felt. Anyways, we should end this.” With that Ota sweeps the blade low, if Kaizen was going to take this so far, then he might as well himself. Touching his blade into the ground a row of ice walls formed lining the side of Bugster, with blades forming atop it, all pointing downwards as if to be archer bolts sat to rain down upon him. “As to that, she is concerned you may lose your way in why you are so eager to fight. For now I will watch, but lets see how well you withstand this.” Swinging the polearm down, the wall of Ice unleashes its barrage as the instructor stands there in place.

"And here I thought we weren't allowed to use our powers." Normally bugster would fall back to burrowing into the ground, the thick layer of ice over it would make it too slow for him to take that option.

And so, he decided to try out a new move. He began spinning at blurring speeds, using a few explosions to increase his rotation. With the staff in hand, he would use his weapon body armor to deflect and shatter as many of the bolts as he can. When the attack was finally over, despite shattering most of the bolts, there were a few that got through, sticking awkwardly onto a few areas on the bugster. Although they didn't seem to do any notable damage, a point was still a point.

"Well, you got me." He said, with a slight disappointment in his tone. Kaizen began pulling off the bolts on his body. "I see, so Isa 's mother is guard dog of Anvil." Isa never specifically stated that her ma was part of Anvil but given her strength derived from her quirk he wasn't that surprised. "Where can I find her?" He asked as politely as ever despite almost being turned into a pincushion.

“Hmm.. Game and match I would say.” Waving his hand the ice shatters and vanishes, not doing too much damage to the bug as he smiles. “Powers are fair game, considering the polearms were meant to score the points and you went for a kick. Either way, you can find her at the medical ward, likely. She’s not left just yet, or I would have been told.” Ota adds in.

"Hmm. Very well. Thank you. You have given me some food for thought." Kaizen played around with the polearm in his arm once more, finishing off with a wide flourish before stabbing it into the ground. "I need something with more heft to it." He said to himself. "And do not worry, I will endeavour to stay on path of plus ultra. That being said, won't hesitate to use force when necessary." The bugster reassured him that he will remain somewhat heroic.

“Fair enough, I’ll be watching you but I’ll let the Principle know I don’t think we need to worry about you. Though ease up a bit on being on edge all the time, if not grey hair, you’ll have grey exoskeleton before you are my age.” With that Ota gives a wave and turns to look at the school building, lost in his own thoughts.

The bugster waved back at Ota, noting that he needed to do a proper rematch with him some time soon. He is a good man, but that didn't mean Kaizen didn't want to fight him. He made his way to the medical ward. Ota's words were still on his mind. He was told to "ease up on the edge". Such a strange term, but it probably meant he needed to loosen up a little. Based on what Ota told him, this woman was likely one hell of a fighter, one he could not wait to meet.

As Kaizen made his way back from where he came and down to the medical building, he would enter to head to the patient's area where Isa was. Exiting the room was a woman with partially flame tattered clothing yet an intact undersuit, with muscle and a tremendous number of scars, ANVIL rank markings were engraved from metal pins at her neck, but otherwise she was a middle age looking woman. Though one thing would be noticeable to Kaizen of note, the woman gave off an unmistakable air of danger, akin to a force of nature rather than emotionally guided destruction.

The bugster had only felt this aura of danger once before during his encounter with Isa, where he asked her to punch him. It was unmistakable, the only difference being it was about 100 times more potent. Even though they had never met, he was certain that she was the one he had been looking for. That smell of burned clothes was likely due to a more recent fight. He briefly wondered whether Hideki had actually tried to fight her or perhaps it was some other flame user. “Hail, Ms Suguro. It is an honor to finally meet you in person.” He casually walked forward and offered a handshake, despite the menacing aura she had. The bugster had a strange attraction toward people like her, where most people would run, he would move forward and talk to them instead.

“I’ve already fought one of you.” She says in simple reply as she turns to look the other in the eye. Rolling her shoulders a little, in spite of her aura she seemed rather pleased and in good spirits all things considered. “Asides from that, is there anything I can help you with?”

“Well, based on what I heard of you as well as my few sparring matches with your daughter, our fighting styles are quite similar. As such, I would like to learn from the best.” He explained in a simple manner, no one else in the school shared or approved of his fighting style, so it would only make sense to seek advice from someone who does.

“I don’t think you want to be learning from me unless you come my way when you are done here. And I’m not sure I can teach you much. The nature of our quirks means it’s in the blood in a manner. I enact my will with faith, with the greater good in mind. I simply see an obstacle and unless those above me tell me otherwise I remove it, along with whatever else is in the way. You could only learn from me by tagging along and I don’t do Hero Studies.”

She says in response, suppressing a chuckle at the first bit. “Plus I can’t say I know why you fight, why would I want to make you more dangerous?”

“Well, it was worth a shot I suppose.” He replied with a chuckle, he had a feeling she would decline. “Oh, but I'm fairly certain you’re definitely the one I need to learn from. I have a very similar mindset towards hero work to you.” He explained. “Besides, wouldn’t it be easier for you to steer me on the right path while I am training under you.” Kaizen finished. The bugster was ready to enter the room to meet Isa if she was done

“Hmm, I do not see what I do as hero work, but the work that must be done. The people are my concern and I don’t do favors, if you end up under me it is as you proved worthy enough in the selection.. I’ll remember you I’m sure.” With that she gives a polite bow and walks away, heading back to the central yard of the campus.

“We shall see then.. Thank you for your time.” He gave a respectful bow before knocking on Isa's room. “Isa, it’s me, the bugster.” He didn't know the extent of her injuries, but considering who she was, it must have been pretty severe to warrant some recovery time. “It this a good time to come in?” He asked.

“Huh? Dammit, why do so many of you do that? Yeah sure, just no fighting.” She says at the door greeter. “And yer name is Kaizen, yah damn bug man!” She says with a huff, holding her side a bit, she really shouldn’t be shouting like this.

“I think that goes without saying.” Kaizen wasn’t looking for a fight.

“You didn’t feed your arms to the bus this time I see! Heh! I traded places with yah though.” She says in simple reply.

“Well, good thing both of us heal good then right?” he joked. He knew she would be durable enough to withstand physical onslaughts, but come back from a large stab wound like that was still a feat. “So, how are you holding up? Heard you did a number on that large samurai. He must have been pretty tough considering the teacher specifically told me and Vig to avoid fighting him alone.” he wanted to know who was capable of injuring one of the strongest in the class.

“Yeah, I was pushing him back when and where I could, so he’s not stronger than me, but it’s a whole lot of something to stop, I can’t stop two fists the size of my body almost. Yamoshi helped a lot too, I dunno where I would be without his help..”

Thinking back to it she smirks a bit. “Neat thing..or neat is that my and ma’s regen focuses on what is most important to the body, like organs, or poisons in the blood, and it treats those first, then takes care of the minor stuff, like in the case of Ma, her scars… But anyways he clipped some of my internals and took out my left lung, I was bleeding all over the place like a slaughtered fuck’n cow. He then turned the blade and that really fucked me over, broke two ribs, sword was longer than you are told but just high quality steel, I was eventually able to break it cause you know, even giant swords are thin, pulled it out.. Starting to think that was a mistake. He was trying to capture me though, I’m sure of that, bit the shit out of his hand, being what the hell sort of horror it was it don’t think much..er well likely at all.” Isa adds at the end.

“That bald guy that was fight’n Goto seems to be the master.”

“Well, whatever it is, I am glad that you are on your way to making a full recovery. I think I would have to stay in a cocoon awhile after something like that.” If what she told him was true, that Isa really was as hard to kill as he was, maybe even more so. He was thankful for that, considering the injuries they gave each during their spars. “Capture you say? I wouldn’t be surprised, I’ve heard durable people like us are highly sought after for experimenting on. That’s probably what happened to the samurai based on what I’ve read on his dossier.” The case was pretty similar to an old supervillain practice where they would use dead bodies to create mindless henchmen called nomus.

“Rest assured, Isa. If we ever encounter him again, we’ll be sure to finish what you started.” He assured his friend that this enemy will be dealt with accordingly if they ever cross paths with him. “Speaking of your ma, you didn’t tell me she was with Anvil! She seems like a pretty nice person to me!” Bugster seemed surprised she wouldn’t outright tell him who she was, but then again he never asked directly. “Bald guy, he must have been the one on the screen. When fighting a few robots underground, a flying drone came by with a bald man on the screen. I’d wager that those robots were his creations. Much stronger than whatever we use as training bots.” He added before palming his fist. “The list of villains with punchable faces just keeps getting longer and longer.” he chuckled, looking forward to delivering them some justice, with force if necessary.


“Fuck’n A.” She says at his last bit, before grunting a bit to think on the rest. “Most people figure it out cause of the strength and name, plus the aura shit, though mine ain’t so bad… Though I do think after all this I’ll try training for real.”

“As to Ma, she’s not as bad as a lot of people think, heart is in the right place more often than not but most people just can’t accept how brutal she is. And yeah I think that is why they were after me too, I ain’t that dumb, or mighty been to hit at Ma, she’s been doing this a long time.. But huh maybe he was after you too. We better watch our backs huh?” Isa adds in.

“Heh, I can relate to that.” Kaizen was no stranger to violence, in fact to some people he relished it. “If they wanted to capture me, then they should have sent more bots, or at least someone stronger.” Kaizen has a tendency to go ambushed and blindsided by his enemies, fortunately for him, he usually retaliates with explosive force to render surprise attacks moot. But he has feeling that one day he will find himself facing a villain he just can’t break with his fist alone. Which is why he ordered a weapon.

“I wouldn’t be surprised considering my history, I mean kinda did leave my clan unceremoniously, they usually don’t take too kindly to that.” Outcasts in his clan were known to be treated especially harshly, they would even go as far as to send “retrievers” to bring them back. Fortunately for Kaizen, he hasn’t met any strong enough to best him. “For all I know, someone in my family probably sold off some information about me. I hope that isn't the case, I would prefer not to fight with my family.” The bugster clearly still had mixed feelings about leaving his family, but he wasn’t ready to forgive them just yet.

“Huh..sounds tough, my family doesn’t do shit like that at least..well sorta.” Isa says at last, chuckling a little at that. “Though yeah, I dunno if your family would be working with that guy, doesn’t seem the type, gotta be something else going on.”

"Yeah you're probably right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid." He laughed a bit, noting perhaps he's been jumping to conclusions. However, they did find something tying back to the animalia syndicate, so perhaps his assumption isn't so far fetched. "I'll let you finish your rest and recuperation. I was worried when I heard you got injured, but it seems that my concern was misplaced. Rest well. The sooner you get better the sooner we can go out and continue delivering justice out there." There were so many out there that remained unpunished. It always helped to have an additional set of fist to do the pounding.

Ever since the mission had concluded, Yamoshi had felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach. He knew she would be okay, but Isa’s condition had worried him. Everything had worried him. What he’d seen, what he felt, all blended into something beyond any emotion he’d felt before. He didn’t realize just how bad things would get as a hero. Even his parents' stories when he made the decision to try and be one hadn’t quite solidified the horrors that might befall him or those around him.

Still, as he approached the door to Isa’s room, he took a deep breath. “Yooo!” He put on his usual cheerful place. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to be all gloomy and what not. “Can I come in?” he asked, giving a small knock on the door to accompany his greeting.

“Huh?” Isa hears the knock and yell and was tempted to yell in response, but was unable to do so for now without bringing about more pain to herself. “Yeah!” She says in response wencing a little, she didn’t know why he bothered to knock, no one else did.

Yamoshi opened the door, walking in cautiously. “Hey Isa,” he said, looking around the room. Was her mom there? Was there a doctor or anyone else? Was her mom there?! He had to be sure. That woman could be pretty scary, in a beautiful amazonian kinda way. “How are ya doin? You were pretty banged up after that fight,” he said, wanting to make sure that she was okay as he approached the bed so she wouldn’t need to talk as loudly.

“Heheh...oww...Well still hurts to laugh, but I’ve been better, been worse sorta! Also thanks for backing me up.” It seemed they were mostly alone minus the school nurse off at her desk in the back. “But yeah, I should be alright in a couple more days or so.”

"Phew," Yamoshi wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead. He sucked in a breath. "Shit, I'm glad you're okay." Yamoshi had been worried she would be in way worse condition still. Luckily, that hadn't been the case. "As for helping you out..." He shook his head. "Anyone would do the same. You're a good friend, Isa. Besides, the world can't afford to lose a beautiful girl on the battlefield, ya know?"

Starting to laugh at that again she holds her side. “Oow. Me, beautiful? That's a good one! Well, I’m not bad looking, but several of the girls in the class pass me up big time, and yeah I can be a good friend! But one thing at a time!” She says of him as she smiles a bit. “Sides, you shouldn’t get so worked up.. I mean yeah I got pretty fucked up, but so was the bus team last mission. We tend to get a few people hurt every mission, if you worry like that for all of em you’ll just ruin your health with worry you know?” The Oni sits up a bit in her bed to better speak with him.

"Thinking someone looks better doesn't mean you suddenly look worse. You stack up against the best of 'em Isa," Yamoshi said calmly, slipping his hands into his pocket's as the girl adjusted herself to better speak to him. "Besides, beauties about more than just look ya know." Maybe that was a bit of a confusing statement, but it was true. There were a shit ton of factors. "As for worrying, I've at least gotta worry about the people I see get hurt in front of me don't I? Even if I know you'll be alright, nothing wrong with double checkin here and there. Especially when something like laughing is giving you trouble."

“Heh, maybe I should dress in my robes with my hair fixed up again when this is all over. And thanks, I don’t mind the company at least.. And then we got the aquarium trip, that’ll be fun! So..uh..how have you been?” Isa was a lot more used to other people leading the conversation a little bit and with his dead on lines towards her she was a bit unsure of how to respond. “Or somethin you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh that I gotta see~” Yamoshi smiled, for a moment imagining Isa in her robes and done up hair. It was sure to be a sight to see for the usually more tomboyish girl. “As for me… Well I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Didn’t exactly have a plan.” Yamoshi rarely did. He kind of just went with the flow. “Still…” he paused. Thinking about the mission once more. The corpse within the mechanical monstrosity had thrown him a bit. Watching his classmate struck down as the others just barely managed to save two people from death’s door hadn’t done much better. “I guess I’ve been a bit better, but that’s par for the course in the hero world.” He laughed a little bit. “Speaking of the Aquarium trip, anything you’re looking forward to?”

“Swimming with the sharts and other fishes and the other water labs! And all the shellfish you can eat! Though idk if I wanna stay in the underwater lodges ot the hero lodges up top. Bit of an adventure could be fun!” As if struck by a thought she speaks up. “Oh yeah, Maybe Haya, Aika and I can put on a rock show, I wanna do some covuls for you all. Hehe, I so want out of here.”

“How about you?”

Seeing the girl’s enthusiasm sky rocket like that made Yamoshi’s smile grow wider. He was pretty excited himself. It all sounded like some damn good fun. “Hell yeah! I’m having trouble deciding everything that I wanna do honestly. It all sounds so good!” He cheered, hands leaving his pockets once more, now balled into excited fists. “And if you guys put on a show, I’ll definitely be there front and center dancing my ass off. I’ll just have to worry about finding a partner since you’ll be busy rocking the house down,” he mused excitedly. “You better hurry and get better, Isa, cause now I’m getting pumped~” That much was clear. “Then again, maybe we can shove a song or two on Aika and Haya so you can join me for a dance yourself.”

“Heh. Alright then, maybe all three of us can tank turns, though Aika might turn sour at that, heh. I’m game for it though. Bit tired for anything much else, but eh a dance sounds nice enough. Though ink if any they music I got in mind is good for dancin you know.”

“Worst comes to worst, we sway to the music. There’s always somethin you can do, yeah?” Yamoshi gave the girl a little grin. “After all, how’s that old saying go? Where there’s a wallaby there’s… no… Will! Where there’s a will there’s a way,” he couldn’t help laughing a little at that. “Pfft, wallaby… I’ve been spending too much time with my pops.” He shook his head. “Speaking of, I heard he could go a few rounds with your mom back in the day. She still as scary as everyone thinks she is?”
Waving a dismissive hand at that, Isa speaks.“Eh, she’s not that bad, but some people are just wary of her, gotta know how to talk to her, be respectable. But yeah I’m sure we can find something to do, yeah. I got a rock song of sorts I wanna do. Ma though is only as scary as she needs ta be. Though better be on good behavior with her or else.’

“Heh, I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t wanna be on either of your bad sides, I guess,” Yamoshi replied, a little calmer now. “After all, I’m pretty sure either of you could kick my ass up and down the Suppression campus,” he joked, laughing. Well… half joked. He knew damn well Kanna could beat his ass. Isa… well she probably could too if he didn’t give it his all right from the get. Luckily, he was on their side. “Respect is an important thing. I like the shit talk as much as the next guy, but even I know when to get serious and all that.”

“Yeah pretty much, though a guy as smooth talking as you is wasting his time on the Oni when there are many others yah could use them for… Minus a couple they don’t have dangerous family members.” Isa adds in.

“Smooth talking? Me?” Yamoshi laughed a little at that. He did have a way about him, apparently, but that was usually just cause he treated everyone, more or less the same. “Well, I guess you could say that. But hey, a pretty Oni could always use a little love too.” Oh yeah… he heard it that time. “Hah, although that could just mean having a pal to throw back a drink or two with, or a dance partner on standby for when other idiots don’t recognize your greatness.”

“Haha. I dunno about that, someone on standby while drink’n doesn’t sound like they’ll be too good at the dance’n. Though I wouldn’t mind a drink.. Nurse would beat me down for saying that I bet. But yeah, you and the boys should set up a guys night out or something, though a lot of the guys I think are too straight laced for that.” Isa says in response.

“Not my fault they can’t handle a little drink,” Yamoshi replied with a small shrug. “But then again, ya don’t need to do both. A drink isn’t needed to have a little fun, ya know.” He could certainly handle a drink here and there, but Yamoshi wasn’t a proponent of needing it to have a good time. He could get by just fine without. “Still, you’re probably right. Just one of the reasons I wanna get a Dorm party going. Get everyone to loosen up a little bit.” Well, that was the hope anyway. There was no telling that Yamoshi could actually make that happen.

Grinning at that, Isa found Yamoshi was spirited if nothing. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind it, bring my console down to the main room or find a karaoke machine, though good luck getting the class rep of approving it, well unless it was more simple with no alcohol, she might go for that. Or try talking to Ota sensei, though that might be even harder than the cat.”

“Well what they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em,” Yamoshi said with a hearty laugh. “Course, I don’t imagine I could very much get away with it.” He gave a little hum, stroking his chin lightly. “Guess I could try sneakin something in, but something simple wouldn’t be any trouble. I could make some food, put on some music, etc.” Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. “I’ll be counting on you to help out when the time comes, just so ya know.”

“Heh, sure, see yah around!” Isa says letting him go about his way as she slides back down to rest, a party could be some fun at least.


Sitting in her room, Isa had a few people to visit so far, but she was not expecting who came next, with a few painkillers running through her system, she squints a bit as if to confirm who she was seeing. “Kuroi? Damn, I ain’t about to die and you came here to laugh at me, did yah?” She says with a bit of a smirk on her face, not minding his presence.

Kuroi wasn’t sure what he was doing entering the oni’s den, but he did hear that her team got hit pretty bad, or Isa did at least. It was fairly prevalent considering her appearance and how she squinted like a grandma to see him.

“The fuck happened to you?” Kuroi questioned, deadpanning a bit. It wasn’t her that he minded, but her mother, though he had expected that she didn’t fully believe him when he explained last time. “Ha. Ha.”

“A giant fucking samurai ran his sword that make Kaizen look like a tooth pick through me and I broke it in half… Ha ha?” Glaring at him a bit she shakes her head. “Deflated a lung, broke some bones.. Body is healing it up.. I used to take what I got from ma for granted, but Ma is a lot tougher because she’s been hurt so much more..every scar has its own story.. Her body is honed in for it.. But me? I didn’t do shit the quirk didn’t already give me… Eh, ignore me, so what brings yah here?”

“...What.” A giant samurai. Well, she looked like one fucked her up at least. “I thought you wanted me to laugh.”

It certainly wasn’t a morale boost to see one of the class’ tanks this damaged. She brought up her mother again, which wasn’t a topic he wanted to think of. The woman was honed, but also had a death glare that made two bloodied terrorists fond of her. Kuroi wasn’t sure she should be admiring her scars.

“What, you want to get your ass kicked more?” Kuroi questioned before his expression softened a bit. “Just checking on people… How long are you going to be out?”

“Heh, hell no.. But I do need to seriously train after all this. I can’t just keep going with the flow, and uh in a few more days, I should be good to go by time of the Aquarium trip, but I shouldn’t try fighting anyone durning it. Afterwards I should be fine.” Isa says in response.

"That's going with the flow…?" If that was her relaxed, Kuroi didn't want to see what trying lead to. Worst-case she becomes a Kanna. "All that and you're only out two days?"

“Eh well I won’t be at 100% till later, the main thing giving me trouble is just how big of a hole he tore in me, lung is..alright. So I should be good as new, err well before all this by the time we go back out. I mean at least I didn’t get a fuck’n chainsaw took to me like the three last time.”

Isa says in reply. “And yeah, I mean I dunno about your family, but mine fights a lot or spars, what ever you wanna call it. I mean I tried pretty damn hard in that fight with him, but i’ve never really tried to train short of basic fitness shit and counting on my quirk.”

Kuroi eyed the wound, wondering just how badly she was torn up. Forget the kid at the resort, that might have messed with him more.

"Is it actually alright or ...alright," He questioned, mimicking her pause. "Mine does too, but we also train to control our quirks… You’ve gotten this far off not working on your quirk?"

It made him wonder why she enrolled if she was just taking things as they came. She wasn't the arrogant type, so did she even have much of an interest in being a hero, or was it something else?

“Eh, It tends to self improve with effort or taking hits and recovering, Ma’s muscles are about like hitting a wall, but she works out every day and has for years. And eh it’s Alright, it’s fixing itself, I don’t even need the mask now. So I should be good to go in a couple more days. So it’s not like I don’t work on it, I just haven’t made it a daily thing.” Isa’s own reason for being a hero was something else all together, though she wasn’t about to bring that up as she looked up at him.

“I just need to get stronger.. So minus coming to see me what have you been up to, your mission had anything neat?”

"So you have a regen factor," Kuroi mused. His own quirk brought nothing like that really, though he was quite resistant to cuts given he could control the blood that would normally pour out. "So getting your ass kicked makes you stronger."

At the question of his own mission, he sighed. He had semi recovered from the sight, but still it wasn't as if walking on some kid's body didn't affect him.

"If murder's neat, then sure," Kuroi said with folded arms. They saved some other people and that girl from being the scapegoat, but whoever did it was still out there. "Someone killed one of the kids on a trip there. Then there was an avalanche and a lot of other people almost died."

“Uh.. Something like that, though not exactly.” She says at the ass kicking getting stronger remark.

Listening to his own mission she felt a bit bad for asking that but knew saying sorry wouldn’t really help anything, taking a more somber expression she says; “I see. Never an easy day is it? But you all came back better than I did and the keyword there is Almost, so you did your job yeah?”

“Suppose so… though to be honest, I would’ve rather helped you with the samurai,” Kuroi said, rubbing the back of his neck. Even if he got hurt, at least that would’ve been a straightforward fight. He might’ve been able to minimize the injuries as well. He didn’t want to turn it into a pity party for himself though. She was the one in a bed. “Ah… so are you going to be strapped to this bed for the two days or are they going to let you go home?”

“Eh, I'd rather go back to my room, but they want to keep me here till the trip day, or day before. So it’s gonna be very last minute for me to pack, and eh I dunno if you want to fight that guy. I think he would even give Ma some trouble..well depending on how much she wanted it dead..er again… Not strong as either of us, but there is a whole lot of him to go around, had like fuck’n tank armor to protect itself, fucker just runs through trees.. Hell might be better to think of it as a tank than a Person… though it sorta just makes me so mad.. Not that I got so messed up, but that someone could and would do that to what used to be a person, that Doc is all sorts of fucked in the head.” Isa says in response.

“Well, yeah. If I fought you or Agi by trying to wrestle you I bet I’d get my ass kicked too,” Kuroi stated simply. “Tank armor though… Can’t say I’ve ever tried cutting some.”

Though something else made him raise a brow, and it wasn’t the mention of the demon ogre. Someone made it from a person?

“What do you mean? What Doc?” He questioned her, momentarily getting sidetracked from his original train of thought.

“That guy from before that was at the chemical place, he made it, but it’s kinda like a corpse puppet or something, reminds me of the Nomu shit from years ago. He taunted us and was pissed a bit, did the whole crazed laughter and threatened to self destruct the machine, I fell over cause I was bleeding like a fuck’n stuck pig and Yamoshi hit the dirt. Then the fucker had the nerve to laugh and ran off through the trees with his cyborg. Kaizen came by earlier, seems he sent some machines after him too.” She says by way of explanation.

“Mad scientist huh…” Kuroi wasn’t sure what to make of that. The Nomu were far before his time, though he did know of them. “We’ll fuck him up. Showboats like that always get what’s coming to them.”

Someone like that didn’t sound like they wanted to keep hidden. Eventually that would bite him in the ass, crafty or not. It reminded him of his dad and caused him to wonder what motivation drove the doctor. Doing something like that wasn’t a normal villain that just wanted to avoid getting thrown away.

“Ah,” Pausing, he recalled his original train of thought and dug in his shorts pocket before producing a small hand-held. It was one of the older models, but seemed to have been taken care of. “You like games, right? You can borrow my handheld if you want since you’re going to be stuck here.” He didn’t originally come here for this, but might as well since she was like this.

Looking to see what he had, Mari had liked the gifts that Katsumi had brought, a music player and some beef sticks, but there were only a few preloaded songs on it and she had no means to get more of her own unless she asked someone else to do it. And it would have to be one of the girls. With wide eyes and a smile it may have been an older handheld but it gave her something to do other than stare at walls for the next couple of days. “Ahhah! Thanks Kuroi! I’ld give yah a hug but I think that would just hurt us both! Ah I’ve had nothing to do in here but sleep and take painkillers.”

Seeing the girl’s gleeful reaction, it was odd in a way. He could only assume that it was out of an automatic comparison within his mind between her and her mother. It did make a statement as to how different the two were. He couldn’t imagine the ogre with such an innocent smile on her face.

He smirked and passed the system over to her. It had a cartridge already inserted and another tucked into a rear storage slot. “I’m pretty sure you could still break my back like this,” He said bemused. “I’d be pretty bored too sitting around in here. “

Smiling at that, it was one thing that was rather nice. “I’ll give it back to yah when I’m out of here! Also we should likely hang out sometime really! Hell maybe at the Aqaurium? Err.. I know Ma can be a bit scary but I don’t think she hates you.. So just don’t worry about it, I could get Aunt Ayame to help me out if she gives you trouble, call that my thanks… Err, well you know for this. Plus it’s nice to find another gamer.”

“No rush… and sure, sounds good. You know, we play games sometimes. You can come hang out with us if you want; another person to help me piss off Goto.” She was actually rather nice it seemed, though when she began talking about “ma” he folded his arms and rose a brow in suspicion. “What about your mom and Ayame?”

Clenching her jaw at that, it wasn’t like she was fully ignorant of Kuroi’s existence or his family situation. Isa herself didn’t know all the details and didn’t really want to get into it, nor to cause Kuroi problems… Though that might not be avoidable, given his parents fought the parents of like half the class. “Look, I asked yah to not judge me because of my blood, so I’m gonna extend the same to you. Sides from the sounds of it you’ll have to face her sooner or later. I don’t know all the details, and I don’t want to know them all. As far as I see it you are Kuroi, a guy in the class that did something nice for me. Even if other people bring it up sooner or later. Or maybe Especially if they do.”

Kuroi frowned a bit at that as his expression blanked. He didn’t respond right away or make any visible changes, but it did cause him to grow a bit more solemn. People bringing it up was only half of it; the other half was Kanna herself, and apparently she would be at the aquarium for one reason or the other.

For him, the image of her that was rooted in his mind was the memory of peeking around his mother and seeing that towering monster with a death glare. It wasn’t a matter of simple dislike, but fear.

“Right…” He finally said. His usual blank expression made it difficult to tell how much he took to heart what she said. Turning to leave, he gave her a small wave. “Either way, I’ll see you when you get out.”

Waving at him going away, she felt he might have a better day, or hoped.

However it was not clear if that were the case as Kanna Stood right behind him, having likely been looking through the door for some time. Looking down and Kuroi a bit sternly she shen smiles. “None of us were able to bring her anything to make her that happy.. And I’ve heard much of your work out of Ota…” Reaching out with a hand, her clothing was a bit battled damage and still as ominous as always, and she lays it atop his head and smiles.

“I learned about forgiveness today. Thank Jett should you see him. Given my daughter’s words and Ayame’s endlies whining,... I will follow my daughters' will. Do anything to hurt her however then that comes back to me… Ah well..”

And with another rub of his head she went away and back into the room. Whatever he happened today put her in a very good mood and seemed to be okay with him spending more time around her.

His mind receding into his own thoughts, Kuroi shoved his hands in his pockets as he left and turned the corner, nearly running into the wall that had been standing there. His shock was prevalent when he realized who it was, recoiling a bit as his eyes widened.

When the hand raised, the smaller boy flinched and his gaze averted as if to brace. Once again, he was stunned when it simply patted him on the head.

Her departure left him wide-eyed and confused, looking back at the doorway wondering what the hell just happened. So many things she said to process, did this mean he was in the clear? Then there was Jet and what she said about Isa being taught. Whether luck or whatever else, he felt it was best not to push it and leave the two to their time.
 
Last edited:
  • Sweet
Reactions: Azurian Dream
kaname-tatsuhiko-1.jpg

Hooked up to a few machines, Isa looked a bit miserable and bored out of her mind, grateful for a bit of calm and quiet, yet bored all the same. Still hurting in bit, she still had much to heal but was out of the woods on the worst that could happen, her Mom had made a big deal out of it, but looking back at the scar she had it very well could have been worse than it was.

Ren had heard what happened to Isa, and felt like he should probably check on her. She was tough, he was sure, but he was concerned with her state. So, when he got to the hospital and checked in, he went for her room and knocked before poking his head in, “Isa?” he said as he looked in the room to find her. She looked a little bored, but he was glad that she was okay, for the most part. ”Hey, thought you might have be hurt, you look like you are just bored though. he half teased.

“Both statements are true, but eh, body is doing what it does and I got pain killers, but fuck does this room suck, not even a TV.. You look alright at least.” She offers up with a grin and a thumbs up, even as an IV line dripped from her. “I ain’t even that messed up!”

Ren chuckled, ”No I guess you aren’t.” he moved to find a chair and seat next to her bed, ”So, fair to say your mission turned into shit from what I heard from Yamoshi. Of course, it was unexpected, but you seem to have a grip on it, which is good.” he commented. “So, how long are you in for?”

“Umm.. Well it didn’t go too badly considering I fought some sort of goddamn machine man zombie with a giant Katana and no one died..” Isa says, scratching her head a bit before lowering her hand down. “..It’s not too bad, you collapse for a little while and everyone worries..Really I should be okay by the time of the class vacation.”

Ren smirked, ”I will do my best to keep an eye on you, just to make sure you are on the trip. he assured her. She wasn’t concerned, which he wasn’t surprised by. She was pretty simple and that is why he liked her. But he reached in his pocket and took out a charm, “I got this blessed for you. Yamoshi said you stopped by a shrine, so I thought you might like it. It’s a protection charm, to help you avoid being placed in the hospital too much. Thought you might like not having hospital food. I also thought that you wouldn’t mind if I could take you back, when you’re better. So we can stop to get a meat bowl, before getting back to the dorms. If you don’t mind.

Laughing a bit at that, she moves her hand to her ribs and makes an owie sound. “Jeez, my mother and brother already did that, though what's another one gonna hurt? As to that, whenever I’m able to move around, sure.. No one else has planned to drag me around just yet, if they do then I’ll just need to figure it out then and there.”

Ren smirked as he nodded, "Well. If they do, I don't mind joining if you don't mind." He assured her he was interested in making sure she got back okay."You got more action than I did, on your mission. Are your missions normally that adventurous or was this different?" He asked a little concerned that this was a pattern.

“Uh well last time we got a good match up, the bastard cut me a bit on the surface and ran after he sprayed me in the eyes with something, burned like piss.” Isa says plainly with a shrug of her shoulders. “The bus team had it worse, but hero work is dangerous, you know?”


Ren nodded, with a smirk, ”I know it is. That wasn’t my point, I would rather be in the fire than watch everything burn.” he hoped she understood that he meant he rather be in the fight. He didn’t think she shouldn’t be, but he did think that he would have liked to help her out in her fight. Ren had never been hospitalized for a fight, not even a fist fight, which he rarely got into. So, he didn’t know how much it hurt. From her reaction earlier, it really hurt and she was toughing it out. ”All that is needed for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing; that is why I fight. That is the code I live by and the code I fight for, so I know what you mean.”

“Heh. Better reason than mine at least.” She says in response to Ren. “An don’t go jump’n in any fire over me, I’m tougher than I look, yah should see how big that son of a bitch is in person..well most of it is machine rather than man.. Still been awhile since I got overpowered like that. But yeah, to answer yah from before, I always go at it like that. I see a wall then I’m just going straight through or it’s going straight through me. Just how it is.”

Ren smirked, ”Don’t worry, if you look like you got the fire in hand, I won’t step in. I know you are strong, you obviously are. I just mean that I would. I would do it for any of my teammates. My parents always told me, your team is everything you got out there. Your training can only help you so much, your team makes up for what you lack and builds you to help them in what they lack. But if you need help getting through the wall, I will help you, no questions or expectations asked. he assured her. She was tough, that was clear, but she was still part of his team and still his classmate when it came down to it. He depended on her and wanted her to depend on him, just like everyone else. Of course, his last mission, didn’t go exactly as planned, he messed up by coming in the wrong way and making his team feel like he abandoned them

“Heh, I’ll remember that. I try to trust all of you anyways. So I’ll hold you to that.” She says with a smirk before laying her head back. “Well we all go through it okay. “You’re a pretty good guy yah know, but lots of people been coming around today.”

Ren chuckled, ”I have my moments. But I am sure that you mean a lot to a lot of people. Hero work might be dangerous, but you shouldn't overdo it. It’s good that you let others help you and I will do my best not to disappoint you, if we ever get a chance to work together.” he assured her, but she seemed to be ready for rest. ”As strange as it is, you mind if I stick around a little more. Seeing how bad it got, I think I would feel better if someone was watching over you. A hospital is not as safe for a hero as being around other heroes.”
“Heh, I’m sure we will and eh I don’t mind it, the bed is nice!” the Oni says in response, grinning a bit. “Though from what I seen of yah I dunno if it’ll go much better than working with Haya. Not that it wasn’t bad, just more of I’m in the thick of it yah know?”

Ren tilted his head, “I keep hearing people talk about this Haya and am confused. Is she really part of this class? I mean I heard her name in the announcements, but I was a little lost from my own team to really see her. Is she bad to work with?” he asked curiously. He wondered if she was rude, and more so, if she was more complicated then she had to be.

“Nah she’s okay, just doesn’t fit with me. Likes planning, things to be safe as possible or with tactics. I would rather just jump into the fire and punch it in the face. A bit of violence is good for the soul, eheh.” She offers up.

Ren chuckled, ”I see. Well, you aren’t wrong about that. Some violence is good, I still prefer strategy, but I usually work best in groups. When I can see my team and help out between getting hit and giving hits. he chuckled. The truth was, that her way was not bad either. It was something that was a toss of a coin, plan or no plan, there was never going to be a perfect plan.

“Eh we all do things differently. Yah know how it is. I can’t say plan’n is bad own it’s own, yeah? Just doesn’t suit me. But huh..” A bit lost in thought, Isa closes her eyes, thinking for a bit.

Ren smirked as she closed her eyes, ”Yeah, well, sometimes a plan needs to be on the fly so either way is good, depending on the situation.” he thought that she might be falling asleep, so he just watched her until she said something else. If she didn’t he would be silent and just watch over her for a little while, until she got another visitor or someone told him that he had to leave.

Opening her eyes again she was a bit surprised to see him just standing there, watching, well they were talking before this. “Eh, doesn’t matter right now, anyways you should get on back to the dorms, I’ll be fine. Honest.”

Ren smirked, “I am fine sitting here. You did say I could hang around a little longer. Don’t worry I won’t wake you.” he said before turning away from her and looking towards the window, “I will keep track of time by watching the sky change. If it gets too late I will leave and I will be quiet about it.” he promised as he watched the window.

“Uh.. Would you want someone to just watch you while you sleep?” Isa asks with a blank stare, almost deadpan like.

Ren glanced back to her, “Which is why I am looking out the window. I would wait outside, but then if something came through that window, I would be too late to help you. Tough or not, you are still healing from your last fight and I don’t think the hospital will be able to fight something they can’t understand. But if you want, I will put the chair by the window and sit over there.” he suggested. He was sure that she was going to keep thinking he was strange, but he didn’t want anything to happen to his team and that included her, even if they never worked together yet.

Sighing a bit at that she nods towards the window. “Sure, do what you want, though if I catch you smelling me or some shit I’ll deck you one.” She didn’t think he would do that, or so she hoped, but voicing the threat was good enough, plus it wasn’t like she had the whole floor to herself, and while neither sought the other out she had heard tell that Vigridis had been sent here as well, to the Medical ward that is. Shutting her eyes, Isa lets sleep take her with a mixture of painkillers.

Ren smirked, “Promise.” he whispered as he turned back to the window and waited. He counted the leaves and clouds, he imagined old stories and after a few hours he yawned. Nothing had happened and he turned to Isa and smirked. It was going to be dark soon, so he should get back. He moved to the window and opened it slightly as he used his Telekinesis to pull a leaf from the tree. When he had it, he closed the window and looked for something to write with, leaving a little note on the leaf and placing it on her table. It said: See you at the aqua -Ren
Ren had thought about the mission and sighed as he knocked on Hideki’s door. He had thought about it a lot, and the more he thought about it the more he thought he should talk to Hideki. Even if it wasn’t that bad of a mission, he felt like something was bothering him. And he felt like he made a mistake. He had to let Hideki know and to figure out how he was going to figure out what was going on. So, he waited, hoping to find Hideki in his room and that he would get some kind of answer that didn’t mean he was going to have to give up something.

Hideki was laying in his bed staring up at the ceiling. A lot of things had happened today, from their class going over all of the reports from their missions. To his talk with Mari, then his fight with Officer Suagru and the information she gave him and then his talk with Haya. Hideki continued to stare up at the ceiling when he heard a knock on his door. It was now night time and Hideki wasn’t really expecting to see anyone for the rest of the night. He thought about not going to the door but at the last moment decided to stand up and see who it was.

Hideki opened the door and saw Ren standing there. Hideki gave him a small smile, ” Hey Ren what's up? Everything alright?”

Ren nodded, ”I just wanted to make sure that you knew I didn’t mean to abandon you guys out there. I saw an opening after my mistake and I took it. And I actually think I made more mistakes than I should have. Something was bothering me, about what that villain said when Katsumi and the police took him. He said he should have stayed with the van. But when I got out of the bank, there wasn’t a van and when I went in from the back, there wasn’t a van. Things are just not adding up to good choices on my part or clear enough on theirs. he explained. He was sure that van was probably the one he helped. But not only that, it was not like what was being put in the van was something that was dangerous. He expected a villain to go for something that could make a bang, but they didn’t have that.

Hideki listened as Ren spoke, at first Hideki offered the boy a reassuring smile. While Hideki wasn’t thrilled that Ren had decided to help an old man load up a van instead of rushing over to the bank robbery with Yori, Hideki did understand it at least a little bit. Then as Ren kept talking Hideki’s smile faded away and a concerned look came over his face. Hideki moved aside and let Ren walk into his room before shutting the door.

Hideki sighed as he took a seat in one of his chairs in his room. ” So you think that the old man that you were helping load his van was actually apart of the villain group that we were facing? I mean I suppose thats possible, but that van wasn’t really that close to the bank right? Why would he be so far away from the rest of his team? Also do you know what you were helping the man load into the van?”

Ren sighed, as he walked in and shook his head, “It wasn’t close. BUt the path I took led me to the back of the bank. What if that was how they got into the bank? But I didn’t have time to really look at the cargo, I was in a rush to get to the bank. I know it wasn't explosive or hazardous. It wasn't marked and I think it was them because the old man told me he hired some young people to help and they just ran off. I didn’t think anything about it, until I recalled what the villain said. If he meant a different van that is great, but if not. I am not sure how I should deal with this.” Ren explained.

Here Hideki was thinking about some of the small mistakes that he made during their mission. While Ren was here thinking that he actively played a part in helping one of them get some cargo and escape. Hideki offered a sincere smile before speaking. ” Well I’m sure there were plenty of vans in our are during that time of day. It was the afternoon in a busy commercial district. So I’m sure there were plenty of vans there that day.”[color] Hideki sighed and then took a breath before continuing to speak.

” If that old man that you helped was a part of the villains, well that's not your fault. There was no way you could have known. You were being a hero and you were helping someone in need. I think everyone can understand that. The villains may have tricked all of us and maybe were robbing the bank as a distraction. I don’t know the answer to that but it’s possible. In the end it’s not your fault.” Hideki was looking directly at Ren hoping that he could help him at least feel a little bit better. Hideki himself was now starting to feel not great about the whole situation. He was the leader of the mission so this would be his fault as much as it was Ren’s. Hideki had talked to Mari earlier in the day and she hadn’t mentioned anything about that. He would have to ask her later about it.

” I know how you’re feeling, so I’m not sure if there’s much I can say that is going to make you feel better. You deal with it by learning from it and moving past it. I know it’s not much but that’s all you can really do. With everything going on in our class with all of our patrols running into villains I have had a feeling for a few weeks now that there is something bigger going on here. It appears that our class might be in the middle of it. So if that old man was aprt of the villains then you will see him again and next time we will make sure that we take him down as well.”[color]


Ren nodded, ”Yeah, I guess you are right about that. if the old man was the one that was with the bank robbers and they met again. He would look through the cargo and stop them. He was not going to make the same mistake twice and he was not going to be the one that made things worse for his team again. He stood by his thoughts, to help when, who and where he was needed. But when it came to this matter, he was going to have to wait and see, using the advice from Hideki. After all, he didn’t get to go on missions like this class had, since his old class was a mess and couldn’t be trusted. But he thought maybe he should talk this through with Yamoshi if something did come of it. They had a trip coming up, so that is when he would mention it. ”Thanks for your help, I wasn’t really sure how to deal with the situation, but this helps. he looked around the room. He had cleaned it before, so he knew the place well enough but it was always strange to be in a room that he lived in that was not his own. ”On another note, how do you like the room. I got most of the dirt out, but I might have missed a corner.

It seemed that some of the things Hideki said got through to him. Hopefully they would help Ren at least a little bit and he would be able to move on, but also that he would be ready for the next time and wouldn’t make the same mistake again. ” I don’t know you very well yet, but I do know that you are definitely a hero and have a good mindset on what it means to be a hero. Mistakes happen, we just have to make sure we learned from them. I’ve heard that from a few people today so if it works for them then it should work for us right.” Hideki offered him a smile.

Hideki then looked around his room. Ren had asked him if he could clean his room. It was apart of Ren’s training and Hideki had agreed to it. ” You did a great job, sorry my room was messier than it normally is. I appreciate you cleaning it though you really did a good job. I feel like I should have to pay you or something.” Hideki chuckled a bit.

Ren smirked, ”Well, in a way you did. Cleaning helps with a lot of different things, but the mess you had here, helped with my endurance. I did my best to go as fast as I could to get everything and it helped me get to the bank a lot sooner than I normally would. My strongest ability is my mind, and being able to actually do what I can to keep my body trailing behind is a lot of work. So, it helps a lot to cook and clean. I was just concerned that it might not have been enough. I don’t think this room has been properly clean since before you got here.


Hideki sighed and blushed a little as Ren basically called his room a pigsty and pretty dirty. ” Oh come on it couldn’t have been that bad could it have been?” Hideki was now looking around his room a little self-consciously to make sure he hadn’t made it dirty since Ren cleaned it a few days ago.

Ren chuckled, ”There was a lot of dust in places that were hard to get to and I am not sure, but I think in one spot, something was starting to grow. But that wasn’t your fault, I think all of the rooms are like that. I think between classes, whoever cleans, spot cleans and you miss a lot that way. So when they get a student in here, most students spot clean areas they are sure they have been, but the whole room needs to be clean. Don’t worry, I don’t think it was all you.” He assured Hideki, after all, he didn’t want him to tell Ren he couldn’t clean anymore and honestly he didn’t think that the mess was Hideki.


Hideki laughed audibly as Ren mentioned the state of his room, he was also a bit relieved to hear that it probably most likely wasn’t Hideki’s fault. ” Well I guess that makes sense and good. I didn’t think I was that dirty, but you never know how other people see it. I mean if it helps you though I would definitely like for you to keep cleaning my room. If it helps you with your training and means that I don’t have to do it then I’m all for it.” Hideki smiled as he got up from his chair and walked over to the mini fridge in his room and grabbed a bottle of water from it. He also offered one to Ren ” Also if you want I can help you with some body training in the gym and such. I help Amano train in the gym to help get her body stronger and in better shape. So if that’s something you would want to do as well I have no problem doing that. No sparring or anything, just weight training and some cardio and such.”

Ren smirked shaking his head, “My training does enough for me. But since you are helping me, I guess I could take you up on it one day, just not soon.” he chuckled a little, “But I warn you, my cardio is actually pretty good, I can run for a few hours with a few seconds for breaks. You will be surprised what cooking and cleaning can do for your body.” then he thought of something else.


“I will make you a bit, if I don’t struggle as much with the weights as you might think, you have to try my training for a day. My training takes a lot longer than yours might, but you will feel like you got more than one thing done and you will find you will work a lot more muscles than you thought you had or could.” He moved towards Hideki, “So, what do you say? Deal?” he asked stretching his hand out to Hideki.

Hideki wasn’t sure if what Ren was saying could be true. Cleaning and cooking were enough of a workout? Sure they could be tiring things to do but would they really help your body train? Hideki just kind of shrugged his shoulders and figured to each their own. Hideki then smirked when Ren mentioned a bet. He saw Ren move closer and stick out his hand to shake on it. ” Sure that sounds like a deal, what are the stakes though?”

Ren chuckled, “The loser has to train like the winner for a whole week. Who knows, you might just convert me.” Ren teased, but he was sure that he could outrun Hideki at top speed. After all, the distance from the bank to where he was and how quick he got there was a good example of how fast Ren could be. Of course, he didn’t need long breaks like Hideki would, because he was used to short ones, between his training.


Hideki laughed a little. ” Well that sounds like a good bet to me, sounds like a deal then.” Hideki smirked as he shook Ren’s hand. Hideki was confident in his athletic abilities and that he would be able to keep up. So it would be interesting to see if he would be able to do Ren’s training but if it was just cooking and cleaning Hideki was confined he could do that. ” Don’t come crying to me though when you lose.”

Ren smiled, “Any time anywhere, Hideki. And make sure you don’t cry in front of anyone interesting. He wasn’t concerned with the bet, win or lose, he was always up for training and he was more than happy to stand toe to toe with anyone else’s training.
Ren was just about to plan out his next meal when he decided to do something different. Since his return to Japan, he had been working with recalling Japanese flavors and styles. But he thought he should take a break from that and work from what he liked. Which opened him to a lot more options of what he could make. The next problem he had was whether he could find everything he needed, to make when he decided.

“Rainbow trout...hmm…...Or maybe risotto? Ohhh- are those matsutakes?” Amon was muttering to himself as he inspected the fridge, in the past months he had mastered the ability to conjure up something out of what (Goto calls) “literally nothing”, perhaps it’s thanks to his ability to reverse engineer any dish by just tasting it, or he just has sharp eyes.

“Ren-san? You need anything?” After realizing another person was around in the kitchen, Amon tilted his head and wondered if he should back off. He had one of the more…’complex’ food processing routines in the class, and he would hate it if he bothered others. Though sometimes others would offer to lend a hand to him rather than do it themselves, the nice ones at least. Ren was one of those new transfers from another class that he didn’t really know much about yet, so whether or not he wanted to be at peace while cooking was unknown.

Ren was lost in his own thoughts that he had not noticed someone come in and he smirked at him, “Just working on what to make.” he stated as he tilted his head, “You are Amon, right?” He had seen him drift off with his group when his name was called, at least that is who he thought he was. “Ren Abiko.” he introduced himself to the guy that was now sharing space.

“Heyo. Yeah, that’s me, Amon Deakaha.” He gave a small wave before casually replying to the other, he has heard introductions and the likes in class already, though he hasn't interacted that much with the newer students. “You need space for cooking or…? I don’t mind pushing my stuff later, I usually spread out a lot.” Back to the important question of whether or not Ren needed a lot of personal space, as Amon was fine to not be an extreme bother.

Ren smirked, “NO you are fine. If you wnat to start. I am just trying to decided what to make. I have been practicing my Japanese dishes the last few days, thought I would work on something else. But not sure what to make. Been a while since I cooked something, since I normally would just get ready meals sent to me from the dozen or so ‘parents’ I have.” he chuckled. His family was small, but those that cared fro him, had took a place in his heart as family and they seem to care for him as any parent would, so it was the same to him.

”Ohhhh, I see I see.” Amon stretched a bit and peaked into the back of the fridge, sure enough the item he was looking for was still there. “Ahhhh-Katsumi-chan, I knew you were the best!” Reaching into the fridge the boy pulled out a package with the words ‘Parmigiano-Reggiano’ written on it in cursive English letters, and did a cheerful little spin while holding it. It was the cheese that he had dupe...uh…’persuaded’ Katsumi to foot the bill for earlier in the week.

“Oh? Alrighty then, Ren-kun. Good luck on your culinary endeavors.” Amon gave the other a small salute before skipping to the other side of the kitchen to look for an appropriately sized grater while thinking about what he was going to make. Risotto~ Risotto~

Ren watched as Amon seem to have excitement going through him. It seem the cheese was something important and that gave Ren an idea, “I think you just might have solved my dilemma.” Ren stated as he started to the fridge, listing things in his head he was going to need and seeing what there was. He smirked, “I will be back, a simple parmeasan chicken is a great idea.” he stated. Simple was always best, but when he say the cheese he recalled the different ways to do it. He would start from the basics. As simple as it was, he started out of teh kitchen. Making it would take 30 minutes at most, but more importantly preparing it wuld take even less time.

As he left teh kitchen he headed out to teh store, but he stoppe before leaving and popped his head back into teh kitchen, “Did you need anything?” he asked, since he was going to the store.

“Huh?” Hearing the other speaker, Amon was a little surprised that he was leaving for a store, since Ren seemed like he was going to prepare something. Perhaps he was missing ingredients, it happened to Amon before too, but he usually makes it work even with the bare bones. “I mean...Katsumi-san bought me a lot of stuff last time...I’m not picky on ingredients, there’s not much I need…” Looking into the fridge there was a piece of beef cutlet that sat in the cold and not the freezer.

“Ren-kun...do you think you can get...wine?” Amon asked slowly, not sure if alcohol was so blatantly allowed on campus. He swears he just wanted to make red wine beef marinate.

Ren smirked, “We are underage, so I doubt that they will let me bough it, but I can ask.” he said before he was off. There was no reason for him not to ask, but he was sure that there was not going to be anyway for him to get it. Besides, he didn’t know Amon’s taste, if he was able to get it, he wondered if he was going to be able to find one that was to Amon’s taste.

It wasn’t long, Ren was back with some chicken and bread, but no wine. “Sorry, couldn’t get the wine, not 20 yet.” he stated to Amon, it had been less then 30 minutes, since he had been to the story before. He ran that way and was baclk without missing a bit. He unpacked the chicken and heated teh over, before he started to use the cutting board and chop the bread into smaller bite size pieces. When he was done, he quickly seasoned and oiled them. And on a pan he oiled it and place dthe bread bites on it and started to bake them when the over was ready before turning to Amon, “What are you making?” he asked curiously.

Some white sauce was simmering in a pan as Ren asked the question, and a bowl of slightly unusual looking rice sat on the counter beside it. Amon turned off the heat and turned around to pick up a small handful of diced chives that were setted on a cutting board. “Three cheese risotto, Katsumi-chan bought the nice cheese when we went to the big supermarket, and-” Glancing over Amon quickly switched to another pan on another portion of the stove top, and quickly shaked the pan while stirring it with a pair of chopsticks.

“Phew, that was close…” He muttered while returning to the conversation. “Beef stroganoff, it would need to stew for a while after this, but don’t worry that doesn't take up a lot of space.”

Ren smirked, “I was just going to start on the sauce, so I actually won’t take up much space either. Sounds like you know what you are doing, I have seen a lot of chef’s work, and you might just be on their level at such a young age.” he said. Of course, the chefs he knew of all came from different places, some would probably question his methods, but his technic was solid. Chefs were picky people, so fights were often something that happened in the kitchen. They had to do it their own way and sometimes a different way came up with the same results.

“Oh? Really?” Amon laughed a bit at the compliment, he occasionally read a few cook books and internet tutorials, but he’s never actually put a lot of effort into learning how to cook. Just tasting something lets you know what ingredients are in it and how it’s been prepared, it was all just common sense to him. “Cooking is just common sense, if you know how ingredients react to different things you’ll naturally be able to make up anything you want, haha. I just do what I think would work.” He replied while stirring the beef, while preparing to transfer the dish to another pot to stew in a few moments.

Ren chuckled, “I have someone that would say, it is all about the science of it. Cooking is an art that takes on a form of it’s own with different people. Some genius’ use taste or smell to break down what is in a recipe. It’s all a matter of use. It’s not actually common sense, it’s more of a talent. To think it is common, would be like saying everyone is slow because you can do something they can’t.” he commented. It wasn’t to insult Amon, but Ren thought he should know what it sounded like to him.

“Hmmm, I don’t really get it.” Amon stirred the stewing beef a bit while thinking about Ren’s words. “Common and common are different, but sugar makes things sweet, salt makes things salty, mirin draws out the aftertastes of meats, corn oil brings a certain savouriness to vegetables…” He mumbled as he listed off the things he’s learned from just tasting and smelling and looking, “it’s not slowness, some are just uninterested in how the ingredients dance, that’s perfectly fine, I’m unable to do a lot of things other people can because I’m uninterested too.”

With a change in heat and a lid placed upon the pot, Amon turned around and stretched. He smiled at Ren and added: “If you love something, it’ll become your common sense.”

Ren nodded, he understood now, Amon’s idea of common sense was not as common as Ren’s version of common sense. “Well, I am interested in a lot of things, but I am still not good at a lot of things.” he stated. He said as he started on the sauce, tomato paste, sauce, herbs and seasonings all mixed together. Ren didn’t measure them the same that he had before, but put them in and tasted the sauce a little before he added more or stopped. He was going off memory, the chef that had made this for him before had shown him to do it by taste and in the end, a dash of sugar, which he stirred in for a moment before letting it sit on low heat. He had about a few more minutes for the breadcrumbs and so he looked at Amon, “Question. Other than cooking, what are you interested in?”

Red eyes darkened a little as Ren asked the question, but the shade quickly faded as the crimson orbs perked up again like nothing had happened. Amon smiled and chuckled a bit, “Oh, you know, the common stuff. Video games, movies, maybe fighting? I’m not all that interesting.” Amon shrugged and another small laugh came out of the boy, though it sounded slightly more dry this time. He raised his gaze to stare at the white ceiling light a bit while tapping his finger on the doorframe he leaned against, half his figure darkened by the shadow of the unlit other room. “Ah well, it’ll need to stew for at least a few hours haha, I’ll come back to turn down the heat later.” The boy pointed at the pot on the stove and yawned, preparing to turn away and call it a day.

Ren watched him, there was something Amon had found….well, it was something he was not willing to speak over by the darkness that came over him. It vanished as quickly as it came, but at the same time, it felt like he was not being as open as he seemed. “I think you might be very interesting” Ren commented before he decided to smirk. He wanted to ask about what the change was, but at the same time, he was not going to find out just by asking. The change made it clear that there was something Amon wouldn’t say, unless Ren was over thinking which he did. In that case, best not to stretch too far, to hang yourself. “Okay, I won’t be here that long, maybe another 45 minutes, I could lower it for you before I leave, if you are just coming back in a few minutes?” he suggested. Of course, with some chefs, they rather do it themselves than rely on someone else. But cooking was a hobby, right, Amon may not mind.

“Huh-” Amon finished his weird stretch, perking his slightly pointed ears up to the statement. “You sound like you’re a villain that’s gonna dissect me or something, Ren-kun.” He joked half heartedly, ‘interesting’ was more often a compliment than not, but it was a word that packed quite some meaning. Tapping his foot on the ground Amon thought about the other’s proposal, Ren’s acts in the kitchen seemed skillful enough, so he should leave it to him. Yeah, that was the plan. It was just some cooking, it’ll be alright.

“...Sure, if you want, the timing isn’t that tight, just put it down anytime between 30 and 45 minutes after. Light flame on the lowest setting.” Scratching his head Amon thought about if Ren needed to know anything else, but he figured that would be enough.

Ren nodded, “Well, see, you are around. I will lower it before I leave the kitchen.” he assured Amon. Ren smiled, he never thought of being a villain as a good thing, but he was learning Amon’s language was slightly different from what he was used to with some of those he was around.
 
Last edited:
Orihime Hayaki. Mother of Goto Hayaki, and ex-wife of Mado Hayaki. She has raised this child all by herself for the past eight years. She was already almost 40, and her only son was finally becoming an adult of his own. But she had her doubts and her fears.

She looked at him from outside the hospital room he was staying in. He was beaten pretty badly. Although he had been protected, the pressure wave from the blast still had rattled his system severely enough that he'd need to be monitored for the next few days. Orihime herself did not escape unscathed, with an arm that was dislocated, and a few fractured in a few spots. She had her arm in a sling as she stood in a robe that the hospital had provided for her.

She was exhausted, her eyes had dark circles underneath her glasses, and her brow furrowed in frustration, anxiety, stress, and worst of all sorrow. She heard the sounds of someone walking closer. Turning her head she saw the young visage of Iron Volt approaching, no doubt to see how Goto was doing. Orihime gave a bow to the woman.

"Iron Volt, ma’am… Thank you for rescuing me… And..." She looked over at the sleeping speedster. How was she able to keep so calm during everything that happens? "I assume you wanted to talk with my son once he wakes up. I um… I have a request for you." She turned her body directly at her, but she was unable to look the woman in the eye. It was a selfish request but it was what was best for Goto in the end. She knew it.

She had seen the news. She knew what he did that day. "I need you to tell him he’s not ready for this line of work.”

“Hey don’t thank me. I am just glad I noticed you falling in the sky quick enough to catch you,” Aurora simply smiled at Orihime as she walked up to her wanting to check in on the brave boy she had helped. However quickly the conversation went in an aggressive turn as the woman voiced an opinion clearly coming from a mothers perspective. Aurora looked at her then towards Goto having a rather blank face as she turned back to the woman.

“Funny fact, my son is good friends with your boy. I never met Goto until his battle with Cackle Blast, but my youngest Agi has had nothing, but humorously good things to say about him. His hard working mentality when on the job, his chill attitude when not, and even a bit of his rude bits,” Aurora chuckled remembering some of her son's stories about Goto.

“From mother to mother I get why you're asking this. Heavenly skies know I was worried Agi would choose to follow in mine, and his father shoes to be a hero. Yet he did just like his older brother, and many in our family. Everyday I think I am going to get that call today when I am told one of my sons is in the hospital, and not too long ago I had a near heart attack when that very call came about for my youngest. What you’re feeling now I felt then,” Aurora paused looking at Orihime with a maternal look of understanding.

“Yet my boy just looked at me and smiled. I could tell he felt defeated like he had accomplished nothing, but he and the other three he had accomplished a lot for ones so young. I hated the fact that I felt his regrets rather than bawl at him to stop, but I realized that if I did I wouldn't be performing my duties as his mother if I did. Agi is a stubborn boy willing to go on life, and limb. Just like your boy,” patted the woman's good shoulder with her hand.

“Your son saved numerous people that day even in the throes of despair thinking he was to blame for his mother's death. He pushed through that to save over 15 people from a massive attack that would have ruptured his organs to save one more even. Being the parent of a hero horrifying I now know what i put mine through when I started,” the blonde woman expressed.

“However, no ones ever ready for this type of job. It's do or die a dive in. So let me ask you, do you really think he's not ready, or is it your motherly instincts to protect your child that makes you want me to say that to him? Do you think that's what he needs,” she asked, not judging her by any means nor talking down to her. Just one mother asking another if they were sure of such a thing.

She had expected this sort of reaction. Truth be told, whenever she expressed her concern for her husband's occupation, many others had a similar one. "Forgive me if I may seem… Dismissive of your occupation. I don't mean any respect." She took a seat at a nearby chair, sighing deeply.

"My husband was a firefighter. He would rush into a burning building without any hesitation. And he rescued so many people. And I'd love to be proud of that fact but…" Even after all this time, saying these words were painful. She hadn't spoken of this to anyone. And now she was telling a complete stranger.

"He tried to kill himself while we were dating. All he told me was he felt like he didn't deserve someone like me after all this time. And maybe I'm the idiot for staying with someone like that, but I was young, and in love, and scared, and lonely. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. And even after all that, he promised me he wouldn't ever leave me like that. But he found a loophole. He joined the fire department. He was strong, and tough, and his quirk let him track items or people. Even if he couldn't see. It was amazing for rescues. If only he wasn’t such a selfish coward."

She placed her head on her hand with a large huff. "Mado was always secretive about his past before I met him. I knew he was ashamed of something he'd done. So much so that even after we got married, even after we found out I was pregnant, he refused to retire. He never directly said it but I know that the reason was he wanted an easy way out. One without guilt. He rushed into dangerous situations time and time again, sometimes nearly throwing his life away because he hoped that would happen."

"And then he just… disappeared. Even after all that, after Fate itself brought him back from the brink over and over, he still had the gaul to leave behind a wife who loved him in spite of everything he put her through and a son who idolized him as the kind of man he wanted to be. If Goto had come to the conclusion that laying down one's life to save countless others was a noble thing then perhaps I'd relent. But that's not it. He's just trying to follow in his cowardly father's footsteps…"

She looked back up at the pro hero. "So yes. Maybe it is just a mother's instinct talking. But I know that what Goto is emulating isn't heroism. It's self-destruction."

“But that won't save him from such a mentality will it,” Aurora asked out of the blue looking at the younger woman as she sat down next to with her hair forming a metallic chair to avoid destroying the available chair looking at Orihime’s face. So worried, so strained, and clearly caring for a boy she didn't want to lose.

“You're a good mom, and I bet somewhere Goto knows it, but yes you have painted a very clear picture of why he has many challenges coming his way. Yet me telling him to quit if he even listens will not solve this problem. He will just move onto another job equally as dangerous. What your son did was not out of equal ensured destruction; he aimed to save that child, and keep fighting,” Aurora nodded, pulling out some snacks offering them to the clearly famished woman.

“Goto is not cowardly in any sense, and a real hero eventually realizes sacrifice is not an option for this life unless it's the only option forced by nature. Goto has a spark that if you help nurture will get him past your fears, but if you dissuade him from his calling he will only get more towards what you fear most,” she calmly expressed her own opinion as she turned to Gotos room.

“I don't mean to overstep but… it feels you two fight quite a bit. I had that problem with my middle child. The only way to get your feeling across is to accept what they want to do, and change it just a minor bit by supporting them,” she smiled, not sure if Orihime would understand or scream in her face, but would not budge regardless as a mother, and hero she understood this complicated hard spot.

The hero was right on the money about arguing. Well almost. "Maybe we would if we ever actually spoke with each other. Our interactions have come down to me wiring him and money each month." She looked over her shoulder at her injured child. "Seeing him in the hospital isn't actually anything new. He's always been a reckless and rebellious in spite of my implementation of speed limits and requiring him to wear protective gear, and not allowing him go more than 4 feet off the ground. It still didn't stop him. And it didn't help that Mado let him break my rules when I wasn't looking." She pressed a few fingers against her forehead remembering all the headaches those two caused her.

"I'm not sure… what he said when he left though, but Goto became so much more dismissive of everyone who disagreed with him. And of course… I'm one of those people. We never really saw eye to eye, but I remember one year on my birthday I was woken up by him coming to me crying and holding his hand. He cut himself with one of the knives trying to make breakfast for me. He never cooked before either. I spent that entire day in the hospital with him crying into my shoulder while he had to get 10 stitches in his hand."

She gave a small laugh realizing the absurdity of her situation right now. "Oh what am I doing. You were a big name hero when I was in middle school and here I am reminiscing like I'm 10 years your senior. Of course I look like I am…"

“I disagree you're a very striking woman, and I can say that from what you're telling me,” she joked softly smiling as the woman shared a genuine memory with her.

“How about we exchange contact info. I know it may seem sudden, but our boys are good friends. Gives us reasons to hangout no. Besides I would like to help you even if just a little with your strife,” she requested, lifting her phone to transfer data if she was willing.

“And I'll talk to him. I doubt I can get your desired result, but I may be able to help steer you to a better future with him.”

"Thank you. Um… May I?..." She reached for the woman's phone, entering her number. "I'm really sorry to have burdened you with all that out of the blue. Usually you don't tell someone you just met about how your husband was suicidal." Once finished she stood up handing the phone back to Iron Volt. "Ugh, I forgot. Orihime. I know, it's such a fancy name for a simple accountant." She paused for a moment, still searching for the words to say. "I appreciate any help you can give, but I'm sure there's only one person he'd listen to."

“Hey sometimes we all have to let it out, and you, my new found friend, will get to a less stressed state I promise. Aurora, and it suits you,” she chuckled, patting the woman's shoulder in easing up.

“True but keep at it and many voices can topple the effects of the old one,” she promised.

Orihime gave a deep bow in appreciation. "Thanks. Um… I hope you don't think me a terrible mother for not speaking with him when he wakes up, but… I get the feeling he'd prefer I'm not there. He would think I'm just there to nag. Just let him know that 'the mothership landed safely.' He'll understand. Oh, and could you leave out the part that you rescued me. I think he already knew I would be fine."

She started walking off again before turning back around a few steps further bowing deeply again in appreciation. "Goodbye Mrs. Iron Volt."

With a soft wave Aurora sighed before noticing in a rather cosmic timing that Goto was walking up. With a soft sigh she undid her metal hair chair, and stood up giving the boy a moment to consciously restart before entering in.

“Well hello there Goto its a pleasure to finally meet you,” she chimed kindly nodding at him.

Goto was stirring for the first time in at least a few hours. As he opened his eyes, he could see the white room and the sheets, and feel the clothes that weren't his own. But his hearing was muffled. Then he noticed someone walking in and barely made out that she was speaking to him. She was blonde and absolutely stacked. Of course that fact was just barely overshadowed by the fact that she was literally the top ranked hero.

"Oh shit, uh… You're Iron Volt."

“Yep, and you're one of Agis friends that I have heard a lot about. So first off how are you feeling,” she asked sitting down next to him.

He did his best to pay attention. He only picked up a few words. "It's a bit hard to hear. And my ears still hurt. What… What happened?"

"You saved everyone. The villain is in a prison ICU. And most importantly you came out alive," Aurora listed off to him before adding.

"And the mothership landed safely alerting me to what was happening to come assist you. Her arm took some damage from the fall,but that didn't stop her being here for two days straight until you woke up," she added, also motioning to some get well gifts from his classmates.

"Seems you got some good friends," she chuckled a little louder so he could hear it all.

“Oh wait, really?” He remembered picking people up and dropping them off. And he remembered that annoying laugh. But hearing that he managed to save people that day, it gave him some sense of pride. He could catch him if he kept this up. Then she said something that made him pause for a moment.

“Ugh… I’m not 6 anymore…” Still, he was glad to hear his mom was okay. He knew all he needed was for that bastard to drop her. She was a nag who was too concerned for safety to let him have any fun. But that was why Goto figured she could get back down safely. What he wasn’t aware of was the fact that she was disoriented from Cackle Blasts shock, and wasn’t able to safely guide herself to the ground with her minor levitation. But what he doesn’t know can’t discourage him.

“But I guess I did pretty good this time then…” He muttered to himself. Head injury aside, he mostly escaped with a few cuts and bruises. “So were you just here to tell me I did good?”

“When your mother fell she was disoriented by Cackle Blast’s attack,” Aurora explained before asking.

“Why didn’t you confirm her safety before continuing the fight,” she asked bluntly, sighing a bit as she sat down remaking her metal chair next to the young man.

“When I caught up to her all she cared about in her disorientation was “Is he safe… please I don't want to lose him to”. It's how I knew something was extremely wrong from where she fell, and how I was able to get in time to save you from being microwaved by your opponent's attack,” Aurora explained, not ruthlessly, not demanding, nor even scolding, yet sincere and calm.

“You have a good mother Goto, and she really cares… and is very worried. Is there a reason you can’t ease her worry a little,” she asked just abstractly enough to make it out that she didn't know anything, and was asking a genuine question.

He was quickly hit with several questions about how he treated his mom. "Well… He knew she meant something to me when she said my name. And my mom may be a drag, but she is reliable. And I knew something that guy didn't. That she can float."

That seemed like the right idea for the time. He trusted her. He always was able to rely on her for a lot. His dad may not have always been with them, but his mom was never not available. Even when he didn't want her to be. He just assumed that moment would be no different.

“A hero should always check rather than assume,” Aurora pointed out with a sigh… seemed he cared more than Orihime knew… he trusted her as someone who could pulley through no matter what.

“So Goto, why do you want to be a hero,” she asked.

Why did he want to be a hero? Well that seemed like a dumb question to him. "Because no one is going to stop me. I want to be a hero because I am one. You don't ask a dog why it's a dog right?" He thought that was a good answer. "There's a path for me to follow, and I don't plan on leaving it."

“Definitely sounds like someone with a path, but it sounds too narrow. It sounds more forced on you than you want to do it. You act like it is second nature, but from what we discussed before it feels like a fake answer. Why would someone so committed ignore to check one hostages safety before moving on," Aurora oddly countered Goto's words with his actions shown.

"Don't get me wrong you did an amazing job pitching a lot of people to safety, but the boy you dived to rescue you had no plan there did you. I watched the footage. There were numerous ways for you to counter the blast rather than your body, but you panicked at the end and chose to throw yourself away recklessly. Let me ask a very important question: what would have happened to those people if you died in that attack, and I wasn't there," Aurora asked in earnest. It was an easy calculation given Cackle Blasts violence he would probably kill them all to spit further on Goto's corpse.

"A hero's death is only worth it's weight when they do it as a true gallant answer to end a problem. Not as a means of moronically blind heroism. A hero has to know there death will not equal new suffering for selfish reasons," Aurora explained having seen it numerous times herself on the field.

"I have been to many funerals both honorable and saddening. Some of which didn't need to happen in the field. You have great potential Goto but you have a lot of growing, and learning ahead, and its a rough up. Make sure you remember that and those who will be hurt by your death when you make such decisions… cause no one can save anyone if they're dead," Aurora finished bowing to the boy respectfully as she got up.

"When you find your real answer to why you're a hero I would love to hear it," she said, giving her genuine smile.

"H-Huh?..." Well Teach liked his answer right? She was using words he understood, but not in a way that made sense. But then again, she was the number one hero. So she had to know something, right? "I'll think on that I guess then."

"Excellent, I wish you a speedy recovery," Aurora chuckled, seeing the confusion in the boy's eyes. Ruffling his hair she headed out.

Goto was simply left, scratching his head, not sure what exactly happened. He did just wake up after all.

Never in her entire life had so many of Amano’s plans gone so horribly awry. Be in the showers at the same time? Fine, fair enough. Invite her to dinner? Not even her favorite food? Absolutely not. Join in on singing? Too bad she didn’t have Yori’s talent. Hell, she even shut down the elevator with just them inside and Aika pried open the doors and bolted as soon as she could!

So it seemed like she needed a direct approach. She had set up a little trap this time so that she knew Aika wouldn’t be able to escape. She was sitting in waiting just outside the window, a thin strand of ooze slipping through a crack connecting Amano to one of her many jars she had placed around the dorm. There was a brief window of time where Aika would come down to make food for herself.

Amano had no other choices this time. If she needed to tackle Aika in order to get her to stay she would.

And as if on cue, Aika entered the kitchen. It was just before when others would come down to start making their dinners. Haya hadn’t asked her to eat with her today, Agi didn’t want a spar, so it was time to just make a simple instant ramen. Opening the cupboard, she immediately reached out and grabbed a pork-flavoured ramen. Grabbing the electrical kettle, she started to fill up the water, humming something softly to herself as she did.

Be silent. Infiltration was her game. She had the ooze silently lift the window, letting her climb in, careful not to make any noise. Her stealth training was proving immensely valuable right now. It was better used to sneak up on her classmates than get the drop on villains. Once inside she slowly sneaked up behind Aika. Once she was a somewhat normal distance away she started walking, her footsteps finally audible.

“Oh Aika. It’s nice to see you around. How has your day been going?” Small talk at first. Don’t spring up anything committal yet. If she makes a run for it, Amano had blankets of Mnemu hanging above the doorways, waiting for the moment to drop on her. She was going to have a conversation with her if she needed to force it out of her.

Putting the kettle back on its dock and turning it on, Aika kept humming for herself until she heard footsteps. Did someone already come to make dinner? Glancing sideways, she saw it was Amano ”Been okay. Like most days.” She replied, looking back at the kettle as she waited for the whistle.

Amano got closer and hopped up on the counter sitting next to her kettle. “Oh well that’s good. I’m glad most of your days are good.” She looked over at Aika, who seemed to be doing alright. Not trying to bolt or anything yet. Which was great. “I hope you’re getting along with everyone alright. Though I don’t blame you if you have a hard time with some. Believe me…” That moment of frustration was directed at her. But Aika did fall into that category. But at least she wasn’t as crass as Goto, or dismissive as Vigridis.

“Anyone you like hanging out with?”

”Uhh, probably Haya. and Agi. Those two are cool, each in their own way I guess. And hard to say I get along with everyone when I don’t even try to talk to most.” Aika said, seemingly not bothered by Amano one bit. She didn’t seem to notice Amano’s frustration, but as Amano was closer to Aika now, she would see that Aika’s expression seemed slightly bothered, or distracted, by something.

Amano could tell the face she had was one that portrayed a grim message to her mission. Still, it was one she was going to power through. “I see. I like Haya too. She’s really fun to talk to. I have to be careful though or else she’ll make me eat flowers again.” She laughed a little, hoping to get some reaction. “And Agi’s really nice too. Even if he is a little oblivious at times.” She hoped to relate with Aika even if just a little for now. Maybe knowing she got along with the same people would ease her nerves?

As the kettle started to whistle, Aika undid part of the instant ramen’s cover and poured the hot water in, before closing it again, to let it sit for a few minutes ”Eat flowers huh. She usually just cooks something for us whenever we eat together. And Agi can be sharp when he is focused on somethin’. Then again, we normally just work on combat stuff.” Aika replied, still rather absent minded, her mind still elsewhere.

Still not much from her… Was she… Was she hoping Amano asked about what was on her mind? Well that would be a breakthrough. It didn’t take a genius to tell she was focused on something bothering her. That was unless Amano was the subject of her frustrations. In which case, she had no clue what she did wrong. Well then… Nothing ventured as they say.

“Is something bothering you Aika?” She did a hail mary toss of a conversation starter. This could either go amazingly, or go terribly...

As her gaze was on the closed ramen, Aika heard Amano’s question. Sighing, she nodded ”Family stuff. Mom’s being a pain. Don’t really want to delve into it, but I guess it's showin’ huh.” Aika muttered as she turned to glance at Amano ”But I suppose a bit of background is in order first.” She turned to properly look at Amano as she said that, rubbing the back of her head as she did.

”So, to put it shortly, my family used to run a diamond business. Chipped bits from my gramps and dad’s diamond skin, and sold for a profit. That ended over a decade ago when my dad got out of the picture. I never wanted any part of it, but my dad did. And now my mom is startin to try and have me drop the hero business and go bring the company back.” Aika explained ”And she’s been starting to go harder at it. So, a pain in my ass.” She said, rolling her eyes.

Looking at Amano, she sighed again ”Sorry to dump it on you like that slimy, guess we haven’t really talked before.” Aika mentioned.

Wait, that actually worked? She was opening up to her?! There was no way it was that easy. The worst part was, Amano couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Clearly this had been weighing heavily on Aika’s mind if she was willing to talk to Amano about it. “Have we not talked much before? Huh… Go figure.” She still said with a faint smile she was trying to hide, given the serious nature of Aika’s trouble.

“I’m sorry to hear that you need to deal with that. I like to think parents have their children’s best interest in mind, but more often than I’d like, that ends up not being the case. I wish I could give some advice on the matter, but that’s really not my place to speak on. I’m more than happy to sit and listen though.”

Truth be told, she had actually tried selling her own quirk before. Of course it was a shady business. She secretly sold the answers to test questions by putting pieces of Mnemu in jars. She actually didn’t have as many takers as she hoped. But probably not the best time to mention that was it?

”Yeah. Older jackasses that don’t seem to care much. Either money, or fame, or something like that. Idiots.” Aika shook her head a bit ”And it isn’t just that either. Apparently she fell in love with a guy who has two kids and expects me to immediately become their older step-sister. I don’t know any of them! Why should I even try to act like that when she goes and acts on a whim like that!” As Aika spoke and her tone showed just how irritated she was with her mother’s actions, she bumped her elbow into her instant ramen, causing it to fall off the counter and spill on the floor.

”Shit.” Aika muttered, before walking to grab a couple of paper towels to begin cleaning the mess she made. And now she also needed to open another instant ramen and begin waiting again. The frustration on her expression was very present right now.

Amano could see Aika was getting quite upset about this. Just as she promised though, she listened to her, letting Aika use her as a person to vent to. Of course, in her frustrations, Aika accidentally knocked over her ramen. Of all the days to try and be casual by sitting on the counter… The hot broth seeped into her shorts. She quickly jumped with a sharp yelp. “Oh-Oh-Ah…” She danced around a little, trying to keep from burning herself too badly.

Seeing that some spilled on Amano, Aika handed her one of the paper towels before beginning to clean up what was spilled ”Sorry. Guess maybe I got a bit too hot for my own good.” She muttered, as she collected as much as she could back into the cup, before dumping it into the trash, and then going to fetch a third paper towel to finish cleaning up. Once that was done, she looked at how much water the kettle still had, before turning it on to reheat the water inside ”You should probably go get changed. Staying in wet clothes isn’t good.” Aika said, looking over Amano as she did, before turning to grab a second instant ramen.

“Too hot is correct.” She joked, regarding the rapidly cooling soup dripping down her leg. “Yeah, I think I will get changed.” She looked as Aika grabbed her second cup of soup. “Why don’t we get the real thing? C’mon. I’ll pay for it even. Just let me get changed.” She didn’t wait for an answer though

She made her way back to the stairs, out of sight. But was quickly met with a wet sounding plop followed by a grunt and Amano shouting “Not me, Mnemu!” Unfortunate that both she and Aika look very similar from above. Now she had to fight her way out, but was back on her mission to change into clothes more appropriate for going outside. Once she was all cleaned up, and her leg checked to be alright, though a little red, she moved back down stairs, fingers crossed that Aika hadn’t left in the time she went to change.

”No thanks, I’m fine with-” By the time Aika rose from finishing cleaning the floor, Amano was already gone. She also heard a weird sounding plop, but just shrugged it off as she went back to making her instant ramen.

By the time Amano was back downstairs, Aika had already begun eating from the instant ramen ”So, I tried to say, but I’m good with this. Not really in the mood to go out.” Aika told her, before slurping a bit more noodles ”But I won’t mind returning the favour you gave me. Anything on your mind, slimy?” She asked.

Amano was a little disappointed to hear that she wasn’t interested in going, but at least she was still there. “You know usually people just accept an offer like that if you don’t give them the chance to turn it down.” She gave a little insight to how her mind works with these sort of things. “But I get the feeling you’re not the type to follow like that.” She laughed. Amano took a seat nearby, happy to be able to talk with one of her more elusive classmates.

“Well to be honest, until just a moment ago I was certain you didn’t like me.” She chuckled at the notion. “I know that sounds silly, but I tried very hard to get a natural moment to speak with you. You even pried the elevator doors open that one time!” She referenced her most elaborate effort thus far. “You don’t NOT like me do you?”

”The elevator doors? Oh right, there was that. Don’t like the thought of being trapped.” Aika said, remembering what she was referring to. After slurping a bit more of the ramen, Aika shrugged ”It's not that I don’t like anyone. It’s more that I, for a lack of a better term, just feel awkward in situations I’m not used to. So I stick to what I do know, or to the people I did get to know.” She explained, before continuing to eat from the ramen ”So I guess what you consider to be ‘natural’, will be stuff I normally avoid.” She said, before raising an eyebrow ”And being stuck in an elevator is not natural.” She added.

“Oh you don’t know the half of it.” She ominously spoke of the elevator incident. She still had several reports on elevators and common issues that would cause them to lock up. “But I’m glad to hear we’re okay then. I’ve been making it my goal to get closer with everyone. It improves morale and makes team work during missions a lot more effective.” She then leaned into the table, propping her head up against her hand. “Well that and I think everyone has something interesting to say.” She took a moment to think about everything that they had been talking about. “You’d prefer eating in peace for now right?”

Hearing Amano’s opinion about it, Aika felt like she was hearing one of her teachers from back at Shiketsu. But even back then, she knew that it was a valid point, at least about morale and teamwork. She wasn’t about everyone having something interesting to say. Shrugging as a response to the question, Aika just slurped some more before talking ”I’m already eating in a spot I’m not used to. If I was bent on eating in peace, I would’ve gone up to my room instead of staying here.” Aika said.

Well, lucky Amano! Aika was making an effort to talk with her, even going a bit further out of her comfort zone. Suddenly Amano felt a similar giddiness as before, still trying her best to hide what would be a beaming smile. “Well then I’ll keep your preferences in mind. Me and Mari were planning some sort of party relatively soon, and we’d love for everyone to join in. What would be something that you’d like to see there? Even if it’s not typically your scene.”

”A party? huh.” Aika muttered before eating some more from her ramen ”Probably nothing. I probably won’t attend any parties anytime soon.” She said, shaking her head a bit ”Hope you have fun though.”

Amano sighed, figuring there wasn’t much she could do. But today was a success. That was plenty. “Well… I’ll take what I can get.” Amano stood up. “Sorry to get going right now, but I’ll leave you be. Yori just called me for a fitting of a new suit. We have plans soon.” She started up the stairs. “Ciao!”

Watching as Amano left, Aika finished her instant ramen and tossed the empty cup into the bin. Well, Amano wasn’t too bad. With that, she stretched her arms and made her way back to her room, hoping to still make it there before it becomes more noisy in the common area.

Goto was still getting used to his hearing being hindered, but he had spent the last few days trying to finish a book on hostage tactics and strategies for heroes. He had no idea what was being said. At this point even if Amano shoved the entire contents of the book into his head with Mnemu, he wouldn’t understand it. So now Goto was frustrated and done with his pile of dictionaries and thesauruses and barely legible notes, all so he could figure out how to establish ‘repart’ (Raport).

He shoved his hands in his pockets and started up the stairs, leaving his mess of books behind. He’d just finish later. His head was hurting from all the thinking.

Kikyo was coming from her room, carrying a small list of names that she was going over, the tip of the eraser tapping against her bottom lip as she pondered on who she should try and speak with next. She almost didn’t notice the boy coming up the stairs, and barely managed to stop herself before they collided. The young woman exhaled sharply as she stopped herself suddenly, noticing how disgruntled the boy looked. Maybe he was having a bad day?

“Oh! Uhm, sorry! Hi, I’m Kikyo Asuka. I didn’t mean to almost bump into you. I’m trying to meet all of our classmates.” Kikyo spoke quickly, her tone and pitch raising to match her uneven nerves at the suddenness of this introduction.

Goto was currently wallowing in some self dissatisfaction. He was actually pretty good at the rest of his course work, he felt. Definitely better than some in terms of athletics, and his fighting style wasn’t terrible either. But of course both of those were held back by his inability to deal with these complex theories and words in their textbooks. Shit just got so much harder the longer he was in school, that he knew it was some sort of miracle he made it this far on his other merits alone.

Then he was taken out of his personal pity party by a sudden impact much shorter than him. Goto was about to snap at her, when he noticed her demeanor. Great. If he did that, he’d just end up like more of the bad guy, sorta like with his date with Haya. Then she said she was meeting her classmates. Come to think of it, he remembered seeing her a few times. “Well, you found him.”

Kikyo looked up at the boy she had just bumped into, trying to meet his gaze. It was admittedly difficult with how tall he was and how short she was, but she managed to get a decent look at his face. Something about his expression told her that he was a little more gruff than many of her classmates. Which, while not inherently bad, it definitely made it harder to befriend such people. Never let it be said that she wasn't willing to try.

“Oh! Well, that’s good. I was hoping that we could chat a bit and maybe get to know each other a little? I figure if we are going to be classmates we could....you know, try and be friends?” Kikyo spoke evenly to the boy, a friendly smile crossing her lips as her hands folded in front of her.

She wanted to be… His friend?... “Wow. You really are new. Most girls don’t particularly care for me. C’mon, keep up. I’m going on a study break.” Goto took a moment, hopping briefly in the air, and floating forward at a slowish pace. “You got questions you wanna ask, you gotta stay in ear shot. And speak up a bit. Last mission did a bitch of a number on my ears.”

Kikyo squeaked softly when he suddenly began moving again, her eyes glued to him briefly as he began to float. His pace wasn’t difficult to keep up with. However, her tone was often softer, so, she would just have to speak up a bit. That was manageable. She followed behind him, noting that he mentioned a study break. He didn’t exactly look like the scholarly type, but, she also figured that anyone who managed to get here was at least decent at academics.

“I mean...I am pretty new? Wait, why don’t other girls care for you? You don’t seem so bad. Just a bit rough around the edges, you know/” Kikyo responded to him, ensuring that her pace was at least close to his.

“So, your quirk seems neat! Do you like to just float around most of the time? If you do, you must exercise a lot to manage to stay in such good shape.” Kikyo added, watching him float through the hall with a curious expression.

Well then, whoever this girl was certainly knew how to give Goto a big head. "Yeah? You haven't even seen me at full speed yet though." He still didn't hop off his rail of wind. "But yeah. I ran hurdles in middle school. Was pretty good at it too. I'm fast even without my quirk."

Of course part of his physique was the fact that he just had a boy's metabolism, given the amount of junk he ate. "So how's your mission to meet everyone been? Anyone prove more difficult than you'd like"

Kikyo raised a brow when he mentioned something about seeing his full speed. The idea of flight had always greatly appealed to her. Alas, it was beyond her capabilities. Nonetheless, the idea of being able to zip around through the air, even if it looked like he only really hovered and didn’t so much fly as float, it was interesting. Plus, now, it sounded like he could go pretty fast with it, which, in hindsight would make sense, since he is a hero in training.

“Hurdles, huh? That’s interesting. Oh, meeting everyone is going pretty great so far! The class is pretty big, but I am making headway. Hmm...so far no one has really given me any trouble. Mari is hard to read, though, with her polished mannerisms and professional demeanor. But, she still seems nice.”

“Mari huh? Well. At least she’s one of the sane ones. I swear most of the girls in this class are batshit crazy.” He thought back to Amano, and how she forced him to read the plans through that weird alien ooze in order to get Cecil to their dorms. Now he was afraid of both her and Cecil. Not to mention Ichika literally spit gum on him. “But hey, you seem pretty chill so far. So what can you do?”

Kikyo nodded when he clarified about Mari, smiling while continuing to follow along with the boy. She wasn’t sure where exactly he was heading for his study break, but she wasn’t particularly worried about winding up in a super unfamiliar part of the facility or anything. How weird would that be? Shaking the odd what-if scenario out of her head, she noted that he had asked her about what she could do. He also said she was pretty chill, which was probably a compliment?

“I like to think i’m pretty easy to get along with. What can I do? Well…” Kikyo began, pondering on how best to explain her quirk. In a way it was quite simple, but, at the same time, it felt awfully complex. After all, once you start getting into the nitty gritty of it, dealing with alternate personalities and a lack of control over the clones, it got a bit...weird. That wasn’t even mentioning the psychological toll and the now growing worry of losing control of herself to the reflection.

Again, Kikyo pushed her worries from her mind. “...I can manipulate my reflections. I’ve been working on being able to do it to other people’s reflections, but, it’s a lot harder to maintain those forms on my reflections. I can, for the most part, control what they do. But, when I make multiple reflections they tend to get unruly and do as they please. My state of mind is a major factor. Oh! I can also travel through mirrors into this alternate mirror dimension.”

Goto kept walking until he reached a window and opened it up. "Yeah? Damn. Must make this next part pretty difficult for you, huh?" He then pushed himself out the window. "Later. I'm hitting up the arcade down the street from here. If you want to keep talking, you gotta get running or meet up with me later!"

That girl was pretty cool. But she seemed like the kind of person that would be fun to tease from time to time. Who knows? Maybe she'd keep up and impress him.

Kikyo wanted to say something smart to stop the boy from just leaping out the window to leave, but, all that managed to come out was; “Wha-”

The arcade was what he said? How rude of him to just ditch like that! Kikyo’s face scrunched up in irritation as he darted off. She was intent on continuing their conversation, though. He was going to be her friend whether he liked it or not! Woah, where did that come from? Shaking the absurdity of the thought out of her head, she ran to her room, and looked at herself in her mirror. The quirk wasn’t particularly useful for traversing great distances, but the arcade was fairly close. Well within her range. This way, she could make a decent time.

Taking a deep breath, Kikyo stepped through her mirror. This dimension was dark and dreary in comparison to the normal one. With everything seeming to be darker, a hint of blue seemed to coat everything as though it were cast in light shadow. Wasting no time, she dashed forward, passing through various reflective surfaces along the way. A window here, a side mirror on a car there, the surface of a large puddle. It was exhausting to not only move between so many surfaces so quickly, but the actual act of running around too.

However, in a few minutes, she reached her destination, stepping through a large window next to the entrance of the arcade. Kikyo sighed softly as she placed her rear foot gently upon the ground, turning to glance back at her reflection, which gave her a quick wink. She hated it when they did that. Her breathing was a little heavy, but, hey, she was there. She glanced around the interior of the arcade, fully expecting to already see the boy there.

Goto meanwhile actually took his sweet time to get there. He didn't expect the girl to follow him. He was just having some fun. That was until as he opened the front door, he saw her stepping out of the one next to him. "Huh?..." He stood there in the doorway just staring at her. She seemed to have her nose pressed right against the glass, looking for him. He leaned in close, and knocked suddenly on the glass to get her attention.

Kikyo squeaked out a gasp when the boy knocked on the glass. She gave him a bit of a glare before moving over to him. “First of all, rude. Secondly, I wasn’t done talking with you. Why the arcade, though?”

The young woman pondered, looking around the place. Sure, she supposed games could be fun. Never really understood the appeal, though.

Goto didn't particularly care about being rude. "I've been called worse." He said somewhat dismissively. "And I know. That's why you followed me right? Just means you value that time then. So let's hear what you got."

She also asked him why the arcade. To which he gave a straightforward answer. "I've been hitting the books all day. Though really feels more like they were hitting me. I needed to let off some steam. For like… the 3rd time today." He'd been trying really hard. Others may look at this as him slacking, but truth be told if he kept up any longer he'd probably pull his hair out. "Though I did learn what a 'contingenky' is. So progress, I guess." Haya never corrected him on the proper pronunciation of 'contingency.' "Anyway, I was gonna stomp some kids at fighting games. Feel free to stand in for them. Save some middle schoolers from spending all their cash today."

Kikyo’s lips formed into something of a smirk at the boy’s attitude. This was one of the most nostalgic feelings she has had since joining the program. Most of the people here, including the boys, were a lot different than the ones she had known in the past. The ones she had gone to school with and hadn’t given her a thought outside of a few unpleasantries and uncomfortable looks. Goto, here, on the other hand, reminded her a lot of them. A devil may care sort of attitude.

“I’m sure you have. I just want to try and get to know you a bit. At some point, we are probably going to have to work together.” Kikyo responded to his initial words, following after him as he moved inside the arcade.

She pondered on what he was saying, playing these games (and likely bullying the younger kids through them) was a way for him to blow off steam. She got that, to some extent at least. Her methods were usually more practical and involved accomplishing things. To each their own, though.

“Oh, uhm, no thank you. I never really played video games, I would just get...you know, destroyed.” Kikyo responded quietly, again glancing over all of the games. It was surprising just how much of a variety these darn things seemed to have.

"Well. You're free to watch then. Just try not to distract me too much." He walked inside and took a hold of the nearest free spot he could. "Could stand there for a moment. You don't gotta play. I just need a warm up and practice my combos." He moved her into position behind the stick just for a moment. "You don't gotta play. Just buy me some time to make sure I'm at my top game."

Kikyo followed after the boy, watching him as he positioned himself in front of one of the machines, ready to start playing a game. She was definitely curious to see how good he was at games, and also to see what some of these games were. “Well, if you don’t mind a spectator, sure. I’ll watch a bit. Have you been playing these games a lot?”

"I mean I've been playing since middle school. Would often play a few games after track practice on days I didn't have to study. Which was like every week I didn't have exams. So yeah I guess I have played a bunch." He practiced some combos, dealing high damage to the computer, the screen reseting after each attempt, successful or otherwise. "You beat me here. How'd you do that?" He asked, his eyes still trained on the screen.

The young woman’s eyes watched the screen. It looked like he definitely knew what he was doing. It took a little bit for her to really figure out what was happening on the screen at any time. The character movements and the numbers popping up. It wasn’t complicated or anything but without the experience of gaming it took some getting used to. When the boy spoke to her again, Kikyo’s gaze darted over to his face before focusing on the screen again.

“Huh? Oh, I just used my quirk. Being able to pass through reflective surfaces can sometimes shorten my travel time. With the way the mirrored dimension I go into works, the space is smaller and...I guess, kinda squished together? I guess I don’t really know how to describe it.” Kikyo responded, her nose scrunching up a bit as she pondered on how exactly do describe how her quirk worked.

"So what happens if you use one of those mirrors that makes things look bigger? Like the one used for make up?" He was curious about her right now, even if he wasn't directly looking at her. This girl had something to talk about for certain.

Kikyo brought up her left hand, tapping her lips with her index finger as she thought about his question. “Hmm. I don’t know? I mean, i’ve never made, like, a giant reflection. I wonder if I could…”

She couldn’t help but imagine going to an old cathedral and creating huge colorful reflections of herself, a slight amused smile crossing her face.

"Hm. Well I guess I'm glad I don't have an ability like you, or Amano, or even the Ice Queen. Shit sounds mad complicated.” He was certain that he’d never find the right use for it, if his academic abilities had anything to say about it. Hell, he was certain he could improve his own ability better if he could just understand the textbooks Mari had lent him.

“Alright, I’m all warmed up, move aside.” He leaned against the machine waiting for someone to come by, but… Well no one showed up. There were plenty of people there, but not a single person came to play at his machine. “Man I don’t get it… Why isn’t anyone else coming?”

“You think so? I guess my quirk is pretty complicated. Amano’s definitely sounds like it too, from what it seemed.” Kikyo initially responded. She happily moved aside when he got into position, waiting for someone to come. It was odd that given the time they waited that no one was showing up.

“Well...if you really wanna play that bad, I can play against you. I uhm, I don’t think you’ll get much use or practice out of it, though.” Kikyo added, leaning gently against the game machine herself.

Goto looked down at the girl next to him. He was by no means tall. She was just short. It's hard to say he didn’t notice the large scar that reached her face, and neck. But he wasn’t one to think ill of it. He actually saw people with scars like that somewhat frequently since his dad was a firefighter. A part of him felt some people were just not approaching because she looked different. “I take it people sometimes treat you differently huh?” This question came out of nowhere without context.

Kikyo noticed that his gaze had lingered on her for a few moments. At first, she thought he had only just now noticed that she was a girl or something. However, there was a slight moment of recognition in his eyes when they went over her face. Particularly, the scarred side. However, he didn’t look bothered by them, which was nice. Then he asked her an interesting question.

“Huh? I-I guess so. It doesn’t happen as much as it used to. This uniform is pretty good about covering a lot of...well, you know. I don’t think people are TOO off put by my scars. Though, there have been some people that looked at me like a sick puppy or something. Never appreciated that. Still, it was better than the people who just outright called me ugly or disgusting.” Kikyo responded softly, stil leaning against the machine as she looked over to the inquisitive boy.

“That, uhm, isn’t to say that it bothers me much. Didn’t mean to go off on a tangent. Sorry.” Kikyo added with a brief shrug, looking around the arcade at the various people. It wasn’t exactly uncommon that someone would stare at her for a minute before going about their business. At least no one has specifically been a jerk about it for a while.

Goto gave a sigh. “Welp. I think I’ve had enough of the arcade today.” At this point, he didn’t care about playing the game. He started out the door. “You comin’? I’m not flying this time, but I’m still willing to leave you behind if you don’t keep up.”

Kikyo blinked asbently at the boy a few times as he moved away. Didn’t he want to play the game? Like, a lot? She shrugged and followed after him. “Are you sure? You didn’t even really get to play.”

The young woman followed after, looking about from one patron of the business to another, a few returning her glances with their own. It did seem a lot of these people were young, their age or younger, and there was a lot of judgement from some of them. It didn’t bother her much, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she was affecting his reputation or something.

“Playing games was just to get my mind off of studying. We can do the same thing just walking.” He called from behind. “I’m not stopping again. Keep up and we can talk all the way home.” That was all he had to care about. He didn’t really care what he was doing. The arcade was just something he pulled from his ass anyway.

Kikyo had to hurry to catch up to the boy. In only a few seconds she strolled up beside him, walking alongside him. "Oh, so, it's just a distraction. I get it. Well, then, we can at least keep you distracted for a bit longer before you get back to your studying. That's fine, I need to get to it as well, actually."

The pair walked along, passively conversing on their way back to their home.
 
Last edited:
It was rare that Iniji came down to the common room, he had lived quite the loner lifestyle, within Suppression and within other places he once were. Being all alone was something he was used to, even his daily habits had developed in order to avoid the others as much as possible. It’s not that Iniji disliked any of the other students, it was perhaps the opposite, he only felt that he would be in the way of others if he were to show up a lot. How trite...Living in the shadows and such.

The day was young, though the long summer days had made daybreak come already. The horizon was slightly glowing with a soft white that indicated a soon to be sunrise, illuminating the inky blue sky. 5:30 A.M can be seen on the clock in the common room and kitchen. Iniji always woke up quite early, it was an effective way of getting to do his daily routines without much inference, or chances of obstructing another person’s activities.

Though it was a little different today, as another person was on the main floor today, before Iniji. It was a rare occasion, the boy seldom saw other students up and about out of their rooms at this hour. “Tetsuya-san?” His voice was slightly in surprise as he called out the unexpected ariser’s name. Iniji haven’t had much interactions with the other student, though investigating a murder and body might be considered ‘high value interaction’. He recalled the other being slightly shaken by the discovery of the remains...well, most would be shocked at such an ordeal.

“Good morning, Tetsuya-san.” Iniji said as he walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. “I hope you are doing well today.”

A fatigued Kuroi turned his groggy eyes to the voice that spoke to him. His posture was slumped slightly as he waited for the coffee pot to fill. He was awake, but given the bags under his eyes, he didn’t want to be. He grumbled a bit in acknowledgement, that being the extent of energy he could put forth toward a response.

“Ugh… Why are you awake? You should be asleep… I should be asleep. Everyone should be asleep,” He mumbled sleepily. Apparently, he wasn’t a morning person. “Why am I awake…?”

“This is my usual schedule, I wake up at this hour nearly everyday.” Iniji explained calmly as he walked down the stairs and started the hot water boiler, the sound of bubbling water began to ring throughout the floor, just a murmur, not actually enough to disturb any others. “...Perhaps you have fallen asleep in the common room, Tetsuya-san. I hope the case didn’t take a toll on your health.” They were in snowy areas, so perhaps the cold made some of them feel under the weather, and then there was also…

Iniji sighed a bit as he poured out a mug of hot water, scooping a bit of tea leaves into it, watching them disperse open in the heat. He wished he could have thought of something during the case, or found some more clues, but alas, there was no more chance of that. The killer would likely never be found, just like how no one has found him.

“Ugh… why…” Kuroi mumbled in question. As the pot filled, he took it and poured himself a cup of the brew, then rummaged through the drawers for the sweetener that was right in front of him. Clearly his brain was at half-capacity. “No… I’m just not a morning person…”

Grimacing a bit, he eventually found the sugar and dumped a spoonful into the cup. He pondered a bit at the comment about the case, idly stirring the spoon in the mug in front of him.

“...Just took me off guard is all.” Of course, it wasn’t that he liked seeing corpses. However, it was the wounds he initially saw that stunned him. “I’ve seen worse and when I saw the cuts it just… reminded me.”

“...I see.” Iniji stirred the hot liquid in the mug and took a sip. It was natural that someone in a hero program might’ve had bad experiences with corpses and slashing wounds...or perhaps most people would have a bad experience with such things, him included.

“It is a relief to know that you’re currently of good condition.” Iniji replied softly, he wasn’t one to pry, people more or less have their own secrets and troubles, it’s not his place to inquire about such things. He set the mug down with a small ‘clunk’ sound, magnified by the quietness of the early morning. “I do wish I could’ve been of more help though. Too many murders committed by quirks go unsolved.”

Kuroi let out another sheepish grumble, a sign of his unwillingness to fully wake up. He brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip from it, sighing a bit after as the coffee began to fully boot him up. “You had more ideas than any of us.”

He really wasn’t suited for investigation, and never planned on being. He was more equipped to be a gun; point and shoot. That’s what he’d prefer too. The vagueness, the mystery, it was such a pain in the ass.

“You stayed pretty calm too,” Kuroi commented.

“I-” Iniji was lost for words when Kuroi mentioned his calmness, though logically he knew it was more of a compliment.

Iniji had always felt a little down about the case, he thought perhaps he could avoid becoming a blade that simply hacked and slashed out a bloody path for whoever wanted to use him. Perhaps investigation was what he was more suited for, but in the end, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I’ve done certain things that require such qualities, it’s just a habitual remnant of my past. It’s nothing worthy of note, Tetsuya-san.” He replied with his usual melancholic tone.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’m not very squeamish or easy to get a rise out of, so if you did better than me that’s saying something.” His childhood was far from normal, after all. “I think we’re more to blame. You seem to think analytically, but I’m combat focused; the amazon seems to be a bruiser type and Daichi doesn’t seem like a detective himself either.”

He couldn’t help but wonder if sharper heroes were there, they could’ve found the culprit.

“Yeah…I might even wish I was more squeamish...sometimes I feel like I’m not normal. You know, even if I’m telling myself to not do something I’d still analyze it and go through with it.” Iniji leaned against the counter and mumbled, aspects of his past were pretty far from normal too, and they killed quite a few things in him.

“I’m not very combat focused...everyone in the class can probably beat me easily. So I want to do something to help out at least." Was that true? That was a lie, wasn’t it? Maybe it was both, Iniji didn’t know anymore, but it was what he wanted to hear himself say.

“I get that. Though I’ve come to think of myself as abnormal by now,” Kuroi commented with a light sigh. It was weirder when Agi and the others acted as if nothing was wrong with him, though it was kind of nice too. “I don’t really see anything wrong with that if you’ve looked at it.”

Though he said that, what Iniji said was fairly vague. Kuroi wasn’t entirely sure what he was referring to. As for the latter, however, the boy looked at him in a deadpan.

“What, have you been talking Elsa?”
He inquired. It seemed like something she would say, or at least resembled the logic she carried when comparing Kuroi’s strength to her own. “Your quirk is cutting things with your sight, right? Then your quirk’s like mine. You’re not weak, you just have to hold back a hell of a lot more than everyone else. Our quirks don’t really have a chill switch.”

“I suppose you can put it that way.” Iniji sighed, even in the past mission Kuroi’s quirk had shown much more versatility than his. When it comes to things such as a ‘chill switch’, Kuroi still has more of it than he does, limitations, functionalities, all of that.

After a long silence Iniji looked down at his cup, and the tea began to get cold. “Tetsuya-san, I can stand upon a building, look down and slit the throat of a hundred men beneath me if that were my wish. It would be impossible to trace back to me, impossible to react towards, impossible to prematurely defend against.” His voice was lined with a certain seriousness that was rare even for Iniji, carrying an eerily heavy amount of weight. “I think you’re the one who can most understand this sort of pain in this class, but…” Trailing off Iniji didn’t want to discredit the other, he wasn’t in a place to do that.

“You can do that with anything, though, yeah? Not just people,” Kuroi refuted as he took another drink. “Though yeah, I have to get up close… or use range in moderation. But I get it.”

It really was a pain to always have to consider how much you were putting into your actions. Go too far and the ramifications would be severe. Then there was the perception of it. Even without the baggage of family, certain quirks held a better impression than others. Goto’s quirk was pretty “heroic” and so was Vigridis’. His though? Blood that’s so pressurized it can cut through most things with ease. Iniji’s was much the same, except it was done with his eyes. With certain quicks, it was far easier to do damage than prevent it, and those with said quirks required more effort to erode any aversion.

“Trust me, there’s quite a few that actually expect that of me… At least, I’m not going to judge you off your quirk,” Kuroi stated.

“Perhaps it was callous of me to make assumptions, I apologize for my presumptiveness.” Iniji felt a bit bad for assuming that Kuroi didn’t understand how he feels, there was always a certain stigma around some types of quirks, it was like being seen as a weapon rather than a person. “It’s difficult to jump out of certain loops when other people put you into them...or perhaps when you put yourself into them.” Unexpectedly, Iniji laughed a bit, at seemingly nothing.

“It’s nice to see someone who does not judge my quirk, mayhaps that is this beauty of a program like such. I lived for so long shouldering those arbitrations, that I’ve forgotten what it’s like.”

"You don't really have to apologize. I'm not offended or anything," Kuroi assured groggily. It seemed Iniji had his own issues going on too. It was like looking at himself, but with less of a chip on his shoulder and if he never met the guys. "Yeah… I guess I got lucky."

Musing that, he took a sip of the coffee again. He wondered how different he would be now if he didn't have that support circle.

"Have you had the chance to talk with the guys? Agi, Amon, Yori… even Goto. They all think that way too."

“...I have no doubt that my acquaintances within this class are kind people. But I would hesitate to accept their kindness. Mayhaps this sounds needlessly distant.” There were a lot of ‘what ifs’ in life, if Iniji had met different people, or even gone to U.A., would everything be different? Yes, or maybe no.

“I have some...very specific reasons to distance myself from others. So that things don’t become troublesome down the line.” Someday the truth about him will come out, it would no doubt cause confusion and shock. In some ways distancing himself from others felt like distancing himself from that day, even though there is no tangible difference.

“Hm…” Kuroi hummed. Again, that sounded a lot like himself. Of course he wasn’t given the choice. Agi, much akin to the hyperactive golden retriever puppy he likened him to, didn’t really take no for an answer. “So do I… but I dunno. I made the choice to do that, but then it was taken from me. They closed the distance regardless and acted as if that was normal.”

He recalled finding it all so damn annoying at first. He still did sometimes, but it wasn’t the same.

“Unfortunately, if that was something that needed to be accepted, I’d be alone here. Some people are more persistent than you are wary.”

“...Yeah.” Iniji closed his eyes and remembered all the times where the others were quite persistent with their goodwill, in some ways he had given up. He had never found these gestures annoying, he wasn’t one who should judge such things, his pain came more from concern. If they were so bent on showing him kindness, then let the truth that was to be spilled someday be even more painful. “They’re truly fit to be heroes, don’t they?”

Leaving the seemingly complementary but also cryptic message, Iniji picked up the mug and the book he carried down with him - one seemingly about basic hero etiquette and the history of the hero system, and began to head back towards the stairs. He would be alone again on the rooftop at this hour, usually he was alone in the kitchen and living rooms as well, but the change of pace actually didn’t feel bad to him. “It was a pleasure speaking to you, Tetsuya-san. I hope you can get more rest.” Taking a small bow the boy left the room to go about his daily routine.

“Yep,” Kuroi affirmed with a slight nod. He had already been through this whole process. He didn’t know what kind of skeletons were in Iniji’s closet, but talk was cheap. The actions would be what dragged down his resistance. “They really are.”

He raised a hand in affirmation as Iniji took his leave. He would get worn down eventually. That, Kuroi was sure of. “Same. See you, Iniji.”
 
images-1.jpg
Hideki Mitsuki
Hideki and his team had come back from their mission in one piece. They were also able to capture and have four villains who had given their class some trouble before arrested. That night Hideki laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about how he did his first time as a leader. Eventually deciding to leave his room and make his way downstairs where he saw Daichi playing a gamecube that he had found. Hideki would join him in the playing the old gaming system and getting a chance to know him a little bit. (That collab will be coming, either on iwaku or on discord) He would then go to bed later that night and get ready for the next day.

Hideki went to class the day after all of their patrol missions. Ota sensei was happy that they all came back alive and then started to go over some of the missions from the day before. Hideki paid particular attention to the photos of some of the villains that different squads had faced the day before. Hideki hadn't faced off against Dr. Mobius yet, but the man sounded like a formidable enemy who also was allied with some tough villains. He would be someone that Hideki would be looking for while out on patrol.

After all of the information Ota sensei gave them, he then turned it over to a lighter note. He let that class know that they would be going away for the weekend to recharge and relax. They were going to a aquarium/resort. Hideki wasn't sure what it would be like but he figured he would go in with a good attitude and see what happened.

As Ota sensei would release the class for the day, Hideki had some things that he wanted to do. He would start by having a conversation with Mari, and then would go to visit Isa to see how she was and well that would turn in to a very interesting and important situation with her mother. Hideki then would talk Haya later in the night and then even Ren would stop by his room to talk as well.

As class was dismissed, Mari went about her usual and headed out the door, pausing for a bit to collect her things she was quick to leave and found Hideki waiting for her. “Oh? Was something wrong Hedeki-san? I was expecting you to be long gone.”

As class was dismissed for the day, Hideki decided that he wanted to get some advice. While his team had successfully completed their mission and had been able to defeat and capture four villains that had given his class some trouble in the past. Hideki still felt that he could have done better. Some things had luckily went their way. So Hideki decided to wait around after class and talk to the person in their class who had the most experience at being a leader.

Hideki offered a light smile as Mari made her way out of the room. “Yeah everything is fine, I just wanted to know if you had a minute to talk?”

“Hmm, sure? I’ve got nowhere to be till a little later after class. As I said if you had something to speak with me about I would listen.” Mari says in response.

Hideki nodded his head “Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m assuming you looked over all of the reports from these past patrols and such. Whats your honest opinion of my teams overall mission and result?” Hideki wanted to first see what Mari’s honest thoughts were. He knew that she wouldn’t sugar coat anything and would tell him what she honestly thought. After he heard that he could really get into the questions he was hoping she could help him with.

“Honestly? It all seemed to work out. Two of them acted on their own but corrected their own mistakes. You did not utilize your pieces as it were, but you would not be who you are if you had done so. Your mission had the best results of all of them overall. Any issues you had can only be fixed with experience, though you lack a commanding presence so much as one that bolsters other forces. Though I haven’t read all the reports in detail just yet, some of them are problematic.” Mari says in response with a raised eyebrow as if amused by his antics. “You have too much doubt of yourself.”

Well he knew that she would be honest. Hideki laughed a little after Mari gave her answer. “This is why I come to you for these sorts of things. You're honest about everything, sometimes brutally so.” Hideki smirked a bit as his hands shot down into his pockets. What she said made sense though. They have been things that others have been saying about him. He shouldn’t be having these issues. He has a good combat oriented quirk and knows how to use it. He’s a good fighter, hell he’s been called the poster boy hero for a reason.

Though the same issues keep coming up, his confidence and his presence are his issues that he can’t seem to fix. “So then what do I do about that? My first year at UA I didn’t really have these issues. I was probably on the other side of the spectrum and had too much confidence in myself. That caused me to take some bumps while at UA. Though I was still towards the top of the class. I have a good quirk, I use it well. For some reason though, especially more recently I’ve been having these issues. If I want to live up to the potential that I have and the hero that I should be I need to be able to lead and I need to be able to get over these issues. You are by far the best leader that I know. So how do you do it?”

She thought about telling him about who that man was in the van, but decided that was best not to do so for now, that would lead to nowhere good as she listened to him. Giving a sad smile at that, she speaks with the utmost confidence.

“I don’t. I don’t have all the answers, the strongest quirk, nor the most flashy ability, I may be the fastest and it may be bragging but when it comes to smarts I think only Amano threatens me and that's as she can cheat a little bit with her slime. When we had our own mission I focused on the goals I had and gave what commands fit the situation best in my mind. The Key to being a leader is when you arrive in hell, when you aren’t sure of yourself, you keep going. That is what I do Hideki. Because if you don’t if you falter even once from that perfect display and the knowledge you gain, everything can crumble. The country we are sworn to protect is more fragile than most realize. All I can do is continue to learn, weigh the costs and bear the weight of what I carry.. Doubt is a sickness, once you allow it to gain even a little hold it will spread all over you.

That is the advice I offer you Hideki. Do nothing that would embarrass yourself or that would be a choice you cannot look back at and say you did what you must. To be a hero is much like Ota Sensei said, it is to clean up the messes of others. If we doubt what we do in that then what good are we?”

Hideki listened intently as Mari gave him her answer to his questions. Hideki thought about what she was saying and it made some sense. What she said about herself was true as well. Even though she didn’t have the flashiest quirk she still was able to lead because she focused and didn’t let doubt enter mindset. That was what Hideki had to do. He wasn’t as smart as Mari was, but he did have a stronger quirk. He needed to take her advice and not let doubt creep into his thoughts.

Hideki bit his bottom lip for a quick moment though. He could say to himself all he wanted that he can’t let self doubt enter his mind, but that was easier said than done.

Hideki looked away for a moment as he chuckled lightly. “What happened to me, I was never like this before.” Hideki then turned back to Mari. “I’ll take your advice. You know me. I always try to strive to be great and to get the job done. I have got people to live up too, so I better figure this stuff out then huh.” Hideki offered a smile. “So if it were one hundred percent your decision, would you have me lead again?”

“It worked out didn’t it? And I’m not one to second guess my decisions unless I really must.. And right now I have one of those to deal with. If there are any changes it’s as the class, Ota and the Principle asked. Though I’ll see about next time making you second in the team you end up with. As to why it is bothering you, it is likely as everything was pulled out beneath you in what I even think at times is a punishment.” Laying a hand on his left shoulder, she gives a couple of pats then heads off on her own. “I’m sure there are other things you need to be doing poster boy.”

Hideki would look at Mari as she grabbed onto his left shoulder and patted it a couple times before walking away. He listened to what she had to say and smirked a little bit as she mentioned he probably had better things to do and called him a poster boy. Also though something that she said caught him off guard for a moment. “So a demotion then?” Hideki turned around to look back at Mari.

“Maybe, maybe not, depends on what Ota does with the Principle, I just sign off, was offering to try getting you an easier job, or you regained enough to keep up?” Mari adds in posting. “Take the week and the weekend trip, talk to everyone, see what you want. Then give me that answer.”

Hideki looked down for a moment before looking back at Mari.”I’ll do whatever role is assigned to me. If the leadership wants me to lead, then I’ll lead. If they want me as a number two, well then maybe at least I’ll be your number two, maybe I’ll learn something.” Hideki smirked at her, knowing that would play to Mari’s ego at least a little bit, but also saying it in a joking way. “But yeah I’ll take the week and see what I want to do, but in the end its not up to me and I’ll play the role I’m given.”

“True of us all.” She says as her footsteps bring her further away. “I need to get my mind off of a few things, so I’m going on a “date” with one of the boys. Don’t expect much of it. But you never know. Also keep on the look out for Isa’s mom if you go there.” Waving a hand bye, Mari sets off.

“A date? Wow, I wonder who the lucky guy is.” Hideki laughed a bit before hearing something that perked her ears up. Hideki had been planning on going to see Isa in the hospital. Whenever any of their classmates were in the hospital Hideki tried to go see them. So Isa was no different, but her mom was there? Her mom had information that Hideki wanted so looked liked that was going to be his next stop. “Will do, I’ll see you around Mari… and um thanks.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuing her walk, it would not be long till Hideki found his own way to the Medical Ward, where a tall and muscular woman exited the room, in a black ANVIL style uniform, she has a fierce gaze to her eyes and face as she looks ahead before closing them, staying to her thoughts. It was Kanna Suguro.

After his talk with Mari, Hideki decided that he would head over to the medical ward of their school and check in on Isa. Hideki always tries to visit any of his comrades and friends when they were in the hospital if he could. Even if it was only for a minute he thought it was a good thing to do to check up on them. As Hideki turned the corner down the hallway where Isa’s room was he saw someone coming out of her room. And it was someone that he had been wanting to talk too.

Hideki wasn’t sure if he should have asked Ota sensei first, but the woman who was looking into his parents' case was right in front of him. He had to at least introduce himself and see if she would talk with him at all. She was obviously here to check on her daughter and she was also a busy person. She may just blow him off, but Hideki decided to take the chance anyway. Hideki made his way closer to Isa’s room as the intimidating woman stood outside the door. As Hidkei got to her he bowed before introducing himself. “Hello Officer Suguro, my name is Mitsuki, Hideki, I was just coming to visit Isa and see how she was doing. Is she doing alright?”

Snapping her head towards the source of the voice, the woman stares at him for a long while before finally speaking, her tone was direct, her words mostly short. “Yes, she’s awake now. See her if you wish. “With that she takes a few steps from the door and peers at the vending machine kept out in the hall.

Hideki had heard rumors about the famous or infamous member of ANVIL Kanna Suguro. She would likely keep everything short and to the point. She could come off as hostile at times. So far that seemed to be true at least to some extent. Hideki saw her move away from the door and start to look over at some vending machines. Hideki had thought that maybe hearing his last name she would realize who he was. Maybe she did and she didn’t want to say anything or maybe she didn’t know. Whatever the case was though, Hideki needed to ask her. “I’m glad to hear that she’s awake and seems to be doing alright. I’ll go see her in a minute, but mam I need to ask you something. You’re looking into the case of the professional hero team the heavenly beast correct? I apologize if you are not allowed to talk about it, or if I’m being too upfront or informal, but I am the son of those heros. I would like to know everything there is to know about the case.” Hideki stares straight at Officer Suagru. The woman was a bit intimidating, but Hideki wasn’t going to back down now. He needed to know something anything about his parents case.

“And what good would knowing do you?” She says in reply, turning to gaze him in the eyes with her own. “I thought that name of yours was familiar. All I can say when it comes to this case is get in line. Far more people than that have died. I can understand your love for family, or maybe your wish for revenge, but I have zero cause to tell you a single thing. Your parents did not survive this encounter, what makes you think you will?” Kanna was more than a bit brutal in her response but she had made her point.

Kanna Suguro was absolutely everything that Hideki expected. Her answer was brutally honest and was what he was expecting her to say. Hideki took a deep breath for a moment. Some anger starting to well up inside him, the breath helped him calm down for a moment before answering her. “I know that. Ota sensei said the same thing, I don’t know if I would survive the encounter or not, but not knowing anything. I can’t go on like that. I can’t move forward and be the hero and be the person I’m supposed to become until I get some sort of closure or at the very least some sort of knowledge about the situation. I’m not an idiot, I’m strong but I know there are still things I need to work on. I don’t plan on just throwing my life into the wind and getting myself killed. The way Ota sensei put it, there’s a chance I never cross paths with this person. If I do though I want all of the information I can so that I can face them with a better understanding of them then my parents or the other people they killed had.” Hideki’s eyes stayed locked onto Officer Sugaru; he was intense with his words and his demeanor.

“They are rather good at hiding, for thirty years, but they were trained to do it while you were learning to write.. Very well, I’m in a foul mood at what happened to my daughter. Meet me outside of the medical ward and I shall face you. Impress me enough and I’ll throw you some information as a kindness. Though there is one that could help you more, the little ingrate would be useful then. If you fail, well you have a medical ward right here. I’ll be waiting.”

With that Kanna turns on her heel and leaves the building, cracking her knuckles as she did so.

Hideki listened as Officer Sugaru gave her conditions. If he wanted any information he would have to fight the infamous ANVIL agent right now. Hideki gulped a little as he heard what the conditions were. Then she gave some information that Hideki found surprising. Someone else here could give Hideki more information? It didn’t sound like it was Ota sensei, it sounded like it was another student. Hideki found that surprising, was it someone in his class? Maybe she would tell him that after.

Hideki watched as she walked towards the building exit. Some thoughts going through Hideki’s mind but he wasn’t going to back down. Hideki thought on some of the words Mari said to him only a few minutes ago. When you’re going through hell you keep going. Hideki knew this fight wouldn’t be easy and most people would think he was crazy, but he wasn’t going to back down. Hideki looked at the door to Isa’s room. He would come back here later, for now Hideki made his way outside where he saw Officer Sugaru waiting for him.

“So you did come! Let’s see what you are made of Mitsuki!” With that she steps off on a swift foot her fist balled up and aimed directly for his center of mass as she let out a battle cry.

The attack was so massively higher in projection, and skill with years of experience and weight that would surreal make its mark on Hideki who had yet to face such an intense moment of power would never make its mark. Upon impact he was pulled back by a clawed purple hand as a massive torrent of mist collected into a one solidly small mist shield taking the full torque of the attack cracking upon impact, but still holding it off.

“This is brash even for you Kanna,” Jettitare Monsera scolded with sharp eyes interlocking with Kanna’s demonic blazed ones. The retired hero Dark Matter who in the land of Japan had caused an impact throttle hold onto how Anvil was easily a powder keg forcing it to revise itself into the solid form it was today. Of course there were many other factors that made such happen, but no one argued he was the one to get the ball rolling with Shun.

“You.. Fine.” Looking at them both her smile breaks into a twisted grin akin to the one Isa showed when going full force, or at least when her quirk was really starting to flow. “I’ll take on both of you. At long last the cycle is complete.”

“Fine, Hideki right? You want your answers fairly; you need to stay in the fight attack only when you know you can escape her range. I’ll help you take her on,” Jet simply spoke straight to the point as he took off his jacket ready to throw down with Kanna once again.

Hideki stood across from Kanna Sugaru and before he even knew it, she was starting the fight. She seemed different from how she was a few minutes ago when they were inside. She seemed happy? Or maybe crazy was a better word for it, but she quickly made her first move as she came directly at Hideki. ‘Shit’ Hideki thought to himself, was he going to be able to dodge this? No there was no way, she was moving way too fast. He was going to have to take this attack head on. Could he handle that he wasn’t sure but he was about to find out. This attack was like nothing he had dealt with before, it was way more powerful and had a lot more speed than anything Hideki had faced before. She could probably tell by the look on his face that he was surprised at how strong this attack was as he got ready to take this attack head on.

Right before she made an impact Hideki felt himself get yanked back by something. Hidek’s eyes widened as he took a few deep breaths. He turned his head and saw that it was a former hero that Hideki knew kind of well. Hideki when he was young had looked up a lot of information about current and former heroes, so right when he saw the man who saved him from her attack he knew who it was. The former top ten hero Dark Matter was now standing next to him and glaring at Officer Suagru. What was he doing here? Hideki thought to himself. He turned his attention back to Officer Sugaru who now had a crazy smile on her face and wanted to fight both of them? She was going to take the both of them on at the same time? Hideki took a nervous gulp as he vaguely remembered a video he watched on the internet of these two fighting at the UA sports festival long ago. Could Hideki be a part of this fight anymore? Would he be more than an annoying brat?

Hideki snapped out of his own mind when he heard Dark Matter speak to him. “Yes sir, I can do that.” Hideki shook those thoughts from his mind. With Dark Matters help he was going to get the answers he was looking for. Hideki looked back over at Officer Sugaru. “Alright lets do this.” Hideki smirked at her.

Grinning a bit at the two, Kanna starts to broadcast a dark aura that leaked hostile intent and anger, vengeance or maybe even hate, though something about it seemed more primal, less personal in the later cases, more akin to a force of nature than ill will. Or so it seemed as she launches out with a sweeping kick aiming to take the two off their feet. “Once more butting your head where it belongs not.. And what of you boy, will he help you with your goals as well?”

With the first swing Jettitares whole arms were submerged in his vibranium armor mist as he dropped to the floor catching her kick, and pinning her foot down with Hideki now having a clear shot to attack her.

“Now boy,” Jet exclaimed.

Hideki watched as something dark seemed to be coming off of Officer Sugaru now, it wasn’t anything that Hideki had ever felt before. It almost made him want to not even move as one move could be his last. Hideki though was going to push forward, even though this woman was pretty scary he couldn’t stop now. She quickly sent a kick that was aiming to knock down both himself and Dark Matter, Hideki saw it in time and was getting ready to dodge when the former pro hero caught her kick and pinned her foot to the ground.

Hideki gasped as he was amazed to see just how strong these two people were, it also made him realize that he had a long way to go to get to this level. Hideki heard Dark Matter and Hideki lifted his right arm and fired off a strong stream of flames right towards Kanna. Hideki usually opened up with some weaker attacks to gauge his opponents, but not with her. Hideki knew if he wanted to do any damage then these flames needed to be hot and needed to be powerful. So that's exactly what he did with his first attack.

Grinning a bit as she speaks aloud. “Good.. But not good enough.” Punching the ground with her fist and putting a massive amount of force behind it a pillar of dirt shoots up getting in the way of the flames and keeping Kanna safe from harm, when suddenly from the side, she comes charging through aiming to tackle either of the two.

"Hmpf still violent like a raging bull, and just as readable," Jettitare shot back as she came hurtling towards them from the blind spot of her guard.

"Meet her head on," Jet instructed as he charged her in equal measure as his white vibranium mist armor was set in place. Yet the promise of collision was a ruse as he slide at the last second tripping her with his tail at the last second flipping her at the last moment of contact..

Hideki gritted his teeth as he watched Kanna effortlessly block his flames. Hideki wouldn’t have time to think on it though because Kanna would come charging at himself and Dark Matter quickly after blocking Hideki’s flame attack. Dark Matter wanted him to meet her head on? Hideki quickly looked at the former top ten hero, was he crazy? She would absolutely destroy Hideki if he did that. Hideki mentally pale face was palmed but decided to listen to the man and charge anyway.

Hideki covered his right hand in flames, if he was going to meet her head on then he would need to have an attack ready. Dark Matter would slide right before he made contact with Kanna and would use his tail to trip her, making her flip and fall onto her back on the ground. Hideki smirked as he saw his opening and he quickly took it. Hideki continued his charge towards Kanna and as he got to her threw down a hammer punch that was covered in flames going straight for the woman’s stomach.

“Still a dishonest attacker I see.. Jet!” With Hideki coming in for the attack, he scores a hit, and while it didn’t do serious harm, he had driven a little wind out of her, though she seemed unfazed, her muscles were hard as rock as his fist drove home, leaking more of Aura she reaches out to grab Hideki and throws him right at Jet. If he wanted to win, flames alone would likely not be enough as her clothing was just as good as the highest quality of hero wear.

“Cry me a river Kanna admit what this is about,” Jet growled as he rushed forward catching Hideki by the hands before sending him up into the air high above Kanna as he rushed her catching her forearms with his arms latching, and overwhelming her with plasmic mist very flammable plasmic mist.

Hideki’s flame punch made Kanna gasp a little as the wind was knocked out of her, but that only lasted for less than a second. Before Hideki could move he was grabbed by the woman and tossed into the air as if he was trash. Hideki’s eyes widened as he flew through the air. He was then caught by Dark Matter and then thrown high up into the air above the two of them.

Hideki knew that Dark Matter hadn’t been a pro hero in years, and even though he was in retirement the man was still just as impressive as he was when he was in the top ten. Hideki shot fire out of both of his feet so that he could stay in the air as he watched Dark Matter and Officer Sugaru fight down below. Hideki was amazed at the two of them, they were both incredible and it just made Hideki realize how much farther he needed to go to get to that level.

Dark Matter gained the upper hand as he was able to catch Officer Sugaru and latch her forearms, he also was able to overwhelm the woman with his mist. Hideki’s eyes lit up this was his chance, he hoped that Dark Matter could get out of the way. The boy took both hands and fired a strong steady stream of flames down at Officer Sugaru, Hideki looked like a flamethrower in this instance.

While a bit stopped by the onslaught and expanding fireball from Hideki and Jet, a column of black smoke expands around the woman as a flame leaps up around her, with her outer later of clothing burnt and some superficial burns on her body that were even then clearing she stomps from out of the smoke, though not unscahted. However one thing was clear as her gaze hardened on the two, this was far from over. “The Law is not so easily stopped.”

While Jet had retired, Kanna had spent her whole life doing this, minus the couple of years she took off around the births of her children, while he was still powerful, this was quickly turning into a reenactment of the last time they fought. Stepping off with her legs once more, she aims a double sided clothesline for both of the men, jumping towards the gap between them.

“Then how about you stop being an ass and just hit me. Right, that's what you want, what you believe you are entitled because a close friend decided to look past the scope of emotionless law to show how extremely ready to kill Anvil was in its earlier years.” Jet suddenly yelled out of the blue to Kanna. Instead of dodging he just stood there as she got closer.

“It is not a matter of what you did but the fact you did it!” Connecting, she took him off his feet, though missed the fire boy by a little bit. As Jet fell over he left a bit of dust as Kanna exhales heavily. “For thirty years I’ve wanted to do that. Just to see your smug face hit the dirt..”
And with that a good portion of her hostility seems to evaporate as she turns her attention towards Hideki.

Hideki watched as the fireball engulfed her. That would have to do some damage Hideki thought to himself as he smirked. Just as he thought that though, Kanna would come out from the flames. It did appear as she took some damage but not nearly enough to keep her down for the count. She quickly came for both Hideki and Dark Matter with a clothesline. Instead of dodging though, Dark Matter just stood there and yelled at Kanna. It seemed like these two had some sort of argument going on and Hideki was now caught in the middle of it.

Since Dark Matter didn’t move, Kanna easily took him to the ground. Hideki was able to dodge to the right as she just barely missed him. Hideki fell to the ground and rolled right back to his feet. There was some dust that was now kicked up into the air. Hideki decided that he wasn’t going to give her a second to think or breathe. Hideki quickly used his flames to boost his speed to get towards Kanna fast. A punch coming straight for the woman’s cheek.

“Hope it felt great CAUSE HERE'S FOR NOT COMING TO MY WEDDING,” Jet used Hideki's attack distraction to get his own revenge hit in as a swirl of mist captured her in place as both Plasmic fist, and fire fist exploded on Kanna delivering another long awaited punch for a older generation.

Laughing at that as she got knocked down and a bit hurt, the woman still gets to her feet as the two worked together to knock her down. Still she did not seem all that hurt, but she was on her back. Though her smile seems to go back to something more normal as her Aura starts to fade into the background.

“I can still fight, but you worked well together with someone you don’t know… You still have awhile to reach me, boy. But, I think if you have a few friends like that, you could maybe stand a chance at not dying to her at once.. And as to you, Jet.. I could not stand to face you all for those years.. However if possible I would like to speak with you when this is done, maybe join Ayame to see the place you built with Mimi.. I never like how she just left.. To think a Priestess could be so unforgiving.. By the Kami I am sorry, but let me give this boy, no, this man, some of what he seeks. My daughter is in the hospital here, so I won’t be leaving so soon.”

Hideki watched as his attack and the attack from Dark Matter both hit Kanna at the same time and knocked her to the ground. Hideki stood there looking down at her and then looking over to Dark Matter, his face a little bit confused. Were they fighting about a wedding? They were throwing this much energy and this much power out at each other over a wedding? No it had to be more than that right? Either way it was crazy getting to see these two in action and actually getting to be involved. It was a short fight but Hideki felt like he grew in this fight. His confidence definitely grew during it. He was able to land quite a few blows on the infamous Officer Sugaro. Not many people could say that, and he got to partner and fight on equal terms with the retired hero Dark Matter who was a former top ten pro hero. Hideki definitely grew during this fight,

Hideki stood there catching his breath as Kanna stood up and stated that she could still fight, but that she decided that the fight was over. It looked like he had done enough to gain at least a little bit of respect from her. Hideki gave her his full attention as she said that she would give him some of the information that he wanted. He bowed to the both of them. “Thank you Officer Sugaro, I very much appreciate it.” He then turned to Dark Matter “Thank you for fighting with me sir, I’m sorry If I caused you any issues.”

“No worries now get what you came for, I can wait kanna,” Jet chuckled rubbing where he had been hit… oof retirement had its downsides even if you kept on training, live experience would always be the only thing to keep one in true shape. With that he went over to the wall leaning as he listened.

“Well Hideki, I can say your parents were killed by a woman that was raised as an Assassin from birth and that has been in this country since the Yakuza times. There is much I cannot tell you least you are in ANVIL and need to know, there is much I should not tell you and other things aside. What is it you want to know exactly?” Kanna asks.

Hideki nodded his head at the man and turned to face Kanna. She started to talk and told him some information. A woman raised as an assassin is who killed his parents. She then asked him what he wanted to know. Hideki had clenched his right hand into a fist and kept it at his side as she talked. ” I would like to know a few things, whats her quirk? Do you have any leads on her whereabouts? Was she hired to kill my parents or were they just trying to stop her? What is her name? Just anything you are allowed to give me. I don’t know if I will ever see this woman, If I do though I would like to be prepared. I have been given a leadership position in our class, I don’t want to lead any of my friends into their deaths so I need to have as much information as I can get.”

Clenching her jaw a little she snorts a little. “My aren’t we asking a lot of questions?” A hint of her darkness shown through again but tapers off.

“Her name you do not need to know. But her Villain name is Leto the Stigmata. Her quirk is the ability to release what is a form of plasma from wounds in her hands and feet into coating for a sword or ribbon like attacks that cut deep and well, constrict and bind, be it black or red. And she is rather easy to tell when you see her given her blonde hair, sharp black, white and red suit decor. We do not know where she is, or I wouldn’t be here talking to you. All we know for sure is that she still lives, still kills, is still wanted by us, no questions asked and that she is likely with a cult.”

Pausing for a bit at that she seems lost in thought then recalls his specific case. “She is an S ranked criminal that all info on is controlled by us. It says clearly on her wanted sheet to shadow, avoid contact and report it to ANVIL at once. Your parents, like more than a few heroes, did not do so and attempted to catch her. If it is as they wanted the wealth and fame that came from it, underestimated her, or simply were trying to be heroes I cannot say.

Otherwise they were bit by bit overwhelmed and killed. For her remembering she killed your parents would be like me remembering every ounce of scum I erased during the Yakuza Insurgency or the years since.. If it is a small consolidation your parents died in one another's arms and facing her in their last moments. They did not run or plead. And you do well to think of this as impersonal as she did, lest you end up in my folders as well. If the Kami wills it, you will face her at some point.”

With that she adds one final thing as she looks at him. “And if you do face her, call us. Only fight her as you must or you have numbers, she is as dangerous as I or Jet and kills without any remorse. In the early days the woman did not even have a grasp of emotions. I do not say this for you to pity her, but for you to understand this is no normal badguy looking for fame. She searches for the right hand of her God. Be it out of love or hate.”

Leto the Stigmata Hideki burned that name into his brain as he repeated it over and over again in his thoughts. He wanted to make sure it was something he didn’t forget. Hideki paid close attention as Officer Sugaru told him more than he was expecting she would. This woman sounded like a monster, someone that ANVIL treated as one of the most dangerous criminals out in the world. Hideki’s mind then started to wander as he heard that his parents died in each other’s arms. Hideki started to grit his teeth and started to strain his fist from balling it up so tight. Hideki could imagine his parents together as they laid on the ground in front of her waiting for their final moment together. Were they thinking about him when it happened? Hideki’s whole body shivered as a cold feeling went up and down his spine.

” Thank you Officer Sugaru, that is more information than I thought you would give me. I very much thank for it though. Should I happen to run into her I will make sure that I am ready should I have to face her, and this information you have given me will certainly help me in that regard. It will also help me be able to protect my comrades here should we come across her. I have one final question for you though I’m not sure if you can or if you will want to tell me. You mentioned earlier that someone here at this school would be able to possibly even tell me more than you did. Who is it? I do not plan on going to attack them or anything, if they are here at Suppression it means they are an ally, but if they somehow have some connection to her I would like to speak with them if I could.”

“That will be left in the hands of Nomura.” She says in short order. “Some stories affect more lives than your own, no matter what my thoughts on the matter are. When he feels your class should know, then you shall. Till then it is not my place.”

Hideki nodded his head. Though he wanted to know who it was, it did at least confirm for him that it was someone from his class. Hideki would have a few guesses but he couldn’t sure. In the end he couldn’t be mad, she gave him much more information than he thought he would get. Some of the information was hard to hear, but Hideki needed to know it. If he wanted to stop this person then he needed every bit of info he could get. For now though he should take his leave, he has taken much of her time.
” Thank you Officer Suagru for all of the information. I appreciate it, also thank you for the fight. I feel like I’ve gotten stronger today even if it was only a little bit. I’ve taken too much of your time and I still want to go see how Isa is doing, so I’ll take my leave.”[color] Hideki bowed quickly to her and then turned around and bowed quickly to Dark Matter who was leaning on the wall waiting for Kanna to be done talking. ” Thank you again sir.” With that Hideki started to head back towards the building as he was going to make his way to see Isa.

With that Kanna shifts her attention to Jet and waves a hand at the boy after giving a light bow of her own, for now her part in this was done.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hideki now had a lot of things to think about. Officer Sugaru gave him a lot of information on his parents' killer. As he made his way back into the building Hideki stopped and leaned against a wall for a moment. He took his left hand and hit it against the wall he was leaning on and tilted his head up towards the ceiling looking up at it for a moment. He could feel some tears starting to well up in his eyes, but he quickly rubbed them to make sure that he didn’t cry. Now was not the time for that. Hideki saw a water fountain down the hall and went to take a sip from it, he also took some of the water into his hand and splashed it on his face which helped him calm down.

Hideki made his way back upstairs and outside of Isa’s hospital room. He hadn’t expected to have that fight with her mother so he was doing this later than he expected, but he was happy he could still do it at all. Hideki knocked on her door and waited until he heard her say to come in. Hideki opened the door and walked into the room offering her a smile. “Yo Isa, how are you feeling? Figured I’d come check on ya.”

“Dammit just come in! That makes like three or four of yah! I’m totally not doing something indecent!” Grumbling a bit, she wanted to go back to her own room if she were being honest. “But hiya Hideki, you seem okay!” She says making a small wave to him.

Hideki laughed a bit as he heard Isa yell and complain a bit about people coming into her room. She changed her tone a little bit though when she saw it was Hideki. “I guess I’m not the only person to pay ya a visit. Also guess I’m someone you don’t mind paying a visit. How you are feeling? you’re mother said you seemed to be doing better and well it definitely sounds like you are.”

“Uh still some pain in the ribs, but nothing bleeding out now, body is focus’n on other things, was a bit touch and go, that sword left a big hole, and nah Hideki I like see’n yah around. Haha.” The Oni says in response.

Hideki was now sitting in a chair that was in the room as he listened to Isa. “Yeah from the report that I heard in class today it sounded like your team ran into some pretty tough criminals out there. Glad to see your healing up. I guess it makes sense though, I can’t imagine you being down for too long no matter how much damage you take.” Hideki Chuckled a bit. Considering what he just saw from her mother, he was sure that Isa would probably turn out the same way power wise at least.

“I like seeing yah around too, you definitely make things more interesting. Also definitely one of my first choices to have watching my back out there.”

“I wish that was true, the heal’n doesn't work exactly like that. An I don’t really do what all Ma does to get strong, you should see her workout routine, does push ups on one finger and pulls large weights. We also do a little farm’n at grandparents place by hand.” She responds to his own remarks until the last one.

“Heh good ta hear! Though were you and my Mom fighting?” Isa asks with narrowed eyes.

Hideki listened as Isa explained some of the training her mom did. Hideki only got to see a small amount of her power, but he was still very impressed with what she could do. Hideki then rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled a little at Isa’s question. “Yeah well I had come to pay you a visit and your mother happened to be walking out of your room as I came up. I had wanted to ask her some questions to try and get some information from her. For me to get that I had to fight her and make enough of an impression so that she would give me some of the information. Luckily I survived and was able to get some of the information I wanted.”

Sighing at that and shaking her head, Isa rolls her eyes a little and then speaks. “Bloody hell, well she must have found somethin to put her in a good mood. But whatever it was you needed to know huh? Seems like yah had a heavy weight taken off your shoulders.”

“yeah I have always heard the rumors about your mothers strength and power, and even though she didn’t go all out or anything like that she was still very impressive. I’m sure you’ll have that same power.” Hideki then thought about her comment about having a weight lifted for a moment. “Well I guess maybe a little, I still have the weight there but maybe it’s not as heavy now. She gave me some good info. Not sure if I’ll ever be in a situation to use it, but if I am then it will hopefully keep the rest of my team alive.” Hideki looked down for a moment before looking back at Isa.

“When they going to let you out of here? We’re supposed to be going to some resort in a few days. They going to let you come with us?”

“Huh?! They couldn’t stop me! And I see, who knows what shit we’ll face next. And yeah I look forward to it at least, could be fun yeah?”

“Yeah you’re right about that, no idea what we will face so can’t really think about it too much.” Hideki shrugged as he leaned back in the chair a bit. “Yeah it could be fun just to get away from the school and stuff for a little bit. UA didn’t really do too much stuff like this, we were on our campus a lot. So how they do things here to let us relax is kind of nice. Though I’ve never been a big aquarium guy, but guess we’ll have to see what it's like.”

“Eh enjoy it while you can, who knows this might be our last one away from the school for a while. I’m starting to think they just set up nice little trips like this after some of us almost die so we stay here.” The Oni says with a grin.

“Eh I’ve been there before, Mom has some connections to the place.. Hell I haven’t really tried using my mom's past to get to know some of the others, but a lot of their parents and even grandparents do. Not a bad place though but I couldn’t do much when I was there.”

“Yeah you might be right about that. I have a feeling after this trip that things are going to pick up a lot and we are going to be busy. Might be dealing with some high level villains too. Including those villains that your team fought. I feel like my team got the easy route compared to the people you guys fought.”

“Heh, easy, hard, they all fuck’n fall down!” She says with a smile. “I forced that big guy down once, though yeah, got my ass handed to me, I just know that means I can’t keep taking it easy, but I ain’t giving up either.” Isa says in response. “A win’s a win Hideki, so don’t worry about that stuff.”

“Nah don’t worry I don’t, i’ll take a win whenever I can get one.” Hideki smirked as Isa kept talking. Losing this fight and getting injured like this didn’t seem to ruin her confidence at all. She was still the same oni, ready to fight and ready to win. Hideki laughed a little as he got up out of the chair and started to stretch. “Glad to see that you still have the same attitude, sometimes taking a loss like that can be damaging to people, but you seem like your same old self. Once you get back on your feet and you're out of here you and I should spar a bit. When we get back from the trip I’d def like to train with you some if you’re up for it”

“Sure, just I like fights more than near death matches.” Waving bye to him, she lowers herself back onto the bed and lets him go about his way.



Haya found Hideki pretty easy and smirked at him. She was a little nervous about him leading. Not that she thought he couldn’t lead, but he had been a little nervous about being selected as a leader possibility. In the time she had been his leader, she knew that he was a good person. She was sure that he would be able to lead his team just fine. But at the same time, she was a little worried that his own self-doubt might make him question himself.

While they had a chance, she wanted to check and make sure that he was okay and to hear from him how his mission had gone. ”Hey, I was just trying to find you. Thought I would check in on your first mission as leader?”

Hideki was currently up on the roof of their dorm building. He had gotten a call from his grandfather and decided to head up to the roof to take it. The call wasn’t long, his grandparents just checking in on him. As he was turning to head back down into the building he was met with the sight of a familiar person. Someone that he had gotten pretty close with since starting at Suppression.

Hideki smirked a little, it seemed that Haya wanted to check in on him and see how his mission went. ” Checking up on me huh? You’re starting to sound like a concerned parent or something.” Hideki laughed a little as looked around for a moment before looking back at Haya. ” Well it actually went pretty well, none of us were seriously hurt and we were able to stop a bank robbery in progress. We caught four villains that our class had fought the last time we went on patrol and we were able to rescue all of the hostages. Overall it went well. There are some things that I could have done better though.”

Haya smirked, “Not concerned, just interested.” she teased before she sighed, “I know you were not very confident about it and you put a lot of weight on yourself even when you aren’t the leader. I just wanted to hear how things went and to make sure that you are good with it.” She had been the leader, even though most of the time she had managed to come up with a plan that worked, she also had her uncle to thank for how she saw the world. Before being a hero, Hideki did not have someone like that or rather his parents probably focused on being parents over training him to be a hero and placed in danger.

“But I am glad to hear it went well, a lot better than our mud mission, it sounds. I wouldn’t worry about the small stuff. If you made mistakes then you can’t help them. I made a few when I was leading and I didn’t take them too well. Mistakes help you learn, as I keep hearing. My uncle also said you learn from a loss as much as you learn from a win. So, you are on the right track.” she assured him, knowing that her uncle would be right, she had to learn from her mistakes, but she had to understand that they were there first.

Hideki laughed a little as Haya talked with him. ” Well it’s good that someone is checking up on me. I can’t be left to my own devices for too long.” Hideki chuckled as he walked over towards the railing and leaned up against it. Looking over into the yard this afternoon.

“Well the mission that you led did go pretty well too. I know two of the criminals got away but we captured most of them, no one got seriously injured even if I did get poisoned.” Hidkei shrugged and playfully winked at Haya even though she couldn’t really see that he did that. ” You May not believe it or not, but you are very good at leading and being a leader. It seems like you were born to be a leader. Myself though, I’m not so sure. After class was let out today I talked with Mari a bit about what it means to be a leader. She said some of the same things you did. Some of my mistakes were from lack of experience and I’m sure I’ll only get better with more experience. She also said though I lack a commanding presence that doesn’t really bolster forces. Not really sure how I’m supposed to fix that.”

Haya chuckled, ”I am sure left alone, you would be fine.” she assured him, but she was pretty sure that he was joking in a way she was just getting to figure out. She listened to him as she thought of what he was saying. Then she moved towards him, to stand beside him, ”Well, I had the advantage of my uncle. And I still regret a lot that happened on both missions. Aika did a lot of running around, when she shouldn’t have had to and you felt useless, that is not what a leader should let happen. And on the last mission, Kuroi had to save me from the air user, while he still had the other mud guy to deal with. If Kuroi was teamed with you, there was a better chance that he could have helped you and kept you from being poisoned. I could have kept Vitalis from going crazy with her mist and by the time you guys were done, we could have had the air guy under control or at least, you both would have made it to Vitalis and I a lot faster than you actually had. The choice I made got you poisoned, added difficulty to your part of the mission and added more work for Kuroi. We might have been able to do a lot more had I planned for you and Kuroi to be in the front. But I wanted to be there to make sure Kuroi didn’t reveal his quirk too soon and I thought my sound would give us an advantage in the front over the back. I may seem like I did well, but there are a lot of things I think about, when I think of how I lead my teams. As for your commanding presents, I don’t really have that either. You don’t need to be the Alpha of your team, you need them to respect you as a leader. Commanding presence is just one way to do that.” she assured him.

She smirked at him, “You will find your footing, the more you lead. It’ll be natural to you, as you do. And you will find that presence that you need that will make you someone to listen to.” she was sure that he would be a great leader if he let himself be. ”Just like fighting, being a leader is about style, you just need to find yours.”

Hideki thought back for a moment on everything that has happened today. From class, to his talk with Mari and then to his fight with Officer Suagru. He had a lot of thoughts and emotions about all of that. He decided though that he wasn’t going to let his grandfather know about any of that, and he only told Haya about his talk with Mari. Not any of the information he had gotten from Officer Sugaru. He zoned out a little bit while Haya was talking, but he caught most of what she said.

” You did the best with the information you had. Me getting poisoned wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t really Vitalis’s fault either. I knew she was facing the wind user, I should have told her to be careful with how she uses her mist. I knew her since her time at UA and knew what her quirk was. In the end that mission worked out, trust me you're good at being a leader whether you want to think so or not. Honestly, you Mari and Amano, I well I kind of look up to you guys when it comes to leadership and such. It just seems to come so easy for the three of you. I wish it was that easy for me.” Hideki smiled at her as he was being pretty open with how he was feeling right now. ” But I guess it’s nice to know that even people like you and Mari struggle with it at times, makes me think that hopefully with more experience I’ll get there too.”

Haya smirked, ”I think a lot about my missions, even after the fact. There is nothing about being a leader that is natural. Mari had help from watching her mother, I am sure and I have my uncle. I don’t tell him about my missions, because I am not sure how he will take them, but he taught me how to think. So, I guess, if I question them, he might talk me through the same issues I have with them. You will be fine.” she assured him before she sighed, “In fact, I am willing to stack my hero career, that you will be a great leader one day and mistakes like what happened, will seem silly. But I may not be there when you prove to be. I made a promise to hang out with a friend and he could go either way, so I have to be ready to go with him. I feel like he might need me more and plus, it will be easier to help you, from the other side.”

Hideki listened to Haya. They were a lot alike the two of them were. Hideki constantly thought about his missions even after they were done. He constantly wanted to go over what he did and what he should have done and what he can do to get better. Hideki smiled a little when she mentioned her uncle. ” Your uncle is a good man and a good resource. You should talk over things with him. If my parents were around I think I would ask them their thoughts and see what they would say and what advice they would give me. I think he would be happy to talk through things with you even if you did make some big mistakes. Though you don’t really make many mistakes so you should be fine there.”

Hideki then raised his eyebrow a bit as she said that she would bet her hero career that Hideki would be a good leader. Hideki blushed for a moment before a smile appeared on his face. He turned his head away for a moment to let the blush and smile disappear. Was she that confident in him? Hideki was flattered and honestly felt happy that someone believed in him so much. He just had to make sure that he would be able to live up to her expectations. Then though Haya said something else that made Hideki curious and concerned at the same time.

” A friend that could go either way? And it will be easier to help me from the other side? What exactly do you mean by that?”

Haya watched HIdeki turn from her and was a little confused, but said nothing about it. But when he asked about what she meant, she shrugged. ”We were talking and he said he might decide to be a villain. So I promised him, he would not do it alone.” she said simply. She didn’t want to tell him what friend and wouldn’t if he asked, so she added, ”I can't tell you what friend, but I can tell you that if he does, I can look for your villain from the other side. He is concerned about me joining him, so I don’t think he is going to actually do it, but if he does, I promised he would not be alone. I doubt he would make friends easy on the other side and that is why I decided to go with him.

Hideki listened to what Haya had to say. So someone was thinking about becoming a villain? It had to be someone from their class but who? She wouldn’t tell him who it was and Hideki wasn’t going to ask. Even though it did concern him. Hideki looked at Haya with concern on his face. ” I know you’re trying to be a good friend and make sure that your friend isn’t alone, but as your friend I would do everything I could to stop you from going with him. I’m guessing it’s someone from our class so maybe I’m friends with them too. So I would try and stop them as well. There’s no way I’d let you walk down that path though. You’re too good of a person to walk down that path.”

Haya pouted, ”I could be evil.” she stated, ”He didn’t think I could be evil either, but I can.” she sighed. ”I will do my best to keep my friend on this side, but I thought you should know about it, because if I do become evil and contact you. I don’t want you to just ignore me. If I become a villain and I contact you, it’s because I think I have found your villain and I will be there to help you take them down. I promised to help you and as a villain I won't be loyal to the villain you are after, so I can do that.” she assured him. ”Thank you, Hideki. Even if I do become a villain, I don’t want to fight my friends, and it means a lot that you would try to stop me. But you have to promise that you will not get in the way. I have to stick to my promises, if you do physically try to stop me, I will have to attack you, and I rather not.

Hideki watched as Haya pouted and then started saying she could be evil. It reminded Hideki of what a little kid would do when they tell their older siblings or parents that they can do something when the other people don’t believe them. It caused Hideki to laugh a little bit. Then the conversation turned a bit more serious. Hideki sighed as he listened to her. She didn;t care about becoming a villain, if it meant protecting and helping a friend then she was going to do whatever she had too, even if that meant becoming a villain. And even on that side she was still going to help Hideki. Hideki wasn’t really sure what to think about that, except that he was happy to have Haya as a friend.

” You know one of the best things about coming to Suppression so far for me has been meeting you.” Hideki blushed but only for a moment as he continued to speak. ” You really are a good person and a good friend Haya, but thats also why I couldn’t let you become a villain. I’m sorry I can’t make that promise to you to not try and physically stop you. I know you want to keep your promises, but I have my own feelings and convictions that I have to follow as well. And if you need to attack me, then I’ll just keep getting up over and over again until I’ve stopped you or until I can’t anymore. Hopefully though it won’t come to that.”

Haya sighed, nodded, “Okay, but I am warning you, I won't go easy on you and I won't stop.” she didn’t want to hurt him. But at the same time, she couldn’t go back on her promise. She would help her ‘friend’ and she would be serious about it all the way. ”I will protect the light from the dark, even if I have to give in to the darkness inside me.” She smirked a little, the conversation might have been needed, but she felt it should be over now. ”Besides that, I hear you have been getting around with the girls.I might be out of the loop, but you have been putting your pretty boy status to work.

” Well hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but if it does then I guess we will have to see what’s stronger. Your sound or my fire.” Hideki offered a small grin as he turned to look back over the railing. She then changed the conversation abruptly which made Hideki audibly laugh. ” Oh really? This coming from the girl who went on a date with Goto, I think your using your pretty girl status more than I’m using my status.”

Haya smirked, ”My date was not my doing, completely. I lost a bet and I did what I promised to do. I went on a date. Of course, I have no idea how Goto looked, but from what I heard, Amano got pretty for your date.” she chuckled, as she teased. ”Not sure who saw you two, but I heard it was an interesting sight. Since you both got dressed up. She couldn’t help but smile, ”I probably will get dressed up on a date that is of my choosing, but you seem to have bet me to that.”

” Oh so you’re saying your date was almost like a pity date? That’s kind of mean dont you think?” Hideki snickered a little before he turned to look at her again as she mentioned his somewhat date with Amano. ” Well I wouldn’t exactly call it a date, just some friends going out to eat. I dressed a little nicer than usual because knowing Amano like I do I figured she would dress up. She likes to do that when going out.” Hideki smiled a little ” Well I’m sure you’ve got plenty of options for that actual date where you can get dressed up. Got anyone in mind?”

Haya thought and smirked, ”Of course you did. And it wasn’t a pity date, it was a bet and I did my part. Besides I think once I apologize for what mistake I did make, then Goto and I could be friends. IAs for who to date, no. I don’t think I have many options anyway. I am going to have a talk with someone, because Yori said he likes me romantically, but I think something got lost in communication. I am just going to clear it up and figure it out. As for dating, not so much. No one comes to mind when I think of the word. Besides, I don’t think anyone really likes me that way.” she explained, sure that being blind didn’t help. She wasn’t sure how she would become a mother, but she knew that if she wanted a family, which she wasn't sure if she did, she would need help.

Hideki thought on Goto for a second, the guy had messed up when he and Hideki were paired together in their first partner test against Amaris sensei, but he owned up to it and honestly Hideki liked the guy even if he was a little full of himself. ” Yeah Goto is a good guy, maybe a little full of himself but someone worthy of being friends with. Hideki’s eyes raised when he heard that apparently Yori said he was interested in Haya. He wasn;t surprised about someone being interested in Haya. He was surprised because he didn’t think that Yori would date anyone, being an idol and all.

” Trust me I think you have more options than you think. Some people are just nervous about making the first move or just don’t realize they actually like a person until it’s too late.”

Haya smirked as she teased, “I see, so you are saying you like me romantically too.” she joked. She was sure that he meant well, but the fact that she was a lot more work than just her personality because she was blind, she doubted anyone was that interested. Yori had told her about Kuroi but she still had some doubts about that. Kuroi was nice to everyone and he was helping her to learn to cook. She was sure that Yori might have understood what she said wrong or she understood Kuroi wrong when she told him what was confusing her. But he was the only one that gave her a not complicated answer or drifted off into a vague explanation. And she thought of asking Hideki, but Kuroi and Hideki were not the same, Hideki was the nice guy, she imagined he would never admit to just one thing because he didn’t want to take sides. Kuroi was nice, but he picked a side and stuck to it unless otherwise convinced.

Hideki blushed a bit and smiled. He figured she was going to say something like that. “Well I mean why wouldn’t I? You’re a great person and very beautiful. So are there some romantic feelings.” Hideki turned to look back out towards the back of their dorm building as he watched student from other classes roam around the campus. ” yeah I guess you could say there are some on my end, but you’re also a great friend so if that’s what we’re destined to be then I’m good with that too.”

Haya blushed slightly and smirked, as she moved towards his cheek and kissed it, “I will keep that in mind. You are a good friend of mine and I care a lot about you. She didn’t know if she liked him any more then as a friend. She felt like they were close, but she didn’t know if sh efelt anything for him passed being a good friend, so when she pulled away she sighed. “I will have to settle all my options then, and decided for myself if I want to take any. Of course, I am still not 100% on one and I guess for now, you are my only option, for sure. So, maybe you have a good chance.” she teased.

Hideki’s head was still turned a little but not looking directly at Haya, he then felt as she placed a kiss on his cheek. Hideki turned his head and looked at her as his cheeks were now bright red from blushing. ” You’re a good friend of mine as well. I care about you too. Hideki wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do either. He hadn’t planned on it but there were a few girls that he really cared about and Haya was one of them. ” Well I’ll have to settle my options too, but I don’t think either of us are in any rush right? We can just see what happens.” Hideki smiled at her.

Haya smirked, nodding, “No rush. After all, I think I have the least options so I won’t be as busy as the class pretty boy. she teased and sighed. To be honest, she didn’t think Hideki was an option, but they got along a lot better than most. She got along well with Yori and Kuroi too, in different ways. But Hideki was more like family, but at the same time, she couldn’t ignore that they got along very well. She got her advice from Yori and Kuroi, but she gave advice to Hideki and that meant a lot to her.

Hideki sighed a bit, “You got to have some more confidence, you know.” Hideki laughed a little as he playfully bumped his shoulder into hers. Hideki really hadn't put much thought into that kind of stuff. Hideki knew that some of the girls were possibly interested in him, and he himself was interested in some of them. Lately though Hideki had been focusing on the questions and the things told to him from Ota sensei when the two had their talk at the spa a few months ago. And now with the information that Hideki had gotten from Officer Sugaru today he would really focus a lot of his attention on that. Though he knew that he did want to put some focus on these things too. After all he wanted a relationship just like everyone else did.

“I guess being a pretty boy has its advantages sometimes.” Hideki chuckled.

Haya smirked, “Maybe. But probably shouldn’t take advantage of them all. You might get yourself into more trouble than you are ready for.” she teased, before she sighed, “I am going to go, it’s getting late and I would hate to be your next rumor of romance. I have a romance to figure out on my own.

Hideki slightly laughed Oh yeah of course, wouldn’t want anyone thinking that right?” Hideki offered a small smile and laughed a little again. ” I’ll um see you later.” With that Haya went back inside the building leaving Hideki on top of the roof with his thoughts. Was that really how people thought of him?


(The Hideki/Ren collab was already posted so make sure to read that too!}
 
  • Like
Reactions: Azurian Dream
~A few days later~
Location: Suppression School Grounds - Tokyo Bay Imperial Memorial Aquarium

Ota Nomura, Isa Suguro & Mari Nakao
Fresh and somewhat rested, Isa joined Mari and the rest with Ota on a rented bus, the later of whom spoke to them all.

"For now this may be your last trip for awhile and I wouldn't see this as a vacation in and of itself. Though it can be that. At the location you can observe research, train a bit, learn a little educational facts or do as you wish. I'll only step in if you take your antics too far and bring shame upon the school with your actions. Otherwise I'll mostly be at the Hero Lodge, I've no desire to sleep under the waves. I leave that to the more adventurous among us." He says with a polite laugh, making it clear that this would be their last trip for awhile likely.

A relatively short time later the class would arrive at the the aquarium entrance, getting clearance to go further they take a private unpaved, rock packed road that lead to a rather standard lodge looking facility that had walking path and automated golf cart like cars leading towards a back entrance near the employ entrance and supply dock. The Hero Lodge had a beach, some woodlands and a field for training purposes judging by the size and equipment on it's outskirts. Other than that it was a simple two story design that was familiar enough to some of the students at least.

"Remember to state where you will be staying to one of the AI terminals here at the lodge or at the gate leading into the aquarium." Ota says in short order before going off to collect his own bag, a rather simple one for his two day stay and doing what he said.

The hologram of the AI stood with a soft expression in the lobby of the lodge as Mari walked up to her, she much like Ota preferred staying above ground, having brought a few more things than Ota she smiled thinly. "I think above ground suits me as well, though I did bring a bathing suit I don't much care to be under the water." She says to the AI who smiled in response.

"Very well, you shall have first pick of the rooms in the right corridor."
waving a hand past a floorplan was shown with several rooms being marked as Vacant, with Mari picking room 03.

"I'll put my things away then go lounge in the sun I think. If you should need assistance... do you have a means to contact me?"

"I operate a few drones on the grounds for surveying purposes, they have a voice projector for the staff and myself." Nodding at that, Mari heads off on her own way.

Isa for her part had a tote sack and wasted little time getting off the bus, deciding at once to stay in the underwater lodgings, that sounded fun to her, plus she wanted to scuba dive if possible. With this mindset she had another impulsive thing to do, grabbing Kuroi by the arm when he got off, she hands him back his handheld and grins ear to ear. "Hey! Kuroi come to the underwater as well!"

It seemed she had more to ask, but that would come in due time.