"So that's the general idea. What do you think?" Kawayu spoke quietly, holding her phone in her right hand and sticking notes into a board with her left. The voice on the other end of the line was quick to answer, his tone serious and firm.
"Given what you've told me about the class, it will no doubt have their attention. I think it will be efficient," he responded. Hisakawa nodded to herself, stepping back to review the board.
"So, will you help out?" she asked, "Of course I'd pay for your flight and everything-"
"Nonsense." the voice had cut her off, as if knowing what she was going to say next. "I owe you one anyways, and it's been a while since we've seen each other. Plus, it allows me to expand my outlook, so to speak." he said. Hisakawa grinned, stepping down from the chair she stood on.
"Yea, you're a teacher yourself. Semester starts in a month, right?" she glanced towards the calendar, her smile fading a bit. The man agreed, rustling paper around in the background of the call.
"The beginning of September. I've got my work cut out for me, much like you do. So.." he paused, as if looking at his own schedule,
"When do we start?"
************************
"I quit!"
Hisakawa shouted in anguish. The sound of her voice echoed throughout the teacher's lounge, shaking the walls and alerting nearby students. Her clipboard had been thrown so harshly it was permanently lodged into the bulletin board. The hand that threw it was clenched tightly in a fist, steam rising from it. The lounge had become a sauna in a matter of minutes. Her colleague sitting beside her held his cup of tea to his chest, afraid it would evaporate if she touched it.
"Riko," All Might began, trying to ease her nerves as she fell back onto the couch, hands covering her face. "Was it really that bad?" He asked, reaching for her shoulders only to immediately recline as she let out another shout.
"You try instructing 20 large-sized children who want to murder their classmates!" She yelled, kicking off her shoes in a huff. "Only two days of training and I've successfully stopped 17 assassination attempts." she scoffed, leaning her head on her palms, "Now I understand what Aizawa meant... they're going to get themselves killed.." Her glasses became fogged by the steam she was producing, hiding her expression from her partner.
"Don't tell me you agree with him," All Might said, taking her glasses off her face and wiping them with his shirt. Hisakawa rolled her eyes, staring blindly in his direction.
"I don't. They deserve a chance, but.." she trailed off, shaking her head, "If I don't come up with something that will keep them all on the same page, I'm screwed, and so are they." she said, and her colleague agreed with her, placing her lenses back in front of her face.
"The first day is always hard," he said, brushing her hair behind her ears, "And they are a year and a half in. There's bound to be rivalries. Maybe there's some way we can separate certain students?" he asked, trying to help pinpoint the answer to their problems. Hisakawa motioned aimlessly towards where her clipboard was lodged.
"A lot of them just want to fight each other, rivals or not," she said in an exasperated tone, "Daigo Yamato started several fights with other classmates, as did Baisho Ikari. Ako Bagu was an instigator. He started most of those fights by judging other students unwarrantedly.." she listed off. Her eyes moved towards looking at the bulletin board. "Then there's students that wont fight at all, like Shiraishi Yumie, who cowers in the corner the entire time.." Hisakawa recalled, adjusting her glasses.
"There's a lot of tension in this class. It's like they all missed the opportunity to fight in the Sports Festival," The instructor stood from her seat, walking over to the board and pulling it out of the wall. "It's as if they have something to prove.." She dusted off the area before turning her heel and walking back to Toshinori, who was recalling the previous semester in his head.
"That might be true.." he mumbled, leaning over into a crate near the couch and pulling out a binder from the bin. It was a list of Sports Festival Participants. He flipped to the second year's stage and continued speaking. "Yes, right here. Class 2-B overpowered the roster this year.." he mumbled, pointing to one of her students. "Only 4 students in 2-A got into the final 16, and only one got a medal.." he stared at the roster, leaning his chin on Hisakawa's head as she moved to get a closer look.
"Akiyama Kamiko," Hisakawa read off the page, remembering the sharp eyes of the class vice representative. She turned the pages back a year to reveal their first festival. "She got bronze this year compared to silver last year. And a few of these students didn't even chart at all.." she mumbled, flipping between the two years and comparing spots. "It's like a majority of them gave up.." she observed, holding in a sigh. Toshinori silently agreed, glancing over at her class roster.
"There probably wasn't much incentive to over perform.." he said, turning to the first year page and hovering over his protege's photo. "Most audience members are either focused on unknown potential or the next big hero. No one really watches the second year fights.." his gaze fixed on the page as he experienced the memories of the beginning of the year. Hisakawa glanced up at him as he spoke.
"All eyes were on 1-A. Especially after the USJ incident.. " All Might thought aloud, "Because of that, a lot of rules have changed. Now first years can do all the things second years used to have the privilege of doing. Like the provisional license exam and internships.." he closed the binder, looking back at Kawayu, "I understand their frustration. It's hard to stand out when you're in the shadows.." he admitted, and Hisakawa nodded in agreement.
"With a useless homeroom who frames his students, at that.." she said, sarcasm in her voice. "Well, I have 17 days to shape them up before they get their licenses.. So I need a plan.." Hisakawa reached towards the coffee table to find her pen, jotting down ideas as she went along. "Preferably one that negates hospital visits.." she mumbled, pointing at All Might. "Got any ideas?" she asked. Toshinori thought for a second before snapping his fingers, pointing back at her.
"Quirk evaluations?" he said, frowning when Yuriko shook her head.
"I already have those on file.." she replied, motioning for another idea.
"How about focused exams?"
"Boring. Even I hated those.."
"One on one training?" he asked, hoping she would agree, but she shot it down immediately.
"That would take more than 3 weeks, which is all we have.." she mumbled, tapping her pen on the clipboard, "Go back to the sports festival.. Does it still work the same way?" she asked, looking up from the list. Toshinori sat back on the couch, tapping his chin lightly.
"There's some modifications but yes, the premise is the same as when we were kids," he replied. Hisakawa's eyes lit up, an idea finally striking her.
"What if we held our own tournament?" she wondered aloud. "Randomize the students, have them go one on one, set up a prize at the end?" she leaned her head on her wrist in thought. "It would keep them entertained, and we'd get to see them fight in a moderated setting.."
"It could work well.." Toshinori agreed. "We need a good ruleset, maybe Mic can help us set up a sound system.." he went off track. Hisakawa quickly waved him back, standing from her seat and beginning to pace.
"I can handle the rules.." she said, clicking her pen while she walked. "What we need is a third person to help judge." She clicked her tongue, stepping over to where her shoes were thrown. All Might shook his head, glancing between her and the clipboard she carried.
"I'm sure you and I would be enough," he said calmly, noting how tense she was. Kawayu disagreed, tapping the shoes on the ground as she put them back on.
"If we're going to judge this like a tournament, we need diversity. You and I are too similar.." she stated, gesturing to him and then herself. All Might raised an eyebrow.
"In technique?" he asked, watching Hisakawa's eyes roll into the back of her head.
"No. Your 'technique' is to hit them till they're knocked unconscious," she deadpanned, "I'm talking about power wise." she extended her hand, forming a small water fountain in the center of her palm before closing it. "We both have powerful quirks. We don't use combat weapons, and both of us can fly, so to speak.." she shrugged, wondering if she could count jumping really high as flight. "We need a third opinion. Someone who has mastered other fighting styles."
"I can't think of anyone else besides Aizawa," All Might offered, but figured he probably should've stayed silent as steam rose from Hisakawa's ears again.
"Yea, like I'm asking that hypocrite for help," she seethed, waving away the haze with her hands. "He'd probably just scoff at me. Muttering something about him being right." She tried to mimic Aizawa's tone of speech as she talked to drive the point home. Toshinori held up his hands in defeat.
"Alright, so no one at U.A..." he mumbled, glancing over at her phone on the table. "Most of the heroes here are occupied with the media right now, so they're out too. Did you make any friends in America or France?" he asked her. Yuriko sighed, holding the side of her head as if it ached.
"You mean while I was suspended? Sure, made tons of them. Had nothing better to do," she said bluntly. Toshinori shot a glare at her as if saying "Answer". She forced herself to take his question seriously. "Yes, I did. But I don't know how many of them would decide to come out to Japan on a whim.." her eyes narrowed as she bent down to pick up her phone.
"Actually, there might be someone," Hisakawa mumbled, flipping through the contacts until she landed on them. "Johannes Morrigan. I met him while I was touring UA's sister school in America. UAI." She showed the photo to All Might. "He's a pro hero, one of the best in the country. He's a close combat fighter, uses melee fighting techniques and has mastered various weapons." She cited, hovering her finger over the message button. "Morrigan teaches there and was talking about learning more before he started this next year. Maybe he'd be interested.."
"Give him a call and see.." Toshinori replied, and Yuriko nodded, placing her phone in her pocket. She sat back down on the couch next to him, smiling earnestly.
"Thank you, by the way.." she said, tapping her knuckles together sheepishly. "I definitely don't say it enough. You've done nothing but help me out this whole time.." she tried to avoid eye contact with him, clearly embarrassed that it had taken her this long. All Might coughed, hiding his blush from her with his hand. He leaned over, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, what are partners for?" he asked, grinning wide at her. "Besides, I'm having fun. You're rather cute when you're angry.." he started, and was immediately stopped as Yuriko's smile flashed to a red-faced glare. He quickly pulled her into a hug to restrain her, laughing to himself. "Okay okay! I get it! I'll stop teasing you-" he repeated, ruffling her hair as she struggled to get out of his death grip.
"How are you still so strong?!" she exclaimed, sighing as she finally gave up. Exhaling loudly, Yuriko let her head fall to his chest, listening for his heart beat to comfort herself. "I hope this goes well.." she mumbled as she relaxed her muscles. Toshinori thought for a moment, tilting his head back over the armrest of the couch.
"I think it will be fine as long as there's a good enough prize.." he said, "I wonder, what would the students even care about? A's on their next exam?" His question garnered a short laugh from Hisakawa as she made eye contact with him. They both nodded in agreement, as if they had the exact same thought at the same time.
"How about the chance to figure out who their new teacher really is?"
************************
Even though it seemed like weeks, only a day had passed. An alarm started blaring at 7 am, rushing every student in 2-A into Gym Gamma. They carried their hero uniforms in their suitcases with confused and excited expressions. Theories had begun to circulate between the groups before they even sat down. The whispering only got louder as Hisakawa, All Might, and an entirely new face walked up to the front of the stage. The instructors all spoke to each other for a moment before Yuriko silenced them. She walked up to the center of the stage, tapping a microphone with the palm of her hand. Everyone went quiet, eager to know why they were called up so early.
"Welcome students to the 2-A House Battle," Hisakawa started, holding her clipboard up to the ceiling. "In this tournament, you will all go head to head against each other. This is to determine where you are on your hero path, and where I should prioritize your training.." She scanned the room for any initial questions before continuing.
"There are five main rules listed on this board," she said, gesturing behind her. A large chalkboard sat on a stool with detailed notes underneath every point. She paused for them to read it before continuing, "If anyone wishes to break one, you will be disqualified and your opponent will move on instead of you.." she stated, "So I'd suggest you behave." Her voice deepened slightly to let them know how important it was.
"Everyone has been given a number based on their final test scores. It has been placed in my system," she stated as she moved across the stage towards All Might, who was carrying a large jar filled with pieces of scrap paper. "These fights will be completely random, and they will be judged by myself, All Might, and a special guest I've brought in from America." Her hand extended to gesture to her colleague.
"Please welcome Johannes Morrigan. He's a homeroom teacher at UA's sister school in the United States, U. A. International. He's also known as the pro hero Split Second."
The man stepped forward so the entire class could see him more clearly. He had a dark complexion. His hair was in dreadlocks, tied ornately at the back of his head. He was rather tall and well built, reminding the students of the heroes that taught in their own school. Much like their professor, he wore a clean and polished suit with a blue striped tie. The first thing the students noticed was that he was incredibly hard to read. The blue visor in front of his eyes seemed to shield his true motives, and his stance was polite yet intimidating. His demeanor was calming nonetheless, as if trying to appear kinder.
"Good morning students, it's a pleasure to be assisting you in your training today." he spoke, addressing everyone with a quick gesture. "My name is Johannes Morrigan. You can refer to me as Mr. Morrigan, or Split Second." he stated. "Please know that while I am not staffed at UA itself, I will hold each of you to the same high standards I have for my own students."
The class stared wide-eyed at him, half of them in confusion and half of them in understanding. While the man spoke perfect Japanese, some students found it hard to decipher his accent. Noting this, Johannes did his best to elaborate further.
"As Hisakawa stated, this tournament will be used to figure out where you all stand before your license exam. Think of it as a pretest." he said, placing his hand on his chest. "I will be judging you on your speed and quirk techniques. Hisakawa will handle physical power and agility, and All Might will be judging defense and fighting skill," Johannes recited as he walked to the edge of the stage, showing off the long paragraph he had already started on his clipboard. "At the end, we will give you detailed notes on how you can improve in the 2 weeks before provisionals. I hope these notes help with your training."
"They're serious this time.." a couple students whispered, staring at the english notes with dread in their faces. Hisakawa nodded towards Johannes, stepping forward to answer the whisperings herself.
"Yes we are," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've even taken the liberty of canceling your classes for the rest of the day. Now, let me reiterate. Ten battles, five minute time limit, ten winners. Any questions before I draw the first two students?" she asked, watching as a few hands raised. "Kagari?" she asked, watching as the grey haired student stood from his seat.
"Shouldn't we be figuring out who's the best out of all of us?" he asked, moving his pointer finger in a circular motion. "I mean, wouldn't that make more sense?" his question invoked more audible mutterings within the class.
"Yeah, I'd like to see that!" Mawata said cheerfully, Akechi and Mukono agreed with her. Meanwhile Ako scoffed, leaning back in his chair.
"None of you would win anyways. Not with me on the roster." he asserted, kicking his legs up onto the chair in front of him. It took less than 3 seconds for Daigo to react, standing from his chair and picking it up, shouting back at his classmate.
"I better face off against you," he shot at him, glaring. "I'll knock some sense into that stupid head of yours.." Daigo threatened. Ako scoffed, placing his hands behind his head.
"Not if we both make it past the first round.." he said in a sing-song tone, causing Daigo to get even more ticked off. They squabbled back and forth like pigeons before Hisakawa held up her hand between the two, clearing her throat.
"At the end of the first 10 rounds, the 10 remaining students will have two options," she segwayed back to the original question. "Either we enter a 5 vs. 5 battle royale. Two teams working together to defeat each other, or.." she paused, walking back up onto the stage before continuing.
"The 10 who win have the option to face me.." Hisakawa said, a smirk forming on her face. Soon the class erupted in questions, astonishment on their faces.
"Face the teacher?" Iromegane asked, wiping his glasses in disbelief.
"Can she really fight 10 of us?" Inugami whispered to her group. They all shrugged in response.
"What's her quirk again?" Hirota asked aloud, and the class struggled to answer.
"Something steam related?" one said, "No wait, she split a book in half with.. water?" another chimed in. Hisakawa cleared her throat again, her tongue in her cheek.
"Before you make any assumptions, I suggest you do research on your potential opponents," she said, tapping her heel against the concrete platform. "You've only seen me showcase a small part of my quirk. I lack any examples of your own skills. But even though we have the same amount of knowledge, we are not the same.." Her statement caused every student to fall silent. "What was my first lesson in this class?" she asked, waiting for a moment before Kimura stepped forward to answer.
"Looks can be deceiving," she said, and Hisakawa nodded in agreement.
"Correct." She announced, taking out a wallet from her jacket pocket. "Contrary to what you might think, I hold a title as a pro hero." Yuriko revealed, holding up her own hero license for them to see. "Who I am, you will have to figure out on your own. And you will have ample time to do so while your classmates are fighting." she closed the wallet, placing it back in her jacket.
"Now, if there are no more questions," she asked again, eyeing their expressions. "I'll be drawing the first fighters.." Hisakawa took a step back to where All Might stood, placing her hand inside the jar of paper and pulling out two
"Matsura Emiko and Iromegane Kuro. Please come to the stage. Let the 2-A House Battle commence."
***********************************
As a test, there are more regulations in the house battle than in the sports festival. There are 5 main rules of this tournament. And astonishingly to the three teachers, all five of them were broken within the first hour.
1. Don't send your classmates to the shadow realm
During the first battle, Matsura Emiko used her quirk, Zipper, to zip a portal in the floor open. Her opponent, Iromegane Kuro, was in the void for 5 minutes before being spat back out when Matsura opened another portal when asked to do so. Iromegane lost his glasses, accidentally blinding everyone in the audience with his quirk, Bright Side, before he scrambled to put his glasses back on. Hisakawa disqualified Matsura for the first rule while Iromegane was disqualified for the fifth rule.
2. Don't send your opponent (or yourself) to Recovery girl
During the second battle, the class vice rep, Akiyama Kamiko, had the fight from the beginning. She took her opponent seriously, trying to use her quirk as minimally as she could. But her opponent, Hirota Reiso, wasn't taking it as seriously as she was, and she grew fed up as the time passed. Soon enough, she had used her quirk, Threads, to wrap Hirota in an unbreakable cocoon of silk threads that even his quirk, Toxic Nails, couldn't cut out of. But before she could kick him off the stage, Hirota's quirk had taken effect from a small scratch she had placed on Akiyama's shoulder. Both of them passed out and had to be escorted to the nurses office.
3. Don't go out of bounds (both literally and metaphorically)
This rule was broken by Hisamoto Kai. His quirk, Ghost, allows him to talk to and ask spirits for aid in his battles. His opponent, Shiraishi Yumie, is terrified of ghosts. Hisamoto allowed one of the spirits to appear in front of her eyes, and while it was a harmless spirit, it scared everything out of Shiraishi, causing her to bash him off the stage in retaliation. Even though she won, she decided to quit while she was ahead, even more afraid of the final round than she was of the ghosts. She used her quirk, White Phase Python, to roll herself into a ball and flee to the stands.
4. Don't go above the stadium or send your opponent up there.
Mawata Fuwa was disqualified for this due to her own problem solving technique. She originally sent her opponent, Inugami Hachiko, up into the air using her quirk Cotton Round. Cotton round allows Mawata to create sticky cotton candy clouds that float upward gradually. As soon as Inugami was almost to the ceiling, Mawata decided to go retrieve her herself, making another cloud and using it to reach her friend. This was unsuccessful, and they both had to be rescued by Johannes. He disqualified Mawata and Inugami joined Shiraishi in the stands, recovering from being exposed to her fear of heights.
5. Don't annoy the life out of the audience.
Ako Bagu and Baisho Ikari seem to have a rather friendly rivalry. While Daigo was quick to snap at Ako earlier, Baisho was eager to share long winded talks with her opponent on stage. They both monologued about their lives at school up to this point, causing the entire audience to shout at them to get on with the fight. It took 2 minutes for both of them to get knocked out. Ako having used his quirk, Electric Pop, to blow bubbles out of his antennae and electrocute his classmate. And Baisho used her quirk, Wrath, to punch him out of the stadium, the red smoke dissipating around her as she knocked herself out cold.
Every one of the teachers sat there speechless. They stared at the empty stage for a good while after it had cleared. Their faces were agape and their eyes wide, completely and utterly confused.
"I have nothing to say.." Morrigan finally spoke, taking off his visor to clean it. All Might looked at him for a second before agreeing, scratching the back of his head.
"Ten students. All disqualified." he mumbled, looking at his clipboard anxiously. "And we still have 5 more fights to go..." All Might glanced over in Yuriko's direction. He noticed a small steam trail coming from her ears that she was struggling to maintain. "Are you doing alright Yur-"
"I'm fine-" she cut him off, taking a deep breath in and closing her eyes. "Fine. Just.." she trailed off, unable to find the words to comprehend her emotion. She was focusing on hiding her anger from her students.
"Anxious?" All Might tried to finish her sentence, to which Yuriko offered a half hearted smile.
"Yeah, that.." she swallowed, shaking her head aggressively before standing from her seat, calling out the next two fighters; Akechi Chiyo and Kimura Suzume.
Akechi grinned eagerly towards the teachers, walking onto the stage promptly. The most notable thing about the fighter was her eager mint eyes and her sophisticated hero costume. She had the look of a modern samurai. Red hakama pants were tied firmly at her waist, a black bodysuit underneath them and geta sandals as her shoes. Her pink hair was tied up in a neat bun, two pins protruding from the updo. Her smile was wide and her face was excited. She cracked her knuckles and wrung her hands out, flicking her necklace for good luck as she got into position. She took the form of a crane stance.
"Akechi Chiyo. Her quirk is called Ancestor," All Might read out, looking at the paper in front of him, "It's a defensive quirk allowing her to summon her past relatives. Apparently they all have different powers." He said, nodding to himself. "She's one of the four students who made it into the Sports Festival this year. She won bronze in her first year." Toshinori paused, taking a glimpse over at her opponent, who had already made her way towards the stage.
Unlike Akechi's kind eyes and stature, Kimura's was stoic and determined. A yellow light radiated from her eyes, giving the student an eerie appearance. Her costume was a large beige poncho that reached the floor. It covered most of her body but was cut at the shoulders into two halves, allowing her free movement of her arms underneath. She seemed to be focused on blending into her surroundings. Her hair, the same color as her costume, was loose behind her. The boots on her feet made clicking sounds as she dropped into a back stance.
"Kimura Suzume. Her quirk is called Strigiforme," Morrigan stated, dragging his finger down the page. "A transformation quirk that allows her to become a massive owl with a 15 meter wingspan. It will be a major disadvantage during this fight." he predicted. "They're both at the top of their class as well. This is shaping up to be interesting. It's rare to see such quirks at U.A.'' he said, glancing over at Hisakawa for her input.
"Not to mention they aren't rule breakers.." Kawayu replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Kimura is the class representative. She's always answering the questions I ask. And Akechi is very enthusiastic about schoolwork in addition to training," she recalled, "They're a perfect fighting match. Maybe we'll actually have a winner this time.." She remained hopeful, holding up her stopwatch to start the timer.
"Hey Hey Suzume!" Akechi shouted from across the stage, waving her hands around like a child getting an adult's attention. "Since you can't use your quirk in a closed setting, I won't use mine, okay?" she said, smiling wide at her friend, who looked back at her with a glare.
"That sounds condescending Chiyo.." Kimura said, straightening her pose a bit as the latter started shouting, clearly annoyed that she wasn't taking her 'kind gesture' correctly.
"Sheesh! I'm only trying to make it more fair!" Akechi huffed, irritatedly going back to her crane stance.
As soon as she heard the starting click, Akechi hit the ground running. She sprinted up close to Kimura and aimed a high kick at her face, watching as her friend narrowly dodged it only to be hit by the second kick. She turned on her heel to punt in the same spot. Her opponent jumped back, narrowly avoiding each attack by just a hair.
"Shit" Kimura said between breaths, holding both her arms in front of her face in a guard stance. This stopped Akechi only temporarily before she launched off the floor with the palms of her hands, attacking from below in a crouched position. It hit, causing Suzume to stumble back before returning to her guard.
"Go Akechi!!" Some of the students started shouting. Others shouted Kimura's name as well from the stands, equally divided on who would win. Neither had used their quirk yet, much to the instructors disbelief, and a lot of the students had their own commentary as to why.
"Oh geez..." Matsura Emiko said, looking at the battlefield with a worried expression, "Akechi didn't give Kimura a chance to think.." she scratched her head. Akiyama, who had just returned from the recovery office after her fight, sat next to Matsura and shook her head.
"Why would she?" the vice rep asked, taking out a lollipop from her bag and unwrapping it. "It's a sound tactic, considering who she's facing." Akiyama said. Matsura agreed, leaning her head on her hands.
"I know, but they're best friends.." she mentioned as they watched Akechi attempt to throw Kimura across the stage. "You'd think they'd go easy on each other." Matsura's comment caused Akiyama to shake her head again.
"On the contrary," she stated, "I think Suzume would be insulted if Akechi didn't go all out." Akiyama said, rolling her shoulder back to help it heal better. "Besides, Akechi has the right idea considering who her opponent is." They both watched as the two distanced themselves, circling each other on the stage. "The second Suzume starts thinking..."
As Akiyama trailed off, Akechi bit off a bit more than she could chew. She jumped forward, attempting to kick her from above. However, she neglected to check her left side. As she stared down at the stage, she quickly realized she could no longer see Kimura. Glancing left and right, the girl found herself wide open for an attack. The vice rep smirked, gesturing towards the battlefield.
"She wins.." she announced, watching as Kimura appeared behind Akechi.
An opening! Suzume thought, extending her arm out in front of her from under the poncho. Large talons began to form on her fingers, extending to her wrists until her entire arm looked like an owl's foot. She moved her hand forward, the sharp claws narrowly missing Akechi, who had landed on the ground and sprung backward into a backflip, touching to the ground.
"Awesome! I didn't know you could do that!" She shouted with excitement, hopping on one foot as she adjusted her sandal. Kimura, bitter about her missed attack, also shouted.
"Don't patronize me!" she yelled in anger, pointing a talon at Akechi as she stood on two feet, placing both her hands together in a prayer.
"Now the fun really begins!" she declared, changing her prayer hands and connecting her wrists instead. She formed a cross in front of her chest, exhaling as she started to sprint towards her opponent.
"I call upon my ancestors-" she shouted, a vivid orange figure developing behind her as she leaped off the stage. "Shield Hero!" her voice boomed as the shapeless shadow formed into a samurai helmet. A large glass shield appearing in front of her, catching Kimura off guard as her talons reflected off the surface, sending her flying in the opposite direction off of the stage. She landed out of bounds, rubbing her head as her arm returned to normal.
"Kimura Suzume is out of bounds, Akechi Chiyo wins!" Hisakawa announced, a smile on her face as she stood up from her seat. Most of the students cheered with her, excited to see someone actually move on to the finals.
"Akechi's ancestors protect anything she asks them to, which means they protect her ideals as well.." Iromegane mumbled, rolling his eyes behind his glasses. "Anticlimactic." he said. Matsura stood up and smacked the back of his chair.
"At least neither of them got disqualified, Kuro!" she called out, to which he held up his hands in defense.
"Hey, you got out too. Not my fault you can't control your zippers." he mentioned, but quickly zipped his mouth shut as she hovered over him, death in her eyes.
"What did you say?" Matsura threatened, sending a shock down Iromegane's spine. Akiyama tapped her shoulder in an attempt to control her next move.
"Both of you, cut it out." she said, motioning to the stage. "There's actually a finalist this time. That means those who still have a fight ahead have to start planning, not listen to you two argue." Both Iromegane and Matsura agreed, relaxing their muscles. Soon enough they were chatting like friends again, leaving the teachers to analyze the fight.
"At least we have a winner, right?" All Might grinned. Excitement flowed through the three instructors. Their plan was working. It was slow, but it was working. Morrigan flipped through his notes, jotting down more until he reached the bottom.
"Kimura had a set strategy, but Akechi is someone who can go with the flow." he said, smoothing out the page in front of him. "They both have a lot of potential moving forward. Let's just hope the other students take note.." he stated. Hisakawa nodded before walking over to the jar of paper names, rummaging through it for two pieces before returning to the microphone.
"All right. Settle down! Akechi Chiyo will be moving on to the final 5. But up next, we have..." she dramatically paused, opening the two papers. The crowd watched as her face immediately fell.
"Kagari Musen and Daigo Yamato!"
***********
- art by @/paragon.UAI on Instagram -