The students followed Mr. Hannes throughout the school. They turned left and right through the halls, the teacher leading the way.
"Where do you guys think we're going?" Eren asked his two friends, a curious look on their faces.
"I'm not sure. He said we were going to the place for our first training exercise, so that can mean almost anything for a school like Rose High." Mikasa said, twiddling her thumbs.
Eren blushed and avoided looking at Mikasa too hard. The gym attire was very comfortable, but also very fitted. Mikasa's curves were a little too visible to not be noticeable, and he didn't want his childhood friend to think he was perving on her.
"Mikasa's right. We have to be ready for anything." Armin speculated. "I hope we do well in whatever Mister Ha-"
"Armin!" Hitch exclaimed, stepping up next to Armin and punching his arm. "You walked out of class without letting me tag along!"
Armin blushed, stammering the words, "O-Oh. s-s-sorry, Hi-"
"S-S-Sorry, Hitch." Hitch mimicked, a small giggle coming from her mouth. "Don't let it happen again, Armin…" She emphasized his name, which caused Armin to nervously smile.
"I w-won't."
Eren and Mikasa just watched the interaction with somewhat confused looks.
"Why does Hitch keep bullying Armin? She's so weird." Eren thought to himself.
"Does Armin know that Hitch likes him?" Mikasa thought to herself.
The kids continued to walk, noticing other classrooms as they walked by.
"These must be the other classes. They all have kids with quirks in them as well."
Alright kids, we're here!" Mr. Hannes stated.
The kids looked. They were in front of a metal doorway that had the label "Sparring Room 1" above it.
"Where exactly IS here, Mr. Hannes?" Rico skeptically asked.
"Allow me to show you, Ms. Brzenska." Mr. Hannes stated, opening the door.
The students walked in to see what looked like a control board. The desk area was in front of a window and metal wall that stood in front of a flat, marbel area.
"This will be the arena!" Mr. Hannes said. "Here's how it works." He pointed at a door that exited out into the marble area. "All of you will go out there in ten teams of two that I'll let you select. Two teams will duke it out. The teams that come out on top will get an A on this assignment."
The students were surprised by the statement, looking around to decide who they should work with.
"You have ten minutes to decide your team. Go!" Mr. Hannes commanded.
"What should we do, guys?" Eren asked Mikasa and Armin, unsure of who to team up with.
"I-I'm not sure." Armin said. "We've always been a trio."
"I can find someone else to pair with, Eren." Mikasa said, a hint of sadness in her tone of voice.
"Armin!" Hitch gleefully said, popping up behind the blond. "You ghosted on me again, blondie!"
Hitch was actually one inch taller than Armin, but she didn't seem to care.
"H-Hi, Hitch." Armin stammered, a tint of light red on his face.
"Soooo, how about this?" Hitch questioned, propping her head to the side and locking her eyes with Armin. "You and me team up, and your little friends work together?"
Armin was beet red now. "I-I-I m-mean, t-t-that w-would be n-nice."
"Yeah, that works out." Eren said, nodding to Hitch. "Me and Mikasa, and you and Armin."
"Yay." Hitch calmly said, biting her lip and gazing into Armin's heart through his innocent eyes. "We're gonna have fun, Armin."
Armin was crimson red. He looked around the room, too nervous to lock eyes with the pretty girl in front of him.
That's when he saw her. Standing there, talking to Kirk Wiltose with an emotionless expression.
Annie.
He gulped, and then turned back to Hitch, who was eyeing him up and down.
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"Yo, Rico." Demitrius stated, walking over to the silver-haired girl.
Rico turned, pushing her glasses up and giving him a skeptical look. "What might it be that you need of me, D?"
Demitrius pulled the toothpick out his mouth, eyeing Rico up and down. "Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but I wanna team up with you."
Rico's eyes widened. "You want to team up with me? You don't even know my quirk."
"Yeah, but I can tell you're one of the smarter people here. I could use your leadership." D stated, rolling his toothpick in his teeth. "So, what do you say?"
Rico blinked in response before saying, "Alright."
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"Alright, time's up!" Mr. Hannes stated.
The students all stood in their pairs. The teams were:
Eren and Mikasa
Armin and Hitch
D and Rico
Thomas and Mina
Connie and Sasha
Annie and Kirk
Hanji and Ymir
Christa and Luther
Reiner and Bertholdt
Jean and Marco
"Alright, the first match will be…" Mr. Hannes began, analyzing the teams. "Connie and Sasha versus Reiner and Bertholdt!"
"Hell yeah, first!" Connie and Sasha said consecutively, bumping fists.
Reiner had a smirk as he unfolded his muscular arms. Bertholdt looked timid and a little nervous.
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The two teams stood opposite each other, eyeing each other with skepticism.
"So, how you wanna handle this?" Connie asked Sasha.
"Well, we just gotta take out Bertholdt first, and avoid Reiner, right?" Sasha questioned.
"Probably. What did Reiner say his quirk was?"
"Something to do with armor, I think. Wait...What was Bertholdt's quirk?"
Connie scratched his shaved head. "I'm kinda havin' trouble remembering."
"Alright, you four!" Mr. Hannes announced through an intercom. "Begin!"
"Crap, we forgot!" Sasha said, frowning.
"Ah, don't worry Sasha," Connie stated, breaking into a sprint. "I got this!"
Reiner turned to Bertholdt, confidence on his face. "He didn't say what his quirk was. Try to take him out while I go for Sasha."
Connie grinned with anticipation as what looked like neon red lightning began to emit from his arms. "You two are screwed!"
Bertholdt nodded, stepping in front of Connie. Reiner bit his thumb hard, causing blood to burst from it. What looked like bronze plates grew on his skin, covering his entire body. It ripped parts of his clothes, and he got into a charging position.
Bertholdt blasted hot steam in the direction of Connie, halting the boy in his tracks.
"Connie!" Sasha outcried. She then began to run towards him. "I gotta help him!"
"Goddammit, this stuff is too hot!" Connie thought to himself, stuck in a standing position. "I can't use my quirk if-"
THUD!
Reiner had rammed into Connie, slamming the smaller male. Connie felt the wind knocked out of him, and he flew backwards into the floor. He attempted to stand, but he couldn't move properly. His eyes drifted open, stars in his vision.
Reiner stood tall, the bronze plating that covered his skin beginning to melt off. He turned to see Bertholdt blasting Sasha with hot steam. The girl was completely defenseless.
"I give up!" She shouted, which caused Bertholdt to stop. He looked paler now, and he had a very tired expression on his face.
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"The first round is over! The win goes to Bertholdt and Reiner!" Mr. Hannes said, clapping his hands together. "Well done!"
Eren and the other remaining classmates were shocked. The round was over so quickly!
"Wow...Bertholdt and Reiner are really strong!" Eren thought to himself. He then smirked, a confident yet arrogant look on his face. "I'll have to fight them someday!"
Mikasa glanced at Eren as he looked on, unaware that she wasn't paying attention to anything else but him. She found herself smiling at his confident smile, her heart warming at seeing him ha-
"The next round will be Demitrius and Rico and Christa and Luther!" Mr. Hannes stated.
"Ah shit, here we go silverback!" Demitrius said, elbowing Rico. Rico had a stern look of determination on her face as she nodded in agreement.
The two quickly walked into the battle arena, Rico whispering something into D's ear.
"Let's do a good job, Luther!" Christa happily stated.
Luther silently nodded in response, pushing his darkened glasses up onto his nose. "Yes."
Eventually, the two pairs were facing opposite each other.
Luther turned to Christa. "Now, I think I have a good understanding of your quirk from what you told me earlier. How much sunlight have you gotten today?"
"Not a lot, unfortunately." Christa frowned. "Only from when I was walking outside the school."
Luther nodded. "Then I'll try to get our opponents in one place so you can use your ability."
"BEGIN!" Mr. Hannes announced.
Luther held his breath in, then blasted a spit of fire in the direction of D and Rico. They easily dodged, D smirking arrogantly.
"Dammit, I should've saved my flame." Luther thought to himself.
He then noticed Rico running straight at him, fists balled and determination in her eyes.
"Why is she charging at me like that? Is she trying to distract me so I don't focus on D?" Luther thought to himself. "Regardless, I have to make sure Christa has an unmissable shot!"
Luther ran at Rico, ready for whatever trick she had up his sleeve.
Rico reached two fingers out, jabbing them into the right side of his throat. Luther felt a lump in his throat, coughing for one second. Before he could even finish said cough, he felt Rico go under his extended left arm, grabbing it and twisting it behind his back. She kicked his leg out from under him, causing him to immediately take a knee.
"Take out Christa, D!" Rico instructed, holding Luther in that stuck position.
Luther stared at the ground, realizing what just happened. "She must have some type of quirk that allows her to calculate movements."
Luther glanced upwards, and noticed Rico's eyes. She had taken her glasses off, and her silver eyes seemed to be surrounded by some type of veins.
"You did very well, Rico. Unfortunately…" Luther almost smirked, but he wasn't cocky enough to do so. "You didn't remember all the facets of my quirk."
Luther detached the arm that Rico held behind him, quickly turning and kicking her legs out from under her. She landed abruptly on her butt, surprise on her face.
Luther jumped up, turning to see if Christa was okay. "Christa, don't let D-"
As he turned, he noticed an orange ball of hot energy in front of him. It lightly touched his chest, and then exploded. The force sent Luther flying, his ears ringing from the noise and his clothes singed from burns.
His glasses fell, his demonic eyes showing. He looked forward, and finally saw what had happened.
Demitrius had shot his "Puppet strings" into Christa, and had taken control of her body. He had caused her to use her quirk, emitting a miniature sun time-bomb and detonating it.
"So he managed to take control of her, even though I managed to break free…" Luther thought to himself, groaning in pain as he stood. He walked over and grabbed his previously detached arm, popping it back into place with a frown.
D smirked. "That was easy." He cockily stated. When Luther stopped paying attention, D frowned and furrowed his brows. "Little did he know I got lucky that Christa was already using her quirk when I took control. I can only cause physical movement with my strings, not control quirks."
D then turned to see Rico walking up to him, her glasses propped back up on her nose. She extended a hand, which D shook.
"You were very capable in the field of battle, D." Rico complimented.
D smirked. "Told you I'd deliver. You weren't too shabby yourself."
"Luther, I'm sorry that I couldn't avoid his strings." Christa said, sniffling a little as she apologized to the imp-boy.
Luther nodded, and then patted Christa on the shoulder. "It's alright. It wasn't your fault."
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"The second round is now over!" Mr. Hannes stated as the two teams exited the arena.
Eren gritted his teeth when he saw the smug expression on D's face. "What a douche."
Armin was staring at his hands, which he was fiddling around with. It was clear that he was thinking about something.
Eren nudged his friend. "You alright, buddy?"
Armin looked up, turning to meet Eren's glance. "Y-Yeah. I'm just thinking about t-the others' q-quirks."
Hitch's eyes perked up at hearing Armin's stutter. She stepped closer and stood next to him, intentionally brushing up on his arm.
"What's on your mind?" She asked, causing Armin to lightly blush at the sound of her voice.
"Well, we need to consider the quirks of our classmates before we go out there. Reiner and Bertholdt have two very different quirks, but they seem to know each other well enough that they can produce effective combos. And then you have Rico and D, who seem very strategic. We need to consider the quirks of the remaining 8 students that aren't us four."
Mikasa looked at the kids who still hadn't gone. "I don't remember their quirks. And some of them didn't even reveal what they could do."
Eren nodded in agreement. He was as ready as everyone to hop in there and spar, but Armin was right. He needed to know about his opponents before he goes in there.
"The students who didn't explain their quirk were Jean, Hanji, Thomas, Kirk, and…" Armin gulped a little when he remembered her, and their encounter. "Annie. We know that Hanji's is called molecular, and Thomas's quirk is called Tag. But the-"
"The next match will be between Armin and Hitch and Annie and Kirk!" Mr. Hannes announced.
Armin immediately silenced. "I'm going to fight...Annie?" He thought to himself, turning his head. He saw the blond looking directly at him, an emotionless stare that stabbed his eyes.
"Armin, it's our turn!" Hitch excitedly said, grabbing Armin's hand with hers. "Let's go!"
The silver-haired girl got Armin's attention, the two locking eyes. Hitch's eyes became a deep, alluring orange, and her short her began to spike up at the end. Her skin tanned, black spots aligning her flesh. She gazed deep into Armin's eyes, brightness in her expression as she smiled at him.
Armin nodded, returning her smile. "L-Lets go."
Hitch, now with the powers of the cheetah, grabbed Armin's arm and pulled him along behind her as she ran into the battle arena. The two stood opposite of Annie and Kirk, Hitch baring her cheetah claws and getting into a fighting position.
"You ready, Armin?"
"H-Hitch, before we start…" Armin said, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She smiled when she felt his grasp on her shoulder, turning to face him.
"Yeah?"
"Remember, we don't know their quirks. We should try to stay on the defensive, only attacking when there are clear openings and gaps in their defense. My quirk will keep us safe, but I'll need you to cover me in case one of them gets too close."
Hitch blinked at Armin's lack of stuttering, and then gave Armin a reassuring smile. "You can count on me, Armin. We're going to win this."
Armin nodded and grinned. "I-I knew I could count on you."
Hitch smiled to herself, blushing a little at Armin's trust in her. "Yeah, I'm making him my boyfriend before the week is over." She bared her claws and got into her fighting position. "Cutie-pie."
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Eren and Mikasa watched as Mr. Hannes cleared his throat. The teacher loudly stated, "BEGIN!"
"Good luck, Armin!" Eren thought to himself, balling his fists.
END OF PART 2
Alright guys, there's part 2. It was shorter, but I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger for the next chapter since those the Armin and Hitch vs Annie and Kirk fight will be long, as well as the Eren and Mikasa vs (SPOILERS) fight. So, stay tuned. I'll be releasing the part 1 to a different story that'll basically be my version of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, so make sure to check my profile when that comes out. I'm sorry that updates are slow, I'm a high schooler and I really only work on fanfictions to practice my writing skills for when I write a real book or something. So yeah. Catch you all next time.