Chapter 3 : First exercise
"You're going to be in team of two and face each other to fight," Midnight explained to the students hanging from her lips. At this words, everyone looked at each other and a slight hubbub arose, quickly swept away by a faint breeze.
Or by the threatening aura of the teacher...
Thus nobody objected and the groups were drawn. Elays found herself with Erin Otsuka, whom she recognized as the girl sitting behind her, in the classroom. Smaller than her, rather tiny, and apparently more interested in the length of her clothes than in the exercise, she did not seem really strong.
Yet Elays had learned not to trust appearances. And it was not this angelic air of her, accentuated by her half-length blonde hair and her blue-ocean eyes that was going to mislead her.
"We're together," her comrade said, joining her side, a smile on her lips. "What's your quirk?"
"I can manipulate shadows... Whether it's mine, or objects' and people's around me."
"That sounds so cool!" Erin enthused with a childish air which made her look really cute.
"What about you?"
"I can teleport for a maximum distance of two to five kilometers, depending on my health status. But I have to be able to visualize the place where I want to go…"
Elays's eyes lit up in front of all the ideas that crossed her mind, as she was thinking about what such a power had to offer. It was amazing, everyone here seemed to have so nice quirks that it could not look true.
"So cool!" she said with shining eyes.
Erin shrugged, yet slightly amused at such craze, before they start to be serious. They began to think of a strategy that could take into account their two quirks during the time allotted for this by Midnight. Everyone in the class did the same, and Elays could not help but glare several times at Luna, who was training with Shiro Abe, her partner for the exercise.
Her best friend seemed so comfortable, able to adapt to all situations and people, that Elays felt a kind of twinge in her heart. She had always admired her and, somehow, envied her for all she was. Always, since their meeting, seven years ago.
"Aisu?" Erin asked, seeing her lost in her minds. "We continue?"
"Yeah, sorry…"
After a few minutes, which was too short in their opinion, Midnight gathered all the students to start the exercise. The opponents were randomly drawn and, since they were twenty, it would allow them to do five different fights.
"I saw them training," Erin whispered in Elays's ear as she glanced at their two opponents. They looked strong..."
Hearing these words, Elays turned to look at them. One of them, Takao Ido, wore a broad, almost silly smile as he made them a sign with his hand, while his teammate, Reiji Kudō, remained unmoved.
Don't trust appearances, she repeated to herself.
The exercise started; the teams were fighting on the P.E ground. Their objective was obviously victory, but without hurting the other students who watched the fights, only a few meters away, nor their opponents.
The first duo to win was composed of Jun Aoki, who was able to manipulate objects from a certain distance to attract them close to him, and Rina Imai, who could create bubbles in which she would lock people up – or stuffs.
It had simply been enough for them to prevent their opponents from moving, locked in bubbles, before surprising them with different projectiles thrown by Jun. Since fighting was only a matter of judging their abilities, it was meaningless for them to be exhausted and injured.
"Well, next group!" exclaimed an enthusiastic Midnight, with a smile on her face, reaching out to Elays and Erin, then to their opponents. "Elays Aisu and Erin Otsuka versus Takao Ido and Reiji Kudō!"
The four of them came forward on the ground under the gaze of their classmates. Everyone seemed to be caught up in the atmosphere, and it was more than normal, in front of such an exercise. In middle school, they never had the right to use their quirks on someone else, so having the opportunity to test them on other students was both exciting and scary at the same time.
"Ready?" Midnight asked once they were face to face. "Go!"
At the very second Nemuri's voice faded, Takao's arms stretched out to try to touch Elays and Erin. They only had time to dodge the blow, spreading on different sides, and the boy's arms came back to him.
While the teen with the elastic arms seemed to rush headlong, his teammate remained calm, imperturbable, and watched the scene unfolding before his eyes, as if he was trying to analyze it.
"Aisu!" Erin exclaimed.
"Got it!" She first glanced quickly at the sun, which was soon to be obstructed by the cloud, then at what was around them. Lampposts and nothing else around. Not the least stuff able to give off a shadow.
Left with her only self, Elays decided to rely on her own shadow, which she expanded to mingle with Takao's. The young man, surprised at the speed of Elays's shadow, which he had not had time to avoid, remained unable to move.
Erin took advantage of the confusion of their opponents to disappear from their field of vision, and reappear in their backs. They did not have time to see her, and Takao, still immobilized by Elays, could only look at the foot that was coming at full speed to his face.
Reiji, who had remained motionless since the beginning of the hostilities, raised his hands quickly and a force field was created around his teammate, protecting him from the blow. The sudden movement around Takao broke the bond of his shadow to Elays's, while Erin fell to the ground under the impetus she had given to her body, through this failed kick.
"Otsuka, come back!" Elays screamed, before letting her eyes flutter to the sky.
Soon.
Her teammate executed and teleported to join her sides.
"It's Kudō that we have to deal with first," she said once she was back to Elays's sides. "His force fields will protect them both and prevent us from acting. But he seems to calmly think about the situation, unlike Ido who goes into the heap."
"Yeah, you're right... I think I have a plan." Erin turned her head in her direction to encourage her to continue her explanation. "Clouds will hide the sun, I'll be able to extend my field of action. In the meantime, it'd be necessary to diversion with melee. We run on them, and you teleport at the last moment to surprise them from behind, you okay with that?"
A huge smile stretched on her partner's lips, before she strongly approved the idea. They executed, running towards their opponents at the same time. Takao, to block them, stretched his arms so that they could not move forward, while Reiji stood ready.
After a few seconds, as Elays had predicted, the clouds started to prevent the passage of the sun's rays, plunging the ground into a certain darkness. The growing shadow quickly engulfed the four students, to the surprise of both boys.
They understood the situation, realizing that they could not move, while Elays slowed down and stopped just a few meters away from them.
"Sorry, but you're on my territory," she said with a smile she could not restrain.
Erin disappeared again from their field of vision as a small distance separated her from their two adversaries, to reappear behind them. Elays concentrated on keeping her embrace around their shadows, keeping them from moving as she start to run towards them again.
Both trapped, they could only observe the two girls who surrounded them. Erin went to attack Takao and wrestled him to the ground, while Elays threw her leg up to Reiji's face, who could not move and defend himself.
She used the bond of their shadows, grouped under the cloud layer that no longer allowed to distinguish them from each other, to stop the momentum of her foot, which just came to barely touch the skin of his cheek.
"Well, stop! It's Aisu and Otsuka's win!" Midnight exclaimed, raising her whip to the sky. "Out of a comradeship, your blow would have probably hurt and sent flying your comrade, Aisu. Good reflex to have stopped."
Elays and Erin clapped happily in the hand and went to thank both their teacher for these words and their opponents for the fight. As at the end of the previous fight, all the other students applauded, as much to congratulate the two girls' win than the confrontation itself.
Luna smiled broadly at her best friend, who struggled to hide the excitement of her success.
She had won.
And with her shadows' handling
"Todoroki? What are you looking through the window?"
Surprised by this words, the Shouto gave a slight start and turned his head towards the origin of this voice to face Momo Yaoyorozu, sitting in the place behind his own.
"Girls?!" Minoru exclaimed, observing in his turn what was happening through the window. His scream caught the attention of the rest of the class and all the students turned to look at them for a long time. "He watched girls fight, through the window!" the purple-haired boy explained to the dilated pupils who were staring at him. "Or was it Midnight, which you looked at? I was sure you were hiding this kind of trend, it wasn't possible otherwise!"
The boy with white and red hair arched an eyebrow, before taking a last look at the P.E ground, under the window.
It was the girl from earlier... she won.
The fight he had just followed had taken hold of him, so much so that he had forgotten for a few moments that he was in a classroom. But Aizawa's glare helped him regain his composure and he reconciled himself, ignoring Minoru's reflections and the reactions of his comrades.
Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter~ it was really hard to write it in english to be honest, I kinda struggled :c I hope I did it more or less well (?).
Don't hesitate to let a review, it would really mean a lot! :3 Since I don't know what you guys think about this story :(
A friend of mine uses to say "1 review = 1 author saved from depression" and I'm sure she's right xD
