*brushes away dust and cobwebs* Hello…? Is anyone still there? I wouldn't be surprised if that weren't the case. It's been a while. So… after the last chapter, I've been devoid of any sort of motivation since… well, the last chapter wasn't that big of a hit, at least not as big as I expected it to be. Therefore, I just… suddenly stopped for a bit. I was planning on returning sooner or later, I swear, it was only supposed to be a one-week break, but then that one week became an entire month and a half. Honestly, I feel ashamed of myself and if there's hardly anyone still checking for this story, I can't say that I blame you. I really fucked up. Your characters deserve better than this, and it's taking a lot of courage for me to even post this chapter, if I'm being completely honest. Regardless, I'll cut the idiotic pity party short and accept responsibility. If I were a good writer, I'd be here. If I were a good writer, I'd do a lot more to keep you guys enticed. Instead, I spent a whole month in limbo, while so many other talented SYOC writers have been hard at work, actually delivering high quality work to their fans. So… I'll do this. I'll suck it up and hold up my end of the bargain. I have a chapter for you guys, and I hope you'll enjoy… those of you that are still here, of course.

I… hope it lives up to expectations, I really don't want to disappoint you guys again.

-Chapter 11 - Trepidation-

It had felt like the fight continued for ages, yet when everything came to a sudden halt, Yuuto realized that he had been watching everything in slow motion. The brutality, the intensity, the impeccable display of strength and versatility, every bit of it seemed almost otherworldly to him. It was as if the world projected by those bright monitors was not of the same one that he existed within at this very moment.

The entire confrontation seemed like an invigorating climax straight out of one of the many battle shounens he'd read and watch in his spare time. Everything seemed so chaotic, yet there was beauty present among the ascending maelstrom, creating a vivid imagery of savagery that would settle into his mind for an eternity as he absentmindedly scratched at the palms of his hands.

It looked as if he'd spend another century in his stupor if it wasn't the loud exclamation erupting from his classmates. The astounding cheers, applause, and the admiration that both battles had received brought his heart to beat at a rapid pace, creating a harmonious melody powered by that of anxiety, excitement, and above all else… uncertainty.

As reality whooshed forward to knock sharply against his head, that mix of emotions only became more overwhelming, spiking the moment his eyes caught sight of his name popping up in the automated slots. His head ducked as he swallowed loudly, not even having the resolve to see the rest of his match-up display appear. It was much too nerve-wracking for him. He felt as if his heart would break from his sternum as it pounded violently within his chest.

'I'm… up next. Somehow, I have to somehow follow up all of that,' Silently, he released a shaky sigh as his hands ruffled his hair nervously, cringing deeply when he saw the harrowing shape that all of the former combatants were in as they were picked from the course by the medics. He wasn't blind to the occasional splashes of blood that discharged outwards with each landing. Brittle, sharp concrete digging into flesh and creating tears that wouldn't soon be forgotten, neither by his eyes or the injured party. 'If kids as strong as them were able to beat each other so viciously…"'

Yuuto looked docile as his endlessly light blue irises twinkled while staring down at the palms of his perspiring hands, remembering how bruised and battered they were during his time in the Entrance Exams. The cacophony of chatter and laughter among the remaining students was little more than white noise to him, as the marching melody of his beating heart accelerated to a meteoric pace.

'Then what does this mean for people like me…?'

"Oh my gosh, that was so epic! Don't you think so?!" Yuuto let out a loud gasp at the soft yet exuberant voice of his soon-to-be teammate, startling out of his stupor due to the other boy's close proximity. "That's going to be a difficult battle to follow up, but hey, all the more fun!"

"Oh my stars, it would seem that Amairyu really isn't the sweetheart we thought she was," In the very back of the group, the whimsical Akio spoke up, fiddling with various tools and pieces gracefully but keeping his back facing the rest of the class in an attempt to hide his creations from the rest of the class. "They certainly set the bar high for these coming fights…but I'm sure that won't be a problem for us. Right, Chisaki-san?"

Akui, who was still visibly exhausted from his healing moments ago, marshalled enough energy to flash Akio a charismatic yet hesitant smile and gave a shaky thumbs up. "T-That's right, Yamamoto-san! I just hope that we make as big of an impact as the rest of the previous participants…"

In the darker corners of Yuuto's mind, the ebony-haired teenager couldn't help but somewhat scoff at the idea of Akui being even a little bit worried about underperforming. But he quickly pushed those thoughts from his mind. He was about to battle, after all, and falling into his spells of self-pity and jealousy wouldn't help him at all. He patted his cheeks, though he ended up accidentally slapping them a tad bit harder than he hoped and winced. As he recovered, he heard a whistle and turned towards Shinon, who happily waved his hands for him to come over.

'Welp… Let's see if we can come up with some semblance of a plan.' As he trekked towards Shinon, he caught sight of messy hair and slightly shifted his eyes absentmindedly, accidentally meeting the eyes of Kudzuruki Hibiya briefly before coming close to Shinon with falsely calm smile.

Hibiya startled slightly when Yuuto's light blue eyes met his for a brief moment and was quick to direct his gaze back to the floor. All of the commotion was already starting to make him a bit antsy. Too much noise, too much talking, too much… everything. However, even he couldn't deny that the fights so far have been a sight to behold…..although, he couldn't help but think that a lot of the more dramatic moments and violent actions were a bit unnecessary.

'Did they really need to almost kill each other on the first day of school? Was it really that serious?' Pulling at the sleeves of his tracksuit to bring them past his wrists, Hibiya raised one arm to shield a yawn. As he watched as a dizzy Amai talking to herself while being wheeled out of the battle simulation, he softly chuckled. 'More power to them, I guess. Have fun with those bruises.'

Ceasing his yawning and playing with the zipper of his jacket nonchalantly, the emerald-eyed boy took to retreating to his thoughts as a source of relief from all of the echoing chatter within the room. Hibiya had hoped to keep things relatively tame for his battle, but considering who his opponents were and the… eccentric qualities of his partner, the boy felt that his hopes would unsurprisingly be destroyed soon enough. Par of the course, he figured. 'Hooray for me…'

"Oi. Bed-head."

Crinkling his nose at the sudden appearance of a hoarse and gritty voice reverberating within his ears, Hibiya bristled before looking out of the corners of his eyes at the one who disturbed him. However, the moment his eyes met the sea of red within the individual's irises and realized how tall they stood above him, Hibiya groveled before moving backwards, accidentally bumping into Hitomi, who lowly told him to watch where he stepped. 'What in the… why the hell is he so close?!'

"A-Agarashi, jeez," Hibiya mumbled quietly, whispering a low apology to Hitomi before giving the taller boy his full attention. "P-Personal space is a thing, you know—"

"Shut. Up. And listen to me real good, you flimsy ass introvert." Immediately, Hibiya's eyes widened at the insult, now fully meeting Asa's judgmental and wild gaze. He couldn't hide his slight annoyance as the thought of 'oh, so I get insulted for being introverted now too, that's a first' flitted across his mind but Asa didn't seem to give his offended look the time of day.

"I don't know how serious you are about being the victors of this fight," Even in his silenced whispers, pure venom and utter enmity was entwined within his vocal inflection, causing the hairs on the back of Hibiya's neck to stand upwards. "But I just wanted to let you know that if you don't pull your fucking weight in this match-up, the two of us are going to have problems. And I'm only going to say this once, so I hope you heard me."

Even while intimidated and sensing the seriousness of his soon-to-be partner, Hibiya simply couldn't help himself when he pulled his tracksuit's collar up to hide his mouth and muffle the mumbled retort that slipped through his lips, "...You might as well go ahead and say it again with the way you feel the need to literally breathe it right in my ear, it seems like it's important enough for—"

"Finish that sentence and I'm following you out of the doors of this school when this is all over, gnawing your arms off of your body, and beating you the fuck up with them. Finish it. I dare you"

Hibiya winced slightly as he felt a subtle but surprisingly painful poke in his rib-cage, bringing a stinging pain through his abdomen, before he directed an angered yet shaky glare at Asa, who only responded with an even nastier scowl. Despite his best efforts to fight against it, he could feel the cloud of indignation slowly starting to seep across his mind at the harsh realization that Asa completely meant every word of what he was saying.

"Just do your fucking part and remember what'll happen to you if you don't," Asa slowly backed away from Hibiya, his hands twitching and his fist clenching tightly while doing so. "And at least try to carry yourself like you've got a spine. You look about as intimidating as a fucking kitten, get your shit right before our fight starts or we are gonna have issues, you little bitch."

And with that, Asa didn't even bother to hear any sort of response from Hibiya, moving to go right back to the empty corner he sat at previously, giving Hibiya one final glance before he turned away and remained seated.

Meanwhile, Hibiya felt a familiar feeling rising to his chest, overwhelming him greatly as memories that he'd been trying to forget came crashing back over him in a tumultuous wave. He clenched his teeth, breathing hard as he tried to calm down with every fiber of his being, but the amount of conviction and brutal honesty in Asa's words reminded him of someone that he'd tried for so long to disregard.

"Counting on Hibiya is basically the equivalent to suicide, I'd trust a brick wall over him any day of the week. At least you can count on it for cover or to have shelter. I wouldn't even use Hibiya for a human shield, that's how useless he is."

'Why do I even care what he says, I don't even fucking know him,' The usual shine of his emerald eyes dulled slightly, clouded by frustration and agitation as he exhaled softly. No, he couldn't dabble on the words of some random individual, it's not like their opinion mattered. However, Asa's threats were what really bothered him. The feeling of having someone outright threaten him and then for him to not even have the tenacity to defend himself?

To say that it was an undesirable feeling would be the understatement of the century.

'I-I'll just forget him… I have to remember why I came here in the first place…' Sighing to himself, Hibiya kept his deep frown as he stared ahead, intentionally making himself to appear as small as possible. That was definitely enough social interaction for one day. 'I gotta focus on what's important… besides, it's not like our fight is the one up right now anyways...'

Unbeknownst to the Secret Hand user as he had his back facing most of the class, golden irises had locked onto him, watching him carefully and noting his sudden change in demeanor after the tense interaction. Tilting his head, Akui appeared downtrodden as he shook his head before looking back ahead. 'Poor guy, Kudzuruki didn't deserve that…' Looking out of the corner of his vision, he subtly glared at Asa, only to find the boy seemingly talking to himself and bumping his knuckles against the cold, terrazzo flooring. 'What's his problem anyway…?'

"Hmph, well, it would appear that I'm up next already," Meanwhile, the strikingly beautiful Makise smirked slightly. Considering the circumstances, he was pretty confident in their chances. From what he had gathered from Shinon's rather rowdy and strident conversations with him and the rest of his peers, his Quirk revolved around enhancing the physicality of objects. With that Quirk, he figured that it shouldn't be much of an issue, considering that Shinon would have a hard time touching him in the first place thanks to his own Quirk. But as for Yuuto…Instinctively following his train of thought, Makise found his gaze trailing over to the black-haired boy. For the moment, Yuuto's abilities remained an enigma.

As his gaze lingered, he couldn't help but notice the troubled expression the boy sported and frowned sympathetically. 'He seems… really worried…'

"She… she morphed into me…" Hearing the hushed and airy voice of a certain girl with snow-colored hair, Makise shifted his head to look up at Kaminaga, confusion evident in both her tone of voice and her facial expression. "How did… Okurimono do that? Is that her Quirk?"

Remembering how Karashi had shockingly took the appearance of the tall girl in the previous showdown, Makise looked downwards, scrunching his face up as he thought. "If I were to make a guess, well, she obviously has shape-shifting abilities of some sort and can even obtain Quirks of others, but it's hard to say exactly how it works. Have… you and Okurimono had any sort of involvement with one another recently, Kinji-san?"

Furrowing her eyebrows and gently stroking the healing scar on her cheek, Kaminaga puzzled through her memory and thought about her earlier encounter with the blonde. "Yes, we did, and she even scratched my cheek. According to her, it was an accident…" Her mind then went to when the blond had randomly kissed her cheek and her eyes suddenly widened, seemingly coming to some sort of realization.

"Kinji-san, is everything alright?" Growing slightly fretful by Kaminaga's expression, Makise tilted his head in confusion. "You seem… agitated—"

"I'm fine." Kaminaga quickly reassured Makise, feigning a smile as she turned to the boy, hoping to hide the levels of increasing anger and discontent boiling within her veins, which could be seen pulsating if one were to look closely. "Though, I think I'll go pay Eri-senpai a visit. I want to check up on Amai and Hinomiya-kun, they seemed to be in pretty bad shape."

And with that, the tall girl decidedly made her way over to the door of the control room, making sure to inform Olé of her departure beforehand. She gave Makise a soft smile before exiting the room, confusing him more as she disappeared from his line of sight. Despite her ostensibly peaceful departure, Makise wasn't blind to the way her eyes had suddenly changed as she left. They seemed… almost rhapsodic and dangerous in a way.

'Kinji-san…?'

"Kobayashi-san."

Bringing him out of his deep thoughts, Makise found himself face-to-face with Hitomi's chilling stare, slowly backing away from her when he realized how close she was. 'Honestly, why is she like this?' Clearing his throat, Makise prepared to speak in his usual cadence, making sure to keep his usual charming and alluring nature. "Yes? Is something wrong, my future sister-in-arms?"

However, Hitomi's expression remained permanently deadpanned as usual, the only slight change being her eyes narrowing slightly at Makise's playful nickname, which caused the latter to sweatdrop. "Right… anyway, I'd like to discuss some things with you before we proceed with our battle." Keeping things completely professional, Hitomi brushed her cobalt bangs from her eyes before continuing. "Let me ask you a question. What are your thoughts on the previous battles? I guess you could say I'm curious."

'Eh? That's what she's curious about? I thought that she might've wanted to strategize…' Thinking carefully, Makise responded, "Well, I thought it was amazing. Both Minamoto and Kurosawa managed to deliver an incredible opener and showed how skilled the two of them are in close-quarters combat, and as for the second battle, Amairyu and Hinomiya showed great strength and versatility with their Quirks while Okurimono and Ohara utilized teamwork and mind games to almost steal the show. I'd say that both battles were extremely—"

"Extremely reckless and caused an unnecessary amount of damage for virtually no reason," Surprised, Makise found himself being interrupted by Hitomi, meeting her chilling and serious gaze as her eyes seemed as if they were capable of murder. "With that amount of damage, many innocents would have perished in the presence of such carelessness. If Olé is smart, he will fail each and every single one of them for their temerarious actions."

Makise blinked slowly. Was it really that deep to her? "Well, I mean, you're welcome to feel that way, but you have to admit that in the heat of giving it your all, it can be difficult to focus on self-restraint for some—"

"If having self-restraint is a topic that's lost on a hero trainee, then it's beneficial for the safety of that student and everyone else that they're moved from the hero course entirely." Once again, Makise's words were cut off abruptly, and he didn't bother concealing his swelling irritation, curving his lips to suppress a sigh. "I'm appalled that there weren't any rules set in place at the beginning. There should be some sort of time limit in place, if you ask me."

'Nobody asked you though…' Despite the urge to say it aloud, Makise opted to keep it to himself, sighing quietly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose discreetly. "I see… may I ask where exactly you're going with this, Nikimura-san? Shouldn't we be strategizing?"

Hitomi closed her eyes, exhaling softly before revealing her glaciar-like eyes to the world once more. "The point that I'm trying to make is that when we go into battle, we should not take things lightly. However, pushing things too far will not be allowed either."

Finally, Hitomi moved to the container holding the prototypes of support items created from the ideas students had recorded in this year's entrance exams. Her slender hands reached inside of the container to pull a black baton and what appeared to be two canisters. Makise's eyebrows arched upwards to signal his confusion. 'Okay, I can understand the baton…' His light green eyes closely observed Hitomi as she carefully placed the canisters on both sides of her hips. 'But what are those canisters for…?'

Catching Makise's stare out of the corners of her eyes, Hitomi twirled the baton in-between her svelte fingers while turning to fully meet the boy's gaze. "Well then, Kobayashi-san," Though her icy gaze was enough for Makise to give the girl his undivided attention, he wasn't intimidated in the slightest, feeling only an overwhelming sense of determination and the urge to rebel. "Would you say that you'll be able to commit to the tactics that I've suggested?"

Makise was quiet for a few moments. He didn't like the idea of conforming to what Hitomi suggested, feeling as if she was imposing her ideas over his, but the girl's plan made sense in a way. It would be beneficial for the both of them to finish this fight as quickly as they could. Dragging the fight out longer than it needed to be wasn't ideal in the slightest, especially considering the fact that Deflect, for as strong as it was, also had its limitations.

'Yuuto is a mystery… and, while I'm confident in my Quirk being a solid counter for him, Shinon managed to get in as a recommendation, so I assume that he will be a major threat regardless,' Pondering over his decision, Makise gave a thoughtful look before grunting and flashing a debonair smirk to Hitomi, who merely stared back with an inexpressive look.

"Very well, Nikimura-san…" Moving towards the container and grabbing a hold of his main choice of weaponry, Makise positioned himself beside Hitomi. "We'll do as you say. However, who's to say that Tomoyuki-kun and Yanaihara-kun won't be as reckless with their tactics as well?"

For the first time since their initial encounter, Hitomi's look of indifference morphed into something much more… sinister. Appearing almost as if she had switched personalities entirely, her cold gaze phased towards the two preparing competitors. "I'll see to it that they are set in their place permanently if that ends up being the case, and I trust that you'll be right alongside me, Kobayashi-san?"

Shifting his gaze in the same direction as Hitomi, Makise's light green eyes glistened with a grandiloquent light of determination, bringing the charismatic smirk back with it. "I most certainly will, Nikimura-san. We'll definitely win this, and we'll win it the right way."

Unbeknownst to them, Ole's diligent ears had been listening closely to everything the duo said, and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the last statement. Hs knuckles cracked as he applied pressure to them before scrutinizing the control panel in front of him and silently activating several functions in preparation for the next battle.

'I'm afraid it won't be as easy as you two think… right, amigo?'

'Why do you insist on speaking Spanish to me? You are JAPANESE, stop appropriating the culture of others!'

Comedically, a vein blistered on the side of Ole's head as he retorted, 'Oh, and this is coming from a goddamn Quirk! What makes you think that you're any better than me when you do it?'

'The difference between me and you is that there's nobody to confirm my ethnicity, mi amigo, nor are they eager to tell a giant bull what to do, you should know that.'

The Pro Hero merely frowned deeply and finished keying in the commands, settling for silence as a response to Diego's annoying banter.

'Struck a nerve, señor? Heh.'

"Just hush, I'm trying to focus on grading these match-ups. Also, since you wanted to give me the silent treatment earlier, allow me to give you a taste of your own medicine.'

'Por favor, don't kid yourself. Any moment that you're silent is a blessing.'

Ole merely sighed exasperatedly before turning back to the students. "Alright, next team! Move out!"

"Now do you understand, Hitomi? Do you understand the chaos that the world would devolve into if rules were to ever be taken away from society?"

"...I-I.."

"Before the establishment of rules, society was nothing more than a gang of savages. Animals who fully indulged in their primitive urges and slaughtered indiscriminately. Order needed to be restored in order to bring about the necessary changes… And yet, even with rules being much more prominent in today's society, there are those who still haven't evolved from their primordial urges…and those are the ones that must be removed from society."

"..."

"...Do you understand me, Hitomi?… Answer me when I'm speaking to you."

"Yes… Father. I understand… thank you."

"One day… there is no doubt in my mind that you'll be the very person that brings justice upon those that refuse to abide by the rules set by humanity… you will be the one to put those foolish souls in a permanent time-out… Remember that, my daughter."

The wintry breeze nipped at Yuuto's heels as he stared upon the horizon of the brightly colored tundra filled with mesmerizing shades of blue, green, and white. There was a mountain range in the distance, and the snowy frontier seemed completely authentic. It was as if he was no longer at the school and had been legitimately transported into a different sector of the world entirely. Along the edges of the perimeter, there were vast amounts of trees spreading as far as his eyes could see. The grass was lively and effervescent, blending in beautifully with the surrounding forestry. Yuuto was crouched low to the ground, admiring the moist, sterling grass below his feet as he looked forward. The luminous and picturesque environs fully commanded his attention, making it difficult for him to remove his eyes from the mesmerizing sight.

He barely processed the brief Quirk usage that had his cerulean eyes flashing for a fraction of a second to capture the image permanently within his mind. The chilly air visibly emanating from his mouth with each silent breath, he admired the view for a few moments more before preparing to start his stretches.

'As long as I remember those hand-to-hand techniques that I learned from the Martial Arts documentary that Sis gave me, I'll at least be able to hold my weight for a little while...' Remaining alert, Yuuto carefully scanned his surroundings to make sure that the area was devoid of anything even remotely suspicious. 'Well, it beats trying to fight machines and creatures literally made of solid rock and granite…that stuff's not something a normal person can break with their hands.. God knows I'm certainly not Deku…'

"Tomoyuki-saaaaaan? Are you ready?" Yuuto gasped loudly when he realized he'd been so encaptured by his starting exercises that he'd failed to acknowledge when Shinon had gotten so close. The ivory-haired boy blinked curiously at him and continued in a chipper tone, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you out of your workout! I was just thinking that we should probably get moving now!"

Yuuto blinked and couldn't help but wonder just how long he'd been standing in that one spot, trapped in his thoughts.

Without warning, Shinon smiled and tilted his head to the side, "Just to let you know, you've kinda been standing in that one spot for a while now… for maybe like three minutes?… doing the same stretches over and over again." Chuckling, the shorter boy nudged Yuuto playfully, oblivious to the way he almost knocked the other boy over. "It was like watching a video game character performing idle animations. I thought that you had proven my theory of us all being in some sort of matrix right for a second!"

'Jesus, what am I doing!?' Yuuto quickly turned away from Shinon upon feeling his face turn bright red, trying and, judging from the loud snickers, failing to hide his obvious embarrassment. "S-Sorry, Yanaihara-kun! I was ju-just—!"

"It looked like you were stalling to me, Tomo-san."

Yuuto's eyes widened as he uncovered his face to look down at Shinon, who flashed him an understanding smile before walking over to pat his shoulder.

"It's… I get it, you know? That feeling of hesitation whenever it seems like things are stacked against you… I really get it, more than you'd imagine." For a brief second, Yuuto caught a glimpse of an extremely wistful twinkle within Shinon's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "However, we don't know what we're capable of until we try! Uncertainty is merely a part of the battle-in other words, it's just another obstacle for us to overcome, so once we get over that troubling wall?" The dainty child quickly extended a fist forward, hoping for a fist-bump. "There's nothing stopping us unless we allow ourselves to be stopped! Right, Tomo-kun!?"

Yuuto couldn't help but physically freeze at the amount of determination and vigor present within Shinon's usually soft-spoken voice, staring incredulously at the outstretched fist. Though Shinon's words might have seemed trite and overly optimistic in anyone else's eyes, that didn't make him any less right. As if as a reminder, Yuuto's mind flashed back to the events of the entrance exam, remembering clearly the feeling of hopelessness that had shackled itself onto his spirit and weighed him down considerably.

Never in his life had he felt so pathetic…He didn't want to go through the same situation ever again, and this was his shot. This very battle would be his chance to redeem himself.

'He's right...!' Despite the heavily lingering feeling of self-doubt wading within his spirit, Yuuto sprung forward to return the fist-bump. As his knuckles clashed with Shinon's, he brightly smiled, exposing his radiant smile. "Y-You know what?! You're absolutely right, Yanaihara-kun! I'm not even sure what I'm so worried about, especially when I have you along as a partner."

"Oh, don't let my words fool you, I am scared as heck right now!"

Yuuto's smile faltered for a fraction of a second as he lowered his fist, leaving their two fists to fall apart awkwardly. All the while, Shinon kept his goofy expression, chuckling lightly. "What, you didn't think I was? I mean, have you seen Nikimura-san's stare? It's all hollow and wintry, she's an ice box personified!" Contrasting his words, however, he expeditiously pulled his holstered fencing sword from his side, touching the weapon and surrounding it in a pink, translucent energy before swiping in several directions.

"Plus, from what I've heard from some of the others regarding Kobayashi-san, it seems like landing a hit on him at all is going to be pretty difficult, if it's even possible at all," His words and his actions continued to clash though as he smiled in satisfaction before sheathing his sword again and breaking off into a run. Yuuto quickly followed before he could get left behind. "Therefore, my bones are absolutely rattling and shaking in terror! But! I can't let that stop me, and neither should you!"

'Well, thank you for the advice, but it's kinda hard to remain positive when you're dropping all of this information on me at the last minute…!' Following closely behind, Yuuto felt the breeze of the simulated world gently tussle his dark-colored locks as he ran. He felt his stomach drop, both from anxiety and the feeling of their decline from the hill they had started on. 'Also why the heck did he say all of that with a smile…?! We're practically doomed!'

SWISH

"Wha-oh! Looks like they've found us, Tomo-kun! If you don't want to end up like a headless horseman, you should probably duck-" Before he could even finish his statement, the ominous sounds of trees snapping began to grow louder and louder, causing Yuuto to look in the direction of its source. Upon spotting it, he let out a tiny squeal before quickly dropping into a baseball slide, ducking low to avoid the hulking projectile spinning violently from the forestry and slicing through the woodlands. It appeared to be a… giant coin?

"What in the fuck-" Yuuto exclaimed on instinct, but was cut off when Shinon dashed past him to stand directly in the path of the enormous currency. "Ya-Yanaihara, what are you doing-!"

"Hmm!? Oh! This!" With the grace and poise of a professional gymnast, Shinon effortlessly tossed his nimble body within the air, performing a beautiful succession of aerial twists as he swung his energy-laced fencing sword to strike the mountainous coin once it was in range. Yuuto gasped loudly as the thin sword split the elephantine yen into two perfect halves upon impact.

BOOM

A heavy thud reverberated once the severed coin collided with the cold, harsh ground. Shinon descended, landing perfectly on his feet and sheathing his sword again before whistling and finger-gunning in the direction the coin had come from. "Now, I may not be the smartest kiddo of the bunch, and God knows that I've had my fair share of dumbass moments… but I think this means they should be in the forest somewhere, right?!"

Yuuto could only stare incredulously at his rambunctious partner, only moving to stand up despite his wobbly legs, which were trembling slightly from both shock and slight fear. He walked past Shinon, looking towards the distance as his azure eyes glowed brightly. As he gazed upon the catastrophic damage done by the bisected coin, which had shrunk to its original size as Shinon inspected it, a multitude of flickers echoed within his mind. Numerous images embedded themselves within his brain, fully branding themselves within his mental capacity as his eyes concluded their enthralling glow.

"Tomo-kun, I… uh, not to be rude, but I don't think us standing here is going to get the job done. We did just get ambushed by-pfffft!" Unable to contain his giggles, Shinon flashed his shining teeth in a grin despite his attempts to cover his mouth hastily. "By big money! I guess you could say that wasn't very… cash money of them?"

With a deadpan expression, Yuuto looked over towards the white-haired boy, only arching his eyebrows. The bellowing of the wind was all that kept them from entering a zone of deafening silence. "..."

Seeing that his joke had missed its landing, Shinon pulled at his collar, laughing nervously as he turned away in embarrassment. "Yeah, I figured that meme might've been a little too obscure, but you can't fault a guy for trying!"

Yuuto shook his head in confusion, "Uh… yeah, sorry, I'm not all that well-versed in memery, so I wouldn't know the reference even if I'd seen it before." Quickly changing the subject, Yuuto walked towards Shinon, who had his lips in an adorable pout from Yuuto's response. "Anyways, after going over the images I took of the damage…" Yuuto frowned in thought. "The coin made some sort of change in trajectory before sailing towards us, and there were a lot of trees down on the left side even before that… I think they might still be close actually."

"Closer than you might think, Tomoyuki."

"Tomo-kun, move!" In the next second, Yuuto felt a heavy shove send his body flying several meters away, and he curled himself into a ball so that he could roll along the surface of the ground and straighten himself back out after traveling some distance..

SWING

A whistling sound rang out as something heavy bustled along with a heavy wind current before colliding with another, unknown object, resulting in the loud, resonated clanging of metal. Yuuto looked up to see Shinon and the culprit of their ambush locked into a heated stare-down, as the latter continued to push Shinon backwards with a midnight-colored baton that rivaled the size of a streetlight. 'Nikimura!'

After a temporary stalemate, Shinon finally managed to surround his fencing sword in more energy to reinforce the physicality of the weapon, allowing him to push his sword forward and intercept Hitomi's footing. Grunting heavily in frustration, Hitomi felt her feet cultivating deeply into the ground as she was sent backwards from Shinon's successful deflection. However, she wasn't done yet, her icy glare locking on Shinon before she rushed in again, this time shrinking her baton to a smaller size before clashing with Shinon's sword once more.

A concatenation of sparks and after-images flashed as the two combatants continuously moved gracefully and attacked each other, creating an otherworldly sequence of fast-paced parrys and counters as the two weapons slammed against one another. Neither Shinon nor Hitomi showed signs of fatigue as they effortlessly contradicted every move the other dished out. All the while, Yuuto found himself in a state of shock once again as he watched the two teenagers locked in heavy combat.

'It's like… Ichigo Vs. Ulquiorra…or Zoro Vs. Ryuma….' Finally, Yuuto staggered to his feet, though his eyes never left the escalating showdown. As a result, he remained completely ignorant of the soft steps approaching him from behind until finally, the person made themselves known in a playful manner. "Fuu~"

"Gyuk—" Startled by the feeling of someone blowing into his ear, Yuuto spun on his heels and immediately unleashed a punch in the intruder's general direction. However, as soon as he saw who was responsible for the action, he cursed under his breath and tried to halt his fist. Unfortunately, he was too late.

The moment his fist closed in on his attacker, he felt his arm violently whip into the opposite direction, resulting in him floundering to the side and losing his balance. Suddenly, as he turned his back towards his opponent, an intemperate and violent force knocked every second bit of the wind from his body as it sent him flying forward, and Yuuto's body screamed in agonizing pain even before it was amplified by his brutal collision with the unforgiving surface of the hilly earth.

"Fuck!" Yuuto felt his momentum finally come to a halt when his back connected with a nearby boulder, which did his body no favors, his bones aching and his skin burning from the lacerations created from his previous tumbling. His breath hitched as he struggled to regain the insurmountable air that had been pushed from his searing lungs. Ignoring the pains in his spinal area, he quickly tried to stand up, but the torturous pain wracking his body caused him to immediately fall once more.

"You should really pay more attention next time, Tomoyuki-san," Yuuto froze at the sound of his opponent's melodious voice. Managing to lift his head slightly, he saw Makise approach him with a faintly apologetic smile, carrying what appeared to be a satchel as he stopped in front of him. "I understand that Nikimura and Yanaihara's showdown is pretty mesmerizing, but…" He pouted playfully, swiftly pulling a multitude of knives from his satchel as he did so. Yuuto felt his stomach drop like a weight upon catching sight of the serrated tips of Makise's weapons. "You really shouldn't have overlooked me, I wanted to have fun with you guys as well!"

Every hair on Yuuto's body stood upwards and goosebumps cropped up all over his skin as Makise proceeded to point several of his knives at the injured boy.

FWIP

In the next second, Yuuto found himself pinned in place by the several, perfectly positioned knives embedded in his tracksuit as they held him to the surface of the ground. He was completely helpless, fully at the mercy of Makise. But his opponent simply smirked and winked at him before walking towards Shinon and Hitomi, his short, cherry blossom pink hair flowing in the wind as he did so. "Now! Let's see if I can get these two to settle down for a second while you get some rest, yeah? That was a pretty nasty tumble you took, so we don't want you to overexert yourself~"

Yuuto then struggled against his restraints, but it proved to be a fruitless effort as Makise's knives refused to give even an inch of breathing room for his restrained body. In the deepest crevices of his mind, Yuuto couldn't help but be reminded of his unmitigated failure during his first encounter at Meiyo Academy as he witnessed Makise blitz towards Shinon and Hitomi at a breakneck pace. Experiencing a level of culpability for his carelessness, Yuuto dropped his head harshly to the wet, grassy surface of the plain. He'd done it once again.

'I've failed… But! Even if I'm a failure at everything else…I have to at least warn him…! !'

"Yanaihara! Look out!"

Shinon heard the voice of his partner in the distance but, fully concentrating on his fight, was unable to respond to it. The teenager dodged a blow and delivered a kick to Hitomi's abdomen, cowling his fist in a bubblegum-pink aura as the girl stumbled. There was a brief pause in his movements as he waited for the right opportunity to strike again, and once Hitomi had uncovered her stomach and moved backwards, he immediately moved in to deliver a jaw-shattering uppercut, not giving her the time she needed to recover her ground.

"Going UP!" Twisting his body to give the punch more power, Shinon sent Hitomi soaring high into the air, blood gushing from her muzzle, and then turned with his sword in the opposite hand to swipe at whatever new danger Yuuto had warned him about. However, before he could make a connection, he found his sword violently being ripped from his hand by some unknown force, catching him completely off-guard. "Oh—!"

"Surprise~!" After recovering from his shock, Shinon looked up, only to find himself on the receiving end of Makise's beautifully executed roundhouse kick, complete with a graceful flip through the air. The last thing Shinon recognized before he was obliterated by Makise's kick was the uncharacteristically evil leer on the face of the boy.

THWACK

The pain was immediate and disorienting, as the heel of Makise's protected foot digging deeply into Shinon's cheek and brutally knocking his head backwards. He could've sworn the catastrophic state of excruciation his head had entered was the result of his brain slamming harshly against his skull. Then, feeling as he'd been hit with a cannonball, Shinon croaked when Makise's palm struck him directly in his rib-cage, facilely sending him plummeting forward.

"Sorry about this, Yanaihara-kun, no hard feelings, right?! Nikimura, catch him!"

It wasn't long before Shinon's flight was brought to an end by the arms wrapping themselves around his torso, squeezing tightly and further amplifying the pain in his lower torso. Desperately, he used what little adrenaline he had left to troop through the pain in an attempt to free himself.

But before he could make any leeway, he suddenly felt as weak as a feather within the embrace he had been forcefully caught in. After a while, he realized he was starting to get even smaller, which baffled him, considering that he was already below five feet.

'What in the name of—'

SLAM

"Uwaah!" Shinon was thrown backwards with a force akin to being stampeded by an elephant, and he felt his neck and upper body being brutally piledrived into the solid earth below. A miniature, blinding cloud of dirt and soil formed around him, and he could feel a rush of saliva flying from his mouth. Adrenaline seemed to be leaving his body along with the air his lungs needed.

Every ounce of his previous momentum was completely gone, leaving him with his lower torso painfully tucked inwardly and forcing him to hold his legs above his head. His vision was profoundly blurry, and his eyes watered profusely as he struggled to not let them close. But no matter how much he tried to keep awake, he could feel his body coming dangerously close to shutting down.

'Welp,' Despite the perilous circumstances, Shinon couldn't help but express a lugubrious smile, deciding that fighting his inevitable descent into unconsciousness was a fruitless effort. Finally dropping his legs, the gentle and friendly twinkling of his vibrantly pink eyes faded significantly when he looked up to see Hitomi's inexorably cold irises staring right into his own.

It could've been from his clouded vision and slowly declining cognitive abilities, but Shinon noticed that Hitomi seemed much larger than she did before before he silently closed his eyes, succumbing to his injury. 'I guess I could say that all of this could've gone a little better… Hey, actually, I think that should go on my tombstone…'

Hitomi continued to watch closely, narrowing her eyes as she carefully analyzed Shinon's shrinking form. She sneered as she attempted to determine if he was truly insentient or not. From the moment she laid eyes on him, Hitomi had immediately been able to tell that Shinon fit the bill of someone who was an overall troublemaker. It was a shame, really… with his short stature and inability to look down on her, he could've been a potential partner to her cause.

"Good work, Kobayashi-san… However, I'll ask that you take better precautions next time in ensuring that your Quirk doesn't severely hurt anyone, understood?" Hitomi crouched down to toss Shinon's senseless form over her rather broad shoulders before heading towards Makise. She caught him rolling his eyes, but she couldn't have cared less. He needed to hear this. "His momentum was almost too much for me to handle. What if I hadn't been able to intercept him in time?"

Makise sighed lowly, "Well, and I assure you that I mean no disrespect by this, we shouldn't worry about the what-ifs. You were able to seize him, so whatever could've happened didn't happen, and everything went smoothly! So I'd consider that a victory. Do you disagree?" The pink-haired heartthrob finished, even as the thought of 'Knowing you, your next phrase is going to be you don't agree' ran through his head.

"I disagree."

'Oh, what a shocker! Not even M. Night Shyamalan saw that plot twist coming…' Makise's bangs were swept along with the irritated breath he released. "Anyways, despite the issues you mentioned, Nikimura, our plan worked, so shall we incapacitate Tomoyuki-san and get this over with?"

Hitomi merely nodded, dropping Shinon in front of Makise and retrieving both her baton and Shinon's fencing sword from the ground before starting towards Yuuto. Upon seeing her closing in on him, the boy's light blue eyes dilated to a considerably large size.

'No… No! Nononononono!' Yuuto gulped loudly and desperately fought to break free from the knives. Relentlessly, he swung his head outwards, hoping to use whatever ounce of strength he had left in his body to abscond from the hold of the knives. "Damn it, why can't I get free!?"

In the distance, Makise, seated near Shinon's unconscious form, smiled sympathetically and said loud enough for the struggling boy to hear, "Sorry, Tomoyuki, but those knives were specially made to hold people in place when tossed correctly. I'm afraid that there isn't much of a chance of escaping."

Makise's words resounded in his head, echoing as if they were taunting him. Yuuto ceased his struggling and lowered his head to the floor again to stare up into the sky. Then Hitomi appeared and loomed over him, blocking his view of the simulated sun high in the sky and covering him her shadow.

Yuuto smirked darkly; in a way, this was symbolic of how the tiniest light of confidence he once had was now eclipsed by a domineering cloud of hopelessness. He looked up to meet her uncharitable glare as she raised her weapon high within the air, preparing to put an end to his self-pity, and then closed his eyes in defeat. 'I'm sorry, Yanaihara… I'm sorry, everyone… I should've never come here…'

RUUUUUUUUUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE

Without warning, the earth quaked violently, leading to Hitomi clumsily losing her balance mid-swing and falling directly upon Yuuto. She grunted upon feeling the blunt ends of the knives push against her body painfully. The tremors were so berserk and powerful that dozens of trees on the outskirts of the tundra fell into splinters. The snow on the mountain tops in the distance began to tumble in an avalanche when the rocky hills appeared to incredulously divide.

"...What…? How—" Though he was initially flustered from Hitomi's body being positioned on top of his own, Yuuto's panicking was interrupted by the disastrous earthquake taking place. The knives that held him in place were unfastened by the loosening soil, causing him and Hitomi to tumble to the side. Meanwhile, he could, albeit faintly, see the way Makise hastily grabbed Shinon and used Deflect to hold steady against the earthquake. He was quickly pulled back to his own dilemma, however. "Uhhhh, what the hell is even going on anymore—!"

ROOOOOOOOOAR

Yuuto felt his blood run colder than the deepest seas of Antarctica. Flashbacks of the past began to circulate within his psyche while the horrific vibrations of the earth only grew in intensity. He looked shakingly towards the mountains and immediately regretted it the moment he spotted the source of the devastation.

Rising high into the simulated clouds was the body of a Brobdingnagian-sized being, seemingly made entirely of coal-black metal. The sleek, glossy exterior shone brightly upon being positioned in front of the sun, its flattened, segmented body curling upwards and twisting ominously.

At first, the outline was similar to that of a giant snake, but that was immediately debunked as Yuuto's gaze fell onto its lower body and saw legs. A lot of legs. If Yuuto had to guess, his estimation of just how many there were would have been somewhere in the hundreds, maybe even more. Every single jointed leg rivaled the size of a two-story building, with the tips of each appendage keen and sharpened to an extraordinary degree. The more he gawked at the creature, the more his body trembled in utter fear and consternation.

Finally, he raised his head to observe the head of the mountainous beast and almost fainted on the spot. It was looking upon them, stretching outwardly and exposing a terrifying row of humongous and razor-edged teeth positioned in a circular shape and with wildly spinning dentures. The eyes of the creature shone with a white aura that blazed terrifyingly as it stared at them from high in the sky, the two ginormous antennas extending from its forehead adding even more to its height.

In his mind, time seemed to come to a standstill, and Yuuto could have sworn the being stared directly at him for a second.

'...Ce-Ce… Centipede… it's a giant centipede—'

BOOOOOOOM

A whirlwind of utter pandemonium ensued when the upper body of the giant being slammed brutally into the earth, cracking and demolishing every inch of the environment, and then pillaging straight for the teenagers at full speed. Every step its many legs took dug deep into the ground, creating chasms and gorges the size of backyards.

" What the hell is this!?" Hitomi did her best to crawl away from Yuuto in spite of her continuous stumbles resulting from the chaotic vibrations sweeping through the entirety of the perimeter. A foreign feeling settled within her stomach, adding on to the motion sickness she already had. "Why is it here?! Who allowed something like this!?"

"Nikimura, now isn't the time to ask questions!" As Hitomi kept her erratic gaze to the ground, seemingly falling into a full-blown panic attack, she could barely make out Makise's voice over the carnage as he continued, "In case you haven't noticed, it looks like our new friend is getting a little FASTER—"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Without warning, the machine blitzed forward, leaving utter devastation in its wake as it eradicated every inch of the surface that it came into contact with. As the mouth of the creature came close, bellowing a trembling, robotic roar, the once foreign emotion that Hitomi was feeling had finally been confirmed, and judging from the looks of utter horror and despair on the faces of everyone aside from the unconscious Shinon, they shared her feelings.

Hitomi was scared.

Hitomi was moving by instinct now, frantic as she realized she had to get away from the monstrous beast, but she'd barely taken two steps backwards when she was suddenly overtaken by darkness that was immediately followed by the feeling of her stomach dropping as she was suddenly airborne.

It took her a few moments to realize that the giant insect-like automation had swallowed her-and everyone else too, if their screams were anything to go by-and there was just the tiniest bit of relief amidst her fear that at least they'd miraculously avoided the dangerously sharp row of razor-like teeth.

THUD

Their bodies dropped onto the cold, metallic surface of the machine's mouth, though they still moved about wildly and uncontrollably, following the machine's erratic movements from the outside.

Despite the rambunctious noises echoing inside and the bumbling bodies, Hitomi felt her hand being caught by someone else, pulling her close so that she collided with the soft body of another. In her shock, she shifted her uncharacteristically perturbed gaze to meet her savior's and found herself staring deeply into a sea of emerald green. It took a moment for her register their face in the darkness, but then she caught sight of the disheveled pink hair and frowned deeply. "Kobayashi…"

"So..." The boy's body was covered in soot and bruises, though that didn't stop him from using one of the ripped wires within the machine as leverage to hold both him and his partner in place despite the heavy movement. "Any plans for being swallowed by a giant, mechanical centipede, o wise one?"

The sarcastic drawl of Makise's voice made her want to break every bone in his body, but given their current precarious state, she instead settled for a simple retort.

"Shut. Up."

And with that, Makise promptly proceeded to 'accidentally' lose his grip on her with the next shift in movement and leave Hitomi to struggle through the dark and chaotic space that was the mechanical centipede's mouth on her own.

Welp.

There it is!

I… don't really have much to say at this point. At least, nothing other than I'm sorry.

Oh, and to review, favorite, and follow… if you haven't already… or want to.

Also, I want to give a special thank you to three people who've helped me to escape this horrible rut. Butterfly Chikage and Insanity's Jewel for showing a tremendous amount of love and support… and overall, just being the best possible friends that a girl could ever have. I would also like to thank MoonlightsWings, not only for how much the first chapter of her story inspired me, but also for just leaving such sweet messages and allowing me to be her friend! I thank you so much!

So… that's that. You guys know the drill. We'll be continuing this fight in the next chapter… and I promise to not fail you guys and try to deliver the best quality that I can.

Goodbye~