"Another great lesson, everyone!" Papyrus called as he deconstructed the immense obstacle course he had erected over a vast stretch of water. It had been a while since the students had taken part in one and he thought it would a fun way to end a long, hard week of training. It was also particularly hot out so, for those that had ended up plummeting from the structure, the fall was almost a welcome relief.
Calliope had taken part and came third to Iida and Deku. Bakugo had battled with her for third place but she had managed to cunningly catch his eye mid jump with a well-timed flip. Her quirk had seized him and sent his momentarily paralysed body crashing into the water below. He was obviously furious. The cold water rid him of his sweat leaving him unable to make the long jump back up to the course. His curses carried over the entire width of the lake.
But when Calliope had approached him afterward to apologise, he had turned his head and grunted something that sounded like, 'whatever.' Out of all the boys in the class, Calliope found that Bakugo was the most intriguing. Though he acted brash and spoke bluntly to nearly everyone, he became strangely quiet around Calliope. She was aware that he had been present on the day she had turned to stone, and figured that may be why his attitude was slightly off around her. However, women's' intuition prodded that there was another reason. She hadn't found the right moment to ask him about it yet though. And even if she did, she doubted he'd be forthcoming. Perhaps she'd have to opt for asking the closest person to him; Kirishima. All in due time, of course.
The red-haired boy in question flexed his shoulders as they awaited further instruction from their teachers; the Skelebros had both been in charge of the class this afternoon though, as usual the older brother had taken a back seat.
"Hey, Sans!" Kirishima called, as the rest of the class stretched out their throbbing muscles and tired limbs, those who had fallen into the lake wringing out their water logged P.E uniform.
The older Skelebro raised his hooded head from his chest; he had been napping under a tree.
"Yeah?" He called back, rubbing his ever-tired looking eyes.
"How come you've stopped training with us?"
It was true. The older brother, who had once joined them in their lessons after having slipped into a state of neglect during Calliope's absence, no longer took part alongside the students.
Once his strength had returned, so did his laziness. Once his chest and shoulders had filled back out, Sans decided that he needn't train more than necessary. Papyrus knew it was a lost cause to try and convince him otherwise.
"Because I don't need to," he shrugged back, pushing to his feet and stretching til his joints popped. He yawned loudly making his brother roll his eyes.
"Pro heroes need to always keep on top of their training, Sans." His younger brother frowned.
Another idle shrug. "I took a nap, didn't I?" Sam grinned, alluding to his need to conserve energy for his ultimate move.
"You depend on your GasterBlaster too much!" Papyrus snapped, a hand on his hip.
"Leave my GasterBlaster out of this, bro," Sam smirked, prompting giggles from the girls and sniggers from the boys at his subtle innuendo.
"If you're so ready to be a teacher and not a student again, then why don't you prove it?" Kirishima called, beating a fist against his own strong chest.
"Yeah, Sans!" Sero challenged jokingly, followed by Mina and Ochako who bounced eagerly on the balls of their feet.
Deku looked uncomfortable with the fact so many of his classmates were calling out a teacher, even if it was the laidback and lighthearted Sans. He frowned as the students descended on the older male, encircling him with mischievous faces.
"And how do you kiddos suppose I do that?" Sans asked through a lop-sided grin.
"You should fight Papyrus!" Suggested Hagakure.
"Or me..." snarled Bakugo.
The two brothers chuckled at their suggestions. Neither of which they took seriously.
"I do not wish to fight my brother," sighed Papyrus, peering down at his older yet shorter sibling.
"He means, he doesn't want to lose." Sans smiled.
Papyrus rolled his eyes.
"And Bakugo, we've watched you two fight already. Recovery Girl will have my head if I have to send you to her again."
"Who's to say I'll lose?!" The teenager barked.
Before the argument could escalate however, Calliope stepped out of the circle.
"I'll fight him." She stated casually.
Bakugo squinted at her.
"Sans, I mean. Not you."
Sans laughed, clearly expecting her to be joking. But she fixed him a steely stare that caused his smile to slip and Papyrus' to broaden.
"Now there's an idea!"
"Yeah. It's only fair! Calli has been working her butt off training with us even though she was a mentor!" Hagakure declared sassily.
Sans looked perplexed as the class began to discuss the idea amongst themselves. There was still 15 minutes of the lesson left that Papyrus usually used to discuss any particular improvements or techniques the students could work on. But, as they're enthusiasm for Calliope and Sans' head to head to take place built, Papyrus was slowly losing his authority over them. Not that he was particularly trying to maintain order, as he seemed to like the idea too.
"I don't think this is a good idea..." Sans murmured as he sidled up to Calliope. She was visorless but made no effort to keep her eyes down. When she cast him a sidewards glance, his body tensed up in an instant. Acid-yellow eyes bore into icy-blue as she replied, "don't be scared."
When her eyes finally released him, he caught his breath and blinked the dryness from his eyes.
"Welp..." he mumbled, "don't say I didn't warn you."
And Calliope was ready to wipe that grin off his face.
The students gathered around the P.E grounds as Calliope and Sans positioned themselves at either end of the terrain.
Papyrus paced along the sidelines with an amused expression. He had already taken Calliope aside as they made their way to the grounds and asked her if she was sure she wanted to go through with it.
"I know you both feel like you have a lot to prove..." he had said, his arm around her shoulders as they walked.
"But don't get swept up by all that's happened."
Calliope leaned into her mentor and smiled at his obvious concern.
"Oh. C'mon now, Russ." She grinned, patting his chest.
"Don't pretend you don't want to see me kick Sans' ass."
The younger sibling laughed; the sound so much brighter and louder than the way his brother laughed.
"Well, I believe in you, Calli." He smiled.
The students babbled excitedly as Sans and Calliope squared up. Sans was tying up his shoelaces while Calliope stretched out her leans legs and arched her supple spine. She was dressed in the official UA P.E attire, but had removed the jacket for more manoeuvrability. The bottoms were also annoying restricting but she'd make do.
"You two ready?" Papyrus called, his hands on his hips and his eyes flashing with excited apprehension. Calliope knew he was rooting for her. She wondered how many of the students did too. Faintly, she could make out bets between them.
"Sans has totally got this, no offence."
"I dunno, dude. I reckon he'll go easy on her."
"She's totally gonna own him."
"I'm not so sure."
Calliope nodded curtly at Papyrus' question, keeping her eyes locked onto her opponent as she watched him flash his brother a thumbs up. Unsurprisingly, Sans kept his eyes from hers but still chose to face her. Rather than meet her stare, his line of sight trailed over her neck and shoulders.
Calliope knew that Sans' fight style depended on speed and precision whereas hers depending on stealth. But in this wide open space, there was nowhere for her to hide. She would have to think of a plan. And luckily for her, she had just the idea and hoped that Sans wouldn't see it, nor her, coming.
"Okie dokie..." Papyrus grinned, "begin!"
But nobody moved. Sans continued to watch her from a distance, his eyes avoiding hers but training on her nonetheless. Calliope clicked her tongue, she was hoping he'd be the one to attack first. He usually was when they sparred.
"Erm. I said begin!" Papyrus tried again, eyeing the awkward stand-off as some of the students began to laugh.
Calliope began to pace at her end of the terrain. Between them, there was a stretch of open space around the size of a basketball court that she would have to traverse. Sans' strength lay in his ranged attacks. During their sparring sessions, she knew his hand to hand was okay but more orientated towards deflected moves. Papyrus was the one who excelled in offensive combative techniques. Luckily for her, she'd been training hard.
"No time to be chivalrous, brother!" Papyrus called, tapping his foot.
"What are you waiting for? Take him down, Calli!" Mina cried, her fist in the air.
The two opponents continued their stalling; neither one wanting to make the first move. Calliope ceased her pacing and now let her feet march towards him. If he didn't want to be the first to attack, she'd have to make him.
"Let's dance, Gaster." She called as she drew closer.
On the other side of the terrain, Sans chuckled. The memory of him offering Calliope his hand beneath twinkling fairy lights flashed in his mind. How he'd lead her gracefully around the dance floor to the slow rhythm of a ballad...
His momentary lapse into a daydream had cost him. When his eyes refocused, Calliope was sprinting towards him and had crossed almost three quarters of the terrain. Cursing, he took a step back and raised his left hand. A blue halo engulfed it as felt his power course through this left side. With a swipe of his arm, his sent a barrage of bones into her path. He had no intention of aiming for her. Ideally, he sought to win this battle without hurting her. Instead, he'd have to trap her somehow.
The rapier-sharp projectiles pierced the ground just in front of her. They were longer than usual; he hoped they would block her path. But he had underestimated her agility. How could he have forgotten how well she moved? It seemed her memory loss hadn't stripped her of her physical ability. She leapt easily over his defensive wall. And as she did, she tore one of the bones from the ground and used her momentum to throw it back towards him. The strange action took him by surprise. As his own weapon hurtled past his cheek, he stumbled. She was gaining on him. This time, his arm shot upwards and a formation of bones erupted from the earth around Calliope in a square. The cage did not trap her however. Her tactile feet must have anticipated it's creation from the vibrations underfoot and carried her swiftly out the way.
He cursed and leapt into the air sending a shower of large bone shards towards her in an attempt to push her back. But she was so fast. Faster than he remembered. She weaved in and out of them as they pierced the ground. As she passed one of them that had skewered in the dirt, she wrenched it free and once again threw his own weapon back towards him. This time, he anticipated her move and turned the projectile back to dust just as it threatened to slice into him.
"Well I've never seen anyone do that before..." Papyrus huffed in amusement as he watched Calliope throw more and more of Sans' missed projectiles back at him.
None of the got anyway near him, however, as they turned back to dust with a simply wave of his hand.
Deku watched on with curiosity shining in his eyes. Surely he wasn't the only one who could see what Calliope was attempting? But as he looked around at his classmates, it seemed only Bakugo had worked it out too.
The blond boy in question was smirking to himself as he watched the terrain begin to cloud with more and more dust. Calliope was using Sans to create a smokescreen for herself.
It seemed Sans only realised her sneaky trick too little too late as she suddenly burst through the dust cloud in a whirl of bronze and matcha-green.
As the dust settled, the class watched on excitedly as Calliope and Sans were now close enough to engage in a hand to hand battle.
Unfamiliar to such fighting styles, Sans was immediately on the back foot. Despite his disadvantage, he managed to evade her hits seamlessly. All the while, Calliope kept her eyes locked onto his face, daring him to look at her. Wisely, he kept his attention focused on the swing of her limbs as they forced him backwards with every attempted strike. He blocked some and dodged others as Calliope grunted in frustration.
"Fight back!" She spat. Though it seemed the only thing Sans was fighting was his own attempts not to smile.
His blatant amusement only rattled her more. Ducking down quickly, she swiped a long leg across the ground in an attempt to take his feet out from underneath him. Infuriatingly, he hopped over it but barely dodged her other leg as she kicked it upwards towards his not-so-grinning face. That one had been close...
Her heart leapt gleefully at the sight of his surprise and used the split second to attempt a roundhouse kick. But more vibrations underfoot alerted her to his next move and she had to leap out of the way as several bones burst from the earth between them. Once again, she was pushed backwards from him and he immediately used the distance between them to launch another ranged attack. It seemed he was no longer simply humouring her as this time, the shards missed her by mere inches. She froze, unsure of whether or not she had been hit. No pain. No blood. Good.
She looked back towards him. It looked like he too was checking her over to see if he'd gotten her. His face only showed slight concern however, his eyes still avoiding hers; left eye blazing, trademark grin distracting.
"C'mon Calli! You almost had him!" Kaminari called from the sidelines.
"Enough playing around, already you too!" Kirishima bellowed.
One more attempt.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, she charged towards him again. This time, when he sent his rapier-like bones towards her, he left her no time to throw them back. He returned them to dust the moment they passed her. The cheeky bastard was using her own technique against her. This time, it was Calliope who's vision was obscured by the gathering dust cloud. Her eyes stung as she continued to run through it regardless. She could still vaguely make out his silhouette. He had deactivated his quirk so that his left eye and hand no longer glowed blue. It would have made her job at locating him far easier.
But she had other senses she could depend on. Though her sore eyes could now only squint, her acute hearing made out his low laughter and soft footfalls. She'd make him pay for his cockiness. Sinking her body low to the ground to avoid another swarm of shards, the quick flash of blue somewhere to her right, she manoeuvred sideways to flank him. Though her vision was impaired, surely so was his.
Sans amused laughter immediately vanished as he suddenly lost sight of Calliope's silhouette. He had hoped that the dust trick she'd used on him would backfire once he'd turned it against her.
Alas, it seemed he had been too confident in his abilities...or too uncaring of the outcome for, before he could turn to face the sound of approaching footsteps behind him, Calliope had already knocked him to the floor. He grunted loudly as he he felt her strong limbs snaking around him. He internally cursed as he immediately recognised what she was up to. It was a move she had been practicing during their sparring sessions. Unlike those times however, she had finally managed to get him right where she wanted him thanks to the element of surprise. Before he could even attempt to break free, she had him in a perfect arm bar. With his left arm in her painful, vicelike hold, his power was rendered useless.
Papyrus laughed gleefully from the sidelines as pain and surprise fought for dominance on his older brother's features. Pain seemingly won as Sans grunted loudly. He fought awkwardly against Calliope's hold, his sneakers digging into the dirt as she tightened her grip. It was a battle of strength and endurance as their two bodies writhed on the ground.
"Ha!" Kaminari laughed, "without his left hand, he's totally screwed!"
Sans fingers flexed. Bakugo recognised the action. The struggling Skelebro was considering summoning one of his beast skulls. But there was no way he could use it without seriously harming both of them. Something he obviously realised a second after as his fingers stopped glowing blue.
"Give it up, Gaster!" Calliope growled, fighting against his strong but tiring arm as she refused to relinquish her hold.
"Can it, Chloros!" He grunted back, trying to break free but failing against the pain and pressure of her grappling move.
Despite his bravado, Sans knew he had lost. And with a defeated growl, his right hand tapped at her thigh as loud cheers erupted from the crowd of students.
Papyrus threw back his head back and laughed triumphantly.
"You must be getting old, brother." He called teasingly as he strode over to his panting sibling. Calliope was already on her feet and grinning down at her defeated opponent. Sans' white t-shirt was now caked in grime and sweat glistened on his brow.
"25 is not old..." he grumbled, massaging his arm miserably as he sat up.
"Then you've lost your touch. Mr. Could-have-been-in-the-top-10."
Papyrus stooped and hauled his brother to his feet.
"And don't think you can pull the whole 'I went easy on her' crap'" Kirishima chortled as the Americans rejoined the class on the sidelines.
Sans continued to roll his aching shoulder.
"To be honest, I think she went easy on me. I thought she was going to break my arm."
"I considered it." Calliope replied playfully at his side. "But I wanted to try one of your famed chocolate cakes this weekend."
And when Papyrus wrapped his arms around the two of them, Calliope felt the strangest sense of Deja-Vu wash over her.