advancer362: thank you for pointing that out omg! idk why nobody else did i'm gonna die of embarrassment but thank you so much!
The seventeenth of March feels colder than it is supposed to be. Nobara is still hunched in the jacket owned by one of the Sugiyamas' grandson while Fushiguro is the same. The faint scent of smoke and blood is prominent in the air but nothing that they are not familiar of. What Nobara, at the end, is really bothered with is the white wig on her head partnered with an obnoxious pair of sunglasses she coaxes Fushiguro to wearing as well, and the medical mask hiding the rest of her features. Nobody knows the Gojō Satoru here and the only one who can possibly recognize them are each other and of course, their missing classmate, Itadori Yūji. And the contrast of their Gojō-sensei's appearance is a huge contrast to their so-called 'dull' colors. So Nobara and Fushiguro gulp down their pride and masquerade as a pair of sunglasses-wearing white-haired teenage 'exorcists' whose cover story is that they are really poor but the shrine they grew up in taught them a thing or two about 'ghosts' and 'curses'.
The flyers they posted in the darker side of Musutafu gave them thirteen false alarms. All of them ending up as either a prank or simply just a paranoid individual who lives in one of the many, many, many 'haunted' apartments in Musutafu. But thanks to those false alarms and their frequent visits to the red light district, they find out a handful of things: Musutafu is loosely being handled by the Shie Hassaikai, a yakuza who deems it as their turf. However, the meddling of the Pro-Heroes pushed them in Shimokitazawa and now, they are said to be attempting to reclaim their control over Musutafu, but firstly going through the whole Setagaya-ku before they fully make a comeback for the said place. This, however, is just a rumor. In connection to this, a group of villains are said to be quickly growing in the underworld, aiming to take over Musutafu which will make it so that they are bound to clash against the Shie Hassaikai but Nobara and Fushiguro have nothing to do with them. That is, unless, they have a relation to Itadori. Checking out if there is a connection, however, is too dangerous for a bunch of teenagers whose identities are too precious to even allow to get involved with something as big as this.
Therefore, Nobara and Fushiguro learn to become satisfied with this persona of theirs as an exorcist.
Nobara scratches her forehead, feeling the tickle of the wig stick on her skin. The thing about the wig is that they actually made effort to at least make it look believable—when they grabbed it from a random convenience store, they made sure to buy a color that is starkly different from white, before they dyed it in said color. And the best way to make it believable is to hide the roots and it somehow ends up with Nobara in a beanie and Fushiguro in a cap. To say that they look very suspicious is an understatement but that is only if they are outside of the red light district. Everyone in the red light district looks suspicious, or at least, those involved with the Villains and the Underworld.
She feels a nudge on her side and she immediately gives off a smile, tugging down her medical mask. She clasps her hands together. "Thank you for contacting us, dear customer! I'm Satori, and this is my partner, Satoru—" She gestures to Fushiguro who is as stiff as he usually is. She sweatdrops. "You said something about weird happenings?"
Their client is just an adult man who lives in one of those dingy apartments that is easily the cheapest in Musutafu. His blond hair looks like it has not been washed for days and the heavy bags under his eyes are almost too pitiful to look at. Nobara tries her best not to glance at the stitching on his forehead. He scratches the back of his head, eyes flitting from one direction to another before refocusing back to the ground. "In one of the rooms... I—" He purses his lips as if he is trying to hold himself back from saying anything. His head snaps to the other side. "Ever since a few months ago, I get really fatigued and then—there's something weird in the other room. Like a ghost! Definitely a ghost and—" His back suddenly goes ramrod straight before slouching again. He looks even more exhausted. "Please exorcise whatever ghost is in there!"
Not really expecting anything, Nobara maintains her smile. "You can count on us, dear customer!" She expects nothing, and obviously, neither did Fushiguro but the moment they enter the room owned by the man, Nobara quickly puts a hand on her mouth, her breakfast threatening to pour out of her throat. Fushiguro catches her as she stumbles back. She knows this feeling—she knows it too well but the sudden barraging of Cursed Energy becomes so unfamiliar with their past few months in a 'clean slate' world. "Fushiguro, this—is this—" She does not want to say it out loud. She becomes torn between rejoicing and being consumed with dread.
The wig on her head is suddenly too hot. Winter disappears after months and months of it. "Find it! Quickly!" The words stumble from Fushiguro after a small beat and Nobara trusts her instincts well enough to let her body move to follow it.
The Cursed Energy consumes the room, eating up every single corner that the source becomes almost invisible and the lack of exposure from it for the past few months makes Nobara extra sensitive with every small flicker. She is tempted to pull off the wig, get comfortable, and begin the job but there is no way she can do that. Instead, it takes them a whole hour to find the source from the heaps and heaps of garbage. And when they do, Nobara loses her voice, uncharacteristic and too silent for her own good. But the finger is in her hands, still feeling as ominous as before, like that time Itadori was lost in Sukuna's control, or that time when Sukuna consumed another finger righr after Fushiguro told Itadori not to. Sukuna's finger is here. With them.
Then—Nobara laughs deliriously. She falls on her bottom and barely manages to gather herself. She feels Fushiguro shift in a seiza position near her, his presence muted as she feels his stare on the Curse. She sighs, shoulders shaking a little. She does not know how she is supposed to take this. She does not know what they are supposed to do with this. So she focuses on one thing: "I guess this means Itadori can find us now," she tries to lighten up the situation as it sinks, sinks, sinks, sinks in: if a finger of Sukuna is here with them then—
It is not a surprise if the others are here too.
(March seventeenth. End of winter. Kugisaki Nobara and Fushiguro Megumi find a finger of Ryōmen Sukuna in the red light district of Musutafu in Uemino Street of that dingy apartment with no name. The end their 'exorcist' job with a cheap pay and a better day, clutching on the Cursed Object tightly. Their plans change a little: find Sukuna's fingers, find Itadori Yūji, find the truth about their transportation. Of course, things will be easier with the backing of UA and their faces that will be plastered across the screen. Either way, Itadori will see them, find them, and come home to them.
Because their leads are next to nothing and they are just little frogs, unknowing of the world outside the well they created for themselves.)
In fights, not everything is about bringing out your full potential but also learning how to hold back. One of the most important aspects of Kugisaki Nobara, like most sorcerers, is control: control of her aim, the power in her hits and her hammer, and the direction of where they are traveling. For Fushiguro, it is how he maintains his dominance over his Ten Shadows and just like he had said only recently, his control over Banshō is yet to be perfected which is why it needs more Cursed Energy when he summons it. The thing about Bakugō Katsuki is that he lacks that control. Jujutsu Sorcerers are taught from a young age that emotions are important. They are the driving force of their Cursed Energy and by extension, their Cursed Technique. Itadori was forced to watch movies during his 'death' in order to understand the extent of emotions and the lack of it. Not everybody was raised under that mindset. Nobara may be loud-mouthed and hot-blooded but she still manages to remain calm even in the most dire of situations.
She leans against the wall while Fushiguro simply stands in front of her. Her edges of hair uncomfortably pricks her neck. She lifts her hands to ease it a little. The screen where they are watching the current fight clearly shows Midoriya—the boy from the beach and at the moment, not daring to use his Quirk; perhaps because of the repurcussions and his broken arm from yesterday?—getting beaten black and blue by Bakugō—avoid, avoid, avoid, he's too smart for his own good and relies so much on his unnaturally keen instincts. In this scenario, Bakugō looks far from the Pro-Hero he is trying to be. "Aren't Pro-Heroes supposed to be judged by their looks too? I mean, he's not bad to look at but," Nobara whispers to Fushiguro, trailing off in the last part, "He looks particularly Villainous to me."
Fushiguro stays focused on the screen, the flashes of explosion and the smoke from the aftermath of each one of them making the fight almost unseeable. "There are many Villain-looking Pro-Heroes anyway. Gang Orca is one," he says.
Nobara remembers those rankings very well. While she cannot remember the one who ranked first, she remembers Gang Orca ranking third in 'Pro-Heroes who look like Villains' while another Pro-Hero, Ectoplasm, ranked second. Magazines are always full of those rankings and recently, Pro-Hero Weekly published a new ranking titled 'Pro-Heroes who you want to have a date in the Tokyo Skytree with' and the rankings are as follows: Hawks, Ingenium, Midnight, and a special mention of the new rising star, Mt. Lady. Nobara has been, unashamedly, religiously buying the magazines every month under the excuse that she is trying to catch up to the latest trends in order to mingle with her fellow-teenagers but in actuality, something about those rankings are genuinely fun to look at. And she was already buying Idol Magazines and Actor Magazines back in their Tokyo.
"Still. I heard it took a long time for them to reach to that level, and the backhanded compliments in SNS are painful to look at, you know—" Nobara yawns. Her eyes return to the screens, furrowing her eyebrows the louder Bakugō screams at Midoriya. She rarely had to get personal in battles and the only one she remembers is that fight with the pigtails-girl from Kyoto, but that ended up with her win until Zen'in Mai meddled and shot her straight to her head.
"He can be one of those Pro-Heroes with personas."
Nobara grimaces. "Tsundere just aren't cute."
"They sell well."
"That's true—"
Another explosion is set off by Bakugō, this time, driving both him and Midoriya outside of the building. His teamwork with the Engine-Boy is completely off. Jujutsu Sorcerers do not normally work alone unless you are in the same level as Gojō Satoru, Nanami Kento, and other more experienced and high-ranking sorcerers. Students like Nobara and Fushiguro, however, are taught to oil their teamwork to the peak of their efficiency until they can grow well enough to take on individual missions. But that, at the same time, can be the downfall of Jujutsu Sorcerers who relied on their team too much that they cannot fight on their own. Nobara, Fushiguro, and Itadori treads on individuality and becoming one as a team. Whenever they fight, they usually are with multiple enemies, separating from one another and just counting on each other to defeat their respective enemies. To say that the adjustment with having to actually work with Fushiguro instead of work along Fushiguro is an understatement.
Nobara is sure that she is the only one having a hard time. She is meant to be working alone with how destructive her Technique can be but Fushiguro's Technique is expansive and has a lot of skills in its sleeves. Learning how to wield a Cursed Weapon under Fushiguro's guidance had been weird. Very weird. It felt awkward for Nobara to hold certain Cursed Weapons but she had to do what she had to do, even though she would never be able to use them around UA (but Ryōmen Sukuna's fingers are in this world too and they need all the strength they can get). It does not take her a while to realize that she hates big weapons, though she genuinely wanted to wield the naginata like their Maki-senpai. She wanted to look as cool as her, honestly.
From the other side of the room, Kirishima tries to convince All Might to stop the fight which is a right decision. With the way the fight is going, Bakugō will definitely go too far. "Bakugō, my boy, if you shoot another blast like that, I'll end this fight forcibly and you will lose. Launching an attack with an extensive damage radius while indoors defeats the purpose of protecting your stronghold." Nobara rolls her eyes. Does it look like Bakugō cares about the Battle Trials right now? "It doesn't matter if you're a hero or a villain. Once more, you will earn yourself massive demerits!"
Bakugō launches himself to Midoriya again, blowing a small explosion right to his face before spinning in the air and releasing a larger one behind his enemy. Nobara raises both of her eyebrows at this. "He's good," she comments.
"He's in the Top Five of the Written Test. That's not really surprising," Fushiguro rebukes almost immediately. He moves to lean against the wall with her.
Todoroki Shōto, son of the Number Two Pro-Hero and the one with the arguably most powerful Quirk in the whole class, speaks concerning the fight: "He deliberately misled his opponent and used his explosion ability to redirect his mid-air trajectory to his advantage. You wouldn't think of him as the clever type but those were some subtle motor skills." Nobara wants to interject in the conversation, wants to offer her own observations like she usually does when she trains with the second-years. Though in that case, she is always getting beaten up by Panda-senpai and Maki-senpai while Inumaki-senpai unhelpfully says something stupid like... like ingredients.
"Landing a telling blow while resisting inertia at the same time means he must be able to adjust his explosion power very finely," adds Yaoyorozu Momo from the Recommendation Exams.
Kaminari with the Elemental Quirk agrees. "Can't say I like him but if he's got talent then he's got talent."
Bakugō most certainly does not have any formal training regarding combat, that much is clear, but his skill in his brawling style is raw and suits his Quirk very well that it may as well look like he has experience in such training. But, Nobara glances at Fushiguro from the corner of her eye. Fushiguro has both formal training in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry, and though Nobara lacks in both, she knows enough to put down Bakugō before things get as bad as the current fight is going. And with how Bakugō can easily get baited, the reason for his loss is painfully obvious. Bakugō is—"THE HERO TEAM WINS!" Nobara tries to ignore the glimpse of Bakugō's face as the screen fades to black, the despair and his genuine confusion about his loss.
With a sigh, Nobara stretches her limbs. Her shoes click against the ground as she decides to move closer to check on her classmates. She does not agree with how All Might handled the situation. It could have been better, more calm with less injuries but maybe that is just her biased distaste towards Pro-Heroes. Her dislike is not as deep as Fushiguro who passionately dislikes them and could go on for hours about why. (Nobara had been frozen the entire time Fushiguro ranted about Pro-Heroes before they went to bed, gobsmacked at how much Fushiguro talked in one go.) But Nobara has her own share of disagreement with their society and their over-reliance on All Might. Even their Jujutsu Society with someone like Gojō Satoru on their backs, still learn to look beyond his abilities, despite the man taking in more work than anyone else but that is Gojō-sensei. Real. Far from a hypocrite. Arrogant. Well aware of who he is and what he represents. And shameless. Absolutely shameless.
The two teams gather in front of All Might, announcing that Īda was the best of the match to which Yaoyorozu explains for their instructor: "It's because Īda was the one who adapted the most to the situation. Having watched the fight, Bakugō's behavior was clearly driven by some personal grudge, and thus, totally arbitrary. Furthermore, just as you told us earlier, sensei, a large-ranged attack in an indoor area is just idiotic," Bakugō flinches, "The same reasoning goes for Midoriya. Uraraka's game got loose halfway through and her final attack was too reckless. We were treating that paper mache thing as an actual weapon, so that kind of attack wouldn't have flown. Īda devised a counter-strategy against an opponent because he correctly supposed the match would revolve around the core. While he was too slow in reacting to the last attack, I believe that the Hero Team's 'victory' is being too nice in calling this 'just training'. And that gets dangerously close to skirting the spirit of the rules."
Geh, Nobara grimaces. Yaoyorozu is far too perceptive. She meets Fushiguro's eyes, expressing her dubiousness towards Yaoyorozu. She points her finger up, making a gesture that is slicing her neck. She hopes Fushiguro can understand it: threat level, increased. Fushiguro nods, putting up two fingers, bending them a little. Semi-Second Grade Curse.
Nobara snorts. For the past few hours back in the Sugiyama Household, they decided to use the division of Curses and their own Sorcerer Rank to put their classmates into classes; Bakugō is a Semi-First Grade Curse, Aizawa-sensei a First Grade Curse, Midoriya a Semi-Second Grade, and now, Yaoyorozu as a Semi-Second Grade. The rankings are not necessarily applied to their classmates' skills but their overall threat to Nobara and Fushiguro's identity and unpredictability. Bakugō only has a high spot because of Fushiguro's insistence that he feels something weird around Bakugō, like he will discover their secret out of nowhere just because.
"We should always start our studies with what's familiar! And if we don't cheer on each other wholeheartedly, then we'll never become Top Heroes!" Yaoyorozu exclaims. Nobara has to admit that she is acting kind of cute with those hands on her waist, proud and with her chin held high.
Fushiguro elbows Nobara again, making her whip her head to his direction. "Hey, haven't you been doing that a lot for the past—"
He nods to the screen. "It's Todoroki Shōto's turn."
Todoroki Shōto. Another Semi-Second Grade Curse mostly because of the fact that his Quirk is the most powerful, judging by its name and how he used it in the Quirk Apprehension Test, and his status as the Number Two Pro-Hero Endeavor's son implies many things: Pro-Hero background leads to Pro-Hero children. He definitely has formal training, maybe even starting from his childhood. Though, they made the same assumption with Īda Tenya who ended up rather mediocre, just a little above average, mostly excelling in his mastery over his Quirk than actually applying practical skills on it.
On another hand, Shōji Mezō ranked sixth in the Quirk Apprehension Test. His large frame proves to be rather intimidating but Nobara doubts he has formal training. And in the opposing side is Ojiro Mashirao and Jirō Kyōka, one of them obviously having formal training and the other, a peculiar Quirk. Nobara wonders how she passed. Before she can try to ask Fushiguro if Jirō was in the same Examination Area as them, the screen becomes a shock of blue-white, the whole building covered in nothign but ice, all in a second. Nobara gapes openly. "Fushiguro, that's," she watches Todoroki casually walk up to the end goal, melting the ice with his other arm. Half-hot and half-cold. Nobody told her that someone actually had a Quirk that can do things to that extent. She reaches to her back, palming her bag of nails. She can destroy those ice with ease but it will end up narrowing down to how fast the other can produce their attacks. If she uses thatTechnique however—she shakes her head. They are fighting kids. Humans. Not Curses.
"We need to top the Sports Festival, right?" Fushiguro confirms as Kirishima and Sero begin to enter the field with Tokoyami and Atsui. "They're just civilians, Kugisaki, I don't get why you're scared."
Nobara's eyebrow twitches. "Haa? I'll show you scared—"
Yaoyorozu Momo is partnered with Kaminari Denki who, when asked, says that his Quirk is called 'Electrification' that allows him to charge electricity and exude it from his body. Electricity-based Quirks are incredibly in-demand in job markets and because of that, there are little heroes with said Quirks. Kaminari's, however, exceeds the basics of those with electricity-based Quirk because of its power. Kaminari says he is best when charging out electricity in one blow and that he still struggles in controlling his Quirk. In addition to this, when he overuses his Quirk, he 'fries his braincells so badly that he couldn't function'.Yaoyorozu still struggles on how to absorb that statement.
She likes to think that she is lucky to have such a classmate with such a useful Quirk on her side but their foes for this round are Kugisaki Nobara and Fushiguro Megumi. Both of them were in the Top Ten of the Quirk Apprehension Test and in the Top Five of the Practical Exams, Kugisaki being first and Fushiguro third. What is even stranger about the situation is how All Might-sensei had put them in the same team, as if it was already decided beforehand and when asked, All Might simply answered: "Fushiguro-shōnen and Kugisaki-shōjo applied as a Duo." The first thing Yaoyorozu thought was how unfair it was for their enemies to have already been established as a Duo but that thought is quickly scrapped away when she thinks of what the experience she might get both mentally and physically in this battle. How can she defeat Fushiguro and Kugisaki? How can she do that with an Electrification Quirk on one hand and a Creation Quirk on the other?
Kaminari said that Shōji was in the same Area during the Entrance Exams as the two. "Kugisaki can manipulate nails and they can... explode? I'm not sure but I guess we saw her use her hammer in the Quirk Apprehension Test," Kaminari explains, mimicking how Kugisaki had held her hammer like a baseball bat, "Fushiguro can summon shadow-creatures. Shōji said he summoned an elephant that one time."
Vague. Yaoyorozu concludes. Kugisaki and Fushiguro's Quirks are called 'Voodoo' and 'Shokushin' which are both, again, too vague for Yaoyorozu to get a good grasp on. So she decides the safest route in this kind of situation: Kaminari is to guard the payload. Yaoyoruzu prepares an elevated glass surface for the payload and created water just enough for it to end up in their ankles. Once either Kugisaki or Fushiguro (or even better, both of them) enter the room, Kaminari can summon his electricity, knocking down and paralyzing their enemies within a matter of second set. Yaoyorozu, in the process, can be the one guarding the second floor. And with their plan set, their All Might-sensei begins the next battle.
Yaoyorozu debates which one of the two she will end up fighting or if she will be fighting both of them at once, something she highly doubts she can do. The lack of information nags her endlessly. Shadow-creatures? Nail manipulation? What about the hammer? Can she manipulate only the nails that her hammer hits? What about the explosions? What kind of Quirk is that? And the ability to summon shadow-creatures? That is not like Tokoyami's whose shadow is some sort of alter-ego of his so what—Yaoyorozu snaps her head up, clutching tightly on the stun gun in her hands. She was allowed to use it, All Might even complimenting her for thinking of a safe way to battle her classmates while making sure no injuries will be sustained.
All of the sudden, a white dog is running right to her, its snout focused on her face. Out of instinct, Yaoyorozu produces a small pillow from her arm before the white dog can even attempt to bite her. Her heart thumps wildly against her chest. She pushes her arm, dragging the dog with her strength but just as she finally gains her field of vision back without the wall from the pillow, another black dog lunges at her. She dodges quickly, ducking to the ground. Behind her are the pair of dogs—black and white with a strange marking on its forehead.
The next few seconds stay with Yaoyorozu in the next few weeks. She wonders: is this really all she can do? There is something that is suddenly tugging her waist, something wet and slimy wrapped around her. When she turns, she spots a large toad, the same red marking on the twin dogs embedded on its skin. She stumbles to the ground, losing her footing. She does not even have any time to create something, anything because the next thing she knows is that the dogs have disappeared into the shadows and from the windows, a bird is pulling Kugisaki up from floor to floor, and right above her, is a deadpanning Fushiguro, skillfully chaining her down with the capture tape in swift motions.
"YAOYOROZU CAPTURED!"
She wonders: if she knew more of Fushiguro's Quirk, would she have at least managed to get a hit? Would she at have had a chance? What even is the extent of Fushiguro's Quirk? Fushiguro nods to her, or whatever that is supposed to be because what is that nod supposed to mean? She watches as Fushiguro walk away, the giant toad disappearing with him.
The difference between talent and experience is that talent makes everything easy and experience hones everything else. All Might was not born with this strength. He was a fool, a child—scrawny and nothing more than just another middle school student at the corner of their class picture. All Might used to be nothing but experience was what molded him to become the All Might that he is today, though just a little weaker, a little more sickly, a little more pathetic but All Might stands tall for he is All Might. When he thinks of the pain in his stomach, he thinks of Midoriya Izuku who shared his eyes when he was told that he was Quirkess and 'uncool'. The bruises from his classmates hurt a lot more than the throbbing pain on his side, and when he looks at Midoriya Izuku, he feels it all over again.
Though All Might is a little dulled because of his injuries, he knows experience when he sees it. He is not entirely sure about talent but he knows experience. Fushiguro and Kugisaki have a partnership that is not merely that of a pair of classmates'. When they arrived at the foot of the building, they glanced at one another, pointed a little, sharing only small words before ending their conversation. The past few Duos that entered UA were nothing but close friends, rarely were they as efficient and well-oiled in their first year but Fushiguro and Kugisaki are not only well-oiled but they are also experienced, like Midnight had said when he was late in their meetings concerning the students that passed the Entrance Exams.
Yaoyorozu's plan was quickly shot down when Fushiguro effortlessly put her down with a simple clasp of his hands, summoning his twin dogs and partnerning them with his toad, the latter animal absolutely perfect for capture. And with Fushiguro's large bird, Kugisaki easily found herself in the last floor to battle Kaminari for the payload which proceeds unexpectedly. The very moment Kugisaki steps in the room, Kaminari's electricity runs across the place, travelling in the waters quicker than Kugisaki can react. Beside All Might, Kirishima frowns. "I guess even the Top One in the Practical Exams can be easily defeated with traps, huh?" He scratches his cheek thoughtfully.
All Might nods gravely. "It is one of the fundamentals and the basics of being a hero, my boy! Many Villains are not so straightforward as you might think. Your enemy is not only the person you are in front of but also your surroundings," he announces, chest puffed.
"Too bad, we wanted to see Kugisaki's Qui—"
A bird suddenly speeds across the room, tackling Kaminari to the water in an instant. Kugisaki stands, her fingers twitching at the after effects of being electrocuted. She stretches her limbs before pulling out a hammer, a toy hammer instead of the one she used in the Practical Exams and the Quirk Apprehension Test. She continues to move as if she had not just been electrocuted, unaffected and casual, even pulling off her hair tie as she does. All Might quickly grabs on to his microphone, "Kugisaki-shōjo, are you still funct—" Kugisaki peers at the camera at the corner, her eyes shadowed by her hair.
"I'm alright, sensei," she chirps.
Kaminari panics, trying to swat away the bird—All Might remembers Fushiguro calling it 'Nue', recalling how Fushiguro summoned it along with his elephant, mimicking the same move that Kaminari had done with the water and his electricity. Kaminari does this again, slamming a hand to ground to send more volts but in cases like these, it is no surprise to find Kaminari hesitant to send a much stronger jolt of electricity, not enough to fully incapacitate but painful enough to render the other people in a struggle but Kugisaki only flinches as she runs to Kaminari, face obviously angry.
"Kugisaki-shōjo, I repeat, are you—"
"Just alright—" Kugisaki flicks her free hand up and Nue follows suit, flying off Kaminari who immediately tries to stand up. He stomps his foot to floor, electricity chasing after Kugisaki once again but Nue moves faster, swooping down and catching Kugisaki by her collar. Nue throws her to Kaminari's direction. Still struggling to gather what is happening, Kaminari freezes, giving Kugisaki an opportunity to land right on top of him, swinging her hammer to his head in exchange for a panicked shock of Kaminari's conduction again. And yet, she still ends up standing, unaffected and unbothered by the pain that should have incapacitated her already. She looks at the camera again. "Definitely alright, sensei."
She ties up Kaminari a little sloppily. She leans against the payload and gives a thumbs up to the camera. All Might nods. "THE HERO TEAM WINS!" He announces. He watches Fushiguro enter the room, looking around before marching to Kugisaki. He suddenly hits her across the head. "Fu—Fushiguro-kun! Violence against classmates is not allowed! Save that for the battles!"
Fushiguro turns to the camera and grimaces. He whispers something to Kugisaki, earning an annoyed look. Kugisaki's voice is much louder this time. "I was surprised, okay!" She receives a nudge from Fushiguro.
When they finally come out of the Battle Trials, Yaoyorozu is the first to arrive. Her head is held a little low, most likely ashamed for having been beaten within a couple of seconds upon the arrival of Fushiguro. Her fingers fiddle with one another. All Might asks the same question concerning the one who did the best performance throughout the trial. Īda raises his hand. "I believe it was Fushiguro, sensei! Not only did Fushiguro masterfully capture Yaoyorozu but his Quirk was of great use. His bird was also the one to make sure that Kugisaki did not sustain anymore attacks than she already had. Yaoyorozu's plan was smart but Fushiguro was obviously more experienced in battle. Kaminari, on the other hand, panicked and loss control of a battle he should have been able to dominate because of how well his Quirk suited the environment. Kugisaki conducted risks that were very avoidable with her bird-companion," he explains.
The class murmurs their agreeement. Kaminari is slowly dragged to the nurse's office, having been completely knocked out by Kugisaki's hammer. With a quick inspection from All Might, at most, the boy will end up with a headache. As the discussion reaches its end and as the next pairs begin entering the building, Kugisaki raises her hand, smiling shyly. "Sensei, can Megumi-kun escort me to the clinic? My body kind of hurts from all the electricity," she chuckles under her breath.
Sero whistles. "You looked like you weren't bothered at all by it but it must have hurt a lot, huh, Kugisaki?"
The girl maintains her sheepishness. "Totally."
All Might catches the lie. He had seen how she stood as she took the electricity, had seen the nonchalance at the pain and the slight delight as she took it all, and how she moved even when she continuously received jolts after jolts. And as Fushiguro leads her out of the room, All Might wonders why she lied about it.
・ shimokitazawa (下北沢, shimokitazawa) is a district or neighborhood in tokyo. you can think of it as a smaller version of harajuku in terms of its vibes.
・ setagaya city (世田谷区, setagaya-ku) is one of the special wards in tokyo.
・ yakuza (やくざ, yakuza) often have turfs or territories. they're often compared to the italian mafia but honestly, their system works kind of different as well as their culture. kind of.
・ satori and satoru (悟, to perceive) — gojou satoru's name is written as that same character but it can also be read as satori. if you want to know the technicalities, satoru or 悟る is the verb (to perceive, realize, etc) and satori or 悟り is the noun (comprehension, understanding). on its own aka 悟 as a name, it can be read either way. it depends on the person. a more masculine name would use satoru while satori is more feminine.
・ things like pro-hero you want to be hugged by the most is very common in japan, in terms of the rankings applied to celebrities. it's really funny to see.
faith is mysterious