Chapter 7: Boys vs Girls

Sayo

Sayo watched as her two teammates discussed, they were obviously far more invested in this than her. It was a bit strange she had to note how both of her teammates were girls, and the other team, the villains were all boys, it was almost like some higher being had dictated it be so. The two girls were actively engaged in conversation, one a bit taller than the other carried an air of confidence and intelligence, she had introduced herself as Akari Yukimura, while the other was more personable and energetic, her name was Makoto Todoroki.

"What do you think Sayo-chan?" The red headed Makoto asked, her grey eyes surprisingly warm.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sayo asked looking back at her, having spaced out as she thought, "I'm afraid I didn't catch that."

"Todoroki-san suggested that she take point in this operation," Akari explained matter of factly, her eyes shut as she calculated the situation, "Her quirk will make a barrier for us, I'll supplement any offense we might need should her barrier be pierced, and once we are able to ascertain the locale of the nuclear device you'll warp there and secure us the victory."

Sayo was about to ask how she knew about her quirk, but then remember she had given a brief explanation of it earlier, "Sounds good, anything I should know about our opponents?"

"Well it looks like Shusa-kun will be the wild card," Makoto explained the coral haired girl getting visibly excited, "Itami-kun and Kojiro-kun should be straight forward enough, strength based quirks, just avoid direct confrontation with them you'll be fine."

Sayo nodded, it was simple enough, she just needed to follow orders. She sat on the edge of planter outside the building, waiting for the trial to start. She looked at her costume again, it was surprisingly similar to casual clothing, with only a thick black jacket full of pockets along with her durable pants and boots. Akari wore a very similar outfit, almost as if she also had forgone the designing of a complicated costume. Makoto on the other hand had not, she wore a hooded parka with a gas mask and snow clothes, even though it was middle of spring.

"ROUND START!" Kirishima yelled through the intercom. Makoto turned to the building and activated her quirk, the fringes of her hair turning white as the air around her dropped in temperature.

Kojiro

As soon as the round started Kojiro noticed the sudden change in temperature, he looked at Shusa and Itami, the two of them seemed just as confused as him. Then it hit the room, a huge wave of cold and ice. Kojiro jumped back, avoiding the ice as it stopped inches before him.

"What the? Ice?" Kojiro spoke up touching it before pulling back as soon as his hand touched it, "It's so cold it burns,"

"Dry Ice," Shusa stated simply, "We should be able to break it easily, but it'll burn you if you touch it for too long."

"It burns?" Itami asked, elation layering his voice as he bent down and touched it, relishing in the pain, "Dang, that feels nice."

"Are you Ok?" Kojiro asked with a grimace, knocking Itami's hand off the ice, "That's not good for you."

"Come on," Shusa shook his head, taking the lead, Kojiro agreed with him, they needed to get going. Shusa took a step forward and placed his hand on the ground activating his quirk, red energy rippling off his arms and destroying the ground in front of him, the ice shattering.

Shusa Tetsutetsu-Tokage

Quirk: Cellular DisRepair

The user can create either destructive or restorative energy. This can be used to destroy and repair both cells and materials.

The items reshaped back into the ground, leaving an unscathed route through the hallway, "Toyomitsu-san, you and Sasaki-san will go and try to stop them, take out whoever's making this ice, they're our biggest threat."

"Right, thanks Tetsutetsu-san," Kojiro nodded and sprinted off with Itami following behind him.

Activating his quirk Kojiro felt his cells become charged as his quirk did it's work. It came just in time as a wall of ice plowed through the building. Kojiro prepared to take the brunt of the attack, but Itami pushed him out of the way, letting his body take the full force of the attack. Kojiro could only watch as Itami was pushed back by the ice and flung into the wall.

With his quirk activated Kojiro punched the wall of ice, shattering it nearly instantly. He turned back to Itami and helped him up, but surprisingly the boy didn't seem harmed in the slightest, in fact the skinny boy seemed to have bulked up a bit.

"That was awesome!" Itami jumped up, fist pumped the air, "It was a real rush, I could really feel the force of that. I have to find out whoever did that, because I haven't been hit like that before."

"You're fine?" Kojiro asked looking at him skeptically, he could see a mark on his chest where he had been hit, but other than that he was seeming more healthy now than before, "That was a nasty hit you took back there."

"Yeah I feel great," Itami pushed Kojiro out of the way, "Now where the heck is that girl, I have to get another hit like that." Itami charged through the now cleared pathway, this time Kojiro following after him.

"You're crazy you know that right?" Kojiro stated simply, impressed by the boy's tenacity, "But you've got gumption, I like that."

Makoto

Sending out another wave of ice Makoto made her way into the building. She had to be certain that she had trapped them in her ice, but the sounds coming from the inside of the building did not bode well for her team. She didn't know what to do, but going in seemed to be the best bet.

Akari stayed in the middle while Sayo followed at the back. Their team had a bad combination of quirks, compared to what she assumed her foes had. While both hers and Akari's quirks were powerful in their own right, they were largely broad for most situations. She had gotten a first hand look of it during the Recommendation Exam, it was powerful and versatile, but she seemed to be holding back for whatever reason.

Inside the building she sent out another wave of ice, by now the whole building was covered in ice. She had heard that her father had done something in his first battle trial, covering a whole building in ice. What her father had done in one move took her several, but it was still accomplished nonetheless.

Creeping around the first floor of the building, Makoto kept her eyes open hoping that she didn't run into any trouble. Her boots crunching on the brittle dry ice she peaked around a corner, just in time to see Itami charging down the hallway. Their eyes met and Itami smirked.

"Are you the one with the ice? Cause I really want you to hit me hard!" Itami asked with a grin.

"What?" Makoto asked with a puzzling look on her face, she didn't wait to activate her quirk again. The tips of her hair turning white as ice emanated from her foot, a wall of ice sprouting forth and striking Itami in the chest, throwing him into the wall.

"That's awesome!" Itami jumped up, looking slightly larger than before, "I really don't want to do this, but I really can't let us lose." Itami's body swelled up as his muscles bulked up and he punched the ice, shattering it.

Itami Toyomitsu

Quirk: Damage Absorption

Description: The user can absorb damage and convert it into muscle mass.

Makoto reacted by putting up a wall of ice behind her, the wind blowing her back into the structure. She retaliated, shooting a sheet of ice away from her and sliding on it, circling around behind Itami. Putting her hands in front of her she shot out a bullet of ice, striking Itami in the back, despite the obvious strength of the attack, it did almost nothing to the boy, only adding to his body mass.

"What's wrong with you Toyomitsu-san?!" A voice behind Makoto called out, she turned around just in time to see Kojiro round the corner and deck her in the face with a quirk strengthened punch. She flew across the room, slamming into Itami and crashing to the ground.

Her face was aching as she stood herself back up, facing Kojiro. She prepared to activate her quirk, but was then pulled into a bear hug by Itami from behind. She quickly activated her quirk, lowering her body temperature even more as her hair started turning more white.

"Could you try to get it a little colder? I can barely feel it." Itami asked with a dorky grin on his face, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

"What are you made of?" Makoto spat out, she was really beginning to be annoyed by his demands of combat.

"Flesh and bones baby," Itami bellowed, relishing in the pain he got from his skin slowly turning black and burning from the cold.

Makoto struggled, her quirk slowly freezing her as well, but it was the only way she could try to escape. Ice began to build up on her, the carbon dioxide in the air freezing around her. Was this the end of her hero career? Taken out so soon? No, that's not how she would go down. Struggling to summon the last bit of her power she sent forth a rush of cold, shooting a pulse of ice in all directions.

Makoto Todoroki

Quirk: Dry Ice

The user of the quirk can lower their own body temperature to turn the Carbon Dioxide in the air into dry ice.

Itami was thrown away from her, Kojiro had to brace himself against the way to resist being tossed about. Makoto herself was dropped to the ground, the last of her strength leaving her, but not before she tried to make one last ditch effort to stop her foes. Makoto pushed herself up, struggling to get her feet under her as the slick surface grew slicker with every passing second. Her cold grey eyes stared at Kojiro as his powerful strikes broke through the ice. With the last of her strength Makoto raised her hand at him and lowered the temperature, her breath crystalizing in the air, then she fell over, her strength gone.

Akari

Tendrils made of dry ice and concrete spiraled out from the ground underneath Akari as she used her quirk. It seemed to be an easy effort, but for Akari it was far more than that, her quirk required her to remain focused the whole time she was using it. Even creating a single tendril from a singular material required intense focus and training as she shifted it between solid and liquid form in just the right ways and forms to create seamless movement. The four tendrils she had created required her full attention to use, but they would do the trick. They snaked through the air towards Kojiro, wrapping around his arms and legs.

Then Akari stopped her quirk, the tendrils turning back solid, holding Kojiro in place. She sighed as the deed was done, she just hoped that the tendrils could hold him in place long enough for her team to win. She sprinted to Makoto and took a quick look at the girl, she was cold, obviously suffering from hypothermia and mild frostbite, but nothing that would leave permanent damage. She was surprised that Makoto was taken down so easily, she had seen her in action and knew that she was a powerhouse. Perhaps her quirk lacked the finer control needed to dispose of her combatants.

Akari took another look around and motioned for Sayo to come from hiding. The other girl stepped out from behind a corner and followed, stepping over Itami who had been knocked out by Makoto's last effort. Kojiro struggled against his bindings, but they seemed to hold true, Akari nodded, she had made sure to include the rebar from the flooring in them, it gave extra strength to the material. Akari motioned for Sayo to follow as she sprinted through the building, their time was running out, and they had to find the bomb or take out all the enemies quickly. She planned on the former, but was prepared to do the latter if needed.

The rest of the building was seemingly normal until a hallway literally exploded towards them. Akari used her quirk in just the knick of time, as the spikes that the hallway had turned into she countered by changing their state of matter into gas, making them harmless. The dust cleared, showing Shusa standing at the end of the hall, his arm crackling with red energy. He slammed his hand into the ground, again a barrage of spikes exploding towards them. Akari reacted with her own barrage of tendrils, the two colliding in the air and exploding into dust and snow.

Akari Yukimura:

Quirk: Transition
The user can control what phase of matter something is in, allowing her a minute control of it.

When the smoke cleared it was made apparent the ground between the quirk users was gone. The concrete that had made up the floor had been used by their quirks. Akari placed her hand on the wall, as Shusa placed his on the opposite wall. The two went at it again, all the while Sayo watched. She didn't really want to participate, but this was going to reflect badly on her team if they lost, and honestly, she just wanted to get this over with.

Akari looked back as black smoke began to pour out of Sayo's body. Akari watched as the black smoke began to surround her teammate and herself, when the smoke enveloped her, she felt a brief coldness before the smoke lifted and she was behind Shusa. Without even bothering to ask what had happened she reacted and changed the ranged fight to melee. She swung her fist and used her quirk to thicken the air around it, striking Shusa with what constituted as a gauntlet. The boy didn't know what hit him, and he went down.

Akari sighed and looked up from where Shusa lay, then turned to Sayo, who was gone, down at the end of the hall with smoke trailing from her. Akari watched as Sayo disappeared again, and again and more. Then came the expected sound, a buzzer and the voice of their teacher.

"Alright, the hero team wins! Good job girls, that was real manly!" Red Riot shouted through the intercom. Akari smiled, of course they had. Everything went exactly as she planned.

A/N: WWWWWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO BOY! It's been a long time coming, but it's actually here. Sorry this one took so long, but I'm glad to finally get this bad boy out. As I will be officially moving into my new place this week, and with school finishing, I'll actually have time to write more. So look forward to that. Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!