Chapter 26

.:. Gale of Darkness .:.

As the seconds ticked down to the start of the second round, Tokoyami Fumikage took stock of his options. The next event would be a team event, which meant he'd have to find partners. The issue was who would work with him. While he had no issues working with others, he hadn't quite found the right people to fully appreciate his nature yet. Many of his classmates had already found their own niches, a few familiar groups already forming.

Still, while he may not have yet forged strong bonds like some of his classmates, Fumikage did not feel too worried about his odds. His own Quirk was formidable, and Dark Shadow a stalwart ally. However, it was also nearing midday, and his power would be at its nadir. In this event, his fate rested largely in the hands of others. If he would triumph here, he would need to find strong, reliable compatriots. He would—

"Hey, Fumi, who's that guy over there?"

Fumikage paused in his contemplation, turning to follow Dark Shadow's pointing finger. His familiar had pointed out a boy with peach-toned skin and a rocky head, posture hunched as he glanced around. "I don't know. I don't recognize him from either of the hero courses."

"Huh. He must've been pretty strong to make it this far without being a hero student!"

Fumikage made a hum of agreement, then turned his attention back to strategizing. For about five seconds.

"He looks nice. We should go say hi!"

"Dark Shadow, this is not the time for..."

He trailed off as Dark Shadow's insistence drew his attention to the newcomer once again. He was tall of stature and solidly built, though he seemed slightly smaller with the way his shoulders hunched. He was seemingly accompanied by a similarly unknown companion covered in brown fur save for his face, which had a much sterner expression than that of the teen beside him.

But what caught his attention the most was who they were conversing with: Yoarashi Inasa.

Contrary to what many people hastily believed upon meeting him, Fumikage was not unsociable. He was quiet, true, a natural inclination that was intensified by his flair for the dramatic. But he enjoyed the company of others in reasonable amounts, and he was a good listener. One did not have to be a gossip to be aware of rumors.

And aware he was, indeed, of the rumors surrounding this man. If he were to succeed this day, then it would be better not to make an enemy of the master of winds, and best to make an ally of him.

"Perhaps... you are on to something," Fumikage conceded, making his way over to where the others had gathered. Had the situation been less urgent, he would have waited until their conversation had fully passed. However time was of the essence, so he cleared his throat to alert them to his presence as soon as a lull in the conversation appeared.

"Oh, hey!" Yoarashi said, turning fully to face him. "I know you, you're from 1-A! Toko-something, right?"

He nodded. "I am Tokoyami Fumikage, and this is my familiar, Dark Shadow—"

"Howdy!" Dark Shadow greeted, making the peach-skinned boy stagger back.

"...We have come to offer you our aid, if you will have us," Fumikage continued, ignoring the interruption. "I know of you, Yoarashi Inasa, but I'm afraid I cannot say the same for the two of you." He turned his attention to the two strangers, "In any case though, I am honored to make your acquaintance."

"Awesome!" Inasa replied with a booming voice. "We'd be happy to have you, right?"

The boy with a rocklike face nodded mutely, while the boy with brown fur and glasses stepped forward and made an introductory bow. "Of course. I am Shishida Jurota, and this is Kouda Kouji, my classmate in 1-E. Please take care of us."

"These guys are trying to get into the hero course from gen ed!" Yoarashi added. "Pretty gutsy, huh? Really showing the UA spirit!"

A transfer from general education? "Ambitious," Fumikage praised lightly. As he looked them over with fresh eyes, both seemed to slump and shrink slightly, Kouda appearing particularly dejected. Once again Shishida stepped forward to speak on both their behalfs.

"Our testing site encountered unexpected challenges during the entrance exam and were unable to earn places in the esteemed heroics course. The academy accounted for that, of course, and adjusted scores accordingly, but unfortunately we weren't able to make a strong enough impression. We hope to perform well enough today to change that. Sir Yoarashi, Sir Tokoyami, we are grateful for your aid."

He was more well-spoken than his appearance would initially suggest, a classic example of not judging a book by its cover. Yoarashi, meanwhile, was just as loud and enthusiastic as the rumors suggested. "Don't sweat it!" he assured him. "I'll always support others' passions to become heroes! Now—"

"Time's up! Competitors! To your marks!" Present Mic's voice blared over the speakers, cutting him off and making him jolt.

"Oh shoot! Okay, try to capture the flags, try not to let a flag get captured if you have it, if things get too tough out there come help me defend my flag. Plus Ultra!"

Yoarashi pumped a fist in the air as the group started running to the center of the field. "Sir Yoarashi, would it not be prudent to at least go over our Quirks once more?" Shishida asked as they joined the growing crowd of students. "We don't even know the details of Sir Tokoyami's."

"No time, but I trust you guys! Good luck!"

Fumikage decided not to point out that Yoarashi had given no insight as to what they should do if his flag was captured as he took his place in the center of the field, nodding good luck to his other two team members as they separated. Since he'd reached third place in the first event, Yoarashi was one of the few to start with his own flagpole.

Midoriya and Bakugou assumed two others, and Fumikage saw a girl with vines for hair claim the last pole. Fumikage recalled that Bakugou had been fifth, with Uraraka and Todoroki both scoring ahead of them. That meant the two must have joined one of their teams. Fumikage assumed that Uraraka had joined forces with Midoriya once more, but he did not know which Todoroki would be with. He should have paid closer attention to the forming teams, but it was too late for regrets.

A loud alarm blared from the speakers, and everyone launched into action.

Fumikage called forth Dark Shadow and sent him soaring to the north side of the field, where Midoriya stood guarding his post. His classmate rebuffed Dark Shadow's first assault, wrapping both hands around the pole and using his Quirk to rapidly spin around it. However, he wasn't able to react quickly enough to prevent Dark Shadow from looping around and grabbing the top of the pole.

His foothold secured, Fumikage pulled his tether to Dark Shadow taut.

The students who had previously been in front of Fumikage looked on in surprise as he rocketed past them, drawn straight towards the flagpole. Midoriya's eyes widened, but with one of his hands stuck holding the flagpole he could only tense and brace himself as Fumikage grew closer and reached out his hand to claim his prize.

In the last moment, Midoriya let go of the pole and slipped under Fumikage's guard, causing him to miss his grab as he flinched in preparation to defend against an attack. But Midoriya didn't attack. As soon as he slipped by Fumikage he activated his Quirk, dashing back towards the center and leaving trails of blue-green light and students diving out of the way in his wake.

Fumikage didn't stop to consider why the other boy hadn't put up more resistance, focusing instead on actually grabbing the flagpole. As soon as his hand wrapped around the metal an overly-cheerful ding sounded, and he used Dark Shadow to push back the students who were now attempting to besiege him. From there, his attention became focused solely on defense.

In small breaks in the fighting, Fumikage was able to sneak glances of the rest of the field. The lion's share of the fighting seemed to be taking place in the south, east, and his own north corner. Across from him, he could see Bakugou defending his flag viciously from droves of largely 1-B students, just as aggressive in rebuffing the attempts to claim the pole as he had expected. Fumikage had chosen to target Midoriya's flag for a reason after all; he knew the boy's skills and temperament better than the unknown 1-B girl.

A wise decision, he reflected, as he could now see her commanding a vast thicket of brambles to assault Bakugou's flag. It seemed she had lost her own flag fairly quickly, so she had moved to steal another. With their flags directly facing each other Fumikage had a decent view of the battle, and he knew it would be a matter of time before she would claim the flag from his classmate. His explosions could only do so much in the face of such a large volume of thorny vines, amongst all the other attacks as well.

To the east, Fumikage could see what must have been Midoriya's plan bearing fruit. The flag formerly claimed by the 1-B girl had been entirely sealed off within a dome of ice—Todoroki's work, no doubt. Whenever a student began making headway breaking through it, suddenly Midorya, Uraraka, or Shinso was there to ward them off. As for the west...

In the west, Yoarashi had become a storm.

Air funneled down from above in a raging cyclone, sealing off Yoarashi's flagpole just as effectively as Todoroki's ice before crashing into the ground and forcing back any interlopers. A few students tried ranged attacks, but they were batted aside like leaves in the wind.

Fumikage didn't have time to stand around in awe, however, for his own battle was still ongoing. At the moment, he was locked in combat with a student from 1-B whose abilities enlarged her hands and amplified her strength and, possibly, her speed. He was still unsure if the rapid flurry of punches she had opened with was the result of another Quirk or simply intense training and dedication.

Dark Shadow was still stronger than her, but only just barely. And as he spent longer in the day's bright sunlight, that advantage grew smaller and smaller. Fumikage couldn't afford to keep fighting her to a standstill, lest he eventually lose.

WIth that in mind, he drew deeper on his inner strength, causing Dark Shadow to stretch out even further. He wrapped his familiar in several loops around himself and then pushed to force all but his strongest opponent back, taking a page from Todoroki and Yoarashi's books to give himself some breathing room.

The 1-B student looked around cautiously, but failed to notice Dark Shadow sliding across the ground behind her and grabbing her ankles before it was too late. Dark Shadow tugged, and she toppled to the grass. The shade then grappled her forearms and pinned them to the ground.

"I ask, for both our sakes, that you stay down," Fumikage declared.

The other student expanded her hands once again, pressing her palms against the ground and lifting up slightly to face him. "You'll have to make me," she said with a fierce grin.

"So be it." But despite his bravado, Fumikge was sweating internally. Having Dark Shadow fully exposed like this made him more vulnerable to the light, and it wouldn't be long before the 1-B student could overpower—

Ding!

Fumikage spun around in surprise to see a disembodied hand holding on to the flagpole, nearly level with his head.

A peal of laughter sounded from above him, and he looked up to see another girl's detached head floating upside down and leering at him, her wavy green hair dangling like vines. "Man, we got you good! Nice job keeping him busy, Kendo!"

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage muttered under his breath.

"You did good," the first student—Kendo, apparently—said, brushing herself off as Dark Shadow released her and she stood up.

Fumikage nodded to her in gratitude, then began jogging towards the center of the field. He had two options now: either join Yoarashi, or attack another flag. Todoroki's flag would be near-impenetrable with the ice, but that was not guaranteed. Meanwhile, Bakugou's flag had fallen during his struggle, now under command of the other 1-B girl. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bakugou had decided to assault Todoroki's flagpole with Yaoyorozu and some strange pink-haired girl he did not recognize.

Fumikage glanced over, saw a bright beam of pink light from what looked like a bazooka, and wisely decided to keep his distance from that one.

At this point, all four flags seemed to be occupied by different teams. Fumikage had already secured a small amount of points for them, so he decided to prioritize the flag they did have. To that end he darted towards the raging cyclone in the west, sending Dark Shadow to grab a shiny silver-skinned boy charging forward. A harsh yank had him falling to the ground, and Fumikage raced past him.

The wind acted almost like a wall, not quite blocking people, but making it a challenge to get through. He could see Shishida and Kouda on the other side, the latter body-checking a student who managed to get past. Fumikage wondered how he'd join them, but Shishida glanced at him and shouted something to Yoarashi that was swallowed by the roar of the gale.

The swirling winds slowed and weakened, just slightly, and Fumikage used the opening to charge forward. Several other students did as well with renewed fervor, and Dark Shadow flung towards them like a giant hand to sweep them back. As soon as Fumikage passed a certain point the winds picked up again, roaring in his ears as they raged.

Defending this flag proved simpler than his original flagpole. The cyclone's invisible walls tired out most of those who passed, making it fairly easy for Shishida and Kouda to slam them back into the winds. The other two didn't even need to use their Quirks to stop the few who managed to brave the gale, using their natural bulky builds and muscle.

Like this, Fumikage barely had to do anything. This was good, because Dark Shadow was growing weaker and weaker as the sun continued to near the very peak of the sky. The growing light left him with the same ominous chill that darkness would have on others, a sense of paranoia whispering that this was too easy. That this victorious streak would not last forever, and the flag would soon fall.

And sure enough, their defeat came in the form of Asui Tsuyu, suddenly sailing through the air above their heads with bulky metal gloves. Said gloves seemed to attract her right to the pole, and despite Fumikage's best efforts, Dark Shadow could not reach her in time. The sun had reached its zenith, and with it, Dark Shadow was weakened just enough to keep its grasp from reaching her, fingers of darkness only barely brushing her toe.

The ding was almost drowned out by the heavy clash of metal against metal. All at once Yoarashi brought the cyclone to a halt, the seemingly constant roar of his winds replaced by sudden silence and stillness.

To their credit, Kouda and Shishida did not let the loss dishearten them. The pair surged forward, one quiet and the other with a roar of fury. However, the frog girl pulled out a metal disk and threw it at them, sparks erupting and prompting them to skid back. Fumikage halted his own approach as he saw the sparks, recognizing the light would weaken Dark Shadow even further.

A few other students were undeterred, charging forward anyway, but their own team fell back, joining Yoarashi in his retreat to the center of the field. "I thought support gear wasn't allowed," he said as they matched his pace.

"Those who dabble in the mechanical arts are an exception." Fumikage murmured darkly. "I believe I saw a pink-haired girl standing alongside Asui earlier. She may be responsible for this." The others seemed briefly confused, but Kouda's hands flew into motion and Shishida nodded.

"Ah. So the miss with the goggles over by the iced flagpole must be from the support course." The group glanced over to the flagpole in question. Bakugou's team had launched a valiant joint effort to melt the ice, the mystery pink-haired student using some sort of laser. Yaoyorozu meanwhile pulled something metallic from her shirt to toss into the newly formed hole, a large explosion following.

The group did not need to say anything to decide to not attack that pole. "Should we go back, or go for another?" Yoarashi asked. A glance back at the pole they'd just abandoned had Fumikage wincing as he saw Asui near the top of the pole, flinging something to the ground that exploded in a bright flash of light.

"You may if you wish, but I cannot join in your attempt," he said. "Dark Shadow is a creature of the night, naturally countered by the brilliance of the sun and all its lesser imitations. I fear we would not be of much aid to you at the moment."

"Then we should go for one of the other poles," Shishida decided. "Either the one Sir Tokoyami claimed, or—wait, what just happened at the other pole?" Fumikage turned to see the thick bramble receding around the southern pole, the vine-haired girl forced to retreat as a lone boy with almost sickly-looking pale blond hair held it.

"That's Honenuki," Yoarashi reported. "He can soften stuff and even swim through the ground! Super cool power, he must've swum under Shiozaki's vines to get past her!" He glanced at the pole Fumikage had originally claimed to add, "And over there I can see Kendo and... Tokage, I think?"

"Does Tokage only have the ability to split her corporal form into pieces, or is each possessed of its own awareness and will?" Fumikage asked, glancing at Dark Shadow.

Yoarashi paused, taking a moment to process the query. "Yes," he responded, which confirmed exactly nothing other than her identity. "Guessing she surprised you then." He frowned, glancing between the poles. "Honenuki and Tokage are both recommendation students, so going after either of them would be tricky. And Kendo's pretty strong too..."

"So we go to the south?" Shishida suggested, though he didn't seem too eager to attack a recommendation student.

"South it is!" Yoarashi agreed, and pumped a fist. "Plus Ultra!" With that shout he nearly rocketed towards the pole occupied by Honenuki, leaving his other teammates to follow after at a slower pace.

"And what powers do you two possess?" Fumikage asked as they moved. "Do you believe they would be of use here?"

"Mine is... dependent," Shishida responded carefully. "It is a transformation type, so I would rather save it for the third round rather than reveal my hand now. We are already at a disadvantage since we lack the training the hero students have had." Fumikage nodded in understanding. As ones hoping to enter the hero class, their priorities would be different from his own. They could not afford to reveal too much too early.

Kouda, however, seemed briefly conflicted. "I-I might be able to help?" he said, voice quiet and barely audible. "I-I did something already, just in case. I need a couple minutes before it will be ready, though..."

"If you can assist even the slightest, that will be enough," Fumikage assured him. "Yoarashi is a force of nature unto himself, and I am sure it will be hard for others to withstand his gales for long."

At that moment Dark Shadow's head emerged, staring forward with wide eyes. "Uh, Fumi?" he called, and that prompted all three boys to look forward just in time to see Yoarashi knocked back by a blast of wind. Fumikage surged forward, reflexively sending out Dark Shadow to intercept the other boy's path. While the familiar might be weakened by the light, he could still at least help catch the boy.

Yoarashi grunted as he collided into the shadow, his backwards trajectory halted conveniently next to where the three stood. "Sir Yoarashi, what happened?" Shishida asked.

"Okay, I might have messed up," Yoarashi replied, seeming surprisingly sheepish and embarrassed. Fumikage glanced forward to see a second blond standing before Honenuki, winds raging around him and blowing away more competitors. Clearly a teammate of the other, judging by how he defended the pole rather than attacked.

"A third user of winds?" Fumikage asked in surprise. With Todoroki, that would make three students this year with strong wind-based powers! He had heard that some types of Quirks had appeared more often than others in the wake of the second Quirk boom, and that accounted at least for Todoroki, but this was growing ridiculous.

"Actually, he copies Quirks from people he touches," Yoarashi corrected, still a bit sheepish. "He snuck up on me while I was distracted. I think he copied Tetsutestsu's Quirk at some point because his skin was silver, so I didn't realize it was Monoma at first and didn't pay attention."

Ah. So there was not a third user of the winds in their year. At least, not that Fumikage knew of right now. He could dwell on that later. "So he now has your Quirk?" Shishida asked tightly. "Does his power at least have a time limit?"

"Yeah, but it won't wear off before the round ends," Yoarashi replied with a glance at the scoreboard. Fumikage had not glanced at it since the round began, but now he took a chance to look at the names. Currently Team Bakugou held first place, with Midoriya clearly in close second even with the ever-fluctuating points. Their own team was in fourth, Team Juzo passing them to take the third spot even as he looked at the scores.

"Judging by how the points are changing and your earlier comments, I believe that Kendo and Tokage must also be part of Team Juzo," Shishida declared. A sound deduction. Fumikage glanced back at the northern pole to see that the vine-headed girl had launched an assault on them with her own teammates. Some of whom he was surprised to recognize.

Tsuburaba and Iida moved in clear support of the vines, Iida zigzagging around the vines to launch attacks at Kendo while Tsuburaba used platforms to stay above them. An unfamiliar boy with dark hair stood in the air beside him, flinging scales from scaly arms at the flagpole. It was clear the four were working together and part of the same team.

The vine-headed girl's name was Shiozaki, based on Yoarashi's offhand comment earlier. On the scoreboard, Team Shiozaki held fifth place. And if they claimed the northern flagpole, it would not take long for their score to surpass their own team's stagnant numbers.

The clock showed two minutes left. Not enough time to reverse course and attack another pole. They had to claim this one, and quickly.

"I understand your strategy depends on hiding your Quirks, but if we do not pass this round, your efforts will be meaningless!" Fumikage told the 1-E boys bluntly. "If your Quirks can help at all, you must use them now!"

Shishida pursed his lips, steely determination glinting in his eyes as he turned to the flagpole. "I suppose you are correct, Sir Tokoyami," he declared, unzipping his jacket and tossing it aside. Even as the blue garment fluttered to the ground his body began to swell and grow, the brown fur already coating his torso seeming to become longer and more prickly.

He flung himself forward with a ferocious roar, the change actually startling Fumikage for a moment. Yoarashi didn't hesitate to follow though, shouting an eager, "All right!" as he took off after the other boy. Fumikage quickly followed suit, the trio charging for the flagpole in a desperate bid for victory.

Shishida charged right for Monoma, his enhanced mass letting him easily withstand the winds Monoma had surrounded himself with. It was already apparent from the relative weakness of the gale that the blond lacked Yoarashi's full control over the winds, and he was forced to dodge to the side as Shishida lunged.

As Fumikage watched the beast-like boy spin to deliver a heavy punch to Monoma, he found himself suddenly keenly aware of one fact: Shishida should not have failed the entrance exam.

Shishida's transformed state exuded strength and power, a feral energy that could put even Bakugou's temper to shame. It was clear his failure had nothing to do with any weakness of his Quirk; it was not hard to imagine him easily ripping apart the robots, even with only his bare hands.

That strength also made his assault a tremendous risk, given he was now attacking someone who could copy his Quirk with a touch. Monoma gasped as Shishida's fist collided with his side, clearly knocking the breath out of him, but even then Fumikage could see the blond's hands flailing towards the other boy's arm. Shishida saw that too, as his form rapidly shrunk as he quickly pulled his arm back.

"Yoarashi, blow him away now!" he barked, and the other boy did just that without a question, sending a strong wind towards Monoma. It managed to knock him away, but it also unfortunately caught Shishida in its path. Both boys went flying, Monoma managing to apparently minimize damage as his skin turned silver. Shishida was slightly less lucky, hitting the ground hard and skidding.

Kouda ran to check on his friend as Fumikage silently cursed their luck, attention focused on Monoma. "What's this?" the blond called as he quickly got back to his feet. "Working with a 1-A student, Yoarashi-kun? Oh, for shame!"

"Tokoyami, I'll hold off Monoma, you go for the pole!" Yoarashi barked. Fumikage didn't try to argue in part because they didn't have time to debate this, taking off for the pole. Several other students had taken to charging Honenuki now that Monoma was distracted. Several of those students also had their legs sink into the ground and leave them trapped as they neared it. Fumikage remembered what Yoarashi had said about Honenuki's Quirk and knew the ground would be far too risky to tread, sending Dark Shadow once more towards the pole.

At this point the shadow was at its weakest yet though, the daylight and continued exertion pushing it to its limits. It was all too easy for one of the other students to leap up and intercept its path, a tail swatting Dark Shadow away.

"Sorry, I'm not on his team but I'm not letting you get this either!" a blond boy called as he flung himself at the pole, and Fumikage cursed once more. Honenuki kept one hand on the pole and pushed as the tailed boy approached, the pole wavering and shifting to the side like liquid. It allowed him to just barely dodge the boy, who reoriented himself midair to land on both feet. As soon as they touched the ground they sunk down though, making him curse.

Approaching the pole would be difficult with the ground so soft and malleable, and it was clear the other students wouldn't be above trying to stop Dark Shadow in their own assaults. A brief glance at the northern flagpole revealed that it had been stolen by Team Shiozaki, raising the urgency as the number by their name steadily raised closer to their own. Time was running out, not even a minute left, he had to do something—

At that moment a distant rumble began to sound, the air itself seeming to vibrate. It had several of the competitors pausing to look at the sky warily, and then going slack-jawed as a shadow began to pass over the edge of the stadium.

In the commentator's booth Present Mic's own jaw dropped as he saw the sky begin to darken, eyes bulging in disbelief. He grabbed the microphone and held it to his mouth, eyes still trained on the encroaching shadows. "People, I cannot believe this," he said, voice unusually low and quiet with shock. "But a giant flock of birds just flew over the stadium and it looks like they're diving onto the arena."

True to his word hundreds of birds had gathered and flown over the stadium, circling above in a tighter and tighter spiral like a dark cloud of destruction. It was not one species like most flocks but dozens, some as small as a swallow and others large as hawks. As the students watched in disbelief the birds tightened their spiral and began to descend, converging upon... the southern flagpole.

Fumikage stared as many of them dove at Honenuki, some with beaks and others with talons extended. The boy had to release the flagpole to fend them off, using both arms to shield himself from the first wave of attacks. When he realized what happened he nodded in acceptance and slapped the flagpole, making it regain its original rigidity before he ran off.

He crouched to slap the ground briefly as he raced to the center, allowing the students trapped in the shallowest parts to escape the quicksand-like ground as it solidified. Some of them helped pull others out of the ground or defend those still trapped, while others raced to the flagpole. Those who did the latter were assaulted by birds.

For his part, Fumikage stood in shock for a moment, but quickly hardened his nerves. There was some poetic irony that his final obstacle for this round would be birds, but right now, victory mattered most. He charged forward with a shout, for once not using Dark Shadow as he raced for the flagpole. He braved the sharp beaks and talons to reach his goal—

Or at least, he started to.

Partway there he noticed the flock begin to shift, creating a clear way for another person. His gaze flickered to the side and he then came to a halt, once again stunned by the sight before him. Kouda Kouji ran through the opening the birds provided, given a clear path to victory. For a moment Fumikage was stunned, but then he remembered one of the only things the other boy had actually spoken.

"I-I did something already, just in case. I need a couple minutes before it will be ready, though..."

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage breathed in awe as he watched his teammate reach the pole and cling to it with both arms as if his life depended on it. Twenty-five seconds remained on the clock.

Kouda still held onto it as the buzzer sounded to end the round, keeping them firmly in fourth place just ahead of Team Shiozaki.

"And Teams Bakugou, Midoriya, Juzo, and Yoarashi go to the third round!"

Surprise! One more chapter before 2021 ends!

The two who failed to make the cut for the hero course are revealed: Kouda and Shishida! Also let it be known, writing chuuni dialogue is surprisingly hard. Cocoa deserves all the credit for his dialogue, I basically just wrote whatever I wanted Tokoyami to mean, and then gave it to Cocoa to translate. I am so glad he's co-authoring this, because we have plans for Tokoyami...

Sorry for the very long delay. And also sorry we still can't promise when the next chapter will be. Getting motivation to write the Sports Festival is still a chore for me. We wanted to get it done before posting again so we could just be done with it, but... Yeah.

Anyways, we know 2021 wasn't the absolute best, but we want to go out on a high note. Here's hoping 2022 is better!