Rule #35: Always watch the watchers
America, the so-called birthplace of heroism, was—in a word—busy. Even from the air, Toru could see rows upon rows of brightly-coloured buildings smushed together like sardines in a can. Large stretches of glimmering ocean gave way to towering cities and greening pastures, but the apple of the American eye was a man-made island off the coast of California. The floating city could move anywhere and was home to over ten thousand scientists. I-Island; so aptly named because of all the technological advancements that engulfed the city. Hell! The city itself was a technological achievement!
Across from Toru, Kayano sat draped across her seat with both legs just barely reaching the end of the lazy-boy with her little yappy dog, Toto, asleep in the one next to her. Green hair gave way to chocolate brown locks, like someone had dip-dyed her in paint and chainsaw snores escaped from the actress as she slept, the pages of her cheesy gossip magazine fluttering up and down as she breathed.
Looking around Kayano's private plane you saw luxury everywhere you looked—it was a private plane for crying out loud! From the leather-bound chaise lounge to the gleaming wooden accents, to the bar at the end of the plane and the bidet toilet in the bathroom. Even the sodas came with little umbrellas in them!
Toru had been lucky that Kayano had offered her an invitation to come with her over summer. The young heroine had heard about the event that the island was hosting through Midoriya, who had gushed about how All-Might was taking him over the holidays; going on and on and on about all the technological advancements that the city had done. He was practically drooling and starry-eyed by the end of it. A part of her had been a little jealous of the brainiac when he had brought it up—who hadn't heard of I-Island? It was practically All-Might famous; people worldwide knowing what the place was even without even visiting there. It had certainly made a name for itself over the years, and would probably continue to do so.
This was the case until Kayano had offered her invitation to the invisible girl. Apparently Kayano was supposed to do a research tour on the island in order to ready herself for a role in an upcoming movie, and since it involved some kind of hero-related story, her agent had suggested I-Island, the hub for all budding heroes. Originally the actress had wanted to bring Nagisa on the excursion, but the blue-haired boy had already signed himself up to be a councillor at some summer camp that he was looking forward to. Toru was lucky to be her second choice. Well, it'll be nice change for once. Toru mused as she was pulled from her thoughts by the plane coming to land on the runway.
"WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS" Dinged the intercom as Toru (now dressed in her hero uniform as per regulations) and Kayano (dressed smartly in her first outfit) were slid along the convey-a-belt like food at the grocery store as the scans were completed, and their passports popped up on the screens beside them.
"Ooh! It says here the island was created so the world's greatest minds could gather together to create new hero support items and research Quirks!" Kayano chirped as she read off the information booklet she had picked up from the travel agent. "Did ya know that?" She turned to Toru.
"Kinda" Toru shrugged her shoulders, "It's s'posed to be movable 'cause of possible villain attacks, right?"
"That's what it says. Plus the s'posedly impenetrable security systems they've got in place—Ooh! I'd love to test some of them!" Kayano shared a wicked grin with Toru.
"Wouldn't that be fun?" Toru replied.
"THE IMMIGRATION INSPECTION IS COMPLETE" Droned the intercom, "THE ISLAND IS CURRENTLY HOLDING THE PRE-OPENING OF I-EXPO, AN EVENT THAT SHOWCASES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON. ONLY THOSE WITH INVITATIONS MAY ATTEND THE PREVIEW"
"Oh wow! Check out that view!" Toru ran to the balcony and looked out at the sea of colour. Fun-size buildings erupted from the earth like rides at an amusement park; from the topsy-turvy bridge to the cone-shaped buildings that reminded her of ice-cream cones and everything in between. It almost looked like a toddler had gone crazy with the crayons; imagination ran wild here and there was no hiding it.
"No way! The pictures of this place don't do it any justice!" Kayano agreed, joining her at her side.
"Unlike other countries on the mainland, people are allowed to use their Quirks freely here" Explained the tour guide who had met them at the immigration gate, "The pavilions are full of attractions and demonstrations; you should make some time for it later"
"Oh, we will!" Kayano agreed, practically climbing the balcony to see more of the city.
"Come along now, we'll take the back way to the hotel. This way, if you please" Instructed the tour guide, leading the two girls (plus Kayano's entourage) towards a back door that let out in an alleyway behind the airport. Even in a city such as this, celebrities were oft mobbed by their fans, well-meaning as they may be.
"Whoa! This place is amazing!" Kayano sang as she danced in a circle, trying to take everything in.
"It's so much different from the ground!" Toru agreed as she stared wide-eyed at colourful buildings and walks-of-life around them. Their tour guide had kindly gifted the pair with a map of the city as well as several recommendations for the two to explore. Kayano's entourage had originally come with them but the two girls had ditched them over by the pavilion leaving them to happily wander the grounds of the island without feeling oppressed by the bodyguards and agent. "Hey look! Is that Lady Liz, the reptilian heroine?" Kayano gushed, pointing to a green reptilian woman across the street signing autographs. "She's so pretty!"
"And badass too!" Toru grinned at the British heroine, "Do you think she'll be at the big party tonight?"
"Oh, I hope so!"
"Ooh! Let's go in here!"
"What is it?"
"I think it's a whole lot of support items" Toru replied gazing around the large cavernous room where different items were displayed; items you could only ever dream of.
"Hey! Check out this one! It says its a pair of boots that lets you walk on the roof like a bat!" Kayano excitedly read out the sign in front of the item. Like children in a candy store, the two girls zipped from item to item, excitedly looking over the technology on display until they reached the stalls where demonstrations were being held.
"Oh wow! Look at the craftsmanship on this!" Toru gushed, fingers carefully dancing over the scabbard on the table. "Kay! Look! Look!" She showed it to her friend who was inspecting a pair of slender pistols off to the side.
"I am looking, Toru" Kayano smiled as the outline of her invisible friend was seen under the strips of UV lighting decorating the booth. "It's very pretty"
"And light too! And so delicately crafted! And—"
"—You haven't even looked at the blade yet!" Kayano laughed.
"Shut up!"
" 'ullo ladies" Greeted the stall owner, completely living the stereotype of scientist as he was dressed in stark-white lab coat and coke-bottle glasses, "Can I help you with something?"
"Oh, we were just admiring your craftsmanship" Kayano replied as Toru continued to drool over the sheathed blade in her hand. "What are these?"
"Hm? W-why, thank you" He flushed "Well, you miss, have the Twin Phasers—"
"—They only have four settings?" Kayano ran her finger over the dial on one pistol where the options (ON, STUN, KILL and OFF) were located.
"Well, yes, what other settings would you need?"
"Nevermind, just curious"
"Anyway—" The scientist shot Kayano an odd look as if he were trying to figure her out, before he turned to Toru "—You miss, have the Plasma Cutter"
"Plasma Cutter?" Toru reiterated.
"Yes, that's right, if you'd just take it out of the scabbard—"
With shaky fingers, Toru slowly slid the blade out of its scabbard, holding her breath in anticipation as she did so. Anticipation which soon fell flat when no metallic shing sounded as the blade was unleashed. "There's no blade…" Toru's shoulders slumped in defeat as she looked inside the hollow hilt. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Now miss, if you'll just push the butt—" The scientist hurried to explain.
"Oh no, wait" Upon spotting the shard of crystal at the base of the hilt, she focused on the little laser pointer beneath it and manipulated the light to pierce through the shard; only jumping back in surprise when a light blade quickly erupted from the hilt. "Whoa!"
"How-how did you do that?"
"Um…?" Toru turned to the man in front of them, "Is that not what you're s'posed to do?"
"No, no, You push the button on the side to activate the blade" Taking the sword away from Toru, the light blade disappeared immediately turning dark once more in his hands as he inspected it "But you completely bypassed the circuits…How…? How is this possible? What's your Quirk?!"
"Uh…I'm heliokinetic?"
"Really? Hm…Would you…Would you care to test them out?"
"Really?!" Toru gasped excitedly, practically buzzing with excitement as she shared a glance with Kayano.
"Right this way, ladies"
The two were escorted over to a batting-cage set-up where the back wall was taken up with two circular rings of ball-shooting machines and a digital screen up above it displaying the different difficulty levels, like the ones used at sports centres. Kayano was gifted with a series of brightly coloured ammunition charges which she carefully lined up on the shelf next to her and Toru placed her sword's scabbard on the ground, leaning up against the wire cage behind her.
"Hey Toru!" Kayano called with a grin.
"Yeah?"
"How about we take the edge off, 3-E style?"
"You're on!" Toru grinned right back, "Loser buys lunch?"
"It's a date!"
"Hope you brought your cheque book, I'm feeling hungry!"
"Oh those are some big words for a loser!" Kayano replied, referring to their training back in Junior High. "Remember same rules as before!"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember! We rock infinity mode and the first one who loses their concentration buys lunch!" Toru called back loud enough for the machine to hear her choice in levels. "Sound good?"
"I can live with that"
"YOU HAVE SELECTED INFINITY MODE. TRAINING WILL NOW BEGIN" Chirped the machine before balls began to rapidly fire out of the wall at the two in random order. Both girls moved as if they were dancing, Toru swinging the Plasma Cutter like a ribbon or an extension of her body and Kayano twisted this way and that as she made sure that each laser bullet hit its mark.
"Holy crap! Those things are going so fast!" The scientist gasped, pressed up against the batting cage in awe. All around him a small crowd had begun to appear, drawn over by the sounds of laughter and rapidly firing balls. "And they're hitting every single one like its no big deal! These girls are machines!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Toru demanded as she caught sight of the people behind her, "You could get hit if you stand so close!"
"Actually Toru—" Kayano taunted as she switched out her ammo, "—You should be the one focusing!"
"Don't give me your lip, Kay!" Toru playfully snarked before her voice dropped until only Kayano could hear her. "Keep shooting. Behind the pillar on the south side of the convention centre, can you see him?"
"What's he doing here?" Kayano muttered after sparing a glance over the top of the crowd to where a man dressed in baggy clothing—looking like your typical street thug— stood, trying to hide himself.
"Is he one of yours?"
"No, I don't think so"
"You don't think so?"
"Security here offered a couple of guys for my entourage, as like a welcome gift or something, but I haven't seen him before. You think we're being set up?"
"Wouldn't be the first time…" Toru sighed as they continued to fight off the balls "Kay, you should know, I've heard whispers that Shiro is back in town"
"Sh-shiro? That's not possible" Kayano stumbled a little, but was still able to hit the ball she had been aiming for.
"I thought so too, but there have been evidence of his experiments running around town recently"
"Those Nomus?"
"Yeah"
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
"I wanted to be sure"
"And now you are?"
"More like 70-80%"
"So there's still a chance it's someone else?"
"Unless Shiro's suddenly become very generous with sharing his experiments"
"Hm"
"LEVEL CLEARED" Chimed the machine, cutting through their conversation and drawing the two girls to a halt, panting slightly. "IT'S A TIE!"
"What? No! I clearly hit more balls that you!" Toru whined.
"Nah, you just sliced 'em in half!" Kayano fired back, gesturing to all the split balls littering Toru's cage.
"Oh? LIke yours is any better?" She waved to the balls sporting bullet holes in Kayano's cage.
"Ha ha"
"So…now what?"
"We split it?"
"Toru! That was amazing!" Cheered the familiar voice of one of her classmates from 1-A who had been watching the event from the crowd behind them.
"Ochako?" Toru tilted her head in question as her gaze roved over her, Midoriya, Jiro, Yaoyorozu and an unknown blonde girl. All of her classmates were dressed in their hero costumes (as per the expo's regulations) "What are you doing here?"
"T-Toru!" Midoriya stammered, his wide eyes mirrored in those of her current classmates.
"What?" She turned to the green-haired boy, head tilted in question.
"We-we can see you!"
"Hm?" Toru glanced up to see that she was still standing beneath the decorative UV lighting from the stall. "Oh, it's 'cause of the UV"
"The UV?"
"See?" Stepping out of the light of the stall Toru seemingly disappeared from their eyes, "No UV" Stepping back into the light, the outline of her figure appeared, "UV—Now you see me, now you don't"
"Oh! I see!" Midoriya smacked his fist against his palm before he began to rapidly mutter about her Quirk and its possible applications.
"Same old Midoriya" Toru shook her head with a fond smile.
