Your class at Akitsuki Hero Academy is chock full of other young heroes and heroines, with a variety of skills and talents. The cream of the crop! It's no surprise that Ten Man emerged from such illustrious roots! There's so many names and faces, and you try to be friendly with all of them, given that you want Ten Man to be impressed when he inevitably hears about you from your teachers!
So you're dragged out into the practice yard to show off your abilities to the gym teacher, as the others watch quietly from the sidelines. She has you all line up and introduce your powers.
"I can uncoil my arms and legs, like whipcords slashing out to great lengths," one girl explains, her hair a short, cute, platinum blonde, and a certain predatory gait to her walk.
"My power lets me see the future for a short period, multiple slightly different futures simultaneously," a blond-haired boy wearing thick glasses explains.
"And what do you do, young lady?" The gym teacher - Mayumi Togo - asks, a green-skinned woman with a very muscular build and short, dark green hair. She eyes you up and down, her vivid purple eyes taking particular time to examine your chest and thighs for muscle. Mai sidles up a bit closer to you, gripping your upper arm for some reason you're not sure of.
"I turn into an intangible being that rides on somebody else's body!" You explain, hurriedly. "I can telekinetically manipulate stuff around me when I'm like that!"
The teacher nods, moving on to Mai, and the explanations go on and on.
You feel a little exhausted just from that, sagging in your position. You don't pay much attention to the remainder of the people talk.
"Listen up!" Mayumi's voice has an echo to it, and you can see by looking over her that she's duplicated. That's such n amazingly useful power! "Form up into pairs, with the student next to you! Let's see you in a practical exercise. I hope you were paying attention to the other students' powers."
You wind up paired with Mai, up against the uncoiling girl (Izanami?) and the precognitive boy (Akihiko?). She seems to be the more aggressive of the two, whispering in her partner's ear. His cheeks heat up, in a way kind of like Mai's when you give her a really big hug. Are they friends? You don't think they are, but maybe it's one of those things where you're really fast friends.
"What's your plan, Ganko?" Mai asks, in a whisper.
"What? You're the smart one!"
"You're the fighty one!" Mai counters with a hiss.
"Okay, okay," you say. You need to look good! When Ten Man looks into your record, wondering what became of the girl that sent him her marriage resume, you want him to see nothing but success. You stare down the two in front of you, chewing your lip.
"Here's the plan," you say, turning to Mai. You tap her shoulder and activate your power, allowing you to whisper in her ear, inaudible to your opponents. That's called taking advantage of your power! "We take down Akihiko first. He doesn't look very fit or muscular, so he should be easy to get." Mai nods, her cheeks a little warm, but she steels herself for a fight. "You'll probably get hit by Izanami some, but you can manage, right?"
"For you, I can do anything!" Her cheeks light up as she says that. You don't know what's embarrassing about being such a loyal friend. Maybe she just thought of something embarrassing. "A-ah, I mean, you know."
"I know what you mean," you whisper soothingly in her ear. She stiffens a little. "I really appreciate your loyal friendship."
"A-ah, right," she stammers out. She gives a little laugh. "Are you ready?!" She shouts over at Izanami and Akihiko.
The girl shifts from her position behind Akihiko, giving him a sidelong glance, one finger trailing gently along his neck. He swallows and shivers, his cheeks bright red. Does she have some kind of poison power? She didn't mention that... but why would she use it on her own ally? That doesn't make sense. No, you need to focus.
Akihiko approaches, a determination in his poise as he assumes his battle stance. "We're ready," he declares.
At that, Mai rushes forward, advancing with as much speed as she can in a sprint. Akihiko doesn't stumble or hesitate, he simply rolls to one side. As Mai adjusts course, a whipcord of untangled flesh-tendrils slices past the space where Akihiko once once, scraping and slashing at Mai's cheek, leaving her tumbling, her breath growing heavy, but she manages to stay on target, slamming into the boy.
It's not a good hit, though, with him rolling to one side and maintaining his balance. Even your grab of his leg only knocks him off balance for a second, as Mai's momentum carries her past Akihiko, and she's forced to twist and change angles. A second whipcord set of tendrils lash out at her as she turns, tearing at her backside, making her loudly pant, a suppressed squeal in her throat, her eyes wild and intense as she rushes towards Akihiko once more, arms wide.
This time (and with a little help from you), he doesn't manage to get out of her grapple range, and she grabs him, tumbling to the ground with him, the two rolling together. Her breathing is heavy and wild, obvious adrenaline running through her body as her chest rises and falls. Izanami's arms are long tangled messes, and she seems to be concentrating, working to draw them back in to their normal shape and size, her glare at the scene in front of her showing that she wishes she could intervene.
"He's mine," she yells loudly, as Mai manages to pin Akihiko beneath her, her knees pressing into his upper arms, holding him in place. "I saw him first, you bitch!"
Mai turns to Izanami, her cheeks still pink from the pain and embarrassment of getting hit. "A~ah, no, no, it's not, like that," she says, licking her lips.
"Tell him to surrender so we can tap him out," you whisper in Mai's ear.
"R-right!" She hurriedly turns down to the boy beneath her. "Surrender!"
He struggles valiantly against her, but in the end, he's not a particularly strong specimen of male energy. Must have gotten in on his written and oral tests! "I surrender," he wheezes out.
"Goo-" Mai starts before being cut off, Izanami's untangled arm slamming into her face full force, sending her rolling off Akihiko. A dozen small little vines of flesh slash and scrape at Mai's face, but you manage to grab them before they can fully retreat, yanking on them and sending her stumbling forward as she struggles to retain her balance.
Mai's absently drooling, possibly because of her cut up lip, and her expression's wild, one eye closed from all the scrapes and slashes. She whimpers - she has such an odd whimper of pain, it sounds more like a girl getting her first kiss from the boy she likes, honestly - and recovers, licking her lips and hissing as she disturbs the cut up bit.
She rushes towards Izanami, and you hold up your force like a shield in front of her. Izanami sends another spray of flesh tendrils forward from her other arm, and while most are deflected, a few get through, penetrating Mai's chest. Mai's eyes are wild as she simply tackles Izanami to the ground, drool escaping her lips. "This is so good," she breathes, obviously thrilling in the rush of battle. "And Ganko's right here beside me," she adds, with a little shudder of pain.
You exit your alternate state wrapped around her, taking a second to reorient before helping her pin Izanami to the ground, the two of you holding her in place with your weights until she finally surrenders. "Fine, fine," she spits out. "Damn Maso," she mumbles, angrily.
"Her name's Mai, not Maso," you correct.
Mai blushes. "R-right, what she said," she says, hurriedly.
Mayumi strides over to where the battle's been won in you and Mai's favor, but she doesn't seem overly happy with what she sees. "Izanami, did you really cut up a fellow future heroine this badly in a training exercise?"
"She can heal!" Izanami defends herself. "I didn't do lethal damage, anyway," she adds, with sullenness to her voice.
Mai's panting, her cheeks glowing red, no doubt still recovering from the intense battle and feeling bad about having gotten so beaten up. "Don't worry, Mai," you say. "You did great! If you hadn't tanked all those hits, we would have lost for sure."
Mayumi surveys the damage to Mai and frowns. "You shouldn't mess up a pretty girl so badly, even if she can heal," Mayumi notes, with a shake of her head. "Still, the purpose of these exercises is to get an idea of how your power functions in a real fight, so we'll work on your control." She looks at Mai and you for a moment. "You had good teamwork," she notes. "You make a cute pair."
Mai's cheeks glow bright red. "We're not," she stumbles to say.
"We are!" You interrupt. "We're friends for life," you say, taking Mai's hand in yours and gripping it.
"Ah, I see," Mayumi says, with a nod. She looks at Mai, some pity on her face. You guess Mai is pretty pitiful looking, with how badly she's been slashed up. "If you ever need any romantic advice, you can always come to me..." she says, in a slow and deliberate fashion, clearly signalling her willingness to help.
"You should!" You say, suddenly. Mayumi's eyebrow quirks up, her arms crossing. "Mai has this guy she likes, but she can never muster up the courage to just tell him!"
"I see," Mayumi says, with a nod and knowing look. "Again, Mai. My door is open for any young maiden struggling with affection that is not returned for its forbidden nature..." Mai's cheeks blush brighter at that.
"A-ah, thanks," Mai stammers out.
Mai winds up heading back to your dorm room to heal up and renew her heart, while you have to go to class. You sigh as the teacher - who looks like an ex-yakuza chick, really, with short dark hair and a back tattoo of a snake - drones on and on about slopes and differentials. You almost wish that you were the one who got beaten up.
When the school day ends, you and Mai wind up retiring to your dorm room, Mai saying there's something she wants to talk about with you.
"Do you think I should take her up on it? Togo-sensei, I mean," she clarifies.
"Oh. The offer for love advice?"
Mai nods, her head ducked a bit. "I don't know. It's the first time... well..." she trails off awkwardly and uncertainly. "What do you think, Ganko?"
"Well, Mayumi seems nice! She probably has great love advice, since she's an older woman with some experience. I mean, she may not have a ring, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know anything! Look at me," you say, gesturing to yourself confidently. "I may not have a steady boyfriend - though obviously I will soon! - but I've got lots of love experience. Maybe she can give you the outside perspective you need to make a move!"
Mai listens, nodding along uncertainly to everything you say. Her cheeks lose their color as you mention boyfriends, presumably because of her fear that her guy will find her to be too inexperienced to be worth her time. You think that's silly, though! Any guy would be lucky to have a girl as cute as Mai pining after them for years! "I... I guess you're right," Mai says, her voice quavering with anxiety. "She can probably help me out, one way or another."
You don't know what exactly she means by that, but you give her a hug anyway. "Good luck with your love!" You say, excitedly.
She blushes bright red and smiles as she absently pats your back. After a second of your tight hug, she lets out a pant and squirms, whimpering, which is her way of letting you know you're being too rough with her. You let go hurriedly. "Are you okay, Mai?"
Her cheeks are red, but she nods, panting. "Y-yeah, Ganko," she says, with a nod. "I'm fine." She sighs.