Coco: Hey, everyone, I am back and not with just one chapter but two! Warning you now that Ayano isn't really going to be the star of these next two chapters. In fact, I kind of just gloss over her in this first part of the exam to give some attention to my other three OCs. Ayano will definitely be back in spotlight during the second part of the exam, and since I have a kind of important role I have in mind for her in the second part, I wanted my other OCs a chance to shine and show off how far along they've come. So, in this first chapter, it will focus on Ayumi and Konan mostly. Then the next to mostly a Hachiro chapter. I'm not very good with male OCs. At least, I don't feel like I am, so I feel like I neglect him most of the time, so he'll get like a feature chapter today.
Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy!
Ayano looked around seeing where she was as she vaguely heard Mera in the background telling them to hurry up. Of course, nothing looked familiar and she saw none of her friends near her.
'I suppose I'll just reach out to them,' Ayano thought.
However, before she could do just that, she felt pain enter her head and felt her equilibrium knocked off balance. She fell to her knees as the entire world seemed to spin.
'What…the…hell is going on?' She struggled to even think.
She heard movement behind her, and she slowly turned to see a boy walking towards her. He was greenish-blue of skin and had what looked like a yellow swirl across his face. His eyes were yellow as well and had no visible pupils. He wore an opened long dark green coat with no shirt under it and showed the yellow swirl pattern continued down his skin. He then had on simple tan pants tucked into brown boots.
"Sorry, Ishida Ayano, but you won't be using any of those pesky psychic gifts of yours while under my Vertigo Effect." The boy said then gave a small bow. "Sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Katayotta Kazuhiko of Ketsubutsu Academy."
His words had Ayano looking around wondering if anymore of Ketsubutsu were lurking around.
"If you're looking for my classmates, you won't find them nearby." Kazuhiko said. "While they all wanted to work as a team, I decided to head out on my own. My quirk can be a bit dangerous in a large group, you see. Even if not directly targeting someone, it can cause them a bit of discomfort and harm if they happen to be too close. I wasn't going to go after U.A. at all as you all aren't really of any interest to me. However, when I saw that Yo separated all of you, I decided to come pick off those who might have ended up completely on their own."
Ayano frowned though supposed that was a smart strategy. However, just because she's on her own doesn't mean she's helpless. Even if her brain does feel kind of like mush at the moment.
"My Vertigo Effect disrupts everyone's balance. If I push hard enough, I can even cause them to fall unconscious," Kazuhiko explained. "However, with you psychics it's a different story. Your minds are so sensitive and the base of your power. Hit with my quirk I render you basically helpless because it effects your brain in ways that you can't focus enough to use your quirk."
'Does this guy just enjoy listening to himself talk?' Ayano wondered as she was starting to feel more coherent.
It took her a moment, but she was starting to adjust to this guy's quirk. Sure, it made her feel nauseous and there was a slight pain, but she's felt much worse. This was nothing compared to the pain Rina had put her through. Or the pain she felt when Hive had copied Ragdoll's quirk and it activated on Ayano without warning. Honestly, that time had felt like someone poured acid directly on her brain. The same for the time she forced herself to use Hive to copy Rina's quirk. So, what she was feeling now…was nothing.
"Now, if you'll just play nice, I'll just hit your targets and be on my way." Kazuhiko said as he crouched down beside Ayano. "Better luck next time, yes?"
He went to reach forward to hit her with one those targeting balls, but Ayano raised her hand and before he even knew what was going on, she threw him backwards. He tumbled across the ground as Ayano forced herself to her feet.
"How—how are you moving?!" Kazuhiko demanded. "You shouldn't be able to use your quirk let alone move!"
He touched his temples trying to hit her again with his quirk, and even as it hit her, Ayano didn't falter as she moved forward.
"You surprised me when you hit me with your quirk at first." Ayano said. "But the pain and dizziness caused by your power is nothing compared to what I've gone through before. The pain I endured hadn't been easy and the moments that went along with them I will never forget. But through those hard experiences, I turned it into strength. I'm stronger now than I was before, and I won't go down so easily. So sorry, Katayotta-san. Better luck next time."
She then pulled one of the balls from her bag to send whirling at Kazuhiko. Before he could blink, she hit him three times in rapid succession with the single ball. She then dropped it into his lap as he sat there in shock as he was pronounced as failed. He fell back in defeat as Mera's voice came over the speakers.
"Huh, it's about time somebody perked up and passed," He murmured before letting out a loud shout of surprise. "What?! There are a 121 people taken down! A single person managed to do that in just one attack?!"
'One of those people are mine,' Ayano thought with a slight pout.
Though that was impressive, and considering there could be more crazy strong people like that around, Ayano moved on quickly. She didn't need the targets to run out because of over achievers who decided to take down more than their fair share of targets. Though she supposed there really was plenty to go around, and it did mean less enemies for her to have to worry about…but still.
"That actually surprised me so much that I'm awake!" Mera said. "I assume we'll be seeing a lot of people passing from now on. Everyone, let's get this out of the way, so I can take a break! Good? Good!"
Ayano shook her head as she kept moving forward. She'd forget about reaching out to everyone for now, and just believe that by the end of this exam that all 24 students of Class 1-A will have passed.
Ayumi hummed to herself as she sat on top of an overpass in the city zone of the exam. She was munching away on some chips. Many people from different schools were below her and had no idea she was even up there watching them.
"H.A.P.P.I, how many targets are within my range of hitting at my current top speed?" Ayumi asked.
Her visor glowed to life as H.A.P.P.I's system's kicked on, so the A.I. could do the math.
"Currently, if you max out at your top speed, you should roughly hit 100 targets, Jinsoku-san," H.A.P.P.I replied. "That is with your time limitation added to the equation."
Ayumi grinned because that was actually better than she expected. She thought she'd hit seventy at best, but a hundred? Well, looks like all that training really paid off.
"Okay then," Ayumi said as she stood to her feet and put the empty chip bag into one of her pouches to throw away for later. "Let's test that math, shall we? It's time to put all that extra speed training to the test."
—FLASHBACK—
"You want to work on increasing your speed?" Ectoplasm inquired. "You are already quite fast. Fast enough that your lack of actual combat skill hasn't been an issue for you, so far. However, running into things and slamming them won't help you forever, Jinsoku."
Ayumi sighed at the mini-lecture Ectoplasm gave her as she scratched the back of her head.
"I know that, but there's something else I have to master before I even think of an actual fighting style, I'm comfortable with." Ayumi said. "And that's mastering the speed my dad can hit that makes him so fast time seems to almost halt completely around him."
Ectoplasm's brow quirked at Ayumi's words as the young speedster looked at him with unbridled determination and enthusiasm.
"He described it as like hitting another dimension." Ayumi tried to explain. "You're moving at what seems to be normal pace while the rest of the world around you is still. If I want to be better than him someday, I need start by trying to hit that kind of speed. The speed he mastered when he was still in middle school! I'm behind. It's a feeling I'm not used to and I don't like it. I want to blaze forward at even faster velocities!"
—END OF FLASHBACK—
It took a lot of hard work, and while Ayumi has managed to hit that speed. She can only move that quickly for about 45 seconds in her little bubble of time. It burns away the calories in her body about 50 times worse than her normal speed. Meaning, if she pushes too far, she'll leave herself unconscious. Not to mention, she'd probably fall unconscious mid run and as her body forcibly comes to a stop, there's no telling how she'll land or what she'll fall into.
She learned the hard way during training when she ended up slamming into one of the cement pillars created by Cementoss. It left her with several—and she means several—broken bones and lacerations. And she didn't have enough calories saved up for her accelerated healing to kick in at the moment either, so she had to be rushed to Recovery Girl. But there's no Recovery Girl or any of her teachers here to help her now, so she'll definitely have to be careful and not push her limit.
She ate a bit extra to get her ready for this run, and she'll see if that's enough. Either way, she was going to pass this part of the exam in the next 45 seconds. Or she supposed it'd be in the next second if not less for the rest of these people. She hopes her classmates will be thankful for the reduction in the amount of people trying for the remaining open spots.
"Okay, H.A.P.P.I," Ayumi said as she got out one singular ball. "Make sure to keep count and prepare the clock."
She then got into a running stance as she took a deep breath. She felt her muscles tense as she prepared to begin, and then a moment later, everything seemed to freeze. Everything but Ayumi that is. She moved at a pace that appeared to be jogging at best, but in actually she was moving so fast the rest of the world just couldn't keep up.
She reached the people below and used her one ball to hit their three targets. She did this repeatedly with a countdown happening across her visor. She was actually a bit surprised H.A.P.P.I's systems could keep up with this speed. However, she knew H.A.P.P.I wasn't the first A.I. created by Genki. The man has created several over the years and while they did wonders and were still used by some heroes and companies today, many failed the speed test they went through with her father.
Genki always tried his best to design an A.I. that could keep up with the speed of Warp. That way even if her father was at his top speeds, he still had someone—something—with him to aid him when needed. Sometimes it was hard to move as fast as they did because no one could ever really keep up. Leaving everyone behind in the dust was a blessing and a curse. Sure, you could do more and get more things done faster than they could, but when no one else can keep up, being the fastest can be lonely.
That was one of the only things that Ayumi and her father could actually agree on. But thanks to Genki persisting, H.A.P.P.I was finally made. H.A.P.P.I can't keep up with Warp quite yet, but had no problem in handling Ayumi and her top speeds. H.A.P.P.I even if only an artificial program has become a companion of sorts to Ayumi. And with H.A.P.P.I's help in monitoring her progress and giving its own personal analysis to better Ayumi's training, Ayumi has finally hit that next level of speed she's always wanted to reach.
'Of course, Ectoplasm-sensei, Aizawa-sensei, and the other teachers helped too,' Ayumi thought with a smile as her countdown hit zero and she dropped out of her max speed.
She was panting and her muscles were groaning in protest, but her smile only widened as she looked back at all those students she had managed to take down. They were all looking around totally shocked and confused as to what happened before slowly turning to Ayumi as her targets binged while lighting up blue.
"Students who pass the exam congregate in the anteroom." An automated voice called through the targets. "Chop, chop."
Ayumi wasn't exactly sure where the anteroom was, but she'd just have to find it she guessed. She then threw out a peace sign to those she took out as her other hand pulled out a bag of uneaten chips from one of her other pouches. She started munching away on the snack.
"H.A.P.P.I, how many was that?" Ayumi asked the A.I. "Did your math prove correct?"
"No, it appears I made a miscalculation, Jinsoku-san." H.A.P.P.I replied making Ayumi frown as she thought she most have gotten lower than a hundred. "The amount of people you managed to take out is exactly 108."
Ayumi's eyes widened slightly before her large grin returned to her face and spread even wider if possible.
'Looks like ultimate move—Max Velocity: Time Out was a success.' Ayumi thought in triumph. 'All that training was completely worth it.'
Though now that she accomplished that goal, she'd actually have to take those combat lessons that Ectoplasm made her promise to take after she reached the speed she wanted. Ayumi knew how to throw some punches, but never really had any combat training. Her father had tried to get her to take lessons, but she had refused out of spite. Maybe the younger her shouldn't have been so petty and actually had took those lessons. Couldn't be changed now though.
"Jinsoku-san, I scanned the area and located the anteroom you were told to move to, now that you have passed." H.A.P.P.I interrupted her thoughts. "It isn't too far from here, and there appears to be food and refreshments within the room. Might I suggest taking the offered items to refuel yourself for whatever might come next?"
"You had me at food, H.A.P.P.I." Ayumi said as she followed the directions that appeared on her visors. "You should know by now that that's all it takes."
"Oh yes, how silly of me," H.A.P.P.I replied in a tone that almost sounded sarcastic.
Ayumi ignored the A.I's tone as she returned to humming the tune that she had been earlier. She hoped the others were doing okay in these exams. She shook her head knowing she shouldn't be thinking like that. She knew her friends would meet her in the anteroom once they pass. She just had to be patient and wait.
"Let's see, where are we at now?" Mera asked. "Things have been moving a lot more quickly. Looks like 52—make that 53—no, 54 (Ayumi) have passed. And flipping on the other side of things it seems 338 examinees have failed. Less than half the spots are open. Now the time's to move. Don't dally, kids."
Konan, who was hidden in a small crevice in the rocky terrain, tilted her head.
'I really do need to get moving,' She thought. 'I just wish I knew where the others were. If I'm not careful and expose myself to the enemy without backup, I could put myself in a situation I cannot win.'
She had to be smart about this. She could either spend more time looking for her classmates, and risk the spots filling before she even gets a chance to score any points. Or take the risk of doing all this on her own and not knowing if she'll be able to handle multiple opponents at once. She won't know their quirks beforehand, but they'll most likely know hers. And hers has so many weaknesses. She's always tried to compensate for those weaknesses through martial arts and swordsmanship, but those can only make up for so much.
'This really is a predicament.' She thought with a sigh. 'I'm simply no good on my own…'
—FLASHBACK—
"You and Tamaki really are so alike, Crane," Fatgum said as Konan followed behind him. "You both have great potential and strength, but don't see it yourselves. Your self-doubt and want to do things perfectly hold you back."
Konan looked down as her hands clenched the fabric of her hero costume. She knew she let her lack of self-confidence keep her from doing a lot of things. She can fake it when she needs to, but honestly, she never feels like she does anything right.
"But ya know, despite those heavy weights of low self-esteem and anxiety crushing him constantly, Tamaki rose to being a member of the Big Three at your school." Fatgum continued. "I'm sure you know how much a big accomplishment that is."
Konan nodded because she did know. It meant Tamaki was one of the three strongest and most talented students in U.A. No other students in the school compared to them. And she thought it was amazing how Tamaki pushed and worked so hard to be one of those three people.
"Amajiki-senpai is really amazing," Konan agreed. "However, I don't believe with a quirk like mine that I could ever be that great."
Konan then winced when Fatgum turned around to give her a not-so-gentle flick on the forehead. She rubbed the now stinging spot as she looked up at Fatgum.
"There you go again," He said. "Your quirk might not be the strongest, but strength isn't everything. I'm just a brawler. My quirk is pretty straightforward. Yours, however, can be used for a lot more, ya know? You're a smart kid. Use that brain in your head and get creative. Find ways to use that quirk of yours to the best of your advantage. Push yourself even when you think it's pointless or even when you think you can't do any better. Because I know you can do better. You can be an amazing Pro someday, Crane. Even if you don't see it, others obviously do or you wouldn't have gotten this far."
Konan looked back down as she felt her heart swell a bit in happiness at Fatgum's words. She wasn't used to people trying to encourage her. Her parents usually just told her to do better or remain a failure, which always seemed to just make her feel like she'd never reach their expectations of her. It made her feel like she'd never reach anyone expectations—not even her own. But Fatgum believed in her…so maybe…she could actually believe in herself…even if just a little…
—END OF FLASHBACK—
Konan let out a breath. Now wasn't the time to let herself give in to doubt. She had an exam to pass. She's trained hard for this day. Pushing herself like Fatgum told her to. Using her quirk more than ever before and trying several different ways to try and give her the edge in battle. Through that training Konan created her ultimate moves, and with them…
"I can pass." She told herself.
She didn't push herself so hard during those weeks leading up to the exam to give up now.
—FLASHBACK—
Konan let out a huff as she doubled over panting for air. Sweat rolled down her face and dripped off her chin. It was late into the night and many of her classmates had either turned in or were inside relaxing after the long day of training thy had. Konan couldn't rest just yet. She still hasn't reached the goal she set for herself at the start of the ultimate move training, and she wasn't going to rest until she does.
"A bit late for training, isn't it?" A voice asked from behind her.
Konan whirled around with wide eyes though relaxed when seeing it was just Giichi standing there. He was one of the new teachers at U.A. and was helping All Might co-teach the Hero Fundamentals class. He's been working mostly with the close combat students in Class-A with Konan falling under his mentoring as one of them since she used her martial arts more for fighting than her actual quirk. He was nice enough. A bit strict and rough around the edges, but overall, he's been a great help to their training.
"Gaunt-sensei," Konan greeted the retired Pro. "I merely want to get in a few more hours of training before I retire for the night. I am unsatisfied with my performance earlier today at the T.D.L."
Giichi hummed in reply as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked up at the dark sky.
"Still having trouble increasing the amount of paper you can produce at a time, huh?" He questioned.
Konan nodded her head as she frowned. She had some ideas for some ultimate moves, but both required her to make more paper from her body. She has a limit, and much like Minoru and his scalp when he uses his quirk, if she tries to push pass it, her body will begin to bleed and weaken.
"I had a similar issue with my own quirk at your age." Giichi said as he held out his arm.
Several long, jagged bones came from his arm. Much longer than the average bone and shaped much differently as well.
"It takes time," Giichi said as the bone retracted into his body. "It takes a lot effort to push your body pass its limit. It's hard breaking your body repeatedly to grow stronger, but something I found that helped me was to focus on something important for me. Sometimes a simple goal isn't enough. You need something you feel is worth breaking yourself for. It will help give you the push you need."
He then walked on while patting Konan on top the head as he passed. Konan watched him go before looking down at her own two hands.
'Something worth breaking myself for?' Konan wondered.
"Hey, Ko-Toshi, you still out here?" Eijiro's familiar voice called.
Konan looked up seeing him and a few others peeking out the door of the dorm building to look at her.
"It's getting kind of chilly," Momo said. "You should come inside before you catch a cold."
She said this almost like a fretting mother as she already had a blanket in hand for Konan.
"Ishida, made everyone, who is still up, a late-night snack," Mashirao added as he stepped out onto the porch. "You should come in and try some."
"Yeah, Konan, come on!" Toru urged. "They're so sweet and yummy!~ Ayano is good at baking!"
Said girl had a smile on her face as she was wiping her hands clean from where she had been cooking.
"There's still plenty." Ayano said. "I know training is important, but you need to rest every once and a while too, ya know?"
Konan stared at her friends a bit longer before a small smile pulled across her face.
"Okay, I'm coming," She said then started walking towards her classmates.
—END OF FLASHBACK—
Her classmates—no, her friends were worth pushing herself to the breaking point. She wanted to continue to fight alongside them. She wanted to share more happy moments and even sad ones…hard times and good times with them. She wouldn't allow herself to fall behind them now through failure.
'Let's begin,' Konan though as her body started to take on a more paper-like form.
Sheets started flying off of her body at a rapid pace and swirled in the area around her in about a twenty feet radius around her. Those who had been searching the area for a target started gasping. The paper spun like a cyclone in the shape of a cylinder thus trapping those within it. This cyclone of paper stood so tall that it could easily be seen from almost all sides of the arena.
"Whoa, who's doing that?" Joke asked from the stands as her eyes widened a bit.
Aizawa didn't comment, but he felt his mouth tilt up slightly at the corners. Looks like Konan was making a move. Back in the arena with Konan, she produced more paper, which filled the middle of the cyclone to make it hard for the trapped students to see.
"What the hell?!" One of them shouted. "What is this? Paper?!"
"I can't see anything!" Someone else yelled.
As many others were shouting and cursing, Konan stopped sending paper into the cyclone.
'Ultimate Move: Paper Blizzard is complete,' Konan thought. 'Now for the next part.'
She made more paper, but this paper started folding and forming shapes until before Konan were three crouched paper clones of herself.
'Second ultimate move—Paper Doll.' Konan thought.
She could do this. She just needed to tag two people before her opponents could regain their bearings and escape her trap. She nodded to her clones while giving them each a ball and keeping three for herself. She and her clones then left the safety of Konan's hiding spot. They spread out through the paper blizzard as some of the second-year participants were starting to get used to the conditions she placed them in.
"There!" One of them shouted. "It's Kurafutoshi of U.A!"
He pointed towards Konan—or rather one of her clones—as Konan was circling the group of second-years for a target. She sent her clones into the fray because even if they were hit, the targets on their bodies are only paper copies. Not the real deal. Several went to attack Konan's clone, but when a second clone entered the fray and hit one of the student's targets, it brought the teens to a halt.
"What the—?! Another one?!" The student, who was hit, shouted. "Kurafutoshi's quirk doesn't allow her to make clones?! Does it?!"
They then gasped as the third clone appeared and hit another one of their targets. The first that was spotted came in and hit their last target thus eliminating them from the exam.
"The real one has to be one of them! Attack! Hit the targets!"
All the students went in for attack again and her clones were hit hard by several quirks. Two of them were burned away, but the third managed to dodge the attacks.
"That must be the real one! Focus on her!" The student giving the orders shouted.
However, unknowing to them, the real Konan was closing in behind them. The clone struggled against the sheer number of opponents, and Konan knew she had to be quick. Just as her clone was destroyed, she struck. She kicked out her leg to hit the student in charge and he shouted in shock as he took a kick to the gut. He stumbled to the side and Konan moved in to hit his targets. She managed to hit one of them, but he let out a torrent of fire that forced her back. Her attack drew the attention of the other students who were swift to move in.
"Nice try, little girl," The student she managed to tag say. "But you picked the wrong target. My quirk is one of your greatest weaknesses. You know you don't stand a chance, and your clones are spent. Just give in now."
Konan frowned though remained firm as she glanced around at all those surrounding her. It was ten against one. The odds certainly weren't in her favor, but all she needed was to tag out one more person. And the one in front of her only needs to be tagged two more times.
'I can do this,' Konan told herself. 'Even if I still have doubts. Even if I still can't fully believe in myself, there are people who do. They believe in me, and I won't fail them.'
Konan took a deep breath then in a blink of an eye dispersed her body to mix in with the paper blizzard. Despite her disappearance, the leader of these students remained calm.
"You're only delaying the inevitable, Kurafutoshi!" He shouted. "Don't think you can hide!"
"I'm not hiding," Her voice came from behind him, which caused him to stiffen in shock. "I'm moving forward."
He then gasped as Konan's hands, which had reformed hit his targets with Konan's remaining two balls. Konan reformed completely in front of him as the paper she used to form the cyclone returned to her body rapidly. Soon things were cleared and the students, who hadn't been tagged out, watched as Konan's targets lit up blue and she was declared to have passed.
'I did it,' Konan thought as a small smile pulled across her face. 'With this victory—even if small—I will continue to grow stronger and become a hero.'
Coco: And that brings us to and end of the first chapter of this double update. I hope you liked the ultimate moves I gave Konan and Ayumi. I know I only showed one move for Ayumi, but maybe her second one will be shown in the near future (Ya know, when I actually can come up with one... XD) . I really liked how Konan's moves came out. I wanted two ultimate moves that she could either use separately or even merged together. Kind of like giving her three moves instead of two XD
But how about we move right along to the next chapter? Good? Good!