This chapter is going to be followed by another one in a day. Since I'm almost done with that one. The sports festival will begin on that chapter and it will also set up some important plot happenings that will be returned to in the future and during the sports festival itself.

As for this chapter, I hope you enjoy since it's twice as long as all of my most recent chapters. Leave a review if you have any criticism or ideas to leave.

"First! I'm going to test your strength so I can figure out what works best for you. Second, I'll teach you some great moves for getting out of a pinch! And finally, I'll give you advice on how to be a proper hero for the masses!" The ever so enthusiastic All Might yelled out. He and Maribel stood on the roof of a building within ground Beta. It was a very good proposition, but Maribel felt that the hero part of it was extra. Improving the ability of her quirk and her technique was more on her mind than standing out as righteous. And frankly, she couldn't find the mood to be.

"Yes, sir! Let's go." Maribel replied and stood at attention before her teacher. Her quirk was already active, giving her the ghostly eyes she usually had. All Might was far from as intimidating as he used to be, both to a growing confidence in herself and getting used to his presence. There was something that ticked her off, though. It had a familiarity.

All Might put his hands to his waist and started elaborating. "As I said, we'll begin by testing your physical strength. I heard you've been getting stronger recently, and the results at the battle trial seem to agree. For a starter, I want you to try and hit me."

"With my hands?"

He kept his friendly visage and tone as he answered affirmatively. "Yes!"

Maribel was completely confident she couldn't actually make him budge. While she hadn't kept track of heroes on TV or anything, she knew All Might was the rare kind of person who leveled entire complexes in fights. All she could do was sigh and try her best. She walked a lot closer and then winded up her right arm into a hook and punched! Unsurprisingly it didn't budge him from his spot, although he wobbled just a little.

"Oof... Certainly not bad. But it was never really sending me stumbling." He shrugged it off. His dignified tone made him sound satisfied."Next, we'll try kicking."

Maribel jerked her arm back and felt up her hand a bit. It was very sore, almost like she punched a rigid wall. Although it didn't hurt like it would if that was the case. In a moments notice, she shifted her posture to one that would allow her to easily kick. In a style similar to Aizawa, she made an absurdly quick and very powerful stomp that emphasized her heel. A split second's blink allowed her to elevate her foot just to his stomach and make it collide smoothly. The number one hero braced his feet against the ground, creating a powerful friction that stopped him from moving at all. Still, no damage. She withdrew her foot out of the gap and put it back on the ground, wiggling on the spot as she did. Subsequently she took a step back.

All Might gave her a thumbs up. "Very good, young Hearn! Safe to say you're one of the stronger people in 1-A, despite your quirk not being centered around physical enhancement." He praised her and then lowered his hand. "Now, we'll try lifting."

For a moment, All Might disappeared from her enhanced sight. A colored streak replacing him in Maribel's eyes before disappearing for a moment. I can see this well? The next second, a cloud of dust kicked up just as All Might returned to the scene. A metallic crank struck her ears and All Might dropped what looked like a mangled rooftop coolant unit onto the ground. "This is part of an AHU, weighs around 100 kilograms."

Gently pulling her blonde hair back a bit, Maribel thought about herself for a moment. I really need to get a haircut. Just a week ago, it went a little beyond her ears, but now it was just about to reach down to the base of her shoulders. "Oh?" She focused her ghostly eyes on All Might again, and then on the AHU. It was almost as big as her.

Instinctively, she thought it was ridiculous for her to try and lift something like that, but at the same time she had never attempted it. Walking on over to it, she grappled it by the sides and tried to heave it up. Putting in all of her strength, she began lifting it a couple of centimeters off of the ground. Then she put a foot under it for extra support, heaving it up to 50 centimeters in a short time. Next, she put her kneecap just under it to replace her foot's position and put it ever so slowly above her head. This was strenuous, and she was visibly sweating as she attempted it. Then moving it atop her head. Maribel tried holding it like that for 10 seconds as her entire body went to support it. Changing her grip just a little before dropping it in the ensuing balance change. Instead of letting it fall, she swung it down as hard as she could and away from her toes. The thing bent under the force, the part that hit the ground became buckled. Now exhausted, Maribel sat down and panted while on the ground. A wind blew past her head for a second, pushing her hair into her face. "Faaah... Pfhah... ...Is it normal for you to test other students like this? It's a little difficult, but I can do this..."

The hero raised his finger and answered his student informatively. "I'm no stranger to deducing the strengths and weaknesses of villains with mere observation. It's quite a great skill to understand exactly what attacks would be most efficient in subduing a villain. Any physical action is a boon for both teaching and battle. While girls aren't normally as muscular as boys, quirks can compensate, just watching someone's stature isn't enough."

"Hah... Uh-huh." Maribel replied and stood up, pulling her beautiful blonde hair behind her ears. "Uh... I managed to see you moving before, when you went picking up that cooling unit."

All Might raised both of his eyebrows in an expression of surprise. All he could do after that was open his mouth in a second of thought before returning to his usual smile. "Quite impressive! Discounting Noumu-" Maribel thought back and looked away from All Might for a moment, discontent with herself. "I haven't encountered someone like that in a long while. It's a great thing people like you choose to become heroes. People whose quirk can rapidly change and become stronger are quite rare.

Maribel nodded and smiled somewhat honestly. He must've read the quirk registry. "Right! So, you wanted to teach me some moves?"

"Mhm! Let's get to it." The hero smiled again. "Typical smashes won't work for you, even though you came up with a super move that achieves a similar effect. So instead, I'll try and show you something more technical. Grapples, hard hitting strikes and kicks." He explained, turned to the right and entered a fighting pose. "First, your main leg and hand to the back. Second is to start the punch with your leg, twist and move your body along with the punch! I'll show you, SMASH!" He yelled out, his body twisting slightly and sending a single clean punch into the air, something which she managed to see perfectly as it created a powerful gust of wind in front of it. Making some of the other cooling units and tubes on the roof wobble and fly off their fastenings. A sonic boom rang out, but Maribel felt his punch wasn't approaching those speeds. His quirk must be emitting energy with his movements.

"...Oh, oh. Time to try it." She responded, blinking in response to the destructive showcase. Her posture changed to a very similar one to All Might, who walked up next to her to take a look at how she stood.

"Just a little farther back with the leg." He raised a hand and told her humbly. Nodding, she moved it into place. With a quick twist of her leg, she swung her hips along with it and her upper body a little forward. Then releasing her curled arm into a single punch that created an audible whoosh in the air. All of this technical talk reminded Maribel of her run-in earlier today with Nishida. More specifically on the strange thing she had her try. Once he's done showing me this stuff, I think I want to try it out again. It felt weird.

"Nice!" He told her in English, despite his Japanese accent, it was pronounced perfectly well. "Just keep practicing on that! Let's do it again." He said and adopted the same posture next to her. They repeated several times without any smashing. Maribel kept up with him for a while, but she did not have infinite stamina, despite her quirk. So eventually, she had to stop.

"And smash!" All Might yelled out one last time, before retracting his fist. "Getting tired?"

Maribel rubbed the back of her head and closed her eyes in slight embarrassment. Not being able to keep up with someone as strong as him was a given, but she couldn't help but feel inadequate put next to him. "E-excuse me, sensei! I need more stamina exercise."

"Ahahahahaha!" He let out a mighty, welcoming laugh and looked up to the sky. Then lowering his head to her again. "It's no problem. You've two weeks, just practice this in your free time. Now, I wanted to teach you a bit about grappling and some counters for that. Then, we'll start kicking. We'll start with the leg placement..."

Surprisingly, this was enjoyable.

All Might had taken most of the lesson to teach Maribel some of the technical aspects of how to fight. Punching, grappling and now kicking. All without much interruption. Occasionally another student passed them by and asked a question, but that's where it ended.

"Alright, pivot on the support leg and extend the other the last second. Again!" The number one hero instructed. Following instructions, Maribel put her kicking leg four dozen degrees to the side and then spun on her left leg that supported her. The kicking leg was flexed so that the kneecap would impact first. Although just as the kick was about to lose its momentum, she brought it out in full length. If there was something for her to hit, it would've been impacted by her shin. Nonetheless, it created another whoosh, indicating she was attacking quite fast. Maribel was significantly more skillful with her kicks than she was with her fists, maybe it was because she previously relied on them a lot. Once more, both of her legs touched the ground.

She brought her hair behind her ears again and turned her head to her teacher. "Sensei! Was that good?"

"Mhm! Perfect!" He gave her a thumbs up before putting both his hands on his hips. "Those were the basics of what I wanted to teach you. Since I'm here during every hero lesson, I'll help you weave those moves into your muscles if you so wish!"

Maribel bowed respectfully and then stood straight. "Before you go over the last thing, can I try something?"

"Hmm?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"It's something I experimented with this morning." Maribel responded, putting her hands on her hips in a slightly cheeky imitation of him.

"Yes! Give it a try." He encouraged.

Maribel closed her eyes just like before and felt the aura in her surrounding. Her quirk's multiple capabilities filtered out of her mind as this part was empathized. The boundaries became afterthoughts as she focused on her own. In the presence of something as radiating as All Might, it was frankly hard to feel, but it was there. Largely contained inside her and otherwise widespread, like a fire in an engine. Nishida from earlier today had a unique aura in comparison, encasing her form like a dense shell. That must be a secret to how she made herself so fast. A quick look at All Might told her that he wasn't capable of something similar,. The 'exhaust' far surpassed hers, but the rest was just as pent up inside.

"...Just a moment." The boundary girl sighed as she focused on the base of her spine, her aura collected around her until it vaguely resembled the dancer. Maribel's muscles tightened as she did, straining her. Her eyes opened to reveal there was a bright purple glow all around her. Consciously preventing herself from tightening it too much, Maribel kept herself on the brink of familiar pain as she raised her leg and stomped hard into the ground. There was the accompanying sound of the wind and then a powerful thud as she subsequently made a large crack and indentation in the rooftop. "Woah." She thought out loud, pushing away with her leg and briefly gliding across the ground as if she was flying, before landing. All Might stared in a mix of bewilderment and excitement at her as the glow around her broke off and disappeared over the course of a second.

"A-aaah... Ow..." Maribel gasped as she sat down and clutched her foot. To tell the truth, she ached all over, but her foot especially. Eyes turned gold as she stopped focusing her quirk in its entirety.

"Young Hearn, are you alright?" All Might asked, walking on over and kneeling next to her. His look becoming one of slight concern, yet confident as he usually was.

Her head turned to him as she stopped and picked herself up. It felt like she stubbed her toes for a moment. Maribel put her eyes back on him. "...Yes, I'm alright."

He cleared his throat and stood tall again. "You're full of surprises! I hope you don't mind me helping you during the next lesson too."

"Oh, I don't. But I'm not sure if I should keep sticking to the same teachers every lesson. I need to pick up many skills." Hearn crossed her arms and looked up at him innocently.

All Might raised his hand up, perhaps as a gesture of criticism. "Just remember it's good to have a clear vision. If you keep shifting the road, you won't memorize all that you learn. What's important about fighting is ingraining everything into your muscle memory."

Maribel nodded. "Well, that's true. I'll have a shorter session with you during the next lesson."

The number one hero smirked at this. He wouldn't let a student with this amount of potential go to waste. Even discounting the reason he had become a teacher, there were plenty of things that were worth his attention. "Anyway, it's about time I tell you how to act appealing to the public as a hero!"

Not wanting to come across as dejecting to his work, Maribel stood out with this and kept a rather subtle smile. On the inside, she didn't really care all that much.

Extending his arm, he held out his index finger. "One. It's critical to be amicable and friendly towards those who obey the law, it builds a confidence in you and earns you respect from civilians." Holding out his middle finger, he continued. "Second. In a setting like the school festival, keeping an air of honor is always optimal. Sportsmanship among those two deserve it is valued, don't forsake it." With one last extension of his ring finger, he told her the rest. "And third. Keep an air of invincibility, remain confident in your abilities in times of crisis. A hero who fights hard, but barely gets out of it may look inadequate." Finishing, he clapped his hands together. "That's that. You're free to enjoy the rest of this lesson."

With a last sign of respect, Maribel put her hands together on her lap and bowed 45 degrees. Standing straight after that. "Thank you for your time, sensei." And turned around, walking on over to the edge of the building and disappearing in a briefly visible and moving gap.

She learns quickly, and that quirk is something else.

Maribel closed the door to her house. The entry hall was very comfortable, a nice wooden floor, white walls and white ceiling. Touched up by an old-fashioned rectangular rug, a doormat, a place to put your shoes and a couple of hooks to put your clothes on. Finalized with a shelf to the right and a painting to the right.

First, she was going to go and take a shower and change out of her school uniform. But before that, there was something that absolutely demanded her attention. In her hand was an unfamiliar object, it looked like a birthday present with the wrapper and all that. It's not made of cardboard, wood... I don't know, doesn't feel like it. Maribel knocked her hand against the present. She had picked it up just outside her house before and was trying to understand who left it there. Let's go through the day...

I woke up, put on my clothes, ate some breakfast, went out and ran into the dancer... Nishida. She held this. It was meant for me?

Her thoughts became babble to herself, less so than an internal voice. This was the doing of Okina Matara, but it was quite bizarre still. Hearn would've expected something formal and traditional be used by a god. If that's actually a god that is, and she wasn't just being led astray. That's a stupid thought at this point...

"Hmm." Maribel mumbled, putting the object down and removing her shoes. Then she carried it over to the living room, which was pretty big on its own. Featuring a modern video player that was connected to the internet, from what Maribel understood. Her dad had told her something about protocols and IPTV. A large and clear holographic screen, which he bought specifically because it didn't get dirty. A couch plus table, a stylish light hanging from the cieling- a pendant as you would call it. There were a couple of plants lining windows that showed their relatively small backyard. Some paintings hung on the wall opposite of that. It was a wide room, and every time you entered you really got to feel it.

Carefully, she put the object down on the table and walked on over to an outlet by the wall just next to the couch. Plugged into it was a charging station and currently docked was a robot. People often used robotic servants, although they were usually limited in function. This one, in particular, was a variant of Asimo from 2143. She used to be scared of it when she was a few years younger, but she got over it. "Hey, Asimo." Maribel waited for a second as the eyes lit up on its 'face'. Pointing towards the object, she asked. "Can you open this delicately?"

It nodded and 'blinked', detaching from the wireless docking station and walking on over to the table like a tiny dwarf. Thinking back again, it was stupid how she was scared of it just a few years ago. I mean, sure, I had those nightmares but this is just a loyal robot. It heeds our voice commands, it isn't accessible by hackers. What was there to be afraid of? She thought, placing her thumb and index finger around her chin. Asimo reached out and grasped the box-like object gently. Maribel had never understood how it had such finesse with its hands. The robot had no issue in grappling the small folds in the wrapper and opening it like a letter. There was no tape or actual attachment material, so there was no ripping of the paper to be heard. If it wasn't for the suspicious characters behind it, Maribel would have no issue opening it herself. It wasn't like she was a spoiled girl who needed people to coddle her or anything.

When the wrapper was finally off, Maribel strode forward and the robot turned to hold it out to her. It was an object made of some kind of dark gray stone or mineral. Perfectly square and with matching square indentations on all sides. Inside them were black ink-like markings that were connected with a plain black and angular line. Each marking was circular, surrounded by several dots, weird geometric line-art beyond that. She scooped it up in her hands and felt it, while the robot started going back to its charging station.

There was something else about the box, aside from its unique appearance. With her quirk, she felt the familiar presence of a god all around it. This was a given, but it felt so contained, being a speck of what she felt before waking up in the hospital a few days ago. "Suspicious." Maribel told herself and put it back on the table, removing her phone from her pocket and bringing it up to her face. Flipping the camera, she took a quick photo of it and attached it to another message she started to type.

[One of those dream-people left this at my house, I feel the presence of that god around it. Don't know what it is though. Wanna come over and investigate later?] - Maribel Hearn, 19/4/2146 at 16:50

And after a bit of waiting.

[I'm not sure if I can fit that in my schedule right now! I've got a lot of studying to do, but I'll try and see if I can fit that in tomorrow. Okay?] Renko Usami, 19/4/2146 at 16:51

It was a given that Renko would be busier than her. If she remembered correctly, her school would be one of those that kept the students there longer than U.A, and with her course it was natural for there to be a lot of work to do. Irritating, sure, but it was nothing to get angry about. Maribel took a picture of herself smiling and typed a response.

[That works. Also, do you think I should get a haircut?] - Maribel Hearn, 19/4/2146 at 16:52

[Looks fine, Merry. Just brush it a bit during the morning.] Renko Usami, 19/4/2146 at 16:52

Satisfied, Maribel put away the phone. She was going to go take a shower. Once she was done, she thought about getting a picture for Iida after she put on some clothes. A somewhat emotional thought as she understood it. Maybe he'd like it... Her inner voice spoke, blushing slightly as she made her way to the bathroom.

"So that servant just left it lying on your doorstep?"

"That's what I think. Those dancers are very strange. The first time I met them, they were wearing very traditional clothing. But yesterday, I just met one of them right at the shortcut wearing something a jogger would. Then I think she dropped this here." Maribel pointed at the inscribed cube that currently sat in the living room as they sat together on the couch. "And I don't know what to do with it."

Renko shifted her eyes from Maribel down to the cube. "Did she tell you anything when you met her?"

"Oh, right. She stopped to explain some kind of trick, but all it did was make me feel a bit of pain at first. Tried it on the hero lesson in another way and I became a lot stronger. If anything has to do with that box, it's that." Maribel explained, weaving her forearms around a little to grab Renko's attention. A trick like that always worked to get people to remember what you said. Raising one finger into the air, Maribel was reminded of something. "Oh! I forgot to tell you something I discovered."

"Well, before we continued the former discussion. Tell me about it!" Renko eagerly and somewhat playfully let out toward her friend.

Putting her hands together for a bit, Maribel explained calmly. "My gaps can connect to expand space, and within this new space a vacuum is formed. I tested it, and it's not physically possible for me to trap something outside of space with it. So I think I confirmed that matter needs space."

"Oh... Ooooh. That's actual evidence! Your quirk is good for this kind of stuff." Usami commented and pulled a digital notepad out of her backpack and immediately began tapping it. "My work in school right now isn't just studying for tests, we also started some projects. Personally, I was aiming to impress some of my teachers, and this is just what I need for that. Calculations are nice and all, but legitimate evidence is great."

"Projects this early into the year? Is it some year long stuff? We have a lot of studying to do, but it's probably more leisurely than the stuff you get to do. More practicals too." Maribel asked curiously, elaborating a little before taking a hold of a cup of tea that sat by the table. Carefully making sure she didn't spill anything, she felt the porcelain and its warmth before deciding it was cold enough to drink. Thus lifting it to her immaculate lips and taking a sip. Tasted like vanilla.

"You're on point. We're supposed to demonstrate what we learnt through the year after review from the school." Renko said, much more leisurely picking up her cup, filled with coffee and sipping it. Then she brought it down to chest height and looked Maribel in the eye, smiling confidently. "I've made up my mind about what I'm going to do, though! For a challenge, I've thought about focusing on unified physics. Started reading about it just before I left junior high."

Maribel's eyes widened at the words being mentioned. "I don't know as much as you do, but the theories aren't completely unified yet, right? Are you going for a presentation, perhaps a paper or something?"

"Exactly. But they've come a long way since the two-thousands. Not quite aiming for just a paper, I've been thinking of my own solutions." The brunette responded, putting her cup down. "I don't think I could explain it that easily, even if I dumb it down. But I'll certainly think about it when we'll display them at the start of May. We also get the opportunity to display it to the public, which tends to draw a crowd. I think that's a great opportunity for me."

Maribel looked at her vanilla tea for a moment and brought it up to her mouth again. Haphazardly slurping down half of it before wiping her lips with her fingers. "Hey! That's after the sports festival. I'll definitely go if it's after my school time. Assuming they don't toss us a lot of work."

"Ah, the sports festival. How's that going, by the way? You recovered really quickly, so I can't think that you aren't participating." Maribel's best friend interrogated. If it wasn't for Renko being her friend, Maribel would have absolutely lied to her about this. Principal Nezu wouldn't like her spreading information about her participation in the sports festival, or about the incident at USJ. The days since she recovered, Maribel had occasionally had run-ins with reporters that searched for her and told them little tidbits about the incident. This was exactly like Nezu wanted, and when she woke up it was some of the first things she read on any media site. Even her dad seemed to read those articles in the morning.

On the thought of her dad, he's been really worried about her since that incident. Despite her sudden recovery softening his sentiment a little.

"I am participating. Just don't tell anyone else, the school doesn't want any mass media involved... Really, the truth is the Principal is focusing a lot of the teacher's efforts into helping me become fit for it. Why? He wants me to get to the top so that it looks less like I was helpless. In his words, no one but All Might could've beaten Noumu."

"Uhuh. I won't tell anyone, promise." Renko nodded."That's a lot of effort for one incident, though. Since you recovered, I haven't thought all that much about it, even if I hate those who did it. Does the media really care that much about hurting the school's reputation?" Her questions continued.

Hearn raised one finger in conjunction with her sentence to catch the full attention of her friend again."Personally I don't really care for media, but the Principal told me that they are not malicious but instead greedy. It's a big story. A good person looking bad will catch many eyes."

"Alright. I think I get it all now. You were really caught in a bad position there..."

"-He also told me that my intervention saved my teacher's life. I'm not sure if they've told the media about it yet, either but I sent their leaders home bleeding. That... Noumu was effectively braindead without them." The blonde almost interrupted and cupped her hands together. A cold feeling rushed over her shoulders when she thought back to the incident for a few moments. The impact and the power behind that god damned thing had stuck with her. If she ever saw something similar, she might just try and totally annihilate it. Maribel didn't care.

Usami's hand patted Maribel's back. "There, there. It's been over with. So tell me, how have you been practicing? Oh, and tell me about that trick you mentioned earlier!"

Oh yeah... I almost forgot. "I'm not sure I can show it inside without damaging something, but I can explain it." Maribel put down her cup of tea on the table and thought about it for a moment. "You know how my quirk lets me feel the presence of people and things, right? I hate lycoris, for example. It creeps me out. Then when I got a bit older, I started feeling the differing presence of people once I was around them for a bit... I can focus my sensing of auras to see my own and control it. It's hard to explain, since it's a bit like using another limb. Someone with multiple arms could probably sympathize."

"Mhm. So you control your aura like you do with your eyes?"

"Are you guessing? Well, you're right. By doing that I am able to glide on the ground like I'm on ice. Also during the hero lesson, I managed to make a big crack in some concrete with it. It gives me a jolt of pain when I use it, though." Maribel explained. She glanced behind herself out to the night sky. It was a little late, and with it still being April. She almost felt like going out and taking a view of the moon, given how clear it was.

"Do you think you're doing it wrong or something, Merry?"

Hearn put two fingers on her chin and deviated her sight to the ceiling. "That dancer said something about balancing myself. Maybe I will have to get accustomed to it. When I felt Nishida's aura, it was more like a shell around her and I tried imitating that. All it did was hit me like I landed on my butt, though. Being a little bit more loose with my concentration only made me hurt all over, but especially in the part of the body I used during its duration."

Renko ran some fingers through her hair. She wore a plain white blouse and a black skirt, which was her preferred wear. Even though she sometimes went with all black or even brown. "The last times we experimented with your quirk, you got stronger during the evening, right? Is it any different now?"

There was a look of befuddlement on Hearn's face as Renko's words came to her. She had completely forgotten about that. And Maribel honestly didn't feel that much different from earlier today. But she could tell one thing, her clear state of mind. She used to feel a lot more confused earlier this week. It was like she was more so in touch with her surroundings and the things that could be heard or , she only started feeling close to it when she was having fun in class or with Renko. But aside from some temporary detachment from her surroundings, Maribel was oddly clear. Is this the result of the door? "I don't know. I feel oddly clear in my head and didn't have any strange episodes today. When I came back to school, I was totally unfocused on my environment for a bit. But after that, I stopped."

"Maybe you've been in that state for a while now. Could you tell any difference between the morning and the evening, though?" Renko asked before taking the cup up again and drinking as leisurely as she wanted.

"...I don't know, Renko." Maribel kept her eyes wide open, she had to think about this for a while. Am I powered up constantly?

"I get it, I get it. But you get especially energetic during the full moon, right? Why don't we try experimenting then? I've got a bit less to do in my free time that day. Since the stuff we have been doing in school right now is not routine."

"Yes! Excellent idea. I'm not sure if it's tied to my quirk, but that might be a good idea." Maribel blurted out and stood up, her now neck-length blonde hair waving a little in the sudden movement. "I was thinking we could eat up the last of those cookies by the way. Let me get them..." She said and reached out through a gap that she formed abruptly, Hearn wasn't used to creating one so smoothly, but it let exactly where she wanted. With a slick motion of her fingers, she scooped up a plastic bag with their remaining cookies and pulled them out.

Her friend's face lit up in interest not at the sight of the cookies, but at the careful details behind her actions. "Hey, you don't even need getting your eyes glowing now?"

Maribel snickered a little as if to excuse herself, putting the cookies down on the table. "It's a bit tricky, and I don't always get it right." She clarified and opened the bag, pouring them out on a plate. "Well, are we going to race to the last cookie now?"

"It's on." Usami cheekly reached out and grasped a hold of a cookie.

"Hmph!" Maribel grunted as she tried grasping through a gap, her eyes fiercely locked at the position in and around the plate.

Without doing a proper check on what Maribel caught, her arm swung what she grasped right into her mouth and bit a little. The dull smell of soft plastic had entered Maribel's mouth for a moment before she pulled it out.

Renko took one look at her and swallowed her cookie haphazardly, getting some stuck in her throat for a moment and coughing. In the span of a few seconds though, it faded into laughter. "Merry!"

"Come on!" The blonde's fingers tossed the plastic away.

And so they enjoyed the evening.