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"The event will be after an hour's lunch break! See you then!"

There was a pause. Nothing came from the amplifiers that allowed the sound to travel over the entire stadium.

"...Hey, Eraserhead, let's go grab some food."

"Well, it is lunch break..."

Maribel felt she'd had enough time in the spotlight for now. She put her arm just above her head, her long hair waving in the wind of the open stadium as she looked up at the sun.

Daylight, the day, it irritated her. She couldn't help but flinch, not in response to the light, but the day itself. It was hard to understand this feeling, she couldn't even describe it. Only when night did approach, she felt normal, and when the sun went down, she felt alive. Under the light of the moon, and especially the full moon, she had always felt extremely energetic. It was unlike anyone else she'd ever met, even when she was a wreck, she got up to look at it. Those nights were the most exciting for her, and she didn't know why.

"...A youkai." She muttered lowly to herself. That's what Doremy called me. Beyond the books, what is it, really?

Hearn looked back down at the ground and took a breath. Then she looked over at Sato and Jurota, the two members of her team that were left. "You might not remember it, Jurota-san. But thanks for participating."

He looked over at her and started speaking a little brashly. "...You're Hearn-san, right? I don't have anything against you, but I didn't really know if I got to show off or not. This festival's a big opportunity, you know?"

Hearn put one leg before the other and squeezed her chin between her thumb and index finger. "My pledge was to restore the school's reputation. Want to know why?"

Her teammate from class 1-A stood and watched. Hearn immediately assumed he wanted to exit with her, which would be natural. "Surely. Do tell." Jurota asked, crossing his furry arms.

"Principal Nezu asked me to perform at the top. A good performance from the school, from someone's who has been a big point in the media's criticism of U.A, will make things easier for him..."

"Al-"

"The next question is. Why would this work?"

"You would be at the top, of course. Everyone watches the top."

"Yes. The big companies watch the top. The mass media watches the top. It is attractive to be in the top, and now you're there too. This is the last round."

Jurota looked her in the eye, his glasses reflecting her image in them. Golden eyes, that made her at ease. "This is a better opportunity than the last round?"

"Precisely." Hearn bounced on her feet a little and clapped her hands together. Looking satisfied.

The man from 1-B shrugged. "You're right. But I'll have to think on this, it just doesn't feel like I came here by doing anything myself."

"You played a role, even if you don't remember." Maribel smiled. "That is enough, and I hope you can appreciate that."

He smiled back at her and walked away to the gathering of 1-B. Seemed like both classes wanted to gather before making their way to the exit. "I guess I'll keep that in mind."

Sato looked down at Hearn and asked quite curiously. "So what was that all about?"

Looking on over at Sato, she held her arms out in front, around her chest area to grab his attention and make her words more appealing. "My intuition told me he felt like giving up the final round. Not only do I think he'd be doing himself a disservice, but... I don't want any more wildcards showing up in the last round."

"Ah, that's smart. Well, let's go and get some lunch." He raised his hand over his shoulder and pointed back with his thumb.

She agreed, and they both walked away toward the rest of their class. Maribel only had one person her mind though, but her thoughts were a little bit wild after all the action. Her decision was to take it a little easy. They joined the train of classmates, and soon enough, 1-B did too. Maribel purposefully went to find Iida, making her way past those who may be glaring at her to do so without much care.

"How's it, Iida-kun?" She started talking, a very calm and confident voice at first. Iida shifted his head a little, not looking at her at first. "Sorry if I happened to play like that in the first round... I got serious in the second, and it feels like I went a little overboard, too." She finished, mild regret in her voice now. There was no need to apologize as strongly again, after all. He took a little step to the side and looked over his shoulder at her, letting her take his side.

"I'm alright." He gestured to himself. "And it's okay, don't let anyone hold you back."

She held one hand out in his direction as she spoke. Relatively close to her body. Their eyes met and both of them smiled, Maribel felt calm. "You were really fast too. Recipro Burst, huh? I'm honest when I say that you were almost as quick as All Might."

"Ah, well, thank you!" He rubbed the back of his head a little robotically. Silly, but she couldn't help but like it. "...I felt like I had to show how good I am, be a rival. To you, to Midoriya and the rest."

"The next round's always a one versus one, it's an even better opportunity for an attempt at rivalry. I hope you aren't immediately put up against me, though."

"You're aiming for the top, right?"

She smiled coyly and shrugged a little.

Candy apples and spun sugar twirled between her fingertips as she walked around. Seemingly unassuming eyes were stalking for two people in particular, and once they found them, weren't afraid to approach. It was in a crowd, so they all hid in plain sight. There was no chance anyone could really get a drop on her, even without those factors.

"You two."

The two dancers turned around, it seemed like they were enjoying themselves at the fair, appearing inconspicuous. "Ah- AH!" The green-haired of the pair jumped a little whilst the other, brunette, tilted her head in confusion.

Kasen Ibara, also known as Kasen Ibaraki, adjusted her jacket and stared down at the two. "Maribel Hearn." Was her simple statement. The rather imposing hermit crossed her arms. "Your master expresses an interest in her. Why?"

Satono was the first to talk. One word first, then a pause as something came to her mind. "Well-... We've been told to come, so we could take a look at that girl, she resurrected from a deadly injury! Crazy."

The hermit's stern expression remained stern, raising both of her eyebrows.

"That's why you're here too, isn't iiiiit?" Satono drew out the last word, she was playing a little dumb. The red-eyed woman wasn't really fooled by this, but she understood that insisting on answers wouldn't give her anything.

"You're not wrong..." Kasen replied, sounding defeated. "But don't try anything. I've had misfortune of knowing her. Your master won't surprise me." She spoke clearly and then turned around, wandering back toward the arena.

Both the dancers looked at each other and then back at Kasen. A hint of distress spread upon their faces.

Iida and Maribel had decided to spend the lunch break together, relaxing. She made an effort to avoid making it feel all too intimate, since that embarrassed her and had only suggested going to get some drinks together. He had initially intended to go do it alone, he needed orange juice to fuel his quirk apparently. But she took advantage of this.

And while she wasn't as enthusiastic about buying a drink, she bought one soda for herself. A tasteful one, one sip was enough to keep her satisfied for at least thirty seconds. So she could afford the ability to drag any conversation whilst Iida drank his cans a lot quicker than she did her own.

"The difference between a normal person's eyes and his are that when my eyes become this indigo color, and my quirk is focused..." She playfully formed a circle around her right eye with her thumb and index finger. "He becomes just a blur. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I had a hard time seeing you when you were moving." She continued, swinging her hand across the empty air as fast as she could without exerting herself.

Iida nodded and smiled brightly. "You know, I'm surprised that you think so highly of me! Thank you very much!" He bowed a little. Maribel couldn't help but wave this praise off a little.

"Hehe..." She giggled and held a hand up to cover her mouth. He looked at her a little surprised. "There's no need to thank me like that! Come on, we're friends."

"Well, I'm sorry!" He replied to her ironically and rubbed the back of his head.

"You don't need to apologize either!"

"I'm kidding." He held up his hands, snickering all the while. There was a bit of fun in the air. "But I'm really wondering, why did you become so angry at the end?"

Maribel paused, her eyebrows raised to make her look curious. Offering her an air of innocence. She wasn't unprepared for this moment, but she really didn't want to take up the inner working of her quirk with anyone... but her. The warm feeling in her stomach, the butterflies, didn't help her in keeping her thoughts contained. "It's a very personal thing, and I'm a little too shy to tell people." She simply explained.

He looked somewhat regretful over asking her, knowing he was treading into personal territory. She assumed he also knew this himself. "Oh, well, we don't need to talk about it..."

Hearn felt a great weight lift from her shoulders as she looked into his eyes and sighed. Holding a hand up as to take the word. Eyes turning away a little from Iida and her head too. "My quirk has been... changing ever since the entrance exam." She stated, Maribel's expression was stern, something he seemed quick to realize and take into account.

"I first felt a change when I had to fight Yaoyorozu. When I focus this quirk, and my eyes change. I become easily angered, manic, sometimes delirious. Sometimes, it focuses without me knowing. The sun irritates me."

Iida put his can of orange juice down, laying both of his arms on the table after that. She liked this gesture and continued talking. Her tone started becoming somewhat despondent after that. "Since it messes with my head like this, I can't help but feel afraid for myself... And the people around me..."

"Maybe you should try for medication?" He spoke calmly.

There was a pause, and Maribel sniveled a little. There was a bad feeling in her throat as she started talking.

"Iida... I've tried it as a kid!" She burst out, Iida was taken aback and broke eye-to-eye contact. Her expression changed and her eyes started watering. "My quirk has been messing with my head since I was a kid! But not like this, no! It gave me nightmares every night for five years straight! NOW IT'S EVEN WORSE!" Maribel yelled, angry with herself. There was a pause, and she started sobbing thereafter.

"Maribel, your eyes..." He held out a hand, before abruptly standing up, starting to walk around the table at a hurried pace.

Pausing, she looked at him for a few moments. Waving a hand in front her eyes and noticing the glow. Maribel closed her eyes, putting her head into her arms and resting on the table. All she felt compelled to do was cry.

Her friend patted her back.

After her short, little episode and revelation, Maribel had a talk with Tenya about these issues. Specifically the incident as USJ. What was most important to her was he didn't tell anyone else, and he agreed to her request. When they walked away from each other, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. It might've been him, but this was the second time she'd told anybody about her quirk's issue in her entire life. There was a lot she hadn't spoken of, things that she hoped she would never have to talk about still. And she also hoped it would remain like that.

Her feet struck the ground, she felt a little shaky on her feet as her eyes darted around the halls. Someone was here, someone eminent, not All Might, Doremy or a god or anything. Maribel's ability wasn't precise enough to know their location like this, especially if she isn't seeing anyone, but she knew they were here. The size of the arena guaranteed she wouldn't easily run into a hero, but there was a chance if any of them wanted to come down and talk to the participants of the first year round.

The white skin of her hand waved in front of her eyes, reflecting a purple light. She closed her eyes for ten seconds, breathed, and it was gone. Maribel then grabbed some the hair that went down to her shoulder. It's so long now, why is it growing so much? I'll need bundling this up... The last round will have me moving a lot more than the cavalry battle, can't have it blowing into my face. I'm not far away from the room...

She continued walking and arrived soon enough. Before her was the door to the room where they all were before the festival started. She was quick to open it and stride on in, looking through the lockers for her stuff. Maribel had brought a number of things for this day, including some normal clothes since they weren't really staying at school today. With her hair growing so long recently, she had always thought of giving herself a ponytail or something to make it less annoying to handle.

She pulled her bag out and opened it, taking out a box. Made of some sort of cardboard. Smooth as silk. She pulled the lid off and took out some of the contents. Two red ribbons. Spending some time thinking about it, she took out two more.

Is there a mirror? She thought and looked around, finding the answer to be a 'no'. There had to be a solution to this problem.

...

Maribel ran her finger across the air before her and created a gap, about as big as her in size. It then split into two, one up, one below. The image she wanted to see was down by her feet, the mirror-like gaps that looked like bent space acting just like a mirror of sorts.

I could flip this reflection... Somehow.

Boundary between these images, flipped... A subjective boundary.

The images flipped, giving Maribel a full view of her face. As good looking as ever. She grasped the air that laid strewn across her shoulder, covering her ear and began to tie it up in one ribbon. Finishing with a looped bow. Then she did the hair on her other shoulder. Giving her two long locks hanging down the side of her head. The red ribbons offering a nice contrast to her hair. She looked at herself for a bit. Noticing that the hair going down the back of her neck was also a bit long. She was reminded how she thought it was growing a little while ago, but it's far longer now. It laid across her shoulders, after all.

She kind of enjoyed this style, it made her feel different from her usual self. Maybe she should go another step further with it.

The gaps joined together again, and she focused, creating an end behind her and giving her a full view of her back. She reached out through the gap to her back, separating her hair into two locks and tying the loop ribbon around the tips again. A smile strewn across her face, she forgot her troubles, even if the approaching presence loomed in the back of her mind.

Izuku opened the door to one of the rooms strewn about the place. The room where they had all been before the class started. Before he could go and look for it though, he was treated to an unusual sight, a girl who was tending to her hair. Maribel. Her eyes headed over to him quicker than he could go back through the door. "Hmm?"

"O-oh, sorry!" He apologized as his eyes met with her purple ones, about to exit through the doorway.

"I'm just doing my hair, you know. No need to panic, just hold on..." She spoke, sounding happy, a big contrast to how she was acting in regards to him during the previous battle. Her eyelids closed, and she took a deep breath, a way to clear ones mind. When her eyes opened, they were golden. Then she gently grabbed one of her tails and spun halfway, giving him a view of her right and left. "Looks nice, doesn't it? I think it would suit my hero costume."

"Eh, well, it's nice!" He complimented her meekly, he actually did think it looked nice. If a bit eccentric, but that's part of the course for a hero costume. And it wasn't all that different from some fashion styles that were around today. "I'll be gone quick, I'm just here to get my notebook..." He spoke, walked past her to the lockers.

"Right. ...I'm sorry for getting so angry before. I talked about it with Iida-kun, but maybe you'd like to hear it too?" She asked. It wasn't hard to understand that people would be thinking of treading lightly around her after she had got so angry earlier. Even if they didn't show it. There was another motive behind telling him any of this though, mainly out of irritation. Someone like him might hold back in the future.

Izuku opened up one of the lockers in the room and took his hero notebook. He stopped looking at her, an accepting, invitational look on his face. "It's alright to talk me, Merry-san."

She looked at ease while speaking this, but there was a hint of restraint in her words. Something that Izuku could barely pick up on. "Well, just like I said to him... Since the entrance exam, and since I've started using my quirk more leisurely, it has developed. Quirk training, the nurse said. I don't know why and how, but when I focus, it messes with my head... One reason why I got so angry, but that's not all."

He looked at her, thinking, not sure what to say right now. "When you hit me in the head... Here." She gestured to the side of her head. Maintaining an uneasy calm. "...It reminded me of Noumu's death blow. Sometimes it comes back to me, and when it does and my quirk is active, it flips a switch in my head."

They maintained eye contact for a bit before speaking. "I apologize! I didn't know." He said, wanting to appear as respectful as possible. Equipping a serious expression, he nodded to her. "I won't do it again. I promise."

She let out a sigh of relief and looked truly at ease. "It really makes me wonder if I'm cut out for this kind of career." Her hands then clasped together and dropped down to between her thighs. "But enough of that... I'm a little curious, you know how my quirk lets me feel other ones?"

"...Ah- I think I remember that!" Midoriya recalled, pulling his notebook closer to himself and looking a little nervous.

"Since I've been with All Might during the exercises, it's not hard for me to see the similarity." She tilted her head to the side whilst his eyes widened. "Maybe you're a relative-"

The door swung open and Maribel shifted her attention instantly to an overwhelming presence. Stepping through the doorway was a woman, a little taller than her. Pink hair, red eyes. Her pink jacket looked fit for a cold spring morning, reaching all the way down to her wrists. She had white gloves covering her hands, loose fit jeans and two white double-buns on her head. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"They're picking the matches soon. See you, Merry!" Izuku eagerly said, antagonizing her a little. He ran past this woman who was currently making their way into the room. Now gone, she was willing to look Maribel in the eye. Her presence made Maribel awestruck, it wasn't unlike being around that god. Her eyes widened, and that was when everything calmed down. It was like she was hiding her aura from Maribel.

"You're Maribel Hearn, then?" She said, closing the door with one hand before smoothly dropping both of them into her pockets and walking in. "You're a bit unique, aren't you?"

Maribel might look a little familiar now. And what does Kasen want to say? Well, safe to say that Izuku is going to have something to say to Toshinori before the fighting begins.

Feel free to review, as long as it's constructive enough to improve my writing with. Or share your theories, or whatever.