It had been a minute since the match ended, and Maribel was walking off of the field. She looked pretty hurt, but it did not appear that she cared, walking along as if everything were normal. The way she bore herself now was moderately odd, her steps looked unbalanced, a little more feminine than usual and her eyes only looked to the ground. She had something on her mind, whatever it was.

Struck between awe and confusion, Iida couldn't quite believe that Maribel had the ability to fight through all of that. She had defeated the number two hero's son in straight combat after all. Unable to decide whether he was in admiration or relief.

When he had entered the festival, he'd made the promise that he would win to his family. But when looking at the larger scale of things that was never a likely possibility. He'd have to apologize to his family, and the slight ire he felt for being defeated so early, he would have to calm.

In the midst of thinking about all of this, his pocket buzzed and made a sound. His phone was ringing.

"Uhh... Iida-kun, your phone!" Ochaco told him. He almost failed to notice it, too caught up in his thoughts and the aftermath of the fight.

"O-oh... OH!" He jumped into action, like he ordinarily did. Energetically, and somewhat rigidly. Tenya swept up the phone in his pocket and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

The news weren't good, and Iida's face lost all warmth.

Iida sulked around the hallways, coming from the spectator seats. With Midoriya out for the count right about now, he'd only had a brief conversation with Ochaco about his predicament. The fact that his brother had been severely wounded by a villain.

This day hadn't been kind to him. First, it was losing early in the tournament against Maribel, and now this. He was almost furious, not at anyone in particular, but at himself.

His feet made a few lonely click-clack sounds against the hard floor, until they were subsequently joined by other feet. With tired eyes, he focused in on a corner to his left. The first thing he saw was a leg, clearly feminine, swinging outwards. In the middle of a step. As the next step began, the person who was walking was easy to recognize. Maribel.

Hearn looked quite burnt, but shockingly enough to Tenya, she had no visible reaction to her injuries. It was as if it was all masterfully designed make-up for a movie. But he knew that it wasn't. When she finally entered the center of the hallway, she stopped to look at him and him at her. Her eyes were that familiar, uncanny purple. "Hey, Iida... Are you walking to visit Midoriya-san?" She asked. There was nothing wrong with the way she was talking.

"No, not at all. I'm leaving to visit my brother." He responded. Colder than usual, but as polite as he could make it. "A villain got to him."

Maribel was reminded that his family was one of heroes. His brother was a hero, too, then.

"Huh?! That's awful... For your sake and his, I wish him luck." Maribel responded, she sounded genuinely sad for him. But Hearn knew nothing of his brother. This was, but a respectful gesture to Iida and everyone did them.

"Thank you, Maribel." He smiled. "I'll have to get going now. I need to catch the train."

She nodded, and he began walking toward her, and past her. "Uhm... Wait, Iida-kun."

He turned to look at her, curious as to why she called out. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry if I troubled you during the festival. And also, I'm going to stop trying to cling to people."

He nodded. After being beaten by her so early into the tournament, being carried along in the obstacle course and more, he was a little irritated. But this eased that, quite a lot. How he took her last comment, she did not understand. Maybe he did not get what she meant as there was no reply. She could figure out plenty of reasons why, but regardless of that, it added onto an evergrowing layer of small things that irritated her. He did not address how she felt. Was he okay with it? Did he like her as much as she did he? She didn't know.

Maribel thought it was reasonable self-correction. Even back in junior high Maribel was a little bit clingy, so to say. She often kept herself to Renko just because it was more comfortable. Without Renko here, she'd inadvertently tried to look for someone else to fill that role. Now that the blonde realized it, she wanted to be more independent, Hearn wanted to look less attached so that she was more approachable. Less weak, able to handle herself.

Feeling some of her emotions waning, Maribel stood and looked on.

Iida kept walking down the hall. He followed a sign down the hall that read Parking and walked to the left. Not batting an eye at her as he turned.

A heavy weight lifted from Maribel, while at the same time she began to feel incredibly empty. She had rejected love for nothing but her own self-growth. But she did not feel sad. It was an odd sensation. From what she'd read, being denied love was like being denied a heavy drug.

Clearly, there was something wrong.

Maribel sighed and started to make her way toward Recovery Girl's office. It took about a minute before Hearn was there, and she opened the door without hesitation. The girl barged in, but quite silently despite that. Her eyes shot across the room like a comet, before anyone could tell her anything.

First, there was Todoroki, who had been carried to the room by a set of robots much like Midoriya. They were faster than she was while walking, so no doubt they'd get here first. Half-and-half was out for the count, however. He'd been cleaned up quite a bit, with Recovery Girl by his side, but was hardly better than how he was after the fight.

Secondly, there was Midoriya, who laid injured on his bed. His eyes slowly drifted toward the door, to where she was. Clearly awake. Still getting fixed up, however. His arm had been broken in their fight, under his own power, and he'd gotten a bit of a scorching from her own spirit-based attacks. They were a mystery to her, but that hermit had told her how to use them. It was definitely worth experimenting with.

"Hello, Recovery Girl? Do you have time?" Maribel feigned a bubbly exterior. Midoriya directed his full attention to her and so did Recovery Girl.

"M-Merry?" Muttered Midoriya. He received no response.

The elderly lady then replied to her. "An, Mariberr-"

"Merry." The young girl corrected her.

"Just give me a few moments to clean up Todoroki, and I'll get to you."

"Right!" She feigned cheerfulness again and walked farther into the room. Sitting down on a chair not far from Midoriya's bed. Leisurely, she looks at Midoriya, who looked back at her. Eye-to-eye with her mystical violet orbs, he had to recoil a little, unwillingly. "Midoriya-san, are you aware of what bothers Todoroki-san the most?"

"H-his dad?" Midoriya muttered to her. What she desired to know, at first, was if he knew about the issues that Shouto had.

"So you know." She responded. They'd talked about it, sometime during this tournament. At one point, Todoroki seriously thought he'd be fighting Midoriya. The number one's inheritor. "You wouldn't hear us from the distance, but I talked him down from letting his grudges and issues hold him down." She sighed, tilting her head to the side to unconsciously make him more trusting. The girl then continued speaking with a frank tone. "I used to be like that when I was in Junior High, so I hated what I saw."

"So is that why..."

"Maybe it is." She shut him down. She didn't want to talk to him about her issues. And certainly not now, if there was a choice. "I wish that he doesn't fall into the same pit as before after he's fine again."

Izuku nodded again as he laid in the medical bed. Tired, if anything. He did not seem ready to start much of a conversation.

"I've a question." She looked at Midoriya.

Midoriya furrowed one eyebrow while raising another. "Yes?" He weakly said, not afraid to answer something.

"Bakugo. How long has Bakugo been bothering you?"

A pause occurred.

It was as if Midoriya did not understand what she was talking about at first, but he took a breath and answered simply. "Uhm... When he awakened his quirk, he often wanted to show it off, so he'd pick the weak classmates... I couldn't control my quirk back then, so..."

Staring at him with her eyes as they were, he wasn't willing to make eye contact. But he could see that her expression was quite serious, that was, until Recovery Girl snapped her out of it.

"Merry." Recovery Girl approached the girl, who turned her head to the grandma. "You don't look too roughened up, so this won't take long." She told Maribel. There was a certain charm to the way the old lady talked. Old-fashioned, maybe, or old vocal chords.

Maribel held out her hand, and the short hero was quick to give her a kiss. Her lips extended oddly, almost a disgusting sight, and then gave a quick kiss on her hand. Maribel had a green shine at first, followed by her aura taking over in a purple shine. No longer a fire, it covered her entire body in a soundless shine. Recovery Girl backed off a little, almost startled. "Oh..."

Her purple irises shined as well, with her pupils becoming oddly brighter. Then it all stopped, and the girl looked almost as if she was restored completely. Quite a wonder to behold. Hearn herself however, felt a little bit different. The girl looked at herself for a few moments. First at her hands, only to notice a strange cleanliness to her skin, discounting the soot that was left on her body. Perhaps the blonde was only imagining things. But it made the girl curious. Her delicate hands reached up and ran through her hair, down until she touched the ribbons she'd tied into her hair much earlier. Further down. An unseen drop of sweat came upon Maribel's forehead, realizing something about her had changed.

To the two onlookers, Hearn looked like she was only fixing her hair. They didn't quite care about the small details that she had become aware of. To mask her concern before they could notice anything, her face defaulted to a poker face. Followed by her gathering a lot of her hair behind her ears aside from the two simple braids that hung next to her ears. Reaching down to just a little past her collarbone.

"Much obliged, Recovery Girl." Maribel stood up and bowed, Iida-like, and then walked toward the door. Opening it, she turned around and waved, looking at Midoriya specifically. Cheerily.

In response, he looked at her wearily, but made his best smile.

"Wish me luck against Bakugo!"

He didn't think that would mean something good.

Cleaning her body from all the soot with the help of a quick shower and a towel, Maribel changed her burnt clothes into new ones. Another gym uniform, courtesy of U.A. High. After that, she left to a nearby prep room. She had a few concerns.

One odd thing after another kept happening today. First her hair became longer, her skin felt a little different, her eyes didn't return to their normal color. And then there was the hermit. Worrying, irritating, dismaying. She could also not deny she was spellbound by these strange things.

The blonde stood before a mirror and stared into it. She took a deep breath and tried to return it to normal again. Her thoughts too, emptied. Her focus ceased, her eyes seemed to shift into a gold color for a moment. It did nothing to her aura, which kept itself as it was. It didn't make her feel different. Relinquishing her vain attempts to keep herself as she was before, her eyes turned back into their uneasy, violet appearance. Her heart sank.

Something's happening with me. What exactly? All I know is that the baku called me a youkai...

Maribel's boundary-seeing sight peered across the mirror. She remembered two or so weeks ago, when she talked about a mirror dimension. Maybe it was on the day of USJ. Hearn recalled talking about a mirror world as an allegory for the dream world or something like that. But it gave her an idea. She can deal with the baku using a barrier. Then they could share some words.

By will alone, she manipulated a boundary. The boundary between the mirror image and the dream world. While things in reality did not meld, what she could see in the mirror did. Giving the environment on the other side a strange, shifting property to it. As if every movement was blurry and slowly animated, especially if you moved to look at it from some other angle. Nevertheless, it gave her an eye into the world of dreams once again. Walking up to the mirror, she put a hand on it and focused her aura more intensely than before.

Suddenly and without warning, a familiar set of colors drifted onto the scene through the door in the reflection of the room. Part dream, part mirror. Doremy laid atop a cloud of dream souls, leaning back and staring right at her through the mirror. "You're having quite the eventful day, no? I'm quite saddened you don't let me watch from your perspective."

"I'm not feeling so well."

Her image shifted around as she flew closer to the mirror. Face-to-face with Maribel, her familiar and strange cat-like smile became visible. "I've noticed. But that is just your personal trifles with others, no?"

Next, they both spoke simultaneously. "No-" said Maribel. "Or-" said Doremy.

In unison, they said the same word. "Something else..."

Lifting her head up, a body language sign of either confidence or arrogance, Maribel gave her a questioning look, furrowing her brows. "Do you know?"

"I've been told what to expect." The baku sharp-wittingly answered. Doremy Sweet imitated Maribel's gesture and raised her head. Instead of questioning, she seemed merely to be holding herself in high regard because she knew something that Hearn didn't.

"Expect what?"

"How you are changing, what you'll ask."

The blonde blinked a few times, bewildered."Who told you?"

"Do you recall who you came to after I gave you a bloody nose?"

Maribel nodded.

"Then you know."

Looking at the floor for a bit, Maribel pondered. So they must've talked after the god pulled her away from the youkai. "Then she must've talked you down, no?"

Doremy turned her head to the side, sweating and looking kind of embarrassed. A closer look at the mirror told Maribel that the baku was a little scuffed up. "Well, I guess you could say that... But that's besides the point!" She responded, coming face-to-face again. "I'm supposed to teach you some things about youkai, since I am one myself. Undoubtedly, you may have some questions."

"I've started feeling stranger and stranger with day since I took the entrance exam for this school." Maribel crossed her arms. "I can't even return my quirk to normal anymore."

"Hm. Quirk? So you gave me a lie, back then? Clever." Maribel rolled her eyes at Doremy's sarcastic remark. "Unlike before, your spirit is intense, seeping into your body. Together with your ability, it is making you take up aspects of a youkai." The baku straightened herself out as she sat on a dream soul, with the friendliest face she could wear. "We are mystic apparitions. More of the spirit than the physical."

By using controlling my spirit and using my quirk, I'm turning into a youkai...? Maribel closed her eyes, sighed and shook her head, before opening her eyes. "With my ability? Are you saying my quirk is playing a part in this?"

Giving her an easy going shrug, Doremy responded simply. "That is the most I can tell you. You must be predisposed for this kind of transformation." The baku proceeded to lean back onto the dream soul she sat upon again. Maribel looking her dead in the eye, because this wasn't just any other conversation when it came to this topic. Deadly serious, she forced it along.

Lowering her head a little, she made an irritated sigh. "I've had plenty of issues with this whole youkai business. Most of it being the attitude it's given me, and when I least want it, as well. You wouldn't happen to know how to stop this, would you?"

Doremy sat and thought for a moment. A hum emitting from her as she placed a finger on her lips. "If it's your 'quirk', then maybe find a way to get rid of it?"

"I don't know how to do that!" She yelled at the mirror. If it wasn't for the reflection, she'd appear almost hysterical. Doremy shifted a little bit as she looked at Maribel. Groaning in vexation, the blonde leaned forward against the mirror, holding herself away a little using her hand. She undid the 'softening' of boundaries she had performed earlier, turning the mirror back into a normal one.

I need to come up with something to fix all of this!

Maybe I'll just have to get rid of my quirk. Perhaps it's the catalyst of all my problems? I don't know. And even if I did... I don't know how to get rid of it. My quirk factor is a mystery, probably in my brain, and I'm worried if it's even a quirk at this point. Even if it was, I could never convince Izuku to give me One For All so I could pass it on back to him. What is there to do?!

...That hermit is around, I can go ask her if she'll help me. She didn't seem to be in some odd league with that god. Why has everything become so frustrating since I met Okina? Since I joined this school? I feel like I'm just a character being put into a dance.

Frustration at her circumstance created anger inside of her. Coupled with the odd sense of emotion that came with her quirk's focused state, she had to direct it at something. Too did the girl feel energetic and manic, more so than before. Maribel was fully aware of all of this, the influence of a youkai, apparently. Loathing it all she could, but not finding enough will to fight against it as it could be felt in her body, not just her mind. Instead, she directed it, believing it'd be a good way to handle it. A good thing for her. Maribel's expression became twisted as she looked at herself in the mirror.

The next fight, the next fight! I'm facing Bakugo next.

Little rascal. He's just like those irritating girls I had in my class, disrespectful, pretentious and no sympathy. Apparently he's bullied Midoriya for years.

Now that I'm this strong, I don't even have to hold back. I'll play with him to rub that in his face until he gets angry, and then I'll beat him down completely. Rubbing that comment he made back into his face will be fun as well. My quirk isn't just hard to understand, it's far more powerful than his! He'll know that when I'm done with him.

Pushing away from the mirror. Maribel's face softened, it was filled with solitude for a moment when suddenly her mind felt humorous. She wanted to act whimsical, a little bit goody-goody, with everything to back it up.

Just this once, I'll genuinely play the Youkai of Boundaries.

And she isn't nice, not to those who offend her.

...This must be second-to-highest difficulty. I can't make any mistakes.

Bakugo stared down at the field where Maribel had fought at earlier. It looked pretty ruined, with Todoroki's ice eroding much of it and creating huge indentations. Some of it had been completely torn asunder in the collision between Hearn's strange new attacks and Todoroki's explosion of fire.

That last super move had to be in the same range of power as Howitzer Impact. If I can't catch her up-close with it then I will be doing nothing. But... Half-and-half is slow on his feet compared to me, I will 100% be more competitive than either Deku or that son of a bitch in a close quarters battle. Still, I can't make any mistakes, especially with how she handled me last time.

Gritting his teeth and eyeing the clouds, Bakugo went straight to thinking.

I need to follow an optimal boss strategy! But how am I going to get around that speed of hers? She couldn't move faster than half-and-half's attacks without using those gaps, so her reactions must be the key to letting her fight so well. When I had that little scuffle with her, I could tell she knew where I was going. Half-and-half had a counter for it, and Deku used it too... A cover. Ice breaks under the force of her attacks, and dust is limited if you can't break the floor. But my explosions make smoke when detonating, especially larger ones. If I start off with a higher-level of explosions, I'll become more unpredictable. And she'll have to waste her time blowing it all away instead of fighting me.

She already knows how I fight, but I can use that against her!

There was a pause in his thoughts.

And now I'm wondering why she's been giving me all this unwanted attention. The question about that slime shit, purposefully getting on my nerves, and so on.

...Nevermind.

Anyway, I think I've got part of this down. Just you wait, you bitch!

START!

A bulked up Sato lunged forwards, crossing many meters as he flew toward Bakugo.

"LET'S GO, MUSCLE-FATTY!"

The ash blond wasn't about to play too much, but he forced himself up close. A single blast throwing him into arms reach of the strong classmate. Responding quickly and on impulse, Rikido Sato tried to smack him from the side, at his arm. And for a moment, he seemed quite close to doing so. Bakugo's hands erupted in explosive fury, angled slightly diagonally as to send him flying not just away from the swing, but also up into Sato's face.

Woosh-boom.

The swing almost cracked through the air like a whip, stopping suddenly as Bakugo landed one of his kneecaps straight into Sato's jaw. Stunned by the hard impact, Bakugo sought to punish his enemy even further. He swiftly angled one hand behind him, and blew away, coming much closer to Sato's face with his own upper body. Then with his other, left hand, he smacked the brute hard in the face. An explosion erupting to send the classmate rocketing down to the ground. Sending Bakugo away in the process, safely, and giving him breathing room, five meters.

Hair ruffled, burnt and smoking along with a black mark across the his face, Sato picked himself up. He was not going to be taking it easy after that. But the situation did not favor him. Since his enemy was now a powerhouse, he had come to think he too needed power, but as a result it was dumbing down his ability to think. Whether Sato should approach, or make up a better strategy, did not come easily to the mind of the aforementioned student. A few seconds of silence and inaction went on between the two, but eventually, he made a decision.

He'll pressure Bakugo with swings and go on guard immediately upon missing.

So he ran toward the class bully with this intent in mind. Being met with a watchful gaze in response, and two open palms facing Sato from Katsuki's hip-area. His first action when coming within arm's reach was to make a wide sweep with his muscly arm. It was quick, and almost made a whipping sound with how fast it was. But Bakugo seemed ample prepared. Not necessarily for a sweep, but for his approach.

Bakugo followed Sato's attacks through every step of his own movement. Several smaller blasts resounded onto the battlefield as Bakugo narrowly dodged the incoming attack. Leaning back and sliding on his soles backwards in order to do so. This surprised the pumped-up Sato, but he was quick to raise his fists to cover his head in a guard. Another blast from behind and Bakugo balanced out his momentum. Standing safely just two meters from his enemy now.

He's afraid of me getting too close, so he's gonna attack me as far away as he can.

Bakugo's assessment was entirely correct. Whether Sato had thought of it himself or no, Bakugo's maneuverability made him a nightmare up-close for a big fighter. While his limbs could move fast, they were not dexterous enough to manage someone like Bakugo. Who was quite fond of grappling, but if he kept his distance, the brute could shove him away before any of that happened.

Following this was a moment of mystery, who would approach first?

Seemingly impatient, Sato didn't give much room for thoughts to come and go for anyone. A swift leap at his opponent took him over Bakugo. In the process loosening his guard almost completely while he attempted to stop himself quickly enough whilst in the midst of pulling off another sweep of his arm. Intuitive, the Bombing King dashed forward with explosive fury. As if led on a string by fate itself. Katsuki pushed his palm against Sato's gut and was just under his arm's immediate reach. Sato was almost baffled by how Bakugo accomplished this, but part of it was because of his quirk weighing his mind down. The ash blond was too fast for the brute's fighting style in his current state.

So before he could attempt to hug Bakugo hard enough to force a surrender, he was blown away powerfully and properly. Sending his enemy rolling across the stage, smoking and with clothes charred. Smoke erupted between them for a bit, hindering any sight.

"A pebble! All I need is one opening to make a big guy like you look like the smallest nerd in the city!" The loudmouth shouted at his opponent. While full of true emotion, it was part way a plot by Bakugo. Not one to plot like this, Bakugo wasn't sure if it'd work until he heard heavy footsteps. Narrowing his eyes and listening in, he moved into a position. He was going to jump and kick.

"ORA!" Sato roared as he went through the cloud of smoke. As he appeared visible to everyone on Bakugo's side of the arena, he was met with a spinning firestorm of a person. Already in motion and in the air, Bakugo could not be stopped, not by someone unprepared. Bakugo's knee proceeded to collide with Sato's face using explosive propellant. And before he could even stumble, a subsequent explosion finished Katsuki's job. Massive in size.

A bullying victory, an unsympathetic victory and in all senses, a completely legitimate one. Plummeting out of a new bellowing cloud of black smoke, Sato rolled onto the field of the U.A. Arena.

"Rikido Sato is K.O'd!" Came the announcement. Midnight's sweet voice cut through all chatter in the arena. Most of them being boos and complaints at the seemingly unfair duel offered by Bakugo. It wasn't about the result, but the performance. Something that vexed him extremely when he thought about it, looking around at the spectator seats.

"KATSUKI BAKUGO ADVANCES TO THE FINAL ROUND!"

A few cheers could he heard here and there, maybe on principle. But it seemed that not many paid heed to it.

All that Bakugo seemed to be left with was to walk out and prepare for his final encounter, and a single though about this battle.

Warm up. I'll need to bring the best I can do to deal with her.

Leaning against a wall quite close the staircase that lead down to the arena's entrance, Maribel waited. She heard the announcement throughout the halls. A smile spread on her face, and her hand covered her lips as a mischievous, mean grin spread on them.

Soon, I'll get you.

I said I'd end the arc with this chapter, but I'm a bit picky about chapter length and I've been quite busy lately. So progressing things inch-by-inch still seems suitable. Simply the draft/storyboard for the entire thing down to the finish exceeded almost ten thousand words, so with this split, I hope I won't overwhelm someone who's reading next time. Still, I believe that chapter will be quite long.

As a result, this chapter features Maribel's personal trifles picking away at her relations with other people (which will allow me to get into the meat of her development), while she assumes aspects that she hates having. Also setting up a bit of plot for when the arc is over. What will Kasen do, what will Doremy do, what will Renko do, what will the LoV, Stain and etc do? Did I hint at Lunarians a while ago? And so forth. I'm planning on having some fun with that.

For that one person who's worried about Bakugo winning. Well, I'm not gonna spoil, but I don't like to hand out easy wins. Maribel lost against the Noumu quite badly for a good reason, and I'm not afraid to hand that out to other characters if I can't see them pulling things off... But we'll see.

As busy as I am with IRL friends or IRL troubles, I don't think the final chapter of the arc should take much longer than this one.

The chapter title is a semi-obscure reference like half of my titles are. From a song, about not talking to strangers.