Chapter 7

"Everyone is a Fucker"

Alarice's last exercise of the day ended with her hell-hound ass taking a good fly through air, and landing through a pipe that collapsed from her weight. The pipe loudly clanged as she landed with a thud and a dog-like whine. Recovering in time to move herself out of the locale and try and get a sneak attack on her target. Dropping her Hell-hound form to slip easily away, not sure who was going to be following her with the opponent being downwind of her. Only knowing that she had the space and barely enough time to hide herself and try to take advantage of a smaller size to slip behind them.

Which didn't work out too well, as her opponents had swapped, and Alarice found her ears ringing and yet again, Bakugo had destroyed significant parts of her outfit. She'd never really seen the boy have any color on his face, but both certainly had color and since she was playing the roll of villain, just surrendered to save her dignity. Holding the damaged front close, to cover-up, and extremely grateful that Momo was as understanding as she was, generating her a cloak to throw over herself. She was fast too, probably to keep certain eyes off of her. Bakugo wasn't the worst to have seen her nearly naked any way, he was doing pretty much what Alarice expected. Cursing at her for flashing him, growling about something that sounded like 'suit maintenance' while he kept himself turned around to spare his eyes any more viewing.

So Alarice found herself heading to the support side of the school as soon as a chance was given, her burned, shredded, and damaged suit in her hands. She had only been there a small time before. All she really had to do was hand it off to the support department's head, and it would get sent to get repaired by UA's own Support Company. This time the room smelled a little special , she hesitated before knocking on the door.

"Ohhhh! You're that Hound girl aren't you!?" The pink haired girl's face was partially covered with some sort of headgear. She grabbed Alarice's arm and dragged her inside before she could answer. "Damaged your suit huh~!"

"y-yes- Hey!" She'd grabbed it from her hands, and tossed it off to some one else in the room whose face Alarice still couldn't see. But from the noise coming from them they were male and incredibly exasperated by this girl."It'll be repaired don't worry! But I've been dying to try out some of my babies on you!"

"Babies?" Alarice was to surprised to resist as Hatsume pushed her again. She relaxed a little seeing it was the door, she was being pushed to.

"Yup! Now as soon as it's repaired you come back and pick it up and try on my babies as repayment!" Hatsume almost pushed her out the door, leaving Alarice standing there in the hall confused, and startled at what had just happened to her. She walked away pondering on that sudden, and intense interaction, realizing that the only reason she wasn't being used a test subject was probably that any transformation would shred her school uniform. How was she going to be doing extra exercises when she couldn't use her quirk at all? The focus has been on that Quirk after all...

She found her teacher faster than she thought she would by the end of the day. Looking tired and ragged per usual, smelling like the bedraggled hero he looked like. There was one time he smelled clean, and even with the faintest nudge of what might have been cologne. She never smelled it again though. Today though: slightly sweaty hero who just wants to go to bed but has a student instead to deal with.

"Suits totaled.." She said quietly, somewhat hoping she wouldn't have much but knowing that was never going to be case. He just nodded, he already knew she'd unintentionally flashed Bakugo for destroying more parts of her suit.

"Good thing you wont need it today for your extra-class." A cat like smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth barely peaking over the capture weapon he kept wrapped around himself.

"Its something you're more comfortable with." Alarice felt her cheeks heat with the embarrassment that she was still banned from ever using a window. She'd only found the will to laugh a bout it with a few of her classmates. Still there was a sort of 'it can't be helped' attitude to this today.

"Uh alright... " she said quietly, accepting her fate. He motioned for her to follow and she did, surprised to find that they were on a portion of the UA test grounds that was the 'forest type'.

"Since you liked to sneak around, and you can't transform right now, lets see if you can get to the exit of this without getting caught." Aizawa paused for a second, Alarice looking at her goal and pondering. "what If I do?"

He just gave her a look and motioned towards the field. "Show me how you managed to get so close to getting that license with such a poor understanding of your own quirk." Alarice carefully avoided looking at him, and just nodded. With her only instruction and the vaguest of warnings, and just a tad nervous, she did as she was essentially told and went in.

Like many of her generation, she had her quirk, and then she had some mutations on top. Her eyes were unrelated to her quirk, and similarly without it activated she still had a very intense sense of smell. No such luck on sight but her hearing was fairly acute, and learning to really listen had been a good skill. So it was to her slight discomfort that the rough direction of the exit was downwind of her, and she was likely not to be able get even the strongest of scents from any one in that direction.

Listening to her basic surroundings of bushes, trees, rocks and a prolific if well cared for amount of extraneous foliage, offered only the sounds of Bugs. The bright blues, reds, and whites of her little UA outfit would do her serious disadvantage. So knowing laundry was going to suck later, she found a good spot and vigorously ruined her exercise uniform as much as possible. Now she blended in just marginally better. At least she was able to keep her shoes, custom made toe shoes. Not very fashionable, but it let her move in ways she felt were more effective.

Something snapped and she pulled herself under the closest bush, instinctively sniffing and getting nothing but dirt, and flora smell. Best to keep moving. So forward Alarice went, primarily with as little noise as could be made, and keeping her main body as obscured as possible.

As she went she couldn't help but feel just a little hunted. Something or someone was definitely going to stop her from reaching her otherwise very simple objective. There was the added difficulty that she was alone. No one to fool or take advantage of around her to get where she needed. No one to trick or force into taking the hits she needed to avoid in order to get to the finale point. Everything had to come from her and her alone. She came to a quiet stop again after making that small distance.

The earth ahead of her had been messed with, she couldn't smell it or see it till now but it has been overturned and dug in. Best to avoid it... the only other option was the tree next to her. Lacking something to pull herself up did make climbing up it a challenge to but she took it and up she went. From the tree's branches she got a better view. Traps all over the place.

Explosive? Pits? Something to throw her out of the ring? It wouldn't be deadly... Alarice climbed a little higher up, there was still that question of who was out there. All she got from her climb was the sight of many tree tops, the dangerous ground, and no one. Well no one at UA, even staff was-

The tree she was in shook rather violently, as if its base was being effected!

She swallowed down a panicked sound, and jumped into the neighboring tree like a monkey, spying a close enough branch that could take her weight, managing to just get her arms on it and hold onto it, as the tree she'd been in collapsed in as if it was being swallowed by the earth around it. Cracking tree limbs and thunderous noise filled the air, and Alarice knew now might be a good time to move very fast.

So she did, tree to tree, till she was forced to the ground by a lack of reliable perches, landing onto a half buried boulder and quietly getting down. Not hearing birds panic about the falling tree did bother her.. but more importantly, the tree she had been in was targeted.

There was a tiny little noise by her head, sounding metallic. Robots. UA uses robots and hidden cameras.

The tiny camera mounted on the robot hadn't seen her yet, but she'd only become aware of it by chance. Messing with it would for sure alert where she was, but messing with it would also mean one less extra eye that could find her. It was because of these that Aizawa knew she'd been climbing around and on the dorm building rather than being a normal student. As she reached for it, she knew she'd already made up her mind.

He hadn't said she she couldn't do this after all, as she wedged it in the crook of two branches, stuck in the tree and unable to track her any more. It beeped wildly that it had been 'attacked' so she quickly left it there. Leaving it behind quickly as she crawled quietly between plants on the ground.

Another cautious sniff to the air offered barely anything and she hated that she couldn't use her quirk, a feeling that almost surprised her. There was something there and she couldn't tell without her sharper sense of smell... Something she realized that she had come to rely on a bit more than she was use too. Which also distracted her from focusing on her current challenge. She snapped back to it, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and moving to the side quickly, sparing a glance up.

"Sensei !?" Alarice blurted, throwing herself to the side to avoid the gray flash of his signature ( almost ) capture weapon. He didn't say anything, and despite not really needing his quirk, still wore his goggles. By the time she got back up to her feet, he had vanished from her sight, a second longer and she was back on her face in the dirt. Then back she went, unable to move her legs, as they'd been tightly wrapped.

Alarice in less than minute hung upside down, hip to ankle wrapped securely in Aizawa's capture weapon. Said man securing the other end to keep his transfer student suspended. "S-so now what?" she asked, knowing she was high enough her hair wasn't even touching the ground, long as it was.

He said nothing, but did have his phone, which he pulled out. "Target Captured."

"Hey!"

He spared her a glance, ( possibly, with the goggles it was hard to tell ) and walked away from her. Leaving Alarice there upside down waiting for who ever was some supposed to come pick her up. "SENSEI!"

Nope.

He had quite literally just left her there upside down, by herself.

"I-I have to get down." She told her self, as she looked at her situation. The ground was far below, and the Capture weapon refused to either loosen, or be picked-at to break. She tried to pull herself up, but the way her legs had been wrapped made that impossible. Blood rushed to her head as she struggled to figure out a way to get down. Preferably before she either passed out or was 'retrieved'. As unease picked-up in her heart she looked at her pants.. if she could get out of her pants maybe.. Then she'd just be in her under shorts.. if it worked, but she would probably get free.

It wasn't really a very pleasant process, she was sure her own fingers would leave bruises on her thighs, and she was concerned about hitting her head, at least for the first few seconds. Then it became rather violent wiggling and some noise making, as it started to work. Rewarded with the short fall that nearly knocked the wind out of her, but she was free. Her pants now with no legs in them fell free along with the loose amounts of gray fabric, landing on top of her, in a pile.

No rest for a hellhound however, as she grabbed her pants, made a run for the nearest tree that wasn't this tree to catch her breath, Pants tossed over her side and shoes lost from her struggle. she climbed the tree barefoot. She could feel her heart in her throat as she balanced herself for putting her pants back on. Then, realized she stank of her own sweat. IF there was anyone else here who could smell her, they would be able to now for sure. She wiggled out of her sweaty under shirt, pulling it off without taking off her top shirt, discarded it on the branches, before getting down and moving on.

Now making sure to check all around her, up, down, smell sniff, listen. Remembering her initial 'testing' to get in, she was pretty sure Aizawa hadn't left at all. He was probably still about, waiting to catch her again if she let him. The dead silence of the forest became suffocating, the lack of scents to help her, aggravating now. Alarice took a deep breath, getting frustrated would only make this challenge all the worse.

She remembered again her smell, and realized with a sinking feeling that while she may have reduced her stink on her person by taking the shirt off, she still smelled.

Another roll in the dirt was required, and luckily did find a little pond, Mud worked even better. God she was going to need such a bath after this. Now smeared heavily in mud, with leaves sticking to her by accident but helping, she continued her painfully slow progress. Occasionally sticking the camera-robots she did find into the trees. She realized she was more than half way, when she could smell others.

She had no way to be exact, and had no proof there was really more than Aizawa out here, so smelling the bitter smell of someone else's sweat, she could only guess it was probably him. Alarice redoubled her efforts to keep herself hidden and importantly, try to keep an idea of where her teacher was. Freezing and making herself blend in as best she could every tiny glance of black she saw. Dammit she was going to get to the end of this!

She avoided a few more traps she found that Aizawa had laid for her. Moved quickly when she could, moved in the trees when she could, came to the stark realization that there were at least two people besides herself here. She could almost see the exit when the ground gave way beneath her feet. Crumbling downwards, despite being untouched. Some one dug a pit without disturbing the ground itself!?

Alarice let out a choking noise as she barely caught herself on the crumbling edge of the pit, Grunting as she grabbed for more grip. For a good moment as she dug her bare toes into the sides of the earth, and dug her fingers into the surface, all she could hear or focus-on was the sound of her own heart, the grass ripping as she pulled herself forward. As she was able to lift one leg, and get herself over the lip completely, she was hoisted into the air yet again.

This time though the face looking at her was furry and muzzled. "To bad, you were almost there."

And then he threw her, back towards the start. She came to a rough stop more towards the middle of the Start Area. Amazed that she had failed to break any bones, and that she'd basically just been yeeted roughly by Hounddog, found herself immediately crushed that she was basically having to start over. She shoved the feelings down into the dirt along side her body as she wriggled and pressed herself into the pocket under the roots of one of the trees, in time to avoid her teacher's sight. Obviously he'd been told and come to get her too.

She waited painfully quiet, and hiding for him to move on. When he finally did she kept her breath of relief to her mind and began the process all over again.

Only to end up in another hole, this time less lucky to catch herself, this time only dangling by her finger tips. "come on.."

The ground was not so kind to her, and finally gave way, and she fell the rest of the way to the bottom of the pit. In the damp dark all she could smell was more dirt, dirt, and perhaps her own blood 'n sweat. She hadn't escaped without any dings or cuts after all. As she examined the pit she'd been so gracefully dumped into, the walls were mostly smooth but clearly had been dug some what by hand. Three teachers at least now.

With an almost defeated noise, she sat on the ground in her ruined outfit and completely filthy body. Before trying to get herself out again, and again, and a few more times before a Shadow appeared at the top of the pit.

"Times up. You didn't make it to the end." Aizawa said rather calmly to her, if a bit tired, before at least helping her get out now that it was 'over'. She couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not in her.

"You're fucking tracking dirt all over in here, you idiot."

Alarice just gave Bakugo the most tired look possible. The few others in the room looked at her kind of shocked but she didn't seem to notice. Clutching her undershirt and shoes to her chest instead of wearing the shoes.

"Hey, Midoriya." She asked, sounding as exhausted as she looked but not as dirty. The other teen was a little worried to see her, but wasn't quite brave enough to ask her what had happened. "come 'ere, I wanna ask you some stuff, please." She stood in the opening, not quite coming in the common room.

"Uh sure." Midoriya got up from the couch, trying to keep it casual but definitely wondering what her 'extra-class' had been today that she'd showed up looking like a swamp beast.

"I need some help." Alarice started to walk, so she wasn't an obvious eyesore. "With my Quirk, I need some help with my quirk." She repeated seeing him a little confused at first.

"Yeah? What do you need help with? I may not be able to help you much but I can try my best!" He tried to beam and definitely smiled, and it got him a tired smile back. She didn't mention who or why she was asking Midoriya. It definitely hadn't been purple haired Shinso, who had caught sight of her getting dismissed by Aizawa, after handing her, her undershirt and discarded shoes. That upon her brief greeting, and un-bidden complaining of missing her enhanced senses with her quirk, Shinso had suggested that she talk to Midoriya to see if he had ideas about helping her isolate her quirk so she didn't wreck her clothes.

"I want some help seeing if I can change just part of myself." She asked as they got into the elevator together and she began pulling the straggler sticks and twigs from her hair with her right hand. Midoriya went quiet, passing her off to Jurota of 1-B for her questions didn't seem like the best idea. Not that he probably wouldn't have advice but more that Alarice was coming to him for help. So he just said; "Alright, have you ever tried?"

"Not yet, but I'm not getting stuck in another forest," she winced pulling out a stick from her corded hair, "Not being able to access my better hearing and smelling. I've never tried, but I'm unsure whether its something I can or can't do. I'm just not sure how I would focus that kind of energy into part of myself, and I heard you might know how to do something like that."

His cheeks turned a bit pink and he looked away but his smile turned more sweet as they got off onto her floor in her wing. "Haha, you could say that... Well, when do you want to start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Ok, tomorrow it is. I'll see you after class, tomorrow, Stone!" Midoriya offered his hand confidently for her shake. Which she took, despite the fact it would definitely get him dirty by doing so.

"You can call me Alarice, Midoriya, and thanks. 'preciate it." with that she gave a little bow and trundled into her Dorm room, presumably to wash and pass out. Midoriya realizing that the entire way she had walked was tracked with mud, dirt, and leaves. He gave a sigh and decided he'd help clean that up, so she could sleep.

Alarice busied herself with doing pretty much what Midoriya thought she would.