Chapter 17

" Multiple Accounts of Attempted Normalcy "

The talk about Parasus had spread all over, with various degrees of thought about the situation, and the weird and stressed ways that both Alarice and Sunshine had reacted to the visit. Yagi was in the 'concerned adult' category of people. Then again, he often was a perpetual 'concerned adult', unable to not feel compelled to help people. A factor that made his retirement from pro-hero to teacher all the more difficult for him.

He was relieved to some degree to see that it hadn't put Alarice out of interest of continuing that work she'd been doing with Midoriya. The last few nights they were getting close to achieving the goal. Though they'd made use of their time even when she 'messed up' and popped all the way to a Hound, they'd have a sort of spar. Building up her adaption, Midoriya training against a larger form, and Alarice having to work on her mobility. Despite her impressive flexibility, her actual ability to deal with smaller targets was hindered by her size.

Tonight when he came by to check on how they were doing, there was a pleasant surprise.

The fruits of their efforts were borne in front of his eyes.

Alarice's form shifted, bones lengthened to make her legs more digi-grade like, the tail came out but it was thinner, more monkey like than anything else, even with the hand. Her body still covered itself in scales and fur. The Skull face came out too, but it was shorter in snout, and with the fur bursting around her head and neck, made it look almost like a mask. And more importantly, looked extremely fluffy. Her furry ruff, looking almost like a lion's mane, covered her shoulders and neck, and went down her spine, going to her tail's hand as well.

"I think I got it!" Alarice exclaimed, almost surprising herself! Her werewolf shape altered the tones that came out of her, hardly making her sound female, let alone like herself. A fact that paled in comparison to the benefit of being able to communicate.

"Sure looks like it!" Midoriya's own voice was pleased, while she gave herself a once-over on her appearance, holding still for a moment. A sort of soft crackle to the air sent off that he was activating his own quirk. "Wanna see how well you can hold that form?"

"Hell yes I do." She called back, punctuated with growls that sounded somewhere between a dog and an alligator.

So Yagi leaned against a wall and let his presence remain unseen while the two students sparred against each other. She could not match his speed, but that nature of being a werehound vs being a full hound, meant she was able to counter and move out of the way with a lot more efficiency. She was still mostly on the defense but there was notes of her aggression to find a way to go on the offensive.

Eventually he did have to let the kids know he was standing there, clapping his hands to do just that.

"Young Midoriya, Young Stone you've managed to have come a long way haven't you?" The skinny blonde was practically beaming. It was certainly always refreshing to see young hero-hopefulls working together, and doing so honestly. "You've finally gotten a half-way form."

Alarice's skull-faced head nodded, all the fluff and ruff giving that her a slightly more approachable appearance despite the skull. "Yeah."

She dropped it down to be a human again, and even her clothes had indeed, survived. Mostly anyway, the white tanktop was fine, but the pants had been torn up to the thigh. She shrugged at their state. "Clothes even mostly made it through."

"All Might, how long were you watching for?" Midoriya asked, also powered down. It was probably the youthful energy that kept the two teens from looking all that tired.

"For a bit." he responded, a toothy smile added. "I needed to check up on your progress, and since she's been training with you, I got to see her's too."

He smiled broadly at her, comforting and proud. "I think you've got a powerful move there, young Stone."

Despite her sister's visit having obviously put her on edge, she had a hard time feeling that way now. It might be that she'd worked off her tension with Midoriya, or that even in his state, Yagi was a very reassuring person. She smiled a bit at that, nodding. "Thank you."

She thanked Midoriya too, before shuffling off for the night, to let the two talk to each other privately, as they frequently did when he appeared outside of class. She hoped she'd get to occasionally still fight with Midoriya, it felt really rewarding at the end of each time. Alarice didn't feel the exhaustion from the day's events hit her till she got to her room, where she promptly passed out into her bed.

She'd ask about continuing to train with him, if he wanted of course, later.

000

Super Moves had their place in Hero training but today she was focusing on rescue training. Which was actually something she was immensely more comfortable doing. It was somewhat easy to let that natural desire to help take over in these settings. Today she was assigned the water-side of the USJ building.

Rescues at sea was what they'd be doing, or rather, 'small lake'. UA wasn't THAT well stocked on resources.

"She looks like an Alligator." Commented Aoyama, one of four playing Victim on the boat, Pointing at the pale white nose and thin nostrils protected by hard bone, peeking from the water. They flared calmly, the rest of the hell-hound vaguely visible beneath that. "It's not vary sparkly, but how lucky to be so tall!"

Alarice couldn't really hear them, which was fine, her role was to be the 'pull' on their life raft. It lacked an engine, and since 'shore' was close enough, she was playing the role of pulling it. She was barely tall enough to stand at one side of the ship and hold their raft steady through the use of rope and her strong jaws. Though her back leg hung over the edge of an oddly deeper pit underwater.

She wondered about that in aquatic silence.

Kirishima and Asui were on the task of getting each 'victim' off the ship. Aoyama was being as dramatic as necessary of course, while still twinkling away. He was easily the most cooperative, sitting patiently for them to lower Ojiro down too.

"Ah, next is..."

"The Child, take this Child!" Hagakure called, a pair of gloves holding up Mineta. Who didn't look thrilled, opening his mouth to argue.

"Right we can put him in this net and lower him down." Asui commented, holding out the regular looking net, playing along with the role Mineta was unceremoniously given. Hagakure placing him in it before he could struggle away.

Kirishima helped hook it securely and began lowering it. "Oh right!" he realized as they got the 'Child' Mineta down to the inflated raft. "Kids might not be able to make climbs or descents safely on their own!"

Asui nodded, though they hadn't done it when she was learning out on the open-seas herself with Selkie, she had heard about it. Kirishima kept lowering till Mineta was largely in the raft, and pulled it back up when he was out of the net, and it was re-hooked.

Kirishima looked at... well he looked at their last victim's gloves. Realizing that he had no idea where to 'grab' to help her down, and was incredibly nervous about attempting. Asui took over for him easily, thankfully.

"Just like that. Head down after her, Kirishima." Asui directed Hagakure on where to grab, before climbing over the side herself, and dropping herself gracefully into the water. Stone couldn't hear them underwater after all, someone needed to tell her when Kirishima made it down.

Down on the raft, some room was carefully made for Hagakure, by Ojiro who had done quite a lot of exercises with her at this point. Kirishima made it down last of course, and Asui gave Stone the signal, before hopping up to the raft herself, despite not really needing too.

Alarice did her part, pulling the raft. Walking along the bottom, More and more of her surfacing as she did so. Clearly holding onto the rope with her jaws, releasing some of it as she went so that she could pull the raft without knocking it as more of her body came out of the water.

Shoulders out, and her soaked mane looking vaguely flat. Mineta decided now to miss-behave, trying to stage something, but missing her back and landing full on in the water. Where Alarice responded by not slowing down but picking him up with her tail, and putting him onto the shore when they got there.

"Ahhh I almost drowned!" Mineta dramatically layed from the ground. Stone stood there on the shore with Asui, human-shaped now and slightly taller than Asui. Hagakure standing nearby them, all three girls watching this display. Knowing full well what grape-juice was doing.

"I need mouth-to-mouth!" He cried

"I got this." Kirishima took over, with a confident sharky-grin while the girls just stood there a little bit, debating calling this 'drowned child' a lost cause and writing him off. "Wait!" Mineta cried suddenly realizing he wasn't going to get what he wanted out of his little ruse.

Krisihima gave him a rough punch to the chest. Forcing any water Mineta could have had, out in one go. "Can't do mouth-to-mouth till the air ways are clear of fluid! But you seem to be breathing fine now!" Kirishima added, picking Mineta up and ignoring any salty comments.

"Looks like every one was rescued just fine." Asui croaked and Alarice nodded. The students began to talk among themselves, before a Switch was called for over the intercoms of the room. Hero teams now had to rotate to the right, and play victim, while the previous location victims stayed and now took on the Hero roles.

Her little group was now in the Downpour zone, waiting to be rescued of course. It was boring role-playing as a victim, but she did her part, and while she didn't have much to do, she began to think about her problem: Parasus.

Parasus had asked her to go to lunch with her, and probably intended it to be a solo lunch, however, that wasn't going to be possible. UA had new rules now, and Alarice did not intend to break those rules for anyone, even her sister. Which meant she had to ask some one to go with her to meet her sister. She briefly felt that she shouldn't go, just ghost on it and apologize later, but her stomach immediately felt sick at the thought. Current hell-hound situation not withstanding, she was her big sister, she deserved respect.

As she was being 'rescued' by her fellow hero students, she knew who she would ask to go with her, but she'd have to wait till this class was over. Probably even till after extra class was over too.

000

Stone's werewolf self stood completely still and surprisingly blank in expression, the wispy smoke effect from her eyes gone, to white dinner plate eyes. Shinso however, looked smug as could be about the matter.

"Come here."

She did of course, like an awkward zombie, it was a little weird to see her tail just drag on the ground.

"Sit, put your hands behind your back. "Yet again, the werewolf just did exactly as she was told. A model participant while he bound her hands, per requirements to win the little match. Till he booped her head, releasing her, and upon doing so, Stone let out a confused noise, and pretty much dropped her form immediately. The ties came loose on her wrists. Well, one wrist was still tied, the other came loose when her wrist down-sized. She stood up suddenly, her face showing a range emotions before a calm took over. She hesitated before asking, and cast a single glance over to Aizawa.

He didn't seem bothered yet, so she asked. "Was that your quirk?" Her voice was low like she was asking about drugs or something. A faint, thin smile, that managed to look like a smirk appeared on the boy's face. "That's sneaky."

"Rematch?" He offered, that smirk still present on the purple haired boy's face.

She opened her mouth, then shut it, screwing up her face in thought. Shinso couldn't help but kind of enjoy the conflict as she tried to figure out how he'd brainwashed her. It wasn't too hard to figure out if they paid attention, Ojiro had figured it out. Somewhat, anyway. She apparently had some inkling because she just nodded.

The two students went at each other again, It didn't end nearly as fast, the second time. Alarice amusingly keeping some distance from him when he said anything, but not necessarily answering, till he asked her if she was going to continue to bounce away from him like an ugly, rabid-dog.

"How does growling even count!?" she practically yelled, pink in the face and clearly frustrated that she'd fallen for his trick again, and lost. "It's response, isn't it. If I respond, that triggers it, right?"

Shinso just gave her a casual shoulder shrug, palms up as if he didn't know the answer. "Is that what you think?"

Alarice just narrowed her eyes at him, giving him no response, pretty sure he was trying to do it again. Get that magical third win in, via his quirk, which she had to admit was... pretty strong, even if it was a simple as she suspected. "Rematch." She stated.

The third fight started, with Shinso dodging to the side to avoid her swing. He noted she was staying amazingly quiet this time, which of course made sense she'd figured it out now.

"So your sister's pretty, isn't she?" He called out dodging one of her kicks, but only just barely. "Pretty weird any way, like she's a recovered villain or something, huh?"

He received nothing so far, and her greater physical capabilities were going to close the gap eventually.

"Planning on leaving with her?"

"Two dogs running away, right?

"You two look nothing alike, are you sure your related at all?" It was hard to tell with that skull face if she was glaring but if that flare of white-smoke-flames in her eyes was anything, it was a sign that he was touching nerves. "Guess Dad wasn't very loyal to Mom, was he?-" "SHU-"

And the fight ended there, and the third match was over, and thus, their little extra-class. If Aizawa hadn't called the fight over for the day, Shinso was pretty sure Alarice would have tackled him to the ground the second there was a chance for it.

"You'll need to get over that knee jerk reaction to an insult of family." Aizawa stated bluntly and Alarice just nodded. "Its a big weakness, easy to exploit." "yessir" There was an awkward pause where he noted Stone wiping potential tears out of her eyes. She offered nothing else for him to observe as he sent them to go change clothes.

Aizawa gave a look that was akin to a cat's judging look, to Shinso, who just shrugged. Stone heading back to her dorm as soon as she was allowed, not even waiting to share part of that walk with her extra-class classmate. "You do not need to get involved with the situation with Stone and her sister, do you understand?"

Shinso just nodded, looking tired and like a mini purple haired version of himself. Didn't make the teen very easy to read, so he added more to his statement. "You may have cost yourself her friendship by prodding her in that way, even if it did work."

He sent Shinso on his way as well, and considered the info he had.