08 - Starting School Days I

OP 1 - ADAMAS by LiSA

Previously on GPSL:

The entrance exam has ended, and the acceptance letters have been sent out!

A look into some of our students' day to day lives~

"Okay, here are your student ID and emergency keys! Your student ID should always let you into your room, but please do keep your keys on your person in cases of technological emergencies. All other necessary information for your move-in, including the general dorm rules, map with labeled emergency exits, and emergency scenario descriptions, have been downloaded into your smartwatch and forwarded to your cell phone for convenience, and I will be going over those in the introductory meeting later today~ The introductory meeting will be at 3 PM in the common area on the first floor; I will remind you again at 2:45 and show you the way if necessary. We ask that parents sign out before then, but please feel free to stay and accompany your child until then! In the meantime, please feel free to unpack, get to know your classmates, and make yourself at home~ Once again, thank you for choosing Shinraikai, we're happy to have you with us!"

"Thank you as well~"

Mikita blinked twice, and then the recognition clicked. "Oh, that sounds like an airline commercial pitch."

"D-Does it really?!" Aina fretted at the feedback, and Mikita was reminded again that she was dealing with a fast-evolving, far-too-human-like AI instead of a pre-recorded video like she was used to. "Oh, you're right, it kind of does…"

"M-Mikita!" Her mother exclaimed when the AI projected an animated heartbreak symbol next to her.

Mikita could only blink again, confused. Did she say something wrong?

"No, no, she's right," Aina tugged at her hair, pouting. "Mou, I spent so long coming up with that speech too…"

"I'm sorry?" Mikita offered.

"Huh? Oh you don't need to apologize! Post-feedback editing is just part of the process! And anyway I'm an AI so I can just—"

And with that, Mikita and her mother watched as Aina cloned herself, one remaining stationary at the center of the screen, one fading into the bottom corner as long lines of code appeared on the screen in the background, and a third branching off and traveling through the panels lining the hallways as if she were floating.

The floating one waved at her and said, "Your room is on the third floor, I'll lead you there!"

"This is an interesting school you've chosen," Kanade murmured, her tone colored with amusement.

Well, Mikita couldn't disagree with that.

"Do you think you'll meet any of your teammates from the entrance exam?" Her mother prodded gently. "You said they all should've made it, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't know if—"

"Ah! Mikimiki-Mikita! Yaho!"

"…"

Well, speak of the devil and she shall appear, as they say. Except Mikita didn't think anyone would ever use the term devil in reference to someone like Riri, who was the one waving at her excitedly from the middle of the hallway. "Miyabishi…"

Her mother startled at the name. "Miyabishi? So this is…"

Mikita nodded. "Yeah."

"Hey hey!" Riri bounded across the hallway in bunny hops. Mikita thought that she vaguely resembled a hyperactive puppy. "Are you on this floor too, Mikita? Oh, is it alright if I call you that?"

"Yes, it's fine," Mikita answered. She checked her room key. "And yes, I am. Room 312?"

Riri let out a loud gasp and then grabbed her hands. (Mikita was surprised by the action—she had expected the motion to be much more sudden than they were, given her current hyperactive temperament. However, her movements were slow, giving Mikita enough time to back away if she wished, and her fingers were featherlight on first contact. It was only after deeming the contact all right that Riri allowed herself to clasp them much more tightly, accurately conveying her energy for the first time). "Neighbor! We're neighbors! Oh, this room is yours then! Mine's there, the one with the door open—"

"Riri."

"Ow!" Riri pouted upon being lightly smacked on the back of the head with a magazine, and she whirled around to glare at the older boy standing behind her. "What was that for—ahhh! That's my Heroes—Unmasked! magazine that just came in earlier today! Nii-chan, you heathen! Gimme that! No touching!" She snatched the magazine and rushed back into the room she had said was hers earlier.

Brother? Mikita tilted her head at the boy now standing in front of her. His brown hair stood out against Riri's blond, and she hadn't expected them to be siblings.

"Sorry about her…" The boy sighed. "In advance, too. She's a bit of a hurricane, but well, she means well."

"Slander!" Riri fired back as she ran back out as fast as she had run in. "Don't listen to him, Mikimiki—"

"Oi, Riri—"

"—come on, let's go see your room! I'm almost done unpacking—I came way too early because I was too excited—so I can help you if you'd like—oh, but only if you'd be comfortable with it though—"

"—did you even introduce yourself properly?"

"—I know maybe you wouldn't want—oh. O-Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Riri hurriedly bowed at Mikita's mother. "Um, it's nice to meet you, Tatsumi-san! I'm Miyabishi Ririka! I was on Mikita's team in the entrance exam, and—"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm happy to see you getting along with my Mikita," Kanade laughed. "Miyabishi, yes? Mikita told me about you."

"Ah! Yes! Thank you!"

"Are your parents with you, by any chance?"

Riri blinked owlishly and then shook her head, her long ponytails slapping both Mikita and her brother in the chest. "They're both busy today, so Nii-chan and Wakana-chan are here with me. I remember Mikita-chan asked me about them too, would you like me to pass a message?"

"No, that's all right. It just…would have been nice to thank them again if I could."

Mikita could see the curiosity sparkling in Riri's magenta eyes, but it was gone in an instant as she tacitly decided against asking.

And Mikita respected that, but well, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

"The Miyabishi Law Firm won the court case that allowed my mother to keep custody of me over my abusive father."

Riri's brother and her own mother both winced at the bluntness, but Riri only mimed an 'ahhhhh' sound of realization and smiled brightly, "Yeah, they do that. And I'm glad they do because they were able to help you, and now you're here and we get to be! Neighbors! Oh, but of course, if you ever want to talk to me about anything please don't hesitate—but for now, come on, let's see your room! You probably still have more things to unpack in your car, right? They have carts here—you can just use mine, I'm done with it—hello, Wakana-chan, goodbye, I'm just stealing this—oh you can just leave that there I'll put it away later, thanks!—Okay Mikimiki I'm back~! Cart! For you!"

"Well, if you've got everything settled, Riri, then Wakana and I are going to head out."

"Ah, sure! Thanks for coming—fuegh! What is it with you and my hair, mou! Stop—that is thirty minutes of work, Nii-chan, I will kick you! Just go already!"

Mikita watched Riri tousle with her brother for a few moments, amusement bubbling within her. Well, her brother certainly wasn't wrong when he called her a hurricane.

"Okay, now that the menace is finally gone—do you want to take a peek inside before we go downstairs again? Actually, you could probably even just leave your door open, that's what I did—hm? Is there something on my face?"

"No, I was just thinking that it must be nice to have a sibling," Mikita mused.

Riri made a face. "On one hand, yes, on the other, I would literally sell him to you for a strawberry crepe, so. Oh, on a completely random note, do you think Ai-chan is more of a little sister type or a mascot type? I was thinking about it last night and I haven't been able to figure it out."

Mikita paused, slightly thrown off by the sudden change in subject. "Um—"

"—oh wait, fuck, no, I mean—gosh I should really stop swearing, sorry, Tatsumi-san! Where did that habit even come from, I swear—ooh pun intended—but anyway—rooms!"

Okay, Mikita's head was definitely spinning now. Her lack of social experience definitely hadn't prepared her in any way for Riri's brand of chaos, but…

Riri seemed to notice this and softened a bit. "Sorry, am I overwhelming you? I've been known to do that sometimes; I'll try to tone it down—"

"No," Mikita interrupted, her strong tone surprising even herself. But she thought again and shook her head softly. "No, it's…all right."

…but it wasn't…a bad feeling.

Riri smiled. "Well then, I'm glad to hear that~ But let me know at any time if I am, okay?"

"Mm. Don't worry."

Finally, Mikita scanned her student ID across the card reader next to her door (that Riri had to point out to her) and pulled the door open—

"Yep, it's exactly the same! But look at how huge these rooms are—I almost didn't believe it when Ai-chan told me that they actually had a walk-in closet big enough to fit all my clothes, but she was right, look—and there's even a balcony—oh, oh I'm so sorry! I'm way too hyper hehe, I should probably go calm down and let you two explore first, huh…excuse me, Tatsumi-san, sorry for intruding on you!"

"No, it's quite alright, I understand," Mikita's mother smiled kindly.

But Riri still bowed again and waddled past her out the door anyway with a yell of "I'll be back again soon, Mikimiki! Holler if I can help with anything!"

Kanade chuckled. "She's quite the hyper one…will you be okay, Mikita?"

"She is, but I don't think she's a bad person," Mikita murmured. "I think I'd like to be friends with her, if I can."

The first floor common area was already a buzz of noise by the time Reiden had finished unpacking and bid goodbye to his sister. Letting the idle chatter wash over his ears gently, his red eyes trailed across the room, searching for somewhere he could settle and simultaneously taking in the appearances of his new classmates.

He recognized Doki instantly, who had seated himself comfortably in the loveseat in the corner of the room, and he couldn't help but notice the slight physical and social distance between him and everyone else. Vowing to speak with the other boy later, he caught sight of Jin next, who was speaking with a short brunette near the back of the room. Jin seemed to sense his curious gaze and gave him a smile and a wave without taking his attention off his conversation. Reiden nodded back and continued to search for his remaining teammates, finally locating Ayana. She was squished in the middle of the couch—Reiden blinked and counted again. Was that…five girls squished on a three person couch? Granted, one of the girls (with…was that tentacle hair?) was resting on the armrest instead, but even then, that was…impressive.

Not disturbing the enthusiastic tale that Ayana seemed to be telling, Reiden finished his sweep of the room and noticed that their final teammate wasn't there. Although he was a little disappointed, truthfully, he wasn't all that surprised.

Still, he spotted an open space on the floor near the back of the room and made his way over. The blue-haired girl already seated nearby seemed to be glancing at him warily as he got closer, and he gave her a polite nod in an attempt to lift her unease.

Something smoothed over in her expression, and she returned the nod simply.

"Hey," Reiden greeted as he took a seat next to her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Wamizaki Reiden. You are?"

The girl's eyes flickered with recognition. "Wamizaki? Are you related to Wamizaki Rei, of Anzen'naie?"

Pride colored his voice as he answered, "My mother."

"I see. …I'm Aozaki Hotaru."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"…"

All right, well, that conversation ended quickly, Reiden thought awkwardly. He hadn't realized how much Ayana and Jin had carried the idle conversation in their entrance exam team until he was left by himself. Still, although her expression remained indifferent, Hotaru seemed to be fairly uncomfortable with the situation as well (although that could've just been wishful thinking on his part). So he chose not to force a conversation, instead letting them sit in a semi-comfortable silence instead.

"All right, all right, all right~ Listen up!"

Snap.

"Waah!"

"Ow!"

"My eyes—"

"I'm the brightest thing you're going to see all day today, you got that?"

The sudden lightshow of neon lights that had blinded the room faded then, revealing a female figure standing at the front of the room, her back facing the TV wall. Her blond hair shining with countless rainbow streaks, her bright pink eyes occasionally flickering with different colors—there was no doubt, this was none other than the Nightlight Hero: Neon.

"Do I have everyone's attention now? Wonderful!"

"Couldn't you have done that without blinding all of us?" Ayana grumbled, rubbing her eyes a bit too forcefully to be healthy.

"Sure, but where's the fun in that?" Neon flashed them a bright smile worthy of her hero name. "So! Welcome to Shinraikai Academy, Class 1-1! Or better known as…the Gold Class~"

Hotaru's hand immediately shot up. Neon blinked in mild surprise but nodded for her to speak. "I remember you mentioned in the acceptance letter that it was dubbed that due to our position as high ranking placers in the entrance exam. What is the purpose behind that? Would this not only build resentment among other classes?"

Oh. With that one question, Reiden suddenly realized the reason she seemed vaguely familiar. She was the person who asked the safety question during the entrance exam before I could.

He greatly respected her diligence and attention to detail.

Evidently, Neon did too as well. "Well spotted. Your name?"

"Aozaki Hotaru."

Neon nodded. "Thank you for your question, Aozaki. Rest assured, this isn't meant to cultivate resentment between the classes, but rather competition. You've all seen the hero rankings, I'm sure. Those heroes in the top rankings fought their way to the top with their strength, the same way you have into your placement in this class. But of course, this isn't guaranteed. If you remain complacent, then you might find yourselves immediately overcome by Class 1-2. You'll keep the title as a reminder of where you came from, but you won't have the ranking position to go with it. Naturally, we will continually encourage companionship and cooperation between classes, as are expected of all professional heroes. If it does come to it that healthy competition turns into resentment or an otherwise harmful environment, then we will make the necessary changes to correct that. Does that sound acceptable to you?"

Hotaru tilted her head, clearly pondering over this additional information carefully. Finally, she nodded her head slowly, seemingly satisfied.

Neon smiled brightly. "Great! Any questions from anyone else~?" She was met with silence, and she continued in the same chipper tone, "If anyone has any questions or concerns at any point about how things are run around here, please never hesitate to reach out to us, we will always be here to listen! As we are a new school, there will be some things that will require some trial and error as we go along, but we hope to work together with all of you to make this the best school experience you will have. But if that's all for now, then I won't hold you for too long! I simply wanted to take the chance to introduce myself before class starts. If you ever need anything during your stay in the dorm, just holler and Aina will be with you immediately! Rest assured, she will not be allowed in your individual rooms unless you specifically call for her or provide her permission otherwise. There are some notification settings you can toggle for her appearance as well, which she will go over with you in your own time. If you ever need me specifically, I'll be residing in a room in the back on the first floor, and Aina can help guide you to it if you can't find it.

"With that being said, we'll now start our welcome video and then you'll be free to go! Aina, it's all yours now~"

The screen blinked "Aye aye! Welcome, Gold Class, to your official dormitory, where you will stay for the three years of your high school experience! You will be occupying floors two and three; the upper floors are currently empty but will later be occupied by your future underclassmen. We will now start by reviewing the map of this building and all of its emergency exits, as well as our emergency procedures and what actions are expected of you during emergencies…"

The meeting was dragging.

Granted, it was already more condensed than Ayana had initially expected it to be, and between Aina—the AI, in the flesh! Well, okay, perhaps that was a poor choice of words, but still! The legendary service AI! In front of her eyes! Every day!—wait, what was her original train of thought again?

Right, right, between Aina's chipper voice and the high-tech pictures flashing across the screen in a clear visual demonstration of her instructions, Ayana had admittedly retained more than she usually did during lectures such as these, but even then it wasn't long before she could feel her attention span waning quickly. Why listen to a boring, common sense lecture when she could examine all the complex braids in Riri's ponytails instead?

Actually, Riri had really thick hair, being able to fit three small braids in her single twintail and still have so much hair left around it…how did she even do that, anyway? So many braids, and so many ribbons…Ayana couldn't imagine waking up early just to do hair—even if it was very pretty! Hm, maybe she should ask Riri to do her hair once…

Agh, wait, no! Focus, Ayana, focus!

"…rules…"—oh, rules were probably something she should pay attention to—…ah oops, did she miss them all? They probably had manuals for her to review later, right? They usually did, although she probably wouldn't consult them until she broke one, knowing her…she hoped she didn't break one though, she didn't want to get kicked out of a hero school anytime soon—wouldn't that be embarrassing?

"…once again welcome you all to Shinraikai…"—oh gosh, that's right, that's right—she'd actually made it! It still felt so unreal; she'd been so certain that she'd go into the e-sport industry in middle school, and it was only with her parents' strong encouragement that she'd decided to give her second option a shot instead, because as much as she'd always admired heroes, she'd never even dared to dream that she could possibly ever be one, especially with how kooky her Quirk was, and she could still hardly believe that this was happening really. But now that she was here, she was determined to work hard and save lots of people and become the best hero she could be—because there was certainly no way she'd ever be eve close to the number one hero, let's be real here, and—

"…and with that, you're free to explore to your heart's content! Just call me if you need me, I'll see you around!"

"…"

"…"

"Oh shit, is it over already?!"

Wow, she really didn't take in a single word! Although, was that new? No, no it was not, curse her goldfish attention span—

No, actually, that was a lie—she remembered the first five minutes well enough! Too bad that was all the stuff with the emergency procedures and the building layout, and she was absolutely hopeless with maps, in-game or real—

But. Oh well! Over was over, and Aina did say she could ask any time she had questions. So now, it was exploration time! And she knew exactly where it was that she wanted to start.

Squeezing between the other four girls who were now chatting amiably in front of the couch all of them had squeezed onto (because why not?), she spun her gaze around the room in three wide perimeter scans, nearly giving herself whiplash when she tried to stop herself midspin through the third one after catching a glimpse of the familiar white hair she had been looking for—oh wait, wrong one, where's the—aha!

"Hoomph!" Her breath whooshed out of her when she crashed into someone. "Fuckity, sorry—"

"Oi."

Ayana instantly stiffened and backtracked several steps upon recognizing the black-haired boy looming over her. Oh my god, he's in my class too, fuck he looks angry, did he hear what I said on my stream?…What did I say again, exactly? Oh my god oh my god—

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up," Doki demanded.

"Y-Yes!" Ayana cringed at her voice crack. Oh my god, I'm fucking dead—

"The entrance exam was my bad."

"…" Ayana stared blankly at his retreating back, the words only just processing several moments later. "…huh?"

She stared for a few minutes longer in disbelief. Huh, maybe he's not as bad as I thought.

…

Now, what was I doing again? Oh, right right—

"Yah! Wamizaki!" She called out, making her way over to the corner of the room. A navy-haired girl frowned at her shout slightly as they passed, and Ayana instinctively mumbled an apology before giving her a wide berth and regaining her energy as she faced her target. "Did you finish unpacking? You said you'd let me see your room! I refuse to believe that you have four fucking monitors in there until I see it with my eyes. And then I'll cry, probably, because…oh, I almost said 'fucking rich kids' to your face—"

"You just did," Reiden interrupted, a mildly bemused expression on his face as he pulled himself to his feet.

"…fuck!" Ayana swore out of habit, and then almost said it again upon vaguely recalling saying to her parents that morning that she'd tried to tone the cursing down now that she'd made it into high school, and a hero school at that. Clearly, that wasn't happening—how many fuck's had that been already?

Oh, but maybe she should try harder…Reiden was already making that face again, and she knew that he had made his dislike of swearing very clear in their first meeting, and it might be hard to believe but she really was trying…

"No, believe me, I really am!" She insisted at Reiden's disbelieving expression. "Am I doing a good job at it? No, not particularly, but! Well, my parents actually don't care that much since I got it off them in the first place; my mutti swears even more than I do because—"

"'She thought it was funny when she was first learning Japanese?'"

"Oh, not for Japanese actually, she just always thought that it was funny how she picks up on the swear words first when learning new languages but she did say she specifically picked out swear words for Japanese—wait." Ayana squinted in the direction of the black-haired boy who had spoken up from not too far away. "How did you know that? Did I tell you that before? I tell a lot of people a lot of things and I have the memory of a goldfish, but I'm pretty sure I haven't met you before?"

The boy's mouth turned downward in an instant, and Ayana figured that he must not have thought that she'd be able to hear the mutter under his breath. That was too bad; if there was one thing she was confident in, it would be her ears. Finally, the boy said reluctantly, "Ayanyan?" and then immediately grimaced and followed up with, "Wow, I can't believe that actually just came out of my mouth."

"Hey, don't mock ten-year-old me's naming sense!" Ayana retorted reflexively before the words were processed. "Oh, you watch my streams?"

"Not really."

"Clips then?" Ayana interpreted cheerfully. "Well whatever, it doesn't really matter, we were going to see Reiden's room, so—"

"We were?" Reiden asked.

"—you should come with—yes, you promised!"

"I did?"

"You said I could at the entrance exam! Anyway, so you should go with us…uh, goldfish memory, did we do introductions? I mean, you probably already know me either way, but I'm Ayana, and that's—"

"Allow me to introduce myself—Wamizaki Reiden, son of Wamizaki Rei, CEO of Anzen'naie."

"Wow you have that memorized like a script."

"…Makoto Obi," the black-haired boy said reluctantly.

Ayana let out an unholy screech. "Obi-wan Kenobi! 'Remember…the Force will always be with you~'"

"I knew someone would say that."

"Sorry, I couldn't not, you know~ Hm, where was I again? Oh right right, Reiden's room!" Ayana marched forward with determination. "Fellow geeks…plus honorary Obi-wan? Oh, but if you've seen my game clips you probably play at least a little, right? So geek squad, advance!"

"It's just my room, is it really that interesting?"

"You're the one who said you have a bunch of cool shit—"

"Stop."

"—in your room—huh? What?" Ayana stopped in her tracks at the sudden command, her entire body tensing in obedience.

Reiden's red eyes were unexpectedly cold as he reprimanded, "You said you were trying to stop cursing, didn't you? Then stop."

"…oh, shit—I mean fuck—I mean." Ayana groaned. "I should just shut up. Or give up on…giving up swearing. Wow that worked out better in my head—oh hey, what if I just swear in German instead? Does that make it any better?"

"No."

"But All Might swore in English on national television that one time and he got away with it!"

"Yeah, because he's All Might."

"Okay, yeah sure, but—! …actually, I don't have a comeback for that."

"You're kidding. That's your room, and you get it all to yourself?"

Setsuna laughed at her younger brother's disbelief, switching the camera back around to herself. "Yeah, pretty much."

"You were right," Saiki said solemnly. "This is way better than UA. You have to show Mom and Dad, they're going to be so jealous."

"They helped me move in, Saiki, they already know."

"Well? What did they say then?"

"Hm…" Setsuna pretended to think for a while. "Well, they said it was nice."

"Onee-saaaaan…" Saiki grumbled for a while, but then perked up again as he seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah, have you talked to…you know."

"Ah," Setsuna's smile slipped at the mention, and she shook her head reluctantly. "No…I think she's ignoring me."

"Che."

"Saiki."

"What?" Saiki scowled. "It's been three months and we've been nothing but nice to her, so why does she have to be so rude?"

"Everyone has different circumstances," Setsuna reminded him patiently. "It's not her fault, and we don't understand how she feels either. We should accommodate her and help her readjust and find her standing again, just like we did for everyone else too. So, if she wants us to pretend not to know each other, I can do that for her."

"Is that what you want though, Nee-san?"

Setsuna stilled at the unexpected question.

The motion didn't escape Saiki's sharp gaze, his aquamarine eyes flashing as he immediately pounced on it, his phone shaking aggressively with the motion. "See! I knew you didn't want that! Nee-san—"

Knock knock.

"Riri's at the door~" Aina chirped helpfully from the watch on her wrist. "I can relay a message for you if you're busy!"

Relieved by the interruption, Setsuna shook her head at the AI and swiftly dodged the conversation with an apologetic, "I have to go, Saiki, I'll call you again soon, okay?" before swiftly hanging up. She let out a breath and collected herself again before standing to receive her guest. "Riri-cha—"

Riri was immediately in her face, excitedly grabbing her hand, the warmth spreading from a single spot to the entire back of her hand. "Setsuna-chi, Setsuna-chi, let's play!"

"Play? Play what?" Setsuna asked, trying to regain her bearings from the sudden energy being thrust at her.

"Dodgeball! We're going to play dodgeball!" Riri said excitedly, her arms flailing slightly. "Aya-chin said that she found something cool in Wamizaki-kun's room that we can use, so I'm going around recruiting people to play now! Do you want to play with us?"

Setsuna laughed at the 'please-say-yes' energy that Riri was radiating with her sparkling magenta eyes—how could she say no to that? "Sure, I'll join."

"Yes!" Riri cheered, her feet dipping into the floor as she bounced in place. "Come on, let's go then! They're waiting in the lobby now!"

"Oh, were you all waiting on me?"

"Not really! We were just going around randomly telling the people we could find on the way, but you went to call your brother, right? So I wanted to give you some time and went looking for everyone else first," Riri explained. "By the way, Aozaki-san declined saying she still had to unpack and clean her room, but everyone else is there! Kishi-chan and Karma-kun both said they might not play, but that's okay too, of course! And if you don't want to play, don't let me pressure you either—"

"Riri-chan, it's okay," Setsuna reassured. "It sounds fun, I'd love to play with everyone."

Riri immediately brightened. "Great!" She ran the last few steps to the lobby, dragging Setsuna close behind her, and flung open the doors without hesitation. "I'm back~!"

"You sure took your time," Someone called out immediately, and Riri stuck her tongue out at him but didn't respond otherwise.

"Where are we going to play?" Setsuna asked curiously.

"Oh, Ai-chan said there's a gym behind the dorms, she's going to lead us there!"

As if on cue, gold arrows flashed on the screens coating the upper walls and Aina spun into existence. "Aye aye~! Please follow me, this way!"

Everyone began shuffling out of the room, chatting with one another casually, but Riri paused to locate two other girls and waved for them to join her. "Mikimiki! Kishi-chan! Hello again~!"

"Welcome back, Riri-chan," Kishi greeted with a gentle smile.

"She wasn't even gone for that long though," Mikita said in confusion.

"Awww, did Mikita not miss me?" Riri pouted as she slung her arm around the silver-haired girl's shoulders.

"You were gone for four minutes."

"How meaaaaan, Mikimiki~ At least Kishi-chan missed me, right~?"

"There, there, Riri-chan," Kishi said sheepishly, patting the girl's head when she threw herself in her arms.

"Four minutes," Mikita repeated again, still with an utterly baffled expression at Riri's dramatic actions. It seemed as though she could tell Riri wasn't genuinely upset and was only messing around, but she was also still hung up over the claim due to a lack of understanding. "I could kill a man in that amount of time and get away with it."

"…"

"Oh, the only possible substitution for 'a man' being my father, of course."

"…"

Mikita blinked, realizing that they were staring at her strangely but genuinely not seeming to realize why. "…what?"

Setsuna let the conversation next to her flow absently through one ear, her other ear catching wind of a boy behind her calling out, "Ikari, are you coming?"

Setsuna was turning before she could stop herself, and she flinched when she immediately made eye contact with steely teal eyes. It was probably too suspicious if she shifted her gaze immediately, so she forced her usual smile for strangers onto her face just as the boy turned back to look at her curiously, likely having followed the brunette's gaze.

"I changed my mind," Tori said abruptly, heading down the hallway in the opposite direction. "I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap instead. Catch you later, Shishikawa."

"Huh? Oi, Ikari! …what's gotten into her? She was so excited a few minutes ago."

Setsuna forced down the guilt that blossomed in her heart.

"You two know each other, by the way?" The boy asked curiously.

'Everyone has different circumstances…we should accommodate her and help her readjust, find her standing again.'

'If she wants us to pretend we don't know each other, I can do that for her.'

"…no," She murmured, her own words ringing in her mind as a reminder. "I…don't think we do."

The universe hated her.

That was the only reason for any of this. The universe absolutely, positively despised her. Tori wondered what kind of crime she must have commited in her past life to deserve this, because she'd thought that her life had been enough of a cruel joke, but this. This was taking it to another level.

She'd come here specifically to avoid…her, and yet, here they were! By some miracle, in the same school, in the same class, and on top of it all…

Practically next door neighbors.

Well, not quite, but was there a term for the people who lived across from you? Tori didn't know, nor did she really care—the point was, she hated the possibility that she'd open the door and see her sleep paralysis demon first thing in the morning.

But she's been nothing but nice, can't we just get along? A voice in her head whispered meekly.

She empathetically told it to shut up.

I wasn't supposed to stay this long anyway, I'll be out of there soon, there's no reason to—

But it's been three months…

I said shut. Up.

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, seething to herself, and then shook her head to clear out the emotions, scoffing. "I must be going crazy."

A little longer, she reassured herself, in a lighter tone this time. Just a little longer, and everything will be alright.

Right, Mom? You promised…

She blew at strand of thick hair in her face, but when it only floated a few centimeters, she huffed and reached up with a hand to fix it—

"What are you looking at?" She snapped irascibly at the girl giving her an unimpressed look from the other side of the corridor.

The girl's sky blue eyes were somehow simultaneously scrutinizing and impassive as they looked her over briefly. Tori grew increasingly antsy and irritated with each passing second of silence, and then the girl finally responded with a cold and short "you."

Tori pressed down on her growing anger as best as she could, trying to stop thinking about…everything. There was a time and place for feelings (ew), and now was not it. She was here to enjoy her first day in this new environment, and…Setsuna would not ruin it for her.

She refused to let her.

"I'm flattered," She said in something closer to her usual chipper tone, "but unfortunately, you're not quite my type—"

The navy-haired girl immediately scoffed quietly with a blatant eyeroll, turning on her heel and walking away.

"Well that's rude," Tori huffed, trailing after her.

She was met with silence.

Don't say anything rude don't say anything rude fuck why are we still going in the same direction—

She let the silence reign for exactly five seconds before she couldn't stand it anymore and began chattering obnoxiously in an attempt to annoy the girl into responding, "Are you ignoring me?" She recalled the way the girl had looked at her earlier and asked crassly, "Is it the way I dress? We can't all be so prim and proper like you, that would be boring. Or are you like this to everyone?"

The girl's expression remained entirely unmoved as she swiped into her room and said flatly, "I really don't care."

The door slammed in her face.

"…fuck," Tori groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Today is such a fucked up day, what the actual fuck."

She walked a little further to her own room (they were living in the same wing, no wonder they were going the same way), scanning in with her ID and flopping onto her bed instantly. She winced as her gaze caught on the group of students traveling outside, chattering amongst themselves happily as they did.

"How nice," she said to herself bitterly.

You could've still gone with them. Nobody was stopping you, not even Setsuna.

(And she knew that, of course, but she didn't need to admit it, did she?)

"Shut the fuck up," she muttered, digging forcefully through her unpacked suitcase for her Bluetooth speaker. She needed something to drown out the awful noise inside her head.

"Okay~! Let's start with introductions then, because it would be kind of awkward to play together without knowing each other's names, wouldn't it? Yes, I'm glad you agree! So! Most of you know me since I went to find you, but if you don't, I'm Riri!"

"Very well then—!"

"Hai hai hai hai haaaaaaaaaaai! I'll go next, I'm Ayana, Saionji Ayana!"

"…ahem. Very well then! Behold, a gallant introduction for a valorant hero—I am the shining star, Gorudo Kyosuta! As my future comrades, you may refer to me as Kyo! Be honored!"

"…"

"…yo what the fuck dude."

"Shishikawa."

"Yep yep, that's my name, don't wear it out~ Shishikawa Jin, present~"

"…"

"All right, I'll go next then. I'm Yuuki Setsuna, I hope we get along."

"Yuuki…going off your appearance, are you related to Frost and Jokull?"

"Yes, I'm their daughter!"

"Thought so. I'm Kazama Haru."

"Oh! Empath and Radar's son, perhaps?"

"Yep, that's me~"

"…"

"Tch, fucking whatever, let's get this shit over with already. The name's Doki, and I'm going to crush all of you."

"I'm Kazaru Takumi. You might be wondering so I'll just say it now—no, I don't have eyes, no, I can't see anything, but yes, I can still play, possibly even better than you can."

"…"

"Theeeeen…what about Mikimiki?"

"Fine. Tatsumi Mikita."

"…I'm Mako."

"Obi-wan!"

"No."

"Is it my turn then? I'm going to be the referee, Wamizaki Reiden—"

"'—son of Wamizaki Rei, CEO of Anzen'naie.'"

"…oi, you two—"

"Hey! That was my line!"

"What was that? I think you're too short for the wind to carry it properly."

"Oh fuck you!"

"You're as colorful as ever, like a feisty chihuahua."

"I'll fucking show you feisty—"

"There there, Aya-chin, relax~ And then Kishi and Karma aren't going to play, but they're here to watch, so introduce yourselves too!"

"Didn't you just do it for them?"

"Mikitaaaaaa~"

"What? Am I wrong?"

"It's all right, I'd be happy to. My name is Shokushu Kishi, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"As is for me; please, call me Karma. May we all be blessed with a pleasant three years together."

"Okay, so we all know the rules for normal dodgeball, right?" Reiden began, pulling up a projection from his wristwatch. "There's only one ball, of course, this one, and I'll tell you what's special about it in a moment, but usual cushion rules apply—if you get hit you're out, if it bounces and hits you you're out, if it bounces and get caught by your teammate you're safe, but if it bounces and gets caught by the other side you're not. Oh, but it's almost dinnertime so we can keep it a short game—once you're out, you can't throw, you can only spectate."

("If you don't understand, author-san is just following the explained cushion rules from Hunter x Hunter!" Riri winked at the camera.

"What," Mikita deadpanned at her.

"Don't look at me like that, Miki, sometimes casual possession by your creator for a fourth wall break interruption is just a thing."

"What.")

"Now here's the catch," Reiden grinned, pressing something on his phone before tossing it to Riri. "Miyabishi. Try throwing it."

"Like this?" Curious, Riri lobbed the ball forward with no force behind the throw—

Fwip fwip fwip.

"Whoaaaaaa!"

To their surprise, instead of flying in an arc, the ball lunged forward by itself and then pinballed through the air, appearing to bounce off several invisible platforms the way Riri herself tended to spring across the floor.

"That's…!" Riri turned to Reiden in surprise, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Exactly. It's a new prototype that someone I know at my mom's company was programming as a side project—a Quirk dodgeball."

They separated into two teams through a simple method of hands up or hands down, and the teams ended up as such:

Team 1: Kazama Haru (Quirk: "Slow Motion"), Kazaru Takumi (Quirk: "Body Sculpt"), Yuuki Setsuna (Quirk: "?"), Saionji Ayana (Quirk: "?"), and Shishikawa Jin (Quirk: "?")

Team 2: Miyabishi Ririka (Quirk: "Trampoline Park"), Tatsumi Mikita (Quirk: "Things That Go Bump"), Dokei Daigutso (Quirk: "?"), Makoto Obi (Quirk: "?"), Gorudo Kyosuta (Quirk: "?")

"Ready…go!"

The whistle sounded (courtesy of Aina from Reiden's wristwatch) as Reiden threw the ball in the air between the two six foot tall boys facing off in the center. Doki immediately launched into the air after it, catching it easily in one hand.

Jin whistled from where he was standing, his feet never leaving the ground.

"Oi, Shishikawa! What are you doing!" Haru yelled from behind him.

"What? You want me to fight against that? Do you see those biceps?" Jin answered flippantly, backing up a few steps in preparation for defense.

Doki barked out a laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment, but don't think that means I'm going easy on you! Take this! Doryaaaah!"

Following a big windup, he threw with all his strength. The force of the ball from his strength alone was evident, but to add to the threat, the ball had barely left his hand when it suddenly crackled and several white plates spawned into existence around it, haphazardly joining together to form a makeshift armor made of bone.

The ball flew like a rocket in Setsuna's direction—

There was a flash of blue, and a lightning fast illusion of the ball swerving to the left appeared for a moment. Following it, Setsuna dodged right, and the ball turned down the same path towards Haru, the owner of the Quirk that had activated temporarily.

(He recalled Reiden's explanation of "Some Quirks activate on throwing, others activate on catching. You'll just have to find out which is which as you play.")

"Hmph!" Doki sneered. "Just because you can see it, doesn't mean you can catch it!"

Haru narrowed his eyes, planted his feet and waiting with his arms held out, and once the ball entered his range, he relied on his trained instincts to snatch the ball perfectly along the flat areas of the bone armor—

"Ow!"

Okay, not perfectly. He stuck his pricked finger in his mouth as the bone armor faded from the ball. He gave Doki a triumphant and wild grin, which was returned with a scowl. "You were saying?"

"Is your finger okay?" Setsuna asked, concerned.

"Fine, I'm fine," Haru waved her off. "Are you sure nobody's gonna die from this, Wamizaki?"

"It is still a prototype so it's inevitable that there's some kinks in the programming, but rest assured—as long as I am referee, I will make sure nobody dies," Reiden answered from the sidelines.

"…are we sure this is okay without teacher supervision then?" Setsuna wondered sheepishly.

"Oh but you do have teacher supervision!" Aina waved from the walls. "It's all right, if anything happens I can take over!"

"Ah, thank you then, Ai-chan, we'll be in your care~"

"Come on, stop chit-chatting and throw the damn ball already!" Doki barked from a distance. "What are you, cowards?"

Haru felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation at the provocation. "Who are you calling a coward—"

"Let me throw."

Haru nearly jumped out of his skin when Takumi's completely featureless face minus a crooked grin suddenly appeared right behind him. "Dude, you can't just do that, I almost had a heart attack—here, take it." Haru thrust the dodgeball at him, and Takumi stilled briefly at the action, a sign of mild surprise not able to be conveyed across his face that Haru misinterpreted to explain, "It would probably be more impactful if you threw it since my Quirk's not an offensive type and it's a Quirk based game, that's all. If we were to fight straight up, I would still beat you, just so you know."

"We'll have to see about that," Takumi shot back as he accepted the dodgeball and stepped towards the center line.

And then without further delay, he accurately pinpointed Doki's location despite his lack of sight and threw. Doki gave a wolfish grin at the obvious challenge, planting his feet firmly and easily catching the ball that came at him—

Squish.

His fingers sank into it with an oddly…fleshy sensation, and his body tensed up in disgust before he could help it. "What the fuck is that—wait fuck—"

Mikita deftly caught the ball when it was flung towards her following a reflexive flinch, not even batting an eye at the way the ball of human flesh squirmed and wriggled before smoothing back out into the cloth surface of a regular dodgeball. She gave Doki a completely unimpressed stare, who immediately snapped out a resentful "the fuck are you looking at, bitch."

She rolled her eyes and ignored the colorful death threats that followed, without a single change in her expression, throwing the ball to Riri instead. "Here."

"Hm? Not gonna throw?" Riri asked, catching it easily.

"I don't really care, so you or someone else throw."

"In that case, allow me, the gloriously shining future star Gorudo Kyosuta, to take the stage, for my heroic blood is pulsating for a duel!" Kyo announced loudly, drawing everyone's attention to him. As if on cue, he finished tying off his white hair into a short ponytail and dramatically threw it over his shoulder. It was unclear if he only did it for the dramatics as it certainly did not make his hair any less unkempt, given the way his bangs remained plastered all over his face, the patch of blond hair mixing messily with the white hair—Riri had to swallow down the instinct to grab a brush to try and tame it.

She settled for throwing him the ball instead, accompanied by a cheerful, "Here you go~!"

Kyo caught the ball smoothly and declared, "I have received your feelings and shall carry them with me into battle! Behold, my ultimate attack!"

Everyone on the opposing team tensed, preparing their stances to receive the throw as they watched him wind up and—

"Feel the wrath of the universe! COSMIC EXPLOSION!"

"…"

The explosion of gold dust that helped speed the ball up mid-throw was quite the pretty sight, but nobody could pay attention to that as they were too distracted by the corny name bellowed out without a single change in expression—in fact, Kyo even placed his hands on his hips with an expression full of pride, seeming completely oblivious to the blank expressions on everyone else's face.

The ball flew in Jin's direction, who debated dodging for a moment before quelling those instincts in favor of putting on a dramatic show of pitching his voice into a raspy villain-like voice to cry out, "N-Not the wrath of the universe ugyaah—" and was interrupted by the ball ramming into his chest with such force that it knocked him off his feet. "—oof, ow, that actually hurt."

But despite his throbbing hips, a smile flickered across his lips when a majority of his classmates burst into joyous laughter at his antics, only a few stick-in-the-muds giving him an unimpressed glare.

At the same time the dodgeball game was starting up with full vigor, Karma followed Kishi over to the edge of the court, carefully picking a spot close enough to see what was happening but far enough that they had enough time to react to any stray balls. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he reached into his pocket and produced a strawberry candy that he offered to Kishi. "Candy?"

Kishi startled before smiling gratefully at him. "Sure, thank you."

Karma watched as she gingerly accepted the sweet and rolled it between her fingers a little bit, examining the candy wrapper with a hint of…was it nostalgia on her face? That made him think back again to the moment he had first seen her in the meeting room—there had been a hint of bitterness and pain underneath her gentle smile, hints that only he could see given his sensitivity to hidden emotions. He'd seen them again when she'd ducked out of the dodgeball game, accompanied by a hint of distraction in her eyes, and so he decided to keep her company on the sidelines.

It wasn't in his Faith to let her drown in those imperceptibly heavy emotions alone.

As if sensing him staring, Kishi suddenly seemed to come back to her senses, ducking her head in mild embarrassment and quickly popping the candy in her mouth.

"Is it good? This is my favorite brand of candy," Karma commented lightly as he unwrapped one for himself as well. "It's a little bit on the expensive side if we're being honest, but the children always seem to like it a lot as well, so I'd say it's worth it."

Kishi glanced at him curiously. "Children? Do you have a lot of siblings? Or do you babysit perhaps?"

"Huh? Oh, well, I do have a sister, but she's not quite at the age where she can eat candy yet," Karma admitted sheepishly. He felt his lips stretch into a fond smile at the mere mention of his baby sister. "I just really like kids in general, so I usually end up giving one to any kids I pass on the streets. Ah, as long as their parents are okay with it, of course."

Kishi blinked. "Then do you just—"

Karma grinned at her and pulled out a large handful of candies from his pocket. There were at least four or five different flavors too, not just strawberry. "It's always nice to have some on hand. A little sweetness goes a long way to cheering someone up, and you never know if you'll run into cute children…or…" He paused, hesitating, and decided to throw in anyway, "just anyone who might be feeling a bit under the weather, you know?"

He saw the implications sink in slowly, realization dawning in her blue eyes once they did. She blinked at him slowly, not responding.

"Sorry, I don't mean to overstep, but I couldn't help noticing you seemed a bit upset about something earlier. You seem like you've been struggling with something recently, so I was hoping that I could help you take some of the burden off of your shoulders?" He asked softly. When Kishi only gave him a quizzical glance, he added as an afterthought, "It's a part of my Quirk, see—it's called 'Therapy,' and it would let me take away some of your emotional burden if you would let me."

Tamotsu Karma!

Quirk: "Therapy!" This ability allows the user to siphon emotions from willing donors to himself. The action leaves the donors temporarily numb to the emotion for a duration of time, but the user will, in turn, experience the emotions as if they were his own! In addition, the emotions can also be transformed into strength, and the amount of strength received is proportional to factors such as the intensity of the emotions received!

Karma waited for her to wrap the Quirk explanation around her head; it usually took people a few moments to fully register the meaning and intentions behind it. He could tell immediately that she didn't seem fully comfortable with the idea, as she reached up to brush back a wriggling tentacle of hair and used the motion to hide her expression behind her arm. As expected, she answered carefully after some time, "Thank you, but it's quite alright. I just…have some recent experiences on my mind, that's all, but it will pass soon. Still, thank you."

"Of course," Karma said easily. "But if it would help you to talk about it instead, my family has always dealt a lot with emotions so I've been told I'm a pretty good listener."

Kishi's lips twisted downwards slightly, and as if in response, one of her tentacles batted outward in Karma's direction. He reached up a startled hand to block it, but she caught it herself first, clearly used to the quirks of her hair. She glanced at him after a while, apprehension flickering across her blue eyes as she wetted her lips in a nervous tic, and Karma immediately felt a familiar recognition flare up in his chest.

She reminds me of…

After a long internal struggle, Kishi opened her mouth to confess, "I—"

"No, sorry," Karma interrupted suddenly. "Forget I said anything. You don't have to say anything if you're not comfortable with it, I just wanted to let you know that it was an option. Please, don't force yourself to talk to me if you don't want to."

…me. He begrudgingly acknowledged. She reminds me of me.

He decided to throw her a fishing line, "Sorry for being so pushy, I grew up surrounded by our Faith and I sometimes forget that it's not for everyone."

Kishi accepted it gratefully, although a hint of guilt still remained on her face. "Your Faith?"

"The Faith of Feelings," Karma explained. "It's a religious organization for those of us with Quirks involving emotions. We use our abilities to support others, helping others understand their own emotions or sharing some of the burden with them if it's too heavy for them to handle alone. We know what it's like to drown under overwhelming emotions alone, and we don't want anyone else to feel that—we want people to know that there will always be at least one person who can help you carry the weight of your emotions, one person who you can trust unconditionally. So…that's why I couldn't help but approach you since you looked so upset earlier. Again, I'm sorry if I'm overstepping."

"Upset…" Kishi whispered. "Do I look upset to you, Tamotsu-kun?"

"Hm…" Karma considered his words carefully. "Upset is probably overcompensating, because I know that it's hard to sum emotions up into one word, but you did look…uncomfortable about something. Whatever experiences you had recently, from what I can see, it's probably causing conflicting emotions? Part of you is upset and hurt by it, but part of you…either doesn't understand it, or understands it but refuses to acknowledge it…"

"…mh," Kishi mumbled, her blue eyes staring blankly into the direction of the game taking place in front of them but seeing straight through it all despite the eye-catching throws. "You…probably got it right. I…my best friend tricked me into enrolling here, and I…I don't know how…if I should…"

She hesitated, curling and uncurling a tentacle around her wrist as she debated her next words—

"Cosmic Explosion!"

BOOM!

Kishi flinched violently at the sudden sound, and Karma fought back the instinct to try and steady her. (He figured it probably wouldn't be helpful to touch her.) They both drew their attention back to the dodgeball court just in time to see the dodgeball shrouded in gold dust rocket its way across the court like a shooting star straight into Jin's gut.

"They seem like they're having fun," Kishi murmured distractedly.

"Yeah," Karma agreed. "You know…I'm glad I chose to enroll here in the end. And, whatever the circumstances, I'm glad you ended up enrolling here also, because this seems like it's going to be a good place to be. Well, and I got to meet you, of course."

Kishi was silent for a moment, and right as Karma assumed she wouldn't respond, she whispered, "Yeah…I think so too."

Jin crawled his way over to where Ayana was dying on the floor with laughter a few feet away and with an exaggeratedly trembling hand, raised the dodgeball in front of her. "Saionji…I know we've had our differences…but you're the only one I can count on right now…please, avenge me…"

"N-No, Sh-Shi-Shishikawa-kun…" Ayana choked out, forcing her laughter into a fake sob, "you have to hang on…Sh-Shishikawaaaaaakyahahaha omg no what the fuck am I doing that was so fucking deserved holy shit—"

Jin made an offended expression that was more comical than anything else given his sprawled position on the floor. "Rude, don't avenge my honor then—"

"Ah ah ah, nuh uh, you stay dead," Ayana protested as she snatched the ball from him and ran to the center line. "I'll show you what a pro-gamer can do—soryah!"

Mikita blinked as the dodgeball flew towards her, but when she moved to dodge, a yellow aura suddenly shrouded her and, she noticed belatedly, everyone else on the team, with a small lightning symbol flashing above all of their heads.

"Holy fuckity, paralysis in one try! Today is my lucky day!" Ayana cheered. "Sorry about this, Mikimiki!"

Saionji Ayana!

Quirk: "Status Infliction!" This ability allows the user to randomly apply a set of video game-inspired buffs or debuffs to their allies or their opponents (respectively) for a duration of time, with buffs lasting longer than debuffs! Some examples of buffs include attack buffs, speed buffs, and even damage reflections, and examples of debuffs include speed debuffs, paralysis, and even Quirk nullification!

"Hm," Mikita hummed, and directly activated her Quirk to let the ball phase through her intangible body.

"Fuegeh!" Riri wheezed at the impact, although the paralysis allowed her to stay standing. "I was behind you, Mikimiki…"

"Oh. …sorry."

"No, no, it's okay, it's my bad for poor positioning," Riri waved her off as the debuff wore off, heading off the court. "That was a good dodge, Miki! And a nice shot, Aya-chin! Keep it up, I'll cheer you both on!"

Mikita nodded and turned back to Ayana—and stopped, confused. Ayana was staring at her, green eyes wide…and she whispered, "Fuck me that was kinda hot—oomph!"

The dodgeball cut her off by flying into her face—yes, literally flying with two miniature mechanical airplane wings sticking out of either side of it—and she fell straight backwards, barely catching herself before she landed head-first.

She immediately shot back up again, scanning the other side for the culprit and shrieking, "Obi-wan!"

"I said stop—you know what, I give up, I don't even care anymore," Mako sighed.

"I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oops that came out wrong—I meant, nice throw! But don't get too high on your high horse, because Setsuna-chi is gonna avenge me!"

"…I am?"

"…are you not?"

Setsuna laughed and accepted the ball being passed to her. "I'm kidding, I got it."

"Whoever the fuck it is, can you hurry it up?" Doki called impatiently. "This is a game, not a goddamn clown show!"

Setsuna paused before her throw, her aquamarine eyes glistening with a mischievous glint as an idea struck her. "Aren't you getting a little too heated, Doki-kun? Maybe you need to…cool down a little bit?"

"Hah?" Doki snarled confrontationally, immediately rounding to face her head on. "What the fuck did you—"

But his shouts died from his lips the moment the ball left her hand, as a whoosh of icy wind blew across the court with it. The ball flew through the air, knocking Mako in the shoulder and bouncing in Kyo's direction, who confidently rushed forward to catch it. His fingers only barely brushed the ball when he dropped it again with a yelp, "Ow that's cold—I mean—" He glanced around quickly to see if anybody had noticed his slip of character, but it didn't seem like anybody did (or cared) so he let out a sigh of relief. Then he realized that this meant he had also been struck out and dramatically collapsed on his hands and knees, a lonely spotlight seeming to shine on him despite nobody even paying attention to him.

"No," Doki said, aghast, and then stormed over to pick up the ball where it had landed. Ignoring the lingering ice on the ball, he immediately pitched it at Setsuna, barking out, "Fuck out of here with that bullshit, you did not just make a shitty ice pun—"

Moments before impact, the sharp edges of the bone armor dodgeball folded in, leaving a thankfully flat surface to strike her in the arm. (Reiden nodded in approval at the successfully activated safety mechanism).

Setsuna only laughed, the tinkling sound ringing across the court. "Sorry, sorry, I deserved that, I just couldn't resist…"

"No, no, are you kidding? Clearly you don't know art when you see it, because that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard—" Jin pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

As she made her way towards the sidelines, a flash of silver attracted her attention from the corner of her eye—

"Hey! And where the fuck are you going?" Doki thundered.

"Sitting out, because I don't want to play anymore," Mikita said plainly as she crossed the court briskly to stand next to Riri.

"Hah?! Are you fucking—" Doki broke off in a series of swears. "If you're not going to play until the end, why the fuck did you even start?"

Mikita didn't even bother responding to that, so Riri raised her hand and chimed in, "I encouraged her to, because it's fun!"

"Well you shouldn't have fucking bothered—"

Haru sighed, sharing a glance with Takumi—well, he glanced in Takumi's direction the same time the other turned his head to face him, but Takumi did say that he couldn't see despite his capable plays, so Haru couldn't really call it a shared glance—either way, the intention was there, and he was pretty sure that he wasn't just making things up when he said that they came to an understanding.

This was proven when Takumi scooped up the ball and pitched it full force towards Doki, who immediately snapped back into action and caught it deftly, his gray green eyes narrowed in challenge as he firmly kept his grip on the ball this time despite the wriggling mass of flesh.

"What? Can't take us on yourself?" Takumi taunted.

Doki broke out into a sharp, almost animalistic grin at that. "Oh, you're fucking on."

"…They're not going to stop anytime soon, huh."

"Nope, I doubt it," Riri laughed. She absently tracked the dodgeball game that had peaked in intensity through the corner of her eye. The dodgeball barely had time to switch Quirks before it was being thrown or caught again as the three boys aggressively flung it back and forth across the court, a far cry from the prior…well, perhaps shitshow was a bit mean, she mused, but regardless, it was clear that a vast majority of them had only joined to mess around. Which was fair, since she was definitely one of them.

Anyway, it was obvious now who the competitive ones in the class were, and they showed the class clearly what real Quirk dodgeball was supposed to look like.

"I can see why you dropped out, Mikimiki," Riri commented casually. "Hell, even I don't know if I'd be able to stay through that…although it might be fun, I don't know~"

"Hm," Mikita said in response.

"Boys," Ayana said in an exaggeratedly scornful tone.

"I take offense to that," Mako muttered.

"Well stay offended then."

"Hm…" Riri frowned, checking the time. "It's getting pretty late now, I wonder if we'll be able to finish before dinner—"

Ding! As if on cue, the screen on the wall flickered to life and Aina spun to the front. "It is now 6 pm! A welcome dinner has been prepared for you, so please make your way to the dining room!"

As expected, Doki immediately spun a heated glare at the AI. "You have to be fucking kidding—"

"Well, dinner sounds like a good idea," Reiden interrupted. "We should always eat meals on time." He reached out for the ball still in Doki's grasp. "I'll take that back now, you can determine a winner another time if you want—"

"No, it doesn't end until someone wins—oi!" Doki snapped when the ball suddenly flew from his fingers by itself and into Reiden's waiting hand.

"Dinner," Reiden repeated in a demanding tone. "Now. Or you won't finish the game at all."

"Tch, what the fuck ever," Doki snapped and then jutted his chin at Haru and Takumi. "This isn't fucking over, you hear! You're the ones who would've lost in the end!"

"Sure," Takumi said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Bring it on," Haru replied gleefully. "I'll take you on anytime."

"Hey hey," Ayana bounded over to Reiden, pointing at the dodgeball curiously. "So how does this thing work in the end?"

Mako hesitated for a moment, but then begrudgingly gave into his curiosity and followed up with, "There's a safety mechanism of some kind, isn't there? I saw it work on Yuuki, but I didn't see it work on Kazama earlier?"

"Yes, of course there is," Reiden answered. "It could be a glitch, but I think it's because Yuuki was defenseless, whereas Kazama had not only his Quirk activated in the system but was in position to catch it; if he had missed and it hit him, the programming says it should have activated then—"

"I'm going to be the brightest star, paving a shining path of hope for everyone to follow just like my grandmother did!" Kyo proclaimed.

Jin snickered. "Well if nothing else, you stand out like a traffic light so I'm sure we can't possibly get lost if we just—yo I was kidding but I just noticed your skin is, like, actually glowing, what the hell?"

"Oho, so you're interested in learning the rigorous skincare routine of a star—"

"Not particularly, no."

"…oh."

"I am," Setsuna prompted as she stepped in line with them. "Tell me about it?"

Kyo's eyes lit up. "You are?! Ahem, I mean, very well then, let me tell you—"

"Hey," Kishi gently poked Riri in the shoulder. She squeaked in surprise, drawing her attention away from the conversations around her and back to the ones happening around her instead. "Are you all right, Riri?"

"What are you thinking so intensely about?" Karma asked curiously.

"Nothing much, just how excited I am for the semester." Riri beamed and grabbed Mikita's hand to pull her forward. "Come on, let's go see what's for dinner! I'm starving!"

ED 1 - Bless Your Breath by WADATAKEAKI ft. Hatsune Miku

Updated Quirks on bio: Doki, Kyo, Ayana, Mako, Setsuna

Credits for the Quirk dodgeball idea goes to Gakuen Alice (episode 7 lol)

(peeks in) Hey y'all look who's alive~ Uhhh I actually don't have much to say for this chapter, so…just some casual slice of life shenanigans and a loooot of dialogue, but I hope you enjoyed it! I'm pretty sure I got every Gold Class character featured in here to some extent, which is neat :3 Let me know your thoughts as always!

Oh also I picked opening and ending themes as you can see, check them out if you have time! :D

Silver Class next chapter~

Big thank you to Roggi for the PM cheer! :)

Also to Monty's Cloudy Day as always for helping to push me through the chapter~

Also thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter: San Wolves, Yngvarr Frey, ThalioTP, AJ Aviary, Roggi, and Arrow-chan3! I appreciate each and every one so much, thank you!

Matta ne~

Chi