Chapter 52
[Play KH Concert -First Breath- Traverse Town]
Three days had passed since the Kyashi incident, and it was morning at the Midoriya household. As summer break was now in session. Sora and Izuku didn't need to get ready to go to school, unless they wanted to go for training. Neither boy was up for that today though, as Inko was off for the past few days and the three were just spending time together.
Izuku set up the table, while Sora helped Inko bring out breakfast that they cooked together, and when the three sat down, they each helped themselves to the food. As they were all off, there wasn't much to catch up on or talk about, but they still were able to hold a conversation during breakfast.
Said conversation was at first about the Final Exams, which Sora explained to be the reason why he was coming home tired helping out Nezu after school, as he was testing them for the other students. It then transitioned to Inko's work and how she was doing, which was fine, until the more recent stuff happened. The conversation continued on until the food on everyone's plates were gone.
The three finished their meals and the boys helped Inko clean up, not just the dishes, but a bit around the house as well. Sora as usual, kept the couch he slept on clean and the drawer he had his things in tidy. He also kept the clothes he had hanged separately from Izuku's, so the two don't accidentally wear each other's shirts or pants, not that the other really minded. He also helped clean the kitchen, as he uses that place too.
Izuku of course kept his room clean and helped out with the bathroom. He made sure that everything was as tidy as it could possibly be and that none of his notebooks were misplaced outside of his room or backpack. The same went for any of the training gear that he had. Nothing big though, just small weights and a few grip strengtheners.
Inko, being the one who regularly tidy's up this place, of course tidied up the rest, being her room, the living room, and the laundry room. She didn't have to worry about doing too much laundry, as the boys always dealt with their own, neither did she have to worry about checking up on the boy's progress, because she knew that neither of them would leave a job half finished.
When the summer cleaning was finished, all three of them reconvened to the couch and rested on it together. Sora then spoke up. "Man. I only cleaned up the kitchen and the couch, and I'm already beat. How do you clean up the whole house, every day?"
Inko giggled and replied. "It's a parent thing. When you have a kid. They tend to make a mess, or sometimes move things around to play with their imagination." Izuku's cheeks slightly turned red at that, which made her think of a fond memory. "I remember when Izuku would wear his All Might Onesie and get a pillow case as a cape and ask me to play Hero with him. He'd have me put a bed sheet over my head and call out 'Save me!' Then he'd barge in the room, yelling out 'I am here!' like he was a little All Might, smile on his face and all."
"M-Mom!" Izuku spoke up, getting embarrassed.
"Hahahahahaha" Sora just laughed at that before he reminisced about his own childhood. "Oh man, that makes me think about all the times I'd play sword fighting with Riku back on the islands. We'd pretend that we were masters with blades, when all we really did back then was flail those glorified sticks at each other until we got tired." This made Inko laugh and Izuku no longer feel embarrassed as Sora continued to tell his tale. "We did that so much, that we actually ended up making our fighting styles from those sparring matches when we got older."
Izuku then spoke up after hearing that. "Really? That's amazing! I mean, you told me that you made your own style, but I didn't know that you developed it through the hundreds of sparring matches you had with Riku."
"Well, you never asked." Sora pointed out.
"Well...I don't want to overstep my boundaries." The green haired boy said. "I mean, I know that we're friends, but I don't want to ask about personal stuff, at least without your permission."
After hearing that, Sora told him. "Well, now you have my permission. Ask me anything. Just make sure that when you're curious about something, you don't ask me over fifty questions when you start muttering."
That made Izuku's cheeks go red from embarrassment again, while Inko giggled at the two boys' talk. She then looked at the time. "Hmm. Well, since the bathroom is clean, and it's about midday now. I think I'm gonna clean myself up while you two talk." She got up and walked towards the bathroom, leaving the two alone.
When she left, Izuku got an empty notebook from his backpack as well as a pen. He then asked Sora questions about his Keyblade training and combat experiences, which the Keyblade wielder answered accordingly. Sora explained how his Keyblades worked and even told him about the many other blades he used to take into battle. He talked about his fighting style and how he developed each new move through trial and error, or just by seeing it be done before and learning it himself.
The conversation went on for a while until Sora adjusted himself on the couch and felt something in his pocket. He stuck his hand in said pocket and then pulled out something he completely forgot about. "Oh." He said.
"What is it?" Midoriya wondered.
"It's the shopping money that Inko gave me a few days ago." Sora answered. "I forgot I still had it." The Keyblade wielder then realized something and got up from the couch and got himself ready to go. "Let's pause the QnA Izuku."
"Um...Ok." Midoriya replied. "Where are you going?"
"Gonna head shopping. Get the summer camp stuff that I still need to get." Sora told him. "Tell Inko that, when she comes back and asks."
"Oh. Sure thing." Izuku said as he saw Sora finish getting ready to leave his home. "Be safe."
"I will." The Keyblade wielder assured him as he reached the door and left the house.
[Silence]
In the Kamino ward, Giran was walking around, with two different people close to him. One was green in color, and had the shape of a gecko, while also dressing very similarly to the Hero Killer. Another looked masculine, but seemed to act a bit more feminine. Said person wore a white v neck under an unbuttoned dark orange shirt, blue jeans with a belt and dark brown espadrilles. The three of them were heading to a very specific location.
Close by, inside a bar, Tomura Shigaraki was sitting in his usual spot in front of Kurogiri. The Figure was also in their regular spot, but those three weren't the only ones there. The two currently newest members were also present. Dabi was leaning on a wall across from Shigaraki, but the latter was facing away from him.
Himiko however, was sitting at the same table that the Figure was at, looking at said person with dangerously gleeful curiosity in her expression. She knew nothing about the person in front of her, aside from the fact that they could take her out in a fight and easily kill her if they wanted to, but while that nugget of information was good to know, that wasn't 'all' what she wanted to know. The Figure could tell that Toga was trying to get a read on them, but didn't make a move at all. If they did, then all that would do was egg her on. They'll only speak to her when she speaks to them.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Master Criminal]
As if she could tell what the Figure was thinking, she then spoke up. "So, what are you like?"
"..." The Figure turned their head to face her. "I'm like me."
"Ooh. Neat." She replied, happy that she got a response. "So what is it like, being like you?"
"It's like you being you." The Figure answered her question.
"Yeah, but there is one difference." Himiko noted.
"Which is?" The Figure replied.
"You know everything about me." Toga pointed out, while also pointing at one of the folders that was given to the Figure by Giran. "But I don't know anything about you."
"Like I told Dabi, I'll tell you when you need to know." The Figure reminded her.
"I feel like I need to know now." Himiko said. "I mean, we're on the same team now. How am I supposed to work with you when all I know is that you've got a hood, and you can fight?"
"I plan around you." The Figure stated.
"And if that plan fails?" Toga countered.
"Then I plan around the others." They answered.
"And if they're not around?" She added.
"..." The Figure didn't have an answer for that, which actually surprised them.
"See?" Himiko said. "If you don't want to talk about it, then just give me a folder to skim through."
"There is no folder about me." The Figure told her. "Even if there was, I wouldn't trust you with it."
"Are you sure about that?" Toga questioned. When there was no response from the Figure, she continued on. "Because if you really didn't trust me to keep you a secret, you'd have just killed me on the spot, or at least, kept me away from people. Instead, you let me and Dabi go back out into the open world."
"..."
"You risked that, knowing that I'm wanted for murder. What was gonna stop the cops from strapping a lie detector on me, or getting someone with a Quirk that forces me to tell the truth?" Himiko went into the hypotheticals to prove her point. "Tell me I'm wrong."
"..."
"I thought so." Toga rested her case. "So, you wanna start with your goal?"
Just then, a knock on the door as well as a familiar Broker's voice was heard by the League. "Hey guys. I'm here with the next batch of buddies that wanna join your little club." He then let himself in and the League watched as he brought in the pair of people he brought with him.
The Figure told Himiko "Later." Which made her perk up.
Giran presented the gecko person first. "This guy, hasn't committed any super flashy crimes, but he's taken Stain's ideology so much to heart, that he's basically a reskin."
"Shuichi Iguchi." He introduced himself. "However, I will only respond to the name Spinner. I'm here because I too wish to make Stain's dreams a reality. This society is full of pretend Heroes who only seek wealth and glory. I will personally and gladly cut them down in his name."
Tomura was slightly annoyed, but acted indifferent, while Dabi had a small smile on his face. The League then watched Giran present the other. "This one though. She's got a track record. Multiple armed robberies, three successful kills under her belt, and quite a few really close attempts to increase that count."
"Kenji Hikiishi." The 'girl' introduced herself. "But call me Magne. I can already see the judgmental looks on some of your faces, but I'm willing to look past that for now. I want to join your League because society now is horrible, with no change in sight. I want to live my life the way 'I' want to. Not the way I'm told to. I heard you guys are challenging the world's view, so sign me up."
Shigaraki was once again indifferent, but Toga's already happy grin widened at that. The League Leader then spoke up. "Ok. Our goals match up."
[Silence]
"Well, that went by much more smoothly." Giran commented.
"The interview isn't over yet." Tomura told the broker. "They've told me what they're fighting for. Now they've got to prove how hard they're going to fight for it."
"A practical examination of our abilities." Spinner surmised.
"How's that gonna work?" Magne asked. "I mean, I have my weapon, but isn't this place a little too cramped?"
A dark corridor opens in front of the pair, as the Figure got out of their seat and went to Giran. "Give the folders to Shigaraki to read over while I deal with them."
The broker noticed the slight difference in the way the Figure was acting, but chose not to question it. "Sure. But I don't have any copies, so if he dusts them, you got nothing."
The Figure then walked towards the Dark corridor, passing the two new League hopefuls and saying "Follow me if you want to achieve our shared goals." Then they entered the void. Spinner and Magne looked at eachother, then towards Dabi and then Himiko, who both gestured them to go on. Then both stepped through and the corridor closed afterwards.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Among Kosei]
Elsewhere, at a station, Sora had just gotten on a train and let it take him in the direction he needed to go. Said train was a little crowded, but there was still enough elbow room for it not to be cramped. When the train stopped at the stop before his though, he saw something, or rather someone that surprised him.
Mina Ashido, the pink skinned cheerful girl of Class 1-A was getting on the train as well. As she did, she failed to notice Sora, but who could really blame her, as the train was pretty crowded right now. It wasn't crowded enough for people to be stuck in place however, and Sora took advantage of that, moving his way over towards his classmate to go say hi.
As Mina was on her phone, she failed to notice him approaching her. Normally, this would be a cause for suspicion, seeing a boy approach a girl in a crowded area while she was distracted, but when the people who noticed said action took a look at who the people were, they knew it was fine, as they recognized the rather famous 1-A students almost immediately. Some passengers even moved themselves out of the way to let Sora through, to which the boy silently thanked them with a small wave of his hand.
As soon as Sora was close enough, he whispered out. "Hey. Mina." which caused Ashido to stop looking at her phone screen and turn her head, but she didn't see anyone she was familiar with. "Other way, Mina." she heard the whispering voice again and she followed it's instructions, turning the other way to see…
"Eh?! Sora!" She exclaimed, which caused a few of the passengers to flinch from the sudden rise in her voice. "Oh, sorry." She toned it down, before she scooted her way to Sora's spot and began talking to him again. "This is a surprise. What're you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Sora pointed out. "But to answer your question. I didn't get any shopping done during our class trip to Kiyashi, so I'm going to shop for the camp stuff I need."
"Really? Me too." Ashido replied. "I got a few things the first time, but I couldn't get everything. I was heading there now because I figured that the drama should be blown over by now."
"I was thinking the same reason." Sora agreed with her reasoning. "Wanna hang out and shop together?"
"Yes. Absolutely." The pink skinned girl responded. "It'll be like the class trip, except just the two of us, and also no drama."
"I like that. A fun shopping trip." The Keyblade wielder stated.
"Heck yeah!" Mina exclaimed, causing the pedestrians to once again flinch from the sudden rise in her tone of voice. "Oh. Sorry, again." She toned back down.
[Silence]
Somewhere within a remote forest mountain area, the azure blue flames caused by a previous struggle had finally died down, but there wasn't going to be any peace and quiet for this location however, as a familiar dark corridor appeared and out came one of the people responsible for this destruction, followed by two different people.
The Figure looked around the area and saw that the flames that once engulfed this forest area died down, leaving a portion of the surrounding trees deprived of their greenery, and burnt to black husks.
Spinner and Magne also took in their surroundings and could already see the aftermath of a previous engagement. They could also easily guess that their hooded escort was the most probable cause of said engagement. "I'm guessing that this is the training ground." Magne commented.
"More like a testing ground." The Figure stated.
"I'm going to assume that our combat test will be against you." Spinner spoke next.
"You assume correctly." The Figure confirmed before suddenly disappearing and reappearing a moderate distance away from the pair. "Whenever you're ready. Just last longer than a minute."
Spinner reached behind him and drew out his weapon, however it was so absurd looking that even Magne just stopped to comment on it. "Huh. Compensating for something?"
The weapon in question was a ridiculous amount of blades forcibly held together by a series of belts to form...a much bigger and wider sword. A sword of swords, if you were to give it a proper name. Said wielder of this sword of swords told Magne. "Just draw your weapon and fight."
"Yeah, sure. No problem." She replied as she pulled out her weapon, which looked to be a giant heap of metal poorly wrapped up under a sheet but the way she held it suggested that she used it like a ram.
The Figure looked at both of these weapons and just saw one as impractical, and the other as stupid. But then, their body glowed blue and the Figure was suddenly and quite forcefully being moved towards them. "What?!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I'm Seriously Going to Crush You]
"Come here little man!" Magne called out the Figure's now confirmed gender as she thrusted the heap of metal forward.
The Figure summoned his weapon and then clashed with hers, but the force of the clash was unexpectedly strong for him, as he actually struggled to keep his weapon from holding back the metal that he was being pulled towards.
Spinner noticed this and took the opportunity to attack, rotating his body to give himself the proper momentum to swing his sword of swords. The Figure noticed this, but only barely managed to move his blade to intercept, but that forced his side to clash hard with the metal and feel it dig into him.
The Figure suddenly felt it push more into him, but then he stopped glowing blue and he finally moved with the force pushed against him and was forced away from the pair. He stumbled to the ground, but quickly pushed himself back to his feet and faced the pair.
He saw Spinner sprint towards him, before swinging his blade horizontally. The Figure jumped over his attack, but when he landed behind the gecko man, the blade was also moving there, due to Spinner using his momentum from the swing before. The Figure quickly moved out of the way, but saw as Spinner kept his momentum and spun his body like it was a top while moving himself towards his target.
The Figure once again took to avoiding the spin attack, by keeping his distance, allowing Spinner to stop himself due to getting too dizzy. The Figure then blitzed towards him and swung his weapon, but the gecko managed to see the attack coming and used his oversized weapon as a shield to block the attack, but the force was strong enough to completely break apart the weapon, undoing the straps and even shattering some of the blades that made up the weapon.
Before Spinner could grab anything from the ground, he was grabbed by the collar and the Figure was about to strike him again, but then they both glowed blue and were suddenly blown away from each other, then they both ended up moving towards the same direction after that, but while Spinner stopped glowing blue and stumbled back to where his blades were, the Figure still was, and saw that he was once again heading towards Magne's metal slab.
As the Figure got closer and closer to Magne, he said "Not this time." Before pointing his weapon towards the bulky woman and casting a series of dark Blizzard spells towards her. Magne kept her quirk activated, but rolled out of the way of the dark Blizzard spells, not noticing them changing their course behind her. As soon as she got back to her feet, she felt many cold objects hit her in different spots behind her, until her body from the neck down was covered in ice.
The Figure then stopped glowing blue, but used the momentum he had to tuck and roll on the ground, kick himself back up to his feet and blitz towards the frozen Villain, aiming to take her out of the fight. But then, a blade was thrown in between the two.
As the Figure turned to the direction it was thrown, he saw more small knives coming towards him, and he blocked and deflected them as they came. He also saw that the one throwing them was Spinner, who grabbed them from either the ground or the small packs on his legs. The Figure continuously deflected and even caught and threw some knives to intercept others until Spinner closed the distance.
The gecko Villain took out a combat knife and slashed at the Figure, but the hooded male was able to dodge the attack and grab Spinner's wrist. He pulled and threw Spinner towards Magne's frozen body, crashing him into her and breaking the ice that was immobilizing her.
Both pushed themselves to their feet, but the Figure already closed the distance as he blitzed towards Magne and struck her wrist hard, causing her to grunt in pain and lose her grip on her heap of metal. The Figure unsummoned his weapon and grabbed that heap of metal, then swung it hard on Magne's head, making it bleed, before he then let go and let the heap of metal fall onto its owner to knock her down to the ground.
Spinner moved towards the Figure and attempted to slash him again with his combat knife, but the Figure once again dodged his attack, by jumping up. Instead of going over him though, the Figure descended above him and both his boots slammed onto Spinner's head, pushing the gecko head first towards the ground.
The Figure then jumped off of him and watched as he struggled to get up. When he did, he faced towards the hooded male and threw his weapon towards him, only to have it caught and thrown back at him, the hilt of the blade striking his temple and knocking him off balance again.
The Figure then closed the distance, grabbed spinner by the collar and threw his body at Magne's weapon, his head also hitting the heap of metal when he was thrown there. Both were down and out as the Figure then resummoned their key shaped sword and walked towards them.
[Silence]
"A….Ahhhhh...hell." Magne uttered out as she saw the Figure walk towards the pair. She tried to get up but that blow to the head messed with her motor functions, as when she tried to get up, she almost immediately dropped back down to the ground.
"I...I won't...fail Stain." Spinner told himself as he too tried to get up, only to also fall back on the floor.
[Play KH BBS OST Master Xehanort]
The Figure raised his weapon. The two Villains then saw a green hue envelope them, and shortly after, no longer felt any pain or fatigue. They both looked at the Figure and saw him lower his weapon and look down at the two. "Get up." He told them.
They both pushed themselves back onto their feet and Magne spoke up first. "Jeez. Was that any way to treat a lady?" She teased.
"Guy or girl. Adult or child. Powerful or weak. I couldn't care less. I'd hurt you the same way I hurt everyone else." The Figure told her.
Spinner then spoke up as he began to collect any blades he could salvage. "If one's goal is to be attained in this world, then you must be willing to hurt anyone that doesn't follow your ideals."
"Trust me gecko guy, I know." Magne replied, earning an unamused look from her 'partner' "Just trying to lighten the mood after 'hoody' here rang our bells with my magnet. But I guess he really doesn't discriminate, considering he gave us both equal treatment."
"Moving past our defeat..." Spinner began. "How long did we last?"
"Two minutes." The Figure told them, before opening a dark corridor and changing his tone of voice to a darkly welcoming one. "Welcome to the League of Villains." He then stepped through the corridor.
Magne was about to follow, but then noticed that Spinner was still gathering swords from the ground. Deciding to make a good first impression as an official League Member, she helped gather his weapons, much to his surprise, and then the two went through the portal together. The dark corridor closed behind them leaving only broken blades and fresh blood on the grass to show that they were there.
As the pair came out to the other side. They saw that they were at the bar again. The Figure was in the middle of reading one of those folders that Giran had brought, which Toga also read, by peeking over his shoulder. Tomura didn't pay attention to the pair, already being filled in by the Figure. Dabi just glanced at them to see if any damage was done to them, but upon seeing Spinner's weapon now in pieces, he knew that they got roughed up.
Kurogiri was the one to speak to them, saying "Please, sit anywhere you'd like, or lean on a wall if that's your preference."
Spinner and Magne both went to the booths and placed the blades on one of the tables. Spinner sat down and began to attempt reconstructing his sword of swords, while Magne left him to it and sat at a different booth, choosing to clean off the blood that she and the gecko Villain had left on her magnet.
Seeing the blood, as well as the many blades got Himiko's attention, and she went over to Magne and began to talk with her, allowing the Figure to read the folders in peace.
[Silence]
Back with Sora and Mina, the two had just gotten off the train together and were walking to the Kiyashi Ward together. During that walk, there were of course people who recognized the pair as U.A. students from class 1A. But the attention wasn't as evenly split as it could have been.
"Holy cow. It's that guy who wrecked shop in the sports festival!" "He's so strong." "Those swords of his really pack a punch." "I think that girl he's with was also there too." "Really?" "Oh yeah." "She was good too." "Still that Sora guy was amazing though." "Right?" "Ahh, so dreamy." "That guy can sure take a wallop." "So strong." "When he becomes a pro, I wanna be saved by him."
Ashido might not be as smart as the rest of her class when it comes to academics, but she was a genius when it came to having a social life. Though it didn't take a genius to see that she was not the popular or favored U.A. student in this group. It made her feel a little bit down.
Sora immediately saw that and spoke to her. "It's great to hear that people know you."
"Yeah, I guess it's cool for them to remember you." The pink skinned girl replied.
"Huh?" Sora responded. "No. I meant you as in 'you'. Not you as in us."
"Wha...?" Mina didn't understand at first.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Forest Training Camp]
"I'm used to hearing about me, and it's cool, but I like it more when I hear about how awesome my friends were at the Sports Festival." The Keyblade wielder explained.
Upon hearing that, there were other comments about her being said from the crowd. While there were still many Sora related ones, they began to get drowned out. "Hey. It's that pink lady that dodged lasers." "Yeah." "She's got a mean uppercut." "Shame that she lost to the bird guy though." "I was rooting for her." "She's really cute." "She's out of your league dude." "She slid on the floor like a pro skater." "Man, I wish I had her quirk."
After hearing those bits of praise, she perked up, feeling like a champion in her own right. Sora smiled at this and then spoke up. "So, seeing as I'm still not too familiar with this place..." he gestured towards Kiyashi Ward. "You wanna show me around and help me find the shops I need?"
Ashido looked at Sora and said, "Like I'm gonna say no." Before taking his hand and tugging him in the direction she wanted to go. Just like that, the two began their shopping spree together.
The first place they stopped at was a clothing shop and the pair each got a set of summer clothes. While Mina got tank tops and short shorts aplenty. Sora settled for some red T shirts and a few pairs of black shorts with pockets on them. He also got himself a new coat while he was there that matched the aesthetic of the clothes he bought.
Next up, the pair went to a shoe store and looked around. Ashido already had a good set of shoes for camping, but Sora still needed a pair. A white pair of shoes ended up catching his eyes and after finding a set in his size, and putting them on to test how they feel, he settled on getting those.
After putting the new shoes back in the box, the pair traveled to their next destination, a store that sells hiking equipment. While Mina doubted that there would be too much hiking, it would still be at least a good idea to get something like a sturdy backpack for just in case it got snagged on something and she didn't want it to rip open and drop anything. Sora had the same thought process and the two each got a backpack that matched their style choices.
The next place they went to was actually some changing rooms. They both had the stuff they wanted, but still wanted to try them on and see if they looked good. Ashido came out dressed up in a purple tank top, blue short shorts, and some pink sneakers, with her hiking backpack strapped on her back.
Sora however, came out looking like a whole different person. The black shorts and red shirt really complimented each other, and the black and red coat he picked out to go with it really sold the look. The white shoes somehow managed to not clash with the black clothes, the crown necklace also went amazingly with the clothes and Sora held his hiking backpack in his left hand, holding it up by the top handle with two fingers.
They both took a good look at eachother, and Sora was the first to speak. "Looking good Mina." The Pink haired girl didn't respond as she was still looking at Sora and the fashion that he chose for himself. This caused Sora's cheeks to go a little red and he said "Sorry. Is this too much?"
Ashido then snapped out of it and replied. "No. In fact...it's amazing. I'm...wow." She ended up getting a slight blush from how good he looked.
The Keyblade wielder let out a light hearted chuckle and responded. "Well that's good to hear. I'm gonna get a feel for these clothes. I put my other set in the backpack for now. Are you gonna do the same or change back?"
"I'm gonna change back." Mina told him. "Just wait out here for a bit and I'll be back."
"Got it." Sora said as the girl went back into the changing room.
[Silence]
Sora sat down and waited for his classmate to change back. While doing so, he took out his Gummiphone and took a picture of himself. He then sent that picture to his fellow Keyblade wielding friends after sending his daily message to them, since he forgot to do that this morning. As he was about to put the phone away though, he just received a message, which really caught him off guard.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Forever No. 2]
He went to his messages and read it. "Are you free tomorrow?"
He looked at the number and saw that it was Shoto who texted him. Sora texted back. "Yeah. What's up?"
After a brief moment he received another message. "I want you to come over to my house."
Sora was a bit confused and texted "Sure. What are we gonna do?"
After a few seconds, another message. "Talk about the practical exams."
The Keyblade wielder understood what was going on now and messaged back "What time?"
"Midday." Todoroki sent him.
"I'll see you then." Sora sent out, and when there was no other message sent back, he exited his messages and put the Gummiphone away.
[Silence]
Ashido came out of the dressing room, now back in the clothes she had on before, and the two went on to their next destination. All Sora needed at this point was bug spray, and Mina admitted that she needed some too, so the two went to the nearest outdoor related shop to purchase some. As soon as they finished that and were about to leave however, the two passed by something that caught Sora's attention.
"Huh?" The boy looked a bit confused and Ashido took notice.
"What's got you all confuzzled?" Mina asked.
"Arcade?" Sora pointed at the section. "What's that?"
Ashido looked kind of surprised and questioned him. "You've never been in an arcade before?"
"Nope." The Keyblade wielder confirmed. "So what is it?"
"Well, it's a place where people go to play games. Be it a video game, or some little carnival themed minigame." Mina answered.
"Seriously?" Sora commented. "That's...I mean...it's okay but, why?"
"Some people just don't like waiting for a festival." Ashido stated. "The only reason I'd go in there is if there was a dance pad game."
"A what?" The boy said.
"A dance pad game." The girl repeated. "You tap your feet to the rhythm and match the arrows on the screen. The more accurate, the better the score."
"That's a thing?" Sora commented. "That's actually kind of cool."
"Yep." Mina answered, before thinking of something. "You seem interested in it. You wanna go in and see if there is one?"
"Is that okay with you?" The Keyblade wielder wondered.
"Yeah." Ashido replied. "Besides. I wanna see if you've got a pep in your step."
Sora gave her a confident smile before telling her "I won't disappoint."
[Play KH BBS OST Dice and Shine]
The pair then entered the arcade area and looked around. There were many things inside the arcade though. Lots of games that were projected on a screen. A portion were more interactive due to having a physical object that either needed to be thrown or moved around inside a closed space. And some seemed to be catered to VR.
After walking around for about a minute, Mina spotted what they were after. They walked over to it and saw that it was a two player dance pad game that could be played by inserting money in it. Ashido and Sora both still had some extra money on them, so they each could pay for themselves.
[Silence]
They both inserted some of their money, the game started up, they both got onto a dance pad and picked a set of three rhythms to dance to.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Funk With Me]
The First beat started, and the pair got a groove for it, but when the arrows started to show, Sora had to focus. The arrows went with the beat, but Sora, being very new to this, had trouble figuring out how to properly tap his feet on the pad, so he would miss and sometimes get late inputs, which made him look sloppy compared to his female friend.
Mina however had no trouble sticking to the beat, and was easily able to do the inputs just fine. She noticed Sora having some trouble and she spoke up. "Just follow my lead until you figure out the pad." Sora nodded to that and just paid attention to Mina's foot work at this point, mimicking hers, since they were both given the same input pattern to dance to. At this point, a few people in the arcade stopped what they were doing to watch the pair dance.
He noticed that Ashido tapped the pad swiftly, but hard, and then he began to do the same, and then noticed that his performance was marginally improving, so instead of focusing on her, he looked back at the screen to see the inputs begin to invert from his partner's. Now every time she stepped left, he stepped right and vice versa.
Since he managed to figure out how to properly input his movements, he was able to catch on quickly and in doing so, put on a much better performance compared to the beginning. Mina noticed Sora's improvement and was glad to see him figure this out. She also noticed that they had drawn a small group of people over to them.
The first part of the beat was reaching its end point, but both knew that this was going to be a three part experience. The group of people watching them was also starting to slowly grow into a crowd and the pair noticed. Best not to disappoint them. Now it was time for the second rhythm.
[Play FF& Remake OST Sync Or Swim]
The second rhythm started and the pair got themselves into the groove, but the arrows didn't show just yet. Upon waiting for them, Sora noticed the crowd watching them, and he thought of a small idea. He spoke up. "Hey Mina, use your arms and I'll follow your lead."
"Huh?" Ashido said.
"Do some actual dance moves with the pad and I'll follow." The Keyblade wielder said as the arrows began to come up. "Here we go."
The arrows started off with the same direction in tempo with the beat, making them tap their feet to the bass, and then when the music built up the real dancing began. Mina did as Sora said and began to incorporate actual dance moves with the inputs given to her, which made her focus a bit.
Meanwhile Sora was following her lead, doing either the exact same movements she was, or inverting them to match with his inputs. While Sora wasn't perfect at mimicking her moves, he was good enough to make it seem like he knew what he was doing.
Thanks to this added layer of style, the pair looked like synchronized dancers to the ever growing crowd behind them. They were so good that the crowd actually began to start grooving to the beat with them, though they couldn't do the dancing nearly as well, it didn't stop them from grooving.
The arrow patterns were getting more complex, but that didn't stop either of them from keeping the groove they had going, with Ashido managing to continuously dance to the rhythm and patterns, while Sora followed her lead and did his best to almost flawlessly mimic her form. They were rocking with the rhythm.
As the second beat was reaching its end, the two kept up their synchronized dance to the arrow patterns, perfectly timing their inputs, which made the screen that showed them get more colorful to show their good flow. As the last few arrows came and got pressed on the screen, Sora and Mina struck a pose on the final input.
The crowd around them began to applaud the pair, but the dance wasn't over yet. Ashido then spoke up. "Hey Sora. I got an idea for how we can top that performance for the last rhythm."
Sora looked at her and asked "What's your idea?"
"Just follow my lead, and be ready to move to my dance pad when I say so." She told him.
"What's the word you're gonna use?" The Keyblade wielder asked, completely on board.
"I'll say swap." She told him.
As the two got ready to start the third phase, the crowd behind them watched and waited for what was going to be the crescendo of this performance.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Vibe Valentino]
It was time for the finale. As the third beat began, so did the arrows. The pair continued their synchronized dancing to the patterns until Mina spotted an opening in between and called out to her partner "Swap."
Sora heard that and upon the small break in the beat, The two stylishly slid to the other's dance pad and continued their performance, earning a big cheer from the crowd. The patterns were much more intense, but the dancing duo weren't affected in the slightest.
Ashido then saw another opening in the pattern and called out "Swap." to Sora.
"Got it." The boy replied as the pair this time twirled to the other's dance pad before continuing to dance to the beat and put on an amazing show for the people in the arcade watching them.
The pair continued to perfectly land input after input, beat after beat, and the screen in front of them only became more colorful as a result, but that didn't affect their performance in the slightest.
Another opening in the pattern and the two swapped again, with Sora ducking and sliding to the other pad, while Mina rolled over his back to get to his pad. Their performance was still perfect on the screen as they timed their swaps perfectly.
The music was starting to build up, making the pair realize that they were at the final push. This only encouraged them even more as they both gave it their all, which was being rewarded by whoops and 'go go's from the crowd.
The two swapped one last time with Ashido sliding under Sora as he side flipped over her to get to the other's dance pad. The music was reaching the height of its build up, and as the final most intense pattern came onto the screen, the pair danced to it and landed every single arrow before turning around to face the crowd and strike a pose for the end.
The crowd applauded and cheered the pair as both caught their breath. While that was an awesome experience for the both of them, it also required some effort to do. After the applause died down, the crowd began to disperse, allowing the pair to leave the arcade.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Run Run Run Mellow Ver.]
As the pair took a seat nearby to rest for a moment, Mina spoke up. "You've got waaaaaaay more than just a pep in your step. That was amazing how good that was."
Sora looked proud of himself as he reminded her. "I said I wouldn't disappoint."
"And you didn't." Ashido confirmed. "Holy cow. If we ever get a chance to do something like that again, we are going to go all out."
"More like go beyond. Am I right?" The Keyblade wielder told her.
"Heck yeah!" The pink skinned girl cheered. "PLUS ULTRA DANCING DUO!"
Sora let out a chuckle at that and shortly after, a satisfied sigh. "This shopping trip was 'much' better than last time."
Mina's smile widened a bit from that comment, as she turned to and hugged Sora, which surprised the boy. "Glad that I could be here to make it that way."
Sora kept his smile and let her continue to hug him. He would hug her back, if she wasn't hugging so tightly that he couldn't move his arms. "Thanks. I really needed this." He told her.
"It's what friends are for, right?" Ashido stated before she let go of him.
The two then decided that they've had about enough of the stores today and walked out of Kiyashi together, both satisfied with what they came out of there with. Summer camp stuff, a positive experience, and a stronger bond of friendship with each other.
And here's the first of two pre OVA chapters finished. If you think that Sora's not gonna be doing anything during the summer break of MHA, then you are severely mistaken. Of course he would hang out with the other students and do stuff like this during his R&R. It also helps serve as a method of slowly introducing the other Vanguard Action Squad members into the League before Summer Camp. Speaking of that, the League's roster as now grown once more, and with it came Magne, who has now revealed the Figure to be male. Himiko also revealed that the Figure isn't as untrusting as he claims to be. Sure, he won't share any personal info, while he gets to read up on the other member's lives in those folders that Giran gives him, but he has his reasons to keep himself anonymous. As I have now confirmed the gender, I will continue to use the term 'he' instead of 'they' for the Figure going forward. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)