From the sturdy infrastructure of the city to the healthy grassy fields, Saiko stared out the bus's window, a smile spread across her face. She couldn't stop thinking about how she teased her new friend, thinking about how embarrassed he probably was. She had tried to deny it before due to her rather prim and proper mindset, however…
'He is kind of cute, isn't he?' She thought.
"What have you in such an intense gaze, Lady Saiko?"
The sound of one of her classmates caused the girl to turn her attention. She stared at Yawara, her long light-grey hair lying upon her shoulders. Just like all students at Seiai Academy, she also wore their signature uniform.
"A-Ah, it's nothing, Yawara-san," Saiko responded.
"I don't know," said a pink-haired girl, who was adjusting one of her hair knots, "any observant viewer could deduce that something has got your mind in a metaphorical web."
One girl with blonde hair and glasses spoke up. "Hikari-chan, surely you don't think it is wise to pry into Lady Saiko's mental state at the moment, do you?"
"I-It's not prying, Kusari! I just want to make sure she is okay, that is all."
"If that's the idea, then why not just ask Lady Saiko directly?" A girl with short dark blue hair said.
"Don't you think that's a little too straightforward, Surudoi?" The girl in front of her said.
Surudoi smiled and carefully spread her fingers through the girl's maroon-colored hair, straightening it out. "I wouldn't say so, Tsume. It's a reasonable question to ask our Class Representative. But you like it when I'm straightforward, right?"
Tsume blushed and smiled at both Surudoi's words and the feeling of her fingers through her hair.
If there was one downside to being the representative of her class, it meant teaching her classmates to be intelligent and calculated. It meant good for their future as heroes, but she wasn't particularly fond of their smarts in deducing her feelings. At least in this specific instance. But conversely, it made her happy that the only people she considered friends wanted to double-check on her.
Suddenly, another one of the girls jumped in, who had long brown hair. "Don't talk to each other too much. You might start making out again."
"HEY!" Surudoi and Tsume shouted.
A girl with elf-like ears touched the brown-haired girl's shoulder. "What did we say about the teasing, Shōten-san?"
"Aw, c'mon, Kanshō? You said I could still have my fun, as long as I wasn't spying on them again." Shōten retorted.
Kanshō sighed as she rubbed her left ear a little bit, not even going to dignify that with a response.
Saiko simply sighed but smiled at her classmates talking amongst themselves. Despite their professionalism, and in all honesty, loyalty towards her, they're the closest to what she could call a group of friends. It's only that they aren't officially friends, more like associates.
Just then, Saiko caught someone looking at her. That being, Tōketsu, who was both playing with her light purple hair while inspecting Saiko.
"Lady Saiko, I must ask. And I do apologize for prying. However, what is with the extra muscle?"Tōketsu asked.
That's when the last of the group, Nenshō, finally decided to speak up. "Hmm, what's that one meme format? Tell me you're a lesbian without telling me you're a lesbian. Checking her out?"
Tōketsu blushed and pulled at Nenshō's dark blue hair, anger and embarrassment spread across her face. "I-I wasn't inspecting Lady Saiko in such an indecent manner! I could never live with myself!"
"So you don't deny you're a lesbian?" Nenshō responded.
"Aren't we all at this point?" Tsume asked.
All of this fuss made Saiko both nervous and a little embarrassed but took a deep breath. "You are quite correct, Tōketsu. Very observant. Yes, I did take some time before school started again to do some physical training."
All of the girls had their attention on Saiko now.
"Forgive me, Lady Saiko," Yawara started, "but it just seems rather unlike you to want to do something like that. You come across as if you want to focus purely on your mental capacity and capabilities."
Saiko's eyes glanced out the window. She could barely make out the figure of U.A. High School in the distance, which curled her lips into a grin.
"I just got some inspiration, that's all," Saiko said.
The girl wanted to giggle from the confusion on her classmates' faces, however, the bus had come to a stop.
"Everyone, off the bus. It's time to begin today's training." A deep voice said.
The girls turned quickly to look toward their teacher, Kyojin Chōten. He was intimidating, to say the least. Although they weren't aware of what it was, his Quirk made him appear as some sort of golem, made out of pure white colored bone. Yes, a golem. Like those sort of fantastical creatures. All of this combined made them wonder just how he was their teacher in the first place, as he didn't seem to fit the status quo of Seiai Academy.
The girls stood up, with Saiko adjusting a little purse she had on her, and followed in a nice neat line. As soon as they stepped out of the vehicle, they looked on in awe at the size of the building. It looked almost as big as U.A., if not bigger. Just what kind of training were they about to undertake? As they stepped inside, they gazed over the steel railing to see just what they were up against. It was a massive maze.
"Mr. Chōten?" Hikari says, "What exactly are we doing?"
Kyojin slowly turned toward them, pointing toward the large maze down below. "This is an extremely important first-day exercise. In this test, all of you will be placed on the outer sides of the maze, and have to make your way towards the middle of the maze to reach the goal. However, all of you will have to fight each other, should one of you come across another."
'Hmm. Seems rather interesting. Perhaps it is to test us on our ability to make headway in areas of scenarios with little visual information, and to be prepared for unknown threats that could be around any corner.' Saiko thinks.
"Furthermore," Kyojin continued, "there ARE two ways to win the exercise. One, you make your way to the goal, or a better way of putting it, an escape route. Or two, you handcuff all of your opponents, or in this case, villains."
Shōten raised her hand. "No offense, Mr. Chōten, but why would we ever choose the first option? Wouldn't it be more exciting to have handcuffing our opponents be the only option available?"
The expression that came across Kyojin Chōten's face was one of both anger and disappointment. It was one expression that sent shivers down everyone's spines. Why did they have to have such a scary teacher?
However, Kyojin's expression seemed to calm, yet stay stern.
"Shōten, I would advise you to not only think a little more before you speak but also consider more than just mindless battle," Kyojin said.
Shōten's body stiffened and her expression turned upset.
"This is to be directed, not just towards you, Shōten, but everyone else. There will be situations in this line of work where you can't stay and fight. You will have to retreat. That's an unfortunate reality. There is no guarantee you will always make it out unscathed, much less alive."
He was right. They had to take this seriously. Even if it seems like just a test or a game, their job will put their own lives at risk.
Saiko looked over towards Shōten, who looked down at the ground on the verge of tears, and also angry, no doubt thinking of herself as being ignorant and a fool. However, Kyojin put a hand on her shoulder.
"Shōten, look up at me."
Shōten hesitated, but did so, seeing a somehow soft expression on her superior's face.
"I am aware of how I come across to you and others. I may seem angry, or even furious. But trust me when I say, I'm just trying to be firm and direct. I don't want young lives such as yours to be lost, whether that's due to a lack of understanding, or a streak of overconfidence. I just want what's best for you. All of you. Understand?"
The girl's eyes softened, and quickly realizing how vulnerable she looked, she put on a confident and slightly annoyed look.
"O-Of course I understand! I'm not stupid!" She shouted. "But… thank you, Mr. Chōten."
Kyojin smiled and stood back up, towering every one of his students once more. "With that out of the way, it's time to begin the exercise. Are you ready?"
The girls looked at one another. Saiko took a deep breath and smiled, stepping in front of her group with confidence.
"Yes sir!"
Saiko stared at the door that would lead her into the maze. It had been around 5 minutes since preparations began, during that time she adjusted her utility belt and purse. Admittedly, she wasn't exactly sure how she would go about the maze. But she had a good idea of how to optimize her odds of making it to the middle.
"Begin!"
As soon she heard that word over the speakers, her door opened and she sprinted out. Just as she expected, it was as narrow and confusing as mazes could get.
'Okay, first order of business.'
First, Saiko looked up and around. She noticed that the walls of the building outside of the maze seemed to be pretty close to her right, meaning that the middle was somewhere off to her left. Next, she walked but stayed silent, both verbally and in her thoughts. There was no noise, at least not yet. If she could get a good reading on where the other girls were throughout the maze, that could also increase her chances of making it to the middle.
In the corner of her eye, she could see that there was a pathway to her left and right. She, of course, opted to go left, due to her earlier deduction. She continued forward a little, hitting another junction, one that led left or right again. Once again staying quiet, she couldn't hear any obvious noise nearby, so she went right.
'A maze does seem rather practical to practice in. As a hero, you may be put in situations where you cannot properly deduce where you may be, which will require both good observation and some guesswork.'
Seeing her next option being either straight or left, she chose to go left. She didn't want to doubt her smarts, but there was a nagging feeling that she may be going about it all wrong. That said, she has been in her head a lot today already, so maybe doubting herself currently isn't the best approach.
*CRACK*
Saiko jumped a little, hearing a cracking and fizzing sound. Looking up, she saw a firework soaring into the air and exploding, creating pretty blue, white, and pink flares. Ignoring the obvious safety hazard, it seemed to be a hint as to where to go.
'Like I said before, use my surroundings.'
She did her best to make her way towards the firework's location, making left and right turns in an attempt to make her way towards the middle as quickly as possible. Whether she got herself excited, or if it was the slight anxiety from hearing the sudden firework, she made a slight mistake...
Saiko's eyes widened as she dodged a swipe from someone. Getting into a fighting stance, she looks forward, seeing Surudoi, and her arm covered in spikes.
She did not consider the fact that others would also be attracted to the fireworks. A rather simple thing to not consider, she would admit, but she was only human.
"You're quick to react, Lady Saiko," Surudoi said.
Before Saiko could respond, Surudoi went on the offensive again. She threw a left hook at Saiko, which she blocked, but then was forced to duck under Surudoi's right spiked arm, before being kicked under the legs and falling over. Both of her arms became spiked as the blue-haired girl swung them at her superior. Saiko rolled out of the way and landed a kick to Surudoi's stomach, but not before the girl deactivated her quirk and grabbed Saiko's legs, spinning and tossing her away.
As Saiko skidded to a stop, she thought to herself, 'I don't think I'll be able to win in hand-to-hand combat with Surudoi, especially with her Quirk.'
Surudoi's Quirk - Spikes: Her Quirk allows her to summon many spikes from anywhere on her body. She can even throw them as projectiles but at the risk of damaging her skin little by little. She also can control the sharpness of these spikes at her leisure.
Surudoi ran and kicked against the wall of the maze, preparing her other leg for a kick to Saiko's head. However, the latter opened up her purse and grabbed something. An object. More specifically, her special weapon. Surudoi brought down her leg, before feeling it collide with a metal staff. Saiko put immense force behind her swing, forcing Surudoi to get flung back and skid to a halt across the ground.
"Is that…?" Surudoi asked.
"Yep!" Saiko said, spinning the staff around, before having it lean on her shoulder, "It's what I call my 'Power Staff'."
Power Staff: The main weapon that Saiko wields. Normally it's about 5 feet, but with the press of a button, it can extend to 3 times that length. She totally didn't ask for this as a reference to her favorite anime.
Saiko rushed forward and swung the staff. Surudoi creates spikes on her arm and blocks it, but Saiko pulls back the staff and attempts to take a swipe at her legs with her own.
"Not going to work!" Surudoi shouts, jumping up.
However, that was exactly what Saiko wanted. Taking the staff she just retracted, she points it towards Surudoi and presses a button to extend it, landing a blow to her stomach, causing her to fall over gasping for air. She presses the button once more to retract the staff to its normal length.
Surudoi coughs, slowly standing up again. "I expect nothing less than from our leader. But, I'm not giving in yet!" She thrashes her arms, sending spikes toward Saiko, although not lethally sharp.
'Oh… shit.' Saiko thinks.
She takes off running, trying her best to once again make it towards the middle, while also deflecting the projectiles with her staff. Surudoi closed in once more and threw a punch, which Saiko caught, but felt a prickly pain in her hand, realizing that Surudoi created a small spike last second. But she pushes on, using her newly acquired muscle strength to push back Surudoi, landing an elbow on her stomach and knocking her back.
'I can do this. I feel like I'm almost—'
Suddenly, she feels a freezing sensation over her body. Her head darted to the right to see Tōketsu, her face covered in a large metal mask, her hands inside large metal gauntlets, and cold air coming from the tips of her fingers. Saiko felt her body waver due to the cold, allowing Tōketsu to land a blow to her face, and dropping her staff as a result. Tōketsu grabbed her arms and pinned her to the ground.
"I knew it was a good idea to let you two fight it out. That way, I could get the jump on you and take you both out." Tōketsu said, a sly smirk on her face.
Tōketsu's Quirk - Cold Air: Her Quirk allows her to disperse very cold air from her fingers. The colder she makes her air, the more at risk she is of frostbite. She needs a mask to help her breathe in cold areas, and metal gauntlets to protect her fingers.
Saiko scoffed. 'Dammit. I shouldn't have let my guard down. That was foolish of me.'
The light purple-haired girl grabbed her handcuffs, ready to—
BAM*
She's suddenly sent flying back from a kick from Surudoi. Saiko slowly stood up again, watching as the blue-haired girl picked up the staff she had before. Well, this was just great. She essentially had two targets on her back. Although to be completely fair, so did the other two. But even still, it was not a good situation to be in.
'Looks like I have only one option.' Saiko thought.
She grabbed a small vial from her utility belt, popping the cork from it, and drinking what was inside. What WAS inside, you may ask? Her tea, of course. Surudoi knew exactly what she was doing and attempted to interrupt her, but Tōketsu came out of nowhere and landed a punch against her face as revenge for a little bit ago. Saiko slowly backed up and began to think and analyze.
Surudoi held back against Tōketsu's next attack with Saiko's staff. She next kicked her away, before spinning and throwing another kick. But, Tōketsu blocked it with her gauntlet, then grabbed Surudoi's leg and threw her to the ground.
"Hey, hey! Wait a second, Tōketsu!" Surudoi pleaded.
You couldn't tell, but her eyebrow was lifted from under that mask. Surudoi took a deep breath.
"Why don't we have a temporary alliance?"
Tōketsu chuckled, "That hardly seems fair. Everyone is their own hero in this test, and in no realistic scenario would the villain and hero ally."
Surudoi sighed, "Lady Saiko will quite literally win this entire thing."
"Well yeah, she will if you have that attitude. She has her flaws, just as much as any of us." Tōketsu said.
"One, that's blasphemous. Second, we're wasting time! Just join up—"
The two were interrupted by Saiko landing a jab to Tōketsu's back from behind. Surudoi scoffed, grabbing the staff and getting back up on her feet. Tōketsu did the same, although slightly more pissed off.
"On second thought, maybe I will take that offer up," Tōketsu said.
Both girls surrounded Saiko. In the back of their minds, they knew she had just driven tea. Meaning she had activated her Quirk. The question is, just what strategy did she come up with within such a short amount of time?
Surudoi started by covering her arm in spikes and swinging it at Saiko but stopped midway and thrashed her other arm to land a blow at her. From behind, Tōketsu fired a field of cold air at the girl. However, Saiko simply ducked and slid under Surudoi, who almost landed a clean punch on Tōketsu, but she used her gauntlets to block the attack. However, that has the unintentional side effect of hitting Surudoi with her cold air.
"A-Ah! Sorry about that Su—" Tōketsu couldn't finish, before being kicked in the head from behind.
Surudoi watched as Saiko then jumped over Tōketsu's shoulder. She attempted to counterattack, but the cold air tensed up her body to a degree that she was slower than she was normally, allowing Saiko to spin her around, grab her arms, and pin her down to the ground. This caused her staff to be dropped once more. And without a second to give her opponent the upper hand, Saiko immediately handcuffs Surudoi.
'…THAT quickly!?' Surudoi thought.
"Sorry, Surudoi-san. I just happened to come up with an optimal plan. Of course, I didn't account for Tōketsu-san blocking your attack. And considering she may have been able to deal with my kick, although is most definitely staggered…"
Tōketsu growled in anger as she brought her Quirk up to its max. However, Saiko used her foot to kick up her staff and extended it against the girl's stomach. She then gripped her gauntlets and ripped them from her hands.
Tōketsu was furious, "D-Dammit!!"
She once again put her Quirk to the max, but her hands began to freeze before she could release it. This gave Saiko the perfect opportunity to trip her legs and pin her down, handcuffing her like she did Surudoi.
The fight was over.
Saiko stood up, a little out of breath, but nothing she couldn't handle. It seemed simple on the surface. She was hoping to get the two in line and attack each other, which did occur, but she required some extra work against Tōketsu.
"This… is so humiliating," Surudoi whined.
All Tōketsu could do was grunt and groan in anger. She felt way more humiliated than Surudoi.
Saiko looked in the direction of where she suspected the middle was. As she turned back toward the two girls she said, "You two did admirably. Promise me, do not let this discourage you."
With that, she was off. The two were left alone with their thoughts. Both on what they could've done better, what they did right, and what to improve on. At least, that was what Surudoi was thinking, anyway.
"Hm…"
Kyojin was sitting in a chair in what looked to be a security room, looking at the cameras the building had set to watch the test. It seemed to be flowing smoothly. He was especially impressed with Saiko's performance, albeit there were aspects she needed to improve upon.
He heard the sound of a door opening behind him, revealing one Shinri Gouki, another teacher at Seiai Academy. Her long, wiggly, magenta hair floated just above the ground.
"How is the test coming along?" Shinri asked, standing next to the man—er, golem.
"It's going well, it seems. So far the ones to fail are Yawara, Surudoi, and Tōketsu," Kyojin responded.
Shinri grabbed a chair from nearby and placed it next to Kyojin, sitting down and watching the screens alongside him. The two would occasionally work together to ensure that their third-year class were perfect, or at the very least, outstanding. They needed to improve themselves. Especially after…
"I thought you were busy with another class today?" Kyojin said.
Shinri sighed and sat up straight, "That was the plan, but another teacher decided to take over last minute."
"Oh, who was it this time?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"It was Reginald, wasn't it?"
"Haha! I hate that you're so smart." Shinri laughed.
Kyojin chuckled back, "I could only assume so. He always gives off this "superior" vibe. And all because he was chosen by the principal to be Seiai's first American teacher."
"Sometimes I just want to punch him in the face."
"If you did that, you'd be immediately fired."
"Doesn't mean I can't think about it."
"Hah, fair enough."
Afterward, there was silence. Nothing too unusual, as Kyojin preferred to be silent. He talked when he wanted to, or when needed, not out of obligation. But even still, there was some lingering emotion in the air, that never truly went away. It's been here for a while.
"I know you. You're thinking deeply." Shinri said. "What's wrong?"
Kyojin, despite his gaze locked on the screen, took in every word she said. He took a deep breath. Flashes of certain memories went through his mind. There was a unique expression on his face, other than the fact he looked like a statue made from bones. It was one of regret? It was hard to fully describe.
"Shinri, back during the war, did you feel helpless?" Kyojin asked.
A pause was too little of a word to describe Shinri's moment of hesitation. Her immediate response to emotional questions would've been "I was fine" or "I don't think about it too much". But this was one of her friends. One she could tell, seemed to be hurting.
"Yes, admittedly. All of the other heroes went out and fought for their lives. But, we stayed behind." Shinri responded.
"Yeah…"
Another bit of silence. That is, until Kyojin stood up, looking toward Shinri.
"…Even though everything has turned out okay, I won't settle for just that," he said.
Flashes came again. He remembered watching everything unfold. The battle against All For One, Shigaraki, everyone. The most important part, however, is the one that motivates him to be better.
"Do your best, Izuku Midoriya."
Those were the words that unconsciously slipped through his mouth at the time. It was that boy's heroism and actions that are driving Kyojin to the very present. He wants—no, needs to be a better hero. One that not just citizens, but his students can count on.
"Since when did you gain so much perspective?" Shinri smirked, taking her hand, and patted him on his back, "I'm happy to see you're still optimistic."
Kyojin smiled back at her.
Their attention was shifted, however, as they witnessed developments in the maze test for their students. Let's just say, the numbers dwindled in a rather short amount of time.
Kusari and Shōten were in the middle of a heated fight. The former's impeccable manipulation of her hair was a force to be reckoned with. However, the latter had not only very precise reflexes but as well as aim, thanks to her Quirk. She shot a metal ball at Kusari, but she ducked down and dodged. Shōten quickly hid behind a wall, then showed her hand before retracting it at the same speed, faking out Kusari into whipping a long strip of her hair. Shōten grabbed it and pulled the girl toward her, landing a clean hit against her face. But, Kusari landed a kick against her jaw, doing a backflip, into a swipe with her hair to knock Shōten away.
The two slowly stood up straight, coming to a standstill, both gasping for air. Although, it seems Kusari had it the worse.
"You're quite… a fighter, Shōten-san…" Kusari huffed.
Shōten took a deep breath before smirking, "Heh… thanks! You're quite good yourself."
Their eyes locked with one another, desperately trying to perceive each other's movements. Any minute, any second, one of them could finish this fight. Kusari quickly moved to tie Shōten with her hair, however, Shōten had already made the first move, firing a metal ball that hit Kusari against the forehead. Shōten made sure that the force didn't seriously injure her, only to cause her to fall unconscious. And once she fell over, she immediately jumped and handcuffed her wrists.
"Phew… Sorry, Kusari-san. But I'm winning this thing," Shōten said, a smirk across her face.
Yet another group of fireworks went off, signaling that she was getting close. She made her way toward the sound. A left, a right, another left, right again, straight forward. She was there. The middle of the maze. But, she wasn't the only one.
Saiko stepped on the opposite side from where Shōten was, which immediately caught the periwinkle-haired girl's gaze. And then to her right, was Kanshō, wielding two hammers. Even from a distance, she could see her eyes were filled with battle and determination.
'This will be great,' Saiko thought sarcastically.
In the middle, all three looked. It was a hatch, that was no doubt the exist out of the maze. Their eyes met each other, each one slowly stepping forward. And then, they ran. Saiko just barely dodged a shot from Shōten, before swinging her staff and hitting it against one of Kanshō's hammers. Before either of them could counter, both were hit by a metal ball from Shōten, who proceeded to run up and throw a kick at Saiko, before spinning and kicking both her and Kanshō away.
"Tch!"
Saiko recovered and threw her staff at Shōten, but it was hit away by Kanshō's hammers. She then threw one at Saiko, who caught it and threw it back at her but was then blindsided by a metal ball to the stomach from Shōten.
'Dammit! Dealing with both of them is going to be difficult.' Saiko thought.
She tried to compose herself as she grabbed the staff, immediately defending herself from another hammer from Kanshō. Pushing her back, she kicked her feet off the ground, throwing her staff at Kanshō's legs. This forced the girl to dodge the attack, leading her into exactly what Saiko wanted, tackling her to the ground. Yes! She had her—
Saiko felt a kick to her chest, falling to the ground and next to her staff. She looked to see Shōten, once again interfering. But immediately afterward, Kanshō jumped at Shōten and swung her hammer rapidly.
"I could make a run for the hatch. But, that will immediately put me on their radar," Saiko said to herself. "Perhaps if I am to stay back and not alert them, I can eventually find an opening to win this."
'But, is that the kind of hero I want to be? One who stands back and only waits for the right opportunity?'
…
'No, that's not it. This won't be every scenario. I may want to be a strong hero, one who can fight, but I know what I'm best at. It's my smarts. If this is what I think is the smartest option, then I must trust myself.'
Shōten kicked off one of the maze's walls and threw a punch at Kanshō, who dodged and threw one of her hammers at Shōten. The latter ducked their body backward to dodge, before feeling her legs getting swiped by a kick and seeing a hammer come right toward her face. Doing her best to avoid a devastating blow, she smacked her arm against Kanshō's hand and knocked the hammer away, then quickly grabbed her slingshot and launched a metal ball right at her forehead.
Shōten quickly got up and landed a punch to her stomach. Kanshō countered with a kick, but Shōten rolled over behind her and landed a blow against her back, knocking her to the ground.
"Surrender now, Kanshō," Shōten said.
Kanshō didn't seem to be moving. Her face was on the ground, so she couldn't see her face. Shit. Was she too rough with her? I know she was supposed to be a villain in this scenario but—
Kanshō sprung from the ground and tackled Shōten to the ground, knocking away her slingshot.
"Not happening."
Materializing another hammer from her back, she gripped it with both hands and brought it downward with a yell of adrenaline. Shōten gripped both of Kanshō's arms, putting every ounce of power, every bit of muscle she had, into holding back the attack.
Shōten grits her teeth and shouts, "You trying to kill me!?"
"THESE I've made aren't fatal, and you know that! So just submit!" Kanshō barked back.
"Grrrrr…! I ain't losing!"
Gripping harder on Kanshō's arms, she put great force into not only moving her own body but also Kanshō's as well. She flipped her body over to the left, slamming Kanshō into the ground. Panting but determined, she stood up and grabbed one of Kanshō's hammers that was left on the ground.
"I will… win this!" Shōten said, panting.
Suddenly, she felt something painful smack against the side of her head. It was one of her metal balls. Before her vision blacked out, she could see that Kanshō had already grabbed her slingshot.
"…Dammit."
That was all she could say before passing out. After securing handcuffs on Shōten's wrists, Kanshō stood up, victorious, with a smile across her face. Until she realized that Saiko was the only one left standing. Even during her scuffle with Shōten, never once did she catch her going toward the hatch. Which either meant two things. Either she somehow escaped her gaze or the more likely option…
She was preparing to eat the leftovers.
"Gotcha."
Saiko, kicking her feet from the ground, then off of the maze's wall, gained a great height over an off-guard Kanshō. She pressed the button on the side of her staff to extend the length, balancing it on the ground, spinning downward the staff, and landing a roundhouse kick to Kanshō as soon as she was close enough to the ground.
'A little risky, but I managed to land a hit.'
Saiko's thoughts were interrupted by Kanshō standing up.
"Such a sneaky attack, Lady Saiko. As expected from you. The smartest strategy was to wait for us to wear ourselves down, am I right?"
"Clever as always, Kanshō-san. Not to sound overconfident, but between the both of us, I'm sure it's clear who has the more stamina," Saiko said, trying to hide her bit of fatigue.
The two stopped talking as they prepared themselves to dual. Saiko, holding her now shortened staff. Kanshō, dual-wielding two hammers. In the blink of an eye, the two threw their weapons, which clashed with one another. Saiko attempted to grab her staff, but Kanshō gripped her arm and threw her away, catching both the hammers and Saiko's staff.
Saiko slid on her feet to recover and ran toward Kanshō. The elf-eared girl threw both of her hammers from either side, but Saiko simply caught them and launched them back towards her. Kanshō swings the staff and hits them away, but is unable to block the blow to her stomach from her opponent. Saiko grabbed one arm and attempted to slam her to the ground, but Kanshō intentionally threw herself to the ground, so the extra weight would throw Saiko off balance, sending both to the ground instead.
"You're quick on your feet, Kanshō-san!" Saiko shouted.
She sprung up but was met with another blow to the chest. She quickly spun around and feinted a punch, before landing a kick to Kanshō's face.
"Never expected you to play dirty!" Kanshō teases, creating a hammer and attempting to smack her with it.
As Saiko dodged, she said, "It's not dirty, it's strategy. For example…"
Saiko followed up with a punch, which Kanshō expected to be another feint. But the feeling of pain against her face told her the exact opposite.
"You focused on my words too much and fell for my trick."
Saiko managed to grab her staff and extend it, but Kanshō grabbed ahold of it and used the force to fling herself up just in time before a collision. Saiko's eyes widened as the girl lunged and tackled her to the floor, restraining her arms.
"Who's falling for who now?" Kanshō teased.
But Saiko almost immediately countered, smacking her head into Kanshō's face and breaking free. He flipped over and landed a kick to her stomach, knocking the girl back a few feet. Getting back up, Kanshō began to throw Saiko off by constantly launching hammers her way. Saiko tried her best to hit them away with her staff, but eventually, Kanshō landed a hit with a hammer to her side.
"Gah!"
"Don't get distracted, Lady Saiko!"
The pain caused Saiko to feel disoriented, leading to taking an elbow to the face, and then a punch to the stomach. Kanshō swung her hammer again, but Saiko caught it. She suddenly swung her arm, which Kanshō attempted to guard again, but the attack never came. But she had expected this possibility, so she swung her leg and tripped Saiko again, punching her away.
'D-Dammit…' Saiko coughed, her vision feeling somewhat blurry. Maybe she wasn't as energized as she once thought. As a last-ditch effort, she grabbed a vial and drank some of her tea. Now her mind was going a million miles per hour.
'What to do? What's something I can use that Kanshō-san could never expect me to do? I was doing so well, but as soon as I got into close combat, instead of staying back and strategically deciding…'
'…Is my Quirk really suited for combat?'
In the corner of her eye, she somehow caught something. A metal ball. It was the same metal ball that Shōten had been using earlier. But how would that help her? She didn't have her slingshot. Throwing it, although not a bad option, her aim wouldn't be the best in such a quick scenario. What was she going to do?
But, a memory appeared. All across her mind at that very moment. It was the battle of Izuku fighting against Shoto Todoroki that she witnessed on TV. Everyone saw, and it was a very intense battle. But what stuck out to her most of all, was his finger-flicking strategy. Using the pressure of his Quirk through flicks of his fingers was dangerous but effective.
"I think it's whatever you want it to be."
Her mind conjured up a plan. At a speed she didn't even know she was capable of, she grabbed ahold of the ball.
'I want to show the world what kind of hero I want to be. Not what others expect me to be.'
That battle with Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki left a massive impression on her. But for the longest time, she never understood why. Why did it resonate with her at the time? It was at this moment she finally understood.
"It's your Quirk, not his!"
Like a fire against a forest, Saiko felt a flare in her body like never before. Kanshō was confused as to what she was doing, but her eyes widened in a late realization. Placing the metal ball on her thumb, and using her middle finger to hold it up, she aimed at Kanshō.
"Dodge this!"
And putting all her might into the flick, it sped off. Kanshō created two hammers and swung them as fast as she could. She could see it, the hammers were near it. She could hit it away! But, by nearly an inch, she missed. The only thing she could see was the ceiling and her vision blurring, before going completely black. Saiko tiredly stood up and made her way over to her both opponent and comrade. She grabbed ahold of her wrists and bound them with handcuffs.
"You did very well, Kanshō-san," Saiko said.
"The winner of the test is… Saiko Intelli!"
Saiko smiled hearing Mr. Chōten's voice over the speaker. She didn't have to, but she made her way over to the hatch anyway. However, due to the damage she received and over-exhausting her body, she collapsed on the ground. Not without a smile, proud of what she accomplished.
As she fell unconscious, there was only one thing she could think of.
'Thanks for the inspiration, Izuku.'