"Hurry up, Suiiki! You're going to miss the opening ceremony! I'm sure everyone is already in the waiting area! Stop dragging your feet!" Ranika dragged the boy along by the arm as he struggled to maintain pace with her.

"H…Hah…hah…slow down! I can't…"

"Can't what? This is your fault you wanted to get one last game in, you idiot! You're lucky I made sure to check if you had any stupid plans!"

"But…you're gonna hit someone!"

"Don't worry, I specialize in running through crowds of adults!"

Rounding the hallways of the stadium, they bumped into people as she bolted to their waiting area by the field entrance, past the judges rooms and the infirmary. After forcing her way past the crowds, they started to thin out when they approached the off-limits area meant only for the students.

She pointed at a sign reading PARTICIPANTS THIS WAY! "We're almost there already! Sometimes my ability is…it's almost fright- oomph!"

She crashed into someone heading the opposite direction, knocking them back as well. Ranika fell back into Suiiki and collapsed on top of him, taking the wind out of his already out of breath body.

"Ranika! Have you not learned your lesson enough times!?"

Recognizing the voice, she looked upwards from her human bean bag to see Erina and a woman she thought looked familiar recovering from the collision.

"Owie…sorry, ma'am. I had to grab Suiiki, the usual. It's his fault!" She climbed off of the boy in question, letting him breath properly again.

The woman helped Ranika to her feet and smiled as she embraced her in a bear hug. "Wowzers! You're still as energetic as ever!"

Getting a proper look at the woman, Ranika's eyes lit up. "Sunako! You came! What are you doing here? Scouting out people to be a partner or sidekick? Just give me a call if so!"

"No, nothing like that but maybe one day, teehee! Just helping your sister keep things safe today. I'll be guarding the front entrance, so if you get some free time, just head over there and we'll have some fun!"

Suiiki, having finally recovered, joined in the conversation. "Wait…Ranika, you know Ms. Kazuya?"

"Ms. Kazuya?" Ranika asked.

"Yeah, I didn't know her first name, but I see her every now and then just tearing up bad guys! She saved me from some crazy mechanical villain once, I owe her my life!"

Erina gave a side glance to Sunako, who noticed but didn't say anything. "Aww, I wouldn't say all that! Just doing my duty as a hero!"

Ranika's face twisted. "Hero? I thought you were a vigilante? Are you legit now?"

She rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "Ehehe…no, not yet."

"She's a vigilante? That's so cool!" Suiiki's interest skyrocketed from the reveal of her true title. "What's the difference? Wait, don't tell me…you do the real dirty work heroes wouldn't dare to, right? No morals or laws to hold you back?"

Erina interrupted quickly. "Please, keep quiet! I don't want to discuss any of that with people around. And you two should hurry-"

"Oops, sorry!" Sunako dismissively laughed. "I forgot Kanshi doesn't like when we talk about that stuff since it's, well…not legal." She put finger quotes on the last two words.

The teacher started a word but it morphed into a groan before she finished. It wasn't worth her time to get into it. "You two just get moving, or they'll start without you! Ranika, you're up first, so no dilly dallying!"

Her eyes widening in fear, Ranika grabbed Suiiki's arm again and made a break for it, his own eyes widening in fear too. "Holy crap, I forgot! Bye, Sunako! Bye Erina! See you once I'm the champion!" She took off at full bore with Suiiki barely holding his footing

"W-woah! Raniiikkkaaaaa!"

"Don't run, please…whatever." Erina facepalmed, then sternly glared at Sunako, who tried to look innocent.

"Ranika brought it up! I mean, I guess I could've denied being a-"

"Shhh!" Erina began communicating telepathically. "It's not that…maybe a little. But about Suiiki. I thought you said you would tell him before he entered high school. When is he going to learn about you?"

While they walked to the infirmary, Sunako did the same with Erina so as not to speak aloud. "I don't know. Doesn't feel like the right time. It's been so long, and he probably doesn't even remember his mom or me. Maybe I won't ever tell him. After all, it's through adoption anyway."

"…you were adopted? I don't remember STAND IN that much – your mother, not the girl – but I never expected her to…no offense to her character."

The other woman smiled warmly. "You really don't use it unless you have to? You could have looked inside my head real quick and get all the information yourself. If it was me, I wouldn't be able to help myself, I'd love to know everyone's juicy secrets and use-" Erina's not-so-subtle eye roll quickly got her back on track. "…but yeah, no offense taken. I get it, Mom was a bit of a dunce, though she was a compassionate dunce. I heard from Kyoya's old friend Iba that she took me in cause my real mom didn't care for me. She adopted me first but Suiiki is her real child."

"You're both her real children. Sad to hear about Iba, you know he was killed a couple months ago? That really shocked me, he'd just started to turn his life around too."

"Oh…really?" Sunako bit her lip. "That's crazy! I hadn't heard yet!"

"Yes, it's true. Funny thing, I know you were one of the last people he spoke to, I remember because you said you were going to his house later to collect something of yours. Couple hours later, his gardener found him in a ditch. It was awful, his face was peeled-"

"Stop it! I know! I'm-" Her friend's shout startled her and several others around. "Please…it's…"

Erina softly touched her hand. "I'm sorry for bringing up a painful topic, guess I can't help but try and solve a good mystery still. Nevertheless, I think you're doing Suiiki a disservice by hiding your true identity from him."

"It's dangerous for me to right now. I don't want my little brother targeted by any of Kyoya's lackeys because of his relation to me. I lost my mom because of that dick, I don't intend to lose anyone else."Sunako had unknowingly began speaking out loud once they entered the infirmary, where Hanako was helping a frightened boy put a bandage on his leg.

"Oh no, the nice girl said a naughty word, how intimidating! Shut it, you little girl scout." Hanako barked, reeling Sunako out of her thoughts. "What do you want, anyway? Isn't there someone else's day that you can ruin!?"

Once the boy was finished, she shoved him roughly out the door into the arms of his parents, and he clung to them with fear in his eyes.

"Haru-mama! Fuyu-mama! She's mean and called me impossibly stupid!" The two women cradled him and glared at the vitriolic nurse.

"What kind of a nurse are you? Scaring a child like that! You should be ashamed of yourself for your behaviour!"

"Shh, it's okay. The mean lady won't hurt you, let's go to our seats. You are a terrible person! How dare you!"

"I'd suggest you leave now. I'll take care of any complaints you have." Erina silently said to them. Seeing the murderous look in Hanako's eyes, they backed off and went on their way, still indignant about the whole thing.

"Now then, I hope- Hanako!"

Hanako grabbed Erina, tossed her to the side and yelled at them down the hallway. ""Wahhhh, I don't like the mean lady, wahhhh!" You're lucky Mean Lady didn't put you in a body bag! Next time, I swear your leg won't be the only thing that needs a bandage! Mark my words, you little rats, don't you ever let me see you again!" She threw a couple of medical tools down the hallway, narrowly missing the family of three. Horrified, they ran around a corner before she had the chance to launch any more dangerous objects at them.

"Let's calm down! Okay, just think happy thoughts!" Sunako said, trying to ease her anger.

Hanako turned to Sunako, viciously grabbed her light brown hair, and led her back inside the infirmary with Erina. She slammed her head on the wall with pure hatred on her face.

"You must have a serious death wish to show your face around me!"

"Hanako, you're hurting me!"

"That's the idea!" She ripped out some of Sunako's hair, who screamed in pain, then grabbed another clump and dragged her to the floor.

"Stop it, right now!" Erina grabbed Hanako's hand and tried to open it up. "Hanako, enough is enough!" She managed to rip her free from Hanako's grasp and separate the two of them. Sunako scrambled to the other side of the room to put some distance between her and the rabid woman being restrained by Erina.

"Gah! Get off me! I said, get off!" She backed into a wall to hit Erina on, who still held fast to her while getting her in an armlock.

A puddle of pure, yellow energy spawned between them, and both sides were forced to retreat to avoid getting burned by it.

"Still so spiteful, so enraged. You are all far from enlightenment, but none so far as her." A man's calm, low voice gave away a fourth presence behind a curtain. "I fear Hanako, for you to seek true happiness is a futile endeavor."

"Hijiri! Thank god you're here too!" Erina finally let Hanako go, no danger to Sunako being possible unless she went into the bright yellow plasma.

"Kanshi Erina. Of questionable morality, yet steadfast in your values. It is a pleasure to see you. And the cheerful Sunako, of both cheer and drear. I hope we find you well."

He removed the plasma from the ground once Hanako had sat down in her chair across the room. Sunako was prepared to leave the room, if it weren't for Erina's pleading face.

Hanako kicked her feet up on her desk and knocked over several tools. "So what're you here for? If you wanted to make me mad, congratulations. You did it in the most efficient way possible by bringing that piece of trash with you."

"I'd like you to treat Sunako like a human and give her the respect she deserves. I've never seen a reason for your rage against her, she's such a kindhearted person. And you are too! Why treat her this way?"

"How about you find out for yourself?" She tapped her head suggestively. "Come on, it would save a lot of trouble for you."

"Please don't." Sunako begged. "I don't want anyone else to hate me."

"Look at that. She admits it herself. What she did is so bad, she doesn't even want you to know about it. Tells you everything you need."

Erina scornfully glared at her. "Or perhaps your reactions have scarred her so badly, she's fearful to talk to anyone else about it!"

"Well, that's some good news today!"

"Apologize."

"Ha!"

"Do it!"

"Man, you used to be much more fun." Seeing her face remain the same, Hanako sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry I only ripped your hair out."

Sunako said nothing to acknowledge her insincere apology, which Hanako couldn't care less for.

"…whatever. Now to business." Straightening herself out, she turned towards the man. "Hijiri, are you feeling well?"

Hijiri gazed at the ceiling for a moment, then replied, "There is much turmoil in the world, but I must admit my own experiences grant a positive outlook indeed."

She and Sunako couldn't help but chuckle. "It's always a treat to have you around."

"Yeah? Try being around him for more than an hour." Hanako's complaints furthered the other two's mirth.

"Oh, I'm sure he's an absolute joy. Hijiri, you still remember how to cauterize, correct? I'm hoping we never reach that point, but…"

"Ranika is competing." Hijiri completed her sentence. "It is wise to not have blind faith in her abilities. I can still provide such service." He demonstrated by producing a small ball of plasma in his hand.

"And Hanako…can I trust you not to get our event shut down?"

Despite her previous actions, Hanako appeared somewhat ashamed and defeated when asked the question. "…I don't know. Why'd you even ask for me? There are other healers out there. I'm just a liability for you."

"Hanako, you have the greatest healing quirk we've ever seen to date. It wasn't even a choice. I had to have you. I have 100 percent confidence that with you here, not a single person will leave with a wound whatsoever. Would you please try? If not for me, for Ranika? For Rinasa?"

"I don't get the whole point but yeah, sure. I'll do it. I won't like it though. And don't act surprised if a few kids come to you crying about who cares what!"

Smiling, Erina shook her and Hijiri's hands. "Wonderful. I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to be here as well, Hijiri."

The buzzer inside the stadium rang out, signaling the beginning of the festivities to anyone outside the stadium and around the town. Sunako put a smile on her face, somewhat strained, and did a cute pose for them.

"Welp, that's my cue to get to my post! I'll see you around, Erina! See ya, Hijiri! Enjoy yourselves!"

"Shut up. Get out." It was obvious who made the remark.

"…"

The door closed behind her, a momentary relief coming over Erina simply for the two being separated again. It was soon replaced with condemnation.

"You are by far the most abrasive individual I've ever met! Would it kill you to let go of whatever is between you two?"

"It honestly might."

"One day…one day. She's going to be helping out and you know she can get distracted sometimes, so please overlook whatever feud you two have. If she wanders around and you see her, kindly guide her back to the entrance."

"Best I can do is a warning."

The man sitting quietly near the computer faced her momentarily. "Satori is with her as well, his presence should quell any worries of such a quandary even occurring."

"Can't be too safe. I'll check in every so often, the both of you here try to get along too. I've got a feeling our first match will have you quite busy in a minute. Best of luck."

"Of all the people to get Ranika first, it had to be me."

"I'll try not to leave you too broken!"

Watsuji childishly mimed what she said, garnering a couple snickers from the students around him from the entry gate. "Laugh while you can, I'll be laughing soon enough. Say, aren't you supposed to be on the other side of the stadium? First fighters hold the torch and all, right?"

She pointed towards Suiiki, still catching his breath. "I had to go bring this idiot here before we got started. I don't think I've got time to run all the way over-"

"Welcome to the first tournament of the Nomura High School Festival!"

"Is that the principal? Haven't heard his voice since the beginning of school."

"Haven't seen him since either…" Tsubame lowly muttered.

"I'm aware you're all ready to get underway with the kicking and punching, but please hold off while we introduce the competitors!"

The crowd cheered as they exited onto the field in single file, waving to the spectators. When they saw Suiiki, many of them began to cheer his name in excitement, which he reciprocated by pointing and winking back at them. Kisho rolled his eyes at him while trying to keep a fairly low profile himself.

"That is a lot of people." Mako said, in awe of the amount of people in the stands. "How many did she say there were?"

"Would our first two competitors please grab their torches inside the arena, and light the flame that symbolizes the spirit of competition that forever burns inside the hearts of all the warriors past who have come before us, to show that even today…"

The students groaned when the speech started to drag on. "And there he goes on his long-winded speech again. Just like first day when he talked to the parents for an hour about our school's motto."

"Hey, here comes the others. Look! They don't know who to give the flame!"

"It's Ranika's job, right?" Suiiki asked. "Why isn't she holding it?"

Ranika stared at him with annoyance. "Just went over this, hello?"

"Oh yeah…oops."

From the other side of the arena, Hinote waved not-so-discretely to Ranika, holding the torch in her hand. Ranika shrugged, not knowing what to do about her situation.

Once they had all formed a line on the stage, they turned toward the crowd and stood, waiting for the principal to finish his spiel. Looking at Erina, mouthing frantically to her, Ranika darted across the stage to quickly join her proper group. It didn't seem anyone noticed, because the speech was still going on. Erina shook her head at her students' nonsense, but smiled nonetheless. She gazed at the pressbox where the principal had started reciting lines out of a book with no signs of stopping, and focused her attention on getting a message to him.

"…with the chariots in the heavens racing wildly across the sky, watching from above and blessing our battles. And on top of those golden horses ride- Oh! Forgive me, Erina! Light the flame!"

Ranika took her torch from Hinote and placed it inside the large glass bowl filled with sticks at the front of the arena, Watsuji doing the same with his. It exploded into a large inferno, which made them jump back from the heat.

"And with that, our festival can officially begin! Good luck to all our students, and may the best competitor win!"

"What? That's it!? I could've gotten some cotton candy instead of just showing up for that!" Suiiki complained.

"Can you just be respectful of the celebration for one second?" Kisho chided. "Hurry and get off the floor so they can start. We don't need your inane antics making a mess of all our efforts."

"I'm happy you're still acting like a jerk, because I can't wait to annihilate you in the second round. If you even get there!"

"With the ceremony at its end, let us have all but the two first competitors leave the field."

Ranika and Watsuji stayed in the arena while the rest headed back inside to watch from the stands. Once all the other students had vacated the area, they backed away from each other, seeking out the two equidistant yellow lines on the arena that signaled their starting positions.

"Damn, my heart is pounding! A whole month I've been waiting for this day, and now I'm finally about to show out!" She shook her cherry blossom hair like a dog and jumped with a shout while running her hands down her sides. "Come on, let's just go already!"

Her opponent flipped a card from his sleeve and put it in front of his eye with a slightly manic grin. "Excellent! I'm glad you still believe you can win! It will make taking that hope from you that much more fun!"

Her bouncing stopped while she registered what he said. "…what?"

"Now…lllett's get READY TO RRR-"

"Principal, do you want them to just get ready, or do you mean…"

"Aw shoot, GO! GO GO GO!"

Watsuji unleashed a hailstorm of cards towards Ranika without hesitation. The sudden burst caught her off-guard and though she reacted swiftly by using her air to blast herself rightward, she was grazed by not just a few.

Quickly, Watsuji steered the cards towards the direction she had evaded in for a second attack. This time, she blew them away with a large gust of wind. She also performed a successive burst on Watsuji, making him lose his balance.

"Ah-ha! So unexpected this is! Our devil-may-care super-hulk has added some finesse to the destruction! You truly have become more acquainted with your power, Ranika." Watsuji gave a courtly nod to her while summoning a group of cards behind him.

"Thanks, I'll help you get acquainted to it too!" Ripping her quirk across her arm again, she launched herself towards Watsuji at breakneck speeds and prepared to strike him with her leg.

She made contact, but not with him. Instead, she found herself shot back to the ground recoiling in pain. The purple haired cardslinger wagged his finger at her while she struggled to climb back to her wobbly feet. A rotating wall of cards descended to ground level and formed a circle around him; the suit of Diamonds.

"What? Surprised? I guess I did only show off my Clubs, suppose that was a faux pas on my end! See, my cards aren't one trick ponies, the have different strengths and abilities depending on which suit I use. The Clubs you will remember from my demonstration have amazing strength behind their punches. On the other hand, my Diamonds have an astonishing amount of durability, making for a quite impenetrable shield!" He kept an eye on Ranika, noticing that the many slits his cards had made on her were thoroughly sealed up in a matter of seconds. "Now that just spoils the fun." He sighed. "It would be believable if it just healed your own self-inflicted scars but even other people's attacks?"

"Says the one with a god damned barrier!"

"Touché."

Getting into her signature stance, she let loose several powerful wind vortices. The Diamonds stood fast against the wind with no sign of trouble, however he was forced to recall the rest before they were sent flying off the stage.

Taking her chance, she flew towards him again and readied another air wave while en route. He threw a couple Diamonds her way and kept the rest by his side for extra safety.

Shit! He's taking this seriously now. She thought to herself. Ranika chose to harmlessly fly by him as she was trying to stay wary of his other cards.

Damn it, smashing this dude isn't going to work! Maybe I can overwhelm him if I just shoot constantly? But that didn't work before either! And I can't get close to punch that smirk off his face, I'm so boned right now! How do you get past those stupid diamonds and not get hit by something else?

"Hello! I'm waiting over here for your next move, Ranika! Or were you finished? In that case," He taunted her from afar. "Allow me to retort! Ha!"

He slung an onslaught of Clubs at her. Easily she avoided their attacks but noticed the heavy wind current they carried behind them, denoting their power.

Alright, it's time to think. This is why I worked with the egghead. What's an opening I can take? His diamonds are shields, his Clubs are…clubs. Aren't there other card types? But how many? And the different Queens and shit too?

Another heavy gust blew past her, followed by a breeze accompanied by a sharp slice to her thigh. Grunting, she landed from the air to get her bearings.

That was faster, looked like a different suit. Her arm focused like a turret on his redrawn clubs. One by one, she shot at them and noted they mostly stayed on course except the one which scratched her which was blown out of trajectory.

Got it, the one that diced me was definitely a separate suit. The Clubs can handle my shots but they're a hell of a lot slower, so I can deal with that if I just go into flight mode.

"Hahaha! So this is our school's scariest? Well, I for one must admit I am frightened. Frightened at how easy this is turning out to be!"

"Is…is he quoting movie villain lines?" Suiiki asked. Daisuke shrugged his shoulders.

A girl made a face of disgust when she heard Suiiki's question. "Gross! That's like, so embarrassing, right? Who does that in real life!?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was a little cool, personally."

"It's uncool and super lame if you ask me, who'd take that seriously?"

Back in the arena, Watsuji continued to swing about his Clubs randomly as Ranika slowly made her way closer, dodging and weaving through his paper bullets. Getting fed up with her evasive tactics, he switched to a faster set in his deck for better speed. Many of these were able to find their mark, but without the strength of a Club behind it, the lean girl was easily able to tank most of their hits.

Now just pretend to fall and make him slip up!

She stuck her left foot in front of her right and exaggeratedly fell over. "W-woah!"

"Hahahahaa! Gotcha! Time for the coup de gras!"

In his haste to defeat her, he didn't realize all his cards were following behind her, creating a solid mass for her to push herself off of with more speed than normal. She reached out to grab Watsuji's face with a toothy grin.

"…good thing I've got insurance!"

A card flew from under his sleeve to the ground; A Spade. He stepped on it and zoomed in the direction of its point, his shoes sliding across the hard concrete and making smoke as he went.

Son of a bitch! Speed too? Now how the hell am I going to get close? And would these godforsaken cards leave me alone!?

Having been thoroughly ticked off, Ranika let loose her full power blast on the cards still in chase. The gale released was so intense that some of them were ripped to pieces, at the dismay of their owner.

"No! You're shooting down my babies! You're tearing them apart, Ranika!"

"Can it, dealer! I've had enough of all these tricks you have up your sleeves! Strength, Shields, Speed! How many more of these ya got? When are you just going to come at me with everything already?!"

"Finished so soon? Well, I've had about enough of the cat-and-mouse game too and you did give me a fun time. Let's say we end this charade right now? Concurrent Card Technique: The World!"

His peers groaned in agony. "Are you kidding me?"

"Cringe." The girl from before said.

Suiiki, who previously thought his act was entertaining, lowered his head. "Yep, totally lame."

"And they're not Tarot cards, so it doesn't even work.

Though the students were less than thrilled with his naming choice, the rest of the audience seemed to appreciate his flair. They erupted in a humongous cheer as his entire deck swirled around him while engaging in battle with Ranika. The Diamonds formed the rotating shield, the Clubs continued their onslaught with the added speed of the Spades pushing them even faster than normal. This apparently was putting a lot of strain on Watsuji's body as he fell to his knees and went red in the face. Even his arms were now physically out and manipulating the cards manually, something he hadn't had to do before.

"It isn't…ugh…preferable to waste this much energy so early into the tournament but to get you out is well worth it!"

The effort Ranika had to put in to dodge the cards increased dramatically, and even with her air mobility, it was impossible to deal with everything at once. She got hit by one of the Clubs and was sent hurling to the edge of the arena, where she was hit by another and knocked back in. Once on the ground, she was bombarded by a cascade of cards slamming into her back, pinning her to the floor. Both her arms were stuck underneath the pile, ensuring she couldn't retaliate.

"And pop goes the little weasel! Gave us quite a show there, that's for damn sure!" He clapped slowly, dramatically flourishing his diamonds before slamming them down into her, adding to the pile.

Now what? Stall for some time maybe? Ranika wondered. "What did you leave me in the ring for? You could've tossed me outside for a ring out?"

"Tsk, and then you fly right back in, right? I'm no idiot, you know. I've been waiting for this day for a long time, thinking and planning about how to take down our class's most dangerous student. I'd be a fool not to consider your new technique and think of some counter for it. For example, no matter how much air you threw towards them, my Clubs deftly cut through it. You did give me quite a scare when you closed the gap on me though, had to reconsider my own strategies. Which I thought were foolproof, so maybe you've elevated yourself beyond a fool then? But what's the old saying? 'Even a broken clock is right twice a day!'"

Suiiki leaned over to Genso. "What's he talking about clocks for?"

"He's saying it was all just dumb luck." His friend replied.

Kisho leaned forward in slight interest. "He does have a point."

"Yeah, on his nose." Suiiki spat.

Ranika, overhearing the conversation being so close to the edge, looked at Watsuji with newfound anger. "Did you just call me dumb?!"

"I literally never said that word, but perhaps it isn't a totally inapt description." He walked over to her and patted her head patronizingly. "But here's something 'smart' even you can do! Go on and just say you give up, spare yourself the embarrassment of dragging this out."

"In your dreams! You might as well just knock me out, cause I guarantee it'll be a lot easier than making me say that!"

"Au Contraire, my friend."

The cards pushed themselves harder into her back and arms, the immense pressure squeezing some air out of her body. The crowd seemed to take great pleasure in the scene, but most of the students, didn't like what they were watching.

"Is that allowed?" Hinote asked. "This almost feels like torture."

Suiiki shrugged. "Whatever helps you win, I suppose?"

She let out another shout as Watsuji pushed down even further. "Come on, let's hear you say it!" He leaned in and lowered his voice to a mumble. "Or will you let me break you all the way down right now…"

With a huff, Genso stood from his seat. "If you're going to finish the fight, then hurry up and do it! There's no need to drag this out any further when you're clearly outmatching your opponent!"

Tsubame pulled him back down. "Shh! Genso!"

"I'm telling the truth! It's time we move on from this."

Suiiki and Daisuke looked at their friend in disbelief. "How could you say that? I mean, sure she's not in a good spot…but don't just tell him to finish her off like that! What about believing in your friends and all that?"

Genso propped his glasses further on his face. "Oh…it would appear you have made a mistake."

Another shout came from Ranika, except, unlike the previous ones, this one sounded way angrier.

"A mistake?" Asked Daisuke. "But you said-"

"Au contraire, my friend. I wasn't talking to Watsuji."

Ranika merely tapped a finger on the edge of one of the cards, and in an instant, the cards keeping her tied down suddenly ripped apart and were tossed all over the arena. Some of them flew into the stands like confetti, but none of them obeyed Watsuji's commands, despite his best efforts.

"Agh! No! My Clubs! My Spades! Even my Diamonds!? Torn to shreds! How did you…wait, y-you weren't allowed-"

"To use it on contestants? No one said I can't use my real quirk on their creations." Ranika rose to her feet and lazily stretched her arms and legs out. "Ah, that's much better."

She took a threatening step towards Watsuji, who'd lost all his confidence in an instant. "W…wait, I know I said some harsh things, but come on! You wouldn't actually hold a grudge over a bit of fun, would you? That was all in jest! L-look!"

He pulled one card out from his pocket, and showed it to her, a weak smile on his face.

"I'm the Joker, baby…"

He thudded into the wall of the arena.