Lighters

by Fezzgator

Out on a job for the mayor, Michiru is pulled away from her world and dumped in one that, at least on the surface, is paradise. Along with a cranky chimera who hates monsters, a girl who barely talks and a group of misfits displaced from across time and space Michiru will try to find her place. Plus crossovers with Slayers!, Xenogears, Final Fantasy 6, Escaflowne and more!

42. Chapter 42

Kyoka Jiro was not, by nature, someone who dwelled much on the past. She may take some time to come to a decision, even worry about what others may think leading up to that decision but once made, she rarely had regrets. As worried as she had been to tell her parents that she wanted to become a hero instead of a musician like they were, once she made it and told them, she never once regretted it.

Yet here she was, dragging herself out of bed and getting herself ready for another day at UA unable to shake the disappointment, the shame of what had happened right after the end of what should have been an amazing moment in her life. After finishing her song, she had been on top of the world. Kyoka had written and performed a song that everyone in attendance loved. It had brought smiles to all that heard it, something most musicians dream off. Moments later though, instead of capping off the performance by asking out Zelgadis, she had her hopes dashed before she could even try.

The more she thought about it, that was probably what bothered her most; that she didn't even ask. She knew why she hadn't. Emeralda had been right, Zelgadis and Michiru were clearly close and asking would not just invite rejection but also possibly ruin what the other two had. She couldn't do that. She couldn't put herself between them, even if it hurt her to do so.

Kyoka had spent the rest of the festival alone in her room. It had taken a fair amount of convincing from her friends to even let them into her room the next day to talk about it. Then Momo had gone by herself to confront Emeralda about the warning she had given the rocker girl. What Momo reported back was, at best, a cold comfort to the ear-jack hero-in-training and at worst made her want to scream into the void about how unfair it was that some emotionless, recently de-aged kidnap victim could tell her what was best about her own emotions.

The last thing she wanted to do was see that tan-skinned girl again any time soon and it showed in the dark cloud that hung over her as she walked to class with her friends. Distant and disengaged, it was all Kyoka could do to respond to questions with simple affirmative or negative grunts, much to the disheartenment of her friends. She felt worthless, hallow, almost like she was a different person watching her own life go by.

That numbness continued when Kyoka failed to react when, instead of Aizawa-sensei coming in to great 1-A for homeroom, it was Sanada-sensei instead. Whatever the pale-haired man said didn't seem to matter, until the substitute teacher raised his hand to the door and his three lighter students stepped in, and all of a sudden, the world around her went from being dull and lifeless to awash in the fire of repressed rage.

(X)

"…and that is why I'll be standing in for Aizawa-sensei for today. While I am here, Kagemori, Greywards and Kasim will be rejoining the class. Any questions?" Jun finished explaining to a decidedly mixed array of expressions on the students of 1-A.

Immediately, a single hand raised. "Yes, Iida, go ahead."

"Is Aizawa-sensei ok? It just seems unusual that someone with his dedication to his responsibilities would up and leave on such short notice otherwise." the stern class rep asked.

"Had you considered a sudden mission coming up?" Jun answered with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"I had not. Forgive me sensei." Iida replied, chastised.

After a light sigh, Jun clarified, "I can tell you that your homeroom teacher is fine. Something did come up that is both important to a case and personal so please have patience. I'll do my best to fill his role in the meantime. I hope you don't mind it being a bit more crowded than normal."

"Nah, we're cool with it!" Eijiro volunteered, a sentiment mostly shared by the rest of the class though the glances several of the girls shared and the outright hostile look from Kyoka hinted at a different story that Emeralda picked up on. It seemed that the tan girl was going to be having that conversation that Momo mentioned sooner than she thought she would.

With their teacher's prompting, the three lighters took their seats in the back at the desks prepared for them beforehand.

(X)

"Before we go in there, is there anything else I should know?" Shouta asked while he and Hitomi waited for the last large door to unseal before they got to Kurogiri's cell.

In a poor attempt at levity, Hitomi lightly said "Oh, I'm pretty sure last time I did this, he said something about exploding."

The joke…did not land. Shouta just stared down at the brunette counselor, who couldn't help but shrink under his distressingly dead glare. After a moment of intense silence, Hitomi spoke again, sounding quite a bit more meek, "Yeah, ok, sorry. My ability, by its nature bypasses whatever he is referring to so we'll be fine. While we are in there, I want you to get a good look at this doctor. We find him, we find not just the special nomu but where they are made."

"Got it." Shouta grumbled before adding "Can we get on with it?"

With the final barrier gone, the two stepped forward to find Kurogiri once again in a single chair, wrapped in a straightjacket and slumped forward. The two approached and sat in the two chairs provided in front of the confined teleporter.

"Now what" Shouta asked, clearly impatient.

Pulling out her pendent and letting it dangle from her outstretched hand in front of the mist man, Hitomi replied calmly "Put your hand on my shoulder and look into the pendent. I want you to focus on Shirakomo while you do that, ok?

"Yeah, got it." Shouta answered, compiling with the counselor's instructions.

"You'll be disoriented for a brief moment once we get started but it will pass. Ready?" Hitomi explained.

"Any time." Shouta said evenly.

"Then here we go."

(X)

"This is insane, you know that, right!" Himiko all but screamed as she just barely avoided being crushed into paste by Gigantomachia.

"Yeah!" the lizard-like Shuichi agreed, having just avoided the same fate "But this is what Shigaraki wants to try and I don't have any better ideas!"

"Shut the hell up and run!" Jin all but screamed from ahead of the other two, before adding mockingly "I'm not scooping anyone up off the ground, losers!"

After some more death-defying dodges from the three villains and some half-hearted attempts to counterattack, the trio began to tire. After a signal from the blood-sucking blonde, Tomura and Atshuhiro jumped in and took their place while the others rested. Tomura had the best chance to land a blow with his quirk and the mask wearing thief could instantly throw roadblocks in the way with compressed trees or boulders, buying the two precious seconds in the marathon of drawing the mammoth man closer to their intended target: Deika City.

When Tomura and Atshuhiro got tired themselves, that's when Xellos would just so happen to appear before Gigantomachia, say some disparaging insult and proceed to teleport away, keeping the chain going without directly engaging and thus, on paper, adhering to Doctor Garaki's stipulation that the mazuku not be involved. This plan required stamina and patience, something villains weren't exactly known for.

Deika City was dozens of miles away over mountainous terrain. It's been said that a well-trained person can travel from twenty five to thirty miles in a day on foot. Considerably less if they are luring a massive murder man along for the trip. Yes, the next few weeks were going to be hell for the League of Villains and this first day would be one of the worst as they had no real idea of how to pace themselves.

It would be worth it though. If what Xellos said was true about a massive underground organization bent on reshaping Japen for the free use of quirks gathered in the city was true, then the possibilities were great indeed. Despite the burning in his lungs and limbs as he dodged another smashing blow, Tomura smiled.

(X)

There was…nothing. Darkness for as far as the eye could see. Nothing to feel, nothing to hear. Nothing, even, to stand on. To be basically floating in a sea of nothingness was very disconcerting to Shouta, a man who very much preferred a certain degree of control in all situations he found himself in. The quiet was not long-lived however before Hitomi's disembodied voice seemed to come from all directions "Good, it seems we both made the connection, we should see him any moment. You feeling alright Aizawa-sensei?"

Biting back the urge to snap at the counselor out of his feeling of powerlessness, Shouta managed to answer "I'm fine. Just get on with it, I can't see a damn thing."

"I'm sorry. We are in someone else's mind. If we were in yours, it would be easy to give yourself a focal point. As it is, we are at the mercy of Oboro." Hitomi explained from beyond the void.

"Great." Shouta grumbled. "Well, we don't have all day, if there is anything you can do to speed things up GAHHH!"

Feeling an unexpected tap on his shoulder, the normally unflappable underground hero somehow managed to jump up several feet despite not actually having any ground to stand on. The sound of Shouta's wholly unprofessional yelp began to be drowned out by the sound of uncontrollable laughter from behind the dower teacher.

"HAHHAHA! Oh man, that was CLASSIC! HAHHAHAHA!" a familiar and yet long unheard voice came from behind and Shouta spung, his face beat red in embarrassment. Sure enough, the form of his old, once thought lost friend and classmate, Oboro Skirakumo, was rolling about on the non-existent ground, laughing uncontrollably.

Shouta turned and looked like he was about to explode, his face red and his eye twitching. That's the moment when Hitomi choose to appear, standing between the two, a smile on her face. That's also when Shouta put it together. "You…you were distracting me, weren't you?

With Oboro's laughter growing louder, Hitomi's serene façade began to crumble as she, too, began to giggle. With Shouta's growling adding to the mirthful chorus, Hitomi rose her hand in an attempt to get the underground hero to calm just a bit before she said, "I'm-I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei. Oboro insisted I help him when he found out I'd brought you. I didn't see the harm."

As Hitomi spoke, Oboro regained some of his facilities and managed to sit up, making eye contact with his old friend. For a long moment after the counselor finished speaking, the two locked their gaze, though Oboro did raise his hand to wipe away a tear. Finally, Shouta closed his eyes and let out a single laugh before a tiny smile appeared on his face before he said, his voice wistful "You always were a goof. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. It's…its good to see you again my friend."

In an instant Oboro was up and embracing Shouta, the once lost hero-in-training entirely unafraid to express years' worth of lost friendship. "How are ya man! I'm so happy you're here! I can't believe you became a teacher! Anyone special in your life? Where's Hizashi?"

Between the unexpected contact and flood of questions, Shouta found himself entirely speechless, unable to process the flood of emotions and questions he had been inundated with. Sensing Shouta's unease, Hitomi came to stand by the two embracing men and tapped Oboro on the shoulder and said "I think it might be a good idea to give him some space, Oboro. You might have broke him."

Oboro complied, letting go of Shouta and taking a step back before apologetically saying "Right, right. Sorry. It's just been so long! I may have gone overboard. Here, lets get more comfortable!"

With that, the black void the three had been standing changed into a fast food restaurant that Shouta recognized instantly as the one he, Oboro and Hizashi had spent countless hours hanging out in. The sky-blue-haired host offered the others a seat at the corner booth which was accepted before all three were seated and Oboro asked while he sat back, his arms up and resting on the back of the seat "So what does bring you here? As much as I wish this was just a social call, I doubt you two came just to catch up."

"You're partly right." Hitomi began before Shouta cut in.

"I've been visiting you every chance I get and you haven't responded once. Why?" the eraser hero inquired, a hint of hurt in his voice.

Oboro sighed before he ran a hand through his wavy hair. "Yeah, thought you might ask that. Always straight to the point Shouta. Glad to know that hasn't changed. Look, down here I may have regained this part of me and reconciled myself and the Kurogiri persona they built on top but out there is another story. I don't know what they did but it's like there's some fail safe built in that won't let me back to the surface. Only Kurogiri could control our body and now that he is me again, it's all but shut down out there. Been pretty lonely, gotta say."

"Oboro, I'm so sorry. I wish I had known, I would have come back sooner…" Hitomi replied, clearly guilty.

"It's not you're fault. You didn't do this to me and you didn't know, so don't sweat it. You've already done so much for me already!" came Oboro's cheerful response.

Shouta, though, couldn't help but feel his old friend was forcing that smile. After a moment, another thought occurred to him. "Could you hear me?"

Oboro's smile faded, a look of confusion replacing it. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

His eyes narrowing, Shouta repeated "When I came to see you, could you hear me when I talked to you?"

For a moment it looked like the light-blue haired young man was going to laugh the question off but then he paused and a more somber expression settled onto his face. "I…yeah, I could. I can see, too. I just can't affect anything, you know? It's like I'm in a dead body almost. A puppet with its strings cut."

"That will make Hizashi happy to hear. It was hard for him to sit there and not have you respond." Shouta explained.

"I know." Oboro replied, his face tightening up, as though holding back his own feelings. "I could see it. Both of you. Can't tell you how much it meant to me. Gotta say, you must really like these students of yours. You talked about them a lot. Couldn't help notice you didn't mention a wife. Either of you. You really need to get out there, man!"

Despite himself, Shouta couldn't help but smirk slightly, even as he rolled his eyes. "After that stunt you two pulled, I'm not taking any dating advice from either of you ever again. Besides-"

"Can I see it!" Hitomi suddenly blurted out.

The two old friends had begun to forget the brunette was even there and were startled by the sudden outburst. Slowly, both men turned to look at the now embarrassed counselor. With a questioning eyebrow raised, Oboro asked "See what, Hitomi?"

"The barrier you were talking about. That's keeping you from taking control of your body? It's just that, if you can see and hear everything that's going on, I feel like it should be possible for you to regain control. You said it felt like you were in a dead body, didn't you? Maybe…maybe having actually died has something to do with it?" Hitomi explained, her voice carrying a panicked excitement to it.

Oboro's face lit up with excitement from the possibility but Shouta looked entirely unimpressed and he was the quicker of the two to speak up. "That…has no basis in fact. Quite possibility the least rational thing I've heard in awhile and I work with teenagers."

Oboro's expression sank with his mood, his hopes dashed by his old friend. Hitomi, though, wasn't about to back down. "What about anything that's happening at this very moment is rational? Need I remind you that you're not here because of a quirk. These are mystical powers I'm working with here. Not to mention the two demons, dullahan, zombie, gargoyle and walking, talking collection of tiny robots we have running around and your hung up on this? We're trying this whether you like it or not."

Shouta wanted to protest but not only was Hitomi right, he was well aware that he was only here by her own good graces. He really had no right to protest and thus nodded, swallowing his pride. Before things got carried away though, the underground hero remembered something else. "What about this Doctor Garaki you wanted me to see, Kanzaki-san?"

"Oh yes, thanks for the reminder." Hitomi replied, settling back down to a more even disposition.

Oboro smirked before he got up from the booth they had been sitting at and said "Want one more look at the mad old man do ya? Sure, we can do that real quick before we go on that field trip."

Hitomi got up as well, Shouta following suit if for no other reason than because the others had and it seemed like the smart thing to do. The shaggy-haired hero was rewarded when the booth and everything around them disappeared to darkness. A moment later, the trio's environment slowly, but surely became illuminated by a pale green light. Before long, the large tubes that characterized the lab of Doctor Garaki became evident, allowing Shouta to get a good look at the place that was responsible for so much horror and suffering.

"This where they did this to you?" Shouta asked, his voice laced with anger.

"It is." Oboro confirmed, his arms held behind his head, clearly trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

Hitomi knew it was a front. This place was terrifying and the thought of what was done to all the poor souls contained here made the counselor shutter. Standing to the side, she couldn't help but look over at the tube that contained the nomu that had brought her here. There was something about it. Something that Hitomi was sure was there if she just looked hard enough. It was almost a compulsion that she get closer.

"Alright then, lets see this so-called doctor." Shouta replied back to Oboro.

A moment later, the doctor appeared in front of the underground hero, simply standing there, unmoving. The doctor's short, bald and rounded appearance made for a rather unmistakable visage, especially with the fairly unkept mustache and goggles. After taking a long, hard look at the doctor, Shouta said "Alright, I got a good look at him, that should be all I need to start an investigation."

"Sweet! Ok, you ready to go Hitiomi...um, Hitomi?" When the two men realized the brunette lighter wasn't with them, they frantically looked about. It only took a moment for the two to notice her walking toward a specific tube, her gat slow, almost like she was resisting the pull toward the machine. Hitomi's hand was outstretched and close to contact with the tube when Shouta cried "KANZAKI!"

Instantly, Hitomi stopped. Dropping her hand, the counselor shook her head before turning to the source of the voice that had yelled to her and asked, confused "Ye-yes? I'm sorry, what was I doing?"

The image of Doctor Garaki disappeared while Oboro and Shouta rushed over to her, the light blue haired lost hero grabbing hold of her shoulders before he asked in a panic "Hey, you ok? You were just walking toward this tube like a moth to the flame! What was that?"

Looking over Oboro's shoulder and up at the vessel of that all important nomu, Hitomi didn't speak for a moment, her eyes seeming to glass over for just the briefest of moments before she shook her head and replied "I-I don't know. I think I felt like I saw something and I just…I wanted to touch it. I don't know why."

"Sounds like you've had enough counselor. I recommend we at least take a break before we try whatever it is you have in mind." Shouta suggested, his recent rebuke still fresh in his mind.

"No." Hitomi insisted, gently pulling Oboro's hands away from her shoulders. "We're here, we need to try. That'll inform what we do going forward. That being said, I'll need to send you back, Aizawa-sensei."

Raising a questioning eyebrow, Shouta dryly replied "What?"

(X)

Present Mic had just finished what seemed to most in 1-A to be an unusually subdued lesson which meant it was time to break for lunch. Emeralda knew she needed to speak with Kyoka and quickly. It had been her hope to walk over to the dark-haired rocker girl and simply ask her to stay behind for a bit. Unfortunately, Michiru had grabbed her attention, wanting to know if Emeralda had had any issues with English given she was still just mastering written Japanese.

By the time Emeralda was able to get up, Kyoka was gone and her chance had been missed. Most of 1-A had stuck around to welcome the lighter trio back and Emeralda was stuck with a large group of her classmates heading to the cafeteria.

The three lighters slid right back into old niches once they got to their destination, Zelgadis peeling away to eat with Fumikage and several others while Emeralda joined Michiru and most of the rest of the female members of the class. Kyoka, though, was notably absent and Emeralda herself sat quietly to the side. A tension hung over the nanomachine girl, a feeling of unease being sent her way since Michiru and Momo appeared to be the only ones engaging with her.

Even Tsu, never one to keep secrets or grudges, was keeping quiet. Something was wrong, and Emeralda began to dread just what was coming.

Nothing else happened the rest of the meal until, as they were about get up and head back to class, Toru suddenly said "Oh! I almost forgot! I have an assignment I meant to turn into Aizawa-sensei but he's not here. Greywards-san, would you do me a favor and hand it to Sanada-sensei since you know him? Maybe he won't be mad?"

Zelgadis, having joined most of the rest of the class to head back to their room, raised a questioning eyebrow before responding "Um, I guess I can, though I highly doubt me being the one to hand it to him would affect any punishment you might get."

"Can't hurt though, right?" Toru chirped, her cloths raising to show she had briefly hopped to emphasize the point.

A small frown appearing on his face, Zelgadis all but snapped the paper out of the invisible girl's hand and said, "I don't know, seems to me it looks pretty bad that you couldn't face him yourself but fine, if that's what you want."

"I'll come too! Maybe it won't be so bad if there is more than one?" Michiru volunteered helpfully.

"NO!" Toru too forcefully answered immediately "I…wouldn't want to inconvenience more than one person because I messed up." she added frantically.

Michiru looked confused and was about to acquiesce when Emeralda spoke up forcefully "Actually, I think I'll go too. Who knows, perhaps having all three lighters might make Sanada-sensei go easier on you after all, Hagakure-san."

There was a pause from the invisible girl before finally she weakly said "Ok…thank you guys, that's very nice of you. See you back at class."

With that, Toru left along with the few remaining members of 1-A, leaving the lighter trio to head for the teachers room. They hadn't gotten very far when Michiru mused out loud "That was pretty weird, right? In all the time we've spent with this class, I don't remember any of them forgetting an assignment like that."

Zelgadis, already annoyed by the whole thing, just wanted to get it over with. "Whatever. As long as no one makes a habit of it, it's fine. If we're late though I'm going to be pissed."

"Let us hurry then." Emeralda quietly added, an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach.

The three of them didn't go much further when, rounding a corner, they stopped in their tracks, almost running into Kyoka, who stood there, unfazed by the near collision. The rocker girl had a determined look on her face then seemed to faulter when she realized both Emeralda and Michiru were there along with Zelgadis.

"Whoa, what're you doing here Jiro?" Michiru asked, startled she hadn't heard the girl before now.

Kyoka cursed under her breath, Michiru able to make out something about Toru before Kyoka regained her determined visage and said "Greywards…Zelgadis, I'm sorry but I have a question for you!"

Emeralda's eyes widened, fully aware of what was about to come out of the ear-jacked hero's mouth. Immediately, she spoke up "Jiro-san, I don't think-"

"Shut it, Kasim! You've helped enough already!" Kyoka snapped.

Zelgadis looked between the two girls and asked cautiously "Emeralda, what is she talking about?"

Before the greenette could reply, Kyoka spoke up, her voice much softer, a hint of vulnerability in it, "Zelgadis, please, I have something to say then I'll leave you…" as she paused, the rocker girl looked over to Michiru and made sure they locked eyes, confusing the tanuki girl before continuing "…I'll leave you alone, ok?"

At this point, the chimera was well and truly confused and sounded as much when he replied, "Why would I want you to leave me alone Jiro?"

That caused a brief flash of pain on Kyoka's face before she settled herself, taking a deep breath before saying "I like you, Zelgadis. I think your intelligent without being arrogant, you speak your mind, you're fun to work with and I, I think your cool. I wanted to ask you to hang out with me at the festival but I couldn't do it. So, I'm asking you now, would you like to go out with me?"

Silence. Utter silence enveloped the hallway. If a pin had dropped, the echo it would have made might as well have shattered the eardrums of the four people that stood in the corridor. Emeralda realized she was holding her breath and continued to hold it despite knowing that fact. Instead, she looked at her fellow lighters.

Zelgadis' shoulders had slumped, and he looked like he'd been hit with a truck. For a moment he stared down at the fidgeting and blushing Kyoka but then, the sorcerer's eyes darted over to Michiru. The tanuki girl was also dumbstruck, her mouth slightly agape. Feeling eyes on her, she turned to look up at Zelgadis as well.

The moment was short, a moment really but in that half second, Kyoka knew that Emeralda had been right again. No words were exchanged between the chimera and tanuki girl before Zelgadis looked back at Kyoka and said, his voice apologetic "Jiro, look, you're a great girl. I think you're pretty damn smart too and very talented. I'm so thankful you let me join you for the festival, it was a great time. I just, I'm sorry but I don't feel that way about you. I'm so flattered. And shocked, frankly, but I'm sorry. It would mean a lot to me though if you'd be willing to still be friends?"

Zelgadis had only gotten a few words in before Jiro began to break, but she managed to hold herself together just long enough for the rocky sorcerer to finish. Tears began to stream down her face and Michiru moved to try and comfort the broken-hearted rocker but Kyoka raised her hand to stop her.

"*sniff* Th-thank you Zelgadis. *sob* I-I kinda already knew this would happen." Then Kyoka looked over at Emeralda, who watched on, herself struggling to keep her composure, a sight that reassured Kyoka that the greenette wasn't, in fact, trying to hurt her. She continued "But I…I had to try, you know? It *sniff* it was eating me inside feeling this way. Now…now I know I tried and can move on, even if this hurts so much. I do want to be your friend. Just, you know, give me some time, ok?"

Zelgadis nodded, trying, and failing to put a smile on his face. After a moment, he added "Yeah, I get it. Again, I'm sorry."

Kyoka let out a bitter laugh, looked up at the ceiling and said "Don't worry about it. You feel how you feel. See you later, you guys. Oh, and that whole assignment thing was a lie." With that, the rocker girl turned and left down the hall. The three lighters were left shocked. Zelgadis didn't even think to ask Emeralda what Kyoka had been referring to. Instead, they walked back to class in silence.

Kyoka didn't return. Michiru was kind enough to tell Midnight that she hadn't been feeling well. Class resumed.

(X)

Jumping with a start, Shouta blinked several times while he took a moment to orient himself. Lifting his hand from Hitomi's shoulder, the dower teacher took a long moment to look at the counselor. Hitomi was still frozen in place, her eyes closed, her arm outstretched with her pendant dangling from her hand. Then there was Kurogiri. No, Oboro, also motionless and still slumped forward.

"Are you ok. Aizawa-san? Is there anything wrong?" came the voice of the officer on duty up in the control room watching the proceedings.

The question caught Shouta off guard and he looked up at the window where the officer looked on with mild concern. "I'm fine. We made contact as planned and are about to attempt an experiment. Please don't be alarmed if there is sudden moment from the prisoner, I will have my quirk active."

Indeed, before leaving Oboro's mind Hitomi had instructed Shouta to begin talking to his unresponsive friend for five minutes straight, focusing on memories they shared. Hitomi explained that making that connection while the now combined consciousness of Oboro and Kurogiri attempted to break the barrier might be what they needed to make it possible.

With the situation explained to the officer on duty, Shouta focused on the catatonic humanoid mist in front of him and took a deep breath to steady himself. Then, leaning forward and speaking quietly but with purpose, Shouta said "I remember the first time we met. It was the first day of classes and I had gotten there early, hoping to squeeze a quick nap in when this obnoxious loudmouth with blue hair walks in…"

(X)

The barrier, it turned out, was much more like a hazy cloud not unlike the quirk that Kurogiri himself wielded, extending in all directions as far as the eye could see. The only real difference was at the center, instead of a black void, was the view to the outside, through Kurogiri's eyes. When Oboro tried to touch that window to the outside world, to demonstrate for Hitomi, his hand would simply fade out of existence. When he pulled his arm back, the limb would reappear.

"Have you tired putting your head through?" Hitomi asked, as much to seek clarity as to suggest an actual course of action.

Chuckling weakly, Oboro answered "Nah. Been too afraid to honestly. It's a weird feeling when I touch it, you know? Almost like my very being is fading away. I just got back and the last thing I want to do is throw myself in there and trigger a self-destruct or something."

"That's fair." Hitomi replied while she focused on the barrier, trying to reach out with her powers to understand where it came from and how it could be overcome. The barrier, to her, was there and wasn't all at the same time. It was, she felt, as though it had always been there, apart of the golem that was Kurogiri. That made sense, it a way, given the artificial nature of this body.

Hitomi was brought out of her thoughts when Shouta appeared to move about in view, meaning it was time. Hitomi drew close beside Oboro, who stood, watching through the focal point of the cloud. Shouta leaned in close and began talking. Oboro watched on, listening with a small, content smile on his face.

Hitomi watched Oboro's reaction and couldn't help but smile herself, happy to see the connection and the obvious warmth being brought to Oboro's heart. What she didn't expect to see, though, was the very scene Shouta was describing appear behind them. Usually when Hitomi used her power to have her patients relive memories, the patients themselves lived out and participated in those memories. They didn't watch them as spectators. This had been the case with Oboro himself the last time Hitomi had been here.

Needless to say, then, it was a bit surreal for the brunette counselor to be seeing Oboro watch Shouta speak to one side and another Oboro acting out the memory behind him. Before long, Shouta moved on to another story and when he did, the memory being played out changed as well.

Oboro himself didn't seem to be aware of the memory's presence and for some reason, Hitomi felt that saying something might be bad. Another idea, however, popped into her head that she did voice. "Oboro, why don't you try touching the barrier again now?"

His face still transfixed on Shouta speaking in front of him, Oboro replied "Why? What's changed?"

Hitomi hesitated to answer. When Oboro didn't turn his head to see why she hadn't replied though, she decided anything was better than nothing. "It's…a hunch I have. Why don't you try touching it with your hand one more time."

Still focused ahead, Oboro's mouth twisted tightly, as though he was thinking about it. Then, slowly, hesitantly, his hand rose. "Ok, sure, I can try." he said, almost absentmindedly.

Hitomi watched on with bated breath as Oboro's hand drew ever closer to the center of the barrier. Ever tiny movement forward seemed to take an eternity and Hitomi found her heart racing as his fingers came into contact. Then, to her shock, Oboro's hand didn't begin to fade away as it pressed through the barrier. Instead, the barrier pressed inward at the contact point, like rubber. That which had seemed intangible even moments before was suddenly very real and being affected by Oboro's touch.

The light blue haired young man suddenly seemed to become aware of what was actually happening and in his surprise called out "Oh shit!" before pulling his hand back and falling backward. "I, I touched it! Did you see that Hitomi!" Oboro exclaimed, finally turning to look at her, a mix of excitement and joy plastered on his face.

"I did, yes." Hitomi replied, now wearing a proud smile as well.

"I have to try again!" Oboro declared, standing up and rushing at the barrier, both hands outstretched. This time, however, the lost hero simply smacked into the barrier like it was an actual brick wall. The loud thunk that accompanied the contact caused Hitomi to cringe involuntarily, even while she stifled a giggle at the comical way the blue-haired young man stayed plastered against the barrier, sprayed out almost like a flatted bug.

Calming herself, Hitomi noticed that the memory that had been playing behind Oboro had disappeared. What, exactly, it meant she couldn't be sure but there was clearly a connection. With a nod, Hitomi turned back to Oboro and asked "You, uh, ok there Oboro?"

Oboro raised a thumb but otherwise didn't move. Rolling her eyes, Hitomi spoke again "I think we've made a real breakthrough, figuratively anyway. I think I have a plan going forward but I think we should go ahead and stop for today. We'll be back tomorrow though, ok Oboro?"

Finally pulling himself off the barrier, no worse for wear, the seemingly younger man offered a cocky grin and replied "You bet! I can't wait to get back to living!"

(X)

The rest of the school day had been an awkward one for everyone in 1-A, chief among them the three recent additions. The class was unusually subdued when the day finally ended, and few words were exchanged between the three lighters as they prepared to leave the classroom. Zelgadis still had to go to training with Katsuki and Minoru but told them to go ahead without him before asking Emeralda to stay as well. Michiru agreed to wait outside, aware little was going to get past her kin beastman hearing.

When the room was empty aside for the two of them, Zelgadis stood and walked over to the still sitting nanomachine girl, sighed and calmly asked "So, you going to explain what Jiro meant by you helping? She seemed pretty upset at you."

Emeralda was aware that what she had done could be seen as interfering in her friend's life. Given all she knew and had shared with the sorcerer before her, it was almost a certainty he would be upset when she explained herself. Still, as much as it ate at her to know she had likely ruined her friendship with him, she couldn't bring herself to try and escape responsibility. So she looked the rock-encrusted chimera in the eye and said calmly "Before the concert, I overheard two of our classmates discussing another wanting to ask you on a date. It wasn't hard to deduce who it was and when the chance presented itself, I approached Jiro about it and suggested it may not be the best idea."

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes, his expression growing colder before he replied slowly "You what?"

(X)

Michiru had spent the time since Kyoka's confession in something of an emotional rollercoaster. Part of her was happy to have the grump be given irrefutable evidence, to his face, that people did, in fact, like him. Part of her wanted to rib him for being a lady killer before making fun of him about what he was really doing with Kyoka when they were practicing that song. And part of her felt like she couldn't breathe. As if the air around her had left and was pressing against her all at the same.

Since they were only in the class with 1-A for the day while Jun subbed for Shouta, it was hard to take classes seriously. Doubly so since it was mostly material she had covered the first time she had been in a first year high school class. So classes didn't exactly help to distract her through the afternoon. At least once it was over, the tanuki girl could get back to their dorm and maybe get some answers.

Zelgadis had apparently wanted them sooner and since it mostly involved him, Michiru was fine waiting outside while he got an explanation from Emeralda. That didn't mean she couldn't listen in though. It only took a moment to extend her ears into the shape of a bunny's.

Unfortunately, Zelgadis had only just asked his opening question when who should round the corner down the hallway but UA's own ant girl, Sakon. When they noticed each other, Michiru stood bolt straight, her ears returning to normal, a suddenly flat expression on her face.

Sakon, though, never one to hold back emotions, looked like she was about to scream at the tanuki girl. Appearing to remember where she was, the spurned third year tightened her jaw, furrowed her brow and continued walking forward, determined to say nothing as she passed.

Michiru stood there, motionless, unsure what to say. She was still mad at Sakon and it was clear the ant girl was still mad at her. The last thing she wanted was to get into another argument with Emeralda and Zelgadis talking on the other side of the wall so Michiru thought it would be best not to say anything if Sakon didn't. It'd probably be best for the two of them to cool off some more before talking again anyway, right?

Once Sakon was behind her, Michiru relaxed a little, even as a pit of guilt started to form in her stomach. It was stupid since Sakon was the one who had said such outrageous things to her and yet, Michiru couldn't help but remember what Shouta had told her; that Sakon didn't have any friends. Michiru was it.

That pit suddenly swelled into a nervous compulsion to act and Michiru turned and called after the ant girl "Sakon! Are-are you alright? You get out of the hospital fine?"

On hearing her name, Sakon stopped but didn't turn around. There was a twitch of her antennae but for a long moment, Michiru began to wonder if her friend had heard her. Just when she was about to speak again, Michiru heard words spoken so softly, even hear enhanced hearing didn't quite catch it. "What was that, Sakon?"

"Fight me." came the response, cold and determined.

Confused, Michiru couldn't help but answer "What? Did you say fight you? Why?"

"Because if you don't, I'll reveal the secret!" Sakon declared, suddenly turning around, barely retrained hurt and rage on her formid features.

At first, Michiru was shocked. Then anger took hold as she took a challenging step forward and countered, saying "Oh yeah? Well, I'd just like to see you try! Not like you have any proof anyway!"

Sakon gritted her teeth, well aware that was at least mostly true, but she pushed forward, matching Michiru's own movement while she responded "Maybe! But you know what? Some folks'll think it is and sometimes thats all it takes put cracks in the damn. So try me."

Michiru moved forward again, her eyes narrowed and her blood up when she countered again "You think the school doesn't know? You think they'll let you graduate if you out them harboring us? You can kiss your hero career goodbye!"

The two girls were only a few feet apart at this point and looked about ready to come to blows right then and right there. Michiru knew if they fought here she'd likely get into major trouble but if it meant protecting everyone's secret, she didn't care. She was sick and tired of this girl's bullshit and if that meant beating the snot out of her, so be it.

Michiru had gotten too caught up in that line of thought and was caught off guard when Sakon shot an arm forward and grabbed the tanuki girl by the tie of her uniform. The ant girl brought Michiru in close, their faces inches apart and it was only the pleading eyes that Michiru was met with that stayed her hand. Her voice low and broken from held back emotion, Sakon said "Michiru, please! If-if you're my friend, then you'll fight me! If we never see each other again, if I throw away our friendship then so be it, if you'll just let me fight you!"

As she finished, Michiru could feel the hold on her tie loosen and she slowly backed away, shock on her face. With Sakon's desperate, pleading eyes locked on her, Michiru looked away for a moment, trying in vain to see an answer that didn't involve giving Sakon what she wanted. Between the drama earlier in the day and the sudden request to violence, Michiru wasn't in a state of mind to find that alternative so when she looked back up at the ant girl, it was with a uncharacteristic amount of reluctance.

"Fine. If it'll satisfy you, let's do it." she said.

Sakon nodded solemnly, her usual bravado nowhere to be seen. "You won't regret it, Michiru." she answered.

(X)

"Without consulting you, I inserted myself into your relationship with a fellow classmate." Emeralda said with such clarity and rational coolness that Zelgadis couldn't help but be impressed by the blunt self-awareness despite his anger.

"Well at least your honest and aware of it." Zelgadis grumbled. "Look, Emeralda, if you knew what you were doing was wrong then why the hell did you it? I understand you're younger than you look but this wasn't out of ignorance or inexperience, was it?"

"I did not see a right answer." Emeralda explained. "Doing what I did would harm my relationship with her but would leave yours with Michiru intact. Let Kyoka continue ignorant of the situation would mean she would suffer disappointment and loss of confidence and, and I didn't want you or Michiru to feel any pressure. I wanted you two to go at your own pace."

"Our own pace?" Zelgadis asked, his question laced with confusion and raising frustration. "What pressure? Emeralda, just tell me what you're getting at. You're not usually one to be so vague." the chimera pressed.

Emeralda remained silent, letting the question sink in while she contemplated telling him outright and instead settled on a loaded question. "Zelgadis, you like Michiru, don't you?"

The sorcerer swordsmen's response was immediate, if ungraceful. Stumbling backwards, Zelgadis' face began to grow crimson as he struggled to articulate a response. However, a series of grunts and mumbles that were clearly trying to be words was all he could manage. His composure lost, Zelgadis lost his balance when he bumped into another desk and he fell back, his butt landing on the offending furniture.

If Emeralda was amused or surprised, she didn't show it while she rose from her own desk and approached the flustered chimera. Finally, Zelgadis found his voice and croaked out "You-you're wrong! We're friends, that's all."

When she was close enough, the nanomachine girl reached out and gently clutched Zelgadis' shoulder, offering a gentle smile. The comforting action was enough to calm the taller lighter before Emeralda spoke "It's ok, Zelgadis. I'm happy for you. Both of you. Whatever reservations you may have, I think you'll be happy."

Emeralda let go of Zelgadis' arm and stepped back while he got back to his feet, calm returning to his features. All the while he kept his eyes on the greenette in front of him, as though he was seeing a entirely different person in front of him. "You knew?" he finally asked.

"For some time now, yes." Emeralda gently replied.

"And-and Michiru?" Zelgadis added with some hesitation.

"She hasn't said anything to me. I'm not sure she realizes it herself but she did tell me there was something she wanted to tell you. Something she was afraid to ask." Emeralda explained.

For a moment, just a moment, joy flashed over that seemingly always frowning rock-encrusted face. Then it was gone, a practiced calm taking its place. "Thank you, Emeralda, really. I see you meant well and even if you were right about me, at least, you still hurt Jiro. And…and between Michiru and I, well, if all goes well, we'll all be going back to our worlds sooner rather than later. I-I don't want to make it harder when that comes. Thanks for looking out for us. You're a good kid."

When Zelgadis reached out and ruffled the tan girl's hair, her smile settled into an annoyed frown before she shot back "Technically I'm older than Xellos, you know."

Offering a cheeky smile, Zelgadis replied "And I'm a twenty-one-year-old in his first year of high school. Being torn from your world doesn't seem to account for age, does it. Come on, I've got training."

Returning the smile, Emeralda followed after Zelgadis into the hallway, expecting to see a very bored tanuki girl waiting for them. Instead, Michiru was twenty feet away, standing by Sakon and just getting off the phone with someone.

The other two lighters came to join them, Zelgadis asking "Is everything alright? Hey Yoshimura, how are you?"

"Peachy." Sakon all but snapped back, causing the chimera to raise an eyebrow.

Michiru, herself no longer appearing to be in the cheeriest of moods, added "Sorry guys, I've got something I need to take care of. I just talked to Sanada-sensei and he said he has something to tell us later and will stop by after Zel gets back from training, ok?"

"Um, sure, ok." Zelgadis replied, a bit taken aback by this sudden change.

"What will you be doing?" Emeralda bluntly inquired.

Looking first at Sakon, Michiru turned to face her friends and said, "I've got a fight."

(X)

"Have a great night, boss!"

"You too, Yuki-san!" Sadou Maou replied as he left with the last of his staff for the night from the McRonald's he managed. In fact, it was the very first McRonald's franchise in Deika City and he had the honor of starting it from the ground up. It had been rewarding to build his staff, train each of them and open to the best first day sales his district had ever seen. Indeed, his restaurant was doing so well, Sadou was sure he'd be in line for district manager himself before long.

Too bad that wasn't what he was here to do.

Deika City wasn't the largest town in Japan so it didn't take to long for the fallen demon lord to commute to his apartment on the city's outskirts before he discretely worked his way into the woods beyond the city limits, doing his best to make sure he wasn't followed.

As he walked along, the sound of fallen leaves crackling below his feet, a female voice came from behind a tree. A familiar, artificial voice. "Been awhile, demon lord. How's the fry business?"

Sadou turned to the offending tree, from behind which stepped out the leather clad and yellow helmeted form of Celty. Sadou smirked and replied "Business is booming! It's like these people haven't had a burger in years! And my staff is great, I barely have to do anything at all and we just destroy our sales projections!"

Celty crossed her arms, giving the strong impression she wasn't impressed and sounded as much when he said "Peachy. Almost sounds like you're actually happy you got dragged out here."

At that, Sadou leaned back while scratching the back of his head, making a play at looking embarrassed before he replied "Oh I wouldn't say that. Musutafu is a great town to work in and I miss it, but, you know, gotta pay the piper and all that."

"Hmph, well next time when you get the urge to send fellow lighters into something they are clearly unprepared for, you'll think twice." Celty admonished.

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it from the commission and Sanada-sensei already, I don't need you lecturing me too." The demon lord of McRonald's snapped back, annoyed and crossing his arms as well. "But that's not why you're here, now is it? Gotta admit I was surprised to hear you were so close."

"We were tracking one of All for One's minions, got pulled into a CRC problem and had to clean that up. We caught up to the minion and he's made contact with the League of Villains. We think they are headed your way." Celty answered, her voice growing more serious with each word.

"Really now. That's…interesting." Sadou replied, his brow furrowed.

Worry sinking into her voice, Celty asked "What is it? What have you found?"

Sadou looked about the woods, feebly trying to make absolutely sure they were alone in the deep darkness of the night. "It's worse than the commission thought. There aren't just the makings of a revival of Destro's insurrection, this whole city is entirely populated by an army of zealots just waiting on word from their leader to rise up and overthrow the Japanese government."

Celty's arms, up to that moment held across her chest, went limp while she involuntarily took a step back in shock. "You-you're sure?" she asked, her voice suddenly lacking her normal confidence.

Sadou perched his lips, his eyes narrowing before he affirmed "Damn sure. I wasn't sent here to infiltrate just for fun, you know. They bought my story, I've done their song and dance, hell they even made sure their ideology was part of the interview process for my staff! I've been to the meetings too. We don't do something soon, this country that's taken us in and probably our chances to get home go down the shitter."

Seeing his fellow lighter's distressed body language, Sadou tried to reassure her "Look, I'm still here. I can try and hold things off as best I can but I am new so I don't think I've got much political capital. Get back to the commission, take the data I'm giving you and get back soon with help, ok?"

Taking the small thumb drive that Sadou offered, Celty nodded and said "I'll be back as soon as I can and let you know what the plan is. Take care of yourself, you've got another world to get back to."

Offering a cocky grin, the demon lord of fries answered "Please. It'll take a lot more than a bunch of extremists to take me down! Just make sure you follow your own advice, Shadow Rider."

Almost reflectively, Celty answered "Nothing will keep me from getting back to my Shinra. I'll be back."

"And I'll be here." Sadou answered into the darkness, Celty already stepping away into the shadows.

(X)

"Oh, hello Kasim-san, here to spare with Oijiro?" Izuku said, having been the one to open the door when the nanomachine girl had knocked.

"Not at this time, no. Also, please call me Emeralda, if you would." the greenette replied, her face betraying a nervousness Izuku had rarely seen on the girl.

"O-oh, right. Sorry. Then why are you here, Emeralda?" Izuku answered, an embarrassed blush coloring his face.

Now gently playing with a fold in her scarf with one hand, Emeralda answered "I…wish to speak to Jiro-san, if I could."

It was Izuku's turn to look nervous when he replied "O-oh, um, Jiro is-"

"Still in her room, no thanks to you." Toru injected, annoyed, having come over to see who was at the door.

Mina came to join the others as well and added "We've been leaving her alone. Probably needs some time to let everything settle. Why don't you come back tomorrow?"

"If Jiro wishes to ignore me than I think that choice should be hers. I have wronged her and I at least want her to know I came to tell her that. Please let me have that chance." Emeralda replied, trying to sound pleading but still coming off more rational than anything else.

"Let her go. Jiro's a big girl. If she wants Emeralda to go away, she'll tell her." Eijiro interjected, his hand of Toru's shoulder to let her know he was being serious.

"How about this." Momo suggested, having also come to join them "I will accompany Kasim-san and if Jiro tells her to leave, I will escort her out."

"I don't think you'll get anywhere, but fine." Toru conceded, followed by nods of agreement from the others.

From there, Emeralda was taken to outside Kyoka's door before Momo stepped away to give the two some privacy. Emeralda stood there, not inches from the rocker girl's door, suddenly not nearly as sure about reconciling as she had been before. She'd gone over in her head multiple ways this conversation could go and she thought she was confident in trying. Now, though, she found she had no idea what she should do, made worse for the real possibility that she would be rejected immediately.

Finally, Emeralda just decided to knock and go from there. She'd never get anywhere if she didn't try. Tapping the door did nothing. There was no response, no sound at all. A harder rasping resulted in a very annoyed, somewhat ragged voice yelling "I said I don't want to talk right now! LEAVE. ME. ALONE."

Emeralda flinched at the harsh words, even if she knew they weren't directed specifically at her. Yet. "Jiro-san, its Emeralda. I came to apologize."

"Oh fuck off! You're the last person I want to hear from right now!" Kyoka snapped.

Momo moved to remove the tan girl but Emeralda looked over at the raven-haired creator, her eyes pleading for one last chance. Momo saw that need to help in the others eyes and stopped, offering the other girl a nod but put a single finger up to show this was her last chance.

Emeralda nodded back, took a deep breath and spoke again, knowing this may be the last thing she'd get to say that night to Kyoka. "Jiro, that is an entirely justified response. I was an idiot. I thought you would be spared pain if you knew you were unlikely to get the answer you wanted from Zelgadis. I never considered it could be just as bad having never even tried. You owed it to yourself to ask and I, as your friend, owed you that chance as well. I had no right to dissuade you from trying."

When there was no response, Emeralda took that as tacit approval to continue. While she did, she glanced over at Momo and said "Yaoyorozu asked me how I could know about Zelgadis and Michiru having so little experience myself. She likely told you my answer and though I stand by it, that doesn't mean I know anything about pretty much anything else. I have had few friends in my life. Fewer still my own age. I hope, eventually, I can once again be counted among yours. That's…that's all. I wish you a good night Jiro."

After another deep breath, Emeralda turned and slowly walked over to Momo, who looked deeply touched by the greenette's words. The taller girl put a comforting hand on Emeralda's arm and said gently "It might take some time, but she'll come around Kasim-san. Thank you for trying."

Emeralda was about to respond when the sound of a door opening could be heard. Emeralda didn't take the time to look up at Momo's surprised face, instead turning to face the sound. The moment she was facing back toward Kyoka's room, the rocker girl herself threw herself onto Emeralda, hugging her tight and burying her face in her chest.

Between sobs, Kyoka said "You *sob* you are an idiot! But *sob* I-I know you didn't want to hurt me! Just, next time *sob* let me stand on my own two feet, ok?"

Returning the hug, Emeralda felt compelled to gently pet Kyoka's hair while replying "I can do that. I can't promise I won't make another stupid mistake, however."

Kyoka looked up after Emeralda said that and was met with a silly little grin on the tan girl's face, a rare sight indeed. It was so rare, in fact, that it was enough to cause Kyoka to laugh. From there, the rocker girl let go and separated from Emeralda and said while she whipped the tears from her face "Fair enough, I guess. Just hope you don't get a crush on someone any time soon, we're all clearly not ready for all this craziness!"

"Agreed." Emeralda quickly responded.

"You feeling well enough to join us, Jiro?" Momo asked, a smile now on her own face.

"Nah, you guys go ahead. I'm still a mess, even if I'm feeling a bit better. I'll see you in the morning, ok?" Kyoka answered, pointing to her messed up hair and streaks of tears and makeup on her face.

"Then we will leave you to it. Good night, Jiro." Momo replied.

The two girls bowed slightly and turned to leave before Jiro called after Emeralda and said, "Thank you Emeralda, seriously."

Emeralda kept walking but turned her head and smiled and nodded before she was out of sight, so very happy she had come.

(X)

Michiru refused to elaborate to Zelgadis or Emeralda what she meant beyond that she and Sakon were going to have a fight. When the worried nanomachine girl asked if she could come along, Michiru had flatly refused. Zelgadis even threatened to skip training based on the way she was acting alone. In response, Michiru cooly replied that this was something between her and Sakon. She had promised she would be fine but Zelgadis had insisted she explain later.

With that promise made, they parted ways. Zelgadis for training, Emeralda for the 1-A dorms and Michiru back to their dorm to get her hero costume and the monitor she had promised Jun as the condition to allow the fight.

Now Michiru stood across from Sakon, also adorned in her hero costume, in the destroyed cityscape that was training ground beta. The two said nothing, each tensely waiting for word from the monitor to allow for the fight to begin.

Some distance away on a rooftop, Hina stood, her arms crossed and her face frowning. The last thing she had wanted to do this evening was to stand around watching to idiots pound each other into the ground until she had to call for help or stop the fight. Even though Jun had made the request of her, the blue-haired telekinetic knew she was only here because of that damned tanuki girl. That meant the next time she had a craving for her favorite food, it would be Michiru who was firring the bill for her caviar.

"Alright, you idiots!" Hina called to the two combatants below, "Recovery girl went home for the night so if this gets too rough, I'm calling this little tussle of yours, got it!"

Incredulous, Sakon couldn't help but snap back "Yeah? And what's a prissy general studies student going to do, huh?"

Michiru took in a breath and looked away, sure she was going to see her opponent smashed into a wall.

Instead, the lamppost near Sakon suddenly ripped out of the ground and began to crumble in on itself like a wad of paper. Sakon's eyes widened in shock when she turned her gaze back up at the girl she had just insulted, beads of sweat appearing on her face.

"We won't have to find out, now will we, Yoshifumi was it?" Hina answered with the haughty arrogance of someone fully capable of backing their talk up with action.

"R-right." Sakon weakly replied, properly cowed. Then perking up as if realizing something, the ant girl called out a question "You…you're a lighter, aren't you?"

That caught Hina off guard and replied honestly "Yeah, you want to make something of it?"

"Shit." Sakon cursed under her breath before trying too quickly calm the easily angered otherworlder "No, just wanted to know how Michiru knew a GS student, heh heh, that's all!"

Hina narrowed her eyes but said nothing. This ant girl was at least as bad a liar as the racoon but why it mattered that she was a lighter, the telekinetic didn't know. For now, it didn't matter so Hina raised her hand and said "Alright then, the sooner you get started, the sooner I can go home! Have at it, fools!" before dropping her hand to formally start the duel.

Michiru stood, determined to give the hot-headed ant girl what she said she wanted, even if Sakon had as yet refused to give a good reason for it. Shifting her legs into those of a cheetah's while enlarging her arms to allow her to rush in quickly for a hard punch in hopes of ending this quickly, Michiru stopped short when Sakon yelled out "There you go! Looking less and less human! Geez, I can practically smell your shame!"

Michiru's eyes widened, blood rushing to her face as anger suddenly flared in her heart before she growled "WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

But it was too late, Michiru's rage induced delay was all Sakon needed. The ant girl's wings flared to life as she pushed her considerable strength into her legs, surging forward. Sakon's burst of speed caught Michiru completely off guard and she took a hard punch to the face, almost exactly what she herself had planned to do to her opponent.

The hit was enough to knock Michiru off her feet but she was able to control her fall, rolling and spinning so that when she came to a stop, she was facing the ant girl. Sakon, however, tried to press her advantage and followed after, attempting to punch Michiru while she tried to get back up.

The former star of 3-A brought her two right fists up short, just avoiding the hedgehog spines that had sprung from Michiru's back, all but shredding the tanuki girl's red jacket. "Damnit, Power Loader is going to kill me!" Michiru complained while Sakon backed away.

The two combatants separated once again, Sakon going for another taunt, or at least that's how Michiru saw it. "Tell me Michiru, just how many beastmen were you friends with growing up? I'm willing to bet I know the answer!"

"Shut up!" Michiru roared, this time aware of the ploy and already charging forward for her own attack. She didn't get far before she had to dodge out of the way of a blob of formic acid Sakon had spat at her incoming foe.

The pause in the attack gave Sakon a chance to finish her thought, "It was zero, wasn't it? Admit it Michiru, you didn't know a single damned beastman before you became one, did you!"

Back on the roof, Hina was feeling very uneasy about what she was hearing. At first, when the ant had said beastmen, she hoped she had either mis-heard or it was a local term for heteromorphs wherever she came from. However, there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that the use of the word was more.

"Beastmen stay in hiding! If I met one, I'd never know it! Stop talking like you know what it's like!" Michiru countered, suddenly sprouting wings on her back that grew to massive size and began flapping. The heavy wind the beating wings created was enough to stop the momentum of the next bit of acid Sakon had spat at Michiru.

With the acid stopped for the moment, Michiru thrust her arms forward, their length extending well beyond normal, gaining a boneless, rubber like quality before the wrapped around Sakon, restraining her.

Before the ant girl could use her formid-like strength to overpower Michiru's arms, the tanuki girl shifted her legs into those of a kangaroo and pushed herself forward. As she approached her target, Michiru shifted her weight forward so her legs were now pointed at Sakon.

The ant girl had just enough time to wrestle free enough to dodge a direct hit. The glancing blow Michiru did land though caused Sakon to go flying into the wall of a nearby building while the off center kick managed to cause Michiru to land on her now marsupial ass.

While she got up, Michiru could hear Sakon counter from the rubble she was emerging from "Yeah? You even try? Or did you laugh along when your friends made snide little jokes about them whenever the subject came up?"

That gave Michiru pause, hitting somewhat close to home and allowing Sakon to continue "See? It doesn't matter what world you're in! People are always the same! Seems like I have a pretty damn good idea what it's like, huh? Unlike you!"

There it was. That fear that had been creeping up in the back of Hina's mind was realized in the ant girl's latest retort and she made it known, calling out indignantly "What world you're in? You damn racoon! You told her, didn't you! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Michiru cringed visibly, well aware she'd been caught. Fearing the telekinetic more than the ant girl, Michiru turned to face her fellow lighter and tried to defend herself "Look, things happened on that last mission and I thought she deserved to know! She's-she's a friend!"

A deep frown on her otherwise cute features, Hina huffed "Well, that'll be for Sanada-sensei to decide. And some 'friend' you got there, she's about to brain your ass!"

"Wait, what?" was all Michiru could get out before she turned to see Sakon starting to spin with her fists out, causing the brick debris of the wall she had be laying in to go flying everywhere. Some of the debris was very much headed for Michiru and she had just a moment to cover herself in a turtle shell and hide in it.

That would prove to be a mistake because the now free ant girl dashed over and kicked the shell up in the air as hard as she could. Michiru immediately shifted back to normal to avoid the disorientation of hiding in a shell spinning out of control.

Sakon had expected this and had taken to the air right after the tanuki girl, getting another weaker punch into Michiru's gut this time before she could shift into something else. The hit only seemed to anger Michiru though, who again sprouted wings just as her feet became a rabbit's and she again kicked Sakon away.

Now the two girls again gained some distance from one another, only this time they were in the air and both had taken some hits. The break though, was another chance for Sakon to verbally smack her opponent. "You hated being human on that mission. You seem to hate looking human at all. You going to tell me the real reason why? Not that BS you told me before. You were a human for seventeen years and then, like that, you can't bare the sight anymore? I'm callin' it! You're a coward!"

"Coward? I'm a coward?" Michiru repeated, her voice breaking into a bitter laugh. "It took me over a year to even figure out how to make myself human again and by then, trust me, I needed to have all the advantages of my beastman form. So try again!" Michiru angerly retorted.

Sakon was going to do just that but noticed a large bulge appear to come out of Michiru's lower back. It…almost looked like an insect's abdomen. It took the ant girl a moment too long to realize the wider shape and hairy surface most likely meant it was a spider, not some insect. Before she could consider what kind of spider, Michiru ducked her head down, while raising her new abdomen, which caused a hail of thorny hairs to rain down at the ant girl.

The brunette ant managed to dodge most of the incoming follicle projectiles but the ones that did, stung like hell. Instantly, Sakon knew that had been a tarantula's abdomen and it pissed her off she didn't realize it sooner. There was no time for regrets though because Michiru was hot on the heels of her hairs, the spider abdomen gone but her arm was getting to be dangerously large.

Sakon didn't have time to get out of the way. She was a pretty good flier but if she was being honest, she didn't get a lot of chances to actually fight someone in aerial combat. So it was that all she could do was block the blow with her arms. The blow was hard and was more than enough to send her barreling downward, crashing into the ground below.

With her enhanced strength and extra exoskeletal armor, Sakon was stinging but could be worse off as she lay there, her vision clouded by the dusty haze her impact into the street had caused. Before Sakon could recover, Michiru landed on top of her, nearly taking all the air out of the ant girl.

Grabbing the front of her costume with one hand and raising an enlarged fist with the other, Michiru all but snarled "Do I look like a coward now!? Yield Sakon!"

Their faces close, Sakon looked right into Michiru's eyes, her own expression defiant. "MORE THAN EVER!" Sakon screamed before she threw her head forward, headbutting a shocked Michiru, who fell backwards, letting go of Sakon to cover her own face.

The ant girl wasted no time throwing herself on top of Michiru, reversing their positions. The difference was Sakon had an extra set of limbs, which she used to hold Michiru's arms down. She used her own legs to keep the tanuki chimera's own in place while she used her free hands to cup Michiru's head, allowing her to say between hard breathes "Damnit Michiru, I'm not talking about fighting villains or beastmen or whatever! I'm talking about yourself! You're running away from yourself!"

Michiru's face hardened, her eyes narrowing with a deep frown on her face. She said nothing, realizing her tail remained free. In an instant, that tail grew to be that of a monkey's, long and prehensile. Without a second thought, Michiru wrapped her tail around Sakon and threw the ant girl off.

Sakon rolled a few feet before she caught herself and quickly got to her feet, ready for a counterattack. Instead, she froze. Before her, Michiru stood, her form growing larger by the moment. Sakon realized instantly that her friend was donning the same form she had just a few days ago in Shivmachi and she wasn't going to give the tanuki chimera the chance.

Recklessly charging forward, Sakon hoped to take Michiru's legs out from under her. It was not to be. Michiru swung hard with her fist and caught Sakon clean in the midsection. It hurt. A LOT but Sakon gritted her teeth and stood her ground, even if the blow knocked her back a bit.

Again, Sakon moved forward and again Michiru hit Sakon to very similar results. Again forward, again knocked back. Again. Again. And again.

Now Sakon's exoskeleton was beginning to show major signs of stress, yet the ant girl refused to waver. Refused to back down.

Hina watched on, sure if this continued any longer she would have to step in because at this point neither girl looked like they were going to back down. Just before she did though, Hina heard a voice that halted her.

"Why?"

It was angry and yet feeble all at the same time. It was Michiru. Whatever anger she held for Sakon's words was being overcome by the state the ant girl was in and she looked like she was about to crack.

"Answer my question, Michiru. That's-that's all you have to do." Sakon responded, her voice holding no malice, just determination and patience.

"NO!" the tanuki chimera shrieked, throwing both her arms down in one last blow to finally silence her friend.

"No, Michiru, don't!" Hina cried.

It was too late. Sakon refused to budge and Hina had hesitated, hoping there had been a break thru. However, when Michiru's fists landed on Sakon's body, there was no impact, the fists going limp just before they landed.

Sakon hadn't closed her eyes but she had looked down as Michiru's fists had fallen upon her. Now, with the massive hands draped over her, the ant girl looked up at her friends face and found her features scrunched up in pain as she began to sob.

Sakon stood there, silent. Then, as if all the blows she had taken hit her at once, the ant girl collapsed to her knees under the weight of the massive hands sitting on her. Michiru noticed and after a moment, her body returned to normal.

After a few more long moments where Michiru managed to calm herself, she took a deep breath and said, her voice horse and low "You're right, Sakon. I…I was ashamed. At first, all I wanted was to be human again. But once I figured out how to change back and I saw how completely out of touch even sympathetic humans were, I realized I had been like them. I, I hated that human face. Hated the person that I was before the change. "

In response, Sakon fell completely to the ground, her four arms sprayed out before she began laughing, softy at first before it quickly rose to uncontrolled.

Suddenly completely exhausted, Michiru closed the distance between the two of them and plopped herself down beside the ant girl and asked indigently "What the hell? I pour my soul out to you and that's your response?"

Michiru's serious sounding question was enough to get Sakon to calm herself enough to answer "heh heh, you, heh, you idiot. It's funny because it took all this just to get your dumb ass to admit it."

At that, Michiru smiled as well. Looking up at the darkening sky, she replied "You're the idiot, putting yourself through all that, just to get me to say a few words."

"You're both idiots!" Hina interjected, suddenly looming over them, arms crossed and a glare that struck fear in both friends' hearts. "I'm not carrying the ant, you hear me?"

(X)

Zelgadis approached the lighter house, his mind heavy with the events of the day. Having to be dragged along with Jun to 1-A like a bunch of children every time the former hero was called in to sub was humiliating. Such embarrassment though was strongly preferred to the awkward and surprising confession from Kyoka.

That, in and of itself would have been enough for the self-loathing chimera to chew on but then he had called his fellow lighter out on her involvement in that very confession. The next thing he knew, he was admitting to his own feelings for Michiru to Emeralda. It would have been hard to look the tanuki girl in the eye after that, except her announcing she was fighting Sakon had thrown any thoughts of his feelings for her to the side.

Naturally, training had been challenging. Zelgadis seethed in frustration at just how poorly he had done today, making poor decisions and making himself and his teammates in the exercise they were apart off look like green rookies. With so much swirling around in his head and his heart though, mistakes were bound to be made and nothing made Zelgadis angrier than his own mistakes.

Now, about to return to his involuntary home in this world, the rock-encrusted sorcerer found himself both dreading and excited to see Michiru once again, curious not just about why she had decided to fight the ant girl but how it went.

"Hey." Zelgadis casually greeted no one in particular as he entered, looking about to see if Michiru was present downstairs. Jun was there, talking to Terra and Shinra while Emeralda sat with her sketch pad, working on something. Mob was in the kitchen, cooking. Neither Hina nor Michiru could be seen.

"Ah, good evening Zelgadis. I trust training went well?" Jun asked, sounding as much like a half interested parent after a long day at work.

Still glancing about, the chimera replied "It wasn't my best day, no. Let myself get distracted. Won't happen again though."

Raising an eyebrow and sharing a concerned glance with Terra, Jun answered "I…see. Well, as long as you are aware of it, I trust you will do better next time."

Zelgadis grunted an affirmative and began walking toward the stairwell when Emeralda spoke up, having quietly watched the whole exchange with their mentor, "She hasn't returned yet. Neither Michiru nor Hina are back from the fight."

Zelgadis, perhaps too strongly, shot back "What do you mean, they're not back yet?"

"Its ok." Jun tried to reassure the sour sorcerer, "Hina would have called if things got out of hand."

"Yeah, assuming she was in a position to call…" Zelgadis mumbled under his breath.

"Hey, you got something to say, said it for all of us to hear!" Shinra turned and demanded, confident he had heard something but not sure what. Terra also turned to face Zelgadis, a frustrated look on her face. That was enough for Zelgadis to frown and look away.

Zelgadis was about to fess up when the door seemed to burst open of its own accord. Those who had lived in this house for a long time knew that to be the signature move of one pissed off telekinetic, Shinra's face paling at the thought of what might happen next.

However, it wasn't Hina that stepped through the door first but the very tanuki girl being fussed over, Sakon being supported on her shoulder. With a meek laugh, Michiru greeted everyone, saying "Uh, hey everyone. Sorry I'm a bit late. Things kinda got carried away."

Never one to be out done, Sakon spoke up "Speak for yourself, girl! I'm not the one that went all chimera out there!"

Michiru stopped in her tracks and indigently countered "Hey, I'm not the one that just took those punches like a nutjob! It's not my fault you decided fighting was the best way to get me to talk like some-AHH!"

Michiru was cut off when the two girls were knocked clean off their feet by Hina's unseen power before the telekinetic herself appeared and stood over them in a huff "Will you two SHUT UP!" Then, calming a bit, Hina turned to Jun and continued "I brought them back, as promised. I did let them get a little carried away but they had some shit to work out so that's fine. Would you mind if Terra used her magic to heal the two idiots, especially the ant?"

"Hina!" Terra admonished immediately for so casually mentioning her true power in front of an outsider.

Jun's own expression turned serious and followed up with his own disappointed tone "What are you doing, Hina-chan? You've never made that kind of mistake before."

Hina was unfazed by the others reactions, dismissively waving her hand before turning to Michiru, still laying on the floor but now sporting a very nervous grin. "Yeah, I'm not the one that let the cat out of the bag. Figured since she already knew, we could at least heal her up. The racoon really did a number on her."

By this point, Terra had come over to help Sakon up while Zelgadis and Emeralda had come to help Michiru.

Jun looked less than pleased, leveling a glare at Michiru, who had the good graces to look ashamed. It was Sakon that spoke however, in between grimaces of pain "Hey, not to worry, I'd never give away your secret. Michiru here is my friend and I'd never betray her trust, even if I did threaten to do just that to get her to fight me."

That got Hina to smirk though most everyone else looked annoyed, aside from Michiru who said "Hey! You tricked me? Some friend you are!"

Raising a hand to calm the two girl's budding argument, Jun added "Ladies, now is not the time. I will discuss this development with the both of you later. For now, I wanted to let you know that Hitomi and Aizawa-sensei will be indisposed for an undisclosed period of time, which means I, and my extension you three, will be returning to 1-A."

The three newest lighters reaction was mixed, at best. Only Emeralda seemed to have anything approaching a smile on her face at the news. Before any of them could speak, however, Jun continued "Also, I was talking with Kan-sensei this afternoon. Apparently 1-A and 1-B are scheduled to do some joint training coming up but with you three in the mix, he was concerned it would be an uneven test."

Annoyed the older man beating around the bush, Zelgadis injected "Yeah? Get to the point. If we're not going to be with 1-A during this exercise then what will we be doing?"

A knowing smile spread across the former rescue hero's face that sent a shiver down the chimera's spine. "That's exactly what I've been talking to Shinra and Terra about just now. Trust me, you'll have a role to play."

Jun's answer did nothing to wipe the concerned look off the trio's faces.

(X)

So, a lot going on this chapter. I was lucky enough to have enough free time to really get a lot of this chapter done early in the month. I had intended to end it with the declaration of a fight with Sakon and Michiru but I got there so quickly, I was able to keep going. Truth be told, I could have kept going even more if I hadn't got some very bad news at work that had gone a long way to souring my mod and color my creative output. If Michiru seemed angrier than maybe she should be, that's likely my fault and I'm sorry. I enjoy my job very much and the people I get to hire to work with me but it has been decided the exhibit I run will close for well over a year and I had to tell most of my team that they were being laid off. I have been heartbroken and bitter all at the same time, not to mention feeling pretty powerless. I still have a job, I'm thankful for that but it will feel pretty hallow for the months to come.

Sorry, I'm not allow to talk about this publicly yet so you kind readers were my way to let it out, just a little.

As for the chapter itself, I feel like we touched on a lot here. The league is moving along, Sadou has come back into the picture as we barrel toward the fight in Deika City, Oboro might just have a role to play, and the relationships our main trio are engaged in have grown and changed. The seeds are being planted for what is to come and I am excited to get there. Honestly, if I had the time, this is the kind of chapter I'd give you every month so I hope you think its worth the read. Next chapter we'll move into the beginnings of the fight with MLF and the joint training exercise. Now on to this months review!

Ollie veesha writes (the review is formally posted under Chapter 13 but who am I to be picky?):

i love this! at first i was like "i dont know these fellas" but now im like! so excited to get to know them better! your writing is great even though there are some instances of 'your'-'you're' confusion, also some 'starred'-'stared' confusion, but its negligible, at least for me.

i think you wrote the character really well! they feel real and im invested in their journeys, and i like how you didn't contort the world-building to include recognizable canon characters at every corner, its so fun to see some new characters to fill out the setting.

i downloaded the fic to epub because i dont like so i will be leaving love filled reviews for about every third of the fic, with love and rainbows and internal combustion

Hello Ollie veesha and welcome! I'm so happy to know this far in my story can still draw in new people! I'm sorry about the grammar mistakes, I've gone through most of the story once already but once I'm caught up, I'll once again cycle through and clean it up even more. I can't thank you enough for your kind words, they've brought a smile to my face and I've found myself going back and reading them several times over the last month. I've needed them. I can only hope the rest of the story has continued to be enjoyable and if you are so inclined, let me know.

I also felt I should point out that after last chapter, I had someone ask to use my story for a video they were doing and another offer their services for some art, which I gladly accepted. It's humbling every time someone tells me they like this story, even more so when someone wants to do something with it.