The solacement hadn't stopped, not quite yet, to their surprise, and most of the upraise came from their classmates; the prominence came up once again during Foundational Hero Studies when they exhibited their real hero costumes in a glamorous group reveal:
Arjan's white catsuit is paired with a matching turtleneck shrug and underbust harness lined with blue trim and piping creating a spade silhouette on his chest, short, cuffed, white gloves with blue trim, white utility-pocket garter belt with blue trim and piping, white, knee high utility-pocket boots with blue trim and laces; all eyelets, rivets, and rings are silver and spade-shaped, bondage straps are blue, and any ornaments are blue spades. Arjan's hair is brushed back by blue shield lens goggles with white trim and strap, and a large, loose blue scarf hangs around his neck and partially obscures the lower half of his face. Small drumheads are strapped from his biceps down to his forearms along with two small drums attached to his belt of the color scheme.
Yemi's white, sleeveless, turtleneck crop top with a large, diamond-shaped keyhole is embroidered with yellow trim and piping, white, below-elbow gloves with yellow trim, low-rise white shorts with yellow trim, white thigh-high boots with yellow trim, laces, and wedge outsoles; all eyelets, rivets, and rings are silver and diamond-shaped, any ornaments are yellow diamonds. Yemi's hair is adorned with two yellow ribbons securing a naturally-textured bun on each side of her head, her eyes are covered by yellow shield lens goggles with white trim and straps in substitute of glasses. White, complex electronic devices pertaining to her quirk are strapped to her biceps down to her wrists, thighs down to her calves, and secured around her hips and on her back.
Keali'i's white, form-fitting tank top with club-shaped neckline and green trim is paired with a green harness and worn over a green, sleeveless turtleneck, covered by a white, waist-length crop jacket with cuffed, medium-length sleeves and classic collar lined with green trim, short, cuffed, white gloves with green trim, white, fitted cargo pants with green trim pockets, white ankle boots with green trim, laces, and short heel outsoles; all eyelets, rivets, rings, and buttons are silver and club-shaped, any ornaments are green clubs. Keali'i's hair is thick, wavy, and full in height; his bangs are brushed back with a green band tied at the back, leaving long strands to hang down, and he is equipped with a pair of green shield lens goggles with white trim and strap settled at his forehead.
Shelby's white crop vest with a classic collar is trimmed and piped in pink and adorned with cutesy white wings on the back, worn over a pink, heart-shaped corset, short, cuffed, white gloves with pink trim, white, low-rise hero briefs with pink belt and trim, thick, folded down, pink socks, white mid-calf boots with pink trim, laces, and tall heel outsoles; all eyelets, rivets, and buttons are silver and heart-shaped, any ornaments are pink hearts. Shelby's hair is fastened up the same, pink, shield lens goggles with white trim and strap are settled at her forehead, and a pink bandana is tied around her neck. White elbow and knee sleeves are worn on both arms and legs and covered by pink, flexible, heart-shaped pads. Her pink whip was haltered to her side on her belt.
"How is that even fair?!" Class 1-A thought bilaterally once again in regards to their attractiveness.
"Eh? What happened to your other hero costumes?" Asked Hagakure.
"Other hero costumes?" Responded Arjan.
"That was our first live performance together and in person, so those were just our debut costumes," Keali'i stated.
"They weren't designed to be practical in combat." Yemi followed up.
"Which is why I designed these!" Proclaimed Shelby.
"Ah, kids-" All Might chimed, "while I'm over the moon that you're all getting along better, it's time to pick teams for your four-on-four!"
When all was said and done, Shelby, Keali'i, Yemi, and Arjan took the center point of Ground Gamma along with Kaminari, Kirishima, Iida, and Shoji.
"Get ready to lose your winning streak!" Kirishima confidentially shouted.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Arjan responded.
At the call, the two teams charged toward one another and manually gravitated into their opponent's peripheral to make the first strike, unintentionally coupling themselves with the classmate closest to their element.
Yemi had run Kaminari into a labyrinth of concrete walls and metal piping, hoping that he could serpentine well enough to confuse and catch her off guard somehow, but unlike him, she had the high ground. Both of them had to be quick on their feet to outsmart and catch up with each other, and when Kaminari had Yemi in a viable position, his victory became short-lived; when she lowered herself between his sharpshooting discs-
"Ha hah! Sorry Yemi, no hard feelings, alright?" He prematurely gloated, sending his electrification quirk through the discs that were targeted directly at her; only something was awry. His electrical currents were moving around her and hovering over her body, creating a visible barrier around her relaxed, floating body.
"Please tell me you didn't already forget . . . ?" Yemi sighed, "My quirk allows me to manipulate magnetic and electric fields; therefore, your quirk doesn't have any effect on me. I can also prevent you from returning your charge and even increase the voltage with the help of my equipment." Motioning the blowing of a kiss, the current streamlined directly at the freaked-out Kaminari, yelling out in pain when a large amount of electricity struck his body; laying on the ground completely short-circuited, Yemi levitated him somewhere out of the way.
"Whoa, what was that?!" Kirishima loudly wondered out loud before getting smacked by a chunk of concrete that crumbled upon impact due to his hardened skin.
Chasing after him through a large stretch of close-quarter concrete pathing, Arjan bounced from wall to wall, stretching out the foundation to create barricades between them; however, with Kirishima's quirk, the obstacles weren't difficult to plow through; Arjan was much quicker, he could separate them much faster than Kirishima could break past. With speed going against brawn, when the dust and rubble had cleared at the intersection, Arjan was nowhere to be seen leaving him unable to pinpoint a single direction.
Right from underneath Kirishima, a large sedimentary hand grabbed him tightly around the waist and projected him across the grounds, bashing through walls and piping with great force that damaged his body with each collision. After denting a bridge of pipes, Iida wobbled side to side to keep his balance to get closer to Keali'i using his engine quirk.
"Kirishima!" Iida shouted before continuing after Keali'i at high speed; no matter how hard he pushed himself, he couldn't get ahead of him, making the situation difficult to calculate how he'd achieve the upper hand. With his quirk, he was faster than much was clear, but he knew his weaknesses from earlier today. He only needed to exploit them somehow.
Diving through openings, swirling around columns, dipping under industrial equipment, neither of them was letting the other get away despite the goal of today's training being the opposite. Perhaps there was something Iida knew that Keali'i didn't. He observed that his classmate was clunky in maneuvering around, as though he wasn't familiar with the layout yet, but he, on the other hand-
Continuing to test the extent of his endurance, Keali'i made a huge leap that was less than a quarter across Ground Gamma, and when Iida was following him without any issues, Keali'i rapidly spun his body around then kicked behind him with both feet; the blast of air was so intense that when Iida collided with the nearest wall, his hero costume shattered on contact. As his unconscious body collapsed against the concrete, Keali'i swiftly glided over and caught his body as gently as possible.
"Watch out!" Called out Shelby as she whipped away a piece of Iida's hero costume that was hurdling towards Shoji's supposed blind spot, then somersaulted backward away from his elongated punch. Never had he imagined fighting an aspiring hero such as her- he knew what she was capable of, but what exactly did that mean to him? He still didn't know everything.
Shelby was able to dodge him with finesse and strike accordingly with her powerful arms and legs, something that wasn't useful for her particular quirk but made her more deadly as an opponent. Shoji could sustain her blows without much effort as his body was sturdier than most students, but she was still hurting him with each hit. Her moves were something else entirely, something someone would only see from a professional fighter, and she wound up showing him up by impressively vertically suplexing him to the ground.
"I'm gonna tear you a new one, tentacutie!" Aggressively sneered Shelby with her fist tightly twisting and pulling up the collar of his hero costume as her heeled boot firmly pressed into his torso.
"O-Okay!" Shoji stammered in an earnest fluster, finding himself unable to defend himself and allowing her to manhandle him in the moment; Shoji had fallen victim to her allure and her muscles.
"N-No! You're not supposed to be turned on by that!" Shelby shouted, just as flustered; with her quirk, involuntarily, the volume of her voice sent her opponent into the ground a few meters deep in an angled tunnel, "Eek! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She squeaked, helping him fish himself out as his quavering bones and disorientation made the process difficult.
"Well, although you weren't as destructive as you had been, I'd advise you to be more conscious of strength when training with your classmates- given your powerful quirks." All Might apprised while rubbing the nape of his neck, "Other than that, good job apprehending the other team!"
"Thank you, All Might." Shelby, Yemi, Keali'i, and Arjan wearily spoke in unison with the other four standing by; Yemi kept Kaminari levitating a close distance to her since she didn't have the muscle to lift or carry him, Arjan had Kirishima on his back, and kept him up with his arms tucked under his knees, Shelby allowed Shoji to bear some of his weight against her to at least keep him on his feet, and Keali'i held Iida with one arm under his legs and the other supporting his back.
"Keali'i, I insist you put me down this instant!" Iida protested as he waved his arm up and down with a stiff, outward hand, "This position is highly inappropriate for us and unnecessary as your assistance is no longer needed!"
"Please don't make me launch you into the stratosphere." Keali'i quietly murmured.
After a few more class hours, school was done for the day, and students were in the process of making their way back to the dormitories. However, there were still plenty more hijinks left to be ensnared.
"Well, today went better than expected," Yemi said as the four of them entered through the double doors of the 1-A dormitory and headed toward the elevator.
"It's only been one day, there's still plenty of time to screw things up somehow." Arjan followed up.
"We haven't even done anything we wrote down yet. At least everyone's willing to listen to us?" Shelby addressed, running her hands through her hair to slip and unsnap off the barrettes and untie her bangs.
When Yemi pressed the up button on the elevator panel, the quiet mechanics could be heard whirling from inside and when the doors opened, streamers of tape were blocking off the entrance.
"Is that . . . tape?" Obliviously questioned Arjan while Shelby was slowly bringing her index finger closer to the strips.
"Wait, I don't think you should-" Keali'i attempted to warn her, but her finger already made contact with the stickiness, "touch that."
As she tried to pull her finger off the tape her other hand got stuck, the back of her wrist then flew back and smacked Keali'i in the chin. In retaliation, he went after her but managed to get himself stuck in the tape as well and to help him out of it while protecting Shelby from him, Yemi suffered the same fate as did Arjan when he attempted the same thing, all of which turned into a huge argument between the four of them as they struggled inside a loose cocoon of tape.
"Wow, I didn't think that would actually work," Sero noted out loud.
"I guess we overestimate them, too." Realized Aoyama.
"What the hell? What's going on?!" Yemi demanded.
"W-We're so sorry!" Uraraka apologized while helping them out of the tape.
"We didn't think you'd get stuck like this!" Hagakure followed, performing the same action.
"That still doesn't answer our question!" Interjected Keali'i.
"It's just- we had something we wanted to ask you guys," Kaminari mumbled.
"I said earlier you could ask us whatever you wanted. You didn't need to trap us!" Remarked Yemi, carefully picking the stickiness off her gele.
"We're still weary from before, and unfortunately, we aren't immune to making mistakes, either." Yaoyoruza sighed.
"But what is so important that you thought to do this?" Questioned Shelby as Sato was helping her up.
"There's been a few things that don't make sense that we're hoping you could clarify for us." Addressed Todoroki.
"That could be a number of things with us," Arjan informed.
"Take it away, Iida!" Mina called out.
"We've noticed there were some inconsistencies in your timeline: firstly, your team coordination is beyond exceptional- however, we are nearly two months into your arrival, and such an organization requires months, if not years, of training and intimacy. Speaking of intimacy, your friendship seems more substantial compared to your abroad counterparts- how you were able to get around here without us knowing is something you'll have to explain, as well, and of course, more about this idol group of yours-"
"We're not an idol group. We're a band." They affirmed in unison in a monotone, annoyed tone.
"-You ever try carrying around an entire drum set with you?" Asked Arjan.
"So you really are in a band, as in, you play instruments and don't dance around?" Further pressed Jiro.
"Of course," Yemi avowed, "I mainly play the keyboard, but I also do the electronic music for Suit As Sugar. My music goes hand and hand with my quirk, so learning's always been a breeze."
"And like I said, I play the drums; different beats and sequences help me have better control over my quirk," Arjan spoke absentmindedly while drumming his index fingers on his thighs.
"I play electric guitar for the band, but I also play violin off-handedly. My quirk, unlike everyone else, isn't as intuitive with music; however, over the years, I've learned that by applying certain pressure points on my hands, I can change the pitch to produce sounds similar to vibrating strings." Shared Keali'i.
"Shelby here on main vocals and bass guitar!" She exclaimed, "Um, I think it's pretty obvious how my quirk affects my singing. I guess I should be thankful I know how to sing!"
"What about the other stuff?" Tokoyami lilted.
"We figured out a long time ago how we'd manage to fend for ourselves," Yemi continued, rummaging through her backpack, "the hard part was figuring out how to get around without anyone knowing, which is why I made these-" in the palm of her hand, she held out a small, white, circular device, "by placing these noise-canceling devices on ceilings and walls they're set to transmit vibration patterns on the surfaces to counter any ambient noises, which is why you never heard us, but these devices are far from perfect, which is why I'm surprised Jiro never caught on."
"Huh? Me?"
"You made something like this? That's incredible!" Yaoyoruza beamed.
"Engineering is my passion, but you couldn't pay me enough to take support courses."
"And the last thing?" Iida hesitated.
"You mean it isn't obvious?" Questioned Arjan.
There was silence amongst the rest of the class; they shared glances and shrugs with each other, but no one else had the answer.
"HeroVR." They spoke in unison.
"Hold it!" Midoriya loudly objected, "HeroVR is an extension of HeroChat, the world's most popular social media and social media networking service for Pro Heroes, where aspiring heroes can post and share text, photos, and videos of heroic content. HeroVR, a free-to-play multiplayer app, is an online virtual reality social platform where registered users can explore different worlds through virtual avatars. For global security purposes, HeroChat, including HeroVR, are region locked!"
"There are ways to get around it," claimed Yemi, "it takes a few more extra steps than you'd normally use, but it's possible."
"It's kind of a pain, too, so it's not like everyone's doing it." Vouched Arjan.
"O-Oh, it's not illegal?"
"I mean, not unless you're scamming money or selling drugs or something." Arjan finished.
"It'll be almost four years since we met!" Shelby added.
"Is that everything you wanted to know or-" Asked Keali'i.
"I think you answered some very important questions, and we appreciate you being open with us." Assured Yaoyoruza.
"We intend to keep our promises whether you trust us yet or not, but we're more than happy you're giving us a chance to say what we have to say, so thank you," Yemi spoke for everyone as they bowed their heads in gratitude. Just as they were turning their attention back to the elevator, a foot slammed against the platform's panel before Arjan's hand could make contact.
"Where do you think you're going?" Bakugo growled.
"Dude, what are you doing?!" Concernedly demanded Kirishima.
"You think you're going to get away with what you did at the sports festival? Suit As Sugar? More like Shoddy As Shit! You made me look like a complete idiot, and I refuse to let you take that win away from me! I want a rematch, and we're going to- "
"No." They answered simultaneously.
Bakugo was shocked. He was not expecting an answer that quickly, ". . . What the hell?! What do you mean no?!"
"I think you should back off, Bakugo." Uraraka beckoned.
"We don't owe you an explanation." Shelby retorted, "No is reason enough."
"Shelby's right," Yemi asserted, "we're allowed to refuse something for no other reason other than we don't want to."
"Hero rivalries are stupid and pointless, anyways." Claimed Arjan.
"We're supposed to help each other and be there for one another, not press each other's buttons and tear into one another; just because we've chosen this as a career doesn't make us any less human. We're heroes, and regardless of status or quirk- we're going save the day." Keali'i sternly finalized.
The common room was silent and still, nobody predicted an answer like that coming from them, but they weren't exactly wrong. Bakugo himself had no idea how to reply, and despite his facial expression, anger was silently boiling inside of him; his foot hesitantly slid down the wall and slumped onto the floor. Arjan pounded the up button on the elevator panel with the side of his enclosed fist, and when the doors opened, the four of them gathered inside, neither of them looking happy, unlike before Bakugo's intervention. When the doors slid shut, Bakugo threw a hard punch at the metal conveyor doors, softly and angrily grumbling to himself.