Leg bouncing nervously, Hina chewed on the end of her thumb. Ground Delta lay before her, it's escape gate looming above. Inside, the rocky, jagged wasteland of it's landscape was bleak and rough. Plenty of places to hide amongst the rocky outcrops. Plenty of places to get ambushed, if she wasn't careful...It wasn't an ideal location for any of their quirks. Midnight's would have had a better advantage in a place like this, where she could release her sleep mist without the boys knowing where it was coming from. The hand holding the four weights that would handicap her for the match tugged compulsively at the collar of her costume. Discomfort caused her skin to itch.
Her match with Mineta and Sero began in thirty minutes time. She'd stayed up all night trying to come up with a strategy, but had only ended up losing sleep for nothing. Sero had a tape quirk, and Mineta, his sticky orbs from his head. Both physical quirks that she'd have to keep in mind. So long as she stayed focused, her nimbleness could probably avoid most of their attacks. Getting in close was the difficult part. She had an inkling of an idea on how, but without having ever put it into practice before, the chances of success were-
"Just gonna stand there until they get here?" A voice asked, and she swung her gaze to see Aizawa sauntering up the path, hands in his pockets and regarding her with a lazy stare. His goggles were propped on top of his head rather than hidden in his capture weapon around his neck. Hair down and unruly as always, she couldn't help but stare a moment. Ready for a fight and attractive as hell. That little buzz started again in her stomach, just from having him here. He stopped a few paces away from her, glancing into Ground Delta. "Staring at the entrance isn't helping you any."
"Gee, thanks...You're going to Ground Theta?" She guessed, and he nodded. The residential area where he would have his match against Todoroki and Momo was nearby to Ground Delta. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that he'd take the same path as her. Still, she wasn't sure what to say, so she only looked back to the arena where she'd soon be pitted against Mineta and Sero.
"The students will be on their way soon for the match." Aizawa said, gesturing behind them down the path where they'd both come. "You should start preparing."
Hina sighed, uncrossing her arms and shaking her head. "I know. I'm just..."
"Stalling?" The playful glare he'd expected to be sent his way didn't come. Instead, her eyes remained fixed on the arena. He waited for her to finish the sentence, but she didn't. "You're nervous."
"Yeah..." She glanced down, slightly ashamed that she couldn't maintain the self-confidence he could. Nothing ever seemed to faze him, and she froze up at the mere thought of fighting her students to test them. How pathetic...All this effort to bolster her confidence and-
"I know that look, stop it." He suddenly said, stepping forward and lifting her chin with a hand so she was forced to look up at him. His eyes were narrowed as she met her gaze. "Enough with the negative thoughts. It's ok that you're nervous, but get rid of the idea that you're weak or going to fail. Give yourself a chance and stop thinking about it so much."
"I don't know why it scares me so much." She admitted, unable to look away from his dark eyes. Something about the way he looked at her compelled her to tell the truth. His closeness was mesmerizing. "I've been training, I know I can do more with my quirk. I know that. Maybe I'm afraid that I'll mess up and people will realize I'm benea-"
"Shh." Aizawa stopped her then, raising his brow at what she'd been about to say. "No more of that, remember?"
"I'm aware that I'm my own worst enemy, Aizawa. But saying I'll have more confidence in myself is easy compared to actually acting on it." She said sadly, smiling despite the fact. "I'm struggling."
The erasure hero stared into her eyes another moment, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Not anticipating him to kiss her at that moment, she blinked in surprise and took in a small breath. His fingers traced gently along her jawline as she closed her eyes and kissed him back, their lips moving slowly against each other. The scruff of his facial hair brushed at her skin, but she didn't mind, rather enjoying the feeling. Out here on the path to the training grounds, none of the other students or staff could see them, but they didn't have a lot of time to take this any further since someone was bound to show up soon.
The moment was over much sooner than she would have liked, and he pulled away just moments later, straightening up. Her eyes opened to look up at him with slight awe.
"You'll do fine, Scarlet. I know firsthand what you're capable of. Just think of it as another training session with me, if that will ease your nerves." He said quietly, still closer to her than what was absolutely necessary. "Whether the students pass or not doesn't reflect on your ability anyway."
Hina wasn't sure what to say, mind not having totally processed their kiss yet, deciding to respond with only a reluctant nod. She was trying her hardest, truly. The most she could do was draw upon his strength and belief in her to do what she could for the students. If there was anyone she wanted to prove her worth to besides herself, it was him. Hmm...Maybe that was the way to do it. He'd always been more of a motivation to her than herself anyway.
A tiny laugh escaped her lips. "You still don't call me Hina." She observed aloud with humor. He simply raised a brow, not replying. It seemed she still had to wait on that one.
"I have to go." He said, finally stepping away to a respectable distance for coworkers to be. "My match startsi n five minutes, and I want to take a position before Todoroki and Yaoyorozu get there."
"Ok." She said, watching him step away and feeling this strange sensation that something was now missing. Her arms wrapped themselves around her waist, wishing this emptiness would go away. "Good luck with your match."
"Good luck with yours." Aizawa raised a hand in farewell and progressed further down the track.
Releasing a breath, Hina turned back to Ground Delta and shoved the uncertainty down into the deepest part of her stomach with some effort, stepping past the threshold of the arena to choose where to wait for the students to arrive.
She knew the moment the class 1-A students stepped foot into the boundaries of Ground Delta. The intercom announced the match-up and a reminder about the 30 minute time limit as well as the pass conditions. The starting horn blared out, echoing and bouncing against the rocky landscape until it faded from hearing.
She stood on top of the rock she'd chosen to observe from, close to the middle of the circular arena. Coming here half an hour early to get familiar with the layout had been beneficial. She knew where the escape gate was in comparison to the entrance the students would take to enter, and how she could use it to her benefit.
The weights were heavy on her ankles and wrists, but she tried to ignore it, watching for any sort of sign of the students close by. If they were smart, they wouldn't dawdle. Half an hour seemed like a long time, but in battle it flew by. She wondered if they had decided to try restraining her, or if they intended to run straight for the gate. Hmm.
Movement in front of her made her focus on that area, and she saw Sero's helmet flash between some rocks further ahead. They were running straight for the gate, huh? Chances are he'd also seen the teacher, what with her red hair and silver bodysuit standing out on top of the rocks. But she made no move yet, waiting until they were in her sights.
The boys ran into the small clearing where there weren't many rocks blocking her sight- the whole reason she'd chosen this spot-and stopped as soon as they saw her standing on top the rock.
"Hello, boys!" She called, arms crossed as she regarded them. "I hope you've come prepared. I might be lenient in the classroom, but out here I won't go easy. Don't expect me to feel bad and just let you pass."
From their point of view, she knew they could see the escape gate in the distance behind her, a straight shot if they could get past their Life Skills teacher. Whatever they decided to do, they couldn't afford to stand around debating it. "Come on, now. You don't have time to stand around."
Sero and Mineta both took defensive stances, probably talking to each other about what their next move should be. Shaking her head, Hina smiled and activated her quirk. Hesitating like this in front of an eyesight quirk user was not the smartest move. She supposed showing them why was necessary. At this distance, they probably couldn't even see her eyes begin glowing blue.
"Mineta!" "Sero!"
Calling their names to the others' mind, the boys turned to look at each other in bewilderment.
"What? What is it?" Sero asked, but Mineta shook his head.
"You're the one who called my name!"
"No I didn't!" He defended. "You called mine!"
While they were distracted, she attempted her camouflage for the first time, erasing herself from the rocky outcropping in their minds. Whether or not it would work was the question.
Quickly figuring out that Hina had been the one to call out to them, they swung back to pose an attack but froze when she was no longer on top of the rock. "She's gone!"
Panicking, they desperately searching the rocks around them for any sign of the redheaded teacher, and Hina smiled. She figured that she'd give them ample time to figure out a way to counter her quirk before attempting any attack. Now that she was out here, actively fighting against her students, she felt ridiculous for ever having been nervous about it in the first place. They were, unfortunately, not much of a challenge as of yet. But, she wasn't going to make it easy for them, no matter the skill gap.
On top of hiding her location, her mind's eye conjured up an image of a large, snarling lion. Its growls rumbled low, reverberating off the rocks as it slinked into view of the boys. Crying out in fear, they stepped back several slow paces, keeping their distance from the beast as best they could.
"It's...just an illusion...right?" Mineta stammered out, placing himself behind Sero. "Hitagawa Sensei can't control animals...right?!"
"It has to be...Don't fall for her tricks." The taller boy said quietly shaking his head, and Hina smiled. Out of the two, the tape quirk user was more likely to see through her projections. Allowing him to keep his cool would shorten this match considerably and render her quirk less effective.
Let's up the ante a little.
The lion let loose a loud roar, triggering the boys' instinctive fear of a wild beast. If there was one thing she knew about fear, it was that despite the brain knowing something wasn't real, the sight of a threat was very difficult to fight against. The body's natural instinct for self-preservation ran deep and wired from birth into your brain.
The lion began running straight for them, and the boys broke their formation, running separate directions to try getting away from the animal. It chased Sero down, Hina hoping that he'd be too busy running for his life to logically remember that this was all in his head. It seemed to be working, as he was growing more panicked the less his tape had any sort of effect on it. Mineta was otherwise left alone, and she hoped that he'd do something about his partner being in danger.
That seemed for naught, unfortunately. She sighed, watching him standing at the edge of the clearing of rocks to stay away from the beast. To the onlookers in the control room, they would appear to be running or hiding from absolutely nothing, with her simply watching them up on the rock. It would make for a lame playback, she knew.
Mineta simply stood there, watching with watery eyes and a fearful expression, unsure of what to do. From this distance it was difficult to tell, but he appeared to be muttering to himself. If he had any hope of being a hero, he needed to get through his instinctive cowardice and jump into action. No one would depend on a hero who didn't put himself in harm's way to save others.
Sitting there all day making them run from illusions wasn't much of a match. It was apparent that there weren't going to see through her mind tricks any time soon. Of course, keeping it going would eventually give her a migraine, but half an hour wasn't the longest she'd had to keep her quirk active for. It was manageable, and if she truly wished it, she could simply keep them locked in a maze of her own design with no exit and run down the time clock until they failed. But that seemed cheap and wouldn't give them the opportunity to learn anything. Perhaps it was time to actively participate. Jumping down from her rock, she began sprinting in Mineta's direction, intent to show him why sitting on the sidelines was unacceptable in combat.
With Sero no longer in her sights, the lion's image disappeared from behind him, and he slid to a stop. He shouted his confusion, but then noticed her running towards his partner further away. "Mineta! Look out!"
Eyes flashing, Hina created two other versions of herself running directly to the sticky ball user, and he grabbed onto a few of his 'grapes' to defend himself. "This is a test, Mineta. Standing on the sidelines isn't doing you any favors." All three told him in unison so as not to give the real one away.
"Which one of you is real?! What's going on?!" He cried out, throwing his balls haphazardly to try hitting all three of them. Her illusions dodged out of the way when they flew too close.
"Panic clouds your judgement. You're painting a target on your back." All three of them responded, dodging the projectiles with ease and approaching fast. Dropping her illusion as she closed in, she dodged one last ball before using her momentum to kick the small boy with strength. The force behind it, amplified by the weights around her ankles, sent him flying into a nearby rocky outcrop. The hard surface cracked with the impact and Mineta fell to the ground with a groan.
Surprisingly, she didn't have time to spare, as a length of tape whizzed right past her head. Yanking herself out of the way, she rolled and looked towards Sero, who'd ran over to help his teammate against her.
"You recover very quickly from my projections." Hina pondered, eyes flashing again. "I'm impressed."
"Come on, Mineta! We need a plan! I need your help!" Sero shouted, shooting strands of his tape in her direction to try stopping her. She dodged around it, thinking to herself that Aizawa's capture weapon was much faster and held much more of a threat than Sero's tape. This felt like child's play to her. Her reactions and speed may be slower due to the weights, but these students hadn't had years of training to get themselves to a point where they could stop her. She smiled.
"Your teamwork broke the moment I started using my quirk." She told him, running at him quickly. He sent waves of tape at her, hoping she'd keep her distance. "Had you both kept your cool and acted sooner, then you might've already subdued me."
"Mineta!" Sero called again, glancing towards his partner.
Hina was almost within melee range, and she readied her fists.
Left! Her instincts screamed at her, and she skidded to a halt. Dozens of sticky balls flew past her, blocking her from getting to Sero without being hit with some. She sprang backwards several steps, looking at Mineta who was back on his feet and crying from where he'd just been sent into the rock.
"What's your idea, Sero?" Mineta asked, watching her and holding two more of his balls in hand to throw. She regarded them evenly, stopping her quirk for the time being. She could feel the beginnings of what would form into a migraine at the back of her skull. It was minor and more of an annoyance than pain at the moment, but recklessly using her quirk now would cause it to worsen.
"Her quirk is just like Aizawa Sensei's. She has to be able to see us in order for her to mess with our heads." Sero revealed, and Hina smiled proudly. "If we split up, she won't be able to use her quirk on both of us at the same time. It'll give us a chance."
"Do you really want to try capturing her? I don't know how much time we have left." Mineta said, worried and nervous at the thought of having to battle her further.
Sero's helmet nodded seriously. "I'll keep her busy, you run for the exit. Either way, we have a chance to win. There's only one of her. She can't be in both places at once and it doubles our chances of passing if we try both ways."
"But-" Mineta started, and Sero jumped into action, sending his tape shooting towards her.
"Just go!"
Dodging out of the way of Sero's tape, Hina watched as Mineta took off past him towards the escape gate. "You're fast learners." She praised, changing directions to pursue the purple costumed boy. She felt confident she could handle Sero's attacks and still stop Mineta from reaching the gate. Her priority now was just making sure he didn't get there in time.
Hina's eyes flashed, projecting a wall of rock rising around him to prevent his progress. It worked as intended, and Mineta stopped running, not wanting to run straight into the wall of-
Her world went dark, and her head was wrapped with a length of cloth or...Sero's tape. "Ugh!" She grunted, caught off guard by her sudden lack of vision. Her projection was cut off, and she knew Mineta had begun running again.
Sensing more than seeing Sero approaching her from behind, she jumped out of the way and tried wrenching the stuff off her face. It stuck to her hands and had tangled in her hair. Pulling it only caused her pain and seemed to make it worse. "Damn it..."
Not now...you were doing so well! Come on, they're all watching from the control center.
Knowing that Sero intended to put the handcuffs on her wrists, she kept moving despite not being able to see where she was going. It was mostly a clearing, so there were few rocky outcroppings to accidentally bump into.
She felt another length of tape zip by her arm, and she rolled on the ground to get away from it. Managing to expose one of her eyes from the tape, she hurriedly glanced around to find him. He was prepping another length of tape from his elbows, but her eyes flashed blue, and she was gone from his sight.
She saw his expression change from determination to hesitation, and spun in place as if expecting her to appear behind him. Wasting no time, Hina ran towards his exposed back, tape still covering one half of her face.
Her leg swept out and knocked him off his feet. He cried out in surprise, not having expected her to close in this fast. Without so much as giving him a second to react, she grabbed him by his helmet and smashed it into the rocky ground, cracking it and hearing him grunt out in pain.
He didn't move once he was down, and she stood, finally able to wrangle the tape covering her face and tossing it to the ground. Her gaze directed itself towards Mineta, who was much closer to the escape gate then she would have liked. Setting her jaw, she sprinted in the direction he was running, causing his vision to go black.
Her headache was growing worse, and she winced, feeling a pinch at the back of her skull. Heavy breaths escaped her. They were certainly proving to be a better challenge than what she had assumed previously. Sero had been very smart to split their group up, especially with her quirk restrictions.
Mineta was still blindly stumbling in the direction of the escape gate, despite his lack of vision. Hina was catching up quickly, boots thumping a rapid beat against the rocky earth. Up ahead was more of the rocky formations, and he somehow stumbled out of her sight behind one of them, releasing her projection.
"Fuck..." She muttered, knowing that he could be running full speed at the gate again. It was a toss up as to if she could reach him before he managed to get through. She glanced up and jumped up onto the nearest rock, deciding that traveling at a high perspective would be better for her.
Her feet ran from rock to rock, keeping in the direction of the gate. She knew the general area where she'd last seen Mineta, but now she couldn't be sure of where he was. Eyes scanning the ground ahead, she finally stopped, realizing that she should have been able to see him by now.
Chest heaving from all the running, she looked around, seeing no sign of the purple costumed student. The path to the escape gate was clear, with no one in sight. Where in the hell had he gone?
Sweeping her gaze back the way she'd come, she paused, surprised to see glimpses of Mineta running back towards where Sero was laying unconscious. She stood straighter, taking a second to catch her breath.
"What...?" She muttered, unsure why he had given up the chance to escape by himself. They could have won the match by now. She wasn't keeping track of the time, but there couldn't have been all that long left on the clock. Mineta was really pushing their luck at this rate.
Shaking her head with confusion, she ran back along the top of the rocks to catch up with him, deciding that the next chance she got, she'd end the match. She'd given them both plenty of chances to show their stuff and counter her quirk. But they'd taken too long and she knew she could take them down without guilt. She'd fail them without any remorse now.
Mineta broke free of the rocky outcroppings and entered the clearing where Sero was laying unresponsive. She flashed out her quirk, but immediately stopped, feeling a sharp pain at the back of her skull. Shit, she hadn't realized she'd used so much of it. Normally projecting her thoughts didn't cause her this much pain after such a short amount of time. Apparently the images took a lot more out of her than she expected.
Reaching the clearing, she jumped down onto the ground again and ran towards them with gritted teeth. Mineta reached Sero and grabbed his unconscious teammate, dragging him behind a rock so she couldn't see them any longer. Hina was really getting frustrated now, but couldn't help but feel proud that they were formulating plans and thinking about the situation with a good deal of success.
She reached the rock where they'd disappeared behind and found Sero laying there. She swung around, not seeing Mineta nearby. Panting from all the running, she shook her head, feeling like something wasn't right here...
"Ha!" Mineta called out, jumping down at her from one of the rocks above.
Startled, she spun and swung her leg up to kick him away from her. But instead of being pushed away by the force, he simply stuck to her limb and stayed there. "Eh?" She said, losing her balance as the weight she hadn't anticipated being there dragged her balance off kilter.
She fell to the ground in a heap, and Mineta let go of the sticky balls he'd used to attach himself to her kick. He hopped away, grabbing onto what looked like Sero's tape with two of his balls attached at the ends. He flashed a fierce smile. "How's this for teamwork?"
He threw the makeshift bola at her head, and the tape wrapped itself around her eyes a few times, blocking her sight and preventing her from using her quirk on him. His sticky balls locked the tape in place, making it impossible to remove now. She was dazed and disoriented, taken by surprise by how fast things had taken a turn. Unable to see, she was helpless to react against Mineta's balls attaching her arms and legs, pinning her to the ground.
Hina struggled against the sticky balls, pulling with all her might, but the adhesive was much too strong and she felt it pull at her skin painfully. With a frustrated groan, Hina stopped struggling, eventually hearing the horns blare to indicate that the match was finished, with Sero and Mineta crossing the threshold of the escape gate within the time limit.
Despite her inability to move or see she smiled and laughed under her breath, proud that they'd found away to overpower her in the end.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
