Otaku-sama

"Is that so? Good. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him then...I know it's hard to believe, but he and I used to work together back in the day...before the government was involved with Quirks and Heroes. He was a jerk...and a clown...but he was a good person." Katsurou felt satisfied as Spring Lock’s revelation confirmed his gut feelings about the mysterious Scarlet Skeleton. After all, Scarlet intentionally went back towards Spring Lock, who was bound by law to arrest him, in order to get Diana help. It also explained why the two seemed already quite familiar with each other. "But after the laws flooded in, we parted ways. I had a family...he didn't. I had more to lose if I didn't accept the Government's offer." The brief moment of silence held a poignant feeling of nostalgia to Katsurou. It was clear that the Lord had his plans for the two. Unfortunately, a lasting friendship was not a part of theirs. “Sensei…” was all he could muster, giving a regretful expression. He wanted to express his condolences, but the proper words did not come through. "Ignorance is bliss, huh? You're the first generation where Heroes are commonplace because of these laws...I wish I could be so naive sometimes." Katsurou meditated on this fact. Indeed, it was more than just a coincidence that being a hero being enshrined in law just as he embarked on his path of redemption. “I am blessed to have the chance to become a hero, sensei. I don’t think I would be able to embark on this journey if you had not showed us the path,” Katsurou said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I hope you and Scarlet Skeleton will be able to work together again.”

"My mission was to capture anything strange in that forest...but none of you are Government licensed heroes yet. You assessed the situation, and held to your beliefs. Even if that meant disobeying an authoritative figure. One as strong as myself, for that matter. It's the most heroic thing I've seen in a long time...True heroism. We need those kinds of ideals in this industry..." Katsurou’s confusion gave way to great relief. God is great, and so was Spring Lock. He could not help but let out a relieved laugh as a big smile came across his face despite the growing migraine. “Thank you sensei! I-“ “-but don't get the wrong idea now! You're all still zygotes! In a real fight, you wouldn't have stood a chance against me!" Katsurou knew that much was true. If Spring Lock was not outnumbered four-to-one, there would have been no way for Katsurou to escape. After all, he had a very close look at Spring Lock’s power. He knew that his powers over aluminum were a far cry from the massive strength of his teacher. “Of course sensei! I will not waste this second chance!” he responded, bowing deeply to his teacher. --- Sitting in the busy waiting room of the ER was quickly becoming unbearable to Katsurou. One of the nurses had kindly offered Katsurou an aspirin, which he gladly accepted, but his migraine was seemingly not improving. The bright lights started to feel a little too bright and the chatter of the staff seemed amplified. Minutes felt like hours, and time became a blurred mess. Despite this, Katsurou kept a stiff upper lip, muttering prayers for Diana’s recovery to keep his mind off of the pain. "That's a relief...I can't have a student dying on me on their first field trip, now can I?" The good news of Diana’s recovery perked Katsurou up a bit. “Thank goodness! I was worried that Seigi-san’s injury would be too severe!” After the attending nurse returned to her duties, Spring Lock turned to Katsurou. "So...what did you think of Scarlet Skeleto-...I mean Crimson? Did he seem like a good person?" Katsurou had to pause to think about his response, but did not have to think long. “Sensei, Crimson-san has a very powerful Quirk,” he responded, looking to the ground, “I was only barely able to escape injury myself, and I was not who he was fighting. If he wished, he could have killed both of us. I can see why you were very concerned about him.” Katsurou then raised his head to Spring Lock with a firm expression. “However, I think he is a good person. He did wish to help Silver-san escape his captors and worked with us to help him. When he did hurt Seigi-san, he only did it to protect himself and he went to get help right after. I just pray that whoever he is working for has his best interests at heart."

“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.” Katsurou had just finished another recitation as he waited for help to arrive, hoping that his prayer would distract him from the dire situation and the growing headache he was getting. Maintaining a tourniquet was easy when he was practicing, but being the only one keeping someone away from death apparently put a greater strain on his abilities. Then, a mechanical snapping sound broke the silence of the desperate moment, echoing through the forest before fading. Stopping for a moment, he waited with bated breath hoping that help had arrived. A moment later, Spring Lock came diving through the canopy, landing nearby. “Sensei!” was all Katsurou could manage while keeping his focus on keeping Diana stable. He breathed a tentative sigh of relief as Spring Lock stepped in to help with the wound compression. "Good thinking." “Thank you sensei, but I fear that it might not be enough for her to make it to the hospital!” "Get on...we're going to need you to keep this tourniquet up, or she'll bleed out. There's not much time." Katsurou obliged, placing his arms around Spring Lock’s neck and gripping his hands tightly together. As he did, he noticed that Spring Lock’s muscles were tensed and unnaturally hard and dense, almost as if he were carved out of marble. "Hold on tight." In an instant, the three launched through the trees, soaring over the canopy in a great wide arc. If he did not know better, Katsurou would have thought his teacher’s quirk was one of flight rather than of strength. As they started to plummet back to the earth, he could not hold in a yelp as he tightly closed his eyes. However, the impact never came as Spring Lock landed softly, apparently absorbing the force of the fall, before launching back over the treeline. One of the landings had a pause, but Katsurou did not notice, entirely focused on holding his grip with his eyes clenched shut. --- Katsurou sat slumped in an uncomfortable chair in the waiting room, mentally exhausted. The strain of maintaining the tourniquet for the trip had manifested as a migraine, causing his head to throb and his vision to go blurry with every heartbeat. Luckily, his first aid was enough to buy enough time for Diana to receive emergency care. According to the doctor, with some surgery, Diana would be fine. However, as the joy and relief slowly wore away as the adrenaline faded, they gave way to the dread realization that his had completely failed their mission and attacked their teacher. If anything warranted expulsion from the Academy, it would be unabashed vigilantism. He had failed his uncle. He had failed himself. Most of all, he had thrown away the second chance given to him by God. Perhaps the pastor was right, he was damned. Just as he was giving into despair, he heard Spring Lock walk up to him. Looking up, Katsurou grimaced, bracing for the announcement that he and his fellow classmates would be leaving the academy for good. However, the true message was something completely different. "You did well today. You all did well." Completely stunned, Katsurou was silent for a minute, staring at his teacher’s turned back. When the message had fully sunk in, he replied. “...We...We did…? We attacked you and let Silver-san escape...I...I don’t understand.”

"Uh...How do I do that? I think if I wanted to, I could've killed you, him, that girl and boy from earlier, and even this kid, in the blink of an eye. I'm not a bad guy...we just have our own way of doing things." Katsurou had to pause to consider Scarlet’s position. It was true, if Scarlet Skeleton was as brutal as most criminals, why would he stop to negotiate with heroes? If his Quirk was so dangerous, clearly just eliminating all opposition would be much easier. Instead, he paused to parlay, then ran away instead of fighting. Even if he was working outside of the law and perhaps even working with criminals, Scarlet himself was not necessarily evil. However, Katsurou could feel the rage and confusion coming from Diana, which was gruesomely exemplified by the blood that now ran out of her clenched fists. Her whole body was tense, and Katsurou knew from his uncle’s training that the situation was about to collapse very quickly. The following events happened all in an instant. Diana leapt towards Scarlet in an attempt to knock him out with a haymaker. At the same time, Silver bounded away from them with his stilt-like legs, quickly disappearing down the river. Scarlet reacted to Diana’s sudden strike almost instantly, plunging his arms into the ground, causing the ground around Diana to erupt in barricade of red spikes. The spikes came dangerously close to Katsurou, who desperately leapt away from the two, roughly landing on his back, just barely avoiding a stray spike. When the dust cleared, Katsurou’s eyes went wide when he saw that one of the spikes had hit its mark, piercing cleanly through Diana’s thigh. This injury would completely incapacitate a normal person, but Diana was clearly cut from different cloth. Instead of recoiling from the injury, she instead used the spike to pivot into a powerful kick, forcing Scarlet to withdraw the spikes to block the blow. Even then, the sound of the impact echoed through the forest and Scarlet visibly winced as several chips of his bone-like material fell around him. However, it would be removing the spike that would cause Diana to collapse in a bloody heap, with a pool of dark ichor slowly growing under her. “Seigi-san!” “Ah jeez, now I’ve really done it! I won’t hear the end of this!” Katsurou knew that Diana’s injury would cause her to bleed out in a few minutes if she did not get medical help. Springing into action, Katsurou scrambled over to Diana. In well rehearsed movements, he formed his orb into a ring around her upper thigh, clamping around the leg and putting pressure around the femoral artery. Taking his shirt off, he then wrapped it around the wound and applied pressure as he lifted her leg above his head. With his, he knew that he could only buy Diana a few more minutes before the blood loss claimed her. She had already gone unconscious. With no other option, he turned to Scarlet, who was now looking down at him with concern in his eyes. “Scarlet-san! Why would you do this?!” “It was an accident! She was just a lot faster than she looked!” “Please, if you are as good as you say, go find sensei! Go find anyone who can help! She will not last much longer like this!” “Ah jeez, why did you kids need to get involved?” Crimson lamented as he dashed off into the forest and out of sight. Katsurou was now left in silence, with the only things piercing the oppressive quiet was his own panting and Diana’s weak, ragged breaths. He looked down at Diana’s injury and saw that his shirt was quickly becoming saturated with blood, staining his hands scarlet. With little else he could do, Katsurou bowed his head and started praying. He had done all he could; the rest would be by the grace of God.

"That's the way Kats! Who the hell are you to say where Silver goes anyway!? Isn't that for the freak to decide himself! He's obviously not some kinda wild animal. The thing can think, and it doesn't wanna go with teach." Katsurou could not help but feel a wave of relief, knowing that at least one other of his fellow students supports his view. It appeared that even with her gruff exterior, she has a good heart. However, this relief was short-lived. "It doesn't get a say in this. That thing is government property...and the government wants it back. As a government agent...I don't get a say on the matter either. It's coming with us...now be good students, and do as your teacher says.” Katsurou’s resolve, which was firm just a moment ago, began to waiver once again. If he were to defy his teacher, it was very possible he would be expelled from the school. He feared the thought of being exiled once again, perhaps for the last time. Paralyzed by indecision, he looked to his fellow students. Valerie, Misu and Yuudai stood defiant against their teacher, taking their battle stances as their teacher coiled and creaked like his namesake. It was clear that the time for diplomacy and peacemaking had passed and he had to cast his lot with someone. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin...Sensei, I hope you will forgive me for what I must do!” Katsurou, unsure how long the three could hold off Spring Lock, dashed after Silver and Scarlet Skeleton, hoping to cover their retreat if Spring Lock broke past them. Just as he caught up to the pair, he heard a thunderous boom from the encircled hero. Spring Lock swung with all his might at Valerie, who responded by releasing a blinding gout of flame around herself, hot enough for Katsurou to feel even at this distance. “Silver-san! Scarlet-san! You must hurry! Sensei will be catching up soon!” “Man, you kids sure are rebellious nowadays, huh?” “The Lord gave me a conscience, so I must use it! Once Silver-san is safe, we can decide where he should go!” Scarlet and Silver were much faster than Katsurou, pulling far ahead of him and becoming obscured by the dense undergrowth. When he reached an opening in the forest, he found himself standing on a low cliff, overlooking the banks of the river. After catching his breath, he spotted Scarlet Skeleton and Silver, with Diana was standing in their way. Katsurou was worried that she would attempt to capture Silver, but after catching his breath, he realised that Diana was not acting aggressively and attempting to parlay. From his vantage point, he was not able to hear what was being said, but based on how Diana was acting, she was making some kind of passionate speech. He had to know if she would attempt to stop them from escaping. Holding onto his orb, he lowered himself to the riverbank behind Silver. "Listen, uh...hero hopeful. Is this truly what you think is right...becoming an obstacle for Silver's freedom?" "... I don't think Silver will hurt anyone. There's been... <ample opportunity> to do so. However, I have to verify it for my own eyes... and if you can prove to me that you won't hurt him, I'll even help you escape." From what he could see, Diana was unsure of Scarlet’s intentions. However, she appeared unaware of the situation at hand. As far as he knew, Spring Lock could already be about to crest the hill and dispose of all of them. “Seigi-san, I understand that Scarlet Skeleton is not to be trusted, but he is willing to help Silver-san escape for now. Sensei is coming any second now, we have to keep moving. Once we are safe, we can decide what to do!”

"Where did I....come from?" Katsurou gripped his head, wincing in pain as he was suddenly overtaken by an uncomfortable, writhing sensation in his mind. Despite the unnaturalness of the situation, somehow, this feeling was familiar to him. To him, it was the combination of homesickness and the anguish that came from exile, forced or otherwise. Once the feeling passed, he began to understand why Silver could be a threat to the world. Silver would need to be kept away from the world, for their mutual safety. When Katsurou regained his composure, he saw that yet another hero had made themselves known. A strange masked man stepped forward, clearly too old to be a student. However, he did not look like any of the teachers from the Academy. "Time's up kid. You made a decision yet?" "Who's the geezer..." "This 'geezer' is here to relocate this creature. If he can't stay here, we'd gladly take him off the park's hands, and give him a safe home." At first, Katsurou was relieved to have a more experienced hero to help this situation, he could not shake the inkling that he did not have the public’s interest at heart. Valerie and Yuudai also appeared to be somewhat apprehensive of this newcomer, but addressed him as if he were not a stranger. "I'd like to think he's telling the truth. But dunno if I feel comfortable handing you off to someone I just met. Hey you think you can scan him like you did me?" "His mind is stronger than yours...less open...but from prying I cannot sense ill intent..." "Don't think I like being told that I have a weaker mind than Captain Bad Joke." This newcomer was also resistant to Silver’s abilities, causing Katsurou to examine him with a more critical eye. Why was another hero here? Why did they not mention the government? Could he be Silver’s captor, or working with his captors? These thoughts began racing through his mind as the atmosphere became tense. "Ah, hell. Go on then, get him out of here. If this is a trick I'll be first in line to kick your ass, though." Before Katsurou could raise his voice in protest, a dark orb suddenly appeared under Silver, pinning him to the ground, followed by Suda emerging from the forest undergrowth. "We had orders to capture this thing, not leave it with some forest hobo. Well, what are you waiting for? Help me catch this damn thing! I can't hold it like this forever." “Hiroharu-san! Release him! He’s not a threat!” Katsurou cried out, drawing his orb into a ready position. Before he could take action, Yuudai swiftly moved up to Suda and restrained him, releasing Silver from the orb, if not only for a moment. Katsurou let out a sigh of relief as Silver clambered back to his feet as Yuudai turned his attention back to the stranger. "Something doesn't sound right, Val. Silver just said that his mind is stronger than ours. And because of that, he can't scan it. Annnnnnd that doesn't sound suspicious to you?" “Shiba-san is right. We do not know who this person is. He could be one of Silver’s captors. I may not know for sure, but I believe that Silver may be escaping imprisonment. I doubt us heroes are the only ones who know Silver is here.” "C'mon kid...I'm just trying to help. That thing obviously was tortured where it came from...where do you think your Teacher's gonna take him? Candyland?" Katsurou was also uncomfortable with this fact. He did not know what would become of Silver if he turned him into Spring Lock and the academy. It might be better than where he escaped, but he might still be caged, away from his friends. Taking a few steps back, he closed his eyes and searched his mind for answers. "He's in need of help, and a hero is supposed to help others who need it. I'm sorry Crimson, but I'm saying Silver isn't going with you." There was no clear solution, but Katsurou felt that he had to make a decision, much like Valerie and Yuudai had. The Lord had come to him in the form of Silver, a prisoner, and was testing his faith. Handing Silver into the hands of new captors, whether the academy or this mysterious stranger, would be sentencing him to torture once again. He clearly had presence of mind and did not want to hurt anyone either. If his powers could be contained, this ancient forest would be the best place for him to keep away from those he could harm. His mind made up, Katsurou stepped forward. “Clark-san. I agree with Shiba-san, we cannot allow this man to take Silver-san away. I do not think we should bring Silver-san back to the academy either. We, as heroes, are called to protect the innocent, not to judge them. Silver-san has done nothing wrong and only wants to be left alone, free from wherever he came. I believe in my heart of hearts that as long as Silver-san does no evil, we cannot capture him for sins he did not commit.”

“Yes!” Katsurou couldn’t help but raise his arms in victory as the spiny raccoon made a feeble attempt to extricate itself from its bonds. He did not have much time to celebrate his victory before Misu stormed over to the creature, shaking it indignant rage while clutching her bleeding arm. Katsurou was about to leap over to stop Misu, but she checked her anger, the raccoon visibly relaxing as the shadow of her boot passed from over it. "Whatever. Guess I won't pummel you to a squishy raccoon pulp. Make sure you cover up them spines real good...we don't want him misfiring when we bring him back to camp." Katsurou gave a silent nod as he waved his arms at the raccoon, swiftly morphing some of the chains into protective binding around its hindquarters. With the threat removed, he then walked over the imprisoned creature and delicately picked it up, careful to avoid any stray bites or claws. However, much to his surprise, the raccoon did not put up a fight, instead slumping over in resignation, submitting to its fate. Catching up to Misu, he noticed that her arm was still bleeding, her arm covered in dark streaks of crimson. The spine was missing; clearly Misu did not know the first aid around stab wounds. As Misu took a seat by the banks of a mountain stream, Katsurou gently placing the limp raccoon by a nearby tree before sidling up next to Misu. “Yoshino-san, you should not have removed the spine. We will need to put a tourniquet before you lose too much blood. Please, let me he-” “Don’t touch me punk!” Katsurou jumped from his crouching position, ready to receive a blow. When the blow did not come, he looked back to Misu, who was still clutching her arm, now attempting to wash some of the blood off. “I’ll just rub some dirt on it!” Katsurou wanted to speak out as Misu actually started gathering dirt and rubbing it into her wounds, but after considering her outburst, he checked himself, taking a seat on the bank further upstream. However, the relative peace of the forest was once again interrupted by a strange voice that echoed through the forest. "More Heroes… Release 011 at once, 'Heroes'...he is of no threat to you...he is in distress." The voice felt like it was coming from all directions at once, creating an unearthly echo that no other sound in the forest made. Quickly springing to his feet, Katsurou swung his head trying to find the source of the sound. His attention was drawn back to Misu as she cried out. "W-w-w-what the hell! Is that an alien!?" Katsurou followed her gaze until he saw a towering denizen of worlds unknown. Towering over even Misu, its unnatural form was humanoid, but it was too thin for anyone to like and its face was featureless and devoid of even eyes. Katsurou gave out an audible gasp as the creature slowly approached them. Clearly, it wanted the raccoon creature, but for what reason he did not know. However, when he looked over to the creature, it was not shocked as they were. “...What...are you? Please, we can...talk about this...No need anything drastic…” The creature then turned its eyeless gaze towards Katsurou, sending shivers down his spine as it did. The creature then raised his spindly hand. Katsurou got ready to draw his orb from the captive creature to deflect what the stranger would do, but instead he felt an odd sensation in his head. The feeling was like nothing he felt before; it was almost as if a force was rooting through his brain, looking for something. However, the feeling was not painful. After a moment, the feeling subsided as the stranger lowered its arm. “Duty...Mercy...I do not intend to fight, as you do not intend to fight. 011 is a friend; we mean no harm.” Katsurou gasped again. That feeling must have been it reading his mind and intentions somehow. However, he became convinced that it truly meant no harm as well. If it wanted to harm him, it would have already. Before Katsurou could release the raccoon, he heard voices, natural voices, come from behind the creature. "Yo, I see you guys made a new friend. What's your name then?" "Justice...heroism...is that your name? My given name is TS: 064...but the others call me Silver..." "Silver? So that's your name?" Valerie and Yuudai had appeared from behind a hill, approaching the stranger. Yuudai in particular looked as if he recognized it. As they conversed with the creature, Katsurou’s suspicions were confirmed. The creature, Silver, was simply taking refuge in the forest from wherever it came from. A hiker likely spotted her and reported her to the Hero Association, thinking she was hostile. Approached the creature, carrying the captive raccoon. “Uhh...Silver...-san… I apologize for this confusion. I thought your friend was the dangerous creature we were sent to capture. Clark-san is right. If you are as peaceful as you say, it would not be right to capture either of you.” Katsurou raised his hands, causing the chains to melt away and return to their original shape of an orb, returning to him. The raccoon, quickly realising it was free, sprung to its feet and happily hopped between Silver’s legs, its spines rattling as it made happy squeaks. Silver bent over slightly to give the raccoon a gentle pat on the head. The happy reunion made Katsurou smile wide. He was happy to leave the two to a quiet life in the forest, but he knew that they would not be left alone as long as people came to the forest. “Silver-san, we were sent by the Hero Association to investigate disturbances. If we were to report that you were taking refuge in the forest, I cannot guarantee that more heroes will not come. Where did you come from? Would it be safe if you returned there?”

"That ain't no ordinary Raccoon or Tanuki or whatever! Just look at it's ass! LOOK! IT UNDERSTANDS PEOPLE !" Katsurou was now laughing out loud at Misu’s reaction, unable to believe that she could be so afraid of an animal several sizes smaller than than her. “Yoshino-san! This must be an escaped zoo animal! Maybe it is one of those Western animals...A porcupine? Or is it a hedgehog?” "This has gotta be the thing causing a racket in this forest! Let's get it!" However, his laughter died down when it was clear she was intent on violently capturing it, with the cloud of steam indicating she might end up crushing the poor animal. Before he could react, the creature had bolted into the forest, with Misu in close pursuit. Quickly clambering to his feet, he attempted to keep up with Misu. Falling behind in the chase, Katsurou clutched his stick, using it to float him above the forest floor, slowly catching up to the chase. Misu was quickly gaining on the creature and would have grabbed it when its spines started rattling threateningly. In an instant, one of the spines shot out like an arrow and embedded itself into Misu’s arm, causing her to falter as she clutched her wounded arm. “Yoshino-san!” Looking between the creature and the injured Misu, Katsurou made a split-second decision to attempt to capture the creature. In one fluid movement, Katsurou jumped off his stick and catapulted it past the creature, embedding it into its path. As the creature turned to avoid the new obstacle, he shifted it into a chain, which shot at the creature like a snake in an attempt to entangle it.

Rangi let out a nervous laugh as the two trainers quickly closed the gap between them. The little bud Pokemon clambered into the boy’s hands, blissfully unaware of the deathly glares from the fire dog. While the bud’s trainer was just glad to get his Pokemon back, the other was a little less patient. "Hmph. Took you long enough." The girl had that snobby mainlander attitude that he could never truly like. However, before he gave her a piece of his mind, he held himself back. He accepted his internship to gain experience and learn what he could from this place. Instead of dismissing her, Rangi decided that winning over the mainlanders would be his first challenge of his trip. As the two were introducing themselves, Rangi took a deep breath, put on a big smile and barged in, putting his hands on each of their shoulders. “Sorry about that confusion my friends. My name is Kahurangi, but you can call me Rangi! If you’re here for the internship, I’d like to make it up to you both. I’ll show you how people of the sea celebrate meeting new people!”

“Yeah, I guess it's alright. The trees are just lucky that we don't wanna chop 'em down is all. Dumb trees." Katsurou could not help but smile when Misu hastily put back on her gruff exterior. It was nice to know that even she had a gentler side, even if it is encased in a thick shell. After all, she cares about at least one other person enough to want to be a role model to them. His smile did not last long when she turned to him with a menacing smile and began crushing his shoulder. "Katsurou, right? You got some guts tryin' to talk to me. And with everyone else headin' in, I guess that means you're stuck with me. Lucky you, eh?” Katsurou quickly glanced around and saw that he was indeed stuck with Misu. Clearly this was a test of his spirit, so he put on a smile. “That is no problem Yoshino-san, we can wait for Spring Lock-sensei to return together. Hopefully the others have not gone-” “Well, let's go track us down some good-for-nothin's." As Misu started walking into the forest, Katsurou looked around for any sign of Spring Lock or the others returning, only to find that he was the last person standing by the bus. After a moment of hesitation, Katsurou took off after Misu with his orb in tow. --- After catching up to Misu, Katsurou’s concerns of being chastised for leaving the bus slowly gave way to more genuine enjoyment of the natural setting. With every step, he could feel his old childhood instincts returning as he followed. With a wave of his hands, he changed his orb into a sturdy walking stick, helping him navigate the unpaved dirt path, made difficult by the gnarled roots of the ancient trees. Every so often, he would stop to draw an arrow into the dirt with his stick, showing the way back to the bus. With his eyes now adjusted to the dim light that pierced the canopy, he was able to spy the profusion of hooved and clawed animal tracks in the muddy patches. Most of these tracks seemed familiar, but a few of the tracks were from an animal he did not recognize. However, he dismissed any ideas of strange creatures as simply not remembering all of what he knew as a boy. Suddenly, loud rustling from a nearby bush caused Misu to freeze in her tracks, making Katsurou speed up to catch up to her to see what was wrong. “GAH! There's too many damn animals in this forest...I can't tell what tracks are what. Y-y-yo! Katsurou...go check out some of those bushes..." Katsurou had to hold back his snickering as he saw Misu’s face, quickly growing pale from the shock. “No need to worry Yoshino-san! It should not be anything we cannot handle, especially you!” With his stick in hand, he slowly approached the rustling bush, taking care to not step on any branches that would scare off whatever was in there. Once he close, he used his stick to slowly part the leaves and branches, revealing a strange raccoon-like creature. For a breathless moment, he stared at the creature’s dark eyes, and he could feel it staring back at him. While it resembled a tanuki at first, Katsurou noticed that its back was covered in vicious spines, something that no tanuki he had ever seen has. However, the creature did not appear hostile, so Katsurou turned to Misu and beckoned at her. “See Yoshino-san? It’s just a strange little tanuki! Nothing to be scared of!”

Katsurou cheered on Yuuka and Taro as they the course, despite the fact that their Quirks were not very helpful. However, when they did use their quirks, it was clear to him that if they were creative, they could achieve what raw strength could not. "Incredible, everyone~! What a fantastic range of quirks you all have~! But as you can see, their are areas each of you need to improve upon! Whether that be sharpening your reflexes, improving your raw capabilities, or even figuring out how to make up for lacks in your quirks~! As heroes, we cannot rely on quirk alone! Your entire body is a weapon, and it needs to be sharpened like one! Now, class is dismissed for the day~! Use the rest of the day to prepare for the Hero Training next week~!" “Yes, it is true that I rely on my Quirk quite a bit. I am not sure if Uncle will be able to teach me how to fight though... ” he thought as he got ready to return home for the day. While he was not the weakest person in the class, he stood among giants. He just hoped that if he needed their help, they would decide to help him instead of brush him aside. --- Much to his chagrin, Monday came much quicker than Katsurou had expected. Unfortunately, his uncle had to be at the fire station until Tuesday, leaving Katsurou little time for anything outside of homework and tending to the needs of his cousin and himself. As he waited by the buses with the rest of the class, the creeping sense of unpreparedness started to grow in the back of his mind. Would his lack of physical ability be his downfall? What if he was unable to use his orb or, God forbid, it was lost or destroyed? Before these thoughts consumed him, he looked for the familiar faces of Taro and Yuuka, hoping that he would be able to confide his doubts with a friend. Before he could, the teachers began announcing how they would divide the class. "Today you will be splitting into two teams. Team 1 will consist of the following: Suda Hiroharu, Katsurou Yamauchi, Diana Seigi, Valerie Clark, Misu Yoshino, and Yuudai Shiba." Katsurou was disappointed that neither Yuuka nor Taro were on his team. Not only was he apart from friends, but his teammates were among the highest performers of his class, making him worried that he might end up being dead weight for his team. However, Valerie’s enthusiasm would help him stop worrying, at least for the time being. --- As the bus reached its destination in a forested area, Katsurou could not help but feel a little nostalgic. Despite the fact that he was brought here for serious hero work, he couldn’t help but lose himself in the idyllic surroundings. He had not had the chance to spend time in nature other than the humble city parks since he left Hokkaido. The sounds of singing birds and the burbling of nearby streams wonderfully complemented the warm rays of sunlight piercing the canopy of the ancient trees, reminding him of the hills of that island he called home. Following the stern instruction of Mr. Hiwari, Katsurou did not stray far from the bus and simply gazed into what seemed like an endless stand of trees as old as time itself. He noticed that he was not the only one enjoying the forest, seeing Misu in a rare moment of awed silence. He thought that maybe this would be a good opportunity to set aside his reservations of his fellow hero. Perhaps she was not as bad as she looked? “Nature is truly a wonderful gift to us all, is it not Yoshino-san? Hopefully we will be able to stop whatever is threatening it here.”

"Well, it's been quite some time since I've heard someone other than a teacher praise me for that. But, something to that effect Yamauchi-san." Katsurou laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “I apologize if I come off that way. I was hoping that if were that studious, I might be able to ask for help on the lessons” "The lessons in class are all well and good, but I think there's also lessons that we can learn from one another that are worth taking notes on, but the notes for class are still worth taking as well." Katsurou took a moment to look at the two notebooks, one filled with notes on their fellow students and the other about the lessons. Katsurou managed to read a few scattered passages on Hibiki and her quirk before turning back to Yuuka, trying not to appear nosey. “Making notes on classmates? Well that would be the first time I’ve heard of someone doing that. Do you happen to have any notes on me yet?” he said, leaning in slightly, “Or perhaps on that girl who was expelled?” Looking around, making sure no one was eavesdropping, Katsurou continued. “I’ll admit, her anger and talk of striking fear worries me a bit. She reminds me too much of...cruel kings...I pray that I am simply too cautious.” Leaning back and putting on a pleasant smile, Katsurou spoke more clearly. “Either way, I hope that I will have a friend and study partner in you Itou-san. Pardon me, but I will need to catch my train home. Have a good evening!” --- Katsurou gently closed the front door behind him, hoping not to wake anyone sleeping. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the interior, he could hear faint, indistinct talking and a pale blue glow coming from the tatami room, indicating that the TV was left on. With his permission slip in hand, he slowly opened the sliding door to the room to see if his uncle was still awake. As he peeked into the room, he saw his uncle, covered in a blanket and snoring softly, slumped over the table and silhouetted by the glow of the TV, which was showing the evening news. “He must have just finished his shift…” As quietly as possible, Katsurou tiptoed into the room and slid the permission slip onto the table in front of his uncle. However, as he did, his shadow crossed his uncle’s face, causing him to stir and mutter. “Hrrmm...Shiori…? Is that you…? Food’s in the...fridge….” Katsurou let out a small sigh. His clumsy attempt at stealth was not enough to pass the keen eye of his uncle. He did not want to wake him before his next shift at the station. “No Uncle, it’s Katsurou. I’ll just leave-” “Ahh...Katsurou my boy! Welcome home! How was your first day at hero school? Have a seat, let’s talk!” His uncle patted on the cushion next to him as he sat up straight and removed his blanket from his head, revealing a messy head of black hair and a face covered in stubble. Despite his bedraggled appearance, he had a wide smile across his face. Katsurou couldn’t help but laugh as he took a seat next to him, ready for an evening describing every detail of the day. It was almost an hour of describing all the details of the day before his uncle’s curiosity was satisfied. Seeing his opportunity, Katsurou presented the permission form to his Uncle. “Uncle, this is the permission slip for the in-field hero training. I would be honored if you would sign it for me.” With a face that initially showed hesitation, his uncle took the paper and read it for a moment before he started beaming. Unable to contain his excitement, he suddenly jumped up and gave Katsurou a big hug. “Of course I’ll sign it! I’m so proud of you! You’re going to be a hero!” When his grip loosened, Katsurou could’ve sworn he saw the glint of tears on his uncle’s face. “Katsurou! Go out there and make us proud!” Seeing his uncle’s beaming face, glowing with pride, Katsurou could not hold back his own tears as he returned the smile. “Of course uncle! I will do my best!” --- When Ms. Hitotsume entered the room announcing Quirk Evaluations, Katsurou was ready. Ever since his uncle learned of the in-field training, he had taken Katsurou out for training every free moment they had. As he changed into his gym clothing, he felt his muscles ache from the training, but instead of the anxiousness that would normally overcome him, he felt calm. Picking up his orb, he gave it a few practiced manipulations before entering the gym. The course set up in three sections: a target range, a force sensor and an obstacle course. As his fellow students each went up, he could not help but marvel at the variations of Quirks before him. From fire manipulation, enhanced strength, conjuring barriers and gravity orbs, all of the powers before him were impressive. However, when the feelings of insecurity began to creep in, Katsurou knew that it was time for him to prove himself as well. Muttering a quick prayer, he stepped to the front of the class after Herc finished his fantastic strike on the bag. “You did very well Coleo-san. I hope that I may be as impressive as you!” Taking on the obstacle course first, Katsurou clambered over the smaller obstacles, his orb floating close behind. However, it was only when the first truly difficult obstacle presented itself, the sheer wall, did Katsurou use his Quirk. With a smooth motion of his hands, he shaped his orb into cylindrical hand holds that allowed him to clamber over it with ease. After that, most of the obstacles were defeated by a combination of strategic handholds and simple clutching his orb as it floated over the obstacle. Despite the strain of using his Quirk so quickly and strenuously, Katsurou maintained an expression of calm conviction. Next, Katsurou took on the target range. Holding up his hand in a swift motion, his orb flew into the range. As each criminal target appeared in view, Katsurou shot the orb into the body of the target with lightning speed, flowing from target to target in smooth curves. Katsurou’s own movements flowed as gracefully as the orb did, almost as if he were dancing. However, by the time he reached the force sensor, his fatigue had caught up to him. His steps had slowed significantly, his breaths were heavy, and his orb floated close to the ground as he took his place in front of the punching bag. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Katsurou stared at the target before taking a stance. Grabbing hold of his orb, he reared up and threw it like a baseball pitcher. The moment the orb left his hand, it shot forward much faster than someone his size would be able to throw it normally, colliding with the sensor with a dramatic crash. While it did not push the sensor back nearly as far as some of the others, Katsurou could only give a wide smile of tired satisfaction to his class. “Hopefully I did not disappoint you all!”

As Rangi continued to roll his obstinate companion into the Pokemon Centre, he became quite aware of how much attention he was drawing. His neck crawled with the familiar feeling of being watched by many staring eyes, and Rangi could only give a half-hearted grin as she muttered apologies to those he bumped out of the way. “Poro! You happy now? Everyone is staring at us now! Do you want to stop being a brat and get back into your ball?” Poro responded with a drawn-out, almost exaggerated yawn, opening his gaping maw as wide as it would go, before righting itself, causing the crowd to cry out as they moved to avoid being crushed under him. Satisfied with what he saw as agreement, Rangi retrieved his Pokeball to return Poro, but as he did, he heard some voices from the other side. "Hey, wait, I gotta get Wisteria! Wisteria!" "Hey! Who's trainer is this Wailmer!? I need to return this Budew at once!" Peeking around Poro, he saw two trainers on opposite sides, both trying to get across the Pokemon Centre. One was a pale and skinny boy carrying a pack that looked almost as big as he was, the other was a high-class looking girl carrying a tiny plant Pokemon and being closely followed by a fiery dog Pokemon. “Excuse me! Sorry about this, Poro hasn’t got used to his Pokeball yet!” Rangi called out to the trainers before attempting to return Poro. Once again, the red light shone and returned to the ball. With this second refusal, Rangi’s face twisted into anger as he stomped around to face Poro. “Now what is it!?” Poro stuck his tongue out and held it out, huffing out a short grunt. Rangi grumbled as he rifled through his pack, retrieving a pile of crushed, yellow pastries. Throwing one onto Poro’s tongue, Poro then withdrew his tongue and let out a satisfied grunt as he chewed it. Seeing his opportunity, Rangi tried the Pokeball again, this time with success, leaving a wide, circle shaped gap in the crowd. “Sorry! Sorry about that! He’s quite a handful!”

As Katsurou returned to his desk, the girl who he would later learn is Kess, passed by him and caused him to feel a distinct feeling of unease. He was not sure whether it was her body language, her expression or something about her quirk, but to him, just being around her put him on edge. Unable to place the reason for his unease, Katsurou dismissed it as his nerves. His presentation would determine whether he would stay in the school after all. However, Katsurou’s vague unease shifted into concrete concern as Kess gave her speech. Strangely, she started her speech with an attempt to intimidate Ms. Hitotsume, glaring at her in a way only a Westerner could muster. Unlike her fellow students, who hoped to inspire others to heroics and lead by examples, Kess wanted to inspire fear, both in criminals and in her fellow heroes. Katsurou could not shrug off the similarities of Kess’ ruthlessness and the brutality of King Herod and the oppression of Old Pharaoh Ramses. After all, those with Quirks were subjects of scorn and discrimination, much like the Hebrews under those cruel kings. “Inspire fear? Who is to say who is a villain or simply a misguided soul? Ought we not offer a chance of redemption to criminals, or those we think to be criminals? She needs as much guidance as the villains she wants to fight…” As she returned to her seat, Katsurou couldn’t help but to look at Kess, hoping to glean more from her grim expression, averting his gaze once he felt she was about to look back. While the remaining students gave their speeches, Katsurou found it more difficult to pay attention to them than the ones before Kess’ speech. He could help but hear her voice repeat the line in his head, echoing its ominous message. “What matters is what I'm willing to do. And I'll do goddamn anything.” Katsurou was shaken out of his brooding by Ms. Hitotsume’s mocking of the class. “You. You fail. You lack common respect, and you clearly have a rage in you that I couldn't control.” While Katsurou thought there would be penalties for not answering the Shogun’s question, he did not truly believe that they would actually expel students for it. Clearly the Hero Academy did not deal in idle threats. As Ms. Hitotsume returned to her sickly sweet voice, Katsurou decided to bury himself in the lines of problems and equations of the lesson, hoping it would keep him from ruminating too much on the issue. --- As the chimes rang through the school building, indicating the end of the day, Katsurou let out a sigh of relief. The lessons were difficult, but he was thankful that his uncle had placed him through those years in remedial lessons, paid from his own pocket. While his home in Hokkaido had taught him much of the Good Word, it had neglected almost everything else. He would have been completely helpless without his uncle, and he had to offer thanks that God had brought him into his life during his darkest time. Before leaving for the day, Katsurou thought it would be a good idea to get to know his fellow classmates a little better. After all, if he was going to fight crime, it would be the best if he had some back up. Looking around the room, he noticed that some of his fellow students had already left for the day, and those who remained appeared already preoccupied. He then spotted that studious looking girl, Itou Yuuka, who appeared to be making notes despite the lessons being over. “Hmm, perhaps she would be able to help both in the class and in crimefighting!” Katsurou approached Yuuka with a pleasant smile. “Still making notes on today’s lessons Itou-san? I wish I was as studious as you!”

“We’ve arrived at Cherrygrove City! We will be ready for disembarkation shortly.” Kahurangi turned back from the tinny speaker of the Hoenn boat and back towards harbor as the ship closed into its dock. The familiar, salty spray of the sea slowly made way for the sweet and heady smell of cherry blossoms, which drifted from the countless fluffy pink trees that lined the streets. The sun cast warm light onto the city in between fluffy white clouds, making the water of the sea and the river glitter like sapphires. Over the dimming sounds of the waves, the din of a crowd of excited Pokemon and their trainers could be heard, likely the other trainers drawn to the city by MapCo’s exploration project. Rangi disembarked the boat as soon as the gangplank was set down, only to have to regain his balance once he set foot on dry land. Having spent most of his life living on the ebb and flow of the sea, walking on solid ground was always a jarring experience. Even after taking a minute to regain his balance, his steps were still a little unsteady as he walked towards the bustling Pokemon Centre that towered over its surroundings. Passing through the crowd, Rangi was almost dazzled by the sheer size of the Pokemon Centre, which dwarfed the Pacifidlog Pokemon Centre. “Wow...And Cherrygrove isn’t even the biggest city in Johto! I wonder how big they can get,” he said to himself as he stared wide eyed at the massive building. He was so taken by the magnitude of the building that he almost missed the distinctive whine of his Pokeball discharging its passenger. When he turned to look at his belt, he saw the distinct round outline of his traveling companion bouncing his way behind the Pokemon Centre. “Poro! Where do you think you’re going?!” Giving chase, Rangi dashed around the Pokemon Centre to see that his Wailmer had found a comfortable pond to soak in. “Hey! I told you we could relax after! Get back here!” The Wailmer gave off a huff in response, slowly rotating as he floated in the still water of the pond. “Don’t make me climb in there and take you out myself!” Poro responded defiantly by turning away and turning into his back to warm his belly. Rangi grumbled as he took off his backpack and sandals, leaving them on the pier before diving into the pond himself. In a moment, he had reached his obstinate companion, who continued to sunbathe. With a sigh of resignation, Rangi pushed Poro back to shore. “Ok Poro, you had your fun. Time to go.” Rangi said as he attempted to put Poro back into his Pokeball. However, the beam of red light recoiled from Poro as he grunted and shook free from the Pokeball’s influence. With another resigned sigh, Rangi collected his things, then pushed Poro from behind, rolling him into the Pokemon centre.

Katsurou could not hold back a smile as Taro made his way over from his makeshift stage in front of the class. “Yeah, great to be here as well, but I mean, it wouldn’t be possible without your help either, thanks to Goop guy’s services. My shoulder is slightly numb, but hopefully, it goes away soon.” “Think nothing of it! If anything, it was just practice on how to save real people instead of just mannequins! Of course that’s not to speak of your generous donation of a badge!” "Let's do our best to not let the Goop men ruin our time here. I hate to see myself knocked out again in the same year." “Of course! We can watch each other’s backs!” While Katsurou was hoping to meet the rest of his classmates, the appearance of Ms. Hitotsume made it so that he would need to do so later. Giving a short wave and a smile to Taro and Diana, he returned to his seat at the front of the class. At first, Ms. Hitotsume’s saccharin sweet voice reminded Katsurou of some of the kindly youth leaders back home, but that impression was suddenly shattered when her disposition turned dark when addressing the huge beetle man in a gaudy bee costume. Katsurou shifted uncomfortably in his seat, almost physically recoiling from the source of the shouting. Once his fellow students started coming up to present their answer to the Sharp Shogun’s philosophical question, Katsurou listened with rapt attention, eager to see what his classmates would be like. The studious looking silver-haired girl was Itou Yuuka, and her reasoning was just as well-read and succinct as her appearance suggested. “Yes, a hero is indeed someone who can see and understand evil, as well as the bravery to stop it. She appears to be quite wise!” Next was the towering beetle-man Coleo Herc, who had just disposed of his bee costume. While his Japanese was not the clearest, his answer was something that echoed what Katsurou had for his own answer. “Responsibility...Yes, we should do our best to help others in need. Such is the Lord’s way.” The following student, Claypool Lesnar, was clearly struggling to even stand in front of the class, let alone give his answer. His struggle reminded Katsurou of his own struggle when he first entered school for the first time after leaving Hokkaido, before he found his inner strength. “Initiative to help others without hesitation…Perhaps it is something he wished someone had helped him?” Next was Himura Hibiki, who sported a pair of sunglasses, along with what appeared to be, at first glance, a bat costume with wings and ears. However, as he listened to her answer, he slowly began to realize that her costume was actually her quirk as her ears twitched at every slight sound in the classroom. While he could not relate to her nostalgia, her answer was genuine and refreshingly simple. “It’s certainly nice that people with Quirks are appreciated, and even celebrated, here.” Clark Valerie, the one who loudly declared herself so at the practical exam, was as bold and determined as she let on. Her answer emphasized duty, something that he also thought was important. “Yes, those with ability ought to use it for those without.” Yuudai Shiba, who appeared two steps away from bursting out of his uniform, echoed Hibiki’s sentiments, saying that heroes should also inspire more heroism. “It appears that I may have missed out on quite a bit…” The girl Katsurou had given his handkerchief to was Seigi Diana, and she was indeed partly a foreigner. Her answer was delivered with an infectious energy that he could feel from his seat. “Yes, what could a hero be without a strong sense of justice!” Katsurou decided that it would be best to give his answer as the rate of students going up started to slow. Getting out of his seat, he clutched his notebook as he walked to the front of the classroom, wrinkling the pages as his grip tightened from his nerves. As he reached the front, he took a look at his fellow classmates before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “A blessed morning to you all. I am Yamauchi Katsurou, and I am honored to be in this class with you all.” he said cheerfully, “You may be able to tell that I am not the boldest person, so at first I did not know what it meant to be a hero. So, I had to think deeply about this question, where I found the answer in my faith. I found two passages that showed me what it means for me to be a hero.” Katsurou then looked to his notes and recited the passages and notes he had written down. “‘God has given a gift each one of us. So, if you are given the gift of prophecy, prophesize. If you are given the gift of serving others, serve pleasantly. If you are given the gift of teaching others, teach well. If you given the gift of preaching, preach to help others. If you are given wealth, give it freely.’ This passage says that if we are given a gift, we ought to use it. As such, since we were given the gift of heroes, should one not go out and be the greatest heroes our abilities can provide? However, I did not think that being a hero is just about fighting, because with these powers, we could hurt many people, or even use it for selfish reasons. So I looked more, until I found this: ‘No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.’ I hope to walk the path of my Lord in selfless service by being a hero. To me, to be a hero is to use our gifts to serve those we protect, and to love those we protect wholeheartedly. Thank you for listening.”

Katsurou gave a calm smile as the girl hastily took his handkerchief and cleaned her face. Upon closer inspection, this girl did not appear to be as much as a foreigner as some of the others in his class. While her light hair and height were clearly European trait, some her facial features, as well as her apparent bilingualism, seemed to suggest a Japanese parent. Once the girl was finished cleaning her face, she turned back to him with the soiled handkerchief. "What was your name, again?" “My name is Yamauchi Katsurou. Glad to make your acquaintance. I hope we will have a good year together!” Katsurou replied cheerfully as he gingerly took back the soiled handkerchief, “I hope that Japan has been hospitable to you so far!” As more students came in, making dramatic entrances, it became clear that a school for those with Quirks attracted quite a cast of characters. Katsurou recognized Taro as he also made a dramatic entrance, completely with smoke, mirrors and fanfare. Giving a polite laugh and applause, Katsurou waved Taro over. “I am truly blessed to have you in my class as well Tenkara-san!” he said with a smile before turning back to Diana, “This is Tenkara Taro. I would not have passed the practical exam if it were not for his help.”

As Katsurou finished handing over his pocketed badges, he slowly turned to see Taro up and about, apparently have recovered from the poison and was walking over to him, arms outstretched and ready to help “I didn’t...let you down...Tenkara-san,” Katsurou said with a wide grin as he tried to catch his breath. Handing over the dummy over to Taro and finding an open spot on a wall, Katsurou slumped to the ground, draining the rest of his water bottle before turning back to Taro. “Glad to see you have recovered. It is a good thing that his poison was not a harmful one.” As Taro bargained with another student with his dummy, Katsurou turned to look at the silhouettes of the last of the stragglers, who cast long shadows as a lovely sunset turned the sky shades of orange and red. This peaceful scene was suddenly broken as the two brutish students hurled threats and another loudly declared her name to be Valerie Clark. Being a hero was not for the faint of heart, and from what he could see, his fellow students were in no short supply. --- Monday arrived quickly for Katsurou. The first assignment of his school year began as soon as he was told he passed the practical exam. The philosophical question posed by Sharp Shogun echoed in the back of his mind as he gathered his school supplies and the notebook that contained his answer. "What does it mean to you, to be a hero?" The question struck him deeply and necessitated a weekend spent in thought and study. As far as he could remember, Katsurou’s quirk determined his path in life, both for weal and woe. If he had not had his quirk, he would still be living with his parents on that tiny island in Hokkaido, cut off from the rest of the world. Banishment was one of the worst experiences of his life, but also put him on the path to helping others that few others have the chance to do. It was both a blessing and a burden, but he was thankful for the opportunity, even if the path was decided for him. The last things Katsurou packed was his trusty aluminum orb and his translated copy of the New Testament, which he placed gingerly on top of the rest of his books before closing his bag. Picking up the bag and smoothing the wrinkles out of his uniform, he took a look in his mirror, noticing that his ruminating had put a grim expression on his face. Letting out a resigned chuckle, Katsurou put his usual grin on his face before making a quick exit to school. --- Katsurou approached the threshold of class 1-B, whistling his favorite song. Some of his fellow students had passed him to enter the classroom, eager to start their first day, but he did not change his pace to match theirs. He recognized a few, including Valerie Clark and that brute, and others that he only saw in passing in the practical exam. As he entered the classroom, he hoped that he would be better able to put the names to the familiar faces he saw. As he took a sunny spot near the front of the class and unpacked his supplies, he surreptitiously surveyed the room. The tall girl did not sport her distinct thuggish style and appeared to be quite uncomfortable, both in her uniform and in all the attention she was getting from the group of students assembling around her. She clearly had the largest profile and the personality to match. Valerie Clark was one of the students soliciting her, her lively energy appearing to physically manifest in a cloud of warm air around her. A pair of silver haired students, a studious girl and a haughty boy, were talking about the assignment. By the tone of the boy’s voice, it sounded as if he already considered himself class president before the first day had begun. A bold foreigner girl entered the room, greeting everyone with a strong English accent. Apparently, it was tradition to make a big first impression to your fellow classmates in America. Having been the outsider before, Katsurou couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh while waving back at the girl before she went to talk to the studious girl. He then noticed that the foreigner girl was oblivious to the butter that appeared to be covering her mouth. Whatever she had ate before had left a mark, and he thought it would be cruel to allow her to ruin her bold first impression due to such a small mistake. He approached her, handkerchief in hand, and gently tapped her shoulder. “Excuse me, but you might have a little something on your face. I am not sure if you have one of these, but please take it.”

Katsurou heard Taro faintly mumbling and pointing at his pockets. Katsurou didn’t catch what he was saying, but as he leaned in to hear what he was saying, he felt his pockets feel strangely heavy. Standing back up, he put his hands in his pockets, only to feel the familiar heft of two badges. Looking back to Taro, he could see him crack as wide of a smile as his paralysis would allow, clearly satisfied with his little ruse. Somehow, he must have enough badges to pass the exam and gave him the stolen ones from that student. “Thank you, Tenkara-san! I will not let you down!” Placing the badges into his bag and giving a quick bow, Katsurou dashed back towards the city to find two more badges. --- Katsurou stopped in the shade of ruined wall to catch his breath after sprinting from the entrance. The creeping feeling of desperation started to seep into the back of his mind as he scanned his surroundings for another potential badge. Time was running short and other students have already got their five badges. He feared that all the badges had been found already and that he would be forced to steal from others. Letting out a big sigh, Katsurou leaned in the wall and closed his eyes to focus his mind on the task at hand, only to be roused from his meditation. Faint at first, but as the deep bass of his heartbeats calmed in his head, a small and high pitched sound repeated from within a pile of rubble nearby. Turning his attention to the heap of broken concrete and twisted rebar, the sound could be heard again, muffled and distorted. “So much in the way...But there’s not enough time to look elsewhere…” Pulling up his sleeves, Katsurou set to work pulling the concrete chunks away from the source of the sound. The blocks were heavy, but small enough to be pulled from the pile by hand, hitting the dry ground with dull thuds. With every block, the sound got slightly clearer, sounding more and more like a child’s voice. After several minutes, Katsurou reached what appeared to be a makeshift cage made of twisted rebar, with a child-like mannequin curled up inside it. “Help me! Help me!” chirped the mannequin, its metallic voice almost too energetic to represent a scared trapped child. With the end in sight, Katsurou cleared the concrete until there was enough space to slip himself inside and with a grunt, bent a hole into the rebar cage out of the way. The gap was tight, but with a bit of effort, he managed to reach far enough to grab onto the back of the mannequin’s shirt and pull it out. Now in the light, Katsurou was able to get a better look at the chirping mannequin. Much to his surprise, he saw that it was clutching a pair of medals in its crossed arms. Upon seeing them, Katsurou’s heart began racing again, but this time in excitement. The test designer must have put this here to reward those who were patient or lucky as he was. Thanking God for the good fortune, Katsurou place the mannequin over his shoulders and ran as fast as he could back to the entrance. --- When Katsurou finally reached the entrance, he slowed his pace to a sluggish walk. A few of his fellow students have already finished and were decompressing from the strenuous task, with Taro now lying limply on a stretcher. Eager to put down his burdens, he found his last reserve of energy to dash towards the entrance, past another group. However, the exhaustion got the best of him, causing one of his steps to fall short. Instead of the photo finish he intended, he stumbled past the gate and into the ground. Katsurou could help but laugh as he pulled himself off the ground to hand his badges off to the nearest teacher.

WHERE'S THE LAMB SAUCE?!

Katsurou barely had time to react before Taro stumbled forth and released a great slab of rubble from his sleeves, pinning the knife-handed boy beneath hundreds of pounds of concrete and jagged rebar. “Quick! Search his pockets!” His mind, racing from adrenaline, did not spare a moment to consider the moral implications of stealing from a thief. Katsurou simply complied, digging through the boy’s pockets, taking care to avoid the wild flailings that flung venom across the ruins. Taro started to stagger away with two badges in his hands when Katsurou found a third badge in the boy’s pocket. “This must be the badge he started with…” Katsurou thought, his mind slowing. He looked towards Taro as he nearly fell over his own feet, then back towards the boy trapped under the rubble, searching for an answer. After a few moments, Katsurou let out a sigh and ran to catch up with Taro, leaving the boy’s badge on the top of the pile. It became plainly obvious that Taro was in no condition to continue. His sense of balance was shot and his speech was heavily slurred. Just as he was about to completely fall over, Katsurou ran up next to Taro and put the boy’s arms over his shoulders. Katsurou had to focus to interpret Taro’s mumblings. “...I neeeeed you to help me get back to the gate....I'd rather just fail the exam with my current badges than have you not get in...” “Don’t worry, I’m not going to let you fail due to sabotage. I’ll get you to that gate. How many badges do you have? If you need another badge to pass, I’ll give you mine,” Katsurou replied as he carried Taro back to the gate, following the broken asphalt road he entered the city from. After several minutes of slow travel under the oppressive sun, Katsurou made it back to the entrance. The proctors attending the gates did not look so surprised at Taro’s condition, walking out to meet Katsurou. “Tenkara-san has been poisoned by another student! Please help him! I’m not sure if the poison will cause him harm!” Katsurou implored. “If he doesn’t have five badges, he will fail the test,” the proctor said plainly as they took Taro out of Katsurou’s arms. “He should have all the badges he needs! If he needs another, he can have mine!” Katsurou took out his own badge and offered it to the proctor with his head bowed, hoping that his meager offering would be enough.

“Nah, it's fine. I'll carry it.” At first, Katsurou thought that Taro was simply being selfless. Before he could respond, Katsurou was then surprised as Taro shrunk the dummy to fit in hand, then made it disappear into his sleeve. “Well then, that certainly makes things a lot easier then. I just hope Mr. Crash Test doesn’t lose his breath in there!” Katsurou was about to show off his own quirk when a strange, sweaty boy jabbed Taro in his side. At first Katsurou thought this must be one of Taro’s friends playing a harmless prank on him, but his unnerving, devil-like grin suggested otherwise. The boy’s hand, held in a strange knife-like position, oozed strange slime which appeared to have a powerful paralytic effect, dazing Taro despite only touching him for a moment. Katsurou stood frozen as he went through his lessons on conflict in his head. "Game denied, bucko. You're going to lose consciousness soon...so I can wait until then. But your friend is in for a rough time." As Taro attempts to defuse the the growing hostility failed, Katsurou’s mind began racing. Clearly this fellow student did not have good intentions and was bent on plain highway robbery. All of his uncle’s lessons on reading a suspect’s intent came back to the forefront of his mind. Keeping his hands where they were, Katsurou calmly lifted his orb out of his pack, floating it behind his back as he addressed the intruder. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you,” Katsurou recited out loud, directing the boy’s attention to him, “I do not know who you are brother, but if you leave now, we can leave with peace in our hearts. Wouldn’t you agree that is the most heroic path?” The boy stared incredulously before letting out a sneering, sardonic laugh. “Is this guy for real? What a bunch of jokers! Idiots like you don’t deserve to be heroes!” The boy, then struck forth with imperious speed, hands dripping with venom. However, Katsurou, ready for the attack, swung his orb from behind his back to intercept the strike. Instead of bouncing or cracking upon the metal, the boy’s hands sunk into the orb as if he struck the surface of a still pond. An instant later, the liquid metal hardened around his hands in a solid block, which was then thrust into the ground. Katsurou then jumped upon the metal block, pinning the boy’s hand to the ground, hoping that this would be enough to scare him off.

“Okay, first of all, it is TENkara, a pleasure to meet you, Yamauchi. Second, you are the first person I have contacted with since entering the exam area.” Katsurou was a little relieved to hear that his fellow student was not attacked by any opportunistic “heroes”, especially considering how disheveled he looked. Tenkara's clothing looked torn, wrinkled and soaked in water, if he had just finished dragging himself out of the sewers. At least it would keep him cool in the growing heat. “Ah, I just found this badge-bearer just a few moments ago. I suppose I could just remove its hand, but I have a good feeling that doing so would be against the spirit of the test! We are trying to be heroes after all!” Katsurou responded with short, jolly laugh at the end. “You might not have a chance of getting into UA if you keep dragging that dummy around, in fact, most of the early badges are pretty much gone by now. Why don’t we work together? I’ll even carry that dummy for you as we increase our chances of getting in as we fight and steal our remaining badges! What do you say?” Katsurou considered Tenkara’s proposal for a moment. While it is quite possible that Tenkara could be trying to pull the wool over his eyes, he only had one extra badge, so if anything Tenkara would be risking more if he had more than one badge. It was strange that Tenkara didn’t appear to be carrying anything other than the clothes on his back… “Bah! This is no time to be doubting anyone! I could only gain with teamwork! Trust in your fellow students!” Katsurou thought to himself before turning back to Tenkara with a wide smile. “That sounds like an excellent idea! Heroes always work better in teams, so it would be best if we get started now! Maybe we might even get extra credit!” With renewed energy, Katsurou kneeled down to pick up the dummy, putting it onto his back again before turning back to his new traveling companion. “So, should we take turns carrying this one, or would you rather we each carry one side of it?”

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