Born To Die {Private}

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    "Oh of course. Everyone's trying on really fancy dresses, but I think I'm just going to go with a simpler one. Yours seems to be the perfect mix of them." At the question, Saori put a finger up to her chin as she thought for a moment. "Well if rumors are already going around, then it has to happen pretty soon, right? If not, then. uhm, we can totally just make our own dance in the common rooms. Just push the couches and stuff back and bring out a speaker. I'm sure someone has one!" Saori was kind of envious that everyone was looking at the fancy dresses, knowing that they would look better. Saori had no idea what type of dress she would look good in. Especially because it was for a dance! The thought was kind of anxiety inducing. Kaiya made the comment about Aiko and Saori laughed a little glancing at Aiko as she carried another dress out, commenting about just getting one custom made. Of course she would have that sort of money.


    "Yeah... She.... Certainly wants to make sure she gets the perfect dress." Saori replied, trying to keep it nice. Polite at the very least. "She looks good in almost everything, but none seem to suit her taste so, uhm, I hope she finds a dress she likes! Thank you though! I saw the dress and just knew that you had to try it on." With that conclusion, the brunette moved toward the door. "I'll let you take it off though. Think you're going to get it?" There was a bit of commotion outside of the store, which made Saori briefly glance over though she seemed unperturbed with whatever was happening, waiting for Kaiya's answer. However, Ezra on the other hand had been watching, eyes narrowed a bit. It was a bit intimidating to see the other girl on guard like that, but she didn't seem tense. It was more like she was seeing an old enemy or something that irritated her. It was just some of the class talking though... It looked like someone their age, and everything was fine so Saori didn't understand what had Ezra upset.

    "Okay! I'll be right back!" She cheerfully replied, changing out of the dress much faster than she'd put it on. Kaiya would probably end up getting the dress, since Saori seemed so certain of it, and Ezra said that she looked good in it. Those things alone were enough to convince her that she would find an occasion to wear it for even if they didn't have a school dance. As soon as she left the dressing room, she noticed the major mood shift in Ezra. Whatever had happened, it had caught her attention and she wasn't pleased about it. Kaiya slowly approached, glancing from Ezra towards the direction of the person. "Um... Ezra?" Her voice was softer than she would have liked, though she felt a bit startled by the expression on the girl's face. "Is everything okay?" Was it the girls? Or could it perhaps be something else? "You look kind of... upset? Annoyed? I'm not good with the judging emotions things sometimes, but you don't look too happy." She looked unsettled in a way, which was something she'd never seen except for the time they'd gotten kidnapped and the grown child had threatened to torture and kill her.


    She was less afraid and more curious. Slightly unnerved at the fact that Ezra looked so on edge, but not afraid. Fear wasn't an emotion she held often unless it was about her own quirk and thinking about the live she had yet to experience in the far off future. The distant future forevermore. Let's not think about that now. I'm getting sidetracked again. Her gaze flickered back towards the commotion. "Do you know what is going on?"

    Kaiya had gotten out of the dress rather quickly. The soft tone made Ezra glance over. Oh shit, was she that readable? Ezra instantly tampered it down again, throwing on one of those polite smiles to calm the girl next to her. The commotion had died down now but they were still talking to the guy. From what she had seen, one of the girls had bumped into him, or maybe vice versa, so he helped pick the stuff up. Now they were just having a friendly chat but it was obvious, at least to Ezra, that he wanted to leave. It was ever so subtle and that's how she knew who it was.


    There wasn't much problem with Ti being there other than a couple things. One thing was Sienna. She had noticed the slight shift in the clothing while she thought no one was looking or how it seemed like ti was being moved a little. Sienna had a harder time making sure she didn't spill about Ezra's job. She nearly did several times while they were being kidnapped. Another thing was that, they would never come here on their own. Someone sent them. The only person they would listen to was Kai so why was he sending them? Why didn't he send literally any other member that wasn't widely known yet? Why would he send the two that could give her away?


    "Uhh... no, I don't." Now she had to decide whether to go back or not. Just move on with something else or go see what's happening. The safe bet would be to move somewhere else and not contact them. However, Saori was waving them over, a smile on her face.


    "He says he's from Shiketsu and so he might be going up against us in Provisional Licences Exam and stuff." Saori said and Ezra wanted to laugh because that was certainly not going to happen. Still, it would be odd if she turned away now since it would go against her "not afraid of anything" attitude. So she made her way forward and stopped shortly behind the coupld of girls who were chatting with him.


    "My Quirk? Well that's a secret. It wouldn't be very wise of me to give away that information when we're going to be going against each other soon." God was this even Ti? She knew it was, despite the Shiketsu shirt and the hat that was supposed to cover most if not all of his face and hair, but he was so different. It was terrible to watch. It was at that moment he looked up and his eyes went from Kaiya to Ezra. Now the smile seemed a bit more genuine, which only made Ezra's eyes narrow ever so slightly. He was rather amused, but she was not. She hadn't said anything, only watched. "I think it's about time that I go. Your friend seems a bit angry that I took you guys away from your shopping."


    "I didn't know you Shiketsu students were so scared of us. One look that's not completely friendly and you go running." Ezra had piped up, making sure she didn't smile or do anything to give away that this was typical, fun bickering.


    "We know when to pick our fights and it seems like I'm a little outnumbered here. It was nice talking to you guys." There was a slight dip of his head before he left. The typical chatter came back after the farewells. Saori had nudged her playfully, though it seemed more cautious than if it were to happen between friends.


    "He was kinda cute, wasn't he?" Saori had asked, noticing how the smile grew just a bit wider when he had looked over to them. The question had been directed at both of them though, and she made sure to look at Kaiya so that she knew that as well.


    "No, I think he was pretty ugly." For a person without enhanced hearing, he would've been out of earshot but he wasn't normal. Ezra saw the slight falter in his gait and her lips curled up into a smile. "What? Did you like him?" Saori went a bit red at this and before she answered, another observation caught both Ezra's attention.


    "Did you see the color of his hair? It reminded me of something, but I can't remember what." That was certainly going to be a problem if they pieced it together.


    "No! It was just- Kaiya, didn't you think so?" Saori tried to get Kaiya to come to her defense, seemingly not hearing what the other student said.

    Ignore me silently dying because all I can see is Kaiya later asking to pet his hair, realizing he was at the mall, that one time and just laughing as she realized the whole interaction that just kind of subtly happened.


    Kaiya's steps were light walking over to the commotion. She was curious about who the boy was that had caught everyone's attention. He seemed friendly enough, even if he gave off a small 'I'd like to leave now' vibe that reminded her of when Ezra wanted to leave. Poor guy. He's being polite, but I'm sure he'd rather not suddenly be surrounded by UA female students.She almost didn't want to get closer and make him feel anymore trapped than he might be, but she noticed his smile widen at Ezra. Do they know each other? I guess it wouldn't be unheard of to know someone from another school. I don't know much about Ezra since she doesn't talk about herself a lot.


    Though she kept mostly quiet, she did smile and give the boy a slight wave. "Goodbye! I hope to see you at the Provisional License Exam! It was nice to meet you!" Way to go, Kaiya. You probably made him feel all awkward. You don't even know his name.She mentally face-palmed and let out a sigh. Oh well. She couldn't let that stop her from enjoying her time with her friends at the mall right now. Saori's comment was a bit surprising, but she took another glance at the retreating figure. "I think he was pretty cute in terms of physical standards. But he also seemed really nice, his hair color... it's so familiar... would it be rude to even say it's beautiful?" She was asking Saori, but her eyes didn't leave the boy. I get the strangest feeling about him. And Ezra seemed to know him. His smile was less forced- Oh! She blinked and looked to the light-haired girl in her own surprise.


    "Ezra, is that your boyfriend or something?" It would make sense, wouldn't it? She was always sneaking out of the dorms - Kaiya had caught onto that pretty quickly though she never asked questions about it. And they didn't know much about Ezra or where she came from, so it would be realistic to assume she had some kind of relationship with someone outside of UA. Sneaking out didn't seem so bad if it was to meet with someone when UA put them on lockdown. She gave her friend a thumb's up. "If you need a alibi to go see him, I'll do my best! I'm not really good at lying, but I can distract them." If you consider falling down the stairs and dislocating a shoulder to freak out the Pro Heroes that don't know about my quirk and have them take me to Recovery Girl while you have time to get back or whatever a distraction then I am your girl!

    She was distracted from her thoughts momentarily, spotting Juno walking around with a guy who looked like he stepped out of a TV show as the main lead who is the typical 'bad boy' of the school. Her eyes narrowed slightly, watching him a moment. Juno had many friends that she had gradually over the years, but this guy seemed different. She had not met him before. Juno was slightly odd, but he wasn't a bad person. She really hoped he wasn't going to fall in with the wrong people - he was sometimes easily influenced. Not that I have that much room to say much on that. I'm pretty much the same way.

    Saori had pointed at Kaiya and nodded.


    "See I'm not the only one!!" Saori had looked away, but the tone was insistent. Ezra didn't know that Saori was so easy to fluster. Usually that meant....


    "Ezra, is that your boyfriend or something?" Ezra had almost faltered at the question. Her boyfriend? Well that was a bit laughable if she was being honest. Other than a smile, did he seem to know her? Well... kinda, if she was being honest. That was certainly a stretch though. Ezra shook her head a little, looking back toward where the taller guy had disappeared. She was about to speak when the mood changed a little. Saori had stayed quiet ever since her little comment and now she seemed to notice that Kaiya was distracted on well. Ezra followed the line of sight. Juno. Or whatever his name was. Ezra was kind of surprised that she remembered, if she was being honest.


    Ezra wanted to come to the mall to relax a bit, get away from everything. This trip had been anything but relaxing. The guy following them the run in with Rika, the run in with Ti (and she can still feel Siena's wild emotions near her, she was jealous about something of course), and now they had spotted someone else. Honestly, staying at the dorms was a better idea and she should've just stayed. Going back seemed pretty nice right now.


    "Who's that?" Saori asked, glancing from the two boys to Kaiya, since she seemed to most upset by this development. "I don't recognize either one of them to be honest."

    Kaiya hadn't realized she'd been staring so intently at them until Saori asked who they were. She jumped, rubbing the back of her neck, looking away from the two and giving Saori her attention. "The blond with the beanie is Juno Stein." She was mostly just relieved that he was too immersed in his conversation to spot her. "He is my broth-er... well I guess you could say adopted brother. He doesn't like to think of me as related to him." She knew it sounded like a sad thing, but it was simply another fact for her to accept in her life. It didn't hurt her feelings at all to know that he didn't think of them as related. Though she didn't recognize the guy next to him at all. "Not sure who his friend is. I've never seen him before honestly. And he doesn't look like the type of friend Rika would approve of, since she's pretty strict about things like that."


    Well, for Juno anyways. She's worried about my potential friends, but despite raising me for a long time, she doesn't act like a parent except when I do something outrageous. And it is usually mostly for public events that she yells at me and stuff. She studied the boy next to Juno, trying to remember anything about him that she could use to identify him at a later time. He was pretty simple, though. The most notable thing about him was his one earring and the way his hands never left his pockets. Juno seemed really interested in what they were talking about, though the orange haired boy didn't look quite as thrilled about the conversation. The more she watched them, the more she realized they weren't moving from their spot, and while they were looking around, they seemed to purposely avoid looking in their direction. Typical Juno. He knows I'm here, but wants to pretend I don't exist unless he gets to try to see my quirk work.


    "We should get going, yeah? We got away with coming out without filing the proper paperwork, but we should really not test our limits." She reminded them. Funny, coming from her who seemed to be the main classmate to push limits but still. "I also want some time to prepare for our sleep over! I've never had one with a girl before!" Just Nagisa, but that's not really the same thing because he is a boy, and I couldn't ever have girl talk with him. I have so much more I have experienced in life since the last time I've had a sleepover with Nagisa. And the only reason Rika let him stay over after the first time was because she realized he wasn't even into girls... though the way she assumed that was because he didn't spare her a second glance despite being in her skintight and quite revealing hero suit. If she continued to think about it, the way that scene had played out that day would cause her to start laughing all over again. Nagisa didn't so much as try to glance at the Lion Hero except to her face to introduce himself. After that he had begun to tell Kaiya about some new movies he thought she would like.

    Saori looked, and felt, a bit sad about what Kaiya had said. She tried to not let it bother her since Kaiya didn't seem to upset about it, but she still glanced at Ezra as if that would give her any clues on how the blue haired girl was feeling. It didn't since she was still focused on the other two.


    "Yeah... let's hope he's not any trouble. I don't think we can have any more bad things happen right now." Saori said, rubbing her arm a little. She spared one last glance at the duo before Kaiya brought up the sleepover. Ezra nearly rolled her eyes at how excited she got over such a small thing. They were at the dorms every night. If they wanted, they could have a sleepover every night and let Ezra have a room to herself. That would definitely help in sneaking out and such since it left no witnesses. Unless Kaiya decided to come back into the room but she didn't really see that happening. The girl was usually totally conked out before Ezra could even really think of sleeping. "Oh! Yeah, I'm really excited about that actually. Do we need anything else? I can't really think of anything since we have stuff at the dorms. What did you want?" The girl asked curiously. "And, uh, are you going to get that dress or are you going to wait?"

    The sleepover was a much needed distraction from whatever it was Juno was doing. He was quite a unique guy, and she really didn't want to catch his attention in such a public place. Didn't want him to decide to suddenly try to watch her quirk in action. Not with the knowledge that Rika was patrolling around the area somewhere nearby. Oh! Right! Rika is around. If he sees her, he will probably leave. That would make things so much better, since he wouldn't dare try to push her to show him her quirk with the Lioness lurking around the place. She smiled at Saori, feeling content with the newly found information. "It'll be really fun, I think! We should have enough snacks, right? I don't know a lot about sleepovers. Do people really have pillow fights?" She asked.


    Her attention was brought back to the dress, and she blinked a moment. "Oh! Uhm. I can get it now. Even if we don't have a dance, sometimes Rika wants me to attend some of their Pro Hero stuff where they're all dressed up." Mostly to show how great she is for adopting some random kid off the street. Good PR for her. Kaiya didn't have anything against Rika, not really, but she knew the truth behind the woman's actions. So she tried not to let her hopes of actually having a family rise. She understood why Rika would use her for PR, and she gladly helped out by filling the role of sweet adopted child who adored her adopted family very well. It was just... it was fake. Her role. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do in order to help people, I suppose. It wasn't ideal, though she didn't have many options. "Ezra, are you getting anything?" She asked, looking at her friend who was kind of unwillingly dragged along the class trip, even if she'd been the one to suggest it. Even if it was only suppose to be them at first, she didn't think it was that big of a deal for the class to come along. It was a fun bonding trip!

    "Are there any other stores that we are gonna go to?" She was a bit tired from being out shopping for a while - how did those girls in the movies go out ALL day and shop? It was tiring! Plus, she really wanted to go give her gift to the hero who'd been killed. The one who was supposed to be the announcer for the Sports Festival. Everyone kind of just went, 'oh that's too bad' and went on with their day. Like it doesn't matter if one hero is dead because there are plenty of others. But every single person's life matters! Each death is... it's sad...

    Saori just laughed when Kaiya asked if people actually had pillow fights. Though it was still kind of sad, Saori found herself more and more excited that Kaiya was finally able to hang out with friends like this. Earlier she had said that she didn't want to drag the mood down, but Saori didn't really see that happening. So far, everyone really liked talking to Kaiya. There had been a couple times when Kaiya had said... questionable things but that didn't mean she was hated or even disliked. Saori hoped that their friendship would be some kind of bridge between Kaiya and the rest of the class.


    "You are?! I think it'd be so cute. I'm glad you like it." Saori said, her eyes lighting up when Kaiya had confirmed that she wanted it. The green eyes flicked to the taller girl at Kaiya's question. That's right, Ezra hadn't picked out anything. Nor had she even said she wanted to go. If Saori was being honest, Ezra didn't really seem like the type of person to go to dances. She didn't really even seem like the type of person to really be a hero at all, but that was aside the point.


    "I'm not going to get anything here." The light haired girl had replied simply, shrugging. "I'm not sure if I'll be attending the dace, so if I get anything, it'll be later." Saori nodded a little, figuring that it made sense to wait.


    "Hmm... no, I don't think so actually. We should probably head back." Saori commented, looking at the time while she talked. They hadn't been there fore very long as all, but the school seemed hesitant to let them go. Saori turned toward the class in the store, taking on a smile as she addressed the chattering girls. "Everyone! We need to start heading back soon. We should leave in about five minutes so, uhm, decide on dresses and stuff now." The girl called, her voice loud enough to make sure everyone heard. There was a couple okays and a couple awws from the crowd but they all seemed to listen in the end. "Kaiya, want me to go with you to pay for it?" The brunette asked, turning back toward the blue haired girl.

    "What? You don't know if you're going to attend the dance?" This information definitely affected Kaiya's overall mood. She'd begun to feel a little hopeful about the dance she knew she was going to be forced to go to, and the one girl she was closest with didn't want to go? "Why not?" She asked, giving her a wide-eyed expression, head tilted slightly to the side. Were dances something Ezra didn't like? But then what else would she do? Hide in the room by herself all night? While it was probably just like Ezra to be comfortable with that kind of thought, it made Kaiya sad to see someone actively trying to distance herself from the rest of the class.


    "Well..." She bit her lip, eyes flickering towards the ground a moment before looking up at Ezra through her lashes. "I can't force you to go, but I really hope you decide to change your mind. I think it'd be really fun if we went together to the dance!" She smiled, a bit hopeful that Ezra would decide to attend the dance in the end. "I've never been to one, but I heard they're not much fun without your closest friends."


    Kaiya became distracted by Saori's announcement, and nodded to the short-haired girl who seemingly lead the class. "Right. I should go pay for it." It was probably a lucky thing that Rika had given her a credit card for such things. Kaiya had never used it before, though. She'd always felt bad spending money that didn't belong to her. That she didn't earn. Though Rika had told her she had to attend the dance, and she needed to get a dress to do so. Silently promising to herself that she would pay the Pro Hero back every penny she owed her once she, too, became a Pro Hero, she resolved that it would be okay to use the card just this once.

    Ezra wasn't expecting the mood to sour when she said she wasn't going to the dance. It was still odd to have a hero care so much about her, even if it was just the slightly nicer mask she put on. Of course, around people like Ti and Sienna Ezra would joke and smile a lot more, but if she acted how she wanted to act around these heroes, she certainly be as nice as she was being. Especially Saori playfully bumping her. They weren't friends and Ezra didn't remember saying it was okay to touch her. There would've been a snap or a correction if she was acting how she wanted to, but she had a job and that meant with mostly going along with it. Ezra knew that she could be nicer, acting excited and such, but this was easier. If she faltered when acting excitable it would be way more noticeable than if she had faltered now. Yet, Kaiya especially seemed to like her still so there was no harm.


    "Maybe," Ezra mumbled, wanting to get out of this conversation. "I'm not much of a dance person. I'll just stay in the dorms or something." She could also use the time to visit Sienna and Ti, she realized. That would be amazing actually. Perhaps she'd do that. Speaking of which, she couldn't feel Sienna's emotions around them anymore. Thank god.


    Then Saori had offered to go with Kaiya to pay. Ezra watched them, giving them a slight wave as they left.


    -------


    Back to the dorms it was. Despite her complaining on half of the class tagging along, it was still a breath of fresh air. Seeing Ti had reminded her that she was still under the watchful gaze of the Commission and she had a job. It was not a welcome reminder, but a reminder nonetheless. She had gotten her break from the heroes and now it was time to head back.


    Going back seemed to be a lot longer than leaving.


    Students rushed into the dorms, some of them holding fancy dresses, some not. Ezra had her hands stuffed in her pockets as she walked in. The boys were actually out in the common room today. For some reason the girls seemed to take it over more often but today the boys must've sensed their absence and took advantage of it. A certain red head moved forward, the cat like eyes portraying a certain mischievousness that his near permanent smirk that graced his features. He was the first one who had noticed them.


    "And the girls return!" Ezra's own eyes narrowed at the loud welcome. Ren. Ezra knew that she could be a jerk sometimes, but this guy was a different type of jerk. Not worse, just... irritating. Luckily for them, he didn't seem too intent on messing with them. Not right then at least. "We were going to rent the gym out for spar practices. All of the guys are coming. Most of them at least. Any of you want to join? OR are you guys too scared to go up against me?"

    Kaiya jumped, a bit surprised by the loud welcoming by Ren. She blinked at his challenge and was one of the first to step forward. "Nagisa, come look at my dress! Saori picked it out for me!" She held a smile on her face, holding up the bag that the gown was wrapped in. The one who always helped her make a final decision on outfits had always been Nagisa. He had more of a sense of fashion than she did, and his opinion meant a lot to her. She paused, and then looked at Ren, "If you give me a sec to get changed into something more comfy, I'll gladly join!" She didn't fight much in the Sports Festival. And she had backed out in Saori's fight. So she knew she had quite a bit to prove to some of her classmates, as well as the Pro Heroes. And even though being number one and being popular wasn't her goal, she still knew it was important to try her best.


    "You want me to look at your dress right now?" Nagisa peeked out from behind a taller classmate. I forgot how tall Fuji is...She thought, looking at the snake-like boy a moment before returning her attention to her favorite boy from her class. An innocent smile found it's way onto her lips, almost pleading for him to look at it. "Can I check it out later? We don't have much time to have the gym." He was always big on improving his skills to become a better hero.


    She let out a very exaggerated sigh, but nodded her head. "Of course, Nagisa!" Her smile was genuine. "I appreciate you oh so very very much!" She gave him a hug, to which he simply laughed, shaking his head. It wasn't gelled or messed with, so she assumed he had recently showered for his natural curls to be showing. Turning her head to look at the other girls, Kaiya smiled. "Anyone else gonna teach these boys not to mess with us girls? I think they could use a lesson." She teased. I'm actually in a really good mood. It was a great day! The thought of sparring was actually an appealing thought, which hardly ever was the case for her. I'm so excited! I hope every day can be like this!

    Ren simply blinked when Kaiya, who he had been looking at when he had issued his challenge, nearly ignored him. Instead she had called for Nagisa to look over the dress. His eyebrows scrunched ever so slightly. So that's where they were. Well, that didn't matter. The cat like gaze when back to the group of quickly dispersing girls, his eyes landing on Ezra. There was a slight quirk to her mouth, a single eyebrow raised.


    "You sure you wanna do that?" The light haired girl had asked. The fact that he had to look up to her only made the smug face worse. As soon as the irritation started to mount, the smug look only because smugger. The redhead let out a small huff, but the smirk was soon back and the huff sounded more playful.


    "If you give me a sec to get changed into something more comfy, I'll gladly join!" The other girl had said before Ren got to speak again. He gave a single nod, looking back toward her. Ezra looked around as the excitement was starting to get stronger, especially from Kaiya. Well she was certainly having a blast already. As much as Ezra was starting to like it, it was bittersweet when the memories of being this excited around the Commission started to fill her mind. After a deep breath, she pushed them away and focused on what was happening then. This was practically emotional manipulation, making her this excited for something she normally wouldn't look forward to. At this point, Ezra didn't really care though.


    "Yeah, we'll show you guys!!" Saori had spoken up, a grin on her face.


    "I'd be up for tagging along for one or two spars." Naoko added. "Nagisa is right though. We can't rent it for long so we should get going now." Ren took that as his cue.


    "Let's go then! You guys are doing to be-" Ren ran a thumb over his neck, overly exaggerating it. "So hurry up!"

    Kaiya raised a brow at his motion and nearly began to laugh, finding it much more amusing than she probably should. If only he knew how wrong that is when it comes to me. She could be hurt, of course. It's not like being hit didn't hurt her at all. But she would never die. Which was definitely a bummer. Letting out a breath of air, Kaiya nudged Nagisa and told him she'd see him later about the dress. "I'll be right there!" She bolted for the stairs, wishing she had worn something more flexible and comfortable to be able to spar in. Her ability to change clothes quickly should have been considered a secondary quirk at this point, though the clothes she'd previously been wearing were strewn across the room she shared with Ezra, the newly bought dress splayed across the bed.


    Rushing down the stairs, she got halfway down before she tripped and tumbled. "Ouch." She mumbled at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing her elbow and checking for any injuries that could potentially be concerning. Nothing was broken that she wasn't aware of, right? Did that once, I'd rather not do it again. The last time she'd broken something and not noticed it... well... it had definitely freaked some people out. She did a quick check over herself and noted she was fine. "Alrighty! I'm good to go!" She grinned.


    Aiko looked the boys up and down. "I think a sparring match could be fun. I want to get in some practice. The Sports Festival was set up in a way that only allowed some to shine in the spotlight. The extra practice they got was unfair." She huffed.


    Of course, this was something that Kaiya nearly commented on, but she held her tongue. It was no use to say that she simply hadn't tried hard enough. Ezra and Kaiya had made it pretty far and they didn't have defensive or fighting type quirks. They were at quite a disadvantage. Though that wasn't really her place to say anything. Not after what she had done at the Sports Festival. She had no room to talk. Biting her lip, she kept quiet. There is no reason to say anything, no reason at all.

    "We'll go through the locker rooms so that we can have our gym uniforms," Ezra had called after Kaiya, but the girl was already gone. A couple of the girls had wanted to stay back, though when people started moving toward the door, they moved along with them. Ezra figured that they were just going to take advantage of being out of the dorms, but not actually spar. That was fine with her. She didn't mind that. As long as they didn't get in the way or bother anyone that is.


    Kaiya came running back down and she swore that she heard something fall, but Kaiya came out looking fine. Which, if it was her, that would make sense, but Ezra's eyes narrowed slightly. This hadn't been the first time that the stairs proved to be an enemy to Kaiya and Ezra figured that it certainly wouldn't be the last.


    "Saori got pretty far though. She was one of the top contenders and she had the same amount of practice that we did." Naoko pointed out bluntly, though her tone suggested that she didn't mean to be aggressive or insulting. Rather, she was just simply pointing it out. Ren looked to her, a hint of surprise on his face.


    "Just putting that out there, huh? I'm gonna hafta agree though." The mischievous smirk appeared on his face again. "You're just being lazy when it comes to training. If you wanna prove that you're not, you're going to have to win a couple of spars." Then, without letting anyone else speak, Ren continued, pushing the doors open and moving outside. "Let's go now!"

    Aiko gasped, cheeks burning with heat. Kaiya felt slightly bad for the girl, but they weren't wrong. Aiko had spent a couple of training sessions pretending to be hurt. Of course, Kaiya only knew this because she herself ended up in the infirmary and saw Aiko in there painting her nails and humming to herself. Recovery Girl had only gone along with it because she didn't want to deal with trying to make the girl go back to class. Nodding to herself, Kaiya followed behind the others as her body began to heal from it's small tumble from halfway down the flight of stairs.


    "This is going to be really fun!" She then realized something. "Hey Ren!" She called out, jogging forward to try to catch up with the boy. He was quite the outgoing one, but he was amusing enough. Especially since he thought of himself as really tough. "I just had an idea." She slowed once she caught up to him. Being away from her comfort people was odd, and she felt a nagging to rush back to the safety of Nagisa or Ezra, but she ignored the urge. "I have a healing quirk, right? So... if you wanna practice using your quirk for extended periods of time after the spars I'd be glad to be your testing dummy. I heal fast, so it'd be fighting against my quirk, right?" If her cursed existence could help someone, she'd throw herself into fire to help. To be something good. To not be a monster for even a brief moment in time. If she could help a future hero in some way, she'd do it. Endure whatever she must.


    Nagisa shook his head, watching Kaiya as she bounced ahead. "That girl is getting more bold these days." He chuckled a little. He was pretty proud of her, though. Extending her wings. It was something that he'd always wished for her, but to actually witness it happening. He was a bit jealous at the fact that it seemed to be Ezra Kroell who had been the one to help Kaiya find that small bit of confidence, and he was certain that the girl hadn't even been trying to. It was obvious that Kaiya was the one who was being a friend, and Ezra just didn't tell her to leave her alone. Kaiya called it friendship, but he didn't see where the 'friendship' was at all other than in Kaiya's kindness.


    "She's been really talkative lately." Hiro's voice startled him, and he jumped slightly. When had he gotten so close? Nagisa laughed off his nerves. "I'm serious. I don't think I've seen Kaiya-chan talk so much. She's always been quiet and really closed off. She never brags about her quirk either, which is so weird. But then she went and totally backed out of the Sports Festival match against Saori-chan." He sounded a bit impressed. Nagisa raised a brow. Did this kid... did he like Kaiya? His eyes narrowed. "It's really weird. Was it because of the fight against Ally? I use to have a crush on Ally, you know? But I didn't think she'd go and do something like hurt someone. I was just shocked Kaiya-chan healed so fast. Healing quirks are something else~" He sighed, as if dreaming of such a quirk. Nagisa laughed again, but he knew that Kaiya always looked depressed if she spoke of her quirk.

    Ren had paused a little, looking back toward Kaiya and waiting until she caught up before walking again. Kaiya had come forth with her idea to be a training dummy for his Quirk, which kinda surprised Ren. Most people hated having their sight taken away, especially in a spar or other similar situation. Then Kaiya came along and offered to help train it. He was rather surprised, Still, if she was going to offer...


    "Hell yeah. It'll help you train too, rely on other senses instead of just sight. We'll hafta train another day since we're doing spars righ'now. I'll definitely take you up on that offer though, trust me on that." Ren smiled, but not the usual smug look, but an actual smile. "You should help me pick out the first spars. I think we have enough space to have two or three spars going on." The boy said, glancing over his shoulder to see the group of students following them. "Is there anyone you wanted to go up against?" He asked the blue haired girl rather curiously. Kaiya had been one of the few students who seemed to distance herself from the others. She was known for her boldness and her difference in opinions, but... not that much. Of course, the entire class had sparred with each other a couple of times so he knew a little about her in that way. Ren knew that the girl mostly hung out with the sort of punk one, though they seemed pretty different. Opposites attract, he figured though the pairing was still a bit odd.

    Kaiya perked up, pleased that he had seemed to like the idea. Her smile showed her excitement. This would be a way that she could help someone get stronger and become better! Though her eyes widened briefly at his words. She chuckled a little nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. If only you knew... The reason she fought well was because of being able to rely on other senses. Though if I don't keep up with it, I'll lose the practice. So it wouldn't be a bad idea. I should practice with him one day and mess with my other senses as well. My parents might have done things backwards, but I did learn a lot. I grew a lot. She knew that she shouldn't be alive, but that was fine. Even if she didn't keep up the practice, she wouldn't die from being hit too hard. But others might if the bad guy gets away because I let them hit me too many times and go comatose. Plus the possibility of freaking out heroes thinking I'm dead.


    "That would be great! I think it's important to train in every way possible if we want to actually help people. Train even our weaknesses to be less of a vulnerability to us so that they cannot be used against us." Part of why she was afraid of the Sports Festival, since most teachers didn't teach them to strengthen the areas they were weak in. "Oh! Sparring matches?" She didn't like watching fights, but the thought of being able to choose some pairings would be... Her eyes scanned the group, but then paused when he asked if she wanted to go against anyone. She hummed softly. "I think it'd be fun to spar with Fuji-kun! He's always worried about his poison, right, so he never uses it. But I read that an excess build-up is bad for you if you have a quirk like his. He can bite me without worrying about the poison since I will heal." She spoke softly, without thinking much of it. It would also be fun to fight someone who was much larger than her, and who was obviously faster. It'd be a good learning experience.


    She glanced around the class and hummed softly. "Do you think it'd be a good fight between you and Hiro-kun? His quirk heavily relies upon his sight right? As well as Nagisa's. Oh!" She realized something, glancing over her shoulder. "Saori is pretty emotional. It'd be a good idea for her and Ezra to fight, since Ezra's quirk deals with emotions. It might help her get better at handling them." She nodded. Though she use to not speak much in class, she had observed the others a lot. Only now was she learning their real names, rather than the nicknames she'd given them in her head.

    Ren laughed a bit, more a chuckle or a snicker than an actual laugh, at Kaiya's observations. She was actually thinking about this! That wasn't a bad thing at all, especially since he had genuinely asked, but he was a bit surprised to find that she wasn't hesitant to pair herself up with some of the stronger kids in class before putting others to their doom bu pairing them up against him.


    "They'd be at a huge disadvantage if they went up against me, yes, since their Quirk would be useless. Hiro-kun's at least. Nagisa-kun can still use his illusions though, can't he?" Ren mused, unsure of the small details of the other boy's quirk. "You don't use honorifics for anyone though. At least for most people. Is that something you picked up from Ezra/ I used one for her once and she corrected, though made sure to let me know we weren't friends. She's a bit of a jerk, so I'm surprised you stay around her. Some of the others insist that she's different around you though so..." The cat-like gaze flicked to Kaiya's face, searching for some sort of reaction, before locking onto the building that they would enter. "Anyway, I agree with the pairings. We can use those to start off."

    Kaiya giggled at the way he seemed to always put himself up above the others. It was kind of adorable, since his quirk relied upon being able to touch the other people to use it on them. Someone whose quirk had range would be more difficult for him to fight against. Someone like Saori who could use her quirk against him at a range. I don't like watching her quirk being used, but I just have to get over it because I know that it's a part of her. I just... I hate watching her hurt herself to fight. It makes me sad...Intentionally causing herself pain. I bet she has a high pain tolerance like I do.


    "If he knew the thing he wanted to make the illusion of, yes. But I don't know if he has to see his target to use the illusions. I've actually wanted to test something out if he agreed. I know his weakness is if someone doesn't believe the illusion is real, but I've also wondered if it worked the other way around too. If it loses strength if his opponent knows it's an illusion, he might believe in the fake thing less and that could cause problems. But if he can't see if they believe it or not, I actually think it'd lessen how much the illusion weakens, since it's his creation and not the one fighting them. I thought about it when Ezra was fighting his illusions." She nodded, tapping her lip with her finger thoughtfully. It wasn't something she thought over and obsessed over too much, but the thought had crossed her mind a couple of times - especially when she watched Nagisa in action.


    She blinked when he pointed out her lack of honorifics. Her cheeks burned - how could she have forgotten something important! It wasn't that she was trying to make it seem like she was close with anyone, or that she didn't respect them. She hoped it didn't come off that way. "I might have picked it up from Ezra. I'll work harder to remember." Kaiya's hands intertwined in front of her stomach, twisting around each other. Though she was surprised that Ren thought Ezra was a jerk. Her head tilted to the side and she found herself giggling. "I guess Ez is just different from everyone else since she's blunt and doesn't really care about her reputation. I kind of admire that about her, don't you?" She hummed, looking around, enjoying the feeling of excitement about the sparring that was about to take place. "I bet she'll make a great hero. She's not going to let rank stop her from doing good. Won't worry about media or being in the spotlight. I think it's pretty admirable considering everyone is all about being a famous Pro Hero." She nodded her head, though the closer they got to the gym, the more her thoughts turned to Fuji and if she got bit, how she'd go about fighting it long enough to really let him let loose and brawl. She could take a couple of hits.