𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝙈𝙔 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊 𝘼𝘾𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙈𝙄𝘼

10

          "NOW, LET'S SHOW THE PAIRINGS!"

          Upon the large, display screen were the names of people that would be participating. Arisa was paired with Shiozaki and she immediately went to plan as to how best her because Arisa was considered a combat specialist. She had an amazing combat sense all because of her family and although she would rather die than admit it aloud, she was partially grateful that useful combat skills were hammered into her at a young age. Arisa hated them with every fibre of her being but she won the war and these skills were the spoils — thinking of her situation in such a way made her feel slightly better.

          Shiozaki approached her, looking as graceful as ever, "Let's fight with no hard feelings, Hayashi-san."

          Arisa gave her a lopsided smile, "Of course. Whatever happens, there's no bad blood between us, okay?"

          "After this festival is over," the girl began with a smile, "Let's properly talk. I would like to become friends with you, Hayashi-san."

          The girl's features slackened for a moment before she chuckled, "Sure. I'd like that."

          "NOW, LET'S PUT THE TOURNAMENT ASIDE AND BEGIN THE RECREATION EVENTS!"

          Arisa didn't participate in any of them because she couldn't. She had went through the tunnels to get to the restrooms but was confronted by someone she didn't expect. A large male with flames for eyebrows and beard, someone she recognized from long ago, the number two pro hero, Endeavour, the one that was involved in the Sukehiro raid.

          "You're that Sukehiro kid from a few years ago, aren't you?"

          She was tense and answered slowly, "Yes?"

          He looked at her for a moment, "You've grown and your quirk is quite troublesome."

          She wasn't sure where he was going with this one-sided conversation. He was quite large and intimidating — she wasn't easily intimidated but anyone who approached her and mentioned her past made her tense. This man knew of a secret that she wanted hidden and that was unfortunate. She didn't have the upper hand in this conversation and she hated it.

          "Don't be so tense," he gruffly said but she still didn't relax and so he continued, "You've made good use of your second chance. It makes me... Envious."

          "Envious?"

          He ignored her and simply said, "You're doing well. Don't falter."

          With that he left and she stood there, hundreds of question marks popping around her head as she tried to understand what exactly had happened. The pro hero approached her, spoke in such a sad manner that it made her confused — he even praised her. Even from looking at him, she could tell that he wasn't that type of character. Endeavour was a harsh, unforgiving person. He wasn't nice. He was everything but nice.

          Unknown to her, around a certain corner, someone else was listening in.

          Arisa quickly snapped herself out of her stupor and scurried towards the restroom, finally feeling the urge to urinate once more and even shoved a poor student out of the way with brute strength. She apologized as she dashed into the restroom and locked herself into a stall. As she sat quietly, listening to the quiet trinkle in the background, she immersed herself in her thoughts.

          Thoughts were random and whatever sequence it chose, was simply pure coincidence. At least that was what Arisa believed. Currently, Arisa recalled a memory from when she was younger. Perhaps it was because she was going into battle once more. Perhaps that triggered this memory but either way, she remembered her third elder brother who had an ocular quirk, one that allowed him to set anything he laid eyes on, on fire. It seemed like a useless quirk but after proper training, he managed to do much more and became unstoppable. Dangerous.