Yumi
The light seemed to shine down on Lemillion as he welcomed us to our lesson with a broad smile. I frantically grabbed Saika and shook her excitedly, pointing at the hero in front of us in such a way that my behaviour would've probably been mistaken for a five-year-old.
"Saika! Saika! It's Lemillion! It's actually him! He's my favourite hero!" I whispered - or at least I thought I did, because my voice must've been louder than I thought to have gained the concerned stares from a few of my classmates nearby. Saika stifled her laughter as she faced me, her currently exhilarated best friend with sparkling eyes that would've rivalled the golden-blonde ringlet girl's own.
"Favourite hero? You have like, a gazillion favourite heroes," she raised her eyebrow at me, smiling in amusement. I responded to Saika's smug face with a look of irritation. "That's not true..." I mumbled, not meeting her overly-annoying face. I paused.
"...Okay maybe that's true..." I mumbled. "But mum and dad are still my absolute favourite heroes," I smiled softly. Saika looked at me as if I was an adorable puppy, right before her face changed as she came to a realisation.
"Wait a sec, I thought Lemillion lost his quirk?"
My jaw hit the ground as I stared at Saika and her oblivious face. "Have you really not heard of how he got his quirk back?"
"Wait really? When?" she blinked, confused. I tutted at her.
"I can't believe you didn't know! I'm sure I've told you before. Principal Eri used her quirk to restore Lemillion's, to put it simply. See, this is proof you should watch the news and not spend your time–"
Saika immediately got defensive. "Hey, I DO keep up with the news, just not to the extent you do," she grumbled.
"Well, it's proof you don't listen to me either, because I've definitely told you a thousand times," I grumbled back.
"Ahem!"
Saika and I both flinched at the voice that we heard behind us, loud and clear, a voice filled with authority and matureness.
"You two have to listen! Our teacher is answering questions right now, and it is extremely disrespectful to be talking while he is!" Teijo scolded. Saika instantly relaxed her shoulders, knowing that it was just Teijo. His constant nagging of our behaviour and conduct had become so common for Saika that she had learned to tune him out and simply not care - not that she ever did. But he did have a point, so the two of us ended our conversation and listened to the questions Lemillion was answering for us.
"So, what are we doing today?" a small girl to my left asked, raising her hand as she looked at our teacher with curiosity in her round blue eyes.
Lemillion, still looking as bright and energized as ever, gave her a warm smile, which was impressive to me as Teijo had informed us later on of the barrage of questions he had gotten before he could even speak. If it had been me, my social energy would've probably been drained right after a few questions.
"I'm glad you asked that, because it's time I explain what we're doing!" Lemillion beamed at the class, some of their expressions dull and confused at Lemillion's utmost enthusiasm. Lemillion's cheerful grin only grew wider.
"It's gonna be...explosive!" Lemillion gave us a smirk, rays of sunshine radiating behind him in a comedic fashion.
The whole class stared at him silently. Satoshi face-palmed, sighing as a few of our classmates glanced over at him, Eitaro stifling his laughter. Some were internally judging Lemillion, while a few of my bolder classmates shaking their heads, only to be noisily reprimanded by Teijo, who had thankfully broken the ice.
Lemillion laughed as he cleared his throat.
"Ah well...that failed..." he stated awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"It's because you haven't explained what we're doing sir!" one of the boy's to my left shouted, earning him a smack from Teijo.
"Right! Well, let me explain then! I'll break you up into pairs, and you'll either be on the hero or villain team. The villain team will enter one of the buildings first, and find somewhere to plant a fake bomb they'll be given. The heroes will then enter the building, and try to disable the bomb while capturing the villains" Lemillion explained to us. After he finished speaking, murmurs erupted from the crowd. Once again, Teijo was the one to get everyone's attention as Lemillion stood there, cheerfully smiling.
"Alright, so the teams are...
Team A: Yumi and Saika (Villains) vs. Team E: Satoshi and Kousuke (Heroes)
Team B: Kimika and Eitaro-"
"NO!" a voice rang out from the back of the class, interrupting Lemillion's list as our teacher's speech came to an unexpected halt. Kimika glared intensely at the boy on the other side of the class, face ashen and hands tightly clenched into a ball.
Eitaro stole a glance at Lemillion, eyes pleading for our teacher to switch his partner. His look of misery was overlooked by Lemillion entirely, who awkwardly smiled as he requested for Kimika to calm herself.
"Continuing on...Team B (Heroes) will be up against Team I, consisting of Teijo and Anzu (Villains)," he spoke, ignoring Kimika and Eitaro's overbearing presence altogether, despite Kimika still cursing under her breath and shooting daggers at poor Eitaro.
"Team C: Osharena and Denchi (Villains) vs. Team F: Chizuru and Miki (Heroes)
Team D: Kurokage and Isato (Heroes) vs. Team H: Rina and Mitoru (Villains)
Team G: Aiko and Hayate (Villains) vs. Team J: Fuyune and Baizo (Heroes)."
People began drifting into their pairs, conversing amongst themselves on various techniques and strategies that would prove useful in the exercise. As chatter filled the silence, Lemillion strutted over to us with his exaggerated beam.
Lemillion pulled Saika and I aside from the rest of the class, handing something over to Saika. It appeared to be a rectangular device with red and blue wiring exposed. A blank digital clock was placed in the centre, with a tempting red button displayed to the right of it.
"This is the fake bomb," Lemillion said. Saika pursed her lips, looking as though she was refraining telling him he'd just stated the obvious. Her heterochromatic hues examined the fake bomb carefully, studying every detail. "Your goal, as the villains, is to plant the bomb, press the red button to set the timer, and escape the facility before the heroes catch you."
Saika and I nodded in understanding, watching curiously as he pulled out a yellowed piece of paper. Opening his palm, he allowed the paper to gently fall down into my hand. Glancing down, I looked over what he'd given me. A detailed map showed the entire layout of the building Saika and I would soon scout. Saika peered over my shoulder, murmuring the different labelled locations under her breath.
"This is a–"
"Map," Saika finished, earning an excited nod and beam of approval from our teacher. He seemed unfazed that she'd interrupted and had the expression of a proud father. He must have mistook her impatience for eagerness.
"Exactly, Saika!" He said. "As the villain team, you've been provided with a map of the building. It's up to you to decide where to place the bomb and find your way back to the exit with the help of this trusty map." He tapped his fair digit against the paper as if to emphasise its usefulness. "Villains always have a thought out plan when executing their crimes. That includes having a map of the area in their possession. However, the heroes do not, for real heroes almost never have time to prepare when they've been called to the scene."
"It seems like the hero team is disadvantaged," I said, brows furrowed sympathetically.
Lemillion waved a dismissive hand. "But you see, heroes are always at a disadvantage. They are informed of the situation beforehand, but other than that, they can never be too sure how the villains will execute their plan. So, really, it depends on how the heroes deal with the situation rather than how they're informed about it."
"I see..." I murmured, placing a hand to my chin as thoughts began spilling out of my mouth. Saika sighed, shaking her head. It became clear to her that I would soon be lost in my mess of mumbles. Placing a hand on my shoulder, Saika directed me towards the building.
"Let's start the exercise before I lose you to insanity," Saika groaned as Lemillion's voice could be heard wishing us luck.
***
Saika scanned over the map we were given, eyes darting around the piece of paper to find a suitable spot to plant the 'bomb.'
"What about here?" she asked, turning her gaze towards me as her finger rested on the location. I peered over her shoulder, looking down at the area she was referring to. It was a small room at the back of the building, supposedly filled with boxes, and only accessible by making several turns down various corridors.
"Are you sure? It'll be hard-"
"That's the point," Saika said, jovial as she tucked the map away.
"But–"
"Oh, would you look at that. Seems like we're wasting time standing around," Saika said, unyielding as she began walking down the narrow corridor. A soft sigh left my parted lips as I caught up to her, trying my best to silence my footsteps that seemed to echo off the concrete walls.
"Guess there's no swaying you..." I murmured, although my comment went unnoticed by Saika. "Shouldn't we be more alert? You're kind of just strutting around the place as if there aren't two "heroes" searching for us."
"Who said I'm not alert? Can't I be both confident and aware at the same time?" She shot me a look of pity as if she found it hard to believe I was capable of multitasking, unlike her. "Just lower your voice so we can hear if they're nearby."
***
Satoshi
I glared at the idiot next to me. He rolled his eyes, roughly shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood his ground.
"How many times do I have to say it so that it can finally go into your thick skull?" I groaned, my patience running thin. "We're not staying here!"
The idiot stood up straighter, stance unwavering and the returning cold glare he gave me held just as much detest as my own.
"Yes, we are," he returned, lips curling into a smirk as he looked back at me with contempt, his smug face getting on my nerves.
Cursing under my breath, I grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the exit. As expected, the idiot started to resist, acting like an annoying moron - then again, that's what he was.
"Let me say this again, since you're clearly incompetent when it comes to listening; we are going to explore the building and scout out the area for the 'villains'! What's the point of staying put when the 'villains' are wandering around with a bomb?" Yet to relent, the idiot cast me a deathly glare.
"First of all, it's a fake bomb." I clenched my fists, resisting the urge to strike that punchable face of his. "Secondly; what makes you think aimlessly wandering around a building of which we know nothing about will prove useful? There's only one exit, meaning this is the only way they can leave, in case you didn't realise. So, if we camp out by the exit, they'll have no choice but to fight us. We'll have the advantage when we attack."
"I'm not wasting time sitting around and doing nothing," I fiddled with my hero costume, occasionally glancing up at the idiot who appeared to be focused on literally anything but me. "I say we scout the building, so we scout the building."
"Well, I say–"
"For all we know they could've planted the bomb ages ago! They could be hiding out and waiting for it to 'explode' and we'll just be looking like idiots who sat around and did nothing to stop it, which is what we should be doing. Lemillion literally said we need to disable the bomb. That's what we're supposed to be doing" I hissed, speaking as slow as I could so that the idiot could understand my point. He just gave me that irritating blank stare in response, probably daydreaming about something stupid.
I groaned. "This is supposed to be a learning experience. What are we going to learn if we stay put?"
"I doubt you'll learn anything. I'm surprised you have the mental capacity to formulate sentences."
"You–" My words came to a stop when a distant yelp echoed off the concrete walls. "Did you–"
The idiot silenced me by holding up his hand, eyes narrowing as he glared down the hallway. We waited in silence, ears straining to hear any other noise that might reach us. Then, there was a loud clatter. A curse resounded and we both snapped our heads to the perpetrator. Blobs of pink and green could be seen from where we stood as the two figures spoke.
"Yumi, you have to be careful! You almost activated the bomb!" The taller figure yanked the bomb from Yumi's grasp, checking it over to ensure nothing was damaged.
"I'm sorry!" Yumi whispered, throwing her hands up in what I assumed was a surrender. "But, Saika, don't you think you're being a little too loud? What if they hear you?"
The girl with the ponytail let out a light chuckle, shaking her head as though what Yumi had said was unbelievably hilarious. "Oh, come on. There's no way that–" Her voice came to a stop. It seemed as though the air grew still and time came to a halt. Immediately, Ponytail realised her mistake. "Oh, no."
A loud yell ensued and soon the idiot was chasing after them. I blinked owlishly, glancing at the trio that were slowly growing smaller. As they dashed down the hall, realisation dawned on me. "Hey, stop!" I yelled out, running towards the group.
"You're not the boss of me!" Was Ponytail's reply as she darted around a sharp turn, sticking out her tongue like a bratty kid. Yumi was following her close behind, with the idiot continuing to chase them, right on their tail. The bomb was tightly in Ponytail's grasp, so all I needed to do was get as close to her as possible, and the bomb would be ours. But it was difficult catching up with the headstart they were given.
Opening my palms, small explosions grew larger as they boosted me forward; a bright flash of red, orange and yellow lit up the hallway as I flew past the idiot, who, for a brief second, watched me pass with wide eyes and an open mouth. Soon, however, I was joined with him by my side, gliding down the hallway on what appeared to be a small wave. It was amusing to say the least, to see his complacent face, head held high on his dumb wave that looked completely idiotic. He was an idiot, inside and out.
Ponytail slammed her foot down, causing a trail of ice to shoot towards us. The ice engulfed the pathetic pools of water surrounding the idiot while I launched myself to the side, coming into contact with the hard wall as a result of avoiding the oncoming attack. So far, Yumi had proven to do nothing more than trail after Ponytail, offering soft squeaks of encouragement mixed with slightly panicked cries. Sooner or later, she'd have to fight.
A stream of fire was suddenly blasted in our direction, but it was soon extinguished by jets of water the idiot managed to produce. Ponytail kept glancing between what lay ahead and the map in her hands that she held onto for dear life. Juggling the bomb and map proved to be a menial task for her as she barked orders at Yumi, who responded with a determined nod.
Putting an end to the explosions that pushed me forward, I decided to chase after them on foot, wrapping a gloved hand around the grenade, pulling it from my belt. My fingers clutched the safety pin, getting ready to set off the grenade in a few moments. The accessory was necessary to enhance my attacks and, while it almost perfectly mirrored my father's hero costume, proved to be a unique and useful weapon.
A large explosion sent the two girls flying, while two glass-shattering screams pierced my ears as they tumbled forwards into the wall ahead of them. Clamping a hand over my ears, I winced and attempted to recover from the ringing the explosion's deafening boom had left in my ears. The idiot mimicked my actions, recovering seconds after I had.
The smoke cleared and in their place was a large hole in the wall. I gritted my teeth and gazed through the hole, attempting to see where they had run off to. "Come on, idiot!" I barked, ignoring the eye roll the idiot responded with and darted through the hole in the wall.