『ARC ONE: EXAMS AND MISHAPS』
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"You're not very smart are you?"
Yoshimi had tucked a strand of dual-colored hair behind his ear. His back was pressed to the wall, legs tucked together in a criss-cross position. A disinterested glint had sparked in his aqua eyes as he tapped his phone intently with his thumbs. His listless expression did not faze despite the fact that a congratulations materialized on screen followed by a chime of music.
"Can you stop insulting my intelligence?" Tanami huffed. She flicked one of the drooping crystals that framed the side of her face. The stone like hair uttered a thunk from the small hit. "I know I'm an idiot but I'm not entirely stupid."
"Hmm," Yoshimi hummed without tearing his gaze away from the screen. "No."
"Ugh! You're no good at speaking with people!" The female threw her hands in the air. She allowed gravity to tug her back and the base of her spine slammed into the wall.
Both of the fourteen-year-olds had decided to sit propped up to the wall near a vending machine. Tanami was the one who was initiating the conversations and she honestly had the urge to pull at the crystals that made up her hair. She knew Akihiko and Kagemi were not the picture perfect cut outs of social interactions, but at least they only insulted her height and not everything else.
Periwinkle eyes shifted to take a quick look at the clock hanging above the doorway. The hand moved, signaling that the time just changed to eleven. Tiredly, the female rose both arms up and laced her fingers together. Satisfying pops ran up her joints as she let out a small, relaxed noise of satisfaction. Dropping her arms, her fingers quickly moved to drum lightly on her thigh.
Her eyesight settled in front of her. She watched as another duo stumbled into the room. The pair appeared to be drenched head to toe. Hair stuck to their faces and necks as locks released droplets of water which splattered onto the tiles. Their footsteps squeaked with every step. Their soaked clothes clung to their frames as they continued to trek to the exit. Most likely to either get dressed in clean, dry clothes or to take a trip to the infirmary. Tanami figured that they were either in the flood zone or the hero had a water Quirk.
Either way, it seemed like Yoshimi and herself were most likely going to get soaked and that did not sound fun.
"Socializing sounds like a lot of work. This is why I prefer to stay in my room all day without any human contact." Yoshimi replied after a few seconds of thought. Then, his nose scrunched up as he stared diligently at the screen as he tried to force his character to outrun its captor.
Tanami felt her lips tug into a frown. Rolling her eyes, she thumped her fingers to the beat of a random song that popped into her head. "That's sad, you know. Everyone needs to talk to somebody. I may want to throttle my brother every day but he's still my blood relative and I wouldn't want anything to happen to him."
"My friend Daiki says that a lot too. He usually ends up dragging me places against my will because it's good for me." the male answered. Not too long after did victorious music come out of the speaker.
"Well, maybe he's right. You look like you need a lot more work on your social skills."
"And you're an expert on the matter?"
"Well- I... no." Tanami stammered out pitifully. Because it took so long for Akihiko and herself to overcome their trust issues, Kagemi was really the only friend they made. Even if he was a petty brat. Since they attended a private school reserved for those in high positions, many only found the twins interesting due to their Quirk. Who would not want to be 'friends' with two people whose Quirks created real life gemstones.
Kids were enamored with the shiny objects. The thought of snatching one out of their hands and selling it overcoming common sense. Especially if someone managed to trick the twins into creating colored diamonds. Red, yellow, pink, and other colored diamonds seemed to hold the highest price. No one ever succeeded in fooling them. But because of this, Tanami and Akihiko would keep their mouths clamped, only talking when needed. But it did not always work. Someone always needs to push over the breaking point.
The day had presented itself as a fairly normal one. Light filtered through the windows of the hallway, giving a tinge of yellow to whoever and whatever stepped into its illuminance. Cold air pushed itself out of the vents, dropping the degrees of the corridor and giving a brisk touch to soothe the students' skin. Mismatched voices contorted into mindless chatter as students began to file out of the classrooms. Exhaustion clung heavily to their features, a slight delay of motion in their movements as their hands tightened around the straps of their bags.
Twelve-year-old Tanami shifted out of her seat to stand and brush the nonexistent dust from her plaid skirt. The classroom was vacant of anyone. Every other student had rushed out once the bell rang and the teacher left for a meeting. Her lips were pursed together, sealed to not even utter a sound. Her fingers curled around a crimson book and stuffed it in her bag before closing the flap and zipping it. Throwing the strap over her body, she quickly adjusted it with care. A feeling of unease suddenly curled around her ankles like vines.
Nimble fingers slid down the base of one of purple crystals that acted as her hair. With a jolt, Tanami pulled away by sidestepping. Periwinkle eyes narrowed slightly, just enough to formulate a small glare. In front of her stood Yuna Okamoto, a girl who belonged to a high ranking Hero family. Since the media had no clue that Tanami and Akihiko were adopted by the Illustration Hero, Inscribe, no one in the school knew. Not even the teachers or the principal. Meaning Tanami could not play 'my guardian is higher ranked than yours so leave me alone' card.
Instead, she kept her hands at her sides and focused her attention on the olive-haired twelve-year-old. Okamoto's lips tilted upward in a bittersweet smile. Feigning a cheerful expression, her lips parted in order to speak. "Tanami-chan! Let me walk you home. I'm sure Akihiko and Onishi won't mind, right?"
Tanami felt her hand tighten around the fabric of her skirt. Her vocal cords stayed stilled. She had no use speaking to someone who was acting sickeningly sweet to her just because of her Quirk. Her parents were greedy, forgetting Akihiko and herself were even human beings because of the luminance coming off their hair. Children were greedy too. They expressed the same dangerous glint in their eyes. Especially spoiled ones. They got whatever they wanted at the snap of their fingers.
The crystal brushed past the chocolate-eyed girl without a word. Her teeth stayed clamped as they should be. She should not be wasting her time with a girl playing nice.
The twitching of the girl's fingers did not go unnoticed.
Okamoto swirled around and clasped her hands. "No response? Is that a yes, then?"
Not bothering to speak, Tanami brought her leg up and hooked her foot around the leg of a chair. In a fluid motion, she kicked the chair in order to act as a barrier between the two. The female twin then proceeded to stand still for a second before turning around to leave. Surely that would be enough of a sign to get this girl off her back. That was a hope that died much too quickly as warm fingers latched onto her wrist. Coming to a halt, Tanami whirled around to hear the girl's patience run thin.
"Ugh! Why are you so hard to deal with?! No wonder you have no friends besides your freaky brother and that annoying boy! What are you? Mute?!" Okamoto snarled. "The only thing you're good at is creating gemstones! Why don't you make some, huh? Isn't that how you got into a school like this in the first place? Bribery, right?"
Tanami felt the blood running through her body go cold. Crystals, it always came back to her Quirk. People only wanted her and her brother because they could make glittering rocks. Was it really that much of a surprise? No. What did not settle well with Tanami was the accusation placed upon her.
Although her throat felt scratchy from the lack of using her voice throughout the day, she allowed her thoughts to flow. "Do not talk about things you do not know about. My father pays for me and my brother to go to this school."
"Please! You probably just make diamonds and he sells them! That's a crime you know!"
"You know you're an idiot for just blabbering," Tanami murmured. She yanked her arm back, causing Okamoto to release her grasp.
"You did not just insult me!"
The crystal-haired girl sent her a blank look. She was going to regret these next words. "Am I wrong?"
Okamoto drove her foot into the floor of the classroom. "Why you-!"
Lunging forward, Okamoto dove straight toward Tanami. Unfortunately, the purple-haired girl could not move away in time due to the desks that blocked either side of her. The back of Tanami's head slammed into the flat part of a chair. Cracks ran up her hair as pieces broke off. Both collided into the floor and their bodies pushed a nearby table. Lucky for her that the crystalline hair acted as a hard cushion so she did not get a concussion or crack her skull open.
Despite the dizziness plaguing her head, Tanami managed to make out where the girl's face was. Bringing her arm back, she curled her fingers into a fist before slamming her knuckles into Okamoto's face.
Not long after did a teacher hear the ruckus and tore the two apart. After a trip to the nurse's office to heal their injuries, they were both escorted to the principal's office. Both of their parents were called in as well. Tanami spared a glance at Akihiko and Kagemi who were reluctantly sitting next to each other. Both sent her a pitiful glance before glaring at Okamoto. Shishi was happily squished into Akihiko's bag as all of his books were on the ground and she could see its inky snout sticking out.
Stepping into the office, the two girls were greeted with the sight of a less than amused principal, a tired Tomohiro, and a fuming pair of Pro Heros known as Ivy and Philo. It seemed neither knew the identity of Tomohiro because his inky hair was hidden by a hat. Both girls sat in the empty seats.
"Now, from what Mrs. Miya informed me, Mochizuki and Okamoto were both involved in a fight. Why is that?" the principal asked.
Before Tanami could respond, Okamoto blurted out a lie. "I was trying to ask if she wanted to be friends and she lashed out at me! She's the one that started it and all I did was try to defend myself!"
Tanami could only stare in disbelief at this point. Not only were those two sentences absurd and unbelievable, the fact that she was labeled the bad guy made her angry. And two, how could a child of two Pros fib so easily?
"What! How dare you attack my child when she was being friendly. That girl should be expelled!" Ivy exclaimed while crossing her arms. Her olive hair seemed to flare up a bit. Clearly the woman was delusional for accepting the first thing her child spat out.
Tomohiro had raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes with his palms before yawning. The male was exhausted and his frazzled appearance showed it. That did not mean his observation and thoughts were impaired yet. He understand that a mother and father were quick to defend their child, but without the whole story from both sides was foolish. The ink Hero really wondered if these two Pros were allowed in on investigation missions because that would be disastrous if they cannot identify a lie. A cheap one at that.
"Mrs. Miya did inform me that Mochizuki was the one who she had the most trouble pulling off." the principal stated. His dark blue eyes shifted to gaze suspiciously at Tanami. The girl stiffened at the stare before pouting a bit. Were people really this stupid?
The ink-haired male shrugged his shoulders as if he did not care. Well, he actually did not care. "Tanami, if I manage to somehow not win this 'dispute', give me a good reason why you should get expelled?"
"The nurse said I broke her wrist." Tanami replied in a heartbeat.
"Good enough of an excuse." Tomohiro leaned his weight on one leg and shoved his hands in his midnight black jacket. The male yawned and shook his head. "We're going to a café to get coffee after this."
"Is this how you raise your child?!" Philo asked incredulously. "You're clearly not fit to be a parent!"
White eyes peered at him. "Is that how you raise yours? And I'm not fit to be a parent? If my child is going to be 'expelled' for a fight, they better have broken something from the other kid. Bone or object, I do not care."
"Now," Tomohiro started with a yawn. "My child does not lie. Neither does her brother. You can tell me Tanami started the fight but I won't believe you. Tanami may fight with Akihiko all the time but that's usually with a pillow. She won't strike someone unless they force her to."
"Now you're just defend-"
"I'm defending her? Of course I would defend the person who is in the right. I can't believe two Pros are falling for a cheap lie from their own daughter." Tomohiro took off his hat, revealing the mess of dark ink that makes up his hair. "After all, I'm higher ranked than you. My team does indeed do investigation work so it's easy to spot a lie. I can't say the same to you."
If anything, Ivy and Philo's faces were overridden with shock. Tanami held her laughter in by raising a hand to her mouth. Tomohiro was always good at scolding and shooting someone down in conversations.
"Inscribe! I-"
"Shush now. I'm still talking," he turned to the principal with a deadpan expression. "Now listen to Tanami's side of the story or else."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Sure." Tomohiro answered immediately while rolling his shoulders. Taking a phone out of his pocket, he quickly tapped the screen and raised it to his ear. "Hey Sumiko, how do I file a legal complaint and or sue-"
"Fine, fine! Mochizuki, speak!"
Tomohiro ended the call and Tanami could see the beginning of a smirk. "Great. Let's move on. I haven't slept in two days due to a case, so let's hurry it up. I do not want Sumiko to give me another earful."
A smile slipped onto Tanami's lips. The beginning of the memory was not the best but the end was better.
"Team thirty-one, please head to the entrance." The intercom spoke with static.
A groan came from beside Tanami. Yoshimi had grudgingly pocketed his phone before forcing himself to stand on his own feet. Placing his hands on his hips, he bent back in order to stretch. He tilted his head back, dual-colored hair swaying from the movement. "Are you going to get up or what?"
Yoshimi's voice had snapped her fully out of her stupor. Shaking her head, she composed herself before nodding. "Yeah... yeah, I'm coming."
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It seemed like Tanami was correct about the zone. Water dominated the streets and the inside of the buildings. The liquid was slamming against the walls, trying to gnaw away at the building and bring it crumbling down. Broken pipes stuck out from every angle, dumping more and more water into the zone. It was troublesome to get across. You would have to take a dip in it in order to get across.
Not that that was her biggest problem at the moment. Her biggest problem was the fact that everything she saw was absolutely nothing.
Tanami grounded her teeth together. Her body was forced to skid back, fingers spread as they brushed the wet surface of the floor. Although she could not witness it anymore, she felt the curls of navy blue wisp tickle her skin. Unease clung to her figure as she picked up the sound of feet hitting the puddles of water that littered the office building's floor.
She frowned at her situation. The Hero they encountered in this zone was Impression. The male's Quirk allowed him to take other people's senses by producing a cloud of blue smoke from his fingertips. It surrounds the victim just like she was trapped in a veil of thick mist. It seemed like the restriction was only one sense could be taken since Tanami was only robbed of her eyesight.
On the other side of the room was Yoshimi. Both of his hands were raised to his ears even though nothing was harming his eardrums. The black-haired Hero had stolen his hearing so even if Tanami screamed at the top of her lungs, he would not hear a single thing.
The civilian they had to save was pressed up to a nearby window. He had a look of boredom on his face as he fiddled with the ends of his violet shirt in boredom. The smoke did not engulf him as Impression had no use to do so. It was only Tanami and Yoshimi who were wandering aimlessly on the fifth floor of a flooded building. It also did not help that both were drenched fully in water. The heaviness of their clothes forced their movements to be slower than normal.
Tanami squinted as if she would miraculously gain her vision back. At this point in time, the crystal now felt extremely grateful that she even had her eyesight for the entirety of her life except for this exact moment. She suddenly felt more prideful in those who spent their entire lives without seeing the world around them.
Suddenly she felt something wrap around her wrist and yank her back. A yelp escaped her lips and her brain instantly began to think of a gemstone to create.
"Don't you dare and try to turn me into a human encased rock," Yoshimi's listless voice spoke in a rushed manner. "And I hope my words came out correct."
"Shimi? And yeah your-" the girl's mouth closed. Right. The aqua-eyed boy was currently and temporarily deaf at the moment so anything she said was useless. Even though it did not make much sense, she nodded in response.
The purple-haired crystal wanted to ask how much time they had left but she might as well be talking to herself.
"There's not much time left and I'm sure you want to at least pass."
And you don't? Tanami thought to herself.
"Have you ever tried to crystallize smoke?" Yoshimi questioned. His eyes trailed forward, observing Impression's movements in case he tried to knock them unconscious or something. The blue-eyed Hero stood still, arms crossed over his chest which hid the five cerulean circles that adorned his black suit. If they did not move, he would not move. This made sense as the 'villain' really only needed to keep them from saving the civilian.
Considering the crystal could not exactly pinpoint where the dual-haired boy was so she just stared in confusion at the air before shaking her head. The boy sighed, brows furring before he sighed heavily. Tugging at one of his hair strands, his lips pressed together as he racked his brain for some sort of plan. He blinked twice, allowing the small circular map appear out of the corner of his vision. A small yellow dot was pressed at the other side of the room while a red one mixed with green stood in between them and the civilian.
Yoshimi raised one hand to the smoke and brushed his fingers on the wisps that curled. He already knew that it would not rob him of another sense. That was one of the limitations besides the weights locked onto Impression's wrists, ankles, and waist. Narrowing his eyes at the Hero, the black-haired man did not move at all.
The fourteen-year-old boy allowed his eyes to trail over to Tanami. The girl was squinting, eyes dull and hazed over as the periwinkle color was now a blank white. The diamond irises were no longer there as well. Unless Tanami's other senses were sharp, she would not be able to do much without her eyesight. Perfect accuracy was practically out the window. It would have been easy if the purple-haired girl could see and crystallize Impression's feet, however, that ran the risk of coating everything in a shiny surface with him and the civilian put in danger. He looked at the transparent timer floating next to them. "We have about five minutes left on the clock. You're going to do exactly as I say."
Tanami opened her mouth to speak, probably to say a retort. However, she decided against it as it would do neither of them any good.
Bending down at the waist, the aqua-eyed boy leaned to her ear. His fingers were still latched onto her wrist. "And don't try to say no because I can't hear you say it and you can't see so unless you want to charge in blindly, be my guest and fail. I could care less what failing means for you."
The girl puffed out her cheeks and pouted. She really had no other choice but to listen. Having one of your senses limited was less than ideal and she had no idea where the civilian was. She would have to hear out what Yoshimi had in mind. She nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll listen."
"First up, you're going to be a decoy."
"I'm gonna be a what?" Tanami's head tilted. Her eyes slightly widened as her words were hinted with a bit of disbelief at the end. She gazed at him in surprise.
He did not need his hearing to know what she said. "I know you heard me. Be a decoy. You're going to crystallize the smoke but leave a portion of it open so I can crawl through. Since the smoke is too thick for me to see, I'm going to use my map and locate the civilian."
Although the fourteen-year-old girl knew he could not hear her, she still blurted out two words. "And then?"
"The lower floors are flooded and we don't have time to swim across it let alone save them." Yoshimi commented while scrunching his nose. Lines painted his forehead as he took an extra second for his thoughts to line up in a senseful manner. "Most likely you're going to need to create a sturdy surface out of crystal above the water so we don't drown."
Tanami gnawed on her bottom lip as she curled her fingers into her palm. She felt the small pricks of her nails leaving crescents behind in her skin. If the smoke covered a vast area and it did not need to be a sturdy crystal to secure a strong barrier of some sorts, she would have to create a crystal with a hardness and density less than five. To materialize a surface that can support weight, perhaps a gemstone of level eight would do the trick. Or maybe a level nine? It would be easier if she just created a diamond for a surface if this plan worked but that would tire her instantly if she created enough to keep three people standing.
"Easier said than done." The crystal mumbled while bringing two fingers to rub the throbbing headache beginning to form in her temples. She hated the fact that there were so many crystals that she could choose from to make.
"Less than four minutes. Do it now." The boy's grip on her loosened until his hand fell to his side.
Taking in a deep breath, Tanami raised her arm. Feeling the blue mist wrap around her hand, she allowed the first crystal she could think of materialize. In an instant, dim brown and black jagged crystal encased the smoke until it was trapped inside. The gem wall did not shine brightly despite the sun hitting it in certain spots. However, she did not turn the entirety of the smoke into crystal as she assumed that Yoshimi would prefer a veil that would hide him.
At the same time that she felt the Hero's hand graze the crystal wall on the other side, Yoshimi had kneeled down and crawled half heartedly through an opening in the barrier. Allowing the mist to act as a curtain, he quickly staggered up onto his feet and treaded over to where the civilian was located on his map. He hoped his footsteps were not loud as he could not distinguish any sound.
In ten seconds, he had located the boy huddled near the window. "Hey, just so you know, don't scream."
Without warning, Yoshimi scooped his arms under the boy's legs and secured a hand on the small of his back. The civilian's expression quickly morphed into one of surprise but his mouth stayed clamped shut.
Right then and there, pieces of apatite sprawled all over the room. Impression had brought his leg up and thrusted the flat of his foot into the wall and shards scattered everywhere. A majority of the upper barrier had broken while the bottom half had multiple cracks running through it. Yoshimi skittered forward a bit, just enough that he would be able to touch the gemstpne with his foot. In one swift motion, Yoshimi had slammed the front of his shoe into the apatite. The crystal cracked and nearly split into two but still soared. It promptly slammed into Tanami's hip and she yelped as she did not expect it.
Impression swerved on his feet. His eyes landed on the brown-and-aqua-haired boy but he did not try to move. Yoshimi allowed the tip of his lip curl upward in a half smirk before it fell. Why was Impression not trying to stop them? "Tanami, anytime now."
Tanami resisted the urge to sigh. Squinting, she tried to remember the direction where she had heard Yoshimi's voice. She trusted her hand forward, a bright green light surging from her palm. Sidestepping, the aqua-eyed boy let the light hit the window, which shattered it due to its sharp properties. It dove out the window and dipped downward.
Without wasting another second, Yoshimi pressed his shoe carefully so shards would not dig into the sole of his shoe. He allowed gravity to pull his body forward as he slid down the emerald slide and into a hemisphere created shape.
The timer halted, stopping at two minutes and fourteen seconds.
Not too long after did Tanami and Yoshimi gain their sight and hearing back.
Blinking, Tanami felt the tension leave her shoulders as everything became clearer once more. Impression's blue eyes and dark hair stood out against his tan complexion. The girl tilted her head and drew her eyebrows together in confusion.
"Why didn't you try to stop us?"
The Hero's answer sent a chill running down her spine for some odd reason. "The principal said to not bring harm to team thirty-one."
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Author's note:
And that finishes up the exams. Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with homework that took me longer because of procrastination. To be honest, Tanami's and Yoshimi's exam was supposed to be somewhat easy but you'll learn later on why.
Also Tomohiro is my favorite character to write in this book and you cannot tell me otherwise.