[Freja Helt]

And so she once again found herself in another training exercise. She was incredibly nervous, especially since her exercise with Rin went so poorly, all because Freja didn't have a quirk. At least, that was the reason she had told herself at the time. She had done a lot of training since, she was hardly the same student now as she was back then, but she couldn't help but shake that feeling. What if she wasn't enough? What if she was the reason her and her partner failed this next training exercise?

She had arrived early, standing at the entrance to Ground Beta to wait for her teammate to show up. Her nerves were getting to her and it wasn't like her warm up routine was that complicated, being without a quirk and all. Did people with quirks even warm up their powers before use? These were things she simply didn't know. Looking down at her bat, she held it firmly. She had a strong weapon, she had skills with it, and her partner was probably kickass too. Yeah, they were going to do great! That was what she had to tell herself. As many times as she needed to until she started believing it herself. She didn't have a hero costume yet, so she had just showed up in her standard UA athletic wear, opting to tying her long hair back in a ponytail so that it wouldn't get in the way during the exercise.

Panya Echiiro... She knew next to nothing about him, maybe she had passed him in the hallways once? He was definitely part of the hero course too, but sometimes she found the classes so big that it was impossible to get a sense of who everyone was unless you met them outside of class.

Panya Echiiro

[Panya Echiiro]

Another training exercise, Echiiro thought a bit bitterly to himself. The amount of work they had to do for class was obnoxious. Combined with his own rigorous routine, Echiiro felt like there was no free time left for him. Then again, what did he expect? UAU was an entirely new world, starkly different and more complicated than primary school. There existed a part of him that was excited for the challenge, but there was also another part that cried out for some break. He could, of course, become a slacker and cut back on his personal routine and school work, but at last, that was unbecoming of a Panya.

Echiiro proud himself in being a hard worker, and he’d be damned to change that. He realized, however, that he’d need to find time for himself and not overdo it. How he’d do that, well, that would be a question for another time. Currently, right now, Echiiro needs to focus on the assignment at hand. With a protein shake in one hand, Echiiro lumbered about the hallways until he came to the entrance of the simulation room. Not really concerned or anxious about the assignment, Echiiro wore the standard U.A. athletic wear, albeit comprised of the special fabric just like the rest of his clothes.

He pulled his black hair into a small man bun and downed the rest of the protein shake before throwing it into a nearby trashcan. Echiiro had heard that the instructor partnered him with someone named Freja Helt, a familiar name. Admittedly, Echiiro was utter trash at remembering names. Faces, on the other hand, well, they were far easier for him to recall. Echiiro looked the other girl up and down with a mild look of disinterest plastered across his face. He assumed that this was who his partner would be and, well, decided to measure her worth in the assignment. She didn’t seem all that special, but perhaps she’d impress him or, at the very least, amuse him.






Freja Helt  

[Freja Helt]

Freja offered him a casual wave when she saw him approach. He was pretty tall, not that it was surprising, given a lot of students here at UAU were absolute giants. Height didn't matter that much, what really mattered was who he was as a person and from a glance... She wasn't getting anything. He didn't look all too interested in working with her, but she couldn't blame him if he already knew who she was. No one wanted to be paired with the quirkless student. Brushing that aside, she put her bat away and offered him a handshake. ''Freja Helt. You're Panya Echiiro, right? Let's do our best today.'' It wasn't quite an optimistic smile, but she managed a smile all the same.

Entering Ground Beta, the student pair quickly found themselves in UA's replica city, houses, cars, roads, everything to scale to look like its own little copy of Tokyo. As they entered the vicinity of the training area they both received messages about today's exercise: Villains are running wild in Ground Beta, it's up to Panya and Freja to track them down and stop them, presumably before they cause too much damage to the city or start taking hostages. ''How do you usually prefer to go about this?'' She put her phone away after reading the message. ''Are you the up close and personal type, or do you like to hang back?'' She rested her bat on her shoulder. ''You can probably guess my preference. Anyway, before we really get into this I figure it's a good idea to be honest with each other.'' She took a deep breath. ''I'm quirkless.'' Before she could wait for his reaction she quickly tried to move past it. ''So, what's your quirk?''

Panya Echiiro

[Panya Echiiro]

So, this is apparently my partner, Echiiro thought. In terms of her appearance, she wasn’t all that impressive. She had long gray hair and amber eyes, she wasn’t all that elegant, then again neither was he at this moment in time. He nodded in response to her wave and brushed aside the handshake. The first thing he noticed was the bat, it looked like a regular bat, which concerned Echiiro a little. He hoped that she wasn’t one of those quirk heroes who relied on a weapon, that in his opinion, was both sad and a bit disgusting. A true hero should be able to fight with only his fist and quirk, those who needed gadgets (besides the basics to keep you from going nude) were pathetic in his eyes.

“My quirk is mostly offensive in nature,” Echiiro said sharply. Entering Ground Beta, the two were welcomed to a city-based scenery. Echiiro reasoned that the professor chose this setting to teach him how to be a bit mindful of his quirk. After all, Echiiro was essentially a living volcano. Going all out in a populated setting wasn’t an option. “I prefer up close and personal, but my quirk is fitted for almost any range.” he smirked a little, taking a moment to admire the versatility of his quirk. “Granted, seeing the setting mimics a well-populated area, I suppose this is a lesson in control.”

He was fixing to ask about her quirk, but then, the words I’m quirkless slipped out of her mouth. Echiiro’s eyes widen in shock and disbelief before quickly turning into anger. “You got to be kidding me! YOUR quirkless?” His hand turned an orange hot, like metal melting in a furnace, and a small bead of magma dripped down to the floor with a hiss. Echiiro took a couple of quick breaths, his hand returning to normal.

"What is a quirkless fool doing in a hero training course?" He demanded. Echiiro couldn't believe that the professor would do this to him. Now we had to carry her ass and hopefully pass the assignment with flying colors.

"This has got to be joke," he muttered bitterly.









Freja Helt  

[Freja Helt]

He didn't want to shake her hand. Oh well, she couldn't let that get to her. She had to remind herself that handshakes weren't as common of a custom here, maybe he just wasn't used to them? ''I see.'' She smiled, hopeful from his answer. ''So you're pretty versatile. That'll come in handy.'' Score! At least for her that was fantastic news, hopefully he wouldn't be all too disappointed when he heard what her power, or lack thereof was. ''In control? Is it destructive?'' In that case, maybe his quirk would become their secret ace, but they have to be mindful of how he used it.

''Yeah..'' Uh oh, he did not like her saying she had no powers. Her gaze wandered down to his hand, how could it not when it was changing so dramatically, something orange and hot dripping from it for a brief moment. ''I-I'm just the same as you, I'm here because I'm trying to become a hero!'' She replied, trying to defend herself, but she was honestly so thrown off by his anger that she couldn't help but be a little scared. How rich, a hero student who was scared of their own teammate. ''Just because I don't have a power doesn't mean I can't fight! I have BBB-'' She held up her bat, but before their argument could go any further an explosion went off on the top floor of a nearby residential building.

Emerging from the smoke cloud was one of the senior students at the school, laughing triumphantly as he played up his 'villain' role in their exercise. ''Pathetic heroes, you're going to die!!'' Suddenly, the debris that was falling from the building after the explosion suddenly stopped in midair, each piece of brick and concrete spinning around itself before launching at the pair, the first 'villain' in question possessing some kind of telekinesis quirk. ''L-Look out!'' She called out to her teammate as she rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the projectiles.

Panya Echiiro

[Panya Echiiro]

This sucks, Echiiro thought coldly to himself. How am I suppose to practice ‘team-work’ if my partner doesn’t even have a quirk for me to work with! Minus his frustration with the assignment at hand, Echiiro was also a bit perplexed at the idea of a ‘quirkless hero.’ His father instilled in him a belief that a. Only people with quirks have the right and privilege to become a hero and b. It was his duty as a hero to protect quirkless people. Does that mean that I’ll have to defend this idiot while also trying to fight a villain? How exhausting!

“Just the same as me? What are you trying to do! Insult me? We are nothing alike! People without quirks don’t have the means to become heroes! By playing this stupid game you're just going to get yourself hurt,” He shouted. Echiiro’s eyes glanced at her weapon, and he stifled a laugh at the weapon and shook his head. Then, just when he was about to speak, there was a loud explosion! Smoke started to billow out from the nearby building; Echiiro cursed in response. “Just stay out of my damn way! Go secure any potential hostages!”

The magma brat covered both of his arms in magma. Shit, I don’t have enough time to generate a massive fist of magma to destroy the projectiles, he thought as he narrowly rolled out of the way of spinning concrete and brick debris. Seeing a moment to retaliate, Echiiro responded by launching four basketball-sized fists of magma at the opponent.

[Freja Helt]

She had to admit, his response was hurtful. Maybe she had picked a poor choice of words in the moment, but being told that she couldn't be a hero just because she was quirkless? She wanted to retort. To sling the perfect comeback at him, but the words got stuck in her throat. ''I-..'' Most other students had treated her kindly so far, but there was something about Panya Echiiro that made him a little more intimidating given his attitude. Not that she had time to dwell on it seeing as their exercise was underway.

She could only look back in horror as she managed to dodge the incoming attack, but what about her teammate? She almost looked away, but was relieved to see him escape relatively unscathed, only to retaliate against their opponent. Were those balls of fire? No, the consistency seemed different even at a glance. It was fire adjacent, but it looked more like magma or lava. ''You think an attack like that will work against me?!'' The 'villain' proclaimed as he floated small pieces of debris up in front of him, using them to shield himself from the fists of magma. ''I don't even need to evade an attack like- OW!'' He whined when some of the magma splashed on his leg, causing him to reel in pain. Turns out debris, in fact, doesn't stop the flow of magma. Had he not dodged the fists at the last moment, Echiiro's attack would probably have been a lot more effective. ''NOW you've done it!'' He shouted, picking up debris with his telekinetic powers as he started floating down closer to Echiiro. ''I'll make you pay for that!'' Splitting a chunk of debris in half, the telekinetic villain sent both pieces at the magma student from either side in an attempt to squish him.

Realizing she was just standing around at this point, Freja kicked into gear and ran straight for the telekinetic maniac, brandishing her bat, ready to swing at him. Only for her movement to stop abruptly when he took control of her bat with his powers, picking her up off the ground and flinging her further down the other side of the street away from Echiiro. Landing with a thud, Freja tumbled for a bit, groaning as she finally came to a stop, still holding on to her bat.

Panya Echiiro