[Makitori Hebi]

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| Makitori Hebi | @winding.snake.nāga
Location: UA, Tokyo, Japan. | Current Status: Mutant Rights rally this weekend, fighting against misinfo in the curriculum.
Now Playing: Bo Burnham - Rant

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It was an absolutely normal summer day, a relatively uneventful one on UAU's campus given the fact that it was about half way into the semester. Everyone had settled into their schedules (or lacks of one), class attendance was down significantly as people figured out just how much they needed to be there. So, the lecture theatre was only half-full and dead quiet as her Quirk Science professor wrapped up today's lecture and began to move on to final notes for the day. The attending group was mostly General Studies students, along with the small group of Support/Management majors and even smaller number of young wannabe heroes who'd bothered to show up to this non-core/elective part of the course. Hebi had positioned herself at the back of the hall, where she could take up half a row of seats with her tail without worrying about the other students. She was listening intently, 90% because she genuinely enjoyed the subject (despite her unfavourable experiences with Quirk Science in practice) and 10% cause unless she was paying attention then she was sure to note down some unsupported claim or semi-correct point about Quirkers (especially mutants, such as herself). So, when the professor made a final announcement, it registered for her faster than most of the other listeners.

"One last thing! Some of you may have already seen, but the pairs for this topic's group project are up on the VLE* page! You guys have 2 weeks from now to submit that, so don't leave it until the last minute!" With that, many of the students began packing up their notebooks and laptops, but Hebi didn't move. She took the minute or so to pull up the university's student website and check to see who her partner was for this project, hoping to catch them before they left the class.
QS111 Topic 3 (Adaptation and Homeostasis) - Coursework Project
Students, in pairs as detailed below, are to make either:
- A 6-10 minute presentation; or
- A 1000-word written report;
on the question "How can Quirkers be adapted to certain environmental conditions, and how are their bodies adapted to their Quirks?". All projects must be adequately sourced, with reference to at least 2 public Quirk case studies (including any Quirker students) and...

She skimmed past the project description, having already read it, and went straight to the groups list. Ctrl + F for her own name and...
Makitori Hebi & Genki Tokage
'...wait, isn't that...' Hebi looked around, confident she'd heard the name at least once before in this class or another. Sure enough, [wherever Genki is in the lecture hall], was the boy with a mutation Quirk very similar to her own. Reptilian in nature, with notable proficiency in stealth. Out of the multiple hundred students in this module class, the snake girl just happened to be paired with the lizard boy? Nah, not likely. This felt an awful lot like targeted pairing, if not profiling. Hebi's cold blood began to boil.
With her usual stone face still intact, Hebi put away her notebook quickly and began to make her way down the steps towards the front of the hall. Her 13' tail trailed behind her freely, white with scattered red lines marking its surface like the rest of her skin. Adorning her main body, a simple black Lunara/Kamirex graphic tee and black skirt. Unless one of the few remaining students in the room stopped her, she was about to give this professor a piece of her mind. How dare they!

*Note: VLE stands for Virtual Learning Environment, one of the websites that schools and universities use for sharing resources and assigning/collecting homework.

[thelizardboy]

Tapping the eraser end of his pencil against the spine of his notebook, Genki scanned over his notes one last time to make sure he wrote everything cleanly and clearly. It seemed like class was coming to a close, people beginning to shuffle and stir, putting away their things into their bags. As he collected his own things, something would catch his eye storming down the steps toward the front of the lecture hall. A grin subconsciously curled on his cheeks, a set of jagged teeth baring behind a cloth mask. Shuffling out quickly from his seat near the front of the classroom, he moved to cut her off, if not unintentionally. Slinging his bag up onto his shoulder, he called out to the woman.

"Woah..! Another reptilian Quirk! Don't see too many of them! Are you a lizard too...? Snake maybe?? Sea serpent or something..." He said scanning her insanely long tail, and bringing a claw to his chin pondering. Whipping around his own tail, it was dwarfed in comparison to hers, glancing between the two of them. Then jutting out his tail toward her, raising an eyebrow as if something misfired in his brain, then retracting his tail, then sticking out his clawed hand in its place, extended out for a handshake, he spoked again. "Anyway, I'm Genki! Nice to meet another cold blood around here.. hey uh by the way, do you know who uhhhh... Makitori.. Hebi is..?" He said scanning over a sticky note he had written on his hand, glancing up this woman hoping that she knew this class alittle better than he did.

[Makitori Hebi]

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| Makitori Hebi | @winding.snake.nāga
Location: UA, Tokyo, Japan. | Current Status: Mutant Rights rally this weekend, fighting against misinfo in the curriculum.
Now Playing: Jordan Clarke - Freaks

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Since everyone else was making their way out of the lecture hall, Hebi initially didn't question Genki walking out in front of her. 'Oh, he's in my way...' she figured, preparing to either wait behind the boy or maneuver around him. What she hadn't been expecting was the other person turning and talking to her. Looking properly, that was indeed Genki Tokage. "wh- huh? what?" It took a couple seconds for her brain to catch up to what he'd said. "Oh, uh... snake is right, yeah. Eyes up here." Though Hebi had meant that last part as a joke, her tone was entirely flat, and nothing in her face betrayed anything but intensity either. While Genki talked, her eyes had been passing over his features as well, in between making eye contact. Scales, claws, tail, all familiar to her. She wondered what, if anything, was hidden behind the lizard boy's mask.

Hebi was about to reciprocate the gesture that Genki made with his tail with no questions asked, but realising that it was accidental, she accepted his handshake instead. Cold, as she'd thought and as he'd said. Not that Hebi really noted any difference in temperature, just the lack of the usual one when she touched someone. Her hands were smooth, lacking Genki's claws. Genki's next question, again, took a couple seconds to process. "Makitori Hebi... is me. Nice to meet you too, Genki." There was some small amount of comfort in the fact that Genki could not connect her name to her appearance. Maybe she hadn't stood out as much as she thought? Either way, she returned her hand to her side, pulling out her phone from a pocket in her bag. "What's your Line ID? Or your number? Can't stay and talk in here, but we could meet somewhere else." Hebi's eyes briefly wandered over to the front of the room, only to see that their professor had left already. A short hiss escaped her mouth at this realisation.

Notes:
- She's essentially just asking for his contact info so they can communicate for the project, but she's not saying all that.
- Probably gonna be one more back-and-forth, then a scene change.