[Yanai Yoko]

Another day, another training exercise.

This time she had been paired up with that crazy person she had met at lunch the other day. What was their name again, Mafdet Khepri? The words that came out of their mouth made zero sense, which made her all the more relieved to hear that they were pairing up to spar against each other. That meant minimal talking, right? So long as Khepri wasn't secretly freakishly strong and embarrassed her, nothing could possibly go wrong with today's exercise.

To make it easier on herself too she skipped right past the bullshit. As soon as they met up at the empty training field she pointed at Khepri. ''Let's get this thing started. If you surrender... I don't know just shout something weird or whatever.'' Not that she needed to tell her that. Still, as much as her opponent weirded her out, part of her liked that she was sparring against a fellow freak. That it wasn't some arrogant emitter quirk user who was too busy looking pretty to take the fight seriously. ''I'm not gonna hold anything back, so tough shit if you're weak.'' She did however, have the courtesy to put some distance between them before she engaged her transformation, turning blue, growing tusks, a tail and amplifying her muscles, yet somehow still remaining 5 feet tall.

''Show me what you got!'' She roared, charging at Khepri with her fist up, intending to take a swing at her once she got within range. There was no technique to her approach, it was brute force all the way because, well, Yoko was still an amateur.

Mafdet Khepri

[Mafdet Khepri]

Shout something weird? Khepri blinked. What was considered weird was different to each and every person. They wondered what Yoko would find weird. The universe's inexorable one-way march towards the future? Fish sticks? The feeling of one's senses being inverted as they're helpless to stop tragedy? Bubblegum that tasted like concepts instead of candy? With a shrug and an acknowledging nod Khepri supposed they could just keep shouting stuff until something worked. 

Realizing they'd sort of zoned out the rest of Yoko's words until she roared her last sentence Khepri considered that question. Realization arrived moments later just before Yoko did.

"Oh! I've got a pack of soda," Khepri cheerfully replied while reaching into her bag and pulling one out. The catbug didn't so much as flinch when Yoko's fist drew near, simply assuming that she was very enthusiastic about accepting the drink. "Here you go!" They continued while trying to hand over the can.

It was only after they started that motion that they broke eye contact and realized the rest of Yoko had changed color. They froze. That... that wasn't supposed to happen in a spar. The blonde girl wasn't supposed to turn blue; Or be cold to the touch.

W-was that Yoko's normal? Khepri would need to take that into consideration when figuring out what was weird. Their heart rate sped up, pupils dilating as it did. Right! They were here for a spar. It only made sense that adrenaline was coursing through their veins. The time wasn't there yet though, they were still talking after all. The instinct went off way too early, not too late this time!

Should Yoko stop her attack in time and accept the can Khepri would grab a second can for themself, raising it in front of them after failing to grab it twice. With it solidly in between themself and Yoko they would crack the shaky can open, bubbles spilling over their fingers as they did.

"Aww this is one of the really fizzy ones."

---

Tag: Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

Her fist stopped inches from reaching Khepri when she hesitated. Why weren't they dodging? Why weren't they attacking back or something? She wasn't all too familiar with sparring matches herself, but usually they involved a lot of punches being thrown. Not... Being offered a drink. She just stared back at Khepri, only momentarily looking at the offered drink as she took it. ''What the hell are you doing?'' Her tone was equal parts confused and angry with her opponent. Was this some kind of joke to them? Was this Khepri's way of saying they didn't take her seriously? That they were just going to joke around and be a weirdo as usual? If she wasn't so good at controlling her anger she would have squished the can by now. ''What's in this?'' She didn't trust for a second that it was soda, but Khepri didn't seem like the type to poison someone either, right?

...How much did she actually know about Khepri? They were hard to understand, always doing something weird and generally seemed to be living in a different world than her. Not in the sense of Khepri having money and her being broke, but on a fundamental, visual, maybe even auditory level, Khepri and her were not seeing the same world, despite both inhabiting it. ''I hate fizz.'' She frowned, sniffing it before taking a sip anyway. ''Is this your idea of a counter attack?'' She looked at Khepri for a moment, trying to make it clear that she was throwing a jab their way, trying to hit them where she had failed before. ''Fight me!''

Mafdet Khepri

[Mafdet Khepri]

"Carrying the cans," Khepri replied with a slight tilt of their head. Lifting the soda to their mouth they tried their best to gulp down the bubbles before they could spill all over their outfit. At Yoko's next question Khepri paused for a second, thinking back to what they'd read before launching into an explanation.

"Carbonated water, sucrose, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors and caffeine," they rambled out before taking a second to catch their breath. "Oh, I think it's pronounced the fuzz."

Khepri themself wasn't all too fond of them either. They always got in the catbug's way and kept lecturing them about things like 'acceptable amounts of force', 'property damage' and 'admissible in Cardiff law', whatever that meant.  

"No, I have several though," Khepri absent-mindedly explained. The vast majority depended on specific circumstances and were impossible to perform in a wide variety of situations like gravity turning sideways, senses being inverted or large-scale mysterious phenomena. They supposed Yoko meant in more general terms however. Khepri was just about to explain when her opponent shouted.

"Okay," they replied as the blonde's fist came for their head. A different face overlaid with her for a moment, one coloring red instead of blue. Then Khepri blinked and it was gone. As the first approached they had no idea what it was but then it hit them. With a loud thud their head swung sideways and they began to topple backwards.

"A counterattack is an attack made in response to one performed by an opponent," Khepri answered on the way down. Catching themself with one hand and a tail their leg lashed out towards Yoko's side while her other hand kept their can as stable as she could. 

---

Tag: Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

Was all their answers always so direct, or were they deliberately just messing with her? She honestly couldn't tell. Unlike people like Michael who was honest to a fault, or Freja who was a complete pushover, Khepri was a walking mystery. Like if their parents had a riddle quirk and a cat quirk and Khepri came out as the result, just who the hell were they? A troll? Someone who needed help? Someone who looked down on others, or someone who wanted to make friends? ''No, I said fizz. I'm not talking about the cops, dumbass.'' She said matter-of-factly.

For a brief second she wondered if she had punched them too hard. It wasn't like she hated Khepri, she just found them exceedingly annoying, but that wasn't a good reason to go all-out on them. Thankfully she wouldn't have to think about that as the cat bug continued to talk right as they were getting hit. ''Yeah, I know what a counterattack is.'' She made no effort to hide the annoyance and contempt in her voice. However, before she could fire back with more insults she quickly attempted to guard against Khepri's kick while also not spilling her drink. ''See? Was that so hard.'' She asked while gritting her teeth through the pain. Wait no, it wasn't just the pain, Khepri wasn't hitting her that hard either. It was a pain, but it was cold, so unbearably cold...

Yoko's hands began to shake uncontrollably and before she knew it she dropped her drink and fell to her knees, her quirk's effect starting to wear off and turning her back to normal as it felt like she had been plunged into a strong blizzard. ''Sh-Sh-Shit.'' She stuttered, her teeth clattering as she curled up into a ball. ''I-I... I c-c-c-can't fight like this...'' Despite fighting in the middle of the Japanese summer Yoko's cold breaths were visible in the air.

Mafdet Khepri

[Mafdet Khepri]

Bending their elbow just a bit more so they could push themself upright Khepri took in the world behind them, shown upside down due to the way they were positioned right now. How strange, they could usually handle performing all kinds of stunts but just leaning back like this was making them nauseous right now. Pushing themself upright with a lurch their eyes widened when the sound of something metallic clanking to the ground reached their ears mid motion. They tensed, a sense of vertigo almost overpowering them as their eyes flicked to the object in question.

Just a drink casing. 

The following familiar thud was far less soothing, their pupils dilating as the blonde collapsed in front of them the moment Khepri's view had been changed and they'd been unable to act. Before they thought of what they were doing the catbug reached out towards Yoko.

Feeling how cold she was Khepri felt their predatory instincts go off as they began to shake -in excitement of course-, the sight of an injured prey animal causing her to salivate from her eyes.

"No," they muttered. That wasn't right, counting one's eggs before they hatched was a foolish move. Blinking their blurry vision away they could feel their jaw move, already practicing tearing prey to shreds. "No..." They said once more through clacking teeth. That wasn't right either. Instincts were valuable but ripping and tearing during a training exercise was wrong, even they knew that. Only real animals rejoiced at the sight of blood spurting out of a wou- "No, no, no..." Khepri landed on their rear as their legs gave out under them, lowering their center of gravity to better ambush their target. Huh? Weren't they already right in front of them? That wasn't necessary right now. They were getting much too focused on the hunt!

"Not again..."

---

Tag: Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

She let out a cough that felt far more painful than it had any right to. They hadn't even been sparring for that long, so why was her quirk's drawbacks kicking in? She was sweating bullets and yet it felt like howling winds were cutting her to the bone. ''H-How about a five minute break?'' Staying upright was practically impossible. She could weather the storm faster too if she curled into herself. ''What are you...'' She looked up at Khepri as they reached out. Did they not realize that the fight was practically over, or were they trying to help? Once again, her fellow student was impossible to read.

No, that wasn't it at all. She was in pain because of her quirk and yet, somehow, it looked like Khepri was hurting a lot more than her. ''K-Khepri.'' She could feel her hand tremble as she pointed over to the side of their battlefield. ''M-My hoodie, get my hoodie.'' It wasn't so much a request as her begging. When they fell she just continued to look at them, puzzled by what was going on. Rather than wait for Khepri to get her hoodie she dragged herself over to her side and pulled her into a hesitant, but gentle hug. ''I'm okay, Khepri, I'm okay. It's just my quirk.'' She pulled away not wanting to scare them, but she did give their hand a small squeeze. ''See? It doesn't even hurt.'' She lied, faking a smirk to try and make her classmate feel better.

Not again?

It had startling implications, but Yoko wasn't about to go digging in their past when they were very clearly upset about something. ''Let's just... Sit here? For a bit.'' She suggested, rubbing her thumb slowly across the back of Khepri's hand as she held it to try and help them calm down. ''I transform into an ocean troll. If I use my quirk too much it backfires and makes me freeze my ass off.'' She added with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. ''It fucking sucks.''

Mafdet Khepri

[Mafdet Khepri]

So cold.

Yoko was much colder. Khepri didn't get it. They'd gotten here faster, they weren't hindered, they had their divine features, why was she-

With a blink Khepri finally caught on to what Yoko was saying. "Q-quirk?" They stuttered, wondering why their mouth liked the letter Q enough to repeat it twice in a word that only needed one. Was it because question started with a Q as well and those were what was inside of every riddle? Their breath hitched for a second. Couldn't be it, what was inside should stay inside, not spill out. Unless it was a juicebox or a thermos that kept drinks warm. Oh! The hoodie!  

Khepri trusted Yoko's words of course given that she had the same expression her aunt had when she said she was happy to see them and that it'd been too long but even if it didn't hurt being cold wasn't comfortable. Trying to stand up to actually get the hoodie proved difficult however. Their legs felt like jelly. Khepri was still wondering when they'd accidentally used their quirk and how they were maintaining it this strongly without any effort when they were shaken out of it by Yoko's next question.

"Okay," the catbug replied absent-mindedly, utterly distracted by the sensation on the back of their hand. Was Yoko trying to subtly check whether they really only had eight fingers in total? "Oh. I have a partial exoskeleton," Khepri explained in kind. "If I move wrong I bruise the area where it connects to the endoskeleton unless I soften it."

Khepri didn't know why they were sharing this. Her sparring partner had only shared why they were cold now, not asked to exchange secrets. They didn't need to explain that the meeting of the exoskeleton parts with the endoskeleton's external soft parts led to abrasion or friction burns. Right, friction burns! Contact between two things leads to warm, especially if it also kept out the cold. They couldn't get up and grab the hoodie so they'd have to do the job themself.

"Like this," Khepri explained as they wrapped their arms around Yoko, both continuing their thoughts and their earlier words. With a bit of focus they softened all the outer parts of the exoskeleton making contact with Yoko enough that they almost felt like a normal person's arms or ribcage. Almost. It did take some focus to maintain though and as the seconds stretched on Khepri was beginning to slip up, their body not quite up to the task just like back whe-

"Should we go to the infirmary?"

---

Tag: Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

She looked at Khepri when they explained something about their quirk too, and probably for the first time she really listened to them. No snark, no negativity, she just listened. ''Exoskeleton? Like a bug?'' She looked down at Khepri's arm, wondering what that must be like. A mutation quirk that could never be turned off, unlike her own power. ''So I guess even you have to move carefully sometimes.'' Maybe it was due to their antics, or how smooth their movement had seemed in their sparring match, but Khepri always seemed like they knew what they were doing, like they understood their own body well. She had to remind herself that even someone like them had downsides to their power.

Yoko flinched for a moment, but only a moment when Khepri demonstrated what they meant with a hug. Their skin, or rather exoskeleton... It felt so different when they softened the exterior. ''That feels nice... Thank you.'' She looked away, too caught up in her own head to make eye contact with her classmate when they were sitting this close. It wasn't until Khepri brought up the infirmary that Yoko's eyes widened a bit. ''No. No, uh, I'm okay. This just happens sometimes, I'm not sick or hurt or anything like that.'' She pulled away, giving Khepri a forced attempt at a reassuring smile. ''No we wouldn't want to bother them, I'm sure the school nurse is very busy.'' Her symptoms were starting to wear off too, trembling less and less as the cold left her body. Standing up and dusting herself off she looked down at Khepri. ''Unless you're hurt? Physically or... Otherwise.'' She offered Khepri a hand to help them back up. She hadn't forgotten what had happened. Someone didn't just break out crying when their opponent couldn't fight anymore unless there was something else going on. She didn't know what that 'else' was, but she was willing to put up with her sister if Khepri wanted help.

Mafdet Khepri

[Mafdet Khepri]

"Yeah I'm Khepri," the catbug replied with a nod in response to the bug question and then another shorter nod in response to the following statement. It's not like something would really go wrong if they weren't careful. It wasn't that easy to turn a person's life upside down. 

"That's good," they nodded, wondering whether they should apologize for being unable to get the hoodie instead. They refrained from doing so given that Yoko seemed to have spotted something else to the side. Khepri was tempted to check what it was but couldn't take their eyes of Yoko's braids. It was a nice hairstyle. Khepri themself didn't have one. They just had hair. Most days it had zero caterpillars in it. That was as good as it got.

Letting go they aimed an equally reassuring smile at Yoko.

"I'm not hurt, the exoskeleton is protective. There were only a few days where I didn't have it and- I don't remember. I'm fine." Khepri happily explained, only freezing once in the middle. "Shall we try again?" They added while trying to push themselves up. It was a bit rough since their legs weren't entirely cooperative yet -must be the strain from that earlier move- but slowly and wobbly they managed to get themselves on their feet again. Which was good because they'd been sitting in spilled soda this entire time. The sensation of cold cola on their pants and legs made them shiver for a second, likely due to the fizz, before they pushed the thought away and faced Yoko with the brightest smile they could muster.

"I won't fail again."

---

Tag: Yanai Yoko

[Yanai Yoko]

''Does Khepri mean something, or is it just a name?'' She wished she was well-versed in all sorts of languages, but that sadly wasn't the truth. Not that it mattered, she hardly wanted to think about anything at the moment. Most of all, she just wanted to feel.

When was the last time she had been held by someone, really held, or hugged like this? She remembered being held by her mom, or picked up by her dad, but she rarely ever got close with anyone for very obvious reasons. Not only did it feel nice, but Khepri looked different up close. Had their eyes always been so orange? Not just any orange either, there was a very specific hue to their eyes. They were pale too. Was that simply part of their mutation or because they didn't get enough sun? Their lips were pale too...

Thankfully she let go when she did, feeling a little too worked up in her own head. Kissing Khepri? Why would that thought cross her mind? Sure they were nice and actually kind of funny even if she never laughed at their jokes, but Khepri wasn't her usual type, right? It didn't make sense, she was just caught with her guard down that's all! ''I-I see. That's good, that's great.'' She smirked, taking a deep breath. ''Yeah, I think I'm ready to go again.'' Since she had given her quirk proper time to rest she had gained a few more minutes of power. Hopefully she could make this spar worthwhile for Khepri so they didn't feel like she had called them out here to waste their time.

''One more round.'' She transformed.

Something was clearly wrong with Khepri. Not because Yoko suddenly found herself gravitating towards them, but the other thing. Their reaction when her drawbacks kicked in... Something was deeply wrong and she needed to get to the bottom of it. For Khepri's sake.

Mafdet Khepri

[Matsu]

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[attr="class","likedotitle2"]Approved

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Khepri is fine just let them live Yoko damn

+5000 EXP for Mafdet Khepri
+5000 EXP for Yanai Yoko

PHARAOH LEAP.

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