[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun flexed her fingers a few times as she stepped into the ring. This was purely an exhibition match, but she had to conserve her strength; she had a point to prove later, and exerting herself here would only be a detriment down the line. Unfortunately, she was in a strange position. One of the few people in the school that could counter her, Michael, was one of her opponents. Whether the young man knew it or not, Jun was going to be in an uphill battle. This would only be compounded with Yoko being in the same space. Yoko, if Jun was being honest, was not going to be a threat. That said, it had been a minute since their spar, and there was no telling how or in what way she had improved. "I don't know what your angle's at, but I'm not going to follow your lead," she says to her temporary partner, Rahul. Jun didn't know a lot about him, but based on a few things she did know he seemed to be cutthroat. "This is a match I'm not taking seriously. Those are underclassmen, and the most I'm concerned about is giving them enough of a challenge so they can grow. If you can handle Michael, I'll take Yoko." She took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. She wasn't used to this many people watching her, and she determined she didn't like it. Yet another reason to not take it seriously; just get used to the jeers and shouts, everything else comes second. Samaritan 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲 Yanai Yoko

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✿

[Yanai Yoko]

''Hey, Michael.'' She looked ahead of them as she stepped into the ring, eyeing up their opponents with a more grumpy than usual facial expression. ''Isn't this total bullshit to you?'' She gestured at their opponents with one hand, the other already holding her umbrella over her head as a small cloud was pouring rain on her. ''We're first years, right? Why the hell are our opponents more skilled than us? Shouldn't we be fighting someone on our own level? It's total bullshit. The school set us up to look bad in front of everyone. Someone on the school board hates us I'm telling you.'' She tapped her foot impatiently, itching for a cigarette but she knew there was no time for it before the match.

''I was just starting to take this hero thing a little more seriously too, but there's no chance we can win against them.'' She knew Jun was strong from their previous sparring match, and while she knew next to nothing about Rahul, it was safe to assume he was strong too just because he had gone to the school for longer. She was both frustrated for herself, that she hadn't improved more and that they were already faced with a difficult fight, but she was especially frustrated for Michael who was trying to make it big as a hero, and now they were walking right into a doomed match. ''Senpai is gonna want to keep her distance from us.'' She pointed at Jun, then at Rahul. ''Don't know that guy, but he looks like a shithead. You got any intel on him?'' She looked up at Michael, focusing on getting herself ready for the fight and getting her emotions in check to make the cloud go away.

Samaritan
junsuina
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Stacked Odds

Michael was doing some stretching as he pulled on his arms while he and Yoko entered the ring. Being practically all rubber and air, he wasn't needing to limber up his joint or muscles, but it did help stretch his latex-like body to be ready for much bigger inflations faster. "I don't know. These are all just for fun anyway, right?" Michael was not taking this competition very competitively. Especially with Yoko by his side, this felt more like a game than an exhibition. "Besides, think of how strong we are together. Perhaps these two are at our level together." Michael said optimistically.

Michael had faced off against Jun earlier in the year in a sparring match and despite how he had managed to hold his own against her then, he could only assume that she had gotten stronger as exponentially as he had. "I sparred against Kanjo-senpai earlier this year but I've never met the other guy before. I'm sure he's probably a very nice guy especially if he's teamed up with Kanjo-senpai." Michael said brightly.

This definitely would be an uphill battle, especially with Michael not directly attacking anyone. Even as a sparring match, Michael did not want to cause any pain, even though he had seen first hand how difficult that was to face against Jun. Still Michael was confident. He had his friend by his side, nothing was going to bring him down. He reached down and gently squeezed Yoko's hand supportively. "We got this. Together." Michael smiled down at his small friend.

Notes & Tags: Yanai Yoko | junsuina | 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲

TLDR:

[𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲]

An unlucky draw. I had to assume that after I griefed Farrin in one of the competitions, disregarding my score to ensure a middle performance on his end, the teachers actively separated us. I had only signed up in as many events as I had to measure ourselves against eachother, and, more importantly, his father. Instead I found myself partnered with Jun facing off against students I hadn’t seen. In my brief stay at UAU I had only had the luxury of researching my fellow third years and a few second years.

From what little I knew of Jun, she was an awful judge of character. But to compare this to a training exercise against teachers and professionals? I stopped myself when I realized I was going to levy the same criticism. The only difference was in the strength of our quirks. I made bunnies… she made artillery. If anyone needed to hold back, it was her.

“We’re on the same page then,” We didn’t work well together anyway. I worked well with everyone but with the nature of her quirk, its versatility, and her desire to not cooperate… it wasn’t worth the effort. I’d focus on something on something reasonable. Like how they thought.

“This is a day 2v2 not two separate 1v1s. When they work together and eliminate us don’t blame me,” I already accepted defeat. Jun would be our downfall. “I’m not trying to win.”

---

junsuina Yanai Yoko Samaritan

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun looked at Rahul, frowning. There were two major pieces she wanted to drop on him, but decided against it. Apart from Michael being flexible enough to negate anything she could do, her primary reason for figuring the matchup this way was a simple solution to defeat them in detail. As mean as it was, Jun was confident she could beat Yoko easily, with a ring out no less. With that out of the way, the two of them could focus on Michael. But again, she wasn't worried about winning. She just wanted to test their skills. The moment the match began Jun pushed off her back foot, a legionnaire shield forming in her right hand as she singled out Yoko, bringing it down on her. If she didn't get out of the way in time, she'd be effectively pinned to the ground. "Sorry, Yoko, you're going to have to deal with me for a bit!" Jun didn't quite have that intensity in her face yet, but her usual anxiety-riddled self wasn't present for the time being. Bringing her other hand up, she'd generate another shield, a round one this time, a few meters away from her in order to keep Michael at bay. She could track two opponents, but she was putting herself in a position where she could easily be overwhelmed. She had to be mindful of all their actions from now on. junsuina,Yanai Yoko,Samaritan,𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲,

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✿

[Yanai Yoko]

''Your optimism is almost infectious. Almost.'' She concluded, still having a bad feeling about this match up. ''Now that you mention it.'' She put a hand up to her chin. ''Senpai is a nerd, which means she wouldn't just team with anyone. Not unless they were randomly assigned. If they were good friends I feel like we would have seen them sit together more.'' She looked at his hands as he squeezed hers, then she looked up at his head where his eyes would be. ''Together.'' She squeezed his hand back.

Time to do their best and put on a show for the audience.

''One more thing.'' She addressed Michael, but she was looking ahead at their opponents. ''Don't get close to Senpai, she hates that shit. We'll find a way to beat her from a distance.'' She took her hands out of her pockets and tossed her umbrella aside. She wasn't the type to say good luck to her opponents or anything like that. Hell, even if she was she was far too nervous to remember to do it before the bell rang.

Imagine her surprise when the dont-get-close-to-Jun rule was immediately broken, not by her, not by Michael, but by Jun herself?? Tapping into her mix of shock and anger, Yoko immediately activated her quirk and transformed, bringing her hands up to push against the shield, making Jun's plan a success. ''What the hell are you doing you idiot? Back off!!'' She commanded Jun, pushing against the shield as hard as she could so long as she knew she wasn't too close to the edge of the ring. ''Samaritan, don't worry about me! Watch out for that other guy!''

junsuina
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲
Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Pulling Focus

"Right. Don't get close." Michael reiterated. However, Michael wasn't sure if this was going to be best approach for dealing with her. After all Jun's quirks could be used rather seamlessly from a distance, but their quirks required closer range to be more effective. Michael wasn't able to get much thought over that as the match started and Jun rushed into the fray right away. She charged towards Yoko already trying to single her out.

"Oniki!" Michael shouted as he tried to move towards his friend. However a round shield light construct formed in front of him to block his path. They were already trying to isolate them. Michael couldn't let that happen. He was unsure of what the other upperclassman could do, but the only way they were gonna stand a chance was by staying together.

Michael began bouncing his way to side, trying to pull Jun's attention in two directions as he would attempt to out pace her shield. Circling around her back would likely give Yoko some more leverage to act back against Jun's quirk and hopefully allow him to get back near his ally. But this was bounding him straight towards Rahul in doing so.

Notes & Tags: Yanai Yoko | junsuina | 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲

TLDR: Tries to bounce around towards the back side of Jun to pull her attention in two directions and out pace her shield, moving straight towards Rahul.

[𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲]

Jun heeded my warning: the shield wasn’t meant to stop Michael, but slow him down. She had seen the speeds I was capable of during our exhibition against the teachers — she knew I could keep up with her, especially with a gambit as risky as this one. Victory wasn’t her priority, meaning the overwhelming arsenal she could have levied at them would remain nothing more than a trump card. Let’s see if she meant it. Did winning not matter to her?

To me, it didn’t. None of my actions were fueled by my desire to win. Tossing a bunny from my hand to intercept Michael’s path was a coincidence. Duplicating it into a dozen more before dissipating them into black smoke, obstructing their view and providing a brief veil of heat, was a slip of the finger. And waiting on the other side of the veil was a testament to something I cared about more than winning: my strength.

I prided myself in my ability to work with anyone. My quirk wasn’t designed for combat, but I trained to find an answer to every solution. With Jun’s commentary, I decided blunt force would be weak against the man. I didn’t carry knives or a sword… and using a blade during a spar was overkill. Instead, I’d get him talking.

“I’ve a question,” What kind of hero was he? “What do you represent?” Some people cared about money, some fame, and some power. There were countless reasons to be a hero and most of them were selfish. “If I like your answer, I won’t get in the way of the 2v1. Otherwise…”

Within the smoke there was a single, hidden bunny. If his answer bored me, I’d have it bite him and — much to my dismay — work alongside Jun.

---

junsuina Yanai Yoko Samaritan

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... A smirk crossed Jun's face as she felt Yoko push back, immediately forced to give some ground as in her current state she was stronger than Jun. "Where's the fun in that? Everyone at home will think this is a boring fight if I just ring the two of you out with big guns. Plus, I'm not wanting to be a hero for the attention. I want to see what you guys can do!" Michael was right that he was splitting Jun's attention. The shield followed dutifully, a fraction of a second behind him as it followed. There was only so much she could do, and she had to have enough faith that Rahul was able to keep his attention. At least, she hoped. Pushing herself back, she swung the edge of the shield at Yoko in the hopes it'd catch her unaware, long enough to at least daze her. "Eyes up, feet shoulder width apart. C'mon, get your stance right!" junsuina,Yanai Yoko,Samaritan,𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲,

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✿

[Yanai Yoko]

''I-I'm fine!'' She shouted back at Michael. She couldn't be out here making him worry five seconds into the match, what kind of aniki would she be if she couldn't stand on her own? It shouldn't matter who she was fighting. First years, senpais or hell even villains. She knew what Jun was capable of. Shouldn't that make her feel all the more prepared to face her? ''Everyone at home will think this is a cop out! They're expecting something aren't they? Give the people what they want and stop wasting their time!'' A small part of her did appreciate what Jun was doing, but she couldn't say or show it. ''No one gives a shit about us! We're freshman, we'll have years to do this, don't pretend like you're doing us a favor by holding back!'' From the looks of it she might have just convinced her shithead friend of doing the same. She only saw it out of the corner of her eye, but the guy was barely moving around while Michael was going all-out to help distract Jun.

When Jun swung the edge of the shield at her, she just barely managed to avoid it by taking a step back. She wasn't just angry at Jun she was livid. Her senpai had very clearly communicated a personal boundary with her. One Yoko had never wanted to break not for anything in the world. Yet here she was, taunting her with that very same thing Yoko refused to do.

Until now.

With the step back she had taken Yoko swung her fist forward, trying to catch Jun with a counterpunch. ''You leave me no choice, idiot!''

Samaritan
junsuina
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

So Over This

As Michael was making his way around Jun to back up Yoko, a sudden cloud of smoke formed in his path. Michael jumped back cautiously in surprise. Past the billowing smoke, Michael could see the silhouette of someone. He could only assume it was the upperclassmen he didn't know. Clementine-san?Raul-senpai? Michael wish he had read the match brief a little more closely...

Through the smoke, Rahul begins to speak. He asked Michael about his ideals? What was Michael trying to be a hero for? Normally this would be Michael's favorite topic. He would talk at length about the dream of ending villainy through understanding and support, how violence only begets violence, how most criminals are just desperate and afraid. However... Yoko was getting singled out by Kanjo-senpai and Michael needed to back her up.

"I'm really sorry! I'd love to talk about this but I don't really have time for this." Michael apologized to Rahul as he suddenly jumped towards the cloud of smoke and inflated himself like a helium balloon, taking off into the sky rapidly as his body expanded more to float him over the smokey blockade. "SWORRY!" Michael called down to Rahul while he drifted upwards.

Now above the arena and the action, Michael could see his companion only to hear her shout at him that she was fine. Michael felt like he should continue to try and back her up... but he knew how big a moment this must be for her. She likely wanted to impress their senpai and he'd just get in the way if he jumped in... He could only hope for the best for her.

However all this inaction, made him kind of a big floating target over the area.

Notes & Tags: Yanai Yoko,junsuina,𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲,Samaritan,

TLDR: Michael reluctantly ignored the desire to explain to Rahul what he represented in great passion so he could focus on getting to Yoko. So he inflated himself like a helium balloon to float over the obstacle, only to hear Yoko tell him she's fine and deciding to let her face this alone for now... which made him kind of a big floating target.

[𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲]

Yoko had something to prove. And in turn, did Jun’s job for her. By separating and fighting one on one, she guaranteed our victory. Even if Bloons managed to get past me, it’d give us ample time to leverage something more than the power gap — the experience gap. Nonetheless, I had to keep myself entertained. The boy was creative but that spontaneous thinking put him in a compromised position.

So, I’d take advantage by throwing a single rabbit into the air toward him. It’d try to cling onto him in whatever way it could. And once it latched on, whether to the rubber(?) or to his pants leg, they’d start to duplicate in a particular way that’d weigh him down away from the arena.

Let’s see what he does here.

But it wasn’t a slow, delicate descent. The bunny would turn from one to two to four to sixteen and so on in a matter of moments. It’d be a horrific crash unless he pulled some kind of trick out of his hat. And if worse came to worse, I had countermeasures in store, too.

“You know, it’s not too late to talk.” Now that he was expressly forbidden from helping his partner… “We have all the time in the world.” Poor timing on my part. Or rather, sadistic timing.

---

junsuina | Yanai Yoko | Samaritan

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... "This isn't the only match I'm participating in today. As much as I don't care about what other people want to see, if they want a show they can tune in then. Besides-" The punch made Jun pause, and getting the shield up in time would be sent backwards, rubber soles digging into the arena. A smirk crossed her features as that same alter ego began to bubble to the surface again. "Who said I was holding back?" While this was a light lie for Yoko's benefit, the underlying fact was this: Jun wasn't here to take this match seriously. The fight going on behind her, having escalated enough where Jun didn't have to keep tabs on it, was something she was going to let Michael figure out. He was smart and creative enough not only with his fighting style, but also his quirk where she was confident he would be capable to slip out of whatever machinations Rahul sent his way. The second shield, therefore, was going to become a discus thrown Yoko's way. No matter how the ogre reacted, Jun would bring up her current shield and, morphing it, created a pair of bucklers in either hand. She lacks style, and she can't maintain that form for long...I need to force her to act quickly if she's going to get any growth out of this! Closing the gap once again, she'd come in with her boxer's style and give her a few jabs, probing what defenses she had up. junsuina,Yanai Yoko,Samaritan,𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲,

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✿

[Yanai Yoko]

''So, what is this to you? Are we just warm up? An excuse to stretch your muscles before the big game?'' That determined look in Jun's eyes was infuriating, almost more infuriating than her dorky side. ''I don't know shit about being a hero. I'll be the first person to admit that, I didn't choose this profession.'' She gestured wildly at Jun, then Rahul and Michael. ''But this? Is this what you call heroism? You upperclassmen and seniors are supposed to have it all figured out by now, right? Then start acting like you do.'' Hell, if she wasn't fighting alongside Michael she would have jumped out of bounds by her own volition already. ''Michael, don't you dare lose to that bunny shithead!'' She shouted across the arena to encourage her friend with some harsh words and insult one of their opponents.

When Jun's other shield turned into a discus headed right for her, she narrowly ducked out of the way, only to find herself cornered and forced into a defensive position once more as Jun used both bucklers to enhance the durability of her hits. With little time to act, Yoko brought her arms up to protect herself. How the hell was she supposed to find an opening in this fight? Jun was basically a god tier opponent with an insane arsenal, bunny guy over there wasn't even breaking a sweat, this had all been rigged from the start. If only she had trained more, if only she was stronger. If only she wasn't such a failure.

After the few jabs Jun threw her way Yoko finally lost her balance, falling to her knees, panting as her quirk turned off. Only, Yoko had turned it off pretending that she had reached her limit. What she was waiting for now was for Jun to fall for her trick. ''Is this fun for you, senpai?'' Her body felt sore all-over, but she eventually looked up at Jun. ''If this is who you really are, then why bother with that shitty facade?'' While she was taking a risk with her quirk, the emotions were all real and she was genuinely upset with how things were turning out. ''Look I'm not-'' She struggled to find the words and started shaking, as if she was getting the cold trembles from her drawback. ''I know that I'm a piece of shit. I know that the school would be a better place without me, but I didn't sign up to be a sideshow act, and neither did Michael!''

junsuina, 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲, Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Impact Event

As Michael floated above the scene, he could see Yoko and Jun talking, to put it nicely. From Yoko's body language, he didn't have to hear to know she was getting frustrated and angry. Michael was unsure what to do, since normally when Yoko got like this he would be there to talk her down, but he didn't know where to draw the line if she could actually handle this without his support...

However these thoughts came to an abrupt stop as something clung to his leg, and then more, and more. Michael looked down to see these ashy little dust bunnies clinging to his leg, and what was worse was they were multiplying. Not like rabbits, they were full on splitting like cells and doubling rapidly. Michael inflated himself more and more, trying to compensate for the growing weight. It was quickly becoming a struggle that Michael would be bound to lose at this rate, until an angry little voice shouted up at him:

''Michael, don't you dare lose to that bunny shithead!''

Like a light switch clicked in Michael. This wasn't about winning, this wasn't about standing up against upperclassmen, this wasn't even about putting on a good performance for the audience. Yoko was counting on him. He had to prove that he was able to stand up with Yoko, with Oniki. That he wouldn't be dead weight just because he didn't want to hurt people. He could still fight back even if he didn't fight.

Michael continued to push himself harder to inflate and fill with more and more helium. As more of the bunnies formed Michael wasn't even gaining any altitude, he was just barely floating as the mass of rabbit grew. When Michael couldn't take inflate another cubic inch, he released it all. Michael gritted his teeth in pain as the rapid deflation nearly felt like popping, but he couldn't focus on the pain, because it wasn't over yet. It hadn't been an attempt to keep floating despite the grow weight, it had been about gathering that weight to then drop with gravity.

"ONIKI! MOVE!"

Michael and the mass of rabbits fell like a massive stone, dropping straight down into the center of the arena, impacting with force of all of those bunnies smashing into the stage.

Notes & Tags: Yanai Yoko ,junsuina ,𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲 ,Samaritan ,

TLDR: Michael, not wanting to let down Yoko, kept inflating himself with the rabbits duplicating on his leg, building up more and more of them until he could deflate rapidly and drop down the mass of bunnies like a giant weight into the center of the stage.