[Yasu & Yume]

While the exciting games of the Sports Festival was underway, the local gangs of Tokyo were growing more rowdy with the lack of heroes on the streets. Yasu was going to take part in the games himself, but had taken a small detour to get snacks for him and Yume. Everything about him appeared normal, well except for the fact that he was walking down the street having a very audible and authentic argument with the air itself. ''I don't care that you don't like natto, I like natto.'' The grocery bag rustled as he walked. ''I know we share tastebuds, that's why I got you two chocolates- yes, two, we're not going to get full on chocolate before the race. So I bought two chocolate bars and a protein bar.'' He let out a sigh. ''How do you know you don't like them if you haven't even tried them yet? Protein is not a poison you dumbass.'' He raised one arm as if to fend off an unseen attacker. ''Hey cut that out, you're being a big baby!''

In his little argument he hadn't noticed that he was suddenly surrounded by local gang members. None that he knew of, but they clearly had that look about them. ''Hey kid, do you know whose turf you're walking through?'' One of the guys stepped forward, bat over his shoulder. A quick head count told him there was at least ten of them. Jeez, talk about overkill. ''No.'' Yasu shrugged, pointing past the guy to the big Sports Festival area in the distance. ''I was just trying to get back to the festival.''

''Uh huh, and what's that you got there?'' One of the other gang members swiped his grocery bag when he wasn't looking. ''Snacks,'' Yasu frowned, ''I was hungry? Can I go now or are you seriously going to steal from a broke university student?'' He had figured even if he was small and easy to pick on, he wasn't exactly the most lucrative target for a mugging considering he wasn't some rich kid or big business mogul. However, this answer appeared to be the wrong one as the guy that had been speaking to him leaned in and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. ''I don't like your attitude, pipsqueak.'' With ease, Yasu was tossed aside into the wall next to him. ''Now, be a good kid and stay there while we go through your stuff.''

Yasu let out a weak cough as he sat up with his back against the wall. ''I already told you,'' he looked next to him, as if he was speaking to that invisible person again. ''I don't do your whole fighting thing. I don't pick fights if I can help it and I certainly don't win them. We're gonna sit here until they let us leave.''

He felt something slapping the top of his head and let out another sigh. ''I'm not going to tag you in.''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

On her way to the festival herself, Jingjing had fliers tucked under one arm decked out in a blue and white uniform with big yellow buttons and a long tie that swayed as she power-walked along. It'd taken longer than she'd expected to get her costume how she wanted it before heading out and had lost track of time. Who knew it was so hard to get a tie to sit exactly right and keep sleeves from getting all wrinkled? Normally she didn't actually care that much, but being super snazzy and tidy was part of the costume this time! As much of a hurry as she was in she almost didn't notice the brewing conflict, pausing with one leg raised high for a step and tilting her head to the side.

That sure looked like a mugging to her. For the briefest moment she remembered Ando-san trying to dissuade her from vigilantism... giving a mental 'pfft' at that - she hadn't even sought it out this time! Or the last couple times, actually! Was she supposed to just ignore it because it wasn't her problem? She didn't think Ando-san was the kind of person who would disagree that helping someone in trouble was the right thing to do, and besides she wasn't here to be all armored and tall and scary anyways.

Pivoting on her grounded foot Jingjing turned towards the commotion and took a couple more steps before calling out: "O-hay-o! Have you heard of Random Cafe? It has a great spot by the river, plenty of cute employees in all kinds of costumes, and great snacks and service!" With a big beaming smile and a tilt of her head to try and channel her best sales pitch, arm held up and out with a flier towards the taller thug. Eyes half-closed to try and help sell the smile on her face, Jingjing glanced at Yasu out of the very corner of her eye to try and convey that she was attempting to help him out.

Yasu & Yume,

[Yasu & Yume]

''Huh?'' One of the gang members stood up and looked towards Jingjing. ''Random Cafe? Never heard of it, doesn't sound like the kinda place we would wanna go.''

''I've been there! Their coffee is to die for and-'' One of the gang members chimed in, but quickly quieted down when the other one gave them a glare in return. ''We only hang out at tough bars. Tough places for a tough gang, y'know?'' He grabbed the flier and tore it in half in front of her. ''If you don't wanna end up like pipsqueak over there, I suggest you make yourself scarce, missy!'' He tapped his bat against the palm of his hand.

While all of this was going on, all Yasu could think was that this girl must have some kind of death wish to stroll into a situation like this like she was catching up with old friends. When he made eye contact with Jingjing, he made sure to profusely shake his head, as if to say that she shouldn't interfere, that she could just run along and he'd most likely be fine. After all he was a complete non-threat to these thugs and he was a guy too so at best they were just going to shove him around or beat him up, it really wasn't all too different from high school.

''Hey kid!'' One of the gang members took something out of his bag and held it up. ''What's this?''

''Natto.'' He replied simply.

''Ew! You like this stuff? Gross!!''

''Mugging me and insulting my tastebuds. The nerve of these people...'' He muttered to himself, before bonking the air next to him. ''Shut up, you.''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Glancing between one gang member and another, her bright-and-cheerful act briefly became genuine when one of them complimented their coffee and the short girl gave a self-indulgent little mie-xie-xie giggling snicker at the praise for their coffee. And a little bit at how silly the whole tough guy act was. Honestly, what was wrong with liking coffee or costume cafes? But then her good mood faded when one of the thugs tore up her flier right in front of her, and had the nerve to threaten her on top of that! With... what, exactly, she wasn't sure. Glancing in sincere confusion at Yasu, ignoring the shake of his head, she gave him a scrutinizing once over with a slight squint of her eyes and a scrunch of her nose she failed to see anything wrong that had been done to him at all. Although now that she was looking she noticed something and turned back to the gang member to ask: "Even shorter?"

She wasn't trying to be mean, but maybe this guy had some kind of shrinks-you Quirk? That thought put her a bit on edge, shifting her feet to be ready to move at a moments notice. She couldn't afford to get any shorter than she already was!

Then the whole natto reveal happened, a grossed out face flashing across her face even as she chimed in to defend him with her hands on her hips. "That's right! Just because he likes slimey, rotted beans that smell like a dumpster and talks to himself doesn't mean you should insult him over it! Didn't your parents teach you any manners? Or are you just not 'tough enough' to eat natto?"

Yasu & Yume,

[Yasu & Yume]

Now his back hurt, and he didn't even do anything to deserve getting mugged by these gang members. Man, he just wanted his snacks before the games began. He narrowed his eyes at the stranger as she brought up the even shorter part. Was that a dig at his height? The world was being absolutely ruthless to him today. Then when she started describing natto in the most unflattering way possible he could feel his anger building. ''Oi, you're not helping! It's not about being tough it's about liking a certain flavor! Besides, you're making me sound like a nutcase!''

...

''Shut up, Yume you're not funny!''

The gang member with the bat reached out to try and grab Jingjing by the scruff of her jacket. ''That's it, you're pissing me off.'' He would sneer, before trying to pick her up so he could toss her towards Yasu, condemned to be put in timeout while they went about doing whatever posturing they needed to do on their territory. Lowering his voice slightly while the gang members talked amongst themselves, Yasu would look at Jingjing. ''If you're gonna fight don't involve me, I'm not a fighter, I'm not strong.'' He let out a small sigh. ''I have a quirk that could get us out of here... But I don't know how to activate it.''

A lightbulb went off in his head as Yume said something only he could hear. ''Yume says she knows how.''

...

''Are you insane?'' He looked over as if someone was sitting next to him. ''That's hardly a reliable way to activate it. Besides, you've taken control before while I wasn't in any danger. Sorry, we.'' He grumbled, looking back at Jingjing again. ''She says I need to put my life in danger, that will force the switch.'' He didn't sound thrilled about the idea at all though.

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Jingjing tipped her head to the side at Yasu's response, chiming back "I'm saying its okay to like bad things?" half to him and half to the thugs to see if they had any better idea what she had said wrong. Maybe this guy was one of those if-I-like-it-it-has-to-be-great types? She liked lots of bad things, and didn't mind admitting it! But more importantly the guy was still talking to himself and making himself sound like a nutcase - but she was willing to give him some benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he was a telepath talking to a friend? Or maybe a friend was a telepath talking to him? Or maybe he was wearing a wire? Ooooh maybe he was actually undercover?

Distracted by her thoughts she wasn't paying attention as one of the thugs grabbed her jacket, snapping her head down to frown as she stared at his hands. "Hey, watch the suit, the wrinkles took forever to get ou-" and then she was being tossed towards Yasu. Instincts kicked in and she tucked her arms in close to her body and legs close together and turned her toss into a shockingly elegant little twirl... but was going to fail to stick the landing and flop unceremoniously on the ground if nothing intervened. Either way she'd murmur a "Oof", more at her outfit being scuffed up than anything else before turning her attention to Yasu. She had no idea who Yume was, or what he was talking about, but if he didn't mind using his Quirk to fight off some thugs? She didn't mind encouraging it!

"Well, these guys look pretty mad. You're pretty mad, right guys?" She asked, getting some yells of "No shit!" and "Of course!" and one "Not rea-" before that one got silenced with a bop to the shoulder. Nodding at the confirmation, she got ready to hype herself up. Being tossed had actually helped a bit. "So since they're mad they probably won't just rob you, they'll beat you and maybe even maim you and who knows what else!" Jingjing gave a little 'bleh' sound at the horror-movie-tier images she put in her own head, ready to transform at a moments notice if she had to.

If his Quirk worked anything like hers, imagining what horrible things might be done to them would definitely trigger flight-or-fight pretty hard.

Yasu & Yume,

[Yasu & Yume]

''And I'm saying they're not bad, idiot.'' He hadn't even realized, but he was starting to bicker with the stranger too. Wasn't he lowkey hoping to be saved by this person? He watched as she came sailing towards him, refusing to move an inch as she flopped onto the ground. What was he supposed to do, be all heroic-like and catch her? For starters, he was both smaller in stature and less muscular than her, and who knows what kind of injury he might incur before the Sports Festival if he tried something stupid.

''Are you trying to taunt them on purpose? You really do have a death wish, don't you?'' He asked it with the most bombastic side eye he could be bothered to muster too. ''Yeah, I was trying not to think about that.'' He stood up, dusting himself off when Yume spoke to him.

''No, no! She's got the right idea!! Go piss them off and get that bat guy to swing for your head!''

''And why would I do that exactly?''

''Hey little missy! You don't get to dictate how mad we are, or how much we're going to maim the both of you!''

''Yeah that's right!''

''That's why we're going to beat you up, not because you said it, but because we want to!''

Charging forward, the gang members raised their weapons and against his own better judgment, Yasu ran in to meet them halfway, one of the members swinging for him, but just mere moments before the weapon connected, he felt a jolt of electricity surge through him as he lost control of his body, his eyes turned neon green and Yume came to life.

''Woo! It's a fight!! I'm getting fired up already!'' She laughed, ducking under the bat swing before leaping up and kicking the thug in the nards. ''Critical hit!'' She reared her hand back when the thug doubled over and slapped him in the face. It was just an ordinary slap, but she made sure to shout the name of one of her signature moves. ''Sparking Fireball Slap!''

Much to Yume's dismay, no fireball came out of her hands. ''Yasuuu, when are you gonna learn how to shoot fire?'' She shook her hands before turning to look at Jingjing with a big grin. ''You there, brave heroine, shall we join forces for the time being and beat back the Dark Lord's forces together?''

This time Yasu was taking a backseat and he was slowly dying inside watching all this unfold. ''Are you kidding? Ordinary humans don't shoot fire dumbass, I told you a million times.''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Being called an idiot didn't bother her, not when it was in that bickering-y tone anyways. If she didn't get tossed she probably would have bickered right back, but she did and then she was attempting to dust herself off as she got to her feet. Her costume wasn't ruined but it was definitely getting more frumpy by the minute! And did these jerks even know how hard it was to get any kind of dust out of white sleeves? Returning the side-eyed look Yasu gave her, Jingjing would have pointed out that making an enemy lose their cool was a pretty common tactic but the thugs had apparently been provoked plenty at this point.

"That's the spirit!" She brought one hand up into the air, other hand up near her mouth like she was cheering Yasu on from the sidelines as he charged in and showed some really slick moves that he didn't normally look capable of. The complete 180 in voice and attitude was a surprise too. With a big poof mid-cheer her mane and horns came out, pushing her collar open as she took a wider stance to get ready to headbutt some thugs.

"I'm not a heroine, actually! Just a girl that works at a cafe!" She declared before throwing her stack of fliers in the face of one of the gang members about to swing at her before ramming them right in the gut.

Yasu & Yume,

[Yasu & Yume]

''Now, now, Just a girl! Being a hero has nothing to do with vocation and everything to do with your can-do spirit!!'' She held a fist high up over her head as if she was striking a pose, giving the world her best million dollar smile in the process.

''Actually, in our world, being a hero is a whole formal process that requires years of training and paperwork and-''

''It's a feeling! You chose to come out here and help us, right? No one told you to intervene? That was your heroic spirit, Just a girl!'' She flashed Jingjing a thumbs up, completely disregarding Yasu's voice in the back of her mind. ''Yeah girl, put some more oomph into it! We're going to get so much EXP we might just level up from this encounter.'' Yume smiled arrogantly.

''Where are you getting EXP from?''

''From our EXP bar obviously, don't you see it?''

''We don't have an EXP bar, Yume.''

''Nevertheless, your evil deeds are going to be halted on this day, minions of the dark forces!''

''Uh, what?''

''You are standing in the presence of Sparking Girl, The Magical Fire Warrior Princess Hero, Yume!'' She struck another pose and made jazz hands at the gang members. This time lowering her voice to quickly add, ''Normally this is where I use sparkler magic, but you'll just have to imagine it since we don't have any mana left. ~''

''I've never had mana and magic isn't real. And hey, could you not fight them Yume? We don't have a provisional license. We're gonna get in trouble.''

Just when the fight was turning in Jingjing and Yume's favor, a giant monstrosity of a person came lumbering around the corner. The man was so tall he might as well be some kind of giant. His mutation was rather unique, as he had two heads with one eye each and sharp fangs, almost like some kind of two-headed cyclops. He didn't say anything, just let out a groan and stared at the group idly. ''Th-That's Otawa the Cruel!''

''That's a boss encounter! We're not ready to take those on, Just a girl, we're getting out of here!'' Yume didn't really ask for Jingjing's permission and just scooped her up and began bolting down the street at her top speed, running until they were safe and she could put Jingjing down.

''Another fight won by the strongest adventurer.'' Yume smiled to herself, wiping sweat off her brow. ''And her amiable heroine sidekick!'' She offered Jingjing a hand to help her stand after having dumped her on the ground herself.

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

As it turned out, Quirk-activated-Yasu talked to himself too. Or herself? That introduction definitely seemed like this... personality? Mode-swap? Jingjing wasn't sure and if they weren't in the middle of a fight she'd have been curious enough to ask about exactly what was up with them. Was it a body-jacker Quirk taking over to help? Mind control from a telepathic friend? A split personality Quirk? All those speculative thoughts suddenly came crashing to a halt with Otawa's arrival on the scene, Jingjing craning her head up and leaning back to stare at the towering two headed figure.

"Big..." Was her summary, envisioning getting brutally crushed or torn apart by the not-quite-giant. Locking up like a deer in headlights, Yume had no issue at all scooping her up and making a break for it. Snapping out of it, she let herself get carried off to safety... and karma came back to punish her for her laziness when she found herself unceremoniously dropped on the floor again. With another "Oof", Jingjing accepted the helping hand to get to her feet and took a moment to make an attempt at straightening out her costume and getting and dirt off of it as best she could. "Well, I mean, we didn't get hurt, got in a couple hits in before leaving, and 'prevent you from being robbed or maimed' was the win condition, right?"

Giving them a thumbs up and then tilting her head to one side, she gave a bow - horns still jutting out from the sides of her head - and introduced herself. "I'm Fan Jingjing, by the way, and I really do work at a costume cafe with a nice view by the river."

She'd lost all her fliers and the girls would call her lazy if she didn't at least try to drum up a little bit of business!

Yasu & Yume,