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[color=pink]"Uuuugh! Where did they go!?"[/color] Mamoru had been following Ruby and her new friend Persia for a short while before Persia teleported them away. At first it was a bit exciting trying to find them, but the pinkette had no clue where they went. And it's not as if portals left some sort of signature for Mamoru to follow. Ten minutes or so into the search and she couldn't find either of the two girls anywhere. Mamoru was just running around flapping her arms behind her as she tried to look for them but honestly now she was just wandering around. She sighed as she found herself walking through a garden area so she was taking in the sights and sounds. Birds chirping. Bugs buzzing. That sort of thing.

It was times like this that Mamoru allowed herself to reflect. Normally she didn't like thinking; too much introspective stuff made her confused and uncertain, which in turn made her slow and weak. She didn't like to be either of those things. But now was an okay time to be a little weak. Mamoru looked at her hands as she swung her arms side-to-side. Mamoru wondered how she compared to others. If everyone had to be ranked by power and ability, where did she fall under? She liked to take credit for her work at Training Ground Echo and the previous fight at the Auditorium, but Mamoru knew she didn't do much. And she knew why. People didn't trust her. It wasn't that they were afraid of her, but they didn't think she was strong. And not in body, but in mind.

People always thought Mamoru was stupid because she never did what they said. Whenever they thought they could tell her what to do, she never did it. She liked to think she was being true to herself. People said she couldn't be strong with just a shield. But she's plenty tough. They said she couldn't be a hero. But here she was, training to be a hero. They said she was stupid and she couldn't keep up with others. That, she had no answer for. As Mamoru was wandering around she spotted a spiderweb. A butterfly had been caught. She knelt down and watched the scene unfold as she was talking to herself.

[color=pink]"People have always been there to tell me what I can or can't do. I can't fight, I can't be a hero, I can't do this or that. They always set limits for me. But I always break than. I guess that makes me stupid, since I don't do what people tell me. They think they know me better than I do. Part of me wonders if they're right."[/color] Soon a spider came and started to approach the butterfly who was struggling to get out. [color=pink]"No one really put any faith in me. Not even my parents. When I told them I wanted to be a hero they just told me to be careful. They never encouraged me."[/color] She curled up a bit tighter as she saw the spider start wrapping the butterfly up in it's web. [color=pink]"I'm too dumb. I'm too weak. I'm too slow. Someone's always better than me. That's why I should give up. That's what people say. But I'm still here. I guess it's because I don't understand them."[/color] The butterfly stopped moving as the spider started to eat it. But Mamoru reached out and plucked the butterfly away. it seemed like after it was released from the web, and after Mamoru helped take the spider silk off, it regained it's strength and flew away.

[color=pink]"Nothing really makes sense in the end. I don't try to make sense of it. I just do what I feel like doing and hope that it makes me happy. I think I'm doing a pretty good job at that."[/color] As she watched the butterfly fly away, Mamoru picked up a pillbug and tossed it onto the spider's web. Gotta feed em somehow. Now that Mamoru was done pontificating she skipped off to find something to do somewhere. She stopped by the gym to see if there was any fights going on, since it seems like the Gym has been converted into a makeshift arena. Much to her fortunate, there was! Ruby was fighting Amane even. [color=pink]"Ooooooh! Round two! Round two!"[/color] Mamoru walked in and headed towards the stand where she saw Ms. Mako. Mamoru waved her limp arms at her as she took a seat nearby. [color=pink]"Hellow sensei! I didn't miss much did I?"[/color]

[@pkken][@Silver Carrot][@Melpaws]

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[center][b][h3]Others[/h3][/b][/center]

Meanwhile things were heating up at Komei. The cats have been gathered in an open field and various stations had been erected. Asahi and his supporters stood on one side while Tori and his allies stood on the other. The teacher overseeing the competition was White Hat. He had no stakes in the Komei Collective and thus he was the best teacher to be the neutral arbiter between the two. He understood both sides and could imagine a compromise, however it wasn't his place to make decisions for his students. He would be as impartial as he could be to ensure both sides act fairly and honor their agreement. Also on a panel of judges were different students gathered from the General Studies course. As the General Studies rep was the one who suggested the challenges, it was only right that a few more of his contemporaries acted as judges. Much like White Hat they had no stake in the Komei Collective, though when they heard of it they did have a few thoughts about it. 

There were five judges including the rep who was present at the meeting. Three thought the Komei Collective would be an interesting idea, though only one thought it was something that General Study students could participate in. The other two felt that it would be a better use of the hero student's time to focus on their training and educations instead of trying to dive right into a bastardized version of a hero agency. Running an agency was a complex and difficult thing to do for full-time heroes, let alone part-time students. But they could still be convinced, depending on how things go here.

As they waited Asahi called Hitomi and Tomoe. It was nearly time for the competition to begin, and if they didn't show up within ten minutes they'll be forced to start the first challenge without them. Asahi sent a quick and simple text to the both of them, hoping they'll show up.

[quote]
[b]To[/b]: Maeda Hitomi; Tomoe Kishitmoto
[b]From[/b]: Goroshi Asahi
[b]Subject[/b]: Competition
It's time. Meet us outside of the cafeteria.

[/quote]

[@Silver Carrot][@liferusher]