[center][h1][color=#F50A83]Fumika,[/color] [color=#c9c916]Haruka,[/color] [color=007236]Jett[/color] and [color=steelblue]Kenichi[/color][/h1]
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Fumika nodded repeatedly, returning each of Yoshida’s rather enthusiastic statements about the show with a very authoritative nod of affirmation. Her expression was still as serious as ever, but there was something about the way she looked, as if her bright blue eyes were sparkling in a way they usually didn’t. As he jumped energetically from one thing to the next, she made an admirable effort to keep pace - not just mentally, but physically as well, mimicking each pose he made in turn, and giving a rather sympathetic wince as he overexerted himself. Immediately, she dropped the little mirror game, and before she’d quite realized it herself, she had already taken two steps closer to him, her hand half-raised, uncertain whether it would be alright to reach out to him any further.

[color=#F50A83]“...Are you-”[/color] She began, but trailed off into silence as he grinned and just kept talking, passing over his momentary slip-up as if it was nothing. Perhaps she should have allowed this to convince her that he really was fine, that nothing was wrong and everything was back to normal. And yet, she couldn’t do that. He’d been hurt somehow, and he wouldn’t - no, “couldn’t” - tell her why. And now he was trying to act like it hadn’t happened at all. Was it wrong of her to worry?

The clear look of concern in Fumika's eyes had momentarily shocked Kenichi. Not because he thought she was uncaring at all, but to some degree that was part of it--rather, it seemed a very intense and [i]real[/i] emotion from the girl. Not just something she was imitating. He knew she had real emotions, but at this point he was more used to reading them in her hair's slight movements than in her face. For her to show something of her own...and specifically [i]for him[/i]...


She stepped back, her hand dropping back to her side. As usual, she couldn’t find the answer. All she could do was listen and observe. Yoshida was happy with this, right? They might have been friends, but that didn’t give her any right to stick her nose into his private business and make a nuisance of herself. If Yoshida was satisfied, she would just have to be satisfied with this much as well.

So, she listened patiently in silence as he continued. She didn’t really have much experience with foreign movies and TV shows, so she took his word for it, but something he said stuck out to her, words immediately joining with an all-too-familiar question.

[color=#F50A83]“‘What makes a Hero...’ I see. That is important. Haruka taught me that first.”[/color] She began by seemingly parroting him, but then shook her head, a slight smile crossing her face for just a moment as she answered cryptically. No, that wasn’t quite how she remembered the question going.

Then she showed Kenichi a new imitation, but he didn't quite know who it was she was imitating. And there was something different about this one too--because anyone could do an imitation. They might not be great at it, but anyone could memorize a line or a pose. This, however, was something deeper.

In other words, anyone could read a quote off a page or recite it from memory. Only someone who internalized it could make it part of their life, could [i]live[/i] it. Or try to do so. And Fumika had done that with whatever this was. With whoever had given this to her. So this--

Unexpectedly, Fumika raised a hand once more before her face, sweeping it dramatically in front of her as she spoke with an energy and a power that was not her own, her voice echoing suddenly in the empty common room.

[color=#F50A83]“Then, I ask of you: what is a Hero?”[/color]

She stared seriously at Yoshida, hand outstretched as if beckoning him, entirely still as if frozen in time, save for that single strand of hair atop her head that continued to wobble excitedly back and forth. Her faintly luminescent gaze was utterly fixed on his face, as if expectant of something. And yet, when the answer to her question came, it wasn’t from herself or from Yoshida, but rather...

--so this could only be from one person.

He started to reach out his own hand to her, just like she had done...although in his case it was almost a matter of being overcome by the sheer ~cool~ of the situation. But just then--

[color=#c9c916]“A sword of justice against the wicked!”[/color] The bombastic, rougher, more tomboyish voice that answered her question in equally melodramatic form was unmistakable. Fumika’s gaze immediately swerved to the left, focusing on the side-door of the dorm’s common room, which swung quietly closed behind two figures. The shorter of the two was currently nudging the taller boy whose arm she was leaning against with a prodding elbow. [color=#c9c916]“Oi, she stole my part and now we’re all out of order, so you get the third line. C’mon, hurry it up before you ruin my entrance.”[/color]

When they walked in and Jett heard the upbeat question that came from Fumika’s mouth he closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. Haruka mentioned teaching Fumika their ...well...her thing. But he kinda wished it wasn’t true. But soon Haruka pipped up even more upon hearing her favorite saying. 

While he was enjoying Haruka leaning on him, he took the sharp elbow in stride. Wincing as only to the fact he knew what was coming up. He looked directly at Haruka as she quickly started with the second line with a blank look. After all these years… she was still into this? But her eyes had that sparkle again in them like they did before. 

He sighed and closed his eyes upon her ‘request’ deciding to indulge her and while puffing his chest up half heartedly a flush of red come up on his cheeks as he was about to do this infront of Kenichi and Fumika. His cred was going to soon plummet after this. Kenichi, meanwhile, dropped his jaw as he clapped both hands to his cheeks. Then he recognized a third person, who added their own line...

[color=007236]”A...shield that...doesn’t falter?"[/color] He said in a voice just slightly over monotone as if he thought he knew the line but suddenly got confused And blanked the rest of it. His face only growing more red as He looked to Haruka with a look of [color=007236][i]‘why do you do this to me…’ [/i][/color] 

"OH MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Kenichi's hands dragged down his face like he was going to rip his own cheeks off. He turned to Fumika with childlike, glittering eyes. "THAT'S SO COOL YOU WERE TOTALLY IN SYNC EVEN THOUGH THEY MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONVERSATION OR SOMETHING." Then he turned towards Haruka with the same look, his fists bobbing rapidly up and down as he practically bounced in place with budding energy. "HARUKA-SAN DO YOU GUYS DO THAT EVERY TIME YOU SEE EACH OTHER!? BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T YOU NEED TO!" And then he turned towards Jett, and all the energy went away. Shaking his head, he put a reassuring--if bandaged--hand on the teleporter's shoulder. He had to noticeably reach to do so but he put a great deal of effort into trying to ignore his own shortness.

"But Jett-kun, bro, the line is great but the delivery friggin' TANKED. It's gotta be more like...Well, I ain't good enough with words so I'll just show ya!"

Jett looked at the guy blankly… these two would get along Waaaaaay to well…. He shrugged off his arm and said [color=007236]“To be honest… It wasn’t even my line….”[/color] He said trying to make up a slight excuse under his breath. 

He took a shallow breath, just enough to generate enough wind that his hair went Super-Saiyan-ish...Then he leaped up a full meter, doing a backflip onto the stair railing in a three-point crouch, and coming up with an upraised fist that punched out as if at an imaginary camera somewhere beyond the other three's shoulders.

"A FIST, THAT BREAKS THROUGH THE LIMIT!"

He stood there for a moment, exhaling through his nostrils to keep that dramatic breeze going...and then he grimaced again, more noticeably this time...and a few spots of blood started to well up under the bandages on his clenched hand. He quickly hid it, pretending that the motion was part of a turn away from the others as he--much more gingerly--climbed down the stairs the normal way.

"Ah, but I guess my finish needs work too, heh." he said, looking up with a sheepish grin. Then he blinked and seemed to return to normal, or whatever passed for normal with Kenichi. "Sorry guys, got overexcited there." He nodded to Haruka, "The name's Yoshida Kenichi." Then his gaze took her and Jett in equally, the memory of the last time he'd seen them talking tickling at his mind but quickly being washed away by the present moment. "Me and Motome-chan were just catchin' up! We'd just been talking about Kamen Rider when y'all walked in."

Haruka blinked, watching first in slight surprise and confusion - the blue-haired boy had, after all, recognized and addressed her immediately, despite the fact that they hadn’t really spoken during her prior visit. Of course, this wasn’t exactly hard to explain. Fumika had mentioned this particular boy, Yoshida Kenichi, several times before, and she had a feeling that she’d probably also told him about her. While she was glad to thus get introductions out of the way, that reputation of hers was still…

However, these thoughts were very quickly sidetracked as, unexpectedly, the boy not only jumped on board with their routine, he… added his own part? Haruka gave an enthusiastic nod, prodding the tomato-faced teleporter beside her once more in the ribs. Really, it was just too adorable how seriously he tried to take himself. Sure, this was, if you looked at it rationally, little more than a game of make believe she’d played as a kid… But really, what was so wrong with that? Fumika enjoyed it. That was enough for her, even without the rare treat of getting her childhood friend into a fuss. But seeing him to be the one to break for once? Ah, revenge was sweet, indeed.

[color=#c9c916]“See?”[/color] She said with a smug grin. [color=#c9c916]“He gets it. And seriously? You didn’t even keep the lines straight. The third line’s ‘A shield to protect the innocent.’ Then there’s all the stuff about not givin’ up at the end. You can’t just jump straight to the finish, or you’ll throw off everyone’s coordination!”[/color] She nodded several times to herself. [color=#c9c916]“Mm-hm, mm-hm,”[/color] She declared theatrically, her posture going rigid as she did her best to waddle on her shaky plastic leg away from Jett such that she could get a better position, like a drill sergeant overseeing her regiment. [color=#c9c916]“Even if we’re thrown out of order by our start, it’s important to be able to adapt to the situation! Agent Fumi, Yoshida-kun, you both pass with high marks! Squadron Vice-Commander Jett, you could stand to learn a lot from their shining example of dedication and enthusiasm!”[/color]

"Ha! If only we actually got graded on stuff like that in class." Kenichi crossed his arms--partially as he calmed down as the conversation became something more familiar, and partially to hide his bleeding hand. "Maybe then I wouldn't have to worry about flunking the academic parts." As he watched her interact with the others, Kenichi couldn't help but find himself curious. Both Fumika and Jett had known Haruka for a long time, while he had only known the two of them for a much shorter one. He knew he would probably be the odd one out in this conversation, and had to admit he coveted their familiarity. After all, his brand new school life had been thrown all out of whack--days that he should have spent making new friends, finding his place among this class of all-new faces and personalities, had instead been spent on a dark, lonely mountain...wrapped in chains...[i]Don't think about it.[/i]

She gave a rather over-the-top laugh before slowly dropping the act and scratching the back of her head. [color=#c9c916]“Hmm… now that I think about it, though, this is getting pretty difficult to keep track of. I mean, I guess I added Fumi to the lineup without your permission, Jett, so I can’t really complain about her bringing in a friend, but still… Working in more lines’ll be hard…”[/color] She narrowed her eyes as if scrutinizing the blue-haired boy closely. [color=#c9c916]”And I can’t help but feel like you’re tryin’ to set yourself up as competition for the Red Ranger spot…”[/color] 

"Red Ranger? Nah." Kenichi shook his head, his grin growing somewhat softer and more resigned. "In a battle shonen, I'd totally be the Main Character! But for a sentai team? I'd have to be the Big Guy. The one that hits the hardest but is the dumbest, something like that." He waved the hand that wasn't bleeding with a nonchalant attitude towards his own self-depreciation. "I don't think I've got the chops for leadership."

Haruka raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. [color=#c9c916]“Eh, whatever, we can iron out the details later. Although it seems like Fumi’s already told you plenty about me, the name’s Harukaze Haruka. It’s fine to call me whatever, though.”[/color]

Jett raised a finger and quickly added as he leaned in with a smirk.[color=007236]“There's also Bunny, and rabbit….”[/color] His smirk growing as he looked at Haruka’s rapidly reddening face and widening eyes.

[color=#c9c916]“H-huuuh?! I thought I told you not-”[/color] For just a moment, her exclamation of surprise and stammering reply sounded surprisingly girly, but just as quickly, this momentarily uncharacteristic “softness” of tone was immediately replaced by a more familiar one as she quite pointedly cleared her throat. [color=#c9c916]“A-and who the hell are you calling ‘bunny?’ Like I need some lame, cutesy nickname like that!”[/color] She retorted angrily, crossing her arms and turning up her chin as if refusing to even look at him… which, however, she did not two seconds later, giving him a scathing sidelong glare.


As the two bickered back and forth, Kenichi watched with an expression that begged for popcorn. Although he had worried about not connecting with the three on the same level, he now found himself beginning to pick up more and more on the subtleties between them. Haruka was definitely a "Red Ranger," but Jett didn't seem to buy the act--though Kenichi didn't think it was a falsehood at all--and his teasing seemed to purposefully call her out. Or rather...he was intentionally poking holes in that image. Not in a mean way, but still...Nonetheless, it didn't seem like Haruka was going to let whatever this other side of herself was show without a fight. And it might get nasty.

Jett shrugged seemingly unfazed by her angry tone and glare. Tempted to flick her pigtails once again but he didn’t. He thought her reaction was cute, and this only egged him  on, gaining that upper hand once again.  He placed a finger on his lips and though for a second. [color=007236]“I wouldn’t call it ‘lame’.... Buuuut if we are going for ranks here… We can always call you General of-”[/color]

With an echoing clatter, a plastic, artificial heel swiftly collided with Jett’s shin, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Jett grunted in pain, as he lifted the leg into his left hand, hopping on one leg slightly as he rubbed it. His mouth was open as if he was going to say ow… and it did come a few seconds later. [color=007236]”Owwwwww”[/color] holy hell this girl could kick just as hard with a plastic leg. 

Haruka smiled all-too-cheerfully, giving an exaggerated and tremendously cheeky grin as if she hadn’t the slightest idea how her artificial foot had just somehow ended up kicking him. [color=#c9c916]“Hey, hey Jett, I just remembered a really funny story! There was this kid I knew back in school who had this crazy plan. You see, he thought that if he could just manage to steal a ca-”[/color] Jett’s eyes went wide, for a moment and then turned into a death glare similar to Haruka’s. quickly added, [color=007236]” I’m sure there was a girl with him in this story as well… She had a funny name too… what was it?[/color] He said with a look of one playing chicken. Mutual destruction was ok with him.

[color=#c9c916]“Oh sure, but that’s not even the funny part. The funny part is how that boy thought that doing all that would somehow get him noticed by-”[/color]

A violently sizzling ball of golden hair appeared out of thin air and interposed itself unexpectedly between them, pushing both of them gently backwards. Haruka, off balance, stumbled slightly, only to be caught in an equally sudden tackle hug and pulled slightly away. The copy in between them spread its arms like the referee in a cage match pulling two combatants apart, and while perching her head on top of that of her rather baffled friend, Fumika gave Jett a very serious look, eyes flashing with a bright green glow before fading back to blue as the copy between them dissolved.

[color=#F50A83]“No fighting,”[/color] She declared firmly.

Haruka shrank a little, awkwardly returning her friend’s hug. [color=#c9c916]“Right… Sorry about that, Fumi. Don’t worry. We’re not really fighting anymore. That was just a bad joke.”[/color]

[color=#F50A83]“Really?”[/color] Fumika asked, drawing back slightly and cocking her head to the side. Haruka nodded. [color=#F50A83]“Oh… Okay.”[/color]

Kenichi blinked. Fumika had jumped right in the middle of things, which from his experience didn't quite seem like her. And...had she basically just [i]glomped[/i] (damn how old was that meme now) Haruka? Kenichi blinked again. That wasn't all that unusual, right? They were friends, had been friends for a long time. Of course Fumika was going to be more comfortable with Haruka. Even if she didn't usually show all that much emotion, much less physical affection...not even with him, even though they seemed to have really hit it off already...in fact he could only remember like two different times when he had actually touched her--but why was that bothering him in the first place!?

Jett was surprised when he was pushed back by Fumika, or her copy that is. It was clear she thought they were really fighting again...like before. Though while it was cleared up in a few sentences, he still scratched his head. A slight annoyance that their little banter was cut short, but he said nothing. 

The dark-haired girl cleared her throat. [color=#c9c916]“Right… Where were we? Basically, you can call me whatever so long as it ain’t dumb.”[/color] Satisfied with her newly established criteria, she concluded her rather irreverent introduction and carried on. Really, it was almost astonishing how quickly she recovered her composure after losing it so completely. She must have been used to this…

[color=#c9c916]“Anyway, back to your… uh… suggestion, Yoshida... wouldn’t it be a little weighty throwing out a big speech like that every time we happened to bump into each other? Like, it’s cool to have a thing and all, but I think a simple ‘Yo!’ would probably be more convenient, eh?”[/color]  Haruka motioned casually over her shoulder at her rather fluffy friend, who had quickly resumed hugging her and perching her chin atop the shorter girl’s head. [color=#c9c916]“Besides,”[/color] She added slyly. [color=#c9c916]“I don’t think Fumi here would like waiting that long. She’d probably get impatient and tackle me halfway through the first line.”[/color]

He watched how Haruka reacted to Fumika hugging her...completely different with how she treated him. Much more softer. Which he admitted is a given with Fumika, the personification of innocence. But he couldn’t help but feel like… 

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess." Kenichi snapped himself back to reality as Haruka spoke. He glanced off to one side because he couldn't remember if he had actually been staring at the two of them cuddled up together or not. "I still think it's pretty neat, though. I have a bit I do with the "Main Character" stuff cause I think being high-energy at the intro like that takes pressure off people who're more reserved, ya know, but..." He turned back to them with a genuine grin now. "Mostly, I think it's the way you both immediately went with it. Not just cool lines and poses, but that...bond, I guess?" He thumbed his nose, forgetting that the hand he used now had blood splotches covering his knuckles. "Seein' people with connections like that, that's the whole reason Heroes exist, ain't it? To protect those smiles!"

He [i]did[/i] mean those words...but as he suddenly noticed and then tried to hide his hand again, he couldn't help but remember the things he was trying not to think about, and how they made him feel. To Kenichi, being a Hero did not mean being "a shield to protect the innocent." Haruka's allegory was much more accurate...but rather than a sword "against the wicked," Kenichi just wanted to be...[i]A sword that cuts evil out like the cancer it is.[/i]

Jett turned to Kenichi. Noticing the bloody knuckles...and after really looking at him, he could see he was pretty ragged. But putting on a show that he was perfectly fine. Despite the fact he was bleeding. Which begged the question...where the hell did he disappear for the last week. “Speaking of the ‘main character’ where the hell did you run off to this past week? Did you get bumped down to 1-B?” He knew damn well he didn’t but a little jab slipped in there. He never had the chance to take him on in the second exam. Which he wanted to...despite not having his quirk. 

He turned towards him to give him his full attention, but suddenly he vanished in a puff of black smoke. Appearing once again on the back of the couch...off balanced off course and toppling over the side of it. Quickly coming back to his feet, trying to cover up the fact that just happened. Despite everyone seeing it. He gritted his teeth as he walked back over to the three. Trying not to look at Haruka who would probably give him shit about it in any second.

Fumika had seemingly been content to remain silent as the others spoke. After all, she was bad at things like making small talk, and her friends had seemed to be enjoying themselves. This was good enough, right? She didn’t need to worry about saying anything too complicated for her to understand. She could just listen and observe, recording this moment like she had all such moments that had come before it, without interfering or dragging the others down. This was fine. She was happy like this. Listening to such kind people was more than good enough.


And yet, it wasn’t good enough, because even though he tried to hide it, even though he tried to act normal, even though he wouldn’t tell her anything but that she didn’t have to worry, even when she didn’t use her eyes… Even then, she could still see it clearly…!

[color=#F50A83]“Yoshida, your hand-”[/color] Fumika murmured quietly, letting go of Haruka and taking a step forward, her eyes flashing red and her bangs violently fluffing out to either side as static flashed from strand to strand between them. Her perpetually straight face had composed itself into a serious frown, and as her eyes returned to blue, they seemed somehow sad for a moment.

Of course, she’d analyzed the damage. His bones hadn’t re-fractured themselves or shifted out of joint - a surprise, considering how much he’d been moving around - but the surface level of skin which looked to have been either stitched or glued back together at some point - she couldn’t tell which - had quite predictably broken from over exertion. The rest of his body seemed intact… but if he kept behaving like he was now, how long would that last? She didn’t understand it. His behavior made no sense. He knew he was hurt, right? And she knew, and surely everyone else could tell too! So why was he acting like he wasn’t when it would mean only causing himself more pain? Why wasn’t he worried about it at all? Why didn’t he want her to worry about it either? Someone had to, and if he wasn’t going to take care of himself, then she…

Then she would do what, exactly? She was an observer. Complicated things like this weren’t hers to interfere in. She wasn’t good at expressing things, or saying what needed to be said. If it was just a matter of listening, then she’d be fine, but-!

...But that wasn’t good enough. That wasn’t good enough at all. Something needed to be said, and Yoshida wasn’t saying it, and nobody else was saying it either. Surely, Haruka could have said something… If someone important to her was behaving strangely like this, then surely, she’d say something like… Something like…

[color=#c9c916]“Oi. Idiot. What the hell’s wrong with your Quirk?”[/color] The abrasive, irreverent voice of her tomboyish friend, mentor, and hero snapped her to attention as Haruka turned to face the wayward teleporter who was now, quite suddenly, on the other side of the room. [color=#c9c916]“I thought you were just screwing with me when you kept popping up right behind me earlier, but this is way worse than that. I haven’t seen you flickering all over the place like this since we were kids.”[/color] She crossed her arms and stared him down with a frown that was somewhere between angry and concerned. It seemed very much like she wanted to tease him about it, but something stopped her… Something that Fumika recognized as a sentiment very similar to her own.

If it was Haruka, then that definitely had to be… it wasn’t wrong. It couldn’t have been. In that case-!

So, turning back towards Yoshida, Fumika crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, and stared him down with a sad, angry frown. With her quiet, serious voice, she at last gave vent to her frustration the only way she knew how, borrowing the words she couldn’t come up with herself.

[center][color=#F50A83]“Yoshida, you idiot.”[/color][/center]