[CENTER][img]https://i.postimg.cc/ryPhMHSh/Fontmeme.png[/img][/CENTER][hr]

	For many of the kids gathered at the front gates of Ishin Academy, today was a great day -- a first momentous step that would carry them across the starting line and onto the path of chasing their wildest dreams. The fires of anticipation burned within their hearts, driving them onward into the tumultuous throng so that they might enter into their future one measly step ahead of the rest. They were like ants, really -- all scrambling about in a writhing, teeming mass, stumbling over each other in their haste to reach a goal that was ultimately pointless.

	It wasn't that Nishikiyama Izuna didn't understand their enthusiasm, of course. She just had a much more valid reason for wanting to get inside as soon as possible.

	[i]Drip. Drip.[/i]

	[color=#15397D][b]COLD. OH GOD IT'S SO COLD.[/b][/color]

	She had emptied out her Quirk as best she could that morning before getting on the train, wringing every last droplet from her storage like some kind of metaphysical dish rag. Unfortunately, it had snowed the night before all the way up the train line she'd been taking, and the amount of moisture in the air as it melted under the sunlight had been more than enough to fill her back to full capacity before she knew it. It had taken every last ounce of her willpower to keep from flooding the train car, for crying out loud! And so, just as soon as she'd gotten off of it and forced her way out of the station, the relief she had felt had been almost palpable.

	Then she had lost her focus, and now look where she'd ended up: soaked to the skin, with icicles already forming at the tips of her silvery hair and frost covering the surface of her already infuriatingly stiff uniform. The thick, tarp-like substance they'd made her stupid mandatory blazer out of had been hard enough to move in to begin with, but now she could hardly even raise her arms thanks to the [i]layer of solid ice[/i] coating her sleeves! If it weren't for the insulated wetsuit she'd put on underneath the rest of her outfit, she'd have probably turned blue by now. Her barbels twitched and thrashed about with repressed anger as she tried once again to force her way through the crowd, the photophores in each tendril lighting up a violent shade of crimson.

	No dice. Nobody was paying any attention to her. Already, her "tank" was starting to fill up again, and between her discomfort, anxiety, and sheer overwhelming frustration, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold onto it for long. So, rather than holding it in, she tried a new approach. The ice coating one of her arms began to crack and fall away as she forced her hand straight upward, then blasted a jet of water straight up into the air like a geyser. The [i]fwoosh[/i] as the water sprayed high overhead caused most of the crowd around her to disperse in confusion at the sudden noise -- a decision they soon became thankful for as a deluge of droplets descended back into Izuna's upraised hand and vanished into it -- with only her generosity saving those around her from getting doused just as she herself already had been.

	[color=#FF825C]"Oh, so [i]now[/i] I've got your attention,"[/color] she grumbled. Regardless, since all eyes were on her, she supposed she might as well take advantage of that while she could. So, furrowing her brow and shooting an irritable glare at everybody around her, she cleared her throat, and then...

	[color=#FF825C]"Ehem! Outta the way, small fry! I'm gettin' inside before I freeze my ass off and there's nothin' any of you can do to stop me!"[/color]

	...Nobody seemed to have a problem with those terms, and so, dripping and shivering, the indignant aquatic girl strode through the parted sea of people in front of her, and into the courtyard, leaving behind a trail of rapidly-freezing droplets in her wake. It was only once she was out of the crowd that she realized...

	[color=#15397D][i]Wait... wasn't that like, the worst first impression ever? Oh god, what if they realized --[/i][/color]

	She shook her head and slapped her scaled cheeks, dislodging this panicked line of thought before it could take hold.

	[color=#15397D][i]No, [b]no.[/b] Not going there. It's fine, Izuna. Everything's fine. You didn't mention [b]the dragon[/b] this time, and there's only one person here who knows about [b]that[/b] anyway. Just pretend it didn't happen. It didn't. Happen.[/i][/color]

	Right. Much better. Right now, there were more important things to worry about anyway. Like where the hell the [i]door[/i] was, or if they had any [i]towels.[/i] Another gust of wind blew across the courtyard, and Izuna sneezed as the shivers returned in full force.

	[color=#15397D][i]Ugh... Man, Hokkaido friggin' [b]sucks.[/b][/i][/color]