FIGHT DUB CLUB, Match 2

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[PART 1: Music Of The Mind]

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Majestic turned to the camera feeds, looking at the stage for the second match. Behind him, the students bickered.

"Honestly, I can't believe you guys made bets on our match..." Sora began, "... And didn't even have the decency to start before we left for the war room! I wanted to bet on myself..." He whined.

Inigo shrugged. "We hadn't thought about it until the villain team left. But you can gamble on the second one."

Sora gave him a flat look. "There's no point now."

Inigo looked offended. "How can you say that when the most important match of them all is about to happen?! Our class rep, the amazing, beautiful Hoge Nyoro, is about to crush the villain team live!"

"..."

"... Who?" Sora asked.

Inigo shook his head, saddened by his classmate's lack of taste. "Nevermind."

"I'm going all in on Team Hoge," Shinkan said, placing several bills on the prize pool. "Last time, I didn't consider the upperclassman advantage, so I'm hoping Hiro-senpai performs as well as Sagara-senpai."

"My man!" Inigo cheered, giving the locomotive boy a high-five.

"Hiro isn't the leader, however," Christopher pointed out. "Considering their quirks, betting on Team Chihiro is safer."

"Why don't you put money on it, then?" Edie questioned.

"I'm an analyst, not a gambler," He responded, placing a hand over his heart.

"There's no way Team Hoge can win this," Hailey assured with a haughty expression, flipping back her hair. "Team Yui trounced their opponents with just Edie. Team Chihiro has Max and Minnie. You guys do the math."

"Twice the bitchiness," Yui concluded, nodding sagely. By her right, Kaylee repeated the gesture, then turned to her other classmate.

"Can you lend me some money so I can join in?" She wanted to wager against Team Chihiro. It wasn't anything against their leader; she was just a bit sore from losing to Edith.

Noah gave her a disappointed look. "Kaylee... I know those five haven't been treating you well, but don't you think that's a bit childish? Isn't Jugo on the other team too?"

Kaylee pouted, crossing her arms defensively. "Fine..."

The winged boy sighed, scratching his hair. He felt guilty. Kaylee wouldn't be going through such pettiness if he hadn't led his team into a loss, so maybe he should try to make it up to her.

However, before he could make up his mind, Hailey approached them. "Here," she said, giving Kaylee ten thousand yen. The green-haired girl looked down at her before glaring at the bill in her hands.

"I don't want your money."

"Just take it. It's gonna come back to me when I win the bet anyways."

"Oh yeah?" Gnashing her teeth, Kaylee swiped the bill from her hands, rising from her chair. She walked through Hailey toward the betting circle, almost knocking over the Korean girl, and smacked the bank note on the floor.

"10k on Team Hoge."

A few rooms away, Hoge entered a room, their team following behind to keep them in sight at all times. They'd been lucky to get Soujyuuro in the squad, or else most of the strategy time would be spent trying to find Hoge while said leader built up the courage for their super move.

Inside the impromptu war room, Hoge found another problem: A round table and a set of chairs for them.

No good. It'd be too easy for everyone else to forget Hoge existed again, no matter what spot they took. And if that happened, Hoge would have to waste precious planning time making them remember. And if they lost because they didn't plan enough, Majestic-sensei would blame the leader, like what happened to Noah! Hoge couldn't let their first exercise be a bust!

Slapping their cheeks, the Hero Team's leader gathered all their determination and climbed on the room's desk. Turning to their team, Hoge announced their power before anyone gave them weird looks.

"M-My quirk is「Wasuremono」!"

'Yeah, that makes sense,' Hoge's team thought.

"Are you... are you going to stay on the desk the entire time, though?" Ashleigh asked.

Hoge hesitated before giving a shaky nod.

"He..." A pause. "She... Our leader has the right idea," Kyoda said, sitting on one of the chairs while fiddling with a glass vial attached to his costume. "Better to stay in the center of the room than be forgotten in the middle of the discussion. Before I tell you guys my power, I'd like to know what the enemy team is capable of since this is our first battle training, and I wasn't there for the entrance exam."

Soujyuuro leaned against a wall, his third eye swirling.

"Good point. Kim's quirk is..."

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[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

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"I zap things," Minerva delivered indifferently.

She paused as if remembering something. "Oh, But I can also control some machinery with it if I have an idea of how it works."

"I can gather air and Ki!" Jugo said. "I can also absorb that energy to boost my strength and reflexes."

Chihiro hummed. "My power is「Life Taker」. It also absorbs Qi, but it only increases my speed."

"Hold up, Qi?" Maxine asked, face scrunched in confusion. "That's a thing? Or are you two just calling it that because of some martial arts convention I don't know about?"

Jugo shrugged. "I mean, the doctor had some fancy words for it like 'chemical energy produced by living beings,' but that's really boring, so my quirk is named「Ki Control」."

"So, you two suck the life out of the room," The long-haired girl said. It was the friendliest way she could describe Chihiro's quirk. She'd thought Edith was unlucky with her team, but clearly, she and Minerva had her beat.

"My quirk's「Radius」."

"I think the plan is pretty cut and dry for this one. We have to do the opposite of what the previous villain team did and take them down ASAP." Minerva explained. "They don't have any combat quirks, so it should be easy."

Chihiro nodded. "A simple plan might be best since Imai is on their team. Anything too complex is bound to fall apart as soon as he glances at us."

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[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

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"Nice," Kyoda commended as Soujyuuro finished breaking down the enemy team's abilities. "How'd you learn so much about them in such little time?"

"You're a mind reader, right?" Ashleigh claimed more than asked.

Soujyuuro nodded at her. "What about your quirk, Katsuragi-san? I don't recall seeing you activate it during the entrance exam."

"H-Huh? Shouldn't you know already ...?"

He shook his head. "... I make a point not to use my power so whimsically. The only reason why I know the other team's quirks is that they're our opponents for this match."

'Well, that's a relief...' Ashleigh thought. 'Wait. He could be lying. But would he bother asking to keep up appearances instead of letting me say it naturally? What if he's reading my mind now and making fun of me?!'

Soujyuuro looked at Ashleigh with a stoic visage, waiting for her to explain her ability. He watched her face shift through several phases, from relief to confusion, then nervousness.

Behind his calm mask, his mind worked on overdrive. 'I shouldn't have asked. Katsuragi probably thinks I'm lying about not knowing her power and is trying to hide what she's thinking. Wait. That's quite conceited of me. What if she's like me and is afraid of revealing her quirk? Did I accidentally put her on the spot before she could prepare herself?'

Only he could figure out what went through her head, but again: he didn't want to use his quirk that way.

'Should I try to change the subject? But with what? If I ask Hiro-senpai about his quirk, he might react similarly or worse!'

'Argh! Why am I like this? He just asked me an innocent question!'

Outside their nervous mindscapes, Hoge and Kyoda only saw Soujyuuro ask Ashleigh a simple question then the two started looking at each other while trying their best to avoid eye contact.

Deciding she should give him the benefit of the doubt, Ashleigh managed a facsimile of composure and stammered out the details of her power. "Erm, my quirk is「Forgetter」."

"It has a 2-minute cooldown, though," She finished.

Soujyuuro's eyes widened minutely. "Incredible," He said bluntly.

She blinked her cross-pupil eyes. "Eh?"

"Your quirk may very well be the key to our victory. Yours, and Nyoro-kaichou's."

The confusion brought by a sudden loss of memory would make any suggestion inserted by his quirk much more lethal.

In that sense, their powers were compatible.

"... I think I know where you're getting at," Hoge said, trying not to preen after being called Kaichou. "But before that, we're still missing one box."

"Right. My quirk is「Drugs」," Kyoda announced.

'Is that even legal?!' Ashleigh despaired.

Soujyuuro struck a thinking pose, one hand under his chin and the other supporting his elbow. "That will help close the gap between our physical abilities. We can also use tranquilizers on the tricky ranged combatants if you can make them."

Kyoda nodded. "I'm already cooking them up." As he finished saying that, a violet liquid dripped from his finger into a flask.

"I have a plan," Hoge said. "It's high risk and high reward. We split into three groups—"

"The enemy's plan is simple," Soujyuuro began, ignoring the class rep. Hoge looked at him, indignant, but then realized Ashleigh and Kyoda also didn't hear them. Although their teammates could see them due to their spot in the center of the room,「Wasuremono」was acting up, dampening their voice. And because of their costume's helmet, they didn't notice them speaking by the movement of their lips.

'Dammit. Well, at least he's interrupting me to give useful info.' Hoge considered, taking off their helmet.

"First, they'll send Jugo...."

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[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

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"... to harass them from the air, along with Minerva and I to chase them in the ground. Meanwhile, Maxine can search both buildings and find the items. Katsuragi's quirk makes fighting inside a building a nightmare, so we shouldn't let them come to us," Chihiro summed up her plan.

"Leading us to a 3v4? How heartless of you," Minerva said without any heat behind it.

"Minnie has a point, though. Why not fight them with our full roster from the start?" Maxine asked, lips pursed.

"If we start a fight without even looking for the items, they'll take that chance to stall us out. Their quirks are more suited for support, but that doesn't mean they won't put up a fight."

"Do I have to stay in the air the entire time?" Jugo asked with a slight frown on his face. "I don't wanna take potshots from far away for most of the match like Kaylee..."

"If you see Maxine and Minnie having trouble, you can enter melee range to help them. But it would be best if you didn't give up your biggest advantage."

Jugo's frown turned into a small smile. "Okay."

"Gee, you could at least pretend you're not delighted at the possibility of us getting in trouble," Maxine grumbled.

"Haha, sorry," He apologized, scratching his temple.

Maxine turned to Minerva, engaging in nonverbal communication only possible for people deeply intimate with one another or teenage girls who needed secrecy.

'Notice how he didn't deny it,' The blonde said with a gaze.

Minerva rolled her eyes. 'He's gonna drop the plan as soon as he can.'

Their heads nodded imperceptively. 'What a weirdo.'

Their private talk lasted about three seconds before Maxine returned to the team discussion. "Have you considered Hiro in this equation? His quirk can make drugs to boost others. I've heard that he was even held back for distributing them."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he got held back for vigilantism or something," Her friend corrected.

"How do you guys know so much about Hiro already?" Jugo asked, somewhat fascinated with their gossip network.

They shrugged. "Shiketsu isn't that much of a backwater. Cases like his or Sagara's aren't common, so there's a lot of chatter surrounding them," Minerva explained, waving her hand around lackadaisically. "But I think Max should go with me, and Mitsurugi should stay in the building."

Chihiro tilted her head. "Why?"

"Compared to that guy," She pointed at Jugo, "I don't have any mobility. If the enemy team rushes me pumped full of drugs, I won't be able to defend myself. You can't work your quirk on them while keeping me close for protection, and you might get caught in our ranged attacks if you try to melee them. But Max can stay near me, no problem. Plus, we work better together."

None of the two wanted to keep close to Chihiro if they could help it. The tactical reasons for it were icing on the cake.

"Alright..." Chihiro acquiesced to her team. "You two and Jugo engage them before they can reach the places where the items are."

When she was given the lead over this team, she had expected to struggle a lot more. But they were reasonable so far. All that was left was to hope they would follow the plan when the match started.

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[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

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"Chihiro will come to support them if we start winning the battle. And if we split them up, Jugo will do his best to disengage and carry them away with his flight."

"Umm, Imai-kun, not that we don't appreciate all this information, but... how do you know all this?" Ashleigh questioned, "I thought your quirk only worked when you looked at a target with your third eye."

He could have figured out their quirks after the teams were decided, but he should not be able to know their current strategy from another room.

It was an old lie. When people knew about his quirk, they tended to behave differently when he was in the room, so he got used to saying it only worked with sight. That way, no one had to be uneasy around him. It was also why he took the first seat in the class. So he wouldn't be looking at any of his classmates.

Soujyuuro didn't like spouting such lies. But he could only take so much through his life. Trying to convince others he wasn't prying into their minds didn't work. He was not eloquent enough for that. Although getting into Shiketsu was supposed to be a new chapter for him, old habits died hard. He had relied on that old lie before he even realized it.

However... he was training to be a hero alongside these people. They deserved to know at least this much.

"... Sorry. I wasn't honest about it back then. I can read the minds of anyone in this control station right now if I feel like it."

Maybe one day he would stop being so pathetic and reveal everything about his quirk, but for now, he could take this small step.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Soujyuuro watched his team process that information. Without his quirk, he was far from the best at reading people, so he was unsure how they felt.

Seeing Hoge's lips moving without any words leaving them, He asked, "Nyoro-Kaichou, can you repeat that?"

"As I was saying!" Hoge screamed, but they heard it in a normal tone. "My plan is to split us into three squads. First, Imai-kun and Katsuragi go in to draw them out, and Hiro goes in a different direction, aiming for a sneak attack with his sedatives. While that happens, I'll sneak inside the buildings and take the items before Mitsurugi can find them. If we can't defeat them with an upfront battle, we'll still prevent them from fulfilling one of their objectives."

Soujyuuro nodded. That had been his idea as well. With Katsuragi's quirk, they could buy even more time for Hoge to deny the other team their objective.

Kyoda also approved. Going against two ranged attackers while carrying a bunch of chemical compounds was a recipe for disaster. He was better suited for supporting his team before the match and attacking when an opening presented itself.

"Hey, Imai," The orange-haired boy called him. "Shouldn't you know where every object is already? Every mind in here also includes Majestic."

"..." The telepath hesitated.

"Out with it. If we know where everything is beforehand, the match will go quicker."

"... I didn't look inside Majestic-sensei's head."

The orange-haired boy balked. "Why the hell not?"

Soujyuuro avoided his glare. "I wasn't sure if I was allowed to. Using my quirk on the other team is one thing since they are my opponents. But using my quirk on a teacher has to be forbidden. There's classified information there."

Kyoda groaned. "You're worried about cheating now? We're already ignoring the point of the simulation by going after the items."

"Villain Team, roll out!"

"Tch, forget it. Let's get ready for our turn."

Kyoda burst from his chair and exited the room, leaving the door open.

Soujyuuro winced briefly before resetting his calm mask. "Nyoro-Kaichou, you should go in front of us again."

Hoge nodded, jumping off the desk and walking away. The last members of the hero team followed behind, passing through their classmates and reaching the ground floor, where Kyoda stood, examining the drugs he'd made for the match.

Once he spotted them, he stood up and extended his hand, showing four syringes, one between each of the fingers in his left hand.

"Each of us takes one. It's a special concoction of mine. A cocktail of steroids and stimulants that'll boost your strength, stamina, agility, and reaction time."

None of them reached for the syringes. Kyoda scowled, then realized what the problem was, looking at them flatly.

"None of you know how to inject yourselves, huh?"

His teammates shook their heads. Kyoda pocketed three syringes and wielded one, pressing the plunger slightly and releasing a drop of the narcotic.

"Well, who wants to go first?"

Hoge took a step back.

Ashleigh shook her head again.

Soujyuuro pulled on his costume's right sleeve, exposing one muscular arm. "Are there any side effects?" He asked as Kyoda approached him with the needle aimed at his vein. It pierced his skin and delivered the dose to his bloodstream.

Kyoda hummed. "You might feel a headache after the high ends."

"T-The high?" Ashleigh muttered to herself.

"... The high?" The three-eyed boy asked, blinking slowly.

"Yeah, you might also act a bit differently. Lose your inhibitions and all that," Kyoda said off-handedly, pulling back the syringe and pressing some cotton on the spot. "You'll feel it once it kicks in."

"Who's next?" Kyoda invited, pulling a second syringe.

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[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

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During the first match, Sora and Christopher had thrashed the supermarket stage set with their gravity-bending battle, so Majestic chose another pair of simulation sets for the second bout: a press building and a post office.

Inside the former, Chihiro and Minerva searched for the items. On top of the latter, Jugo sat, meditating and gathering his ki. Below him, Maxine scanned her surroundings. The changes in scenery were a bit miffing for Chihiro, who had analyzed the previous battle camera feeds to figure out the most likely spots for the steel balls. She was also hoping to absorb some of the energy left by the previous teams in the battle sites, so it was a blow to her combat ability for now since she didn't want to drain her team to activate her quirk.

"Found one," Maxine declared from her spot, pocketing the steel sphere.

Minerva checked her mental timer. Turning to her leader, she informed, "18 seconds left."

Chihiro nodded, then reached for her earpiece. "Everyone, prepare to engage the other team."

"Hey, Mitsurugi, do you want some of my Ki?" Jugo asked, standing up. "The boost will let you find the items even faster."

'(Jugo had less than a minute to gather energy. If he splits it with me, that'll decrease his strength when fighting the other team. I should refuse.)' The voice in her mind whispered.

'I'll just take a little. Enough to fuel my quirk and let Jugo use his.'

'(But is there enough Qi around this uninhabited simulation zone to activate both quirks? I should ask if he has enough.)'

"Mitsurugi?" Her teammate's voice snapped Chihiro out of her inner discussion.

"15 seconds, guys," Minerva reminded them.

"Do you have enough for both of us?" The red-eyed girl asked with a slight frown.

'(Do I? I never did ask how much Ki Mitsurugi needs to gain a boost.)' The thought rang true in Jugo's head. He had assumed their quirks worked on similar parameters, but what if they didn't?

'(We're losing time. Depending on her absorption speed, Chihiro will delay Jugo from taking the initiative on the enemy team if she accepts his offer now.)' Maxine's inner voice said.

'(12 seconds left. Or was it 10?)'

'No, it was 11... shit, I think I lost count.'

Minerva suddenly lost awareness of the clock.

Little doubts were piling over the villain team's heads. With just one minute given to them to discuss their quirks, the other team's capabilities, and their plan of attack, the small gaps in their preparation and knowledge were showing themselves.

Or rather, being shown by someone.

"I'll take the energy," Chihiro finally decided.

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[PART 2: Hooked Up]

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"Oi, Imai," Kyoda called him, breaking his attention from the enemy team's minds. "I made that thing you asked for. "

Soujyuuro took the drug from his teammate's hand, nodding. "Thank you, Hiro-senpai."

Beyond the cocktail of stimulants and steroids given to his team, Soujyuuro had asked for a drug to boost his concentration during battle.

The orange-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows. "Stop calling me that. I'm in the same year as you."

"... Sorry." He was trying to be respectful, but for Kyoda, hearing that honorific only reminded him that he was supposed to be one year ahead by now.

Kyoda walked back to his corner. On the other side, Ashleigh fiddled with her gadgets.

After swallowing his cognitive enhancer, Soujyuuro turned in Hoge's general direction and walked toward it. Judging by their mental footprint, they were stationed around the entrance. Hoping he was at least looking at them, the telepath spoke.

"They've only found one item so far. It's with Nguyen."

Hoge examined him with a cautious expression. "I must take the other three, then. I'll try to communicate whenever I grab one... but my quirk will make that difficult even through the radio."

Soujyuuro hummed, considering their options. He had already used his quirk to find them, so maybe they wouldn't mind if he did it during the exercise to help.

"Nyoro-Kaichou... if you let me read your mind during the match, I can notice whenever you find anything and alert the others."

He had them at the word 'notice.'

"Hero Team, roll out!" Majestic called.

"A-Alright! But you better not forget to check on me, alright?" His leader said before running out of the building.

The hero team rushed in three different directions, as planned. Hoge and Kyoda went right and left to circle around the enemy team. Soujyuuro and Ashleigh went from the front, ready to make a diversion.

Jogging to their destination, The three-eyed boy turned to his ally for the first phase of the match. In contrast with her usual nervousness, her current self was laser-focused on the exercise.

Soujyuuro had another plan to boost his team's chances, but he was unsure if she was up to it. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Hoge, so maybe he should try it...?

"Katsuragi-san."

"Hm?"

"Can I read your mind during the coming fight?"

Her lips thinned. "..."

"If I know your next move without verbal communication, it would drastically improve our teamwork."

She could understand his reasoning. Even admire that fighting style on some level. Still, being on the receiving end of his quirk scared her.

"... okay."

And yet, Ashleigh swallowed her fears and nodded.

Nothing stopped him from using his quirk on her, but he still asked for permission. That was a good reason as any to have faith in him. Besides, he wouldn't have the time to look at embarrassing stuff in her head in the middle of a fight, right?

"Thank you, Katsuragi-san," He said softly, face shifting into a rare smile. His classmates were really good people for giving someone like him a chance.

Ashleigh was struck by the change in his bearing, but it only lasted for a second before he turned his gaze forward, steel mask settled.

"Kim and Nguyen at one o'clock, hiding behind the building 20 meters away. Jugo will jump from a second-story window and blast us."

Although setting a sneak attack was useless against「Mindbreaker」, the enemy team did not know that. They were still under the impression Soujyuuro needed his third eye. However, even knowing the ranged attacks were coming, the hero team pair couldn't answer at the same distance. They were forced to pick between two options: run away from Jugo and Minerva's quirks or dodge between them to attack their least durable combatants.

Standing on higher ground than his enemies, Jugo frowned. He could not see Kyoda or their fourth member anywhere.

"I have eyes only on Imai and Katsuragi. Watch out for a pincer or sneak attack," He warned his team.

In her hiding spot, Minerva gathered electrical energy and unleashed it.

The bolt curved, spearing toward the hero pair and passing harmlessly between them as they hopped in opposite directions. Minerva stepped out of her spot to discern her targets better. Maxine was behind her, covering her back from a possible sneak attack. Jugo leaped from his location, raining down destruction on the hero team. Minerva's surroundings crackled and exploded with sparks sent toward them.

Already, the hero team was overwhelmed without making a single attack. Soujyuuro and Ashleigh scrambled to avoid everything, racing towards a building to find cover and lead their opponents away from the objective. The stimulants pumping through their bodies allowed them to gain distance while sustaining minor damage.

Stopping the electric attacks, Maxine and Minerva followed them on foot, but Jugo did not slow down, merely adjusting his altitude to bombard them better.

'Imai-kun, I'm activating my quirk now! Let's draw them inside a building and go all out when their memories get wiped!'

Trusting that her partner heard her mind, Ashleigh was not surprised when he took off ahead of her, turning around and glancing at her three targets, initiating「Forgetter」.

'(They want to take the open space from me. I'll speed ahead and cut them off!)'

Following this insight, Jugo pushed his air generation to its limits, blasting away from his team and appearing ahead of his enemies.

'Give me a boost!'

Ashleigh jumped and landed with her feet on Soujyuuro's cupped hands, using him to elevate herself even further. Twisting mid-air, she avoided several Ki blasts, got clipped in the shoulder, and cast her gadget —a cable whip— to wrap it around Jugo's ankle.

"Woah!"

The momentum of her fall dragged him down with her, and her ally was already waiting by her side when she landed, grabbing the whip's handle with her. They swung together, and Ashleigh pressed a button at the end of their movement, uncoiling the contraption and throwing Jugo through a building window.

Ashleigh blinked. That was just supposed to smack him on the ground. Either Kyoda's drugs were more potent than she expected, or the guy by her side was far stronger than she gave him credit for.

Suddenly, Soujyuuro tackled her, pushing their bodies away from a crackling bolt and avoiding it by an inch. The pair rolled on the ground for a second before stopping. He got up first, pulling her by the hand and making another bolt hit the ground instead of her torso. Then, he rushed to the building to intercept Jugo before he got into open space again. Ashleigh continued to struggle under Minerva's assault.

'(He's focusing on Jugo. But now, he left his teammate on a 2v1! If I go in now, we can take her out!)'

Maxine took a few steps forward, bony limbs bursting from her back—

'Wait! I need to protect Minnie from the upperclassman—'

Although her concern for her friend let her dismiss that initial thought, it was not quick enough. Finally seeing his opening, Kyoda sprung from around a corner and charged at them, starting a pincer attack that put him against Minerva and Ashleigh against Maxine. Before the latter could swap positions to protect her friend, the blue-haired girl swung her whip again, making her stop to block it with her appendages.

Kyoda's body was more used to his quirk's products, so his dosage of steroids was far greater than his teammates. With massive strides that cracked the concrete below him, he swerved between Minerva's bolts and quickly closed the gap between them.

Inside the wrecked building, Soujyuuro jumped through a broken window and hit Jugo's guard with a dropkick, sending him a few meters away.

'Found one item!' Hoge notified him.

Jugo stepped forward with a lunge punch, but Soujyuuro sidestepped it and countered with an elbow to his face. The Ki manipulator stepped back in time, using his other arm to twist his opponent's limb out of the way. He had to halt that deflection to block Soujyuuro's right knee from smashing into his gut.

Jugo was on the defensive. With the short time he had to charge Ki, and after splitting some of it with his leader, Soujyuuro's drugged self was more than capable of keeping up with him, not only in martial prowess but also in raw strength.

Soujyuuro's right fist rose, aimed at his shoulder.

'(A feint!)'

A half-truth was thrown inside his head a split-second before an attack landed. The mindreader's uppercut collided with his jaw, making his head rattle. Soujyuuro followed it up with a kick to his midsection and a spinning back fist that sent his opponent deeper inside the building.

Their techniques were around the same level, but「Mindbreaker」was creating a gap between them.

Jugo recovered quickly, avoiding a stomp aimed at his shoulder and grinning at his enemy. "Damn, Imai! I didn't know you were holding out so much during Ippon's class!"

That was the reason he was looking forward to the battle training. He was more than comfortable with quirkless sparring, but being able to apply his quirk in a fight and seeing how all his classmates did the same was just too exciting!

With a fleeting smile below sharp eyes, the telepath moved his hand into a 'come hither' gesture. Jugo's battle-junkie tendencies creeped Soujyuuro out most of the time. But now, he could admit he was getting into it as well.

It was probably the drugs.

He still needed to report Hoge's progress to his teammates, but he couldn't let Jugo rejoin the villain team or blab about it in comms in front of him.

Within the simulation building, Chihiro shuffled through papers, opened drawers, and ran to another spot to repeat the process, eyes roaming every inch of the place to find what she needed. It didn't make any sense. With how much time she'd wasted looking for the items, she should have discovered at least one by now.

'(Maybe the first villain team just got lucky.)'

'Most of them could be in the other building.'

'(My team hasn't asked for help so far, so I should keep looking.)'

Thoughts swam in her head, some belonging to her, others not. Determined to not lose time in analysis paralysis, Chihiro decided to dash to an upper floor, hoping to locate her target there. She saw some of the spots in this room were already tampered with.

'(It must've been Minerva.)'

Chihiro felt her quirk activate and turned around to see if anyone was on the floor with her. Nothing. The room was empty. But she was still absorbing Qi somehow.

A few meters away from her, Hoge stalked between the furniture. With the stimulants boosting her stamina, they wouldn't have to worry about being drained by Chihiro's「Life Taker」, so they could stay within her range and steal the items from under her nose.

The class rep split their attention between looking for the steel spheres and monitoring her opponent.

As Chihiro was about to report the mysterious presence in the building, someone beat her to the punch.

"Jugo! We need help here!" Maxine blared in the villain team's comms so loudly that even Hoge heard it.

"Nyoro is in the building with me," Chihiro said a moment later.

Jugo groaned in annoyance, floating over a fist and retaliating with a turning kick that Soujyuuro blocked with his forearm. The three-eyed boy chased his opponent as he tried to retreat near his team, leaping to the right to avoid a Ki blast, kicking off a wall, and landing a flying knee that blew past Jugo's defense, sinking deep into his stomach. His opponent gasped in pain as they left the building through another window.

But it was not enough. Soujyuuro couldn't take Jugo to the ground, even with their combined momentum. Jugo turned them around mid-air, brought his hands together, and blasted him down with a point-blank Ki attack, putting distance between them.

Soujyuuro bounced off the pavement, groaning and rolling to a crouch a second later. Pulling his earpiece, he whispered his message as Jugo flew to his team.

"Hoge... hah..." He huffed. "... Nyoro-Kaichou found one."

Ashleigh's gadget choker vibrated for the 5th time, counting down the timer for her quirk.

The black-haired boy sped toward Minerva while firing at Kyoda. To her side, Maxine was trading blows with Ashleigh, smacking away her whip with one of her bony limbs and using the rest to cut off any attempts at grappling.

Jugo would not make it in time to grab them and fly away. Kyoda was already throwing a flask at his teammate. There could be anything in there. A drug to make her berserk, go to sleep or lock up her muscles.

But with his sharp reflexes, he could shoot it out of the air before it reached her.

'(No... it's bait!)'

As if time was moving in slow motion, he could see it. The glass flask had a clear liquid inside it, and Kyoda was already reaching for something else.

'(Water... the true drug is hidden in his costume!)'

A twofold attack meant to make him and Maxine waste their firepower. Jugo swapped his aim to Kyoda's pocket, and Minerva unleashed the energy stored inside her earring gadgets at her opponent.

Three things happened.

The sedative flask crashed on Minerva's shirt, releasing a solution that evaporated and invaded her body through her nose.

A Ki blast tore off Kyoda's pocket, dropping a few glass and metal flasks on the ground.

The orange-haired boy was hit with Minerva's highest output shock so far, stopping him in his tracks. His eyes rolled to the back of his head.

One second passed, and Jugo reached two classmates swaying on their feet, rapidly losing consciousness. He grabbed Minerva by her shoulders, stopping her from falling down. Her vision was unfocused, and she was trying to mutter something he couldn't decipher.

"Minnie!" Maxine cried in terror, batting away Ashleigh with newfound speed and running to her companion. "Don't shake her, you idiot!" She screamed at Jugo, who was trying to keep Minerva awake.

Jugo grimaced. "Shit, she's really out for the count. We need to retreat and talk with Mitsurugi."

"Are you even listening to me—Ah!" He slung Minerva over his shoulder and grabbed Maxine by her waist, flying away from Soujyuuro's roundhouse kick and Ashleigh's whip strike.

The hero team pair looked at their retreating enemies, then their fallen comrade. "Hiro!" They shouted, kneeling close to his twitching body and picking him up together. They carried him inside one of the simulation buildings and put him on a chair. Soujyuuro contacted Hoge right after.

"Nyoro-Kaichou. Hiro and Kim knocked each other out, but Jugo flew away with her and Nguyen."

A bit of unintelligible static was his answer, along with their thoughts.

'What?! Where are you and Kat-chan? How hurt are you both? How hurt is Hiro-kun? Are Jugo and the others coming here? Ahhhh, this is too soon! I've only found one item!'

Ashleigh poked her earpiece and turned to him, confused. "Did you hear anything from our leader?"

"A lot of questions," He replied. "... asking how hurt all of us are."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm fine, I guess? Maxine hit me a few times, but I'm so full of adrenaline right now I can't really feel it."

He turned back to the comms. "Katsuragi and I put Hiro in one of the simulation buildings, about 50 meters from where you are. He got shocked and unconscious and didn't take any more damage. The rest of us are fine. As for the villain team... I'm not sure."

'I need you guys to come here and defeat Mitsurugi-san. If you keep chasing Jugo, they'll resort to hit-and-run tactics and whittle away at you. But if we force a 3v1, Jugo and Maxine will enter the building to help—Ah! Imai-kun, she found an item! I can't focus on this talk right now; I have to take it before she does!.'

"Good luck, Nyoro-Kaichou!"

'T-Thanks!'

He faced an expectant Ashleigh and walked towards her before hanging his head.

"Sorry. Had I kept Jugo in the building for a few more moments, your quirk would have activated, and we could have won there."

If not for those messages sent to Jugo's head, leading him to make stupid mistakes, they wouldn't even have taken Minerva off the match.

Ashleigh made a complicated expression, unsure of how to cheer him up.

"... Don't worry about it! We can still turn it around when my cooldown ends.... probably..." It was hard to convince someone when you weren't swayed yourself.

Soujyuuro blinked, realizing he had messed up and lost control of his emotions. Now Katsuragi was doubtful too.

Still, the fact that she tried to motivate him was enough to get his head in the game. He wouldn't drag down his team by feeling sorry for himself. Soujyuuro smiled at her, awkwardly patting her shoulder. He'd probably make things worse if he tried to put it into words, so he hoped this gesture could convey that her words helped.

He turned around, moving outside the building. "Nyoro-Kaichou told us to rush to the building and engage Mitsurugi," He explained, gesturing for her to follow him.

Ashleigh complied, her face deceptively blank. It was a strange thought to have during an exercise, but... 'He looks kind of cute when he's not being stone-faced...'

In front of her, Soujyuuro stumbled, blood rushing to his face.

---

[PART 3: Forget Me Nots]

---

As Soujyuuro and Ashleigh retreated with Kyoda, Jugo landed on a rooftop with his teammates. After putting down Minerva and being shoved away by Maxine, he reached for his earpiece.

Then,「Forgetter」activated.

Jugo stepped forward and almost slipped into a fall. He looked around, confused.

"Huh?" Wasn't he chasing the enemy team with his quirk? When the heck did he get here?

"Minnie!" Maxine screamed by his side, crouching to check on her sleeping teammate. Where the hell were they?! They were running after Ashleigh and Soujyuuro moments ago!

While she checked her friend's pulse and body for wounds, Jugo slapped his forehead. Of course! Ashleigh's quirk!

"Mitsurugi, we got hit with Katsuragi's ability! Do you know what we were doing before?"

"Minnie is unhurt, but I can't wake her up!" Maxine said at the same time.

As Chihiro was about to reach for an item, her comms buzzed with activity. She took a second to recall their movements. "You were fighting the other team, then Maxine called for Jugo's help, which meant they split you up at some point. I don't know any more details; the fight was too quick."

"What should we do now—oh crap, Imai and Katsuragi are rushing to your location!"

Chihiro looked out a window, verifying Jugo's words. The pair was rapidly approaching. She turned back to the item to pick it up... but it wasn't there anymore.

Her head swiveled from side to side, wide eyes desperately scanning the room but not finding anything. "Nyoro swiped one of the items."

Jugo cringed, having completely forgotten about the enemy team's leader. "Maxine, we need to back up Chihiro!"

Chihiro's mind raced to find the best move, however...

'They're using me to get Jugo inside a closed space.'

'(But if I leave, Nyoro will grab all the items. Who knows how many have been taken already?)'

"Jugo, bring Maxine to the second floor and back off to charge your quirk. They want an indoor battle, so we'll end this before Katsuragi can activate her quirk more times."

"... Right!"

Jugo crouched down and gestured for Maxine to climb on him. With a slight scowl, she left Minerva's side and piggybacked on her teammate. The two reached the second floor as Soujyuuro and Ashleigh stepped near the entrance.

"Imai! Katsuragi! Don't get knocked out before I can join the fun, alright?" He requested, floating with his back turned to the window so Maxine could enter. He flew away a second later, landing on a random rooftop and gathering Ki.

Soujyuuro and Ashleigh continued to run, and the former contacted their leader. "Nyoro-Kaichou, we're approaching the second floor. Jugo left Nguyen there."

'Alright! That's where Mitsurugi is. I managed to take a second item from under her nose, and now I'm looking for another on the third floor. I'll back you up when the fighting starts.'

"That's amazing—"

'Yes! Praise me more! Ugh, ignore those intrusive thoughts, Imai-kun, please—'

"—But you should retreat and hide what you have in random buildings. If you get caught up in the battle, they'll have a chance to make a recovery."

'... True. However, Jugo will enter the building and fight you 3v2 before I can throw away the items and come back. In the worst case, we're looking at 4 escapes and 2 items for them.'

Soujyuuro stopped in the middle of the stairway to the second floor, making Ashleigh bump into his back. As she grunted and stepped back, he turned around and leaned forward.

"Nyoro-Kaichou wants to stay in the building to back us up," He whispered in her ear so the enemy team wouldn't overhear them. "But I think retreating to hide the items is the better move. What's your opinion, Katsuragi?"

Caught off-guard by his proximity, she took a few seconds to answer. "What if Nyoro gives an item to one of us? That way, it won't be as bad if one of us gets taken out."

'I was already planning on doing that... egg, basket, you know the saying.'

Soujyuuro accepted their decision. "Alright. Normally, they'd focus on Katsuragi because of her quirk, so give the steel sphere to me. We'll confront them now; Kaichou, you choose a spot to make the transfer."

'Okay!'

He turned around again, moving into the second floor, ducking under two swipes of Maxine's quirk and making way for Ashleigh to leap over him. She swung her whip at their opponent mid-air, making her dedicate two bony limbs to block it. Soujyuuro swept at her feet, making her use one more.

Chihiro stepped into Ashleigh's landing spot, drawing her sheathed weapon and swinging at the blue-haired girl in one smooth movement. Ashleigh was smacked into a wall, and Chihiro stepped forward, preparing for a downward strike at the three-eyed boy.

Soujyuuro rolled to the right, deflecting two of Maxine's limbs and getting kicked in the face one second later. He stumbled across the floor, and a glass flask rolled out from his pocket.

Maxine reached for Kyoda's drug with one of her appendages, bringing it out of his reach. Was it a performance booster? Something to use against them?

'((Open it.))'

The command pierced her willpower, abusing her curiosity over Kyoda's quirk. Mindbroken, Maxine uncorked the flask and was hit with an extra dose of sedative he had retrieved from where Kyoda was defeated. There were a lot of drugs in Kyoda's pocket, and Soujyuuro had no idea what most of them did, except for the sedative, which he remembered by the liquid's lack of color. So that was the only thing he took. There were no more surprise attacks left in him.

She slumped down after two seconds, the last thing she saw being Soujyuuro's wry grin.

He couldn't believe that actually worked.

Chihiro caught Maxine, holding her breath. The telepath got up and backed away from the two, watching as Ashleigh recovered.

'Imai-kun, I'm coming down to the second floor.' Hoge broadcasted. 'Can you meet me there?'

"... Yeah."

Soujyuuro and Chihiro walked in opposite directions, one to put her teammate in a safe place and the other to meet his leader. They stared at each other the entire time, watching for any shifts in stance.

"Maxine got taken out," The villain team's leader disclosed to her only remaining teammate. "How is your quirk coming along?"

"Already? Sheesh~" Jugo said, his body surrounded by a glowing aura. "It takes 10 minutes for my power to peak, so I don't have much yet. But I'm not far from the action; call me if you're in a pinch."

Ashleigh moved to stand between Chihiro and Soujyuuro. She let the red-eyed girl move because this was just an exercise, and she wasn't the type to attack a girl carrying her passed-out classmate.

The telepath stepped into the third floor's staircase and almost barreled over his leader. He moved to catch Hoge by the shoulders, an apology in his mouth.

"Really sorry, Kaichou."

"N-No problem..." They replied, slightly dazed, then handed him two spheres. "I found the third one up there!" Hoge announced with a shaky grin behind their mask. "Now we need to force Maxine and Mitsurugi to fight us in here and defeat them!"

"Nice job. But I've already taken out Nguyen, courtesy of Hiro's sedative."

"Even better job! We... We might actually win this!"

---

[PART 4: Caribbean Queen]

---

On the bottom floor, Chihiro let Maxine rest on a chair.

There were no more items to search for. No more teammates to worry about draining with her quirk. Just her and three opponents until Jugo appeared.

She reached the second floor almost instantly, dashing by Soujyuuro and Ashleigh with her sword in hand. They turned to her, the penultimate member of the villain team, but in the blink of an eye, she had already struck twice. One thrust at Ashleigh's ribs and a rising swing at Soujyuuro's chin.

She studied the reeling pair in a split-second, spotting the outline of twin spheres in Soujyuuro's pocket.

Interesting. Nyoro had given him the items instead of hiding themselves. It was a tactic employed by the first hero team. Dangling the prize in front of her to make her stay.

She would take him down and then escape. With Jugo to fly the unconscious girls away and Minerva still carrying the item she found at the start, the villain team could still turn this into a victory with 3 items and 4 escapes.

Soujyuuro glimpsed her plan and did not try to break her mind. This was the result he and Hoge had been looking for.

Chihiro burst off again, sword cutting through the air and meeting his forearm. The swiftness of her weapon left him hopeless to dodge it, but he was strong enough to take the blows and keep going.

Ashleigh tried to circle around the red-eyed girl to pin her down. But Chihiro effortlessly darted away from her after striking Soujyuuro three more times, hopping away from the two of them... and tripping on Hoge's exposed leg.

The hero team's leader couldn't keep up in martial arts. However, in a 3 versus 1, they didn't have to.

The blue-haired girl swung her gadget at her opponent's ankle, but Chihiro managed to unsheathe her sword mid-fall, slice off part of the whip, and land safely with a backflip. She dashed in the direction Hoge's attack came from, intent on striking the class rep at least once before they disappeared again. Soujyuuro blocked her path with an axe kick that obliterated a desk but did not reach her.

'(His left side is open!)'

It was not. Soujyuuro batted away her weapon and swung with a low kick at her shin. Chihiro retreated from his attack, deflected Ashleigh's lunge, sidestepped her, and struck her back, sending her crashing into some furniture.

The swordswoman dodged a printer thrown by Hoge and engaged Soujyuuro again. She was even faster than before after spending a few seconds around them.

But it really didn't matter to Soujyuuro. Chihiro seemed to be moving with six arms—one pair for each opponent, but that had nothing to do with her quirk. She had simply refined her skills so much he couldn't even decipher her movements by reading her mind. How many years did she spend on this? How many times did she swing that sword the same way she was doing right now, breaking his hasty guard and smashing his face? He couldn't help but smile, even as she whacked him in the head again. He was seriously surrounded by amazing people in this class.

Chihiro didn't know why Soujyuuro started smiling as she bashed him with her sheathed blade, but there was a slight grin on her face too. After being outmaneuvered by Hoge the entire match, she was glad to finally contribute to this exercise.

'He looks pretty beat up, but his posture is still solid. I'll keep focusing on him while being wary of Katsuragi's ability.'

'Imai-kun, my quirk is coming back in 20 seconds.'

'Keep holding her in place, Imai-kun! I'll try to get behind her and make an opening for you and Kat-chan!'

'Hmm... Mitsurugi is dealing with them pretty handily. I think I can charge a bit more. But man... Imai and Mitsurugi look like they're having so much fun...'

Licking the blood from his busted lip, Soujyuuro processed everyone's strategies while weathering Chihiro's assault. Taking a few steps back to gain space, he raised his left leg slightly while swinging his arm to block her weapon.

'(A kick.)'

Chihiro's sword jabbed down at his thigh, but the limb had descended. He had raised his leg for a stomp, not a kick. The mindreader moved forward, taking the offensive and throwing three jabs at his opponent's upper body. Chihiro parried them, retaliating with a swing at his neck. He ducked, stepping further into her space and throwing an uppercut at her shoulder. The first attack he landed on her.

The punch flung her body further than she expected, breaking her stance. Then, Ashleigh's whip wrapped around her sheath, trying to tug her weapon away from her.

'(The last one's behind me.)'

Trusting what she assumed to be her instincts, Chihiro pulled her sword away from its protection and prepared to move. Ahead of her, there was Soujyuuro. Behind her, Hoge. To her left, the wall. To her right, Ashleigh.

'((Dodge right.))'

The key to successfully mind-breaking a target was circumstance. Had Soujyuuro commanded Chihiro to drop her sword or stop in the middle of a swing anytime during their bout... she would most definitely resist him. But now, the swordswoman was surrounded in all directions, and the command took advantage of her split-second indecisiveness. Chihiro's body moved exactly how Soujyuuro wanted, diving past Ashleigh and getting kicked in the stomach by Hoge.

The class rep's plan was to come behind Chihiro. However, with how fast Soujyuuro and her were trading blows, they had not gotten into position yet. The telepath had turned that into an advantage.

"Hey! It's me, Jugo—woah!"

Soujyuuro spun around to kick Jugo as the blue-haired girl tackled the swordswoman. One had seen his leader get surrounded, flying inside the building to help. The other sensed his thought process, striking so Ashleigh could finish pinning Chihiro. With one girl busy holding her opponent down, the fight had become a 2v1 between Hoge, Soujyuuro, and Jugo.

Jugo flew over the mindreader's shin and landed behind him. Soujyuuro twisted away from an incoming punch and vaulted over a desk to avoid another, making papers fly everywhere.

The blue-haired girl's choker shook for the eleventh time.

'Imai-kun, 10 seconds until I can use my quirk.' Although she was busy neutralizing an opponent, she could still help in her ally's battle.

Chihiro struggled under Ashleigh's hold, but it was futile. Her mastery was in sword fighting, not grappling. And with Ashleigh's strength bolstered by Kyoda's drug, she couldn't overpower her opponent. Her best options were to rely on her quirk to weaken Ashleigh or wait for Jugo to help her.

Hoge stalked the two fighters, waiting for a chance to strike. With his ability to fly, Jugo was way harder to sneak attack than Chihiro. He and Soujyuuro were prancing around the room, the former trying to find an opening to fire a Ki blast at Ashleigh and free Chihiro, and the latter using his quirk to keep up a constant offense.

Jugo flew outside a window, circling around the building and firing at Ashleigh from outside, forcing the blue-haired girl to let go of her opponent. As Chihiro left her hold, she felt her choker vibrate for the twelfth time.

'「Forgetter」is ready! I'm activating it now!'

Soujyuuro kicked Chihiro's weapon at Jugo, making the red-eyed girl chase it, putting her in the perfect position for Ashleigh to target both members of the villain team with her quirk.

Jugo's feet touched the second floor with a soft tap. He and Chihiro took their stances, facing the hero team.

"Focus on Imai," She instructed, sheathing her sword. "He has two of the items."

Jugo frowned. Ganging up on someone wasn't his style. "Do I have to? I mean, Katsuragi's right there..."

The blue-haired girl walked to Soujyuuro's side.

"Sorry, Katsuragi—"

"Sorry, Imai-kun—"

They both apologized at the same time, then paused, blinking.

Ashleigh felt sorry for not tying Chihiro with her whip in time, which led to her escape as soon as Jugo got an opening. Soujyuuro felt sorry for that opening even appearing in the first place.

Something poked his thigh. It was Hoge, crouching behind a piece of furniture.

'Things have changed,' Her mind told him. 'It's a 3v2 for us now. I'll focus on Mitsurugi since Jugo is too mobile for my tricks.'

He nodded and took a step forward. "I'll take care of Jugo," He declared. "... Please keep Mitsurugi off me."

Chihiro, the fastest between them, moved first, dashing at Soujyuuro. Jugo covered her with ranged attacks, blasting away Ashleigh's whip and making Hoge run away.

The mindreader met his opponent's charge, going for a tackle. She sidestepped him and swung at the back of his head, but he wasn't aiming for her from the beginning. She was his worst possible matchup at close range, after all.

He ducked his head, dashing past her and striking Jugo with an elbow to his collarbone and a knee to his ribs. Then, he sidestepped his reeling opponent and moved behind him, making Chihiro stop her sword swing to not hit her teammate.

Ironically, having another person to help fight him would make it harder for her.

Ashleigh came from behind Chihiro, determined to not make her teammate fight a 2v1. Chihiro danced around her with quirk-boosted agility, fiercely deflecting her attempts at grappling and retaliating with thrusts at her overextended body before dashing away, aiming for her true mark.

For the second time that day, she was tripped up by Hoge. Turning her tumble into a handspring, Chihiro leaped away with Ashleigh pursuing her.

Meanwhile, Jugo and Soujyuuro traded blows.

'(Right elbow, liver.)'

A feint to hide a left hook to his shoulder.

'(He's going for a clinch hold.)'

Instead of grabbing him, he hit his chest with twin palm strikes, which left him open to being pulled forward and taking a knee to the stomach.

Jugo's hand glowed as he prepared a Ki blast to push his opponent away. The mindreader had already seen through it, grabbing his wrist, pulling, sidestepping, and elbowing his nape. The energy attack flew harmlessly across the room before being sucked away by Chihiro's quirk.

'Traded blows' might have been too generous. Even after boosting his strength outside, it didn't matter if Jugo couldn't land a decisive blow on his opponent.

'(Low kick to the shin.)'

'((Float away.))'

Soujyuuro jumped and uppercut his retreating opponent in the cheek, making him crash into the ceiling. He did not let up, landing on a desk and jumping again, roundhouse kicking Jugo in the face as he dropped.

The telepath dashed past his recovering opponent, taking advantage of his position to pressure Chihiro with a temporary 3v1.

Her red eyes met his amber ones. He blinked, and she was already upon him, sword blurring through the air.

Right wrist. Forehead. Liver. Shoulder. Left arm. Temple. Left pectoral.

Seven strikes were unleashed upon his body, four which he blocked, and three that went past his guard. Chihiro paused her assault to avoid Ashleigh's whip, which gave him an opening to counterattack with a turning kick.

She jumped back and turned around with a preemptive strike. She was already expecting Hoge to be behind her, and she was right. The class rep was whacked away.

Instead of chasing her, Soujyuuro darted to the left, avoiding a Ki blast and hiding between the second floor's furniture. Ashleigh also gave up on chasing Chihiro, disengaging from her and Jugo in a different direction than her teammate.

Hoge appeared ahead of Jugo as he tried to reach the telepath, catching on to their teammates' plan. Jugo was delayed by the opponent in front of him. But the swordswoman kept moving toward her target until her attention was swayed by a flying steel sphere.

A decoy that had been thrown by the class rep.

'((Grab it.))'

She was fast enough to turn right, reach the sphere before it flew away, and still prevent her opponent from retreating further. The command was just a precaution in case she ignored the objective; in that case, it merely reinforced her natural course of action.

Soujyuuro was glad Hoge understood his and Ashleigh's plan without the need for verbal communication. He was right to trust her intelligence to figure out why they were both trying to escape the enemy's sight.

「Forgetter」activated while Chihiro was focusing on grabbing the objective from the air.

Before she could reach the sphere, Soujyuuro's fist connected with her jaw, making her spin around like a ragdoll and get wrapped up by Ashleigh's whip.

Still dazed from the memory loss, Jugo could barely react to Soujyuuro stepping up to face him again, defending himself on instinct. Hoge ran to retrieve the steel ball she'd discarded.

The blue-haired girl pulled her tied opponent away from the action, laying Chihiro on her side. The villain team's leader took several seconds to return to her senses. Part of it was because of「Forgetter」, and because being punched in the jaw by Soujyuuro hurt.

She saw Jugo flying around the room, chased by two people, and realized they couldn't turn this around anymore.

"R-Run away, Jugo!" She shouted, straining against her bindings. "Take Maxine and Minerva with you to the escape zone!"

'((Fight.))'

Jugo struggled between his desire for a good battle and the desire to not ruin his team's match. In the end... he remembered Kaylee and her team's disappointed faces after their bout and chose the latter.

The Ki user took one last blow, a punch in the stomach by Soujyuuro, before floating outside the building. He landed at the entrance and flew inside the bottom floor to get Maxine.

Soujyuuro climbed on the window his opponent left through, trying to calculate if his drugged body could take a two-story fall to keep up with Jugo.

Two hands grabbed his shoulders, stopping him from jumping.

"Imai-kun..." Ashleigh and Hoge called him, pulling him back. He didn't resist.

Soujyuuro licked his bloodied lip, gazing at his teammates. Then, he finally relaxed after the nonstop fighting, collapsing against a wall with a thoroughly exhausted expression.

"... just one capture, then?" He asked, chest rising and falling with each breath.

Ashleigh nodded, looking at Jugo flying to the escape zone with Maxine and Minerva.

Hoge briefly glanced at Chihiro before adding, "We denied three items. That has to count for something."

"Match Over!"

---

[FIGHT DUB CLUB]

---

"So... looks like your math was wrong." Kaylee jeered, looking down at Hailey.

"It's incredible how you can look so proud after saying something so dumb," Her rival replied. "Three escapes, cow."

"One item, bitch. Also, your friends didn't do anything and got taken out like chumps!"

"Minerva was the only one to actually eliminate someone!"

Ignoring them, Shinkan turned to Inigo while scratching his head. "Who does the prize go to?"

"Are you blind?" The blond asked. "Did you not see the true winner of the match? Anyone who bet on Team Hoge is getting their share!"

"You're biased!" Bobby accused, jabbing a finger at his chest. He was a Team Chihiro supporter and investor, having been swayed by Hifumi's praises of his sparring partner.

The bickering would continue if not for the two teams returning to the control station, making Majestic call for everyone's attention.

"Hero Team. You four performed admirably, considering the matchups you found yourselves in, although you worked against the spirit of the exercise to do so. In the scenario we're emulating, you wouldn't know exactly what items the villains were trying to steal, only that they were trying to steal something from the buildings. Protecting property is important, don't get me wrong. But you focused too much on that aspect of the exercise."

"Villain Team. You got caught up in your opponents' rhythm most of the match. Some of you got eliminated too quickly and only escaped because one of your members could fly. You completed three-fourths of one objective and one-fourth of the other one. Honestly, I'm tempted to call this a tie between you and the Hero Team instead of a victory for anyone."

"See?" Bobby said. "Teach said it himself. It's a tie."

"Alright, alright, fine. Everyone gets their money back," Inigo concluded.

Kaylee swiped a bill from the prize pool, smirking at a glaring Hailey.

"What? You gave me this so you could get it anyway when your team won, right? They didn't, so I'm taking it."

"Hmph. Do what you want. I'm too rich to be feeling anything over ten thousand yen."

"And now, for the final match of the day...!"

"Bobby!!" Hifumi cheered, giving his friend a high five.

"Dammit, why is my team a sausage fest?" Inigo despaired.

Sandatsu sighed, feeling a headache coming.

"Saving the best for last, as expected," Hailey said before turning to her leader. "Let's win for Max and Minnie, alright?"

Faith nodded.

The Laser Hero clapped his hands. "You know the drill. The war rooms are waiting!"