If I was actually trying to make friends and influence people, I suppose I'd probably be pretty embarrassed that possibly the worst self-introduction I've given in my life was overheard by not one, but two people.

...And one of them is the condescending one that thinks in blue from the entrance.

Well, thankfully, she seemed to have something else on her mind, so she probably didn't catch the whole thing. It seems Akisuji-kun isn't the only one worrying about his first impression -- a fact which makes her choice of words all the more ironic. True, we do sound nervous -- but I'd say that worrying about people reading your innermost thoughts just by watching your hair constitutes being nervous, too.

Besides, it's not like I wanted to read your innermost thoughts, anyway. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone that kids used to call you Tentacruel. Your secret's safe with me.

Still... Being called out like that probably won't be good for Akisuji-kun's burgeoning anxiety -- and I did choose to sit here to try to alleviate those worries. Since I'm aware of the situation, though it goes against my usual principles of strict observation, I think I should probably take this opportunity to divert attention away from him. I'll act as though she was talking about me, and give him a chance to step out of the spotlight for a bit.

Besides, none of us will probably see each other or talk again for the rest of the year. Isshin's a pretty big school, and we probably won't even be in the same class. Even if I make a fool out of myself now, there's no shortage of unusual and spectacular individuals to draw attention away from me later. I'm sure nobody will look twice at little old me once Quirk assessment begins.

"You got me," I say, giving a slight shrug. I already know I'm a bad actor, so I won't try to act overly flustered at being called out. "It's my first time living on my own like this, and after coming all this way, I guess I got cold feet. Isshin's got a pretty intimidating reputation, so I guess I'm just sort of wondering if I can make it, is all."

...Yeah, just about every single thing I just said was a lie. First time living on my own? As if I haven't been taking care of myself since elementary school. This won't be any different. Traveling a long way? I've moved and changed schools more times than I can count. And as for Isshin's reputation, if I've made it this far, I know they won't throw me out on a whim. Plus, even if I can't cut it in the hero class, I can always transfer to the support program and carry my credits over. Others might think of that as a failure, but all I care about is the financial security an Isshin education can provide.

Youthful hopes and dreams? Don't need them. What can I say? I'm a realist.

Still, that should be a boring enough answer that she'll dismiss me mentally -- and possibly vocally -- as a "sidekick" and lose interest. After all, I'm just a boring, everyday, average girl with normal person worries who couldn't possibly understand an elite like you. Isn't that right, miss --

Ah, crap. I still don't know her name, and I really don't want to call her Tentacruel. Couldn't you have at least bothered to introduce yourself? I'm gonna start thinking of you as Tentacruel if you don't, so please, just say your actual name before it becomes a habit!

Still, that situation seems to have been resolved successfully -- or so I thought?! Colorless, you're here too!? Your thoughts are so clear that I almost didn't see you!

"Ah. No. You're not interrupting at all. Though, the people up here do seem rather high-strung, if you ask me." I shake my head, unsure of how else to respond. It doesn't seem like she's particularly interested in talking to me, anyway, since she immediately hits it off with Not-Tentacruel. As for me, I find my fake worries disappearing, and my real ones crawling back to the surface. Akisuji-kun and now this girl also... Both of them are from Tokyo. Thinking about it realistically, there's almost no way that they could have ever gone to the same school as me, and I certainly don't remember either of them. Right. It's a huge city, and I was just one person, living in it. The odds of them knowing me already are slim to none. And the odds of them having heard about my Quirk are practically non-existent.

Right. I'm just being paranoid. Besides, as Colorless said about the girl who bumped into her, once the semester starts, everyone will forget all about me, too.

Ah. But speaking of forgetting things. I'm forgetting something here too. Akisuji-kun's caught in the middle of this whole mess, and my earlier diversion has now backfired. Everybody's ignoring him completely.

Well, for a boy, being surrounded by three girls in the opening ceremony probably sounds like a dream come true -- especially since things like this are usually segregated by gender for the sake of order. But somehow, I doubt Akisuji-kun is thinking of this situation as a gift.

...Actually, wait a second. There's no way a school as strict as Isshin would let us just do things so haphazardly, would they? I wasn't really paying attention up until now, but is it possible that maybe, Akisuji-kun sat down in the wrong seating area? He's not gonna get scolded for that, is he? But if I point it out to him, he's definitely going to get embarrassed... Ah, crap, what am I supposed to do in a situation like this? Think, Kokone -- how do I resolve this without ruining his day or making a spectacle of myself?

---

---

Given that Tokyo is a major population center of Japan, it was not statistically unlikely that multiple students in their class would be from Tokyo. In fact, it would be improbable if none of the students were from Tokyo. Of course, it would make more sense to have applied for UA, but Gendou hadn't even considered any other school; Ishin was his mother's alma mater, and she was his goal and inspiration.

Gendou focused on these pointless thoughts in order to distract himself from what was clearly happening around him. Being surrounded by three girls, his heart raced, but not for the reason one might assume of a teenage boy. This was, unfortunately, a tactic he had seen all too often. A group of mean-spirited friends singles out someone to pick on. They approach, one at a time, pretending not to know each other, taking their time to size up their victim; see if he's an easy target. Eventually, they will surround their victim, preventing escape, and make their intentions known, spoken in hushed tones so no one outside the circle catches on. They were going to make him their slave for the rest of the school year, if not longer.

Yoshiba asked if he was nervous, which was clearly a way of letting him know that she smelled his fear. Touko's overly friendly, "My people", was a way to force closeness and blackmail using arbitrary 'connection'. Talking about other people being annoying or problematic was supposed to create a false security, a poor effort to convince Gendou that these three were the only ones he could trust. And Kokone answering Yoshiba's 'nervousness' question robbed Gendou of any agency in the matter. In just a few simple steps, they had established complete control, and he had let himself fall into the same trap again.

Gendou wanted to vomit.

He didn't know what to do. If tried to run now, they'll know they got to him, and how easy it is for him to break. He'd give them what they wanted, information that he was easy to bully. But what if he played along? He knew his acquiescent nature would come through, and the result would be the same. They'd know that whatever he was doing would be an attempt to appease the situation. of course, calling for help or simply sitting there stunned would all mean the same thing. He could try to fight his way out, but that could result in failure, or get him kicked out of Ishin altogether. What kind of hero-aspirant attacks his classmates before the opening ceremony?

"I'm from Meguro Ward," Gendou's delayed conversation brain causes him to blurt out the thoughts that he was trying to distract himself with. Given that several of them are from Tokyo, it only made sense to get a little more specific. Gendou covers his mouth with his hands, afraid that he'd draw the girls' ire for speaking out of turn. "S-sorry," Gendou was quick to apologize. Though the smart thing to do would have been just to keep quiet and gauge their reaction, Gendou suddenly felt that he had to do something, anything to take back an iota of control. "I-I g-guess I am pretty nervous. This was my mother's school, and I just want to make her proud, you know?"

Gendou was spiraling and beginning to divulge too much information. Now they knew he was a momma's boy. But as long as he didn't reveal his quirk and give them the opportunity to judge how disgusting it was and get the idea of harming him through his eyeballs, he'd be fine, right? But right now, all he could think of was his quirk and how they'd react if they saw it, so he glanced at them, trying to ascertain what their quirks were. For Kokone and Touko, it wasn't so obvious, but for Yoshiba, he had a guess.

"D-do you have prehensile hair?" Gendou asked, trying to divert attention away from himself, "That's pretty cool."

Gendou chided himself; what a dumb way to compliment someone's quirk.

heroically addressing: @LemonsKayo, @FeyblueIzuna

---

---

"Ahhhhh, yeah that'd make sense. Was a little hard to tell if it was all the 1st years heading that way from up on the building." Justice didn't say anything about the taller student's face slapping or wide-mouth staring. She had likely been stunned by his entrance and needed to take a moment to compose herself, unlike the green-eyed girl she had been talking with before his arrival. In her seemed to be a kindred spirit, given her earnest, but respectful, applause, earning them a wide grin from the flamboyant young man as he sought to give a bit of an encoure.

With a flourish, Justice twirls out a small flashlight from his blazer pocket, flicking it on to reveal a surprisingly intense beam to shine into his palm. Rather than making a small spotlight, however, the two girls would see the light waves seem to almost split around his hand, colaescing into thin strands of light that quickly began to soldify into a soft neon white rod about the size of a ruler before the boy flips it off. Flipping it between his fingers for an added bit of showmanship, he uses it to point the way to the assembly hall while giving a short bow. "Glad you liked it, Mi-Me and I look forward to being in a class with you both."

"But enough of that, we should prob get going, yeah? Our tall friend here can't be having a good time out in the cold like that." Justice gestures to the taller of them with the light rod as he takes a step towards the hall, though his eyes glaze over briefly as he seems to lose himself in thought for a moment. The smile on his face fading into a look of deep concentration as his attention focuses on something in the distance. Suddenly, the light rod in his hand begins to rapidly dim, it's form rippling and shaking until it suddenly bursts into pieces in his hand. As if on que, the young man seems to come out of his stupor, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes as he quickly turns away with a sudden laugh. "Sorry, lost focus there for a moment, what was I saying. . . oh, assembly hall, right? Getting out of the chill, maybe getting . . . I'm sorry, I don't think I either of your names? I've been really. . . really rude, haven't I?"

When Justice turns back to the two, his smile seems a bit. . . less than before.

Ishin Academy had a certain reputation, but if nothing else Riona respected that the staff seemed to care for its students. For example, he was immensely grateful for the rail pass that the school provided. The ride south from his native Abashiri was long enough that Riona had started getting fidgety, so it would have been awful to worry about train fare the whole way on top of that. Not to mention it would have gotten expensive without the academy's assistance.

Riona had been to Sapporo twice before today. The first time had been a for a family trip, the summer before Riona's middle school debut. He hardly remembered it. The most recent visit had been for the in person part of Ishin's entrance exams. That had been much less nerve-wracking than the written tests, and once it was over Riona and his father had found a decent oden place nearby to eat at before making the journey home. He hadn't seen a lot of the city that day, so stepping off of the train with a bag slung over his shoulder and the academy's thick brochure in his hands felt like the start of an adventure... if only a scholastic one.

He made his way through the city's streets, kind of just hoping that he'd chosen the direction Ishin was in. Eventually he spotted that same oden shop and he knew he was headed the right way. He broke into a grin, wide and toothy, and ran the rest of the way to the school's gates.

There it was, that massive torii standing strong and proud. And he was passing under it, in front of the school he'd been working to get into for... well, years. Back when he'd decided he wanted to be a professional hero he recalled choosing Ishin because it was the closest hero school, ignorant to both the academy's prestige and notoriety. Once he'd learned more about it, he hadn't been dissuaded from trying his hand at getting in. He also recalled his home room teacher laughing in his face when he told them about his aspirations.

"Look who's laughing now," Riona muttered to himself, staring at the torii that welcomed students in for another year. He was here, he'd made it, so screw that dude and all the other naysayers.

Looking up at the prestigious academy, Riona didn't feel nervous. Tucked away in the pocket of his gakuran (he wore it with pride, even after enduring his mother's fussing over him as he'd been getting dressed) was a good luck charm that his little sisters had made for him. It was the same pocket that one of Riona's hands was stuffed into, and he idly rubbed the talisman between his finger tips as he walked.

His family wasn't the only thing he was thinking about that morning. In fact they had been fading towards the back of his mind the closer he got to the school as more immediate thoughts took their place at the forefront. Like finding his way to the assembly hall where the opening ceremony would be taking place, and scoping out his fellow students. As for the former, he figured he could just follow where the majority of kids were headed. He wasn't late for the ceremony, right? The students around him were kind of giving mixed signals. Some were loitering, like the two girls (one purple haired, one blonde) chatting by a nook in the school's wall. Others were rushing; there was a boy taller than he was with a similar complexion that was practically out of breath. He reaaaally hoped the ones rushing were just over eager and that he wasn't in danger of missing anything, but like hell was he going to ask somebody about it. That would almost be worse than asking for directions.

What followed next was sort of a blur - though thankfully, trying to focus on getting her Quirk under control helped Izuna distract herself from the insanity that she was faced with. Thankfully, while she worked on making her arms stop dripping, her new scaled friend Nigata-chan thankfully gave enough applause for both of them, and the living mass of dark history in front of her seemed satisfied by that. She was just getting a hold of her composure again when...

"Eh?"

1A. The same class.

She was in a class with this kid. The one who jumped off buildings as a self-introduction and called himself Justice.

Well, I'll also be classmates with Nigata-chan, who seems nice even if she's a bit ditzy... BUT THERE'S NO WAY I CAN JUST LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE LIKE THIS, IS THERE?! WHAT EVEN IS THIS?! SOME KIND OF KARMA?!

...And then he suddenly took notice of her current predicament and offered to hasten their way inside.

Geez. She couldn't even be mad even if he was cringe. To think that the only person who'd be considerate of her Quirk was this weirdo. Ah, but she wasn't that happy about it! Never mind that her photophores had shifted back to a bright, warm orange again.

...For all of two seconds, anyway, until Justice of all people pointed out that she hadn't introduced herself yet. Never mind that he thought he'd been rude not to ask -- she hadn't even introduced herself to Nigata-chan!

"Gah!" No, wait, hold up right there. "Gah" definitely wasn't a sound a cool person made. She hastily, and rather unconvincingly cleared her throat, and tried to play it cool about her faux pas. "I, uh... sorry 'bout that. 'Guess it slipped my mind to introduce myself, huh?" She tried to give an unconcerned shrug, though the cracking of ice on the shoulders of her blazer made the gesture rather more forced than she would have liked. "The name's Izuna! Nishikiyama Izuna. And, well... yeah. My Quirk's, uh... not exactly great in a place like this. I mean, I knew it was gonna be cold, but... Well, I'll manage somehow, so let's just get inside and, uh... don't worry too much about it, yeah? Ehehe..." She gave a broad, pointy-toothed grin, and quickly began to awkwardly shuffle towards the door, doing her best not to slip on the patch of glare ice that had formed around her while she'd been standing in one spot.

Gaaaaaaah... They're totally gonna think I'm lame... And with my Quirk acting up now of all times, I can't even fault them for it. Grr. Stupid puddles... If only Sai-chan was here. Where is she, anyway?

I am not accustomed to making mistakes. But, unfortunately, it seems I've gone and done exactly that.

I was only thinking of how stressful it would be for Akisuji-kun to get talked down to by Tenta-- I mean, Mizuhana-san. So, I threw myself in the way, and tailored my response based on her thought patterns.

And because I got myself involved, now he thinks I'm trying to isolate him.

Foolishness, Kokone! You should know better than that! When trying to help someone else, their thoughts -- their worries -- those things should be my top priority. This is why I must remain an absolute observer. The moment I interfere based on one thought, it could easily have unforeseen consequences. What I hear is only the surface of a deep, deep pool -- and a single splash upon its surface can disturb even its darkest depths.

As a wave of nausea sweeps over the boy seated next to me, I feel an uneasy squirming sensation in my own gut as well. The white noise in his head is ringing in my ears, and I'm beginning to lose focus on the deafening chorus of voices around me, both real and external. I raise a hand to my forehead without thinking, rubbing my aching temple.

...Let's recap. Akisuji-kun is afraid he'll get bullied because of his Quirk. Mizuhana-san already has been bullied because of her Quirk. On paper, you'd think these two would be natural allies. The problem is that their personalities couldn't be any more different. Akisuji's response to danger is to hide and avoid it -- Mizuhana's is to confront it head on. If she could hear what I hear right now, she'd think of it as weakness, and he'd lose any and all sympathy. And if Akisuji could hear her thoughts, he'd definitely see her as dangerous...

Or, well, rather, he doesn't even need to hear it to assume that much. He's already on the back foot being called so suddenly by name by a girl he's only just met. Another uncomfortable shiver -- a fragment of a memory my Quirk is mercifully too limited to interpret -- runs down my optic nerve the moment she asks about his Quirk. His Quirk factor must be in his eyes, though how exactly they work I can't tell. It seems like he's trying to repress any thoughts about the subject as soon as they occur to him... though I did catch something in there about harming him through his eyeballs. I don't know exactly what that means, but just thinking about it makes me more nauseous than I already am. Just what happened to you, Akisuji-kun?

...Regardless, there's nothing I can do by intervening. His desperate compliment has caught Mizuhana-san in a rather good mood, which means she's unlikely to lash out at him no matter how he answers her question. Besides, even if that wasn't the case, I'm just an observer. If I were to try to speak up again before he could answer, I'm sure he'd think I was mocking him -- and that would be worse than letting him answer himself. Instead, whatever he says his Quirk is, I just need to be positive about it. Maybe that'll be enough to make him second-guess that I'm his enemy, at least. And while the conversation is about Quirks, maybe I can steer it towards my Quirk -- my fake Quirk, that is -- and get the chance to send a message to Akisuji-kun to warn him about the seating arrangements without embarrassing him in front of these two!

...But once again, I've forgotten something. There's another person here -- another person who might conceivably put more pressure on Akisuji-kun. Sorry, Colorless, but I can't let you interrupt this situation until it plays out in accordance with my plans!

"I lived near Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, myself," I chime in, using our common ground as fellow Tokyo residents (former) to insert myself back into the conversation, before letting my attention wander away from Akisuji and towards the girl opposite him. "What about you, uh -- Oh. Come to think of it, I don't think I got your name."

It's awkward and stilted, but what can I say? I'm an awkward person. Besides, if I don't get her to introduce herself soon, I might slip and actually call her Colorless out loud -- and that would raise all sorts of uncomfortable questions. It's better to eliminate that risk as soon as I can.

How's that, Akisuji-kun? We're not paying attention to you, much less bullying you. Now's your chance! Go ahead and answer honestly! You'll probably impress her!

...Well, I can't say any of that out loud, obviously. But I can at least cheer him on inside my head. Someone who thinks so warmly of his mom can't be a bad kid -- and that makes me want to root for him just a little.

That, and if he gets any more nervous, I think I might just throw up before he does. But that makes it sound like I'm just self-centered, and doesn't befit the proper dignity of an absolute observer -- so pretend you didn't hear that.

Perhaps it was fine that she was in the class of this 'Justice,' Kayo though, her smile for a moment turning almost catlike in its satisfaction. On one hand, it did rankle her slightly to be called Mi-Me. She didn't know exactly what it meant, but she could probably guess, given, you know, her eyes. But on the other...in her experience, at least, cutesy nicknames led to being thought of as cute quite efficiently. And she craved the compliments that would come with it (or at least, what she perceived as compliments).

So this...kid would—just like the newly-introduced fish girl Izuna, who she was glad wasn't a third year, this was far better than what a third year would've gone for her and she privately congratulated herself for introducing herself to her—just ease a journey that was already going to be remarkably easy.

Not to mention, there were insecurities there in Mr. Justice. Kayo was no mind reader, but it didn't take a mind reader. Just someone like her, who was smart enough to notice it. Losing his train of thought. Eyes staring into the distance. Losing control of his Quirk, like only an idiot would. That turned-down smile, covering what was no doubt pain and fear and someone that was looming over him, watching him watching everything he did and punishing him whenever he did something wrong and making him look into the mirror into her eyes—

Her face twitched again as she violently wrenched her mind back into shape.

The point was, something was eating at him. She didn't know what, but she knew that she didn't have any doubt. She was 100% right, this boy was someone she could pick slowly at, and watch as he fell apart piece by piece and left her at the top, as she so rightly deserved. But that could—would—come later. What was important now, was...well, getting to the hall. Nigata Kayo was not late for things. If she ended up coming in after the bell rang, then it was their fault, not hers.

Speaking of "their," oh boy, Izuna. Could she just...not control her Quirk? It was almost sad, seeing her shiver like that.

Returning her smile to its normal oblivious innocence after the moment had passed, she cleared her throat a little bit. Affected her own shiver, clutching at the sleeves of her big fluffy sweater (she'd be sad taking it off, honestly).

"Yeah, I think I'd like to get inside too, it's so much colder in Hokkaido than Kyoto!" Heading off towards the door, she shot a sidelong glance at the other two as they went. "Justice-san," she had to swallow the disdain back into her throat, "Izuna-chan—can I call you Izuna-chan?—where do you come from?"

It could never hurt to know more.

---

---

Kaoru's entrance into the auditorium was relatively quiet, rather secluded one might say. He didn't see a reason to interact with the other students right now. Why should he, when they ranged from the lunatic jumping off of buildings, to fish people who'd probably never worked a day in their life to make their Quirks work for them? Not to mention the quiet ones. Of course, he'd have to speak to most of them at some point, but for now, he was entirely content in his factual superiority over them.

He was. Frankly, whilst he stood out as pretty tall compared to most of the others, what really set him apart was how much work he'd put in to get here. Maybe if he'd gotten into UA, there'd be matches for his prowess... but whatever. Ishin was still the number two Hero Academy in Japan. He knew he'd succeed here. Get his license. And then show the world his ability - and maybe teach a few youngsters how to get to where he stood in a decade or two. Well, he'd be a bit above that by then, but it was a good start for those kids.

These ones, on the other hand, well... he supposed it was never too late for people to learn from their betters, though how much potential his teachings could extract from them might be limited now. Heck, he had more to learn too. That was why he was here: how could he become a high-ranking Hero if he didn't constantly improve himself, too? Self-improvement had made him a student; further self-improvement would make him a Hero. Maybe even the #1 Hero in all of Japan, if he was good enough. Heh... that'd be great.

Students trudged on, stragglers picked up their pace, and small groups that had stopped to chat broke up and began moving. It was definitely time to head inside now. Riona shuffled away from the densest parts of the crowd, though he followed the general flow. His footsteps crunched on the frost covering the ground, and his breath turned to fog, but he was doing way better with the cold than many other students judging from the many sneezes and sniffles going on. There was a lot of complaining from some poor souls that were reduced to shivering. Really sucks to be them, he thought, shaking his head.

Riona noted from the corner of his eye that someone was coming up next to him. When he turned, he was surprised to find a blonde girl with tired eyes and a mole high on her cheek. One of the ones he'd seen loitering earlier, maybe? He couldn't tell. Apparently she was a good samaritan offering directions. Riona frowned. I don't really look that lost, do I? ...eh, wait, what was the first thing she said?

His mind reversed, playing her words over again. He actually squinted, his eyes looking around briefly to make sure it was him that she was talking to. It was.

Damn, big city girls were bold.

"All set on directions," he told her, which was only half true. Technically he didn't know where the assembly hall was, but he was sure he could find it. Either way, he wasn't lost. His face broke into a smile wide enough to show off his teeth. "But since you're offering, I definitely wouldn't mind your company."

He politely slowed his gait. "You a first year too?"