Colors in the Dark

[53] Rehearsal

Once she made it back to the dorms, still having to avoid bumping into any of her class' preparations, she explained to the others what she'd be doing, though it seemed they'd already heard from Midoriya. Despite being sidelined from her own class event, they were glad she found a place to shine.

However, a few of the girls in class seemed pretty worked up that they didn't know about the pageant beforehand, the likes of Tooru being the angriest. "I cannot believe Mr. Aizawa never told us about a beauty pageant! Why would he keep it a secret!?"

"He probably thought we'd be too busy with our own event. Probably had no idea Ayami was indirectly booted from ours and would need a secondary option," Tsu remarked, in her signature finger-on-her-chin pose.

"I'm glad," Momo told the redhead. "I think I speak for everyone when I say you'll do us proud."

Kyouka nodded, seeming a bit guilty for having taken her spotlight before. "You'll have a whole stage to yourself, so go out there and show everybody what you've got. We'll all be wishing you luck!"

She smiled at all the good wishes sent her way, remembering once more what it felt like to feel at home with her class. "Thanks, everyone. With my dress and accessories picked out, along with a musical-based performance with the help of my spirits' sub-quirks, we might just put on a worthwhile show."

"I'm sure you will!" Ochaco encouraged. "But on an unrelated note..." She walked over to the redhead she interned with, whispering in her ear almost too fast to process.

However, she managed to get the gist of it; when Eri and Mirio had come by earlier while she was away, Mineta had made a rather foul comment to Eri, something about "a decade later" that sent Ayami's blood to a boil.

"He said what!?" She hissed back the second the meaning clicked in her head, eyes scouring the group of kids until her narrowed eyes landed on the little purple freak. Her dark amber stare was burning with such a deep fury that it nearly scared her; she had never quite felt the same level of hatred before, even at her darkest moments.

(Eri was just a little girl, one who had gone through so much hardship already, and yet he had the audacity to try grooming her!?

(Later, she'd come to realize that Eri was actually taller than Mineta despite him being ten years older than her. Bless her sweet little heart; even she could look down on him.)

Just barely able to reign her fury to a manageable level, she scowled at her classmate. "Mineta," she addressed him as calmly as possible. With a rather harsh-worded command to Deimos- just to make sure he didn't lose control of himself, since it had been a while since she last done so and losing it because of Mineta was something she would never be able to live down- she summoned him to the Headspace, allowing the dark void of Oblivion to open around them.

The class mood turned from excited and proud to eerie in an instance, the target of Ayami's rage now singled-out. The grape boy gulped, and Ayami could feel fear welling up inside of him.

"I heard you said something to Eri this morning. Care to share?" Despite trying to remain calm, Deimos added a force behind her words that shook the meter-tall boy even further. He paled, slowly backing away- as if he could make a run for it when I can sense everything in Oblivion.

Just as he began to make a break for the elevator, she let Deimos have his way, standing idly as she "failed" to keep his greatest fears from chasing after him, noticing a shadowy image of herself amongst the bunch. Her classmates that knew what she was referring to watched with a righteous satisfaction, but a few of the others seemed scared by the display.