【 Tranquility 】

Kanami Vs Satoshi : Wait For Me

The crowd roars like a flood of anticipation. I shake my hands and clench my fist to shake off the worry, cracking my knuckles as I take a step forward.

His quirk would be hard to use at this area, I wonder what he'll do.

I took a step forward, the adrenaline was fuelling me. My anxiety slowly rose as I activated my Quirk. What do I even say to him?

"Satoshi, Iist—" I shouted.
He yelled out my name, which sent shivers down my spine. He was levitating off the ground and started pummelling right towards me. As he neared, I noticed the gear he was wearing was different.

Instead of his jet pack, he wore shoes that seemed to be levitating off the ground somehow. Magents most likely. He wore something on his arms that looked like they were storing something up.
I dodge his attack and saw his hand press on the surface of the gear. A never-ending string of hex nuts shot out of them and he swung it at me with full force. I evaded them in time and tried to shoot water into his gear to jam them. However, the nuts were repelled at me at a crazy speed.

I tried to block them but felt the impact of a few of them. I looked down, my jacket had tears and holes in them. I looked back at him, sweat already trickling from my face.

Just how strong are those things?

I snapped myself back to focus. "You're really being bold here, magnets get weaker just by being hammered." I said, aiming water at his body. He avoided my attack by gliding to the side and evading my attempts to attack.

He seemed provoked but fought on nonetheless, "These are stronger than usual, so your point isn't valid."

I ran to the side. Is he not going to try to advertise his products? He's in the support course so might as well right...?

...right, he never wanted to be in that course.

I tried to strategise for a moment and I got up into the air, trying to get close to Satoshi and attack. His chains made a loud clanking sound as they lined back together in the formation of a sheild. I flew over to the side and close enough to clog his gear before I was flung back by a force.

My ear felt like it was going to be torn off. I stopped myself before I hit the ground and touched my eye-wear, adjusting it back on securely.

He repelled it.

When my focus was back on him, the nuts were flying towards me.
I felt a few of them graze and cut my skin before I hit the rest to the side with water.
This is getting nowhere! I'm a recommendation student, show it!

While there was still smoke and floating  cement particles blocking the view, I threw my jacket to the side and surrounded him with upward-splashes of water.
Just like Uraraka.

He fell for it and hit the jacket to the side. Forming a small current of water along the floor, I slid behind and pummelled him onto the ground with the surrounding currents.

I moved my hands to form a dome of solidified water, rendering him trapped.

...Was that too harsh?

He slowly got up. I stared at him, unsure of what to do. He could fight back any moment. He won't just surrender.
I couldn't tell what he was feeling. Anger? Surprise? Confusion? What do I say to him? What if I say something wrong again?

I stopped myself from walking closer and took a step back.

"You're fighting so hard yet the battle has been running for some time, don't hero course students normally get through this with ease? Everyone thought that you were stronger back at our old school. Aren't you a recommendation student? Why are you struggling against someone who couldn't even get into the hero course?!" He spat. "You look afraid, yet so determined to get this battle over with. I'm getting impatient, when will you just step up?"

My face contorted in irritation and the cap of the bottle went loose.
"That's because a lot of the people there didn't care to get to know me. They just clung onto a surface-level impression of me. I'll admit it, I get complacent, and I can be careless. I was wrong when I let my feelings get to me."

I shape the dome smaller as I step forward. My eyebrows furrowed as I bent down.
"But please don't hold this grudge against me. I'm working to change but I can't find a solution so easily. Recognise that the path for you is so clear. You want to show that you can use your power for good, but aren't you already doing that already?!"

His expression changes, an aura now more surprised than mad.

My head felt like a band was tightening around it. Did I say the right thing? Did I offend him? Was I loud?

"You're... using your quirk to make advanced creations. That already meets your dream. If you want to join the hero course then I believe you can."
I let my hand down. I didn't want to say more but I didn't want to keep running away from him.

He didn't retort.

"Time has passed, hasn't it?," He said. He spread his arms open and attracted the hex nuts back to his hands. With force, they shatter and break my dome. "So let's see who walks out here with the medal."

He wore a familiar grin I haven't seen in ages.

But then his face returns back to conflicted. He took a deep breath.
"..No matter who wins, we'll form our own path."

The battle wasn't over.

I touched the ground and coated the field with a layer of water. Painful metal grazed and attacked me over and over as I tried to block them and hit my friend.

What do I— no I'll just focus on the battle at hand. Go for his gear. Make him forget the idea of getting himself hit.
That might work.

I created several spheres out of the water on the ground to hit Satoshi's limbs and weapons, rendering them weaker.
However with my eye-wear needing to be on, I constantly got dragged onto the ground and attacked.
I make some distance and tie my red tuffs of hair back. I solidified a small barrier around my ear to try and prevent getting repelled to the ground again. "Better."

I hit the hex nuts away, going against their strength and weakening as many of them as I could.
But once I realised that the hits were less forceful, I took the opportunity to hit the final blow and plunge Satoshi out of bounds when he least expected it.

And with a swift motion...

"Satoshi is out of bounds! Kanami wins!" Present Mic announced. The crowd cheered enthusiastically as Midnight approved of the win, declaring my advance to the next round.

I look over at Satoshi, who was in the middle of getting back up. I tiredly walk over and gave a respectful bowed
He looked disturbed by the formality though and reached his hand out. His palm open.

I was confused and helped him to his feet.
He frowned for a moment, "Handshake."
"Oh,"
We exchanged a handshake, one that felt casual.

"Do...you still hate me?"
"You worry too much." He vaguely said with an almost hard-to-read expression.
"Huh—"
"Let's go see recovery girl." He said, walking quickly into the stadium. "Hey— Give me a clear answer!" I said, running after him.