Amour Propre (OMORI)

Phantasmagoria

The bell rang, class started, and everyone was in their seats. The teacher was late. Again. Fourth time this month, and it had only been a week into the school year.

Even Basil, originally a real die-hard Captain Canuck fan, had gotten sick of the Captain's excuses. The excuse was never "I was fighting crime" either. It was a bit sad.

"Sorry, kids, I was caught up deciding on what yogurt brand to get for lunch later!" Captain Canuck announced as he entered the room, sliding on ice.

The room collectively groaned loud enough to knock Captain Canuck over, "C'mon, guys, choice paralysis is a real thing, look it up!" Nobody even reacted that time. Captain Canuck stood up, embarrassed, and cleared his throat. "A-Anyway, class, today we're going to be co-op training. There's gonna be our usual Autumn Equinox Festival in a week or so, so we gotta get you ready for it!"

Everyone looked at each other quite excitedly. The Autumn Equinox Festival was quite renowned, at least in Ontario. It was mainly for viewing by hero agencies and investment firms, but it became a bit of a public spectacle in more recent years.

There were three divisions each for each year a student would be in the academy. All aired separately, but simultaneously.

Honestly, the sport of it made it quite entertaining, like a Super Bowl of sorts. Each division was known for something separate. First division was for raw power and natural talent. Second division displayed skill and improvement. Third division was for practically full-fledged heroes battling it out. It all depended on what kind of fights you wanted to see.

There were more events than just the fights, but the fights were what everyone was watching for.

Of course, all of this felt strange, as their useless teacher hadn't done much useful at all. The only thing he had them do that Sunny could recall was having to hand in a design for a sort of "costume" mainly being designed for its appearance rather than its functionality.

Or at least, that was in Sunny's case. He used a lot of black since standing out was certainly not useful as the guy who doesn't do the fighting.

"Did everyone get their costumes today?" Captain Canuck asked the class. Most of the class sort of looked at each other confused, only Bebe and the pretty boy that Sunny was too nervous to talk to held up clear plastic encasing what was likely their costumes. "They were at your voluntary dorms... I guess you two are the only ones who chose to use those?"

"There's dorms!?" Aubrey asked in shock.

Bebe spoke up, "I don't mean to be rude, but it said which voluntary dorm was yours on the acceptance letter."

This was insane news to Aubrey, "It wasn't bolded! How was I supposed to know it was important!?" She shouted incredulously.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. Everyone, we're going to the dorms, then, once everyone is changed into their costumes, we go to City Block... whatever it's called," Captain Canuck marched towards the dorms, "Peter, Bebe, try and help them all find their dorms."

The pretty boy and Bebe both nodded, with confident expressions. Sunny finally knew the pretty boy's name. They quickly arrived at the dormitory building. "Block B," it said on the entrance.

They filed in, and Sunny soon figured out that the doors of their assigned dorms had their names on them. Sunny couldn't recall his dorm number, so this was a lot more convenient than looking through every mailbox.

Sunny looked around the first floor. Nothing. He went upstairs and checked the second floor. Two doors down on the left side, he found it. He checked the mailbox, and there it was. A cotton striped grey and black shirt, a facemask, black pants, and a pretty unassuming puffball-less toque, too. The ideal hero costume for someone like him.

Sunny brought the plastic package into his dormitory room. Completely empty, obviously. All it had was a built-in wall desk and a bed. Also, probably a bathroom, but Sunny didn't check.

He opened the plastic and put on the clothes promptly. He wasn't exactly sure if he was supposed to wear it over his actual clothes or not, but he wasn't a coward. He took off all his clothes besides his underwear and put on the new costume.

He used the packaging to carry his old clothing, just in case he'd need it. Sunny went downstairs and stood in the lobby for a few seconds. About ten seconds after coming downstairs, someone else left their room and came back to the center room.

"I think this elastane I ordered came in a bit too tight," said Peter. Sunny turned and saw Peter in a full body suit. It was tight. Way tight. His hips were big enough to make the fabric go slightly transparent, and his body was being hugged in the most flattering way possible. Sunny tried to stop himself from drooling. "Do you think I should reorder?" Peter asked, addressing both Sunny and Captain Canuck.

Sunny cut off the hero before he could speak, "No, I think it's great!" Sunny said with a smile. If Basil came out wearing a similar, Sunny was sure he'd pass out from the blood rushing away from his brain.

Thankful he chose baggy pants for his costume, Sunny moved to the wall to lean against it and wait for others to arrive. He snuck a glance or two at Peter as he was leaning.

Some more people arrived, pretty much everyone reacting the same way as Sunny upon seeing Peter, besides Bebe, who looked to be waiting for someone... Only Aubrey had the same sort of elastane outfit. Hers wasn't too small as Peter's was, though.

The final one to arrive in the room was Mikhael. "The Maverick has arrived!" He wore an eccentric costume. Anything but utilitarian, he had three capes, extremely spiky sleeves, and a frilly collar. He also happened to be wearing a fedora that totally didn't match the outfit.

You could tell he made it himself. Bebe and Angel applauded his descent down the stairs. "Uh... alright. Well, now that we're all here, let's get to that training!" Captain Canuck led the way outside, as The Maverick took the time to also "observe" Peter's costume to Bebe's dismay.