Villain to Hero: Naruko Motomiya

Chapter 17: The Matches Finish

"Okay, next up is Kurisu and Ueshima," Aozora said.

Kurisu walked to the middle of the gym. She had green skin, thin eyes, long black hair, a tall, thin body, and a maid outfit as her hero costume. Ueshima followed after her. He was tall and skinny with short black hair that had a middle part, a yellow hero costume that was skin tight, and a yellow-green scarf.

"I'll try not to hurt you, babe," Ueshima said with a smirk.

"Can you not call me that?" Kurisu told, offended by his comment.

"Hey, it was a compliment," He defended.

"If you really want to call it that," Kurisu muttered.

"Begin!" Aozora announced.

With a sharp inhale, she spat a stream of sizzling acid toward Ueshima. He dodged to the side, his legs stretching to avoid the corrosive spray. In response, Ueshima’s arms shot out, stretching impossibly long as they aimed to grab her. Kurisu ducked and rolled, the floor hissing as stray droplets of acid ate into it.

"Not bad for a lady," Ueshima muttered, his voice tinged with a smirk. He snapped his arms back, then lashed out again, faster this time. Kurisu spun on her heel, launching another spit of acid, but Ueshima’s arm curved, dodging mid-air. Before she could react, his other arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground.

Kurisu struggled, twisting to aim at his face, but Ueshima was ready. His grip tightened, and he slammed her down onto the cold floor. The impact knocked the wind out of her, and before she could recover, his stretched hand was at her throat, pinning her down.

“I win,” Ueshima said. Kurisu glared up at him, but she knew she was beaten. They both then rejoined the rest of the class.

"Good job, Ueshima," Aozora said. "You effectively captured your opponent and made sure to incapacitate her. You could've won the fight quicker if you had done all that right at the beginning, though."

"I wanted to at least give her a chance, be a man," Ueshima said, smiling at Kurisu. She glared back.

"You did well, Kurisu," Aozora said. "You've improved how corrosive your acid is, but you still need to work on its range, and you need to move around more to be in a better position to use it."

"Yes, sir," She responded.

"Alright, Foster and Yukkuri. You're next," Aozora said.

A tall, mixed race boy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward. He wore what looked like a white yukata with yellow and gold accents and a pair of sun glasses with yellow brims. A tall girl with long blue hair that dragged across the floor and glasses walked to the middle of the gym. She wore a light grey cloak with light blue strips of fabric on her shoulders that hid her body.

"Begin!"

Foster raised his palms, unleashing a blazing beam of white-hot light. With a flick of her head, Yukkuri's hair shot forward, thick tendrils wrapping around Foster’s arm mid-attack. He struggled, trying to burn through them with a blast of searing heat, but her hair tightened its grip, smothering the light.

Before Foster could react, more tendrils lashed out, binding his legs and pulling him to the cold, concrete floor with a dull thud. He tried to shoot another beam of light, but her hair blocked his hands, wrapping tighter, constricting every move.

Foster grunted, attempting to break free, but Yukkuri’s hair lifted him off the ground, suspending him helplessly in the air. His light flickered, then dimmed completely. With one final tug, she slammed him into the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs. His vision blurred as Yukkuri’s hair retreated, leaving him gasping and defeated on the warehouse floor.

"Son of a bitch," Foster cursed in English. "I surrender," he then said in Japanese.

Yukkuri let go of him and then walked back to the rest of the class. Foster followed her.

"Good job, Yukkuri. I can see that you've improved how fast you can control your hair and how tightly you can bind with it," Aozora said.

Yukkuri nodded with a smile.

Aozora then turned to Foster. "It was a good idea to try and blind your opponent from the start. You need to work on how big your light is, though, to effectively do that."

"I didn't want to risk it hitting the class," Foster responded.

"Alright, now for the final two: Aozaki and Shima," Aozora announced.

Aozaki stepped into the middle of the gym. Her orange hair was tied tightly in a bun, and she wore a priestess outfit that had been slightly modified to allow for better movement and to have her nine fluffy tails poke out.

"Wish me luck!" Shima said to Tamakawa and Motomiya before going to the middle of the gym. His costume was a purple bodysuit underneath plates of armor.

"Begin!"

Shima opened his hands, long chains spilling out from his palms, directed at Aozaki. Her tails lashed out with incredible speed, deflecting the chains with a metallic clash.

Shima whipped his hands forward, sending a barrage of chains in all directions, filling the gym with a storm of metal. Aozaki’s tails spun around her, deflecting and slicing through the incoming chains, but she couldn’t block them all and one wrapped around her ankle.

Shima yanked hard, pulling her off balance. She hit the ground, but her tails snapped out, slashing at the chain and freeing her. She sprang to her feet, her tails lunging at him with deadly precision. He barely dodged each one of them.

Shima placed his hands on the floor and activated his quirk. This time, the chains erupted from the floor, rising like serpents around Aozaki. She spun, her tails flailing, trying to cut them down, but Shima anticipated her movements. With a swift gesture, he tightened the chains, binding her arms and legs.

Aozaki struggled, her tails writhing to free her, but the more she moved, the tighter the chains became. She was trapped and unable to break free, ending the match. Shima let her go, and they both joined their class.

"Good job, Shima. You've greatly improved your control over your chains," Aozora said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir," Shima thanked, smiling.

"Aozaki, you've improved your speed, especially when deflecting attacks, but you need to work on immobilizing opponents," Aozora explained.

"Understood," Aozaki replied.

Aozora turned to face the rest of the class. They were all tired from their matches and longed to rest. "Every one of you has definitely improved over the summer, whether you were doing a work study or not. Get some rest at the dorms."

The class turned to leave. "What should we have for dinner?" Tamakawa asked.

"I'm somewhat of a cook if you want me to make something," Takamura suggested.

"Ooh, we should do a hot pot!" Daiba exclaimed.

"It's summer, though," Yumiko said. "Who does a hot pot in the summer?"

"We could," Shima said, "Besides, we have a new addition to the class."

Motomiya felt so welcomed into the class. They treated him like an actual person, like he was something important. It was so odd to be treated like this, so wonderfully odd. He loved it.