MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

friends ━

chapter 5

Young Shimamura could feel herself being dragged away by her elbow. Her aunt had her hand hooked in the crook of Shimamura's arm, softly pulling her down the hallway. Shimamura was moving, but her mind was in another place.

As they moved farther and farther down the slender hallway, more company began to join them. The once empty hall had turned to a bustling crowd of students and their teachers. Most every student was dressed in a U.A. gym uniform, besides the ones that were in the upper classmen who weren't participating with the first years. There were a few that Shimamura could recognize as those who had graduated to the third round of the Sports Festival, but not many. They must have all been prepping themselves in their designated booths in the stadium or in their rooms. The ones in the hallway with Shimamura had competed, yes, but they weren't the finalists.

However, there were two in particular who caught her eye. Maybe it was the flash of color that sparked her attention. Or maybe it was the fancy juggling trick happening between the two students. Whatever the case, Shimamura's eyes finally registered on a singular scene rather than the masses.

At least 15 feet away stood two female U.A. students in matching gym uniforms. One was towering over the other a good 20 centimeters—maybe even standing at 185 centimeters tall! The shorter of the two had dark blue hair, tied back in two separate tails. The taller one had three thick strands of purple hair flipping all around her like movable limbs. They were giggling.

The tall one with the purple hair was juggling four tennis balls with her hair in front of her. Shimamura blinked. Fascinating! That must be her quirk!

"Arima!"

Another teacher shouted from the side of the hallway. Shimamura's aunt raised an eyebrow at him, before sighing and releasing Shimamura's arm. Shimamura dropped her arm, barely even noticing her aunt's leave. Without skipping a beat, the student inched closer to the juggling student, trying to get a better view of their circus act.

The purple one hiccuped. Her hair reached out and caught three of the four balls as they fell from the air. But she failed to catch the forth one.

The last tennis ball bounced on her head and bounced down the hallway, fleeing. The girls laughed again. The shorter of the two ran to go retrieve their toy while the purple haired girl passed the balls from her hair to her hands.

Then she waved at Shimamura.

"Uhm... me?" Shimamura pointed at herself.

The tall student donned a massive smile and nodded. The girl's entire face just lit up with happiness. For what reason she had to be so happy, Shimamura was clueless.

She beckoned Shimamura over with her hand. Shimamura obliged, walking over, with a vacant expression.

"Hollo~!" The tall girl greeted.

"Ah... hi." Shimamura flashed her teeth to be polite.

The girl giggled. Her three purple strands of hair swung to her backside and started to braid themselves along her back. Shimamura leaned to the side to watch such a feat... but she noticed something funny.

There were gaps in the purple coloring of the girl's hair where it had turned pale. In fact, the purple almost looked smudged on the pale parts—especially where the strands were closest to the ground. There were no streaks that she expected to see in strands of hair. There was no softness of it. It seemed rough, yet smooth. It was a solid rather than hair particles.

Actually, it was skin.

"I'm Tako Miyata! What's your name?" The tall girl grinned again.

Tako Miyata! Her quirk: Tendrils! Miyata has three skin tendrils extending from the crown of her skull which she can move exactly like limbs! What's more, her tendrils can lift ten times her own weight and can lengthen and shorten by stretching out the skin! The tendrils are composed completely of muscle, skin, and tendons so they can't be broken—but they can be cut off! She has zero hair on her head because of the tendrils—including no eyebrows! The only downside to this quirk is the chronic neck pain it entails!