'BEGIN!'

The matched started with a literal boom.

Tomoe threw the first attack, fingernails extending to resemble the claws of a fox. (Name) jumped out of the way and to the side of her opponent. She inhaled softly and jumped out of the way again when Tomoe continued his attacks. 

He's skilled in close-combat. Fast, agile, I don't know about his stamina yet, but he seems to be on par with me in terms of senses and reaction time. With the ears and all.

She dodged another blow. (Name) kept her eyes peeled for an opening, which was hard, considering Tomoe had almost all his weak points covered.

Almost.

'WOAH, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT? MOMOZONO ISN'T GIVING USAGINAMI ANY LEEWAY FOR ATTACKS! WILL THE BUNNY MAKE A CLEVER ESCAPE, OR WILL THE FOX OUTSMART HER?' Present Mic and his blaring voice quirk.

Her opponent was still right now, posture guarded and eyes analysing her like how she was analysing him. They stood at a standstill for a minute, hearing the audience's cheers die down in anticipation. 

I'm not the greatest in terms of strength, so I'll wear my opponent down gradually with consistent hits.

Tomoe brought his claws up to defend his chest, barely managing to soften the hidden hit (Name) snuck in at his ribs. He gritted his teeth and launched at her.

When he attacks, keep watch on his shoulders.

Tomoe swung a clawed hand, missing by a hair. He used his spinning momentum to swipe the other hand at her as well, this one landing a shallow cut on (Name)'s forehead. She hissed but didn't allow it to falter her. 

He has a good defence, hiding the direction of his shoulders with how he holds up his claws before an attack.

But...

(Name) put her flexibility to good use, bending backwards so that her upper body was parallel to the ground, and sprung back up, jumping overhead her opponent. Once landed behind him, she swept his legs from under him. Tomoe was quick enough to bounce back from the fall.

When he looked up, the arena was empty.

'WOAH, WHERE'D SHE GO?' Present Mic stood, blinking at the arena when he only saw a blur before (Name) was gone.

'Where else, idiot?' Aizawa scoffed at his co-worker. His eyes looked up. 'She's in the one place where she knows he can't reach.'

Tomoe's fox ears twitched. He hastily looked up, squinting slightly at the sunlight shining directly into his eyes. This gave him a delay in his reaction time, which allowed (Name) to fall from her super jump and flip him by the shoulders.

'USAGINAMI FELL FROM THE SKY! HER JUMP WAS SO FAST, EVEN I DIDN'T CATCH IT!' Present Mic didn't stop yelling until Aizawa slapped his shoulder from irritation, a way to tell him to shut the fuck up.

With Tomoe on the defensive again, (Name) was able to send two direct kicks to his abdomen. Tomoe grunted, baring his teeth at the pain. This girl was so cute, he nearly forgot she was just as terrifying in battle as her brother. His feet dug into the ground to stabilise his footing, only skidding back a metre or two from the attacks. 

'Heh, not bad,' Tomoe said, wiping some blood that spilled from his mouth when his ribs cracked from (Name)'s kicks. 'But you've got to do better.'

(Name) huffed, performing another powerful jump, purposely keeping the air pressure loose and wild. It was enough to throw Tomoe off balance again. This time, however, Tomoe was prepared, and let himself fall into a handstand and flipped away from the source of the pressure. His claws retracted and from behind him, an extra eight tails poofed out. 

A nine-tailed fox...

'Don't worry,' (Name) grinned, full of adrenaline from such a fun battle. Her ears twitched in excitement and a blinding grin stretched across her face. Some fans died in the background from cuteness overload. 'I'm nowhere near finished.'

Tomoe sneered back, 'Good. It wouldn't be fun if it all ended here anyway.'

He lept up gracefully and blew a plume of fire towards her, while also swinging a hook to knock her off her feet.

Purple fire?

The bunny girl easily dodged her opponent's swing, rolling and flipping to land upright again. Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't focused before due to her investment in the battle, but now that she stopped and thought it over for a moment, (Name) wanted to smack herself for not realising.

Something about this person's scent was familiar. And it only dawned on her now that she smelled the scent of the fire again.

Fire usually has a distinct scent. Often, it smells like ashes and smoke, sometimes even warm and herbal. But this fire. This fire has no scent. It smells like absolutely nothing.

A fire that smells like nothing?

Wait--

'Your fire...' (Name) was gaping, trying to process the new information. 'I know that fire...'

Tomoe said nothing, opting to reach into his uniform sleeve to whip out a traditional Japanese fan. It was a pale violet, with smoky flame designs on it. In the corner was a small insignia of a white fox.

That fire...

That fan...

They both don't smell like anything.

Like... they're not even there.

Like they're illusions.

'So that's your other quirk? Illusions?' (Name) asked, the pieces falling together in her mind. There's still something missing, though. She felt like she knew this person. An illusionist. She's met one before when she was very young.

.oOOo.

(Name)'s memory wasn't the most reliable, but she could distinctly recall a period in her life when she met her first friend at a supermarket store. She couldn't remember his name, or if he even told her. All she knew was that he had white hair, and reminded her vividly of a white fox. Apparently, that was also when (Name) committed her first crime.

She stole a pencil. It was one of those cute, flavoured ones that had cat patterns. She wanted it but didn't have the heart to waste money on such a thing. The boy saw her, scoffed, and offered her his 'help'. Taking his hand was a mistake, because he immediately pulled her out of the store, her still gripping the pencil. When the store owner rushed out, the boy innocently smiled and apologise, offering an exact copy of the pencil as a way of convincing the owner that he accidentally took it. The owner fell oblivious, the boy dashed away, (Name) got herself a new pencil.

Little (Name) was confused. The boy demonstrated, bringing an apple out of nowhere and making it puff into purple smoke in front of her eyes. His quirk was called Illusion.

And (Name) dubbed him 'Pencil-kun'.

.oOOo.

The situation at hand reminded (Name) of that exact moment. The smoke, the purple fire, the white hair, the smirk, the foxtails. 

'You're... Pencil-kun?' 

Tomoe stopped attacking when he saw the surprise radiating from (Name). His smirk was all that was needed to confirm her suspicions.

Her opponent's smirk stretched wider, 'Took you long enough, fluffball.'

'...'

'...'

'WAH, PENCIL-KUN!!' Forgetting all about the battle and the millions of viewers witnessing this, (Name) launched forward and glomped Tomoe up in a hug. He was obviously surprised but returned it nonetheless, glaring at the ground with a growing blush. Godammit, this little bean was too cute.

'WHERE WERE YOU?? I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!' (Name) started rambling, burying her tears and voice in Tomoe's sports uniform. She really did miss him. She had no doubt that her brother did too. The two clashed in terms of personalities, but they had a truce to slaughter everyone who dared to look at (Name) wrong.

(Name) found that the two males were acquainted in the fact that they were both overprotective brothers who scowled at every passerby who stared at her for longer than they should. Innocent (Name) would be shopping for (even more) pencils while Wakatoshi and Tomoe stood there like bodyguards. Wakatoshi's height was already intimidating, and Tomoe's sharp glares weren't welcoming either. They warded off people like champs.

That lasted until three years ago when Tomoe suddenly disappeared off the map.

'Where did you go? I was so worried... you were gone,' she frowned at the memory of when she visited his house only to find him and his belongings erased completely. Like he never existed. 'I tried calling you, finding you, but it was like you were never there, to begin with.'

... Like you were an illusion.

'... I'm sorry,' Tomoe's eyes were downcast. His grip on her shoulders tightened, and he buried his face into her ears, letting one single tear slide out. 'I'm sorry for leaving you.'

'IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S A REUNION? WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?!' Present Mic ruined the mood, bringing Tomoe and (Name)'s attention back to the crowd of people curiously watching them. 

After a short while, the two broke the hug. Tomoe flashed a rare minuscule smile. They backed off each other to stand where they were at the beginning of the battle.

'Just so you know,' Tomoe started. 'I'm going all out.'

'I wouldn't have it any other way!'

'UHHH? DID THE MATCH JUST RESTART? WHAT IS THIS? I'M SO CONFUSED!' Present Mic got smacked again. 

'Shut the fuck up, you're killing my eardrums,' Aizawa snapped. He was so annoyed with all the yelling, he couldn't care less if the world heard him curse on live TV. Whatever.

Punch, kick, block, dodge, sweep, hook, repeat.

Attack after attack, the two went all out against each other, neither giving a second for the other to recover. Both were visibly worn out after arguably the most drawn-out battle so far.

(Name) panted, her hands rested on her knees and her hair was wild from jumping around so much. Tomoe was in no better condition. He had bruises forming from all those attacks, he thought his arms might snap if he tried to block another one of those kicks. What the fuck did Bakatoshi feed this child?

With both of them running low on stamina after drawing the battle out for nearly half an hour, (Name) decided to concentrate a single final blow to end it. She could feel her legs tremble with the strain of keeping up at that speed for so long. 

'THIS HAS BEEN THE LONGEST BATTLE BY FAR, FOLKS! WHO WILL COME OUT VICTORIOUS?'

Tomoe and (Name) charged at each other, each preparing their biggest attack to clear the round. Tomoe had gathered up what seemed to be heat in his claws and (Name) reeled in for a double-legged kick.

An explosion boomed from the point of contact, pressure collecting and expanding to reach the audience and the students watching from up higher. The collision drew up a massive cloud of dust that obstructed any view of the results.

Present Mic held back an anticipated gulp. 

As the cloud slowly cleared, the audience was stunned to find that (Name)... had lost. Her body was lying outside the ring, nearly touching the wall. The repercussions of the double-legged kick flung her out, with the additional force making her roll and skid even further. Tomoe's foot was barely in the ring, although the rest of his body lay sprawled out and unconscious.

Midnight stared at the ring in shock for a short moment. She quickly found herself again, clearing her throat and announcing, 'Usaginami is out of bounds! Momozono takes the match!' 

The crowd stood and cheered for the battle. The students gaped. That battle was intense in a weird, slow way.

'AAND THERE WE HAVE IT! THE FOX TAKES DOWN ITS PREY AT LAST!' Present Mic screeched. 'THAT'S IT FOR THE FIRST ROUND, Y'ALL CAN TUNE IN FOR THE NEXT BATCH AFTER THIS SMALL BREAK!'