The three approaching teams fly back and slam into the ground, carried by the roiling shadows. The darkness curls out and devours every competitor like a deadly tide. Screams are drowned out by deafening silence.

The cold air rushes over Takara and Aiya, and they lower themselves to the ground to avoid the onslaught. Somebody flies past, caught up in the storm. Their screams are swallowed by the darkness.

It's as though Takara's ears are filled with cotton. She meets Aiya's wide eyes. "We have to go," the pixie says, unnervingly loud as the storm blocks out any other sound.

The two pull the glowing leaf over their heads and begin walking. Takara hopes that they are headed for the center, but there is no indication that they are going the right way. Even so, the darkness parts around their blinding light, not daring to get too close.

Takara breathes a sigh of relief as the blue-rimmed hill breaks through the shadows. The brunette hastily scales the side while the pixie flutters behind her, holding the leaf up to keep the shadows at bay. Safely at the top, Aiya looks around. "How are they going to see we're up here? With the time–"

A light flares through the darkness, and both girls turn. On the arena floor, Ohara brandishes a flashlight and digs frantically through her side pack.

"We can't let her get a weapon," Takara states, pulling her cutting disc from her pocket. She saws through a handful of jade pieces on her arm. Her muscles tense as she grows more to fill the space. The pinching in her arms creates the sensation of pins and needles.

The girls pick up the jade and throw it as hard as they can at their classmate. Ohara stumbles back when one slices her arm, startling her into dropping the flashlight. It hits the dirt and flickers out. The darkness overcomes her as she draws something large from her pack.

"What do you think it is?" Aiya whispers, still unnaturally loud.

"Something with–" Takara is cut off as a force knocks her off her feet. She drops her end of the leaf, but the shadows don't descend upon her. Straddling her is none other than Morita, and she's glowing like a star.

Takara takes a second to find her voice. "Take the leaf!" she cries as she extends the jade on her face to take a flaming punch. "Keep Ohara away!"

Takara grapples with Morita, throwing her aside, but not strongly enough to send her off the edge.

The cold wind whips through Takara's clothes the moment she's without light. She digs her fingers into the ground, latching onto the uneven surface with her jade.

A flaming Morita slams into her, kneeing Takara in the gut. This only results in her friend stumbling back, clutching her leg.

"Nice try." Takara smirks, the wind whipping her hair around her face.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," the girl replies with a playful grin that turns Takara's insides to an anxious mess.

Morita stalks forward, but a ball of purple flames flies in from below. The moment it comes within range of Morita's fire, it explodes, sending the girl flying back. Takara barely manages to hold her ground.

"Sugita," Takara gasps, looking around. She locates the boy by his vertical column of plasma balls. He releases a continuous stream directly above him, the detonations barely audible from high above the shadowy cloud. The darkness is getting too bright for Takara's comfort. It's as though all the competitors with light-based quirks are creating an impermeable bubble of safety from the shadow storm.

As the team wades through the darkness, Takara sees Sugita sitting astride a large lion. Araya. The boy with the gas mask from 1-B is with them too, but he's not wearing his mask anymore. Takara can't judge much more because they all turn to focus on a new opponent.

A boy—Aeyo Phoenix, the one with the blindfold—rushes from the darkness at the team. Sugita sends a plasma ball at him with one hand, keeping the other pointed toward the sky. The blindfolded boy manages to dodge the grenade, but the explosion still flings him back.

The team splits their attention, and the boy from 1-B makes a tremendous leap from Araya's back, launching himself up to the top of the hill. Takara crouches, digging her hands into the ground as she looks up at him.

Without the gas mask, the boy's face looks as though it's been partially melted away. His cheeks have holes burned through them. A puff of orange smoke comes out and clouds around the girl, instantly burning her eyes and lungs.

Her grip loosens as she coughs, gasping for air. The boy rears his leg back to kick her, much like Morita had just attempted.

Go right ahead, she thinks defiantly, holding her jade at its full length.

And indeed he does. His foot catches her stomach and sends her flying off the raised platform. She skids across the ground like a pebble being flung over a lake, finally tumbling to a stop on the cold arena floor.

She blinks wearily, disoriented in the now solid darkness. The only sound is her own shallow breathing. The shadows grab for her, pulling at her hair and her clothes. It lifts her from the ground and slams her back down.

As soon as Takara can form a coherent thought, she grabs the only handhold she can, an indent left by her own jade. The darkness continues to grapple with her, but she holds fast.

She peers into the darkness, trying to see which direction she came from, and notices an indent a few meters away. Followed by another, extending in a trail into the shadows.

Following the path her jade carved, Takara makes her way back to the center. An object soars through the dark, smacking her in the face. The girl fumbles with it, only to recognize it as Ohara's discarded flashlight. Last she saw, Aiya was flying off to fight her. Neither classmate nor teammate is in sight.

Without much else to do, Takara flicks on the flashlight and continues toward what she hopes is the blue hill. The electric light doesn't do as much as the leaf with Endo's light, but the girl can at least stand without being thrown around.

A faint glow erupts into a bright scene as Takara stumbles from the dark cloud. There are enough light sources surrounding the blue hill that it has created a bubble of space the shadows refuse to enter.

Sugita stands firmly atop the blue hill, firing off hot plasma into the air. The boy breathing out orange clouds stands beside him and grapples with a girl who has eight spindly spider legs protruding from her back. When he throws a punch, the girl ducks and scuttles away into the darkness.

At the base of the hill, Araya bats Aeyo aside with a large paw, but the blindfolded boy stands back up and delivers a devastating punch to the lion's nose. Araya rears back and yowls, teeth flashing in the purple glow.

Takara doesn't know which way to turn. She wonders if she even has hope of getting back to the top if Araya's full team has such a commanding hold. But now is not the time for her to hesitate. Endo is doing so much to inconvenience every team; she might as well make the most of it.

The brunette waits until Araya and Aeyo have circled to the other side of the plateau before rushing in. She takes a great gulp of air, puts the flashlight in her pocket, and pulls her way up.

The boy from 1-B leans over the edge and breathes hot smoke into Takara's face. She squeezes her eyes shut and keeps climbing, blindly punching above her as she clears the top. Her lungs strain from holding her breath.

Her fist connects with something, and she lets herself peek an eye open. The boy was knocked back to the middle of the hill, stumbling into Sugita. Takara rushes forward as Sugita turns a hand to her.

He purple ball of plasma grows in his hand, even as his arms have erupted into boiling blisters and the sleeves of his uniform smolder. Sweat drips from the boy's entire body. His arm shakes as Takara pushes forward, getting as close as she can; close enough that she knows he won't risk launching the grenade at her.

With his hesitation, the ball of plasma continues to grow, and he grasps it with both hands to stabilize it. Clenching his teeth, Sugita throws it up into the sky. The bomb detonates, sending a rippling wave of heat over all of them. The shadows recede from the bright explosion and give the students a glimpse of the blue sky above.

Sugita's throw gives Takara enough time to leap forward and tackle him. In the absence of his purple plasma, the darkness once again descends.

A quiet wind yanks the boy away, and Takara throws herself to the dirt, tearing the flashlight from her pocket. She curls into a ball and shines the light up in a protective barrier. The shadows hammer against it but can't do more than whip her hair around. Even so, the light is restrained as much as the shadows.

She can't see to the edge of the hill. She makes out the silhouette of a foot, but on closer inspection, it's just a shoe someone must've lost in battle.

Footsteps scuttle past, and Takara looks around frantically for the next sign of a fight, but it never comes. The sound disappears into the silence. From the eerie quiet, a single note arises, the tone growing louder and louder.

The shadows recede like a blanket being pulled back, and the tone suddenly becomes unbearably loud as the dark fog lifts from the arena. Most competitors wince from the sudden change in atmosphere, some going so far as to cover their eyes or ears to protect from the light and sound. Many appear disheveled from where they have been strewn about the ground. The dark cloud retreats through one of the tunnels and disappears.

The ending horn cuts off. The cheers of the audience are now thunderous after being kept in silence for so long. "What an event!" Chemex cheers from the commentator's box. "That's the most interesting battle I've seen in a long time!"

"It certainly was," Kumarēza chimes in. "Though the flashing lights were the only indication for most of us that something was happening at the end there. Let's take a look at the scores."

The students haul themselves to their feet as the large screens display a scoreboard. The top six teams are highlighted in green. Takara has to blink to make sure her eyes are working correctly.

"Hirose's team?" She asks aloud about the first place team as Aiya flies up to her side, long hair in a tangled mess. "I didn't see them the whole game!"

"Who was he even teamed with? I don't recognize the names," the pixie inquires, squinting at the screen.

A cloud of glass shards converges on the blue hill, causing both girls to leap back in alarm. The shoe Takara had thought was discarded rights itself and joins up with the rest of Hirose's body.

The shattered glass forming his face morphs into a sly smile. "All I need is one foot on the hill, right?"

The ground rumbles beneath their feet as the terrain levels out into a flat arena once more. Hirose glides off to meet up with his team: the orange haired boy Takara saw earlier—she thinks his name is Kaito—and the girl with the silver hair who had spider legs protruding from her back. Upon glancing at the screen, Takara learns her name is Ivana.

"I saw her on the blue hill," Takara exclaims. "I thought it was odd that she didn't stick around, but I guess she was trying to sneak his foot onto the hill without being punted off the side."

The girl turns to look at Aiya, only to see her staring slack-jawed at the scoreboard. In all the confusion, Takara actually forgot to check their placement. She lets her eyes scan down the list until she sees her name.

Scoreboard:
1) Akihiko Hirose, Ivana Hernandez, Kaito Oba
2) Kaede Komatso, Sumi Ohara, Haru Ozaki
3) Kazumi Endo, Aiya Komatso, Takara Juba

"We made it," she mumbles, then turns to grab Aiya's hands. She hops up and down, vigorously shaking her friend. "We're third! We made it into the finals!"

Aiya's eyes glimmer as she smiles down at the girl, then back up at the screen. She draws herself up to her full height, face in an expression mingling shock with pride. "We did it Kaede, we–" The girl's proud exterior cracks. She draws her hands back and begins tugging at her sleeve as she fumbles through her words. "I meant Kara, I–"

"We should find Endo and tell her the good news," Takara suggests, giving her friend as soft a smile as she can muster. She loops her arm through Aiya's and leads her off to search for their teammate.

•°•☆•°•

"Endo?" Takara calls down the hallway. She walks with Aiya along the lower hallways of the arena. Their shoes squeak against the tile, illuminated by fluorescent lights. Aiya peeks her head around a corner and points.

"She's over here!" The glowing leaf trails behind the pixie as she inches into the hallway.

In the short, dark corridor, a giant roiling cloud of darkness grapples with itself. It seems to be the only place in the whole arena with a malfunctioning light, the LED at the end flickering dimly. The shadows lurch forward, a thousand wispy hands reaching for the two girls, but Aiya raises the leaf.

The light buffets Endo back, trapping her in the small dead end. Slowly, almost methodically, the shadows begin folding in on themselves, solidifying into Endo's stout silhouette. The girl's wispy body falls to the ground, and she pulls her knees to her chest.

Aiya walks up and softly drapes the leaf over her. Endo shudders as the light makes contact. Looking over her shoulder, her once-again blue eyes blink up at the two. "I can't take the light back," she says as a gleaming tear rolls down her cloudy cheek. "It'll fade from the leaf as it photosynthesizes. I can only–I just have to regenerate it with time. But thanks. It helps to be around light, but I didn't want to stay out there when I'm like this."

"We understand," Aiya says, laying a gentle hand on Endo's shoulder. "Stay here as long as you need."

"We got third, by the way," Takara chirps, trying to raise her morale. She crouches down next to Endo. "You helped us take the blue hill for long enough to get an awesome score! MVP right here!"

Endo smiles meekly, turning to face the wall. Slowly, the light from her eyes begins to inch down her cheeks and across her nose. "I'm glad. It's lunch now, right?"

"Yeah," Aiya confirms.

"Okay. I think I'll stay here a little longer, though."

Takara can't imagine missing a meal. "You want us to bring you anything?"

She shakes her head. "No, just focus on getting yourselves ready."

"Okay, c'mon Takara." Aiya helps her friend up and tugs her back down the hallway. As they turn the corner, Takara watches Endo tug the leaf tighter around herself.

•°•☆•°•

The girls meet up with Araya just outside the stadium for lunch. Before they can return to the main building's cafeteria, however, a squeal startles the friends, and a bright figure slams into Aiya. Nearby, Kaede struggles to contain her smile.

Aiya pulls back to catch a glimpse of the person's features. "Ema!" she gasps, tightening her hold on the woman.

Takara recognizes the iconic knight costume she wears. If Araya's gasp is any indication, he does too. The woman named Ema pulls back and slings an arm over Aiya's shoulders despite being a couple inches shorter.

Her medieval-style armor glitters as if it's been freshly polished. The light shines through the connected segments of stained glass that make up her cape to reflect off the gleaming metal. The hero embodies joyful color, especially as she chooses a new hair color every month. It was a big point of contention last year when she cut off her long, flowing locks so similar to her sisters' in favor of a short bob that just barely brushes her chin. But Takara bets it saves her a lot of money on hair dye.

The hero tucks a short strand of hair behind her ear and gives Takara and Araya a bright smile. "Who're your friends?"

Aiya's shoulders tense as Kaede appears on her other side. "These are my friends, Takara and Araya. And this is our older sister, Ema. You might know her as–"

"Arcenciel!" Takara exclaims, the foreign word messy on her tongue. Even so, the pro hero gives her a grin. "Of course! You were one of Mirko's sidekicks!"

"It's nice to meet you," Araya interjects, smiling politely.

"Yeah, you guys too!" Ema exclaims. "I met some of my best friends at U.A., so I'm glad they've made some too. And that they made it into my alma mater! Even if there were some bumps along the road." The woman nudges Aiya with an elbow then dips her head, giving them a conspiratorial grin. "So, which one of you keeps these two out of trouble?:

The twins glance at each other, only to look away just as fast. Takara's silver eyes flick between them, but Araya slides on an easy smile. "We're all pretty serious about our studies," he replies. "But we look out for each other."

Aiya swallows, looking away, and Kaede's wings bristle.

The green-haired woman either doesn't notice her sisters' discomfort or chooses to ignore it, instead asking, "They're quite the pair, aren't they? They'll make a great team one day."

"Maybe," Kaede says in a chipper tone, though her wings stay stationary behind her. "We still have a lot of learning to do."

Aiya tenses at the subtle jab. "Yeah. That's why I'll keep working hard," she says with an edge in her voice.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Kaede chirps with false sweetness. "I'll be here if you need some help."

"Or to stick your nose where it doesn't belong," the blonde scoffs.

"Always the lone wolf."

"Better than a sidekick."

"As if you could make it on your own."

Aiya reels back at the insult, wings folded down defensively. Heat rises to her cheeks, and she backs away. "Watch me," she warns.

Aiya flies off, and Kaede subtly lowers the hand she hadn't realized she was reaching out. Her eyebrows pinch together, and she actively works to relax them. Ema stares at her sister with wide eyes. "What the hell did you do?"

"Try asking her that," she bites back, even though her posture deflates. Takara and Araya shift uncomfortably at the family quarrel. "I just wish she'd stop pushing me away."

Ema rests a hand on Kaede's shoulder. She looks up into her sister's eyes, and they nudge their foreheads together. "I know, but you can't be making comments like that."

Kaede deflates even further. "I can't get through to her. Can't you talk to her?"

"You know I can't fix this." Ema shakes her head sadly. "It needs to come from you, and it starts with respecting her."

The redhead stiffens, pulling away. "So it's my fault?"

"You know her pride makes this tough."

"That sounds like her problem."

Ema sighs. "You both need to work through some things, but if you do it together, it'll make you stronger for it. You just have to communicate."

"I try, but she's the one pushing me away!" Kaede exclaims, going on to cut her sister off when she tries to speak. "No, I'm done being the one who keeps crawling back, only for her to toss me on my ass again whenever she gets into one of her moods. If she wants to 'communicate,' then she can reach out for once. I'm done being her punching bag, and I'm done crawling back!"

With that, the pixie zips away. Ema turns a tense smile to the two students nearby. "Sisters, am I right?"

"What was that all about?" Takara asks warily.

"That's...not my place to say."

Araya nods sagely. "And we shouldn't pry," he reminds Takara, putting a hand on her elbow when she opens her mouth. "It's not our business."

"They're obviously upset," she protests. "And they're my friends!"

"They're sisters," Ema reminds them with a smile, despite the distant look in her eyes. "They have the same fight all the time. They sort it out eventually. Just wait."

Araya tilts his head, golden eyes appraising the oldest sister. "It doesn't sound like Kaede is gonna let it go the same way this time."

"They need each other," the green-haired woman says with a sad smile. "At the end of the day, it always comes down to that."

The colorful glass draped over her back shifts and reorders itself. At first glance, it can easily be mistaken for a cape, but there's no mistaking the grand wings as the glass shuffles into feathers and they reach to the sky. "Trust me," Ema continues with a wink. Her wings buffet Takara and Araya with air as she launches herself into the sky. "Nice meeting you!" she calls down.

Featured Character: Riku Ikeda
Quirk: Sublimation
Likes: Spicy Food

Note: Ikeda's quirk is really interesting. Sublimation is the process of something going straight from a solid to a gas. This happens in his body, as his stomach and lungs are replaced by one extremely hot furnace inside of him. Anything he eats gets circulated through his body as a gas, and he is able to absorb nutrients that way. Everything else comes out his mouth as a hot gas, hence the gas mask he usually wears. One of his main attacks is eating spicy peppers and then breathing it out at his opponent. However, the spice has begun to wear away at his cheeks, and he is getting holes in them, so it's harder to keep it in, like so: (Just the face, not the teeth)

Fun fact: Ikeda once wondered what would happen if he ate weed. He ended up hotboxing his entire house and ended up at the hospital. Safe to say, he's not allowed to do that again.