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The classes stood gathered at the start of the course. Todoroki froze one of the massive robots and sprinted beneath it, continuing on with a steely determination. Kiroshima and Testutetsu burst through the shell of the robot that had crushed them and the course continued.
Instead of facing the robots, Himura simply disappeared in a wavering blur reminiscent of a heatwave, tugging at the strings and weaving a cover of invisibility over herself. Setting her pace to a light jog, she eased herself silently around competitors as Mic loudly announced her course of action to the entire arena in the form of speculation about her tactics.
What was the point of stealth, exactly, if her teacher was going to broadcast it for everyone to hear? She thought, invisible lips peeling back from invisible fangs in faint annoyance.
"How are we supposed to commentate, if our contestants are going invisible?" Mic questioned loudly, and Eraserhead grumbled something in retort that the microphone didn't quite pick up.
If it was going to be that much of an issue, fine, she'd give them a spectacle to commentate on. A dangerous sensation prickled beneath her skin, a hunger to manipulate, to reach out and tug at the threads of reality, weave them into a beautifully tangled tapestry of horror and mangled desire.
They desired a show, and Himura lived to please, to serve. A performer, she could certainly be, and oh what a show she would give them. Fangs bared in invisible delight, she sped up her pace as she pried at the threads of perception.
Imagination, intention, bled into reality until the two were so inextricably intertwined that reality was what she made it.
As Himura continued invisibly along one of the tightropes, a perfect clone of her in their eyes, following her each and every step, until the clone stumbled, the rope swaying dangerously beneath her feet. Her arms whirled, and then she tumbled, plummeting out of sight and into the ravine below, dark hair whipping around her face.
"Anddd it looks like we've lost our first competitor from class 1-A!" Mic announced loudly, his voice rattling painfully through the speakers.
“Don’t discount her just yet.” Eraserhead commented dryly.
At that moment, she shot back out of the ravine. Two black feathered wings, spanning a length triple her height, had appeared on her back. The audience gasped and Present Mic yelled excitedly, his booming voice shaking the very bleachers before quieting slightly as presumably Eraserhead calmed him.
“And in a twist of events, Himura is back in the game! Has she gained an entirely new aspect to her quirk, or was she just saving it for a rainy day, I guess we'll just have to figure it out for ourselves, folks!" He seemed to have a bias in his commentary, she noted, but she couldn't fault him, she could certainly be a showstopper.
Eraserhead grumbled about something again, but none of it came clearly through the microphones, and soon enough Mic was back to chattering about the other students.
Himura guided her illusion through a showy loop in the air as she sped the pace of her sprint up, relishing the feeling of her heart pounding against her ribcage, feeding off of the burn rippling through her muscles as she pushed them harder, sights set on the finish line.
The dangerous prickling turned into a fire beneath her skin, claws against the inside of her mind, a thing that wanted out, craved freedom from the cage of human limbs and flesh it was pressed into. The threads called to it, the intoxicating scent of desire from the crowd crashing over it like an electrifying wave, sending it into a frenzy.
Energy thrummed, pulsing in time with Himura's footfalls, the vibration of it threatening to shake the teeth loose from her skull. A snarl from deep in the back of her throat clawed itself loose as she shoved the presence back, digging her fingernails in, snapping her jaw shut and refusing to let control slip from her grasp.
The illusion wavered and warped in retaliation, and the mirror snapped her wings in and turned downwards in a spiraling nosedive. As she hit the ground, she burst into a flock of birds with too many wings, and the sky went black with roiling storm clouds.
Shouts and screams of confused students echoed across the obstacle course, the sounds twisting and folding back over themselves until it was a maze of noise, voices bouncing off of nothing at all.
Himura stumbled, and ears that weren't her own swiveled towards a faint ticking noise mere moments before an explosion threw her forwards, careening through pitch black as she instinctively tucked herself into a roll and sprung back to her feet, stark still in the middle of a minefield.
Realities, real and false, overlayed in her senses in a mesh mess that made her want to retch. Digging her sharp fingertips into her temples until blood dripped down her jaw, she dragged the thrashing claws, fangs and fur back into submission, throwing it into the recesses of her mind with a guttural growl that shook in her chest.
A short standoff, fangs bared and chin speckled with blood, steely eyes with sharpened pupils. Finally the Fox bowed it's head and sat, tails curling elegantly about it's body.
The clouds disappeared, the clear blue sky returned, voices ceased echoing aimlessly about the course, and Himura dropped her shroud of invisibility, stalking across the minefield on soundless footsteps. The world was silent around her, but she dimly realized as Midoriya launched himself past her, that it was only her.
Sound refused to filter through her ears, even as she crossed the finish line. Fourth place. A higher ranking than she'd been aiming for, and with the stunt the Fox had pulled back there, they had likely had gained far more notoriety than they should have.
Eyes focused on nothing in the distance as they thought, they suddenly whirled as a hand landed on their shoulder, fangs bared and pupils narrowed into slits. Clawed fingertips digging into the soft skin of a throat before they registered the green hair and kind eyes.
Snapping their jaw shut with a click that resounded painfully through their skull, they pulled their hand back and offered an apology, although Midoriya already had them covered on that front, judging by the rapid movement of his mouth
After a gesture at their ears, and a shake of their head, Midoriya offered an understanding nod, before adding another unheard apology and darting off to find his friends. Glancing around at the gathering crowd of students finishing the course, Himura slunk off to find somewhere secluded, for a fraction of a moment of peace before the next challenge.