Dormient Potential - 6.

 

6.

The dawn of the new week brought about the preparations of the school festival, which most students were absorbed in. Mariko found out from Hitoshi that the class 1A was preparing a live music show, during which they would play one song. She decided not to ask her classmates about the song as she wanted not to spoil the surprise and hear their cover first. 1B was preparing a fantasy-like play. There was also a beauty contest and older schoolmates said that the school festival also invites some merchants who sell treats and special school festival souvenirs.  

Mariko was inside the firing range, practicing her aim with bo shurikens while thinking about all the things that happened. Something was still odd in her opinion. She had so much free time. She knew that she had to spend that time on her workouts and hero training, but there was still something off about it. The job offer that she applied for was created by accident, that’s what Principal Nezu said. But what kind of accident? Who would create the job offer if not Nezu’s assistant at his request? And why was she given a chance, even though she had already failed in two hero schools?

She released a bo shuriken, hitting bullseye on the target, her brows furrowed.

The young woman knew that those were hard times and right now heroes were needed more than ever, but that still didn’t explain things. Nezu also asked Mr. Aizawa to test her and he can stop others from using their quirks. Did they seriously give her a chance or was there something more to it?

She aimed at another target, hitting her imaginary opponent’s shoulder.

She had to ask Nezu about that. Otherwise, she will end up thinking about it every day, every minute and every second. She had so many questions and couldn’t come up with the answers. For example, why she was put in the 1A, not 1B or why they didn’t ask her if she is willing to transfer to the General Department, like the rest of the schools did?

“They accepted Hitoshi’s request to be transferred and he is also a hero with a supporting quirk. Is it possible that they were looking for someone having a certain quirk? That they needed a buffing quirk, like mine? No, that’s impossible,” she thought to herself and released another shot that missed the target.

“I’m also not wearing a school uniform, as if I was not a student. But I am supposed to learn how to use my quirk, as my knowledge was tested and it doesn’t require improvements. Should I ask Mr. Aizawa about that fake job offer first? Maybe he would know something about it. But then again, maybe he will think that I have too much free time and I come up with weird theories,” she grabbed all the bo shurikens and positioned herself in the middle of the firing range once again.

After a few hours of intense aim practice, her phone vibrated and she grabbed it from the inside of her pocket, seeing a text message from Mei.

“Come to my lab! I have to show you the new grapple!”

“Wow, already?” she murmured under her breath, exiting the firing range.

The lessons were ongoing, so the school was extremely quiet. The only sound that she could hear were her own footsteps, echoing in the corridor. Mariko quickly got the Support Department floor and turned towards the Mei’s inventing studio. There was no smoke coming from the huge door, so when she entered the room she was actually able to look around. The number of various stunning, odd, mesmerizing and clever mechanisms could blow anyone’s mind. There were full body armors, hover-boots, armored gloves and helmets with night vision, an item that looked like a lasso, hero costumes constantly changing colors and some hi-tech diving gear that was floating inside a circular aquarium. The whole studio was well-lit and each wall was snow-white color. The floor was dark-green and the ceiling had a dark-blue shade to it.

Mariko saw a small man with a large yellow helmet in the shape of a rectangular excavator claw on his head. His chest was naked and he was wearing two fingerless gloves and a pair of dark-green pants, which were blending with the floor of the lab.

“Mariko!” she heard a yell and her head snapped towards Mei, who was right behind the workbench. “That’s my teacher, Power Loader.”

“My real name is Higari Maijima, though,” the small man said.

“Hello, sir,” Mariko bowed gracefully and introduced herself.

She joined Mei and then saw a magnificent, black armguard that had a small arrow-shaped grapple on its top. The supporting item was so well manufactured that the whole mechanism was hidden inside the vambrace and at the same time it was quite thin.

“That’s one of my favorite babies!” Mei exclaimed, looking both tired and excited.

“Mei, are you feeling OK?” Mariko asked, looking concerned.

“What? Don’t you like it?”

“No, I love it! But the thing is you look like you didn’t sleep for two days.”

“The school festival is keeping me busy. We have so many requests to make some special mechanisms and installations that would spice up students’ performance. But don’t worry, I love what I am doing. So… will you test the grapple?”

“But, was it approved?”

“It actually was!” she exclaimed again, waving a document right in front of Mariko’s face.

The older girl grabbed it and read it under her breath.

“Wow, that is amazing!” she admitted, smiling at Mei. “Of course I do want to test it out! How does it work, by the way?”

“I changed the design a bit. Instead of pulling levers, the vambrace is actually detecting your arm muscles movement and it listens to your commands. If you straighten your two fingers, I recommend the index and the middle finger, it is going to release a grapple in a regular way. The grapple is about 20 meters long and it is going to stop the releasing mechanism upon the impact.”

“Wait, 20 meters long? How did you fit the line inside that arm guard?”

“It’s a very special material. It’s not a regular rope or anything like that,” Mei explained. “So let’s say that something goes wrong and you want to get rid of the grapple to free the vambrace. To give that command you have to spread all of your fingers as wide as you can. You cannot reload the grapple, though, so be careful with that. Also, there is a compressor inside, so you will have to recharge the item after every training or battle. I was thinking about recharging the compressor itself, but that would decrease the effectiveness of the vambrace as you would notice the difference in speed and accuracy and the air itself would last for no more than 20 minutes, so I decided to go with something else and now the only thing you have to recharge is a very powerful battery inside of it. But because you are not yet a pro hero and you do not have your own agency and you are here in school, you will have to bring the item to me, anyway. So I will show you how to recharge it if you are interested, but I will be the one doing it.”

“Wow, that’s so impressive! Of course I would love to see how to recharge the mechanism.”

“So that’s it basically, any questions?”

“What if I want to swing? Is there any kind of arm movement that stops the grapple from pulling me towards its end?”

“Yes, you have to clench the fist and that’s gonna stop. But let’s say you’ve gained some momentum and you want to travel some distance with swift swings, so for that you aim at the building or something else you see. You straighten your two fingers, the grapple then releases at high speed, you are being pulled from the ground. In that moment you have to clench the fist, swing your body, and straighten the palm, the grapple will return as fast as it was released and then quickly aim again and keep going. But you have to be careful, grapple has to be fast as otherwise you could have been caught by enemies and that also means there is less time for your reaction. You have to be as fast as the grapple.”

“I understand. Two straight fingers is a release, then fist stops and straight hand returns the grapple. Got it. I cannot wait to try it out.”

“Great! Take it then and let me know how it works. I've never done a grapple arm before, except for that prototype, but that wasn’t designed for anyone, I just felt like creating one.”

“OK, Mei. I will keep you updated and if I find some flaws I will let you know, so that your baby can reach perfection. Though I don’t expect to find many imperfections here.”

“Aww, thank you,” she said, a bright smile on her face.

Mariko exited the room, examining the grapple arm from every angle.

“Mei really knows what she’s doing,” Mariko thought to herself.

She raced all the way to the ground floor of the main school building, quickly heading towards the gym. She had no idea if any of the teachers were there but she decided to check. Once she reached the entrance, the door opened and she saw students from 1B class. Some of them looked exhausted but there was one plain-haired boy that jumped straight at Mariko with a proud expression on his face and just as he was about to say something, a girl with red hair grabbed him and apologized for his behavior. It all happened so fast, that the older girl was confused, but she was suspecting who that might be. It was the most annoying person on Earth, whose name was Neito Monoma and the girl who stopped him from embarrassing his class was Itsuka Kendo, the class representative.

She waited for them to exit the gym and then saw their homeroom teacher – Vlad. He was a tall muscular man with short, spiky, grey hair and two prominent lower canines popping out from his closed mouth. Mariko gratefully bowed, greeting him and he nodded back. In terms of facial expression he reminded Mariko of Endeavor – the flame hero.

When the students disappeared in dressing rooms, she peeked inside the gym and saw another teacher with grey skin and matching hair tied in a short bun. He wasn’t human. He was a humanoid cement block that could control the material it was made from – cement. Mariko knew him and she saw him once in action, unlike most of the UA teachers and other Japanese heroes. Cementoss was the hero name of the humanoid standing in front of him. He was removing cement structures from inside the gym he created for training purposes.

Mariko approached him, a bit of shyness showing in her posture. He wasn’t extremely famous but there was something about him that Mariko admired. At first his Quirk looked like an ability not suitable for a hero but the living proof was there, right in front of her.

“Good morning, Mr. Cementoss,” she greeted, bowing gratefully.

He returned the greeting and crouched, laying his hands on the floor.

“Sir, I’m Mariko Okaido, I am from the…”

“I know who you are,” he replied calmly and a small smile appeared on his face.

“I was thinking if I could try out my supporting item here in the gym?” she asked him, showing the grapple. “It’s the very first time I will use it.”

“Permission granted. Do you want me to create some structures for you?” he kindly asked.

“That would be so great!” she exclaimed bowing gratefully again.

Cementoss touched the ground and activated his quirk. The flashy green color appeared from his palms and there was a sound that reminded Mariko of a moving swamp. Cementoss changed the solid walls that split the gym into smaller sections that were used for the exercises to the liquid-like substance and started shaping a few arches, each a different height. Then he raised some separate rectangle-shaped columns that were flat on the top.

“That should be fine,” he said, raising from the ground.

“It’s more than perfect! Thank you so much,” Mariko said and approached the first arch.

She put her forearm inside of the vambrace, feeling the comfortable fabric that was used for a padding on the inside of the supporting item. The young woman raised the armored left arm towards the lowest arch and pointed two fingers at it. There was a sharp hiss of decompressed air and the grapple burst out of the vambrace, spiking into the cement block. Mariko felt a powerful tug and she soon lost the ground under her feet. She clenched the fist and twisted her whole body to swing forward. Once she was high in the air and close to the second – higher arch, she straightened her palm and heard another hiss of air being released from inside the arm gourd. Less than a second later, there was a sound indicating that the compressor inside recharged the air tank, instantly after that Mariko pointed two fingers at the another cement arch and tightened her arm muscles to reduce the yank. She gained more momentum and swung her legs again, quickly returned the grapple and aimed at the last arch, grasping the vambrace with her right hand. She focused and turned her body to the right, encircling the right column of the arch. The momentum was so huge that for a second she saw the top of all the arches and then returned the grapple and aimed it at the flat surface of the rectangle shaped block of cement. She didn't clench the fist this time, allowing the grapple to pull her to the ground. When she was just about to fall on the structure, she returned the hook to the vambrace and bent her knees, getting ready for the impact. She landed safely, hands helping her regaining the balance.

“That was swift!” Cementoss exclaimed from the ground.

“I was warned that it's gonna be extremely fast, but I still wasn't expecting this speed.”

“Who designed it? Was it Mei Hatsume?” Cementoss asked.

“Yes,” Mariko answered, looking down to the ground.

“I thought so. A few months ago there was a competition to design weights for teachers to reduce their strength and mobility as we changed the final exam for first class and Mei Hatsume won it. She's brilliant,” he admited and Mariko nodded.

She aimed at the lowest arch and swallowed her fear, jumping off the tall rectangle-shaped column. She straightened two fingers and twisted her legs avoiding them being crushed on the ground and allowed the grapple to swing her. Once she was close to the ground she unhooked the armguard and landed on the floor. She nearly lost the balance and ran few steps further, because of the momentum from the swing.

“I wonder how it would be with the hero costume and other boots as regular ones wouldn't be able to last long with this grapple,” she said, looking down at her sole.

She turned towards Cementoss and, apart from him, she saw a familiar figure leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets.

“Good morning, Mr. Aizawa,” she greeted from the distance.

He joined Cementoss and replied:

“Morning. I see that you've got your grapple?”

“Yes, it's pretty amazing.”

“Cementoss, please remove the structures, we will go to Ground Beta,” Aizawa informed and the other teacher nodded.

Mariko sped up and joined Shota, glancing at the man from time to time. When they were near the gym exit, another person appeared.

“Hitoshi!” Mariko said, surprised and Aizawa looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Are you coming with us?”

“Yes,” he answered and they all stopped.

Shota reached for his binding weapon and took one set of the support item off his neck and handed it over to Hitoshi. The boy accepted it and put it around his neck, in the same way as his teacher before him. Mariko grasped the vambrace and pulled it off her left arm, as it could fire by accident and hurt someone. She grabbed it in her right hand and looked at the two men and then they all headed towards the exit, and after twenty minutes of walk they reached the reinforced wall of Ground Beta.

Hitoshi and Mariko were silently chatting on the way, being careful not to annoy the teacher.

“Is it Mei's work?” Hitoshi asked, pointing at the vambrace.

“Yes. Would you like to try it later? It's pretty awesome”

“I might actually, why not.”

“Are you trying to learn Mr. Aizawa's fighting style?” she asked.

“Yea, but it's harder than it looks,” Hitoshi smiled.

“Like most things. But once you master it, it's gonna be so satisfying,” she murmured under her breath. “My grapple is quite scary but gives me a weird feeling of freedom, once you are in the air, you feel invincible.”

“That might be deadly. You feel invincible and then an enemy with a flying quirk appears,” Hitoshi replied and Mariko chuckled.

“Sounds about right. But then again, there are not many heroes or villains who can fly, right? I only know Hawks.”

“I think Endeavor can fly,” Hitoshi cupped his chin, looking over at the Ground Beta's gate that was about fifty meters ahead of them.

“Seriously? I mean, it kind of makes sense, but I wouldn't figure it out,” Mariko admitted. “I wonder if Todoroki could fly, too. But one half of his body can produce flames so that would be hard to balance in the air, I guess.”

They became silent and soon reached the gate to Ground Beta. Aizawa entered the training grounds that were created to help students control their Quirks in urban areas.

“I led you here as I want you to practice your skills in using your support items. It might not be obvious, but swinging in urban areas is actually a bit harder than inside buildings or in forests, as buildings are constructed in various ways and you have to pay attention to many things, like your distance towards the spot you aim at, the durability of the structure. So don't waste any more time and go practice,” Aizawa said and both students entered the urban area.

Mariko put on the vambrace, being careful not to give any order to it and then she reached towards her pockets, searching for her wireless headphones. She looked at Hitoshi, walking past her and looking around for a place where he could hook Binding Cloth. Mariko raised her right hand to her ear and was just about to plug the headphones, when she felt a tight grasp around her forearm.

“Okaido! It's a practice, not a playground,” the tall man snapped, his eyes flashing red.

“I know, I know. I will be focused, I promise, sir,” she pleaded. “I will not play anything too loud, but music helps me collect my thoughts.”

“You were not wearing headphones in the gym.”

“Please, I promise I will do better than in the gym,” she said and he released her, but because of his frown, she could tell he was annoyed.

Mariko quickly played the first metal music playlist Spotify recommended to her and decreased the volume, throwing the phone deep into her pocket and zipping it not to break the device while she was mid-air. She broke into a run, starting to build up the momentum, then she aimed at the closest building on her right to perform the first swing. She then released and aimed at the other side of the street, feeling the speed boost and the wind howling in her ears, even though they were clogged with earphones. She released the grapple and repeated the moves, travelling down the street at high speed.

“She's a natural,” Aizawa thought to himself, following Mariko with his tired gaze.

Meanwhile Hitoshi struggled with Binding Cloth, slowly being frustrated at himself. Shota tried to explain to him how he swings, but Hitoshi was always the type of person who preferred practice over theory. He swung one end of the supporting item around a guardrail of a catwalk that was connecting roofs of two industrial buildings together. He tested the binding pulling it towards him, but it fell to the ground. Hitoshi wrenched Binding Cloth and it returned to him. At least this part wasn't that difficult. He repeated the same thing a few times and then thought if he should ask his teacher if it is even possible to hook the weapon so precisely, but after that question appeared in his mind, he instantly realized it's stupid and decided to ignore it.

Mariko was mid-air feeling like a bird freed from its cage. It was the first time she experienced something like that - wind howling in her ears and blowing her hair as she swung at high speed across the street. For some unknown reason she felt safe in here and for the first time in her life she felt a sense of control. Control of her movements. Control over her emotions. Absolute focus. Strength of her own body. It gave her confidence, something that she didn't feel in years.

She narrowed her eyes and filled her lungs with a deep breath as she swung her body. When she stopped in the air for a milisecond because of the sway reaching its limit. She released the grapple and knew she was high up in the air, above the level of highest buildings close to her, so she leaned backwards performing a backflip, straightening her arms on her sides. She exhaled and turned her body seeing the small figure of her teacher in the distance. The young woman aimed at the building on her right and like before, she shot the hook at the other side of the road and twisted her body a a bit slower, to reduce the momentum of the swing, preparing herself for landing. She caught the very edge of the roof of a block of flats and released the grapple just as she was right above the ground. She landed on bended knees and instantly rolled forward. It would be extremely graceful and impresive if not for the fact that she hit herself in the back because she rolled straight into a trash bin, creating a loud bang that made Hitoshi jump.

“Aw,” she stood up, seeing stars in front of her eyes, trying to act cool.

She stopped herself from swearing and rubbed her back, then she stretched herself and walked towards Hitoshi, curious.

“Ok, so the grapple is much easier,” she informed, trying to relax her back muscles. “Wanna try it?”

“I feel like it's too fast for me. Plus Binding Cloth is very universal, you can fight with it,” Hitoshi said, throwing the end of the scarf at the same catwalk and testing the binding. “Oh, I did it! I think it's gonna hold me.”

With that he grabbed the supporting item and jumped above the ground, tangling his right calf around it for additional stability.

He swung slowly, but it was working. When Hitoshi was right under the cat walk, he looked above trying to understand how could he untie it and swing somewhere else. Mariko cupped his chin, looking in the same direction.

“Hitoshi, so once you are here I think you have to use your body to gain momentum and then instead of trying to get the first part of the item back, you use the other end to get another spot,” Mariko shared her thoughts.

“Yes, that's how it works, but it's not as easy as it looks,” Hitoshi said.

“I believe you will nail it even if it is extremely hard.”

Hitoshi turned his head towards the woman and smiled.

“Thanks.”

Mariko nodded and left the younger classmate alone, approaching Aizawa. He was standing still, looking as tired as always. She wondered for a second if he was thinking that he should have brought a sleeping bag. She looked straight into his eyes, standing confidently in a small straddle.

“I want a rematch,” she said, challenging her mentor.

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