"What do you want, Axel?"
"...Is that really the first thing you'd say to an old friend?"
Jason scoffed. "Old friend, huh? Sure, your family may be a part of the conglomerate, and we have talked several times..."
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say?"
Jason chuckled. Suddenly, his gaze turned cold.
"None of those events prove that we were old friends, Axel."
Jason stood from the bench he was sitting on. "To me, 'friend' is just a convenient word people use to get things out of each other."
Jeremy looked up at the handsome blond, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Your point?"
Jason paused, then furrowed his brow. "What's so funny?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I said we were old friends."
Jason remained silent for a few moments. His face was unreadable, but Jeremy could tell that Jason was judging his worth.
Finally, the blond smirked.
"Well, if you want a partner so badly, you should have said so. But of course..."
A faint smile pulled at Jeremy's mouth. "Not for free."
"I'm glad you understand." Jason smiled.
****
"Spirit... why is he here?"
Spirit shrugged at Barrier's question. "He insisted."
Jet waved at the Heroes, a faint smirk on his face.
"Yo." Sumoka nodded.
"Yo," Jet replied.
Barrier clicked his tongue and folded his arms.
"What exactly do you gain from sitting here?"
Jet shrugged. "Nothing much. Just wondering if I could figure out what all of you are doing here."
Barrier scowled. "We don't need a Hunter interfering."
Jet raised an eyebrow at Barrier's tone. "I don't care if you're prejudiced—"
"Prejudiced?!" Barrier hissed. "You let people die. Forgive me if I don't trust you Hunter types."
Jet's eyes went frigid in an instant.
"Barrier."
The Hero frowned. Not from anger, but confusion.
As well as a little fear.
I... almost activated my Venma, Barrier gulped quietly. He just said my name. How did my instincts kick in?
"I don't care about your views on Hunters," Jet continued. "What I do care about is the truth. Never, never, treat one person's mistake as a part of a collective—"
Jet paused. His CID was vibrating, and he opened the message he'd just received. He read it in silence, then sighed and turned around.
"Well, lucky you," he said as he walked away. "I've got somewhere to be."
The four Heroes watched him go in silence.
"That was foolish of you," Hound said quietly.
Barrier glared at his feet. "...I guess. Even still—"
"Stop." Spirit cut him off. She was looking at Jet's receding back, a reserved expression on her face.
"You've acknowledged what you did wrong. It's already happened. Don't think about it too deeply and focus on what you'll do later."
Barrier looked at the Elite Hero with mixed feelings. Then understanding lit up in his eyes.
"Yes," he sighed. "I'll be sure to handle the situation appropriately."
Spirit smiled as she walked to her seat. "Good."
****
"So... what are you guys doing here again?"
Lance rolled his eyes at Nanami. "Like I said, Aren's sister is taking part in the dead sprint. He invited us to come with him."
Nanami nodded. "Cool, cool..."
Lance sighed in relief. "Good. Now—"
"Hold up, hold up, hold up." Nanami raised his hand.
Lance scowled. "What now?"
Nanami pointed downwards. "I asked what you were doing here."
Daji's orange ears twitched in annoyance. "And Lance answered you!"
Nanami blinked. "I was asking why you're here—"
"Okay, this guy is pissing me off," Obanai growled, stepping forward.
"—As in: why are you standing in front of us."
Obanai froze.
Together, the six Hero Class members blinked in confusion.
Liam gaped. "Did Nanami just... beat someone with a technicality?!"
Raidou covered his mouth. "Yeah... he, he did? Insane..."
Lisa chuckled quietly, while Lee smiled faintly. Po had covered the lower half of his face with his hands to hide his smile.
Nanami didn't bother hiding his smirk. "Ah, so there isn't any reason—"
"Our seats are behind you guys."
The other five turned around to look at the empty seats behind them, then looked at Nanami.
Nanami closed his eyes, his mouth drawn into a smile. He tilted his head up as if looking at the ceiling and thought:
Why?
Struggling to hold back their laughter, his friends patted him on the back as he took his seat. Raidou was about to comfort him with a pat on the back, but decided to withdraw when he saw Nanami's hair sparking.
...Let's not embarrass the human power bank any further.
****
The event began with a soccer match, and it soon got the crowd roaring and cheering. Tricks, dribbles, fake-outs, and impossible goals. The match was so heart-pounding even Liam found himself at the edge of his seat.
Of course, the rules and ball in the game were a little different. Just like the superpowered people.
Those differences were what made the match that much more exciting.
First, underneath the entire pitch was a magnetic plate. It activated at random intervals during the game, at most five times per half. Its purpose was to throw the ball off course—by reacting with the suspended metal core inside it—in order to keep every single player alert.
Second, players were allowed to use their Venma only once in the entire game. Mutas could not turn their powers off, of course, so they had their own set of rules and regulations.
"NO!" Nanami surged to his feet along with the crowd.
Lisa joined him. "Foul! Penalty! Come on!"
Liam chuckled. To think he would pull off a bicycle kick and land on his feet, only for the pitch's magnets to activate and slam the ball down into the keeper's foot.
At the end, Liam was on his feet, cheering at the top of his lungs when his old school—and Chad's current one—Ace Preparatory won the match.
After soccer came basketball, and the pitch itself responded to the schedule.
The goalposts folded in on themselves, and the entire grassy surface was flipped like a tabletop. Emerging from the darkness was a basketball court, and the posts unfolded themselves.
Liam's eyes looked like they were popping out after witnessing the sight.
"I've... never heard of something like this!"
Lisa rolled her eyes, and Lee shook his head.
"That's what you're shocked about?" Nanami asked. Both his voice and face expressed disappointment.
Liam ignored them all and started muttering to himself.
"You guys are pretty weird."
Lisa glanced back at Daji. "Sure, foxy. Got anything else to say?"
Daji sighed. "Why are you so hostile to me? I wasn't even a part of that fight."
Raidou took a glance at Obanai, then cut in.
"Don't drag this out, Lisa," he said. "What's happened has happened."
He looked directly at Lance. "Let's just pretend we don't exist to each other, okay?"
Lance met his eyes, then nodded.
The basketball match went by, also drawing countless cheers. A javelin throw and an obstacle course came and went, though those weren't as attention-drawing.
Soon, it was time for the half-time event—the dead sprint.
"All right, everyone, next up is the one-thousand-metre run, popularly known as the dead sprint!"
AW YEAH! Liam grinned.
"Hey, Liam, that's your little brother's event, right?"
Liam nodded at Nanami. "Yeah. He said he's been training like crazy, so I'm hoping he wins."
"All right, people, I wanna hear you SCREAM!"
WOOOOOOO~!
"Again! You feel the energy filling up this place?! LOUDER!"
WOOOOOOOOO~!
"All right, all right, ALL RIGHT! Let's get this show back on track! Now, if you would kindly look towards the track..."
Laughs and chuckles filled the air.
"Three schools are competing for the cup this year! Ace, Maritime, and St. Henrys! Give it up for our racers, people!"
Claps and cheers rang out as six kids walked up to the starting line.
Liam was on his feet and at the divide, and he waved wildly when Chad met his eyes. The boy grinned like a maniac and waved back, even more wildly than Liam.
Liam felt someone approach, and he turned his head to see Aren.
Dark hair and eyes, pale skin, and black dots all over his face and hands. Aren made eye contact with Liam once, then ignored him.
Liam walked back to his seat, and for a split second, his eyes flickered over to one of the few people he resented in Dawn: the small Vampire girl who had attacked him a week ago.
...Wasn't her hair longer?
She wore her lustrous black hair in a pixie cut, and her formerly crimson eyes were golden. She was wearing a dress, and Liam was reminded of the time his little sister had shown him a picture of a goth.
With a quiet sigh, he dropped into his seat.
Honestly, I hope she doesn't crash out on me again. Kazumi was one thing, but she was out for blood...
Liam paused. Then he chuckled.
Literally.
Lisa looked at him, confused. Weirdo. What's he laughing at?
****
Chad lowered his body to stretch his legs, then tilted his head from side to side.
Pop.
"Aren't you nervous?" Bell asked, gripping her blue shirt. "You really aren't scared of anything..."
Chad looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Uh, of course I'm nervous!"
Bell flinched in surprise. Meanwhile, Chad began to wag his finger at her.
"My dad once said that being nervous and being confident are two different things," he said. "I'm definitely scared. I mean, these guys could be super fast!"
Chad shrugged, then folded his arms with a large grin.
"But so what? I've trained my butt off for this! There's no way I'm not doing my best, okay? And you'll have to do your best too, got it!"
Chad held out a fist, and Bell pursed her lips. Slowly, she let go of her shirt and bumped her fist against his.
"Alright!" Chad smacked his palm with his fist. "Let's crush the competition!"
Bell blinked, then smiled warmly. "Yeah. Let's do that..."
She shook her head, then grinned. "You better not slow me down, Chad!"
Chad blinked in surprise, then laughed.
"It's on!"
Even though Bell said that, it was hard for her to ignore the quiet chuckles and the whispering from the other runners.
Our school hasn't won a race in three years... she thought. She shook her head, then went to her number on the track at the instruction of the referee.
"Then I'll... we'll win it," she whispered to herself as she lowered herself into the proper stance.
"All right, kids," the referee said. "Get ready!"
Chad took his place behind the others, at number six.
He took several deep breaths to calm his nerves, but his hyperactive heart kept pounding faster.
Well... if you can't calm down, then just... focus the energy.
Remembering his brother's words, Chad took another breath, then turned all his nervous energy and attention onto one object: the track in front of him.
Move at the shot... move at the shot... move at the shot...
"Set...!"
Move at the shot—
BANG!
Instant Acceleration!