When Sakura put out her flames, the temperature of the room finally went back to non-sweating levels.
Now that he was done with her evaluation, it was time to evaluate the next girl.
Although Solvane was more of a combatant than a scout, her new quirk was a scouting quirk.
And since he had already fought her back in the library and experienced her strength firsthand, there was no need to re-evaluate her.
Meaning, the only person left was Himiko.
"Miko…" Kyle called out.
Himiko walked into the marked area with a playful smirk on her face. "I guess it's my turn."
Kyle raised his arm, positioning them in front of him. "Give me your best shot, like Sakura, I'll only defend."
Himiko was not a bad fighter, but all her life she had had to fight against possibly stronger fighters.
Now that she had the power to dive in headfirst, Kyle was curious to see how it would affect her fighting style.
"Alright, here I—"
Himiko did not finish before she lunged, her body blurring as the wind rushed past her.
In a heartbeat, she had closed the distance between them, a punch flying right at his face.
Whoosh!
The wind howled, the air trembling lightly as the inertia from her attack caused both their hairs to dance to the tune of their battle.
Kyle drew his feet back, then leaned to the side just as her punch cut through the spot he had once been.
Himiko did not stop, following up with several blows, all of which Kyle blocked, his footsteps faster than even the most seasoned fighters.
Suddenly, Himiko created some distance between them, using the space to gain momentum as she lunged.
And then she struck, her blow powered by all her inertia. Meanwhile, Kyle braced himself for the blow.
What he didn't expect was for her to pivot mid-attack!
Himiko tilted forward, swinging her leg from her back, over the top of her shoulders like a ballerina, to deliver an unexpected, lightning-quick strike.
Crash!
Kyle's feet screeched as he was pushed back by the force of the blow, a smirk on his face as he replayed the attack in his mind.
"That was great, I didn't know you were so flexible…"
Himiko smiled slyly. "There's a lot you don't know…"
Whoosh!
Metal surged out of her wrist like compressed steel, the sharp edge racing towards Kyle's face.
The world seemed to slow down.
He could see the iron, charging at him in slow motion, the sharp tip perfectly aligned to meet his iris.
SREECH!
He lifted his hand, his full arm under the effects of hardening, the metal strip creating sparks as Kyle knocked it off focus.
But as he was deflecting the strike, Himiko had dropped down to a split, her body already moving to deliver a devastating kick to his legs.
Whoosh!
"Nice try…" Kyle said swiftly.
He did a backflip, the world inverting before his eyes as her foot caught plain air.
"Tch…" she hissed, already preparing a counterattack—a heavy stomp aimed at his gut.
But it never landed.
With one hand, Kyle propped himself upside down, and then using his feet, he defended against both of Himiko's attacks, before immediately twisting his body to springboard himself back to his feet.
He dusted his hands on his clothes. "Not bad, not bad…"
Himiko bit her lip and sighed angrily. "Were you always this slippery?"
Kyle laughed lightly and raised his guard. "Alright, your speed is good enough. Let's see your raw explosive power."
She lifted her hand but paused midway. "You are sure about this, right?"
She was trying to hide her concern but Kyle could see it in her hesitation. It was the same thing with Sakura.
'Who does she think I am?'
Himiko should have known he was strong…
'But technically… knowing your friend is in a bulletproof vest doesn't mean you will feel confident unloading an AR on him.'
"Don't worry, Miko, I've taken far worse." Kyle smiled reassuringly.
Then Himiko laughed. "Alright then, I've been wanting to test this for a very long time!"
She lifted her hand and sharpened iron strips burst out of her forearm, surging into the air and dancing around like serpents.
Then Himiko pointed her hand forward and the iron strips curled around each other, making whirling sounds as they merged to form what looked like a large drill head.
Whirl—!
The iron strips began to spin around, moving so fast that it became a blur of silver sparks.
Kyle watched the metal, pleasantly surprised. "How did you learn this in such a short time?"
"Hehe… I've been working on it since I got turned." Then she smirked. "Here it comes!"
BANG!
The air trembled as a mini shockwave cut past them, the drill meeting Kyle with bone-crushing force.
The alloy below his feet groaned, the sound of the metal ringing through the room.
Yet, Kyle held it back with a single hand, the force of his hardening condensed on his singular arm as opposed to his entire body.
'This… this is something!' Kyle smirked, as vibrations spread through his bones.
At the sides, the two women were watching the scene in shock.
"She's pretty strong…" Sakura muttered, her eyes locked on the fight.
"Very… the way she uses her quirk is something else," Solvane added.
She had seen a lot of quirks when she was a student at UA. Many people often had good quirks but never used them well, but as for Himiko…
The girl had used her quirk to form a drill, thereby multiplying the force of her attack several times over.
Some seconds later, the whirling stopped and the iron drill came to a halt, dark smoke accompanied by a burning smell wafting into the air.
When Kyle looked at the back, he discovered that he had been pushed right to the edge of the arena, smoke rising from a trail left by his shoes
He breathed out a sigh then smiled at her. She had just had her quirk for about two weeks and she had already developed it this much.
'How far can she go if given more time?'
"That was amazing, Miko."
Himiko pouted and crossed her arms around her chest. "How is it amazing if I couldn't even knock you down once?"
Kyle walked up to her and leaned forward slightly. "I had to use my hardening quirk to a high degree just to stop it, your quirk is really good."
Himiko smiled smugly as she absorbed his praise. "Hmmp, of course it was great! I spent time working on it, you know?"
"It was time well spent. Alright, tomorrow is our grand opening, we've been here long enough."
Kyle held Himiko's hand and began walking towards the door.
Himiko's face blushed pink as she glanced at Solvane who was giving her a blank stare. Then the side of her lip curved up slightly, which only made Himiko scream internally.
But Kyle was oblivious to all this.
"Come on, Sakura, I'll drop you off too. As for you, Solvane, make sure you sleep well, okay?"
Solvane blinked, her wolf ears twitching. "I don't sleep at night though, I'm nocturnal…"
Kyle stared at her for a long second then shrugged. 'I guess it makes sense considering her quirk.'
"Wait, really?" Forgetting her embarrassment, Himiko turned to look at her.
"Mmhm." She grunted in response.
"No wonder you always seem so sleepy!" Himiko added as their group made their way out of the gym.
When they had all entered the elevator and were on their way to the top floor, Sakura poked Kyle.
"Yes?"
Her gaze moved down. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Kyle followed her eyes then raised a brow. "Oh…"
He almost forgot that his shirt was completely trashed.
The three girls stared at his chiseled form, then quickly averted their gazes at the same time.
Solvane leaned towards Himiko. "You boyfr—"
Before she could finish, Himiko clasped her hand around the petite woman's mouth. "Don't even say it!"
Kyle sighed as he watched them bicker. "I'll get a new one on the way…"