...But before that, I had to give Himiko a warning. I didn't deny her desire to be with me, but this was a class-wide exercise. If it happened by chance, so be it, but using the Force to manipulate the draw so we ended up on the same team was strictly out of the question.
"Koto-chan, you're such a stingy meanie."
"Call me what you like."
I snorted and brushed off her pout.
As a result of the strictly fair drawing, my partner ended up being a boy named Tokoyami. He was a youth draped in black from head to toe, through and through.
For a moment, I braced myself, wondering if I had encountered another being of the Dark Side, but sensing him through the Force confirmed that—despite his appearance—he was a person of considerable virtue.
On the other hand, Himiko's partner was, of all people, Bakugo. It was hard to imagine a pair less likely to cooperate.
When it came to the actual exercise, the first match was set: Midoriya and Uraraka versus Himiko and Bakugo. Midoriya's group were the Heroes; Himiko's were the Villains.
...It likely wasn't intentional, but the team assignments felt strangely fitting. Especially for the Villain side.
"Young Bakugo, Young Toga! Learn to think like Villains!"
Those were Master All Might's words... though I found myself accidentally wondering if those two really needed any help in that department.
The rest of us, along with the Master, moved to the monitor room in the building's basement. The room was lined with a staggering number of screens displaying feeds from the many cameras installed throughout the building. This allowed those not participating to observe the battle from a bird's-eye view—a way to learn the nature of combat by watching others.
And so, the exercise began. Both sides were given five minutes of prep time.
The Villains could use this time to coordinate, choose where to place the "nuclear bomb" model, and set traps. The Heroes were given a floor plan of the building, making this their time to memorize the layout and strategize.
"The Hero side wins by either touching the model or capturing the Villains with the capture tape provided. The time limit is fifteen minutes. The Heroes aren't told the location of the bomb, and a timeout results in a Villain victory... I see."
"The Heroes are at a total disadvantage here, aren't they?" Ashido added, chiming in on my mutterings.
The Master responded.
"Didn't Aizawa-kun tell you? It's that! Plus Ultra!"
In short: Overcome it anyway.
However... it seemed the Villain side wasn't making use of their advantage at all. Bakugo had abandoned all pretense of a meeting from the start, leaving Himiko and the model behind to go off on his own. They had been given small wireless transceivers to communicate, but looking at his temper, I doubted he would even listen.
The fixed-point camera feed had no audio, so we couldn't hear what a puff-cheeked Himiko was saying, but even without my special connection to her, it was easy enough to guess.
Bakugo was fixated entirely on Midoriya. Midoriya was fighting back valiantly, but even that seemed only to add fuel to Bakugo's rage.
Good grief. What a dark aura. No matter how you looked at it, Bakugo was a mass of negative energy right now. I wondered how he intended to recover his composure.
But more than that... judging by the state of the girl he left behind, I was worried for the person who had to face her.
Because the Himiko left alone in that room—her face, her posture, her very presence in the Force—had shifted. It had become something shrouded in shadow.
Given the flow of the battle, her opponent would likely be Uraraka.
Uraraka... please, be careful. Right now, Himiko is... more of a Villain than anyone else in this room.
"Just shut up and defend the objective! I'm in a bad enough mood as it is...!"