After shouting his piece and cutting the comms, Toga felt her already sour mood plummet even further.
She was already annoyed at being separated from the person she wanted to be with; to be treated as a useless prop by her partner was the final straw.
"Sigh... how boring."
Muttering to herself, she unclipped the small radio and tossed it carelessly into a corner.
"Fine then. If Bakugo-kun is going to do whatever he wants, then Toga will do whatever she wants, too."
It was something she had been told by her favorite person to hold back on in public. Because she didn't want to be hated by her, and because she wanted to stay with her forever, she had been resisting.
But right now... in this moment, this was training.
No matter what anyone said, right now, she was a Villain.
The other guy was doing whatever he felt like.
So, even if it was just playing a role...
—I can be forgiven for a little bit, right?
And so.
"I'm going to be free. I'm going to do exactly what I want to do."
As she spoke, Toga let a wide, twisted grin spread across her face.
Her presence in the Force was suddenly draped in a shroud of the Dark Side. The "Reason" that Koto had used to tether her drifted away... and the power of the Dark Side began to flood Toga's body.
Her Force signature, now dyed a solid, pitch black, became hypersensitive to conflict. She immediately sensed a presence approaching her with combative intent.
"Ahaha. Ochaco-chan came to play. I'm so happy."
Still smiling, she faced the doorway and pulled back the hood of her Jedi robes. Then, she leaped light as a feather, bracing herself against the wall near the ceiling.
She waited for about a minute and a half. Ochaco peered cautiously into the room, her eyes widening in confusion when she saw the "weapon" model left completely unguarded. Her expression hardened as she sensed a trap; she gingerly stepped further into the room.
—In that heartbeat.
"...?!"
Toga dropped from above in a predatory ambush, aiming straight for the scruff of Ochaco's neck. Ochaco managed to leap forward at the last second, narrowly evading the full impact—but she wasn't fast enough. Toga's nails raked the skin near her nape, and a thin spray of blood followed.
"She was hiding above...! I didn't sense her at all!"
"Aw, I thought my timing was perfect. What a shame!"
Toga landed gracefully, laughing. She looked at the blood on her fingertips with a delighted, eerie smile, then brought those fingers to her lips.
"Mm... it's shallow. Not enough. That simply won't do."
The sight was so gruesome, so visceral.
Ochaco stared, swallowing hard. The girl standing before her was so far removed from the friend she had seen yesterday—or even just moments ago—that she couldn't bridge the gap in her mind.
"If there isn't enough blood, it's no good. I can't become Ochaco-chan like this."
"Become... me...?"
"Knives weren't allowed, and the lightsaber doesn't really cut... it just burns. Besides, I don't have one right now. I guess I'll just have to go at it directly."
"Directly...? Wh-what are you... what are you saying?"
"That's why—I'm coming for you, Ochaco-chan. Because right now, Toga is... a Villain!"
Ignoring Ochaco's confusion entirely, Toga bared her vampire-like fangs in a grin. Radiating the cold pressure of the Dark Side, she lunged forward with savage intent.