MHA: GAMER PATH

Chapter 133: UA School Festival Arc (6)

~Third POV~

[9:45 AM, UA Highschool, Forest, Japan]

Once one of Kenranzaki's attendants had explained the situation to a pageant committee member, the girls were off to the races. As Ren ran, he apologized to Kendo for implicitly volunteering her services too as she said confidentially, "Why should I stay behind just when someone is in trouble? Plus, I figured you would offer to help, Ren-san."

Listening to her words, Ren said in a thankful tone before glancing back at Haya, who was running a few paces behind, "Thanks for understanding."

Haya had looked ready to protest when Nejire had volunteered but had remained silent in the end. Fully in search mode, Nejire was asking Hatsume what the remote looked like.

Kendo from behind could only guess as she looked at the group in a confused tone, 'Are they fighting …? Nah, that couldn't be it.'

Haya was looking grumpier than ever, with a fully furrowed brow. It was when Ren used his Quirk [Float] to fly above as he said calmly, "I'll go up ahead from the sky to see if I can find Mei's remote control. I'll be on the lookout."

*Swooosh*

They all nodded as Ren left into the air to find Mei's remote. She said in a thankful tone, "Thanks again for helping, everyone, and Ren-sama!! Now let's find my super-duper cute baby's remote control!"

Upon reaching the woods, the group split up to search along Mei's approximate route. But Bibimi muttered in an annoyed tone, "Dratted tree branch … Hmph!"

Bibimi's eyelashes had gotten caught on a branch, but she quickly freed herself with lash power alone and kept searching. Since she maintained proper posture while minding her flowing dress, Kenranzaki's search effort almost resembled an elaborate contemporary dance.

Seeing this, Kendo was reminded of Kenranzaki's resolute offer to help. This was a day when the older girl no doubt wanted to focus entirely on herself, but she had still set aside everything to aid a first-year without a second thought. Kendo thought that was cooler than cool.

The way Nejire had done it, too. It took a certain strength of character to step up and help a virtual stranger when they were in a pinch.

It was when Mei cried crawling around on all fours nearby, "Come to me, remote!"

Hearing her, Kendo replied, trying to help Mei look for her remote control, "Don't worry, we'll find it."

Mei looked back as she thanked Kendo, continuing to look for her remote control, "Thanks, I sure hope so! Because this baby of mine just has to make a good showing today! This little one is amazingly useful in just about any situation and simple enough that anyone can handle it, no matter their Quirk!"

*Grumble*

That was when Mei's stomach gave an unearthly growl as Kendo asked, "Did you skip breakfast, by chance?"

Mei looked a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of her head as she sheepishly replied, "Erm, come to think of it, I haven't had a thing since yesterday. Also, I forgot to get any shut-eye!"

Kendo's eyes widened surprised as she asked in a stunned tone, "Huh? How are you still standing?"

Mei shrugged off her tiredness as she nonchalantly responded in a cheerful tone, "Relax, I'll eat and sleep for ages once this is all over to make up for the past forty-eight hours."

Kendo was beyond impressed by that sort of abnormal focus as she thought in awe of Mei's determination, 'So Hatsume had been tinkering nonstop for two days straight? That's… amazing.'

Kendo couldn't help but ask curiously about the Support Course while helping Mei locate her remote control, "Is everyone in the Support Course as dedicated as you?"

Hearing her question, Mei, still searching, replied in an optimistic tone while praising her senpai in the process, "Plenty of us can get kinda obsessive, yeah, but Kenranzaki is different. She eats and sleeps according to a really strict schedule and only gets in focus mode during set times. That's the most beautiful way to live, she says. But judging from her bold, cutting-edge, dazzling designs, I would've guessed she regularly skips whole weeks' worth of sleep if I didn't know better! Her works already earned her a whole pack of crazed fans, y'know!"

The Mei talk train was roaring out of the station, and she was now up in Kendo's face as she continued invading Kendo's personal space, "But even while working, Kenranzaki is always looking out for us in all sorts of ways! Sure, her 'You ought to bathe once in a while, Hatsume' routine gets old real quick, but otherwise, she's a role model I know I can rely on!"

And speaking of the devil, Bibimi's chiding voice was heard scolding her, "Hatsume, focus!"

Mei gasped, came to her senses, and resumed her frenzied search. Kendo couldn't help but think, 'Not the type who can multitask, I take it.'

Kendo got back to searching, too, wanting to help more than hinder. She advanced slowly, checking between every tree and bush as she went, but soon bumped into something soft that went, "Huh? Oops, sorry, Yuyu…"

Noticing Kendo bumped into Yuyu, she turned who hadn't shaken that scowl from a moment ago replied, "Oh. Kendo… Don't sweat it."

Kendo wasn't sure if asking would be appropriate, so she kept searching in silence. However, Kendo started the conversation by asking, "Not to be rude, but… you seem rather tense with Kenranzaki-san."

Haya, hearing this, sighed, who also didn't seem so sure about speaking up with a self-deprecating chuckle, "Yeah… sorry if I'm high-strung, I can get. Kenranzaki was right I am bent out of shape…"

Kendo now understood that the girl's scowl had been directed at herself. Seeing this, Kendo, with her big sister aura, asked in a kind tone, "I'm willing to listen while we search if you wanna talk."

Haya, with a bitter smile, began to confess to making herself feel a bit better, explaining in a long train talk, "Sure if you don't mind. I was the one who suggested Nejire compete in the pageant originally. I mean, have you seen her? Total cutie. I was sure she'd bring home the crown, but then she lost to Kenranzaki two years in a row. Not that she did anything wrong. If those judges can't see how cute she is, their eyes must be malfunctioning cuz nobody in our whole damn galaxy can hold a candle to Nejire!"

Haya seemed to be thinking back on those bitter losses because she started snorting in indignation. She went on, stressing how undeniably cute it was when Nejire did this, that, or just about anything as Kendo sweated a bit, thinking in a confused tone, 'It's like she's bragging about her amazing sweetheart?'

It warmed Kendo's heart to see this third-year's eyes sparkle in admiration, but suddenly, Haya's face grew dark as she explained, "So this whole time, I've felt like I went and got her hurt for nothing… Pageant or no pageant, Nejire's still just as cute, right? But this year, she said she wanted to compete, and she wanted to win. I want that for her so bad I'd do just about anything, but when I get so worked up and worry her like that… Ugh, I'm the worst. I'm usually more put together, you know? As we've gotten closer and closer to the big day, I've felt my fuse getting shorter and shorter, like I'm not even myself…"

Kendo wished she could cheer up Haya, but she couldn't find the words. In all honestly, she didn't feel like herself either till Nejire peeked out from behind a nearby tree, and the strange look on her face told the tale; she'd overheard everything.

The two girls started to talk simultaneously, but a cry from Ren interrupted them stating the obvious, "Hey, I found the culprit!"

Everyone paused as they all thought, 'The culprit?'

Everyone glanced at each other before running in the direction of Ren's voice. Mei and Bibimi shouted in unison, "Where?"

They were looking at the spot Ren up in the air, flying away from a cawing crow that was after him. The girls froze a bit as they all said in a confused tone, "Huh? A crow? What do you mean?"

Ren pointed to a nearby tree branch, where they spotted a necklace and Mei's shiny remote control. This caused both girls to react seeing their stuff as Ren informed them still fighting off the bird, "I remember hearing something about how crows are attracted to shiny objects."

Kendo was shocked to learn the identity of the unlikely culprit and asked for confirmation, "You're saying our thief is a crow?"

However, the girls were thrilled though to get their stuff back. Once Ren grabbed the items, it would be case closed… if only it was that easy.

"Cawww!"

It wasn't that simple, however. The crow continued to harangue Ren, as it could sense that he was out to steal back its hard-earned stash, the gamer said in an annoyed tone, "Hey. Cut that out. That stuff's not yours to begin with… Yikes, get away from me!"

Ren was equipped with any number of ways to battle enemies, but he'd never fought a bird before, let alone one of the smartest birds around. This crow knew it couldn't beat the human attempting to steal its treasures, so while Ren was flailing in midair, it swooped down, deftly grabbed Bibimi's necklace and Mei's remote in its beak, and flew off in the opposite direction.

The girls gave chase, tracking the bird from the ground. Meanwhile, Ren, on the other hand, looked a bit stunned as he thought, 'I got fucking stolen from a goddamn bird…?! Oh, that crow is getting it now!!'

Regaining his composure, Ren raised his hand as a halo ring appeared, "Oh hell naw! I did not get robbed by a bird!"

*Vumm*

*Swooosh*

Using his halo ring of [Attract and Repel], Ren got crow in place, cawing in surprise. Nejire activated her own [Surge] Quirk and rose into the air on spiraling waves of energy. She sped ahead, cut the crow off, grabbed the necklace and remote right out of its mouth, and left it in her dust.

Nejire grabbed the items for Mei and Bibimi the Crow began cawing louder as Ren released his hold, "Caw…! Caw…!! CAWWWW!!!"

*Fwp*

*Fwp*

Everyone blinked in surprise at the enraged crow cawing out loud, with Nejire asking in a confused tone, tilting her head, "Uh… why is it cawing? And why do I hear a lot of flapping noises…?"

Ren narrowed his eyes with his lips twitching as he answered the obvious, seeing multiple red eyes from the forest, "Tch. Didn't think little birdy to call his homies."

*Fwp*

*Fwp*

Before everyone knew it, a murder of several dozen crows had emerged from nowhere, chasing not only the airborne Ren and Nejire but also the gang on the ground. It seemed the original offender had caw-called for its birds of a feather, which annoyed the heroes.

Kendo cried out, covering her friends with one massive hand while attempting to shoo away the crows with the other, "Whoa! Back off, birds!"

She could've smacked them out of the air with ease, but since these weren't villains, Kendo was trying to avoid harming the animals. Ren and Nejire agreed, which left them unsure of how to cope as he thought in an annoyed tone, 'Damn it… the last thing I need is to kill this pest but can't, or else any incident would ruin the School Festival. Tch. I'm starting to hate crows in general…'

Suddenly, Kenranzaki ran by and shouted, "This will just take a moment!"

A good portion of the murder chased after her, drawn in by her glimmering, ornate hairpin, which she plucked from her head and tossed while crying, "You can have it!"

Meanwhile, Nejire was under siege, desperately defending the remote and the necklace. Unable to restrain herself, Haya ran over and said, "Nejire, throw them to me!"

It was when Mei screamed, who'd also been tracking Nejire confidently, "Or me! Once I've got 'em, I'll show these birds how fast I can run!"

Watching this scene play out, Kendo paused to think. The tech exhibition was about to begin, so the priority was putting the remote in Mei's hands and getting her to the show Kendo shouted toward Nejire and Ren, "Give Hatsume the remote, and I'll catch as many crows as I can!"

Hearing Kendo's words Nejire replied with a confident grin, "Me and Ren can shoo away the rest, sure. You good with that?"

Ren slyly grinned as he used [Blackwhip], summoning his energy tendrils in a determined tone with a light nod, "Yeah. I like that plan better than just being pecked at forever."

Nejire looked for an opening and tossed the remote toward Mei…

*Whip*

Using his [Blackwhip] to give Nejire the chance she threw the remote at Mei's direction. Mei noticed as she cried out loud, "Ahh, my precious baby's remote!"

Mei managed to catch the device and made a break for it. The bulk of the murder crows noticed the transfer and gave chase, but Kendo was ready; she scooped several crows out of the air and slammed her enormous, cupped hand to the ground, forming a small, sealed dome.

While Nejire and Ren were attempting to drive off the rest of the birds, Mei stumbled and fell grandly, "Ack!"

Kendo's body moved on instinct to help Mei, and before she could stop herself, the seal of her hand dome broke ever so slightly, allowing the trapped crows to escape and resume their assault on the others as she growled lightly thinking, 'Ugh, what'm I even doing? I have to help –'

*RMBL*

But Kendo didn't have long to blame herself because the ground started rumbling. Her eyes widened as she yelped in surprise, "What on earth?"

A massive tank shaped like Kenranzaki's face was approaching from the nearby path, sending the crows into a confused panic. Riding atop the metallic face was Kenranzaki herself, gloating proudly, "Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! How do you like this, you awful avians?"

Everyone was surprised to see a massive tank as Nejire said excitedly, "Wuzzat? Wow, so cool!"

Hearing Nejire's words prompted a smug Bibimi to explain in a glad tone pointing her tank at the crows, "My creation for the talent portion of the pageant, of course. It's my Beautiful Perfect Gorgeous Armored Vehicle! I had hoped to unveil it for the first time during the show, but alas—I would do anything for a fellow member of the Support Course!"

Every surface of Kenranzaki's tank glittered and glistened, and in the sunlight, one might have mistaken the shining mass for some sort of deity incarnate. Everyone's minds filled with a curious question, 'What had Kenranzaki created this thing to do, exactly?'

Except for Mei who shouted like a child might at the appearance of a hero, "Go get 'em, Kenranzaki!"

The maddened crows were driven into a further frenzy by the largest shiny object yet, which they now made a beeline for. Ren, seeing this, only smirked happily as he thought, 'Oh… I'm gonna enjoy seeing this. Tank vs Crows. My money is on the tank.'