Chapter 46

When fighting someone unknown it is always important to be patient and take the time to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. That is how I operate and it has proven to be a good strategy so far. Toga seems to have the same idea as me as we circle each other, neither approaching, cautious about the danger the other holds. She is not underestimating me in this situation, which is flattering, I must admit. Thirty seconds in and it becomes clear we can't keep this up so someone must risk the first move if we're to move things forward and Toga ends up being that person. In doing so I've already learned a great detail; being that she's exceptionally fast. I step back to avoid the kick aimed at my head and am forced even further back by the flurry of kicks that swiftly follow after and I quickly realize she may practice taekwondo. That conjecture is dashed when she abruptly shifts into an altogether different stance and falls right into my personal space, striking me in the shoulder and earning the first hit.

Damn, okay.

Flips and spins and kicks and swift strikes are what I'm faced with - a style of fighting that seems familiar and incorporates a lot of acrobatics.... fitting.

Having compiled what I consider to be enough information, I push back, finally meeting her strikes with my own. She's fast, but so am I and what's followed is a series of blocked and countered attacks on both ends.

She winces when one of my own kicks lands, stumbling back from the impact and almost smiling while I wait. This is a spar, not a real fight, there's no need for me to be on her back.

"Not bad" she snickers as she readjusts her posture.

"A compliment from my upperclassman, I'm flattered"

Day one and I'm already in the good graces of the one and only Toga Himiko.

The fight renews and it's invigorating. I've never fought anyone outside my family and to finally be facing someone else is thrilling. Not to mention; she's remarkably proficient and uses a style I'm not used to, forcing me to work that much harder than I'm used to. And I'm not sure how long this goes on, all I know is that parts of me ache from what I could not dodge and Toga isn't doing any better. I've got my fair deal of hits in on her, perhaps as much as she has at this point. I'm still incredibly careful against her. She moves fast and can change her position within a second. That type of body control far outclasses Mina, and that's saying something. One moment she's right in front of me, the next she has dropped out of sight and aims to take me down with a sweeping kick.

Her moves are reminiscent of the dances I've seen when I attended Mina's competition, that's why her style seemed so familiar. It truly does assimilate a great deal of acrobatics, which makes it perfect for someone skilled in that department.

"Stop"

A simple command that has us freezing mid-fight. Toga stands on one leg - the other raised for a kick that would have surely hurt. The way she's positioned tells me that she was very much intending to hit me in the temple, and I can not withstand another one of that. While she moves like the acrobat she is, she also does use taekwondo often and I have been kicked more times than I can count. Two times in the temples, one in the stomach, another at the back of the knee, and another right on my chin. She wanted to knock me out, I'm certain.

"Stand down"

Again, we move without much thought. Kuma just radiates this air of authority I cannot disobey and the air of satisfaction around her when I follow her orders feels rewarding. Toga and I stand opposite each other once more and look to our teacher for further instructions.

"I didn't think the fight would go on so long" She admits, checking her watch. "Five minutes at best, but it seems like you two could go on for the next hour"

I'm confused and curious as to exactly how long I had been trying to take this kid out and Toga seems in the same state of confuzzled as I am. When we both stare at Kuma, she seems to realize this and laughs in amusement.

"You two were at it for almost ten minutes" she reveals, smirking. "Geez I didn't think you'd find someone who could match your stamina, Toga"

Okay, ten minutes isn't that long in my eyes. I'm sure I've gone longer against Lissa. Israel on the other hand, well, he never wants to fight for too long anyways so we never got to find out exactly how long he can go on.

"You don't seem tired at all," Kuma says, patting me on the head. "I wonder how much stamina you have"

A great, deal, I can tell you that. You develop great endurance when you're chased by a short person who intends to use you for experiments. Alissa is scarily fast and I just can't understand it.

"Now then" Addressing the class, Kuma stands between Toga and I as she faces my fellow students. "Fox and Toga here offered a great demonstration of the skills you'll all have by the time I'm done with you, I guarantee it"

My mind wanders while she speaks, drifting off to the many thoughts that occupy my head and take amusement in the ones that are about me. Especially Katsuki's image of me. I'm a target now he knows I'm not just some extra in his way. At least he acknowledges that I could put up a good fight against him, but he remains certain that he's far better than me. That complex of his sure is something else.

While Katsuki has already made me an enemy, Izuku is listing down everything he can about my fight and the way I move, and what style I must have used. I'm surprised when he deduces two of my styles already, as not many people would know from watching me once. I tend to switch between them often or use them together when I can so I don't expect many to understand it straight away. But of course, Izuku already got two down and already understands how both styles work with my elemental quirk.

Holy crap, this guy is a bit scary.

The rest of the class is dedicated to demonstrating everyone's skills - or lack thereof - in combat, just so Kuma can get a general idea of how she needs to work with the class as well as each student. She admits that she does not teach a single style of fighting as she is skilled in many. She doesn't reveal her quirk but does say that it has to do with her skill in the usages of many forms of combat. Izuku is set off by this reveal and I can't help but listen to his fast-running thoughts, just to see what he can understand from those words alone. I'm sure he's to come up with a quirk that would make sense and I'll just wait to see if he had been correct in his assumption.

During the end of combat class, I've learned that a good deal of kids aren't very well versed in the art of combat, though there are also a good number of kids who can put up a good fight. Two of them are people I'm not familiar with, including that boy from my class. The other is a girl from class 1B. she's tall and blonde and she does look like a fighter. With broad shoulder, strong biceps, and an overall powerful body, I'm not surprised really. I've also learned that she's more inclined to the use of weapons rather than hand to hand, so that's something to look forward to.

The rest of the fighters are the ones I had expected, Kendo, Ojiro, and the likes. Izuku is in there too, which is interesting. He had told me that he could fight, but I haven't seen him in action yet. I had been distracted by my partner for the rest of the period as we had been paired off at some point. I was promised another match by Toga. She admits to having enjoyed the fight and looks forward to our next match.

As do I.

Class ends and we're practically chased out of the room by the ever-smiling Kuma who reminds us to do the training she had given us. This woman had taken the time to write down specific training for each student.

"I'll know if you did your homework or not, so don't think about slacking," She says with the usual smile but I can sense a threat behind those words.

Kuma is a smiley and cheerful person who reminds me of certain members of my family, but she's also authoritative and gets very serious with her teachings. You wouldn't expect someone with a sunshine smile to exude such a strong air of authority. But it's really hard to not do what she says. Even Katsuki listens and does everything she says without complaint. He scoffed at her once and a single glance was enough to put an end to the attitude before it even started.

"Better watch out" Mina snickers when we're basically threatened to do our assigned homework for the week. She's stretching as she walks, in far better shape than some of our other classmates.

We're joined by class B as we're heading in the same direction and I can feel eyes on me. Glancing to my left I come upon Kendo, who smiles when I notice her.

"I was staring" she admits with a sheepish laugh. "Sorry"

"No problem"

"Oh yeah, she's nice to look at" Mina comments far too casually and makes a point to avoid all eye contact and act as if she hadn't said what she just said.

Kendo gets even more embarrassed and tries to clarify that she wasn't staring for that reason, but by doing so she ends up admitting that she agrees with Mina's words and I'm not sure if I should be amused or mortified. At some point, she understands that it's best to just shut up before she digs a bigger hole and I can feel her mortification virtually soaking into my bones.

"Hey it's okay" I try to reassure, because I can vividly feel the embarrassment and understand the struggle.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know how many martial arts you know," she says, exasperated. "I was watching and it really looked like you were using more than one form, but I can only identify one, which is Northern Shaolin"

"Do you know Tai chi, perhaps?" It is Ojiro who joins the conversation now. I had expected as much since this guy is known for his martial prowess.

"Yes, I do, good eye"

"Bagua is another one" It's Izuku's turn to reveal his discovery. "So that's three"

He mumbles something that has a bunch of us staring at him for a moment. An odd one.

"But you have four styles, don't you?" He phrases it as a question, but the certainty in his eyes makes it a fact. "Each style so far would work nicely with your elemental quirk, I believe, so it would only make sense you have a fourth"

He really is scary.

"That's impressive" Kendo compliments, smiling. "To have four styles under your belt is something else"

"Heh, thanks" Something about earning praise is oddly embarrassing.

"Tai chi is fluid, adaptable, and natural, moves like water" I catch Izuku mumbling to himself, and again I'm reminded of how good his analytical skills are. I won't be surprised if he knows all my weaknesses by tomorrow. "The fourth must be Hung Gar"

Jesus Christ dude.

Damn, I don't want to fight him at all.

~~~~~~~~

Aizawa has been kind enough to give us all enough time to freshen up before returning to class. I now notice how massive our changing room is when girls from both classes are gathered and it still seems empty. Good to know there'll never be a capacity issue. Most of us decided it was best to take a shower and for some reason, I ended up sharing a stall with Lissa. Well, no, there was a reason, being that I walked into her stall and didn't care enough to find another. And she should learn to lock her door.

And now I'm almost fully dressed and ignoring my cousin who struggles to contain her hair. She had gotten it wet and asked me to dry it for her and now it's just out of control. I told her it was a bad idea for me to dry her hair, but she insisted. Now I have to watch her debate cutting it all off while rummaging through her backpack for whatever product she had brought with her.

Lesson learned.

Eventually, Mina takes note of her situation and takes care of the issue. Alissa is lucky Mina cares.

"Bad idea Lissa," Mina tells her to which Lissa sighs, realizing that it truly was a stupid request.

"But she still did it"

"You asked for it" I shrug. "Not my fault you don't listen"

"You did it on purpose!" She accuses and I do not respond because I'm not about to lie to her face.

Yes, I could have controlled my quirk better and not made her hair such a mess. But that's not as fun as watching her struggle and regret her decision. Besides, I had warned her. She should've known I would have done that.

"What'd we learn?"

"Never trust Zen" Is her answer and Mina laughs.

"You'd think you'd have learned this a long time ago," Says Mina, making a very good point.

Hah, Lissa knows better than anyone not to trust me, but that kid loves me far too much to ever remember that fact. And it's not like I always trick her, just every now and then when I realize I've been nice for too long.

When she's done with Alissa, Mina moves over to me, taking over the task of doing my hair while I button up my shirt and fix my tie.

I wonder what subject we have now.

"Hey, Kitsune" Kendo appears from behind a wall of lockers fully dressed and ready to go. Her request is on the tip of her tongue but she fumbles. "Um, can I call you Kitsune?"

"Yeah, feel free" it's practically my actual name now.

"Okay, good to know" and she's relieved. Whether it be because Kitsune is far easier or because she's happy she didn't upset me - I don't know. Hell, she doesn't even know. "Can we spar later, perhaps? Whenever you get the time, I just really would like a match, you're an amazing fighter and I can learn a thing or two"

Is this another form of making friends or.....? I'm not sure here but this seems like something that will end with us being friends somewhat, so it's something that has me a bit hesitant. On one hand, another friend. On the other hand, another friend. Kendo is, well she's Kendo and she's nice and I had always liked her. Ah, but more interactions, more socializing. I've already made friends with three people, maybe four if I count Izuku. That sounds like a lot of socializing and interacting and just being around people that are not Eijiro and Mina.

Man.

Morgan would be so disappointed.

"Yeah sure" Because why the hell not, it's Kendo and I like Kendo. But if I'm going off that logic I might as well befriend half my class and then B. "I'm not sure if or when I'm free later, but I'll let you know"

And just like that, I've gotten her phone number and her dorm room number.

Hmm.

Didn't think it'd be that easy to get a girl's number.

"Smooth" Alissa grins, wiggling her brows and doing this wiggle thing she always does when she's making fun of me. "I'm totally jealous"

The brat.

"You look like a worm, shut up"

Sadly she does not falter and my words only seem to have encouraged her further as she continues her worm dance with more enthusiasm than when she started.

It could be a talent, really, how quickly I'm capable of getting someone's number. But it could also be chalked up to the circumstances that lead up to the exchange. Mina just took my phone one day and that's how I have her saved as first mate in my phone. I'm not sure how I had gotten Eijiro's number. I just realized that his name was in my phone one day and didn't ask questions, though I have a creeping suspicion it has something to do with Mina.

"We have English" Jiro has a very monotone way of speaking that makes it very clear that she's not amused by most of what goes on during the day. "Underwhelming"

Truly, but UA is still a school and as such teaches ordinary subjects next to heroics. And placing something like English just after something like combat class is a good move, actually. I doubt many of us would want to be thrown into another physical activity, especially those who came out of it with a bruise or two.

And we did just shower, so-

While Jiro is less than disappointed about the next subject, Alissa is very content if that smile is anything to go by. She's so easy to read and so easily excited.

The most simple of things will make her happy.

"Alissa" she perks at the sound of her name and her smile falters when she sees my face. Perhaps I appear to be an evil villain at the moment.

"Don't you dare make fun of me, Zen"

"I love you"

She beams like the damn sun and damn near squeals. As I've said, easily excited. There's that and the fact she absolutely loves me for some reason. I was sure her fondness for me would lessen as we grew older, but no such thing has happened.

"Oh wow," Mina is as amused as she is surprised right now. "I thought you were joking"

Three years and Mina still doubts me when I say I'm definitely Alissa's favorite cousin. This girl adores me beyond understanding.

Lissa is admittedly adorable when she's happy and excited. With dimples that just drive it home, it's hard to be bothered by her sudden clinginess. Besides, I saw it coming the minute those words left my mouth. She likes to hug when she's happy. She's warm and cuddly and adorable small and her joy is so goddamn contagious. It's hard not to return her gesture and it only makes her giddy when I do.

"You two are cousins?" Momo asks with the most doubtful expression I've seen so far.

"Yup," Alissa refuses to release me and sits snugly in my lap, content enough by the fact I haven't pushed her away yet. She's lucky I'm allowing her emotions to affect me right now. Well, no, I do love my cousin and she is adorable and I do like hugs despite everything. There is no way I would be letting her and Mina be so physical with me if I did not like it.

"Huh" Jiro makes this sound that could either be a stifled laugh or a scoff of disbelief. I'm really not sure. "Okay"

"You're both Fox" Pink cheeks and curious tone, Uraraka closes her locker and turns to face us. "So, how? Most of the times cousins have different last names"

"Or is it just me?"

She has a point.

"My dad is Zeni's dad's cousin" Alissa starts to explain. "And my mom is Zeni's mom's sister"

It sounds weird when it's said out loud like that. It's a whole story that I sometimes laugh about whenever it comes to mind.

"You have another cousin here, right? What about him?"

"Oh well, his dad is my dad's brother" It took me a while to fully understand this situation. "And that's how we all share the name"

I can see how this would result in us being mistaken for siblings.

"Must be fun" Jiro says absently. "Or annoying, or both. I'm an only child so I wouldn't get the struggle"

"It's a bit of both"

Tsuyu, quiet for most of the conversation, nods to my statement. Ah, yeah, she'd understand perfectly, I'm sure.

"For example" I release my hold on Alissa, a clear indication that she should get off me now. Instead, she remains as she is, still happily attached to me with this goofy smile on her face. "Alissa loves me and it's endearing and I like when she hugs and cuddles, but, she refuses to release me and that can end in a physical altercation"

"Like that time you two almost fell down the stairs because you were fighting over something ridiculous," Mina says blankly with a look that is anything but amused. "You two almost gave my poor mother a heart attack"

My first instinct is to place all the blame on Alissa and from the way she almost flinches, and her very loud thoughts, Alissa was about to throw me under the bus as well. Realizing it at the same time, we keep quiet, knowing such a thing would likely result in another useless fight or a scolding from Mina. As cheerful and playful as Mina is, she can and will set us straight if we act like children.

But really, Alissa started it.

"You blew me away" She speaks quietly, barely even heard despite her closeness and I narrow my eyes at that smirk she suddenly wears. "So you started it"

No, no, no, I did not start it.

"I blew you away because you're a dumb ass that does dumb thi-" a quick and sharp pain silences me immediately and I'm left to grumble in dismay before Mina sees the need to swat me again.

"Lissa started it"