Blindsided [Hyousuke/Dara]

So, this was what it meant to train to be a hero, was it? The amount of times he had played games like this with his friends back home was almost staggering. It really did seem like he was just playing pretend to be a hero rather than learning anything important.

It was one thing if they had pitted him against a teacher or an older student, but he got the feeling that this other boy knew just as little as he did. They were both in their first year, and whilst it was true that this Hyousuke had to be at least competent considering he had managed to get his way into such a premier school, it seemed like they were pitting the blind against the blind... metaphorically speaking, of course. 

The boy in question... well, he was the boy who sat two seats behind him in homeroom. He had sensed an almost viscous arrogance and haughtiness pouring off of him, in the way that he talked and held himself. It was strange to think of such a person as a trainee hero but he had read enough to know that universal truth - everyone felt like they were the hero of their own story. That was doubly the case for arrogant people like Hyousuke. 

Which was exactly what he was counting on. Sequestered on a higher floor of the building, he knew that someone that bullheaded would rush in without a plan of action, likely just trying to fight it out. That was why he had made sure to hide the briefcase before moving out to fight him personally. He would have been paranoid were the boy smarter, unwilling to part with it lest this be some sort of trick. As it was, this was more likely to result in his victory.

He only had to hold out for a few minutes, "until backup arrived" as the teacher had claimed. That meant that if he could preoccupy him, keep him busy with a straight fight, then he would win. Still, just to make sure the boy didn't catch on, he had taken off his hero costume's jacket, using it to cover a convenient piece of broken debris in a similar shape to the briefcase in the corner of the room, giving the impression it was in his grasp if he could just beat its protector. 

Finally, as Hyousuke came further up the stairs, within his 50 meter radius, he called down to him. "Please tell me we're not going to roleplay. If you start monologuing, I'm going to scream."

The words were a little stilted, stiff, even unnatural as he spoke a tongue he couldn't claim true fluency in. It was good enough to understand, however, and that was what mattered.  

... Huh.

The boy was bantering back, that was something that he hadn't anticipated. He wasn't quite sure how to take that - was the boy taking him lightly? Or was it just that his head wasn't quite as far up his own ass as he had previously thought. 

In truth, judging people before really getting to know them was perhaps Dara's greatest weakness. He was so used to being pushed to the outside of groups that he had learned to form judgements of people before they had the chance to hurt him. It was possible that was now coming back to bite him in the ass. 

Dara had, indeed, set no traps on the way up. If he had done so even someone as bull-headed as Hyousuke would have been put in the mind of expecting tricks. No, by putting everything so straight forward on the way up Hyousuke would grow complacent, expecting it to be a straight brawl, no tricks involved. The fight was like a Matador versus a bull - he was waving the flag right now, waiting for that charge to start until he could work his magic. 

And so it seemed to be going well as Hyousuke made his way up through the building. Dara had moved away from the stairwell, standing in a large open room that he had to assume was designed to look like it had once been an office for holding meetings. There was a destroyed wooden table just shedding splinters of wood by one wall and a series of broken chairs around the place to act as set dressing.

He, for his part, was standing on the opposite side of the room, the space between the boy's entrance and his location plain and open. The "briefcase" decoy was stowed behind him by the corner, looking as if he had tried to hide it but had done so badly. 

So, he waited, unable to see any timepieces and thus having nothing but his own internal clock to tell him that time was passing, that they were getting closer and closer to his victory. 

"Well, we'll see. With your pace, you might not even find me before the clock runs down. Or are you hiding from me? Isn't that the beleaguered hero's job? "

As Hyousuke growled through his clenched teeth, Dara tapped his cane on the ground in front of him, as if to silence his opponent's complaining. 

"Don't get cocky, brat. You're hesitating, that's almost as bad as hiding. Now, come on!" It was ironic,, the words that were coming out of his mouth sounded more fit to be coming out of a villain's mouth than out of a hero's. 

But in truth, the words were just yet more scene-dressing, like the room, the false briefcase and everything else that had happened so far. He wanted him to charge forwards without thought, to throw himself into danger without considering anything. A bull charging at a Mateador, to reuse his earlier comparison. 

Below the surface, both metaphorically and physically, he was already using his quirk. Unlike Hyousuke, his quirk was able to be used prematurely to set up a greater weapon. Adjusting the frequency of the sound-waves sent through the ground with the cane, he began to weakn the ground's foundation. 

He didn't get all the way through by the time that Hyousuke charged, but it was enough. The ground was weak, unprepared for the shifting weight of his target who charged so recklessly. As he moved across the ground, it caved in, threatening to drop him to the level below unless he did something. 

Having spread the waves out away from him, Dara stood at the edge of the crevasse he had just formed. Three feet in front of him had collapsed instead of the usual five, having had less time than usual, but he was likely still out of the boy's reach as he collapsed.

The average floor of a building was 10 feet, which would only do serious damage if he landed badly. He trusted in his opponent's potential as a hero when he chose this method of attack, but getting back up here should buy him more time. 

Still, just in case... 

He reached out with his arm, forming a click and targeting it at the boy's centre of mass, aiming to blow him back from him and keeping him off form as he fell.  

"Olé, Pendejo.~ "

"Thank you" Dara instantly replied, ignoring the bitter, grumbling tone that the boy had taken. It was a compliment, whether a sincere one or not, and he was going to take it. It was the first actually nice thing the boy had said since they had met, and that was saying something considering the tone. 

Now the power differential was obvious. Dara still did not know the other's quirk, but from the way that he had charged in so aggressively he knew it had to be something strong and direct. Something that would give him the upper hand in a straight hand-to-hand fight. 

Arrogance, in his experience, was formed from an excess of power, although that power could come from different sources. Money, influence, strength, or something else entirely. He might not know Hyousuke, but he guessed his confidence and arrogance came from being blessed with a naturally strong quirk.

By allowing him to make the choice of charging, he got a good feeling that he depended on close range. He needed to be able to strike him. It was the most recon he could do about the boy on the fly, and it had given him a few ideas on how to continue this fight. 

Now that the two were on different levels, they were squarely in Dara's playing field. Range was where he excelled, and it seemed to be an area that Hyou struggled with. Or, at least, he thought he did until he found himself having to react to a piece of rubble. 

Giving his hand away, he quickly brought up his cane and swatted it away like an errant tennis ball, leaving a small scuff on the metal of the cane as he did so. This, unfortunately, had likely revealed some of his quirk to the other boy. He had been able to see it coming despite being known as blind, and he had prioritised defending himself. That implied he lacked a great amount of speed or toughness.

Simply put, if Hyousuke closed the distance, he'd likely win. 

In an attempt to avoid this, he clicked his tongue, aiming another sound-blast at his opponent to push back his charge. He couldn't run, not without revealing the false nature of the briefcase. So he had to stand his ground and try and delay him until the clock ran down. 

"Stop being stubborn! "

Much to Dara's chagrin, the other boy somehow managed to take the blast and still stand, pushed back rather than being truly thrown off his feet. So, this was what it meant to go up against someone worthy of being called a trainee-hero, eh? 

Having never been able to see a clock, he was used to not knowing how time was flying. This was, however, the first time that not knowing where things were really got to him. If he backed away here, if he tried to shift the field of their engagement, would it buy him time? And if so, would it be the time that he needed or would it just make things take longer. 

The boy had already charged up an entire buildings' stairway and had barely taken a breath after falling through the floor. Either his stamina was amazing or this was his quirk. If so, that was terrifying - the idea that someone could just keep coming at you endlessly without stopping. 

For a moment, he found himself remembering those biology textbooks he listened to as a kid, explaining about how humans evolved into pursuit predators. They weren't as strong as a bear or as fast as a cheetah, but they had become the apex because they never stopped, they could take a while but they would always find their prey again and chase it until it exhausted itself to death.

Quirks were a first step in humanity's evolution, and for Hyousuke to be an evolved form of humanity's natural strength? It was kind of terrifying. 

Hyousuke readied himself like a cat ready to spring on a mouse, and Dara knew he had seconds to decide on a course of action. He could push him back but the constant exposure to loud sounds was beginning to disorient him. He didn't know how much longer he had in this fight and needed to conserve his strength. 

But he also couldn't just take it, if this boy was as strong as he seemed that would be a direct loss. So, instead, he stuck out his hand ready to click again. The moment he began to spring forwards, Dara clicked again, but instead of the soundwaves going out to contest Hyou, he instead angled it up. 

The waves hit the ceiling, and the roof caved in, dropping on both boys just as he threw himself backwards, leaving Hyou to dive head first under the sudden wave of debris. Even if he got out of it without a scratch, it would bury the "briefcase". 

Hyou could only win if he found the true briefcase, but at this point did he even care about winning or was he just acting out of frustration? Either way, Dara began to run through the shattered glass pane that lined the room, heading into one of the nearby rooms.