Starting off the chapter with the AN this time around. A lot of you are probably wondering why this chapter is up a day late. And that is because...frankly because a good half of this chapter initially was just bad. And since I didn't have a chance to revise it last night following work, I made sure I did it first thing I got out of bed, even if I did sleep in a bit. It's still not great, and does skip through a few things a little bit, but I definitely feel like it's better than what it was previously. Hopefully you guys still like it. Otherwise, I will see you all again in a couple weeks for the usual update.

Kaori struggled as much as she could without actually being able to move to try and free herself of whatever control now existed over her body. Whatever the boy had done when he'd spoken to her, it had robbed her of the ability to act on her own. And with the cavalry battle just getting underway, she needed to find a way to break free of it so that she could do things her way. She could tell from watching what was happening that this boy knew what he was doing when he put her under his control. A flick of her wrist there, and quick projection there, and other students never even realized what had happened to their headbands until it was too late.

This went on for a good few minutes as different groups went after one another. As her body moved and turned to do the boy's bidding, she couldn't help but notice some of the other teams that her classmates had formed. It was clear that many of them had chosen not to team up with Midoriya for plainly obvious reasons. His band was worth the most to obtain, and would likely be easier in some way to capture than it would be to protect when nearly everyone was targeting you. She wanted to yell out an apology to Kirishima and Mina as she saw them teamed up with Bakugou. They looked like they were doing fine, but she knew that in those brief seconds before she'd been whisked away by her current team leader that they had been seeking her out to team up. And it made her chest hurt as she feared how they must have felt in those moments. She would be sure to give them a heartfelt apology once this was over and she had given the boy a piece of her mind for snaking into her mind like he had rather than just asking her like a normal person.

Kaori thought of any possible way to break free of the control, but it mattered little as a loud horn went off and everyone seemed to stop moving. Moments later, Kaori felt control of her body return to her as the boy hopped down from her shoulders and onto the ground in front of her and her classmates that had also been brought under his manipulation.

"Hey!" Kaori yelled to the boy as he calmly stood in front of them with his back turned and his hands in his pockets. His torso shifted slightly as he turned back to face her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know what you did…but the next time you want to try digging through someone's head to get them to do whatever you want, how about you ASK first? Trust me, if you do that to me or anyone I know again, you WILL regret forcing yourself in like that." Kaori took a deep breath as she struggled to maintain control over her emotions. "There's only one person I know that has a Quirk that can get inside your head even remotely like that…and she's the ONLY person I let into my head under any circumstances. Consider that a warning."

"…Good to know." Was all he said as everyone turned to receive the results for the cavalry battle and learn how the final event was going to go.

As everyone took some time to rest before the tournament round began, Kaori found herself silently wandering through one of the halls of the building, deep in thought. As the results had been announced, most of them had been caught heavily off guard when Ojiro had resigned from the tournament due to not remembering much of the cavalry battle. That realization alone had Kaori now deeply wondering why it was that she had been able to even remotely remember what had been going on, even if it had been slightly disjointed due to the near out-of-body experience she had endured. If her fellow classmates hadn't been able to recall what had occurred, what about her was different that she had been able to retain at least a part of her senses?

Either way, while she could have spent all day focusing all of her thoughts on that, she also knew that she needed to focus on her first match in the battles. It already had her grimacing at the thought of what was likely to come.

After all…her last fight against Kaminari hadn't been the most pleasant feeling.

"You guys are sure that we're okay?" Kaori asked with a worried look as she spoke to Mina and Kirishima.

"We already told you, water under the bridge!" Kirishima tried to calm Kaori as he put his hands on her shoulders with a clapping sound. "Besides, you said yourself you weren't really in control. Just like Aoyama and Ojiro!"

"And it got you into the third round, anyways!" Mina added as her bright smile took up most of her face. "Who cares how you did it!"

"Tell that to Ojiro. I'm sure he'd love to hear that." Kaori stated plainly as the two calmed down somewhat. The look of guilt on Mina's face showed that Kaori had perhaps a bit too harsh with the delivery of that statement. "Hey, Mina, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Her hand reached out to touch her other friends shoulder, but was brushed aside as the pink-skinned girl gently lowered it with her own hand.

"No, you're right. I got too caught up trying to cheer you up I didn't consider how he might be feeling about all of this. It's so weird, though. A Quirk that controls another person I mean."

"Yeah, you'd think that he would have been a shoe-in for the Hero Course with an ability like that. I wonder why he wasn't." Kirishima pondered aloud as he put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Believe me, I had some time to think about that when the battle first started before I just focused on watching what was happening." Kaori replied as the two turned to face her with looks of interest on their faces. "And I think it has something to do with the way the Entrance Exam is setup."

"What do you mean?" Mina asked with a tilt of her head.

"Think about it. All we did was fight a bunch of robots and show off how powerful or versatile our Quirks were at the time. But someone like him, without any sort of physical benefit, is only able to manipulate people by talking to them or looking at them, or something like that. What if he can't control things like inanimate objects?"

"But he can still control people, though! Shouldn't that count for something?" Kirishima stated with a look of confusion.

"I don't get it either, but it's the only likely possibility. I doubt they really have time to screen through every student and do tailor-made tests to show off the fullest extent of their abilities. It would take up too much time and resources to do that with how many applicants there were." Kaori stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's probably just another reason why the Sports Festival exists. It lets them see the other applications of students that didn't end up in the Hero Course initially and see if they need to change things around somewhat."

"Well I hope Midoriya can think of something to stop him if he does get control, then. They're the two facing off in the first round after all."

Kaori shook her head sadly as she began to reply. "I don't think there even is a way to do it on your own. I tried to move my body or do anything when I was under his control, but nothing worked until he let go on his own after the event as over. If Midoriya gets caught by it…that's pretty much it for his chances in the tournament."

As it turned out, Midoriya actually did find a way to snap out of the hold Shinso was able to put over him. Kaori's eyes had widened in shock as she had seen his body stop just shy of the border for the battlefield as a mighty gust of wind had suddenly burst across the battlefield. How on earth had he been able to regain control against something to seemed to steal exactly that from a person until they were given it back freely? Did he have some sort of immense mental fortitude that allowed him to resist it in some way? Was it something to do with his Quirk in some bizarre manner? Or was Shinso's power only useful up to a certain point and he had reached that limit? Whatever it was, Kaori had to wonder just who Midoriya was as both combatants left the field to make way for the next set of fighters.

Not that the next fight was going to last long, though. Even as talented as Sero was and how versatile his Tape Quirk turned out to be, it was no match as Todoroki stopped him while barely moving, a giant glacier of ice and snow erupting from in front of him and trapping the poor boy inside. As individuals entered the field to clear the ice as quickly as possible, Kaori knew her time was next as she headed down to the prep rooms for her own fight. She had come up with a few ideas to try and fight Kaminari with, but she knew that even one simple misstep would cost her due to how powerful his electricity would be if left unguarded. And even then…she knew that this fight was going to likely hurt at least a good amount.

"Get ready for the next fight, sports fans!" Present Mic shouted into the microphone as the entire crowd got worked up for another round in the one-on-one battles. "We may have seen some of the top students in action already, but there's still plenty of talent going on in the Hero Course with this next pairing! First up, he may not look like much, but watch out for his electric shocks! It's the shocker of Class A, Denki Kaminari! And for his opponent, don't misjudge her appearance either! She may not look like an intimidating opponent, but try saying that when she's beaten you without even getting close! Also from Class A, it's Kaori Nomi!"

"Ready for round two?" Kaminari shouted out to her as they both took up their positions while Present Mic announced them to the crowd. "We still have a tie to settle after all!"

"Only if you're okay with losing this time! You only won because I was outnumbered last time. You don't have Jirou to back you up in this fight!"

"I don't need anyone's help to take you out in a split second!"

"Then show me what you can do, Kaminari!"

The moment the fight began, Kaori knew it was going to be down to whoever hit first. This fight wasn't going to be a drawn out one by any stretch of the imagination. Either she knocked Kaminari out before he got off an attack, or she would be paralyzed before she could finish moving. That's just how this fight was going to go. With that thought in mind, she reached out with her Quirk as her right hand began to glow due to her Quirk as a projection roughly the height of Kaminari's body emerged just off to his side. But at the same time, his arms convulsed with electricity as he unleashed a wave directly in Kaori's direction. His lack of ability to really control where his attacks would usually be a disadvantage, but in this case the more ground he covered the more difficult it would be for Kaori to even attempt to dodge. Not that either of them likely cared about that in the heat of the moment.

Kaori could already feel the hairs on the back of her head begin to raise as the wave of energy neared, but that didn't stop her as she moved her arm in a sweeping motion, carrying the projection of her hand directly into Kaminari's body as it began to push him rapidly towards the boundary of the battlefield. If she couldn't shove him out quickly enough, she would be paralyzed first by his electricity and would lose, even if his body did eventually fly out of bounds. In that second, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. She could slowly feel the first tendrils of electricity begin to creep up her feet and into her body, causing her nerves to begin to sting in agony as her entire body became another victim of Kaminari's powers. But it didn't reach her hand first, and that's what mattered most as she put even more effort into moving her arm as swiftly as possible to shove the blonde boy out of the ring.

To everyone else watching, it happened in the blink of an eye. One moment they were staring each other down, and the next a large purple projection of a hand had appeared next to Kaminari and began to shove his body off to the side even as a large current of electricity lanced out and began to electrocute the white-haired girl opposite him. When the horn rang seconds later, one person was propped up on one knee on the dirt while another was looking dead-eyed towards the sky as he lay with a goofy smile on his face outside the ring.

Midnight turned to face Kaori as she knelt motionless on the field. "Can you move at all, Miss Nomi?"

Kaori's body twitched strongly as she struggled to turn her head to face Midnight with a grimace on her face. "B-barely…bu-but…yeah…I c-can." Even her ability to speak had been affected by the powerful electricity that had been surging through her mere moments ago.

"In that case…Kaori Nomi proceeds to the next round! Now, could you help her out of the arena, Kaminari?"

"Weeeee…"

"…Maybe someone else in that case."

"You're doing absolutely amazing out there, Kaori!" An excited voice echoed over her phone as Kaori sat calmly in the prep room for the students that were going to fight. She was able to move a little more after short rest to allow feeling back into her muscles and limbs after the torture she had just gone through.

"Thanks, Yori. Sorry I haven't spoken to you or Chi much lately. It's been a lot busier here than I thought it was going to be for my first year."

"You're kidding, right?" Yori's tone was noticeably sarcastic from the other end. "You're class had to fight actual Villains not even a week into your classes. How the heck does that even happen?"

"No idea." Kaori was honest was she shrugged her shoulders in response, even if her friend couldn't see it. "All I know is, if that's how things start here, then I'm in for a strange 3 years."

"Well at least everyone has their own talents that let them fight them off! It would suck for someone to get badly hurt in the first few days."

"Yeah…" Kaori agreed with a sheepish smile, remembering back to the brutal damage Izuku Midoriya did to himself anytime he used his Quirk. "…That would really suck for that to happen early on."

"But hey, I couldn't help but notice that you ran into one of my relatives while you were competing today!"

Kaori's interest was suddenly as Yori's words were quickly processed. "Wait, you have a relative at U.A.? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't think it mattered that much to be honest. He didn't end up in either of the Hero Courses, so I never figured you'd really run into him at some point."

"I don't know about that. A whole bunch of students from the other classes came by our homeroom one day a couple weeks backing to scout out the competition prior to the Sports Festival. Maybe he was in that group somewhere?"

"If that's the case, then I'd be surprised if he wasn't. He was always a little upset about how he didn't end up in the Hero Course despite his Quirk. Something about the Entrance Exam being unfair or something."

"What was his name?"

"Hitoshi Shinso. Why do you ask?" Silence was all she was answered with for a little while. "...Kaori? Did he do something again?"

"…What do you mean by 'again'?"

"He's always had a tendency for getting into people's heads without asking sometimes…don't tell me he did that to you?"

"…No, nothing like that. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"…You know I don't need to always use my Quirk to tell when you're lying, Kao. What. Did. He. Do."

"He…might have used some sort of control Quirk to make me work with him in the second round."

"He is so dead the next time I see him. I swore I would beat his face in if he ever used his Quirk on a friend of mine."

"…What happened?"

"He got really protective of me when one of our classmates asked me out back in our second year of middle school. You remember that, right?"

"The guy with the lizard tongue? God, he was such a perv."

"Yeah, well Hitoshi found out and made him string himself up to one of the flagpoles using his tongue before hoisting himself up. He got in serious trouble for it from the school and his parents, but he didn't care. He thought he was doing what was right considering the way that guy acted."

"I mean, at least he meant well." Kaori tried to defend the boy she had, up until recently, wanted to give a piece of her mind. Now she just wanted to warn him to run before Yori got to him.

"But he still made you fight for him without asking, just like he usually does!"

"Yori, please don't hurt him for my sake." Kaori tried to reason with her childhood friend. "He was using his abilities to his advantage, just like everyone else. Besides, after how his fight against one of my classmates went today, I've got a feeling he'll probably do things a little differently…That and the threat I gave him after he let me go."

"…He does it again and I'm not making promises."

"You'll have to get in line then. Tell Chi I said hi, kay?"

A sigh could be heard from the other end of the line. "Fine. And I will. Kick butt out there, Kaori. We'll be watching."

"I'm not stopping anytime soon, trust me."

"Nomi, huh?" A male voice sounded from a couch as a TV screen flickered with the video feed from the U.A. Sports Festival. "They must have changed their names after the old man died a few years back. Not that I blame them. They probably did it to try and keep their connection to him hidden since he had gone out of his way to make the media leave them alone."

A popping sound echoed through the flat as the cap on the bottle was pried away despite nothing noticeably pushing against it. Seconds later, the cap sailed towards a nearby dartboard and with a face currently plastered to the centre of it. On it was a man with short brown hair and a wide smile on his face with his arm roughly wrapped around the shoulders of another man with a more serious expression and dark brown hair that fell past his ears. He had a small smile on his face as well though, despite his overall expression. The cap itself had managed to lodge its way into the torso of the brown-haired man in the picture.

"Not that it matters anymore. The little girl's decided to follow in daddy's footsteps. Guess that means I've got work to do, then. After all, she should get to meet the Villain that killed Bastion. I'm sure she'd love the opportunity."

"It's been rather boring not using the name Juggler for a while now."