Across the arena, Tsutsumi lowered his gaze to his own hands.
His expression shifted slightly; he now possessed all of Amiya's knowledge, her combat experience, her technical understanding of her own Arts, and the structural mechanics behind the power she wielded.
And yet it felt incomplete.
Knowledge and experience were one thing.
Memories were something else entirely.
He could understand the emotional weight behind certain instincts. He could recognize why her powers were used in specific ways, why certain reactions felt natural. But he did not know her story. He did not know the moments that shaped her. He did not know the people she lost or the choices she had to make.
It was similar to when he accessed the power of other Riders. He gained their fighting styles, the operational logic behind their abilities, the accumulated battle experience that allowed him to use their forms efficiently. But he never gained their personal memories of their childhoods, their regrets, and their quiet moments.
"I really should try and find her someday…" he murmured to himself, voice low enough that it barely carried.
Then his gaze lifted again, bright cerulean blue eyes sharpening as they settled on the three upperclassmen before him.
Red lightning crackled faintly around his palms.
Black matter began to gather around him, thick and viscous, responding smoothly to his will. With a calm wave of his hand, dark constructs rose from the ground around him, their edges lined faintly with red. The motion was controlled, deliberate.
Then they surged forward.
A wave of black spikes erupted outward, sweeping across the arena floor toward the Big Three.
The attack came without warning.
Togata reacted first. Activating Permeation, he phased downward into the ground, allowing the spikes to pass harmlessly through him as they tore across the surface above.
Hado took to the air instantly, spiraling upward using her Quirk to avoid the initial wave. But the black constructs did not stop. They shifted mid-motion, altering trajectory, rising after her as if guided by invisible strings. She was forced to accelerate, weaving through the air to avoid being boxed in.
Amajiki's body shifted in response. Bird wings extended from his back while frog-like legs strengthened his lower body, allowing him to leap and pivot away from the advancing spikes with surprising agility.
Despite the gentle, almost fragile appearance of the form Tsutsumi wore, the power he controlled originated from Civilight Eterna, the Black Crown, the source of Amiya's dark Arts.
Tsutsumi glanced at his slender hand, watching as a sphere of black matter condensed above his palm. It pulsed softly, reshaping itself in subtle patterns based on his intent alone.
Togata burst back up from the ground in front of him.
Because his hero costume was made using fibers derived from his own DNA, it phased with him. But since he is currently wearing only his U.A. gym uniform, his clothes slipped off completely.
Still, timing his reappearance required precision. He emerged at the perfect distance, fist already clenched, driving a punch straight toward Tsutsumi's face.
Before contact could be made, black matter formed instantly in front of the strike.
Togata phased again, his fist passing through both the shield and Tsutsumi's head without causing damage. He attempted to pull back and create distance, but the shield did not remain stationary.
It followed him.
The black matter slid upward and latched onto his face, covering his head entirely.
Togata instinctively activated Permeation again, then moved away, but the construct followed him, covering his face and head. If he deactivated his Quirk while the matter occupied the same space as his face, the consequences would be that he would be suffocated. If he kept Permeation active, he couldn't breathe.
He moved to the side, and the black matter followed.
He jumped back. It remained locked onto him.
The more he moved, the more apparent the problem became, and for the first time since the fight began, visible tension entered his expression.
"Tsutsumi! Stop that!" Aizawa's voice cut through the arena immediately. "He can't breathe if he keeps Permeation active over his mouth and nose. And if he deactivates it while something occupies the same space, it's the same as being inside solid matter."
With a small flick of his fingers, Tsutsumi retracted the black matter.
The construct dissolved instantly, freeing Togata, who dropped onto the arena floor, naked due to his Quirk mechanics, landing squarely on his bare backside as he inhaled sharply.
"Ahh... okay, that was close!" Togata laughed breathlessly, though the edge in his voice betrayed how serious it had been.
Tsutsumi shifted his attention to the other two.
Hado and Amajiki were still airborne, continuously chased by the black constructs. Every time they attempted to counterattack, their strikes either dispersed harmlessly or failed to leave even a visible mark. The constructs were dense, reinforced by Arts far more durable than their appearance suggested.
They couldn't break them. And when they try to attack him, more black constructs appear, blocking their attempt and adding more to the black constructs trying to pin them down.
Amiya's power was formidable. The only reason she had never displayed it on this scale was because of her terminal illness. Overusing her Arts shortened her life. Every major exertion came with a cost she could not ignore.
Tsutsumi did not carry that limitation. So he did not have to restrain himself for the sake of survival.
"Hmmm, why did I suddenly refer to myself as a donkey-girl while I'm actually a rabbit girl?" Tsutsumi murmured to himself, faintly puzzled by the slip in terminology before giving a small shrug. The distinction didn't matter in combat, and overanalyzing it now would be pointless.
Without lingering on it, he pulled out his deck again.
The cards slid smoothly between his fingers as he shuffled, calm even in the middle of an active battlefield.
Then he drew.
Form Ride: Lappland!
His skin turned a pale, almost unhealthy white. Long silver-white hair cascaded down his back, and a black hair clip appeared on the left side, holding part of it in place. The brown rabbit ears vanished, replaced by silver-white wolf ears tipped in black. A matching white, fluffy wolf tail formed behind him, swaying lazily with a life of its own.
His outfit transformed as well. A dark gray-and-white tactical jacket wrapped around his torso, the long sleeves covering his arms completely and the high collar rising to cover his neck. Two large buttons fastened the jacket in a crossed pattern, leaving a portion of his stomach exposed beneath the overlapping fabric. Black shorts contrasted sharply against his pale white thighs, where faint Originium crystal formations were embedded along certain areas of his legs.
Dark fingerless tactical gloves covered his hands. Rugged black-and-gray combat boots anchored his stance. Two swords materialized at his left hip. His fingernails were painted black, and a visible scar traced down across his left eye, giving his otherwise calm expression a sharper edge.
The moment the transformation completed, every black matter construct that had been chasing Hado and Amajiki dissipated instantly, vanishing as if they had never existed.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
The blue hue was gone, replaced by a muted gray.
He drew both swords in one smooth motion.
Without wasting a second, he charged.
His boots struck the ground with force, and with strength far beyond what his slender frame suggested, he leapt upward toward the two third-years who had barely just regained stable footing in the air.
Amajiki reacted immediately. He pushed himself forward, placing himself between Tsutsumi and Hado. His arm shifted, flesh morphing into a massive clam shell, thick and layered, which he raised as a shield to intercept the incoming strike.
The swords collided with the shell.
The impact sent a shock through the arena floor as all three were driven downward, the force alone enough to slam Amajiki and Hado into the ground despite the defensive maneuver.
Tsutsumi landed lightly a short distance away, boots barely sliding on impact.
He did not give them time to breathe.
He rushed forward again.
Amajiki clenched his teeth, pain evident as he pulled his right hand back. A deep cut ran across it, blood dripping freely from the edge of the wound where the blade had broken through the shell's defense. He exhaled sharply and activated his Quirk again, manifesting octopus skin over the injury, the elastic tissue sealing the wound shut to prevent further bleeding.
Hado, recovering faster, launched a spiraling energy wave directly at Tsutsumi, the twisting force cutting across the arena.
He jumped back instantly, boots scraping against the ground as the wave tore through the space where he had stood a fraction of a second earlier.
Before he could reset his stance, Togata emerged from the ground behind him. Using Permeation with precise timing, he solidified at the perfect distance, fist already in motion as he threw a punch aimed directly at Tsutsumi's head.
His wolf ears twitched sharply.
Tsutsumi tilted his head just enough for the punch to miss by a narrow margin, then rotated his body smoothly and delivered a spinning kick toward Togata's temple.
He simply smiled.
The kick phased harmlessly through his head as he activated Permeation again, letting the attack pass through without resistance. Using the momentum of Tsutsumi's spinning motion, Togata repositioned himself, allowing Hado's spiraling energy wave to continue its trajectory directly toward Tsutsumi's exposed side.
Tsutsumi reacted instantly, pushing off the ground and jumping back as the energy wave roared past, forcing him to widen the distance between them.
Using the heightened agility of his current form, Tsutsumi weaved across the arena floor as Hado's spiraling energy blasts chased after him one after another. Each wave carved into the ground or slammed into reinforced walls, but none of them touched him. He adjusted his footing with precise control, accelerating when necessary, slowing just enough to redirect his momentum without wasting movement.
Another blast roared toward him from his blind side. He pivoted, boots scraping lightly against the surface, and slipped past it by a margin that would have been reckless for anyone without his reaction speed.
While running, he pulled a card from his deck.
Final Attack Ride: Ry-Ry-Ry-Ryuki!
He paused for half a second, faintly surprised that he had drawn a finisher at random. Then he smiled.
A crimson sigil flared beneath his feet as he took a firm stance. The air behind him distorted, and in the next instant a massive red-and-silver Asian dragon manifested, its scaled body coiling upward with a thunderous presence.
For a brief moment, the arena fell silent.
Everyone: "Nani!?"
Tsutsumi leapt into the air.
The dragon surged upward behind him, its massive body twisting through the air before unleashing a torrent of fire. The flames engulfed Tsutsumi entirely, but instead of burning him, they propelled him forward like a rocket. Wrapped in blazing force, he shot toward the Big Three with overwhelming speed.
Togata reacted instantly, phasing downward to avoid the incoming strike. Amajiki shifted his body and dove aside.
Hado, however, had just finished unleashing a rapid chain of attacks without pause. She was in the middle of drawing breath when she looked up as Tsutsumi's flaming boot collided directly with her face.
The impact sent her flying backward, her body slamming into the reinforced wall hard enough to leave a visible crater before she slid down and hung there momentarily embedded in the structure.
The flames dissipated as Tsutsumi landed lightly on the ground.
A split second later, the training exercise was called off.
Togata and Amajiki rushed toward Hado immediately, expressions tense as they pulled her free from the wall. Bits of concrete crumbled away as they carefully lowered her down.
Her condition, while dramatic in appearance, was not life-threatening. A clear red footprint marked her face, part of her hair and one eyebrow had been burnt, her nose appeared broken, and a few teeth were visibly loose. She groaned but remained conscious.
From the sidelines, Aizawa exhaled slowly.
For a moment, he considered reprimanding Tsutsumi for using excessive force. But he had been watching carefully. The boy could have kicked harder. Much harder. The fact that he had shuffled his deck and drawn randomly from the start was already proof that he wasn't treating this as a serious match.
Aizawa decided not to comment impulsively and risk embarrassing himself.
"Didn't I tell you three to take this seriously?" he said plainly as Togata and Amajiki lifted Hado between them. "Take her to Recovery Girl. I'll have a chat with my student about using too much force on people weaker than him."
The two boys' expressions darkened at the wording before they forced themselves to focus and carry Hado out of the arena.
Once they were gone, Aizawa did not turn to scold Tsutsumi.
There was nothing meaningful to reprimand.
In a real fight, villains would not stop attacking just because someone was injured. That was obvious. From the beginning, the three had been told to treat this seriously. Yet the title of Big Three, representing their position as the top three strongest students currently at U.A., naturally bred a degree of confidence. Perhaps even subconscious overconfidence.
Tsutsumi did not look particularly threatening at first glance. His earlier form even had a gentle appearance. Although the appearance now doesn't look as harmless as the rabbit girl's.
That kind of harmless image was exactly what led people to misjudge their opponent.
When Aizawa and Nezu arranged this match, it was not solely to keep Tsutsumi engaged. It was also a lesson for the Big Three. Strength meant nothing if you underestimated your opponent.
Aizawa clapped his hands once, drawing the attention of the rest of Class 1-A.
"Alright then, we'll continue the training exercise," he said evenly. "Tsutsumi, you're limited to one random card per match against your classmates. One-on-one only. Each of you will take turns."
He shifted his tired gaze across the class.
"As for the rest of you… good luck."
After hearing that, several of the weaker students visibly stiffened. None of them felt particularly confident about stepping into the arena next.