NADIR

90

Yuki considered her options with the disinterest of someone reading an instruction manual for a toaster. Ideally, she'd join a team with absolutely no chance of winning—something quiet and nonthreatening that would naturally get eliminated. That way, her loss wouldn't be suspicious, and she wouldn't have to put in unnecessary effort.

But most people were already forming teams with classmates, friends, or anyone they could pull into a half-decent strategy. Which made sense. Everyone was calculating, thinking, scrambling.

She was still trying to figure out how to disappear quietly when a very familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yuki-chan~!"

Yuki turned her head slowly.

There was Himiko, grin wide and suspiciously sunny. That grin never meant anything good.

"Let's team up," she said cheerfully, rocking back on her heels.

Yuki stared at her flatly. "I don't want to team up."

"That's mean."

"I'm planning to lose."

"That's exactly why I'm teaming up with you," Himiko replied, completely unfazed. "I'm not letting you throw the match."

 "So you want to team up to make sure I don't lose on purpose."

"That's one of my reasons," Himiko said, tilting her head with a smug little hum. "But also because there's no better person to team up with."

Yuki blinked at her.

"If you team up with me," she said eventually, "we're not aiming for first place."

"Fair enough."

"I also don't want to team up with too many people."

"We'd be better alone anyway."

Yuki paused. There really was no escape here, was there?

"You're not going to give up on this, are you?"

"How many times have I told you?" Himiko beamed. "We're bound at the hip. For life."

Yuki let out a sigh that sounded like it carried the weight of ten lifetimes.

"Fine then."

"Yay!" Himiko threw both hands into the air, her smile now stretching ear to ear. "We're gonna be the scariest two-person team out there!"

Yuki seriously doubted that.

But at least this way, she didn't have to talk to anyone else.

But that seemed to be wishful thinking.

A student with messy purple hair and an unreadable expression soon approached them, hands in his pockets, voice low and casual.

"Say, your team isn't complete yet, is it?"

Yuki's instincts flared like a warning siren. Without hesitation, she slapped a hand over Himiko's mouth and physically dragged her two steps back, fixing the newcomer with a sharp, blank stare.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't press. Yuki held the gaze a second longer before turning and walking away with Himiko still muffled under her palm.

Once they were out of earshot, Yuki dropped her hand. Himiko immediately rounded on her.

"What was that —"

"Hitoshi Shinsou," Yuki cut in before she could finish. "Class 1-C. Quirk: Brainwashing. He can put you in a trance-like state where you'll do whatever he says, as long as you respond to his question. The trance only breaks if you're physically jolted or shocked."