Flip/Rapid Change [Tess]

“Phew! That’s a relief,” she beamed.

I’ve never really watched him use his Quirk before, Tess noted, watching as Kazu produced a globule of silvery steel from the strange seams in his palm and shaped it into a short rod, disconnecting it shortly thereafter. It certainly wasn’t as subtle a thing as her own, though it seemed the two of them might have shared a similar weakness. What did he call it? Something Metal? I should learn more about how it works if I’m going to be using Polarity Shift on it…

“Hm? Oh,” she smiled and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, about that. I have my limits. If I give things too much positive polarity I become more negative, and it makes my negative polarity become stronger when I apply it, but it weakens my positive polarity, and vice versa. I have to balance it out, else it can make it much harder for me to control and… well, you’ve seen what happens when I’m too negative!”

^{“You, uh, look tired, Kazu,” she stated:
“Is that a drawback of your Quirk…?”}

In hindsight, that was a stupid question. Every Quirk had its physical limitations; even Miss Faraday’s own gift eventually ran dry if she used it too much, which oft made her apprehensive of using too much in one go. Still, the current situation seemed to favour light uses rather than anything too strenuous, but she guessed that would truly depend on the weights and distances of that which was involved in this latest test.

“Oh, right! Let’s get to it! I’ll just make the metal negative,” Tess cheered, holding out her hand to take a hold of the rod: “And, uh, I don’t know, actually. I guess I could positively charge your shirt?”

Accepting Kaz’s creation, Tess observed the metal. It seemed like any other metal rod, with a decent weight behind it; a good bludgeoning weapon in the right hands. That being said, couldn’t he forge it into practically any shape he desired? It often amazed her how versatile some of the more simplistic Quirks could be. Nonetheless, it was now charged, and would remain so for a short while.

^{“Huh?” Tess tilted her head at his question:
“Oh! Yes~! I’m just fine and dandy! Never felt better!”}

That both was and was not a lie. Using a negative polarity had increased her internal positivity, but such a shift was both a little harder to notice compared to her regular balanced self as well as being intentionally short-lived. She quickly passed the metallic baton back to Kaz, removing the fingerless glove on her other hand in preparation for an action that would likely look as awkward as it would be effective. Hopefully this worked and Kazu would catch the rod before it just slammed into his chest.

“C’mon! Just throw it and I’ll charge you up!” she smiled, bubbling with positivity. The flicks of hair on her head stood straighter than before, both practically pointing to the clouds above. The moment that Mister Fureu tossed the rod would be the moment she dragged her bare palm across his chest, applying a positive polarity to the fabric. What happened next was… Well, that was entirely up to the person being polarised, his reaction times and the force of his throw.

^Crack!

Tess winced, looking away just in time to hear the familiar crash of metal into somebody’s torso. She practically felt the poor man’s pain as his own weapon clubbed him not once, but twice, blessed by centrifugal force. Kazu’s suggestion had certainly worked but, like many other things she’d tried over the years, it seemed success also came with a few mishaps.

^{Well, she thought as he spoke:
At least it didn’t knock him unconscious…}

“Y- Yeah! Well, we can work out the kinks more back at school,” Miss Faraday spoke up, offering a hand as he had done for her. She was stoked at the opportunity, but knew there would be more than a few more hurdles along the way for improving the synergy of their Quirks. Speaking of hurdles, there were still a few she had to cover. After all, what good was a hero without a proper costume or a name for everyone to know them by? Her indecisiveness on that front had been a perpetual thorn in her own side, and it was only one she personally kept putting there.

“I just kinda wish there was a way for me to apply Polarity Shift at a distance,” she grinned awkwardly. “It’s pretty useless if I can’t get to touch someone or something - and I can’t think of a good way to make my hero costume help with my Quirk. Or- Or a good hero name…! But, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out by myself, huh? I’m all up for suggestions, though! The more ideas the better, don’t you think?”

A look of realisation struck her visage.

“I- I’m rambling, aren’t I?” Blushing mildly, she rubbed the back of her head in slight embarrassment. Maybe she had overstayed her welcome, but there was no way she could be sure. Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely sure if she understood Kaz’s mannerisms and ideals all that much. Well, either way, she knew what her next course of action was to be.

He’s right, Tess Faraday mentally noted as Kazu spoke, shoring her resolve. As unusual a man as Mister Fureu was, he was still quite inspiring when he wanted to be. Or, maybe he was doing it by accident out of his own hype. Somehow, he was both easy to read, and hard to comprehend. Alas, before she delved into the abyss of paradoxical personality traits, she drew her focus to his latest question.

“Um… Let’s see,” she pondered, tapping her own fingers as she counted through her weekly regime. “Sunday’s out of the question; mum would be furious if I skipped out on Sunday. Monday and Thursday I make sure to do studies. I practise Taekwondo on Wednesday after school, and Saturday I usually like to take walks. Jeez, I need to find out what days some of the clubs are on… I guess that currently means I’ve got Tuesday and Friday free?”

Truth be told, her schedule wasn’t all that cramped. Since moving to Japan, Tess’ life had been more hectic out of principle of getting used to the hustle and bustle of East Asian life; adapting her body to the traditional Japanese cuisine, getting used to the cramped commutes of the trains, and generally just trying to work on her own Japanese. Language barriers were some of the biggest one could ever encounter and, while she had certainly taken to it very quickly and from a young age, she couldn’t help but feel that she messed up some of her grammar and pronunciation here and there. Maybe, just maybe, that was paranoia rather than reality.

^{“Tuesday!” she chirped:
“Is that alright for you, Kazu?”}

<sup>Though it certainly took him a while to get to the point, his mannerisms only serving to prolong his apparent decision, Kazu confirmed that he too was free on Tuesday. While ‘The Path of Teamwork’ certainly sounded true to their intent, Tess could not help but giggle a little at how over the top it sounded. He was definitely an amusing character, possessing an almost comic book approach to heroism from what she could decipher.

“Yes! There’s no better place, is there?” Miss Faraday replied at the mention of U.A.’s training facilities. She was about to speak further when he handed her a piece of paper - a note of his phone number for future reference - which she accepted.

“Did he just say communication device? Doesn’t he mean a phone…?” Although muttered, there was no answer. Kazu was already off on his way, but not before complimenting her Japanese. Apparently when he warmed up to people, he was quite the supportive individual, though whether or not he intended to be was a mystery in her eyes. She waved goodbye and proceeded on her own path, taking a moment to add Mister Fureu’s number to her cell as she did so.

Hopefully, in practising with Kaz, she could develop some new tricks to use in sticky situations. Maybe there was more to her Quirk than she had originally considered. Ideas, though hazy at current, were starting to form. But those ideas would be for another day.</sup>