Rain watches Ronin carefully, her face thoughtful as she appears to try and compose her thoughts. He smiles encouragingly, and gives her a deferential gesture.
"Whenever you're ready, Ronin."
She directs an apprehensive gaze at him, her eyes conveying her nervousness, but she nods her acknowledgement nonetheless.
"My Quirk is called Haunted, and as you've guessed, it's activated by touch. What you don't know is why. Essentially, every night, I'm forced to have a premonition...to dream about the death of the last person I touched that day, on an endless cycle until I wake. The dreams are...vivid...to the point that they're indistinguishable from reality to me. In addition, I dream from the perspective of the person dying.
"So, I experience death...repeatedly. You can't imagine some of the ways that people around us are destined to die...the absolute agony. It is...almost unbearable...the suffering my Quirk can bring me. Before we met, I'd tried everything I could to avoid it, to no avail. No mental resistance Relics seem to help, and if I go all day without touching someone, I just get a random premonition of someone's death.
"The best I was managing to do was find someone who I could touch regularly, who had a relatively peaceful death. However, those people are hard to find, and even harder to keep around. After all, those who lived with me before were being hunted, and half the Champions here are facing gruesome deaths soon. So, my Quirk was just something that I had to accept and persevere...until we met.
"The first night I slept, after touching you, I only dreamt of floating in a dark, cold, endless void. It was like the incarnation of nothingness itself. Under normal circumstances, it would have been... terrifying. But compared to my dreams, it was blissful. So, I reached out to you about an alliance, and you know the rest. I've slept peacefully every night since."
Rain stares at the now stoic Ronin, not daring to move a muscle. Soon, as his lungs start to burn, he realizes that he's been holding his breath as well. As he exhales shakily, he casts a sympathetic glance at the cold, blue eyes of the blonde girl across from him...those eyes make a lot more sense to him now.
'Fuck's sake...Unhinged seems almost pleasant by comparison. Without my help, she gets caught in a vivid, painful death loop every time she tries to sleep. No wonder she used to look so lifeless all the time.'
He watches her quietly for a few more moments before he decides to speak.
"That's easily the most torturous Quirk I've heard of, Ronin...I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
She gives him a humorless smile.
"Yes...I agree. So, you can imagine my relief when I learned of the effect your Nature has on my Quirk. I thought it was funny, when we discussed our alliance terms...you were so hesitant to get a Relic from me. But Rain...I'd have given you a hundred Relics to be free of this...curse."
Rain looks back at her, observing the pain in her pale blue eyes, the sad, humorless smile on her face, and he feels an intense impulse to...comfort her. No...to be worth this effort...worth exposing her pain to him. But all she wants is for him to share more information about himself...
'Shit...'
He feels Unhinged trigger, compelling him to act, and he opens his mouth to speak.
"My Quirk is called Unhinged. If I naturally feel the desire to do something, and the urge is strong enough, then my Quirk will activate and force me to do it. When that happens, I lose a lot of control over my actions until the urge dissipates."
After he finishes speaking, Rain grits his teeth in annoyance. Ronin, meanwhile, snaps her eyes wide open in shock, staring at him incredulously. Her voice becomes laced with an uncharacteristically thick tone of disbelief.
"But...I thought..."
As she trails off, a bewildered expression on her face, he smirks at her and shrugs. There's no un-telling her now, so he might as well act like it was his idea, at least.
"It only seemed fair...your Quirk is much worse. Don't read into it..."
Ronin watches him for a few moments in silence, her expression slowly becoming thoughtful, then curious.
"How much control over your actions can you lose?"
Rain purses his lips in frustration...she already knows about his Quirk. He's not sure what he'd really gain by keeping her in the dark about the finer details. At this point, it might even benefit him...she'll be less likely to blame him for any impulsive insults, at least. He glances at her evenly.
"It's hard to say for sure. Sometimes I can control how the impulse is...expressed, and I can often curb any thoughts or emotions before they reach the point of triggering my Quirk. I also don't think it can make me do anything against my nature...on some level I have to really want it, at least in the moment.
"In theory, I suppose that if someone angered me enough that I wanted to murder them, there's the risk I'd actually do it before calming down. However, so far the worst that's happened is I kissed a girl I like when she got too friendly with me in my personal space."
Her eyes widen in surprise.
"I see. Do I need to be concerned about such...advances?"
Rain stares at her blankly.
'Is...she asking if I'm going to try and...kiss her? I'm not some kind of predator!'
He feels mildly annoyed at the potential implication, and he studies her expression for several moments, trying to decipher her meaning. Her posture remains relaxed, her expression stoic behind loose strands of her damp, blonde hair. However, he swears that he can see a hint of...amusement...in her pale blue eyes as she stares back at him.
'I honestly can't tell if this is her idea of a joke...'
Ultimately, Rain just gives her a disapproving frown and responds tersely.
"No. Like I said, my Quirk doesn't create new impulses, it just makes existing ones impossible to ignore. I'd need to have genuine romantic interest in you for there to be any risk of...that."
This time, he's sure that he sees the corner of her mouth twitch before she responds, despite her calm demeanor.
"That's...good. Thank you for clarifying."
Rain responds dryly.
"Sure...no problem. So, was there something else you wanted to discuss? You implied that there's more for me to learn about your abilities. I know about your Quirk, your other Nature attribute, your Foresight Talent, and it's obvious that your Lineage is Fate. What else is there? Your Bloodline doesn't fundamentally change your abilities, so...a third Nature attribute?"
She studies him for a few moments, her expression unreadable, then she leans forward a bit and fixes him with a serious gaze.
"I do have a third Nature attribute, in fact, but I have something else in mind that I've decided to share with you...something more important."
He raises his eyebrows at her curiously. Third attributes are rare...so what could be more important than that?
"Okay...you have my attention."
Ronin nods at him absentmindedly, like she's considering how to tell him something. Her eyes move around her room and settle on a short, padded bench by her desk. She leans over to grab it, and places it between them. Then, she props her elbow on the stool, presenting her hand towards him with a serious but expectant expression.
"You mentioned arm wrestling the other day...let's do that."
The proposal immediately leaves him awash with suspicion. Just the other day, Ronin was implying that he may be stronger than her...even without his Talent. So, this feels an awful lot like her trying to gauge his strength. He directs a skeptical glare at her.
"Why...?"
Something that could be mistaken for a smirk plays on her lips, but her eyes become even more intense.
"You're right...you are paranoid. Just humor me...take my hand. Don't use your Talent, or your Ichor, just your base strength...but don't hold back. Do all that, and you'll understand why."
Rain studies her while he considers her less than clear intentions.
He's certain that he'd beat her...even if she were to cheat and use Ichor. That's clear from the impact machine scoreboard. Thanks to Tess acting as a reference point, he knows there have to be Daemon Bloodlines among those scores, and none of their Ichor-saturated blows could match his normal ones. Not without a physical enhancement Talent, at least.
On the other hand, he's...intrigued...by the confident glint in Ronin's eyes. She has some inkling of his strength, he thinks, but she's still acting like she'll win this little challenge. That could be a ploy to goad him into revealing himself, but...that possibility doesn't alleviate the 'what ifs' racing in his mind.
'What if she really is capable of beating me? What if she's...different...like me?'
He spends several more moments in conflicted thought, his paranoia battling his curiosity. Eventually...the latter rationalizes its way to victory.
'I'll just slowly ramp up my strength...match her. She probably expects me to win, and I don't want to invite suspicion that I was holding back. So, once I've seen her limits, I'll use just enough extra strength to overpower her and win. That should be fine...'
He finally turns his gaze back to Ronin, his mirror-like eyes unnaturally bright with curiosity. A small, expectant smile finds its way onto his lips, and he extends his arm forward to take Ronin's hand, placing his elbow on the bench across from her.
"Okay, Ronin...I hope you're not overselling this."
Ronin doesn't address his taunt, she just narrows her eyes...focused. Her voice comes out low and intense.
"Are you ready?"
Unbeknownst to Rain, his lips twist into a hopeful smile as he nods his acknowledgement...then there's an explosion of force against his hand. His eyes involuntarily widen.
'She's strong...'
Reacting quickly, Rain wrenches his arm in the opposite direction with moderate force, stopping Ronin's progress at a 45° angle. He slowly applies more force to move their arms back to a 90° angle, making sure to grimace dramatically like he's straining. His efforts earn him even more resistance from Ronin. Eventually, however, he manages to get their arms into a stalemate position, then he stops to assess the situation.
She's definitely making him work harder than he expected, but he's still not close to going all out. He glances at Ronin, seeing her face taut with strain. Hoping she might still be holding back, perhaps even faking the strain like he is, he maintains their careful stalemate for several moments. But the situation doesn't change, and he feels a trickle of disappointment.
'Guess this is her limit. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up...'
Fighting the urge to sigh, he slowly increases his effort until her hand is gradually moving towards the bench. However, as it reaches a 45° angle, he feels a surge of additional power from her, moving their arms back to a stalemate, and the strain on her face seems to disappear. She locks eyes with him, and he blinks in surprise.
'She was holding back!?'
Narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, he wonders if she's cheating...using Ichor. He once again pours more effort into their struggle, moving her arm towards defeat. But as he starts to prevail, she just matches his strength again. They repeat the exchange once more, to the same conclusion. He snaps his eyes to meet Ronin's, and sees her staring back at him, too.
Her pale blue eyes are determined, and her face is calm, devoid of strain. The message is clear...she's not close to her limit. He feels a surge of excitement. Even with Ichor, he's sure that the strongest of the other students would struggle to push him this far. So regardless of if she's cheating, she's undeniably in a league of her own...just like him.
'She's...incredible...abnormal. Just how strong is she?'
In that moment, Rain feels a rush of intense curiosity...one that Unhinged won't ignore. Suddenly, the fake strain on his face is washed away, his interest in maintaining the facade lost, and he gives Ronin an unrestrained, excited smile. Then, he stops holding back.
He unleashes every bit of strength he has, and Ronin's arm is sent careening towards the bench. That is, until it grinds to a halt...and starts pushing his own arm back again. As he strains to overcome the unexpected resistance, beads of sweat forming on his face, Rain's expression contorts in complete shock. No matter how hard he tries, he can't stop her slow progression towards victory.
'I...can't beat her...'
As their arms pass the stalemate point, his hand being forced towards the bench, he glances at Ronin, his expression full of awe and shock. She's staring back at him, her face once again strained...but it's clear to Rain that she's only approaching her limit, not yet at it. Meanwhile, her pale blue eyes are studying him intensely, and her gaze is strangely...expectant. In the next moment, his hand is slammed into the bench, cracking the unfortunate piece of furniture.
As their arms relax, the adrenaline of their match dissipating, Ronin releases his hand as Rain stares at the aftermath of his loss. For several seconds he just blinks in shock, his expression blank. Under any other circumstances, he'd be terrified over the slip-up that Unhinged just facilitated. But...
'She...she beat me...and she wasn't even going all out yet...'
How can he be concerned when she's just revealed herself as an anomaly? Even if she was cheating and using Ichor, she still easily exceeded the limits of every other Champion in this Academy. Plus, she has no way of knowing that he never tapped into his Ichor. If she cheated, he'll say he did, too.
Eventually, a small chuckle escapes his throat, and he mutters in awe.
"Ronin...you're amazing...just what are you?"
He glances at Ronin, shaking his head in amazement. When their eyes lock, however, she's not wearing a calm, stoic expression like he expects, nor is there any trace of smugness or satisfaction. Instead, her beautiful face is twisted into a deeply concerned expression, her eyes holding a trace of...fear.
As he directs a puzzled gaze at her, preparing to ask about the unexpected reaction, her voice cuts him off. Her tone is...shaken, and she seems to speak almost absentmindedly, as though to herself.
"Funny...I was just about to ask you the same thing..."