Tactical Instincts

Once they were all settled in, Vixen cleared her throat while Venti nudged Hal's hand then the macaw took flight then perched atop one of the rockfaces near the entrance.

"Welcome, all you progressive shounens and shojos, to MY personalized class of Tactical Instincts 101. With us are some students about to graduate and readying themselves for the hero sekai, some who've gotten themselves experience and looking ahead to the mirai, and some who are fresh-faced and looking to prove themselves against their senpai!" with each category, she looked to the third, second, then first years in order while speaking in a jubilant, excited tone of voice tinged with her southern accent. "In the sekai, there is no subarashi instinct than what animals were born with. Animals instinctively know several things and how to react to outside stimuli. This includes us humans as well. Though animals are built different than us and are more suited to the environs in which they reside. As such, their reactions tend to be more embedded in their genetic makeup and are hayai to react." Her tails finally revealed themselves; her signature Quirk she was known for throughout the hero world. One of them manifested and transformed into an octopus tentacle that shot out toward the rockface. Venti reacted accordingly with a squawk and flying away at high speed to the safety of a tree while the tentacle crashed into the rockface, making an impact.

"Too slow! Venti's fast! Try again?" the bird chirped curiously, tilting its head from its new perch.

Vixen chuckled as her tail resumed its original shape and returned to her. "Venti's instincts told him to fly away to avoid injury. Animals have different forms of instinct to help them survive in the wide sekai. Ones that tell them to fight. Ones that tell them to flee. Ones that help them survive. Sometimes it's best to rely on these instincts. Very rarely do you ever want to go against them. Students here are no different. Your senpai have honed their instincts though it's always good to brush up on them when you are wakaranai. So, with that being said, you will be divided into 3 groups with at least a mix of first years and at least one of your senpai here. "

Venti lightly squawked "Here it comes. Time for fun."

She held up two fingers....with gorilla arms that manifested from her tails that hung off to her right ahead of her. "Two groups will include 3 of you. In these groups you indicate among you who will be what between Flighter, Fighter, and Leader. Flighters are given a band they must defend at all costs as that band represents their "life". If their band gets removed in any way, they're out. If you lose your Flighter, then your remaining Fighter will be given a band that can also be taken but can only be taken if another Fighter gets you with their tags. Fighters will be given waterproof adhesive tags they can attach to others. These represent injuries. If you have five of these total on you, you are out. Fighters cannot use these on fellow teammates. if used on Flighters in this manner, they must give up their life band. Leaders MUST guide their two teammates and remain in close proximity to one or the other at all times. Leaders must be tagged 10 times for them to be out but will have no band to give up. Instead, if a Leader is out, the remaining teammates become Flighters AND Fighters on the team cannot tag anyone anymore and must give up their band if tagged enough or if the band is taken, same as before."

She took a breath then held up four fingers with a grin. "The remaining group of four gets a choice. They MUST have a Leader. But can decide if they want two Fighters or two Flighters. The remaining one has to be the opposite. In this team, the Leader is given a limited amount of tags they can use and cannot tag anyone more than once. But here's a tanoshi twist; if they tag ANOTHER Leader...that Leader is out regardless of how many tags they have on them."

"Finally, the exercise ends when there are either no more Leaders or every person on two teams that aren't Leaders are all out. During the end, there will be a result on the most effective Flighter, Fighter, and Leader. These will gain a lovely dinner treated by yours truly. However, this does NOT mean the aforementioned roles will be the winners. I am looking forward to a clean, tanoshi game here, miina! I don't want to see anyone intentionally trying to harm another classmate or I will be zannendatta and angry. Use the tags to "injure" in your own creative ways! I will randomly assign the teams and give you what you all need to tag!"

She held out a few white bands, red sticky orbs, and a few larger bands with the symbols of Flighter, Fighter, and Leader on each. She then began to use her tails to point out people at random. The results were mixed with some being quite favorable to one another. She was pleasantly surprised to see some of results and grinned at what prospects would ensue because of it. She made sure the teams got together into their groups then handed out the gear accordingly. "Once you've decided your roles, you must then each enter a different part of the training grounds. Then come out hunting when the alert goes off. The alert will be Venti who will signal the start! If you have any questions, please ask now before you enter the grounds! Win or lose; there is something to be gained and learned here!"

Teams

Team One: Kitana, Sicily, Jack (Vixen may replace Jack due to circumstances)
Team Two: Umi, Alain, Hihoshi, Faliwah
Team Three: Hal, Serena, Zenjia, Yann

Sicily listened intently and this seemed like a game more than an exercise but weren't all games exercises of some kind anyways? Whatever the case was, fate that decided she'd get to pair up with Kitana which brought both hope and anxiety to her heart. She'd get a chance to really show her stuff to her but that also meant she'd need to keep her safe and watch over her when she needed it. It had been clear from that explanation that she should take the role of Fighter from the outset. She could move fast enough to keep herself and her band safe but she was more offensively inclined than agile. Kitana was fast and seemed Flighter was her perfect fit. As much as she wanted to be, Jack felt the optimal choice for Leader in her eyes. he had experience and knowhow.

"I'll be the Fighter." she suggested without hesitation."I can probably tag multiple folk at once with my Quirk and keep our Flighter protected." she looked to Kitana with a strong, assured nod with those fearsome eyes of hers. She had assumed Kitana for the role but it was up to Kitana whether she wanted it or not.

Well that was an interesting demonstration, and the game sounded fun. Hal's face grew thoughtful as they were split up into teams at the end, though it was the kind of thoughtful with a smile to it. Of course it wasn't evenly split teams, that wasn't possible with the number of students that showed up, but even more interesting is that it wasn't just two teams, it was three. This was going to be very chaotic. He pulled his notebook out again and consulted his notes on certain things. Namely, how he'd boost or try to deal with Serena and Alain. Sleeping gas and ice to slow or stop, rock or metal heated to near molten temperatures to boost Serena. He still hadn't figured out ways he could effectively boost Alain but that wasn't something he'd be wanting to do for this exercise, anyway. He added a couple more notes to these things before he glanced up to see the younger student accost Serena, and he sidled closer as well.

Before, hopefully, Serena could answer that pleading question, though after any immediate reaction to the unexpected hug (he breathed a sigh of relief it hadn't been HIM the girl had tried to do that to), Hal cleared his throat. "Zenjia?" he asked, just to confirm he had the right name. "Before we decide roles, I think we should all know what each other can do. I don't know how much you know about our quirks, but I don't know yours at all. Serena and I only know each other's quirks since we're classmates." He did glance at Yann briefly as well, but the assumption was that, well, his quirk was animal-based and not anything beyond what could immediately be guessed based on the guy's size and shape.

Yann sat there for a moment as he was reassigned, trying to figure out what his team was and figuring it out by process of elimination, approaching Serena and Hal, raising his hand with a warm greeting before reeling back as he witnessed Serena fling someone over her shoulder, and over him. Yann very calmly stepped aside to give Zenjia some space as she was dragged back inwards by some sort of invisible force, presumably by Serena correcting her overreaction. "Ah, oyes, understandable, I get that. I'll uh let you know just in case", Yann missed the mark on being empathic, as he didn't tolerate hugs for a completely different reason, though admittedly not a less visceral one.

Yann lifted his ears to prop himself up as Hal addressed them for the game plan, and thus made direct eye contact with Hal as he was glossed over. He froze his smile, breathed deep, and exhaled calmly, sure, it was probably more important that the likely Emitter students had to do more explanations than he did. Serena explained her ability was something akin to redistributing energy, which she had demonstrated earlier, Yann was quick to straighten up and nod as Serena called him, he stayed strong and kept the smile as he was somewhat dismissed as unfit for the role, but his drooping ears betrayed the disappointment. "I-I do! Actually!". Yann rebutted, clenching his fists with enthusiasm. "It's hard to explain but, uh, I am proficient at, well, not being hurt. Like, soi-sixth sense like so", he still hadn't exactly rehearsed how to pitch his quirk to not out him as some sort of professional coward, but he was getting closer. "I might not win the sprint, but good at conserving energy, just one-tenth of a step ahead I'll be!", he hopped in place with a slight lean to each side.