The Fault in our Stars

Benkei sat patiently dawdling on his phone. He was called to meet up with one of his less-present classmates. As a newbie, it was less stressful to meet with someone like her. besides the fact that she always seemed tired. It reminded him of a certain someone. Still... it was a nice opportunity to get out of the house and get moving. They'd passed in the hallway, and were in the same class, but they hadn't actually spoken that much. How was he supposed to greet her? Yo, yo? No... that would've been super. Heyo, Y- oh, there she was arriving with coffee...

"Hey." That's the one. Short and sweet. Noticing, she had two coffees, he'd smile. "Why does that not surprise me? You seem so tired in class, I'm sure you've been dying for a sip." He'd thought both of them were for her. Nerding out a bit, he'd let her in on a fun fact he'd found watching YouTube. "There's something called death coffee. It's an American brand. That will probably turn miracles for you."

Ah, so he overthought it. It was a nice gesture bringing coffee like that, but he didn't drink coffee. In respect of her going out of her way, he'd tap his lips to the cup and sip what he could. Blinking at if... he "But that's impressive. An A bracket hero course isn't an easy thing to get into." He was acting as if he didn't also get into that very same class. He'd only got there by luck. Still he'd smile and oblige her request. He pinch the air, most specifically a spec of dust. He'd keep his fingers closed, but noticably more dust collected from a tiny but forming black dust cloud. As he bulled his fingers apart, little stars twinkled in the small space. "Starmaker. I can supercharge dust and turn them into stars." He'd explain in the shortest way. 

"It's powerful, and I've still got a long way to go before mastering it fully. This place has got some interesting people in it. The nonstop action, helps me get better." He'd add. "What about yours?"

"I think that's fair," Benkei replied. He'd set the coffee down, and walk to the opposing side of the room. These training facilities were quite bare, but it was probably because they hadn't made any requests. The walls seemed thick enough to contain the two. He'd roll his shoulders back, and loosen up a bit before settling into a fighting stance. With a shallow breath, he'd paw at the air conjuring up some stardust to use. He'd clutch for something, a star would not only form into his hand but expand into a large solid five point star. "Blade Constellation: Hoshi-shuriken!" Benkei would let it rip with a left-handed toss. The spin was vicious! The arc was a swerving path that seemed like it was aimed at the wall at first before bending course right toward Yo! He wouldn't relent with just that as his opener, he sprinted forwards to cut down on some of the distance. 

Benkei squinted at her as she seemed to brace herself. So she wasn't a complete novice? That much made sense. This was a class-a student after all. His steps were swift, but he stumbled a bit as the ground shuttered and shook in response to her quirk. The can was just her quirk on a minor scale it seemed. It only made sense for it to be like a real earthquake. His knees ached as used what poor footing he had to jump atop a newly created star. "Aligning Star..." He could still feel the wind practically grinding against the floor as the two forces disagreed with one another. He wanted to complain, but he too only showed her a minor version of his own quirk. She probably didn't see a bladed weapon coming. The large shuriken hissed and dissolved along with the shaking ground. The mark it left from being embedded glowed red before quickly returning back cool.  The teen would raise an eyebrow. It was the first time he'd ever seen something like that. 

So there were quirks that could cancel out his constructs, eh? It was enough to make his think twice, but his second thought was enough to rationalize things. A supercharged and expanded construct of dust was still dust. That powerful vibration knocked the star construction loose and without any leeway to remain solid. So if he could avoid it altogether... maybe he could outthink her. Stars fixed themselves between his fingers, much smaller in comparison to the first star, and more like the real deal. He spread both arms to throw but there was a weird delay before actually letting them go. He'd launch shuriken from both hands, his arms crossing as he wanted to contrast curves between his left and right. Something was different between this hoshishuriken attack and the last one. In fact, he hadn't even called them that. Before finishing the curve the stars seemingly lined up just perfectly. How odd... The stars froze in place and expanded into footholds, and Benkei was already leaping between them to get even closer.  The spread was wide enough. He could bound between the right side constellation or the left side constellation of aligning stars he'd created. 

"I just don't have to get hit by that, and I win right?" He smirked. It wasn't that simple. He couldn't create stars forever, he always needed a gap of rest. He'd apply pressure with the footholds he'd made. Sometimes simple was best, but Benkei naturally excelled at cat-and-mouse games. He'd corner her and shut her down like he'd do with most opponents. He wouldn't change the formula that he worked so hard to perfect. He'd quickly dart from the left side constellations, clutching two stars, and leaped toward the right side constellation. He wouldn't need to make a difficult toss. Being at a closer distance meant less time to dodge if he made a more direct-line throw.  "Blade Constellation: Hoshi-shuriken!" As it appeared his quirk was more intricate than he let on. He could change the function of stars; some were weapons and some were tools. It also was a clever way to give himself some leeway from having to create more stars on demand. In the back of his mind, he wondered what could he liken his fighting style to. A ninja? Maybe Space Cadet Kyo could be a Space Ninja Hero? It felt too complicated and somewhat... kiddish. He'd have to call some of his friends from the support and management classes to figure out how to market himself. He really wanted to nail this down before going public... Hell, he had a meeting with an agency not too long ago. He already was ruining their dragon-like image by being so different. He wanted to present a proper hero. He blinked hard to snap himself out of it. Why was he daydreaming mid-spar!?!?

Benkei smirked. It was a very smart way of using her quirk. He wouldn't have guessed it even if she explained it to him. Still, she had to clear the distance with a jump, while he was finely balanced on his star with stars behind him as backup. It would be a steep fall to recover from. Could he handle striking her? With a huff, he'd align himself to her. Most people couldn't contort or redirect themselves to well, but this was a hero school. He'd be an idiot to think she couldn't figure out he'd decided to counter here. He'd let himself drop before she did... As he descended, he'd shift his hand in her direction.

"Shooting stars!" The remaining stars would glow brightly, before dwarfing in size and blitzing toward Yo as bullets. 

Even if she could dissolve his stars, they were too hot and volatile in this projectile state to even touch in this attack. Finally landing in a roll to kill the falling momentum, he took a few breaths to gather himself. With a careful eye, he watched his own attack. While he wanted it to work, he didn't actually want to hurt her badly. This was just a spar after all. 

Benkei felt a quake, causing him to stumble. This wasn't like the wave before... She'd made an impact zone. No... Even with the events happening so fast, he observed and tried to understand. As best as he'd witnessed it, she made a vibration wave to pillow the fall. This caused some sort of blowback effect, and now there were chunks of concrete flying his way. Trying to decipher it any further than that would cause him to fall behind. She... -she was a tactician as well. This realization causes his face to fall into a state of concentration. It was the first time in a while that he felt this overpowered. 

"An unlucky matchup."

Her quirk was his counter, and by some stroke of luck, her sense of strategy was a stark contrast to his as well. He'd clenched his fists. He couldn't quite corner her if she could change the environment like this. As it stood his best weapon and the only thing that worked was misdirection and time difference attacks. He'd have to figure something out. But first, he'd have to figure something out about these makeshift projectiles. "Sui, sui, usss, usss, usss, weiiiiii~" He grunted with each strike, shattering small chunks into grey powder, while larger chunks broke into smaller chunks. With a roaring pair of fists and powerful kicks, he bashed through the projectiles. This wasn't a feat or strength but from sheer martial technique alone. Shattering concrete bricks was a task he did often. He'd stand there panting, knuckles leaking blood. 

He'd calm himself as his quirk finished its break period. A spark could be seen near his knuckles before a dark cloud of dust slowly formed and began creating stars. His stance didn't break as he tried to think of a new angle of attack. His foot nuzzle closely to a chunk of concrete, before kicking it up into the air. With a spinning roundhouse kick, he'd launch a clod of concrete right back to her. They were relatively even it seemed with a slight edge in her favor. He was racking his brain for a way to outfox her and secure the win. It would have to be a good enough attack at the right moment... but what?

"They were foolish to put you in General Studies, though... if you had the same amount of training as me, you'd be unstoppable, Benkei!"

Benkei wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and resumed his fighting stance. "One can only be so lucky. " He smirked. He watched her move. It was a more thought-out version of the move she'd just cast. Sadly it would have a similar result. A spark from his knuckle occurred as he cocked back to punch. Yes, a single punch for this storm of concrete.  As he swung, it expanded large enough to cover his whole body. "Shield Constellation: Seiken!"  The single punch would destroy a good chunk of the concrete, the rest just crashing into the shield of a star. Benkei would palm the star with one hand, changing its function. The large star would not only begin to glow brighter, but erupt into a flashbang. 

"Solar Flare!"