"HI-START—!"
The announcement from the MC, Present Mic, rang out with his signature casual flair. The moment the sound hit the air, a lone girl tore away from the gathered mass of students, leading the pack.
She was wearing a sailor uniform and loafers—completely ignoring the exam guidelines that recommended practical athletic wear. It was an outfit clearly ill-suited for combat.
When questioned earlier, she had simply chirped, "But I look way more cuuuute this way," and showed up anyway. Besides, she had the confidence to back it up.
"To use the Force, you need a strong will. Right, Riha-chan?"
With a wide, predatory grin, she sprinted. She looked as though she were merely jogging, yet she moved at a velocity that could only be described as a blur. Her body was saturated with a dark, primordial power.
The Force changes its nature based on the emotions of the user. Right now, the Force propelling her forward was fueled purely by a love that had been boiled down until it was deep, heavy, thick, and scorching hot.
She was the first one to truly see me. To acknowledge me.
She told me it was okay to be me. She accepted me.
Even her own parents had called her "abnormal," but Riha had said her tastes didn't matter. She hadn't run away. No matter how many times Toga had brandished a knife, or bitten her, or sucked her blood, Riha's expression hardly wavered. She had simply accepted it all with kindness.
"Are you satisfied? Good… I'm glad."
Riha would say that and smile softly. She would pat Toga's head. She would hold her.
And then, she told Toga to stay by her side. She promised to take responsibility for her. In all her life, Toga had never met someone like that.
And so…
The more time they spent together, the more she looked at that face, the more Toga's feelings swelled. It didn't take long to realize this was love.
Toga knew she fell in love easily. Her crush on Saito-kun hadn't lasted that long; he was just an athlete who got hurt a lot, and she'd found that… well, charming.
But this "love" was different. She was certain of it. Even if her heart belonged to a girl six years her junior—a girl so small for her age she looked like a mere child—Toga knew. She was the only one.
That. Is. Why. I'm. Joining. The. Hero. Course.
Truthfully, she couldn't care less about "heroes." But she wanted to be like that girl—Riha. She wanted to do what Riha did.
Yes, she wanted them to match. Because when you love someone, you want to be just like them. If she did that, she was sure she could love Riha even more.
For Himiko Toga—a girl who lived for love—that was more than enough motivation to take an exam.
And so…
"For my sake, please everyone—just fail!"
Clad in the Dark Side of the Force, she stormed the exam site. Her target: the faux-villains. Those robots… those points!
"They're all mine!"