CHAPTER TWO: INHERITANCE
BRRRRRRINGG!
BRRRRRINGG!
BRRRR-
A glowing fist sparking with electricity slammed onto the alarm clock, destroying it. Kozato opened his eyes in annoyance as he looked at the remains of the clock. Why had he set the alarm so early? He definitely wasn't a morning person but soon it hit him like a train. The events of yesterday came back to him as he remembered the villain fight, what Deku had said, and the scolding he'd receive from his parents.
"Acting on impulse wasn't wise Kozato! You of all people should know how unpredictable your quirk can be, so what would you have done if that attack didn't work?!"
He shook his head, trying to keep the thoughts that kept drifting into his mind after his parents finished yelling at him, but his attempts were futile. He remembered his dream clearly, where instead of launching the bolt of lightning at the villain, it fizzled out in his hand and Kozato looked on in shock as the villain slammed a burly fist into his chest. He gritted his teeth in frustration and clenched his fist, electricity starting to spark off. 'I got lucky, that's what it was.'' He rose out of bed, trying to calm himself as he went to turn on the light. In the back of his mind, he knew why he wanted to be like Deku. He admired the level of control Deku had with his quirk, how he could defeat villains without killing them despite the strength of his quirks. He slipped on some warm up pants and a t-shirt, and wrote a note telling his parents he'd be out on a run. He walked to the door and put on his shoes and headed out the door, retrieving his bike from the garage along the way.
The air thickened with the smell of the sea as he neared the beach that Deku had told him about. He inhaled and sighed, remembering the beach vacations his family used to take before his quirk manifested, and they became worried what would happen if he accidentally activated his quirk in the water, surrounded by people. He neared the stairs leading to the beach, which was cluttered with garbage, and propped his bike on a nearby bench, jogging towards the shore.
"I see you haven't backed out of my offer." A voice said.
Kozato turned around and was met with the smile of Deku, and he began to smile himself.
"Of course I wouldn't, even if it meant waking up early." Kozato joked.
Deku nodded, staring off towards the sea, feeling nostalgic as he breathed in the sea breeze.
"There's a reason I was looking for a successor." Deku spoke after a few minutes.
Kozato turned towards him and spoke.
"I was wondering that, since you're pretty young for a pro."
"When I attended U.A. and early into my hero career, I fought battles that put irreparable damage on my body."
"But none have been as bad as this."
He turned and lifted his shirt, and Kozato saw a huge scar in his back that caused him to wince.
"Got this from a battle with a guy named Shigaraki before disappeared. It weakened me, badly. I've still been able to carry on with my hero career but that villain I fought the other day is what caused me to chose you as an inheritor for One For All."
Deku lowered his shirt and turned back around, his sharp gaze meeting Kozato's worried one.
"That villain was an Artificial Human, you can call them Nomus. From what All Might speculated, a certain quirk brings those things into existenance, a quirk that can steal quirks and then gift those stolen quirks. In fact, that's why I'm here, I'm investigating reports on people claiming to have their quirk stolen."
Kozato stiffened at this, remembering the history project he had to do in Middle School. He had to do research on the history of quirks, and remembered reading about one that could steal other quirks. The user had been imprisoned twenty years ago, after being defeated by All Might. Had they escaped or had someone else gotten a quirk similar to it?
"If that quirk is being used again, it'll be hard for me to take it on with my condition, so by passing it off to you, you may be able to aid in the final clash."
"But if you passed it on to me, wouldn't you become quirkless?"
"That's the great thing about One For All, after passing it on, you'll have left over embers that allow you to use the quirk, but they slowly or quickly disappear, depending on how much you rely on them. I know this asking a lot, but I hope you will fight alongside me when we come across the user of the quirk."
Kozato nodded but a question sprang into his mind.
"When I inherit One For All, will it get rid of my original quirk?"
"As far as I know, no. If anything, you may be able to use both at the same time! Oh and speaking of your quirk, what is it?"
"My quirk? It's a powerful lightning quirk: Aether Lightning. It allows me to generate powerful lightning, but overuse leads to fatigue and it burns my body. It's really hard for me to control too, and can unintentionally activate whenever I get angry."
Deku nodded in understanding as Kozato explained his quirk.
"Then, we'll train your quirk alongside One For All."
"Speaking of training, what am I going to do?"
"Oh, right, you see all this garbage? I want you to clear it all out before the entrance exams!"
Kozato looked over the piles of trash and gulped nervously.
Training will Deku was hard, and Kozato expected that, but he didn't expect to be hauling old refrigerators while Deku sat on them, shouting encouraging words.
"Come on Rakurai, you got this! I believe in you!"
"T-This would be way easier if you weren't sitting on the refrigerators!"
"You don't want to get torn apart don't you? Keep going!"
"A-At this r-rate, O-One For All or n-not, I'll b-be t-t-torn apart e-e-either way."
Whenever he'd collapse from overexertion Deku would let him rest for a few minutes, before they worked on his control over his quirk.
"Come on Rakurai! You can do it!"
The first time, instead of a simple bolt of lightning that would leave only a burn mark, he blasted an old couch with a bolt of lightning powerful enough to make it explode. He gritted his teeth in frustration and pain as the palm of his hand was badly burned. He rested for a few more minutes after that, as fatigue rolled over him.
Deku left him for a bit, and came back with a roll of bandages.
"Injury or no injury, we have to keep training!"
Once his hand was firmly wrapped, he realized both his hands were out of commission and he stomped his foot in frustration, electricity sparking off his body.
"Calm yourself Rakurai, do you best to keep your quirk under control whenever you get mad."
Kazuto took deep breaths until electricity no longer sparked off his body, and looked at Deku with determined eyes.
"Even with both hands wrapped up, I want to keep training!"
Deku nodded in understanding, retrieving four tire irons and handing them to the young boy. Kozato picked them up gingerly and winced in pain as he held two under both arms, and then he ran up and down the beach, Deku cheering him on.
Three hours later of training and resting, Kozato reached his limit and collapsed, unable to move anymore. Deku picked him up and smiled at the boy, who weakly smiled back.
"You did good today, better than I did on my first day." Deku laughed as he remembered the struggle when he trained with All Might.
"Y-you trained here too?" Kozato's voice was barely a whisper, too tired to speak louder.
"Yep, did the exact same thing as you. It annoys me how fast this beach got cluttered with trash over the years, after I worked for ten long months to clean it."
Needless to say, Kozato's parents interrogated him heavily when he came home with his left hand wrapped up in bandages. He told them a half-truth, that he lost control during his jog and accidentally blasted a bolt of lightning out of his hand. Deku had told him to keep his quirk and the training a secret when he dropped him off and he was determined to keep it. He ate a hearty breakfast, excited to train with Deku the next day.
THE NEXT DAY
Kozato met with Deku at the same time that day, who was holding a jar of a strange gel-like material.
"What's that?" Kozato asked, pointing at the jar.
"This? It's a gift from a friend. It'll help with your arms!" Deku said, setting down the jar and unwrapping Kozato's bandages.
Once they were off, he picked up up the jar and scooped some of the gel out and spread it on the palm of his left hand and then his right arm. The burn marks started to disappear until his hand and arm were completely healed and Kozato gasped in surprise, looking up at Deku, his eyes wide.
"Tell your friend I said thanks a bunch!" Kozato said, as he examined his hands.
"Will do, now let's get training!"
They trained his body for One For All for the first two hours and then they moved onto training his control over his quirk.
"Ok, today I want you to imagine an egg in a microwave while you use your quirk."
"Wait what?"
"It sounds odd, but it helps. Imagine an egg in a microwave and I want you to keep that egg from exploding, while you use your quirk, alright?"
Kozato nodded and turned towards an old couch, taking deep breaths. He closed his eyes as he imagined an egg in a microwave, and tried to keep it from exploding. Then he launched a lightning bolt from his hand and it hit the couch, leaving a burn mark. He opened his eyes and his palm wasn't burned and he barely felt tired. He tried the method again, but this time the lightning bolt exploded the couch and burned his hand. He groaned in frustration and Deku put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's all right, even I would've been surprised if you managed to do it again on your second try."
Kozato nodded, and was determined to get it right this time. He imagined the egg again and shot a lightning bolt from his hand, and hit a fridge, leaving a scorch mark. He continued, until fatigue washed over him and his lightning bolts began to fizzle out.
Day after day, Kozato kept training and training, until he cleaned half the garbage, and he had more control over his quirk. He still lost control though, but it was less common than before. Then, five months later, he finished cleaning the beach.
Kozato pulled the refrigerator into the pile, and collapsed, gasping for breath. He rolled onto his back and rose his hands towards the sky and began to chuckle. That chuckle soon turned into full blown laughter as he finally finished Deku's goal, which meant today he would receive One For All. He felt so proud of himself, managing to clean the beach and getting more control over his quirk. Deku helped the boy up, chuckling himself.
"You did it kid, you actually did it!"
He patted Kozato on the back, smiling as he looked over the beach, now spotless. He smiled, taking in the sight, as he remembered how proud he felt when he finally cleaned the beach, twenty years ago. He then plucked a strand of green hair from his head and showed it Kozato.
"Alright kid, if you want to receive One For All, then eat this."
Kozato looked at Deku with surprise and minor disgust.
"You're kidding."
"Nope, you have to eat it." Deku said firmly, still offering the hair to Kozato
Kozato looked at the hair then Deku, and reluctantly took the hair from his hand.
"B-bottoms up." Kozato said as he placed the hair in his mouth and then forced it down, trying not to gag.
"Got it down? Good. Now we've got to wait about three hours for your body to digest that."
"O-okay."
For those three hours, they worked on Kozato's control as Deku kept watch of the time. Kozato used his quirk flawlessly, determined not to lose control and ruin the roll he was on. After three hours had passed, Deku cleared his throat to get the boy's attention.
"Has it been three hours?"
"Yep, so you should be able to use One For All now."
"Nice! Now how do I use it!"
"Hold your horses, kid, I need to explain something before I tell you."
"Alright."
"Ok, despite all your training, One For All will still put a tremendous strain on your body, and it could quite possibly break your arm. So, when you use it, I want you to imagine the egg in the microwave alright?"
Kozato nodded.
"Good, now in order to use One For All, you need to clench your butt cheeks, and yell from the depths of your heart: 'SMASH!'" Deku said, raising a fist heroically into the air.
"Seriously?" Kozato asked, stifling a laugh.
"Seriously." Deku said, in that no-nonsense type of tone.
Kozato turned so that his back was facing Deku, and pulled his fist back. Imaging the egg in the microwave, he tightened his buttocks and as lines like a lightning scar spread across his arm, glowing a bright electric blue, he yelled into the morning air.
"SMAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES
And there goes the second chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this one, and changed Kozato and his quirk after reading some reviews. Please say about any concerns you have of the character, as I want to make him more of an organic character instead of a Gary Sue. Also, I'm loving the OCs you guys are sending! Until next time, PLUS ULTRA!