"You've got your toothbrush right?"

"Yes Mom," Adachi answered, rolling his eyes a bit, "Geez I'm just gonna be gone for a day."

"I know I know," She waved him off, "But a lot can happen in a day, especially when you're spending the night at a girls house~" She teased, wiggling her fingers at him.

Adachi's face flushed, "O-Oh come on Mom! As if I'd ever-"

"Oh relax, can't I even joke around anymore?" Shisui waved him off, "Just enjoy yourself, and work hard, I expect good results on those Exams next week!" She ordered.

Adachi chuckled lightly, "Thanks Mom, I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved, stepping out the door and starting off on his early morning commute. Making his way to the station and heading for Ryou's House. She was only two districts over so it'd be a pretty quick ride on the bullet train, and he was eager to get started. He'd decided to get up early for the trip, not wanting to waste any time so it was still morning by the time he arrived.

"I wonder what she has in store," Adachi wondered, as he stepped off the train and followed his phones GPS. Making sure to send her a quick text that he'd be there soon, "I wonder what her parents are like... They've got to be pretty amazing, to have a daughter with such a powerful Quirk." Though, now that he thought about it he didn't hear anyone cheering for her during the Festival, not like his Mother cheered him on...

"Is this it?" He wondered, looking up at the row of apartments above him. The boy quirked an eyebrow, heading towards the stairs when he heard a door open.

"Heeeeey! Up here!" Ryou's voice rang out, excited as ever. She was hanging over a railing above him, waving with both her arms, "Come on up! I made breakfast if you haven't eaten!" She was dressed in a big loose fitting shirt, with a pair of sweatpants.

Adachi sweat dropped, making his way to the stairs, "Uh, yeah sure..." He had already eaten, but didn't want to be rude. Looking around the lot outside the complex he noticed no other cars around, "Your parents out at work or something?" He asked, climbing the stairs.

Ryou blinked, suddenly realizing he hadn't been in the room when she... "O-Oh yeah that uh... No actually I live alone!" She exclaimed, putting back on her smile, "My parents live really far up north, but they wanted me to live closer to UA, so they paid for my apartment here!"

"Oh, wow you live alone?" Adachi repeated, reaching the top of the stairs and adjusting his backpack, "That's cool, being so independent... So which one is yours?" He asked, looking at the various doors.

"This one here!" Ryou grinned, leading him to a door at the far end, "And thanks, yeah I pretty much do everything myself here." She shrugged, pushing open the door and leading him inside, "The complex has a lot of come and go tennants so most of the other apartments are empty too!"

The apartment was pretty simple and small, a short hall leading to the a combined kitchen and dining area. There was a really small living room with a little couch and small TV hanging on the wall. As well as a hall leading to a few other rooms he could see as he stepped in. It was all freshly cleaned, and a pallet of finely crafted food sat in the kitchen on the table.

"Whoa... You can really cook," Adachi complimented, even if he wasn't that hungry he was more than willing to indulge in a bit of excessive eating for cooking that looked this good, "Though, if you don't mind me saying this place looks a little small for someone you're size." He joked lightly.

Ryou laughed in response as she kicked off her shoes, "Yeah maybe! But not everywhere can be fitted to my liking, so I just deal with it! Go ahead and eat up, I'll explain a bit about the training I had in mind." She added, pulling a chair up to the table and sitting down before filling her plate.

"Yeah I was curious about that," He replied, taking a seat across from her and filling his plate with some of the prepared rolls and home made sauce, "I trained for the festival by working hard and eating a lot so my muscles would regenerate faster but... I don't know if that's a good idea this time around."

Ryou already had a mouthful of noodles, quirking an eyebrow as she looked at him before slurping them all down in one quick motion, "Oh, we aren't going to reinforce your body, that's dumb, we don't have time for that!"

Adachi's head tilted in confusion, "That's... What?" He asked, shaking his head and setting his food down, "Then, what are we going to do?"

"Look, if I thought beefing you up was a good idea, I'd have told you to meet me at the UA Gym Facilities today," Ryou chuckled, filling her already empty plate, "I'm gonna teach you some of the things All M-" The girl nearly choked as she almost let it slip, "mY FAtHeR taught me!" Yes, good save, smooth, "About focusing, and channeling your strength to a focal point!"

Now Adachi was interested, as he slowly began to eat his own food, "Alright, you have my attention, you do seem to have incredible control over your own Quirk so I guess you are some kind of expert."

"Hahah! Me, an expert," She snickered in amusement, slurping up more noodles as she finished eating what remained of the food between them. Washing it down by chugging her glass of water, "Aaah, but yeah kinda! The first time I used my Quirk, it was all at once," She explained, "And I ended up stuck in a hospital bed because of what it did to my body."

Adachi nodded, "Yeah, your arms and legs got pretty messed up when you used it during our match... So, your Dad taught you how to focus that power?"

Thinking about her father was hard for Ryou, and she knew she'd only made this harder by not telling him the truth. But... The more she thought about it, "Yeah, yeah he did." A faint smile crossed her lips, "SO!" Suddenly exploding up from her seat so fast it knocked over her chair and made Adachi jump in fright, "I'm gonna teach those things to you! ARE YOU READY NEWBIE!?"

Regaining his composure after her intense outburst, Adachi nodded as he stood up as well, "I'm ready, teach me everything!"

. . .

After Ryou cleaned up the kitchen, and Adachi changed into some loose training clothes the duo made their way outside behind the apartment complex to a small park. It was hardly anything like a real park, just a few trees spread out around a fountain in the center. Either way, this seemed to be their training ground for the weekend.

Ryou positioned herself across from Adachi, holding a leveled gaze with him, "Alright, now to begin I'll explain my Quirk..." She took a deep breath, the familiar glowing lines tracing her arms and face as she released the first stage of her power, "My Quirk is called Power Limiter, it causes my body to generate an immense amount of power but the Quirk itself is releasing that energy... As far as I've learned at least, I only found out about my Quirk a few years ago when I released for the first time without meaning too." She explained, "But its a bit more intricate than just flipping a switch and increasing my power." Ryou raised one hand, "Third Release." And slashed her hand through the air, generating a gust of wind that shook the nearest trees around her, "The energy is released through my muscles, that's the focus I was taught, how to channel the incredible power through my movements in bursts, that's how I maximize output without harming my body."

Adachi nodded his head slowly as he understood, "Amazing... So that's why you can't just run at super speed, you have to take leaps, you aren't just augmenting your muscles you're unleashing this crazy power through them."

"Pretty much, if I get enough power flowing it can heighten my durability a bit too despite injuring my body in the process." She added with a smirk, her power fading as she resealed it, "Now, tell me about your Quirk, I've got some theories based on what I've seen but... I'd like the full run down."

"Right," Adachi answered her quickly, "My Quirk is called Kaiju," He began, looking down at his hands, "If you consider the big scaly beast 100% of my power, than right now this is 0%." He explained, "Whereas this-" He bulked up quickly, shifting to his hybrid state, "Is 50%!" Before shrinking back down to normal size, "But, I can sort of push the percentage my body can take between 0% and 50%." Holding up his arm, scales began to form along its length.

"Perfect, not exactly what I had theorized but pretty close," She grinned in response, "Now, have you ever thought about focusing where your body transforms?"

Adachi quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"The same way I can focus an immense amount of power through just my arms, or my legs when I jump," Ryou explained, "Have you ever just tried transforming one part of your body?"

The boy looked at his right hand, letting some scales grow over his fingers and palm, "I guess... Sometimes but, nothing more than some small enhancements like scales or claws."

"Now imagine if you were to say... Suddenly throw a punch and it were to expand and carry the force of your power at 100%!" She suggested with a big grin of excitement.

"That would be..." The idea passed through his mind, imagining combining his fighting skills with that incredible power, "So you want to try and make that happen, by teaching me to focus my power?"

"That's the plan lizard boy!" Ryou released a hearty laugh, "Now lets get to your training!" She turned around suddenly, pointing to a large old tree behind her, "Sit under this tree! YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY SOME PEACEFUL MEDITATION!"

Adachi sweat dropped as her voice echoed, "And this is... Something you did?" Trying to imagine her meditating.

"Oh yeah I am suuuuper zen," Ryou nodded with a grin, "Gotta be with all this CRAZY power flowing through me, if I'm not focusing a lot someone could get hurt! It's all about discipline!"

"Discipline?" Adachi tilted his head as he walked towards the tree.

"Yep! Without it all that power you're throwing around might as well be nothing but a big stick, a blunt object." Ryou shrugged, "You already showed me you can think dynamically when fighting, but you've gotta apply that to your Quirk as well."

The villains voice echoed in his mind again, "There's a gap between us boy, one that you can't hope to match with brute force... It's experience, I've got years of training with my Quirk under my belt."

"I spent all that time learning dragon stance because I thought I had to make up for my base form being weak," Adachi realized as he took walked up to the tree, "But I need to train my Quirk as well, Ryou is absolutely right! Ever since the USJ I've been using 100% of my power like a blunt instrument!" He turned around, taking a seat on the ground with his legs crossed like a stereotypical meditation pose, "Like this right?"

"Yeah sure I guess," Ryou shrugged casually, "Whatever makes you comfortable, you've gotta clear your mind and focus, focus all that power into one point on your body even if its just for a second!" She dropped to the ground across from him, sitting cross legged as well, "Just close your eyes... Take a deep breath, and visualize..."

Adachi did as she instructed, first closing his eyes and then beginning to take long, deep breaths. He visualized his Quirk, and remembered that feeling of incredible power flowing through his body whenever he went all out, "My power is more than just a giant monster... More than a punching bag for villains... I can feel that strength deep inside of me, I just... Just have to focus!"

Minutes began to tick by, but the passage of time was slowly becoming harder to discern for Adachi as he focused. The world around him didn't exist as far as he was concerned. The sounds of cars driving by the nearby streets vanished, even the high pitched ring of the summertime cicada's was gone as he focused. Deep breathing eased any bit of tension he might have had and helped keep his mind clear.

They were passing by hour two, when suddenly-

"Ngh!" Adachi gasped, eyes shooting wide open as a bolt of pain ran through his right arm. The pain vanished as soon as it appeared, the boy looking down at his scarred hand briefly, noticing the faint remnants of scales that had begun to form were fading away, "What was..." His hand still stung a little, but overall he couldn't feel anything seriously wrong with it, "Was that it?"

"You felt something right?" Ryou asked, opening one eye to look at him.

"Y-Yeah I think so." Adachi nodded his head, "It took a long time though..."

"That's fine!" Ryou assured with a grin, "The fact you can draw it out at all means we're on the right track!"

"Maybe..." Adachi himself wasn't so sure, "But even if it didn't damage me, it still hurt... That can't be good right?"

"It just means you're adjusting," Ryou stated, though to be honest she had no idea either, "Keep at it! We can continue meditating until you can draw it out in an instant!"

Adachi still wasn't totally convinced but... This was something to go on, "Alright, lets continue."

. . .

The day continued at a slow pace, hours of meditation rolling by only interrupted by sharp jolts of pain through Adachi's muscles sometimes followed by swelling. It was never serious though, and as time wore on he started to make it happen faster, and focus where it was happening. For the time being, he worked on making it flow to his arms, figuring that would be the most useful and safe place to use it...

"Alright, lets brake for today." Ryou said suddenly, rising to her feet.

Adachi opened his eyes, releasing a heavy breath, "You sure? It still doesn't really feel like I've... Done, anything."

"Yeah, and maybe it won't for some time." She shrugged, "Your quirk is different from mine, but it'll happen at the right time I'm sure of it!"

"What makes you so sure?" Adachi asked curiously.

"Well, think about what you told me before!" She said before quickly clearing her throat and speaking in a forced, exaggerated deep voice, "It had to be natural, not something you had time to think about."

Adachi sighed shaking his head, "I do not sound like that."

"WHATEVER!" Ryou laughed in response, flailing her arms up, "The point is, you could do it through concentration, which means your body IS capable of doing it!" She explained, placing her hands on her hips, "So it'll happen! I know it! Just have some faith!"

Adachi had to concede for now, no point in arguing over it, "I suppose you're right, so dinner?"

"Yeah I'll get it all going!" She beamed, walking past him and back towards the apartment complex, "My sushi will knock your scales off!"

"Rinsuke," Adachi stopped her with a hand on the shoulder, looking up into her eyes, "Thanks, I really appreciate you helping me."

Ryou blinked in surprise, staring into his eyes for a moment. Her lack of much social experience that was on such a genuine level made her instantly feel nervous, "N-No problem... It's what friends do right?"

"Right."