BNHA - Arrancar Chronicles: Chapter 14


Japan - Morning of first hero internships

Mina Ashido woke up on the morning of the hero internships determined. Determined to get the first cup of coffee in her house. It would be a mad rush to beat her father on his way out to work. The Ashidos loved that first brew more than Saturday morning cartoons and sleeping in. The young acid quirk user padded down into the kitchen in her heart slippers and found, to her amazement, that one of her parents started a pot, but left it unguarded. Mina silently made a victory sign with her hand and grabbed her favorite mug. She didn't take her coffee black like her father or milky like her mother. Mina's drink was a rich brown almost like liquid chocolate. As per her morning ritual, the teen took a deep whiff of her wake-up juice and a cautious sip. 'Hot.' Her tongue hung from her mouth after being slightly scalded, but she was happy to have it nonetheless.

Sitting at the dining table, the young hero let her mind wander to what lay ahead. Aizawa presented all the students without internship offers with a list of agencies that would still take a few kids. Making it into the tournament wasn't enough to get Mina any serious scouts by itself. The pros saw a bit of her showcase, but didn't extend an invitation her way. "Just gotta shine harder next time." She encouraged herself. Losing to Tokoyami like that must have ruined her first impression with the audience. That boy dominated at range. 'How to fight people who don't come close?' As the mental gears started picking up with the caffeine, the trainee thought harder on how to improve herself.

Mina glanced down at her coffee and felt her mind begin to wander. The color brought up thoughts of a similarly colored classmate of hers who vanished so suddenly. Hakua L. The boy left the hero course literally the day everyone came back from resting after the sports festival. What was up with that? And no explanation was forthcoming. Kimito clammed up something fierce after being pulled out to say goodbye. Mina waved a greeting to her mother who looked betrayed at the steaming mug in front of the teen. 'Today's as good a day as any to try and find out I guess.' Mina smirked and changed her wave to another victory sign.

Class 1-A - Before homeroom

A chorus of excited chatter passed around 1-A's classroom before school officially started. The hero trainees were filled with a nervous energy not too dissimilar from the first day. Unless you were one of the naturally cool kids of course. Todoroki is anything but pleased even though he knew this was a step he needed to make. Midoriya didn't know who this Gran Torino person is, or how he caused such an intense reaction in his mentor, but he's willing to give it a shot. And then there's Kimito. His black hair braided into a lustrous ponytail resting on his back with two bangs framing his face. The sole Arrancar's expression had reverted to a blank stare. Kimito gave no indication of how he felt about the trials to come. If one thought about it, he probably looked like Todoroki did during the first few weeks of school.

Tsuyu Asui watched the back of her class president's head until the lad rose and approached Izuku. 'He texted me this morning on his walk to school just like he promised, but it makes sense for him to ask more than one person. Just wish he'd tell us why.' The frog girl turned back to Ochako to continue their conversation in earnest.

"Hey…. Midoriya-san." Kimito started, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Izuku tensed in his chair as the class rep zeroed in on him. "Y-yes, Llargo-san? Do you need me?"

"Ah, please call me Kimito, Midoriya-san. Most people in my family go by their first names." Kimito corrected. At the green hero's nod, he continued. "I was wondering if we could exchange numbers."

"W-what's this all of a sudden? Not that I'm against it Kimito-san. It's just…" The quirk inheritor flailed about his arms which made Kimito take a step back. Izuku took a deep breath then tried again. "I'll trade numbers with you, but is there a reason why you want mine?"

"Yeah! Is there a reason?" A new voice joined in. Toru Hagakure successfully snuck up behind Kimito and tapped the boy's shoulder. Just behind her was a growing bestie, Mina Ashido.

"Don't you think what's going between them is kinda private?" Sero threw in his two cents. Kaminari seemed a bit put off by the tape hero paying attention elsewhere, but it was gone in a flash.

"I'm just curious. Now that your brother isn't here, I thought Kimito might gather more attention from the girls, but he went after another boy." The sleeve of the invisible girl bent as if to cover a bit of her face with her hand. This was, of course, unnecessary. "Is it difficult to be around girls Kimito-kun?"

"No. Not really." He shrugged. "My little sister isn't that much younger than me, and there are plenty of women I talked to over on Huecojima."

"But not many your age?" Sero posed.

"I didn't know you have a little sister." Kaminari stated.

Kimito could literally feel how off track the conversation was going, but felt powerless to stop it. He'd just ask Midoriya again later. "Ah, I guess not. Not many my age. And yeah, Lilynette is two years younger than Hakua and I. She wants to be a hero too, so she might be in Japan when we reach our third year." 'If everything smooths out.' The Arrancar thought to himself.

Hagakure's sleeves came together across her chest. "Your sister huh? Is she like your sister-sister or like your cousin-sister?" The mental image of a smaller, female Kimito invaded the minds of a few students. The boy in question was already quite beautiful, so what would a sister look like? Some kind of cool beauty right? Maybe a glasses wearing intelligent type with sharp eyes?

"Well, she's my cousin." Some of the class face planted. "Nii-san decided that we were all siblings way back when…" Kimito paused with a frown, then shook it off. "When Wonderweiss came around."

"Hmm?"

"Uhh Lilynette is our Uncle Coyote's daughter. She's half Russian, blonde like her mother, and a serious tomboy. That last part can't be helped much because she was around us the most growing up."

"Eh?" The boy had effectively shattered everyone's mental image.

"What's it like where you live Kimito-san?" Izuku managed to rejoin the conversation in the lull.

"Uhh Hakua and I live in a local apartment complex run by a friend of the family." A couple kids laughed at the answer. "No. Uhm.. Huecojima right?" Izuku nodded, and the surrounding group drew a bit closer. "Well, it's a pretty large island, but it's absolutely covered in desert. Sand dunes as far as the eyes can see, until you spot Las Noches." Kimito told the teens about the massive, white walls that are visible from the coast. The Origin River which sprang from the island center and ran through the palace, but not to the harbor. Tall residential towers made of plain grey concrete and squat, colored buildings that made up different facilities. "The population hasn't ever really been big, but we have a primary school that covers up to the seventh grade, a high school that is 8-12th, and a community college." There were a couple 'oohs' at this. "HJ Community College focuses a lot on medicine, agriculture, and engineering. There aren't any precious resources on the island, so we've been teaching ourselves how to make do with what we have."

Momo Yaoyorozu entered the discussion at this point. "And how does Huecojima obtain its necessities? What about things like iron, oil, energy? Does the island produce enough food for the people?"

Kimito nodded sagely at the mature girl. Kirishima quietly shared a fistbump with Mina because the teen was coming out of his funk. "Apparently it was really difficult after the war, and not much is known about the time before then. Our current prosperity kinda goes hand in hand with our freedom of quirk use."

"You guys can use your quirks in public over there?" Mineta cried out.

"Yeah. It's almost central to how we live now. To answer Yaoyorozu-san's questions," Kimito returned his gaze to Momo. "Huecojima does participate in national trade even though we aren't a recognized country or part of another country. We grow most of our food in fields set aside inside Las Noches. Livestock is occasionally imported, but for the most part we eat fruits and vegetables that we manage to grow." The students were amazed when Kimito said their number one export was energy. "There are a lot of powerful individuals living on the island right now. They all find ways to use their quirks to produce power. Mr. Del Socaccio runs a wind power plant with his Cyclone quirk. If Hakua hadn't decided to become a hero, he probably would have harnessed the explosive power of his laser to fill the industrial energy cells we sell." 'In his spare time that is.' Kimito thought as an aside. "What we lack, the engineers are looking into ways to get around. You'd be surprised what came out of the labs that was ultimately just made of sand, rocks, sometimes salt, compressed gases, and a whole lot of electricity." Kimito actually managed a laugh when he thought about the massive axe his grandfather kept back home. The class gave a sigh of relief when they heard the Arrancar's bell-like laughter. Aizawa walked into the room, and the order quickly returned.

XXX

Lunch seemingly came swiftly to U.A. now that 1-A's president was in a better mood. The light hadn't left his eyes since the class learned about his homeland. 'Maybe Hakua going back just made the teen homesick.' Is the thought that swirled around the interested parties. As per usual, Mina Ashido wrangled a squad of friends to hang out with at a booth near the window. Toru, Momo, Kyoka, Denki, Mineta, and Hanta. Surprisingly, Kimito accepted her offer to eat lunch with the others today. Since Hakua left, the younger brother took his lunch alone in the classroom with Aoyama. The teens chattered amicably around the silent Arrancar gazing out the window.

"Ya know.." Kaminari tapped Kimito's shoulder beside him. "You were pretty good in English class today eh Kimito-san? I thought only people like Kyoka and Yaoyorozu-san would be really good at that." The invisible girl and tape hero made a cry of indignation at that.

Sero's wry grin stretched further across his pointed face. "Well, I thought the same too." The two assumed prodigies shook their heads at the group.

"Some of the Fraccion families are native speakers of English, so it is taught throughout elementary school." He explained. "Nii-san is actually better at speaking English, but it's hard to motivate him when it comes to schoolwork."

A short, blonde girl walking by stopped at the familiar word. "Hmm? English? Do you all speak English?" Her blue eyes gleamed like the deep ocean.

Kimito and Momo stood simultaneously to face the new girl. The boy brought a hand over his chest. "I can speak English. We were just talking about the class, but did you need help with something?" He offered. Momo nodded at how he handled the situation.

"Oh. You were just talking about classes. It is nice to meet other English-speakers. It's my native language." She deflated slightly. Mineta's mouth fell agape at the cute blonde with two curved horns atop her head. "My name is Pony Tsunotori from Class 1-B, and it's nice to meet you." The purple boy just wished he could understand what she was saying. Momo took over and translated the greeting for her lost classmates. "If it isn't too much trouble, maybe we could talk more some other time. I'd like to practice my Japanese more, and it might be better with people who can speak both fluently." As lunch came to a close, Kimito let the transfer student know that they might be able to work something out.

Karakura Town

Kimito Llargo advanced through a residential district in Karakura Town with the aid of a handmade map. The boy didn't trust his phone to keep signal all the way on the western side of Tokyo. Just in case the maps app failed him, Kimito drew the rough outline for himself while his homeroom teacher saw the others off at the station. The original route was supposed to take him through a couple of alleys to save time, but Kimito altered it to stick to main roads. He needed to stay where other people could see him. The younger brother promised his elder that he would stay safe. Sensing powers on full blast made sure he didn't have to keep checking over his shoulder. A few people stayed in his range while he walked along the sidewalk, but they turned off one after the other in their own paths.

Coming up on the last leg of his journey, Kimito approached a large, two-story house. It was shaped a bit like a L with a small extension coming off the bottom. The Arrancar took note of the two doors he could see from the front and all the windows in view of the street. Nobody was waiting for him. Outside at least. There were three spirits in the house/medical office that he could detect. One upstairs, another in the back of the house, but the last one was right next to the door. The only reason Kimito hadn't gone in was because whoever was waiting by the door hadn't moved the entire five minutes since his arrival. Even knocking didn't prompt the presence to allow him in. The young hero cadet frowned as he considered his options. Whoever it was, they weren't disturbing the other two occupants. It must be someone who lived or worked here, but why would they just stand next to the door without moving? Why wouldn't they answer his knocking? Kimito whipped out his phone and shot a quick message to Tsuyu with his location attached. Just in case.

When he placed his hand on the doorknob, nothing changed. He began turning it slowly, finding that it was unlocked, and felt the spirit back away slightly. A soft click let him know the door was open. Kimito called the pink energy of his spirit to his eyes and pulled the metal door open. "Hello? I'm Kimito Llargo from U.-" The teen backstepped as the spirit lunged out with a hand reaching for his face. The large, masculine hand ate up way too much of the boy's vision to see his assailant. 'Oh hell no!' With gritted teeth, Kimito switched his dodge into a full Sonido that put him in the middle of the street. With a fair bit of room between them, he took in the sight of his attacker.

Standing in the doorway was a middle aged, Japanese man with spiky black hair and an unshaved face. He was wearing a doctor's coat with a cartoonish t-shirt underneath it. The man was nowhere near as tall as Kimito's father, but his muscles were plain to see along the fitted tee. The hairy forearm leading to the still outstretched hand was bulging with them as well. Surprise attack failed, the man took up a pose with the original hand behind his back and the other scratching the back of his head. "Ah. I'm Isshin Kurosaki." Kimito eyed him warily. "Founder of Kurosaki Clinic, and the pro hero; Engestu." Seeing the distrustful look still on the lad's face, Isshin produced a business card and his hero license to confirm his identity. Kimito nodded now that it was clear who the man was, but he didn't say anything. The Kurosaki patriarch sweated lightly from the thin eyebrow that arched over the Arrancar's face. "Okay okay. I'm sorry. I apologize for jumping out at you like that."

A cruel smirk spread out on the young U.A. student. "Now that wasn't so hard. I'm Kimito Llargo, sir. My hero name is Wondershot. Thank you for having me, and I look forward to working with you." When Kimito rose from his bow, his expression was peaceful.

XXX

Confirming Kimito's research from the days prior, Kurosaki Clinic proved to be a small hero agency. Isshin gave the lad a quick tour of the home office and over to the sick room. The cadet was introduced to the father's fraternal twin daughters, Karin and Yuzu. The girls were still in high school, but already had practical experience as nurses. The two are registered as employees at the agency, but they are only part timers in order to adhere to labor laws. Kimito allowed himself to relax a bit when he detected no hostility from the house's occupants. The twins' spirits didn't hold a candle to him and Isshin looked to be about as strong as Aizawa. Kimito was sitting out on the back porch overlooking the wide backyard the Kurosaki's had obtained years ago. Isshin stood in front of him going over the different kinds of material he planned on teaching the lad. Basic first aid, emergency treatment, urban rescue, and the like. Isshin didn't often go out on patrols like his son.

"Which makes me wonder a bit on why you took up my offer. As the runner up, you must have gotten a lot of invites right?"

Kimito looked out into the distant horizon before his eyes trained back in on Isshin. 'For a moment, it felt like he was going to jump at me again.' The teen rolled his shoulders and put his guard up. "Medical skills are valuable, Kurosaki-san. Being able to heal might be more important than being able to destroy, although I did hear that you are quite strong yourself." The pro hero neither confirmed nor denied. "Why did you pick me sir?"

"I guess that depends if my guess was correct or not." Kimito blinked in confusion. "That dark boy you fought in the tournament is related to you right?" Wide eyes and a deep frown marred the beautiful boy's face. Isshin brought his hands up in a placating gesture. "Woah woah. Sorry if I was wrong." 'Though I'm pretty sure I'm not judging by that reaction.' "I just thought, if these two are related then I'll teach one of them about the struggles of being in the hero business with family." A bit of the tension leaked away from the teen. "Only one person can be number one, and you'd be competing for the same fans. I only take a student every once in a while." Both males let out a small breath. "I actually asked my son to extend a separate invite to that boy. Ichigo's not here now, but he's also a registered professional hero. He isn't my sidekick." This was not news to Kimito. His research into the Kurosaki's had been extensive. "He'd already picked up a student from a different school when I mentioned it though."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Apparently had his eye on her for a while. A second year from Shin'o Academy's hero program." It was a lesser known private school that catered mostly to groups of people from old, noble families or students that showed a lot of potential. That being said, it didn't have the flair that U.A. became so well known for. The Academy's heroes weren't standing at the top of the billboard. Most retired after eight or so years and pursued careers in politics and administration. Isshin didn't mention that he was also a graduate from the passively hidden institution.

Kimito's eyes took on a faraway look as this information came to him. How could this have happened? All his digging, and the Kurosaki's bring in someone from out of nowhere. Who is this girl going to be? Is she going to be okay around him? Who's her family? The boy resisted the urge to hold his head in his hands. What's done is done.

"THunk!" Kimito jolted from his thoughts at the sudden sound in front of him. His eyes beheld a wooden katana planted in the ground at his feet. Glaring over to Isshin revealed a second practice sword held in his other hand. "Well, I think that's about enough of that. How about a bit of training eh? You can use one right?" Kimito thought over all of his actions that the adult could've seen, and wondered how the man knew he was familiar with swords. "The way you dodge gave you away." Isshin read him like a book. 'He dodged me earlier even though he couldn't see me, but he didn't react to that sword until it landed.'

Kimito rose from his seated position and stretched out his muscles. Isshin seemed to like playing tricks, and the teen thought the man might come at him the moment he touched the blade. "Shall I switch to my hero costume?"

"Take this as a lesson. An enemy won't give you a chance to get ready." The adult lectured with a finger pointing at the sky.

'I'm kinda getting ready anyway right now.' Kimito thought. "An enemy also wouldn't give me a weapon to fight him with." The teen shot sarcastically.

"A villain's weakness is a weapon for you to use. They don't give it to you willingly though. Ready?" Isshin watched the boy take a loose stance with the bokken in his left hand pointed at the ground. "We can have another match in costume later. For now no quirks."

Without declaring start, the pro dashed at the Arrancar with an overhead slash kendo style. Kimito pivoted so that his left was forward to get the attack to barely miss him. Isshin switched to a horizontal sweep when his blade got to the students midsection. The lad's eyes went wide with shock as he was forced to defend, their swords forming a plus sign between them. It was an easy matter for the adult to overpower the young hero. As the wooden katanas came closer to touching his chest, Kimito closed his left eye in concentration.

"Surely someone taught you to never cross blades with a physically stronger opponent." Isshin teased. The match wouldn't be over with the first hit, but he'd hoped to see more than this. Suddenly the adult felt all the force he'd been pressing against disappear. The pro hero nearly fell forward as his slash carried him into the empty spot Kimito used to be in. Honed reflexes kicked in when said teen reappeared with the tip of his blade touching the man's chest. Isshin lowered the hand he was about to use to flick the boy away. Instead of trying to defend himself when Kimito reentered his field of view, the doctor switched to a one-handed grip and held his middle finger back with his thumb on the free hand. "That was pretty impressive again, but I said no quirks."

"It's not a part of my quirk." Kimito took a few breaths in the lull to steady himself. His body still wasn't used to Sonido. Hakua went on regular runs even to this day to make sure his stamina was up to snuff for the technique.

Isshin noted the teen's condition and nodded. "Alright. Let's keep going."

XXX

The two kept at for another twenty minutes before calling it quits. Kimito dropped to one knee and sucked in oxygen desperately. Isshin had an oddly relaxed nature that vanished when he found an opening. The bruises that were surely forming on Kimito's shoulders and the outside of his legs were a testament to that. The pro stood over the kid without a scratch on him to prove the two just finished sparring.

"That's enough for now." Isshin went over the short match in his head. Kimito favoured slight dodges to create openings and stabbing attacks that maximized his range. After that initial shot to his chest, the boy managed to barely jab the pro once in the stomach and another time deep in his back. If it had been a real katana, the final hit would've paralyzed Isshin. Unlike Kimito, the Kurosaki patriarch used mostly aggressive slashes. At times the doctor even swung the wooden sword like a baseball bat to smack the boy with the flat instead of the edge. "Go get changed into your costume, and we'll go over some hero basics."

"Yes sir, Kurosaki-san." Kimito gave a respectful bow to his skilled teacher. When he returned, he was decked out in a long sleeved, white jacket with black borders. Kimito's pleated hakama, tied by a black sash, billowed out down to the middle of his calves, but the ends were tucked into a pair of black combat boots.

Isshin didn't know what to make of it. There was no way of telling what the boy was capable of while wearing that. Somehow the adult could imagine the winner of the sports festival tournament walking around with explosion motifs as part of his costume. Kimito wasn't carrying any kind of support gear either. No tool belt, back up weapon, medical supplies, or anything. 'Just himself and his quirk.'

The two sat in the small office of Kurosaki Clinic as Isshin went over the professional aspects of the hero business. Kimito got the feeling that All Might would get along well with Mr. Kurosaki. Neither of the two explained the details of heroing very well. At least the man kept his paperwork in order, or maybe that was his daughters doing. "Man, Ichigo sure is taking his sweet time. Where is he anyway?"

Kimito couldn't find a way to respond to that. Isshin's son could be anywhere in Tokyo for all he knew. The young Arrancar allowed his sense to extend out past the house. He felt the twins in their rooms, and the neighbors in their homes. He went farther to the end of the street when a massive spiritual pressure weighed down on him. For a moment, Kimito felt like he was back home where everyone walked around with their energy leaking freely. The people he observed here in Japan usually showed average sized spirits. It didn't matter if they were pro heros or convenience store workers. Aizawa was the biggest in U.A. until Kimito saw All Might go all out at the USJ. This newcomer dwarfed Isshin and Aizawa, but didn't stand above All Might or even Kimito's father. The teen took a breath now that he found a scale for the incoming presence. It wasn't something he could win against currently, so he reminded himself of the exits. Kimito was more than on edge when it came right up to the front door.

"Are you alright, Kimito-kun?" Isshin noticed the boy looking like he was ready to bolt.

"Somebody really strong is coming in."

The pro hero was stunned. 'So that's what it is. Some kind of person sensing. He knew I was behind the door, but couldn't feel the wooden sword coming at him.' The father said nothing as said strong person entered the office. Tall and muscular with a head of spiky, orange hair. Ichigo Kurosaki entered the room with his right fist raised and steaming. Kimito rose and made for the window. "Wait Kimito-kun! This is my son, Ichigo." The boy stopped after opening the back-up exit.

"I told ya I've had enough of yer sass!" The twenty year old was looking slightly over his broad shoulder at someone behind him as he said that. When the young man faced the room's occupants, his eyebrow raised with an unspoken question. "I'm back, and I brought my intern. Come out."

Coming from behind Ichigo was a young looking girl with thick, black hair in a bob cut. A loose bang cut diagonally between her purple eyes. She bowed respectfully to everyone, revealing the comical lump on her head that was still steaming from Ichigo's strike, and rose smiling. "It's nice to meet all of you. My name is Rukia Kuchiki. Please take care of me."