It took Izuku a while to find a suitable place for his and Akira's training. He didn't want to take the high schooler to the beach—that was his and All Might's space, he didn't want it intruded upon so soon—but there weren't a lot of other places he could think of. After talking to Alibaba about it, Izuku decided on a gym in Shibuya. It was expensive, but it would be good for a one-time training session. Not that he thought he would only have one session with Akira! He just wanted to make sure that Akira knew he was invested as he searched for a good place.
Akira agreed for a meeting easily enough, so right after school in late May they arrived at the gym together.
Izuku swallowed as they walked inside. Akira greeted the man at the front desk; clearly he had been here before at some time. Izuku had rented them the "Quirk Room," which would allow them to use their quirks unsupervised so long as everything inside the room remained intact by the end. Any damages and… he didn't want to think about it. The cost would be more than his family could afford.
Still it would be useful. It was big, and there were several things used for quirk training: weights and bars bolted to the ceiling and paper targets against a steel wall.
"Which do you want to do first?" Akira asked, settling into the room. "Fighting or quirk training?"
The way he phrased that, Akira clearly expected Izuku to choose fighting, so he picked the opposite. "Quirk analysis is typically less physically taxing."
Akira cocked an eyebrow. "Okay then. Where do we start? With me?"
"Yeah. Tell me about your quirk."
He nodded. "It's called Shadow Lord. I can manipulate shadows." To accent his statement, Akira's shadow swept out behind him, far larger than the room's ceiling lights would allow. It was darker than normal shadow, Izuku noticed, almost pure black and it writhed, alive. "But I can only manipulate my own, or shadows that my shadow is touching."
"Can you touch things with your shadow? Say, grab one of those weights?"
"It's difficult, but yeah. It's easier to just use it as a blunt object and push things." The shadow tried to grab one of the weights, but it slipped out of its grip and fell to the floor with a loud bang. The shadow pushed it back and forth.
Izuku nodded. That would be one of the first things they would work on. Other shadow quirks that he'd studied allowed for precise control when able to interact on the physical plane. He narrowed his eyes. "Try… making tendrils? Or tentacles? Something smaller that's easier to control." Akira frowned but obeyed and his shadow reached out at the weight, small enough to wrap around it instead of the giant mass it was before. But still, it was unable to grab the weight. "Well, that didn't work."
"No, but it does look cool." With that, Akira's shadow flared out into dozens of tendrils, waving along the walls.
"It does look intimidating," Izuku agreed, cracking a smile, "but not too useful if you can't grab anything."
He approached the shadow itself and crouched. Up close, it looked thick, slick as tar and twice as vicious. Izuku reached out to touch it and Akira jumped. "Can you feel that?"
"Yeah? It's weird though; less of a touch sensation and more like I'm sensing that you're there?"
"Is it just me you feel, or inanimate objects too?"
"Just you."
Izuku sat back on his heels. "That would be useful for rescue," he muttered. "Absorb the shadows within a collapsed building to sound out survivors, and even support the structure to prevent further collapse. Of course, the second part would be difficult if you can't sense physical objects, but your shadows seem almost liquid in consistency, so they might naturally fill any space they're confined too… However, without the fine control to grab someone, your shadows could become more of a hinderance to rescuers than a help—"
"So fine control is our first priority." Akira interrupted him.
"Ah!" Izuku sputtered, waving his hands. "Sorry! I'm, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to lose track of myself!" Stupid, stupid Deku! No one wants to hear you ramble on about their quirks, it makes them uncomfortable.
"It's fine; you made good points." Izuku blinked. He wasn't… mad? "Fine control isn't something that I've been able to practice, but I know a great place here in Shibuya. It's just a matter of muscle memory."
"Or whatever kind of memory you use to control them." Izuku agreed. "Still, the consistency of your shadow bothers me. The few shadow quirks I've been able to observe don't change the appearance of the shadow, so what is…" Izuku poked the shadow in question.
His finger sank inside up to the knuckle.
With a cry, Izuku jerked back, his finger freed. The shadow had felt cold and slimy, but didn't leave any residue behind. Akira looked incredible grossed out. "That felt weird," he said.
Izuku grinned. "But useful. Why don't we see what exactly can enter into your shadows, and then you can teach me to fight?"
"…I don't think I like the look on your face."
"Because I'm excited," he stressed. "Do you know what this means? Your quirk has changed the fundamental nature of shadows in a way I've never seen before." His hands itched to write down his observations. "We need to experiment right now! Who knows what other things your shadows could do! Why, you… you might even be able to teleport using them!"
That caught Akira's interest. "How do we figure it out?"
"I have a plan."