Arc 2 Chapter 8: Road to Forgiveness

Kenshi and Rin were facing off, Kenshi had a hammer in his hand while Rin was wielding a water blade.

"You know, I've heard a lot about you, Bulldozer." Rin says. "I heard you were captured and apparently killed too. Pathetic, if you ask me."

"Do not speak of things you don't know of, Rin." Kenshi said as he ran to try and knock Rin over. Rin counters with his blade and the 2 get locked in combat.

"You know, bulldozer, I've also heard that you are somewhat of a swordsman, so why not try that? Or are you scared to lose to me?" Rin told the boy.

"Ask and you shall receive, Rin." Kenshi said as he placed his hammer back in the inventory as Alpha suggested removing 2 blades Kenshi had not used in a long time. 2 blades he got from SAU.

"Try this one out," he told him.

Kenshi pulled out Kirito's swords with glowing edges. He was determined to win. Win for himself, win for his classmates and win for Momo. The two clashed again attempting to outdo each other. Kenshi was looking for an opening.

Rin flicked his whip and managed to cut Kenshi on his cheek. Kenshi shook it off, not holding back. He could see that Izuku and Ochako were wiping out their competition and managed to qualify. He was determined to do the same.

"From what I heard Rin, you're a dirty fighter," Kenshi told him, "You're all bark but no bite."

"You want bite, I'll give you bite!"

He attacked Kenshi who dodged while grabbing two balls. Using his scouter he aimed at two weak spots. Rin was infuriated by this and wasn't going to let Kenshi outdo him.

"This ends NOW!" He shouted.

"Someones pissed!" Kenshi taunts.

Rin attempted to strike Kenshi with his water whip and he evaded it. He kept moving forward but soon found himself unable to move. He looked down and saw the water begin to solidify.

"You like my technique?" Rin asked, "My quirk also allows me to freeze water and keep my opponents in check."

Kenshi attempted to struggle out of the ice.

"Now I'm gonna get rid of your weak points and show you why I'm better than you," Rin said.

Kenshi suddenly remembered his session with Ectoplasm. His words started to ring in his head.

'The more you let a gaming console cool off, the stronger it becomes. That's the same with your gamer quirk.'

Kenshi then smirked. He turned to Player Alpha who knew exactly what he was planning.

"You know what they say about nice guys finishing last?" Kenshi asked to Rin, "Well they were wrong. JABU!"

Kenshi suddenly broke free and Player Alpha arrived in the form of his 'stand' Jabu. He was prepared to dish out punishment and send Rin on a Bizzare Adventure. Rin dashed at him and attacked only to be blocked by the stand. It knocked the whip from his hands and started throwing multiple faced paced punches in a flurry.

"JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU-JABU!"

"If the last punch hits, it could get ugly," Kenshi said.

Alpha punched Rin hard, sending him flying to the other side of the building. It was stronger than during his match against Bakugo because Kenshi was doing something differently. He was channeling the glitch energy into his stand. That way it could be used for more than its usual time limit.

Most of Class 1-A had already qualified for the next round including Katsuki and Camie and Kirishima. Kenshi was gonna make it one way or another. He kept pummling Rin with his stand until he was able to get away. He then used his whip and grabbed Kenshi's arm, throwing him towards the edge.

"Not bad for a bulldozing loser," he said, "Unfortunately it wasn't enough to best me. And now its time to play the piper."

He had a ball in hand ready to knock out Kenshi's weakspot.

"Say goodbye, Bulldozer," he said.

"Hey Rin!" shouted someone.

He turned to Maho who had a crystalized ball in her hand.

"His name is Jojo!" she said.

"For the last fucking time! Stop stealing my freaking line, kero!" Tsu shouts weakly in the distance.

She threw the ball hard and it hit Rin on one of his weakspots. This gave Kenshi time to grab a ball and hit the last weakspot, hard. He lost his balance and fell down on the soft platform below as the final horn rand, signaling the end of the exam.

Both Kenshi and Maho were qualified for the last portion of the exam. Momo went and hugged Kenshi congratulating him on his victory. Maho sadly looked at him and smiled.

"This doesn't change anything," Kenshi said, "But… as far as things go I do appreciate your help."

Later, everyone was starting to get prepared for the second portion of the exam. Everyone from U.A managed to pass the first round. Izuku was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Ochako who smiled lovingly at him. Kenshi was getting a few compliments from some of the contestants, especially on his ultimate moves. Jirou saw Maho sitting by herself then turned back to Kenshi. She approached him as he was talking to them.

"We need to have a talk," she said, "Yaomomo, mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a minute?" Not waiting for Momo to respond, Jiro grabs Kenshi and drags him away.

Later Kenshi and Jirou were outside.

"Ok, what's this about?" Kenshi asked, "I was signing autographs for some people."

"...Why were you so rude to Maho before?" Jirou asked, "I mean it wouldn't have killed you to talk to her. Momo knows you would never cheat on her if that's why you're always avoiding Maho but…"

"That's not it," Kenshi said, "It's because I don't trust her."

"Why not?" Jirou asked.

"Its obvious why, because she betrayed me," Kenshi said, "She's the reason why I was expelled from Middle School. Because of what she did, I can no longer trust her, and she thinks she can just walk back into my life after all that. Fat chance. I'm better off without her in my life."

Jirou walked towards Kenshi. She then socked him hard in the jaw and he yelped in pain.

"Do you actually mean that?!" Jirou asked, "Have you not the slightest idea how bad Maho felt when she did that to you? She's here to try and make amends, yet here you are resenting her for it! She's told you she was sorry for what she did."

"A simple sorry doesn't cut it," Kenshi said, "Not after what she did to me. Not what after they did to me!"

"She didn't do anything," Jirou argued.

"Exactly, she didn't do anything, she just stood there and allowed me to get expelled and bullied by Rin," He told her.

"Jojo you need to put your history aside and get over your feelings," Jirou said, "That was then, and this is now."

"Jirou I have respect for you as my friend, but if you think you're entitled to tell me how to treat my ex, you're sadly mistaken," Kenshi said to her, "You don't even know what I've been through."

He started walking back inside.

"The thing is I do," Jirou told him.

Kenshi suddenly stopped.

"I went to your middle school, though we only talked like 1 to 2 times, but I was there when the whole scenario happened," Jirou explained, "After everything, Maho talked to me and talked about how bad she felt when she did what she did. I told her to wait until the time was right to try and make amends."

Jirou turned to Kenshi.

"Look, I'm pretty sure there was something holding her back. I mean she looks like the person who would have jumped in to help you at the first thought, at least she did it for us. She saw us stuck between a group of examinees, that were trying to either knock us out or grope us, and she didn't hesitate to help us. Hell she even went against her own school to help you, Jojo!" Jiro told her friend.

"Wait….. she helped you guys?" Kenshi asked.

"Yes, and if it wasn't for her we wouldn't even qualify for the next round, and I'm pretty sure deep down you know you're thankful for her help against Rin," Jirou told him, "You need to go talk to her, do it now or do it after the exam, I don't care but go talk to her, get to know her side of things, and then you decide if you want to forgive her or not. Alright?"

Kenshi sighs, seeing the reason in Jiro's words. "Alright, I'll go talk to her, but you cant blame me if I don't forgive her even after I her hear side of things." He tells the punk-rock girl.

He goes to Maho, who was sitting alone listening to music on her phone and taps her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Maho, if you've got a minute, meet me at the entrance."

During the 30 minute break, Maho was walking to the spot where Kenshi told her to meet him. He was waiting outside with his mask off, with his arms crossed awaiting her arrival.

"Well, you're punctual, I'll give you that," he said as he turned around.

"What's this all about Kenshi?" Maho asked him.

"When I spoke to you before the exam, I wanted my words to be clear when I told you face to face that I wanted you out of my life," Kenshi told her firmly, "I wanted my words to hurt you, so that you could understand how you hurt me."

Maho looked down and mumbled, "I'm sorry…"

"But…. Jirou talked to me and got me to realize what I said to you wasn't out of anger, but rather out of sadness," Kenshi admitted, "You betrayed my trust and allowed me to go through the worst suffering imaginable."

Maho walked closer to Kenshi mustering the courage to speak to him.

"Kenshi I know what I did to you was unforgivable," she started, "But I want to make amends, I want to make things right."

"I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to trust you, but even so…. I wanna at least try to," Kenshi said, "After the exam, Momo and I are hosting a team to tackle a hard dungeon in Gun Gale. There's a spot for you if you're free."

Maho smiled and said, "Nothing would make me happier."

The two of them headed back into the stadium. As they headed back they heard some punching sounds and screams of pain. They went to the main lounge to see Rin and two of his lackeys on the ground. Jirou and Momo were standing victorious.

"OH hey guys," Jirou said, "What's up?"

"...what just happened?" Kenshi asked.

"Rin tried harassing us again so we decided it was time to teach him a lesson," Jirou said, "Ochako taught us a few self defense moves and they worked wonders."

Kenshi smiled at momo.

"So did you patch things up?" Momo asked.

"Well we're taking one step at a time," Kenshi said to her, "but at least I'm not mad anymore."

Momo approached him and kissed his lips.

A lot of students were looking at Rin, infuriated with what he tried to do.

"Hey hey hey, don't be ganging up on me, after all I'm the one who gave you all those pointers on how to take on Bulldozer and his gang of losers!" Rin said, "I had to go through U.A's documents to find out about their quirks! Does nobody give worth a damn about victory?!"

Maho walked up.

"One who does not accept things as they are cannot hope to achieve victory," She said.

"Yes, from one of All Might's books!" Rin said, "Thank you."

"But victory isn't really the topic here, but more like…. Deception," Maho said, "What makes you think it's cool to look at our classified information, especially how our quirks work?"

"Yeah man, what's that all about?" asked another student.

"Wha…. no no no, I was doing that in order to…." Rin said before being interrupted.

"How about we put all this craziness behind us and move on to get ready for the next portion of the provisional license exam," Mera said, "That sound alright? 'Wonderful Mera' said the rest of the students."

Everyone got ready for the second portion of the exam. Rin's teacher approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know I don't' like yelling at kids, so I'm gonna be a cool teacher right now," he said, "You gotta stop doin' that, alright? Not only is that creepy but it's a violation of privacy and it can get you thrown in prison. No more leaking out information about people's quirks, heroes or students, kay?"

Rin may have gotten off easily, but now he'll learn not to mess with Kenshi and his gang.