The night after Izuku and I received our acceptance letter, Inko took us out to a nice restaurant in order to congratulate us. I was still getting used to not saying "Japanese restaurant/food" for everything there, considering I was literally in Japan where that wasn't a special type of establishment, but just normal. Some of the foods I was introduced to took getting used to, but luckily for me I already absolutely loved sushi so I always had a reliable meal I could ask for at restaurants or for take out. We had a really pleasant evening. Izuku and I talked to Inko about our practical exams, where she was horrified by the danger we were in, but proud of us nonetheless. I was a little distracted by the fact that I knew Izuku would go out tonight after dinner to see All Might by the beach. I was absolutely going with him, as I had a few choice words for the "Symbol of Peace."

After we finished eating and returned home, Izuku and I changed in his room, but were interrupted by Izuku's text tone.

"A text message is here!" I heard my brother's phone go off. He rushed over excitedly, barely pulling his hoodie over his head. He read it and turned to me, smiling widely.

"Ryoshi, All Might just messaged me, he wants to meet up at Takoba beach! I wonder what he wants to talk about?!"

I looked at him plainly. "Well I certainly know what I want to talk to him about."

Izuku's face grew anxious, remembering my claim that I was going to ring All Might's neck for letting him use One For All without any training. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously, before he continued.

"Haha, well, he probably wants to congratulate us in person for passing, too!" He tried to move past my evident aggravation, continuing in a cool manner. "We should hurry up and meet him… Oh! What are we gonna tell mom?"

I thought for a second before responding. "We'll just tell her we want to hang out on the beach, maybe go for a walk. She's so elated right now I doubt she'll care as long as we're back before it's too late."

Izuku nodded in agreement, after which we both falsely informed Inko of our plan and left for the meetup with All Might.

After the short walk to the beach, we saw the skeletal figure of Toshinori Yagi standing on the shoreline awaiting his protégé. Izuku started running to meet his hero as I chased after him.

"HEY ALL MIGHT!" Izuku announced to God and everyone on the beach.

I facepalmed as All Might practically spewed blood in surprise.

"Chill out, kid!" All Might exclaimed as there was a clamor from the few local beach-goers. "Way to blow my cover! Say it was a mistake!"

Izuku over exaggerated his voice as he flailed his arms rapidly. "UH, I WAS JUST KIDDING NOTHING TO SEE HERE!"

I shook my head and chuckled as All Might and Izuku both let out a relieved sigh.

Toshinori looked up, this time at both of us. "Congrats on getting in, both of you." He offered a high five to us.

Izuku excitedly returned the gesture while speaking. "I couldn't have done it without your help!"

All Might turned to me with the same offer of a high five. I returned it reluctantly and spoke.

"Yeah, I'm real thankful for all the help you gave him." Suddenly my face turned to show my evident anger as I grabbed All Might by the collar of his polo shirt. "EXCEPT THAT YOU DIDN'T GIVE HIM ANY! Izuku nearly killed himself because you didn't teach him how to use his power!"

All Might's eyes conveyed a mixture of shock, confusion, and defensiveness. I could practically feel Izuku recoiling while he yelped in panic.

All Might responded quickly, "Hey, kid, calm down! I know Izuku got hurt, but we were in a time crunch! And it turned out alright! Besides, now he knows what he's dealing with!"

I really wasn't blaming All Might too much. I knew he cared about Izuku and genuinely wanted the best for him, but I needed to get my point across. I let go of his collar and continued to speak my mind.

"Look, I get it, and you have no idea how thankful I am that you chose Izuku to receive your power. You made the right decision. But you need to get out of your pro hero mindset, especially now that you're going to be teaching at UA. You're not just responsible for being the Symbol of Peace anymore. Izuku and all of our classmates will be relying on you, not only for instruction, but to keep them safe. You can't sit by waiting for them to figure out their limits on their own. It's dangerous, and in Izuku's case, it can be fatal."

All Might stood there staring at the ground. He looked like he was simultaneously deeply considering my words as well as trying to figure out how he was being lectured by a 15-year-old. Izuku just looked on at us, mouth slightly agape. Then All Might spoke.

"You're right. I hadn't truly considered the ramifications that my new position would have on others, not just myself and young Izuku. I will ensure the safety of my students first and foremost, and I will ensure you receive proper training, Izuku." He looked at his successor with an intense gaze. "Right now, your quirk is either all or nothing. One day, you'll learn how to control your output. Then you'll be able to adjust exactly how much power you're using."

All Might picked up two littered cans from the beach and held them for us to see. Izuku grew a smile of encouragement and spoke.

"I just need control?"

All Might responded after some thought. "You're overflowing with energy at the moment, with training your body will hold it better." He stopped to flex into his power form and crush the cans in his fist as if they were paper. "Then it's yours to command!"

I nodded as I watched Izuku steel his resolve. Suddenly, we heard a stranger call out.

"Look, it really is All Might!'

All Might grunted in embarrassment before quickly commanding us.

"Right! Now we run!"

We all took off, sprinting away from the few fans giving chase. After we reached a safe distance from our pursuers we all made our way onto the streetside balcony overlooking the beach. Once we caught our breaths, Izuku addressed his mentor.

"But All Might, I don't even know where to begin harnessing this power…"

All Might looked to him thoughtfully before responding. "You can harness One For All, it's simple…"

And then came the ridiculous explanation I had been dreading.

"YOU GOTTA FEEL IT!" All Might exclaimed like a hype man at a highschool football game.

Before Izuku could respond or he could continue, I interrupted.

"That's it? That's the advice you're giving him?! Just feel the power and if he doesn't get it just keep trying to 'feel it.' That's moronic! I know you're not used to it, but you do understand that you have to actually teach to be a teacher, right? If all you leave Izuku with is to 'feel' his power until he gets it under control you might as well go ahead and tell him to break all his limbs now to save him some time! One For All isn't a normal quirk, All Might. I already told you before, I promised myself I would keep my family safe no matter what it takes and I'm- !"

I stopped suddenly, feeling Izuku take hold of my arm. Even though I was still fuming I looked at him and saw he was giving me a sympathetic smile.

"It's okay." Izuku gave me a simple message, but it calmed me down drastically. I turned to All Might again and bowed a bit in respect.

"I'm sorry. I know you are doing your best, and again, I'm thankful for all you do for the world, and all you've done for my brother. But he and my mother mean the world to me. They're all I have left…"

All Might stood straight and his look of shock turned into a comforting smile. He stepped closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I understand, young Ryoshi. It's part of what makes a hero to have that unbridled desire to protect the ones you love. Truthfully though, you're right. I may be unmatched as a pro hero, but as a teacher and a mentor, I have a lot to learn. So I propose a compromise."

Izuku and I looked quizzically at the Symbol of Peace, and awaited his response.

"There are three weeks before school begins. We will take every opportunity available to train. It will have to be off the record, as I can get in trouble for it before the semester officially begins. Not to mention, I doubt you want your classmates to think you're getting some kind of special treatment. We will work hard until Izuku has some semblance of control over One For All, and then you boys will enjoy the rest of the break, understood?"

I grinned. I had really gotten through to him and it showed. Izuku and I looked at each other, both stoked for the promise of the future. We both pumped our fists and said together,

"Yes, sir!"

All Might smiled contently and continued. "Good. Now, Ryoshi. I watched your practical as well as young Izuku's. You've obviously trained your quirk quite a bit to have that level of control. So, where do you go to train?"

I replied confidently. "I have an area off from the paths in the Shizuoka Prefectural Forest Park! We can meet at the beginning of the trails tomorrow and I can lead the way!"

Izuku turned to me with a sudden realization. "So you haven't just been going there to hike! I should've figured that was where you were training your quirk, but I honestly never put much thought into it, haha!"

I nodded and grinned before All Might cut in.

"So we have our location. We'll meet there bright and early, be sure to eat a good breakfast before you boys head out, got it?"

We enthusiastically replied together once more.

"Yes, sir!"

We concluded the meeting and gave our farewells, with Izuku and I having pleasant chats on the way home.

"I already can't believe All Might chose me as his successor and trained me to inherit it, but now we're going to get special training from him for our powers, too! This is so awesome!" Izuku fanboyed.

I chuckled and replied. "It's really good to see you excited about this, but I hope you take it seriously. I want All Might to genuinely prepare us for the future in these few weeks. We've both got a long way to go before we're real pro hero material."

Izuku changed disposition. He looked more intensely at me.

"I wanted to thank you by the way…"

I was slightly confused.

"Huh, what for?"

"Back there with All Might, you looked like you were gonna thrash him because he didn't train me to use One For All properly… and then when he was trying to give his explanation you really tore into him about what it meant to mentor someone. I… I've never had anyone stick up for me like that. I mean, there was that girl that wanted to give me some of her points after the exam, but that was more like gratitude or in the worst-case, pity… You really looked like you would have fought him for me, it didn't matter that he was the most powerful man in the world. Thank you. You're the greatest friend I ever could have asked for."

He was tearing up during his confession, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't as well. I hugged him and spoke with a stern resolve in my voice.

"You're my brother and my best friend. I promised I would never let anything happen to you, and I'll keep that promise if it kills me!" I backed up and looked at him sternly, wanting him to understand how sincere I was. "I saw a hero inside of you the moment I met you, and now that I know you, I see the power to be the world's greatest hero growing inside of you every single day. Nearly every card ever dealt to you was a bad hand, but you've kept going no matter what! When everyone told you that you couldn't, your undying spirit kept you moving towards your goal! Izuku, you constantly inspire me to be the greatest hero I can be. No matter if the world is against you, I'll always be by your side, taking it on right there with you."

We both just embraced for a moment after that. It had been so long since I had a real connection with someone. Izuku really was all I had. He was the person I was the most truthful with, and it felt like I was lying to everyone else about my entire being. So I enjoyed being able to be genuine around him, at least somewhat.

Not long after that, we both made it home and settled in for the night. I decided to just get some rest instead of worrying about quirk tactics or solutions for the future; I had enough high-strung emotions for the night. My decision ultimately didn't matter as my anxiety motivated me to stay up for another two hours anyway. I hadn't had much time to think about it, but the events yet to come worried me greatly. I had tried to come up with so many ways to combat the USJ, Stain, Overhaul, and everything else I could think of. I had to worry about how the things I would do might change the future as well. It felt like too much to handle, and after planning for an hour and a half, I spent the remaining 30 minutes awake just trying to stave off having a panic attack.

I woke up with relief as I smelled Inko's cooking. I got up and sat at the table with them, thanking Inko for the meal before digging in. Izuku was nearly done and nudged me with his elbow.

"Hey, we'd better hurry up! We have our hike in a bit and you still have to get ready!"

I was still half-asleep but realized he was correct.

"Oh, shit, you're right."

Inko interjected quickly. "Language, young man!"

I went to open my mouth, thinking. "I'm literally an adult, what are you on about?"

And then I had the unpleasant yet frequent reminder that I was not 21 as I should be, but in fact 15.

I sighed. "Sorry, mom. Old habits, you know?"

She looked at me sympathetically. "Oh, no, sweety it's okay. I can only imagine what they thought was appropriate for a child to say on the streets… "

I nearly rolled my eyes but just put on a smile. "Yeah, not exactly the kind of people whose primary concern is what's okay to say in public. A little busy figuring out where their next meal was going to be."

I felt a little bad, as Inko looked sort of guilty, but she just nodded in understanding. "I should've considered that. It's hard to put yourself in other people's shoes sometimes, you know?"

I agreed with her on that, so I nodded earnestly. "Yeah, but I'm finished eating now. Thanks again, mom! Me and Izuku are going to go for our hike, I got him to start coming with me."

Izuku nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I'm totally stoked to start hiking!"

Inko gave a questioning but supportive look at her biological son. "O-okay Izuku... Well I'm glad you found a healthy outdoor activity you enjoy so much! Just make sure you boys are safe, okay?"

We both assured Inko that we would keep safety in mind and after I got ready we made our way to the Forest Park.

We were greeted by Toshinori waving to us as we arrived at the start of the nature trails.

"Hello young men! What took you so long!?"

We both smiled and I spoke up.

"Sorry, I overslept a bit, I had trouble sleeping last night."

All Might waved his hand dismissively. "No matter, let's get going, we're burning daylight! Young Ryoshi, lead the way!"

I followed his command and led our group to my secluded area within the forests. It was evident I had been training there, as some of the trees were missing their bark due to me hitting them with my light gauntlets.

"Alright, here we are." I declared.

All Might flexed into his power form and spoke. "Very good! Now we can begin!"

He turned and walked towards Izuku. I had to hold in a laugh as I saw a book in his back pocket titled "Teaching For Dummies." I knew he would get it at some point, but originally it was much later in the series.

"Young Izuku, tell me, when you used One For All, it felt like an overwhelming surge of power, right?"

Izuku responded excitedly. "Yeah! It was like ZZT! Or wait no, more like POW! Or maybe… OH! It was like an egg exploding in a microwave!"

All Might could barely contain his laughter. "That's pretty boring but, okay! If that's the metaphor you wanna go with, then lower the wattage or decrease the cooking time. You have to keep focusing on that image of keeping the egg from exploding alright?"

Izuku nodded. "I can do that!"

"Then show me." All Might said confidently.

This was different from the show, where All Might basically said "You have three weeks to figure out how to not blow yourself up with a metaphor, enjoy the rest of your summer!"

"H-huh?! What do you mean?" Izuku grew worried.

All Might's voice grew serious. "If you want to control this power, it's gonna take more than just concentration. Just like how we trained your body to accept One For All, we will have to train it to use it properly. Right now you're putting 100% of your power into one single movement or attack. You obviously can't handle that, so maybe try barely calling forth that energy into your attack instead. Even the smallest fraction of One For All will be better than anything you can muster normally."

"Gee, thanks…" Izuku sarcastically remarked. "You're right, though. I'll try bringing anything I can forth."

We watched Izuku get into a solid stance and rear back his right arm. I could see the energy just faintly glow through his veins. As he let forward a punch he yelled.

"Smash!"

His punch blew wind forward at me and All Might, but it was akin to a mild breeze instead of the impactful pressures that he could achieve at 20% power.

"Excellent progress, Izuku! Already you're getting the hang of it, and look! You're still standing!"

Izuku stood, visibly shaking and holding his arm.

"It took everything in me to muster only that much, like I had to keep the lid closed on a shaken up soda that was bursting!" He explained.

Good old Izuku with his mundane metaphors for super powers.

"Then we'll keep you doing that until it comes natural to you. After that you will be able to gradually increase your power output." All Might declared.

After doing some thinking, the power that Izuku managed during his training with Gran Torino was 5%, and this was clearly less than that. I deduced he was using somewhere between 1-2% of One For All. A poor start, but a start nonetheless.

"Now, Izuku, I want you to do this routine while continuously maintaining that level of power." All Might handed him two sheets of folded paper with numbered steps on them. "While you're doing that, I'll be training tactics with Ryoshi."

"Oh." I accidentally let out.

I had dissociated and was just watching them at that moment so All Might mentioning my presence shocked me a bit. Not to mention he said he would train me as well, which I kind of didn't expect. Izuku nodded to his mentor and began with a run, though I could see him straining as his veins glowed with power.

"Um, I usually train by myself, All Might. Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but-"

"Of course, I understand, young man." He interrupted. "But I wanted to address some things you might not be aware of. I conceded that you were right yesterday: I'm new to mentoring and it will take much time and effort before I'm an efficient teacher. However, I've been a pro hero for many years, and from looking back on all of my experience, I can impart some of the things I've learned and seen for myself unto you and Izuku!"

I nodded, happy to know he was taking this seriously and proceeding in an intelligent manner.

"You got me there. So what were some things you wanted to show me?" I responded.

He stretched a bit before explaining, "A pro hero needs many things to be successful, not just raw power! Though, just from knowing you this long I can already tell you've put a considerable amount of thought into that. Since you're such a clever kid, I want you to tell me. What do you think is your greatest hurdle at the moment, physically?"

I didn't even need time to think about it. I already knew that I was extremely limited by my lack of mobility, and I was trying to come up with ideas to get around that limitation before Aizawa's apprehension test.

"I'm really lacking in speed and overall mobility. My quirk has a lot of power and potential, but I haven't been able to think of a way to use it to make up for that particular shortcoming."

All Might praised me. "An astute observation, young man! The first step to improvement is acknowledging one's flaws! However, I think there is an easy solution to your problem. You already made the first step with those constructs of light you make around your arms and fists."

"My light gauntlets? They help, sure, but it's only to make my strikes have more weight to them. They don't actually make me hit any faster or with any more power…"

All Might gave me a mischievous smile and responded. "Why don't they?"

"Well because I-" Suddenly it clicked.

My light gauntlets were exactly like the projectiles or walls of hard light I had been making, I just had been treating them as though they were different! I could manipulate everything else I manifested to move at high velocities, so I should be doing that to them as well! After a moment of concentrating, I summoned my gauntlets and further manifested solid light around my feet and legs. I envisioned my gauntlets moving faster than my arm would normally be able to move by waving them back and forth. My arms felt extremely uncomfortable, but they weren't in too much pain. I looked up at All Might and playfully grinned.

"Hey, All Might?" I got his attention.

He gave me a quick reply, still grinning himself. "Hm?"

I suddenly influenced my light to give me a burst of speed and began sprinting faster than originally ever possible towards a tree. My body felt like it was nearly tearing itself from the unnatural manipulation, but it was all worth it when I launched forth a devastating left hook at the tree while yelling All Might's signature phrase.

"SMAAASH!"

Upon me making a critical impact with the tree, the great cypress was unrooted and fell backwards with a resounding crash. Exceptionally pleased with myself, I stood straight and turned to All Might, smiling wildly. There was a residual pain presenting itself in my extremities, mostly in my left shoulder. I figured it was most likely from straining my muscles, as they weren't even remotely used to handling the unnatural movement my newfound ability offered.

All Might clapped while doing a hearty laugh. "Incredible, young man! You're a natural! Keep this up and you'll be at the top of UA in no time!"

Just before he finished saying that, Izuku ran up to the scene, One For All still channeling through him. He looked awestruck by the felled tree.

"Holy crap, Ryoshi, did you do that?!" He asked, the spark from his power flickered in his eyes.

I rotated my arm to stretch my shoulder while responding. "Yeah, arm hurts like a son of a bitch, though."

All Might chuckled before addressing me. "Ryoshi, how about you rest for a bit and we'll come back to this later, eh? In the meantime I'll help Izuku."

I simply nodded and smiled at him and my brother, pleased with my progress and the prospects of the near future.

Author's Notes:

- A bit of a shorter chapter this time, but the quirk apprehension test is up next, so that will probably have a bit more to it.

- Izuku can control about 1% of One For All regularly! We all have to start somewhere… But seriously, I didn't want to immediately jump him to 5% control because I felt it was a bit unrealistic with him literally only doing a single attack with his quirk beforehand. I also didn't want him to basically have no reason to go train with Gran Torino.

- I want to thank everyone again for the support! I absolutely love seeing the comments/reviews and interacting with you peeps, so I definitely suggest you do so!

- As always, I welcome any and all questions or constructive criticism! You can leave them in the comments/reviews or reach me at lukewindsortheauthor !

- I can't think of anything more to touch on for this chapter, so I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Review Responses

- Coldsan - Thanks for the support! Ryoshi doesn't really feel comfortable using the laser ability, as he can't control it well and he doesn't want to tip his hand that he can do it quite yet either.

- Xenozip - I really like this suggestion. While I've never watched Highschool DXD, I will most likely use this ability in the future! Thanks so much for the support!