Six Months Later

"Man, *pant* *huff* this sucks!" Zeke exclaimed while still running his daily laps around the track course designed specifically for him. "Why am I the only one running twenty laps today anyway!?"

It had been quite the shock when he first arrived at the facility Hawks had been trained at in his early years, but nothing could've ever prepared him for the worst part of this.

Daily Exercise

The Hero Public Safety Commission prided itself on producing top tier heroes and other agents in the field that can be called on at a moments notice and Zeke was no exception to this rule. For the past six months straight, he's been training like his life depends on it and even if he feels like shit now, he knows that down the line, all of this will come in handy someday.

Of course that won't stop his grievances from coming out. They worked him day in and day out and he was somewhat grateful that Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Toshinori couldn't see him now. Thinking about the former did cause him to push himself past his normal limits whenever he was really tired as he never forgot about the man flat out telling him, he doubted he would be able to do this.

"I'm tired…" Remembering the final talk they had gave way to a new surge of energy that let him push through the second to last lap, "But I'm not that tired!"

"No way am I gonna quit now when I'm so close," he thought.

Pushing himself to the beginning of the last lap, he momentarily stopped when seeing who was observing him in his peripheral vision. "Is that…"

Hawks had made his way to the area he was in and silently watched Zeke, most likely needing to talk with him afterwards. Seeing an opportunity to finally have a decent conversation with someone after these past few weeks, he hurriedly finished his last lap and waited for Hawks to make his way over to him.

"Mr. Takami! It's been a while," Zeke exclaimed with a huge grin plastered on his face.

Coming over with a sarcastically annoyed look on his face, Zeke knew he'd messed up his honorifics again. "It's San, Zeke. My name is Takami-san."

"Of course, you could always call me by my other name…"

"Why would I do that? You've been gone for weeks, so your senpai privileges have been revoked, Takami-san," Zeke finished, putting extra emphasis on his name.

"Hmph, it seems like your manners and people skills have taken a nosedive kid. That's my fault for being gone so long." Ruffling his hair playfully, made Zeke extremely happy even if he didn't want to show it.

"Stop it, you know I hate it when you do that," he muttered.

"Is that why you're blushing right now? You must really dislike signs of public affection," Keigo replied teasingly.

Turning even redder, Zeke pulled away from his grasp and turned away. "Damn bird brain," he muttered.

"Aw c'mon, don't be shy, you didn't even ask what gifts I brought back for you." Hearing this dude manage to calm the situation between them and bring Zeke back into the conversation.

"What gifts?" he asked skeptically. "Anytime you bring something back for me, it's always either something that deals with my training or something You wanted so you just got two of them to justify bringing it back home."

"Nah, I swear this is something you are gonna really be excited about," Keigo replied while pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket.

Handing him the folded slip of paper, Zeke looked at it confused as to what the big deal was. "Um...what exactly am I supposed to do with this?

"Dummy, you need to open it up first before judging it. I swear you kids these days have no sort of observation skills."

Unfolding the paper, Zeke noticed it wasn't blank like he originally thought and instead looked more like a professional letter. Scanning the paper, his eyes widened when he realized what letter this was supposed to be.

"Wait a minute…", his heart almost skipped a beat when he zoned in on a singular sentence at the bottom of the paper, "Your prototype has been accepted and is currently in development."

Clinching the paper and looking back at Keigo, Zeke became ecstatic at the thought of what he had read. "They approved it! They actually did!" he proclaimed.

"Of course, I had to pull quite a few strings with the bigwigs above me to make this happen, but it's the least I could do to reward your hard work over these past six months."

After the hospital incident something about how the man moved like a ninja and him being teleported around the room never left Zeke's head and irked his brain constantly. His movement seemed so fluid and unique while at the same time familiar in a way and figured why not try to replicate that in some way. While he hadn't figured out the full details of how it would work, he did have a rough idea of what he wanted to try and replicate, which was Stain's movements.

"Omni Directional Mobility Gear or ODM gear for short is the name I'm going with. They should at least let me name it since I did come up with the idea and they did approve it after all," Zeke replied with a smug expression.

"With this along with my quirk, I should be able to fight much more efficiently with something like this."

"Not so fast hotshot, don't forget your quirk isn't explicitly suited for combat so you've been training as a rescue style hero in the meantime. This gear of yours in theory would help you search entire areas in a quick and concise manner, then using your quirk should help find any people in danger and in need of help," Keigo stated.

"Of course don't get me wrong, there are a lot more uses I can think you could pull off with stuff like this, but for now we'll just stick to the basics."

Not to be deterred, Zeke continued along as if he heard none of what Keigo said, "I wonder what kind of weapon they'll give me along with my ODM gear. I hope it's something cool like a sword or a gun."

"Um, did you hear Any of what I just said?" Keigo hated whenever Zeke got like this because his one track mind became more of a detriment than an asset after a certain point much to his annoyance.

"Yeah yeah of course I did, but that doesn't mean I won't ever get a weapon to use right? I feel like I'm ready for something more mature than the plastic weapons I've been using in sparring."

"Actually…", Zeke felt a but coming along to ruin his surprise and happy moment so braced himself for whatever he was about to hear.

Keigo rubbed the back of his neck and smiled nervously like he was dreading mentioning whatever he was going to say. "Keep reading the paper, I'm sure you might've missed a crucial detail in there somewhere…"

Scanning the paper once again, Zeke's eyes came across the date the paper was printed and he was immediately reminded why he was now Takami-san instead of Takami-senpai.

"This says this was supposed to be delivered a month ago! Takami-san, how the hell am I just now finding out about this?"

"Well, ya see…", Zeke already knew the words that were about to come out of his mouth were either going to be a lie, a half truth or the actual truth, but he also factored in that all three possibilities would probably piss him off even more.

"I kinda…told the commission don't deliver it to you as I wanted to be the one to surprise you when I got back," Keigo answered.

Watching the man in front of him nervously look in any direction but his, Zeke couldn't stay mad at him even if he tried. "*Sigh*, That's… actually pretty thoughtful in your own sorta way. The only reason I'm letting you off the hook is because while your track record with these things is terrible, the intentions behind it are what matters most."

Turning his head he figured the least he could do is address him properly since he went out of his way to surprise him.

"Thanks again...Takami-senpai," he muttered, especially low on the last part.

Hearing his proper title, Keigo grinned and Zeke almost had to look away again with how bright his smile was. "Aw, that's adorable. My little apprentice has really matured over the time I've been gone."

Ruffling his hair again, Zeke didn't attempt to move anymore as Keigo made it clear all attempts to stop him were futile. "Now onto more pressing matters," Keigo began. "Delivering this message and seeing you again wasn't the only thing on my agenda today."

"There's someone I'd like you to meet. Also I expect you to be on your best behavior as he's the entire reason my trip took so long."

Zeke could only begin to wonder who he could be talking about as Keigo never went into detail about what he did on missions, the less he knew the better. That was one of the main points he mentioned back at the hospital.

Yelling at the door behind him, Keigo motioned for someone to walk through. "It's ok you can come in now," he said.

A dark skinned man walked through the door and made his way over to them. His hair was styled up as a pompadour and he looked a little older than Zeke, but not by much. His attire consisted of a Nike warm up suit and running shoes along with hand wraps. Overall he gave off the aura of a well conditioned athlete who just got done working out.

"Zeke, I'd like to introduce you to someone very special and you should take note of any and everything you can from him. He's a foreigner just like you and due to his...unique circumstances he's been placed under the HPSC's care until further notice."

Noticing the boy frown, Zeke said nothing as he didn't want to touch on whatever it was being withheld from him. And knowing his senpai it was probably massive and would cause problems down the line.

Go ahead and introduce yourself," Keigo said.

"My name is Kyojuro Gonzales and it's nice to meet you," he said while bowing deeply as if to show respect.

"It's nice to meet you too. My name is Zeke Kruger." Shaking his hand, both boys looked over to a smiling Keigo who seemed especially pleased with himself.

"Well would you look at that, friends already? Of course you two will be sparring together from now on so it's best that you get along early."

"What!" Kyojuro replied.

"Why now all of a sudden, do I need a sparring partner? I've been just fine on my own, Keigo," he stated in disbelief. "No offense, but he'd only slow me down."

Now it was Zeke's turn to look in disbelief, "Wait what are you talking about? You don't look so tough. I've dealt with far bigger threats than you."

"Actually Zeke, he's not wrong there. He has prior combat experience thanks to his father so unless we're wrong about him, he should mop the floor with you in an actual fight."

"That's bs and you know-"

"My left," Kyojuro interjected. "I'll beat him with just my left, will that satisfy you, Keigo?"

"If I can beat him with that alone, can you agree to not make us permanent sparring partners? I don't have time to waste here. You already know the reason I'm here right?"

"Yes I haven't forgotten, Kyo-kun." Hearing his name said with such a mocking way of speaking annoyed him to no end, but he knew better than to get mad at a superior. It never ends well for him.

Thinking to himself for a moment, Keigo figured there was no harm in promising him something minor like this. "I don't see why not. If you can really beat Zeke with just your left, then I don't see why I wouldn't be able to oblige you in your request. If he isn't able to land a single hit on you then he isn't suited to train with you anyhow."

"Don't you dare look down on me," Zeke said, clearly angry with what he was hearing coming out of both of their mouths. "I don't know who you are or why he brought you here, but has anybody told you, you have horrible manners?"

Kyojuro said nothing while wearing his same controlled expression. Zeke clearly saw he had struck a nerve somewhere as a small vein showed itself on the side of his head signifying he was livid, even if his expression didn't show it.

"Listen, Zeke was it? I'm not trying to be rude or upsetting, but the only reason I agreed to come here was to train and get stronger. I have things I need to do and people I need to catch up to that I couldn't do if I was on my own. You don't seem like a bad guy at all, but I'm far too strong for you to handle right now."

"I apologize if what I'm saying has offended you in any way," bowing once again as he said this.

"This guy… It's like he doesn't even realize he's being an asshole," Zeke thought.

"Of course, there would be a reward for you managing to beat him in this spar, Zeke. As you know the gear you wanted made has been in development for well over a month and depending on how well I can bend the rules, I could probably get you clearance to try out the prototype."

"Although you'd obviously have to actually win this spar which is what I'm banking on not happening. If you did manage to pull this off then I'd go through with it so it's best if you go all out here."

"That means using your quirk around me as well."

"Tch, of course he would bring this back up," Zeke thought. He had gotten much better with his quirk and now was able to use it without letting his emotions get the best of him unlike with the hospital incident. Whenever he looked at Keigo's aura for too long, his heart would continuously ache and his eyes would water like no tomorrow. Eventually he learned how to work around this weakness, but the handicap from just seeing his aura is enough to lower his chances of success tremendously.

"Fine, but don't complain when I make you keep that promise of yours, bird brain."

Clapping his hands together, he motioned for the boys to walk over to the sparring center in the area and allowed them to compose themselves before starting the fight.

"Let's keep this clean so no dirty tricks," Making eye contact with Zeke, the boy understood what he meant by that. He had a habit of fighting dirty whenever things didn't go his way to shift the tide and he was normally slick enough to pull it off without being seen most days, Keigo never allowed him to pull this off whenever they spared.

"And let's not go completely overboard, Kyo...we both know how you can get when you're upset, so try to stay calm until it's over ok."

Nodding his head, he removed his jacket and began to punch the air furiously around him in a sharp and precise manner that one could only describe as fierce. The way the combinations flowed from his fists were like a work of art and kept the same intensity the entire time.

"What's he doing?" Zeke asked. He was currently doing his routine stretches and the way Kyojuro moved piqued his curiosity.

"Oh, Kyo here is what we like to call a boxer and a gifted one at that. He's quite young, but make no mistake, his skills are already at the national level and he hasn't even finished growing yet," Keigo answered.

"Now listen Zeke, when I said that he should mop the floor with you, I wasn't joking. This boy is extremely strong even without using his quirk, but this is gonna end up being a lesson for both of you. That's part of the reason why I needed you two to meet so badly. You'll need to put everything you've learned in training into action if you want to continue to advance here."

Both boys finished their warm ups and walked over to the mats where most sparring sessions took place and walked to their starting lines. "Ok, now remember this is just a friendly spar, so keep it clean and stop when I tell you too. Are we clear?" Keigo looked to both boys who nodded their heads, yes before looking each other in the eyes.

Raising one hand above his head, Keigo signaled that the match was about to begin. The atmosphere had completely changed and Zeke could see the expression completely fade from Kyojuro's face even more than it already had before.

"Fight!"

"Just focus, Zeke. Don't get worried and don't stop moving forward. All I need to do is get close enough to grab him and I should be able to win." Turning on his quirk, he immediately noticed he could see his aura as well as others. The aura that surrounded him was blonde that had a light brown shape covering his entire torso and arms, almost like a jacket.

"So I can see his too…" Zeke thought before noticing his stance change again.

Kyojuro had begun jumping up and down while moving his feet in a rhythmic fashion and never took his eyes off of Zeke for even a moment. "I can't let him distract me with whatever he's doing. Take the pace and don't let him set it."

Rushing forward, Zeke made an attempt to grab him and failed to see a fist being shot in his direction.

*Smack*

"What the-" Zeke couldn't even process what had just hit him before another barrage of lefts came to hit him again.

*Smack*, *Smack*, *Smack*, *Smack*

Kyojuro had begun moving away from him once he had jabbed him a few more times while keeping his form up and retaining the same stoic and emotionless face as before. Not to be deterred from this Zeke made another charge and was met with more lefts stopping him in his tracks and whipping his head back.

Feeling his nose dripping blood, he knew that this was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought. "My nose is already bleeding and he's only just started to hit me. How the hell is his left hand so fast anyway?"

Keigo sensing things might end too early, decided to give his pupil some pointers in hopes that he would figure out the meaning behind this fight today.

"Zeke, you need to watch him closely the next time he attacks. His left is like a bullet and as a gift from his father, he made sure he taught him the motionless version of a jab before sending him here. It's not something you can predict often and you'll take quite a few hits just to get inside, but you can overcome this."

"It won't be fun though…" Keigo murmured the last portion before continuing to observe the match.

"A motionless jab? How the hell can a jab be motionless?" Zeke wondered.

Kyojuro decided to go on the offensive this time around and started throwing out lefts hoping to tag Zeke again. Covering up, he opened his guard just enough to see how fast they were being shot out.

"Holy Sh-" *Smack*, *Smack*, *Smack* "Even when it hits my guard it hurts! How hard are this dude's fists?

The barrage of lefts didn't let up and Zeke knew he couldn't stay balled up like this forever. He watched and waited until another fist shot forward and ducked under it hoping to evade at least one of them. "Alright, now we're getting somewhere."

His confidence was short lived as Kyojuro had already reeled his jab back in and shot it forward again at an even faster tempo than earlier.

*Smack*, *Smack*, *Smack* Zeke's head was being bounced around like a speed bag and he could barely even make out the angles his jab was being thrown from. Moving away from him yet again, Kyojuro continued to look on waiting to see what he'd try next.

"So I can't duck it and can't block it." The only other choice that he had was to try and endure it long enough to get close which would obviously mean him taking these hits head on. "Man this is gonna suck...but it's not like anything else has worked so far."

Building his courage and gritting his teeth, Zeke rushed him with his guard up not stopping even as lefts showered his guard and by extension some breaking through to hit him. "Keep moving forward."

Kyojuro noticed he wasn't stopping and instead of moving, held his ground and kept the same tempo as before which made Zeke curious as to why he'd stopped moving. He didn't even realize he'd backed him into a wall, but understood he couldn't let this opportunity go.

"Well as long as he can't use any of that fancy footwork to run, I should be able to grab him now."

He had successfully made it to his destination and tried to grab hold of his right arm, but was stopped short with Kyojuro parrying his attempt to grab him by pushing his arm down with his right and smacking him with a powerful left hook to his temple. Maneuvering himself away from the wall and behind a stunned Zeke, Kyojuro kept his composure and moved away from him hoping that he'd managed to finish the fight here.

Zeke tried to turn with him and grab hold of him, but noticed his legs were wobbly and he could barely keep himself from falling over. "Damn, why do my legs feel like jello?"

"Zeke, you took a really big hit to the temple so your equilibrium is probably all out of whack right now. The fact that you haven't gone down yet is impressive in and of itself. Normally guys would be knocked unconscious from a shot like that," Keigo said, clearly impressed.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Zeke slapped both sides of his face hoping to get himself together and be able to continue to fight. "Cmon legs, don't fail me now. I was so close to grabbing him."

Kyojuro, seeing he was still awake after being hit by his hook, finally forced some sort of expression on his face signifying he was either annoyed or upset that he hadn't finished this fight already. "Fine, I guess I didn't put my all into that one anyway."

"The next time I catch him with a big shot, I'll be sure to put him down for good," Kyojuro thought before reading himself for his next rush.

Keigo watching from the sidelines knew things were just getting started and smiled to himself. "You're pretty arrogant for thinking you'd be able to beat someone like Zeke with just your left, Kyo-kun. It'll be your undoing and you only have yourself to blame when it happens."

Remembering the spars they had along with him sparring a few other trainees, Keigo felt bad for the hell Kyojuro was going to experience today, but felt it was necessary to teach him about his weaknesses before things become too serious for him here.

"If you aren't careful, this boy will drag you down to the deep end and you won't even realize it until it's already too late to do anything about it.

"So this time we run into someone that was an ally to both Paradis and Marley huh," The second figure stated.

All three figures had been observing Zeke's progress since his decision to come here and while the first figure was still disappointed in his choice, everyone agreed that he'd made tremendous progress in terms of his physical and mental health. This new event however is the most interesting development they've seen since him coming here.

"She always was the strongest warrior we had in terms of combat prowess and it seems like she reincarnated into yet another combat specialist. This boy is quite different from her though. I wonder why that is."

Nudging the first figure playfully in the arm, he tried to get some sort of response out of him.

"So…" After the last time he'd seen a comrade of his, the second figure wanted to tread extremely carefully so as to not push the first back into his shell. It took weeks for him and Ymir to cheer him up again. "What are your thoughts on seeing her again? Are you ok?"

The first figure hadn't so much as said a word since the fight started and was currently lost in thought. The thought of seeing his comrade and enemy once again twisted his heart in many directions as this is the person who he grew up and trained with, but also betrayed him and killed so many of his friends.

"You should already know my thoughts…" He reminisced fondly and bitterly at his fallen comrades that she had slain in the pursuit of her goal to capture him, but couldn't find it in his heart to truly hate her after understanding her better. Marley, Paradis, his family, the world itself had left a bitter taste in his mouth, but even with all that baggage, deep down, was happy to see she was alive and well here too.

"I'm glad...that even after everything that happened, her spirit is alive and well. I can't forgive her, you already know that, but I couldn't really hate any of the warriors now can I? Especially when I was no better than them in the end."

Gripping his fists in frustration, the numerous failures he'd accumulated in his life echoed within his mind gnawing away at him. "I caused so much pain and suffering and so many others paid the ultimate price for my failures and mistakes."

"Over and over again, it seemed like the cycle could never truly be broken, only delayed and yet for a time, there was peace. I did what I had to do in order to secure it for everyone even if I sacrificed my own…" His mind wandered to a woman he had known his entire life and Ymir felt a pang of guilt at the realization that he was still hurting, even after all this time.

Walking up to him she grabbed his hand and wove it into hers, hoping it'd help calm him down. Ymir was the silent one between the three of them, but she had a better grasp of knowing when someone needs comfort better than the other two by a long shot.

"We are all connected here so both of you know who I'm thinking of, don't you? I may never truly see her again, but as long as we keep moving forward, things will get better."

"That's all anyone can do in life."

Smiling to the little girl beside him, the first figure sat down in the sand, criss cross style and continued, "Thanks, Ymir. I needed that."

The second figure made his way over to them and sat down just as they had. "I wonder when he'll pull off one of those fancy grappling moves you used to do. Even with a dude that skilled, I'm sure it'll cause him a butt load of problems once he gets a hold of him," the second figure asked.

"That was a long time ago and who knows if he'll even be able to pull it off. I was only able to beat her once and that was due to her being caught off guard. With the handicap he placed on himself, that might be the chance he needs to win," the first figure replied.

"Although, I doubt this fight goes on much longer. He's taking a beating out there."

"He definitely got that weird never quit, determination thing from you. I'd have given up after the first fifty jabs. He's just walking into them at this point," the second figure stated in disbelief.

"It's like he has no self preservation skills whatsoever."

The first figure looked up at the starry sky and smiled knowing everything he said was the truth. "Yeah, I always was pretty reckless. But that's exactly what he needs to pull out a win. Either he keeps pushing forward or he stops and loses. I guess we'll see how badly he wants to win."

"It's been over twenty minutes and they're still at it," Keigo thought nervously.

When he was first assigned to the mission to acquire Kyojuro from his home situation, never in a million years did he expect a thirteen year old to be this skilled at fighting. He figured that Zeke would've been able to make this a somewhat fair fight, but it's been about as one sided as you could get.

"He's been beating on him relentlessly for over twenty minutes straight and Zeke hasn't even managed to land a single hit on him. This goes above and beyond what we were expecting. Within a few years he'll definitely become a force to be reckoned with, especially if he attends U.A."

Watching Zeke take another flurry of combinations with his left, Keigo seriously considered stopping the match even if the commission gave him hell for it. "I know they wanted to gauge where both of them are at, but this is insane. Zeke is gonna end up with permanent damage if I don't step in soon."

Zeke tried to side step another barrage of lefts only to be intercepted by a swift uppercut and left hook thrown in quick succession. The blows clearly hurt him and yet he was determined to grab a hold of Kyojuro no matter what.

"This is insane! Why hasn't he gone down yet?" Kyojuro thought. "I've hit him so many times with my left, I've lost track, but I'm sure I hit him with all my best shots."

While he had refused to throw his right hand out of pride, doubt began to creep into his mind at the fact this boy will not give up and most likely wouldn't until he gets hit with something so powerful that he couldn't shrug off. "I made a promise to myself and Keigo that I wouldn't throw my right…"

Zeke charged him once again and was met with even more jabs in an attempt to wrap this up. Kyojuro was getting frustrated and anger only ever made things worse for him. He'd get sloppy and make little mistakes he wouldn't normally make when calm and collected. "Damn it, stop fighting already!" he shouted, clearly letting his annoyance get the best of him.

He kept charging forward and was met with jabs, uppercuts, hooks etc. and Zeke didn't back down in the slightest. It only served to piss Kyojuro off even more.

"Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall, FALL DAMN IT!" By this point, the veins were showing on his face and his eyes grew wide with anger as his lefts became more frantic and violent in their approach to putting Zeke away.

Noticing how worked up he was becoming, Keigo wondered if his quirk would end up coming into play here. He knew Kyojuro disliked using it, but it was integral to him and boxing definitely nurtured it for better or worse.

"Looks like it's already started. If you don't calm down soon, Kyo-kun, you'll end up the one on the losing end here today." His expression was serious as he still was ready to stop it if things got any worse for Zeke, but decided to allow him one more chance to turn the tides. "If he can't show me something within the next two minutes, I'm gonna stop it. Any more of this would be inhumane."

Zeke's right eye was completely swollen shut, his head was foggy, his body was barely responding to him and yet, something deep inside of him forced him to continue forward until his goal was completed. He couldn't describe it, maybe it was determination, stubbornness or a combination of both, but one thing he was sure of is that he really didn't want to lose to him.

"Don't stop...keep going...if you stop moving, the fatigue will catch up all at once and you'll pass out," he reminded himself.

Catching more lefts on his way in, Zeke noticed that they were becoming wider and more erratic than earlier. "The one's at the start were far more tight and compact than this. He's getting sloppy." Stopping slightly to gauge his expression sent chills down his spine as Kyojuro's face had slowly morphed into one of pure fury.

"Is he-" Not even getting the chance to finish the thought, Zeke was beginning to be absolutely bombarded with lefts with no regard for accuracy or speed. Kyojuro had flown into a blind rage and his quirk had reached its boiling point. The pain from his lefts before didn't even come close to these as every hit he took felt like a baseball bat was being hit across his face.

"Why don't you wanna go down you dumbass! Fine, then I'll beat you into submission even if I have to break your face into pieces!" Left after left after left came crashing into Zeke, now mixing up some body blows in hopes of maximizing his damage. "Honestly, I hope you don't go down now. I want you to understand the difference between us, you stupid PENDEJO!"

An uppercut came blasting into his chin, momentarily stunning him and knocking him unconscious while still seemed to slow for Zeke as he was staring at a pitch black abyss, not even sure as to where he was. "T-this dude's a monster," he thought, still unsure of what was even happening anymore.

"Can I even win against someone like this?" He'd given it his best shot, but maybe he's given enough. No one can blame him for being this exhausted right.

"I'm so tired and all I wanna do is sleep…" Feeling his eyelids get heavy, he started to close them for good before he noticed a shining light overtaking his vision. It was shaped like a shard and was barely visible, but showed two people seemingly fighting each other. While her face was still unclear the female stood in a form resembling Kyojuro while the other person was heavily silhouetted in a shadowy substance.

"What...is this?" He could barely make out the surroundings, but the female had seemingly taken hold of his neck while kicking his legs out from under him. She slammed him into the dirt, ending their confrontation with her as the winner.

"Who are these people? What am I even looking at?" It felt like he was viewing memories, but unable to interact with the shard at all. Still unable to move, he wondered what any of this meant.

"What was I doing before anyway?" Racking his brain, he recalled something hard hitting his chin earlier leading to him ending up here to begin with. "Wait a minute…wasn't I…"

"Duck."

Waking up, his body ducked on instinct as a left hook sharp enough to cut through the air itself had just barely missed his head. "Oh yeah, I was fighting this asshole."

"Was that a part of my quirk? Nothing like that has ever happened to me while I've been here. It was like watching someone's else's memories."

Dodging another jab, he saw an opportunity to flip the momentum in his favor, but if it failed he was probably going to get knocked out. "Ok, so he's completely out of his mind right now and his attacks are getting sloppier by the second. If I can time this right, I might be able to imitate that girl I saw and take him down."

Thanks to his quirk reaching its halfway point, Kyojuro had lost himself in anger and only wanted to push Zeke's face in as far as he could with his fists. "This CABRON really doesn't want to go down. Fuck this…" Clenching his right hand back, he was getting ready to put an end to this once and for all.

"I don't even care about the deal anymore," His anger continued to grow while watching Zeke put up this pitiful excuse of resilience and he just wanted to end him at this point, "I will bury you!"

"This is it!," Zeke thought, noticing him about to throw his right.

Throwing it out like a bazooka, Zeke rushed in while dodging it by only a few inches and pushed into his chest. Pushing himself under his right arm and wrapping his own arms around Kyojuro's neck, he kicked the boy's legs out from under him and slammed him to the ground with a sickening thud.

"What the hell are you doing? Get off of me!" Kyojuro yelled. Thrashing about did nothing as Zeke refused to let go, instead favoring to tighten the grip he had on his neck. Kyojruo tried to maneuver out of the hold, but found the boy to be stronger than anticipated and the grip kept getting tighter and tighter the more he struggled.

"I said let me GO!" He then started elbowing Zeke in the back of his head which still did nothing as the grip still got tighter and tighter.

"Alright, now it's time to transition…", Zeke in one swift motion, released his grip and brought his legs across his neck and grabbed hold of his arm. He pulled it in the opposite direction and Kyojuro started to freak when he realized what was happening.

"Wait, he's got me locked in a triangle armbar. This is bad," His arm was being tugged extremely far out of place and his air circulation was being cut off as well due to the pressure being applied around his neck. "I got careless...damn it, I can't move…"

"He'll pull my arm out of the socket. I gotta get out of this!" Kyojuro panicked.

Loosening his grip on his neck, Zeke waited for the boy to take the bait he'd set thanks to the momentum shift. "Cmon, take the bait…"

Breaking free from the leg lock around his neck, Kyojuro punched downwards hoping to land a finishing blow on him. Zeke released the hold on his arm and grabbed hold of his neck and wrapped his arm around it and pulled him back down the ground in a guillotine choke.

"I won't let you escape!" Zeke tightened the grip around his neck and locked his legs around his back. Cranking the submission as tight as he could caused Kyojuro to start punching any part of his body he could reach in hopes of getting him to release the hold around his neck. He started moving forward trying to find even the smallest wiggle room to breathe, unfortunately Zeke had been training with Keigo for the past six months in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so he had a much greater grasp of how to keep someone there than most.

Feeling his air circulation cut off completely, Kyojuro's movements became slower and more lethargic as he was slowly being pulled to the cold embrace of unconsciousness. "Why did I let things get this bad...All I had to do was stay calm...I couldn't even do that right…"

Before closing his eyes for the final time, his thoughts drifted over to Keigo and his father and what must've been going through their heads when it was decided he'd be coming here to train. "What did you two want me to learn…" The last thought entirely however was directed towards the boy choking the life out of him currently and it made Kyojuro's blood boil.

"I don't know how you managed to turn the tides so quickly…but I swear to you this is not over…"

"Not by a long shot, you...stupid...puta."

Kyojuro had completely stopped moving, unable to breathe and was laying limp inside Zeke's guard who released the hold and threw him to his side. Catching his breath, Zeke laid on his back with Kyojuro's unconscious form right beside him.

"Man…*huff*...that was…*huff*...really awful!" Zeke forced out.

Keigo wasn't surprised that things ended up like this, but the tenacity that Zeke displayed in his desire to win was incredibly astounding to someone like him who was only an observer and facilitator to the whole thing.

"It looks like I was right after all," Keigo thought. "Kyo-kun, you're gonna get an earful when you wake up *sigh*."

Making his way over to the two, Zeke had given Keigo a valiant thumbs up with a smile while still laying on his back. "You better hold up your end of the bargain, Takami-senpai. You put me through hell today and I'd like to be rewarded for going through all this torture."

"Yeah, yeah, I did promise to let you try out the prototype. Of course you'd obviously have to wait until you're healed up a bit. You look horrible," Keigo replied. Looking over how badly his face was currently, Keigo would probably be able to buy a little more time until the prototype was just a tad safer for a thirteen year old to try out.

Looking at Kyojuro laid out, Keigo realized that even though he was extremely gifted, this boy had a lot to learn that simple training could no longer teach him. "His quirk is extremely volatile and the fact that he held it back for so long is commendable, but he let his anger get the best of him when had he stuck to his gameplan, he'd have KO'd him."

"Well, it looks like we should get you guys cleaned up. Ready to move Zeke?"

"Zeke?"

The boy had passed out midway through Keigo's internal monologue with a smile on his face. "Of course I'd get stuck with carrying both of them to the infirmary." Scooping them up across each of his shoulders, Keigo started his walk to secure them the help they needed after this bloody affair.

Back inside his mindspace, the three figures were ecstatic about the breakthrough he'd made with his ability. "He's finally at a point where the next stage can begin to develop," the first figure replied.

"I had doubts about this place, but maybe him being here isn't so bad after all."

Ymir looked down at the sandcastle she had built during the fight and smiled knowing things were going good for them. She in particular was glad he was able to smile with his head held high after everything he'd gone through since coming to Japan.

"Now while I agree that the boy has made progress, it's still in the extremely early phase. God knows how many more people he's going to have to meet in order for this next phase to blossom," the second figure said. "From the look of things, everything is about to start getting complicated."

"You're not wrong, but this is his path to take and all we can do is help him with his power as it grows and eventually matures into it's true form. Once that happens, everything from that moment forward will be up to him and him alone. We won't be needed anymore," the first figure replied.

"Plus...don't you all think we deserve some rest after all this time here?"

The somber look across the other two's faces answered the question for him without needing a verbalized answer.

"Well until that day comes, all we can do is wait here. The only thing he should do is continue forward until he comes to a PATH that he finds suitable to walk down on his own," the second figure replied.

"You're right," the first figure said.

Ymir nodded her head in agreement with both of them.

Relaxing once again, they looked at the scenery of the place they were stuck in and no matter how many times they saw it, always managed to take their breath away. Until the time came, they would wait here and even if it did seem like forever, they had each other and the bond they shared was unbreakable. That was enough for them.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, that hurts!" Zeke yelped.

For the past hour, Keigo had been tending to him in order to get the swelling around his eye and face down while checking for any other injuries he might possess. "Stop moving and this wouldn't hurt so much. You're acting like a baby," Keigo replied.

"You don't see Kyo-kun complaining now do you?"

"That's because he's still asleep bird brain," Zeke muttered.

Quieting down, silence filled the air once again and both of them had questions that they wanted answers too. "Should I mention that weird thing with my quirk earlier? I wanna tell him, but something is telling me now is not the time for it…"

"I don't understand how I saw any of that, but at least I know I'm making some sort of progress." Curiosity on what this new found power could accomplish left him feeling hopeful at a recent potential development that could now be theorized. "I wonder...could I see my memories about where I came from? Maybe that's what my quirk is supposed to do."

"No, that feels wrong. I'm definitely missing something here," he thought.

"Zeke, what are your impressions of Kyojuro? While you did manage to win, I wasn't lying when I said that you two would be training together from here on out."

"I'm honestly not sure. He was crazy strong, but the amount of anger he had for a simple sparring match was really unhealthy," Zeke answered.

"Oh, that's because of how his quirk functions. It converts his anger into physical stats so things like his strength and speed all increase whenever he becomes angry. Even though he's so young he's managed to channel a quirk like this into something positive in his boxing, but as you saw earlier, the cracks started to show and it cost him the match," Keigo stated.

"Well at least that explains why his punching power kept going up the longer we fought," Touching his swollen eye, he wondered what would've happened had he not seen that memory and grimaced at taking that right hand, "If he's like that now, I don't even wanna imagine what he'll be like once he masters his quirk. He'd be a juggernaut."

"Speaking of that, that's another reason why I wanted him to fight you today. His most glaring weakness is that once he reaches a certain point, his technique goes out the window and his strikes and movement become wider and unfocused as all he's looking to do is land power shots hoping to satisfy himself," Keigo said.

Rubbing the back of his neck, his expression turned serious and he looked back at Zeke. "I can say for a fact that the Kyojuro you fought today was give or take twenty five percent of him, boosted by his anger."

"What do you mean twenty five percent?! That's not even halfway," Zeke exclaimed.

"His quirk functions in percentages if that makes sense. The longer a fight goes on, the more his anger percentage rises and at its peak he'd have probably killed you or at least come as close as one could come to dying. By the time you managed to turn the tides, he was probably around that as he'd already gone back on his promise of not using his right and it's a good thing you stopped him here."

"If it went on any longer he'd have stopped holding back entirely and you'd have been KO'd horribly."

"Yeesh and you mean to tell me he's gonna be my regular sparring partner," Zeke asked worriedly.

"Yeah unfortunately for you the higher ups and I all agreed on this being the best course of action for you. If you really wanna become strong enough to attend U.A then this is the best path for you. Training with someone as strong as Kyojuro will help both of you out long term and prepare you two for your entrance exam in a few years," Keigo answered.

"So he's aiming for U.A too…" The thought of having to fight someone like him in a sports festival down the line sent a small chill down his spine unbeknownst to Keigo. "Jeez, this is such a pain, why do I attract all the weirdos?"

Seeing his job done as he'd patched him up as best he could until healers arrived, Keigo readied himself to leave. Picking up a still unconscious Kyojuro and throwing him over his shoulder, he started to walk towards the exit. "Alright Zeke, I'll be back in a few days with clearance for you to try out the prototype for that gear you requested. Although until the swelling around your eye goes down, you'll have to wait just a bit longer ok."

"That's fine, Takami-senpai. As long as I can try it out, the wait will be worth it."

Waving once more, Keigo left the room and closed the door behind him leaving Zeke alone with his thoughts once again. He'd been through alot today and met someone who for better or worse would become a huge part of his new life here. If anything these six months have shown that he's a survivor and can adapt when needed...even if Kyojuro did have a few screws loose.

Placing a hand over his heart, thoughts drifted to the shard with those two figures and wondered when he would see something like that again. "I wasn't able to get much out of that moment, but I know that my quirk can do more. Maybe I just need to train harder, but I swear I will figure all of this out. My past has gotta be tied to whatever I saw."

"Wonder why Kyojuro and that person had a similar stance and from what I could tell, they had the exact same aura?"

"No use in racking your brain over this right now I guess. Once they heal me I'll be out of commission for at least a week or two until I fully heal. During my recovery time, I'll make a list of everything that I need to research about quirks like mine evolving and I'll go from there."

Yawning, he looked at the clock beside him and saw it was only 6:00 pm. Deciding to turn in early and rest, he made himself comfortable in the bed he was in and closed his eyes waiting for him to drift off to sleep.

"No matter what life throws at me, I'll dedicate my entire heart to this until I reach the truth…"

"I have too." Drifting off peacefully to sleep, he had no idea of the monumental butterfly effect that this day would have on his life going forward.

Zeke's quirk is finally beginning to show the other facets mentioned earlier and God I cannot wait until this bad boy fully manifests. It will undoubtedly shake the MHA world to its core. Also here's a summary of Kyojuro's quirk

Kyojuro Gonzales
Quirk: Anger Redistribution: This quirk allows Kyo to channel his anger into physical stats so things such as power, durability, stamina, reflexes, fight IQ etc. are all maximized in this state, The main drawback is he tends to lose himself the longer a fight goes on since his anger will continue to grow until it reaches its peak. Once that happens he'll just be happy to brawl and swing wildly which leads to him ending up in bad situations.

Expect the next chapter to be a Shifuku style summary for both Zeke and Kyojuro as there's a lot I need to fill in about them.