By the fifth day, Izuku couldn't move his horribly chapped lips. Hizashi watched as young Midoriya smeared his face in moisturizing lotion. Things weren't progressing as fast as he thought but it was hard for Izuku to just blow out at full power and be expected to master it in five days. It seemed he was never allowed to do so or he was told he couldn't.
It didn't deter him from trying though.
By noon on his final day with the radio host, he couldn't speak anymore. His face was hurting to the point it was almost numb. Izuku had soaked his face in ice last night before he went out to clean up more of the beach on his own. On top of what he was already doing at the beach, he practiced blowing out fire at the sky trying to reach to the red flame.
Now he was laying on the ground at UA in a field of broken and melted rock tired and mentally exhausted. Cementoss stood over him and handed him a bag of ice.
"You ok?"
Izuku gave him the thumbs up.
"He went to get you a slush."
Izuku forced a smile with his cracked, bloody lips.
After Izuku nearly gave him brain freeze about six times, he managed to clear his throat a little bit. It didn't feel as dry and painful as it was. He would definitely had to buy more of those after he used his quirk for long periods of time. It felt so good to drink that shaved and crushed ice.
"All Might said you can absorb heat through your hands."
The boy nodded.
"Have you tried forcing it out?"
Izuku blinked.
"No," he whispered.
"Well, I think that would be something to try. You could launch yourself in the air."
He looked at his soon to be teacher funny.
"I never thought of that..." he whispered hoarsely.
"It might give you the advantage in battle. Let's try that. I'm almost afraid you'll burn your lips off at this rate."
"How did you get that idea though? I've never tried anything like that."
"Well... I have a student who uses his explosions to propel himself forward. I thought maybe if you could absorb heat, you could force it out too."
"That's a good idea."
Izuku put his drink down and stood up.
"It's just a test to see if you can do it."
"I understand."
Izuku rubbed his hands together before holding them downward. He took a deep breath and focused on his palms. He could feel the heat going into his hands but pushing outward seemed slightly more impossible. He knelt down holding his hands closer to the ground to give it a try. He could feel searing heat hitting the ground but he started to shiver some making his teeth chatter.
"Well?"
"I-I think I need to absorb more heat to do something like... It-It's so cold!"
"You don't subconsciously do it on your own?"
"N-no. I try not too. I've been known to set things on f-fire."
"You need to work on that then. Start running."
Izuku sighed and did as he asked. Hizashi pulled out his phone to give Aizawa a call. He tapped on his picture and the phone started ringing.
"Hello?"
"You think he's going to be ok here? Maybe he should be held back a year?"
Silence.
"I'm not saying he can't do it but-
"He's already enrolled. We are teachers and our job is to get him up to par with everyone else. Deal with it."
Click!
"So rude sometimes."
X
X
Izuku stood in the salty water staring out into the distance. He managed to get the rest of the trash off the beach without any real problems. He lifted his hands to stare at them. He certainly felt very different lately. Different like there was more power to him. The pain was real though. Not his burnt lips or sore palms.
Just the thought of his Dad or Mom seeing him make it to UA. It had been a life long dream and now...
It's been so rough. I have nothing to do now to keep my mind off it. I can't blow too much air out of my hands like I can absorb it. I expected things to be a little easier but it's not. Maybe I'm using One for All wrong?
He sat in the water quietly. Izuku looked around him. Much to his surprise he saw a couple of boys walking through the sand together holding hands. It was kind of dark to tell what they looked like but they stopped in their tracks once they saw Izuku sitting in the water. They turned around and walked away in the opposite direction.
Oh. I guess I interrupted their date night.
Izuku watched them walk away into the distance until he couldn't see them anymore.
It must be nice to have someone like that. Someone to trust all your secrets and feelings with. I wonder if that's how Shouta and Hizashi feel. Mom and Dad were probably like that too.
He sighed. His phone started ringing up in the sand. Izuku dried his hands off on the dry part of his shirt to answer.
"Hello?"
"Izuku! Are you still out?"
"Yes..."
"Hurry home. You need some rest."
"Oh... Alright. Can I have a snack when I get back."
"Of course."
"Thanks Toshi. See you soon."
X
X
This whole thing was unbelievable. Now Izuku had his turn with Aizawa and it was no walk in the park. He started losing count how many times the underground hero caught him but it was starting to make him really upset. The man noticed the change in his demeanor but didn't say anything until the end of their first day together.
He tossed Izuku to the side once again leaving him laying on the ground. Izuku didn't dare more. He was beyond pissed. Things shouldn't be so hard. He felt like everything he was doing now should've been a piece of cake. He was number one in his old class so why was everything so difficult?
"I can tell you right now, I will expel you if you can't escape me by the fifth day."
Izuku turned slowly to stare at him.
"What?"
"I have no need for losers in my class."
Izuku's grinded his teeth.
"Get up. You're staying out here until nine. I can do this all night. I have no problem with it since you're making it so easy for me."
His nostrils flared out as smoke began leaking from his mouth.
"Fine."
"No using your fire on me. You are here to be faster. To escape."
I can't do anything but run. Even with the little bit of use I have of One for All, I can't escape him. He's so fast.
"Don't stare. Run."
The night ended in Izuku being captured twenty eight more times.
The next day started at six am until nine pm like the day before. Izuku wasn't doing any better this time either. Aizawa told All Might he had to stay away otherwise he would refuse to train him. After another hundred something attempts, he didn't make it once again and it was nine thirty at night.
"Why don't you give up already?" Shouta asked, "You clearly can't run or dodge. I thought you would be able to move faster with all that muscle on you but I see that isn't the case."
"I don't want to run!" Izuku yelled slamming his fist into the ground.
It buckled under the force, slightly bruising his hand.
"I don't want to run or watch! I want to fight! To defend! I can't allow myself to ever do that again!" Izuku screamed with tears running down his face, "I can't let the villain get away!"
Aizawa's gaze softened some but he shook his head.
"One day you will be forced to pick up the hurt civilian, friend or fellow hero and run. You won't be able to fight. You would have to run. Not because you're weak but because it would be the better choice. The life you're saving is more important that winning a battle."
"It is but I have to win! If they get loose they'll hurt more people!"
Shouta said nothing.
"I have to win! I have too, to make sure everyone else is ok! If I let a single one go, then someone else will get hurt! I don't want another me somewhere out there! In those moments I was so frozen by fear, I felt worthless! I'm trying so hard!"
Izuku rubbed his face, trying to hide the tears. Eraserhead knelt down and pulled one of his hands down.
"There are plenty 'yous' out there. Everyday one of them is made but some aren't strong enough to make it past that. If you want to save people from being you then you need to try harder instead of crying. It won't be easy but if you want it... You're going to get it."
Izuku glared at him. The man sighed.
"I was you once."
The boy looked slightly surprised but he didn't say anything.
"I watched as the love of my life got stabbed in the back and beaten up. I was so frozen by fear that another friend had to come in and save us. It took me three weeks to speak to him when he was in the hospital wishing I was there by his side. I hurt him greatly."
Izuku dropped his hands.
"I didn't want to be another you either but I ended up as one. Paralyzed by the fear and unable to do anything. Hizashi wasn't mad at me at all. He understood. Even for a while I hated myself and pushed myself harder. I had to try harder because I wasn't like everyone else. My quirk wasn't offensive."
"I'm sorry."
Aizawa ruffled his hair.
"Try again tomorrow."
"O-ok."
X
X
Aizawa reached the rundown neighborhood by six to see Izuku already standing there. He already looked like he was out of breath and he was all sweaty but he had a smile on his face this time.
Something seems a little different about him.
"Did you even sleep?"
"I slept four hours. I had to try."
"Did you make any progress?"
"I did."
"You think you can take me on?"
Izuku nodded confidently.
"You said if I escaped, you would face me head on."
"I did say that," Aizawa answered.
"Then get ready to fight. I know what to do now."
Aizawa jumped up and the capture cloth headed straight for Izuku. The cloth hit the ground instead of wrapping around his ankle. He looked upward to see Izuku flying through the air and landing on an abandoned building. Shouta didn't even see what he had done in that split second.
What the hell-
Without warning, bright yellow flames appeared out of no where making him jump back. Once again, Izuku was soaring through the air with a determined look on his face that the teacher almost smiled. He barely had enough time to move out of the way when the boy threw a punch and it connected with the sidewalk instead. The concrete buckled, leaving his hand slightly bloody and bruised.
"You thought you could use that against me?!"
Izuku smiled, "I can't catch this area on fire, can I?"
Smart thinking kid.
"I see Mic taught you something useful even though he couldn't do it with him."
He nodded and cracked his fingers.
"It took a while but I got it."
Yellow flames shot out again and immediately stopped as Aizawa jumped up.
It seemed Izuku Midoriya certainly wasn't challenged at his school and only fought robots. It was much, much harder to fight someone who could think and move a lot faster. Even if he couldn't successfully capture Eraserhead, he did what he was supposed to do... he escaped and he was still going to UA.
By five in the afternoon, Shouta had enough. The two of them sat on the sidewalk trying to catch their breath. Even with half of his clothes burnt, Aizawa couldn't complain. Izuku smeared chapstick on his lips and laid back on the uneven concrete.
"Would you like to come over and see the cat and kittens?"
The boy smiled.
"Yea. Can we get a cherry vanilla ice cream slush first?"
AmbertheCat: I'm glad lol We wanted it to be different with a different spin. I reread the manga itself to refresh my memory and went off of that lol
Foxluna: thanks and I hope that's a good thing lol