"Did you ever willingly take a life?" I pop the question to All Might once I take a long sip of water as I take a seat beside him.
"Quite a few times." He hums out, looking like he lost himself in his memories. "There are times where certain Villains are willing to throw away their lives to bring others down with them. Sometimes I wish I could understand their motives." He sighs softly before taking a sip of his coffee. "One such Villain was a known terrorist, his Quirk allowed him to turn anything he touched into bombs, the bigger the object, the bigger the explosion. He was an S Class Villain, and he mostly used cars to make said bombs, as the explosions produced by them were always strong enough to topple buildings."
"One day he somehow got wind that I was hunting him down to put an end to his reign of terror, so he holed himself up in a mall with a car display in the middle. He had dozens of hostages around him, and he was clearly suicidal as he also had a vest full of bombs on him."
"He used his Quirk on himself, and I punched him into the sky before he could use it on the car on display too. I'll never forget the crazed grin he gave me as he turned himself into a living bomb." I hum softly as I stare at the bottle of water in my calloused hands, my knuckles slightly bruised and purple after my training.
"It doesn't get any easier does it?" I sigh softly as I lean back, and All Might merely pats my knee in comfort.
"It never gets easier, you just get used to it." Now that's one hell of a line.
"Damn, you stole that line didn't ya?" He bursts out in loud laughter at that as I snort myself. C'mon, nobody can just whip out such lines on a dime.
"Maybe? I've used it a few times before, even in a commercial." I lift a brow, and he actually flushes a bit under my stare as he coughs into his fist. "It's too embarrassing to say." The fuck kinda commercial was it about? Man genitalia or what?
"I'll just ask Izuku, dude knows everything about you by memory, and date." He coughs up some blood – like a good Young Master does – and ends up flushing even more. "Do you know that he's go a shrine for you in his room? I remember that he tried to convert Koji, Kaminari and Sero last week." He coughs up blood once more at that as I laugh aloud. I'm not even kidding! Kirishima had to drag the boys away from a manic looking Izuku.
Dude's got a lot better now that Bakugo ain't around. The fucker is now somewhere picking trash with a tracker attached to his leg, like a criminal. Hah! Wish I could see it!
"That boy seriously takes things a bit too far…" All Might sighs out, before chuckling and shaking his head.
"I mean, that might be his coping mechanism against what was happening to him before U.A." I point out, making him flinch and breathe in a harsh breath as his fists clench tightly. Yeah, he clearly is very furious that he missed such a thing.
"I've been failing a lot of people recently." He hums out softly, making my gaze soften as I sigh and scratch the back of my neck.
"What about your organ transplant? Any good news?" I change the argument successfully, bringing a smile to his face as he raises his head.
"Yeah, I'll be undergoing surgery after the Sports Festival, and with Recovery Girl I'll be up and running in just a day. I'll probably still get weaker even after the transplant, but it'll be at a much slower rate than before." So he probably can use One For All for a lot longer since he kept it for years and he is the one that bought it to this sheer level of pure power, only reason that he couldn't use it for a lot longer is because his body kept deteriorating due to lack of nutrients. The problem should be swiftly fixed once he goes through surgery.
"Still can't fucking believe that y'all didn't think about it." He slowly turns his gaze away from my very intense and mildly pissed off one. Even Nezu didn't think about it! What the fuck!?
"In my defense, I didn't bring it up because I thought they already thought about it and decided that- I'll just shut up." He clamps his mouth shut after I give him a deadpan look. Dude's just trying to worm his way out of the embarrassment.
I sigh and stand up, then stretch my sore back as he perks up.
"Another round?" I nod as I gaze at the mess of steel and wires and glass shards all over Gym Omega, a Gym only third years can use. I got in thanks to All Might after I discovered about it, and it's doing wonders for my training. "Are you sure? It's fine to take a break." I give him a grin and a wink before stepping forward and past a red line while he sighed and grabbed the tablet beside him.
"I gotta push myself old man." I hum softly as an alarm blares through the large gym for a few short seconds, followed by a count down while I crack my knuckles and roll my shoulders.
Soon, the squares opened all over the walls of the large silver gym, and robots of all types swarmed out of them in large waves.
And instantly locked onto me.
(All Might)
The Brawl Gym, a Gym on U.A. campus that only third years can use to challenge themselves.
It used to be his favorite gym back when he was an alumni, with his best record being thirty whole minutes. Number two in the rankings, just a few minutes short of Gran Torino himself.
He could have broken the record but Gran Torino promised him a world of pain if he dared to.
The robots would grow smarter each minute, going from just charging to actually circling, looking for openings, and even attacking from afar.
And Young Jirou, a first year, had already reached the ten minute mark after just two weeks of constantly challenging herself in it.
Her growth is… outright horrifying.
"Quite the spectacle, isn't it?" He blinks and looks down in surprise, his eyes landing on the small furred form of Nezu standing right in front of him, eyes tracking Young Jiro as her fists and legs whipped out time after time, her form blurring left and right as she punched through robots or just beheaded them with a swift kick or vicious punch.
"It is. As is her growth." He hums softly as he watches carefully, swiftly noticing her unfocused eyes as she starts moving even faster.
It took her just a week of hard work to finally manage to enter that state that allowed her to overpower the Nomu back at the USJ, but unfortunately she can only maintain it for a single minute.
And in that single minute she becomes an absolute monster.
"That's because of her Awakening." Nezu hums out as he hops on the bench and takes a seat, his eyes easily tracking the blur that is Kyoka as robot after robot is completely decimated under her blows.
"Are Awakenings really that great?" He had heard of them, but never researched too deep into them. All he knows is that the Quirk Factor within a person that goes through an Awakening suddenly horrendously spikes to monstrous levels, sometimes to a hundred times than the previous one.
It's a known fact that the higher the Quirk Factor, the stronger the Quirk. One for All is proof enough, with it's Quirk Factor being four hundred million last time he checked before he gave it to Young Midoriya, who's Quirk factor now is double that amount. No wonder he can barely use just five percent of One for All right now, it's full power had nearly doubled in the transference!
How the kid did not implode after all the times he used One For All at maximum power he doesn't know, but that's probably due to the body instinctively holding back the power so to not overly damage itself too bad. What Young Midoriya used those times probably wasn't even close to maximum output.
And Young Jirou is also proof of that. Previous records of her Quirk Factor were in the tens of thousand. After the USJ? In the tens of millions! And it's still rising too due to her only achieving a partial Awakening!
"The human body is very fascinating, and for the longest time scientists have theorized that humans only use between five to twenty percent of their brain full capabilities, and the same speculations are said for the body too." Nezu explains, and All Might listens intently as he keeps his eyes on Kyoka, who pops in and out of her Awakened state so to lessen the strain on her head, eyes and ears. "Awakenings happen through times of great turmoil, be it mental, physical, or both. And what they do is break the Limiter set on the human body and mind. Those that achieve their Awakening experience horrifying growth, both in Quirk training and physical training. As you can clearly see." He nods towards Young Jirou, making All Might gulp softly as his wide eyes now looked at the teenager girl with even more interest.
"She heals faster, she grows faster, and her Quirk evolves to become something abnormal. Horrifying even. Like her Auditory Precognition." The ability to hear an action happen before it even starts, and be able to intercept it before the command is even fully processed by the body. No wonder she overwhelmed the Nomu with ease.
"And she isn't the only one experiencing tremendous growth. Her classmates are too!" All Might shivers at the nearly manic grin that spreads across Nezu's face. "All of them don't want to be left behind and they are all pushing themselves to the point of breaking their bodies. Over and over." All Might's eyes widen slightly at that. So that's why Young Midoriya had suddenly improved so much in such a short amount of time! From three percent to seven in just a week!
"Shouldn't we stop them?" He asks out of worry for their health, but Nezu simply shakes his head.
"Awakened people somehow can stimulate the growth of those around them. If we stop them, we'll only do them a disservice. This year Sports Festival is going to be amazing!" The small furred Principal cackles to himself, sending a chill down All Might's spine.
They fall quiet as he keeps track of Kyoka, especially her now bleeding knuckles. He wanted to interfere and swiftly take her to Recovery Girl, but he knew that it was best to let her be now.
"How are her therapy sessions going?" He asks, and Nezu's mood instantly sours, much to his worry.
"She has completely detached herself from what happened at the USJ. She still feels bad about what happened, but she is mostly… 'Meh', towards it. Her own words." He couldn't help but snort softly at that, but swiftly recovered his bearings. "Inui himself confirms that she has a past of abuse, a rather horrid one to be exact, but she just keeps on denying it, and trying to force it just pisses her off." Nezu groans softly while rubbing the spot beneath his eyes with his paws, something he does when he is annoyed. Like how his nails come out when he is irritated.
"What about the parents?" He asks with narrowed eyes. He refuses to fail her again, and if he could help her overcome her past of abuse and pain, then he'll do his best to do so.
"Nothing, they are clean. They love her and she loves them dearly. Her school is clean, her teachers are clean, and any camera footage from the school shows that she got along with everyone. But her parents did tell me something interesting." That catches All Might's attention, and he allows himself to look away from the brawl and towards Nezu. "They said that Kyoka suddenly changed around a year ago. Like, shift in personality and way she carried herself. More confident and open, yet still a bit shy and introverted. Sudden fear of men and certain utensils, sudden interest in writing and singing." All Might's eyes narrow slightly at that. That's just… too big of a sudden change. And exactly one year ago? Just what could have happened then?
"I'll bring it up to her in one of her future sessions, but for now I just want to let her rest." The Hero sighs softly and nods as he leans back.
"What about the media?" Nezu snorts at that, making All Might grimace slightly.
"They are all being as stupid as always. Calling her a murdered, saying that she should be kicked out, and other dumb stuff." The media will always be the media. Even to this day they still wonder and ask if he uses steroids!
His answer is and will always be "No, it's Justice!" before jumping away and into the sky. Because he's cool and mysterious like that.
"Oh well, only thing they can do is talk." The Hero shrugged without a care. They can ruin one's reputation at the beginning, but one's action and words can always prove them right or wrong, and he knows for a fact that Young Jirou will make those fools eat their words in the future.
Or she'll just break them with her rather vulgar mouth.
Her roasts are just too damn vicious!
(Kirishima)
His lungs and body burned from strain, yet he still forced himself to stand, gritting his teeth through the pain. Like a real man!
"Again!" He spat out and looked down at his fingers, his skin looking rather pale and dry, yet he ignored it as he hardened his body, then hardened it again, and again and again.
The more he hardened his body, the greater the pain and strain became, yet he endured it and pushed himself beyond his limits as his body swelled in size and gained a rather nightmarish look.
His fingers grew longer and became akin to hooks, sharp enough to pierce through steel with ease.
"There…" He breathed out, his voice sounding rather monstrous as he moved his very sore and burning body around to get used to it.
He had a Super Move called Unbreakable where he'd harden himself more than once to raise his defense to monstrous levels, but he needed a type of offense too.
So here comes Unbreakable: Ripper Mode.
He already has ideas for something less lethal and more on the side of a tank-like build, but he'd need to rest a bit before trying to achieve that.
His hardening soon faded, and he dropped on the ground to take harsh and heavy breaths before crawling to his bag so to down three water bottles in a row.
"Again!" And then he sat up for round thirteen.
(Todoroki)
His skin was both hot and cold, yet he refused to let up as ice and fire raged around him, canceling each other out, lowering yet raising the temperatures at the same time.
He sat there on the ground, breathing in and out as he kept releasing waves of his Quirk, waves of fire, fire that he hates.
"It's fine for you to hate your fire." His sweet, beloved mother told him
as she caressed his cheek with a loving smile. "But do not let that hate ruin your chances of being a Hero. Your father's fire is evil, but yours? Yours can save thousands."
"And if you still hate it… then why not come up with your own type of fire?"
How could he change his own type of fire? He could raise the temperature to make it blue, but that was tiring, and he couldn't keep it within his body as his ice side canceled it out.
He had been trying for a long time now, since before the USJ to be exact, but after that happened, his training became ten times harsher. He pushed himself far beyond his limits so to grasp his own ability.
His own power.
He won't be a copy of his mother and father.
He'll be Shoto Todoroki. He'll use his own power to surpass his father.
And he'll use that power to make sure nothing like the USJ happens ever again.
That feeling of powerlessness as he left one of his friends behind and only be able to watch as the horrid act she had to commit to protect them all broke her.
His furious glare slides down to his hands, cupped together and emitting steam as he pours his Quirk, both fire and ice, through them.
What was he trying to create? He himself doesn't know.
Fire and ice raged around the large and empty gym as he breathed in and out through gritted teeth.
"Just… fuse!" He grunted out as a bright glow came from within his cupped hands as the heat from his flames skyrocketed through the roof alongside while they also plummeted.
The temperatures kept growing higher and lower, higher and lower, yet Todoroki never stopped, even when he felt like he was reaching his limit and his flames were starting to turn blue.
And then his eyes caught sight of flickering cyan colored flames spreading up both his arms.
(Midoriya)
"Up! Up! Up! Up!-" Kaminari, Sero and Mineta chanted from above as he gritted his teeth, lifting the far too heavy couch loaded with weight, two humans and a midget, and whatever else they put on it to make it very heavy.
"I can't go any higher!" He squeaked out as One for All burned through his limbs, shocked that he couldn't lift the couch even with seven percent of his full power flowing through his veins. Just what in the hell did they put on it?!
"Then die you normie!" Mineta screeched for some reason. He still didn't know why he had it out for him.
"What he wants to say is actually 'It's fine, put it down.'" Sero helpfully 'translated' Mineta's rather cruel words, so Izuku grunted and slowly lowered the couch back down, then sat up with narrowed eyes to inspect the couch.
"Gravity weights bitch! Hah! Suck-agagagagagagagaga!" Again, Mineta went to taunt him, but Kaminari swiftly tasered him into submission.
"As Mineta helpfully stated, gravity weights!" Both Sero and Kirishima lifted their shirts to show large belts wrapped around their bellies, the number one-hundred displayed on both of them. "We started using these after Kyoka told Kirishima about them some time ago, very good for training- and we lost him." Sero snorts as Midoriya loses himself to his own muttering thoughts.
"Where can I find them?" He asks after a few seconds. If he could make use of them, then they'd improve his training even more! He needs to push himself even harder, everyone is, so he can't lag behind them!
"Just ask Sensei. Also, I just had a thought." Kaminari states before he perks up, drawing Midoriya's attention back to him. "Why don't you work out with your Quirk constantly active other than some short pushes?" That… makes Midoriya blink and freeze in place.
Could he actually do that? Layering strength on top of strength? Putting the strain of One For All on top of the physical training strain and soreness? He probably can…
"Why don't you do what Midoriya does with your Quirk?" Sero asks, this time towards Kaminari, who locks up in place.
"Why don't you swing yourself off buildings like a spider?!" Kaminari asks Sero back.
"Been there, done that. I've had enough of making out with buildings and lose teeth, thank you very much."
XxX (Kyoka)
After a whole two weeks off from school due to the USJ, we finally started classes again.
Though we really didn't do shit other than check on our homework, some boring Class President stuff, some bit of fun time where Midnight teased the boys to the point of Kaminari and Sero fainting, and then Aizawa telling us the Sports Festival was going to be in four weeks, like usual.
My progress these past two weeks has been… monstrous. I've been improving at rates that just don't make any sense, but from what I heard Nezu say when he talked with All Might as I fought the swarm of robots, then it kind of makes sense.
I broke my Limiter and am now experiencing immense growth. I've also been able to tap into the power of my Awakened state once more, albeit I can still only use it for a minute, but the backlash is growing weaker with each use.
I also decided to call that state 'Zenith', mostly because the girls and the others bullied me into giving this 'super move' of mine a name else they were gonna call it 'Kyo Hype Time', which is hilarious but also dumb.
Also, Nezu and All Might now know about my sudden change one year ago. I knew that I wouldn't be able to fool my parents.
I shake my head as I poke my jacks together. I've also discovered another power that I probably gained from my partial Awakening, but I can't use it well just yet, and it barely does anything since I barely have any training in it. Plus it tires me out nearly instantly.
Hopefully I'll be able to use it during the Sports Festival since I've decided not to bring my mask. I'd rather not cheat and prove myself.
"God I'm hungry…" I grunt loudly as Aizawa steps out of the classroom once it ends, the man looking more alive and well rested than usual. Probably still on edge after the attack.
"I'll make some cold soba once we get back." Todoroki suggests as he stands and grabs his bag, but I give him a vicious glare to stop him in his tracks.
"I will choke the life out of you if you make me eat cold soba again. I'm cooking today." Momo moans from behind me, making me shiver and snort softly. That girl's fucking unhinged.
"And Mineta! You better not fucking finish the coke all by yourself again!" I threaten the little shit with a wiggle of my jacks as I walk towards the door of the classroom, open it, then slam it shit.
"Oh for Christ's sake…" I groan under my breath as everyone stares at me in confusion. Classes just ended and everyone's already swarming the damn door!? How?!
"Hi, would you like to learn about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?" I plaster a large fake smile on my face as I open the door to great the swarm of students outside, who all give me wary and fearful glances, completely ignoring my joke.
Oh right, the medias are painting me out as a murderer aren't they? Dope.
"I want to!" A female voice cries out from the back. That Shiozaki innit?
"It was a sarcastic question woman!" I shout back with an amused look as Kirishima snorts softly from behind me.
"Awh…" Now I feel like I kicked a puppy. Dang it.
"Anyway." I cough into my fist, then pull out a spray bottle from my backpack and point it at the students in front of me. I came to school armed and ready. "Shoo, or get sprayed. C'mon." I wiggle my eyebrows as those in front of me instantly stepped back and aside to let me through, only for a purple haired sleep deprived brat to come up when he should really be in bed and sleep for a decade or two.
"So this is class 1-A?" I promptly point to the door to show that yes, this is Class 1-A. Ask dumb questions, get dumb answers. "You don't look like much." Oooh, scawyyyyyy…
"Talks the guy that looks like he ain't got a wink of sleep since he was born. You might want to get checked out." No seriously, those eye bags look too dark and deep. Does this dude even sleep?
"I'd rather not hear that from a murderer." Ooh going for low blows now! I like it! Though I do gotta stop Kirishima from putting the guy into a coma though. "Some of us in the General Course are there because we failed the Entrance Exam due to it being unfair against those with weak Quirk-"
"And I'ma stop you right there amigo." I raise a hand and give him a not so kind smile. "Bring that bullshit somewhere else. None of us give a fuck about 'weak Quirks' and what not. You are weak, not your Quirk. You are inadequate, you look like a stick, like you never lifted a weight your entire life, and you come here preaching and whining like a little bitch about unfairness?" I sneer at his face with a very cold smile. I never liked his ass anyway. "I already know the kinda bullshit you wanna say. That if you do better than someone here at the Sports Festival, you can take their place, right? Well, think again pal, because if you couldn't best any of us during the Entrance Exam, then what makes you think you can best us in the Sports Festival? We actually worked our asses off to be here, but what about you?" I step up close to him and raise a hand, making him flinch back, but then blinks in confusion as I merely point my palm towards him.
"See these? These are called callouses." I then turn my hand around to show my bruised knuckles. "This is how hard work looks like." I grab his hand and turn it around to show nothing. "This is how being a whiny little bitch looks like." I turn to Kirishima and pull him close. "Oh look, callouses!" Then Kaminari. "Would you look at that! Callouses!" The Midoriya, Momo and Todoroki. "So many callouses! Bet my ass even people from 1-B got 'em! And you and your General Course pals? What do you have to show your hard work?" I blink at him with a challenging look while tilting my head, but even after several seconds his says nothing. "Exactly." I nod and clap my hands.
"Also, 'Strong Quirks'? Wanna see the strong Quirks? I can hear well and can attach my ears to phones to listen to music! Very strong Quirk!" I then point to Mineta. "His head is sticky." Then to Tooru. "She's Invisible." Then to Ojiro. "He has a Tail." Then to Tsuyu. "She's a very adorable frog. Best frog out there." She ribbits while my classmates nod sagely at my words as I point at Kohi. "He can talk to animals." I turn back towards the little whiny bitch that gets on my nerves with a very cold smile. "There's your 'Strong Quirks' pal. Don't complain to others about your shortcomings, it makes you look even more pathetic."
"And for the rest of you!" I then point to the other dozens of students filling the hall. "If you're here and feeling jealous that we got attacked by villains then please fuck off. Our teachers could have died, we could have died, and I had to kill people to bring my friends and teachers to safety. I want to see how any of you would react to having to go through all of that." I scoff and throw my hair behind my back, then nod at my classmates as I lead the way through the now quiet crowd of fellow students.
"Also, you might want to look into a career change!" I turn back and cup my hands over my mouth as I shout loudly. "We're here to become Heroes, to inspire others and save people, not to be jealous about the achievements of others!" I click my tongue and turn back around, a smile on my face as I walk with a bounce to my steps.
"Fuck it, I'm making pizza!"
I think Momo just had an orgasm while Kirishima went Super Sayan with that roar he released…
A.N. And another chappy out! Sports Festival starts next chapter and it'll show the improvements the others got! Get ready for a very cool match between a certain manly man and icy boi!
The Hosu Arc draws closer, and I can only say that it's the best Arc I have written in any of my fics. Be warned.
Many thanks to all of my beautiful and supportive s! I hope my fics make your day better, because your support sure as hell makes my week! Pat /SamuraiCheem