Itsuka took in a deep breath and then let it go. She took another, bringing her arms up to her sides, the setting sun made the water along Dagobah Beach seem like it was on fire and it was beautiful. Slowly she straightened her arms so her hands were out diagonally away from her sides, then she activated her first quirk - Big Fist made each of her hands swell several times their size. Breathing in again she activated her -second- quirk, One For All - her arms to the tip of her fingers began to glow with power, orange sparks sputtering from her skin here and there. She felt the power build and build in her arms, making the muscles bulge and grow to almost a proportionate size of her fists.
"AIR PRESSURE SMASH!"
She yelled, swinging her arms upward and clapping both of her hands together. The beach erupted in a sonic boom of sound as air pressure from the power of One For All erupted outwards in front of her. The highly pressurized air cut deeply through the sand and kept going, surging out into the ocean itself and parting a path through the waves revealing the sea floor, sending shells and sand flying upward and crashing down for yards around. The power of her attack continued for several dozen yards out to sea before all of its force finally dissipated, the ocean water surged back over the channel she had created - surging up the beach into the trench that ended just in front of her.
"That was...painful! Ow ow ow ow!" Itsuka hissed, shaking her oversized hands in the air as they throbbed with pain. She dropped down to her knees and thrust her hands into the water letting the cold temperature numb some of the pain she was feeling.
"Well done, Young Kendou" All Might smiled at his successor, walking up to her in his deflated form and reassuringly patting her shoulder, his face shifted to concerned "Does anything feel broken?"
"No, it just feels like I smacked my hands into a concrete wall a hundred times." she smiled up at the hero before she sighed, "If I did that again now though I think I would."
"Haha. Then rest easy. You have come a long way since you received One For All. Fruits of your training!" All Might let go of her and admired the beach. "It is a shame we have not had all that much time to train with One For All, but you seem to be doing just fine!"
Right...just fine. Itsuka sighed, she could definitely say that the vast majority of the training she had completed was in the company of Midoriya and Tsuyu rather than with Japan's #1 Hero.
Thinking about her two training partners she was happy to note they were both progressing well in their own training for the Entrance Exam. Especially Midoriya, he flinched less when they sparred and had come up with some great ideas for combining Itsuka and Tsuyu's quirks. After their fateful first meeting together on this very beach All Might had expressed concerns about Midoriya - not so much his confidence in the young man but fear that the secret of One For All would be discovered. She had reassured him that the secret of the quirk was safe with her, she put immense value in the trust he had in her and she would not betray that even with her own family. It had also helped when she argued that as a hero-in-training she could not turn her back on someone else who was striving for the same goal as her. All Might had chuckled and just reminded her that he had been right to choose her as his successor.
Overall she had settled into a happy rhythm with her two friends, and would not trade it for anything. Though she did feel guilty about not being able to train with One For All as much as she wished to, again a good portion of that came from All Might's own willingness for her to 'figure things out on her own'. His first words of advice to her 'pull on the power and clench your butt' had resulted in her breaking her arm. Which had made her wonder…
"All Might, is it alright if I ask you a question?" she said, shrinking down her fists with a wince before she stood up and wiped the sand from her knees.
"Of course, Young Kendou. I am here to help after all. Ask away." All Might smiled at her and sat down on the steps leading up the sea barrier.
"Who exactly trained -you- in how to use One For All?" she looked at him waiting for him, but instead of responding he looked to have frozen still. Considering this was All Might that was concerning. Had she touched a nerve? Brought up memories of a friend or family member who had passed away? After almost a minute of waiting she walked closer to him and realized that he was sweating.
"M-m-m-my m-mentor?" All Might's teeth chattered, his whole body soon began to shake. Blood dribbled from his mouth, he sounded terrified. Which only made her worry more.
"H-h-his name i-is G-gran To-torino." All Might finally gasped, his eyes darting around made it look like he was afraid something would swoop down and carry him off into the night. "He is...retired in Yamanashi."
"He's in Yamanashi? That's not far away at all. Do you think...he could show me how to use One For All?" Itsuka asked, it felt like ripping off a band-aid but she had to face the fact that...maybe All Might was not the best teacher.
He whimpered softly but All Might nodded his head.
She hadn't exactly bullied or forced Japan's #1 Hero into calling his old mentor but she had certainly made sure that he did actually do it rather than let him conveniently 'forget' or push it off. It was for his own good, well, her own good but she had a good feeling that she could really make the next breakthrough with One For All with...some new perspective.
Due to the nature of her natural quirk she was able to channel the power of One For All much easier through her fists and at least double the power-output than if she used it without embiggening. However, despite the amazonian growth spurt she had gone through after receiving One For All, cleaning up Dagobah Beach, and training with Midoriya using its power still damaged her body and it was always hyper focused in her fists - she did not have the speed or endurance in the rest of her body that All Might displayed so easily. Yes, she had plateaued and going to Gran Torino for advice would help - but not only her.
She had managed to convince All Might to also convince Gran Torino to accept training her two friends as well during the last week of Summer Break. It would help them with their quirks and it would be a great cover for why she was going to Gran Torino. Using the white-lie she and All Might had come up with that his deflated form was her trainer, she had told both her friends that he had recommended they go see the retired pro hero for help with her Big Fist, Midoriya's Mutate, and Tusyu's Frog quirks. When he had finished his conversation with the older hero All Might had simply shook his head and begged that she and her friends 'get their affairs in order' before they left.
Tsuyu had easily agreed to her plan to head to Yamanashi Prefecture for a week, but Midroiya had taken a bit more convincing after he had learned that the train they would take from Shinjuku left at rush hour.
His reluctance was all the more evident when she walked up to meet him with Tsuyu outside of the station.
"Hey Midoriya! Are you ready?" she asked, making sure he heard her before she got too close as to not startle him.
"A-as ready...as I'll be, I guess." he replied with the tone of someone going to their execution. Whereas Itsuka and Tsuyu had dressed in casual wear, light tops and jeans - Izuku had dressed to be as inconspicuous as possible. He wore a dark green hoodie with the hood covering his head along with a face mask that said 'Face' on it leaving only his nervous green eyes visible. His gloved hands and arms were locked at his sides, holding the straps of his backpack as if it would fly away at a moment's notice. She could hear him taking long breaths of air and his body tensing up.
He was the definition of being on the edge.
This was really the first time she would really be hanging out with Midoriya outside of Dagobah, sometimes they stopped and got breakfast or dinner together when one of them did not bring their own food. Those times though were always during the least crowded times of the day on the train. Which from what she had pieced together was planned by the boy who seemed to plan out when the crowds were at their least before going anywhere. However, she did not blame him or think he was a coward or being over irrational - his fear came from just how uncontrollable his quirk was. She trusted him that the 'accidents' he had been forced to in public when his quirk activated were serious enough to warrant his fear and as his friend and fellow hero-in-training she would help him. She was also not alone in wanting to help him.
"Midoriya. Would it help if you held my hand?" Tsuyu asked, the frog girl slowly extending a gloved hand to him. He flinched a moment at the gesture but rolled on the heels of his feet rather than run away, she guessed. After a long moment he looked at her hand and then at Tsuyu before he nodded and instead of slowly taking her hand shot his own hand out. He grabbed her extended hand and went rigid, waiting to see if his quirk would activate but when it did not he finally let out the breath he had been holding and relaxed - a little.
"T-thank you, A-asui." he mumbled, blushing as he looked at his hand wrapped in her own.
"I told you, call me Tsuyu. Kero." she bluntly replied.
"S-sorry, t-thank you, Tsuyu." he stammered and sighed again, deflating even more on his legs. If he wasn't careful he would fall down and probably not get back up at this rate. Itsuka smiled at the frog girl's actions, if her friend wasn't a few steps away from having a meltdown she would have taken a picture, instead she stepped up to Midoriya's opposite side.
"We'll both be with you the entire time, Midoriya." she said looking down at him and gently taking his other hand with her own gloved one, this time he did not flinch, "You will be fine. We got you covered, right, Tsuyu?"
"Absolutely,"
"T-thanks…" he mumbled back, sinking more into his hoodie but standing straighter. She was only able to catch a glimpse of his face but she could tell it was adorably beet red.
"Okay! Let's do this!" Itsuka cheered, and began to guide Midoriya forward along with Tsuyu. He moved like he was in a fog but they were able to pull him along to the station and inside. Once they hit the initial crowd of people inside she felt him tense up and a glance saw his face had become a grimace. He would flinch whenever she or Tsuyu bumped into him but would relax once he realized it was one of them. Fortunately together they were able to maneuver him through the station, breaking for gaps between the press of people and waiting for when traffic jams cleared up before moving forward.
Eventually she heard him start to mutter underneath his facemask, listening closer she realized he was mumbling about quirks. Not any quirk in particular, he was just rambling about different quirks - perhaps as a technique to let his mind go to his 'happy place'. At one point he had just kept walking after they had stopped and Tsuyu had to use her tongue to pull him back before he wrenched himself free from them.
Once they were at the right platform to wait for their train to be ready to leave for Yamanashi they sat down at a bench, her and Tsuyu on either side of him which helped to bring him out of his foggy daze. They were able to help him keep his mind off of the crowds by making small talk,, Tsuyu talked about her siblings, about what their schedule would be like once school started again, and so forth.
At one point she was distracted when she noticed on the platform an older man, an obvious salaryman by the black suit he wore, not just leering but ogling her. She had been pretty even before One For All had exploded her figure so she was used to dealing with this sort of thing by a quick chop to the pervert's neck. The only thing that kept her from acting was how Midoriya would react if she suddenly got up and walked away, but to her surprise she did not have to. The Pervert's gaze slid to the side of her and then he jerked back, fear on his face, then turned around and walked in the opposite direction down the platform. Itsuka looked over at her friends, whatever the Pervert had seen hadn't come from Tsuyu because she was looking at her phone. Midoriya however had leaned forward and his face was turned in the direction of where the Pervert had looked. She couldn't see his face with his hoodie up but she imagined she could feel the glare radiating heat off of her friend.
That made Itsuka smile.
She had caught Midoriya staring at her body more than once, in fact he had done so the very first time they had met, but when he caught himself he always gave himself a mental and sometimes physical slap to the face.
Which she always noticed and always made her smile.
Her friend wasn't bad to look at either, he had started out cute, and still was, but by the way his body was developing from training a part of her was interested to see him after the next few months.
"This is us!" Tsuyu announced as a train pulled up to the platform and disgorged its riders. Together she and Itsuka picked up Midoriya from his seat and guided him into the train where they quickly found and claimed a set of seats away from the doors and with a window view so he could focus on something other than his surroundings.
"Oh gods finally…" Midoriya cried out, collapsing into his seat and putting his gloves over his face. After a few seconds he peeked out at them, "Um, uh. Thanks...for putting up with me…I appreciate it."
"I'm always happy to help you, Midoriya." Tsuyu ribbited and settled down into her seat, holding her knees up to her body as she got comfortable.
"That goes double for me, you know that." Itsuka winked at him and punched him lightly in the arm.
After that they all settled down for the train ride to Yamanashi, which fortunately went smoothly and on time - no villain attacks delaying their trip. It took them a little over an hour to arrive at the city where Gran Torino lived, and a bit more to get out of the train station which fortunately was less crowded than Shinjuku so Midoriya was much more animated than when they had departed. It was almost noon, from the directions she had received from All Might they would be able to stop and eat for lunch before the time they were supposed to arrive at Gran Torino's place. Fortunately their route from the train station took them through a market space with restaurants and shops lining the street. They sat down at an outdoor cafe, ordered lunch and talked while they ate.
"Do you know anything about this Gran Torino?" Tsuyu asked before her tongue darted out and dragged a piece of sushi back into her mouth.
"Not really…" Itsuka admitted biting her lip, All Might had not said much about him other than he had been his teacher at U.A., "From the way...Mr. Yagi talked about him he sounds like a tough instructor but effective."
"I wasn't able to find much about him," Midoriya added, having pulled down his hoodie and facemask to eat and chat, "He is supposedly retired but he still patrols but it doesn't seem like he has faced many major villains in the past."
He wasn't famous and did not have a record of facing off against powerful villains but at the same time he knew about One For All and had trained All Might. The #1 Hero had not told Itsuka much about how Gran Torino knew about the quirk, but he was trusted with the knowledge of its existence and could help her develop it.
There was definitely something more there but whatever it was only one of the two heroes could tell her.
"Are you alright, Kendou?" Midoriya asked, a slight frown on his face as he looked closely at her. She realized that she had narrowed her eyes and had been staring off, she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"I'm fine. Just thinking about what he has in store for us." she answered, Midoriya nodded slowly and seemed to accept her answer. Tsuyu though gave her a puzzled look but did not say anything further.
Once they were finished and had paid their bill they got up and left heading back on their trek to Gran Torino's apartment. As they passed a florist shop out of the corner of her eye Itsuka caught several dozen bouquets with arms and legs but no visible head rushed out of the shop - and right into Midoriya.
