Chapter 41: An Arm and a Leg
Doko opened his eyes slowly, and with some effort. The pale white light of morning was streaming in through the window of the apartment, touching the tip of his scalp and moving across his face as he sat up. He felt a weight strung across his lap, and looked down to behold a dozing Mina, her pink curls disheveled, some of them stuck to the side of her lip as she breathed in and out peacefully. She was still naked.
He felt a sudden rush of panic, before anything else. Had Aizawa come back? No, there was no sign of his briefcase or anything within the apartment space. Still, surely it would not be long. He checked his phone; the time was 6:30.
Doko sighed and rubbed his eyes. He'd gotten maybe three hours of sleep in total. Twice Mina had roused him awake, wanting to go again. He'd obliged, of course…but now he was beginning to regret his decision. He'd have to get her up and moving quickly if they wanted to erase any evidence of what they'd done.
Gingerly, he slid out from under his girlfriend, resting her head on a throw pillow, and quickly scanned the couch cushions for any sign of a mess. They'd been careful; all of their climaxes had been swallowed by the other. In the horny mess of the night, that had been a massive turn-on, but now Doko felt faintly sick. Well, it's either get used to that or buy condoms. Or not have sex. And I don't think we want to take that option.
He leaned forward and shook Mina lightly, rousing her from sleep. "Mina…" he whispered softly, singing her name in a high octave. "Get up. Come on…"
"Wha…?" she blinked her half-lidded eyes, gazing up at him lovingly. "You wanna go againn?" she slurred, reaching her hand up toward his face.
"No, not right now," he said, unable to contain his grin. She was adorable in her sleepy state, almost innocent, although he knew now that she was anything but. Nor I. "It's morning, Mina. Go take a shower. I'll make sure we left nothing on the couch."
"Mmm." She uncrossed her pristine pink legs and stood with some difficulty, stretching up on her tiptoes and baring her curvy, athletic form before him once again. The sun from the window backlit her, giving her an angelic glow. For half a moment Doko had a mind to take her up on her idea of making love again, but there was probably no time. Probably.
Better to err on the side of caution.
Mina turned back to him inquisitively. "Doko," she rasped. "How many times did you…?"
He scratched his neck, unsure, but unable to stop smiling. "I don't know. At least five."
She clicked her teeth. "Damn. I lost count after seven or eight."
"Like a pair of rabbits," he muttered, turning over the couch cushions, looking for any sign of a mess they might have left behind.
"Hell of a first time, huh?" she said to him, winking.
"You say that like it wasn't yours."
"Oh no, it was. But not the last, certainly."
"Right," he mumbled, feeling heat rush to his cheeks for the first time in a while. Here I am, getting embarrassed. "We can't let the rest of the class find out about this."
"Why not?"
When he gave her an incredulous look, she only grinned mischievously back at him.
Doko snorted. "Go take your shower. Hurry up, I want one too."
"It would go faster if we went together."
"Tempting, but don't you want to save a few firsts for later down the line?"
Mina laughed. "Whatever you say, dork. Oh, and move my stuff to the bed so it looks like we slept separately."
"Why don't I move MY stuff there?"
"Because you're a gentleman and would have hypothetically let me take the bed, right?" Her golden eyes flashed him with challenge.
"Right," he mumbled. "Of course."
While Mina showered and he moved her things, continuing to mask the apartment to look like they hadn't done anything, he couldn't help but let his thoughts soar. I lost my virginity. Not only that, but I made her climax too. Multiple times.
Doko was a red-blooded male at heart, whether he preferred to conceal it or not. While these sorts of thoughts did not plague him as much as some others, he couldn't help but feel a sense of victory and pride. It was a greater ecstasy than winning the Sports Festival, greater than breaking away from his home.
Of course, this pride was for himself only. Doko had no plans to gloat, and who would care anyway? Sero, perhaps. Or Kirishima. Tsuyu would be happy for them, he was certain.
Is it okay for me to be happy about this? he thought as he got his change of clothes ready for the shower. To be happy about this thing that has nothing to do with hero work?
For better or for worse, he and Mina were bound together now, by something deeper than a hero partnership. They would be returning to their training, and yet…it would be different, wouldn't it? With their act of love, they'd changed things irrevocably.
Shut up, brain, he scolded. You've always got to go down the melodramatic route, haven't you? Just be happy that this happened.
He passed into the bathroom as Mina walked out, clothed, but with a towel wrapped around her hair. She gripped his shoulder and gave him a passing kiss on the lips. "Washed what was left of you off me," she breathed, winking at him again.
Doko sighed wearily as he closed the bathroom door between them. She's much too good at this, he thought.
…
Aizawa asked no questions when he finally came at around eight, and the two of them made a bit of a show of gathering their things from separate spaces - Doko from the couch, Mina from the bed.
The only thing that gave Doko a moment of pause was when their teacher sniffed the air, and then turned to look at them.
Doko's eyes widened in panic. Can he smell…?
"Did you take a shower, Ashido?" Aizawa asked.
Mina blinked. "Yeah. What's wrong?"
The man's eyes lowered into a dry, weary expression. "Filled my apartment with the smell of roses."
Mina cackled. "Sorry, that's my shampoo! Guess you'll have to wait a little while to get back the old 'coffee-and-old-shoes' aroma!"
"I really should give you detention."
"Aww, come on sensei. You know you love us."
Doko breathed a sigh of relief as the two of them continued to banter. What a long episode. It felt like an eternity since Mina had initially approached him about the shopping date.
But now he could go back to the dorm, and get some sleep.
As they sat in the car silently, he glanced at Mina. They smiled at each other. There was a new connection between them now, something unsaid and unseen but they both felt it.
The scrappings of the League were still out there, and Kurogiri's identity was unknown, and Kaminari's whereabouts, and the fate of Doko's father. But All For One was captured. The battle was over. He was free of his parents. He had Mina, and all of his friends.
And with All Might gone, they knew what they had to work toward.
…
School started again in earnest a few days later. The nineteen students of 1-A, still getting used to their new dorm lives together, were once again sitting in their classroom, with Aizawa standing before them. Kaminari's empty seat felt like a blemish, an uncomfortable marking in the middle of the room. But only three of their number knew the truth. For the rest it was just a sad reminder that he was gone.
"From this point forward, we will be focusing on getting you your provisional licenses," Aizawa said.
"Yes, sir!" they all said in sync.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You lot are never going to stop doing that, huh? Let me remind you again what a hero license means, because I don't think all of you grasp it. Some of you have been acting as if you already have one." He gave a pointed glance toward Midoriya, Doko, Iida, Uraraka, and some of the others.
"A hero license carries with it the burden of human life. Walking around with one of those does not only give you the permission to act in a desperate situation but also the duty to act. It should not be taken lightly, and is therefore not earned lightly. The test you must pass to receive the license is very difficult. The provisional exam alone has only a fifty percent passing rate every year…and until this year, it has been taken entirely by third years, who have triple your amount of experience and skill."
Murmurs danced around the class. Doko looked back at Mina and Tsuyu behind him, who both seemed to be a mixture of excited and anxious…or, for Tsuyu's part, as excited and anxious as she was ever likely to show on her face.
Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "Until the exam arrives, you will be training in earnest. Today, that begins. You are going to come up with TWO…"
The door to the classroom flung open. It was Midnight, posing seductively, flanked by the more stoic Cementoss and Ectoplasm.
"ULTIMATE MOVES!" Midnight finished for Aizawa.
Eraser Head sighed. "These three are here to help with that."
"ULTIMATE MOVES!" Mina and Sero exclaimed at the same time.
"Finally…" Midoriya breathed.
Kirishima glanced at Bakugo excitedly. "It's like a normal school thing and yet…it's also a hero thing!"
"Right, whatever," Bakugo mumbled.
"An ultimate move is a move that ensures your victory!" declared Ectoplasm.
"A move so ingrained into your power set that no others can copy it," Cementoss echoed.
"Oh, and they should have names!" Midnight tossed in. "These days, pro heroes without multiple named ultimate moves are an endangered species."
"Change into your costumes and meet us at Gym Gamma," said Aizawa. "We'll continue working from there."
The Class A students excitedly got moving, heading to their respective locker rooms.
"I've had some planned out for a long time," said Sero, fitting into his costume. "This is gonna be great."
"Wow, really?" Kirishima asked him, scratching his cheek. "I thought I knew what I would do…but all of a sudden I'm at a loss."
"What kind of flashy power thing could I even do?" Ojiro mumbled, staring at his own tail. "I always figured I'd just have a set of minor moves, and that would be enough."
"I've already developed at least one, I reckon," Shoji said. "My Octo-spin, which I learned during my internship."
Internship…Doko thought. Would Warp Field count as an ultimate move? He supposed it would. He'd named it and everything. I'll have to ask the teachers. If he only had to come up with one more instead of two, that would be easier. Especially without the use of his legs.
Meanwhile, Midoriya was chatting excitedly to Kirishima about possible moves the Hardening user could employ. Doko looked up, and saw Bakugo glaring at the pair.
Just glaring.
Unlike him to not say anything if he's angry.
Doko spoke up. "Midoriya," he said gently.
The green-haired boy cut himself off and peered inquisitively over Kirishima's shoulder, looking at Doko. "Katayama?"
"I realize you're trying to help, but shouldn't you let people come up with their own thing?"
Bakugo looked up in surprise. Kirishima blushed and stepped aside. "Yeah, I reckon Katayama's right," he mumbled. "I should probably use my own brain instead of picking yours, Midoriya."
Deku blinked. "I was only trying to help…"
Doko smiled wearily. "Everyone knows that. But maybe you should help yourself first? I mean, landing a punch without breaking a bone doesn't exactly count as an ultimate move."
A few of the other boys chuckled. Midoriya smiled weakly. "Ha…yea…"
"And what about you, Katayama?" Sero called from across the room. "You've already got one, don't you? That crazy spreading thing?"
"Uh, possibly. Warp Field is me spreading my Quirk through me and then releasing it. I was kind of hoping to come up with a second one for my legs, but you know. There's just the slightest issue with that."
He'd made a point to tell the rest of the class that he could not currently teleport himself with his Quirk, in case they trained together in combat practice and needed to know that he was partially handicapped. They'd all been supportive, at least.
Iida clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be able to use your legs again soon, Katayama. And the teachers will account for that."
"Will they, though?" Ojiro shuddered. "I feel like Midnight enjoys watching us squirm."
"I'd enjoy watching her squirm," Sero muttered. When Koda gave him a panicked glance, the tape user just winked at him.
"That is not the sort of revelry in the dark you should be concerned with," Tokoyami whispered.
"Of course, some of you don't even need ultimate moves," Kirishima joked. "Right, Todoroki and Bakugo?"
Todoroki held his hands up to his face in confusion. "I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting."
"Come on, Bakugo…" Sero prodded him with his shoe. "This is the part where you go, BITCH, I AM THE ULTIMATE MOVE! Or something like that."
"If I were to say some dumb shit like that, it'd be way more clever than whatever just came out of your mouth, Flat Face," Bakugo replied back, putting on his gauntlets.
Sero pouted. "Damn."
As the thirteen boys left the locker room, Doko noticed that Aoyama of all people was falling into step with him. For some reason, his Quirk was acting up through his mouth again.
"If it isn't my favorite French person by default because he's the only French person I know and also may not even be French! How is thou doing, as I'm sure they say in the west. Positive. Don't question it. Come up with an ultimate move yet, monsieur?"
Aoyama gave him a deadpan glare, which was extremely unsettling after months of watching the dude smile. "I'm going to pretend like you didn't just say all that."
"Right, right. But anyway, how are you? I feel like I haven't spoken to you since you blasted the shit out of our villain friends in the forest."
"You didn't speak to me then, either."
"Well, consider me making up for it now."
"I just had a question." Aoyama's mouth folded again into a triangular smile. "How are things going between you and Ashido-mademoiselle? Have you made each other into a man and a woman yet?"
Doko flushed red. "If we had, it's negative amounts of your business."
"I am only interested because I support it completely, brave garcon. You seem to make each other very happy."
"Are you sure? I mean, she did uppercut you at the Sports Festival."
"Ah, but then you went on to avenge me, non?"
"I wouldn't exactly say avenging you was the first thing going through my mind at the time," Doko muttered, remembering his victory over Mina during the quarterfinals.
"Well, I should have known from the Sports Festival that you would not be the type to gloat about such a thing if it were to happen. It seems you have already let everyone forget how you emerged victorious at the event! And you're willing to let this new victory slide under the radar as well, alas!"
"What would you know about such things? You've yet to land a boyfriend, unless I'm mistaken."
Aoyama frowned at him again. "Your awareness is impressive."
"Dude, everyone knows. Even Midoriya knows, probably. But hey, just between you and me, there's possibly another gay guy in the class." He was thinking of Kirishima, and Mina's theory. She would know best, since they are middle school friends.
Aoyama raised his eyebrows. "I have had such a suspicion as well. I do wonder if we are thinking of the same person."
"In any case, I was told not to say anything, so I can't confirm it for you. But don't give up hope just yet, Napoleon." Doko clapped him on the shoulder.
"Who said I was giving up hope, or in pursuit at all? I much prefer to cheer such things on from the sidelines."
Does that go for hero work, too? Doko immediately regretted thinking such a thing. If Aoyama was a coward, he'd fought through that to help them at the portal's edge at the training camp. He suddenly felt remorse for acting snappy.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't give you much to cheer about. I don't want to talk to you or anyone else in the class, really, about what Mina and I have been getting up to."
"I suppose I understand that well. But I am only one of many. And the others can be just as observant when they put their minds to it. The amphibious girl, the one with six-but-now-five arms, and our friend with the raven's head, just to name a few. They will all catch on, and see the new fire that dances between the two of you. It is only a matter of time."
With that, Aoyama stepped away, clearly intending to end the conversation. "Toodles!" he sang, waving a prim hand back at Doko.
Doko rolled his eyes. People were free to come to their own conclusions about him and Mina…that didn't mean he had to confirm or deny them either way.
…
Gym Gamma was a spacious, high-windowed facility, and the nineteen students gathered just beyond its doors, the four teachers standing out in front of them.
"I have a question," Iida asked, raising his hand. "Why do we need ultimate moves for the provisional licensing exam? I don't understand the connection."
"All will be explained," Aizawa responded. "A hero's job is to fight and save people from disasters, natural and man-made. Obviously, the exam to receive a hero license tests your ability to do that. Not only that, but your ability to gather others to you, to keep calm in situations, to lead."
"While your ability to fight is especially important in regards to receiving your license, your ultimate move need not be an attacking type," said Midnight.
Ectoplasm nodded in agreement. "For example…Iida's Reciproburst…that temporary burst of speed is enough of a threat to be considered an ultimate move."
Iida sighed in relief. "I've already got one after all!"
"So…" Sato raised an eyebrow. "What's the connection then, exactly?"
"An ultimate move is something you can rely on to help you win, no matter what," said Cementoss. "They should always be on the back of your mind, ready to be employed in the proper situation. As long as you have them, you can stay calm and consistent. That makes you a valuable asset on the front lines, and these traits will come through to the examinees if you display them."
The class finally seemed to murmur their understanding. As Cementoss finished speaking, he turned back to the open concrete area behind them, and put his hands against the floor.
"I can fashion this gym into various structures, making sections of training ground perfect for all the students' needs," he said, and began using his Quirk to create cement towers and bridges and all forms of structures, rising out of the floor and forming with clouds of dust.
Ectoplasm split himself, his clones moving to various platforms, standing, waiting.
"The training begins now," said Aizawa. "Are you all ready?"
"YES, SIR!"
…
Mashirao Ojiro struck again, and again. Each time, Ectoplasm's clone dodged and weaved and struck out with his peg leg, knocking him down.
Damn! The blonde boy thought, spitting out dust as he hit the cement again. I had no trouble with the goons from USJ, but a pro hero is on another level!
And the League would be improving in skill too, no doubt. He had to get stronger.
"Your movements are all based around the fact that you have a tail," said Ectoplasm. "It makes you easy to predict. We need to re-examine the fundamentals of your movement."
In other words…thought Mashirao as he stood up, getting back into a fighting stance, I'm too normal.
His eyes glanced downward to a lower platform, where another clone of Ectoplasm's was working with Shoji…and Hagakure. Hagakure. The one who'd saved him at USJ…
The peg leg struck him in the face, knocking him down again. "What are you doing staring off into space for? Focus!"
"Right, sir. Sorry, sir." The world is truly upside down indeed, when I have to fight to get an invisible girl to notice me instead of the other way round.
…
Mezo and Toru, for their part, were working on the ultimate moves they'd already developed with Reflector.
"RAINBOW SPECTRUM!" Toru sang, bending the light around her and blinding the clone, while Shoji dashed forward.
"You keep renaming it," the tall stoic hero muttered, beginning his spin of blows. "OCTO-SPIN!" he roared, knocking Ectoplasm to the ground.
"Very good," the clone appraised as he got back up. "That move is just as punishing even if you only use your five base hands remaining to you. You two learned well under Reflector, and I saw the footage of your final exam with Snipe as well. You have only gotten stronger as a pair. There is not much more I could teach you with these moves you already have; they are about as good as they are likely to get unless you experience another awakening with your Quirks. I would suggest trying to figure out something different, perhaps even a more cohesive combo move."
"Did you hear that, Shoji-kun?" Toru exclaimed in her bubbly voice. "We could be a hero team! We should come up with a combo move!"
Mezo took pause for a moment, looking down at the invisible girl he'd been spending so much time with recently…or at least, looking at her gloved hands.
He'd always considered himself a simple person with simple thoughts and feelings. It was easy to do that in regards to others, when they were all scared of your appearance. But…most of Class A, and especially Hagakure, were different. They'd been nothing but supportive even after his injury.
And Toru especially…he'd never spent so much time around one person before…and her simple, unbridled enthusiasm at the idea of them being partners was confusing him.
"Let us begin brainstorming, then," he finally said, smiling under his mask. It occurred to him then that neither of them would ever know when the other was smiling. But we can guess, can't we?
As Toru began to jump the gun and spout out naming ideas before they even figured out what they would do, they were both unaware of the boy with the tail watching them from above.
…
"You will not always have animals to rely on!" the clone declared roughly, attacking him again. Koda squeaked, scrambling out of the way, only to receive a side-swipe from Ectoplasm's palm, stinging him and sending him tumbling to the ground again.
"You must learn to fight, Koda. A hero cannot be a pacifist."
"I…" Koda stood. "I know." He was thinking of the battle in the forest, Midoriya and Katayama surging with power to protect the child, the wolves swarming with vengeance in their hearts. That had been a greater gamble than he'd ever taken, and it wouldn't always work. He would have to fight for himself one day.
He raised his fists toward the clone. "Teach me then, sensei. My ears are open."
…
Mina flipped and twirled out of the way of Ectoplasm's blows, seeing an opening in a flash and delivering a spinning kick to the clone's gut. That was her fifth solid blow in a matter of thirty seconds, and the clone finally dissolved.
Ectoplasm's main body noticed, and sent her another.
"Your hand-to-hand combat is something to marvel at," the clone praised.
"All that dancing practice pays off, huh?" Mina said with a grin, returning to a beginning stance. "Ready to go again?"
"No, it is no use continuing to let you stay comfortable with something you are already good at. You have excellent movement, Ashido, but what of your Quirk? If you only plan to break-dance your enemies into submission, then you may as well be Quirkless."
Mina took pause. She looked around the gym, briefly searching for Doko, before returning her eyes to the clone. "My Quirk…is really dangerous. To tell the truth, I did have this idea where I…"
"Show me," the clone interrupted instantly.
Gulping, Mina brought her hands up…and then folded them together, creating a narrow point from which to shoot her acid from. Then, she activated her Quirk.
Her acid shot out from the platform like a bullet, faster and further than she'd ever managed to throw it. With a brief moment of panic, she wondered if there was anyone practicing directly below her, but thankfully there wasn't.
She sighed and stopped shooting. Ectoplasm was nodding in approval. "You have improved your acid's range and speed. That is very good."
"Yeah, but…" Mina frowned. "Killing someone faster doesn't do me any good at all…"
The pro hero was silent for a moment. Then, he said: "I see. You are afraid of the fatality of your Quirk. Then I know exactly what you must work on."
She glanced up at him. "Hmm?"
"Focus on controlling the acidity of the substance you release. Play around with altering it, to different strengths, levels of thickness, that sort of thing. Your acid can be used to stick to things, or slide across them. Yes, it can cause great pain or even kill. But you can control what it does, Ashido."
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. "Right!"
"Well, don't stand here and wait for me. Get to work!"
…
All Might, his arm still in a sling, appeared at the doorway of Gym Gamma. "I am here even though no one told me to come because I had nothing else to do!"
Aizawa turned. "You should be resting."
"Nonsense. I am a teacher too, after all. And this is the ultimate move class, isn't it? I wouldn't miss this for anything." The former Symbol of Peace stepped forward, watching Young Midoriya.
Deku was talking to Ectoplasm himself at the lowest platform, seeming conflicted about something.
He's having trouble…All Might had grown aware that Young Katayama was unable to use his Quirk in his legs, currently…he'd even told the rest of the class. But Midoriya had said very little about his arms. If he uses them too much, they will be lost to him…before he can even begin to take my place!
"ECTOPLASM!" a voice roared. "MINE DIED! MAKE ANOTHER!"
All Might looked to Bakugo, who was practicing in earnest. He's doing quite well.
His eyes panned over the rest of the class. Young Yaoyorozu was working on creating multiple things at once. Young Uraraka was floating upside down in the air. Young Sero was shooting tape consistently out of his arms. Young Sato was stuffing his face with cake, and young Aoyama was shooting lasers wildly through the air.
All hard at work. This was what the training camp must have been like, before it was cut short.
Well, he was fully a teacher now, and no longer a hero. He had work to do.
All Might began to walk around the room, giving advice to the students. This generation…I will raise them up to be even better than me!
Aizawa noticed the Teaching for Dummies book in his back pocket, and facepalmed.
…
Doko, meanwhile, was training with Cementoss.
The cement hero was creating blocks and walls, keeping Doko away from him. Without the ability to teleport himself, Doko was forced to run and bob and weave his way toward the hero, getting more and more tired by the second.
The hero grew a wall up right in front of his feet, nearly tripping him, and Doko slid back, gasping for air. His hair clung to his scalp with sweat. He hadn't gotten this much of a workout since…well, that night with Mina, but that was beside the point.
Doko sent his Quirk through his arms, trying to warp the block away, but his Quirk strained, and the purple glow was spreading too far, over most of the gym floor. His power was trying to warp the whole damn thing!
No! He thought in frustration, lowering his arms, feeling the pain wear off. He couldn't possibly bear all that weight! He just wanted the wall! Why couldn't he just warp that part?
Cementoss grew up another barrier under his feet, causing him to fall backward with an oof. "You had no problems moving Todoroki's ice at the festival," the hero said. "I should know, I had a front row seat to that disaster of a fight."
"Well…" Doko growled, standing himself back up, "I was a teensy bit angry at the time. Also, I could still use my Quirk to the fullest."
"You want to be able to warp my walls away, without your Quirk spreading to the whole of the cement floor," said Cementoss. "Your control is fleeing away from you. Why not forget control entirely, and use your Warp Field? Spread your Quirk through your whole body and unleash it. All my barriers would go flying."
The idea seemed like a test, and Doko narrowed his eyes. "Warp Field is too…dangerous. It's like you said, there's no control to it. If I'm surrounded by allies, they may get hit by the debris…or worse, I might end up warping them away from where they need to be, or only part of them."
"Very good," said Cementoss. "I was indeed testing to see if you would take the bait. You are correct; Warp Field should only be used as a last-resort type move. You can rely on it at the very end, if you need to. But you should have another threshold before that. Something you can use before it comes down to Warp Field. Something different."
Doko looked down at his hands. "Like what? What can I do?"
In that moment, Kirishima appeared. "Cementoss-sensei! Can I practice smashing through your barriers?"
Doko sweatdropped. Dude, phrasing.
"I believe that will be alright," Cementoss said to Kirishima. "Katayama has to go take a break and do some thinking."
"Right. I'll be back soon," Doko told them.
He wandered through Gym Gamma, the sounds of battle crackling around him. He noticed Tokoyami with Dark Shadow covering his body like armor, battling a clone of Ectoplasm directly. That's a good idea. Doko wondered if he could cover his own body with his Quirk, with a sort of shield of warp energy? Then, whoever would try to touch him would get warped back? No, that's stupid. Besides, they could just go for my legs.
Coming up with ultimate moves was hard. Doko felt like true ultimate moves would be better formed in moments of absolute necessity, but he just couldn't figure one out in this low-stakes educational environment.
He nearly ran into Midoriya.
"Whoa!" Doko pulled up short, holding his hands out in front of himself. Midoriya scrambled back, having just come around the corner of a cement tower. "Sorry, Katayama!" the boy squeaked. "I was just…wandering…and thinking…"
"What a coincidence. Me too."
"It's just…" Midoriya sighed, and held up his gloved hand. "I haven't told many people, but since you fought Muscular with me, I guess you deserve to know. That fight wrecked my arms, Katayama. I can no longer count on them reliably, or else lose them forever."
Doko's eyes widened. "That sounds bad! Why don't you talk to All Might? I saw him at the entrance earlier. I mean, he obviously can't do it anymore, but he WAS a flashy power-up type like you."
Midoriya seemed panicked for a moment. "Well, I did that, actually. He was…very vague." The boy frowned. "I think he wants me to figure it out myself."
"Hmm. Well, that puts us in the same boat, doesn't it?" Doko scanned Midoriya up and down. He and All Might have some kind of connection. There's no way they don't.
"To tell the truth, Midoriya, I feel as lost as you. It's like we're in reverse situations. I can't use my legs anymore, so I have to think of something I can do with my arms…" He looked down at his own hands sadly. "But my focus and control is all off."
"Reverse situations? Your le…" Midoriya's eyes suddenly became the size of dinner plates. "KATAYAMA!" he shouted. "THANKS A TON!" And then, he suddenly leapt away, disappearing in a flash of green lightning.
"Huh?" Doko blinked. "What did I do?"
In any case, even if Midoriya had come to a realization…he was just as lost as before. He found himself wandering back toward Cementoss and Kirishima.
He saw the two of them in the distance. Kirishima was punching a very thick cement wall, which Cementoss stood behind safely, again and again. He was barely making cracks in it.
With my power I should be able to break that thing like it's nothing, Doko thought sourly, continuing to walk toward them.
Focus…control…
Something I can do with my hands…
Something I can rely on first, before Warp Field…
He remembered the fight with Muscular again. How he'd leapt forward, charging his Quirk through his fist, and punched the villain with all his might. Nothing had happened then…but because he was focusing on punching the villain, not what his power might add to that punch…
A punch that isn't about a punch…
But instead, about closing the distance as much as possible, making sure there was nothing between him and his target.
Of course! Doko's focus and control went up the closer he was to the thing he was trying to warp! And what was closer to something than colliding with it?
He broke into a run toward Kirishima and Cementoss.
"KIRISHIMA!" he roared, raising his left fist as he ran. "MOVE!"
The red-haired boy was so shocked, he obeyed. From behind the wall, Cementoss broke into an excited smile.
Doko leapt forward, his fist glowing with violet energy. It's not about the punch! IT'S ABOUT…FOCUS!
"VOID SHRED!" he roared, bringing his fist down hard against the cement wall.
An eruption of violet light spread over the barrier, and it smashed into a thousand pieces. He'd shattered it, warping all of its basic parts away from each other, until nothing was left but dust and pebbles.
Behind the destroyed wall, Cementoss stood proudly, the smoke clearing. He was smiling at Doko.
"I believe, Katayama," the hero said, "that you may have found your second ultimate move."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Sorry about the long wait! I have online classes…and they're already killing me…
Next time, the provisional licensing exam begins.