Chapter 8: Chaos within the storm
A/N: I know, I know. I am late in updating, but I was a bit sick. But anyway here's the chapter. I'll be gathering the results from the update time survey and giving you my regular update date soon.
"Couldn't we have gotten the day off?" Watanabe whined.
"No, you got the day off yesterday," Yagi replied, "Izuku needs to build up his body."
"But yesterday was so chaotic! The chaos is still going!" Watanabe said.
Yagi chuckled, "Admittedly, yes. However, when you become a hero, you will need to do your job no matter the chaos."
"Exactly, so I must take a day off while I still can!"
Yagi twitched, "That's beside the point."
"You could have just stayed home in that case..." Izuku said as he trained.
"Hmph, Dad would get suspicious as to why I am not accompanying you anymore."
"Shouldn't have come with me the first day then," Izuku said with a glint in his eye and a mocking tone.
"Nah, mom would have either stopped you from going so early by yourself then or I would be forced to go with you. This course of action works for both of us. I get something out of this too."
Yagi sighed, "In that case, have you yet started studying about the parts of the human body?"
"Well, yes but not so extensively yet. It takes time to learn. I'm going to start going to a dojo after we switch schools though," Watanabe hummed.
"In that case, do you want to spar, or go for a run?" Yagi asked.
"Oh no, I was hoping to increase my reaction time, speed stamina, technique, and power instead," Watanabe replied swiftly.
"In that case, I need to think how to go about doing that..." Yagi said.
"Oh no, I came up with the perfect solution: football," Watanabe said.
"W-what?" Yagi asked disbelievingly.
"Yeah, it sounds stupid but listen first. See I play as a goalkeeper. So if you keep shooting balls at me, it improves my reaction time and reflexes as I get better at saving the goals. Playing normal outfield football will improve my stamina. But I kinda got stuck at the strength part. I mean sure I need strength to save the shots and a combination of strength, speed, and technique to run with the ball and shoot but it's not enough. Football will be enough for reaction time and stamina though, I think."
Yagi gaped. He thought for a while and couldn't really find any drawbacks, "Hmm, your hypothesis is fair enough. However, I think to increase your strength, you should do weightlifting and other exercises. It will help build your stamina. However, I am not sure where you can train though. I'm afraid I can't let you help Izuku because it will hinder Izuku's training."
Watanabe thought for a while before nodding, "For now my full-body weights should be enough. After I start at a Dojo, they will have the necessary equipment to help me get stronger."
"Yes that will work," replied Yagi, "By the way, how much weight is on your full-body weights?"
"About 80 kg, twenty on each limb," Watanabe replied rubbing the back of his head.
Yagi's eyes nearly popped out of his head while Izuku stared at his cousin in shock, "Ei-eighty Kg?" A shocked Yagi said.
"Well, I started doing it when I was 8. Mom didn't want to let me carry weights around but dad supported me saying it would help me get strong and made mom cave in. So slowly, I increase the amount of weight after I start to feel comfortable. Then I increase the weight I get used to the new weight."
"Still, that's a lot of weight to be carrying around. Don't you remove it ever?" Yagi asked.
"Nope, not even while sleeping. Sometimes, I take it off during school but mostly, no," Watanabe replied.
Izuku looked like he wanted to ask questions about the weights but seemed to put it in the back of his mind for now.
"Well, for today we will work on your speed then, since we don't have a football right now," Yagi said.
"Fair enough, what are we going to do then?" Watanabe asked.
"I want to see how you are without the weights first," Yagi ordered.
"Alright, just give me a sec," Watanabe said and proceeded to remove his weights producing loud clangs, "Right, let's start then,"
Yagi nodded, "Izuku come here,"
"Yes, Yagi-sensei?" Izuku asked.
"I want you both to compete against each other. Considering Watanabe knows a bit of martial arts and he has had full-body weights for a long time, you probably won't be able to surpass him without a quirk, even after your training for One for All is complete. Consider this as a measure of how much you have to improve," Yagi said.
Izuku nodded, "What activities are we doing then?"
"A race on the path along the beach first. You both can punch something after that,"
Watanabe sweatdropped, "Punch what exactly?"
"A brick or something, I guess, I don't really have professional equipment," Yagi replied nervously.
"FIne," Watanabe said.
"Alright," Yagi said drawing a line with a stick, "Both of you place the tip of your toes here. On 3," The two cousins nodded and placed their toes on the line.
"3...2...1...GO!" Yagi shouted from the end of the path.
Watanabe immediately shot off like a bullet, while Izuku made a slow start. "Holy shit, he's faster than me when I am in my original form,"
Yagi clicked the stopwatch the first time as Watanabe rushed past him and then the second time when Izuku did. Yagi smiled and shook his head, "It has some time delay because it depends on my reaction time but Watanabe needed approximately 6 seconds, closer to 5.8 seconds really. Izuku, you need to improve, your time to travel this 50m path was 10.2 seconds." Yagi said with an encouraging tone.
"Now, for your second test, the wall between the beach and the path is mostly intact so you have to hit it with all you have got!"
The two cousins went up to the wall. Izuku punched first. Nothing happened except the sound of bone hitting concrete. "Owww!" Izuku cried out nursing his hand. Watanabe smiled and got ready for his hit. He pulled back and then punched leaning in front to use his entire body's momentum. The already damaged wall crumbled down. Izuku gaped.
"What's next?" Watanabe asked with a smirk.
"It was only because the wall was already damaged!" Izuku whined.
"Well obviously, you think I can punch our apartment's wall and break it?" Asked Watanabe sarcastically.
"Still, this is by no means a simple feat, young Watanabe,"
"Well, it also has to with technique. One of the students in our dojo's technique was so good that he could crack the concrete of the road with a kick," Watanabe proclaimed.
"Well, it is possible. Unfortunately, I won't be able to teach you the technique. Since my quirk gives me super strength, I never needed to increase my strength with technique. I did need to learn how to control it to not hurt bystanders but that was about it." Yagi said.
"Aww man, dang it. Guess I have to learn after I find a dojo then," Watanabe said a bit upset.
"Izuku get back to your training. As for you Watanabe, your test is to see whether you can drag a fridge with me in my hero form on top of it!"
Watanabe's eyes grew wider and his jaw slacked in disbelief, "W-what? I mean a fridge would be easy. I'm not sure if I can drag you but together, I won't be able to do that!"
"Just try," Yagi said switching to his All Might form and getting on top of the refrigerator. Watanabe scowled and muttered under his breath, "Fine," He grasped the rope attached to the fridge and pulled with all his might. The fridge didn't budge at first and remained in its position. After tugging a bit more Yagi was shocked as Watanabe dragged the fridge along with him for several meters.
"Yes! It moved!" Watanabe exclaimed after stopping. Yagi got down with a shocked smile, "I wasn't expecting you to drag me at all, but good work! The total weight was nearly 400 kg! But I suppose it's to be expected when you've had 80 kg weights for so long."
"Oh yeah, I have to upgrade my weights. I've gotten too used to my present weights."
Yagi shook his head in disbelief, "Young man, you are already strong enough as it is-"
"No," Watanabe interjected, "No, it isn't enough. What happens when I go up against a villain like Muscular? I know no matter how much I train I won't be able to hold him back with my own physical strength but I need to hold my own long enough at least to deliver pinpoint paralyzing blows with the help of my quirk, right?"
Yagi was taken a bit aback by the answer. He nodded and gave a small smile, "Well now, I want you to keep running at top speed with your weights on until you drop. We'll work on stamina first, this way." Watanabe nodded, "Alright Yagi-sensei!" With that, he set off running.
Yagi watched both cousins training by themselves and thought, "Every time I think Watanabe has shown all that someone can, he just comes back with something bigger. Izuku is lucky to have a brother like him. Someone who will challenge him every time even after he receives One for All. They will both push each other to grow while rectifying each other's mistakes. Watanabe may not have a physical quirk, but his knowledge more than makes up for it. Izuku may be equally smart but from what I have seen and heard, Izuku only knows how to analyze the strengths of the quirk and how the user can use the strengths against him. But Watanabe... he finds out the weaknesses more effectively and won't hesitate in using their weaknesses against them. Not to mention Watanabe is more observant and can put two and two together more easily. Izuku is too gullible in the sense he will trust anyone while Watanabe won't. A trait needed for being the symbol of peace but a dangerous trait nonetheless. And Izuku will never match Watanabe's underhanded ways no matter how much Watanabe rubs off on him. Watanabe has already proven his underhanded ways with the way he dealt with Izuku's bully. Izuku may have been the one who wrote the article too but Watanabe is the one who came up with the base ideas. Izuku has it in his brain but is incapable of accessing it, while Watanabe can access the ideas required to build society, but he can't broaden them. Together, they are complete!"
Watanabe and Izuku panted as they lay on the ground exhausted from the training, "I really didn't think you were the type to hit someone like a gym teacher, Yagi-sensei," Watanabe commented in between breaths.
"You slowed down while running. If you want to build up your stamina, there are no breaks until you fall from exhaustion. If I let you slow down, you would have simply regained your breath before running at top speed again. That may have increased stamina too but this way your stamina will increase further. As for you, Izuku, I am happy with your improvement. You managed to clear the garbage enough to show the ground today. Good work! Now go home and rest," Yagi said. The two cousins groaned in response as they slowly got up, supporting each other.
"Oh, and be ready to see my live interview with Endeavour at 2'o clock!" Yagi said. Watanabe immediately turned so fast that Izuku fell face-first into the sand.
"You're interviewing with Endeavour! Why!?"
"They wanted the two top pro-heroes to give their statement above your quirk discrimination article. But why are you so mad?"
"Cuz Endeavour's scum! He just wants the fame of defeating villains. He never cares about bystanders or civilians. The fact that he's still number 2 is just..."
"He is still the number 2, Watanabe, so show him some respect. He often does help in rescuing civilians. He just gets a bit carried away when fighting villains."
"You really think that?" Izuku deadpanned as he slowly got up, "And I think he showed his feelings on the article with yesterday's interview anyway," Izuku scowled.
Yagi sighed, "You do have a point. However, I will still do the interview. Endeavour is welcome to present his feelings however he wants. I want to show support for your article," Yagi proclaimed passionately.
"Yagi-sensei, this is going to be live, right?" Watanabe asked with a tone that set of warning bells in Yagi's mind.
"...Yes,"
"So, the audience can send in questions," Watanabe said with a chaotic glint in his eye and a mischievous grin. Yagi gulped and nodded, he could already see where this is going. "Good," Watanabe said and turned to look at his cousin who returned an equally chaotic expression. "Well, see you then Yagi-sensei," Watanabe said as both cousins walked off. Before they could disappear, Yagi called after them, "Please don't cause too much chaos!" he begged.
"Yagi-sensei, you know how we are," Izuku replied with a mock assuring tone as both cousins turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Yagi sighed, "That's the point, I know how you are. So, I know exactly the amount of chaos that you two are capable of..." he muttered under his breath. "Tsukauchi was right, I do regret this,"
"Right so everything is in order?" The interviewer asked the people behind the camera.
"Yes. We will pick the most interesting questions and the most upvoted questions that appear in the forum. The admin has kindly let us make a separate server room with everyone on the article forum. Given that most of the news is getting around on the forums, we should get maximum questions from the forum. We will supply a number to send messages to as well, just in case,"
"Good, give us the go when you guys are ready then," The cameraman nodded in reply, "Good luck, All Might is a good guy, but Endeavour's just rude as hell,"
"Pun intended?" The interviewer rolled her eyes in response. The cameraman smirked, "Wasn't my intention but it was a good one, hehe. Anyway go and sit, we should get the camera stuff done in a few minutes."
The interviewer nodded and went to sit across a smiling All Might and a scowling Endeavour.
"Alright, we're about to go live," The cameraman called out, "3...2...1"
"Hello everyone, I am Sakura Yamanaka. Today, we have Endeavour and All Might with us in an interview on what they think about the recent article on quirk discrimination that has taken the public by storm. The article has highlighted many wrong things that society has done and is still doing. The majority of the public is sided with the article writers but a few oppose its ideas. So, today we are here to find out the top two heroes' opinions on this article. The public can also ask their questions on the forum at this moment or message their questions to this number." The reporter moved her face away from the camera and turned towards All MIght and Endeavour.
"Could you tell us your opinion on the article, All Might, Endeavour?"
All Might gave his signature laugh and started, "I am in full agreement with the article. Especially about their opinions on quirk classification and treatment of the quirkless as well as how they have pointed out bullying at the educational level."
The interviewer nodded, "What about you Endeavour?"
"I stand by what I said in yesterday's interview. The writers don't know what they are talking about. Weak quirks and weaklings are liabilities."
"Ok... Next question then, what do-" Sakura started but was interrupted by another journalist interrupting, "Hold up we have a question we are displaying on the monitor in front."
"Already," She thought. "Um, it seems we already have a question to be asked. We are displaying it on the screen."
The message on the forum flashed up,
Chaos
Endeavour-san, since you say weak quirks and weaklings are liabilities, do you stay inside on a rainy day?
It took all of Sakura's professionalism to not laugh out loud at that question. Fortunately, however, All Might did not have any problem with laughing and set into an extremely uproarious laugh.
"Seriously?" Izuku asked his cousin.
"When you're talking with a shit, give good questions transformed into shit," Watanabe replied sagely.
Izuku sighed. Both cousins were in their room watching the interview privately so that they could get their questions in on the forum.
"That's different!" Endeavor said outraged.
"But is it really?" All Might asked still shaking from laughter.
"I have proven myself as a pro hero, got it? A little bit of rain isn't going to stop me!"
Chaos
Yet you don't give seemingly weak quirks a chance. What if you didn't get in UA because the day of the entrance exam was rainy? You need to give proper exams for all quirks to showcase their abilities.
"Tch," Endeavour said, "You can understand from a glance which quirk is strong and which is weak!"
"All Might, do you have any comments?" The interviewer interrupted.
"No, quirks sometimes do require certain conditions. For instance, I could never use my quirk in the UA entrance exams if my control was bad. I would end up killing someone,"
Storm
Do people turn a blind eye to bullying or quirk-induced bullying due to quirk discrimination?
"Heh, teachers are there to stop the bullying. And secondly, if you can't stand bullying, how do you expect to become villains after becoming a hero!?" Endeavor demanded.
The reporter sweatdropped, "All Might, your view?"
"I think the teachers must be stopping bullying but there is no way of knowing if they are discriminating against weak quirks too, but yes, often those with weaker quirks are bullied," All Might replied. He wouldn't have added the part where he called out the teachers if he was asked this question in the past after everything he had learned about Aldera...
Storm
So are you saying the bullying is an isolated event?
Meanwhile on the forums
Man only this storm and chaos are getting their questions through. No one else is getting any question in!
~User 1
ikr. But they are asking the questions that need to be asked.
~User 2
Yeah, but it would be nice to get our questions in too...
~User 1
Wait..., 'Storm' and 'Chaos'. What if they are the real, 'Storm' and 'Chaos'
~User 3
Come on no way... right?
~User 2
"I am fairly certain that the bullying is not an isolated case. As the article pointed out children will replicate what they see, so the children probably might have picked up the bullying accidentally from adults." Yagi answered.
"Some would argue that you are being hypocritical considering your own quirk," The reporter pointed out.
All Might laughed, "Yes, yes it would but this is what I have seen in many schools including my own high school. I'm not saying all schools will be like this but the majority probably discriminates even if it is unknowingly. I would urge that this article be a wake-up call for them."
"What about you Endeavour? Any comments?"
"Hmph," he grunted, "Like I said, if there can't stand bullying, how can they be heroes."
"But not everyone wants to be heroes, I myself never wanted to be one. How do you justify bullying towards them?" The reporter asked a gleam in her eye.
"Heh, if your quirk is useless, you are probably useless too," Endeavour sneered. The reporter opened her mouth in shock but before things could escalate, All Might spoke, "I apologize for my colleague. In reality, the thing is, in present society, most children want to be heroes. It's like people wanting to be famous before. Being a hero is the new dream job. However, to answer your question, discrimination is often seen in other sectors too. Mutant quirks are often not given jobs in construction for example, even though they might be suited to it. The reason we talk about quirk discrimination from the heroes' point of view is that it's in the line of hero work that all the things written in the article are seen. Quirk classification as heroic or villainous and weak or strong came due to people observing heroes and their quirks. This is one of the main reasons society has become saturated with so many villains; quirk discrimination."
The reporter nodded, "Thank you. That was a really good and informative answer. Oh, and it seems we have one more question from Storm again. The forums seem to think these are the original authors too. Here's the question,"
Chaos
Endeavor, you think bullying is good because it builds up the victim to become a hero right?
"Yes! Have you gotten some sense into your brain now!?" Endeavor demanded loudly.
Chaos
No, it's just that only those with stronger quirks can bully someone. Someone with a mental quirk can't really bully someone with a physical quirk. Since you said that bullying is good because the victim will get stronger, does your flawed statement mean that you do believe that those with weak quirks can become heroes!?
"Oh boy, this guy has got to be the writer. He literally called out the number 2 hero publicly," Mic laughed. The teachers were present in the lounge watching the interview on the shared TV. Even Nedzu had come to watch, saying, "The chaos is more fun with people's reactions!"
Aizawa was smiling slightly too as he watched, what he believed to be the real storm and chaos, effectively take down the number 2 hero.
"What!? You dare twist my words? That is not what I meant! Why don't you come face to face and then-" All Might knocked Endeavour out cold with a swift motion. Sakura had moved away from the number 2 hero as he had been releasing flames from his body as he got angrier.
"Maybe that's enough... I apologize for him," All Might said.
"Um, unfortunately, we will be concluding our interview now. Thank you for watching and thank you storm and chaos for the questions. And if you are the real authors of the article, thank you for attending the interview even if virtually. Goodbye!"
The program went off and the advertisements started.
Vlad King shook his head and turned catching Aizawa smiling, "Hehe, I didn't know you could smile," he chuckled.
"Who this guy," Midnight caused Aizawa by his scarf, "He's a big old softie. He just pretends to be all emo,"
"Get off," Aizawa said pushing Midnight off, "I just liked Storm and Chaos' handling of Endeavour. They are probably the real authors too since they had the courage to call out the number 2 hero and seemed to point out the implicit things from the article and used them as questions."
The teachers nodded at that and thirteen spoke, "Yeah. Reminds me of the boy who got angry at Death arms the other day. It was hilarious watching him use the boy from the sludge incident as ammunition to berate Death Arms."
"That was yesterday," Snipe said coolly.
"Really? So much chaos has been going on that it seemed like a while back..." Thirteen said
Meanwhile, Nedzu had nearly choked on his tea when Thirteen commented Watanabe. He knew that Aizawa was smart enough to piece together things from that tiny bit of evidence. Aizawa looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're unusually quiet. Did you get tired of the chaos?"
Nedzu smiled back sadistically sending chills up the teachers' spines, "Oh no, it's just that the chaos is still not at full strength,"
"What do you mean? Have you seen what is happening?" Mic demanded.
"Oh yes, I have. It's just that our dear friends, Storm and Chaos have pointed out that schools discriminate too," Nedzu said. The teachers knew why that would cause chaos but they could also sense a warning behind Nedzu's words. Cementoss gulped and asked the question the entire staffroom wanted to ask, "And?"
Nedzu sipped his tea and gave his colleagues a cheery grin, "Oh, it's just that hero schools are schools too,"
A/N: By the way, do you guys want a Tsukauchi POV into this chaos? Leave a review or PM and let me know. I'll try my best to update on Saturday/Sunday again. Let's try and surpass 1000 views and 50 fav/follows by 2021!
ALSO FOR MANGA READERS: Writing the last bit with the teachers was painful af.