Update as of September 2019: Added more to the training scene and changed a few dialogue. Chapter's plot remains unchanged.

Lesson Number One

"I'm just saying," Fumei said. "If you didn't end your match with that vortex then maybe you would've won."

"And what? Not use my greatest technique?" Tatsumaki said.

"Yes, and no. It's a good technique, just not very useful against Okami"

"It's called my greatest technique for a reason! I'm supposed to use it!"

"Not when you have zero control over its strength and trajectory. It's useless," Fumei said.

Hitoshi begrudgingly lagged behind them, keeping his thoughts to himself. After PE, Fumei and his little band of annoyances decided to eat alongside him. They didn't really talk to him, but having them constantly rambling and arguing with each other got to his nerves.

Fumei's ears turned red. He tried to drill his point into Tatsumaki's thick skull for the nth time, but the latter just waved his hand at him. Tatsumaki sauntered off with a firm, "It's my quirk, whatever I do with it is none of your business." The blond grumbled in indignation under his breath and ran after him, bent on not losing the argument.

Koharu shook his head in disbelief. "This is going to be a long day."

Hitoshi was inclined to agree. Lecture's continued on at fifth period; and Hitoshi was once again reminded about the mediocrity of being a general strand student. They didn't have lessons focusing on quirk theory or basics of hero combat, they had linguistics and mathematics.

The lecture dragged on longer than Hitoshi would've liked and soon found himself drifting to sleep. He only woke up when Katagiri lead them to farewell greetings at the end of the hour. Hitoshi slumped back in his seat, dead tired from the physical exercise the spar required of him.

If he was this tired from just a five minute spar, Hitoshi wondered if recurring morning routines would also make him lose focus in other lectures. As much as Hitoshi wanted to spend time improving his physical strength and skill, he couldn't exchange that for lower academic performance.

A real hero student would be able to balance both at the same time.

Still, as the teacher up front droned on and one the debate on nature versus nurture, Hitoshi can't help but wish for more physical exercises instead. At least those were interesting, and did not feel like hours in his mind.

The deafening silence of the room was suddenly broken up by a ringing phone.

Kureito paled up and immediately snuck a peek on his phone. He let out a sigh of relief when the teacher spoke up, "I apologize, class, but I may need to take this. Katagiri, if you could please continue writing this on the board. I will only be a minute," she said and excused herself.

Katagiri placed a steady hand on the class' sudden burst of energy now that the boring lecture was cut short by some emergency. She wrote down the remaining notes on the board while Tenmei called out any and all that dared disrupt the class' flow.

"Someone's in trouble~" Nagai sang from his seat and leaned back to peer at Hadesu, who's fiery head spurt in pink.

Hadesu leaned forward and hissed at the devilish horned kid, "They can't prove anything."

"Prove what?" Tatsumaki asked, and Hadesu jumped on his seat.

"NOTHING!"

"Don't let Hadesu's jittery act fool you, this bastard's so hardcore he managed to convince me he's a saint," Nagai said. He pulled out his phone and presented it to Tatsumaki.

"Shut up, Nagai!" Hadesu grabbed the phone and immediately shoved it in his pocket.

Tatsumaki tilted his head, confused. "Is this related to Sensei's call or?"

"It could be," Nagai said.

"Never!" Hadesus added.

Hitoshi turned his attention away from them, and towards Fumei who was too busy reading a sheet of paper with three different colored inks. One was in black, another in blue, and the last in purple.

He couldn't read what most of it said before Fumei folded it and passed it back up front. It reached Okami's hand despite Tenmei calling them out for passing notes, and Kohau and Nusumi crowed over it.

They let out a small cheer and Okami sent a thumbs up at Fumei. The blond sent one back, and tapped Tatsumaki's shoulder. "You good this Saturday?"

"Hm?" Tatsumaki hummed while he kept his attention split between Fumei and Nagai's story. "Oh yeah, sure. Text me the place."

Hitoshi held his curiosity close, but Fumei was already looking at him with that knowing smile. Oh. "Training this Saturday, you in?"

"Does Sensei know?"

"Something like that," Fumei said. "If you don't want to that's fine. I can focus on those that need it more."

Hitoshi frowned.

"Hey! Fumei –" Okami jovially shouted from her seat, but was quickly interrupted by a pissed off warning from the instructor.

"MISS OKAMI, SIT DOWN!"

They haven't had a lot of time together with this staff member, but she didn't seem like one with a short fuse. Hearing her shout with heavy authority stopped all small discussions in the room.

They watched her closely as she returned to her call, and her face morphed in horror.

"Was anyone hurt? Oh, heavens," she sighed. "Okay. I'll take care of things here. Keep me informed."

She ended the call and spent the next few minutes trying to calm herself down. Once she got her bearings back, she stepped up to the podium and said, "It would seem something terrible has happened."

"I don't have all the details but an attack has happened in one of the hero training facilities. The school is being evacuated immediately." She packed up her stuff and headed for the door. "Sir Giro is on his way to collect and dismiss you all in an orderly manner."

Hitoshi felt his heart sink into the floor. Villains attacked Yuuei? It was bold and unheard off. Yes, there was an attempt to break through Yuuei's barrier but that was just that. An attempt. This was a deliberate attack on a hero class with a pro hero instructor.

Something big was going down, and Hitoshi couldn't tell what. No one can.

Awaseru-sensei swiftly entered the classroom a few minutes later, with a deep, menacing frown. He wasn't even holding his black notebook.

"I hate to be the bringer of bad news," he said. "The USJ facility was attacked this afternoon by a large group of villains. Most of the school's licensed heroes are on site and processing the captured villains. As of this moment, the situation is being contained. There is no word yet on who did this or if the head villain has been apprehended. As a provided caution over everyone's safety, we will be waiting until we have more heroes on campus before sending you home."

"What class was attacked?!" Kimura shot up from his seat with his hands firmly planted on the table. He was deadly white, and obviously worried over something. "Was anyone hurt?!"

"It was 1-A," Sensei said. "1-B was scheduled to be there tomorrow, but classes have been suspended until we are certain the campus is completely safe again."

Kimura sighed out in heavy relief and sat back down. Makito offered a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked up at Sensei.

"As for those hurt," he continued. "The only confirmed injuries are the pros who were present in the facility. There are also some minor injuries with the students. All of them have received the necessary medical attention."

"Should – should we do something?" Shirogane asked.

"Unfortunately," Sensei regretfully said, "the best thing for you to do is to keep silent. You are still students, and it is my job to protect you. I understand this is very distressing but I need you to conduct yourself in a manner befitting Yuuei students. Once we are given the clear, all of you will go straight home."

"The school is facing trying times, so it's more important now more than ever, that we stay strong as an institution. Japan needs to see Yuuei as a symbol of strength and resilience regardless of the trials we face. It's up to all of you to represent the values of this institution."

"Even if we're not heroes?" Tenmei mumbled, unsure.

Sensei nodded earnestly. "Even more so. Yuuei is a bulwark of excellence, peace, and most of all courage. We must not put all the burden of this school's integrity on just the hero course. They're going through enough as it is."

Awaseru-sensei's phone pinged, and he clapped his hands. "Alright, grab your things and line up. We may run into some of the pros and hero students outside so please be at your best behavior. The best thing you can offer them right now is comfort and peace."

The walk through the hallways was silent and painfully tense. Other classes joined them in their silent procession, all sullen and meek.

Once outside, the situation was far worse than inside. It was noisy. Police and heroes were scattered about, shouting commands and following instructions in a frenzy. A couple of trucks held villains tied up in rows, and carted away to the nearest detention facility. News copters hovered high above the ground, recording their own coverage of the incident.

After a while, a number of phones started ringing, causing alarm to most law enforcement nearby. Even Hitoshi's phone blew up. His father had called to check on him, and he, like many others, took the call.

Classes were indeed cancelled the following day.

They were advised to remain in their homes and keep out of the schools premises until the controversy of the attack died down. However, his class was filled with idiots who much rather stay outdoors than locked inside.

Okami decided to move Saturday's training to today given the free time. Hitoshi voted against it, but everyone else was on board with the idea, so he had no choice but to go.

It was as simple as being left behind or not by his… competitors, so Hitoshi made his way to the river bank where they agreed to meet.

Nusumi waved for him while she led the other three aspirants in a ludicrous bending position. "We're doing warm ups! Care to join?"

Hitoshi dropped his bags and joined Tatsumaki in stretching his left arm to reach for his right behind his back.

The minutes passed and Nusumi slowly outlasted everyone's stamina on warming up in general. She was still stretching on her own, while Hitoshi and rest sat down waiting for Fumei or Sensei to arrive.

It was already 10 am when Fumei arrived in a bike, with Kureito behind the passenger seat. Fumei walked down to down to meet them while Kureito dragged a covered wagon with him.

"Wow, you guys look great," the blond said with a soft snicker.

"Yeah?" Tatsumaki chided. "You try warming up with Nusumi and let's see you make fun of us then huh?"

"She's lucky she's so flexible," Okami added as a mild complaint, and Fumei laughed.

"Oh no, I've had my fair share of that. Plus, I have other things to worry about. Call it mental gymnastics." He pulled out five notebooks from his backpack and handed them out.

Hitoshi received a black notebook with the words 'Hero Progress Report - Hitoshi Shinsou' was written in bold indigo ink. He flipped through the pages to try and make sense of the writing. It was too messy for his own liking, but he managed to get a brief summary of each page.

Quirk activated through verbal response. Brainwashing can be easily countered through lack of response (before influence) and physical harm (after influence)

Quirk has no physical manifestations. Consider improving close combat abilities to compensate.

Hitoshi had no arguments against that. He knew, most especially after the sparring matches, that he needed them the most.

Distance required to activate and maintain influence, unknown. Could prove difficult to activate in wide spaces. External noise can also be a problem.

Hitoshi never thought about factors like distance affecting his quirk before. For as long as he can remember as long as the person responded to him, he can always commande them under his quirk. However, the amount of control he maintained over a distance was an unknown.

He made note of that future reference. The last piece of inquiry was written in red text, and read,

Quirk doesn't appear to allow for logical thought. Further evaluate.

Hitoshi contemplated the possibility of actually controlling others thought rather than just their physical movement. He's never attempted it before, so the thought of unlocking a new ability under his quirk excited him.

"Sensei wanted to apologize for bailing last minute," Fumei said. "So, to make up for it I'm in charge."

"Doesn't sound like an apology to me," Tatsumaki drawled, and Fumei waved his hand dismissively.

"We passed by Sensei's house to grab these equipment to help with training so don't worry, Tatsumaki, we'll be following Sensei's ideas. Most of them anyway."

Hitoshi glanced at Kureito who was leaning on the wagon of mystery, but seemed more preoccupied with his phone rather than everything else. "What about him?"

"Kureito's helping me today," the blond said. "Well, to be more precise, he's helping Koharu."

The brunette blinked and pointed at himself, confused. "Me?"

"Yep," Kureito popped his lips and slung his arms over the other. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, partner."

Koharu reluctantly returned his greeting then silently turned to Fumei for an explanation.

"It's all part of Sensei's plan, didn't you read through his notes?"

"These scribbles?" Tatsumaki asked. "I can barely read it!"

"I like the doodles at the sides," Nusumi giggled as she pointed at the magenta colored illustrations at the corner of her notebook. "But I don't get it either."

Fumei sighed. "That's alright, I made sure I read through all of them anyway."

"You read these?" Hitoshi asked, unsure whether to be impressed or worried.

"Oh yeah," Fumei proudly huffed. "Front to back. Clean sweep. I practically know all your quirks know like the back of my hand."

"I don't know how I feel about that," Okami dryly laughed.

"Me neither," Tatsumaki nodded. "You're supposed to be the one we beat, right? How are we going to do that if you know our weaknesses?"

Fumei shrugged. "Get creative? Plenty of ways to outsmart me on the field. You just have to learn what that is. Alright," he clapped. "Let's start with you, Tatsu."

"Already?"

"Yes, already."

Tatsumaki shrugged and stepped forward. Fumei grabbed his left hand and pulled it forward. "Quick lesson on power regulation, that's your goal today by the way, bigger doesn't always mean better."

Tatsumaki clicked his tongue, annoyed He was aware that the advice was just another scolding for his stubbornness to create stronger and bigger winds.

"Sensei said you mostly use your limbs to create vortexes, and that's fine. They're just a more complicated starting point for you. Easier? Yes. Controllable? No," he explained without pause, which left most of their mouth agape in surprise.

Fumei actually looked like he knew what he was doing.

"Focus the power on your wrist, not your arms," he said. "Keep your axis there. Feel the wind around it, before you fire."

"You make it sound so easy –"

"Now," the blond insisted.

Tatsumaki grumbled and started slow. He rotated his wrists as instructed and felt the winds form along his wrists axis. As he was slowly covered in transparent gales of wind,, Tatsumaki instinctively went back to moving his shoulders rather than his wrist.

Fumei immediately slapped his arm with a metal tool before Tatsumaki can go any further.

"OW!" Tatsumaki cried in alarm, and pulled his hand close to chest. "Where did you – is that a ruler!?"

"Focus. I said your wrist, not your arm. Again."

Tatsumaki cursed under his breath and resumed the same position. He placed one hand on his shoulder to prevent himself repeating the mislearned technique, and kept the other straight and steady. He spun around his wrist, slowly increasing the speed of each rotation by the second.

When the greys started to mix with green winds, Tatsumaki got too caught in the moment to keep his stabilizing hand on his shoulder. His arm began to rotate with his wrist and immediately spiked the intensity of the winds in a millisecond.

Tatsumaki screamed and he was thrown back by his own quirk, and Okami jumped out of his way, laughing.

"Good work, Tatsu!" Fumei beamed. "Keep this up and you'll land on your ass only a few more times."

"Doesn't sound comforting," Tatsumaki groaned.

"Training never is. Now," he clapped his hands and Kureito placed two glass bottles about five meters away from where Tatsumaki stood. "Your goal is to knock those bottles out with your vortex winds. Not big arm ones. Small, wrist ones. Left and right."

"Both arms?!"

"Both arms."

Tatsumaki groaned. "Can I at least get a mattress for this?"

"Sorry, no training mats," Kureito snickered, which earned him a glare from the green haired teen.

Okami's hand then shot up in the air as Tatsumaki prepared himself a whole day of ass wiping. "Me next! Me next! What do I do?" she asked excitedly.

"Stamina training," Fumei said. "Normally you'd want to train that by increasing the minutes you stay as a wolf, but Sensei and I had other ideas."

Okami raised an eyebrow at him.

"We want to increase your transformations within your current time limit."

"Bah!" Okami scoffed, "I can already do that! Let's stick with the normal routine, big wolf for longer time. Thats sounds cool."

Fumei sighed and shook his head. "No, Okami. You're going to practice shifting from animal to human and vice versa thrice with each transformation lasting 30 seconds to a minute long for cooldown."

Okami's voice cracked in protest but nevertheless backed down and followed her training guide. Kureito helped her set up an obstacle course containing five hurdles, six orange cones, and three rubber tires on one end of the field.

While they were busy with that Fumei handed Nusumi a really ugly looking Teddy bear. She stared at it for a moment before looking up at the blond. "Precision practice?"

"Precision practice," he nodded. "Stay far away from everyone," Nusumi waved her hand dismissively at him as she found a place to be on her lonesome. "And point that quirk where there's no people!"

Koharu then walked up to Fumei and mumbled softly, "Sensei's notes said the same thing you did. I should practice creating bigger portals with both my hands and feet."

"Finally," Fumei sighed, "someone who actually read their analysis notebooks; and yes, Koharu that's your goal today. I also want you to take back the energy you've used and sort of recycle it to make more portals."

Koharu frowned, not quite getting the idea.

"Okay, uh..." Fumei started. "You know what a yoyo is right?" Koharu nodded, and the blond continued his analogy. "So you throw it down to spin, right? But it doesn't keep spinning unless you pull it back and throw it again. I want you to do the same thing."

"Ohh," he gaped, "Yeah, sure. I think I can do that."

"Try not to portal me somewhere far away," Kureito said as he stepped beside his training partner and pulled out a frisbee from the wagon.

Koharu eyed the toy for a moment, and Kureito queued him in. "We're playing frisbee, and catching it by going through portals. Neat huh?"

Koharu bit his lip, a little nervous of messing up and slapped himself. "Alright, let's do this."

Hitoshi watched as everyone began their own respective exercises, and grimaced a little as one by one they failed to do as asked on the first couple of tries. He turned to Fumei who was grinning at him like a madman.

"I'm guessing you're my partner," he said, speculatively.

Fumei nodded. "You have a problem with that?"

"Not like I have a choice."

"Not really you don't, no."

"What exactly will we be doing?"

"You tell me," the blond threw the question back. "Unlike them, I'm pretty sure you know what you need."

"Combat training."

"Correct!" Fumei said as he laid out the last item from the wagon out on the field.

Hitoshi stepped on the mats and waited for Fumei to finish his stretches before he raised his arms close to his face.

Fumei chuckled and guided Hitoshi's back down. "Relax, I'm not teaching you to box. Unless… you want me to?" Hitoshi frowned, and Fumei pretty much got the idea.

He kicked Hitoshi's legs apart and pushed him down to lean slightly on his back leg. Fumei then pushed him on the chest to test his stability, and Hitoshi surprisingly stayed where he was.

"Good," Fumei nodded. "Remember that position. It helps with balance. And keep your toes light, this is close combat practice; you can't be slow."

Before Hitoshi could register his advice, Fumei immediately jabbed his right arm towards Hitoshi. He managed to dodge it and push the arm away just in time to block the other fist with his arm. He ducked under Fumei's high kick, and pushed his fist towards the other.

Fumei caught his arm and grappled him down to the floor. Hitoshi hissed at the familiar sting of muscles being pulled in the wrong direction as the blond laughed at his misery.

"Nice try," he said as an empty compliment. "But still too slow."

Hitoshi tried again, and again, and again; and he fails, over and over. Every time he's forced down on his knees or back, Fumei gave his less time to recover and ever less time to fix his stance.

Fumei doesn't even give him any new pointers to work on. Nothing about dodging, blocking, or even that grappling technique he kept on using to immobilize him. When his body slammed to the floor for the nth time Hitoshi realized he had enough.

"Stop!" he shouted. "This isn't working."

Fumei swept his hair back and frowned. "Don't be stupid. Of course it's working."

"No, it's not." Hitoshi argued. "All I've been doing is being thrown like fucking doll and not doing any actual combat! You're supposed to teach me that. Sensei said so!"

"Okay, okay," the blond conceded. "Let me ask you this, what's the most important thing you need to do when fighting?"

Hitoshi frowned. He was complaining about his training, not asking for more thought provoking questions. "I don't know? Not getting hit?"

Fumei chuckled. "Yes, there's that. But the most important thing is what we've been doing the entire time."

"You haven't taught me anything but to fall and stand back over and over again."

Fumei smiled smugly, and Hitoshi blinked in slow realization.

"That?" he asked in disbelief. "That's the lesson?"

"Sorry if it's not up to your standards," Fumei said sarcastically. "But resilience is a key trait in any and all forms of combat. If you fall down and can't force yourself back up then you lose."

"Then you should've just told me that in the first place."

"To what? Force you on your feet because I told you to?" He shook his head. "No, that would just ruin the point. You have to feel it to truly learn it."

"Sure, whatever you say." Hitoshi didn't think he needed to learn that lesson because it's the only mindset he's had since the beginning. He wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for his resilience to fight back against his doubters.

"Teach me something else. None of this philosophical metaphor of standing when you're down. I know that pretty well by now."

"Alright," Fumei shrugged, and without missing a beat is back on the offensive.

Hitoshi quickly brought his arm up over his face to block Fumei's punches. He stubbornly takes every blow until Fumei's slowed down. The moment he did, Hitoshi pulled back his arm and thrust his fist with enough force to satisfy his need to clock Fumei's face with it.

Fumei stepped back to dodge, then grabbed Hitoshi's arm over his shoulder. He flipped the other student on his feet and pinned him to the ground.

"Almost, but not quite."

Fumei stood up and grinned down at him like the madman he is like he just proved a point. Hitoshi dragged his legs under the blond's feet, but the latter just jumped over it.

"Fucking show off," Hitoshi snarled. "At least teach me to block first."

"So you could hold off long enough before you lose?" Fumei asked. "I don't think so."

Hitoshi clicked his tongue and wildly swung his arms after Fumei, who was effortlessly sliding away from every attack. Fumei crouches low to his side and plants two quick fists on Hitoshi's side.

He dropped to the ground, cradling his chest as he gasped for air.

"Come on, Toshi, you're starting to bore me" Fumei chided. "Where's that heroic fire I saw in the practicals! That hunger for recognition? Who're trying to beat with that stupid move huh?" Hitoshi winced. "Try harder!"

Hitoshi clenched his teeth and kicked off the ground. He swung high towards Fumei's face, and the latter dodges, again.

Fumei kept retreating, until he crossed the protective mat and unto moist grass. Fumei caught Hitoshi's arm mid swing, then twisted his arm towards his back. He kicked Hitoshi down then added pressure to the bent arm.

Hitoshi grimaced.

"You think you can defeat 1-A with weak, desperate punches like that?" Fumei hissed. "No, you won't. You won't be a hero if you let your emotions ride your attacks. Think smarter. Think like you."

"I'd stand a chance if you taught me how to," he growled.

"You already know how," Fumei said, before releasing Hitoshi's arm. "Stop asking me what you need to do and think."

Hitoshi rubbed his wrists and thinks.

Fumei was indeed the better fighter. In his current state, Hitoshi could only dream of winning against him. However, it wasn't impossible. Koharu got so close to defeating him during the sparring match. Fumei was just faster than both of them combined.

Fumei said he wasn't untouchable. He wanted them to be creative, and outsmart him. Hitoshi blinked, maybe that's what he needed to do.

Hitoshi stood up and prepared himself. He corrected his stance, and slowly raised his arms up.

Fumei watched his with silent glee, and grinned. "Not yet finished, huh?"

"Hardly." Fumei was being excessively chatty today, not that he normally isn't on a normal day, but he had been saying more to get a rise out of him than usual.

Hitoshi blinked, finally getting the hint.

"Bring it on then."

Hitoshi latched onto Fumei's consciousness and charged forward. Fumei stood in front of him, completely unaware of Hitoshi's advance, and devoid of thought.

Hitoshi knocked the wind out of Fumei's chest, then kicked him to the ground. His control on him wavered as pain travelled all over Fumei's body, and he was once again aware of his predicament.

"Oh," Fumei hums. "You finally did it."

"What?"

"Now we can start for real." Fumei quickly picked himself up and tackled Hitoshi down on his back.

Hitoshi grabbed Fumei's shoulder and pushed him off. He scrambled to his feet and instinctively squared his footing. Fumei's eyes shone with pride and turned on his heel with a side kick.

"First lesson! Use whatever you have as a weapon. Your hands -" he thrust a fist at Hitoshi's stomach "- your feet -" Hitoshi blocked it with an arm" - and your quirk."

Hitoshi immediately rolled out the way as Fumei dropped three blades of light to his feet. One of them managed to cut a piece off his shoe's lace and Hitoshi shuddered.

If Fumei was holding himself back then, he certainly wasn't anymore.

Hitoshi retreated as Fumei kept on pushing him out of the mat. He jumped over Okami's obstacle and narrowly missed her as a Shih Tzu in his run.

He yelled a quick apology before Fumei dropped on him from above. Hitoshi fell on his knees and squirmed under Fumei's weight as the latter rest his foot on the former's head.

"Number two," he drawled. "Never give them a chance to recover."

True to his word, Fumei pulled Hitoshi under him and socked him in the jaw. Hitoshi held himself upright and tried to push back.

Fumei dodges every move and grappled Hitoshi back to the ground. Hitoshi got back up and kept pushing. The blond moved along with his tune.

"That's right. Keep pushing, make them desperate. Until -"

Hitoshi rushed forward, and Fumei bent low. He lands three heavy hits on Hitoshi's chest then round kicked `him on the head. Hitoshi fell, defeated, while Fumei blew a tuft of hair from his face. "They make a mistake."

Hitoshi groaned as he clutched his aching chest and Fumei chuckled. "Third lesson, don't overestimate what you can do. Stick to what you know, and be resourceful with it. A plus to master what you can do before doing more."

"Noted..."

"And those are your lessons!" Fumei said. "As long as you keep those in mind, you'd be close to unstoppable."

"None of those actually help me hit someone," he said.

"I know, I know. We'll get to that eventu -"

Hitoshi grinned, thanking Fumei's need for idle chatter to give him a fighting chance. He decked Fumei on the face and quickly kicked him over to his stomach. He turned him over and locked Fumei's arms behind his back like he did earlier, and squeezed..

"O - OW! OW! OW!" Fumei cried as he snapped out of Hitoshi's influence.

"Lesson three," Hitoshi reiterated. "Don't get cocky."

"Alright, alright, you win this round," Fumei conceded and Hitoshi let him go. He offered a hand to get him up, then Fumei dusted himself as they took a quick breather.

"You learn fast," the blond said.

"Thanks," Hitoshi bashfully said. "But I think I just want to beat you faster."

Fumei laughed and waved the sentiment off. "If that drives you to be better, then sure, why not? The festival won't be easy, and regardless of how much we try, I don't think any of you would be ready for it."

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow in offense. "Is this another one your spiels to make me angry?"

Fumei shook his head. "I'm just telling the truth so you don't go beating yourself up over a loss again. And before you punch me, it's not just you. Them too," he said while looking at the others.

"You're too inexperienced. 1-A defeated a hundred or so villains on their own without actual training. Trying to one up them is impossible." He turned to Hitoshi with soft narrowed eyes, and continued, "I can't promise you a win, but I can at least arm you with enough tricks to get noticed."

Hitoshi frowned. He knew that win won't be easy. Nothing ever did in his struggle for success. "A chance is all I need," he said firmly. "Let's try again."

"Feeling luckier huh?" Fumei grinned. "Alright, you're the boss. Promise not to hold back this time though got it?"

Hitoshi scoffed. "As if you held yourself back against me."

"Not me. You."

"I wasn't."

"Yes, you have!" he argued. "I've given you plenty of opportunities to brainwash me and you've only gotten me under twice! The hero class will give it their all to win. They'll be merciless, so you have to as well."

Hitoshi fully intended to use his quirk during the festival, but the extent of when and why he'll use it was debatable. He knew he wouldn't use it unless it became absolutely necessary, like always. However, Fumei made a valid point. The hero class won't hold back their punches, so why should he?

"It's up to you but," Fumei said, "your quirk is very versatile. Use it before, or while attacking. Anything goes. If you want to be a hero, then you have to scream it loud enough to make them look at you."

A/N: One, alone is not enough. You need both together~ I did not realize I titled this chapter the same as that one Mulan song that's literally about training. I'm giddy. I would've put the song's pointers as the actual lessons, but that'd be pushing the Disney agenda haha.

Also! I'll be opening character slots again. 2 for General Class 1-D and another 2 and for Support Class 1-F. I can't guarantee bigger roles for these characters, but they'll be appearing in the sports festival, so have at it dear readers.