Chapter Three: American Dream
Ochako's jaw had long since slackened and was making no attempt to reassert its natural position. All things considered, Izuku could hardly even blame her, though it would have been hilarious had the situation not been so serious. His mother, Inko, was much like Ochako in that she was staring at him with an utterly gobsmacked expression on her face, her cheeks having gone cameo pale and showing no sign of regaining their normal color. Only Kyosuke was looking even remotely like his usual self, though Izuku couldn't tell as well with him considering he had steepled his fingers in the classic Ikari Gendoh Pose™, which made it exceedingly difficult to guess at how he was feeling.
"-and that's why he wants to pass on his power to me. It's called One for All." He briefly closed his eyes, feeling the sheer weight, the power in those syllables wash over him. One for All. "I-I told him I'd think about it, and- and here we are."
Ochako slowly, slowly, let out a tiny squeal that progressed to a higher pitch every second.
Inko held a hand up. "Izuku, please let me...let me get this straight. All Might, All Might met you, for the second time this week, I might add. He's been seriously wounded from an altercation with a villain from five years ago and has since been left without a stomach and in a state of permanent internal bleeding-"
Izuku winced hard at the memory his mother's words brought up, and it was all the fresher in his mind for having received it only last evening. Seeing his idol become...that, that skinny rake of a man who looked like he'd have trouble fighting off a toddler, let alone the various powerful villains he brought down on a daily basis had caused him almost physical pain. Hearing that he was nearing retirement had been almost worse. A world without All Might was downright impossible for him to imagine. More than Izuku's idol, he was their Symbol of Peace, their pillar. He was the only reason Japan had such few villains compared to other countries like the United States of America. Without him, Izuku was certain that their country would crumble to dust. They weren't ready for the Symbol of Peace to wither. They couldn't be.
"-and he happens to have a Quirk, a stockpiling Quirk called One for All that can be passed down from generation to generation, and he wants you to have it because he sees heroic potential in you- oh, Izuku-"
Without so much as taking his eyes off his green-haired friend, Kyosuke reached for a box of tissues while Ochako, whose squeal had by now died out, soothingly rubbed the woman's back.
Inko sniffed hard, blowing into a tissue from the box that Kyosuke had passed her. "Izuku, baby, I'm so happy for you, honestly, I am. But what do you want to do? I know you've wanted to be a hero for all your- sniff- life, and you've been working so hard all these years in pursuit of that d-dream with Kyosuke-kun and Ochako-chan, and I am so p-proud of you, really, I am, but now that All Might himself is offering you his Quirk...what are you going to do? It's n-not a small decision to make..."
And that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? What would Izuku do?
Kyosuke's grey eyes were unreadable, while Ochako was clearly still more than a little boggled and would need some time to calm down. Izuku did not blame her- it was only nine in the morning, and to come to his house and have a bomb like this dropped on her would obviously need some time to adjust to.
"I-I don't know," he confessed, staring hard at the table. "I don't...it's a...a lot to process. All th-this time I thought- I thought I'd get through the entrance exam without any special powers or anything- and I've been training so long. Honestly, I never thought- I'd ever receive a Quirk. I don't- I don't know."
"What do you want to do, Deku-kun?" asked Ochako quietly, echoing Inko's question.
Izuku shut his eyes. "I-I've been training so long- I thought I-I'd- if I managed to get into U.A or K-Ketsubutsu or a-any other hero schools...I thought i-it'd be without a Quirk. And n-now...I don't- I g-guess I just wanted to prove I could do it. Even without a Quirk. I w-wanted to become a hero, and I w-wanted to prove that I- I could do it, even without a- any of the gifts that o-others have. So I guess...I guess I shouldn't..."
As he spoke, he let himself be taken back to a time before Kyosuke, before Ochako, when Deku had been nothing more than a cruel insult forged from infantile cruelty and Kacchan was a constant specter of malice in his life, when no one had been there to pick him up and soothe his hurts when he fell.
"I shouldn't do it." Izuku's voice deepened weakly. "I shouldn't..."
("Worthless fucking Deku, can't even fucking stand up-")
("-him keep dreaming, he's such a loser-")
("-sorry, Izuku! I'm so-")
("-kinda like Deku, ya know! It sounds like 'you can do it!'")
The room was silent for quite some time. Then Kyosuke spoke up, his voice chillier than the tundra. "Is that what you think, Midoriya? Is that what you truly want?"
Izuku peered hard at the table and nodded. "I-I'm sure. I don't want- I want to prove I-I don't need A-All Might's Quirk to b-be a hero."
The hollow truth in those words rang deep in his soul, for wasn't that what he had wanted for so long? Wasn't that what he wanted to prove to Kacchan, who brought him down and belittled him at every opportunity? To his mother, who had offered him tearful apologies when he had needed support and encouragement instead? To himself?
"In response to that," stated Kyosuke, removing his hands from over the lower half of his face at last, "I have exactly one thing to say to you."
Izuku waited.
"Are you an idiot?"
Ochako spluttered, going red in the face as she aimed an outraged look at the white-haired boy. Inko was very much the same way; she liked Kyosuke and was well-used to his abject bluntness, having known him for so long, but insulting her son was not a line she was prepared to let him cross. However, the boy's focus did not so much as waver even as Izuku's face contorted with hurt. His grey eyes remained locked on Izuku's own.
"The Number One Hero, your idol, comes up to you and recognizes your potential- which is more than anyone outside this room except perhaps my father has ever done for you- and offers you what could potentially be the most powerful Quirk in the world, and your first instinct is to refuse it? What the hell, Midoriya? Are you going to make such an illogical decision, when One for All could boost your hero career to heights you would have never been able to achieve otherwise?"
"Kyo-chan!" yelled Ochako angrily, her chair falling to the ground as she stood up in a fury.
"I thought you believed in me," whispered Izuku, hurt and anger and sadness all coloring the jagged timbre of his voice. "I don't understand- I thought-"
"I do believe in you," amended Kyosuke quietly. "I've never done anything else."
"Then why?" asked Izuku desperately.
Kyosuke did not respond immediately. It was only after taking a deep breath, visibly composing himself, and closing his eyes, that he started up once more. "Midoriya. If you refused All Might's Quirk- if you went up to him later on and told him no, and you end up taking the U.A Entrance Exam with us when we graduate from middle school, I genuinely believe you, Uraraka, and I will all still pass. Maybe not with flying colors, not with the variety of powerful Quirks we'll be expected to contend with. But we can eke out a reasonable victory. That said, getting into U.A or even graduating from it is one thing. What sort of hero do you want to be, Midoriya?"
Izuku didn't so much as hesitate. "I want to be a hero like All Might, who saves people with a smile on his face. But that...that doesn't mean I need his Quirk to do it."
"No," agreed Kyosuke, much to his- and visibly Ochako and Inko's- confusion. "You don't need a Quirk to become a hero, All Might's or no. I've believed it and will continue to believe it. But that wasn't the right answer- no, I wasn't asking you the right question." He rubbed a palm over his chin with a quiet grimace, obviously trying to pick his words with care. "If you accept All Might's power, imagine what heights you could get yourself to. Determination alone isn't going to help you achieve your dreams, and the path of a hero is dangerous and unpredictable. Accepting One for All could help you achieve those dreams that much faster, that much more surely. You could save so many more people than you would be able to without a Quirk."
Izuku fell silent as he digested Kyosuke's words, sensing the logic in them. Even Ochako sat back down, quietly contemplative. Inko was frowning in thought, turning the white-haired boy's reasoning over and over in her head.
"So, what I really want to ask you is this, Midoriya." Kyosuke fixed him with a calm stare. "Do you want to be a hero? Or do you want to be the first Quirkless hero?"
The question hit deep and hit hard.
"What matters to you more- that you become a hero at all, or you do it while Quirkless?" probed the boy further.
"Stop it, Kyo-chan; you've made your point," rebuked Ochako firmly, holding up a hand.
"Rest assured, Midoriya, I won't doubt you," murmured Kyosuke, backing off at last. "And no matter what your decision is, I, Uraraka, and Inko-san will back you up to the ends of the Earth." A light smile played across his face, dry yet reassuring. "Just like we always have."
The words were a balm to his turbulent thoughts. If anything else, Kyosuke, Ochako, and his mother would always be there for him. That would always be something he could take comfort in, no matter what happened hereafter. None of them had ever thought less of him or treated him differently for being Quirkless. They supported his dreams even when he fell back into his old patterns of self-doubt that Kacchan had beaten into him so relentlessly.
What mattered to him more? Proving to himself, to his friends, to Kacchan, that he could be a hero even while Quirkless? Or did he want to be a hero who smiled, who could reassure those who cried out for help by his mere presence?
("It's all right now! Why? For I am here!")
Remembering those words, the sheer tenacious might in them, was what finally reminded Izuku of his resolve. He breathed in slowly, quietly, letting the old fire in his body suffuse his muscles, coursing through and warming every inch of his skin.
"...Kyosuke-kun, Ochako-chan, Mom. I think I...I think I know what I want to do."
X-X-X
"But you can't do that!" screamed Kyosuke in a shocked tone of voice.
All Might stared at him in abject confusion, steam wafting off of his skeletal frame in copious amounts. "I...just did, young man."
"No, no, you don't- you just violated every single rule of muscle biochemistry that I know! Muscle doesn't degrade that fast, and you can reattain that form which means your muscle cells are retranslating all that protein in less than five seconds and where is your body getting all the energy to do that? What sort of Quirks did your doctors even use- wait." He cut himself off, thinking intently. "Your skinny form- it needs less energy than your muscular form to exist because it can't do the things that your muscle form can, like your special moves and such. I'm betting you store excess energy in your intestine because you don't have your stomach any longer, and you don't use that energy in your skinny form because you don't need it to survive, but you do use it up in your muscle form. The medical Quirks that affected you just let you speed that translation process up and switch between those forms as necessary, so you can use One for All in your muscled form without suffering any kind of backlash!" He gave a triumphant fist-pump, pretending not to notice Uraraka howling with laughter behind him.
All Might was now gaping at him, a bit of blood streaming from his mouth. "Are you sure you want to be a hero instead of, say, a scientist? Your explanation is correct in its fundamentals, and the holes in it can be forgiven as you don't actually know which Quirks were used to treat me..." He shook his head in amazement. "Quite remarkable, Young Kirihara."
Kyosuke shrugged, choosing to ignore the fact that the Symbol of Peace had just complimented him because he was pretty sure he would just melt into a puddle if he considered it for more than a few seconds. He didn't worship the man as Midoriya did, but he was still the Number One Hero, sue him. "I like science. That being said, my primary passion is heroics and always will be."
"Like is kind of...kind of an understatement, Kyo-chan," snorted Uraraka, having ended her laughter. His green-haired friend wasn't doing very well on that front either- he had a weird smile on his face which Kyosuke knew from experience was from trying to suppress the urge to roar as Uraraka had. "Hey, Deku-kun, don't you remember the Tsubasa Incident-"
"I told you never to speak of that again!" roared Kyosuke, his ears burning.
"Oh come on, that particular spiel was hilarious!" smiled Midoriya, the little shit. "I'm almost certain I still have it on video somewhere-"
"Don't you dare, Midoriya-"
"I sense," cut in All Might, an amused yet patient smile on his wizened face, "that this is going to be a highly entertaining story which we will all get a good laugh out of- Young Kirihara not included, of course." The white-haired boy let out a growl as Midoriya and Uraraka giggled like schoolgirls, primarily because All Might was right on the money. "However, the Entrance Exam is in a little less than eleven months, and if I am to pass on One for All to Young Midoriya, then we will need all the time we can get for him to get used to that power."
"Yes," nodded Midoriya, the smile falling away into a more serious expression.
"I've taken a look at your training plans." All Might held up a stack of papers that Kyosuke knew detailed Midoriya's weekly workout routines, put together in his father's chicken scratch. "Frankly put, they are very impressive, and if Young Midoriya is correct in his estimations, all of you have been training at this pace for well over three years."
"Deku-kun is excellent with numbers," assured Uraraka with a bright grin. Kyosuke did not protest, because it was perfectly true. His oldest friend was scarily efficient at documenting numerical data and using it to come up with quick, rough estimates of existing statistics that were more often than not impressively close to their correct values. Fermi calculations were his bitch.
All Might smiled. "Wonderful! Passing on One for All to an imperfect successor can be disastrous, but it seemed I had no need to worry."
Kyosuke frowned. "Imperfect successor? What do you mean by that? I thought you said Midoriya was worthy."
"I meant on the physical side of things," explained All Might. "Young Midoriya is a perfectly worthy successor- we wouldn't be having this conversation, otherwise- but One for All is pure energy that grows stronger every single time it is passed on. If I gave it to anyone who happened to be physically incapable or stunted in some manner, their limbs would probably pop off like bottle rockets."
Kyosuke wasn't sure which was more terrifying- the fact that Midoriya could be permanently incapacitated simply from the introduction of a Quirk, or the casual way in which All Might had stated it. Uraraka wasn't much better off- her eyes had bugged out at the mention of her friend's potential loss of limb and were staying as such. Midoriya, who presumably already knew this, looked ill but altogether unsurprised at the risk.
"To prevent Young Midoriya from undergoing that experience, I have put together a training plan of my own for him. I have designed it with the two of you in mind as well because Young Midoriya was curiously adamant that the two of you train alongside him." All Might reached into the sheaf of papers and pulled out a few on which were large, blocky kanji not at all reminiscent of his father's chicken scratch. Kyosuke frowned slightly as the man handed him the stack. Then he gaped in shock as he thumbed through them.
"What the...what the actual hell?!" he spluttered, leafing through the sheaf of papers with horror coursing through him. "All Might, this training plan of yours is so brutal that had we not been exercising regularly for so long, I would have called it detrimental more than actually helpful! The best I can say for it is that if this doesn't help us out then nothing, and I do mean absolutely NOTHING will, and that includes things like CrossFit and ultra-marathons! I'm almost one hundred percent sure that no other person our age has ever done anything this tough!"
"Oh come on, Kyo-chan, it can't be that ba-aaaad..." Uraraka's dismissive voice trailed off into a shrill whimper as he showed her the first page of the Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan with the most deadpan expression that he could muster. "This has how many- and that's the warm-up? The WARM-UP? Not even Takeo-sensei is this sadistic- what the hell, All Might?!"
Midoriya gave a tiny smile. He had, of course, already seen the American Dream Plan and had presumably had a similar reaction to it.
All Might laughed loudly. "I do have some good news for all of you- that is, if you choose to participate in the same training schedule that Young Midoriya is-"
"That goes without question," stated Kyosuke instantly. "I don't care how tough the training is- I said I'd stand by Midoriya, and I will." Uraraka nodded in agreement from beside him.
"Excellent!" praised the blond man. "The good news is that Young Midoriya will- if his and my estimates are correct- be ready for One for All by eight months' time. You see, that's how long I think it shall take him to clean up this beach!" He spread his arms wide, letting Kyosuke properly absorb the frankly appalling sight of the mountains of rubbish bordering Dagobah Municipality's only coastline. "This leaves him with approximately three months to get used to One for All."
"Only three months?" asked Kyosuke skeptically. "We'll be up against people who've trained up their Quirks for years, and Midoriya has only three months?"
"Yes." All Might sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "That happens to be the bad news, Young Kirihara."
There was a simultaneous snort from both Midoriya and Uraraka, while Kyosuke rolled his eyes.
"But why is Deku-kun doing beach clean-up in the first place?" inquired the brunette girl, peering around at their surroundings with a look of distaste. "Is this some sort of community service thing that you want him to do before applying for U.A?"
"Yes and no," explained All Might, shifting to his muscular form with a brief grunt- which left Midoriya starstruck- and walking over to what Kyosuke recognized as a massive refrigerator. "You see, Young Uraraka, community service is the very essence of being a hero! Young folks these days think it's all about the glitz and glamor, but when you cut heroics down to its barebones, then you'll see that it is all about helping people and giving back to the community that has fostered you."
With a mighty thump, All Might smashed a heavy palm on the top of the fridge, which flattened it to pancake-thickness instantly and treated the trio to the riveting sight of the orange sun rising gently above the horizon. Light bled into the water beyond the shore and suffused each of them with a sense of tranquility that was energizing just as much as it was relaxing.
"The two of you are free to help Young Midoriya with this if you so wish, but keep in mind that he is the one who needs to do the lion's share of the work. After all, he is the one who shall receive One for All, and thus it is he for whom this training is the most necessary."
"I understand," murmured Kyosuke. He didn't envy his friend- he was fairly sure there was an old Honda Civic among the heaps of trash he would need to carry back, plus the not-inconsiderable number of heavy fridges and old furniture. However, he was well aware that Midoriya would soon grow in leaps and bounds from the training even before he ended up receiving the most powerful Quirk in the world, and Ochako was already well ahead of him considering she had an incredible Quirk of her own already.
In short, if he didn't step up his game, he would end up falling behind so far and so fast that he would probably never be able to catch up to them.
Already he was sketching out ways in his head to make his training even more intensive without skirting into genuinely detrimental territory. He knew he needed work on his stamina, although he was alright with his calisthenics and martial technique. Perhaps adding a few more endurance runs into his schedule and more aerobic exercises in his workouts would be a good start. Then, he could up his game on everything else once he got used to the greater strain.
The American Dream Plan got incrementally tougher every month or so anyway, but if Kyosuke made that curve steeper, carefully calibrating it so that he wouldn't succumb to overwork, he could grow faster- fast enough to keep up with Uraraka and Midoriya, fast enough not to fall behind them.
"Oh, and by the way," interjected All Might, shrinking back to his true form as he handed Midoriya another sheet of paper. "This is going to be your diet for the foreseeable future. It is almost completely protein-based and is aimed towards repairing your muscles as quickly as possible. Young Uraraka and Kirihara, keep in mind that since the two of you are also following the American Dream Plan, then this is almost certainly non-negotiable for you too. You will need to follow this diet so your muscles can keep up with the strain of being broken down so thoroughly; that being said, I will soon need to adjust it for your different body types."
Midoriya scanned the paper closely before slowly turning around and handing it to Kyosuke, as pale as a ghost. A brief read of the diet told him that whatever All Might had done was completely scientifically accurate- he was fairly sure that if he gave all of this to his father, the biochemist would not be able to find a single mistake in either the diet plan or the workout regimen. And indeed, while the three of them ate fairly healthily, this diet took it almost completely to the next level. Uraraka had a similar reaction to Midoriya when she took a look at the diet plan, but the resolve visible on her face was unmistakable.
"It's going to be so hellish that you'll feel like dying many times over," promised the Symbol of Peace with a deadly gleam in his blue eyes that gave the trio shudders. "But you'll come out of this with strength enough that you'll be able to take whatever U.A throws at you and smash through it with your buttcheeks fully clenched!"
"With our- what?" sputtered Uraraka, going red, but Midoriya was already getting started, heaving up an old microwave on his shoulder with a determined grunt. Kyosuke checked his phone- it was already seven-thirty in the morning, which meant it was time for his endurance run. He'd been planning for ten kilometers, as usual, but in the light of recent events, he would make it twelve- no, thirteen.
There was no more time to waste. U.A awaited them.
X-X-X
The first month was, as expected, absolute hell.
Now that All Might had taken over almost completely from Takeo in training the three of them, the white-haired boy had discovered his standards to be so extremely (though not unsurprisingly) punishing that he had genuinely struggled to keep up during the first few weeks. The fact that Midoriya and Uraraka were both also training alongside him served both as a solace and a worry because while Kyosuke could use their relative progress as a benchmark to compare himself to like he always did, the fact was that they would both have an edge over him that he simply would not be able to match during their collective time in U.A, or whichever school they would eventually get into.
Ochako still had her Quirk Days regularly, and Midoriya could now often be found spending his evenings and weekends lugging heaps of trash in Dagobah Beach, with All Might as his abrasive cheerleader. This left Kyosuke to improve however he could now that both of his friends had their own projects going on.
"I'll fall behind at this rate," he'd expressed one day to his father, about a week after they had all started following All Might's training regimen. Takeo was not aware of the Number One hero's true identity. Instead, he was under the impression that the sickly, thin blond man who had started training his three protégés was some sort of talent scout-cum-personal trainer from U.A named Toshinori Yagi (whether that was All Might's actual name was something Kyosuke still wasn't sure of). Reluctant as he had been to surrender his responsibilities to a complete stranger, Takeo had recognized how much closer this would bring the trio to their shared dream and had consequently not raised too much of a fuss. "Midoriya and Uraraka- they're doing more than I am. If this continues, I'll never catch up to them during our time in high school."
"If you're so worried, why don't you join Midoriya-kun in cleaning up Dagobah Beach?" asked his father, lifting an eyebrow. "It's an excellent method of training and community service rolled into one."
"That's something Midoriya is doing on his own," dismissed Kyosuke, hoping his father would believe it. "I'm not sure why, exactly, but Yagi-san is very insistent that we not help him too much, even though Uraraka could probably finish it off in half the time he and I could working together."
"Sounds to me like this Yagi fellow is biased," huffed Takeo.
Kyosuke laughed. "He sort of is. Midoriya's the one who attracted his attention in the first place, anyway."
With that, he had managed to convince his father to start drilling him twice as hard as he had prior. With the combination of the extra martial arts training, emphasis on technique and precision, the abomination that was the American Dream Plan and the white-haired boy's increased endurance runs, Kyosuke found himself managing to beat out Midoriya and Uraraka a little more during their spars, which had somehow not reduced in frequency and were still on a bi-weekly basis, just as they had been prior. Furthermore, he could now match their speed with rather more finesse than he had managed previously despite his greater size.
However, he knew all too well it still wasn't enough. When Midoriya received One for All, and if Uraraka used her Quirk during their sparring matches, they would be able to annihilate him with ease, greater martial skill or no.
It wasn't his fault, really. Some gaps could simply not be traversed. Some people would always be a step ahead no matter how much one grew. All men were not born equal. That didn't mean it didn't rankle Kyosuke slightly when he witnessed Midoriya triumphantly deposit the top half of a refrigerator on the garbage truck, or when Uraraka was able to finish a full set of somersaults in the air as she floated weightlessly, looking like she was about to throw up but keeping up with it anyway. He was proud of his friends too, of course- immensely so- but how long would it be until they left him behind for good?
He did not mention this to them directly. Kyosuke knew his friends well enough to tell that they would be extremely upset with him for thinking in this direction. However, Takeo was more than wise to his son's thought patterns and projected it in the form of stony displeasure with him whenever he made mention of them. "Midoriya-kun and Uraraka-kun are better people than that," he scolded as he laid Kyosuke flat on the ground and gasping for air with a mighty kick to his chest. "They'd sooner pull you along with them than let you drift apart. You know this, Kyosuke."
"It's not about whether they'll pull me along," corrected the boy, getting back to his feet and rubbing his chest with one gloved fist before plunging back into the spar. "It's about whether I'll be able to keep up with them or not."
In his heart of hearts, he knew that if there was a chance he could keep up with Midoriya, who would soon inherit enough power to punch a building into rubble, or Uraraka, who would probably be able to make that building float into space by the time her powers grew fully, then it was infinitesimal at best and completely non-existent at worst. He was just a normal human, albeit one with hair straight out of a volume of Dragon Ball Z.
Still, he would persevere, because that was all he could do. Darwin and Nietzsche had agreed on one thing; the fundamental characteristic of the living organism was to strive. And strive he would, for his dream mattered to him too much to do otherwise.
It was five in the morning. Kyosuke was not a morning person by any means- had he been allowed the choice, he would have gladly slept in a few more hours and exercised in the evening instead. However, time constraints dictated that there were only twenty-four hours in a day, seven of which he spent sleeping, three of which he spent eating, and four of which he dedicated to studying. After he factored in the need to go to school five days a week and making time to hang out and spar with his friends, it became near-impossible to keep up with his schedule without nudging in a few extra hours somewhere in the day.
Yawning, Kyosuke traversed the stairs out of sheer habit, not even needing to open his eyes to know where he was going. Clad in his usual grey tracksuit, he could spot in other early risers the tired resolve that drove all of them to do these inconvenient things, the annoying things, all in pursuit of taking just that little step further towards getting stronger. After stretching briefly to warm up, Kyosuke took off, noting idly that for him to be able to maintain this particular pace meant that his stamina had improved greatly. He was still well below Midoriya and Uraraka's level, but it was still something to take comfort in even as the last dregs of his sleep were chased away by the chilly morning air.
He jogged in relative silence, not bothering to really look where he was going. This had the unintended- though not necessarily unfortunate- consequence of taking him directly along a road that was not part of his usual route, which would have taken him to his school and looped around to direct him back home in a route of about four kilometers in total. Kyosuke went on running unbothered, however. He knew this municipality like the back of his hand, and even in the relative dark of the early morning, he could predict exactly where he was going. And indeed, just as he had expected, after a good six kilometers, he eventually alighted on the now-familiar stretch of Dagobah Municipal Beach, now a little less repugnant than it had been a month prior.
Midoriya had outdone himself. The beach still had a lot of garbage left in it, of course, but Kyosuke hadn't expected much of a reduction after only a month. Yet, a full heap of trash had already disappeared, and he could no longer spot some old pieces of furniture that had been particularly distinctive, nor the fridge All Might had flattened on their first collective trip here.
Ochako, Inko, and All Might would be so proud of him, just as Kyosuke was too. Grinning reflexively as his eyes passed over the relatively pleasing sight of the beach, he could almost imagine the small figure of his green-haired friend determinedly hauling massive bags of garbage in the early morning light. The real thing was surprisingly absent. Then again, even if it was a Saturday, Midoriya could only dedicate so many weekends to decluttering the area. He needed to keep up with his grades and the American Dream Plan too. As a matter of fact, Kyosuke was the only person on the beach right now. This was not as surprising as Midoriya's absence- no one visited Dagobah Municipal Beach if they could help it. The buildings overlooking the area were also mostly empty. No one wanted to look out their window and be greeted with a collection of garbage, after all.
Pausing for a quick break, Kyosuke walked upon the soft sand, appraising his surroundings quietly. He was now fully awake and able to appreciate the beauty of the sun, bleeding light across the horizon as it rose, so similar to the morning from just a month ago when All Might had agreed to train the three of them. It seemed so surreal now that Kyosuke thought about it; the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, the greatest hero that had ever lived was really training Midoriya and Uraraka and him. It had happened by sheer fortune, by mere happenstance; the first really lucky thing that had happened to the three of them, besides introducing Midoriya and Uraraka to each other all those years ago.
It seemed so unimaginable to him that those three children from so long ago, who would soon be known in their middle school as Deku, the Quirkless crybaby, Uraraka, the transfer student with the strange accent and round pink cheeks, and Kirihara, the weirdo who went on about things like science and biochemistry in that inflectionless monotone of his, were now almost adults being personally mentored by All Might and growing ever closer to their shared dream of becoming heroes.
Bakugou would certainly never believe it; not that, of course, Kyosuke cared what Bakugou thought.
No matter what happened, swore the white-haired boy, clenching a fist as a sudden rush of adrenaline pulsed through him. No matter what happened, they would all become heroes. He didn't care what the world threw at them; they would power through it all. He and Midoriya and Uraraka, the three of them, together- at least until one of his two friends worked up the courage to ask the other out. But even if that happened, nothing would change. He would become a hero, no matter what.
And that was when he saw the star.
At first, Kyosuke wasn't able to believe his eyes. He had never been fortunate enough to see a shooting star before, and certainly not one that was tinged with red instead of the usual white. Fascinated, he observed the meteor streak through the morning sky, forgetting momentarily to make a wish upon it as such observers were wont to do.
However, the meteor did not curve through the air and vanish, as Kyosuke expected. Instead, it made a sharp right-angled turn and made for the ground, as if gravity had swiftly and immediately asserted itself on the object- except that the white-haired boy, who had paid attention in his primary school science classes, knew that wasn't how gravity worked. His fascination darkening to wariness, Kyosuke fixed a sharp gaze on the meteor, which was growing steadily and rapidly bigger as the seconds passed. Loath as probability was to dictate it, it was almost as if-
Realization came to him in a swift and terrible wave. With a brief and involuntary cry, Kyosuke dove to the side as the object impacted on the beach sand with a thunderous, though relatively silent, crash. Shockwaves spread out throughout the sand as the parts nearest the meteor were instantly superheated into blackened shards of glass and a trench was carved into the beach like an intrepid bulldozer had run rampant through it. Mercifully, Kyosuke was unhurt. He had broken his fall semi-perfectly and had sustained no injury from either it or the fallen object. That said, quite a bit of sand had gotten into his sweat-stained clothes and- judging from the grit on his tongue- in his mouth as well.
After several muttered oaths and a brief swilling out with the water bottle clipped to his waist, a sound from the meteor alerted him. It seemed almost mechanical in nature, like a metallic container groaning as it worked to open itself up. Except that couldn't be right. A metallic container simply did not soar through the skies and crash to the ground after moving down to where he was standing as if it had completely ignored the forces propelling it in its predestined direction.
As if it had come to him.
Mesmerized, not fully in control of his actions, Kyosuke took a step forward, ignoring the immense heat emanating from the area and the blackened fragments of glass shifting beneath his feet. What he had taken to be an amalgamation of rock was actually a perfect, round sphere, glowing red from having penetrated the thermosphere and having opened to reveal another object within it.
This object, on further inspection, turned out to be the strangest watch Kyosuke had ever seen. It looked like a watch, certainly, with a black strap lined with dark green and a circular face framed with silver, but the similarities ended there. Its face was a bright, glowing green, with two black triangles placed on either side of it so the green section resembled an hourglass. He needed no further inspection to realize that it was something mystical, alien, not from this world and probably not from any part of the Solar System either. The question was- what was a watch doing in outer space?
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The voice had come from behind him and successfully took Kyosuke by surprise once more. With an undignified yelp- because no one would approach Dagobah Municipal Beach at this ungodly hour apart from Uraraka, Midoriya, and All Might, and the voice belonged to none of them- he turned around with a quick, clumsy leap. In fact, the voice was one he could not place in the slightest; deep and rich, the Japanese perfect and cultured. A man with distinctly foreign features was smiling at him, black hair perfectly combed and brown eyes shining in amusement. He was wearing a white laboratory coat over a brown waistcoat, a white shirt, and a dark tie along with black slacks and loafers. Perhaps the oddest part of his appearance, though, was the strange green-tinted goggles hanging from his neck. What was even odder was how he had seemingly appeared from nowhere, how he seemed completely at ease with an artificial meteor having carved a meter-deep trench into the beach- indeed, it seemed as if he had almost expected it to happen, or even made it happen.
"Who are you?" asked Kyosuke warily, unconsciously adjusting his posture so that he would be capable of reacting immediately if the man executed any sudden moves. He did not put his hands up just yet, but his fingers were curled into loose fists, ready to punch out if it proved necessary. This did not escape the man's notice, but far from intimidating him, it seemed to add to his delight even further. "And what is this thing?"
"You know, that's a question I ask myself all too often, and perhaps rather more often than what another would consider adequate," replied the man sedately. "Who am I? My dear boy, are you really concerned with something as trivial as my identity when the very secrets of the universe are placed right in front of you?"
Kyosuke turned back to the watch, which had continued glowing unceasingly throughout their brief exchange. The radioactive light splayed out, dyeing the blackened glass-sand conglomeration around the strange device an unsettling shade of green. "Secrets of the universe?" he echoed skeptically. "In that watch?"
"If you'll allow an old man the benefit of some creative liberty," chuckled the decidedly not-so-old man, if his full head of dark hair was anything to go by. However, a subtle shift in his tone caused Kyosuke to perk up, paying him more attention as he seemingly grew more serious. The smile fell away from his face; the lines around his eyes and cheeks deepened slightly.
"There is much I have to explain to you, my boy, but I simply do not have the time to do it, and all things considered, that is saying something. Listen well. That watch is called the Omnitrix, and when it attaches itself to you, know that you will have full access to a gamut of ten transformations..."
X-X-X
Today's workload had been sufficiently draining without the therapy session he had been obliged to attend, having canceled his previous appointment in favor of joining his three protégés in his private gym (he absolutely refused to call it the Eighth Level of Hell, no matter the disturbing glee with which the trio had continued using the name). Sapped of energy from the sheer chaos in his workplace coupled with navigating his errant emotions with his shrink, Takeo Kirihara trudged upwards to his apartment with rather more effort than he would have normally expended doing so. It did not help that it was a Saturday.
He had not seen his son throughout the day; this, however, was to be expected. Kyosuke had risen early to run, and Takeo had left for work before his return. As it was four in the evening, he suspected that Kyosuke would either be studying, spending time with his friends, or training. That being said, he was definitely still at home- he had been able to see that the lights were on in the living room, and his son was usually more responsible than to leave them on when he went out.
With a brief sigh, he walked up to his door, hearing multiple voices that he was sure belonged to his other two protégés before inserting his key in the lock.
"I'm home-" he called out, before freezing shock flooded his body, seizing his muscles briefly before he instinctively dropped his bag and assumed a combat stance.
Standing in his living room was a massive humanoid with dark red skin and four arms, each of them as thick as Takeo's thigh. It stood at almost nine feet tall and was reminiscent of All Might himself with how incredibly muscular it was, though the similarities obviously ended there. It had four small, green eyes and a black stripe on its otherwise bare cranium running lengthwise along the back of its neck until it disappeared into a black-and-green tank top and black pants. It had two toes on each of its feet and black fingerless gloves on its hands. Worst of all, Midoriya and Uraraka were both sitting on the couch barely a meter away from the gigantic beast.
"Who are you? Get away from my students!" he demanded, slipping a hand in his pocket to call the police. Where was- "What have you done with my son!?"
"T-Takeo-sensei!" yelled Midoriya, waving his hands. The man felt a thrill of surprise when he realized the green-haired boy had leaped up without fear, and the four-armed beast had done nothing in retaliation. Instead, it was now reaching for a strange green hourglass symbol on its shoulder. Uraraka had joined her friend in trying to prevent him from attacking. "He's not-"
The humanoid tapped the symbol, and instantly, green light exploded outwards from it, swathing its form as it slowly started to shrink. Takeo couldn't help but stare, wide-eyed, as its frame started resembling something that looked human- almost like- but it couldn't be-
His jaw slackened as the light disappeared to reveal the familiar sight of his son, looking a little pained but otherwise perfectly fine, dressed in a plain grey shirt and dark blue shorts. Takeo went on staring for a good five seconds before managing to get out a few strangled words. "What- exactly- was that?"
"What is this, dad?" asked Kyosuke, having the audacity to smile faintly as he held up his wrist to display a large green watch with the same hourglass symbol from earlier. "This, dad, may have just falsified the rare Earth hypothesis."
X-X-X
A/N: It's finally happened! Kirihara has attained the Omnitrix! I hope I did the moment justice; with some excellent suggestions from some of you, I tried to parallelize it to the scene where Ben got his Omnitrix in canon. It's one of the most iconic scenes in the show, so I knew I had to include it in the rewrite.
Also, it's the first time I've written from Kirihara's perspective since the story began. Which is kind of weird, but there it is.
I hope you enjoyed the third chapter. If you did, and you want to leave some constructive criticism, praise, or whatever reason you feel is appropriate, leave a review! It takes like two minutes, c'mon! Only if you want to, though.
Can't wait to see you all soon, because next chapter, we get to some more milestones I've been waiting to introduce- such as a certain blond bomber I've been neglecting until now. Oh, and other things.
See you guys soon, and thank you for reading, as always!
