Chapter 2: The Training Begins
Izuku and his mother, Inko, arrived at the beach that Jonathan specified. They were not surprised to see that it was more of a junkyard than a beach. The garbage covered almost every square inch of the beach and was stacked nearly twenty feet tall.
The family saw Jonathan sitting on the pier next to the beach. He then jumped several feet into the air without standing up. After landing he stood up. He started walking into the water and stopped when the water reached his shins. He looked down at a frog sitting on a pile of garbage and took a deep breath.
The water began forming unnatural ripples around his legs. What he did next shocked both members of the Midoriya family. He punched the frog at what seemed to be full force. Hamon energy emerged from his hand and the pile of garbage disintegrated and the frog swam off unharmed. Izuku's eyes were glowing at the possibilities he could do after Jonathan's training.
"How did you do that? You destroyed that pile of garbage without hurting the frog." Inko asked in a panic.
Jonathan approached the two and offered Inko a handshake. "Hello. You must Izuku's mother. My name is Jonathan Joestar. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Midoriya."
"Oh umm… hello. You are right that I am Izuku's mother. My name is Inko Midoriya, but please just call me Inko. Mrs. Midoriya makes me feel old." She said after shaking the man's hand. She was a little off put by Jonathan's kindness after witnessing what he just did.
"If you insist, then I'll call you by your first name. I'm sorry I acted so strange earlier, Inko. I didn't know you would be here today. That was how my own master showed me what Hamon capable of. I understand if you have trouble trusting me. I am a complete stranger to you after all, and that little display probably wasn't the best first impression." Jonathan said while bowing to the chubby woman.
"Hamon? Is that the name of your quirk?" Inko asked still dumbfounded by the large man's shift in personality.
"No it's not the name of my quirk. In fact I'm quirkless just like your son. Hamon is a spiritual energy that all human beings possess, but only a select few can actually utilize it, and your son is one of them." Inko was shocked at the man's words.
"Izuku told me that you were going to help train him to be a hero, but I thought it would just be strength and martial arts training." Inko said barely able to process what was happening.
"Well that's not incorrect. Hamon is derived from an ancient martial art whose origins date back several millennia. There are just so few people capable of using it the practice has nearly died out. To top things off, most of the few who do practice it live in either Tibet or Italy." Inko nodded starting to understand Jonathan's words. "Now let's stop getting distracted. What brings you here today, Inko?"
"I came here because I wanted to meet the man who was going to help my son achieve his dream." Inko answered Jonathan's question after calming down.
"Of course. It's only natural for a mother to be worried about a situation like this. Truth be told I was going to ask to meet you after the training wrapped up today." Jonathan said to the mother.
"You were? I thought Izuku would try to keep this whole situation secret from me." Inko said growing more shocked as the conversation continued.
"I told him not to keep secrets from those close to him. Keeping secrets would only result in him distancing himself from his friends and family. I kept secrets from my own wife, and nearly lost her because of it." Jonathan said after recalling some unpleasant memories.
"That's very considerate of you Mr. Joestar. If I may ask, why did you offer to train my son in the first place?" Inko asked still unsure whether or not to trust Jonathan.
"When I met your son, I saw nothing but sadness in his eyes. I felt like I had to help him in any way I could. Your son has the heart of a true hero, and I wanted to help him achieve that dream." Jonathan said with as much pride as he would have in his own child. Inko nodded to herself before continuing.
"You're a very kind man. I've seen enough to know I can trust you. You should know if you ever hurt my son, this training will be cancelled. Am I understood?" Inko said making herself clear.
"I understand completely, but I'll tell right now that this training is going to be really intense. He might get hurt from the training alone. Nothing life threatening, but if you want to back out now, you can. I won't stop you." Jonathan said addressing the family.
"I don't care how hard the training will be. I want to learn to use Hamon. This might be my only chance to be a hero." Izuku said with a look of determination on his face. Both adults saw this and admired the young boy.
"I don't want to break my son's heart again. If he really wants to go through with this training, I'm not going to stop him. You've given him the hope that I shattered, so please take good care of him. Be sure he gets home at a decent time. I don't want to sit at home worrying about Izuku more than I already will be." Inko said as she began walking towards the car.
"You have my word that I'll take good care of your son. The Joestar family always keep their promises. But, is there a reason why you're not going to stay and watch the training for yourself?" Jonathan asked curious as to why she was leaving. Izuku was wondering the same thing as well, but more from concern than curiosity.
"You told me the training would be intense. I'm a very protective mother, and I don't want to see my baby go through such pain. Truth be told I don't even want to hear about his training. It might give me a heart attack, but I know Izuku tell me regardless." She said waving goodbye to the two.
"You're mother is a very kind woman. She reminds me of my own wife." Jonathan said, with a smile on his face, after Inko left.
"How long have you and your wife been married?" Izuku asked after seeing how happy Jonathan got when talking about his wife.
"Erina and I celebrated our forty-sixth wedding anniversary last month." Jonathan answered taking note of the young man's confused expression.
"Forty-six years? How old are you? You look like you're not even fifty years old." Izuku asked. He could not believe Jonathan was that much older than he looked.
"I'm sixty-six years old." Jonathan answered while taking note of the boy's shocked expression. "That is one of the benefits of practicing Hamon. It slows down the aging process. This keeps your body in peak physical condition for much longer than normal."
"Wait is it possible that my Hamon training will stunt my growth? I don't want to look like I'm twelve years old until I'm eighteen."
"Not at all. Hamon merely slows down aging once the body is fully developed. It has no effect on a person's growth. In fact, my grandson was born with the ability to use Hamon, and his body grew at a normal rate. The boy is almost as tall as me now."
"That's a relief." Izuku said with a sigh.
"Alright Midoriya, it's time we begin your training." Jonathan said shifting into a more serious tone. "But first, I need to get a measure of your current abilities."
Izuku was about to ask what Jonathan wanted him to do, when Jonathan pointed at a rock in front of both of them. Izuku realized what Jonathan wanted him to do. Izuku then began steadying his breath as he felt a warm energy flowing throughout his body. He then focused the energy into his right arm and punched the rock.
Yellow sparks flowed out of Izuku's hand and into the rock. Jonathan backed away knowing full well what was going to happen. As soon as Izuku's still clenched hand left the rock, it exploded with violent force and sent bits of rubble in every direction. Izuku looked at his hands in complete shock over what he had just accomplished, and he looked to Jonathan for an explanation. The older man simply smiled and walked over to the young boy.
"I knew you had high potential for Hamon, but that was incredible. I now see what we will have to work on going forward." Jonathan said ignoring the boys shock. He turned to the young man and began explaining. "The moment I unlocked your Hamon, you began subconsciously breathing in the correct way to utilize it. The amount Hamon energy you unleashed was incredible, but you lack control."
"Control? So my training will mostly be focused on me controlling the Hamon I already have rather than trying to build more?" Izuku asked while looking around the beach. One question lingered in the back of his mind.
"You are correct young man. There would be no point in trying to build more power if you can't control the power you currently possess. But you should know there will be more to your training than that." Jonathan said while Izuku nodded in understanding.
"More to my training?" Izuku asked before a realization hit him. "Am I going to be hauling trash around this beach to build my physical strength?"
"Correct again. You'll be cleaning the beach as step one of your training. Luckily we aren't on a time crunch, so we can take it a bit easier until you get used to it."
"Why do I need to work on my physical strength though? You already said that my potential for Hamon is extremely high. Won't I be able to get by with my Hamon alone?" Izuku asked trying to gauge his trainer's thought process.
"Your potential for Hamon may be high, but your body is weak. You can't like rely on Hamon all the time if you want to be a true hero that others can depend on. You must be physically capable as well."
"I guess that makes sense. When I think about it, Hamon is very similar to a strength enhancing quirk. Which means if I increase my base strength, the amount of power I can output with my Hamon will go up as well."
"Indeed it is, but there are other reasons." Izuku looked towards Jonathan about to ask what he meant. Jonathan pressed his finger onto Izuku's mouth to answer his question before he could ask it. "I told you that Hamon is tied to steadying your breath. The biggest part of this training will be building your stamina."
"Are there any other weaknesses of Hamon I should know about?"
"The two biggest weaknesses are, you have to remain breathing the entire time, and your blood flow throughout your body must not be disturbed. If you are ever put into a position where you are unable to breathe, you can't use Hamon at all. As for the second weakness, should your blood flow ever be interrupted either by heavy blood loss or frostbite your Hamon will start to weaken and eventually stop altogether."
"If I am put into any of those situations, I think I have bigger things to worry about than being unable to use Hamon."
"That's a very valid point. That is enough questions because your training starts now." Jonathan said ending the conversation and adopting a much more serious tone than he previously had.
Izuku understood immediately, and began following Jonathan's instructions. The young man began hauling junk around the beach bringing it piece by piece to the bed of Jonathan's truck. Under his trainer's instruction Izuku was isolating different muscle groups based on the size and shape of what he was hauling.
Izuku tried to keep his breath steady the entire time, and he was surprised by how high his endurance had already become. He figured it had something to do with his subconscious Hamon breathing. Izuku managed to keep going for about three hours before he needed a break. Afterwards, Jonathan declared a wrap for the muscles building portion of the day and sat down on a nearby bench. He gestured for Izuku to sit next to him.
"You did well for your first day of training, but we aren't done yet. We will move on to the next step after you catch your breath." Jonathan started after Izuku sat down.
"What's next?" Izuku asked.
"Hamon training."
Jonathan waited for Izuku to recover a bit before walking towards the shoreline. Izuku followed him and waited for Jonathan's instructions. Jonathan said nothing and took a deep breath. He began walking into the water. Izuku was shocked when Jonathan began walking on top of the water instead of sinking in. Jonathan looked at Izuku and waited for the young boy to catch on to his wordless instructions.
Izuku understood what Jonathan wanted him to do. He began concentrating Hamon into his feet and walked into the water like his master. However unlike his master, who was standing on the surface of the water, Izuku's feet were submerged in the water. He also noticed that the ripples forming around his legs were much more erratic and violent than his master's. After about ten seconds, a pillar of water formed in front of Izuku and splashed him in the face.
"I think I see what you mean by my lack of control." Izuku said after recovering. He began trying to fix his issue without instruction. He lowered the amount of Hamon he was using, but he lowered too much and fell into the water.
"Now I get it." Izuku said after climbing out of the water. "If I use too much power, the footing becomes unstable and will react violently. On the other hand, too little power and I can't stand on the water all. But neither of those explain why my feet were still under water."
"You are exactly right in your assessment." Jonathan said proud of apprentice. "Now let's try again, but now we will address the issue of your feet sinking. Use the same amount of power you used on your first attempt, but this time concentrate it into just the soles of your feet instead of you entire foot."
Izuku did as he was instructed and noticed two things. The first was that his feet did not sink like they did before. The second was the ripples forming around his feet were much less erratic than before. There were still more erratic than the ripples form around Jonathan's feet. Izuku tried to lower his Hamon level and the result was the same as before. Izuku climbed out of the water upset over the result of his training.
"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll head home as soon as you dry up." Jonathan said as he headed back towards the bench. Izuku followed him and sat sat down next to his master. "Do you have any questions before we wrap up?"
"What else is Hamon capable of doing? I know it enhances my strength, lets me walk on water, and has some degree of destructive power. What else can it do, and why do I feel this warmth whenever I use it?"
"The energy Hamon releases is identical to rays of the Sun. That is why you feel a warmth throughout your body." Hearing his master's words, Izuku began channeling Hamon throughout his body to dry himself. Jonathan smirked at his apprentice's swift progress.
"The explains the heat Hamon generates, but you didn't answer my other question."
"I think it's better if you learn what Hamon is capable of as we go along with your training rather than covering it all at once."
"I understand that. Now that I think about it, why was Hamon created?"
"Hamon was initially created to combat vampires and to treat injuries."
"Vampires? You must be kidding me. There's no way vampires are real."
"The reality we live in is one where people who possess no natural superhuman ability are the minority. Is the existence of vampires that surprising?"
"I guess them being real wouldn't be surprising when you put it that way, but there have never been any reports throughout history about them being real." Izuku said before he began muttering to himself.
"I guess there have been people with quirks that give them vampire like abilities. Maybe others mistake them for actual vampires. There are also serial killers who only act during the night and leave their victims to bleed out. Certainly those would be the real life inspiration for fictional vampires." Jonathan sighed at Izuku's muttering.
"I can assure you that vampires are very much real. In fact I learned to use Hamon to hunt down one vampire in particular." Jonathan said interrupting Izuku's mumbling.
"Hunt down? Like to arrest him?"
"No I was out to kill him, and as far as I know I succeeded." Izuku was in complete over the fact that his master had killed before.
"What do you mean as far as you know? Is there a chance this vampire is still alive today?"
"Our battle was about fifty years ago, and I haven't seen him since. I pray to god almost every day that he doesn't come back. He was potentially the most dangerous person to ever live."
"Fifty years ago? This is insane. To think that something like that happened. Why have I never heard of this before?" Izuku was growing more unnerved by what Jonathan was saying.
"For centuries, there have been criminals so dangerous that their identities have been kept secret from the general public. Criminals like that have existed long before the era of quirks." Izuku could not say a word and instead gasped. "Naturally, special forces were created to combat these villains. After the era of heroes came to be, these special task forces simply became underground agencies that had extra authority to kill villains deemed too dangerous to simply be imprisoned."
"Is that what you do for a living?"
"Not since I retired. My old agency is currently being run by my daughter in law Elizabeth."
"Your daughter in law not your son?"
"My oldest son, George, was quirkless and didn't dedicate himself to training his Hamon despite having a high potential for it. He was a lieutenant in the police force and died in the line of duty last year."
"I'm sorry I mentioned it. I didn't know it was a sore spot for you." Jonathan told Izuku not to worry about it. "Wait your son was quirkless too?"
"Everybody with Joestar blood running through their veins is quirkless. My family was cursed by a man in the first few generations of quirks to never develop a quirk. On a more positive note, all members of the Joestar family are physically strong and possess high potential for Hamon."
"You said you retired. What do you do now?" Izuku asked wanting to both change the subject and learn more about his master.
"Well most of the time, I travel the world with my wife searching through ancient ruins as an archeologist. The rest of the time, I will assist my wife with her job."
Jonathan noticed that Izuku was dried off and decided to end the training now. Izuku was about to fight him on it until Jonathan interrupted him. The older man shut down Izuku's argument when by bringing up that even though Hamon increases stamina and can heal the user, he can still overwork his body. Jonathan was very adamant about the importance of rest. Izuku reluctantly agreed with his master.
The two got into Jonthan's truck while they offloaded the junk Izuku hauled to an actual dump. After a few minutes, the junk was taken care of. The two headed towards the Midoriya family apartment. Jonathan knocked on the door, and Inko answered it. She then grabbed her son in a massive hug. After releasing Izuku, she gave Jonathan a stern look that told him, "No later than this."
Jonathan nodded in understanding. He handed Izuku a sheet of paper before heading out. Izuku looked it over and saw it was a schedule for his training. He was shocked that it was not just a training schedule, but also a meal plan and even had his sleep schedule. Jonathan said his goodbyes and left the family's apartment.
Inko told Izuku that dinner was almost done, and he should wash up. He agreed and promised to tell his mother about today's training over dinner. Inko finished cooking dinner as soon as Izuku came back. She made Izuku's favorite food, katsudon, to celebrate Izuku's first day of training.
Izuku told his mother everything he did during his training with Jonathan. Before leaving the table, Izuku handed Inko the plan Jonathan gave him earlier. She looked it over and sighed at the meal plan. The large amount of protein Izuku would have to consume would get expensive.
Izuku headed towards his room to get ready for bed. Once he was finished changing into his pajamas, he looked at a picture on his desk. The picture was of him and his best friend when they were six. He sighed reminiscing about his childhood and the one friend he ever had who moved away when they both seven.
I still remember the promise we made to each other all those years ago. We will meet up again U.A. Izuku thought while picking up the picture. He put the picture back down and climbed into bed.
TO BE CONTINUED
IMPORTANT DO NOT SKIP: I need to bring up a few things. The first is I need some Idea's for Quirks for the JoJo characters. Specifically Lisa Lisa. I Already have an Idea for Speedwagon and Erina's quirks. So I'm open to suggestions for Lisa Lisa specifically. The second is One for All. I'm undecided if I'm going to give it to Deku at this point. That is not necessarily up for you guys to decide. I'm just going to say that if he does get it he won't receive until much later in the story. Same goes for every other potential candidate. Nobody will start U.A. with it. The third is I've cleaned up my other stories. It's also very annoying that this site doesn't allow right alignment for my to be continued.