Given I was now studying at UA, I took further liberties with training more openly at home. It wasn't like I had to keep it a secret anymore. Previously I'd try timing my training for when my father wasn't around but now there was no point in doing so.
I'd now spend a lot of time outside in our courtyard that ran down the side of our house which was equipped for handling fires. It was the day after the media incident and now that I had a little over a week of witnessing Bakugo's explosions I wanted to spend some time trying to replicate them. It wasn't without difficulty though. I was having trouble with my fuel and oxygen concentrations. In order to achieve a Bakugo type explosion, I required a really high density of both. This was something I was having trouble producing.
I held my right hand forward and concentrated on a small sphere of air at the palm of my hands. Just by looking you wouldn't be able to tell what I was doing. Not until I bring out the flame from the lighter I held in my left hand would you know what I was doing. From my left hand I drew in the flame, directing it to the sphere of alkane and oxygen at my right palm. I'd been working on trying to get the right mix for hours now but most of them just ended up being a hot burning flame, not the explosion I was after. This time though, I felt like I could maybe get it.
As the two entities made contact a rush of heart and fire expanded rapidly, achieving the explosion I was working for. I was knocked back, I stumbled to regain my balance. The nearby windows rattled. Now that was an explosion!
My right hand tingled. I grinned at the sensation. By no means was that as powerful as Bakugo's explosions but I think I was on the right track. If I can perfect it, this is a potentially a powerful move with many applications!
The door from our house to the courtyard slams open. In the doorway stands a terrified looking Yuta, breathing heavily.
"Yume, is everything okay?" he cried. His eyebrows were knitted together closely. Upon seeing I'm fine he steps out to talk to me, his expression relaxing. I send him a satisfied grin.
"I'm fine. Just practicing a new technique. There's a guy in my class with an explosion quirk. It gave me a few ideas," I explain. As we chat I notice a curtain along one of the windows shift inside. I focus to see our father walking away.
Had he been watching me train?
My new skill still required a lot of refinement. For the moment I could only achieve it when focusing very intently while building up the required balance and concentration. It was slow. It would be something I'd need to work on for a while before I could use it in a practical sense.
It was a shame really. The activity in our hero classes on Thursday afternoon would have been the perfect to use it if I had managed to master it.
After having changed into our hero costumes, we're taken down to a another urban training ground. Around us are many tall buildings. All Might gets our attention to announce our next activity.
"Today you will be competing in a vertical race against your classmates," All Might explains. I listen carefully. A vertical race? What does that mean exactly?
"In groups of four, you are simply required to race against each other to get to the top of this building. How you do so is up to you," All Might explains. If only I had better control over the explosions. I could have used them to propel myself upwards.
As we get ready I sit down to stretch out my body and legs. I watch Shouto take a spot next to me to do the same. Even with our new understanding that we'd be friendly acquaintances at most I still found Shouto had been acting kind of weird all week. During class, particularly our hero training, he would often stretch with me as he's doing now. He'd even comment on my technique as we trained. I had thought perhaps he was reconsidering his position on not making friends however during lunch he ignored me. I didn't understand what he was trying to do.
I was assigned to the last race of the session, so I have a bit of time to warm up my body. While I stretch out I watch the first team get ready. Up is Asui, Seiji, Midoriya and Bakugo.
That's bad luck for Midoriya being grouped with Bakugo again. Over the start of term I had witnessed several moments of hostility from the explosive teenager. In this moment I watch Bakugo approach Midoriya before the race, his posture seems aggressive.
"Oi, Deku," he growls, getting the green haired boys attention. I watch on curiously.
"Y-yes, Kacchan?" Midoriya replied meekly, recoiling in response to Bakugo's fierce expression.
"Don't you dare hold back today. I want to win this against your full power," Bakugo commanded. Midoriya stuttered out some sort of semblance of a response.
I watch the racing group approach the building. All Might gives the starting signal. Asui, Seiji and Bakguo take to scaling the exterior of the building. Bakugo propels himself up the building in no time, spiraling upward using his explosions. I pay attention to the pattern of his combustion, checking for how I may replicate them in my own time when I trained.
Asui is not far behind. Her frog quirk is useful for this exercise. She is able to stick to the wall as she climbs. Behind her is Seiji who is able to extend his limbs far, being able to grab onto various nooks and crannies of the building as he climbs.
Midoriya, on the other hand had taken to scaling the building internally, choosing not to use his quirk which is still dangerously powerful. By doing this he doesn't stand a chance against the other three, coming in dead last. I see Bakugo fuming up top. Once receiving their times they're ushered back down to the bottom as the next group gets ready.
Shouto and I continue stretching and warming up. All Might becomes preoccupied with the next group. As the next race proceeds, I watch Bakugo and Midoriya interact. He was evidently fuming over Midoriya not using his quirk during the race.
I see Bakugo is getting progressively more aggressive at Midoriya. I look back to All Might who is still distracted with Jirou, Kaminari, Kouda and Iida's race. Shouto watches on disinterested.
"Kacchan, we can't fight right now," Midoriya stutters looking around nervously. Bakugo flexes his fingers. I don't like where this is headed. All Might still hasn't noticed the confrontation that's occurring.
"You think you're fucking better than me or something?!" Bakugo growled. He looks like he's bracing for an explosion.
"Should we do something?" I murmur to Shouto. He shrugs in response. He evidently doesn't want to get involved. I look back. Next thing I know Bakugo has his hands raised. Midoriya is bracing for impact.
"Shit," I murmur. My body moves before I can think. I raise my hands, desaturating the oxygen at Bakugo's palms. I can tell it's not going to be enough. I force myself between the two boys, crossing my forearms across my face to protect my eyes.
Bakugo's explosions fire off. Although dampened there is still some force behind it. The fabric of my costume sleeve is blown off my arms. I grunt as the impact hits me. I take a step back at the force into Midoriya's chest, nearly knocking him backwards. The whole class turns, witnessing the after effects of the explosion.
"K-Kazama-chan!" Midoriya cries out. I step forward as I throw down my arms to glare a Bakugo who is staring between me as his hands. The explosion, although still significant, was not at the scale he intended. All Might is suddenly on the scene, placing a hand on Bakugo's shoulder.
"Young Bakugo, your power is impressive but please refrain from using your quirk out of turn," he says. Bakugo averts his gaze.
"Fine," he says quietly, shrugging All Might off. All Might looks to me and my burnt up sleeves.
"Young Kazama, are you injured?" All Might asks. I shake my head.
"No," I say. I brush off my arms. That had been a close one though. I am fire and heat resistant to an extent but the force from the explosion was something else. I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't subdued it.
"Ah... well since no one was hurt I'll leave it as a warning for you Young Bakugo. Don't let it happen again," he says. Bakugo scowls and says nothing. All Might pauses for a moment, assessing the likelihood of Bakugo exploding out of turn. Then he turns to continue directing the next group for their race
"Kazama-chan are you really uninjured?" Midoriya asks. I turn to look at the nervous green haired boy.
"Yeah I've got natural fire resistance," I say. I show him my arms. While pink from the explosion they are otherwise in pristine condition. Midoriya nods thoughtfully. Kirishima and Ashido approach me.
"Holy crap, Kazama-chan! I didn't think you'd be the type to take an explosion head on!" Kirishima said. I looked at him unimpressed. What exactly does he mean by that?
"You're a total bad ass!" Ashido exclaimed. I see in my periphery Bakugo getting more and more agitated. I shrug.
"It was nothing much. I desaturated the oxygen around his hands. I don't think I'd have gotten out unscathed if I took a proper explosion head on," I say honestly. I catch Shouto's eyes who seems to be watching me critically from a distance. I ignore him. He may want to be antisocial and distant but I certainly don't.
"Oxygen desaturation... that quirk sounds like it's more a atmospheric manipulation subclass than a fire quirk. I guess fire is controlled by extension though. To do this though a gaseous fuel would be required and..." Midoriya mutters. I raise my eyebrows. Wow, he broke down my quirk in no time.
"You're kind of a terrifying guy, Midoriya-kun," I say amused. He scratches his neck nervously.
"Sorry... it's a bad habit. Quirk analysis is kind of a hobby of mine," He explains.
"I don't really get it though. Are you saying Kazama-chan doesn't have a fire quirk?" Kirishima asks.
"Typically those with fire quirks can create their own fire. I can control fire but only through manipulation of oxygen and an alkane gas in the air. I can't create my own flames," I explain.
I find myself chatting with the three for the duration of our class. Honestly I don't understand why Shouto was so apprehensive about making friends here. Would it really get in the way of his ambitions that much? I had hoped he might come over as well.
Bakugo also mostly kept to himself after the incident. I did catch him glowering though. Honestly, between Shouto's icy demeanour and Bakugo's aggressive confrontations both of their behaviour towards our classmates had been abysmal. Both of them really could improve their social skills.
The class ended but I continued hanging out with Midoriya, Kirishima and Ashido. Midoriya really did seem a bit shy by nature but in comparison to Shouto's usual ambivalence he is easy to get along with as are the other two.
"Um... Kazama-chan?" Midoriya asks as we finish up our training. I look up at the green haired boy.
"Yeah?" I ask. He looks at me nervously.
"I was kind of wondering... is your father Knightfire?" He asks. This grabs the interest of several of our classmates. He really is well informed.
"Yeah, he is," I reply. Kirishima looks at me particularly surprised. Bakugo was faced away from us, stretching out his shoulders nearby but I'm sure he's listening as well. Midoriya looks at me excited.
"I thought that might be the case. Your fire quirk works in a similar way," Midoriya said. He looked to be thinking hard.
"Yeah it's kind of a give away. I suppose being acquainted with a Todoroki kind of helped as well, right?" I ask amused. Midoriya nodded.
"Is he Endeavour's son?" Midoriya asked keenly. Bakugo visibly tensed up with this new information.
"He sure is," I reply. I get to my feet. I wonder if Shouto would be angered by me sharing this. It's not like it's really a secret though.
"No way... I had no idea!" Kamimari exclaimed.
"It's amazing to think there's someone like that in our class. I guess that's UA for you," Kirishima says. We look over to where Shouto has gotten to his feet. He walks away by himself for his turn racing. It's possible that I was imagining it but his posture seemed agitated... just a bit.
I frown. Perhaps it was wrong of me to mention that after all.