My Hero Academia - Under Pressure - Season 2 - Chapter 13 - Tonen Keitomo: Origin

"Hate is a powerful thing."

At the Sports Festival, on the battlefield, Tonen Keitomo glared at his foe in Goya Ramasu, who matched him with a similar look. Projection was just about to start the match, and seconds seemed to last for hours as they looked at the other. For before them wasn't just an opponent, but someone they couldn't stand.

"Pro-Heroes aren't supposed to have hate, but ask any of them and you'll hear that they do hate certain things. They hate not being able to do more, they hate not being able to prevent certain villainous acts, and only being able to react to them. But on a personal level, everyone hates someone, even if it's only slightly."

The stares continued as Projection began to speak her final line.

"I hated Goya. I hated everything he stood for. I disliked Chuya because I felt her priorities were misplaced, and I helped her see that. But Goya? There was no helping him. Look at his posture, look at that smile he tends to always have, look at how he gloats about his power and you'll see...he's totally self-absorbed. Chuya abandoned me because she had to complete her own mission, but Goya? He just didn't care. He likely would've laughed if I died that night because it would've been one less 'obstacle' in his path. One less person to deal with. The irony is that in his mind, I'm the villain of his story because I stand up to him. I criticize him, I point out the flaws he doesn't want others to see. He feels he's superior, he hurts people because he thinks he's better than them, and he feels he'll be the No.1 hero one day because everyone else is 'beneath him'. Why? Because he's a bully. And I hate bullies."

"...and...begin!" cried out Projection to start the match.

As quickly as he could Tonen exhaled sharply and set a massive amount of air at Goya. Goya was forced to react to the attack two-fold. First by cementing his place with one hand to ensure he didn't get pushed back, and with the other hand he put up a psychic shield to divert the air away from him.

Tonen continued to lay on the air pressure to see if he could get some kind of an advantage. But Goya wasn't moving, and he noticed quickly that Goya's face was livid from the attacks.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Goya, who moved his hands in a way to raise his psychic barrier and throw it at Tonen.

Tonen rolled out of the way, but before he could exhale again...Goya grabbed him with his Quirk.

"Got you."

Many in the stands went quiet, including all of Class 1-B, as they all saw what happened the last time Goya got a hold of someone in his Quirk.

Goya gave out a rather exasperated laugh as he looked upon the now very still Tonen, "I hate you, do you know that? I'm sure you do, even I wouldn't say you're stupid. I felt your Quirk would give you just enough time to get one shot off before I grabbed you, but no! You had to go and pour it on, didn't you? Because you, just like all pathetic followers in our class don't know when to just bow out!"

With a motion of his hand, Goya slammed Tonen into the ground just like he did with Kuroda. But unlike in the previous match, he raised Tonen back up to his feet.

"Fun fact. Because of what I did to our dear class rep last round, I'm on a kind of probation for the rest of this festival. If I do things 'excessively', I'll be kicked out! Can you believe that, Tonen? I am here showcasing my power for all to see and they're trying to hold me back! Why? Because you all are too weak to fight back and they see that as a problem! Which is funny, because you ARE a problem! You and your teamwork, you and loyalty to one another, give me a break!"

He flicked his wrist and Tonen was set right to the edge of the battlefield, but he was almost instantly pulled back right in front of Goya.

"This world is about power. The best Quirks get the best perks, and the best placement on the leaderboard. Surely you realize that I am powerful enough to be at the top, and I'm sure I haven't even reached my full potential! And yet, you call me a 'Dick' because I know my own power, my own abilities and flaunt them in my own special way. So I don't make friends, who cares? Isn't that my decision? So I insult you and the others from time to time, isn't that a...how did you call it...personality Quirk?"

He put a hand right up to Tonen's face and flicked his nose, sending him flying backward, but once again, Goya pulled him back before he was out of bounds.

Goya paused and looked at Tonen's face. Though Tonen couldn't talk, his eyes were full of hate, full of rage, "Lovely eyes, Tonen, you hate me just as much as I hate you. Good. I'm glad I can see it in full view. But, since I am on probation, it's time to end this. So I'm going to march you right out of this ring. Come on."

He turned around and motioned at Tonen to follow. Sure enough, Tonen's body started to move forward, marching like a toy soldier that was wound up and headed right to the edge of the ring.

Goya stepped aside to let Tonen move past him as his hand guided him, "Think of this as a blessing, Tonen! You're going to be reunited with your little pets soon!"

Tonen's foot slammed on the ground, and his body paused. Goya was surprised by this, his psychic aura was still around Tonen, and his hand was still telling his foe to move forward...and yet he was now still.

"What in the world...? Why aren't you moving!?"

He put more psychic power into the field, and Tonen's body bent, but it didn't go forward. Frustrated, Goya raced around to face Tonen, and what he saw shocked him even more.

This time around, it was Tonen's face that was livid, and what's more, it was shaking in place, shifting just a little bit despite the field around him.

And then, Tonen's mouth started to move, "P...pe...pe...pets...?"

In his mind, Tonen flashed back to a memory. One that had been buried deep inside of him, one that even he forgot was there, one that had been locked away...until now.

He was much younger, and had a happiness about him that was exuding in all directions. Tonen was at a grade school, with plenty of other students his age all around him as they did work in class and other activities.

At one point, Tonen was doing some work when he grabbed his stomach in pain. A young girl noticed this and checked on him, "You ok, Tonen?"

"Hey Sarisa," the young Tonen responded with a small smile, "I'm fine, my stomach has been hurting me all day though."

"Want me to take you to the nurse?"

"Nah, I'll be ok. It's been starting and stopping all week, I'll be fine once it goes away. Is it weird that it's making my body tingle all over?"

"Not if you're poisoned!"

The two looked at one another with serious eyes, then broke out into laughter. Tonen was the first to apologize, "Thanks, I feel better already."

"Good!" said Sarisa. "But if it gets worse, tell the teacher, ok?"

"Ok!"

"Alright class," called the nearby teacher, "let's see the results of your work! If you all did well I might let you go to recess early!"

The class cheered and they quickly went to showcase their work to the teacher. A little later on, the teacher kept her word and they were let out for recess. The children played with one another or by themselves on the equipment that was out there. Or, they went and played with toys that they had brought with them.

One such child who did this was Sarisa, who was playing with Pro-Hero action figures alongside some of her other friends.

As they were enacting their own hero battles though, someone came in and swiped the action figure from her hand, "Oh, look what we have here!"

They turned to see a set of four boys looming over them, evil intent ripe on their faces.

"Give it back, Doran!" demanded Sarisa.

"Or what, you going to make me give it back?" teased Doran. "Good luck with that!

The four boys all laughed, especially when Sarisa did indeed try to get her toy back, but was unable to. Doran mocked her relentlessly as she did.

"Come on, little higher, nope, lower, it's over here, and now it's over here. And now it's-"

Before he knew it, someone snatched the toy out from his grip and then pushed him down to the ground. As Doran looked up, a very unhappy Tonen was looking at him.

"Grow up, Doran," he said with clear hate. He then turned and gave the figure back to his friend, "Here you go, Sarisa. I'll handle them."

"Thanks Tonen, you're the best," Sarisa replied with a smile before starting to leave with her friends.

"Oh, gag!" Doran said as he got back up. "You're in a pain in my backside, Tonen! Playing Pro-Hero when you don't even have a Quirk!"

Tonen shook his head, "I'm not playing anything, I'm just being a friend, and a good person. Something you are terrible at. Now leave her and her friends alone! They did nothing to you."

He made to leave, and Doran made a motion to attack, but was stopped by one of his cohorts who motioned to a nearby teacher that hadn't noticed what they did yet.

Knowing he couldn't attack physically, he went for the alternative, "Sure thing, Tonen! Wouldn't want your pet to get injured!"

Confused, Tonen turned back, "What?"

"You watch out for Sarisa, you help her when she's in need, I even saw you give her some food when she was hungry that day she forgot her lunch. She's your little pet, isn't it adorable, boys?"

The pack mocked Tonen, who was struggling with the insults coming at him, "What are you...? How can you say that? She's not an animal, she's human! I'm treating her like a person should be treated!"

"Or how you treat a pet...human. Right?" egged on Doran. "Pet. Pet. PET. PET! PET!"

The others joined in and Tonen started getting agitated, he yelled at them to stop, but they only got louder. When that happened, his stomach started to hurt again, more than it ever had before. He tried to push through it but the pain was immense.

Eventually, something clicked inside of him as they continued to yell, "Pet", anger fueling him, he said, "She's...not...my...PET!"

With a shout that all could hear, Tonen roared long and loud, and as he did, gusts of air exploded out of his small frame. Doran and his goons were at first stunned by this display of power, but then found themselves getting pushed back by it. Especially when Tonen's roars continued and he seemed to focus the air right at them. Eventually, they were thrown backward and into a nearby brick wall, knocking them all unconscious.

Tonen continued to shout, air pouring out of him in all directions until eventually the air blasts subsided. When they did, Tonen's expression shifted from one of anger, to one of exhaustion.

"What...did I...?" he said weakly before he collapsed onto the ground.

Sarisa and the nearby teacher ran up to him and checked on him, but he wouldn't wake up.

Darkness was all Tonen could see at first when he regained consciousness. His eyelids were heavy, and it was his ears that recovered first.

"What are we going to tell him?" came the familiar voice of his mother, Soyuki.

"I think it's best he doesn't know everything," his father, Shitaka replied.

"But his classmates are going to say something even if he doesn't remember!"

"The teacher is going to make sure they don't, and those bullies that triggered him are going to be warned about what happens if they provoke him again. Not that they would given what Tonen did."

"What I...did?" said Tonen, eyes finally opening.

"TK!" exclaimed his father as he came to his son's side.

"How are you feeling, honey?" asked his mother.

"Sore," he answered, "I hurt all over. What...what happened?"

His parents looked at each other with worried expressions, but his father looked back at Tonen first, "What do you remember about recess today?"

"I...went outside...was playing with my friends. Sarisa was there and I...I can't remember."

"TK, your Quirk emerged today."

Tonen shot up from his bed, "It did? Ow, that hurt."

"Easy, my dear boy," cautioned his mother as she laid him back down onto his bed. "Your...revelation...caused a lot of strain on your body. That's why you're here in this hospital."

Tonen looked around and realized for the first time that he was indeed in a hospital, complete with an IV drip in his arm and sensors showing his condition.

"Oh, wow, I really overdid it...whatever I did...what did I do?"

"Uh," started Shitaka with a scratch of his head, "we're still trying to figure that out, son. Based on what people saw, you can push blasts of air out of your body. Shoot it in all directions even!"

"Hmm...that's cool...but that's not anything like your Quirks!"

"Don't we know it," joked Soyuki. "This is a kind of 'Quirk Evolution' or divergence, it's been known to happen. But as you are feeling...it can lead to bad things, like you overtaxing your body."

"Right," Tonen acknowledged with a touch to his sore body, "I really hurt. Will you help me get better at this so I don't pass out again?"

"Of course, TK!" said his father happily. "We'll take it slow, we're in no rush. You'll have this under control in no time."

"Thanks dad. Oh, you something about 'what I did'...did I hurt someone with my Quirk?"

Again, his parents looked at each other with worry, but this time, his mother recovered first, "No, you didn't. But you did scare a lot of people with your sudden showing of an ability. Sarisa, your friends, your teacher, they were all fine."

"Good, good," Tonen said relieved.

Shitaka rubbed his son's hair in appreciation of him, "indeed. Now you rest, and don't think about what happened, ok? Focus on the future. You have a Quirk, and if you work hard, and stay true to who we know you can be, you'll be a Pro-Hero one day."

"And beat the bad guys!"

"That's right, TK. There are always bad guys to beat..."

Back in the present, Tonen's rage was building with his memories now unlocked. Now he remembered it all. How he discovered his Quirk, why his hate for bullies was so strong even when he was younger, and more. But it was his father's words in his hospital room that echoed the most in his head. Because right in front of him...was a bad guy to beat.

With his rage giving him movement, he started to roar. Lowly at first, but it then grew. Not unlike the Entrance Exam with the 0-Point robots. But this was more intense than even that. This was him at his maximum power output, and in the stands, no one was sure what was going on.

"How is he resisting Goya's Quirk?" asked Hana.

"You all know how, willpower!" came a voice.

They turned, and to their surprise was Kuroda, bandaged up, but ok.

"Kuroda! What are you doing here?"

"Are you kidding? Miss a chance to see Goya put down? Not on your life, my friend. And I got here just in time for the fun part."

"What did you mean by that willpower bit?" asked Azujima, slightly concerned for Tonen.

"Don't you remember our class battle? Kanagita resisted Goya's psychic field through sheer willpower. Obviously he gotten better at it, but clearly it still has a limit on its own strength. One look at Tonen will show you his power is rising quite a bit, as is his own willpower."

"That intensity...I've never seen anything like it," admitted Chuya, slightly in awe.

"Girl, you need to watch more anime!" noted Ryu from behind her. "You're about to experience the four sweetest words in our language."

"And that is...?"

"He's going Super Saiyan!" shouted Ryo with joy.

On the battlefield, Tonen's roar grew louder and louder. As he did, the field that kept him in place started to fluctuate and eventually shattered.

When it did, he let out his loudest roar yet, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

From his body, an outpouring of air shot out of him and went out in all directions. The crowd members had to hold onto their seats in order to not be thrown back. Even Class 1-B was amazed by the power exuded. They were also surprised when the air pressure got so intense that it ripped off Tonen's shirt, showcasing a very chiseled upper body.

Goya meanwhile used his psychic powers to hold himself in place, but even then, it wasn't easy. The bursts of air made it hard to stay in place. Especially when some of the air blasts started to tear up the battlefield itself and forced him to move in order to stay in bounds.

Tonen eventually stopped his shout, but to Goya's surprise, the air didn't stop pouring out of him. In fact, it kept bursting forward and out in small waves, so much so that it even got Tonen's hair to stand up more than it already was.

"See? Super Saiyan!" the Twins said in the stands.

Not sure what he was witnessing, Goya tried to grab Tonen in his psychic field, but Tonen's Quirk made that impossible, "You can't hold me anymore."

This unnerved Goya, "Oh, aren't you tough? A set of shouts, a ripped-off shirt and a slightly pointier hairstyle and I'm supposed to quiver in fear? Pass."

"You want to have fear? Ok."

Tonen exhaled lightly, and yet a massive wall of air slammed into Goya, pushing him off of the battlefield. Thinking quickly, he raised himself up with his Quirk as he had done before and ensured that he didn't touch the ground.

Back in the ring safely, he glared at Tonen, "Cheap trick."

"Says the psychic," bit back Tonen.

"I may not be able to capture you in my field, but that doesn't mean I can't beat you with other things at my disposal!"

Without hesitation he ripped open sections of the battleground opened up by Tonen's gales and raised them up. With a smirk at Tonen he threw the massive sections at his foe.

Tonen reacted quickly and used his air to pierce the rocks or push them out of the way. Goya countered by getting even more ammunition from the battlefield and chucked it at Tonen from all directions as he himself flew through the air without a care.

Not giving in, Tonen tapped his new reserves of power to blast away everything Goya threw. Eventually, he saw an opening as his opponent flew around.

"KAH!" he said with a shout and an extended hand.

A ball of air shot right at Goya and he barely dodged it in time. But this didn't help him with the second attack which landed right on his head, and sent him right back to the ground, where he hit with a loud thud.

Goya slowly got up, and Tonen pressed his advantage by shooting multiple walls of air at him. One after another they hit Goya, the impact only made harder by the fact that he was still using his Quirk to remain in place to avoid a ring out.

He tried to counterattack, but Tonen's new levels of power made them easy to block or avoid. After a series of attacks, Tonen could see that Goya was on his last legs.

"I'm not...I'm not...done..." Goya said unconvincingly.

"Yeah, you are," corrected Tonen as he charged up one final sphere of air. "Oh, and just to be clear on something you said earlier. Our classmates in the stands? They're not my pets. They're...my...FRIENDS!"

With a final roar he shot the sphere of air right into Goya's chest, and it carried him out of the ring, and right into the far wall. As the dust cleared, Goya's body made a perfect indent into the wall before falling into the ground. Ending the confrontation with a satisfying sound.

"And don't you ever forget it."

Tonen's body seemed to know the fight was over as his "super form" dropped and he fell to one knee in exhaustion. Silence filled the arena until finally a horn sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen," arose the formerly dormant Projection, "I have seen a lot of powerful Quirks on this battlefield, but that takes the cake! Tonen Keitomo unlocked new reaches of his power while on the brink and was able to overtake Goya Ramasu's psychic abilities! Tonen is the first of our two finalists!"

The crowd cheered massively, and Tonen eventually took it in. As well as noticing that he was now shirtless, and he promptly covered himself up as he started to walk away. He wasn't the only one to truly notice his "shirtless condition".

"Ladies," said Kuroda in the stands. "If Tonen was my type, I'd be fawning all over him right now, especially with those abs."

"How is he not your type?" asked Anno in disbelief. "You two get along great!"

"We have a great brother/sister style dynamic. Especially when it comes to looking out for you all. I can't see him beyond that."

"Well he's my type," noted Fenella with a sly grin, "but my family would eat him alive. They prefer someone who's always fiery, not fiery in specific circumstances like this."

"I refuse to speak on this topic," Hana said with slight indignation.

"Yeah, I abstain from comment," added Ebirima with a slight blush.

"Ditto," piped in Eri, Kanagita, Iha, and Ryo.

Noticing one didn't speak, they all turned their heads to Chuya, who didn't even give them the time of day, "Anyone who tries to get me to respond will be drowned."

"I'll put you down as a 'no' then," teased Kuroda.

All but Chuya laughed at the joke. Nearby in the upper echelon of stands was the head of Class 1-A, Maruzumi Utagai. Looking on in disappointment at what had transpired in the battle.

"Disappointing," Maruzumi said with some disgust.

"Only for you and Goya," came a voice.

He turned to see Armed Guard behind him, a rare pleased expression on his face.

"I told you that you overestimated Goya's abilities and that he would underestimate who he faced."

"Clearly. Are you here to settle the score?"

"Do you have it?"

Begrudgingly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Armed Guard took it with a smile and a nod.

"Just out of curiosity, you had it too in case I won?"

Armed Guard smirked and reached into the top of his uniform and grabbed a similar wad of cash.

Maruzumi was pleased by this, "Glad to see we are both men of our word. On that note, shall we go double or nothing? We both know my prized student is going to advance, so do you want to bet that Tonen will win against him somehow?"

To his surprise, Armed Guard shook his head, "No. With Goya it was a matter of will. But against your student...will has nothing to do with it. It's about Quirks, and while Tonen did show me something special...your student's Quirk is still a cheat. So no bet."

"Honorable and smart...most of the time."

"Hmph."

With that he turned and walked away, leaving Maruzumi to watch over the battlefield as it was being restored, a big grin on his face.

Near the entrance tunnel, Tonen had just entered when a voice caught his ears, "You...still...lose."

Tonen shook his head in annoyance as he turned to see Goya limping towards him, pushing away the nurses trying to take care of him, "Why is that?"

"I know how your Quirk works! You expended a lot of air against me! Oshibu will lose his fight and you'll be up against someone for which your Quirk means nothing! Did you forget? I was his tag team partner last round, I know exactly what he can do, and he will beat you handily."

"Then I'll lose. Unlike you, I never needed the glory, or the fame. I wanted to show what I could do, so I could earn a good Pro-Hero mentor, that's all. I've had three fights that showcase how good I am. That's enough for me. It'd never be enough for you though, you always crave more, and that's why you're an idiot, and a dick."

Before Goya could respond, the nurses pulled Goya down the hallway so that they could get him to the nurses station.

"Think fast!" came another voice and Tonen looked up just in time to see a shirt racing towards him.

He caught it and as he did, Oshibu appeared next to him, "Saw you needed that. Hope I got the right size."

"Thanks," Tonen said with a smile as he put on the shirt. "It's been a while since my clothing ripped off like that. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be the eye candy for a lot of girls out there."

"How is that a bad thing?"

"I'm 15! If you're going to oogle someone, make it an adult!"

"Fair enough," acknowledged Oshibu with a shrug.

"So, did you meet up with everyone?"

"Just Kuroda, she's fine by the way, just a little banged up. I told her about what we deduced and..."

"You have a plan?" posed Tonen.

"I have a plan."

"Go get him then."

"You got it."

They fist-bumped and went their separate ways. In the booth, Projection surveyed the completed battlefield and went to work, "Alright everyone! The place has been fixed, and it's time for our final semifinal matchup!"

The crowd cheered as they wondered what else they would see in a matchup.

"First up, the speedster from Class 1-B, Oshibu Noka!"

To show off, he raced onto the battlefield in the blink of an eye and basked in the crowd's praise.

"And his opponent, the mysterious member of Class 1-A, Kazekuwa Norihisa!"

Kazekuwa had his same brooding posture and facial expression as he made his way up to the battlefield.

"Alright boys, let's see if you can top that last matchup, begin!"

The horn sounded and Oshibu went to work, he raced around the arena, bouncing from spot to spot like a pinball going off of bumpers. Kazekuwa didn't move from his spot, he didn't even flinch when Oshibu went right by him at times.

Eventually, Oshibu went in for an attack, and just as he was about to hit his opponent, Kazekuwa vanished from his spot.

But not in the way of an invisible person, because Oshibu's punch went right through where he was just a fraction of a second beforehand. Oshibu looked around to see where he was, but couldn't find him. That is, until Kazekuwa's fist connected with his opponent's face, sending him to the ground.

"Please just give up," Kazekuwa said with clear boredom.

"Not my style," replied Oshibu before racing off again.

He again tried his pinball-style attack, this time going for a leg sweep of his foe, but again, Kazekuwa vanished from sight. Only appearing just before nailing an attack on Oshibu. This got Oshibu flustered, and his foe picked up on that and played into it.

He vanished again, and appeared near the edge of the arena, giving a very lazy gesture of a finger to beckon him to try and hit him. Oshibu gritted his teeth and rushed in.

"No, Oshibu!" cried out Kuroda from the stands, "It's a trap!"

Sure enough, Kazekuwa disappeared again, and just as Oshibu stopped in place after his attack missed, Kazekuwa reappeared behind him, but from an upward angle and drop kicked him right out of the ring. Ending the fight.

Projection sounded her horn and the crowd was again stunned, "Wow! In yet another quick victory, pun not intended, Kazekuwa Norihisa has outflanked his foe and advanced! It will be Tonen Keitomo vs. Kazekuwa Norihisa in the finals!"

The crowd cheered and Kazekuwa went to his entrance, not caring about the praise at all.

From the waiting area, a barely rested Tonen watched on in shock. He had just watched the fastest person he knew get wiped away by a guy who seemingly could appear anywhere without issue.

"Hate is a powerful thing. But so is fear. I meant what I said to Goya about not being afraid to lose the final round to Kazekuwa. But what even I couldn't shake though was the fear of losing to a guy whose Quirk I didn't understand at all. Every Quirk has limits, or so we're told, but his didn't. Or at least, not that I could see. I wanted to put up a big fight, even if it meant going out in a 'blaze of glory'. But what do you do against someone you literally...can't prepare for? "

*credits*