Hello again, everyone. I have to admit, I was really surprised to see how many hits the most recent chapter received over this past week. That's a new record, and one I hope to one day surpass (yes, I am keeping daily track of that). Here's hoping you all enjoy this next chapter as much as you clearly did the last one.
The Forest Training Camp Arc gave me a good opportunity to not only exercise some original ideas I had in mind as far as Kolya as a character and his development is concerned, but also in how I want to eventually try and pace this story. I've been struggling to decide between either these ultra-long epic chapter lengths in order to make sure you all get your bang for your buck each week, or to consolidate more, and have it have the flow and length of a couple of the manga chapters in one. It's a continuous debate I find myself swinging back and forth on as this story progresses, and I'm hoping I can one day find a middle ground that can satisfy myself, and most importantly, all of you as well.
anyway, same routine as usual, if you all like what you read here today, please be so kind as to leave a review telling me what you think of what I'm doing with this material so far. All feedback, as long as it's not flat-out trolling, is vastly appreciated, as is the continuous support, participation and assistance, in whatever form it may take, of my two beta readers, Mizu Hikikomori and Jonny Sjölund. You two are awesome!
My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a direct result of their existence in this universe.
A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.
Chapter 41
Training
(Обучение)
From the moment the students of Class 1-A had been filled in by Aizawa of just what their next week of virtually non-stop training was going to consist of, primarily in strengthening the power and thresholds of all their respective Quirks; they all found themselves hurriedly sequestered off to a plethora of personal setups that the Wild, Wild Pussycats had constructed upon being informed of each students' power by the homeroom teacher himself, except for the scattered setups that required more than one student to train alongside one another based on their specific Quirk.
Some of the specific training setups the students saw awaited themselves or their peers were quite intimidating upon approach, but the promise of constant supervision by the WWP and Aizawa helped so that not one of them ever tried to back out when their time had finally come to begin alongside everyone else.
Among the more notable examples of Class 1-A's training were:
Bakugo having to essentially subject himself to a series of endurance tests on how long and consecutively he could ignite the explosions from his hands, while they were submerged in boiling hot water.
Denki having to hook up jumper cables to his ears connected to a running generator, and essentially using himself as a conduit to not only send his electricity into the generator, but also absorb it right back through those cables in an insane kind of infinite feedback loop.
Shoto having to keep himself inside a steel drum of water resting over an open fire, while also harnessing his ice at the exact same time in an attempt to try and strengthen his internal temperature balance so he could extend the total amount of time he could use either side at one time.
Eijirou having to resign himself to the role of a human practice dummy for Mashirao to better control the trajectory and strength of his tails' striking swings, all while in the hopes of toughening the endurance of his Hardening at the same time.
Minoru having to keep continuously popping off his hairballs, even past the point when his scalp had already started bleeding, literally having to shed blood, sweat and tears for the sake of strengthening his own endurance.
Momo and Rikido alike having to put themselves through what, on the surface, seemed to be the least physically painful of the students' chosen training tests, but ultimately no less stressful, wherein they had to go through a seemingly nonstop eating endurance run while continuously creating any objects that came to mind, and lifting weights respectively at the same time, in order to better master the energy intake and subsequent output when using their Quirks, since their usefulness at any given moment was dependent on both their dietary intake; all in the name of the ultimate goal of being able to use them for considerably longer before having to tap out.
And for Mina, she essentially had to push herself into creating subsequently stronger forms of acid, primarily in their corrosive property, in order to melt through a gallery of different targets on tracks made of subsequently harder and more resistant material than she was used to dealing with. With each one she was managing to melt through, she would immediately be met with another, and only a matter of seconds to make an acid strong enough to melt through it before she'd get knocked off the perch she was supposed to stay on.
As for Nikolay, his test had ultimately been decided when the discovery of his inability to launch by his feet when in water had been revealed after the unfortunate hot springs incident the previous night. As such, his test was ultimately decided to both test the external strength of his kinetic blasts from his hands and feet when underwater, and to hopefully expand the number of environments he could ultimately be able to traverse through when need be. The training camp had even had the foresight to provide just the setup for it, as the massive water tank with a built in set of industrial strength current-producing fans that had originally been intended strictly for Tsuyus' training, would serve just as well for that of the young Russian boy.
His training test was to consist of being weighed down by his wrists and ankles to several large weights attached to him by chains to the bottom of the tank, and try to use his kinetic blasts to lift himself out of the water, and ultimately out of the tank. In their own way, the weights were quite useful, as they were the one thing that kept Nikolay from being thrown about by the underwater current created by those very same fans that Tsuyu had to continuously swim against.
By this point into the first day of his training, already more than a couple hours in, a somewhat regular arrangement had been discovered to make his training as effective as possible, as the WWP had decided to provide Nikolay with a respirator and oxygen tank, in order to allow him to actually focus on the fundamental point of his training while underwater, as the first several times he had tried without it, he was barely in there for half a minute before it would become clear he was panicking and needed to be pulled back out.
Now, Nikolay was floating in the middle of the tank, trying to keep his breathing steady as he kept his eyes focused on the surface overhead, and focusing on continuously firing at full blast through his hands and feet. He had at least figured out he could actually do that when focused solely on the action itself. However, what he wasn't able to do so far, was actually lift those weights, and he knew it, too.
'I can feel those lines tightening on my wrists and ankles from the start; they're completely taut, this as far as I can go freely. It's not like my body is just naturally floating and pulling these lines, I haven't been instinctively moving my body in a way to take me up towards the surface, so I'd be sitting at the bottom with those weights right now if I weren't constantly trying to fire my way up right now. How the hell am I supposed to actually pull this off? I've been trying to pace myself at how often I keep firing at my full blast. If I start trying to push myself too far at once and too fast, I might start tearing my muscles and cracking away at my bones, just like I did against Vukodlak, or that Villain back at I-Island! Dammit, this sucks, what am I supposed to do here?!'
Even despite his growing frustration at his complete lack of visible progress, Nikolay knew he couldn't allow it to start manifesting into his breathing, otherwise he was likely to start hyperventilating and would need one of the Pussycats to get him out again.
As he tried to take in his surroundings, looking for some kind of clue as to what he could do different, his wayward eyes soon fell upon the nearby image of Tsuyu, determinedly swimming in place in front of him against the endless current, with her tongue extended to its fullest length, reaching out of the water and latching onto the handle bar mounted on the other side. Before the two of them had gone into the water, he remembered her training had ultimately been for the point of increasing her already incredible swimming speed and strength, but to also strengthen the gripping and pulling strength her prehensile tongue provided, by trying to pull herself all the way across the tank and out the other side.
Thinking back on it nearly an hour ago, Nikolay knew he had seen Tsuyu starting out at the far left end of the tank from where he was still currently floating, just short of being dead center, and yet now here she was, swimming completely in place. That was as clear a sign as he could've asked for that even when it looked like she was being overwhelmed at first, she was actually managing to inch her way along.
Trying to get a better look through his goggles at the expression on her face as she swam, he didn't see a trace of the same kind of frustration he knew he had. Instead, Tsuyus' normally impossible-to-read black eyes were filled with pure and simple focus and determination, simply focused on getting to the end point, and not actively forcing herself to keep moving.
Two synapses in Nikolays' brain finally sparked with likewise realization as he most importantly realized just what it was he was failing to do, and that his frog-like classmate was actually doing. 'Of course, this is the way it's been since the start of the year. How did I let myself forget it so easily? Dammit, I'm still letting the pressure of these things keep getting to me. They're not asking us to push ourselves over the finish line right from the start. That's not how training and strengthening anything works, whether it's your mind, body or Quirk. I've been so focused on trying to succeed as fast as I can, when I should just be trying to inch myself along like Tsuyu is. If I can just gradually move myself along, like baby steps, and just keep up that pace the whole way, I might actually be able to further my Quirks' physical limit, just like everybody else's.
With that new mindset at the forefront, Nikolay finally let his continuous full-powered bursts pulling at the chains cease, and let his body slowly but surely sink back down until his feet were flat on the floor again. He continued to keep his breathing and his mind steady and calm as he once again lifted his gaze to the surface.
'Don't think of it as launching. Now, just think of simply lifting, rising, not like a rocket, but like a feather. Just focus on that and see what happens.' Thinking this to himself over and over to the point it resembled more a constant meditation than a thought, Nikolay aimed his palms down to the floor and proceeded to start focusing the minutest amount of his energy out his palms and soles, slowly lifting himself off the floor, and gradually higher and higher, no longer trying to pull himself up, but simply letting his Quirk lift him up at his own calmed down pace.
This new approach carried Nikolay further and further up over the next good minute, until he could finally feel the give of the lines around his wrists and ankles suddenly stop, and go taut with resistance once more. However this time, the Slavic student didn't start focusing on trying to pull the weights up, but instead kept up his continuous mental utterance of the simple action of rising. 'Alright, I've gotten myself to the current edge with only the slightest amount of energy. Now keep focusing on rising, and just keep taking the singular steps along the way. See what happens. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.'
With that, he began to start thinking and focusing gradually more and more on sending gradually increasing amounts of energy through his arms and legs and out his hands and feet, making sure not to start jumping too far in terms of external force at once. Thankfully the constant current blowing against him provided a continuous kinetic force for his body to absorb so he never ran the risk of running out and leaving himself stranded at the bottom.
After a lengthy couple of minutes of continuing this slow growing power process, Nikolay could just barely make out the sound of something heavy starting to scrape against the floor of the tank, soon followed by the same sound from a couple more, and before he knew it, he could actually feel the sensation of his body very slowly starting to rise beyond its previous limit towards the surface. It was only by one centimeter at a time, but he could feel it nonetheless: he'd actually managed to start lifting himself up further with the weights hanging right below him.
'Is it because the release of my energy slowly growing in power is forcing the taut lines to finally pull the weights with me, or is it that the constant releases are rippling through the water to ultimately lift the weights up from below, allowing me to rise? I'm going to need to get a few other opinions later, assuming I can actually pull this off. Either way, don't get distracted yet. I still have to actually reach the surface first. Just…don't let the weight…break your focus.'
As he tried to ignore the weights continuously pulling at his wrists and ankles, fighting against his pushing bursts the entire way, Nikolay kept staring up at the surface. How much external force was he going to have to fire out in order to breach the surface, and from there reach the edge of the tank so he could get out? He wasn't about to risk breaking his focus by theorizing on such a thing. He just needed to keep focusing on what he was doing, since it was clearly working so far.
Of course, that didn't stop him from feeling a spark of hope in his chest when he looked back to check on Tsuyu, to see that she'd already managed to inch herself along another good foot or so from where he'd last seen her. If his approach to his test was at all similar to hers, with the progress she was already showing; then perhaps it was possible he might actually be able to pass this training test sooner than he'd feared he would.
SNAP!
The line around Nikolays' right wrist suddenly broke, and with it effectively shattered his sense of weight equilibrium and his focus. Even further still, with the loss of that carefully calculated total of weight, the young boy was now subject to the sheer strength of the current, finding himself being mercilessly pushed back by it as he struggled to try and regain some semblance of balance amid his momentary panic. Unfortunately, that momentary loss in focus and subsequent panic was all it took before-
WHAM!
He felt a sudden resistance slam hard against his back, leaving his head ringing and delirious for only a few moments from the heavy impact, but that was nothing compared to the panicked realization that flooded Nikolays' head even through his momentary stun, when he heard the unmistakable sound of the oxygen tank on his back rupturing upon impact with the wall, and the remainder of the oxygen inside come blooming and flying up to the surface in no more than a second. He was ultimately now left with no air as the remaining weights once more began to drag him back down to the bottom. He could already feel the water start rushing into his mouth through his respirator.
His momentary onset of panic kept him from making out the faint sound of something else landing against the wall beside him, but his frantically searching eyes soon landed on the sight of Tsuyu having planted herself firmly on her hands and feet against the wall, her eyes focused solely on him, just as she shot her tongue out and wrangled him around his waist with it.
Knowing neither of them could actually verbally communicate here, she hurriedly began motioning with her hands, signifying lines extending from her wrist, and then making a snapping motion. Thankfully, Nikolay had enough wherewithal to realize what she was saying, and immediately focused his now free hand on the line remaining bound to his left wrist, and hurriedly focused as much of his energy directly into the links as he knew he needed to finally break them apart.
Fortunately for him, his focus was able to channel a strong enough direct transference into the chain to finally break one of the links in less than ten seconds, and once both his hands were free, he was quick to follow suit with the two lines still connected to his ankles, breaking them both the same way simultaneously.
The moment she could see Nikolay was completely free, Tsuyu quickly began turning her head before just as quickly turning the rest of her body, and used her resultant leverage and pulling strength to effectively throw Nikolay up into the air out of the water, releasing the grip of her tongue around him once she knew he was out of the water. Nikolays' shell-shock at having barely managed to avoid drowning again was what kept him from being able to concentrate enough to try and fire to stabilize his descent to the ground below.
Thankfully, the Pussycats had the foresight to place a ring of crash mats around the perimeter of the tank, just on the off-chance he would've in fact managed to launch himself out of the water in the end, thus his crash landing left him none the worse for wear, if not soaked to the bone and quickly growing frustrated all over again.
"No need to start getting yourself worked up, Bezpalov-kun; third time's the charm and all that. We'll just get some new chains and weights for you and you can start over once you've caught your breath. Asui-chan, in the meantime, why don't you head on to the mountain course? We need to get your hopping speed and height up to snuff." The encouraging voice of Pixie-Bob, unfortunately, did nothing to mitigate Nikolays' aggravation as he climbed down from the crash mat, at least grateful to see the blonde-haired Pussycat wasn't giving him that lascivious grin she'd taken to giving any of the boys at any moment.
"What's the point, Sensei? I was actually managing to do it, but all it took was one line snapping, and I was just getting thrown around, and then one hit to the back and I can't even think enough to act. I couldn't even think to save myself, I needed Tsuyu-san to do it all for me. Strengthening my Quirk is ultimately pointless if I can't even figure out how to take a single good hit without getting completely waylaid." Nikolays' venting didn't even seem to register to Pixie-Bob, however, as her eyes looked past him, and her expression lit right up, rushing over, and thus driving the Russian boy to follow after with his eyes.
What he saw hit him with surprise, but also a touch of considerable relief and tension alike, just as a single voice spoke up with considerable snark: "Well now, if that kind of defeatist attitude is what we can expect from the likes of Class A this week, perhaps this won't go nearly as roughly as I thought."
Standing at the entrance to the training camp clearing was all of the students of Class 1-B alongside their homeroom teacher, Vlad King, and before them, not only were Pixie-Bob and Mandalay there to greet them, but they were now joined by two more figures in the same matching frilled J-pop idol-esque dresses that they wore: another young woman with long dark green hair, the biggest and cartoonishly brightest yellow eyes and matching smile, with pink whiskers and a pink ring drawn on her face and around her right eye, and dressed in yellow. Beside her…was the single most juxtaposing figure of the bunch, dressed in the same frilly dress as the other three, this time in dark brown, only this time it was an absolute goliath of a man with short brown hair and matching short beard, muscles quite similar to what Tunguska had these days, with diamond-shaped black marks painted over his eyes with stripes extending from each corner across his face, with black makeup on his wide and flat nose to add to his already feline-esque aesthetic, and a very cat-like grin plastered on his square-jawed face.
Seeing these now four Wild, Wild Pussycats together, though, didn't stop Nikolay from still hearing another of the Class B students mutter from among their crowd: "It doesn't look like nearly any of the other Class A students are reflecting that same kind of attitude, though. With that, on top of there now being 41 of us here in total, can six people really handle training that many Quirks at once?"
At this, Aizawa stepped forward, much to Vlad Kings' visible annoyance: "The fact there are so many of you is precisely why they're here."
As if that were the cue they were waiting for, the four Pro Heroes standing proudly before both gathered classes immediately broke into an almost identical display of confident and synchronized poses as they had greeted Class A with yesterday, only now with more flare with their two extra members, once again resembling a very unusual idol group more than a Hero team: "THAT'S RIGHT! FOUR MINDS, ONE BODY! WITH SPARKLING EYES, WE ROCK ON! WE'VE COME TO LEND A HELPING PAW! WHEREVER, WHENEVER, WE'LL ARRIVE! CUTE, CAT, AND STINGER! THE WILD, WILD PUSSYCATS (FULL VERSION)!"
With perfect timing after striking their full team pose, the smiling green-haired woman quickly struck another of her very own: "You can all call me 'Ragdoll'! With my Quirk, Search, I can observe and monitor up to 100 people at a time from the moment I first lay eyes on them! That goes for their current locations and weak spots, too!"
With this information, Nikolay personally couldn't begin to imagine what that must have looked like in her own head, perhaps something like a massive CCTV hub. The thought of it was frankly head-spinning.
Following in her partners' lead, Pixie-Bob likewise struck a confident pose while pulling up a huge wad of the dirt from beside her with her mind and forming it into a perfect sphere in mid-air. "The name's 'Pixie-Bob'! My Flowstone Quirk will create a training ground fit for every last one of you!"
While not striking a pose nearly as animated, the brown-haired red-clad Pussycat, Mandalay, still radiated no less confidence with a smile. "Mandalay, and with my Telepath Quirk, I can advise and instruct multiple people at once."
Now this was very surprising to many of the students, especially Nikolay. Up to this point in training, if what he was understanding about Mandalays' Quirk was correct, he hadn't heard a peep out of her in his head once yet. Was she just simply waiting to see how he would do before she'd feel the need to instruct him? Was she already interjecting with his other classmates without him even knowing it? Was Ragdolls' Quirk providing her the information to even know which students needed instructing to begin with? This was all so much to suddenly take in, and the idea of potentially never having one moment of privacy for the remainder of this whole week was far from pleasant regardless.
Finally, the utter beefcake of a fourth Pussycat stepped forward, this time emanating a very intimidating aura of focus and raw masculine power. "And my name is Tiger, though I'll have you all know to refer to me as 'sir' in no time. I will be in charge of kicking, punching and…other violent services."
How he managed to say such a thing without coming across as downright sinister was a question for the ages, as Nikolay could see that many of the other students across both classes, chief among them being himself, were visibly off-put and intimidated by Tigers' powerful demeanor.
When Tiger lifted his head to look to the horizon, a light of pure determination for the youths' sake overtook him as he announced with just as much might: "All those students among you with simple power augmentation Quirks, come to me! Tigers' Boot Camp has already started."
Nikolay could feel his stomach twist with apprehension at the thought, but he knew the Pussycats had already been filled in on every attending students' Quirk, which meant they knew his own fell into that same general category. Taking a deep breath to get the shakiness out of his shoulders, he proceeded on to approach Tiger alongside several of the Class B students. If this meant he wouldn't have to risk drowning again for a good while today, it would ultimately be worth it.
As soon as all the students that matched Tigers' requirement stepped forward, he quickly turned his attention to the nearby form of Izuku, who was in the middle of going through the same vigorous series of high-speed stretches he'd been forcing himself through since their training had actually begun. Without a word of warning, the Pro suddenly got into a fighting stance in Izukus' eyesight, catching the freckled boy completely by surprise. "Alright now, young man! Come at me!"
Izuku caught on to exactly what was being asked of him especially quick, as his arms were already glowing and sparking in record time, throwing a blindingly fast punch with the cry of "5% DETROIT SMASH!"
And yet, to the disbelief of all the students from both classes watching, Tiger didn't even take one foot off where he was standing to dodge. Instead, from his waist up, his body instead folded almost entirely in half like rubber, forming a single arch over the trajectory of Izukus' enhanced punch, allowing it to pass by him harmlessly. "Alright, not very clearly defined yet, I see! EVIDENCE THAT YOUR MUSCLE FIBERS HAVE YET TO TEAR!"
The moment he retracted his body back to its original position, Tiger brought a devastating fist right back with him, nailing Izuku clean across the face on the way. The sheer force behind it, made it impressive that the comparatively smaller boy was able to somehow maintain his balance, instead of letting himself get completely floored, instead meeting Tigers' discipline with an attentive "YES, SIR!"
Nikolay could already feel a major lump of anxiety go down his throat when he felt that jolt go up his spine; the sensation that now Tigers' eyes were focused on him out of all the others. "You, the delicate-looking foreign one; same deal, come at me with everything you have."
The Russian boys' green eyes went wide with disbelief that he was actually getting roped into this after the example their instructor had already made of Izuku. "Are you serious, Sen—I-I mean, Sir? I can't go nearly as fast as Midoriya-san, and he couldn't even touch you-!"
Nikolays' desperate attempt at a protest was instantly answered with Tigers' bulky fist nearly extending from his wrist, stopping just short of the boys' face, before raising a likewise objecting finger. "Don't focus on what your classmate was or wasn't able to do; focus solely on yourself and your own limitations and power! I may have been gone all of yesterday helping your Class B peers get here with Ragdoll, but I know you've been training just as long as the rest of your classmates have! Now, focus on what you know is the current peak of your abilities, and come at me!"
Nikolay had to face the facts that Tiger was not going to take no for an answer. He was either going to try and attack him like Izuku had and face the most likely consequences as well, or he was going to be put through god-only-knew-what else as punishment. As such, the young Slavic boy proceeded to get into his rushing launch position, focusing not only on the muscular Hero that was his target, but also on what he knew in his gut was the peak limit of his Quirks' power. 'Okay, I've gotten my top speed figured out pretty well by this point. I should be able to know exactly when to make my strike against him, assuming it's enough to prevent him from bending his body like he did before…as unlikely as that is.'
Without another word, Nikolay fired himself forward at the same time as he hopped, in order to keep from giving Tiger a hint of his timing. What Nikolay didn't expect, though, was just how insanely fast he was suddenly going, despite knowing he'd measured the external force of the blast he launched himself with. He was going a good leap and bound faster than he normally did.
Unfortunately for him, this disbelief at how much stronger his launching blast suddenly was, threw Nikolays' timing off immensely. As such he didn't think to actually initiate his first strike, thus giving Tiger ample opportunity to clutch the boy by the neck with one hand, and then proceed to choke slam him into the dirt without even so much as breaking a sweat, while Nikolays' head was left ringing from the sheer impact.
"Tell me, young man, do you perhaps know what your exact top speed is right now?" Even when Nikolays' senses came back to him, Tigers' question was still clear as day, as was the boys' unawareness through his silence.
However, unperturbed, Tiger instead turned his attention to Aizawa, still standing nearby. "Oi, Eraser-kun, you have all the info on your students with you. The fragile foreign one, what was his top speed that you recorded?"
Aizawa immediately pulled out a clipboard from within the folds of the wrappings around his neck. "Bezpalov's most recent statistics, taken from the practical test portion of the end-of-term exams, read his current top speed at about 150 meters per second."
At this, Tiger actually chuckled in total amusement. "I see. I clocked that recent attempt at an attack at about 200 meters per second, myself; a little less than half the speed of that curly-haired boy before him."
With that explanation, the male Pussycat turned his attention back to the Russian boy as he was finally starting to get back on his feet, his expression of surprise still clear as day. "I see you've come to the realization we had hoped you children would, eventually. Pixie-Bob and Mandalay already informed us ahead of time what each of your training regiments were going to consist of. In your specific case, your training wasn't to actually see how fast you could lift yourself out of that water tank with those weights attached. It was ultimately to motivate you into pushing your Quirks' power gradually until you actually could; expanding its threshold bit by bit. That's how exercise as a concept works. And as you've just witnessed, even your first few hours of training have already started showing some promising results, just as it will for every last one of you kids; just so long as you keep working at it through every ounce of pain and muscle fiber-tearing agony this week will guarantee you go through. Push it to the limit. You've all got to push it to the limit!"
As Tiger had now shifted his increasingly intense supervisory attention to the 1-B students at attention, Nikolay couldn't help but look at his hands and feet with clear fascination. He couldn't have asked for more clear proof of how effective his training was actually turning out, regardless whether he'd managed to reach through the surface of the tank on his own or not. Now, this realization and Tigers' encouragement to all the students together, couldn't help but burn away all the remaining frustration he'd been feeling before, and now left Nikolay feeling pure determination to get right back to it again.
While his Russian student and Izuku were both visibly going through the same kind of realization in the wake of Tigers' analysis, Aizawa likewise turned to address the 1-B students, as well as the rest of his own who had been called over by the male Pussycat. "The other Heroes from the school have all got their hands full. Dividing school personnel amongst the first years is difficult. These four Pros have the experience and large-area-of-effect Quirks that can get the job done. With our limited time, it's the best way to advance everyone's Quirks."
Without even needing to be urged to, Nikolay and Izuku alike had both already taken off; both completely fired up to take Tigers' ultimate advice to heart, and push their bodies to their physical limits, and see how their Quirks would subsequently grow alongside them.
The entire time as they went their separate ways to train, neither of the two boys ever noticed how a single pair of very young eyes was watching them intently from behind the trees circling the clearing.
Another few hours had passed since the impromptu training/beating Nikolay had suffered at the hand of Tiger, and since then, he had wholeheartedly gone back to donning the respirator and oxygen tank and getting the weights reapplied to his wrists and ankles before getting sent right back to the bottom of the water tank.
He hadn't stopped thinking about Tigers' parting words: that as long as he kept pushing his body to the physical brink, he would ultimately get stronger, as would his Quirk. It was the one thought he kept repeating to himself as he once again tried applying his original tactic of gradually increasing the power of his blasts from his hands and feet simultaneously, though that measuring was considerably harder now that he knew the actual output measurement he thought his Quirk had was now considerably higher, and yet the physical strain felt no different.
His arms, legs and shoulders were definitely feeling the growing burn of the strain, as Nikolay slowly inched himself along with his continuously growing blasts closer and closer to the surface. He had long since given up on trying to calculate when he would actually reach the surface at the power rate he was putting in right now. At this moment, he just had to keep focusing on not trying to end the burning of his muscles, but rather to embrace it and what it ultimately meant for him going forward. It was almost as though Tiger was right there in his head, actively repeating the same words to keep firing him back up. Given what Nikolay now knew of the Pussycats' respective Quirks, he wouldn't have been surprised if Mandalay was somehow projecting those very words into his head right now. At least, he could only assume that was partially how her Telepath Quirk worked.
SNAP!
Once again, he could hear and feel one of the chains attaching him to the weights snap from the continuous strain, this time the one around his left ankle. However, this time Nikolay was much more alert for the possibility, and this time was able to somehow manage to maintain his center of balance and slow but progressing momentum, even if the current from the fans was now starting to slowly inch him along to the wall to his left.
'You're doing good, Nikolay Olegovich, nobody can dispute that. You're already doing better. Just remember what Tiger-sensei said: just take the burn, focus on pushing more and more from where you are, and you'll eventually get there. Don't let the strain stop you!'
Alas, in the end, when the physical strain and the burning coalesced into one all-encompassing wave of physical pain and exhaustion that brought tears to Nikolays' eyes underneath his goggles, he finally stopped firing and let the weights pull him back down to the bottom. As his feet met the floor once again, Nikolay instinctively brought his gaze back up to try and gauge how close he had managed to get to the surface this time. 'If I had to guess…maybe another two-and-a-half meters to go from where I left off now. Well, that's better than this morning, at least.'
Once the muscles in his arms and legs had finally stopped screaming, Nikolay decided to try his luck on how to at least get out of this tank without the restraints of the weights this time. If this was going to be the primary focus of his training for the rest of the week, then he would still have plenty of time to eventually get out with all the weights attached. As such, he proceeded to clutch onto the remaining chains around his wrists and right ankle, and systematically sent a focused enough vibration into them to snap one of the links off each one, and effectively freeing himself.
As he kicked himself further up from the bottom, the current quickly began to turn his body to the point he had no choice but to face and swim towards the set of massive fans in order to avoid getting tossed about by their current again.
Since his goggles helped him to see as he was doing this, Nikolay was quick to notice that Tsuyu had, since his return, at last come back herself to keep building up her swimming strength and tongue reeling strength. She was still managing to maintain perfect form as she slowly fought against the current, but even for as focused as her body language proved she was, Nikolay could clearly feel that his recent actions had gotten her attention. Her black eyes were focused on him while she still had her tongue wrapped around the bar on the other side. Nikolay didn't even need to guess that she was keeping an eye out for the first sign he would need her help like last time.
Unfortunately, for as much focus as the young Slavic boy tried to put towards maintaining his balance and equilibrium against the ceaseless current, it eventually got overpowered, and Nikolay found his body rolling backwards at the currents' mercy. However, since he wasn't allowing himself to succumb to panic this time, he was at least able to maintain enough of a sense of environmental awareness to know the opposite wall was closing in fast.
With that in mind, and mentally counting down the whole way, Nikolay quickly turned his body this way and that opposite of whatever way the current was throwing him, until he eventually found himself facing the wall at the moment of impact. From there, he spread his arms and legs outward and forward, meeting the immovable surface hands and feet-first, just like Tsuyu had done before. With his oxygen tank thankfully not ruptured this time, he was still able to breathe, and therefore still able to think. At least from here he knew he no longer had to fight the current, and thus proceeded to essentially crawl his way up the inside of the tank to the surface.
Nikolay wasted no time once he had breached the surface, to remove his respirator and climb the rest of the way out onto the walkway circling the tank, lying flat on his back in order to give his muscles the real time to adjust and relax they needed. Except that, when Nikolay tried to lie back after removing his goggles, he was instead met with the ear-to-ear grinning face of Ragdoll looming right over him, jolting the boy back onto his feet.
"Hey, easy there, I'm not gonna kick you back in if that's what you're worried about! Your muscles must be crying with relief right now. Good, that means you're taking Tigers' advice and pushing yourself as hard as everybody else and then some. Pixie-Bob even filled me in on how you'd started out this morning. It looks to me like your handling of your Quirk in an environment of total resistance is already improving vastly. You Yuuei kids are really something, I gotta say."
To hear Ragdoll say so couldn't help but leave Nikolay curious enough to see what he could from atop the tank across the training grounds, and right off the bat, he was already beginning to see some undeniable changes in the overall demeanors and performances of his classmates:
While Mashirao was clearly showing some built up exhaustion after having been going through a nonstop tail-swinging attacking barrage, Eijirou was actually managing to stay on his feet and, for the most part, not flinch nearly as much upon impact as he had at the beginning.
Momo was now creating considerably bigger objects than the tiny gemstones she had started out with, and compared to how he had observed it took a toll on her before, she was actually managing to keep her posture and outward display of energy, almost to the point he could say she was doing it without breaking a sweat.
Denki was channeling electricity through the cables to the generator to a degree that he was glowing far brighter than anyone had seen from him before, until his brain would ultimately short out. He was actually managing to exceed and expand his total wattage in the course of only a few hours.
Lastly, fortunate timing on the part of Nikolays' wandering gaze allowed him to see Tenya fire himself off into his Recipro Burst around the makeshift track that had been constructed for him, going around it in a blinding display of speed, even exceeding what the Russian boy had seen from the class president personally before. After ten seconds, the bespectacled boy still ended up having to come to a stop, but if the body language of the presiding Pixie-Bob afterward was any indication from this distance, then he had actually managed to far exceed his original speed, much like Nikolay himself had only hours before.
Indeed, in their own individual ways, all of his classmates were actually already showing vast improvements in all of their Quirks. The sight of such a thing couldn't help but instill Nikolay with a deep, unspoken sense of pride of being one of them. This look in his eyes was far from lost on Ragdoll, who couldn't help but somehow smile even brighter. "There, you see? That 'no pain no gain' stuff is for real! You're gonna be able to go flying out that tank with those weights attached by the end of this week…or at the very least that cute little behind of yours is gonna land in a hospital trying to by the end."
Nikolays' excitement and pride was instantly replaced with confusion and apprehension in a heartbeat, while Ragdoll couldn't help but giggle in a way that made it impossible to tell if she was joking in the end, or if she was dead serious and simply found the thought funny.
"Alright, students of Classes A and B both, stop your training for now and form up. Follow me and Ragdoll to the food hall. It's time to eat." Pixie-Bobs' sudden announcement couldn't have come at a better time for those students whose training hadn't already revolved around eating to begin with, as everyone gathered up at the very mention of food. With silent yet communicative grins shared between them, the blonde and green-haired Pussycats led the students into the dining hall…
…to the sight of several near mountains of different unprepared ingredients sitting on the multitudes of tables. The confusion of the students at the sight of such a mess was completely contradicted by the eager smiles on Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll alike.
"Now, I told you all yesterday 'today's the last day we help you out!'" "So from now on, if you want to eat, you've got to get off all your asses and make it personally! Tonight, you've all got the fixings to make curry, so get to it!"
The resulting mutterings of "yes, ma'am" from all of the exhausted students sounded more akin to a death knell than a proclamation of the excitement they had felt only moments ago at the prospect of food. From one form of training and work to another, was there really going to be no respite outside of sleep and bath times? Of course, this did nothing to lessen Ragdolls' particularly peppy mood, instead finding the sight and sound quite funny: "Everybody's looking pretty raw right now! That doesn't give you an excuse to do a sloppy job, though!"
Just like that, Tenya suddenly perked up with realization among all his other classmates as he started muttering to himself: "You're right…in the case of an emergency, feeding the hungry and providing sustenance to mind and body is an essential part of providing aid." Just as quickly did his realization turn into that same overbearing intensity as his eyes burned through his entire class: "THESE PROS ARE CORRECT! LET'S MAKE THE WORLDS' BEST CURRY!"
His enthusiasm was more infectious to his peers than his professionalism, as their motivation to work on making the best kind of food they could for themselves did away with any lingering complaints of exhaustion from one and all. In less than a minute, all of Class 1-A had gathered up their shares of the ingredients and headed back outside to an assortment of cooking pits to get to work.
Now, while Nikolay had at least attempted to make something like curry more than a couple of times since arriving in Japan, that was at least in the comfort and familiar environment of the kitchen at home, and with the assured alternative option of simply making something else if he screwed it up. Out here, it might as well have been do or die time. Had it not been for the ingredients only being usable for this recipe and this recipe alone, he would've simply doubled back and gone for his wheelhouse recipe of solyanka and let that be the end of it.
Alas, that was far from the case, and as grateful as he was that the cooking pits already had several small containers supplied so they could cook the rice and respective mixings over the fires, he still wasn't feeling nearly as confident in his cooking skills with this selection, and from the looks of it, he wasn't the only one having some difficulty, albeit not for the same reasons.
A good ways away, Bakugo had pretty much sent the entirety of his share of the ingredients into Hantas' face the moment the tape boy had made the dumb decision of actually asking if he could start cooking fires with his explosions.
Other than that, everyone else seemed to be doing rather well for themselves, except for another pair that had taken the cooking pit right next to Nikolays', and it was a sight that couldn't help but pull at his heart some.
Mina and Ochako had decided to work together in making their own, except that Minas' ability to handle their ingredient loads was hindered by the fact her hands were completely bandaged over to the point they more resembled mittens, and she had to relegate herself to instead carrying the rods and attached containers to be hung over the cooking fire by her arms instead, as her face reflected clear and visible pain when she tried using her hands for anything. Thus Ochako had to do the majority of the preparation itself on her own.
Once the two girls had finally managed to get the vegetables chopped, the spices mixed, and all thrown in together with the water and rice, Nikolay couldn't keep his concern to himself after having watched them carry on like so, while somehow managing to avoid cutting his own fingers while chopping: "Do your hands hurt a lot right now, Mina?"
Upon hearing the evident worry in his tone, Mina looked to her bandaged hands and gave him a confident grin with one hand extended to him; clearly her jokingly trying to give him a reassuring thumb up. "Not as bad as they were at first, and that still wasn't as bad as the soreness in my backside. Those stupid targets on tracks were worse if you ask me. They kept coming in so fast; I didn't even have time to try making stronger acid before they'd knock me down. My hands will be back to normal by tomorrow, I'm sure. Like I said, it's pretty much like if I dipped my hands in scalding water. Besides, if I just keep at it, pretty soon it won't be like that, even."
With that reassurance given, Mina looked back in excitement to see hers and Ochakos' respective curry were all prepared, save for one last thing, and she knew exactly who to turn to for it: "Hey, Todoroki-kun, we need some fire over here, please!"
From the next spot over, as Momo was fussing over creating a lighter for hers and Kyoukas' cooking fire, her head perked up at the sound of Mina calling Shoto over: "Everyone, if you keep relying on others' help, you won't learn anything about making your own food!"
At their vice presidents' reminder, Mina and Ochako both likewise looked back to Momo with clear confusion: "What are you saying, Momo-chan? A lot of us already know how to cook our own meals. Mina-chan and I live by ourselves, remember?"
"Yeah, and besides, we cooked our own food for that…well, party at Kolya-kuns' way back, and you even said it was delicious, too." However, their mutual confusion was quickly answered in kind by Nikolay, as he had finally finished dumping the total of his ingredients into one of the containers beside the one already filled with rice and water, and was now beginning to turn his focus to the assortment of sticks laying on standby beside his pit.
"I don't think Yaoyorozu-san's saying you two don't know how to cook. I'm pretty sure she just means that, not only in emergency situations when giving aid to other people, but also on the off-chance we ever find ourselves in a pure survival situation, we need to be able to provide our own fixings for our food at a moments' notice, including fire, if we want to be able to keep our strength up. That's pretty much what I had to learn that year my Dad and I had to tough it out in the Siberian wilderness way back when."
Nikolay mentioned the final part primarily to himself, but that didn't stop a good number of his classmates from lifting their heads to look at the Russian boy, as though to confirm they'd just heard him right. "Hey, are you serious? You and Tunguska-sensei actually toughed it out in the woods for a whole damn year? No way!" Among the likes of Hanta, Rikido, Minoru and Denki, this was the general voice of skepticism, while among others like Mina, Ochako, Eijirou, Shoto, Izuku, Kyouka, Tooru, Tsuyu, Momo and Tenya, they were all pretty much reflecting the same expression of both wonder, and grim understanding, given their Slavic classmates' history as they knew it, especially with the considerable time gap in the middle.
Nikolay could tell from the looks on his classmates' faces that they were hoping he would share more on that little tidbit of information. Having been filled in on this part of his story before, however, Mina and Eijirou exchanged knowing concerned glances, and the pink girl was quick to speak up, even as Shoto had finally arrived and proceeded to light her cooking fire regardless: "Kolya-kun, you don't have to share any of that if you're not comfortable, you know."
Regardless of her trying to help, though, Nikolay didn't look bothered, as he instead began working on bundling up the sticks in his cooking pit, and rubbing two of them together in order to try and generate the starting flame. "No, it's okay. I'm the one that brought it up. If everyone else wants to hear more, I have no problem sharing."
Chancing a momentary glance, Nikolay could see the childlike excitement on some of his classmates' faces to hear more, and thus decided to indulge them as such: "Well, survival out in Siberia is far from easy. The mountains, marshlands and forests are bad enough, but the steppes are the worst; that's what we call the wide open grasslands of the sub-continent, by the way. You're constantly exposed, and the weather changes drastically just like that. The winters out there are especially cruel. Dad and I pretty much had to be at the ready to try and build ourselves a makeshift shelter from the tall grasses at any given moment if he felt a blizzard was on its way, otherwise we would've frozen to death in minutes.
"We had to hoof it across Siberia for over an entire year after we'd been forced to flee the first town we'd tried lying low in. I wasn't even eight years old at the time. Anyway, we'd managed to last pretty well off of foraged vegetables and fruits in the woods and mountains through the spring and summer; I learned quite a bit from that. However, when autumn and winter eventually came, by the time we'd reached the steppes, finding food had gotten a lot tougher. Dad decided we really wouldn't be able to last off of preserved berries and mushrooms all winter, and so one day he took me out to try and teach me how to hunt for meat.
"I didn't want to use my Quirk for any reason at all then, no surprise to you all, and Dad didn't want to use his, either; mainly for fear that the noise or light would get the attention of any government surveyors or villages nearby, so he decided to teach me how to do it the old-fashioned way, with bows and arrows and snares and such. Luckily for us, rabbits were in abundance in those parts all-year round, so it was just a matter of time before we'd catch one…and the first time we nearly did, Dad even gave me the bow he'd made and helped me to aim so as to make it quick and painless. If I didn't do it, we'd be at that much more risk of going hungry."
Nikolay didn't even realize his right hand had started instinctively balling into a fist the further he went, and he could feel the cold apprehension in the air from many of his classmates, clearly not liking where this sudden story was going. In fact, poor Kouji looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack.
And so, with a heavy sigh, Nikolay finally willed himself to continue: "Even though I knew that…in the end, I couldn't do it. I hated it; that feeling of knowing I had another living things' entire life resting in my hands and whatever decision I made in the end. I know now that's pretty much what every Pro Hero ultimately feels every day, since they have so many lives resting in the balance of every decision they make when danger presents itself, so I'm at least trying to finally accept that feeling in that regard…but I knew I never wanted to feel that sensation of being the judge between another living things' life or death ever again…just like I decided I never wanted to hold a deadly weapon ever again after that.
"For a good while, I felt like my Dad was ashamed of me, since he never asked me to accompany him hunting again after that. Nowadays I'm sure he understood what I was feeling and where I was coming from…but for the longest time, even though he never said a word about it, I couldn't shake the feeling like he was embarrassed by me, unable to even hunt to save myself if something had happened to him.
"Fortunately for both of us, once that winter had cleared, we reached Vladivostok soon after, and we'd dug our boots in there for the longest time until we eventually came here, and the rest is history." Nikolay finally finished his latest recollection story in order to focus on the faint glow and smoke that his constant work was finally starting to produce inside the cooking pit.
Many of his classmates looked genuinely moved, to know yet more of just what their peer and Quirk History teacher had gone through together before ultimately ending up here. Of course, most palpable on their expression was relief to know that Nikolay hadn't been able to cross that line to actually kill something. Of course they understood the purpose had been for survival, but that didn't make the idea of killing anything, especially an animal, any less distressing.
"Tsch, why am I not even remotely surprised?!" The spiteful sound of Bakugos' voice ultimately broke the silence, as half the students turned to find the fuming blonde boy standing beside his cooking pit, angrily chomping down on his own curry while staring past all of them at the pensive Russian boy still looking to his own burgeoning fire. "For gods' sakes, if you aren't even willing to cross that line in a simple hunting scenario, that doesn't say a hell of a lot for your already shitty chances if you ever find yourself in a real life-or-death situation!"
Shoveling down the rest of his food and tossing his bowl aside out of sheer spite, Bakugo began steadily making his way past everyone, making a direct beeline for Nikolay, who still hadn't bothered to even give him the courtesy of eye contact. "Frankly, if you ask me, maybe letting your scrawny ass starve to death would've been doing your old wash-up of a dad a favor. At least then he wouldn't have had to keep dragging himself through the mud trying to keep your sorry hide alive. At least then you wouldn't be dragging this whole class down with every rancid breath you take!"
By this point, many of the students had finally found their voices again, openly stepping in between the two boys, as they could already feel the tension bristling in the air around Bakugo especially. Kyouka, Tenya and Momo were the first to respectively speak up as they stepped in together: "Bakugo, what are you even talking about this time?" "Indeed, have you even observed the substantial progress this entire class has been making through today's training? Everyone is pulling their weight equally!" "Yes, Bezpalov-san may have been doing a lot of things in this class, but dragging us down has not been one of them!"
Despite their trying to speak in the Russian boys' defense, Bakugo remained unconvinced, simply giving many of them that same contempt-filled sneer. "Oh, for crying out loud, I'm just saying what I know you're all thinking, even if you're all too chickenshit to say it! That little weed is weak and unreliable, just like that glow-in-the-dark old nobody of his! Goddammit, I would've thought even you bunch of morons would realize how much better off you'd be if you just cut yourselves off from him entirely by now! Hair-For-Brains, Raccoon Eyes, even a pair of perpetual screw-ups like you two would also be likely handling your Quirks a hell of a lot better than you are now, if you'd just stopped debasing yourselves by associating with that gutless pansy!"
While Mina looked like she was about ready to give Bakugo a response worthy of little Kotas' from the day before, Eijirou was still quick to come in, trying to maintain as civil an air as he could. "Whoa, now, Bakugo, where the heck is all this coming from all of a sudden? Don't forget what we all saw at I-Island, man; Kolya-san and Tunguska-sensei were both pretty damn impressive, just like you were. You know we're all just constantly getting stronger, and that includes you, so what's the point of giving him such a hard time out of nowhere like this?"
Bakugo looked like he was one muscle spasm away from spitting right in the red-haired boys' face, as his own red eyes burned right through him and stared solely at the Russian boy behind him, who was still ignoring his furious tangent, to his bristling rage. "Oh, please, we all know the only reason either of those wastes of space looked anything approaching impressive was because they were just riding on All Might and Dekus' coattails! You hear that, you goddamned nerd?! I actually have to acknowledge you as a presence even remotely worthwhile now, just because you've got this little maggot to be compared to! Goddammit!"
Despite now being in the face of the explosive boys' latest angry tangent, Izuku didn't hesitate to get to his feet and actually speak right back up to him. "Kacchan, that's enough! Kirishima-san's right, our training so far has been making all of us stronger, including you, so what's this all about? Is this because your pitch this morning wasn't as big a leap forward as everyone thought it would be? That's no reason for you to just lash out at Kolya-san like that."
Bakugo instantly started glaring flaming daggers at the green-haired boy, his hands both twitching with anxious anticipation to start swinging. "You really wanna pick defending this pasty little nobody as the hill you wanna die on, Deku?! Make no mistake, even if I did need you to help us pass the practical test, don't think that means you will ever truly be on my level, let alone go beyond it! I will always be stronger than you, than all of you! And I'm going to keep getting stronger as long as I have to until I'm officially the new Number One, and won't need anybody's help ever again! But as long as I'm surrounded by a bunch of complacent idiots who weigh themselves down with dead weight, then I can't ever get there!" Once again, Bakugos' hate-filled eyes were focusing on Nikolay, who to his twisting anger, still wasn't even looking at him, instead now tending his actually started fire.
"You bunch of dumbasses keep saying that everyone here is constantly getting stronger, but that doesn't apply to everyone here and you all know it! The only means of getting stronger that means jack shit is pushing yourself all on your own to get there! That's how all those other big-time Pro Heroes got where they are! That's what today's been all about, drilling that little factoid into all your thick skulls! A lot of you have actually been taking that to heart…but not him!
"He's never taken a single step forward through his own sheer drive; no, ever since this year started, he's had at least one of you there to help him along, guiding him by the hand like the overgrown crybaby he is! That's not growing stronger, that's just getting a goddamn helping boost he didn't even friggin' earn! Any semblance of strength he's gained wasn't earned through his own blood sweat and tears, and with that mental crutch, he's just an anchor holding this class down, and holding me down with the rest of you! And the fact that Sensei has the goddamn gall to say he's on the same level as me makes me sick to my stomach! You hear me?! You make me sick!"
By this point, Bakugo had dropped all pretense and was now squatting to be on the same eye level as Nikolay, leaning in threateningly close to force the Russian boy to look him in the eye, and completely ignoring the myriad calls from the rest of the class for him to back the hell off.
From this up close, the fact that Nikolay was still refusing to say anything, let alone look him back in the eye, had Bakugo seeing nothing but red, grinding his teeth to the near point of cracking, and balling his fists as tight as they could possibly go. "You think you don't have to look at me when I'm talking to you? You looking down on me, is that it? Don't for a moment think you're anything close to me, you sniveling little shit! I know you're scared, and you should be! You will never be on my level, and I will goddamn bury you and your old man before I ever let myself be compared to someone like you, who has to be carried along in order to get ahead!"
BKOOM!
To leave the penultimate punctuation on his latest blind tangent, Bakugo suddenly threw his hand towards Nikolays' face, spurring a multitude of desperate screams from the onlooking students to rush and stop him. However, once the fireball and resultant boom sounded, the students were all instead met with the sight of the containers of food over Nikolays' cooking pit exploding, sending their contents all over the likewise stunned young Slavic boys' face.
At the moment before Bakugo had triggered his Explosion, Eijirou had flung himself practically a dozen feet and grabbed Bakugo from behind, twisting his body with all his might once he had a grip on him, forcing the explosive boys' trajectory away from Nikolay and toward the cooking pit at the last moment; thus saving his Russian friend from intense injury, and saving Bakugo from potentially getting himself in the worst kind of trouble a student could get into.
The sudden explosion had caused the rest of the students to instinctively flinch away in surprise, only to see the aftermath of what Bakugo had just done; leaving the Russian boy a messy and embarrassing sight, while Bakugo had already forced himself out of the shaken Eijirous' grasp and decided to storm off on his own, convinced he had still altogether made his own point clear to the person that got under his skin the most these days.
Needless to say, his bristling anger dissuaded any of the other students from actively going after him for his uncalled for attack, and the shock still settling over their heads at this out-of-nowhere turn in what was supposed to be a pleasant dinner setup, had left many unfortunately at a loss of what to even say. Bakugos' attitude was, frankly speaking, always shitty, but this was something much heavier than that, it was clear.
Once Bakugo had left, Momo had been quick to create a towel from her arm so that the shockingly quiet and still outwardly calm Nikolay could at least clean his face and clothes off as best he could, which wasn't much. All the while, now that the sense of imminent danger was gone, Mina, Eijirou and Kyouka all hurried to his side as he got back to his feet. "Holy crap, are you okay, Kolya-kun?"
"Geez, I didn't think Bakugo was going to get that intense. I'm sorry, man, I should've stepped in sooner, kept him from even starting to go that far." The fact that Nikolay was still somehow looking so calm and only answering by letting out a deeply disappointed exhale, made Eijirous' guilt from his own delayed taking of action that much worse.
"At the least, you'd think he would've had the good sense to leave it so you could still eat after getting chewed out. If you want, Kolya-san, you could have some of the curry Yaomomo and I made, if that helps." Kyoukas' sudden offer was almost immediately echoed by Mina and Eijirou alike. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world for them to do after their mutual close friend had literally just gotten his own meal blown right up in his face.
And yet, despite all three of them offering to make up for his loss, with their own cooking partners, Momo and Ochako, wholeheartedly agreeing, Nikolay simply shook his head and began heading off towards the woods. "No, it's okay. You've all been working hard on it yourselves, I shouldn't be feeding off of your work. I just need to find something to substitute mine; that's all. Luckily I know how to forage for mushrooms, like I said before. Don't worry about me, if Ragdoll-sensei's Quirk works like I think it does, it means she'll know where I am, so there's no risk of me getting lost. You all go on ahead and eat without me, I'll be back shortly."
Nikolay was walking exceptionally fast into the woods, almost as though he wanted to be gone before either Mina or Eijirou, or anyone else, could talk him out of it, with evening already being upon them. Once the Russian was out of sight, his dear friends in their class were left with an especially heavy and worried silence between them. It didn't take a genius to know Nikolay was clearly not alright. How could anyone be alright, after having gotten confronted so harshly for virtually no reason, or at least reasons that sounded like total bullshit from where Bakugo had been talking.
"Seriously, Kiri, you know I always try to look for and hold onto the best in people, and I think that's one of the most awesome things about you, too…but how can you still be able to defend someone like Bakugo at this point?" Mina, for once, was making her increasing disapproval for the explosive blonde boy quite apparent, a look and tone that was downright unnatural, coming from the usually peppy ball of pink sunshine. And for once, even Eijirou was starting to look to the ground with uncertainty, almost as though he were actually asking himself the same question.
"The dude's definitely not making it easy, I'll admit that much. But there's no way somebody can be nothing but what they put on the surface. There's gotta be something more to him, and one way or another, I wanna find it and see if I can bring it out. I mean; to be so pissed off and confrontational to everybody all the time, that's no way for anybody to live, not even him. Helping people through whatever's weighing on them, no matter how much they try to fight back, is only the manly thing to do. What kind of manly Hero would I be if I called quits on someone before I even got my foot in the door of the Pro world, even if that someone was Bakugo? Don't forget, Kolya-san didn't exactly make it easy for you to get through to him at first either, Ashido. You never gave up on him through it, so neither will I here."
While Mina knew that Eijirou was right about many points in that little speech, that did nothing to dispel the worry in her eyes as she kept looking at the woods Nikolay had gone off into, nearly deaf to the call from Momo that the remainder of everyones' curry had been made and was now ready. "We should go after Kolya-kun, Kiri. Who knows what must be going through his head, being all alone after getting Bakugo in his face like that?"
Eijirou sighed in resignation, knowing Mina was inevitably going to suggest that. A situation like what they'd just seen Nikolay depart from, was practically what she'd been born for when it came to being a Hero. However, considering the general context of just why Bakugo had gotten so aggressive with their Russian friend in the first place, the red-headed boys' face stiffened with resolve. "Normally I'd agree with you a hundred percent, but I think right now, a real man-to-man kind of talk could be just what Kolya-san needs the most. I'll go talk to him and see if I can convince him to come back and eat with us. Make sure you remind Jirou-san and Yaoyorozu-san to save some of theirs for him, okay? And don't go eating all of what I made, either!"
With that awkward parting, Eijirou proceeded into the woods, while Mina could once more only watch, cursing the fact she couldn't just go in with him and talk to her Slavic best friend like she always did. Silently wishing her other close friend the best of luck, she proceeded to join the rest of her classmates in eating, just counting down the seconds before Eijirou and Nikolay would return.
All the while, as everyone gathered at the tables to eat, Izuku was proceeding to join in as well, until his ears caught the faintest sound of words from within the bushes: "'Heroes' and 'Quirks'? What a stupid waste of time…"
The green-haired boy froze with shocked realization, recognizing the voice of Kota without question, and turning to see the bushes rustling at just that very moment, as if the small boy had picked just then to depart. After having spent all day wondering where the child had been, this unexpected little clue filled Izuku with a silent, new kind of determination to see through.
It had to have been a good five minutes since Nikolay had decided to take his leave from the cooking pits, and in that time, just as he'd felt confident he would, he'd already managed to scrounge up a good supply of mushrooms throughout the woods.
However, once he looked back and was certain he couldn't see any of the clearing, and therefore none of his classmates would be at risk of overhearing him…he came to a stop. The only sound there now was, was that of a small running stream nearby. The young Russian boy took a deep breath…then another…and another much quicker and less composed, until his attempts at calming breathing had started to turn into more anxious, and emotionally driven hyperventilating.
The hands that once hung open at his sides were repeatedly clenching into fists, and soon his entire body was shaking, not with his energy building up inside, but with pure frustration, and an indescribable maelstrom of differing emotions clashing in his head, all perpetuated by that same infuriating growl of Bakugos' voice pounding against his ears, all mocking him and belittling him to nothing more than an insect, dripping with hatred and spite.
It had taken so much of his willpower to not react, especially when Bakugo had decided to blow up all his hard culinary work in his face, but now that he was certain he was alone, he was finally able to actually react. As such, his eyes immediately fell upon a multitude of small rocks lying at his feet, and without even thinking, he began to toss them deeper into the woods with reckless abandon, no form or finesse to any of it. This wasn't about perfecting his aim or his throwing form for combat or anything so constructive. This was pure, emotional catharsis in action.
After the first five rocks, Nikolay started compulsively firing through his fingertips with the throws that followed, sending the rocks flying so fast they either broke the sound barrier, shattered in mid-air from the sheer wind friction they were thrown against, or they actually blew off chunks from the sides of trees that were unfortunate enough to stand in the way.
With every proceeding throw, Nikolays' silent grunts of physical strain began to grow in volume, soon turning into frustrated groans, and from that into full-on furious, unintelligible shouts, the closest thing he could get to actually voicing all of his built-up frustration and mutual hate towards Bakugo and his non-stop demoralizing words.
When Nikolay had finally run out of rocks to fire from his hands, with stinging tears of anger in his eyes, he gave in to sheer blind impulse, fell to his hands and knees and slammed his face into the frigid cold water of the stream, screaming at the very top of his lungs to get every last remaining ounce of rage in his system out in a way none of the others would be at risk of overhearing.
After going on like this for what felt like forever, Nikolay finally yanked his head out of the water, hyperventilating as he could just feel all that pent up anger finally leaving him. As much as he hated to admit it, it didn't feel nearly as satisfying as simply hitting Bakugo back for the foul shit he'd been saying no doubt would've been. But by god, it was as close as Nikolay was willing to get. The last thing he wanted was to actually let the kind of anger he'd just been feeling come out in a way he would physically take it out on someone, and doubtless leave all of his friends scared shitless of him.
Feeling at his pants pockets, Nikolay smiled in satisfaction the mushrooms he'd picked were still there, and thus proceeded to turn around, feeling as ready as he ever would be to just go back and try to keep moving forward from here…only to come to a dead stop when he saw Eijirou standing beside one of the trees, looking at him intently. And from the visibly shocked expression on his face, Nikolay knew the first natural question that came to mind was ultimately pointless. "Okay…how much of that did you see?"
"Enough." Eijirou immediately answered, visibly relieved to hear the Russian boy speaking as calmly as usual again, and letting out a heavy sigh to convey as much. He knew he couldn't just pretend he'd been out here on a stroll, so he proceeded to get right to the point with Nikolay: "Look, man, I do actually get it. Frustration's a hell of a thing to just hold onto and pretend like you're not feeling it. Blowing off steam is something we all gotta do every now and then, and between you and me, I think that's where a lot of Bakugos' aggression is really coming from."
To Eijirous' shock, however, as Nikolay approached him, his expression was actually unsurprised. "Yes, I know. Midoriya-san told me a lot about him back at the Sports Festival: a kid whose lived his entire life with this big swollen sense of self-pride, and now seeing that everyone in class is getting stronger while he doesn't seem to be as much, is frustrating him like crazy, so of course he takes it out on us. It's all about trying to cope with wounded pride.
"But that doesn't change the fact I'm sick and tired of the way he talks to me; the way he belittles every step of progress I make to the point it might as well have never happened. I know I'm getting stronger, just like you, Mina and everyone else in class knows I'm getting stronger, that we're all getting stronger. And yet, even when Bakugo acknowledges the growth of everyone else, he ignores mine, as if I were just imagining the whole damn thing, and were still that frightened boy from the beginning of the year."
Nikolay could already feel his deep-rooted frustration start building back up in record time, and so could Eijirou, as he was visibly unsettled by the growing intensity in his tone. Nikolay soon came to a stop, and let out a very shaky, loosening sigh as he tried to regain control of his feelings again. "You want to know the worst part about it, though, Kirishima-san? Even though I know I shouldn't be giving Bakugo that kind of power over me, there's a part deep down inside of me that can't help but wonder if he's actually right. What if I really am just fooling myself, and I'm ultimately no more than dead weight for you and the rest of the class?"
When Nikolay looked back to see if his friend had any answers, he could only see the disbelief in Eijirous' red eyes that the Russian boy was actually saying this; was actually humoring Bakugos' insults like this. "Why the hell would you ever think that, though, man? I've seen you in action, you're a damn powerhouse when things get rough, just as much as Midoriya-san and Bakugo. You're the last person in class I'd have expected to hear this from."
However, Nikolay was already on a roll as he immediately answered: "That's just it, though; for how strong I think I'm getting, there's still a big part of me that's not getting any further. No matter how strong my Quirk gets, I'm still no good in a prolonged fight. All it takes is one good hit in the right place, and I'm out like a light, even if for a few seconds. We both know that's more than enough time for our allies and civilians to get hurt, or killed.
"I mean, hell, even if Midoriya-san started out breaking his bones every time he used his Quirk at the start, nowadays he's actually able to use it consecutively and come out relatively fine. But me; if I can't figure out how to take a hit and keep fighting to protect people, then what good as a Hero could I possibly be in comparison to you, Mina, Midoriya-san and everyone else?"
When he could see that Eijirou was clearly struggling to try and put the words he knew were the right answer together in his head, Nikolays' physical tension dropped and he just hung his head in silent defeat. "Why are you even here right now, Kirishima-san? If anything, you're coming out here, looking for me no doubt, is just proving Bakugo right. No matter how much I've tried to push myself, the fact is I've needed at least one of our classmates to try and help me along the way every single time. I've never been able to actually strengthen myself entirely on my own. Hell, I kept nearly drowning every time I tried my weight training today, and needed either one of the Pussycats or Tsuyu-san to help me. If I'm unable to do anything for myself in terms of training, then how could I possibly be any good on my own when in a really dangerous situation?
"What if I really am only getting stronger, simply because the class needs to keep accommodating me? I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you guys, simply because you weren't all able to get strong enough because of me." The moment that last syllable left his mouth, Nikolay suddenly felt Eijirous' hands firmly clasp onto both sides of his face, forcing his head back up so the two boys could only look each other in the eyes, a new aura of seriousness burning in those of his sharp-toothed friend.
"Hey, you can stop right there, Kolya-san, alright? Don't start letting Bakugos' words take control over you like that. Just because he says you're weak doesn't make it so, you hear me? You need to just remember that, like everybody else, Bakugo has his own idea of how people should get stronger, but that doesn't make his word law for everyone else. The only thing you need to care about is how you yourself think you should get stronger." At this point, Eijirou had finally let go of Nikolays' face and took a step back, realizing how needlessly strong he'd just come on, but his eyes were no less serious, as he could see his words were getting through to his foreign friend.
"Look, Kolya-san, no matter how much Bakugo likes to fall back on criticizing you for how you started out this year, the truth is that in that time since then, I've personally seen you get stronger with each passing day; way stronger than I actually thought you would at the beginning, I'll fully own up to that. However, I never saw you get stronger strictly out of some driven self-determination to do so, refusing all the help everyone around you was offering like Bakugo was. No, I saw it happen precisely because you let all the support and help that me, Ashido, Midoriya-san and the rest of our friends offered you, take hold in your heart. You let us all help drive you to take each step closer to becoming the kind of Hero you want to be. Now be honest, doesn't that in itself sound way more fulfilling, and a hell of a lot less lonely, than just relying solely on yourself to get stronger?"
Nikolay couldn't help but nod in acknowledgment as his eyes fell with realization at his red-haired friends' ultimate point. "Yes…yes, it does. But still, I can't stop thinking about the possibility of something happening to you guys if I can't make myself strong enough to live up to all your faith in me. Again, as long as I'm fast, evasive and precise, I've been able to handle what's been thrown at me so far. But when it comes time for a fight that actually lasts more than a few seconds, I can hardly take what I can dish out. What kind of Hero is that?"
Instead of a straightforward answer, Eijirou instead met the young Slav with another question: "Kolya-san…where exactly is all of this coming from? It can't possibly just from Bakugo yelling at you one time, can it?"
The look on Eijirous' face made it clear to Nikolay that he wouldn't have believed it if he'd just said yes. As much as he really didn't want to admit it, Nikolay knew he ultimately had no choice but to finally come clean about something for the first time in the past month: "Okay…no, it isn't. To be honest, this is something I haven't been able to stop thinking of ever since…*sigh* ever since the battle against Vukodlak. Ever since I found out how he'd maimed my Dad, I haven't been able to stop thinking about if I could've been strong enough to actually resist when he attacked us in those tunnels, or when they fought afterward. I keep asking myself if I would've been able to stop him from losing his fingers if I'd been better at taking a solid punch. I know he's taken to those prosthetic fingers of his, but I can't stop feeling like I'm the one most responsible for him ending up like that to begin with. And from there I always end up thinking: what if something similar, or even worse, were to happen to any of you guys, again, because I wasn't strong enough to actually last in a legitimate fight? I don't think I'd be able to handle it if it did."
Eijirous' face darkened with a similar shade of sadness at the thought of what had happened to Tunguska, and his own similar feeling of guilt for having not been there either. Suddenly, Nikolays' overlying feeling of self-belittlement was actually making more sense. That was when the boy in question spoke up even further: "And that's not even the extent of it. I've found myself thinking back constantly to the battle at I-Island, too. When we all tried to fight the leader of those Villains back there, Mina ended up getting hurt, too. In its own way, that part hurts even worse. Out of everyone in our class whose already gone so far for my sake, she's the one that's stepped up for me the most, and to know that she had so much faith in me, and yet I wasn't even able to keep her from getting hurt, no matter how small it ultimately was, hurts like I can't even describe. Her, you, everyone, you've all invested so much support and trust in me to become the best kind of Hero I can be, and yet no matter how strong my Quirk seems to get, I keep feeling like, by not being able to hold my own in a physical battle, I'm failing to pay that investment off; I'm letting you all down."
Eijirou let out a sentimental sigh before stepping forward and placing a firm hand on Nikolays' shoulder. "Dude, I need you to listen to me on this: you need to learn to start taking the support we all give you, and just let that be it. Don't start weighing yourself down with all this nonsense about owing us anything.
"None of us want you to think like that, but especially not Ashido. You and I both know she would be heartbroken if she knew that's what you were thinking at the end of the day after everything we've all gone through together. She would never think that you owe her for her confidence in you; she's only gone the leaps and bounds she has for you because she really cares about you, and I know that deep down, you know it, too. She only wants you to be happy and feel fulfilled for yourself, just like she does for the rest of us, just like the rest of us do for you, just like we all do for each other, and just like I'm sure you do for her and the rest of us as well."
Nikolay had to suck down a sharp breath of emotion to hear Eijirou explain all this to him, things that he knew he should've realized and accepted a long time ago, instead of letting himself wallow in this utterly childish mindset. "You're right, Kirishima-san, I do want that for all of you, too. I want us all to be able to become the best kinds of Heroes we all can be…and I know I wouldn't be where I am right now if it weren't for all of you. I know all this, and yet I still let my mind wither away like this. It feels like I'm continuously taking one step forward physically and emotionally, and yet mentally still taking two steps back."
Despite this choice of words, Eijirou didn't look perturbed. If anything, the smile on his face was downright proud: "And that's it! If you're aware of it yourself, that's already a huge leap forward, Kolya-san! You want the same thing for us that we all want for each other and you! So just hang onto that, and let the rest just roll off your shoulders! Just focus on what you feel in your heart you need to do to become the Hero you want to be, and just let the support and help we all give you along the way be just that: support and help, instead of some kind of mental burden. I mean, it's just like Crimson Riot once said: 'A true man takes inspiration and strength of mind, spirit and heart from whatever he can around him, but especially from those he cares about from the bottom of his heart. To refuse such a thing out of self-pride is the tiniest step away from pure arrogance.'"
When Nikolays' first reaction was to suddenly start laughing in bemusement, Eijirou couldn't help but smirk back, pretty much able to tell what that closing line made the Russian boy think of…or rather, whom. "Yeah…while I can respect your not wanting to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt, Kirishima-san, I have no qualms telling you I don't want to be anything like Bakugo if I can help it at all."
"Hey, you don't have to justify that sentiment to me, Kolya-san. Just become the Hero you want to be, and there's no way you can go wrong. So, with that being said, since you've been talking about training a lot, I might as well ask: if you could make a choice, what parts of your Quirk would you rather be working on right now? I mean, since any and all training is ultimately for the same cause, I can't imagine the Wild, Wild Pussycats would object to us using our time for different forms of training than what they set up for us…at least, I hope so."
Eijirou stood tall and proud with his hands on his hips as he asked this, as though he were trying to strike an instructor-worthy pose himself, which frankly looked downright fitting for him in this moment with that confident sharp-toothed grin on his face. Nikolay didn't even hesitate before answering: "Well, in regards to what I was talking about earlier, I've been wanting to test out this other theory about the properties of my Quirk that Midoriya-san had brought up to me when we were all preparing for the final exams, same time as when he told me his theory about that shockwave attack of mine. He's convinced that if I were to focus enough in preparation, I might be able to absorb the majority of the resultant kinetic energy from a physical blow, and automatically redirect and disperse it right back at whoever hit me with nearly the same kind of force. It wouldn't prevent all the damage, if any, but it would at least be able to send a good amount of it right back, give whoever I'm fighting a taste of their own medicine, assuming I could even do it."
Eijirou looked downright amazed at the very thought of it. It couldn't help but make him think of the possible potential the two of them would have as a team if it turned out to be legit. A Hero who could take extensive damage, and another that could take it and send it right back? That sounded like the coolest Hero duo ever in his head.
However, he could quickly see that there was some notable doubt in Nikolays' eyes after describing it so much. "I'd been thinking of asking Midoriya-san if he would want to maybe spar with me so we could put that theory to the test. After all, he's trying to master his Quirk still, so it would be a scenario where everybody wins as a result. Of course, now that I think about it, knowing just how powerful his Quirk is right now, he'd straight up kill me with a single punch if he decided to go for it, and I'm sure as hell not gonna ask Bakugo to be my sparring partner. Knowing him, he'd actually deliberately try to kill me if given half the chance. So I'm left at something of a dead end right now."
However, instead of an awkward silence, Nikolay was answered with the most excited gasp for air he'd ever heard out of Eijirou, as the red-haired boys' eyes lit up like stars, before he immediately rushed the Russian boy with all the excitement in the world: "Dude, why don't I be your sparring partner?! I've already been Ojiro-san's tail-whipping punching bag all day today, so I can definitely take whatever hits you could send right back at me! I could even lighten up on my Hardening when I hit you so I don't end up potentially shattering your ribs! This is the perfect training dynamic, don't you see?! You can sharpen your deflection potential, and I can improve my attacking power and speed alike! Like you said, we both come out winners in the end!"
Nikolay, thankfully, was quick to reflect Eijirous' enthusiasm for the idea, which spurred him on all the more. "Awesome! C'mon, let's get back to camp, eat up, and we could even get started before having to hit the baths again! We'd be all re-energized for it after we get some food, anyway! The timing would be perfect! Ashido, Jirou-san and I already agreed to share the curry we each made with you to make up for Bakugo blowing yours up before I went looking for you, so you don't even have to worry about wasting time cooking!"
Eijirou had half a mind to take a page right out of Minas' book and pull Nikolay by the wrist all the way back to camp so they could hurry and eat up and get right to it. All the while Nikolay just looked plain shocked. "I have to confess, Kirishima-san, I didn't think even you would be so open to the idea so quick. I mean, after what nearly happened to you the last time we fought and I hit you, I thought you'd be a lot more wary about messing with a kinetic energy Quirk, no matter how much your Hardening might have improved."
However, instead of a look of apprehension at the reminder, Eijirou instead simply looked back with an assuring toothy smile. "Aw, c'mon, dude, what are friends for? We help each other through anything and everything, you know?"
While Nikolay didn't say as such, the pure sincerity he could feel in every word Eijirou said left him deeply touched, and subsequently that much more motivated for them to get back, eat up, and get right to it. That was the kind of contagious inspirational spirit that Tunguska always said made for some of the best Heroes. In fact, he had no doubt that if he said so right now, Eijirou would be pretty much on Cloud Nine for the rest of the night, as the Russian boy realized the sun had now pretty much set by now.
"Okay, Eijirou-san, so we'll eat up, and until the Pussycats say it's time for us all to bathe and turn in, we'll see how much sparring we can get in. Maybe we can start out without using our Quirks, just so I can at least try to get acclimated to what it feels like getting a full blown punch. Then we can work our way up gradually from there, and once we both feel ready to use our Quirks to their full extent, we can try it that way."
Nikolays' own agreement and enthusiasm for the idea only served to fire Eijirou up more and more as they continued to descend the hill. "Hell yeah, sounds good to me, man! Keep that kind of spirit up, and nobody can tell you you're weak anymore, not even Bakugo!"
At that moment, however, Nikolay suddenly came to a stop, forcing Eijirou to do the same and look back with momentary confusion, only to find his Russian friend was looking further into the woods. "Hey, Kirishima-san, go on ahead back to camp, I'm going to try and pick a few more mushrooms for dinner. Make sure nobody eats what's left of Kyouka-san, Mina and your shares in the meantime."
The boy was already departing further into the brush before Eijirou could tell him to just forget about it so they could keep going. Then again, he did come to know Nikolay to be rather willful in his own right, and nothing he would say would be able to change that, so he ultimately decided to continue the rest of the way, silently hoping Nikolay wouldn't be far behind.
Thankfully for Nikolay, the myriad of starlight through the canopy of the trees made it easy for him to navigate without tripping over multitudes of rocks and roots, and even find a good helping of extra mushrooms to boot. Once he was sure he had more than enough, he finally began to turn back the direction he knew camp to be, before suddenly hearing a twig snap not too far from where he was.
Years of having grown used to cheesy horror movies set in the woods had all of Nikolays' survival instincts screaming for him to just ignore it, and lo and behold, that was exactly what he was preparing to do, proceeding further down the hill, before nearly running into another figure just rounding the closest tree, causing it and Nikolay both to instinctively scream in surprise.
"Whoa, I didn't think I'd run into you in such a specific part of the woods, Kolya-san. Are you alright?" The instantly assuring sound of Izukus' voice brought Nikolays' momentarily racing heart back to normal as he breathed a sigh of relief for running into yet another friend.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm okay. I didn't think I'd see you all the way out here either, Midoriya-san." As soon as he could make out the freckled boys' face, Nikolays' eyes momentarily glanced downward, surprised to find a full bowl of curry resting safely in his hand. "Are you trying to sneak off with second helpings? I'm pretty sure the others wouldn't judge you if it was what you made yourself."
Realizing what Nikolay had noticed, Izuku couldn't help but momentarily chuckle at how easily that could've been mistaken by anyone. "No, it's nothing like that. I was actually bringing this for…well, maybe you might be able to help me with that. You haven't happened to see Kota-kun anywhere around here recently, have you?"
At the thought of the little boy with the horned cap, Nikolay already began to feel a painful aching between his legs, along with that tremendous wave of empathy from the previous night. "No, I haven't. I only just reached this part of the woods. Why, is he okay?"
Nikolays' clear worry was appreciated on Izukus' part, yet he could only shake his head uncertainly. "I don't know, but I was hoping to find out. I've got something of a trail to work with I'm hoping will lead me to him. I'm hoping I can convince the kid to eat, if nothing else."
Considering both their less-than-pleasant track record with the kid, an otherwise insane idea came to the Russian boys' mind: "Well, just in case he's feeling especially aggressive this time around, why don't I at least come with you as backup? Or at least someone to drag you back to camp in case he goes below the belt on you again. Don't want to leave you out here for the bears, after all."
Even Izuku couldn't help but laugh along with him at the hypothetical thought. But then, he couldn't let his own lingering worries stay silent either. "Are you really sure you're up for that, Kolya-san? Like you said, Kota-kun hasn't exactly been the most welcoming to us, and after what just happened with you and Kacchan, I would've imagined you'd want to avoid as much unpleasantness as possible for the rest of the night."
To his surprise and relief, though, Nikolay didn't look to reconsider, but instead just had a thoughtful smile on his face. "Well, I actually just had a pretty fulfilling talk with Kirishima-san shortly before I ran into you, and we might've come up with a good way for me to ultimately rectify my…grievances with Bakugo someday. Until then, I'd like to at least try and do something for somebody here so I can prove to myself I'm not as useless as he thinks I am."
Not wanting to turn away his foreign friends' willingness after earlier, Izuku nodded gratefully before continuing on his way, now with Nikolay in tow. "Well, I'm glad for your company, regardless. And, for what it's worth right now, I personally don't think you're useless, Kolya-san. I thought you were a huge help during that battle at I-Island."
Nikolays' smile was clearly grateful, but his eyes looked conflicted: "I'm glad to know you thought so, Midoriya-san, even when given how incredible you were yourself back there, compared to me. I liked to think that I'd contributed to resolving that whole thing somehow, which is why Bakugo coming up and saying I'm still useless and always will be, hurts as much as it does. I just don't understand why he's been singling me out. You said yourself he's incredibly proud, I would've thought this camp would have him simply focusing on building up his own strength, instead of belittling me for the lack of mine."
For a good minute, Izuku struggled to find an answer to that. He couldn't tell Nikolay anything about Bakugo he didn't know already in these circumstances. However, he also knew he couldn't just say nothing, so he ultimately went with the first thought that made sense, to him at least: "I don't know what to tell you about what to say to Kacchan in relation to all of this tension between you two. I know, you'd think having been the target for all his anger for so long, I would've rehearsed a whole monologue for something like this. I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in myself for that, to be honest. However, if you want my opinion, I think that if you and I just keep focusing on what Tiger-sensei told us today, and just focus on continually pushing our bodies to the limit so we can strengthen our Quirks, then everyone will be able to see how much stronger you'll get clear as day, including Kacchan; even if your strength comes from everyone else supporting you, and not just relying solely on yourself, like he's convinced himself he has to."
Nikolay couldn't help but admire just how confident Izuku felt in that sentiment, and it showed in just how confident the Russian boy himself now sounded as he answered: "You know, it's funny you mention Tiger-sensei's training advice of pushing ourselves to the limit, because when we get back to camp and after we've eaten our fill, Kirishima-san and I decided we're going to try sparring together so I can put that kinetic absorption and dispersal theory you mentioned to me to the test. Since your shockwave theory turned out so well, I've wanted to give this one a run as well."
Contrary to what Nikolay was bringing himself to expect, Izuku looked genuinely surprised, perhaps even blindsided, by this news. "Wow. All things considered, I'm kind of surprised you didn't decide to ask me to be your sparring partner, Kolya-san." Izuku didn't even sound offended, which did a great deal for Nikolays' nerves.
"Well, you were actually my first choice, Midoriya-san, but given just how insanely powerful your Quirk is already, I was pretty much convinced you'd end up killing me with the first hit, regardless whether you meant to or not." As Nikolay reluctantly admitted this, Izuku instinctively scratched the back of his head with, albeit embarrassed, understanding.
"Yeah, I can understand that, actually. But while…while Aizawa-sensei says I can currently harness up to 5% of my Quirks' total power so far, I'm actually rather confident in my ability to control the preceding 4% in that threshold, so if it would help, I could be able to spar with you using just 1% for a start, and as your kinetic dispersal ability gets stronger, I could increase my power output to match. That way I can learn to completely harness each percentile much more naturally without needing to devote so much focus at once into it, at the same time as you learn to absorb and refract stronger attacks. We'd both be able to grow in our Quirks together that way."
Izuku mentally let out a sigh of immense relief that he had managed to explain as much as he was able to about One For All without leaving any glaring openings for prying questions from his Russian friend. The more he could be able to keep Nikolay from getting directly involved in the affair surrounding his Quirk, the better.
"You've clearly given the potential training for a portion of my Quirk a lot of thought, Midoriya-san. You actually sounded a lot like Kirishima-san when he volunteered for sparring with me, too. I can't say I'm surprised you're being as selfless about this as you are, though."
As Nikolay said this, Izukus' smile was nothing short of heartfelt: "Well, that's what being a real Hero is all about, isn't it: helping each other just as much as we help the people of the world?"
Nikolay loved the childlike devotion with which Izuku spoke, before ultimately finding what seemed like the perfect solution where they now stood: "Kirishima-san and I have already pretty much confirmed it, but I'm sure he'd probably appreciate having a second, depending how it goes. So how about we see how Kirishima-san and I do the first time around, and from there we can decide what to do going forward?"
Thankfully, Izuku looked more than okay with this idea, and with both their hearts lightened that much more with anticipation, they continued on their way further into the woods and up the hills, both of them very much looking forward to how their potential sparring training was going to turn out.
Shortly after that, as the terrain began to thin out from the forest to a more mountainous setup, the two boys found themselves ascending a path lining the face of a mountain cliff that ultimately led up to a visible cave mouth a further way up. Once the path began to level off again, Nikolay and Izuku came to a stop, easily able to spot Kotas' horned cap just poking over the horizon, motionless in front of the cave.
With neither of them wanting to speak up to the point the small boy would overhear them, Izuku softly gestured to his companion in a way to communicate that Nikolay should just hang back for the start and just let him lead in. Nikolay gave no sign of being indignant to that instruction, and so with an affirming deep breath, Izuku proceeded onward towards Kota, whom both boys could see visibly flinch with surprise the moment Izuku became visible over the ridge.
"Sorry to intrude, Kota-kun. I just thought you might be starving right now. Feel free to dig in—"You idiots again?! How did you know I was here?!" Kotas' explosive interruption killed the momentum of Izukus' gentler approach; he and Nikolay similarly surprised that Kota could somehow figure they were both here, and Izuku hadn't simply come alone.
To be honest, Nikolay had likewise been curious how Izuku could have possibly known Kota had been here, out of anywhere else in this seemingly endless forest. At the same time, with that element of pleasantry gone, Izuku decided to simply come clean and hope for the best in terms of being able to salvage this potential conversation: "Sorry about that. We followed your footprints. I figured you hadn't eaten anything yet today."
Unfortunately, even that offer did nothing to soften Kotas' hostile demeanor: "I'm fine, I don't need any, especially not from the likes of you! Seriously, what part of 'I'm not screwing around with any of you scrubs' did you not understand?! This is my secret base, and you dumbasses aren't welcome here! Go away!"
Once Kota suddenly got to his feet, Nikolay finally began to approach, bracing himself to try and somehow intercept whatever attempt the kid was about to make to put Izuku on the ground yet again. However, even as the Russian boy approached, Kota fortunately didn't seem to be gearing up for anything, as far as either of the boys could tell. Instead, the small child continued to stew with his clear anger: "The whole lot of you, getting all hyped up about 'stretching' your Quirks and all that other bullshit…it's downright pathetic! You people seriously want to push yourselves that far just for the sake of bragging about your corny-ass powers?!"
When the boy turned his back on them, Nikolay was about ready to simply put a pin in this attempt of Izukus' to somehow get through to him. If he was going to be this energetically defensive against them, then they clearly needed to approach him differently. However, even though Izuku didn't keep trying to approach, that didn't stop him from speaking up again: "Your parents…were they the water-type Quirk-users, The Water Hoses?"
Before Nikolay couldn't even ask how on earth Izuku came to such a random conclusion, Kota visibly flinched at the sound of the team name, before immediately turning on his feet to face the two boys again, looking like he was officially ready to kick both their asses to the curb. "So, Mandalay went and opened her big mouth, huh?!"
"Oh, uh, no, sorry! I just happened to hear about it, and judging from the context…" As Izuku tried to explain himself for both of them, Kota thankfully didn't look like he was about to kick his family jewels up into his throat again, but he was visibly no less enraged.
"It was a terrible tragedy, what happened to them. I remember hearing about it all over the news." Izuku continued much more somberly, even though Kota still kept his back turned to the two older boys.
"Screw you…you don't get to talk about them. You two, all your dumbass classmates, all of you people; you've all got a couple screws loose, calling yourselves Heroes and Villains and killing each other like idiots. Bragging about your Quirks…that's why you end up like that…bunch of goddamn freakin' idiots!"
Kotas' voice was already beyond the point of cracking, torn between anger and choking on his tears. It was a sound unable to not break either boys' heart to hear. Mandalay and Pixie-Bobs' words of just how far spread his anger really was, towards all of Quirk society as a whole, was ringing so loudly in their heads. To now hear it said as such from the kid himself, it was even more palpable than before. Nikolay especially could once again see and hear himself in Kotas' demeanor. Even an over-the-shoulder glance from Izuku said so much to him: 'You and Kota-kun really do stand on more equal ground than he realizes. If he won't listen to me…you should try to speak to him, too.'
"What, suddenly neither of you has anything to say? Cat got your tongues, is that it? Yeah, that's what I thought. Both of you stupid assholes get the hell out of here!" Kotas' hate was almost able to be physically felt in the air around him, and as much as Nikolay didn't want to accept it, the fact was that there really wouldn't be any getting through to this kid the way he was right now. He was about ready to suggest to Izuku they simply return to camp and try again some other time, before the green-haired boy suddenly spoke up:
"No, uh…I was just thinking about…a friend, an old friend of mine. His parents, they weren't able to pass their Quirks on to him. It's a rare genetic occurrence these days, but it's been known to happen. You see, my friend, he wanted to be a Hero in the worst way, but the fact is that you can't be a Hero without a Quirk these days. That's what everyone kept telling him. He couldn't accept the reality of that for the longest time. So I saw what he did the more he kept getting told he would never become a Hero. He busted his ass, trying to move things with his mind, trying to breathe fire, all kinds of things.
"There's undeniably a stigma surrounding Quirks, and I know I can't say this without any bias, but…if you reject reality as harshly as my friend did…then the only person getting hurt in the end is yourself." As Izuku reached the overall moral of his sudden story, Nikolay felt a deep resonating within his chest. That sounded so much like himself on the opposite side of the spectrum, spending so much of his life trying to pretend he wasn't what he knew he was deep in his heart, and indeed, just how much pain that left him in physically, mentally and emotionally for all those years; years that should have been filled with happy memories, but were now only filled with pain.
At that moment, Izuku finally started to reach towards the surprisingly silent Kota, only for the little boy to viciously smack his open hand away, his face twisted with even more anger than before: "SCREW OFF! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE BEFORE I KICK IT OFF THIS CLIFF MYSELF!"
The way Izuku froze at such vitriol from such a young child, especially after having opened up to him so subtly, made it clear that perhaps Kota simply wasn't ready for the kind of change of heart he had hoped he would be able to start, at the very least. No, if Kota was ever going to be able to look at the world of Heroes with a fragment of that kind of hope they inspired again, it was going to have to come by some other way, a way that Izuku frankly didn't know would be, at that moment.
And so, it was with a genuine air of defeat that he proceeded to simply set the curry bowl he had come all the way up here in the first place for on the ground at Kotas' feet, and finally proceeded to back off, as per the childs' furious demand. "Okay. I'm sorry…I couldn't say anything of substance for you. I'll…I'll leave the curry here for you, just in case."
While still trying to maintain his own personal sense of driven dignity, Izuku couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes to see such a young child so lost in the darkness like Kota was. As he passed by his Russian compatriot to return to camp, Nikolay actually didn't follow. He still kept thinking about that look in Izukus' eyes just moments before, imploring him to speak up and try to connect to the little boy as he couldn't.
A resolve took hold of Nikolays' heart as he now began to approach the still-fuming Kota, who immediately realized one of the two idiotic teenage boys that had dropped in on him uninvited, was still here. "What, did that idiot bring you up here as some kind of backup? Are you going to spout a bunch of bullshit at me like he did, too? Why are you even here, just to stand around and waste space like some dainty little dandelion? Get the hell out of here!"
Nikolay knew he needed to approach this as carefully as possible, to not come across like he was condescending to the boy, but instead try to approach him on a much more personal level. As such, he didn't immediately answer Kotas' threats, as he instead began to walk past the angry yet surprised boy, to look out over the rolling forested hills ahead. "Hey, don't just freakin' ignore me, you shit! I told you to get your ass out of here with your stupid friend!"
"Yes, I heard you, and I will. But before I do, I just thought you should know that…I know exactly the kind of feelings you're going through right now." The words just came to Nikolay on pure instinct, hence why he kept his back to Kota, so he wouldn't see the visibly surprised look in his green eyes at how naturally this was coming to him.
It was a good thing he kept his back to Kota, as well, so he couldn't see the downright homicidal rage in the small childs' eyes under the brim of his cap. "Get your head out of your self-righteous ass with that right now, you hear me?! How the hell could you POSSIBLY know how I feel, dammit?!"
It was unmistakable that Kota was one wrong word away from just pushing the older Russian boy over the side of the cliff, but Nikolay remained unshaken, as he finally turned around to look the kid in the eye, complete sincerity reflected in his own: "Because up until just a few months ago, I was exactly where you are right now."
Kotas' eyes visibly widened, but the rest of his face was still stuck in that infuriated sneer. The fact he at least wasn't actively trying to beat Nikolay up right now was as good a sign as any for the young Slav to explain himself.
"My parents were both Heroes, too; some of the biggest back in my home country. They had a whole team of other Heroes, and everybody loved them. But one day, they all got into a huge battle against a whole bunch of Villains, and in order to try and save as many people as he could, in comparison to how many would die if he didn't, my Dad…he ended up having to do something that ended up sacrificing nearly all of his friends. Make no mistake, they all asked him to do it, because they knew what was at stake otherwise. But still, that was one of the hardest things he'd ever done…but it resulted in a disaster he never foresaw, and it ended up causing so much more destruction, suffering, and death…including that of my Mom.
"He had pretty much killed every major Villain…and every truly established Hero in our country as a result of that, and he's carried the guilt of them, and all the civilians that lost their lives or loved ones as a result of his ill-advised attempt to try and stop the Villains, ever since. However, while society may have praised your parents for giving their lives in the line of duty…the society that my Dad fought for his entire life, turned on him in the aftermath of it all, and started calling him and everyone else who used Quirks monsters and killers-in-the-making. A whole new government came to power; one that started rounding up Quirk-users, demolishing Hero schools and related government bureaus, and arresting all the Hero students that were left…and continued to do so over the years that followed. My Dad and I lived as fugitives ever since then, and for the longest time, even as I had to watch the man I once admired more than anyone else get dragged lower and lower with every passing day, just to try and keep us both alive, all I could feel was sadness, loneliness and anger…for losing my mother, for seeing the world as I had come to know it get torn down all around me…and at my Dad, respectively.
"By the time we had come to Japan, I'd been living with nothing but hate for Heroes, Villains and Quirks as a whole for years…just like you. I wanted nothing to do with any of it, and I was about ready to spend my entire life as a recluse, away from anyone and anything that had anything to do with Quirks, period." By this point in his painful recollection, Nikolay could see that while Kota was still visibly enraged at his very presence, his violent shaking for a fight had at least come to a stop. That had to mean his relating was doing something for him.
"I'm not going to tell you that the resentment and anger you're feeling towards everything because of what happened to your parents is wrong, Kota-kun. In fact, you have every right to feel the way you do. After all, it's exactly how I felt when I lost my mom. Even if I still had my Dad, a lot of me honestly wished he had gone instead, because much like the rest of society, I found myself blaming him for everything that had gone wrong, for us as a family, and for our entire country as a whole.
"The worst part of it all, in hindsight, is that I think my Dad knew for the longest time how much I'd grown to hate him over all those years. He was putting every last bit of energy and strength he had left into protecting the one piece of his life he still had, a piece that hated him despite everything he tried. And yet, even despite all of that, not once did he ever give up, on me, or on the idea that there was still a place for us in a world that would've gladly seen us both dead if given the chance.
"For a while, I thought it was all pointless…but now, looking back, I understand that everything we struggled through over the years, every choice my Dad made that ultimately landed us here in Japan, was all for a reason, and I personally think that reason was so that I could finally find the love and acceptance from people just like me that I never had before, but most importantly so I could find the love and acceptance from myself, for myself as I am. That was what finally helped me to make peace with all the losses we'd suffered before, so that I could finally pick myself up and start actually going forward with my life again."
Nikolay let out an especially emotional sigh to have had to recount all of these old memories and feelings again after so long. When he saw the especially angry fire in Kotas' eyes by the end, he could already imagine just what the boy thought he was being told to do.
"I know it may sound like it, but I'm not telling you to just forget about your parents and move on, Kota-kun. The truth is that nobody can do that, whether they're a child or an adult. We never forget the people we love and lose. No, I'm only asking you to just take the time to think about what it is your parents would've wanted for you, and what it is your aunt and the rest of the Pussycats want for you. Once you've come to a conclusion about those two things, you can start asking yourself just what it is you really want for yourself that you know you can achieve, that would make your parents, as you remember them, happy.
"Because, honestly, that's what I do every single day. I take the time to think about what it is I know my mom would've wanted for me, and from there, I'm able to better decide just what it is I want on top of that. If anything, nowadays I also think about just what it is I know my friends want for me as well. That part's probably the easiest, because I know it's ultimately the same thing I want for them, too: to find and pursue that in life which makes them all truly happy. Taking all of that into consideration, that's ultimately the only thing I can suggest you do."
Nikolay felt so confident and serious about everything he was trying to impart onto Kota, and when the little boy didn't say anything for a few seconds, the Russian honestly couldn't help but wonder with surprise if he had actually managed to pull off what Izuku couldn't. At least, that was the case before Kota suddenly stepped forward and shoved the taller boy roughly, his already sharp eyes once again reflecting nothing but anger. "Who do you think you are, pulling all of that out of your ass and talking down to me?! You think just because I'm a kid that you can just tell me what to do?! Get the hell out of here!" The already intense emotion in his voice was now reaching a fever pitch, as he was clearly trying so hard not to start crying in front of Nikolay.
Alas, Nikolay put up no further sign of a fight, as he began to follow in Izukus' footsteps while Kota kept staring a hole into his back. "Okay. Like I said, I just wanted you to hear what I had to say, then I'd leave you be. I said all I needed to say. Whether you decide to listen or follow through on any of it is up to you, Kota-kun, and regardless whatever you choose in the end, I won't judge you for it. Sorry for bothering you."
With that, Nikolay briefly rummaged through one of his pockets, before pulling out and setting down a handful of the mushrooms he had picked right beside the bowl of curry still sitting in the middle of the path. With nothing more needing to be said, Nikolay let out a regretful breath and continued on after Izuku, once more leaving a still-fuming Kota on his own on that cliff face, silently stewing over everything those two older boys felt they had any right to throw in his face like they had.
Nikolay had been deeply touched when he had finally returned to the training camp, only to find that Mina, Eijirou and Kyouka had all decided to wait up for him so they could finally eat together. The rest of their class had already since eaten and returned to squeeze in whatever remaining time for their training they could get before the Pussycats would announce it was time to wash up and turn in for the night.
The shares of their respective curries they had put together to share, frankly, varied widely in terms of flavor, with Eijirous', unfortunately, proving the comparatively worst, but regardless, the fact that they had all worked so hard and still chose to give some of it together for his sake was nothing short of heartwarming to their mutual Slavic friend, as he gratefully ate his fill.
As they ate together, Mina heartily expressed her support for the idea of Nikolay and Eijirou becoming sparring partners in order to solidify his resistance when caught in a fight. Kyouka was as skeptical as the pink girl was enthusiastic, likewise thinking of what had happened the last time the two boys had actually faced each other in a fight.
In the end, though, once they had all finally eaten their fill and done their share of the clean-up duty like everyone else, there was no more use in trying to talk about it. The time had finally come for Nikolay and Eijirou to finally put their words into action, heading for the nearest spot of the camp clearing that would give them enough room to maneuver while they fought.
"Last chance to back down tonight, Kolya-san. If you really don't wanna do it right now, just say the word and we can go for it first thing in the morning." The forced cocky smirk on Eijirous' face brought out a wry chuckle from his foreign classmate as they both got into their respective stances and began to slowly circle each other. "I was the one talking about sparring to begin with. The last thing I'm going to let myself be called is a hypocrite by backing out now."
Eijirou couldn't have looked more proud of Nikolays' answer. However, before he could say anything further, a series of grey cloth strips suddenly came flying in from out of both boys' fields of view, ensnaring the red-haired boy like a fly in a spiders' web. Instinctively looking back, Nikolay felt an automatic sensation of intimidation when Aizawa came stepping in, wrangling Eijirou with no effort.
"While I'm glad to see you two weren't going about wasting time with idle chatter, Kirishima is still technically part of the remedial class for the duration of this trip. As such, he, Kaminari, Sato and Sero need to attend a special little lesson I've put together for them. Perhaps you two can find time to work on your fighting skills starting tomorrow."
Aizawas' explanation was as blunt and to-the-point as ever, as Eijirou tried to protest out of his own sense of fear, albeit muffled thanks to the homeroom teachers' wrappings resting tight over his mouth. Without breaking a sweat, Aizawa proceeded to exit the scene, forcing the completely trapped Eijirou to hop after him to avoid getting dragged on his face the whole way. All the while, Nikolay was left frankly dumbfounded, now at a loss for an immediate sparring partner.
At least, this would have been the case if he hadn't almost instantly spotted the unmistakable head of green hair watching the whole proceeding from only a few feet away, and immediately coming in after Aizawa had dragged Eijirou away.
"Everything's been going so fast since yesterday; I'd completely forgotten Kirishima-san hadn't actually passed the entire final exam." Izuku mused with remembrance, with Nikolay echoing just as much with a clearly disappointed sigh. He could only imagine how his gung-ho friend had to be feeling right now, snatched away from the very brink of the action.
However, when he brought his focus back to Izuku, his disappointment changed to his own sense of excitement, while Izuku gave Nikolay an equally respectful and eager smile and nod respectively. "Well, I offered to fill in if need be, and I meant it. Are you sure you still wanna go through with this now, Kolya-san?"
Nikolay was already getting back into his starting position, urging Izuku to do the same. "I would've said so already if I wasn't. So, same scenario as we talked about earlier?"
Izuku thought back and closed his hands into prepared fists in answer. "Well, considering exactly what you're wanting to test out, maybe it'd be better if we just started out without using our Quirks, at least just so we can both get acclimated to it. Once you feel confident you're ready, we can both start applying our Quirks in order to toughen each other up."
Nikolays' eager smile seemed to brighten that much more, as he and Izuku slowly began to circle around their makeshift arena in the middle of the training ground. "There's no need for some kind of unnecessary humility with me, Midoriya-san. You're already plenty tough as it is."
Thankfully, though, Izuku didn't break out into a self-assured laugh like Nikolay had expected any boy would have after being told something like that. "Well, regardless how physically strong my Quirk at its limit is right now, I'm always in need of training to sharpen my reflexes and help make my control of each percentile of its power more natural and flowing when in the middle of combat, like I said. I need to be able to maintain that control in case I'm unable to end a fight really quick. So don't worry, this is just as beneficial for both of us."
With that assurance, Nikolay suddenly stopped moving to his right and quickly started sidestepping to his left, forcing Izuku to do the same, neither of the boys taking their eyes off each other. "So we're both in agreement before we start swinging: no hits to the face or below the belt, center mass-only, right?"
"Absolutely." The moment Izuku said this; the two finally stopped their strafing and quickly moved in for each other with full intent. Izuku watched as Nikolay already reeled his left arm back, no doubt gearing up for a strike to his sparring partners' ribs. As such, Izuku quickly swerved his body out of the Russian boys' trajectory and quickly jabbed his left fist with as much quickly built up physical force as he could, driving the fist short and sweet into Nikolays' gut, knocking all the air out of him and sending him reeling forward with his eyes wide in an instant.
Izukus' focus immediately shattered into that stuttering nervousness when he saw Nikolay fall to his knees, holding his arms to his gut while wheezing for breath. "Oh, damn, I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't use any of my power, but I still threw my arm like I was! Are you okay, Kolya-san?"
Despite the struggle he had to go through to get air back in his lungs, Nikolay quickly raised an objecting hand as Izuku began to step in to help him to his feet, stopping his curly-haired friend in his tracks. In less than a minute, Nikolay sounded like he could actually breathe again, and slowly but surely got back onto his feet, taking in another deep breath before getting back into his fighting stance. "I'll be okay, Midoriya-san. This is what it's supposed to be all about, remember? So…let's keep going."
Izuku was more than happy to oblige his friend, and in rather impressive time, the two boys were back at it again, and this time actually managing to keep each other moving, striking and blocking for a good couple of minutes. Izukus' constant fighting practice had his body practically going on autopilot, as he threw one precise punch or chop or kick after another for specific parts of Nikolays' body based on their relative position to one another, and whatever part of the Russian boy was left open.
All the while, Nikolays' similar training in all of Tunguskas' collective Slavic martial arts were likewise guiding him along, somehow managing to similarly read Izukus' stance and movements to where he could more or less guess which appendage he was going to strike with next, and where he was going to be aiming for based on how Nikolay knew he himself was currently standing. As such, he was actually managing to either deflect or grapple Izuku and stop his attacks, at least half the time. The other half, Izuku was still managing to land a relatively clean hit. Of course, this time, Nikolay was refusing to go down, and instead took the brunt of the hits, and let it fuel his adrenaline to just keep pushing forward.
After a good couple minutes of this continuous back and forth of non-Quirk-assisted martial sparring, Nikolay and Izuku had unknowingly drawn in a handful of their other classmates from across the training yard, many of them genuinely curious to see how this unorthodox one-on-one training they had come up with would ultimately play out.
Shortly after they had earned their little crowd, though, Nikolay and Izuku decided to take a minute, stepping back from one another in order to get rid of the sweat on their brows and catch their breath.
"Your ability to read movements is really growing, Kolya-san. We seem to have pretty similarly observant mindsets when fighting." Izuku noted approvingly.
"Maybe…or maybe it's just contagious coming from you. Before you gave me those theory notes of yours, the only kind of strategizing I'd ever tried was solely around other people and the environment, never actually taking myself into account when fighting somebody." Izuku honestly couldn't tell if his Russian friend was being serious, or simply trying to shrug off the embarrassment that such credit inherently gave most people. Either way, Izuku was just glad to see Nikolay was adapting as well as he was. In fact, nearly every one of their classmates that made up the crowd (Mina, Kyouka, Ochako, Shoto, Tenya, Momo and Fumikage specifically) were reflecting a similar relief.
"So what are you thinking so far, Kolya-san?" Izuku finally asked, only to be very surprised by the eager light in Nikolays' eyes as he answered: "I think I'm about ready. Want to start putting in that 1% you mentioned, and I'll put in the minutest amount of my energy in as well?"
The idea of Nikolay already wanting to take on Izuku while both boys were using their Quirks, even if it was at only 1%, had many of the onlooking students notably concerned. Seeing just how insanely powerful Izuku especially was at his limit, this suddenly started to seem like less of a promising idea.
However, even despite his own uncertainty at granting Nikolays' request, Izuku could see how serious he was when looking in his eyes. And it was like they had both understood: this was for the sake of both of them becoming strong enough in the end to become truly great Heroes one day. They both had an inherent responsibility to help each other along that road, just like every member of their class, like every student of Yuuei, did.
And so, with that silent resolution in mind, Izuku began to focus on only using 1% of One For All's power throughout his body; his hair already beginning to flow from the energy rippling through his body, as his arms both began to glow. At the same time, Nikolay got back into position, both hands now open and just barely visibly shaking from the inside out as he too began to focus only the smallest amount of his kinetics into them.
While not turning into the imperceptible human blur he already could become at 5%, Izukus' initial dash was still insanely fast to the naked eye, as was Nikolays as he likewise sprung forward to meet his opponent. Both boys seemed to respectively dodge each others' initial driving strikes with an impressive fluidity, with Izuku practically rolling over Nikolays' head and shoulders, and landing perfectly on his feet behind him.
Nikolay was quick on the reflex, already springing himself into a spin off his feet to get his eyes back on Izuku, but the green-haired boy had the split second advantage, as just as Nikolay had spun himself around in an about-face turn, Izuku had already launched a 1%-charged fist right back into the Russian boys' midsection, sending him flying over a dozen feet across the air and belly flopping face down into the dirt.
Izukus' powerful glow immediately dissipated the moment he saw Nikolay go flying, and he and the rest of their watchful classmates hurried over to the Russians' prone form on the ground, just as he began coughing violently from the blow he'd just taken, all the while looking quite wobbly while getting back onto his feet, swaying where he stood from the powerful rippling still coursing through his body in the immediate aftermath.
"Bezpalov-san, are you alright? Do you require any kind of medical assistance from the nurses' office?" Tenya asked the moment he saw the dazed look in Nikolays' eyes, making it hard to tell if the subsequent shaking of his head was his actual answer, or just an involuntary muscle spasm from the hit he'd just taken.
"Kolya-kun, maybe you guys should stop this for tonight? You're clearly not ready to take on Midori-kun, even at 1%." Mina tried to implore Nikolay to see reason, and they could all see she had taken the words right out of Izukus' mouth, as he also couldn't help but look guilty for nailing him so hard, regardless whether he'd asked for it.
"No…no, I-I'm alright, guys, seriously. I just wasn't used to Midoriya-san moving so fast with me being on the receiving end, that's all. I'll be okay." Nikolays' reassurance was difficult to discern if it was coming from a place of sincerity, or hardheaded and ill-advised confidence. Nevertheless, despite the doubtful looks on their peers' faces, Nikolay still stepped forward to look Izuku dead on.
"Midoriya-san…that was a good introduction to what getting hit with that power of yours is like, even at its lowest level. That was a hell of a hit, for real. So…do it again." Many looks of shock and outcries of disbelief from everyone immediately followed, with Izuku quick to reply through the uncertainty on his face:
"Kolya-san, I don't think that's a good idea. You're going to be reeling from that hit for the rest of the night, I don't want to make it any worse than it already is." However, despite his attempts at trying to make his Russian partner see reason, Nikolay took a deep, steadying breath, visibly not backing down.
"I understand that, Midoriya-san…but we both said this is for the sake of helping each other get stronger, remember? I'm not going to be able to acclimate to getting hit by a power-enhanced strike if I have to throw in the towel each training day after one. Please, just hit me again, in the exact same spot, same amount of power. I can take it, I promise."
Izuku still wasn't entirely convinced of going through with this, and the visibly worried looks in everyones' eyes did not help. However, even through the fire of determination in Nikolays' green eyes, Izuku could see a deeply heartfelt sincerity in his desire to get stronger, to keep struggling as they all had been today to try and live up to their unifying goal of becoming true Heroes. Even despite Izukus' reluctance to hurt him more than he already had, what kind of friend and Hero would he have been if he wasn't willing to make the hard choices for the sake of his friends?
Nikolay could see this hesitant resolve in Izukus' eyes, and couldn't help but smile in gratitude when the boys' arms began to glow again.
Mentally apologizing once more, Izuku reeled his fist back and threw it into Nikolays' gut at blinding speed, once more eliciting a powerful burst of wind that sent their surrounding classmates back several steps, while the physical impact itself once again sent Nikolay back nearly another dozen feet…except this time, despite how much his eyes nearly bugged out and his face twisted and wrenched with pain, he was still on his feet, having dug his heels in from the moment of impact to the point he had left two tracks in the dirt leading forward from his toes.
Everyone once again rushed back in to make sure Nikolay was okay, most of them amazed at the fact he was still standing. However, the moment a sizeable spurt of blood ran down from his mouth the moment he opened up to try and tell them he was okay, all of that relief went right out the window for all of them around him.
"Kolya-kun, for the love of God, just stop this, alright? There's nothing for you to prove by torturing yourself like this!" Mina practically begged, deeply pained tears already in her eyes the moment she saw her best friend bleeding. Now, even Izuku couldn't keep up the half-stoic demeanor he'd tried to for his Slavic partners' sake.
"They're all right, Kolya-san, enough is enough! We shouldn't have rushed into using our Quirks in this scenario like this, no matter how slight. We need to get you to the nurses' office!" However, as he and Mina began to move in to get his arms over their shoulders so they could drag him along, Nikolay once again brought his arms up in protest to stop them.
"Please…don't. Just…one last time, Midoriya-san. I know I can make this work. I think I know what to do…to unlock this part of my Quirk. Just this last time tonight…I want you to hit me in the same spot. One last time, and I swear, that'll be it. One last time...pazhaluista (please)" This time, however, even his insistence and sincerity in his eyes did nothing to quell the disbelief in everyone around him.
"Are you insane, Kolya-san? How do you know one more punch like that in the same spot you've been plowed into twice won't rupture something in there and land you in the hospital for God-knows-how-long?" Kyouka exclaimed, with Mina and Ochako very quickly echoing in kind, begging him not to kill himself for the sake of training.
"Midoriya-san, you know you can stop this! Helping to make Bezpalov-san stronger is admirable, but there's no point if you're going to end up destroying his body in the process! Just say no!" Tenya urged the curly-haired and conflicted-looking boy beside him. At the same time, Shoto was observing Nikolays' outwardly stubborn yet internally driven body language with an understanding eye. That devotion to a goal reflected in those green eyes was very much similar to what he used to see in himself back in his days of wanting to reach the top with only half his own power.
"Are you absolutely certain you may know what to do in order to achieve what you're talking about, Bezpalov?" he suddenly asked, snapping everyone's attention to him, as he'd now ousted himself as the one dissenting opinion among them. Nikolay was trying to stay sturdy too much to think to speak, instead giving a very serious and urgent nodding of his head in confirmation.
Again, actions spoke much louder to Shoto than words did, and thus he found himself truly convinced enough to finally address Izuku in turn: "Midoriya…indulge him this one last time. If he truly believes he's figured out what to do that made him want to take up this sparring scenario to begin with, then you need to help him see it through as his agreed upon partner."
Izuku was visibly torn between which decision was ultimately best, between the imploring looks in all the girls' and Tenyas' faces to just put an end to this, and Nikolay, Fumikage and Shotos' serious gazes telling him to see through his responsibility as a sparring partner. Izuku still wanted to help Nikolay become stronger, there was no denying that. If Shoto truly believed in Nikolays' being able to handle another hit like the Russian boy before him did, then Izuku had no reason to think either one of them would be lying.
It was with great reluctance, especially in the wake of the growing worried looks in everyone else's eyes, that Izuku once more began to focus until his arms began to glow. Looking Nikolay square in the eyes, Izuku gave a single heartfelt "I'm sorry for this, Kolya-san," and proceeded to throw another blinding punch right for the same spot of Nikolays' stomach he had hit twice already.
For Nikolay himself, time seemed to come to a standstill as Izukus' glowing fist slowly but surely closed the distance between them. All he himself could do was just close his eyes and start focusing on the sensation of that fist connecting with that very exact spot on his stomach in preparation for the hit that was to come.
And just as he had been waiting for, the very beginning touch of Izukus' charged up skin meeting against his own finally registered in his brain like a lightning bolt, before a sudden intense rippling of pure blunt impact emanated from the point of impact, spreading across every inch of his body in the split second before the pure force would shoot through him and once again send him flying.
Except now, that very same rippling wave of pure force suddenly retracted across his body to the point of origin just as quickly as it had spread, ultimately coalescing back into the point where Izukus' fist met Nikolays' stomach.
BWOOOM!
The sudden wave of deafening bass that signified all of Nikolays' kinetic bursts erupted in everyone's faces, sending them reeling back from the physical force ripping through the air. At the same time, Izuku felt nearly three-quarters of the sheer force he had put into that 1% powered punch come shooting right back out of the point he had hit Nikolays' stomach, and proceed rippling right back up his arm and across his entire body, before sending him flying back nearly half a dozen feet, barely able to dig his feet in and stabilize his landing. He could only look at the Russian boy in momentary astonishment, which quickly turned into overwhelming joy at what he'd just experienced.
His second theory of Nikolays' overall Quirk mechanics had likewise proven correct: the young foreigner had actually managed to take the majority of Izukus' applied power behind a single punch, and send it right back at him, even if doing so had also sent Nikolay himself reeling back nearly another dozen feet.
And from the faint smile now forming on Nikolays' pained and sweat-drenched face, he had come to the same realization…just a moment before finally collapsing on his side and vomiting in agony from the three consecutive powered-up punches in a row he had just taken to his stomach, once again urging all the watching students around to finally pick him up and start carrying him to the nurses office, with the still-stunned Izuku very quickly following suit.
"You're either very brave or stupidly impatient to push yourself that hard in sparring training on your first day, Bezpalov-kun. While learning how to build some resilience in a fight is essential in the field of Heroics, you need to be able to balance durability with smarts if you really want to have a lasting career."
Mandalays' informative advice while applying some first-aid to the extensive bruises already forming across Nikolays' midsection was both nurturing, but exceptionally stern at the same time. Seeing such a young boy in such rough condition hit her in her more maternal side, but her professional side could only see the sheer recklessness he had displayed that would land him here in the camps' equivalent of a nurses' office, and thus filled her with the need to lecture him on how he was to go about his training from now on so he wouldn't end up here every single day for the rest of the week.
Nikolay was still in too much overall pain to even try and explain himself, but especially because he knew Mandalay was right. He'd been so driven, that he ended up passing the point of eagerness into straight-up childish impatience, and now here he was, paying the price for it. Thankfully, the contemplative look on his face as she continued softly chewing him out, told the brown-haired Pussycat everything she needed to know her words were getting through to him.
After a few more minutes, she had finished applying the last of the bandages she needed to tie firmly around his stomach, and proceeded to give the deceptively delicate-looking Slavic boy a hearty slap on the back towards the door. "Now, so long as you don't go asking anyone to punch you on your way to the dorms, and don't go moving around excessively for the rest of the night, you should be as close to good as new as need be by morning to get back to your regular training. Keep what I said in mind, and try approaching sparring training a lot smarter, and you'll see your resilience improve exponentially. You can take that as a Pro Hero guarantee."
With a grateful smile and a wish good night, Nikolay stepped back out into the hall, more than ready to call it a night, only to be stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Izuku, Tenya, Mina and Kyouka all waiting anxiously outside the door for him to show his face.
"I'm glad Mandalay-sensei was able to patch you up, Bezpalov-san. Had none of them been able to, and without Recovery Girl around, you could've landed yourself in a very precarious spot." Tenya immediately pointed out, while Mina and Kyouka were both watching his stiffened movements very closely.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright enough to walk, Kolya-kun? Are you sure you shouldn't just be resting here for the night?" "Yeah, the way you just upchucked at the end, I wouldn't be surprised if you're dealing with more internal damage than we might think. Seriously, taking three of those hits like that, that was just plain reckless."
While his class president and two female friends' respective sternness and worry were beyond understandable, Nikolay still felt the instinctive need to try and play it off like things weren't as serious as they really were, made much harder when he saw the remaining guilt-ridden look on Izukus' face.
"Guys, it's okay, really. Mandalay-sensei even said as long as I'm careful and don't move around too much for the rest of the night, I'll be pretty much good as new by tomorrow morning. Who knows, if I just go into my regular water tank training for the first half of the day, I might even be fully recovered enough for us to pick up where we left off tomorrow with the same power levels, Midoriya-san."
The moment Nikolay even hinted at the idea of continuing on with this same idea, Tenya and Mina nearly exploded with outcries of disbelief ("ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!") at what he was saying after having gotten busted up so badly, while Kyouka and Izuku looked utterly dumbstruck that he was still so open to going ahead with this.
"But guys, I know Midoriya-san and I both felt it as much as you all saw it! I was able to take the majority of the power of that punch of his, and I was able to send it right back at him!" Nikolays' urging for them to think about this sudden breakthrough didn't exactly land on deaf ears, but the idea of one of her closest friends getting battered and broken again and again for the sake of this was too much for Mina to just ignore. "What are you saying, Kolya-kun? You're going to just let yourself become every opponents' punching bag in order to throw back even a fraction of what they hit you with? You'd be broken beyond repair in no time if you stuck with that! Can't you just stick with the fast flying, jumping and blasting in a fight?"
Despite her incredulousness, Nikolay was still as motivated as ever. "No, that's not it at all. What we saw, I think, could just be a sloppy first attempt. I just know that when I focused on the spot Midoriya-san had punched me the last two times, I was able to feel the force of that hit ripple through me, and then when I focused on that spot the whole time, I was able to send a majority of it rippling right back out, like a rapid-pace implosion/explosion of pure kinetic force."
Now on a roll, Nikolay hurriedly returned his attention to the now contemplative Izuku: "Midoriya-san, if we carried on with this same routine, same power level, especially now that I have a good idea what to expect, I'm willing to bet that in time, not only could I be able to pull off that refracting ability more and more often, but by employing the same focusing technique, I could be able to do the same thing from any part of my body that gets hit. And once I got the hang of that, I might even be able to apply it to when I read someones' movements in a fight, and be able to focus that effect to whichever part of my body I know they're gonna hit, and be able to use their own force against them like a preemptive strike. Or maybe if we start doing it with you using a higher percentage of your Quirks' power, maybe the resultant reversing effect will echo that increase of force with its own! We both saw and felt it, you know it could work."
Izuku, while still very guilty-looking and reluctant, was undeniably intrigued by the further thought Nikolay had been putting into this newly proven Quirk theory between them. However, for all of the Russian boys' enthusiasm, Tenya was very quick to step in with the same authoritative and stern glint behind his glasses. "Bezpalov-san, that's enough right now! You're lucky you're not suffering from intense internal bleeding after what you just had Midoriya-san put you through! The last thing you should be doing is planning on going through even more of it tomorrow! For all we know, you might not end up so lucky if you try it again, and getting you to a hospital from out here would take far too much time! Training is all well and good, but not if you're going to essentially kill yourself doing it!"
With a very firm hand on Nikolays' shoulder, Kyouka likewise stepped in, forcing him to meet her own serious gaze: "Iida-san's absolutely right. It sounds like you're letting all of those crappy taunts Bakugo said about you apparently being weak go right to your head, and look what that's already done to you, Kolya-san. Are you seriously saying you're willing to let him break you down without even having to lay a hand on you? Don't let his shitty attitude make your decisions for you."
Now, Nikolays' eagerness had finally broken away, seeing the obvious concern in everyone's eyes, and the mention of those damned insults that he had unknowingly let worm their way into his head had finally been the slap to his senses he'd needed.
When he saw the silent pleading in Minas' eyes through her tears when she finally decided to step in and say her piece, Nikolay felt like the biggest damn fool in the world for having let himself become so reckless through his own eagerness, and not even giving it a second thought. "Kolya-kun, you're already so much stronger than you think you are. If not physically, then mentally, and in your heart, you're already one of the strongest people I've ever met. Please don't let somebody else force you into thinking you're anything less than who you already are. We're all striving to become Heroes together, remember? But I…I don't want you to end up killing yourself in the process, you hear me? I don't want you to die, period! So please, stop with this and just think about what you're doing, not just to yourself, but to all of us. We all care about you, Kolya-kun, so please don't break yourself apart in some half-assed drive to make yourself supposedly stronger, okay? We all hurt with you when you injure yourself like this…I know I do, at least."
The sensitive bruises lining his torso were the one thing preventing either one of them from hugging the other in an attempt to reassure each other that the point had ultimately been made. Nevertheless, they all saw, much to their relief, that their respective sentiments had finally gotten through to Nikolay, as now he looked just as guilty as Izuku had.
"I know you're right. All of you are right. I should know better than to go into something so intense so recklessly. I'm going to try and be better about this from now on, because I don't want to make you guys worry about me, I swear I don't. If I'm going to try and help myself get stronger, it's going to be because it's what I want to strive for, not because of anything someone like Bakugo says to me out of spite. That was a stupid mistake on my part. But that doesn't change the fact that I still need to be able to learn how to take a heavy punch, and be able to actually dish it back out. No matter how we all look at things around us, it's just getting more and more dangerous out there, between USJ, Stain, Vukodlak and I-Island, and who knows what else we could end up getting caught up in.
"I want to be able to be strong enough to protect you guys like you all protect each other and me, because I don't…I don't ever want to run the risk of not being able to do something, and end up losing any one of you as a result. You all mean so much more to me than you know, and I don't want to risk losing that, and if getting stronger can help me to protect you all in any way, then it's a goal worth pursuing."
Nikolay was clearly trying so hard not to let his deepest fear drive him into an overwhelmingly emotional state, and the degree to which he meant every word was not lost on them. That was why Tenya was the first one to step forward; his face reflecting much more sentimentality than authority. "Your feelings on the matter are very understandable, Bezpalov-san. After knowing what you and Tunguska-sensei had been through and lost already, how could they not be? I respect your desire to want to be able to protect the members of our class in kind as they have for you and each other. However, I'm promising you, as I know the rest of us are as well simply by being here, that even as you train to build your Quirk and your ability to fight and protect, we're not going to simply stand by and let any threat take us without a fight. In the end, we're all still growing together, and will continue to do so, because we, as Class 1-A, are more than just a class."
Already immediately following where Tenya was going with this, Mina practically lit up as she suddenly forced her way in; her emotionally overwhelmed face now bearing that heartwarming smile of compassion and love for everyone around her. "That's right, at this point, Class 1-A is one big, happy, semi-dysfunctional family! And if we all look out for and support each other every step of the way to graduation, then fingers crossed we'll be the very same way even after we become Pros!"
Nikolay could feel his eyes stinging with the beginnings of deeply emotional tears of gratitude to essentially see and hear his gathered friends express as such, even through nothing more than the sentimental light in their eyes.
"You guys…I-I really wish I knew what to say to that." Nikolay admitted as he wiped his eyes clear, only for Mina to once again step in with that eager light reignited in her black-gold eyes.
"Well, if that's the case, how would you feel about me stepping in to be your sparring partner tomorrow, in case Midori-kun doesn't want to anymore? I need to focus on lengthening the amount of time I can use my Quirk consecutively anyway, so helping you sharpen your evasive abilities could be the perfect way of doing that! Again, everybody wins!"
Mina looked absolutely ready for them to do just that anyway, regardless whatever Nikolay was about to say, but that was when Izuku, now looking much more relieved, finally stepped in. "Actually…now that everything that's been needing to be said is now out in the open in regards to our sparring practice, I'm not against the idea of continuing sparring with Kolya-san, Ashido-san."
With that now out of the way, the freckled boy turned to address the clearly surprised Russian boy. "It's like you said: I saw what you were able to do in the end, pretty much exactly what I theorized you could be able to do. Quirks are essentially just like regular muscles, in that the more you train in that technique, the easier it'll be to use, and the more effective it'll become, maybe even to the point it'll be able to proportionately reflect hits properly based on the power behind them. So if you're really dedicated to continuing on with sparring, I'm happy to do it. But if I think your body isn't able to handle it anymore for a session, I'm going to end it like that, no arguments. Do you understand?"
To everyone's relief, Nikolay didn't even try to argue, instead giving a very reassuring "yes", as straightforward and all-encompassing as any of them ever needed it to be.
"Well, then, with everyone having apparently said their piece on this matter, I feel it's time we all turned in. You need a full nights' rest to heal your wounds properly, Bezpalov-san, and we all need to get ourselves ready for another full day of grueling training! Everyone report to your appropriate dorms, and we will reconvene come morning!" Tenyas' abrupt shift from personable to authoritative was as humorous to witness as could be to his observing classmates, as he began making his way for the boys' dorms, with Izuku and Nikolay quick to follow after him.
"Kolya-kun, wait up." Minas' calling back to him brought Nikolay to a quick stop, turning back in curiosity, only to immediately be answered with the frizzy-haired pink girl gently holding both sides of his face in her hands, pulling him just an inch forward, and gently resting her forehead against his, looking him deep in the eye, before closing her own and playfully rubbing the tip of her nose against his with the sweetest giggle. "Since I'm sure a regular hug wouldn't be doing those bruises any favors, that's gonna have to do for you tonight. And hey, don't ever forget: you are still, and always will be, one of the best people I know, Kolya-kun; no matter what someone like Bakugo says."
Nikolays' fair face was quickly turning tomato red, a sight Mina could never get enough of, but the sound of Izuku calling for him stopped Nikolay from even stuttering some kind of a response to her frankly sugar-sweet sentiment, and instead he started hurriedly hobbling back after his fellow boys for their dorm, now leaving a brightly smiling Mina and a very observant Kyouka alone in the hall, before they likewise began making their way for the girls' dorm.
"You know, I have to say, Mina-chan, that was some pretty exceptional behavior you displayed back there, offering yourself to be Kolya-sans' sparring partner so readily like that. That's pretty above and beyond what any normal friend would do for someone. I'm honestly surprised you didn't try making the same offer to someone like Kirishima-san beforehand. I'll bet he'd probably have been willing to take you up on that pretty readily."
Mina let out a wistful sigh at the thought. "Yeah, I know he would've. Kiri's always trying to get stronger whichever way he can. If it weren't for the fact I know he'd hold back when sparring with me, then you're right, I would've made him the offer, too. But I don't want to make this week any harder on him than Aizawa-sensei's already making it, with him being stuck in the remedial class with Kaminari-kun, Sato-kun and Sero-kun. Poor guys."
Mina did look visibly sympathetic for the four aforementioned boys, but Kyoukas' expression was unchanged. "Well, be that as it may, you still could've made the offer to anyone else in class. Your reflexes are still probably the best out of all of us, and I know there's definitely some who could use some serious brushing up on melee fighting."
While Kyouka felt she was simply stating a fact as she had observed it, she hadn't expected Mina to suddenly stop and start looking at her with such a pleasantly surprised look in her eyes. "Kyouka-chan, if you'd want to spar with me, all you needed to do was ask! If Kolya-kun really wants to start off continuing with Midori-kun as his partner, I'd be more than happy to help you whichever way I can in the meantime!"
Kyouka could hardly even respond before Mina was already bouncing along happily to the girls' dorm, clearly having already made up her mind on the matter. Meanwhile, the purple-haired girl just let out a defeated sigh, figuring a break from the constant noises getting blared into her head in order to try and strengthen her noise resilience and her earphone jack pulses alike was exactly what she needed after today.
As she silently followed after Mina, Kyouka couldn't stop thinking back to seeing just how emotionally distraught the pink girl had been at the prospect of their mutual Russian friend torturing himself for the sake of training because of what Bakugo had spat about him; and subsequently, just how over-the-top eager she was to volunteer herself as his partner in Izukus' place.
As much as she now knew Mina to be the kind of person that genuinely loved every single one of her friends from the bottom of her heart, there was no way even she could come across that deeply heartbroken and pleading to someone if she only felt for them as even a truly irreplaceable friend. It just didn't make sense to her in that context.
Even if Mina wasn't aware enough of it, or if she simply wasn't willing to acknowledge it, even someone as inexperienced with lovey-dovey feelings like Kyouka could see it was increasingly clear that what Mina felt towards Nikolay was something beyond even her strongest feeling of friendship. Luckily for the little pink ball of sunshine, Kyouka wasn't willing (at least not yet) to start stooping to her level by prodding and teasing her about it, no matter how cathartic she knew it probably would've been after putting up with it for a good few weeks. And she sure as hell wasn't about to start entertaining the idea of being even remotely jealous if that were actually the case.
A good few kilometers away from the clearing that marked the training camp run by the Wild, Wild Pussycats, a handful of mysterious figures stood watch atop one of the numerous hills, looking down upon the layout of the camp intently. The one standing at the forefront of their little four-person group was a young man with spiky black hair dressed in typically punk-esque attire, with a face covered in stitches and severely darkened burnt skin in a grotesque patchwork. By his side stood a single high school-aged girl with messy blonde hair done in even messier pigtails, piercing yellow eyes with dark bags underneath, and a black mask lined with little white tubes attached snugly to her face underneath her eyes, hidden underneath a large black detachable collar that hung over her shoulders, with what looked like a similar toothy fanged grin stitched upon its front, with a few tubes connecting it to a series of small cylindrical containers lining her back.
Behind this duo were two more figures as well, with one dressed in what looked like a male middle school uniform topped with an elaborate gas mask, and lastly, a colossus of a cloaked figure that easily towered over all of them, both in height, and width.
"It throbs…pulses…let's hurry up and go!" the giant among them growled impatiently, only for the gas mask-wearer to step in, exhibiting much more calm and focus by comparison. "It's not time yet. Also, didn't I already tell you we don't have to overdo it this time around?"
"Yeah, quit trying to act like you're the boss around here. We're only sending up a warning flare this time." The collected yet deathly serious voice of the patchwork boy at the front rendered all his companions silent, as his eyes gazed upon the distant camp below with neither excitement nor content…but rather a very foreboding light of driven focus. "These Heroes, riddled with holes, will all ultimately fall to the Earth. All for the sake of a brighter future."
Unfortunately, for as cool as that declaration sounded in his head as he said it, it was quickly offset by some very noticeable fussing from the blonde schoolgirl standing beside him, as she kept fiddling with her mask and the collar over her shoulders. "Well, yeah, they totally will…but like, I totally hate this. This look…it's not cute at all."
While she kept fussing with her gear, the gas mask-wearer, for some reason, felt the need to actually answer her complaining: "Hey, we had an underground designer make all these for us. Regardless of how they look, they will serve their purpose and function properly. In the end, that's what really matters."
However, the girl clearly wasn't having it: "If I want your input, I'll ask for it, Mustard! This is me caring right now! Function or not, they're still so not cute!"
A deep, tremulous growling from the giant among them, however, rendered all their chatter silent, clenching a massive hand into an anxious fist. "Honestly, I couldn't care less about all that kind of crap. Just let me at 'em already! I'm so amped up; I'm literally quaking in my boots!"
"Shut up, you bunch of psychopaths. It's not time yet, not until all ten of us are together." The stitch-faced young man once more spoke up with all the unsettling quiet authority his demeanor could exude, only for his words to be answered by the quickly approaching sound of three distinctively different footsteps approaching from out of the shadows.
The four looked back the way they came, only to now find themselves looking upon three unfamiliar faces. Unfamiliar, but not unexpected.
"Sorry we're late." The leader among this new trio announced; an exceptionally large and built Villain with sunglasses, stubble, long dark red hair, what looked like an oversized wrapped up rectangular weapon in their grasp, and an especially large set of lips.
Beside them stood a much lankier figure dressed and ensnared in so much leather and spike-adorned straps holding his mouth open, he looked more like he belonged in some kind of leatherman horror film, especially with the way he could only rasp out the word "job" over and over again.
And lastly, their third member was a humanoid reptilian-looking figure with a tall head of purple hair, dressed in typical street punk attire, save for a distinctive white cloth eye mask over a nearly identical black one resting on his forehead, and a red scarf draped dramatically over his neck and shoulders.
Visibly satisfied with the arrival of these three new members to their forces, the stitch-faced leader went back to looking down upon the camp in the distance. "We can call up as many poser punks as we want; all that's gonna happen is that the job'll get riskier. If we're gonna do this, we need a select team of experienced members. First things first: we drill into these young Heroes and Pro Heroes' heads alike, that their peaceful lives as they knew them are now over."
And there you all have it, the new chapter for the week. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if so, please be so kind as to leave an honest review. The next chapter is a big one I'd been planning for a while, and I can't wait for you all to see what happens.
All of you please stay safe, have a nice rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 09/25!