Chapter 2: Fighting Spirit!

The week proceeded to go as normal as can be for young Mutsuki, though she was putting much more effort into trying to arrive to school early this time around. However, one day, she was coming home from an especially tiring day of school.

"I'm home!" She announced, half-heartedly removing her shoes at the door.

Suddenly, in an instant, a foot came speeding right into her face. She was then launched outside the house, onto the fresh-cut lawn, as Kuri barked excitedly. Whilst laying on the ground, it took a while for Mutsuki to register that she had been kicked as evident by a red foot imprint plastered on her face.

"Hahaha!" She heard a familiar voice exclaim. "I can't believe you couldn't dodge a simple kick like that! Even a novice could do it! Haha!" The voice of her father continued to shout enthusiastically.

A surge of mild annoyance welled up inside Mutsuki before she got up and yelled back. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"If you need to ask, then you're obviously not ready for what I'll be putting you through for the next ten months," he answered calmly, a slight smirk present on his face.

Mutsuki, now visibly confused, replied, "What are you talking about?"

He immediately resumed laughing before answering back fervently, "I'm talking about the training you'll be doing to get into U.A., obviously!"

She was caught by surprise by this statement, "Training? What training? I've already been doing that by myself for years now! I'm all ready to face whatever U.A. has to throw at me!"

"That statement alone proves to me that you aren't!" He bellowed, his voice taking on a more serious tone, further shocking young Mutsuki.

There was a brief moment of silence before Mutsuki's father continued, "It is clear to me by your overt cockiness that there's more training you need to undergo before you are fully prepared for the harsh treatments you'll, no doubt, be receiving at that school. Furthermore, I'm well aware that you've only been focusing on basic physical improvement, as well as some slight development of your quirk. What you haven't done is learn how to properly fight, or how to fully understand and control your quirk more efficiently, Junko."

"How can you know all that when you're barely home all the time?" Mutsuki solemnly mumbled to herself.

Unfortunately for her, her father was able to hear that, "Because first and foremost, I am your father and will continue to be till the day I eventually die. Despite my work, I make sure that your development and growth is my top priority. And that's why.."

His serious demeanour, all of a sudden, disappeared and was quickly taken over by a stupidly giddy expression as he continued, "... I make sure the neighbours tell me exactly what you're doing when I'm away."

Instantly dumbfounded, Mutsuki looked on over to the large, white, wooden fence next to them, and surely there they were. Two heads, one male and one female, were spying over the top of the fence. Once they realised they had been caught, they frantically hid themselves from view.

"It's too late to hide now, you backstabbers! I know now that you've been conspiring against me with my dad!" She barked out, furiously grinding her teeth afterwards.

"Don't be too harsh on Mr and Mrs Nagatomo. They only did it because I asked them to. And because they care about you just as much as I do," her father explained, making sure that his long-time friends don't receive the unbridled rage of his teenage daughter.

"If you guys knew, then why'd you try to hide it?" She asked, her composure now relatively calm.

"Why did you hide the fact that you've been training to become a hero?"

She turned her head away, almost pouting, "You already know that I've wanted to become a hero since I was a little kid."

"True, but knowing that you've already started training for it would also be very nice to know, yeah?"

"It's just... I wanted to show you that I was capable. That I don't need recommendations to help me become a hero. That all I need is myself, and that I'll become a hero by myself."

"And that right there is the current crux of this issue. You believing that you can achieve your dream by your own merit and willpower alone. Can't you see that there needs to be a balance between independence and integrity, and knowing when it is that you need to ask for help and guidance from others. A single person can't hold up the world by themselves, as much as All Might would have you believe."

"So what?! I should just give up on my beliefs and accept those offers?!

"I didn't say that! All I'm saying is that you've got people in your corner that you can rely on. That can help you achieve your dream. All you need to do is simply ask."

Mutsuki breathed out a sigh, her eyebrows furrowed and her hands on her hips, "So... what now?"

Her father smirked, "Now, we go for a run!"

"What?" She questioned, her father already running past her.

"You've been building up your physical capabilities for all these years, so lets put it to the test! Starting with your stamina!" He exclaimed, running down the street.

Mutsuki looked at Kuri, who's tongue was hanging out of his muzzle, before she smiled and proceeded to rush on over to her father; Kuri in tow. Once she was side-by-side with her father, he gave a grin and started to increase his speed. Mutsuki quickly did the same, a look of determination on her face.

...

The two (plus Kuri) were running well into the night. By the time they returned home, Mutsuki's legs were aching terribly and she was panting like a dog. Her father, however, seemed relatively fine, only needing to take a few seconds to tame his breathing.

"That was good! You managed to keep up with me the entire way through!" He exclaimed proudly, earning a small smile to come from his daughter. "However, you need to control your breathing. Not only that, you also need to temper your speed so you can conserve your energy."

"I... was only... running fast... so I could keep up with you," she explained in-between breaths.

"Don't do that! I am not the one you should be challenging when we're training. Your main challenge should always be yourself, and overcoming your own limits but also learning how not to overdo it, got it?"

"I guess," she sighed.

"Good! Now, since it's the weekend tomorrow, we'll have plenty of more time to train!"

Her eyes widened, "Wait. What about work?"

"I'm leaving one of my sidekicks to handle the agency for the next ten months while I train you. Like I said Junko, your development and growth is my top priority," he answered, walking back into the house.

Mutsuki smiled, her heart feeling up with warmth before running after him.

The Next Morning.

"Dad, I know you're supposed to be in charge of my training and all but... why on Earth are we at an old, abandoned baseball field?!" She vociferated, gazing at the piece of land that had overgrown grass and rusted, metal fences.

"Because, dear Junko! This will be your training ground! It's big enough that you can do all sorts of training exercises and, because of the fact that not many people know about this area, we won't be disturbed and we won't get in trouble for trespassing! Isn't that great?!" He announced, brimming with visible excitement.

She looked at her father, dumbfounded, "Yeah, but... why this place in particular? There's plenty of secluded areas we could've gone to that isn't so rundown and beaten up."

A solemn expression soon took over his previously excited disposition, catching Mutsuki completely off guard.

"Because Junko,"he began, "This was where I spent most of my days when I was your age. Back then, it wasn't as rundown as it is now. It was also where... I met your mother."

Her eyes widened as she saw a single tear trickle down the side of her father's face. He was quick to wipe it away.

"A-anyway, that's why we're here! So, shall we get things started?"

"Okay, but, what exactly are we doing?"

"Simple combat training. You may have been getting some gains over the year, but it's whether or not you can actually properly use them in a fight that counts. Now," he then assumed a classic All Might pose, with his hands on his hips and his feet apart from each other, "I want you to hit me with all you've got. Without the use of your quirk, of course."

"All right! Sounds simple enough," she replied, whilst cracking her knuckles. "Taaake thiiis!" She roared, before launching her fist directly at his midsection.

However, instead of dealing any damage to her father, he remained perfectly still and unfazed. Meanwhile, a shot of pain rushed towards Mutsuki's fist as she pulled away and began blowing on it profusely.

"Hahaha! That wasn't too bad, actually! Though if you wanna do some real damage, you gotta put some more 'oomph' in your punch! Haha!"

"Rrrgh! It's not my fault you've got abs of steel!" She retorted, grinding her teeth yet again.

Mutsuki's father then looked down, his black t-shirt clinging tightly to his prominent six-pack.

"True enough. Okay then, why don't you hit me again! Only this time... you use your quirk."

Mutsuki squinted her eyes at him before replying, "Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna hit my dad using Aura Force."

"What's wrong? Afraid your girly punch won't do anything to your old man?" He said teasingly, purposefully goading her to use her quirk.

Luckily, it worked, as a vein began pulsating on her forehead, "You asked for it, Pops."

Almost immediately, a red, flame-like energy suddenly began to envelope her entire arm. All the muscles in her arm instantly tensed up, as power started emanating from it.

"Don't blame me if you end up losing your lunch!" She shouted with a mischievous grin.

Junko Mutsuki

Quirk: Aura Force

She can produce an aura surrounding her body that she can manipulate freely. This aura can enhance her physical capabilities, such as strength, speed, agility, etc, but only to a certain extent. Also, prolong use of her quirk drains her of her vitality, and not only that, but her emotions can either enhance her power or become a hindrance to it.

Mutsuki then proceeded to aim her empowered fist right towards her father's stomach. As soon as it connected, the man was then sent flying backwards. His body bounced off the ground a couple times before eventually rolling to a stop, as a cloud of dust rose from the ground. Meanwhile, the energy that surrounded Mutsuki's arm quickly dissipated. However, because she put too much power into that swing, she began to feel somewhat lethargic.

"Did that... feel... 'girly'?!" She called out, exhausted.

Much to Mutsuki's disappointment, her father proceeded to push himself off the ground with relatively ease, then began nonchalantly dusting himself off. It was like the punch didn't even happen. That was when Mutsuki noticed the slightly dim, green aura surrounding his body, which could only mean one thing...

"Whoo! Lucky I activated my quirk just in time. Otherwise that punch might've knocked me back into last week! Haha!"

Junpei Mutsuki

Quirk: Balance

He has the ability to regulate his physical capabilities to match or to counteract that of his opponent. However, he can only do this with one opponent at a time, and there's also a limit to how much he can regulate his own body.

"That was good! Though you need hold back on your power! You exhausted too much energy with that one strike alone!"

"I know! But Red just naturally drains me of my energy. It also doesn't help that it can be a bit unstable at times, especially when I'm angry," Mutsuki explained.

"Then you need to learn how to control it better. You're smart, so I know you should be able to figure it out on your own," he told her, placing his large hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. He later removed it and asked curiously, "What about Yellow? You told me last night that it was a new facet of your ability, one made for defensive purposes? How's that been coming along?"

She winced, "It's fine, I guess. It's easier to control than Red, and it doesn't use up as much energy..." She proceeded to demonstrate by emitting a buzzing, yellow-coloured energy around her arm. A drop of sweat began to drip down her forehead as she further explained, "But it requires a lot more concentration, and it's still fairly new so I haven't developed it much yet."

As soon as she lost focus, the energy quickly disappeared; traces of it still fizzing in the air.

"I see. Well, it's good that you've got a grasp of how your quirk works at least. For now though, let's just focus on training your fighting capabilities."

"Eh? But you were the one who wanted to see my quirk in action," she replied, slightly confounded.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I did, but it was mainly to see how much control you have over your quirk so far. It still needs work, but overall, I'm proud of you, Junko!"

Her cheeks blushed a subtle pink as she felt a warm feeling well up in her chest.

"Now, onto lesson one!"

From then on, Mutsuki trained relentlessly with her father, with most of it comprising of simple combat, as well as increasing her overall strength, stamina, and reflexes through extreme exercises. When she wasn't training with her father, she'd be dividing her time between studying for the exam, and further developing her quirk. The training got so intense that she'd often have to tell Soya that she'd be heading back home after school by herself most days, much to her reluctance. Day and night. Rain or shine. The two trained for hours until...

A month before the U.A. entrance exam, Mutsuki was called back to the place where they've been training for the past several months. Her father even stating that this would be their last training session together.

Mutsuki, who wore a black singlet and a pair of grey sweatpants, was leaning back against the rusted fence of the baseball field.

"C'mon, Dad. Where are you?" She muttered under breath.

Almost immediately, she began to hear footsteps until she was met with the rugged appearance of her father. She was also surprised to see two plastic bowls in his hands, along with two pairs of chopsticks and a paper bag around his shoulder.

"Since it's our last training day together, I'd thought I'd celebrate by getting both of our favourite dishes!"

She gasped audibly, "Is that donburi?!"

"Yup!"

"And you made sure to put-"

"Yes, I made sure they put extra wasabi on yours," he confirmed, jokingly rolling his eyes.

"I love you, Dad!" She exclaimed excitedly, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Haha, careful now! You're gonna make me drop the food, haha!"

...

They managed to locate a bench that wasn't broken or decaying, and quickly sat down and began opening the lids to their meals. Scents of the different ingredients wafted into their noses as they grabbed their chopsticks and respective sodas from the paper bag.

"Thank you for the meal!" Mutsuki said before chowing down into the dish.

It didn't take long for the two to eat the food.

"Ah! That hit the spot," she said, patting her stomach in satisfaction.

"Hah! Guess you really did inherit your eating habits from your old man! Cos your mom was way too much of a dainty eater!"

"Hehe! Yeah, I remember. She would always laugh at us whenever we stuffed our mouths at dinner!"

"Do you remember what she called us?"

"Yeah!"

"Her own personal stuffed chipmunks, hahaha!" They both said in unison, laughing hysterically.

Once they had calmed down, Mutsuki took a moment to look at the sky before blurting out, "I miss her."

Her father looked at her with a sympathetic expression, "Me too."

...

After they properly disposed of their rubbish, the two went back into the abandoned baseball field. They stood a few feet apart and were facing each with determined looks.

"You've come a long way these past few months," he began, with Mutsuki holding her head up proudly. "Today will be the crux of all you have learnt. Consider this training session to be a final test of sorts. One that will undoubtedly decide whether or not you're fully prepared for the trials that you'll face at U.A. Academy. What is this 'final test', you're probably wondering? Well it's simple, really..."

He then proceeded to go into a fighting stance, with his knees slightly bent and his right leg two steps back from his other leg. His hands were raised next to his chest, his right slightly higher whilst his left was more slightly forward. This course of action utterly shocked young Mutsuki, her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets.

"You're final test will be to fight me in combat! So c'mon! Let's see what you've got, little Mutsuki!" He announced, giving a rather cocky grin.

However, Mutsuki was not discouraged by the fact that she'd have to fight her father. Instead, she was excited, as well as determined to prove that those ten months of arduous training didn't go to waste.

"Okay then. What are the rules of this fight?"

"The rules are simple: you must beat me in a fight in any possible way. You can use any part of the surrounding area to your advantage, as well as your quirk, though I'll hold off on using mine, just to make it more fair on you."

"You're saying I can't handle it?" She asked, smirking but also hiding her slight annoyance towards her father for still trying to baby her.

"I'm saying it cause my quirk will naturally cancel out yours. If I use it in this fight, you'll have no way of passing. Especially at the level that your quirk is at the moment," he answered, his words sounding sincere.

"Fine," she muttered begrudgingly before going into a fighting stance of her own.

Her stance was a bit more unorthodox. She had her body lowered closing to the ground, with her left leg bent forwards and her right leg outstretched backwards. As for her arms, they were placed at her sides and slightly behind her body. Her hands placed in a way that they look more like claws. She was giving off a toothy grin all the while.

"That's a most unusual fighting stance you got there, Junko," he remarked.

"I think it suits me just fine, thank you," she fired back, taking a moment to look at the nearby stands.

"Okay, if you're sure. You can start when you're re-"

And just like that, she had suddenly flung her body towards her father, her left-arm swinging forward into a closed fist punch. Unfortunately, he was able to nimbly dodge to the side, despite being caught off guard. In saying that, he was rather impressed by this course of action.

'I can't believe it! Just before she launched into that attack, she applied her Red aura energy into her legs to propel herself forwards, before transferring some it over to her fist at the last second! It might seem small, but taking into account that quirks are just like any other physical body part, that's like trying to do a somersault then going into a cartwheel right after!' He thought to himself, proudly analysing her.

As she past him and landed right in front of him, it was then that he noticed some of the Red energy was still encasing her left leg. She then proceeded to swing that entire left leg towards his head. Luckily, he was able to duck before it could hit. This gave him ample opportunity to perform a leg sweep on the only leg she was standing on. She immediately fell backwards onto her back with a grunt, as her father jumped a few steps back to keep some distance.

"You left yourself wide open there, Junko! You need to not immediately charge in without first analysing your opponent, remember?!"

She quickly got back up onto her feet, before charging towards her father yet again.

'Seriously, Junko,' he thought to himself, slightly disappointed.

He proceeded to evade the next first two strikes that Mutsuki delivered, before dodging a consecutive uppercut. All the while, she began to look more and more physically drained. She then delivered a guttural roar before launching another strike. Though this time, he caught it in the palm of his hand, before giving her a palm strike straight towards her stomach. The force of the strike caused her to cough out saliva, as she was pushed a few steps backwards; she did not fall however. Instead, she stared back at them with the same intense eyes that she started the fight with.

"You should know I'm not gonna coddle you just because you're my daughter! And you should know that the people at U.A. won't either! You can't just shove yourself into a fight and expect to win with brute force alone! You need to be smarter than that, Junko! So quit screwing around and start taking this seriously!" He exclaimed, clearly not amused by Mutsuki's performance thus far.

Meanwhile, Mutsuki was dead silent...

...

"Jeez, I can't believe she's top of the class, even though she always arrives to school late and turns her assignments in at the last minute. It's not fair."

"Yeah, I know. Like that last exam we had, she managed to finish it in under two minutes. Two minutes! And she acts she like she doesn't even care! It's infuriating!"

"Must be nice to be a 'gifted' student like her."

"Ms Mutsuki, you have exceptional grades but it seems to me like you're not taking every opportunity you have seriously. For instance, you have turned down several recommendations from several prestigious academies. In saying that, you should already be aware that here at Korusanto Junior High, we believe that the exceptional should remain exceptional. So... why don't you go ahead and reconsider those recommendations, okay?"

These were all things Mutsuki heard from her classmates and teacher. She was always labelled as 'naturally talented', that everything came 'easy' to her. At the same time, people would judge her for her laid-back attitude and carefree approach to life. They shunned her for not taking things 'seriously' enough. The only one that understood her and accepted her was Soya. But even then, it didn't judge the fact that people wanted her to conform to their expectations. So what if she doesn't take most things seriously? That's just who she is. However, the truth is she does take things seriously, it's just that everyone thinks otherwise when they see her smiling face and carefree personality. But in reality, she worries constantly about doing enough, about being enough. Right now, her father believes that her constant charges were without a plan, but he'd be wrong as he'll soon find out... She'll become a hero and prove to everyone who she really is!

...

Mutsuki started to laugh, shocking her father, "You think I haven't been taking this fight seriously, but you've got it the other way around. After all, you've been spending most of the fight blocking and evading my attacks. The one who isn't taking this seriously... is you, Dad!"

Red aura enveloped her legs and she proceeded to jump high into the sky. To her father's surprise, she landed onto the nearby field stands. Her father raised raised his eyebrow, pondering on what she was planning to do.

'Does she think she'll have the advantage at a higher ground?'

"You said I could use the surrounding area to my advantage! So why don't you come up here with me and we'll finish this fight!" She called out to him, a cocky smile still plastered on her lips.

He smirked before shouting back, "Don't get cocky, Junko!"

With incredible speed, he ran up the stands until he was right in front of his daughter. He then raised his fist and sent it towards her. She anticipated the strike however, and quickly dodged out of the way, letting his fist instead punch right through the old, wooden floor. He almost immediately pulled it out and chased after Mutsuki, preparing his fists. With not enough time and nowhere to dodge to, Mutsuki used her Yellow aura to make a pair of arm guards for herself. Her father then proceeded to send a barrage of punches straight towards her. Her Yellow aura refused to budge an inch. Adversely, the forces of the strikes her father was sending were making her move closer and closer to the edge of the stands until finally she was an inch away from falling off. Mutsuki took a moment to gaze behind her and saw the sharp, rusted metal sticking out from the tips of the fences. Having been distracted, Mutsuki failed to anticipate the final blow that would send her to fall off the edge. Seeing this, her father's face was overcome with panic as he stepped forward, reaching out his hand to try and grab her. Her lips twisted into a smirk, before she grabbed his arm tightly. Her father realised too late that her falling was a feint, as she manoeuvred herself around him, pulling him towards the edge, then twisting his body around to face her before letting go of his arm and allowing him to fall backwards. Before he could however, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, stopping him, with both his feet tightly planted on the edge of the stands. There was no way for him to escape. If he pushes her off, he falls, and if he grabs her, she falls with him.

Mutsuki then raised her other fist as Red aura enveloped it. The light of the sun shone behind her, casting her face in shadow as her father looked at her, both proud and astounded.

He smirked before beginning to speak, "You were baiting me this whole time, weren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" She replied, smirking back.

"The whole time I thought you were just charging at me with reckless abandon. But now I realise you were trying to get me to go onto the defensive so you could lure me up here. The question now is why?"

Her Red aura dispersed as she pulled him back up to his feet, knowing that the fight was already over.

"I knew I couldn't win in a head to head fight with you, even if you were fighting quirkless. So I had to think strategically on how to beat you. I saw the edge of the stands and knew that that was my only shot. If I couldn't defeat you by fighting, then I'd have to put you in a situation where you couldn't fight back anymore. After all, that's one way to beat a villain, right?" She responded with a smile.

"Yeah! And you even used yourself against me by pretending to fall, smart thinking!"

She started to blush, scratching the back of her head sheepishly before revealing, "Actually... that wasn't on purpose. I miscalculated the distance I had between me and the edge, hehe. If you hadn't reached out to grab me, I would've definitely fallen."

"Well, at least you're honest about it. Nevertheless, in the end, it still worked in your favour. That means... you are definitely ready to face U.A.!"

In contrast to his positive demeanour, Mutsuki began to quickly doubt herself, "What if... what if I don't get in? What if I fail the entrance exam? There's gonna be so many students trying to get into U.A., what if I can't compete?" Tears began to spill from her eyes as she continued, "I want to get in and become a hero like you and Mom so badly. But what if I'm not enough? I don't want all the help you've given me these past ten months to go to waste. What if I-"

She was cut off by her father wrapping his arms around her, enveloping her into his embrace. Within his hold, she felt warm and safe as her tears cascaded onto his chest.

When he spoke, his voice was soft and nurturing, "The mind is often our greatest adversary. It can tell us things we want to hear, as well as things we don't. But that's why we have the heart. It reminds us of the things we strive to achieve, as well as the work we put in to make it become a reality. You want to become a hero, and I believe that that feeling... is enough, don't you?"

She nodded her head as she continued to sob into his chest, though this time... they were sweet tears.

CHARACTER INFO

Name: Hibiki Soya (征矢響規)

Birthday: June 25

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Height: 167 cm (5'6")

Hair Colour: Plum

Eye Colour: Black

Blood Type: A

Quirk: Voice Control

Birthplace: Shizuoka Prefecture

Family: Kabuto Soya/Father, Murasaki Soya/Mother

Likes: Classical music, quiet locations, and tofu

Appearance: He's got a light tone to his skin and is rather slim. His hair is styled into a bowl-cut with the tips only going as far as just above his forehead. He's got large, round eyes, but his most prominent feature is his rather small mouth. He's often described by Mutsuki as having a sad puppy type face. When wearing civilian clothes in public, he is often forced by his parents to always wear semi-formal clothing. You'll typically see him wear a long sleeve, white, button-up, collared shirt, with a purple bow-tie, along with black dress pants tied with a brown, leather belt, paired with a pair of black dress shoes.

A/N: Whoo! This chapter became longer than I originally thought, haha! Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story so far, sorry if these chapters seem like they're dragging. But don't worry, the next chapter will definitely be going into the good hero stuff, so hope you're as excited for it as I am! Just to clarify, I'm hoping to get a chapter out at least every week, but if I do end up missing one, it's most likely because I'm getting writer's block, the chapter is just really long, and/or personal home-life stuff is going on. Nevertheless, I'll keep up with this story! Even though it's probably not that good compared to other fanfics, haha. Anyway, sorry for rambling and I hope you have a wonderful day/night! :)