Prologue 2
Musutafu - Japan
In the last year, Ryu has followed the training schedule his sister made for him, for one year he has done one hundred push-ups, one hundred squats, one hundred sit-ups, and a ten-kilometer run every day, there was something familiar about this training for the reincarnated boy, but he ignored it, he was never good with memorizing things he deemed unimportant and would probably go bald before remembering what it could be.
After finishing the last part of his training Ryu goes to the park and sits at the nearest bench, he takes a water bottle he bought from a vending machine and swallows the cold-as-ice liquid to end his thirst. The last year was nothing but training and pain for Ryu, and despite his whining and complaints, he didn't give up at any moment, though he did do so only because of his sister, Rumi had high hopes for Ryu and truly believed in him, Ryu on the other hand had none, but would never dare to disappoint Rumi, her support was the best thing to ever happen to him in both lives he lived and he would not waste it by giving up.
"Was that what was missing in my former life? Someone who truly cared?" Ryu asks, looking at the sky knowing it won't answer.
"N-no, p-please, s-stop Kacchan". A weak voice says.
Ryu looks at the speaker, a boy of Ryu's age, he has messy green hair and green eyes, a slender physic that gives him a frail appearance, in front of the boy is another one of the same age, with blonde spikey hair, red eyes, and unlike the first boy is more well build for a boy of his age, he didn't come close to Ryu but it was evident he was fitter than the average boy of his age.
"I think they are… Midoriya Izuku and Katsugi Bakugo". Ryu says as he watches the two boys from a few meters away, still sitting on the park's bench. 'What are they doing?'
Despite knowing about them Ryu didn't know them on a personal level, they were his classmates, nothing more, Bakugou, from what Ryu could remember, has a quirk that allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the palms of his hands and ignite it on command, allowing him to create strong explosions. Midoriya on the other hand had no quirk, a rarity but not so much since 20% of the world population didn't have one.
Ryu's question is answered as he observes Bakugo hit Midoriya with a right cross on the cheek followed by a small explosion, the sight makes Ryu sigh in disappointment, another anime cliché he hates is the way bullying is treated, call it a clash of culture, but he was pretty sure Japan's stance on the matter would change if they had as much school shooting as the U.S.
'I better do something before things get worse'. Ryu tells himself and goes to the boys in a matter of seconds.
In the last year Ryu, with the help of his sister, has trained his body and his quirk, he was far away from Enel's abilities with the Goro Goro no Mi but was experienced enough to deal with children's quarrels. Grabbing Bakugou by the elbow before he delivers another punch at Midoriya Ryu pulls the blonde boy away and shovels him aside with just enough strength to make him take a few steps back from Midoriya.
"Are you okay?" Ryu asks, giving Midoriya his hand who just stares at him with shock all over his face and with his mouth open.
"Who do you think you are?" Bakugou yells at Ryu from behind.
With a bored expression, Ryu turns around and sees the blonde boy glaring daggers at him, but Ryu doesn't care, instead, he has something he deems more interesting looming over his head.
'Why are there so many spikey-haired guys in animes? There are three right now in this place, I mean, Midoriya's isn't but it looks like.'
"Answer me asshole". Bakugo yells, making a vein pop up on Ryu's brow.
"What did you call me?" Ryu asks, his lips making a deformed smile as he grinds his teeth making his voice come out muffled.
"ASSHO…"
Bakugo never finishes as Ryu punches him straight on the nose, on the ground the explosion boy grinds his teeth in anger and gets up, yelling and charging at Ryu.
"You're dead". Bakugo screams.
In true anime fashion, a smoke cloud appears and Izuku watches, only being able to see a foot, a hand, and a head popping out of the smoke now and then, the language both boys are using is well above PG-13 and Izuku didn't know what to do except watch as those two are itching to kill each other.
Once the smoke dissipates Ryu is on Midoriya's left side and Bakugou on his right, the first throw a blue line of electricity forward and the second throws an explosion, hitting each other simultaneously and then falling on the ground over their backs, a total knockout of both parts.
With no idea of what to do Midoriya just watches the two boys lying down on the ground, looking after them until they awaken or one of their parents comes to take them home. It doesn't take long and soon after a young-looking woman with blonde spikey hair arrives, Bakugo's mother.
"Hello young Midoriya". She says, patting Midoriya's head and smiling at him. "Playing with Bakugo again I see. Where is he?"
"T-there". Midoriya points at Bakugo's body and his mother is surprised to see the state her son is in.
"Oh, that boy". She shakes her head in disapproval. "This is no place to sleep."
Bakugo's mother goes to her son and grabs him, putting him over her shoulder, and goes back to Midoriya.
"Thank you for watching him Midoriya, you are a good kid". She says, patting his head and smiling at him.
"I-it was nothing, miss". Midoriya says, nervously shaking his head.
"Well, see you later, take care". She says and leaves with her son.
The moment she leaves Midoriya's eyes turn back to Ryu and is shocked to see he isn't there, desperate Midoriya looks around looking for where it could be, and is shocked to see him on his feet and walking away, he doesn't waste time and runs at him to make sure everything is okay.
"U-Usagiyama-san, right?" Midoriya asks with a trembling voice.
"Just Ryu, you can drop the honorifics, never liked them anyway". Ryu says. "What can I do for you Izuku?"
Midoriya is shocked, they only know each other on an acquaintance basis yet he is already calling him by his first name and with no honorifics.
"A-are you okay?" Midoriya asks.
"I'm fine". Ryu says, stretching his back forward and backward. "Those explosions are nothing compared to my sister's fists of love."
Ryu is indeed fine, Midoriya looks at his whole body and notices something extraordinary, there are no bruises on him, not even dirty, but something like this should be impossible, Midoriya thinks, because he remembers clearly as he watched the fight, Ryu got git by both Bakugo's fists and explosion, yet here he is standing, completely unharmed.
"H-how are you not hurt?" Midoriya asks, with wide eyes full of surprise.
"Oh, bullocks". Ryu whispers. "It is nothing, don't mind me." He tells Midoriya.
Midoriya doesn't follow Ryu's advice and instead shakes his head in denial, too curious to just let something like this pass.
"T-there has to be something". Midoriya says. "I saw Kacchan hit you."
"No, you didn't". Ryu says, knowing it is a weak excuse and it will fail.
"Y-yes I saw". Midoriya says.
"You are not gonna let this go will you?" Ryu asks, already knowing the answer, he is proven right when Midoriya nods his head multiple times at a quick pace. "*sigh* Very well, let's take a seat".
They sit on the bench where Ryu was resting before his fight with Bakugo, he looks at the sky and takes a deep breath, this conversation is one he didn't want to have, his quirk is probably something unique in this world, and sharing with others could lead to serious problems in the short and distant future, Ryu feels bad for Midoriya, he really does, but there is no way he will be like the every single Shonen protagonist and tell a possible threat about what his abilities are and how they work.
"It is because of my quirk". Ryu says, looking at Midoriya in the eyes, knowing that he has to be convincing for his lie to work. "It is called Wolverine, it regenerates all my wounds in a matter of seconds, to put it simply, it is an advanced healing factor I have."
"Woah". Midoriya can't keep his mouth closed as a smile graces his lips, his eyes start to shine, and Ryu swears his pupils' become stars. "Amazing!"
'Ryu you did it again, he is so impressed he forgot you shot lightning from your hands.'
"What about that lightning you shot from your hands?" Midoriya asks.
'Okay, I walked into that one, lucky me I already prepared an answer for that too'. Ryu thought before answering. "Well, you see, do you know that prank of scrubbing your shoes on a carpet and then touching someone to shock them?"
Midoriya nods to Ryu in response.
"Like Wolverines, I have furs all over my body, but microscopic, during the fight I scrubbed my palms on each other, and it allowed me to create a small bolt of electricity and shoot it at my opponent". Ryu says, begging inside his head for Midoriya to fall for the blatant lie.
"Amazing, and so much creativity". Midoriya says with a smile.
'Sorry Midoriya, but I can't have people knowing about the powers of the Goro Goro no Mi'. Ryu tells himself. "Thank you for your compliment. What about you, what is your special ability?"
Ryu knows Midoriya has no quirk and only asked because he wanted to change the subject of their conversation, what he didn't expect was the sad and gloomy atmosphere Midoriya creates once he hears Ryu's question, he looks at the ground and lowers his head, clearly depressed and hurt by Ryu's words.
'Dammit, I should've read the manga, then I would've known who that blonde muscular guy with two ahoge is, then he could deal with Midoriya's depression of being quirkless. Dealing with depressed side characters is the protagonist's job, not mine.' Ryu thinks as he remembers the promo image for the manga he saw which had a muscular man wearing a blue and red hero outfit.
"I-I don't have a quirk". Midoriya says, busting Ryu out of his thought bubble and noticing the green-haired boy is on the verge of tears.
'Oh no, look what you did jerk, you made him depressed, come on now Ryu, think, think… THAT'S IT.' Ryu thoughts are stopped once again once he has a great idea. "I didn't ask what your quirk is, I asked what your special ability is."
Ryu's words give Midoriya pause, the green-haired boy lifts his head and looks at him, clearly confused by what he meant.
"So, are you going to tell me?" Ryu asks.
"A-aren't those the same thing?" Midoriya asks instead of answering.
"Not at all, anyone can have a quirk, at this point, you could say that having a quirk is normal and not having one is quirky". Ryu says with a humorous tone trying to lighten up the mood. "A special ability on the other hand is something you can do that others normally can't, quirk or not."
Midoriya's eyes widen in realization of what Ryu is saying, but is only momentaneous and he proceeds to look back at the ground.
"I-I have none". Midoriya says, his voice crackling. "E-everyone told me I can't be a hero without a quirk so I never tried to do something unique."
"Well, everyone is wrong". Ryu says, making Midoriya look back at him. "Everyone can be a hero, quirk or not."
Midoriya shakes his head in denial, Ryu can see he wants to believe his words but is trying to refuse them, believing it will only lead to false hopes that are gonna be crushed in the future.
"No-no, only people with quirks can, I asked my mother, and she said I couldn't be a hero like All Might". Midoriya says, his tone higher with a bit of anger in it.
'THAT'S HIS NAME, ALL MIGHT, NOW I REMEMBER, DUDE WHERE ARE YOU?'. Ryu screams inside his mind, thinking about how to convince Midoriya that powers don't make the hero, actions do. "What if I told you there was a hero who had no quirk."
Ryu was about to make a bold move, and he needed to be careful, the minor slip, and Midoriya would see through his lie and hate him for it.
"Tell me Midoriya, have you ever heard the legends of… the Batman?" Ryu asks.
It was impossible to not know about Batman in Ryu's former world, but this is My Hero Academia, DC and Marvel are non-existent, which means no risk of copyright infringements, and maybe a quick way to make money once he is old enough. Batman, like Midoriya, was a person with no powers relying only on his skills, intellect, and gadgets, a story like this should be just what Midoriya needs to hear.
"N-no I h-haven't". Midoriya says, shaking his head.
"Well, it is just a legend. It goes like this. In the worst city of New Jersey, where the most vile and horrible criminals roamed free through the streets only one man stood in their way, fighting to make a difference… The Batman". Ryu says, getting a little distance from Midoriya to make his story more theatrical with hand gestures. "Batman didn't have a quirk to help him become a hero, and because of that he was forced to rely only on himself, he was a genius tactician and combatant, master of numerous martial arts, and possessed an intellect so advanced he was considered the best detective in the world."
Midoriya's mouth had an 'o' shape hearing the story, it was obvious he was engaged by it because of his lack of quirk, focusing on every single word coming out of Ryu's mouth, the white-haired boy takes notice of it and continues after seeing his plan is working.
"And do you know what he did to become a hero despite having no quirk?" Ryu asks.
"N-no". Midoriya says, shaking his head.
"By studying the criminal mind, and training his body to reach the peak of human condition, no matter what quirk you have, talent without training means nothing, like a sword without a sharpener, and to reach the top Batman spent years training his body and mind to become the best, he accomplished it of course". Ryu says, noticing his words are getting into the green-haired boy. "So, you see Midoriya, if you want to be a hero you don't need a quirk, all you need is to be prepared, prepared for everything that can be thrown at you, and adapt so you can turn the tides in your favor."
"C-Can you tell me more?" Midoriya asks. "You just told me how Batman became a hero, why did he do so?"
"Okay, I'll do my best to answer". Ryu says, shrugging his shoulder, deciding to entertain Midoriya since he has nothing better to do, also, he likes to talk about superheroes. "Batman was a boy named Bruce Wayne, a rich family and one of the founders of the city he lived in, he had everything a person would want, money, a big house, true friends, and a lovely family."
"H-he seems nice". Midoriya says.
"He was, but even the best families can be victims of tragedy". Ryu says, his face turning serious.
"W-what happened?" Midoriya asks.
"One day, when he was eight years old, Bruce and his parents had gone to the theater to watch some movie, relax, and spend a family night like any other family". Ryu says, adjusting his posture and straightening his back. "When the movie ended Bruce and his parents decided to walk home instead of calling their driver or calling for a taxi, maybe they wanted to spend more time together before calling a night, we will never know, Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father, decided to cut way by going into an alley."
"Oh no". Midoriya says, covering his mouth with his hand, feeling the fear of being in Bruce's place and imagining himself there.
"Oh yeah". Ryu says, shaking his head in disappointment for making such a stupid decision, at least in the Joker movie they had an excuse that they did so to avoid getting caught in the middle of the riots. "Out of the shadows, a man comes, pointing a gun at them, he was probably drunk for he did not recognize the billionaire couple, only assumed they got money because of the pearl necklace Martha Wayne, Bruce's mother, was using, and that was the first thing he demanded from them during his robbery."
"What happened then?" Midoriya asks,
"Batman was born. Thomas tried to stop the thief by getting between him and his wife but got shot, then the thief proceeded with the robbery, he grabbed Martha's collar but she tried to push him away and she was shot as well, on that night, seeing the body of his parents, Bruce Wayne died too, and Batman took his place, swearing to not let something like this never happen again to any innocent."
"So that's when he started to train?" Midoriya asks, receiving a nod from Ryu.
"Yes, for the next twenty-two years, he would train his body and mind with different masters around the world to reach the top, his body was the peak of human capacity and so was his mind, earning him the title of world's greatest detective, as I've told you, and when he returns to his city, no criminal was safe anymore."
"That's amazing". Midoriya says with a big smile. "But if didn't have a quirk how did he fight against his enemies? Only being in top condition is not enough."
"Well, for starters he used brains more than brawls, Batman knew the weakness of all his enemies and used this knowledge to his advantage, and then there were his gadgets, during the day Batman was Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, and owner of a big company, he used his money to finance himself as Batman, creating every kind of equipment necessary to help him in his crusade against evil, gadgets such as a grappling hook to swing between buildings, a cape that allows him to glide, and bat-shaped boomerangs that are sharp enough to cut through steel and with explosives inside them."
"Incredible". Midoriya says.
"I know". Ryu smiles. "So, you see Midoriya, to be a hero you don't need a quirk, you need to learn and adapt, to work with what you have at your disposal if you do that, no one can stop you."
"Yes". Midoriya gets off the bench, nodding at Ryu full of determination. "Thank you Ryu-chan, thank you so much."
"It was nothing, please don't do this". Ryu says as he watches Midoriya bow to him. "Now that you know this, go for your dreams, and don't let anyone say you can achieve them."
'Damn, this is embarrassing, how come all those anime protagonists do it without losing face?'.
"Y-yes, I will!" Midoriya says full of excitement before he stops and returns to normal. "W-wait, Ryu-chan. Is this Batman story real?"
"W-Well Midorira, as I said, is a legend, those stories you share when you go camping or having a boy's party at karaoke, or whatever". Ryu says, waving his hand so quickly it would look like he was trying to fan away a fart for any onlookers. Noticing Midoriya's depression is threatening to come back Ryu is quick to make it stay away. "B-but, every legend is based on some fact or truth, so who knows, maybe it is real."
"I-I see. Thank you again Ryu-chan". Midoriya says, bowing to Ryu once more.
"Izuku, there you are". A female voice is heard by the two, they look at the speaker and see a young woman with green hair just like Midoriya. "Come on sweetie, time to go home, is getting late".
"All right mother". Midoriya says and turns around to face Ryu before leaving. "Farewell Ryu-chan, see you at school tomorrow."
"Farewell". Ryu says as he watches Midoriya leave with his mother, a hint of jealousy inside him hits, wishing his own mother was here for him.
'Damn anime trope of oversea parents.'
"*sigh* Well, at least Midoriya is better than when I first saw him, at the end of the day everyone won". Ryu says to himself.
"There you are you brat". Ryu knows that voice anywhere, he looks at the source and sees his sister cracking her knuckles with a look on her face that definitely would make everyone crap their pants. "Do you have any idea how late it is?!"
"Everyone but me". Ryu whines to himself, knowing he will receive another one of his sister's fists of love treatment.
Author's note: and done. Will Midoriya change after hearing about Batman? A little, I don't like his stumbling speech pattern so I partially did it to give him a small confidence and not have to do it every time he speaks, but there will also be changes in his character because of it, not much but enough to cause small differences. He will still have One For All don't worry.
With this chapter, the prologues are over, next one the story starts for real.
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