Welcome back to another chapter!
Izuku and Kirishima were walking together with their gym pads over their shoulders. They were chatting about the latest hero news of Crimson Riot doing a book tour. The retired hero was also going around to schools in Japan. Kirishima was stoked that there were rumors floating around that Crimson Riot might visit Mustafa Private school.
As Kirishima was pumping himself up for a hard workout and trying to do the same for Izuku, said greenhead spotted a familiar sight in the crowds. Another green head made up of vines.
"Shiozaki-chan?" Izuku called out to the jogging girl. Shiozaki nearly tripped over as she stumbled to a stop and turned to find Izuku and Kirishima.
"Oh the lord was merciful today and blessed us with a chance meeting," Shiozaki said clasping her hand in prayer. "I am glad we were able to meet again so soon."
"Shiozaki-chan, you know we can just plan on meeting somewhere right?" Izuku said scratching his cheek. "You're welcome to ask to come over anytime."
"Oh," Shiozaki said, "I will endeavor to remember in the future, Midoriya-kun."
Izuku smiled before turning to Kirishima who had been watching quietly.
"Kirishima, this is Shiozaki-chan."
"Hiya! It's manly to meet ya." Kirishima gave the girl a cheerful grin and wave. "Any friend of Midori-bro is a friend of mine," Kirishima said thumping his chest before bowing.
"Today the lord must be smiling down on me for allowing me to make a new friend as well," Shiozaki said before bowing in greeting.
"Are we interrupting your run?" Izuku asked.
"Yes but I could never not stop to speak with you. Your actions and words inspired me to push myself harder and thus I thought this would be a good first step."
"A fellow friend that draws inspiration from Midori-bro!" Kirishima said cheering. "It'd be manly if you could join us for some kickboxing as well."
"I do not wish to intrude on your workout and hold you back. I am inexperienced with kickboxing and fear I would be a detriment to your training."
"Nonsense. So long as you are giving it your all then no one can fault you. We are here to build each other up, not tear each other down," Kirishima said. Izuku nodded along in agreement.
Shiozaki blushed bashfully, "If you insist, then I would be most gracious to join you." Kirishima fist-pumped the air while Izuku beamed. "I must confess though, I do not have the equipment to join you today nor the money to buy some and the membership of the gym you deign to use."
"Oh, don't worry about membership. My mentor is renting out a studio and is giving me free reign to bring all my friends there. As for equipment, I can cover you today to buy some. There is an equipment store next to the studio. We can buys yours today and you can pay me back whenever," Izuku said.
Shiozaki was hesitant but agreed to the idea. With a plan in hand, the trio was soon off. As they walked, Kirishima asked Shiozaki about her school. With a wide smile, Shiozaki was happy to talk about her school, Saint Rogers, named after the famous pre-quirk TV persona Mr. Rogers. Kirishima and Izuku listened interested in the stories of acceptance and understanding that Mr. Rogers taught. By the time Shiozaki was finished the trio had reached the fitness equipment store. As they were shopping, Izuku could not help but smile in amusement as Shiozaki tried to hide her excitement. But with how much her hair wiggled as she collected light green gear it was obvious.
Once they picked up a few extra pads as well, the three made their way to the studio. At least, what they thought was a simple studio.
"Midori-bro, you sure you got the right address?" Kirishima asked as they all stared up at the towering sky scrapper before them.
"This is the correct address, Rumi didn't say anything about having to find the correct floor though." Izuku frowned as he stared at his phone. "Let me try and get an answer from her."
The three waited for a few moments before Izuku motioned them to follow him.
"Apparently, Rumi is renting the whole building and not just the studio." Izuku rolled his eyes. "You'd think that come up before hand when telling me I can use the place."
"Damn, Midori-bro, your mentor is loaded," Kirishima said.
"I concur, renting the whole building seems excessive."
"I don't disagree," Izuku said before pressing the coms button. It only took a second before the com buzzed to life.
"Hello, how can I help you," a bored voice asked.
"Yes, Hi." Izuku said before coughing, "I'm told to tell you that… that 'Teiboku-chan is here.'"
Kirishima looked at Izuku like he lost a few screws in the head. Shiozaki on the other hand was coughing trying to suppress her giggles.
The other voice was silent before a strained, almost laughing reply came through telling them to enter and take the elevator to the top. The trio heard the door click open. Unable to face his friends while blushing, Izuku simply opened the door for them to enter.
The three entered the empty lobby of the building and found the elevators to the side. As the three took the elevator, a bad rendition fo the spiderman theme played. Only Izuku seemed to notice as he cringed from it.
"Was that Rumi?" Kirishima asked.
"Wha? Oh, no, I don't know who that was," Izuku said.
Before he could continue the doors opened up. As they walked out and into the room, they were greeted by a woman with fair skin and freckles but dark hair that looked like wool. Or maybe it was actually wool as he noticed she had it on her neck, wrists, and ankles. Besides the wool the next most blatantly obvious thing was that she was buff. Like almost Miruko's of muscle buff.
"You're just as adorable as Miruko said you were," the lady said looking at Izuku. The poor boy blushed while Kirishima and Shiozaki looked at Izuku in shock.
"You know Miruko?" Shiozaki-san said.
"Dude, you've been holding out on us." Kirishima lightly punched Izuku's shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry, Rumi said to keep things discreet. That and I wanted to see how long it take till someone found out." Izuku gave a sheepish grin.
"Wait, Rumi and Miruko are the same person? You call her by her given name?" Shiozaki asked.
"Your mentor is Miruko?" Kirishima said in disbelief.
"In Kiri-kun's words, 'That's unmanly of you to hide, bro.'" Shiozaki said doing a fair impression of Kirishima.
Kirishima and Izuku both cracked up laughing while the lady did as well.
"You kids are a right holler," the lady said once she calmed down. "The studios are to your right, while the gym is to the left. If you need anything just yell for me."
"Wait who are you?" Izuku asked.
"Oh yeah, my bad for forgetting introductions." The woman rubbed the back of her head. "I'm Mary Lamb, and yes I know the irony of having that name while having a lamb quirk." Kirishima and Shiozaki bonked Izuku on the head at the same time to stop him from asking Mary questions not that she noticed. "Miruko left me in charge of this place. She also said yall got free reign whenever you came here so long as you don't do anything stupid. So have fun! I got some work to do." Mary quietly grumbled that last part to herself as she went into the office door that was behind her.
The three stood there awkwardly for a moment before Izuku started walking left.
"Wanna check out the gym?" Izuku said. Kirishima and Shiozaki were by his side instantly, eager to explore as well.
When they pushed open the door to the gym, they were greeted by rows and rows of different machines. Izuku could also see in the back of the gym were the free weights. A lot of free weights.
"Damn, I want to try all these out one day," Kirishima said with a whistle.
"Agreed, it would be a valuable experience to use all this," Shiozaki said nodding in agreement.
"Let's do it when we have some proper guidance. Don't want to accidentally hurt ourselves," Izuku said getting the other two to agree. Though he could see that his friends still wanted to try out the machines.
"I don't see any free space here we could use for our kickboxing." Kirishima noted as he scratched his cheek.
"Guess we go to the studios instead?" Izuku said as he lead his friends to them. The three of them found a hallway of different spaces. Some were set up like a dance studio. Others were lined with tatami or foam mat floors. The three ended up peeking into a large open space that was bare concrete littered with craters. Izuku sweatdropped while Kirishima and Shiozaki looked on in awe and fear.
"I assume this is Miruko-san's area," Shiozaki said.
"Most likely, I remember that she broke falling concrete debris into nothing but dust one time. So she is either holding back or the concrete here is specially made."
The other two shivered.
"Dude, I don't think I'd survive a kick from her." Kirishima looked at his hardened arm.
"Yet. Who's to say your hardening quirk is at its max right now? If anything you have a long way to go. I bet one day you could tank a kick from her," Izuku patted Kirishima's shoulder.
"If we wish to start down the path of improvement. Then it's best we take the first step today. I believe one of the foam mat studios will serve us well today." Shiozaki said trying to cheer Kirishima up.
"Yeah you're right, let's get to it!" Kirishima cheered.
The three soon found a room and began their workout. Switching from using the pads to doing different calisthenic exercises. Kirishima had a playlist of some old video game battle music in the background. Shiozaki always seemed a bit more energized when a pokemon theme came on. As Izuku was punching some pads while Shiozaki was holding them and Kirishima was doing lunges, Mary entered the room.
"Hey kiddos! Miruko wanted me to pass out some access cards for you. That way you can use the rooms whenever you want." Mary held up three cards with a grin. As the teens took them with bright eyes, Mary let herself frown. "Your forms need a bit of work though, would you mind if I give you some pointers?"
The kids perked up and happily accepted her help.
Mary made sure that all of them knew how to throw a proper punch as well as kicks. She fixed their posture during some of their exercises while teaching more obscure exercises to work out underutilized muscles.
By the time Mary called the class over, the teens were all panting while lying on the ground. Mary had a smug smile as she sipped from a water bottle. As the kids caught their breaths, they sat up and downed their own bottles of water.
"Mary-sensei, how did you come to work under Miruko?" Shiozaki asked leaning on Kirishima and Izuku who were sitting back to back.
Mary's smile became one far more somber and sorrowful.
"I guess some context might help you understand," Mary said taking a seat on the floor across from the kids. "Much like Miruko, a lot of people underestimated me because of my quirk. After all how strong is someone supposed to be when they have a lamb quirk?" Mary gave a sardonic laugh. Her smile changed to a more reminiscent one though. "My older brother, he's got a ram quirk, he introduced me to grappling and bodybuilding. I got a lot of body shaming for not being 'a cute and innocent lamb.' The jerks the lot of them."
With a shake of her head, Mary continued, "Anyways, like a month ago, I ended up meeting Miruko when she was acting as a guest judge for a local weightlifting competition. She ended up saving us from some idiot hopped up on some quirk-enhancing steroid. When it was all over, I don't know why, but she came and talked to me. Her first words to me were, 'I know that look of self-hatred. That loathing for wishing I had a better quirk. You were ready to fight and probably would have if I didn't beat you to the punch. If you want to fight and prove that there is more to being a hero than a quirk, well I'm looking for some sidekicks.'"
Mary went silent as she gathered her thoughts for a bit. The teens said nothing as they waited for her to continue.
"She, Miruko, is everything I wanted to be when I was a kid. The hero I still wish I could be. Her reaching out to me, telling me I can still become that hero… I'd have to be insane to refuse." Mary's eyes were watery as she clenched her fist. "So yeah, that's my story. Why Im now working as the manager of her future agency."
"Mary-sensei," Izuku said, getting the woman to look at him. "I hope you can show the world that it's not the quirk that makes the hero but the person. Not only for yourself but for everyone else like us."
"Weak quirk?" Mary asked.
"Quirkless."
Mary stared in silence for a moment before laughing.
"Kiddo, I respect you. You're doing far more to make your hero dreams come true than I did at your age. I wish I was even half as motivated as you were." Mary reached out to Izuku who shuffled closer. When Izuku held out his hand, Mary clasped his forearm. "I sincerely hope that you can be the hero you spoke of. If you let me, I'll teach you everything I know so you can reach that dream." Mary turns to the other two and gives them a wide grin, "That goes for you two as well and any other of your friends that you bring here. I want to say that I helped built up the best generation of heroes."
"Thanks, Mary-sensei!" Kirishima cheered. "I'm sure many of our friends would love to use this space."
"You bless us with your grace, Mary-sensei," Shiozaki said bowing her head.
"We'll do our best to reach our dream. Mary-sensei." Izuku said giving her a bright smile. "I hope you'll reach your own dream."
"It's a promise, kiddo." Mary patted Izuku on the head. "After all, I can't sully the title of Miruko's first sidekick."
"Don't worry Mary-sensei, you won't." Izuku gave her a cheeky grin. "That's 'cause that's my title."
Everyone burst out laughing at that. Mary pulled Izuku into an affectionate headlock causing the boy to blush but not put up much of a fight. He was getting used to always getting held like this.
The four continued to rest and plan for future lessons. Mary was excited to hear that there were a bunch of other kids that they were friends with that would be interested in becoming heroes. When the teens left and Mary retreated back to her office. She looked at all the paperwork and online lessons she had left. Taking a deep breath, Mary thumped her chest, sat down, and began working hard. She didn't want to disappoint the kids that were putting their trust in her.
Miruko's words about Izuku came to mind.
"There's this kid, a boy that's fighting with everything he has to be a hero against a world that wants to stop him. When I look at him, I remember that heroes are meant to do more than fight evil. That they are supposed to inspire others to be better, do better. I want to be the hero that Izuku believes that I can be." Miruko had given her a solemn smile after saying that. Her fist was clenched tightly.
"I saw but a spark of that today, I hope I can see what you truly mean in the future," Mary muttered to herself.
Alright! Things are slowly but surely building. Miruko, while still focusing on being a traveling hero, has also decided that she wanted her own agency. Both to start helping out and building up others like her and to have Izuku as a future intern and sidekick. She's planning for the long run.
Shiozaki has returned! I dunno, I had fun writing her and I enjoy mixing the cast up for each chapter. Definitely wanted to include Kirishima too so this idea spawned. They seemed like the first two most interested in working out to push themselves to be better. Have no fear, everyone else will eventually join in. It was quite fun to write how Izuku, Shiozaki, and Kirishima interacted with each other. A fast-friends sort of deal.
I did debate whether or not Miruko would show up for this chapter but I thought it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense since Miruko would probably be busy with heroics. So Mary Lamb was born, both to show Miruko changing as a hero and because I wanted to try to expand the heroic scene with more characters. Specifically more support hero characters.
So for the next month, I'm going to spend time focusing on my other stories that I've been neglecting. Unusual Lessons, Reminiscing a Life Lived, and even my nearly abandoned A Different Change have all had chapters in the work for a while and I want to complete them. As something to look forward next chapter of EH, Momo will be making her debut!
I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for your support, I enjoy reading your reviews every chapter!
I hope you have a good day!
PKOUT!