? Chapter 3 ?
Kimitsuki pushed herself onto her feet and raised her hands, sweat rolling down her face as she got ready to attack the arm with her Black Flames, knowing that she would only have a few moments to get Katsuki out of there and then extinguish the fires before it could completely consume the villain.
"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Kimitsuki shouted, but her eyes widened when a large figure appeared in front of her and stopped the villain's arms from reaching her and Izuku.
"All Might!"
"I really am pathetic," All Might said. "Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice! Pros are always risking their lives! All Might! Detroit Smash!"
It was her second time seeing All Might fight in person like this, and yet Kimitsuki still couldn't believe how swiftly he saved Katsuki away from the villain and right into her arms, before he turned around to punch the Sludge Villain with a great, big Detroit Smash – issuing unbelievable amounts of wind pressure that whipped Kimitsuki's hair back, and even she skidded back a little, holding onto her nonconscious friends. She gently laid Katsuki down next to Izuku and stared at All Might.
And then, somehow, the clouds crowded over the sky from the force of the wind pressure, and the cool rain began to fall, dousing them all in its relief. Kimitsuki felt her body cool down as well.
"Rain?"
"Don't tell me it's from the wind pressure just now?"
"An updraft developed and... he made... clouds...?"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" All Might said as he looked at the crowd gathered, and they all began to cheer loudly for the Number One Hero as he held his right arm up for them in his pose.
"With just his right fist, he changed the weather!"
"That's amazing!"
"That's All Might for ya!"
Kimitsuki was still staring at All Might with her jaw hanging open as her long bangs swept onto her face as the rain soaked her. Her Quirk had long deactivated itself and her eyes were still wide. She couldn't believe he had managed to change the entire course of weather with just one punch. One.
All Might turned to look at her as she sat on her knees next to her two unconscious friends, and he gave her a thumbs-up. She snapped out of her thoughts and tried to smile back but it was weak.
Seeing the way people rallied around him, praised him, trusted him and were assured by him.
Kimitsuki wanted that.
To show everyone a new sight.
The rain had put out all of the flames that ravaged the location and though the downpour subsided quickly, the other Pro-Heroes came around and collected the scattered sludge, and then safely delivered it to the police. By then, Izuku and Katsuki had come back around to the conscious world.
"Jeez, there's a limit to how rash you can be!"
"There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger!"
Izuku was getting scolded by Death Arms and Kamui Woods. Kimitsuki averted her eyes away from them, not wanting to get any of that. She didn't like being put on the spot and scolded in public.
"That was amazing toughness! And that Quirk!"
"Once you're a pro, please come to my agency! You'll definitely be an excellent sidekick!"
Katsuki was getting praised by two other local heroes. He was, however, glaring in the direction of where she and Izuku were, mainly at the latter. There was a flash of light and Kimitsuki was blinded.
"Girl! What's your name?!"
"Would you like to give a small interview?!"
"I'm a street-caster, would you like a card from our agency?!"
Kimitsuki's eyes widened as she realised the amount of people coming toward her – all of them from the media. Something told her that they were more interested in her appearance than her actions.
"Um..." Kimitsuki breathed, taking a step back and protectively wrapping her arms around herself as the flashes of their camera blinded her again. "Uh... my name is... I'm K-Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki,"
"Kuroyanagi? Really?"
"There's a Kuroyanagi here?"
"That must be the daughter – Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki!"
"You bet! You saw the Black Flames erupt from her hands and she halted the villain with illusions!"
"Wow, a collective power inherited from her parents? That's brutal force! Must be like her parents!"
At these words, Kimitsuki watched as the media swarmed her, too. They were all trying to figure out who exactly she was and she realised that besides some dodgy statements about her part in the murder of her family, they were mostly interested in what happened right then at that location.
Show everyone a new sight.
Kimitsuki hated attention, especially from media but she agreed to answer a few questions as she looked at them, not caring if she would get hate later. She wanted to show people she wasn't all –
Black.
Her name may be shrouded in the blackness of the day when she first manifested her Quirk and killed her family. Her Quirk itself may be Black Flames. Her family name may itself mean black.
But her existence wasn't entirely Black.
It was the colour of atonement – Grey.
And she was on her way to White.
Later that evening, Kimitsuki and Izuku continued their journey back home together. They had decided that they would just go to their homes and not stick around together anymore for the day because they kept getting in one trouble or the other. Besides, Kimitsuki was starting to feel tired.
On their way, they walked along the electronics shops, where Kimitsuki was rather bashful to see her face as she answered questions with quick and short answers. She didn't want to check the articles.
Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki –
Girl previously suspected of murdering her family assists All Might with villain.
That was the only article that Kimitsuki took a look at, because it was one of the most prominent one so far, and the first one to come up after the accident. Kimitsuki thought it was pretty quick.
The reporter had written all about her Quirk manifestation that resulted in the deaths of her family, how it was totally shrouded in mystery as the their method of dying wasn't in line with her Quirk, how the police was still looking for further clues, talking about her maternal family's covertness, mentioning her disappearance as she was sent away from Tokyo to live at the local Orphanage.
Quite honestly, Kimitsuki was both impressed and disturbed about how much information the reporter had managed to pull out on her. Yet still, they didn't know the true nature of her Quirk.
It only mentioned her father's Black Flames, and her mother's illusions through auditory means.
Maybe because was the piece was written as almost a mini mystery novel, most of the comments were internet sleuths dissecting the little they knew of her life. Some praised her, but mostly mean.
"I wanted to apologise to All Might..." Izuku spoke up, glancing at Kimitsuki as she leaned her head back to put in the eye-drops into her eyes to fix the dry eyes she had gotten.
"It can't be helped that he was surrounded by media," Kimitsuki replied gently, putting away her eye-drops. "Everyone wants to interview him... especially since he suddenly appeared in our town,"
"I'll try sending him a message on his website when I get home, I guess," Izuku decided, and Kimitsuki nodded. "Today was a strange day, huh, Tsuki-Chan? You were so good!"
"I couldn't even use my Quirk properly," Kimitsuki admitted. "I don't know why but it was difficult to put the villain under the Genjutsu... ah, my head is still hurting because of it... I need practice..."
"Deku!"
"Ka-Chan...?" Kimitsuki asked as she and Izuku turned around to see their childhood friend rushing down the street, looking rather annoyed as he came to a stop a few yards away from them.
"I never asked you for help!" Katsuki shouted at Izuku. "And you didn't help me! Got it?! I was fine by myself. You're a Quirkless failure playing without a full deck! Don't think you can look down on me! Are you trying to make me owe you?! Don't look down on me! You damn nerd!"
Katsuki turned around and ran off from there, going in the direction of his own home.
Kimitsuki and Izuku sweat-dropped at his reaction, sharing a look with each other.
"Ka-Chan has always been strange, hasn't he?" Kimitsuki said quietly. "I wish he would drop that toughness... he's going off the rails for a while now... and I wish he would listen to us,"
"But it's just as Ka-Chan said," Izuku said. "It's not like I accomplished anything, or changed anything," Kimitsuki looked at him. "But, I'm glad. Now I can think of a realistic future..."
"I am here!"
Both Kimitsuki and Izuku jumped as they looked in front of them to see that All Might had made his way to them somehow. They shared a look with each other and then back at the Number One Hero.
"A-All Might?!" Izuku asked, shocked. Kimitsuki looked around, confused as well. "Why are you here? You were surrounded by reporters until just now..."
"Getting away from them was a piece of cake," All Might replied. "Why? Because I am All Migh –" He coughed out blood as he went back to his real form, concerning the two students.
"Are you okay?" Kimitsuki asked, and All Might quickly nodded at her as Izuku let out another scream of horror at his condition.
"Young man and Young lady, I come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion," All Might said. "If you two hadn't been there... If you hadn't told me about your lives... I would've turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you,"
"That can't be..." Izuku replied, sharing another look with Kimitsuki. "It was our fault in the first place. We got in the way of your work... and I said all those impertinent things even though I'm Quirkless..."
"We shouldn't have bothered you too much," Kimitsuki agreed. "I acted selfishly with my Quirk, and had you not intervened, I think I would've made it worse. I apologise on the behalf of the two of us, and even Bakugo Katsuki-Chan,"
Kimitsuki bowed deeply to the Pro-Hero, until she felt him put a hand over her head. She looked up and saw that All Might was looking at the two of them seriously.
"That's right," All Might replied. "It was because it was none other than the timid, Quirkless boy and plagued, indecisive girl at the scene... that I was able to act. Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common. Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think,"
"Izu-Chan..." Kimitsuki whispered when she saw Izuku burst into tears, dropping onto his knees. She sank down next to him to comfort him, feeling her emotional-self get overwhelmed as she started to cry, too.
"That was true for you, too, wasn't it?" All Might said as he looked down at them. "You... can become a hero. Both of you. You are worthy to inherit my power,"
"Inherit your power?" Izuku asked as they stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What's with those faces?" All Might exclaimed. "It's just a suggestion. The real show starts after this. Listen, young man. You need to decide whether or not you will accept my power!"
"What are you... talking about?" Kimitsuki asked.
"I'm talking about my power," All Might replied. "The tabloids called it 'superhuman strength' and a 'boost'... and I constantly dodged the question during interviews with a funny joke. Because the Symbol of Peace, All Might, had to be a natural-born hero. But young ones, I will tell you the truth. My Quirk was passed on to me like a sacred torch!"
"It was passed on to you...?" Kimitsuki breathed.
"That's right," All Might said. "And next, it is your turn,"
"W-Wait!" Izuku interrupted. "Wait a minute! It's true that your Quirk is something hotly debated as one of the world's greatest mysteries. So, much so that not a day goes by when I don't see someone talking about it online. But, well, I don't really understand what you mean by inheriting or passing on a Quirk..."
"Uh, Izu-Chan..." Kimitsuki trailed off as he began with his muttering.
"I've never heard of anything like that before," Izuku mumbled thoughtfully. "And it's never even been conjectured in the debate. and it's never even been conjectured in the debate. Why is that? Is it because since the dawn of history, a Quirk like that was never confirmed? In the first place, it's..."
"You always start with denial, huh?" All Might asked as he watched Kimitsuki try to calm him down. "Nonsense!"
"Wh...?!" Izuku asked.
"I may hide a lot of things, but I don't lie!" All Might told them. "The power to transfer power... That is the Quirk I inherited! I was crowned with 'One for All'!"
"'One for All'..." Kimitsuki and Izuku repeated.
"That's right," All Might answered. "One person cultivates the power... and passes it on to another person, who also cultivates it and passes it on. It is the crystallisation of power that spins together the voices of those who need help with a courageous heart,"
"Why are you... why are you giving me something so great?" Izuku asked.
"I have been looking for a successor," All Might replied. "And then, I thought it would be all right for you to inherit it. You are just a Quirkless hero fanboy... but you were more heroic than anyone else back there!" Izuku stared. "Never mind! Well, it's up to you, though. What'll you do? If you don't want to, then you can take up on the offer, Young Kuroyanagi!"
"Me...?" Kimitsuki asked, staring at him as she pushed her long white hair away from her face, dumbfounded. "Me... your power...? This One for All..."
Kimitsuki swallowed, thinking about it. It was what she would love to have. She had always fantasised about being like him. It would be so amazing to have something like that and not her own strange Quirk. She stopped. Her Quirk wasn't strange... it was part of her. It couldn't be passed on. It was what her own parents had passed on to her. She had just accepted that just a few hours ago.
How can she be such a hypocrite?
Looking to her right, Kimitsuki stared at Izuku. She had just told him that if she could give him her Quirk, she would've passed it to him because she knew and believed him to the person who could always turn the situation around for the better. He had the right reasonings to be a hero, too.
"No, I don't want your Quirk," Kimitsuki said, turning to look at All Might. "You should ask Izu-Chan if he wants it, and I'll stand by that, too," Izuku looked up in surprise, staring at them.
Both Kimitsuki and All Might believed in him.
"I'll do it!" Izuku exclaimed, wiping off his tears and standing back up to his feet. Kimitsuki smiled at him and got onto her own feet.
"An immediate reply," All Might said, nodding at both of them, having had an idea it would turn out this way. "That's what I thought you'd say!"
Two Days Later, early morning, at Dagobah Municipal Beach Park:
"Hey, hey, hey!" All Might called out, sitting happily on top of an old, broken fridge. "This is such a comfy fridge to sit on! If you could move it even a little, it would be a little easier,"
Kimitsuki and Izuku had joined the Pro-Hero early that morning at the local Dagobah Municipal Beach Park to train as All Might's disciples. And part of their training was to pull the huge fridge across the beach with All Might sitting on top of it. It was a mess because it seemed impossible.
"Well yeah, I mean, you weigh 274 kilograms, right?" Izuku said as he finally collapsed. Kimitsuki let go of the ropes and bent over on her knees, too, tired.
"No, I lost weight, so I'm only 255 kilograms now," All Might informed them. "In this form,"
"Anyway, why are we dragging trash at the beach park?" Izuku asked.
"It's 'cause, you know, you're not a proper vessel," All Might replied as he got down from the fridge and looked at them. "And Young Kuroyanagi wanted to get stronger, too!"
"What you're saying now is the opposite of what you said before!" Izuku complained.
"I'm talking about your body," All Might pointed out. "My Quirk, One For All, is the fullest physical ability of many people gathered into one. An unprepared body cannot inherit it fully. The limbs will come off and the body will explode,"
"The limbs will what?" Izuku exclaimed, scared, and even Kimitsuki was disturbed. "Then... I'm picking up trash in order to train my body...?" She looked over at All Might's phone.
"Yes!" All Might answered as he smacked his fist against the fridge and dented it. Kimitsuki was impressed. "But that's not all. After some research on the internet yesterday, I discovered that part of this beach park's coast has been like this for many years,"
"Ah, yes," Kimitsuki spoke up. "For some reason, because of the currents, objects drift here a lot, and people take advantage of that to hide their illegal dumping... but I like to come look around,"
"Oh, I remember!" Izuku said. "This is where you pick out stuff, don't you, Tsuki-Chan? You found your trumpet here, too!" Kimitsuki nodded as she looked around the place.
"Yes, there's a lot of useful things around here," Kimitsuki confirmed. "There are people who dump stuff with just a scratch on them! But ah well, at least I can fix it and sell it on or keep it!"
All Might stared at the two of them as they casually discussed Kimitsuki's dumpster-diving habits.
"How long have you been doing this?" All Might asked the female, frowning. This behaviour was far, far away from what one could've expected from a girl of her heritage.
"Since forever," Kimitsuki replied, gently shrugging her shoulders as she smiled. "But I still wish this dumpsite would go away... it ruins the beach. The local residents don't come near here anymore,"
At these words, All Might snapped out of his thoughts.
"Heroes these days are all after the showy stuff," All Might told them. "Originally, being a hero meant doing volunteer service. Even if people called that boring or whatever. You can't waver from those roots," He destroyed the fridge down to let the arriving sunlight flow to them. "You two will restore the horizon for this whole section! That is your first step toward becoming a hero!"
"Our first step...?" Izuku asked. "Clean... this... All of it...?!"
"That sounds nice," Kimitsuki said in awe as she looked at All Might. She turned to grab Izuku's shoulders. "We can do it, Izu-Chan, if we work together,"
"That's the spirit, Young Kuroyanagi!" All Might exclaimed, giving her a thumbs-up. "Young Midoriya, you also want to go to U. A., right?"
"Yes... Yes!" Izuku replied. "Because it's where you went! So, if I'm going to go... I thought... it would definitely have to be U. A..."
"You're a go-getter fanboy!" All Might said. "But I've told you this before. It's not something you can do without a Quirk. It's sad, but that is what the reality is. And U. A.'s is the hardest hero course to get into,"
"In other words, ..." Izuku trailed off. "In the ten months until U. A.'s entrance exam, I have to complete my vessel!"
"That's where this comes in!" All Might announced, pulling out some papers and holding out to Kimitsuki and Izuku. "I came up with this: Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan!"
"That sounds exciting," Kimitsuki said as she took some of the pages from him and looked down at them. "Wow... there's an entire schedule on here!"
Daily Schedule [Weekdays]
4/8 ~ 5/31 [Weekends on different sheet]
Phase 1
Meal Menu
Set Plan
"It's a training plan to help you two finish cleaning up the beach," All Might informed them. "I'll have you both follow this in every aspect of your life!"
"Even sleep time is included..." Izuku said in awe.
"Frankly, this is a super hard schedule," All Might said to the two of them. "Can you follow it?" Kimitsuki immediately nodded, happy as per usual.
"Of course, ..." Izuku agreed as well, looking up as well. "I have to work many times harder than an, one else, or else I can't do it!"
And so began their ten months of hell.
? Chapter 4 ?
From that day on, All Might put both Kimitsuki and Izuku through a hellish training session every single morning. Because the two children had school and Kimitsuki had three different jobs, All Might had asked them to come to the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park very early in the morning.
"Carry that to the park entrance!" All Might ordered watching as Kimitsuki and Izuku pushed a metal office locker. He was back in his real form. "Put it in the truck!"
Somehow, both Kimitsuki and Izuku managed to put that chunk of metal in the back of the truck.
"Remember, Izu-Chan, that depending on size and shape," Kimitsuki muttered as they carried large tires. "The muscles we have to use are completely different!"
"Yes, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku answered as the two of them jogged out of the beach and to the street where the truck was parked, pushing them inside the bed. "I see... this is...!"
They returned to get the other pair of tires left to put them away as well.
"Run! Run!" All Might shouted. "Ten months will be over before you know it!" Kimitsuki looked over at Izuku as he tripped and fell over. "Let's become athletic!"
Aldera Junior High:
"Let's see... With the appearance of superpowers, the Building Standards Act was revised, and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transpor..." the teacher droned on.
Kimitsuki sat on the edge of her seat, exhausted but her lilac eyes were on the board in front of her, and her hand were running over the notebook, noting down everything that he was saying. She looked down to consult her textbook to make sure they were still on the same topic that she had already read the day before while at her part-time drive-thru job.
Ever since that event with the villain, Izuku was being further ridiculed, but most of the school had stopped saying anything – good or bad – to Kimitsuki. Though, a few of them had said some questionable stuff about her to the media that came to ask her for an interview about her past.
But most importantly, All Might had praised her Quirk in his own interview, and that was what kept Kimitsuki away from further bullying for the most part and something that also drove her to work harder than ever.
I'm going to become a hero!
Kimitsuki let out a small sigh, closing her eyes to calm herself down before smiling and going back to her studying. She looked up when she felt eyes on herself and glanced to her left, noticing Katsuki.
Katsuki was staring at her in boredom, clearly not paying attention to the teacher as he propped his hand on his hand. There was no particular expression on his face to hint to her about what he was thinking. She tilted her head to the side at him, letting her long pony-tail spill forward on her desk.
It was then that Katsuki realised that Kimitsuki was staring back at him. He rolled his small red eyes at her and looked away without any change in his expression. Kimitsuki frowned at this but let it go as he moved his hand from his cheek to the back of his neck. She turned back to her own notebook.
Then suddenly, Izuku, who was sitting in his desk right behind Kimitsuki, started to mutter loudly –
"... about 98 days of real training even if I'm efficient..." Izuku was mumbling. "I can get in about five hours of training morning and night... so that's 490 hours... Also, that beach clean-up doesn't work out any specific parts of the body. If I don't work out my whole body equally, then there's no way I'll make it,"
When Kimitsuki looked up, she noticed that everyone had stopped working, and even the teacher, and they were staring at Izuku. She bit the inside of her lip, turning around to stop Izuku.
"Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki hissed quietly, feeling second-hand embarrassment. "Izu-Chan!"
"Bodybuilding to create a body able to adapt to any situation..." Izuku continued onwards, oblivious. "Literally intensive training to become a hero... All Might can't stay and watch me the whole time..."
"Hey, Izu-Chan..." Kimitsuki asked, but saw their teacher's detachable hand flying over to Izuku.
"If I don't do as much efficient independent training as I can," Izuku muttered. "There's no way I can catch up the way I am now... Anyway, I'll have to cut –"
"Midoriya, hey!" the teacher said, smacking him over the head and bringing him back to reality. "Did your encounter with the villain make you go crazy? It's presumptuous to think of getting into U. A. like that,"
Izuku clamped a hand over his mouth and Kimitsuki frowned as everyone started to laugh at her friend. She wanted to say something to them – but she thought she was too much of a coward when she couldn't even figure out what to say. She couldn't just tell them that Izuku was going to get into U. A. when they knew of him as Quirkless. She couldn't tell them about All Might and Quirk either.
"A nervous breakdown already?"
"That's scary,"
Letting out another sigh, Kimitsuki looked back down at her notebook, flipping it over to the where she had detailed out her study schedule for the entrance exam as well. There was so much to do.
For the rest of the week, All Might made both Kimitsuki and Izuku go on with cleaning out the beach but also made them do some strength training by getting them to stack two tires atop each other and then push them with their sheer muscle strength alone, as well as run along the entire beach.
Training wasn't so difficult for Kimitsuki, it was the other aspects of her life that were becoming a bit of a trouble for her. For one, she didn't have enough money to buy the food listed in the menu.
"What do we do, Neko-Chan?" Kimitsuki asked her cat as she trailed back and forth in her bare bedroom, counting through the savings she had left. "This isn't enough to spend on extra food!"
Sighing, Kimitsuki plopped down on the mattress that served as her bed and stuffed the money back away, getting out her budget notebook and flipping through it to the most recent transactions.
"What do we do?" Kimitsuki mumbled, running a hand through her long silvery white hair. "I have to keep those savings for the entrance exam fee, for the text books, for the uniform... if I get in, of course,"
Neko, the one-year-old white cat, walked over to Kimitsuki and reached up to nibble on her finger before licking and stroking his head against it. It was obvious he was trying to comfort her and Kimitsuki smiled, stroking his head back to let him know that she understood his feelings, too.
"I know I said I'll study music or fashion, and we'll live in a nice house..." Kimitsuki told him. "But I have decided to become a Hero... and to become a Hero, I can't focus on the money,"
Even though so many people became Hero for money, Kimitsuki couldn't bring herself to do that. Maybe because of the negative connotations to it or maybe because she was just that narrow-minded...
I want to be a heroic person, not just a professional hero.
"I guess I'll stop my other expenses for the next three months," Kimitsuki said, looking back down. "Minimise internet packages and ask Izu-Chan to not expect any texts back... electricity... water..."
Kimitsuki contemplated going to Granny Haruna had allowed her to live in the basement of her building with her but then decided against it. They didn't live in a good place and Granny Haruna already struggled with tenants monetarily – not to mention her daughter who came every day with a new problem. There was no way Kimitsuki could put more stress on the old woman so selfishly.
"I'm going to go out for my shift," Kimitsuki said as she put away her stuff and got up. "See you later, Neko-Chan, take care of yourself, okay? I'll be back before the third shift for your food!"
Gathering her school books back into her bag, Kimitsuki waved goodbye to her cat and walked out of her one-room apartment and up the dusty stairs, grimacing that they had gotten so dirty when she had cleaned them just a few hours ago. She shook her head and come out to the ground floor.
"I'm going to the job, Oba-Chan," Kimitsuki informed Granny Haruna. "I'll be back for Neko-Chan's dinner," She waved goodbye to the woman before continued her way out.
The building wasn't that far away from where Izuku lived in a flat with his mother, but it was certainly in the bad side of the town. There was crime outside her window every other night.
It used to be terrifying but Kimitsuki got used to it pretty quickly.
Not that far from where Kimitsuki and Izuku's homes was also the home of Katsuki. Kimitsuki was always in awe when she passed their house – it was beautiful and open, with a pretty garden.
It was the kind of home Kimitsuki wanted when she grew up.
Away from the dark, decrepit, crime-ridden building's basement.
Everything in her life had been full of darkness and blackness. Kimitsuki liked to think that right now was a grey period in her life. She will make sure that her life would be filled with brightness and light.
This week, All Might went a bit further with the two of them and not only made them push heavy metallic objects like trucks (not even caring if they were attempting this in pouring rain) or more refrigerators, but also started them at formal weight-lifting and doing push-ups. And then, once the beach was a bit clearer, he asked them to bring their swimming gear so they could swim laps.
Kimitsuki was a bit shy to swim at the beach but Izuku almost fainted when he saw her, something that strangely evoked annoyance rather than even more embarrassment – which then amused her. She couldn't really blame Izuku and she knew that she shouldn't be acting like this right now.
"Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said as they swam laps side by side. "Is All Might... too busy providing fan service to those ladies there...?" Izuku followed her gaze to where she was looking.
The Number One Hero was busy flexing his muscles for the ladies who had discovered him there.
Sharing a look, both Kimitsuki and Izuku broke out into laughter, almost choking on the water.
Over time, Kimitsuki found many interesting things at the beach, picking them up to fix them before she sold them around her neighbourhood. She also found some nice dumbbells, grippers and other small exercising equipment that she could use on her own for making up muscles and strength.
Kimitsuki wasn't only working on her strength, she was also working on her Quirk. She was trying to keep herself from heating up too quickly with her Black Flames and she was trying to practise her eyes, getting used to the increased reaction time since she saw people and things moving before they even made the move. It caused her a headache and she had to buy more eye-drops for herself.
Not to mention, Kimitsuki had found a pretty neat Samurai sword in the trash and polished it back to health with the help of Granny Haruna's son, who worked in a local weaponry store. She had utilised it to the maximum to practise it around for physical defense and offense in case her black fire failed.
It was definitely something that she needed, even though Kimitsuki knew she wouldn't be able to use it at school or until she got a permit. Until then, she had to rely on her painful shields.
As the two students developed their muscles, All Might went as far as to ask them to carry him.
It was very difficult but much more surprisingly, both of them managed to do it on their own.
Soon, autumn came around and All Might took them for a jog around the local park, both of them carrying two heavy safes in their arms while the Pro-Hero moved in front of them, travelling on a Segway. Kimitsuki trudged in pace with Izuku, exhausted and hungry as she tried to keep up.
Izuku ended up being the first to fall over and Kimitsuki stopped to help him up but then let out a long sigh, sinking to the ground and bending over the safe to take a breather before they continued.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" All Might asked as he turned to look at them, stopping. "There are only three months left! You won't make it! Wanna give up? Wanna take it easy and rest today?"
All Might stopped when Izuku tried to drag himself forward and Kimitsuki tried to stand up on shaking legs, dropping back down and letting out another sigh. He pursed his lips.
"Overwork...?" All Might said. "The 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan' was adjusted with your bodies in mind to make sure you'd make it in time for the entrance exam... You two haven't been sticking to the plan, have you? Overdoing it will have the opposite effect! Don't you want to get in?"
"I do want to get in..." Kimitsuki mumbled, falling over. "I just want to rely on more than my Quirk... strength like yours... but I'm sorry... I don't have enough money to keep up with the menu set. I'm trying my best... I want to be like you, too... I'm sorry..."
"I do, too..." Izuku said. "But I can't just get in... I have to work a lot more than other people... ...or I won't be able to catch up... I want to be like you. I want to become the greatest hero, like you!"
All Might stared at them for a moment before switching to his muscle form.
"You go-getter fans!" All Might said, picking them off of the ground. "I like that! But if that's the case, then you really can't rush things now. But I understand your feelings. Leave it to this old guy to adjust your plans!"
"But... you're not old... All Might..." Kimitsuki mumbled, but All Might only laughed heartily in response to them as looked at the two kids.
February 26; morning of the U. A. Entrance Exam:
Kimitsuki and Izuku came to the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park very early, jogging all the way to the beach and getting down to cleaning what remained. They had decided the day before that they would only go to the entrance exam if they were able to clean up the entire beachside before it.
"Whoa, you're really good at climbing, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku said as he watched the white-haired girl climb stealthily up the trash they had stacked into a small mountain. "You're like Neko-Chan!"
"Come on up, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said with a gentle smile as she looked down at him. "It's amazing up here... and the sun is about to come up, too. It's almost 6 a.m.,"
"Wait, I'm coming up, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku cried out and started to climb up, too, struggling a bit but Kimitsuki held out her hand to him and pulled him onto the top of it. "Thanks!"
"It's great, isn't it?" Kimitsuki breathed, pointing toward the sun that appearing over the horizon. "It feels even better because we wiped up the entire beach,"
"Let's tell it to everyone," Izuku said, turning around to look at her. "I know that you don't like speaking loudly – but one time, this time! Let's yell it out for everyone!"
"Okay," Kimitsuki agreed, feeling rather giddy as she looked back at him. "Let's shout... 'We did it', huh? We've got our entrance test later on, too. It'll be nice to get ourselves pumped up,"
Izuku pulled all the air into his lungs and Kimitsuki herself cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her own voice as the two of them yelled with all their force –
"WE DID IT!"
"Ah, I'm tired, Tsuki-Chan," Izuku said as he bent over his knees. Kimitsuki nodded at him in agreement. "I still can't believe we did it..."
"Come on, let's get down," Kimitsuki replied and moved to pull him onto her back, grabbing his legs and walking to the edge of the trash mountain, jumping down and sitting him down on the ground.
"Good work!"
Kimitsuki and Izuku turned, surprised to see All Might standing in front of them in his muscle form, giving them a thumbs-up and a wide smile as he looked down at the pair of them.
"All Might..." Kimitsuki and Izuku said in unison. "We did it... we did it!"
"Yeah, you two surprised me, you entertainers!" All Might replied jovially. "Teenagers are amazing! Here, take a look," He held out his phone in front of them.
"This is..." Izuku trailed off.
They were staring at the picture that All Might had pulled up on his phone. It was a picture of the pitiful two students, taken when they were attempting to pull the fridge with ropes. Kimitsuki was surprised – because their bodies had really changed over the past ten months. She felt her lean muscles, and smiled. It really did feel like they had come a long way ahead. She was proud of them.
"It's you, ten months ago," All Might told them. "You two did good. You two really did! The mirage of it is finally just barely visible... and Young Midoriya, you have certainly become a suitable vessel!"
"I feel like I'm cheating..." Izuku spoke up, his eyes tearing up as he looked over at All Might. "You did all this for me... I'm too blessed..."
"Izu-Chan, why are you crying?" Kimitsuki asked as she fanned her hands at him, trying to calm him down. "You did it all on your own. You worked so hard,"
"Young Kuroyanagi's right!" All Might agreed. "We'll have to fix those leaky eyes of yours. Now, it's time for the award ceremony, Midoriya Izuku!"
"Yes, sir!" Izuku replied and Kimitsuki looked at them in excitement.
"This is something I was once told," All Might said. "'Something that you receive because you're lucky and something that you are given because you are recognised are different in essence,' Take that to heart. This is power that you earned because of your own effort,"
Kimitsuki looked in anticipation, wondering how he would pass the power onto Izuku. She watched as All Might broke a strand of his hair and held it out to Izuku, who was also very excited for this.
"Eat this,"
"Huh?" Izuku asked as he and Kimitsuki stared at him, their entire reality shattering – both of them had expected something great and colourful, not a strand of hair.
"It doesn't really matter what it is as long as you take in my DNA," All Might replied.
"It's too different from what I imagined!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Now, there's no time!" All Might told him, holding the hair out to him. "You'll be late for the exam! Come, come, come!"
Izuku screamed.
"This wasn't what I expected," Kimitsuki said as she looked at the strand that Izuku took from All Might, staring at it. She noticed All Might turn toward her. "What is it?"
"I got something for you, too!" All Might told her. "The reason why I have been making trips back to Tokyo – I was working on something great – this!"
Kimitsuki moved her head back and stared at what he had pulled out: a black debit card.
"What is that?" Kimitsuki asked, confused. "Oh, it's a debit card, I have seen those before," Her eyes widened. "Excuse me... I can't take that... I'm sorry..."
"Why can't you?" All Might said. "This belongs to you – it's a card to your family's account! The negligence from the authorities kept this from you but this all belongs to you,"
"But I can't just..." Kimitsuki trailed off, feeling sick in her stomach as she stared at the card as her eyes teared up. "All my life... in the orphanage... I lived on the street... I thought... I had nothing..."
"You don't think your parents left you nothing, do you?" All Might said as he placed the card in her hand and patting her shoulders. "I have seen you for the past ten months and seen how hard you work and how responsible you are – you have earned this,"
"You're just like Hagrid," Kimitsuki cried into her hands. All Might raised his eyebrows, confused as he looked around. "I mean, thank you!"
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