Third Person POV
It was a nice morning today. Nice enough to go for a walk on the beach. But just one word of advice... think carefully about your choices.
"Ughh, why do we have to get up so early for this?" Ryoichi groaned in annoyance.
"You said you wanted to train Midoriya, and this is the price you have to pay for it." Akio reminded him.
"Yeah, but I was thinking about doing it during the Afternoon." Ryoichi said as he yawned.
"I guess I can agree with you on that one." Akio said as he rubbed his eyes with eyebags being a bit visual.
As they arrived where they were supposed to meet All Might, they heard someone grunting and saw Izuku trying to pull a refrigerator with All Might on top of it.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's pretty comfy up on this fridge, how are you doing down there?" All Might said.
Izuku kept trying until he slipped and fell on his face.
"So why is he doing this again?" Ryoichi asked.
"People move these every day, y'know. And most of them don't have any super strength."
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Not to sound rude, but there's an extra 600 pounds with you sitting on top of it." Akio said as he finished Izuku's statement.
"Nah, I've lost weight, so I'm down 560 these days. In this form at least." All Might said as he laughed it off.
The boys just sighed about All Might saying how his weight is supposed to make Midoriya much better from that.
"Great, much better. Why do you have me dragging trash across the beach anyway?" Izuku asked All Might.
"Yes, I've been meaning to ask that, what is this supposed to do for him?" Akio wondered as well.
All Might just laughed and pulled out his phone to start taking pictures.
"Take a look at him. He's not ready for my power." He said honestly.
"But I thought you said I was worthy!" Midoriya yelled in disbelief.
"Well you are but…" Ryoichi tried to say it in a nice way only for All Might to do it.
"I'm talking about your weak body." All Might corrected him.
"Huh?" Izuku looked at All Might in confusion
"My quirk, One For All, is a whole lot to handle. The combined physical abilities of everyone who's ever used it creates a hurricane of pure force. An unprepared body can't fully inherit it. Your arms and legs would shoot off if you tried to." All Might explained.
"Seriously?!" Izuku thought about his limbs being torn off. "Okay, so this whole trash thing is some kind of hardcore gym workout... and you're my trainers?"
"Well mostly All Might, but we're here for your combat part of the training." Akio corrected him.
"But there's another too. I did some online research yesterday. Turns out this beach used to be beautiful, but it's been a total mess for the last few years."
All Might was right, it was nice but because of the ocean currents, anything that's dropped in the water ends up here. People take advantage of that when they're illegally dumping their trash. Now all the locals avoid this place.
"Heroes these days are all about showing off and capturing flashy villains."
"Don't remind me…" Ryoichi shivered as he remembered seeing a fanclub searching for the "Mysterious Ninja Hero" the other day, and avoided suspicions from them.
"You kinda deserved that for pulling that stunt." Akio mocked him.
"I don't want to hear it…"
"Exactly. Things were different before quirks. Service was what mattered. Back then, heroes who helped the community. Even if it was boring." All Might said as he smashed the fridge with just one hand and sent other trash flying behind him. "You will restore the coastline for this entire section of the beach. That is the first step on your path, young man. Towards being a hero."
"Wait, he has to clean up all this? There's so much though." Izuku pointed out how much trash there was on the beach. "That seems impossible!"
"Young Midoriya, you wanna go to U.A. right?" All Might asked him.
"Well, yeah. Of course! You went there. So it must be the best school around, right? It's a long shot. But still, I'm gonna shoot for the moon!" Izuku said with excitement.
"You've got a lot of spirit, fanboy! But as I've mentioned before, hero–ing isn't easy without a quirk. Well, unless you're like Akatani that is. It's not fair, but that's the reality." All Might stated.
"Do I have to get called out by my strength every time?" Ryoichi thought, being unamused.
"I've got ten months until the entrance exam. I've gotta mold my body into a suitable vessel by then!"
"That's what this is for!" All Might said as he pulled out a packet. "My self–designed 'Past the test, american dream' plan!"
The boys looked over it and noticed how detailed it was. He even gave him a sleep schedule.
"Geez, he really planned out everything. Even a sleep schedule…" Akio muttered to himself.
"To be frank, this'll be super tough. You think you can do it?" All Might asked Izuku.
"Well… yeah!" He answered him. "I know I have to work way harder than anyone else to make it!"
"That's the spirit! Oh, before I forget, young Akatani and Mendez." All Might said, getting their attention. "I understand you want to help young Midoriya with his combat training, but given his current body state, I'm afraid we won't be doing that until his body is ready for that."
"Oh, I see. I guess that makes sense since the main goal for him right now is to prepare his body for your quirk." Ryoichi said as he and Akio understood All Might.
"I'm glad you boys understand this situation. But don't worry, I'll let you know when you can do some combat training. Just keep young Midoriya up to date with any outside training stuff, got it?" All Might told them.
They nodded in agreement. "Make sure you get this beach nice and clean, alright? Don't make any of us come down here and find out you're hardly trying." Ryoichi jokingly said.
"Hey, I won't slack off! I'll give it my all!" Izuku said with determination.
"Good, we'll see you around, Izuku." Akio said as the two of them went home.
As they were walking home, they talked about the upcoming entrance exam for UA and their training for it.
"So Selvaria's going in through recommendation?" Ryoichi asked Akio.
"Well, yeah. Given her status and her quirk, she would go in through recommendation. So, I'm kind of helping Alicia with hers since Selvaria will be busy." Akio said.
"That makes sense for her. You have a good relationship with each of them."
"Yeah, well, me and Alicia see each other as siblings while… you know my deal with Selvaria. Say, why don't you join her in the recommendation exam?" Akio suggested.
"It's not my style really. You know I'm not really the type for taking shortcuts." Ryoichi stated.
"Fair enough." Akio said. "You sure really are one hard worker."
"Mhm, but right now, I'm a hard sleeper." Ryoichi said as he let out a yawn. "I might as well rest for a bit before I start my own training."
"I'm with you on that one. I'll see you around then." Akio said as he went on his way home and Ryoichi continued on his path.
Ryoichi soon arrived at his house and when you're the son of a hero that was part of the top three and had their own agency, you think they would live in a big mansion right? Well you're wrong because the Akatani's roll differently. Instead of living in a big mansion, they go for something like this.
Anyways, as Ryoichi returned home, he heard some people talking in the living room. One of them was most likely his mother and another female but sounded a bit familiar. He went to go check it out and the other female he heard looked about his age, had a black ponytail and beautiful onyx eyes.
"Oh, Ryoichi, you're back a bit early." Yui said when she saw him return home early.
"Yeah, he said that we can help him later, plus I'm tired anyway." He said as he rubbed his eyes.
"I see, well then you can go ahead and rest up later to recharge. Oh before I forget, you remember Momo right?"
Ryoichi looked confused for a moment from his mother's words and then took a look at the girl and tried to remember her.
"H–hey, Ryoichi. You remember me right?" Momo said nervously.
"Hmmm…" Ryoichi was thinking for a moment to remember, until it finally hit him. "Wait... Momo?"
Momo smiled at him and then hugged him. He hugged her back as he felt happy to see her again. Yui was also happy to see the two childhood friends reunite.
They separated from the hug and Ryoichi saw how happy Momo was.
"I'm so happy to see you again! And you kept your promise." She said she felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes.
"Are you kidding me? Of course I kept it. Why would I forget my best friend?" Ryoichi said as he wiped her small tears away.
"I guess you're right." Momo chuckled a little.
They took a small look at each other and noticed how much they've grown over the years.
"You know, it's kinda funny." Momo giggled a little. "I remember that you used to be a bit shorter than me, and now you're the taller one." She said as she noticed their height difference.
"Well, by an inch, but yeah, I must've hit a growth spurt." He chuckled as he rubbed his nape. "And u–uh… you're really…" He was blushing now as he was trying to tell her something.
"Hm?" Momo tilted her head in curiosity.
"Y–you look..." He was trying to say something, but something in him was preventing him. Eventually, he managed to say something, but it wasn't exactly it. "Y–you look really amazing!" He suddenly burst out saying while he became a blushing mess.
Momo's cheeks turned pink as she was blushing as well.
"O–oh, thank you…" She said she stuttered out. " You look… amazing as well…"
They both just stood there quietly as it was getting a little awkward between them. Whenever they would look at each other, they would look away, avoiding eye contact.
"So… nice day outside, huh?" Ryoichi spoke awkwardly.
"Hm? O–oh, yeah, I suppose it is nice." Momo said with the same tone.
Silence filled the room again and things were getting awkward again. Suddenly, some laughter filled the silence and the two childhood best friends looked to see it was coming from Yui as she was chuckling a little.
"Ryoichi, I think you should go take that nap of yours." His mother suggested.
"H–huh? Oh, right, I'll just… go take that now. I'm clearly not thinking straight so… yeah." He said as he went to his room.
While he went to rest for a bit, Momo sat back down, covering her face up in embarrassment.
"This is not how I exactly thought this would turn out…" Momo said to herself.
"What do you mean?"
"I... It's nothing really. I'm just happy my childhood friend is still the same as ever and hasn't changed a bit." Momo smiled with a small blush on her face
Yui saw how she looked and figured what she's going through now.
"Oh I know that look." Yui said in a playful tone.
"Huh?" Momo looked confused at her.
"Oh, you don't know?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Akatani, but what are you talking about? I'm not following any of this." Momo admitted in confusion.
"How do I put this?" Yui pondered for a moment until she came up with something. "Be honest, whenever you were around Ryoichi, how'd you feel?" She asked her.
Momo blushed for a bit at her question. "W–well… I honestly feel safe around him, and he's so amazing, he… he's my inspiration to become a great hero one day." She admitted.
Yui looked surprised at her answer while feeling happy for her.
"That's… great actually. It's really great that both of you are really trying your best to become your own heroes." Yui complimented her.
Momo smiled from her compliment as she felt more motivated. "Mrs. Akatani, thank you. I–"
"I can also see that you have developed some feelings for my son. Am I right?" Yui said with a small smug–like look on her face.
Momo only looked at her with confusion again.
"Eh?"
"You're a smart girl, Momo. Don't you see it? It's love!" Yui said with excitement.
Momo took a moment to process what she said, and then became a blushing mess again from her response.
"L–Love?!" Momo yelled in shock.
"Mhm! And you're a lucky one too because my son is the perfect guy for you. Plus, you two would be a great couple!"
"M–Mrs. Akatani, I don't–"
"Honey, just refer to me as Yui. Your parents and I have known each other for years, so drop the formality on the Mrs." She corrected her.
"O–Okay. But still, I only see Ryoichi as a friend and I'm way out of his league!" Momo tried to deny it, but something told her otherwise.
"Ah, so you admit that you love him, correct?"
Momo paused for a moment and then realized what she said. "N–no, I'm not saying that! I mean he's way stronger than me and could be a better hero than me in the future. Plus he's your son, so it makes sense he would be way better than me…" She continued to ramble on to make an excuse to deny her supposed feelings while Yui watched, dumbfounded.
"She's really thinking hard about this huh? Can't blame her though, that's what young love do you." Yui thought before she snapped Momo out of her ramble. "Look, you're just having a hard time with what you're feeling right now. But, I will say, you treat him way better than the girls at his school. They are so much worse."
"Wait, what?" Momo asked as she felt some type of jealousy and anger, but kept herself calm.
"It's true. At first they hated him for being quirkless, now they just wanna be all over, only to use him for their own popularity." Yui said in annoyance.
"I… I see." Momo said as she agreed with her with some hint of her being slightly angry after hearing that. "He doesn't really think about those girls that much… Does he?" She asked, being a bit worried.
"Of course he doesn't." Yui answered her. "In fact, he finds it annoying as much as you do."
Momo sighed in relief hearing that.
"But, you two are kinda similar, don't you think?" Asked Yui?
"We are?" Momo said, being curious for the moment.
"Well, for starters, you're both kind hearted, really intelligent, you're more intelligent than him to be honest…" Yui said that part to herself. "And you two know when to take things seriously."
"Hm, it's true he jokes from time to time, but he does know when things are serious." Momo said about him. "Plus, he was very serious when it came to standing up for me, and… I guess I'm grateful he did that." She thought to herself as her heart started beating faster.
Momo thought about her feelings about her childhood friend. The same kind–hearted saiyan that would always stand up for her and help her to succeed her goals. It was as if… she was really starting to fall for him.
"Plus I'm pretty sure you have a shot with him."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you ever think he might feel the same about you back?" Yui asked her.
Momo blushed again when she was asked that question. "W–well… I…"
"Actually, don't worry about it for now. Right now, you two need to get ready for that entrance exam." Yui told her.
"Ryoichi is going to UA as well?" Momo asked as she got a little happy to hear that.
"He is, and he's got a lot of training to do, and so do you. So, make yourself at home while you're here. You can train with your quirk or hangout with Kari until Ryoichi gets up. I'll make you something to eat in the meantime" Yui said as she got up and left to make some food.
To pass some time, Momo practiced with her quirk by making a few Russian dolls that looked like her while eating a few snacks, but she was, oddly, having a hard time focusing. She noticed that one of them looked messed up as it hardly looked like her, but someone else.
"What is wrong with me? I know how to control my quirk easily, but why now of all times is it not acting right?" Momo thought to herself.
She shook it off and thought of doing something to get her mind clear. She thought about talking with Kari as she went upstairs to her. Luckily, she didn't need to find her room as she saw Kari once she got upstairs.
"Kari!" Momo called out to her.
Kari heard her voice and looked surprised to see Momo. "Momo? Is that really you?"
She then walked up to her and hugged her as Momo hugged her back.
"It's good to see you again!" Kari said as she sounded happy and they separated from the hug. "How's life been treating you?"
"Just trying to do better." Momo answered her.
"Oh, man. My brother is going to be so happy to see you. Unless he already did."
"Oh, we already talked earlier, and he was really happy like you said."
"Figured. You two were really close with each other. Maybe secretly even closer…" Kari said in a teasing voice as Momo blushed.
"I–it wasn't like that I swear! You always do that to us!" Momo pouted at her.
"I'm just messing with you, and you know that. So, what brings you up here?"
Momo was about to say her reason, but suddenly stopped. She knew she came up to talk with Kari, but something told her that wasn't it. It was like she forgot the moment she walked up the stairs.
"Uh, hello? Earth to Momo? You okay?" Kari called out to her, bringing her back to reality.
"H–huh? Oh! Right I just uh… wanted to… check on Ryoichi! Yeah!" Momo said while sounding a bit off.
Kari looked at her suspiciously, like she was hiding something. She just shrugged it off and understood her. "I guess that makes sense. His room is just right here actually." She pointed at his room for her.
"Ah, thank you. I don't really know my way around here, so I kinda needed some help." Momo admitted being at their house the first time.
"Don't mention it." Kari said as she went to do her own business.
Momo went into his room as she looked around and was amazed by how it looked. It looked like an average bedroom, a lot smaller than hers, other than the Marvel merch he has. From posters to figurines, there's even a shelf where he keeps his comic books organized.
"He has so much Marvel stuff. It's kinda cute… I guess." Momo thought to herself with a small blush.
She then found Ryoichi sleeping on his bed as it looked like he just lazily landed face first onto it, and still had his tracksuit on.
Momo giggled a little to herself seeing him like that. "I guess that still hasn't changed at all."
She walked up close to his bed as she knelt at the side of it. She looked at her sleeping best friend and was thinking of something about him. Whatever she was thinking, it made her get flustered and hide her blushing face.
"What is wrong with me? I never felt like this before, and why is it whenever I'm around him?" She asked herself.
She looked back up at him and still thought to herself how he looked a bit while sleeping. Momo then laid her head down on his bed and slowly moved her hand to his hair as she fixed it up, making it less messy, and got a better look at his face.
"Hm, now that I think about it. He looks a bit similar to Yui and Kari." She thought about how Ryoichi somewhat got his mother's face.
Just as she continued staring, Ryoichi moved around in his sleep, making her jump in surprise, and back away a little. He slowly opened his eyes as things looked blurry at first, until it became more clear and the first thing he saw was Momo at the side of his bed.
"Momo…?" He asked until he realized it was actually her and quickly sat up as he became a blushing mess. "What uh… W–what brings here… in my room?"
"Oh! I just um… I just wanted to check on you and so if you wanted to…study for the UA exam, yeah! That." She said as both of them were acting awkward around each other again.
"Oh, right, the exam! I need to get to training. How long was I out?" Ryoichi asked her.
"Almost an hour. I've already started earlier and thought you could join me. Unless…" Momo suggested to him the idea while part of her hoped he would accept.
Ryoichi thought about it and decided to join her. "Sure, why not. We can help each other with this."
"That's great!" Momo said, sounding overjoyed and jumpy.
"Besides, you sure want my help? I mean with how smart you are and your quirk, I'm sure you'll make the exam easy as–" He was saying as he went to snap his fingers, but suddenly, electricity sparked when he snapped them, scaring the both of them. "Woah!"
"Ryoichi… what… was that?" Momo asked, scared and concerned for him.
"I… I don't know…" Ryoichi sounded scared as well. "You saw that right?"
"Clearly! What was even that? Are you sure you're fine?" Momo said, checking his hand.
"I'm fine, I promise you I'm fine, and I want to know what that was too. All I did was snap my finger then… Boom!" Ryoichi gestured to the small electricity burst that came from him. "It's as if… it came from me." He said, trying to figure it out.
"But that's impossible. There's no way something like that could happen… unless…" Momo paused for a moment to think, until the most bizarre idea came to her mind.
They both looked at each other in shock while looking worried at the same time. Without even uttering a single word, they got up quickly and rushed out of his room to find his mom.
"Mom? Mom! Something's wrong!" Ryoichi yelled out for her.
They ran downstairs and found her in the kitchen, still making food for them.
"Ryoichi? You're up quicker than I thought. Must've been a quick nap huh?" Yui said jokingly but then noticed how they were panting as they were catching their breaths. "Hey, is everything alright with you two?"
"Mrs.– Yui, there's something wrong with Ryoichi!" Momo said worriedly.
"What? Is everything okay, sweetie?" Yui said in the same tone and walked over to him as she checked his forehead and anything around him.
"I'm fine, I'm not sick or anything, but the craziest thing just happened to me! I just woke up from my nap earlier, Momo was there in my room and we were talking about the entrance exam and when I snapped my fingers they just…" He tried to show her as he snapped his fingers, but nothing was happening this time.
Yui was trying to see what he was trying to do, but was already confused. "I don't understand, what happened up there?"
"It's not working now, but when I first did it…"
"Electricity sparked from his fingers!" Momo finished his sentence.
When Yui heard those words, she became shocked and was in disbelief. "Wait… Say that again?"
"Um, electricity sparked from his fingers. Is there something wrong with him?" Momo asked as she moved close to Ryoichi and held his hand while he didn't even notice.
"I don't believe it…" Yui gasped and they heard it, raising their confusion.
"Don't believe what?" Ryoichi asked before his mother suddenly hugged him close, surprising him. "M–Mom?"
She held him there for the moment and then pulled away as she looked happy and small tears were rolling down her face. "You… you actually have one! Then that means…" Yui said as she was thinking.
"I don't get it. What do I have?" Ryoichi asked in confusion.
"I'll tell you, just get your sister, now!" Yui said with some joy in her voice and left the two childhood friends in the kitchen
They only looked in confusion, lost at what just happened, and then shrugged it off and left to find Kari. They found her in room and brought her downstairs into the living room, where sat on the other couch across from the three.
"Alright, someone tell me what's going on. Does this have to do with me and Ryoichi entering UA?" Kari asked about the sudden events.
"Not exactly, but it does have to deal with the both of you. You two know how you're practically born quirkless, so it would be impossible for you to have a quirk?" Yui asked them.
"I mean, yeah."
"But that's never bothered us or Momo, right?" Ryoichi said as he gave Momo a small smile and she nodded in agreement with a small blush on her face.
"Right, but the point is… Oh, let me just show you!" Yui said as she could barely hold her excitement.
She held out her hands to show them something. They were confused for a moment until they jumped back a bit when the same thing happened. Yui's hands were sparking electricity, and she demonstrated some more as she moved her hands around and the electricity moved with the flow. The three looked amazed to see she was capable of doing this.
"Mom, that's so cool!" Ryoichi said, being amazed by his mother.
"Impressive right? But that's not all."
They looked at her with curiosity as she made the line of electricity disappear. Then, their amazement rose again as Yui made flames appear in her hands.
"Oh…"
"My…"
"GOD!"
They each said finishing their statements. Yui finished her little show and made the flames disperse. After that, her twin children and Momo asked her a lot of questions at a rapid pace, like it was a meeting with some fans.
"You could do that?! Since when did you have a quirk?!"
"How long have you had this?! Who gave it to you? How strong are you with it?!
"Your quirk is so amazing! Is there more you could do with it?!"
"Okay, okay, just calm down okay? I'll explain everything!" Yui told them as they calmed themselves down. "Right, the truth is, I do have a quirk. I was given this quirk by someone in my pro years. The only reason not many people know about this is because I got this around after your older sister, Lizanna was born."
"After Maize and Lizanna?" asked Ryoichi.
"Yes, so they were never able to receive my power. But you two are now. You see, quirks develop around when you're 4 or 5, but for you two's case, it never developed, because it was… harming you." Yui said with regret in her voice.
They felt some fear when hearing that, especially Momo. She couldn't help but think the pain Ryoichi and Kari could've gone through if the quirk never subsided. Ryoichi noticed this and brought her closer to him, getting her attention.
"Hey, it's okay now. We don't have to worry about it hurting me anymore, thanks to mom." He said, calming her down.
"I just didn't want to lose either of you… not again." Yui muttered that last part to herself. "I'm… I'm so sorry all of this happened to you. Seeing how both of you couldn't handle my quirk, I had to do something to keep you safe. But, still…" She said, trying to apologize for what happened to them as kids, with small tears forming.
"Mom, it's fine." Kari said, having her attention now. "You said you did it to keep us safe, right?"
"You don't have to be sorry for what happened to me or Kari." Ryoichi said in agreement.
"And, you're still my idol. I've always wanted to be a hero like ever since then, and I still want to try to be a hero that protects everyone, like you!" Momo said, still being the same girl who looks up to her.
Yui felt moved by their words and smiled with happiness. She got up and went to hug them as they hugged her back, feeling more happy for them.
"I'm glad that you understand what I had to do." She said and wiped her face as she fixed herself up.
"Now that everything's in order, you two…" Yui pointed to Ryoichi and Kari. "Are going to have to train until each of your quirks are fully awakened. Luckily, I know what type of training that's required from this, since the both actually ended up with my quirk." She told him.
"We both got your quirk?" Kari asked, sounding surprised.
"Mhm! You two are actually lucky for that. I thought either of you got one or the other, but I guess you ended up with mine, not that it matters."
"Oh, that makes sense I guess." Ryoichi said until something crossed his mind about the quirk. "Did… did dad have something similar?" He asked suddenly.
The room went silent when he asked that question. Yui looked like she didn't want to say anything, but the look on Ryoichi's face of him wanting to know, she had no choice but might as well tell him.
"Your father… he did have something similar. Unlike having fire and lightning, his were earth and ice." She told them with some hesitance in her voice.
"Oh, and I guess we didn't end up with either?" Kari asked her.
Yui only shook her head, while trying to hold back her tears.
"Well… you two still can try right?" Momo's voice piped up, getting their attention. "I mean, it is kinda sad that neither got something from your father, but you can't let that get to you! You still have your chance to show you can still try and be a hero. I know before, when you were quirkless, it didn't bother, and you still worked hard for UA, but this could be both of your moments to really show yourselves. To show that you really belong there with everyone else!"
The twins felt moved by Momo's inspiring words, especially Ryoichi. They've been together ever since childhood and she's been one of the few people that believed in him. And to this day, she still does. He and Kari felt more motivated and were ready to train now.
"Momo, thank you for that small speech of yours. I guess we really needed a little push to get started." Kari thanked her.
"And you're still amazing as ever. I'm glad to have you as my best friend." Ryoichi said as he gave her a soft smile.
Momo felt flustered and smiled back at him, with a small blush on her face. "Y–yeah, I'm glad too."
"Good, before we get started, how about we have some lunch? Can't exactly train on an empty stomach. I'll go finish making it while you three chat." Yui said as she went to finish their lunch.
As they waited for lunch to be ready, Kari as she pointed out something about Ryoichi and Momo. "So… you two are going to stop holding hands or what?" She said with a smug look on her face.
They looked confused for a moment until they saw they were actually holding hands. They quickly blushed as their faces became red and retracted their hands.
"N–no we weren't! Her hand was just coincidentally on mine! Right, Momo?" Ryoichi made up his excuse as Momo agreed with him.
"Y–yeah! I didn't see his hand there so…"
Kari only continued to have that smug look at the two, making them more flustered. "Ryoichi and Momo sitting in a tree…" She teasley sang for a bit, before Ryoichi threw a pillow at her.
"Shut up!" Ryoichi shouted in embarrassment.
"Come and make me!" Kari said as she ran off and Ryoichi began to chase after her.
Momo watched their fanatics but tried to hold in her laughter. She could barely hold it back and started laughing at how the twins were acting. It reminded her when they were kids and they did something similar to now.
"Those two really still haven't changed, and I'm glad for that. I've really missed this." Momo thought to herself in happiness.
After getting the twins to calm down, and filling up their stomach, their ten months of training began. Fortunately for them, they had a personal gym to do their training, which was just their basement but had the right equipment they needed, just needed to set things up. Just as they were about to start, Yui became surprised to hear something from Momo.
"You want to train with us?" Yui asked, sounding surprised.
"Not exactly. I just want to help out with Ryoichi's training, like how I'm helping him with his studies. He did so much for me before, back in the past, and I want to repay him for what he did for me. Please, I want to help him train for this." Momo said as she was dead serious about this.
"Girl's really that serious for my son, huh?" Yui thought about her determination in helping Ryoichi. "I mean, if you're really serious about this, then that's okay with me. You're welcome to come by anytime you want. For now, mind if you help Ryoichi? He's having a hard time moving those arm weights."
She got confused from how it was difficult for him to move some arm weights, but still wanted to help him otherwise. Momo went over to him and became surprised he was actually struggling.
"Do you need help with that?" Momo asked him.
"Huh? Oh, no, I got it. Just… gotta… lift!" Ryoichi said as he tried to lift the weights, but fell back when his fingers slipped. "…Okay, maybe I do."
Momo giggled as she helped him up. They both tried to lift the weights, but the thing was still too heavy for them.
"Oh! I see why you had… a hard time…!" Momo tried to say while trying to lift.
"Yup! Now come on and… lift…!"
The two continued trying to lift the heavy arm weights, but made no progress. Suddenly, the weights felt light and they thought it was them doing that, until they saw it was Yui that was doing the lifting.
"Here, let me carry this." She said as she took the arm weights from them and moved it with the rest of the equipment. "Phew! Sometimes I'm thankful I can increase my strength with this quirk, otherwise that would've been hard to lift."
Yui turned to tell them how training was going to go, but grew confused at the surprised looks the twins, and Momo, gave off.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked them.
"I can increase my strength too…?" Ryoichi asked, still shocked.
"Well, with your fire, yes. And your speed too, with your lightning, of course."
"AND speed…?" Kari said as her jaw dropped. "Bro, we gotta try that out, now! I can barely wait to get this quirk!" She said with excitement while shaking him by his shoulders.
"Kari, stop shaking him! I know you're excited but calm down!" Momo tried to contain Kari's excitement.
Yui watched them fooling around and was laughing to herself about it. It reminded her of the times they were kids and they played around similar like they are now.
"Heh, kids…" Yui thought to herself. "Alright, let's get focused and get this training, starting now."
For the next few months, Ryoichi and Kari have been training to awaken their quirks and their bodies to be able to handle them. The first part of it was to be able to summon the two elements, and the second part was to understand how to increase their strength and speed with them. While training, they also studied with Momo from time to time for the written exam.
"Man are we lucky to have you help us study. I mean we're kinda smart ourselves, but this is UA talking about." Said Kari.
"It's my pleasure to help you both pass the exam if we're going to be heroes."
"You said it. Though… how come you have never visited like you do now? It's been like 3 years, and you never thought of visiting?" Kari asked her.
Momo was about to explain but thought about it as it didn't make sense either. "Well… In my defense, I was going through things, ever since… you know." She said as she looked a bit sad.
"Yeah, I can imagine. The both of you were devastated when we left." Kari said as she put her hand on Momo's shoulder. "But, hey! At least you two are together again. Right, Ryoichi?"
She called his name only to see that he was sleeping on his hand.
"Ehh… Ryoichi?" Kari tapped him to wake him up until he jumped and was wide awake now.
"I wasn't sleeping!" Ryoichi randomly shouted.
"Yeah, sure you weren't." Kari said to herself while chuckling to herself.
"Ryoichi, have you had any sleep lately? You look… tired." Momo said, worried for him as she pointed out some eye bags under his eyes.
"Huh? No, I'm fine. It's just that I'm also helping a friend at school for the exam as well. And I may or may not have…" He paused before he let out a yawn. "Pulled a few all nighters to catch up."
"You did what?!" Momo shouted, becoming more worried for him. "I think it's best if you rest for today. You need to get some sleep."
"Momo, I'm fine. I can–" Ryoichi tried to reason with her but was stopped when she put her hand on his.
"No, Ryoichi. You have to rest, now. I know you really want to do this to make your mom proud, but you have to think about yourself now. Please, just get some rest, for me, a–and for your family." Momo pleaded to him as she was worried for him.
Ryoichi was about to counter argue back with her, but seeing her face being sad made him stop. He didn't want to make anyone worry about him, especially Momo. Just seeing her like this was too much for him to handle as he gave him.
"Okay, fine, I'll go rest. Only because you said so."
"Thank you, Ryoichi. And don't worry, I'll write down some notes and give them to you later." Momo said.
Ryoichi smiled at her and left to get some shut eye. As Kari and Momo were studying, Kari noticed something was up with Momo. She was smiling a little bit while blushing a little. It looked like she was staring off with that dreamy look in her eyes. Kari decided to shake her out of it as she snapped her fingers in her face.
"H–huh?"
"You were daydreaming for a bit there. Something on your mind?" Kari asked Momo.
"I'm fine. Just trying to make sure Ryoichi gets in so we can go into UA together." She answered and continued with the notes.
"Riiight." Kari said with some suspicions before she asked another question. "So is it just the notes on your mind or my brother?"
Momo's face quickly became red and got defensive on the spot. "J-just the notes for Ryoichi! I mean, it's the notes yes, but they're for Ryoichi so he'll be able to get past the written exam, which I'm sure he can do but still–"
Momo rambled on for a bit until Kari silenced her with her finger.
"Hey, listen, I understand how you feel for Ryoichi, so don't worry about it, he's got this." She said, calming Momo down a bit.
"I–I guess you're right. I still believe in him, but thanks anyway." Momo thanked her for calming her mind down.
"Don't mention it, and hey." Kari then whispered in her ear. "Your secret crush on him is safe with me."
Momo got flustered again when Kari whispered that to her. "Kari, for the last time, I don't have a crush on Ryoichi." She pouted and went back to her notes, while thinking on her words. "Do I…?"
Momo shook the thoughts away and continued studying with Kari until they finished up as she went home. The next day, Ryoichi would usually go home to train a bit and study, but he stayed back this time to help Izuku catch up with his classwork.
"I understand that you really want to train your body to… inherit One for All." He said he looked around for anybody before he whispered that last part to him. "But you gotta take it easy on yourself. You nearly fell asleep in class earlier today. And I thought I was the overworking one…" He muttered that last part to himself.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Midoriya said as he looked like a total mess and yawned for a bit. "Maybe I should rest for a bit…"
"Maybe's an understatement…" Ryoichi said as he sweatdropped at Izuku's looks.
"I guess so... I'll see you around!"
They left each other as they went home. As Ryoichi was walking home, he was talking to himself about his quirk and what's going to happen next.
"Alright, so there's probably a chance where I won't be able to master both elements when it's the day of the exam. But, seeing how far I progressed, I think I have some type of handle over it." He said as he looked at his hand. "Plus, since I have two elements, I wonder what happens when I combine them both? Will it make me stronger? Faster? Maybe both?"
At this point, he was muttering about possible theories of combining both elements. Hanging around Izuku really left some influence off of him. Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a hiss. He looked around for it, but saw nothing.
"That's weird… Maybe I'm just hearing things." He said to himself as he shrugged it off.
He continued walking until he stopped again to hear the same hiss, but it sounded more clear to be a person. He looked to his right and figured it was coming from the other side of a short wall he's now noticing due to him spacing out from muttering. He didn't bother to question it and then climbed up the wall to see where the sound was coming from. He took a look over the wall and saw nothing. That was until he looked down and found the source of the hissing.
Ryoichi saw a middle school student, most likely female from their uniform, that had purple hair, with two heartbeat monitor reflection shapes, and it looked like there was something hanging from their ears. She was holding their ankle as it looked a bit bruised and they hissed when she tried to tend to it. Being the helpful guy he is, Ryoichi jumped over the wall and landed in front of them, getting her attention.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ryoichi asked with some concern in his voice.
"Y–yeah, I'm fine. Just a bruised ankle…" She said before she hissed again in pain.
"That doesn't look bruised."
"You don't say…" She responded in a sarcastic tone.
"No need to be all hostile. Here, let me help."
Ryoichi went into his bag to get something for them, but she stopped him for some reason.
"I–it's fine. I can walk just fine. See?"
She tried to get up and stand still, but she accidentally pressed down on her ankle and nearly fell before Ryoichi caught her.
"Take it easy with yourself. Let me patch it up real quick."
Ryoichi went into his bag and took out some bandages. He wrapped the bandage around her ankle and fixed it up. She moved her ankle around and it didn't feel as painful as before.
"Better?"
"Y–yeah…" She sat up as she turned away from him in embarrassment. "I didn't need your help, you know…"
"Well, it's okay to get some help, whether you asked for it or not. You never know when you may need it." He said, trying to sound wise.
"I guess you're not wrong. Sorry for sounding mean back there." She apologized to him.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I do tend to be a bit sassy sometimes." He said jokingly.
"Heh, you seem like a guy who would. I'm Kyoka Jiro." She introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ryoichi Akatani."
"Akatani? You're Yui's son?" Jiro said, sounding amazed but tried to hide it.
"I know, I know. I get that alot. It's kinda annoying at this point when someone points that out." Ryoichi said in annoyance.
"Oh, no I knew who you were. I saw you on TV when you helped that Bakugo guy from that sludge villain a few months ago." Jiro said as she seemingly dropped her surprised act. "And if you didn't know, you're kinda known as 'The Problem Child' since they made it seem like you were throwing yourself in danger."
"Oh…" Ryoichi said as he felt embarrassed now. "W–well for your information, I only saved him because the heroes couldn't do anything at the moment, and he's my classmate so… yeah." He tried to brush it off, but still felt embarrassed.
"Whatever you say, Problem Child." Jiro teased him with the name.
"H–hey!" Ryoichi shouted as his face was red.
"I'm only messing with you. But, your reaction was priceless…" Jiro said as she tried to hold her laughter from seeing his face.
Ryoichi felt more embarrassed as steam was coming from his head and he couldn't get his words out.
"Anyways, thanks for healing my ankle."
"O–oh, yeah, you're welcome…" He said as he cooled down. "Say, how did you hurt your ankle?"
It was Jiro's turn to blush and get embarrassed as she turned away from him.
"I–I just tripped and fell, yeah! It's none of your business!" She told him, trying to avoid the subject.
'Yeah… simply tripping made you hurt your ankle…' He thought to himself as he didn't buy her story.
He looked up and saw a pair of headphones stuck in a tree by them. Putting the pieces together, he guessed that someone put her headphones up there and she had to climb to try and get it, but fell and hurt her ankle. Ryoichi decided to help her with the second problem as jumped up into the tree and grabbed the headphones.
"These wouldn't happen to be yours, would they?"
Jiro looked back and became surprised as she snatched them from him.
"H–how did you even know about these?" Jiro questioned him.
"Simple, I just looked up." He said jokingly with a smug look, but dropped it as he looked serious. "But, who would throw your headphones up there, and why?"
Jiro felt shy to answer him, but something told her to let him know. She was about to tell him, but stopped when she heard some laughter.
"Oh great…" She said in annoyance and tried to hide herself.
Ryoichi was confused until he looked behind her and saw other students from her school walking by, and they were quietly laughing at her.
"Looks like little Jiro making a new friend." One of them teased her.
"Maybe this'll be her first and last one when he finds out about her weird earlobes." Another student said as they all laughed and walked away.
Jiro was mad at them for making fun of her again. She wanted to march right up to them and hurt them, but she was more embarrassed that Ryoichi saw all that.
"That's why… Now you probably think I'm some sort of freak because of my quirk." She referred to her ear lobes and then hid them away.
"A freak? No, I don't see you that way." Ryoichi told her.
"You don't?" She asked as she was surprised when he said that.
"Of course not. I think your quirk's amazing. What exactly is it?" He asked in curiosity.
Jiro felt flustered when he complimented her quirk. There was an odd feeling growing in her, and she felt more comfortable around him. She unhid her earlobes and them to Ryoichi.
"Well… these just enhance my hearing and when I stick them into anything, I can hear things far away." She explained while still feeling shy.
"Wow, that's actually amazing!" He said, sounding amazed. "You're practically a spy with those."
"Really? Thanks…" She said as she felt more happy that someone is impressed by her quirk. "Since I told you mine, I guess you can share yours if you want. Unless, you're quirkless. N–not that it's a bad thing!" She said, trying not to sound mean.
"It's fine, I get what you're trying to say." Ryoichi said while he chuckled a little at her reaction. "To put it simply, I can control fire and lightning, see?" He said as he lit a small flame in hand, and then made small electricity sparks.
Jiro looked amazed at the display of his quirk.
"That's pretty cool. Though, that looks a bit small for a hero." She teased him a bit.
"It looks small, but there's a lot more to it." Ryoichi said in a smug like tone. "Though, I only just got it now since I'm a late bloomer." He said as scratched the back of his head.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Anyways, thanks for helping me." Jiro thanked him.
"No problem, and hey, maybe we should hang out sometime?" He suggested it to her.
"Sure, I don't see why not." She said and they exchanged each other's phone numbers. "I guess I'll see you around, Akatani."
"Yeah, see you later, Jiro."
They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Ryoichi made it home as Momo was waiting for him so they could start studying.
"Sorry, I'm late. Had to help a friend from school with catching up on some work."
"Oh, it's okay. That's actually nice of you to help your friend from falling behind." She complimented him as he blushed a little.
"Y–yeah… So, shall we continue with our studying UA?" Ryoichi said, trying to sound smart.
Momo giggled at his act. "Of course, we shall."
They went into his house as they studied for the exam. Ryoichi couldn't help but smile for everything he was given these past few months. His time being with Momo again after a few years, and having a quirk that he'll use to save and protect everyone he loves.
"Is there something wrong, Ryoichi?" Momo asked him, getting him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just… I feel so blessed." He said as he smiled.
Momo was a bit confused, but she understood his feelings and smiled at him.
"I feel blessed too." She said she put her hand on his, getting his attention. "I'm so happy to be back with you, and we'll be by each other's side, right?"
He felt his heartbeat speeding up, and he smiled back at her.
"Yeah, it's you and me Momo, always." He responded.
Momo nodded and they went back to studying. In the back of Ryoichi's mind, the thought of the girl from earlier came to his mind, Jiro. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he thought about maybe seeing her again in the future. Or maybe even at UA. Something tells him he's in for a wild ride.