Tamaki supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when he exploded into a cloud of smoke during his training with Aizawa-Sensei.
Despite only starting to get good at using Float after three days of training, the active use of Inheritance must have helped it further settle within him and Nejire.
So, it would be natural that another of the past holder's quirks would pop up.
Tamaki even made sure to review what their quirks were again with Nejire, mainly to ease his nerves that they wouldn't have any more surprises like Float had been.
And there was even their dream last night to forewarn them that another quirk was going to show up.
Last night when they woke in the reef, along with the more abundant sea life, he and Nejire had tails of all things.
Long whip like things with the barb of a sting ray at the end, that really should have been the thing that tipped him off to what was going to happen.
But no, Smokescreen had crept up on him just like Float had, only showing up when Aizawa-Sensei tackled him from behind, and like instinct the purple smoke came out of him making the two them scramble to untangle themselves.
Unfortunately, learning to turn Smokescreen off wasn't as easy as Float.
He'd had some experience in manipulating his body but his control of it was harder to hold when he was panicked.
It was a quirk born from a defensive line of evolution so that really should have been clear.
But while leaving small trails of purple smoke behind him wasn't fun, he'd been surprised that Nejire had more trouble with the quirk than he did, part of him wanted to chalk it up to her quirk not being as physical as his own and therefore unpracticed.
However, he also feared that Nejire had the same problem because she shared some of his anxiety from, somewhere or some reason.
Then again... Nejire might not be taking the evil overlord after them now as well as he previously thought.
That would be a major point of stress that could get to anyone.
The appearance of Blackwhip a couple of days later was the first one they managed to predict, the tentacles on Yagi, Nana, and En's forms now on them as well, four on them each and attached to their shoulders.
So, when they woke up that day Nejire happily called ahead for them about another quirk that was going to pop up.
Nejire was the one to use Blackwhip first, having volunteered to try and find out which one they had now.
After a little playing around Blackwhip came forth, and then Tamaki was learning to manipulate the black curls of energy with Nejire's help, which was kind of like moving his fingers when he turned them into tentacles.
And after picking that up so quickly, Nejire insisted on the two of them sparring in the gym they trained Float in.
"Come on Jiki! It'll be fun and what better way to get used to our new quirks than by sparring with them?" Nejire told him as she dragged him to the gym.
Tamaki knew better than to argue, she was right, and Deku-Sensei would be there to supervise them and give aid if something unexpected happened.
So now, Tamaki stood across from a bouncing Nejire in the middle of foam wrapped obstacle course.
Deku-Sensei held up his hand "Okay, I trust the two of you not to maul each other but try to keep from breaking any bones, so no using the strength enhancer Hado, and the first to pin the other for fifteen seconds is the winner. If that is not met in five minutes, the spar is a draw." Deku-Sensei explained to them.
Tamaki's ears drooped at the unintentional reminder of what happened when they had tried to tap into the strength enhancer.
Nejire had taken to it like a fish to water, her energy quirk all about managing power input and output so she was able to safely use up to five percent of the enhancer.
He himself though, had made the mistake of trying to focus that strength into his hand like whenever used his birth quirk... and he had broken his hand as a result, and his only saving grace was that he stopped before causing himself any damage that would need surgery to fix.
Recovery Girl still threatened to whack him upside the head if he tried to do that ever again, and Tamaki really didn't want her to do that or yell at him again, so he'd hold off on using the enhancer for now.
There were plenty of other quirks that he needed to train with so he could set the enhancer to the side for now, it wasn't like he was neglecting his physical training in the process.
"Do both of you understand?" Deku-Sensei asked.
"We got it Deku-Sensei!" Nejire cheered with a fist up in the air, while he just nodded.
"Alright then, both of you get set," Deku-Sensei instructed.
Nejire took on one of the stances that Aizawa-Sensei had taught her while Tamaki dropped to stand on all fours.
"Ready," Deku-Sensei said glancing between them before he swung his hand down and exclaimed "Go!"
Without thinking Tamaki leapt into the air after forcing the pulse of Float to become stronger, dodging the float aided tackle that Nejire had tried to do, Nejire whirling around to look up at him a second later.
Drawing energy from his core he shoot out a single whip out from the back of his hand Tamaki threw himself through and around the structures in an attempt to out run Nejire, which was actually working out for him so far.
His training in the forest came in handy as he'd become far more used to taking sharp turns in close spaces and aware of the stuff around him if he didn't want to slam himself into trees.
Nejire was not used to having to slow down to keep from crashing into the structures.
He would not be able to outrun her forever though.
He'd need to do something to allow him to pin her, something that was much harder to do knowing that Nejire had been training with Aizawa-Sensei to grapple.
Tamaki could try to tie her up with Blackwhip, but he'd need to get in close enough to do that and he'd risk her doing the same if he didn't take her by surprise.
Looking up to the rafters there were some of the ribbons they had moved around them for training, and he shot up for them, ripping out a couple of them once he reached for them.
Seeing Nejire approaching he immediately released a cloud of smoke to blind her, waiting for her to blow through the cloud before dropping from the sky and to sneak away into one of the larger structures.
Knowing he wouldn't have long Tamaki was quick to begin setting up the ribbons then tucking himself away up in a corner of the ceiling.
It was easier to do with float helping to keep him up, but staying upside down would become troublesome if he had to stay like this for a long time.
Thankfully though Nejire flew through the hall not too long afterwards and exclaimed "Gah!" as she ran into the ribbons.
Not wasting the moment Tamaki leap and used Blackwhip, three coils of energy coming out of him and rushing to wrap them around Nejire.
"Oof." Nejire grunted as the two of them hit the ground, Tamaki quickly placing his hands like he would for a struggling deer, her arms were very well pinned so he made sure that his knee was pressed hard to one of her knees, and that his free hand would keep her head in place.
"Mmpf," Nejire grumbled trying to wiggle somewhat under him then huffed, sounding more amused than he thought she would in this moment.
"This is a good pin Jiki," Nejire happily told him, and Tamaki flushed slightly, it was high praise knowing that she had been training with Aizawa-Sensei so much.
"But you should remember to get all of my limbs next time." Nejire said before moving her free leg upwards and released a massive golden spiral destroying the roof of the structure.
Tamaki's eyes widened and he released Nejire to throw himself out a window and not get crushed under the falling equipment.
Nejire flying after him and starting another chase throughout the gym.
Nejire being able to catch up and the two of them fell out of the sky and began to tussle on the ground.
He tried his best to keep from being fully pinned, he was nearly as strong as Nejire was, but she clearly had more experience here and there was only some much he could do with only the hunting he'd done allowing him to keep from being fully pinned.
He even had gone as far as to bite her arm, not hard enough to break skin but it still shook Nejire enough to let Tamaki flip them around once again and he could try to pin her again.
"Okay, the match is over, it's a draw!" Deku-Sensei shouted as he ran over to them.
Tamaki unclenched his jaw, releasing Nejire's arm and moved to stand up, then offered his hand to her and pulled her up to her feet.
Nejire giggling bouncing slightly from her giddiness.
"That was so much fun Jiki, like I know neither of us won but we totally need to do that more!" Nejire proclaimed with a sparkle in her eyes.
Tamaki bashfully nodded, rubbing his arm since it was cramping somewhat.
There was just... something about using Inheritance to play tag or spar like just now that felt nice.
Which was a weird thought to have for him at least, normally things like this were scary even when he did them with friends.
Not a bad kind of weird, but still weird.
"You both did so good out there." Deku-Sensei praised once he reached them, beaming a megawatt smile.
"Especially with Blackwhip! You both have taken to it so naturally." Deku-Sensei told them before pulling out a tablet and happily showing them, both moving around using both Blackwhip and Float.
"I know right! And Blackwhip and Float need so much energy when used together! It didn't even feel that bad when Jiki pinned me, and I couldn't move!" Nejire cheerfully declared both of her hands shooting into the air with her excitement.
Tamaki felt his stomach twist slightly at the reminder he and the others pinning her used to be so uncomfortable for her, Nejire insisted that it was alright and that it wasn't like it ever did get to the point she felt like bursting, so he shouldn't torment himself over it.
"At this rate I might even be able to read while just kicking my feet again." Nejire added gleefully holding her interlocked hands to her chest with sheer delight that Tamaki couldn't help feeling some of it as well.
Nejire had once told him of her love of reading, and how she wished she could do it again, but her quirk got in the way of it, something that was clearly going to change soon now that she had Inheritance.
Deku-Sensei nodded just as happy for Nejire "Speaking of your development, considering the time between quirks is getting shorter, most likely the last three will show themselves this week." Deku-Sensei predicted, changing the tablet screen to a small graph he'd made.
Showing when they got Inheritance and the arrivals of each of the user's quirks, with the time in between indeed growing shorter and shorter with each one.
"Then that means we'll have enough time to train with Inheritance to still be able to take the provisional with everyone in September! Yay!" Nejire cheered and clapped.
Tamaki though felt his brain pause as he remembered that it was still July, not even a full month since he had taken Inheritance along with Nejire.
But, it felt like it had been so much longer than that.
Had he and Nejire really learned how to control and use three new quirks back-to-back in less than two weeks?
However, upon remembering the day and month, Tamaki made another realization that made his heart drop.
"Mirio's birthday is in three days, and I haven't gotten him any yet." Tamaki muttered clutching his head wondering how in the world he could have nearly forgotten Mirio's birthday.
Nejire gasped herself "Mirio-Chan's birthday! We need to have a big party and lots of presidents, and-" Nejire began to ramble only to pause and put her hands on Deku-Sensei's shoulders "Deku-Sensei, if we promise to avoid the cameras could we egg and TP Sir's agency?" she asked very seriously.
Deku-Sensei sighed, tired but fond, then a mischievous look passed his over his face and he smiled.
"If you can get Aizawa-Sensei to watch over you while doing it, then yes you can TP his house, no egging though. That's just a waste of good food that could be used to feed someone else." Deku-Sensei answered.
Nejire nodded sagely "Understood, I shall text the others we ride at dawn." Nejire promised.
"And you don't need to worry about planning a big party either, Togata-San has already arranged something with me so just make sure to bring a coat and whatever presents you're going to get him." Deku-Sensei added a moment later.
Nejire merely looked excited at the thought and tried to pepper him with questions over the party Togata-San and Deku-Sensei had planned.
Tamaki though was lost in his mind wondering just what he should get Mirio.
A card wouldn't feel right, and he wasn't sure just what he could get Mirio on such short notice either, but he had to get Mirio something good.
Mirio deserved to get something really nice this time after everything that had happened in the last couple of months.
But what?
It had to be something… big. Really big that could be helpful to Mirio in some way.
After a moment though, the memory of how he and Mirio became friends came to mind and then how their friendship had grown in the coming days.
That memory had given Tamaki an idea, but it was rather wild to try to pull something like that off on such short notice.
Then the day before the sports festival came to mind and all of the dozens of plushies and banners in the hall.
Timidly Tamaki stepped forward and tugged on Deku-Sensei's shirt, interrupting Nejire's barrage of questions.
"Yes Amajiki-San?" Deku-sensei asked him curious.
Tamaki ducked his head, and his fingers fidgeted with each other as he gathered up the courage to ask "D-Do you think you could, help me with Mirio's present?"
Deku-Sensei smiled gently to him, nodding and softly asked "What do you have in mind?"
Aizawa *Getting ready to train the energy gremlin*
Nejire *Tackles him: Sensei! Sensei! Sensei!
Aizawa, eye twitching: What problem child?
Nejire, holding his shoulders: Deku-Sensei will give us permission to TP Sir's house if you supervise us.
Aizawa:...
Nejire: Are you down?
Aizawa: How many times?
Nejire: Yes.
Aizawa, the original poster child for spite: This is acceptable, I will meet you after patrol with Yamada's stash.
Nejire *Cackles chaotically*