Chapter Five
With the introduction day over, the students of Class 1-A were more excited than nervous when they filed into their classroom the following morning. The group of four had talked excitedly for much of the evening as they'd gone over the syllabus together and discussed what they now knew of many of their new classmates. There was also "Foundational Heroics" in their class list after lunch, which even Kota was visibly excited for.
The first part of the day was fairly generic, with a brief homeroom time for announcements followed by four standard classes such as math, Japanese language, science, and literature, plus foreign language options. Next came lunch where the food was both delicious and inexpensive.
Finally, the afternoon came around and everyone was in homeroom to prepare for Foundational Heroics. The classroom door slid open and Ms. Jiro walked in alone, dressed to the nines of her own punk-rock hero costume.
"Alright, guys," she said with a wry smile. "I know you've been looking forward to this part." She shrugged. "God knows my friends and I were on our first full day. So to get in the spirit of things," she flicked a card from her leather jacket and showed it to the class, the word BATTLE written in huge letters on it for them all to see.
"And that's not all," she added, picking up a remote from behind Aizawa's podium and clicked a button, unfurling racks from the wall holding numbered metal suitcases. "It's time for your own costumes."
The class gasped as a whole, clearly not expecting jumping right into such a flashy and well-known part of hero work.
"Each costume's been created from a private support company partnered with the school based on your government Quirk registrations and the request forms you filled out before term. So suit up!" She flashed them a thumbs up. "And meet us at training ground beta!"
The class cheered and charged for their own cases, all of them eager to begin.
Soon enough, the class was changed and making their way through the tunnel into the beta ground in a "The Right Stuff"-style power walk. Every single one of them was focused on Aizawa and Jiro, perhaps hoping for a look of approval. They did get a softening of Aizawa's expression and a smirk from Jiro.
"Before we begin, you should know that Jiro and I will be taking a backseat during this period." The class murmured to each other in confusion, but a flash of Erasure — red eyes and floating hair and all — silenced them. "You'll be having a guest instructor today and for several of these classes in the future," he explained calmly, then gestured up and behind them at the wall. "Allow me to introduce your guest instructor."
A shadow passed over them as someone jumped off the wall and flipped before landing before all of them in a stylish crouch.
"I AM HERE!" shouted Izuku Midoriya, the Greatest Hero: Deku and savior of Japan, his body flickering with wisps of green energy like tongues of ethereal verdant flame in all the glory of One For All. "It's a pleasure to be here to start your hero training," Deku said with his characteristic smile, his power dying down. "And look at you all." He gave them a thumbs up. "You all look awesome!"
As he smiled, Midoriya searched for four faces in particular, tears pricking his eyes when he finally found them.
Kota was dressed in a black body suit that stretched from his chin to his wrists and ankles, with red designs along the torso and white plating on the upper arms and lower legs, his forearms instead bearing large, navy-blue, bracer-style armor that resembled Deku's own Air Force gloves or smaller versions of Bakugo's grenade gauntlets. His face was covered in a piece of red, happuri-style armor that covered his chin, cheeks and forehead but left his facial features exposed, the yellow horns on its forehead bringing to mind his trademark cap. Overall, it brought his parents' costumes to mind while making it his own and showing influence of Deku and Dynamight.
Satsuki was dressed in a navy wetsuit under a sleeveless, knee-length, robe-like outerwear that resembled a closely-fitted ninja's outfit in jade green with yellow highlights, an emblem like a frog's foot within a circle emblazoned on the chest. A red scarf was wrapped around her neck and tied off, her hair covered by a cowl and a domino mask over her eyes to add a suggestion of shadow from the hood. Her limbs were also lightly armored and her boots stylized like flat geta sandals. It seemed Satsuki had decided to lean into the "ninja frog" motif while paying homage to Froppy's color scheme — or maybe they both thought yellow-on-green was just a "froggy" color pairing. He couldn't argue there.
Eri was dressed in a dark red bodysuit under a form-fitting white trench coat closed by a utility belt and emblazoned with a red medical cross on the right breast, bringing a doctor's lab coat to mind, and gloves much like nurse's safety gloves. Her capture scarf was looped over her shoulders and under the collar of the coat, and a translucent visor resembling safety glasses covered her eyes while her long, silver-white hair was looped into a bun secured with hairsticks styled after medical needles. She'd leaned into the medical aspect of her Quirk for her style, and showed clear inspiration from Recovery Girl who had been training her for the last few years.
Finally, Katsuma was dressed in a green, sleeveless tunic with red and black highlights in the same style as Deku's older suits, cinched by a black utility belt and slit up the front to said belt for freer movement, over dark pants with knee pads and shin guards. His forearms were protected by black vambraces extending from his elbows to his wrists and ending in white fingerless gloves with studded knuckles for punching, his upper arms bare to show his defined biceps. In addition, a red bandanna was tied around his forehead, his wavy hair hanging over it. A pair of escrima sticks were set in holsters behind his shoulders, and another pair folded in holsters on each thigh.
But what made him happy beyond even these kids he had known for so long being ready to begin their journey to be heroes was something seemingly far smaller. Between Eri, Kota, and Katsuma he noticed something else. Each of their costume's footwear was styled after his own red sneakers.
"Okay, everyone. Down to business!" Deku called, punching a fist into his palm. "We're getting you into the practical training: indoor battle simulations. You may see flashy fights on the streets, but far more of your time will be spent breaking up backroom deals, breaking-and-entering, and fighting villain's in their own lairs. You'll certainly see more than your share of that." He held up a finger as if to make a point. "The most dangerous criminals remain in the shadows, so you'll learn to fight on their turf."
Deku continued to explain the exercise, outlining the scenario of villains hiding a nuclear weapon in their lair and heroes ready to safely secure it, a simulated two-on-two heroes vs villains challenge.
"So who's who?" asked a slim, androgynous boy dressed in a wide, floppy-brimmed hat, a pair of empty bandoliers that left most of his chest bare to be covered by a hip-length cloak and Greek kilt, with sandals that criss-crossed over his calves. He also carried a short staff carved to look like snakes wound around it and with wings at the top. In other words, he did everything but scream that his inspiration was Hermes of Greek myth.
"We'll figure that out the same way life shows us," Deku said, picking up some boxes. "By chance."
Everyone lined up and drew lettered balls from the boxes, figuring out their teams. Everyone milled about finding their partners, and when all was said and done … a certain four of them were right back together, each partnered with one of their group.
"Whoa!" Satsuki croaked. "What are the odds?"
"Really slim," Kota said. "You don't think Deku rigged it, do you?"
"Kota!" Eri and Katsuma said indignantly, at the exact same time and in the exact same tone. They looked at each other in surprise and laughed. "Partners!" they chorused, high-fiving. Because they were indeed partnered by the lots they had drawn.
"Heroes A and D," Deku announced, "you'll be the first villains against Heroes L and P." The quartet stared at each other in absolute shock. A and D were Satsuki and Kota. L and P were Katsuma and Eri. They came forward and Deku looked at them with wide eyes.
"Holy whoa," he said, offering a pale attempt at a smile. "What are the odds, huh?" All four students looked at him and saw only shock to equal their own. There was no way Deku was behind this. Kota glanced past him at the teacher and assistant, wondering briefly if they had somehow set this up. But there was no penetrating those poker faces.
"Now," Deku said, holding up a roll of what looked like white tape, "all of you will get a roll of this. Capture tape. If you tie one of the opposite team up with it, even just one loop around them, it counts as a capture. All of you get one." He passed out four rolls of the tape. And smiled at them.
"Villains," he prompted, and Kota and Satsuki raised their hands. "Head inside." He handed Satsuki some communication earpieces and a map, then handed Eri earpieces for her team. "You'll have five minutes to prepare." They nodded and began jogging to the building. "Heroes," he said, and both Eri and Katsuma straightened up, shoulders squared like soldiers at attention. Deku chuckled and raised his hand. "Relax. You have five minutes to come up with a plan. Everyone else!" He waved for the remaining sixteen students. "Come with us to the observation room!"
As everyone left the hero team, they looked at each other and tried to smile with reassurance.
Satsuki flicked the map of the building to straighten it, trying to commit the layout to memory from her seat on a crate. The building's interior was full of blind spots, which could work against them as much as against Eri and Katsuma. She needed to be prepared. So did Kota, but he hadn't studied the map. She looked up from it to find him pacing back and forth in front of the fake bomb.
"You'll wear a rut in the ground," Satsuki warned him, a faint smile on her lips before they flattened again in concentration.
"Does it bother you?" Kota asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks. "How close those two seem to have gotten in just two days?"
"Well, they did meet at the entrance exam," Satsuki noted. "And even in that brief time, they went through some tight spots together. Kero, that would bring anyone close really quickly." She flicked the map again, knuckling her lips in concentration. "Besides," she huffed with laughter, "Katsuma shares her hero-worship of Deku. And unlike when he saved you, each of those guys wanted them for their powers. Dunno if they've made that particular connection, but it's definitely there."
Kota growled, his teeth gnashing. Satsuki sighed and tried to focus. Having known them both for the majority of their lives, it was clear as day to her that Kota's feelings toward Eri went beyond friendship. And it was easy to see why. Eri was sweet, empathetic, clever, and not just cute but downright beautiful. All of that wrapped around a steely core of determination.
"Do you want to play offense or defense?" Kota asked. Satsuki croaked in surprise at the sudden question. "One of us needs to stay behind and guard the thing," Kota explained, gesturing at the mock-nuclear weapon. "And one needs to go on the attack and try to take them out. I mean, we could both play goalie, but a two-on-two straight battle could let them get through on sheer chaos factor. Same for a double attack." He growled in the back of his throat, a tell for when he was concentrating.
"I think you'd be better on the defensive side," Satsuki said honestly. "With two doors so far away, you'd have only two easy targets for your Water Gun, since neither of them have very destructive Quirks. And my camouflage would lean to a surprise attack."
"I had the same thought," Kota said, clenching his fist. "But then, Eri knows us and will probably anticipate. Especially with Lemillion training her to do just that."
"So switch it up?" Satsuki prompted.
There was a pause before Kota gave a chilly smile and replied, "… No."
"No?"
"We lean into our strengths," he decided. "And cover each other's weaknesses. Heck, you do your part right and time will run flat out, giving us a win by default."
"Ready or not," Deku voice played on the building's intercom. "Your time starts NOW."
"Keep close," Eri said quietly, loops of her capture scarf in-hand as she and Katsuma, armed with his escrima sticks, made their careful way through a window and then down a hallway. "One more time: what's the plan?"
"Satsuki will probably be on offense," Katsuma said just as quietly, recalling everything Eri had told him during the prep time. "She favors flying kicks from the cover of camouflage or lashing with her tongue from a distance. So keep a sharp eye. When she makes her move, you engage and I make a run for the weapon."
"And when you find Kota?" Eri prompted.
"Get in close as fast as possible," Katsuma said. "He's great at long range but his hand-to-hand skills are average."
"Good," Eri said with a smile. "Gotta say, it feels kinda weird having to lead."
"Why's that?"
"Kota usually takes charge when we train together," she answered easily. "He's got a good head on his shoulders and can think quickly, so he always comes up with a plan first. It's not always the best, but when Suki and I point out flaws, he's quick to adjust. I guess we've just fallen into the habit of following his lead."
"You came up with this plan really fast, though," Katsuma pointed out and smiled at her with resolve in his eyes. "This is your chance to show off your skills, right?"
Eri blushed at the praise and couldn't help but think back to the previous evening.
After dinner, Eri had taken refuge on one of the benches outside the dorms, her chin resting on her hands as her arms were propped on her knees. Her hair had fallen over her face to provide shade in the fading day as her thoughts settled. As she brooded, as Satsuki would call it.
"Eri?"
Eri turned her head to find Katsuma looking at her curiously from the sidewalk. He shuffled in place, as if considering what to do next, before striding forward and sitting next to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Eri said, trying to keep the emotion from her voice.
"When my sister says that," he said a bit wryly, "it means she's not fine. Come on." He brushed the hair from her face. "We're friends now, right? Just get it off your chest."
Eri looked at him thoughtfully. She wasn't offended by his closeness and felt no dread at his prodding. To be honest, she'd wanted someone to talk this out with. It was why she was out here, ordering her thoughts and trying to rationalize away her … well, her bitterness before she spoke with Satsuki. Not Kota, as he would try to "fix" her problem instead of just listening. She appreciated his willingness to help, but it wasn't what she needed right now.
"It's the rankings today," she finally admitted, straightening up and looking at the glow of the sunset behind the buildings of Musutafu. "I mean, I expected to be at the bottom of the list, but it still stings." She sighed through her nose. "My Quirk isn't made for physical exercises at all. And it doesn't affect me, so it's not like I can rewind how tired I am or something. And I know it's stupid to feel bad about it, but I-" Her eyes began to water and she scrubbed them with the heels of her hands before returning them to her knees. "It still hurts to see my name at the bottom."
Eri felt a hand on her shoulder. "That sucks," Katsuma said, simply and honestly, without a hint of pity. He was quiet, letting her simmer, before he chuckled quietly. "But if anyone thinks you're not fit for UA, you definitely proved them wrong by beating that big thug Yayoi earlier, right?"
Eri looked at Katsuma, into soulful brown eyes and a soft smile … and she couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Katsuma," she said.
"Any time," he replied. "What're friends for?" And they sat together for a little longer as the orange faded from the sky.
What was it about this boy that seemed to make her feel at ease?
Eri's musings were severed by a sudden feeling of being watched. Both Lemillion and Eraserhead had told her time and again to listen to her instincts, and at this moment they were screaming that Satsuki was near. She tried to cast her gaze around without showing it, eyes tracking the ceiling and upper walls where most people wouldn't think to look. Gah, the steely blue of these walls would be perfect for Satsuki's camouflage ability, almost too simple to match the color.
Wait, a lump in the flat hallway … There! Eri flicked and flung her capture scarf just as something pink shot from further down the hall. The scarf met and wrapped around the pink thing — Satsuki's tongue — and the knot closed, Eri bracing her feet and hauling with all of her strength on sheer muscle memory. The scarf and tongue went taut as Satsuki metaphorically dug her nails in, but Eri had the advantage of gravity.
"Go!" she shouted, and Katsuma ran, ducking behind a sharp turn in the hall. Just as he disappeared, Eri felt the tension in her scarf slacken just a bit as Satsuki fell from the wall and into a crouch and Eri stumbled back a step, catching her feet out of habit. This was far from the first time that she and Satsuki had played tug of war via capture scarf and froggy tongue.
But as long as there was tension, her scarf would not become untied, and she would still have a grip on Satsuki. So she began reeling in her scarf, hand-over-hand as if climbing a rope, and essentially dragged herself closer to Satsuki, who had secured herself to the ground as strongly as any wall or ceiling. Once she was in close quarters range, they would be about evenly matched. Eri's had more intensive training in combat, but Satsuki was literally superhuman in strength, at least in her legs. And they had been sparring together for years.
But winning this bout was hardly the point. No, the point was to keep Satsuki occupied while Katsuma went for the bomb.
"Come on, Suki!" she shouted gleefully, slipping her capture tape from Deku between her teeth and unfurling the other end of her capture scarf. "Let's go!"
"Gladly, kero," Satsuki replied as she took out her own capture tape, and both girls screamed as they prepared to charge.
Katsuma kept his breathing regular as he ran through the building, making as much noise as possible and kicking open every door he could find. He had considered a stealthy run through the building, but they were on a time limit and this building had five floors. If he went the cautious route, they could run out of time before he even saw the bomb, and then Eri staying behind would have been for nothing and Kota wouldn't get to do anything at all.
It was on the fifth floor that he stumbled to a halt at the sight of crates and barrels stacked outside a particular open doorway, in complete contrast to the rest of the building that he had seen. Suspicious. He used his Quirk to wash away the worst of his fatigue and then began moving more carefully. He peeked from behind a support pillar and met Kota's eyes.
"You!" Kota shouted, and Katsuma ducked back behind the pillar to avoid a blast of water that had enough force to actually bite into the concrete. Oh, crud. And he was standing guard in front of the weapon, too.
"Come on out, Shimano," Kota called, his voice ringing with menace.
Katsuma tried to think. He'd seen how powerful Kota's Quirk was yesterday. And it was long-range, whereas anything Katsuma could do with his was short-range, at best. He made a mental note to look into ranged options for support gear as soon as possible. But the future wouldn't help him now.
Something else could, though. He dug into one of the pouches on his utility belt and removed some small black spheres. Another quick peek was answered by another blast of high-pressure water, but it also confirmed that Kota was in the same place as before. Clearly he wasn't going to leave the weapon unprotected. Smart.
Katsuma tossed the balls overhand at another pillar to bounce them off and further into the room, then closed his eyes and covered his ears. A muffled boom was his cue to move, and he channeled his Quirk into his limbs and head, then pivoted and charged from around his cover.
Kota was on his knees, hands over his ears and eyes screwed shut from the flashbang capsules Katsuma had thrown. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, enough that he saw Kota pry his eyes open and look straight at him before uncovering a hand from one ear and leveling it at him. Enough that Katsuma could juke to the side and take cover behind another pillar close to the weapon, barely avoiding another jet of water.
He relaxed and felt his head throb and his muscles ache, hissing with discomfort and pain. Cell Activation really was a versatile Quirk when you gave it serious thought. There were so many types of cells within the human body, from bone cells and muscle cells … to the neurons that made up the brain and nerves. Something he'd learned a long time ago was that his Quirk could stimulate his nervous system to speed up his reaction time, though it couldn't be used much without triggering a migraine and it tired him out faster than any other use of his power. But in tiny doses, it may give him the edge he needed to win.
"What's wrong?" Kota called. "Can't fight me on your own?" He scoffed. "I've seen Eri's Quirk in action and it's damn impressive. But you? You're just a poor man's version of her. You have no hope of getting past me."
Katsuma bit down on a retort. Kota was clearly smart and was saying exactly the right words to hit him right in the emotional heart. And Katsuma had always been a sensitive boy. He grit his teeth and locked down his hurt, focusing instead on strategizing. Hiding here wouldn't win them the trial, and realistically he couldn't count on Eri suddenly winning and coming to his rescue. He needed a way to get past Kota and to secure the weapon.
Plus, they probably didn't have much time left.
There was only one thing he could think of that might give him a chance.
Satsuki lashed out with her tongue, but reeled it back quickly as a distraction tactic. She couldn't let Eri snag her tongue with her capture scarf again. But Eri did take the bait and toss one end of her capture scarf where her tongue had been headed. With a flick of her wrist, Satsuki sent a ninja-style dart sailing at it. The dart hit, but didn't pin it to the metal walls. Rats. Oh well, new plan.
Satsuki stood from her froggy crouch and lashed out with a side kick, which Eri deftly sidestepped and retaliated with a straight punch that Satsuki ducked beneath. And so went their fight, trading blows and evasions like they had done a hundred and one times before. Satsuki felt a little bad that she couldn't help Kota, but she trusted him to handle himself.
There was no telling how long the girls fought, but it finally ended when Eri took a misstep that gave Satsuki the chance to snag her in capture tape and seal it. Eri froze and sighed, "Dammit," before settling onto her knees.
"I got Eri, Kota!" Satsuki said into her earpiece.
"That's it!" Deku's voice called. "The winner is-!"
Kota kept a close eye on the pillar that Katsu- Shimano had hidden behind. The guy had no stealth applications for his Quirk, but he'd covered ground way too fast. Cell Activation, he'd called his Quirk. And that meant he could probably do some crazy stuff to his biology to get faster and stronger, even in quick bursts. Kota felt his insides roil at a brief recollection of Muscular's writhing muscle fibers before he pushed that aside.
Shimano's Quirk, it's possible uses … It meant Kota had to be ready for anything.
He looked up at a flicker of movement and blasted water in that direction. What had that been, a piece of concrete? Then he heard tapping and saw a small black ball. Another flashbang! Kota kicked it away and closed his eyes … but nothing happened. He looked up just in time to see Shimano closing the distance to the weapon.
"I got Eri, Kota!" Satsuki's voice said in his ear.
Kota fired a jet of water, but it was too late. Shimano touched the thing with his full palm before he was blasted fully off of his feet to slam into one of the walls.
"That's it!" Deku announced. "The winner is the hero team!"
Kota felt his eye twitch. They lost.
Shimano got to his feet, his hand glowing with that strange green aura as he rubbed up and down his side where Kota's jet had hit him and smiled. "So, wanna head down together?"
Kota glowered at him and stalked off, Katsuma following behind in silence.
The boys met up with the girls at the bottom floor of the building, who had apparently waited for them to catch up. They were chatting and laughing, but it tapered off at the cold animosity rolling off of Kota and the nervous tension coming from Katsuma. The girls traded a look and nodded before separating, Eri taking place next to Kota and starting a quiet conversation while Satsuki fell to Katsuma's pace.
"Kota mad that we lost?" she asked.
"I may have tricked him to get the win. Tossed a small flashbang to get in close, took cover, and then tossed a dud to get him to flinch and leave an opening." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I barely got my hand on it before he blasted me away. Guess he's mad at the close loss."
"Kota can be hard on himself. He'll get over it," Satsuki said. Which was true; she knew he'd get over the loss. But it may take a while, especially with the other factors.
As Satsuki and Katsuma had been talking, Eri was trying to get to the bottom of it. "What's wrong, Kota?"
"I just hate losing," Kota grumbled, clenching and unclenching his hands. Which was true, so it wasn't actually a lie.
"Kota, I've seen you lose," Eri pointed out gently. "This is worse than that." She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Come on. What's eating you?"
Kota couldn't help but relax a bit at the friendly gesture. Maybe he really was overreacting. Eri was her own person and could make her own friends. Given her generally sweet and friendly personality, it was actually very likely that she'd end up friends with the entire class by the end of the semester. So why did Shimano, of all people, bother him so much?
"I guess it's that I lost to the new guy," Kota said, still choosing his words carefully. Eri looked at him quizzically and he tried to elaborate. "Look, losing to you or Suki, I can handle that easily. I've had enough practice. Plus you've both been trained by pros, like me. But the new guy-"
"His name is Katsuma," Eri interjected, her voice still gentle but firm.
"Shimano," he settled on. "He's told us he only trained with some old man his whole childhood. I just-!" He sighed. "I guess I'm worried I won't measure up." Not in your eyes, went unsaid.
"Kota, we're all at the same starting line," Eri said. "We're all learning to be heroes, prior practice or no. And Katsuma," she glanced over her shoulder with a fond smile that made Kota's stomach clench, "he's a lot like us."
"How's that?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically.
"He was saved by Deku. Inspired by Deku." She turned that fond smile on him and the feeling in his stomach turned from clenching to fluttering. "I mean, just look at his shoes! He's one of us, Kota."
He looked at the stairs they had started descending to the basement where the rest of the class and teachers were waiting for them to begin the analysis of the match. As they emerged into the observation room, he looked at Deku, with his bright and uplifting smile, his honest green eyes shining with unmistakable pride.
"Dammit, okay," he sighed. "I'll cut Shimano some slack."
"I'm glad," Eri said before skipping down the last few steps to take the lead.
"Welcome back," Deku said. "And well done! Now, let's get to the breakdown and analysis." He held his hand next to his mouth and stage-whispered, "Just so you know, this is my favorite part!"
The whole class chuckled at such an open "secret."
Chapter five is here, everyone! It was a blast to write, and I can only hope a blast to read!
*The class numbers are pulled from the basic UA timetable on the MHA Wiki, with a bit of Midoriya's narration in Volume 1.
*One For All - usually described as resembling flashes of electricity or lightning - is described differently here for a very specific reason. It's related to events late in the manga, so those who are up to date can probably guess why it's described like thin green flames.
*Eri, Kota, and Katsuma's costumes were influenced - for Katsuma, heavily influenced - by an image on Reddit. Whoever you are, I hope you're proud of some great designs. Link here to MHA Wiki to find it: f/t/Katsuma%20Shimano
*In effort to make Satsuki distinct from Tsuyu, I did a little research into frogs in Japanese culture. TV Tropes has a small page on Ninja Frog - most famously used in "Naruto" but certainly not exclusive to it - that gave the idea for her attire.
*Hane Toreka - soon to be known by the hero name "Mercurius" - is dressed styled off that very same Greco-Roman god, Hermes/Mercury. His hat and cloak are specifically called a petasos and chlamys, both traditionally worn by travelers and associated with Hermes, as are his sandals that he often uses his Quirk to grow wings from.
*Kota's Quirk being so powerful is derived from the fact that he was five years old when we see it in canon, and fire hoses are actually crazy strong with output at anywhere from 50 to 2,000 psi. And he has to be physically strong to handle the backward force. And for the record, he's still holding back.
*It's been very fun thinking up uses for Katsuma's Quirk. Cell Activation can have some seriously cool effects if you think it over. A few more of these will show up in time.
*Katsuma's nerve boost acts like a very low-level version of Overclock from MHA: Vigilantes or a very, very weak and focused version of Kudo's Gearshift. One thing that he doesn't realize is that, like those Quirks, it uses up the oxygen in his blood at a crazy speed as well as causing headaches and nosebleeds if used too much.
*Kota's brief flashback of Muscular was something of a late annotation to the chapter. It occurred to me in the final read-through and editing that Katsuma's Quirk might bring some associations. And let's face it, Kota has some pretty bad trauma of his own.
As always, I hope it was a fun read! Leave a review if you like! And may your own works be backed by mountains of inspiration!
