"What do you mean by break?" Takuma asked as Mei was busy fiddling with the latest version of her air cannon.
"The school break, two weeks before the entrance exam!" she reminded him. When he failed to understand, she set down the wrench and skipped toward him. "School stops in March, and we start at U.A in April. The entrance exam is two weeks after the start of the break."
"Wait, since when do you have breaks from school?" he wondered, the idea seeming new since Mei never stopped going to class...ever.
She chuckled dryly before looking away. "My classmates have a break, but since I've accumulated a lot of punishments for being late or not paying attention in class, I've had to keep going to school even during breaks."
Takuma blinked owlishly. "So they've been stealing you from me this entire time," he stated, not quite sure how to react, besides maybe burning the fucking school down.
'I'm so happy I burned that fucking teacher's house down.'
"In a sense." She shrugged with a mischievous grin. "I made some booby traps. In two weeks, right after I take my end-of-year exams, I'm turning them on and never bothering with that school again."
"Hope it burns to the ground," Takuma spat, then looked at her face and rubbed off some grease that had ended up on her cheek. "So, if I understand correctly, you'll stop going to school in two weeks, and we'll take the entrance exam two weeks after that. But what are we going to do in the two weeks before U.A.?"
"Well, there's a week of utter mortification as we suffer through the wait, wondering if we'll be accepted into our respective courses," she bemoaned dramatically, sitting sideways on his lap.
"As if there's any doubt you're getting in," he scoffed, refusing even to entertain the idea of Mei not making it. "I'm the one who might be the problem."
"Nah, you made good progress with the test. Sixty-eight is nothing to scoff at, you know," she reminded him, giving his nose a playful boop that left a spot of grease on its tip. "And since the physical part of the Hero Course is going to be a cakewalk for you, we have nothing to worry about!"
Robots were going to be a pain to deal with. "Probably."
Takuma's phone rang on Mei's workstation. He grabbed it and opened the message he'd been expecting all week—from Midoriya.
SmallMight: I DID IT!
Mei jumped from his lap and quickly ran into the house to grab her phone. He waited for her to come back before replying. She ran back and jumped back on his lap, her speed nearly throwing them both off the chair. He steadied them as his girlfriend giggled at the near catastrophe she'd almost caused.
"Sorry," she told him.
He rolled his eyes and kissed her on the temple. "I expect nothing less from my favorite gremlin."
She smiled, then started typing on her phone.
BabyMaker: What happened?
SmallMight: I awakened my Quirk! I can feel it!
Mei excitedly slapped his shoulder as she gasped in surprise. "He did it!"
"He did," Takuma echoed, though he'd known it was bound to happen—it was only a matter of time, really.
BabyMaker: HELL YES!
TheGrumpyOne: good job
SmallMight: All Might and Gran Torino told me I should wait a week before trying anything with it.
"Now that's a waste of time," Takuma grumbled as he typed a reply to Midoriya.
TheGrumpyOne: stupid
TheGrumpyOne: come to meihouse
"Shouldn't he wait like All Might and the old guy told him to?" Mei asked after reading the group chat.
"Most Quirks are ready for use by the time we're four. Just because Midoriya couldn't use his until now doesn't mean there's any inherent risk in using it," he told his girlfriend, who nodded, trusting his judgment.
And since Takuma knew it was, in fact, an old, powerful Quirk that had just been passed on, waiting seemed like a waste of time.
"I'm telling him to come over. He might bring both Pros. Are you okay with that?"
She nodded, and he went back to the group chat.
SmallMight: Are you sure? All Might thinks it's better if I wait.
TheGrumpyOne: come
"Oh boy, it's been a while since I played the part of a Quirk specialist. Hopefully, I'm not too rusty," Takuma told Mei as he helped her off his lap. "We should probably make sure the house doesn't look like a complete warzone before they get here."
"Nah, it's good enough... I think." Mei jogged back to the house. "Heh, it's fine!" she shouted so he could hear her.
"So it is. Hopefully, Midoriya's Quirk doesn't hurt too much," he said, hoping they wouldn't have to deal with anything too troublesome.
One For All was already hard enough to manage in All Might's hands. He was mildly nervous about what it felt like now that the kid had inherited it.
Takuma's phone buzzed again, and he saw a message from Midoriya.
SmallMight: We're on our way. See you soon!
He showed the message to Mei, who responded with a thumbs-up.
Takuma nodded, feeling a mix of anticipation and nerves. "Let's hope for the best."
'I wonder what kind of mess I'm getting myself into by taking a look at this Quirk.'
As he walked back into the house, Takuma took a quick look around. Tools and gadgets were scattered everywhere, remnants of Mei's latest projects. The Balancer Harness was in production. He started picking up a few stray items, just enough to clear a path and make the space look somewhat presentable.
They worked together for a few more minutes, tidying up the most chaotic areas. The living room still had an air of organized chaos, but it was manageable.
Takuma checked his phone one last time, confirming Midoriya's imminent arrival. He felt a mix of excitement and nervousness, ready to see how Midoriya would handle his new Quirk.
"And then they were here," Takuma observed as he sensed the presence of three individuals approaching: two Pros and their protégé. His first realization was that All Might's pain wasn't as intense as usual. There weren't any loops of many minds threatening to overwhelm his senses. Midoriya's Quirk, however, felt like a dull thrum of unending energy settled neatly in the center of his chest. It had the same echo of power that All Might once did. It was an unmistakable feeling he couldn't miss.
"They're here, ready?" he asked Mei, warning her of their arrival as he grabbed the door handle.
"Let's go! I can't wait to see what he can do!" Mei replied with enthusiasm.
Takuma nodded, then opened the door just as the trio was about to knock. "Hello, come on in," he greeted them warmly.
"I see you are hard at work, Ms. Hatsume," Gran Torino commented, taking in the chaotic scene around them.
"I am!" Mei confirmed happily.
"Hello, I hope we're not intruding too much," Midoriya said, a bundle of nervous energy. The ball of energy in the center of his chest was hard for Takuma to ignore.
"We invited you—relax. We're just going to take a look at that Quirk of yours. I can already feel it," Takuma reassured him. Midoriya nodded, then stole a quick glance at All Might, who kept acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "By the way, is resting optional for Pro Heroes? Your Quirk is half as strong as the last time I saw you," Takuma added, looking at the Symbol of Peace.
"It is. I had a fight against a villain that sapped my strength. It should return to its original state soon enough," Yagi bullshitted without a hint of shame. "Also, I am not quite sure how you wish to help Young Midoriya. He awakened his Quirk this morning. Rest seems wise, as he has not yet had the time to acclimate to it."
"Oh no, he absolutely already has," Takuma countered as they moved toward the kitchen. "I've been around enough children awakening their Quirks to know the difference between one who has settled and one who has not. Midoriya is ready; I can feel it raring to go."
Mei patted Takuma on the back. "Let's see what you've got, Midoriya!"
Midoriya nodded, looking more determined than before. "Alright, I'm ready."
As they settled into the kitchen, Takuma couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and nervousness.
"Alright, just to make sure everyone here is on the same wavelength: there's no imperative for you to use your Quirk right now. The goal is to keep you safe until you know how to wield it properly. I have some knowledge in this field, though I assume both of you do too," he explained, nodding toward both Pros, who nodded in return. "I can feel Quirks, which allows me a greater understanding of what goes on under the hood of someone's Quirk. If you're okay with it, I'd like to get a closer read on your senses, to try to work out how to use it safely."
"What do you mean by getting into my head?" Midoriya asked for clarification.
"Nothing more than getting closer to your senses. Since you were Quirkless until recently, you probably haven't experienced what an Emitter Quirk feels like. Think of it like a muscle—in your case, an atrophied one. When I locate it, I'll suggest exercises to help you move it on your own." He continued to explain to the boy and his audience. "It's not really getting in your head; I'd just lower my mental wall and get a closer look at your emotions and overall physical well-being."
"So you're not actually reading his mind—you're just not blocking anything out," Gran Torino commented. "Do you do this for everyone?"
"I do," he confirmed as Izuku was getting used to the idea. "I tend to ask first before getting closer than I usually do with everyone. It's not like I can stop every stray emotion and sensation from being brought to my attention, but I feel better if I ask first."
"You can. If it can help me learn to wield my Quirk faster... then you can do whatever you want," the green-haired boy replied, his mind set.
"Then the first thing I'm gonna need you to do is stop thinking," Takuma told him, setting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We both know you're a fountain of knowledge about Heroes and Quirks, and I don't need my own Quirk to tell you're looking at it the wrong way. So for now, stop seeing it as a Quirk. See it as something that belongs to you, like an arm or a leg."
Izuku nodded, nervous but brimming with excitement. "I can do that... Do... do you need anything else?"
Takuma shrugged as he started to lower his mental barriers toward the boy. "I only need everyone else to stay calm, and everything should go smoothly."
Then he dove in. At first, Takuma felt a distant roar of energy emanating from Izuku. It was an overpowering force, barely contained within the boy's frame. The sensation was like a rush of raw, unrefined power, a stark contrast to the nothingness Takuma was accustomed to sensing from Izuku due to the absence of any mental link that usually came with an Emitter Quirk. He could sense the Quirk's presence, a vast reservoir of potential waiting to be harnessed.
As Takuma delved deeper, he began to feel the emotional undertones tied to Izuku's Quirk. The boy's nervousness and excitement created a turbulent undercurrent of feelings. Takuma could sense waves of hope and apprehension crashing against his mental defenses—the few that were still intact, at least. The intensity of Izuku's desire to succeed was palpable, intertwined with a profound fear of failure. It was as if the raw energy of One For All mirrored Izuku's emotional state.
With each heartbeat, Takuma's connection to Izuku's Quirk grew stronger. The initial rush of energy became more distinct, taking on a more defined shape. It was no longer just a vague sensation; Takuma could perceive the fluctuations and intensity of Izuku's power. The force was vast and intimidating, yet it was filled with latent promise. It felt like the heat of a fire that had yet to fully ignite, waiting for the right conditions to flare into action.
His entire being felt as if it were bathed in electricity; power surged through the link he'd created with the boy. He didn't feel pain—that wasn't quite what coursed through him. It was something far different than anything he had sensed inside a Quirk before. Because where there was the power of One For All, there were also... others, presences he couldn't quite grasp. He felt the first, the second, the third, the fourth, fifth, sixth… and seventh. The last one was stranger still, as if he had already seen it somewhere before.
'What are you?' he thought, not exactly expecting an answer.
Then the mote of... something… twitched. Takuma's entire being stilled.
'Am I high?!' he shrieked internally as what had just happened was far beyond anything he'd anticipated. 'Holy shit, One For All is a sentient Quirk!'
'Well, that's unexpected,' he kept thinking, observing the mote of built-up energy he was now sharing mental space with. 'One more reason to stay away from this stupid Quirk. Hope you're not too much of a pervert, whatever you are.'
The mote shook with what Takuma felt was... indignation. 'So, you can understand me. Good to know,' he thought as the shaking ceased. 'Got you, whatever you're supposed to be,' he sighed, scratching his metaphorical chin. 'So, I guess since you're going to live inside my friend from now on, I'll do the introductions. Takuma, resident Empath. I'm here to get a sense of how to best help All Might's protégé wield One For All. You mind showing me the way?'
The seven or so motes of energy waited a beat before one, older than the others, moved forward to meet him. It exuded a clear, pure feeling he didn't quite know how to interpret. This mote of clear white energy led him toward something—not a place, as space didn't exist in the mindscape, but rather a sensation. One he sensed had been felt at some point.
'Maybe All Might? This might be how he goes about wielding it,' Takuma thought as he received the sensation the mote had guided him to. 'Well, thanks, little buddy. That's exactly what I was looking for.'
Through this interaction, he learned that each mote felt differently about him: the second and third radiated anger, the fifth and sixth were mildly amused, as was the seventh. The fourth gave no reaction. Takuma focused, searching for something to connect with this feeling—a pressure, a sound, a balance, or color—something that might help him guide Izuku and help him understand what he needed to sense.
'Waiting here won't help me much,' he realized, starting to feel a hint of exhaustion from the deepest dive he had taken in years. 'Alright, thank you all for your help. Before I go, just a quick warning.' Takuma reached out with his Quirk to encircle the sentient motes that collectively formed One For All. Instantly, he felt a pushback; walls were raised and defenses activated. The motes retreated behind these barriers. None triggered, as Takuma hadn't pushed further. 'I don't have many people I can stand, and this boy is one of them. Hurting him would be the last mistake any of you would ever make. I may not know what you all are, but let me be clear—there are things out there that even villains fear. And I'm one of them. Don't. Fuck. With. Him.' His statement was accompanied by a wave of his Quirk encompassing the whole of One For All, not as an attack, but more like a warning hiss from a cat.
'Well, it's been a pleasure. See ya.'
Then he took a step back—metaphorically, of course—as he opened his eyes again.
"I assume you're back with us," Gran Torino said, now standing right next to Takuma.
"Yeash," he replied, slurring the word as his mouth felt like plastic. "Yes. The Quirk turned out to be weirder than I expected." He let go of Izuku, went around the kitchen, and grabbed a glass of water.
"So, how was it?" Mei asked, brimming with impatience. "Did you find his Quirk?"
"I did. By the way, what did you decide to name it?" he asked Izuku.
"Superpower," Izuku replied, taking a sip from his glass before hugging Mei from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.
"The name sucks, but okay," Takuma sighed, his girlfriend giggling at his matter-of-fact statement. "I got the gist of it: Emitter Quirk, an entire ocean of stored energy ready for use. No wonder you needed more muscle mass before activating it—you would've blown up if even a drop of that energy made it to your body before you were ready."
His explanation was well-received, as it was something everyone had already suspected. Mei, who was a little less informed, took the news in stride, not overly worried for now.
"Now, let's get to what I discovered during my deep dive," Takuma continued. "First of all, Midoriya, I'm sorry. But your Quirk is... haunted," he stated, to everyone's disbelief. "There are about seven motes of power making up the whole of Superpower, each with its own distinct emotion, which makes me think that these things, even if they aren't quite human, are sentient in some way."
"My Quirk is sentient?" Izuku murmured, not quite sure how to react.
"Your Quirk is sentient!" Mei whispered in awe from his arms, vibrating with excitement.
"Young Takuma, could you clarify what you mean by haunted?" asked All Might, now in his skinny form. He had likely stopped flexing while Takuma was searching through Izuku's Quirk.
"I'm not entirely sure myself—they were just kind of there, part of the Quirk," he explained weakly. "One of them seemed really interested in me, which was a bit strange. But other than that, I have no idea what they are."
Somehow, he could feel both Pro heroes coming to a conclusion he didn't care to get into. The less he knew about One For All, the better he felt; that Quirk was bound to be nothing but trouble. Still, both men shared a look filled with grief, which left Takuma even more puzzled about what was going on.
"Besides that, I have the first step needed to get Midoriya on the right track to use his Quirk without exploding his limbs," he told everyone. The news had the expected effect and grabbed everyone's attention. "If you're willing, I have a few exercises that might help you get a better grip on your new power."
"Yes, please!" Izuku shouted, before wincing at having raised his voice in his excitement. "Yes, please, I would very much like to learn."
"Alright, stand up; you are going to copy how I move," he instructed the boy as he moved to the living room, where there was more space. "Shift your weight from one foot to the other, making sure your heel leaves the ground while the ball of your foot stays down."
He demonstrated, joining the boy and following his movements. "This may not work, but right now, I'm fishing for the best way to translate what I felt to you," he told Izuku, who nodded. "Now that you have a good rhythm, I want you to imagine a weight hanging from a thread attached to the center of your chest. That weight moves opposite to the way you move."
"O-Okay," the boy said, adding the visualization needed to use most Quirks. "I don't feel anything at the moment."
"It's normal; a limb left to rot for so long won't move from just a few steps," he reassured the boy, who nodded while still bouncing from one leg to the other. "Now, I want you to imagine the weight hanging from your chest growing heavier by the second—so much so that it threatens to force you to follow its rhythm. I want you to let that weight grow as big as you can."
Izuku nodded as he followed the command, still dancing from one foot to the other. The visualization was going well, so much so that even Takuma could feel the imagined weight from the boy's thoughts. He hadn't raised his mental wall entirely just yet; he still had some work to do. As the weight grew, Midoriya started to slow down, fighting against the thread that threatened to throw him off balance. Slowly but surely, he was getting closer to the edge, where both movements were equal. When he did, when he needed that one gentle push to overcome the imagined weight, something twitched and gave him the edge.
"I felt it!" Izuku exclaimed with a bright grin.
"He felt it!" Mei shouted, raising both hands in the air in support. Only now did Takuma notice she was munching on some chocolate ice cream.
'Sneaky gremlin.'
"It felt like a weight in the center of my chest; it twitched, like it wanted to help me fight the weight," the bean told them as he got used to the feeling. "Does that mean if—"
Takuma cut him off by flicking his nose. "Don't even think about it. You're still not at the point where you should turn it on," he admonished his green-haired friend. "Safety first. Rushing along blindly is only going to get you hurt."
He was speaking from his knowledge of the show; he wasn't fond of the bone-breaking component of One For All. Given that he would spend increasing amounts of time with Izuku in the coming years, it was a no-brainer to try to keep the pain—and the chronic pain the boy undoubtedly earned from the first season—at bay.
"Mei, do you have any shot glasses?" he asked as he moved back to the kitchen, the boy in tow.
"I do; give me a minute," his girlfriend said, jumping from her seat to search in the cupboard.
"What is the next step?" Gran Torino asked, having remained silent until now. "I can see how you helped him feel his Quirk, but how are you going to help him harness it in a way that matters?"
"With this next step, I can't give him the answer, but I can definitely push him in the right direction. He's smart; he'll figure it out on his own," he replied to the older Pro. "By the way, what did you have in mind for him when the week is over?"
"Train him until exhaustion every day. None of my old students ever enjoyed such training, but it had a good track record for making them think outside the box or discovering a new facet of their Quirk. When the body fails, the Quirk sometimes answers the challenge in surprising ways," Gran Torino told him, which made some amount of sense to Takuma.
"And you?" he felt the need to ask Yagi.
"Well, in my years wielding my own Quirk, I never felt any need to think too much about it," All Might revealed. "In this case, I would have told him to clench his butt cheeks and yell 'Smash!' It always worked for me in the past."
Takuma blinked owlishly, then looked at Gran Torino, who sighed, and then at Izuku, who nodded enthusiastically. "This is without a doubt the dumbest, most asinine advice I've ever heard!" he shouted at the skinny form of the Symbol of Peace. "How the hell did you even come up with this?"
"Ta-Takuma, it's not that bad—"
"—don't defend him! He can't be trusted to teach you anything if that's what he comes up with when dealing with a Quirk that can shatter your very bones!"
All Might winced. "Now that I think about it, this might not have been my best moment," the man admitted sheepishly.
"To be fair, All Might did take to his own Quirk like a fish to water," Gran Torino revealed. "I only had to teach him hand-to-hand combat, and he was set."
"Must be nice," Takuma spat, his voice full of venom.
"I got them! Only seven; is that going to be enough?"
"Perfect." He replied while grabbing the shot from Mei. "Alright, Midoriya, this next step is hopefully going to help you narrow down what you already felt and expand upon it. Take a seat."
Izuku was only too quick to do what he said, brimming with a mix of excitement, hope, and fear. This didn't help Takuma much since he couldn't raise his mental wall just yet. He was hit full blast by the bean's over-excitement, and he wasn't having the best time weathering the assault.
He set the shot glasses one above the other: three at the bottom, one in the middle, and three haphazardly balanced on top again. Then he pushed a full glass of water toward his friend. "What you're going to do is try to fill those shots, but you can only fill them one drop at a time. And keep in mind, you can only let a drop of water fall when you feel that twitch."
The boy exhaled fully and nodded as he grabbed the glass and tilted it until a drop was about to leave the glass. He held it there. Seconds passed as he returned to his place, hugging Mei from behind. She held a piece of ice cream, and he bit into it, enjoying the taste before kissing her on the temple. His girlfriend let herself fall against him, using him as a backrest. They enjoyed this short moment of closeness, but Midoriya was still focused and had yet to let a single drop fall.
To his surprise, All Might knew when to shut his trap. Even Mei managed to respect the intensity of the moment by not speaking, although she couldn't help bouncing cutely on her chair, eagerly waiting for what breakthrough her best friend would experience next.
With sweat beading on Izuku's forehead and entirely focused on his task, they waited with bated breath. Minutes went by as nothing happened. Then, a single drop fell. Takuma let a heartbeat pass before speaking.
"Did you—"
"I did," Izuku cut him off, still entirely focused on his task.
Another drop, and another. The third time it happened, Takuma felt it too. Again and again, slowly but steadily, Midoriya was filling one of the shot glasses on top of the pile. To be fair, he filled it about halfway before the glass he was filling came crashing down on the table, spilling its contents.
"Fuck!" Midoriya said, uncharacteristically. "Fucking... thing." He let out his frustration.
Mei moved to clean the spill, but he grabbed her wrist. With a quick kiss on the side of her head, he whispered, "Wait."
Then he raised his head to look straight at Izuku. "It's a shame it fell. How could you have stopped this from happening?"
"What do you mean?" the boy asked, looking at the now wet pile of glass in confusion. Still, Takuma didn't miss the glint of understanding in Gran Torino's eyes. "It was crooked from the start. It would've happened even if I had dropped the water in another glass."
"You say it was crooked; I say nobody's perfect. Besides, with so many glasses to fill, it was only a matter of time before it happened," he replied, edging toward the answer he wanted from the boy without spelling it out for him.
"Nobody's perfect," Midoriya whispered as he recalled the words he had said a moment ago. "The pile is always going to be crooked; there's nothing I can do about that." The boy continued in a stream of thought.
Then Izuku grabbed a taller glass, wider than most in Mei's kitchen. He started putting the shot glasses inside it, piling them up haphazardly as he then grabbed the glass filled with water he had used previously. "I don't have to fill each glass separately if they are part of a greater whole... I don't have to care about keeping them upright if they are part of a stronger, greater whole," the boy mumbled to himself.
As the next drop fell, the twitch grew from barely anything to a surge of power. Takuma felt it; everyone else did too as green lightning danced across Izuku's skin for a brief second. Another drop, another surge of green light. Weak compared to what he knew the raw power of One For All could deliver. But for Izuku, this was everything.
As the boy's mouth opened to put the glass down, he said, "I have it," nearly surprised at himself.
"Are you sure?" Takuma asked, not because he doubted him but because someone needed to challenge the boy for him to take the right step.
Izuku stared at him, then at All Might. "I am."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Takuma said to his green-haired friend.
Midoriya inhaled fully and exhaled completely. Then he called upon his Quirk. The surge of barely held-back power scared Takuma shitless, but he didn't interfere. It was out of his hands now. The energy soared, spread, and was reduced to the bare minimum. Green lightning danced across Izuku's entire being as he then spoke something Takuma could barely hear: "—All: Full Cowling."
"How much power can you safely use?" Takuma asked as Midoriya, tears in his eyes, could barely contain the myriad of thoughts he was experiencing.
His mental walls were now raised back to their full effect, shielding him from the onslaught of emotions. Still, the damage was done, and he was slowly feeling the backlash.
"A-About five percent... I-I think," the boy said. The tears were too much for Takuma, so he looked away and buried his face in the crook of Mei's neck. "Welp, try to keep it at one percent, as low as you can while still wielding your Quirk."
The lightning lost intensity as Izuku did just that. "It-Its harder to keep it so low."
"Of course, because you risk turning your Quirk off," he told his friend as Mei petted his hair. "For now, and until the end of next week, your job is to keep your Quirk on and at one percent without losing control of it."
"I-I can do that," Izuku said, still in disbelief over what was happening. "I did it."
"Indeed, my boy. I knew you could do it," All Might stated, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "You should still try not to cry so much," he added with a smile in his voice.
"Welp, I assume now that you can use your Quirk without hurting yourself, we can start training you on other subjects," Gran Torino stated, a hint of pride in his throat. "I am sure the rat will enjoy the news too."
"I did it! I have a Quirk!" Midoriya let out a humorless chuckle full of disbelief. "I have a Quirk."
"You do. Now it's up to you to do what you want with it," Takuma said as he let go of Mei, who ran to her best friend's side and bear-hugged him.
"You're going to be the best Hero in the world!" she declared, shaking him in her arms. "Oh, I can already imagine so many babies that will help you!"
"Thank you," was all the bean could say, his words stopping Mei in her tracks as she caught sight of his teary-eyed face. "Thank you for believing in me, for helping me, for everything. I-I don't know if I could have done it without everyone here," the bean confessed with gratitude.
"You would," Takuma simply said. "You should give yourself more credit... bitch."
His last word earned him a laugh from the boy, who returned Mei's embrace, losing control of his Quirk in the process, only now losing the green lightning dancing across his skin. "This might take a while."
"We've got some time before the entrance exam," Mei reassured him. "You'll get the hang of it by then. I have a murder robot that could use a punch or two if you want to test your power."
"I would like that, actually," Izuku said as he turned his Quirk back on. "I feel stronger, but I don't really know how much stronger I am."
"Then I guess the best time to find out is now," Gran Torino stated as he jumped to his feet.
"Your strength will vary greatly from one percent to another; we should test it out," All Might said as he joined the quartet walking to the warehouse. "Do you have ways to measure kinetic energy, young Hatsume?"
"I do! And call me Mei!" Mei demanded as she led the way into her domain.
The door closed behind them, and Takuma sat on a chair, slumping over the table. "Raaaaa... aaarr... aarrrgh," he groaned, feeling utterly mentally exhausted.
He couldn't recall the last time he had dived so deep into someone's head while making sure not to read the thoughts and memories that inevitably tried to invade his mind. This had been the most difficult part of the session, and if he added being bathed in One For All power and dealing with the now-sentient part of the Quirk he had discovered, along with the mimicking process he had to go through with the oldest mote of power, Takuma was so mentally drained that he was slowly succumbing to one of the least painful fits he could suffer from. His breath slowed as his body relaxed, and slowly but surely, he fell into a torpor that left him a prisoner in his own body. Too tired to move, too tired to think, he fell asleep soon after.