Chapter Twenty-Six

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea," Mina muttered nervously.

I looked over at her, as we walked down my street. "What? Why? Pinky, you're awesome. They'll love you," I reassured her, home a hundred feet away. I'd passed along the invitation from my parents, and, after training with Momo on Wednesday, we'd headed back to my house.

Mina was in a nice shirt and skirt, a bit conservative for her normal wear, but as 'meet-his-parents' clothes, they were fine. I mean, I hoped it was fine. What if it wasn't? I had, like, no experience with this kind of thing, let alone in future-Japan. What if there was something obvious I was missing? What if they didn't like-

I shook my, dispelling the thoughts. "Come on, Pinky. Where's that fearless, rush in, damn the consequences attitude?" I smiled, even if it was a little forced.

"I can't rush in now, Sparky," she countered, as we got to my front door, "We're already here!". I raised my hand to open it, only for her to squeak "Wait!" I looked at her, and she slipped out a mirror, checking her hair and makeup, finding them just as fine as they were a few minutes ago, taking a few deep breaths, and nodding to me.

Rolling my eyes, quashing my own nervousness, I opened the door, announcing, "Mom, Dad, we're home."

"We're in the kitchen, honey!" my mother called back. "Did you bring your girlfriend?"

Mina froze, halfway through taking off her shoes. "I did Mom," I replied. "Didn't you get my text?"

"Oh, you responded!" she replied after a moment, "Silly me."

Sharing a smile with Mina over technology-challenged family, we walked in. My parents were in their normal positions, my mother in the kitchen, making dinner, my father, with his tea, at the dining table. "Um, Mom, Dad, this is Mina Ashido," I presented, a little awkwardly.

My father put down his computer, looking over at my girlfriend. After meeting her eyes, he nodded, "Suguru Kaminari. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for saving my son's life during the UA entrance exam."

Mina blinked, then smiled. "Oh, you're welcome? I just saw he was in trouble and just kinda moved, ya know?" she shrugged.

Dad, nodded, smiling slightly. "I have had a moment or two like that myself."

That exchange gave my mother time to come over, grinning broadly. "Oh, you're even cuter in person!" she practically cheered, rushing up to Mina and picking her up in a hug, lifting my girlfriend off the ground for a minute as Mina looked over to me, unsure, and a little panicked.

A couple seconds later, Mina was back on the ground, though my mother didn't quite let her go, stepping back, looking across at the girl, smiling, with her hands on my girlfriend's shoulders. "I'm so glad you came! Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Hideko, but you can call me Mom!"

" Hideko," my father noted, fondly, but a little exasperated.

My mom just grinned wider, "Oh, fine, you can call me Hideko. Now, have a seat, and I'll get you something to drink. Tea? Coffee? Water? Milk?"

"Um, tea please," Mina asked, my mother not letting go and looking at her expectantly. "Tea please. . . Hideko?"

Shooting the girl a grin, my mom bustled off to the kitchen. Moving over, I got Mina's chair for her, and took my seat across from my father, who noted, "You'll have to excuse my wife. She's a bit enthusiastic, as you are the first girl he's brought home."

"You haven't. . .?" my girlfriend asked, looking over to me.

Relieved this was going well, I replied, "Nope, you're my first."

She blushed, freezing for a moment as she processed the accidental innuendo, before shooting back, "And hopefully your last, Mister." She froze again, as she sent a worried look my father's way.

He, however, just blandly took a sip of his sea, mostly covering his slight smile, more a quirk of the side of his mouth than anything else.

My mother came over, carrying Mina's drink, and asking "Denki, could you help me set the table?"

I nodded, slipping to electric form to slide away from the table faster, using it to quickly set things up. My father turned back to his computer and wrapped up whatever he was doing while Mina waited, accepting some of the dishes I passed her and putting them down.

Soon enough, we were all seated, and eating. "This is really good!" commented Mina between bites.

"Thank you!" my mother replied smiling. "So, what are things like at UA? Denki just tells me things are going 'good', but, well, you know how boys can be."

"Oh, it's great!" Mina replied, and, with a safe topic, easily talked about classes, and how I was helping her, which provoked surprised glances from my parents. Those were sadly understandable, as my grades had been lackluster in middle school, but the disbelief faded as she continued, talking about how she was doing the same with me in Hero Art History. "And he's been helping me make my own support items! Along with Hatsume," she stated, mentioning Mei more out of obligation than appreciation.

"Who?" my mom asked, confused.

"I believe that's the Support Course student he works with in the morning," my father noted, looking to me for confirmation, and I nodded.

Remembering, my mother nodded as well, "Oh, yes, you've mentioned him before."

That got Mina's attention. "Him? Hatsume's a girl."

My mother turned to me, as if I'd done something wrong, "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about her? Why didn't you mention your friend was a girl?"

"Because it doesn't matter?" I replied, suddenly on the spot. "Mei being female is secondary, if not tertiary, or more, to her being an inventor, and a damn good one. Also, all my friends nowadays are girls, Mom. Haru, Taichi, and Koji all decided to go to Horikoshi High, and I haven't really talked to them since I got into UA."

" All?" my mom asked, like a bloodhound sniffing out gossip.

I sighed, as Mina giggled, my mother shooting her a conspiratorial smile, before pinning me with a 'go on' look. "Momo Yaoyorozu is a mutual friend of ours. She got in on recommendation, and, academically, is top of our class. She's nice, if a bit sheltered. Um, Mina," I said, offloading the question, "how'd you describe her?"

My girlfriend considered that. "Sweet, Smart, and super rich," she declared. "But, not, like, in your face about it."

"Mina, Mei, and Momo?" my father noted. "I think I'm noticing a pattern. But you never liked your cousin Miho."

"That's because she's a narcissistic idiot," I commented dryly. "I like them because of who they are, not because of their names."

"I don't know, you were kinda friendly with Midoriya," Mina teased, my mother perking up.

"Okay, one, Izuku is a good kid, just in way over his head, and looked like he needed some help. We've not hung out in any non-school context at all," I countered, giving my mom a significant look as I emphasized Deku's gender. " He's got a strong Quirk, but he's had only a little longer than I've realized I could do the same thing you could, dad, to develop it."

"And he still got in? Impressive," my father noted.

"And if I was going with that, I'd be friends with Minoru Minetta, which I'm not," I finished, giving the pinkette a reproachful glance.

Mina just nodded, "Point. I wanted to like the little guy, but. . ."

I nodded as well, sighing, looking to my inquisitive parents. "The other guy that saved me in the entrance exam. He's a. . ." I trailed off, trying to figure out how to phrase it politely.

"Pervert," my girlfriend stated flatly.

"Yeah, that," I shrugged. "I don't know what his deal is, and he's good in the class exercises, but, well, it's grating, especially when he's talking about my friends."

I was still nice to the guy, but his comments after the USJ had soured things between us. I wished him well, and hoped he'd grow up, but he could do so without me there. He'd gravitated towards Sato and Shoji, neither of which shared his. . . passion, but both were willing to put up with his eccentricities.

"I had a few of those in my class when I was your age," My mother nodded to Mina, before looking at me. "I'm glad you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd, Denki."

I winced, from knowledge that Canon Denki would've done exactly that, but also at the implication. "It's UA. It doesn't really have a bad crowd. At least the Hero Courses don't."

"I can still be glad my baby isn't a delinquent," my mother insisted with a prim tone, and a teasing smile.

I just rolled my eyes, responding with a "Yes, Mom," as the conversation turned to something else.

We finished dinner, no more bombshells dropped and with an open invitation to do so again, just needing to warn my Mom when my girlfriend was coming over again so she could cook enough for four. Walking Mina back to the station, I was happy with how things went, and said so.

"Yeah," Mina agreed, grinning, and obviously relieved. "I can tell your Mom likes me. And I think your Dad does too."

"He does," I confirmed. "He just doesn't talk a lot. I get it from my mom."

She bumped my shoulder with hers as we walked, "I can tell. Also, she looks super young. Are you gonna be looking that good when I'm old and grey?"

"You're never gonna be old and grey," I reminded her. "And if you were, and I still looked like this, I wouldn't care."

"Oh, right, forgot about that," she mused, before shaking her head. "And I already had dessert, Sparky. Any more sweetness and I'm gonna be sick," my girlfriend teased.

Smiling, I shrugged. "Eh, I'm just telling the truth. So, when do I get to meet your parents?"

Mina paused, mid-step, before walking again. "They, um, kinda have to know about ya first," she replied with a wince.

". . . Know that I exist as your boyfriend, or know that I exist at all?" I questioned, not sure what to do with this information.

"They know that you exist," she quickly reassured me, adding under her breath, " As a classmate."

"Mina," I asked pointedly, "Do your parents know we're even friends?"

She grimaced. "They will! Just. . . later."

"Are. . . are you ashamed of me or something?" I questioned, feeling a little hurt.

"No! No, it's not you, it's me," she tried to joke, but it fell flat. "It's just, my dad is, like, super protective. Like, your parents are awesome, and super welcoming, but my dad and my brothers wouldn't be. My mom would love you, I'm sure, but, well, they, um, they kinda threatenedeveryboyI'veeverbroughthome," she mumbled in a rush, turning to face me. "And I know you, and you'd be all like, 'Hah, yeah, no', and they'd make it worse, and then, well, I know you wouldn't start the fight, not physically, but they might, and I really don't want to go through that again and I do like you so-"

I cut her off, stepping forward to hug her. "I'm not going anywhere Mina. You know that's more true now than ever." Letting her go, I took a step back, hands on her shoulders as I assured her, "If you want to take time, we've got tons. I'll just make sure not to kiss you on national television, though mentioning I'm your friend is probably a good idea. We'll be working together for the group event, after all."

"If we both get that far," she countered.

"Since we'll both be working together for the group event, after all," I repeated, giving her an easy smile. "But it's gonna be clear as day, just from how we act, that we get along better than, say, Midoriya and Kirishima."

She laughed, nodding, "Or Bakugo and literally anyone else. Okay, fine, but. . . don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't, but I'm already sure that, whatever happens, it'll be worth it," I smiled.

Groaning as she rolled her eyes, she pulled away from me, heading towards the train station. "We better go, unless you want to explain to my dad how you gave me diabetes."

"I'm sorry sir, your daughter is so sweet, I thought she was ninety percent sugar by volume already," I mock apologized. "She certainly tastes like it."

Mina's horrified, yet undeniably amused "Spar-ky!" was an excellent way to end the night.

Friday afternoon I sped around the gym, getting used to moving quickly around a flat space, the edges of the 'arena' marked out. With my power, and my lack of any mid-air movement ability, I was more likely to lose from a ring-out then I was from actually, you know, being beaten. I had no idea if my regeneration was increasing with time and use, but, short of some really nasty experimentation, I wouldn't find out.

The more I worked with One for All, however, the more I was getting a handle on it. In some ways, I wished it was growing faster, so I could redline myself if needed, like Midoriya, but, while I'd seen some progress, mostly in ease of use, it'd been incremental. However, the longer I used it, the better I understood it, and the greater my understanding of the fact that it wasn't just a strength increase.

Don't get me wrong, there was that as well. Heck, that might even be the largest aspect to it, but there was also an increase in durability, as well as endurance and. . . something else. I didn't know what it was, but, just a little, I felt slightly more. . . real when it was active. I couldn't describe it better than that, but, every once in a while, I could almost feel it butting up against one of my Defenses, though I had no idea which one, and I was reticent to let it through.

The power still worked, it worked great, so I never let it expand past what I was comfortable with, but I couldn't help but shake the nagging feeling it could be more.

With my Defenses, that sense of missing out wasn't artificial, wasn't some part of the power trying to tempt me or something, but things were good, and I wasn't going to risk it all just because of a passing fear, hope, whatever.

Now, though, I leapt from the ground, heading towards an 'edge', and twisted, shifting an arm to lightning and sending it stabbing down, piercing the concrete, anchoring myself. Manipulating the limb freely, like my Father could, was still a work in progress, but I didn't really need to for this.

I'd managed wings during the USJ, and I could still do so now, but they didn't come as easily as they had in that moment of need, and other shapes were even harder to make. However, using my wings really was 'falling with style', requiring me to go at a full, lightning legs, OfA at max, sprint in a straight line to go fast enough to achieve takeoff, and then I had no way of speeding up past that, lacking any mid-air movement abilities, gliding until I hit the ground.

I could go that fast with an induction grind, and that'd give me a bit of a range boost of a block or two if I was in a hurry traveling the city, but that wouldn't be an option at the Sports Festival, so I hadn't practiced it. Plus, I knew I was flaunting the Quirk Use Laws as it was, and outright flying instead of following premade routes of power lines, which required me to hug the 'ground', would probably be going too far.

With my arm anchored, I let it retract, not able to manipulate it with the same speed I could toggle it on and off, which brought me back towards the ground at speed. I flexed it a little, sending me flying back over the 'arena', instead of nearly face planting on the ground, in a straight line, legs already shifting to let me move faster.

Lacking real 'knees' I needed to designate fulcrum points along the 'limb'. While I could make three 'hinges' at a time and still move, anything more than one 'ball' joint, letting me shift it in any direction, caused me to lose track of what I was doing and sent me flying randomly. In a way it made sense, the hinges were like knuckles on a finger, and the ball joint was like my shoulder, but I was trying to give myself another shoulder at the elbow, and that didn't work. I also hadn't figured out how to make the synovial joint of an actual elbow with a single, continuous piece of electricity either, so that was out.

Hitting the ground running, I twisted, launching myself into a dodging roll, an electric arm shooting out as I tried to replicate a move that Momo had tried with a staff to pole-vault myself over an imagined attack. It kind of worked, but that was why I was trying it now instead of in the middle of a fight. I didn't move straight forward in an arc, not forming the joint correctly, but off to the side as I tried to push off, sending myself into a spin, greater strength meaning greater opportunity to completely mess everything up.

However, fucking up could be training too.

Tucking myself in, mindful of which way I was going, and which way I was spinning, I sent out electric arms, hitting the ground and hooking in, yanking myself to a stop and reversing. Looking down, not rushing as I reached the ground peacefully, I let out a sigh of relief. I'd leapt near the 'edge', and had been over the imaginary line, but had gotten back without touching the ground outside my marked out arena.

Still, I was glad there was no one to see the last five times I'd done it, and completely failed.

Thursday, while I was working on field-testing Mei's inventions, I'd known Momo and Mina were going to be off doing their own thing. However, they'd both begged off on training Friday as well, which left me where I was now, training alone. Ultimately, though, that was actually working ou-

"Not bad, young Kaminari!" a voice called, causing me to stumble, as I apparently wasn't as alone as I thought. "My apologies. I'd thought you'd stopped because you saw me enter," he said, sounding honestly remorseful.

"Sorry, I get in my own head sometimes," I replied, turning to face the Symbol of Peace. "What's up?"

"It's almost time for the Sports Festival, young man, so I've been training all of my proteges," he replied. "And, since you are the only one with enhanced healing. . ."

"You could train me the day before without it affecting my performance," I nodded in understanding, also understanding why the other two had begged off now. For all the man wasn't the best at teaching, he did have decades of tactical experience under his enormous belt. "I'm doing pretty good," I had to tell him, "If you don't want to strain yourself-"

"Ha ha ha, I think I could spare an hour for some light exercise," he disagreed, taking a fighting stance.

Knowing this was going to hurt, and knowing he wasn't wrong, I charged.

Bruised, battered, but not beaten, I spat some blood to clear my mouth and launched myself towards All Might, ducking under a mighty fist, coming up in a rising uppercut, but having to abort it as he twisted his attack into a knee, my hand meeting the rising blow, not trying to stop it, but using it to push off of, hurling me fifty feet into the air.

Throwing out a lightning limb, I used it to shift my center of gravity, allowing me to turn, feet hitting the ceiling, and pushing myself down, OfA

coursing through me, on a direct course for All Might.

The Hero shook his head at the telegraphed move, and wound up for a powerful blow of his own, only to have it spoiled when my fist, crackling with electricity and power, shot forward as a spike. Leaning out of the way, he still punched forward, but he lacked the leverage he'd had a moment ago.

I tried to dodge, and mostly did, still getting tagged, and slammed down into the concrete from the force, bouncing up even as I kicked out with a lightning leg, tagging and wrapping All Might's wrist. He started to pull back, and, panicking, I shocked the ever-living hell out of him.

It didn't do squat.

With a raised eyebrow he still pulled the tendril, sending me flying out to hit the far wall before I could do anything other than curl up to protect myself.

Hitting, hard, OfA shattered, as absorbing the blow was too much for my control of the power, and, while I fell to the ground, stumbling and breaking into a run as I tried to re-cycle the Quirk through my body, knowing I'd have to buy myself a few seconds, All Might held up a forestalling hand.

Stumbling to a halt, I almost fell over, my head spinning as I stopped focusing on the fight. "I think that's enough for today, Kaminari," he stated. "And with the ring out, I win, not that you didn't put up a good showing."

Hesitating, I looked around a little sheepishly at the markers I'd set up. "That obvious?"

"Not at first. I would like to know why." He coughed a little, a single fleck of red on his hand, which he quickly hid by nonchalantly rubbing a bit of 'dirt' on his costume. "But not here. Meet me at the teachers office in fifteen minutes."

Nodding, not even thinking of disagreeing, I grabbed my bag and hit the showers

Knocking on his door with a minute to spare, it opened, revealing All Might in that mustard colored suit of his. He led me further down the hall, opening a door to a small lounge, waving me in, closing and locking the door behind me. Taking a seat, I nodded when he motioned to the pot, and he poured some tea for both of us. Sitting on the couch across from me, he sighed, and, with a burst of steam, he dropped his form. However, unlike before, he didn't drop to a halfway state, instead going full skeletal.

" Oh hell," he wheezed, looking down, showing that his complete transformation wasn't intentional.

"So this is what you really look like?" I asked. "What you looked like before wasn't it? Yeah, definitely see why you keep it hidden. You look like a Holocaust survivor. Worse." I took a sip of my tea, if only to stop talking, not sure what to do. "So, you wanted to talk about me setting up the ring?" I said, offering him an out.

He nodded, "Yeah. How'd you know, kid?" he asked. "And, if you could not mention this-"

"Haven't even told Mina," I assured him. I would've, if she'd asked, but she hadn't. "The last stage of the festival is always a one versus one competition. It's always done in an open arena, and while I'm good at moving, I'm not so good at stopping."

Toshinori laughed, dry and raspy, "That sure you're gonna get to the finals? I like your spirit."

I shrugged. "It's not bravado, I'm getting in. I'm versatile enough that I'm going to pass the first stage, and almost certainly going to get through the second one, whatever it is. If I was just throwing sparks, I might not, but with my Electrobody, and especially the halfway stage I stumbled into, I'm in," I stated, not arrogantly, just as the fact it was. "Winning the entire thing? I'm not so sure. Bakugo and Todoroki are strong, and there are a few others I'm worried about."

"Like Midoriya?" All Might asked with a smile.

"Like Midoriya," I agreed without reservation. "If he hasn't moved forward since the USJ, I can win, but I'm not foolish enough to believe that."

All Might chuckled, and nodded, but didn't say anything.

Leaning back, taking another sip, I asked, "Since I'm here, do you mind if I ask a question?" He shook his head, so I parsed it. "The first task. It's always presented as a free-for-all but. . . there's nothing in the rules against working together is there? Obviously, someone's gonna come in first, second, and so on, but as long as we all move on, what's the problem?"

All Might took a sip of his tea. "Miss Ashido?"

"And Yaoyorozu," I nodded, causing him to cough. "You okay?"

"Fine, fine," he waved, muttering something about 'kids these days', that just caused me to look at him in confusion. He started to take another sip, but seemed to think better of it, putting the cup down.

Sitting back himself, he looked at me consideringly. Finally, he asked, "You know you'll pass, but do they?" I looked at him, confused, and he tried again. "Do they know they'll pass it on their own?"

"Of course they will!" I argued. "I might have pulled superstrength out of seemingly nowhere, but, if anything they're more versatile than I am!"

All Might shook his head, "Kid, you're not listening. I didn't ask if you knew they could, I asked if they knew they could."

That. . . was different. "How could they not?" I finally asked, not having any way to answer that, short of mind reading. Not that, if I had it, it'd even work on Mina.

"They lost their fights," Toshinori observed. "I'd planned to have another two by now. Other pairs in other situations, to give everyone a chance to shine, then the villains happened. That means all they know is that, the one time they fought in class, they lost. Ms. Ashido to Izuku, Ms. Yaoyorozu to you. From what I've heard, from what Nezu's been able to piece together, you fought the villains at the USJ by yourself, while they stood back and had to watch. That's not good for a hero's confidence, even a Pro's. You might not believe it, but I'd know," he smiled self-deprecating.

I frowned, not having talked to anyone about what'd happened at the USJ myself, but if they'd talked to Momo or Hagakure that'd likely be enough. Either way, "Downside of having an indiscriminate power, means I can't fight next to anyone if I'm not holding back."

"And you didn't trust them to have your back?" the man asked, but I could tell he didn't mean it that way.

"No, I didn't want them to get hurt, and the villains were fighting for keeps All Might," I reminded him. While we might've been stronger fighting together than just me alone, they would also have been more at risk. "Hell, I'm surprised I didn't kill any of them by accident, and I probably would've been justified if I had. They might've hesitated, or treated it like a practice fight and tanked a hit they couldn't afford to!"

I shook my head, thinking back to what'd happened, as I'd jumped in and fought people that would actually kill me. "Hell, I'm not sure I would've won if I couldn't just cover the field in lightning! All I had was electricity and Electrobody at that point, and I might've figured out the strength enhancement in the middle of the fight, but that's a level of Shonen bullshit that I can't trust my life to, and certainly wouldn't risk theirs over!"

Toshinori nodded, picking up his cup again and taking another sip. "Did you tell them that?"

". . . no," I had to admit.

However, the hero nodded. " Good. That would've made things worse." I shot him a confused look. "Kaminari, they don't want to win the Sports Festival."

"I'm pretty sure they do," I disagreed.

"No, they want to prove to themselves they deserve to be here," the Symbol of Peace argued.

I blinked, trying to figure that one out. "And did the entrance exam just not happen?"

"It didn't for Miss Yayorozu," All Might pointed out. "And Miss Ashido saw her friend face off odds she doesn't think she can match, who all but told her she couldn't, and went to fight someone she knows she had no chance against."

"But I lost against Nomu," I pointed out.

"And now she wants to prove she should be a hero," he continued, as if I hadn't said anything. "Did she say no to working together in the cal-, er, the group event?" Toshinori asked, almost spoiling the secret of the second stage, but playing it off.

" No," I had to admit. "But Hatsume was okay with working together right off the bat."

All Might blinked. "I. . . I don't know who that is."

"She's a Support Course student," I explained.

The Hero looked at me, squinting. "Just how many girls are you 'friends' with, Young Man?"

"Don't say it like that, and it's just the three!" I replied, maybe a little defensively. "And they all know about each other. Now."

" Riiight," he said. "But you've answered your own question."

"No I. . . oh. Oh. She's a Support student, so she'd be fine working as Support. God, I'm an idiot," I sighed.

Not helping, All Might laughed. "We all have our moments, Young Kaminari. Now, if that's all, You should probably get home. After all, you're going to have quite the busy day tomorrow!"

Standing, I nodded to the number one hero. "That I do. Thanks, All Might. And not just for the training. I'll do my best to make you proud."

He ballooned up to his muscle form, giving me a thumbs up and smile so bright I could practically see the lens flare. "I have no doubt you will, Young Kaminari!" With a poof of steam, he coughed, hacking up a bit of blood. "But you better go. Good luck, kid! I'd say I'd be rootin' for ya, but. . ."

"Oh, I totally understand," I waved away as I headed to the door. "Be there for your son. My own dad'll be doing the same thing. But, seriously, thanks for the help."

He smiled, a bit of blood at the corner of his mouth, and shrugged. "It's what a hero does."

As always, the next 2 chapters on a . With me no longer being sick, and the general craziness in America dying down a little, I'll be back to posting regularly!