The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Seven

Sawaru Chisei still was not totally sure what to make of Kage Sekai.

It had been six months since he had joined their class, and he remained somewhat enigmatic to her. As the class president, she liked to make a point of knowing all there was to know about her classmates. They usually weren't overly complex people to deal with – pretty much all of them wanted to be heroes, so on a baseline there was plenty of fuel for interaction. They were generally personable enough, though Sawaru didn't look too deep under the surface.

The only ones she had issues with in the past were Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugou. Kage Sekai seemed to have some interest in both of them.

Bakugou was insufferably arrogant, made all the worse by the fact that it was largely deserved. Everyone in the class was in awe of his skill, herself reluctantly included, and even beyond his Quirk, he had next to no competition in the whole school. It made sense to everyone that if it was possible for anyone from their school to get into UA, it would be him.

Until Kage Sekai showed up and announced he was also shooting for UA.

Unlike Bakugou, Sekai didn't brag or boast much at all. People had figured out his Quirk was called Void Energy, but what exactly it did was still unclear. Chisei had asked around, and found at least three different answers. Some said it made him super strong, supported by that time he slammed Bakugou into a desk. Others said it let him make constructs – apparently Ken Seikakuna had seen him make a knife at lunch to cut his food, though he was a questionable source. Ken had a habit of trying to stir up drama. Still others said he could shoot lasers, and when she had tried asking Sekai directly, he had said it let him translate languages.

He made no effort to show off his powers, unlike most of the school. The only other person in their class who didn't show off at least a little more was Izuku Midoriya, and that wasn't by choice.

Kage Sekai was also interesting in his attitude. Both Midoriya and Bakugou wanted to get into UA, and by Bakugou's law that would make them both rivals to be crushed. The others were expecting something like that to be reciprocated from Sekai, since he could fight back. But he didn't seem to care. He would greet Bakugou with the same level of enthusiasm as any other student, and though there was a hint of tension, Chisei had never seen it blow over into anything since Sekai's first day.

Ignoring Bakugou. No one else had really considered that option before. It was inspiring, in a way.

Others had approached Sekai at first, but he didn't seem comfortable with attention even beyond his Quirk. He wasn't rude like Bakugou, nor was he as shy and cowardly as Midoriya, but it was clear that he wasn't sure what to do with other people. By now, he had a few positive relations – Teashi Yakedo seemed like she might have a crush on him, which he remained oblivious to. Nobashita Yubi, one of Bakugou's usual accomplices, had taken a liking to him as well. He seemed happier than he had been as one of Bakugou's lackeys. Sekai himself had seemed to get along well with Midoriya – the two talked more regularly than he had with anyone else, which had the byproduct of making the rest of the class warm up ever so slightly to Midoriya as well.

No one was sure why Sekai found him in particular so enjoyable to be around. He wasn't bad, but he was very awkward and tended to trail off into muttering storms that were difficult to follow. But without Bakugou driving up resentment for him, he wasn't a bad kid. Chisei admitted to feeling bad for him to Sekai once, which seemed to endear him to her. Chisei herself had found Sekai to be reliable for errands. He was walking with her to carry some books and forums into the student council office right now.

He'd made no complaints about being asked to help her out, even when she had done so rather bluntly and just decided he would be her assistant. He was behind her, humming to himself as they walked. She found herself glancing back to him frequently.

He was distracting, she decided. If she couldn't really nail down much else about him, being distracting would do. Here she was, on her way to important business, and all she could think about was the mystery boy behind her.

"Something wrong?" She jumped as Sekai spoke up and shook her out of her own head. Her face flushed. How humiliating, to have gotten so carried away in her thoughts. "'Cause I think we're about to pass the student council office and you haven't even slowed down." She glanced to the side. Sure enough, she had almost missed the student council office entirely and wandered right to the end of the corridor.

"I was simply trying to take the scenic route." She pushed up her glasses and spun on her feet. She held out one hand, which Sekai dutifully placed the rest of her books in. She used her telekinesis to shift the weight and allow herself to balance it easier. Kage raised an eyebrow.

"You know I could just carry it in with you, right?" Chisei shook her head quickly.

"That will not be necessary, I'm sure you have much to do and I wouldn't want to keep you." That was the polite thing to say, but in reality, she was just worried about the other council members teasing her for coming into the room with a boy, and not one who was on the council himself. She had asked once if he was interested, but he had said he wouldn't have the time to make it work.

Chisei had found herself disappointed by that. One more avenue to trying to understand him more was blocked off.

"I mean, I have training, I guess…" Sekai placed a hand on the back of his head and looked up for a moment, thoughtfully. "But I can always make time to help someone out, y'know? It's no big deal." Chisei hesitated for a moment, but remained resolute.

"I appreciate it," she said. Her face still felt warm, no doubt the embarrassment from earlier remained with her. "However, I have everything well under control myself. I only needed your help because it was easier than using my Quirk through the corridors and risking being seen by a teacher."

"They care about that?"

"Usually not much, but if they see it out of class then it can cause problems." Chisei shrugged her shoulders. The teachers were generally lenient with some mild Quirk use in the classroom itself, especially if it was for something as small as carrying school supplies around, but outside of the classroom tended to raise eyebrows and at least prompt more attention. It was easier for groups to notice, so it seemed like they had to act to maintain an appearance of keeping the peace.

"Well, if they ever try to mess with you, I'll stick up for you." Sekai smiled. Her face was, infuriatingly, still warm and likely red. Had she been moving faster than she thought in the corridors? "And I'm happy to help avoid unnecessary attention."

"You don't want any attention either, correct?" Chisei asked. Sekai shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess? I've never really thought about it, but it feels weird." He said. "I kinda worry that whoever other people are seeing isn't really 'me', and if they were to see who that is…it wouldn't end well." His voice trailed off and quieted at the end of his sentence. Chisei found herself frowning involuntarily.

"I doubt that would be possible." She found herself saying. "You're too good a person for that." She was proficient at reading people, and even if Kage Sekai left her confused and unsure at times, she could tell he was certainly a good person. He simply didn't seem capable of leaving a negative impression. Sekai's eyes widened for a moment before he smiled.

"Thanks, Sawaru." He said. He then hastily threw his hands around. "I-I mean Chisei. Sorry, force of habit."

"It's…fine." Chisei said, her voice lighter than it had been a moment ago. God, how was her face still feeling so warm? It was infuriating. Her stomach had also decided to start shifting about in a strange way, which really wasn't helping. She coughed. "I-I really must go, but I'll let you know if I have any more need for your assistance in the future."

"Y-yeah, yeah." Sekai agreed. His face also looked dashed with red, which made Chisei feel a little better. "Just gimme a call if you need me." She raised an eyebrow.

"Call? I don't have your phone number." She said. Despite having brought Sekai along for several errands before, she hadn't at any point tried to push for further contact. The thought had crossed her mind, but she couldn't think of a way to do so without sounding awkward. Sekai stopped and put a hand in his pocket.

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting about stuff like that." He fished out a phone. It looked old, and was clearly a flip phone. It was grey in colour and lacked any identifiable traits, save for a small label that had been put on the back. It read 'PROPERTY OF' and a name was crossed out, with 'KAGE SEKAI' written above it.

"Tsukauchi only got this phone working for me a little while ago, so I keep forgetting I have it." He chuckled. Chisei didn't move her hands, but let her telekinesis pull out her own phone. It was a sleek, modern model that made Sekai's look even more ancient by comparison. If it bothered him, he made no comment.

A moment later, they had exchanged contact information. Sekai's name was saved, with 'errand boy' in brackets next to it. He had saved her as simply 'Sawaru'. She supposed it was more efficient than putting in her full name, and she elected not to think about it in any more detail than that. With how hot her face was getting; she would probably develop a fever. It seemed like it might already be spreading, if Sekai's own red face was anything to go by.

"Cool." Sekai said, looking at his phone and smiling. He then noticed the time displayed on its screen and his eyes went wide. "Oh crap, I gotta run. See you later?" He waved and began running off in the other direction before Chisei could respond. Strangely, she didn't mind.

"See you later." She smiled. Without wasting any more time, she walked into the student council office. The only other member to have arrived was Ayano Akita, a popular girl from the class next to hers whose Quirk let her make chemicals in her body and expel them from any orifice. She had blue hair that covered one eye and a mischevous grin on her face.

"Soooooooo~" she said in a sing-song tone. "Who's got you in such a good mood?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She shook her head and took a seat, placing the papers she had carried down.

Somehow, though, she wasn't sure she would be able to keep focus on them.

Izuku Midoriya was progressing well in his training, or so he hoped given how much his muscles burned as he hauled large slabs of metal around. It had been a little over eight months since he had started training with All-Might, and roughly six since he had gotten the plan updated to push him harder than ever before.

Izuku knew that this was the right decision, but every now and then he had to ask why he felt the need to make things so much worse for himself.

"Don't slow down now, young man!" All-Might called out. He was in his true form and was standing on a trash pile – one of the now very much spread-out piles, something that Izuku found gratifying. All-Might pounded his chest as he called out. Izuku nodded, taking on a determined expression and continuing. He was still struggling to manage the large chunks of metal he was holding in both arms, but just a few words from his mentor were enough to keep him motivated.

"Yes sir, All-" Izuku cut his response off as he saw someone dashing over to the beach. A familiar face, though he looked a little more tired than usual. He sprinted forwards, stopping just a few feet in front of Izuku and leaning down, taking deep breaths.

"Hey, Izuku." He panted. "Sorry I…I'm late. Got caught up at school. Errands." He cast a thumb back, as though expecting Izuku to look behind him and see the school, as well as the errands he was apparently busy with. Izuku sighed. Kage had been late a handful of times before, and each time he seemed to feel the need to try to justify it. Izuku didn't know how to convey the idea that he wouldn't judge him for helping other people.

He also didn't know how to express that, whilst he was helpful and a pleasantly supportive presence, he was also keeping Izuku from asking any questions about One For All.

"Ah, young Kage. Nice to see you again." All-Might walked up to Kage and waved. Kage returned the gesture and walked over to him, the two of them giving Izuku some space to keep training whilst they talked.

Izuku was lucky that All-Might and Kage apparently knew each other. Kage called him 'Mister Yagi', a name that Izuku hadn't confirmed the authenticity of. It seemed reasonable that All-Might would use a pseudonym, but given that his public self was already completely secret, it would be strange to go the extra mile to use a fake name when he was known exclusively as All-Might anyway. Most heroes tended to have their real names be more private, but All-Might was especially mysterious. The press was constantly salivating at the thought of any personal information about the man. Izuku had to wonder what they would think if they saw the truth, though he knew he should never disclose anything-

"Less muttering, more moving!" All-Might called out. Izuku snapped his mouth shut. Kage frowned at All-Might, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything Izuku was saying. If he did, he gave no indication. Izuku inwardly sighed in relief as he kept working.

"He barely even slowed down, man." Kage complained. Izuku hid a small smile. After years of dealing with Kacchan's belligerence and his classmate's indifference, it was nice to have someone who consistently stood up for him. Being willing to push back against even All-Might – not that Kage knew he was doing so, but still – was impressive.

"Maybe, but he asked me to push him to excel." All-Might crossed his arms. There was no hostility, but his tone was firm. "I intend to honour that request, and that means no distractions. In heroics, going a few moments slower can be the difference between life and death." Izuku noticed Kage go pale as he nodded back.

Kage hadn't told Izuku much about himself, but he had made a few observations. Most notably, any mention of death or killing made him immediately uncomfortable. He had asked All-Might – Kage himself always changed the subject, and unfortunately, he was very good at getting Izuku to rant about something else entirely – and he was told it was likely some kind of trauma response.

Izuku had several theories as to what might have happened, but he knew it was inappropriate to bring them up. Even speculating felt distinctly uncomfortable, though he couldn't really help it. His mind was always active.

"If you say so." Kage shrugged. Izuku refocused on his work – he had to shift the metal around in his arms to account for the weight. All-Might and Kage were still talking, as they tended to do whenever Kage arrived. At first, it was because All-Might was reluctant to let Kage assist in Izuku's training, so Kage had to be quite insistent. He had offered a long list of things he could do to help, and he refused to take no from an answer.

More recently, the things Izuku overheard had less to do with him and more to do with Kage himself. All-Might had some interest in Kage's Quirk, and Kage was reluctant to share anything. Izuku knew it was more likely just that he didn't know much, but either All-Might wasn't fully informed of the amnesia situation or he knew something that Izuku didn't.

"What's up next?" Izuku dropped the metal carefully down into the largest pile, one he had been moving most of the waste to as part of his training. The idea was to keep things better organised and in one place, so All-Might would have an easier time properly dumping it all later. One of the ways Kage helped was to help keep the pile organised, sorting through the trash. He also occasionally found things that could be fixed up, which All-Might said he would sell and give the resulting money to Izuku and Kage as a reward after their training.

"Good work, young Midoriya!" All-Might smiled. "We'll take a few minutes off from the piles for the moment. Kage, you join Midoriya and do some stretches." Kage eagerly nodded and stepped over to Izuku. He waited for Izuku to begin stretching before copying his movements. Strangely, despite Kage's clear muscle and skill in martial arts and combat – something he had offered to share with Izuku, though All-Might had vetoed it for the moment – he didn't have nearly as clear an idea of what he was doing when it came to general exercise.

"He's not been pushing you too hard, right?" Kage asked as they stretched. Izuku rolled his eyes. This question came up a lot, and whilst the concern was appreciated, it also got a little exhausting.

"It's fine, I can handle myself." Izuku insisted. Kage nodded quickly.

"Don't mean to say otherwise," He replied. "I just worry. I don't get why you and Bakugou are both so set on this whole idea of being the best. I don't like the idea of you overexerting yourself because you wanna be All-Might two."

"All-Might two would be a terrible name."

"It could work if you tried roman numerals." Kage joked. "AII-Might. I could see him putting one of those flower crowns on his head for his costume."

"It's called a laurel, and All-Might would never wear something that risks altering his iconic hair silhouette. It's far too marketable and appealing for a design." Kage raised an eyebrow.

"Is it really? It's just two stuck up tufts of hair." Izuku let out an exaggerated gasp. Just two tufts of hair? Utter blasphemy. Betrayal.

"Since we're busy, I'm going to hold my tongue on that subject." Izuku said. This had become code for 'I will talk about this for the entirety of the next day whenever we're not actively training or studying'. Having a willing audience that indulged his ramblings had made Izuku more comfortable on restraining himself, rather than constantly feeling the need to get all of his thoughts out before anyone could stop him. "Besides, you can't talk about overwork. I know you've been doing all that student council stuff lately." Kage's face went red with embarrassment.

Point for Izuku.

"T-that's totally different. I can handle that easily." Kage tried. "Besides, Sawaru usually stops me before I can do anything more than carry books around." Izuku considered replying that if Kage could be trusted to handle his extra activities easily, the same should be extended to him, but something else caught his attention.

"Sawaru?" He tilted his head. "Are you and Chisei on a first name basis now?" Kage's face went even redder. It was very rare that Izuku found himself in a position to tease someone, and whilst he didn't do it often, he found it occasionally satisfying. A small smile appeared on his face.

"Is this what you meant by 'errands'?" He asked. Kage stumbled mid-stretch and nearly collapsed into the sand. His face seemed to be reaching shades of red previously thought only visible to obscure species of shrimp.

"I have absolutely no idea what you could possibly be talking about." Kage said, hastily scrambling back up. All-Might, who had been looking over the trash pile previously, briefly looked over at the commotion. Kage clearly tried to play off his red face as a sign of exhaustion, exaggerating his movements. Izuku struggled not to laugh as All-Might rolled his eyes and turned back to checking the pile.

"You don't need to hide it, you know." Izuku said in a more relaxed tone, keeping any amusement back. "I don't mind what you get up to when we're not training here, or who else you want to spend time with."

"I-It's really not like that." Kage protested regardless, looking at the ground. "Besides, we're gonna be at UA soon anyway. It'd be weird to try and go for any sort of relationships, even if it'd be nice." Izuku frowned. He knew from several previous conversations that going to UA was unlikely to be the root cause of his friend's worries.

That said, he didn't know how to solve Kage's issues with his self-worth. Izuku himself still struggled with the idea that he was unworthy of any of the support he was getting. Kage feeling similar was perhaps one of the reasons the two got along so well.

"So, any luck with your Quirk yet?" Kage asked. Izuku hesitated. Whilst Kage had no doubt been told that Izuku was Quirkless from other students at school, he had waited for Izuku himself to comment on it. Given that his Quirkless status was subject to change soon, Izuku had said that he had issues drawing out his power and was working out because he thought that it might need his body to be at a certain baseline fitness. All-Might supported the story, explaining that he was a personal trainer who had been recommended for having some knowledge in Quirk-related struggles like that. It was unclear if Kage bought that story, but he didn't actively poke any holes in it.

"Nothing yet." Izuku said. "B-but I'm sure it won't be long before I can summon it up!" Kage's face looked thoughtful, and Izuku worried he had somehow been suspicious in his brief statement. But Kage shrugged after a moment. Whatever he was thinking about, he seemed to have decided not to say.

"You'll get the hang of it. I know you will." He said firmly. Izuku didn't know why Kage had such confidence in him. It was as though he somehow knew with certainty how Izuku would progress, so the thought of him failing didn't even occur to him. "Be prepared for some blowback, though."

"Blowback?"

"Yeah, like…recoil might be the best way to explain it." Kage said. "Your Quirk is an enhancement type, right? Well, enhancement types can sometimes have large energy buildups internally. If your Quirk is blocked, that buildup is going to accelerate, like a dam holding back a huge river. Once the dam goes down, there's gonna be a flood, so you should brace yourself. Try to keep output to a minimum for a while, and if you can, spread it around the whole body. Pushing everything out of one point is likely to cause some serious damage." Izuku nodded dutifully at Kage's explanation. Kage himself blinked and his brow furrowed.

"How do I know all that…?" He muttered under his breath.

"Do your enhancements work like that, Kage?" Izuku asked. Kage snapped back to attention.

"Sort of, I think." He said hesitantly. "My powers naturally spread all over my body whenever I turn them on, and they emit some kind of energy in and around the surface of my body. Obviously, I haven't seen your Quirk," Izuku noticed a strange light of amusement in Kage's eyes as he said that. "So, I don't know if it will work the same. Your strength might go more internal. Maybe it won't burn you from channelling too much power in one place. Maybe any backlash will only occur once it's released. Or, I could be totally wrong and it could work differently than I could ever imagine."

"I've got no idea how things might unfold," He finished. "But I'll be here for you the whole time, no matter what happens." He gave Izuku a bright smile, which he returned gladly.

"Alright, that's enough of a break. Everyone stretched and ready to move?" All-Might clapped his hands and called out. Izuku and Kage looked at each other, nodded, then nodded to All-Might. He grinned.

"Good, now the real workout can begin!"

Mashirao Ojiro stepped into the arena, a set of mats laid out upon the floor to create a safe arena in the gym. Choosing to come to Gunhead Martial Arts gym was one of the best decisions he had ever made. Being able to refine his skills in combat with the use of his Quirk, and being able to face opponents able to challenge him with the same? There was nothing more perfect for training to reach UA.

He had only one more month to prepare, and he wanted to make the most of it.

His opponent was apparently a regular at the gym, but Ojiro had only started coming a few weeks ago and didn't recognise him. His name was Kage Sekai, and that was all he knew about the man. He looked to be roughly the same age as Ojiro, which wasn't surprising. Putting people together based on their age was fairly typical. A lot of other physical rules like weight class became harder to manage in the advent of Quirks, so going by how old someone was tended to be the most effective.

Kage Sekai had gold-yellow eyes and sharp black hair. He wore an easy smile on his face. A more prideful person might have read it as cocky, but Ojiro could tell he was more likely just laid back. He had a somewhat muscular build, though he didn't look like much of a fighter at first glance. He was dressed in simple clothes; jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing too restrictive, but it hardly looked like combat equipment.

His eyes widened as he saw Ojiro for some reason, but they settled a moment later. Ojiro was fairly sure they had never met, but he supposed it was possible he had seen him in the gym briefly.

Watching over the match was a tall, suited man with slicked back black hair and a long moustache. His eyes were thin and narrow, and Ojiro couldn't tell if that was just how his face looked normally or if he had some kind of glare on. He looked cold, but his demeanour seemed warmer than his face portrayed. The man's name was Hageshi Kuchihige, and whilst he wasn't an employee of the gym, he apparently helped with training sessions every now and then. He stood in the centre of the mats, directly between the two boys.

Kage smiled at the man, and he gave a polite nod back. It seemed they knew each other. Kuchihige also gave a nod to Ojiro, seemingly out of politeness. Ojiro awkwardly bowed back, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to do.

"No, no. Save that for your opponent, mister Mashirao Ojiro." Kuchihige waved his arms in front of him and gestured to Sekai like he was directing an airplane to land. Sekai shrugged as Ojiro looked at him, and the two of them bowed towards one another.

"Much better." Kuchihige said. "Now, we're looking for a clean match today. Quirk use is allowed, but please show due restraint. You may use whatever techniques you deem appropriate. A win will be declared if one opponent surrenders or is forced out of bounds, defined by the mats on the ground. I trust you will both follow these rules as I have set them out, or else there will be consequences." Kuchihige's tone didn't change even with his warning at the end of his statement. The man didn't look very threatening, nor did he sound like it, but there was something about him that made his words carry an ominous weight.

"Understood, sir." Ojiro said. Kuchihige looked amused, as though he wasn't expecting an actual response. Maybe he just found being called sir strange. Sekai nodded his head.

"Got it, same as usual."

"Precisely, mister Kage Sekai." Kuchihige clapped his hands together. "Oh, it brings me joy to see clear understanding in you youths. Now then, I believe that's quite enough of my delaying things. I'll count you down. When I say begin, you may start. Not a single moment before." Kuchihige walked over to one side, stepping off the mats.

"He's an odd one," Sekai said to Ojiro. He was taking a stance, though it wasn't one Ojiro recognised. He himself took a standard ready stance. "But you get used to him."

"If you say so." Ojiro shrugged a little.

"Three…two…one…BEGIN!"

Black veins immediately spread across Sekai's body and he leapt forwards. Ojiro had only a moment to spin and slam his powerful tail directly into Sekai's path. He felt the harsh impact push Sekai back, but the boy recovered quickly and charged forth again. Ojiro knew the same trick wouldn't work twice, so he spun himself.

Sekai struck low. Ojiro took the hit to the stomach, struggling to stay standing from the sheer force. The black veins were clearly enhancing his strength and speed, and he had a good amount of muscle on him to begin with. Ojiro managed to step forward with the recoil, slamming a fist into Sekai's face. Sekai staggered back, and Ojiro pressed the advantage.

He tried to unleash a flurry of punches, hoping to avoid giving his opponent the chance to respond. No such luck. Sekai's eyes filled with black and his golden irises glowed. His arms moved faster than even he seemed aware of, his eyes following them on a slight delay. Block, block, counter, block, counter. It was an automatic process.

"His Quirk must be boosting his reflexes." Ojiro thought. He spun to the side and kicked Sekai, but he managed to block the strike. The arm that did so went completely black. Sekai's expression hardened, and it seemed he was trying to avoid a wince of pain. Good, Ojiro was doing damage.

His leg was seriously sore from the impact, but it was still mobile enough that he could keep going confidently. Propping his tail down for balance, he launched a second kick whilst Sekai was blocking the first.

As Ojiro's foot approached the chest, a collection of black light pooled forth and shot out as a blast, forcing Ojiro onto the ground. The blast stung, but it didn't carry much force. Sekai took a deep breath, and Ojiro noticed it was shaky.

"You good?" He asked. The eyes made him look as though he was leering down, but his tone was legitimate concern. "My blasts are still tricky to-" Sekai didn't get a chance to finish, as Ojiro swept his legs from under him and caused him to nearly collapse. Ojiro leapt up and tried to slam a fist down to ensure his impact with the ground, but the black veins across Sekai's body seemed to shoot off from his back, forming a set of spikes that help him up part way down. He grinned.

"Oh, you're good." Sekai said. Ojiro shot a smile back. It was nice to face a skilled opponent, even more so one with so many tricks up his sleeve. It presented an interesting challenge. He took a few steps back and allowed Sekai to get up on his own. He took a new stance, another one that Ojiro didn't recognise. Even Sekai seemed briefly confused, glancing around himself. He was leaned forward, two clenched fists at either side of his body. One foot was raised at his back. It looked more like a running stance than a fighting one.

Ojiro jumped and flipped forward spinning his body and moving his tail to hit Sekai directly.

Sekai wasn't there.

Ojiro was fairly sure he hadn't even blinked, but somehow Sekai had moved entirely out of his line of sight before he impacted the ground. He tried to shift his gaze behind him, but his position in the air made it impossible to do so. He heard Sekai step behind him before he could see it.

Ojiro extended his tail outwards, hoping it would hit Sekai thanks to how he was spinning. It got close, and then Ojiro felt his tail stop. He was being held, and as the rest of his body fell to the mats, he saw that Sekai had grappled his tail in both arms.

Sekai grunted for a moment. His first instinct seemed to be to try tossing Ojiro into the air, but it seemed the black veins on his arms were failing to manage. It was as though he expected to have stronger arms than he did. The veins flickered briefly with the effort. Sekai frowned. Ojiro tried to force his tail free, but Sekai's grip was strong. He did manage to bat the boy in the face a few times, but there wasn't much impact. At worst, he was fairly sure Sekai had gotten some tail hair stuck in his mouth.

A small victory, but he'd take it.

"Alright, new plan." Sekai muttered. He began spinning in place, still holding Ojiro's tail. He was pulled along, and soon he was spinning around the room rapidly. His view of the walls quickly became a blur and it was impossible to orient himself. His vision only stopped swimming when he felt Sekai let go, and he couldn't tell when he had done that.

Ojiro wanted to try and get himself steady on the ground, but Sekai was upon him before he could even re-orient his feet. A flurry of blows shot out from his fists – no, not just his fists, but some kind of structures around his hands. Sekai had formed what seemed like gauntlets upon his hands that made them sightly longer. As he fired his fists, Sekai noticed what seemed like trails of black lightning coming off the gauntlets behind him.

For all the flashy motion, the impact wasn't all that bad. It hurt, but less so than Ojiro had expected. The force seemed to spread out rather than stay focused on any one point enough to do any serious damage. Still, it was enough for Ojiro to be launched flying into the wall.

"The match concludes!" Kuchihige announced, raising a hand forward. Ojiro blinked his eyes clear and forced himself to a sitting position. "The victor is Kage Sekai, by ring-out." Sekai took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and the black veins across his body quickly receded. When he opened them, his eyes had gone back to their normal colour again. He walked quickly over to Ojiro and extended a hand.

"Sorry about that, I think I got carried away." Sekai scratched the back of his head and wore a nervous smile. Ojiro took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"It was a good fight." He said honestly. "I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't willing to take a few hits. Thanks for the workout." He stretched his arms as he spoke, trying to avoid any soreness still in his muscles. Sekai visibly relaxed.

"No problem. You were pretty awesome yourself!" He cheered. "You'll get into UA for sure as you are now, and that's assuming no change. This gym is pretty good at drawing out improvement." He looked around the room fondly. Sekai seemed to value this gym a great deal. Ojiro raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know I'm trying to go to UA?" Sekai clearly had to stop himself from letting out a small laugh.

"I'm well-read." Ojiro had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but Sekai moved on before he could question it. "Besides, it's a pretty common reason people come here. There aren't too many gyms that let you practice with Quirks, or so I'm told, so we get a lot of aspiring heroes. That's why I'm here, after all!" He jerked a thumb at himself.

"The way you talk about this place, it almost sounds like you work here." Ojiro said. Sekai waved a hand dismissively.

"Nah, it just means a lot to me." He explained. "It's a long story, but I sorta wound up with amnesia. I had to get my Quirk tested at this place months ago, and since then I guess I've just formed an association with it. It feels like…like where I started being me, you know?" Ojiro didn't know exactly how to respond to that. He supposed the personal value made sense to him, but he didn't know what to say about the amnesia thing.

Was sorry appropriate? My condolences? He scratched his face uncertainly.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay now." He settled on. Sekai nodded. Kuchihige stepped forwards and began clapping vigorously, which caused both of the boys to jump in place. Somehow, it seemed they had all but forgotten he was there.

"Bravo, gentlemen! Bravo!" Kuchihige praised. He wiped an eye. Ojiro couldn't tell if he had actually cried or if he was just being dramatic. "Not only was that a stunning spectacle of combat, but your good sportsmanship truly moves my heart. I see within you both the makings of true heroes." He gave a theatrical bow. Ojiro looked towards Sekai, who gave a confused expression back and shrugged.

"You get used to it."

"Do you?"

"Eventually, I'm sure." Sekai sighed. Kuchihige let out a very brief snort of amusement. It wasn't really a laugh, but he didn't seem offended at the very least. He rose back up and looked between the two boys.

"Mister Kage Sekai, your Quirk control has improved drastically. Managing the impact of your final strike by discharging energy behind you was a particularly inspired choice. Efficient and stylish!" He snapped his fingers. Sekai looked at his hands and raised an eyebrow.

"I was just thinking it looked cool." He opened and closed them. "I didn't even realise I was doing that with a purpose, but that's awesome!" He grinned. Kuchihige sighed.

"One day, I'll find something to praise you for that you did on purpose." He pinched his nose. It seemed that Sekai developing new techniques on the fly was a common occurrence. "Please get out of the habit of hoping things will come together during your fight. Strategy remains a weak point of yours, and one day your ability to improvise will fail you." Sekai chuckled to himself. Kuchihige turned to look at Ojiro.

"Mister Mashirao Ojiro, your skill in martial arts speaks to great dedication and training." He praised. He placed both arms at his hips. "The way you integrated your tail into your balancing and attacks was quite impressive. If you can refine its integration into your fighting skills further, you could become an unbeatable force."

"Thank you, sir." Ojiro bowed politely at Kuchihige's praise. The moustached man let out a sigh in response and shook his head.

"Don't take my formality as reason to do the same, mister Mashirao Ojiro." He said. "Your focus should be on implementing my words in the future, not simply convincing me that you've heard them. Now, I believe you can both shake hands and call it a day for the moment. You shouldn't put any more strain on yourselves after such a match." Kuchihige seemed to glare briefly at Sekai as he said that last part. Sekai just laughed back. He extended a hand out.

"Good match, Ojiro." He said. "Call me Kage. Am I right in assuming I'll see you at UA?" Sekai – or Kage, it seemed he preferred – asked, though it seemed almost rhetorical. Ojiro grinned and took his hand.

"Count on it. See you then."

AN: At time of writing, the US election 0f 2024 has just taken place and the results were...disappointing to say the least. I hope this chapter of fanfic helps brighten everyone's days just a little bit. This chapter shows a few different forms of bonding and support being spread across other people, and the main series is all about how being there for other people is the sign of a true hero. So, I hope you all can do something nice for those around you. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I had a lot of fun with it.

One more thing, the characters mentioned at the first section are all from Izuku's actual middle school class. I spent ages staring at the one shot of the whole class using their Quirks from episode one.

Sawaru Chisei - Touch Intellect. You can see her in front of Bakugou, holding a pencil case telekinetically.
Ken Seikakuna - Fist Precise. He's the kid with a very pointy and spikey fist. I couldn't find a good word for spike in Japanese that I liked the sound of via google translate.
Teashi Yakedo - Limb Burning. You can see her further to the back, shooting fire from one hand. Or maybe her hand became fire? It's a little hard to tell.
Nobashita Yubi - Stretched Fingers. He's one of Bakugou's two lackeys in the brief point in the show. I think his name came out the best.

I doubt I'll use these characters again, but who knows? I had fun naming them, at least!