Capítulo 61: Chapter 5: Final Exams: 1
The sound of crashing and whimpers filled the empty halls of an abandoned, derelict building, with two parked, all-black sports cars out front. The crashing came from someone using wanton and needless violence against a helpless individual, and the whimpers came from the victim of said abuse.
Because no matter what, there was a dynamic at play. And that dynamic was absolute. Both knew it and while one loved it, the other absolutely despised it.
But, what was it that caused this untold rage? Well… it was because of a failure, something that already pissed off the attacker, and seeing as the person who failed was already dead, there was only one thing that could be done. And that was taking out his anger on someone else.
And there just so happened to be someone who didn't have a choice but to bear it.
But first, some context: Takiyuma was more than a little annoyed. Beyond the fact that his first servant failed, and thus had to be removed from the picture, she couldn't even kill the weakest link in terms of Stand Users. All of his information on Karera Sakunami pointed out how her Stand was weak, and how it wasn't all that strong in comparison to the others that she surrounded herself with. Thus, it should've been easy to kill her.
When that failed, It made his blood boil, and as such, he was fuming mad. He had already killed the stupid brat that he had entrusted with the job by activating The Flesh Bud within his servants head, effectively taking away the only tidbit of information that the heroes could've gained from his failure of a thrall, but it also sent a message.
Failure was not an option.
"Stupid piece of shit!" Takiyuma bellowed as he slammed the edge of his foot into the side of one Kyoka Jirou, who coughed up a copious amount of blood. He had lied to the League and said that he needed Kyoka for something. That something was him taking out his frustration on her. After all, she was his prisoner, his slave and he was allowed to do whatever he damn well wanted to her.
"Worthless sack of flesh!" The Vampire roared, stomping down on the purplette's face, breaking her nose and shattering a few of her teeth. "Why can't you pathetic humans do anything right!?" And with one final kick to the stomach, one so strong it sent the poor girl flying into a wall, while at the same time tearing a hole through her abdomen, Takiyuma glared down at the puddle of blood that belonged to Kyoka, who was writhing on the floor, crying and cursing and dying.
When Takiyuma heard the pathetic moans and groans of the teenager, it set him off again, but instead of attacking her, he stormed out of the run-down building that he was using as his current shelter. Just beyond the outside was another man, one who looked extremely unimpressed. He was wearing a black medical mask, along with a black shirt, a white tie, and a pair of lime green pants with red sneakers.
"You know, Takiyuma, needlessly hurting the recruits won't help them get stronger," the unimpressed man said as Takiyuma growled, his purple eyes glaring daggers at the man in question.
"Shut your fucking mouth, get in there, and heal her with that pathetic Quirk of yours, Overhaul."
The moment the man's name left his mouth, the black-haired man's golden yellow eyes narrowed toward the Vampire. Nevertheless, the man walked into the room while he took off one of his white gloves.
The reason why Overhaul had been here was simple: to revive Kyoka if he went too far, or to heal her if he didn't kill her. That, and he had just finished a business meeting with The Boss, and he just happened to be nearby. Therefore, he took advantage of that and asked him to repay a favour he was owed.
While he was healing Kyoka, Takiyuma was left to stir in his thoughts. According to trusted sources and the Traitor that All For One had planted within the U.A., the school was under extreme lockdown. A real fort knox situation. It made his plans to weed out those brats from the inside practically impossible. Unless, of course, he somehow had found a way to completely demolish the U.A.'s security system.
Then again, not even the brightest of hackers could get into that mess of firewalls and defensive measures should a breach actually happen. So that idea went out of the window quickly.
That being said, The League Of Villain's plan was still operational, mainly because the school trip hadn't been cancelled. In fact, it was still going to happen right on time. The mole had stated that the school had been too far behind as it was for the first years, so they needed to speed things up, and delaying anything would just be a waste.
Of course, he didn't fully trust the source, as he knew that All For One could be a manipulative little shit sometimes. Hell, he had been about just as old as the brat and had even known him as a child. Little shit lived in Morioh when he was like, what, 5? Even back then he was a whiny asshole.
Whatever the case had been, he didn't trust All For One as far as he could throw him, which, in hindsight, was probably pretty far, but that was beside the point. The point had been he had decided to take whatever All For One said with a massive dump truck load of salt, and the word of one of his lackeys with two dump trucks worth.
With that being said, it wasn't as if he was going to get any more information out of it. If he was able to destroy U.A.'s reputation, then with enough backlash, the school would come under heavy fire, even worse than what it was having to deal with now.
And if his plan worked, then by the time everything was all said and done, U.A. would be no more. It was why The Boss wanted Momo Yaoyorozu dead. Aside from the fact that it would prove to be a massive hit toward Class 1 – A, and by extension those who were involved with The Stand Bullets, the death of a Yaoyorozu while in the supposed care of U.A. would cause a lot of backlash from both investors, the HSPC, and the Japanese Government.
Why? Because they were the fucking Yaoyorozu's. The Yaoyorozu were a family of wealthy elites that ran one of the most influential Support Tech Companies known to man, second to Deternat. If their companies heir were to have died while in the care of U.A., not only would they face massive public backlash as previously mentioned, but also face a massive Lawsuit from the Yaoyorozu Corporation, and, potentially, get its school license removed by the Government amongst the backlash, effectively killing the school in its entirety.
And with the U.A. out of the way, then and only then would he be able to get back to targeting Kira, because he knew he wasn't going to have a chance to do so with the amount of security that patrolled that building. Vampire or not, that many Pro Heroes on his ass would be too much, and he couldn't gain access to the children and turn them into his thralls either, seeing as none of the brats were allowed to leave the campus unless it was for school field trips.
So, he was going to bide his time, wait for the right moment, then strike.
And if Kyoka valued her life, she wasn't going to fuck this up.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Overhaul, real name Kai Chisaki, activated his Quirk on the girl before him, healing her body and repairing the damage done to her. It might've been painful, but at least the girl was getting medical attention.
He wasn't fond of children, but even he had his limits, especially if that child was a subordinate. And while he used a child for experiments, which already in itself was something he hated doing already, seeing someone like this girl be beaten to near death pushed him over his mental limits.
There were just some things you didn't do. Beating on one's subordinates for no reason at all whatsoever was one of those things. Sure, he killed some of his men from time to time, but only if they failed a job that should've been extremely easy to complete, such as making sure a little child didn't escape an entire underground complex.
Even then, he brought them back to life afterward. So it wasn't as if they stayed dead.
That aside, there was a certain amount of irony to his thoughts and emotions at the moment that did not allude him in the slightest. They were almost completely hypocritical, save for one thing that prevented it from jumping over that line.
He knew what he was doing to Eri was wrong, and he would repent for it once this whole thing was said and done, going as far as to remove his hands for the crimes he had done, after he brought back Pops, of course.
After all, while he admired Pops, Eri was the future of the Hissaikai, and she was going to need him in her life if his dream was to be realized. It didn't matter if his relationship with the girl was sullied and he was viewed as a monster by society, nor did it matter if Pops despised him after the fact. He was doing what needed to be done, and that was purging the world of a disgusting plague, one of Quirks.
Originally, his goal was to erase them completely with the Quirk Erasing Drug, not replace them with these bizarre Stand things, which had also come from the same virus. The only reason he was doing this was because he wasn't being given much of a choice, lest he and his Yakuza get erased along with all of his hard work.
He was forced into being the second fiddle. The tool, and while it pissed him off, he didn't get much of a choice or a say in the matter. While Yagi-san had the same goal as him, that of revitalizing the crime families of Japan, his methods were different from Kai's. Had it not been for Yagi's downright overpowered Stand, he would've killed him the moment he proposed the idea.
When the young girl was fully healed, he put back on his glove. The girl was still writhing in pain, most likely an after-effect of Overhaul.
"Overhaul, are ya done in there!?" The annoying voice of Takiyuma assaulted his ears, as he grimaced.
"Yes. I am leaving now," Overhaul replied, looking away from the girl, but not before leaving behind the only thing that he knew could perhaps get her out of this situation. For while he hated children, he wasn't completely heartless.
He dropped a business card. One that belonged to a certain man. One that he had partnered with in his days of studying in the medical field.
A card of one Tooru Tomioka.
"Call him. He can help you. Your family means a lot to him… more so than any other family, even his own. Do not hesitate to use him if you have to."
And with that, not even bothering to acknowledge if the girl heard him or not, he left the room and the abandoned building as a whole.
Minutes later, the Portal belonging to Kurogiri opened, and when Shigaraki saw Kyoka convulsing on the floor, for the first time in a long time, there was a spark of anger not directed toward a Hero behind the man's eyes.
No one hurt his party members. Not even temporary ones.
xxXXxxXXxx
For the whole second-to-last week of June, all Yoshihara did was study. She obviously made time to hang out with Izuku and Josefumi, namely because it wasn't healthy to just study. There was also the fact that she needed to train for the physical portion of the Final Exam, and so even then, she was technically studying. Well, she was training, but that was beside the point.
When she was training with Izuku and Josefumi, she was trying to cover for her body's weaknesses. She was fairly certain that Killer Queen was at its peak, and that there was nothing that she could realistically do with it to make it stronger. So, in case she couldn't use her Stand, she needed to work on Close Quarters Combat.
And, just her luck, Izuku was really good at that, no thanks in part due to his late mother. She focused mostly on defending herself from rapid strikes and deflecting attacks rather than dishing them out. She also practiced dodging and baiting out attacks.
As a result, by the end of the week, she was able to keep up with Izuku while he wasn't using One For All. Now, the moment he activated the Quirk, it was game over, and all the time she was forced to bring out Killer Queen as a result. It annoyed her, but there wasn't much she could do about it.
As for what she did with Josefumi, well… she was starting to take an interest in what he was doing with his Steel Ball. That… spinning stuff. It seemed to make his Soft & Wet that much stronger, and it was also something that he could do without his Stand. She tried asking him to train him, but his response to that was that he wasn't all that great at it, and was still learning himself.
In other words, he couldn't teach her because he barely understood it himself. That didn't mean she couldn't spar with him and his Stand. Of course, Killer Queen would always beat Soft & Wet in a one-on-one no-holds-barred fistfight, but in a battle of strategy, Josefumi always seemed to beat her.
Whether it was taking away her eyesight, blinding her and preventing her from doing anything without bumbling around like a moron or removing his body's center of gravity to allow him to fly and have complete air superiority over her, even with her explosive bubbles, he completely dog walked her in combat, and it frustrated her. But that wasn't to say that she didn't win, though. Every 1 out of 10 fights, she'd win, but only by luck. Every other time? Josefumi won based on pure strategy alone.
It proved to her that she really wasn't a great fighter, and was more or less someone who used brute force and ass-pulls to win. Something she was going to need to work on. Just because Killer Queen was a powerful Stand, didn't mean that she herself could fight with it.
Either that or Josefumi was just far too talented and she had no hopes of ever beating him. Whatever the case was, Yoshihara wasn't feeling too good about herself in that regard.
When she wasn't training or studying, she was cleaning her room, and even cleaning the living room, because some people—mostly Kaminari—didn't know how to clean up after themselves, which earned them a few backhands to the back of the head, once again, this being only Kaminari, since he was the worst for it.
Another thing that happened during those two weeks was her constant staredowns with Bakugo. Every time they saw one another, they glared at one another. She wanted to beat his ass so badly, to the point where he'd beg for death, but moving past the fact that he was an asshole and moving past the fact that he was still grieving over the death of Inko and maybe Ida, there was nothing she could do to him inside the Dormitory, lest she got on everyone's bad side, again.
She even decided to try and get to know Maria and Giorgio, something she thought she would never do based on the fact that she didn't really think much of them. Her opinions of them were surprisingly positive, all things considered.
Maria Bucciratti was a decent person with a heart of gold. However, she also had a mean streak and a firm stance against bigots. Something that she could relate to, now that she looked back at it.
Then there was Giorgio Zeppelli. He was a rampant trickster, and she was not a fan of it. Aside from that though, he had a similar character to that of Gyro, that being that he was a rather tough-as-nails kind of individual with a strong moral compass, mixed with a healthy dose of selfishness to boot.
Although, he was mostly a prankster. Needless to say, Giorgio and Kaminari became fast friends.
As for Maria, she seemed to fit in with the likes of Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and shockingly enough, Todoroki. The last one was what confused her the most, seeing as Todoroki really wasn't one for making friends, yet Maria was able to get him talking about, oddly enough, conspiracy theories.
Yoshihara didn't know that Todoroki was fond of conspiracy theories, but then again she didn't make an active attempt to get to know him, and she doubted he wanted to get to know her; especially considering all of the drama that surrounded her.
All of that aside, there was a reason why she was so focused on studying, and it should come as no surprise to anyone with half a brain. But if it wasn't obvious already, Final Exams were coming up, and the last thing that she wanted was to fail. Of course, no one wanted to fail, but Yoshihara wanted to fail the least.
Why?
Because she had always gotten good grades, except for English. English was always part of the class that she fumbled with the most, no matter how hard she tried, and Yamada-Sensei didn't help that one bit, on account of the fact that he wasn't exactly "teacher material" in Yoshihara's opinion. Hell, even Nemuri was a better teacher than Yamada-Sensei, which while not a high bar, it was definitely better.
Now, how did she wind up with all of this time to study? Well, the answer came from the fact that a Student had died on campus via a villain attack. It had sent the school into lockdown, and all classes were cancelled for a full week. The staff didn't want this to happen, and neither did the students, but the Principal, along with Jonathon of all people, forced the lockdown.
And if Yoshihara had to guess, it was because of a Stand User. And, as she found out, she wasn't entirely wrong. But first came the Lockdown, and how it affected her and what she wanted to do.
The rules of the lockdown were simple: No one, not even staff, was allowed to leave the campus for any reason. No parental visits, no vacation flights, no nothing. Of course, parents could always come to the school's campus and see their children, but not the other way around. The only way a student could leave campus is if given explicit permission by the staff, if they had a job outside of school or if it was an internship. Those were the only times a student was allowed to leave the campus.
While that was already extreme, it only got "worse" as the next thing that changed whipped everyone into a frenzy. And by everyone, she meant everyone. One of the most controversial changes made because of the lockdown was this: No more students were allowed to be removed or added to and from the school, unless for medical purposes approved by doctors, or governmental recommendations until the end of the year.
This was one of the things that set off the media, calling it an illegal move and utilitarian. And, truth be told, it was. However, the HSPC and the Japanese government approved everything, with the exception that it be changed from "Till you Graduate" to "Till the end of the year" which Nedzu and Jonathon agreed upon. This further made parents angry, even when it was announced that all student fees would be dropped.
And what was Yoshihara's opinion? She didn't care. Simply put, Yoshihara didn't care even in the slightest. And while she was curious as to why, she had to assume it had something to do with what Josefumi told her last night, that being that Karera was attacked by a Stand User after school within the confines of the building.
In other words, all of this was done to protect the students. Even if it was beyond illegal regularly speaking, there was a good reason for it to be done. It was a shame that the public wouldn't understand why. But, such was life. And while the public had the right to know, with both the HSPC and The Speedwagon Foundation on campus in the form of armed guards… yeah, the chances of them getting their answers were next to none.
The media was not allowed on campus for any reason, not unless they were given express permission from Nedzu and Jonathon, both of whom were in agreement that the media, tabloids, and other people such as them, should not be around children stuffing cameras in their faces.
Which moved on to the other strange thing. Someone had shown up that no one had expected to show up, especially Jonathon. While Jonathon was here for a week to catch up with his son over what had been going on, someone else decided to tag along. Someone that, to be frank, shocked even All Might, and while All Might wasn't here in person right now, when he found out via the phone thanks to Izuku getting a surprise call from the man, his reaction was… apt to say the least.
As for who this person was… well…
"So, you're the one who Jojo over here doesn't stop talking about, huh?" A tall, blonde, muscular woman said, looking at Yoshihara as Josefumi and Jonathon were right behind her. The woman was wearing a black tank-top shirt, a pair of green jeans, and a pair of black combat boots. She stood at 6 feet 2 inches and had bright blue eyes. Her arms were the size of a gorilla's arms, and she looked as if she could rival All Might in an arm wrestle competition, given that no Quirks were allowed.
Currently, the group of four was outside of the dorms, and Yoshihara had been taking a break from studying, mostly out of Izuku's concern that she was overworking herself. And thus, it led to the conversation that she was having right now.
A conversation with Cathleen Bate of all people. For those unaware, she was America's number one. For her to be here, talking to her, with a smirk on her face, sent a small chill down Yoshihara's spine. Not because she was a fan or anything like that, but because a foreign hero, one of the strongest, possibly even rivalling All Might in pure, raw strength, was standing right in front of her.
"I had no idea either Josefumi or Uncle Jojo talked about me to anyone. It is a pleasure to meet you, Bate-san," Yoshihara replied, bowing as Cathleen's smirk turned into a smile.
"And you're well-mannered! Ha! That's more than I can say for a certain someone I know," Cathleen said, looking over her shoulder at Jonathon, who frowned, crossing his arms.
"Excuse me for not expecting you to show up, Cat. The last time we talked face-to-face was five years ago, so pardon me for being a little shocked to see you again," Jonathon retorted as Cathleen laughed, before saying something in English to Jonathon, which got him going, as the two began to, seemingly playfully jab at one another in the foreign tongue.
Josefumi walked up to Yoshihara, standing next to her. He looked unimpressed at the two adults, but said nothing, leaning against the veranda railing. Eventually, after a brief moment of silence, Josefumi spoke. "Those two always get into the most childish of arguments…" Josefumi muttered as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know her?" The blonde asked as Josefumi sighed.
"Unfortunately, yes I do. She's my Aunt. Not by blood though, she's just a family friend, one I've known since elementary," Josefumi replied as Yoshihara hummed.
"She seems like a nice person, and your Dad seems to trust her," Yoshihara said as Josefumi scoffed.
"Only because he has a crush on her. Well, I think so, anyway," Josefumi said as his expression became sullen. "Aunt Cat's been an important figure in my Dad's life, and a part of me thinks it's the only thing that's gotten him through what happened to my mom…." Josefumi continued as he glanced at Yoshihara.
"You… don't mind if I vent for a bit, do you?" Josefumi asked as Yoshihara smirked.
"I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't let you, Josefumi. Go ahead, I'm listening," Yoshihara said as the purple-haired teen smiled.
"Thanks… well, you see… Dad hasn't had a stable life ever since Mom died, and… even though he doesn't do it during the day, Gyro constantly tries to get him to stop drinking. One of these days he's gonna spiral, and it's gonna be bad. Auntie Cat's the only one who kept him from going deeper into that spiral. When news broke out that Mika and Kyotoku were dead, and Kyoka went missing, it hit him, and bad. I don't think I've ever heard my dad that angry or distraught in my entire life."
Josefumi paused, his expression thoughtful. "I… didn't know what to do, and… it shook my resolve to hear my father, someone who I saw as an unstoppable juggernaut, be so… afraid. It was surreal, and it made me realize that my Dad was more than just, well, my Dad…." He chuckled, though it wasn't out of finding something funny. Rather, as Yoshihara saw it, he seemed frustrated with himself. "Maybe I've been looking at it the wrong way. Maybe the picture I have of my dad in my head is just a lie… he's always been like this… he just never showed it. And it reared its ugly head when that report came in…."
As Josefumi explained his situation, Yoshihara couldn't help but feel bad for him. Even going as far as to pat him on the back. "I'm sure everything's going to get better, right? Also… why? I mean, I get that Jirou was family, but why would it cut him that deeply?"
"Two things," Josefumi began. "One, he sees her as his daughter from another family. And two, she has a striking resemblance to Tomoko, minus the earphone jacks," Josefumi said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"Reminds him of his dead wife?"
"Ah!" Josefumi raised a hand defensively. "Not like that! Jesus, no! It's… well, the way he describes it, it's like her soul lives on in Kyoka, and she'll live up to her legacy. Believe it or not, Tomoko was my Dad's sidekick. She might've been Quirkless and lacked a Stand, but she was one hell of a weaponsmith. She could blow people's brains out from about a quarter mile away with your standard Makarov pistol. She was also a Hamon master, so maybe that had something to do with it."
Josefumi sighed, shaking his head. "My Mom died giving birth to me… and a part of me feels as if my birth is the reason why my Dad's life's gone down the drain. Mentally speaking, anyway. He doesn't hate me or anything, but anytime I look at old family photos, with him smiling so brightly with my Mom… I feel like I stole that from him. That I stole his happiness. And that's why he drinks himself to sleep when I'm not around…."
In response to that, Yoshihara slapped him up the back of the head, making him hiss. "What was—"
"That was for being stupid," Yoshihara spat, glaring at him. "Don't take what you have for granted. Your dad's moved on, as it seems, and just because he drinks himself to sleep or whatever, it doesn't mean he lingers on the past. He runs The Speedwagon Foundation. That has to be stressful, and thus, he drinks. It's not healthy mind you, but it's better than nothing, right? He could be smoking instead and get lung cancer."
"B—"
"But nothing, Jojo," Yoshihara interrupted. "You've done nothing wrong, and it's not like your father takes it out on you. Thinking like that is a fast track to depression, and the last thing you need in your life is that nonsense. Be glad you're alive, and be glad that you have the caring family that you do."
Josefumi looked away, staring over to the floor of the veranda with a distant gleam in his eyes. "Yeah… I, um. Sorry about that."
"Don't apologize," Yoshihara replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, her expression less harsh and more sympathetic. "You probably had that bottled up for a while. I'd suggest to you a therapist that I know, but he's kind of… problematic, what with how his Stand works…"
"A Stand user?" Josefumi said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Do you remember the Therapist I went to? The one Hound Dog recommended to me?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi nodded. "Well, he was a Stand user, and his Stand, Tragically Hip basically is a forced ultimatum. He hates it, but there's nothing he can do about it. So instead of being a villain or a controversial hero, he decided to be a therapist. Honestly, with how his Stand works, it makes the most sense, even if it's a little macabre."
The two stood in silence for a little bit, listening to the two adults having what appeared to be a playful argument with one another, one that was entirely in English, so Yoshihara couldn't understand it all too well. She could understand the swear words, but that was about it.
That was when she thought of something that, in hindsight, really should've been obvious, but considering everything else surrounding their conversation, she didn't really get a chance to ask about it. And so, seeing as they weren't talking about anything, Yoshihara decided to speak up.
"So, why is Star and Stripe here? I can't imagine it's just for a vacation. She's America's number 1, after all, so she probably came here for a reason," Yoshihara asked as Josefumi perked up at that, no longer leaning against the railing with an alert gleam in his eyes.
"Oh! Right, yeah! I forgot about that! Okay, so, you know how All Might's health has been surging recently? Midoriya told us this, remember? He had a grievous injury but someone healed him, yeah? So because of that, he hadn't been able to do as much hero work in the past, which was why crime rates were surging. But, you've noticed that he seems to be getting better, yeah?" Josefumi asked as Yoshihara hummed.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I did notice that. Even before Izuku told me about One For All. That aside, though, what does that have to do with anything?" Yoshihara replied as Josefumi smirked.
"Well, now that he's been healing, and since he's still got remnants of the Quirk left in him, and is overall extremely strong even without it, he's going around helping a bunch more people, and his schedule during the Final Exams is completely booked, so he can't really join in. That's what Auntie Cat is here for. She owed him a massive favour for some reason or another, so he cashed that in. Auntie Cat's gonna be a part of the Physical portion of The Final Exams."
"Damn, straight I am!" And with that, all attention was drawn to Cathleen, who smiled a wide, almost intimidating grin. "And I'll tell you what, it's gonna be the roughest shit you brats have ever been put through. I got clearance from my boss saying that I can go all out, with a few restrictions here and there. So just know this… These exams are going to be hell, so get ready, ya damned punks."
xxXXxxXXxx
12% of One For All.
That was what he was now at thanks to his training with both Yoshihara, Josefumi, and the newcomer, Giorgio, who was teaching him something. Something called Hamon. It was largely in secret, and the only reason Giorgio was reportedly doing it was, and he was quoting this directly from the boy himself, "because I see potential in you unlike any other."
And thus that was exactly what he had been doing, and to say it was a little on the difficult side was a massive understatement. Then again, considering that this was a Zeppelli, a family of Quirkless individuals who used some form of martial arts that gave them superhuman abilities that they had, it was no wonder why the training was a pain.
And then there was Giorgio himself, who was a prodigy. Giorgio had mastered both Hamon and something called The Spin three years ago, a record amongst all Zeppelli's, even Gyro, who had held the previous record of mastering Hamon and The Spin at the age of 20. Giorgio had him beat by a decade.
And so, seeing as he had this power, according to the guy himself, he had been using both to become a hero and to live up to his grandfather's legacy. This was, of course, before awakening his Stand, something called The Living Tombstone. He had been a little confused about what his Stand could do, but apparently, it allowed him to dissolve anything down to the molecular level. Of course, it was at his own discretion, and he mostly used it for transport and surprise attacks.
He was trying to be a Hero, after all. Not a serial killer or a villain. Though with a Stand like that, he could probably be both, and extremely hard to defeat. A part of him counted his lucky stars that he hadn't run into a villain like that. It sounded absolutely dreadful.
But while his training with One For All was going smoothly, his training with Hamon wasn't really going anywhere. After Giorgio "fixed his lungs", and by fixed his lungs he meant to shove his pinky finger into his sternum to "reset" his lungs and diaphragm, he had a hard time channelling Hamon throughout his body.
Sure, he could feel it, but it wasn't really manifesting. Some light sparks would show up along with One For All, but it wasn't really doing much of anything, aside from reinforcing his muscles and bones. Giorgio said that it was supposed to allow him to double his punching power and allow him to defend himself from dangerous attacks, as well as practically one-shot Vampires.
Perhaps it was because One For All was so strong that he didn't really see any returns for his efforts. Of course, Hamon could do a bunch of other stuff, like travel through objects and spring life to things around him, but that was stuff he saw Giorgio do. He tried, but he seemingly wasn't able to do much with it.
But! That did not mean he was going to give up. If there was anything that Izuku Midoriya was, it was not a quitter. So, he trained with it, alongside One For All. Which was why he was now able to reach up to 12% in Full Cowling mode. He also noticed that, while he'd break his bones temporarily, they healed almost a second later, granted, it was only when he was breathing with Hamon in mind, which was extremely hard for him to do while channelling One For All, but, over the course of the last week or so, he had been slowly getting the hang of it.
As of right now, Izuku was meditating, something that Giorgio suggested that he did to make his usage of Hamon much more stable and, perhaps, help him figure out why his Hamon wasn't doubling his strength and durability like it normally would, or allow him to send it through things like rocks, water, and other stuff.
It was during this meditation, which he was doing on a rock in the woods behind the Dorms, that he heard someone approach. Opening his eyes, he looked over to his right, which was where the noise was coming from, and there, standing about a few feet away, was Todoroki.
"Midoriya," Shoto greeted as Izuku hopped off of the rock, sticking his hands into the pair of cargo shorts he had been wearing.
"Todoroki-kun, what's up?" Izuku asked as the dual-haired prodigy frowned.
"I… wanted to ask you about Kira. I would talk to her myself, but I'm feeling conflicted about her. As you know, she's kept things hidden from us, and I wanted to know your stance on things, seeing as you're dating her," Todoroki stated, his tone matter-of-fact as Izuku sighed.
"Straight to the point, I see? Yeah, I know what you mean," Izuku replied, keeping a relaxed disposition. "But… I wasn't really kept in the dark about these things. Well, for the most part, anyway. As you just said, I'm dating her, so she kind of filled me in on things. What you, and the rest of the class, have to understand is that she meant no ill will toward you all when she kept these things hidden."
"I'm not stupid, Midoriya. I know that much," Todoroki replied, his frown deepening. "And I know that it was most likely for our safety, that much I understand. But… as the class's new vice representative, and as a classmate of hers, I felt… betrayed, almost. That information could have saved Ida. And I overheard Kira's and Bakugo's conversation, so I know he knew as well, but I…" Todoroki paused, shaking his head in defeat. "I want to know if there are any more secrets that she's hiding, and I'm asking you because I know she won't tell anyone else."
Izuku frowned, crossing his arms. "It's a little rude asking someone's significant other about secrets that they themselves don't want to talk about, Todoroki-kun," Izuku replied flatly as Todoroki huffed, raising his head to stare Izuku in the eyes.
"I know, Midoriya. I'm aware. But I… we need to know. This secret thing… can't continue. More people from our class are going to suffer from this. I know I'm not particularly the nicest person in the world, especially earlier on in the year, and while I'm working on it, beyond the fact that I would consider you a… friend, I want to put the class first, and niceties second," Todoroki said as Izuku bit his bottom lip, averting eye contact with Todoroki.
"I…" Izuku began, before shaking his head. Unfortunately for Todoroki, he wasn't really aware of anything else, other than the fact that he knew the name of the group who were most likely after them. And by them, he meant himself, Yoshihara, Fumi-kun, Sakunami-san, and perhaps even Uraraka-san. Aside from that and personal secrets, he was about on par with everyone else.
And while he felt bad about keeping the name of the other villainous group hidden, it wasn't important. Besides, googling their name brought nothing up, so it wasn't like it was crucial to defeating them. And with that in mind, Izuku continued.
"The only secrets I know are personal ones. Ones that she doesn't want to get out, and for good reason, too. Nothing dangerous, but… moreso for her mental health. In other words, nothing you need to be concerned with," Izuku said, looking back toward Todoroki. "Aside from those, I know just as much, if not a little more, than you do. I know about Stands, and I know how to sense them when they're around me, though the more I think about it, I think it's because of my Quirk more than anything else."
Izuku stopped himself from going on a long-winded mumble fest, before clearing his throat. "And, aside from that, and aside from The Yellow Bullets that keep showing up on TV that seemingly has the same properties as Stand Arrows, I know nothing else. I'm being honest, Todoroki. I truly know nothing more than that."
Shoto, for his part, really wanted to believe Midoriya. And he did! However, he couldn't shake the tiniest, yet loudest voice in his head, telling him that Midoriya was lying through his teeth. Then again, he had no proof for it, and he wasn't Bakugo. So, trusting that Midoriya was telling the truth, Shoto nodded.
"Very well. Thank you, Midoriya. I'll leave you to do whatever it was you were doing. But just so you know, it's almost 6:30 PM, so you should probably get something to eat," and with that, Shoto left Izuku, as the green-haired teen sighed.
His life just couldn't stop being complicated, could it? Ever since he gained One For All from All Might, and ever since he learned about Stands, his life had changed in ways he didn't think possible. Some good, most bad, but even then there were upsides.
But as it stood now, Class 1 – A was split three ways, and it was starting to become extremely apparent, with neither side budging on their stances, and with the group in the middle being left to deal with the aftermath.
On the one side, there were the people who knew that the secrets that were being kept, at the very least, needed to remain secret for as long as they had been for the safety of everyone in the class and school beyond.
Those people were Himself, Yoshihara, Fumi-kun, Uraraka-san, the late Ida-kun, Ashido-san, and both of the newcomers Bucciaratti-san and Giorgio.
On the other side, were the people who felt betrayed by the fact that secrets were being kept the way they were. They believed that if the secrets were told on day one, then things wouldn't have ended in the way that they did. That Ida-kun would still be alive.
Those people were Bakugo, Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, Asui—she said that he could only call her that now so he went with it, even if it hurt him—Mezou and Ojirou.
And stuck in the middle of it all were those who didn't believe either and were split on the matter. They didn't know which side was right or wrong and decided to stay out of it and live their lives as peacefully as possible.
Those people were Kirishima-san, Kaminari-san, Tokoyami-san, Sato-san and Todoroki-kun.
What made things worse was that Aizawa-sensei, no matter how hard he tried, could never seem to get the arguing or the constant fighting to stop. Eventually, he gave up and left the class to deal with the nonsense on their own time.
Hamon training was what was keeping him busy, and with Todoroki no longer asking him about those things, he decided to get back to it. After all, Final Exams were coming up, and a part of him knew that something was going to happen. What that something was, Izuku didn't know. And therefore, he needed to train.
And just like that, the week flew by. Until the day U.A.'s Final Exams were about to begin….
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