บท 53: NO. 53 - New Pupil
I hummed as I stared into the nervous eyes of Shinso Hitoshi. Standing a few feet away from him, Izuku and Keiko looked at one another with nervous smiles. Sitting beside one another on a bench next to the two, Mei and Himiko sipped on some milk tea as a gust of wind blew through the public park we were at.
"…tell me, boy. Why are you here?" I asked Hitoshi as I leveled a serious look at him. He looked at Izuku nervously, only to receive a go-on motion from him.
[+10 SP]
"Ah, well, I was hoping… you'd take me on as a student." Hitoshi rubbed the back of his head as he stared me in the eyes. "You see, I want to be… a hero. And Midoriya-san has told me that you're the reason he's as strong as he is. So, please, l ask you to take me on as your student." The purple-haired boy finished by offering me a bow.
"I see, I see…" Nodding, I walked around him and inspected him closely, much to his discomfort. I stroked the beard I didn't have and nodded to myself, much to Hitoshi and everyone else's confusion. Himiko, however, found my teasing funny. "A hero, you say? So you want to help people?"
With a serious expression, Hitoshi nodded. "I do. My Quirk… my Quirk allows me to control people after they answer any question I ask. Everyone says that it's a Villains Quirk. But... I don't agree with that. I want to help people and be a hero. To do that, I want to make it into UA to become the best hero I can be."
Hoh, that was pretty solid.
I looked over my shoulder at Izuku. At his nod, I turned back to Hitoshi and patted his shoulder.
"Okay. I'll help you out." I smiled at him and stepped back a few feet. "From this point on, you'll call me Shimizu-sensei. You'll follow all my instructions without complaints. As long as you agree to that, I'll whip you into shape."
[+25 SP]
Smiling, Hitoshi nodded. "Thanks- I mean, thank you, Shimizu-sensei!"
"Great! Now then, let's see what you got." I took off my light jacket and threw it down on the grass. Rolling my shoulders, I motioned for Hitoshi to attack me. "Come on. I don't got all day."
[+10 SP]
"Hold on. You mean we're starting right now?"
"Of course. You only have a year or so before you can take UA's entrance exam. That doesn't give me much time to beat you into shape." I said as he quickly removed his hoodie.
[+15 SP]
"Beat me into shape…"
Stepping forward with a nervous look, Hitoshi slipped into a stiff and unrefined fighting stance. "Hmm… I see Izuku has taught you a few things already." I said as I picked up on all the openings he was showing.
"Yeah, I asked him if he could teach me. But he told me it would be better if you taught me instead." Hitoshi said as he and I moved closer to one another. "The most he taught me was his stance and a few punches."
"That true, Izuku? You giving out my teachings?" I asked Izuku without turning to him, causing him to freeze up. Keiko chuckled at him as he blushed in embarrassment.
"I told you to ask first," Keiko whispered as she patted Izuku's shoulder.
[+5 SP]
[+15 SP]
"I did… sorry, Souta-san. I should have asked you first." Izuku said with a little bow. Waving him off, I raised my fists and grinned.
"It's fine. Now then, show me what you got, Hitoshi."
x x x
[General POV]
"I was hoping Sou-chan would have held back a little. Maybe ease Shinso-kun into it." Keiko muttered as she and everyone else watched as Souta repeatedly assaulted Hitoshi with punches and kicks. "But that I was probably asking for too much…"
The purple-haired young man tried his best to dodge or attack back, but his inexperience was clear as day. Souta grinned at the sloppy left punch Hitoshi tried to use to strike him in the face. Grabbing his wrist, Souta used an over-the-shoulder toss to slam Hitoshi on the floor.
"He is holding back," Izuku said with a wince. "Otherwise, Shinso-kun would have been out cold already."
"That's true." Himiko nodded as she watched Souta slap the back of Hitoshi's head. "Whenever we train together, Souta-kun doesn't generally hold back too much. Says it's because the real world won't hold back either."
"Hm? I didn't know he was training you too, Himiko-chan." Mei turned to Himiko with a surprised look. "Do you wanna be a hero, too?"
"With your Quirk, I'm sure you'd be a great Hero!" Ever the Quirk enthusiast, Izuku turned away from the merciless beatdown of his newest friend to look at Himiko with excitement. "Your Quirk would allow you to be one of the best infiltration heroes ever! The sheer potential of becoming anyone is way too high! And all you need is a bit of their blood; sure, getting the blood itself may be a challenge, but I'm sure with the right support gear, you'd…"
All three girls smiled as Izuku fell into another one of his extensive Quirk analysis rambles. He was speaking so quickly that his sentences sounded like an incoherent mess. However, this was nothing new for the three of them at this point. So, as always, they nodded along with easygoing smiles.
"As Izuku-kun said, your Quirk has a lot of potential," Keiko said as she walked around Izuku and clamped a hand over his mouth, causing him to blush in embarrassment as he finally realized he was rambling. "I know you and Sou-chan start UA in a week, but do you want to eventually become a Hero?"
"A Hero?" Himiko muttered in wonder as the memories of her parent's harsh words filled her head. Demon, monster, and non-human came to mind. "I don't know... I don't think I'm suited to be one."
"I think you'd be a good one." Surprisingly, it was Mei who said this. Everyone turned to the pink-haired inventor as she gazed warmly at Souta as he sat on Hitsohi's battered body while drinking a water bottle. "But in the end, that'll be your choice to make. And if you ever become one, I'll support you 100% as your personal hero support gear specialist!" Mei said as she tilted her steampunk goggles.
"Mei-chan," Himiko whispered before she hugged the now uncomfortable pink-haired inventor Otaku. "Thank you!"
"Uh, yeah. Please release me now."
"Nope!"
Himiko rubbed her right cheek against Mei's while she smiled in happiness. She was happy to know she had so many people who believed in her and weren't disgusted by her Quirk. It truly felt as if she was on cloud nine at the moment. Looking over at Souta and Hitoshi, she watched as the black-haired object of her affection was going over what he and his newest student would begin working on.
As she watched them speak, Himiko couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety rise within her. After the incident in the kitchen all those days ago, she and Souta have been… awkward around one another. At times, they were able to interact normally with one another when it came to eating their meals with everyone else in their household or when it came to training.
However, things became awkward whenever they were left alone. Himiko and he would look away from one another as they fumbled over what to say. Thankfully, it wouldn't take long for Eri or Jin to pop up to break that tension.
'What am I going to do?' Himiko wondered as she leaned onto Mei's shoulder. A pensive look on her face. 'Why did I do that? If I didn't, then nothing would have changed between us. We'd still be having fun and talking about random stuff together. Now everything's messy. All because I wanted to kiss him.'
"Himiko-chan?" Keiko leaned forward, causing the blonde to blink out of her thoughts. Mei, who had picked up on Himiko's downtrodden expression, was patting the girl's shoulder mechanically like her own mother did to her whenever one of her inventions blew up. "Is everything okay? You seem a little down." Keiko said.
Sitting up, Himiko rubbed her hands together and smiled softly. "I'm okay! Sorry, I was just thinking about… how UA will be! Yeah, I'm just getting worried about what kinds of classes they're going to have!"
"…is that so?" Keiko said with a thoughtful smile. She didn't press on the subject out of respect for her privacy. "I wouldn't worry if I were you; you'll do just fine! Just believe in yourself!"
"Ah, they're done," Izuku muttered as he watched Souta and Hitoshi walk toward them. Or, in Hitoshi's case, limping toward them.
From the corner of her eyes, Mei noticed Himiko stare longingly at Souta. Feeling a tightness around her chest, Mei frowned and looked down.
'Am I sick or something?' Mei thought. Oblivious to her feelings.
x x x
[Shimizu Souta POV]
After I was done beating-training Hitoshi, I gave him a personalized routine for him to follow. That included what he should eat and which exercises he would do independently. We would meet together every day at the hidden training ground at the park Izuku and I frequented for his training.
There, I would try to bring him up to speed enough so he could at least keep up with his future peers. With the aid of his Quirk, I was sure he could put up a good fight at his own entrance exams. Maybe he'd even get into class 1-A or 1-B?
With that out of the way, everyone went their own way home while Himiko and I took the train. We would normally take Nue, but it was still relatively bright outside, which was why we currently found ourselves standing in a relatively packed train. Due to how full it was, we were standing with our hands holding onto the handrails.
"Did you really have to smack him around like that?" Himiko asked as she giggled at the memory. Grinning, I looked up and nodded.
"Probably not, but that's how I started Izuku out. Besides, Hitoshi took it like a champ."
The train shook slightly, causing Himiko to lean into my side. She and I stiffened as our arms rubbed on one another before she quickly righted herself. From there, the two of us rode along in silence. Her lightly blushing cheeks caused my own to heat up at the sight.
[+35 SP]
I go from fighting some of the worst society has to offer without blinking to a nervous teenager when it comes to romance. How sad.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hand move slowly until it was only a few centimeters away from my own. In the end, she sighed and began to pull away.
"Here." I reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it firmly in my own. "This should help. Can't have you tumbling around. We still have another half hour to go."
Her cheeks burned at the contact. With a broad smile, Himiko nodded and squeezed my hand. "Mhm! Thanks!"
Closing my eyes, I decided that I couldn't keep ignoring Himiko's feelings for me. That would be a cowardly move only a harem protagonist would make. Even so, I wouldn't rush this. If this was meant to be, I wanted to take my time and let things play out. Because if things between her and me didn't work out, I at least hoped we could still be friends.
"Ah, that reminds me." I abruptly said, turning to her. "I'll be going away for the weekend. I have some… business I need to take care of."
Tilting her head cutely, Himiko's expression grew serious. Leaning in, she whispered. "Is it another job? Is the Sukuna attack force moving out?"
Due to her close proximity, I was able to pick up the flowery, sweet smell of her shampoo. Before I could continue breathing in her scent like a degenerate, I pushed her back gently.
"No, nothing like that." I shook my head and stared out at the blurring buildings outside the train. "Remember that one Shikigami I told you about?"
[+25 SP]
"Hold on… you don't mean that one?!"
"Yup. It's finally time to subjugate the Divine General himself... Mahoraga."
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