章節 35: Chapter 35 - Training
"One more! One more!"
"Huff…"
"ARGH!"
On the very break of dawn, a pair of three young boys around the age of 14-15 can be found on a beach with a significantly large pile of trash near them. Beads of sweat fell down to the ground as excruciating pain assaulted the minds of the struggling duo of green and yellow who were stared at by a pair of merciless golden eyes.
Ryuji pointed at them with fierce ruthlessness and clicked his tongue. "All those yapping about becoming the world's greatest hero when you can't even endure shit like this!"
"If you have the energy to say crap and huff, you have the energy for one more rep!"
Katsuki's forehead popped with veins as he felt his muscles ache with enough pain to knock him unconscious. Izuku's entire body trembled as he struggled to exert the last bit of his strength to push his body up from the ground.
They bit their lips and grunted. It was akin to flames searing their muscles and hot iron flowing through their veins. Ever since Ryuji took reign while All Might was gone, it has become hell on Earth on every single set for the two, but they can't deny that his methods were effective.
'You can do this! You're gonna become the number one hero! Don't let that annoying bastard get a win on you!' Katsuki roared in his heart and, slowly but surely, elevated himself from the ground with wobbling arms like buildings ready to be toppled down by the slightest gust of wind.
'One more! One more! One more and this would be over!' Izuku's vision blurred as he too mustered the remaining morsels of strength left in him. In the end, his will prevailed and he managed to do one last rep, albeit his form was bad beyond recognition.
The two immediately lost all of their strength upon finishing their last rep and fell face-first onto the ground.
Ryuji grinned and clapped his hands. He chuckled and pulled two white cubes from his pocket with a gentle smile. "Open up~."
Both Izuku and Katsuki hastily opened their mouths like two obedient dogs, or two starving peasants finding food after not eating for so long.
With an accurate toss, Ryuji flicked the two white cubes into their mouths at the same time, and his pupils glimmered with a golden luster as the white cubes dissolved into a gooey white liquid that flowed down their throats.
Ryuji activated his quirk in tandem with the white liquid, and with a wave of his finger, a strange connection between body and mind was established on the two dying kids. They felt an indescribable hunger emitting from every single cell in their body, and their yearning for energy turned more and more chaotic with each second that passed.
Their breaths turned slow and methodical, dispersing their fatigue and dissipating their exhaustion like fleeting gusts of wind. Their tired eyes regained their exorbitant vigor, and the breath of life flowed through their veins. An indescribable euphoria threatened to devour their consciousness, leaving the two paralyzed in a catharsis of weird illusions and reality.
Unfortunately, all good things must inevitably come to an end, and the same applies to here. Like the devil taking the princess away from her castle, Izuku and Katsuki stopped squirming on the ground and stared blankly at the ceiling `.
"Ugh…" Katsuki groaned and rubbed his temple. "I really shouldn't be using that damn Nutri-Cube of yours."
"Come on, what's the harm in it?" Ryuji shrugged his shoulders while sipping on juice contained inside a plastic cup.
"Ha… What's the harm?" Katsuki snapped. "Addiction! That's the harm."
"K-Kacchan, you shouldn't-"
"Don't tell me I'm wrong! That bastard is just exploiting us by making us addicted with his wonder drug and healing our addictions with his stupid magic!" Katsuki stomped his foot to the ground and pointed at Ryuji angrily.
"Hey, my services are honest work no matter how you look at it." Ryuji grinned teasingly. "And if you feel like I'm sucking out too much money from you guys, then you should just join the part-time jobs I recommended last time."
"You mean 'ways Ryuji can earn more money and merit from his numerous jobs'?" Katsuki scoffed.
"Hey, you can't hate me for wanting more money. Besides, you guys can definitely act as great models and earn a little bit of cha-ching along the way. It's not like it's bad for you." Ryuji winked.
"There's no way in hell I'm gonna give you a way to earn more money." Katsuki rolled his eyes and angrily grabbed a bottle of water from the dilapidated couch beside them.
"What about you, Izuku? Don't you think my offer is tempting? You could earn a lot of pachingkos by being a model for Buki-san." Ryuji went and looked at Izuku.
"U-Um…" Izuku looked away. "I-Isn't modeling for good looking g-guys. I-I don't think I'm s-suited out for that."
"Look at you being modest and stuff." Ryuji laughed. "Hey, just accept it already, you're hot as hell."
Ryuji stretched out his hand and gently lifted Izuku's chin. "In fact, having you as my boyfriend doesn't sound that bad."
Izuku's face immediately flushed red as blood uncontrollably gathered around his face. "W-What are you s-saying, R-Ryuji-san?!"
"Hehehe." Ryuji chuckled and patted Izuku on the shoulder. "Calm down, dude. I'm just messing with ya'."
"Though, to be fair, you two do look good as hell." Ryuji rubbed his chin. "I guess I must have caused you guys to look closer to my idealized physique and appearance due to the interference of my quirk, making you two appear as ikemen."
"Heh, I'm just too good of a friend." Ryuji laughed flamboyantly.
"What did you say?!" Katsuki stood up with furious eyes. "So that's why I look like this right now!"
"You caused my body and face to look like this!" Katsuki pointed at himself, his hands trembling from the tumultuous rage he felt.
'Now I look like a stupid fucking idol straight out of a shoujo manga!' Katsuki clenched his teeth as his anger bubbled without pause.
Izuku moved his gaze onto the reflection on a broken-down fridge beside him with surprised eyes. He lifted his hand and touched his face with incredulous eyes.
Gone were his tiny flaws and ugly green hair, instead, he saw a person that he could even call good-looking. 'No, not just good looking… it's like he's a high school idol from an anime!'
One was boiling with wrath while the other was dumbfounded; two different reactions from the same action dealt.
"Hey, that's a good deed, you know? And also because I need you two to be models so I can get more cash from Buki-san." Ryuji shrugged and grabbed his bag from the damaged sofa beside him.
"Anyways, I have to do another photoshoot today while also potentially signing a deal with a new voice-acting gig I'm planning to joy, so be sure to rest properly before tomorrow's exam!" Ryuji waved his hand and, before Katsuki could even react, disappeared like a shadow.
Just as they stared at the place where Ryuji used to be standing, All Might appeared from the distance in his unpowered form holding a bag of snacks, when he saw the duo staring blankly at the air. 'What shenanigans are they up to again?'
'Maybe Ryuji-shounen was messing with them again?' All Might shook his head. 'Sigh, how joyous it is to be young.'
'Although I have noticed that young Izuku and young Katsuki appear quite different from when I first met them, especially my protege…' All Might blinked his eyes to make sure his eyesight isn't wonky.
…
The next day.
On the beach of Musutafu, Japan, a peculiar sight can be witnessed at the start of a new day just as the sun rose on the horizon and sea. Unlike its usual state full of trash and litter, it was instead clean to the point it appeared unusual.
Not even a random can or a plastic bottle can be found on the clean shores of the beach. The waves crashed against the edges of the shore while the grains of sand shimmered like specks of gold.
It was pristine. It was serene. It was-
"UWAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Izuku roared atop a pile of trash while his chiseled body glistened under the light of the morning sun.
All Might stared dumbfounded at the sea, his eyes full of disbelief upon the scene he was currently witnessing.
'Not only did he finish it, but he also went above and beyond what I originally tasked him to do!' All Might's body trembled.
"Oh my… Oh my…" He clenched his fist and tightened his legs. "GOODNESS!"
Unknowingly, All Might activated his quirk from the excitement he felt and buffed up to his heroic form.
Izuku wiped the tears away from his eyes and looked back at All Might with a proud smile. "I did it! I did it, All Might!"
Tears of joy streamed down his face as Izuku took a step forward, but he accidentally tripped on something and fell down the pile of trash.
"Ahhh!" Izuku closed his eyes and curled up his body, letting his instinct take hold to prevent himself from being too battered up by the fall.
All Might swiftly appeared right below Izuku, catching his body and preventing him from falling down to the ground.
Izuku opened his eyes and looked at All Might with a surprised gaze before the surprise then turned into relief and joy.
All Might grinned, although he was already smiling, his smile still turned wider than usual. "Good job."
"I did it…" He uttered it once more, showcasing the joy and pride he felt in himself and what he accomplished.
"Yeah, you surprised me, you entertainer!" All Might slowly put down Izuku on the ground. "Teenagers are amazing!"
All Might pulled out his phone and opened a picture, showing it to Izuku. "Here, take a look."
"This is…" Izuku stared at the picture with surprised eyes.
"It's you, ten months ago." All Might chuckled. Upon hearing his words, Izuku widened his eyes as a stream of memories invaded his mind.
'Ten months…' Izuku closed his eyes as he allowed the memories to swim around his mind as they pleased.
'It has already been ten months since we first met.' Ryuji popped into his mind, his pair of golden eyes staring at him with obnoxious arrogance that you couldn't just hate, along with the embarrassment he felt when the nameless boy saw his naked upper body.
'And ten months since me and Kacchan became friends again.' Vivid recollections of him, Katsuki, and Ryuji hanging out on various occasions echoed like a mirage.
'Not only that, but I also became All Might's protege and opened up the path to acquiring my dream.' Izuku felt his eyes tear up once more and his body tremble.
"You did good…" All Might patted Izuku on the shoulder. "You really did!"
"I feel like I'm cheating." Izuku stared at his trembling arm. "It feels like I don't deserve all this."
"It all feels like a dream given to me by someone else. It feels like all of this would disappear as soon as I wake up." Izuku bit his lips. "Not only did I meet Ryuji and become friends with Katsuki again, I even became your protege without doing anything at all."
"What did I even do to deserve this?" Izuku sniffed. "I'm just too blessed."
All Might remained silent, comforting the boy by being the shoulder he could lean on.
"We'll have to fix that leaky eyes of yours. Now, it's time for the award ceremony, Izuku Midoriya!"
…
"Eat this." All Might said with a suspiciously deep and authoritative voice while holding out a strand of his luscious blond hair.
"Huh?" Izuku stared at the strand of hair with a blank gaze, and confusion clouded his face.
"It doesn't really matter what it is as long as you take in my DNA." All Might rubbed the back of his head and explained.
"It's too different from what I imagined!"
"Now, there's no time! You'll be late for the exam!"
"Come, come, come!"
…
"DNA…" Ryuji stared at Izuku drinking a bottle of water right after he ate All Might's hair. "Now that was an interesting quirk transferral process."
'While I'm already inclined to believe that quirks have some direct correlation with DNA and genetics, this is one of the biggest proofs I managed to nab.'
'But, I do wonder what would happen if I eat Izuku's hair too? Would I get One for All right now?' Ryuji walked around Izuku and inspected the boy who was oblivious to the invisible menace around him.
'Well, I already knew that it required the intake of DNA long before this happened by reading All Might's mind, but seeing is believing.' Ryuji shrugged his shoulders. 'It seems like the current holder must willingly pass it on to someone else, so eating his hair won't work.'
'Not only that, but I'm not willing to risk if my current hypothesis is true regarding One for All's unique characteristic, so I'll just inspect the limitations of this quirk through Izuku for now and try to take it for my own later on.'
'It's not like I don't have the time to do so.' Ryuji shrugged his shoulders, and with his curiosity satisfied, he disappeared like a gust of wind.
Just like that, a third party witnessed a monumental moment without having the participants even know Ryuji was there, showcasing the terrifying might of his quirk and what he could do to others if he so wished.
'Now, let's show the world the power of this genius martial artist, shall we?' Ryuji smirked, appearing right in front of his wardrobe which was wide open, and inside it was an assortment of clothes. While some were normal and fashionable, some of them can be said to be… abnormal, to say the least.
AN: This chapter has 2343 words.
Not gonna lie, I was too sleepy to edit this so you're basically reading the first draft right now. I should have revised this since it's such a significant chapter for Izuku's story, but I'll just do that later.
(May 20, 2023 - 541st day of writing)
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