" It all comes down... to making it fit in... with your body." Midoriya was walking and talking like a lifeless corpse by that moment everyone couldn't take their eyes off him.
" We've got that the first 200 times!" Whisper groaned as he snatched the ornament from his head. " Even as a zombie, he doesn't stop his analyzing!" And he threw the mask piece back to its owner.
" I am here... fine and dandy, with cotton candy!" Everyone didn't seem to see All Might with a cotton candy machine there on the ground until he stopped them, retelling his joke which didn't seem to get the reaction he was hoping for.
" Huh? Where's Aizawa-sensei?"
As Kaminari said that, Sora glimpsed something off with All Might's aura. " Well, Aizawa-kun had something urgent come up just now," he said spinning the cotton candy.
" Was it the announcement from earlier?" Yuu asked and All Might nodded.
" Heh, so what about today's training?" Kirishima asked.
" I'll be watching over you for today," All Might said, less energetic than usual.
" No offense there but I thought you retired as a hero, which means you can't conduct hero training cla-" Yuu squeezed the ghost hard to shut his mouth while Whisper flailed his arms threateningly at him.
" No, Whisper is right. I usually can't conduct hero training without the presence of Aizawa-kun or other teachers." All Might waved his hand at Yuu as though to tell him to let go of the ghost. " Being the dangerous accident-prone course, you know. But today I'm the only one available, and since it won't be something serious, I'm pretty sure I can manage."
Why does it look as though it deeply hurts to say that? Though Sora knew why. For him, the previous number one who used to save others and they depended on him so much, it must be hard to be protected now and have to depend on others.
" Then, what's for today's menu, All Might-sensei!" Kaminari urged him to begin the test. And so the man held up some kind of remote control and flung it at the other side of the field.
" Today's Mission will be..." As he pressed the button, multiple red dots shone in the distance and the sound of wheels trekking down towards them permeated the arena. " A Robo Inferno challenge to see how far you've grown since you enrolled in U.A."
" So it's like our entrance exam!" Mineta exclaimed.
" I see, that's quite the logical way to measure our growth in comparison to when we enrolled," Iida muttered.
"Die, humans. We're the Sky net of this world." Everyone looked at the robots approaching them with a mixture of befuddlement and wonder.
" And they're even programmed with vicious speech," Whisper smirked. " I like this."
" We're going first! Excuse us!" Hagakure, Aoyama, and Ashido jumped forward to take the first wave. With Aoyama's navel saber, Hagakure's light bending, and Ashido's Acidman, they cleared them in an instant. Everyone applauded their astonishing performance.
" Not bad." Whisper admitted. " And a whole lot of new moves too. The work study worked after all. Who were they with by the way?"
" Yoroi Musha," Sora told him. " Number 9 hero."
" Keep showing us what you learned during your work studies!" All Might told them and they shouted in unison.
Sato and Ojiro were focusing on increasing their physical abilities and reactions.
Jiro and Shoji's team were rather skilled in finding blind spots and weaknesses in the enemy forces.
Mineta, Sero, and Kaminari showed them one of the shortest battles ever with their efficient teamwork. They didn't take more than five seconds, literally.
Iida was able to extend his use of his recipro and was visibly in better control of it.
" Iida-san chose to go back to Manual's agency, right?" Yuu asked.
" Yep, yep. Seems he took a liking to that place after all." Sora smiled as she looked at the boy. He's seriously growing into a fine hero himself.
Koda managed to confuse the robots with more accurate orders to his animals. Sora could see he no longer had trouble with bugs.
Tokoyami managed to improve his close combat skills two and his fusion with Dark Shadow was stabler than Sora could ever remember.
" We shouldn't lose to them!" Kirishima shouted. " Seijin, let's show them what our manly spirits are made of!"
" Wait, Kirishima-san !" Yuu called after the boy who rushed down the field. With a sigh, he summoned Kyubi and went after him.
The robots easily broke as they tried to hit the boy's hardened form. " How to Quickly..."
A small torch of blue flames ignited on the side of Yuu's bang. "... Make our opponent lose the will to fight!"
In his hands he summoned multiple whips of flames and flung them at the green robots, ensnaring them. " Now, Kyubi!"
" Fire Dragon Wheel!" With that, the robots broke over.
" Yuu is able to use his spirits' power more freely now..." Sora blinked as she saw no sign of exhaustion upon him. " You're growing fast too, Yuu. I can't lose to you! Ochaco-chan! Tsuyu-chan! Let's go next!"
" Yeah!"
" Ribbit!"
And they descended to the battlefield. Uraraka rendered herself weightless as she jumped up for Asui to catch her with her tongue. "Teamwork and ..."
"... Decisiveness!" As she was flung towards the robots, Uraraka used her wires to wrap them. " Sora-chan!"
" Max Speed!" With the power of four wings she pushed herself at the captured robots, and using the hardened feathers on her arms as blades, she tore them as she flew in between them. " Sharp Wind!"
" Sora's speed increased!" Whisper exclaimed.
" Not just that. Her moves became smoother and the way she used her feathers not just as support or guard for her arms but as sharp weapons too..." Yuu was hardly containing his bemusement. " She is really awesome..."
Yaoyorozu put a good show of prediction and acting. She easily wiped the whole lot off as she dropped her bombs on them just where she predicted them to move.
Bakugo, Midoriya, and Todoroki were able to showcase the increase in their power level and Midoriya's control over the Black Whips.
" Frankly I thought it would go out of control this time too," Whisper muttered. " I didn't expect him to really use it efficiently after that whisp."
" Midoriya-san wouldn't have used it if he thought it would go berserk and damage someone again," Yuu told the ghost as he watched Midoriya run over to Uraraka.
As the training ended, Sora watched with unease as the smaller robots came around to clean the mess they had caused while destroying the faux villain bots. " I wonder how it feels for them, to carry around the remains of other robots?"
" They don't feel a thing Sora, they're robots!" Whisper argued.
" Wait. But they showed signs of intelligence before." Yuu thought back to the joined training with class B, when they complained as they transported those who got injured. " Maybe it was a really bad idea to have them clean after us."
" You guys are seriously..." Whisper sighed tiredly.
" Oh, about those robots we destroyed. Don't worry, UA puts them back together again," Iida told them.
" Huh?"
" Power Loader-sensei is in charge of fixing them. What did you think? UA rich enough to buy a few bunch of those things every now and then?" Iida pointed with a sharp hand chop.
He's back to his old self.
" I feel sorry now for having Power Loader repair all of those." Sora rubbed her head with a weak smile.
" Well, it's his job right." Whisper shrugged.
" Don't dawdle around. We need to get changed and head back quick, remember, for tonight!" Iida reminded them as he rushed back to the locker rooms, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
" He's all energetic again." Sora laughed as the air force of his dash whipped around her hair. " And he sure is getting stronger. So are you, Yuu!"
She looked back at him, eyes sparkling like a kid waiting for his birthday party. " You're able to use Kyubi's fire with more ease now! You were awesome down there."
" It's nothing, I may be able to use my spirits' power but it will take a while before I can summon two spirits and use their power at the same time. That's why I reverted back to depending on one spirit. On the other hand, your strength and skills improved a lot too." Yuu pointed. " And those extra wings, they're getting larger."
" I'm trying to make them the same size as my main ones. That way, it will give me more speed. And the arm blade..." she said as she allowed a few feathers to grow up her arm, forming a small side wing pointing up. " They're good for adjusting position and slicing too."
" You soldiers are awesome!" Whisper's head popped in between them. " You know, seeing Sora who couldn't fly for too long before, and Yuu who could hardly summon Kyubi and power her up without fainting now perform what you did. I'm thrilled. It really is a good thing to use the robo-inferno to measure your growth compared to when you first fought them. I'm proud of you both!" He said throwing his arms around them almost throwing them off balance.
" Whisper..." Yuu hardly suppressed his smile at the ghost.
" Now soldiers, you've earned this! Get changed and let's head back for the Bang Hot Pot Party!"
" Sir! Yes sir!" And both headed after Iida.
Uraraka and the other girls looked after their backs as they walked away. " They seem to be acting alright, you think they talked it out?"
" I don't know." Though it wasn't visible, they knew Hagakure was shaking her head at that.
Ashido was tapping one finger on her forearm impatiently. " You know, I can't stand this. I don't like it when my ships sink!"
" Eh?"
" I want to confront Sora about it, and know for sure how she feels about both Seijin and Todoroki."
" But Hagakure said..." Jiro looked at her hesitantly.
" Still, I want to hear it from her."
" Calm down, Ashido-chan." Uraraka put a hand on her shoulder. " Last time you talked to Seijin with this excitement, they ended up with a fight... well, more or less. Let's not ruin this night for them too. We still have three months to ask Sora-chan about it."
Ashido huffed in defeat and obliged...
________________
The atmosphere at the dorm that evening was more ecstatic than ever before with everyone coming together to prepare their dinner. They only looked back at the front door as Midoriya and Bakugo finally joined them.
" What were you guys doing? You're late, House Arrest Boys!" Sero told them as he hauled up the plates.
" If you don't hurry up and help, you won't get any meat." Kaminari, whose bang was kempt back with a few clips, threatened.
" Kaminari-san, do you have a death wish?" Yuu told him just as Bakugo walked to him with an enraged face.
" Yuu! Could you take this to the table!" Sora gave him a tray with freshly cut vegetables and mushrooms from behind the counter.
" Sora! Pass me the juice bottles please!" Ashido called as she rushed to Yuu's side.
" Here you are, slow down," Sora warned her just as the girl spun and returned running back.
" Everyone is so excited," Whisper muttered with a soft smile on his face.
" Can't blame them," Yuu interjected. " We didn't get to celebrate the New Year together so they want to make up for that."
" Seijin-kun, bring the tray over here!" Iida called.
" Coming right away!"
" Oi Seijin, can't you summon some fire spirits for us? It will be more fun than using stoves!" Kaminari suggested.
" What the heck are you talking about dunce? You want to copy Howl's Moving Castle or something!?"
" Eh! Bakugo you know that movie!" Sora had her eyes wide at that.
" Shut up feather head! Who didn't watch Ghibli as a child!"
" Surprisingly this delinquent had a normal childhood." Whisper tapped his chin. " Interesting. Thought you had some kind of harsh past or something."
" I had a perfectly fine childhood, egg head!"
" Wait.. what you said during the provisional license training course..." Todoroki interjected, remembering his violent insight on dealing with children. " I thought too you had a hard childhood..."
" Don't you think stuff on your own, half and half!"
Yuu gave a small chuckle before turning back to Kaminari. " Either way, I don't know a spirit who can help this time, sorry."
" That's fine, guess it's stoves then," Kaminari told Sato who embarked on fetching them.
Not before long, they had moved all the sofas and stools together around the tables on which they set the pots and sat down to eat. Iida held up a cup of juice. " Now, for the Work Study Exchange and Starting the Term Off with a Bang Hot Pot Party- Let's start!"
" Yeah!"
Everyone began digging in, enjoying talking about their work study adventures and, in Hagakure's case, insisting on showcasing her newly acquired skills.
" When it warms up again, we'll be second years." Jiro pointed out dreamily and that's when it hit Sora.
" We're almost done being first years! That was a fast year!"
" Well, it was a loaded one." Whisper nodded in approval.
" But... " The girl beamed happily at the memories. " Regardless of the hardship and all that happened, I'm happy overall. For having this little family of our own, for being able to share those simple moments with everyone like this! It's more like, I'm thankful for all that led to this moment! From having my Quirk to Iida dragging us back here at full throttle!"
" You were dawdling!"
" We were talking about our work studies!" Kirishima pointed.
Yuu looked down at his bowl as he thought about Sora's words. " Thankful for having my Quirk, huh..."
It was hard to realize it before his Quirk was erased, but Yuu finally understood it too, being thankful for his Quirk, for the thing that made him who he was...
" Stop it. You're a grown-up boy Yuu, you shouldn't be crying." The boy felt his uncle's gentle pat on his head and he sniffed, looking up at him.
" Uncle... you're a liar..."
" Me!" The man pointed at himself in surprise. " That was sudden! Why you said that?"
His uncle was a liar. He lied about a lot of stuff. Even if he was tired and worn out, he kept that broad smile on his face and kept saying he was alright, although his form was diminishing so fast it was hard even for Yuu not to notice.
" You always tell me that you love your Quirk. But you don't! How can you love a Quirk that always makes you terrified and people snub you for it? I hate this useless Quirk! Everyone too says it's nothing good! I wish I wasn't born with it!"
" I see now." The man smiled, ruffling the boy's hair. " So, you don't want your Quirk?"
" I don't need a Quirk that would make my family hate me."
The man laughed out loud before patting Yuu's head even harder. "That may be true but..." A warm smile spread across his face. " That's your Quirk Yuu. That's your own power. Something only you decide whether it's useless or not. We couldn't choose our Quirks, but we can choose how to use them. Don't let others choose for you."
Yuu blinked at his uncle then, a question came to his mind. " Aren't you afraid?"
" Afraid of what?"
" Of what you see? Of them?" He gestured towards three floating heads with long hair trailing behind them invisible to everyone else but the two of them.
" Oh, nope. I mean, they don't hurt you, do they? Eventually, they're not harmful at all... much better than humans in a way." He rubbed his neck at the last part. " They tend to make mischievous pranks, true. But that's just because they find us interesting."
" Still, I don't like it... Everything about them terrifies me."
" What a problem..." the man rubbed his head before his eyes shot wide open as he got an idea. " Come here soldier boy, there is something I want to show you before the sun sets." He said hauling the kid on his shoulders.
" Where are we going?"
" You will see." He said running towards the crest of the nearby hill. " Keep your eyes shut." The boy obliged as his uncle continued climbing the small mound of the park. When he reached the top, he gave a satisfied smile at the sight of the city beneath them and the ocean extending beyond it.
" Alright, open your eyes now."
Hesitantly he opened one of them and his eyes flew wide open at what he saw. It felt as though he had entered through a magical gate to another world. What he saw were colorful creatures, dragons, fairies, and birds the like of which he hadn't seen before flying against the orange color of the sky, emitting lights and colorful sparks.
Beneath them, all kinds of colors and sounds issued from the ghosts and spirits mingling among the city. All of the different shapes and colors Yuu didn't know they even existed.
His eyes sparkled at all the kinds of wonders he saw back then, it didn't matter to him that they were different and seemed scary, all he knew was that seeing all of them filling the city the way they did was amazing. They made it glow brighter.
" What do you think of it?"
" Colorful... and loud."
" Isn't it." His uncle laughed. " This is something only you and I have access to. It's like a world just for the both of us."
" Just for us?"
" We see colors no one could even imagine, we hear voices louder, different but as harmonious as music notes. It's a gift, so I think. " His smile softened. " I didn't lie. I've never hated my Quirk, Yuu, because it gave me this beautiful world that no one believes in. It gave me different friends, even if people couldn't begin to understand its greatness and said it was meaningless. It gave me this sanctuary."
His uncle looked up at him. " Listen Yuu, from here and to the far future, I don't know if you'll ever begin to like your Quirk, but let me tell you, that just how it gives you this colorful bright world, it will connect you to a colorful future. It will give you a sanctuary, just like this."
"... Will it?"
Or is it another lie of yours?
"It will. And until the time you learn to love and accept the person who you are, I will be there for you."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
That promise might have been broken but... Now that I think back about it... he looked up at the people surrounding him, smiling happily and talking together. And he felt a warmth flooding his chest.
" We still can get Seijin to summon an Akaname for you."
" Quit it dunce!"
He never imagined he would be able to sit among so many people that way. To care and be cared for by others other than Sora. That place, those people, they were in a way, a sanctuary just for him. And seeing each and every one of them smile carefreely the way they did filled his heart to the brim with happiness.
" It wasn't a lie..."
Before he knew it, it overflew. " Yuu?" He looked up when Sora called him, only to realize his tears were trickling down his face.
" See, that's because you kept pushing it, Kaminari-kun." Iida rebuked
" Is that so, sorry..."
" No, no..." Yuu hastily wiped his tears. " It's just. I felt so happy."
You were right uncle...Today, I'm thankful for having my Quirk...
" Then don't ruin the Hot Pot with your tears, baggy eyes!"
" Bakugo-kun! Try to be a little considerate!"
Yuu gave a nervous chuckle before turning to Kaminari.
" What were you talking about, Kaminari-san."
" Actually, I'm still thinking about the Akaname plan for Bakugo's room," Kaminari told him.
" I said shut up! And you, don't you ever sneak one inside!"
" Even if I don't, you already have one living there." Yuu pointed.
" Really!" Everyone looked at the boy.
" I told you, your room is pretty messy." Kaminari laughed.
" Not actually, he says he likes it there because Bakugo-san's room is the tidiest. And he wanted to tell you that your room is the most mismatched room he ever saw, Kaminari-san."
" This was unexpected!"
" Serves you right, dunce! No, wait! Get that thing to leave my room!"
" I can't." Yuu shrugged. " He leaves whenever he feels it unnecessary to stay around, and since one of us is making a quite huge mess in his room." His eyes darted momentarily to Mineta. " He won't."
" Speaking of that, when I was gathering your trash during house arrest, your trash bag was darn big, shrimp!" Bakugo glared at him.
Mineta shrank and hid behind the sofa. " Alright, got it! I'll clean up more!"
" You better!" Bakugo shouted at him.
Whisper looked down at Yuu laughing along with everyone else and not shying away or keeping to himself. He was a different person from the Yuu who first entered UA unable to look anyone in the eyes, flinching at the slightest call and stuttering in his words. You've grown up. He thought.
And then, it happened again. A memory flashed before him. But instead of a smiling face, he heard sobs, and he felt his heart aching. It was a strange experience, for he could not recall what felt so painful, nor who was crying, only that he couldn't bear it. Then there came that strange feeling. A deep unexplained sadness, as though facing an inescapable tragedy. What's wrong with me? Whisper shook his head, he couldn't find an answer.
But little did he know, that everything would escalate in the span of the coming months. And that for Yuu and Sora, a lot was about to change, for the worse...
________________
Away, away from UA, and deep under the ground, sleeping in a tank filled with some strange liquid was a single black creature, not quite human yet akin to one if not counting the protruding brain. " It was hard..." a voice called in the depths of the darkness. " But I've managed to complete it. Who thought he would try so much to keep us from using him in any possible way? Regardless, it's a good thing the effect is fading away. After all, like any Quirk, the effect must come to an end."
There was a tapping on some keyboard. " The records said you've got an offspring. Good. The effect must have mostly faded away for them. From there, we can get the original one. It will be hard, but worth it. It will be painful, not that you care anymore right? You're broken already, my little puppet."...