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Chapter 37 - Karate Kid

"God's eye," Kenji repeated with a far away look in his eye, "That sounds…prideful?" 

Aizawa cracked a smile. It was a strange expression to see on the serious man, "I had the same thought but I can admit now it's accurate. Besides being able to nullify people's quirks and lock down their movement's, God's eye allows me to identify my opponents weak points and their 'danger zones'. When I used it during our fight my quirk highlighted your tail and your claws as danger zones. But you used punches and kicks instead. At first I thought you were holding back, but that's not the case is it?" 

Kenji shook his head, "I guess…I forgot about them." 

It was a lame excuse but the truth was that Kenji didn't really know why he hadn't used his built in weapons.

"Well next time I suggest you remember," Aizawa responded in a dead tone of voice, "When you're facing down a rampant Dread Beast or some lunatic psychopath villain you can't afford to forget. You must know your strengths and your weaknesses better than the back of your hand." 

Kenji nodded and Aizawa went to walk away when he called out one last time, "You said I needed to learn a new fighting style. Any suggestions on what style I should study?" 

"Learn how to walk before you run," Aizawa shouted over his shoulder without turning around, "Now get to work I have other students that can benefit from my generosity. Oh and one last thing, when you're meditating focus on the nature of your quirk. Analyze it, come to understand it."

"What does that mean?" Kenji shouted but Aizawa didn't even bother responding. Realizing he wasn't going to get anything else from his moody teacher Kenji looked through his training regiment again, 'I might as well give it a try.' 

Moving far away from the rest of his class Kenji went to sit down only for the floor panels to switch out for a large padded mat. For some reason Kenji knew Aizawa had switched out the floors for him, but he decided not to look around for the man. 

Sitting down Kenji tried to recall the very little he knew about meditation, 'Should I cross my legs or lay on my back? Is there a certain way to breathe? Should I breathe a lot or a little.' 

Entering a spiral Kenji tried every meditation he could think of and those he found online. Sometimes he would see some progress getting rid of his surface thoughts and enjoying a brief moment of absent thought. Then his nose would itch or his fingers would start tapping against the ground seemingly of their own volition.

Opening his eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time Kenji sat up with a disgruntled sigh, 'I can clear my mind, but it's my body that's the problem. And I haven't even tried to figure out what Aizawa meant by understand my quirk.' 

Rolling his shoulders Kenji stood up in a huff, 'I need to burn off some steam.' 

For a moment Kenji thought about running around the training hall until he collapsed when an idea struck him like a lightning bolt. Closing his eyes Kenji breathed in through his nose and filled his diaphragm. 

'Even If I don't use it for fighting I can still train my body with it,' Feeling like he was on the cusp of something Kenji started to move through the Dragon's Flight. 

Even with his body in constant motion Kenji felt his thoughts still faster than ever before. Everything fell away leaving Kenji alone in an empty black space, his mind clear and spacious. 

With a clear head free of distractions Kenji dedicated all of his attention to his body, he could feel each muscle contract and relax with every minute movement. But there were two parts of his body that were static, one clenched tight and the other hanging limply. 

Cycling through another breath Kenji let his fists unravel with his fingers splayed apart. Normally such a rookie mistake would be a death sentence in any fight providing an opponent an easy opportunity to break a digit.

But Kenji wasn't a normal human, anyone who grabbed his fingers half haphazardly would find four more dagger sharp claws digging into their flesh. 

Curling his fingers Kenji's hand formed a claw that he ripped through the air, with his subtle change Kenji felt the entire martial form transform. Instead of punching, Kenji would flatten his hand into a knife blade and drive it forward in a piercing thrust claws fully extended. Instead of hitting with the back of his hand Kenji would claw away at an imaginary foe, his nails sinking into flesh and rooting them in place leaving them open for…

Before Kenji's thoughts could catch up, his body moved on sheer instinct as his tail flexed and unfurled, driving the hidden spike through the enemy pinned down by his claws. Realizing what he had just done Kenji nearly fell out of his trance, but by sheer force of will his body started to move again. 

If someone had seen Kenji performing the Dragon's Flight two weeks ago and then looked at him now they would have assumed it was a different fighting style. Gone were the broad, almost elegant sweeping movements, now Kenji's attacks were quick and brutal. 

And his breathing had shifted to reflect the abrupt change as well. At some point Kenji's breath had transformed as well, his pattern of constantly cycling the air through his body had given way to intermittent gulps of air that he would hold until his lungs burned for release. 

While it may have seemed counterintuitive, it had a profound effect on Kenji's movement. No longer worried about breathing Kenji dedicated his entire being to offense. Every attack in Kenji's repertoire was a lethal move, aimed to pin his opponent in place in order to secure a finishing blow with his tail or claws. 

But even as the motions were ingrained into his body and polished Kenji couldn't help but feel something was missing. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was.