Time slowly passed on as the months drew ever closer to the starting date of UA's next Entrance Exam and this last week or so was suggested by both Dave and All-Might to ensure that Kenshi had the chance to both rest before the exam but also to ensure he could get some dedicated time to study.
"Remember, This last week leading up to your Exam is for you to recover, okay? You've pushed yourself to find out what the other powers that you have are but trying to master them before the test isn't feasible nor recommended." David Shield explained to Kenshi, he had already caught the young man trying to push himself with around the clock training despite being told not to rely on the powers of his healing too much.
"Okay, I promise that I'll take it easy, Mr. Shield…And thanks so much for helping me out with all of this, to both of you." Kenshi said politely, understanding that even though it looked like he had boundless energy from his multifaceted Quirk; Every person with a Quirk had to rest it without running the risk of wearing it out and David would have preferred to not deal with a second checkup alongside Toshinori. "Is…Is Melissa not here to say goodbye?" He asked curiously though felt a little sad when he noticed that the blonde had opted out of seeing him off, especially after their kiss at the ocean front.
"She said she was busy with a "Special Project" that she's been tinkering on for months, I try not to pry too much since she is a technician like me…She did say she was sorry and that she wished she could stop by." David assured Kenshi with a soft smile. "I must admit; She really took a shine to you, Quirk and everything…In all honesty, I should really be thanking you…She has trouble making friends at school because she doesn't have a Quirk so I'm glad that someone like you was able to see past that."
"Well…All I can really say is that I know how she felt...I spent most of my life Quirkless before I unlocked it." Kenshi asked, confusing the older man by being surprisingly upbeat about that statement. "Besides, I did take up a lot of her time AND your's too."
"Oh, don't worry about it." David chuckled; "I mean, your Quirk isn't really something simple to figure out in a day…So we at least want to make sure you can handle your Quirk without hurting yourself." He explained and then pulled a card out of his shirt pocket to give to Kenshi. "In case you need to get a hold of me or Melissa for any reason, do give us a call or text…I know she may not be here to say it but I'm sure Melissa would want to keep in touch."
The airship roared to life as it was ready to take off. Kenshi took one last look at I-Island and accepted David's handshake goodbye, with a quick final glance at the island; The young boy couldn't help feeling excited to come back to Japan but he also felt a pang of sadness at leaving the island behind…Or more specifically someone. "I'll make sure to come back…And I'll do it as a Future Hero instead of just some guy." He muttered to himself as he took a seat on the airship while it changed course to Japan or more specifically to the trashy beach that he had been escorted from.
Dozens of messages from Hero fan sites and updates came through from news reports about the Slime Monster incident, All-Might's interviews regarding this and a potential new project of his once Kenshi reached civilisation and remembered to turn off Airplane Mode on his phone. Though one message came up that had him confused.
"Yoshiyasu, my boy….Dave told me that you had gotten back to Japan today! Meet me at the beach tomorrow once you're settled, there is something I have to discuss with you." It stated with All-Might's name under it and his signature.
"He wants to talk? Maybe it's about…This?" Kenshi mumbled to himself as he saw that the trash pile had been stuck in the same way that it had when he left rather promptly; "I guess it makes sense, we were on that island for a while and All-Might's probably too busy to take care of things…" He mused and felt a little guilty about this being a half done job; "Dad always said "You start something, you finish it!" and I started on this as training…Plus I need somethin' to do until the next train." He said out loud and then stretched himself out, letting a few cracks be heard as he took up the starting position.
—A Whole Day Later—
Toshinori Yagi showed up in the early hours of the morning as the sun rose up, he had intended to meet with Kenshi near the piles of trash and work overtime to finish off their delayed task. "Alrighty, looks like he hasn't arrived yet…After that trip, I can't really blame him but I-What in the name-a Gran-Torino's dentures?!" He had to double take and even double checked his cup of still steaming coffee when he saw that there was no trace, wrapper or speck of garbage left on the beach. "Hold on a…This is the right beach, I saw the sign out front! Did…Did he clean all of this up by himself?" He tried to conjure up the right thoughts as he saw that Kenshi was currently crushing down a large metal container like it was a cardboard box. "Oh my….Oh my…." He muttered to himself before finally transforming into his Buff Form with a gigantic grin on his face. "GOODNESS!"
Hearing All-Might in all his glory made Kenshi turn and see the giant buff man marching toward him. "All-Might?!" The sudden change in concentration made him not only smush down the container but the lack of focus made him accidentally push the debris into the sand to make a pretty deep hole. "What are you doing here? It's not time yet…Is it?" He asked in confusion as he saw All-Might with a look of not annoyance at ignoring David's advise but outright pride and wonder at this feat.
"Magnificent work out here, Young Yoshiyasu! But how on earth did you manage to get through this in such a fast time?" All-Might questioned him with a giant grin of pride though that changed to worry when he saw Kenshi start to wobble on his feet. "That doesn't look good…"
"I kind of got a little antsy when I got back and saw your text message, plus seeing the beach still like this bugged me... So I figured I'd start on picking up the lightweight stuff and work on the heavy stuff tomorrow." Kenshi admitted as he made a hard blink like he was trying to clear his eyes or stay awake. "Muh dad always said to see stuff through to the end and when I felt myself slowing down and my body telling me to stop…I just told them to shuddup and keep lifting…" He added as his voice slowed down and started to slur once his body began to calm down from it's constant moving.
"Yoshiyasu, my boy…That was yesterday and y-Wait a minute, have you been at this all day and night straight?" All-Might asked as he got a little concerned though he saw Kenshi stagger forward and then caught him before he fell face first into the sand. "Alright, I think I get the gist…For right now, we need to get you home and you need to sleep!"
It took a taxi cab and finding Kenshi's student ID in his wallet to find out where he lived and while in his normal state, Toshinori made sure the barely conscious boy got into the apartment and watched him stagger off to his room from the door. "Get some sleep, Yoshiyasu…We'll talk more when you wake up." He said quietly before leaving a note by the door and shutting it, leaving the boy to sleep.
It had been 7am when All-Might found him and it crossed into 6pm when Kenshi finally woke up. "Okay, note to self…When your body tells you to rest, do it!" Kenshi yawned and grabbed a drink of water when he saw the note that All-Might left him and made his way back out one last time.
—Later, At the beach—
Toshinori was watching the waves as he himself was trying to get psyched up for the conversation that would come about and waved over the boy; "Yoshiyasu, my boy! I'm glad you are alright…Though admittedly, you did give me a scare when you collapsed like that."
"It was…something, to say the least…I'm sorry if I worried you but I felt like it bugged me seeing things like it was back on that beach." Kenshi explained, "If it's any consolation, I only sought to pick up the light feeling stuff and handle the heavier parts after our talk." He elaborated and then the thought cottoned on as he realised the catch in his logic.
"I think we need to better establish your boundaries for effort along with your newfound strength…I want you to be able to understand your limits if I intend on making you my successor." Toshinori said and casually dropped the biggest news of his plan to Kenshi.
"Yeah, I should probably be able to get a handle o-Hold on, successor?" Kenshi agreed but then stopped partway through his thought process at the latter part of the news. "I thought you were just training me to control my powers."
Toshinori nodded as he turned to face Kenshi fully with a serious look and prepared for the most game-changing thing that he could ask of the young man. "Before I explain why, I want you to know that this is ENTIRELY your choice; If you choose to accept, I will answer any questions that I can and I will help you in every step of the process…But if you choose to say no then I will respect your choice regardless and help you to finish training your Quirk."
"You really think that I can live up to your expectations as your successor?" Kenshi asked, feeling the nerves build higher now that he knew that All-Might, The Symbol of Peace and the Number 1 Hero in Japan was offering him the chance to become not just his student but his successor. "But I've only had my Quirk for…Months now, there's tons of other people who had their abilities for way longer…What makes you think I could be any better?"
Toshinori could understand where Kenshi came from; Unbeknownst to most of the Hero world, he too had to spend most of his life Quirkless and unable to do much until Nana Shimura helped him achieve his dream, he had to shut down one kid's dream to be a Hero but he'd be damned if he let Kenshi's inner thoughts stop him before he even started.
"I want you to listen to something very important, Kenshi Yoshiyasu. Possessing a Quirk may make you capable of doing a lot of good things… Like winning popularity contests, performing the best kind of tricks and stunts or having to spend decades trying to fight off fans with a stick…But that alone doesn't make you a Hero, being as willing as you were to rush into danger to save someone even when you knew it was dangerous…Risking your life to help protect someone else is the mark of a GREAT Hero…I have absolutely no reason to think that you can't."
After hearing that he had All-Might's faith in him, Kenshi smiled all the more; "Then I'll do it, if you can have that much faith in me then I'll pay it back by becoming the best Pro Hero I c-"
"I want you to eat this." All-Might said in his buff form and holding a strand of his hair between his fingers, gesturing it to Kenshi with a look of seriousness so strong that it bordered on comical.
"…Huh?"
All-Might looked at Kenshi then to the hair and realised he jumped ahead a few steps before shrinking back down to his normal size. "Ah, whoops…Apologies for jumping the gun! So allow me to explain in context." Toshinori said as he sat on a relatively intact beach chair while Kenshi sat on a cardboard box. "When I asked for you to become my successor, it's much more than just a title…I want to stress to you that this secret absolutely must be kept as a secret for you and for me, only a few select people know about this and I would prefer to keep it that way."
Kenshi nodded, still a little taken aback by being told to eat hair. "S-Sure, I promise not to tell…But why hair?"
"I'll get to that in a moment; I have been in Japan for a while now for active Hero duty but the primary reason was so I could find a worthy successor to my role as the Symbol of Peace." Toshinori explained as he tapped his fingers together; "I've now decided that you are the right fit to carry the torch, so to speak."
"But…You are in great shape plus you still jump in and help people as energetically as you do….Why would you need to consider a successor much less pick one?" Kenshi asked as he was confused, All-Might had been around since the early days of Pro-Heroes and he still looked far more capable than most people to engage in Hero work that stuck from the Silver Age.
"Because I no longer have much of a choice any more other than to pass on my Quirk." Toshinori explained as he unbuttoned the lower half of his shirt and exposed his mutilated wound that he gained in the past. "This is why I warned your friend to consider safer work…Being a Hero isn't just about the accolades or the recognition but it's also a target for Villains since you stand against them as a threat to their principles…To both get at you personally or for anyone close to you. This particular villain was omitted from broadcasts because of what happened but now because of them, I can only become All-Might for no more than three hours a day…"
"That's…But how does that tie in to this succession? And what do you mean "Passing on your Quirk"? I thought Quirks were natural, weren't they?" Kenshi asked as this was a lot to accept just from All-Might being terminally injured alone.
"Alright, here goes…" Toshinori muttered to himself before finally spilling the deepest secret that he held since he started being a Hero. "My Quirk isn't something that I was born with…It was granted to me by my Master, to her from her master and so on, this power is passed down and stored through each individual user as far back as the First User of this Quirk…A Quirk that grows as the person who holds it does….The name of that Quirk is One For All."
"One For All…So…What exactly does it do? And what does it have to do about the hair?" Kenshi asked as he looked at Toshinori with curiosity and equal amounts of confusion.
"That's how you transfer it…Well…Technically as long as it's DNA that is willingly passed on like saliva, hair….It's…probably for the best that we don't explore other potential avenues." Toshinori said with the mortification growing in the last part of his sentence.
"So did your master do the same thing?" Kenshi quizzed him; "Like, the whole hair thing?"
"Uh…" Toshinori paused as he recalled how HE received it and quickly decided to deflect the question fast. ''Yes! Absolutely! Just take the hair and eat it." He quickly rattled off and handed it to Kenshi who eyed it with hesitation.
"Well…Whoever said that the path to being a Hero was easy clearly wasn't thinking right!" Kenshi thought to himself as he swallowed down the hair and tried his best to keep it down. "T-There…So what happens now?"
"Well, One For All needs to get settled in your system so give it a few hours…And since you've already covered your physical training until the Entrance exam comes around, there's really not much else to do but wait and study up…" Toshinori said and then took the picture he had of Kenshi before the training and showed it to him. "You've made an amazing set of leaps and bounds in these last few months…."
The picture was of Kenshi eyeing the mini fridge in his tracksuit and almost looked as bulky as it was, whereas the Kenshi now standing in front of him was leaner and the tracksuit that he took from I-Island for his training was a better fit, the boy still felt the embarrassment of noticing that the elastic waistband couldn't hold up his pants anymore without tying the drawstring tight. "I used to look like that?"
"The changes are more than mental from what I heard from I-Island, my boy…I would suggest taking your time to get some shopping done for better fitting clothes and see about getting your studies underway." Toshinori suggested; "I'll help you study where I can but I'd suggest the new wardrobe first before your new baggy clothes make you fly off into the wind."
Kenshi nodded; "I got money saved up from my allowance so I can at least get new training gear." He opted and then got up to head for the bus for the mall.
-Later At the Mall-
Kiyashi Ward Mall was remarkably busy thanks to a new wave of merch dropping from Heroes and for would-be Hero School applicants buying preparation gear for the upcoming exam period; It didn't take a genius to realise that getting in there was hard enough without a bunch of on edge teens trying to buy prep gear, Kenshi figured that since he didn't really need all that much except for regular clothes then he could check out his one of few "Self-Chosen" vices to help keep him busy.
Video Games…
Ever since his big brother placed a controller in his hands at the young age of 6; Kenshi had been given something to do while not doing farm work and it certainly incentivised him, earning the extra allowance for listening to his parents regarding added chores or activities to keep him out of trouble. "Hopefully I can browse for a little…Or at least sell this one for a few extra yen." Kenshi thought to himself as he entered to try selling an old copy of a game he had, though he paused when he saw posters on a nearby window of a Day One Release.
It was of a remake of the same game in his bag that the young man played extensively and what inspired him to try either being a Pro Hero or a police officer; It was a game about a guy who had powers thrust upon him and it explored the moral dilemmas for a scenario of doing right by others or throwing your weight around. The magazine that Kenshi read advertising the game when the original came out stated it was based around a man from the Silver Age of Heroes; "Now that I think about it…I got my "Quirk" in kind of the same way; Blown up by a bomb and waking up to find out I have powers…"
"Um…Excuse me…Is this the line for Notorious?" A girl's voice broke his train of thought and got his attention; This particular girl had waist length dark green hair and was rather froggy looking in appearance with a wide mouth, large eyes which almost looked unblinking, though she was also slender looking in a dark cardigan over a white and green striped shirt, dark pants and brown ankle boots.
"Yeah, it is…Though I think you're out of luck to get it, I'm afraid." Kenshi admitted apologetically as he glanced to the empty shelves; "Consequences of trying to buy on the release date."
"Dang it…This is the third store I tried and they're all sold out…"The girl remarked with a quiet sigh of annoyance; "I don't suppose you know where I can get one, do you?"
"Why not try online? It might cost a little extra but you can get it delivered straight to your house that way." Kenshi suggested as he saw the girl tapping a finger to her cheek.
"I looked but I don't have enough to get it that way…" The girl admitted as she felt guilty for not thinking ahead; "My little brother was looking forward to trying it and he's managed to get good grades leading up to his birthday so I wanted to try getting it for him as a reward…"
Kenshi frowned a little as he heard that, he knew what it was like trying to shop for a sibling and especially for something that was hard to come by. "Has he played the original?"
The girl thought back curiously but then shook her head, it was there that she fully took into scope just how tall the boy was when he reached an arm over to get at his backpack; He looked pretty focused when she approached but he seemed more amiable than his workout clothes assumed. This boy wore a plain grey hoody with a black shirt under it that had a yellow lightning bolt on the front, she could see a pair of plain looking rings on his wrists that looked like sweatbands along with loose fitting blue and white track pants and sneakers. She was by no means a tall person for her age at 4'11 but the boy who she had started talking to was practically a giant to her as he stood at around 6'1. "Geez…What on earth do this guy's parents feed him?!"
Kenshi then managed to fish out a small square from his bag and held it out to the girl; It was a little dinged in the corners but other then that, it looked like new. "This is the original game…I know it's not the same thing but it's a good way to see if he likes it enough to try the new one since that one's gonna cost a bundle for a good few weeks."
The froggy girl nodded but then noticed the genial look on his face when she saw him gesturing to take it. "Okay, how much do you want for it?" She asked him as she reached for a leaf shaped bag hanging on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it…I was going to hand it in to sell it, if you want to use it for a birthday gift then I don't mind giving it to someone who's going to try having fun with it." Kenshi said with a small smile.
"Kero? But…But I have to do something for it, I'd feel bad if I just took this off of you without paying you back…Why don't I buy us lunch?" The girl asked as she shook her head; This guy was nice enough to help her save time with finding the right game, she wanted to make sure that she paid him back one way or another.
"Seriously, you don't have t-" Kenshi tried to argue once more as he and the froggy girl sat at a table in the food court with some of her shopping bags by the time he could get the words out, the taller boy got him a bowl of curried chicken and rice while the froggy girl had a yakisoba tray and a small bowl of jelly pudding.
"If I didn't do something nice for you then I'd feel bad…I don't want you to think that I was just taking advantage of you being nice." The girl said with a decisive kero; "And besides, I'd like to consider you a friend for helping me out…My name's Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsu." She finally introduced herself and smiled a little at her new friend.
"A friend? I like the sound of that…I'm Kenshi…Kenshi Yoshiyasu." Kenshi said to introduce himself and returned a smile back at her; The tousled hair, freckled face and the fact that he looked genuinely happy rather then just being polite to her gave off a perky yet bouncy aura around him that brought a warm fuzziness to Tsuyu's body, though she mentally thanked that he hadn't noticed the faint tint in her cheeks.
"Adorable…He's like a big goofy dog." Tsuyu thought to herself as she could all but see a golden retriever's tail wagging behind him. "So what brings you out here anyway? You picked a pretty hectic time to go shopping with everyone scrambling for Entrance exams and new school years." She admitted as she tapped a finger to her mouth.
"You actually managed to answer that pretty accurately, I've been away for a few months and I've ended up losing a ton'a weight, so I've been trying to get some new clothes that fit properly before I take UA's entrance exam." Kenshi said as he stroked his banded wrists. "Most of my usual workout gear and casual stuff is a little…loose."
"Must have been some trip if you're getting a new wardrobe just for that…" Tsuyu mentioned as she couldn't help but take notice…though so did other people once the whispering was a little more audible.
"Hey, check out the guy at the far table…"
"Dang…Guy's cut like a slab of lean beef."
"Think he's taken~?"
"I mean, he's got that toady looking girl sat with him…"
"That sucks…Guy like that could do a helluva lot better than her."
Tsuyu felt the back of her neck burn in embarrassment but did her best to ignore it; It wasn't all that rare for her to get those kinds of words said around her, though for some reason it felt worse having Kenshi sat with her to hear it. "Y-You know, I think it was probably a bad idea to get lunch…I should probably go…" She mumbled defeatedly and reached down to grab her purse.
"We don't have to go anywhere, we're having lunch so let's get some lunch." Kenshi pointed out; "Besides, they're not part of this little outing….The only thing that matters is that you feel okay with hanging out." He said to reassure her and then gave the people that he definitely heard talking about them a disapproving look.
"You don't have to go that far just to be polite…Besides, I'm kinda…Used to being the subject of comments like that." Tsuyu admitted as she tapped her finger on her cheek; "My Quirk may be good for a lot of things but a frog's not exactly easy on the eyes…As a lot of people keep pointing out behind my back."
"Hey…None'a that." Kenshi said with a slightly scolding tone; "Looks aren't everything and people who believe that's true are dummies." He stated and then looked focused on Tsuyu; "What really matters is what you do as a person, not how you look doing it…I mean, I've met you for a good hour or so and I can already see a lot about you that's good."
Tsuyu was a little taken aback and let out a nervous ribbit; "Y-You really think so?" She asked him as she noticed his affirmations were making her feel unusually shy.
"Absolutely! The fact that you came here to do something nice for your sibling demonstrates you have a lot of kindness for other people…There aren't that many people I know that would try showing up prepared to fight crowds for a day one release game." Kenshi listed off then tapped his middle finger; "Then there's the fact that you both offered to pay me for the game and you wanted to treat me when I wouldn't accept money shows me that you are earnest and well meaning…Plus I don't agree with that whole thing about frogs being bad to look at."
Tsuyu raised an eyebrow; "What do you mean by that?" She asked in confusion and tapped her chin. Most times at school and especially in middle school; Tsuyu was often the subject of ridicule for her croaking, her finger stims or just for how she looked in general, it made making friends hard to accomplish but it also made it difficult for her to judge when people were being sincere toward her.
"Well, I just so happen to like frogs." Kenshi stated with honesty as he continued on his small ramble. "I've handled plenty of frogs back on the farm in the rainy season and they're pretty neat little guys…Heck, with some of their colours and how they look up at you is pretty cute…So yeah, if people can't appreciate them then so what? That just means there's no worries for other people who do."
Tsuyu looked taken aback with a shy kero and unsure what to unpack first; The fact that he didn't seem repulsed by frogs, the fact that he said he actively liked them and meant it or him indirectly calling her cute. "Y-You're pretty bizarre, you know that…Ken-chan?" She asked him and decided to give him a nickname since she felt like this was the start of something good, that and she wanted to focus on something to avoid letting her face flush into a darker colour.
"Well…I just say what I think…And I think that anyone who judges you by looks is a dummy." Kenshi admitted before lightly rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment at being called weird and her new nickname for him. "Though I don't think anyone's called me that before…"
"Really? But surely your friends would've come up with some kind of nickname for you?" Tsuyu asked curiously; "Or were you guys not that close…"
Kenshi shook his head; "Well, it was a long, long, LONG time ago but one kid used to call me Yoshi before moving away…Though people got creative after that and until I awakened my Quirk." He elaborated as he then started listing off other names that he had on him; "Hilbilly, Sasquatch, Dummy, Crap Shoveller, Freak…"
Tsuyu felt her joy sour like milk when she realised that he was being serious with all the names. "That…That's just horrible." She said with a more prominent frown on her face. "This guy's so nice and wholesome…How could people be mean toward that?!"
"All in the past…That's why I said that words are just words…You hear 'em enough and they just lose all meaning." Kenshi shrugged it off with some level of uncomfortable nostalgia but then glanced back when he heard a beeping.
"Sorry, it's my alarm…I'm gonna need to go, the bus will be here soon and I have to get things ready for my siblings when they get out of school…You mind if I take your details? We're friends now so it'd be nice to keep in touch." Tsuyu opted as they took down each other's numbers and ChatIDs before she grabbed her bags; "Let's talk later, okay? And thanks for the game, Ken-chan." She waved at her new friend and headed for the exit.
Kenshi waved back as he got up after paying for them both; "Huh…Never thought I'd make a friend as quickly as that…At least not because of a game sale..." He thought to himself and went to go check out some clothing shops to get some better fitting casual and workout gear.
Days passed over with the shopping and last minute studying as Kenshi finally made it to the day of the Entrance Exam; He decided to go in his school uniform since he didn't have time to get a better business suit though admittedly a tie wouldn't have made his anxieties any better as he stood at the gates…This was it.
He worked hard to get here and now he got to the starting line.