CHAPTER 52 MY QUIRK
<span style="font-weight:400">We were separated into 4 groups based on seat rows. Toru was in my group so we stuck together. Split by men and women we went to separate restrooms to change into workout clothes but I decided to stick in my street clothes. I recognized a few others from UA in the group, but luckily there was no Midoriya. The green haired protagonist would struggle enough passing this, and I didn’t want to mess with the canon too much. Not yet anyway.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kids all around me I did decide to put on my training weights. The legs were 250 pounds each, and the wrists were 175 lbs each. I had grown ustomed to them during my time learning the gates. Where these people were peak strength for high schoolers, I estimated I was peak strength for pro-hero. I needed to push myself and keep training.
<span style="font-weight:400">The highly dense weights were sewed into a brown strap about 12 inches long. They buckled on to ensure there was no shifting. My pant legs and shirt sleeves covered them up nicely. I was tempted to pull out my Jitte but most everyone else was using fists. So I decided to hold off my true skills. I knew my quirk, but not as well as I should. My original self was driven to be stronger, but I felt I could figure out the skill more easily with practice.
<span style="font-weight:400">I began to cycle chakra through my fists and body. Preparing for the fight. My pink heart ne hanging from Turo’s neck allowed me toI know just where to look.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see why you wanted me to wear this ne now,” she mumbled.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It looks great on you,” I said. Getting more used to talking to an invisible girl. “Want to work together?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">She hesitated. “Isn’t this supposed to be an individual test?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Did they say that?” I asked. I couldn’t remember them saying that anywhere. “Heroes work together all the time. Tell you what, I’ll be your sidekick.” I shed her chest my best smile.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“If you start trying to look me in the eyes, fine,” she said.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Ugh, just today,” I said. She didn’t reply, but I guessed that was a yes. Looking ahead there was arge city before us. The crowd from the auditorium was assigned to 4 different sides of the city that was about 2 square miles. My group waited impatiently as people stretched or psyched themselves up.
<span style="font-weight:400">I walked closer to Toru, doing my best to not touch her invisible and naked body. “I’m really fast. We could get ahead of the crowd if you jump on my back.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sounds like you don’t need me,” she said.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh I do. I fight better with a beautiful woman close by,” I said. Giving her my best grin. “And I need to make sure my ne is safe. I’d hate to have to be the one that haunts you.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">She giggled nervously again. “Okay,” she whispered.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Perfect. When we start, jump on my back and hold on for dear life. We will be moving quickly,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">Keeping Toru close, I wondered when it was going to start when Present Mic announced, “And the 10 minute timer starts…now!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Fuck,” I said. Grabbing Toru I thought I got her hand. Twirling her around I threw her on my back and ran in.
<span style="font-weight:400">While I was running into the fake city people were groaning or questioning if it was true. Present Mic yelled, “What? There’s no countdown in real life. Get going!”
<span style="font-weight:400">I was already a quarter mile in before anyone else entered the city. We had passed by a few machines that were to be the ‘viins’. I left them for the slow people.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You good?” I asked my ne as I set her down.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uh yeah,” she said, getting her footing.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good. Go time,” I said. A 5 foot tall machine with gatling guns screeched to a halt beside us. I jumped up slicing my hand like a de into the metal snake neck. The thing burst apart easily. I jumped over it and was attacking another.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Joints are weak!” I yelled to Toru. She did something and the arm of one of the viins exploded off. I guessed she kicked it. And we went about it. It was about 5 minutes in before other people even came close. We had a good section of the street littered with machines by the time we moved on.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I ran with Toru down an alley only to be stopped by a group of 3 machines. 1 punch broke off the heads of 2 machines and Toru yelled as she incapacitated the other. I was having a lot of fun. I guessed that someone had a quirk to make these breakable robots easily. Heading down another alley we came out to see the giant robots worth 0 points. It was as big as one of the buildings as it moved in the street.
<span style="font-weight:400">I looked up to see Midoriya already in the air. His arm covered in the light streaks as he used One for All. He punched the t face of the robot. A resounding boom went out as the robot’s face was caved in. I couldn’t help but be a little impressed. I wanted to be that strong.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“He’s falling!” Toru yelled beside me. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">I noticed Uraka on the ground in front of us. I ran toward her. “Stop his fall!” I ordered. She nodded, her eyes wide in shock as I lined her up and threw her at the falling protagonist.
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<span style="font-weight:400">She pped his face as she passed. She did the hand signal to make him float but began to fall herself soon after. Midoriya stopped falling a few feet from the ground but dropped when she stopped the hand motion that allowed her to use her skill. I jumped over, grabbing her out of the air before she hit the concrete street.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks,” she said. I could have grabbed Midoriya, but this was an important bonding experience for the 2 of them.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your 10 minutes are up!” A voice announced over speakers.
<span style="font-weight:400">I noticed Midoriya’s dismayed look. I frowned but walked over. Bending down I said, “They grade you on how many monsters beaten and people saved, you’ll do fine.” He looked up at me tears in his eyes. I gave him a wink and walked away as the old healer woman walked over. I found my ne holder close by.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What did you whisper to him?” She asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I asked him if he saw this floating ne, or was I the only one seeing things,” I said. I felt someone hit my arm. Laughing I corrected, “No, I said he did a good job. He looks pretty beat up. Thought he could use apliment.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I started walking back to the entrance we were assigned. Toru followed. We were quiet for a time but she eventually broke the silence. “Thanks.” <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Anytime,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You don’t know what I’m thankful for,” she replied.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You are thankful that I went 60 seconds without making a ghost joke,” I said.
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<span style="font-weight:400">She giggled. “Yes, I am thankful for that too,” she admitted. We kept walking. “Thanks for talking to me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t need to thank me for that,” I said. “Thanks for the water. And the great view.” I looked at my ne again.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re hopeless,” she whispered. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“That I am,” I said. “So want to be my new best friend?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Best friend?” She asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yep, we will be put in ss 1-A at UA. I could use a friend,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re very confident,” she said. “You really think we will be in the top ss?”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I do,” I admitted. I knew she could have gotten into it without my help. But I liked Toru, she deserved more screen time in the manga. “I will need that ne back though.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">She hesitated again but slowly lifted it up. I leaned forward making her put it on me. “What is that?” <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“My symbol,” I said without shame.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“A heart?” She asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yep. I’m a lover,” I said, sending her a wink.
<span style="font-weight:400">We made it to the exit and were soon escorted off the school premises. I said bye to Toru and decided to work my way home. My dad and I lived outside of town. I had to take the subway to get near the edge then a bus to get further out. Then it was a few mile walk to our ce. It took about 1.5 hours to get in and out of town. One of my goals would be living on the campus when I was epted. I didn’t worry too much about making it in 1-A. I’d killed a good 20 viin robots.
<span style="font-weight:400">During my time traveling back to my home I yed with my quirk. It was different. Almost an innate skill that I had awoken when I was 3 years old. I picked up a hot ss of water and instinctively sucked in the hot energy to make it cold, almost instantly. I didn’t do too much with it until my mom was killed when I was 5. After that I dreamed of bing a hero and practiced it daily.
<span style="font-weight:400">The problem is the me before didn’t quite understand the power. It was better than I knew. How I understood quirks they took energy. Not chakra like my ninja skills, but energy from foods. Like how you moved your muscles, brain, ran your body without thought. A lot of people assumed the quirks just happened, but that was impossible. There had to be an exchange of power. It would be too OP if you could use a quirk indefinitely.
<span style="font-weight:400">Along with costing energy there was also a drawback, or weakness to the power. For instance Uraraka who saved Midoriya. She could make anything float if she touched them. But if she tried to make herself float she would be sick. Or there was Shoto Todoroki. One side of his body could use ice, and the other side could use fire. His weakness was if he used his ice too much he could get frostbite, or used fire too much he could get burned.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was the opposite of him. My quirk was Give and Take. If I gave something energy, it heated up. But this energy had toe from somewhere which was me. So when I gave something energy to heat it up, my body cooled down. My blowback was if I did it too much I could boil my brain or freeze it. The human body could only be a few degrees from 98 before damage happened.
<span style="font-weight:400">When I got home I practiced with the quirk. Using a simple thermometer I was able to freeze a gallon of water instantly but it dropped my temperature by 0.5 degrees. I then sent energy into the gallon. It took 2 seconds to start boiling and my temperature raised by a whole degree.
<span style="font-weight:400">The old me had made the act of freezing or boiling gradual. Too afraid to push it. The me now yed around with it easily. It took me a week to get it right. And I loved the ability. By isting my body parts I could pull in energy from my right arm and expel heat from my elbow. Mostly negating the temperature difference in my body.
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<span style="font-weight:400">When I coupled it with my water chakra it made my attacks more deadly. I was too afraid to freeze my Jitte, I only had 1 and I didn’t want to break it with a hit. But when I boiled the sea water epassing the Jitte it made my attacks a lot more damaging.
<span style="font-weight:400">To weaponize the pulling of energy I made water bullets then froze them. After ying with it more I changed the shape from cylinders to cones then froze them, making the ice bullets more deadly. I was able to push the ice through thick trees if I focused on just 1.
<span style="font-weight:400">I kept plenty busy that week with it. My dad was a workaholic. Or at least he became one after my mom was killed. Working in a small office building at the edge of town he was the first one in and thest one to leave. I tried to get him to open up, but the guy had been hurt hard by my mom’s death.
<span style="font-weight:400">I couldn’t me him though. She had been pregnant at the time. He moved us to the small house outside of town to be close to my grandparents. They practically raised me. My grandpa got sickst year and died, and my grandma soon followed. It was a sad truth to admit that the world I was in wasn’t perfect. But I kept my focus on the prize and kept going.
<span style="font-weight:400">I got the eptance letter at the end of the week. It was a video recording of the mouse principal congratting me for getting in. I got the high score of 90 points. 70 points for viin kills then another 20 points for the rescue I helped make happen with Midoriya and Uraraka. My quest finished and I had a nice and new Give and Take Quirk in my Status Screen.
<span style="font-weight:400">My dad actually had a smile on his face when I showed him my eptance letter. He said he was proud of me. Then went back to eating. I chewed my lip, and for once forced the issue. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Dad,” I said. He looked up at me, blinking as if he didn’t realize I was there. “What would you do if they caught the guy that killed mom?”
<span style="font-weight:400">His eyes widened a little. Looking down to his te he thought for a moment. “I’m d you’re going to be a hero, son,” he admitted. “Cus I would kill that bastard in a heartbeat.” I nodded. That was answer enough for me. My next course of action was decided.