Chapter 20: No Pain No Gain
Izuku groaned in exhaustion as the ear piercing sound of his alarm flooded his bedroom. Why on earth did he have to wake up so early on one of his precious days off, one might ask?
Well, that answer was simple, Istuka's father had apparently inquired about him yesterday, and so now he had an early morning training session that was all but required if he wanted to make a good first impression with the man… At least, that was the way Itsuka had explained it to him over text.
So now here he was, waking up at six o'clock on a day where he should be sleeping in, watching the second year sports festival, and working on a new pair of web shooters. Not to mention recovering emotionally. Yesterday was probably one of the most mentally taxing days of the semester, which was insane to think about considering that they were only a few weeks into the school year.
Ugh, I hate that I have to go back and waste so much time on new web shooters! At this rate I'll never get to finish my mark II costume!
The superpowered teen was stuck in an uncomfortable dilemma. Not only did he still have a half finished hero costume, but now he needed to go back and make a new pair of his same old mark I web shooters instead of innovating for his new ones.
This is such a waste of time and effort! Stupid Bakugo!
…
As anyone would expect, the super powered teen had not yet sorted through all of his complex emotions from the previous day. This was yet another thing he was dreading doing, so much so that it was easier to just bottle it up and push to the side.
And so, rather than think too hard about the aftermath of the sports festival, the green haired boy turned his attention to the peculiar day that was surely waiting for him.
Why did Kendo's dad want to meet him anyway? Did he see potential in him after winning the festival? Or was this about him being friends with his daughter?
I really hope it's not the latter… That would get awkward really fast…
Regardless, there was only one way to find out, and that was by getting dressed and heading to the Kendo dojo to see for himself. After all, Itsuka was a no go after last night. He had practically begged her over text to at least give him some kind of insight as to why this meeting had to happen, but she just clammed up.
Ironically, it was at this exact moment that the boy received a text from said friend.
You better be awake already, dork. You can NOT be late! Be here at 7:00 sharp!
Izuku read the text with half closed, and groggy eyes before letting his phone drop softly on his bed as a deep groan escaped his lips.
This is gonna end badly…
Despite feeling this way, the boy still managed to eventually hop out of bed and get ready. And while he did end up arriving at the humble training spot right on time, the superpowered teen found himself hesitating once he was outside the front door.
Welp, here it is… Do I just wait out here? Should I knock? Itsuka never responded to my text saying I was on my way…
As much as the boy had tried to avoid it, he was starting to get nervous.
Relax, take deep breaths… I've got this… I'm Spider-Man!
With one last large gulp of air, Izuku steeled himself before reaching out and knocking on the aged wooden door, almost jolting out of shock when it opened right after the first knock.
"Well then… You must be Izuku Midoriya…"
Doing his best to suppress a gulp, Izuku opened his mouth to present a greeting, but the large man began talking once more.
"You're one minute late… I don't appreciate tardiness…"
Crap… I stood outside overthinking for too long!
Inside the dojo just beyond the entrance, Itsuka was sitting patiently on the mat with her face in her hand as she heard her father's words.
Dang it! I told that idiot to be on time… Ugh, who am I kidding, he is on time, my dad is just a psycho about this kind of stuff…
"My apologies sir! It won't happen again!" Izuku said strongly with a curt bow.
This seemed to be enough of a response for the larger man, because soon he was speaking again with an outstretched hand. "Hmm, very well, I will take you at your word. My name is Itaru Kendo and I am the master of this dojo. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." The orange haired man said more than firmly.
Reaching out and accepting the man's handshake, Izuku nodded. "The pleasure is all mine sir!"
Ending the handshake abruptly and moving aside to invite the boy in, the elder Kendo watched the boy like a hawk as he walked into the dojo and greeted his daughter. They were both acting obviously tense, but that was to be expected. Overall, his initial impression of the young man wasn't so bad, his first few moves had been quite decent in his eyes.
He wasn't even late, I saw him the moment he walked up a few minutes before seven, yet, he didn't attempt to make an excuse. His handshake was pretty firm too…
Closing the front door and walking back into the studio, Itaru shrugged all of that off. All of those things were meaningless in the grand scheme of things. He considered himself a pretty good judge of character, so one way or another, he would have a strong opinion of the boy by the end of the day.
Setting his backpack down after greeting Itsuka briefly, Izuku quickly took off his shoes and socks before sitting down next to her on the mat and awaiting further instruction.
As Itsuka's dad turned to face the pair, Izuku felt himself hold back another gulp. Not only was the tall man towering over them, but the dojo itself looked dim and empty apart from Itsuka and her father.
It must be because they're closed for the three days of the sports festival…
While the green haired teen was correct about the reason that the dojo appeared vacant, he was incorrect about the amount of people in the building at the moment.
"Kenji, come down here. We're ready to start." Itaru stated strictly, still not showing any sort of emotion in his tone.
Kenji? Who is that? Izuku thought to himself as he risked a glance at his friend. Much to his dismay though, Itsuka only stayed facing forward without shifting her blank facial expression one bit.
"Here I am Sensei, I was able to contact a place that's open today. Everything is taken care of." The boy stated as he shuffled into the room. He was a tall blonde haired boy who looked slightly older than the two present U.A students. He was well built, as well as wearing a black skin tight shirt and red shorts.
"Good, we can begin then. Midoriya, this is Kenji, an upstart pro hero that trains here every now and then. He just graduated high school last year, and he will be joining us for our training session today."
"R-right! Sounds good sir." Izuku said louder than intended. Cursing himself for stuttering.
This just got more interesting… I wonder what this guy's quirk is and what hero agency he's working for? Itsuka seems indifferent so I'm sure she already knows him. Hope this goes well!
Little did the boy know, both of his curious questions were about to be answered almost instantly.
Taking a bow at the pair of young U.A students, Kenji introduced himself in an even and strict tone, just like his sensei had. "Greetings, I am Kenji Ishida, I am currently working at the Endeavor hero agency and trying to move up in the ranks. My quirk is known as Fire Fist. It allows me to ignite and maintain fire on my hands without burning myself. It is a pleasure to meet you Midoriya-san. It is also a pleasure to see you again, Kendo-san."
Itsuka merely nodded to acknowledge the boy, but Izuku was able to shift into a warm smile at the boy's detailed introduction.
Wow, that was actually really polite! It's kinda hard to believe he works for Endea-
"Midoriya!" Itaru bursted out, shattering the boy's proverbial thought bubble. "Given that this man just shared more than enough information about himself, how about you at least share your quirk with us as well. Come now, don't be rude."
Feeling that her friend was indeed flustered right next to her, Itsuka only rolled her eyes.
Ugh, he's so extra. Hang in there Izuku, he's just giving you a hard time…
"Uhh, right!" Izuku stood up as he forced himself to organize his thoughts. "My quirk is called Spider. It allows me to do anything a spider can, which includes enhanced strength and wall crawling. That's just a brief explanation though, it's actually pretty complex."
After a small moment of silence, the elder Kendo responded. "I see, very well. Thank you for sharing. With that we can begin. You two may be asking yourselves why I asked Kenji to join us today. The answer to that is simple, we will be doing mass sparring today, and another fighter means we can go even longer without breaks. It is now a quarter past seven. We will all spar until lunchtime, whoever quits due to fatigue or pain will not be getting any food. Are there any questions?"
Midoriya and Kendo could only look at each other pensively as they were sure they were thinking the same thing…
Crap, five hours… That's more than double the time we usually train after school…
"Very good, if there are no questions, we will begin. To start, I will spar against Itsuka, and Kenji will spar against Midoriya. I will switch up the pairs as we go. No quirks will be allowed, though I do understand that with you Midoriya, you can't exactly turn it off, just no webs or whatever you called them when you were telling me about him yesterday Itsuka."
Instantly Itsuka's face turned into a tomato as her dad revealed details of a very private conversation to the whole room…
Dang it Dad! I literally told you that those weren't a part of his quirk! You just love embarrassing me.
Izuku on the other hand only nodded glumly as he walked over to the other mat that the blonde teen was waiting for him on. Yeah, that's not an issue, it's not like I can use them anyway…
"Are you all ready? Like I said, once we start we will not stop until lunch. The only breaks allowed will be for the restroom."
"Yeah yeah, drop the tough guy act and just start this thing already." Itsuka grumbled out, her appearing frustration with her father finally boiling over.
This made Izuku giggle a bit as he pushed away the negative thoughts about his webs.
There's the Itsuka I know.
Itaru however did not seem to appreciate this in the slightest. And he was going to demonstrate this to his daughter by the intensity of the sparring that he was about to throw at her.
"Very well, begin!"
Izuku instantly felt his spider sense erupt into chaos as Kenji all but sprung at him with an array of punches being thrown.
Taking everything in stride thanks to his beloved sixth sense, Izuku was able to dodge everything with relative ease. This was something that immediately made the young blonde pause as he processed the fact that he just threw over a dozen punches and landed none…
What? He dodged the entire combo!?
Before the blonde could continue his train of thought though, he was interrupted by Izuku engaging him again.
Thank you Itsuka! I would be so screwed right now without the sparring basics you taught me!
Speaking of the orange haired teen, she was currently deadlocked with her father in quite a violent engagement. It was now obvious to her that her father did not take her snarky comment earlier too well.
Tch, great, looks like he's not holding back today… This is gonna be a brutal few hours.
And brutal it indeed was. Because true to his word, Itaru allowed zero breaks in between, which only caused the pair of U.A students to tire out that much faster. In fact, one way that he even encouraged the two young teens into taking less time in the bathroom, was by having the person that stayed behind get double teamed by himself and Kenji.
This especially influenced Izuku into swearing off bathroom breaks after only taking one. The guilt of leaving his friend in an unwinnable situation being too much for the poor boy.
Itsuka however, had no problem in taking multiple bathroom breaks herself. Whether this was because she saw how comfortably the boy was dodging hits, or because she wanted to see just how large the boy's stamina reserves truly were. Either way, she took her sweet time in recovering and drinking plenty of water in the restroom.
One peculiar thing that Itaru noticed after a couple of hours was that, while Midoriya was barely landing any hits on anyone, he was practically untouchable himself, even when he and Kenji were teaming up on him.
Itsuka really described his combat style perfectly, he's one slippery fighter.
Where the elder Kendo was really left confused however, was whenever it came time for his daughter to spar with the boy, because then the exact opposite happened, anytime he was sparring Itsuka, Izuku proceeded to get tagged up heavily and painfully. Itaru could also tell that his daughter was not holding back very much, so it couldn't have been on purpose that he was letting her hit him.
How interesting, Kenji hasn't touched the boy all morning, and I've only landed some grazing shots at low intensity, yet when he fights Itsuka it's like he loses all of his poise.
If Itsuka could hear her father's thoughts right now, she would agree one hundred percent. Except unlike her father, she actually knew the reason for why this was happening, and that reason did not make her feel any better for upping the intensity of the sparring on her friend.
Sorry dork, but my old man already thinks I've been going easy on you, so I gotta go all out here!
Having some pity on the boy, Itaru called for the switch early as he deflected one of Kenji's attacks. "Alright that's enough, switch partners again!"
This call to action ended up just a tad late to save Izuku from one last hit though, because right as the elder Kendo spoke up, the boy took a massive punch to the stomach.
"Baugh!" Midoriya lurched out as he fell to his knees with his hands on his stomach. The boy was absolutely positive that if he had eaten breakfast this morning, it would be all over the mat right about now.
"Yikes, sorry Izuku, that was a cheap shot after the bell." Itsuka said apologetically as she patted her friend on the shoulder.
Itaru too was prepared to give the boy at least a small breather for that particular landed blow, but all of his sympathy turned to ash the moment he heard his daughter address him so casually.
"All right! Everyone up, let's get this going! No breaks remember! Food's not due for another hour at least! So if you want some, get going!"
In all honesty though, food was the last thing on Izuku's mind. He wasn't going through all of this just for a free meal, he was here for his friend's sake. And since she insisted this was important, he believed her, that's why he was gonna get through this no matter what.
"Ehem," Izuku coughed a bit as he stood up with determination. "Thanks Itsuka, but I'm good. Your dad is right, let's keep this going. I haven't even broken a sweat yet."
Whether it was the annoyance of the boy answering his daughter with the same familiarity she had started with, or the nerve of the boy to try and play off his fatigue, Itaru smirked as he attempted to see how far the boy could be pushed.
"I see, this training must be boring to you. How about I make you an offer then?"
Shocked by the change in tone of the elder Kendo, Izuku looked to Itsuka, who looked very uneasy herself.
"Change of plans, let's go out to the backyard arena with more room, if you can last five minutes against me while using our quirks, then the training is over and we can all relax and eat lunch. But if you tap out, no lunch, plus you and Itsuka will go back to training until the sun goes down."
This was where Itsuka intervened, "Woah Dad, relax, it's not that serious. We can keep the session going, it's not that big of a-"
"Deal!" Izuku said, practically shouting over his friend. He didn't really know what he was getting into exactly, but he was self aware enough to know that the elder Kendo was definitely testing him right now. And he was not about to back down after coming so far.
Shrugging off his daughter, Itaru nodded with a pleased smile and he motioned for the green haired teen to follow him out back.
Impressive, he didn't hesitate. There may still be hope for you yet Midoriya. Let's see what a U.A sports festival winner is made of…
Itsuka attempted to protest against her father once more, but her shoulder was grabbed suddenly by none other than Kenji. "Let it happen Kendo-san, your father would not act rashly without good reason."
Kenji, while shocked that his sensei was challenging Midoriya so quickly after meeting him, still understood that this was well within the norm for his master. He still remembered the first time the elder Kendo challenged him to a fully quirked duel, it was a very painful memory.
But it's not something he does for no reason, he's testing Midoriya, the only question is why?
This was the part that Itsuka was privy to, the only part that she miscalculated was in how far her father was willing to go for this whole 'test.'
Ishida is right though, my dad doesn't lose his temper easily, he's doing all this with a goal in mind. Ugh, dang it Dad, why do you have to be so extra right now? You never did any of this to Tamaki!
Regardless, she lost her chance to stop this train the moment Kenji interrupted her, so she had no choice but to follow the trio outside to their back yard fighting arena.
Well, to be honest, calling it a fighting arena was a bit of a stretch, in reality it was just a wide open thirty meter by thirty meter open field with a ten meter tall fence all around for students to practice quirked combat.
"Izuku, I hope you know what you're getting into…" Itsuka groaned as she stepped out into her backyard to see her father and her best friend already standing across from each other. Not only was she worried for her friend, but she was already exhausted from the brutal morning session, and she didn't think her body could handle another six hours.
"Are you ready for this Midoriya?" Itaru bellowed out, now back in his signature even tone once again.
Taking a few quick breaths, the super powered teen nodded as his heart rate returned to normal. Even for him, four hours of constant training was no joke, especially after the beating his body took yesterday.
I would not have survived today if not for recovery girl healing me yesterday.
"I'm ready!" Izuku cried out with confidence, taking a battle stance and ignoring the discomfort in his toes from the rocky grass.
"Good! Kenji, start the timer! It's time I showed you my quirk Midoriya! You may have seen it before! I call it; Bulk Up!"
Suddenly, the man's upper body nearly tripled in size, causing his shirt to instantly rip into small pieces.
Not only was this an extremely intimidating sight, but the quirk activation also managed to jog Izuku's memory of the elder Kendo's hero identity.
I suspected he used to be an old pro back when I first saw him almost a year ago, but now I'm sure of it. I'm gonna have to look through my older journals from when I was a kid.
Unfortunately for the green haired teen, he didn't have the luxury to be daydreaming about retired pro heroes, because right as he activated his quirk, Itaru Kendo was gunning for his prey.
"Come here you little shrimp!"
Instead of jumping out of the way, Izuku did something totally unexpected.
He's definitely expecting me to dodge, let's surprise him a bit.
Shocked that the boy was not attempting to squirm away, Itaru happily accepted as he came down on his target with a heavy pair of hammer fists.
Only to be even more shocked when his brute force attack was stopped dead in its tracks, even causing a huge burst of air throughout the battlefield.
W-WHAT!? Itaru thought to himself as he struggled to comprehend what was happening.
It could not be ignored though, Izuku had indeed caught both of the man's fists, not comfortably by any means, but he still caught them.
"Gah!" Izuku struggled, his already aching body crying out in protest of his brain's decision to not dodge. The boy swore he could feel his bones creaking as he gave everything he had to begin pushing the man off of him.
H-how!? How is this possible!? The elder Kendo thought incrediously, still not able to understand what was happening.
"Wow… I've never seen sensei be outdone in raw power before. I always figured only All Might could put out more brute force…" Kenji thought out loud as Itsuka nodded.
"Yeah, wow, I can't say I didn't see that coming, but it's still crazy to think about." Itsuka agreed, nodding her head as her heart raced faster and faster at the fight unfolding before her eyes.
"Wait, what? What do you mean by that? Are you saying you expected him to outclass your father?"
Shaking her head while keeping her eyes glued ahead, Itsuka responded. "Of course not, don't be dumb. What I mean is I'm not surprised because Izuku is physically strong enough to go toe to toe with pretty much anyone. But raw strength alone isn't everything, everyone knows that. What Izuku lacks in form and technique, he makes up for in brute strength and battle strategy. Then after that his spider sense fills in the gaps. It's easy to forget just how scary of a fighter Izuku really is, it wasn't a fluke that he won the sports festival yesterday."
Spider sense? Kenji questioned in his head. He was about to inquire about it but Itsuka was apparently not finished.
"So no, I'm not saying that Izuku can outclass Dad, not by a long shot. My dad is a much better fighter with years of training and experience under his belt. But what I am saying is that outclassing my dad isn't the challenge, the challenge is to survive, and that's something Izuku is a master at."
Kenji was about to respond to his master's daughter, but before he could, action once again graced the battlefield, and before long, the stalemate between the two fighters pushing against each other with all their might began to swing in one direction.
"I… I don't believe it…" Kenji breathed out with wide eyes.
Whether the young hero believed it or not was irrelevant, because the very real fact was that Itaru's arms were now beginning to budge upwards,
"Agh!" The orange haired man screamed as he attempted to put more downward force into his arms, this was all in vain though, because soon Izuku was no longer in a squat position as he pushed up more and more.
However, right before Midoriya could escape his predicament, Itaru relinquished his attack and jumped back hastily. Freeing the boy, as well as putting good space between them.
Phew… Ok, looks like my plan worked. I killed a good two minutes at least. And now he's gonna be a lot more cautious. Which is exactly what I want, the more he stays back the more time is lost.
Had Izuku been doing this challenge against literally anyone else, he would be quiping up a storm in an effort to distract his opponent and waste even more time.
But alas, here he was, going head to head with his best friend's dad only a day after winning the hero equivalent of the olympics…
Life sure was funny.
Regardless of how crazy the situation was in hindsight, the super powered teen still remained locked in on the elder Kendo's movements.
The pair spent what felt like an eternity in a state of neutral, circling each other as they looked for an opening.
Eventually, just like the first attack, it was the orange haired man who made the first move. Taking off in another dead sprint toward the boy.
Shocked again at how fast the man could move for being so large, Izuku shifted gears and leaned into unpredictability once more as he launched into his own sprint right at his opponent.
Alright, now the kid is running at me as well. Does he intend to make this an all out brawl after showing me his strength?
"Raah!" Itaru screamed out as he charged the boy, ready to meet him with a heavy attack.
Izuku however did what he did best; evade. This time though with a bit of extra flare.
Right as the two were about to collide, the green haired boy took a quick step to the right, feinting like he would dodge that way, smiling when his slower adversary fell for the bait.
From there, Izuku rapidly switched his footing, shifting back to the left and leaping over the older man's shoulder with a dive.
"Gah! Slippery little-"
The elder Kendo's verbal frustration was cut short however, because as soon as the boy dove over him, he gave a nice strong kick to Itaru's massive back muscles, launching himself toward the chain link fence on the arena border.
Stumbling, Itaru was delayed in turning around, but by the time he did, the young aspiring hero was already using the fence as a spring board, shooting himself back toward him.
Using his honed reflexes, the elder Kendo was still able to react to this despite being off balance. Regaining his bearings just in time to meet the boy's flying shoulder check.
Crap, this may have been too agressive… Izuku thought in regret right before the moment of impact.
Crashing right into the muscular man, Izuku was able to verify first hand that all of that mass was indeed not filled with air…
Oof! It feels like I just shoulder checked a brick wall…
"Gotcha!" Itaru exclaimed proudly, practically jumping for joy at his catch of the day. "And I'm not letting go!"
With his shoulder pressed firmly into Itaru's chest, the super powered teen was unable to get good leverage to break out of the massive bear hug surrounding him.
"You're finished Midoriya! Tap out before you get hurt!" The orange haired man bellowed as he proceeded to squeeze harder.
"Agh!" Izuku yelled, feeling his shoulders pop as he began getting crushed into his opponent's chest.
When the boy failed to relinquish the challenge right away, Itaru decided to graciously grant one final warning. "Give it up son! You made a good effort, but it's time to throw in the towel! I don't want to hurt you!"
Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but instead of conceding like the elder Kendo thought he would, he yelled out for his friend from the top of his lungs.
"IT-SUKA! How… Much time… Is left!?"
Not hesitating for a second, the big fist user swiped the stopwatch from Kenji before glancing at it and responding to her friend.
"Only thirty seconds! You've got this! Push!"
"What!? Don't egg him on Itsuka! He's gonna injure himself!"
For Izuku however, the time to turn back was a long time ago, and it seemed as though his friend knew that as well.
"Roger that!" The boy cried out with a fierce new determination. He wasn't quite sure what it was specifically that gave him his second wind, Itsuka having so much confidence in him, or the fact that there was only half a minute left…
"Oh no you don't!" Itaru grumbled fiercely, squeezing his grip that much more as the boy struggled.
Dang it! I know I can match him in strength, but the position I'm in has no leverage! If only our shoulders were parallel to each other instead of perpendicular…
The elder Kendo seemed to pick on this as well, because he immediately spread his legs apart so as to avoid any of the boy's attempts to kick out of the hold.
Darn! He really is a martial arts master. He knew that was my only way out… Gah! It's getting harder to breathe…
Now being squeezed to the point that his face was beginning to turn red. The super powered teen pulled out all the stops, willing all of his remaining energy into his upper body as he pushed outward as hard as possibly could.
I'm blacking out, this is just like after the robot foot! Ugh, I wish I wasn't so tired! I could break this hold in a second if I was fresh!
"AGH!" The green haired boy screeched out in pain as he released everything left in him. All he really needed was a few more seconds, he could do this!
"Grr," Itaru struggled as the boy threatened to breach containment.
Just how strong is this kid!?
For a moment, the orange haired man considered using his full strength to finish this once and for all, but in the end, he decided against it. Not only would that result in him seriously injuring the young man in his arms, but it also wouldn't be fair. It was clear to him just how exhausted the super powered teen was, and he wasn't cruel enough to punish a student for working so hard.
As a result of this, the exponential compressing of Izuku Midoriya hit an eventual plateau. Which the boy noticed instantly, because rather than continuing to get crushed, his arms were actually able to spread out a bit, allowing him to take in a desperate gulp of fresh air.
I can breathe! Did I budge him!? What happened!? Did I-
"TIME!" Both Kenji and Itsuka yelled out simultaneously, with the latter actually sprinting out onto the arena to check on her friend.
All of the sudden, Izuku felt the bear hug that was crushing him relinquish, dropping him right onto the floor like a ragdoll.
"Ough," the boy groaned, his blurry vision taking its time in returning to him.
What? What happened? I was sure I was gonna pass out, but at the last second, it almost felt like Itsuka's dad stopped squeezing… Did he… Did he do that on purpose!?
With his eyesight becoming more clear now, Izuku blinked a few times before sitting up on his elbows, making emotionless eye contact with his opponent just in time to see him shrink back down to regular size.
Meeting the boy's eyes, Itaru merely nodded his head with a small satisfied smile. "You've got guts kid, I'll give you that. This challenge is over. You win, no ifs ands or buts, understood?"
Not exactly having the most eloquent response handy, Izuku could only nod as his thoughts caught up with him.
Wait, so he did let me win on purpose?
However, the boy lost his opportunity to continue pondering the challenge, because soon, his best friend was all up in his face.
"Izuku! You did it! I never doubted you for a second! That was so awesome!" She yelled, crouching down to his level and shaking the boy's shoulders in excitement.
The super powered teen however, took his celebration in stride. Not only because Itsuka's father seemed to be watching them with cautious amusement, but also because this didn't really feel like a win in his book.
"Heh, thanks Itsuka, but I just got lucky. It really came right down to the wire. Especially at the end there."
Itaru gave no facial reaction to the green haired boy's modesty, preferring rather to move on from the topic. "Kids these days man, I was probably half as strong as both of you at your age. I guess it makes sense, given that you were able to get into a fancy school like U.A…"
Itaru smiled down at the pair before reaching both his arms above his head to stretch his now shirtless upper body. "Anyway, come on you two, let's eat. We have all afternoon to talk about how impressed I am with you. Kenji! Where's the food you ordered this morning! I'm starving!"
"R-right! I'll call the place right now sensei! It should be here soon, it's almost noon afterall."
At the mention of the time, Izuku felt his eyes shoot wide open from their groggy position as his energy returned to him. "Almost noon? Let's hurry, Itsuka! The tournament round should be about to start!"
Itsuka only rolled her eyes, already knowing the boy well enough to see that he was trying to get out of a deeper conversation with her.
She shook it off quickly however, she knew she would get her chance sooner or later. Plus, she didn't want her dad getting the wrong idea if they were out here too long.
"Right! Lets go then dork, dont want to miss all the action. I'm looking forward to a nice long break after this morning."
With that, both teens took off back towards the studio in excitement. Not only were they about to get a much deserved break as the big fist user pointed out, but they were also about to devour a delicious meal, all on the house. Truly, nothing could ruin this afternoon now, barring the sports festival getting attacked by a villain and ending their lunch entertainment...
Well, or so they thought…
The moment the pair walked into the dojo, they both noticed how hot and stuffy the temperature was. This of course was no cause for alarm to Izuku, but Itsuka instantly clicked her tongue in frustration.
Dang it, I forgot to crank the air conditioning before heading outside. I hope the kitchen isn't this hot.
It was times like these when Itsuka hated the way her dad trained. Sure, practicing martial arts without the AC on was effective in working up a big sweat and training to exhaustion, but it also inconvenienced every other room in the dojo as well. This was actually what forced her to get a window unit in her room years ago.
"Dad! Crank the AC, it's hot as heck in here!"
Regrettably, the orange haired teen did not hear a favorable response from the other room.
"I'm trying Itsuka, but it won't turn on. I think the unit might be busted."
"What!?" She called out, following her father's voice until she found him in the kitchen. He now had a shirt and some reading glasses on, crouching down a bit to be at eye level with the AC control panel.
"Yep, that's the fourth time I've tried. It says it's on but there's no air coming from the vents. I'll have to call a technician. Hopefully someone who is willing to come out on short notice during the sports festival holidays."
"Ugh, this sucks!" Itsuka complained. Now they would have to eat lunch out in the twelve o'clock sun.
Hopefully we can find some shade…
"Umm, sir? If it's ok with you, I can take a look at the unit. All I would need is some pliers and a screwdriver to take it apart. Who knows, maybe I can at least diagnose the problem."
This made the elder Kendo bring a hand to his chin as he pondered the unexpected offer. Though he didn't get a chance to respond before his daughter inserted herself.
"That's a great idea! Dad, trust me, Izuku is a genius! He can definitely fix it! Remember how I told you about his webs and them being his own inventions? An AC unit is probably a cakewalk for him!"
"I see," Itaru began, nodding his head in approval. "Well then, given the fact that the food isn't here yet, there's no harm in you taking a look at it. Especially if you are as skilled as my daughter says you are. Go around back Midoriya, the unit is against the wall of the yard. I'll get some tools from the garage and meet you there."
The super powered teen could only gulp as the situation became more real.
Welp, that just added a lot of pressure… Thanks Itsuka…
"Wow dork, if you can pull this off, you've really outdone yourself. Making it through some high intensity training, surviving a brawl with my dad at full strength, and even fixing up our AC unit? That would for sure be the mother of all first impressions."
Taking a step back outside, Izuku took a big breath of fresh air as a nice gust of wind passed by. "Heh, yeah… About that. Itsuka, I'm not kidding when I said I got lucky. Your dad had me dead to rights, I was pushing as hard as I could. Granted, he had me in a really uncomfortable position, and I was really beat after that crazy sparring session, but still, if he hadn't let up at the end, I wouldn't have been able to escape at the last second. He held back his full strength, I just don't know why."
Itsuka didn't know what shocked her more, the news that her dad had allowed Izuku to win, or the fact that he was even telling her this in the first place.
Probably the latter, most guys I know would definitely prefer to tell a macho story over the truth.
"Are you serious? That's… Wow…"
The more she thought about it though, the more it made sense. All her life her dad had been the perfect balance of both hardness and fairness. So this was still well in character for him.
I guess that means he genuinely thought Izuku deserved the win… He must have gained some pretty good respect for him throughout the day!
"Alright, I'm here." Itaru stated as he walked around the corner of the doorway. "I see you two have already found it. Let's make this quick, the tournament round is starting in a few minutes and I'll need to move the TV outside if we're gonna eat out here."
Izuku nodded, his mind quickly changing channels as the elder Kendo handed him a small toolbox.
"All right, let's see what we've got here."
Placing the toolbox on the floor and getting down to one knee, Midoriya didn't hesitate to open it up and find the correct screwdriver for the machine.
It didn't take the boy long to take off all the screws holding the side panel in place. Though it did feel weird to have the father and daughter pair watching him so closely from behind, he wasn't used to working with an audience like this.
Luckily, when the boy took off the side panel, he saw something he recognized.
I am so glad that textbook had a chapter on HVAC parts…
"Hmm, it looks like the compressor is busted." Izuku spoke up after a few seconds.
Itsuka wanted to be the first to respond, but her dad beat her to it. "What does that mean? How bad is it?"
"It's not too bad actually. The compressor is the part that creates all the air for the system, so it is a key part, but it's also the most common problem with these AC units when they go down, so they're really cheap at the hardware store. This one is just really old so it died on ya."
Frustrated, Itaru wiped some sweat off his brow and nodded. It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but at least now he would be able to tell the technician exactly what the problem was.
"I see, that is unfortunate. Either way, thank you for your help Midoriya. I appreciate the insight."
Izuku nodded politely as he stood up as well. "Of course, it's no problem. If anything I'm sorry I couldn't help more. It's just a shame, because it would be such an easy fix if you guys had a spare compressor. Do you happen to have any old AC units or fridges laying around? A lot of times those have identical compressors that are still good."
At this, both father and daughter turned to look at each other with knowing eyes, nodding to each other in understanding after the shock had receded.
"As a matter of fact dork, we just replaced our fridge a couple weeks ago and haven't gotten the chance to throw it out. Wanna go take a look?"
Matching her beaming smile, Izuku nodded and followed her back into the dojo.
From there, things were all smooth sailing. The Kendo's old fridge did indeed have the exact same model of compressor, much to Itaru's surprise. It appeared as though the boy did know a thing or two about these types of things…
After that, Izuku made short work of the replacement, using some more quick thinking in the process by having Kenji use his fire quirk to heat up the copper tubing and solder the new part onto the unit.
"There we go! That should be good, Ishida-san. Thank you for your help!"
"Of course, I'm just glad I could help. Thank you, Midoriya-san."
"Guys! It worked! It's blowing cold air!" Itsuka called from inside joyfully.
Matching everyone else's mood, Itaru couldn't help but laugh and give the boy a pat on the back in gratitude. "Wow Midoriya, you really are something else! I was impressed before, but believe me when I say that now I'm blown away. Forgive me for being harsh on you earlier, but you must understand how rare it is nowadays to find someone so skilled yet so humble. I had to test you multiple times to see for myself, again, I apologize if I was too hard on you."
By the end of his statement, Itaru had his head bowed, this instantly flustered the green haired boy as he rapidly shook his head.
"N-no! You don't have to apologize sir! I understand one hundred percent! You're just looking out for your daughter! I'd do the same thing in your shoes."
Plus he's got a point, I guess being born with an overpowered quirk does increase your chances of being a jerk. Midoriya thought to himself, specifically picturing two of his more troublesome, yet strong classmates…
Smiling even wider at the boy's response, Itaru lifted his head just in time for the doorbell to ring.
"Very well, thank you for saying that, son. Whaddya say we go inside and eat?"
"Heck yeah! I'm starving!"
Thankfully, after that, things became a lot less eventful at the Kendo house. Together, the quartet enjoyed a feast while they watched the second years go at it in one on one fights.
They were also able to have lots of interesting conversations. Many of which revolved around Izuku's quirk.
"Spider sense, huh? So that's how you're able to dodge like a maniac. That's one heck of a quirk you've got there Midoriya," Itaru stated between bites of food. It was getting ridiculous how many wild cards the boy kept pulling out.
"Yeah, isn't it cool?" Itsuka began. "He can feel stuff before they even happen! It saved my butt on more than one occasion during the villain attack."
While Itaru was not thrilled to hear that his daughter had been in direct danger, he still nodded to the boy in thanks for whatever his part was in saving her. He would have said more had it not been for his student interrupting him.
"I apologize master, but I can't hold it in anymore, Midoriya-san, please explain exactly how this danger sense of yours works. Because I feel very upset about the fact that Kendo-san and Kendo-sensei were able to land attacks on you and I wasn't. Please give it to me straight! My pride can take it!"
"Yeah, actually, Kenji has a good point," the elder Kendo began again. "While I did get you a few times, Itsuka was the one who was tagging you up consistently. Do you know why that is Midoriya? And don't try to tell me my daughter is a better fighter, haha!"
"Hey!" Itsuka complained with a mouthful of food.
Even though the man laughed at the end of his question, it still only succeeded in flustering Izuku, and sadly, before long, his mind was blank on what excuse to use.
Crap, I haven't actually come up with anything!
"Guys lay off," Itsuka began, mouth no longer occupied with chewing. "It's because we train together every day, remember? His body probably just got used to our normal sparring intensity, and so when I crank it up to one hundred percent, his senses just go haywire. Right Izuku?"
When the boy only nodded, the girl smirked before letting out some parting words to get under his skin.
"I guess you could even say I'm his weakness. Cause I'm the only one who can give his butt a good whooping!"
Holding back a blush, Izuku matched her smirk as he got ahold of his emotions. "You? Giving me a good whooping? Tell that to my first place trophy!"
"Oh, you did not just go there. Hurry up and finish eating! We are so gonna spar again!"
"What was that sensei? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me winning!"
As the pair continued the sarcasm war back and forth, Itaru and Kenji could only look at each other and shrug at the odd teenage behavior before them.
Sitting there watching his daughter with an amused smile plastered on his face, the elder Kendo couldn't help but notice her demeanor.
Yep, it's just as I suspected. She probably doesn't even know it yet, but she likes him…
It was moments like these where he really missed his late wife, she would know exactly what to do in this situation…
I better keep a close eye on her. Though, I guess if she had to like a guy, she could have chosen way worse. I'll give you that Itsuka, I owe you an apology when it comes to Midoriya. You are a better judge of character than I thought. I guess you get that from me as well…
From there, the talking points were a lot less invasive. Ranging from his lack of web shooters at the moment, to insight about each of his sports festival opponents. Kenji in particular had many questions about Todoroki, which was understandable given his place of employment.
All in all, the rest of the afternoon was relaxed. The second year sports festival winner was crowned a little bit past three o'clock, and it was then that Izuku decided to take his leave.
"Well, thank you so much for welcoming me into your home sir. It was a really great training session." Izuku said politely with a small bow as he stood up from the kitchen table.
"The pleasure was all mine Midoriya, and I mean it this time. You've impressed me greatly, son. So please, come back anytime. Whether to train, or just hangout. Our doors will always be open."
Grinning even wider, the super powered teen could only nod in approval. He was truly touched right now. "Thank you sir! I appreciate your generosity!"
As seemed to be the pattern today, the man was once again cut off as Itsuka spoke. "Heck yeah! Wanna come over tomorrow, dork? Or did that training scare you? Trust me, I get it. If you can't handle it then you can't handle it. No shame in admitting it."
Izuku resisted the urge to be baited into committing for tomorrow. Not only was he behind on finishing his suit, but he still had to make a new pair of web shooters, and boy was he dreading that.
Maybe that can wait a bit longer…
"Oh you are so asking for-"
Suddenly, Izuku was cut off by his phone beeping, with the specific tone indicating he just received an email.
Itsuka thought nothing of the interruption, figuring the boy would just quickly check before getting back to their banter. But when he instead scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, she quickly moved around the table for a better view of his phone.
The boy picked up on this too, because soon he scrolled back to the top of the email and tilted the phone toward Itsuka so she could read it easier.
Hello Midoriya! This is Mei Hatsume with the U.A support department. You're probably wondering how I got your email… Well, the truth is I kind of took a copy of the first year directory from Maijima-sensei when he wasn't looking, so haha, sorry about that. (Not sorry)
Anyway, the reason I'm reaching out to you is because I finally finished our super cute baby! Well, I guess technically it's just mine, but I'll still call it ours since you were the one with the idea. Besides that though, when can you come in to see it? I'd love to show you what it can do and maybe make improvements together! Let me know! Thanks!
By the end of the reading, Izuku's face was hotter than the sun, and he only had one thing on his mind.
Itsuka, please don't say anything or react weirdly in front of your dad…
Luckily, the girl seemed to have heard his thoughts. "Dad, change of plans. Do you mind if we go and watch the sports festival tomorrow in person? Izuku needs to visit the support department for some tech stuff, and Tamaki has been asking me to go anyway…"
Wow, she got right to the point… I wonder what that message said… Itaru thought curiously. He knew better than to stand in his daughter's way when she got like this.
"Of course. Say hi to that wimp for me."
"Dad!"
Izuku was more than a little nervous as he walked down the familiar hallway leading to the support department.
Right now he was dressed in casual clothes consisting of a white shirt and green shorts with his signature red shoes, while the girl hot on his tail was wearing a yellow shirt with jeans and some sneakers.
See, she was part of the reason he was so nervous. While yes, some blame could be put on whatever 'baby' Hatsume had come up with, but Izuku was more worried about how Itsuka would react to the inventor's ugh, let's say unpredictability…
Itsuka has been acting weird ever since I picked her up at her house. I already know it has to do with the baby thing. Ugh, why is Hatsume so weird!? This meeting can't go by fast enough.
As they got closer and closer to the door, Itsuka steeled herself as she prepared to meet Mei Hatsume. Obviously she had already seen her impressive performance at the sports festival, but she hadn't been properly introduced yet, and boy was she itching for that.
Izuku had attempted to explain her whole schtick of calling her inventions babies, which was all fine and completely understandable. But still, she felt that since she was a good and upstanding friend, she should accompany him just in case anything out of the ordinary happened. At least, that's what the weird feeling in her chest was telling her.
And whaddaya know? It turned out that she was indeed needed, because when the pair were right about to knock on the door to the lab, a huge explosion erupted, resulting in Hatsume somehow straddling Izuku.
"Ah! There you are! I've been expecting you!"
Oh I bet you have! Itsuka grumbled to herself mentally.
"Wow! What a solid chest you have! I'll have to revise my predicted measurements! You sure are a big boy Midoriya!"
As one may have probably expected, Izuku was totally unresponsive at this point.
Which was exactly when Itsuka decided to perform her introduction with a handshake strong enough to pull the inventor up to her feet.
"Hello! I'm Itsuka Kendo! So nice to meet you! I'm Izuku's classmate!"
"Woah! That's some crazy grip strength you have! Your forearms must be very firm! I'll have to perform measurements on you as well!"
Dang it Izuku! Hurry and Wake up!
After a good fifteen minutes of trading pleasantries with Hatsume and waiting for Izuku to recover, the pair were ushered into the lab where Mei had her mystery baby covered with a blanket.
"Here it is Midoriya. I think you'll find these not only a satisfactory upgrade, but also a well timed one"
Not understanding her fully, Izuku craned his head in confusion as he pulled the blanket off… Only for his expression to change into absolute shock.
"No way… Hatsume, are those!?"
"You bet they are! The super cute spider baby web shooters; mark II.
The super powered teen couldn't believe his eyes. And not because they looked super advanced, it was the opposite actually…
They look… Even bigger and bulkier than my old ones, not to mention the bright color…
Much like the boy described in his mind, the new mark II web shooters were even more beefy in size, this time appearing to reach almost eight centimeters in diameter. They were also covered in neon green and had a couple of blinking lights indicating they were electronic.
Itsuka also seemed to be speechless, but she was taking a back seat this time. She was not nearly qualified enough to be giving her opinion on this sort of thing.
"Uh, wow Hatsumei, they look umm… How do I put this…"
"Amazing right!" She inserted quickly. "I'm sorry they turned out so bulky, I know that was something you wanted to improve… It was just impossible to make room to house all of the electronics and protect them with steel plating…"
Hearing the girl's explanation, Izuku's constricted face lightened up a bit as sympathy filled his system. He remembered running into all the same roadblocks as her, so if he couldn't solve them, he couldn't expect that from anyone else.
"Heh, yeah, I hear ya loud and clear. That was another reason I made them mechanical. Were you able to increase the volume of the web cartridge? That was one of my biggest struggles as well."
"Ugh! You have no idea! No, I didn't. I tried so hard, but I couldn't expand them any bigger without having them explode. I'm gonna keep looking into different materials the school provides though. I'm sure I'll find something that will hold and then I'll let you know."
Izuku nodded, looking down at the two web shooters before picking them up and clipping them to his wrists.
"Wow, they're a good amount heavier. Is that because of the steel plating?" Izuku asked, clicking his middle and ring finger to the trigger and firing a web ball at the wall. "Good job calibrating the spinnerette nozzle by the way, the pressure feels exactly the same as my old shooters."
"Thank you! That was not an easy task! Also, yes, they are indeed heavier. Do they fit ok? That's what I'm most concerned about."
Inspecting them a bit closer on his wrists, Izuku nodded once again. They did indeed fit just fine, and the weight didn't really bother him so they were still comfortable. He would definitely have to wear these outside of his costume again though, they looked almost like big green wrist weights.
"They fit fine, I appreciate the effort, Hatsume-san. Like you said, they don't look the best aesthetically, but that's not a huge deal. At least the color will kind of go with my costume…"
"Oh yeah… About that. I still haven't shown you the coolest feature! I felt really bad about how big they were once I was almost finished, so I added all of these neon panels and wired them into the battery. Those aren't just for color, they're blackout panels! Click the button on the back of the wrist."
Izuku did what he was told, his eyes turning into saucers when his web shooter disappeared right off of his wrist like magic.
"W-what!? You were able to make them completely invisible!?"
"Woah…" Itsuka breathed out. Reaching out to her friend's wrist just to confirm the device was still attached.
"Yuuup! It's actually not that hard to make work on smaller objects like these. The problem is people always want to make an entire costume invisible, which just isn't practical. With these you'll just have to charge them up once a week or so. They're even compatible with phone chargers!"
Loving what he was hearing, Izuku activated the invisibility on his other hand's web shooter.
I can make this work! They're still pretty clunky, but so were the mark l shooters. If anything this just takes a load off of me, now I can finish my costume before we use them again in class.
"Thank you Hatsume-san! This came at the perfect time just like you said!."
"Aw shucks, don't worry about it, it's what I do."
Now having a plan worked out fully in his head, Izuku's mind began running a mile a minute.
Yes! We're back on track. As soon as I finish my costume, I'm putting time aside every day towards creating the mark lll web shooters. I'll have them perfected by the end of the year!
The boy was so distracted in his mumbling train of thought, that he didn't even hear the support course student's next sentence.
"Alright! Now that we've taken care of that, how about those measurements?" She said devilishly as she grabbed her tape measure…