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…
"So you're joining too, kid?" Tiger said as he looked at the approaching Suzaku, who nodded lazily.
"Seems like it."
Tiger nodded back, crossing his arms with a stern-looking face. "Mandalay already filled me in on the necessary details. So while your teachers come up with a proper plan, you'll be undergoing some training with me."
Suzaku gave a lazy nod while his eyes danced around.
Not too far away was Midoriya, doing some kind of dance to the music of a boombox on his side while looking on the verge of exhaustion.
Quite a strange sight, but it wasn't the only one.
Kirishima and the tail guy were sparring nearby—if it could be called that, considering only one of them was getting hit, using his Quirk for defense while the other struck with the tail relentlessly.
Unlike the attack ratio, though, it seemed the pain was going both ways, judging from both their faces.
In another direction, Jurota was striking trees and using them as weights to bench press in his beast mode, a pretty wild sight, if not a bit funny.
Tetsutetsu was also in the surroundings. And much like certain people had speculated during the bus trip…
"Oryaaaa!"
-Bam!-
He was straight-up punching a mountain. A blunt yet effective training.
He had even already dug up for himself a pretty deep tunnel using only his fists.
Itsuka was also on the same mountain doing her training, hammering fiercely at the rocky formation with her enlarged hands, and going on despite the pain in her face.
As for the rest of everyone, they were probably training in other zones under the guidance of the other Wild Wild Pussycats.
'This area is probably for the brawlers…' Suzaku noted, seeing that only those whose specialty was fighting in close quarters were gathered here. He glanced at Tiger and let out a small sneer at the macho man standing tall in his contrasting costume. 'Well, I suppose it's fitting.'
"What's so funny?"
Suzaku's laugh was cut short as Tiger dashed forward and appeared right in front of him, launching a sudden punch with a macho-like shout. "Oh!"
–Swoosh–
The redhead didn't even blink as he tilted his head out of the punch's path, a wry smirk forming on his face.
"Not even a 'let's start' or something?"
"Evil strikes when you least expect it."
Suddenly, Tiger's body twisted unnaturally, and from Suzaku's blind spot, a kick rose to slam into him without mercy.
–Bang!–
Of course, Suzaku easily caught it in his palm, his body barely shifting from the force behind it.
"So, what… you're hyper-flexible?" Suzaku asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You picked up on it pretty quickly."
Without pause, a flurry of punches came raining down on Suzaku. Tiger's hyper-flexibility—a product of his Quirk—allowed him to attack with breakneck speed without worrying about tearing a muscle.
And yet, Suzaku barely looked troubled.
He deflected some, blocked others without flinching, and never even seemed in a hurry.
He even began letting out some yawns mid-fight, as if his bored expression wasn't enough to tell of how he was feeling already.
All of this, of course, only made Tiger amp up his speed and ferocity during his onslaught against the redhead, something that Suzaku countered by simply dodging faster.
This kind of rowdy spectacle quickly caught the attention of many in the surroundings, making them pause for a moment on their training and observe the fight going on.
Midoriya, slowing down on his dance, looked at the fight with wide eyes.
'Suzuki-kun… He already figured out how to fight against Tiger's Pliabody?'
His own training required him to go through a strange dance that put his body on a huge strain, only then to engage in a flash fight against Tiger, where both would exchange one blow. Yet, even with his newly developed technique—One for All: Full Cowl—he had yet to land or dodge a single hit in his fights with the hero.
Suzaku, on the other hand, barely looked like he was trying.
Seeing him dodge the intense and scary punch barrage from the Pro Hero like nothing, Midoriya gulped and, fired up, resumed his training with renewed determination. Doing his strange dance way faster, as if someone had clicked on the x2 speed button inside him.
Back in the fight, Suzaku dodged another strike, expression calm as ever.
For some reason, though, that lack of effort seemed to irk the Pro Hero.
"Enough with the half-assing! If you want to become a hero, you gotta go further and beyond! Fight me with all you've got!"
"If you say so," Suzaku muttered, batting away another punch.
But this time, he didn't just back away. Instead—
–Bam!–
"...?!"
Tiger's expression twisted as a punch landed cleanly on his ribs, forcing him to jump back to create distance.
Sadly, Suzaku was already chasing after him. He'd predicted the retreat, making Tiger's attempt at escape futile.
Right away, he launched another punch.
Tiger's body bent like rubber, twisting into a U to dodge.
However, what looked like a punch suddenly turned into a knee strike, making his U-shaped posture to dodge completely useless.
–Bam!–
–Crack!–
Another clean hit to the ribs. Tiger winced in pain.
"You…" Tiger jumped back again, but this time prepared thoroughly for Suzaku's pursuit.
And pursue him he did.
Tiger launched a counterattack to keep him at bay—a rapid barrage. Suzaku didn't blink. He blocked most of the strikes and slipped one of his own through the storm of punches—
–Bam!–
—to the ribs again, immediately halting Tiger's offense.
"Ghk…"
The hero tumbled back, pain etched all over his face.
This time, Suzaku didn't chase. He let the man recover a little.
Tiger rubbed the sore spot on his ribs, face contorted in annoyance. "I figured you were cocky because you're the top spot in your year… but you're better than I thought."
"Can I go recover some sleep then? I don't know what you psychos were thinking, waking us up at five a.m., but I'm not taking that."
"Unfortunately, I can't allow slackers," Tiger growled, raising his fists once more.
Suzaku did the same.
"And I can't allow those who don't let me slack off."
Instantly, both opponents kicked the ground and lunged at each other.
Soon, a flurry of attacks began raining down on one another's bodies.
On Suzaku's side, he blocked most attacks, and while a few managed to connect, he didn't even seem to acknowledge them—continuing with his offense without pause.
Tiger, on the other hand, was in a much tighter spot. Despite his flexibility—and the resulting unnatural, hard-to-predict fighting style—Suzaku seemed to read him like a book, barely missing a single beat during the onslaught.
By the time both finally backed off, the bruises on Suzaku's body could be counted on one hand. On Tiger's body, not even four hands would be enough.
"So, do I still need to go through this training of yours?" Suzaku asked, making little jumps on his spot like a boxer.
Tiger was silent for a second, slumping forward from exhaustion and pain.
Then, with a deep breath, he straightened back up and gave a solemn answer.
"No need anymore. You're evidently past the point of needing mentoring in this."
Suzaku smirked at that.
"But you'll be helping your classmates," Tiger added.
Suzaku's smirk dropped. "Oh, come on!"
Ignoring Suzaku's annoyed shout, Tiger turned around and began walking in Midoriya's direction. The green-haired boy flinched the moment he saw the hero approaching.
And just like that, Suzaku was left behind, staring deadpan at the man's back.
"I don't know what I was even expecting…" he muttered with a sigh, glancing around at everyone still focused on their training.
He stayed silent for a moment, seemingly judging who he might help, until—
"They all seem to be doing fine. I guess I'll just go take a nap on a tree branch so no one bothers me then."
In the end, he walked off, preparing to climb a tall tree and make it his bed.
However, just as he found the perfect one and was about to begin the climb, a voice echoed in his head.
It was Mandalay, using her telepathic Quirk.
"Suzuki, right? Tiger told me you're supposed to help your classmates train. Go help your classmate Kendo. An opponent will help her more than an unmoving mountain."
Suzaku paused mid-climb and glanced over at Itsuka. She had turned toward him too, sweatdropping at the sight of him halfway up a tree.
With a sigh, he dropped down and walked over to her.
By the time he finally got to her, she smiled and crossed her arms. "So I guess we have to spar,"
"Yeah… but hey, if you're feeling like you're fine on your own, so I can go take that nap, feel free to say so."
Itsuka's smile widened slightly. There wasn't happiness in that smile, though.
"After what you pulled yesterday? Nah, I think I could use your help in a spar."
Suzaku waved her off with a casual grin. "Nah, you got this."
She smiled harder. "Nah, I don't."
"…"
Both stayed like that for a second, in silence—glaring at each other with squinted eyes, arms crossed, each waiting for the other to budge first.
At least until Itsuka shot him a mocking smirk.
"Or what, don't tell me you're scared of losing?"
Suzaku gave her a nod, wearing a helpless expression. "Yes, very much... In fact, I think I might be about to pass out from the fright. Better find a good spot to collapse, don't you think?"
"Just get in position." Itsuka deadpanned, taking her stance.
-Sigh…-
"Whatever." Suzaku did the same—though his was evidently much sloppier.
The instant he seemed ready, Itsuka didn't waste a single second and dashed toward him, her hands enlarging as she approached.
In the next instant, a massive hand strike—almost the size of Suzaku—came crashing his way.
In response, Suzaku used both arms in a double palm strike.
-Bam!-
The two attacks clashed, and despite the clear size difference, the impact reached a stalemate as both remained locked in place, pushing against each other.
"How the hell did you even block it like that?!" Itsuka gritted her teeth, still trying to overpower him.
"With my hands, duh," Suzaku replied, his head peeking through the giant hand's fingers.
A vein popped on Itsuka's forehead. Her hand shrank slightly as she clenched it into a fist—then sent a barrage of enlarged punches at him.
Sadly, the result didn't vary much from the attack Tiger had delivered earlier. Suzaku, looking only mildly engaged, batted some punches away, blocked others, and smoothly evaded the rest—almost as if he were dancing.
"You…!"
Then, just as Itsuka's patience reached its limit and she charged up a more powerful strike, Suzaku sidestepped her and tapped his palm against her back, throwing her off balance and nearly making her fall forward.
She recovered quickly, spinning around with a pissed-off expression.
But instead of his usual annoying smirk, Suzaku just looked at her with a pensive frown, caressing his chin like a sage.
"Say… why don't you use finger strikes?"
"What? What the hell are you saying all of a sudden?"
Suzaku gestured forward with his hand, mimicking a thrust.
"You know, thrusting attacks using your fingers as swords—or like, any pointy weapon. The point is using your hand to stab."
She sweatdropped. "Because there's a pretty big chance they'd break?"
"Yeah, but with your hands enlarged, all that size would be focused into a smaller surface. That'd give it more piercing force."
Itsuka fell silent. What the hell was this guy even going on about—in the middle of a spar?
Seeing her baffled look, Suzaku casually walked over to a tree and pointed at his hand.
"Look, look. Like this."
Then, he stabbed the tree with his bare hand.
A jarring crack echoed as his fingers dug into the wood, carving through it. The tree was fairly thick, too.
"What the hell are your fingers made of?" Itsuka asked, staring dumbfounded at his embedded hand.
Suzaku plucked it free and flexed his fingers a few times. "Awesomeness."
She snorted and deadpanned, "So are we still sparring, or are you gonna keep lecturing me?"
"Hey, I'm supposed to help with training. I'm just saying—it'd be a cool extra move in your arsenal. You could even call it… uh… 'giant spear' or whatever. I know naming things isn't your forte."
"Hah? I do have good naming sense. Unlike you, 'giant spear.'"
"Sure, sure. Miss Big Fist."
"You…"
Itsuka narrowed her eyes, and, without another word, lunged forward—winding up a punch the size of two Suzakus before slamming it down like a meteorite.
–BOOOM!–
The earth cracked and trembled from the impact, a cloud of dust erupting around them.
And yet, not even a second later—
"Also, fists or palm strikes of that size kinda block your vision a lot," Suzaku's voice suddenly came from behind her.
Before she could turn around—
-Paf!-
He palm-struck her back again, making her stumble forward and catch herself, a frustrated scowl on her face.
"Urgh!"
As she turned back once more, Suzaku remained in his pensive state, scratching the back of his head.
"Though, if your hands are too big, I guess a hand stab won't be much better at not blocking your sight."
"Focus on the—" Itsuka lunged, throwing a slightly enlarged fist. "—FIGHT!"
Suzaku caught it with both hands, though the force behind it made him flinch slightly.
"These do pack a punch, huh?" he commented with a wry smile. Then, shifting the weight of the attack to the side, he slipped past the fist and dove right under Itsuka's guard.
She was about to bat him away with her other hand, but before she could, a sharp pain flared in her waist, making her buckle for a second.
She turned her head with a pained expression—only to see Suzaku standing with two fingers raised, like he'd just discovered fire.
"Now, hear me out. Instead of a four-finger stab, how about using two? That way, you wouldn't have a visibility problem, and all the weight of your giant hand is focused on an even smaller point... and it also looks cool. Like—epic mystical martial arts master stuff. Only, you're not hitting pressure points to paralyze people, you're just making holes in them."
"You're still on that?" she groaned, the pain slowly fading.
"Hey, I'm supposed to be helping you train, not be your personal stress relief outlet."
Itsuka fell quiet for a moment, her frown deepening—then she heaved a sigh, helplessly.
"Alright… how do you do it?"
"First," Suzaku said, lifting a finger dramatically, "you must address me as revered master."
"No."
"Fair enough." He shrugged and showed her his hand.
"There isn't much science to it. You lift both fingers, keep them completely straight—otherwise they'll probably break—and voilà. You've got something to stab people with."
She let out a wry laugh.
"I'd check my choice of words next time. You might get arrested."
"They can try."
She snorted and tried to mimic the pose.
"Like this?"
Suzaku laughed.
"You're gonna break your fingers like that."
"How, though? I literally did the same thing."
Suzaku stepped in and took her hands, gaining a raised eyebrow from her.
"Knuckles aligned with your fingers. You know—make as perfect a straight line as you can. Otherwise, your fingers'll just collapse the moment you try stabbing something too hard... There."
She examined her hand briefly before deadpanning at the redhead.
"It doesn't look very stable."
"You lack faith."
Raising an eyebrow, Itsuka began stabbing at the air. Even then, she didn't seem too convinced.
"How about this then?" Suzaku said, crossing his arms with a sly grin. "Since you're still salty about yesterday, I'll let you try to hit me once. No dodging orblocking."
Itsuka's mouth curled slightly into a faint smile.
"Oh?"
"I meant with the finger-stabbing. If you try punching me, I'm gonna smack you," Suzaku clarified.
"Tsk."
With a pout, Itsuka slowly adjusted her hand the way Suzaku had told her. She even gave him a few glances, as if asking whether she was doing it right.
Sadly, Suzaku simply tilted his head in response.
So, Itsuka could only deadpan as she came up with the best two-finger stab she could manage on her own.
When it finally seemed ready, she squinted at Suzaku, who had opened his arms as if inviting her to strike wherever she pleased.
With a huff, she dashed forward, and in a second, her hand moved.
–Tack!–
It hit cleanly on Suzaku's waist—the same spot he'd punctured her earlier—only now on his body instead of hers.
Fortunately, her fingers didn't buckle and stayed straight. They dug into his side—as much as they could, anyway. Itsuka was quick to discover the guy was tougher than he looked.
Having landed her blow, she stepped back and glanced at Suzaku.
Only to see him smirking like always.
"Tsk," she clicked her tongue.
"So? What do you think?" Suzaku asked, as if oblivious to her disappointment.
She rolled her eyes before looking at her still two raised fingers, a faintly satisfied look in her gaze. "I... might give it a shot when using my Quirk."
Suzaku smiled upon seeing she was considering it. "Well, you do whatever you want. Just try to strengthen your hand before that, in case you want to add it to your arsenal."
"And how do I do that?"
"Just stab pots filled with sand like I did. Then move on to harder stuff, like gravel, or something that fits that description."
"That's how you got that freaky stab of yours?" She asked, glancing at the tree that now had a hole in the shape of a hand on it.
"Yeah." Suzaku nodded. "It only took me like two years to get my hand hard enough not to worry about fracturing it. So if you really want to, you'll manage it before becoming a Pro Hero."
"Hmm..." Itsuka glared at her fingers with a squint, reconsidering this altogether.
Eventually, though, she turned back at him.
"Should we continue with the sparring then?"
"However you want." He shrugged. "If you want to take a rest—"
"Let's continue then." She cut him off and turned around, walking a bit farther to put some space between them.
While she walked away, giving him her back, Suzaku winced and rubbed the spot she'd just hit.
By the time Itsuka turned back around to face him, Suzaku had already returned to smirking like always.
"...?" She raised an eyebrow. She could've sworn his face had changed for a second, but in the end, she shrugged it off pretty quickly. "Well, are you ready?"
Suzaku took his stance, this time a more serious one compared to the lax posture from earlier.
"I'd prefer to go take a nap. But sure."
Itsuka took her stance as well.
"Too bad so sad."
…
°
°
°
| An hour later… |
…
Suzaku and Itsuka sat under the shade of a tree, resting after an extended sparring session—most of which had been filled with Suzaku giving pointers whenever Itsuka left herself too open or made a mistake.
She looked pretty winded, eyes on the blue sky above, her expression tired.
Suddenly, Suzaku tossed her a can of Coke.
-Tack-
She caught it before it hit her, but the moment it landed in her hand, she stared at it with a baffled look.
"Where did you even—?"
Suzaku answered before she could finish, pulling out another can from behind the tree.
"I brought a pack with me. Hid it here while the teachers were assigning training plans to everyone, so I could come grab one later."
–Tss–
"Did you even bring anything of what was specified in the pamphlet?" she asked, glancing wryly at the can in her hand.
"I brought everything. It's just squished at the bottom of my backpack," Suzaku replied, taking a big gulp from his soda.
"What else did you bring, then?" she asked with a deadpan look. So far, it was a console, games, food, drinks… just what else had he managed to stuff into that backpack?
"Apart from what you already saw? Just tons of snacks."
"Can't you spend one day without eating them?"
"I can," Suzaku nodded seriously, before suddenly pulling out a bag of Quirkritos from behind the tree as well. "But I don't want to."
"…"
She almost fell forward at the sight.
–Tss–
In the end, though, she opened her Coke and took a sip.
As the fizzy drink went down her throat, she let out an exhausted sigh.
It had hit just the spot, especially now that they were resting after that intense training—which she hoped wouldn't start again in another hour or so, with Mandalay speaking to them telepathically to tell them to stop resting.
Chasing this guy around was like trying to catch a chicken... a chicken with a speed Quirk, Ultra Instinct, and an insufferable attitude. Impossible and annoying.
Right now, she was beat and wanted nothing more than to melt into the grass, staring at the beautiful scenery that was the hellhole they'd been thrown into for training.
The forest was nice to look at when you weren't dying.
-Sip-
A pleasant breeze passed between the two as they rested, the beautiful blue sky stealing their attention away from the groans of some of their still-struggling classmates nearby.
As Itsuka took another sip, she gave Suzaku a sideways glance.
"By the way, I saw the teachers encircling you pretty closely earlier, like an interrogation. What did you do this time?"
"What do you mean by what did I do? I'm a model student."
"Uh-huh." She replied with an amused laugh.
He rolled his eyes at her dismissive tone.
"They were having trouble coming up with a training plan for me."
She hummed, taking another sip before raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't they just put you to spar against all the teachers?"
"That sounds fun." Suzaku sneered, humming as he seemingly imagined that. "They probably would've done that—but they probably changed their mind after what I told them."
That caught Itsuka's attention.
Suzaku stayed silent for a while, despite the not-so-subtle glare aimed his way.
Ultimately, though, he shrugged the hesitation off. He'd already told the teachers. It wasn't like they were going to keep it a secret, especially since they'd need him to train it over the next week, and neither had he implied that he wanted to keep it a secret.
So, the cat was already out of the bag.
'Eh, why not?'
Suzaku sighed melancholically, running a hand through his hair.
"Turns out, not only do I have an amazing body… but I've got some crazy control over it, too."
"Hah?"
"For example—my voice," Suzaku said, before clearing his throat and opening his mouth again, shocking Itsuka. "I can pretty much imitate anyone."
"What the hell? That—that was my voice!" she yelled, leaning forward.
Suzaku smirked. Then, he cleared his throat again, and his voice changed once more—this time into a very familiar one.
"Suzuki is indeed the best student in my class. God forbid if anyone thought otherwise."
She laughed, more bewildered than amused. "And that was Vlad-sensei's…"
"Yeah, anyway." Suzaku's voice returned to normal. "Thanks to that, they're now thinking about how to help me train that, instead of just tossing me into some default physical training."
Itsuka just stared blankly at him for a few seconds, processing.
"So… is it just the voice?"
"I said 'control over my body'—of course it's not just the voice."
"Well, you could have shown me something more demonstrative than just imitating people," she said, glaring at him with an exasperated look.
"Talk about judgy." Suzaku rolled his eyes before tugging up his sleeve and doing the same thing he'd shown the teachers earlier.
He still didn't have a name for it, though he figured he'd come up with one soon.
Maybe something like... Colo-sus Mode.
"Heh." Suzaku chuckled at the dumb joke in his head.
Meanwhile, Itsuka just watched, bewildered, as his arm began to swell—muscles gaining more definition by the second, veins bulging with power that almost radiated off his skin.
She was visibly taken aback for a moment, struggling to find words—until she finally just rubbed her forehead, like she was getting a headache.
"So that's how you went from three hundred to over a thousand meters in the baseball throw…"
Suzaku nodded silently, taking a sip from his drink.
Her gaze wandered up toward his face, focusing on his glasses.
"So what is it? Like a side effect of your Quirk? I mean, how does molding your glasses even connect to that?"
"Nah. Just seems like I've got some weird talents."
"I don't think that classifies as talent anymore. That's like a Quirk of its own."
"Well, Class 1-A's teacher couldn't cancel it. So it isn't."
Itsuka fell silent. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as if trying to choose her words. Eventually, she managed to speak.
"Since when… have you been able to do it?"
Suzaku scratched his cheek. "The voice thing? For years now. I came up with the arm thing during the final exam."
She blinked before letting out a sneer as she glanced at Suzaku with a smile. "To fight All Might?"
"Yeah. You already know how that ended."
"Well, you held him off long enough for Monoma to reach the finish line, at least."
"Still, the guy barely flinched when I hit him with a full-power punch to the face. That kind of busted Quirk should be illegal."
"Says the guy who can control his body to abnormal levels without even needing a Quirk to do it. I wouldn't be complaining much if I were you."
"I suppose you're right. I'm too great to complain about it."
She rolled her eyes and glanced back up at the sky.
She had a lot of thoughts about what Suzaku had just told her.
A part of her almost wanted to shrug the matter off, like it wasn't that big of a deal. That's how Suzaku made it seem, at least.
But considering what she knew about Suzaku, the idea that this ability might've come from the time he was kidnapped couldn't help but pop up. Perhaps he'd been experimented on, unlike safely escaping like he claimed happened?
He had been hiding this for a while now, after all. Not even mentioning it—just dodging the question whenever someone asked.
And now that she thought about it, that sudden burst of speed he mentioned, the one that showed up during his internship with Mirko… that probably came from this ability too.
Which meant he'd been hiding it for months. Not even bothering to tell them, his friends.
'Are we... not trustworthy?' she wondered, her smile faltering slightly.
She quickly pushed the thought away. She didn't know why Suzaku had been kidnapped back then—or if there had even been a reason at all—but whatever it was, it wouldn't be strange if it had made him wary.
She wasn't in any position to expect him to tell them everything.
At that, she sneered self-mockingly.
'We've only known each other for a few months. What am I even thinking? Why would he—'
Grhkrhk—
A strange sound cut off her thoughts. When she turned, Suzaku was holding the bag of Quirkritos out to her, a carefree smile on his face.
"Want some?"
"..."
She stared at him in stunned silence, eyes flicking between the bag and his face. Then, she let out a small laugh and reached into the bag.
"Alright."
And like that, silence returned between them. This time, a peaceful, comfortable kind.
Itsuka glanced up at the slowly drifting clouds above, closing her eyes as the breeze brushed past her face.
Despite how hectic the day had been, just lying there and watching the sky with him made everything feel strangely calm. A contradiction, considering half their class was on the verge of collapse from training, and the hellish session of sparring they had just come out of.
It felt oddly satisfying.
Unfortunately, not everyone was that considerate of the quiet moment they were having.
Suddenly, several steps coming in their direction reached their ears, making both turn their heads to see who it was.
There, they saw Vlad King walking in their direction with a smirk.
"Suzuki, enough rest. I came up with a proper plan for you."
However, he was not alone.
Behind him trailed Tetsutetsu, Kosei, Sen, Pony, and Kojiro, all of them looking a bit confused as they followed their teacher in silence.
Once they finally got to the tree where the two were resting, Vlad King turned to the group that was following him.
"From today onward, you'll all follow the same training."
"A new training?" Sen asked, raising an eyebrow. The current one had already been hellish. Now they were changing it?
The others didn't look too thrilled either, exchanging uneasy glances.
Vlad let out a small laugh and pointed straight at the still-seated Suzaku.
"That's right. From now on, the lot of you will gang up on Suzuki, using your Quirks as much as possible to take him down!"
""...?!""
The group blinked, startled, then slowly turned to Suzaku—who looked completely unimpressed.
While the students tried to figure out whether Vlad was joking, the teacher continued.
"As for you, Suzuki—you're only allowed to hit Tetsutetsu and Kosei's air formations. Everyone else, you dodge their attacks and don't retaliate." He then glanced at both sides. "You all gotta keep up with it until a teacher comes to stop you. That's your new training."
Kosei hesitantly raised a hand. "Uh, not that I dislike hitting Suzaku, but… don't you think a five-on-one is a bit much?"
Tetsutetsu raised his fist with an upset expression. "Yeah, ganging up on someone is like the opposite of being manly!"
Suzaku nodded—just faintly so the others wouldn't notice he was agreeing.
If it were five people throwing plain punches, it wouldn't be a problem. But this team? One shot glue from his head, another launched and controlled horns mid-air, one had drill-like arms with serious piercing force, and one had absurd durability. Worse, he wasn't even allowed to hit any of them save for one.
Vlad King suddenly turned to Itsuka.
"Oh, and Kendo—you're in too."
'Now he adds someone who hits like a truck... and I'm still only allowed to hit the guy made of steel. Yeah. This is a bit much.'
Suzaku gave Vlad a look—half disbelief, half irritation.
Naturally, the teacher ignored it and turned back to the others.
"Originally, it might've been overkill. But Suzuki dropped a few surprises on us earlier. So we adjusted."
He looked back at Suzaku, this time with a more serious expression.
"Like I said, you're not allowed to hit anyone except for Tetsutetsu... But you are allowed to explore that ability of yours—fully—considering the numbers and the diversity of Quirks you'll be facing."
Suzaku blinked.
Now... that was a different matter altogether.
...
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: This chapter took me a while to make thanks to character interactions being such a hassle to write.
But what can I say? Maybe that's just the consequence of most of my interactions with friends tending to involve death threats, impregnating threats, mom-impregnating threats, and a few others that are better left unmentioned.
So, what did you think? Did it turn out well?
Honestly, I always feel kind of weird when reading these types of interactions in stories, so maybe I ended up making the same mistake I usually cringe at. Let me know what you think!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It ended up being pretty long for something that only spans half a day—maybe even less.)
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