Chapter 19: The Calm Before the Storm
The setting sun cast long, orange shadows across the polished wooden floor of the dojo. The air, thick with the familiar, clean scents of lemon polish and old wood, was a comforting balm to Rock Lee's soul. After the chaos and vibrant energy of U.A., the profound silence of this place felt like coming home. He sat in the formal seiza position opposite his master, Sora Aokawa, who was sipping calmly from a cup of green tea. The steam rose in a lazy spiral, the only thing moving in the tranquil room.
"So," Sora said, her voice cutting cleanly through the quiet. She placed her cup down with a soft click. "You faced your peers. The so-called elite of the next generation. Tell me what you saw."
Lee took a breath, organizing his thoughts. He recounted the day's events with meticulous detail, his voice steady and analytical. He described Todoroki's Quirk not as a simple power, but as an act of absolute environmental dominion, a force of nature tamed by a quiet boy. He spoke of Midoriya's battle with a different kind of awe, describing the raw, self-destructive power as a tool used with desperate, sacrificial intelligence.
"He destroyed his own body to create an opening for his partner," Lee explained, his dark eyes focused on a distant point. "He understood that he could not win his personal battle, so he ensured the team would win the war. I confess, Sensei, I do not fully understand that mindset. To so willingly accept such damage…"
Sora was silent for a long moment, her sharp blue eyes studying him. "What you saw, Lee, were two sides of the same coin: talent. One is the talent of control, a gift honed to perfection. The other is the talent of will, the gift of being able to push past the body's limits for a singular purpose. Both are formidable." She leaned forward slightly, her gaze intensifying. "But both have weaknesses. The one who controls everything can become complacent. The one who sacrifices everything will eventually have nothing left to give."
She smiled, a thin, challenging expression. "Your victory was different. It was a victory of pure logic. You identified an immovable object and, instead of trying to break it, you simply moved it out of your way. You then used your opponent's perception of you as a weapon to bypass the final guard. Do not be dazzled by their fireworks, Lee. Your path requires more thought, more precision. That is a strength, not a weakness."
Lee felt a warmth spread through his chest at her words. "Thank you, Sensei."
"However," she continued, her tone shifting, "you still resorted to the Gates to achieve your victory. That tells me your base form is still lacking. Your body must become a weapon that does not require unlocking its own cage to be effective." She stood up, her movements fluid and purposeful. "Your evasion is perfect. Your offense is strong. But you are predictable. You react to what you can see. True danger does not always announce itself."
She walked to a large wooden chest in the corner of the dojo and opened it. Lee watched, curious. She reached inside and pulled out a heavy-looking metal baseball bat. Then, she retrieved a bucket filled with what looked like baseballs, though they were a dull, grey color and made no sound as they jostled against each other. They were solid iron.
"What is this for, Sensei?" Lee asked, a flicker of confusion on his face.
"A new lesson," she said, her voice devoid of its usual warmth. "Stand against the back wall."
Lee obeyed, pressing his back against the cool wood. He felt a nervous energy prickle his skin. Sora took a position about fifteen meters away, tossing one of the heavy iron balls in her hand. "The rules are simple. I will strike the ball towards you with this bat. You cannot leave your position against the wall. You may not dodge by moving more than a foot in either direction. You must learn to read the trajectory and the intent behind the attack before it is even launched."
"Sensei, I do not understand the purpose of this…"
Before he could finish, Sora's body coiled and unwound in a motion of terrifying speed and power. The metal bat connected with the iron ball with a sound like a gunshot. CRACK!
The ball was a grey blur screaming through the air, aimed directly at his head. Instinct, honed by years of relentless training, took over. Lee's head snapped to the side, the motion so fast it was almost imperceptible. The iron ball whistled past his ear, missing him by a centimeter.
It did not miss the wall.
The sound was explosive. BOOM! The thick wooden planks of the dojo wall shattered inwards, exploding in a shower of splintered wood. A perfectly round, fist-sized hole appeared, and sunlight from the street outside streamed into the dim dojo. A moment later, they heard the heavy CLANG of the iron ball bouncing on the asphalt outside, followed by the surprised shouts of a few pedestrians.
Lee stared, his mouth slightly agape, at the hole in the wall. He could see people on the street stopping and pointing, their faces a mixture of confusion and alarm.
"I believe," Sora said, her voice dangerously calm as she ignored the damage, "that I instructed you not to dodge."
Lee turned back to her, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Sensei! With all due respect, that would have killed me!"
"Precisely," she said, grabbing another ball. "Your body is not yet hard enough to block it. Therefore, your senses must become sharp enough to anticipate it, to move just enough to deflect it with a palm or shift your vital points out of its path. You must learn the difference between a panicked dodge and a controlled, minimal evasion. We will continue until you do. Or until I run out of wall." She smirked. "Again."
The next morning at U.A. High, Lee felt a phantom ache in his shoulder from where he had eventually, clumsily, managed to deflect one of the iron balls. The experience had left him with a new level of appreciation for the concept of "real danger."
The atmosphere in Class 1-A was still buzzing from the battle trials. As he walked to his seat, Kirishima gave him a wide, toothy grin and a thumbs-up. "That was a seriously manly fight, Lee! Let's do it again sometime, but without the falling through floors!"
"Hey, Lee-kun!" Mina waved, bouncing over to his desk. "You were so cool! You gotta teach me some of those moves!"
Lee, still unaccustomed to such open camaraderie, could only offer a polite, slightly stiff bow. "Thank you. You all fought with great passion as well." He saw Bakugo glare at him from across the room, a low growl rumbling in his chest, before turning away with a "Tch."
The classroom door slid open and Shota Aizawa entered, looking as tired as ever. "Morning," he droned. "Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the reports. Some of you showed promise. Others, not so much." His gaze lingered on a few students. "Today, we have something different. You'll be taking a trip."
A wave of excited murmurs went through the class.
"Is it another surprise test?" Kaminari asked nervously.
"We're going to an off-campus facility for a special lesson," Aizawa explained, a rare hint of something other than boredom in his voice. "Rescue training."
The word changed the mood of the room. Rescue. This was the core of heroism.
"You'll be dealing with mock scenarios involving shipwrecks, landslides, fires, and other disasters. You can wear your hero costumes or your gym uniforms, it's up to you. Get ready. The bus leaves in twenty minutes."
The bus ride was noisy and filled with youthful energy. Lee sat near a window, watching the city pass by, listening to the cheerful chatter of his classmates.
"You know, Midoriya," Tsuyu Asui said in her characteristically blunt way, "your Quirk is a lot like All Might's."
Midoriya, sitting nearby, flinched and turned beet red, stammering a denial. Kaminari was teasing Bakugo, earning him a string of explosive threats that only made him laugh harder. Lee observed it all with a quiet intensity. These were the people who would be the future of heroism. They were powerful, flawed, and so incredibly vibrant.
He found himself thinking of Sora's training. Rescue wasn't about defeating an opponent. It was about controlling a chaotic environment, protecting the weak, and enduring against overwhelming odds. Perhaps the baseball training had a purpose beyond what he'd first assumed.
The bus arrived at its destination: a colossal dome-like structure that shimmered under the sun. They were greeted at the entrance by a figure in a puffy, white space-suit-like costume.
"Hello, everyone! I've been waiting for you!" the hero said, their voice cheerful. "Welcome to my pride and joy, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!"
It was the Space Hero, Thirteen.
The students gasped in awe as they stepped inside. The interior was vast, a breathtaking landscape of different disaster zones all under one roof. There was a shipwreck zone, a landslide zone, a fire zone, and more.
"As a hero," Thirteen began, her voice echoing in the massive space, "many of you possess Quirks that can be incredibly dangerous. With a single mistake, you could easily kill someone. This facility was built to teach you how to use your powers to save lives, to help people, not to fight villains."
Her speech was inspiring, a powerful reminder of their ultimate purpose. But as she was finishing, something went wrong. The lights inside the dome flickered and died. The large fountain in the central plaza sputtered and went still.
And then, in the center of the plaza, the air began to twist. A small, dark point expanded, swirling into a vortex of purple and black mist. It grew larger and larger, a malignant portal opening between worlds.
A hand, pale and covered in scars, emerged first. Then a face, obscured by a dismembered hand worn as a macabre mask. One by one, figures began to step out of the portal. Not one or two. Dozens. They were villains, their faces twisted into expressions of malice and cruel intent.
Thirteen's voice was a sharp, urgent whisper. "Stay together! Those... those are real villains!"
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