My first week at UA was a success.
After the Quirk assessment tests, everything was pretty calm.
Although that will change later with the combat training All Might will be giving, but that's a concern for later.
Right now, it's Saturday morning.
The sun has just risen, and I'm sitting on Dagobah Beach, contemplating it.
Why? Easy, because today I'm meeting Gran Torino.
And if everything goes the way I want it to, then the attack on the U.S.J. won't be as problematic as it was in the canon.
Now, if only I could get...
"Toshinori?" —What the hell? Who could mistake me for a skeletal blond with clear signs of...?
Oh, never mind, it's Gran Torino. He just arrived and is pretending to have dementia.
"I'm sorry, sir, but that particular skeleton isn't here right now."
"...Heh, you're more confident than I expected. How did you recognize me, kid?" —Well, at least he stopped pretending to be senile.
"It wasn't hard to find pictures of retired heroes like yourself, sir. I know we've already introduced ourselves over the phone, but I'll do it again. I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's a pleasure to meet you." —First impressions should always be good. That's something I learned from getting part-time jobs; if the people you work for like you from the start, then the work experience will be much more bearable.
"I thought that idiot Toshinori would have rubbed his stupidity off on you, but it seems I was wrong. I'm Sorahiko, but you'll call me Gran Torino." —This is why this man is my idol. He says things as they are, period.
"Of course, Gran Torino."
"Alright, now show me your mastery over One For All. You told me that despite only having it for a few weeks, you're already able to use it decently." —Straight to the point. That's exactly what I need right now: proactive people willing to help me improve quickly and efficiently.
"Very well. Please correct me if you see any flaws. (One For All Full Cowling 7%)" —Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it, but I now have a solid mastery of 7%. Still, I'm stuck there. 8% seems to be a pretty tough barrier to break.
I stand under Gran Torino's gaze for a full minute. Some sparks occasionally escape my body, but they're minimal.
My control of this percentage is really good, and since I'm standing completely still, I barely need to concentrate.
"...Your stance is good, but it has some very obvious openings. For the rest, I can see you're doing fine." —Of course, I'd have openings. This fighting stance is something basic I learned in my old life from watching simple boxing tutorials online.
I never played a sport like that.
What little I know, I learned from watching videos and movies, plus the occasional comment from some friends who practiced boxing.
This is something I'll have to fix. If my stance isn't solid, it doesn't matter how much power I can handle; it will only take one well-placed attack, and I'll be out of the fight, or worse, I'll be dead.
"How much power are you handling currently?"
"7%, sir. And if I want to, I can use 8%, but that tires me out more easily." —It pains me to admit it, but that's the reality. My hopes of reaching 10% power before starting UA were hopes in vain.
"That's a good number for someone whose teacher is Toshinori. Alright, now tell me, what are your attacks like?" —Ah yes, here comes the first big mistake of canon Izuku, aside from being an idiot when it comes to understanding One For All, of course.
"They suck, sir. I'm limited by All Might's moves, but I don't have the physique to perform them correctly. Although I have some ideas to fix that." —That's right. Canon Izuku limited himself so much because of All Might, and it wasn't until the fourth season that he really showed a change in that.
"You have ideas, you say? What kind of ideas, then?" —Heh, I was waiting for that question.
"All Might uses his arms for practically everything except walking, running, and jumping, correct?" —At Gran Torino's strange look, I continued. "Well, I'm not him. So why not use my legs? At least until I can use One For All without breaking any bones."
"It's a start. I can see you've clearly been thinking about all this. At least you haven't been wasting time trying to imitate All Might's moves as if you were him or some other stupid thing like that." —If only he knew that's exactly what should have happened if it weren't for me.
"Alright, since we're here, let's not waste time. I'm going to correct your fighting stance and teach you to work on your reflexes, brat. We'll do that today and tomorrow. Starting Monday, I'll try to make that idiot Toshinori useful and get me some abandoned gym so we can train more comfortably." —Where have you been all this time, Gran Torino? This is what I've been asking All Might to do since I got to this world!
"Understood, Gran Torino. Now, should I get into a basic defensive or offensive stance?"
And so we spent the start of the day training.
We took a break for lunch and then repeated the routine.
By the end of the day, I was tasked with practicing the basic offensive and defensive stances he taught me for at least an hour before bed.
That way, I build muscle memory so I can do them later without having to think too much.
If I had arrived in this world a year earlier, maybe when Izuku was still cleaning the beach, then I would have found a way to learn a martial art or something similar.
But I can't now; my time is very limited. The further we get into this year, the worse things will get.
I have to work with what little I have and exploit it to the fullest.
Sunday was a repeat of the same routine, only with the addition of throwing kicks into the air. Every time I made a mistake, Gran Torino would hit me on the head with a cane.
Like when Naruto was training to absorb natural energy, and old man Pa would hit him on the head.
To work on my reflexes, he made me wear a blindfold over my eyes.
That way, he would attack me from time to time, and I had to be able to dodge him.
Surprisingly, you can see progress in just one day.
Mostly in the perception of my surroundings.
Although this is also because ever since I got One For All, I haven't stopped enhancing my senses and brain with that power.
The number of books on Japanese literature, basic sciences, and more that I've read and memorized is huge, and eventually, my body, and especially my senses, have been able to keep up with this pace of learning and detection.
Right now, I'm sitting with Gran Torino on the stairs leading to Dagobah Beach.
Our training day is over, and the sun is setting.
"You've done really well, brat. You've pleasantly surprised me." —It's nice to be praised by people who actually know how to teach. It's very gratifying.
"Thank you, but without you, I wouldn't have achieved half of all this."
"You say that now, but I'm sure that by the end of the month, you'll be several steps above all this. Starting this week, we're going to try to break that 8% barrier you keep mentioning, without neglecting what we're already doing, of course."
"As you say, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should head home. I don't want to worry Mom." —I wanted to keep my bond with Inko as strong as possible. She originally suffered a lot because of how tough the problems were for her son.
I have the knowledge; I can try to fix that.
"Fine, I was about to leave anyway. Goodbye, brat."
"Goodbye, Gran Torino."
I've made excellent progress in just two days, but if my meta-knowledge doesn't fail me, the combat training happens this new week.
And unlike in the canon, I'm not going to drag out that battle with Bakugo.
Of course, if the teams change or something, I won't complain either.
But that's not what's important. What's truly important is the attack on the U.S.J.
That event will be dangerous, although now that I have Gran Torino with me, I think I'll be able to avoid much of it.
I just have to find a way to convince All Might to be there on time, and that's it.
I'll have successfully avoided that arc.
And once that happens, maybe I can prevent All For One from finding out about me.
After all, in the canon, he discovered that Izuku was the heir to One For All from the descriptions Tomura gave him.
Although once the Sports Festival happens, I won't be able to hide the secret anymore.
Once that event occurs, I'll be closer to All For One.
...
Author's Note:
Hey.
So the protagonist finally meets Gran Torino and starts learning the Shoot Style.
Good progress, I think.
Gran Torino is a thousand times a better teacher than All Might will ever be, and the protagonist has pointed that out hundreds of times.
He also mentions the U.S.J., and yes, Gran Torino is a fundamental part of avoiding the whole beatdown Aizawa receives from the Nomu.
And he concludes by saying he doesn't want to worry Inko more than necessary.
That's something that happened in the canon, but I can't blame Izuku; they were attacked all the time, it's impossible for him not to get hurt.
So the protagonist, knowing that, tries to reduce that worry even before it happens.
See you.