By the end of the hour, both boys collapsed into the sand of Dagobah Beach, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. The sun dipped low, staining the sky orange as waves lapped gently nearby. Even exhausted, they exchanged small, satisfied smiles — the kind that came from earning new strength.
All Might approached, hands on his hips but expression softer than usual. "Izuku. A moment."
Izuku stiffened, but Kirishima waved him on with an encouraging grin. Izuku followed All Might down the shoreline, the wind carrying the smell of salt and the cries of distant gulls. All Might stared at the ocean for a beat before asking, "How do you feel training beside Kirishima? Knowing he'll inherit my power?"
Izuku froze at the blunt question. After a moment, he answered quietly, "I'm happy for him. He deserves it. Sometimes I just… wonder where that leaves me." All Might's gaze softened. "My choosing him does not diminish you. You will become a hero your own way." The words settled in Izuku's chest like a warm ember. When they returned, Kirishima tried to pretend he hadn't been listening, but the guilty smile gave him away, and both boys laughed.
They walked home together under the streetlights, limping slightly. Kirishima nudged him with a grin. "Dude, those metal balls? I thought I was gonna lose a tooth." Izuku panicked before Kirishima laughed it off. "Relax! You're getting strong, man." Izuku smiled shyly. "I'm glad we're training together." Kirishima nodded. "Same. It's manly."
At home, Inko's eyes widened at the bruises and dirt, but her worry softened when Izuku told her he had been training with a friend who also dreamed of UA. "A friend…" she murmured warmly. "I'm happy for you. Just take care of yourself." He promised he would. Later, lying in bed sore but proud, Izuku whispered to himself, "I really am getting stronger."
His mornings soon grew earlier. Before dawn, he practiced lifting heavier metal, testing his control, pushing his stamina. One day he found thin sheets of scrap buried under a broken refrigerator. Curiosity turned into creation as he shaped the metal around his chest, layering and compressing it into a flexible armor piece. Early attempts went horribly wrong one version shot off and cracked into a washing machine, another accidentally wrapped Kirishima like a cocoon but through trial and error he refined it into a smooth, spiraling restraint he named Iron Bind.
Izuku continued inventing new uses for his magnetism. He sharpened his awareness until he could sense metal like faint pulses in the environment. He built the Scrap Serpent a writhing chain that Kirishima had to fight like a wild animal. He practiced pipe-whip strikes, slide-dashing across metal sheets, forming a protective Iron Dome, and firing metal pellets with increasing accuracy. Every day ended with a spar that left both boys gasping and covered in sand.
Meanwhile, Kirishima trained with just as much intensity. He arrived early some mornings, already sweating from sprints and push-ups. He pushed his hardening to last longer, sometimes holding it until his muscles shook. He slammed into old refrigerators with Boulder Charge, punched through metal panels with Hardened Rush, and drilled his reactions until sparks flew off his hardened knuckles. Once, Izuku watched him plow through a car door as if it were paper.
Kirishima staggered afterward, panting, but grinning. "Just wait until I can do that without my whole body buzzing." All Might watched closely from a distance, quietly tracking Kirishima's progress. "He's almost ready," he murmured once.
And so the weeks passed, both boys growing stronger — one through creativity and precision, the other through grit and relentless determination. Different paths, different strengths, rising side by side.
By the time the seventh month approached, the truth was unavoidable Kirishima was almost ready for One For All.
And everything in their world was about to change.