By now I am not even surprised 🔥🔥 1500 POWERSTONES🔥 And ranked 2!! LETS GOOOO!
Ahem, here is your bonus chapter.
Enjoy it, you people earned it.
NEXT MILESTONE:- 2000, Let's see if we can reach that far.
Happy reading,
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"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
A shockwave shot through the air. It distorted the air, creating a visible ripple of compressed atmosphere that tore through the auditorium like a cannonball. The fabric on the seats rippled, glass in the high windows shattered instantly, and the students in the front rows clapped their hands over their ears, screaming in pain as their eardrums threatened to burst.
Tenya Iida stood petrified.
Time seemed to slow down for him. He saw the shockwave coming. He saw the floor tiles cracking as the sound pressure ripped them from the concrete.
He tried to move. He tried to activate his quirk to dodge. But fear had locked his joints. He was like an unlucky deer staring down a freight train.
I'm going to die, Iida thought, his mind going blank.
On the stage, Present Mic's eyes widened behind his shades. He reacted instinctively, inhaling to unleash a counter-shout to cancel out the frequency.
But he stopped.
If I shout now, Mic realized in horror, the collision of our quirks will create a vacuum. The shockwave will expand sideways. It will hit the students in rows B and C.
"SHIT!" the Pro Hero yelled in his mind, his hands twitching helplessly. He was checkmated by collateral damage.
The shockwave was feet away from Iida's face. The boy squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.
WOOSH.
Flame rose.
A wall of blue fire erupted from the floor.
It flowed upward like a geyser, solidifying instantly into a translucent barrier between the sonic blast and the terrified student.
BOOM.
The sound wave slammed into the blue flame wall. The impact shook the entire hall. Dust rained down from the rafters. The barrier shuddered, ripples spreading across its surface like a stone thrown into a pond, but it held. It absorbed the kinetic energy, dispersing it harmlessly into heat and light.
Silence returned to the hall, ringing in everyone's ears.
Iida slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't dead.
He was staring at a wall of blue fire with golden edges.
The flames dispersed, dissolving into motes of light.
Standing there, with his arm extended, was Akira. His kimono sleeve fluttered in the settling dust.
Iida's knees shook. "You... you saved..."
He wanted to say thank you. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to ask what the hell just happened.
But the words died in his throat.
Akira didn't look at him with kindness. He looked at him with eyes that burned with raging flames.
Akira snapped his fingers.
The dissipating blue motes didn't vanish. They linked.
In the blink of an eye, ten sharp, jagged blades made of solidified flame materialized in the air. They encircled Iida, their points hovering inches from his throat, his chest, his eyes.
And then, they changed.
The calming blue edges of the blades flickered and turned blood-red. The temperature in the immediate vicinity spiked. Iida could feel the heat radiating off them, singeing the hairs on his arms.
He began to sweat. Not just from the heat, but from the realization that if he moved a single millimeter, he would be skewered.
"Do not speak," Akira said softly. His voice carried through the silent hall, clearer than Present Mic's amplified shouting.
Akira turned his back on Iida. He reached up and gently took the trembling, sobbing cat from his head.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Daddy!" Nia cried, burying her face in his chest. "I didn't mean to do it! I just got scared! Please don't leave me! I won't do it again! I promise!"
Akira held her close, stroking her fur. "Shhh. It's okay."
He began to walk toward the exit. The sea of students parted for him, terrified. Nobody made a sound.
Before he reached the doors, Akira stopped. He turned his head slightly, looking back at the frozen Iida surrounded by the floating blades.
"The only reason you are still standing there unharmed," Akira said, his voice cold and flat, "is because I know you did not intend to hurt her with your words. Ignorance is a defense, but only once."
He flicked his hand.
The ten flame blades dispersed into smoke instantly.
"Next time you talk about leashes," Akira warned, "make sure you aren't the one wearing a collar."
He walked out of the double doors, the heavy wood slamming shut behind him, leaving thousands of aspiring heroes in silence.
Akira walked until he found a quiet bench under a cherry blossom tree, far away from the main building. He sat down, the adrenaline fading from his system, replaced by a weary sadness.
He pulled Nia away from his chest. She was shaking, her small paws clutching his kimono lapel.
"Daddy..." she hiccuped, her big yellow eyes filled with tears. "Please don't be mad. Please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone again. The cage was cold... I don't want the cage..."
Akira's heart broke.
He knew her history. Before he rescued her, before Nia was "Nia," she was a test subject in a quirk research lab. A failed experiment in animal intelligence enhancement. She had spent the first two years of her life in a wire cage, leashed and monitored, waiting to be disposed of.
The word "leash" wasn't just an insult to her. It was a trigger for a lifetime of trauma.
"Oh, Nia," Akira sighed, pulling her back into a hug. He kissed the top of her head. "Shhh. It's alright, honey. Papa isn't mad. Papa will never leave you."
"Promise?" she sniffled against his neck.
"I promise," Akira vowed. "I'm the Symbol of Fear, remember? I scare the bad things away. I don't leave my family behind."
"Promise?" she asked again, needing to hear it.
"Yes, Nia. I will always be with you. Okay?"
She nodded, rubbing her wet nose against his jaw. "Hmm. Okay."
Just then, the heavy doors of the orientation hall burst open.
A school uniform came rushing out. Or rather, a floating school uniform came rushing out.
She looked left and right, frantic, until she spotted the boy in the kimono under the tree.
"Akira!"
She sprinted over, skidding to a halt in front of the bench. She was out of breath.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice laced with genuine concern. She looked at the sad cat in his arms. "Hey, Nia... are you okay too?"
Nia sniffed, burying her face deeper into Akira's sleeve. "Yeah... Daddy said he will always be with me."
Toru smiled. It was invisible, but Akira could feel it in the air. The tension melted away.
"That's good," Toru said softly.
She hesitated. She reached out a hand, hovering it near Nia's back.
"Can I... touch you?" she asked tentatively. "Is that okay?"
Nia peeked out from the sleeve with one eye. She looked at the floating glove. She sniffed the air.
Usually, Nia hated strangers. She scratched veterinarians. She hissed at the mailmen. She tolerated Nezu only because he gave her premium salmon.
But she looked at Toru. The girl smelled like peaches and kindness.
Nia nodded slowly.
Akira raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Wow."
"Is something wrong?" Toru asked, pausing.
"Nia has only allowed three people to touch her in her entire life," Akira explained. "Me, my mother, and my grandmother. Even Nezu gets the cold shoulder. She really likes you."
"Really?!" Toru squealed, delighted.
She gently petted Nia's back. Her touch was light and respectful. Nia arched her back into the hand, a low purr starting in her throat.
"You're a good kitty," Toru cooed. "You just have big feelings. That's okay. I scream sometimes, too, when I'm scared. Plus, you are super-strong kitty!!!"
Nia's purr got louder. She closed her eyes, enjoying the attention.
Toru stopped petting and rummaged in her pocket. "Hey, Akira... can cats eat candies?"
Akira shrugged. "Normal cats? No. This one? Probably. What do you have?"
"Strawberry hard candy!" Toru announced, holding up a wrapped sweet. She unwrapped it and held it out on her flat palm.
"Hey, Nia," she whispered. "Try this. It's sweet. Sweets make everything better."
Nia leaned forward. She sniffed the pink candy. Then, she opened her mouth and crunched it.
Her eyes went wide. The pupils dilated again, but this time in pure joy.
"Waaaaaa!" Nia cried out, bits of candy crunching in her teeth. "This is so good! It tastes like pink!"
Akira laughed. "You never told me you liked sweet things."
"I never knew!" Nia exclaimed, licking her lips. "I thought only meat was good! Daddy, we need to buy these! All of them!"
Toru laughed, a bright sound that chased away the lingering shadows of the auditorium. "I'll bring you a whole bag next time!"
Just then, the doors of the hall opened fully. A flood of students began to pour out, chattering nervously, heading toward the buses.
Toru checked her watch. "Oh no! I gotta go! Battle Center: A bus is leaving!"
She waved frantically. "Bye, Nia! Bye, Akira! Good luck!"
She ran off toward the buses, her uniform bobbing with her steps.
"Bye, Toru!" Nia yelled after her. "I know you will do great! You're invisible! The robots won't even see you coming!"
"Thanks, Nia!" Toru yelled back. "Good luck, Akira!"
Akira waved back lazily with his pipe hand. "Same to you."
He watched her go.
"She is fun to be around," Nia decided, settling onto Akira's shoulder. "She smells nice. And she gives goodies."
"I'm happy to hear that," Akira smiled. "Maybe school won't be so bad after all."
He stood up, adjusting his kimono. He kept Nia in his arms rather than putting her back on his head, tending to her softly as he walked toward the buses.
The mood shifted as he approached the transport area.
The students parted for him like the Red Sea. They whispered. They pointed. They looked at the cat with wariness and at Akira with fear.
That's the guy. The one who almost killed the glasses kid.
Akira ignored them. He walked to the bus marked CENTER G.
He boarded. The bus was half-full, but the moment he stepped on, conversation died.
He walked to the back. He sat down on the wide bench seat.
Nobody sat near him. The seats in front of him remained empty. The seats across the aisle remained empty. He had a five-foot radius of absolute isolation.
He didn't mind. In fact, he leaned back, crossed his legs, and took a puff from his unlit pipe (just for the habit).
Finally, he thought Inner peace, like a certain old tortoise master.
The bus engine roared to life. They drove through the massive U.A. campus, heading toward the training grounds.
***
Ten minutes later, they arrived at a massive gate labeled G.
Standing there, looking like a block of concrete given life, was the pro hero Cementoss.
"Welcome, everyone," the hero rumbled, his voice deep and calm. "To Battle Center G."
Akira stood up. He placed Nia on his shoulder.
"Hold tight, okay?" he whispered.
Nia grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "Understood, Daddy!!"
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So! What do you think? About Nia's past, which I know is pretty genric. And about her quirk?
Let me know.
Plus if you want, you can read up to +10 chapters (It's 9 right now, the final advanced chapter will be up soon) and support me you can alway join my P@treaon. (Just search up Joe_Mama p@treon on google.)