Chapter 2: 4 Years Old
GROAN
'All that is good and holy, that was the best sleep I've ever gotten.' thought Yuuichi as he woke up.
"Ah!" he shouted as the memories from the past 4 years of his life merged with his old ones, subtly changing his personality while keeping who he was as intact as possible.
At the moment, Yuuichi was experiencing the past 4 years of his life that he had missed out on. It was an experience that was unlike anything he had experienced before. He saw how the doctors checked up on him before giving him a clean bill of health, how his adoptive parents signed all the necessary paperwork to legally adopt him, and how his adoptive parents showered him with love and affection.
Learning to walk and talk, his first words being mama and his mother being so overjoyed, the falls and scrapes he had taken all while laughing and a smile never leaving his face. The extravagant birthday parties his parents threw celebrating his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year on this earth, and all the stuffed animals he could ask for.
All the mundane days where he did nothing but lay his head on his mother's lap as she read to him and the days where he just stayed in the same room as his father while he conducted business. Yuuichi experienced it all, and at the end of it, he was crying because he knew he was truly loved.
"Happy birthday, Yuuichi!" said his mother as she walked into his room only to see him crying before rushing over to his side and hugging him.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked looking him over.
"No. I had a bad dream." said Yuuichi as he hugged her back.
"Oh, sweety. It's okay. It's just a nightmare." she said as she rocked him back and forth while rubbing his back.
"I love you, mom." he said.
"I love you too. Now, come on, go get cleaned up. It's time to eat breakfast and celebrate your birthday." she said.
"Are you throwing me a party?" he asked.
"Not this time. Do you know why?"
"Because it's my 4th birthday and my quirk might manifest." he said.
"That's right. When it's someone's 4th birthday, we don't celebrate their birthday, we celebrate the day their quirk is manifested."
"What if someone's quirk doesn't manifest?"
"Then nothing happens. They go check to see if they can get a quirk and if they can, they just wait until it manifests."
"What will my quirk be? Will it be like yours or dad's?" said Yuuichi, trying to see if they would tell him he was adopted.
"Oh. W-wait here, sweety." she said before exiting the room and returning shortly after with her husband in tow.
"Happy birthday, kiddo!" said his dad as he picked him up and hugged him.
"Thanks, dad."
"Now, your mom said you were curious about what your quirk might be?" he said as he set Yuuichi down on the bed.
"Yup."
"So, you figured it out?" said his dad as he looked right into his eyes.
"Figured what out?" asked his mom.
"That I'm adopted." said Yuuichi.
"What?! How?!" said his mom, panicking.
"I don't look like either of you. I have green and black hair, and you both have black hair. I have canines and long earlobes, you don't." said Yuuichi, showing off more of his older personality.
"Sigh, you're a smart kid. We were hoping this would take a while longer. Yes, you're adopted." said his dad as he sat next to him on the bed while his mother did the same.
"We were planning on telling you when you were older and you could understand it more. Seems like you beat us to it. But just because we're not your biological parents, doesn't mean that we don't love you. You are our son, we raised you and we love you, no matter what." said his mom, while both his parents hugged him.
"Thanks. I love you both, too."
"We know. But, don't you want to know about your real mom? Not that we know anything." said his mom, a little nervous.
"Just tell me how you found me."
"Well, it was almost four years ago exactly, and your father and I were eating dinner when we heard a knock on the door. I went to open it and saw nothing, but as I looked down I saw you, wrapped up in a blanket with a note. It said your mother couldn't take care of you so she wanted to give you the opportunity to grow up somewhere with parents that could take care of you. The only other thing that it said was your name, Yuuichi. She chose it and we respected her wishes to name you that." said his mom.
"We tried looking for her after that, but we couldn't find anything." chimed in his dad.
"Okay, thank you." said Yuuichi.
"Anytime. Now, come on, breakfast is ready." said his dad as the trio stood up but as Yuuichi stood up he stumbled and fell, clutching his chest while groaning in pain.
"Yuuichi!" said his mom as she yelled and was holding him.
"It might be his quirk! Let's take him to the hospital!" said his dad as he scooped up Yuuichi, who shortly after passed out.
Opening his eyes, Yuuichi could see a white ceiling before it was covered by the face of his mother.
"Yuuichi, how are you feeling?" she said as she stroked his hair.
"What happened?" said Yuuichi as he sat up from the hospital bed.
"You manifested your quirk." said the doctor, who was a beautiful dark-skinned lady with brown rabbit ears.
"Really?!" said Yuuichi, excited to finally make his Buddhist-inspired constructs, not that he would limit himself to that.
"Okay, calm down. Let Megumi explain." said his mom, smiling at seeing her son's excitement.
"It's okay, he's one of the more tamer kids I've seen. Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Megumi Usagiyama, a friend of your mother's. Just call me auntie." said the doctor while smiling.
"Nice to meet you, auntie." said Yuuichi.
"Ah, so cute. But, yes, you have manifested your quirk. It's rare for kids to fall unconscious because of their quirk manifesting, but it does happen on occasion."
"Oh, thank god." said his mom, breathing a sigh of relief.
"So, what's his quirk?" asked his dad.
"Usually this is a lot easier because we compare the parent's Quirk Factor with the child's but considering the circumstance, we couldn't do so. But, after running some tests, we've managed to get a pretty accurate guess. It seems Yuuichi-kun has the ability to use solar energy to create constructs. He also has a container of sorts in his body to store extra energy for his use." she explained.
"Sweet." said Yuuichi.
"Very. On paper, it seems to be very powerful but the actual application remains to be seen. Still, I'd say you lucked out kid." she said, closing the file and rubbing his head.
"Can I try it out right now?" said Yuuichi, looking at his parents, who then looked at his aunt, who nodded.
"Yes, but be very careful and don't try to overdo it. Make something small like a finger." said his mother.
"Okay." he said as he closed his eyes.
Now with his eyes closed, he could feel the ambient solar energy around him, and he knew that he could create constructs using it. So, he created the image of the finger he wanted to construct, and the solar energy around him started moving to bring his thoughts to life.
As he moved the energy, the office started to rise in temperature before stopping when it felt like an unbearable summer day.
"Should we stop him?" asked his dad.
"Seems like the temperature stopped rising, so it should be okay. But maybe have a fire extinguisher ready." said his aunt, as his mother pulled a fire extinguisher out of her body.
Back to Yuuichi, the solar energy had just finished rearranging itself in the form of a finger before it appeared right in front of Yuuichi, and the temperature started rising again.
Opening his eyes to see his construct, the only thing he managed to catch a glimpse of before it disappeared was a tiny finger that was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on.
"Awesome!" he shouted, mesmerized by the fleeting sight.
"We'll have to be more careful from now on." said his dad, causing Yuuichi to turn to look at his parents who were drenched in sweat.
"What happened?" he asked.
"It's your quirk. Because you use solar energy, the temperature of your constructs is quite high. Not at the level of the actual sun, but still." said his aunt as she was fanning herself with the file.
"Hahaha!" said Yuuichi as he was unable to suppress his joy any longer.
"I'm glad you're happy. But seeing as you're the first to have this quirk, you get naming rights."
"No one's had a quirk like this before?" asked his mom.
"Constructs yes, but solar energy constructs, no."
"Awesome. Let's just call it Solar Constructs." said Yuuichi even though he knew he could use two other types of energy. If anything he could get it fixed later on. Hopefully.
"Sounds good." she said before writing it down.
"Megumi, can I talk to you in private? Why don't you go wait outside dear? We'll take Yuuichi to buy some ice cream as a celebration in a bit." said his mom.
"Sweet!" said Yuuichi as he followed his dad.
"Consider it done." said his aunt after the door shut.
"What? I haven't asked you anything yet." said his mom.
"You were about to ask me to wipe his quirk from the hospital records so only the Quirk Registry has the info." she said.
"How'd you know?"
"Please, how long have we been friends? I know you'd do anything to keep him safe from harm."
"Thank you." she said before hugging her friend.
"Don't worry about it. But you know it'll still be in the Quirk Registry, so it won't be super secret."
"I know, but if anything were to happen, it'll be after he's already had time to practice with his quirk. Anyway, you should come over later with Rumi. We're celebrating his Quirk Manifesting and his birthday." said his mom.
"Sounds good. That little troublemaker of mine needs some friends anyways."
"Good, I'll see you around 7 then. And thank you again." she said before going to catch up with her husband.
"I'm Rumi." said the dark-skinned little girl with white rabbit ears who was currently sitting on Yuuichi.
"Haha, Yuuichi, nice to meet you." he said, not at all bothered by being sat on.
As for the reason for him being sat on, well that goes back to the moment they met.
After leaving the hospital, the family of three went to get some ice cream before going back home to get ready for the party. While his parents set everything up with the help of the maids, Yuuichi went to the training hall to try out his quirk.
His parents had created the training hall in preparation for his eventual Quirk Manifestation. And this was the first time it would be used for its intended purpose, as Yuuichi would use it to laze around without being bothered by anyone.
Entering the training hall, Yuuichi changed into some athletic wear before sitting down in the middle of the hall.
'Okay, I was very slow with creating the finger construct earlier, which is to be expected. But it went away as soon as I stopped focusing on the image of the finger, so I have to always keep the construct in my mind when using it. A little annoying but a small price to pay for having my dreams come true. Let me try again but this time without closing my eyes.' he thought.
Like the first time, he thought about the construct he wanted to make, a finger, and kept it in mind. Similarly, he could feel that the ambient solar energy was moving to create the finger, slightly faster than before. A few moments later, the temperature started rising, and the finger appeared in front of him, as beautiful as before.
'Okay, don't lose focus. Let me try to move it around.'
Keeping the image of the finger in mind, he willed the finger to start moving around and it did. It slowly went forward before he made it turn around and come back to him. Then he made it turn in place while moving it up and down. After a few seconds, his focus lapsed and the finger disappeared.
"Sweet." he said with a smile.
Knock Knock
"Young master, Madame is calling for you." said a maid.
"Thank you, Ayako. I'll be right there." he said before getting up and following Ayako to where his mother was.
"Thank you, Ayako." said his mom as Ayako bowed before leaving to resume her duties.
"What's up, mom?" said Yuuichi.
"Did you have fun using your quirk?"
"Yes! I kept the finger around for longer and made it move." he said.
"Wow, good job! I'm so proud of you!" said his mom ruffling his hair, "But you need to be careful. From now on, don't use your quirk without Ayako being there. Her quirk is water based so she can help if anything goes wrong, understood?"
"Yup."
"Good, now go clean up. Company is going to be here soon." she said before Yuuichi went upstairs to his room and took a shower before changing into something more formal.
'Ugh, formal wear. Why must you haunt me so?! Actually, it is my party so I should be able to wear whatever I want. Sound logic.' he thought before rummaging through his closet before finding the clothes he would wear. A blue tank top with white trim that said Usachan with a drawing of a rabbit, dark purple loose-fitting joggers, and blue running shoes.
'Not bad.' he thought as he stood in front of the mirror with a lollipop in his mouth.
For some reason, he had developed a crazy sweet tooth when he was 3 and had to constantly have a lollipop. His parents had been worried so they took him to a doctor and a dentist, but they both assured them he was having zero-adverse effects and they should consider it a side-effect from his unmanifested quirk.
"You ready?" said his father as he walked into his room.
"Yup." he said with a smile.
"Your mom's going to get mad." said his dad with a smile.
"No, she won't."
"Want to bet?"
"What are we betting?"
"If your mom does get mad, you'll have to learn about the business with me. If she doesn't, I'll buy you one thing you want." he said.
Yuuichi's dad had tried to get him interested in business before, but he had shown zero interest. So, he saw an opportunity to force him to learn.
"Deal." said Yuuichi as he shook hands with his dad before they both went downstairs.
"He's ready!" said his dad as they reached the first floor.
"Oh good, I want to take some pictures first." she said as she turned around to see them.
"What do you think?" said Yuuichi, striking some poses.
"What are you wearing? Why aren't you wearing your suit?"
"It's too stuffy. I didn't like it."
"Now, now honey. Don't be too mad." said his dad.
"I'm not angry. Why would I be angry?"
"You're not? But he's not wearing the suit?" said his dad.
"Oh, who cares. It's his birthday and his Quirk Manifestation, he can wear whatever he wants. Besides, it's not like we care what those stuffy old men think. It also suits him somehow." she said as she licked her hand before adjusting Yuuichi's hair who was smiling at his dad.
DING DONG
"Oh, that must be Megumi. Come, Yuuichi. It's time to meet a new friend." she said quickly going to answer the door.
"What do you want?" said his dad, who had a smile on his face even though he lost.
"Don't know. I'll save it for later." said Yuuichi before following after his mom.
As he reached the entrance he saw his mother talking to his aunt while an almost identical but smaller version of her was next to her looking bored.
"Oh, there he is. Com-" was all his mom said before she was interrupted.
"I heard you awakened your quirk. Want to fight?" said the girl as she ran up to Yuuichi.
"Uh, I can't use it very well yet." he said.
"Then want to fight not using our quirks?" she said with a big smile.
"Okay."
"Yes! Come on!" she said before lunging right at him, quickly taking him down and sitting on top of him.
"Hahaha! I win." she said while laughing.
"Hahaha, nice one! What's your name by the way?" said Yuuichi.
"I'm Rumi."
"Haha, Yuuichi, nice to meet you."
AN
I know quirks can manifest anytime before 4, but in my version 4 years has become the norm for when people do, so most of the world celebrates their child's quirk manifestation rather than their birthday.
Also, I changed it to Cosmic Constructs because I think that's the more accurate term rather than Stellar Constructs. It will still function the same, solar, lunar, and stellar energy will be useable by him.
Also, he will eventually be able to control the temperature of his solar constructs, and his lunar constructs, which will be cold as is the case in Chinese novels, the sun is hot and the moon is cold. As for his stellar constructs, I'm not that sure yet, so if you have any ideas, it'd be much appreciated.
Chapter 3: Quirk Testing
After being pinned by Rumi, the two of them became fast friends. Rumi liked Yuuichi because he was so easygoing and spoke his mind, which she liked because she did the same. If there was one thing that Yuuichi could complain about was how much energy Rumi had. It was like she was a tightly wound-up ball of energy that never stopped moving. Of course, both of their mothers were very happy to see the two of them get along.
After the two ladies, more guests started arriving until the entire place was full of old pretentious fogeys, and little kids that imitated them, much to Yuuchi's dislike. In fact, there was an incident where one of the kids with wealthier parents who had a posse pulled Rumi's ears which caused her to turn around and punch him in the nose, making him bleed. Obviously, that caused quite a stir, but it was quickly taken care of by the adults, who chalked it up to kids being kids.
Unfortunately, that caused Rumi to be ostracized by the other kids. Even going so far as one of the kids telling Yuuichi not to hang out with her, to which Yuuichi replied, "Shaddap." Then that caused him to be ostracized, which Rumi apologized for. Yuucihi told her not to worry about it and that he didn't like those spoiled brats from the moment he saw them.
All in all, it was an eventful birthday.
"Sweet dreams." said Yuuichi's mom as she kissed his head and his father did the same before the two of them left.
'Good, now I'll just wait a few minutes until they're asleep and I'll sneak out to the training hall and try out my quirk. I only tried out the Solar Constructs, and I want to try out the Lunar and Stellar Constructs. It's safe to assume my Lunar Constructs will be cold, but what about my Stellar Constructs? I can't remember what Stars are linked to in Chinese Novels. Speed? Oh well, I'll find out soon enough. And I also haven't tried storing some energy in my body either. Wonder if anything else will happen.' thought Yuuichi.
After a few minutes, he quietly got out of his bed before slowly opening his door and peeking out to make sure no one was there. The coast clear, he started to tiptoe his way through the house before reaching the door that leads outside. Making sure once more no one was around, he slowly opened it.
CREAK
Stopping in his tracks, Yuuichi quickly made sure no one had heard before continuing to open it, this time the door making no noise. Closing it slowly behind him, he fist pumped seeing as the hard part was done. Turning around to go to the training hall, he ran smack dab into someone.
"Going somewhere?" said his mom, arms crossed looking down at him.
"I wanted to test my quirk." he said telling the truth.
"And what happened to only doing it under Ayako's supervision? Or ours? Or during the day?"
"I couldn't wait. You know that that's why you're here." he countered.
"Sigh. Fine. Let's go. But only an hour. Understood?"
"Yes! Thanks, mom. I love you." he said before running to the hall while his mom shook her head with a smile before following him.
After changing his clothes to athletic wear, Yuuichi was now sitting down in the training hall.
"Mom, does the roof open?" asked Yuuichi.
"It does. We put it in just in case. Why do you want to open it?"
"I think I can use other energy than just Solar to make constructs. I think I can use Lunar and Stellar energy. I felt it on the way here." said Yuuichi, stunning his mom.
"Mom?"
"S-sorry, honey. I was just a little shocked. Um, okay. Let's try it." she said going over to a control panel before the roof opened up.
"Oh yeah." said Yuuichi as he could feel Lunar and Stellar energy filling up the training hall.
"You can use those other energies?" asked his mom.
"I think so. I can feel them the same way that I could feel Solar."
"Oh my god, my kid is amazing!" she said going over and hugging him, almost suffocating him by smothering him with her bosom.
"Can't breathe." he said before she let him go.
"Sorry, honey. Got too excited. Try out the energies." she said before stepping back a little.
Yuuichi did the same thing as when he created the Solar Finger construct earlier. He got the image of a finger in his mind and nothing happened.
"Hm?" he said, confused.
"What happened?"
"It didn't work."
"Did you think about which energy you want to use?"
"Oh!" he said before thinking of the finger and wanting it to be done with Lunar energy.
The next moment the Lunar energy began to move while the temperature began to drop. A few moments more, and the finger was constructed while the temperature began to plummet even more. The finger made of Lunar energy was a transparent blueish-white while the finger made of Solar energy was a transparent yellowish-orange.
"Interesting." said his mom while shivering.
"What?" he said still keeping the construct steady.
"You're not being affected by the temperature of your constructs. I noticed it when you did it in Megumi's office, but I thought it was because you were so excited. But it seems that's not the case."
"Awesome!" he said before he started moving the finger around for a few seconds before he started to sweat and the finger dissipated.
"It's okay. You barely manifested your quirk. You'll get better with it." said his mom as she walked over and hugged him.
"I know."
"You know, one of the downsides of being so open and frank with your thoughts is that you're easy to read. You had an expression of frustration on your face." she said pinching his cheeks.
"Thwank ywou." he said before escaping her pinch.
"Now, are you going to try out the Stellar energy or are you done for the night?"
"I want to try it."
"Okay." she said before backing up.
Going through the same process again except using Stellar energy rather than Lunar, a similarly sized and shaped purple finger appeared in front of him. But unlike the other two, no temperature changes took place. Instead, the finger had a very small gravitational pull which was noticeable by Yuuichi's clothes being pulled towards it.
"Cool." said Yuuichi.
"So, your Solar Constructs are hot, your Lunar Constructs are cold, and your Stellar Constructs have a gravitational pull. Fascinating." said his mom.
"I'm going to try storing some energy and then I'll be done." said Yuuichi.
"Okay, but be careful."
"Got it." he said before closing his eyes and trying to feel the "container" inside of him. At first, he couldn't feel it, but after a few minutes of trying, he felt it near his heart.
'Okay, I can feel it. So, now, it's just a matter of willing the energy to go into it. I'll do 3/4 Lunar and 1/4 Stellar. I think I can still feel the Stellar energy during the day if I just try hard enough, but trying to feel the Lunar is near impossible with all the Solar floating around.' he thought before concentrating on the task at hand.
Much like when he wanted to make a construct, he thought about the Lunar energy entering the container and filling it up 3/4 of the way. Thinking that, the Lunar energy slowly began to make its way to his heart area before entering the container.
As it entered the container, a chill went through his body before his body adjusted. A few minutes later and his container was 3/4 of the way full. Then he did the same with the Stellar energy, which had no effect on his body, unlike the Lunar energy.
As the container got more and more filled with energy, he started feeling like the container was getting cramped until finally, it felt like he could stuff it no more, so he stopped.
'Oh, that feels weird.' he thought.
With the container full, it felt like when he had just eaten a lot and he felt stuffed. It would take some time to get used to, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
"How long was that, mom?" he asked.
"It was cold for like 7 and half minutes and then there was a gravitational pull for 2 and a half." she said.
"Tch." he said.
"What? Don't tell me you wanted to stuff more energy in you?" said his mom.
"No, I didn't even store that much. It just took that long because I'm not used to it." he said.
Unfortunately, it didn't feel like he had an excessive amount of storage, even with how long it took to fill the container. It was due to how slow he could move the energy that it took that long. If he were to estimate how much energy he has in storage based off of constructing the finger, he thinks it would last for 5 minutes.
"It's okay. You have no reason to be sullen. You'll only get stronger and better with your quirk from here on." she said hugging him.
"Thanks. Can I try one last thing?" he said.
"Yuuichi."
"I promise. Last one." he said.
"Sigh, fine."
"Thanks. Can you raise one of the training dummies?" he said before backing away.
"Okay." said his mom before going back to the control panel and pressing some buttons before a training dummy appeared from the floor.
Yuuichi had a thought. Now that his container was full of energy, would creating a construct be faster when using that energy? He didn't have to will the ambient energy to move, he could use the one he had already "dominated."
It's like comparing asking a stranger for a favor to asking a friend for a favor. The rapport and relationship have already been established with one, so it'll be easier to ask them for the favor, while the other one doesn't know you.
This time instead of creating a finger, Yuuichi wanted to try a move that he had been wanting to try for a long time.
Focusing on the image in his mind while thinking about using the Stellar energy, Yuuichi could feel that the construct was being created much faster than before. So, he got into a clearly noob fighting stance and threw out a palm.
BANG
A very transparent purple palm appeared at the exact moment that Yuuichi threw a palm strike going in the direction he intended, and collided with the dummy, creating an audible bang.
"Awesome." said Yuuichi as a giant smile appeared on his face as he looked at the palm print that was left on the training dummy.
"Oh my." said his mom.
'That took up 1/4 of my 1/4 Stellar energy. That's not bad, but also not that great. Still, very much worth it.' he thought.
"Okay, that's enough. It's time to go to sleep young man. You have school tomorrow." said his mom.
"Ugh." he said.
"Excuse me?" said his mom as she stared him down with an aura only attainable by mothers.
"N-nothing." he said with a shaky smile.
"That's what I thought. Now, march to your room." she said before Yuuichi slowly trudged his way to his room.
AN
Decided to go with gravitational pull for the Stellar energy. Was originally going to do weight, like he would be able to make it heavier or lighter, but decided it was kind of blah.
As for his container, he is obviously going to be able to increase its capacity and will eventually figure out a way to circulate the energy within his body, leading to powerups. But those will be surprises for later.
Also, this takes place way before the main plot so bear with me when it comes to the story. I have a pretty good idea of how I want to take it, but still.
Chapter 4: 6 Years Old
CLACK CLACK CLACK
The sound of wood being hit over and over resounded from the training hall as two figures clashed repeatedly with bo-staffs.
The smaller of the two figures lunged forward, attempting to catch the other figure off-guard, who used their superior strength to deflect the staff before using the end to hit the smaller figure in the stomach.
"Oof." said the smaller figure as he got down on one knee to catch his breath.
"That's enough for now, Yuuichi-kun."
Yes, the smaller figure of the two repeatedly clashing was Yuuichi while the other was his instructor, Yamamoto, one of the few true Shaolin Monks left. It seems that since the beginning of the Quirk era, fewer and fewer people wanted to be Shaolin Monks, who stayed true to their original practices.
Still, there were those who wished to become Shaolin Monks and Yamamoto was one of them, mostly in part to his Quirkless nature. But he found true fulfillment in becoming a Shaolin Monk and left the monastery to travel the world and spread his wisdom. In a random twist of fate, Yuuichi's dad ended up Yamamoto's benefactor and cashed in the favor he had been offered to ask him to teach Yuuichi.
A few days after Yuuchi's fifth birthday, he decided it was time to cash in the reward he had won from betting with his dad during his fourth birthday.
"Dad, I know what I want to use my bet reward on." said Yuuichi as he walked into his dad's office.
"I thought you had forgotten about that after so long. So, what do you want?" said his dad looking up at him from reading some documents.
"I want to learn martial arts, especially how to use different weapons."
"Smart considering your quirk. Mmm, I'll have to ask your mom about it first, but I do have a favor I can cash in with someone. A real Shaolin Monk." said his dad as he thought about it.
"A Shaolin Monk?!" said Yuuichi.
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to your mother."
"Thanks, dad." said Yuuichi before leaving the office.
"Absolutely not!" said his mother.
"But..."
"No. I don't want my baby fighting and hurting himself. Not this young. Wait a few more years, and then he can do it." said his mom, with some finality in her tone.
"Honey, it'll be too late by then. He won't have enough time to really learn." said his dad.
"Please, mom." said Yuuichi.
"No."
"What if he has talent in it and we're letting it go to waste? I know you hate wasted talent." said his dad.
"Neither of you is going to let up on this, are you?" she said, after a few moments of silence.
"No." x2
"Fine. I want to talk to the instructor and I want to see if he has talent. If he has no talent in it, then it won't matter if he waits a few years. But if he does, he can start now. But, if you start now, you are not stopping until your instructor says he can teach you no more. Is that understood?" she said with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am." said Yuuichi with a smile.
"Good. Go laze around."
"Whoo!" he said before going outside to stare at the clouds in peace.
"I'm sorry, Yaoyorozu-san, but I do not wish to stay shackled to one place for so long. That is not why I left the temple." said Yamamoto as he bowed his head in forgiveness.
"Why don't you meet the kid and teach him a few things for a month? It's all I ask of you." said Yuuichi's dad.
"I can do a month, but how much he learns during that time is up to him." said Yamamoto.
"Sounds good. Follow me, he should be in the training hall." said his dad as they both started walking toward the training hall.
"Training hall? I thought you said he hadn't trained before." said Yamamoto.
"We built the training hall in preparation for his eventual Quirk Manifestation, and since he manifested it last year he spends at least an hour there every day, training his quirk." explained Yuuichi's dad.
"That's quite dedicated for a child." said Yamamoto, surprise on his face.
"He's not like normal children. Well, that's not true. Actually, he's a lot like normal children personality-wise. He's very easygoing and doesn't take anything seriously except for his training, he's unabashed and extroverted, and he talks comfortably with anyone, no matter who it is. But that also means he's very open about showing his distaste for someone.
There was a kid at his school that tried to talk to him because he knows Yuuichi is the sole heir of the Yaoyorozu family, and he just told him to shut up in front of the whole class. That was an interesting conversation with his teacher. I still remember laughing so hard." said his dad with a smile.
"He sounds spoiled." said Yamamoto.
"Quite the opposite. He never asks for anything he didn't earn himself. Whenever he wants something he asks what he has to do to earn it. At first, we refused to make him do anything but after the first time, he said he would never ask for something if he didn't earn it. And he stuck to his words, so my wife yielded and started giving him things to do so he could earn what he wanted."
"A kid who can have anything he wants in the world and parents glad to accommodate, asked to earn it? I retract my early statement, he sounds interesting."
As the two reached the training hall, they could feel that the temperature was rising.
"Ah, I hate when he trains with the doors closed. It gets all hot in there." said his dad as he opened the doors to the training hall and a heat wave rushed out.
Right as the doors opened the first thing they saw was a child who was facing them with a tiny, glowing Buddha that was one of the most intricate and beautiful things they had ever seen.
"Amituofo." said Yamamoto, entranced by both the Buddha and Yuuichi before he fell to his knees and bowed to Yuuichi.
"Eh?" said Yuuichi as his concentration lapsed only to see his dad standing there with a monk bowing in his direction.
"Uh, Yamamoto, why are you bowing?" said his dad.
"Amituofo, amituofo, amitufo." said Yamamoto as he started reciting a mantra.
"Dad, who is that?" said Yuuichi as he walked up to his dad.
"That's Yamamoto, the Shaolin Monk I told you about. He was here to train you but he suddenly started bowing and saying a mantra after seeing you." he explained.
'Shaolin Monks are Buddhists, aren't they? Don't tell me it's a side-effect of looking like Buddha that the lady didn't tell me about. I don't doubt it, she didn't seem very careful about her job.' thought Yuuichi as he went up to the monk.
"Yamamoto, please stand up. I'm not someone you should bow to." said Yuuichi.
"No, you are. It's as if I am in the presence of the great Buddha himself." he said, still bowing.
"While I do have much respect and appreciation for Buddhism, I do not believe I am a Buddha. So, please stand up." said Yuuichi, as Yamamoto finally stood up.
"Forgive me, I do not know what came over me." said Yamamoto.
"It might be my fault. I did create that small Buddha construct after all." said Yuuichi.
"Construct?"
"Oh, my quirk lets me create constructs using Solar energy. I saw a picture of Buddha and I wanted to try to recreate it."
"It was very good." said his dad.
"Thanks. It's hard for me to make something so detailed which is why it was so small."
"Do you like Buddhism?" asked Yamamoto.
"I do, but I would not adhere to its way of life. It is much too restricting for my liking. I prefer to be free and find my own path. If Nirvana truly does exist, I do not think it would be found through meditation or restricting yourself from life. I believe the only true way to achieve Nirvana is to experience life for all it is and only then would you be able to find your path. So, perhaps I do believe in Buddhism, but my own understanding of it." said Yuuichi, stunning both Yamamoto and his dad.
"Incredible." said Yamamoto as he teared up before bowing to Yuuichi, "Amituofo. This has been very enlightening to me. I will gladly teach you for as long as you will have me."
After that, Yamamoto began to teach Yuuichi the martial arts and weapon handling that he learned at the Shaolin Temple. And much to his mom's displeasure, Yuuichi turned out to be very talented in weapon handling. It didn't take him long to get the hang of any weapon he used. He would only need to be instructed once or twice before he would memorize the moves he had to do, and eventually, he would free himself from them and fight as one with the weapon.
Still, Yamamoto forced him to spend a lot of time with each weapon and fight with them, even if he had gotten the moves down. Yamamoto said that understanding a weapon takes more than freeing yourself from the restrictive moves, and by fighting with a weapon over and over, only then will one become one with a weapon.
So far he had learned the cudgel, spear, halberd, dagger, Bodhidharma staff, and the bo-staff. There were still many more to go, but Yuuichi enjoyed it and had a heavy preference for the bo-staff. He had even asked his parents for a very well-made bo-staff for his sixth birthday which they gladly gifted to him.
But other than training with Yamamoto and training his quirk, not much else had happened in Yuuichi's life, except for school and becoming better friends with Rumi, which coincided quite nicely seeing as they went to the same school.
After Yuuichi's fourth birthday, he and Rumi became good friends and would go over to each other's house quite often. It was more Rumi going to Yuuichi's house because her mom worked a lot and her father was on business trips most of the time. Of course, Yuuichi's mom was more than happy to have Rumi over, who was also happy to do so because she loved to fight with Yuuichi in the training hall.
And when she found out that he was going to train with a Shaolin Monk that would teach him how to fight, suffice to say she was very jealous.
"What?!" said Rumi after Yuuichi told her he would be training with a combat instructor.
"I'm training with a combat instructor." he repeated as he ate some sweets the Ayako had left out for him and Rumi.
"That's not fair! I want to do that too!" she said.
"Join me then. Just ask your mom first. He's here twice a week, so you can come on one of those days."
"No, no, no." she said before her ears perked up as if she had an epiphany, "I can just come on one of the days he's here! I'm a genius!" she said.
"That's what I just said." said Yuuichi, with a smile.
"No, you didn't. You said something else."
"What did I say then?"
"Beats me, I wasn't listening." she said before eating one of the sweets.
"Hahahaha!"
A few days later, Rumi and Yuuichi were in the training hall in their athletic clothes with Yamamoto in front of both of them.
"So, you wish to learn martial arts from me?" said Yamamoto.
"Yup!" said Rumi shaking her head like a bobblehead.
"First, we will see if you have what it takes to learn martial arts. Why do you want to learn martial arts?" asked Yamamoto.
"To learn how to fight!" she said.
"Mm. Why do you want to learn how to fight?"
"Because I like to fight!"
"Why do you like to fight?"
"Because it's fun."
"Is that the only reason you want to learn how to fight?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" he asked, staring right into her eyes.
"No."
"Why?"
"I want to learn how to fight so I can become a hero and save people." she said looking down while blushing.
"Good. Although violence is not always the answer, I realize in the times that we live in, it usually is. As much as I hate it, I know it's necessary. I will teach you so you can help the world and be a better hero." said Yamamoto, causing Rumi's eyes to sparkle.
After that, Rumi would always make sure to come over when Yamamoto was instructing Yuuichi so she could learn as well. But, she didn't care for the weapon handling portion of the instruction. She had a very heavy preference for martial arts that used her body as a weapon. Still, though, Yamamoto forced her to learn weapon handling as well because he said if you know how to handle a weapon, you know how to fight against a weapon. And that was all she needed to hear to learn.
All in all, an eventful two years.
Chapter 5: Delinquents
"Young master, there is an hour left until you need to leave for school." said Ayako to Yuuichi who was currently training.
Ever since Yuuichi began his tutelage under Yamamoto, he would wake up an hour and a half earlier to train. Since he was still a child, he wasn't allowed to do very rigorous weight training, so everything he did followed the way Shaolin Monk children trained.
He would train his flexibility by going through a routine set of stretches used by Shaolin Monks for generations. He would train his breath to strengthen his internal organs and improve blood flow. He would train his strength using only his body weight in what amounted to calisthenics. He would train his arms and legs by punching and kicking a training dummy.
At first, it was very hard for him to get used to and he would have to split the training into two sessions, in the morning and in the evening. But after 1 year he was able to do it all in one morning, and after another, he had to double his training. And now at 8 years old, he would give any Shaolin Monk child a run for his money.
"Got it, thanks, Ayako." said Yuuichi as he finished up the final part of his stretching routine before going inside and washing thoroughly. Most kids his age hate bathing and cleaning themselves as they would rather spend that time doing something else, but Yuuichi hated being grimy and sweaty. So, he would clean himself so thoroughly that a military drill instructor wouldn't be able to find fault with him.
"Ah, that feels nice. Can't imagine being this clean in a dorm." he said as he finished brushing his teeth before quickly checking himself in the mirror.
The school he went to was one for the wealthy and powerful in Japan, but it was located in the same city he lived in, so he didn't have to live in the dorms. That was the only good thing about it, however. The uniform that the students were required to wear, while similarly styled to most schools in Japan, was nonetheless uncomfortable to wear.
And Yuuichi being Yuuchi, didn't like to wear the uniform but was forced to both by the school and his parents. Still, the rebellious and free-spirited kid he is, he would wear the uniform sloppily so he could feel at least a bit comfortable.
"You're going to be late for your first day of the school year! Hurry up!" shouted his mom from downstairs.
Quickly fixing his clothes so his mom wouldn't do it for him, picking up his bookbag, and putting a lollipop in his mouth, he went downstairs.
"Can't I be homeschooled?" he said as he reached the front door.
"No. And I've already told you why so stop asking." she said as she fixed his uniform anyway.
"But the making friends thing doesn't really matter. I have Rumi. And when I go to a hero school, I'm sure I'll make friends there." he said as he tried to struggle to get away from his mom's licked palm that was trying to fix his hair.
"Stop moving. And no. I know you have Rumi, but both of you need to be more social. You also need to learn to hold your tongue or no one will be friends with you."
"Sigh, fine." he said.
"You said fine just so this conversation won't go on anymore, didn't you?"
"Bye mom." he said with a smile as he ran out the door and started walking to school.
He could be dropped off at school but he preferred to walk there because he would meet up with Rumi on the way there. And the school was also only a 20-minute walk so he didn't mind walking.
10-minutes later and he was coming up to the same intersection where he meets Rumi on his way to school, and today was no different.
"Yuuichi!" said Rumi waving her hand.
"Hey, Rumi." he said noticing she had cut her hair but refused to say anything.
"So, notice anything different about me?" she said while not so subtly drawing attention to her hair by shaking it around.
"Mm, no. Did you grow taller?" he asked as they started walking to school.
"Yes, but that's not it. Are you sure you don't notice anything?"
"Not really." he said keeping a straight face.
"Tch, take a look at my hair, dummy!" she said yelling, breaking her innocent facade.
"Haha, I was just teasing you. I'm not that blind you know." he said smirking at her.
"Tch. So, what do you think?" she said.
Rumi usually had her hair loose or in a ponytail and she had it rather long. But her new haircut was shorter, only coming up to her chin.
"It's nice, but I like your hair longer. But either way is good." he said.
"Oh, then I'll keep it longer." she said.
"So, you excited for your first day back?" he said.
"No."
"Me either." he said before they continued their way to school talking about random topics.
As they reached the school, the two of them continued talking but they both noticed that the other students would look at them before turning away and start whispering.
"Great, another school year of brats whispering about us." said Rumi.
"Not much we can do. And we're the same age as them." said Yuuichi as he loosened his tie, unbothered by the looks and whispering.
As for the reason the two of them were being whispered about, it goes back to their previous school year when the kid who Rumi punched in Yuuichi's party transferred to their school. Once he found out the two of them were in his new school, he gathered yet another posse to try to bully the pair. Unfortunately for him, and the rest of his posse, neither Yuuichi nor Rumi were the type to let sleeping dogs lie.
So, the two of them punched a few kids in the nose, causing nosebleeds, got suspended for a few days, and returned only to be known as the Devil Duo of their class. After that, the kid didn't dare to mess with them for fear of getting punched in the nose a third time. But that also caused the rest of the school to fear the two, thus leading to their current situation.
It also didn't help their reputation that the two of them didn't use their uniforms correctly, and the two of them looked like little delinquents with their ties loosened and their shirts untucked. But the two of them ignored it all, and the teachers couldn't really tell either of them anything since they both had good grades. Also, Yuuichi's parents were the owners of one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, and they didn't want to get fired, not that they would.
"What class are you in?" asked Rumi, hoping that they would be in the same class.
"Class 3-A." he said.
"Nice, me too." she said fist-pumping.
"You're in 3-A?" he said, surprised.
"Why are you so surprised? You don't think I'm smart enough?" she said, fist ready to punch him.
"No, I do. I just didn't think you were that smart." he said with a teasing grin before he ducked down, dodging a kick she had thrown at him.
"Stop dodging." she said with a smile as she continued to throw combos at him while Yuuichi continued to dodge. Clearly, she wasn't using all her strength or it would be harder for Yuuichi to dodge them considering she's a Heteromorphic-type.
As the two of them did that in the hall, the other students walked around them while whispering and looking at them in fear.
"Wake up." said Rumi as she shook Yuuichi awake.
"Hm? Is class over?" he said as he sat up and stretched.
Yet another benefit of having good grades and wealthy parents, he could sleep in class whenever he wanted.
"It's time for lunch. Let's go to the cafeteria before the good food's gone." she said before Yuuichi stood up, stretched a bit more, and then the two started walking toward the cafeteria.
"What are you getting today?" asked Yuuichi.
Because the school was mostly occupied by kids of wealthy parents, the school charged for lunch. And because of that, they hired really good chefs to cook the food which also provided a wide variety of food.
"Curry with extra carrots." she said as she drooled a little thinking about the food.
"You sure do like carrots."
"Of course! They're so good and crunchy and juicy and sweet." she said.
As they reached the cafeteria, they noticed there was a crowd of students in a circle.
"What's going on?" said Yuuichi, causing some of the students that were blocking the way to turn to look at them before getting scared and backing away.
"What's going on up there?" said Yuuichi to one of the kids backing away.
"S-some new k-kid getting b-bullied, I think." he said before looking away.
"Bullied?!" said Rumi before pushing her way forward while Yuuichi followed close behind.
As they pushed their way to the front, they could see a group of kids surrounding a student who was on the ground covered in food. And even though the kid was covered in food, he still had a smile on his face.
"Wipe that smile off your face, it's gross." said one of the bullies, who was a Year 6 student while Yuuichi, Rumi, and the kid were in Year 3 evident by the pin on their shirt.
As to why the school allows Year 6 students to eat at the same time as Year 3 students, that's a question for the principal.
"Tch, dumb scholarship kids. You don't belong here." said one of the girls that was part of the bully group.
"Mm, sorry. But please don't waste food." said the kid who still had a smile on his face.
"Didn't I tell you to wipe that smile off your face? It pisses me off!" said the kid who was about to hit him.
"Oi, oi, oi. What's going on here?" said Yuuichi as he made his way next to the kid.
"Bullying a new kid and wasting food, I should punch all of you!" said Rumi, getting angry at seeing such an injustice.
"Haha, if it isn't the "Demon Duo" of Year 3. Go away before you two get hurt." said the leader as the rest of the group started laughing.
"Mm, you two should go before you get hurt." said the new kid.
"You heard him, scram!" said the girl.
"Come on, get up." said Yuuichi to the kid as he put his hand out, ignoring the group.
"You should go." said the kid, still with a smile.
"Don't worry about them. Stand up." said Yuuichi as the new kid got his hand and finally stood up.
"Oi, don't ignore us!" said the leader.
"Shaddap." said Yuuichi turning to look at the bully.
"What'd you say, you little shit?! You want to get beat up, huh? Fine by me. Let's see how scary the Demon Duo really is." he said with a taunting smirk.
"Okay. At least this way we'll finally be left alone." said Yuuichi to Rumi who was fired up and ready to go.
"Please, leave them alone. Just beat me up." said the new kid as he stood in front of the pair.
"Hey, relax. We'll be fine." said Yuuichi as he pulled the kid behind him.
"Tch, and here I thought you would chic-" was all the leader was able to say before Yuuichi rushed him, feinted a punch to his chest to draw his attention before using his leg to hook the leader's leg, bringing him down to the floor where Yuuichi threw a fist out that stopped right before it broke his nose.
"Do you still want to continue?" said Yuuichi with a smirk that made the leader get angry before he tried to trip Yuuichi who just took the hit and stood still like a tree.
"Is that it? Sigh." said Yuuichi before he punched him in the nose for real this time.
"You broke my nose!" he said, tearing up.
"Good. Next time, I'll break your arm because one of the things I hate most in this world is bullies. And remember this, Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored One." said Yuuichi with a smile as he used his quirk to create a small "Sun" behind him for added effect, causing everyone to fall into a stunned silence.
'Was that cringe? Nah, that was cool.' thought Yuuichi.
"Okay, I'm going to repeat this back to you, to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. My son and his friend stopped a couple of older kids from not only bullying but almost assaulting a new student, and you're going to suspend both of them. Am I correct?" said Yuuichi's mom.
"Y-yes, Yaoyorozu-sama. U-unfortunately, w-we have a z-zero v-violence policy. A-as you know." said the principal, who was an older, short man that was currently drenched in sweat.
"And what about the group of bullies? What's happening to them?"
"The s-same, Yaoyorozu-sama."
"The same? They're an older group of students and you are giving them the same punishment? Are you sure about that?" she said staring down the principal who shrunk in his chair.
"I-I-I seem to have m-misspoke. I m-meant they would get m-much harsher punishment."
"Good. I'd be very disappointed to hear that they got off lightly, Principal-san. Come, Yuuichi, Rumi." she said as she and the pair got up before leaving.
As the three were walking out of the school, they were silent.
"So, what do you two have to say for yourselves?" she said as they reached the gate.
"They deserved it." said Yuuichi, whose uniform was now in pristine condition for fear of angering his mother further, while Rumi just nodded.
"I agree, they did deserve it. I'm proud of you two for standing up for that new student. But, I'm disappointed in you two for getting suspended once again."
"Sorry." said the two of them.
"Good. Now, before I take you two home, it looks like there's someone who wants to speak to you. I'll be waiting in the car." she said before entering the car while the pair turned to see the new student.
"New kid, what's up?" said Rumi.
"I just wanted to say thank you for standing up for me and sorry for getting you two suspended." he said as he bowed.
"It's okay, but don't bow to us. We're 8." said Yuuichi.
"Right, haha, sorry." said the new kid as he stood up.
"What's your name?" said Yuuichi.
"Kunio Kure, it's nice to meet you two."
"Yuuichi Yaoyorozu."
"Rumi Usagiyama."
"Wow, you're a Yaoyorozu." he said.
"Don't tell me you're a fanboy?" said Yuuichi.
"Not a fanboy, just thankful. Your family's scholarship is why I'm here." he said.
"Oh, seems like it's being used properly. That's good." said Yuuichi.
"Yes, if it wasn't for the scholarship, I could never be in a school like this."
"So, you have no friends here?" said Rumi.
"N-no." he said looking down.
"You do now. Us." said Yuuichi with a smile.
"E-eh, but you'll keep getting targeted." he said now staring right at the two.
"Nah, trust me, we'll be fine. Well, I'll see you in a week, Kunio." said Yuuichi.
"Bye, KK." said Rumi.
"Mm, bye. Yaoyorozu-san, Usagiyama-san."
"Call me Yuuichi."
"And me Rumi."
"Okay, then bye Yuuichi-kun, Rumi-chan."
"Better. Later." said Yuuichi as the pair got in the car.
"Friends." said Kunio as his smile got a little brighter.
AN
New friend! So, this is an established character that doesn't have a name besides his hero name. I'm sure you can guess who just from that and his dialogue. But if not, wait and see. (¬‿¬)
Also, I left a comment that this would be twice a week but I've decided to make it weekly. School is ramping up with the end of the semester, so I don't have as much free time as I would like. But as always this is subject to change. Appreciate the understanding.
Chapter 6: Good-Bye For Now
"Come to my house today." said Yuuichi to Rumi and Kunio as they all sat together at a table during lunch.
After the day they stopped him from being bullied, Kunio was brought into the fold of the Demon Duo. Now they were the Demon Duo and Kunio. Not much they could do about the name since Kunio didn't like to fight nor did they get the opportunity to.
Ever since that day, no one bothered them, including the upperclassmen. While it was in part due to how easily Yuuichi broke the upperclassman bully's nose, it was also because of the punishment he received.
The kid was expelled and had to do community service before he was let back into school. Not to mention, his parent's company lost a big client, causing their financial status to teeter between the upper class and the middle class. That was enough for everyone's parents to warn their kids not to mess with the Yaoyorozu heir or his friends.
"Yamamoto-shisho's not going to be there today, right?" asked Rumi while eating some mini carrots.
"No, he had to return to the Shaolin Temple. He said a villain attacked the temple and he was called back. He won't be back for a month I think." said Yuuichi while eating his ramen.
"Aw, man. I forgot about that." she said as her ears drooped.
"So you don't want to come over?"
"Who said that? I wanna spar!" she said smiling with her ears pointed straight up again.
"Hahaha. What about you Kunio? Are you finally coming over?" said Yuuichi.
In the year or so since they had become friends, not once had Kunio ever gone over to Yuuichi's or Rumi's house. Not for lack of trying on both of their parts. They had invited him over when Yamamoto was there, when he wasn't there, on the weekends, on the holidays, and even on their birthdays. He had not accepted once.
They had asked him about it before and he only said that he couldn't because he was busy. It had been the same answer over and over. At first, they had bugged him about it, but after a while, they got used to it but still kept asking on the off chance he finally accepted.
"Are you?" said Rumi looking at Kunio who had an apologetic smile on his face.
"Sorry, Yuuichi. I'm busy." he said.
"Sigh, one day I'll get you to say yes." said Yuuichi with a grin.
"What are you busy with? Can you at least tell us that?" asked Rumi.
"Soon. I promise." he said with that trademark smile of his.
"Sigh, I was hoping you would finally say yes." said Rumi as she placed her head on the table while her ears drooped back down.
"You okay?" asked Yuuichi, feeling that Rumi was a little less spirited than usual.
"No." she said.
"What's wrong, Rumi?" asked Kunio.
"Nothing." she said.
"Impostor!" said Yuuichi, standing up and pointing at her, causing some of the other students to look over at them before looking away, unfazed.
"Impostor?! What do you mean?!" she said.
"The Rumi we know wouldn't hide her feelings or her words like you. She would tell us straight up. So that means you're an impostor!" said Yuuichi with a smile.
"Oh yeah?! Could an impostor do this?" she said with a smile as she started launching a barrage of kicks at Yuuichi that he dodged.
"Hahaha! That's more like it. That's the Rumi I know." said Yuuichi holding on to her leg before letting go.
"Humph! At least you'd be able to recognize an impostor of me." she said before sitting down.
"Of course I would, you're my best friend." said Yuuichi now sitting back down while smiling at her.
"Good." she said smiling right back.
"Umm, so why are you feeling down, Rumi?" asked Kunio.
"Oh right. What's wrong?" said Yuuichi.
"My family's moving. To Hiroshima." she said.
"What?!" x2
"My dad got a promotion, so we have to move to Hiroshima. That's where his new job is going to be. My mom told me today and we leave tomorrow." she said.
"Wait, you leave tomorrow?! Why didn't she say something sooner?" said Yuuichi.
"She said she only told me today because she knew how I would react."
"What if you stayed with us?!" said Yuuichi, coming up with any way for his best friend to stay with him.
"I already told her that. She said no. She said no matter what, I'm going with them." said Rumi, looking down.
"Sigh, this sucks." said Yuuichi.
"Mm." said Kunio.
"You're coming today, Kunio." said Yuuichi after a few moments of silence.
"Eh? For what?" he asked.
"The three of us will be together for the last time for who knows how long. And I'm not taking no for an answer." said Yuuichi.
"Okay. I'll talk to my parents. And since Rumi is leaving tomorrow, I can show you why I've been busy." said Kunio.
"You guys." said Rumi, tearing up.
"Are you about to cry?" teased Yuuichi, in hopes she would perk back up.
"Shut up!" she said before starting her combos again while Kunio and Yuuichi both laughed.
"Welcome to my home." said Yuuichi to the stunned Kunio as they entered the foyer.
"Come on, don't just stand there." said Rumi as she pushed the frozen Kunio inside.
"Young Master, Rumi-sama, Kure-sama. " said Ayako, bowing slightly to all three.
"Eh, Kure-sama?" said Kunio, confused.
"Forgive me. Would you like me to call you Kunio-sama?" asked Ayako.
"No, no, no. Please, just Kunio." said Kunio.
"I'm afraid my duties as a maid do not allow for me to do so."
"Just let her do it, Kunio. I've asked her to call me Yuuichi for 5 years and she's refused to." said Yuuichi.
"Ah, then please Kunio is fine, Ayako-san." said Kunio, slightly bowing to her.
"As you wish, Kunio-sama."
"Ayako, carrots?" asked Rumi.
"Right here, Rumi-sama." she said picking up a plate from the table behind her before handing it over to Rumi.
"Yes! You're the best, Ayako!"
"My pleasure, Rumi-sama."
"Are mom and dad here?" asked Yuuichi snatching one carrot away from the ravenous rabbit while trying to keep his fingers.
"They said they would be here late today, Young Master."
"Okay. We'll be in the training hall for now." said Yuuichi before the three of them went to the training hall all the meanwhile Kunio was in awe of the place.
"Your house is huge, Yuuichi." said Kunio.
"A bit wasteful. Such a big house for three people and a handful of maids." said Yuuichi.
"Mm, too big. I get lost all the time here." said Rumi as she finished up her last carrot.
"It's not that big. You're just careless." teased Yuuichi.
"Tch, just wait 'till we're in the training hall and we'll see who's the careless one." she said with a cocky smile.
"Wow." said Kunio after having watched Yuuichi and Rumi spar for an hour with just technique.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" said Yuuichi while catching his breath.
"Yes." said Kunio.
"If we had used quirks, I would've won." said Rumi as she lay on the ground catching her breath as well.
"For now. But in the future, I'll definitely win." said Yuuichi with a smile.
"I can't wait until you can use your quirk like you tell me you'll be able to." said Rumi with a big smile.
"What do you mean?" asked Kunio.
"Right now my quirk is strong, but in the future, it'll be even stronger, naturally. When I create constructs I have to keep the construct in mind while using it. So the moment I stop thinking about the construct I want to create, it'll break. I've gotten so much better at it than in the beginning, but I'm still not where I want to be. And also bigger and stronger constructs need more energy which will also be easier for me in the future." explained Yuuichi before drinking from the water bottle that Ayako had brought over earlier.
"Cool." said Kunio.
"Humph, my quirk will be stronger than yours." said Rumi.
"Haha, I hope so." said Yuuichi.
"Wait, now that I think about it, you've never told us what your quirk does Kunio." said Yuuichi.
"You always dodge the question. Spit it out. I want to know before I leave." said Rumi.
"Okay. That was part of the reason I've been busy." he said before standing up and getting near the two of them.
"What does this smell like?" he said before blowing air in their direction causing the two of them to smell.
"That smells like ramen. Really good ramen." said Yuuichi.
"How about this?" he said before doing the same thing again.
"Carrots!" said Rumi.
"So you can breathe out different foods?" asked Yuuichi.
"No, I can create any chemical compound I want but I can only breathe it out and I have to have eaten it before." he explained.
"I see." said Rumi with a blank look on her face.
"So you can breathe out the flavor of things you've eaten before." said Yuuichi.
"Yes. And my parents own a restaurant. That's why I've been busy. They're training me to take over their restaurant. With my chef skills plus my quirk that can enhance flavor..."
"You'll be a great chef." said Yuuichi.
"Mm." he said before looking down.
"But you don't want to be a chef." said Yuuichi.
"Eh? No, I do. It's nothing." he said with a fake smile.
"Come on, spit it out." said Rumi.
"It's nothing serious. I promise." he insisted.
"It's about what you want to do with your life, isn't it?" said Yuuichi.
"Eh? How'd you know?"
"Doesn't matter. So if you don't want to be a chef, you want to be a hero?" said Yuuichi.
"You too?!" said Rumi with a smile.
"Yes. I want to be a hero. I want to use my chef skills and my quirk as a hero. To save people and then feed the ones in need. But I know I can't. My quirk isn't meant for combat or rescue." said Kunio clenching his fist.
"Who cares?" said Yuuichi.
"Huh?"
"If your quirk isn't meant for combat, just make it for combat. All you have to do is train and try. And if that doesn't work, Rumi and I will beat up the villains and rescue everyone, then you feed them." said Yuuichi with a smile while Rumi did the same.
"He's right. You won't know until you try." said Rumi.
"Mm. You're right. I can't give up yet." said Kunio with a look of determination.
"Hahaha, that's what I'm talking about! We'll all be heroes. No matter what. It doesn't matter if we all move apart to different cities or countries. We'll all be heroes and protect the innocents." said Yuuichi.
"Haha, yes! I want to fight the worst villains and take them down!" said Rumi.
"I want to protect those I can and feed the hungry!" said Kunio.
"This is a promise between friends, so let's make it official. With this fist bump, we'll be sworn to this, no matter what." said Yuuichi putting his fist out.
"No backing down!" said Rumi fist out touching Yuuichi's.
"Mm." said Kunio before doing the same.
CLICK
"Isn't that cute?" said Yuuichi's mom with a camera pointed directly at them.
"Oops, don't mind me. Continue." she said with a sly smile before closing the door.
"Mom!"
After that photo shoot that would haunt Yuuichi forever, the three of them went inside and they then asked Kunio to cook for them. As a going away gift for Rumi and to see what their friend was made of.
At first, Yuuichi's mom was hesitant to let such a young kid cook and handle knives, but after showing off his skills, she relented. Kunio then cooked a meal that even Yuuichi's parents, who had tasted the highest quality and class of food, had to admit was heavenly. Of course, so much praise made Kunio blush, but also more confident about his future as a hero.
Then the three went to Yuuichi's room where they spent the next hour playing until Kunio told them he had to leave. Kunio hugged Rumi and thanked her for helping out when he was getting bullied and wished her good luck. Then he was sent back home in a car with one of the many drivers employed by the Yaoyorozu family.
Then it was just Yuuichi and Rumi who decided to go outside and watch the moon.
"I'm going to miss you." said Rumi after a few minutes of just the two of them laying on the grass.
"Me too."
"You were my first friend."
"Mine too."
"No one would talk to me because of my personality. But you just laughed and smiled even after seeing it."
"I like your personality. It's very compatible with mine. You do what you want, I do what I want. You say what's on your mind, I say what's on my mind."
"Mm. So, you want to be a hero?"
"Yeah."
"I think today is the first time you've said that."
"You knew though."
"Mm. I always knew. I could tell you have that same sense of justice that I do."
"So, we both want to be heroes. Does that mean we'll meet in high school when we join a hero school?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Let's not meet again until we're both heroes. That way, we'll both stick to it, no matter what. Because I want to see my best friend again. And if the only way to do that is to become a hero, I know I'll do that."
"Okay. Then this will be a promise between just us two. A promise not to meet until we both become heroes." said Yuuichi.
"Pinky promise." she said sticking out her pinky.
"Pinky promise." said Yuuichi wrapping his pinky around hers while smiling.
AN
A little bit of a scare with the title, all in good fun. ( ﾟヮﾟ)
Also, yes, that is Lunch Rush. It's never said how old he is, his name, or his quirk but I really like his character design so I decided to add him. I also found that quirk on a Reddit thread discussing his potential quirk so shoutout to them. Let me know what you think of his quirk too. As for combat uses, he would be able to breathe out pepper spray or just pure capsaicin, he could also spray out olive oil.
And Rumi moving away does mean I could open up the story for another girl, but I won't. I've decided to keep it just Rumi because Mirko all the way! ／(=･ x ･=)＼