"No time like the present." Rakuro said as he took in a deep breath and activated his quirk. The subconscious fear of pulling a bad ability remained in the back of his mind but he powered through.
The roulette in his mind began to spin.
PING
PING
PING
Sandrush
He raised his hand and swung it. Instead of his arm moving the whole distance, it turned into sand and reformed when he stopped moving.
Blinking at the ability, he then walked forward.
Nothing happened.
"Rush...." He whispered as he began processing.
He leaned forward and sprinted into a short dash.
RUSTLE
Hie entire body became a mass of sand that reformed once he stopped moving.
"Oh this.... this feels weird." He spoke aloud.
And weird it was. Transforming into sand didn't mean he lost all semblance of self. Rather only his sense of touch disappeared, the rest felt like he was a blobby mass that moved through the air. He didn't exactly see and hear the normal way but his immediate surroundings where highlighted in his mind.
"Can I pass through objects?" He wondered as he walked to the only tree in the backyard. Standing to its side, he took a quick breath to compose himself before sprinting at it.
WHOOOSH
His body turned to sand and flowed around the tree, reforming on the other side.
He turned back to face the tree. "I didn't pass through it but rather around it...." Bringing his hand to his chin, he spun around and stared at the sliding glass door leading to the living room.
Rakuro prepared himself to sprint right through it but then held himself back.
Glass shatters.
And that would be unnecessary trouble for his parents.
He looked at the wall to its side and sprinted into it.
His body turned into sand and collided with the wall, sending sand everywhere. A second later, he reformed right in front of the wall.
"It did not hurt at all." He said as he looked at his arms, "I can't go through a solid object. But I can turn into sand. Then maybe...." He looked back at the sliding door and noted the small gap at the top, it was intentionally left that way for ventilation. And it could be closed up during rainy days.
Focusing on the gap he took a couple steps backward and then sprinted into it.
WHOOSH
Unlike the previous time, his body turned into sand and slid through the opening and reformed on the other side of the door and inside their living room.
"Practicing your new ability?" His mom asked in surprise at seeing her son reform in front of her eyes.
"Sandrush." He answered, "I can turn into sand when I'm running."
"And go through walls..." His mom said.
He shook his head, "I go through holes in the walls. Anything sand can fit through.... I can fit through. You know.... Sand is coarse and gets everywhere." As he finished, he dashed backward and appeared outside once more.
"This is a pretty good ability." He murmured.
Sliding the door open he looked at his mom staring at him open mouthed, "Can you throw something at me?"
His mom looked at him and then at the thick book she was reading. She then looked to the coffee table for something she could throw at him.
After a moment of contemplation, she threw the book at him.
She didn't hold back on the throw.
Rakuro's eyes widened as the book flew toward him and he managed to raise his hands trying to block the book.
THUMP
The book bounced off him arms and fell to the ground.
"Hmm... I didn't phase through it..." He picked up the book and looked at his mother, "Can you do that again?"
His mother obliged, sending the book flying with even more force.
This time, Rakuro dashed towards it.
RUSTLE
His body turned to sand, let the book pass through it and reformed as he stopped.
"Sandrush. Rushing. My ability activates only during movement." He sat on the ground as he tried to figure out how he could use it and in which situations it might be optimal in.
A thought struck him.
Was a jump considered a rush?
Was rushing upward possible?
He braced himself and pushed off the ground.
WHOOOSH
Reforming in the air, he found himself at the same level as the roof of his house.
"AAGHHH!" He flailed as he fell to the ground.
An inch before landing and possible breaking something, he straightened himself. His mind working with as much urgency as possible.
Falling.
It was the same as dashing downward.
Technically.
He closed his eyes bracing for impact.
And then his surroundings changed. He was sand again.
Rakuro reformed on the ground and crumpled to his knees, his hands shaking as he let out heavy exhale after heavy exhale.
"Are you alright?" His mom asked as she rushed outside.
Rakuro looked up and flashed her a thumbs up, "Yeah."
Pushing himself to his feet, he tried something else.
His initial test of waving his hand quickly and seen it turn to sand. Only partially. Could he replicate it with any part of his body?
He swung his leg.
The portion below his knees turned to sand and reformed as he completed the full arc of the kick.
Could the ability affect the range of his kick?
He kicked again but aimed at the tree this time.
The sand that formed stretched away from his leg, rushed through the tree and reformed as he completed the kick.
Rakuro walked up to the tree and observed scratches on the tree.
The sand could damage objects. Its abrasive nature meant that rubbing against it would cause damage. That meant that theoretically, if he could increase the speed of his kicks, they could easily draw blood. Or if he ran at extreme speeds, he could dash through a person and leave them bleeding.
This was all theory however.
The thing was that him getting the same ability again was unlikely. The skill he actually needed was to be able to make the best out of any situation and any ability and be able to react to things on the fly.
Even the negative ones.
Defeatist wasn't a purely negative quirk. There were positives to it. He was a better version of himself before the injury. Just a little faster. Just a little stronger. Just a little better in every single facet of himself. A small increment like that wouldn't generally matter but it was a small increment in every single stat of his, which might not seem much at first but added up in the long run. And getting hurt removed that.
That meant he needed to figure out the negatives and positives of an ability as he used them.
After which, he decided to go for a run. A calm slow run that focused on building stamina. A forty five minute run with walking at five minute intervals.
The original idea was that this wouldn't exactly be a breeze but it should have been doable.
It wasn't.
The wind and dust made breathing difficult. Like something was scratching at his throat every time he opened his mouth to breathe. His body incredibly hot, his shirt drenched in sweat, sticking to him, weighing him down with every step he took.
But he pushed through.
Slumping against the door, he gasped for air.
"Water?" His mother asked.
He lunged for the glass and gulped it all down in an instant.
"Harsh first day?" She asked.
Rakuro took heavy breaths, "Lot of worse days to come."