My Hero Academia: Aura Farming

[TheDanny]

So whenever a teacher asked a question, he sweated bullets worrying he'd answer wrong—and lose aura in the process.

Fortunately, so far, he'd managed to answer everything correctly.

Click to shrink...

Considering he's a native English speaker from the transmigration, he can at least look cool from that.

If he had to describe it… It reminded him of the gaze Endeavor used to direct at him during their years at U.A.

Click to shrink...

While Endeavor has been chasing All Might's shadow for decades now, they were never classmates. The age gap is just way too large. All Might is 55 while Endeavor is only 45. Nearly a decade difference.

 

[Omniext]

It reminded him of the gaze Endeavor used to direct at him during their years at U.A.

Click to shrink...

While Endeavor has been chasing All Might's shadow for decades now, they were never classmates. The age gap is just way too large. All Might is 55 while Endeavor is only 45. Nearly a decade difference.

Click to shrink...

This. Tbh, surprised me when I found out- I thought they had like 3 year age difference, but no, Endeavor was legitimately beefing with a guy decades his senior at the ripe age of 18. My dude, of course All Might is still above you, he's had a decade

Anyway, fun chapter

 

[Despacitoleo]

Goated chapter

He gotta aura farm but actually teach/help his buddy in the scenario, even more aura for helping then dunking

 

[ProtoSovereign]

Now all he needs is trick weapon. Burial blade please.

 

[The Synonym]

While Endeavor has been chasing All Might's shadow for decades now, they were never classmates. The age gap is just way too large. All Might is 55 while Endeavor is only 45. Nearly a decade difference.

Click to shrink...

The guy's dedicated, that's for sure

 

[The Synonym]

(A/N: A bit late, but I was trying to get some sleep after not getting much last night. Sadly, it didn't work out, and I had to chug a monster to last the rest of the day. Today I'm sleeping early, that's for sure.)

────────────────────────
[Combat Exercise]
────────────────────────

…

Once everyone was fully reunited and they had all gotten a good look at Taka's extravagant costume, All Might began giving the instructions for the exercise right away.

In summary, the class would be segmented into several teams of two students, who would take on the roles of either heroes or villains. Two opposing teams would then face off inside the many buildings scattered across Ground Beta, each match having its own building to destroy.

The villains' objective was to protect a mock bomb placed at the top of the building. The heroes, on the other hand, had to start from the bottom floors and reach the bomb to "deactivate" it.

The victory conditions were fairly simple.

The villains would win if they managed to protect the bomb until the fifteen-minute limit ran out, or if they apprehended all the heroes using the capture bindings they'd been given. Achieving either condition would secure their victory.

The heroes, meanwhile, would win if they touched the bomb—counting as deactivation for the exercise—or if they apprehended the villains using the same bindings they, too, had been provided.

Once the instructions were given, and a certain glassed student's multiple questions were answered, the students stepped forward one by one to draw balls from a box, each marked with letters from A to J, to determine their teams.

As the process went on, Taka began thinking of ways to rig the whole thing so he could get matched against Bakugo or Todoroki, who were currently the strongest contenders in class.

While doing so, his turn came, and he was offered the box to take a ball out.

A moment after rummaging through it, he glanced down at the ball he had drawn.

Team I, and his partner—

'Hagakure, huh?' He sweatdropped, turning to look—or rather, not look—at the invisible girl at the other side of the group. '…Damn.'

Immediately, all of his plans went straight down the gutter.

He had hoped things would play out as they did in the show, letting him use his foreknowledge to identify which ball belonged to which team and subtly manipulate them with his aura so he could fight whoever he wanted.

But seeing the invisible girl there made something painfully clear.

They already weren't the same.

His eyes swept across the other groups forming around the field, narrowing as his worries cemented.

The teams were different from the show. Which meant the matches would probably be, too.

That left him with no way of knowing which ball belonged to Todoroki's team—or Bakugo's.

And with the remaining balls hidden inside the box, right beside All Might, even trying to peek was close to impossible. He wasn't that fast yet.

'Well, so much for aura farming,' Taka clicked his tongue.

If only he had a way to make something like an actual astral projection, so he could check on the box without being noticed…

He didn't, in case you were hoping otherwise.

'Still, it's a pretty good idea… I might try it out later.' He squinted faintly at the idea.

"Hello, Takahashi-kun, right?"

A voice calling out to him snapped him out of his ideas. A bit nervous, but trying to sound calm.

He turned and saw that Hagakure had approached on her own… Namely, only her gloves and shoes. The rest of her was invisible.

'Focus, man.'

Preventing his mind from wandering into strange topics, he offered a hand.

"That, or Taka. Whatever you feel like calling me."

It seemed that the friendly gesture had been enough to erase the nervousness from her voice.

"Then Taka it is! I'm Toru Hagakure, nice to meet cha!" she said energetically as she shook his hand.

Taka nodded faintly. However, inwardly, a smile appeared on his face.

'Finally, someone else who takes on my offer.'

The other was Kirishima, but given his focus on aura farming, he hadn't talked much with him.

He had to act mysterious all the time, so going to speak to others on his own volition was a no-no.

<Then you ask yourself why you have few friends.>

'It's the path of the aura—'

<It's not.>

'Pff, what would you know?'

As he scoffed inwardly at the system's obvious ignorance on the topic, both he and Hagakure turned to All Might, who had begun the process of establishing the team matches, sinking both hands into two boxes—one for the villains, and the other for the heroes.

The hero's hands rummaged through each box, his expression pensive, as if gauging which ones he should pull out first.

And as the tension rose amid the class, with each student awaiting to see who they would be fighting—

'Hold on…'

A crazy idea formed in Taka's mind.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Trouble Radar] (ACTIVATED)

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

For a moment, nothing changed.

But then—

"...!"

He felt it. For a moment, an alert had sprouted, vanishing as soon as it came.

It hadn't been of much level—at most, a threat level of 1 or 2.

But that much had been enough to prove Taka's theory right.

'The moment All Might touches my team's ball, it gauges the level of the opposite team's ball his hand is touching.'

And as if to prove that true—

'There goes another one, nearly level three!' Taka's impassive face broke into a small smile.

Instantly, he laid out his plan.

His aura, invisible, expanded and reached the boxes, entering them and covering most of the balls, as well as All Might's hand, without him realizing.

Then, Taka simply waited.

In the meantime, All Might took out two balls, designating the first teams that would fight against each other—Mina and Kaminari as heroes, and Sero plus Aoyama as villains.

Then he went back to rummaging through the boxes, alerts popping up every now and then.

Taka simply remained calm, waiting patiently with a watchful eye… until—

'There it is!'

A level four, nearly five.

That was the highest so far.

Whether it was Bakugo or Todoroki, it didn't matter. Both worked.

He supposed there was a chance it would be Midoriya too—albeit, as he was now, he wasn't much of an opponent, even if the alert said otherwise.

Quickly, he made sure to lock onto it with his aura, discreetly pushing it into All Might's hand along with his team's ball as well.

And, to his delight—

"The second match will be… Team B as heroes, against Team I, as villains!" All Might announced as he showed both balls to everyone.

Both being the ones Taka had chosen.

'And, if my memory doesn't fail me, team B should be…' His eyes darted across the class, until they landed on a particular someone… who was also glancing his way, eyes narrowed.

Todoroki.

The moment the two made eye contact, Taka snorted and glanced back ahead.

For having escaped eye contact, that would have been his defeat, and a loss in aura.

But just before looking away, Taka had shot him a cocky smirk, changing the meaning of it all completely.

Utter disrespect.

Taka didn't quite catch what Todoroki's expression was after that, but judging by his daddy issues, he probably hadn't liked it much… not that anyone would like it.

But that was what he wanted.

The angrier he was, the better Taka would aura farm.

'Albeit, I guess I'll have to take care of her.' He thought as he shot Hagakure a short look. 'That guy does pack quite the punch.'

If Todoroki went on a rampage, the girl wouldn't be able to do much.

'Well, fighting with ease while protecting someone at the same time is even more auratic, isn't it?' Taka mused with a smile.

Hell yeah, everything was coming together.

Now, all he needed to do was bide his time… until his turn came.

…

°

°

°

| Minutes later… |

...

"Hero team, wins!!!" All Might shouted as the image of Mina touching the bomb with a smug look was projected to everyone watching the big screen in the monitoring room.

After a not-so-tough battle in which Aoyama was knocked out quickly—forcing Sero to do most of the heavy lifting, blocking most of the room with his self-produced tape, only for Mina to dissolve it all easily with her acid and Kaminari to stun him just as quickly—the first battle of the day came to an end.

Soon, the two teams made their way into the room, standing at the center for All Might's evaluation of their performance.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, who can tell me who was the MPV of this combat exercise?" the hero asked, scanning the room.

Yaoyorozu, ever the applied student, was the first to raise her hand.

Once given the word, she spoke. "That would be Ashido-san. Not only was she superior in combat against Aoyama-san, taking him out first, but after that, she also proceeded to weaken all the villain's precautions with her Quirk, making it easier for her partner to make the most effective use of his Quirk. On the other hand, the villain team lacked in quite a few aspects; there was no coordination between Aoyama-san and Sero-san, which ultimately led to—"

A minute or so later, Yaoyorozu finished with her profound analysis of each team's performances, leaving even All Might, who was the teacher, a bit at a loss.

Still, nothing of what she had said was wrong, so he simply assented and praised her—albeit a tad intimidated.

With the review over, it was time for the second match.

"Alright, everyone, let's change locations and go onwards to the next match!" All Might announced, and soon, everyone began moving towards the next building to destroy.

Minutes later, the class had gone towards the monitoring room of said building, while the next two teams went to their respective posts on the bottom and top floors.

One of the teams being Taka and Hagakure, the villains.

The heroes—Todoroki and Sato.

'The top, huh? Very fitting for aura farming.' Taka thought as he watched down through the window of the room they were in, a satisfied deadpan on his face.

"Let's do our best, Taka!" Suddenly, someone called out from behind. That being Hagakure.

"Hm." Taka turned, giving her a brief nod.

He wasn't sure about his best, but he for sure would put his utmost into aura farming the heck out of his opponent.

"So, do you have any plans?" Hagakure asked, her tone very earnest and somewhat urgent.

Taka took a bit to answer.

After all, he couldn't just say his plan was to be flexing while Todoroki went all out.

So instead—

"We crush them with overwhelming power."

"So direct!" Hagakure cried out, sounding a bit exasperated.

<[+5 aura!]>

Though it seemed to have done the job Taka intended.

Still, she was right. So he added a bit more detail, so she wouldn't feel so lost.

"I'll take on Todoroki; his Quirk is a bit wild, so I'm gonna have to deal with that first. If I'm not wrong, Sato's Quirk strengthens him when he eats sugar, but he gets slower mentally. So if you sneak up on him, you should be able to apprehend him before he's able to react."

"Alright!" One of her floating gloves did a fist-pumping motion, though her voice clearly denoted a bit of nervousness. Her invisibility Quirk didn't aid much in combat, besides the sneaking aspect.

'Only in the later seasons was she able to weaponize it somewhat.' Taka mused, recalling how she became able to warp sunlight with her Quirk to blind his opponents.

Then, there was also the moment when, after Aoyama shot a laser at her, she was able to redirect it as an even more powerful attack towards some villain he couldn't bother to remember.

And it happened again when she tanked a full-blown city-destroying laser from the final boss.

Albeit, in doing so, her Quirk bugged out, and she became visible temporarily, revealing herself as she was born to the world.

'Hey… system, if I shot her a full-powered aurabeam of pure luminic energy… would she—?'

<Host, I thought you had moved past that already. What were these past twelve months for?>

Taka clicked his tongue. 'It's called intrusive thoughts. And it's quite difficult not to have them when she's literally naked next to me and I have an idea of how she looks from my memories.'

<...>

'Besides, I was asking for a moment when she isn't naked. That'd allow her to turn off her Quirk for a moment, right?'

<I'm not very informed about the specifics of Aoyama Yuga's Quirk, nor the properties that All For One's laser had at that moment, but in theory, it should work.>

Taka hummed at the thought.

He was pretty sure that after both incidents, they were eventually able to develop a suit for her that would turn invisible along with her.

—That, or her Quirk bugged out so much from that last laser that she got pressured into finding a solution, given her random spasms of visibility.

Either way, he could help her get herself a suit for her condition, or at least be able to turn off her invisibility if she wanted.

<Why would you do that, host?>

'Are you seriously an aura farming system?' Taka asked in disbelief.

<What'd I do?>

He rolled his eyes.

'Shouldn't an aura farmer be able to do anything? Even helping seemingly unhelpable cases?'

<Hmm, indeed.>

Snorting, Taka gave Hagakure a brief look.

'Not now, though. That's not gonna end well.'

Putting the idea for later, he glanced at the door, waiting patiently for All Might to give the announcement of the exercise's start.

Hagakure did the same, calmly standing in silence.

Then—it happened.

"Now… let's start the second combat match of today!" All Might's loud voice rang in their earpiece, snapping both teams into alert.

—RAAAAAANG!—

Then, the loud honk that announced the match's start dropped, setting them into motion.

"Bear with this for a moment."

"Eh?"

Taka's red flaring aura wrapped around Toru, forcing her afloat without warning, earning slightly panicked sounds from her.

Just as she was about to ask what that was about, however—

—Tssss…!—

In an instant, a wave of frost razed the whole building, covering walls, floor, and ceiling.

"Eh?! What's this? What the…?"

Hagakure, who had been floating, remained untouched save for the low temperatures that dropped with the coat of ice that now surrounded the building.

Taka, however, got hit directly by the wave, and ice had crept up to his knees, trapping him to the ground.

"Taka, are you okay?!" Seeing his state, Hagakure asked panickedly from the air, squirming in panic.

But Taka simply nodded, and then—

-Crack!-

He snapped apart the ice trapping him with sheer strength.

With that done, he set Hagakure down and cracked his neck.

"That should have done it for the first attack." He mumbled, eyes narrowing. "Given the big-range attack, Sato is probably out of the building right now, so there's no need to worry about him for now."

Saying so, he began walking toward the room's door.

"Where are you going?"

Taka didn't answer right away.

He opened the door and shot her a small look.

"To force a direct confrontation."

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: I am become author, creator of cliffhangers.)

 

[TheDanny]

Team I, and his partner—

'Hagakure, huh?' He sweatdropped, turning to look—or rather, not look—at the invisible girl at the other side of the group. '…Damn.'

Click to shrink...

Oh shit, what's he reacting to? Can one of his aura abilities actually let him see Toru through her invisibility? I'd add a relevant pic, but considering her current state of costume that wouldn't be very SFW-

The teams were different from the show. Which meant the matches would probably be, too.

Click to shrink...

Oh, nvm. False alarm, he was just reacting to the unexpected events.

 

[Yohnos]

This how I hope a fight between Bakugo and Taka will go (preferably in the sports festival)
View: https://youtu.be/0tFr9rSrKZ0?si=cvagLGEWYr584fQa

 

[Omniverse Infinity]

I'd add a relevant pic, but considering her current state of costume that wouldn't be very SFW-

Click to shrink...

Bro this is qq not sb or sv, give us the porn.

 

[Laath-]

... The MC is kind off an asshole.

 

[Sunēku]

MVP not MPV

 

[The Radiance's Follower]

I propose that we put Toru for waifu position. She deserves it.

 

[TheDanny]

Bro this is qq not sb or sv, give us the porn.

Click to shrink...

I know how you feel, but for some reason this deranged individual put his story in the SFW section of qq.

What is the point to fics if not to goon?

I propose that we put Toru for waifu position. She deserves it.

Click to shrink...

Don't you dare get in the way of the Jiro ship!

Spoiler

 

[The Radiance's Follower]

Don't you dare get in the way of the Jiro ship!

Click to shrink...

img link since it doesn't want to display for some reason.
Toru is best girl. Jiro is an emo poser.

 

[8ightbit]

He had to act mysterious all the time, so going to speak to others on his own volition was a no-no.

<Then you ask yourself why you have few friends.>

'It's the path of the aura—'

<It's not.>

'Pff, what would you know?'

Click to shrink...

I think mc is mistaking edge-lords as aura-farmers..

 

[Omniext]

... The MC is kind off an asshole.

Click to shrink...

I think mc is mistaking edge-lords as aura-farmers..

Click to shrink...

He does come off as trying too hard to be cool, and so it almost rolls back around to not being cool

dunno if it's this type of fic, but I'm almost looking forward to when he's violently forced out of the mindset.

 

[ProtoSovereign]

Don't you dare get in the way of the Jiro ship!

Click to shrink...

Now, now. Who says he can't have both?

 

[Omniverse Infinity]

this deranged individual put his story in the SFW section of qq

Click to shrink...

There's no way that's true.
Checks
WAT?
What the fuck?

 

[Despacitoleo]

There's no way that's true.
Checks
WAT?
What the fuck?

Click to shrink...

WHAAAT

truly and aura farming moment


Shame we cant post lewds here though

 

[Bulldozer]

Mc gonna smack a hoe.

 

[ArbC2]

You should introduce an aura loss system. The edgier he acts outside his vigilante persona,the more aura he loses

 

[The Synonym]

Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

patreon.com/TheSynonym

────────────────────────
[Aura vs Frost… and Punch]
────────────────────────

…

-Crunch, crunch, crunch-

Todoroki's heavy steps crushed the crystalline layer of ice coating the floor as he advanced through the mock building, swallowed by near-total darkness, save for the few occasions a window appeared amidst the multiple corridors.

Misty breath escaped his mouth with each exhale. With the ice now all around, the temperature in the whole building had dropped. However, he was resistant to cold—this level of temperature drop wasn't enough to faze him yet.

Such were the benefits of his Quirk.

No, this was but the result of his own progress.

Even freezing an entire building was effortless, and under normal circumstances, it would have been enough to deal with almost anyone.

Yet, even after such a grand display of power, Todoroki hadn't lowered his guard.

On the first day, he hadn't paid much attention to his classmates. U.A.'s prestige, aside from being the best school available to him, didn't impress him. So, he hadn't expected much of a challenge from them either.

He wasn't being arrogant. That mindset was simply the result of the relentless training he'd endured—training meant to ensure he wouldn't have to rely on that.

To become the number one hero and to prove his damn old man wrong, he had forced the ice side of his Quirk to stand on its own, to make it powerful enough to stand as a sole Quirk by itself. So when he rose as a hero, he would need only it, and not the other part.

And for a long time, he'd believed he had succeeded. His ice output dwarfed that of similar Quirks recorded throughout recent years.

But it was during the Quirk Assessment Test that he realized he'd miscalculated.

Someone posed an actual threat to his objective, someone with an absurdly powerful Quirk.

And that same someone was now his opponent.

Even after that initial wave of ice—fast and strong enough to catch almost anyone off guard—he wasn't certain it would have been enough to deal with him. Still, he hoped it could have accomplished something.

He didn't know the specifics of the other boy's ability, but from what he'd gathered, it was a telekinetic-type Quirk.

A frighteningly potent one.

But that meant the weak point was the user himself.

This ice attack should have caught him by surprise. It was just that fast.

It should have pinned his feet to the ground—at least momentarily.

The telekinesis was strong enough to pull him out for sure. He didn't have a doubt about that.

But as for protecting his feet from the damage that pulling them out from the burning cold ice would do? He wasn't so sure it'd be able to accomplish that.

So, either the boy was still trapped after realizing the damage he would inflict on himself by trying to escape… or he had already broken free, regardless of it all.

Todoroki wouldn't know until he reached the top floor.

But hopefully—

'Nevermind.' Todoroki scoffed.

The stairway to the next floor had just come into view when a figure appeared, descending calmly toward him. Not a speck of ice on it.

Shrouded in darkness, the figure looked like a vengeful ghost. The aggressive design of the costume and the mask, which hid most of his features, only worsened the effect.

The only proof that the figure was human was the eyes beneath the brim of his hat—eyes currently looking down at Todoroki as he finished descending the stairs. Each step echoed sharply through the ice-filled hallway.

Soon, they stood on the same level, meters apart, silently gauging each other's level.

At least—

"You aren't coming?"

Until the figure raised an arm and curled a finger toward himself

A blatant invitation to attack.

"..."

Todoroki didn't hesitate.

-Bang!-

He stomped the floor, and waves of ice surged forward in unison, completely flooding the hallway as they rushed toward his opponent, looking like a violent flood of raw ice.

Yet—

-Swish!-

—SHATTER!—

A single palm thrust from his opponent obliterated the oncoming ice before it could even reach him. The sheer wave of red telekinetic energy sent the shattered remains back past Todoroki, forcing the red-and-white-haired student to stumble a step as he shielded himself from the storm of frozen debris.

'He disregarded it so easily…!' Todoroki grit his teeth, squinting through the blizzard of his own ice as it flew back at him, refusing to lose sight of his opponent.

Finally, the shockwave died down after a few seconds, allowing Todoroki to steady himself and stand upright once more.

But when his eyes settled forward again… all he saw was another finger beckoning him.

'This guy…' His eyebrows furrowed.

Without hesitation, he attacked again.

This time, with less restraint.

—BOOOM!!!—

A massive surge of ice erupted outward, swallowing the hallway whole and tearing apart the surrounding walls.

The entire building trembled under the sheer force of it, the explosion of ice roaring as it expanded across the floor uncontrolled.

And this time, his opponent didn't block.

The ice surged forward unabated—and, eventually, swallowed him whole.

The dark figure vanished beneath layers of ice, completely encased.

"...!"

For a fleeting moment, a glint of regret flashed through Todoroki's eyes.

Was his telekinetic ability perhaps limited by a cooldown or something else that hadn't allowed him to block?

Had he actually gravely injured one of his classmates because he got too into it?

Those thoughts crept into his mind as he stared at the motionless, frozen figure—

—until a sound reached him.

-Crack-

The sound of ice parting. And soon, it was not only that.

His eyes followed each crack, each fissure.

Until he realized it.

They all came from the guy at the center of it all.

—SHATTER!—

In an instant, most of the ice that had engulfed the hallway—and shattered the walls in the process—exploded outward, blasting chunks of frozen debris clean off the building. Somehow, all missing Todoroki in the process.

And there, amidst the falling shards—reflecting the surroundings like fragments of shattered reality—stood his opponent.

Unshaken and clearly unbothered by such a move.

And he made it clear by raising a single finger.

"You get one more try."

His voice echoed through the now-widened hallway, commanding, despite the clear taunt.

Todoroki's teeth ground together, frustration boiling beneath the surface.

He hadn't come this far for his efforts to hit a wall on the second day of classes.

He couldn't lose.

If he did, then he'd be proving that bastard of a father right. That, without his fire, there was little he could accomplish.

And that—he couldn't allow.

Focusing back on his opponent, anger surged in the depths of his being.

So, Todoroki abandoned all restraint. This opponent was clearly stronger than him.

There was only one answer for this.

He had to go all out.

To prove he didn't need his father.

To prove to himself that his efforts hadn't been in vain.

To prove to everyone that his ice was all he could ever need… to reach the top.

"You want an attack?" he muttered, his usual composure cracking as raw frustration twisted his expression. "Then how about this?!"

He dropped to one knee, both hands slamming against the floor.

-Thud!-

And then, it happened in an instant—

—TSSSSSS!!!—

An ice explosion.

Not one meant to merely coat walls or freeze surfaces.

This was ice meant to consume everything.

The expansion was terrifying—erupting from Todoroki's position and swallowing most of the floor in less than a blink, with no intention of stopping there. The entire building was about to be entombed in sheer frost.

That's what should have happened—

—BANG!—

But the monstrous wave of ice didn't make it far beyond the floor.

As if seized by an invisible force field, the advancing mass slammed into something mid-air—and simply stopped.

The ice groaned like a roaring beast, pushing and agonizing to grow beyond that, but failing completely.

Todoroki's eyes widened, confusion flooding his mind at the sudden halt.

Then, it became even worse.

Like a chain reaction, the compressed ice—straining to expand but denied by the unseen force—began to crack. The sound of what had once been a mighty attack collapsing from inside filled the entire vicinity.

Crkcrkrkckrk—

His head whipped around, watching the ice formation all around become filled with fissures.

One of his most powerful attacks—stopped, and destroyed, just like that?

Then, as if to confirm his disbelief—

—SHATTER!—

—It finally collapsed, breaking apart into several fragments.

But they didn't fall.

Under Todoroki's stunned gaze, tons upon tons of frozen debris hung suspended in the air. Almost mystically.

Then, slowly—

They began to circle around him, forming a swirling storm of ice.

He glanced around, startled by what was happening, danger alarms screaming in his mind.

What was his opponent trying to do?

Was he about to turn all that ice against him?

He had to react—maybe erect an ice wall before he could—

"That was your last try. Time's up."

The voice came from behind him.

Todoroki's eyes widened.

In a flash, he spun around and lashed out, sending a wave of ice forward.

-CRASH!-

The ice barely traveled a few centimeters before shattering in place.

But he didn't stop.

More ice surged forth under Todoroki's relentless lash out as he took his distance.

Each wave… weaker than the last.

And each one was effortlessly crushed by the unseen force before it could even come close to its target, who calmly walked after him.

Todoroki's breathing grew ragged, his muscles trembling as the cold gnawed at him.

He was reaching his limit.

Without using his fire to regulate his body temperature, pushing any further meant crossing into dangerous territory.

'I can't… I must not—!'

He swung his arm once more.

-Tack!-

Only for his wrist to be caught mid-motion.

For a brief moment, silence fell between the two contenders.

Todoroki was too exhausted—and too cold—to say anything.

And the boy in front of him seemed to pause, as if lost in thought.

Then, just as the moment stretched—

The boy in black tilted his head.

"You thought you could half-ass this?"

The words struck something deep.

"What?" Todoroki snapped, despite his weary condition.

For a moment, silence fell again, the boy's eyes locking with Todoroki's in a sharp gaze. "You're aiming for the top, aren't you?"

Todoroki didn't answer, whether from disbelief or simple refusal, only known to him

Regardless, the boy took the silence as agreement.

And so, he let out a mocking snort.

"You didn't think you'd reach it by half-assing your way through it, did you?"

"What do you even—!"

"An incomplete person can never hope to defeat me."

"...!"

As if Todoroki's response no longer mattered, the boy released him.

Then—

-Wham!-

A surge of telekinetic force slammed Todoroki into a nearby, untouched wall.

Before he could recover, a binding wrapped tightly around his wrist—the one they'd been given for the exercise. His eyes snapped to the binding in bafflement.

Just like that, Todoroki had been disqualified.

Huffing softly, the boy turned away, shoving both hands into his pockets as he began to walk off.

His business here was finished.

Or so it seemed—

"Wait."

Todoroki's voice stopped him.

The boy turned, casting a sideways glance.

"Your name," Todoroki said, forcing the words out. "... What was it?"

"..."

Silence stretched between them once more.

Then—

"Takahashi. Or Taka. Pick whichever you like."

And with that, he turned his back again, heading toward the stairwell leading down.

In search of his next prey.

…

°

°

°

| Taka's POV: |

…

'That fucker didn't even bother learning my name?'

I clicked my tongue as I descended another flight of stairs, briefly wondering if I should've gone harder on him.

He'd earned a couple more whacks to the head.

'Forget it. He got humiliated more than enough for today.'

Rolling my eyes, I set my irritation aside and focused instead on the seeds I'd planted.

'I wonder if that worked?'

My thoughts drifted back to the last words I'd thrown Todoroki's way. I'd kinda copie—ahem, I mean, gotten inspired by Midoriya's future talk-no-jutsu—the one that finally got Todoroki to stop caring about his old man and start using his fire.

Of course, mine had been far cruder, shorter, and way more condescending than anything the greenhead would ever say.

But hey, I wasn't about to sit him down and give him a heartfelt pep talk about self-acceptance and daddy issues. That wasn't part of my act—or who I was.

Sure, I could try to improvise something convincing. With True Voice and all, it'd probably sound decent.

But it'd just be random fluff without real meaning.

So I went the competitive route.

Either he stops holding back—Or he never beats me.

My main objective was to get him to drop his limiter fast, so he could start climbing in strength right away.

Why?

Because the stronger he gets, the stronger I look in comparison.

Maybe it was a crude method.

But if it worked, it worked.

'That… or he becomes Endeavor 2.0, and I end up being his All Might.'

…

'On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have done that.'

Maybe this was how villain Todoroki started.

'…Yeah. Maybe I should deploy Midoriya to do his magic, just to be safe.'

I was still mulling that over when I reached the next lower floor—and ran into an unexpected sight.

There he was.

Rikido Sato.

Mr. Diabetes Is My Superpower himself.

The moment he saw me, his expression went flat, followed immediately by a nervous sweatdrop.

"I figured something was going on up there…" he said cautiously. "... But given the scale of it, I didn't dare step in. So… you beat Todoroki, huh?"

I nodded. No point lying about his partner's unfortunate fate.

He grimaced and let out a heavy sigh. "Haaah… then just finish me off. I won't even be able to reach you before you blow me away anyway."

I hummed.

That was indeedfully true, but…

I checked the timer on my phone.

"Five minutes," I muttered.

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

I raised my hand, palm forward, all five fingers extended. "How about this? For the next five minutes, I won't use my telekinesis. Until then, you can show the teacher everything you've got."

I'd let Todoroki attack me three times—not just because of the massive aura gains that tanking all his attacks like nothing would get me, but because this was an exercise.

All Might was supposed to point out flaws, give feedback, all that educational stuff, after this.

One-shotting everyone without letting them show anything would've been kinda mean.

…Even though that was exactly what Todoroki did to the team he fought in the show.

But I was better than him, wasn't I?

So I'd give this guy the same chance.

Let the guy show his stuff, then let All Might handle the critique.

And while I was at it, I could aura farm by proving I wasn't just amazing because of my Quirk.

'Powerful and responsible… Truly, I am an exemplary aura farmer.'

<If someone could hear your thoughts, you'd be losing aura in real time.>

'But no one can. Let me be. This aura farming crap is exhausting—I should at least be allowed to relax in my own head.'

"For real?" Sato's voice snapped me back to reality.

I cleared my throat.

"Yeah."

Saying so, I took off my coat and tossed it aside.

—Clang!—

The instant it hit the metal floor, the surface bent slightly under the impact.

Sato's eyes widened like saucers.

"T-that's weighted clothing?!"

"Indeed."

It wasn't.

I'd just used my aura to force the coat down and slam it into the floor.

But he didn't need to know that.

"I guess even without your Quirk, you're no pushover, huh? Just my luck." Sato smirked nervously, but he didn't back away from the challenge. Instead, he pulled a packet of sugar from the belt of his hero suit and swallowed it without hesitation.

His body swelled, muscles bulging as his strength skyrocketed.

Good.

"Come," I beckoned.

And he did.

"Aaaargh!" he roared as he charged.

His lunge was fast—powered more by brute strength than technique—but compared to Seiji, who had both power and agility, this was easy.

A fist nearly touched my nose by mere centimeters as I took a single step back, already knowing it wouldn't reach.

Another punch followed. I weaved past it, slipped under his guard, and ended up right behind him.

He reacted quickly, throwing a blind punch backward. I dodged by leaning back into a limbo, the blow passing just inches from my nose.

He turned around and threw—

…another punch.

Weave.

Then another.

Weave.

And then another—right, yeah. I'd momentarily forgotten the side effect of his Quirk.

I weaved again and—

—Wham!—

I planted a punch of my own into him, knocking him back a few steps.

As he staggered in surprise, I spoke.

"Snap out of it," I commanded, my voice low and firm. "If you don't think while fighting, you're gonna get folded by the first random villain you find."

Despite being in his dulled state, my words seemed to get through. He scrunched his face, visibly struggling to process them and apply them.

Seeing that, I beckoned again.

So he charged.

Punch. Punch. Punch—

—no, that was a headbutt.

I still dodged it, though it caught me off guard.

'That's an improvement, I guess.'

Another punch. Then another, and again another.

He sure was struggling with thinking in that state.

As the repetition continued, I started punishing him harder for it.

Another punch? I dodged and countered with a strike of my own.

Another? I kicked him before he could even reach me.

Another, and this time I redirected his arm and landed a clean gut punch.

The fight went on like that for a while. Eventually, new attacks started to appear.

He was learning—slowly—but there was progress.

Which made sense, given he was trying to learn how to fight while stuck in a cognitively dulled state.

Still, when I checked the time, I squinted.

Only one minute left. Then, we'd win automatically.

But...

'Winning by default is kinda lame, right?' I thought, noticing something on the current floor that made me decide on how to end this combat properly.

With my decision made, Sato lunged in with an uppercut, and I slipped behind him.

He tried to turn—and to his credit, he did.

But before he could react, I thrust my palm into his chest, this time putting a bit more force into it.

That sent him skidding several steps back until he finally forced himself to a stop.

For a moment, he looked ready to keep fighting—but just as he moved to charge again—

-Click-

The sound of binding bands snapping shut echoed through the room.

"Eeeeeeh?!" Sato yelped, staring at his now immobilized wrists. "You lied! You said you wouldn't use your telekinesis!"

I snorted.

"That wasn't me."

"Huh?"

"Hehehe, it was I, Toru! You forgot I was here, didn't you?!" a voice rang out from midair, near him.

Sato's jaw dropped. "N-NO WAY!"

While Hagakure reveled in her sneak attack and Sato realized how thoroughly he'd been played, I bent down, picked up my coat, and slipped it back on, letting it flap in the process for extra coolness.

The dust it had picked off disappeared instantly.

And just as I finished—

{"V-villain team wins!!!"} All Might's slightly baffled voice came to our earpieces.

I broke into a smile from behind my mask.

'That's what I'm talking about, baby.'

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Day just couldn't be worse, went to my parents' home to stay while on vacation, and not only did I forget my laptop's charger (now it's 500 miles away, so going to pick it up isn't an option) I also slept poorly on the bus, got a leg cramp uponn arriving, and got a rash for some reason. Why God, why!?)

 

[The Synonym]

Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

patreon.com/TheSynonym

────────────────────────
[After battle]
────────────────────────

| Minutes later.. |

…

Both teams made their return to the monitoring room not long after All Might's announcement.

Though it was immediately clear that only one of them had been truly successful.

While Toru seemed to vibrate with excitement—even if she wasn't visible—and Taka looked strangely satisfied behind his usual poker face, the other team presented the complete opposite picture.

Sato looked nervous, his eyes constantly dodging All Might's gaze. He was clearly beaten up and exhausted from the fight.

Todoroki was worse.

He wasn't nearly as physically battered as Sato, but his expression was a tangled mix of frustration, dejection, and something close to shock.

And threaded through it all was anger—channeled into a sharp glare aimed straight at Taka.

All in all, it was painfully obvious who the victors were.

Not that Class 1-A needed to guess. They had all watched it unfold firsthand on the big screen—albeit without audio.

It had been an utter defeat for the heroes.

A strange one, however.

Even All Might seemed to think so, judging by the faintly confused look on his face.

Still, he had a job to do.

"Very good work out there, young ones," he praised, stepping forward and giving Todoroki's shoulder a gentle tap. "You fought bravely and showed great promise."

The boy acknowledged the gesture only briefly, glancing up at him for a second before his gaze fell back to the floor.

Sighing softly, All Might turned to the rest of the class.

"Now then—can anyone guess who the MVP was this time?"

Instantly, nearly every pair of eyes turned toward Taka.

He remained impassive, arms crossed, and eyes closed—though he was probably fist-pumping internally.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand, though unlike during the first combat exercise, there was a hint of hesitation in her movement.

"Was it… Hagakure-san, perhaps?"

That answer seemed to surprise everyone.

Everyone except Taka, who didn't react in the slightest.

All Might, for his part, didn't correct her. Instead, he simply nodded.

"Could you explain your reasoning, young Yaoyorozu?"

"Well," Yaoyorozu began, glancing apologetically at Taka, "while Takahashi-san was undoubtedly the one who defeated the hero team and secured victory, I believe he committed several errors that, in any real scenario, would have been dangerous or illogical for villains, or any combatant for that matter, to make."

Taka met her look and gave her a curt nod.

Seeing that he didn't object, she continued.

"First, he allowed his opponents to attack first when, judging by his capabilities, he could have apprehended them in minutes—if not less. Second, he abandoned his role of securing the bomb and his partner to pursue combat. If Sato-san had taken an alternate route or climbed the building from the outside, Hagakure-san would have been forced to deal with him alone, leaving both herself and the bomb vulnerable."

She then turned toward Hagakure, who was a bit startled upon receiving her gaze, pointing at herself baffledly.

"In contrast, Hagakure-san remained by the bomb for a significant amount of time, properly assessing the situation before deciding whether to descend and assist or ambush whatever awaited below. She remained faithful to the objective of the exercise."

Finally, she glanced at the two defeated members of the hero team, her expression turning slightly wry.

"As for Todoroki-san and Sato-san, they both committed notable mistakes. Todoroki-san chose to engage alone, which led to his defeat, when the two of them could have worked together to overcome Takahashi-san. He also risked detonating the bomb by recklessly damaging the surroundings. Sato-san, on the other hand, remained inactive for too long despite the limited time, and in the end committed a similar mistake by engaging in combat when there were only a few minutes more to go by."

All Might nodded thoughtfully, then turned his attention to Taka.

"Those are indeed serious mistakes, young Takahashi. Even if your power allows you to overwhelm your opponents, such overconfidence could easily allow them to seize the advantage in a more serious battlefield, and as a future hero, allowing villains to gain an advantage is a grave mistake. Can you explain why you chose that approach?"

Taka didn't bat an eye before the reproach. Instead, he answered calmly. "It wasn't really part of the initial strategy."

"Then?"

He tilted his head casually. "This was an exercise. Preventing my classmates from being evaluated by ending the battle in a single move would have defeated the purpose of the exercise for them. So I allowed them to show what they were capable of before deciding to end either fight."

He let the words linger for a few seconds, allowing them to sink in.

Even though it had been obvious from the footage, hearing them from Taka himself did stir bafflement from the class. After all, Todoroki had been clearly very strong. Yet, even after their fight, Taka was stating he had allowed the fight to go on of his own volition.

The confidence he was oozing was overwhelming.

"Is he serious?"

"Damn, I'd hate to be Todoroki right now."

"Just what is his Quirk?"

The class was already struggling to take his words in. But then, Taka dropped another bomb.

His eyes sharpened, and his tone grew heavier—his costume amplifying the sudden weight of his presence.

"If this had been real, I would've ended it the instant the alarm rang."

A few surprised gasps escaped the room at the boast.

Yet no one objected. No one called it arrogance.

After the display they had just witnessed, not a single person found it in themselves to doubt his words.

If he had wanted, he could have indeed brought the exercise to an end in a brief moment.

Sato scratched the back of his head, visibly embarrassed at hearing—out loud—that he'd only been given a chance to fight so he could be evaluated properly. Even if he already knew it.

Todoroki, however, reacted differently.

His expression tightened as the true reason he'd been allowed to fight back settled in.

A single question echoed in his mind.

If Taka had attacked first… would he have even been able to respond?

In a real fight, would he have stood a chance at all?

As Todoroki brooded over the thought, his heart heavy, All Might nodded, a wry smile forming as he looked at Taka.

"Taking your classmates into consideration is a wonderful quality, young Takahashi. However, from now on—especially as these tests grow harsher—don't forget to take care of yourself as well. You came to this institution to learn, did you not?"

Taka huffed softly, but nodded.

Satisfied, All Might turned his attention to Hagakure.

"As for you, young Hagakure, just like young Yaoyorozu pointed out, you were the one who remained most faithful to the objective of the exercise. For that, I must commend you."

"Hehehe~! It was nothing." Toru laughed, her index finger brushing under where her nose would be in unmistakable smugness—at least, that's what seemed she was doing. She was invisible, after all.

Then, All Might turned toward the losing team—his expression shifting into something more complex.

"As for you, young men, don't forget that today is only the second day of school. While your performances weren't stellar, that simply means you have plenty of potential left to develop!"

Todoroki nodded absentmindedly.

Sato, however, clenched his fists, his expression pensive as he stared down at them.

"Yes. Today, I realized there's more to fighting than just raw strength."

He then turned toward Taka, who blinked, slightly startled by the sudden attention, and bowed deeply.

"Thanks, man. Without you, who knows how long it would've taken me to figure that out!"

"Uh… sure." Taka waved him off, sweatdropping inwardly. 'I was just aura farming you, man. No need to be grateful at all.'

He might've also released some pent-up frustration from his earlier training sessions with Seiji. Being the one doing the whooping instead of getting whooped was a strange experience—but definitely not an unpleasant one.

'Still, if he feels like he learned something from it, then I guess it wasn't all that bad in the end,' Taka thought, mentally excusing himself.

With the evaluation complete, the next teams soon stepped forward for their respective matches.

Taka could have acted uninterested. With his current level—and his experience in battle—watching the newly appointed heroes was a bit like watching someone with zero experience trying to look like they knew what they were doing.

Not exactly thrilling.

And yet, that was precisely why he watched most of the matches with a sharp, analytical gaze.

'Too weak.'

They were all weaker than he had expected.

Maybe that was only natural. They were just starting school, after all.

…Or maybe this was the real-life effect kicking in.

In anime, everything always looked more epic than it actually was.

And if that were the case, then the same applied to his classmates and their Quirks.

As powerful, prodigious, or outright superhuman as some of them appeared during certain moments in the show, how many of those scenes were simply dramatic exaggeration rather than a reflection of their true capabilities, or what had actually happened?

Crazy techniques. Unnatural speed. Abnormal strength.

That worked in anime, meant to hype up viewers—but nothing guaranteed that those feats translated cleanly into reality.

Of course, he didn't doubt that some of his classmates would eventually scale to great heights.

But from what he was seeing now…

Some of them had been far more hyped than they deserved.

And that bothered Taka.

'I wanted to create a gap, sure… but this is too much, isn't it?' he thought, glaring at his classmates' matches with a wry look. His total aura might have ended up being a bit too much.

As they were right now, they were simply too weak.

Which, on its own, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, weakness makes strength stand out.

But you know what makes it stand out even more?

Collective strength.

Surpassing the weak—no matter how large their numbers—is a given for anyone with enough strength.

But standing at the top among the strong?

That could only be achieved by someone truly powerful.

And right now, they were far too weak for that.

Taka sighed, shaking his head.

His gaze drifted to Sato, who had thanked him earlier for helping him realize his own flaws.

Then to Hagakure, whom he had considered helping unlock her visible form, and thus embark her on a path to develop actual clothes for her Quirk.

Then, to Todoroki, who remained staring at the floor, lost deep in thought. A more delicate case, sure—but Taka had wanted him to reach his full potential for the same reason as the others.

Finally, his eyes shifted to the screen, where Midoriya was currently fighting—fortunately not against Bakugo like in the show.

His form was sloppy.

His physique barely passable.

His combat instincts resembled those of a chuunibyou convinced he could plan ten steps ahead—even as a punch was flying straight at his face.

He—the protagonist—was the biggest future threat to Taka's aura farming.

But he was also the one who could make Taka shine the most, once he proved himself unchallenged even by him, the wielder of One For All.

The Sports Festival would be in a month or two, if Taka remembered correctly.

If he fought a Midoriya like this, it wouldn't be much of a spectacle.

But if he fought an actually trained Midoriya—one who could fight without destroying himself?

And in front of all Japan?

That would be a literal rain of aura.

And the same logic applied to everyone else.

If he stood out as the strongest in their class, it would be a bit awe-inspiring, sure.

But if all his classmates were strong as heck by the time the festival happened, and he stood as the strongest?

Then that could make it much better.

That was enough to form the idea completely in Taka's mind.

He had accidentally made the gap in power a bit too large.

So why not help them narrow it a little—if only to widen it even more later?

'Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew here. Helping an entire class reach their true potential faster than they did in the show won't be easy… especially since I'm no specialist or anything.'

He paused.

'But giving up the chance to aura farm more isn't something an aura farmer would ever do.'

He huffed, closing his eyes as a small smile tugged at his lips.

'I'm sorry about this, y'all, but…'

His eyes snapped open, scanning everyone with a greedy glint.

'You're all gonna become heck strong—whether you like it or not. For the sake of my aura farming.'

Suddenly, a shiver ran down everyone's spine.

They glanced around, uneasy—but all they saw was Taka leaning coolly against a wall, eyes closed and expression relaxed.

And so, they never noticed the anomaly.

If only they had… they might have been able to skip the suffering coming ahead.

For the Aura Farming path was never easy, even for those unaware of it.

…

°

°

°

| An hour or so later… |

…

Once everyone finished their matches, they received a few general pointers from All Might, and the class came to an end.

After a quick visit to the lockers to change back into their usual uniforms, the students returned to the classroom to await the last lesson of the day.

Taka, of course, was the last to arrive.

—Slam!

The classroom door snapped open as he entered.

Contrary to his expectations, however, no one turned to look. The room remained lively—students chatting, laughing, or busy finding ways to kill time before the final class.

'They're adapting,' he thought grimly.

It seemed he was gonna have to think of other ways to gather attention to himself from now on.

He was just about to head to his seat, slightly dejected, when—

"Yo, Taka! You were amazing out there, man!"

Kirishima's voice rang out, his hand raised in invitation to come.

'... Might as well talk with someone instead of acting like I'm meditating for who knows how long until our last teacher arrives.'

Figuring he had no aura-farming ideas left for the remainder of the school day, Taka shrugged and walked over

Only then did he notice it wasn't just Kirishima. A whole group had gathered around the nearby desks—Mina, Sero, Jiro, Sato, Tsuyu, Kirishima, and Toru.

Before he could even reach them, however, Invisible Girl herself stepped forward.

"Hehe, good job out there, Taka!" she said cheerfully, raising her hand for a high five.

Taka paused for a moment, then indulged her.

He was an aura farmer, not an asshole.

—Tap!

He met her hand cleanly.

"Whoa, that was a really solid high five!" she exclaimed, half excited, half baffled.

Taka gave her a puzzled look.

Seeing his expression, she laughed awkwardly. "Hehehe, I don't usually get such dead-on high fives… or, you know, hand contact in general. Invisibility and all."

Taka nodded, unfazed. "It wasn't that hard."

His aura had somewhat pinpointed the location, after all.

With that settled, he went and joined the rest of the group, Toru following from behind silently.

As soon as he arrived, the first to speak was his opponent from earlier.

"Sup, man. We didn't really get to introduce ourselves earlier. I'm Sato!" The big guy said, offering a fist bump.

Taka met it lightly. "Takahashi. Or Taka."

Sato barely had time to nod before a pink-haired girl popped up between them.

"You were awesome earlier! Just—pshhhh and wushhhh—right through those crazy ice attacks! I'm Mina Ashido, by the way. Nice to meet cha!"

"Likewise, call me Takahashi, or Taka." Taka nodded, fully agreeing with her assessment of his awesomeness.

"And I'm Sero Hanta," another voice chimed in, the boy pointing at himself with his thumb.

Next to him, someone else followed suit. "Denki Kaminari. Nice to meet you, man!"

A girl leaned in. "I'm Tsuyu. You can call me Tsu."

Taka nodded vaguely at each of them.

"Taka." He introduced himself vaguely, starting to get tired of repeating himself.

With introductions out of the way, Kirishima stepped forward again.

"We were talking about the exercise earlier, and your name kept coming up," he said, clenching his fist with passion. "Man, you really made an impression. I've never seen anything like that."

Mina jumped in place, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah! It was insane!"

"Yeah, just what is your Quirk, man?" Sero asked, eyes wide. "Some kind of crazy, overpowered telekinesis?"

"No, I don't think that's it," Sato chimed in, rubbing a spot where he'd been hit earlier—even though it had already healed. "He hit hard even without using his Quirk."

"We asked Jiro," Toru added, sounding mildly exasperated, "but she said we should just ask you ourselves!"

Taka glanced toward Jiro.

She was leaning casually against a desk, smiling.

"We weren't sure about approaching you at first," Tsuyu said thoughtfully, finger resting against her lips. "You're kind of intimidating. But you turned out to be nicer than expected—Ribbit."

Jiro shrugged, giving the group a told you so look. "See? I said he wasn't all that—whoa!"

She yelped as the desk she was leaning against suddenly shook.

Instantly, her eyes snapped toward Taka.

Taka, meanwhile, was averting his eyes from her, facing Sero.

"My Quirk is called Muscle to Mind," Taka spoke evenly, expression impassive. "It converts physical strength directly into pure telekinetic energy that I can control."

"Eh?!" The gasp was collective.

Tsuyu was the first to recover, tilting her head faintly. "No offense, Taka-kun, but—"

"Just call me Taka."

"Then… Taka," she corrected herself. "But your appearance doesn't really match the level of telekinesis you showed."

Taka nodded in understanding.

Jiro did the same—earning herself another desk shake that made her yelp and shoot him a sharp glare.

He ignored it and continued. "My Quirk also enhances my body's limits. My physical strength isn't bound by normal human constraints… and since my telekinesis scales off that, neither is it."

He lifted a fist, clenching it slowly. A red aura wrapped around it, dense and controlled.

"It wasn't like this at first. But after enough training, both my strength and my telekinesis reached this level."

"That's… crazily manly," Kirishima muttered, a single tear slipping down the corner of his eye.

"So that's why you're so skilled," Sato said, nodding as he recalled the beating he'd received earlier. His expression turned thoughtful. "…Training."

The rest of the group nodded, a mix of awe and dawning understanding settling in.

"So that's why you felt stronger than when we first met," Jiro commented, recalling that peculiar day.

Taka nodded vaguely.

"You two went to the same school, right?" Mina asked, even though she already knew the answer from Jiro. She just wanted to hear it confirmed.

Both nodded.

Something lit up in Mina's eyes. "Hee~h? So how did you two meet?"

That question formed a smirk on Jiro's face. As if she had just recalled something incredibly funny.

"I was walking home one day when I saw this guy—"

—Screech!

Her speech was cut short as the desk she was leaning on shook noticeably this time, like in an earthquake, making Jiro yelp as she grabbed onto it for balance.

As soon as it finished, though, she shot Taka a venomous glare.

Taka, however, ignored her and spoke in her place.

"She butted into something I already had under control. After that, we stayed in contact. As U.A. got closer, we ended up talking more."

Jiro looked like she wanted to argue—but before she could—

"She also kept pestering me obsessively about this guy all the time, like she was his fangi—"

"STOP!" Jiro screamed, panic flashing across her face.

Taka narrowed his eyes at her, his meaning crystal clear.

'Mind what you say… or I won't mind what I say.'

She sweatdropped and shot back a silent "got it" look.

Satisfied, Taka huffed.

He couldn't let the beating he'd taken that day stain his current reputation—even if the punks involved had ended up far worse.

And as for Jiro, while she still followed Rockinesis' account religiously, she absolutely couldn't let her new classmates see her as some kind of unhinged fangirl on the second day of school.

Still, it seemed the topic wasn't quite over yet.

"You two are from Shizuoka, right?" Mina asked, curiosity lighting her eyes.

They nodded once more.

"Then—wait, are you talking about Rockinesis?!" Mina suddenly exclaimed, visibly excited. "I heard he's from there!"

The question startled Jiro. She'd assumed they would just gloss over Taka's earlier words.

Had she been caught?!

"Rockinesis?" Kirishima repeated, eyes lighting up. "That guy's super manly! You listen to him too, Ashido?!"

Kaminari cut in, equally excited as he looked between Kirishima and Mina. "Wait, you guys are fans too?"

"Of course!" Kirishima pumped his fist. "That guy's basically the embodiment of manliness!"

"I wasn't a huge fan at first," Mina admitted, rubbing the back of her head shyly. "But his music kinda grew on me over time."

"I think I've heard of him," Tsuyu said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Wasn't he a vigilante who got popular recently?"

"Oh, that guy!" Sato nodded, suddenly animated. "I didn't really follow him, but I remember liking that song that blew up."

"Ah, that Rockinesis guy, I've got all his songs on my playlist!" Toru cheered, excitedly.

"Yeah, same," Sero added, squinting as if digging through his memory. "I feel like I hear his stuff pretty often."

This time, Jiro, who had seemed completely reserved about the topic, leaned in instead, eyes wide in excitement.

"So you all like him too?!" she said, grinning. "That's sick!"

Just like that, the conversation derailed completely, turning into an impromptu discussion about Rockinesis.

Leaving Taka standing there, feeling more than a little awkward.

'How do I walk away from this?' he wondered grimly. 'I really don't want to hear people talk about me like this…'

Sure, he loved to hear people praising him and all. But the thought that these people didn't know they were talking about a guy who was literally standing right beside them was giving him some serious second-hand embarrassment.

So much so that some must have slipped through his poker face.

"...?"

Noticing the slight discomfort, Toru tilted her head —to the unawareness of everyone—and asked Taka.

"What's wrong, Taka? You don't like him?"

"Ah." Taka snapped out of his daze, realizing his blunder.

Instantly, all eyes had settled on him.

Scratching the back of his head, he lied through his teeth.

"I don't care much about him." He said, not looking particularly interested in the conversation.

"You don't?!"

That caused outrage in the group—of those more passionate, at least.

"How can you not? His music is godly!" Kaminari asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, and besides, have you seen the moves he pulls off in his shows? They're crazy!" Mina chimed in, looking at him as if he were a lunatic.

"Not liking him is, like, unmanly, man!" Kirishima struggled to come up with a proper protest.

Jiro simply shook his head.

'I should have gone to my seat...' Taka thought grimly.

Fortunately, soon his saviour appeared.

—Slam!

The door opened, and a familiar, unkept figure stepped into the classroom.

"Silence. All of you, to your seats, now." Aizawa commanded, making everyone instantly scramble back to their desks.

'I will never forget this, teacher.' As he escaped the torture, Taka thanked him in his mind, settling on his seat with a content poker face.

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Lots of interaction this chapter, so it was a pain to write. Hopefully, nothing seemed off. Maybe just that I repeated myself a bit too much.

Also, it ended up extra long. Hopefully, that doesn't mean it ended up boring as well. Luckily, with the plans I set in Taka's mind, it wasn't.

Anyway, my leg still hurts, and see you next chapter.)

 

[TheDanny]

The instant it hit the metal floor, the surface bent slightly under the impact.

Sato's eyes widened like saucers.

"T-that's weighted clothing?!"

"Indeed."

It wasn't.

I'd just used my aura to force the coat down and slam it into the floor.

Click to shrink...

Leaving Taka standing there, feeling more than a little awkward.

'How do I walk away from this?' he wondered grimly. 'I really don't want to hear people talk about me like this…'

Click to shrink...

I honestly love this goober. Bro has more personality than 99% of fanfic protagonists.

 

[Hickity]

Even with all the edge, he can't escape being a dork. It'll be interesting to see how you plan on working with some of the quirks.

Also try some psudocream for your leg, that shit works on most things and if it doesn't that's when you see a doc.

 

[Yohnos]

That man is literally Satan from Dragon Ball, yes he's talented but his greatest strength comes from the crowd believing everything

 

[swarm]

I honestly love this goober. Bro has more personality than 99% of fanfic protagonists.

Click to shrink...

Just the capacity for discomfort and embarrassment does a big difference to humanize him

 

[VincentFS]

Ngl, this is the least aura I've seen of any aura farming fic.

 

[1eyed1]

Jiro simply shook his head.

Click to shrink...

Her



I am kind of expecting everyone to find out when the dorms open. Jiro will see his guitar in his room during the inspections and finally out two and two together.