"8... 9... and... 10!" I said, sweating, as I let myself drop onto the wooden floor.
I was doing push-ups—muscles don't just appear on their own.
[You're complete trash, Goo. Hahaha]
"Shut up, this is just the warm-up," I grunted, even though my body burned as if I had just run a marathon.
[Warm-up… pathetic. If you don't put in twice the effort, you'll never regain the strength from your past life. Right now, even an elementary school kid could beat you up… Oh, wait, technically, you are one.]
"Dammit…" I muttered through clenched teeth, forcing myself to continue.
After several more reps, I finished panting, my arms trembling. I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower. The moment the water hit my skin, a shiver ran down my spine.
"Aaaahhh, it's cold!" I shouted, as the icy water brought me back to life.
I dried off quickly and put on loose clothing: black pants and a yellow shirt. I stepped out into the room and saw Denki still in bed, snoring as if it were Sunday.
Without saying a word, I grabbed the pillow and WHAM! smacked him in the face.
"Get up, we've got another round."
"Ugh… no, I'm tired…" he mumbled, burying himself under the blanket.
"Perfect, because tiredness is the best coach." I said, dragging him by the leg, ripping the blanket away and shoving him toward the hallway.
Minutes later, we were in the house's backyard, the wind brushing against our faces and the sun barely peeking over the horizon. The sky was painted orange and pink, as if mocking what was about to come.
"Come on, today's not just about holding out—it's about seeing who gives up first," I said, stretching my arms.
[Obviously, you. I give you five minutes before you're on the ground.]
"Want to bet?" I replied under my breath, as Denki yawned beside me.
"Since you dragged me out of bed… this better be worth it," he said, adjusting the strap on his hoodie.
I smiled. "Trust me, it will be."
Denki, still half-asleep, fired a bolt of lightning at me without much aim. I dodged it effortlessly, stepping to the side.
In that moment, I felt it. My eyes caught a glint—a faintly glowing yellow band in my vision. It wasn't just my ability to see emotions and shadows… I could see exactly where and when Denki was going to move. I wasn't just reacting: I was predicting.
I smiled.
This Quirk… is much more than I imagined.
That's when I understood. It didn't just let me see emotions as shadows… it also let me see, almost exactly, where and when someone was going to move. Like a prediction, a few seconds ahead.
Over the next month, we trained almost daily. At first, Denki was excited… but little by little, he began to get tired. I have to admit: in the beginning, he beat me. The first time I felt his shock, I froze up, and he took the chance to win.
But after that… my Quirk changed. It evolved. I saw its full potential. I started predicting his movements with such accuracy that it was like I was reading a script before he acted.
At first, I didn't know how to turn it on or off, so I asked the AI.
[I can do that. I'm your assistant, after all. If you didn't have me, that ability would be permanently passive.]
It said it with such blatant sarcasm that I wanted to throw a shoe at it… but I didn't. I couldn't.
"Denki, this time I'm going to show you what a real fight is."
"Huh? You really think you can beat me if I get serious?" he replied, puffing out his chest like some cartoon hero, while small sparks began to run across his hands.
I simply got into guard. Not just any guard—a clean, low stance, feet firm, shoulders relaxed… the same one I had used countless times in my past life.
The lightning shot out. I saw it before he even finished charging it. I tilted my head and advanced. Another bolt. Side step, hips turned. Every attack he threw was a movement I had already seen in my mind seconds before.
[Come on, Goo. Humiliate him.]
Denki tried to close the distance, throwing an electric punch straight at my face. I blocked his arm with my left forearm, twisted his wrist, and used his own momentum to throw him to the ground with a clean projection.
"Hey, that's not fair!" he protested from the ground.
"In a real fight, there are no rules, brat."
I stepped back into his range. Low kicks to throw off his balance—measured so I wouldn't actually hurt him—quick strikes to the torso to knock the wind out of him, and a grip on his neck that left him immobilized.
"Give up."
"No way!"
With a simple shift of my weight, I sent him to the ground again. This time, he stayed there, breathing heavily, the sparks fading.
[See, Goo. Even if this body is weak, your experience makes up for it. Imagine once you have real strength again.]
I smirked, releasing him and offering a hand to help him up. I stood slowly, adjusting my glasses with two fingers and letting a confident, wide smile spread across my face.
"That's it for today. Tomorrow, we go again."
Denki, still catching his breath, looked at me with a mix of admiration and exhaustion.
"…You're a monster, bro… How did you learn that?"
I brushed my hair back with a casual motion. "I know. I learned it watching Dragon Ball."
"Dragon… what?"
The sun shone over the old backyard, and I knew one thing for sure: with this Quirk and my experience, there was no way I'd end up being just another face in the crowd.
Days later, my "pet" Izuku Midoriya invited me, for the first time, to play at a park near our houses. Yes—play. The kid still didn't understand that I was already several levels above that kind of nonsense… mentally, of course.
And, as expected, Denki—the neighborhood's professional gossip—found out and said he wanted to come too. At first, I turned him down with all the coldness in the world. But in the end… I accepted.
Not for them. No. But because this damn traitorous body still idolizes its "big brother" and pushes me to go along with them. What a pain… although I'll admit, I wasn't entirely against seeing what kind of creatures gathered at that park.
When Denki and I arrived, the first thing we saw was Izuku sitting on the ground, dust on his clothes and face as if he had lost a fight against an old vacuum cleaner.
In front of him, a boy with messy blond hair and burning red eyes was setting off small explosions in the palms of his hands, each boom lighting up the park's dirt yard for a split second.
And there it was. That moment.
It was like my personal radar went off. While Denki looked at him with a face that said, "What the hell?", I just thought: This… this one is worth it.
That's how I met my future partner. Katsuki Bakugo.
Quirk: Explosion.
My lips curved into a wide smile. Not out of courtesy, but of genuine interest. Finally, something that didn't reek of mediocrity.