With Tsu and me being the 'villain' team, the two of us left first to set up our plans and secure the bomb room, with a robot directing us to the new building that would be the battle site.
"Lukas, about what you said earlier… I understand your point of view, but coming off so harsh is bad for relationships, ribbit," she suddenly said, looking up at me. "I don't mind that much, but that's just because I am quite blunt myself. The others might not be as open to it."
I simply sighed as I fiddled with my sword handle.
"Well… I guess I agree, but I would prefer to be disliked and have everyone train seriously rather than the alternative," I replied. "I mean… it was probably this personality of mine that made me only have one friend through junior high, but I was able to live with that."
She simply looked at me in silence for a few moments.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing… I just think you're misunderstanding me. I believe your personality is actually good, and the others probably think so too. Your actions of healing Midoriya despite not needing to also support that," she said. "It's just… well, I guess you might get too serious during exercises like this, is all."
Hmm… I definitely couldn't deny that.
"Yeah… I guess it's a form of competitiveness?" I said with a sigh. "It's difficult… to decide whether to be critical or friendly…"
"Hmm… you know, Lukas… those things don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive," she said, causing my eyes to widen as we entered the bomb room. "Anyway, we should focus on the fight. What was that strategy you wanted to use again?"
Not mutually exclusive… no, the fight!
"Okay… this is assuming that Todoroki will spearhead their attack, and is also confident in his skills… to counter that, we should make use of a surprise attack and division of labour. A 'shock and awe' approach, so to say," I replied with a smile.
—
"Ready? Go!"
With All Might's announcement echoed through the room, I instantly raised my guard, focusing on the feeling from Precognition to catch the opponent's next possible moves.
And a few seconds later… I felt it.
Fast, across the floor- no, across the entire room!
"Tsu!" I said, picking her off the ground as a sheet of ice instantly coated my boots. "Shit… Todoroki can do this much?"
"T-Thank you, Lukas," she said, shivering a bit.
"It's fine. He probably thinks he got you out of the fight with that move, so let's go with the outside plan," I said, using my sword to break the ice beneath me as I walked over to the opened window. "Do you need healing?"
"P-Please," she replied as I activated Empathy Healing, causing a shiver to run through my body.
Damn, she really was horrible with the cold!
"O-Okay, good. R-Remember, Kirishima will probably b-be weak to capture t-tape, so don't focus on knocking h-him out," I said, my teeth chattering due to Tsu's pain. "And also… here!"
Pointing my finger at her, willing Empowerment to enhance her.
"Wait… I suddenly feel much stronger… is this from your Quirk?" Tsu asked.
"Yeah… something like that," I said. "Anyway, let's do this."
"Right!" she replied.
Okay… let's hope our plan works.
I would run forward to intercept Todoroki, while Tsu would go outside to pincer them from behind.
All Might hadn't said anything about not leaving the building, so this should be fine.
And as for going out to take down Todoroki… well, that was only natural.
Fighting in the bomb room would only give us a disadvantage, and thankfully, I didn't have to worry about missing them thanks to Pursuit giving me the ability to sense others.
It didn't take long before I heard the rhythmic crunch of shoes against ice, and entering the hallway, I was met with Todoroki as he suddenly stopped approaching.
"You got out already? I see… then that should make things quicker," he said, raising his hand.
I narrowed my eyes as ice began to flow from the ground, and in response… I leaped back behind the wall.
No… long range was his specialty in this battle, and the only conceivable way to win was if I got into close range.
Honestly, he was probably the second-worst match-up for me aside from Bakugo, so I had really been quite unlucky with the random draw.
But still… I could do it.
As Todoroki rounded the corner, he immediately shot out a spike of ice from the ground, causing me to leap to the side as I drew my sword, using it to push me further to the side.
Dammit, and I couldn't even use Kinetic Dampening with his attacks!
But then again… there was one aspect I hadn't shown yet.
So if I could risk it all to get in close…
I smashed the next incoming pillar of ice with Critical Hit, dodging the spikes that grew from the sides before they appeared, and closed in, with my sword held forward to help me dodge anything else.
His right hand twitched as I was forced to dodge yet another attack of ice.
Wait… his right?
Thinking back… had all of his ice attacks come from his right?
And that would explain why his posture had his right hand facing forward…
Ah. So that was it.
Smirking, I leaped onto a clump of ice on the left, waiting for a moment for Todoroki to correct his footwork to face me.
And as soon as he did, I shot back to the right, nearly slipping as I duck low to the ground, approaching his now exposed left side.
Being such a strong foe, Todoroki quickly corrected himself to not leave his 'weak' side exposed… but that was enough.
To win?
No… not directly.
But to touch?
Yeah… that was close enough.
I ignored the feeling of frost creeping up my leg as I grasped his hand, smirking as I activated the Humility aspect of my Quirk.
Ice… that was his Quirk, or at least part of it.
From how he could melt it earlier in the apprehension test, I assume he could heat as well, but it was restricted to his left side, while ice is restricted to his right.
So he can't use his heat in combat, or maybe he just hasn't found a way yet, but either way, it's like his body is split in half between cold and hot.
That… was the Quirk I would nullify.
"It's my win," I said.
"What are you talking about…?" he asked, confused. "Whatever. You surprised me, but it ends now."
"Oh? Does it?" I asked, smiling a bit wider.
Even if I thought of my current role as a hero in a defensive position, I was technically a 'villain' right now, right?
So this was fine, no?
"Yes, it… it… what?" he asked, staring at his arm in shock.
"Kirishima has been captured!" All Might said.
And with Tsu finishing her part, I guess it was mine.
Dodging his uncoordinated punch, I moved to the side, pulling out the capture tape as I quickly wrapped it around his body, tying it off before tripping him to the ground.
"Sorry, but as I said before-"
"Todoroki has been captured! Villain team wins!"
"Well… as he said, it's my win," I finished with a smirk.
"What…" Todoroki muttered, his eyes wide in shock, much different from his previous indifference.
After releasing him, I struck my leg with my sword, breaking the ice that was encasing it after a few tries.
Ouch… yeah, that wasn't the prettiest takedown, but considering who it was up against, and how it was my first Quirk combat aside from my spars with Nejire, I think I did pretty good.
But damn… now that the excitement was over, it was pretty damn cold.
Walking away from the shocked Todoroki, I went over to Kirishima and Tsu near the entrance, with Kirishima having already gotten out of the tape.
"Oh! Tsugai! You were able to beat Todoroki? That's amazing!" Kirishima said.
"Yeah, though only through capture tape… and please, call me Lukas," I said, going over to Tsu. "And well done on your side."
"I guess we make a good team," she replied, raising her fist.
"I guess so," I said, the two of us fist-bumping in agreement.
—
"Alright, young heroes! That was an amazing set of battles!" All Might said, tilting his head. "But Young Todoroki… what happened with your Quirk at the end?"
"I… don't know," he replied. "I tried to use it, but… I couldn't. Almost like…"
"It was nullified?" I finished for him.
A few eyes widened, as they seemed to have understood.
"Wait… Young Tsugai… wasn't your Quirk just healing? How… how can you do that as well?" All Might asked.
Uhh… I would have thought that All Might would have read over our Quirks… but either way, this was a good opportunity to tell my classmates.
"My Quirk… it's called Heavenly Virtues," I said, crossing my arms. "And as part of it… I have a separate 'aspect' for each virtue… essentially speaking, I have seven different powers, though unfortunately, none of them are as crazy as Todoroki or Bakugo's."
"Seven… seven!?" the class simultaneously exclaimed.
"Yeah… though I can't use multiple on myself at once, if you're wondering," I said, shaking my head.
I then went through the seven aspects, or 'virtues', of my Quirk.
Humility - Nullification
This allowed me to nullify Quirks for people I'm in physical contact with. Upon breaking physical contact, the target's Quirk gradually returns to normal function, though it takes longer when I'm in close proximity to them. Unfortunately, I need to have a good base understanding of the Quirk I am nullifying before I can do so.
Temperance - Kinetic Dampening
This allows me to dampen any force through my palms by storing it within my body, which can then be released with a strike. Though, there is a limit to how much force I can dampen, and the percentage I do decreases the stronger the force, so it wouldn't help me against someone like All Might. Ah, and the energy that is stored has to be used quite quickly, or it simply dissipates from my body, so no storing energy before the battle, unfortunately.
Charity - Empathy Healing
This allowed me to heal others through touch, though I feel the pain of the injuries being healed, and it uses up an energy within me that I simply call 'Quirk energy'. I can also heal myself with this, although the energy conversion is a lot less efficient. Also, healing too much in a set time causes me to manifest the wounds physically, though this hasn't happened since I was first using the Quirk and had a lot less tolerance.
Kindness - Empowerment
This allows me to enhance the general capabilities of anyone who I point at, or myself, with the capabilities in question being both physical abilities and Quirks. This ability also used the same 'Quirk energy' as Empathy Healing.
Chastity - Precognition
A passive ability, it allows me to instinctively sense incoming attacks or danger before they manifest.
Patience - Critical Hit
This allows me to instinctively sense a 'point' on an object, and when that point is struck, the effect of my strike is enhanced.
Diligence - Pursuit
This allows me to sense others when I focus, particularly those in danger, and can also place a 'mark' on anyone through sight, but can only have a mark on one person at a time. This mark allows me to effectively track said person, although the mark weakens over time, before being cut off after a few days.
"-And that… is my Quirk," I said, finishing my long talk.
The room was silent for a few moments before Kirishima smashed his hardened hands together.
"What the hell? That's amazing! And taking on the pain to heal others? That's so manly!" he said.
"Yeah dude, that's overpowered as hell!" Kaminari added.
"I… wouldn't consider it overpowered. I doubt I can reach the top 10 with it," I said, shaking my head. "But honestly, that's fine with me. It works best as a supporting Quirk, and I don't care about rankings as long as I save people."
Kirishima's smile somehow got even wider.
"See? That's manly!"
I still wasn't quite sure what 'manly' meant, but I'll take it as a compliment…
"Lukas… then, earlier, when I suddenly felt better… did that hurt?" Tsu asked.
"A… little bit, but it wasn't the worst. It's fine," I replied.
"I see… still, thank you, and sorry for that," she said.
"M-Me too! From the entrance exam!" Hagakure then said, coming up to me. "I… didn't know it did that to you… sorry."
"No, like I just said, it's fine-"
"S-Sorry!" Midoriya interrupted. "For the test, and just before your battle… that must have really hurt… so don't feel obligated to do it again!"
Haa… this was part of the reason I didn't want to reveal my Quirk to everyone… maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the pain part?
"Alright, that's enough. Just… let me make one thing clear," I said, raising my hand to silence the guy. "I am fine with healing you guys. No, actually, I'm happy to do so. Not only is it good practice, but I also don't want my classmates, or any innocent, to be in pain, so don't feel bad about me using my Quirk. All I ask… is that it doesn't make you reckless during training and exercises."
Midoriya gulped as my eyes bored into him.
"G-Got it!" he nodded.
Haa… well, at least that was dealt with.
Although now, not only did I have Bakugo giving me a death glare, but I also had Todoroki focusing his narrowed eyes on me.
"Well said, Young Tsugai! And I think everyone can agree that your display earned an MVP!" All Might said, turning back to the screens. "Now let's continue with the battles!"
—
The rest of the battles passed without issue, and from what I could tell, everyone else seemed to be acting extremely professionally during their fights… well, except for Mineta.
I mean, even Kaminari looked focused, and while I didn't want to say it was because of my words, it did cause me to see my classmates with renewed respect.
But still, Tsu's words echoed in my mind.
Healthy criticism without coming off as harsh… I needed to work on that a bit.
Anyway, aside from that, it seemed that my classmates weren't comfortable with me healing the smaller injuries they had gotten during the training, and it was easy to guess why.
Well… I could only hope that they got over that, because small wounds really didn't hurt to me, likely due to the pain tolerance that naturally came with a Quirk that caused pain to the user.
But with Midoriya leaving to get the rest of his injuries treated by Recovery Girl, the practical heroics training period came to an end, as our class transitioned to the personal training time that took up the last hour of school.
When Aizawa-sensei took us to our assigned gym area, he once again went over what this period would be for, which was a time for us to practice our Quirks in a controlled environment, get advice from our homeroom teacher, and ideally, also use the time to go over the previous training period and correct any mistakes.
Now… what did I want to work on?
While my team had won the battle, and quite quickly at that, it wasn't as if it was a perfect victory.
No… thinking back, there were only two reasons I had won against Todoroki.
First, the advantage that an enclosed space gave me with my Nullification.
If it had been an open area, I wouldn't have any space to manoeuvre, and would have been quite easy to take out.
And second, was Todoroki's own weakness of his left side.
He seemed smart, so it wouldn't be long until he corrected that issue, and it wasn't like every opponent I faced would only be able to use their Quirk with half of their body.
So open spaces and victory without exploiting an obvious weakness… yeah, that was going to be difficult.
So… why not use the resources I had on hand?
"Aizawa-sensei," I said, walking over to the man snuggled into his sleeping bag.
He lazily opened one of his eyes.
"Tsugai… what is it?" he asked.
I quickly conveyed my thoughts on what I wanted to work on and why, and throughout it all, his expression remained unchanged.
At the end, he released a sigh before taking a long suck of his jelly packet before answering me.
"It's good that you're thinking about weaknesses you found despite winning… that's logical. However, these are two issues that many pros still have to this day. Trying to tackle two at once is not rational or an efficient use of time," he said. "So, what is the area you want to improve on more?"
I narrowed my eyes.
Well… considering most villains weren't professionally trained, there would probably be something I could exploit in most of them, even if it wasn't obvious.
So…
"Being able to fight in open spaces… I think," I answered.
"Okay… more specifically, you need a way to close the distance quicker…" he said, taking another long suck of his jelly packet. "I can't give you much advice without taking a look at the battle trials. And even after that, these are the kinds of things students need to find the answer for themselves… but from my own experience, I would focus on your running technique."
"Running technique?" I said, tilting my head in confusion.
"Well… not exactly 'running' technique, but rather, your mobility," he said, closing his eyes. "Keeping low to the ground. Evasive agility. Sudden bursts of speed. Unpredictable movement… these are the skills I had to learn in order to even the playing field against mutant Quirks, since my Quirk doesn't work on them."
Ah… I see.
That… definitely made sense.
"Alright… thank you, Aizawa-sensei," I said, bowing my head.
"I am your teacher… but don't bother me again for today. I need some sleep," he said, closing his eyes.
Giving him another bow as thanks, I then went back to the corner of the room, my hand holding my chin as I thought over his advice.
Keeping low to the ground… that kind of went against the posture I learned from kendo and my own training, so it would be hard to get used to it.
Maybe I could just focus on grappling when I was low like that, and then use my sword purely for defence until I stood up again?
Hmm… just as Aizawa had said, this was tough-
"Uhh, Lukas?"
I paused as I looked to the side at the floating pair of clothes.
Hagakure.
Thinking about it, I had thought she was the always energetic type, but ever since I revealed my Quirk, she had been very quiet.
I had thought it was just due to her focusing on the matches, but even afterwards, she had been silent.
It… wasn't due to my criticism in the first match, right?
Did that… make her think of me as rude?
"Hagakure… is something wrong?" I asked, now a bit worried.
I mean, she had talked to me the most in the class, and we had even been brief partners during the entrance exam, so I would have liked to think of her as a friend.
"N-Not really, just… can we go somewhere… private?" she asked, gesturing with her sleeve towards a room of the gym, likely where equipment was stored.
"Uh… sure?" I replied, following her there.
Once we were both inside, she closed the door behind her, her sleeves crossed over each other as if she was fiddling with her fingers.
"So… why are we here again?" I asked, still a bit confused.
Wait. This wasn't a confession… right?
No… we had only really known each other for a day, and despite liking Nejire for two years, I still didn't have the courage, so it was impossible!
"Lukas… your Quirk… or rather, the Quirk nullifying one… can you use it on me? Please?" she asked.
She… wanted me to use it on her?
"Hagakure… I'm sorry, but my Quirk doesn't work on mutant Quirks," I replied.
"That's fine! I know it's a long shot! Just… please try?" she asked again.
Giving her a small nod, I moved forward, grabbing her arm as I activated my Quirk.
The Quirk was quite simple.
Invisibility.
From lunch, I noticed that I couldn't see the food she ate once she closed her mouth, so it must be invisibility that coated her outside, rather than every single cell being invisible.
And from the fact that she could see while being invisible, it wasn't just light passing through, but more like a perfect image of the background being projected on the opposite side of her skin.
That was Hagakure's Quirk.
And then, with those thoughts in my mind, suddenly… a girl appeared.
"Uh, Lukas? What's wrong?" the girl said, her green hair shining under the light from the window. "Did you try? I guess it was too much to… ask…"
Her words trailed off as she looked downward at my hand holding onto her arm.
Her visible arm.
We both paused in shock before Hagakure quickly took out her phone, switching it to the camera app as she stared at her face with wide eyes.
"I'm… not dreaming, am I? This… this is real?" she muttered before looking at me. "Lukas, please tell me this is real! How… how do I look right now!?"
I stared at the girl in question.
She had wavy yellow-green hair that reached down past her shoulders, with pink specs that glittered in the light, and bushy eyelashes of the same chartreuse colour.
Her eyes were big and round, with irises that were a gradient of teal and yellow, both of them looking into mine with a range of emotions.
Excitement, wonder, worry, fear, and… something else as well.
A small nose, thin lips, pale skin, and a natural blush adorned on her cheeks, she looked like she was glowing even without a hint of makeup.
So, in response to 'how do I look right now', there was only one proper response.
"You look… very pretty," I replied, my voice quiet as I was still a bit stunned.
Her natural blush got a bit more pronounced and her lips opened into a wide smile before she quickly pressed into my chest for a hug, her arms wrapping tight around my waist, while I kept holding her back to continue activating my Quirk.
"T-Thank you… Lukas, thank you so much…" she said, her voice trembling on the edge of a sob, as if trying to hold back her tears. "Y-You don't know… how much this means to me!"
I felt my shoulder start to get wet, likely from her tears, as I carefully wrapped my arms around her back in kind, hoping to provide some comfort.
"I can't imagine… do you want to talk about it, or no?" I asked.
"M-Mhm!" she nodded. "I-I… ever since I was four… my parents haven't seen my face! I haven't seen my face! M-My nose… my hair… I didn't even have any memories of it! Just baby photos!"
I moved my hand to gently pat her head.
"I-I always have to talk so expressively! It's exhausting, you know? But if I don't, n-no one even notices me! Even when I do, they can't look in my eyes! L-Like, that's my nose, dummy!" she laughed, her nose sniffling as she let out a small laugh. "P-People always bump into me, on the train and in the halls, and I can't even blame them! No one can see where I'm looking, so they always think I'm ignoring them when I'm listening, or focusing on them when I shouldn't, like s-some kind of creep!"
I gently ran my hands through her hair, which had a few knots, likely due to the difficulty of brushing invisible hair.
"I-I could never do my hair, and when I tried wearing coloured contacts to have eye contact, everyone was creeped out by the floating pair of eyes that disappeared when I blinked! Like… how dumb is that?" she said.
Picturing such a scene, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit myself, before I quickly held it back.
"S-Sorry… that must have been hard," I said.
"N-No… it was probably funny… no, it was definitely funny, hehe~" she said, shaking her head. "I just… needed to get that out… thank you."
She slowly separated from me, her eyes, now red from tears, looked up at me as her lips spread into a joyful smile.
"Thank you, Lukas," she said again, her arms still holding onto the sides of my shirt.
I felt my heartbeat quicken at the sight.
This girl becoming visible… it was a bit dangerous, when she looked at me like that.
"N-No problem," I said, averting my eyes. "A-Anyway, since you had it tough with being invisible when you want, I can nullify it whenever you want, but…"
"But…?" she said, tilting her head with upturned eyes.
Yup… dangerous.
I couldn't lie to myself, I definitely felt a bit attracted to the girl, and while seeing this face of hers definitely helped, it was also due to her personality.
How could I not? After all, it was very close to Nejire's in how she was cheerful, friendly, positive, and extremely approachable.
But… they were a bit different as well.
Nejire was curious and high-energy, almost to the point of being overwhelmed, in a good way.
Hagakure, on the other hand, was more relaxed, playful, and… easygoing. To put it simply, a more subtle type of outgoing.
I wonder… was her true personality even more subtle, but she had been forced to act more outgoing, as she had said?
I was curious… but first, her question.
"Since I can nullify it, your Quirk is an emitter Quirk, and so… it is very likely that you can control it yourself with enough practice," I said, watching as her eyes widened in realization. "It will probably hard, to change how you view your Quirk so much, but… I can help you during this personal training time, if you would like."
I then released my hold on her, removing the Quirk nullification. But since I was still close to her, it didn't immediately return to normal, as she slowly began turning more transparent in real time.
Almost like the opacity of an image being lowered… it was a bit creepy, though I wouldn't say it. I can imagine that it's what ghosts would look like if they were real.
"T-That… I'd like that… a lot. Please," she said, lowering her head.
"My pleasure. It's quite easy, after all," I said, reaching up to scratch my head. "And on that note… do you want to show yourself to the others? I'm sure they'd be interested."
She thought in silence for a moment, before slowly shaking her head.
"No… not until I can make myself visible by myself…" she said.
"I see… and your parents?" I asked.
"T-The same thing… I want to show them with my own power… I-If you don't mind!" she said, waving her hands in embarrassment.
"It's your Quirk, Hagakure, so feel free to do what you want," I said.
"R-Right… but for now…" she said, looking up at me with a teasing expression, her hand reaching to grip my shirt. "You're the only one whose seen my real face, Lukas. You're pretty lucky!"
Yeah… maybe I was.