The massive bot towered over them, its red optical sensors scanning for targets. This wasn't like the smaller training bots they had just defeated. This one was built for endurance testing, designed to push hero students to their absolute limits.
Ryuu felt sweat beading on his forehead as he assessed the situation. The bot's armor plating was thicker, its movements more calculated. Standard attacks wouldn't work here.
Mina shifted beside him, her body tensing as she prepared to launch herself forward. The way her muscles coiled under her costume made Ryuu's breath catch for a moment. Focus, he told himself.
"We need a different approach" Ryuu groaned, but his eyes didn't leave the mechanical giant. "Your acid alone won't penetrate that armor fast enough"
The bot's arm cannon began charging with an ominous whirring sound. They had seconds before it fired.
"Then boost me" Mina insisted, determination blazing in her golden eyes. "I can feel it when you use your quirk. It's like everything becomes clearer, stronger"
She stepped closer to him, close enough that he could feel the heat radiating from her body after their previous exertion. Her pink skin glistened with a light sheen of sweat, making her look even more vibrant and alive.
"Mina, you don't understand" Ryuu started, but she grabbed his hand before he could finish.
The contact sent electricity through both of them. Ryuu felt his quirk activate immediately, resonating with her emotions. But something else came with it, something he had been dreading.
Mina's eyes widened slightly as the amplification took hold. Her breathing became deeper, her cheeks flushing as she felt the boost to not just to her quirk but her entire nervous system.
The sensation was so intoxicating, it felt like every nerve ending had become hypersensitive.
"Whoa" she breathed, her voice softer than before. "That feels incredible"
Ryuu tried to pull his hand back but Mina held on, her grip surprisingly strong. The bot's cannon finished charging and fired a blast of energy that barely missed them as they dove aside the hole it created.
They rolled together, Mina ending up on top him him...pressed against his chest for a moment.
Her body was warm and soft against his, her breathing shallow. When she looked up at him, there was something new in her expression, her already pink skin became even more flushed, making her face look red than pink .
"We need to move" Ryuu squeezed out, though his voice came out rougher than intended.
Mina nodded but didn't immediately get up. Instead she pressed her palm flat against his chest, right over his heart. "Your quirk, it doesn't just boost my acid does it"
Before Ryuu could answer, the bot's heavy footsteps shook the ground around them. They separated and rolled in opposite directions as another energy blast scorched the ground where they had been lying.
Ryuu found himself lying beside a chunk of concrete debris, his heart hammering.
This was exactly what he had been afraid of. The amplification effect was affecting Mina in ways that went beyond her quirk, making her more sensitive to everything including...'physical attraction'.
"Ryuu" Mina called from her position behind another piece of rubble. Her voice carried a breathless quality that made his stomach tighten. "I need you to boost me again. I can take that thing down but I need more power"
The bot was systematically destroying their cover, its sensors tracking their heat signatures. They had maybe thirty seconds before they would be completely exposed.
"It has side effects!" Ryuu yelled back.
"I don't care about side effects" Mina kept on insisting on it, and suddenly she was moving, sliding on a stream of her acid around the debris to reach him. Her movements were fluid and graceful, her body arching in a way that brought out her hips and waist in a way that seemed provocative to Ryuu, as she navigated the obstacles.
She landed beside him in a crouch, immediately reaching for his hand. "I trust you"
The words hit him harder than any physical blow.
Trust.... The one thing his quirk required to reach its full potential, and the one thing he was most afraid of accepting.
The bot's shadow fell over their hiding spot as it prepared to fire directly down at them.
Ryuu made his decision.
He grabbed Mina's hand with both of his, opening himself up completely to the resonance between them. The effect was immediate and overwhelming.
Mina gasped as power flooded through her system. Her acid production increased dramatically, but more than that, every sensation became heightened.
The feeling of Ryuu's hands on hers, the way his violet eyes focused on her with such intensity, the heat building between them despite the danger.
"Now" Ryuu huffed, and Mina moved.
She launched herself upward, her acid forming complex spiraling patterns around the bot's legs.
But instead of just eating through the metal, the amplified acid began to superheat, glowing with an intensity that made the air heat up.
The bot tried to track her movement but Mina was everywhere at once, sliding and spinning around it with impossible speed and grace. Her body moved like liquid, bending and flowing in ways that seemed to defy physics.
Ryuu watched in fascination as she worked, his quirk still maintaining the connection between them.
He could feel everything she felt, the rush of power, the exhilaration of movement, and underneath it all, a growing awareness of him watching her.
Mina seemed to sense his attention because she glanced at him mid-spin, her golden eyes locking with his.
She then winked at him with a smile.
But...
The distraction nearly cost her as the bot's arm swept toward her.
"Duck!!!!"
Luckily Ryuu's shouting warning helped her duck just in time.
"Finish it already" he roared, pouring more energy into their connection.
Mina smiled, a expression that was part determination...but to be honest looking at the smile from Ryuu's perspective, it looks more like a crazed grin.
She gathered her acid into a concentrated sphere above the bot's head, the liquid glowing white-hot with amplified power.
When she released it, the result was spectacular. The acid ate through the bot's armor like paper, systems sparking and failing as the machine collapsed in a heap of twisted metal.
Silence fell over the training ground.
Mina landed gracefully nearby, her chest rising and falling with deep breaths. The amplification was still active, making her hyperaware of everything around her.
But her attention was especially on Ryuu.
She walked toward him slowly, her hips swaying with each step, making it hard for Ryuu to concentrate.
The adrenaline from the fight combined with the effects of his quirk was making her 'bold' in ways she normally wouldn't be.
"That was amazing" she exclaimed, stopping just inches away from him. "The way your power flows through me, it's like nothing I've ever felt"
Ryuu tried to step back but found himself against the debris wall. Mina moved closer, her hand coming up to rest on his chest again.
"Mina" he groaned, but she pressed a finger to his lips.
"I can feel what you're feeling through our connection" she said softly. "You're scared, but not of the fight. You're scared of this"
She gestured between them, the air practically crackling with tension.
"You don't understand" Ryuu muttered, his voice strained. "My quirk, it affects more than just your abilities. It can make you feel things that aren't real"
Mina studied his face, her enhanced senses picking up on every micro expression. "What if they are real though. What if your quirk just makes it easier to admit what was already there"
Before Ryuu could respond, Aizawa's voice echoed across the training ground.
"Exercise complete. All students return to the assembly point for evaluation"
That gave him enough time to dispel his quirk.
Like on cue, Mina stepped back...the amplification effect finally fading as their physical connection ended. She blinked, looking slightly dazed as her senses returned to normal.
"We should go" Ryuu said quietly.
Mina nodded, but as they walked toward the assembly point, she kept glancing at him. Something had changed between them during that fight, something that went beyond just successful teamwork.
Ryuu could feel her attention like a physical weight. He had managed to avoid losing complete control of his quirk, but the cost was becoming clear.
Mina might no longer be just a classmate to him anymore.
As they rejoined their classmates, Ryuu tried to convince himself that everything would go back to normal once the effects of his quirk completely wore off.
But the way Mina smiled at him when she thought he wasn't looking suggested that might be wishful thinking.