Chapter Text
Heart and Ki
Chapter 10
A little over two years since his training began, Izuku Midoriya was no longer able to make any real progress. He had become stuck at the last difficulty increased by his master, the most recent one. No matter how much he tried to increase weights or endurance, he would reach a limit and end up damaging his body.
Goku had subjected him to deep meditation training, hoping that introspection and mental fortitude would awaken his Ki, but to this day there had been no change.
Over the weekend, Goku took his student to Mount Paozu, having noticed the stagnation.
Izuku collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. Goku watched him, trying to read his Ki, but there it was: dormant. Just as it had been for the past few years, a slight growth meant only to sustain the body’s performance increase, but nothing that would place it at an active level.
For Krilin and him, it had been something natural, as if their bodies had always needed to use it, so when Master Roshi exposed them to it, they simply moved forward without even realizing it.
“Something is missing." Goku said, watching his student recover. “A push. A step.”
Izuku managed to stand up again, trying to understand what his master meant. It was a mystery he had spent hours and hours trying to solve, yet it never came to him.
And time keeps running.
Heart and Ki
We now join Izuku as he finishes another day of school. The sky had not yet been tinted orange when the young man prepared to leave, gathering his belongings into his backpack.
The problem came when one of his analysis notebooks fell due to his own carelessness, lost deep in his thoughts.
Before he could pick it up, someone stepped ahead and lifted it for him. Much to his horror, it was Katsuki Bakugo, accompanied by two other students from the same class.
Izuku swallowed hard as he saw his childhood friend holding the notebook and showing it to his two companions. Mockery followed immediately.
But that did not stop him from asking.
“Ka-Kacchan, can you give the notebook back?” He was still nervous, but he managed to ask anyway.
Katsuki had already humiliated him earlier that day when the teacher revealed the results of the vocational exams, showing that Izuku still wished to attend the hero high school, that is, U.A.
Izuku was not trembling, but he was not in his safe zone either when facing Katsuki. And that was the problem, despite the facade of resilience, his expression still showed some fear.
The worst came when Katsuki, without any apparent provocation, lightly detonated the notebook’s cover using his Quirk. The damage was minor, but the first pages were undoubtedly charred.
Without hesitation, Katsuki threw the notebook toward the window.
Or at least, that was what he tried to do.
Before it could go out the window, Izuku jumped forward, pushing Bakugo aside and managing to catch the notebook just before it left the classroom. His reaction time and reflexes had been impeccable.
The only problem was that he had pushed Katsuki in the process, and the user of the Explosion Quirk himself was surprised by the force applied by a Quirkless adolescent.
The two onlooking students stared in shock as Bakugo fell back onto the floor. He was not sent flying, nor was it a hard impact, but it was strong.
A kind of strength Katsuki Bakugo was not used to, or at least did not want to acknowledge. He was aware of Izuku’s feats in gym class, the only place where he could not beat him.
But after the first few months, he ignored it, because in the end he concluded that normal physical strength meant nothing coming from someone without a Quirk, because even then, they would have no place among heroes.
A person without a Quirk could not be a hero.
And by extension, all of Izuku’s efforts were meaningless.
Yet here was that Quirkless boy who made him special; somehow, he had managed to push him and recover the notebook.
Izuku’s tunnel vision at the moment was focused only on his notebook, uselessly trying to remove the damage from the explosion. He had not even noticed Bakugo on the ground.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The blond student growled.
In an instant, he lunged from sitting on the floor to slamming Izuku against the wall. Desks were shoved aside as small explosions went off against Izuku’s shoulder. Nothing strong, just enough to push him more easily toward the wall as a form of intimidation.
He was surprised by the initial resistance, but that was why he applied those tiny explosions.
Izuku yielded in the retreat.
Direct confrontation still scared him.
“You think physical training will give you a Quirk? I’ve seen you these past two years swearing that being physically strong is enough." Katsuki questioned, now gripping his black jacket. “That will never work. All you’ll do is ruin my perfect origin story when a failure shows up to take the exam at U.A.”
Izuku swallowed hard again.
He wanted to answer, with all his strength. To shake off the fear and refute every word his former friend was throwing at him.
But he remained silent.
All he could do was watch the three students leave.
“Just don’t show up to the exam, Deku." Bakugo said, far more satisfied upon seeing Izuku’s attitude.
However, before leaving, Bakugo stopped.
“If you want a Quirk that badly, I know a method." Katsuki said, still looking out of the classroom while his two friends had already left. “Trust that you’ll be born with a Quirk in your next life… and jump off the roof.”
That was the last straw for Izuku.
Years of mockery and abuse.
The cynical, mocking look on his friend’s face as he left the classroom was enough to show his anger, ready to confront him. Immediately, as a tacit threat, Katsuki used his exposed hand, creating small explosions.
It was not enough, Izuku stepped forward.
“You shouldn’t joke like that, Katsuki." He replied to the surprise of everyone present. His gaze was severe; his hands clenched in fury and frustration. “I would never do it, but there are others out there in a worse position than me who might. All Might saved many of them.”
That was enough to wipe the satisfied smile off his face. He was furious that Izuku had confronted him, but his words struck home, especially when he mentioned All Might.
“All Might saves the world. That includes those who can’t protect themselves.”
Katsuki did not stay to hear the reprimand; he simply slammed the sliding door shut.
Izuku remained silent for a few moments, taking advantage of the stillness of the empty classroom to calm himself. It took a bit longer than he wanted, but he had to leave.
His training would not wait.
Heart and Ki
As someone new to the city, he had to find places where he could buy food. A convenient market along the way was very useful, and knowing all these spots was very important.
Leaving the store with his groceries, two things caught his attention.
First, there was a child, no older than thirteen or fourteen, running down the street carrying two buckets of water over his shoulders.
Curious.
“That’s an interesting training method." the man thought as he watched the boy. He looked motivated and focused, despite the occasional mocking glances from onlookers. “Good for him.”
Then the second thing happened. Seconds later, several shouts were heard, calling for a hero.
A villain was on the loose.
The loose shirt and pants tightened as his muscles grew, making sure no one around was watching him. Of course, everyone was looking at the escaping villain.
“A hero’s work never ends.”
Suddenly, the crowd noticed his presence.
“It’s All Might!”
Heart and Ki
His routine improved thanks to breath control. It was impossible to compare his beginnings to his current performance; he moved in a stable and structured manner.
Without knowing it, that saved him from a certain incident. As he passed beneath a short tunnel, Izuku never noticed that the villain All Might was chasing was hidden within the shadows of that low passage.
He was looking for a simple human disguise to take over. The problem was that Izuku was moving too fast for the villain to ambush him.
By the time he exited the tunnel, Izuku stopped a few meters past the exit and looked back. A strange chill ran down his spine, as if someone had been watching him.
Deciding it was just a random occurrence, Izuku stood there for a moment, watching cherry blossom petals fall before deciding to continue his routine. It was a perfect afternoon to train.
Meanwhile, inside the tunnel, hidden in the upper shadows, the villain let the adolescent escape. Attacking a moving target was difficult, and with All Might on his trail, he had to keep a low profile for longer.
In fact, peeking slightly from the shadows, that hero was leaping across rooftops, searching for him attentively.
“I dodged a bullet." The Sludge Villain told himself, watching the hero move away.
It was best to continue trying to remain unnoticed in dark alleyways and look for a better target. Something more decisive.
Heart and Ki
The sunset was already upon him.
The embarrassment had faded weeks ago. Thanks to the adjustments and dynamism of his training, Izuku ran through the more deserted streets of Mustafu whenever possible, despite it being a time of high pedestrian traffic. Even so, though the street was partially empty, there were still many people who watched him run.
This time, with two buckets of water, one on each side, supported on his shoulders by a pole. The buckets were filled with water, and the goal was to prevent them from spilling due to oscillation while running.
That is, to avoid unnecessary movements by adjusting his running form. The first few months had been a nightmare; he could not run very fast, and the exercise changed day by day, whether due to the change in daily routes or the types of buckets he had to carry, like now, or one on his head, or carrying one in his arms, or one on his back.
His center of gravity changed constantly, so he fell constantly. It was not until the second month that he began to become more consistent. It helped that this was not training pulled out of nowhere; the months spent training his balance and legs had prepared him for this.
The only problem at that moment was that the street was being blocked by an incident.
“Heroes in action?” He said to himself, stopping in front of the people.
He had not seen heroes in a long time, and it took only a couple of minutes less to see them in action.
It was a commercial street, with people gathering at both ends of the road, while the action was happening in the center. There was a recently extinguished fire, with several heroes controlling the damage.
But not saving the person in danger.
They looked powerless and frustrated. Death Arms, Mount Lady, Kamui Woods, and many others were only watching.
Izuku left his buckets on the ground, approached, and with some difficulty made his way through the crowd. They also shared the horror of the situation, and their comments managed to put him in context.
“That’s the villain All Might was chasing. Sludge Villain." one of the people said.
“He managed to evade him for quite some time, but all of a sudden All Might disappeared." another individual’s comment caught his attention.
And with that, he began to closely observe the conflict.
He soon understood the cause of the small fires the heroes were controlling; they were explosions. Explosions coming from the person trying to protect himself from the attacker.
Explosions he knew very well.
Katsuki Bakugo.
It was clear that he was resisting with his powerful Quirk, but even so, it was not enough. Suffocation was the adolescent’s greatest enemy and the villain’s main weapon.
Izuku panicked.
“Why is nobody doing anything?” The adolescent questioned himself.
He saw the heroes cursing their luck, implying that they did not have the necessary Quirks to face the enemy. But the outcome seemed fatal.
“If nobody intervenes, Kacchan is going to…” That thought was enough.
What came next required no thought.
Only reaction.
He ran.
“Why am I running?” He said to himself, frightened for Bakugo, for his actions, for what might happen. “My legs are moving on their own.”
He could hear everyone’s protests, from civilians and heroes alike, all begging him to stop. But even so, he kept running, without stopping, with strength, with determination.
“What should I do?” He questioned himself as he approached the villain at great speed. “Think, Izuku! Think!”
But in the end, his mind only traveled to his Ki manipulation notebook. He did not even remember all the text, he only saw one word stand out, one that had come to his mind several times.
One he did not fully understand.
Courage.
Step. Step. Step.
The part of Ki tied to emotions.
Courage!
Step. Step. Step.
Ki could not flow if there was fear.
COURAGE!
Step. Step. Step.
COURAGE!
Heart and Ki
All Might was among the witnesses. Many screamed in horror as they saw the boy leap into action.
The villain had been harder to find than he expected, so much so that his daily transformation time limit arrived before he could capture him. And now, due to his incompetence, children were paying the price.
An adolescent, no older than the boy being attacked, ran toward the villain, unlike all the heroes who did not move.
It was the same boy he had seen a couple of hours earlier, training with those buckets of water. He was fast, quite so for an average civilian. He dodged the villain’s attacks without trouble.
In a somewhat strange spin around his own axis, the boy took off his shirt and the dumbbells from his wrists. It was a curious attack attempt, because the three pieces of clothing seemed to carry considerable weight when they struck Sludge Villain.
It was what he needed to create an opening.
The trapped adolescent had managed to free his mouth.
Heart and Ki
“What are you doing, Deku?” It was a question disguised as a shout.
He could see his former childhood friend, the one who had ridiculed him for years, giving everything he had to try to free him.
“My feet! … My feet moved on their own!” Despite the response, the boy continued digging into whatever the villain was made of. But even though he managed to tear away part of the sludge, another quickly replaced it.
“What do you think you’re doing, brat?” The villain complained. “Don’t interfere in what doesn’t concern you!”
Desperation was not only consuming Katsuki, but also Izuku, as he saw that all his attempts to free him were useless. What was worse, the sludge was now trying to cover him as well.
“It doesn’t matter! This way I’ll have double the chance! A new body and a hostage!” he concluded with laughter, truly proud of himself.
Now the struggle he was trying to put up with his arms became pointless as they were covered in sludge; the same happened to his feet moments later. Desperation increased.
“What should I do?” Izuku asked himself.
His hands were covered.
“What should I do?”
His forearms were covered.
“What should I do?”
His feet were covered.
“What should I do?”
The sludge had also covered Katsuki again, this time with twice the force as before, denying him any intake of air. That was the point when he realized that his intervention had only prolonged the inevitable.
Nothing had changed.
“…”
“What should I do?”
Heart and Ki
All Might watched the situation in horror. The second boy was now being devoured by the villain, if only figuratively.
And here he was, the Symbol of Peace, hidden among the people like just another civilian. The supposedly most powerful hero of all. Hidden, holding the wound at his side, whose pain resurfaced every time he tried to take on his muscular form, like the laughter of a villain he could not erase from his mind.
“Pathetic.”
But a child leapt forward in the face of necessity.
“Pathetic.”
Not a professional hero.
“Pathetic.”
Not the most powerful hero.
“Pathetic.”
Just an adolescent wanting to help.
He never realized when his determination overcame his pain and exhaustion, when his muscles began to swell once more, when he was already back in his powered-up form.
Despite the steam rising from his body.
Despite the blood filling his throat.
In a blink, he forced his way through the crowd, gaining a clear view of the villain and the adolescents. Only one movement would be enough; nothing excessive, nothing elaborate, just precise.
A second step at an indescribable speed.
A punch forward—
That he did not get to complete.
“AAAHHH!”
He did not have time to register the scream, because more important was the roar that followed. It came from the boy who was trying to save the other, as if it emanated from him, being expelled forward at full speed.
The first thing was that the wind itself was responsible for freeing him. The next was the focus toward Sludge Villain, pushing all the sludge forward and, in a matter of seconds, freeing the other adolescent.
The last thing was that all the sludge that made up the villain was being held against the wall, completely immobilized by air pressure.
And just as it began, it ended.
The scream came to an end.
Despite the shock of the event, it was All Might’s turn to react. With a single blow, he gathered the scattered villain into one point, leaving him at the disposal of the other heroes present. Immediately after, he rushed toward the two adolescents, both unconscious in the middle of the street.
He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that both were breathing.
But that was set aside when he saw how the green-haired boy, who had likely performed the feat of saving the other, was in very bad condition. It was not that he had injuries, but his face and entire body were pale, almost as if he had lost his healthy color. His breathing was ragged, struggling to obtain oxygen.
“Quick!” All Might shouted. “Emergency teams!”
No more was needed for all the heroes present and rescue workers to resume their work.
“Come on, kid. Don’t give up!” He did not know what Quirk could cause something like this, but it was general exhaustion. “Don’t give up.”
Heart and Ki
Dinner had ended at Mount Paozu, and all the members of the house were preparing to sleep: a hearty meal, pleasant conversation, and well-earned rest. Everything was better when Goku was home.
That was what they thought when, before going to bed, the phone left by Bulma rang.
The emergency one.
Chi-Chi was the one who answered.
She did not even get to greet the mother on the other side; the sense of urgency detected in her voice was far greater.
“Chi-Chi! It’s Izuku!” The worried voice coming from the receiver was enough for even Goku to hear it from afar.
It took several attempts for her to articulate words again in a calmer way.
“He had an accident due to a villain attack. They took him to the hospital and treated him for exhaustion.” The mother could be heard through her sobs. “He came back home once they stabilized him. They say he’s very weak, but he will recover.”
Goku was already in motion, the first to put his orange clothes back on and disappear toward an obvious destination.
“Don’t worry, Goku is already on his way.” Said the Saiyan’s wife.
“Th-thank you.” Inko replied, her voice still unsteady, though some improvement could be heard once she managed to answer.
Heart and Ki
It felt as if life itself had been injected directly into him.
Izuku felt trapped in a deep dream while his entire body became unbearably heavy. The exhaustion was so severe that even thinking tired him, breathing tired him.
But then, from one moment to the next, he opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. He looked around, realizing it was night and that he was back in his room.
Immediately after, his mother embraced him.
“Son, you’re okay. You’re okay.” She repeated through tears.
Seeing his master standing in the doorway of his bedroom, everything suddenly made sense. That, combined with the strange taste in his mouth, one he remembered from more than a year ago.
From when he collapsed during his first week of training.
“Senzu Beans?” The teenager asked, finally managing to return to his mother’s embrace.
“Yes, perfect for exhaustion.” Goku smiled upon seeing him awake. “I have to say, this time it really was severe.”
“You were pale, very pale.” His mother intervened, tightening her hug even more. “You didn’t wake up for a long time, but at the hospital they said it was a case of severe exhaustion. They gave you fluids, waited until you stabilized, and then brought you home.”
Waiting for his mother to calm down, he waited for her to pull away before she continued.
“When we got back home, I called Goku.” It would undoubtedly have been strange to present him at the hospital with such unusual medicine. “I’m glad you’re okay, son.”
Goku, who had been observing the entire situation from the doorway, changed his expression, from confusion to hope, almost struggling against joy, as if it were a mask he was trying to keep on.
He waited for the family to calm down before intervening.
“Izuku.” His master spoke. “Can you do the meditation exercise?”
His student was left perplexed by the strange request, and his mother was ready to intervene at the mere thought of continuing training after what had happened to her son.
But Goku winked at her, freezing her anger and replacing it with curiosity.
“What?” His student asked hesitantly.
“I need you to meditate, please. I want to check something.” Came the Saiyan’s sincere reply.
Still perplexed, and with his mother going along with it, both of them stepped away from each other.
Izuku closed his eyes and took a meditative posture, placing both hands over his legs, easily replicating what his master had taught him over the last two years. Calm, stability, and the feeling of all unnecessary thoughts dispersing into nothingness.
“Everything okay, Izuku?” Goku asked.
“Yes, calm, stable as always.” He replied, almost as if his soul were resting.
“Good. Now I need a favor. I need you to focus, just like we’ve practiced.” The Saiyan requested.
This was not a new request. It was something common in their mental imagery training. It wasn’t even the tenth time they had practiced this exercise, but it had never produced results.
Without doubting him, though confused, he replicated the training.
The visualization took only a few brief moments, but he succeeded.
“Focus… focus.” He repeated softly, as if it were the keyword to signal that he had completed the exercise.
“Perfect. Keep the focus and don’t stop.” Goku continued.
Izuku maintained his concentration. Although it was never specified where to focus, he always took his breathing as the center, and then his hands.
He could feel a stifled cry from his mother, like a groan she didn’t dare to complete.
“Izuku.” His master’s voice sounded different now, satisfied, joyful. “Open your eyes.”
The student, curious about all the emotional changes that had occurred since the beginning of the simple exercise, opened his eyes. At the point where both hands connected, palms up, there was a small glimmer.
Tiny, but intense.
An emerald green.
It was Izuku’s turn to make the same sound his mother had made moments earlier. So much so that he failed to notice the huge smile spreading across his master’s face at witnessing this feat, the first proof that all the training over the last two years had not been in vain.
“Congratulations, Izuku.”
He said to his student, who, like a fish out of water, tried to focus his gaze between the glow in his hands and his master.
“This is your Ki.”
Izuku's Power Level: 17.