Heroic Path of the Butterfly

"You know, Toshi," said Keun with a serious, neutral, angry face, "Had my teacher’s predecessors seen that, they would have been inspired by you and glorified as the Great Master of Discipline." "W-wait, let’s n-not be so harsh on the remarks-" "'Harsh on the remarks'? The only way I’d be harsh on them is if you didn’t get an untrained middle school kid to PULL A FRIDGE WITH YOU SITTING ON TOP OF IT IN ALL YOUR MUSCLES!" What is the reason for their heated argument? Well, in some ways, it might even be considered amusing. The fact is that when the woman was able to find time off from her work, she decided to visit her friend with his ward on a littered beach (read "dump"), which they cleared as a special exercise. She expected a lot from the Hero due to his little experience in training someone, but what she saw ended up being beyond all her expectations. "Listen," she continued with a sigh, struggling to contain her emotions, "I... I know you have some sort of 'crash course' and all, but don’t you think that’s a bit much?" "W-well, you know, I just wanted to demonstrate what he should be aiming for." "You are the All Might yourself, you represent the highest level of ambition with one look, and he is your biggest fan!" While they were arguing, the young man was lying face down on the sand, barely keeping track of their words. Realizing that they were unlikely to stop, he intervened. "D-don’t argue, i-it’s OK-" "Midoria, no," the woman said, "Don’t you dare start making excuses for him, because in this situation, he was being unreasonable and could harm your health! What good will training be if the only place they take you is a hospital?" The boy’s face became bewildered – even shocked – as if someone had made him question the world for the first time in his life, which, given the circumstances, is not entirely untrue. After all, it’s not every day you see a person, not even another Hero or Villain, questioning the words of Number One himself. "Well!" she continued in a more relaxed manner, "We’ll take a break, I just brought some snacks, so we can have a mini-picnic." “B-but-” "And don’t you dare argue with me, both of you, understand?" There was a unanimous agreement and, thinking for a moment, Nuuhari spread a tablecloth over the sand, immediately sitting on it, after which the other two followed suit. The treats were mostly baked, simple, but from that look no less varied. "Mmm, how delicious!" exclaimed Midoria as he ate his delicacy. "Hmm, thank you," said the woman proudly, "I haven’t been able to do it very often lately, but I’ve never lost my honed skills." "Did you do all this yourself?" "Well, yes, I did." "You’ll need to talk to my mother about it, she’d be happy to learn how to bake!" "That would be nice." There was a silence in which everyone allowed themselves to relax and enjoy the food. Until Nuuhari remembered her words. "By the way, Toshinori." From mentioning his name, Hero only wavered and turned his attention to his friend, not risking words for now. "To be honest, your idea of clearing the beach is very interesting: it contributes to the uniform development of different body parts, and in addition, it allows you to visually accustom to the use of this kind of socially useful activities, which is also useful in his chosen profession. But you’ve clearly forgotten something, namely your power." These words caught the attention of a teenager who stopped while chewing. Seeing this, the woman also turned to him. "I guess my friend didn’t explain something to you. You see, as you know, his Quirk works as a means of accumulating and transferring physical strength, with each new owner that power grows more and more. The more people it’s passed and the longer it’s been used, the more powerful it is. And it turns out that you’re going to get pure physical strength developed by a few people for decades." Distracted by the narrative, she picked up a donut, from which she had an idea. "Describing on fingers, you can visualize a doughnut or something like that: some confectionery product need to be additionally filled with cream filling and if you use the right amount, then most often everything remains intact, but if you go too far and input at a time more than you can fit, then," - for clarity the product was torn into two pieces - "we get a defective product." - After these words, the 'chump for example' was safely eaten. Seeing what was being hinted at, the boy shook in horror, as if an electric shock had passed through his body and his face was frozen in a grimace. "S-so I-I'll be to-torn ap-part?!!" he exclaimed in horror. "Unless we take care of preparing your body," Keun hastened to reassure him. "And that’s why I decided to bring you here!" All Might chose to join the conversation. "Many people believe that the Hero’s job is only to conduct daily patrols and cull all sorts of scoundrels, forgetting that the conduct of socially useful and charitable activities is no less important." "Back in the day, even before the Hero Society, as we now know it, was established, those who today are called Vigilantes were building their reputation, for there were not many Villains as such and they posed less of a threat." Continued his friend, who, for some reason, acquired a somewhat nostalgic look. "This is why it is the perfect place to start your journey, where you will not only prepare for the U.A., but also show yourself what the Hero is supposed to represent, who will give smiles to the faces of those who need it. And to make that happen, we have a plan for you." "However," said the woman, "in our case time is against us, ten months is only enough to keep your body in one piece." With these words, she jumped abruptly and, swinging across her back in the air, landed beside the pile of junk behind her. "And that’s where I come in!" "You?" asked Izuku hesitantly, shaking off the shock of the trick. "Initially, you may not be able to rely on your strength, but you may continue to require skills that are independent of it. So, in parallel with moving the junk, we’re gonna focus on your flexibility and agility. And don’t worry, I’ve got a lot of training experience, so you and I are gonna have a much easier job." "Where are you gonna train him?" the blond clarified. "Don’t be greedy, there’s plenty of room for my sessions too, and if I need anything extra, you have the right transport." The man turned his face in response. "Well, since we’ve had a bit of a snack, we can start with a little warm-up for now!"

***

From that day on, the lives of the three acquired a new routine: in addition to their main business and responsibilities, whether studying or working, they almost daily gathered on the same beach and practiced the young man, although Nuuhari could do it less often, than the All Might, as she had no reason to reduce her working time - for which she refused to perceive her age. The first couple of weeks were pretty good, although it was not a very long time, but with carrying the weight the boy did much better than at the beginning, after the 'reorganization' of regime. As for his flexibility training, he was surprisingly quick to grasp what Keun was saying and showing him - even if he wasn’t very good at repeating it. Although there was nothing else going on, it would be a lie to say that this is bad, especially with little but daily progress. But it could not have been expected to be completely unchanged until the end of these ten months. Young Izuku was sincerely and unconditionally grateful for the chance to fulfill his dream, but something was bothering him. For a long time he was doubted, and his peers threw ridicules of various degrees of cruelty and looks bearing nothing good in his direction. But now there are not only people who believe in him, who know about his situation, but are also willing to spend their time on his training, have high hopes. The young man wanted to make every effort to prove that they were right, that they could be proud of him if- no, when he passed the entrance exam! But something, like a whisper on the edge of consciousness, was saying that his current actions were not enough, that eventually he would fail, as he had always and everywhere, that he simply would not succeed. And he believed it. Fearing to disappoint his mentors, the boy decided that if he wanted to do well, he needed to work extra hours, so at home, when he needed to rest, in parallel with his other activities, he continued to train. At first it was really fine, it was as if he could even feel a real influx of strength as a result, but then it only got worse: fatigue almost did not pass, sometimes it became difficult even to move, and Miss Nuuhari’s exercise, though It wasn’t so hard before, it was almost impossible, because it was hard to keep up. But he didn’t show any weakness, he held on as if everything was normal, he had to work harder, he couldn’t let them down, he was so far away from others, he had to keep up with them! And a month later, it all had consequences.

***

One day Izuku was jogging, carrying another piece of junk in one arm, and in front of him were his instructors: Nuuhari decided that she could use a little running herself, and Yagi decided to use a gyro scooter. They moved for about half an hour, until at one point… "I told you you should practice more in that form too," said the brunette to the man in a tired tone. "And I told you I couldn’t find the time," he told her. "You’re only active for three hours a day!" "And in that time, I’ve accumulated a lot of reports, and it all comes down to Tsukauchi. Although I don’t like it, taking on at least some of the work is the least I can do for him." "Oh! You are the most nob-," but before she could finish, the sound of a fall could be heard behind their backs. As soon as they both turned, they saw Midoriya fallen on the ground. "Midoriya!" Seeing this, the adults immediately stopped and rushed to the boy - the All Might did not even notice he crashed his transport. As the woman approached him, she stretched her hand over him, which gave a faint glow, and began to lead over his body, looking focused, as if she were trying to find something on him. After a few seconds, she took her hand off with a light exhalation. "What’s the matter, Nuuhari?" said the man anxiously. "Simple exhaustion," she replied, helping the young man to stand on his feet, leaning on her, " It’s nothing serious, but he shouldn’t be training today." "N-n-no," Izuku's weak voice sounded, "I can’t afford to stop." "Don’t be silly." "You don’t understand, if I’m going to be a Hero, it won’t be enough for me to just pass the exam." His voice started to tremble. "I am already so far behind everyone else, and in the U.A., the demands will be bigger and stricter than anywhere else. I cannot stumble. I can’t keep trailing behind. I don’t want to disappoint you..." Those words made the adults shrink. They understood the situation their ward was in, but they had no idea how bad it was in his particular case. And that made it worse for them, the fact that they couldn’t see the big problem with him. "Young Midoriya," Toshinori broke the silence, "I will be honest, your determination is worthy of respect, but none of this will be meaningful if you do not look after your own well-being, both physical and mental." "And besides, you shouldn’t be chasing anyone," continued Keun after her friend, "everyone has to move forward at their own pace, even though it is not recommended to be a snail, otherwise you will only make things worse, not necessarily just to yourself. As for disappointment, just don’t think too much about it. I can tell from personal experience that the opinion of others about you may be important, but if you think about it too much, you may not notice how you earn a lot of extra pain and nerve problems." Although you yourself should know how that feels, she added mentally, not daring to pressure the sour spot. "H-but how-," said the boy before he was interrupted. "Trust me, kid, if we’re going to be disappointed, given the circumstances, it’s probably just about ourselves, right, Mr. Yagi?" "That’s right," said the man. After the trio continued in silence, the All Might decided to carry the previously dropped garbage and his gyro, which, despite his appearance, turned out to be quite easy. As they walked, the woman immersed herself in thinking about how to help their disciple. Simple words won’t help, she understood and immediately came up with the idea: at least not ours. Her eyes lit with a certain excitement, and her mouth bent in a small half smile. It seems that here we will need help.

***

After that, Izuku was taken to his home, and the adults, in turn, went to the residence of Nuuhari, because they had to gather the others for the upcoming discussion. "Hey, I’m home!" said the woman as they came in. "Mr Yagi is here with me." There was no response at first, but when they took off their street clothes, there was a noise from inside the house, followed by the sound of quick steps. "Welcome back!" greeted the blonde girl happily, smiling in her mouth, opening her fangs, sharper than usual. " And hello, Mr Yagi, what brings you here?" "Himiko, good to see you." said Hero with a warm smile. "We need to call the team, we need your help on a case." answered Nuuhari. "Wow, that sounds intriguing. We have an unscheduled meeting, in which case, I’ll tell Whiskers immediately. I’m sure he’ll be interested too." Especially if he finds out you called him that again. "By the way, I hope you haven’t forgotten your homework." "Come on, you know I have someone to look after me." said the girl with the snide smile, looking for the number on her phone. "I also know you’re a bad influence on them," said the older one with the tougher face. "Boo." was all that said. To this, Keun only shook her head, saying to her friend: "I swear, I still don’t understand them. Literally old as the world, and behaving like little children. Thanks that at least not all of them are like that, otherwise I would have gone insane." The man grinned, saying, "I doubt it, you’re too smart to allow it." "No, you give me too much honor. Anyway, that’s not what this is about."

***

The woman contacted her friends, inviting them to stay with them, and although not everyone could, unfortunately, someone is better than no one, at least afterwards explaining everything to the minority will be easier than each of them individually. It took a few hours for everyone to arrive, but the blonde girl had the opportunity to tell the story from her school, which was quite interesting to listen to given her recent week internship. Suddenly, after a long wait, a doorbell rang, announcing the guests' arrival. The lady of the house opened the door for them, smiling at friends smiling back. People began to pass her straight into the living room, greeting the already present, but two behind the group stopped by a woman. "All right, sweet couple." The named duo trembled immediately, the young brunette began to get very nervous and sweat, and the face of the girl with tattered pink hair poured with a strong blush that even seemed like it was literally red, most likely because of their name. "If my memory is correct, we discussed it, Koichi." The young man turned around slowly, stumbling as he tried to find the words. "M-Master, you see, there’s - uh, I can explain-" "I persuaded him," his friend of unhappiness interrupted his attempts, fighting her own embarrassment. "I realize I’ve given up my own communion with your group, but I need to know if something serious is happening to be prepared for something bad to happen to him." To be honest, Nuuhari was impressed by the girl’s determination - although she was not a fan of heroism for personal reasons, she made it clear that for those she truly cares about, she would become a mountain no matter what. Indeed, in another situation, she would have been a worthy permanent member of the team. "Well, I’m happy nothing serious is in sight, but Toshnori and I are really going to need some help," the eldest assured her with relief. When all three of them entered the living room the others were seated in their chosen places: A woman with pink and purple hair, wearing a black T-shirt and sandy-brown shorts knee-deep, sat in a chair with her arms on her armrests, she was probably having a tiring day; there was also a young man with light blue hair, wearing black trousers, exposing his ankles, and a gray T-shirt with a print on top of which was a lightweight jacket with sleeves to the elbow. He was sitting on a chair next to Himiko, talking about something; a second couple came along, a 30-year-old man with white hair and a midget girl in her twenties, who had unnaturally large and dark circles around her eyes, copied by her partner as a sign of support. In contrast to their younger colleagues, they were a little less restrained in their emotions, so they settled without any hesitation, just enjoying intimacy, and also discussed something. Making sure everyone was there, Keun drew attention to herself. "Ahem. Well, now that we’re all here, we can start-" "I’m sorry," said the scrawny man with an awkward look on his face. "I think the rest of your wards are equally concerned." "Oh, yeah, right." She hit her forehead, then turned to the door and whistled. "Guys, get down here!" In response to this call, little flying creatures resembling Chinese zodiac animals flew out of the ceiling in an instant, as did a fox, a bee, a turtle, a butterfly, a black cat and a ladybug, whose name is Tikki, and with them the room immediately filled with laughter and an almost unintelligible chorus of words, carried by their high voices. All but the pale purple butterfly - he was the most shy of his friends, and so he only settled quietly on a coffee table in the center of a peculiar circle of people, looking around in anticipation of what would happen next. After him, the others began to fit on the table, except for a few: Tikki flew to her owner, Keun, a black cat to a young man with blue hair, and right behind them a fox, sitting on the palm of Himiko, who was sitting beside him. The other two, a pig and a monkey, were circling the couple. The bee sat on the forehead of its dormant mistress, who from this opened her right eye and, looking up, smiled, giving her friend a scratch on the top of head, receiving a quiet laugh in response. And finally, there’s a turtle in the air between Koichi and his girlfriend. "Is everyone here now for real?" "Yes, ma'am," said the owner of the bee in jest. "Great." Sharp exhalation. "Well, then, about why I called you here. You probably already know that Toshinori and I have started doing something on the side. Frankly, we have started training one young man." These words were followed by a laugh from the guy in black. "Excuse me?" "I’m sorry, but now I wonder where you found this poor man," he replied with a crooked smile from the pent-up laughter. "Not funny, Tenko!" said the pink-haired girl. "Don’t get me wrong, I know how serious this is, but it’s just, if you don’t get to the bottom of it, it might seem pretty fun, especially given our own backstory." The All Might, noticing his friend’s embarrassment, decided to return to the original subject. "I can assure you that’s not the case at all," he continued, focusing on himself. "First, I’m gonna ask you, do you remember a case of a sludge criminal in the district area about a month ago? More specifically, the kid who showed up." "I can assure you that’s not the case at all," he continued, focusing on himself. "First, I’m gonna ask you, do you remember a case of a sludge criminal in the shopping district about a month ago? More specifically, the kid who showed up." "You mean the one who ran out of the crowd to rescue the hostage?" asked the white-haired man. "That’s right. Midoriya Izuku, 13 years old. Third-year middle school student, eager to enroll in the hero course in the U.A., does not have a Quirk." "Qirkle-" A woman with bicoloured hair quickly thought through what she had heard, immediately understanding what it was all about. "Great, we just needed some suiciders." But the rest of the participants did not share her words and mood, on the contrary becoming enthusiastic. "Oh, I understand correctly, we’re about to have a new addition, really, really?" The fanged blonde seemed to like the news more than anyone, judging by her vibrations and bouncing. "It’s a small dossier for you," said the little girl with the snide expression. "Did something stop you from digging deeper?" Along with their words echoed the cries of small animal spirits, who were interested in whose owner will this candidate be, who at the same time were showing off and boasting about their skills and qualities. All that noise kept Keun from putting words in, so she screamed, "Quiet!" This made people shudder and the spirits fell silent, as if something literally glued their mouths. With the desired result, the woman continued. "I’m sorry, but this is serious enough." When she snapped her fingers, the mouths of the little spirits opened again in sparks, but now they were quiet. They were cheerful and curious by nature, but moments like this made them quiet. The Cat and the Rabbit looked at their friends sympathetically, the Ladybug only turned silently to her owner-she knew that she meant nothing by these blows, but the scenes did not get any easier-and the Butterfly shrank a little more. "I don’t want to be distracted right now. And to answer your question, Aiba, I prefer not to pry into other people’s private lives unnecessarily - and before you start arguing, yes, dealing with you two was a necessity." - Immediately she pointed to the owner of the bee. - "This also applies to Tsutsumi." "Thanks for clarifying," she said sarcastically. "Either way, Toshinori and I need your help with the kid’s training." She got the question stare off. "While our regime has proven to be quite effective, there is something troubling that we found to be more serious than the simple problem of self-esteem, he is convinced that he must prove he's worth, even if the methods of achieving it can lead to serious and, in theory, the long-term consequences for himself, that he would just choose to ignore." "What are we supposed to do here?" asked the young man in black. "At the very least, you can support both us and him." The woman looked at the girl next to him. "For example, Himi, he could do with even a simple support from someone in his age category." Then on a young guy with a girl. "Or you, Koichi, your situations with him are somewhat similar, even with the Quirk you could not initially become a hero yourself, but still got a chance to become one for someone, even if not by rank and illegally." The mention of this made the man feel embarrassed and his cheeks slightly pink. " And the same goes for you, Tobita," she turned to the man Aiba was sitting with. "Aha," he said, "really, someone with similar motives and history! It would be an honor to take on his training and an even greater honor for me to have you trust me in such an important matter!" "Show-off," said the young man with blue hair, but his words carried no malice. "Tenko, don’t be rude!" The girl herself has already stepped in, not too serious either. "And you, Gentle, we’ve talked about this, and not everyone can take our enthusiasm equally, so keep it down, honey." "Oh, excuse me, friends." "It’s all right," the others said. "What about us, Lady?" said Tsutsumi, pointing to Tenko. "Also why suddenly you and Mr. #1 decided to do someone else’s training without telling us?" "Well, I’m willing to admit that I haven’t thought this through yet, but let’s try to sort it out as we go." The woman’s gaze fell on the thin figure of the blue-eyed blond. "What about the boy-" "I’ve decided he’ll be my successor." The man’s words shocked everyone, as none of us here expected, except the owner of the Cat. Koichi was the first to speak after a long pause. "D-did it get that bad?" "We all knew that this day would come sooner or later. I have already spent too much of my time and my powers are running out. I may only be weakened by my body, but I don’t want to know what happens to my Quirk once I’m completely weak." "All right, stop," said Kaina. "Do I understand correctly? You’re coaching some random kid to hand him the Quirk and send him to the U.A.? And you were gonna do that in, what, a little less than a year?" "I have to agree with her outrage," said Tenko. "Of course, it’s not impossible, but there’s a very high probability that you might not have had time to prepare him, and if you told us only after, I’d venture, a month or so, you’ve already had some pretty serious problems, no matter how much you keep quiet." "And let’s not forget about the Sports Festival," also inserted the word Aiba. "You have to remember the popularity of this event - only on live TV it is viewed at once by at least thousands of viewers, not to mention the re-viewing of the records - you need to understand that rumors may spread, because even without knowing the truth about your power, people can invent many explanations for your similarity in abilities, with varying degrees of absurdity - and that’s only at best." All their words were convincing, and their anxiety could be understood; they themselves were the bearers of a great power weighing heavily on their shoulders, including the danger to their loved ones. They did not want to say that the idea was unreasonable, but they did not want the ordinary civilian to be exposed to undue risk. Fortunately, Miss Keun hurried to reassure them. "Come on, guys, are there so few Quirks in a world that give superhuman strength? Remember the same Death Arms, at least." "We don’t argue with that," said Himiko. "But it’s just that - um - we’re talking about a little different levels." "Let us not forget that mutation can always be assumed." After that, it was quite difficult to continue the discussion - everyone understood what it was - their leader was sometimes too cautious, calculating, and not to mention her general experience, so most often she could find the right answer. "And as for you, lady," said the white-haired man. "Why did you decide to take up youth?" "Oh, well, let’s just say..." The woman got a little crumpled. "I also saw in him the potential, the potential to become one of us." As soon as she said that, everyone present unanimously decided that now they needed to meet this boy in person.