*SNAP*

The sound of flesh hitting a training dummy could be heard as Shinso continued to practice at the gym he used to learn from all those years ago. His thoughts were brought back to the recent attack he and his fellow classmates fought in.

Shinso gritted his teeth as he thought back to the condition of his best friend (not that he’ll ever admit it) after he essentially saved the lives of everyone in the class. The USJ incident had made him so dreadfully aware of his own shortcomings that he knew he should rectify immediately.

Once the villains knew his quirk, he did nothing else but watch as the rest of his classmates fought for their lives. He had Shigaraki in his clutches and did nothing out of the fear that the brainwashing would be broken through.

He could’ve done anything, ANYTHING, and it would’ve been better than standing like a bystander not knowing what to do.

And now, Akio payed the price of his incompetence.

It’s been 4 days and he still hasn’t woken up from his coma. He tried grilling the teachers for more details but they wouldn’t budge. All they said was that he’s resting and would make a recovery.

In the end, he freaked out. It was their first run in with an actual villain. Not just random two-bit thugs from the streets, but actual cold and ruthless villains. The fact was that he panicked and his mind just went blank.

Even after years of training, all of it is useless if one isn’t prepared mentally.

Among all his classmates, he was among the few who walked away relatively fine. Only a few bruises, a mild case of physical exhaustion, and a wounded ego. It is a traumatic experience, but he can get over it. Their experiences in USJ are what Pro Heroes face on a daily basis. This is nowhere near enough to make him quit, just as he is confident that Kazuya will be the same.

That’s why he’s here now, to further hone his abilities and make sure his training doesn’t dull. If he was stronger, faster, deadlier, then he wouldn’t just be an observer the next time this happens.

His weakness was also proven in his confrontation against Kurogiri. When he tried to use his quirk the second time, Kurogiri didn’t fall for the bait as he just completely ignored Shinso’s attempts at conversation. He needs to find a way for his quirk to work on smarter opponents who are able to pick apart on how his quirk works. But those are thoughts for another day.

Today, he’s here to simply get stronger. In cases where his quirk simply won’t be enough.

‘Perhaps I should look into more support items? Ones that are able to help in takedowns.’

It’s an idea that has been going around his mind for quite a while. Perhaps some kind of taser or electric-based weapons. He’s heard Jirou talk about how Kaminari managed to take down villains by acting as a human stun gun. Maybe he could use a weapon that could create the same effect?

In any case, he won’t give up. The path of a hero is one of constant struggle. Surpassing his limits is something he’s been doing since long ago and doing it again and again is what he plans to do.

To be a hero that children with villainous quirks everywhere could look up to.

He will be that person, he will keep the promise he made with his friend.

That, he is sure of.

— The Warping Hero —

In the safe confines of his room, Shoto Todoroki is currently sitting on his bed, thinking.

It was something he found himself doing frequently ever since the attack on USJ. This was due to what happened during his fight with Shigaraki.

The entire time, all he did was slow down Shigaraki while Bakugo was the one to actually do any kind of damage towards the villain.

His ice was turned to dust in seconds, incapable of doing anything else besides act as a distraction.

He clenched his fists at that thought. In the back corners of his mind, he realized the fact that flames, as a non-solid element, couldn’t get disintegrated.

But that would mean using fire, HIS fire. And he refused to entertain that thought for even a second longer.

In the end, Todoroki just realized one of the weaknesses of his ice, one that could probably be rectified with more training.

He nodded in place as if to convince himself, as he immediately stood up and went to the training room in his home. He didn’t have to worry about running into Endeavour on the way, since that man is still out doing hero work at this time of day.

But a linger of doubt stayed within him, a voice in his head calling himself a hypocrite.

But as always, he ignored it.

— The Warping Hero —

Pain and discomfort.

That’s all I felt as I blinked myself awake and took in my surroundings. Everything around me just screamed hospital. Which means I must have somehow survived the whole USJ fiasco.

I leaned back on the bed and gave a slight groan as I jolted up some of my injuries.

My thoughts broke as I heard the door opening. Standing there, frozen at the sight of me being awake, was my mother.

Before I could say anything, She closed the distance and immediately gave me a crushing hug.

“Akio! I was so worried! They told me what happened and I-I couldn’t…” My mother said as she tightened her hug.

“Don’t worry mom. I’m fine, see? I’m sorry I worried you..” The way she cried to my shoulder just pulled on my damn heartstrings. I regret making her feel this way, I really do.

I put my arms around her as I reciprocated the hug. We just stayed like that for a while, until my mother was forced to let me go as Recovery Girl came in the room to check up on me.

“Are you okay, young man? Anything feel amiss?” Recovery Girl asked as she did her check up. My mother stood by my bed to keep me company.

“Nothing weird. I just feel tired to be honest.”

“Yes, that makes sense.” She nodded. “You experienced one of the most extreme cases of quirk exhaustion I’ve seen in a while.”

“Wait, how extreme are we talking about? How long was I out?” I asked.

“You’ve been under a coma for about a week now.” She said.

I could only widen my eyes. “A whole week?” I exclaimed in surprise.

“Indeed.” She continued before looking at me in concern. “May I ask what happened?”

“I just went past what my body could handle.” I explained. “My quirk takes stamina to work, the bigger moves I do, the more it strains my body. The last move I did drained my body to the very last drop.”

“I see. Then until your body is up to par, I don’t want you doing anything like that again, you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I gave her a grin. “But what about everyone else? Are they okay?”

“Yes, your friends are fine. The only people that needed extra medical attention were your teachers and Midoriya who broke his arm.”

I just gave a sigh of relief as I sunk deeper into my bed. “Then what I did was worth it.”

Recovery Girl’s just twitched an eyebrow at that before giving a sigh. “I swear you kids are all the same…”

“In any case, get some rest. You need it.” Recovery girl advised before making her way towards the door. “I’ll inform the rest of your family and the school of your condition. They’ll want to hear the good news after all.”

“Thank you so much!” My mother bowed with gratitude.

“Think nothing of it, dearie.” Recovery girl gave a motherly smile before leaving.

My mother and I just looked at each other in awkward silence after that.

“Mom, I-”

“I know what you’re gonna say, Akio.” She gave me a smile. “I know being a hero has been your dream since you were young. And I fully support you. But as your mother, I can’t help but worry from time to time.” She approached my bed before giving me a kiss on the forehead. “I know you’re strong, and you won’t give up just from this. We’ll be rooting for you all the way, just make sure you be the best hero you can be, okay? I’m proud of you, my son.”

I couldn’t help but trickle down a few tears after that. I hugged my mom as she stroked me in the head.

“Go on and rest then. I’ll be waiting for your father and brother to get here.”

I just nodded and fell back to my bed, off to a dreamless sleep.

— The Warping Hero —

I woke up much later to an empty room. Which I’m glad for because it gives me the privacy to think back to the USJ attack.

It was a massive wake up call for sure. Ever since I woke up on this once fictional world, that was the first time I actually felt real danger. The first time I’ve faced a situation where it’s life or death.

It was a harsh reality check. This world I live in now isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Villains run amok the cities like a plague and they draw chaos wherever they run to. The world is a dangerous place to live in, and I experienced it firsthand in the USJ.

Sure, I managed to play a big role in the grand scheme of things. The things I did definitely contributed to the survival of the class. But was it enough?

Hell no.

This is only the beginning of the danger I’m going to experience as a hero. I’m nowhere near ready for the actual big bad that’s probably present and controlling things behind the scenes. Both physically and mentally.

It was pretty disheartening to hear that even after years of training, to find out that I’m still nowhere near ready to be a hero. But that’s life I guess.

I’ll just have to make sure to come out of this stronger. Which isn’t really hard since I’m already determined to not give up. The attack made me realize some of my weaknesses. And I intend to rectify them as soon as I get the green light from Recovery Girl.

One of the main things I need to focus on is definitely my stamina. It’s both the easiest and hardest thing to do since simple exercise is all it takes, it’s just the daily grind and the amount of time it takes to actually see improvement is what makes cardio so grueling.

I just sighed at that. That was really the only issue I have with my quirk. The cost for some of my bigger moves is just so high that using them is usually counter productive.

In any case, apparently the school is on break for another 2 days. More than enough time for me to recover. My classmates are probably worried sick. But it's unfortunate that, besides Shinso who has my number, I don't have any way to contact anyone. Which is honestly an issue.

Setting a mental reminder to create a class group chat as soon as possible, I willed myself back to sleep.

—————————————————————————————————————

Hey readers!

No action at all in this chapter. I focused more on how the attack on USJ affected some of the students. Mainly, Shinso, Todoroki, and Kazuya.

These three in my opinion had the most to think about in regards to their experience. Well, except Midoriya, but I’ll probably get a POV on him sooner or later.

Anyways, that’s the end of season 1!

Wow, what a ride. Definitely didn’t expect as much feedback as I did coming into this. I hoped for 500 collections at the least and yet y’all blew it away with over 1k!

I’m honestly flabbergasted.

In any case, just here to inform that I’m taking a week-long break. I want to properly plan out season 2 of MHA before going forward.

That’s all from me folks!

Akio Kazuya will return!

Cheers!

Trivia: Who are your most favorite anime trio of all time?