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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

“Dad, how will I know when I will be ready?” A much younger Umi held onto a male figure on his back, the same snow white hair and both eyes similar in color to Umi’s left, the gleaming cobalt irises almost shining in the sunlight. Standing at 193 centimeters, the man towered above the ground while he carried Umi on his back.

“Ready for what little sea?” Umi pouted at the nickname his mom and dad used on him and pinched his dad before looking out to the waves. “I want to be like you one day, a hero, someone who does right by everyone, someone who isn’t afraid to stand up for what is right. I saw that day at the quirkless protests and how you gave a speech, I want to be like you, the next Luminous.” His dad looked down at him and laughed, his laugh becoming more profound as Umi looked at him confused. “Little sea, don’t concern yourself with being the next Luminous. You’ll never be me.” Umi’s heart broke at that moment and looked at his father who put him down and kneeled in front of him before grabbing his shoulders. 

“Concern yourself about being someone who will be better than I ever was. Umi, I am filled with regret because of the many mistakes I made. I never want to see you and feel regret, only empowerment. I want to see you be the best person you can become. Don’t focus on becoming the next Luminous, focus on becoming the first Umi Joku. You will forge your path in life, and I will always believe in you and your journey, no matter how far away I am from you.” 

Umi’s tears welled up before he hugged his dad, the sadness he had at first being replaced by a determination his father could see brewing, akin to a storm. “Why don’t we decide on a hero name that will be better than mine? Luminous isn’t exactly the best name, and I know we’ll come up with something that will beat mine easily” They both got to thinking before a woman with snow-white hair, lilac irises, and a lab coat came up behind them. 

“How about Susanoo? He’s the Shinto god of storms, after all.” The two turned around and Umi’s face lit up even more before he hugged the woman and nuzzled into her. “Mom!” 

The man went up and pecked his wife on the cheek, “While Susanoo is good, Zari, I don’t know if it’s something Umi would necessarily want.” The woman rolled her eyes before kissing the man, “Oh come on Arashi, back then during your early days you almost called yourself ‘Zeus’.” The man had the decency to look a little embarrassed while Umi looked at his two parents with an enormous smile before he thought about a hero's name that would fit him. 

“I don’t know what I want my hero name to be right now. ” Arashi and Zari looked at the boy with confused glances as he looked back at them with an even wider smile. “But when I know what I want, I’m going to make sure people look at my name and relax because they know I will do my best to save them.” 

The two smiled at their child before Zari hugged him a bit tightly while Arashi ruffled his hair. “Well, my little sea, I hope when the day comes, you will etch that name into the sky. ” Umi smiled and enjoyed the touch of his parents. Little did he know that it would be the last time he would see both of his parents together.

xXx

His eyes opened, and he looked at the night sky, the memory fading into the darkness of the night sky being replaced by the emptiness and frustration he felt. 

“You were right dad, I can’t live my life with regret. I can only move forward with time.” He kept his meditation position and breathed softly before he stood up and walked over to the edge of the building and sat on the edge, just admiring the surroundings of what his dad tried to protect. “And I hope one day our family will reunite and you will see just how far I’ve come.” He grabbed his smaller headphones from his pocket and just decided to pass the time while listening to music, knowing school was out and he could focus on the UA exams that were coming in ten months. 

“Will I use the full extent of my quirk? That is certainly a question.” It wasn’t that he distrusted UA, but he most certainly distrusted the media, and going to UA would certainly open him up to the media, and by extension the Meta Liberation Army’s connections in the media. However, if anywhere was secure, it was UA and its ability to raise great heroes. All Might, Endeavor, and even his father all went there and proved themselves to be among the best that have graduated even if his father wasn’t mentioned as much these days.

“ If I go there and don’t show my full extent, my classmates and senseis could inevitably shun me for not giving it my all when everyone else is. But there’s also the danger of what my quirk can do to the people around me. ” Umi thought to himself while his music was playing, the limitations of his quirk coming into his mind before he had an epiphany, feeling the cloud on his back grow stronger. “Dad compared me to a cloud before and I could do whatever a cloud can, I’ll just say I’m taking it to the extreme, at least to the media. I know that the staff at UA will have my quirk registry record, luckily Uncle took care of that. Plus, it’s not illegal to lie on the quirk registry or leave it blank.” He sat with a smirk on his face before he closed his eyes and felt the smoothness of the wind inside the apartment building before he felt 4 figures outside his apartment, but decided to just stay where he was and simply enjoy his own time.

xXx

“KUGISAKI!” Tamao went to go hug her friend, the tall young man with turquoise spiky hair and sharp teeth grunting as she did so. “Get off me Oguro, goddamn it!” The two other males with him started chuckling, one bald and a bit on the bigger side and dark brown skin with a flame on his head and the other seemingly a type of lizard. Tamao saw the two before going over to them and hugging them tight. “Tokage, Tochi!” She then looked and saw a fourth person there, a teen girl with dark green hair and green eyes who was wearing a black shirt with a green Tyrannosaurus Rex design and green shorts with black sneakers. “Don’t tell me you three corrupted a lady like you did me. I thought I was special!” The teen girl laughed and smiled before bowing. “Nah they didn’t corrupt me, I’m Rapt’s cousin, Setsuna Tokage. I’m staying with the guy for the week. It’s nice to meet you.” Rapt looked at her and scoffed before he muttered, “ Still a runt though, ” and got smacked by his cousin. 

“Anyway, Oguro, where is the old man? We three have something to discuss with you and him, some info we just came across.” Tamao pointed behind them with a smile as the three men all looked confused before seeing Oguro standing behind them with a stoic gaze, while Setsuna just snickered. 

“The hell are you all doing here this late, and who’s this?” Setsuna bowed with a laugh as Rapt looked nervous. “That’s uh, my cousin Mr. Oguro, I have to babysit as a favor for her parents.” She grumbled about Rapt being only 6 years older than her, while Oguro looked on before grunting and pointing to the door. “Since we have business to handle, you can go hang out with the runt, since he chose to go relax.” The three young men all understood who he was talking about, while Setsuna looked confused before Tamao explained. “My little cousin is staying with us full time, you should go say hi!” Setsuna looked even more confused but just decided to shrug and walk out, continuing down the hall before she looked a bit frustrated. 

“ I swear, the only reason I came here was to see Rapt, and he’s barely giving me the time of day. And now I’m supposed to play a babysitter with a ‘runt’. Next time you do this Rapt, I swear I… ” She arrived upstairs to hear humming, the door leading to the roof echoing the humming and breaking her thought process before a mischievous smile spread across her face and she used her quirk, her body splitting apart as she floated up to the door and peered slowly past the door, seeing someone sitting on the edge of the building before slowly floating toward him before she felt herself unable to move. “ What the? Is he doing this?! ” She felt something like wind pressing onto her body and freezing her in place while the teen sitting down continued to hum before he spoke up. 

“It’s quite rude to try to sneak up on someone like that, you never know how someone is going to react, you know.” The teen rolled backward and kipped up, Setsuna finally seeing it was someone around her age with long white hair and good muscle tone with fair skin with a cloud formation around his shoulders.

“You’re lucky I already knew you were coming, the three down there probably didn’t want you in their business with Uncle.” Setsuna felt what was holding her in place leave and put herself back together before just staring in awe at the teen who turned around and gave a light smile, Setsuna admiring the way his discolored eyes shined even in the night.

“I thought you were going to be a little kid, your uncle down there called you a~” “Runt, it’s a term of endearment from someone like him. I know what he’s like, I’ve lived with him for years.” The teen walked up with a smile and nodded to Setsuna. “Umi Joku, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled back and nodded, giving him the same courtesy. “Setsuna Tokage, I’m Rapt’s cousin. You seem strong, are you planning to become a hero?” Umi nodded and gestured for her to join him, returning to his seat on the building’s edge. “Isn’t that a little dangerous, what if we fall off?” She smirked while Umi just shrugged and looked back. “You can float can you not? Sitting here shouldn’t be much of an issue.” She couldn’t fault the logic and just rolled her eyes with a smile, sitting down beside him on the edge of the building while they looked down at the people walking the streets beneath them. 

“But to answer your question more fully, yes I plan on becoming a hero. It’s been a goal I’ve been preparing for, and it’s a goal I plan to achieve. I put out applications for every hero school in the area, but I’m shooting for UA or Shiketsu.” Setsuna nodded before she smirked. “Since I’ve done so well in Harajuku Gaien Junior High, my school plans to give a notice of recommendation to UA. What about you, did your school offer to give you a recommendation?” Umi nodded but then added, “They asked if I wanted a letter from them, however, I declined. If I’m going to get into somewhere like UA, I’d like to do it on my terms, no offense to you.” 

“None taken! I know how people are, believe me! But being a recommended student to UA helps a lot on a hero’s resume. Especially for a cute girl like me.” Her statement had a bit of a flirtatious tone to it, but Umi didn’t bite and instead softly chuckled. 

“Aw, nothing?! Damn it, that trick works like a charm against every boy in my school.” Umi chuckled softly before pointing to the trash bin that was behind him. “Disconnect your head and go look at what’s inside the bin there, I’ve dealt with much worse. The girls at my school are relentless.” She was very interested in what he said and went to go check, her eyes widening when she saw the mountain of love letters that were all addressed to him.

“219 letters in there.” Setsuna laughed at how he remembered the exact number of letters he got sent before re-attaching her head to her body.

“I will say you have quite the interesting quirk there. I’m assuming your body could be split up into more sections.” She nodded with a smile, always willing to explain her admittedly confusing quirk to people. “Yup, my quirk’s name is Lizard Tail Splitter, I can split my body up into 50 pieces and if one is damaged while split up I can regenerate it, but it tires me the hell out so I just try to reattach them. If my body is split up for too long, there’s a timer in which I need to reattach, or else I’d have to regenerate them as well, and that’s also really tiring. My mom has me working on my stamina all the time and how flexible my body is. I’ve also done a little martial arts on the side. What about you, your quirk must be tied to whatever held me back then and that cloud around you.” 

Umi nodded and then looked up, “Kind of, my quirk kind of has a lot of facets. My quirk’s name is…” He paused for a moment before continuing, not missing a beat. “Kumonim, and it essentially allows me to do whatever a cloud can do, I think it’s best if I show you.” Umi raised his hand beside Setsuna and channeled lightning through his hand before water and wind gathered around his other hand, the cloud formation on his back not changing in form at all besides a slight lilac tint. 

“Woah…” She looked along as Umi created a cloud behind them on the building. “Go step on the cloud, it’s dense enough to handle people sitting on it.” Setsuna looked at the cloud a bit tensely before Umi sighed and stood up before going up to the cloud and sitting on it before making another cloud in front of his own. “Scared of clouds, Tokage?” She narrowed her eyes at the playful jab he threw at her before stepping up and sitting on the cloud. “Woah, it almost feels like my bed!” Umi smiled and did a flip on the cloud. “I told you, I made it dense enough, but it is still soft.”

“That’s a nice quirk, Joku! Who knows, maybe you’ll be my rival in the rankings!” Setsuna pumped her fist while Umi just shook his head with a small chuckle.

“Since you talked about the training you did to combat your weaknesses, I’ll tell you some training I went through as well. Maybe it could help you in the long run.” She nodded before he leaned back a bit and looked at the sky while his back lay against the cloud, Setsuna unconsciously following his lead and lying down.

“I’ve done a lot of martial arts training with my uncle along with maintaining a firm foundation of meditation, strength training, and maneuverability. Also with the rise of quirks, Japan introduced new laws including licenses to freely parkour within the laws of the cities. Parkour artists must undergo training at gyms and pass certification exams to ensure they are aware of the danger and do not use their quirks.”

“You got your parkour license? Seriously?” He just shrugged and pulled out his wallet, showing her the license. 

“Essentially, yeah. I’m certified as a parkour artist and I’m the youngest examiner in Naruhata because of the score I’ve received on my exams judged by some retired heroes and members of the police force. My uncle and I are both examiners, but we’re both part-time since he has a full-time job and I’m a student. I’m also CPR certified, trained at the Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital along with Tamao, while Uncle Oguro did his CPR training long ago.” Setsuna’s eyes were laced with amazement at the lengths he took to get himself ready before just shaking her head. “Wow, so you’re certified in CPR and parkour, is there anything you’re not good at?” Umi nodded softly before smiling. “Trust me, I’m not perfect, nobody is. I have a lot of stuff in my closet that needs to be sorted through.” He looked at her with a sigh and a light smile, “But don’t worry, just cause I have a bit of baggage doesn’t mean it’s your fault.” She winced a bit before he continued without missing a beat. 

“If you plan on going to UA as a recommended student, you should try to hone your capabilities as much as possible. I’d say train yourself in CPR for sure for a start. Try to get some lessons from a local hospital, it helps to have that on your record for UA. I’d also say train your body to have your physical limits keep up with your quirk limits, you don’t want to lag in terms of physical limits when you’re competing with people borderline possessed to become heroes. People are always improving their limits and you’re always competing to gain an edge over not just your classmates, but everyone in the school. Bonds are also important, but I’m not the best person to tell you how important that is since I don’t have a huge social circle to begin with.” She seemed to be seriously considering his words before she looked up and smiled. 

“The more I think about it, why are you giving me advice? Aren’t you also planning on going to UA, doesn’t that make us competition?” She gave a victorious smirk and victory sign as he sighed and chuckled. “We may be competing eventually, but I at least want the people I’m going to be linked to for the next couple of years to be as great as their potential can take them. We are the next generation, after all. I hope you realize that All Might isn’t going to be here forever to save people, as much as people don’t want to think about that. They rely on him too much, they’re not allowing their minds to go forward.” She looked at him with a bit of surprise and wondered about the passion in his tone, almost feeling that someone else was speaking through him before he just took a deep breath and flicked himself on the forehead. 

“Sorry for the rambling.” He rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly before she grinned and smacked his shoulder. “You’re weird dude, but I kind of like it. You’re a passionate guy and you know what you’re talking about. I think we’re gonna be great friends!” She smiled before putting her hand up for a side fist-bump. Umi looked at the hand she put up before smiling softly and accepting the side bump. “I’ll be sure to take your advice! In fact if it’s okay with you and your uncle, will I be able to train with you two and get your help.” Umi looked a bit surprised at the question before he shook his head and her face fell a bit. 

“I’m not saying no, I’m shaking my head because it’s not my decision to make. My uncle is the one that you have to ask, and he has to find you to be genuine before he even considers you in his eyes. He is a really good judge of character and will know from a glance whether or not you have good or bad intentions by training with us, plus it won’t be a one-way street. He’ll be expecting you to provide something. Not money or anything like that, but something that he finds more valuable. Transparency.” She looked confused before he continued.

“Uncle Oguro like me has a lot of trust issues, he doesn’t trust a ton of people besides his close circle, even your cousin Rapt remains at arm’s length despite the length that he’s known him. To prove to Uncle Oguro that you will take our training seriously and you won’t take advantage of us only to never reach out to us again, you’ll prove to him that you’re a genuine person who wants to improve to the best they can be, a person like the both of us is a borderline psychopath for the drive to go even further.” She gulped a little before he stared at the edge of the building and smiled.

“He has a saying, something that I follow to this day. ‘Some heroes are just trying to be rich, be famous, and use their abilities to further their selfish desires. They don’t realize that when you’re out on the field, you’re risking your life day in and day out for the people who may not even care for you. To truly reach the top of the hero world, to be someone so selfless you would lay down your life to stop a bomb, to take a bullet, to protect someone who doesn’t even know you… ” She looked at the storm brewing in his eyes, growing enamored with his burning desire and passion while Umi looked at her knowingly as he saw the smile growing on her face. “ Yeah, she’ll pass, I have no doubts. ”

“You gotta have some screws loose.”

The two stared at one another, smiles forming on both of their faces before they fist-bumped again. This time, however, someone was listening in on their conversation from the stairs, someone Umi noticed as his smile widened further. 

“ Good job runt, your father would be proud of how much you’ve grown. You’ve needed to get some friends for a while, hopefully, this is the first push you’ve needed to become even stronger. ” Oguro stood there with his arms crossed and an approving nod before silently walking back down the stairs and putting a thumbs up for Umi to see, to which he felt a soft wind tap him on the shoulder. “ I’m glad you found us Umi, we’re not related by blood, but I see you just the same as I saw Koichi. I’m glad you ended up as my student and nephew. ”

“So, the two runts are getting along up there.” Oguro looked at Kugisaki who leaned against the wall while a guitar was going off in his apartment, likely from Tamao. “More than getting along, Rapt’s cousin is planning on asking me to train with me and the runt after Umi told her what he’s gone through on his mission to grow. Seems like she’s almost as crazy as he is at heart.” Kugisaki looked a bit impressed at the notion before eyeing the man. “You gonna say yes? After all, Rapt would hate to have her around our businesses for even more time, her parents don’t even know that he was a villain in the past. I doubt she’s gonna take it well.”

Oguro scoffed before saying, “The world isn’t all black and white, and while I can see her parents sheltered her a bit, this one has an edge to her, a willingness to learn. The runt is a perfect example of accepting the darkness of society and still going through his way, and through that way, he will come across people who will test his moral compass and his limits, mentally and physically. However, I trust the kid, he will go far. In my mind, I know he will go even farther than Koichi could soar. And if Umi is helping her and showing her just how dark hero society could be along with how to accept it, she will know what it’s like to pay attention to the shadows while you stand out in the light.” Kugisaki nodded before looking at a picture in the apartment, a picture of Umi and Oguro jumping across roofs while Tamao cheered them on as they took on their parkour exams. 

“Yeah, that kid will most certainly go far. He has the same eyes you and Luminous had.” Oguro nodded before looking at Kugisaki with a serious gaze. 

“So let’s rewind, you said Arashi is getting released in August of next year?”

xXx

6 Months Later, October

Nakamura Junior High differed from other junior highs around the area. It allowed students to wear many clothing within their guidelines instead of uniforms, and it relied on its upstanding reputation within the civilian population and its ability to generate grades that can transfer over to the high schools of the area with ease. The doors to the outside opened automatically as students of all filed out, with Umi being one of the last to leave while he looked at his phone, thinking to himself.

“ 6 months since Tokage convinced Uncle and Rapt that she could withstand us. Rapt didn’t take too kindly to having her around more, but when Uncle vouched for her, Rapt relented. Since then, she’s trained with us 2 times a week and has grown massively with her fighting style. Her parkour has gotten much better, so much so that her exam is today. She also is currently taking lessons to get CPR certified. ” Umi noticed he hadn’t even thought about himself yet and looked up with a little smile. It was quite clear to everyone around him that he and Setsuna were getting closer, she had been the first person she had met in Naruhata besides Tamao and his Uncle whom he could say he had a good bond with, his first true friend around his age.

“ She just feels different, she acts naturally, transparently, and she doesn’t mind my introversion. She’s a great person, a great friend. ” Then he thought about UA, with 4 months remaining until the entrance exams, that would decide whether or not he got into the prestigious school that his father had experienced firsthand. “ You can’t pick your classmates, but I hope that if I get into the hero course at UA, the classmates there won’t just be completely arrogant students simply because they got into the hero course. We would compete with everyone around us, the students below us, the students in other schools that lost out or hate UA because of its reputation, even hero sidekicks that feel threatened by us and our potential outshining their own. ” 

At this notion, Umi scowled, he hated when heroes found themselves too caught up in their complacency and fame to stop improving. He then remembered his uncle’s words about a former vigilante who thought like this, a vigilante now much more infamous within the annals of Japan.

“ Stendhal, now known as the Hero-Killer Stain, is the villain that has killed many ‘false heroes’ as he puts it. Some heroes he put down had known histories of being too ‘in the spotlight’ and more interested in fame than in saving people. Uncle especially feels the weight of it all, knowing he directly fought and beat him in his earlier days, but didn’t go further as he had already torn off his nose. I wonder just how far Uncle wishes he could’ve gone sometimes if it meant stopping Stendhal from going down the path he went on. ” Umi turned a corner on the main road and walked into Shinjuku before going into a packed bank. He needed to open accounts under his name while also giving his Uncle direct access so he could make deposits during the school year for tuition since Uguro promised he would make payments for him if he made it to an appropriate level of control and strength that his father easily achieved by the time he had turned pro. “ And considering that Uncle said I reached that level around a year ago and Dad immediately joined the top 40 within a year of being pro, I’m only going to eclipse you further and further dad, I hope you’ll be watching. ” 

Umi finished up the bank business, walking out to see two news helicopters and a crowd of people. Umi walked a step closer to see why people were so excited and then he understood. At the center of the fight between the hero and villain was a figure very much liked by the populace, with white and black hair mixed, a signature green cloak, and a black and white face mask, a member of the top 10 heroes in Japan.

“CRUST, YOU GOT THIS!” The crowd cheered loudly as Umi watched the man decisively handle the hedgehog villain who tried to shoot quills at him but couldn’t do anything to Crust’s perfect defense.

“I’m sorry for the way things ended up, BUT I HOPE YOU TRY TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE YOUNG MAN!” Crust shouted in his typical emotional outburst that the crowd adored as the hedgehog man scowled darkly.

“Fuck you, and fuck that chance to change, always you people thinking you know so much about someone’s life. I’LL SHOW YOU WHERE YOU PEOPLE GOT ME!” The man in his fury sent all of his quills to hit a cell tower by the crowd. Crust wasted no time as he enlarged a piece of his shield and sent it to block the quills. “ NO, IT WON’T MAKE IT IN TIME! ”

At least, that’s what Crust thought before the momentum of the quills slowed down significantly and his shield perfectly caught up and stopped the quills. Crust looked at the hedgehog man, confusion painting his face. “What? HOW DID THEY SLOW DOWN?” Crust elbowed the man on the neck to knock him out before scanning the crowd. The crowd was cheering him on, almost blindly so. However, in the crowd was one face he noted, one face that said it all. A small nod found a way to his eyes and Crust knew this person was the reason the quills didn’t take out the tower and by extension the crowd, the white-haired teen whose calm face said everything. Crust silently acknowledged the person with a quick nod of thanks, hidden from the view of those nearby, as they swiftly disappeared into the crowd. Much to everyone’s surprise, Crust lingered in Shinjuku for a while longer than in other districts of Tokyo, driven by his desire to see once again the face of the person who had truly saved the day.

xXx

Umi jumped from building to building in the sunset, his parkour skills ever sharpened as he jumped through the supports of multiple interconnecting water towers before speeding up and jumping over a sizable gap between apartment buildings with a grace that few could accomplish. With a perfect roll and spin in the ground, a complete stop came his way as he took a quick drink of his water canteen and spilled some on his hair before he felt someone approaching him from the direction he just came through, seeing a figure performing the same jump he just performed across the gap with a theatrical roll and backflip for added effect.

“I finally found you, face in the crowd!” The man stood up tall as Umi recognized Crust’s voice immediately and looked confused. “I’ve been wanting to speak to you ever since I saw your nod to me! I realized my shield wouldn’t arrive on time, but I witnessed the momentum decrease and suspected something was up. When I saw you nod, I knew it was you who assisted my shield and truly saved the day!” Crust emphatically bowed as Umi looked at him weirdly, did the man chase him down only to thank him? 

“It was no issue, I figured I would be discreet enough to not get caught by anyone around me. I’m a little surprised that you caught up to me to thank me, though. Most heroes would simply take the credit and lead in stride or scold the person for stepping in when they shouldn’t. But I know you’re not most people, your record speaks for itself.” Crust seemed to beam at that, his smile being a lot more genuine at the comment. 

“I tend to have a lot of pride in my record, so I thank you for the comment young man! You are correct that under normal circumstances, what you did would have no place in hero society and there could even be a case for vigilantism, but how could I as a hero and as a human not thank the person who came through in the end? You acted on instinct with Hedge and saved a crowd of people from potentially being hurt by that tower. They might credit me with that, but I know who truly deserves it!” Umi just shrugged in response.

“Why would I need credit? As long as people are safe, that’s all I need. I don’t need anything in return, either. Besides, if you feel a shift in the wind’s direction, you’ll know I’m there helping.” Crust smiled and clasped his hand on Umi’s shoulder. “Well, young man, even if the world thinks of me being the hero, I know where my graces are! I hope you plan on going to a hero school. Yes, I would love to have you in my agency one day, you have a mentality that some in the top 10 could only wish to have, but mentality can only take you so far, you gotta show the skill to back it up. But of course, with my agency, you gotta show how far you are willing to go to save the masses, I won’t have anything less. I don’t think two glances is enough personally.” Umi’s eyes almost widened as he understood what Crust was trying to do. “ Two, huh? No wonder he found me, he was watching me parkour across Shinjuku. ”

“Two looks can’t be all it takes huh, if you need multiple glances, then I’ll give you a grand show.” Crust’s eyes seemed to gleam at this as the man grinned. “You know, you remind me of a man I once knew.” Umi stiffened as Crust continued, “Yeah, you are the spitting image of this man, a dear partner of mine from before.” The man stilled before removing his mask as his dark eyes pierced Umi’s discolored eyes, “A man that would always show just how grand he was with his luminous light.” Umi flinched slightly at the obvious implication. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew his father’s colleagues would immediately put the pieces together that they were related once they got a good look at his face, cobalt was a very distinct eye color to have even if he was heterochromatic. “He always told me he was a magnet for unwanted attention, guess he passed it down to me too.” Crust chuckled at this as he clapped and put his mask back on. “Don’t worry, I’d rather you make your own light rather than basking in his. While his light was grand, they always say the next generation can shine even brighter. And his light got quite murky at the end, I don’t wish for your light to be muddled with so much murky water that he found himself in. That man was a dear colleague of mine, so I trust you’ll be that much better than him.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep your trust and warning in mind. In return, you can watch the initial sparks.” Crust laughed and asked, “Your name, young man?”

His dad’s words came to him in a second.“ I know you’ll come up with something that will beat mine easily. ” A smile grasped onto his face before he made his choice.

“Umi Joku, but in the future, I think you’ll recognize me more as Nimbus.”

“As they say, then, when they see a nimbus cloud, a large storm will be coming.” Umi smiled and crossed his arms, his cloud disappearing and the air around Crust becoming more violent as he could see something akin to a small storm cloud surrounding Umi. 

“A storm is coming, a storm called the next generation.” Crust nodded in agreement before getting ready to jump off the building, “A fine name you have there, ‘the sky above the sea’ and the cloud that brings a storm, I’ll be sure to remember that name very soon.” Crust jumped off and enlarged a hexagon before riding on it across Shinjuku to the ground, Umi looking on with a look exuding respect and gratitude before he continued on his parkour run through Shinjuku. 

“ So that’s how he stopped those quills, he increased the air resistance between them while also decreasing the air resistance that stood in the way of my shield for it to catch up to the distance without trouble, a fine glance indeed. I’ll be sure to look out for your sparks, they may be even more than I expect.”

 xXx

4 Months Later, February

“So this is UA…” Umi stood in the courtyard of the massive building, the many students piling in with excitement, nervousness, and arrogance evident in their faces throughout. He felt all the people around him, his senses almost overloaded by the amount of people felt by the wind around him.

“UA Academy, the most prolific hero school in Japan, maybe even the world. A place that housed heroes far and wide as the eyes could see, a place that I will enter bar none.” He looked down at himself and nodded, his confidence brimming while also thinking about his weaknesses.

“ Wind control still leaves cuts, though nowhere near as deep as before and easily able to be healed, however, my healing water leaves me winded, I need to look out for that if I ever take too many big hits during a fight. My speed makes up for that in spades though, I’ve trained my reflexes, and I took to Jeet Kune Do and Capoeira along with other elements of martial arts seamlessly thanks to Dad, I should have this. I haven’t checked just how much environmental damage I can put out since that hellish day in Deika… ” He took a moment to think of his mother setting him free and the stress and trauma of that day before continuing. “ But my quirk contains ties to not only my body but also the state of the outside world, so it’s probably increased exponentially. ”

“According to Tokage, she secured one of the four recommendations for the hero course. So I can’t let her get ahead of me.” He took a deep breath, his expression full of determination and relaxation before he walked into the school, his date with his future approaching.

Chapter Text

Steps were taken, each step louder than the last in his mind as he came closer and closer to the auditorium of UA, his mind deceivingly calm and relaxed despite the anxiety a situation of this caliber should have. A light invited him in, his eyes showing everyone who wished to compete with him for a spot in this school, hundreds of students that all wished to be Japan’s best. He walked through the auditorium, his eyes scanning everywhere and everyone around him, as most students seemed to be too caught up in themselves to even pay attention to the competition. 

“ I’ve only seen a few people looking out for the competition, the eyes say everything despite these people not saying anything. ” He looked around at the different school sections as he looked for his own, the people fascinating him. “ They even have a section for transfer students from other countries. ” 

It was in that section that he caught the eyes of someone who was glancing at him, a brown-haired teen male with a ponytail who was also scanning the crowd. The two locked eyes with one another before Umi nodded in respect, the boy nodding back in respect before Umi walked past him, the glance the two shared being all that was needed for acknowledgment of the other’s abilities. Umi continued scanning the crowd, finding very little that he considered a threat in this competition until he reached the seats of Nakamura, his eyes meeting two other pairs of eyes from his section as he nodded regarding the two, a girl with jet-black hair, dark brown eyes, and black lines seeping into her fair skin and a boy with maroon hair and black eyes, Umi seeing his hands were covered by gloves as both of their eyes gleamed with recognition as they nodded back. 

“ These two, Asata Katari and Jiashi Moza. They were always two who wanted to be heroes but also had other options that suited them better, and each wanted to get into UA for better financial situations for their families. I respect these two, they were always very cordial with me. Whether you go down the hero route, general route, or even business route, I wish you two luck. ” 

 He went and shook hands with both of them, their mutual respect and familiarity with each other showing before Umi sat down and watched the auditorium fully fill to the brim, the entire area packed with students from all across Japan before a voice called out to them, all of them.

“ WELCOME TO MY LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY HEY! ”

Everybody recognized the voice and the person that walked up, however, nobody dared speak until someone yelled back “HEY!” 

As if the crowd itself was waiting for a chance to cinch their attention on someone, it’s as if the entire crowd moved in tandem as they all turned to a green-haired boy that now looked beyond embarrassed as some were even laughing at him.

“ He managed to grasp the attention of everyone here with that move, it may seem dumb on paper and quite embarrassing, but his voice was strong. He was the only one that even dared to speak .” Umi thought to himself before Present Mic shot a thumbs up before he went on about the entrance exams and what they entailed, Umi’s eyes staring at the pamphlet with a look he couldn’t describe.

“ This exam, UA you sly bastards. This exam on paper is flawed to the core, almost immediately catering to quirks with destructive capabilities and neglects people with mental quirks or even no quirks. But physical strength isn’t everything, not in the slightest. Heroes have to have the strongest minds, and the strongest will to save people. Anything less and your peers ’ll scorn you, or even worse, hunted. UA will give points based on performance on all three sides, physical strength, mental capabilities displayed, and the way you save your fellow contestants. Those written exams will also deeply come into effect, that I have no doubt. ” Umi mentally sent a thank you to everyone who prepared him for this moment, their lessons coming back to him tenfold. Although his parents recognized his academic gifts, Uguro and Tamao ensured he excelled, reaching the top of Nakamura; they demanded excellence, and he repaid their faith.

“PRESENT MIC SIR, IF I MAY VERY WELL SPEAK UP!” A person in the crowd spoke up before standing up and bowing. 

“Sir, you mentioned three types of villains, but on this handout, it says there are 4 types of villains. Such an error would be an embarrassment for a top tier school such As UA. Is there an error there?” Umi raised an eyebrow at why the boy was speaking up before he turned around and then went after the green-haired boy before Present Mic calmed him down and then explained that the zero-pointer was just a hazard and should be running away from, the boy bowing yet again as Present Mic finished up and wished them good luck. Umi looked around and saw people conversing, pointing at the zero-pointer on the pamphlet before sighing and getting up, his two classmates from Nakamura noticing his lack of concern for anything Present Mic mentioned.

“ None of them could see through the facade, at least none from my point of view. A shame for them, better for me. Their loss is my gain. ” Umi went to his bus for Section D of the Entrance Exams, examining everyone’s attitude on the bus as he walked by looking for an open space. Faux confidence, arrogance, nervousness, anxiety, the whole nine yards. He finally came across a gaze that he noticed was exactly like his own, calculating to a fault. The gaze was familiar, as the brown-haired boy from earlier was looking at him with the same amount of intensity.

“Interesting, we’re in the same area then . ” The two said in unison as Umi raised an eyebrow before he chuckled as the other boy looked slightly embarrassed before Umi sat next to him. 

“Umi Joku, a pleasure.” “Hiryu Rin, the same.”

The two boys sat in silence while the bus brought them to their location.

“Your level of confidence?” Umi looked at the boy who whispered to him before he looked at his fellow students on the bus, his gaze hardened and calculating before he looked down. “This current bus, 9. The entire section, the same. Do you think differently?” He didn’t miss the boy nodding, his interest heightened as the boy whispered.

“You’re the only one I’ve seen so far with my eyes, you’ll pass no doubt.” Umi nodded before the two shared a silent look, almost looking like they were conversing with each other without a single word being uttered. The same thought crossed both of their minds as the two went their separate ways once the bus stopped so they could get ready.

“See you at the finish line. ”

Minutes went by and Umi stood in his training clothes: a black muscle shirt, violet silk shorts, and sneakers that were a mix of white and black. His cloud arc stood fierce and his eyes were laser-focused, so much so that even if someone were to pass by him, he wouldn’t even flinch. The people that stood by him seemed weirded out, as they felt he hadn’t even moved since he arrived at the starting line.

“ Wish me luck, mom, dad, Uguro, Tamao. You all helped me down this path, now it’s my turn to take the reins. From this point on… ”

The doors slowly opened as Present Mic’s voice trying to hype them up didn’t even phase him as he waited for the word that would set him loose.

“ Your Little Storm will become the strongest around. ”

“ GO !”

His heart surged as Present Mic couldn’t even have time to put emphasis on the word before he surged forward, the competition that was once right beside him now sat way behind as they were still trying to figure out where he even went as he essentially disappeared from their view with his speed before Present Mic clarified further. “ HEROES DON’T WAIT FOR A COUNTDOWN. GO !” The people behind Umi cursed as they all ran into the city after him, not that any of them could catch him. Most people ran in and saw some robots destroyed, as all the three pointers in the area had been vanquished as electric shocks came out from the destroyed remains, but the other robots stood unaffected and ready to attack as some of the contestants thought Umi was an idiot for not destroying everything, but more was simply confused on why he hadn’t. While most people were confused, the eyes of Rin narrowed further as he didn’t hesitate to go and destroy the one and two pointers still around the area as his arm shot scales at the robots which couldn’t hold under his assault.

“ You also figured it out, then? I hope you are in my class; your sharp eyes will be beneficial. But that doesn’t mean I’ll let you leave me in the dust! ”

xXx

Eyes of Cobalt and Lilac scanned the area, his cloud arc expanded and his posture screaming alertness before multiple students came through an alleyway, a large group of 3 pointers trying to surround them before one fell off a building, a cloud safely and softly breaking their fall. The students all looked up to see a shadow in the air before the shadow came down with a spin and an axe kick that shattered a three-pointer, the leg surrounded by what looked like lightning as the students saw Umi throw multiple electric clouds at the robots around them and watched as the robots short-circuited before they fell to the ground unmoving. 

“You all okay, no one hurt?” The multiple students nodded as Umi nodded before he ran between two buildings and proceeded to wall jump his way back up to the rooftops, the multiple students watching as Umi broke no sweat doing this and didn’t look like he was using his quirk in the slightest.

“ So, in terms of villain points, I have 62. One hundred percent I’ve gathered the most points in terms of that category in this section, and if my theory is right, I should have more than enough. However, this is UA, I know they have something else in store. ”

As if on point, buildings erupted as something crept up and towered over the buildings, Umi’s eyes narrowing as the zero-pointer revealed itself to the students, its height scaring the other students as most began to run away from it.

“ They’re running? ” His sigh displayed all of his emotions as he shook his head. It wasn’t that he faulted his competition, it was obvious UA made these to look intimidating in order to validate their ‘hazard’ warning. 

“But, no matter how invincible something may seem, no matter how strong someone or something is, there’s always a weakness to be found even within the strongest of armor. All it takes is one chink in the armor.” Umi slowly walked toward the wreckage that the zero-pointer was causing. People around him were screaming at him to stop and to not be stupid, but to him they were all tuned out. His eyes were laser-focused on the task in front of him, and even as debris came flying toward him, he dodged with complete confidence in himself. The zero-pointer in its rampage had knocked off a large piece of a building, and as Umi was ready to destroy it, an impressive amount of scales came through and destroyed it for him as Umi didn’t even bother to turn to his right as he heard someone that was standing right next to him.

“How many?” Umi smirked before his cloud arc disappeared from around him before his body seemed to be enveloped in a vortex, wind surrounding him all around, a miniature tornado seemingly entering the area on his whim alone. 

“Enough.” It was Rin’s turn to smirk before he gathered scales around himself and the two pointed one arm each at the behemoth in front of them.

“SCALE GATLING!” “PRESSURE CANNON!” A large mass of wind combined with the large mass of scales as the combined attack smashed into the behemoth, the scales ripping through the robot while the wind that empowered the scales broke through the inside, a large hole being blown through the robot’s ‘stomach’ before it slowly but surely fell backward, its inner working malfunctioning and slowly exploding before the robot ceased to function, all movement in the area stopping as the robot fell to the ground before Present Mic’s voice ripped through their area. “ AND THAT’S IT KIDDIES, THE TIME IS UP! THE ENTRANCE EXAMS ARE OVER! ”

All the other students of Section D could do after Present Mic called the time was just look at the two that ripped a hole through the monster they all ran away from. They looked at the two with a mixture of shock, curiosity, and even some jealousy. 

“They have nobody to blame for their showing except themselves, no need to dwell on them.” Umi raised an eyebrow at Rin who smiled cheekily and laughed a bit, the seriousness now waning as Umi chuckled before putting his hand out, Rin accepting with a nod and smile. The two didn’t need to say anything else as the cameras watched their display of mutual respect after witnessing the combined attack, the attack that two students who hadn’t even known each other until today had managed to pull off with flawless execution. 

“So, a lot of promising candidates this year, huh?” Present Mic lightly smiled as the recordings of each area was being replayed repeatedly to the staff, each staff member analyzing the footage with keen attentiveness. The blonde hero was currently watching over Area A with the pro hero beside him, a man with a red overcoat, red cowboy hat, sharp eyes, and multiple pistols tied to several holsters around his outfit, the pro hero Snipe.

“Indeed, I must say some of these students are quite violent, this one in Area B especially looks like he wants to ravage anything.” A woman in a skin-tight white suit with long hair said with a hand on her chin while the man right beside her, his head akin to a cinder block, made a gag face. These two heroes being Midnight and Cementoss.

“You can say they look promising, but they have to prove themselves even further than this. This is only the first step and they better be ready to prove that they belong.” A man in a sleeping bag said while barely peeking out, though his gaze was far more focused on a green-haired boy that destroyed his arms that was currently being healed by Recovery Girl. Subsequently, this boy was also being heavily watched by another person in the room, a blonde-haired man that looked more like a skeleton than a human, the two men being Eraserhead and Toshinori Yagi, better known by his peers as All Might.

“You may be right Aizawa, but the next generation is always said to be better than the last, they may end up surprising you. Their achievements surpassed expectations, embodying the spirit of ‘Plus Ultra’”. A woman in a spacesuit said warmly while watching Area D and seeing the combined attack of the two boys that very much impressed her and her colleague beside her, a large man in a red suit that paid extra attention to the combined attack. These two were Thirteen and Vlad King. These two were Thirteen and Vlad King.

That was quite enjoyable, wasn’t it? Today’s students are quite impressive; I must say I’m very pleased with the showing.” A figure stood on Vlad King’s shoulder, a tiny figure that looked similar to a mouse on the surface had a glint in his eyes that the fellow staff members knew as bad news. This was UA’s principal, Nezu.

“Nezu sir, please don’t tell me you plan on interrogating the students.” A man similar to a live werewolf said, albeit sarcastically as the other next to him motioned a laugh at the antics of the staff. These two were Hound Dog and Lunch Rush. Nezu however simply looked closer at the Area D camera replays before he shook his head.

“Oh, but you see Inui, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I just have a few questions to ask two students that have already qualified for the Hero Course.” The staff looked confused before Nezu looked directly at Vlad King. “Kan, you’ll also be attending the interview, seeing as I’ll put these two in your class.” Vlad King looked a bit confused but nodded while Aizawa raised an eyebrow before just zipping up his sleeping bag, his mind going to the green-haired kid that broke his body and the boy that eerily reminded him of one of his former colleagues.

xXx

1 Week Later

Umi back flipped over a kick Uguro sent his way before he landed on his hands and spun before launching a kick at Uguro who blocked knocked Umi off balance before going to land a heavy punch but got stopped by Umi who went into a kip up motion and stopped the punch with his feet before he kicked off Uguro and stood up before the two went and went into a flurry of punches, perfect blocks, kicks and grapples before Tamao came over to their spar. 

“UMI, DAD! THE NOTICE IS HERE!” The two stopped and bowed toward one another before Uguro handed Umi a water bottle that he accepted with grace before Uguro took the notice from UA and ripped it open, the three watching as an electronic disk emitted a blue light in which a hologram appeared.

“ Umi Joku, hello to you. Am I a dog, a bear, or a rat? I don’t know! But what I do know is that I am the principal of UA, Nezu . ” Umi raised an eyebrow while Tamao giggled slightly and Uguro just sighed.

“ Your performance on the Entrance Exam had us very impressed. You achieved a score of 62 villain points, the second most of the whole exam; well done! ” Umi nodded to himself while Uguro looked at him with a slightly proud look and Tamao gave Umi a pat on the back. “Good job, little cousin!” 

“However, that wasn’t the only way we counted scoring. We surveyed your performance, and your ability to have a hero’s instinct to save people! We call these hero points, and you achieved 25 Hero Points, again, congrats. A score of 87 points overall, a stellar performance, in fact you came second place in terms of points within the Entrance Exams! Congratulations, welcome to the UA Hero course!” The screen then showed the top 10 scores and how Umi was one point off of first place, first place belonging to someone named Katsuki Bakugo who barely got any hero points. “Runt, you could’ve easily grabbed first if this was the bar, but good on you for not revealing too much.” Umi nodded, grateful that Uguro respected his decision to not show his full abilities in the Entrance Exams.

“ However, if I may say through this pre-recorded message. I have the slightest feeling that you could’ve done more, judging by how you entered the exam and left a group of 1 and 2 pointers alive for the rest of your competitors to try to get. Dare I say, I felt you were massively holding back. ” Umi narrowed his eyes at the message while Uguro wondered what Nezu was playing at, and Tamao looked at Umi worriedly.

“ In fact, your performance intrigued me so much, I would like to interview you, and an invitation to meet the principal of UA is not so easily turned down. I would like to meet you and have a private discussion with your future teacher in the hero course and your fellow competitor, Hiryu Rin. After all, it’s not every day you see teens falsifying reports on the quirk registry. ” Umi’s eyes widened to massive proportions as it was Uguro’s turn to narrow his eyes. “I knew Nezu was a genius, but what is his game?”

“ Don’t worry, we have many heroes doing the same thing as we have encountered villains who have tried to gain information on hero’s quirks through the quirk registry through hacking and information brokers, so this isn’t breaking the law. I would just like to know why a teen who is entering the most prestigious hero school in Japan is hiding information. You aren’t going to get kicked out of UA and you could very much come to this meeting and not tell us anything else, but as we are the caretakers of your future here, I feel a sense of trust must be established before we go further. As for how we, or rather I found out, it will all be discussed at this interview, and I would like this interview to be tomorrow at 13:45. I’m looking forward to seeing you, Umi Joku. Once again, welcome to UA High School. ”

The hologram shut as Uguro looked at Umi, his tenseness and distrust came on full display before the man put his hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Runt, calm down and think. Nezu won’t put this information out to the public or change your quirk registry form, you just need to go to that meeting.” Umi looked at the man and sighed while Tamao grabbed his other shoulder in silence, showing her support for her cousin who looked tense.

“I know, I know. If someone was going to figure this out, I knew it’d be Nezu, your stories on his intelligence always had me on edge. I just didn’t think he’d read me, and so blatantly.” Uguro understood what Umi thought. He performed well within the standards of his quirk on the registry, but to find out someone had seen through it, it was quite the shock to the system.

“You have to go to this meeting, I understand you wanting to keep stuff hidden. But if there is anyone you don’t want to keep stuff hidden from, it’s Nezu. Nezu is the one person that will dig deep for information all across for you. It wouldn’t surprise me if he clocked your relation to Arashi.” Umi sighed deeply and mumbled something to himself.

“He wouldn’t be the first, I met one of dad’s former colleagues, and he had me right away. But he promised me he wouldn’t do anything with this information.” Uguro now raised an eyebrow at this, he didn’t know Umi’s relation to Arashi had already been uncovered. Not that it was something Umi didn’t take pride in, but for a hero to already take notice, it must’ve been someone extremely close to Arashi.

“Before you ask who, the hero in question was Crust. It was when I interfered with that Cell Tower, he chased me down across Shinjuku when I was doing parkour and thanked me for saving the day. He said he would look out for me in the future before he made the connection that I was dad’s son, he said he didn’t want me to end up being caught in what dad was caught.” Uguro flinched at this, knowing what Arashi got caught in was the defense of him being dropped from the HPSC as an official hero and his existence as O’Clock being stripped away. Arashi put up a massive resistance against that out of respect for him, a mess indeed.

“Crust huh, he was always close with Arashi, the two were quite the duo on missions with their offensive and defensive skills. At least it wasn’t Endeavor.” 

“Wait Umi, didn’t he say someone else was going to be interviewed as well?” Tamao asked him with a tilted head as Umi remembered the name in the message. “Hiryu Rin, he was the person I took down the zero-pointer with, he had the same eyes as me.” Umi then closed his eyes and thought, his mind traveling to his interactions with the teen that got his respect. “ So you too, no wonder your eyes reminded me of mine. ” 

xXx

Umi stood in front of the UA gates with a deep sigh and senses on high alert. He wore a pink hoodie, black jeans and black sneakers while air lay all around him, feeling just how many people were outside the building within his vicinity as the gate opened a tiny bit, just enough space to invite him in. “ I don’t know what you plan to do with this information, Nezu. I hope you are as honest as you are intelligent. ” He walked through the small opening in the gate with it shutting right after he entered. “No going back.” 

A figure approached him slowly as he looked at the man approaching him, recognizing the man as Hound Dog.

“Umi Joku, a pleasure to have you here.” Hound Dog walked up as Umi replied with a respectful tone and a bow that Hound Dog reciprocated. “Hound Dog, a pleasure to be here.” 

“So I assume you being here means that you accepted Nezu’s interview request?” Umi nodded as Hound Dog sighed. “I’ll be honest, Nezu’s intentions are a mystery to us just as much as they are to you, I know I shouldn’t be saying stuff like that to a teen like yourself, but as the school’s guidance counselor I must look out for future students. I’ll lead you to Nezu’s office, a tour of UA in a sense.” Umi nodded as Hound Dog motioned him to follow, his eyes scanning the halls of UA as he followed Hound Dog’s every word and showing with focus and deep concentration. Hound Dog noticed Umi’s eyes constantly scanning along, almost as if they were on a swivel. “ He’s deeply aware of his surroundings, looks like Nezu was right to tell me to look out for his skills. He could be an amazing tracker. ” The two continued going up and up until they reached the top floor of the building, Nezu’s office directly in front of him as he steeled himself.

“Good luck in there, Joku. For what it’s worth, I hope you come away from this meeting with a clear understanding.” Umi nodded and said his goodbyes to Hound Dog who disappeared into the halls of UA before he walked up to the door and an intercom outside the door activated. 

“ The door is open, you may come in. ”

Umi opened the door slowly as three figures in the room showed themselves to him. One was Nezu, sitting in his chair with a smile that Umi couldn’t tell what emotion was being displayed. There was the Blood Hero, Vlad King alongside him that looked serious enough, but there was a soft undertone to his expression as he nodded with a slight smile. And finally, there was Rin looking at him with a mixture of confusion, tenseness and understanding all wrapped up into one nod that he replicated. He closed the door behind him and silently strode in before sticking his hand out for Nezu to shake, to which the principal accepted with his trademark grin.

“Nice to meet you, Principal Nezu and Vlad King, thank you for the invitation here.” Umi then shook Vlad King’s hand in earnest before turning to Rin and sitting, not shaking his hand but offering a side fist bump in return, his expression unchanging as Rin accepted with a slight smile that caught Nezu and Vlad King almost off guard in a way.

“ How interesting, he did that to ease Rin’s concerns about this meeting and his own in a way despite them not knowing each other until last week. A deep respect sitting between these two already despite only one day where the two actively engaged with each other. ” Nezu thought with a smile before he stood on Vlad King’s shoulder.

“I would like to preface this meeting with congratulations. I know I said in the acceptance hologram that you got into the Hero Course, but I would like to reiterate that whatever is said in this meeting won’t be held against your acceptance into UA, it is only for the staff to understand some things regarding some things I discovered while looking into your records. We are required to naturally do background checks, and when two teens that didn’t enter their quirk registry forms until much later on compared to other children enter your school, we must look at all possibilities.” The two teens nodded, Nezu’s description of why they were here easing their minds, albeit very slightly.

“I would also like to preface that the reason that Vlad King is here is that he is going to be your future homeroom teacher and thus spend the most time with you regarding your abilities and training while on campus grounds. I would also like to add that either of you could ask the other to leave if you don’t want to reveal this information to each other. Do you have any issues with Vlad King or the other here now knowing this?” Both boys shook their heads no before Umi then spoke up.

“It’s nice to know that our homeroom teacher is actively engaged in knowing what the problem is, but may I ask as to why Hound Dog is not also in this meeting? According to his own words, he is the school’s guidance counselor, I would think he would also be here if the information that comes up isn’t pleasant and you wish for us to have multiple visits with him to clear further air.” Vlad King looked impressed with Umi’s rationality as he himself asked Nezu the same as Rin sat there looking at Umi.

“Hound Dog isn’t here currently because of having multiple appointments on campus, but if the information as to why you did what you did is volatile, he will be informed. Very good reasoning, however.” Nezu nodded with a smile as Umi went back to being silent before Nezu offered the other people in the room tea which they accepted. Nezu then put up a hologram that showed both of their quirk registry forms.

Hiryu Rin

Birthdate: July 14, XXXX

Quirk Name: Scales

Scales allow the user to form hard scales throughout their entire body. These scales can be used as protective armor or projectiles. Growing these scales requires the consumption of calcium and collagen. These scales resembles those of a reptile and hurt when they come into physical contact considering the sharpness and hardness.

Weakness: Requires the consumption of calcium and collagen, without these two scales cannot be generated. These scales are also quite thin and will break off with a powerful impact.

---------------------------------------

Umi Joku

Birthdate: March 25, XXXX

Quirk Name: Kumonim

Kumonim allows the user to create and manipulate clouds and the natural phenomena that clouds can control. These clouds can hold electricity, wind power, dense water, and have many uses including the creation of unique weather patterns within a small area and can be controlled on the body.

Weakness: These clouds require the user’s constant focus and balance. These clouds also dehydrate the user constantly.

“These are the descriptions of your current quirks, and your performances in the Entrance Exams were quite indicative of what these quirks are capable of. However, both of you can perform higher than these capabilities.” The screens then changed to Umi and Rin’s attack against the zero-pointer. One screen stopped at Umi’s cloud arc disappearing from his body and the other screen showed the inside of the zero-pointer. 

“ The inside of the zero-pointer, what did Nezu catch? ” Vlad King thought as the attack blew right through the zero-pointer’s insides, however inside the zero-pointer were a bunch of scales left from Rin’s Scale Gatling. These scales proceeded to catch on fire, spontaneously combusting. Rin’s eyes widened further while Vlad King looked at the screen with shock while Umi just looked at the teen next to him who was put into stunned silence. 

“ So his quirk also involves fire, those scales and the fire, it’s almost like his quirk was not just lizard scales but dragon scales. But I don’t get how Nezu deciphered I was hiding stuff. ” 

“As you can see, Hiryu Rin’s scales burst into flames on their own inside of the zero-pointer. As for Umi Joku, well his change was a lot more subtle, in fact so hard to see that at first I thought it didn’t exist. However, at this moment where the cloud arc disappears, watch his arms.” The screen zoomed in to see the cloud arc disappearing and Umi summoning a vortex around him, and on his arms were a thin layer of water barely visible to the naked eye. The water then joined in the move Umi used before a tornado of wind and water shot along with the scales.

“ So that’s how he found out, he caught me using water to combine into the Pressure Cannon with a camera fine-tuned enough to see the combination. ” Umi kept his calm and just enjoyed more of the tea, Rin looking at him with a mixture of wonder and respect while he nodded back.

“Now, you do not have to tell us the reasoning as to why you decided to keep your true quirks from the quirk registry, however we must know what your true quirks are if we are to look after you and decide what training you need to better perfect your skill sets. Of course, reasoning is also appreciated.” Vlad King watched Nezu at work while also changing his glance to look at his two future students who looked deep in thought. It was obvious these two were stronger than what was shown, and if that was the case then he was impressed, very much so. These two had already impressed him in the Entrance Exams and their skill sets now seemed even higher than before.

“If I do tell you the reasons why, will they be recorded for the staff as well?” Rin asked as Nezu shook his head and replied, “Only the two in here and Hound Dog will know, you are the only ones that have the ability to tell people, we will not reveal anything you consider confidential to the staff unless you see a reason to.” Rin nodded before feeling a hand on his shoulder and knowing Umi was there to support him, even if he barely knew him.

“Very well, my quirk’s real name is Draconian Scales. Instead of a lizard’s scales, my quirk is supposed to resemble more of a dragon’s scales and it allows me to breathe fire and my scales can burst into flames on my whim as well as the further description from before. There’s also my strength increasing massively and the scales defensive capabilities being better than described. The weakness is that my scales aren’t able to be controlled yet when I shoot them, my aversion to cold environments as well as the consumption of calcium, collagen and protein on top of that. However, I’ve been limiting that weakness to where only one glass of milk and eating a protein bar could last my quirk a week!” Rin seemed very proud of that, as the others could tell. Nezu nodded and wrote this all down before they looked at Umi who sighed.

“My quirk’s name is Cumulonimbus. With this quirk, I’m able to create and control different weather effects.” Rin looked at him with surprise while Nezu raised an eyebrow and Vlad King’s eyes widened. 

“Pardon my intrusion, but are you telling me that with your quirk you’re able to control the weather?” Umi nodded before pulling out his arm, showing them all the cuts and scars he received in the past that were healed over. 

“I’ve always controlled my quirk to within my area and range, as I don’t want to cause a storm around me. There are a lot of different facets that go into the quirk, like the ability to control the distinct elements of water, wind, and electricity. These facets present their own weaknesses. With lightning, I become hyper aware of pain because of my synapses and nerves becoming super-charged and it becomes so aware that my body parts turn numb the further I go, though I’ve been working on that for some time now and I’ve constantly pushed my limits to where only the biggest shocks I can muster cause me high numbness. With wind, my body gets more and more cut up the stronger and more ferocious the wind is. Let’s say I create an F5 tornado, these scars would be cut open and I would have to fight through the pain. But all of that gets solved with this.”

 He channeled a small amount of wind on his finger before cutting open a small gash on his palm, Nezu, Vlad King and Rin, watching as water surrounded his arm and the wound was healed and there was no scar in sight.

“With water, I’m able to heal flesh wounds and other stuff water can do, but in this process I get the constant feeling of being waterlogged. I have to constantly be focused on maintaining the balance of all three when I use my quirk, less I suffer the consequences all at once. And if I expand the weather effects around me, I have to maintain the shape, structure, and power to not go out of control. The reason I may have seemed too relaxed is that I know I’m able to control myself. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here right now. If I’m not able to control myself fully, I’ll die to my quirk’s overwhelming force if it were to go out of control and I couldn’t rein it in.” The silence in the room was deafening, Umi’s face returning to its neutral gaze before Nezu drank some more of his tea and looked directly into Umi’s eyes.

“How confident are you in your ability to control your quirk?” He nodded before smiling, a genuine smile at the two staff members. “If I wasn’t confident in myself, I wouldn’t be here sitting before you.” Nezu saw the smile and nodded before looking at Vlad King who looked at him and sent him a thumbs up. “Then it is enough for me. I will save these reports into the UA records for staff members only, and that will be it. If you wish to divulge the reasoning why, you may. Otherwise, the door is free, and this meeting is over.” The two boys looked at each other, both staying seated.

“My reasoning…” Rin began before he scowled, “is that when I lived in Guangzhou, China, before my family moved us here, we were followed for years by the Chinese Triad.” Vlad King winced as Nezu nodded. The Triad were a group of infamy, the group living on for hundreds of years in the background of China, with connections all across the world.

“The Chinese Triad had grudges against my father, and a peace offering was suggested by the leader of that specific Triad branch. My father’s exoneration, for me. They wanted to use me in their schemes and raise me to be a triad boss but my dad refused, and moved us here before we changed our names to our Japanese names and he falsified all our records so they couldn’t get ahold of us, but we received news a couple months back that the leader of the specific Triad branch that hunted us down got arrested and put deep behind bars in the United States by the hero Skycrawler.” Umi’s neutral and confused expression betrayed his inner thoughts as he thought about that name. “ SkyCrawler, that’s Koichi! He’s Uncle Uguro’s and Dad’s former student! ” Nezu and Vlad King shared a look at that specific name being brought up before the two smiled at Rin. “I’m glad your family doesn’t have to worry about that man anymore, and UA will be sure to also look out for you and your family, you have my word.” Rin nodded gratefully before they all looked at Umi, who just looked down.

“Well, I was born in Japan, but not anywhere around here. I was born in Deika City.” Nezu’s eyebrow raised at this. He heard of stories from Deika City and how the HPSC barely had any grasp over there besides the few heroes that gravitated toward there. It was a city that stood on the outskirts of their society, something that immediately got him concerned. 

“In Deika City, there was an underground villain group that essentially ruled the streets. The heroes there weren’t properly equipped to even slightly handle the situation over there. No offense, but they were all fools besides one, that one being my father.” Nezu sighed, his theory indeed coming true while Vlad King thought back to one of the few heroes he knew that even dared to patrol Deika before he grew shocked and almost stepped out of his seat in surprise. “Your father… your father is Luminous isn’t he?” Rin looked at Umi with surprise, a single nod given in response as Vlad King grabbed his forehead with a look of exasperation while Umi looked at Nezu. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

“It was a sound theory, you hold quite the resemblance to him after all.” The principal chuckled at this before motioning for him to continue.

“My dad, he truly cleaned up the streets, and it got the villain group upset, very upset. When they found out he had a son in the city, they captured me. However, by this point, he was arrested. They knew my relation to him and knew I had a strong quirk and were going to experiment on me, turn me into one of them, and make me an operative. However, my mother saved me. I was in deep cryostasis because of a villain named Iceman freezing me solid.” Nezu and Vlad King made sure to note down this name for future research. 

“My mother, Zari Tanaka, a head doctor at the Deika City hospital and department of research, set me free. She had the villain group convinced she was one of their sleeper agents, not knowing she had broken free of their mind-controlling drugs with my dad’s ability to send electricity through her nerves and allowing her to heal the rest with her quirk, AeroHydro Therapy. Not knowing this, they wanted to send a message to my father about the fact my mother had turned me into one of them. But my mother played the part and when their guard dropped, she used something that my dad left her.” He recreated the effect, a bubble of wind surrounding a pure lightning ball. “Ball Lightning…” Nezu whispered while Vlad King and Rin admired the effect before Umi made it dissipate into the air.

“She used this and started a fire in the room, this fire spreading to the ice that was kept in. And when this villain group came back and tried to capture me again, I escaped into the streets of Deika. By then, everyone was hunting for me and me alone as my mom had played off her involvement by blaming one guard who had a fire quirk going haywire with a drug called ‘Trigger’.” Nezu and Vlad King’s gaze narrowed at the story even further as they saw Umi’s sadness and dismay while he tried his hardest to keep his composure while Rin looked saddened, his own history being hunted down coming to him tenfold as he heard the plight of his compatriot.

“When I escaped, I let my anger, my grief, my fear, every negative emotion I could think of and I let everything loose. It was there that I conjured something that could guarantee my escape.”

“You created Typhoon Jin.” Nezu looked at the teen who sat in his office, his thoughts going all around. It was clear that heroes would have to look into Deika City immediately if a villain group that was experimenting and brain-washing children, distributing, and experimenting with drugs with these children was controlling Deika City from behind the scenes. His eyes could tell if someone was lying, he knew the minds of humans were feeble and easy to read. But he could see that whatever Umi Joku was saying was the complete truth. He needed to look into this immediately. 

And he needed to rethink Joku’s capabilities. Typhoon Jin was a storm that didn’t even last 3 hours, but it was the circumstances in which it appeared. To them, Typhoon Jin appeared out of nowhere, and to this day no one knew who or what caused it. No one had died according to official and unofficial reports, but if all of what Uni Joku said was true, Deika City had to be investigated, and soon.

“I created Typhoon Jin. I could only thank my mother that it was level 3 and not any stronger. My six-year old body had it went any further would’ve collapsed and died that day had it not been for the words my mom told me before I knocked everyone out, including her to cover up the fact she saved me. She hugged me, the last hug I ever received from a parent and told me to get to people that would help, that would be there for me if she couldn’t. So, a six-year old me on the verge of death traveled hundreds of kilometers all the way to Naruhata and I found some of my dad’s family who nursed me back to health. That is why I hid everything, because my uncle wanted me to stay hidden for as much as possible. He didn’t want to even put me on the registry in case the villain group in Deika had connections to the registry, so that’s what I did. I stayed hidden and honed my abilities exponentially.” He finished with a sigh and wiped the lone tear that came away from his eye as he looked at the two heroes and gauged their reactions. Vlad King looked pissed, no pissed was the wrong word. Umi could tell the man was on the brink of marching to Deika City right now and declaring war. He then looked at Nezu, the principal’s cold eyes staring right at him, as he could tell his logic was at work. 

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Rin, who gave a single nod his way. Umi did the same, their situations did not need to be discussed further. They both had hard lives, and the two had come out stronger all for it.

“You both have given me much to think about. I will not discuss your past with the staff yet, however I will let you know that I must act along with police records and might have to use your testimonies to uncover triad members in Japan and the villain group within Deika. Your names will be classified to everyone besides the chief police officer that will be joining our investigation. Is this serviceable?” The two nodded as Nezu and Vlad King nodded before the holograms closed and Nezu smiled.

“Well then, I consider this meeting over. Thank you both, your transparency regarding the matter of these situations is very much appreciated and important. I will be asking you to have weekly appointments with Hound Dog and 3 psych evaluations per semester along with other members of your classes. Is this acceptable?” The two nodded, it was more than acceptable.

“If I may add, I respect the two of you, incredibly so. It will be an honor to teach two students who have dealt with so much and came out all the better for it. I have more to say, so much more in fact, but it isn’t my place, nor is it the right time to tell you these things. May you enjoy the years you spend at UA.” Vlad King said softly before bowing, the two bowing back with respect as they said their goodbyes and walked out. 

As soon as they walked out, Nezu immediately looked up the name Iceman and found nothing online, no reports of a single Iceman before looking up the name SkyCrawler and finding a news report that included a Triad Boss tagline. “Kan, call Tsukauchi. The HPSC and police must do better.” Kan nodded silently and followed orders, Nezu’s grin was almost psychotic as the two reports of the students sat in the background. “ A six-year-old created Typhoon Jin… ” 

Nezu knew that quirks were only getting stronger in the future generations to come, however a six year old created a Category 3 typhoon after breaking free of cryostasis. This further confused Nezu, as it was almost an impossibility that the body would survive if someone attempted to break the limits of their quirk at a young age unless they reached the nexus point while close to death, something Umi had said he had come to. “ Have you reached the pinnacle of quirks young Joku? Have you awakened? ”

xXx

The two walked out of UA’s gates silently while staring ahead at the walkway. 

“So you could see all of that through my eyes huh?” Rin looked at Umi who smirked ahead. “And here I thought I had baggage.” Rin slightly laughed in response. “You can say that, though I don’t know if being chased by the Triad across countries beats creating a Cyclone as an escape plan. I don’t know if a former Triad Boss as a dad beats a former hero turned vigilante being your dad.” It was Umi’s turn to laugh, he knew Rin didn’t tell the full story just as he didn’t tell his. 

“I don’t know, it comes pretty damn close.” The two just shared chuckles with one another.

“So are we friends? We’ve only known each other for two days max and we already know most of the other’s sad backstory.” Rin asked as Umi looked ahead. The two didn’t know anything about the other, nothing about their interests, favorite foods, favorite music, literally nothing that normal friends would know. And yet the two felt like they knew the other inside and out, the two could understand one another, the two understood the feeling of being hunted, the feeling of despair, of gaining strength rising from that despair. 

“Friends? I like that idea. Those that are hunted stick together until their hunters try to strike, and when they inevitably fail, the hunters become the hunted.” The two shared a look before they stopped and Umi put his arm up, to which Rin responded in kind.

“If they come looking for us…” Rin started as Umi finished. “They’ll fall, one by one. But we’re going to be heroes too, don’t forget that. We put everyone else before us…”

“As our parents did for our futures.” Rin finished this time. The two decided right then and there that whatever problems came along at UA, they’d go at it together. Their families did everything to make sure they were safe, it was their turn to use that opportunity to do right by them and their wishes. The two were already strong, and they were going to become so much stronger.

“My name is Nimbus, a pleasure.”

“My name is Chao Feng, the same.”