Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Being able to run faster than a group of peers genuinely feels fun to Kirisame.

But that might also be because Kirisame is really good at it.

During the 50-meter dash, Kirisame was next to the familiar Iida, whose leg engines suggested he specialized in speed or leg power.

However, static acceleration was also something Kirisame excelled at. Shota Aizawa pressed the stop button almost as soon as he shouted the start, as if it were no surprise—2.2 seconds, and it was absolutely not her full effort.

Right behind her was Tenya Iida, whose Quirk gave him engine-powered legs. The boy frowned. "I can only shift into third gear for 50 meters..."

He turned to Kirisame with sincere admiration. "To surpass someone with a speed-type Quirk like myself, Aizawa is truly impressive."

Kirisame smiled. "Thanks. You're impressive too."

She wasn't lying. It was clear that if the distance was longer, Iida could go even faster.

"...Is this what they call mutual back-scratching?" Sero poked Ojiro beside him.

Both watched the dust clouds kicked up by the two runners and silently decided not to comment.

For the long jump and side-step test, Imagin was there. From where Kirisame couldn't see, the little tengu squatted nearby, waving enthusiastically. "Go for it, Kirisame! Let's make them all amazed!"

Kirisame was gradually learning to distinguish voices. The short tanto seemed very young and lively, calling her "Kirisame" in a sweet, soft voice. The longer swords sounded older, addressing her with an indulgent tone as "young lady" or "master."

...And there was one who always called her "lord" with a tearful, excited voice.

"Alright," the girl said, just as excited as the short tanto. "Let's surprise them!"

Behind them, Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido watched Kirisame and Bakugo fly past one after the other.

"...What kind of people are those?!"

It was also interesting to observe others' abilities. For instance, the short classmate Mineta in the side-step test—the super sticky balls he plucked from his head struck Kirisame as an incredibly annoying Quirk in a fight.

Kyoka Jiro noticed that the new classmate Kirisame seemed to be staring appreciatively at the deep purple silhouette moving like a blur between the two lines.

"...She's a super cute girl, but her taste in fun seems a bit strange."

Also worth mentioning was the super well-built, big-sisterly Momo Yaoyorozu. Her Creation Quirk seemed capable of anything.

But what left the strongest impression on Kirisame was the boy who sat behind her, the two-tone handsome boy Shoto Todoroki, who was said to be a recommended student along with Yaoyorozu. The reason wasn't his unusual appearance or icy demeanor, but—he used ice.

Having been punished countless times by an enraged Mr. Steven, along with Zapp, for being mischievous, Kirisame couldn't help but feel weak-kneed at the sight of ice users. She still couldn't forget that time when an ice user froze a monster the size of a truck with one kick and then turned to them with a sweet, innocent smile.

So no matter how strong Todoroki seemed, Kirisame wasn't surprised at all.

[Ice users are monsters]

[Good thing Todoroki isn't the polite, gentle-smiling type]

[His cold demeanor actually feels reassuring]

But her friend Midoriya's situation wasn't looking good.

Without Quirk assistance, he hadn't performed well in any of the events before the ball throw. Plus, his bad-tempered childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, was glowering at him with intimidating focus. Just watching, Kirisame could sense the pressure he was under.

Under everyone's gaze, Kirisame picked up a ball. The spiral blade pattern of the sword spirit Yashio no Ura was etched in her brilliant golden eyes.

Then Mineta watched in disbelief as the new, soft-looking but ridiculously talented classmate took a stance, wore a serious expression, took a deep breath, and then her arms appeared to triple in size and her voice boomed three times deeper:

"KAH! KAH! KAH!"

[Oh no, I couldn't hold it in. It's over, it's over.]

"ROAR!!! MY MUSCLES!!!!"

Mineta stumbled.

[Sigh.]

This shout was even more impactful than Bakugo's earlier "DIE!!!" It instantly changed everyone's understanding of their new classmates.

A group of people blankly replayed "KAH! KAH! KAH!" and "My muscles" in their minds, concluding that the Hero Course was full of extraordinary people.

203.5 meters. Not bad.

...After throwing, Kirisame silently walked aside, covering her face without a word. Her ears were bright red, almost bleeding from embarrassment, as if she was about to die of shame.

Maybe... it's because of her Quirk? Jiro, the big-sisterly girl, patted her head comfortingly, and couldn't resist rubbing it again for the soft texture.

Kirisame reflexively nuzzled against her palm.

"..."

Both of them froze immediately, then quickly separated.

#Acting like nothing happened#

Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Hagakure: "Pfft—"

Midoriya stood in the circle for the ball throw, fists clenched, looking like he had made up his mind.

Uraraka spoke in concern: "Deku-kun... aren't you going to use your Quirk?"

"Huh? Since when did Midoriya have a Quirk?"

"Huh? Isn't he just a useless Quirkless punk?"

They spoke at the same time.

"Eh?" Iida and Uraraka, who were in the same exam venue as Midoriya, looked shocked. "Don't you know what he did in the practical test?!"

Kirisame was also a bit surprised. She recalled that over the past ten months, Midoriya had indeed shown some odd behavior. She was curious about what Quirk he had.

In stark contrast to Kirisame, Bakugo seemed utterly unable to believe Midoriya had a Quirk. But perhaps because Kirisame was also unaware, making him feel not alone in being kept in the dark, the spiky-haired boy's emotions remained relatively stable.

...It seemed Midoriya couldn't use his Quirk.

"I erased your Quirk."

"You can't be a hero if you're immobilized after just one punch."

Aizawa released him and didn't pay him any further attention.

Seeing the worried expression on the round-faced girl Uraraka beside her, Kirisame patted her shoulder. "It's okay. If that's really the case, it's not looking good. Midoriya should be aware of that himself."

Two little girls held hands and watched their classmate in the test.

Midoriya, standing in the circle, raised his arm.

His expression seemed equally determined, but his stance had shifted subtly.

"If you set your mind to something, there's always a way."

705.3 meters.

The power was decent, but his finger looked completely unusable.

Kirisame was familiar with this situation—the first time she met her boss and Zapp, when she woke up in the hospital, she was in worse shape than Midoriya.

This was the cry of a body overwhelmed by a power too great to bear.

—A power gained through normal means would never exhibit such traits.

But that wasn't what Kirisame cared about most.

Even though she had heard about her guardian's "Quirk Erasure," seeing it firsthand was still a first. Kirisame squinted.

Bao Hao's rationality had long since flown away with Midoriya's ball.

"Explain yourself!" he shouted, lunging at Midoriya with a sparking claw aimed at his chest.

Almost at the same moment, Kirisame shot past him in the opposite direction.

No one reacted in time. The girl lived up to her fifty-meter dash record, her black-flame-wreathed blade arriving in an instant.

—She charged straight at Shota Aizawa.

The homeroom teacher dodged with a flash, his hair bristling.

The moment he looked at her, the knife in Kirisame's hand melted away as if dissolved by something.

The fierce attack stopped abruptly, so fast it seemed she had never intended to put any force behind it.

Glancing at her now-empty hand, the girl looked slightly surprised.

Then she spun around and sincerely apologized: "I'm so sorry, Teacher Aizawa. I let my impulses get the better of me."

In truth, Kirisame wasn't the only one surprised—Aizawa was too.

The dark-haired homeroom teacher rubbed his eyes and didn't hold her earlier action against her. "Activate it again."

Kirisame obliged.

The tachi vanished from her hand the moment he looked at it.

…So it really could be erased.

Aizawa remained impassive. "Continue."

"Was that… considered attacking a teacher?" Iida gasped in the ensuing silence.

"But Teacher Aizawa didn't seem angry," Tsuyu Asui pointed out.

"That was seriously scary, though!" Midoriya was frozen in shock, and this came from Denki Kaminari, who was clutching his heart.

Bao Hao, interrupted, frowned deeply. Others might not know, but after so many unpleasant encounters, he was well aware of what kind of person she was.

It wasn't a reckless provocation, nor was it, as the round-faced girl guessed, an attempt to stand up for the Quirkless Deku.

—She was testing something.

From the back row, Shoto Todoroki, who had seen Kirisame charge forward, was also deep in thought.

—What was she trying to test?

…The outcome was predictably and reasonably hypocritical.

As everyone wore expressions of relief, Kirisame pulled Midoriya's injured finger; Yagen gently traced a circle over the wound, and it was restored to its original state.

Koku, experiencing Kirisame's "big health treatment" for the first time, was utterly amazed: "You can do this too, Kirisame?"

"Exactly… from the fifty-meter run, she was impressively fast, she can summon weapons at will, and now she can even heal… Does Kirisame have more than one Quirk?" Iida asked.

"No, my Quirk is just weapon summoning," Kirisame answered, looking at her curious classmates. "If I had to say, it's probably that my blades have different Quirks."

"So many different kinds of Quirks exist…"

"Yeah," Kirisame smiled and waved goodbye to them. "As for healing, the limit of what I can fix in one go is something like Midoriya's injury. If any of you get hurt and want to recover faster, come find me."

She raised Midoriya's newly healed finger and wiggled it. "But anything worse than this can't be fixed instantly."

The new classmate gradually walked away. Lu Hu and Qie Dao exchanged glances and sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Man, this class was really a rollercoaster."

Saying goodbye to Iida and Uraraka at the school gate, Midoriya and Kirisame walked along the path home.

The boy nervously tugged at his pant leg, looking at Kirisame with hesitation.

[Does she know I have a Quirk now…? What do I do? Will she think I was lying to her…?]

His newly healed hand clenched in frustration.

[…No, even if she knows, she probably won't mind too much.]

After a year of getting along, Midoriya knew his friend's personality well. A small secret like this wouldn't cost him her friendship.

You don't tell her, and she won't ask.

But conversely, you don't ask, and she won't tell.

Just one day into the semester, and he realized how little he knew about the friend he'd spent a year with—almost as little as his new classmates.

But even so—

He remembered the first time they met, Kirisame smiling at him from behind a box.

Kirisame threatening to hit him in the park, then stuffing a candy into his hand because she was afraid he'd cry.

Kirisame drawing her blade, offering to share a bit of luck with him.

Kirisame in the hospital, wrapped in bandages, blood seeping from wounds, yet still smiling at him.

Kirisame today at school, holding his finger with a gentle touch.

as well as the expressionless Kirisame the moment she swung her blade at Teacher Aizawa.

...and the Kirisame that Katsu hated, whose eyes saw no one.

"I... indeed went from being Quirkless to having a Quirk."

He wanted to try, to get a little closer to her.

Because the Kirisame who stood alone in a distant place like that, though she didn't look too sad, was not happy either.

Out of consideration for All Might's secret, the boy was very vague about this.

But that didn't stop Kirisame from understanding his meaning.

Almost immediately realizing what Midoriya wanted to say, Kirisame was taken aback for a moment:

"As long as this is your own choice."

Her remarkably clear golden eyes locked onto him: "I see it differently from Teacher Aizawa. Even if you never ended up having a Quirk, as long as you want, I still think you can be a hero."

The boy's eyes reddened instantly.

"But Midoriya, you have to be careful."

Because of the boy's honesty, Kirisame decided to speak the words she had originally meant to keep to herself.

She thought of Leo, who woke up in the middle of the night when they first arrived in HL because of his sister's blindness, hugging the blanket and sobbing; she thought of Tako and Deldoro, who were still locked in a maximum-security prison, cheerfully asking her to bring them manga; she thought of herself, countless times lost in the pitch darkness, bruised and battered, without the strength to even open her eyes, yet forced to struggle and keep moving forward.

The moment she said these words, Kirisame pulled back her blade.

The girl's tone was very calm.

"Sometimes, gaining power really comes at a great cost."