I was currently on Chiyo's lap as she treated me like some kind of cat and kept stroking my head. What I asked her what she was doing all she said was 'I'm just trying to keep you calm for the test~!' which definitely wasn't what she was doing...
Anyway, on the way to Aizawa's father, I had talked to Chiyo and even Aizawa on the way to pass the boring journey. We talked about a multitude of things but really, I was just asking them about their experiences as pro-heroes.
Chiyo was more than happy to brag about her exploits.
Aizawa either nodded or grunted at my questions...even if that didn't answer them.
Nonetheless, it completed it's objective as the car slowed to a stop outside what looked like an ancient but very well-kept dojo. Aizawa looked back at me as he got out, "Hurry up, kid, my father should have the training equipment ready by now," I nod my head and got off Chiyo's (soft) lap and out of the car.
Chiyo followed shortly after me and we both followed Aizawa through the giant black dojo doors.
Inside, the dojo looked just as old as the outside but still, it looked incredibly well-kept. The floor was incredibly solid as well, I could feel the firmness with every step.
You see, the problem with being incredibly strong is that you start to outgrow the strength/durability of the materials or objects around you. I, on one hand, couldn't crush concrete with just my steps but wood was a different matter. If I put enough strength into a reinforced step, I'd go straight through most wooden floors.
This is why I could tell how strong this floor was - I could stamp on this wooden floor all day and the only thing breaking would be my foot and my self-confidence.
Back to the real world, I was following slowly behind Aizawa before we walked through a door and into a massive courtyard. In the middle of it there was an old man with his eyes closed but even then I was absolutely terrified of the man.
The aura pouring out of him was so violent and aggressive, it was like some kind of battle-loving Asura had come and plopped themselves in front of me.
Despite his obvious old-age, he still has midnight black hair, in a messy style that seemed genetic for Aizawa's, along with a well-built body which seemed to still be in the prime of his life.
The man in question let out a deep breath before opening his eyes and smiling at me, "So you're the students he's found?" before I could answer, either by speech or by nodding he rushed at me.
'Shit...!!!' I quickly cast Reinforcement but chided my stupidity when it didn't work in front of the old man, 'He probably has the same Quirk as Aizawa...He is his father, after all, you idiot!' while I mentally reprimanded myself, I pushed my keen senses to their max as I saw that the old man had disappeared from the surrounding area.
I waited, my heart beating so fast it hurt my chest but also an excitement flooding my bones and rushing into my blood, 'I may be a battle junkie,' I thought this as I felt the excitement grow.
Suddenly I heard a slight 'whoosh' of sound and I immediately ducked down. I placed my hand on the ground, digging my fingers into the solid soil before sending my legs flying in a double kick at my attacker.
"Ohohoh, you've got some keen senses, kid...Interesting...!" I looked in the direction of my kick and saw the old man holding my feet and smiling like the force I had just sent out couldn't cripple an adult.
I hadn't felt so weak before. I thought I'd at least be able to fight with him for a bit.
Look, I know that in the big scheme of things in My Hero Academia I'm not even at the level of strength for a U.A first year, but I had a bit more confidence in my strength to be able to casually spar with this old man. Guess it's a shame he doesn't know what casual is.
I felt myself being lifted before I was thrown straight into the ground.
"Argh *Cough* Why? *Cough*" the air was knocked from my body and I started to violently cough as I felt like I'd been used in lieu of a sledgehammer. The old man heard me and chuckled again before speaking.
"I'm testing you. You've got some good durability, kid. That slam would've broken a normal man in half..." his voice trailed off as he picked me up again.
'Then why'd you use the slam on me, a 5-year-old?! For all you knew I could've been weak enough to die from that!' as I glared at him, I felt lucky that he just put me down on my feet this time after picking me up.
"Don't look at me like that, brat. Shota told me about your test results, I knew what you could handle...it's just that I don't trust medical results 100%, I wanted to see for myself, okay?" he looked at me with a gentle smile which was the complete opposite of his violent aura from earlier.
If before he seemed like a demon from hell, then now he seemed like your average friendly grandpa. 'Urghhh...I hate people like this, one minute they're a prick the next they're lovely, which one's the real you?! Do they have split personalities or something?!'
Despite my inner turmoil, I simply nodded on the outside because I did understand what he meant; medical instruments could make mistakes, so he wanted to be sure.
Seeing me nod, the old man nodded himself with an excited smile on his face, "We'll teach you everything we know, Tatsuya. Strength, Reflexes, Flexibility, Senses, Speed and Durability, you have them all and more..." I could see the enthusiasm building in his eyes, "It's my honor to teach such a perfect student!" he let out a small shout and clasped my shoulders with his hands.
I looked up at him, not being able to stop my deadpan expression from crawling across my face, 'Are you and Aizawa really father and son...? You're way too energetic!'
After this, Chiyo healed whatever damage I took during that one-sided manhandling and shortly after we got on with the master-disciple ceremony; I pretty much just bowed in front of him and gave him some tea. It was surprisingly easy.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
I was then told that I would go through a rigorous first training session. When I ask when the old man looked at me with a weird look.
"Now. When else would we do it?" he looked at me as if my brain was a bit wrong. I felt my eyes twitch at this look.
"Now?! Shouldn't I have a week to prepare of something?!" I couldn't keep my voice low and nearly screamed when I thought about the training methods of this monstrous old man. He simply smiled at me and shook his head.
"No! We must strike the iron while it's hot! Come, Tatsuya, I'll show you the training room!" the old man then proceeded to drag me to the training room. When I looked at Chiyo for help, she just wryly smiled at me and shrugged her shoulders like she was used to the old man's behavior.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that I felt betrayed.
I was then thrust into one of the most horrendously intense training sessions I'd ever seen, let along experienced. It was the kind of training session a protagonist did in a Xianxia when he needed to break through before a life and death battle; It was life and death training!
It started off with basics exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, before moving into squats. But unlike a normal exercise routine where you'd do 30, maybe even 40 just to stay toned and fit, I HAD TO DO HUNDREDS!
It didn't help that my body made it so I could do a hundred easily (his original order) and made him curious on where my limit lay.
...My limits were 247 push-ups, 243 sit-ups, 224 pull-ups and chin-ups, and 302 squats. Safe to say that'd be the end, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Because we then went onto multiple gymnastic work-outs.
I had to hold myself up on some gym rings for an incredibly long time, with weights attached to my feet. I don't know how but I felt whenever I touched the floor or equipment in this room, my body's energy was being sapped and my body weight increased incredibly.
So with this energy draining and increased weight, these exercises I could have done normally were incredibly hard for me to do.
In the end, I was covered in sweat and had to take off my white shirt as it was soaking. This caused me to become increasingly scared of spending time around Chiyo as, again, I swear that I saw hearts in her eyes and a tiny bit of blood coming from her nose.
'Is Recovery Girl a pervert or something??' I kept having these thoughts to distract me from the burning sensation in my muscles and even more to distract me from the violent feeling working it's way up from my core.
It seemed that I was either a very violent person or I just liked pushing myself further because whenever I wasn't careful, a rather manic smile would find it's way on my face.
'Oh well, I'll have to keep it under control and if it gets too bad, I can always tell Sensei about it,' but still, despite my laissez-faire* attitude, I was quite worried about my tendencies.
(*Pretty much means casual. The direct translation means "let do", or in this context, it could mean "let go", so it could be seen as "Ah~ Let them do what they want" or "Meh, things happen let it go")
By now, I was lying on the ground while the old man massages my arms, legs, chest, and back. We had some casual conversation when he was doing this and I found out a few things. I found out he had another disciple who he'd found a few days before and showed similar potential to me. Not in the physical area but definitely in pure martial arts.
I also found out he had a daughter who helped out around the place every now and then. She was a few years younger than Aizawa, so I'd be around another beautiful woman most likely.
'Lucky~~' this gained me a glare from Chiyo who saw my happy expression but I ignored it and closed my eyes, continuing to relax into the massage as I spoke with my new master.
I also learned how the teaching was going to work. The old man would be in charge of teaching me Martial Arts and doing the physical training, while Aizawa would be the one who'd spar with me after each and every session.
My lucky streak continued as I was told there'd be no sparring today but there'd definitely be some tomorrow and every day I came to the dojo afterward.
I'd made a deal to come to the dojo every morning for the next year but I'd have to come in the afternoon on weekdays after I turned 6 as I'd be starting elementary school. Still, he made me promise to come on weekend mornings for extra intense training once I entered School.
I could only sigh and agree; we both wanted me to get stronger after all and this would be the way of doing that.
Anyway, I finished up and put on a white shirt they'd found somewhere in the dojo. I stood up already feeling the soreness of my body, 'Maybe they'll let me off for tomorrow?... I wish...' as if knowing what I was thinking, Aizawa walked up to me.
"I'll be at your house at 5:30 am. If you're not awake, I'll drag you here and my dad will up the difficulty of the training," I felt myself shiver and looked up at Aizawa as if he were a monster. He saw my look and just grunted before he went over to chat with his dad for a while.
It didn't take long before we were leaving once again, me back on Chiyo's lap while we were in the car. I lay back into her and closed my eyes, a smile on my face, 'Ahhh~ This is the life~'
. . .
I slowly came to and noticed I was back in my living room, lying on the sofa. I could see my dad and mom next to me cuddling on the sofa, and I could see Ayako playing with her toys in front of the sofa.
Seeing this sight, suddenly the training at the dojo earlier didn't seem so bad. If it was to protect this sight, I'd be willing to take on any training that old man could throw at me. No matter how harsh it was.
While I was thinking of preserving what I loved, my dad noticed that I was awake, "Ah! Tatsuya, you're awake!" I looked over at him and he seemed to find something incredibly funny as he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
My mother looked over at me and seemed annoyed by something. Ayako was the same.
I didn't understand what they were talking about until I saw them all looking at my forehead. I got up and walked over to the mirror we kept in the hallway. When I saw what I saw, the vein on my temple nearly popped.
A red, full lipstick mark was on my forehead and I would confidently bet all my families fortune on who it was that put it there.
'Chiyo...!' I rushed upstairs and into the bathroom, turned on the taps and started to scrub away at the red mark on my forehead. It took a surprising amount of time and a lot of soap but finally, the mark was gone and my face was finally free.
I went back downstairs and my mom was holding Ayako while speaking to my father. But when the two women (Well, woman and toddler) of the house saw me, they both went 'Hmph!' turned their heads away and walked out of the room, leaving a flabbergasted me and my laughing dad in the room.
"Tatsuya, you've really made your mom jealous! You won't let her, your mother, kiss your head but you'll let a stranger who only just met you today do it? You're very bold! Hahaha!" my dad doubled over as his laughter intensified seeing my twitching expression.
"I was asleep, what was I supposed to do about it?!" my indignation was clear but my dad continued to laugh. I grunted before sitting down on the sofa, thinking on how to appease the two very unreasonable women in my family.
Before I could, however, my dad spoke up, "Tatsuya, be careful around Recovery Girl, okay? She seems to be a bit...odd," though I completely agreed with what he said, I still put on a confused expression.
"Huh? Why should I be careful, dad?" the innocence in my voice seemed to put him in a difficult place as I saw the sweat collect on his brow.
"I-I...uhhh..." his eyes darted around, wishing his wife were here, "I'll tell you when you're older!" with that he got up and ran after his wife and daughter, wanting to escape the situation he'd put himself in.
As I watched him run away, it was now my turn to laugh at his expense.
'Serves you right for laughing at me, old man~ Hahahaha!' despite my vengeful inner thoughts, I couldn't help but feel warmth and happiness from these family interactions.