Every digestive quirk was different. As a rule, quirks that fell into that category had a few things in common. The only thing that everyone had was rapid digestion, but such a statement was akin to saying that all pro heroes had a license; the latter was required to be considered the former. Other common traits included more efficient digestion, so the amount that goes out doesn’t scale to what goes in, as well as some miscellaneous physical advantages related to the extra energy and efficiencies, most frequently an increased rate of recovery for both physical activity and healing of injuries.
As such, eating a full meal after less than an hour had passed since the last one was a simple matter for someone like Momo, who could, if pressed, eat for hours on end as long as she was willing to rapidly gain the weight or use her quirk to shed it. Tenya, on the other hand, was less capable in that regard.
This was easily missed in the chaos of the competitor’s lunch room, where Tenya’s aberrant performance was the most interesting thing in the room, rather than something more common, as Tenya wasn’t eating an exceptional amount for someone of his size for once.
While the hero course had their priorities straight, as they all made sure to eat before converging on Tenya for an interrogation, there were still over a dozen classmates of Momo ready with questions with plenty of time to ask them in. The first one to speak was the red-haired boy who was the one to restrain Bakugou after the cavalry battle, keeping the explosive boy from confronting Tenya. From the list of teams, his name should be Kirishima Ejirou. “That was a manly performance, throwing down with Bakubro like that when you couldn’t even see. I just wanted to make sure you knew that he’s just upset that he gambled and lost, and he won’t do any of those things he yelled after the match.” Having completed his duty, he nods to Momo. “That’ll teach him to underestimate the Vice Rep!”
Now this was a hero student with potential. Insightful, compassionate, and with a distinctive look and silhouette. “I agree completely. Our plan hinged on her forward planning and adaptability to handle any problems, and she delivered.” Tenya flicked out one of the business cards he prepared for the festival. “You seem like a hero student that can go far, Kirishima. The management course has access to information about the hero industry that you haven’t been introduced to yet, so contact me if you need the lay of the land, as it were.” Principal Nedzu was quite helpful in pointing out exactly how the management students were able to assist the hero course to help develop business relationships between them. A head start in learning how to research hero statistics and profiles was one of them. If Tenya was going to be sitting around with the hero students instead of with his classmates, he was going to take advantage of the opportunity presented.
Tenya kept his business card holder open in his hand as the next person took their turn to speak: Jiro, someone Tenya wouldn’t say he knew well, but had certainly spoken with over the last few months at the lunch table, and knew her as an audiophile that hated not knowing things. “Since when could you fly? Have you always been that strong? You said your quirk was weak!” With each question, she poked Tenya in the chest with the audio jacks that extended from her ear lobes, the fleshy cords lengthening as needed. Like most central features of mutation quirks, they had a strength and dexterity that was not immediately apparent from just looking at them.
“Ah, it has its good points, to be sure.” Tenya deflected. “But I haven’t used my quirk seriously in five years, and I could do maybe one or two impressive feats before exhausting it back then, so my performance was as unexpected for me as it was for you.”
Midoriya’s eyes widened as he caught into that detail. Taking out a notebook, he quickly started writing. “Ah, most quirks tend to increase in power drastically with puberty, many ‘hidden’ quirks get revealed then for that reason. Kaachan couldn’t muster anything greater than firecrackers until he was eleven, unless he soaked something in his sweat for hours.”
Kirishima gave the boy a considering look. “Is that what happened to you, Midoriya? That would explain some things Bakubro said offhand…”
The invisible girl seemed interested in something else, though. “Wait, did Bakugo make a bomb on purpose when he was a kid?”
Midoriya blanched. “We don’t talk about the gym sock incident. Don’t tell him I mentioned it.”
Tenya’s thoughts were racing. He had spent years convincing people that the only thing that prevented him from being a pro hero was a weak quirk, rather than not wanting to risk his life for only moderate pay with a small chance of incredible success. Management was a safer career, both in physical and monetary risk. No one knew that was why he never attempted the heroics exam, as the one inviolable truth in Japanese society was that heroes were amazing and while individual heroes could lose that status with improper conduct, as a whole the industry was what everyone wanted to be and to say otherwise was grounds for ostracization. Teya glanced at Momo, who plucked one of the business cards he had out of the holder and smiled at him while she input the number into her phone. Ah, they had moved on to addressing each other by first name and he had forgotten to exchange phone numbers with her? What a faux pas. At least she didn’t seem offended that he had not offered her one of the cards.
Still, he should probably reply to Midoriya. “I… didn’t know that, Midoriya. Thank you.”
Further conversation was stopped by the intervention of Hatsume. “Your quirk is amazing, Ten MIllion!” She said excitedly. “When you get into the hero course, you’ll need some gear, right? Look no further than Hatsume Industries!” She paused. “Actually… would you be interested in being a test pilot? With how versatile your quirk is, flight, durability boost, strength boost, reflex boost, barriers… You’ll be perfect for my babies. I’ll make it worth your while…” She winked at Tenya, possibly flirting, but she was manic enough that he couldn’t tell.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Did Hatsume not have a management course student giving her assistance? If she wanted to employ a test pilot, partnering with a student that wanted to tie their star to hers would allow them to handle that sort of minutiae. Let it never be said that Tenya passed up opportunities that presented themselves to him, so Tenya smiled back and put out his hand. “We should talk after the festival about our future business together.” He said. “Connections among the support course are just as important for managers as ones from the hero course, after all.”
The shrewd girl grinned widely at the agreement, taking one of the business cards when offered. “I’m at the Development Studio most days, I like the workstation closest to the door, so I should be easy to find. Come on by when you have time, we’ll make beautiful babies.” Despite the fact that she had referred to her inventions as babies already, the collected students still took a moment to stare at Hatsume’s face to see if she understood what she was saying.
“Once classes start back up, I’ll be sure to visit.” Tenya said. Hatsume had the right idea, focusing on business opportunities rather than competition. The battle maniacs of the hero course could learn something from how she kept her eyes on the prize, as it were.
Momo finished her meal and stood up, pulling on Tenya’s collar. “We have thirty minutes to strategize for the third round. Let’s put our heads together, Tenya.” She looked at her classmates and smiled sweetly, and the hero class dispersed, some disappointed but none arguing with Momo’s authority.
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“Okay, so first things first: what combat training do you have?” Momo asked to start the strategy session.
“Ah, my father’s taught me a thing or two about self-defense.” Tenya said, a little nervous. “Somehow I don’t think they’ll approve of me using a combat knife.”
Momo looked surprised. “You mentioned your father was in the JSDF, right?”
“Correct.” Tenya said. “I don’t really know much unarmed combat, not enough to be comfortable relying on it.” He could throw a punch, and academically understood a hold or two, but that was about it. Father always did prefer knives and guns…
“That’s alright.” Momo said. “We should really focus on how to use your quirk in battle, anyway.” She pulled out a list. “I’ve thought about the party tricks you’ve shown me, and tried to figure out which ones could be scaled up to an effective attack.”
Tenya glanced through the list. Laser pointer, paper-cutter, the paper bomb, and the rest was just derivatives of the things Hatsume talked about earlier. “The tricky part of directly attacking with my quirk is that I have a very limited reserve of power. Less limited than I thought, but what I’ve already done has taken out a significant chunk of it already. I need to make sure to minimize waste, protect myself from the effect, and keep it simple enough to not distract me in battle too much. The paper bomb is indeed quite useful, but the point of that formula is to replace extensive calculations for the position of the explosion with the position of whatever I’ve set to explode, simplifying aiming by just launching an object.”
“Okay, so what’s the ideal conditions for using that?” Momo asked.
“Ideally, I’d have a uniform projectile to work with, that traveled quickly, and didn’t require me to provide it with motive force.” Tenya never really mastered throwing things enough for it to not distract him from focusing on his quirk. Shooting? Yes. Archery? Mostly. Throwing? No.“A straight object with dimensions I know down to the millimeter would help immensely, double so if it was hollow and durable so a second explosion could send it down range. Ergonomics would be an issue, however, so some kind of handle would be necessary…”
Momo groaned as she understood what he was going for. “You’re describing a gun, Tenya.”
“Well, that seems to be the best use case, yes.” Tenya agreed. “Not very heroic, is it?” Well, there are a few heroes with guns, but most of them were heroes with gun quirks, not actual firearms. Snipe was a teacher at UA, wasn’t he?
“It’s a thought for your hero costume, I suppose.” Momo said, putting an optimistic spin on things as usual. “We need to think of something you can use without bringing in outside equipment.”
Wait… ‘outside’ equipment? There was an idea… “...I suppose I might have time to design a carving formula that could make a chunk of arena into a hollow tube with a grip… At short ranges even blanks can hurt, upscale the power a bit and you’d have a viable weapon.” Tenya took one of the papers Momo had written on, turned it around, and started sketching out the design.
Momo smiled radiantly at Tenya’s plan. “That’s the spirit! I remember that trick, you think it will be ready in time?”
Tenya double-checked the numbers he wrote down, creating a wireframe model with his illusion formula. “...it’s ready.” He said with confidence. “I can even get a single projectile by launching the interior of the tube out with an explosion.”
“Just be careful with being too violent.” Momo warned. “If you hurt someone badly, they might think you unsuitable for hero work…” Tenya could only hope. “...and Mr. Aizawa might expel you.”
Oh. “A fate worse than death.” Tenya said, only half joking.
“As long as you’re not worse than Bakugo, they’ll probably let you in.” Momo said encouragingly. “Do you have a backup plan?”
“...Maybe if I bind a blade formula to my fingertips, making it too small to cut deeply.” Tenya offered. To demonstrate, he cut up the paper with a negligent swipe of his hand.
Momo stared at the clean cuts. “...Tenya, we’re going to be on national television. Mr. Aizawa warned us about how the crowds hate seeing blood, even if Recovery girl can heal it.”
Tenya shrugged. “I’ll just resort to punching, then.” He took a fresh piece of paper. “Now, let’s go over the quirks of the competitors and strategize for both of us. What are your thoughts on Iida…”
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The crowd cheered as the sixteen competitors entered the arena, lining up to face Midnight as she presented the matchups.
Present Mic’s voice returned once more over the speakers. “AND WE’RE BACK! I hope you’re all well-fed and rested after the break, because it’s right back to the action! Midnight, take it away!”
The dominatrix-themed heroine cracked her whip. “I’m looking forward towards the intense matchups we have here! There’s going to be some hot-blooded excitement and I’m already wound up at the thought!”
The tournament board lit up, the names rapidly switching between each other and one by one locking in each position.
Deguchiya Tenya (1-J) vs. Kendo Itsuka (1-B)
Tokoyami Fumikage (1-A) vs. Iida Tenya (1-A)
Ashido Mina (1-A) vs. Uraraka Ochako (1-A)
Todoroki Shoto (1-A) vs. Tokage Setsuna (1-B)
Yaoyorozu Momo (1-A) vs. Yanagi Reiko (1-B)
Hatsume Mei (1-H) vs. Kaminari Denki (1-A)
Aoyama Yuga (1-A) vs. Sato Rikido (1-A)
Shiozaki Ibara (1-B) vs. Midoriya Izuku (1-A)
“Now, everyone back to the competitor’s area!” Midnight declared. “Kendo, Deguchiya! I hope you’re limbered up, because the safe word is ‘I surrender!” She cracked her whip one more time.