Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
August 5, 2xxx - Izumi Pov.
"How the hell can you be so awake and cheerful at this hour?" Ashido said with a huge yawn. "You were one of the last to go to sleep!" she complained sleepily. I chuckled.
"I wake up every day with the sunrise," I said, factually. I could hear several moans around me.
"That sounds awful," Kyoka complained, shuddering. I let out a laugh as I continued dancing for the sun. Azula was beside me, silently imitating me.
"Good morning, everyone," Aizawa said as he approached. "Miyamura, Azula, good work," he said simply in our direction. We both stopped and looked at Aizawa. "Today, we will begin a rigorous round of reinforcement training. The true mission of this trip is to strengthen everyone's Quirks, thereby allowing everyone to acquire their temporary licenses."
"This is a preparation to face off against true hostile actions and aggressions from enemies; prepare your hearts and minds." Aizawa said seriously. "With that said, Bakugou, come on, with your quirk, it's easier to demonstrate it." Aizawa threw her a baseball. "Try to throw this."
"This is from the apprehension exam," Bakugou noted as she looked at the ball.
"Your data indicates that your record was 705.2 meters… at that time… let's see how much you've improved," Aizawa said, almost bored. Bakugou smiled widely and prepared to throw.
"Wow, a test of skill growth!"
"You can do it, Bakugou!!
"These three months have been quite intense… it will be more than 1km!"
"Die!!" Bakugou shouted as she threw the ball with a loud bang just like the first time. Aizawa took out a small phone and showed the screen. 709.6 meters.
"Huh?... That's not even close to what we expected."
"In three months, you've all gained a lot of experience, and of course, you've grown. But that growth has been primarily emotional and technical. Now it's time to focus on physical advancement as well."
"As you can see, your quirks alone have improved, at most, a marginal amount... so, starting today, we will focus on improving your quirks. I will push you beyond your limits... so try not to disappoint me..." Aizawa said with a wild smile.
Once Aizawa said that, everything immediately fell into place. I tailor each training session to each student's Quirks. For Taylor, it seems they focused on range. They couldn't improve the number of insects she could control because it's currently virtually infinite, and her control was extremely fine-grained, so range was their best option.
Ruby had weights placed all over her body and was forced to run with her quirk from one place to another. Azula was near Todoroki, who was constantly encasing Azula in ice to prevent her from creating her fire.
Everyone else was working on their quirks, except for me. I was waiting for Class B to arrive, or well, for them to finish their introduction and performance with the Wild Wild Pussycats. Once they finished, I approached the group.
"Miyamura?" Vlad Queen asked in my direction.
"I have a delivery for Darkness," I said with a smile.
"Me?" Darkness asked, confused. I nodded.
"Ah… Nezu told me to prepare for that." Vlad Queen said with a nod.
"Wait, what? What happened?" Darkness asked, confused. I laughed lightly, bent down, reached into my shadow, ignoring the gasps of the Class 1B students, and pulled out the shield.
"Here, for you." I said with a smile. Darkness's eyes opened wide.
"You got me… a shield?" Darkness asked in surprise.
"It's from an A-rank dungeon boss; it's possible the boss was an S-rank, the shield is very durable." I said with a smile while winking at her, Darkness's eyes widened slightly.
Obviously, even though we had to keep quiet in public, I told them everything about what happened in the dungeon. Ruby, However, did most of the work, including sound effects, so Darkness was aware of the dungeon boss we had killed.
"Resistant? How much? " Darkness asked in surprise as she looked at the shield. A circular, matte black shield, made entirely of metal, with a dull yellow sun in the center.
"Too much, I hit it multiple times with Haki and barely scratched it." I said honestly. Darkness's eyes opened wide.
"So tough!?" Darkness asked incredulously.
" Also, it has another function: raise it over your head and push your aura onto the shield." I said, amusedly. Darkness looked confused, but did exactly as I said. She raised the shield, then the sun shone brightly as it received Darkness's aura before erupting in a wave of fire.
"That?!"
"What was that!?"
"What the fuck?"
"Wait, I'm stronger?!"
"A boosting ability, the shield is capable of increasing the strength, speed, and regeneration of all present allies." I said, amusedly. Darkness was staring at the shield with her mouth open. And she wasn't the only one.
Even the students of class 1A were looking in our direction, after all, they too had received the strength boost.
"I... this is unbelievable," Darkness muttered. "I can't accept this," Darkness said without hesitation. "This... is worth a fortune," Darkness said. I rolled my eyes.
"Just use it. It's a shield; you use shields. It's as easy as that," I said simply. "I got it for you," I said honestly. Darkness blushed slightly and bit her lip.
"Even so… it's too precious. Enhancement skills are scarce," Darkness tried to say once more. I snorted, approaching her. She didn't have her collar on, so I grabbed the collar of her clothes and pulled her towards me. Her face was just inches from mine, and I stared at her.
"Let's do this another way. You belong to me, Darkness. You're my pet. The shield belongs to me, too. It's still mine. So I order you to use it. Are we clear?" I said, looking directly into her eyes. Darkness blushed deeply.
"Y-yes, master." Darkness squeaked, embarrassed. I smiled widely, let go of her neck, and hit her cheek gently.
"Good girl." I smiled playfully.
"I-Izumi!" Darkness squealed in embarrassment as she looked at the others.
"Sorry for the interruption, sensei." I said to Vlad Queen and Aizawa, both of whom shook their heads. "I'll go train now. I'll see you in a few hours." I said in Aizawa's direction, and he simply nodded and gave me permission to leave.
With a final nod in Darkness's direction and a glance at Tanya and Visha, I started walking in the opposite direction. The plan was to head for the woods, but it was really a stupid idea if I got lost or out of range of Taylor and Ragdoll. Especially Ragdoll, her Search could track for miles around, but I didn't really trust Zoro's guidance, I'm almost sure I could cover that distance without realizing it in a few hours.
So, I'm in a small, cleared area near everyone else, sitting and meditating. Because yes, it's the only thing I could think of so far. The brainstorming I did was a complete failure, as I tried most of them and couldn't unlock any more summons, which was frustrating.
I took a deep breath and looked inside my quirk once more. I could see the rest of my shikigami, but they were still muted, impossible to reach, impossible to summon.
I kept trying to push my aura on them, my haki, anything I could find, but it seemed impenetrable, impossible to unlock. This was getting annoying.
I took a deep breath, but no matter how hard I pushed, my aura did not seem to be enough. Capable as if I needed more, which was annoying; my aura was firmly at S rank, getting more was impossible unless it took years.
Or… no, there was another option, which, I admit, was awkward to do. Someone else pushing their aura into me. It was usually only done in two, maybe three, situations: when someone wanted to awaken someone else's aura, and when someone wanted to transfer aura in times of emergency, like keeping someone alive from a lethal wound or regenerating aura in a fight.
Consider it lightly before sighing.
"Sensei!" I shouted in the direction of Aizawa, who was supervising the training. He glanced at me before approaching.
"Did you discover anything?" Aizawa asked directly. I scrunched up my face.
"Not really, just an idea." I sighed tiredly. Aizawa didn't say anything, but stared at me. "My aura... it doesn't seem to be enough, more like it doesn't fit. I need someone to push their aura into me." I grimaced.
Aizawa's eyebrows creased slightly before he nodded.
"Very well." Aizawa said without hesitation. Without waiting, he stood behind me and placed one of his hands on my back. I closed my eyes and focused once more. I could feel Aizawa pushing his aura into me.
I quickly grabbed his aura and directed it towards the remaining shikigami. This time it was different. Typically, when I pushed aura, it was immutable and unalterable, but this time, the shikigami seemed to tremble, almost accepting the invading aura only to have it repulsed.
"tch!" I could hear Aizawa click his tongue as he let go of my back.
"That was close," I said immediately, completely excited. "One more time, please," I said, looking over my shoulder.
"It won't work," Aizawa said bluntly, frowning. "Your Quirk summarily rejected my aura. It almost seemed instinctive. No matter how much I do it, I doubt that will change." Aizawa said, and I frowned.
"So we keep trying until my aura gets used to yours?" I asked, considering it.
"Or use someone whose aura you're already used to," Aizawa said without hesitation as he looked across the training room. I followed his gaze. Taylor seemed to sense our gazes, or was listening to our conversation and looked directly at us.
"Taylor?" I asked curiously. "I awakened her aura, but she never pushed hers into me." I said directly. Aizawa nodded.
"It's normal, but you're forgetting something. You're both sexually active," Aizawa said, unashamed. "Normally, when there's consensual sex between people with awakened auras, the auras... collide, merging almost imperceptibly. Your aura will definitely be in sync with any of your partners."
"Wait, what? That exists? " I asked incredulously. Aizawa nodded.
"It's not something many people know about, and it's not something I learned until I took classes on how to teach aura when I became a teacher, but yes, it exists," Aizawa said without hesitation. I looked at him in surprise.
"Is it useful? Why isn't it more common? And why didn't I notice it?" I asked quickly, Aizawa snorted.
"I'm sure you had more interesting things to focus on than the slight disturbance in your aura right now," Aizawa said, as dryly as a desert. I smiled slightly despite myself. "And if you're looking for information, I'm sure you'll find it, but again, it's not something many people actively seek out."
"For the simple fact that people attribute its effects to mere proximity, since they are so gradual that one gets used to it without realizing it. Better attunement, better ability to detect another's aura, better ability to transfer or accept aura, nothing really fancy that people care about," Aizawa said simply.
I nodded slightly. That was really new information, I had no idea that could be achieved. I guess the effects were so gradual, like Aizawa said, that you ended up attributing their impact to other things.
"Hebert, come here," Aizawa said almost boredly. He didn't even shout; he just spoke normally, but even so, Taylor stopped her training and started walking in our direction. Yes, she was listening to our conversation.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen," Taylor said immediately once she approached.
"Don't worry, you saved me from having to repeat it again," Aizawa said simply. "Stand behind Izumi, boost your aura, I'll be on the side supervising everything," he added before settling in to one side.
Taylor simply nodded and looked at me curiously. She was hardly tired of her training, I mean, it was difficult to train her quirk; controlling insects was not difficult for her, but extending her range was difficult.
Her range could grow in times of tension or anxiety, increasing one or two blocks of distance depending on the stress on her body, which was challenging to replicate in everyday situations.
So Taylor was completely in shape and her aura was almost entirely full, so Taylor placed her hands on my back without hesitation, and pushed her aura into me.
The difference in technique was immediately noticeable. Aizawa had practice; he had no doubts. I suppose those aura teacher classes, or he's done it a lot over the years. I mean, he may have had to release several auras from his students.
Not everyone had their aura unlocked when they entered UA; they just relied on their quirks to pass the entrance exam.
On the other hand, Taylor was rough; she pushed her aura by force, and Taylor had more aura than Aizawa, but even so, I grabbed her and pushed them towards my quirk. Taylor's aura clung to mine eagerly, and I had to admit, it was much easier to do it with Taylor, than with Aizawa, despite how crude Taylor's ability was.
I used my aura and Taylor's to push on the shikigami; the shikigami trembled violently before one began to absorb all the aura and broke free from its confinement. My eyes opened wide.
It worked! Finally! I looked at my new shikigami and almost wanted to smile. It wasn't what I expected, but I'd take anything.
Great Serpent.