(Kata POV – Field Gamma)
I extend my arm in silence as Midnight clips the final cuff around my wrist, her smile as mischievous as always.
'Eight total.' I count internally with a resigned sigh.
"There we go." Midnight steps back, brushing her hands off with a satisfied grin. "Now I'm gonna activate them, so… brace yourself, sweetheart."
I nod indifferently.
'Two cuffs on each limb, and all are made by Mei, of course. Hopefully they're safe.'
Unlike the high density weights used in canon, these are on another level. I scan the cuffs and notice powerful electromagnets hidden within them that interact not just with each other, but with receivers and emitters scattered across Field Gamma to generate force.
'They set this whole thing up ahead of time?' I frown. 'This has Nezu's all over it.'
If the cuffs could manipulate gravitational fields, they'd be useful anywhere. But I don't think that level of tech is available yet, and knowing Mei…
'I'm being used as an experiment to test her babies.'
And these weights are overkill for one training exercise.
The cuffs glow red and begin to vibrate faintly. The air around me shifts as they come online.
"They're scanning your body and gathering data now." Midnight says, her eyes glued to the control tablet. "The system's gonna adjust the weight to match your max output automatically." Her grin stretches wider. "Exciting, isn't it?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Exciting how?"
She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I've only ever seen you calm and composed." Her eyes gleam. "I'd love to see you sweat a little… tremble under pressure, rise to meet the challenge… Push yourself past your limits." She says with a happy sigh.
"…So not because you're a sadist who enjoys watching people suffer?"
Her lips curl upward into a wicked smile. "If you put it like that," she hums, her voice deepening slightly, "I wouldn't mind watching you squirm. All tense and breathless, your muscles straining, your body soaked in sweat…" She wraps her arms around herself and shivers, lost in some fantasy.
I stare at her for a long moment, and sigh.
'She's hopeless.'
Then the cuffs finally flash green.
A low chime sounds, followed by—
CRACK—CREAK—CRKKK
A blast of dust erupts at my feet as the ground beneath me splinters, spiderwebbing in every direction. The reinforced concrete buckles instantly, crushed under a sudden, enormous pressure. My muscles lock up, instinctively bracing against the force.
'Damn… that's heavy.'
The cuffs drag my arms downward with brutal immediacy. My shoulders strain, tension spreading like wildfire through my limbs. I spread my stance to counterbalance the crushing weight.
Midnight's eyes dart between the tablet and me. Her confident grin falters, brow furrowing.
"…This has to be a glitch." She mutters, tapping rapidly. She looks back at the cracked cement. "Kata… if you had to guess, how much are they weighing right now?"
"Fifteen tons each." I say flatly. "So… a total of 120."
She chokes slightly.
'Mei really outdid herself this time.' I think. 'And even more shockingly, it didn't explode.'
At most, I can lift around 50 tons. Which means it's shockingly accurate given the weight distribution.
Thirty tons per leg makes basic difficult, but manageable…
'I thought I'd get a few 100kg as the handicap, but this practically immobilizes me.' I think, trying to ignore the weight. 'They did say to use my quirk to counteract it though.'
That way it'd split my focus, and hopefully give everyone a fighting chance.
'But I care more about my own comfort.' I conclude, sending a surge of Telekinetic Energy into my body, reinforcing my muscles, tendons, joints. I increase the output until I've boosted my strength tenfold, making the current weight a breeze.
The strain vanishes instantly.
'Much better—'
KRACKKKK!
The ground beneath me shatters again, a deafening thunderclap as the weight suddenly spikes. The cuffs blaze bright red, reacting to the power boost, and amplifying the weight in response.
The pressure on my limbs multiplies. Again.
'…You've got to be kidding me.'
I feel my legs sink another inch as the concrete gives way completely, pulverized into fractured chunks as I sink into solid concrete.
I frown slightly as I use my quirk on the bracelets themselves, counteracting the weight they're causing me.
And then, to mock me, they flash blue, and the electromagnets throughout Field Gamma buzz to life as the weight stops being applied downwards and shifts randomly.
I immediately counteract each shift, otherwise I'd be flung into a wall.
'Mei… what the hell did you build?' My lip twitches slightly.
The air around me warps faintly with the sheer force of the opposing energies at work.
Midnight watches all this unfold with a mix of awe, confusion, and excitement.
"This is going to be so much fun." She laughs, her eyes sparkling with barely restrained glee.
'Why am I not amused?'
(Mei POV – Field Gamma, Monitoring Room)
"Hehehehehe…"
I can't help it. The laugh bubbles up and spills out of me like steam from an overheating engine.
"They work! My babies work!" I squeal, practically bouncing in my chair. "Mommy's so proud of you!!"
On the monitor, high-res footage streams in real time—an overhead shot of a beautiful, glorious concrete floor, absolutely shattered under the crushing glory of my weighted-cuff system.
The cuffs buzz as the weight rises. Crack—crack—KRKKK! goes the ground. My grin stretches wider.
"Ohhh~ just look at the feedback! It's completely stable!" I slam my palm on the desk. "Take that, everyone who said dynamic load sync was too unstable to control in field conditions!"
I zoom in on the test subject. Broad-shouldered, silver-haired, stoic expression.
"…Hmm?" I tilt my head. "He looks familiar…"
From the back of the room, a light chuckle erupts. "He was your teammate during the Sports Festival." Nezu offers, perched on an elevated seat with a steaming cup of tea, watching everything calmly.
I blink. "Was he?" I tap my lips with a finger, frowning in concentration. "Was he the one I used to show off my babies during the Cavalry Battle?"
"…Yes. That was him," Nezu confirms in an amused voice.
"Hmmmmm." I stare a few seconds longer.
'Oh, right. Kata Something. Kata-Kun. Kato? Katsu? Doesn't matter.'
"Oh well! Doesn't matter anymore!" I chirp, spinning back to my workstation. "He's just a moving chassis—perfect for stress testing my sweet, sweet babies!"
I start flicking through readouts—live biofeedback, quirk-usage metrics, muscle strain overlays—every beautiful number I could ask for… all pouring in from my precious, cute little babies.
"Fascinating! They're already adapting to his quirk output and body strain. And the feedback doesn't show much delays!"
Nezu takes a sip of his tea. "I'd thought you'd have kept in contact, considering his rising popularity."
That catches my ear.
"…Popularity?" I glance back sharply, eyes narrowing. "As in… media exposure? National, or Global?!"
Nezu hums. "He's drawn quite a bit of attention lately. Especially after he beat the Hero Killer in Hosu a few days ago."
I gasp, eyes sparkling. "So if I get him to wear my babies publicly—I could ride the PR wave straight to patent heaven!" My fingers twitch. "Every hero school in Japan would beg for my babies! The licensing potential… the sponsorships—"
I trail off, eyes glazing over with greedy wonder.
"…But how do I convince him?" I murmur, half to myself. "
My eyes flick back to the monitor.
His hero costume jumps into focus—efficient, sturdy… but boring. Plain armor plating, practical materials. It lacks soul. It lacks innovation!
I lean in, nose almost touching the screen.
"…I could remake it." I whisper. "Build it sturdier. Add support items everywhere to make it better…"
A wide, almost predatory grin stretches across my face.
"I'll make it irresistible. He'll beg to carry my babies."
I burst into gleeful laughter, already dragging schematics onto my screen. "Ahahahaha! That's it! Yes! Data confirmed—energy consumption stable, magnetic sync ratio at 98%—ohhhh, they're beautiful!"
Readout after readout flashes by, green text cascading like a waterfall.
"My babies did even better than expected!" I cry, hugging the tablet like a plush toy. "And this is just the baseline stress test! Imagine what they'll do under quirk duress—no—wait! Idea! Quirk-reactive dynamic scaling! Auto-modulating feedback loops! If the weight can rise and decrease during combat, the applications are limitless!"
I furiously scribble the notes onto the tablet, jotting down each idea and improvements for Electro Mag-Cuff V1.129.
Behind me, Nezu chuckles again, watching me work frantically to contain all these ideas.
"…What a terrifying young woman." He muses softly.
(Nezu POV – Field Gamma, Monitoring Room)
"Fascinating…" I murmur, sipping my tea as lines of data cascade across the screen.
The feed from Hatsume's prototypes is performing better than expected—much better. Even with full confidence in her manic ingenuity, this is… impressive.
I tilt my head, smiling pleasantly. "My, my, Hatsume, you certainly do deliver under pressure. I wasn't entirely sure you'd finish the cuffs on time when I made the request."
I chuckle softly.
"Ah… the wonders of unlimited funding in the right hands."
She really is a marvel. The cuffs she designed have far more versatility than their original concept suggested. Their applications extend well beyond this single test.
Field-ready restraint system. Adjustable quirk-inhibitor interface. Adaptive weight modulation. Real-time biometric feedback. Combat-ready load synchronization… the list goes on.
They'll be very useful during the final exams. For handicapping teachers, yes—but also as potential support tools in villain capture operations, emergency reinforcement units, training simulations…
And of course, most importantly—
I narrow my eyes, watching the biometric readout flicker across the screen.
'I still underestimated you, Kata Okada.'
Everything about his body is wrong.
Muscle density, bone hardness, cardiovascular capacity, metabolic efficiency—all far above the normal human limit. It's unnatural for someone without a physique enhancing quirk.
'And even then… it doesn't look this perfect.'
He's probably improved his body using his quirk.
The real-time graphs spike again as the cuffs adjust weight, and Kata somehow easily handles it.
I lean forward, my tiny paw resting on the edge of the control panel.
"Enduring over a hundred tons of force… without activating his Quirk."
That's another mystery I'll eventually need to solve, and many more are forming.
His perception is impeccable. He reacts to the Wright's random shifts as soon as they begin executing.
"Insight, reaction time, and control… all are beyond anything I thought possible."
My eyes trace the sensor logs from the cuffs. The microtremors in his muscles. The delay between neural impulse and motion. All within the fastest measurable limits.
I start cataloging.
Not to control him.
Not even to contain him.
But simply… to better understand him.
To truly know what he's capable of.
Because understanding is the first step toward preparation.
'And I prefer to be prepared for any scenario.'
Still smiling, I take another sip of my tea.
The warmth is comforting.
'The exercise will begin soon.' I hum internally.
************
A/N: Hello Everyone, and very soon, good night 😴. If you've enjoyed the chapter, and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or powerstones. It really helps the book out.
So, this is the chapter. The actual fight will be a bit delayed. I actually want to write the class's planning and strategy next, before they actually fight.
I also didn't realise how hard Mei's POV would be🫠. I'm okay with crazy, cause I'm a little bit crazy too, so Toga is simple enough. But genius crazy is melting my brain🤣. But I tried to match her energy, and hopefully that turned out well.
As for Nezu... I don't mean him malicious. Kind of like Batman and Superman. But yeah, they've scanned Kata's body and realised he's quite buffed up in terms of physique. And it's not just a random thing, since I plan for Kata to kinda improve the class a bit. This can be a lead up that Nezu would bring up later on.
You can also read up to 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
Anyway, that's all from me. Hope you all have a wonderful day/night😁