A quick revisit to the topics that the Final Exams would cover marked the end of classes, Aizawa going out of the classroom, yawning.
As the students began getting up to leave, with excited and worried expressions intermingled on their faces, Todoroki, Midoriya, and Luke huddled against the wall near their seats.
"Delay?" Midoriya raised his brows. "Hmm…"
Luke had told Todoroki that he was helping Midoriya in training as well.
Of course, he hadn't mentioned One For All. His new Quirk, Reinforcement, worked similarly to Midoriya's Quirk, Luke had told Todoroki. So, together, they were exploring how to best use these Quirks, especially Midoriya, who wanted to unlock more of his powers without hurting himself.
This hadn't come as a shock to Todoroki.
Like him, Midoriya would do anything to power up after what happened at I-Island, he knew.
It just came as a shock to him that Midoriya would ask Luke for help, instead of All Might, despite the well-known, but supposedly secret, relationship they shared between themselves.
Still, Todoroki didn't mind Luke including Midoriya in the loop.
Luke also needed to work on his Quirk. If he were to divide all his time between Todoroki and Midoriya, then he wouldn't have any time left to work on himself.
Fortunately, like Luke, Midoriya had unique logical abilities when it came to Quirks as well.
"I see…" Midoriya nodded to himself, holding his chin. "Delay is a strategic Quirk. Its advantage is also its disadvantage. It targets a small area in Nyx's direct vision. The farther she is, the smaller this zone becomes. It doesn't discriminate between friend and foe in that zone. Also, despite locking onto a target, it not only delays the flow of time for only that target, but also for everything else, like clothes.
"But, in your case, Delay can be a game-changer, Todoroki. The only way to make your ice colder is to not let it expand right after releasing it from your right side. That's why you are insanely fast when it comes to freezing. The lower the temperature, the faster and better the control. But if you are to focus on lowering the temperature of ice even further, then it can become an issue.
"The more you gather the ice on your right side, without releasing it, the more you will be in danger of harming yourself. Also, if you use your left side to mitigate the effect of ice, then you will only increase the ice temperature, making your effort pointless.
"So, the only way you can train yourself to lower the ice temperature is by somehow changing the flow of time around you, restraining your ice output. Then, you can go all out, fighting the time constraint instead.
"Delay will keep your ice from expanding, making you reach the temperature you want, while simultaneously making you figure out how to do that without Luke's help later… Still, it can go wrong very fast. One wrong move, and you will be frozen so badly that you wouldn't be able to use your fire side in time. Hmm…"
Luke and Todoroki stared at Midoriya, their mouths slightly open.
This was the first time they had actually tried to hear Midoriya's mumblings in detail.
First, Luke had never used Delay that much, despite unlocking it as Nyx's core Quirk during the Sports Festival. It was exactly because of the reasons Midoriya mentioned. The Moderate Complexity Quirk was insanely limited, making it best for Luke's student/Hero persona.
Despite its limited use, for Midoriya to figure out Delay so thoroughly came as quite a shock to both Todoroki and Luke.
It was especially so for Todoroki, who hadn't even told Midoriya how he was hoping to use Delay.
"I guess that constant scribbling in your Hero notebook isn't just for show, huh?" Luke joked.
Realizing how he was babbling for so long, lost in his thoughts, Midoriya's face gained a red tinge.
"Anyway," Todoroki said, looking at Luke, "Midoriya is right. It will not happen in a day or even a week. I know I am asking too much, but…"
Luke grinned. "It's alright," he said. "Let's start right after Final Exams. Midoriya and I decided to put the Term Break to use, anyway."
Todoroki looked at Midoriya, who nodded at him.
Inwardly, Luke sighed.
He just hoped that through the two boys, and Endeavor and All Might's behind them, he could deter the surveillance on him.
Suddenly, a slam rocked through the class as the rest of the students were about to leave the classroom.
Luke, Todoroki, and Midoriya twitched a bit before looking at the source of the noise.
It was Katsuki Bakugo, glaring murderously at them.
"Oi, Deku!" Bakugo hissed, looking at the three of them. "I don't know if you have figured out how to use Quirk or what, but you are seriously rubbing me the wrong way."
"I…" Midoriya stuttered.
"Shut up!" Bakugo glared. "And you, Birdshit! Now, you are on the same list as this nerd."
Toru neared Uraraka and whispered, "What's he on about?"
"I think," Momo, standing next to Uraraka, mumbled, "it's about Midoriya's moves… He couldn't move like that before. Also, Luke's new Quirk is similar to Midoriya's. Both are using Bakugo's style as inspiration now…"
"But that should make him happy, no?" Toru said slowly.
Sadly, not that slowly, it seemed.
"Shut up!" Bakugo roared. "Or I will kill you!!"
Taking deep breaths, Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the three boys. "I don't need lame excuses to keep myself motivated. I was there, too. On the tower. And, instead of crying like babies over it, I have already improved. In the Final Exams, I am going to take you two down! Todoroki! You, too. Perhaps, losing against me will give you a new reason to sulk over."
"Hey, that's…" Mina stepped up as Bakugo mentioned Todoroki taking the credit for saving everyone. "… that's not something he…"
"Shut up!" Bakugo hissed, going out of the class full of stunned students. "Like I care…"
"It's been a while since I saw him this intense," Eijiro said, smiling wryly.
Outside, hiding behind a corner, Erasure Head held his head. "Bakugo's gotten worse than I thought. But…
"… Luke, Todoroki, and Midoriya just gave me a good idea…"
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