"I don't look like it," Luke said, smiling, "but I get hungry, too, you know."
A little far from the campsite, near the forest boundary, Luke and Lemillion were standing in the open ground, Nyx perched on Luke's shoulder.
The sun had all but set behind the mountains, a dark-blueness persistently lingering in their surroundings.
"I know it's late, but…" Mirio said, smiling back.
"But?"
"I am curious," the Pro admitted.
Luke hid a frown behind the face of a Clown.
"Three times I confronted you," Lemillion pointed out. "Yet, other than using your Gigantification Quirk to run away, you refused to fight it out…"
Luke shrugged. "What's wrong with that, Senior?" he commented politely. "Everyone has their fighting style…"
"Hahaha!" Mirio suddenly laughed. "Of course… Don't get me wrong. It's just… Running away because it's your fighting style and avoiding a fight when your friends depended on it are two different things."
Luke stared at Mirio. "You… are not a Villain."
Lemillion's smile flickered. "That's not the right attitude," he reprimanded his junior. "Everyone here is to improve themselves. Everyone knows the weight of this opportunity, especially with the Villains' rampant activities weighing heavily on their shoulders. By refusing to give your all… do you think you are better than the rest of them?"
Luke frowned and didn't bother to hide it anymore.
Mirio sighed, bringing the smile back to his face. "I am sorry…" he said. "After learning that Sir Nighteye had gone to meet you specifically yesterday, I contacted All Might. And, do you know what he told me? He said that Luke stands the best chance of surpassing even him…"
"… Fuck…" Nyx cursed under her breath.
Luke cursed along with her.
By saying that, All Might had all but unleashed Lemillion upon him.
"I think you can understand why I agreed to be a part of the Beasts Forest trial," Mirio said. "It was as much about giving you all a challenge as it was about… testing you."
"… You feel disappointed," Luke said.
Mirio beamed. "Yes," he admitted. "I think I have figured out the fighting style of the rest of them. Now, I can help them work on their Quirks. But you? You barely showed me anything. Or… do you think that you have already achieved perfection?"
Luke would have fallen for these baits if he had been a teen like Midoriya and Todoroki.
"… Nobody is perfect," he began.
"You do, don't you?" Mirio remarked, his eyes shining with a strange glint. "You really think that you have no room for improvement in your Quirk…"
Luke sighed.
It wasn't like he had no room for improvement in Bioalchemy.
It was just that the Quirk, Raven, as it was known publicly, was a fake one.
Which meant, instead of having no room for improvement, it had no… ceiling!
"Fight me…" Mirio almost shouted, a big smile plastered on his face. "With everything you've got. If you win, I will not bother you further. But… if I win, you will have to become my Sidekick after you graduate UA…"
Luke's lips twitched.
"… You seriously aren't thinking of fighting this moron, right?" Nyx said, not lowering her voice at all.
Luke had no intention to fight against the Pro at first.
But, as he looked at Mirio, he thought this was as good a time as any to revise the Raven Quirk.
Not because he had any intention of adding a new Quirk to Raven, which already held five different Quirks.
But because of… Search.
Unlike what the Heroes believed, perhaps only Luke now knew how Search truly worked at this moment.
It didn't latch onto a target's Quirk Factors or DNA, but Spirit Points.
And as Spirit Points, or spirituality, was as ubiquitous as Quirk Factors for Quirk users and DNA for all the lifeforms, it gave the impression that Search only targeted the latter two.
It wouldn't have mattered to someone else.
But for Luke, whose Quirk let him bestow Spirit Points to other lifeforms, it would instantly alert Ragdoll.
For now, the Pro Hero would only see Luke and Nyx as one entity if she activated her Quirk.
However, if Luke were to bestow more Quirks on other lifeforms, they too would light up in her mind.
Luke couldn't have that, as Raven Quirk was a shared Quirk between him and Nyx only.
So, at the Training Camp, he couldn't act as Dr. Blessed and had to remain a student.
Not only that, but once the Training Camp was over, he would have to erase the data stored regarding him from Ragdoll's mind, too.
So, yes.
If the Villains attacked the Training Camp, as they had done in his previous life, then he would have to fight as Luke with Raven Quirk.
In such a case, it only made sense for him not to hold back… showing Lemillion the limit of Raven.
Or, the guy would never let him take a breather for the next three weeks, Luke believed.
Still, even as he made up his mind and nodded at Mirio, Luke couldn't help but decrypt another thing. "Did my sister put you up to this, Senior?" he asked.
For the first time, Mirio's mouth opened in surprise.
Far behind Luke, hiding behind a wall, Aina jumped and ran away.
"… You were trying too hard," Luke chuckled. "Alright. Let's do it… I hope you will take it easy on me. I am starving, you know…"
Mirio, who was all-smiles a moment ago, suddenly sensed the change in the surroundings.
It wasn't the darkness creeping out of the forest, making it difficult to see. Nor was it the cold wind, breathing down his neck.
As he saw Luke stretching himself, Mirio felt like he was looking at a completely different person.
Sir Nighteye… Lemillion thought, hardening his gaze. Did you really believe that Luke is the key to the upcoming disaster?
One way or another, Mirio was determined to keep an eye on Luke.
However, in the very next moment, the Pro blinked, and the boy ceased to exist.
Cyan-colored bolts of lightning cracked behind Mirio…
… and a chill ran down the Pro's spine, a massive fist coming straight for his head!
********************
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