Training Camp Day 2,
After dinner
Yawning, Luke walked up the mountain slope, stars twinkling in the background.
Nyx was already dozing on his shoulder, tired beyond bounds because of using Delay hundreds of times.
If Todoroki truly wanted a chance to push his Ice Quirk near to Absolute Zero, then his current method would never work. The only plausible way was to use his entire Quirk; both cold and hot sides. Only then, coupled with Delay, could he step toward what he wanted to achieve.
But Luke would let Todoroki figure that out.
Helping a future enemy to get stronger was already a stretch.
If it weren't for Luke having no friends in his previous life, which resulted in the students taking a soft spot in his heart in this one, he would have never agreed to help them anyway.
Just like now…
Luke was about to yawn again when a massive BOOM exploded in the background, smoke rising to the sky.
"… I am gonna…" Nyx hissed out a curse, scrunching herself up closer to Luke's head. "*%&%$&%"
For once, Luke didn't mind her cursing at a student.
Because that student was Katsuki Bakugo.
Bakugo… The moment he thought of the name, two red eyes again glared at him, flames burgeoning in his surroundings as they burned him, his wife, and their unborn child to death.
I don't understand, Luke contemplated. If Conformity controlled Bakugo in my previous life, then how did he end up becoming a Radiant of Singularity now…
After his resurrection, Luke had nothing but doubts regarding Bakugo.
He had spent almost two years trying to figure out if the boy was innately weak and flawed for Conformity to control him, or if he was vile enough not to be controlled and burn people to death by himself.
After two years, Luke had all but confirmed that Bakugo, as he was now, met neither of the two cases.
That didn't ease Luke's heart at all, though.
What had happened in his previous life was not a figment of imagination.
Katsuki Bakugo, a Pro Hero, had indeed attacked his family. So, how could Singularity choose the same man for Justice, Truth, and Righteousness?!
[… I have no idea, either.] Miss Justice threw her hands up. [The only way we can make a guess is if we know whether Bakugo was a Radiant in your previous life or not. Which… is impossible, I guess. It's also possible that the entire timeline has diverged beyond sense… Only the general outline of the events is still followed, but how they are happening is…]
"… distorted," Luke finished the System's words, narrowing his eyes. "We cannot confirm Bakugo's Radiant status in my past life, but… We can make an educated guess by extrapolating the matter of One For All's past users being the Radiants, right?"
A visit to the Vestiges had long been overdue, he believed.
It was especially so now… with Decryption.
Suddenly, Luke found a silhouette descending from the mountain.
It was Midoriya, carrying a plate of curry.
"… Don't tell me you called me here for a date?" Luke said, already taking the plate from his hands.
Midoriya's lips twitched as Luke began eating, Nyx pecking a few morsels lazily from his shoulder.
"… I brought it for Kota," he said, making Luke raise his brows. "I thought… after giving him something to eat, we could work upon unlocking Float again."
Luke looked behind Midoriya. "Where's the kid?"
He had absolutely no impression of this Kota, to be honest. Even from Momo, he hadn't heard much about the kid, other than that he was also there at the Training Camp.
Now, it seemed, only a few of the students had interacted with Kota, perhaps. Especially, Deku.
"Kota is Mandalay's cousin's son," Midoriya said as they began walking down the slope. "His parents were the Pro Hero team, Water Hose."
"… were?"
Midoriya nodded. "They were killed by a Villain when he was 3," he told Luke. "Mandalay told me that he was quite a cheerful boy before his parents… After, he began hating all Heroes."
Luke finished up the curry. "… Do you really have the time to put your foot into such a delicate situation?" he asked.
Midoriya blankly stared at Luke's back, walking a step behind him.
Generally, Luke was a very nonchalant guy, but Midoriya had found some of Luke's comments as if they had come from an aged and experienced person.
Luke looked over his shoulder and smiled. "… talking about parents is not easy, you know. Especially, if they are dead."
Midoriya's face went red, suddenly.
How did he forget that Luke… was an orphan?!
Suddenly, another BOOM rang out into the distance, the explosion's shockwave riling up the wind.
"… Can't believe Bakugo's still training," Midoriya said, gasping.
"Perhaps, he is training his legs," Luke said.
"Legs?!" Midoriya frowned.
"… nothing," Luke smirked. "Here's an idea. Focus on Full Cowling as much as you can for the rest of the week. I am already dead occupied by Todoroki, anyway. Let's start working on the matter of Vestiges from the second week onwards, yeah?"
Midoriya smiled and nodded. "I think you should join the Strength Training Group, too. Pro Hero Tiger can help you with Reinforcement a lot…"
Luke was about to reply when his Danger Intuition BOOMED, making Nyx's head snap up like a bullet.
Even Midoriya, who didn't have a Danger Intuition, felt death breathing down the back of his neck.
Slowly, frame by frame, the two boys turned around and found a monster staring back at them.
"… Strength Training Group, huh?" Rabbit Hero: Mirko repeated, grinning. "Why don't you two show me what you learned today, then?"
"RUN!" Luke shouted, activating Reinforcement, cyan-colored lightning crackling around him.
Unfortunately, Midoriya's activation of Full Cowl was much faster than Bioalchemy's and three times stronger than Reinforcement.
In one blur, Midoriya shot down the mountain, raising dust.
"Traitor!" Luke shouted before a hand appeared like a ghost behind him and grabbed him by the back of his neck.
"Well…" Mirko licked her lips. "I guess, it's just you and me again… Haha!"
********************
Note: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day