The heroics practice to see the fruits of our internships had ended, and I was heading to Gamma Gym to face Mirio Togata.
With every step I took, my excitement grew. Facing Mirio is the closest I'll get to a fight against a professional without the risk of death included.
(His Quirk makes him intangible, but only the parts of his body that he wants. But his feet aren't intangible, at least not while he's facing me head-on.)
One For All flowed through my body unconsciously. I could feel my excitement, and it responded to it.
Ever since I started feeling the emotions that One For All showed when I thought about All For One, I've noticed how the connection with the power grows stronger and stronger.
The talk with Daigoro and the original Izuku was also an important point. Those two things made the bond even stronger. At this rate, I'll probably be able to contact the previous wielders before the summer camp.
Right now, One For All is capable of responding to my moods in different ways.
It can activate slightly when I'm annoyed about something or rhythmically when I'm happy.
It's very strange but fascinating at the same time. Getting a rush of adrenaline from One For All when I'm happy is fun.
It makes me feel that even as a transmigrant who occupies the body of its original wielder, it accepts me.
I can have everyone's acceptance, but that's because they don't know the truth. They see Izuku Midoriya, and that's fine, but if they knew who is really behind the person they appreciate... would they see me the same way? Would they act the same way? Or would they simply repudiate me?
I don't plan on revealing to anyone that I'm a transmigrant, apart from the previous wielders, and I'll only reveal that to them because they've surely already seen my old memories.
To the rest, I will be Izuku Midoriya until the end of my days.
My old soul and Izuku's are now one. Technically, I'm a new person. It's strange to think about, but it doesn't affect my sense of existence and belonging in the slightest.
I'm simply me and no one else... I'm not the "me" I was before transmigrating, but I'm not Izuku either.
I guess that's how Vegito or Gogeta felt when they appeared as fusions. They are a different existence in their own right, but with the consciousness and souls of Goku and Vegeta.
Complicated to explain but easy to understand.....
...Upon arriving, I found Mirio doing warm-ups for the fight, and in the background, Nejire and Tamaki were chatting about something related to their hero agencies.
Even with my senses enhanced by One For All, it's difficult to hear what they're saying over Mirio's animated shouts.
Anyway, it's time to make my arrival known.
"Hello! Sorry for the delay! Taking off a hero suit isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies!"
And it's true. How did Peter Parker manage to switch between his civilian clothes and his hero suit with such ease? Besides wearing his suit under his clothes.
"No problem, Midoriya! You're just in time!" Mirio replied, doing one last leg stretch.
I was about to give some witty reply, but the words died in my mouth as I was literally accosted by the strongest girl at UA right now.
"You're the kid who appeared on TV stopping the train! You also won the Sports Festival! You're shorter in person!"
Ouch, height is a sensitive topic for me. In my previous life, I was one meter and seventy-four centimeters tall, and it was perfect... Now I'm one meter and sixty-seven... I miss my original height.
Taking her by the shoulders, I pushed her away a little to be able to answer her properly.
"First of all, yes, you're right on both counts, and secondly, I'll just say that I'm completely fine with my height." That last part isn't true, but my dignity is at stake here. I have to keep up appearances.
"Suuure. How exactly does your Quirk work? Is that energy produced by your body at the moment, or is it stored over time? What are the exact limits for using your power? Doesn't your Quirk have any weaknesses?"
...Too much... this is too much.
"I'm not going to tell you how my Quirk works; I need the element of surprise. Secondly, no, the energy is stored over time, and for the third and fourth questions, I won't give an answer either." Finishing my speech, I offered her my hand. "Izuku Midoriya. I know you know me, but I'm doing it anyway."
"Oh, you're right. How rude of me." Ceasing to float with her waves, she accepted the handshake I offered. "Nejire Hado, a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya."
"The pleasure is all mine, Hado..." I was about to question her about her Quirk and the way her energy responds when she uses it, but Tamaki interrupted the moment.
"Hado, don't scare the kid," he spoke with a lot of shyness, and if it weren't for my enhanced senses, I wouldn't have heard him.
What a kinder and more tolerable version of Sasuke Uchiha.
"I wasn't scared... although the mention of my height was uncalled for." I gave her an annoyed look to let her know that height is not to be trifled with. I only tolerate Inko making fun of me for the irony of the situation and nothing more.
"You are... Tamaki Amajiki, right?" Knowing how shy he is, I intentionally approached him.
"Y-Yes, it's a plea..." And just as he interrupted me, now Mirio was repeating the cycle.
"You can introduce yourselves later! There's a fight that needs to happen!"
His enthusiasm is contagious, I won't deny it.
"I agree with the long-lost descendant of the Joestars." Doing a quick stretch, I gave him my full attention as I approached the center of the gym, taking off my shoes in the process.
"Scared, Potter?"
"I don't know who this Potter guy is, but I'm not scared at all."
He's continuing the reference without even knowing it!
"Let's see how good you are compared to us." Without giving me a last look, he sank into the ground.
"Mirio will destroy him. He doesn't stand a chance," I could hear Tamaki telling Nejire in the distance.
They have no hope in me... that makes it more exciting.
I closed my eyes and let the sounds guide me to Mirio. His Quirk practically made sight useless if I didn't have good reflexes.
His Quirk allows him to become intangible, but he loses practically all fundamental senses in the process. Until he comes out of the ground. Once he does that and stops being intangible, he recovers everything.
There's a lapse, one in which his senses get used to the sudden input of light through his retinas along with the sound reaching his eardrums.
That overload of information he must receive is my window to hit him.
That's why I took off my shoes! To be able to feel the vibrations he produces when coming out of the ground more easily!
From the front, I could feel the cement vibrate from the sudden mass that needed to be expelled. Quickly opening my eyes, I could see the incoming fist towards my face, so I jumped back, successfully avoiding the initial blow.
"You're not bad, Midoriya! Let's see if you can repeat that!"
Sinking again, I didn't have time to repeat my steps before dodging a right punch thanks to the Danger Sense.
"And you did it again! Amazing!"
I tried to kick him in the face, but he simply became intangible and disappeared.
The time lapse is short. My enhanced senses are good, but not to a sufficient point to take advantage of it, and his attacks don't follow a specific pattern.
He predicts my movements to know my probable location and attack. He can't see or hear... So what if I were everywhere and nowhere at the same time?
With my right hand, I shot a Blackwhip towards the gym ceiling and lifted myself about fifteen meters before stopping. Now with my left, I shot a Whip from each finger and made them hit the ground at different points.
While I can wait for...
"Gotcha!"
What the hell?!
A direct punch to my face came from Mirio, who was more than capable of predicting that I was in the air and not on solid ground.
I rolled a bit upon landing until I managed to stabilize myself with the Whips, only to end up unexpectedly dodging a punch to my stomach and a good kick to my back.
He's too fast!
A kick to my knee makes me lose my balance, followed by a punch to my solar plexus, causing me to roll on the ground again, only this time I had to attach the Whips to the cement to stop my own inertia.
He's strong, fast, and strong... If he had One For All, he'd be unstoppable.
Until his own Quirk becomes the cause of his death.
Another punch was barely dodged by me.
I need to review what I already know about his power.
Ducking, he managed to dodge a left hook I attacked with to try my luck.
Wait... Why did he duck?
Taking a big leap back, I maintained distance from his kick, which was again aimed at my face.
"Come on, Midoriya! Don't disappoint me!"
Coming out of the ground, he threw a punch towards my face again.
If he has to be tangible to hit... he must also be tangible to run.
I forgot that! What an idiot!
I won't be able to land a clean hit, not without using enough power from One For All to be able to surpass his reaction time.
I'm more than capable of doing that, but it would ruin the purpose of this fight.
But again, I don't need to land a clean hit from the beginning; I need him to lower his guard. He thinks I don't know his Quirk.
I must use that to my advantage.
I feigned a punch to counter his, but at the last second, I did a sweep at his feet, causing him to lose his balance and start to fall.
Surprise was etched on his face for a moment.
That's the moment!
(One For All Full Cowling 15%) a solid punch connected with his face, with enough power to hurt him but without breaking anything in the process. "SMASH."
Mirio rolled a few meters on the ground before disappearing again.
For a second, I was on alert without moving a single muscle.
One For All represented the nervousness and euphoria I felt at that moment. The next second, Mirio came out of the ground again, with a bloody nose and a nice split lip.
I only needed one punch to do that, and I did it holding back so as not to cause a bigger accident.
What would happen then if I mixed the speed of 35% with the power of 15%?
"Hey Mirio, do you know why Minato was so feared in the Third Great Ninja War?" I began to raise the One For All in my legs slightly but constantly.
"What are you talking about, Midoriya?" he questioned me strangely.
"You don't know?... What a shame. It was because of his speed."
In a green blur to the rest, I appeared in front of the one closest to being number one.
(I hope this ruins your day, Sir Nighteye.)
A solid punch connected with Mirio's lower abdomen, causing him to bend a little towards me.
This approach was met with a punch to his face in the same way he hit me.
I tried to kick him in his left abdominal area, but he managed to become intangible and pass through the floor.
"How'd you like that?" I questioned, directing my gaze towards Nejire and Tamaki, who were surprised at what they were seeing.
"And you haven't even seen the closing scene yet," I winked and turned back to Mirio, who had reappeared a few meters away from me.
One punch, that's all I need to win.
If I give him time to recover, I lose. If I hold back, I also lose.
One punch, one opportunity, one victory.
I must replicate what I did with Stain... and I know how to do it.
"Hey Mirio! An all-or-nothing! My best move against your best move!"
One For All decreased to 10% in my legs while it rose slightly in my arms.
"Sounds good to me! Let's do it, Midoriya!"
Without wasting any more time, I start running towards him, and as expected, in less than ten seconds, I'm really close to hitting him.
Mirio doesn't let himself be intimidated by that and prepares to hit me. From my left arm, I shoot a Whip towards his face. He dodges it by slightly moving his head to the side.
I feigned a stumble in my step to give him the security that my masterstroke was a failure, and he fell for it.
His fist shoots towards my face, and he doesn't become intangible.
One For All suddenly increases in my legs to 35%. With a simple, small jump, I position myself above him with ease.
The Whip had long since disappeared.
I have a clear path to hit him in the back.
(Maybe I don't have a Rasengan in hand, but the concept is exactly the same.)
One For All shoots up to 25% in my right arm. A smile forms on my face. The victory is mine.
"SMASH." The words come out as a whisper, nothing like the force behind All Might, but the effect is the same.
The punch connects with his back, and just like with Obito, it ends up completely cracking the hard cement used as the floor.
I fall rolling to the ground and, with a single spin, end up facing the dust that has now gathered where Mirio should be.
My senses remain on alert, waiting for an attack that never comes.
Tentatively, I send a small gust of air with my fingers and disperse the dust that was obstructing my view... only to see an unconscious Mirio Togata with severe but treatable injuries.
"In moments like this, I'd like to have a cape with red flames that can wave in the wind, because I would undoubtedly look a thousand times more epic," I comment calmly as I approach the unconscious Mirio to pick him up and carry him like a sack of potatoes.
The first to come out of her surprise is Nejire, who asks the million-dollar question.
"What just happened?!"
I noticed Tamaki trying to form a coherent explanation for what he had seen.
"What happened is that... I won."
Author's Note:
Hey.
What did you think of the chapter?
Well, the fight against Mirio got its own separate chapter as I assured it would, and I can only say that I enjoyed writing it from beginning to end.
I don't know if it was better than the previous ones I've written or not, but it was still a huge pleasure to write the combat. I love Mirio's Quirk and how versatile it can be, along with his great mastery over it. For that reason, the MC couldn't put up a fight at the beginning, even knowing him beforehand.
The theme of the soul fusion and how the MC self-perceives himself was something I wanted to explain for a while and will continue to do because I think it's a very underexplored topic in "Isekai" fics.
Because if two souls merge, then in essence, a new spirit is born, and that's what the MC really is.
A new soul born from the union of two different ones. He's not someone who usurped a body; at the beginning, he was because he was in control while the soul of the original Izuku still existed.
I don't know if I'm explaining all that well, but the point is that I'm going to continue to delve into that topic in the future, especially when the rest of the Wielders make their appearance.
This story has an amazing reception. The previous chapter reached 430 reads and 120 votes in a single day. Truly insane!
I will try to update at least once more as the week begins, but I can't promise anything.
I have exams again, and they are a priority.
See you.