(Sorry, for the late release.)
CHAPTER START.
(1 months has passed.)
Spring was nearing it's end. The beautiful weather and comfortable breeze were slowly being replaced by the oppressive warmth of the Summer. The time of Sunburns. Of thirst. Of suffering.
'How can anyone like this?'
That was Masaki Shindai's thought as he chugged down another bottle of water. He always considered himself rather resistant to heat. His wife's quirk was Steamskin after all. With a quirk like that, the temperature tended to be rather warm. Especially when she blushed. She literally steamed when that happened.
'Although the same thing happens when she gets too angry.'
But Steamskin and probably even Hellflame, was nothing in the face of the cruel Sun. It was only the end of May, yet the Sun burned down like it was August.
'Wish i had an Ice-quirk...'
His eyes darted to his son.
'Or a son with an ice-quirk.'
Perhaps sensing his father's dissatisfaction, the kid turned to him with a defiant expression.
As if saying "what's your problem now."
But Masaki had no reason to fear... for he knew... his PR was 60kg!
'Your PR is only 40kg, you got nothing on me you weirdo.'
It should perhaps be mentioned that Riku's bodyweight was around 40kg himself. Masaki's was a little above 70kg.
Masaki raised his chin to meet his weirdo's stare with a smug look. He had not forgotten the incident where he had to save his son from being crushed by a "mere" 30kg!
It had been grounds for many favors, as nothing Riku did, could ever pay back the debt of his Life being saved.
'Still... for the weirdo to start benching 40kg in a month is still pretty monstrous.'
Maybe he should encourage the weirdo to try 60kg. Then Masaki could save him and stack up them favors!
'50 kg should be enough.... but better not risk it when it comes to this freak. 60 should be good though.'
Mutation quirks really weren't fair. The kid had a strength quirk, mental quirk and sensory combined!
'And his telepathy is getting better as well.'
Well, it wasn't Telepathy as he imagined it. But the kids emotions were more ... specific.
He started sending things like... confusion or even determination.
And Masaki had started to know what they were directed at.
He had once suggested skipping the gym, but the determination which Riku sent him with that weird ability of his... was easily decipherable.
'More like stubbornness actually.'
While on the topic of gym, it'd be good to mention that they had been adopted.
Some dude who looked like he ate bricks and shat stone had simply arrived out of nowhere, with a murderous expression and veins on places they shouldn't exist and had proceeded to press down on Riku's shoulders while he was benching.
Then, the two of them had endured a lecture about shoulder injuries and while Masaki wanted to avoid the angry looking old man, Riku had decided to latch onto him like a leech.
He followed the old dude around like a duck and copied every exercise he saw.
And the old dude? He saw it, approved it, and then interrupted his son to give advice mid-rep.
The kid was squatting and the dude kicked his legs saying "they too far apart."
He did pull-ups and the dude just counted "0,0,0,0,1,1,1." for every rep he didn't approve of.
Now, Masaki didn't have a problem with that. At least he wouldn't if it only concerned his son.
...
The problem was... it didn't. Trying to complete a Rep, and the old dude appeared, pressed down on the barbell saying that there was "nOt eNoUgH rAnGe oF mOtiOn" while droplets of sweat landed on his face.
The worst thing? It worked. It didn't always seem like the best thing to do, but the man was apparently the kind of person who said: "if it hurts, it works."
And it fucking hurt. Chest felt like exploding. Legs wobbled. Arms hung limp. He could actually feel different parts of his back.
'I better get big soon if i keep doing this shit.'
...
He and Riku were currently sitting on a bench in the gym. As expected of a such a dump, the place didn't have an AC.
So, surrounded by a bunch of sweaty-poor-looking-people who didn't seem to have any shame and simply stared at his son like trying to guess what race he was, they both sat on the bench and tried avoid eye contact with the dudes who simply changed clothes in front of them.
'Makes me wonder how Riku perceives nakedness.'
He turned to his son who suddenly stood up.
'What's up with him?'
Riku threw his father a glance. He may not have any human features, but Masaki recognized that look as one filled with both pity and guilt.
Then he walked off. Rather quickly. He headed towards the old dude (aka "Gym Satan") who stood close to the squat rack.
'Why's he suddenly...oh no.'
The kid had sensory abilities. That meant he sensed something bad enough to head to the squat racks...
Masaki barely had the time to look around when some middle aged man plopped down to him.
'Why is he just in his underwear???'
"Your kid's hardcore."
Masaki gave an uncertain smile. "Yeah."
The man grunted.
"Comes here every day."
"He does."
"Lifts heavy for such a shrimp."
"Indeed."
"Pushes himself a lot."
"I don't know why." 'why are you still talking to me?'
"Cause he's got something to prove. Y'know, Mutation quirk and all that."
"Maybe." 'Stop leaning closer.'
"You his dad, right?"
"Yeah?"
Masaki's expression was a mix of uncomfortable and confused. But staying true to the accurate stereotype, the middle-aged-gym-dude was incapable of reading social cues.
"Respect. Not everyone has the balls to raise a mutant."
'Plenty of mutants in this world. Mine's just a Mutant among mutants.'
"Thanks. It's not that difficult though."
The middle aged dude nodded knowingly.
"Bet he gets weird looks everywhere."
"True, but people mind their business beyond that."
"Cause he's still young."
"Maybe. I'll get back to training."
He stood up and walked over to the Lat-pulldown machine. It was of course taken, but he could wait.
The man followed him.
"It's gonna get worse in his teenage years. Don't you agree? Genzo?"
The middle aged man suddenly addressed the one on the Lat-pulldown machine.
The man on the Pull-down machine responded.
"What were yer talking about?"
"The weird mutant kid. This brave fella here is his dad."
"Ah, yer right Kenzo. Kid's gonna struggle."
'Fuuuuuck.'
And so, Masaki found himself incapable of escaping the nearly-naked-middle-aged-gym dude and his friend.
...
...
...
'Deserved.'
That was Riku's thought as he watched two sweaty middle aged dudes talk to his dad as if they knew each other since the dawn of time.
Meanwhile, he was busy squatting, the old dude finally having approved of his form.
It was a little difficult to understand what he wanted. He couldn't hear what the dude said, so he simply adjusted his form till he felt the dude's slight satisfaction.
'Huh? They at it again?'
A sensation he had repeatedly noticed since coming to this gym. Anger. Pain. And focus.
It stemmed from the middle of the gym, where the cage stood.
His squats paused, but the old dude didn't complain. He was staring at the cage as well.
He re-racked the weight and simply sat down.
'Sensor abilities for the win.'
His CE simply extended towards the cage. He had no need to approach like the others did.
A spar. A brutal one. Not deathmatch kind of brutal but the feelings he felt from the fighters were a little intense for a simple spar.
Now, Riku was very curious about fights. He had never been a violent person in his past life and the only fights he had experienced had partaken in a drunk state and consisted of shoving until someone separated them. Not something he'd call a fight.
Martial arts? He only knew them from videos.
But he did have some friends who practiced Martial arts. One thing he knew, was that these Martial artists had the ability to lock the fuck in.
Literally an unshakeable focus. One which reminded him of Yuji's stare against Hanami in that episode where Todo coaches him.
Right now? He felt it. The two guys who were sparring had absolutely no regard for anyone else. It was as if everyone was invisible.
The emotion he had called anger wasn't an accurate description. It was more akin to aggressivity. Simply the will to hurt. To win. Maybe competitiveness?
'I wonder what's it like.'
He winced. The sheer pain which had just emanated from one of the fighters was staggering. But what was even more staggering, was the fact that the guy just walked it off.
'Sheer Adrenaline, huh.'
Adrenaline, in JJK, seemed to be a big factor in learning new abilities.
'I wonder if it would teach me.'
...
...
...
...
Dinner was calm. His wife had accepted the fate of having a Gymfreak as a son, and having a mute kid in general didn't add much noise to a household.
There was a little bit of small talk between husband and wife and it involved the gym a lot. Kana seemed rather curious about it, but her eyes twitched at some of the information she got out of him.
'Well, there's a reason for the lack of girls at this gym.'
Who would have thought that women wouldn't enjoy the company of sweaty half-naked middle aged men?
'Speaking of liking sweaty middle aged men.'
His eyes darted to the weirdo. The weirdo who had asked him to talk to the fighters the next time they'd be there.
'I don't think Kana needs to know about that. There's still a chance he'll be rejected after all.'
He'd tell her only if it they accepted.
Still, the weirdo really seemed obsessed with training and strength.
'I mean, he did tell me that he wanted to become a Hero.'
Masaki found the idea pretty cool. Being able to claim to be the father of a hero was a flex after all.
'And if his ability gets big enough, he'll be able to sense the villains emotions before they can act!'
That was honestly a crazy ability. And the size of his sensor aura was still growing after all.
'And pro heroes are paid pretty well...'
Well, the famous ones were. But sensor abilities were probably pretty sought after. He'd probably join a big agency.
'Well, it's a little early to think about that anyway.'
Wondering about his son's future before he even reached middle-school was kind of... pointless.
...
...
...
(Next day. POV Riku Shindai)
'This guy really is cool.'
Yeah, bird-man, aka Toyogami. The two of them were currently watching other kids play sand. Well, he was. Next to him, Toyogami was staring at a certain book.
A book written in Braille, the same one he had used to learn it!
As was easy to tell, the friendship between him and Toyogami was getting stronger and stronger.
Toyogami tended to simply memorize how to tell him something and did just that.
Things like: "I like shadows" or "I will be Hero."
Another thing? He didn't seem to mind whenever Riku send him emotions.
Sure, he was startled at first, but as long as Riku didn't go overboard, he could practice it on him!
Which went great by the way. Toyogami seemed to already understand the simple things. He had even understood that Riku's displeasure was aimed against the other (dumb) kids.
'Yeah, this man is gonna be a bro.'
A simple man he could chill with in silence. Who shared his food from time to time.
The grin on his face widened. He did use to have some close friends, but it somehow felt less genuine than with Bird-man.
His CE extended. An emotion was sent. Appreciation.
Bird-man turned his head and gave a wry smile. He then returned his attention to the book.
'Yeah, this guy is really fucking cool.'
...
...
...
...
You know what wasn't cool?
Summer. Summer was not cool.
And worse than Summer?
Training in a gym without AC in Summer.
Masaki felt like dying.
'How does the weirdo deal with this heat???'
They hadn't even started training. Simply their jog to the gym had him drenched.
Now, they were in the gym. His son was changing... happily. He didn't even need to share his emotions for Masaki to know. He just behaved like a happy weirdo.
Why? Because he had... new pants. A Weird Hakama to be precise. The kid had specifically asked or rather begged for them. Like, genuinely begged. Was ready to wash the dishes for two weeks if he could get a few of these Hakamas.
So now, here he was wearing a Hakama like he was some Monk from the Heian Era.... while stubbornly refusing to wear a shirt.
"It has to be worn like that."
So he said.
But well, who'd complain about that in a gym like this?
The weirdo had also asked about prayer beads but did not insist too much on them.
'Call me lazy but it'll be his birthday present.'
It was in like... 4 months anyway.
The kid was already looking around for "Gym Satan."
Masaki grabbed his hand before he could run off.
"How about we do something chill today? Like arms?"
His son didn't even bother to answer.
A wave of emotion washed over him. Disgust, betrayal, disappointment...
'I guess it's legs again today...'
The weirdo grinned. Then waddled over to the Squat rack.
'A maniac who enjoys the feeling of destroying his legs...'
Masaki sighed again before following. His son usually didn't need a spot, but if he was squatting in ceremonial clothing, it'd be better for one to be there anyway.
Training went on for a while.
Then, once again, people stepped into the cage.
His son, immediately stopped his squats and headed closer to the cage.
...
...
The fight ended. The middle aged dude had spawned in out of nowhere and had clasped down on Masaki's shoulder with an iron grip.
"He looks interested."
Masaki just nodded, resigned to . "He's been asking me for a teacher too. Do you know someone who could teach him a thing or two?"
The middle aged dude just looked him straight in the eye.
"Know someone? Of course i do. He's me."
"Oh? You know martial arts?"
"Nah."
"..."
"But i can fight!"
'I'm asking for a teacher, not for someone to beat up my son.'
The middle aged dude, whose name Masaki remembered to be either Genzo or Kenzo raised his hands.
"Hey! I know what yer thinking... BUT YER WRONG!"
"..."
"Yer kids a mutant. He got a tail on his head, has no eyes and no ears. Just some quirk which tells him where he's stepping. He can't just learn normal stuff! He's gotta figure it out himself!"
'Is he saying that the weirdo needs to be beat down until he can fight back?'
Masaki was about to refuse the man, but just then, he froze.
This was familiar.
He turned around. There stood Riku. His usually rigid head-tail whipped through the air, making a stale sound. The grin on his face was wide.
Masaki's ears rang.
A wave of feelings washed over him. Genzo or Kenzo seemed to notice it as well as his grin widened.
It was the first time that Riku's mental share ability was so clear.
Sheer determination and stubborness crashed down on him, and Masaki, in that moment could swear that his brain, in a distorted manner, spelled out the next words out loud.
'LETS DO IT.'
...
Masaki's face turned white.
'Kana... she's gonna kill me.'
...
...
...
...
(Pov change: random ass dude)
Two people were facing each other.
Well, one and a half people. One of the two fighters looked like a kid.
An Alien kid. Or rather an Angel?
Ah! He got it! The kid looked like if an Angel and an Alien had a baby.
"So, the kids gonna fight that dude?"
His bro simply shrugged.
"Pretty sure the kid wants to. He's smiling like a damn villain."
"That the new kid? Who joined like a month ago?"
"Yea. I don't think he knows who he's fighting."
"What were the two called again? Genzo and Kenzo?"
His friend nodded.
"Genzo the Coldblooded and Kenzo the Hotblooded."
There was a pause.
"....weren't they underground fighters before?"
"...yeah."
AUTHOR NOTE:
Had an idea about the adaptation. I need quick answers. What do you think that Riku has to understand how to properly adapt in order to do it? Its the kind of nerf which can and will be overcome through studies. Similar to how Momo needs to know how to create.
I won't do it if you don't like it. Just tell me quick. And none of that "choose whatever you like."
I'm asking you, not me.