Chapter 3 – Determination
“Alright class, remember to turn in your form to enter the high school of your choices by Friday.” The teacher said to the class.
The bell soon rang as all the students got up from their seats and broke of into groups with their friends.
“So, still determined to go to U.A.?” Shinso asked me the moment we left the class. Shinso has changed a lot since our elementary school days. He now has dark eyebags around his eyes from his lack of sleep. He’s also a lot more open and social. Definitely a positive change than his brooding 24/7 type of personality from before.
“Of course I am, why, you having doubts?”
Shinso snorted at my question. “Of course not, just making sure you don’t chicken out.”
“Might I remind you that our spars ended in 32-28 in my favor? My chances of getting to the hero course are much bigger than yours.”
“Keep telling yourself that asshole.” Shinso said with a twitch of his eyebrow. Shinso and I often spar with each other in our combat classes simply because the other students couldn’t keep up. We’re the only ones who could give each other a decent fight (aside from the instructor of course). This ended up with us keeping score, which I'm currently in the lead in. Our spars usually involve us using our quirks, which automatically puts me in an advantage since Shinso’s quirk doesn’t grant him any sort of combat advantage at all. The times that he wins are usually ones where he caught me off guard or fights with strictly hand to hand combat.
“I’m only speaking the truth.” I said with a grin on my face. Being reminded of our scores is a sore spot for him. As it serves as a reminder that I’m just better than he is. Serves him right, that asshole.
School ended pretty quickly after that. Shinso and I made our way out of school to the dojo for our daily session of combat lessons. We visited a convenience store on the way to buy some drinks. We were about to leave when something went wrong.
“EVERYONE GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! THIS IS A ROBBERY.”
2 masked figures entered the store wielding guns. One of them approached the counter, holding his gun up close in a threatening manner on the poor cashier, while the other had his gun trained on a few customers who were shaking in fear.
I narrowed my eyes as I surveyed the situation while hiding behind a shelf. I quietly took a can of Coca-Cola from the shelf in front of me and placed a tag on it. My eyes met Shino’s and I gave him a nod.
“You should really put the gun down y’know? Doing this isn’t helping anyone.” Shinso immediately got out of his hiding spot and tried to engage one of the robbers in conversation.
“Huh? What’re you-” The robber who was threatening the customers suddenly stopped moving as his eyes seemingly glazed over.
“Put the gun down, lay down on your stomach, and don’t move.”
To everyone’s astonishment, the robber did exactly what he was told.
“Hey Clint! What’re you doing?!” The 2nd robber shouted at his friend in confusion. He didn’t get a reply as suddenly a soda can wheezed in front of him. The masked figure didn’t get the chance to react as a teenage boy suddenly appeared in a red flash right in front of him. The boy quickly grabbed the robber’s hand that was wielding a gun and kneed his opponent in the gut.
The robber did a spit take as he was quickly taken down and restrained.
“Nice takedown. Wasn’t that the move I taught you yesterday?” Shinso said after I finished restraining the robber. He already did the same to his own brainwashed victim the moment his quirk took effect.
“Not the time, Shinso. We need to quickly call the police.” I replied.
“Already done. The cashier made the call the moment the fight started.”
“That’s good.” I sighed with relief. That was my first actual run in with a villain. Sure it was just a basic robbery but still. A lot of things could’ve gone wrong there.
Shinso noticed my plight and tried to reassure me. “Hey relax, everything went fine. And besides, isn’t this why you wanted to become a hero?” He pointed to the side towards the customers that were inside the store.
“T-thank you so much!”
“You saved us!”
“Are you kids trying to be heroes? Well you’ve got yourselves a fan!”
I widened my eyes seeing this. Hearing their gratitude quickly dampened all my bad mood and put a smile on my face.
A hero that people could rely on huh? Looks like my dream isn’t just gonna be a dream after all.
— The Warping Hero —
The Police quickly arrived and took the robbers into custody. The police captain that was on the scene thanked us and reassured us that we wouldn’t be charged with illegal quirk use since it was basically self-defense. He did give us a warning though not to do it again until we actually become heroes.
After that, I went home and my parents immediately swarmed me the moment I got my foot inside the front door. My mom got worried when the police called the coffee shop and told her that i got involved in a robbery. I reassured her that everything is fine and I wasn't hurt at all.
“I’m fine mom. I didn’t get injured at all a,d Shinso was there to watch my back”
It took a while for my mom to be reassured. She just told me to take it easy and rest, which I listened to wholeheartedly.
I laid on my bed as i stared on the ceiling. The day’s events replaying inside my head. So many things could’ve gone wrong. If the villain were any less incompetent, he would’ve realized Shinso’s brainwashing and acted. He could’ve shot either Shinso or the cashier in his panic.
We were lucky. It could've gone so many different ways. But in the end, Shinso and I did good work.
I smiled remembering the people’s gratitude. In the end, everything worked out. That’s all that matters.
The next morning, Shinso and I are sparring under the supervision of the instructors. One of many we’ve done since we’ve started our combat classes.
“Fighters ready? First to land a hit wins.” Shinso and I give nod as we both fall into our fighting stances.
“Begin!”
I quickly shortened the distance between us, throwing a punch at his head. Shinso parried and gave a quick counter jab, which I managed to block reflexively. Our back and forth continued until I jumped back and threw a practice knife in his direction. Shinso tilted his head to the side, and knowing what’s gonna happen next, quickly turned sideways as I suddenly appeared holding the knife I just threw. I threw a kick while still in the air that he managed to block with crossed arms. I drew a second knife and slashed in his direction. He couldn’t dodge fast enough as the blade nicked him in the.shoulder.
“Dammit!” Shinso cursed as he took a step back and rolled his shoulders.
“Looks like its my win.” I said with a grin.
“Yeah yeah, enjoy it while it lasts. I’m taking you down next time.” Shinso replied with a huff.
“Well done, both of you. You have both definitely improved from the years you’ve been here. You two are by far the best students to have stepped foot in this class. I know that you both wish to enter the hero course. Know that if you ever need advice or a sparring partner, the doors of this dojo will always be open.”
“Thank you sensei.”
And with that, we kept our training day and night to make our dreams of getting to U.A a reality. And before I knew it, the day of the entrance exams have arrived.
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Sup
That marks the end of chapter 3 of The Warping Hero.
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Next chapter will be the UA Exams and its results.
Cheers!