Motivation - SPORADIC UPDATES

Twenty-Two

It took Kazue a few days after the whole USJ incident to finally act upon what'd been rolling around in his mind since the attack. Ever since he'd figured something out about his Quirk.

The sleep spells. He'd been on the verge of having one when Decay—whom he now knew as Shigaraki Tomura after Midoriya had filled him in on what happened once he'd been rendered unconscious—had attempted to use his Quirk on his face. The tiredness had gone away instantly without Kazue falling asleep, and the villain had been unable to decay anything.

"You've been staring at your dinner for five minutes now," Katashi remarked dryly from across the low table.

Kazue's head jerked up at the sudden statement, not having noticed he was lost in his own thoughts. "Four minutes and fifty-seven seconds," he corrected instantly. "Roughly."

"Right," his father deadpanned, twirling some steaming noodles around his chopsticks and lifting them to his mouth. Despite them being quite well-off, the hero still couldn't be bothered to buy anything more than pre-packaged cup ramen for dinner. "What's on your mind?"

Well, there was no point in beating around the bush. Wasting time wasn't exactly something Kazue did often. "My Quirk," he sighed, finding annoyance in how itchy the wound on his forehead had gotten while it healed. "I've used the other half twice now, but can't seem to replicate it during training."

It's starting to piss me off, actually...

The brunet was never confused about pretty much everything. Except for his own goddamn Quirk, which frustrated him to no end.

"Hmm..." Katashi mused, squinting his eyes for a second. "Tell me what happened in detail. Maybe I can be of assistance."

As much as Kazue hated asking the man for help with his own problems, it was unavoidable. "The first time was the first day of school," he muttered, slouching where he sat on his zaisu. "Sensei—Eraser Head—had everyone do a Quirk Apprehension Test. I did what I always do, then he caught me adjusting my arm forwards on the ball throw. He was pissed, obviously, catching my arm in his capture weapon and all, and used his Quirk as an intimidation factor."

His father sighed in exasperation, a small smile playing across his lips. "Only you could not try your best at the top hero school in the country," he remarked, waving his hand in the gesture to continue.

"Right," Kazue stated flatly. He proceeded to tell the man exactly what had happened next, both when he'd felt no effect from Erasure to his almost-sleeping spell resulting in Decay not working. Only... Katashi didn't answer, even once he'd finished recounting the events.

The brunet deadpanned at his father's silence, watching with unblinking eyes as he was ignored and ramen was eaten. Seriously? I ask you for help for once and you ignore me?

Whatever. Kazue didn't need his father's help with something like this. He never had (choosing to ignore that one moment before), and never would. The answer was obvious. His Quirk...

Well shit.

"Never mind," Kazue mumbled, finally beginning to eat his own dinner. Idiot.

"There you go," Katashi praised dryly, pointing with his chopsticks. "You had all the information to draw a conclusion, but failed to connect the dots. You're better than that."

Am I?

The teen sighed under his breath, allowing himself to drift away in his thoughts once more as he ate. It was as if lately, ever since he'd gone to Yūei for the recommendation exam, everything had been flipped upside down. His own Quirk was confusing beyond belief, there was now an organized villain group lurking around in the shadows, and he was helping train the next Symbol of Peace. Oh, and Kazue also had made somewhat of a friend his age. That was also new.