Hollow Hero

Opening Up

Izuku awoke the next morning, and did his usual ritual. Clean up, get dressed, grab Izuka’s pill and hide it in the tiny chibi midnight clip-on he hollowed out before clipping it to his bag, and breakfast. Everything was going along as normal as could be… until he heard voices just before heading out of his room to eat. When he went to investigate, Izuka saw Reiko and Pony sitting with his mom, and having a nice conversation. At first Izuku wanted to grumble and ask why they were there, but then he heard his mom laugh, and he noticed how happy she seemed, so he just leaned against the wall. After a few minutes though, Izuku smirked, and started raising the temperature in the room. Slowly all three started to sweat, until finally Inko turned to check the thermostat, and froze. She chuckled a bit, “Um, good morning Izuku. How did you sleep?”

Izuku just smiled, and cut his slow release of heat, so the room would cool down slowly, “I slept fine Mom. I was just about to grab something to eat when I noticed we had visitors, and it would have been rude to interrupt.”

Inko just laughed, “Don’t be like that, mini Might. Reiko-chan was just introducing me to Tsunotori-chan, and she has an open invitation, so don’t act so grumpy. I made you a few of those breakfast burritos you like. They’re in the bag on the counter, and your water bottles are in the fridge.”

Izuku gave his mom a hug and kissed her on the head, “Thanks mom. Red for pre, blue or post, and green all day, right?” Inko giggles and nodded, making Izuku cheer, “Yosh, you're the best mom.” Izuku checked his watch and sighed, “I’m running late! Gotta go Mom, byee.”

Izuku started to dash away at a speed only slightly faster than human, but noticed a duo of girls chasing him before he had reached the bottom of the stairs. Smirking, Izuku started to increase his speed gradually forcing his tails to speed up as well. After a couple blocks he sensed a shift and noticed out of the corner of his eye Reiko now riding on Pony's back. Seeing the competitive joyous smirk on the horned girl's face, Izuku felt both of his tenants whispering and pushing. Lobo with a feeling of playful competitiveness to match, and Entei with a burning desire to prove they were the best. As such, Izuku felt his body lighten as he barely restrained the lightning even as the fiery aura of Entei made itself known… and he let his fire run wild.

Pony watched in awe as Izuku's form started to waver again as the heat coming off of him was causing a slight shimmer, and then she felt a pop of truly stifling heat, and he was gone. Only a small point of melted asphalt to indicate his last step before disappearing. Pony stopped in awe of the power she felt for a split second, and felt a new warmth tightness in her chest. After a moment Reiko actually laughed at her friend's stunned reaction, and started to guide her to their destination.

By the time they arrived, Izuku had already changed into his teaching gi, and began warming up for his Tuesday morning class. Maybe it was seeing the teen in his black gi, so similar to the shihakusho, but for a moment Pony saw him wearing a captain's hairi, and the warm feeling returned to her chest. Pony had to slap herself, and shake her head a bit to clear the vision, but the warmth remained. Taking a closer look, Pony noticed Izuku wasn't wearing a colored belt to denote rank, only a red sash. Turning to Reiko she asked, “Shouldn't he be wearing his rank? Is that not a thing anymore?”

Before Reiko could answer, a girl walked up in a similar gi to Izuku's, but she wore her belt with pride, a black belt with five red marks or dons, “No, you're right. He should wear it, but since we each have different areas of discipline we merge all of our levels together to determine our ‘level of mastery’. Midoriya-dono, just doesn't like to flaunt his. He says it's to not intimidate his students, but I think he just doesn't like the attention.”

Pony snorted, a bit of annoyance in her tone, “And you are?”

The girl laughed, “You can call me Kendo-sensei. My grandfather owns and runs this gym. Until he retires, he's the only Kendo-dono this place needs.” Reiko nods a hello and Kendo bows slightly back, “I'm guessing since you're here with Yanagi-san, you're just here to watch? Well you picked a good day for it. He should show up soon for his monthly challenge, and it's always a fun show.”