The Dragon & The Kitsune.

Chapter 8 - Bakugou.

Bakugou was in a state of utter serenity that he had never felt before. Or at least since before he was a kid and his quirk had activated. Had he ever felt this calm? He twitched as he felt someone touch his face. Blinking open heavy eyelids, he jerked back a little as Rhyki was crouched right in front of him. He glanced at the others and they were completely still and silent. Eyes closed, with relaxed expressions on their faces - as though they were asleep but sitting up. It was weird seeing the loud group, be so quiet.

"How long have we been like this?" He asked as he stared into those ravishing eyes of hers.
"An hour." She replied and stood up.
"Really?" Did he hear that right?
"Yep." She then moved away and 'woke' the others up. Holy crap, he hadn't even realised that much time had passed already. He looked around and noticed that Izuku wasn't with them. He was about to ask where he was, when the man in question walked out of a side room, with some white tape stuff clasped in his palm.

He looked oddly calm, but he guessed that was what happened when you sat like this, calm etc for an hour! He clambered to his feet and wiggled his toes in his shoes. Why wasn't his body numb from that position? Just a small tingle-like sensation? He wasn't arguing, he was stupidly relaxed. Maybe he could do something like this more often? But he would have to ask the duo how to get out of it on his own and not be 'woken'.

"How do you all feel?" Izuku asked, drawing everyone's gaze. And that was when Bakugou realised he was in workout clothes and they could see the true strength of him. It was impressive.
"Amazing!" Sero grinned and stretched.
"I've never felt like this before." Mina admitted.
"Like I'm made of liquid." Kaminari laughed and Bakugou rolled his eyes. Trust that idiot to say some dumb shit like that.
"Best I've felt in a long time." Kirishima confessed.

"Never felt so calm." Bakugou said when Izuku looked at him.
"Good. Because that's the last of being calm for a while now." He then began stretching and they followed suit, as they remembered him saying about that they would need to do it before their workout. They weren't as flexible as the siblings and they stopped to watch as Rhyki held onto Izuku's hand, and bent her leg backwards and up over her head to touch her foot on his head then he stepped back and she followed without her other foot so much as moving.
"How are you able to bend like that?" Kaminari gasped.

"Huh?" She looked under her leg to gaze at him.
"How are you so bendy? I mean I dance and all that type of stuff and even I can't do that." Mina's eyes were wide, shining in awe at her flexibility.
"A shit ton of training and following a strict routine - courtesy of Izuku." She replied before Izuku suddenly let her go. Bakugou was about to step forward to help when she landed on her hands, her leg having moved quick and she went into a handstand and lashed out at her brother with her feet, but he caught her and drove her into the floor. Fuck that must have hurt.

"Ouch!" Kirishima groaned, moving as though to help her but she instead locked her legs around Izuku's head and flipped him on the ground, rising above him. She tightened her thigh muscles, and they watched as his face started to turn red from lack of oxygen. Bakugou saw movement behind her and the man used his hips to swing his legs up and lock them around her throat, dragging her off him. She tapped his thigh and he let her go. He yanked her up and they faced the group.

"So, what can you pick up from what we just showed you?" Rhyki said, fixing her mask a little.
"That you're both really quick?" Kaminari answered.
"I mean anything fucking useful. Use that fucking brain of yours Kaminari. You're much smarter than you actually let on." She glared at him, causing his cheeks to flair red in embarrassment.
"Never underestimate your opponent." Bakugou supplied.

"Correct. Out there in the real world, going against villains in any sort of place, you must never underestimate what is happening. You get overpowered, you must quickly think of a solution in how to get out of it. Because that split second decision is what harbours on the principle of life and death." Izuku responded, before he handed them some tape.
"What's this for?" Sero said.
"Tape your knuckles up. If you need help, ask." He immediately started doing just that, and they followed. But for the life of him, Bakugou could not get his hand taped right.

"Here, I'll help." He glanced up and Rhyki was right in front of him. Her hands were already done. He handed it over and watched as she expertly taped him up.
"Thanks."
"Welcome. Ok, now that we're sorted, team up." They quickly paired up, but he was on his own.
"You lost out man." Kaminari chuckled and Bakugou glared at him.
"No, he didn't. I'll team with you." Rhyki said, and Izuku just smirked a little behind his mask. Or at least he thought he did.

"Doesn't Izuku need a partner?" Sero asked.
"Not for this exercise." Bakugou watched as the siblings quickly shoved the mats out of the way.
"Ok. So, for this, I want to see what your striking power is." Izuku stated, cracking his knuckles.
"Striking power?" Kirishima looked perplexed at that.
"As in, how hard you can punch. But I want to see it without any quirks. Sometimes, you will end up in a fist fight and have no room to activate your quirk, so therefore, I want to see how hard you can hit so I can work on a routine for you." Izuku replied and led them to a punching bag with some sort of meter above it.

"Ah, I understand now." They nodded in agreement.
"Ok, Mina. Step forward for me." She did and Izuku moved her to stand at the bag and motioned for her to hit it as hard as she could, first with her weak hand and then her dominant. And then everyone went. The results were -

Bakugou: Right fist - red/black. Left fist - blue.
Mina: Right fist - yellow/green. Left fist - yellow.
Kaminari: Right fist - green. Left fist - yellow.
Kirishima: Right fist - blue/red. Left fist - green.
Sero: Right fist - green. Left fist - yellow/green.

"Not bad, not bad." Rhyki said, jotting down something on a pad she'd pulled from somewhere.
"What do the different lights symbolize?" Kirishima asked, motioning to the device.
"Yellow - barely wounded. Green - wounded. Blue - starting to hurt. Red - agony. Black - fatal. White - dead, or on the verge." Izuku replied.
"Anyone ever get white?" Bakugou asked, quite curious.
"Yeah."

"You?" Bakugou wouldn't have been surprised though, considering he'd seen what he was like when he fought with Rhyki at the start of the quirk test, even if that'd been playing around, with no quirks.
"Yep."
"Could you show us?" Mina requested and Izuku shrugged. He stood the same way they had, then launched his left fist at the bag. The light went black. With his right, it blazed white.
"Holy shit! And that's without your quirk?" Kaminari gasped.

"Yeah, that's without my quirk. Like I said, with the right training and such, you can accomplish that as well. It really is about knowing how to fully use your body, as well as trust your instincts etc."
"And how long would it take us to reach that sort of level?" Bakugou asked as Rhyki handed the pad to Izuku and stepped into a fighter stance.
"With the right training, and following everything I say? About five years." He answered honestly. Rhyki launched her left into the bag and it flashed red/black. Right fist produced black/white.
"Holy crap, that was impressive." Mina gasped, realising that girls could produce a vicious punch, just like the men.

"I have a fair way to go still. If you agree, of letting us train you, it won't be fun. We'll break you first before building you back up to become stronger, faster and better than you previously were. Of where you'll definitely not be taken lightly when stepping into a fight or whatever." Rhyki exclaimed, as she walked off.
"She's right. Once you agree, you will not be able to back out. Because you know the location of this facility, if you back out, you'll have to get your mind erased." Izuku stated, drawing their gazes.
"You know someone who can do that?" Bakugou asked.

"Yeah. I know someone who can do it. Now, with your partner, I want you to practice throwing jabs at each other." Izuku replied, while handing out training pads that were similar to what boxers used. Bakugou watched as Izuku took his hoodie off, showcasing thick arms in his tank. Hell, he even had an impressive ten-pack that showcased through. How much training did he do to get that defined? Sure, Bakugou had a six-pack, but nothing like that and he was meticulous on his fitness and diet. They spread out so there was plenty of room to start their sparring and not accidently hit each other. He waited patiently as Rhyki put on the pads before looking at him.

"Ready?" She questioned.
"As I'll ever be."
"Good. Now, we've got the circle in the middle, I want you to aim for that. And don't worry about hurting my hands, just show me what you got." And so, they did. And then the group got to know the real definition of training.
It was absolutely fucking brutal!