20 Count Down (5)

"Sure am!"

I showed up right before them and threw a punch, holding something sharp like a knuckle. Because of Stendhal's training, it was easy to use the nearby buildings as a footing to fly, even if it was for a moment.

"Wah!"

La Brava was shocked and let out an instinctive scream. Gentle, on the other hand, already created a shield above his head and pushed himself down.

...........

"Tch!"

This was a never-ending chase. But it was to my advantage as more heroes would arrive. Although it would be a shame to not fight them, I couldn't interfere when the heroes came. Lawsuits were scarier than any villain out there.

"La Brava, it's time to go all out."

"Yes, Gentle!"

- Rip!

Soon, a wave of strength ran through Gentle, who buffed up and tore his gentlemanly clothes.

It was the effect of [Love], La Brava's quirk which gave a boost in accordance to her love for the target.

Now, that was a bad thing for me.

Falling to the ground, I once again reached out for them.

"Too slow, Young Hero."

Appearing behind me, Gentle showed a heightened level of quirk use. If at first, his body couldn't use his quirk for anything other than running and countering, then now, he could attack.

He used a wall to bouce off the ground and then one at air before finally landing behind me. His momentum wasn't the same anymore.

I fell down to the ground, barely dodging the punch.

Currently, his stats was better than mine. But my experience and skills weren't for show. I pushed myself back up and avoided the kick that he threw, lightly kicking his leg to move away.

"You're not fast either, Ossan."

Doing a back flip, I taunted the criminal.

- Whoosh!

He appeared on the right. Both of his arms were empty since La Brava kept at a safe distance. She was a liability for him right now but also the reason behind his strength. Quite a contradiction.

"Argh!"

There was no other choice than to block his fist. It was possible to dodge one but two were hard in my base form.

But by jumping backwards before the attack landed and twisting my body, I diminished the force behind the punch.

I landed on the ground while thinking of counter-measures. A plan to defeat such a guy came automatically.

"My turn."

Throwing metal fragments all around the place, I smirked deviously.

There were no civlians around us and La Brava was too far to be pulled into this attack.

It was a simple attack. Just punch, punch and punch some more. Not Gentle but the metal parts.

All the metal fragments flew away, destroying everything in their path. Some were stuck to the walls, some broke through Gentle's elastic walls while the remaining few....

"Gentle!"

La Brava screamed as loudly as her lungs allowed her to.

Because Gentle was bleeding. A few parts of metal were digging into his body, neither piercing him deeply nor being a small wound.

Thanks to the buff, he was relatively unharmed.

"You're really good, Young Hero."

"I already know that, Ossan!"

We both dashed forward, each having a special ace in the hole.

Before reaching him, I lifted my leg and aimed for his head. Because of the Taekwondo that I learned for the past 3 years, kicks had become my forte. It had now become second nature to kick rather than punch.

Though the attack was avoidable because of his buff, it was a strong attack that could hurt him. Gentle didn't avoid the attack and was struck. Grappling my leg over his bleeding head, he made a grabbing action, touching my face and pulling it back.

- Boing!

"You can break my walls. But can you break yourself, Young Hero?"

Just metal wasn't enough to break through elastic. It also needed an adequate amount of force to match it. But there was no way to avoid damage from the rebound. He noticed the subtle bruises on my legs as he made that assumption.

The perfect method to beat me was by making me the elastic wall.

'I didn't know he could do that!'

Even Gentle himself didn't know that. He did it because of the urgency of the current situation.

A wall of elastic skin was being pulled from my body as he smirked and let it go. Like a string let loose, the skin reverted back to its original position but the momentum threw it further, striking my skull.

I flew back before landing. It was a strong, brilliant hit, capable of defeating a normal hero but I had a sturdy body.

Since the kick didn't take him down either. The fight was still on. And so, this scene kept repeating.

As a blow was exchanged for another, we were testing the limits of the opponent. For him to strike me, he needed to take an attack head-on first so he was at a disadvantage but La Brava's [Love] made up for it and even put me on the losing side.

- Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang!

His strength was pushed to the limits of the buff while I started feeling the pain. A few bones in my body cracked, almost broken. It was hard to move, not impossible.

Blood spurt across our bodies as we kept going at it. I would be hurtled back because of his attack, only to rush in again.

'Let's go all in this one. My legs hurt... It's worse but let's punch him.'

'The buff is almost over. I don't think I can win without it. No, I must win. At least, for La Brava's sake. Time to end this.'

Having similar thoughts, we went all in on the last hit. My punch struck his gut while he clenched multiple, thin, skin layers, merging them and increased the density and power of the attack.

- Boom!

I hit the opposing wall. Blood dripped from my body, which was pushed far beyond its limits. Gentle was seemingly better before the last strike.

But the buff ended at the moment I threw my punch. I had to pull back my true strength as that would be dangerous to him, granting him the chance to deal a heavy blow.

"You're kind, Young Hero."

Gentle still had a polite manner, even though tired and hurt. Perhaps he felt that the last hit didn't hurt as much as he expected.

It was probably the growth in his quirk that increased his euphoria.

"Not really. You're just strange. But you won anyway."

"Haha! Without La Brava, I would have already been defeated."

Hmm~ Was he truly a villain? That's the sentence a hero would say. Power of friendship and all.

"See you at another time in a whole different place for a strange reason again, Young Hero."

Saying that, he used his quirk to rush next to La Brava and scooped her up, making a swift exit. Afraid that he would have another bout if he stayed.

'Should I give them a headstart? But why was he calling me 'Young Hero'?'

Gentle thought that the boy was a hero cadet. Why else would a boy be trying to catch him so severely? There was no other explanation unless one was a crazy lad.

After 2 minutes, I pushed myself up and ran after them, trying to catch up. 

- Wrap!

But a white scarf trapped my leg in.

"Unauthorized used of quirks is prohibited."

A tired, sleepy voice resounded in the air.

"But I'm not using my quirk."

The reply had the same tone to it. Preferably sounding better.

A pro hero showed up from the dark, wearing all black clothes, a white scarf and a pair of goggles. His dry eyes were red, both in color and with veins in them.

'Eraserhead? No, what was his real name? Aizawa? Yeah, Aizawa Shota.'

"Hmm~ Is that so?"

To prove it, I pulled my leg back, almost dragging Shota for a ride.

".... I see. It's just a brutish, young man. Then you're free to go."

That's it?

Does the fact that I'm bleeding and hurt not mean anything to this hero?

Shota left to track Gentle, who just left the place.

- Ding!

[A part of the Hero Special: Continuous Chain Quest has been completed! Would you like to collect rewards?]

'Now, you're talking.'

***

'What is he?'

On the other hand, Aizawa glanced back at the young man.

'That physique isn't a mutation nor is it the effect of a quirk. And the fact that he explicitly said that he didn't use his quirk, means he's still holding back.'

Analysing was the strong point of this hero. His job often blurred between deductions and fights. A strange hybrid between detective/brawler, like a certain dark knight.

'I hope that kid doesn't come to U.A.'

Still, his guts told him that Nemu would definitely arrange that boy to enter his class, if he ever joined the school.

His frown deepened as he imagined the new batch of brats, troubling him again.

'Should I suspend them again for a vacation? After being both a teacher and a hero, I think I deserve a bit of rest... Nah, there's only 8 months left till new students join and I have to hold the entrance exam a month before it. Let's hold on.'

He could always suspend the kids for the first month of April and then, bring them back. Having both rest and peace for an entire month.

And so the count down for U.A. entrance exam began.

....

Time Remaining: [7 months]