4 Chapter 4 - New Trainer

Some Weeks Later

Since the kidnapping a year before, Raiko had been training and improving his martial art. Also, his mother had been training him to analyze quirks and discover their weaknesses, since that was also very important in a fight. After all, even a quirkless person could defeat a hero if they knew how to fight and the weaknesses of the hero's quirk. Eraserhead was a prime example of this, when he fought against mutant types, he was basically fighting quirkless.

More importantly, today was the day Raiko was going to meet his new trainer, a former pro-hero who apparently lost his quirk. His father said that the man was one of the most skillful hand-to-hand fighter there is and that he was currently a vigilante because he couldn't be a hero anymore, having lost his quirk.

At six in the morning sharp, a huge man appeared at the meeting point they agreed to, a gym that they had reserved. The man was bulging with muscles, had an intimidating look and short black hair. He spoke:

"Look kiddo, the only reason I agreed to train you is that I owe both your parents a couple of favors and that you're apparently pretty talented. Better not disappoint me. Oh, and my name's Iwao Oguro, or Knuckle Duster, whichever you like. Now fight me."

"I'm Raiko, nice to meet you. Don't worry, I won't disappoint."

Raiko used "Quirk Vision", and, as his father said, the man was quirkless. Without waiting more, Raiko ran toward the big man, throwing a punch to his stomach, which was easily caught, but Raiko expected that as he followed with a kick to his chin. Knuckle Duster also easily blocked it, but he didn't expect Raiko to twist himself with impressive flexibility, allowing him to send another kick almost at the same time.

Although he didn't expect Raiko's maneuver, Knuckle Duster was still an experienced fighter and dodged the second kick by sidestepping. He then grabbed Raiko's leg before throwing him away, still careful not to use enough strengh to do more than bruising him. Still, he was positively surprised with the kid he was going to train.

"Color me impressed, kiddo, you may an ounce of talent. But you're still weak. Attack me again."

Raiko got up and charged again, and for the next few hours, Knuckle Duster gave advice to the kid and helped him improve, sharing all of his fighting experience.

Like this, weeks passed and Knuckle Duster, even though he didn't admit it, was more and more impressed by Raiko's tenacity and perseveration. Raiko almost never complained and rarely made the same mistake twice. He was absorbing everything he was taught like a sponge. Finally, one day, Knuckle Duster asked him what was his motivation, the kid had to train for a reason, even he was training five times less hard, he could still get into U.A. or any prestigious school. What Raiko answered slightly surprised him.

"When I was five, I was kidnapped by villains because they wanted to use me to force my father to heal their boss. I was helpless, completely useless, I couldn't defend myself, and since that day, I promised myself that I wouldn't be a weak anymore, and that the next villain that tries to capture me regrets it…a lot. Also, I want to be strong enough that villains are afraid of my quirk, not that they want to kidnap me for it. And since I have the means to, I also want to become a hero! I could be strong, very strong! And as I have the power to become a hero, it's only the right thing to do. It's someone's duty to help and save those that are less powerful."

Raiko obviously spoke about his ability to create quirks, but Knuckle Duster didn't know that. He simply thought that he was speaking about Quirk Vision, which is also a very powerful quirk. But Raiko didn't the most important reason why he was training, he wanted to completely erase the villain group that dared kidnap him, they would learn what happens when you go after the wrong person. He would prove that he wasn't the same helpless kid anymore. Despite all of this, the only reason Raiko was able to train as much was that he used Emotionnal Manipulation to give himself infinite motivation. Yeah, it was kinda cheating, but…They were no rules.

Alas, Raiko was far from strong enough to take care of villains right now and had another thing to do before fighting villains…Something wayyy worse…Something akin to going to hell… The dreaded family meeting…

You see, today was Raiko's cousin sixth birthday and Raiko's cousin was a little sh*t. If not for his mother pleading him to go, he would've ignored it and acted as though the little f*cker that was his cousin didn't even exist.

You might be asking youself: where did such a young and inocent kid learned such colorful language? Or simply, why was a six years old cursing like a sailor? Well, when you give a small kid with several intelligence ehancing quirks a free access to the internet and a lot of free time, you can't expect nothing to go wrong, can you? Fortunately, Raiko only cursed in his mind, a had basic decency.

Raiko's cousin and cause for his despair was a boy named Neito Monoma, the son of the sister of Raiko's mother. His quirk was pretty powerful, Raiko didn't deny that, but that wasn't an excuse to act like a spoiled brat. Raiko was pretty sure that Neito was jealous of his intellect and tried to instinctually make himself feel superior by degrading Raiko due to his "weak" quirk. Raiko knew that, in real life, his quirk was in a whole different level compared to Neito's, but he wasn't dumb enough to reveal his quirk because he was being insulted by a six-year-old kid.

Neito's quirk was Copy, and it allowed him to copy someone's quirk after touching them. It had several drawbacks, but it could be pretty powerful in the right hands and Raiko could tell that Neito was going to be powerful and a good user of his quirk, but that didn't change the fact to he was a little sh*t.

Where were we? Ah yes, the little sh*t's birthday.

That day, after his training with Knuckle Duster, Raiko changed into something more formal and acceptable and went into the car, alongside both his parents.

During the whole ride toward Neito's place, Raiko was despairing as he was going to be forced to listen to an annoying kid for the rest of the day.

Right before they entered his house, he took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally. He was very happy he had bought the Emotionnal Control quirk, otherwise…

His mom knocked to the door of the mid-sized house that was Neito's house, and, a couple of seconds later, a lady, looking very similar to my mother; tall, brown hair and glasses, opened the door with a bright smile on her face.

"Emyu! Orkyo! And is that the little Raiko! He looks just like his father! I'm so happy to see you. We were waiting for you, everyone else is already here. Neito will be happy to see Raiko."

Although Neito's mother looked similar to Raiko's mother, they had completely different personalities. Neito's mother was very cheerful and energetic, but Emyu was more reserved and calm. Also, both seemed to think that Neito and Raiko were the best of friends…

Raiko's POV

I entered the house, following my parents inside the house and prayed to God that Neito wouldn't notice me.

I think God sent me a middle finger, because not even 10 seconds after I entered the house, a blond boy came, running toward me with a bright smile on his face…The devil's smile…

"Raiko! You're finally here! Come play with me! We have a lot time before dinner", he said, gesturing to me the stairs leading to the basement.

"Yes! Good idea! Raiko, go play with your cousin", my mother answered, not even giving me time to open my mouth.

She had a look in her eyes, and, at this moment, I knew that she knew as much as me how annoying Neito was and how much of a torture it was to "play" with him. It was my punishment for not doing my chores. Regrets… I sent her a look that promised pain, before reluctantly following Neito down the stairs.

A couple of painful hours later, I was on the brink of losing my sanity before I was saved, it was dinner time. Trust me, it's not fun to play with Neito, all he wants to play is "hero", but apparently, I'm the villain. I stopped counting after the seventeenth time I had refused.

The day continued , Neito opened his gift, etc… You know, standard birthday stuff, although the cake was surprisingly good, Neito's mom was a divine baker.

Finally, it was time to leave.

When we arrived finally arrived home, I got into my room and continued to improve my quirk analysis, as I did every other day, I didn't need to sleep. I was all too happy that I wouldn't be seeing Neito for another year…