6 First Lesson and Burgers

The venue that will be my training and housing for the next week was a small traditional house on a ten-acre plot of land near the base of Mount Tokachiporoshiri in Hokkaido. The beautiful green mountains that surrounded the location and the crisp air were a wonderful reprieve from the urban hellscape that had dominated most of my life in this world.

The place was surrounded by forests, with only one dirt road that lead in and out, the wildlife around here did not fear man like I expected it to as I had seen more than one deer and fox approach the car as we drove into the area.

Once Naomi and I were settled into our shared room, our patron called me to the small rock garden behind his house.

Itachi…still weird to say, was sitting cross-legged atop a flat rock, a black cat resting on his shoulder that was looking over at me with curious golden eyes.

"You wanted to see me Sensei?"

The old man regarded me for a long moment as I stood in front of him in awkward silence with the only sound being the rustling of the leaves within the surrounding forest. "Tell me.." he began in a soft voice. "Why do you wish to learn how to control your quirk?"

I blinked in surprise at the question. I thought the answer would be obvious unless this question was some sort of a test? "Well, I don't want to have to wear an inhibitor on my wrist for the rest of my life."

Itachi hummed. "But would it not be easier? Inhibitors will most assuredly shrink over time, sooner or later they would become almost unnoticeable. The path to controlling your quirk is not an easy road, it will take discipline, and countless hours of practice. Every day you would need hard work to improve yourself in order to master your powers. That is not even mentioning the integrity you must show every waking moment of every day so you would not abuse the gifts you were given. This is not a road for the faint of heart, you will stumble, you will fall, you will wish to give up and you will fail if you even show a moment of weakness to the inner demons that rest within you."

His words brought pause to my mind, he was right. If I chose this path, the path to control my quirk, even if I don't decide to become a hero. I would have to show a level of self-discipline that would be entirely unheard of for me. But I won't, I can't, back out now, not after being given a second chance. "My quirk is a part of me, to not learn it would be like to not learn how to walk."

"So you would say that it is an inherent right of all people to be able to wield the powers bestowed upon them by their creator?" Itachi asked with a raised brow.

I nodded, "yes Sensei."

Itachi closed his eyes and sat in silence for a long moment, "I will train you, we begin now."

He opened his eyes, whereas before his eyes were black as coal, they were now dark crimson with three commas spinning around his pupils. The Sharingan, so he truly is an Uchiha then.

Suddenly, Itachi lunged forward, taking me completely off guard as he struck my chest with an open palm strike. My body flew into the air for several feet before I landed on the ground with a wheeze "W-what was that?"

"Lesson one, life will give you unexpected dangers and adversaries to overcome, you must be ready for them at all times. Now get up, your mother told me she taught you some martial arts, I will see what you can do." Lectured Itachi as his cat continued to rest comfortably upon his shoulders without a care in the world.

With a pained groan, I stood up and got into a boxing stance.

My Sensei observed me for a moment and nodded, "good, your stance is nearly flawless. Now come, but come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise, you will have no chance."

I was upon him within seconds and swung at him with a right hook which was easily deflected by batting it away with a wrist. I followed up with a left hook and got the same results, I sent another right hook but this was a feint as I sent a kick at his legs.

Itachi easily dodged my kick by stepping away, I tried to attack him with a flurry of jabs and kicks for several minutes but Sensei used his reach and superior speed to make sure that nothing I did could land.

This was becoming frustrating, I know that this guy is incredibly skilled. But I couldn't even so much as make him breathe faster than normal? I couldn't keep attacking like this, I needed a new plan.

"Now you see, you can not hope to defeat me with this method, when you are outclassed then you must outsmart," Itachi said as he casually dodged my roundhouse kick to his side.

His advantage was reach and speed, I needed to back him into a corner to take both of those away. I pressed forward, trying to corral him into the side of his house by throwing punches to his sides, making sure he would be forced to dodge in the direction I wanted him to go.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder towards the direction I was trying to push him in, "hmm, wanting to put me in a corner. A wise move, but what would happen if life fights back against your wishes?"

Suddenly he lashed out with another palm strike to my chest, this time I was ready and backed up in time to dodge. Itachi pressed his advantage and sent a kick to my side, I dodged as I moved around the blow while I slid on the loose rocks, now it was my back to the house.

My opponent pressed forward and sent another palm strike towards my head, I was forced to duck but unfortunately, Itachi was planning on that as I was met with his strong kick. I doubled over his leg and was pushed backward several feet until I felt myself catch the stairs to the house and fall backward onto my back.

Itachi loomed over me with a fist hovering right over my nose, his blood-red Sharingan glowed in the shadow of his house. At that moment I felt a primal fear, almost like a genetic memory from the time when man was only a few wandering tribes within the savannas of Africa. "If life is putting you to a wall, and you have no way of escape, what do you do Ishii-san?"

No escape, up against a wall, the only thing left to do would be to fight back. And so I did, I channeled the stubbornness that was inherent within every human being and fought back that feeling of being helpless prey. I answered his question with a kick towards his leg, Itachi stepped backward, giving me room to stand back up and continue to move towards him as I lashed at his stomach with a right and then a left hook combo.

"Yes, you fight back, if you stumble, if you fall, you must not give in. You must press forward, to give in is to fall to darkness, and to fall to darkness is to live a fate worse than death." Itachi spoke as he continued to dodge my every attack with the ease of sipping a morning coffee. That black cat was still on his shoulder, completely unbothered by the movements of her human.

We continued to fight in this manner for over an hour, with me trying and failing to land even so much as a glancing blow and Itachi easily able to dodge or deflect all of my attempts. He even turned off his Sharingan partway through, I doubted he even needed it in the first place, the fact that he showed it to me was more than likely a power move on his part than anything else.

After fighting to near exhaustion, Itachi finally called a quit to the spar. "You have grit I will give you that. But your technique is sloppy and you are slow. We will work on this but I expect you to give it your all every day like you did today." Said my Sensei whilst the cat finally decided she had enough and left the area.

I panted on my hands and knees, sweat poured down my brow and into my eyes. My legs, shoulders, arms, hips, and torso all screamed in fiery hot pain. It was all the more embarrassing as Itachi's blows hardly had any power to them, the vast majority of my falls were caused by Itachi simply using my own body weight against me. "I-I thought w-we were going t-to work on m-my quirk?" I asked between panting breathings.

"In order for you to begin to master your quirk, you must first learn better discipline. Breaking your body and reforging it into tempered steel will show you how to do this. Through your pain and determination, you will prove to yourself you have what it takes to earn the right to be free of that inhibitor."

I sat up with a groan, "I-is this what you did for my father?"

Itachi shook his head, "no, I am trying something different with you."

"Why, didn't your old method work?"

My Sensei turned around and began to walk towards the house, as he took a few steps he answered. "No."

________________________________________

Lunch was served in the dining room near the front of the house, Itachi's whole house followed the same traditional aesthetic so we sat on cushioned pillows near a low table.

Naomi had cooked a delicious meal of heavy carbs and protein in the form of chicken pasta with a side of rice. We ate in silence, Itachi and Naomi were both content with not saying a word but I on the other hand was brimming with questions.

How did this guy have a Sharingan, was he really Itachi Uchiha or was he just a guy that modeled himself after the character? What method did he use to teach my father, who even was my father and why did Itachi train him in the first place?

The only reason why I didn't bombard the man with my questions was that I was far more hungry than I was curious, so I continued to eat despite my curiosity. After several minutes of eating in silence, I was finally finished with my lunch and decided to ask my most burning question.

"Sensei, why do you have the Sharingan? If you don't mind me asking."

Naomi gave our shared Sensi a knowing look with a little smirk, a silent conversation passed between the two in that one look alone.

Itachi dabbed at his face with a table cloth before answering. "When metahumans first appeared, the laws and regulations concerning their status as humans and studying their quirks were all but nonexistent. Many unethical scientists took advantage of this and began experimenting on people, their experiments advanced the field of genetics by hundreds of years. Things that were once only dreams of science fiction or seemed to be magic became standard practice in this field. Naturally when one can play God with the human genome, one will play God with the human genome. I am a result of these experiments, my eyes are the culmination of decades of work done by men and women who would make your ancestor, Shiro Ishii, look like a saint."

That's…that was both amazing and terrifying. "Are these people still around now?"

My Sensi shook his head, "no, I made sure of it." The way he said that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Are you the only one?" I couldn't help but ask, those people opened a pandora's box, there is no way my Sensei was the only person with a superpower ripped straight from a story.

Itachi took a long sip of his tea before answering. "Most of them are dead by now, either from old age or through their own foolishness. There are however a few still around, and even some who were able to have children and pass on their quirks to a new generation. For example, a man who has modeled himself after Spiderman exists in New York City, he is the grandson of one of the few experiments who ended up with a relatively peaceful life."

That's actually pretty cool. I see no reason why people wouldn't base themselves on previous fictional superheroes. This is a real living breathing world now and as far as I could tell, the My Hero universe doesn't diverge from my old timeline until a few decades after the luminescent baby was born in twenty fourteen. So those old comic book characters do exist in this world, and since society pretty much collapsed after the nuclear holocaust of twenty-forty-two, copyright law before ninety-two years ago when society finally started going again, doesn't apply. So heroes are free to go ham and base their personas after anyone they want, but it's still seen in bad tastes, plus it takes a very special individual to be able to pull such a thing off. This is probably why there aren't a million Elastagirls or Human Torches around.

"So you modeled yourself after Itachi Uchiha then?"

My Sensei set his cup down with a sad smile, "yes…Itachi Uchiha, he…well he was my hero. My only source of hope and light in those dark days when I was a child being experimented on by those monsters. Once I escaped I chose to become him, it did not hurt that my wardens had tried their hardest to make me into a true Uchiha ever since I was in my mother's womb. I am Itachi Uchiha, I have been Itachi longer than Kishimoto's Itachi was Itachi, so in a way, I am the truest version of him that is physically possible."

"So do you have all the abilities of the Sharingan, like Susanoo and Tsukuyomi and stuff like that?" Susanoo and Tsukuyomi were both advanced abilities of the Sharingan's final evolution, the Mangekyou Sharingan. Susanoo was basically an ethereal exoskeleton that had different forms. The highest of which was a giant Samurai where the Sharingan user would be able to pilot it like a mech, it came in great use against Kaijuu. The other ability, Tsukuyomi, was a very high form of Illusion magic, a Sharingan user would cast the spell on a victim via eye contact. The spell would then lock the victim in an illusory world where the Sharingan user is essentially a god and could control anything from time to reality itself. Forcing the victim to experience things such as torcher or even a fully lived existence for days, weeks, or even years from their perspective when in reality only a few seconds had passed. In the Naruto world where the Sharingan is from, both techniques take a heavy toll on the user's body and eventually would lead to blindness, that is not to mention that in order to even obtain them you would need to suffer great mental trauma.

Itachi chuckled lightly, "you know a great deal about ancient media."

Naomi smiled, "Samuru has always been fascinated by old stories, if he isn't studying or training then he's watching or reading something from the time before quirks."

My Sensei's lips twitched into a small smile, "then we are similar in that regard." He took another long drag from his tea before speaking once again. "To answer your question, no I do not. My Sharingan is the base form and not its evolved form. I do not believe such a thing is even possible. However, the Sharingan even as it is without the Mangekyou version is extremely formidably."

While that was a bit disappointing, it was still amazing that the Sharingan could even exist in any capacity in this world. It not only gave you perfect vision, but it also allowed the user to copy people's techniques. Means Itachi could watch some MMA fights on the TV for a few hours and have the knowledge of those fighters as if he trained just as long as they had. The eye also allowed the user to predict the possible movements of their opponent, giving the illusion that the Sharingan user was capable of seeing into the future. Speaking of illusions, It could also cast some minor illusions via eye contact as well, well minor in comparison to becoming an illusion god, the illusions cast by the Sharingan was said to be notoriously hard to spot and difficult to overcome. With all that going for him, plus his dedication, it's no wonder that Itachi was capable of becoming number three in the hero rankings.

"I can still see you have many questions," Itachi began as he stood from the table, "but they will have to wait. For now, you will continue training your body, you must have a solid foundation until we begin to train your quirk."

I stood up in excitement, "I'm ready for anything Sensei." This week was going to be the beginning of something amazing, the start of my journey to control my quirk, and quite possibly my start to becoming a hero, or maybe not, still on the fence about that one.

______________________________________

Itachi and I spared every morning before dawn we would fight for hours until breakfast was called. I would then be given various exercises, read chores. I would be tasked with things like taking full buckets of water up the mountain every morning after breakfast to fill a birdbath that somehow became empty every day. I would rake the stone garden whilst only being able to balance on my tippy toes and also trying to dodge the small rocks that Itachi or Naomi would throw at me. I was even told to chase a red fox that appeared every evening from the forest, the fox had to have a quirk because I'd never seen an animal move so fast in my life.

But I was not the only one that was put through the wringer by the old man, Naomi and Itachi would spar every other day right before lunch. I would like to say that watching them was amazing, unfortunately, I couldn't see shit. They moved so fast that the only time I ever saw them was when they disengaged for a brief moment before disappearing in a blur once again. It was a proper anime fight, only much less monologuing and no flashbacks. If Naomi was this good with her quirk locked away, then I would love to see what she will be like in a few years when her probation is up.

By the end of the week, I was sore all over and far more tired than I had ever been in my entire life, but Itachi was apparently pleased as he told me if I kept this up he would begin to teach me how to use my quirk. How someone with a Sharingan is able to teach a telepath how to work their powers, I do not know, but I'm not going to question the seventy-something-year-old man who's survived this long in this crazy world.

I would have liked to stay longer, but unfortunately, Naomi had to go to work, so I followed her back home but I was told to return after the weekend was over. Naomi was reluctant to let me go but Itachi insisted that I stay for the next few weeks, so I had a long grueling summer to look forward to.

But now was not the time to worry about such things. I had a 'date' today after all.

_________________________________________

Nemuri had shown up at the apartment around eleven in the morning, in a pink short-sleeve shirt under a denim jacket with matching blue jeans and a pair of leather boots. She had her long purple hair tied into a singular long braid.

"Hey Samuru, your mom around?" She asked as she entered the apartment.

"She left for work an hour ago. Told me to tell you that she wants me back by eight tonight."

I was also wearing casual clothes, a simple plain black T-shirt above a pair of blue jeans and an old pair of sneakers that used to be white but have now become yellow with age.

"Well let's not waste time then, there's an American food restaurant I wanted to try out nearby."

"Okay." I followed the woman outside and down the stairs where she lead me to a sleek black Tesla.

"Woah, I didn't even know they still made Teslas," I said whilst sliding into the passenger's seat.

Light from the rearview mirror shone in Nemuri's eyes for a moment before a robotic voice said. "Identification authenticated." After the voice spoke the engine then turned on.

Nemuri smirked at my gobsmacked face, "that's not even the best part." She then spoke to the digital interface that had replaced where the radio would have gone, "Darling, take us to the nearest Baseball Burger."

There was a digital chime before the same robotic voice spoke again, "driving to the nearest Baseball Burger, you will arrive at your destination in twenty-five point eight minutes." The car then began driving on its own without the driver's input whatsoever.

"This…wow," was all I could say. Self-driving cars were in their infancy by the time I died, they were far too rich for my blood in my old life and the same could be said for this one. This was already the coolest date ever, granted it was my first date and it wasn't really a date but still.

"Hero business pays off, I got this baby about a year ago after I cameoed in a movie." She explained.

"What movie?" I couldn't help but ask, I was a movie buff through and through.

"I was a Jedi in one of the Old Republic movies." She said with a proud smirk.

Another good thing about copyright not being a thing for old franchises is that Disney doesn't have sole rights to StarWars anymore. So anyone with enough passion and budget is able to make movies in the universe. "Man, you're like the coolest Aunt ever."

"Aw, and you're the sweetest nephew ever." She cooed whilst giving me a head pat.

"Gah, stop it, I just put down my cowlick." I swiped at her hand.

Nemuri gave me a cheeky smile, "but you're just too cute, like a little tomato."

"I will bite you, woman."

"Maybe when your seventeen, then we'll talk about that."

"Lady, you wouldn't even be able to handle me at seventeen." I shot back.

Midnight giggled, "oh really, are you sure about that?"

I nodded with absolute confidence I knew I wouldn't have if I was in my last life. "Yep, I have a telepathy quirk so it'll be easy."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You ever seen the movie what women want?"

"I think you're the only one alive who remembers that movie."

"Well irregardless, my point still stands."

She raised a brow, "you mean regardless, irregardless isn't a word."

I rolled my eyes and muttered in Texan, "ain't nobody gon tell me what ain't a word and what is."

Midnight blinked in surprise, "Woah you're English is really good, and you don't even have an accent."

"Thank you kindly," I nodded with my old twang.

"How are you so articulate at this age anyway, you're like what eight?" She questioned.

I shrugged, "quirk side effect?" I'm not about to red pill her about the multiverse, maybe later but not yet.

She hummed in thought, "probably, quirks can still affect people even if they haven't fully awakened yet."

"What's your quirk?" I already knew but I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

"Oh, I produce a sleep-inducing aroma from my body, it's more effective with men though than it is with women," Nemuri said with a proud smile.

"Huh, is it more effective because it affects those with more testosterone or something?"

She shrugged, "I never bothered with the science of it, I just figured it was because of my feminine beauty."

"I'm pretty sure you're beauty does the opposite of making men sleep," I said without thinking.

Nemrui laughed loudly at this, "haha, you're like a mini-me." Her eyes then gleamed, "actually…."

I was suddenly pulled from my seat and engulfed in a side hug, "Gah, what are you doing?"

Her eyes sparkled. "You are my mini-me, I can see it now. Midnight and the Crimson Mind, hero and sidekick."

I tried to struggle out of her grip. "Crimson what?"

She ignored me, "fighting evil villains as the sexiest crime-fighting duo in all of Japan."

"Are you playing sexy back right now? Please don't tell me that's your theme song."

______________________________________

We arrived at the burger joint shortly, thankfully I was able to wiggle my way out of Nemruri's death grip.

The place was a classic sports bar themed after Baseball, not a surprise as the Japanese love Baseball more than America does. What was a surprise was the authentic artery-clogging cheeseburgers and free refills. I almost shed a tear, after eight years of being away, I was finally home.

The booth we sat in was at one of the front windows, a subtly smart move by the hostess for putting the beautiful women out front to encourage people to eat there.

I was brimming with questions for the woman sitting across from me, I didn't want to turn this outing into an interrogation but there were things I wanted to know and Naomi has not been keen on answering. So after ordering our food I asked Nemrui one of the softball questions I wanted answered to gauge just how willing she was to give me information.

"So where did you and my mom meet?"

She smiled nostalgically, "we were in the same year at U.A, she was the only one in our class that got in through recommendations."

"Really, so not even my father was recommended?"

"Oh he got in though recommendations too, he was just in class one A while we were in one B"

I didn't see her hesitate when mentioning my father the way Naomi does, so I decided to press forward. "Mom doesn't like talking about him, why is that?"

She idly stirred the ice in her soda cup with a straw. "Danuja…he was…complicated."

"That's what she keeps telling me, but that doesn't answer anything."

Nemuri frowned, "if your mom hasn't said anything about him then I don't think it's my place to say."

I looked down at my drink in disappointment, "Oh, okay."

There was a long pause until I heard her mutter, "damn it," under her breath before she gave another long weary sigh. "Look."

I turned my head upwards to see the woman rubbing her temples.

She looked at me sternly. "Don't tell your mother I told you this, promise me okay."

"I promise." I agreed with an excited nod.

"Your father…he did some good things, but also a lot of bad things too. Before he…" She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Before he started doing bad things, he was a good man and a good friend. He loved your mother with everything he had, he saved people's lives and did good work as the pro hero named Magnus. He even traded the number two spot with Endeavor a couple of times throughout his career. When he wasn't being a hero he was in front of the camera and governments advocating for space exploration. It was actually an obsession of his, you couldn't get him to shut up about space and its potential once you got him started."

"What did he do wrong, what happened to him?"

Midnight looked away, "you're too young to understand or worry about that right now. Just know that he…" She sighed again before looking me in the eyes, "he would have loved you."

I frowned as again I was left with more questions than answers. Whatever my father had done, it must've been so terrible that merely mentioning it made the people that knew him best uncomfortable. I really hope he didn't hurt Naomi, otherwise, I might have to dabble in necromancy just to kill his ass again.

Our food arrived shortly and we ate in silence for the next several minutes. I wouldn't have been able to carry on a conversation anyway, I was too focused on my bacon cheeseburger to bother with one as I had not had restaurant-quality hamburgers at all in this life. I could feel the spirit of Uncle Sam pass through me as I ate, a little voice telling me to fire off celebratory gunfire as the old urge to grab the largest and loudest vehicle I could get my hands on and race people in it whilst shouting 'do it for Dale' almost overcame me.

But alas I could not, and as I finished my meal the feeling soon left me as sorrow replaced it. For a brief moment, I was back home, Pa at the grill, a Doctor Pepper in my hand, and Momma screaming at the Cowboys in the living room. I had almost forgotten how much I missed my old family. I hope they lived well, I hope my brother got that ecologist job he always wanted, and I hope my sister was finally able to start her family. I hope my parents got to hold their grandchildren, and I hope my friends all found their own happiness.

I blinked my eyes and shook myself out of those thoughts, a pretty woman was in front of me and here I am being all depressed. Knowing my luck this would most likely be the only time I got a chance like this.

"Hey Aunty," I began, getting her attention. "You wanna do something fun?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"You ever gone ax-throwing?"

Her eyes sparkled, "oh it's been forever, I know just the place."

_______________________________________

We soon left the restaurant and drove to an arcade that had its own ax-throwing range and go-cart track. For the next few hours, Nemuri and I took turns trying to outdo each other, she won the ax-throwing and I beat her in go-carts but we tied for wins in the arcade.

It was fun, probably the most fun I've had in years, and when we finally arrived back at mine and Naomi's apartment it was already sunset.

I opened the front door as Midnight followed me inside, "That was really fun, thanks Aunty Nemuri."

She smiled at me, "it was, I hope we get to do more fun things in the future. It's Aunty's job to spoiler her nephew after all.

"Well in that chase, there's a virtual reality chamber near downtown, we can go do that next time." I offered.

"Sounds fun, I'll call your mom and we can see about all of us going sometimes in a few weeks."

My smile widened at the idea, Naomi really needed a break from work, plus I would love to see her have fun. "Yeah, we should."

She gave me a pat on the head, "well I've got to go, don't go getting any girlfriends while I'm gone."

"What you gonna get jealous or something?" I challenged with a cheeky grin.

Nemuri giggled as she leaned down and gave me a kiss on the forehead, "you're too cute, I'll see you later mini-me."

I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug. "Be safe okay."

She returned the hug, "I will, good luck in your training. I believe in you."

We disengaged from the hug after a few moments, Nemuri gave me one last wink before she left.

I couldn't help the shit-eating grin that spread across my face, I had just fulfilled every weebs dream, taking out a hot anime wifu on a date. "Eat your heart out simps."