2 Martial Arts

It'd been a single year from the day I tested out my Quirk for the first time. Which I'd decided to call 'Herculean', named after the strongest of the Greek heroes - Hercules.

I combined the two of them under a singular name...because it'd get annoying to have to explain that I had two different Quirks when they both work so seamlessly together and it's so hard to tell them apart. Both affect my physical ability and punching power, so it's not too much to just put them together and call it one thing, really.

Anyway, over the last year, I'd slowly been coming to terms with my new life and my new family. My mom was loving and extremely doting and my grandparents treated me like the most important thing in the world. Which has it's benefits when your grandparents are rich as hell.

Which is what I'm doing right now.

"But Toshi, how about letting mom teach you some moves? You don't need to go to these dojos!" I heard mom complain with a somewhat jealous voice, which was quickly followed by her speaking again, "I'll even teach you the self-defense style they only teach the police!" she continued trying to persuade me but I ignored it, having gotten used to it over the last few minutes.

"Hmph," I heard my granddad make a noise an old man shouldn't make and ignored it...a few seconds later, he had a 180 mood switch and continued, "Come on, Toshi-kun! I can teach you all about my combat style at home! You don't need a martial arts teacher!"

Turning and looking at the two of them who were nearly identical in their slumped posture, I gave a laugh before smiling widely, "And you can both teach me all you want! I just want to experience other ways of fighting. Plus, we need to find someone who doesn't rely on a certain type of Quirk for their martial art to work...I've had it up to here with the amount of people who use elemental Quirks with martial arts and try to pass it off as some mystical art," I sighed, holding my hand up to my head to as a gesture to back up my words.

Both mom and gramps lamented at my decision, though they did seem somewhat placated by the fact I wasn't denying lessons from them.

And why would I? Mom's on the Anti-Villain Police Squad, a squad of people who assist Heroes with certain Villains. They're the best of the best when it comes to the Police in Japan. And Gramps? He was a pretty good Hero back in the day. Though I don't know how good, a Pro Hero's experience is more than enough of a reason for me to learn off of him. Plus, it can't be denied his type of fighting would be beneficial to my Quirk. We both rely on our superhuman physiques, after all.

But, like I said, I want to experience more fighting styles. Proper martial arts...could go a long way when paired with my Quirk.

It'd especially help if I want to become a Pro Hero.

Do I want to become one? I...don't know. It's certainly expected of me but I don't want to become a hero just to fulfill the expectations of my family. I want to become a hero because of a genuine reason.

Sure, I want to help people. I like helping people. And unlike some, I have the Quirk necessary to do it. A good Quirk. A powerful Quirk.

I'm not one of those idiots who believes that makes me the chosen one, however. I'm not suddenly unkillable just because I have a strong Quirk. Which is why I'm on the fence about the whole Hero thing. It's the cowardly thing to do, honestly - but I've just gained this life, do I really want to risk it by trying to become a Pro Hero?

Yet, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a burning itch in my chest that wanted to help people. Both the old Toshi and me, the new one, wanted to help people. My more experienced world-view, however, showed the cons to such a thing and it stopped me from following through with that urge. But it was always there. Just waiting.

I guarantee that if someone were in danger in front of me right now, all this talk about being on the fence would disappear and I'd jump into action.

A hopeless hypocrite, I guess.

Smiling to myself, I gave a discrete shake of my head as I internally reprimanded myself. Anyway, by now we'd arrived at the 6th dojo we'd visited today. It was also the last one in the area.

Before we entered, gramps spoke up, "I get you want to experience new styles and all Toshi-kun...but we could hire teachers and have them teach you at home. What's the point in coming all the way out here?" he asked curiously and I just gave a shrug.

"I want to be like a normal kid, I guess," I answered, leaving the more real reason unsaid.

The real reason?

In my last life, I had a compromised immune system. Translation: My immune system didn't work, really. To me, a common cold was lethal. Which meant I was never really allowed outside, other than going to the hospital to have plasma transfusions. In this life where I was perfectly healthy...why would I ever choose to stay inside? Why would I ever choose staying inside some stuffy training room instead of going out into the world?

I'd experienced what it was like to be limited to staying inside all the time. And I never want to go back to experiencing that. Ever.

Hearing my answer, gramps let out a gruff-sounding sigh before he gave my head a few pats. Mom stopped complaining and trying to stop me, evidently looking a little sad with my answer. I guess what I said was true as well - the last thing I wanted was to be treated like Shoto Todoroki. I'd rather live life like a more normal kid than the heir to a family of Pro Heroes.

With that out of the way, I took a step toward the dojo door and opened it, where there was a somewhat dilapidated reception desk with no one at it. The three of us entered, my mom already showing some distrust in the way she was looking around - and I had to agree.

The place did look a bit dodgy.

But putting my first impressions aside, I looked around hopefully. It didn't take long for us to get to the desk from the front door and I got on the tip of my toes and rang the bell.

Within a few seconds, a lazy-looking woman slowly trudged out of a room off to the right of the reception area and she was looking down at her phone with an uninterested expression clear on her face. Before long, she sat down on the seat and put her phone down before looking at us. She gave me a glance before looking to who she probably assumed was my mom.

"...What can I help you with?" she asked lazily, her eyes looking as if she was about to fall asleep.

Before mom could answer, I spoke up, "I'm here for martial arts lessons!" I gave a cheery reply and she looked back down to me, her grey eyes suddenly becoming abuzz with energy as they scanned over me, moving with speed I could hardly even see.

Yawning, she leaned back into her chair before gesturing to a door on her right, "You can go through there to meet the master of this Dojo. He'll give you a small test and then if you pass it, he'll teach you."

Before either of my guardians could say otherwise, I gave a nod and a quick 'thank you' before I was on my way through the door that'd been gestured.

Her eyes scanning me? Some type of Quirk, obviously. Probably to see talent or body strength or maybe just to see the person's Quirk. If it's the latter...that's a very strong Quirk. Shame she isn't a hero. But whatever it was, it seemed like the first hurdle to getting to meet this dojo master. What did this mean? It probably meant he was legit.

As I went through the door, my disapproving family members behind me, I was met by the sight of an immaculate courtyard. The complete opposite of the reception area.

...Another sort of test maybe? To see who would look beyond the appearance of the reception area and still want to learn from this place. A sort of anti-materialistic barrier to keep rich kids who weren't serious away from the dojo. Though I guess I could be thinking too much into it and the dojo master just takes better care of his courtyard than the reception desk/area for his dojo.

In the middle of the dojo was a tall and lean man wearing a pure white gi. He was currently in what I recognized as a horse stance - something I only knew about due to having watched an untold amount of martial arts movies and anime. Not that I knew how to do it because of that.

We'd entered just as he was punching the air...and something about it seemed dangerous.

It didn't cause a massive bang or send shockwaves all around the yard...but something about it made me feel like it was impossible to dodge. A punch that never missed.

The man seemed to be in the prime of his life, from his body's perspective anyway, but his hair was greying in places and despite looking youthful his face was weathered and had obviously seen some years of life. But other than that, he looked vigorous and full of energy. His body was covered in lean and compact muscle and from the way he moved, it was obvious he knew how to use it. Just an instinctive knowledge that this man could decimate me even with how powerful my Quirk makes me.

"Oh?" he spoke as he turned to look at us, "So you passed that first scan, huh...Then come over here, kid," he spoke with a sort of lazy voice that reminded me of the receptionist but it didn't matter too much and I took a step forward.

Though such an action was stopped by my mom taking a hold of my shoulder. I could overpower her hold pretty easily...but if she wanted me to stop for a second, it wasn't too much to ask. Plus, I'm a filial son, you know? Respect to your elders and all that. Especially to the one who gave birth to you.

"What do you plan to do?" mom asked with a serious tone to her usually jovial-sounding voice, "If you wish to harm my son--" her voice got sharp and hard, and I looked up to see if this was the same woman who happily prepared me sandwiches for elementary school in the morning.

Her face was like stone, giving a hard stare to the man in the gi. Her shoulders were subtly twitching and while others might not know what it meant, I did - her 'Strong Arm' Quirk was ready for action. I only knew because I had the same tell anytime I was prepared to use that part of my Quirk.

So, uh, my mom was getting ready to throw hands.

The man, however, continued with his lazy-sounding voice though a small smile had found it's way upon his face as he replied, "I'm not going to hurt your son, Miss. All I'm going to do is ask him to hit my hand to see if he has what it takes to take lessons here," he held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, intending to disarm mom's aggression. Which it succeeded in somewhat doing because she stopped preparing to have to hit the man.

I look up at her and she gave me a reassuring smile before fondly stroking the back of my head. Seeing she was alright with it, I made my way over to the man and gave him a wry smile.

"...Uh, I can punch pretty hard. You sure you want me to punch your hand, mister?" I asked.

Not out of arrogance either. The last thing I wanted to do was blow off a guy's hand with a punch.

Smiling, the man nodded, "I'm sure I'll be okay, kid. Even if you punch harder than I think you do, I can always move my hand out of the way," he laughed and I just nodded, knowing he was set on this being the test.

Over the passed year, I'd had training sessions with gramps and he'd taught me all about how to fight. So, I wasn't as helpless as I once was. Not a master, sure, but definitely not clueless either.

Settling into a basic boxing stance, I stepped into the punch as I decided to give a right cross toward the man's hand that was already held up in front of me. My Quirk activated and my joints all sped up as they rocketed the force along my body. If it weren't for the enhanced muscles and bones part of my Quirk gave me...I'd have probably broken my body with this sort of force flowing through it.

But I had two Quirks stuffed into one, so it was all A-OK. Super strong muscles and bones, mixed with super strong joints. The perfect combo for an extremely strong punch.

My fist blurred and for a second, I saw the man's eyes widen before his lazy smile took an a more lively appearance as his hand moved slightly out of the way, his feet moving under him to accommodate whatever he was about to try. My punch missed his hand by a few millimeters and his hand twisting to face the side of my first and in a flurry of action, my entire arm was blasted away to the side, leaving me wide open.

It was like gravity suddenly changed and it wasn't my punch being pulled down to the earth below it...but rather that gravity came from the side and suddenly pulled my fist to it.

A Quirk? Momentum-based? Gravity-based?

I had no clue but before I could even look to the man with the intent of asking if I passed, his fist was already centimeters away from blasting into my face. Luckily, it'd stopped there for a few seconds before it was pulled away and the man clapped me on the shoulder before speaking up.

"That's your first lesson, kid," he started, "Always be ready for a counter-attack," he smiled down at me before looking to mom and gramps behind me, "I'd like for your son to be my student, if that'd be okay."

I turned to look at the two of them as well, and mom looked both surprised by my punching power and the fact the man had redirected it. While gramps gave the man and interested look, like he wanted to know the Quirk behind such a man. Ignoring their looks, I decided it'd be best to act my age for a this next bit.

"Please, mom! I wanna learn martial arts here!" I said excitedly, though that part wasn't me acting. I genuinely wanted to learn from this guy. Why? Because that redirection...didn't feel like a Quirk. The way he moved and everything about it just felt...too off. For it to be a Quirk anyway.

I don't know how I knew. Just call it a hunch.

Sighing, mom gave a nod to me before looking to the man, "Do you have any forms we need to fill out, Mr...?"

"The name's Yamato Tatsumaki, nice to meet ya," he gave a toothy grin before he pointed to the door we came through, "If you go back to the reception desk, my daughter can give you the forms you need to sign and put down your form of payment on," he smiled before he looked to me, "Looks like I'm your Sensei from now on, kid. Let's get along, yeah?" he held out a hand to which I shook it rapidly before I let my curiosity get the better of me.

"Sensei...what's your Quirk?" I asked, using my age to dodge the common sense of such a question being incredibly rude.

Mom seemed like she was about to reprimand me but Yamato-sensei held up a hand as if to single that it was fine before he looked down at me, "What's my Quirk?" he asked rhetorically before he answered the question, "I ain't got one, kid. I'm Quirkless. You still wanna learn from me?" he asked with a seemingly hidden test in his words.

"Yep!" I answered with a solid nod of my head, "If you didn't use a Quirk to do what you did to redirect my punch...that means I can learn it. I came here to learn Martial Arts, Yamato-sensei, not to learn how to use a Quirk!" I gave a load and clear response that caused sensei's laziness to disappear completely, replaced with a somewhat excited expression.

"...You're one hell of a kid," he said before he looked to mom, "You raised a good kid. Most kids who know I'm Quirkless refuse to have lessons here...your son is one of the first to stick with it," he laughed before he pat my head and ruffled my olive green hair up.

And with that, I smiled and ran back over to mom and gramps to get the forms filled out.

. . .

POV Change - Yamato Tatsumaki (3rd Person)

"So, we have a student at last?" Yamato heard his daughter's lazy voice speak from the side but he was more focused on looking down at where that young kid had just been.

'Wakatoshi Ushijima...You're gonna be the kid to take on my legacy,' he thought to himself before he smiled and looked to his daughter, "That kid was something else. If that punch hit, it'd have taken my arm off! Hahaha!" he laughed despite the seriousness of what he was talking about.

Akane, his daughter, nodded in agreement, "I know. I could hardly believe my eyes when I scanned him with my Quirk. That kind of body strength at the hands of a 6-year-old kid? I guess we're just lucky he seems like a nice kid," she nonchalantly said before looking up from her phone and at her dad, "What did he say when he found out you were Quirkless?" she asked curiously.

"Ha!" the man laughed before shaking his head, "He didn't care. In fact, he seemed even more excited after finding out my martial arts are just that: martial arts with no Quirk parts. Must've gone to a few of the Quirk Dojos around town," Yamato scratched his chin before a thought suddenly hit him, "I better go think up some training plans for Ushijima-kun! Man, I've been waiting for a disciple for so long I can't wait to teach him!"

And with that, he man in his mid-forties rushed off with the energy of a man twenty years younger.

Akane just went back to looking at her phone, shaking her head at her dad's antics. Though, it was clear to see the small smile on her otherwise sloth-filled face. She was genuinely happy her dad had found a disciple as well.