16. Forgiveness and Fortitude.

"Alright then." I said, looking at the four of them, "I know your general capabilities and I have general termination countermeasures against every creature alive, to predict your faults would take more effort than it'd be worth spending on you scrubs, no offense.

So here's the deal.

We fight, I'll see where you can improve individually and-"

"J-just a minute, Matsun. Did you just admit to having a kill protocol for all of us? I must have misheard r-right?" Deku asked.

"Yeah no, you heard right. Get over it. As I said, I have countermeasures against everyone, you're not special. You know how I know that Deku?" I said, walking closer to him, and nailing him in the nuts as he doubled over, kneeling of the sand, grabbing his groin.

I grabbed the sides of his head, jerking it in a twisting motion, as the others looked on confused.

"That's yours. Pathetic, really. Two moves and you're pissing yourself on the floor. You have nothing to worry about my paranoia. You couldn't change shit if you wanted to. Now, let's get back to the training, and this time, maybe the rest of you will have the sense to not interrupt me. Or do, and give me an excuse to wipe the floor with you like cum rags you guys are." I warned.

Deku looked up at me with hate filled eyes, getting back in his feet, clearly angry enough to ignore a kick to the balls.

Before he could say anything though, I continued.

"We'll have a spar, me vs the rest of you. And to give you a fair chance, I'll take a handicap.

I won't use my hands." I said, riling them up, tucking my hands behind my back.

"You underestimate us too much!" Gentle protested.

"You'll regret this." Aiba snarled angrily.

"Oh will I now? We'll see about that!" I mocked, purposefully.

"Oh, oh! This'll be fun!" Himiko chirped, extending her boxcutter.

"Let's begin!" I said, leaping back, as a shelf appeared at my feet, and I took another jump off it, higher this time.

Just in time too, as Gentle zipped past my position, slamming right into my shelf, face first.

If he'd missed the elasticization of my shelf by even a fraction of a second, he'd have been dead right now.

And on that note, just as planned, I came down landing on the now elastic shelf and kicked off of it, heading straight at Himiko.

In response, Himiko just sidestepped my charge, as she shoved her boxcutter in path.

Smart! Guess drinking my blood for the past couple of months hasn't been in vain huh?

I like it!

Unfortunately for her, I wasn't Gentle.

I twisted mid air, having anticipated it, and wrapped a leg around her outstretched arm, bringing the both of us tumbling down into the sand as her shoulder dislocated from the force of stopping my charge.

"Khrrr!" She gave a muffled cry, grinding her teeth, as she palmed my chest, pushing me off her.

I on the other hand, rolled away, escaping a pipe to my face from Deku, avoiding being blinded.

"Hrnngh!" Deku growled, and swung again and again till I kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back.

I got back on my feet, and hopped in place, summoning a shelf below me for stabler footing, as I mocked Deku.

"Damn, aiming straight for my eyes?

With a rusty pipe no less!

How ruthless of you, Deku. You'd fit right in on a medieval battlefield, alongside the shit tipped arrows and gangrenous axes!" I commented, as Gentle flanked me, before suddenly leaping up, and turning the air below me elastic.

With a red aura enveloping him, he climbed further into the air, reachin whole 40 meters, straight above me, before giving Deku a look.

Deku nodded and circked around me, right as Gentle began his meteoric vertiacal dash downwards this time, arms outstretched.

"Not falling for it!" I said, inching backwards before pivoting on the balls of my feet, just as Gentle came down, missing me by the skin of my teeth.

My knee on the other hand didn't miss his, as it landed square on his bushy bearded jaw.

Combined with the force of his fall, Gentle skid across the sand, a good few feet before stopping, three of his teeth scattered across the beach by Deku's feet.

Deku didnt let the opportunity go to waste though, having taken my teachings to heart and slammed the pipe straight into my groin, eliciting a dull thud.

"Wha-Phwah!" he exclaimed, as I swerved again, hooking my leg on the back of his neck, bringing his face straight into the sand.

Hehehehehehe. Of course, I wasn't injured. Because I came prepared.

I was born without any physical powers and while my body could be trained, the same cannot be said of my balls.

And so I always wear a groin cup, solid carbon fiber and hard plastic, lined with a soft gel.

That pipe? Felt like a bump in the road.

Behind me, Himiko plunged her knife at my chest, missing by a razor thin margin, her balance off key vis-a-vis the dislocated shoulder.

I turned to look at her and smiled, as I took a step forward, bringing my leg behind her and slammed her chest with my shoulder, tripping her onto her back.

Himiko panted, half from the pain and half from exhaustion, as she smiled happily back at me, bright as the sun.

A blush crept up my face and I turned to hide it, focusing my attention on the last man standing, or the last woman in this case.

La Brava noted my gaze and just fell to her knees, surrendering.

"I give up." She said, raising her hands.

"Oh C'mon! Just like that? Don't you wanna fight to the last man? Weren't you going to make me regret underestimating you?" I goaded.

She nodded and got up, walking over to Gentle, helping him up.

"You don't mean that and neither did I. Not seriously at least." She analyzed.

"This was all a ruse wasn't it? To make us angry, so we fight you to the fullest."

"Uh huh?" I said, giving a non answer.

"That's... stupid. We don't live in a manga! What if someone got seriously hurt? Look at Gentle! He lost three teeth!" Aiba cried .

"Not as stupid as you think! It worked pretty well, didn't it? At least with these two hotheads!" I said, pointing at Gentle and Deku, who were struggling with the pain.

I extended Deku a hand as he look at me, as he got back on his feet.

"Wasn't there any other way, Matsun?" Deku whined.

"There was. I could have used your mom, but I already used that last month, so it wouldn't work as well. Not to mention that Gentle's and Himiko's parents have disowned them, so family insults aren't going to work on them.

As for a better method? Sure, I could have done it better, but as I said earlier, I'm not wasting that effort on you scrubs.

And I wasn't joking.

Prove to me that you're worth that effort and I'll reciprocate." I said, kneeling down beside Himiko.

"On the count of three." I said, lifting her limp arm, "One, Tw-"

Shlap!

I realigned her shoulder, as she cried out in pain.

"You said three!" Himiko complained.

"Yes, and you'd have tensed up at three. Not ideal for restoring a dislocation." I explained, sitting down beside her.

"Now, here's your chance to prove yourself." I announced as Aiba dragged Gentle over.

"Every single move I made in this fight had a lesson behind it. It's your job to figure out what. Let's begin. Who wants to go first?" I said, clapping my hands.

"Mememememe!"

Himiko raised her hand and chirped.

"Yes Himiko?" I offered.

"I shouldn't go for straight jabs!" She answered.

"So-so. The real question here is why shouldn't you?" I hinted.

"Because they're easy to spot?" She added.

"Yes. But also because because they're easy to avoid.

Remeber my speech to the heroes in the Sludge Incident?" I asked.

"You mean the whipping you gave to the entire hero community? Yes, I was there." Deku answered, at the same time as Himiko.

"Yep, I saw it in the news! You were so cool, Yuji!" Himiko replied, hugging my arm.

"You have the same problem as they do, just in a different line of logic.

You are too reliant on your quirk, to the point that your fighting style is completely based on it.

That's where you made the mistake.

Mutilated stab wounds are optimal for draining blood, but when your enemy can see it coming...not the best idea to choreograph it for them.

In this case, you could have sidestepped and gone for a backstab, or ducked low and slashed my ankles, inhibiting my movement." I explained.

"Hmm, that so?" Himiko replied with puckered lips cutely.

So cute!

Can't let that cuteness distract me.

Must resist the cute!

I turned to Gentle this time, avoiding her gaze.

Gentle took note and raised his head.

"Umm...uh...the, was it that I rushed straight at you?" He guessed, following Himiko's logic like a sheep.

"Yes, and no. Your bumrush towards me was reckless and stupid, but seeing as how good your control over your quirk is, that rush could have been salvaged to deal with most people. So would the grapple at the end. It just needs fine tuning.

The problem here is that the people we oppose aren't 'most people'. They're highly trained and extremely intelligent supersoldiers, people at the same level as Hawks. And I don't think I need to tell you that you can't beat the number three hero." I said.

"What you lack is proper strategy!

Your quirk is perfect for laying mobility traps, but all you did was flank me twice and get your teeth knocked in."

"Mobility traps? Like barriers?" Aiba asked.

"I already make air barriers, and air platforms and a ton of other things." Gentle added.

"Yes. But the ones you make are big and obvious. I'm talking about small and unnoticeable ones.

The things that you make elastic, they remain that way for some time afterwards, right? Like the shelf I used as a trampoline, for example.

Then you could use it to make mini trampoline pockets in the air scattered across the field, tripping people up, throwing them off balance or even sticking them in place if you place it right.

It'd make people hesitate, make them slow and careful, distract them and even just kill their morale in some cases.

It's Invisible, doesn't stick around for long and can be made at will, with little to no effort.

Like landmines but jumpier. And landmines are scary efficient in deterring enemy forces.

Now imagine a constantly shifting battle array of these, trapping people between bouncy walls of air, and just when they think they're figuring it out, the effect ends and you make new ones elsewhere, throwing them off again. You could make a shifting, invisible, inescapable murder laybrinth, and yourself, the undefeated minotaur within." I replied with a flourish as Gentle fell into his imagination, a small gloating smile falling upon his face.

"Daydreaming again? Focus, Gentle. You're nowhere close to skilled enough for it yet. We'll have to work on it and your intelligence too.

As you're now, you're more likely to trap yourself in with them, rather than trapping them in there with you!" I said, bringing him down a notch.

"Is there a difference?" Gentle asked.

"You not knowing the difference is a clear sign that you're not ready." I replied, much to Gentle's chagrin.

"Now for you, Deku. What do you think the lesson was for you?"

"I think the lesson here is that you cheated and attacked him before we even began." Gentle snarked.

"Yes. That is one lesson I wanted to give him, Gentle. Good job!" I praised, confusing him.

"What?" He exclaimed.

"A good warrior beats the enemy before the battle starts. A great warrior beats the enemy without even needing to fight." I quoted.

"Sun Tzu, Art of War?" Deku asked.

"Yeah. But there's another lesson here, not just for Deku, but also for everyone else." I said.

"Deku, how about you try guessing what it is?" I suggested.

Deku thought for a moment, recalling my words.

Then he answered hesitantly.

"Is this because of my anger?" He asked.

"Bingo!" I cried.

"Ever since you were suspended for the desk incident, you've been extra angsty and frustrated this past month and you're letting it get to your head. Like today, for example. And look what happened!

Anger dulls the mind and makes you predictable.

And I get it, I really do. The world's not fair, and you're frustrated that you can't do anything about it.

But could you have done anything before? When you weren't training here?" I asked.

"I didn't kno-" he said, and suddenly stopped mid sentence.

"Yup. You knew." I said, pulling out his book.

"All men aren't created equal." I quoted, "This is a lesson I learned when I was four years old."

"Sound familiar?"

"Yes. I know, I...I just...." Deku said, painfully.

"You turned your eyes from it, and retreated inwards. Yeah, I got that.

Because fighting was painful and you didn't have the courage to fight back anymore. Because Kacchan was too strong. Because you didn't have a quirk. A million other excuses you told yourself. Until that day, when you finally decided to fight back, against the sludge villain." I exposited.

"But I didn't, you did!" He replied.

"Yes. I fought him. I saved Kachhan. But you would have tried to do the same. I read it in here." I said, tapping his book.

"You were ready to risk your life that day, all to save the boy that had bullied you for the past ten years. The boy who had reduced you to this." I said, showing him the picture of him I took that first day.

"That's the spirit of a hero. To have the courage to risk your life for someone, without grudges or biases. A hero is someone who saves all he can, regardless of who they are."

I continued.

"Of course, it was a stupid fucking decision. You'd have died there if I hadn't stopped you. But the point stands. And that's one of the reasons I agreed to help train you." I praised.

"Ehehehehe.." Deku giggled, blushing in embarrassment.

That is when Aiba interjected.

"What about me?"

"You? Your problem is the opposite of Gentle's. You have too little control over your quirk. Your quirk, Love, boosts someone you love proportional to how strongly you feel for them. But have you considered that there's more to love than romantic love?

There's Mania, obsessive love, your quirk's primary domain of expression.

You obsessively love Gentle to the point of stalking and idolization.

You put him on a pedestal and want to be with him more than anything.

But there's more to love than that and there are more types of love that work with your quirk.

There's Philia, the love of family. Like the love you feel for your parents and siblings.

There's Storge, the love of friends and pets, people whose company you enjoy.

Teammates for example, like us.

There's Pragma, the love of material possesions and things you like to own. So you could reinforce or even enchant things like cars of weapons with your quirk if you like them enough!

Finally, another way to go about it is to practice Agape, the selfless love of god. It's to love everything and everyone. This is the highest level your quirk can reach, when you learn to love everything in the world, and can freely empower anyone or anything with your quirk.

But that's stretching it a bit too far. For now, let's focus on the basics, like empowering someone other than Gentle. We can move up from there." I explained.

"By that logic, can't she empower herself?" Deku asked.

"No. I can't. My quirk doesn't work like that." La Brava said.

"No, it can and it does.

This is going to sound really corny, but you could also learn to love yourself, La Brava.

I get the feeling that you're not the biggest fan of Manami Aiba, are you?" I asked, gently.

La Brava looked down at her hands and took a deep breath, before sighing.

"How did...how did you know?" She asked, softly.

"Your eyes twitch a bit every time I call you Aiba. It's almost as if you hate the person you were before you met Gentle. And having read your book, I can understand that.

But.... I think it's time that you accept that part of you and if not love, then at least forgive yourself.

Let go of the past, Aiba. And allow it to let go of you too." I said, looking her in the eyes, with a gentle, caring tone.

Aiba looked at me, then at Gentle and nodded, teary eyed.

"Well then, how about we take a break tomorrow, and in fact, let's take the week off, shall we?

Gentle needs to visit a dentist, and I'm sure everyone could use a little vacation from training.

Let's meet again next week, same day? All in favor?" I asked.

Aiba nodded.

"Aye!" Gentle replied, getting in the role.

"Sure." Deku agreed.

"Yep!" Himiko answered.

"Then, I'll see you guys next week. Goodbye!" I said, and turned to walk away, as Himiko followed.

Once we returned to the apartment, I changed and picked up my bag, ready to go, when Himiko grabbed my hand.

"Can we talk?" she said.

Oh boy, here we go again.