You just feel the passion

[A couple of days later] [Monday - 10:00 a.m.]

After the first and second day of Doryoku's training, he made some progress as now he could move the Rubik's cube without it flying to pieces or his wrist burning with relative normally, but every time he thought about how to solve it all the progress disappeared.

Doryoku spent the whole night of both days trying to think of some solution, but he had nothing, besides that now he was much more tired from falling asleep so late.

He took his lunch break and went inside the academy to get his lunch.

This caught the attention of all the students of the other courses, since seeing a student with sports clothes was very strange and much more knowing that the demon Last laser could find you.

Doryoku was too tired to be flustered by everyone's gaze, so he simply ordered his Yakitori (since he was too tired to fight the hell of beet salad) and sat down at the same table as always.

Doryoku put his food in front of him and he wasn't even hungry so he just banged his head against the table in frustration.

'Think damn it, how should I destroy the cube' Doryoku thought with annoyance giving up on the cube and looking for some way to eliminate that demon artifact permanently.

"Suzuki-kun, are you okay?" Doryoku heard a worried voice in front of him, quickly recognizing it as Azami.

"It's nothing Wisteria, training stuff" Doryoku said calmly looking up at Azami.

And looking ahead he saw Azami with her typical calm smile next to... the blonde demon.

'I doubt I can bear his screaming today' Doryoku thought, crying comically inside him at his misfortune.

Mirai sat in front of Doryoku without saying anything and Azami next to her, although the latter seemed to be a bit nervous.

"I heard that you are training to be part of the hero class" Mirai said with a calmer tone than Doryoku expected making him a bit surprised.

"That's right" Doryoku said quite impressed and speaking almost automatically at Mirai's strange behavior.

"Why do you have that face? It looks like a truck ran over you" Mirai said with confusion and mocking tone when she saw Doryoku's baggy eyes.

Seeing Mirai's more normal attitude, Doryoku came out of his shock and decided to answer more normally.

"I guess the training has overwhelmed me, besides I still haven't found any kind of passion and I can't think of anything new" Doryoku said wearily as he remembered everything he has done lately.

Mirai seemed visibly annoyed by this and jumped up from her seat abruptly causing Doryoku to be surprised and Azami to feel more nervous.

"You are really stupid spooky emo!" Mirai said in quite annoyance as she pointed at Doryoku and Azami tried to stop her.

"You don't think about the passion, you feel it, you are a great hero prospect in the best hero academy, enjoy what you do and live your profession or just don't, that's why I hate emos!!" Mirai said angrily making a scene and getting everyone's attention.

"Enjoy every moment of your passion, live it and don't think about how, that's the way you should do it!!" Mirai said still in a loud voice and making Azami stop and surprised at her motivating words.

Doryoku widened his eyes in shock and realized that... she was right.

Feel the passion and emotion for what you do, something too simple but that simply did not come from a thought of Doryoku.

"You're right Itō, I guess you beat me this time" Doryoku said with a slight grateful smile and accepting his defeat in this little debate.

At this, Azami smiled slightly and proudly at Mirai's encouraging words and the latter had a big smile on her face.

"Haha, take it emo!" Mirai said pointing at Doryoku with a victorious smile and noticing all the people looking at her around.

At this, Mirai calmed down a bit and sat down to start eating quietly trying to make the rest not start with their gossips.

"What did all the help come to by the way?" Doryoku asked with a bit of curiosity and a lot more comfortable with Mirai's presence.

"I still remember that you saved my life, I owe you a lot yet" Mirai said looking away a little embarrassed about that.

"Don't worry, we are friends, friends owe nothing to each other" Doryoku said with a big grateful smile on hos face as it rarely surprising both of them.

At this Mirai also returned an equal smile while Azami looked quite happy as well.

'They already get along better, this is a triumph!' Azami thought quite expectantly at the understanding between both parties.

But unfortunately for her, both were still the same with each other, only now, they were debates and fights between friends.

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After lunch and saying goodbye to Mirai and Azami, Doryoku returned to the Gamma training room and tried to solve the Rubik's cube again sitting on the bleachers.

'Feel huh? It's a good idea, but I haven't known how to do it for a long time' Doryoku thought a bit sadly as he put the Rubik's cube back together and tried to solve it with a lost look.

Since the awakening of Doryoku's quirk there was always that voice that only repeated a cold 'I see' and nothing else.

That has always been Doryoku's goal, to feel like when he was a child again, but his thoughts simply sank any feeling into nothingness or at least made it much less strong.

That was one of the reasons he wanted to enter the UA, the time he saved Mirai and the sports festival, both moments when Doryoku felt alive again and those cold thoughts left him alone for a while.

Seeing others happy is the easiest way for Doryoku to feel something, that little moment of warmth when his mother comes home or when he spends time with Oboro and stops thinking, all tied to the feelings of others.

'Okā-chan told me never to forget who I am, but who am I in the first place?' Doryoku thought getting lost in his thoughts again and causing the Rubik's cube to explode.

Doryoku let out a mentally tired sigh, and then started looking for all the pieces to put the Rubik's cube back together.

'Ahhhh what should I do !?' Doryoku thought quite frustrated as he held his head.

He also could not get too carried away by his feelings as that would lead him to lose his strategy in a battle, in short, a disaster.

Doryoku put the Rubik's cube together again and went back to trying to solve it as usual.

And just at that moment, Mirai's words hit him in the face like a slap.

The passion is felt.

Feel.

Feelings and logic repel each other.

'How did it take me so long to come to that conclusion?' Doryoku thought a little disappointed and understanding what he was doing wrong as he made movements in the Rubik's cube almost unconsciously.

It wasn't wrong to get carried away by feelings unless he's in combat, and overthinking things only brought him more worries than anything else at this point.

Doryoku took a deep breath and tried something he hadn't done in a long time, just feel, while he kept making movements on the Rubik's cube.

The smell of wood in the training room, the sound of voices in the distance, the feeling of sitting or the simple breeze, all mild feelings but that made his mind stop thinking as he gave them more and more attention.

Doryoku felt... calm, it was a feeling, quite pleasant to him.

Something as simple as feeling, gave him quite calm and made him enjoy the little things.

'Maybe, I should pay more attention to my feelings' Doryoku thought smiling slightly at the tranquility of that little moment.

Even with all this, Doryoku's mind was always on the move and that little moment when he enjoyed a feeling, was overshadowed by his thoughts again.

Doryoku let out a small disappointed sigh at this, he still had a long way to go to have control of his thoughts and feelings, but at least, it made him quite happy to discover this, to know that his own feelings still existed within him.

Doryoku kept staring blankly and trying not to think too much until he made one last move on his Rubik's cube.

And looking closer, Doryoku widened his eyes in surprise to realize that he, he had unconsciously solved it.

'I see' Doryoku thought smiling slightly and then laughing out loud at how stupid he could be at times.

Although he could not feel at all times, he was there, he just had to go back to being Doryoku Suzuki, and make his feelings bloom again.

He was happy, for himself and for this fleeting moment, for something as simple as knowing that he could still feel for himself after so long.

And although it would be difficult, it made Doryoku have no regrets in choosing the hero class until now.

And while Doryoku enjoyed discovering him and re-solving the cube over and over again, Last laser who had been keeping an eye on him, seemed quite pleased with his progress as well.

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"And tell me Akira-san, how's the new aspiring hero doing?" Director Nezu asked curiously, sitting and drinking tea next to Last laser as usual.

After class it was very entertaining to talk to each other, they always had something interesting to say, so after several debates the director decided to ask about Doryoku.

"In simple words, the brat is a monster, unlike the common post-quirk requirements such as strength or agility, he has a ridiculous understanding of everything, basically he is like a sponge in every aspect" Last laser said in a calm tone as he remembered what he had seen of Doryoku until now.

In physical aspects Doryoku was standard, neither too weak nor too strong without his quirk, but in mental aspects, it was simply terrifying how quickly he understood everything around him.

"Hahahaha, a real diamond in the rough, I can't wait to see how far it will go!" Director Nezu said laughing loudly and quite expectantly about the boy.

"I would even say that he looks a bit like you in your youth Akira-san" Director Nezu said, regaining his calm a bit and with a calm smile.

"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't make the same mistakes" Last laser said quite seriously and letting out a tired sigh.

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The next day in the UA dining room...

"I like, the Yakitori" Doryoku said suddenly causing Mirai and Azami to get quite upset.

"Did you just say you liked something?!" Mirai said quite scared and looking at Doryoku closely to see if he was dying.

"It's so weird?" Doryoku asked raising an eyebrow and with a confused expression a little more expressive than normal.

"Suzuki-kun, you are being more expressive!" Azami said pointing at Doryoku also in shock.

Doryoku never said anything or started a conversation, he just moved by consequence like a leaf in a river, but for him to talk about his likes, or to change his expression on his own, was crazy for the rest.

"He now has emotions for himself and makes everyday comments, I'm scared!" Mirai said exaggerating a lot and moving away from Doryoku.

"I guess I deserve it, you don't make me feel sad" said Doryoku shrugging casually and making Mirai even more scared and Azami having a nervous smile.

And this was one step, closer to what Doryoku always sought to be again.