Chapter 83: The Confidence Of The Strong!

"Wow."

Suijin couldn't help but whisper as they walked through the desolate city. He didn't have the time to appreciate it during the entrance exams, with everyone's nerves at an all-time high, but now?

Being able to gaze around the place with only the three of them and knowing that UA has a couple more of these cities, the boy couldn't help but marvel.

'U.A. sure is rich.'

And a glance at his stoic friend's slightly widened eyes told him that Shoji was thinking the same thing.

"Alright, I will now explain the contents of your exam." Cementoss's words snapped the two out of their reverie, and they narrowed their focus.

"You have thirty minutes. You either pin these handcuffs on me or one of you escapes out of the entrance we just came through. In this handicap, I will be wearing these high-density weights meant to sap my and the other teachers' strength and stamina, the pool for a majority of our quirks."

'So it's like the battle we had with All Might, but there's an extra win condition and our opponent is handicapped.'

"A word of caution before we begin, treat this as a real battle, and treat me as a real villain. Any questions?"

Seeing his opportunity, Suijin raised his hand and said, "To confirm, this is a trial to test our judgment, to see whether we know when to advance and retreat."

"Yes, but it is also to see whether you can work together, and—" Cementoss backed up, walking away from the street they were on to the intersection tens of feet away. "—to see how you do when faced with overwhelming, undisputable adversity."

With his words, the test truly commenced.

"Since I was assigned the talks-a-lot villain archetype, I'll let you in on some information. The entrance? It's already been sealed off."

The block-headed teacher then started reaching his large gray-colored hands to the ground, ignoring the two that were still processing his words from before.

3.

'Cement: A quirk that grants Cementoss the ability to freely manipulate any cement he has access to with no limitation other than the amount of cement.'

2.

A quick glance around at their environment again had Suijin thinking, 'Right, of course they wouldn't put their teacher in a disadvantageous position. I was wondering what the reasoning was for pairing me and Shoji together since, unlike Midoriya and Bakugo, the only other familiar duo to be put together, we don't have conflicts. But maybe it really is, as Cementoss said.'

The boy glanced at the hand that was eerily reaching towards the ground, where only a little bit of space separated it from its awaited target.

1.

'How we'll react to overwhelming adversity, eh? I'll show them a proper response.'

Rather than let the hopelessness of the situation deter him, Suijin bared fangs of his own, stepping forward to accept the challenge.

After all, that was the kind of person he was, or at least who he wanted to be.

And since 'Be the change you want to see' and all that jazz, Suijin stepped forward with a determined face.

Faced with a teacher with perhaps one of the most broken quirks in the entire school? Who was practically unstoppable when in his preferred environment? One who was trying to utterly destroy them?

'So what.'

Suijin had comprehended something else during the brief training period when he was out 'sick,' a fact he, in his own low self-esteem, could never know.

It was something that changed his views on Bakugo, changing the boy from an arrogant, self-conceited bastard to just an arrogant bastard.

Was Bakugo someone who put nobody besides those he's personally vetted in his eyes? Yes.

Was he incredibly infuriating? Of course.

Was this the same person who put the entire school against them in the sports festival due to his own self-conceited nature?

Surprisingly… no.

What Suijin understood during this time period was that Bakugo hadn't been trying to interrogate the entire school, at least not because he enjoyed them being angry.

He had unknowingly or carelessly not minced his true feelings, 'It doesn't matter.' 'None of that matters once you're at the top.'

Bakugo was at the top, or at least at the top of what he perceived, so why should the misgivings and words of those he's assumed are below him matter?

That was what Suijin figured Bakugo's thought process was, and after his training, he couldn't exactly fault the boy.

Several times he felt the compliments, the recognition he got when he was out in public, get to him.

Of course, his dad had beaten most of it out of him at home, but he could only imagine what that did to Bakugo if he hadn't had anyone to do the same from a young .

Suijin also felt himself getting better, more confident in his abilities, and taking such strides in his sessions.

That furthered his praise, making this a never-ending cycle.

What caused the boy to let out a glint at Cementoss's words, what caused him to almost cockily raise a grin at Cementoss, wasn't arrogance, but something similar, nearly a shade or two lighter, something he only recently came into contact with.

'Bring it on.'

This was what Suijin learned in his training sessions, this was one of the cornerstones and most powerful lessons he comprehended.

The true strength that stood behind him, the key to power that those at the top, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Shoji, had, would allow him to pass through the door and allow him to stand equal to them.

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What Suijin had learned: [THE CONFIDENCE OF THE STRONG]