Chapter 70 – Forest I

A/N: So here I am again, you probably have several questions about why I stopped updating this and blablabla so let's make this quick. In short it was a combination of several things, like saturation from writing this so soon, writer's block and college.

I'm going to make several things clear.

The first one is that this FF will not be updated at the previous rate which was stupid crazy when I look back, this is to try not to saturate myself again and abandon this for another 8 months, also to maintain some kind of quality, and yes, I know, this FF has a lot of problems and honestly I'm not proud of it at all since a lot of its structure was made up stuff or that I came up with on the spot without any real planning behind it, it's pretty obvious when you look at Lena's Quirk.

The update rate will be 1 chapter per week, more or less, depending on how I feel about writing this and the time I have on hand. I don't rule out abandoning this definitely if I don't feel comfortable writing it.

The second is that I don't remember this FF very much, and before anyone says anything, I do remember quite a bit to write about but there may be specific things I don't remember, and I honestly don't plan on reading this just to catch up.

The third, and this one is a bit more out of fatigue, I'm not going to keep correcting grammatical errors because honestly it's a hassle and time consuming. At most I will correct the classic confusion of the genders by the translator but that's about it.

And no, I'm not doing this because of the horrible ending of MHA, I was already planning to come back to this before that thing came out.

I don't think anything is missing, if you have any questions let me know.

Now for the chapter.

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<Japon Base de WWPC 15:42> <PoV – Lena Oxton>

"Haa... Haa..." I breathed heavily as I put my hands on my knees, sweat running down my body like a waterfall. The stinky, sweaty smell emanating from my body made me wrinkle my nose unpleasantly. "Bleh... I need a shower."

"Come on! One more lap!" Exclaimed my supervisor, Tiger, one of the two missing WWPC members.

Tiger was a tall, muscular man with brown skin; he has short black hair combed back with a small tuft sticking out hanging over his forehead, full white eyes, small eyebrows and, perhaps his strangest feature, was his mouth, which was similar to that of a cat.

Like the other members of his team, he wears a feline-themed hero outfit, with a brown top similar to a marching band uniform, which leaves his belly exposed. A large ruffled skirt and yellow tail with black and orange stripes, plus an orange belt with small pouches with a silver buckle, resemble a cat print with blue cushions.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about him, besides his military-like attitude, was his face, which was painted with zigzagging black stripes.

"Just... 5-minute break..." I pleaded breathlessly as I breathed heavily, feeling the air slowly fill my lungs.

"Hmph! You can still talk, so you still have energy for another round!" Tiger folded his arms as he gave me an intimidating look with a scowl and a dark aura around him.

I looked at him pleadingly, but he just huffed in annoyance as he crouched down and glared at me

"Do I speak Chinese or what?! I said One. More. Lap ! Come on!"

"Y-Yes sir!" I exclaimed as I took a deep breath and started running again, only this time I wasn't running like a normal person would.

I felt the Waves running through my body slow down little by little, but never without stopping moving, as if the Waves were stretching out infinitely. Likewise, I absentmindedly noticed how my body flashed with a faint celestial light, but unlike before, there were no small rays running through my body.

The world around me seemed to stop as the sound and colors faded into a monotonous gray, but unlike the previous times, the world never turned completely gray, and, though faint, the sound still lingered in my every footstep against the ground.

Smiling faintly, I began to run.

The world around me moved in slow motion as I glided through it with ease. I ran and ran as the world spun constantly, sometimes the color seemed to return for a few moments before I had to concentrate on returning it to its previous state.

It was exhausting, both physically and mentally, to keep myself in this state of constant motion.

In the back of my mind, I kept vigilance on how the Hole seemed to expand.

It was not an instantaneous expansion, but rather a slow but steady expansion.

It had been three days since Aizawa explained his plan to improve my Quirk. And while the training plan wasn't as complex as I thought it would be given the nature of my Quirk, that didn't take away from how difficult and frustrating said plan was.

How do I explain this...

Well, normally, when I do an 'Acceleration' I manipulate my personal time to move at a point where time doesn't flow for others, but it does for me. But now I am manipulating my personal time to move at a point where time flows extremely slowly for others.

This is quite useful for two reasons. The first is that I can maintain this state for quite some time since, for some reason, it doesn't expend as much Entropic Energy, my theory being that slowing down time takes less effort and energy than stopping time altogether.

Huff... This is getting confusing.

The second is that, thanks to this, I can move at extremely fast speeds, which officially makes me a full-fledged speedster!

Oh, yeah... apparently I did something similar at the Sports Festival during the obstacle course race just as Midoriya had passed me and was about to cross the finish line.

Possibly it was something I did unconsciously, it's funny and a bit scary that UA noticed that detail before my father or I.

Back to my Quirk...

In theory, I just had to use Acceleration slower, and that was it, right?

...in practice, that's not so easy.

I don't know if it's because I'm more used to it or what, but for some reason, stopping time is much easier than slowing it down.

Think of dividing something by 0, and the result is 1, right?.

Well, that would be Acceleration.

Now think about dividing something by 0,99999999...

It's not that easy anymore, is it?

Ugh... what a shitty example.

Whatever! The point is that it's hard, k?!

In the first five hours, when I had made no progress and was about to give up trying this madness, I remembered a certain person who had escaped my mind for a while.

Me.

I mean, Kairos, the other me...or am I the other her?

Either way.

I remember before I was expelled from that strange place, she had... pushed me? Is that the right word? Whatever, she basically filled me with Entropic Energy and did something that got me out of that place and, according to Kyoka's words, revived me after blocking a Reaper's shotgun blast at point-blank range with my face.

'... That must have been one of the stupidest decisions I should have ever made...' I thought to myself as I felt my cheeks flush, though I couldn't tell if it was from my shortness of breath or my inner embarrassment.

Back to the subject... for the fifth time.

To my senses, it was as if a flood of water was pushing me towards a place that was neither up nor down, there was no left and no right.

As if I was following the current of a river.

And that's when an idea came to me.

My Quirk, or well, the feeling I get when I use my Quirk, is like several waves crashing into my body from the inside out, with the Hole being the core of it all.

So, why not, instead of reducing the amount of energy I use, I slow down the speed of the Waves as they collide with my body?

Yes, it was a strange explanation.

And yes, it made no sense, let alone any logic.

'But to give any logic to time is just being illogical, huh?...' I thought absentmindedly as I collapsed to the ground, feeling as if my legs were noodles.

I breathed heavily as I sat down on the ground roughly, although physically I wasn't as tired as I looked, the same couldn't be said for my mind.

Maintaining that state constantly was taxing on my head, as it requires a great deal of control over my Quirk so much of my effort is concentrating on keeping it from going crazy, although the big advantage of this is that it expends less energy than Acceleration... as long as I maintain control.

Speaking of which... I think a good name for this new state would be 'Haste'... yeah, let's go with that.

"That's all for today! Tiger said this beside me as he handed me a bottle of water. "Remember to eat plenty and get adequate rest! Just like muscles, Quirks must rest to develop properly!"

"Yes sir..." I replied quietly before opening the bottle and drinking the inside in less than a second. "Fuaaa... I feel alive again!"

"Oh, by the way, remember that in the evening we will have a bravery test!"

"Okay, just send someone to wake me up at that time... I'm exhausted."

I got up from the floor, wiping off my sportswear, before heading towards the bathrooms.

Furthermore, I needed a good shower, a great dinner and hugs from Kyoka to recover from this hell called 'Summer Camp'.

***

<WWPC Base Forest 19:27> <PoV - Jiro Kyoka>

'Finally...' I thought lazily as I put my phone away in my pocket before getting up from my seat and stretching, making my bones thunder with satisfaction. I turned my gaze back to my test partner, who was sleeping on the table.

I frowned as I threw one of my Jacks at her back, making it vibrate slightly. Immediately, the taller girl jumped up as she let a strange sound come out of her mouth.

I looked at her with amusement as a small giggle escaped me.

Lena ran her hand down her back before looking me in the eye and frowning, somehow she had guessed that I was the one who woke her up. Maybe my smile gave me away—too bad.

"And what was the big idea?!" Lena spat as she scratched her back lightly.

"It was faster that way than the traditional method, you know how you look like a zombie when you get up?" I replied with an innocent look as I remembered that specific moment. I have to admit that it was a pretty interesting sight, if I had to say so myself.

"Besides, it's our turn for the bravery test," I said, pointing towards the starting line of the test.

Lena looked over to where the newest challengers had just arrived, who didn't look particularly scared or terrified. She then let out an annoyed sigh as she rubbed her eyes.

"You'll pay for this..." Lena grumbled as she gave me a dirty look.

"What did you say? I can't hear you" I commented sarcastically as I gave her an innocent smile that only made her growl for a moment before taking my hand and leading me towards the test.

"How bold" I muttered mockingly, causing Lena to look at me for a moment before moving on.

We quickly walked to the starting line and started walking down the forest path, which, contrary to what I originally thought, was quite dark even though it was vaguely lit.

And it was exactly at that moment that I remembered why I never participated in this kind of thing when I was in high school.

'No, Kyoka... you're not going to freak out because some hormone-filled teenagers want to prank you' I thought with determination as I let out a silent sigh, the truth was I wasn't much of a fan of dark places and horror movies.

Much less after Reaper did... that.

I stared at the forest floor as the vivid memory of USJ came back into my head.

"This is stupid..." Lena complained as she scratched her head in annoyance, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I don't understand why we have to follow the Class 1B games, they are trying to prove they are better than us, but they chose this?"

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow before explaining why I decided to participate in this test despite my, nonexistent and absolutely zero feeling of fear of the dark.

I smiled internally at my own sarcasm.

"It's silly, but remember, this event is the only thing that truly feels like summer camp. That means, goofing off and not exhausting" I explained as I nudged her slightly, making her bring out a small smile. The last few days of training had been extremely exhausting for everyone.

I hadn't even been able to talk to my friends properly, as we were almost always sleeping or resting from the pounding of the intense training. The only time we could talk was during meals, and people were usually hungrier than brains to socialize.

"Although I have to admit, maybe this wasn't the best of my ideas..."

I paused for a moment before I realized I had said that out loud.

Lena paused for a moment before giving me a wolfish, mocking smile. "Ara, could it be that... you're scared?"

"N-No! I just think it's silly!" I exclaimed loudly as my Jacks twitched slightly, making me curse internally as I saw the pure amusement in Lena's eyes.

"So you're scared, I see" Lena said confidently as she folded her arms and gave me a shit eating grin. "Which is it? The dark or the possible scares? Or maybe-"

I felt my cheeks flush slightly before giving her a scowl as my Jacks pointed at her. "That I'm not afraid!"

"I believe you, I believe you" Lena said, raising her arms in surrender despite still having a smile tugging at her lips. I looked at her with annoyance before averting my gaze to the forest. "Who knew the girl who loves rock, metal and dresses like she's the number 1 goth in town would be afraid of the woods..."

I growled as I threw one of my Jacks at her, only for Lena to easily dodge it as she let out a laugh. My Jack crashed to the ground uselessly, making me mutter a curse before taking it back.

"-gas!"

Only for a panicked voice to reach my ears for a brief moment.

But it was that second that made me stop in my tracks and ignore Lena completely.

I quickly sent my other Jack to the ground as I motioned for Lena to shut up. I closed my eyes as I let the sounds of much of the forest enter my ears.

"-mask!" I heard Momo's voice exclaim in panic and seriousness. "Take the mask, it will protect you from the gas!"

"Yes! Yes! Gas! More gas!" Said a distorted voice with sick glee, was too far away to know her exact position.

"I can't breathe..." Another voice I didn't recognize slowly faded in, it must be Class 1B.

I opened my eyes in surprise before turning to Lena, who had stood at attention as she looked around intently.

"Len-"

Before I could finish my sentence, an apprehensive figure from the shadows of the forest threw a knife directly at my throat....

...

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