Funny how time flies

'Why is this so hard?' Eijiro wailed as he did another push-up, reaching 17. A week had passed since he came to terms and decided to give his all to reach the top.

For the past week, his hair has grown by 2 centimetres, and he's been training in a relatively empty field, doing pushups, squats, and situps.

"Twenty, Huff!" He got up, stretched, and kicked off with a sprint around the neighbourhood while activating his hardening quirk on his legs and arms.

'I have to keep going! All this training will be worth it!' He repeated the same thoughts, pumping his mighty spirit: 'I'll go even further beyond!'

"Haa!" He shouted, going to a full sprint and scaring the people around him.

'Everything hurts,' he said, but he kept at it until his watch beeped 5 kilometres before he fell on the cool concrete. "I love you, ground."

Moments later, he got back up and went back home, saying, "I'm back."

"Welcome back, son," his father greeted him from the couch.

"Alright, morning cardio's done," he said, stepping out of the shower. He wouldn't start his boxing lessons until the next month.

He went right back out to a local pool with a quick change of clothing and an extra spare. There he would try as many laps as he could; this wasn't detrimental to his training but something he didn't want to neglect, so he took this training more like a hobby.

-Splash

He smiled, feeling the water hit him. Alright, I'm just going easy. Calm and concentrated, he swam forward at a good pace at the same time as his body hardened, making him heavier and requiring more stamina.

Only ten minutes, and he deactivated his quirk. It was strenuous, but it helped harden his whole body.

'It's progress,' he smirked, clenching his fists, 'again.'

He spent the rest of the day swimming back and forth. By the end of this month, he was sure to become bulletproof.

Another week went by, but just like this one, running laps, pushups, and squats, then target practice with the baseball machine with no accidents of him getting hit in the privates, and finishing it all with swimming proved to be helpful.

"N-no way already!? Haha!" With a week left, he reached his goal. Bulletproof!

He was standing in the field fully hardened; he felt stronger and heavier, but that was to be expected. In that state, he set his watch and went for a light jog.

"Is this what pride feels like? Hehe, I like this." His mood only shone when he timed himself and lasted for 20 minutes of being bulletproof.

...

Mission: Reach level 1 hardening in one month. Grow excess hair like Super Saiyan Three to form a shield lance or other tools with Harden. [Take fighting classes and take on swimming to improve stamina and breath.]

"It hasn't even been one month, but I've already done it," he crossed out the mission, "Hey! Mom, Dad, come check this out!" He went downstairs, eager to show them his results.

"Calm down, honey, what is it?" She asked, leaning over the couch. His father was also interested in the news.

"Just watch." He took his shirt off and dropped it before anyone could say anything. The sound of cracking echoed as Eijro went bulletproof.

"Gasp, You did it! Rio, are you seeing this?" She shook her husband and climbed over the couch to touch Eijro's armour. "It's like stone."

"Pretty cool, right? I'm calling this bulletproof."

"The only way I'm agreeing to that name is if we test it out," his father said, knocking on his face.

"You are not shooting bullets at my boy."

His father jerked under killing intent and nodded, "Of course not! What kind of father am I now, ahem, boy? Come with me and put on your shirt."

...

One month had passed, and eight remained. As usual, today would be his first try at boxing and then his karate lessons.

Before the lessons, he went through the usual routine of light spring and exercise in the morning, which didn't take up much time as his boxing and Karate lessons were done.

For boxing, the lessons were simple, not because it was hard but because he had prior experience with it in his past life.

He learned how to throw a proper punch, and with his quirk, which he notified the club about and the reason for his training, they went a bit harder than they would on newcomers, which helped in toughening his hardening.

Karate, as well as learning proper combat along with boxing lessons, aimed to adapt the two for his way of combat.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and as time flew by, Eijiro was getting tougher and tougher closer to the entrance exam. All was well; he was dedicated to his parent's support; his father almost died after they went to shoot him in secret.

And the bullet bounced off, so he can call it bulletproof, but not mom-proof because she tore into him. Time went by, represented by his hair, which reached halfway down to his back.

...

He exhaled and turned.

"Kirishima?" A familiar, cheerful voice called out to him; he didn't doubt who the voice belonged to.

"Ashido?"

"Ah! It is you! Your hair is so long, and you look so different," she said, walking up to him in a green tracksuit. She brought her hand to his head and back down, "and taller too!"

"Oh, I did?" He chuckled, not realising: "How are you? It's been a while." He gave a weak smile.

She stepped back, scrutinising the look on his face, before shrugging, "Hihi, I decided to up my prep for UA; there are three months left till the entrance exam, so I'm giving it my all!"

She stretched, rolling her arms. "Wanna race me?" She added it with a winning smirk.

He chuckled much to her pouting and nodded, "I've been training for the past 6 months!" He patted his chest.

She laughed getting ready: "Alright, we race to the fourth light pole there, on your marks!"

"Get set!" He got ready.

As he was about to say go, she kicked off ahead of him, "GO!"

"Hey, that's not manly at all!" He followed behind her!

"Pft, haha, then catch up."

Despite that, he kicked off and caught up to her. "Well, hello there." He grinned and ran past as she tried to keep up, but ultimately he won.

"Yes!"

Pft, whatever, you had a head start anyway," she kicked the pole, "but you must be training hard, huh? What have you been doing?"

Rubbing his neck, he nervously smiled, 'The past six months.'

His mind went through his exercises: jumping through concrete, jumping five-story buildings, boxing, being hit in boxing and karate, and swimming.

"You know, normal stuff, cardio."

"Cool, well, I'm going to keep going. I don't want to keep you to myself all day, So good luck, Kirishima!" She gave him a thumbs-up!

He didn't argue honestly. He was tired. Flashing a smile and fist-bumping, they went their separate ways.

...

Somewhere in an open field was a young man with long black hair. It was in a similar style to Super Saiyan 3, but black. He used his hardening to keep it that way—not too hard to become needle-hard but to stay solid.

Nearly three months went by, and now Eijiro was in his last week of training before the entrance exam. As nervous as he was, from what he remembered, he was meant to come in second.

As good as that is—working harder, better, and faster—first place was going to be his.

"Ninety-eight... ninety-nine... one hundred!" He stood up, and his skin hardened like a rock. He replaced it; his skin turned back to normal, and his body steamed.

"Hard work pays off—roughly three hours and a half."

Soon he bade it back home; today his mom and dad went out on a date and no doubt he wouldn't see them till tomorrow. He was so exhausted that he collapsed on his bed.

Wow, he said as he fell in his chair and went to his desk, pulling out his manly quirk manual and viewing the changes he made with each passing month.

[Manly Quirk Manual]

Quirk: Harden (The power to harden and sharpen the skin and parts of the body, causing the flesh to become jagged and rock-like): with each hit, its strength and durability increase.

Harden (enhanced strength and speed) and sharpen Hand blades and claws Hardening hair.

resistant to most physical trauma, burns, electrocution, and acid, but still feeling the effects.

Level 1: Bulletproof: full-body armour strong enough to take bullets and minor explosions head-on. Limit: 3 hours, 30 minutes. [Further goal: 4 hours straight.]

Level 2: Chivalrous Knight! Further improved hardening in specific areas, leaving gaps like knight's armour. Greater durability while sacrificing a little speed. It could be possible that more training is required.

Level 3: Red Riot is unbreakable. [Future goal]

"Hard work pays off!" He smiled at the poster of the Crimson Riot, filled with determination.

"Now to binge read some web novels," a habit that he grew interested in viewing the memories of his past life and decided to carry with him to this one. He was so excited about the upcoming exam that he barely slept that night.

"Ahn, morning already? Man, I need to sleep," he yawned, and he went to sleep at 4 in the morning.