Heroic Desires (My Hero Academia Quest)

As you eat, you talk with your sisters. Turns out that a new anime based on an online game is starting today and that's why Katsuki is up so early. It's not a school day, so she has free time… If only she was so diligent to do the things she actually has to do… But you get it.

Your older sister talks about some sort of new job a little less dangerous. Doesn't give any details because it's top secret or something. You guess she is working with the government on something, so you don't pry further. Katsuki theorizes aliens are probably involved.

Once breakfast is done, your sisters move to the living room to watch tv. Katsuki wants to watch the new anime, and Tatsuko just wants to be lazy on her free day. You are tempted to join them… But no, you have work to do. A lot of work. You are still not sure if you passed the test but just in case… You need to be in top performance. Time to plan your week!
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Sitting at your desk, you write on a notebook the plan for the week. A schedule you plan on following with a lot of stuff in it. Maybe too much stuff. You decide to delete a couple things before focusing on what to do today.

One thing you've been thinking about since yesterday was… your body is too weak. You've been trying to get stronger before the exam, but it wasn't easy. You couldn't follow Shirohime's exercises like she does and focused more on your power and studying for the written part. But that made it so you were exhausted at the end of the day and that's not good. What if you have to chase a villain or something? You rely too much on Shirohime's quirk and your body as a base is too weak.

It's time to train, and you know who would love to be there. Shirohime is always pushing you to do more exercise, and you are finally willing to do it. Now you just need to call her and see if she can...

That's when you see Eijiro's number on your phone. He kind of implied you were weak and needed more training. Maybe you should call him too? Is this a good idea or a horrible mistake? It's more efficient, that's for sure. Not only you will be stronger but you will also grow closer to a new friend… But maybe having two people that seem to love physical training with you is a mistake… Oh, well. It's probably not that bad. You decide to call them anyway and ask them for training.
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Social roll. DC 70: 96, 88, 23
Success x2

Physical roll. DC 50: 42
Failure


"Come on, man… It's only been three laps." Eijiro says, looking down at you slightly worried. Shirohime is next to him and just sighs.

"I told you. He is too weak. He sometimes decides to do some exercise because he gets inspired for some reason, ends up like this and then spends two weeks without trying again." The girl shakes her head looking at you too.

You are right now on the ground, panting and looking at your friends and the clouds above them. "In my defense, these laps are not short ones. Why aren't you two even tired?" You ask, almost not believing it. It's like you are not even the same species or something!

"We train." Both say at the same time before Eijiro approaches to help you stand up again. Shirohime gives you a bottle of water and a towel to dry yourself a bit. It's impressive how hot your body can get running around even if it's actually a cold day. Once you drink enough, you take a moment to look around. Memories… Bad memories.

Eijiro's home wasn't too far away from your district and he had a place to train, so you and Shirohime decided to go there. The place was his old school. Turns out that his mother is the principal and she lets him use the facilities for training when no one is there. The school was famous for their track team, so they had a pretty good field for training. Training there was like being at school and doing P.E again… and that thought just made you more tired.

After you managed to rest for a while, Shirohime decides to give you some weights to train your strength. She says it requires less energy to train, but something tells you she is lying to make you not think about being tired. It works for a bit until you feel like your arms are going to fall. That's when Eijiro tells you to start running again because now only your arms are tired, so you can train your legs. You are pretty sure that's not how the body works. They probably aren't human. You are going to die.

At least they seem to get along pretty well. While you run around the field (More like walk quickly and stumble), Shirohime is explaining something to Eijiro and moving her hands around in a rip and tear motion. Probably telling him about how she defeated the giant robot with that other girl.She is going to brag about it forever.

Once your second lap is over, you decide to sit down next to them, refusing to take another step. At least they don't try to make you keep running around. They congratulate you on a job well done and pat your shoulder. That makes you feel a little better even if what you did was basically just a warming exercise for them.

"Daiki, I have good news." Shirohime tells you while you finish the water bottle. "Remember that girl I met? Mina? Turns out she is Kirishima's friend too. We should all hang out soon. Who knows. It's possible we might be all on the same class soon!" You smile weakly at that.

"Sounds good. You know I'm always up to meet new friends. As long as we go do something that isn't training…" You say, sighing. You are not even sure you will have enough energy to walk back home. Maybe you could take a taxi or convince Shirohime to carry you as another form of training. You might be able to convince here even if only because it will seem funny to her.

"Hey, don't worry. It's not like we only train all day." Says Shirohime rolling her eyes and standing up. "Speaking of training… Kirishima, you have some martial arts training, right? Want to spar? We can't use our quirks, but I'm sure you are pretty thought without using it." She starts to walk backwards looking at the red-haired boy with a smile on her face. A clear challenge.

Eijiro jumps on top of the bench with a big smile and almost posing. "A challenge?! I couldn't call myself a man if I refused!" He shouts before jumping again off the bench and running to her. They decide to fight on the sand next to the track field, drawing a circle with a stick. It looks like a sumo ring, but you are pretty sure they are going to be a bit more violent than just sumo. With a sigh you look around. There is a first aid kit close for people who get hurt running. You might need it soon… But for now you are just going to relax and watch.
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Shirohime got in position. Body slightly turned to one side. One hand lower, the other ready to strike. One foot forward… No, not that forward. Her stance was one she practiced a lot. Her aunt wasn't happy with her style when she found out Shirohime always fought like an animal. That was a dangerous thing in their family. They had to always conserve a bit of their humanity, no matter how far their transformation goes. She was always trying to be gentle and composed… Shirohime couldn't do that. Her mind was too weak to not be carried away by her transformation. That's why she started to learn martial arts. Discipline and form, easier to use even when transformed with time and turning into second nature even in her more draconic form. She wasn't transformed now, this was a quirkless fight… But this was her fighting style now.

Her rival, Kirishima, got into another stance. It was close to western boxing unlike her more occidental style. Made sense with his quirk. Capable of receiving and giving a lot of damage… His style would be hard like his quirk. She smiled, this was going to be a fun fight.

Glancing to the side, she saw her friend, Daiki. Time to show him how far she advanced in her training.

Daiki was going to be their referee. At first Kirishima seemed hurt when she said they need one, but she quickly explained. She doesn't expect him to cheat and use his quirk, but she sometimes gets a bit carried away and if she wins, it's better if he doesn't get too hurt. That seemed to fire up his competitive spirit even more like she planned… But it was a real risk. That fight the day before helped her instincts, she felt calm and in control but… who knows. Her internal dragon can awaken sometimes in the worst ways. Daiki knew what to do if she lost control.

When Daiki gave the signal, Kirishima launched his attack. Pretty quick to go on the offensive for a guy with a mostly defensive quirk. He got closer in an instant and launched a punch straight to her face, one she deflected with a sweep of her lower arm, the shield. She then launched her own punch against his now exposed side with her other arm, the sword. A quick, straight punch that… was blocked. That surprised the girl. Kirishima wasn't dumb, the first attack was too slow to be a good punch, it was just a way to test her defenses. He wasn't on the offensive he was… fighting in a proactive defensive way?

She quickly moved back to avoid his counter-attack in her moment of confusion. No more underestimating her rival. He was a future hero too, of course he also trained. Maybe didn't train with a pro hero like she did, but you don't need that to become a good fighter. Just the will to get better.

She returned to her stance as the boy charged again, a repeat of what happened just a moment ago but, this time, Kirishima's smile was wider. He found something fun to fight with. She was smiling too, not only because she thought the same but because the boy wasn't paying enough attention to her legs. Her long slender legs were a lot stronger than they looked. Her stance seemed more focused on the upper body, and it was, but allowed her to change quickly to deliver a straight kick, the spear. That was enough to catch him by surprise. His eyes open wide as he moved his arms to protect his body. He blocked the attack, but his charge stopped, letting her start a charge of her own now. The real battle starts now. No more probing strikes.
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Shirohime combat roll. DC 50: 62, 48, 20
Pass

VS

Kirishima combat roll. DC 50: 25, 1, 99
Fail​

Shirohime got close to her rival before he could drop his defense. She used the impulse of lowering her leg after the attack to launch her upper body forward. A punch to an unprotected face, a kick to his shin. She received a punch too, too focused on attacking to raise her other arm in time, but the hit wasn't more than a glance against her shoulder. She used his hit against him, letting it turn her body sideways, now Kirishima's arm in front of her, extended. With a smile, she grabbed the arm with both hands and turned his back to him. He didn't have time to react before being launched above her head. He seemed surprised but tried to turn in mid-air, wanting to at least land facing his opponent. He did, even if the landing seemed to hurt his knees. He looked back and sighed, he was still kneeling with one knee and he smiled at her. What was he trying? The battle was still going on. He was still able to fight.

Her pupils turned into slits as she got closer. The fight wasn't over, his face was at the perfect height to a knee strike, maybe then a kick, that would disable him and give her the victory! She only needed to…

Cold.

Coldcoldcoldcold!

Shirohime looked around surprised, her arms covering her body as much as possible. Her head was wet and dripping into her shirt. Daiki was next to her with an empty water bottle on his hand, looking at her a bit worried, but knowing what just happened.

"I said, ring out. You won." He said calmly. Shirohime finally realized that one of Kirishima's legs just touched out of the ring. That was why he wasn't fighting now… It happened again. Luckily Daiki was there to help…

She had to call her aunt soon.
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The day was over. You managed to walk back to your home even if your legs were killing you. Shirohime refused to carry you on her back, she said that walking back home when you can't take another step is part of any good training.

Yeah, they are not human. Who trains like this?!

Once you arrived home, you spent some time with your sisters. Katsuki promised to go to school tomorrow if you went to get her once it was over. You agreed, not having anything better to do and knowing Tatsuko would be mad if you refused. Your big sister shad work again the next day, so she was still on the sofa being lazy. She said true heroes take as much rest as possible when they can to be at full capacity when they have to save people.

You think she is just lazy.



[Completed] [Story] Diet and exercise: Train your body once. Alone or with company.
Reward: Random roll reward. Roll = 10. +10 to next BODY training roll.​

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Bored.

You are too bored. You have videogames, internet… But you are not in the mood for any of that, so you decided to just stay bored.

But boredom brings dangerous thoughts. You check your connection to your big sister again and again. Feeling it there, using her power every two minutes to make sure. You know she probably isn't even in that city yet. You checked the news. An attack in a city two hours from here. Probably villains but they don't know exactly what happened… The news are useless again until the heroes decide to tell the world what's exactly happening there. Only rumors of that big, black villain with the brain seemingly on the outside. It appears, causes a ruckus and the villains of that city use the chaos to do whatever they want. Again. You hope they catch him soon.

A bond breaking without a trace. Only emptiness left behind.

You blink, testing your bonds. Checking them one by one. All of them are still here… It was just your imagination. You can feel your heartbeat. That quick thumping sound in your ears…

Yeah, you need to do something. Boredom is dangerous. Your mind goes to dangerous places. You can't dwell on that. You can't think on how you might lose someone one day. You are not going to allow it you… Decide to send Haruka a message. A quick one. You want to hang out, thank her properly for healing your leg.

Her powers… She's a healer, right? You don't want to befriend someone only for their powers, you refuse. Something inside you is afraid of the idea of doing that but… Her power… She might be safe easier. She might be a friend that never leaves your side. One you aren't afraid to lose. You can't even imagine a world where you are not scared of losing the people close to you… A friend that can live forever.

It's stupid. You are stupid. You made the decision in a moment of weakness and are now realizing how stupid it is… But the text is already sent and she tells you she can hang out tomorrow. Well, your reasons to contact her are stupid, but you can't say no to having another friend.

Looking at the bright side, you decide to grab some of your money. You need to buy her a thank you gift. Sweets or something simple like that. You don't need to buy anything, but you want to.

You go to your desk, opening the drawer where you keep your allowance… No money. Just a note.

«Sorry Daiki-ni. I need some money to go shopping with my friend. I will pay you back when I get my allowance this week.»

… So that's what she was doing in your room earlier. You don't care that much, but she could have asked first at least.

[ -1 Funds]

You have no money, so you can't buy anything for tomorrow. That means you can't go to buy anything today. That means you have nothing to do… So more boredom.

It takes you no more than five minutes to be out of the house. You only had two options. Staying at home doing nothing or being proactive. You decided to be proactive and go outside. Maybe take a walk. See if you can find something interesting.

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You do find something interesting. It's a little coffee shop in a side street, away from prying eyes. It looks clean and perfect for spending some time… But not enough people walk through here to seem like a good business decision. You even take a look through the window… Yep, no one inside. Just an old man behind a bar and a bunch of empty tables.

You decide to go inside anyway. You found in your pockets enough money to buy at least a coffee, and you are curious. The place seems like one of those expensive classy coffee shops you see in movies. It's not a big establishment. Enough space for three tables, two more private booths and some bar stools in front of the bar the owner is cleaning. Most stuff here is made of polished wood. It's very cozy.

"Welcome, welcome. Take a seat if you find a free table… Or at the bar if you care for conversation." The man behind the bar says with a smile. He is well dressed and it's hard to pin his age. He looks old, but his voice sounds slightly tired even if his body looks healthy. Something tells you he is even older than he looks.




You approach awkwardly. He probably has that line ready for anyone who enters. You wonder if he said that bit about finding a free table always or if it's just a joke. The knowing sad smile as he looks around makes you think it was actually a joke.

You decide to approach the man, sitting on one of the stools at the bar. Something tells you that sitting on your own just to look around and order a coffee would be even more awkward… And you are curious. "Hi." You say. Wow, spending so much time in your room destroyed your ability to talk to strangers. Let's try again. "This place looks great." Looking around you manage to not mention how empty it is. It seriously looks like something out of a movie. You can even hear soft instrumental music coming from speakers on the ceiling, giving the place a relaxing and classy background melody. You have to bring Shirohime here at some point. She would love this place.

The man laughs jovially. "Yes. I spent the past five years building the perfect café… And I think I did a good job." He looks around, proud of his work before seemingly remembering he has a client. He moves his hand under the bar and gives you a menu. You can see behind him rows and rows of sealed glass jars full of coffee beans, all of them with a little handcrafted label with foreign words written in ornate letters.

Looking at the menu, you are starting to feel like you shouldn't be here. Everything is too good and perfect. It's probably really expensive. You have enough money to buy a normal coffee, not whatever superexpensive blends this man sells…

And, to your surprise, everything is pretty cheap. There are items in the menu with a name you can't even pronounce, and they are still pretty cheap. All the menu is actually not expensive at all. Even things you are pretty sure should be, like importation coffee from other parts of the world.

In the end you decide on one coffee and try to pronounce its name. You aren't even sure if it's French or Italian and, by the laugh the man gives you, you didn't do a good job at saying its name. He seems to understand what you meant anyway and starts to get the coffee ready.

"You know? I don't get many clients on Tuesdays. This was going to be a boring day before you showed up." As he talks, he opens a couple of glass jars, pouring some of the coffee beans inside a manual grinder and starts to work. At first you thought it was just decoration, but he is actually using a manual grinder. He looks back at you feeling amused. "This was a gift from my late wife. A manual burr mill always works better than those modern electric things. It needs more maintenance, but I don't have much else to do." He chuckles before pouring the grounded coffee into a bowl for preparation. He then starts boiling some water while cleaning the grinder to grind another handful of different beans.

"Do you make every coffee like this?" You ask, surprised. It seemed so… elaborate and complicated. You can see a timer next to the boiling water and how he measures every movement he does. Is this just an spectacle for a new client?

He scoffs at your suggestion of him not doing this all the time. "Of course. Anyone can push a couple of buttons and let a machine do this for them… But when you do that, you lose something in the process." He replies calmly while grinding the coffee.

It doesn't take long for him to finish everything. He painstakingly finishes the coffee, like a painter finishing a work of art. When you have the coffee in front of you, you almost don't want to drink it because it probably took more effort to make than anything you've ever done in your life. Then you realize that the man made enough for two cups and is serving himself one too, looking at you expectantingly. You wait for a moment until it's not boiling hot and take a sip.

"It's… amazing." You are lost for words looking at your cup. You almost expected the coffee to be bad after all the preparation in some sort of weird cosmic joke… But no, this isn't bad and this man is probably some sort of coffee master.

He smiles while drinking from his cup much more naturally. He almost looks smug seeing the face you are making. "This is a Portuguese blend, one of my favorites. A good choice for a late morning coffee." He explains with a pleasant expression that only someone who loves their craft can get.

At first you two drink in silence, but soon you start talking. Maybe it's the atmosphere, maybe the classy music or the good coffee, maybe you just want to fill the silence. You don't know why but you start telling him how your day… No, your week has been while he listens. About your entrance exam and how you didn't want to step over others to reach your goal but still want to be a hero, about your training and desire to help, about your sister being a hero and how she went to another villain attack… You don't tell him anything too private, but he understands your anxiety. You even tell him about how you went to take a walk to not think about your sister in danger.

"... And I wanted to get a gift for my friend but my little sister took my money. I ended up just wandering around trying to not think about it." After talking you realize your coffee is replenished without a word. Somehow you think he isn't even going to charge you for this one.

"I understand." He finally says for the first time since you started talking. "I also have someone who worries me to death. My granddaughter… Well, it's not important. I'm not going to bore you with old man's problems when I could be helping you with your own." He stands up. Both your cups now empty. He starts to clean them with care.

"What do you mean?" You are curious. Curious about what he almost mentions but you felt a pang of pain from him when he said that, so you decided to not bring up his granddaughter.

He smiles at you. "Well. I'm getting old, and can't be expected to handle the café all on my own. It's been a while since I had someone helping me but… Are you interested in a part time job?" He asks you. That's a surprise. There wasn't even a help wanted sign at the door. That's what these places do when they need workers, right? You almost accept instantly but remember the harsh training you will have to do to become a hero.

"I… would love to. Some spending money is always good and I like this place but… I will start my hero training next month and I don't know if I will have much free time." You say apologetically, feeling like you are missing a great opportunity.

The man just laughs. "Not even a doubt that you are getting in after you told me about the exam?" You can't help but blush. It seems like you are so sure you will be a hero that you aren't even thinking about maybe not getting into UA. "Well… You don't have to worry about that. Just come here whenever you have free time and help me. I will pay you for the time you work. Maybe having a young face around will help younger people get interested in the art. Who knows. I might even teach you how to make real coffee."

You just stare at him trying to find any flaw with this. It's too good to be true… But when you can't find anything you just nod. "O-okay! Then I will work as hard as I can when I have free time!" You stand up from your stool somehow really enthusiastic about work.

The man opens a drawer and looks at it with a sad smile. From where you are you can only see a couple of aprons. One of them older than the other. He grabs the newer one and gives it to you. "Here, wear this until I'm sure you won't spill anything over yourself and come here to clean the cups we used. I will teach you how to do it." He approaches the side of the bar and opens a waist-high door to let you pass.

"Yes boss!" You salute before wearing the apron and following him behind the bar. He laughs at your antics.

"Just call me Takeshi, kid."

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