Dormient Potential - 2.

 

2.

“Ehh-heh” Mirio laughed nervously. “This is one of our teachers, Mr. Aizawa” he explained, frantically scratching the back of his neck.

“Poor girl, what have you done?” he thought to himself, slowly backing away to keep a safe distance from the tired looking man who was gradually closing space between himself and the silly girl. He knew Mr. Aizawa for a long time. Far too long not to know what is about to happen.

“Teacher?” Mariko whispered to herself. She swallowed nervously and looked the man in the eye facing her currently greatest fear. “I apologize, Mr. Aizawa. I didn’t mean anything wrong by that… even if it turned out you were in fact a caretaker, sir” she tried to joke, but he was absolutely unimpressed.

“I am glad you joined me, Mariko Okaido. Principal Nezu informed me about the situation and asked me to participate in a sparring match with you,” he informed and she knew it was the end of her incredibly short journey. Aizawa’s smirk left his face and he turned towards the gym.

“Do you know that the UA has the lowest pass rate in the whole Japan?” he asked.

“Yes” she admitted, eyes looking at the ground.

“You must have been training a lot to try your luck here, then.”

She did not answer. Instead, she glanced one last time at Mirio, who was standing a few meters away. He tried to look encouraging, but the second a smile appeared on his face, she turned her head towards the gym entrance.

They entered the huge room that didn’t look anything like the other gyms she had seen in the other two hero schools. The doors and walls were reinforced to resist all sorts of students and teachers’ quirks, in fact they looked as strong as a bunker wall itself. There were powerful ceiling lamps providing so much light that it was as bright as outside. The only windows she saw were very close to the roof and were not large either. There was nothing covering the ground though. It made sense, as the UA had a teacher with hero name Cementoss, that could shape the cement to whatever he wished, but for that he had to touch the ground or cement based structure to be able to mold it.

“So what is your quirk?” he asked and she felt as if someone stabbed her heart with a dagger.

“I…” she murmured and suddenly stopped following the teacher.

He walked away and after a while turned to her, obviously getting ready for the sparring match.

“Principal Nezu told him everything, I am sure of that. So why is he asking me about all that stuff?” she thought to herself, still not replying to Aizawa’s question.

The tall man was standing still, his hands in the pockets of the black pants tucked in his matching boots.

“I didn’t really discover how to use my quirk, yet.” She admitted.

“At the age of 18?” he asked, another needle piercing through her confidence.

She clenched her fists and lowered her head, eyes focusing on the ground. One strand of her hair fell down her forehead. She wanted to brush it away, but the moment she raised her hand, she felt something tightening around her wrist and pulling her forward. She balked, trying to resist her opponent’s strength, but wait a second! His hands were still in his pockets!

“Never lose your focus in front of an enemy” he warned, with the same red glow in his eyes.

The only difference she noticed was that his black as night hair was floating, same as his scarf that imprisoned one of her wrists. What was his Quirk? He could control that strong tape, or whatever that was and he used it in a fight? Was it something coming from his body, or a supporting item?

He pulled her slightly forward, and she growled at her own weakness that she already showed. She felt her feet sliding a bit once again so she decided to put some more force into resisting. After that Aizawa’s hair fell down and he grabbed the Binding Cloth with one of his hands, applying more force, too. Mariko crinkled her eyes, feeling the anger rushing through her body. He wasn’t taking her seriously, he looked as if he was taunting her. He pulled her a few centimeters closer and then she thought of a plan. Being as careful and steady as she could, she lowered herself so that her hand could reach the ground. She grabbed as much dust and dirt as she could, and tightened her fist around it. Then, she clenched her teeth and pulled backwards, forcing her opponent to use his other hand to pull on the Binding Cloth. However, it wasn’t that easy. Mr. Aizawa used to be a pro hero before starting his teacher’s career, so he was also trying to trick his opponent. Instead of dancing to her tune, he grabbed the other end of Binding Cloth and aimed it at her feet. His actions were so fast, that she managed to jump in the last second, evading the attack. Or at least, that’s what she thought. Aizawa’s scarf wrapped around her left ankle and made her lose the ground. She painfully landed on her back, being dragged towards temporary enemy on coarse ground. For a split second she was glad that she was not wearing her skirt that day, as she predicted some kind of test if her scheme would work out. She tried to turn her body back to normal position there. Again, it was extremely hard. When she was close enough, she swung her left arm, releasing the sand she was holding for so long. Aizawa predicted that action, released her from binding and jumped away, avoiding the cloud of dust.

“You still haven’t used your Quirk” he said, hands again in his pockets.

She stood up, uneven on her feet, trying to calm herself and think of a plan.

“Principal Nezu asked me not only to test you, Okaido, but to decide if you should be trained or not” he taunted her.

“He is to decide?” she panicked, thoughts suddenly racing through her mind.

“But I never understood how Quirkless people believed that they could become heroes”

“I am not Quirkless!” She shouted, feeling the adrenaline rush.

“Then prove it to me!” He then jumped to her, simultaneously grabbing one end of Binding Cloth and aiming it at her.

She avoided his attack, then dodged another. Aizawa landed straight in front of her and punched her in the stomach. Mariko bulged her abdominal muscles, but that wasn’t enough to stop the impact. She doubled over, tears forming in her eyes. Before she could react, she felt the same cloth tightening around her neck. Squinting her eyes, she grabbed the binding weapon, unable to catch a breath.

“Nice try with the sand, however you lack the speed” he said with same unimpressed tone.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, fighting for air, while he did not even look as he had a hard time fighting her. In fact, he looked bored!

“I hate this guy so much!” she thought to herself.

Suddenly, a warm crackling feeling started to form up inside her muscles. She grabbed the cloth and pulled it a bit, freeing her neck. She quickly caught her breath, turning her head towards her enemy. She twisted, binding his weapon around her left forearm and with pure rage in her eyes, kicked her opponent. Aizawa blocked the strike, but the impact made him lose part of his balance. He quickly pulled out knife from a hidden holder inside one of his boots. Mariko jumped away, scared. But at the same second he cut off a part of the Binding Cloth she was holding. He smirked lightly at her and hid the blade back in its place.

Okaido, still feeling anger pumping up her adrenaline, charged forward. Aizawa quickly backed up and swung his binding weapon once again. This time however, his opponent easily evaded the strike, but he was still much more experienced than the wannabe hero. When she was focused on the first attack, he aimed another one and erased her Quirk with a look of his red glowing eyes. She felt the warmth disappear from her muscles as well as her feet clutching together. He pulled the Binding Cloth to the ground, making Mariko hit her back once again.

“Ow” she murmured, imprisoned.

Aizawa flipped the weapon over a metal beam, supporting the ceiling and pulled her up.

Mariko felt dizzy from both impact and hanging upside down. But there was something else. She somehow lost her power. Mr. Aizawa grabbed the other end of the Binding Cloth and came closer to her, tilting his head slightly upwards.

“So you are not Quirkless, but you do not know how to control your power, which is actually very similar,” he said looking at her, same bored expression slowly appearing on his face.

“That’s exactly what I explained to principal Nezu” she snapped, gritting her teeth.

Mariko looked at the man with tired eyes, feeling bad about what she said. If she passed then he still was going to be her teacher and being mean towards him wouldn’t do her any good.

“I am sorry. I…” she said honestly. “It’s just…”

“It’s just I want to learn so badly, but no one wants to teach me,” she finished in her mind, eyes leaving the teacher.

Mr. Aizawa released a part of the Binding Cloth from his grasp, making Mariko cover her head with forearms, bracing herself for the impact. But she didn’t fall down, as he was still holding the scarf, just a little bit lower. She looked at the ground realizing what just happened, her face blushing because of embarrassment. The man lowered her a bit more, so she could reach the ground and finally sit down, to stop the dizziness. She groaned silently from the pain she was feeling in her stomach and back. He didn’t really go easy on her, but she was glad about that. Mariko looked the man in the eyes and he lowered himself to her, crouching.

“My first class students are already far more experienced and advanced in combat than you are.” He said and Mariko looked away, avoiding his stare. His hair started floating again and the binding weapon flew away from the young woman to rest on the man’s arms. In that second, she noticed a deep scar under his right eye that she somehow overlooked. She clenched her fists, anger starting to rise again.

“It is not my fault that my Quirk is not suitable for combat and you easily defeated me.”

He looked at her, eyes half opened.

“My Quirk is not offensive at all” he said, still crouching next to the girl.

“But…” she started, looking at his scarf. He activated his ability at lightning speed, part of the Binding Cloth slapping her head to tighten around half of her face.

“It’s a special supporting item, my Quirk has nothing to do with it. My fighting style is something I developed on my own, without anyone’s help” he said in an annoyed tone with eyes squinted.

Was he serious? She had so many questions but couldn’t decide which one to ask. And why would he want to answer? She was defeated, he surely wouldn’t want to accept her and teach her now after that pathetic fight.

He released her once again and they both stood up.

“I beg you, Mr. Aizawa” she said, facing his angry expression. “If your Quirk is not offensive and you found a way to make it suitable for combat, please… Please, teach me. There is no one else that could help me as much as you can.” She pleaded, bowing before him, eyes shut in fear of losing her last chance of becoming a hero.

He didn’t say anything for a long time. Aizawa was a man hard to please. He always sought results, not begging. But this time, there was something different about that young woman in front of him than any other aspiring heroes he had met. Her gift wasn’t anywhere close to his top students’ abilities – she didn’t control ice and fire, didn’t have super strength or couldn’t create explosions, she was more of a supporting character. But then again, he was very similar to her in the beginning of his hero journey. Back then he was also relying only on his Quirk and later got the idea about the Binding Cloth which he mastered in six years and then started to be very efficient in combat. But still, he was able to get the provisional hero license, and wasn’t kicked out of any school. And she was… twice.

Mariko didn’t move, still shutting down her eyelids until small stars started appearing in front of her eyes.

“Okaido” he started and she clenched her teeth. “Look at me.” He asked, making eye contact with the girl. “I’ll give you one chance.” He moved closer to her, hair starting to float again “If you waste it, if I am displeased with any of your results, you are out. Do you understand?” he inquired looking absolutely serious.

“Yes, Mr. Aizawa. I will do my best.”

“Your best is not enough. Always go further. Plus Ultra” he quoted the school’s motto and his hair fell down, again covering part of his view. “You will join my class” he informed. “I will give you one day to move to school dorms, but from next week, you are officially another student.”

“The UA has dorms?” she asked.

He looked at her as if it was obvious.

“How was I supposed to know, sir?” she asked, not knowing why he looks at her like that.

“It was even on TV.”

“I don’t watch TV, to be honest” she said and then both started walking towards the exit in silence.

He stopped out of a sudden and reached deeper into his pocket, searching for something. Then he raised his both hands to his face holding a bottle of eye drops that he used to keep his eyes in normal condition, using his Quirk made his eyes dry. Mariko looked at him curiously, standing by his side. When he finished, he looked at her without saying a word and started leading her towards the exit again.

“There are separate dorms for every class. You will be member of the 1A” he informed.

“That is so weird” she thought to herself. “Being 18 but learning with 16 years old classmates”

“There are a few rooms available, all of them have the exact same size. You can pick whichever one you like. Any questions?” he asked, bored.

“No, everything is clear, sir.”

“Good,” he simply said and went silent.

Mariko was following the man so closely, that she was nearly sticking to his back, as if he was to run away any second and change his mind about teaching her. She couldn’t help but smile, knowing that at least she succeeded and passed the first test. The journey ahead of her was long and tough, but she clenched her fists, thinking how she can start to keep up with Mr. Aizawa’s class. Maybe he will let her use the gym after the school hours to work out on her own. But right now, she knew that he was not willing to talk to her anymore, so decided to ask about that later.

They turned left, walking past the elevator. Mariko looked up at the teacher, stoop-shouldered and weary. The things he told her during their fight… Was he actually being honest or did he want to piss her off just to check if her Quirk was going to activate? If it was in fact the latter, then he was a master mind. But if it was the former… Well, she had an even tougher journey ahead.

Suddenly there was a familiar “ding!” sound and they both turned around towards the elevator to see Principal Nezu.

“Shota,” he said, “I wanted to talk to you. Mariko, please leave us for a moment.”

“Yes, sir” she bowed and continued the journey down the hallway, not knowing if she was going in the right direction. She looked above her shoulder to spy a little bit on the teachers, but Mr. Aizawa was already glancing at her with a warning, red flash in his eyes.

“Geez, he is hella scary” she thought to herself, quickening her pace, head snapping toward the empty end of the corridor.

She passed the smaller hall leading outside the school and decided to stop there, waiting for Mr. Aizawa to show her the correct route. She focused on her plan of improvement that would help her catch up to the 1A class, while Principal Nezu was discussing something with Shota.

“It seems that it wasn’t the issue” Principal Nezu said in a quiet tone “She was one of the best in her class at regular subjects in both schools.”

“Didn’t they suggest moving her to some other class, not a hero one?” Aizawa asked.

“Apparently, they did. But she declined. Twice.”

“Did they tell you the reason behind it?”

“She wasn’t getting along with her classmates, so her Quirk was slowing down their progress. Did you manage to make her use it?”

“Yes and I found a few things that I want to work on with Mariko.”

“So, you decided to accept her?” Nezu asked.

“Correct,” he answered pensively, cupping his chin. “But you know what I think about chasing half-baked dreams,” Shota added and Nezu nodded. “If I see that she does not live up to the challenge, I will ask you to dismiss her.”

“No need to ask, I believe in your teaching skills, Aizawa. If you think it will be the right thing to do, then just do it.”

“Fine,” he answered.

“And for regular subjects, I suggest something else. We might ask the rest of the teachers to prepare an exam that would test her knowledge. Let’s say she will need to get at least 80 percent to pass.”

“85 percent,” Aizawa suggested and Nezu snorted with laughter.

“Okay, 85 then.”

“And if she is going to pass, then what?”

“It’s up to you, actually. I would suggest focusing on her Quirk if her knowledge turns out to be as good as the other hero schools informed,” Nezu said.

Aizawa muttered agreement and nodded goodbye to the principal. Nezu turned around and soon disappeared behind the corner, while the tired looking man joined Mariko.

“Come,” he said and led the way outside the school. Then he turned right and stepped on the pavement, leading the way through a small, but dense part of the park that separated the dorms from the main school building. Okaido was very curious about the topic of Aizawa’s recent conversation, but didn’t dare to ask.

They walked in silence, sun shining straight on their backs. After a few minutes, they saw a line of exactly the same buildings, their entrances facing east, separated from each other by a tall hedge. More time passed and they reached the first dorm, heading towards its doorway.

Shota opened the gate, leading Mariko through. She smiled slightly, murmuring a “thank you”. In front of the building there was a boy with dark green hair and matching eyes, a notebook laying on the grass in front of him. Before the boy noticed their presence, he swung his right leg high in the air, as if he was practicing a powerful kick.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa called, looking at the green haired boy.

“Mr. Aizawa!” Midoriya shouted, running towards the man and Mariko.

“This is Okaido Mariko,” he said, turning his head towards the young woman. “She is a transfer student from another hero school.”

“I’m Midoriya Izuku, but you can call me Deku,” the boy announced, a friendly smile appearing on his cheerful face.

“Midoriya, do you know which rooms are not occupied?” the teacher asked.

“There are four on the other wall, in front of my room on the second floor, then on the third floor, two rooms between…”

Aizawa’s scarf flew towards the talkative boy, tightening around his mouth. Mariko laughed, smiling at the boy.

“You surely talk a lot,” she said and Shota looked at her with his raven hair floating.

“Problem Child, please show Okaido around. She will join our class soon, so she can choose one of the rooms”

“Yessa!” he shouted, his voice muffled because of the tight fabric.

Aizawa released the boy and turned around, to walk away.

“Sir, wait,” Mariko started and the tall man looked at her, bored. “How do I get the keys to the room, or is it just open?”

“Choose whichever room you want, remember the number and let me know. You will receive keys tomorrow once I get them.”

“Alrighty, thank you, sir”

Aizawa looked at both students for a few seconds, then closed the gate and left. Mariko’s head snapped towards Midoriya, who seemed to be excited.

“So, you are from another hero school?”

“Yes, kind of” she answered and Deku looked at her, puzzled. "I mean... Mr. Aizawa might tell the story to the whole class so I might as well answer your questions myself," she admited, shrugging. “So, hit me with these. But not too many, I am tired after the sparring match”

“Oh, what sparring match?”

“You see, Izuku, can I call you by your name, by the way?” she asked.

“Sure!” he smiled.

“Sparring match with Mr. Aizawa," she pointed out the dirt smudges visible on her dark pants. "So you see, I want to become a hero like you and everyone else, but my Quirk seems to be extremely complicated and hard to control. I also don't see how I could improve it,” she explained and they both started walking towards the dorm entrance. She saw his curious look and added: “My Quirk is more of a passive ability, at least from what I have noticed. It can work in two ways. I can boost someone's abilites if I like them or decrease them if I dislike them”

“That's so cool!” he said, totally honest.

Mariko looked at him and couldn't help but smile. It was actually the first time someone said that to her with such sincere excitement.

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