In the nursery room of UA, All Might, Erasure Head, Sand, and Recovery Girl eyed the three students lying on the bed — all bruised and bandaged, Nyx lying out cold next to Luke.
Despite Midoriya's legs getting black and blue because of the 100% use of One For All, he wasn't the only one with the worst injuries this time.
Bakugo's hands were almost in the same state as Midoriya's legs.
Luke's internal state was a touch worse than even Midoriya and Bakugo, a few of his ribs puncturing his guts.
Now that they looked at the boys, it seemed a miracle how they even moved after getting beaten so much.
Turned out, when All Might had said It's Over, he had really meant it, knowing how precarious the boys' physical situation had been.
Whack!
Recovery Girl smacked All Might's legs with her walking stick, making him flinch.
"Don't you know how to hold back?!" she chided. "Was there any need to go this far?!"
After the last match had finished, Toshinori had returned to his normal state. Now, even he thought that he had overdone himself, trying to act like a true Villain.
"It was necessary," Erasure Head said, looking at Luke.
Sand nodded. "This entire thing wasn't as much of a waste of time as I'd thought it to be…"
The two Pros shared a glance and frowned.
Sand and Erasure Head rarely agreed on anything, their ideals always standing farthest from each other. But this time, both had found something interesting through the match.
Sand had wanted to push Luke into a corner, forcing him to stop relying on himself and ask for help, if necessary. From the students, he had learned how Luke had proposed to go alone outside the Tower during the I-Island incident, leaving the group. It had also given Dr. Blessed a chance to target the boy.
Also, because of their time spent together before joining UA, Luke had gained an admiring view of Sand's lone-hunter-assassin image.
That would have been a good thing — if Luke had never planned to become a Hero.
In a society, however, where enemies could spring up like cockroaches, and troubles couldn't be avoided by just running away, that attitude wouldn't work.
So, Mr. Reijirou had asked Sand's advice to quash those views of Luke, forcing him to consider working together with other students.
The boy direly needed a personality lesson.
Knowing Luke's true nature, Sand had advised doubling or tripling the surveillance on him.
Unlike other spineless teachers, though, Sand hadn't lied to Luke. If he had lost this match, then the surveillance on him would have continued for the entire term break.
Now that Sand knew that Luke could handle himself against enemies as tough as All Might and Erasure Head, without letting himself get captured, or worse, he could take a breather.
No beast grew to its full potential in a cage, Sand knew.
And the time to put Luke in a cage, for his and the entire world's betterment, had already ceased to exist.
Of course, Sand hadn't expected that he would find something even more interesting through this match.
"Did Midoriya use a different Quirk?" Sand asked.
Toshinori's sunken pupils shook.
The sudden glee he had felt after seeing Midoriya use his Master's Quirk — Float — had already vanished. He knew Luke and Midoriya had been working on it ever since the I-Island incident. But, if he was being honest with himself, he hadn't had much hope in it.
That's why, when it truly happened, he had even forgotten to move, falling to the boys' tricks.
However, as time passed, All Might realized that things couldn't have happened at a worse time and location.
Not only Erasure Head, but now all students and teachers had seen Midoriya float.
Recovery Girl looked at Toshinori from the corner of her eyes. In the entire world, she was one of the very few people who knew the secrets of One For All.
"It may be related to… Luke," she said.
Sand, Erasure Head, and All Might's heads snapped down toward her.
"What do you mean?" Sand asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Luke can use multiple Quirks through Nyx, right?" Recovery Girl said. "Perhaps, it was him… We will know when the boys wake up."
Sand and Erasure Head fell into a contemplative silence.
It could be possible that in the heat of the battle, Luke's range suddenly increased, letting him activate a Quirk within Nyx.
But why would he activate such a simple Quirk, and why would Nyx use it on Midoriya?!
Sand and Erasure Head, once again, shared a glance, both realizing what Recovery Girl had just done — buying time.
"Cough!" All Might coughed, knowing how shrewd these two Pros were. "Let's keep it between ourselves for now…"
Letting out a sigh and nodding, Erasure Head looked at Luke. "He surprised me today the most," the Pro admitted. "If Luke can keep up with this outgoing personality, then he will become one of the strongest Heroes in the world. The sheer versatility of his Quirk will make him shine among other Heroes. It's a shame that he didn't receive proper training, despite having the privilege to afford it."
Sand looked at Bakugo. "This kid isn't bad, either," he said. "He must have been battling against his own feelings… but, when it counted the most, he perfectly coordinated his movements. Crazy instincts. Guts. He has it all. It's just… if only there were teachers at UA who knew how to handle him…"
Crack!
Ethereal bolts of lightning snaked between the two Pros.
"If you are not satisfied with your loss from last time, we can still head to a battle site," Erasure Head said.
A vein throbbed on Sand's head. "… Who lost to who — bastard?"
Whack-k!
As Recovery Girl pounded Sand and Erasure Head with the walking stick, All Might looked at the three boys and smiled.
Midoriya going further than he ever had with One For All…
Bakugo and Luke going against their conflicting personalities…
Yes, All Might realized, balling his fingers into fists. They all have tremendous potential to grow so much more.
And to see them reaching the true heights of their Potential, All Might hoped he still had enough time.
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