Finger strikes in a quirked up world are horribly inadvisable.
Sure, the human physique is far more sturdy, but it's gotten more sturdy proportionally.
Hell, since everyone's gotten buffed there's no difference between using finger strikes pre-quirks and using them now.
They are most definitely fun though.
I jutted out my index and middle finger knuckles as I struck my opponent close to his shoulder.
I haven't studied pressure points but I'm pretty sure that since this spot has the connection between arm and chest it would invoke an involuntary reaction.
Oh, pushing that back makes his right fist come closer.
I ducked back and braced his forearm against my left one.
Then pulling my right hand back I caught his arm.
I have bicep control now, so then he should strike me with his other arm.
My left arm wrapped under his right, replacing my right arm.
I stepped forward, making sure he couldn't free his arm.
Then using his fist I braced my right arm performing an elbow block on his fist.
So much happens in a fight, it's fun.
Oh he opted to raise his fist to punch my head.
I kept my elbow still and twisted my body, pulling him towards me and making his fist sail past me harmlessly.
In the same motion I stuck out my right leg and moved back with my left foot.
I now found myself the victor of this spar.
Then his tail hit my bum.
I tripped forward a little, my knee getting dangerously close to his grounded self.
Using the more common application of my training, I jumped forward into a roll, avoiding any possible injuries from a knee first fall.
"Ojiro!" I shouted.
He lay there panting on the ground.
"What is it Tenjo?"
I walked over to help him up.
"If you're gonna use that tail you gotta use it in the fight man."
Ojiro accepted my helping hand.
"I'm trying man! Karate doesn't integrate the tail for any strikes though!"
I tossed him his water bottle and he tossed me mine.
"It's a third leg! Throw a round house! Better yet learn some Tae Kwon Do! They have great kicks!"
I chugged the bottle, eager to continue my speech.
"Hell, in our joint practices you can learn our sweeps! Stylized sure but they'll do wonders when you become a hero."
Ojiro drank his water in sips.
"I don't know, on top of karate? I think that would be too much for me."
I walked up to him to touch gloves again.
"Just treat it like sparring, you're getting experience fighting different arts, you're learning more than just karate already."
We separated.
"I can show you the stuff and you can try it while we spar too."
He shook his forearms.
"I don't think I can-"
I interrupted him.
"Just watch."
I dashed towards him, eliciting a hesitant backstep from him.
Emulating what I saw the other guys in the dojo did, I stepped forward and turned once.
He stepped in, ready to catch a tornado kick.
I jumped instead, performing another spin.
He dashed back.
My 720 kick sailed far over his head.
He dashed back in, ready to ground me after my failed kick.
He didn't account for my other leg though.
I let my right foot land first, tensing my body.
The blade of my left foot stopped just at his head, ending his charge.
He stepped back to let me put my foot down.
"Tenjo what the heck!"
I grinned.
"Trust me man, it didn't even touch you. Now imagine you doing that with your tail too."
He paused for a moment, considering my idea.
With a sigh he stepped back.
"Fine, it looks tough though."
I nodded along.
"Not impossible though, wanna do it?"
Ojiro nodded his head.
"Alright, fine, if it'll get you off my back, I'm willing to try."
Excellent, now I just had to flag one of the tae kwon do guys at this practice.
We had about four hours for this event, the first for basic exercises, the second for learning forms, and the last two for free sparring and free practice.
I looked around for someone in a dobok who was resting.
There was one across the dojo, by the water cooler.
He noticed my attention, giving a wave. I waved back and called out to Ojiro.
"Look, we've got an instructor too!"
He nodded with a helpless smile.
He always does that whenever I get him to do something. It's weird.
"Hey, you guys wanted something?"
I looked at the guy's nametag.
[Oba]
"Yeah yeah!." I pointed at Ojiro.
"He wants to learn the 720 kick!"
Oba looked at Ojiro for a moment, reading his nametag.
"With the tail? That'll be kind of tough, can you show me your tornado kick Ojiro?"
Ojiro nodded, he'd seen the kick many times, he could replicate it.
We made space for him as he performed the kick.
He landed with a little wobble.
Oba nodded and spoke. "Can you do a 360 hop for me?"
Ojiro complied, his tail curling around his body as he did so.
He wobbled on the landing again.
Oba nodded his head again. "Alright I've got it, Ojiro, can you try the hop without coiling your tail and keeping it close to your legs? It's ok if it's bent a little."
Again he complied, this time he wobbled backwards a little.
Oba nodded again. "Now use the tail in the jump."
"Huh?"
Oba nodded. "Yeah it's basically a third leg, you can jump off it right? So use that."
No wobble.
Ojiro's eyes widened.
He's probably thinking about how this is much easier than he thought.
Oba put his hands on his hips. "Nice! Now try a tornado kick?"
Ojiro complied, making sure to use his tail in the jump too.
Major success!
It looked smooth and had no landing wobble!
"Excellent, I'll just show you the run up for the 720 kick now, you copy after, but just the run up ok?"
Ojiro, now excited, (I could see a little tail wag) complied. "Ok!"
He followed step by step as Oba demonstrated for him. All the way to the little hop he did.
It was amazing how Oba could hop a 720, considering how he hopped instead of jumped.
Oba took an appreciative glance of Ojiro's practice.
"That looks good, now the final step will be the kick."
He demonstrated it, "Just like that alright? For now you don't have to land on one foot."
Ojiro tried it, his rotations in the air resplendent.
He landed on all three of his legs.
Oba nodded, "Nice! If you have any questions you can ask us. But for now, it's looking really good, when you're confident you can try landing on one foot."
He parted ways with us as Ojiro continued practicing his new kick.
I walked up next to him.
"Not that hard see?"
He landed again.
"Yeah, I kind of expected it to take longer."
I swung an arm around his shoulder. "Longer? You've been doing karate for years. You're a black belt! You're not even at U.A yet! When it comes down to this kind of thing you're a fast learner."
He puffed his chest up and straightened his posture, tossing my arm off his shoulder.
"Os! Let's spar, I want to try this out."
I smiled, a wide grin plastered on my face.
"Sure! But I warn you that this kick is not that good in an actual fight."
Ojiro nodded his head.
"Of course! But it all depends on how and when it's used! If I can sneak it in or use it well then it works!"
I touched gloves with him again.
We got into stances.
"Tenjo, what is that? Wing chun?"
My right hand was in front of me, the palm facing my left and the fingers projected forward in a grasp.
My left hand was at my right elbow, the palm facing forward and my opened fingers pointed at my arm
I responded.
"I didn't learn that, this is my own thing."
Ojiro came in with a fast three punch combo, the first for distance, the next two for striking.
I moved to the right, letting myself better catch his hands.
He stopped himself mid combo, using his lead foot to pull mine forward.
Not allowing myself to be tripped I planted my forward foot down, leaving my back foot alone.
I was now at his torso.
He struck at me with his fists, left and right.
I blocked the left with both of my hands and pulled it to block the right as I brought my back foot forward.
I brought my elbow up to his head in the same motion, my strike moments from touching his protective gear.
He dashed back, pulling my lead foot again and freeing his arms.
I kicked off the ground with my back foot, bringing myself forward with him.
I kept my body low as I went forward, setting myself up for a sweep.
I pulled back my now sturdy lead foot, meaning I was no longer in south paw.
He performed a front kick, giving himself some more room to move forwards.
I dashed backwards, my hopes of a sweep down the drain.
Ojiro took a short step back, his tail lowered.
Oh he was going for it.
He ran forward, I could punish him now and risk a knee to the face, or I could dodge the projected high kick and punish him then.
Such an easy choice.
He jumped off his legs, making a wonderful arc through the air.
I waited, first rotation, halfway through the second.
Now.
I ducked under the kick and went forward into a semi drop stance.
My right leg swept around just before his legs landed.
It came a full 360 just as Ojiro's legs hit the ground.
Such a sweep didn't really do that much damage though, it stopped just as it hit his legs.
I didn't end there though, before he could widen his stance I hooked his foot with my heel and pulled myself forward.
My hands went behind his neck and my knee hit his protective equipment.
He tried to push back but my weight combined with the multiplication of the kick and the hook pushed him flat on his tail.
My win, the score? 3-1 for this session.
On the floor Ojiro groaned.
"Damn, what kind of move was that?"
I helped him get up.
"You ever see Muay Thai? They clinch and knee each other like that."
Ojiro took a sip from his water bottle.
"You did that while hooking my leg."
I tossed my bottle up in the air and caught it.
"To be fair you only fell because I did it just as you landed from that kick."
Ojiro rubbed the back of his neck.
"What gave the kick away? I'm sure I did it fast enough."
I tossed my bottle side to side.
"You took a step back before you did the run up, and you did the whole run up, no disguise after making some space."
Ojiro just sighed.
"Damn."
I finally drank my water.
"You want to take a break Ojiro? stretch a little?"
He sat crisscrossed on the ground.
"Yeah. We'll spar after."
I passed by many windows on my way home.
Stores, restaurants, theatres.
The smile on my face, the warmth in my heart.
They were all cooling down as I left joint practice.
It was so cool that all of the martial arts schools in the area did such a thing.
Even cooler that there was foreign martial arts.
I caught glimpses of my black hair in the glass reflections of myself.
I was fine with that.
Black hair, it's normal.
What I hated seeing though, were my eyes.
I turned the corner, catching my reflection in the puddles beneath my feet.
Like a kaleidoscope my eyes were ever changing, colorful, gemlike.
Of course they still functioned like any others, if not with a more reactive and reflective iris.
But they were in the worst package deal I could have ever hoped to have gotten.
I got on a train.
I walked through the door of my home, taking off my shoes and placing my feet upon the wooden flooring.
I need a shower.
""Welcome home!""
Of course they're here instead of working late or buying groceries.
"How'd our little hero do at practice today?"
My father, smiling as he looked around the corner at me, spoke.
His hair was black, like mine, his eyes were gold, his quirk was laser eyes.
He shot light beams from his eyes, they were extremely bright.
He called them lasers. Telling him they weren't wasn't a wise thing to do.
"I did well, I won 11-5."
He ruffled my hair, I had to suppress my disgust.
"That's my little hero, don't worry, one day you'll get them 100-0. Don't forget about dad when you're at the top ok?"
Mom popped around the corner just then.
"Oh Tenjo you'll be just wonderful! Go shower and then we'll eat! I made curry!"
She was less direct, but it was so uncomfortable here.
"Yes mom."
I put down my things and quickly showered, changing into a clean set of clothes for home wear.
Dinner was as usual, the curry was mostly of store bought flavorings, the recipe as generic as every grocery store.
The rice was good, but how can rice be bad?
The conversation though.
"Oh dear, you'll be the number one hero!"
"How's my little hero's grades?"
"What's our little hero been up to lately?"
"Hero."
"Hero."
Really, I'm sick of this.
"Don't forget to train your quirk Tenjo. Mommy will bring you to the training center tomorrow, ok?"
"Yes mom."
I want out.
Let me leave.
Dinner couldn't have ended any later.
Really, why do I have to deal with this?
I brushed my teeth and returned to my room.
Homework?
I had none today.
Every single school day my mom would wait at the front door, hawk over me, and watch as I did my homework.
Perfectly mind you, I couldn't even do it at school or she'll think I "needed help" in doing it.
Disgusting.
I locked the door behind me. Really, one of my only joys was the martial arts I did.
Ojiro always listened, always asked about me.
What I thought.
Why I thought.
Friends at school?
They only cared about my quirk.
My room had a desk with a chair, a laptop on that desk and an assortment of papers and stationaries.
The bed and drawers were aligned on the left, and a full sliding glass door led out to a balcony.
There were curtains too.
I walked over to one of the drawers, reaching into a hidden compartment.
One of many sketchbooks.
I pulled back the curtains, letting me view the sky colored by the sunset.
With my stationaries I used one page for a black and white value drawing of the scenery.
The second page was basic shapes and colors.
A third page for the full kit, a beautiful soiree of colors and shapes.
The clouds acting as the pristine tablecloth, the birds as wonderful garnishes to the dishes and the buildings served as unique individual plates for the party.
I heard footsteps.
In a rush I hid my sketchbook and returned my stationery.
I closed the curtains and unlocked the door before I hopped right into bed.
My hands were a little smeared with colors.
With a glance they were awash with the color black before fading once more, revealing my hands unstained.
I pretended to be asleep as my mom entered the room.
She read through my classnotes, my homework, my mandated diary.
I clenched my hand.
The true face of hers.
Any slip up, any mistake.
I would be hounded for.
Then I realized my mistake.
I didn't write in the diary today.
My heartrate quickened. I needed to act, fast and without her noticing.
Blue
To slow down the room so I could be faster.
Red
Me, I needed strength to do this right.
Yellow
I needed to be even faster.
Green
Out the window, a little distraction.
Purple
I need her not to realize what's happening in front of her.
White
I need to hide what I'm doing from her.
I rapidly applied these colors, in just half a second.
I snatched the diary from her hands and a pencil from the desk.
I wrote furiously but cleanly, a regular diary entry.
Today's breakfast: egg, natto, rice, miso soup.
Lunch: Salad, Onigiri, Mackerel.
Dinner: Curry, Rice.
I added little opinion notes on the side of them, all praising the food.
Then activities, The same as most other Saturday entries I just put down the joint practice schedule.
For the time before lunch I put down martial arts practice on the balcony.
Mom usually doesn't make sure I'm doing that.
She's busy with some household chores in the mornings.
Then at the end I had to write quirk applications.
One new thing per day was simply outrageous, but given that they weren't smart, I could make a thousand iterations of the same concept and be fine.
Today it would be the following.
Red: Applied to flammable objects such that once rubbed will burst into flames.
Now finished I placed the diary back into the purple space in my mother's hands.
I put my pencil exactly where it had been on the desk, used Black to remove my sweat, and returned to bed.
Only then, I deactivated my colors.
I held my breath as my mom returned to consciousness.
I could hear her grip tightening on the diary.
The book of lies I was forced to write.
"Hmm, such a good boy. You're definitely going to be a great hero one day."
She left the room, thinking that she checked up on me as normal, with only a light two minutes of daydreaming at the curtains.
Maaaa- I hate this life.
Quirk training.
If it weren't for who was training me I could have enjoyed it.
Every sunday they buy me a quirk training session from some local hero agency.
I'm fairly certain the hero providing for the program doesn't even do hero work.
He just has his firm set up and uses his status to open quirk training facilities.
Then he charges a premium for a space.
I entered the facility with my mom towing me.
It's not so much embarrassing as it is mortifying to be in such close proximity.
We arrived at our stipulated time and space.
Mom immediately closed the door and brought out various "targets."
Today I had to apply my quirk in seven new ways.
She put one ball on the ground.
"Yosh! Ok Tenjo, let's apply your ideas from this week onto the target!"
She speaks like this because she wants to feel like she's the one responsible for my quirk getting stronger.
First, I let the target fall upwards. It was colored red and blue, to anyone else's eyes it would seem purple.
Then, sideways.
I messed with the ratio of blue and red so it rolled a little downhill in a direction of my choosing.
Third, expand. I let the ball target drop and colored it a shade of red.
Pinkish, even.
The ball gained some volume.
Fourth, I exploded the ball.
A dark red was used.
Fifth, with a light blue the ball came back.
Sixth, with some red and purple the ball became wet.
Finally I saturated it with red and rubbed it with the bottom of my shoe. It was now aflame.
This whole time my mother was spewing critiques that amounted to nothing.
I'm already doing all those things, hell you don't even know that the "purple" was just a mixed red and blue application instead of a purple application.
I kept my tongue still.
She may not know my quirk like I do, but she sure knows how to punish people.
Then, done with the ideas of this week, I had to repeat all of my quirk ideas sequentially in a row.
They're my ideas yet mom takes all the credit for my practice.
Her quirk was "feeling."
If she felt like something should happen, it would happen.
She thought she could be a hero with that, but her quirk, though conceptually strong, could at most make a 500 yen coin float.
The day couldn't pass any slower.
She kept a list of all my "quirk ideas" to make sure I did them all in order and correctly.
Hell, I couldn't even distract her to take a peak at the list. If she gets distracted by anything or even caught in awe by my practice she'd make me restart the exercise.
I couldn't even take water breaks when I needed to.
She said there's a right time to take breaks and rest.
"We paid for this time and we're going to use all this time."
No lunch today I guess.
"Kato Tenjo! Get back to work!"