----Kazuto POV----
Hi, you might be wondering who I am and what my backstory is. Well, I am Kazuto, 14 years old and work at the Takashi dojo. I am just a quirkless boy working and training in a dojo.
I am an orphan who was living on the streets 10 years ago. Well, I did technically live in an orphanage, but since I was the only quirkless kid in the orphange, I was often bullied. So, I would often sneak out and return for food and bed.
One day, when I was roaming the streets, I was attacked by a dog. I fought with the dog, or more like, I tried to fight the dog, but a fully grown Akita inu (a dog breed in Japan) was too much for a 4 year old. It managed to claw me on my right eye. Luckily my eye wasn't damaged, but it did leave a scar.
I don't remember what happened after that, but I did remember seeing the dog also fall to the ground. I don't know if it was true or I was just imagining it. When I woke up, I was at the hospital, with bandages around my eye. I looked around and found an old man looking at me. He was the one that brought me to the hospital and also the owner of the dog. His name is Takashi Hiroshi, the previous owner of the dojo I am working in now.
He later adopted me and took me to his house. Although I hated him for taking his dog out for a walk even when he couldn't hold him, he still was a kind old man who took care of me. Sadly he died when I was 12. Before his death, old man Hiroshi made me and his son the owners of the dojo.
His son obviously didn't like it, but he didn't want to go against his father's last wish. So, I worked in the dojo teaching childern while I trained along with the grown ups. Life is pretty good, and this how everyone know me, but what no one knows is that this is my second life and I had already lived and died before.
I lived in a world where this current world was the creation of a mangaka. I was a university student with terrible lifestyle. I sometimes stayed up whole nights either playing games or working on a project just before the deadline. I had enough caffeine in my blood to keep the whole university awake for a whole week. All these obviously caused me to die young and that's how I ended up here.
I am now making sure that I don't repeat the same mistakes again, so I have not been neglecting my health. I have been working out everyday and I am proud of my strength. I can even....
----POV Ends----
"Kazuto!" A loud call brought Kazuto back to the normal world.
"Quit daydreaming and get ready. You're up next." Shouted a man in his late 40s. His hair, which had quite a few grey strands, and his face with visible wrinkles, reflected his age. His name is Arashi Takashi, Hiroshi's son and Kazuto's brother.
Kazuto quickly snapped out of his daze and replied "Yes sensei". He then got up, wore his head gear and picked up his Bokuto (the wooden sword used in kendo).
While putting on the head gear, he muttered to himself "Damn! I was talking to myself again. I should seriously get some friends."
People find different ways to cope with loneliness and Kazuto often spoke to himself. Since he was quirkless, he couldn't get along with anyone in his school or the dojo.
Kazuto was ready and was waiting for the current duel to get over, which didn't take much time since the opponent was Kenji, wose quirk gives him superhuman strength. Kazuto was also up against him next.
"Kazuto, step forward." Arashi shouts and Kazuto walks towards the centre of the training hall. He stopped and faced his opponent, Kenji, who didn't even wear protective gear. That's how confident he was in his strength.
Kazuto and Kenji both took their stance and seeing both of them ready, Arashi shouted "Hajime". As soon as Arashi gave them the signal to start, Kenji rushed forward with his Bokuto held high up above his head to execute a downward slash.
Kazuto, who already predicted this, moved to his left, barely avoiding it even though he knew it was coming. This showed just how fast Kenji was.
Kazuto didn't waste any time and immediately executed a horizontal slash, hitting Kenji's abdomen.
Arashi shouted "Do-Ari" which means point from torso.
Others in the dojo didn't react much, since this wasn't the first time Kazuto won a round against Kenji, but he could never win a match. Kenji would always overpower him in the next two rounds.
Kazuto and Kenji both move back and stand in their initial positions. Kazuto noticed the frustration on Kenji's face.
"So predictable. He always goes for the downward strike everytime he's had fights before me to finish the fight early. Although he has superhuman strength, fatigue builds up. Now that I landed an attack, he will get more aggressive and only focus on my torso so that he can quickly defend." Kazuto again speaks to himself.
Kenji again immediately rushed towards Kazuto and started a barrage of attacks. Kazuto was barely defending against the heavy attacks from Kenji. Kazuto was being pushed back and Kenji was enjoying how helpless Kazuto looked.
Kenji grew overconfident and that's exactly what Kazuto was waiting for. A moment where Kenji would make a mistake and he didn't have to wait long.
Ever since heroes started appearing on TV with their flashy moves. Kenji also tried to finish the round with a flashy finishing move. He held his Bokuto in front of his face and started rushing towards Kazuto, trying to recreate the finishing move from samurai movies where they run towards each other, execute a move and run past their enemy.
Kazuto who was waiting for this chance, didn't let it go to waste. Kazuto knew that trying to dodge was useless since Kenji was now way faster than the previous round. Blocking was also useless given Kenji's strength. His only option was to redirect the attack and counterattack.
Kazuto observed every movement of Kenji and noticed his wrist tilting slowly. "He is aiming for a diagonal slash on my torso. Perfect." Kazuto said to himself.
Kazuto then lifted his Bokuto to his shoulder height. Kenji noticed it but didn't change strategy, fully confident on his strength. Kenji's strikes were strong enough to even break opponent's Bokuto.
When Kenji's attack connected with Kazuto's Bokuto, Kazuto immediately tilted slightly to his right and used all his strength to push Kenji's Bokuto slightly to his left. Even with all this, Kenji's strike barely missed Kazuto.
Kazuto immediately followed up with a horizontal strike to Kenji's torso. Kenji ran past Kazuto, like he intended to, but instead he was the one who fell to his knees. Not because of Kazuto's strikes, but due to utter shock and disbelief.
This was the same expression on the faces of everyone in the dojo, including Arashi, who took a while to process the information before shouting "Do-Ari".
Kazuto was happy. His face had a smile, but in his head, he was screaming "Fuck yeah! Suck it Kenji."
These reactions were valid, since Kenji was the strongest in the dojo. Even Arashi, with his years of experience and trained reflexes, couldn't defeat Kenji. Arashi could see the move coming before Kenji executed it, but he couldn't react in time. That's how fast and strong Kenji was, but here we are. Kenji, defeated and Kazuto, a quirkless 14 year old kid, defeated him.
Kenji was trembling, his face morphing between embarassment, disgust and rage. He immediately got up and swung his Bokuto at Kazuto. He was aiming at Kazuto's back, his blind spot.
Kazuto was enjoying his victory when suddenly, something happened. He could feel his surroundings, he could feel everyone and everything. Then he noticed that someone or something was approaching him from behind.
He immediately stepped aside and Kenji again stumbled forward. Murmurs filled the dojo and Arashi shouted "Kenji, stop now. Accept your defeat with honour."
Kenji said "This cannot be happening. He must've cheated."
Kenji again turned to Kazuto and started attacking him, swinging his Bokuto wildly. Although the moves were now more predictable and some weird power is helping him, he was struggling to dodge and block the attacks.
Kazuto was blocking and dodging all of Kenji's attacks, which pissed him off further. Kazuto, who was concentrating on Kenji's attacks, failed to notice that his Bokuto was slowly cracking and when a heavy attacks from Kenji connected, Kazuto's Bokuto snapped in half.
Kenji's smirk on his face grew and he swung his Bokuto at Kazuto's face. Kazuto instinctively covered his face with his arms crossed. That's when he felt it again, the feeling of something he never felt before. It flowed to his arms and that's when the Bokuto connected with his arms.
Kazuto, who had instinctively closed his eyes, opened them when he heard the sound of wood snapping. Kazuto slowly moved his arms and found Kenji holding a Bokuto snapped in half. Kenji's face had a look of confusion and shock.
The shocking part wasn't that his Bokuto snapped in half, but that Kazuto looked like he didn't feel the attack at all and even his arms showed no signs of trauma.
A student in the dojo used this moment to quickly approach Kenji and place his palm on Kenji's arm. Kenji wanted to say something but immediately became drowsy and dropped to the ground snoring.
"Wow, that was crazy." Said the student and Kazuto just nodded. He was still processing everything that happened.
He quietly left the dojo, changed to his casual wear and started walking towards his apartment. Kazuto lived alone since Arashi had a family and felt weird to live with them.
As he was walking down the streets, he was replaying everything that happened in the dojo. Mainly the weird feeling he felt when Kenji attacked him from behind. Also the weird feeling of something flowing to his arms before the Bokuto broke.
Kazuto then took out his phone and looked at himself through the front camera, checking his eyes.
"Ok, I don't have the byakyugan. If I did, that would've explained the first incident." Kazuto spoke to himself.
Kazuto then punched his forearm and didn't notice anything strange. "We can rule out any hardening power." He said to himself again.
Kazuto began brainstorming through different powers he was aware of from different anime, manga, manhwa, light novels and other forms of fiction.
Then it hit him, a power that could explain both the powers. "Could it be.....I have to check this out." Kazuto said to himself with excitement. He hurried back to his house.
Kazuto ran to his bed and sat cross legged on it. He then closed his eyes and tried to recall the feeling he felt when he first dodged Kenji's attack.
He focused for minutes, which turned into hours, but Kazuto refused to give up. This was his only shot of achieving something in this world instead of struggling to survive.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally started feeling something. He focused on it more and he could gradually start sensing his surroundings. There was a mental image of his surroundings forming in his head and it felt like he was seeing the world from the third person perspective.
Kazuto didn't stop there and kept focusing on it more. He could sense what was goiton around him. His neighbours, who were a married couple, were fighting over what channel they should watch. His other neighbour, a single office worker, working on his laptop while eating cup ramen.
He wanted to go further, but then he suddenly started to feel weak. Kazuto collapsed onto his bed, breathing heavily, but with a smile on his face. He stretched out his hand towards the roof of his room.
Kazuto then clenched his fists, making them harder and said "I have haki".