Ren woke up with a strange sensation.
Heavy.
Not pain—not exactly—but something wrong.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood—
—and nearly collapsed.
His knees buckled, a sharp pressure shooting upward from his feet.
"…What's happening?" Ren thought.
He steadied himself against the wall, breathing slowly, trying to understand what was the problem.
Nothing obvious.
No external damage. No quirk instability.
Annoyed, he activated Seraph around his legs, healing them just enough.
The weakness faded.
"…Weird."
He walked to the bathroom and reached for his toothbrush.
The moment his fingers closed—
Crack.
Not an actual sound—but a feeling.
Compression.
Pressure from the inside out.
His arm trembled.
Ren froze.
"…This isn't fatigue," he realized.
He clenched his fist.
Harder.
The sensation worsened.
His muscles weren't just stronger.
They were too strong.
"…My muscles," Ren muttered, eyes narrowing.
"They're crushing my bones."
The realization settled heavily.
Herculean Strength increased muscle density, output, tension—but his skeleton hadn't been reinforced to support it.
He hadn't accounted for it.
"Tch…"
He finished brushing quickly, grabbed his backpack, and left the bathroom, thoughts racing.
"Even if I make another Joint Reactor copy, it won't help," he reasoned.
"It only revolves around the joints and it doesn't reinforce them."
He stopped in front of another room and opened the door.
All Might was inside—sleeping soundly, completely tangled in blankets, snoring softly.
Ren sighed.
"Old man," he said flatly. "Get up. You'll be late at this rate."
"Mmm… five more minutes…" All Might muttered, rolling over.
Ren raised his fist instinctively—
Then froze.
The pressure flared again.
His bones protested, so he just spared All Might.
"…Tch."
He lowered his hand.
"Sigh… fine," Ren muttered. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
He closed the door and left.
...
U.A. came into view soon after.
Ren arrived the way he always did—bounding across rooftops, landing lightly on reinforced structures.
He had been slower lately, but today...
Each jump sent a sharp compression through his legs, growing worse the faster he moved. He had to carefully regulate force output—not just to avoid damaging buildings, but to avoid damaging himself as well now.
"…Annoying," he muttered.
He activated Seraph again—this time, he divided a part of his consciousness with Multitasking to always keep Seraph in use through his entire skeleton everytime something broke.
As he reached the classroom door—
He stopped.
Momo was there.
Standing just outside, hands clasped in front of her, posture perfect—but her eyes were unfocused.
Thinking.
About yesterday.
She noticed him.
Instantly—
Her face turned red.
Ren's cheeks warmed too, despite himself.
"Good morning, Momo," he said, smiling softly.
"G-Good morning…" she replied, voice quiet.
She hadn't slept at all. She had thought about yesterday's kiss the entire night.
Ren's lips curved slightly.
Seeing her like that…
He decided to tease her.
"Why are you so embarrassed?" he asked lightly.
"You're the one who—"
Momo's face turned even redder.
"I… I know," she said quickly, looking away.
Ren leaned in just a bit.
"Then I'll give you a real reason to be embarrassed."
"W-What—?"
He leaned in—
—and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.
Momo froze.
Steam might as well have risen from her head.
Ren straightened immediately and walked past her into the classroom, hands in his pockets, expression calm.
Too calm.
…Damn it.
Inside, he sat at his desk, staring forward.
'I messed up,' he thought.
He should have kissed her lips.
After yesterday—after she kissed him—that was the only move that made sense.
Instead, he chickened out.
His jaw tightened slightly.
She had beat him to it.
And now his pride had taken a huge hit.
...
0:50 PM
"For today's hero training," Aizawa began from behind the desk, his tired eyes sweeping across the classroom.
The chatter died instantly.
"Your supervisors will be me… and All Might."
A murmur rippled through the room.
"And," Aizawa added, tone unchanged, "another instructor."
That did it.
The class buzzed.
Another instructor? Today?
"Sensei," Sero raised a hand, curiosity written all over his face. "What kind of training is it?"
Aizawa didn't answer verbally.
Instead, he raised a rectangular sign with a single word written in bold blue letters:
RESCUE
The reaction was immediate.
"Rescue?!"
"Disasters, shipwrecks, structural collapses," Aizawa said calmly over the noise. "A bit of everything."
"It's rescue training."
The excitement spiked even higher—until—
"I'm not finished."
The room snapped back to silence.
"This time," Aizawa continued, "you may choose whether or not to wear your hero suit."
With a press of a button, suitcases slid smoothly out of the wall behind him.
"Some of your suits restrict movement," he added.
Aizawa turned toward the door.
"The training site is far. We'll be taking the bus."
He paused only once.
"That's all. Get ready."
And with that, he left.
...
Outside, students gathered in clusters near the buses.
Ren stood beside Midoriya, eyeing him quietly.
Then— He reached out and patted Midoriya's back.
"So," Ren said casually, "did something happen between you and Uraraka yesterday?"
Midoriya stiffened.
"I left you two alone on purpose," Ren continued. "You know. So you could walk her home."
Midoriya's face flushed instantly.
"N-No…" he stammered. "We just… separated shortly after."
Ren blinked.
Then his expression dropped.
"…You didn't even walk her home?"
Midoriya turned redder, if that was even possible.
Before Ren could say anything else—
"Midoriya?"
Uraraka's voice came from behind.
He nearly jumped.
"W-Where's your suit?" she asked, tilting her head.
Midoriya swallowed and scratched the back of his neck. "Ah… it got destroyed during the simulation fight."
"Oh."
"A support agency is fixing it," he added quickly.
Uraraka smiled. "I see—"
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
"Class 1-A!" Iida called out, standing rigidly near the bus door. "All students present!"
He launched into an overly detailed explanation about seating order, emergency procedures, and proper bus etiquette as if it were a military operation.
No one dared interrupt him.
Ren ignored it entirely.
Instead, he turned slightly—
Momo was standing beside him.
Quiet. Composed. But when his fingers gently slipped around her hand—
She smiled.
And squeezed back.
To be continued...
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How was this chapter? Liked it?
Sorry if I didn't update in a while, I had to take care of myself (my leg) and, most importantly, I designer up a lot of crazy quirk combos and the entire USJ arc.