Ashes to Ashes, Power to Power: Chapter 7

“Oh, look at you kids. Did you have to go that hard?”, I heard the short, old woman dressed in a pink nurse uniform/ hero costume ask as the rain ceased, Snipe just taking his head off with a nod while the rest of us lied on the wet, cold floor.

“A villain isn't going ta' hold back, but I do apologize if I went too hard,” I heard Snipe apologize, watching as the elderly woman just sighed before I blinked as her lips extended.

As I felt her kissing my arm, I watched as the cracks on my stone skin sealed back up before I blinked tiredly as I felt my energy draining, shaking my head while dismissing my transformation to conserve strength.

“Wow, that…that's a pretty good Quirk,” I murmured as I sat up straight, twisting and turning my body while smiling as I couldn't feel any pain at all apart from some fatigue.

'Right, her Quirk works by taking the life energy of the recipient and using it to rapidly accelerate the healing process,' I thought, watching as Recovery girl went from person to person and healed them with surprising ease.

“You young people should be lucky I'm here and that you're filled with such vitality or else, some of you would have been crawling out of here.”

“I'd crawl if it meant we won,” Kang muttered and I smirked as he winced when Recovery Girl poked him in the side while clicking her tongue.

“Ignore him, Ms. Recovery Girl. Thank you for the healing,” I spoke with a bow, everyone doing the same as well as Recovery Girl smiled and nodded.

“You're all welcome, dearies. However, don't start thinking that there's always going to be a person to help you when you get too injured.”

“That was the point of this exercise. By forcing you against crushing odds in bad weather and while you're drained, we needed to see if you can manage to prioritize the most important things first: civilians, teamwork and survival. Any half-rate hero can throw a punch, but a real one knows when to protect, when to fight and how to keep going when it hurts.”

'Guess, we failed a bit on the civilian part,' I thought while glancing at where the droids were carrying away some of the dummies that got hit, looking back to Recovery Girl who continued.

“Many of you pushed yourself farther than you ever have, but recklessness does not equal courage. You're no good to anyone if you're unconscious, bleeding out or worse,” She spoke while looking pointedly at Kang, who grimaced while Snipe nodded.

“Despite all of that, 22 examinees making it this far is more than we've gotten in the five years of this test being done. There were very few critical injuries, excellent improvisation and some damn impressive rescue tactics. For now, rest and recover and tomorrow, you'll receive an envelope in the mail. What that contains will tell you whether or not you're a hero from now on. Good day.”

“Well…that sounded reassuring,” I muttered as we watched the two heroes leave before turning to Riku as she stretched with a groan.

“I need a nap in a nap right now.”

“Forget a nap. I need to eat,” Kai spoke with a grunt as he cracked his back and I smirked as I looked up at the dome's ceiling before following the others out.

“Hey, at least we made it through.”

“Barely,” Masaru spoke up and I snorted before looking to Kang with a grin as he patted our backs.

“Come on, let's go sign out and hand these suits back. I don't want to be here when they want volunteers to help clean up,” He spoke and we all nodded as we made our way to the entrance to sign out.

We didn't do the best that we could, but at least we passed and that's all that matters.

'At least, I hope we passed.'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Was it that exhausting?”, Mom asked as I finished my food and I looked up with a hum before nodding.

“Yeah, we got put through the wringer today.”

“I can see that considering you've finished off your third plate and you still look like you can eat a fourth,” She teased as she stood up and I rolled my eyes with an amused smile while handing her my plate.

“It's that obvious, huh?”

“For a mother…yes.”

“Well, you don't have to worry so much anymore. We held our own and while there were a few close calls, we managed to get most of the civvies out and even managed to work as a team during the chaos.”

“Well, that's good to hear, but just because you survived doesn't mean I'll stop worrying.”

“Yeah, I know, but I do mean it, though. I'm getting better at this hero thing. Despite the bad start I had compared to those of my age, I'm actually keeping pace with most of them, though there are still some that far outpace me,” I murmured before blinking as she walked towards me with a smile before ruffling my hair.

“Do the best that you can, not the best that you need to. Now, go clean up. You stink of rain, sweat and poor decisions.”

“…How do you even smell the last one?”, I asked even as I walked away, smirking as she giggled before shaking my head as I made my way to my bathroom.

Hopefully, I at least got to pass.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'…Well, this is make-or-break time,' I thought as I stared at the large A4 envelope in front of me, which either contained a letter of denial to say that I failed or a certificate along with a provisional Hero License.

On the one hand, I was excited for the opportunity to pass and become a hero, but on the other hand, my stomach was doing backflips because of the off-chance that I might have failed and wasted six months for nothing.

'Come on, you ain't a bitch. Just rip it open,' I thought as I reached forward and picked up the envelope, peeling it open and taking a deep breath before tipping it over.

To my surprise, I watched as two things slipped out onto my desk, the first being a certificate with UA's symbol, my name and the phrase 'Congratulations on becoming a Hero!' in bright red and the second being an actual Hero License with my face and details on it.

Instead of exclaiming in joy like I expected myself to do, I felt all the stress leaving my body as I sagged in relief, dropping into my chair with an excited grin before bursting out into laughter as I picked up the license.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”, Each cheer was accompanied by a fist bump, standing up and holding the card to the light to see the hidden golden PASSED just under the U.A. symbol.

Six months of work and it paid off so well. Oh, it feels good~

“What? What happened? Did you pass?”, Mom asked as she peeked in and I simply grinned while holding up the license like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Her eyes widened and she gasped before I grinned as she pulled me into a tight hug.

“You passed! I'm so proud of you!”

“Thanks, Mom,” I muttered as I hugged her back, a pleased smile on my face as I looked up at the ceiling.

Holy shit, I'm actually a hero.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Temporary hero, not a full-fledged one,” Aizawa was quick to bring my mood down as I showed my license with a proud smile, a huff escaping my lips while Toga giggled from where she was doing squats.

“Come on~ Give him some credit.”

“I give credit where credit is due. He worked for it and that's good, but this is only the starting point. He still has a ways to go before he can truly call himself a hero.”

“…Ignoring Grumpy over here, when were you going to tell me you're the Duchess?”

“When you…passed your test!”, Toga grunted as she finished her reps and I walked over to help her put the weights back onto the rack while raising an eyebrow at her smirk.

“And if I didn't pass?”

“I would have still told you, but like way later. After all, I have to keep the mystery alive, right?”, She spoke with a wink, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear while grinning mischievously as I snorted.

“You are one unbelievable woman.”

“I try. Seriously though, congrats even if I did know beforehand. You have been grinding at this for months.”

“Thank you, even if a certain grumpy cat refuses to let me enjoy the praise for a quick minute.”

“I can hear you,” Aizawa spoke up with a deadpan stare from where he was sipping on a grape juice and I shrugged as Toga smirked.

“Good.”

“Hah, enjoy your win, but do not let it dull your edge. Those who get complacent are those that fail to keep up when everyone else is improving.”

“Is that a backhanded congratulations?”

“Think of it whatever you wish,” Aizawa murmured as he walked to the back of the gym, a happy grin on my face before I looked to Toga as she took the document from my hand.

“You still haven't put this in?”

“Well, I have the week to put in my request for my hero costume, name and whether or not I'm going to be going as someone's sidekick, so I figured I'd come to the pros to get some help.”

“The Omni Hero: Kevin 11? What's the 11 for? And why the Omni Hero?”

“11 is my lucky number and the Omni Hero part is because I can adapt and shift the matter of my body to fit the situation.”

'That and I wanted to pay a bit of respect to the Kevin, whose body I got, and the Kevin whose abilities I got,' I thought with a smirk, watching as Toga hummed while looking back at the document.

“Okay, I think I get it. Anyway, can I ask you one thing? How exactly does your quirk work? I've seen it in action, but you look like you stick to just using stone and/ or any solid to take the form of,” She spoke with a curious look and I sat down on the matted floor.

Placing my hands on the mat, we watched as my body took on the same leather texture of it before she raised an eyebrow as I stood up and touched the barbell, raising an eyebrow when half of my body took on the steel properties of it while the rest of my body kept the leather look.

“To put it very simple, I can basically replicate the properties and composition of any non-organic solid or liquid that I touch. I haven't tested out liquids because I'm scared I might lose a limb so I stick to solids.”

“So, anything you touch that is inorganic…could you use a coin to cover your entire body?”, She asked and I smiled before dismissing both transformations as I spoke.

“I could, but the transformation becomes weaker the smaller the object is and it gets stronger and more dense as the object gets bigger and bigger. Let's say I use both a small rock and a large boulder. With the rock, my transformation would be strong enough to withstand the average person hitting me with a blunt object weaker than a sledgehammer, but if I use the boulder, I can tank a bus driving into me at full speed and still stand up afterwards with minimal injuries.”

“Oh, that's a bit more versatile than I expected. What if you transform into rubber? Would your elasticity depend on the strength of the rubber itself? What if you used both a bronze knife and a stainless steel knife? Would the former be weaker than the latter? Ooh~ What if you transformed into water…while you're in oil? Would your body be forced to the bottom?”, I just watched as she fired off question after the question, smirking as she slowly stopped talking before giving a half-hearted glare at my amused smile.

“Oh, please. Do keep giving me ideas.”

“Shut up and no. If I give you ideas, you wouldn't learn to think on your feet. Now, what about the sidekick part? You going to start your agency?”

“Don't have the cash for that,” I answered with a shrug and she rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“Didn't think so. That leaves you to do some job hunting and see if someone would want to recruit you.”

“Yeah. Do you think he would?”, I asked while gesturing to where Aizawa had left, not surprised to see Toga let out a bark of laughter while shaking her head.

“You would have a better chance getting Endeavor to admit that he's a far inferior being to All Might,” She answered and I smirked as I looked up at the ceiling.

“Okay, but then who…?”, I trailed off as a name came up, Toga catching my smirk as she narrowed her eyes.

“You thought of a name, didn't you?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A slightly nervous sigh escaped my lips as I sat at the reception area of the hero agency I was in, watching as people came and went with about a quarter of them being different heroes that I recognized from the archives.

Looking down at my outfit, I smirked at the black jacket I had on with the number 11 in green on the back and the left breast and the kevlar plating on the chest, back and elbows. With it, I had on a simple white shirt, dark grey jeans that were also reinforced with solid plating at the knees and thighs and finally the pair of steel-toed black sneakers with dark green laces which had metallic tips at the ends and waterproof-rubber soles at the bottom.

Finishing them off with a pair of high-tech glasses that could tell me the composition of any inorganic object that I looked at, I looked like a mixture of Ben 10 and Kevin which I was fine with considering those were two of my favourite characters of all time.

“Kevin Nagatomo?”, I was snapped from admiring my outfit by the voice of the receptionist, looking over to see her smiling as she nodded.

“He will see you now. Please follow Mr. Gari here to his office,” The man in the black bodysuit and the golden yellow headband waved with a grin as I stood up and I nodded to the woman with a smile before following him as we walked to the back.

“So…graduate or temporary?'

“Temporary. I passed the Recruitment Division's Provisional Exams,” I answered and he hummed with a nod as we turned the corner.

“Last I heard, those tests focus more on instinct, judgement and to see if you have the guts of a hero. If you passed those, then you're already better than most of the fresh graduates that are here for glory.”

“I did what I could, but I think it's going to be a while before I think I can call myself a true hero.”

“True, true. Can I just ask? Have we met before? I feel like I recognize you, but I can't figure out where.”

“I was the guy who saved that Katsuki kid during the Sludge Villain attack,” I said, not surprised to see his eyes widen slightly as he grinned.

“That was you?! Holy crap, you've changed a lot, especially in terms of looks. You look so much different compared to how you did before.”

“Yeah, I found out that hero training helps a lot when you want to look completely different,” I spoke with a smirk and he chuckled as we went down a long hallway.

“Well, you've already made an impression. Trust me, the big boss is gonna like you. He's big on heart and doing something when you have the capabilities to do so and since you saved that kid despite being a civilian, you did a move a lot of pros would hesitate on.”

“Well, I couldn't let someone die on my watch, you know?”, I think I was just feeding him the answers he was looking for, which seemed to work as he let out a bark of laughter while patting my back.

“That's the answer of a Top 10 hero in the making right there. Ah, here's the spot,” He spoke as we stopped in front of what looked like a thick reinforced door, made out of some kind of dark metal with the kanji for fat and shield side by side in bold yellow font.

Gari knocked twice before the door opened with a hiss, revealing a casual office that had posters of other heroes hanging beside a large map of Osaka, which was the city we were in.

Walking in, I stared directly at the large rotund man sitting behind the desk in an orange zippered hoodie with a mask that went around his eyes and over his forehead, a large grill on top of the desk that was sizzling already as skewers of meat and vegetables were on top of it and I suppressed my hunger as the flavours hit me.

“Hey, Gari. This the kid?”, Fat Gum asked with a smirk as he picked up two skewers of meat, bewildering me as he threw one at me and one at Gari who caught it with ease while nodding.

“Yep! This is the guy and guess what? It's the same guy that saved that Bakugo kid,” He spoke and Fat Gum's smile widened as he turned excitedly to me while I took a bite from the meat.

“Really? Cool! So, what can I do for you today?”, He asked as I sat down, Gari walking back out and closing the door behind him as I took a deep breath before nodding.

“I wish to join your agency, sir.”

A/N: And the chapter ends with a proposal~!!

The choices were between Yoroi Musha, Crimson Riot, Crust or Fat-Gum and considering we know more about him than any of the others, I figured Kevin could go on a few jobs with Fat Gum before he starts his own agency.

Anyway, next chapter: Can I Join?

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!