The first night in the U.A. dorms hadn't happened yet—that was a post-Kamino development—so I returned to the orphanage after the Quirk Apprehension Test. The atmosphere there had changed. Before, I was just Kota, the kid who was probably going to get a blue-collar job using his stretching to reach high shelves. Now, I was the guy who came in second at the most prestigious school in the country.
I spent that evening sitting in the scrapyard, but I wasn't training. I was sewing.
U.A. had requested our costume designs months ago, and I had been meticulous. A rubber-based hero costume couldn't just be spandex. If I stretched my arm fifty feet and my sleeve only stretched twenty, I'd be restricted. If I generated "Heat" and the fabric didn't breathe, I'd cook myself inside my own clothes.
"You're going to be a hero for real, aren't you?"
I looked up. Miwa was standing by the gate, her skin glowing a soft, comforting yellow in the twilight.
"That's the plan," I said, pulling a high-tensile thread through a reinforced polymer pad.
"Are you going to be like All Might? Bright and loud?"
I looked at the scarred, rusted metal surrounding us. I thought about the "Heat" that made my skin crawl and the way my parents had disappeared under the weight of a world they couldn't control. "No," I said. "I think I'm going to be the guy who makes sure the ground stays under people's feet. Someone reliable. Someone who doesn't snap."
"Good," she whispered. "I don't like loud heroes. They're scary."
The next morning, the air in Class 1-A was electric. We had survived Aizawa's "logical deception," but the real test was coming. The morning classes were ordinary—English with Present Mic was surprisingly academic—but everyone was waiting for the afternoon.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway, followed by a voice that seemed to vibrate the very glass in the windows.
"I AM... WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
All Might burst into the room, wearing his Silver Age costume. The class erupted. Even after seeing him at the exam, the sheer presence of the man was staggering. He was a mountain of charisma and power.
"BATTLE TRAINING!" he boomed, holding up a small remote. "AND TO BE A HERO, YOU MUST LOOK THE PART!"
The walls of the classroom slid open, revealing suitcases with numbers on them. "Get changed and meet me at Ground Beta!"
In the locker room, I finally saw my suit in its full glory. I called it the Vulcan Suit V1. It was a deep charcoal grey, made of a synthetic aramid fiber blended with liquid silicone. It was designed to expand up to 500% of its original size without losing its structural integrity. It had reinforced "strike pads" on the knuckles and shins made of vulcanized high-density rubber to increase the impact of my "Pistol" and "Stamp" moves. Most importantly, it featured a lattice of cooling vents along the spine and underarms to help dissipate the "Heat."
I stepped out into the sunlight of Ground Beta. The class looked incredible. Iida looked like a high-speed knight; Bakugo looked like a walking armory; and Midoriya... well, Midoriya looked like a green bunny, which I knew was a tribute to All Might.
"YOU ALL LOOK DASHING!" All Might shouted. "NOW, FOR THE BATTLE TRIAL! WE WILL DIVIDE INTO TEAMS OF HEROES AND VILLAINS! TWO-ON-TWO INDOOR BATTLES!"
He began drawing lots. I watched as the canon pairings formed. Midoriya and Uraraka. Bakugo and Iida. But then, my name was called.
"TEAM J! THE HEROES WILL BE KOTA SORA AND TSUYU ASUI!" All Might announced. "THEY WILL BE FACING TEAM I... THE VILLAINS, SHOTO TODOROKI AND MEZO SHOJI!"
I felt a cold shiver go down my spine—and not just because of the pairing. Facing Todoroki Shoto this early was a nightmare scenario. He was the son of Endeavor, a recommendation student, and arguably the most powerful person in the room.
I walked over to Tsuyu, who was tilting her head, her large eyes blinking at me. "Ribbit. You're the rubber boy, Sora-kun. I'm Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsu."
"Nice to meet you, Tsu," I said, trying to shake off the nerves. "Any ideas? Todoroki is... a lot to handle."
"He's strong," she said simply. "But he hasn't moved much during the tests. He relies on his Quirk. My mobility is good, and you can stretch. Maybe we can stay out of his reach?"
"Indoor combat makes that hard," I muttered, looking at the multi-story concrete building we were assigned to. "Shoji is a scout. He'll find us the second we enter. And Todoroki... he doesn't like to waste time."
All Might's voice crackled over the monitors. "VILLAIN TEAM, ENTER THE BUILDING AND PREPARE! HERO TEAM, YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO PLAN!"
As Todoroki and Shoji disappeared into the structure, I turned to Tsu. "Tsu, listen. My rubber body has a major weakness I haven't talked about. If I get too cold, my molecules slow down. I become brittle. If Todoroki uses his ice to freeze the whole floor, I might snap if I try to stretch."
"Ribbit. That's a big problem," she said, her finger to her chin. "So you need to stay warm?"
"Exactly. I can generate internal heat by moving, but it's exhausting. Here's the plan: Shoji is on the fifth floor with the weapon. Todoroki will likely stay on the lower floors to intercept us. He's arrogant—he thinks he can end this in one move. I want you to take the outside of the building. Use your tongue and stick to the walls. Avoid the interior entirely until you reach the fifth floor."
"And you?"
"I'm going to be the distraction. I'll take the stairs. I'll force him to focus on me. If I can keep him talking or fighting, you slip through the window and tag the bomb."
"It's risky," she said. "He could freeze you solid."
"I'm a lot tougher than I look," I said, though I wasn't entirely sure I believed it.
"START!" All Might's voice echoed.
I charged through the front door. The hallway was silent, the air already smelling faintly of frost. I didn't run; I moved in a low crouch, my hands skimming the floor. I needed to stay "loose."
I reached the second floor. The temperature dropped ten degrees. Frost began to bloom on the concrete walls like crystalline flowers.
"I know you're here, Todoroki!" I shouted. My voice echoed in the empty halls. "The 'Recommended' prodigy. Are you really just going to hide in the freezer?"
A soft sound behind me. I spun around, my arm already stretching into a defensive coil.
Todoroki was standing at the end of the hall. He looked bored. His right side was already shimmering with ice. "You're the one from the exam," he said quietly. "The one who came in second. You have a stretching quirk. High mobility. High durability."
"Something like that," I said, my heart hammering. I started bouncing on my toes, a rhythmic thwip-thwip sound. I needed to build friction. I needed the "Heat."
"It doesn't matter," Todoroki said. He stomped his right foot.
CRACK.
A wave of ice, jagged and massive, erupted from the floor. It moved with the speed of a freight train, filling the entire width of the hallway.
In the anime, this move ended the match instantly. Most students would have been frozen to the wall before they could blink.
"Gommu Gommu no... ROCKET!"
I didn't try to outrun the ice. I grabbed the ceiling pipes and yanked myself upward, my body flattening against the concrete overhead as the ice roared beneath me, missing my feet by inches.
I didn't stop. I used the tension to launch myself forward, flying over the frozen wave toward Todoroki.
"Gommu Gommu no... PISTOL!"
I threw my punch in mid-air. My arm stretched fifteen feet, my fist aiming straight for his chest.
Todoroki didn't move. He simply raised his right hand, and a wall of ice sprouted in front of him. My fist slammed into the frozen barrier.
SHATTER.
The ice broke, but my hand felt like it had hit a brick wall. Worse, the cold was immediate. The "Heat" I had built was being sucked out of my limb by the sheer thermal mass of his ice.
I retracted my arm, but it felt sluggish. It didn't snap back with the usual crack; it came back with a dull, wet thud. I landed on the ice, my sneakers struggling for grip.
"Your quirk is based on kinetic energy and elasticity," Todoroki analyzed, his voice devoid of emotion. "But rubber has a glass transition temperature. If I drop the room to forty below, you'll shatter like a porcelain doll."
"You... talk too much," I panted.
I began to run in place, my legs moving in a blur. I was intentionally creating friction within my joints. My skin began to turn a light pink. I felt the "Heat" stirring in my chest, fighting back against the numbing cold of the room.
"Gommu Gommu no... GATLING!"
I unleashed a barrage. I didn't hit him; I hit the ice around him, trying to create enough vibration and chaos to mask my real intent. Fists hammered into the frozen walls, sending shards of ice flying like shrapnel.
Todoroki was forced to build more and more ice to shield himself. "Pointless," he muttered.
But it wasn't pointless. I was checking the time. Tsu should be on the fourth floor by now.
Suddenly, the floor beneath me turned into a slick, frictionless mirror. I slipped, my legs splaying out.
"Checkmate," Todoroki said. He raised his hand, a massive spike of ice forming, aimed directly at my chest.
I couldn't dodge. I couldn't move. My feet were useless on the ice.
I have to do it, I thought. The first stage of Gear 2 mechanics. Not the whole thing... just a burst.
I slammed my fist into the ice-covered floor, using the impact to stabilize myself. I focused on my leg muscles. I didn't pump my heart—I wasn't ready for that—but I used a localized contraction technique I'd been practicing in the scrapyard. I forced the muscles in my calves to vibrate at a high frequency, generating a massive spike of thermal energy.
"OVERDRIVE!" I roared.
The ice directly under my feet hissed and turned to steam. The pink glow of my skin intensified to a deep, healthy rose. I felt a surge of artificial agility as the "Heat" overrode the cold.
I launched myself, not at Todoroki, but at the wall. I bounced off the concrete, using the "Rocket" mechanics to zig-zag through the air.
Todoroki's eyes widened. He fired a blast of ice, but I was already gone. I appeared above him, my legs coiling together like a massive spring.
"Gommu Gommu no... STAMP!"
I didn't hit him. I hit the floor right in front of him. The impact, combined with the "Heat" from my Overdrive state, shattered the ice and sent a shockwave through the concrete. Todoroki stumbled back, his balance broken.
At that exact moment, the speaker crackled.
"THE HERO TEAM... WINS!" All Might's voice boomed.
Todoroki froze. I stopped, my body steaming in the cold air, my skin slowly fading back to its normal color. My legs were shaking. The "Overdrive" had only lasted five seconds, but I felt like I'd run a marathon.
"What?" Todoroki whispered.
"Asui-san reached the weapon," Shoji's voice came through the earpiece. "She came through the window on the fifth floor while we were focused on Sora."
I slumped against the wall, sliding down to the floor. My hands were numb, and I could feel the "Elastic Fatigue" setting in. My body felt like it was made of lead.
Todoroki looked at me. The boredom was gone. His eyes were sharp, evaluating. "You were a decoy."
"I was a distraction," I corrected, a weak grin on my face. "There's a difference."
"You risked being frozen solid just to buy a few minutes," Todoroki said, walking toward me. He reached out with his left hand—the side he never used. For a second, I felt a wave of warmth radiate from him. It wasn't an attack; he was just melting the frost on my suit. "That was... irrational."
"Maybe," I said. "But in a real fight, the goal isn't to look cool. It's to win. And we won."
Todoroki didn't respond. He just turned and walked away, his cape fluttering in the cold wind he'd created.
Back in the monitoring room, the class was buzzing.
"That was amazing, Sora-kun!" Uraraka cheered. "You were bouncing everywhere!"
"The way you used the heat to melt the ice... that was a high-level application of physics!" Iida added, his hand-chopping intensifying.
All Might stood at the front, his smile as wide as ever. "YOUNG IIDA! WHO WAS THE MVP OF THIS MATCH?"
Iida stepped forward. "It was Sora-kun! Although Asui-san secured the objective, Sora-kun understood the tactical disadvantage of his Quirk against Todoroki's and created a strategy to counteract it. He played the role of the decoy perfectly, even at great physical risk!"
I leaned against the wall, barely listening. My mind was on the "Overdrive" sensation. It had worked, but the cost was too high. I could feel my muscles "slackening," the rubber losing its snap.
I looked at my hands. They were pale. The cold had been a warning. I wasn't invincible. Against a powerhouse like Todoroki, my durability was just a timer. If I didn't finish the fight quickly, the environment itself would become my enemy.
As the next matches began—Midoriya vs. Bakugo—I watched the screen with a heavy heart. I saw the raw, unchecked violence of their rivalry. I saw Bakugo's explosions and Midoriya's desperate, bone-breaking struggle.
They were fighting for their dreams. I was fighting for survival.
15 Chapters for the Foundation Arc, I thought. Chapter 7. I've faced the strongest in the class and survived by the skin of my teeth. But the villains... the real ones... they won't stop at just ice.
I thought about the USJ incident. The Nomu. Shigaraki.
I looked at my steaming palms and clenched them into fists.
"More heat," I whispered to myself. "I need to be able to burn through anything."