I trudged down the mountain, legs wobbling. Mom was waiting at the bottom, leaning against her car.
"How was it?" she asked.
"Ask my legs when they start speaking to me again." I collapsed into the passenger seat. "Did you have to do all this too?"
"The stance training? Of course." She started the car. "Though I heard you're progressing faster than I did."
"Really?"
"Mm. Kuro called. Said you might be ready for Thunder Palm training by next week."
"What's Thunder Palm?"
She smiled. "You'll see."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Because watching you figure it out is half the fun." She reached over and ruffled my hair. "Want to stop for ramen?"
"God yes."
As we drove, I caught her glancing at me.
"What?"
"Nothing." She turned back to the road. "Just... be careful with what Kuro teaches you, okay?"
"It's just martial arts, mom."
"No," she said quietly. "It's never just martial arts."
I wanted to ask what she meant, but my legs chose that moment to start cramping, and the rest of the ride was mostly me trying not to scream.
I dragged myself up the mountain before sunrise, my legs still screaming from yesterday. The posts cast long shadows in the dim light, like accusing fingers pointing at my poor life choices.
Kuro sat in his usual spot, sake bottle already half empty.
"You're early," he said.
"Couldn't sleep. Legs hurt too much."
He grunted, taking another sip. "Good. Pain means growth."
"Pain means pain, old man."
"Ready to quit?"
I dropped my bag and stripped down to my undershirt. The morning air bit at my skin, but I stepped between the posts anyway. "Let's get this over with."
"Confident today." Kuro stood up, bones cracking. "Show me the stance."
I settled into position, feeling yesterday's muscle memory kick in. The burning started immediately, but underneath it was that weird sensation of connection to the ground.
"Better," Kuro said, circling me. "Now hold it for two hours."
"That's it? No sage advice? No cryptic wisdom?"
"Nope." He sat back down on the steps. "Just you and the ground."
The first thirty minutes were hell. My thighs shook, sweat dripped into my eyes, and every fiber of my being screamed to move. But underneath all that, something clicked.
I felt it in my core first - a familiar ripple of power. My Limitless quirk responded to my focus, the twelve-petaled lotus in my eyes spinning lazily.
"Interesting," Kuro muttered.
The infinite space between me and the ground shifted, not quite solid, not quite void. I could feel every grain of dirt, every root, every minute vibration through that endless distance.
"You're cheating," Kuro called out.
"Am I?" I didn't break stance. "You never said I couldn't use my quirk."
"Hmph. Shinji said the same thing."
"Did he use his quirk too?"
Kuro took another drink. "Took him three days to figure it out."
I grinned through the pain. "Guess I'm better."
"Cocky brat." But I heard the approval in his voice. "One hour down. Keep it up."
The second hour was different. With my quirk active, I could maintain the stance easier, but the mental strain built up fast. Controlling infinite space wasn't exactly lightweight work.
"Focus slipping," Kuro said.
"I got it."
"Do you?"
He flicked my forehead. The impact rippled through infinite space, trying to knock me back. I gritted my teeth and held, redirecting the force down through those endless layers between me and solid ground.
My feet didn't move an inch.
"Not bad." Kuro scratched his beard. "But-"
He struck again, faster this time. Three rapid flicks, each one carrying enough force to shatter concrete. I caught the first two, but the third slipped through my defenses and sent me stumbling.
"Damn it!"
"Reset," Kuro said. "Twenty minutes left."
I got back into position, adjusting my quirk's output. The lotus in my eyes spun faster, responding to my irritation.
"You know," I said through clenched teeth, "some actual instruction would be nice."
"Would it?" Kuro sat back down. "Tell me what you learned just now."
"That you're a sadistic old man?"
"Besides that."
I thought about it, feeling the infinite space pulse with each heartbeat. "The stance... it's not just about being unmovable. It's about... flow?"
"Go on."
"When I tried to just tank those hits, I failed. But when I redirected them..." I focused on the sensation. "It's like the force has to go somewhere."
"Now you're getting it." Kuro stood up. "Ready?"
"For what?"
His finger jabbed toward my forehead again, but this time I was ready. I let the impact flow through infinite space, guiding it down, around, and...
Back up.
Kuro's eyes widened as his own force reflected back at him. He skidded back several feet, catching himself on one of the posts.
"Ha!" I pumped my fist. "How's that for-"
Pain exploded through my skull as another flick caught me completely off guard. I landed flat on my back, staring at the morning sky.
"Rule one," Kuro said, standing over me. "Never celebrate early."
"Noted." I sat up, rubbing my head. "How long was that?"
He checked his watch. "Two hours and three minutes."
"Seriously?"
"Yep." He offered me a hand up. "Congratulations. You beat Shinji's record."
"So now we move on to the cool stuff?"
"Now," he said, "we do it again. Without the quirk."
I groaned and got back into position. The sun had fully risen, promising another long day of pain and cryptic lessons.
But as I settled into the stance, I felt something different. That connection to the ground remained even without my quirk active, like my body had learned something my power only helped reveal.
"Hey, old man?"
"Mm?"
"What happened after Shinji mastered this?"
Kuro was quiet for a long moment. "He got stronger. Much stronger." He took another drink. "Strong enough to make mistakes that changed everything."
"What kind of mistakes?"
"The kind you're not going to make." He adjusted my posture with a sharp jab. "Now focus. The ground's trying to tell you something."
"The ground's telling me I'm an idiot for letting you train me."
"That too." He grinned. "But listen harder."
I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the stance. The burning in my legs faded to background noise as I focused on that connection. Without my quirk's infinite space to play with, it felt more... real somehow.
More human.
"I think..." I started.
"Yeah?"
"I think the ground's telling me you need to lay off the sake."
The water bottle that bounced off my head was totally worth it.
==========
[Next time on "Yoichi's Hero Academia"]
"For the last time, Yoichi, you can't just sleep through the training montage!" Kuro-sensei's voice boomed through the studio.
I cracked one eye open from where I'd sprawled across the floor. "But sensei, it's a montage. Isn't that the whole point? Time skip through the boring parts?"
"Get up, you lazy—" Kuro grabbed my collar and hauled me to my feet. "This is exactly why we need to show the viewers what real training looks like!"
"Real training involves a lot of napping." I dusted off my pants. "And eating. Don't forget the eating."
"You..." Kuro's eye twitched. "Ten months! We have ten months to get you ready, and you want to spend it sleeping?"
"Well, when you put it that way..." I tapped my chin. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Readers!" Kuro turned to address the camera directly, completely ignoring my attempts to sneak back to my nap spot. "Don't let this fool discourage you! Drop those power stones and comments below if you want to see what real training looks like! This kid needs all the motivation he can get!"
"Hey, I resent that—"
"Until next time on 'Yoichi's Hero Academia'!"