Haru wasn't having a good day. He hadn't slept last night, and now he was forced to run as his life depended on it from the ugly monsters, while mentally he was trying to break into the U.S.J server.
Normally, his quirk requires him to give full attention to whatever he is hacking, and it brings him to a virtual world, leaving his real body vulnerable to attacks.
However, over the years, Haru had found a way to combat this. Two main ways.
Firstly, if he is hacking something similar or the process needed to hack something is similar to the ones he had practised before, then he could sub-consciously do it, while most of his attention is focused on the physical world.
It's pretty similar to how one drives a car while being in a different world in their head.
Secondly, he could do multitasking. Well, it's not multi-tasking in literaly sense, as Haru just has only one consciousness. It's more of a context-switch method.
In layman's terms, it's like him paying attention in class while scrolling on his phone. He could technically track whatever is happening in both classes and on his phone, but the efficiency of individual tasks is low.
This way, Haru could be aware of the physical world, while slowly trying to inflitrate in the virtual world.
"What's with that wind?"
Haru looked to his right and found Pixie-bob running. His eyes went to the faux paws on her palm before he looked at her.
"I have hacked the air around me, such that it doesn't give me resistance when I move."
She blinked. "Wait, what? You can hack real stuff, too?... Doesn't hacking limit to the internet?"
Haru chuckled before quickly ducking below a tree branch.
'Almost got my face smashed. Is she talking to me to distract me?' He suspiciously looked at her.
Despite being nearly 30, Pixie-bob did look in early 20s. Her face was smooth.
"So?"
Haru blinked. "Right, so my quirk allows me to see things in kind of data, and it allows me to breach it. Of course, I can't influence things at the micro-level, but it's pretty useful normally. I kind of stumbled on this use-case when I was a kid, wanting to wake up without an alarm clock."
"Oh... So, you could hack bodies? What about quirks?"
"Yup. I could hack bodies and quirks, too. In fact, it's my main method of attacking. Basically, as long as I can touch others and activate my quirk, in a few seconds, I could take control of their muscles and rapidly contract them in less than a second, such that they get damaged beyond use, making them immobile.
For quirks, the time it takes is too long, and my area of influence is limited due to the complexity of the quirks."
Haru side-stepped a mud arm without looking back.
Pixie-bob winced. "That sounds painful."
Haru shook his head. "I can make it painless if I want by disabling the pain receptors."
"Neat." Pixie-bob blinked. "Mandlay is calling me, so I will go. Good luck. Try not to die." With that, she stopped before running in the opposite direction.
Haru glanced at her retreating figure. "She is agile." He muttered before dodging another grab.
The entire day was a torture, save for the lunch, which brought a half-hour respite.
Haru was barely able to hack the entire U.S.J a little before 5 pm. After that, he personally vented his frustrations on the mud-golems that were chasing him.
"You guys would have to make your own food. Yesterday was the last day you would have been spoon-fed. As heroes, you need to know how to cook in extreme cases."
With that, the class 1-A started cooking.
"Time to show-off, Haru-kun. Show everyone your hidden skills." Toru patted him on the shoulder, while even adding 'kun' to his name.
Haru rolled his eyes. "Stop hyping it. I am not even that good."
"You can cook? I am now curious." Denki overhead them.
"Wait, he is a good chef?" Sero was caught off guard. Bakugo's knife skills were already a bit shocking to him, and now there was a master in their class.
Soon, one by one, everyone came to know that Haru can cook. However, by the time the last person got aware of this information, it was too corrupted.
"No way! Haru cooks better than Lunch Rush? I don't believe it." Ashido shook her head.
"Idiot, obviously, I can't. Who's creating such rumours?" He cursed.
They were creating curry.
Though Haru denied all the exaggerated rumours, he unknowingly got the position of head chef in class 1-A.
"Alright. You—" he pointed at Sero, "peel. Thin. Don't massacre it."
"Hey, I'm not that bad—"
"Prove it with your actions."
Sero shut up and reached for the peeler.
"Kaminari, rice. Wash it properly."
Kaminari stared at him. "Since when are you the kitchen general?"
"Weren't you just shouting about it moments ago? Now, face the consequences."
"Mina," Haru continued without missing a beat, "cut onions. Small dice. Kirishima, potatoes. Big chunks. They need to survive pressure cooking."
Kirishima grinned. "Manly."
Mineta hovered uselessly near the counter. Haru glanced at him once.
"…You can hand running the fire or some other work."
"Kay."
Within minutes, the kitchen fell into a rhythm. Knives hit boards in staggered beats. Steam rose. Someone cursed when onions did their job properly.
"Angle the knife," Haru said, reaching over Mina's shoulder to adjust her grip. "You're ruining them."
Kaminari lifted the rice pot, water still faintly cloudy.
Haru stared at it.
Kaminari sighed and went back to the sink.
By the time the curry finished simmering, the room smelled warm and heavy, the kind of smell that made people linger near the stove without realising it.
"Maybe, all that hard work might be worth it," Toru muttered. She didn't think that Haru would micromanage this much. It was more tiring than following instructions during their practical classes.
After settling on the dining table, they finally started eating.
Silence followed the first few bites.
Then Mina leaned back in her chair, spoon still in hand. "Okay, hold on."
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at Haru. "Your dateable rating just skyrocketed."
Sero choked on the broth. Kaminari laughed. Kirishima nodded like this was a serious academic assessment.
Haru blinked. "Huh?"
"I'm serious," Mina continued. "Looks? Pretty-good. Quirk? Cool. Cooking? Top-tier." She gestured around. "If just your personality wasn't like this..."
Haru pointed his spoon at them. "My personality is fine."
Mina tilted her head. "Is it?"
"Absolutely,"
Sero smirked. "Debatable."
Haru's lips twitched. "What's wrong with my personality?"
Mina shook her head. She pointed at Todoroki. "You just need a bit of mysterious vibe. Just learn from him. You don't need too much; a little bit is necessary."
"I am pretty mysterious. You guys don't know a lot about me." 'Just look at my parents, they give me a top-tier background, no less than Todoroki, and they don't even know that. Then, there's my sister. They still don't know that she's in U.A.'
"Doubtful." Mina shook her head.
Mineta nodded. "You are a pretty open kind of guy. The kind, who wouldn't hesitate to answer when asked how many times you nutted in a day."
"What the fuck is that analogy?" Haru looked at him with a flabbergasted face.
"Mineta! This is highly inappropriate to say when we are in a public setting! Moreover, we are having dinner. You should..." Ida scolded the ball-head.
The night came sooner than Haru wanted. Throughout the day, he hadn't gotten much time to think about his predicament. Not only was the training gruelling, but he was sleep-deprived.
'I still haven't devised the plan to save Katsuki. I can't just say that we are going to be attacked. I am pretty sure that Sensei and others would easily believe me, but what about the aftermath? How am I gonna explain how I got to know this information?
With existences like Principal Nezu and my dad, this is too risky. What should I do?'
Haru started trying to come up with a solution while turning on the bed.
'Maybe, I can become his partner in that activ—' Haru's heart almost stopped when he looked at red eyes.
"You fucking scared me. What's with you and looking at me with those damned red-eyes!?" Haru shouted at Katsuki.
"Tch, such a scared-cat." Katusuki got up from his futon before folding it. Haru got a sense of deja vu before he slowly turned to look at the clock.
The clock stared back at him.
4:58 am
This scene was scarier than any horror movie Haru had watched.
"No..."
Katsuki turned to him.
"No...way."
'There's a villain attack that is going to happen soon, and I haven't slept for two nights straight...'
"FUCK!"
***
Training resumed in the forest; this time, fortunately, he didn't have to run for his life. He could train while standing or sitting in one place.
Haru stood before a thick tree, palm pressed lightly against bark.
"From inside," Aizawa said. "No external damage. You have to destroy it while hacking it."
Haru closed his eyes, which were adorned with black circles.
A few seconds later, the ground under the tree bulged slightly. A low crack sounded from within, muffled, like something snapping underwater.
The tree sagged slightly before multiple cracks appeared on its surface. Then it collapsed in on itself, hollowed, roots still clinging uselessly to dirt.
***