Chapter Text
Authors Note:
With 3 months to discover how OfA has interacted with Síat's biology and quirk, he has time to refine techniques and adjust to the upgrade.
By the way, I actually like spinach now, but I didn't when I was little, and spent most of my teenage years assuming that hadn't changed.
「Alright, so my blood just replenishes passively, rapidly, now? I feel like I'm going to need to update my diet... Not by much, I suppose, most of the things I like are iron rich and good for blood loss, but I definitely need to get to being able to eat more of it. Maybe find richer alternatives, like... Eugh, spinach... Oh, and bone marrow. That'll help keep my bones from hollowing out, getting nutrients that boost my own marrow directly from similarly structured sources all but guarantees I'm getting everything I need.」 Síat looked over his notes. "Since when do I default to kanji?"
Yoichi, deep within the well of One for All, chuckles warmly. It's not your default, boy, it's just an instinctual adjustment. You know these notes are going to the school at some point. Oh, you forgot the の in 'marrow heavy focus' for the Gyukotsuzui. Remember that adjectives rule.
"Ah fuck." He starts rewriting on a new page.
All Might looks over his shoulder. 「Oh good, you caught that... That was driving me crazy.」
「Yes, definitely caught it myself, no voices in my head gently correcting me...」 Síat cleared his throat.
All Might looked over Síat's jagged hard blood armor. 「I think it works, but it's a little... Scary. Does it have to look like that?」
「Ah, see, that's where the infusion of Hikage's essence comes in. It only looks like this when I'm about to get hit! Though I haven't actually decided what to make it look like at other times, yet. I was thinking a duster, or something, but I dunno. Maybe something less Noir Detective and more Gentleman Hero. Maybe...」 Síat furrows his brow. The armor shivers and shudders, softening into shifting fabric. "♪If you're blue, and you don't know where to go to, why don't you go where fashion sits...♪" The fabric settles into the shape of a 3-piece suit, with shoes, a shirt, and a tie.
All Might can't help himself... "♪PUTTING ON THE RITZ!!!!!♪"
Síat laughs. 「Alright, what do you think?」
All Might looks it over. 「Better. Can you maintain it? I assume when it hardens, it can crack.」 He touches Síat's shoulder. 「Wow, it actually feels like fabric... Not silk, but definitely close...」
「Oh, yeah, it can crack, to be sure, but it'd take a massive blow. I'm pretty sure I can get it to tank a punch from that Death Arms fella with little more than a spiderweb fracture. You could probably knock it off completely, though. And that's without adding a smash technique. Gotta work on that, I need to be able to make up for the fact that my body didn't get your durability, if I'm gonna face off against people on par with Sham-Rock's hardest hitting foes.」 Síat rolled his shoulder.
「What happens when you lose consciousness?」 A rare moment of genuine practicality from All Might.
「That's what the pants I'm requesting from the support department are for. Keeps the public from seeing my willy.」 Síat chuckles.
All Might, Ghost Might, and Síat are standing by the water's edge.
All right, Young Rahill, this is what we've been practicing for! Show the real me that smash we've put together! Ghost Might's grin is incandescent.
All Might scratches his head. 「So you're telling me you've come up with a way to knock down heavy fortifications, potentially with a single blow?」
「To be sure, to be sure. I haven't really been able to lower or raise the power output, or the distance, but I figure if I aim it right, I can blow through what needs blowing through, and minimize collateral.」 Síat stares out into the ocean, and takes a deep breath. He draws his fist back. "Oileán na Smaragaid..." A large hammer head forms in solid blood at the end of his fist. He launches his fist forward, and the head extends out with a long handle. "SMASH!!!!!!!" The blood maul launches from his fist, and the air pressure warps, a loud boom blowing sand and water back. The maul clears 3 kilometers before becoming a pink mist, the water between parting like the red sea.
All Might and Ghost Might brace against the blowback, their grins matching in sincerity.
Síat staggers backwards, pale, but rapidly flushing again as his passive regeneration does its work. "MACH 3 HAMMAR!!!!!!!" He pumps his fist into the air, bouncing a little in excitement.
「Hey, All Might, can you come be Ghost Might's sparring partner for a bit? I need to figure something out.」 Síat had the whole Donnybrook Affair out on the beach.
All Might looked a little incredulous. 「What could our sparring help you figure out?」
「Well, the whole family moves independently, relying on their own reflexes, but I need to know if that eats at my own brain's processing power, or if I'm still fighting at 100% while they're also fighting. I needed an even number of sparring partners, and since you can't summon a blood weapon, and also don't really need one, I figured pairing you with the one who also doesn't need a weapon would be best.」 Síat stretches. 「I'm gonna be sparring with Yoichi. He's spent every generation being in a hero's head, but he doesn't have a quirk style, so he's pretty much the closest to evenly matched I have. You're the variable. You're not in my head, you'll DEFINITELY be fighting at full processing power, so while your opponent is physically stronger and faster, if you can pin him, that would mean I'm a little bit slower with everyone out.」
「And if I can't?」
Síat grins. 「Then I am an entire team in one convenient 185cm package. With a distance limit, but still. Once I can get them talking, rescue work will be just as amazing as villain fights.」
All Might did NOT win. Toshinori sat wheezing in the sand.「He fights with strength I no longer possess, and the experience I've obtained since I did. I should feel inferior, but... If I'm being honest, this is the most reassuring thing I could have possibly discovered. Even when I'm gone, the symbol of peace will continue to thrive. But how will you explain being able to summon me?」
Síat, it turns out, did not win either. Bruises and welts covered his face and body from the blood sparring katanas. 「Ngh... That's easy... So if my quirk was awakened by my mother's death, and I claim ma IS my mother, then the other six could be other people I have to come up with a story for. Some of them, maybe, are other people I've tried to save, and some of them... Some of them could be people I've acquired through blood transfusions. As for Ghost Might... I'm a foreign kid looking to apply to UA, and you're one of the few heroes who speaks English. Of COURSE you spent time training me, and of COURSE your blood ended up in me. It would also explain why I started leaving my blood behind. I'm trying to avoid copying anyone else. Especially a villain, considering your copy thinks and talks like you.」
Toshinori takes this in. 「It's clever, but... Are you sure you're comfortable using your mother's death as your cover for One for All?」
Síat's voice grows grim, but determined. 「She's been my motivation as long as I can remember for becoming a hero. She's the reason I started, and I think she'd be honored to be a part of it. And given the danger to me of people finding out about One for All, I feel confident she'd be okay with her role being my alibi.」
「If you're certain, Young Rahill... You should run your alibi by Nezu. He'll be able to help you refine it. The other 6 vestiges will need good stories.」 Toshinori placed a skeletal hand on Síat's shoulder. 「The Entrance Exam is in two days. Rest, and eat, well. You'll need everything you have to put behind your efforts.」