A Heart Frozen Over (MHA X HxH)

16

"I'm gonna die" Echo whined 5 and a half months later, her new weight pressing down on her shoulders heavily. Kirishima laughed, and Gon did as well. Kirishima had respected his decline for friendship, instead just talking with Echo and occasionally with him a few times when he spoke first. "The exams are in two weeks" Echo whined. Kirishima blinked in surprise. "The U.A entrance exams? You're going?" She glanced over at him. "Oh? Yeah. My quirk just lets me talk with animals so I have to get super buff in order to get in" Kirishima's eyes gleamed. "Cool! I'm going too! I think it's super manly that your trying out with a quirk unsuited for battle though, if you get in we might be in the same class!" Gon smiled. "Your quirk doesn't define your strength, it's what you make it out to be" He glanced over at Gon, then sighed. "I guess. I always thought my quirk wasn't flashy enough to be a hero" He said, hardening one of his arms. Echo blinked, "Who said quirks had to be flashy? I don't think I've ever seen Gon use his in the 2 years I've known him" She said, pointing to him. Kirishima's eyes widened in slight shock, glancing over at him. "He doesn't have a strength enhancement quirk?"

Gon shook his head, "No, I can't use my quirk in most situations. If I did, I'd have to pay for a whole lot of property damage" He said with a sheepish grin. Echo's eyes gleamed. "You never told me what it was I think, or did you? I don't remember." He laughed. "I did, it's called Jajanken. One time I accidently wrecked a whole building with it so I stopped using it unless it was an emergency" Kirishima winced slightly. "Damn" Echo blinked. "Oh right, you described it as a 'big ball of light that wrecks things' right?" He shrugged, "I have 3 forms. Rock, paper, and scissors" He explained, dropping the weight to do hand motions. "Rock, is that big ball of light. Sometimes it's called Jajanken rock bash. Then, scissors uses that same force like this-" He folded 3 of his fingers in, leaving only 2 out. "And it can cut things, like cement and walls" They both watched and listen with slightly open mouths. Then he held out all his fingers in paper. "Paper shoots out a projectile version of the rock bash, although it's weaker."

Then, he realized something. When was the last time I practiced Ren? He thought back, and was pretty sure he'd done it every day for about a year before forgetting one day and never doing it again. Gon activated Ren, then lifted his 50 KG weight. Gon hadn't gotten a bigger one, although both Echo and Kirishima progressed. Kirishima was now at 25 KGs, Echo had gotten to 20 KGS. Today was Wednesday however, so Echo had 40 KGs and Kirishima had 50. Then Gon sighed. "But I'm pretty sure my quirk is one that you would call 'flashy', it literally gives off a bunch of light. I just don't use it. Well, I do every now and again so it doesn't deteriorate" Once every month, he'd go out into an empty parking lot and fire off a few Jajanken blasts so he didn't forget how to use it or get rusty. "Alright, 30 minutes begin now" Gon said. "Ok Lift-"

"Ahhh!" Echo yelled, Gon jumped slightly and Silva glared at her. It was the day of the entrance exams, 6:00 in the morning, and Echo seemed to be panicking. "What is it this time?" Silva grumbled. She seemed to be getting more and more irritable as time went on, and he saw her less and less. Echo turned around with just a sports bra on, Gon actually felt a little surprised when he saw her newly acquired muscles. "I got buff! Well, not super buff but I'm getting there" She said with a grin, gesturing to her faint abs. Then she blinked over at Gon. "Wait a minute, shouldn't you be super buff too? Because you know, intense strength training?" He shrugged, "I guess" Echo slipped her shirt back on with gleaming eyes. "Can I see?" Oh... "That makes you sound creepy and weird as hell" Silva said, looking slightly concerned. He shrugged, then set down his bag and Dawn. He removed his jacket, then his tanktop, then Echo's jaw dropped. "Woah!" Silva blinked, then peeked out from behind the computer and her eyes widened as well.

Gon had a sizable 6 pack, those months of light workouts didn't really contribute but they wouldn't know that. "I was imagining a lot, but not like that! Wow!" Then she frowned slightly. "but your...really thin" She pointed out. Gon blinked, then looked down. Gon was indeed really thin, you couldn't quite see his ribs but it was close. After Shim had died, Gon started eating less. Occasionally he skipped a meal, just not feeling hungry. "Oh, yeah. Been that way for a while" He said with a smile, before slipping his tank and jacket back on. Sadly it wasn't his old one, but a dark green long sleeved jacket. He grew out of his old one, but he never threw it away. "I told you to eat more" Echo grumbled, shoving him a little. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just...don't feel all that hungry." She huffed. "You might fail the exam if you not at your top form! C'mon, eat a big breakfast at least" She said, shoving a plate of waffles in his face. "Oi! That's mine!" Silva protested. Echo waved a hand. "Ahh you don't need it. You're not taking an exam with a low as hell pass rate"

He and Echo walked side by side on the way to the building, Echo was excitedly glancing around and fidgeting like crazy. "Ahh! Ahh! Oh my god!" She squealed. Gon laughed quietly, Dawn comfortably in his arms. "it's just a building Echo." She grabbed his hand with sparkling eyes. "A building where generations of strong heroes were raised! Where the symbol of peace himself went to school!" He didn't really get all the hype, sure this guy was powerful but that seemed to be about it. They had just taken the written exams, Gon thought he did decent but Echo was really panicking. "I didn't know half the answers, damn it" She fretted. Gon put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. "hey, you'll be fine. If you do good enough on the practical than you'll get in right?" She bit her lip as they moved to the practical testing site, "Not if I fail by a lot. If it's a 68 maybe, but 65? That's a failing grade. You might be bad at the numbers and stuff but the hero course paperwork? You're probably a natural" She grumbled.

Suddenly he saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eye and Gon threw out a hand to catch the guy who was falling. "Ah!" He said in surprise. Gon blinked, then helped him the rest of the way up. "You good?" he glanced up, and Gon noticed how his hair looked kind of like his but curly. "O-Oh, sorry" He mumbled in embarrassment, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Gon smiled kindly. "No it's alright, I couldn't just let you fall" They kept walking, and a girl with brown hair came up behind them. "oh hey!" Echo glanced behind her then grinned. "Sup! We got two green haired beans, two brown haired females, and a cat" The brown haired girl and the broccoli haired boy both glanced at Dawn, who was lying comfortably in his arms still. "You sure you want to bring the cat to the exams? It's dangerous" The short brown haired girl said worriedly, reaching out to stroke her. Dawn snapped awake, hissing and spitting. She jumped, and Gon ran his fingers through her fur soothingly. "Sorry, she doesn't like people for the most part. And I can't exactly leave her anywhere"

The broccoli haired kid's eyes gleamed. "Is she part of your quirk?" Echo shook her head. "nah, but Dawn won't leave his side for anything-" Gon's eyes drifted and he paused as he spotted someone. His heart cracked a little when he saw someone who heavily resembled his aunt mito, with long orange hair and hazel eyes. "Mrrow" Dawn meowed, rubbing his cheek with her head. "You good?" The brown haired girl said worriedly, a hand on his shoulder. He blinked, snapping out of it and continuing on his way. "my bad, didn't realize I stopped" he lied, then Echo kept walking. The other two continued on as well, although the girl still looked kind of worried. Before she could ask another question however, they arrived. He, the green haired boy, and Echo all sat down. The girl didn't have enough room so she smiled and went off for another seat.

"WHAT'S UP U.A CANDIDATES! THANKS FOR TUNING IN TO ME, YOUR SCHOOL DJ. COME ON AND LEMME HEAR A PLUS ULTRA!" He loud blonde on the stage put a hand to his ear and turned it towards the crowd. "PLUS ULTRA!" Echo yelled. Gon winced slightly, and a few people glanced at her. "I LIKE YOUR ENERGY, NOW LET'S GET STARTED!"

1558 words

To be continued...