As you looked at the calendar in despair, your heart sunk. Two weeks. You'd been here two weeks and so far you didn't have much to show for it. Sure, you had made new, great friendships, but the muscle mass and skills you were supposed to be gaining? Nonexistent. You'd thought the aching in your muscles would be replaced at some point by strength and definition, but you barely saw any change at all. Toshinori denied it, said you were making progress, but you could hear Gran Torinos whispering. You weren't an idiot, you knew nothing much had changed. You'd gained some muscle mass... you were learning how to fight and fight well, but there were only a few months left, and you were nowhere near ready to face the challenge of All for One.
Toshinori must've sensed your frustration, and after every training session he did his best to encourage you, to list all of the evidence of improvements you'd been making, but nothing seemed to be able to pull you out of your mood. It frustrated him, seeing you so down on yourself even though you were making huge strides in his eyes. He wished there was some way to cheer you up, but he couldn't think of anything. Then, a package was delivered to him one day after his patrols. From the briefcase inside, he had a pretty good hint at what it was. When the task of creating your suit had become too much for the prisons support team, he made a few calls to his friend David Shield, who designed his suits. Toshi had only called a few days ago, so he was shocked when it showed up at his door so soon.
"(Y/N), where are you?" He asked, strutting out of the elevator. If this didn't make you feel better, nothing will. He knew the power of trying on a new hero suit. It was empowering, encouraging. He hoped it would give you the extra spark you needed, he had a plan.
"I'm in my room, what's up, Toshi?" You asked, popping your head out of the door. Your hair was pulled into a wet braid, freshly washed after the days training.
"I've got something for you," Toshi beamed, hiding the briefcase behind his meaty back.
"What is it?" You asked curiously, stepping up on your tiptoes to try and see behind him.
"Close your eyes," He smiled, practically bouncing with excitement. He could see an improvement in your sour mood already, you couldn't resist the excitement of a surprise.
"Why? What is it?" You smiled.
"Just do it!" He told you again. You obliged, closing your eyes. "Now hold out your arms!"
You did as he said, smiling and blushing in excitement. What in the world could this be? You felt something weighty and metal dropped into your arms, and you instantly opened your eyes. It was a thick, metal briefcase.
"Oh!" You feigned excitement, "A briefcase! Thank you!"
"Open it up," Toshinori rolled his eyes.
You chuckled and walked over to set it on the kitchen counter. With the flip of two latches, you opened the case, mouth dropping open when you saw what was inside.
Your hero suit. YOUR hero suit... it was perfect! You delicately picked it up by the shoulders, marvelling at the material as Toshinori smiled behind you. The fabric was smooth and thin, slick and water resistant, almost as if they were made from your own scales. The colors were like a sunset, oddly colorful compared to most of the designs you'd tried. It matched your scales almost exactly, and if you were wearing it in your other form it would've blended in perfectly with your tail. You looked at some of the other features. To your surprise, it didn't leave your legs exposed as the designs they prison had created did.
"C-can I try it on?" You asked, turning to Toshi.
"It's your hero suit," He was beaming, "You do whatever you want with it. I was thinking we could go out to the ocean and try it out."
"I'd love that!" You smiled, giggling excitedly. "I'll be right back."
You rushed off to your room to put on your suit. You were instantly amazed by the comfort the suit provided. It practically felt like you were wearing nothing, and was incredibly light and versatile. You did a quick squat to check its elasticity, and to your pleasure it moved perfectly with you, not even strained by the stretch. The suit was a single, full body jumpsuit that zipped all the way to your neck. It was a tasteful mixtures of oranges and purples and blues that lined the sides of the black suit, like a sunset peeking out from the night sky. There was a sewn on utility belt around the waist, with pockets for whatever you should need to hold there. The bottom of the feet were covered in gripped rubber, allowing the feet to function as boots as well. It was impractically form fitting, but you couldn't help but feel sexy and powerful in it. A small voice in your head told you to spin around, to check your other features out in the suit (they looked great).
Hopefully Toshi will notice... Your thoughts intruded, causing you to blush and turn back around.
One concern you immediately noticed, however, was that there was no where for your tail to come out.
Not letting that down your high, you strutted out into the hallway, where Toshi was waiting, already changed into his hero suit. As he turned to look at you, he instantly blushed, heart doing flip after flip in his chest. The suit was... more form fitting than he'd anticipated, and to his shame he loved it. He averted his eyes, quickly singing some praises about how good it looks.
"How did the prison come up with this? They said they were back at square one last time I checked."
"I may have called in a favor from the man who makes my suits. He never disappoints. I'm surprised it came so fast!" In truth, as soon as Toshi was on the phone with David he couldn't help but gush about you a little bit, divulging the feelings he'd been developing. That definitely played a part in the speedy production. Davids telltale craftsmanship showed as well, there was no denying this suit was made of the same quality as his own.
"You didn't have to do that! The prison team would've figured it out eventually..." You smiled.
"They were taking too long, not making much progress. I knew David could fix the problem in an instant. So, now you have a suit! Wanna go try it out?"
"Absolutely!" You beamed. You couldn't wait to break it in, even if you still weren't sure how exactly your tail would come out... but if Toshi seemed unconcerned you decided to be unconcerned too.
After the two of you had packed some towels and a change of clothes into a bookbag, he took you onto the balcony and with your permission he swept you up into his arms. You blushed as he held you against his chest, preparing to leap into the air.
"Ready?" He smiled down at you, hoping you couldn't hear the way his heart was beating rapidly while he held you so close. You nodded, obviously excited to be flying through the air with him again. With a flex of his calf, you were suddenly soaring through the sky, high above the skyline of the city. You looked in wonder, revelling in just how beautiful, and exhilarating, this was. You zoomed over building over building, occasionally landing on a building only to be boosted off again. He took you further towards the edge of town, the ocean off in the distance, lined by a thick forest.
"Hold on!" He instructed, his signature smile on his face as he made an especially forceful last jump, carrying you miles over the forest, finally landing on the beach.
"I'm never going to get over how fun that is. I wish I could do something like that..." You smiled, looking over the terrain. It was an area you didn't recognize, but the smell of saltwater was comforting and familiar.
"I'll take you out any time you want," He beamed, setting you down gently on the ground.
"I'll hold you to that," You smiled, looking out over the terrain. "So, let's see what this thing can do!"
"I like your spirit. Go break it in! Show me what you've got." He gave you a thumbs up.
"Alright! You've got it!" You said, excitedly bouncing down the sand and towards the water. You hesitated as you neared the shoreline, unsure of just how your suit was gonna handle your transformation. You hesitated a moment, and then looked back at Toshinori.
"Are you sure?"
"David knows what he's doing. Get in!" He urged you, shooing you with his hands. You took a deep breath and took a tentative step forward, then another, waiting with baited breath for your transformation. Once you were knee deep, you pushed yourself forward and onto your stomach as your tail appeared.
You hesitantly looked down to see what had become of your fancy new suit, and to your surprise: it survived! In fact, it looked as if it was just a shirt, no pant legs in sight.
"How the hell did he manage this?" You smiled, looking yourself over.
"I'm not a very scientific person, but the note in the briefcase said something about a specially designed fabric. When pushed by your tail the fabric retracts into your belt."
"How do I get it back out?"
"There should be a button along the side, but I don't recommend pressing it now."
You looked down to your belt and sure enough, a small orange button was present.
"So he got all of this done, in a few days, without every even meeting me?"
"Well... I suppose so! David is the best in the support business. I knew he could do it. Now, how about we see what this thing can really do."
"What did you have in mind?"
"A race. Lets see who can swim faster. How about to that rock and back," He said, pointing to a rock about half a mile off in the distance.
"A race?" You shot him a cocky grin, "You think you'll win in a swimming race? Against me?" He probably could, you know, but you couldn't resist the urge to create some playful banter.
"I think I have a pretty good shot," He smirked, stretching out the muscles on his neck.
"This is going to be actual swimming, right? You're not gonna cheat and just jump over there and back?"
"I'll play fair!" He said, putting his hands in the air. He began to wade towards you in the water.
"Alright," you turned toward the rock, "Just know, I have high expectations for you as the number one hero."
"I'll do my best to meet them," He said, meeting you in the water. "I'll let you say when to go! To that rock and back, whoever gets back first wins!"
"Does the winner get anything?"
"Hmmm... How about loser buys coffee?"
"Sure," You said, ignoring the fact that the only money you had was actually his money.
"Alright, Whenever you're ready!"
"Okay!" You stretched out your tail, preparing yourself to dart through the water. "On your mark, get set, go!"
As you shouted, you dove under the water, propelling yourself forward as fast as your muscles could carry you. You urged yourself forward, splitting through it like a hot knife through butter. The suit you were wearing eliminated almost all of the resistance your body usually felt while swimming. It was absolutely incredible. You didn't know where Toshinori was, but you didn't care. It'd been a while since you'd been able to swim to your full potential. Sure, Toshi's pool was nice, but it was nothing compared to open water. Here you were able to use the full extent of your powers, to let yourself loose, to truly use all of your muscles. It took only a few seconds to reach the rock, your hands slapping against it before you zoomed back the other way towards the shore. You didn't have much time to look, but as you turned you thought you saw a streak of blue and red swimming towards you. He was fast in the water, but not fast enough.
You reached the shoreline a second later, popping your head up and turning to see where Toshi was, a large smile on your fast. He swam up to you an instant later, a smile plastered on his face as well.
"I guess I underestimated you," He smiled, patting you on the shoulder, "I'm sorry I didn't live up to your expectations."
You were shocked, to be honest, that you had swam faster than All Might, but you didn't question it. You let that little bit of pride swell in your chest, it was nice to feel considering you'd been feeling terrible for the past few days.
"I prefer my coffee iced," You smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind. So, what do you think of the suit?" He asked, walking further on to the shoreline and wringing out his hair.
"It's amazing! Its like I'm flying. It makes swimming so much easier. I love it!"
"I'm glad to hear that. I knew David would pull through. Do you want to test out some more stuff?"
"Absolutely," You beamed.
You stayed out there for a few hours, learning how to treat combat in water. It was a lot different than what you'd learned during your normal trainings, but in a way you felt better doing it. Combat on land was all about positioning your feet, dealing with the blows dealt to you and trying your best to not topple over, but in the water Toshi was in your domain. You had many advantages he couldn't even counter in the water that went up to his waist: you could go under as you pleased. You had no restrictions of being able to see, having to hold your breath, worrying about slowing down.
"If only Gran Torino could see this," You smiled, having landed another hit onto Toshinori.
"I think he'd be impressed," He smiled proudly, "You're doing amazing!"
"Thanks," You blushed, "I just have a good teacher!"
He chuckled, "Well, this good teacher is starting to get wrinkled up. Still up for some coffee?"
"Sounds good to me!" You smiled, ignoring the fact that it was nearly dinner time and any coffee you drank now would keep you wide awake tonight.
The two of you went to the beach and got dressed. Toshinori was ever the gentleman as you changed, even though he'd seen you naked many times before at this point. He looked away and held his yellow cape up as sort of tent for you to change in privacy. You treated him in turn, looking away as he changed into his civilian clothes, even though you were dying to see his abs.
You were surprised by his choice of attire, a pair of khakis and a grey hoodie, which he had pulled up with some glasses on. He was probably going for an incognito look, but his huge figure made him pretty unmistakable for the pro hero he was.
"So, where should I take you?" He asked, shoving on a pair of tennis shoes he'd packed in his backpack.
"Hmmm... well there is this cafe I saw down the street from Might towers the other week when I went to the store. Maybe there?"
"Wherever you want, (y/n)." He held his arms out for you, "Shall we?"
He swept you up into his arms once you'd step towards him, the two of you both blushing as he did but ignoring it anyways. He lept into the air a few moments later, dashing over the forest and back in the direction of Might Towers.
"I'm truly impressed with you, you know," He said genuinely, looking down in to you. His face was kind and serious.
You blushed and felt that little bit of pride in your chest swell again. "Thank you. It really is because of all you've taught me, you know." You smiled.
"I may have taught you some of those moves out there, but you're the one with the talent and the skills to do them. You should be proud of yourself, don't count yourself short. You're doing wonderfully."
You were quiet for a minute, his words pulling a lot of things to your mind. Finally, you spoke. "Toshi?"
"Yeah?" He looked into your eyes just as he hoisted the two of you up off of another building. You could see the town coming in to view.
"Do you think I'll really be able to help you defeat All for One?" Your voice was a whisper, the fear you'd been holding inside of you the past two weeks finally being admitted.
He studied your face for a moment, jaw set. Finally, he looked off into the horizon, pulling you tighter to his chest. His voice was firm and sincere,
"Absolutely."
A/N: Hi everybody! Sorry it's been disgustingly long since I've updated, and I'm sorry this is such a short chapter. I have another one that should be published tomorrow, but that will be a short one as well. I have some future chapters already written out, so once I get these last few middle chapters out the ball is really going to start rolling!
I'll do my best to get back to weekly updates. The past month has been really hard in terms of my depression. It's been hard enough to get out of bed and go to work, let alone sit down and write. Things will hopefully get better once all the holidays are over, so I'll try to get back to posting once a week.
I hope you all had very happy holidays, and I thank you for reading my story! <3