[ikki mizuno]

The new transfer student. Ikki Mizuno. He wrote his name on the whiteboard. Everything about it screamed "water quirk, useful to society". But only UA administration knew they had a potential track-star on their hands. It was then and there that Ikki spent time on the field, where students often trained.

The only catch was, he wasn't training. He wasn't doing jack-shit, save for standing around in the navy-blue gym uniform on the field, near the outlines for running laps. His pantlegs were rolled up to his knees, his calves and triceps sporting multiple small exhausts like on a motorcycle or a car. Ikki had a dozen little hello-kitty style band-aids all over his face and neck. Just wait until these people saw his actual hero costume. He had his phone out, and found his way to a student group chat.

He set his phone nearby on a trash-can, and set it on a 10 second timer. Just long enough to post up with a mean glare on his face, tugging at his collar a little with an arm angled to flex his forearm muscle. "...Haven't seen nothin yet."

Some other students were actually running on the field, and nearly bowled him over, prompting Ikki to step aside. Step aside right next to another student. A boy with amber eyes, and more or less the same build as him. Ikki thumbed his nose at the students running, and tried to play it off.

"Are we still kids, or somethin'? Am I gonna walk through a kickball game next?"

Yasu & Yume , 265

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

Ikki Mizuno...

Another student that looked capable and like they knew what they were doing. No wonder he ended up in Yasu's class, although his presence didn't help his own imposter syndrome. He wanted to live an easygoing life and get into photography, but Yume had signed him up for hero school so now he was here. Yasu eyed his classmates with envy, wishing he was talented enough that he could slack off and didn't have to train after class.

''Here's the deal.'' The green hologram of Yume that only he could see pointed a finger at him. ''My powers are immaculate, you're lucky that I'm here to carry you, but that's a problem.'' She pointed at herself with her thumb. ''I'm a powerful adventurer, you're a weak tiny boy with no muscles.''

Yasu shrugged casually. To any outside observer it would look and sound like he was talking to himself. ''Yeah, so what?'' Yume pointed at the field. ''Start running, shorty!''

This sucked. He didn't even like running. He hadn't been running that far and his side was already hurting, how could anyone enjoy this? Being horribly out of practice didn't help, especially not when he failed to properly orient himself and almost bumped into another student. Thank goodness he stepped aside, he didn't want to deal with pissing anyone off this early into his first year.

After taking a moment to catch his breath he looked up and realized it was the new guy. ''Huh?'' He furrowed his brow at Ikki's immediate hostility. ''Sorry I was just running-'' He pointed back from the direction he came from before it clicked in his mind. ''Hey, why were you standing in the middle of the field anyway? If you're trying to make up your mind about running you should stand aside first.'' Uh oh, he was getting ahead of himself.

''Are you sure you wanna pick a fight with him? He's stronger and taller than you.'' Yume chimed in smugly in the back of his mind.

''Shut up, Yume, he can't hear you.'' Yasu said out loud.

''Anyway,'' he sighed, taking a moment to stretch his back. ''I'm Yasu Okamoto, I saw you in class today.''

''And I'm-''

''I said he can't hear you.''

ikki mizuno

[ikki mizuno]

Ikki could only ever escape into his phone, his hobbies, and his peers. If Yasu looked online, he'd see others in his extended family with similar quirks, similar costumes to the one he picked out. Moreover, Yasu would see some fight videos. Some real "this you?" material if Ikki got out of line.

In retrospect, it was embarrassing, on Ikki's part. He'd walked into the field a little while eyeing the camera. He could kind of see Yasu draw closer. When Yasu finally got close, they both moved to avoid a collision. He kind of deflated a little, walking over to take his phone off the top of the trash can, and pocket it. He returned, and tried to be a little more diplomatic. "I didn't mean to get in your way. I already made my mind up; I'm not running. I wanted some sun on me, and I dunno where the soccer pitch is. So I just wanna say, I'm sorry."

He was taken aback, watching Yasu cut himself off to argue with himself. He was confused, concerned even. "...Are you good? Should I come back later?" But it got him thinking. Maybe he couldn't run because he was distracted? Ikki was bored, and giving him a target to hit while training might lighten both their moods.

Ikki got to bouncing on the balls of his feet, limbering up. He nodded when Yasu introduced himself, and started to part his feet. Ikki gestured to a vending machine far off the pitch, by the entrance to the UA indoor gym. His eyes lit up, as he walked back onto the track. His calf-muscles tightened, and a gentle hum came from the small exhaust pipes on his calves.

"I saw that jog you did back there. Tell you what, Yasu. If you catch up to me, I'll buy you a drink."

Yasu & Yume , 318

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

What an odd guy. With a quirk like his, on a field like this, wasn't it pretty much expected that he ran? Quirks dictated almost everything for hero students like them, was he actively avoiding training his quirk or just having a bad day. Ack! If he was having a bad day then Yasu had been unnecessarily rude just now!

''Hm?'' He blinked his eyes at Ikki, taking a moment to realize why he had gotten that reaction from him. ''Oh, no, I'm okay, it's just that my quirk is a loudmouth who doesn't know when to shut up.'' He held an arm up over his head as if he was stopping an invisible person from hitting his face.

Something in Ikki seemed to change just then, maybe he was just warming up and Yasu was overthinking the whole encounter? He did tend to just let his mind wander and make assumptions. It was a bad habit of his. ''Catch up to-...'' He trailed off, the fear probably more apparent on his face than he would have liked as he eyed the exhaust pipes on Ikki's legs. How in the world was he supposed to catch up to someone that came from a family that was known for having running quirks? He felt like a civilian lining up next to an Olympic runner. ''I'm really not that fast.'' He admitted, rubbing the back of his own neck as he took his position. ''But I suppose it's training, right? You're... Mizuno-san?'' He recalled the classroom introduction earlier that day. ''How fast can you run?''

ikki mizuno

[ikki mizuno]

In all reality, Ikki didn't actually care about training in it of himself. He was expected to be here, but he had to make things "fun" to even commit to it. But here was a chance to get Yasu fired up. He could see a brow tented upwards. "For real... can I fight them, instead?"

Ikki idly bounced on the balls of his feet, limbering up as he made his way over to the track proper. "...If I lap you and you stick your hand out, that counts too. Sometimes you gotta work smarter, not harder." But he caught Yasu staring, and his eyes following him back up. He flexed a calf muscle, letting just enough pipe show that the sun caught the chrome.

Ikki leaned in, spreading his legs as if he were doing a lunge, before eventually hunkering down into a track and field athlete's starting position. Everyone there would hear a quiet hum, like a motorcycle's engine revving up. He took off at a decent jog rather than a full sprint. At this point, Ikki moved more like a civilian school's track star, the kind of speed you'd just use to run a mile in five minutes. But there was one thing Yasu would hear first.

"Thirty miles per hour, but let's work on your form first."

Yasu & Yume , 234

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

''Eh? Are you sure? I mean, she can be a bit intense.'' Yasu was clearly hesitant, but if it came down to it he could let Yume out and her and Ikki could duke it out. ''Is that so? I'm a fan of that saying too, but I don't know the first thing about fighting in the conventional ways. I thought I wanted to be a wildlife photographer before I ended up here.'' He let out a small sigh. What a pivot, from introverted photographer to hero hopeful.

''Your quirk looks impressive.'' He dared a smirk, this guy was a lot more chill than he had initially expected. ''Does it ever get... Bothersome? Sorry if that's a weird question to ask. I didn't have a quirk until very recently and even then I have nothing like a mutation power so it doesn't get in the way of my day to day life.'' The quiet hum caught him off guard but it really shouldn't have considering Ikki's quirk. Even as he took off at a relatively moderate pace, Yasu quickly found himself trying to play catch up and keep up with him. ''That's fast!'' He took a moment to work on his breathing before responding again. ''Is something wrong with my form? Assume I know nothing.'' Because he basically did. So far his quirk had hard carried him into UAU and he hadn't the first clue about what kind of hero he was going to be.

ikki mizuno

[ikki mizuno]

"I mean like. Is it still you, or no? 'Cause I was bein' a dick before, but I actually wanna test you, so you can pass Gym and keep that GPA up." So he could have something to measure himself against. Ikki wrote his name on the whiteboard, 水野一揮. But barring Yasu, other people in their homeroom class were a total non-factor to him. Who knows, they could bring this chemistry to the real world and knock shit down. "That's tight. I feel like if you stuck with it, you could shoot for nature docs. It might feel like it, but it's never too late for any of us to follow our other dreams. This is... the family business, but when my uncle retired, he started a podcast with the other old-timers."

Ikki scrunched up his face a bit, looking pensive. Yasu's next comment snapped him out of it, leading to a little smile. "...The heat of my engines burns calories, so I can stay in shape no matter what I eat. But it's hard to use this on ice, and if I slip and fall, I'm gonna get injured." But then he took off.

Yasu kept up well enough, leading Ikki to dial it down a little, staying maybe a meter away from him. He couldn't exactly turn his head without slamming into a fence, so he opted to use his outdoor voice.

"Lean forward a little, shoulders relaxed. You're usin' your feet to pull the ground past you. Too much arm movement or "bounce" in your step is gonna slow you down, and drain your energy."

Yasu & Yume , 271

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

''Not me in the slightest.'' He shook his head. ''My quirk calls herself Yume.'' That probably didn't explain much, only that they were different and she had another name. Putting a hand up to his own chin he thought about how to formulate it before replying. ''Think of it like this.'' He held up two fingers. ''We're two people, sharing one body. Whenever I'm in control Yume isn't, and so on.'' He appreciated Ikki's positive encouragement of his hobby. Maybe one day he could, or even should try to follow that dream.

''Your whole family's pretty famous, right? Do you have another dream besides a career in heroism?'' He started doing some preliminary stretches, but he was still very much a novice. ''That sounds pretty handy, you can have whatever you want for a diet? Besides the part about burning calories, broadly speaking, that makes our quirks pretty similar. Yume can go fast, but she has a problem with slippery surfaces and hard turns.'' Yasu furrowed his brow for a moment and looked next to him as he addressed Yume's voice in his head. ''No, it's not because I'm weak, it's because you're not careful.''

Thankfully before he could get stuck bickering with his quirk he was racing Ikki. Not that it was any easier. He was out of shape and out of practice... No wait, had he ever been in practice? He used to run sometimes back in middle school and he didn't exactly hate sports days, but none of his hobbies had really supported an athletic lifestyle up until now. ''O-Okay!'' He panted, adjusting his posture little by little, too afraid of messing up or slipping. ''Bounce?'' He looked down at his own feet and then over at Ikki's. Did this much thought really go into running? He always thought running was just a muscle memory and a physical training thing. Although Ikki couldn't see it since Yasu was running behind him, he cracked a smile. ''You make it look so easy!'' He snapped back to focusing on his own running technique as he realized he totally forgot to watch his arm movement. ''I feel like I'm getting tired already.'' He admitted, but he kept pushing on. It would be too embarrassing if he gave up so quickly despite being outmatched.

ikki mizuno

[ikki mizuno]

"That’s wild. Is it just an alter ego you put on or like… Or are you a they/them? ‘Cause you’re literally two people? Wassup, big dog?" He definitely forgot the actual word for the idea he’s trying to express. Just on the tip of his tongue. Yasu could see the gears in his head fail to turn. Ikki scrunched up his nose for a second. Felt, for all the world, like he was playing a game and fumbled a speech check. "I’m just Full Throttle Jr at this point… I wanted to play soccer. For Cerezo Osaka, finally putting us over Tokyo in the J1 league tournament. Make a mixtape in my spare time and hit the pop charts too… Marry a girl who’s just okay, not a real city-girl supermodel, not some boring homebody either. Die of natural causes ‘fore she does… Retire when my knees give out and I get maybe 2 concussions… Have a mediocre son like me and continue this vicious cycle."

Something clicked when he mentioned slippery surfaces. "...Same here. At my top speed, any injury is a million times worse. Someone blocked a kick… I could’ve killed them if it connected, but they ended up shattering my ankle." But then he took off.

If someone did the Charlie Brown “pull the football away at the last second” trick, he’d risk an ACL tear. He looked excited though, Ikki following his own advice and modeling that "pull the ground toward you" running style that served him well.

"Good. Feeling tired is good. That means you’re making your muscles and heart stronger. Feel free to tap out at any point and step aside."

Yasu & Yume , 271

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

''Good question. To be perfectly honest, I don't know that myself. I'm a guy, Yume is a girl. If you want to get technical about it, I guess we are actually two different people.'' God he wish he knew more about his power so he could actually explain it all in a way that made sense and wasn't so awkward. However, rather than wallow in misery over his own response, Yasu was much more interested in Ikki's as he explained what his dream was, or would have been had he not gone into heroism. ''That was so comprehensive, you had way more details in there than I expected.'' Yasu was baffled more than anything. Even when he sat down and thought about it all he really cared about was photography.

It was nice to talk to someone who understood the struggles of having a speed quirk for once. That part about injuries being much worse if something went wrong at high speeds really resonated with him. Lowering his voice, he muttered this next part to his quirk. ''Hear that, Yume? You could learn a thing or two from this guy.''

As they were running Yasu mustered a weak smile as he was told the pain was actually a good thing. ''In that case, let me just-'' Before he could even think about tapping out Yume was berating him inside his head about how he was weak and needed to keep going. ''Hey, Mizuno-san...'' He didn't look tired at all, he must have been training his muscles for a while. ''How far do you usually run before taking a break?''

ikki mizuno

[ikki mizuno]

He definitely needed to be stopped. Ikki just dumped all of that onto Yasu, and maybe in the process let his own lack of ambition show. He very well could be an acceptable target for Yume's scolding too..

Nonetheless, that left out one last thing he felt like he had to say. Ikki slowed down to make a turn on the track, fighting for eye contact. "--There I go again. Do you still have a camera with you?"

How far do you run before taking a break. It didn't dawn on Ikki to say this while he was yapping earlier, and he felt a little embarrassed. His eyes widened a bit with concern. Ikki continued to slow his roll a little, already trying for eye contact with those vending machines. "If your body's tellin' you to stop, you stop. Just call it a day, and try again tomorrow. Take it easy, but take it, I guess. That's the only way to make any progress."

Yasu & Yume , 172

i'm not who they approachin'

[Yasu & Yume]

He panted, doing his best to control his breathing and especially his arm movement since Ikki pointed it out. Had he always been moving so wrong while running? How had he never noticed? Even though he appreciated the advice he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed that he lacked that much self-awareness about his own form. ''Hm?'' He was snapped out of his self-doubt by Ikki's question. ''Yeah, just a small one though, I can't carry the big one while I train, and I don't trust Yume to not break it when she's in control. Why?''

He couldn't help but smile in relief at the answer Ikki gave. ''Really? It's that simple? So I guess it's different for all of us.'' A he was answering Ikki he gradually slowed down more and more as the exhaustion was clearly catching up to him fast. ''Huh? I think I'm about to crash...'' He was still smiling all the way until he tripped and fell on his face, sliding along the track before coming to a screeching halt, rolling onto his back as he continued to gasp for air. ''It hurts... Everything hurts when you're running.'' He put a hand over his own forehead and rubbed it as he looked up at Ikki. ''Do you get used to that too? The burning in your legs, the pain in your side, it feels like I'm willingly torturing my own body for fun.''

ikki mizuno