My first ability ticket since I got here.
King Crimson in my lap and Scarlet on my shoulder, I brought my palms together in a silent prayer to whatever force, be it a god or pure chaotic energy, was listening for good luck.
Then rolled!
[Rolling Advantage Silver Ability Ticket…]
[Coat Flames
|Uncommon Ability|
Allows you to coat any object you are touching in flames that form a layer around the object.
These flames do not affect the integrity of the object.
OR
|Clothes Beam|
|Uncommon Ability|
Dragon Ball – You are able to fire off a laser beam that can dress anyone in any mundane clothing of your choice.]
No trash ranked stuff, but did I really have a choice here?
Coat Flames just sounded like Enflame without the durability and cutting ability boost.
And honestly?
Unless an elemental ability specified coming with some kind of resistance or there were traits for that sort of thing, it’d have to sound pretty damn powerful for me to choose it.
I’d done some very, very light testing with Enflame on my fists and suffice to say, if it ever got any use like that, it would be after months, maybe years, of dedicated training.
Even at the weakest I could make them, those flames hurt like a bitch.
Clothes Beam it was.
Maybe this was a sign to truly begin following Master Piccolo’s aura farming ways.
Letting Scarlet outside and setting Crimson aside, I grabbed my bag, quickly heading out for the day.
We texted a bit after things, but I hadn’t had the chance to actually have a one on one face-to-face conversation with Toga after that trouble over the weekend.
And, as I skated through the streets, a big difference already made me concerned.
On the corner where we usually met up, Toga stood waiting.
She looked the same as always, uniform kept in pristine condition and hair carefully combed out, bag held in both hands in front of her.
There was no skateboard in sight though and she was staring down at the ground.
“Morning, Himi.” I said, hopping off and kicking up my board as I stopped in front of her.
She’d been trying to get me to use that nickname for awhile now and while I didn’t mind it, I did find how much ignoring her insistence on it annoyed her a little amusing.
But now didn’t really feel like a good time to mess with her.
She looked up and smiled a bit but didn’t take the lead or say anything.
“You feeling, alright?” I asked.
I’d been told she’d come close to suffering a minor case of anemia but was otherwise fine.
Physically at least.
“If I asked you not to go to U.A, would you listen?” She asked.
“Like I said I’m still not even sure if I’m going in the first place.” I said, trying to figure out where the question came from in the first place.
There was only reason I could see it coming up for.
“What happened the other day was just bad luck.
Wrong place, wrong time, you know.
No school would intentionally throw their students at violent villains like that without any kind of preparation.”
Intentionally was doing a lot of heavy lifting there and even then, if shit hit the fan the same way it did in the show, that wasn’t really going to be true.
Toga lowered her gaze from mine.
“But becoming a hero means doing dangerous stuff.
If you don’t even want to do it that much, why even bother with it?”
I’d been doing a whole lot of thinking about that too.
Ironically enough, talking with her had helped me find my answer for now.
“It sounds like the most interesting job around.” I said.
That whole other life lived and stored in my head had seen me writing in a lot of my free time to put fantasies to paper, indulging in a bit of, at times, unhealthy escapism for things I didn’t want to deal with.
Fighting.
Saving people.
Charging straight towards challenges rather than side stepping them or doing the bare minimum.
I didn’t really care for the idea of being number one or living up to those rigid ass ideals my father was probably running around killing people over, but finding out how much of those larger than life things I enjoyed?
How far could I push myself when I put genuine effort forward?
Ever since Toga asked me what I wanted to do, my curiosity about the heroes and their stuff became less of a necessity and more meant for myself.
It just so happened that following that interest could place me in the action depending on how I went about things.
Toga stared up at me.
Other than the few moments when she was drinking my blood, it was the first time I’d seen a look unsettling enough to compare to the counterpart that existed in my other memories.
She didn’t seem angry but that thin line her mouth had fallen into and the further narrowing of her eyes didn’t exactly scream happy or satisfied.
She really didn’t want me getting in danger.
Toga reached forward, taking my hand into hers and starting our way to school despite that.
Even if she somehow managed to score over me, she was just going to have to accept no for answer if she tried to force it.
XOXO
Some standard news coverage about the alleged vigilante in the trench coat.
A follow up from law enforcement looking into that whole thing.
Then all the usual, from training to school.
The weeks passed quickly, yet didn’t quite bleed into each other.
Spinning a pen between my fingers, I glanced around the classroom.
Luckily that encounter with what the gacha system dubbed a street tier villain had been wrapped up so quickly the news hadn’t been able to get ahold of our identities or throw us in the public eye like that whole Bakugo and Sludge villain thing.
Actual intentional exposure that made me look super competent would probably result in far more rewards than accidentally encountering and surviving some random villain.
Either way, I was looking forward to the period ending.
I wasn’t the only one, everyone, even those who typically ate in class getting up.
Anxiety, fear, excitement.
All three.
I fell in with Toga’s friends, watching all the different reactions.
As we made it to the crowded notice board on our year’s floor, plenty of conversation broke out.
“Akaguro?
That’s that guy who hangs out with Toga right?”
“Man, I thought I’d at least move up from deadlast.”
“Aren’t they dating?
I guess it makes sense for two smart people to get together.”
“You’ve seen his arms recently too, right?
If only I could make my lazy excuse of a boyfriend to go to the gym too.
I need to ask Toga if she has some kind of secret.”
[Feat Accomplished!
Become respected by both the student body and staff.
+1 Bronze Trait Gacha Ticket
+1 Advantage Silver Trait Gacha Ticket]
And thus, my popular phase has begun.
That wasn’t all though.
[Feat Accomplished!
Place first for a schoolwide exam!
+1 Bronze Skill Gacha Ticket
+1 Advantage Silver Skill Gacha Ticket]
My name was displayed prominently on the first spot, a near perfect score obtained on the exam.
I was excited, don’t get me wrong, but I’d be a hell of a lot more eager about all this if Toga’s name was sitting right beneath mine, little difference between our scores.
I managed to spot her with friends from her class near the opposite side of the crowd, our eyes locking.
She looked away, taking off ahead of everyone.
“Maybe you should’ve let her beat you, huh?” Umi, the long haired one, said, as she passed me.
“She didn’t look all that happy.”
“Yeah, tell her I said I’ll see her in gym.” I said splitting off from the two and heading back to class.
She’d taken her studying pretty seriously since that villain encounter, so I’m not surprised she was bothered by the results, but its not like her winning the bet would’ve changed anything if she really asked me anything relating to heroing.
Reaching the classroom, I dropped in my seat, leaning back.
This was the perfect chance to get my spins in too.
I’ll start with the bronze tickets from just now.
[Rolling Bronze Trait Gacha Ticket…
[Comfortable]
|Trash Trait|
You should always be comfortable in your own skin, your physical features do not hamper your mobility or your comfort of life, whether you have distorted features or rather oversized assets.]
Starting off weak it seems.
[Rolling Bronze Skill Gacha Ticket…
[Novice Cooking]
|Common Skill|
You are a novice in the culinary arts, you can cook most basic meals and they will taste good.
But don’t expect to get a job as a chef.
You will however improve much faster than other people if you choose to train yourself.]
Sometimes I found myself questioning why some stuff was in this gacha, but it was titled chaos.
What else should I have expected?
This would be convenient if I went to U.A.
Aunt Nozomi worked digitally but she did have a handful of friends and acquaintances in this prefecture; if she didn’t feel like moving I’d likely have to live out in an apartment near the school.
Being able to cook more than rice and a few other things would be useful.
Now onto the silver tickets where I’d hopefully have far more luck.
[Rolling Advantage Silver Skill Gacha Ticket…]
[Karate
|Uncommon Skill|
You are an apprentice in Karate, A Japanese martial art specializing in powerful strikes, strong stances, and precise technique.
With direct, forceful movements using punches, kicks, knee strikes, and blocks to generate maximum impact.
Practitioners develop explosive power, speed, and efficiency, making Karate a well-rounded combat skill for both offence and defense.
With sufficient mastery, you can enhance your strikes with your internal energy.
OR
|Intimidation|
|Rare Skill|
You are skilled at intimidating people, making them feel fear and shake in their boots with your mere presence, you instinctively know how to present yourself in ways that invoke terror.
I leaned forward in my chair, staring hard at all the information floating in front of me.
Holy shit was this a good spin, and, despite the apparent rank difference, I think there was only one smart choice here.
I wasn’t about to run around pulling a King and try to scare off people stronger than me.
I wanted to be able to beat their asses or at least stand my ground against them and having martial arts knowledge that could take years to learn and fully grasp distilled into my head?
And with the possibility of enhancing strikes using my energy?
I chose Karate without any regret or uncertainty. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Pain welled up from my head, not quite a migraine but beyond that of a typical headache.
It was as if I was suffering a brain freeze without the cold part.
I lowered my head onto my crossed arms and closed my eyes.
Katas.
Meditation.
Different styles.
Other training methods for very specific things like conditioning different parts of my body to be harder like the tips of my fingers.
The information suddenly building itself within my head far eclipsed what came with the Novice Stealth skill.
And it was glorious.
HK-47 had provided a helpful outline to follow but I now had the knowledge to lay out exactly what needed to be doing for a long, long time.
And with my healing capabilities and this knowledge I could grow at a pace others could only dream of matching.
Fighting off a little grin, despite my headache, I raised my head and began my last spin.
I could get pure ass off this silver ticket and still be happy.
[Rolling Advantage SIlver Trait Gacha Ticket…]
[What’s Monogamy
|Rare Trait|
Your potential partners are very accepting of any delusions of a harem or a woman loving you, you might have.
They tend not to question the logistics or logic of having multiple people as lovers.
OR
|Kure|
|Uncommon Trait|
Kengan Ashura – You are a Member of the Kure Clan, a clan of people selectively bred to be assassins and martial artists.
Your genes grant you increased physical abilities, greater physical growth, and better combat instincts.
You can also use the skill “Removal”, which removes the natural limiters the brain has to stop you from using all 100% of your physical strength in order not to hurt yourself.
You can increase your removal percentage by training.]
There was a temptation within my soul that, with a heavy heart, I completely shut down.
This right here had just become the pull of all pulls for me.
Karate and then the fucking Kure Bloodline?
Even if it hadn’t come with Removal built in, there was no universe where I’d pass it up to build a harem of all things.
Well, if I could be 100% sure this was some kind of alternate dimension of the My Hero Academia I knew without all the crap with All For One on the horizon, I can’t lie, I might’ve been singing a whole different tune.
But now was not the time to let the mother grail of ideal pulls slip between my fingers.
Forget a rogue build, things had taken a sharp turn into martials arts and with my quirk things weren’t just looking great.
It was now sunshine and rainbows all the way.
If the Gacha gods were going to create the mother of all omelets for me, I was damn well going to sit down and eat it.
I selected the Kure trait and…didn’t feel any different?
I guess I’d have to try it out in some training later.
With a sigh I leaned back in my chair.
Life was good.
Great even.
XOXO
Life was mostly great.
Toga and I sat on our usual bench in the park I trained in.
Despite being as clingy as usual while we were together, she was unusually quiet.
Even now she was looking straight ahead rather than at me, deep in thought.
Time to move things along myself.
“You-”
“If you go to U.A.
I’m going with you.” Toga declared at the same time I started, cutting me off.
“Can you help me learn how to use my quirk?”
I wasn’t sure if I should be surprised or if I should’ve expected this.
“Is that even a question?” I said, smiling over at her.
“I already told you, when you need blood, let me know.”
After a moment Toga did turn to look at me, the smile returned with one that showed off her sharp teeth.
“Right!
You can’t ever go back on that, alright?”
Maybe it was a bit reckless, especially with the whole delayed part of things, but Toga was choosing to do what she wanted, that smile of hers far too big to be anything but genuine.
I wasn’t going to be the voice that told her she shouldn’t bother trying to be a hero if she really planned on sticking to it.
And I didn’t want to mess up that smile of hers.
XOXO
(A/N: And now we finally see why I chose the pictures I did for the MC.
Bronzdeck is cultured for putting Kengan stuff into the gacha’s pool.
Kure and Karate being pulled in the same chapter is definitely crazy work but after all the subpar pulls he’s been having its about time some good luck came his way.
And its perfect timing for the big timeskip too.
We got a pair of intermissions chapters up then we really are rocketing straight for U.A.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Oh and here’s a character card:
Definitely didn’t forget about that and came back to edit it in later.)