My Hero Academia: The Dragon's Quirk

Two weeks. In the normal life of a teenager, two weeks is a period that feels like an eternity, filled with school drama, homework, and waiting for the weekend. For Tatsumi, these past two weeks felt like a strange time anomaly, an awkward adjustment period where his two vastly different worlds—the world of a hero student and the world of a shadow soldier—clashed in the silence of his mind.

On the surface, he had managed to reintegrate perfectly. He attended classes, had lunch with his friends in the cafeteria, and participated in group training sessions. He smiled at Kaminari's jokes, listened patiently to Iida's fiery explanations, and even occasionally exchanged a meaningful glance with Momo from across the room. He played his part as Tatsumi, the strong and slightly quiet U.A. student who had just returned from "special training." But beneath the surface, a different battle continued to rage.

Every morning, long before his friends woke up, he was already at Gym Gamma. The hot, humid morning air of late-July Musutafu became his faithful companion. There, he didn't train like the other students. He didn't focus on flashy ultimate moves. His training was a silent, deadly discipline. He would stand still for hours, concentrating on manifesting a single part of Incursio—a gauntlet, a helmet, a pair of greaves—with precision and without wasting an ounce of energy, a lesson he learned from Akame. Then, he would spend the next hour pushing his physical limits to their breaking point, his body now enhanced by a passive draconic regeneration that allowed him to recover faster than anyone, an ordeal he learned from Endeavor.

Deku was the first to notice. One morning, when he came early for his own training, he saw Tatsumi. He observed him from a distance, his notebook open. His movements are more efficient, he wrote quickly. No wasted energy. Every punch and kick has a clear purpose. His footing is perfect. This is no longer the fighting style of a student... this is the style of a seasoned professional. It's as if he's fought in dozens of real battles... Deku's sharp observation was unknowingly very close to the truth.

Kirishima, on the other hand, only saw his strength. "Bro! You came back way stronger than before!" he exclaimed one day upon seeing Tatsumi easily lift a training weight that even he struggled with. "That's so manly!"

Tatsumi just smiled faintly. He felt an invisible distance between himself and his friends. They saw the end result of his training, but they didn't see the price he had to pay for that strength—the sleepless nights, the life-threatening missions, and the memories of the horror he had witnessed in the underground laboratory. This feeling of isolation was his new burden, a burden he carried in silence amidst the crowd of his friends.

While Tatsumi tried to navigate his double life, elsewhere, the shadow war continued without pause. Inside the war room at Hawks' villa, now serving as a permanent base for Akame and Leone, the analysis of the stolen data continued to yield horrifying results.

"I found it," Leone said one evening, her usually cheerful voice now flat and cold as she spoke to Hawks over a secure video call. "The money trail from the Yozakura. They're not just funding the PLF. They're using dozens of shell companies—import-export businesses, real estate firms, even some music labels—to launder money and fund their operations. And some of these companies... have financial ties to several minor hero agencies. They're planting their seeds everywhere."

At another terminal, Akame finally found something that made her stop breathing. After days of combing through the Yozakura's "Asset Acquisition" logs, she didn't find Kurome's name. But she found something else. A code name that kept appearing in high-level encrypted communication logs. "Gensei."

"Hawks," she said, her voice urgent. "I found a name. Gensei. It seems he's a high-ranking official within the Yozakura structure, someone who oversees 'special projects,' including the supervision of 'Asset E' before she was moved to I-Island. He's one of the masterminds behind all of this."

Hawks, from his own hidden office, listened to the reports from his two field agents. "Good work, you two," he said. "Keep digging. The more we know about their network, the better our position will be when we finally make a move. For now, we continue to gather intelligence. Let Tatsumi remain a 'student.' The enemy is looking for a ghost in the shadows; they'll never suspect their greatest threat is sitting in a classroom."

One evening, about a week before the Joint Training Exercise, the atmosphere at the Heights Alliance dorm was more relaxed. Most of the students were gathered in the common room, some watching a movie, others chatting. At a large table in the corner, Momo was patiently helping some of her classmates who were struggling to catch up on their studies.

Tatsumi sat next to her, trying to focus on a complex modern heroics theory. Uraraka, Kaminari, and Jiro were there too.

"I don't get it," Kaminari complained, scratching his head. "Why do we have to learn the legal aspects of Quirk usage on private property? When are we ever gonna need that?"

"It's very important, Kaminari-san," Momo explained patiently, a small smile on her face. "As heroes, our actions have legal consequences. Understanding those limits will prevent us from lawsuits that could end our careers."

Tatsumi listened to Momo's clear and logical explanation. With his analytical mind, he quickly grasped the complex concepts, something that impressed Momo a little. There was a comfortable dynamic between them, a quiet understanding. Amidst all the chaos in his head, sitting here, next to Momo, learning about something normal, felt like an invaluable luxury. This was the peace he longed for.

Uraraka, sitting across from him, occasionally glanced at Tatsumi. Her heart was filled with immense relief every time she saw him there, safe among them. His calm and strong presence felt like an anchor for the whole class.

The peaceful moment was suddenly interrupted by a characteristic burst of energy. "HEEEEEY, EVERYONE!" Nejire Hado exclaimed as she floated into the room, followed by Tamaki and Mirio. "We heard you're having a joint training with Shiketsu! We brought mochi to celebrate!"

The presence of The Big Three immediately livened up the atmosphere. Nejire flew straight towards Tatsumi. "Hey, hey, Tatsumi-kun! I heard your training abroad was super amazing! You must have a super cool new move, right? Show me later, okay? Okay?"

Tatsumi could only smile awkwardly at Nejire's boundless enthusiasm. Surrounded by his friends, by laughter and normal conversation, for a moment, he could forget the burden he carried. For a moment, he could go back to being an ordinary student.

Two weeks passed in a flash. The long-awaited day finally arrived.

All the students of Class 1-A were gathered in front of U.A.'s main gate, waiting for the arrival of the students from Shiketsu. The morning air was hot, filled with a mixture of excitement and tense competitive spirit.

"I'M GONNA CRUSH ALL THOSE STUCK-UP SHIKETSU BRATS!" Bakugo shouted, as usual.

"Calm down, Bakugo! This is an opportunity to build inter-school friendships!" Iida retorted, chopping his hands like a robot.

Tatsumi stood slightly behind the main crowd, observing his friends with a faint smile. He felt ready. This was a test, but a different kind. No lives were on the line. This was a chance to measure his strength, to see how far he had come. It felt... refreshing.

A large, elegant bus with the Shiketsu High School logo finally arrived and stopped in front of the gate. Its doors hissed open.

The U.A. students fell silent, watching with great anticipation.

The first student to get off was Inasa Yoarashi, with his fiery energy and wide smile. Behind him, Camie Utsushimi stepped off with her trendy style. A few other students followed.

And then, he saw her.

A girl with striking pink hair tied into two pigtails stepped off the bus. She wore the Shiketsu uniform with its characteristic hat. Her face was pretty, but her expression showed a mixture of arrogance and strong determination. In her hands, she carried a large, very heavy-looking suitcase.

The girl's eyes scanned the crowd of Class 1-A students, her gaze sharp and appraising, as if she were looking for someone. Her eyes passed over Deku, Todoroki, and Bakugo, before finally stopping and locking onto one person.

Onto Tatsumi.

At that exact moment, Tatsumi felt a strange and powerful sensation course through him, a vibration in his soul that had nothing to do with Incursio. It was an impossible and confusing mixture of emotions: a familiar annoyance, a deeply hidden affection, and a profound familiarity as if he had known the girl his entire life. The echo of the Night Raid Tatsumi's soul, which had been dormant for so long, suddenly reacted strongly.

In the middle of the noise and the crowd, their two worlds seemed to narrow down to just that gaze. The dragon had met the sniper.

A joint training exercise, Tatsumi thought, his faint smile vanishing, replaced by a complex expression. It seems... this is going to be more troublesome than I thought.