Kazuya led Dante through the gym, weaving past all the men sparring and punching bags being hit with bone shaking force. Dante noticed how everyone here moved with a certain purpose. There was a sharpness to their strikes, each punch was driven by meaning. There was focus in their eyes.
Eventually, Kazuya pushed open a door labeled [OFFICE] .
Inside the room, the air was noticeably colder, and Dante could actually breathe freely. The room was lined with old fight posters, shelves stacked with books on human anatomy and various combat techniques, even some random ancient shit Dante had never even heard of and a single desk covered in neatly organized notes and files.
Sitting behind all of it was a broad shouldered, middle aged man with a grizzled face and sharp, calculating eyes. He had short, salt and pepper hair that was neatly slicked back and he was wearing a simple black tank top that showed that he was still built like a fighter.
Kazuya grinned. "Dante, meet Kaijin. He's the guy who taught me everything I know, and the owner of this gym."
Dante raised one eyebrow, "I thought you owned the g—"
Kazuya covered his mouth and just gave Dante a 'shut up please' look.
Kaijin barely reacted, he was just leaning back in his chair and giving Dante a slow, deliberate look.
Then he spoke.
"…so, this is the kid that gave you trouble right?" His voice was very deep, but also very steady.
Kazuya chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. But he's good. Really good, trust me. And you'll love this part—his quirk has some crazy potential."
Kaijin just nodded, but his expression didn't change. He studied Dante again for a moment longer before motioning to the chair across from him.
"Sit."
Dante sat.
Kaijin folded his hands together, resting his elbows on the desk. "Kazuya has told me a little about you. Said you've got a very unique way of fighting—fast, unpredictable, aggressive. But before I help you with anything, I should know exactly what I'm working with."
His eyes narrowed. "Show me everything about your quirk."
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"
Kaijin smiled slightly. "Kid, I've been doing this for decades. You want a personal fighting style that fits you yeah? A way to maximise everything you can do? I need to know how your body works, how your body works and how you think in a fight."
Dante considered everything he had said for a moment. Then he sighed.
"…Okay."
He extended his arm over the desk. The flesh of his arm melted away, shifting into a dark red semi-liquid sludge. It wriggled unnaturally, tendrils of slime twisting through the air.
Kaijin watched silently, his eyes scanning every detail.
Dante then hardened the sludge, forming a blade like edge. Then he reshaped it into a thicker club, then a claw and a scythe. Next, he stretched his arm around the room, letting it coil around the chair leg before retracting it back.
Finally, he reabsorbed the sludge, letting his arm return to normal.
Kaijin leaned back further, still watching Dante. "And the drawbacks?"
Dante exhaled. "It burns through my calories. The more I use it and the more complex the structures are, the faster I get tired. This has been getting less and less over time though."
For the first time, Kaijin's lips curled into a real smile. "Great. A limitation like that forces efficiency. No wasted movements, you could turn this limitation into a strength."
He tapped his fingers against the desk, deep in thought.
Then, he met Dante's gaze.
"I can definitely make you better," he said simply. "I'll create you a workout plan that builds your strength, speed and endurance without draining your quirk unnecessarily. I'll design a personalised fighting style that seamlessly integrates your abilities. And…" his gaze sharpened. "I'll show you ways to improve your quirk usage."
Dante raised his eyebrows. "You seem pretty confident?"
Kaijin chuckled. "Kid, I've trained hundreds of fighters, some of them pros. I don't guess—I know."
'It's probably something to do with his quirk, could he maybe see my potential or something? A way to see what is best for me? Or is he just smart enough to gauge all of this from just looking at me?' Dante thought to himself when—
Dante's stomach growled loudly.
Kaijin raised an eyebrow.
Dante shrugged. "Told you, my quirk eats through my calories."
Kaijin leaned forward. "Then, let's make a deal."
He smirked.
"Show me everything you're capable of, and in return, I'll feed you as much food as you can imagine."
Dante grinned. "That's a lot of food, you sure you can handle that?"
Kaijin just chuckled. "We'll see." He stood up, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulder. "Come, the gyms got an open area in the back, I wanna see you move."
Dante followed him out, with Kazuya right behind. As they passed through the gym, some of the fighters glanced over, clearly curious. A few smirked, others watched with mild interest.
They stepped into a wide, open space behind the main training area filled with people. The floor was padded and the walls were rough concrete that showed old dents and impact marks.
Kaijin crossed his arms. "Alright kid, no holding back. Show me how you fight."
Dante just stood there, confused. "Against what? Or who?"
Kaijin smirked. "Me."
Dante blinked.
Kazuya laughed out loud and Dante looked over to see him digging into a bucket of popcorn. "This is going to be good." Kazuya said with a thumbs up.
Dante didn't argue. He just took a deep breath, shifting into his fighting stance. A blend of Muay Thai's upright posture and Krav Maga's readiness.
Kaijin? He just stood there. Relaxed. Like he wasn't even taking this seriously.
That kinda pissed Dante off.
He shot forwards, his legs had increased in size to strengthen his acceleration while aiming for a quick jab to the throat, but Kaijin just tilted his head slightly, dodging effortlessly.
Dante followed up with a low kick, but Kaijin just simply stepped out of range.
Dante clicked his tongue. 'This guy is crazy fast!'
Fine then, time to use his quirk properly.
Both of Dante's arms melted into sludge, morphing into long, whip like tendrils. He lashed out, one from the left and one from the right.
Kaijin weaved between them, dodging with surgical precision.
Then he made his first move.
Before Dante's antennae or even his arms could properly register that he had moved, Kaijin closed the distance and slammed an open palm strike right into Dante's sternum.
Dante flew back, gasping for air.
Kaijin didn't even follow up. He just watched Dante's movements. Studying him.
Dante gritted his teeth. 'Alright, he wants to play like that? I can't win. But I'm going to make sure he remembers this.'
Dante reformed his arms and took a new stance. Instead of attacking outright, he let some of his sludge drip slightly from his fingers, spreading across the floor.
Kaijin raised an eyebrow.
Dante smirked, 'Try dodging now.'
The next exchange was a blur.
Dante moved differently. He attacked, but not to land a clean hit, his goal was to herd Kaijin into stepping on the sludge.
The moment he did, Dante commanded it to return to him, trying to throw him off balance.
Kaijin's expression didn't even change and the sludge remained beneath his foot.
Then, Instead of resisting, he used the momentum. He twisted mid air and landed behind Dante.
Next, the sludge flew back into Dante's arm and Kaijin's fist slammed into the back of Dante's head.
Dante hit the mat face first.
Silence…
Then…
Laughter.
Kazuya was howling.
"Holy crap! I wish I had recorded that! I've never seen someone eat the floor so hard before!"
Dante groaned, rolling over. "I hate you."
Kaijin smirked. "Not too bad, kid. But you've definitely got a long way to go. And I'll help you get there as fast as possible."
Dante sat up and rubbed his head. "…So, can I atleast get my food now, please?
Kaijin just chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Let's eat."
The three of them left the gym together, stepping out onto the dimly lit street. The moment they did, Dante could practically feel the stares.
People were looking at them. A whole lot of them.
It wasn't too hard to see why. Kazuya was grinning like an idiot, still hyped up from the fight. Kaijin, the scarred, intimidating middle aged man walking beside him like some veteran warlord. And then there was Dante. A kid who barely looked old enough to even be awake this late, yet he moved and talked like he belonged with them.
Dante easily ignored all of the looks. He was too damn hungry to even care.
They ended up at a small but busy restaurant, nothing too fancy just a place that served big portions for cheap, just like yesterday. Perfect.
The second they sat down, Dante ordered more than half of the menu like it was nothing. He just got his ass beat, so this was his way of revenge. Kazuya just gawked at him, judging by the amount he had eaten yesterday out of Kazuya's wallet, he should absolutely be full enough for the next couple weeks…. But clearly NOT. While Kaijin just smirked, he had clearly expected this.
Food arrived fast. And Dante wasted no time. He started by devouring 3 bowls of rice, grilled meat and noodles, only pausing to breathe.
Kazuya just stared in disbelief. "…Where the hell are you even putting all of that?"
Dante, mouth full, just shrugged. "I burn calories fast, even now I'm burning em just sitting here."
Kaijin chuckled. "That quirk of yours burns through energy faster than I'd expected. You'll have to eat like this constantly to keep up y'know?"
Dante swallowed a mouthful of food, even having to use his quirk to increase the size of his mouth to eat as much as fast as possible. "Yeah, no kidding. If I train for too long I always feel like I'm going to pass out."
Kazuya leaned forward, interested. "How far can you even stretch it anyways? I'm still curious about those antenna you made during the fight."
Dante thought for a moment, a rare occasion of him not eating. "I'm not fully sure. I've only been testing it out since last night. But I can feel through them. It's like…" He frowned, thinking of the right words. "It's like my whole body has these extra nerves. Even the parts that aren't attached anymore, even the sludge."
Kaijin nodded, as if confirming something. "That's some high level awareness. It could be really formidable in battle. If you hone it properly, I doubt you'll ever be caught off guard."
Dante just kept eating and eating. "That's the plan for now."
They ate and talked for a while longer. The conversation shifted from fighting strategies to random stories. Kazuya told some dumbass tale about how he tried to flirt with this cute girl at the gym and got thrown across the room for it since it turned out that girl was actually a guy. Dante laughed way too hard to the point some rice even came out of his nose.
By the time they were finished, Dante leaned back, completely full.
Kaijin leaned back too, stretching. "Alright kid, I expect you to be back at the gym tomorrow so I can give you your plan."
Dante smiled, "I'll be there."
Kazuya nodded, "Go use the shower in the gym, you still stink from earlier dude."
Dante stood up. "Whatever, see ya guys, thanks for the food."
He headed back to the gym first, where Kaijin let him use the showers. Dante absolutely adored showering and the showers here were exceptional, maybe it was because he hadn't showered in nearly a month… but it was still great.
After washing all the sweat and grime from the day off, he felt brand new.
Then he finally made his way back to the park.
His spot was undisturbed and his bag was still there, the food was still fine but he didn't know if he'd be needing it for a while, so he decided to just eat it all in the morning.
Dante let out a small breath of relief. He sat down and pulled out his notebook.
"Today was a win."
After scribbling down some notes on his fight with Kaijin, and the fact he still needed to work on countering throws, he put the book away and laid back.
Then he shut his eyes, and tomorrow? He'd be back at it.
Now?
Now he slept.
———————
Current stats of OC's as of now.
DanteGraves
Nicknames : Blonde Delinquent, Red Devil
Age : 9
Height : 140 cm
Weight : 70 lbs
Quirk : HARDCOIL
…
Kazuya Tetsutetsu
Nicknames : Great Golden Lion
Age : 27
Height : 186 cm
Weight : 190 lbs
Quirk : Golden Armour
…
Kaijin Tengai
Nicknames : ???
Age : 48
Height : 203 cm
Weight : 260 lbs
Quirk : ???