The Start Of Ten Very Long Months

"So, you've returned," Izuku's incarnation of Wrath said as it got up from it's seated position on the floor. Izuku had just appeared within its domain — within the internal representation of their Quirk — having found a suitable place to freely use his Quirk.

"Not going to lie, appearing here didn't even come to mind as a viable possibility. I just wanted to try getting used to using your power and cultivate my Wrath like you said," Izuku admitted. Moments prior, he had tried to call upon his power by recalling the thoughts he imagined would spark the most amount of hatred.

Izuku's pale-skinned counterpart chuckled, "You know, the funny thing is, you have to come here to do just that. Now..." it raised its hands and assumed a fighting stance, "Square up." As Izuku froze up at the implication of the other's actions, his counterpart blinked over to his side and ruthlessly punched him in the abdomen.

"W-what are you—" Izuku was silenced by a kick to the chin that sent him spiraling across the room.

"Get up and fight back. Or don't," Izuku counterpart snorted, "either way, you'll eventually start to hate and my power will grow, but your control won't."

"Isn't there a better way to train my—" Izuku's face was stomped on.

"Like I said," Izuku's counterpart smudged Izuku's face with the right foot it used to stomp as it continued, "You either fight back for once in your life to get a handle over your powers, or you keep taking beatings like a bitch and have me continue to fix all your problems." With that, it kicked Izuku to the other side of the room.

Surprisingly, or not — considering Izuku was within his own subconscious at the moment — everything his counterpart had done had failed to critically wound or main Izuku. The "beating," which easily counted as brutalization outside the world in his mind, merely scratched and faintly bruised Izuku; tearing and kicking up dust on his clothes was the worst of the damage, really.

Alas, for all the reduction to damage his mindscape allotted, Izuku's pain receptors weren't amended much, if they even were at all. The juxtaposition of feeling all those heavy hits contrasted fiercely with Izuku's distinct lack of fatigue, disorienting him. Usually, a person would feel a weakness overcome their body if they were to be hit so suddenly, so harshly; Izuku would know. But, it was like his subconscious actively manifested him as such within the representation of his Quirk.

As Izuku continued to fail to defend himself against his counterpart, the reason for this mechanism quickly revealed itself. His own skin and eyes started to match that of his counterpart, and even in his descent into hate-driven mania, Izuku understood the punishment he was being dealt was for the purpose of promoting the very same emotions that were currently fueling his transformation.

Before his transformation could complete and his hatred eroded what was left of his sanity, Izuku's counterpart was quick to smack Izuku onto the floor for the umpteenth time and pinned him.

"You still there? Nod if you can understand what I'm saying," it said.

For a moment, Izuku simply stared hatefully at the source of the pain wracking his body. He wanted nothing more than to break free and return at least one good hit onto his brutal counterpart. But eventually, as more clarity returned and his transformation started to unravel, and he was about to respond, his counterpart jumped off his back allowing him to move.

"That," his counterpart smirked, "was your limit. What you felt neared the threshold before your instinct and judgement gave way to more primal desires. Don't cross that threshold if you can help it, else I'll have to knock you out when you're training in here.

"Outside of this space, the result will see me take over your body as I did to save your one-time 'friend.' Only," it grew serious as a solemn frown formed, "The actions I might take will become increasingly extreme the more sin you've cultivated.

"So far, you've managed to just barely reactivate your Quirk. Perhaps a puddle's worth compared to the ocean you could potentially cultivate. You imagine what I might do if you cross the threshold in the future," it concluded.

Nothing else had to be said, thus, Izuku continued to "fight" against his counterpart. He didn't have the capacity to dwell on the words of caution his counterpart had left him as he constantly teetered on the edge of his threshold; his counterpart doing its best to keep him as angry as possible without crossing the line.

The incarnation of Wrath would dodge and wait to give Izuku some time to cool down before returning into a beating phase, and this cycle would continue ad infinitum. Despite its apperant proficiency with martial arts, Izuku counterpart didn't know anything Izuku himself wasn't privy to; to a real martial artist, it was just a very efficient streetfighter.

Eventually, though, during one of the periods Izuku was allowed to cool down, he managed to make his counterpart block instead of dodge. It proved that after all this time, what little remained of Izuku's conscious mind had been adapting as Izuku's counterpart had planned. At that point, it judged Izuku to have progressed enough for the day.

With one final toss across the room, it continued to dodge Izuku until he stopped attacking of his own volition.

"Remember to prepare for similar experiences the next time you try to summon my power for the purpose of training," it said before Izuku once more felt his will get pulled to the world outside his subconscious.

The first thing Izuku noticed when he awoke was the lack of sunlight that should have been present, considering he began to experiment with his powers of Wrath near noon. Looking up, Izuku couldn't help but mutter, "Damn… I know a couple hours should have passed, but this is just ridiculous."

He pulled out his phone and paled when he noticed two terrifying details: It was even later than he imagined, around an hour after midnight, and he had several dozen messages from his mother asking for a status update. 'She's going to fucking end me...' He thought as he started running the route to his house, a call to his mother already in process.

Surprise, surprise... She answered after a single ring and proceeded to chew him out for his recklessness for the length of his journey home. His reprieve of the scolding only came after he returned within the direct line of her sight, when she let him quickly go to bed; she had said most of what she wanted over the phone, anyway.

The next day, aside from an awkward breakfast and being held to promise he would be more responsible if he could help it, Izuku was allowed to leave to continue experimenting with his Quirk.

Having focused the entirety of yesterday's time on cultivating Wrath, for his last day before he would have to return to school, Izuku opted to dedicate today to experiment with his Pride; it certainly had nothing to do with the debilitating feelings he would get from just the thought of returning to yesterday's world-class beating.

Thus, Izuku returned to the site of his chosen training grounds: Dagobah Municipal Beach. Upon arriving, he sighed once more at the state the once-beautiful beach had been reduced to. For miles, there were piles of trash and scrap metal, not unlike a junkyard; though, it was precisely for that reason that the place was so perfect for Izuku's goals. There, he planned on learning how to use the Kinetikinesis power of his Pride, however…

'How am I even supposed to approach this?' Izuku thought. Yesterday, he had sat down and tried to replicate the feelings he felt during the sludge villain incident to promote the unique transformation granted to him from his Wrath.

But Pride? His incarnation, where he got most of the information regarding his Quirk, claimed it had been the one to manifest his power of Pride in the first place. Izuku had no experience using the power of his Pride nor could he immediately think of something that might inspire a feeling of Pride comparable to the Wrath he had required to catalyze his Quirk into working for him after a decade.

He sat down and asked himself, 'What do I have to be proud of?' He looked down at his body and groaned, 'I'm a scrawny coward who's never managed to do anything for himself. I've not a single thing I can feel proud of.' He scoffed, 'Not the bone-and-twig composition of my musculature and certainly not the grades I've had to suppress for the length of my academic history, else I'd suffer a harsher beating from Bakugo…

'Should I then find pride in my Quirk? No, of course not. Ignoring the excuse that I've built a foundation for it in Wrath, I'd still resent the fact that its nature led to me living the life I've lived: abandoned, condemned, bullied… I've also just barely started to learn how to use it, if I can even claim that, so I have no reason to feel Pride for making any kind of accomplishment with regards thereof.'

'I wish I could say I'm proud of my mom,' Izuku sighed, 'but we've only just started patching up our relationship. And my hero analysis notebooks? Honestly… They're just reminders of the decades I spent doing anything to not feel, well...' Izuku didn't continue the thought as he found himself start to transform with building Wrath.

But on second thought, as he found that he wouldn't be able to think of anything else that might source feelings of Pride, he let his Wrath consume him; returning him to the nightmare he had lived through yesterday.

Unlike the first time, Izuku didn't appear clear headed. He didn't come with the sole intention to train, rather, genuine feelings of insecurity and worthlessness left him wanting to blow off some steam; even if it most likely meant continuing to get beaten by the incarnation of his Wrath. He wanted to lash out at the world, so the next best option was to try his luck in a setting where such actions would at best only help his case.

His counterpart, though, didn't sympathize with him. A challenge was a challenge and the price to fight against it was the same regardless of Izuku's intent or desire. Several hours later, having beaten Izuku out of his funk, it replaced his negative feelings once with a hatred of being incapable in a fight and then once more with futility for the utter dominance it held against him.

Eventually, Izuku grew emotionally tired enough to not even bother putting up a fight. It wasn't that he wanted to follow his incarnation's advice on getting beaten for the purpose of increasing his cultivation of Wrath, nor was he physically exhausted in his mindscape — yesterday, he had lasted far longer than he had today. He was just depressed, feeling naught the motivation to do anything.

His counterpart stopped once it noticed Izuku's distinct lack of intent — not fighting intent specifically, rather the intent to do anything. After flipping Izuku's body back-side down, where he lied on the floor, it asked, "You're just going to give up? You make it this far just to give up when a little bit of difficulty arises? Pathetic," it snorted disdainfully.

After several moments of silence between the two passed, it asked once again, more forcefully, "You only managed to reactivate your Quirk two days ago and at the first sign of difficulty, you decide to give up?"

"First sign of difficulty? I haven't even met the bar of entry to try! How am I supposed to cultivate something I don't even have?!" Izuku whined as he lied on his side away from his counterpart on the floor. He couldn't help but think, 'Even farmers can't cultivate crops without seeds!'

"Earn it then, you idiot! You don't have enough Pride to summon even a trace of your power? Just invest in something you'll feel proud of accomplishing! Simple, isn't it?" It asked, patronizingly. "You're not proud of your body? Work out. You're not proud of your grades? Study harder and rank higher in your new school. You're not proud of your Quirk? Obviously, you need to learn the meaning of the word, "patience!""

"Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities to derive sources of Pride; or any other type of Sin, for that matter. Remember, you haven't even touched on the power of five other Sins, nevermind Pride. So get over your tantrum and figure out your next plan of action. Today, however," it faltered, "is quickly coming to a close."

"The last thing we need is you losing training privileges from picking up a habit of staying out too late, so get out of here." It wouldn't admit it, but being a part of Izuku, his counterpart cared about Inko more than it led on.

…

The next day, Izuku found himself riding on a new train to his new school. His schedule for the next ten months would have an extra thirty minutes to his daily commute to and from school, but it was worth the trouble just to get away from Bakugo.

His Wrath incarnation had a point, after all: If with a puddle's worth of sin, his transformed state ignored several laws and hurled profanities at everything and everyone in his path, what would happen after a month of cultivation? What then, after a full year? How long would it be before Bakugo managed to set him off and his death became the only way to sate his Wrath?

If anything had kept Izuku afloat during the more than decade-long period he had lived like a Quirkless, it was his fanaticism with becoming a hero. He would thus ensure that now that he had a chance, he wouldn't waste it carelessly. A hero fueled from sin, the source of villainy, would be more than just a challenge; then again, Izuku kept his dream through his adolescence while assuming he would be a powerless Quirkless.

Thus, Izuku's greatest priority was to master as much of his Quirk as he possibly could in the time he had before his middle school days came to an end. Thereafter, he and Bakugou would probably meet once again; they would both doubtlessly aim for U.A, the greatest hero academia in the country.

If not at the Entrance Exams, then surely after they both got in would they cross paths once again. By then, Izuku hoped he'd have a fraction of power his pale-skinned counterpart exhibited during the sludge villain incident necessary to ignore any taunts or threats his one-time friend might throw his way.

Now, however, he had arrived at his new school. His battle against time would promptly begin as he strove to make a new reputation for himself. He would follow his counterpart's suggestion and strive to accomplish things he would pride himself in; starting, of course, with his studies.

In this new school, a whole prefecture away from the one he attended prior, he would begin again with a clean slate. No one would have a reason to bully him now that he had a Quirk, but that didn't mean he would seek friends. With his goal set, he just had to lay low and have everyone ignore him as he worked on his Quirk silently over the year.

Well, that was the plan at least…

"...Utsushimi-san, during lunch, would you be a dear and show our transfer student around?" Izuku's new homeroom teacher asked once Izuku's obligatory introduction as a transfer student was over with.

From the middle row of the right-most column of desks, a bombshell of a teen, with a curvaceous features Izuku had a hard time believing belonged to a girl around his age, stood up and said, "Sure thing, teach. This' a low-key chance to get a new homie, fam."

"Uh… ok?" The teacher was among the majority that hadn't the faintest idea of what she was trying to convey.

Izuku simply nodded and proceeded to take the closest empty seat before classes began. His experience with morning classes were the same as they had been in his previous school, but there was an underlying relief in knowing that no one would bother him that left him in a good mood.

Then, lunch came and the girl that had been tasked with giving him a tour of the school was now standing before him. For a moment, the two just looked at each other. Izuku, having already pulled out his lunch thought, 'She can't be serious, right? Why would a girl like her bother to give me the time of day?'

"Fam," she shook her head, "Not cool, trying to blow me off."

"Honestly, you don't have to bother with me. Just hang out with your friends or whatever and I'll figure things out for myself."

"Dawg, sound's to me like you need a homie," she looked at him with curious concern.

"Are you being put up for a dare or something?" Izuku asked, slightly annoyed. It wouldn't be the first time a girl tried to set him up for failure for a dare or sheer prejudice, when he was still known as a Quirkless.

"Naw fam, I'm trying to get on that hero grind. I see you all lonely and serious, I got's to help; making a new homie's cool, too."

With people starting to pay attention to them, Izuku conceded to the girl's persistence, lest he come off like some sort of stuck up jerk and ruin his chance at keeping a low profile for the rest of the year. He stood up and said, "Alright then, lead the way."

Contrary to his expectation, Izuku's tour with the girl he came to know as Camie Utsushimi wasn't as horrible an experience as he imagined it would be. Sure, it was a bit of a challenge trying to decode her slang-filled lexicon, and it was uncomfortable getting stared at, presumably for walking beside such a beautiful girl, but Camie herself did nothing to make the tour insufferable; she almost seemed increasingly pleased with his company the further their tour progressed.

Eventually, the tour would come to an end and they would have no reason to continue interacting… Right? Apparently not, as Camie stuck to Izuku like glue after they returned to their homeroom and started eating lunch.

"You sure you want to sit here and eat with me instead of, you know… some closer friends," Izuku asked. Having stuck around her for the past couple dozen minutes, he presumed she wanted to start a basic friendship with him. But it just seemed unusual seeing as she didn't so much as look around the room for her friends before joining him for lunch.

"Pass," she said, shaking her head. "Not to throw shade," she quietly said as she leaned closer to him conspiratorially, "but you the only real one here, fam. The other homies just don't pick up what I put down, you dig?"

"Am I really the only one who understands you?"

"You the only one who's always on point," she said. Smiling, she added, "So far you haven't forced me to speak like this; clear and concise or whatever."

'Ah, that explains how people without a profound understanding of English-specific slang managed to understand her,' Izuku thought.

He couldn't continue his train of thought for much longer as Camie asked, "Anyway, business aside, let's get personal, homie."

"Ok?" Context from the tone of her voice implied she wanted to get to know him, so he asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Well… I might be wrong, but… Are you the dude that bodied that sludge villain in Musutafu the other day?" For a second, Izuku just blinked owlishly as she had been the first person to ask him that since he had left the police station that day. However, she didn't stop her question there; she added, "I know your skin and eyes don't match, and you haven't been a total jerkwad like the guy in the videos people took, but if it's the homie's Quirk at play… Fam, you've got to spill the tea."

Izuku knew he couldn't lie. Not only was he a terribly unconvincing liar, but the situation could still be salvaged. He sighed and said, "Yeah, you caught me. But, could you please keep things quiet? I'm trying to stay low key," he deadpanned.

"Oh!" Izuku couldn't tell if she was more excited by the fact that he had thrown some slang back at her, or from his confirmation of her suspicions. "Damn, homie, you we're a fucking savage back then. I got's to know what your Quirk is now!"

"It's… um, it's not something I really want to talk about," Izuku said as he broke eye contact.

Camie didn't seem phased by his reaction and recoiling. She simply said, "Oh, right. I get it. Cause of the look, right? Oh, and the personality shift, too. That shit's bound to make certain idiots salty, talking about 'villainous Quirk this and that.' I get where you're coming from since my dad's side my family has to deal with it all the time."

"Welp, now I feel bad if I don't add something after you said something personal like that," Izuku admitted; but, he still felt the need to keep the majority of the information on his Quirk reserved. "Just know that if I get angry enough I turn into the person you say on the videos."

"That's not too bad, my dad has a dank Hallucination Quirk that'll randomly set off if he doesn't use it frequently enough. I got mad lucky with my Glamour Quirk, so I didn't inherit his kind of problem."

"Glamour? You mean like magic or enchantment… Or you don't have to answer that since I didn't really say much about my Quirk," Izuku said, feeling like a hypocrite for carelessly asking about her Quirk when he tried to stop her from doing the same to himself.

"It's cool," she waved his doubts away as she said, "My Quirk, though, is pretty lit. Like, I can literally breathe illusions into the world."

"Sounds like a great Quirk for a rescue hero," Izuku said.

"That's what I've been saying! But everyone thinks their hot shit trying to tell me it'd work better for combat. Like, can't they see that I've got nothing in the way of strength? I would make a killer add-in in a squad, though."

"It might be a good idea for you to learn some sort of defensive martial art," Izuku said. Having caught her attention, he added, "Something like Judo to make up for your lack of physical strength. That way, even if you don't have some sort of power-enhancing Quirk, you could still throw villains around if they got too close. You know, to stall for time, or give another hero or police an opening to dish out damage you yourself might not be capable of."

"Damn, homie, that's a good idea," she smiled.

As the two broke into small talk to fill the time until afternoon classes, their odd friendship was cemented. Izuku never would have imagined he would start his life anew with a friend like Camie. He'd never guess how much more bizarre his life would get going forward.

The sludge villain incident was just the start. The weeknd suffering against his Wrath incarnation gave him an idea of what training his Quirk would be like until he managed to summon enough Pride or other sin to begin cultivating. Today with Camie would see his first encounter with someone he could call a friend since his years as a toddler.

Overall, it could be said that he had embarked on a journey through uncharted territory, and despite the risk of pain and fear said journey was bound to bring, he couldn't help but hope to seek out the excitement and joy success promised.

When school ended, Izuku returned home to complete his homework before he set off to Dagobah Beach. He would then receive a world-class beating as he had for the past two days, courtesy of his Wrath incarnation. But, for as excruciatingly painful the experience was, Izuku's streetfighting and control over his emotions of hate would just as slowly increase.

He might not become an angry god of war overnight, nor did he expect to become a match for his Wrath incarnation in a week, nor month, nor even a year. However, progress would surely accumulate in the ten months leading up to U.A's Entrance Exam. By then, at least, he should be capable enough to pass, if not outright exceed.