The Lion, the Dreamer, and the High School

On a Calm and Mundane day, Mutsuki is going to train ."Let's hope the training room is open I kinda don't want to deal with anyone today."He then proceeds to enter the training facility and changes into his training gear.He then pulls out weights and starts out his weight training.Soon he moves on the treadmill and the elliptical.He stops and thinks." I wonder if all the other students train this hard."He then starts his combat training with a punching bag and boxing gloves and soon moves on to taekwondo Soon he takes a quick break eating his lunch and then realizes he forgot a drink and walks off to the vending machine to get a strawberry milk or maybe a Fruit Tea.He will soon continue his training.

Leonardo silently strolled the hallways of U.A High School, his head only a few feet from grazing the ceiling above him. He differed from the other students of U.A High School, not in that he was athletically superior, inferior, or smarter or dumber, but rather that he was of a different species. See, Leonardo was an African Lion, quite literally, having been one of the few animals in the entire world that had manifested a Quirk. For that, everything he did was under constant observation from the public as people either came to fear or love the idea of animals possessing quirks. Whenever he messed up, it was a sign of ineffectiveness for all animals, or whenever he succeeded it was a sign of strength for all animals; he was a literal synecdoche for the entirety of all quirk-possessing nonhumans.

Overall, his reputation under the command and tutelage of Ibara, the number 12 hero, had been largely positive, and thus he was a celebrity of some sort. Cameras followed him during his paroles. He was called into interviews into famous television stations, photoshoots and the like. Plus, in a world where people could look like animals and be considered normal, Leonardo, as this buff, muscular and tall man wasn’t necessarily a bad trait appearance-wise. However, there were times where Leonardo longed for solitude, and U.A High, for as long as he could remember, provided him with such solitude. Inside the walls of the boarding school, there were no celebrities, no cameras, no newspapers, fanatics, racist. No, there were just other students who longed to work with him, to support him, to become heroes alongside him, and teachers who only desired to manifest that dream.

As Leonardo strolled into the cafeteria, he noticed a young man, someone that he easily deduced as a first year. There was always something unique about them. The way they walked, for instance. So full of insecurity, uneasiness and they were uncertain of their aspirations, goals, directions, sense of belonging. He remembered the feeling all too well, especially as a man of his ancestry. He walked to stand beside him at the vending machine as the man picked his strawberry milk.

“I love milk,” Leonardo spoke randomly, breaking the fraught silence between the two, vending a strawberry milk of his own. “I’m the only one in my family actually that cares for it. My parents are actually lactose in tolerant.” He looked down towards the first year. “Weird huh? Considering we’re lions. Wouldn’t expect it quite honestly.”

Slightly Shooken by Leo who walked next to him he stared. Almost at first glance he immediately noticed that he was the third year and after a second glance he saw that he was also the trainee and sidekick to The number 12th Hero Ibara. For some odd and unknown reason, he didn't really care for The fact that Leo was a lion. He stabbed the straw into his milk and took a sip then said in a calm voice looking back up at Leo. "That is weird, shouldn't all cats like milk or is that racist or stereotypical." He thought and pondered on why someone as important would ever bother being at school as opposed to an interview or a photo shoot or even fighting crime. And the weirdest thing of all why bother talking to him. "Shouldn't you be at an interview or a photo shoot. "He said curiously and waiting for the answer and taking another sip of his milk.

"Haha, well I guess that just goes to show you that not all cats are the same, just like people!" Leonardo jested, choosing to ignore questions about photoshoots and the like. He never bothered himself on those matters, yet there was a noticeable surprise on his visage. There was a fraught silence. "So then, I assume you are aware of who I am? If you're asking me about photoshoots and the like. However, I don't know who you are. What's your name young, first year?"

The fact that Leo wanted to know who he was surprised him but he decided to tell him anyways."Well as a formal hello, Hi my name is Mutsuki Kurogami of class 1-A "He said very formally and welcoming.He leaned on the wall drinking is milk and contemplating what to say next.He couldn't help but think how someone like him grew up and went about enrolling in U.A so he asked in his most calm and monotonous voice."Hey Leo how exactly did you get to where you are today, just wondering as a growing U.A student."He had heard stories and interview which was hard not to hair but why not hear it from the lion himself.

"Oh, it's quite simple. Hard work, and guts! That's what I would say if I were a liar," Leo begun. "No, what I want to tell you is the truth. You need a good teacher. The top pro heroes tend to produce the top pro heroes. That's fact. So when you go looking for a pro hero to intern with, look for a top one."

Mutsuki pondered on what Leo said for a while thinking maybe his hard was not as beneficial as he previously thought."So are you saying that hard work doesn't really matter as much"? He said skeptically of what Leo said.He then thought again maybe both are needed and or beneficial.now confused Mutsuki collects his thoughts still pondering on Leo's words

"No, I wouldn't say that. Hard work, pushing yourself, that's how you improve. But you can't do that if you're better than your mentor, if there is someone you are already close to in experience, scope." Leo spoke. "See, understand it like this. The top heroes, why are they the best? They do things better than the rest right? But how did they get there? With the help of other top teachers; it gets passed on, and on. It's the reason we're at the academy, the best hero Academy in all of Japan, and possibly the world. It's because the guys at the top have it all figured out, and if you can soak in that knowledge, then everything will fall into place."

For some weird reason, he really resonated with what Leo said he understood.He couldn't get anywhere with someone you've already surpassed you need a goal or something stronger to teach you how to be stronger yourself.Assuming Leo was stronger than Leo he asked."yo Leo how would you like to train with me a light sparing match nothing big no quirks just physical combat, Just wanna see if you would be a worthy mentor".Mutsuki already inspecting his potential opponent he is not intimidated by his obvious superior but inspired.

"Why of course," Leo replied quickly, almost as if he expected Mutsuki to inquire about it. In truth, he did. He had run the simulation of this conversation perhaps a million times in his head the moment he begun, and then between sentences, the simulations were ever changing. There were scenarios where Mutsuki walked away in anger, cried with joy in some of the far-fetched ones, or simply stated that he had something else to do. This ability to process information, to craft simulations in his head was apart of Leo's quirk, Kinetic Mind: the mind of a supercomputer. "Go on, lead the way to the training hall you practice in most. I'll follow."

Mutsuki quickly slurped down what was left of his strawberry milk and threw it in the trash.He got a water from the vending machine before he left as to not dehydrate.And calmly lead the way to his favorite training room hiding his excitement.Upon arrival he said "This is my favorite training facility in U.A."the room looked very secluded and was quite far from where most hang out.the room was appropratly sized to fit all the exersize equitment and even connected to a swimming pool and a small sparing room with a sight that said not suited for quirk use so be carefull with a winky face no one knew who wrote it."so lets set some ground rules, 1 no dangerous quirk use tho in youre case it may not matter as your quirk isnt attack based I think.2 no weapons just hand to hand combat." he then continues in an intimidating and scary look "and finnaly no tapping out".He wanted to see the full extent of Leo's strength even if he may get his ass beat." so any more rules or preferences."

Leo smiled. "Those are good parameters. I have no qualms with those, but I may recommend that you use your quirk. You're at a little bit of a disadvantage here, biologically." He assumed his stance.

Mutsuki said. "Okay I'm only slightly gonna use it is really here to train my fighting but okay." the area around him is covered with a galaxy like fog and he pulled out what looked like bear claws but in glove form he put them on and to a stance similar to a bear and then smiled at Leo."Let's do this animal to animal." He then cocked his legs and launched forward with immense power sending a wave of air behind him and blowing the fog back.

“Wrong move! Never charge into a much more physically adept opponent!” Leonardo exclaimed. He bent his knees slightly, the sheer strength of his muscles rebuking the floor of the training area. Then, as he released himself from the earth into his dash forward, matching the exact moment of Mutsuki himself, the floor transformed into a cloud of debris behind him. His intention? To collide. It was that simple. Mutsuki had taken the liberty to dash forward, and thus Leonardo would do the same, using, what he believed to be, his superior weight against the guy in their collision to deal more damage.

Mutsuki Smiles and says. "Just like a cat you took the bait." he stomps his foot forward and utilized his taekwondo training and backflips clean over Leo and to the other side of the room. He quickly Turns back to Leo this time waiting for him to engage first. "Hey let's play a game, Specifically a cat and mouse game...but who is the true cat." He says with an evil cat-like grin and a wink he then pulls from the Fog a kemuridama (Smoke Bomb) getting into a cat-like a stance ready for an attack and tossing the kemuridama up in a playful manner

"Just like a cat you took the bait......" Leonardo repeated confusedly, shaking his head in disappointment. "I'd be ready for what is coming next." Leo exclaimed, bending his knees slightly do charge towards Mutsuki yet again, using the same motion, causing the same crater. His body elegantly dashed across the surface of the training arena in Mutsuki's direction.

Mutsuki Charging directly at Leo leaving a similarly sized crater in the ground with the Smoke bomb still in hand. He quickly throws the bomb directly at Leo's face Ready to punch it into his face with the Bear Glove using the impact of the exploding smoke bomb to Increase the strength of his punch. He is still ready to dodge just in case his plan backfire's.

The moment that Mutsuki had launched the smoke bomb, Leonardo dodged to his right, avoiding the bomb all together, in part due to his quirk. See, when he had warned Mutuski to use his quirk a little, it was because that unlike Mutsuki, Leo couldn't turn his on and off. His was mutant based, a quirk that provided the consciousness of a computer, including its perception. Thus, when Mutsuki threw the bomb, he not only saw it within miliseconds, but had processed it, understood it, and determined the best course of action within moments. Such was the strength of his quirk; it allowed him to analyze every movement of his opponent, and make accurate predictions, akin to seeing in the future almost.

Thus, as he dodged, he launched his paw forward, sending with it an explosion of wind that attacked an area, rather than Mutsuki directly, aiming to overcome his agility with an attack that speed simply wouldn't let him escape from.

Knowing he cant fully dodge the attack he ducks down to the floor and moves as far to the side before being struck by the wind. though as he moved the attack just simply clipped him doing little to no damage ." if I wanna win I have to do something he could never predict".He thought then immediately after he thought the words. "Mahou Shoujo". He then quickly catches the smoke bomb still in the air he then throws it down pulling what looks like clothing from his fog. When the smoke dissipates he comes out dressed as a typical Magical Girl with a container that looks like glitter but truthfully it's Itching powder. He then gracefully and whimsically jumps in the air and sprinkles the powder all over the room trying to sprinkle it on Leo.

Under any other circumstance…well, Leonardo couldn’t deduce it. He wasn’t sure about what he would do in any other event, because in any other event, Mutsuski would have done literally anything else. So thus, Leonardo stood there, watching as he cosplayed like some schoolgirl from any of his favorite manga, and sprinkled powder across the room, and upon him. Yet, it did not stop him from spurring into action, if anything, it only prompted him to act more. As Mutsuski twirled, Leonardo exploded towards him, the powder itself resting upon his rough coat of fur, thereby guarding his skin from exposure and thereby sparing him the consequence of the itch that would have come with it, throwing his fist in the similar manner to send a tsunami of wind to encapsulate the dancing twirling first year.

Quickly twirling out of the way of the attack Mutsuki lands on the ground. He thinks while pulling off the magical girl outfit of revealing his clothing under it."How the fuck do I get past this quirk". He quickly thinks of something that Leo as a lion may be susceptible to or distracted by."Oh, shit its so obvious, Catnip". He thinks to himself before continuing. "But where would I get catnip from it, not like I've dreamt of catnip or even if I have how would I remember that ?". He thinks to himself. Instead of wasting time thinking of catnip Mutsuki goes in for an attack he moves swiftly as to not be caught by Leo. He quickly flips in the air going for an aerial attack on Leo.

Leonardo crossed his arms above his head as Mutsuki flipped onto him, catching his foot with the hulls of his forearms. His legs absorbed the concussive force of Mutsuki’s attack, made evident by the flex of his calves, and the cracks in the cement beneath him.
“Nice power,” Leonardo complimented, his tone thick and unstrained, speaking as if he was sitting at a desk in a classroom, or at a table at lunch. “Using gravity to get around the fact that you have inferior strength…It’s impressive, simply put. It shows that you are an accomplished martial artist. Perhaps if you had access to your quirk, you could have done some real damage right here.”

Leonardo pulled his arms away swiftly, letting down his guard, and allowing gravity to continue Mutsuki’s trajectory downwards towards him. “However, if countered, aerial attacks leave most people immobile!” Yet, in a fluid motion, he simultaneously spun his body to the left, lifting his right leg as he did so to forge a powerful roundabout quick aimed towards the falling Mutsuki.

Mutsuki quickly realizes his position, as he is making a descent into the floor he quickly surrounds the area and fog and an incredibly large sword slices from within the fog Mutsuki uses the sword as a decoy kicking off with the blade asLeoo kick the blade as opposed to him. He lands swiftly on the ground picking up his sword from the floor, he stands tall wielding the huge and electric charged sword with two hands. "Well, I guess the best way to kill a beast is to slay it with a sword". He says before seemingly activating his blades electric charge bracing for an attack.

Leonardo smirked. "So, that's a portion of your quirk huh? Reminds me of Masato." There was no hesitation in Leonardo's own movements; he charged towards Mutsuki, yet as he did so, there was a spark emanating from his muscular frame, and then, he dissipated from sight entirely, leaving nothing but an afterimage in his wake. The next moment, he was behind Mutsuki, lifting his leg for a quick towards his frame, almost ignoring the fact that the blade was directly in front of him.