Sho was a royal surname.
By now, it was a fallen name—swept aside by the relentless tide of history.
Their kingdom, once thriving in the southern seas as a maritime hub for the Chinese world, had been conquered not by a rival nation but by a mere feudal lord.
Afterwards, the kingdom barely endured for a time before being crushed by the wave of conquest that accompanied modernization.
It was a stain on their legacy, for Sho’s ancestor—the king of his era—had grown so enamored with life in Tokyo that he never even considered reclaiming the lost kingdom.
Perhaps the dazzling allure of the glittering metropolis had broken his resolve entirely.
In truth, given the vast disparity in power, no course of action could have prevented the inevitable downfall of the kingdom.
Yet that was no excuse for the disgrace of surrendering the land and its people—the very souls he was meant to protect—without even a fight.
At the very least, they should have resisted.
No—if an unstoppable current were upon them, then at the very least the lives of those who dwelled there should have been safeguarded, no matter the cost.
But Sho’s ancestor did nothing, and the people of that land—once nurtured by the royal family and in turn nurturing it—were herded and exploited like mere beasts.
Subsequently, a history marred by humiliation, rage, despair, and collapse was upended when the age of Quirks began.
"Everything changed, and yet nothing changed."
Sho recalled the turning point in history as recounted by the elders.
The mysterious powers manifesting within humanity had shaken Japan to its core—and Okinawa was no exception.
Public order had deteriorated so drastically that the mainland and Okinawa became isolated, and upon that small island—long scarred by endless hardship—the gates of hell reopened.
When the beautiful southern landscape was reduced to chaos and ruin, Sho’s people, now mostly remaining in Japan, gathered once more.
And they made a decision.
They would return to the land their ancestor had abandoned and, this time, forge peace.
Thus began the great migration of roughly three hundred people.
In an era when nothing was yet established, when Villains roamed unchecked and the conflict between those with Quirks and those without reached fever pitch, they returned to their homeland.
There, they risked everything fighting the Villains and mended the rifts among citizens torn apart by strife.
After paying a heavy price—reducing their number from three hundred to one hundred—they managed to restore a measure of peace to their old home and once again become its heart.
But it was there that new conflicts began.
Some now clamored to reclaim the kingdom, even though Japan still languished in the dark shadow of Quirks, while others insisted that after such enormous sacrifice, they deserved something in return.
Ambition and greed spared no one, and soon tensions escalated toward a near-civil war between those clinging to remnants of hope for independence and those who admitted that breaking away from Japan was now impossible.
"If Grandfather hadn’t been there, a civil war might have truly erupted."
It was Sho’s great-grandfather who had reminded them of the reason for their return and unified the family by force.
They had not come back for wealth or glory.
They had returned simply to atone for the neglect of their ancestor and to serve.
Though many trials followed, in the end the family's inner conflicts were settled.
Having shed their greed, the Sho family became a pillar of respect throughout Okinawa.
Once they came to their senses, they concluded that, in relation to Japan, attempting to buck the flow of history and become independent was a lost cause.
An age had come when a small island could no longer stand alone.
Japan, though weakened by its internal decay, was not expected to collapse outright.
Thus, Okinawa endured as one of the pillars supporting Japan through a time of chaos—and over the years had grown into one of the key regions wielding strong influence over the mainland.
All that change had its roots in the steadfast will of an ancestor determined to protect his people.
That was why Sho could not run.
He could not afford to be afraid.
"Damn it!"
Midoriya and Tsuyu stared at Sho, astonished by the rough, uncharacteristically coarse words that had burst from him.
Sho, looking from one face to the other, felt fresh anger rising within him.
He was terrified.
He wanted nothing more than to run.
He had only been out of middle school for less than six months.
Now sixteen and still young, it was maddening and painful that he could not simply hide behind his youth to escape this reality.
Grinding his teeth, he said to Midoriya, "You’re right. It really is battle now. We can’t just sit here waiting for the enemy to sever our heads. So, what should we do?"
At his words, Midoriya glanced at the Villains surging to the water’s surface below and responded, "Sho, the guys down there clearly came prepared for underwater combat, didn’t they?"
"It certainly looks that way. They must have planned from the start," Sho replied.
"So they must have studied the layout of USJ and marshaled their forces accordingly?" Midoriya asked, his tone laced with suspicion.
"Yeah! For foes who gathered that much intelligence and prepared so thoroughly, there's one oddity—namely, that Tsuyu was sent here with me to the water zone," he observed.
Midoriya nearly slipped into calling her by her surname again, but flushed, he corrected himself. Tsuyu then reassured him in a calm tone, "You can call me that whenever you want."
"Oh, really?"
"Let’s skip the unimportant details. What are you trying to say, Midoriya?"
"So, maybe the Villains don’t really know our Quirks?"
"Ah, I see. If they knew I was a frog, they’d have tossed me into the fire zone instead."
"Exactly. They don’t know our Quirks—so they split us up and planned to overwhelm us with sheer numbers," Midoriya stated with firm conviction, a glimmer of hope in his tone.
Tsuyu, catching his meaning—that revealing their Quirks might be the key to turning the tide—spoke up, "Midoriya, you probably already know, but I can jump, stick to walls, and extend my tongue up to twenty meters. I can also pull my stomach out to wash it and secrete a toxin-laced mucus which only causes a slight tingle. The last two abilities are basically useless, so don’t worry about them."
"I had a rough idea, but that’s amazing," Midoriya marveled.
Sho was visibly impressed by Tsuyu’s confident rundown. She was incredibly versatile, and as a heteromorph, her physical strength far surpassed that of an ordinary human.
While Sho was still absorbing her words, Midoriya continued, "Mine is incredible power—but after I use it, my body ends up wrecked. It’s a double-edged sword."
Then Sho explained his own Quirk in detail: "I have two abilities. One is that when I keep my mouth closed, my body becomes as hard as stone. The other is that when I open my mouth, I can share another person’s Quirk. The person receiving the share must consent, and the sharing ends the moment I close my mouth. Even with my mouth open, I can only maintain the shared Quirk for about thirty minutes, so keep that in mind. And I can only share one person’s Quirk once per day."
Tsuyu touched her finger to her lips and asked, "Sho, then can you share heteromorph Quirks too?"
"No. Heteromorph types aren’t eligible. Now, Midoriya—if I shared your Quirk, wouldn’t that help us get through this situation?"
Midoriya was thrown into a panic at Sho’s words. Share One For All? Was that even possible? If so, would that mean there’d be two people wielding One For All-level power—even if just for a moment?
Sho studied Midoriya’s expression and said, "Seems I asked something awkward. Forget I mentioned it. Some people have trouble with their Quirks—I only brought it up because we need to overcome our immediate problem, and I have no intention of putting you in jeopardy."
Just then, one of the Villains in the water manipulated the waves to conjure a giant hand.
The hand struck the boat without mercy.
Designed never for true sailing, the boat’s already fragile structure split in half and began to sink.
"That’s some incredible force. The boat just split apart," someone observed.
"Ghk!"
Sho clenched his trembling fists and forced himself to calm down.
He might not have been as composed as Midoriya or Tsuyu, but he could not afford to panic and burden them further.
After all, he was a descendant of the royal family—the grandson of a hero who once protected people.
"I’m sorry. My nerves are smaller than yours—I can’t seem to stay calm," he admitted.
Midoriya, snapping back to attention, remembered something Kirishima had once said.
"There are no taboos in survival."
As a child, Midoriya hadn’t fully understood the lonely weight behind Kirishima’s words. But now, in this moment, he truly grasped their meaning.
What was the point of dying clutching the secret of One For All when everyone’s life hung in the balance?
Feeling the boat shudder as it sank further, he said to Sho, "Sho, I’ll share my Quirk with you first. Do you want to try it?"
"Hm? Ah, yes," Sho replied.
"Just relying on Smash alone might not be enough—but if you can use Smash too, then everything changes."
If Sho could receive One For All, even momentarily he might become a powerful ally.
With that hopeful thought, Midoriya shared his Quirk—but Sho simply shook his head.
With his mouth still agape, Sho pulled a phone from his pocket and typed furiously before showing the screen to Midoriya and Tsuyu.
- I don’t think this will work. Midoriya, your Quirk must have been as weak initially as Kirishima’s. Honestly, I can’t feel any power at all.
"Ah..."
The sound of hope shattering was mirrored on Midoriya’s face, stiffening his expression. Then Sho’s fingers danced across the screen again.
On the display was another solution Sho had devised:
- Instead, for reasons beyond me, it seems I can share my Quirk with you in this state. Midoriya, you mentioned that using your Quirk damages your body—if you could receive mine and have a body as hard as stone, wouldn’t that be somewhat better?
"Huh? That’s true," Midoriya agreed, a spark of hope lighting his eyes.
If he unleashed a full 100% Smash without reservation—even striking the water—the resulting shockwave might knock every enemy unconscious.
He might even have to worry about ruptured organs, but it was a risk worth taking.
- I’ll try sharing my Quirk with you first. And remember: my body only hardens when my mouth is closed.
After those words, Sho closed his eyes and remained still, his mouth still open.
Within seconds, Midoriya felt a new power surge through his body.
Quietly closing his mouth, he clapped his two fists together.
It wasn’t simply flesh against flesh or bone against bone—it was as if two stones were colliding. Realizing the Quirk had been successfully shared, he nodded to Tsuyu and Sho, who watched on.
Then he climbed onto the nearly submerged boat.
"If I fall into the water, I attack," he declared.
"Understood," came the reply.
While the Villains eyed their chance, Midoriya stepped onto the highest part of the boat and leaped.
The powerful recoil made the sinking boat rock violently, sending waves surging outward.
From the highest point on the opposite side, Tsuyu and Sho watched as Midoriya soared upward.
"To wipe out the enemies encircling us in one go, we can’t hold back. I’m not sure if my body will endure, but let’s trust our teammate," Tsuyu said quietly.
Under the full, unyielding gaze of the Villains, Midoriya murmured to himself. There was no telling if Sho’s Quirk could fully absorb the recoil of One For All—but it had to be done, here and now.
Because he had chosen to live as a fighter.
Because he had decided to be the one who protected, rather than the one who was protected.
"Detroit!"
His shout, laden with the trust of his comrades, echoed powerfully through the water zone.
Drawing his arm back with all his might, Midoriya gritted his teeth and thrust it toward the surface.
Sho, witnessing the display, felt a surge of intense emotion. Such power had never been granted to him—yet he could be there to support someone who possessed it.
In that moment, a new path opened before him.
The instant one life shifted direction, an enormous blast of wind pressure erupted from Midoriya’s fist.
One hundred percent of One For All—unleashed with every ounce of strength and without hesitation—was staggering.
It was as if an immense bomb had detonated, sending a towering column of water skyward.
From the epicenter where his fist struck, a massive shockwave radiated outward in a perfect circle.
Under such absurd violence, the Villains were utterly helpless.
They were merely knocked unconscious and swept away by the relentless torrent.
Before Midoriya could savor the sight, he clutched his stinging arm and called out, "Tsuyu! Sho!"
At his cry, Tsuyu grabbed Sho and leapt, then wrapped her tongue around Midoriya’s waist.
Gazing down at the water—still splitting and twisting like a writhing dragon—Tsuyu said softly, "A clean sweep. For now, it feels like we’ve broken through the first gate. Amazing, both of you."
Clutching the injured arm—scarred by the recoil of Sho’s Quirk—Midoriya managed a faint smile.
At the very least, it hadn’t broken.
At worst, it might be cracked; at best, just a muscle tear.
Either way, he could keep fighting.
"Midoriya, are you all right?"
Sho’s question brought Midoriya’s awareness back to the present.
"Yeah. It’s all thanks to you, Sho. I’m hurt, sure, but nothing’s broken. At this rate, I think I can battle several more times."
"Is that so? I’m glad I could help," Sho replied with a quiet sigh.
Today marked the day a new horizon opened for him.
It wasn’t flashy or overwhelming, but he had managed to save a life.
Sho had never truly cared for his own Quirk.
He had always regarded his ability—making his body as durable as stone when his mouth was closed and allowing him to share another’s Quirk for a mere thirty minutes—as awkward and half-baked.
Yet even that clumsy Quirk had yielded astonishing results when used correctly.
He gazed quietly at his own small hand.
It was small—but it was the hand that had saved a life.
A warm, intoxicating sense of pride swelled deep within him.
So profound was the feeling that he longed to experience it again and again, knowing he would chase that sensation as many times as fate allowed.
The birth of a hero—Shou Naoya.
Unique new character. I like it.