jigokulogs | want a moment to be real [CLOSED]

Entry tags:

want a moment to be real [CLOSED]

Who ⬤ Cloud Strife and various
What ⬤ Misc. Thread catch-all for July!
When ⬤ All throughout the month
Where ⬤ Sutoku Territory, primarily.
Content Warnings ⬤ One of these threads has Sephiroth, so all the messy things that come with his obsession with Cloud. Update: The Sephiroth thread also includes spoilers for the original FF7.

[ If you'd like a closed starter, let me know on Discord or on my Plurk at

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[ When Izuku hits the dummy, Cloud has to shield his face a bit - splintered wood goes everywhere, the gust of wind from Izuku's punch kicks up the sand, blasting it everywhere — the sack in which the sand was contained no better that tattered strips of cloth now laying on the ground where the dummy had been propped up. The lights swing a bit in their bracing, but thankfully they're not too precarious, otherwise the lighting rig might have very well come down on Izuku. ]

[ Honestly, he has suspected Izuku was stronger than he looked ever since their tussle with a few gangs a couple months back. But if he ever had doubts, they had been thoroughly, well, smashed. ]

Wow. [ He's walking up to where Izuku is likely still standing. Folding his arms. ] Well. That certainly looked potent. Way better than I can do right now, at any rate.

How did it feel?

[Izuku blinks in surprise in the aftermath. He looks up at Cloud and then to his hand in shock like he's surprised at his own power.]

It felt... good! That was better than I thought...! Even with my quirk muted it seems I still have at least five percent of my power.

[That was only five percent??? He's guesstimating.]

That's five percent, huh? [ It sounds disaffected, but it's hard for Cloud to keep a point of wonder out of his voice. Izuku's strong. Crazy strong, frankly. And smart enough to know how strong five percent is...? That's handy information. ]

Well, it's definitely more than strong enough for our purposes, right now. [ He doubts anyone can throw that much power downrange like Izuku can. He's already dragging out another one of the dummies as he talks. ] We can make sure that's consistent, if you want — you were worried about that too, I think you said?

But, if I remember, you also wanted to make sure another Quirk was working correctly. A... 'Black Whip'? You described it like a grappling hook.

[Izuku gives a nod although he seems a little embarrassed about how he said that out loud. Most of his life growing up he's been teased for being a giant nerd about most things but he's proud of himself so he's trying to be better at giving himself that sort of credit.]

Thanks, Cloud-san. I think if I focus on using it in smaller percentages it's alright. But something feels off enough that I think ... [He nods.] I can't use higher percentages at all as it stands now.

[He looks up at the dummy that Cloud sets up and he stretches out his hands. There's a small spark of green and black electricity at his fingertips.]

I can try Black Whip next, it's a power I use as a grappling hook or a way to hook things in. Um... You might... want to step back for this one.

So what you did just there is about as far as you can push yourself, is what you're saying. [ He's going to make a mental note. Izuku's strong. But he's also as handicapped as anyone else here still is. But he's got enough strength to pulverize a dummy like that. ]

[ He does take more than a few steps back. If it's a grappling hook, he's going to want to stay out of the range that Izuku can swing. So if he's standing that far back, then Cloud should be standing... yeah, right about here will do. ]

Just don't knock out anything we can't clean up. I'm only renting this place out for the day. Otherwise, show me what this Black Whip can do.

I think so. I might need to keep pushing myself to see how exactly far that goes.

[Nods a little sheepishly, feeling humble and a little lost at the same time. But he will do his best to try and heed Cloud's caution because he wants to be careful too. No need to explode or break things just for the sake of it. Yet, Izuku still feels hollow inside when he tries to bring forth his quirks and it's ... strange.]

Alright, Cloud-san.

[He'll focus again with the same green electric sparks appearing to tickle over his body. Then aims a fist at the dummy again but this time long black spider-web-like tendrils seem to shoot out from his knuckles! They shoot out fast and latch onto the dummy and with a tug, Izuku tries to pull it over.]

Ah?!

[But something goes wrong. With the tug for some reason, the tendrils pull harder than Izuku intends and the dummy gets pulled into the air and thrown right towards Cloud!]

Cloud-san!? Watch out?!

I see it!

[ Cloud had been ready for something to go wrong— after all, this was meant to see how much control Izuku still had, so he's not surprised when the dummy launches his way. It's fast, and Cloud could probably avoid it, but instead he does the stupider thing. ]

[ Hands outstretched, Cloud catches the flying dummy, grunting in pain as he feels the transferred force rock through his body, causing him to skid to near the edge of the stage they were using. His teeth grit through the momentary surge of pain, both from the new impact and from the pain of his wounds acting up. ]

[ The dummy unceremoniously drops to the ground as the momentum finally subsides, Cloud staying standing but forced to grip a shaking hand that still rattles from both the impact and from a sudden surge of tremors that has become his telltale sign he's pushed himself too far. ]

Ugh... I'm alright. Should've probably dodged, but...

Cloud-san?! No!

[Izuku's shock is apparent on his face as he immediately runs to the other with fear and guilt swimming in his eyes. He's shaking slightly as he frantically reaches the other. Not knowing if he should reach out to him or keep his distance or what.]

I'm sorry! I didn't think it would be that out of control! Are you- Are sure you're alright? Does it hurt? We should take you to the infirmary right- right now!

[The last thing he wants to do is hurt his senpai even more. He wasn't expecting to hit Cloud with the dummy! Let alone Cloud catching it?! ... Which was pretty cool- but besides the point!!]

I'm- [ He grunts. ] I'm fine. Mostly. [ He's shaking out his trembling hand, as he talks. ] Even if I'm not at one hundred percent, I'm still tougher than I look.

[ Small mercies, at least. He doesn't feel like everything hurts, but it's gonna take a moment to focus the tremours out of his hand. ]

It doesn't hurt, exactly, just— can't stop my hand shaking. More of a pain, than anything...

[ He's going to pull out one of the chairs on stage and take a seat. ]

While we're waiting on that, though... how did it feel?

[Izuku nods although he still looks half anxious and half panicked. He believes Cloud and his power and strength but he still feels bad about what happened.]

Still- I'm... I'm sorry, Cloud-san. Let's take a break here.

[He frowns, feeling empathetic and concerned about Cloud's shaky hand. He looks at his own and tries to flex his fingers a moment before clenching a fist.]

And that felt... wildly out of my control. It's probably best if I don't use that part of my quirk unless I absolutely need to. Until I can figure out a way to control it again...

I'll be fine in a few minutes, but... probably for the best.

[ He nods along at the assessment, quietly. ]

So the grappling hook is out, but your superhuman strength felt managable. ...That's not bad, overall. We can work with that. [ He's going to take out his phone and take notes on it with his other hand, while he's waiting for the other one to stop shaking. ]

...That was a pretty quick assessment of where you're at right now, Izuku. I'm impressed.

[Izuku can't help but feel a little proud at Cloud's praise. It's like getting a compliment from a senpai. Goodness.]

Th-thanks. I just need to get my power back to what it was. It feels weird not to have it the same.

[And a little ... lonely. But that's not something he'll mention since the loneliness part is the hard part to explain about his quirks. How he misses the voices inside of his quirks.]

What about you, do you think you'll be able to work up your own strengths again?

[ Cloud looks up at that, pocketing away the phone. Izuku should know the truth of the matter, but he doesn't want to worry the young man too much, either. ]

In some ways. The doctor's say that this— [ He gestures to his still shaking hand. It's trembling less now, but it still seems to have a bit of a mind of its own. ] Is likely going to never recover fully. I'll always have the shakes in my hands. But beyond that, I should be back to fighting fit soon enough.

As far as I can tell, it's just a sign that I need to rest. Should be less common once the rest of my body catches up with healing... hopefully.

[ He's looking down at it now, and a clenching of his fist seems to get the shakes to stop... for the moment. ]

Thankfully it's not so bad I can't make it go away, if I need to.

If it helps...

[Izuku frowns. He feels a rush of sympathy as he lifts his one hand to show that his own hand is covered in what appears to be old scars.]

I know some hand stretches that help me a lot when my hand gets stiff. It's not the same as muscle shaking, but... doing those stretches and trying my best to keep the stiffness away with a hand grip strengthening tool might help too.

[One of those squeeze tools. Izuku uses one every day.]

[ For the first time, Cloud gets a good look at the scars on Izuku's hand. He takes a long time to look it over, giving a sympathetic whistle. ]

All those punches take their toll, huh?

[ With the kind of strength Izuku is packing, he'd be more surprised if the kid didn't have some sort of backlash. He leans back in his chair. ]

...A squeeze tool, huh? That might not be a bad idea. And hand stretches, too. I have a couple the doctors recommended, but it sounds like you have some experience. So any you could show me I'll try and take to heart— and I can see if I can't get a hold of one of those grip tools, too. I think I know the type you're talking about.

[ A beat. ]

You've really had it rough in your own way, huh? Not everyone would be this resourceful.

[He nods sheepishly and maybe he'll leave out the fact that he used to have so much backlash all the time that he broke his bones on a regular basis. And now he does have the permeant damage across his one hand.]

I'm a lot better at controlling the power now than I used to be.

[He stretches out his hand and starts to show Cloud some easy hand stretches! He's eager to help.]

I've had a few rough periods in my life but I think it's made me grow? At least, I really do like helping people. And I do tend to absorb information so I'm just glad my useless facts are helping someone today too.

[He lets out a puff of laughter. He really is just a nerd but at least this little tip has helped Cloud. He's also just so humble that he can't complain about how rough his life actually used to be.]

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