Hey so the next couple of Chapters are going to cover the 6 week before the exams. I plan to show the training and progress cid will have here. I hope yall dont mind, and enjoy the chapter
Chapter 41: Trust and Hopes
The next morning, Cid arrived at the secluded training area Nezu had prepared. It was a large, reinforced facility tucked away behind the main campus buildings, clearly built with high-intensity training in mind. As he stepped inside, he spotted Nezu already waiting near the center of the room, standing beside an older woman.
"Ah, right on time," Nezu said with his usual cheerful tone. "Before we begin, you'll be receiving a full medical check-up from Dr. Tanaka here."
He gestured toward the woman standing beside him. She appeared to be in her late sixties, with short graying pink hair tied back neatly. Despite her age, she stood with a straight posture and carried herself with quiet confidence.
"Dr. Tanaka has been temporarily hired for the next six weeks," Nezu continued. "Her sole responsibility will be monitoring your physical condition and handling any healing needed so you can continue training the following day without major setbacks."
Cid gave the older woman a polite nod. "Dr. Tanaka."
She smiled warmly at him. "Pleasure to meet you, dear. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fall apart on us."
Before Cid could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Nezu called.
The door opened, and Yui stepped inside.
Cid blinked in surprise.
Yui smiled shyly, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "Surprise."
Nezu clasped his paws together. "Miss Kodai here has volunteered to take on the role of making sure you eat properly and are taken care of once your training for the day is finished. She'll also be responsible for ensuring you don't do anything reckless, such as overtraining on your own time."
Yui walked over and stopped beside Cid, lightly leaning her shoulder against his arm. She didn't say anything, but her presence was steady.
"Additionally," Nezu went on, "she has been given full authority to block you from accessing the training facility if, in her judgment, you are pushing yourself too hard and require rest. She's also been permitted to take time off from her own classes when necessary to ensure you're recovering properly. I figured that you would listen to her better than even professionals." he said with a small smile, knowing Cid wouldn't be able to put up much resistance against her.
Cid glanced at Yui, a little caught off guard by how much responsibility had been placed on her. She gave him a small reassuring smile in return, as if saying don't worry I can handle all the extra work.
Nezu then turned to Cid. "Cid, if you wouldn't mind stepping over here for a moment."
Cid followed him a short distance away from the two women. Once they were out of earshot, Nezu looked up at him seriously, his usual playful demeanor fading.
"I want to be honest with you," Nezu said, his voice lower and more direct than usual. "I don't typically go this far out of my way for students. But I'll be frank, All Might's time as the Symbol of Peace is growing shorter by the day."
Cid didn't look surprised. He simply nodded.
Nezu studied him for a moment before continuing. "You already knew, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Cid replied quietly. "I've known since the first time I saw him in person, it's hard to hide that kind of damage from my eyes."
Nezu gave a small nod, as if he had expected that answer.
"Then you understand why I'm bringing this up," he said. "Society has relied on one man for far too long. When that pillar eventually falls, and it will fall, the structure underneath will collapse. My hope is that by the time that happens, we'll have shifted putting multiple pillars in place instead of just one."
He looked Cid directly in the eyes.
"I believe you have the potential to become one of those pillars, Cid. I believe you are capable, not just in strength, but in character as well. I've seen what you're capable of, both in your past and present actions. That's why I'm willing to go this far for you."
Nezu's expression softened slightly, though his gaze remained serious as he stared into cids eyes.
"This is me placing my bet on you, Cid."
Before Cid could respond, Yui's voice called over from across the room.
"I have to head to class," she said, walking over. She stopped in front of him and rose onto her toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good luck today."
She gave his hand a small squeeze before turning and heading out, leaving Cid alone with Dr. Tanaka and Nezu.
Dr. Tanaka stepped forward with a gentle smile.
"Well then, dear," she said kindly. "Let's get a proper baseline on you before we begin, shall we?"
After finishing his check-up with Dr. Tanaka, Cid was led to the center of the large reinforced training room. A wide circle had been painted onto the reinforced floor, roughly ten meters across. Cid stood in the middle of it, rolling his shoulders as he tried to shake off the lingering stiffness from his injuries.
Nezu stood just outside the circle, hands clasped behind his back and wearing that same cheerful smile from earlier.
"Before we begin with the more… intense portions of your training," Nezu said brightly, "I'll be generous and give you a minute or two to figure out the right amount of pressure to apply with your Quirk. Remember don't compress the space around you so much that you break your own bones. We're aiming for resistance, not self-destruction."
The way he said it so cheerfully sent a small shiver down Cid's spine.
'This rat is way too happy about this…'
"Understood," Cid replied, keeping his voice steady.
He closed his eyes and focused.
At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, he began compressing the space around his body. It was difficult to control, far more difficult than he expected. The pressure wasn't steady. It fluctuated wildly, sometimes pressing down hard enough to make his breathing feel restricted, other times nearly disappearing entirely. Sweat quickly formed on his brow as he tried to stabilize it.
The two minutes passed far too quickly for his liking.
"Alright," Nezu called out, his voice still far too cheerful. "We'll begin with warm-ups now. Make sure to maintain that pressure on yourself. You know what happens if you don't~."
Cid dropped into position and started doing push-ups.
It was immediately brutal.
Even the first one felt like he was trying to push himself up through thick mud with a refrigerator strapped to his back. His arms trembled with the effort. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest as he fought to keep the compression active while moving, causing the pressure to be uneven and erratic. By the third rep, his arms were already burning. By the fifth, his focus wavered for just a split second.
The moment the compression dropped, a rubber bullet slammed into his back right between his shoulder blades with a loud *crack*.
Cid's arms gave out. He hit the ground hard, a sharp, burning pain exploding across his upper back. He gritted his teeth and let out a low, pained hiss as he writhed on the floor for a moment, the impact site already throbbing.
Nezu's voice rang out again, still carrying that same unsettling cheerfulness.
"I did warn you~ Try to make it last longer this time."
Cid slowly pushed himself back up onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily. His back was already starting to bruise. He could feel a thin trail of blood where the bullet had broken the skin.
'…Maybe asking the rat for help was a horrible idea.'
Later after training
Cid laid on his bed, freshly showered but still grimacing in pain and utterly exhausted. Bright red welts dotted his skin in several places, and large patches of purple and yellow bruising covered his torso and arms. The discoloration looked even worse against his pale skin. Every breath made his ribs ache, and his muscles felt like they had been put through a meat grinder.
He had pushed the compression too far during training. He knew that now. But at the time, he had been too focused on pushing through the exercises to notice how much damage he was actually doing to himself.
The door to his room opened.
Yui stepped inside, still in her school uniform, her bag slung over one shoulder. The moment her eyes landed on him, her expression shifted from tired to deeply concerned. She quickly dropped her bag by the door and hurried over to the bed.
"CID…" she breathed, her eyes scanning over the marks and bruises covering his body. "What the hell happened to you?"
Cid shifted slightly, trying not to wince too obviously. "It's fine," he said, his voice a little rough. "The worst of it was already healed. Dr. Tanaka took care of the serious stuff. This'll be gone by morning."
Yui's face scrunched up at that. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes made it clear she wasn't happy hearing that this was his condition after being healed. Still, she held her tongue for now.
"Stay there," she said firmly, already turning toward the small cabinet near his desk. "I'll get some ointment. It'll at least numb some of the pain."
She came back a moment later with a small tube and sat down on the edge of the bed. She carefully started applying the ointment to the worst of the bruises and welts. Cid stayed quiet, watching her work. The cool sensation of the cream helped a little, but the deep ache remained.
As she was finishing up on his side, his stomach let out a loud, embarrassing growl.
Yui paused, then let out a soft, fond sigh. She finished applying the last of the ointment before capping the tube and setting it aside.
"I'll go grab you something to eat," she said gently. She leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Don't move. You need to stay right there and rest."
Cid grumbled something under his breath, something along the lines of "I'm not that helpless", but he didn't argue further, He knew better than to fight her when she had that look in her eyes.
Yui gave him one last stern glance before heading out of the room.
True to her word, she returned about ten minutes later with a tray of food. She had grabbed whatever she could from the dorm kitchen, rice, some grilled meat, vegetables, and a couple of onigiri. She set the tray down on the small desk and pulled up a chair beside his bed.
Yui sat on the edge of the bed, carefully feeding Cid. By the time the plate was empty, his eyes were visibly drooping, exhaustion finally catching up to him in full force.
She set the plate aside and gently pulled the covers over him, tucking him in with careful hands.
"Get some rest," she said softly then kissed him on the lips.
Cid mumbled something incoherent in response, already half-asleep.
Yui smiled faintly and stood up. She grabbed her things and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. When she came back out a little while later, dressed in one of his oversized shirts, Cid was completely out cold.
She walked over to the bed quietly and slipped in beside him. For a moment, she just looked at him, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face with gentle fingers.
Then she leaned down and kissed him softly on the forehead.
"Good night, and please be more careful tomorrow," she whispered.
She curled up against his side, resting her head on his chest, and closed her eyes.