Kaori's eyes bulged, or at least as much as they could when you were still half-asleep, at the sight of the large building in front of her and her mother. When she had overheard the conversation about getting her training for her application to UA, she had expected a typical dojo or a space inside of a rec center. Instead she had been dragged by her frantic mother – something she didn't recall seeing very often – towards what looked like a professional building that someone like a Pro Hero would use given its size and polished look.

"Kaori! Hurry up and get over here!" Her mother called from closer to the building, apparently having walked up to the main entrance while Kaori had stared slack jawed at the impressive sight. "There's someone you need to meet!"

It was then that Kaori realized that there was another person standing with her mother, and the sight of this person gave the young girl a sudden chill down her spine at his imposing stature. When her mother had spoken so casually over the phone as though to a family friend, she had imagined some old looking man with a hunch like in the movies. This was not even remotely the case as she nervously walked towards the two of them while her mother gave her an expectant look.

The man was large, there was no denying that fact. At a tall 6'3" and a very well-muscled build, Kaori couldn't help but feel a little worried as the man only appeared larger the closer to him she got. It didn't help that his body seemed ready to leap into action at a moment's notice, despite the gentle expression on his face as he waited patiently with her mother. His wiry grey beard and wrinkled face spoke of his true physical age, yet he was the picture of perfect health that even some people her mother's age would dream of.

"So this is little Kaori, huh?" His voice was surprisingly light, another characteristic that visibly caught Kaori off guard as she neared the two of them. His expression turned slightly sad as he turned to face her mother. "I guess you were right. She really doesn't remember at all, does she?"

Her mother looked bad with an equally disappointed look. "I'm afraid so. I was half-hoping that something would come up when she saw you again as I was getting ready this morning, but I guess the psychologist was right about one thing at least."

"Wait, psychologist?" Kaori turned to face her mother with confusion. "What are you two talking about, mom? Am I supposed to know him? Because there is no way I would forget someone this big or this old."

"Watch who you call old, child. Unfortunately though, your mother is right." The old man regarded her calmly as he turned and gestured for the two of them to follow him inside. "You see, and you probably already knew this, but I trained your father up to and including when he worked as a Pro. I even trained you for a few years when you were a little shrimp of a child, at yours and your father's insistence of course. Your mother here tried to argue against it, but with the hopeful and determined look you had on your face that first day that was so similar to that of your father's, neither one of us could say no. So we started getting you ready for training you for martial arts courses to get you ready for the future and everything was going fine. You were so devoted to getting stronger and better that I had to pry you off of the equipment when you were almost collapsing from exhaustion while you tried to prove yourself. I don't forget the lectures your mother gave your father and I anytime you would go home practically limp from your exercise. You had your father's heart, and it always worked in the end for convincing her to keep you here. But then your father passed, and you couldn't get into the mindset to fight without freezing up in fear and huddling up like a newborn anytime we got to the combat exercises with the other kids. We tried separating you and just have you work on your physical strength and endurance but you became so afraid of being here without your father that we couldn't rationalize keeping you in training when it was clear that your heart wasn't in it. So your mother took you home one day about 6 years ago, and you've never been back since. I honestly thought that was it when I saw the fearful look in your eyes anytime you looked around in here. So that brings me to the real point of this conversation." His expression turned serious and stern as he crossed his broad arms over his chest. "How am I supposed to believe that you really are ready to try again, and barely in time to start getting you into shape for your application to UA? What changed that seems to have brought that fire back into your heart, judging from the way your mother spoke on the phone yesterday?"

Kaori was dumbstruck as she stared at the man, no longer afraid of him due to his size but rather intimidated by the change in posture and demanding tone as the conversation had switched gears entirely. The way she had overheard it, her chance to train had all been guaranteed last night during the phone call. So why was he questioning her now of all times, when they had gone out of their way to be here so early in the morning? Was her dream this far, only to be crushed at the cusp as she stared into his questioning blue eyes.

"I…" Her voice cracked as she tried to start speaking, her voice somehow now gone despite having been fine mere moments ago. "I…I…"

The older man sighed as his arms dropped to his sides and he turned to face her mother. "I can't do this, Hannei, not again. Just…" His expression fell into a look of defeat as he turned once more and began walking towards one of the similar looking rooms running the length of the building, the only one that seemed to not have a light on despite every other space in the building being clear as day. "Just take her home. Don't let her convince you so easily next time, not if she's just going to be like this. I know that she can have that same fiery temperament as Akiyama, but you need to know when to say no when that comes out. For both of your sakes."

Kaori's mother bent into a slight bow even though the older man was turned away from them as he stood still as a statue. "I'm sorry for taking up your time, Koushi." Her mother paused briefly before walking up beside the man and standing calmly with him, leaving Kaori by the front door.

Kaori stood in silence by the front door as she looked over towards the two adults as they seemed to be having a conversation outside of the darkened room. She wanted to try to be a Hero again, she really did. But was this older man right? Was she really ready for this, if she actually had practically been afraid of this place since she was young? It would explain why her skin had seemed to crawl as she had looked around the inside of the building after stepping through the main entrance. Had she really insulted her father's memory that badly, to not only have practically ignored his own mantra, but to also shy away from the very place that had made him into what he had been? Had she really been broken that badly from her father's death?

If what the man said was true, then she had. And she couldn't even remember it. That thought alone brought burning tears to her eyes as she looked around once more, even though that lingering feeling of wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible sat in the back of her mind. She was older now though, and she was more determined. She had a new reason to fight, rather than blindly following in her father's footsteps. The young boy that had run carelessly into the alley the other day had seen to that.

And so with that thought in mind, and that fire blossoming in her chest once more, she walked over to what she seemed to guess was a supply closet before grabbing a few tools to get started.

"I really wish you could have been there last night when she spoke to me after dinner, Koushi." Hannei spoke softly as the two stared at the door to the darkened and closed off room in front of them. "I wasn't imagining it; she really did seem to have that spark back from before…before he died." The hesitation in her voice made it clear that the event from years past still plagued both of the women in different ways. "If it had been anything else, if she hadn't practically cried herself dry, I wouldn't have believed it. She really did seem deadest on trying again, even if she didn't realize it due to the trauma."

The man nodded mutely as he hummed in acknowledgement of her words before going silent once more. His eyes widened a moment later however as he turned to face the woman swiftly, a strong look of curiosity evident on his face. "Wait, crying? What happened that would have had her like that and yet want to be a Hero again? That doesn't make any sense."

"I imagine you heard about the sludge villain that All Might had defeated yesterday?" A simple nod was all she needed before she continued. "She saw it all; she was at the front of the crowd watching. A young man was being held hostage and was trying to break free using his own Quirk. Whether it was because he was inexperienced or because of the sheer damage caused, no Heroes could actually get involved and rescue him. But then another boy ran out from the crowd and tried to distract the villain with his knapsack before trying to free the hostage. Then All Might arrived and saved the two of them before anything worse could happen. All she could do was stand and watch like the rest of the crowd, but this child ran out at his own risk to try and help. Kaori said that it reminded her of Akiyama's old saying that he used to quote to her all the time, but…I can't remember it anymore for the life of me. It's been so long."

The older man, Koushi Maki, recited the motto he had heard himself numerous times over by memory, much to the surprise of Hannei. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you're capable of. If you see someone in danger you should do everything you can to help them, no matter what anyone says. The law around Quirks may not let you use your powers to be a Hero, but that doesn't mean you can't save someone without it. A Hero is made by what they choose to do,-"

"Not by what they're capable of." A lone voice from behind the two of them caused them both to turn in surprise to face the newcomer to their conversation. Their eyes both widened further at the sight before them.

It was Kaori, practically armed to the teeth with assorted cleaning supplies as she looked at the two of them with a fiery look in her eyes once more.

"I'm assuming this was dad's old room back when he used to come here?"

Koushi shook himself slightly to relax his posture as he had felt his whole body tense up as a result of his years of training and fighting. It was an old habit that he knew was impossible to break given his experiences and teachings that he gave. It was then that he got a wide smirk on his face as he regarded Kaori's current situation. "It was, yes. But I don't see the point in you cleaning it up if it's not going to get used."

"And who said that?" The younger girl challenged back, much to the increasing amusement of the man as his smirk grew wider.

"I believe I did, when I judged that you weren't ready to start again."

The girl's expression hardened as she walked between the two of them and reached out for the door to the closed off room. As much as she didn't know it, it wasn't just her father that had used this room. She had insisted in her younger age that she practice alongside her father, something that wasn't unexpected of a child following in their parent's footsteps. Though it had happened rarely in Koushi's lifetime that a child would actually choose to follow their parent's line of work when they knew the dangers associated with it. Kaori's reaction to fighting and training after her father had passed was expected, much as Koushi had wished it hadn't happened. Seeing someone close to you leave like that was bound to cause problems. The loss of some of her childhood memories due to trauma was a testament to that.

Her fingers hesitated over the handle to the door of the dark workout room, her body seeming to freeze once against out of fear on the cusp of her next leap into the future she desired. Was this really it? Was this as far as she could get before the towel had to be thrown in and her dreams crushed under the weight of the trauma from 6 years ago? Her other hand, currently clutching numerous cleaning supplies clenched tighter around the handle of the bucket she held as he reached that little extra way and grasped the handle of the door.

Not this time. Too many things had been taken from her as a child for her to willingly let something be taken from her now. Now, her future was hers to control. Starting with making this space into her own (once more) for her preparations for her next step on the road to being a Hero.

There was only one problem that she realized, as the door swung open and she reached inside to flip on the light switch to brighten the room before getting to work.

It was completely immaculate. No dust. No spider webs. Aside from a few dents in the wall of varying sizes, the entire room seemed like it was already prepared for anyone to get started on exercising. It was Koushi's voice that ended up snapping her out of her shocked state.

"What, did you think I left this place all dirty and decrepit after your father passed away? Even if I didn't want anyone else using his space, I'm not going to just leave something uncleaned from lack of use like some slob. I have a livelihood in this place, and I'll be damned if any of it falls into disrepair because I was a weak-hearted fool." He turned to give Hannei a nod as her face lit up with joy, a few tears streaming from her eyes.

"Oh, and by the way kid, you pass." The perplexed look on Kaori's young face must have been what set him off as he doubled over with loud mirth at her face. "You honestly thought I was going to just throw you out like that? I had half a mind to at first, to be honest, but from talking with your mother I was willing to try something else to test your conviction. But in the end you beat me to it by opening that door to you and your father's old room on your own. If you couldn't do that without running away or freezing up entirely then that would have been it. You wouldn't have stood a chance. But here you are now."

"Wait, hang on. You…tricked me?" Kaori tilted her head questioningly as she stared at the old man with a look of barely filtered frustration as his words caught up with her. "You were willing to subject me to mental torture to see if I was ready? What kind of mentor are you?!"

His expression turned cold as he stared back with no emotion on his face. "The best kind. I will test the limits of your endurance and break you to make it so that you can reach a level you have yet to experience before. You will face days that will leave you questioning your resolve and make you wish you had given up when you had the chance. Once we begin, I will not take no for an answer after what I have seen today. Is that understood?"

Kaori's body went rigid as she felt obligated to regard him with the utmost respect at that point in time. She barely noticed the carefully held back enjoyment her mother was having if not for the hand covering her mouth as she snorted at her reaction to Koushi's intimidating speech. "Yes, sir."

"No, not sir. This isn't the military. In here, unless I state otherwise, you will refer to me as Sensei until I feel you have reached the point you are meant to be at. Now, I'll try this again. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"Good." His posture relaxed as he relaxed from going into his lecture stance, or at least that's what Kaori called it. "Now, there is still one thing I need to do even though I still have the file with information on your Quirk and the practice you had when you were younger. I need to see how much muscle memory your body still holds after 6 years as well as how much we'll need to work on to get your body ready for heavier workouts and proper use of your abilities in the future. Come here." He gestured to a space directly in front of him with one hand expectantly. Kaori stepped forward after a moment of confusion as she did as she was told. But why did he need her to stand there of all places?

Her question was answered seconds later when he placed one hand on each side of her face as she began to feel a tingling sensation travelling throughout her body as his hands made contact. Her eyes looked up to see what he was doing, only to notice that his eyes were closed as he seemed to be humming in thought. After being subjected to the…admittedly odd experience for nearly a full minute, he let go of her head and stepped back with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well that's promising. It doesn't appear to have deteriorated much over the last few years as much as I had feared. That should make things easier." He mumbled to himself, though loud enough for Kaori to hear given their proximity.

"I'm sorry, but what was that?" Kaori asked, now very curious about both what had just and what the man was talking about.

"Oh, sorry. The hand thing, right?" Koushi started as he came out of his thoughts. "By the way, I'll give a pass on the Sensei thing for now, but when we get started you aren't forgetting that if you know what's good for you. Anyways, that was my Quirk. It allows me to analyze a person's muscle mass by sending electrical impulses directly through their brain to tell me how strong the muscles are. I can also study a person's muscle memory for certain fighting styles and see where there are holes that they need to improve on. Luckily for you, even though the memory had disappeared a little over time, your body still appears ready for the most part to go through martial arts training again, we just need to increase your strength and endurance a bit first. I hope you like long runs and lots of lifting and punching."

Kaori's face fell as she started to realize that even though Hero work was tough, it was actually the training to get there that was likely going to feel worse at first. But she knew that this was inevitable. She may hate it, but it was necessary to prepare her for the future. And so it was with that thought in mind that she gave a solid nod of her head before bowing out of respect to the man in front of her.

"I'm ready, Sensei."

So. Big apology time. I know that this chapter is late, and I'll absolutely take the blame for that. It's been a very busy week and I didn't have my days off from work when I would have liked to check in on this story of mine. 3VAMM3 also has been having a rather hectic time, so she wasn't able to give this chapter a look over like the first two. So any errors in grammar or spelling are entirely my fault to take. She may be able to still give the chapters a look going forward, but I'm not going to push in case it's too busy or something like that.

I will still be doing the usual once every two weeks on Thursday like usual, so don't be worried about this suddenly being a Sunday update instead of Thursday. Just thought you all should know about some of the potentially minor alterations to things going forward. I am in no way done with this story, and it'll be a long and cold day before I quit a story so soon after starting it. So there's no need to worry there. Aside from that, I'll see you al again in about a week and a half. Excluding those of you that may also be reading my RWBY stories on the side, of course.