BNHA: Force Within

"You can move stuff from far away, right?" Mirio asked, sitting on a park bench. They'd been discussing the upcoming UA recommendation exam all afternoon. He carried his school bag packed with extra uniforms - a necessity given how often his quirk activated.

"Yeah, why?"

"So you're manipulating the energy around objects. What if you tried that on yourself?"

Anakin paused. In all his years of training with Dr. Nakamura, he'd never considered using The Force on his own body. "I don't know if it works like that."

"Think about it - if you can push and pull other things, why not push and pull yourself?" Mirio started to say more but suddenly phased through the bench, his uniform falling empty onto the seat. A moment later, his head popped up from the ground a few feet away. "Could you grab my clothes? Again?"

Anakin used his quirk to collect Mirio's uniform while his friend ducked behind a bush to redress. This was such a common occurrence that neither of them even commented on it anymore.

"As I was saying," Mirio continued, emerging fully dressed, "my quirk works on my whole body. Maybe yours can too."

"Dr. Nakamura never mentioned it."

"Maybe she was waiting for you to figure it out yourself. Come on, try it!"

Anakin looked around the empty park. "What exactly am I supposed to try?"

"Start small. Try making yourself jump higher or something."

It sounded crazy, but Mirio had that look in his eyes - the one that usually led to discovering something new about their quirks, even if it also led to Mirio having to change clothes multiple times.

Anakin focused on the energy around him, the same way he did when moving objects. But this time, instead of pushing something else, he directed that force toward himself.

He jumped.

And sailed five feet into the air.

"Whoa!" Mirio shouted as Anakin landed, stumbling slightly. His excitement made him lose control of his quirk again, and he sank into the ground, leaving another set of clothes behind. "That was awesome!" his voice called from underground before he surfaced several feet away. "Do it again! Just let me get dressed first!"

After Mirio changed into his second spare uniform of the afternoon, Anakin tried another jump, this time focusing the energy more precisely. He jumped even higher, and this time his landing was steadier.

"I can't believe I never tried this before," Anakin said.

"Try running! See if you can make yourself faster!"

They spent the next hour testing Anakin's new discovery. He could enhance his speed, his jumps, even his strength by directing The Force through his body. Each attempt got smoother as he figured out how to control the energy flow. Mirio went through three more uniforms during their practice, having to phase through various obstacles as they experimented.

"The recommendation exam just got a lot more interesting," Mirio said, pulling on his last clean uniform after another accidental phasing. "Good thing UA knows about my quirk's... clothing situation."

When Anakin finally stopped, his legs felt shaky but his mind was racing with possibilities. "I need to tell Dr. Nakamura."

"Tell her tomorrow. Right now, let's see what else you can do! Just... maybe head home first? I'm out of spare uniforms."

"Shouldn't we be studying?"

"This is studying! For the practical part of the exam!" Mirio grinned, then immediately phased through the ground again, his empty clothes dropping to the grass. "Okay, yeah, definitely time to head home!"

Megumi was home when he arrived, looking over patient files at the kitchen table. "You're late. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just practicing with Mirio." He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge using his quirk. "Mom, did you know I could use The Force on myself?"

She looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Like this." He jumped, using The Force to lift himself higher than normal.

"Watch the ceiling! But really - when did you learn that?"

"Today. Mirio said if I can move other things, why not myself?"

"Smart kid." She closed her files. "Have you told Dr. Nakamura?"

"Not yet. We just figured it out."

The next morning, Anakin showed Dr. Nakamura his new abilities.

"I wondered when you'd discover this," she said, watching him enhance a jump. "The Force seems to affect everything around it. Using it on yourself was bound to happen."

"You knew?"

"I had a theory. How did you figure it out?"

"Mirio suggested it. He said since his quirk affects his whole body, maybe mine could too."

"Togata-kun understands quirks well, despite his control issues." She picked up her notebook. "Let's explore what else you can do."

After the session, Anakin met Mirio outside. His friend was wearing his third uniform of the day.

"How'd it go?" Mirio asked.

"Dr. Nakamura's going to help me train. She said you were right about using the quirk on myself."

"See? Sometimes the best ideas come from the guy who keeps losing his clothes!" His legs phased through the ground as he spoke, his uniform dropping empty to the sidewalk. "Speaking of which..."

They went back to the park to practice. Anakin worked on his new abilities while Mirio went through his remaining spare uniforms.

"The exam's in two weeks," Mirio said, pulling on a fresh set of clothes behind a tree. "Think you'll be ready?"

"With these new moves? Yeah."

"Just remember who gave you the idea!"

"Hey," Mirio called up, emerging from behind another tree in his last clean uniform. "Race you to the station? I've got one outfit left!"

"Deal," Anakin said, dropping down with a Force-cushioned landing. "Ready?"