Such an awesome Quirk.
Those were the only words Koichi could come up with while thinking of New Order.
Not many Quirks could even come close to its level, he believed. And that was admitting something to himself, given his lifelong interest in Quirks.
Okay… Koichi told himself. Time to get back to work!
He put his hands against The Boundary.
It was like touching any other wall, he realized.
What made this touch different was the overarching significance of The Boundary, not its rigidness.
Ironically, he wasn't here to test its rigidity, but how flexible it was.
[I will enhance your Quirk to two times its limit,] Star said suddenly, making Koichi's eyes widen. [Once you have become used to that, we will see whether to continue or not, depending on how you feel.]
"…"
He had known that she was capable of this, because she had told him herself.
However, hearing it again, and now that it was time to finally act, felt… surreal.
Despite knowing what Star was capable of, Koichi found it impossible to even comprehend how New Order worked.
Perhaps, once they had gone back to Earth, she would let him linger around her?
It wasn't like he hated working with Christopher Skyline. No matter how nonchalant he may have seemed… more often than not… Captain Celebrity was a top Hero of the USA and had gone through his share of troubles.
It was Christopher who had pulled him out of Japan, Koichi remembered.
Otherwise, with the debt on him, he would have found it impossible to afford a normal life, much less the life of a Hero.
Thinking of home made Koichi remember Kazuho, his cheeks suddenly flushing red.
He should have told her about coming to space.
However, because of the seriousness of the secrecy itself, they hadn't told him what they had needed of him before meeting Star. By that time, it had already been too late, as he knew they wouldn't let him contact anyone until the mission was completed and they were back on Earth.
Just thinking of Kazuho's calls going to voicemail made Koichi wince, the redness of his cheeks turning to a pale white of dread.
[… Skycrawler!]
Koichi jolted, his head turning to find Star looking right back at him from beyond the helmet's black glass.
[… Get your head back in the game, son,] Star said, smiling broadly. [It's past the time you can afford to be nervous anymore.]
Koichi was about to say that he wasn't nervous.
But, thinking again, he felt it was better for Star to consider him nervous instead of her finding out what he was actually zoning out for.
So, taking a deep breath and clearing his mind, he nodded.
Nodding back, Star put her hand on his shoulder. [Slide and Glide will become twice as potent as before this moment.]
Instantly, Koichi felt… full.
It was like he had eaten an entire day's meals at once.
However, instead of limiting itself to his stomach, this fullness was everywhere.
Koichi could feel it in his hands, his legs, his back, his chest, and even around him.
So… he thought, getting a hint of how New Order worked. … that's why Star asked me to explain my Quirk in detail before. Her Quirk must depend upon her understanding of the things she's trying to manipulate with rules… Sigh…
Even with a Quirk twice as strong, Koichi suddenly felt small.
But Star was right.
Not only nervous, but he couldn't afford to be anything at this moment other than what the mission needed him to be, much less insecure.
As Star's words rang in his ears, telling him that she had backed up, Koichi let his palms sink into The Boundary more firmly.
Attraction and Repulsion.
Slide and Glide let him control those forces, mainly from his hands and legs.
However, over time, Koichi had learned how to let his Quirk cloak him, simultaneously increasing his control over it.
Now, he could control how much force he exerted, whether in attraction or repulsion, precisely.
It was this Repulsion that he was going to use first to test The Boundary's integrity.
However, merely using his Quirk through his hands wouldn't work.
This was space.
With even the slightest repulsion, he would be sent flying back.
In fact, this was the same technique he used to glide over solid ground on Earth.
Here, for the mission, he would need to make sure that all the repulsive force coming out of his hands was being utilized to push The Boundary. For that, he would need to match the repulsive force from his hands to that of not only his legs, but his entire body, preventing himself from gliding in random directions.
Because if he didn't do that, then any minor distortion in his Quirk's cloaking could result in a breach of his spacesuit.
Star's Quirk was broken.
Koichi doubted it was broken enough to bring him back to life.
Letting out another breath, he held the sense of fullness, overlapping it with his experience of using the normal Slide and Glide.
Then, slowly, he let it go out.
Koichi's entire body suddenly began emitting a blue radiance.
In a matter of seconds, that layer of blue radiance thickened.
Then, giving no warning, blinding the eyes, the blue radiance erupted like trails of comet from his hands and legs.
Koichi could feel his repulsive force going far… hundreds of meters, perhaps.
Even without New Order's enhancement, his Quirk was strong enough to neutralize an explosion's shockwave.
With the enhancement…
Koichi, for a moment, felt almighty.
There was a tremor in his body — a foreboding one.
The tremor told him that if he were to lose focus once, he would cease to exist.
Yet, the thrill squashed that foreboding thought, bringing a smile to his face, making him push even harder.
Koichi's ears rang.
He couldn't see anything.
But he could feel everything!
He could feel the repulsive force reaching farther than ever behind him — becoming so long and concentrated that it could seemingly pierce through an entire planet!
And if that was the case for the repulsive force behind him, then…
[… Stop!] Star's voice rang in Koichi's ears as if this wasn't the first time she had screamed. [Stop it, kid!]
Not letting her urgency drown his focus, Koichi brought his Quirk to a crawling halt.
"… Wha… What happened?" he asked finally, looking back.
Star came levitating toward him, carrying a scowl, staring right at The Boundary.
Koichi's head snapped toward it as well. Did he… Did he…
When Star spoke, the words landed on Koichi's guilty conscience like a hammer.
"Did you pierce The Boundary?" Star guessed, shaking her head. "No. You didn't… You didn't even make a dent."